Gordon and several cops stood outside the door of Nirvana's room while Scarecrow held the trembling woman in his arms, keeping tearing eyes on the cops ahead of him. While he was trying to keep his focus in the situation at hand, he was having to desperately claw at reality to keep himself awake enough to not lose himself to the nightmare brewing behind his eyes. Nirvana was still cradled in his arms and the knife was still pressed menacingly against her cheek.

Nirvana shook and convulsed at some points as her brain tossed and threw her from one nightmare world to another. Her shadow figures would chase after her and reach for her hand, but each time they were close, she was pulled away from them. Scarecrow's shirt was soaked from tears and sweat. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she clung to the little piece of the real world she could feel. Better to face the evil you know than the evil you don't.

Detective Gordon struggled with the scene before him. Two people, one drugged beyond all comprehension while the other only barely clung to sanity. He looked at Nirvana with distressed eyes. From all her pictures and physical descriptions he had collected regarding her, seeing her this way made him sad at what one year could really do to someone. He told the officers present to keep the scene calm while he made a call. The officers nodded and spoke to both in soothing voices.

"Nirvana, everything will be okay. Just hold on for us," one female stated calmly, causing Nirvana's black eyes to turn to the woman, the veins in her face glowing orange and black, skin pale as a shit. Nirvana had a look of pure terror capture her facial expression and she curled back into Jon. He turned his eyes to the female cop, a sick grin spread across his lips.

"Tell me, Officer, what is it you fear?" Scarecrow asked darkly, icy blue eyes stared down the woman. No answer came at first and Scarecrow yelled the question again, his hand tightening on the knife. "What is it you fear?!"

The woman flinched at his raised voice and answered quickly, "Snakes. I hate snakes."

"I didn't ask you what you hated, I asked you what you feared," he retorted.

"I fear snakes. Their skin and their eyes, they freak me out," she replied, but Scarecrow simply rolled his eyes and tsked in her direction.

"Liar."

...

"Get down her as soon as you can and bring an ambulance. We have a woman here in critical condition and needing medical attention quick-"

"Jim," a voice came from behind Detective Gordon causing him to jump almost 10 feet out of his skin, turning to see the familiar cowl of masked vigilant, Batman. Gordon clutched his chest before taking a deep breath.

"You can't scare an old man like me like that," he stated bitterly before speaking, "we've got a hostage situation in there. Dr. Jonathon Crane has Nirvana Nels-"

"Dr. Nirvana Nelson," Batman corrected, beginning to walk towards the building.

"Yes, Dr. Nirvana Nelson. We believe he drugged her. She's completely incoherent. He has a knife held to her throat," Gordon continued, following Batman with quick steps.

"Any windows available?"

"No just one door, and he has her against the back wall. He is on something as well. Calls himself Scarecrow," Gordon explained as they began to take the stairs back up to the room.

...

"Nirvana, what do you see?" Crane whispered, curious what dying this way must look like. Nirvana curled into herself as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. He kept his eyes focused on the cops ahead of him but his ears perked up when he heard her voice speaking into his chest but he couldn't hear her words clearly. He took the hand that was holding her close to him by her waist and lifted it to her chin and tilted up her head so her black eyes were staring at what he could only assume was him. "One more time Nirvana, what do you see?"

Her words escaped her as more tears ran down her pale cheeks. He held the sharp side of the blade against her skin but he tilted his forehead down to press against hers and spoke tenderly, "We only have one more session Nirvana. Tell me and I can make it all go away," he stated sweetly, uncharacteristically so. The cops watched on as the watched Nirvana's tremors soften to light shaking. She closed her eyes as she searched for herself in the darkness. The chaos that tore her psyche apart. Fire, thunder, lightning, ice cold waters. The hallucinations came in and out of focus, speaking words of encouragement, praise.

"You've done so well."

"We are so proud of you."

"So strong."

"So beautiful."

The long clawed hand reached to her and cupped her face, wiping the tears away gently. Crane's voice came to her ears again.

"Tell me what you see, Nirvana. I can make it all go away, just tell me," Jon repeated, his voice still sweet but stern now. The cops watched on in silence. Gordon and Batman stood to the side, the Batman hidden out of view.

Nirvana saw a flash of Crane come into view and she couldn't help but smile. Taking the last amount of strength she had, she lifted her hand and cupped his cheek.

"Burn in hell, Jon," she hissed through clenched teeth and he looked at her through wide angry eyes as he raised the knife up ready to impale it through her chest but something came whistling through the air and hit Scarecrow's hand quick as lightning, hitting the knife from his hand. Nirvana quickly moved to crawl away. Her hallucinations all reached for her. Taking her hands and pulling her away from Crane who quickly scrambled after her, fury in his eyes. However instead of grabbing Nirvana's foot, he grabbed a large black boot. Crane's glowing blue eyes looked up to see something horrifying. A large bat, menancing, terrifying. Crane quickly scrambled back, looking as cops pulled Nirvana out of the room.

"No," Scarecrow stated loudly, "No, no, no, NO. NO! She's mine! I made her! She's mine, don't take her from me!" He was going to keep screaming until a large hand was picking him up by his shirt and lifting him into the air. Crane looked down to see the horrifying bat up close and personal. It was then that he suddenly lost grip on reality. His nightmare came crashing down around him. He was too scared to speak.

"Tell me, Scarecow. Are you scared?" The large man bat asked Jon. He shook terrified, his head shaking quickly as he refused to speak.

...

Nirvana had gotten out into the hallway and immediately began to convulse, orange foam emitting from her mouth as she seized violently. What she heard was a blur of sound, she felt footsteps thundering towards her and her body being lifted. She saw Crane in handcuffs, tossing and turning and kicking as he tried to chase after her being taken away. Fires still danced around behind her black eyes. She felt a hand reach out for him but someone quickly came next to her and grasped it. Telling her to hold on.

Her eyes fluttered closed as her body was raked with another violent set of seizures and after that she passed out. Not remembering anything except the voices in her head, speaking to her in the darkness.

"We're so proud of you."

"You did it."

You're out."