The Crane and the Falcon

Chapter V

"He's here."

"Who?"

"The batman."

Sakura looked around, knowing there were a hundred places in the room where such a character could hide. Crane eyed the ceiling warily. "What do we do?" a nearby thug asked. His voice quavered.

"What anyone does when a prowler comes around." Sakura watched him closely as he met her eyes. "Call the police," he finished. "I believe it's time for you to go, Miss Falcone."

But the woman wasn't one to back down. "The bastard put my uncle behind bars." Crane swallowed and his blue eyes pleaded with her. He could feel the Scarecrow tearing at his insides, yearning to break lose and prey on all in his path.

"You want the cops here?" the thug said, breaking the silence.

"At this point," Crane sighed, "They're irrelevant." He never broke eye contact with Sakura, who still had her gun drawn. "But the batman, he has a talent for disruption. Let the cops wrangle him." His voice changed as he turned away from Sakura. "Force him outside, the police will take him down. Get them out of here." He nodded to the inmates, who began to be ushered out of the room. Rachel lay at his feet, rolling in fear.

Sakura glanced down at Rachel, "What about her?"

"She's gone. I gave her a concentrated dose. The mind can only take so much," he answered calmly, but his ice eyes were fixed on the dark corners of the vast room. "You need to leave. Now," he added.

But she defiantly shook her head. "I want to separate the man from the myth," she retorted, waiting for Batman to strike.

"The things they say," another thug went on, eyeing the walls, "Can he really fly?" Sakura and Crane smirked in unison.

The thug continued rambling, "I heard he can disappear-."

"We'll find out," Crane said. His gaze turned back to Sakura, "Won't we?" At his curt nod, the thugs fanned out, searching for any sign of the Dark Knight. Sakura kept herself alert and removed her jacket, tossing the cloth to the floor. She adjusted her footing, ready to spring. Crane sunk back into the shadows and Sakura did the same.

Suddenly, a window smashed open and a dark shadow slipped in. Like lightning, he struck. Two of the Arkham goons fell to the floor, and Batman made quick work of Sakura's bodyguards. Outside, the piercing of police sirens grew louder as every moment passed.

Crane burst out of the shadows, ready to strike, but Batman was too quick for him. Suddenly Dr. Crane found himself a victim of his own creation. Sakura felt herself numb as he fell to the floor, choking on the dissolving powder

"Taste of your own medicine, doctor?" the vigilante roared. His voice sent chills through Sakura's body but she couldn't allow this to happen. Batman flung Crane to the floor and the doctor's eyes widened in fear at the sight of the masked man. "Who are you working for?" Behind him, Sakura knelt and took a weapon off her most trusted guard, a man from Tokyo sent especially by her grandfather.

"Ra's- Ra's Al Ghul!" Crane choked. His eyes were clouded with terror and he tried to escape. Batman straightened and narrowed his eyes.

"Ra's Al Ghul is dead! Who-?" but a silver throwing star glanced harmlessly off his suit, leaving only a small scratch in the black suit. He rose up and looked towards the source of the throwing star.

Sakura stepped out of the shadows, gun in one hand and two more stars in the other. "Get away from him," she growled. Batman advanced and she fired two warning shots. Into his chest. But the batsuit was made of stronger stuff than she thought.

"Don't do that," he growled, advancing further. Sakura didn't back down and threw both the throwing stars at the only exposed part of Batman's body. He dodged them deftly and leapt forward, grabbing her wrist. His firm grip made her drop the gun. "I don't want to hurt you."

But her hand tightened and she gave him a quick elbow to the face. He let go of her wrist and she curled into a somersault, grabbing a smaller gun from her ankle holster. She trained it on his face and smirked. "Oh, but I have no reservations about harming you."

Next to her on the floor, Rachel moaned. "What's it gonna be, Batboy? Save the girl, or get me a cell with my dear uncle?" She cocked an eyebrow. Batman tightened his jaw but grabbed Rachel and slung her bodily over his shoulder.

"Hold on," he whispered as he left the room with a swish of his cape. He didn't miss the cruel laughter emitting from the room he just left. Her happiness would be short-lived, he thought. The police would be in the asylum within minutes and the building was surrounded.

Once Batman was gone, Sakura raced over to Crane and placed a hand onto his cheek. His skin was deathly cold. He raised his eyes to her and was sent into a spiral of panic. "No, Jonathan, no," she whispered. "It's me, it's me!" she pleaded. But his eyes rolled back into his head as he forced back screams.

"Close your eyes," she breathed in his ear. "Jonathan." Her voice was calm and smooth. Slowly, his eyelids fluttered shut. "I'll come back for you." She kissed his cheek warmly. "I promise." She could hear the police charging down the hall.

And with that, she wiped her guns quickly, throwing them down in the lower portion of the room and backed up against the wall. She screamed in mock terror, smearing her mascara with her hand. "Help! Somebody help!" she yelled, doing her best to seem the damsel in distress.

The police burst through the door at top speed, the word SWAT emblazoned on their bullet-proof vests. "Miss! Miss, are you alright?" one of them said, seeing the room was full of incapacitated men. He helped her to her feet and ushered her out of the room. Not until they were in the light of the hallway did he recognize her. "Miss Falcone?" he said warily.

She met his eyes and he saw they were hard and filled with power. "Yes?" she replied coldly. He had never heard a voice so unbreakable.

"I'll get you upstairs, ma'am- Miss Falcone." The officer had a wife and baby son. He didn't need the trouble this woman could bring.

"Thank you," she said quietly. He led her to the stairwell, and she couldn't help but glance back to Jonathan Crane as he lay on the floor, his shivers of fear shaking his body. Slowly, she followed the officer up to the lobby, where every nurse agreed that she was there to visit her uncle and never met with Jonathan Crane on her own accord.

Oh, the power being a Falcone brought.

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