Disclaimer: Characters belong to DC comics. I am not for profit.
Jonathan woke up disoriented. His nightmares, where a scarecrow stalked him, had not let him rest and had made him anxious. He had a hard time distinguishing between the real world and the one in his nightmares, so he had a hard time seeing that someone else was in the room. He wasn't expecting anyone. The visits to the hospital had been few, in Georgia the doctor always used to come to the house and his grandmother was obsessed with keeping the quacks away, relying only on her "miraculous infusions" that for centuries had kept people healthy and alive. Jonathan called it superstition, knowing that nothing would equal science, the only reliable thing. He hadn't seen his father in years, always blaming himself for the negligence that caused the fire that killed his mother and burned all of his possessions. That is why Jonathan had had to live with his grandmother, because his father could not keep him in the same place as him, perhaps for fear that it would also cause negligence where his son would die. Although Jonathan had prepared himself to accept that, perhaps, his father no longer loved him and he preferred to remake his life without ties that would remind him of the one he already had.
- You finally woke up.
He was instantly startled, he was used to being alone and fending for himself. He recognized the room he was in as a hospital room and the man next to him as the policeman whose partner had killed his father. Jonathan didn't want to talk to him right now. He remained silent long enough for the policeman to understand that he wasn't going to get anything else.
- My name is Jim Gordon and I am here to ask you if you want to stay in my house until your situation is regularized or you find a new home.
- I can manage on my own.-Jonathan replied. He was suspicious of Gordon. People didn't usually offer him things out of the goodness of their heart, there was always an ulterior motive.
- I've been asking the nurses, but you haven't had any visitors since you were admitted, although your records show that there are relatives of yours alive and that they could have come to pick you up or be interested in you.-Gordon said.-Staying on the streets doesn't it is something I recommend. This is Gotham, there is no security.
Jonathan hesitated. While what the man was saying made sense, he didn't trust him. He didn't trust anyone. He had had too many disappointments in his life. But he knew that he had no other options. Gordon hadn't really given him a choice, he was informing him of his situation.
- I'll stay with you for a few days.-Jonathan said.
Gordon smiled and quickly began to tell Jonathan about the three girls he had fostered who were currently staying at his house. Gordon hadn't informed them that he was there with him. Jonathan was confused, overwhelmed and anxious. All he wanted was for Gordon to stop talking and get out of this place immediately. He wanted to rest, in a real bed if possible. Jonathan was under the impression that Gordon was going through a midlife crisis and that was why he was fostering so many children. He didn't care, because this time it was for his benefit, but the man should see a psychiatrist. It wasn't normal for him to take in all his cases, maybe Gordon was really upset.
Surprisingly, Gordon's house was not what Jonathan had imagined. The girls behaved normally, they didn't seem like gang members, nor were they in a constant fight with each other, something that he had believed when he knew that they were all street girls. Gordon had never shown them a bad face. There were many questions about him, but they were more out of curiosity than malice and Jonathan felt that he could trust them and that the information would not be used against him, he was still wary for the first few days, but in the end the girls seemed to accept him. Jonathan knew that he was beginning to trust himself. Something he shouldn't allow in his situation. He was still weak from all the medication he took, although it had been a week since he left the hospital and so far Gordon had helped him in any way he could. What Jonathan had liked the most was the soft but firm bed! Selina had had to give her the bed, as she was closer to her size. Maybe he was still trying to find any kind of excuse or bad gesture, but he couldn't find anything but calm and appeasement.
Jonathan loved to watch, and the hierarchy between them was as good a reason as any to strike up a conversation. He didn't know what they must have been expecting by welcoming him and perhaps Jonathan should have been more specific, but Jonathan had never been one to disappoint.
But from the first moment in that house, Jonathan never intended to run away, nor did he feel trapped.
"Wait until they hear from me, Jonny"
That voice in his head, the same one he had heard since he was seven years old, the only one that had been with him in his worst moments, when his classmates from Arlen harassed him or when his grandmother punished him. That voice, belonging to a scarecrow, had been his only company, the only one he could trust, also his biggest nightmare, because if someone else knew about it, he would end up in a psychiatric hospital.
- You have nothing to fear, Scarecrow.-Jonathan replied.-They don't seem to want to hurt us.
"You never know, Jonny. People can't be trusted. And I'd love for Gordon to meet me. We'll see if he takes us as well when he meets me."
- Gordon has been kind to us, Scarecrow.
"No. He's only been nice to you, Jonny. No one is nice to me. They fear me, because only through fear do you gain respect. Hasn't life shown you that?"
- This is the only place we have, Scarecrow. I don't want to sleep on the street.
"I'm just saying get ready. You can't keep me hidden forever, someday Gordon will meet me. Then we'll see what kind of a man he is. If you want to play house that's fine, we can have some fun, but don't forget that in the end they will know how you are, what we are."
Jonathon didn't reply. He knew that the Scarecrow was right. One day he would show himself and on that day, he was likely to end up in Arkham.
