Chapter Fourteen
"Deep breath. You know what to do."
Air was exhaled noiselessly.
Light blue eyes closed, hesitated.
"You know what to do."
Hard eyes opened and glinted with resolve.
"You know what to do."
The lone figure walked forward and ignored the sounds of distant traffic, sirens, and the living, breathing hum that emanated from the streets here in this part of Gotham he knew too well.
The Narrows.
During all of the time that had passed, time that he had been happy and making it on his own...and then swaddled with love with Bruce in his castle on the hill...he had never even given places like this another thought.
That part of his life, the dark, dank places and scratchy textures and bitter smells that wafted out of every hidden crevice...all of it had been erased and forgotten.
Until now.
It was a perfect irony that his last debt would need to be paid in the Narrows...a place where he had done so much damage.
Which is why he had come on his own and could not even bring himself to talk to Bruce first.
"Maybe I'm just a coward...scared," Jonathan almost smiled at the too-familiar word, finding it feeling like an old, complicated friend to him as he remained hidden in the shadows and approached the one warehouse that had the freshest tire tracks leading up to it.
"Well...can't say I didn't pick up a few things after living with the Batman for a while," Scarecrow mused lightly to himself as he quickly jumped onto the hood of an old parked car and then vaulted onto the second crate that was stacked in tall pairs on the ground.
From there, he tested his footing on the solid wood of the large crate before taking another few steps and then jumping onto the crate closest to the building, having already spotted the window that he would have to use.
"...see?" Jonathan continued to keep his genius mind light and forthcoming by cracking little jokes to himself while he chanced broken bones and worse from a possible fall at such a height, "...piece of cake."
There was a small gap of space between where he remained crouched on the stacked crates and the slightly cracked window of the building.
Crane took a deep breath and leaned over the side of the crate, making sure his feet felt steady and planted on the horizontal wooden planks, and then exhaled his air out once he had his palms lying flat against the warehouse building, distributing his weight evenly.
"Okay...correction...not easy," Jonathan's inner monologue voiced for him as the doctor grit his teeth and made himself count to three before proceeding, "...if it was easy, everyone would do it..."
Fingers squeezing the windowsill, Jonathan kicked one leg off of the crate and drove it through the opening in the window, pushing the pane of glass inwards and praying that it didn't make a sound.
Once one leg was in, Jonathan shifted his holding so that he could tip more of his weight inside of the building and swing his other leg in.
Riiiiip!
Fully inside the building on the second story, Jonathan immediately crouched down low again and assessed his situation.
He was on the metal grate walkway that spanned much of the second story and offering little cover but it did overlook the entire warehouse floor where he could already see movement.
"Oh great..."Jonathan inspected his expensive jacket sleeve with a frown, seeing the large tear there that must have caught on something while he was entering through through the window, but his attention was quickly averted upon hearing a sickening, familiar voice from below.
"Get those crates in!" a sinister but flamboyant voice flooded the warehouse that made Crane break out in goosebumps.
"Come on, you guys..." the sing-song, legato voice continued as the Joker came into view, his purple jacket off as he swiveled around his men and pointed in their faces with a gloved finger, "...I would really hate to uh...make some cuts on our little team here because of non-performance!"
That seemed to make the goons hurry in their work of unloading large crates and containers and prying open everything for their boss to inspect.
"Oh yes...yes yes yes, these...will do just fine," the Joker growled the last word and Jonathan felt like throwing up, knowing that tone and how the painted madman himself has spoken to him that way when he had been excited and menacing.
Jonathan used the hustle and bustle of the Joker's men to mask his movements, having lowered himself even more into the inky shadows as he moved towards a staircase that was tucked away in the far corner.
"Pretty soon, boys..." the Joker announced cordially to his men while they worked and he fixed the ends of his gloves and then picked at the corners of his rolled up sleeves, "...Gotham isn't going to know what him 'em...and our beloved Batman...uh...will."
Scarecrow swallowed hard as he continued to slink down the staircase, images of Bruce Wayne suddenly flooding his mind, the billionaire's bright smile and perfect, scarred body as he would always stay so close to Jonathan when they would lie together in bed.
Pang...!
Crane froze at the noise.
His mind distracted, he had accidentally kicked the railing of the stair, sending a terrible metal sound to reverberate for a moment.
"Might as well have just shouted out loud that I'm here..." Jonathan told himself sarcastically, unable to help but roll his eyes at his unfortunate situation, "...careless."
Joker signaled to his men, making them stop whatever they were doing and come to him.
"Find out...what that was! Now! Now! Now! Now!" the green-haired male shouted with a wave of his hands as if he was a conductor of a grand symphony.
His men split up, half of which immediately ran outside while the others took off in all directions, none of which came close to Jonathan's position, he noticed.
The closest goon was easy to avoid considering how much large machinery and boxes were cluttered around the dimly lit warehouse, but Jonathan knew he could not dance around these people forever.
He came for one thing.
"You can call off your dogs," Jonathan's clear, smooth voice rang out, bouncing off the walls as he straightened up where he stood, fixing his jacket and sleeves, still hating the tear in one.
