CHAPTER TWO

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep

I slammed down on top of my alarm, hoping it was the correct button. Rubbing my eyes, I tried to adjust to the little amount of sleep and peered at my clock. 6:45 am the numbers flashed at me, almost in a taunting way. It took another minute or two to process the fact that I was extremely late.

I stumbled to my closet, tripping on a power cord and pulled out a few sweaters, deciding today I will wear the green v-neck sweater with a white lace underlay. I slipped on my pinstriped dress pants and those pointy shoes I can never manage to walk in. I stuffed all of Cranes' files into my bag noticing a nice coffee stain on the one I feel asleep with, grabbed my make up and was in my car within 20 minutes of waking up. As I guessed it took a half an hour to get to work, which gave me plenty of time to do my hair and face. I ran up to Cranes' cell, hoping no one was there.

The hall was deserted so I checked in on Crane, who had again made a pillowcase into a mask and was talking quietly to himself. I decided to let him be, at least then the botanist or whoever he was would be able to see for himself. What would he know about a dual personality case anyway? Yea, he'll help with the toxin but what will he do to help Dr. Crane? And why what he such a morning person?

I set my things down and retrieved an orderly so we could at least talk to Crane without a breakdown. By the time I came back, a woman with violent red hair pulled up into a delicate, twisted braid was checking the cell numbers. She was dressed rather plain, but her figure was amazing. She turned towards me and her eyes were as striking as her hair. Green as emeralds and I hated her for it. She was drop dead gorgeous and I was only cute, only simple. I let my thoughts pass as quick as they came.

"Ah, you must be Dr, Quinzel, I am Dr. Pamela Isely, but please call me Pam." She started.

"Yes, but please, it's Harley. This here is Dr. Crane. He has been admitted for mild psychosis and dual personalities. The toxin he uses, which is why you were called in, is organic but we don't know anything else about it. I have packed samples in my office that I have to give you. It causes severe hallucination which can last for days, 10 hours at a very minimum. He has also produced different concentrations. "

"Are the hallucinations violent, I mean, do they cause otherwise rational people to act irrationally or do they just sit in a stupor?"

"Most definitely violent."

"Would you mind if I asked him few questions?" She asked hopefully. I think she was just as interested in his case as I was.

"I already have an orderly to enter with us. He is at a very violent stage right now, Lyle, would you mind?" I unlocked the door and let them both in first and closed the door behind us. It was a tight squeeze and Crane or I should say Scarecrow noticed this and backed into the corner as far as possible.

He stood there, straight jacket on staring through his mask. His eyes were blank but I could feel him scanning us, deciding what he was going to do and to my surprise he pulled off his mask, sat crossed-legged. He shook his head as if he was throwing off water.

"So, Dr. Isely, the wonderful Seattle biochemist, eh?" He started, to which I jumped. His voice was a bit dry and raspy from lack of use. My jaw visibly dropped.

"And the infamous Dr. Jonathan Crane, the master of fear, what have you gotten yourself into now? What exactly do you use in your toxin, quite potent stuff as I hear." Was she flirting or just trying to get what she needed. Either way, he was warming up to her nicely, he couldn't keep his eyes off of hers and there was a trust I hadn't seen before.

"How about you have a guess, you are the plant lady, after all" He was absolutely delighted to play this game, but she didn't miss a beat. She must of found an angle to work from and seemed very I her element.

"I would say you started with a high base of Amanita muscaria for the intense awareness, leading to the paranoia, the bluepoppy flower for the visions and a pinch of LSD for good measure?" His eyes widened for half of a second which soon turned into a smirk. I could see a fire behind his eyes, not of angry but of understanding.

"Almost, my little biochemist. LSD is detectable in high doses, so I try to avoid it. Those blue flowers and mushrooms however are spot on. The rest are in small doses and are hardly worth mentioning" She smiled, bid him a farewell and shifted out of the room seamlessly. She really knew her shit.

"Dr. Crane, I will be back in a few hours for our session. I don't know if you remember me, I'm Dr. Quinzel." At this, he raised his eyebrows in a disbelieving look and soon resorted to his same smirk. It was really starting to creep me out. I bent down as close as I could get without risking injury. "I suggest you hide your mask in the bedsprings of the frame, they will never find it. Thanks for your help." He seemed to lose his smug expression. I hoped I had gained his trust.

"Dr. Is- Pam, that was amazing! How did you get him to do that? We have been trying for months!"

"I just played on his ego. I knew he was proud of what he did and would be eager to discuss it if I knew what he used. He wanted his cleverness complimented."

"Well, your cleverness should also be complimented. I'm treating you to coffee; we can discuss our options there. Arkham is too depressing. My cars right in the parking garage."

"Actually, I prefer to walk, you know the whole killing the environment? How far away is it?"

"Just round the corner, ever hear of Jackson's Place? They make the best coffee."

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We talked about small things, nothing really but small talk to fill the time. We were seated, ordered and served within ten minutes.

"I am not exactly a morning person and without coffee, I am a zombie." I said, breathing in the smell of my own little vice.

"I actually only drink tea, coffee disagrees with my stomach. Anyways, when was Dr. Crane admitted?" She was sipping a peppermint tea that smelled delicious.

