Disclaimer: Batman and all related characters are the property of DC Comics and Warner Bros. Persona is my property.
A/N: Thanks to all those who reviewed! Those who didn't can expect visits from Serial Killer, Joker or Scarecrow. They will not be fluffy.
Serial KillerThere was writing on the wall. It was surprisingly neat and easy to read given that it was done in blood. Commissioner Gordon stared up at the writing and wished, not for the first time on this case, that he could invite Batman to the crime scene the way he did before the Harvey Dent incident. Around him police officers and technicians bustled, taking pictures, collecting evidence. The rest of the apartment was fairly typical of the serial killer's previous crimes: the victim hacked to pieces, nothing missing and blood everywhere, but it was the writing on the wall that had him worried. He wrote the words into his notebook to give to Batman, along with any other details he thought might be important.
The commissioner gave a few last directions to his people than quickly left the apartment. He looked around to make sure no one noticed and then swiftly went up the stairs. The Batman would be waiting for him. Gordon opened the door that led to the rooftop and walked out, searching the area for a sign of cape.
"Over here."
Gordon turned in the direction of the Batman's whispered growl. He finally caught sight of the dark knight in the shadows of the fire escape on the taller building next door. "I don't suppose you were able to take a glance through the window?"
"No. Too many nervous eyes looking around."
Gordon sighed, "You can't really blame them for being nervous considering what's in there."
Batman looked down at Gordon's notebook, "Same as the other crime scenes?"
"Actually, no." Gordon opened his notebook to the page where he'd copied the writing on the wall and handed it to Batman.
Batman took it silently and read the contents. "The killer is changing his own rules." Batman handed the notebook back. "I did some research on the victim, he was a thug, but there were no previous charges or accusations of murder."
Gordon shook his head, "Any violence against women?"
Batman shook his head a fraction, "This guy was fairly new. He'd gotten into some fights, roughed up a few people for the mob, but nothing as serious as the other criminals."
A little wave of anger washed through Gordon, "No I suppose beating a cop half way to death isn't all that serious."
Batman was quiet for a moment, "I wasn't including the incident with Detective Nashton."
Gordon sighed and shook his head, "I know you weren't, I'm sorry. It just has me worried that the writing on the wall singled out Nashton. How did the killer know Nashton was working on his case? And the Joker and Scarecrow cases as well? Why single out Nashton specifically? Is it just because he was attacked or is there something else?"
Batman shifted, "The attack on Nashton happened early in the evening, too late for the six o'clock news but plenty of time for the eleven o'clock. Nashton's move from Bolton to Gotham was well advertised because of his reputation. It would be natural for the serial killer to assume the detective was on his case."
Gordon's brows furrowed, "Wouldn't that give him a reason to want Nashton out of the picture?"
Batman frowned, "The writing suggested he wanted a truce. I think he doesn't want to go up against the Joker and Scarecrow on his own."
A strange thought crossed Gordon's mind, "If that's the case, why doesn't he try to get you on his side? You're both vigilantes."
Batman smirked slightly, "My reputation in Gotham is too ambiguous. While some people think I was framed, most think I'm a murderer. Nashton is a safer bet for the killer."
"We've got guards in his hospital room and the doctors said he should be fine by morning."
"Have you told him about this yet?"
Gordon felt a wry smile tug at his lips, "I figured waking him up at three in the morning with another murder, one that was for all intents and purposes committed for him, might not help with his recovery."
Batman smirked again, "Good call. If he's healthy enough tomorrow though, he needs to be told. We have to assume that the killer has been keeping an eye on him."
Gordon swallowed, looking down at the notebook in his hands. "Of course…" He looked up again when he heard the near silent swoop of Batman's cape, but the dark knight was already gone.
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The little bungalow that the Joker had made into his hideout had a great basement, or at least a great basement for a mad scientist. It had stone floors, bare brick walls, small high windows, which Dr. Crane had opened to allow for some ventilation, and a large table where the ex-doctor had set up his equipment. Dr. Crane had only relaxed for a few minutes after releasing Persona from her ropes, than he had dragged her and Harley downstairs to help him clean the basement enough for him to work. When the Joker had gotten back he had dragged the women back upstairs to cook dinner, or more accurately, for Persona to cook dinner and for Harley to make sure nothing was poisoned. Jonathan had come upstairs to eat and discuss a few plans, which Persona and Harley had not been allowed to listen to, and then he'd hurried downstairs again.
Persona didn't really want to intrude on the crazy doctor's personal space, but the Joker had suggested that she might want to hangout with Scarecrow while he and Harley re-enacted tying her up. The leer on his face had sent her running down the stairs faster than any of his knives could. The Joker's laughter could still be heard from somewhere in the house.
Dr. Crane sighed in annoyance, "What did you do? Why is the Joker laughing like that?"
Persona warily moved to the opposite side of the table. "The Joker is tying up Harley."
Dr. Crane looked confused, "What for?" He suddenly smirked, "Ah never mind. Your look of embarrassed horror tells me all I need to know."
