A/N: Hey guys! Here's another chapter of 'Ornithophobia'! I felt bad for writing a lousy chapter this week and I hope this one will at least replace the bad one from yesterday's update. I'm also going to travel this weekend so I wanted to make sure I updated for the weekend and not let you guys hanging! This one is still on the short side but I think I did a little bit better than on the previous chapter, haha. Anywyas, thank you SO much for the support with all the follows! I really enjoy writing this story!

All characters belong to DC Comics except for Alouette.

Warning: Mild anxiety attack in the beginning.

Chapter 4: Background Noise

It occurred to Alouette how much of a fraud Jonathan Crane actually was when she saw him stepping into the Arkham Asylum a few hours ago. Additionally, none of his words didn't hold any kind of truth having Alouette to be stupid enough to even hold a trust to him even if it was a small portion. The idea that he actually convinced her to be allies instead of enemies really pulled Alouette to form the conclusion that Jonathan didn't really want to be friends at all. This made her feel a form of sadness inside her because not only did she slowly learn to admire Jonathan's determination, but also he was charming to say the least. Yet, having charm can only get you so far in reality.

However, this can only be an assumption that she learned to grow a habit of. One of Alouette's biggest flaws is always jumping into conclusions and assuming the worst and she recognized it from te get go . She had the talent of not expecting the best out of things even if she was guaranteed the outcome. This only gotten worse when her father passed away and a lot of her reoccurring memories with him gave her anxiety. On the contrary, Alouette knew she had to fight off her own personal demons even if that meant being a pessimistic for the rest of her life.

She drove around the streets of Gotham, passing through the dark tunnel of the narrows making her feel the murkiness desperation of the people attach to her. She watched from the corner of her eyes the corrupted system that surrounded her, letting her form a small tear at the corner of her brown eye. Alouette had the realization that people did had it worst than her in terms of living conditions. Her mental illness was nothing compared to what these people had to go through on the daily basis. She felt that was selfish enough for thinking that her problems were bigger than the people who lived in the area. Being in the Narrows automatically gave you the end of the stick when you inherited Gotham. It was more difficult to get a job or even grant yourself a positive reputation once you placed yourself on these streets. Alouette was lucky enough to move to Gotham and already obtained money from her father to form a successful career, but none of that mattered when she saw people raging through the trash cans hungrily looking for food. The Desperation. Adrenaline for survival. Something that Alouette never felt before but only witnessed.

At this moment, she was at her peak and a flow of tears started breaking out from her eyes. The thought of not being able to hold herself up to her own personal standards caused her chest to tighten up. Her breakdown got even deeper into her own personal black hole when notions of her failing her dream of getting the internship and ultimately her failing her last year at Gotham University caught up to her neck and started choking her. All of her insecurities had no limits when it came to feeling unworthy; they always won the battle in the end.

Attempting to breathe in and out made her to have her shoulders tense and palms sweating up against her car wheel. She tried controlling herself only to turn radio music and forcing her dark thoughts behind her head. Jonathan's appearance had nothing to do with his approval of being an intern and she had to understand that some things were out of her control. She is fortunate enough to have an education and a loving family who was still in her life and that's what fully mattered. She didn't aim to be desired. She still had the capacity to learn and fly with success. Alouette Abraham was enough. It's enough.

The whole time she was clenching her teeth not realizing that her knuckles were turning white from holding the wheel too tight. She finally let go and let out a deep sigh of relaxation.

The same night she decided to take Rachel a visit. She got out of her car and walked into the dormitory. She walked towards the wooden stairs and passed through several dorm rooms until she finally got to Rachel's. She knocked once until Rachel opened her door to have her enter.

"Hey Ali! How are you doing?" Rachel asked and sat down on her bed.

"I'm um doing fine, I just wanted to hang out for a bit." Alouette said, slowly wiping off the sweat out of her hands from earlier on her pants. Rachel noticed that gestured and looked up to Ali.

"Um, are you sure? You seem kinda nervous about something?" Alouette claimed to her friend that it was just a near car accident on her way here that caused her to be out of line. Rachel suspected a different thing otherwise.

"Rachel, I saw Jonathan go into Arkham Asylum after I dropped my papers. I saw him from car rear window and I immediately panicked. Do you think he knows he got the internship before me? He promised to form a friendship but I honestly-"

"Whoa, wait what?! He wants to be 'friends' ?! Ali..what?!" Rachel exclaimed with a confused look on her face, staring towards her.

