Never…

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

Chapter Seven

"Dr. Crane, would you care to explain to me what happened here?" a weary Lieutenant Gordon inquired of Jonathan soon after he arrived on scene.

"I was about to head to Arkham, when the doorbell rang. I answered it and two men burst into the house whom were both carrying weapons." Jonathan seemed cool and collected which was not normal behavior for someone who had just been 'attacked' as he claimed.

"Can you describe these men?" Gordon asked suspiciously

"Unfortunately, I'm unable to. The intruders wore masks and both were taller than me and had superior physical strength. That's all I can recall."

"Did they wear gloves?"

"Yes."

Gordon nodded, figuring that dusting for fingerprints in the small house would be futile anyway. Crane's fingerprints were probably everywhere, seeing as it was his residence.

"Once they were inside, what did they do?"

"They told Lisa and I to stay downstairs. Then one of the men whom had a gun, remained in the room with us while the other went to get Amy. He dragged her down the stairs while she cried out for us to help."

"How were you and Lisa injured?"

"Lisa, my sweet Lisa, tried desperately to get to Amy and during that attempt the assailant angrily slashed her with his knife. I went to assist her and I was shot in the process. Lisa simply froze due to the fact that she's extremely gun-shy. They left with Amy, despite our efforts to rescue her, and I was forced to sedate Lisa. She was hysterical."

"Did they say why they wanted Amy?"

"No, but I heard them mentioned something about Rippner."

Gordon was intrigued. "What about Rippner?"

"I don't remember. It made no sense to me at the time. No one knew that Amy was his daughter. Besides, he's dead."

Liar…plenty of us knew.

Gordon's cell phone rang. "Excuse me for a moment," he said to Jonathan, stepping away from the ambulance.

He quickly answered the phone. "This is Gordon."

"Lieutenant Gordon? This is Bruce Wayne. I saw that there was a break-in on the news at the Crane home. What happened? Does this concern Amy?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. Jonathan Crane is claiming that two men broke in to kidnap Amy. He's demanding an investigation into her supposed abduction."

Bruce sighed. "I'm going to contact Rachel Dawes and see if there is a legal avenue to stall Crane. No matter what, we cannot let him find her. Hopefully, Amy will admit to me that Crane has been physically abusive towards her and then we'll have a case against him."

"Keep me posted," Gordon said, knowing that he had to get back to the crime scene.

"I will," Bruce agreed and the phone went dead.

Gordon pocketed the phone. Now, he had to go tell Crane some bullshit excuse why they were not launching an immediate search for Amy. Hopefully some combination of the 48 hour waiting period and Amy's record would be a convincing argument for Jonathan. Because Amy could have 'hired' men to 'kidnap' her…yeah, that should work. He thought with amusement.


Bruce turned to face Amy again. The teenager was quietly sitting on a couch, her arms wrapped tightly around her body. She still did not trust him but hopefully she would let down her guard tell Bruce what Crane did to her so that he could better protect her against Crane's relentless pursuit of her. There was no doubt in his mind that if Crane got his hands on her he would ultimately kill her.

And Bruce would not allow that to happen.


"Amy, can you tell me something?" Bruce asked gently as he sat down directly in front of her.

She jumped at the sound of his voice, seeming visibly preoccupied within her own thoughts. "What?" she asked, edgily.

"My friend Lieutenant Gordon has just informed me that your father, Jonathan Crane is looking for you. He's telling police that you were kidnapped."

Amy snorted at the absurdity of the idea.

"Gordon is legally obligated to tell Jonathan that you're here unless you have something about him to tell me, he could be here in less than an hour to take you home…" Bruce's voice trailed off.

"No," Amy said, shaking her head in despair. "Don't let him take me back!"

"Why not?" Bruce demanded firmly. "Has Jonathan hurt you, Amy?"

Malice filled his face as he roughly strangled her.

Amy froze for a moment, lost in the nightmare as her hands frantically tried to fight off Crane's invisible grip around her throat.

"Amy?" Bruce asked gently, his tone radiated with concern.

"Yes, he did. He... he strangled me…" Amy said softly, putting her head into her hands, feeling already the pain of his retribution due to her for speaking badly about him. He will punish me for sure now… I'll have to have a therapy session...his therapy...I won't survive.

"Would you be able to swear in a court of law that Jonathan Crane attempted to strangle you and left those bruises?"

"Yes…" Amy murmured. I have no choice. He'll kill me if I don't. Bruce reached and put a comforting hand on her shoulder causing Amy to immediately jerk backwards.

"It's going to be all right Amy," he told her soothingly. "Here's what I would like to do. I am going to call my friend that I mentioned before whom works in the D.A.'s office. Her name is Rachel Dawes and if you repeat to her what you just told me then she will help us keep Jonathan away from you. Do you think you can you do that?"

"Yes… just don't let him come near me, please!"

"I won't let Crane near you. I promise."

We'll see how long that lasts—he will find a way. He always does…Amy thought as a shiver racked her small frame violently.


"Dr. Crane?" Gordon called out as he entered his hospital room. Crane had just had surgery to remove the bullet and was still recovering.

"Yes?" the psychiatrist answered.

"I just received word from Rachel Dawes. She is formally pressing charges against you for abuse against a minor."

"What?" Crane was outraged. "I never hurt anyone!"

"Then would you care to explain these marks, Dr. Crane?" Gordon asked, placing the photographs that he had obtained with the Batman's help.

"Those did not come from me. I can assure you of that."

"Then you would not mind if we compared your hand prints to the bruises on your daughter's throat?"

Crane paled. He knew that he was caught. Any comparison the police would do would reflect his involvement. Luckily, Lisa entered the room, preventing him from having to answer the question.

"Jon, oh God!" She raced to his side and awkwardly hugged him. After their embrace ended, she became aware of the photographs. "That's Amy, isn't it? Is she dead? Jon, tell me that she's not dead."

"She's not dead," Jonathan reassured Lisa, who sighed in relief.

"Mrs. Crane, has Jonathan ever hurt Amy before?" Gordon asked, startling the upset woman.

"No, never. He was angry with her earlier but he would never harm her." Lisa insisted.

"So, you have never seen these bruises on Amy's neck before?"

"Only once before she disappeared. Jonathan said that he had not meant to hurt her and... What is this about?"

"Mrs. Crane, I'm afraid that your husband has been physically abusing your daughter. There will most likely be a trial and until this matter is settled, Jonathan Crane is not allowed to go anywhere near Amy."

Lisa's green eyes were wide in shock. "No, he would never hurt her…"

"I'm sorry," Gordon said quietly, before gathering the photographs and leaving the room. It was unfair to cause Lisa additional suffering, but he had to protect Amy. He had barely shut the door before he heard Jonathan's raised voice.

As soon as Amy was safe, his next project would be getting Lisa away from Jonathan Crane. There was very little doubt in his mind that Jonathan had been the one to assault Lisa. If he could prove it, then both Amy and Lisa would be safe from Dr. Crane. I just need to find something that links him to her assault in order to lock him away for good.

Author's Notes:

Jonathan's in trouble. Everything that he's been trying to hide is about to come out. Enjoy! Major thanks to emptyvoices again! Next chapter coming soon!