Chapter 22,

...He's Her Savior

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"I just wanted to talk to you, Charlie!" She shouted at him as he pushed past her. Actually, he gave her a solid shove of his arm when he was close enough. It sent Melissa stumbling against a car's door. She glared at the back of his head as he continued to walk, weaving in and out of other cars to leave her. "I wanted to ask you something!"

His pace didn't slow, he didn't look back, he didn't give any sort of a reply. Melissa followed him. "CHARLIE!"

He looked over his shoulder at her. "GO, Melissa! I DO NOT want to talk to you!" Crane's threat to Charlie's father was still clear in his mind.

"You're scared!" She accused him, grabbing his arm. "You're afraid of Crane!"

He flung his arm out of her hand, abruptly stopping to face her. He raised his opposite hand to hit her across her face. He had no problem with the idea of hitting Melissa. He wanted to. He had wanted to for weeks, now. She had been, in his opinion, getting in the way too much. Charlie now had the opportunity to hit her, and yet... his hand stayed in the air– it wasn't moving towards her face. Something about the way she looked caused him to reluctantly drop his hand back to his side. There suddenly seemed to be a familiarness to her.

Melissa's eyes followed Charlie's hand as he dropped it. She glared and looked back up to him except he had now turned away, fumbling with his keys to unlock his car.

"Why don't you just fucking hit me, Charlie?" She asked, again glaring at the back of his head. He gave no reply. "You know you want to. I know you want to. Go ahead."

"Don't taunt me, lass." He muttered, staring at her reflection in the car's window. "We both know I want to hit you." He said coldly. Charlie wasn't one to be bothered endlessly– taunted. He hated it.

"Do it, then." She shoved his shoulder.

"And bruise up that pretty face?" She looked at his reflection as well. A smirk appeared on his lips. "Maybe after a nice go-around. Hm, Melissa? How does that sound to you? This car is new though, I don't want to go ruining the interior." He looked over the roof of his car. "There's a nice alley. That's more fitting." He didn't honestly mean it. Only to give her a bit of a scare. Just to teach her. As said before, he hated being taunted. iWhen you mess with the bull.../i "Maybe I'll fucking bruise you up after we finish up with each other, though..." He turned around and just for good measure, he reached out to grab her wrist.

It was then that he noticed how pale her face was. She no longer held a challenging look on her face. No glare or scowls. Charlie expected that she'd stopped trying to push him over the edge, but... She looked ill. He didn't actually think she'd take it seriously. He thought that she knew he was only screwing around with her. But maybe not.

It hit him suddenly. Actually, it seemed to ram into his chest. The realization of why Melissa seemed familiar. Realizing why his words had such an affect on her.

"You're her!" He shouted suddenly, an eyebrow raised questioningly. "You're that girl!" Charlie's eyes were wide, his mouth hung open slightly. "You're that girl that was in that alley a year or two ago, aren't you? The one I pulled that man off of."

She stared at him in silence. She licked her lips slowly, aware that her throat felt too dry to talk. Melissa looked him from head to toe, exhaling a breath she had been holding in. "You're... You'd..." Her eyes moved back to his face. It was the same face that she saw back in the alley, right after she had decided she was too tired to fight off the stranger. He had appeared suddenly, shouting at the man and pulling him off Melissa. There had been a fight between the two. Melissa assumed that her rescuer had one, because minutes later he was kneeling next to her, trying to help her up.

She swallowed hard. "You had helped me." Charlie slowly nodded his head, staring at her in a way like this new discovery was unbelievable.

"I remember you now... recognize you. You got taller a bit. You're hair was longer. You'd been bruised up when I got there" Charlie was saying this more to himself than to Melissa. "Eyes, though. The same..." He shook his head slightly, quietly musing: "I had wondered what happened to her– to you."

"Now you know... You had helped me... " Melissa regained herself slowly, realizing why she had come in the first place. Confront Charlie. She couldn't let herself be side-tracked by the past. Just because he helped her, and she silent thanked God for him coming, well it doesn't mean that those decent feelings will still linger. It could've been a once-in-a-lifetime situation for Charlie. People can change in Gotham, especially in the depression-like times Gotham had been facing for year. . "But now they say that you're a threat to me."

Charlie's eyebrows furrowed together in a scowl as he turned away from him. He took a pack of cigarettes from his jacket and pulled one out and stuffed it into his mouth before lighting it. He took a long drag of it as he cast a glance at her, the scowl gone but replaced by annoyance."I could be a danger to you, bonny-lass. I really could... but tell me... what is the point of that? Of me hurting, scaring, or killing you?" It was an honest question though he didn't seem to care to hear her answer.

"You and Crane... Maybe you'd be..."

