Disclaimer: Do not own, etc, fun not profit, etc, DC comics, etc, Warner Bros, etc. I only claim Sally Galeson and the plot, as usual.

NxS: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy it :)

Chapter Four

Hayley frowned at her field trip form. Since she wouldn't be eighteen for another week she needed her father's signature. Glancing around to make sure no one was looking, she forged it. Forgery was a skill she'd developed early on (her father didn't approve of her doing much of anything). She calmly passed her form in as the teacher entered the room. Ms. Kyle seemed surprised but didn't press the issue.

Hayley quite enjoyed Ms. Kyle's psychology class. It almost made her want to go to college, earn her degree, and possibly work at Arkham. However, Hayley just couldn't stand the idea of all the work she'd have to put into that plan and knew she'd never go through with it. It was too bad really, Ms. Kyle made psychology seem to interesting. (There were so many ways to apply the knowledge of psychology...)

Hayley went to sit by her teammates, Kim and Lucy. They were chatting about the oh so cute quarterback, Peter. Hayley feigned interest; boys were so boring. She couldn't fathom what the other girls saw in them. Most of them made her want to beat them senseless or tear her hair out, or scream or -

"Oh great, him again." Hayley thought to herself and frowned as Justin (the star pitcher of the baseball team) sat himself in the empty desk next to her.

"Hey, Hay." He said to her, as if his little nickname was clever instead of annoying. She hated it. She hated him. Kim and Lucy giggled and Hayley struggled to keep her face looking polite instead of menacing.

"Hey, Jay." She replied, falsely cheery. She earnestly hoped he hated her impromtu nickname for him and inwardly sighed when his face lit up. "Just great, now he'll really think we're friends or something..." She thought to herself bitterly.

"Excited for the field trip?" He asked, grinning like the idiot he was. Her hands twitched and she quickly folded them so as not to give in to the urge to slap him.

"Of course." She said, fake smile still plastered in place. "What about you guys?" She asked Kim and Lucy quickly to pull them into the conversation. She worked to make her expression seem genuinely inquisitive.

"I'm definitely going to be a psychoanalyst someday, so I'm, like, really pumped." Kim replied while absently-mindedly playing with one of her red curls. Hayley's eyes followed the action with fascination. (Kim has such pretty hair...)

"I hope we get a glimpse of some of the criminally insane inmates. It'd be so totally cool." Lucy gushed excitedly. Hayley watched her pendant bouncing around her smooth collarbone. (She had a sudden urge to trace it - with her tongue.)

"Okay class, it's time to go." Ms. Kyle announced, snapping Hayley out of her startled line of thought. Blushing, she avoided looking at anyone as she fell towards the back of the group walking out of the school and onto the buss. She ignored Justin trying to impress her with some dumb jock story. Then she spotted a young woman who definitely wasn't the other chaperon, Mrs. Cooper.

Hayley drank in the image of her and found herself rooted to the spot. The woman had long, dark, curly, brown hair and the most amazing green eyes Hayley had ever seen. The woman was tall and had an athletic build. It took a few moments for Hayley to recognize her as none other than the legendary Holly Robinson.

Lucy and Kim spotted Holly and inhaled sharply. Hayley suddenly felt irrationally jealous that they'd noticed Holly. (She didn't want anyone else to look at Holly)Then she heard Lucy and Kim explain to Justin that Holly was a Gotham High gymnast legend. They sounded a million miles away as Hayley was unable to remove her eyes from Holly.

Then those green eyes were looking back at her and Hayley couldn't move, breath, or think properly. She just wantedahcedneeded to be closer to those eyes... Hayley barely registered being herded onto the bus. She barely noticed sitting next to Justin, who was still trying to impress her. Hayley watched Holly sit down a few seats up and felt electricity flowing in her veins. Hayley didn't quite understand what was happening; she both wanted it to stop and for it to last forever.

Holly had grudgingly agreed to chaperon at the last minute. (Mrs. Cooper, the nasty old geometry teacher, supposedly had a family emergency.) Holly's restlessness was acting up again and she wasn't sure she should have agreed to do it. Coach Kyle walked over to where Holly was (brooding) standing.

"Thanks again for doing this at the last minute." Coach said and Holly was able to muster up a smile.

"You're welcome, Coa- uh, Mis- uh, Selina." Holly stuttered out. Selina raised an amused eyebrow but didn't comment. While Selina took attendance (or did a head count or whatever) Holly mentally tried to design less tacky school sports uniforms. The red and black were fine for colors but the uniforms were way outdated.

