Disclaimer: I do not own Batman. All rights go to Detective Comics.
A/N: Hey, everyone! Thanks for clicking in, and special thanks to Nutella and TheClownPrincessofCrime for reviewing!
The key was taken out of the hole in the knob, and Bonnie saw the Scarecrow slyly lock in the two lock bolts from behind. The Joker hooted when the other man finally clamped down another lock handle in the darkness.
"Gee, Spooks, for someone that controls fear, you sure are paranoid," the Joker said, tapping a finger on his chin. The Scarecrow scowled as he turned.
"Paranoia can be quite useful," he said, "especially against unwanted visitors."
"Like Bats?" remarked the Joker, as if the Batman coming was not obvious at all. The other man rolled his eyes.
"Yes," said the Scarecrow, his voice becoming irritably monotone. "Like Batman."
With that, his finger moved to the light switch and effortlessly flicked it without a look, and Bonnie's eyes began to burn when a small lamp ball above her flared. Her eyes adjusted to see that they were in a lean—almost cramped—hallway that was all brown and shadow. The two chestnut stairways going upwards were covered with cobwebs and vague dust, but the staircase going down on the hidden corner was pure chiaroscuro, with a bleak light far down it that highlighted the white flies and blackened wood.
"The floor downstairs holds most of my chemicals and experiments," continued the Scarecrow, pointing there, "along with my office. We can discuss matters there."
The Joker laughed, "Oh, so formal of you, Spooks! And while we 'discuss', you can get to know more of my favorite little helper!"
Bonnie tried not to wince at how the Joker eyed unpleasantly at her and how even the Scarecrow briefly chuckled at her expense.
"Of course," said the auburn-haired man, looking directly at the girl. "I do not believe we have been formally acquainted, after all."
Bonnie's stomach flopped as the Scarecrow stepped to her, holding out a hand.
"The world knows me as the Scarecrow, but you may call me Dr. Jonathan Crane, if you'd like," greeted the Scarecrow, smoothly. Bonnie tried to look at him with as little emotion as possible as his eyes rested on hers, and she warily gave her hand to his. It felt very cold.
"My...my name is Bonnie," said the girl, hoping she didn't sound like too much of an idiot. "It's good to meet you, doctor."
Bonnie's mouth unwillingly clamped when the two shook hands, but the Scarecrow wasn't too annoyed at that. In fact, he was looking at her in what seemed to be either interest or amusement.
"Funny," murmured the Scarecrow. "The girl you're looking after has more manners than you do, Joker."
The Joker raised his eyebrows once and crossed his arms.
"Don't start on me, Spooks," he warned, voice lowering. "You should be lucky that I included you in on our fun."
"And you should also be lucky that I let you in here. Now, I can show you the toxins and discuss them with you—" His eyes darted to Bonnie. "—or we can cut this meeting short."
The Joker pouted.
"You're such a party pooper, you know that, doc?" he said, until he huffed. "Oh, well. Lead the way, Spookster."
The Scarecrow cringed as he walked away from the young girl beside him.
"Please don't call me that," said the man, with an almost embarrassed tone. The Joker simply laughed before sliding to Bonnie and giving her a sly wink. Before the girl could respond, he pulled her to the Scarecrow's direction, and the girl realized how rapidly she was losing control over her movement.
Bonnie soon found herself slipping across the wooden cracks on the floor as the Joker wrenched her along to the staircase, and she helplessly watched when he headed into the stairway's black hole. She gulped once she immersed herself into it, and she quietly began to trip over the creaking planks that she couldn't see. As she was diving deeper in, her captive arm had become numb, and her ears had muffled out the jokingly haunted sounds that her boss was making.
The tripping seemed to go on for minutes until her feet met more level flooring, and the walking eventually stopped in front of what seemed to be a barrier. Bonnie's ears finally made out a light twist of a knob there, and the blackness in her eyes abruptly changed when she saw an even greater darkness eat up at her with the opening of a door. Then, her ears caught the flick of a switch, and the lights of a green and yellow room blared at the girl's face. Shelves of beakers and tube sets stared at her on all sides as she stepped into the room, and the smells from the discolored chemicals on the shelves only gave her more apprehension. Still, even though they made the room feel heavy, the area was strangely bare, and only a desk and a lab table made up the rest of it.
"Aw, what cute chemistry sets!" exclaimed the Joker, letting go of Bonnie's arm. Even though the girl beside him wasn't looking at the Scarecrow, she knew that he was silently seething at the comment. Still, his response seemed to ignore the insult.
"I have several products that may suit your needs," said the Scarecrow, shadowing over the shelves. "They're the most efficient I have, but you'll have to pay the price, if you want the best."
"Oh, of course, doc!" the Joker said, bowing his head. "But I simply want a strong, standard batch."
Squinting his eyes, the Scarecrow did not try to hide his annoyance that the Joker wanted a 'strong' batch when all of his batches were strong. Nevertheless, he scanned the shelves, tapping his chin as he did.
"A strong, standard batch…" murmured the Scarecrow, his fingers looming over a row for a moment. "Ah, here it is."