Joker whipped around as both of his eyebrows shot up his smudged forehead, holding up one finger so that his men stayed put and that Crane could approach unharmed.
"I've had enough cloak and dagger antics anyway..." Crane confessed to himself as he walked confidently out to meet the other master criminal face to face, "...I know what I need to do."
"Ha! Well, what do you know...ask and thy shall receive, eh, Jonny? Ya know, I was just thinking about you the other day...and how much I wanted to ring your pretty little neck..." Joker hooted loudly, clapping his hands fervently as Scarecrow's lovely features and slim figure came more and more into view.
Jonathan said nothing at first, merely taking a moment to assess his surroundings and ignore the way Joker was looking him like he was a complicated puzzle to figure out.
"It's simple;" Crane began, purposefully answering Joker's inquisitive looks as he slowly drew his hands out of his pants pockets, "...I came here to settle things."
"Settle things..." Joker repeated the phrase with something truly disgusting in his tone as he eyed the other male even more critically now, "...settle things...settle things? With me? Whatever do you mean, there uh...Scarecrow? Can I even call you that, hm? Or...or maybe...is Bruce Wayne's new toy...more appropriate?"
Jonathan's jaw clicked.
"That has nothing to do with..."
"Oh, well, see, that's where you're dead wrong," the cryptic madman cut off Crane's words as he walked even closer to Jonathan, causing the latter male to spare another glance to the watchful goons to make sure they were still staying put.
Unreadable hazel eyes stared hard into calculating pale blue as they stood so close that their noses could touch.
"We both know...the greatest secret in the history of secrets...the mother of them all!" Joker whispered passionately, still not touching Crane yet at all even though Jonathan desperately wanted more space between them, "...did you ever stop once to think about what that secret could do for you, Jonny boy, huh?"
Joker was met with defiant silence.
"Anything!" he answered for him, "All of Gotham wants to know who the man is behind the mask and the fact that that little tidbit of information would be coming from none other than the infamous criminal Scarecrow himself...well, everyone would lose their minds! Can you see it, Jonny?"
The brunette kept his gaze steady as his hands clenched into tight fists at his sides while the lunatic in front of him kept talking.
"So, even though you came here looking to "settle things" I'm going to uh tell you what the new deal is," Joker spoke casually now as he looped an arm around Jonathan's shoulders and tugged him in close to his side, "...you bring me the Bat all gift-wrapped in a big red bow...and uh...I won't have my boys here play a game of 'see how many of your bones they can break before we all get tired of the sound of your screaming'."
Jonathan's stomach flipped but he shoved the weakness aside, especially as a few of the goons smiled and snickered at their boss's comment.
Crane relaxed underneath the madman's heavy arm.
"Alright," he said solemnly.
Joker cocked his head to a side, looking comically bewildered.
"What? You're going to have to speak up, Jonny, I can just barely hear you out of my good..."
"Alright! I'll do it. I want in," Jonathan declared forcefully, turning to face the Joker again and making the arm slide off of his shoulder in the process, "...I can bring him to you. In return, I want my own gang, no interruptions with my work, and your protection from the authorities."
Joker smiled, his eyes glistening, but remained otherwise quiet for a moment more.
Jonathan blinked and opened his mouth to say something else, when Joker suddenly grabbed the front of his shirt and jacket in an iron grip and yanked him close.
Jonathan's chest crashed against the Joker's but the madman barely moved as he twisted even more of Crane's clothes around his fists, his frightening eyes glaring hard into Jonathan's own light-colored orbs.
"You better not be pulling my leg here, Jonny boy...playing a joke on old Joker, huh? How do I know this isn't some trick you two cooked up...hm?" Joker's voice was dangerous and his grip was too tight but Crane forced himself to remain calm.
"How do I know Batman didn't send out his little pooch to come wag his tail in front of me because underneath all that muscle and might, he's just a big fucking...scaredy-bat! Ha!"
Jonathan licked his lips and relaxed his arms.
"You don't," Crane replied simply.
Before the Joker had time to react, Scarecrow threw his knee up into Joker's gut, the force of the blow shoving the bigger male away from him and doubling over in a fit of coughing.
The goons were running towards Jonathan immediately, but he was ready for them.
He dug his hands in his jacket pockets, grabbing fistfuls of the black marble-sized pellets inside, and his right arm launched them at the burly thugs rushing towards him while his left simultaneously slammed a few onto the ground.
Thick, grey gas flooded the open area in a flash, the pellets having exploded upon impact and released the fruit of Jonathan's work he had completed in total secret in the Bat Cave while Bruce had been away.
"Ahhh! Get 'em off me! Get 'em off me! Oh my God! Someone! Help me! Ahhh!" one of Joker's henchmen suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs, his horrified yelling quickly being matched by similar cries from the others as they ran off or flung themselves on the ground, wailing and screeching as their worst fears were made devastatingly real inside their own minds.
Jonathan paid the virulent gas no mind as he walked through the rolling grey clouds, searching for the Joker that had disappeared during the confusion.
