Wow, took me long enough, right? I was struggling to find the right way to end this chapter, but ultimately I realized there was no more adding to itーthe chapter seemed to just want to end the way it does.

On another note, I made a playlist for Octavia and Jonathan! It was really the only thing that inspired me enough to get back to this story. Check it out on 8tracks: /warohl/poison-girl (I also drop a link to the spotify playlist as well in my profile!). I also made a tumblr post to reblog it if anyone so wishes, the link to it can be found on my fanmix. This playlist took a lot more metal/gothic turn than I expected it to originally, but I guess it is what it is lol.

Hope you guys love this chapter and the playlist!

UPDATE

Forgot to make a shout out to my fave TheWinter'sRose because some of this chapter was sort of loosely inspired by a discussion we had, so thanks for giving me ideas on how to make this story better! It's probably not all that obvious, but let's see if you can maybe figure out what I'm referring to...

Kito gave an almost condescending smirk when Octavia entered the boathouse. Her expression was quizzical as she looked around the space, realizing that Crane was nowhere in sight. Her gaze fell back onto the smug looking man.

"What're you doing here without Crane?" She questioned as Kito's mocking smirk grew.

"Were you hoping for some alone time with your boyfriend?" He nearly laughed, though he was quickly shut up by the sound of something metallic whizzing past his head. With dangerous eyes he looked behind him to find a large pocket knife upon the table. He gave a harsh glare while turning back to face the woman, "The fuck is wrong with you!?"

Octavia simply rolled her eyes as she slowly approached him, "The lack of respect from you men is just appalling." She said much too casually as she reached to pick up her pocket knife, briefly pointing it at the man with a patronizing grin, "Now, where's Crane?"

She stepped back from Kito with arms crossed as he continued to glare. After a moment though, he caved, "Over at that old paper manufacturing warehouse." At the raised eyebrow Octavia gave, he elaborated, "He's, uh… with a subject."

Octavia looked a little surprised, eyes turning in the general direction of the building in question. She felt unease creep into her, though she nearly scoffed at herselfーit seemed that thoughts of the Scarecrow would have this effect on her for a while longer. She knew she had to come to terms with Jonathan's experiments and the Scarecrow if she planned on sticking around, though.

Octavia decidedly looked back to Kito for a brief instant before turning to leave the boathouse without another word. She quickly marched over to the nearby warehouse, determined to find Crane and see for herself what he was up to. Maybe then she would feel less stupid for not being more cautious about him.

After a few minutes of searching, Octavia finally found an unlocked door into the abandoned building, entering quietly while taking in the poorly lit surroundings. Quickly, she found her way to a room with windows that allowed the natural light to stream in; it was long and looked to have once been a production room. Octavia remained quiet, listening for any indicator of Jonathan's location.

'If I were Crane, which way would I go?' She looked to the various doors and hallways, trying to determine her next step. She then recalled their cell phones, wondering if the man had thought to have it on him. It was worth a try, though, so she pulled it from her pocket and called the number. Octavia waited quietly, hoping that maybe she'd hear the echo of Crane's phone in the distance. But after only two and a half rings, the call was cut off, much to her annoyance. Briefly, she considered just turning back and dealing with him laterーafter all, she knew the reasonable part of her didn't want to see what was going on. But the insatiably curious part of her couldn't help but stay.

About five minutes passed before Octavia could finally hear a woman's voice nearby and followed it with a furrowed brow. For a brief instant, she was stopped on the other side of a door, listening to the cries and pleas from the woman inside the room. An unsettled shiver ran up her spin before she placed her hand to the doorknob and threw the door open.

Immediately, Octavia could pick up on how tense the energy of the room quickly became. Jonathan stood tall, back to her as he faced a blonde, middle-aged woman who let out another scream at the new face in the room. With almost scared eyes, Octavia stared back at her, wondering how she was appearing in the woman's eyes.