Holly was able to amuse herself with that task for several minutes until she felt eyes on her. Normally the sensation made her skin crawl but this time was different. Electricity hummed through her veins and her restlessness abated for a moment. Thoroughly confused, she looked around and locked gazes with a pair of the most beautiful honey brown eyes she'd ever seen. Holly couldn't move and temporarily forgot how to breath. Her mind completely blanked and she could only wantacheneed to be closer...

"I see you've been spotted." Holly could distantly hear Selina say. "The red-head is Kim, the taller blond is Lucy, and the shorter blond is Hayley - the newbie I was telling you about." Selina was saying as the girls got herded onto the bus.

"She's not what I expected." Holly said as she sat down with Selina (carefully avoiding Hayley's eyes and extremely glad she sounded normal). Selina chuckled and Holly wanted to smack herself.

"Hayley is seventeen! Illegal!" She mentally yelled at herself to no avail. She could feel Hayley's eyes on her and her blood felt like pure electricity. Holly definitely shouldn't have come; this was going to be a very long day.

Sally was in a very bad mood. The stupid high school idiots were having their tour. If she hadn't needed the money so bad she definitely would have called in sick. All she wanted was to camp out in her domain until they left. (She'd been unsuccessfully attempting to read her various patient files to distract herself)

Sally very nearly cussed out the intern who delivered a stack of file requests. It was far larger than normal and Sally nearly growled in frustration. What the heck were they playing at?

"They keep me out of sight for a reason!" She mentally seethed to herself. The entire thing was beyond ridiculous. Grudgingly she did her job and made the (million or so) copies. Sally barely managed to keep her facial expression indifferent when all she wanted to do was scream. She mentally prayed (to a God she no longer believed in) to deliver the files without running into the tour. (and just who's bright idea was that anyway? putting a bunch of high school kids near so many insane criminals...)

Sally was feeling hopefull after the first few files were delivered. There was no sight of the tour and Sally began to relax a little. Then she went to enter the Rec Room (Doctors Patterson and Holtz were in there) when she spotted them crowding about the Observing Station. She vaguely heard a bubbly intern introducing her as she entered.

Struggling to contain her temper, Sally delivered the requested files and ignored the heated gazes from the Observing Station. Before she could leave she realized it was just one heated gaze and it was not coming from the Observing Station. She paused and looked around only to be caught once more by his icy gaze. Sally trembled (excitement and fear flowed through her) and found herself entirely unable to move. He smiled wickedly at her and her insides melted. She wanted nothing more in that moment than to touch him but remained rooted to the spot.

Jonathan Crane couldn't help himself. She was too fascinating for him to ignore. (such a beautiful girl covered in gruesome scars) He'd been researching the interaction between the inmates and the staff, the staff with other staff, and the inmates with each other. He quite enjoyed seeing the reactions she evoked from every one.

The staff all pretended that she didn't make them uncomfortable (but they were always so relieved when she left).The inmates tended to either be afraid of her or wanted to do many inappropriate things to her (but to be fair some were indifferent to her). The first time he'd seen her, there had been an inmate leering at her in a very suggestive manner. She gave him a glare that sent him scurrying off to bully someone else to feel better. That little episode, but a few days ago, had been quite interesting.

Sally (or so her ID badge claimed her name to be)was able to wield the fear of those around her to be left alone; it seemed practically second nature to her. She was also far more observant than the rest of the staff. None of them even so much as glanced at him (neither did the inmates) but her eyes seemed to seek him out every time they were in the same room. She almost always seemed to know where he was, as if she could sense him. (He could always sense her too.)

He was determined to learn more about her. (He could already tell she used to take ballet, she had a dancer's posture and walk)A few moments after he'd looked up to watch her leave she paused and sought him out once more. She seemed rooted to the spot and stared unblinkingly at him. He found his lips smiling at her of their own accord. (She made him feel the stranges feelings...)

Some idiot walked between them, effectively breaking their 'connection'. She rushed out and he jotted a few notes into his notebook (still smiling). He checked the Observing Station (to reassure himself she wasn't there)when he saw a short, petite, blond girl with brown eyes staring at him. He thought she looked vaguely familiar. She glanced away and he noticed her moving towards a tall, curly-haired, dark-skinned woman. He made a few notes about them as well.

Hayley watched Sally (as the tour guide had called her) from the Observing Station. Hayley watched the interlude between Sally and the (formerly called) Scarecrow curiously. When he locked eyes with her, Hayley immediately understood why Sally had rushed off (those eyes were unnerving).She quickly glanced away and subconsciously moved towards Holly.

The tour moved on and Hayley still felt like there was an electric current connecting herself and Holly. She didn't understand the tension between them. (Things seemed to be getting weird lately...) The group was passing by the maximum security wing. It was far too easy to slip away from the group and to sneak inside.

