Chapter Four – To Hell with the System

The old, rusty elevator doors slid shut with an unsettling creak. She had been running a little late this morning, a first for her in five years. Jessica pressed the second floor button with haste, glancing down at her watch as she did so.

"Still have six minutes, it's okay, I'm not going to be late." She assured herself aloud in the silence of the cold elevator car; it was then that her eyes noticed the somewhat dark bruising around her once pale left wrist.

She had been lucky to forget to wear her watch yesterday; otherwise the thin silver band and face would have been carved into her flesh along with the now evident bruises. Before her mind had time to travel any further the car came to a rickety halt and the doors flew open.

Jessica quickly pulled the long sleeve of her blouse down to cover her injured wrist before stepping off of the lift and onto the second floor of Arkham Asylum. Her head was down as she made her way to the last office at the end of the right corridor, she stared at the pristine metal plaque beside the office door which read 'Dr. Jonathan Crane, Director' before gently knocking on the wooden barrier.

"Come in." was the distracted sound she heard from the other side, she then gave the doorknob a good turn and pushed the door open.

"Ah, Ms. Matthews, it's good to see you." Dr. Crane greeted her in the same preoccupied tone as before, never once looking up to acknowledge her presence, she wondered how he even knew it was her that had entered his office.

"Good morning, Dr. Crane." Was her plain response to his greeting, she couldn't help but wonder what he was searching for atop his desk that had him so inattentive. "Can I help you find something?" Her tenor was helpful, but the look he now sent told her he had not taken it that way.

"No, thank you. I am perfectly capable of finding my own paperwork in my own office." He never once raised his voice to her, just held that cold and calculating stare that made her knees tremble and her eyes drop to the floor.

That'll show her Jonathan, put the little mouse in her place.

He examined her from where he stood at his desk; she was standing by the open doorway, chewing at her bottom lip, eyes glued to the carpet.

"I am sorry, Ms. Matthews, I honestly don't know where that came from." slightly ashamed of his momentary lapse of his famous resolve he was now feeling a bit apologetic. "The workday hasn't even begun and already it has been a long morning for me." She said nothing to his apology, only turned and shut the office door before having a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

Jonathan observed her behavior before speaking again, he had to carefully choose his next words to her. She neatly crossed her legs while placing her hands in her lap, her eyes still on the floor the entire time, the tension in the room could have been cut with a knife.

"Would you like to discuss your thesis with me, Ms. Matthews?" the words just poured from his mouth without another moment's thought, her head immediately perked up and gave him a look of complete disbelief.

What are you doing, Jonathan!? We had this all planned out, you are changing the game without even consulting me first!

The Scarecrow was furious, Jonathan chose to ignore this.

"You… you really want to discuss my thesis?" she sounded almost as if she had imagined the whole thing, the doctor only nodded while taking a seat in his leather office chair across from her. "Well, I don't really know where to start…" it seemed that confidence was not this girl's strong suit.

"You said that it was about the overcoming of fear, about the mind's ability to overcome it if I remember correctly." Ever the good psychologist, Jonathan knew how to get people to talk.

"Yes, it's about desensitization mostly." As soon as she said this he was immediately interested. "The only true way to overcome any fear is to familiarize yourself with it until it is no longer a threat in your mind. Once the threat is gone, well the fear soon follows."

"And you have tested this theory on yourself?" it was an odd question, but she didn't think anything of it.

"Yes, I actually first tested it when I was about seven years old." She answered simply; he was in awe at that moment.

"You conducted a psychological experiment on yourself at the age of seven?" Jonathan was amazed by this, he himself was only eight when he first became enamored with psychology and the study of fear soon followed at ten.

"Yes, I was in the second grade and I was so afraid of spiders that if I saw one or knew one was around I would go almost completely catatonic with fear." As she explained this he couldn't help but feel himself getting lost in her words, she was actually telling him her fears, he didn't even have to ask. "Of course once I was done being frigid as a first response I then would go straight into the fight-or-flight response to the situation. That got me into a lot of trouble with the teachers, freaking out and lashing out all because a daddy long leg was on my desk."