Persona frowned at him. "I'm going to end up sleeping under this table tonight."
He shrugged his shoulders and went back to carefully mixing something in a little glass tube. "I suppose if it's good enough for the spiders, it's good enough for you."
"Gee thanks." She glanced at him, "Nothing phases you does it?"
He looked up at her calmly, "Are you referring to the possibility of sleeping with spiders or to what the Joker and Harley are doing upstairs?"
She dragged an old wooden chair from one of the corners, wiggled it to test sturdiness and then sat down. "Well, either, I guess."
Dr. Crane placed the test tube into a holder with several other tubes and gave her a cold, calculating look. She managed not to squirm under his gaze, but she broke eye contact. Instead she focused on a weird stain on the wooden table in front of her.
She didn't need to see the look on his face. The soft, low sound of his voice was squirm worthy enough. "Are you afraid of intimacy, my dear? Do you consider the thought of two people being together as unpleasant as spiders?"
She glared at him, "Maybe I just think spiders get a bad rap."
He took off his glasses and placed them gently on the table. His eyes seemed almost fever bright and there was something about his smile that made her skin crawl. "Would you like to know what I think?"
She straightened in her chair and watched him warily as he approached her. "Not particularly."
The smile turned into a full grin. She'd never seen him look like this before. Instead of stopping to stand beside her, he moved behind her and placed both hands on her shoulders. Every muscle in her body clenched, but she refused to say anything.
"Oh my, aren't you tense." He began to gently but firmly rub her shoulders. "As I was trying to say, I think you have a fear of intimacy. Now, considering you have no memory, or so you say, I'm guessing this little fear was somehow instigated by our friend the messenger?"
She was silent for a moment. As much as she hated to admit it, the shoulder rub was beginning to feel really good. He squeezed the back of her neck, which also felt good, but it reminded her that she was supposed to answer. "He and his doctor always told us that a woman's body is a temple and that as his disciples we shouldn't let ourselves be corrupted by men. That those… types of things would taint us."
Jonathan snorted, "I thought you didn't believe any of his ridiculous religious teachings."
She leaned her head back slightly and tried to give him a confident smirk. "I guess something about my body being a place of worship appealed to my ego."
He smiled down at her, clearly seeing past her phony confidence. "No it's more than that, isn't it? A part of you really does believe what he was telling you."
Persona swallowed and looked down, "I don't know. I…I owe them my life…"
Jonathan's hands stilled, "Were they as fun as we are?"
She looked up at him, her eyes suspicious. "You're not talking about the Joker and Harley are you?"
The creepy grin returned to his face and he shifted his body to the side so he could lean down. His fever bright eyes were only inches away from hers. "Johnny told you about me, didn't he?"
She raised her eyebrows, "Only briefly. I think he said you like to be called the Scarecrow, is that right?"
"Indeed I do." He sat on the table and looked down at her. "Now lets get back on topic, shall we?"
She sat back and crossed her arms, "Let's not."
The Scarecrow rolled his eyes, "Now, now don't be stubborn. I think we can make a lot of progress with your issues…" He gave her a lecherous grin, "In fact I can think of all kinds of creative ways we can cure you."
She glanced quickly towards one of the windows and slowly pushed her chair back. He chuckled, "You'd never make it, my dear. I'd catch you before you could open the window. Besides I don't think you'd fit even if you did make it."
Persona scowled at him. The jerk was right. Her shoulders were too broad to fit through such a narrow opening. She couldn't go upstairs, the Joker would probably just laugh and push her back down the stairs. "If you touch me I'll kick you square in the balls."
He smirked, "I've already touched you, and you seemed to like it."
A shiver went up her spine. "I want Jonathan back."
The Scarecrow's face twisted into a scowl and he turned away from her. "Be quiet, you had your chance." He cocked his head as if listening to someone on his other side. "That's your fault not mine. I'm actually making progress!"
Persona watched as the Scarecrow seemed to argue with himself. She wasn't stupid though; she knew the Scarecrow was talking to Jonathan. Apparently, just mentioning his real name was enough to get him to start an argument with his alter ego. Perhaps if she tried addressing Jonathan specifically…before she could say anything he straightened up and turned around to face her.
"So sorry about that, Persona. It's been a while since the Scarecrow has been allowed out and he's feeling a bit…" He gave a vague gesture with his hand, "A bit cooped up."
She felt herself relax a bit. It was stupid to relax around Dr. Crane, she knew that, but compared to his alter ego, he was calmer. She shifted her chair closer to the table and folded her arms on top of it. "What triggered him to take over? I'd like to try avoiding that creep in the future."
Crane moved towards her and shrugged calmly, "To be honest, the beginning of our conversation is a little fuzzy. I'm not sure what it was that set him off."
She sighed, "Damn."
He smirked, "Indeed." Suddenly, he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back. Her hands reached up to try to pry his off her. "Unfortunately for you, Johnny and I are the best of friends…we share everything. While he was admittedly hesitant to let me play with you, he's as curious about the results as I am."
