Disclaimer: Do not own, am not making a profit
A/N: Read, enjoy, Review (please)
Chapter Four – Jonathan Crane
Jonathan Crane was considered a brilliant psychologist by his peers. He knew this. He knew that his theories on fears and their effects on the mind were ground breaking. So when he had announced his decision to move to Gotham in order to counsel law enforcement and returning veterans, his colleges had expressed stunned disbelief. But Crane knew that if he wanted to find people with the most interesting reactions to fear, the military veterans and law enforcement would be the group to study.
So he had spent the last four years working out of Gotham City, counseling the many veterans and law enforcement personnel that seemed to flock to Gotham despite of its bad reputation. But one of his favorites had to be the man that had just walked in the door, slamming it behind him.
"Jason." Jonathan watched with mild amusement as Jason dropped onto the couch with a snarled, "Hey doc."
"You're early for your appointment." Jason's regular appointment was once a week, but he, like all the veterans that Jonathan worked with had a standing invitation to come in as long as he wasn't in a session with another patient. "Did something happen?"
"No." Jonathan merely raised an eyebrow at the snapped response and made a note of the quick temper. Something had happened, but Jason would wait until he was good and ready to actually talk about it.
Jonathan used the time that they sat in silence to study the young man in front of him – easily six feet and probably a little over two hundred pounds, all of it muscle mass. But despite that, Jason could make himself blend in with a crowd (Jonathan had seen happen once, at a charity lunch that Jason had been coerced into by his Aunt Harriet. It had been amazing to watch as the normally outgoing and loud young man had seemingly shrunk in on himself until no one had even noticed he was there).
"I saw my brothers today." Jonathan blinked at the seemingly out of nowhere comment, but didn't reply. Jason had never talked about his family to him, having apparently trodden that ground with his previous psychologist. When Jason seemed disinclined to speak, Jonathan decided to prod – that was a part of his job. "Oh?"
"Tim. Tim, he came to the shop today." Jonathan listened patiently as Jason described the encounter, already making mental notes to start a study on families and the way that fear drives their interactions.
"I need to apologize." Jonathan liked that about Jason; he came to his conclusions without any help from Jonathan, which left Jonathan free to mentally write out his next thesis.
"That would be the best course of action. Taking out your anger with your father and older brother on the two youngest was not wise Jason." Jason gave a grunt of agreement before sinking back into the couch.
"I know that – but seeing them. There. I wasn't ready to see them. Any of them."
"Then my advice to you Jason would be that you apologize to your brothers and request that they not contact you again." Jonathan was firm on this point. "If you aren't ready to interact with your family, you should make a clean break with them. Otherwise you will never move on and heal."
Jonathan made a mental note to talk to Jason's previous psychologist, Sean Garrison, and see if the man would be willing to offer any insight into how to best help the young man sitting in front of him. If he could get Jason to a healthier place than he was now, perhaps he would be willing to talk to Jonathan about his time serving in Afghanistan. Not that Jason wasn't in a healthy place, really. But he could always be healthier.
The rest of the session was spent with Jonathan attempting to coax some information about Jason's experiences in Afghanistan out of him, much to Jason's amusement and Jonathan's frustration. Jonathan knew that Jason enjoyed the mind games that he regularly employed to get his patients talking and rarely fell for them.
It wasn't until after Jason had left that Crane began to write down the events of the session in his casebook. Not the one that would be shown to his patients, but the one that he used to keep track of potentially interesting information that could be sold to the highest bidder. And in Gotham, there were a lot of people willing to pay money for whatever would scare people the most.
Just as he was finishing writing down the trivial information that Jason had given, the door to his office was flung open and bounced off the wall. Jonathan didn't do anything more than look up and give the man a searching look before returning to his writing. This one could wait until he was done.
Jonathan finished putting the finishing touches on the notes and closed the book, turning to give the man all of his attention. "Special Agent Elliot, how may I help you?"
A/N: Review please