A/N: Summer vacation! Yaaay! This story has come a long ways...I started it at the very end of my last summer vacation, and here we are at my next one! Wow. Thank you everyone who has stuck by this for so long, it means a lot. And you shall be rewarded! Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are update days starting next week!

Special thanks to Seven-of-Storms for the review along with eeemkaaayy for favoriting both this and the side story "To Have a Cold Heart..." and adding them to their alerts. Thank you also to all you readers out there!

Also, for those of you who like a darker Scarecrow...well, don't worry, I rated this story M for a reason. Nothing too explicit here though. This chapter actually has a bit of fluff in it at the beginning, so enjoy that while it lasts those of you who like romance.

Like always, if you have any thoughts, comments, ideas, or questions, feel free to review or send me a message! I love talking with you guys about what you think so don't be shy.


Now that they were both standing Penelope put an hand around Jonathan's back and took one of his hands in her other. She had a hard time remembering even a simple dance routine, not having had the most practice in the world, and as such her mind was totally blanking on what to do. Her partner was even more lost, who had other things distracting him.

Penelope had unwittingly plastered their bodies together by putting her arm around his back. Jonathan being as thin as he was that meant she was basically hugging him with one arm while the other was holding his hand. Their proximity was driving the lanky man insane, for he did not have any experience being this close to the opposite sex in his entire life.

His doctor was still trying to think of some kind of dance to do when she realized the troubled look on his face, "Jonathan? Is something wrong?"

He knew exactly what was wrong, but felt reluctant to come right out and say it. His doctor was in her lab coat, as per usual, but it was not closed and her red shirt underneath was not the most concealing of clothing. Coupled with the fact that he was pressed right against her partially exposed cleavage, Jonathan did his best to not blush and averted his eyes to the ground to his right, mumbling, "Never been this close to someone before, excluding fights…"

Penelope smiled at him, not noticing that his eyes were barely reaching over her bosom, "Well, we'll take it easy alright? You're probably still recovering."

Jonathan prayed that she was not oblivious to what she was doing. Wearing a slightly revealing shirt, pressing right up against him, and making him feel something that he really didn't want to. More than feel though, for he thought it too in a different form.

He was going to have to hurt Catwoman. She had been right, to Jonathan's chagrin. Penelope was beautiful, to him at the very least, and he respected her and liked how well she treated him. Those, if put together, did not bode well for him and so he cursed Selina and by extension, Harley. They both put this odd idea in his head, and now it was coming true.

Shaking his head a little Jonathan responded, "Yeah. That. Recovering."


Seated in her chair in her main office, Penelope gave a light sigh as she recounted the events of the previous night, her eyes closed as she tried to remember. It had felt nice when she actually managed to remember a dance that she could do and they began. At first it was awkward, given how gawky Jonathan was and the half foot of height difference, but they managed to make it work. Jonathan had even let slip that he thought she was beautiful towards the end of their dance.

That particular part made Penelope blush deeply, not because of the compliment as much as it was the person saying it. She had heard whispers and the ilk about her body before, and a few brazen men even tried hitting on her before, but she never had paid any mind to them. Those men had thought of body first, mind second. They hadn't known her personally, they just liked how she looked. Jonathan respected the mind first and body second…if he were to ever give a comment on her appearance it would only be after accepting and liking her as a person.

Sadly Penelope's recollection was rudely interrupted when another doctor stormed into her office, "Where were you last night? Did something happen?"

Penelope looked at doctor Murphy and shrugged, not really caring much about talking with him or the date she stood him up on, "One of my patients was nearly killed because of a massive brawl that broke out in the recreational center and I spent the night tending to him since the orderlies were busy with the dozens of others who were hurt too."

Murphy, who had been partially concerned and partially angry, now was more of the latter, "Wait, you didn't come to a mandatory fundraiser because you wanted to look after one of the criminally insane?"

Thinking of how she ended up spending the night, Penelope smiled as she replied, "Yes."

Murphy shook his head, his mind trying to make sense of what she had done, "What patient?"

Penelope did her best not to just say her patient's first name, as the informality would be bad to reveal, and luckily succeeded, "Jonathan Crane."

Murphy guffawed and spun a finger around the side of his head to symbolize craziness, "That sicko? He's killed half the staff who have worked here during his stay!"

Penelope's face darkened now, angry at the accusation of her coworker, "That is a horrible exaggeration. Jonathan might have been a bit malevolent before, but he's certainly gotten better."

The other doctor only continued to laugh at her, "Gotten better? You have to be kidding me! Even the sickest inmates fear him and for good reason! That man tortured college students who thought they were going to be taking part in a psychological study. Crane is a madman!"

Penelope pointed to the door he had hastily opened, "No-one is stopping you from leaving."

Murphy ignored her and went on, "So what happens when you're his victim? What then?"

Quickly glancing at the flower that sat in a vase in her room, Penelope said in a confident voice, "Jonathan wouldn't hurt me."

Her coworker scoffed now, "What, because you've been nice to him? He'll probably do something even darker because of that!"

