Always Look Forward
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye or Batman Begins!
Chapter Twenty
Crane leaned closer to the microphone as he delivered his final statement—and one that shocked Rachel Dawes.
"In my opinion, Mr. Zsasz is as much a danger to himself as to others," Crane glanced towards the flunky of Falcone. This was part of the deal that got him the flowers with which he created his toxin. Falcone brought the flowers in and Crane helped give testimony to get his crooks off easy. "And prison is probably not the best environment for his rehabilitation."
Rachel was furious. How dare Crane do this, yet again? She wanted to strange the thin man, especially after what Lisa had told her last night. The poor young woman was still staying at her place, while she waited for her father to bring her children in by plane.
Rachel followed Crane out of the courtroom and noticed that he met up with a young man his age in a business suit. They stood at the same height and both men had dark hair, though it was styled differently. The second man must be Jackson. She could not see any difference in the two men from the back, but Lisa had told her some differences, such as a round, red-colored scar on Jackson's throat, near the collar of his dress shirt.
"Dr. Crane!" Rachel called after the two men, who paused and turned around to face her. She was struck by the obvious resemblance.
Two sets of blindly blue eyes stared her down; Crane's peering at her through his glasses. Jackson wore no glasses and his eyes held a softer look to them. He looked like the nice guy that Lisa had assured he that he was. But then what was he doing hanging around Crane?
"Ah, Miss Dawes," Crane commented, clearly disgusted at the sight of her.
"Do you really think a man who butchers people for the mob doesn't belong in jail?" Rachel questioned, knowing that she had to keep Lisa out of this discussion. She did not want to lose all the information that she had against Crane so soon.
"I would hardly have testified to that otherwise, Miss Dawes." (AN: Not sure of exact wording here…)
"This is the third of Carmine Falcone's thugs that you've seen fit to have declared insane and moved into your asylum."
"Well, the work offered by organized crime must have an attraction to the insane," insisted Crane coolly. Jackson's eyes darted between Rachel and Jonathan
"Or the corrupt."
"Um, Miss Dawes is it?" Jackson intervened. "I'm afraid that Dr. Crane is a little busy at the moment. If you have any further accusations, I'm sure that you can bother him another time."
A smile—or was it a devious smirk?—came from Jackson before he turned away from Rachel and started walking, Jonathan at his heels.
"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with the escape from last night, now would it?"
Jackson and Jonathan froze. They shared a look before turning around once more to face Rachel.
"If it does, I fail to see what it has to do with you," remarked Crane, turning and leaving the conversation once more.
Rachel was about to follow them, and pester them some more, when Carl Finch, the DA, grabbed her arm and stopped her. As he talked to her, Crane and Jackson disappeared from the courthouse and she assumed they were headed back to Arkham Asylum.
"Annoying little pest, isn't she?" Crane asked Jackson.
"Who? Dawes?"
"Who else? Well, your disappearing wife is a pest too. Just wait until I find her…" Crane glanced at his arm, where Jackson knew he was hiding some fear gas.
Jackson gulped, when Crane was facing away from him. He would not let Jonathan Crane touch Lisa again if he could help it. He still had not learned enough from Crane to leave, but he would not risk Lisa anymore. He worried about her, escaping into a strange city. He knew that she was no longer in the Asylum, despite what Crane thought. No, Lisa would have left the building as soon as she escaped.
He could only hope that he would find her before something terrible happened to her…
A while later, in an apartment in the Narrows, Jonathan Crane led Jackson and a small group of Falcone's thugs inside, where they would destroy the evidence. All Jackson could see were stuffed animals. Jonathan had asked for his help in planning the evidence removal, and though Jackson dearly wanted to make a bomb, it would not have worked for this situation. So, instead he came up with a simple torching plan, which Jonathan seemed to like.
"Get rid of all traces," ordered Jonathan, shinning a high-powered flashlight around the dismal apartment.
The men began spreading the gasoline around, whilst Jackson took in his surroundings. Jonathan had told him very little about what was going on. Jackson was normally kept in the dark about the psychiatrist's dealings. Jonathan claimed to be worried about Jackson, and kept 'Jack' on a need-to-know basis. But it was only a matter of time before Jackson figured everything out. For now, he just observed.
Jonathan walked over towards an open window. Outside, the rain was pouring down. A loud sound—like shattering glass—caught his attention and he spun away from the window. Jackson too, heard the noise and rushed towards the sound.
Meanwhile, a thug prepared to torch the apartment, but was stopped by a person dressed completely in black. He fought the thug and Crane—how could he have possible slipped his mask on that fast?—sprayed him with the same powder that he had hit Lisa with several times.
The man in black, a bat-like figure, coughed. Jackson froze.
"Aw, having trouble?" came Crane's voice. "Take a seat. Have a drink."
Jackson was speechless. He had never seen this side of Crane before. Did mental illness run rampant in his family? He sure as hell hoped not…
Crane poured some flammable liquid upon the figure before continuing. "You look like a man who takes himself way too seriously… "
What was Crane doing? Why was he acting this way?
"Do you want my opinion? You need to lighten up!" Crane clicked a lighter and tossed it towards the bat-man.
In an instant, the man cloak in black lit up. And then he ran towards a window, and jumped out. Suicidal…something that Jackson would never be unless he lost Lisa and the twins.
"Jonathan," he urged, grabbing the crazy doctor by the back of his suit as the apartment shot up in flame. "We've got to get out of here!"
Crane hissed at him before pulling off the sack-like, burlap mask and slipping his glasses back on. Jackson looked in his eyes, and he knew that Crane was no longer sane. The doctor had lost himself to the same inner demons that Jackson himself was fighting. He was more dangerous than he looked.
With a maniacal glint in his eyes, and a smile upon his face, Jonathan shoved Jackson harshly into the flames and hissed, "Enjoy the fire, Jackson!"
Jackson stumbled and fell into the center of the room. Jonathan disappeared as the flames sealed off the exit. He collapsed, hopelessly, onto the floor. The growing, hungry flames surrounded him. He was going to die here.
No, wait, there was a bathroom—with water. He could see it through the fire. If he could get to the water, he might have a chance. The flames near the bathroom were still low enough for him to make a running leap over them. He took the chance and landed hard on the floor. Panting, he pulled himself up to the sink.
Shaking hands turned the facet on full blast. The busted facet sprayed water all over Jackson's face—a stark contrast to the heat of the fire. Jackson stood up and shrugged his jacket off. He doused it in the water, soaking the material, before doing the same to his dress pants. Once soaking wet, Jackson turned to face the wall of flames. If he were lucky, he would not get burned. It was not the smartest thing, but it was his only option if he wanted to live.
Taking a deep breath, Jackson threw himself over the flames and back into the center of the room. From there, he raced to the open window and rolled through the flames. His jacket and pants caught fire, but he managed to muster the strength to throw himself out the window. The pounding rain snuffed out the fire instantaneous and Jackson found himself falling down, down…faster still…to the ground.
He should have realized earlier that if the fire didn't kill him, the fall surely would.
Author's Notes:
We saw a glimpse of Batman/Bruce Wayne in this chapter and Jonathan's on to Jackson's game. That's why he left him to die. Enjoy! Next chapter soon!