A Handful of Dust

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Notes: This has no connection to my previous B:TAS fanfic and contains spoilers for the animated episode "Lock-Up." The title is from the poem "The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot. Specifically the line is, "I will show you fear in a handful of dust."

Robin sat crouched on the roof of Gotham National Bank. It had been a slow night, just two muggings and a break-in at a pawn shop. He'd been able to handle everything on his own. That was a good thing because he WAS on his own. Batman was overseas at the moment dealing with Ra's al Ghul's latest scheme and Robin was covering all of Gotham by himself.

Luckily, the criminals didn't know that or there would probably be more widespread problems. He just didn't inspire the same dread that Batman did even after all these years at the Dark Knight's side. Still, for all he was capable of dealing with, he was glad it was so quiet. All of the so-called Rogues were locked away in Arkham except for Scarecrow who had been paroled three days ago.

It seemed that Jonathan Crane had managed to convince some gullible new staff member that he was cured and he'd been given his walking papers. Robin was keeping an eye out for any Scarecrow-ish activities but so far there'd been none. The small receiver clipped to Robin's costume suddenly came to life.

"Attention all units! Break-out in progress at Arkham Asylum..." It had been too good to last. Sighing, Robin used a line to swing down to the ground and was soon speeding off on his cycle towards Arkham.

Professor Jonathan Crane sat in his favorite comfortable chair absorbed in the heavy tome in his lap. The walls of the room around him were covered in shelves filled with books. If he drew a deep breath, he could smell the satisfying odor of old leather that bound many of the rare and valuable volumes that graced his collection. Not that their monetary value mattered to him as he'd rather starve than sell a single, precious book.

This house was his sanctuary. No one knew he owned it. He'd never used it as a base for any of his crimes and never wore his costume within these walls. Instead, he utilized it as a storage place for as many of his books as he could fit. Every room in it except the bathroom and kitchen was lined with shelves which were filled with his books. He'd installed state-of-the art security systems as well as a dry-foam sprinkler system in case of fire. The effect was rather like being underground, especially since he'd blocked most of the windows off to prevent sunlight from fading any of the books.

He was well into his first-edition volume of "Tales of Terror and Mystery," by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle when a sudden beeping drew his attention. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a computer which was idle at the moment. The beeping was the product of a program that Jervis Tetch had given him. It scanned for articles of interest on-line and alerted him when certain key words were found.

He closed the book without a marker. Crane didn't need one to remember where he had left off and he thought that nothing should mar the fit of the pages. As soon as he turned on the monitor, he saw what key-word had been found. The headline read, "Break-Out at Arkham Thwarted." Crane tucked the book under his arm and began to read the article with amusement. Doubtless one of his fellow supervillians was feeling rather foolish right now. The article read in part:

"An attempted break-out at Arkham Asylum by inmate Harvey Dent was stopped with the aid of Robin, the sidekick of the mysterious vigilante Batman. The attempt involved the use of a small amount of explosives which were used to blow a hole in the wall of both wings. The second explosion is believed to be a diversion as well as fitting Dent's theme of double crimes. Dent, the former Gotham D.A. known as Two-Face, fled the building but was captured outside and returned to Arkham custody.

However, during Dent's brief escape, another inmate, former Arkham security chief Lyle Bolton, aka Lock-Up also fled and is still at large. Authorities are investigating whether any of the guards were involved but say..."

Crane almost threw the book at the screen but thought better of it and instead slammed his hand down on the computer desk. He was trembling with rage at the sight of Lyle Bolton's name. That bully was at large, allowed to run free after all he had done. The memory of sitting in the hearing, his ribs still bruised from Bolton's fists, and having to claim there was nothing wrong still burned in his head. Not to mention the humiliation of admitting to Batman that he was scared and running from his fear as they'd brought him back to Arkham. It was intolerable. Bolton had to be made to pay and he was already thinking of ways to make it happen.

He placed the book gently back in its designated spot, clasped his shaking hands behind his back and began to pace. It would be much more difficult to get at Bolton in Arkham so Crane would need to go after him while he was on the loose. That meant beating Batman and Robin to Lock-Up which meant figuring out what the bullying maniac was planning to do and where he might be. He had to get started now. With plans hatching in his head, he headed determinedly out to the garage. He was heading for one of his lairs which contained an extensive chemical lab. Soon Bolton would learn the true meaning of fear at the hands of the Scarecrow....