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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

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The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 19: Hands Off

Story summary: They only ever had each other. It had been that way since high school, ever since Elianna transferred to dreary Arlen and took Jonathan under her wing. They go separate ways for college, and when they're reunited at Arkham Asylum professionally, Elianna comes to find that they've both changed during their time separated. Can she look past the promise of danger and stay by Jonathan's side as they slide further and further into the darkness while she grapples to come to terms with the truth about herself? Can she accept what needs to be done in order to hold onto the only person who holds any meaning in her life? This is a very self-indulgent AU that draws from several different canons of the DCU and ignoring others, starting in the Batman Begins Nolanverse. This will follow the plot of the movie, although the timeline has been very slightly tweaked.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16 / Part 17 / Part 18

Word count: 2587

TW for self harm

"So you're tellin' me absolutely nothin' is goin' on between you two?" Between sessions, Harley had come to visit Elianna in her office for a chat. "Aren't you still staying at his place?" It seemed that the blonde still had yet to give up on the idea of El and Jonathan together; the only difference now was that she had ended up being right (a fact that the redhead had made sure to remind him of as they laid in bed catching their breath the day before. He hadn't found it quite as funny as she did).

"Yeah—wait, how did you know that?"

"I was pullin' into the parking lot behind you guys this mornin'."

"Uh-huh, we drove separately, stalker." El quirked an eyebrow with an expectant smile.

"Right, so you just happened to arrive at the same time? Just 'cause you didn't take the same car doesn't you're not comin' from the same place."

"Alright, alright," El laughed. "He's got some errands to run after work, so I promised to make dinner."

"Aww," Harley exaggerated the syllable, knowing it would get under her friend's skin.

"Oh, cut it out." El rolled her eyes and scoffed. "I already told you, nothing is going on." The blonde just laughed in response. "Hey, how's your big case coming along?"

As Harley enthusiastically began to tell whatever she could about her sessions with the self-named Poison Ivy, El used the distraction as an opportunity to recall the day before smugly to herself.

Already, the recent change in their relationships had its ups and downs. On the one hand, it almost seemed like a dam had burst; their dynamic flowed more smoothly, and for her part, she felt as though a weight had lifted from her shoulders. On the other, when he had told her that morning that he had to oversee the handling of that night's delivery personally (since Batman had effectively put Falcone out of commission), her usual worry for his safety had doubled.

Something that Elianna and Jonathan had in common was a lack of experience with real relationships. As such, they shared a sense of profound importance in regards to the new arrangement. It would take some work to balance the now heightened concern they held for each other.

Meanwhile, Jonathan was in his office trying in vain to occupy his mind by shuffling through the stack of administrative paperwork that the warden's office couldn't be bothered to sort through before sending it to him. Between the unexpected hitch in the master plan and trying as hard as he could to not think about El (on that count, Scarecrow was actively working against), he was struggling to make it through even the very basics of his job.

At that moment, for example, he was grappling with his schedule for the day. Falcone had been taken to Blackgate and apparently had been asking to see him for a few days. Jonathan had been putting off visiting the mobster since he had found out; he had been caught by a civilian in a cape and a mask; what could he possibly have to discuss with such a disappointment to the underworld? Today, however, he had received word that the older man had cut his wrists, and the administration at Blackgate had sent for him specifically.

As if that weren't enough, he had already had to clear his schedule for that night to oversee the shipment, given that Falcone was now indisposed.

There was no getting around it, though, he supposed, and found himself back in the car en route to Blackgate. However, the drive wasn't nearly long enough for Jonathan to quell his frustration in Falcone's incompetence, and before too long was meeting with the mobster's caseworker.

"Doctor Crane, thanks for coming." There was a thinly disguised urgency in her voice as she greeted him.

"Not at all," he replied, barely remembering to keep his tone patient. "He cut his wrists?" How irritating it was to fake concern.

"Probably looking for the insanity plea," well, at least the woman was pragmatic, "but if anything should happen..."

"Of course, better safe than sorry." He nodded as they approached the door to the private room that Falcone had been brought to. With that, the caseworker unlocked the door to let Jonathan in and let the door swing closed behind him.

Falcone didn't skip a beat. "Hey, Doctor Crane, I can't take it anymore. It's all too much; the walls are closing in, blah blah blah," the old man rambled dryly. "Couple more days of this food, it'll be true." Jonathan found himself steeling himself against the urge to let Scarecrow come out as he settled into his chair.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know how you're gonna convince me to keep my mouth shut." The ego of a powerful man is truly something indigestible, isn't it?

"About what? You don't know anything about the operation."

"Maybe not specifics, sure, but I know you don't want the cops to take a closer look at the drugs they seized. I know about your experiments with the inmates of your nuthouse." Jonathan listened and watched as patiently as he could as the tiresome man continued to talk. "See, I don't go into business with a guy without finding out his dirty secrets." At this point, Scarecrow was banging against the proverbial walls of their brain, desperate to retaliate. "Those goons you used. I own the muscle in this town. Now I've been bringing your stuff in for months. So whatever he's planning, it's big. And I want in."

Can you believe the balls on this guy? Let me out, Jonny.

Not yet; he still doesn't have a leg to stand on.

"Well, I already know what he'll say. That we should kill you." Just because we haven't yet doesn't mean that we won't, old man.

"Even he can't get me in here. Not in my town." Jonathan was growing tired of this conversation very quickly.

"Your town." The psychiatrist repeated, not a question—a mockery. The older man's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Oh, did I forget to ask? How rude of me, I forgot the most important part. How is your little lady friend from the asylum?" here the mobster leaned in threateningly, "Does she know what you're doing? What's gonna happen to her once you go down, I wonder. Maybe I'll send some people to make sure she's not alone, huh?"

