Aura walked into the bar around the corner and walked up to the fiery red head sitting on a stool. Susan turned around and all but screamed in happiness. "Aura! You never come out anymore since you met that horrible..."

"Susan' leave her boyfriend out of this!" a man behind her said while handing Aura a mixed cocktail.

"Arthur you know that Tony is an asshole. Aura you should drop him and get with a real man. I mean Bruce Wayne is single and you do spend a lot of time with him."

Aura felt her cheeks heat up and she coughed as she choked on her drink. "Susan! Mr. Wayne is my boss. I don't date people I work with; its make things complicated."

Susan brushed her off and kissed Arthur. They were both computer programers in the electronics department of Wayne Enterprises. Just like her hair would suggest, Susan was a wild child and was never afraid to tell people what was on her mind. Arthur was a lot more subdued and quiet. Aura never quite understood how they worked so well together. Aura was brought out of her thoughts as Susan elbowed her in the ribs. "What did you say?"

"Get it together Aura. You are much to sober to already have problems hearing." She laughed and handed Aura a new drink, replacing the empty one. "I was saying that the tall guy in the corner over there is staring at you."

Aura went to turn around but Susan pulled her back. "What?"

"Don't just look over there unless you plan on going and talking to him." She gasped loudly. "You totally should! He is cute in a skinny nerd kinda way, nothing like that hulk of a man you date. Wait do you even like white guys?"

Aura blushed darkly and shook her head. "You have no filter do you?" Aura drained her drink and ordered another. "I don't have any preferences. I go for good personalities."

Susan rolled her eyes. "Then what the hell happened with Tony?"

"He was nice at first."

"Dump him." She threw an arm around Aura's shoulders. "I'll repeat: dump him. He isn't good for you and he's controlling. Get rid of the zero and get yourself a new man that respects you. Go talk to skinny."

Susan twirled Aura around and gave her a push towards the corner of the bar. Aura laughed softly and walked in the direction, letting her eyes sweep over the people. When her eyes settled on the man in the corner she couldn't help but laugh a little. "Well, well. Fancy seeing you here."

Cold, blue eyes looked up at her. He smiled broadly as he inclined his head to the seat across from him. "Fancy that."

"Jonathan Crane, wasn't it?" Aura said as she sat across from him.

Jonathan's eyebrows rose in surprise. 'She remembered my name?'

'Twice in one day Jonny. This is fate. She is meant to become an experiment.' The Scarecrow growled in his head.

Jonathan could feel the Scarecrow clawing to come out and take the woman infront of him back to his lab. He reached in his pocket, fingering the pill bottle there. The Scarecrow growled dangerously but was silent after. Jonathan returned his full attention to the pair of strange lavender eyes that were staring at him. "Yes, I'm surprised you remember Miss Warren."

Aura laughed softly. "Of course I would remember you. You did help me earlier. So do you come here often?"

"No, not at all but I am celebrating tonight."

"Oh? What are you celebrating?"

"A breakthrough in my experiments."

Aura smiled brightly and raised her glass. "Congratulations Mr. Crane."

Jonathan raised his glass, tapping it lightly to hers. He then drank a good swig from it. 'If only she knew the truth to what she was celebrating.' The Scarecrow laughed.

'Behave yourself or I will take the medicine again to make you go away.' Jonathan growled threateningly at his dark half.

Aura brushed a dark curl over her shoulder. "So you just got off work?"

"You can say that."

"Okay so let me get this straight." Aura leaned back in her chair with her fingers on her chin. "You conduct experiments so must be some sort of scientist. Oh, but you did say at the cafe that your job would frighten me. Hm," she tapped a finger to her chin and snapped. "I know, you must be a mad scientist."

Jonathan laughed loudly. A tear slipped down his cheek and he wiped it away. "A mad scientist? No, I am..."

"Wait, wait. Don't tell me," Aura interrupted. She leaned in to whisper and a blush crept over Jonathan's face as the tops of her breasts were more exposed. The Scarecrow moaned softly in his head. "You aren't planning to hold Gotham ransom are you?"

Jonathan stared at her quietly, searching her eyes. 'How did she know? How could this simple girl figure out that I am a Rogue?' When Aura laughed he relaxed as he realized it was a joke. "I'm afraid my last plan got pushed back a little when the Batman interfered."

Aura laughed and finished her drink. "You gotta hate when that happens."

Jonathan motioned a waiter over and pointed to her drink. He slipped the waiter his credit card. When he returned his gaze to the woman in front of him, he widened his eyes a little. Aura was glaring at him darkly. "Is something wrong?"

"You aren't supposed to be paying for my drinks," she said flatly.

"Really? The last I was taught growing up was that the man normally pays for a woman's drink at a bar." Jonathan stated as he signed the credit slip.

"Did you grow up in Gotham?"

Jonathan was surprised again at her curiosity over him. He had never before had someone genuinely want to know something about him. Normally, women only wanted one thing and that was money. If they weren't gold diggers then they were just playing a prank or joke on him. But the look in Aura's eyes told Jonathan that she was sincerely interested in his answers. Jonathan's heartbeat picked up as his excitement in with this new girl grew. "No, I grew up in a small farm town in Georgia. What about you Miss Aura."

