Diana watched the television screen nervously, as the police were following an armored car. Was it the Batman? What in the world was happening?
She gasped, as she heard tugging at the door. The tugging soon turned to loud banging and before she knew, she heard the door being broken open.
She rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a frying pan. Whoever it was that dared to enter, would have to go through her.
'Hello?'
She lowered the frying-pan at that male voice. A young, blond man soon entered. He lowered his gun, his face falling at seeing her.
'You're alive.'
It wasn't a question, or a statement. He only seemed confused she was standing in front of him.
He put back his gun, holding up his hands in defense. 'It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you', he promised.
She tightened her grip on the handle of the frying pan. 'Who are you?' she asked with a frown.
'Liam Smith, GCPD. You probably don't remember me, but I was there with Gordon when you called for the police', he explained.
She carefully put down the frying-pan. She remembered him, very faintly. But why was he here?
'Smith!'
Both looked up as another police officer came over to them. He handed the blond a file, whose eyes went wide at seeing what was inside.
'W-what is it?' she asked very carefully.
'I was right all along. Crane kept you here all these months', Smith sighed, before looking at her.
She rubbed her arms. Why was this man here? And where was Jonathan? They were supposed to leave tomorrow … 'I-I don't understand…he was supposed to come back…we were going to leave…' she rambled.
Smith's eyes went wide. 'What are you talking about? Diana…he kidnapped you', he said.
She swallowed. He was right but…Jonathan loved her. He had done all this to protect her. Where was he?
'Where's Jonathan?' she asked. Smith just stared at her, looking at her like she was crazy. It only unsettled her more.
'You poor thing -'
'Where is he? I need to know!' she demanded.
Just as he was about to answer, his phone went off. He picked it up.
'Hello? Gordon? Yeah, I'm at Crane's place. Yeah, she's here', he paused to look at her; 'but he fucked her up pretty good', his mouth dropped; 'what do you mean he escaped? All right…I'll get her somewhere safe. Good luck.'
He hung up his phone, looking to is fellow police-men. 'A massive outbreak at the Asylum, every cop is requested to go there now. Go.'
With that, the other police officers left.
Smith looked back at her, holding out his hand. 'Come on', he urged her.
She shook her head, taking a step back. She couldn't leave. He hadn't spoken about Jonathan on the phone. He wasn't a criminal…well he sort of was for kidnapping her but he had always said it was to protect her…or was it?
'I'm sure he'll come back. I'll wait here', she argued.
He sighed. 'You really have no idea what he did, huh?' he asked.
She frowned. What was he talking about?
'He laced Gotham's entire water supply with a panic-inducing toxin. Gordon told me he was probably working for someone even worse', he explained.
She briefly remembered how Adam had suffered. Her mouth dropped. No…it couldn't be true…he…he cared about her…why would he work with terrorists?
She sank through her knees, tears beading up in her eyes. She had fallen for him again! She knew what he was capable of and she had welcomed him with open arms. Not just that…she had made love to him so many times…
'Hey, what's wrong?' he asked.
'I-I…' she hesitated, looking up to him; 'he killed Adam…and I still let him close…I'm so stupid…' she began to sob.
He kneeled down in front of her, to lay a hand on her shoulder. She moved closer, almost immediately throwing her arms around his neck. She had to be grateful for this police officer of snapping her out of her fantasy.
'It's not your fault', he said soothingly.
She kept shaking. She just wanted to get away from here … 'Please take me home', she pleaded.
'Come on', he gently pulled her up.
She went with him, tears spilling from her eyes. Why had she trusted Jonathan so blindly? He had kidnapped her, killed her best friend and she still trusted him just because he was being sweet to her…
…
On their way to the police station, Diana rubbed her arms. She felt really cold.
Liam sat beside her, and at the movement, looked at her concerned. 'There's a blanket under your seat', he told her.
She reached for it, pulling it tightly around her. Her tears had dried up, but that didn't take away her pain. She felt hurt, betrayed and violated. Yes, she had known Jonathan had done bad things from the start but it wasn't completely her fault. He had taken advantage of her broken mind, to manipulate her to his wishes.
'What happened?' Liam beside her asked.
She gazed briefly at him.
'He took me to his apartment the night of the fire. When I woke up…he told me he wasn't planning on letting me go', she breathed out deeply; 'ever since then, I was forced to dress like this', she gestured to her clothing and Liam's light blue eyes widened; 'at some point…I just gave up…and I fell for him', she scoffed softly; 'pretty lame huh?' she asked.
'No, it's not. You were simply outmatched. And so were Mr. and Mrs. Fischer. They were all manipulated by someone who has a PhD in human psychology. It wasn't your fault', he assured her.
More tears filled her eyes. 'W-why does it feel that way then? I let him get so close, while I knew it was wrong. B-but he…he did something to my head…I couldn't resist him…' she broke down crying.
Liam carefully laid a hand to her knee, as she cried softly.