He was ludicrously easy to spot. The front wall of his cell (including the 'door') seemed to be made of glass. Hayley casually strolled over to him. She was surprised to see him without his warpaint. He was sitting against the back wall of the cell (as bare as a cell could be) with his eyes closed. Hayley wondered if he was sleeping and was startled when his eyes snapped open. He quickly crossed the cell and stood in front of her. They stared at each other.

"Hi." Hayley said after a few minutes of silence. He smiled but didn't respond otherwise. "I'm Hayley." She added after a few more moments of silence.

"No, you're, ah, you're not." He said in a playfully chiding tone. Hayley smiled even though she wasn't sure what he meant. They continued to silently smile at each other for a little while. He tilted his head to the side and seemed to look her over; it looked as if he had made up his mind about something. "Uh, kid. You should meet my, my neighbor." He said while pointing his chin towards the cell behind her. "He's real, uh, frightening. Bit too, ah, serious. He likes to, ah, to research, and, ah, and scheme." He drawled in his nasally voice. He licked his lips and Hayley glanced behind her.

She got a bad feeling as she walked cautiously towards the cell. Hayley paused before the door (this cell had a heavy door with only a slot on the door that she'd have to slide out of the way so she could see inside). She looked back at the Joker and saw that he was smiling. Squaring her shoulders, Hayley slid the slot back and peeked in to see... no one. The cell was completely empty. While she continued to stare into the empty cell, she vaguely heard footsteps.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Sally demanded as she pulled Hayley away from the door. Hayley briefly wondered what Sally was doing there.

"It's empty." Hayley replied without thinking. Sally looked at her, baffled. The Joker was laughing now.

"Hey, hey, did I, ah, mention he's a, ah, a magician?" He asked while laughing hysterically. Sally frowned at the Joker and briefly squeezed Hayley's arm. Then she peeked in and saw the empty cell. Her frown deepened as she looked for something to tell her who's cell it was. The Joker began humming 'ding dong the witch is dead' and Sally completely froze.

"No." She whispered and her grip on Hayley tightened. Then it clicked for Hayley; the Scarecrow was supposed to be in that cell. The Joker's laughter followed them out as Sally began to run to the exit at the end of the wing. Hayley wondered if Sally even realized she was still holding her. They almost collided with Holly. "Get the kids and go, we've got a breakout." Sally said tersely as she shoved Hayley towards Holly.

A nearby guard had overheard what Sally had said and pulled her off to the side to question her. Holly and Hayley silently rejoined the group and they were all ushered quickly back onto their bus. Ms. Kyle was on the phone with someone and Hayley snagged the seat behind Holly to herself. She vaguely noted that Justin was sitting with Lucy.

Hayley wished she'd had more time with the Joker. She also wished she could have properly talked with Sally. Hayley wondered why Crane had been in the Rec Room if he was supposed to be escaping. She decided it must've had something to do with Sally. She wondered why the Joker had told her to check out the cell at all. Hayley thought he might've been warning her but she wasn't sure. (She stared at Holly's curls bouncing around in the wind, lost in thought)

"Calm down Bruce! I said I'm fine. No I don't have all of the details yet, but you'll be the first person I tell when I get them." Ms. Kyle was saying into her phone. Every one else was gossiping loudly and Hayley was surprised she had heard it over all of the noise. She found herself exchanging a look with Holly as they got off of the bus. (such beautiful eyes...)

Hayley found herself herded back into the school and unhappily waited for her father to come pick her up. (He wouldn't be very happy either, he was going to have to leave work early for this...) Hayley decided to pass the time by trying to figure out the cryptic comment the Joker had made. Eventually it was just her and some new kid (Dick whats-his-face, Wayne's new ward or whatever) left waiting to be picked up. About half an hour later a limo pulled up for the new kid who paused on his way towards he.

"Do you.. need a ride?" He asked her, looking around and shifted uncomfortably. He seemed nice enough but Hayley knew better than to leave instead of waiting for her father.

"No thanks, my dad'll be here soon. He works at the other side of the city." She lied smoothly, wishing she could have accepted the offer. (She'd never been in a limo before...) He hesitated but eventually left her there. Her father didn't show up for another hour and a half. (He would have been out of work for a good half hour and Hayley was unsurprised to smell the booze all ready coming out of his pores)

NiftyxSara: Yay! Every one finally gets to interact with everyone! Also, this is the first chapter with Scarecrow's point of view, which is exciting :)!

Sally: Technically I still haven't really met Hayley and Holly yet. Not properly anyway...

Hayley: I met the Joker! I met the Joker! *dances around*

Holly: You're just too cute for your own good.

Hayley: *blushes*

Scarecrow: The fools at the asylum really are incompetent.

Dick: So we noticed. *eyeroll* Anyhoo, don't forget to review! Oh, gross, that rhymes...