"It's quite rude to interrupt, Ms. Baresi.." Crane's voice was a growl as his back remained turned to her. For a few moments longer, her eyes stayed locked with the crying woman's, feeling a twinge of sympathyーafter all, this woman was random and unsuspecting, and Octavia certainly drew the line on innocent people being experimented on. And having been under the same toxin's influence before, she couldn't help but be concerned.

Octavia's eyes moved to stare at Crane's back, trying to find the right words to say. Why the hell did she even come here knowing that she'd find something she didn't want to see? Her logical side knew this would be a mistake from the start, and yet, stupidly enough, she persisted. Sometimes she hated her own curiosity.

"Do you plan to just stand there…" His tone was dark as Crane turned his head; though his expression was hidden by the mask, Octavia could already tell that this was the Scarecrow. There was something far darker and much more imposing about him, "or was there a purpose to your visit?"

Octavia could see the menacing glare in his azure eyes as the woman continued protesting against whatever the toxin was showing her. Octavia was sure the Scarecrow could see the hesitation rising in herーshe recalled their first meeting all those months ago, when she had experienced that fear toxin for herself. The memory left her wildly unsettled, causing her to finally avert her gaze.

"What, don't like what you see?" Each of the Scarecrow's mocking words were harrowing and low, and with a glare Octavia turned from him, preparing to leave the room. But Crane moved incredibly fast, crossing the room in a few long strides to roughly secure a hold on her upper arm. This action, of course, caused a fire to alight in Octavia, and her glare darkened as she met his eyes through the mask.

"Crane, let go of me." Her tone was harsh, and in that moment she wasn't afraid of the Scarecrow. As she shook off his arm, however, his opposite hand shot up, toxin suddenly misting from his sleeve straight into her face. Octavia gasped, eyes widening as the Scarecrow grabbed hold of her cheek possessively, fingertips digging into her skin.

"You need to let loose a little…" She could hear the smirk in his voice as her vision began to warp, her eyes remaining locked with his fearfully, instinctively searching for the familiar gaze of Jonathan as if somehow he could help her.

As the Scarecrow's hold remained on her face, he backed Octavia up until her back collided roughly against the wall. Octavia stumbled over her feet, nearly falling to the floor if it weren't for the man's hold on her.

And then she felt themーsnakes slowly winding their way up her ankles and calves, causing Octavia to gasp and breath to stutter, the sound of her heart rate accelerating in her ears. With wide eyes, she looked around, seeing snakes coming from every direction, moving slowly as if to mock her fear. When she whipped her head back to to face the Scarecrow, his eyes were leaking darkness, stitched mouth twisting and turning as he seemed to move with the snakes.

"It's not real…" She choked out, which caused the Scarecrow to laugh cruelly.

"Is it not?" His voice ws a deep, primal growl, echoing in her head, "You know full well what we were doing here, and you showed up anywayーyou practically handed yourself over to me."

Octavia yelped as she felt a snake wrap around her neck, its tongue flickering against her hot skin. The Scarecrow leaned in closer as tears welled in her eyes.

"Go on, cryーin fact, scream. You know just how much I love that." His tone was biting as the snakes encompassed Octavia, keeping her planted where she was. She began to shake and hyperventilate.

"Crane…" Her own voice sounded like a distant, pathetic echo, and the new, snake-like Scarecrow chuckled again.

"Still hoping he'll save you?" Octavia's chest felt heavy as he pushed against her, "Still have your little crush? Pathetic." He suddenly threw her down, causing Octavia to scream as every snake raced toward her, slithering across her body, "I am Crane."

Octavia continued screaming out, trying to wrestle away from the masses of serpents, but to no avail. Scarecrow's menacing laugh reverberated around her and through her as he appeared over her, cocking his head while leaning down just slightly. She felt trapped by his black gaze as he focused in and out of vision.

"Regret this yet?"

She yelled out again as a snake tightened around her throat.