Aura blushed softly. "You can call Aura. I just recently moved to Gotham."

"Hopefully you are finding it..." Jonathan trailed off as Aura's attention was diverted to a yelling match coming from the bar.

Her eyes grew wide with fear and she quickly looked to her wrist. "Shit! Its ten, I'm so late."

Jonathan narrowed his eyes at her sudden fear. "Is everything alright?"

"Thank you for the drink Mr. Crane. I have to go."

Jonathan barely got a word out as she ran up to the bar, placing a hand on a large black gentleman's shoulder. The man turned on her, his face clearly angry. The red haired woman that Aura had been with earlier kept screaming at the man and he turned back to her.

'Did you see the fear in her eyes? It was delicious. I need more!' The Scarecrow screamed in his head.

'Silence! I am trying to listen.' Jonathan got out of his chair and slinked up towards the bar. The large man was screaming at Aura now, towering over her slender form. A pang of anger crawled into Jonathan's head as the man threatened to strike Aura.

"Please Tony. I'm sorry I didn't realize that it was getting so late." Aura pleaded, her body clearly shaking from fear.

'He is striking fear into my prey! How dare he! Jonathan let me out, I will make him pay for ever threatening my Aura.'the Scarecrow growled.

'She is not your prey.' Jonathan snapped back, startled at the fierceness of his protection for the girl he just met.

"Shut the fuck up you slut! What where you doing here? Trying to get into some fucking man's pants I bet!" the man, Tony, yelled.

Aura had tears threatening to fall. "No, Tony. I was just hanging out with my friends."

"Shut up you whore!" Tony screamed.

His large hand came up and in a swift, brutal move he backhanded Aura across the face. Aura collapsed to the ground, unconscious from the savage strike. Jonathan sprang forward before he could stop himself and cradled Aura in his arms. She was completely out, blood trickling from her mouth. There was already a giant red mark on her cheek, her eye swelling fast.

Tony towered over the two of them. "So you must be the fucking whore's new cock. I'm going to break your scrawny ass."

Jonathan felt in his suit jacket for the canister of fear gas he created containing his new, stronger formula. He gripped it tightly ready to spread the toxin into the air but he stopped before he brought it out. He knew that he himself would be unaffected. Years of developing the fear toxin had built up an immunity in his body but Aura would be affected as well. Tony froze before he could throw his punch as flashing lights surrounded the bar. Commissioner Gordon ran into the bar with his gun drawn, pointing at the tall man. Two other officers came and handcuffed the man, pulling him from the bar and to the waiting cars on the curbs.

Commissioner Gordon knelt beside Jonathan, looking over Aura's still form. "Dr. Crane, this is a surprise. What happened?"

The red head pushed her way through the crowd. "I can tell you officer. That brute, Tony Byron, came in and started screaming that Aura needed to come home with him. We tried to tell him to fuck off, that she didn't want him in her life anymore. I mean she has been meaning to tell him for the past week but is terrified of the freak. So anyway she came back from talking with this man here and Tony blew up. He accused her of cheating on him and slapped her when she tried to calm him down."

Gordon looked back to Jonathan for his story. "That is pretty much what happened."

The officer turned back to the red head after mumbling into the speaker of his radio. "Who is this Tony to her? A boyfriend I'm assuming."

"Yeah, if that's what you can call an animal like him." the red head all but growled.

Two emergency medical personal appeared and lifted Aura from Jonathan's arms. He reluctantly released her. Gordon cleared his throat to capture Jonathan's attention. "Would you be willing to offer a statement Dr. Crane?" Jonathan nodded. He took the offered form from an officer and quickly filled out the paper. The red head finished after him and the officer disappeared out the front door. Gordon placed a heavy hand on Jonathan's slender shoulder. "Can I talk to you outside?"

Jonathan followed the man to the side of his police car. Gordon leaned against the door and crossed his arms as the ambulance drove away. "Was something on your mind, Gordon?"

The older man sighed heavily. "How do you know Aura Warren? You seemed to be close to her."

Jonathan shifted on his feet. "I met her this morning. Some gangster dropped a drink on her and tried to hit her. I stopped him and she bought me lunch. I saw her in the bar and when she saw me, she came over and talked. I wouldn't really say I know her that well."

Gordon nodded and stood straight. "Just checking. Thanks for you help tonight Dr. Crane."

A few hours after midnight, Jonathan found himself in the heart of his lab. He stared angrily at the clock on the wall. Impatiently he tapped his fingers against the stainless steel table. The equipment on the lab table, bubbled merrily as it synthesized his new fear gas. The doors opened below him, in the storage area of the secret warehouse. His lab was located on the second floor and had a panoramic view of the warehouse floor below. Two of his newly paid henchmen, borrowed from the Maroni Gang for the night, drug in his new victim.

Jonathan smiled. He slipped his glasses off, tucking them into his pocket. Closing his eyes and taking in a deep breath, he slid on the burlap mask that sat in his lap. When he opened his eyes, his entire personality had shifted to allow his dark form to take over. Scarecrow swept from the chair and all but danced down the stairs to the warehouse floor. He spread his hands in welcome as the two gangsters threw the battered man to his feet. "Welcome gentleman!" Scarecrow said happily.