She was holding her hands together tightly as she spoke, was it out of nervousness to the public speaking to him or from dredging up a past fear? He was suddenly so hypnotized by every little detail of her words and mannerisms.

"Then one day I was in the school library, which is where I always spent my free time, and I stumbled upon a book about arachnids. I checked it out and studied it cover to cover, pictures and all until I was no longer afraid. By the end of that semester I had read every book in the library on spiders and found that I had my arachnophobia completely under control." She gave him a small smile once she was finished; he took this moment to start questioning her methods.

"So after you familiarized yourself with information on the fear you no longer felt it, is that correct?" he was deeply curious about her little experiment but was sure to never let his tone give it away.

"Well, I believe I will always fear them, the phobia goes so deep into my subconscious that I can't really help but fear them. But as far as being as afraid of spiders as I once was, there was definite improvement that I think helped me a lot in my younger life." He could tell she was starting to doubt herself now, had that been his motivation all along?

"Basically your thesis is about trying to further discover how deep into the subconscious overexposure of fear can go, and whether or not the outcome is a successful one or not?" he appeared to be lost in his own thoughts as he posed the question to her, his eyes cast downward onto the top of his desk, surveying the notes that were scattered there.

"Yes, that is correct." She answered calmly.

Sounds oddly familiar. Eh, Jonathan?

"I see." He concluded while still deep in thought, he seemed to be calculating an equation that only he knew existed.

"The mind is an incredible thing. It can overcome anything as long as it truly believes it can." Her voice crept softly into his clouded thoughts, pulling him back into the present moment.

He looked up from the desk to her sitting form, she hadn't seem to move an inch since she sat down.

She does have discipline installed in her somewhere, I wonder how that came to be.

Enough of this! You have had your fun playing story time, Jonny boy, now it's my turn! The Scarecrow was practically howling at him.

What are you talking about? He was lost in the meaning of his alter's words.

The plan, Jonathan! We must proceed with the system!

He cleared his throat and stood from where he sat behind his desk, this caused her to follow his lead and stand as well.

"Ms. Matthews, I was wondering if you would like to accompany me in a session today with one of the asylum's more serious patients?" he knew her answer before she even said it.

"Of course Dr. Crane, I mean, if you think I am ready." She was so naïve; it made a smile play on his lips.

She has no idea what is in store for her today.

"Oh yes, Ms. Matthews." He nodded to her with a false portrayal of consideration. "You are most definitely ready."

It's about damn time.

They stood at the nurse's station on the third floor of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Crane injected the needle of a syringe into a glass bottle that read 'Diazepam' while his new assistant slipped on a white lab coat she had been given to wear only moments before.

"I must warn you now, Ms. Matthews, these sessions rarely go as planned." He alerted her as calmly as possible.

"I understand." Was all she said in reply, never taking her eyes off of what he was doing with the hypodermic needle in his hands.

Once he was done filling the syringe to the desired point he removed it from the bottle and neatly recapped the needled end. Jonathan's eyes then shot back to her, she only sent him a questioning look as he held the syringe outward in her direction.

"Here, Ms. Matthews, take it." It was an easy task, one she could not seem to do.

"No, I… I don't think I will need it." She was shaking her head vigorously back and forth the entire time she spoke, he narrowed his gaze on her.

"It wasn't a request, Ms. Matthews!" he almost growled at her in aggravation, he could tell his tone had shocked her, yet she still did not obey him. "Take it." His words were slow and threatening, his patience had worn thin now.

"But I…" Jessica trailed off, he was now sending her a venomous look of disapproval and it made her bottom lip quiver.

She shakily reached out her hand and slowly took the needle from him, she then quickly shoved it into her coat pocket, trying her best to touch as little of the thing as physically possible.

What the hell was that all about?

I can't be 100% without further testing, but I do believe our little assistant is belonephobic.

How delicious.

It took the doctor no more than a split second to shake off his previous stake of anger before turning back to the desk of the nurse's station. Jonathan quickly filled another syringe with the sedative and placed it into the right pocket of his charcoal gray suit coat.