The Scarecrow wasn't sure how much time had passed before his two subjects exhausted themselves in their hysteria. The first woman managed to pass out much too quickly for his taste. Octavia, though, was quite the fighterーonce she moved past the initial shock, she kept trying to fight off everything she was seeing, even through the crying and yelling. Even at the end, when she was so tired she could barely move, he heard her every now and again attempt to reassure herself that none of it was real.

A little firecracker, huh. The Scarecrow mused as he finally allowed Crane back into the saddle. The man stood over Octavia once more, slowly removing his mask as his gaze shone with a degree of concern.

Why are you so against her? Jonathan studied the woman's soft expression.

You're better than these feelings, Johnny. We don't need anyone, not even her. The Scarecrow lowly chuckled, Remember the last prevalent women in your life? Sherry? Keeny? The second name he spat out with venom, I'm just protecting you from yourself.

Jonathan's jaw slightly clenched before he let out a sighーhe felt as if he moved on from his past a while ago, though, of course, he was still scarred and occasionally hurt by the memories of it.

A part of Jonathan wanted to reach down toward Octavia, but he refrainedーthis amount of concern wasn't normal for him, and he was well are of it. He didn't entirely know how he wanted to behave anymore, but nothing he chose even felt quite right.

We both know she's not like them. Finally, he turned for the doorーhe couldn't just leave these woman lying around, so he had to go get Kito to help collect them.

Everyone's the same: against you. She may be fun to have around now, but just wait. You know how these things end… I can't believe you're starting to have feelings for her.

As I recall, you were the one interested in her first.

You have needs, I was just helping. The Scarecrow defended, Don't deny you had some fun watching her scream.

Jonathan shook his head as he entered the boathouse, finding Kito sat with a magazine in hand.

"I have a task for you." Jonathan spoke professionally, indicating for the other man to follow him.

When they reentered to warehouse room, Kito gave a surprised look to Crane at the sight of Octavia unconscious on the floor. He and the other guys were so sure that something was going on between the two, but now Kito thought maybe those assumptions were false.

"Drop these two off," Jonathan started, eyes boring into the other man's to ensure his instructions were understood, "Make sure Ms. Baresi gets back home safely. Don't try anything funny with her or her apartment, understood?"

"What about the other one?"

Crane waved his hand dismissively, "Does it matter?"

Kito watched as his boss exited the room, quizzically looking back toward Octavia.

'The fuck kind of relationship is this?'

Octavia awoke to the sound of her phone ringing, groaning in frustration as she rolled over into her pillows. Ever since her second encounter with the fear toxin two days ago, she'd felt anxious and exhaustedーshe needed some time to herself. So, she chose to ignore the ringing until it ended, hoping whoever it was wouldn't try calling again.

When she had first realized what Crane did, she wanted to yell in frustrationーafter all, the two were making so much progress in growing closer, and his toxin certainly led that to an abrupt halt.

The Scarecrow complicated things, however. He was obviously in control at the time, but he also reminded her about one key elementーhe was Crane. As much as she may have wanted to differentiate them (and as different as they may have been), they were still one man.

Her heart hurt just thinking about it.

Was she crazy enough to stick around? Octavia wished the answer was 'no.' But she was fucked up in her own ways, and that part of her wanted to stayーthat part of her wanted to prove the Scarecrow wrong, and that part of her enjoyed the company of someone else that was equally, and more, fucked up.

Then again, there had to be other fucked up people out there that wouldn't drug her. This was Gotham, after all. Every other person you met was at least a little fucked up.

A couple nights later, Octavia heard a knock on her front door, causing her to steal a look to the desk clockーit was after 11 PM, but she wasn't expecting Brea until about midnight, after her shift ended. Octavia was suspicious, though she told herself to stop being so paranoidーmaybe it was just a slow night and her friend left work early.

Octavia flipped her laptop closed as there was a second knock on the door, causing her to sigh as she got to her feet and walked to the entrance. When she peeked through the peephole, however, Octavia nearly chokedーthere stood Jonathan, all too casually, looking a little impatient. Though she didn't want to speak to the man right now, she certainly didn't want him to be seen by any of her neighbors either, so she flung open the door and gave him an angered, reprimanding glare.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She grabbed hold of the lapel on his jacket and pulled him inside, slamming the door behind her.