The gangsters grabbed the suitcase of money that Scarecrow offered and left the warehouse when he motioned them out. The victim was pulled to a stainless steel examining table in the center of the warehouse. Scarecrow strapped the man down on the lit table. He disappeared back to his lab and started collecting a few different tools. As he was descending the stairs, he heard screaming coming from below.

"What the fuck is this shit!" the man screamed. When Scarecrow approached the side of the table the man stopped struggling against the bindings. "What the fuck? You have no idea who you fucked with asshole! My boss won't be happy about this."

Scarecrow narrowed his eyes and spread his tools on the small wheeled surgeon's table. "Tony, Tony. Calm down. There is nothing you can do about this situation. Panic won't help you so save your energy for what is to come."

"What the fuck?" Tony started to struggle as he caught sight of the steel instruments next to him. "Look man, I don't know what this is about but I can pay you."

Scarecrow made a tutting noise and shook a finger. "You hurt something that belongs to me. You caused my Aura fear. That is something only I can do."

"Aura? Who the fuck are you?"

"Yes Aura. You see, I met her recently and I grew pretty attached to the fear behind her eyes. Only I am allowed to bring that fear out of her. But you decided to take that upon yourself tonight and that cannot be allowed. Her fear belongs to me alone."

Tony struggled harder as the Scarecrow brought up an aerosol gun. "What the fuck are you talking about? My boss wants that stupid bitch. He is going to kill you if you interfere."

Scarecrow pushing in a capsule of his newest fear toxin. He put his finger on the trigger and held it infront of the man's sweating face. "Tell me who you work for."

"The fuck I will you freak! Who the fuck do you think you are!"

Scarecrow pulled the trigger to release the gas. The man took in a deep breath and within seconds started screaming. The sweat poured down the man's ebony forehead. Scarecrow laughed, imaging what his mask looked like to the man. He grabbed a scalpel and pressed the blade to the man's throat. "Who do you work for?"

Tony screamed as he looked at the mask Scarecrow wore. "The fuck are you? Please don't kill me mama I didn't mean to rape that girl." Scarecrow pressed the blade deeper into the soft flesh, blood trickling down his throat. "Joker! Joker told me to get the girl interested in me so that she could make a computer virus for him! I don't know what for but she is the only person that can do it!"

"Why her?"

"She's the Net Runner from Metropolis!"

Scarecrow furrowed his brows. 'Metropolis?'

'She said she wasn't from Gotham. Maybe she is from Metropolis? What would the Joker want with a computer virus?' Jonathan said softly in the Scarecrow's mind.

'What is a Net Runner?'

'I heard that name before from news reports. It was a few years ago but there was supposedly some hacker that went by that name.'

'Aura is a hacker? That girl doesn't strike me as a computer type but those eyes do hide their secrets behind that fear.'

'I know someone we could ask.' Jonathan mused. 'Finish your playtime and we can go find him tomorrow.'

Scarecrow smiled as the fear gripped the black man harder. He screamed as his eyes began to roll behind his lids. He wasn't long for this world. Scarecrow cut off the shirt from the man's flesh and began slicing into his chest. When he was down, blood dripped from his hands and onto the floor. He dialed a number on his phone for one of his henchman to come back. The man entered the warehouse, his eyes going wide at the sight on the table. "Hang him in front of that bar near Wayne Enterprises. Let everyone see him and know what is mine."

Before the henchman dragged the body away, Scarecrow stuffed his head into a burlap sack and placed bundles of hay into his clothes. He smiled at his own handiwork. Scarecrow was satisfied that this display of his savagery was sure to strike fear in the hearts of the citizens of Gotham, especially his Aura.

'She will be mine Jonny.' he whispered in his head.

Scarecrow removed the burlap sack from his head, sighing loudly. Jonathan took over smoothly and slipped the glasses back on his nose. He felt a small bout of nausea roll over him at the amount of blood and skin on the floor around him. "Did you have to make such a mess?"

'Focus Jonathan! Who do we go to now? I need to know all about my little Aura if I were to make her mine.'

Jonathan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You are being obsessive over a girl we just met?"

'You want her too Jonathan. Don't forget I can feel what you feel. That tingling in your groin when she laughed and looked you in the eyes, I felt that. The need you had to have her in your arms as those ambulance goons took her away,' Scarecrow growled. 'The anger you felt when she was struck by that animal. She was nice to you. She remembered your name and asked you questions about your life. I can feel your own obsession, as you put it, clawing at your heart. You want her as much as I do. We should work together and make her our next prey.'

"And do what with her?" Jonathan asked as he climbed into his car, heading home.

'The only thing worth doing with a frighten doe like her. Make her fear complete and ours!' Scarecrow laughed darkly, filling Jonathan's head with the resonating sound. 'Who do we see about tracking her past down?'

Jonathan sighed. "The only person that can find a hacker than might not want to be found. The only person to solve our little problem. The Prince of Puzzles, Edward Nygma."