Now that caught Jonathan's attention. The rest of Falcone's little threats were easily avoided; even he didn't have the power to endanger Ra's Al Gul's plans. He did, however, have the power to have unspeakable things done to Elianna. That would not stand.

Jonathan made his decision from there quickly. Scarecrow was overjoyed that El had been brought into the discussion, knowing that Jon would have to take it seriously, and was raring to be in control.

Jonathan sighed and removed his glasses, hearing the straw man begin to cheer in the back of his mind. "Would you like to see my mask?" He asked, opened his briefcase without waiting for an answer, popped open the false bottom, and reached for the mask, ignoring the several full syringes waiting to be used. He had added a new rig to the case, and it was as good a time as any to test it out. "I use it in my experiments. Now, I'm probably not very threatening to a guy like you," he continued, holding up the mask for emphasis, "but these crazies? They can't stand it."

With that, he made to put the mask on and let Scarecrow take over.

He could barely hear Falcone's quip about the nut taking over the nuthouse over the ever surreal feeling of taking the backseat in his own brain.

Once his face was secured, Scarecrow took great pleasure in pressing the button to release the cloud of toxin. The screams of terror began almost instantaneously, much to his delight, and he rose from his chair to loom over the mafioso.

"They scream, and they cry," he teased with menacing glee. "Much as you're doing now." Jonathan allowed Scarecrow a few more seconds of enjoyment before regaining control. They still had to leave undetected, and Scarecrow couldn't be trusted to be professional. As much as Jonathan enjoyed hearing the man who had dared to threaten El scream, he was more trustworthy when it came to subterfuge.

"Well, he's not faking," Jonathan cleared his throat as he reentered the hallway, greeted by the caseworker's concerned face. "Not that one." He was still a bit flustered by the rush of inflicting such horror upon someone. Move on, Jonathan, act normal. It was a bit of a blur after that, promising to talk to the judge and get Falcone transferred to Arkham before making his way back to the Asylum himself. He still had a few patients to see before he could punch out to oversee the shipment that evening.

However, once the rush wore off, Jonathan found his mind wandering back to what Falcone had said about El. Who knew what he could have told his people already? He stopped by El's office before returning to his own and was surprised to find her no longer there. A quick phone call to the secretary at the front desk told him that she had already left for the day—another phone call to find that her cell phone was dead.

Shit.

Jonathan forced himself back to the matter at hand, telling himself that she was fine, but the lingering worry stayed in the back of his mind.

For about an hour and a half at least, when he decided that he was done with work for the day. The sooner he could take care of business, the sooner he could rush home to make sure she was there.

In the car on his way to the meeting site, Jonathan tried calling her again to no avail.

I really need to get a home phone for the apartment; he cursed to himself.

He found himself unable to focus on the task at hand as he parked his car and got into the one being driven by the goons provided by Falcone. Any of them could have received orders at any point to take El, hurt her, anything. He had no way of knowing if instructions had already been given or what liberties were allowed should anything happen to her.

Behind his impassive expression, Jonathan was operating almost solely on autopilot, getting out of the car and entering the old apartment that served as a drop point. This one had already been used twice before, and given how close the end date was, he had already decided to eradicate any and all evidence once the job was done.

He looked disinterestedly over the pile of stuffed bunnies, appraising the shipment's size, doing quick calculations in his head to the best of his ability. After concluding that it was, in fact, the correct amount, he gestured to the goons to retrieve the substance from inside of the toys. "Get rid of all traces."

Jonathan couldn't help the disgusted look around the dilapidated apartment. He couldn't think of anywhere he wanted to be less at that moment. Distracted by the sheer quantity of distasteful thoughts swirling in his mind, he was almost startled when Scarecrow spoke suddenly.

There's someone else here.

That statement froze all other concerns as he tuned in to his environment. He barely registered one of the thugs telling the others to torch the apartment as he noticed a prickling on the back of his neck, as well as the open window.

Jonathan remained calm and in control as the other men began to douse the furniture in gasoline while he moved to examine the window.

Are you sure?

Before the straw man could answer, the sound of shattering glass from the other room stole Jonathan's attention from the window.

Yes, came the smug response. Wasting no more time, Jonathan let the other goon move to investigate and instead moved into the shadows to retrieve his mask.

You're up again, Scarecrow. Do it fast; we have to get home.

Yeah, yeah, you've been annoying me for hours; she's fine. Would you shut up about it? Retaliated Scarecrow as he forced Jonathan out of the driver's seat and took over, relishing in the drama of wearing his face again.

That moment didn't last for very long before his suspicions were confirmed, and the Batman himself burst into the room, swiftly incapacitating the leftover thug. Luckily, Scarecrow's reflexes were just as fast, and he released a cloud of toxin from their sleeve rig, which hit the caped crusader squarely in the face.

The effects were almost instantaneous, judging by the wide eyes behind the cowl and the erratic, flailing movements. Scarecrow stifled a laugh as the armored man toppled backward away from him.

"Take a seat," he taunted, thoroughly enjoying his playtime, "have a drink." Here he seized a bottle of vodka abandoned by his now useless goons. The staw man snarled mentally, understanding Jonathan's intolerance of incompetence. They would be eradicated along with the evidence of their crimes. Splashing the booze on the caped man in delight, he continued to tease him.

"You look like a man who takes himself too seriously." Scarecrow abandoned the now empty bottle and replaced it in his hand with a zippo lighter that El had left in their pocket.

Wait, she loves that thing-

We'll buy her a new one, pipe down.

He had corraled Batman in front of the window and sparked the lighter, extending it in front of him menacingly. "Do you want my opinion? You need to lighten up." With that, he tossed the lighter, which ignited the caped crusader and the old rug in seconds.