'I trusted him over my best friend', she choked out; 'I'm the reason he's dead.'
…
'How is she?'
'She's pretty shaken up, Mr. O'Connell. From what she managed to tell me, she has been with Crane ever since the night of the fire. He has been manipulating her ever since.'
Gabriel pushed past the police officer, finding his daughter, his distressed and emotionally damaged daughter, sitting in an empty police office, dressed in nothing but a thin white t-shirt, pink shorts and a blanket wrapped around her.
Her tearful green eyes found his brown ones. Her bottom lip trembled. He then saw how much she had gone through…how much she had been hurt.
'Dad?' came her soft voice.
That broke him. He went to her, pulling her into his arms.
She began to sob into his chest. 'Y-you're here…I thought I would never see you again', she sobbed.
'I'm here, sweetheart. I won't let anyone hurt you again', he spoke with tears in his eyes.
She looked up at him. 'I'm so sorry I never called...I wanted to…but…' more tears filled her eyes and she dropped her head against his chest; 'dad I missed you so much', she cried.
'We're going home, sweetie. Come on', he soothed her.
'We'll call you when we've gathered all her belongings', Liam told him.
Diana looked at him. Their gazes connected and she mouthed a quiet 'thank you' to him before her father pulled her along with her.
…
After all the chaos had died down in the Narrows, Crane pulled off his mask, gritting his teeth. He was grateful the Batman hadn't caused him to fully lose his sanity, by giving him a rather medium dose of his toxin.
He leaned against the wall, sighing. He had lost everything. His job, his life, his lover –
He stood up straight. They had taken Diana. After what he had told Liam Smith in his psychotic state, he was sure they had found her. They would put her back with her father.
He ground his teeth together. How dared they to take her from him? She was his, damn it!
'We should just barge in there and take her back.'
'I wish we could. But we should wait until the commotion has died down. We'll find her and keep an eye on her. When the right moment comes … that's when we'll strike.'
'Fair enough. Good thing we know the father's address.'
Crane pulled off the straitjacket. He would find her to make sure she was alright. He cared about her more than anything.
…
Diana laid awake in a cold bed that night. She kept staring at the white wall on the opposite end of the room, with tears in her eyes.
She buried her face into her hands, only to break down crying. She felt so stupid. She had let him take advantage of her. She had let him use her and seduce her. She felt so filthy. Why hadn't she put up a fight? Why hadn't she fought for Adam?
Her dad, stepmom and the police officer had said it wasn't her fault, but she felt like it was. She had let him close; she had allowed him to touch her.
Her eyes went to the ring around her finger; her engagement ring. She sobbed.
The worst part about all this was that she still loved him. She was still in love with the man that had manipulated her. What was wrong with her?
She put her hands onto her head. She felt so messed up. Why couldn't she just forget about him?!
…
It took a few days, but after a call of the GCPD, Diana was glad to have her journal again. All her personal belongings, including her personal documents, had been collected and put into a box.
She didn't want to keep the clothes. They reminded her too much of him. It hurt too much to think about him.
Gordon looked at her, smiling tenderly. 'Well I'm glad to see you're safe again, kid. You had us all a bit worried. Especially Liam', he pushed his younger colleague with a smile on his face.
'Jim, cut it out', Liam beside him groaned.
Diana took a look at the blond police officer. She had to hand it to him; she was really grateful for what he had done. From what her dad had told her, he was the one that kept searching for her.
'What about Crane? Has he been found yet?'
Her father's voice broke her thoughts. She watched as Gordon rubbed his eyes.
'Sadly not. We were highly disturbed by the file that was found at his apartment', he sighed.
She frowned.
'Can I see it?' her father asked.
Gordon put his hands on his hips. 'Only if you want you, sir', he spoke.
He led her father into his office, while Diana stayed outside with Liam.
She stared at him. 'What was inside that file, Mr. Smith?' she asked softly.
'You're better off not knowing. You have enough to worry about as it is', he answered.
She swallowed thickly. 'It's something about me, isn't it?' she wondered.
The look he gave her gave her enough of an answer.
'I'm not supposed to tell you, but all we found out is that he's obsessed with you.'
In shock, she dropped the box in her hands. Her eyes went wide and her whole body seemed to go numb. No…it couldn't be…she…she didn't want any part of that…she just wanted to disappear…
She sank through her knees, to gather her belongings. All the while, tears clouded her vision. She didn't want to be anyone's obsession.
'B-but…I got away from him…'
'That really doesn't matter to him. In his mindset…you're probably the only one for him', Liam explained to her.
Her mouth became agape and she lowered her head. Was this hell ever going to end?
…
Not a very long chapter, but I guess it can't be helped. I'm just really planning out my story, instead of making it up as I go. And it gives me a lot more time to re-read and edit, along with the awesome BETA that checks my work for me. Shout out to her ^^
Lots of love,
~TheOneWithTooManyInterests