"It's time." Was all he said before making his way down the corridor, practically leaving her behind.

Jessica paused a moment before realizing his words were her cue to follow him through the guarded cage-like doors into the Secure Wing. Dr. Crane flashed his ID badge at the man behind the gated barrier, with a silent nod the man then turned the key and opened the doors for him.

"I would stay close if I were you, it's never a good thing to get lost in Arkham." Jonathan spoke without looking back at her as he continued his stride down the hallway. "Especially here in the Secure Wing." He didn't need to look back to know she was right behind him now, or that she was nodding in agreement.

He stopped in front of a closed door that read 307 where an orderly was awaiting their presence.

"Has he already been moved into the room?" Crane asked in the usual monotone voice he addressed all of his lesser employees in.

"Yes, Dr. Crane, I brought him in myself about fifteen minutes ago." The orderly remarked.

"And he has been properly secured?" the doctor wasn't looking at the orderly now, too busy scanning through his notebook and files he had brought with him.

"Yes, he has been handcuffed in the front as to your request, doctor."

"Excellent, we may proceed." Came his dismissive response to the man, he then turned his attention back on his assistant who was waiting patiently behind him. "Ms. Matthews you are about to meet a man by the name of Cornelius Stirk. Mr. Stirk was arrested for several serial murders involving the victims' hearts being cut out of their chests, it was later discovered that he scared his victims almost to death before finally killing them so he could ingest their hearts." Her eyes seemed to widen slightly at his words. "He has been a patient here on and off for the past thirteen years, he is suffering from severe cases of both psychosis and borderline personality disorder." She just continued to stare at him with that wide eyed look of terror.

Scared already?

Good. This is going to be fun.

"Is.. is it safe to be around him?" her tone was so small and hesitant.

"He is on a mixture of several antipsychotic medications; this lessens the severity of his condition and makes him approachable." Jonathan assured her, this appeared to quell her fears for the moment. "Of course…" then again, he didn't want her completely unafraid, "these medications have not been having the response that we would like them to have on Mr. Stirk." He said the words in an almost darkly manner.

"What do you mean?" there was the frightened bunny cornered by a wolf tone he wanted to hear from her timid voice.

He chose this moment to pause reflectively before answering her.

That's it Jonny boy, draw it out of her.

"Nothing, it's not important… let us begin the session." And with that ominous reply he turned from her towards the door to room 307.

He fluently swiped his key card into the door's electronic locking mechanism, punched a quick six digit code into the pin pad that she could not keep up with to memorize, and then opened the door for them both to enter.

The room was colder than the hallway outside of it, and the light poured in from the barred window on the far left wall, casting an eerie ambiance to the small chamber. Dr. Crane swiftly made his way over to the metal table that stood in the middle of the room; he placed his files and notebook down on it before addressing the man that sat at the opposite side of him.

"Hello, Cornelius, how are we feeling this morning?" the doctor's tone was almost upbeat and courteous; she couldn't help but feel taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor.

"Good, Sir. I am feeling much better than before, Sir." The man's hurried words came in a desperate frenzy.

The handcuffs around his wrists clanked together as the man known as Cornelius Stirk nervously rubbed his hands back and forth several times, Jessica looked him over in that moment, from his seated red-orange jumpsuit clad body up to his bald scalp. She then noticed that his head was not bald from shaving, it appeared as if almost every last strand of hair had been pulled out of his head, there was harsh red scabbing throughout his scalp and a few tiny blonde strands hung sadly in scattered amounts in every other spot.

Jessica softly walked over to the folding chair next to where Dr. Crane now sat, busy scribbling something down in his notebook. As she sat down she noticed how Mr. Stirk's roaming eyes instantly moved up and down her small form, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Ah, yes… Cornelius, this is my new assistant, Ms. Matthews." He never looked up from his notes as he introduced them, not until he realized his patient had not answered him. Jonathan's eyes immediately shot up from the table to send Stirk an icy stare. "Where are your manners, Cornelius?" there was an inkling of malice to the doctor's words and Stirk's fear of this was evident. "Say hello."