This allowed them a swift escape, as Batman threw himself out the window and plummeted with the rain onto the pavement several stories below. Wasting no time, Scarecrow had them outside and in the getaway car. Luckily, there was a spare key in the visor, and they sped down the street in the direction of where they had left their car.

Slow down! We're attracting attention; we don't need that.

You're the one who's been bitching about getting home for the past few hours.

Not letting up for a second, Scarecrow turned a fifteen-minute drive back to Jonathan's car into a five-minute one before finally retreating to his place in the back of their mind. Of course, on principle, Jonathan was still irritated with Scarecrow for behaving so recklessly, then leaving him to deal with any potential consequences. Still, he was glad for the saved time.

By this point, Jonathan was so frenzied with panic about El's wellbeing that he couldn't even think about their own run-in with the Batman. Still ten minutes away from home, he tried to call her cell once again. Still no answer.

Why the fuck won't she pick up?

Scarecrow didn't respond, finally picking up just how agitated the whole situation had made his counterpart. Best not to rile him up further.

Jonathan nudged the car faster. Only a few minutes away, but it felt like forever. He was so frantic to get home and see Elianna safe that he couldn't even think of what he would do if she weren't. No game plan, not even a shadow of one because she's okay. Or so he kept telling himself.

#the mind's power over the body #Attraction To The Insane #series #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #Nolanverse #batman begins #Elianna Montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #jonathan crane fanfic #multi chapter fic #slight au #cillian murphy scarecrow #cillian murphy #tmpotb chapter 19

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captainshazamerica · 3 years

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Moodboards part 1 of Jonathan Crane x Elianna Montgomery for @gothic-safari-clown ‘s AMAZING story “The Mind’s Power Over the Body”, y’all should seriously check it out!

#more are coming cause I’m so freaking indecisive lol #Jonathan crane #scarecrow #Batman #moodboards #aesthetics #cillian murphy #moodboard request #myedit #my post #the mind’s power over the body

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beautifclminds · 6 years

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Starter Calls Masterlist

under the cut you will find links to each fandoms masterlist of starter calls. you just have to click on the characters name to go to the starter call! characters in each fandom are listed here as well, so you don’t have to peruse all the starter calls to find the person you want.

9-1-1

athena grant / bobby nash / eddie diaz / evan ‘buck’ buckley / jonah nash (oc) / maddie kendall / may grant

CRIMINAL MINDS

aaron hotchner / alexandra hotchner (oc) / amelia hotchner (oc) / annabelle lamontagne (oc) / beth clemmons / brooklyn reid-morgan (oc) / carter hotchner (oc) / david rossi / derek morgan / emily prentiss / erin morgan (oc) / hadley reid (oc) / haley brooks / hank morgan / henry lamontagne / jack hotchner / jennifer jareau / michael lamontagne / nathan hotchner (oc) / penelope garcia / rylee rossi (oc) / savannah hayes-morgan / spencer reid / will lamontagne

carol hathaway / doug ross / ella greene / john carter / kate ross / mark greene / rachel greene / tess ross

GIRL MEETS WORLD

cory matthews / hannah hunter (oc) / maya hart / riley matthews / shawn hunter / topanga matthews

GLEE

alayna schuester (oc) / blaine anderson / brynnlee schuester (oc) / christopher schuester (oc) / daniel schuester / dave karofsky / emma pillsbury / evan schuester (oc) / hunter clarington / isabelle schuester (oc) / kurt hummel / marley rose / rachel berry / samantha schuester (oc) / santana lopez / sebastian smythe / will schuester

HARRY POTTER

albus potter / dominique weasley / elianna malfoy (oc) / fred weasley ii / ginny weasley / harry potter / hermione granger / hugo weasley / james sirius potter / lily luna potter / louis weasley / lucy weasley / molly weasley ii / nymphadora tonks / rebecca potter (oc) / remus lupin / rose weasley / roxanne weasley / sabrina snape (oc) / scorpio malfoy / severus snape / sirius black / teddy lupin / trinity lupin (oc) / victoire weasley

HOUSE

allison cameron / eric foreman / gregory house / james wilson / jasmine house (oc) / lisa cuddy / remy hadley / robert chase

THE HUNGER GAMES

haymitch abernathy / lucilla abernathy (oc) / primrose everdeen

NCIS

brianna gibbs (oc) / leroy jethro gibbs

SCANDAL

jake ballard / kennedy grant (oc) / mellie grant

STATION 19

andy herrera / ben warren / maya bishop / ryan tanner / travis montgomery

THE WALKING DEAD

beth greene / daryl dixon / judith grimes / mackenzie jo anderson (oc) / negan / rick grimes

#harry potter rp #scandal rp #hunger games rp #twd rp #criminal minds rp #ncis rp #house rp

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

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The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 27: With Friends Like These

Word count: 1556

Sorry it’s been so long! I’m a full time employee again, so it’s been hard to find the time to actually sit down and work on anything. Plus, we’re getting to the end of TMPOtB! Make sure to keep an eye out for the sequel Why I Do What I Do, and I hope you enjoy!

It had been four weeks. Two since ex-warden Sharpe had disappointed them. Regular police had begun to avoid them, and they had amassed a new following of goons. Even found a semi-permanent hideout.

Though, for all of their success, Jonathan had begun to sink lower and lower into himself. In fact, more and more often, he preferred to let Scarecrow be in charge. The only sure-fire way to keep him around for more than two hours together was when more toxin needed to be made.

At first, Scarecrow had been thrilled to be in charge. He had gotten quite a kick from going on sprees, terrorizing the public, especially if it might help them find Elianna. Jonathan wanted to find her for sentimental reasons, but Scarecrow?

Scarecrow wanted her back for possessive reasons. But, if he thought about it, he supposed the history behind their motivations was the same—companionship, kindness, loyalty. Jonathan seemed to crave it, but only from her.