As Penelope spoke she did not need to convince herself of her point, not believing her coworker's accusations whatsoever, "You'd have to be crazy not to see the progress he's made. As I said, Jonathan wouldn't harm me."

Murphy pointed to himself, "Oh, and what about everyone else?"

Given the conversation she had last night Young had no problem responding in a prideful manner, "He gave me his word he wouldn't."

Murphy was getting fed up with her ignorance and yelled at her, "As if that word is worth anything! When the next dead body is found, having had a heart attack and fear toxin is pumping through the blood, look no farther than your dear patient."

Penelope narrowed her eyes and again pointed to the door, "Doctor Murphy, I do not appreciate it when you speak about my patients like that. I suggest you leave."

Now he was really angry, as he knew how badly Young hated a lot of her patients and how she detested treating them so her statement was hypocritical at the very least, "Patients? Oh, so if I insult one of your other patients, like Poison Ivy, you would object?"

Young clarified her definition of patient to absolve herself of any contradiction, "Patients are people I am trying to cure. There is no hope for the likes of Isley. There is some for Jonathan."

Completely fed up, Murphy turned and stormed out of the room, "There is no hope for you. Good luck with your madman, I give you my blessings."

Before Penelope could respond the door slammed shut. Now she sat in her office alone again but this time she felt a little confused, "Blessings?" What had he meant by that she wondered. She decided to not worry about the issue more, as Young would not accept any more invitations from that doctor Murphy, "Whatever. I'm glad I stood that bastard up to be with Jonathan."


Murphy took a large drink out of his coffee mug and wiped away a dribble with his lab coat before he opened his office door. He had not gotten over the argument he had a few hours earlier with his no show date, anger radiating from his body as he went around the building. On his way into the unlit and dark office he muttered, "And to think I had scored a date with the single, genius who has a rich family. Too bad she's Harley Quinn mark two."

As the doctor hit the light switch, a poor light that barely lit the room, another voice spoke, "You know, she hates it when people say she is like Harley."

Completely caught off guard, Murphy jumped when he saw that a tall man covered in burlap was between him and the door, "Wait, what the-"

The figure chortled, bowing slightly as it spoke in a mocking tone, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. How rude of me. The name's Scarecrow, and I believe you know of my good friend Jonathan."

Murphy leapt for his desk and hit an emergency button that sat on top of it. When no alarms sounded he screamed, the Scarecrow still not doing anything to stop him, "Security!"

The Scarecrow lightly closed the door and shook his head, "No-one's coming. I disabled your pathetic security system and Two-Face is good for starting riots and keeping attention on himself for a few hours, so it's just us for now. All orderlies are busy treating people in the medical ward, so many patients being there that they haven't noticed my brief disappearance. And only two psychologists are here right now, and Young won't be coming over here I do not believe, given your little argument earlier."

The inmate grabbed the much shorter man by the throat in the swift fashion and quickly tossed him to the floor. When the doctor tried to get back up he instead was pinned to the floor by the villain, who was using his long limbs as extra leverage against Murphy. Murphy struggled slightly, but found that he had little strength to fight off his attacker, "What are you doing here!"

The Scarecrow stood up and in a brutal kick smashed the man's ribs, "Oooh, nothing much. I was just listening to my bug in Penelope's office when I heard some very callous and rude remarks by a certain doctor. A certain doctor who not long before had attempted to draw Penelope's attentions away from Jonathan. You see, he takes these things very…personally."

Murphy grabbed his side in pain and gasped out, "All I did was invite her to a fundraiser!"

Scarecrow looked down at the man and sighed, "But you had intentions beyond that, if your recent mutterings are any evidence. Penelope has been an angel to Jonathan, very sweet, but he's too weak to do anything about it," with a laugh, the Rogue added, "I'm not."

To emphasize his point, the Scarecrow took his victim by the throat again and pinned him against the wall. Murphy groaned in pain, unable to resist at all at this point but still extremely agitated, "Why are you referring to Jonathan as a different person you freak!"

One arm pinning the doctor, the Scarecrow used the other to hold up two fingers, "You see, Johnny and I are of two minds. Ever wonder why I get along with Two-Face so well? Similar case you know. That, and Johnny used be drinking buddies with him," the man let out another sick laugh, "Good thing Dent can't tell that he's not the only guy with split personality disorder. Knowing him, he would either try to kill me, since there can only be one, or should I say two, with that problem in this city. Or, he would try and cure me if that damned good side comes up on the coin flip…and we can't have that, can we?"

Murphy didn't care about Two-Face at this particular moment, instead more focused on thinking of ways to live through this. Murphy's next words did not help his case though very much, "Use some mouthwash you sick bastard."

The Scarecrow smashed his captive against the wall again, his voice calmer than his actions, "Ignoring that comment, you asked why I am here right? Why I'm here is to make sure you won't be interfering with dear Penelope anymore…she has this habit of obsessing over me that I find quite lovely."

