It was late at night, when Gordon met on the rooftop with the Batman. He had called him in after the O'Connell girl had gone missing again. He felt for her father and stepmother; they had only been able to keep her close for no longer than two months before she had vanished again.
He put his hands on his hips.
'Crane has completely gone off the radar after he took the girl. He was being very careful; he didn't want to be seen', he spoke.
The masked vigilante across from him moved closer.
'That's not very surprising. I'm guessing he doesn't want to let her go a second time', came the deep, grumbling voice.
Gordon nodded in agreement. Crane was obsessed with her; of course he wouldn't let her go again.
'I guess the only good part is that we know he won't lay a hand on her in violence. Everyone else around him…he couldn't care less about. But this one girl…she probably brings out the best in him, in whatever twisted way it may be', he sighed.
Bruce across from him would sigh softly. He hadn't even been able to form a bond to the girl, or she had been taken again. He felt angered; did Crane really think he was the only one that gave a damn about Diana? Was he that obsessed over her, that he wasn't willing to let anyone close to her?
The thought had crossed him to put a tracking device on her, so he could follow her, but thanks to Alfred, he hadn't. His trusted friend had advised against it, since Diana was already very distrustful to her environment. He couldn't have asked for her permission; she still wanted to protect Crane, since she was, obviously, still in love with him. But what else was he supposed to do?
There had been little to no sightings of the Scarecrow ever since the event in the Narrows. Had Crane pulled back from the criminal life, to be with her? What was going on in the former doctor's mind?
…
Diana watched the television screen with boredom. She listened to the faint sound of the shower. With an agitated sigh, she switched to another channel. What was she doing with her life? Was she really giving up on escaping? Was she really willing to stay with Jonathan? After all the people he had killed to get to her? Thinking back at it, she was almost certain he had gotten close to her when she was still in college.
She turned her head, and watched him as he emerged from the bathroom, dressed in nothing but a dark blue bathrobe. He had started to look a little better, she thought.
'Will you come and sit with me?' she asked carefully.
He gazed at her, with his stunning blue eyes and gave a compliant nod. She moved over, pulling the blanket with her. The heat wasn't all that great in his hideout so she often opted for pulling a woolen blanket around her.
As he sat down, she dared to move closer, snuggling up to his warm body. A hesitant arm snuck around her waist and she could feel his thumb draw soft strokes on her hip.
She pushed aside his still damp hair, inhaling the mix of his shampoo and aftershave.
'You smell good', she murmured.
She laid her head onto his shoulder, letting her hand rest on the middle of his chest. She would dare to push aside the fabric of his bathrobe, and let her hand slowly run over his bare chest. He soon grasped her hand in his, kissing it very lightly. Their eyes met and she could feel her breathing thicken. A light flush was on his cheeks.
'I'm not sure I can keep myself away from you any longer', he whispered.
His hand on her hip moved towards her waist, still caressing her tenderly. She breathed in deeply as he lowered his head to hers. Just before his lips touched hers, she turned her head to the side.
'I can't…'
'Diana…' he cupped her cheek, smiling at her; 'I'm not going to hurt you, I promise', he whispered.
He once again tried to lean in close to her, but she pushed against his chest to keep him away. He however, was much stronger, physically, than she was and she soon found herself cornered into the armrest of the couch. She kept on pushing; she couldn't do this with him…
'Jonathan please…I-I can't', she whimpered.
He picked up her chin with his index finger, looking into her confused eyes.
'Do you want to?' he asked.
'That's beside the point -' 'Is it?' he cut her off.
She lowered her head. 'I-I can't trust you…' she muttered.
He kissed her cheek; she only flinched away from him in response, making him sigh.
'Don't reject me…please…' he murmured.
She shoved him off, tears in her eyes. How dared he to tug on her heartstrings to get her to do what he wanted?!
'Don't you dare to play the pity card on me! You can't get me to sympathize with you just so you can get what you want!' she snarled at him.
He just remained on the couch, his expression unreadable as he gazed at her. She felt her whole body shake with anger. She had almost been tempted to give into him but this…wasn't what she wanted. Yes the world had hurt her, but she didn't want to live like this; hidden away from everything and everyone she knew.
She pushed past him, tears in her eyes as she frantically searched for a way out. She found a door and helplessly kicked against it. She knew it was locked but she just wanted to get away from this man. Being here made her so confused.
Defeated, she sank to her knees, banging her head against the door. A pair of hands settled on her shoulders.
'You'll hurt yourself like this. Stop it', came Jonathan's sweet voice.
She spun around, pushing against his chest.
'Don't touch me', she growled.
He ran a hand through her hair. She couldn't help but flinch away from him. She didn't want to stay here with him. She didn't want him to have full control over her.
'Please let me go', she pleaded with him.
'I'm not going to hurt you -' 'So that makes all of this okay, huh?!' she cut him off.
She looked up to him, glaring. 'If you truly cared about me, you wouldn't try and decide what's best for me. You wouldn't keep me here against my will', she scoffed; 'let's face it…you don't even know what love is.'