But the straw man felt that it was something they were entitled to after all those years of consistency from her. Oh, he cared for her wellbeing, sure, but only because no one else would give them anything. As such, no one would ever be allowed to lay a hand on her again. But, more than anything, he craved attention, and despite Jonathan's endless warnings not to give it to him, El had always satisfied that need with a strange sense of fulfillment. The world owed them something, and she was the only person who would give them anything.

She was theirs.

So, when after weeks of rampage and fearmongering had yielded no results, Scarecrow found himself in a similar stupor to Jonathan, although it affected him differently. He seemed forever bored, irritated, and volatile.

It wasn't just Jonathan and Scarecrow who were affected by Elianna's absence either. The goons that had flocked to them (some out of fear, some out of necessity, some out of ambition) had very quickly come to regret the decision. Violent outbursts were often expected, and the men had had to take measures in order to keep themselves out of the line of fire.

Regardless, it was becoming more clear day by day that the longer El remained unaccounted for, nobody would last very long.

So when one day a young blonde tentatively approached the base of operations, folder in hand, asking for "doctah Crane," claiming to have an idea for where to find the elusive woman, Axel was more than happy to tell his men to stand down and let her through.

"He's upstairs, but it ain't the doctor, so don't call him that," he advised. "I'll take you up and stay in the room with you, but you gotta just give him the file and get out." The blonde nodded, a sad look on her face. "Did you know him before?"

"Yeah. We worked together at the Asylum. We weren't friendly or nothin', but he was always polite. I was—am, friends with El. I want her back too, so I started askin' my friends from med school to keep an eye out. So when I got this, I thought the best way to get her back was to bring it here." Axel nodded.

"Alright, well let me take a look. If it doesn't look good to him, he's gonna get angry and that won't be good for any of us." The blonde nodded and handed over the folder with the file inside.

Some of the information had been redacted (for legal reasons, no doubt) but as Axel scanned the paper, he felt a weight being slowly lifted.

Patient name [REDACTED]. Female, 30 years old, red hair, green eyes. Transferred to [REDACTED] from Gotham County General. Admitted with an unknown substance present which affected brain function. Severe injuries to full body. The patient was detoxed and consented to a medically-induced coma in order to treat mild trauma to the brain.

Notes: Patient has made a swift recovery, but will likely be admitted to psych. Demonstates an unhealthy obsession with "scarecrow," which has caused multiple outbursts against personnel.

The name of whoever had provided this information had been blacked out, but it seemed likely that this information was what they had been looking for. Looking up from the file, Axel was met with big blue eyes staring up at him hopefully.

"Alright, this looks good," he sighed, and the blonde was visibly relieved. "Come on, you should be the one to give this to him," he handed back the folder and jerked his head for her to follow. "You know where she's at, right? That information was taken out." She bobbed her head, anxiously rubbing her thumb over the spine of her folder.

"Yeah, the girl that sent this to me had her place of work listed on her Facebook."

"Good."

The pair walked together through the previously abandoned building, up two flights of stairs and down a series of halls.

"Do you all live here?" The young doctor asked, gazing around the environment as they walked.

"Sort of. All of us take shifts staying in groups here to keep trespassers out. The big man," here, Axel pointed to the door at the end of the hallway as they approached, "has a place in the Narrows so that he doesn't have to stay if he doesn't want. Between the two of us, it's a much better gig when he's not around." She nodded in agreement. Based on the news reports, that was to be expected.

Reaching the door, Axel held up a finger for the woman to wait as he knocked. "Boss? There's a woman here with some information. I looked it over, I think it's her." It was silent on the other side of the door for a moment before a muffled voice told them to come in.

Axel opened the door with a pointed look at the woman, letting her enter first.

The man sitting at the desk inside certainly looked like Jonathan, but it didn't take Harley long to notice the changes in him. Jonathan always kept himself clean-shaven and carried himself with an air of uprightness. Scarecrow didn't seem to share those concerns. Stubble had been allowed to grow along his jaw, and he was slouched into his chair like he was bored.

When he caught sight of her, there was a glimmer of recognition in his eyes before a lackluster grin broke over his face. "Doctor Quinzel, I don't think we've been formally introduced." The sentence was accompanied by what was surely meant to be an intimidating chuckle. He just didn't have the energy.

"Scarecrow," she greeted, unable to help the pity that crept into her heart. "I...I guess I'll just get right down to business. I know you're looking for El, and you haven't been able to find her in the city, so I reached out to some people that I know who work in neighboring cities, and I think I found her." She stepped forward, folder outstretched for him to take.

He frowned, skeptical of the information, but took the folio anyway with a telling look at Axel: if this isn't her, you're the one to face the consequences.

But scanning the memo through narrowed eyes, his attitude slowly changed. Suddenly, there was no way that it wasn't her, and a sudden urgency took over everything as he stood.

"Where." Not a question, a demand. Harley quickly gave him the city and hospital, startled by the abrupt turnaround. "Good," seeming to briefly forget that she was even there, he turned to Axel with a sense of urgency. "Get our best boys ready, we're going now." The thug nodded and began to pull Harley out of the room before the voice stopped them again. "Harley," it barked, and the blonde's head swiveled to look at him again. "You know what's going to happen to that hospital. To your friend that works there."

"Yes, I do." She had known from the beginning. It had been so many years since she had even thought about the other woman, and they hadn't been close to begin with. To be perfectly honest, Harley wasn't even sure if she had ever liked her to begin with.

It made it easier to make this decision, although realizing that she even could make that decision had been surprising.

Scarecrow seemed to understand and went back to studying the file further, leaving the pair to leave the room, closing the door behind them.

"You did good, doc," Axel assured the blonde as they retreated down the hall. "But if it isn't her somehow..."