His hand caught a tightly corked flask filled with a greenish-brown liquid, and the Scarecrow finally walked to the Joker and Bonnie, displaying it with cold flair. The girl watched with slight nervousness as he swirled the flask in front of her.
"Product #147," the Scarecrow said. "Simple, yet has more effectiveness with people with more complex fears than others. A more complicated individual can react to this as easily as a simpleton can react to plain phobias, which would mean that even the Batman can fall to his knees with this."
The Scarecrow's chest heaved with pride at this, yet the other man just chuckled in response.
"Good, then," said the Joker, his face lighting up with anticipation. "How much?"
"Six," the Scarecrow said. The Joker's grin faltered somewhat, yet he was still beaming as he put his hand in his side pocket.
"Honestly, Batman should also arrest you for conartistry, at this rate," spat the Joker, still with the content look on his face as he pulled the money out for him. "But I'll give you three for now, and I'll give you the rest next week."
The Scarecrow angrily snorted.
"By that point, the Bat will have you in a straitjacket," he snapped, taking the wad, "and you probably put counterfeit in this."
Smirking, the Joker shrugged innocently.
"Maybe a couple of bucks or so," he said, anticipating the other man's rage, "but at least I'm being honest."
Trying not to reach into his shoe for his knife, the Scarecrow growled at the other man's insolence. Still, the Joker was being much politer today than he ever was with him, and there had to be some sort of valid reason for that—even if the Joker never seemed to have a valid reason for anything he did.
"I need real money now, Joker," he said curtly, his face boiling. "Don't you have more in your car?"
The Joker thought about it for a moment, until he finally broke out into a bigger—and more sinister—smile.
"Actually, I think I might have kept a good chock of it in there," said the Joker, his eyes gleaming. Flashing red, they shifted to Bonnie, whose chest constricted at the eye contact.
"Kid, why don't you stay down here with Mr. Scarecrow, while I get the money?" he said, his fake baby voice bubbling. "I'm sure he'd love your company."
Bonnie's insides shriveled when the room became quiet, until they finally locked when the Scarecrow unexpectedly laughed.
"I'm sure I would," he chuckled, eyes squinting at the girl. Bonnie noticed that his anger from a few moments ago was still present in his biting laugh, but that didn't bother the girl as much as the fact that his irises still had that same dull light that couldn't change. She only became more uncomfortable when she saw the Joker heading to the door, and he was even already waving at her.
"Well, you two have fun!" exclaimed the Joker. "I'm just going to slowly inspect the car for the money, and then we'll be out of your hair in no time, Spooks!"
The Scarecrow just raised an eyebrow when the Joker's laugh resounded against the walls, and the green-haired man finally shut the door. With that, the Scarecrow turned to the silent girl, and he mused to himself.
Of course, he had quickly realized before that the Joker had set the two of them up just to push the girl out of her comfort level, and the Scarecrow couldn't help but respect that the boorish clown was at least using some fear tactics against the girl. Even then, however, he was still annoyed that he had to be in the presence of a child for more than twenty minutes since the Scarecrow knew that the Joker would be sadistically waiting outside for that long. But even then, it would have been interesting to see what this girl—Bonnie Hatch, he had learned—would have been like in person, and so far she hasn't been disappointing.
Clearing his throat, the Scarecrow said, "Your employer must enjoy putting you in...uncomfortable situations, doesn't he?"
Bonnie felt her head rushing at the leading question. She didn't want to put her boss in a negative light by saying yes, but the answer the doctor was trying to get out of her was still the truth. Nonetheless, she needed to say something.
Hesitating, the girl replied, "I...don't think I can answer for him...on that, doctor."
As quickly as she finished talking, Bonnie had no idea whether or not she should have regretted saying something so vague, and the Scarecrow's laugh only made her question that even more.
"You're just avoiding the question," the man said, "but if I were young and in your predicament, I would probably do the same."
Bonnie couldn't help but give him a questioning look, so the Scarecrow elaborated.
"I realize that you do not wish to implicate yourself, even for saying the truth," he said, before smirking. "For all we know, after all, he could be eavesdropping outside."
Bonnie contained her shudder when the Scarecrow glanced at the unassuming door beside them, but barely. She was desperate to keep a poker face, but he was getting better at reading her by the second, regardless. Even that fact alone nearly made her break face, and it didn't help knowing the fact that he was a man that fed off people that have broken face in front of him.
Still, Bonnie nodded slightly—slightly enough for only him to notice—in agreement. The Scarecrow used that as permission to continue.
"A number of people would agree with you, actually," said the man, his glasses dead on his face. "Paranoia tends to consume people in...these types of situations, wouldn't you agree? I know you do."
Feeling uncomfortably pressed by this question, Bonnie slowly nodded.
"So you would agree that you yourself are consumed by this paranoia, yes?" asked the Scarecrow. "Like the rest of society."
Contempt all over his face, the man's eyes bored into hers, waiting for a spoken answer. Bonnie wasn't sure how she was going to respond, but she did, anyway.
