Disclaimer: I don't own Dr. Crane and/or any of the characters/places associated with Batman Begins
Vanessa hadn't seen Dr. Crane in two and a half weeks. Dr. Crane, Jonathan, whatever the hell she was supposed to call him. Jonathan seemed too personal. Dr. Crane seemed inappropriate as well. He hardly felt like her doctor anymore. During their time apart Vanessa had been left in near solitary confinement. She found her thoughts would often dwell on Julie and what had ultimately become of her. She pestered the nurses every time they entered her room. Did they know Julie personally? Had they heard anything from her? She never got any answers. The only person who didn't treat her like a leper was Audrey. She talked Vanessa's ear off to such an extent that sometimes she thought solitary confinement might not be so bad after all. Okay, that was a bit harsh. Audrey was good for current events even if she knew nothing about Julie or Dr. Crane. Through her Vanessa had learned that another District Attorney had gone missing, a man dressed as a bat had set himself on fire and jumped from a fourth story apartment building in the Narrows and the crime boss Carmine Falcone was a now a resident at Arkham. His room was just two floors above hers. It sent a chill down her spine when Audrey told her that Falcone had been driven mad with fear and now lay strapped to a table repeating a single word over and over again,
"Scarecrow."
Vanessa knew that somewhere along the line Falcone had run afoul of Dr. Crane. When that happened things seldom went well for the offending individual.
Vanessa was sure to remain on Audrey's good side even if her chatter could wear thin. She had even talked Audrey into bringing her some elastic bands so she could pull her hair back and finally get it out of her face. Maybe she could talk her into bringing a cheeseburger and fries next time she thought as she looked at her empty tray of food. Vanessa had just finished dinner and in keeping with her new nightly ritual she pulled her chair up to the window to observe the goings on in the parking lot. Sadly, this had become the highlight of her evening. She never thought that deliveries of toilet paper and paper towels could be so fascinating. Then again, she'd never been locked in a room with minimal human contact before either. She thought she was coping quite well even if she was a bit stir crazy.
In the parking lot a dolly loaded with boxes tipped over and two delivery men began arguing over who had been responsible. Vanessa was so focused on this scene that she didn't hear Dr. Crane until he spoke.
"Remember me?" he asked.
She must have jumped a foot in the air when she heard that voice. Dr. Crane smiled at her startled response. Vanessa had been waiting so long to see him but now she couldn't speak. She had been anticipating and dreading this moment, somehow convincing herself that Julie would be okay until he told her otherwise.
She studied him in an effort to pull the answers from him before he had the pleasure of telling her himself. There was nothing in those cold eyes. All she could see in him was a hint of fatigue.
"I brought you something. Consider it a gift." he said as he threw the object in her lap.
She picked it up and traced over it with her fingers knowing immediately what it was. Vanessa could almost imagine Dr. Crane viscously cutting it from Julie's head with the sole intent of bringing it here to shock and frighten her.
"You want me to cry don't you?" she asked, "Should I fall to the floor and say please don't hurt me Dr. Crane? Would that give you a thrill?"
This was not the reaction he had anticipated but he still looked interested in her response.
"What did you do to her? I want to know how she died." Vanessa demanded.
"It's none of your concern. Just know that it's done and we can put this foolishness behind us."
"It is my concern. She died trying to help me. There are people out there who do things like that. They'll risk their lives on principle. That's something your feeble little mind wouldn't understand."
He absorbed her insult without a hint of emotion.
"Very well, if it's that important to you, she was drowned. It was relatively painless. Take comfort in that." he said in a dismissive tone.
"Did you do it personally?"
"Of course not."
"Will her body be found or will you let her family sit and wonder what happened to her, never knowing if she's alive or dead?"
It had been hard enough not knowing over these past two weeks. Vanessa couldn't imagine what it would be like to spend a lifetime not knowing.
She rose from her chair and approached him. He appeared enthralled, unable to take his eyes off of her.
"I don't want this." Vanessa said as she thrust the lock of hair back into his hand, "Why don't you put it back in your trophy case doctor?"