"I know," Harley gulped. She had seen plenty on the news of what happened to people who let Scarecrow down in this particular search.

Sensing the woman's apprehension, Axel spoke again. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. Who else could that be, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." She nodded. "I'm gonna get outta your hair now. Good luck, all of you. bring her home, yeah?"

"You got it, doc."

With that, Harley left and Axel went about rounding up the troops. He wasn't exactly looking forward to the havoc they were about to wreck upon the unsuspecting hospital, but ultimately having El back would be best for everyone involved.

For everyone's sake, it'd better be our girl.

#batman begins #Nolanverse #Jonathan Crane #jonathan crane fic #jonathan crane x ofc #Elianna Montgomery #scarecrow #scarecrow fanfic #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #the mind's power over the body #attraction to the insane series #multi chapter fic #slight au #tmpotb chapter 27

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

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The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 16: Round Two?

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine / Part Ten / Part Eleven / Part Twelve / Part Thirteen / Part Fourteen / Part Fifteen

Word count: 1559

El had been right about her mysterious savior in that his interference grew to be something that could be quite a nuisance to them. It wasn't long after Jonathan's meeting with Falcone that he had returned with a new, tricked out getup. Rumors around town had confirmed that it was the same man and seemed to solidify the vigilante theory.

Gadgets or not, the pair had yet to see the effects of the toxin on the caped crusader. Jonathan had come home that night composed as always, but she had recognized the troubled look in his eyes. Between that and the attack on Falcone, it seemed that whoever was having little trouble sniffing out their plot.

"What's the bad news?" She sighed, putting down the book she had been reading. Jonathan just shook his head in response, loosening his tie.

"The bad news-" he sighed, rubbing his hand down his face, "is that Rachel Dawes is still alive, and rumors are that she has some leverage over the judge that Falcone paid off for the organization."

"Oh, shit," El put her forehead in her palm. After all of the traction that the so-called 'Batman' had gained so quickly, the last thing she had expected was to hear that the meddling DA was still around. "Well, wait, the bad news? Does that mean there's good news too?" She lifted her head again, relieved to see him nod.

"That microwave emitter that I told you about, for the final stage, it came in, it's all ready to go. If-" he cut off the look of excitement on El's face, "we can prevent the DA's office from throwing another wrench in."

"Jonathan, don't worry about that." She rolled her eyes and stood from the couch. "They have leverage on the DA, not Falcone's staff at the shipyard, and before they can build a case, they need to have proof that we even have it."

"If they get a warrant-"

"Then the boys at the docks will take care of it, that's what I'm trying to say. Now, will you relax? Everything is going to be fine. We have the machine, and we have more than enough of the toxin."

Jonathan was still leaning back slightly against the table, pinching the bridge of his nose. Elianna sighed, silently cursing her friend's perfectionist nature, and moved his hand away from his face and replaced it with her own hands on either cheek.

"Can you just once relax and appreciate your own work? Do you need a cigarette?"

"No, I don't need a cigarette; they're disgusting. I need to find a way to foolproof this damn thing."

"It is disgusting, it's absolutely revolting, but I think it'll bring you into the present and give you at least a couple minutes to step away from being you." She patted his cheek and nudged him toward the fire escape window.

"From being me?"

"Yeah. Let's not be you right now. Let's be me instead, and be proud of your work." Jonathan rolled his eyes but went along with her.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stop thinking for a minute.

You'll listen to her and not me? I'm very hurt, Jonny. You don't share a body with her.

Standing outside smoking, leaning against the rail, the pair stared out at the city before them.

"Look at that. It's disgusting. You should have come to California with me when you had the chance." Elianna teased and elbowed Jonathan lightly. He responded by exhaling slowly and giving a look that said 'maybe.' "Okay, look; you're still not being me, you're not here. Look out there," she pointed with her cigarette. "Gotham is falling apart, and if I remember correctly, it has been for decades. What you are doing with this project will end all of that once and for all. This city is a stain, and you're cleaning it out, once and for all."

A long pause hung between them as Jonathan let his friend's words sink in. She was right, and for the first time since the beginning of the whole plot, he felt a sense of pride for his contribution. Ultimately, this was for the greater good, and he would be the one to pull the trigger on it.

Pride was quickly replaced with a relaxed contentedness, and Jonathan took another drag, almost enjoying the taste.

"Actually," he began, "I think now we are cleaning it out. Give yourself some credit." He turned El's little speech back on her and watched as she floundered.

"Well, I—I haven't really done anything, I'm just sort of here, and honestly, I should have gone back to my apartment ages ago-"

"There isn't really any point now; there are only two weeks before we start." El nodded and returned her gaze to the skyline.

"I'm sorry for being in your space for so long. I really didn't mean to be here still." She turned her head to look at Jonathan.

"I already told you, I like having you around." El's eyes widened at the genuine admission. "Besides, if someone were to come after you, I'd rather you not be alone. I think we both know how that usually ends up by now." He finished with a grim smile, and the redhead nodded in agreement. Everything seemed to come back to the late Granny Keeny.

Remembering the painful and dangerous situation in which her friend was brought up made her sad, and she moved closer to rest her head on his shoulder. "I'm just glad I could help. I know I give you a hard time, but I love you very much." El told him matter-of-factly, planted a kiss on his arm before returning her head to his shoulder, and took a drag off the stick between her fingers.

Jonathan found himself glad that she couldn't see his face, as her words caused his eyes to shut of their own accord. Even Scarecrow's filthy encouragements were drowned out as he privately reveled in El's affection. The insecure teenager still inside of him reminded him that whatever she said was meant platonically, but he allowed himself a quiet moment to pretend.