"A few months ago, back in June. He was brought in after the Batman had tied him up with some wanna bes. Stopped a drug deal, which of course was completely laced with his toxin. The plants you mentioned earlier, is there an antidote we could invest in?"

"Yes, there are a few options. If you would like, I could have a consultation with the police department. I understand that they had an antidote for his first version. We could use that for our basis and move from there." After a few moments of thought, she added. "Actually, I think I could start production of it immediately. I am going to-" She suddenly went silent and her face showed udder annoyance and a hint of embarrassment. Her phone was ringing.

"Is that… the Darth Vader…theme…song?"I managed to get through without losing it completely. My giggles were noticeable, but I soon got control. I had to stay professional.

"Um…yeah, sorry" She looked down at the caller id and turned it off. She continued "Yea, my boyfriend insists on changing it to a new song every time I see him. I never get around to changing it back. Last week it was Lollipop. Anyways, as I was saying, I am going to back to Seattle for a month or so, just to collect the rest of my belongings but when I return, I can have it mass produced. His dose seems to have worn off of some patients but in the more concentrated dose it is very dangerous, as I am sure you know." She glanced at her watch and looked up nervously. "I am sorry to cut you off, I have to get going, is there anything that I need t know?" She said as she slipped me her card, which had both her home and cell numbers.

"Nope. Here is my card and I'll write down Gotham P.D.'s number. Thanks for all of your help, Pam. Really. And, please, be careful. The Narrows can be very dangerous. I live two blocks away from the perimeter. Here is my apartment." I wrote on a napkin and shoved it into her hand.

I headed back to Arkham to have my first meeting with the witty Dr. Crane.

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"Well, Dr. Crane, how are you doing this morning?" I ask as I joined him in one of the session rooms. They were very uncomfortable; cement walls and floors, metal table and chair and one barred window that let almost no light in. For this session, Crane was only in a set of hand and foot cuffs, but he was still Crane. He wasn't physical, but knew exactly what to say to get a person going. In fact, he looked forward to it.

"Other than having an intern trying to psychoanalyze me, I am just peachy. Miss Quinzel" He rolled his eyes and smirked at his remark.

"Dr. Crane, I have already earned my psychology degree and I believe I am fully qualified. Back to the matter at hand, is there anything you need to talk about before we start?"

"Haven't we already started? I have better things to do than to listen to you ramble on, Miss Quinzel." His smirk stayed in its place. "And don't you think I have already psychoanalyzed every detail of my life to death? My childhood, my teen years, every possible corner of my mind, I have uncovered. There is nothing there because I am not crazy. I am simply a person with different goals than someone as 'sane' as you" He paused to take a small breath and continued his speech. I have heard it all before.

"And to answer your question, the only way that you are remotely qualified to take my case is because you are the only person at this hospital that I have no prior history with. Anyone else has conflict of interest. You, however, have nothing here, but you have had problems at Gotham University, have you not? A problem with authority, a male professor underestimated you and you seem like the vengeful type." He had made his point. I said believe I was qualified instead of I know I am qualified. Mistake number one.

"I didn't ask a question and it is Dr. Quinzel, if you don't mind." Mistake number two, never, ever get defensive or personal.

"But you were thinking it. I know. I still earned my degree; I remember everything that was taught. Don't underestimate me, Miss Quinzel." He added an extra emphasis on Miss, knowing it would get under my skin. I narrowed my eyes in anger. Mistake three, you're out. I decided to end the session before it got any worse than it already was.

"Dr. Crane, it was a pleasure. I will be seeing you soon, very soon." I walked out with my head held high, very well knowing that I had lost and that I was going to be pulled from the case. There goes my rise to the top. I knew Thurman would be waiting for me in the side room. I just wanted to face my fate before he had the pleasure of hunting me down.

"Quinzel? What did you do?" He asked, quite stern in his features as well as his tone.

"I..I know sir. I wasn't supposed to get defensive or personal or show any feelings at all, its just, he knew exactly what to say to get under my skin. It's like he could read my thoughts. I really have to apologize and I hope that I won't be reduced to intake?"

"You don't realize. You are one of the first of his therapist to leave on your terms and not in tears. I think you two are going to work wondrously together. The fact that he thinks that you are no smarter that an average intern will be very useful." This was the first time I had ever seen him look remotely happy, and all he did was curl the ends of his lips. No way had I thought that I would be getting praised on top of it. "You do however, need to find a way to get inside his head. His patience will run thin, very fast. He needs to trust you but you cannot get too personal."

"Any ideas, sir?" I asked, praying that I could get an inkling of what I could try.

"That is up to you. Good Luck." I knew he would say that. I had a lot of thinking to do tonight, which meant another sleepless night.

Author's Note: I thought this chapter was shorter than this, oh well. Anyways, thank you for reading. The action is kind of low right now, but in the next two chapters, it really picks up. Please, leave me reviews. I really enjoy them and I want to personally than all of those that did. Thanks, I hope you enjoyed!

Also, if you are interested, all of my Chapters are titled after Marilyn Manson Lyrics. As is the story. And to answer the question I received via PM, no I am not studying psychology at the moment but I will be in the future.