"Yes, he apologized for being an asshole after these years and I thought he was being sincere. I don't know what to think, my anxiety has driven me to think things that are out of my control and I honestly don't know what to think anymore." Alouette sat down on a chair, putting her hands in front of her face. Rachel saw her friend in distress and immediately went down to confront her. All of this came out at random for Rachel and she didn't know what else to do but to listen to Alouette.

"Ali, it's okay. I'm pretty sure that had nothing to do with the status of his application. He probably went there to drop off some documents just like you did. It's okay, just breathe. You're driving yourself crazy and it's unhealthy. It's also not you. It's not the Alouette that I know." Rachel told her, soothing her back. Her friend silently breathed in and out trying to remain composure.

Alouette looked up towards her with a small beam in her eyes.

"You're right...I'm thinking about this too much. I just been too stressed with an exam coming up and notifications of my application status are soon. Everything is just too much and I can't handle all of it." She wiped a few of her last stressed tears away and stood up from the chair.

"It's okay that you can't. It's normal. Everything will be just fine. I'm very glad you came to talk to me before anything else happened." Rachel assured her.

"Come on, I know something that might cheer you up." She took Aloutte's hand and took her out the dorm having Alouette curious on what Rachel's next spontaneous move was.

Jonathan Crane walked out of the Asylum, fixing his tie while looking outside the broad nighttime. He went to make sure that all of the necessary documents were received. Fortunately, he turned everything in which made him a bit more confident in his application. He walked towards his car and got inside.

'Are you really going to be friends with that girl, Johnny? I saw the way your eyes lit up when she mentioned the psychology of phobias.' Scarecrow said back of Jonathans mind.

'Just because we share a common interest it doesn't really mean anything. '

'Are you sure? The way she made your hair stand behind your back told me something else.'

'I don't think you should be telling me what I feel for this girl. She isn't that important to me. Now, be quiet, I'm about to drive and I don't need you breathing down my neck. I already have enough stress to be worry about and I don't need it while I'm driving.' Jonathan told Scarecrow with a stern voice. He took off and drove back home.

Rachel insisted to getting ice cream with Aloutte, something they usually did when they were younger whenever something bad happened in their lives. It was a quick picker upper; another reason for how grateful Alouette was towards having someone like Rachel. They finished their ice cream rather quickly and went back to their dorms to sleep.

Before Alouette went to bed she decided to take a look at her email. A little notification showed up and she saw the phrase 'Arkham Asylum' written on top of the page. She clicked on it only to see the following words stated:

Hello Miss Abraham,

I am writing to you to congratulate on our behalf for receiving an internship position at our asylum. We were impressed with your application and your obvious dedication to psychology. Please give us a call for more information of your new hired position. Again, congratulations and welcome to the Arkham Asylum!

It felt like fireworks exploded inside Alouettes once she finished reading the email. In fact, she read it repeatedly just to have her brain process the good news right in front of her. Although it was a bit strange to her that her notification came up this early, but she didn't care. All of the anxiety that she experienced beforehand completely disappeared. It was the happiest moment of her life and she couldn't be anymore proud of herself. She thought how Jonathan probably already opened his rejected email. At first, she felt bad but then she remembered his façade. In all honestly she couldn't hold Jonathan into that and she shouldn't be shameless pointing a finger at him. She got the position and that's all that she wanted to worry about.

Alouette slept with a smile on her face that night. It's been the first time she's been able to do that ever since her father last kissed her goodnight and put her to bed. Her happiness was real and deserved. A new opportunity was going to proceed in her life and she couldn't be happier to open the door.

On the other side of Gotham, in an apartment that looked like as if a robber came into the place. Wooden tables, chairs and paper were all over the furniture as if someone was trying to find something desperately. There was even a broken vase that had its glass pieces shattered that sparkled like infinite diamonds across the floor. A few modern paintings were scattered as if someone knocked them down and even a few dishes were smashed. The only source of light that came from the room was coming from the desktop light inside Jonathan's bedroom. He was sitting there with his head down on the table, hair completely missed out of place; shaking violently from his anger.

A/N And that's it for Chapter 4! :) I hope you guys enjoy it! I wonder what Jonathan or Scarecrow is going to do to Alouette for his revenge...Let me know what you guys think. Please review or fav/follow to show support! Thank you so much and I hope you guys have a lovely weekend; until next time.

(P.S: I'm still looking for a beta(s), just let me know in a review if you are interested in helping your gal out.)

- X