Jonathan Crane lay in his cot, staring up at the ceiling. He was never one for sleeping…he wasn't all that tired. He would simply relax, watching the all-consuming blackness overtake him. Convicts of his caliber were not allowed rooms with windows. So the darkness stayed with him until the early morning hours, when blinding fluorescent lights startled him into attention.

The young man's feet were propped on the wall beside him, and his head dangled awkwardly off the bed. He was completely perpendicular to his cot…something he did when unable to sleep. Everything was upside-down for him, not that it mattered in the darkness, but he could pick out the faint figure walking through the darkened corridors. He heard the keys of one of the guards jingling and footsteps coming down the cement walkway. A curious look came over him as he stared at the little rectangular window, noticing the visage of a guard standing there. It took a moment before the ritualistic clicking and whirring noises took place, unusually loud in the still night air, and the door swung open. The guard entered, tugging at his belt and rapping his nightstick against the metal door loudly.

"Rise and shine."

"It can't be more than ten p.m.…a little early for a wake up call, wouldn't you say?" Jonathan stared up from his vantage point. The guard, still upside-down in his vision, waved his hand outside, motioning for the lights. Jonathan winced as his eyes stung from the sudden flood of brightness, and wished to rub them, but was unable to do so, for he was sentenced to wear that straightjacket until he was either deemed sane—Ha! Truly laughable, and highly unlikely, he thought—or until he was dead. He usually expected the latter.

The guard once again raised a burly paw of a hand, waving someone from the hall. "You got company."

"A night owl? Tell them to come back in the morning. I haven't had time to spruce up yet."

The guard glared at him with beady black eyes.

"Ya, well, tell 'er yourself."

Her?

Jonathan stared at a tall woman entering the room as the guard exited and shut the door. She was alarmingly pretty, even for the man whose nose was always stuffed in a textbook and had no need for the fairer of the human species. Her long hair positively flowed over her shoulders, and her dress, decorated with gold, made her all the more regal. Jonathan couldn't quite help wonder if perhaps she had entered the wrong cell.

"Jonathan Crane, I presume?" The young man attempted a nod, a little hard to do with his head dangling off the bed, and the woman quirked an eyebrow. "Where are your manners?"

Jonathan looked a bit puzzled before it clicked. Aahhh, she's one of those girls. Prim, proper, pampered…"My manners? Well, they're the same place my sanity is, ma'am," Jonathan replied snidely, his eyes narrowing. No one came in here talking to him like that.

The woman's bright hazel eyes grew stormy, as if she was restraining herself from injuring him. "You're right. How foolish of me to think a man in an asylum would have manners."

"Yeah, what's wrong with you, lady?" Jonathan tilted his head, staring at her. "You're not from here are you? From Gotham I mean…no…you're not from this country, right?"

The woman sat in a chair, one kept in every cell for inmates when they had visitors, and she stared at him. "And how do you figure that?"

"Your accent. It's sharp…definite. I would say…Eastern. Far eastern." The woman raised an eyebrow. "Maybe Europe…Eastern Europe…Russia…Asia…am I getting warmer? Ah, wait…don't tell me…" He stuck out his tongue, running them along his chapped lips in thought. "Let's see…you're Eurasian, am I correct?

The woman gave a smile, amused by his guesswork. "My father was from England, and my mother from Asia. How did you—"

"I have my ways ma'am." He gave her a smile, something rare and fleeting, perhaps even a little sarcastic. "Your face gave it away too. The way your eyebrows went up just slightly when I hit the right countries. Quite unprofessional. You should know better than to let an opponent see your 'tells'." Jonathan yawned loudly and rudely, causing the young woman's smile to falter. "Now what is it? I'm quite tired and wish to get on with my pathetic and meaningless life. Or should we play another rousing game of 20 questions?" He added bitterly, a sneer crossing his lips.

Talia curled her lip in disapproval. "I would have thought for the man my father made you out to be, you'd be a bit more welcoming."

"Your father, eh?" Jonathan stared at her, ice cold eyes studying her face as she stared back. "What is your name, pray tell?"

She blinked, matching his cold gaze perfectly. "Why does it matter?"

"Well, I like to know who I talk to. There are so many bad people out there. I'd hate someone taking advantage of me in my state."

She folded her arms, her finely filed nails digging slightly in her skin as she grew a bit annoyed by his behavior. "My name is Talia al Ghul."

Jonathan nearly slipped from his comfortable position on his cot, which would have dropped him headfirst against the cold polished cement floor. He furrowed his brow, scrambling in his bondage to turn his body around and sit upright. "Al Ghul? Your…your father was…Ra's al Ghul?"

"My, my, you're such a good guesser, Doctor Crane. Now, tell me, what color am I thinking of?"

Jonathan's blood boiled. Ra's…Ra's was the reason this all started. This façade as a mild-mannered, albeit unfeeling, psychiatrist…the game of studying those delicate blue flowers, looking for the compound that made them "special" and turning it into a weaponized hallucinogen for that man…the beginning of the Scarecrow's reign. Jonathan thought it was a plan to hold the city for ransom. Ra's had a plan, however, to turn Gotham to rubble. To start anew…

He led Jonathan astray. Something that angered the thin, high strung young man.

"Why are you here? What do you want?"

"I want to speak with the man my father trusted here in Gotham. The man he believed would carry out his wishes. He tells me about you all the time."

Jonathan flinched, uncomfortable that Ra's shared his views about him with his daughter. Hell, he didn't even know he had a daughter. But a nagging voice crept into his mind.