"I'm...like everybody else, doctor," said Bonnie, eyes steadying on the Scarecrow's face. "Yes."
The Scarecrow considered that reply for a moment, until his eyes unexpectedly brightened. Without that dullness from before, they looked stark white.
"That's interesting for you to say that," he said, "but what about someone like me?"
Bonnie's breathing cut itself off.
What do I say to that? she thought, heart stalling. He'll kill me if I say the wrong answer!
The girl was near hyperventilation as she tried to think of something to say. Possibilities swarmed in her head until her mouth just let one thought come out.
"You're...different," blurted Bonnie, in a whisper. "You control paranoia."
As soon as she said that, Bonnie hoped that the man would take that as flattery and not kill her. Luckily for her, he did.
"That's true," said the Scarecrow, smirking, "but it's funny that you don't view yourself as above society, in that respect. After all, your ally is one of the most powerful criminals in the city, and you've been causing chaos for quite some time before you even met him, if the Joker's speech in that circus was correct. Wouldn't you view yourself as something better, especially with your experience and your advantage?"
Bonnie froze at the thought, even though she knew the answer. She never thought of herself as being at his level—and especially not the boss' level—as a criminal. It would have been narcissistic and stupid for her to even consider that; after all, she messed up part of her first heist in the public eye. She let her fears get in the way of executing a part of her boss' plan perfectly—just like every terrified person would have been in that situation.
With that, she shook her head.
"No?" the Scarecrow said. "Well, that's certainly interesting. I would have thought that the Joker would have liked an apprentice with a god complex—or with little self-doubt. Or fear."
Bonnie's shoulders tensed at the last few words, which the Scarecrow—capitalizing on his unexpected psychoanalysis of the girl—noticed immediately.
Still, he went on, "I suppose he must have been impressed with you on some other level then, to want to take you under his wing. After all, you do seem to be at least somewhat efficient, and pride and dishonesty do not seem to unnecessarily get in your way…"
By that moment, the doctor's eyes darkened—not to their original tone, but to a borderline grey.
"Still," the man murmured, with subtle satisfaction, "your underlying emotions make me wonder why exactly your employer wants my chemicals."
Bonnie let his words and that contently solemn look in his eyes dawn on her for a moment, but her mind was unable to process them. The creaking door only distracted her further, until she conveniently shoved the thought out of her mind when the door collided with the wall.
"All right, Spooks! I got your little green bills, and they were definitely and absolutely not stolen from the apartment next door!"
The Scarecrow grimaced when he turned to see the Joker posing outside the entrance, fanning a new wad of green on his face.
"I would hope not," he replied, as the Joker strode toward him. "I wouldn't appreciate the police visiting an area so nearby."
The green-haired man laughed, "Of course not, doc! That's why I explicitly said that I didn't!"
Rolling his eyes, the Scarecrow took the money from the other man, but he watched Bonnie as he did. The girl turned a little peaky under his gaze.
"So are you sure you can't come?" said the Joker, sounding like an overly polite schoolboy. "It'd be fun to have all the losers together for a little hurrah."
He leaned toward the Scarecrow and batted his eyes for added effect, but the Scarecrow just looked at him in stoic disgust.
"I'll see what I can do," he said, "but you can all have fun with...whatever you want to do. I have a schedule, too, you know."
For a short second, the Scarecrow glanced at Bonnie, who looked at him in slight confusion.
What does he mean by that? she thought. And who does he mean by 'all'?
"Oh, come on, doc!" urged the Joker, breaking Bonnie out of her thought. "How can you possibly have a busy schedule when you haven't publicly killed anybody in five months?"
"Two months, but that's none of your business," snapped the Scarecrow. "And like I said, I'll see what I can do."
The Joker made a "hmph" noise at that.
"Fine," he said petulantly, "but I'll welcome you with open arms, even if you decide to come at the last minute."
The look on the Scarecrow's face was annoyed as the other man talked, yet that last comment resulted in a new thought entering his head. When it did, it wasn't long before the irritable crinks on his face faded away, and a wry half-smile formed.
"All right," said the Scarecrow, with a final tone. "Then I'll definitely see what I can do, by then."
As if he had settled a meeting for old friends, the Joker's mouth turned upward, and he patted the Scarecrow on the back.
"Perfect!" the Joker exclaimed, noticing the other man's face turning hot. "I knew you could!"
"Yes, now can you leave?" spat the Scarecrow. The Joker huffed before taking his hand off of him.
"Nice guy," murmured the Joker, eyes flashing. With that, he flourished his hand around Bonnie and forced her way to the door, sticking his tongue out to the Scarecrow as he walked away.
"I'll see you later, Spooks!" he exclaimed. The Scarecrow nodded and gave a small wave.
"Yes, you will," he groaned, before Bonnie heard his voice chirp ominously, "and goodbye, Miss Hatch. I'll be seeing you soon."
Bonnie turned and immediately noticed that the doctor's face was at its brightest, and his eyes were that odd white color they were before. They almost distracted her enough that she didn't realize that he had called her by her former last name, which she had never told him.