Disclaimer: I don't own Dr. Crane or any of the characters/places associated with Batman Begins.

Vanessa tried calling for help a few more times but it was obvious that no one would be coming to her aid. What was most upsetting about this night she wondered? The fact that this man could seemingly come and go from her room at will or that she was all alone in terms of defending herself against him?

Sitting on the floor by her bed she had hours to just think. She hadn't had a single visitor since she'd been here. Her parents had died in a car accident last year. She and Dan moved to Gotham several months later when she'd received a job offer from Gotham University-but making friends in a city where people don't even make eye contact was no easy task. Maybe some co-workers or casual friends had asked about her status but without being immediate family they wouldn't get much information. She missed normal human contact desperately. Since she'd been here she had received indifference from the staff and repeated visits from a madman that people thought existed only in her mind. Dr. Crane was the only person she really talked to and even he ran hot and cold. Vanessa pulled her pillow from the bed and hugged it tight. There would be sleeping this night.

Sunday eventually arrived. The nurses entered her room to bring her breakfast and her morning meds. During the night she had gotten cold and had crawled back into bed making sure to lie on her right side. It hurt to have her bruised cheek bone pressed into the hard pillow but she didn't want the nurses to see it. That would only bring question after tedious question and who really cared about her answers anyway? Vanessa had only asked to speak with Dr. Crane and was told he wouldn't be in until Monday. She had the option of speaking to the on-call psychologist if she wished but she refused that consult as well as all food and medications.

Showing as much concern as usual the nurse shrugged her shoulders and left Vanessa in peace. She cat napped periodically over the rest of the day. When night fell she was unable to sleep. The slightest noise brought her to full attention and her fight-or-flight response allowed no rest. Two months ago her life had been normal. Now it was destroyed.

"Why?" she whispered.

Vanessa gasped when the door opened softly that morning but was relieved when she looked over her shoulder and saw that Dr. Crane had entered. In spite of herself she had drifted off to sleep. The sun had risen but it appeared to still be rather early in the morning. Her rest, however long it had been, was not as beneficial as she'd hoped. Her first impulse was to get out of bed and tell him everything that had happened but she found herself unable or perhaps unwilling to speak or move. After lying on one side for a greater portion on the last twenty-four hours, rolling over was difficult but manageable.

Dr. Crane was not looking at her that moment, instead he surveyed the room. He took in the over-turned chair, the crack in her door and the three trays of untouched food. When she saw him her reaction surprised even herself. She began to weep quietly, drawing his attention. He watched her for a moment and she could see the wheels turning in his head. He was putting it all together in his mind, recording and analyzing everything he saw. Leaving the chair where it was he sat next to her on the edge of the bed.

"Vanessa", he said her name in a gentle, soothing voice that she'd been longing to hear. She hadn't heard him speak to her in quite so gentle a tone before.

"Do you want to tell me what happened this weekend? The nurses said you've barely spoken and you've refused all food and medication."

She flinched when his hand ran through her hair but his intent was not to seduce or even comfort. He must have seen a glimpse of her injured face through her tresses and wanted a closer look. Running his fingers over the welt on her face he asked,

"How did this happen? Did you harm yourself intentionally?"

Vanessa curled into the fetal position, still unable to find her voice.

"I'm not feeling very well today Dr. Crane. Maybe we can talk later?"

He studied her once again, this time his gaze fell to her hands and she followed it. She'd been clutching her blanket tight in both hands and her injured fingers had bled through their dressings.

"I can't help you if you won't talk to me. You've had a physical altercation of some kind. That much is obvious. Please tell me what's going on."

Vanessa sat up and climbed out of bed. She turned to face Dr. Crane. She reached into her pocket and handed him the plastic bag. He looked at it in astonishment and returned his attention to her. She was quite a sight indeed with her black eye, bloody fingertips and freshly bruised wrists. He looked downward to her torn pants.

This time he stood up quickly and retrieved the chair. Bringing it over to her side he asked her to sit down and she complied. He knelt in front of her and his hands ran up her right thigh.

Vanessa almost jumped out of her chair.