Connecting with people had never been his strong suit, and that fact had continued to hold into adulthood. But being around Elianna every day again for the first time in years served to remind him of the benefits of personal relationships. Even so, it frustrated him to no end that he had yet to figure out whether his attraction to his friend was based on the comfort of her presence or something else.

Even thinking about it made him tired. Slowly, almost tentatively, his head rested on hers. In response, her free arm wrapped around his to keep him there.

Unbeknownst to Jonathan, Elianna was facing a similar dilemma. It was a debate she had been having with herself since she had moved to Gotham, and as much as she wanted to convince herself finally to take the chance, now was most certainly not the time. Besides...

"It's Saturday."

"Yes, it is."

"You said that we were going to dose me again; we were supposed to do that last night."

The moment broke, and Jonathan let out a long-suffering sigh. "Alright, if you're so eager," he extinguished his half-smoked cigarette and tossed it down onto the ground below with El following suit.

Once back inside, the pair both went automatically to prepare for the ordeal. As Elianna settled onto the bed, Jonathan spoke again.

"You know you don't have to do this again. We were already going to get you a gas mask like the one I have."

"I know." She replied simply, and with a Look, Jonathan began fastening the restraints.

"May I ask why you want to do this so badly?" There was a silence as the redhead pondered her answer.

While some of her motivation came from the perspective of 'just in case of an accident,' she was reluctant to admit the real reason: that once the toxin wore off, the flooding of endorphins left her exhilarated and wanting more. That the rush of surviving something traumatic and harrowing, even just an assault on her psyche, left her feeling powerful, if somewhat exhausted.

Despite her reluctance, Jonathan seemed to know the answer already.

"The thrill of making it through?" El couldn't help the short laugh that escaped.

"I guess that sounds kinda crazy." Jonathan shook his head.

"Not at all. I went through the same thing." He assured as he finished fastening all of the restraints and retrieved the old belt from the dresser where it had been left. "Just remember," he continued as he placed it between her teeth, "that I am going to be here the entire time, alright?" Before he could think about the action, he laid his hand against her cheek comfortingly. Reading her expression, he nodded, "I promise."

El nodded and took a deep breath through her nose to prepare herself, staring at the ceiling before nodding firmly. With that, Jonathan wiped the injection site clean with an alcohol swab and carefully stuck the prepared needle into her vein, and pushed in the plunger.

#the mind's power over the body #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #Nolanverse #batman begins #Elianna Montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #slight au #multi chapter fic #scarecrow fanfic #fanfiction #Attraction To The Insane #atti #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #tmpotb chapter 16

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

Text

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 22: The Other Side

Word count: 1028

Very sorry for the super late update! There should be another on Friday as well :)

Some of their new employees heard Rachel scream from the elevator and came to help the villainous doctors move her through the closet panel and downstairs into the workspace. She was still conscious, if a little delirious.

They stood back as the thugs laid her on a protrusion of concrete as she struggled to take in her surroundings before Scarecrow addressed her.

"Who knows you're here?" he demanded. The brunette woman shook her head, her distress visibly growing when the masked man spoke. Unfortunately for her, Scarecrow wasn't as patient as Jonathan. "Who knows?" he boomed again, which caused Rachel to scream in fear.

As she did, one of the dingy lightbulbs above them shattered, drawing everyone's attention upward. Scarecrow reached up incredulously to remove the mask as he searched the vaulted ceiling and raked his hand through his hair. El, knowing immediately what must have happened, reached for his hand, forgetting that Jonathan wasn't currently in control, and was pleasantly surprised when Scarecrow's fingers closed around hers anyway.

"He's here," he said in a hushed but enthralled tone.

"Who?" asked one of the thugs, a little slow on the uptake.

"The Batman," Scarecrow replied eerily, clearly loving how unsettled his goons were, and squeezed El's hand in delight as he tried to catch sight of the caped crusader.

"What do we do?" Asked the thug closest to the pair. After a moment's thought, Scarecrow released Elianna's hand and shoved her toward the man.

"What anyone does when a prowler comes around." She couldn't see his face anymore, but she could hear the smile on his face. "Get our lady out of here, quickly. And call the police." His head snapped to look at the goon next to El. "If we find that she's been mistreated in any way, Jonny and I won't be very happy." He warned, his voice angry again.

"No problem, boss, but you want cops here?" Scarecrow had already gone back to looking for the Bat.

"At this point, they can't stop us. But the Batman has a talent for disruption." The glee in his voice at the prospect of facing the dark knight again didn't match the sentence. "Force him outside; the police will take him down. Go."

El was still stuck on the order to take her away. "Wait, Scare-" she was cut off by the thug's hand on her shoulder, beginning to pull her away.

"Come on; we have to go. You two," he pointed at two other men standing by, "with us, let's get her out of here."

"Wait, I can help!" She wasn't sure how, but she wanted to try. "Scarecrow!" She struggled against the man pulling her away. Scarecrow turned those piercing blue eyes on her, and for a moment, she thought that he might change his mind. Instead, he just winked at her and let the men pull her away and up the stairs.

Once she was out of the workroom, Scarecrow turned his gaze back to the ceiling, growing irritated with his men's endless questions. How had Falcone dealt with this?

"What about her?" The one closest to him asked, nodding toward Rachel, who was still too far under the influence of the toxin to do anything to help herself.

"Oh, she hasn't got long," he turned his attention to the incapacitated woman, drinking in the sight of finally getting her to stop fucking talking after all the trouble she had caused. "I gave her a concentrated dose. The mind can only take so much."

"Is it true what they say about him? Can he really fly?"

"I heard he can disappear!" The men's clamoring was incredibly amusing. He had lit the vigilante on fire and sent him careening out of a window; the Batman was just a man. Still, Scarecrow couldn't pass up the chance to foster fear.

"Well, we'll find out, won't we?" He replied ominously, thoroughly enjoying the reaction that his words received.