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry, Sir. Hello. Hello, Ms. Matthews." It came in a rambling jumble but the response satisfied the doctor none the less.

"There's a good boy." Was all Jonathan gave him in reward; he then sat down his pen in close proximity before continuing with their session. "Now, we last left off discussing the reasons for which you believe…"

She shrank back in her seat as Stirk's dark sunken eyes bored into her own, the doctor's words suddenly seemed to be far away and fading into darkness, was she fading as well?

"-the norepinephrine gives you a feeling of vitality, that your life-force is recharged by ingesting…" Crane's monotonic voice beckoned her from the abyss only to begin to fade out as before.

Her breathing had become slow and heavy, her eyes never once breaking from the mental patient across from her, his deep stare holding her firmly within the trance he had created for her.

"-is that correct, Cornelius?" Crane finished, not looking up from his file as he did so.

There was no answer, only the unsettling silence of the room.

Jonathan looked up from his reading to see Cornelius Stirk holding a strong and steady gaze across the table with his assistant; neither of them seemed to have blinked in over a minute.

Interesting, seems Mr. Stirk has taken a liking to Ms. Matthews. I knew he would.

Here comes the fun part. The Scarecrow was humming with impatience.

"Cornelius?" the doctor called firmly to the man across from him, there was no change. "Cornelius!?" he was practically yelling into the man's face now, still nothing.

As a last resort Jonathan began to wave his hand in front of Jessica's face, specifically her eyes, breaking the eye contact that was so strongly held between the two people. He let out a sigh as she began to blink repeatedly, lowering her head to rub her eyes as she did so, the spell was broken and Cornelius Stirk was not pleased by this.

"Wha… what happened?" she asked unsurely, before the doctor could even answer they were both shaken by a sudden howl from across the table.

Stirk let out a wild shriek before bolting up from his seat, sending the metal folding chair beneath him flying back against the wall. He shot both cuffed hands out in front of him in Jessica's direction, making his fists into claws before springing forward across the table as he lunged at her. She let out a high pitched scream that reminded Crane of a field mouse caught in a steal trap; instinctively Jessica fell back against the left wall behind them, her dark hair coming undone from behind her head as she slammed herself against the stone wall.

Any normal doctor would have came to her assistance, called for help to one of the many orderlies that stood outside the door, instead he merely stepped out of their way, allowing Stirk to have a clear path to her form that cowered on the floor against the wall.

Cornelius flung the metal table out of the way as he came towards her, she just remained perfectly still on the floor, her breath coming in sharp panicky gasps.

What if she hyperventilates?

I could really care less.

You'll care when she is unconscious from lack of oxygen.

Shut up and let me enjoy this, Jonathan!

I'm giving him the injection. He reached into his suit-coat's pocket and grasped the syringe in his hand.

No! She hasn't screamed for me yet! The Scarecrow was roaring at him in his mind.

She screamed when he first snapped, this is getting out of hand!

You call that little mouse's squeak a scream? I need more than that!

Stirk was upon her now, all the color had drained from her face as his claw-like grip made its way around her tiny neck. Even with the madman's hands around her throat she didn't fight, nor try to scream, she just stared wide eyed and mouth agape into the man's twisted face.

Jonathan knew he wouldn't strangle her, it wasn't Stirk's 'style', like the Scarecrow Cornelius Stirk needed fear, it was the fear that gave him what he needed, and she was nowhere near as afraid as Stirk, or the Scarecrow for that matter, wanted her to be.

Cornelius gave a tight squeeze on her neck and she gave him what he wanted, there was sudden terror in her watery hazel eyes. Without another moment's warning Stirk pulled his hands off of her throat and thrust them down onto the white lab coat she was wearing, he flung the coat open in a frenzy before gripping his claws into the soft cotton of her blouse, he let out a growl as he ripped the garment apart in one crazed motion. Jessica finally released a terrified scream as her shirt was torn open, buttons flying all over the room at every possible angle, she instinctively brought her hands up to try and cover herself, not to mention ward off the psychopath who was assaulting her.

There, you have your scream, I'm ending this now.