Before she knew it, he had slapped her hard across the face. Placing her hand over her cheek, she gaped up to him, with tears in her eyes. Had he really just done that -?
He shoved her up against the wall, keeping her there with his body. She attempted to push him away, but he simply grabbed her by the wrists, forcing them above her head. She tried to ignore her throbbing, painful cheek, focusing all her attention on trying to twist her wrists out of his vice-like grip. But he just wouldn't budge…
'Don't patronize me. You have no room to talk. No-one ever cared about you until I stepped in!', he hissed.
Her mouth dropped. 'That's not true! Adam cared about me', tears began to cascade down her cheeks; 'and it got him killed', she almost whimpered.
'You've become so ungrateful. Have you forgotten all I've done for you?' he wondered with disgust.
'That doesn't mean I owe you anything in return! Love doesn't work that way -' 'and who are you to lecture me about love, Diana? Your father walked away from you. Your mother allowed you to be raped daily by a monster', he cut her off.
At mentioning her stepfather, she felt a brief pang of pain at the memory. She bit her bottom lip.
'Your own parents treated you awfully. But I took you in when no-one else wanted to. I took care of you, I made you see how different your life could be, I helped you work past your fears…' his grip tightened on her wrists; 'and how do you repay me? You go out to have coffee with pretty blond police officers and meet up with billionaire playboys behind my back!' he spat out.
She lowered her head, tears running down her cheeks. He had no right to be this way with her…
'You have no idea how angry it made me to see you with him. You didn't see it, but I did. He cares an awful lot about you', he growled.
She didn't answer. Of course he would despise Liam. He was the one that had rescued her. Or as Jonathan saw it; he was the one whom had taken her away from him.
'You care about him as well.'
She still didn't look at him. He let go of her wrists with a scoff.
'You have no right to be this jealous', she muttered.
He slammed his fist against the wall, close to her head. She gasped, her green eyes snapping up to meet his blue eyes.
'I don't? I don't have the right to be jealous when someone else gets close to the woman I love? Is that what you're saying?' he asked.
She trembled. He was starting to scare her…Was this his other side? Was Scarecrow coming out? And what if he did? Would he hurt her? Would…would Scarecrow want to punish her?
Upon seeing her scared expression, his eyes seemed to soften ever so slightly. He carefully touched her cheek; the one he had struck with his palm. She flinched; it still stung.
'I'm sorry. Does it hurt?' he asked quietly.
She gave a faint nod. He sighed.
'I apologize for my outburst. I didn't mean to frighten you', he almost murmured.
She pushed away from him, running past him to lock herself up in the bathroom. Once there, she sank to her knees, sobbing. She felt like she was stuck in a bad dream…
…
Crane watched her with a heavy heart, as she brushed past him. She disappeared from his view and he then felt the weight of his outburst. How much he had scared her.
He took off his glasses, to run a hand over his face. He had hurt her. Not just emotionally, but physically as well. He had actually dared to put his hands on her in violence.
Sighing, he went towards the bathroom. He knocked several times, hearing nothing but her soft sobs.
'Diana?'
He called her name gently, hoping she'd answer. He felt terrible for making her so upset.
'G-go away!'
He swallowed, putting a hand to the door. 'Please open up. I'm sorry', he sighed.
'No!' came her voice from the other side of the door.
He listened to her as she seemed to be rummaging through the cupboards. It worried him.
'What are you doing?' he asked.
She didn't answer; he soon heard the sound of breaking glass. It instantly alerted him; the window in the bathroom was large enough for her to escape from.
He pulled at the door-handle, gritting his teeth.
'Diana! Open the door!' he called loudly.
No response; it only increased his panic. She was definitely smart enough to escape but if she got away…he didn't want her to leave him!
'Damn it! Diana open the damn door!' he yelled.
There was no answer. Gritting his teeth, he stormed out of his apartment, anger building up in his gut. She had to pray he didn't find her; he'd punish her severely for trying to escape.
…
Diana gently let herself down on the stairs positioned underneath the window. Trembling, she heard Jonathan yell at her from the other side of the door. She trembled; he was going to pissed off but she couldn't stay with him.
She quietly went down the stairs, her bare feet hurting as soon as she touched the pavement. Looking around her, she swallowed thickly. Where in the world was she?
'Diana!'
She turned her head, her dark brown hair whirling around her shoulders at Jonathan's voice. She began to run, not caring how her feet hurt at the broken glass and sharp pebbles on the ground.
Turning the corner, she tripped over her feet, scraping her bare knees. Scrambling to her knees, she looked up, spotting a few men in the alleyway. As soon as their gazes settled on her, she knew she was in trouble. She staggered back in terror, only to bump into something solid. Terrified that it was Jonathan, she very carefully turned her head. Who she found there wasn't Jonathan. She found a tall man, cloaked in black, stare down on her. It was then she knew who it was:
The Batman. The Dark Knight had found her.
…
CLIFFHANGAR! What will happen now? What will Crane do? Will he resort back to stalking?!
Stay tuned ;)
Lots of love,
~TheOneWithTooManyInterests