"Why are you here?"

"That's a very clever tactic; keep me talking so that I might change my mind about killing you. I'm not going to kill you though Amber. There are things far worse than death that someone can endure." Amber turned and tried to run into her small bedroom, but she couldn't shut the door and lock it before Crane came after her.

He slammed his weight against the nearly shut door, knocking it and Amber back. With a cold smile, he watched with happiness as she flung herself against the wall farthest from him. Taking his time, he stalked towards her. Usually it was the Scarecrow who handled this sort of behavior, but Crane could almost see why he loved it so much. The power that becoming someone's worst fear and standing before them was magnificent. Amber's fears were about to get much worse, as he took as small plastic bag filled with white powder out of his pocket.

Crane was disappointed to see a change in Amber's character then. Instead of being terrified, she became emotionless. There was still a flicker of fear in her eyes, but it wasn't the burning horror that was there before. That will change quickly, he thought with pleasure as he knelt before her and put a small amount of the substance in his hands. He had bribed a police officer in Gotham for a small part of the antidote for the toxin, so he was immune now. It was nice not having to wear a gas mask and gloves all the time when he handled the powder.

"This will be fun." He said darkly as he blew the powder from his palm and into her face. For a few seconds, there was no change in her expression, and then the look of terror in her eyes was back. She screamed a few times, pointing to one of her hallucinations on the wall. "What's wrong Amber? Something there?" He asked her in a taunting tone. She just pointed and screamed.

Amber watched in horror as the mutant thing came towards her. It looked to be some kind of arachnid, and its eight legs were made from roughly sewn together human arms. Crane apparently didn't see it, but he tried to say something to her and she screamed again.

"Don't let it get me. Please…" She begged him in a hysterical tone. Tears were streaming down her face, but Crane just looked at her with a blank expression.

"Something wrong?" He asked her. She looked at him and cried harder.

Crane was shocked by what Amber did then. She was now clinging to him, pleading and begging him to protect her from whatever it was she was seeing. She had her head buried in his chest and was sobbing into his blazer. He wondered why he didn't look like some kind of demon to her, but there was a certain defect in some of the powder. Sometimes, people didn't see other people as the horrific monsters they were supposed to. Usually this only included the people that the victim knew well or the ones they were particularly attached to.

He felt guilty for what he did then, with Amber crying and wailing. He sat down beside her silently as she cried. Weren't they equal then? Amber probably wasn't going to publish her article anyway, and he had tried to kill her and imprisoned her. She had eventually ruined his life in New York anyway, but still, weren't they even now? After this is finished we will be. He thought grimly. Then it's over.

Amber clung to Crane as though he could actually protect her from the awful thing that walked around her room. She could see other things too, waiting in the darkest corners with their glowing red eyes staring at her. Slowly, some of the red eyed things left, but the spider thing was still stalking around. "Please don't let it get me…" She begged. Her voice sounded muffled to Crane. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her, guilt overcoming him completely.

He sighed and looked down at her head. She was still crying, but she had quieted down slightly when he hugged her. Crane hadn't felt this badly about something that he did in a very long time. "Don't worry, they can't get you now." He said in a calming tone of voice. "Shh…" He rubbed her back until finally she was only crying slightly.

"W-what was i-it?" She asked him hesitantly after she had calmed down enough to speak.

"I don't know what it was. It must have been terrible though." Crane said honestly. She buried her head in his blazer again.

"It was." She said quietly. He bit his bottom lip. She didn't deserve this. Yesterday, she had honestly told him that she believed that he was a good person. How could she possibly think that again after this? He sighed and stroked her back again. Just the thought of her hallucinations brought her back to crying again though, and she started to sob. I did this to the whole Narrows… He thought suddenly. He swallowed his guilt though and held Amber closer, for her comfort as much as his.

After Amber stopped crying again, he pulled both of them to their feet. Their hands dropped to their sides and she looked at him without expression. "You need to get some sleep." He said quietly, breaking eye contact with her.

He walked out of the room quickly, letting her get changed into her pajamas. Crane knew that Amber would probably be having smaller hallucinations all night, but hopefully sleep would provide an escape from her waking nightmares. He walked over to her sink and ran his hand under cold water, so that he got all of the powder off.

"You aren't going to let them get me, right?" Amber said suddenly. He jumped a little at the sound of her voice; he didn't hear her come up behind him. He looked at her standing there before him in her baggy pajama pants and tight tank top. There was no knowing if she would every fully recover from the toxin's effects on her mind.

"No. Go to bed and get some rest." He replied. She started to walk back to her bedroom. Suddenly, a thought struck him. It would explain why she trusted him enough to seek comfort from him even after everything that happened. "Amber." He said. She turned around and looked at him with wide and questioning hazel eyes. "Do you know who I am?"

"Of course; you're Jonathan Crane. Why?" She frowned in confusion at him.

"I was just curious." He said quickly. "Go to bed." Amber nodded and walked back into her room. A few moments later, Amber came hurrying back out.

"What if it's still in there? Hiding?" She asked him nervously. He sighed and walked into the room. "Don't let it get you!" She said suddenly, looking at him with concern. She has Stockholm syndrome and I only made it worse by dosing her with that hallucinogen. He finally concluded as she was watching him.