Don't be ridiculous, Jonathan! This is just starting to get good!

Jonathan pulled the syringe from his pocket as he ran over to where Stirk was crouched atop his trembling assistant. He pulled the cap from the needle with his teeth before trusting it deep into the psychotic man's neck. This didn't seem to faze Stirk at all, he continued to battle Jessica's hands as he clawed her lace covered left breast, trying to rip out her heart through his now sedative clouded mind. After a few more seconds of this, Stirk finally succumbed to the drugs flowing through his system; he slowly collapsed on top of the poor girl, resting his scabby head on her shoulder against the wall.

Jessica was shaking so badly now that she resembled someone who had just been electrocuted, just as she thought she was safe and the man was successfully unconscious, Stirk opened his tired mouth and languidly dragged his tongue up the side of her face and across her smooth cheek. This proved to be more than she could take as she let out a sharp gasp of fear which caused a sudden shiver of pleasure to shoot up Jonathan's spine and come to rest behind his groin.

Fuck. It took all the strength he had to keep from letting out a gasp of his own.

Uh, Jonathan… The Scarecrow taunted.

What?

You're staring at her chest.

The Scarecrow was right, he had seemed to be lost in the delicate white lace of her bra the entire time Stirk was going down from the injection.

Don't worry, I think she's been a little too preoccupied with her fear to notice you staring at her tits.

I wasn't staring at her… Jonathan decided to give up before he even began; he was never going to win this argument anyway.

I understand… there isn't really much there to stare at.

Jonathan let out a verbal scoff to the Scarecrow's remark, sometimes he just didn't understand his alter's mind. He then bent down and grabbed Cornelius' shoulders with both hands and pulled the sedated man off of his assistant in one steady motion. Once the weight of the man was lifted from her, the first thing Jessica did was pull the white lab coat back around her frail form, covering her bra-clad chest from view.

"Are you alright, Ms. Matthews?" he asked her with sincerity to his voice, all she could do was nod at him. "Let me help you." He extended his hand to her and she graciously took it, allowing him to gently pull her up from the cold floor.

She practically collapsed into his arms as soon as she was on her feet again, the sudden change in position throwing off her equilibrium.

"I'm sorry." She murmured to him, her eyes cast to the floor in shame and humiliation.

"It's alright." Jonathan assured her, he gently pushed her into an upright position, making sure she was able to fully stand on her own. "Can you stand now, Ms. Matthews?" she only nodded at him mutely.

Her knuckles were white as she tightly grasped the lab coat closed around herself, he looked her up and down, her hair clung to her pale face with a mixture of sweat and tears, the rest of it cascaded down her shoulders in long, dark messy waves.

Is it wrong for me to think she looks pretty with her hair down at this moment?

Let's not go there, Jonathan.

Go where? You're the one who is always thinking of her like this!

No, I am the one who is always thinking of her as a piece of ass… you are starting to think of her as some kind of pretty little girlfriend/pet!

Don't be absurd! I would never think of her as anything other than a sycophantic little…

Little what?

Jonathan was silent in his thoughts, the Scarecrow was waiting.

Pet.

Here we go… The Scarecrow sighed with annoyance.

"Dr. Crane…" her tiny voice broke in on his internal conversation; he gave her a look of contemplation. "May I go home and get another shirt?" the question seemed so foreign to him, he was suddenly so confused. "I'll come right back… I just…" she looked back down at her feet as her words trailed off.

She was biting at her bottom lip again.

"No, Ms. Matthews." It had sounded more callous than he had wanted it to and she looked back up at him in disappointment. "I mean, no as in you do not have to come back today. Please, go home and take the rest of the day off." He removed his glasses and began rubbing his eyes with exhaustion. "I think we have both had enough for one day." He returned his glasses to his face as he finished.

"You're not upset with me, are you Dr. Crane?" she sounded like a child awaiting discipline, he was astounded by this. "Did I do something wrong in the session… I didn't mean to, he just, I mean I-" she was starting to get flustered now, her once pale cheeks were now growing more pink by the second.