"Well, it's been four days, I thought to check on you…" He eyed her apartment all too casually.

"Check on me?" Her tone was defensive, "You drugged me. Again. I don't want to be near you."

Jonathan turned a serious eye on her, "Why were you there that afternoon, Octavia?"

The woman felt frozen as she met his gaze; something about the way he said her first name made the moment all the more serious, like this was a conversation between friends and not business associates.

Octavia sighed, "I still don't know."

Jonathan's eyebrow quirked as he stepped closer, "You wanted to see me," he started while leaning over her, making Octavia attempt to back away, "Even though you knew exactly what I was doing, you still went looking. Either this is curiosity or feelings, though I'd bet it was both."

Octavia' expression gave way to everything she was feelingーconflict regarding her feelings, anxiety for being near Crane again. She maintained eye contact, and Jonathan could see how fragile she was feeling. So, he took a large step back, giving her more of the space she needed. After a few long moments, he turned to walk further into the room.

Then, an interesting thought crossed Octavia.

"How should I interpret you showing up hereーcuriosity or feelings?" She gave him a challenging look, voice lowering slightly, "I'd bet it was both."

A smirk tugged at Jonathan's lips before he laughed shortly.

"What a pair we make." He began to move around her space, Octavia's eyes following him curiously as she noticed an almost longing tugging at her heart. She sighed and shook her head.

"This isn't me forgiving you, Crane." She crossed her arms as he halted, "That day really fucked up our potential friendship, you know that."

A hurt look seemed to flash in Jonathan's eyes for a brief instant, surprising the young woman. But he turned away, not giving her the time to ponder his expression for too long.

"Should I assume that means we are no longer working together?"

Octavia slightly shrugged, "Dependsーis the Scarecrow going to drug me anymore?"

Jonathan took a calm step forward, shaking his head, "I'm working on that; admittedly, I like having you around."

"It's not enough just to like my companyーI don't want to be at any more risk than I already am around you."

For a few long moments, the pair was silent and thoughtful. Finally, Crane sat himself down on her couch.

"Are we friends, Ms. Baresi?" The woman nearly 'aww'ed at the innocence of his tone, though the question managed to confuse her.

"Are we?" She repeated, and Jonathan gave an expectant look, "Maybe in some fucked up way we are…"

He took her by surprise as he flashed a small, genuine smileーnot mocking or confident like nearly every other moment before. Though it was brief, the expression still managed to warm her heart just a little. Jonathan was being much softer than Octavia was used to, and she was practically ready to forgive him then and there. But she had to be resilientーgiving in so easy would make him think everything was fine, which it certainly wasn't.

She sighed, "Crane, you need to go." She motioned toward the door as the man gave a questioning look, "I have plans."

"Plans?" He raised an eyebrow as he began to make assumptions, "At this hour, they must be something venereal."

Octavia rolled her eyes, "If they were, why would you care?"

"Who makes plans at midnight if not for sex?" He countered.

"My friend works late nights… Now, please leave before she gets here."

"We're not done with this conversation," Jonathan replied as he stood, "This is a particularly convenient excuse to avoid our discussion…"

Octavia sighed, about to speak, but, as if on cue, there was a knock at the front door, "Shit." She hissed, quickly moving to grab Jonathan again and tug him toward her bedroom, "Look, just hide out for a couple of minutes until we leave, okay?" She then reached into one of the drawers on her jewelry box, pulling out a key, "Just lock the door behind you. And I better get that key back."

Quickly, she left the room, and Jonathan listened as she opened the door and made quick conversation with her friend.

'What has my life become?' Octavia wondered as she glanced back into her apartment one last time.

So much happens in this chapter, wow? Octavia is being dumb and Jonathan is being emotional, what will happen next? Please leave a review, let me know what you think! I'd love to chat about all the happenings from this last chapter!