Always…

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

Chapter Five

Jonathan Crane was stunned. "It was no problem really," he muttered. The usually self-assured psychiatrist was suddenly unsure of what to do.

"I don't know what happened. One moment I was talking to you and the next Jackson was strangling me and calling me horrible names and saying that I didn't love him," Lisa said softly, slightly ashamed that she had been unable to keep Jackson away on her own.

Jackson was becoming more of a threat to her. He persisted in bothering her more and more, recently. When she saw him now, he was usually violent. She was afraid of what he might do to her and the distinction between reality and her mind was disappearing. She could no longer easily distinguish Jackson from being dead or being alive as he continued to torment her, regardless.

"It's okay. Seeing him is a common symptom of PTSD," Jonathan said assuredly. "I can help you get rid of the flashbacks of him if you want me to. It's going to be tough though. I won't lie to you. You're going to have to place a lot of trust me. My therapy methods can be somewhat unconventional."

Lisa nodded. She knew that she needed the help desperately. Everything was beyond her control now. She hated feeling this way. She wanted her life and sanity back which had both been ruthlessly stolen by Jackson. "I'll trust you" she agreed.

"Good. Now, I have a meeting to go to. Are you gonna be okay until I get back?" Jonathan's voice was genuinely concerned.

"I think so. Do you need a car?" she asked.

"Yes, I suppose I do," he replied.

"You can use Jackson's. It's parked in the garage and the keys are hanging on a hook near the door," Lisa offered.

"You don't have to..." Jonathan started to say.

"Take it," insisted Lisa. "Please."

"Okay," Jonathan agreed, nodding as he got up from the floor and left the room, trying to find his way to the garage. He must have succeeded because Lisa heard the garage door open.

She sighed and picked herself up off the floor. She lay down on the couch; her weary body too exhausted to head up the steps. Her eyes slowly closed and she prayed that Jackson would leave her alone for once and let her sleep as she desperately needed to clear her head.

Jonathan Crane knocked on the office door of Betsey Gruber a while later, hoping that she was still hanging around. He had promised that he would stop by, but that did not mean that the scatterbrained therapist would remember. How she had managed to become a licensed therapist was beyond him.

She was his ally in the medical world as she had known about his fascination with fear for many years now and had supported him with his research. Betsey supplied him with individuals to be treated on an out-patient basis for his experiments for the toxin that he was creating. She had sent Lisa to him for the same purpose as the others, not to mention that she believed Lisa Rippner to be criminally insane. But Betsey had always been afraid of the so-called crazies that he worked with.

Lisa Rippner was not insane though. But she would be a perfect specimen for his toxin, once her baby was born. Had she been anyone else, he would not have held off on the toxin like he was planning to. Yet the fact remained that he could not bring himself to harm his brother's widow.

Jackson Rippner was his long-lost twin brother who had run away at a young age. Jonathan had seen him once or twice over the years and found himself cleaning up his older brother's messes on occasion each time. He was quite grateful that Jackson had disappeared for the past few years and was actually pleased to find out that he was now deceased.

It was only out of respect for his brother that he was holding off on using Lisa as a test subject. She was his sister-in-law and even though he planned on using her, he felt that he owed it to her and Jackson to wait until the baby was born. He would have a niece in three months time.

"Oh, hello Jonathan," Betsey greeted him, opening the door to her office.

"Hello," he replied and entered the small outer office. "I must admit that I'm surprised that you're still here."

"Why wouldn't I be? I was waiting for you," smiled Betsey cheerfully. "Have a seat."

Jonathan settled his lanky frame onto one of the cushiony chairs that occupied the waiting room. It was far more comfortable to be in the outer office and it eliminated the awkward feeling of visiting a therapist in their office. He relaxed for a moment before getting down to business.

"Lisa Rippner is a fine candidate for the toxin," Jonathan remarked. "But just to be careful, I'm going to wait until the baby's born. I want her to trust me and I want to get to the depth of her problems before I expose her to the toxin."

"Sounds like a plan. She was a good find, huh?" she asked with a slight smile upon her face.

"You always know exactly what I want."

"I would hope so after all the time we've spent together, Jonathan. Tell me, why did we ever break-up?" she asked flirtatiously.

"Betsey, we've been over this before," sighed Jonathan, removing his glasses to massage his temples.

"I know, but still, we are a good pair," she insisted.

Jonathan did not feel like explaining how utterly stupid Betsey was and how that was the real reason why they could never be a couple. He used her to achieve his goals and nothing more. He enjoyed stringing her along and playing with her mind. One of these days, the fear toxin would be used on her. That was once she wore her welcome out.

"You know that I'm too busy with the development of the fear toxin," he lied. Well, it was technically a half-truth.

"I know." she said dejectedly.

"But once, Ra's is happy, we could re-think our relationship..." he said, putting false encouragement in his tone.

Betsey Gruber's face brightened and Jonathan vaguely wondered when he had become such a skilled manipulator like his dead brother. It must have been in the genes.

Author's Notes:

I'll hopefully have the next chapter up in another day or two, or next week. I'm supposed to be going away at some point this week, but my plans haven't been finalized yet. Enjoy! More about Jonathan's relationship with Betsey will be relieved soon.