The fingertips of his free hand traced languidly along her jaw, "The nose is almost aquiline when viewed from the profile, but the tip is a little turned up so at least you don't look like a total witch." She glared at him and he smiled, "Oh don't worry from the front it's perfectly lovely. The lips are a little small and the frown certainly isn't helping." She kept one hand on his hand in her hair while she moved the other to intercept the one on her face. He grabbed her wrist roughly, "Are you insecure, my dearest? Does it hurt your feelings that we don't find you flawless?"
Persona's anger spiked, "Harley said you might feel insecure around women because you're so pretty. That being around an independent woman like me might make you feel like less of a man. Are you afraid that if I'm not flawless you'll be mistaken for the woman in the relationship?"
Scarecrow sneered at her, "Well we both have the same size chest!"
She scoffed, "As if I haven't heard that one before. You'll have to do better than that girly-boy."
The Scarecrow snarled and threw her off the chair. "Don't you dare call me that!"
She quickly untangled her legs from the long skirt and stood up. She clenched her fists, "You started it! You went asking questions I didn't want to answer."
He glared at her and angrily started moving to the other end of the table. At first she hoped he was giving up, but then she noticed what he was moving towards. The mask, he uses the mask to protect himself from his toxin.
She lifted her skirts and ran after him. The Scarecrow turned, mask in hand and she slammed into him, knocking both of them onto the floor. He grunted and dropped the mask. She tried to crawl over him to reach it but he grabbed hold of her throat with both hands and rolled over so that he was on top. The Scarecrow was a lot stronger than he looked and she felt herself starting to panic as her oxygen was cut off. Persona slammed her fist into the side of his face as hard as she could. It knocked him off balance enough that he let go of her throat, but he was still straddling her waist. She struggled to throw him off, but his hands were back, this time grabbing her wrists and forcing them above her head.
Persona thrashed underneath him, "Let me go!"
He glared down at her, "Calm down!"
"You just tried to choke me!"
"And you tackled me. Forgive me if being knocked to the ground spiked my temper a bit."
Her eyes were furious; "You were going to use your fear toxin on me."
He smiled thinly, "Not the deadly kind. Just the kind needed to teach you a lesson about politeness."
She let out a sharp humorless laugh, "Politeness? You were the one who started insulting me…"
The Scarecrow shifted on top of her until he was almost lying down, his face inches away. "You didn't let me get to the good parts."
Persona turned her face away, "Don't give me that. There are no good parts."
For a moment they were both silent. To her surprise when he finally spoke his voice was softer, "Were you teased as a child?"
She sighed still facing away, "I told you, I don't remember."
"But you've been insecure about yourself as long as you can remember?"
She looked at him at last, "Why do you care?"
A slight smile crossed his lips, "Perhaps I don't." He let go of her wrists and stood up. To her surprise, he offered her his hand. She hesitated a moment then took it and he helped her off the floor. He continued to hold her hand. "But if it makes you feel better you've got beautiful eyes."
She gave a small but genuine smile. "Is that you now, Dr. Crane?"
He nodded, "Yes, and please, call me Jonathan."
She raised her eyebrows, "You're still holding my hand."
"So I am."
Persona shook her head, "We just beat the snot out of each other."
Jonathan smirked, "To be fair, I was winning." She glared at him and tried to pull her hand away, but he tightened his grip. His other hand rested on the small of her back. He looked down at her seriously, "I want you to know that we weren't going to kill you. The Scarecrow was angry and wanted to punish you, but he doesn't want you dead…neither of us wants you dead."
Persona searched his face for a moment than slowly smiled, "That's as romantic as you get, isn't it?"
Jonathan shrugged calmly, "I see most people as lab rats to experiment on. I'm obsessed with fear. I've been labeled a homicidal psychopath by Arkham and a heartless monster by the media. Admitting that I don't want you dead is about as romantic as I get." He let her go and stepped away, "I should also point out that I've taken the fact you tried to help a serial killer kidnap, torture and possibly murder me remarkably well."
Persona grinned, "Yeah you have been a pretty good sport about that." She hesitated, "but it's not like I knew you then. I only knew what he told me about you. Once I actually talked to you…"
Jonathan gave a dismissive wave of his hand, "I know, I know. It doesn't matter now." He stepped close to her again, raising his hand to her throat and gently tracing the bruises beginning to form there with his fingertips. He leaned in further, his breath warm against her ear. "But if you ever betray me, I will not take it well."
She opened her mouth to reply when the basement door swung open with a crash. They pushed each other away and stared at the top of the stairs, Persona looking startled and Jonathan looking furious. The Joker was in his boxer shorts, grinning down at them. "Come on kids, there's a late breaking news story! Looks like our serial killing messenger has finally struck again! I've already put the popcorn in the microwave."
Persona grabbed her skirts and hurried up the stairs. Crane turned to the table and grabbed his glasses, having just enough control over his anger not to break them. He took a deep breath, slipped them on and calmly climbed up the stairs.