It seemed that the Batman enjoyed striking fear as well, as he was sure to mark his movements by a series of conspicuous bangs and clanks around the room, each one almost impossibly far away from its precursor.

Suddenly, he came into view directly behind one of the thugs and incapacitated him quickly, swooping him away into the blackness of one of the upper levels. Scarecrow watched from a hastily found hiding spot as the caped crusader made short work of what men he had left.

He wasn't expecting, however, for Batman to discover him so quickly, and before he knew it, he felt Jonathan's body being wrenched to his feet and his burlap face being ripped off. He meant to gas the man again but found his arm with the rig held tightly in a one-handed armored grip, while the other hand grabbed his hair and forced his head back.

Ah, fuck.

Yeah, you think? At least El isn't here to see us like this.

Scarecrow barely registered Batman speaking to him in a gravelly voice, something about a 'taste of his own medicine,' and braced himself against the fear gas.

It was no use. The stream hit him directly in the face and forced its way into his mouth and nose. It began working immediately to Jonathan's credit, but while the doctor had built up his resistance, Scarecrow had never had the opportunity and surprised even himself by succumbing so quickly.

Through Batman's interrogation, Scarecrow became dimly aware of Jonathan practically screaming at him to stop answering. As Scarecrow became more aware through his haze, he felt his mind unraveling even more, and irony in the situation. His obsession and Jonathan's pet project used against them successfully, but far too late. The compound had been cycled through the city's water mains for weeks; Ra's Al Gul was on his way to Gotham as the city's self-appointed savior spoke.

What a waste of time.

Suddenly, they were thrown against a wall and hit the floor hard, a splitting pain streaking through their head.

I don't think we're doing so good, Jonny.

Understatement. Can we move?

I'm trying!

Well. I guess we'll be seeing Arkham from the other side then.

#The Mind’s Power Over the Body #Attraction To The Insane #atti #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #batman begins #Nolanverse #Elianna Montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #slight au #fanfiction #multi chapter fic #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #tmpotb chapter 22

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

Text

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

TPart 26: Nowhere to Hide

Word count: 1286

I finally got to write a dramatic warehouse interrogation 😈. Trigger Warning for violence!

"Warden Sharpe." The hood was yanked off of the older man's face, and he looked around the room, blinking blearily as he tried to get his bearings. Gradually, the dingy room came into focus; he appeared to be in a warehouse.

Not an abandoned one either, judging by the crates stacked against the far wall, although he could sense the open space behind him. Standing facing him, partially obscured in the shadows of the poorly lit area were the three armed thugs that had abducted him from his car, but the voice that spoke had come from behind him.

Sharpe would have recognized that voice anywhere, but even so, when the tall, thin frame of Arkham's former ambassador came into view there was no stopping the chill that traveled down his spine. Crane had made quite a reputation for himself in the last two weeks. The warden knew what the younger man wanted, but he couldn't give it to him.

"Crane, listen to me, I don't know where she is." Jonathan's eyes narrowed as he rubbed the material of his mask between his thumb and forefinger. He was working hard to keep Scarecrow at bay, but holding the mask served as a remarkably effective interrogation tactic.

"I wish I believed you, Warden. See, I made a list of everyone most likely to have the information that I need, and you're the last name on that list. So, if you can't give me what I'm looking for, then what does that mean for Gotham?" The older man began to sweat, the true magnitude of his situation suddenly settling on his shoulders.

"Believe me, if I knew where she was I would tell you! Wh-when you started all of this I looked, but no one knows what happened to her! I think maybe she's—" Sharpe cut his rambling off quickly; the madman in front of him didn't want to hear about the likelihood of Elianna Montgomery's death.

His fragmented sentence hadn't gone unnoticed, however. The ex-psychiatrist's head snapped to face his captive, and those piercing, too-blue eyes seemed to stare into his soul.

"Maybe she's what, Warden?" The voice had become too calm, a sharp contrast to the fury rolling off of its owner in waves. The man tied to the chair found himself unable to respond. "Maybe she's dead? Buried in an unmarked grave somewhere?" Just like that, any previous notions the warden had of escaping this encounter with his psyche intact were erased, vanishing just as quickly as his captor's sadistic alter had appeared.

"No!"

"Then by all means," Sharpe had always found Crane's lack of expression unnerving, but as the Scarecrow smiled with Jonathan's face, he realized that this was worse, so much worse. "Tell us. Maybe. She's. What?" Scarecrow's free hand shot out to grab the warden's face as he snarled out the last word. Sharpe couldn't help the frightened whimper that escaped as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"I'm s-sure that she's alive somewhere," the words struggled out, his voice further betraying the fear that he felt. "I just don't know where." That wicked smile returned to the bespectacled man's face.

"You're a terrible liar, Warden." The older man's heart sunk as the glasses were removed, tucked into the breast pocket of Jonathan's suit. He knew what that meant. "Not about her whereabouts. No. The fact is that you're not sure she's alive somewhere. And the only thing I hate more than being lied to for selfish reasons, is being lied to in a feeble attempt to save Jon's feelings."

With that, Scarecrow secured his face, breathing in deep the scent of the burlap. He had gotten to wear it more and more often lately, and the feeling of the scratchy material against his cheeks was so...liberating.

The warden was struggling against his bindings now, a futile attempt to escape. Even if Aleksi hadn't been raised on his father's boat, Sharpe wouldn't have made it more than two steps before being hit with a facefull of toxin anyway.

Jonathan had sent their help to his apartment in the confusion of the city rebuilding itself for his equipment and notes. Once he had everything that he needed, he had been able to make more toxin from what they already had. His growing need to find El had motivated him to construct a way to make more, although Scarecrow couldn't be bothered to even try wrapping his head around it.