The doctor had a mental lapse and laughed, "Woah, woah, woah. Your record says you're asexual, not into either sexes, so what are you-"

The Scarecrow moved his head back a little in faux insult, "Asexual? No, no, no. Repressed pervert. I don't pursue romantic relationships because of how troublesome they are, along with some bad occurrences when I was younger. But holding back is not the same thing as being asexual," clearing his throat the villain continued, "Recently certain feelings came to light while I spent last night dancing with Pen, you know, what you were going to be doing until she decided she wanted to be with me last night. I want a taste of that beautiful woman," under his mask he rose an eyebrow when he asked rhetorically, "You think she is good looking, don't you? I mean, why else would you have bragged to your friends that you were going to score with her?"

Murphy had only told a few of the other doctors that particular information and as a result panicked when he realized what must of happened, "You bugged my office!"

The Scarecrow nodded slowly, "Of course I did. I have bugs in every single room here. Security can't find them though…the Riddler is a good ally to have sometimes even if he is a smug bastard," his mind getting back on track, the Scarecrow added, "And by the way, whatever your plans for her last night were, they wouldn't have worked. Seeing how prudish she is in regards to men you wouldn't even have gotten a kiss out of her without drowning her in alcohol, which I also know you planned to do."

Murphy could not believe that all of his secrets and private conversations were known by this lowlife inmate, "You son of a-"

The criminally insane man cut the other man off with a cackle that continued until he spoke, "Funny thing is, I'm almost the good guy right now. Valiantly defending a woman's honor by killing off the wretch who sought to defile her. Scary thought, isn't it?"

Murphy growled, "Only so you can rape her yourself you bastard!"

The Scarecrow just went on laughing, "Was I being that obvious? Well, you caught me. But that's why I said that I was almost the good guy. It actually gives me a delightful feeling you know. Probably something left over from Jonathan's more gentle side. Weak boy needs to grow up."

Murphy was getting sick of the situation, knowing full well where it would lead, "Why don't you just do it already! Kill me damnit!"

"But that would be too easy. I want to have some fun. I've been off of Strange's medication for over a day now due to the electrocution accident, so my personalities are completely split but not melded together. I have to give that bastard credit, he managed to re-separate my personalities and then even managed to keep me weak. But as of this particular moment I truly am mister Hyde, rather than the 70-30 split I would say I've been having. No, no doctor Crane here. Not any more."

Murphy groaned as his face was forced against the wall lightly, Crane having readjusted his grip, "The longer you talk the closer I am to being saved!"

The Scarecrow sighed, "Do you think I didn't take that into account? That coffee you drank? Good luck with that," he began to laugh maniacally as his victim's eyes grew wide in fear and the man's voice failed him, "I killed you before you came in here. Insurance and whatnot."

Having found his voice, Murphy yelled, "WHAT!"

The Scarecrow chortled again, "Forgot to mention that, did I? You see I made this type of fear toxin that is both delayed and is untraceable. A severe pain fun to make, but it works," gesturing to the can of fear gas hanging off of his belt he continued, What I have here is a similar strain that is just untraceable All for my viewing pleasure of course, as no one will trace it back to me and I can laugh it all off."

"You bastard! You'll pay for this!"

The Scarecrow stopped laughing and just looked the man dead in the eye, "No, actually, I won't. How about I go and visit your grave and pay my respects with Pen hanging off my arm?"

The mask disallowed Murphy to completely see the eyes of his murderer but the darkness he saw instead caused him to feel complete dread, as if the fact that he had been killed earlier without knowing it was completely true because it was this monster who had done it, "Just because of a single fucking fundraiser?"

The Scarecrow waved his free hand, "I've killed over less," thinking for a moment and then laughing, the madman amended his statement, "I've killed over nothing actually."

The doctor yelled in pain as he was once again thrown to the ground and landed on his bruised ribs, rolling onto his back only to then get his bruised ribs stepped on by the Scarecrow, "Get off of me!"

The inmate ignored the man's plea, instead pressing down harder, "Do you know what your deepest fear is doctor Murphy?"

Murphy screamed in pain, "Get off!"

The Scarecrow held his index finger up in the air in a scholarly way, "Not just yet my friend. How about we start with the basics. Fear. Some say it is purely emotional, others say it is an automatic response to certain stimuli and situations-"

Murphy began to cry as he growled, "Are you going to fucking lecture to me what you're doing?"

His murderer nodded energetically, "Exactly! I used to be a professor you know. And maybe if Jonathan takes some damn medication for once I'll be one soon and for quite awhile. Pen, bless her, is trying to get me released," with another small chortle he added, "She even has looked for some job opportunities for a reformed criminal such as myself."

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!"

The Scarecrow leaned down and spoke in a lower voice than he had been, "Penelope. Mine, not yours. I never liked those romantic novels with a love triangle."

"She and I aren't even together! Why can't you understand that?"

The Scarecrow stood up straight again and sighed, "And I don't care. To be honest I'm doing this for fun as well. Now, where was I? Oh yes, the intricacies of fear-"

"Doyou think you'll get away with this?"

"Think? I know. I'm wearing gloves fool. They'll think a thug in here assaulted you and that you had a heart attack. The security cameras will show nothing thanks to Nigma. Now stop inturrupting! Fear is-"


A/N: Love it? Hate it? Have ideas? Questions? Drop me a review or send me a message! I enjoy catering to you guys!