"What are you doing?" she asked

Dr. Crane remained calm. With an even tone he said,

"Vanessa, please. I'm the last person in the world that would hurt you but I need to assess these injuries if I'm to document everything properly."

She allowed him to continue and for the first time she dared to look as well. She'd been sore but had not wanted to see the damage she knew was there. What she saw now was even worse than she had imagined. Both of her thighs were discolored by contusions of various shapes and sizes. The right one even had what appeared to be a hand print outlined in bruises.

"Why didn't you tell anyone about this?" he asked.

She didn't respond.

"Were you able to see his face?" The inflection of his voice demanded she answer.

"No, he wore the same mask. I told you I wasn't making this up. There was someone in my room last week and he was here again Saturday night."

"Vanessa, if he raped you, you have to tell me. You'll need to be examined. We still might be able to salvage some DNA evidence."

"He didn't rape me Dr. Crane."

"What did he do to you Vanessa? Tell me how you sustained these injuries."

So she told him everything-how he pinned her arms down, forced himself on her, put the bag over her face and hit her. She told him about the fear she felt that Scarecrow would finish what her first attackers had not.

"He wasn't going to rape me or kill me. This wasn't about sex it was about power- he seems to get excited by fear."

"And were you frightened?" he asked.

"Waking up with a strange man on top of me and then a bag on my head? How could I not be?" Vanessa said, sounding surprised that Dr. Crane had even asked the question.

"But you were able to control your fear-to focus it. You're a very strong woman Vanessa. Most people would have broken under such repeated psychological trauma."

She smiled at his praise but it was stolen away as quickly as it had appeared. Vanessa found herself breaking down in tears again. What was wrong with her today?

"There's something else you need to tell me." Dr. Crane stated more than asked.

She rose from the chair and turned away from him. Vanessa didn't think she'd be able to say what was on her mind, keep her composure and look him in the eye at the same time. When she knew that he had risen and was standing just a few feet behind her she said,

"My family is gone. I have no one. I have nothing-nothing to go back to when I get out of here. I'm tired of all this pain. I just can't take anymore."

Feeling as if she were about to collapse, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Surprisingly he didn't stiffen at the sudden physical contact. He held her tightly in his arms. She melted into him enjoying the way he felt and the way he smelled. Strange emotions she thought were long gone began to well inside of her.

"I need you. Please stay with me Jonathan. You're all I've got."

He took a deep breath and said softly,

"You're safe Vanessa. I won't let anyone hurt you again. Even if it means I have to camp outside your door myself."

Overcome with emotion she did something she would come to regret deeply over the coming days. She kissed him. It was the briefest of kisses, barely a peck on the lips. Dr, Crane looked at her with a bewildered expression on his face. He stood frozen in place, unsure of what he wanted to do, but he was not pushing her away either. Taking it as a sign to continue she kissed him again-deeper this time. His full lips were soft but he did not reciprocate her kiss no matter how badly she wanted him to. Her kisses moved to his neck and his breathe quickened for an instant before he pushed her gently but firmly away from him.

"Vanessa, please stop. This isn't appropriate."

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Vanessa meant what she had said. She was shocked at her own behavior. She'd been so desperate for tender and-more importantly-consensual physical contact that she had thrown herself at her own doctor!

"I understand where your feelings are coming from. You're trying to regain some level of normalcy in your life by forming an intimate relationship but it would be a breach of ethics from me to be anything but your doctor. I can't replace what you've lost. I can't replace your husband."

"I know." Her eyes were glued to the floor. Truth-be-told she was too embarrassed to look at him after what she'd done.

"Let's meet in my office this afternoon. Getting out of this room for a while will do you some good I think. Until then-try to get some rest and please eat something."

He lifted her chin so he could see her eyes.

"Okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll see you later then."

When he left she picked at the food that hadn't already become stale from a days worth of exposure to the air. After finishing that task she crawled into bed and quickly fell asleep. Vanessa hadn't seen the grin that spread across Dr. Crane's face when he had left her room. She didn't know that she'd fallen into every trap he had set for her and that she was playing right into his hands.