"We're off to a bad start already. I didn't come here tonight to argue with you. Although I must admit, we do it so well."
"Then why are you here?" she asked.
"You're hair is up." he said suddenly. His face became flushed and he seemed quite angry about this.
"Yeah, so?" she replied, wondering how the subject had been changed so quickly.
"Where did you get the elastic? I didn't authorize it."
"I don't know if I should tell you. You might have the person killed. Is this really a big deal?"
"I prefer your hair down." he said.
"Alright, I'll keep that in mind for the swimsuit portion on the competition." she said sarcastically. Dr. Crane must have developed a full blown obsessive-compulsive disorder since she'd last seen him.
"I want you to come for a walk with me Vanessa." he said.
"A walk, give me a break!"
"This isn't a joke. I have something to show you that will put everything into perspective."
Dr. Crane said nothing more to her as they entered the elevator and began their descent. Vanessa noted that the elevator required a key in order to operate properly. She stared at that key ring hanging from the control panel of the elevator until she felt his eyes on her. She quickly looked to the floor and took a deep breath. When the doors opened she was shocked to discover a place even more dank and dismal then her room. This must be the illustrious basement of Arkham. Not wanting to get lost in this place she kept close to Dr. Crane as they walked down the hallway. He pushed open a set of double doors and they stepped onto a balcony over looking the floor below.
Her jaw dropped at what she saw. Men with guns patrolled the isles while inmates (and she knew that's what they were by their orange jumpsuits) took on the task of making the toxin. Vanessa's eyes moved from station to station observing the toxins journey from start to finish until it was liquefied and poured into the water. Unable and unwilling to watch anymore she slowly began to back away.
Every fiber of her being wanted to run but her mind knew there was no point in it. The elevator would be useless without the key. She could try her luck in the halls but would have no idea where she was going. It was doubtful she'd get very far.
"What are you doing here Dr. Crane?" she asked timidly.
"This is the big picture Vanessa." he said as he waved his hand over the asylum floor, "I'm saving this city."
"You're crazy." was all Vanessa could say.
He turned abruptly and backed her into the corner. His hands gripped her arms so tight it caused her pain.
"Am I? Every single level of this city's infrastructure is corrupt, from the Governor's office to the DMV. The streets are teeming with criminals. What if we could start over? Don't you want this city to be a safe place again?"
"Yes, but not like this. You're going to kill everyone indiscriminately. There are still good people in this city."
"Where are they Vanessa? I've looked and I can't find them. All the good people that were able to leave have gone. Those who can't or won't eventually fall prey to the monsters that run free in Gotham. No one knows that more than you."
Realizing how tightly he held her Dr. Crane loosened his grip before he continued,
"Those scum killed your husband. They took everything from you. My God, they raped you while you lay dying on the floor and now you want to protect them. That's crazy Vanessa."
After holding her composure for so long she felt her resolve start to slip. Tears rolled down her cheeks. He was scaring her. Not because of the crazed look in his eyes, not because of the passion with which he talked about killing thousands of people but because what he was saying was making sense to her.
"No, I can't listen to this. You killed Julie." she cried.
"Julie was not your friend. She had her own agenda. She stole files from my office and brought them straight to Carmine Falcone. They tried to blackmail me. They offered their silence in exchange for favors. If I made sure his men stayed out of prison he'd let me continue with my work. I assume Audrey told you where Falcone is now? He's there because I decided to end his reign of corruption and Julie, she played you for a fool for her own sick thrills. She got what she deserved."
"This isn't happening." Vanessa whispered.
"I know this is upsetting. Come on. Let's go back to my office and we can talk in private."
Vanessa had to lean against the corner of the elevator as they rode back to the fourth floor. She felt as thought she might faint and Dr. Crane practically had to drag her to his office. This level of the asylum was deserted at the moment. Everything was dead quiet, their footsteps echoing through the halls a further reminder that she was all alone with him.
When they entered his office he sat her down on his new couch and stood behind her. She noticed that the whole room had been refurnished. Moving up in the world are we?