"Back in his ranks or something like that? Why?" He shook his head, letting out a huff of smoke. "Who does he even think he is? Does he think he is the only one with secrets to hide? 'Dr. Jonathan Crane'-" He said the name in distaste, putting on an expression to match, like it was it was the filthiest name ever said, "is not the only one in Gotham city with money. Falcone is also pretty loaded up." He laughed, "Maybe I'll go off and work for him." He took another long drag of the cigarette, his eyes wandering to the icy-water. The grin from the laugh was melting off his face. "Even if you were out of the picture, I'd doubtfully go back working for him."

"Why not?" She asked quietly, leaning against the car next to him, her eyes still on the ground.

"Things happen. Things change." He slowly looked back to her moments after saying this. Melissa, feeling his eyes on her head, looked up to meet his stare. They looked at each other in heavy silence before Charlie spoke again. "Especially with him. I mean, honestly, look at the man! Dr. Crane, he's the top dog at Arkham; there is also the Scarecrow side, though. At any moment... Crane can snap to Scarecrow... and then what happens? Dr. Crane may have a soft spot for you, Melissa but I don't think the Scarecrow would."

Melissa looked away from Charlie, up to the hazy sky. "But..."

"But what, Melissa?" He asked harshly. "What do you think of that bird? That everything will always be just peachy between the two of you? That he'll give up everything? If it is between you and his work... Well, let's just say that you're number two." He flicked the cigarette to the ground, twisting his foot down on it. "By far-- you're number two." Melissa stared at his boot in silence as it twisted it on the ground.

"I don't think that he would do that. Anything like that." By 'that' she meant something that could, in someway, hurt her. She didn't think he'd use the toxin against her, nor did she think he was using her for his own fun and games.

"Melissa... He's a fucking psychopath or schizophrenic or... something like that. Ask him what he is. I'm sure he can diagnose himself as something." He licked his lips and shook his head. "You trust him, don't you?" When Melissa didn't respond, he continued on. "Trust him with your life, hm? Trust him with your sanity?" Charlie's voice was filled with bitterness, "Do you love him, Melissa?"

"No– but..."

"But you've let your guard down, I bet. I remember back when you first came around. Suspicious of everything and everyone. I could see it in your face. Nervous, too. I bet you were hoping to God that he didn't change his mind about testing on your. I bet you were praying that you wouldn't screw anything up... Then it seemed to change. You're easily relying on him these days, aren't you? Taking his word without doubt? It must be true if he says so, right?"

She slowly shook her head. "No..I..." Melissa shook her head again, stumbling to make a defense for herself.

"Then leave." Charlie said as he pushed himself off of the side of the car to open the driver's door.

"What?" She asked, watching him.

"You heard me. Pack up your things and leave. I don't think he'll have time to come and look for you. I don't think he'll take the extra time to start a search-party for you, either."

"Why should I leave?"

He climbed in the car, resting an arm on the wheel, he looked at her. "It's all for the better. Can you imagine yourself work for Crane for...well who knows how long? Maybe it'll be just a few more weeks...but maybe it'll be months or years. Years... He is never going to give up, Melissa. He is going to continue on trying to perfect his little drug. He'll work on it until the day he dies if he has to... Someplace between now and then... you'll be playing a part of it. Not just as his little assistant, either. I've found it's easier to leave things sooner rather than later. So I'm suggesting that you leave until you're part in his work gets bigger."

She pushed herself off of the car, staring at him blankly. "Do you actually think that... he'd actually-"

"Do something like that?" Charlie finished for her. Melissa nodded. Charlie gave a single a nod as well. "I do. It seems like the idea's been placed in your pretty little head that I'm a threat to you. That I've got an idea to hurt you. Like I'm somehow very dangerous for your well-being... The truth is, like I said before, I COULD be a danger... But Dr. Crane definitely IS one to you."

Melissa's head was rushing with different thoughts. She felt like she was put in a haze by their conversation.

Charlie gave a sort laugh to break the tensioned silence between them. "I already saved your once, Melissa... don't make me do it again. I don't think I do well with the 'knight-in-shining-amour' role...unless there is some sort of a reward involved." He quirked his brows in a suggestive manner, but Melissa was too distracted to notice.

She slowly shook his head. "I don't believe you. I don't think that Jonathan would do something like that..."

Charlie's brows dropped with frustration. "You think I'm lying? Why don't you asked your brother for his thoughts on the situation? Why don't you ask him who shouldn't be trusted— me or Crane?"

"My brother?"

"Yeah. Your foster-brother. Alex... I'm sure he has some very interesting opinions on Crane." Charlie put on a mockingly-fake look of surprise on, "Oh, 'Jonathan' didn't tell you? He put Alex in Arkham... Alex had gone to Arkham on your birthday, looking for you. Then, because you weren't there, he went to the cops who then set up a date with Crane. Crane then labeled Alex as a crazy... Eventually, you'll wind up the same as Alex– or worse– if you don't leave him."

That was all that Charlie said before he slammed the car door. He left Melissa alone in the parking lot as he pulled away. Charlie only glanced up in the rearview mirror once. The one person he had helped, really helped, was now working for that bird. It didn't seem like much of an improvement from when he first saw her in the alley.

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