How is that possible? Isn't Ra's…dead?

Jonathan glanced over at her. "You're father is dead. I doubt I worked with him long enough to have my reputation spread around after death."

Talia smiled, a grin that eerily reminded him of his own…something forced, cruel, but it was something mildly beautiful on a face like hers. "You, of all people, should know never to take something at face value, Doctor."

"I'm not a doctor. Not anymore. Now I'm just…" He gave a chuckle, hugging himself in his straightjacket. "Now I'm just crazy. But even a crazy person knows when he's being lied to. Ra's is dead, isn't he?"

Dead…he's dead…he's got to be dead…

Talia laughed airily, waving her hand flippantly. "Dead…dead is such a relative term."

"Then he's alive!" Jonathan practically screeched.

"As alive as he can be at a time like this…he's still recovering…still nursing his wounds…my poor father…"

"He died in that train. The…the one headed for Wayne Tower…I heard it all over the news!"

"You should know the media cannot be trusted."
"But how? That explosion! No one can survive something like that!"

Talia stared at him, uncurling her arms and placing them on her knee, lacing her fingers together. "That…that is a secret I cannot share with you. Besides, my business is not about my father's miraculous escape. I wish to speak with you."

"About?" Jonathan asked defensively. He was still reeling about the fact that the man who hired him, the man who was supposed to be dead, was in fact quite alive.

"I wish to start my father's work again. Here in Gotham."

"You mean…start where daddy left off?" Jonathan snorted. "Impossible. By now the microwave emitter he used is destroyed, and any plans for it either burned or stored away under lock and key."

Talia laughed again, as if Jonathan had said a funny joke. "Oh please, Mr. Crane, you honestly think I'll try the same thing my father did? You know they'd expect that…no, the league will be handling the dirty work. I plan on going after the city officials, not the city itself." Jonathan eyed her as she grinned again, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Think about it…with the police dead…the mayor run out…every upstanding lawyer, juror, judge erased from this city, Gotham would tear itself apart. Havoc would ensue. There's no need for theatricality. The simplicity of destroying each bothersome government official one by one…"

"You've been thinking a lot about this…haven't you?" The young man sneered, tightening his hold on himself. "But…I fail to see the part where I come in. Or is this just some sort of twisted 'rub-it-in-your-face' moment?"

"Oh on the contrary," Talia murmured, rummaging through her purse. "I'm quite willing to pay for your services."

Jonathan quirked an eyebrow, a grim smile on his face. "Well, this is all very sudden, Ms. Al Ghul…"

She gave him a look of utter disgust, holding her checkbook in one hand and a pen in the other. "Don't flatter yourself, Mr. Crane." Jonathan's smile stretched. "I'd be willing to pay you if you allowed my team to use your asylum as a sort of base. To train, plan…that sort of thing."

It was Jonathan's turn to laugh. "Well, Ms. Al Ghul, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but…I don't work in the asylum anymore. I'm a little tied up at the moment…"

"You think I haven't thought of this? Of course we'd have to release you…either pay off the man who now runs the place or—"

"It would be far safer to eliminate his interference," Jonathan murmured hoarsely. "I have several doctors and guards that we would need to rid ourselves of. They'd get suspicious…some of them hate me enough to tell the police."

"Fine," Talia smirked. "I'll have my men take care of them. As for breaking you out…do you have any idea where we can get a blue-print of the grounds?"

"In the director's office…I used to store them in the closet, but he may have moved them. He's not in now, so it would be wise to try and obtain it tonight."

"What's the rush?" She asked, amused. "Don't like your padded cell?"

"No more than I like finding out dead people aren't dead…and that their children need my help."

Talia rose to her feet, her eyes sparkling with an impish nature. He didn't doubt the young lady took after her father. Their cruelty was quite similar…thinking they'd save the city by killing thousands. "It was a pleasure, Mr. Crane."

"Please, if you plan on breaking me out of here…don't call me Mr. Crane. I didn't spend years studying psychology to be called 'mister'. Only now may you refer to me as Doctor Crane."

Talia gave another laugh, sparkling and light. "Doctor Crane it is. I'll be back to visit once the details are set. But now, I trust you will keep your mouth shut about the plans, or I will be very angry."

"And we would hate to see that."

"Exactly. Good evening, Doctor Crane," she murmured, opening the heavy steel door and shutting it with much force behind her.

Jonathan gawked at the rectangular window as she and the guard passed by. A muscle in his jaw ticked, and a feeling of excitement buzzed through his body.

Escape? I…I'm going to escape?

That wasn't so bad. In fact, it went pretty good…I think she likes you Jonathan.

I think she'd rather tear my head off. Jonathan blinked as the bright lights above him shut off suddenly, plunging the room into utter darkness once more.

All he could hear was the Scarecrow laughing.

We're getting our job back…we're paying this city back for what it did to us.

What about the bat-man?

I'm sure the little princess heard all about him from daddy.

Should we warn her too?

Let her fall on her own face, Jonathan. If we interfere…we'll end up back in this cell. And we don't want that now, do we?

No…no we don't.

The voice in his mind cackled, dying out slowly.

Get some sleep Jonathan. Don't look like so much of a fool next time she visits. Pretty women don't exactly flock to you.

Yeah thanks…thanks for that.

Your welcome.


A.N.: Sorry for the late update. School has been hectic and I hadn't had time to quite finish the chapter by the time I wanted to upload it. So, I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting for too long.

Enjoy reading, and please review :D thank you!