"No." he cut off her ramblings. "You haven't done anything wrong. What happened in there was beyond your control, don't blame yourself." Was he consoling her now?

Jesus Christ, Jonathan! What are you, her mother?

The Scarecrow was becoming more and more furious.

"Thank you, Dr. Crane. I'll be back first thing in the morning." She sent him a grateful smile before turning slowly towards the door to the room.

"Ms. Matthews." He addressed as she waited for him to unlock the door for her, she quickly turned back to face him.

Jonathan walked up to her and slid his hand down into the pocket of her lab coat, her eyes followed his movements the entire time. He pulled out the Diazepam filled syringe and she visibly jumped at the sight of it, she had completely forgotten that he had given it to her. The sudden jump of fear she gave him sent the Scarecrow growling for more, he did his best to ignore this.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Matthews." Was his plain and unenthused valediction to her as he slid the key card into the lock and punched in his code, the door clicked open and she cautiously walked through it, hugging her lab coat around her as she left.

What the fuck? She was scared out of her wits and she wants to come back for more tomorrow? What is wrong with this girl! Crane was livid and confused as he stepped off the elevator and onto the second floor.

I don't want to hear anymore bitching from you about this, Jonathan… after all; it is your entire fault that the plan did not work out!

Jonathan angrily stormed down the hallway, this day had not gone in any way how he had planned. After getting the incompetent orderlies to take Stirk back to his room, he was now left with the constant nagging of the Scarecrow and the perpetual questioning himself of how the day could have gone so wrong.

I don't understand what happened, she should have broken! Why does she want to come back here!? The system, the system never fails… how could this-

To hell with the system! The Scarecrow angrily cut off his confused thoughts, rage dripping from his words. And to hell with you, Jonathan! This is all your fault, we should have taken her straight to Stirk, not become thesis buddies with her in your office! That is where you went wrong, straying from the plan, and for what? Pillow talk!

I was only trying to lull her into a state of trust with me, that way when I took her into the session she wouldn't be expecting-

You were jerking off to her little banter about fear with you, quit trying to make excuses! The Scarecrow was fuming.

Do not take that tone with me, let's not forget who is the one in control here, okay?

If you think it is you then you are even more of a fool than the one you played today.

This was the last straw; Jonathan refused to take this kind of disrespect from anyone, not even the Scarecrow, he stormed into his office and slammed the door shut. With the determination of a thousand furies behind him, he ripped the third drawer from the bottom of his desk open, nearly pulling it right out of the wooden frame completely. He had had too much of a bad day to take this from him as well!

Are we going to go through this again, Jonny boy? You know you don't have the balls to do this.

Jonathan refused to answer him, only yanked the white cap off of the pill bottle and poured the round green pills into the palm of his hand.

Enough of this charade, Jonathan! Just put the damned pills down and let's talk about this like adult-

Before the Scarecrow could even finish Jonathan had popped one of the pills into his mouth and dry swallowed it. The hard, dry substance burned his throat on the way down but he didn't care, he only smiled smugly at what he had just accomplished.

He had won.

A/n:

Wow… this chapter was kinda long… oh well, better too long than too short I always say! I'm gonna try and make the next chapter a really long one as well.

Anywho...

Thanks so much for reading and for the reviews you guys, they mean the world to me!

And I want to address some of the stuff you said to me in them.

Firespin98, I suck at summaries, always have, always will. They are the toughest part of writing a story for me, thanks for still giving the fic a read even with my awful summarizing skills, lol.

Nerdygirl, you are absolutely right, she is total MarySue, and I kinda made her that way on purpose, like you said it's all about control and if she wasn't the way she is I just don't think it would flow right with where I want to take this story.

So I hope she isn't too much MarySue so for you guys. If she ever gets to that evil point just let me know and I will tone it down a bit. I eventually want to take her character to a completely different place, style-wise, once I am fully into the storyline you will probably start to see some changes take place with Jessica and Crane as well.

Anywho, thanks again for reading, everybody. Seeing your reviews/alerts are truly the best part of my day. And just to give you a heads up, the next chapter will be of the NC-17 variety, so be forewarned.