He carefully pulled the elastic from her hair and let it fall around her shoulders. Jonathan Crane liked her hair down and Jonathan Crane always seemed to get what he wanted. His hands massaged her shoulders gently and she melted slightly at the contact. She couldn't deny her intrinsic human need to be touched, even if it was by a man she loathed. What he had said to her in the basement lingered in her mind until he spoke again.
"You played a key role in all of this Vanessa. I never could have done it without you. I wasn't one hundred percent sure the toxin would have the same effect on a sane mind as it did on the inmates. That's when you came along. I know it was hard on you, even terrifying sometimes but it was for the greater good. You'll be glad to know that no further testing is required."
His hands loomed at the base of her throat.
"So this is it?" she asked, "You've finished with me so now you're going to snap my neck or strangle me? Whatever you're going to do make it quick, I don't want to feel any pain."
It was kind of funny. She had never thought of him as the hands on type of killer.
He laughed softly,
"I have no intention of killing you."
He ran his hand through her hair then pushed it aside and kissed her gently on the neck.
"I thought we could celebrate our victory tonight." he purred in her ear.
Vanessa was at a loss for words but quickly left the couch to avoid his touch. She looked nervously around the room and noticed that the door to his office stood open. It was the first time she'd seen that happen.
"I know it's a lot to take in. If I'm going too fast I'll stop." he said.
He held his hand out to her,
"I'm not a monster Vanessa. I've had to do some things that were unpleasant but everything I did, I did for the sake of Gotham."
His outstretched hand took hold of hers and he pulled her closer. His other hand rested on the side of her face.
"I'll never forget the first time I saw you. You were staring off into space, lost in your own world because this one was too brutal. I looked at your patient folder and saw your list of prescriptions."
"Don't" she begged him.
"I know you were taking prenatal vitamins. You wanted to start a family."
Her heart began to pound in her chest. It felt as if a heavy weight lay across her shoulders. She made several efforts to speak before she was finally able to tell him,
"I was pregnant."
"I know." he said.
"I had just found out that morning. I wanted to surprise Dan but I never got to tell him. When I woke up in the hospital I just knew. I knew I had lost the baby. They didn't need to tell me."
"You lost the one thing that you had to remember him by. Your hope, your future." his voice was filled with empathy.
She broke down and fell into his arms. Vanessa was certain that her lamentations could be heard throughout the entire floor if anyone had been around to hear them.
"What has it been doing to you, keeping something like this secret for all this time?" he asked her.
Vanessa couldn't answer him. He had found her one remaining weak spot as she knew he would. This was the only thing she had bottled up, pushed down and tried to forget. Vanessa kept waiting to wake up in her room any minute now and find that this had all been some sedative induced dream. He removed his glasses and they were now truly eye-to-eye.
"Jonathan, I can't," she started to say before he interrupted.
"If you want to leave here now and go to the police that's your choice. I'll drive you there myself but think about the kind of people you'll be saving. You can walk out that door and leave Gotham to the murders and rapists or you can stay with me and we can start over."
He ended their embrace and she pulled away from him. Vanessa walked to the door and stood at the threshold, one foot rested in the hall, the other remained in his office. Jonathan turned away from her acting as if he were preoccupied with something on his desk. She looked back and forth between this man and the hall.
The choice was clear.
Author's Note: Oh that Dr. Crane, he's a sneaky one and one of the best manipulators around. Will Vanessa fall for it? You'll have to stay tuned for the next installment!
First and foremost, thank you all again for your supportive reviews. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story.
I feel I may have made Vanessa a bit too sarcastic in this chapter. Please let me know if that's the case. I also know that it's a bit redundant to have Dr. Crane take two women down to the basement but it always bugged me that Rachel ran to the elevator knowing if didn't work without the key. I just figured an attorney would be more observant.
I've strayed a bit from the plotline of Batman Begins by making Dr. Crane aware of the plot to spread the toxin throughout the city rather than thinking it would be held for ransom. I just thought it was more interesting this way.