"...worth it...all those shots I took...getting my body used to these chemicals again...my new fear toxins have no effect on me," Crane thought to himself as he kept his wits sharp and eyes open amidst the foggy warehouse.
"Jonny...look what you've done to my men..." cooed a pseudo-mocking voice, causing Jonathan to whip around in place and face nothing more but more of the released fear gas that continued to waft upwards towards the high ceiling.
"Come on out and face me, you bastard! That's why I came here...to face you one on one! Show yourself!" Scarecrow called out angrily, turning around slowly and just missing the flash of green and purple that materialized behind him.
"...but I guess you just have that effect on people," the crazed voice finished his sentence as if Jonathan had not said anything.
Jonathan grit his teeth and reared back his fist as he spun around, that voice having come from directly behind him and set his blood on fire.
"Ah ah ah!" Joker wagged one gloved finger at him while his other hand caught Jonathan's punch, Joker switching from looking amused to disappointed in less than a heartbeat, "Jonny...Jonny...Jonny...what are we going to do with you, huh?"
Bam!
"Argh!" Jonathan coughed as he stumbled back upon receiving a kick to his stomach, his arms already wrapped protectively around his middle.
"Why isn't...the toxin...ha...affecting you?!" Crane struggled to voice aloud, lifting his eyes back up to his insane predator that continued to watch over him with cold, unnerving eyes.
"Ya know...for someone so brainy, you sure ask dumb questions," Joker cackled at his own joke, now stepping right in front of Jonathan's form and crouching low so that they could be eye level.
A purple gloved hand around his throat forced Scarecrow's head up so those crystal blue eyes were focused directly on him and nothing else.
Joker cocked his greasy head to a side and regarded him with a deceivingly sweet smile.
"Tell me...what good are things that make you afraid..when uh...you're not afraid of anything...hm? Sorry, Jonny...your little uh...potions just don't do it for me," Joker explained in his usual broken cadence and searing tone, the menace in his voice far outweighing any sadness that might have been present also.
Crane's eyes narrowed.
"Then how about something that will just fuck with your head?" Jonathan provided stonily, hating the hand touching his throat as well as the rest of the body connected to it, as he suddenly shot out his arm and made the tiny hidden canister release into his palm that he smashed the top button in with his thumb.
Ominous black smoke sprang out of the tiny device at once, catching Joker completely off guard as he punched Crane in the face that sent him sprawling flat on his back, but it was too late – they both were exposed to the new poison.
"This one...I'm not so immune to...ugh...but...it's alright...as long as it takes down this lunatic," Jonathan kept his eyes squeezed shut for a moment more as he lie still and already felt the effects of the drug start to take hold of him, making the world feel like it was flipping over again and again on itself and melting all around him at the same time.
"You...you little prick!" Joker cried out, wildly throwing his arms around until he fell backwards and placed one hand on the floor and the other on his stomach, "...what the hell, Jonny...I thought we were getting along!"
"Fuck you, you demented fuck! Fuck you!" Jonathan hollered hoarsely, as he tried to sit up, his eyes still closed to ward off the intensifying hallucinations and to desperately try to keep his mind as clear as possible, "...you don't touch him...you hear me? You don't fucking touch him! Never...never going to...allow it..."
Another memory of Bruce popped in Crane's mind, this one being when Jonathan had taken over making breakfast to give Alfred a break and Bruce had unexpectedly come up behind him in the kitchen and grabbed him in a great hug.
Jonathan could still remember Bruce's shower-fresh scent and warm, strong arms that had almost made him drop the pan he had been holding.
Scarecrow stood up, but then dropped to a knee, feeling certain that his blood pressure was off the charts, his heart racing inside his chest and make him feel incredibly nauseous as a result.
His stomach was in knots and his whole body felt on fire, but he forced one eye to open so he could spot the Joker and assess the situation.
To his shock and dismay, the Joker had somehow stood up and walked over to a vertical support beam and was holding on for dear life, bleary eyes focusing and unfocusing but looking at Jonathan with burning hatred.
"You...you're dead, pretty boy...just wait 'til I get my hands on you...gonna wish...you'd never...been born..." the painted male growled ferociously, forcing his feet forward to Jonathan's location, obviously pushing passed the physical pain and growing ailments as well as the horrendous hallucinations that Crane knew had to be utterly terrifying for the both of them.
He had to take deep breaths to get to his feet, his body still feeling like it was shutting down from the inside out while his mind could barely register reality from illusion, but he knew he would be in even bigger trouble if he did not move away somehow.
"Ugh...shit..." Crane murmured to himself, refusing to falter again as he stood up straighter, pushing aside the disorienting effects of the drugs as well as his own fear of the Joker now running towards him, as he reached his right hand into the inside left pocket of his jacket and withdrew four syringes that he held in between his fingers.
"Finally...come and get me, you asshole," Jonathan snarled the words as he squeezed the deadly syringes in his grasp and then ran forward as the Joker pulled a knife from his checkered sleeve.
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