Always Look Forward

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye or Batman Begins!

Chapter Twenty-one

Rachel returned to her home to see Lisa pacing the floors. Lisa jumped and aimed a gun at Rachel, when Rachel closed the door. Fear showed clearly upon her face. Lisa was scared out of her mind.

"Lisa? Calm down, it's only me," Rachel said, freezing in her footsteps. She did not want to be shot today.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, lowering the gun. "I'm just so worried."

"About?"

"Everything. Jackson, the twins—everything."

Rachel nodded. How could she break the news to Lisa about seeing Jackson? Jackson had seemed nice enough, yet she had her suspicions. No one who was truly good could stand to be in Crane's presence for long amounts of time. She despised the man with every fiber of her being.

"The trial didn't go so well," Rachel sighed, before sitting down on the couch. "He got off."

"How?" inquired Lisa. In Miami, no one got away with any crime once they were caught. How corrupt was Gotham's justice system?

"Crane," spat Rachel. "He lied—I know he did. He testified that he was insane, when he's clearly sane."

"Was…" Lisa's voice grew hopeful. "Jackson there?"

Rachel nodded. "Yeah, I saw him. He sure looks a lot like Crane…"

"I suspect that they're related," Lisa said sadly. "It would not be the first time that Jackson had a psychotic relative who hated me."

"What?"

"Oh, you didn't know. Jackson's older half-brother, Roberts, was mentally unstable. He tried to kill me. He also helped make Jackson who he was. He's part of the reason for Jack," Lisa said bitterly, a scowl upon her face.

Rachel was always amazed by the information that Lisa had to share with her. Lisa's story was unique and very strange. She did not know how the other woman tolerated her life. She must really love Jackson to do through everything that she had been told about.

"Is Jackson…?" Rachel began to question.

"Mental too? I have my doubts. Jackson is fine most of the time. As long as Jack stays away, he's absolutely fine. Jack's the danger—not Jackson. Jackson loves me," Lisa wiped away a stray tear.

Rachel sent Lisa a small smile. She felt extremely bad for Lisa, but what could she do at the moment besides keep her away from the crazy Dr. Crane?

A day or two later, when Rachel arrived home, it was pouring something fierce outside. She had worked late that night, stumbling into the house at 9:45pm. Lisa barely looked over from her position on the couch. Joe Reisert had been due to fly into the city with the twins that evening, but the weather had delayed his flight indefinitely. Lisa was miserable.

Approximately twenty minutes later, a freshly showered and pj-clad Rachel re-entered the living room to the sound of Lisa screaming. Lisa had fallen from the couch and was staring transfixed and horrified at the small television that she had been watching. Tears filled her eyes as she sobbed openly, weeping at an image upon the screen.

Rachel watched her wordlessly, as Lisa kissed her trembling hand and then placed it upon the screen. What was going on?

"Jackson!" Lisa sobbed loudly. "No, not Jackson!"

Rachel plopped down on the floor beside Lisa, and peered at the screen. It was announcing some accident at an apartment building in the Narrows. Someone had set a fire and a young man had fallen—or jumped, or been pushed—from one of the windows. His figure lay still upon a shattered car. The fire's hungry flames had licked his clothes and long, dark hair covered his closed eyes.

"Rachel," Lisa turned to face her new friend. "It's Jackson. I'm sure of it!"

"I'll go get dressed," Rachel replied, heading back to her bedroom as Lisa continued to cry.

A few minutes later, Rachel escorted Lisa to her car and helped the broken young woman inside. Lisa had told Rachel the name of the hospital where they had taken Jackson. The police had been asking for someone to come and identify him. There was no word on if he had survived or if he had perished in the fall.

Rachel drove them to the hospital and helped Lisa inside, where the distraught young woman had raced full-speed to the front desk. Lisa ran like a woman possessed. Rachel could barely keep up.

"Where is he?" demanded Lisa, her voice growing cold and harsh. "Where is he!"

"Who, miss?" asked the nurse.

"My husband, Jackson Rippner. He was hurt in the Narrows. I saw his body on TV. Where is he?"

"Can you tell me something about him? How I can I be sure that you know him?" the nurse questioned, a routine set of questions that concerned John Does.

"He was a round, red scar upon his throat," Lisa said pointing on her own throat where she had driven a pen into his throat. "Another round scar on his left thigh, two bullet holes in his chest, several in his shoulders—oh, his right shoulder is still healing from a recent bullet—and tons of knife scars."

The nurse was impressed. Their John Doe had been badly beaten and bruised and had various wounds and scars that littered his body. This woman knew about all of them—or at least a majority of them.

"Can I see an ID?" the nurse asked, holding her hand out.

Lisa reached towards her purse automatically before she realized that it was not there. Her purse was back in Miami, in the ruins of their home. "I'm so sorry, but my ID was destroyed in a fire about a week back."

"What's your name?"

"Rippner, Lisa Rippner. My husband's name is Jackson. We're from Miami. Please, let me see him," she begged, tears beginning anew.

The nurse frowned. It was against hospital policy, but the woman knew him and she was too distraught to do anything wrong. She highly doubted that this Lisa Rippner would harm the patient.

"I'll take you back. Oh, who's your friend?" the nurse asked, noticing Rachel for the first time.

"Rachel Dawes, I'm an assistant DA," Rachel introduced herself, her professional title coming in handy for once.

"You can come back too," the nurse said with a nod, leading them down a hallway.

Lisa was anxious to see Jackson. She prayed that he was all right. She did not know what she would do if he were dead.

"It's funny," the nurse remarked as the small group walked. "You're the second person to claim him."

"Oh?" Rachel asked, surprised. She assumed that no one knew Jackson other than Lisa, herself and…

Dr. Jonathan Crane was standing inside the room that the nurse led them to. Lisa let out a scream and began to shake. He spun around and smiled at them.

"You bastard!" screamed Lisa, leaping at the psychiatrist. "What did you do to him! What did you do to Jackson!"

Crane titled his head slightly and peered at her through his glasses. "It's so nice to see you too, Lisa."

The open hostility between the two filled the air, and Jonathan's blue eyes narrowed upon Lisa's tear-filled eyes. He looked ready to rip her throat out and she looked like she wanted nothing more than to gorge out his crystal eyes that were identical to Jackson's.

A moan from the bed stopped them. Lisa flew past Crane and raced to Jackson's side. She grabbed his hand with her right hand and brushed the dark hair out of his flickering eyes with her left hand. She shot a glare towards Crane that told him to get away before she harmed him.

"Don't think I won't be back, Lisa. You belong at Arkham and I'll make sure you stay there," Jonathan Crane promised, before striding out of the hospital room.

Rachel just stood barely inside the door in shock.

"You were an inmate?" she questioned, her voice barely above a whisper.

"No," snorted Lisa, shaking her head. "I was his 'experiment'. His 'plaything' for his powder. He drove me insane."

This just kept getting stranger and stranger…

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay in posting. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it! Enjoy!