All that mattered was that it worked beautifully.

Warden Sharpe's efforts to release himself redoubled as the Scarecrow rolled his neck in preparation for what was coming next, bargaining with the madman to no avail.

"No, don't do this! You don't have to do this, if you let me go I can look again! I have resources, I-I'm sure I could find her for you!" Scarecrow's rasping laugh echoed around the spacious room. "Please, I have friends I can ask! I swear, if you let me go I'll find her!"

"Warden, any friends you may have who can help me will get the message when you're found by the workmen here at the beginning of the next shift." Scarecrow's head cocked as though he were listening to something, but the eyes behind the mask remained blank as ever. "Jon wants you to know, you never should have been in charge anyway. A man like you? No ambition? It was only a matter of time before your inmates got the better of you anyway. Better to get a little fame out of it, don't you think?"

The warden surprised himself by how long he had lasted in this interaction without breaking, but the knowledge that there was no bargaining for his fate had finally broken him. Thrashing and crying out for help, he watched in horror as Scarecrow took a step back from him, vaguely aware of the goons securing gas masks over their faces.

With nothing left to discuss, Scarecrow threw out his arm in the direction of the now ex-warden of Arkham Asylum, taking sick pleasure in the hissing sound of the sleeve rig releasing a stream of the aerosolized form of fear toxin to form a thick cloud around Sharpe's head. The older man, in a last-ditch effort to think his way out of the situation, held his breath, desperate not to breathe it in.

This angered Scarecrow, who turned to face his goons, gesturing to one of them. The shortest of the three stepped closer, face invisible behind his gas mask, gun in hand. Before the older man could ponder what this meant for him as his lungs began to beg for air, the goon closed the distance between them and slammed him in the gut with the butt of his rifle, winding him.

On instinct, Sharpe began gasping for breath, coughing on the big gulps of the toxin entering his mouth and lungs. He swore internally, wondering what had given him the mad idea that holding his breath would work.

"You'd be surprised by how many people think to try that," Scarecrow chuckled darkly, relishing the visible symptoms of the gas beginning to take effect. "Don't worry, someone will be along soon. For now, enjoy the darkness, warden. And hope, for Gotham's sake, that we find her alive and well." As he spoke, Axel, Aleksi, and Sam set about shutting the dingy lights off.

Sharpe's watched as the four men disappeared through a door to his far left. The soft light of dawn seemed too horribly bright to his toxin-addled brain, and the last thing he saw before the door closed and he was plunged into blackness was the creeping tendrils of darkness closing in on him.

#the mind's power over the body #attraction to the insane series #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #jonathan crane fanfic #jonathan crane x ofc #the scarecrow #cillian murphy scarecrow #Elianna Montgomery #slight au #multi chapter fic #Nolanverse #batman begins #tmpotb chapter 26

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

Text

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part Ten

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine

Word count: 1247

"So he's here today?" Elianna asked Jonathan as they walked up the asylum steps on yet another grey morning in Gotham.

"I got an email last night after you fell asleep," he confirmed. "He's been put on my case list and everything." He stopped his friend with a hand on her arm in an empty part of the lobby before they reached the stairs. "I need to make sure that you're not going to get cold feet," his voice was hushed and intense.

"Not a chance. I want to do it. I want to see it." Jonathan's eyebrows raised slightly at her matched intensity.

"Okay," he nodded slowly. "Then we'll start next week," he said, removing his hand from her arm. El found herself surprised, but she didn't quite know why. She knew that they couldn't start right away, lest they draw suspicion, but still, a whole week of opportunity for Zsasz to escape again and come after her, the thought of which made it hard for El to stay excited about the plan.

"Well, that's fine, but I think I should stay with you until it's taken care of."

"I was thinking the same thing." He agreed as they resumed their way up to the second floor.

"I'll try my best to annoy you as little as possible." She bumped him with her shoulder, and he smiled a little.

"You know, having you around doesn't really bother me that much; I just like to keep you on your toes."

"Please, don't make me laugh." El rolled her eyes lightly. "Let's see if that's still the case next week."

"Don't, please, just take the compliment and leave it at that." The growing exasperation in his voice made her laugh.

"Ohhh, I see now, that was your best try at a compliment." Jonathan sighed heavily and gave her a look, to which she laughed. "Alright, I'm done. See you later." She said as they reached the top of the stairs. "Tell Scarecrow I say to behave until then." She wasn't even sure why she said it, as she didn't typically like to acknowledge the alter; the comment was met with a flash of amusement in his eyes and a genuine smile, not half of one, for a split second, before it was gone again as suddenly as it came.

"Can you give me a heads up before you mention him by name again?" Jonathan rubbed his forehead, looking mildly annoyed. "He's always trying to take over in public, and he really likes it when you talk about him." Oh.

"Yeah, of course, I just didn't realize he was so close under the surface," El explained apologetically, and Jonathan waved his hand as if to say it was alright.

"Don't worry about it. You didn't know," he said, suddenly tired. "See you tonight."

"Yeah, see you." El left a kiss on his cheek without thinking, and they split off their separate ways to their respective offices. A sudden arm linked through hers startled El for half a second before she looked and saw Harley.

"So what's going on between you two, huh?" The blonde asked suggestively, to which El laughed.

"Just friends. Good morning, by the way."

"Uh-huh, and whose choice was that?"

"Come on, Harley," El rolled her eyes. "Yes, I love him, but not like that. No." Harley gave her a look that said 'really?' with a raised eyebrow. "Why, you interested? I could put in a good word-" the deflection got the exact reaction that El had hoped for.

"No!" Quinzel smacked the redhead on the arm. "He's not my type, but you're gonna tell me you've never thought about it? I mean, you've got to admit, he's...attractive, isn't he? Stop laughing!" El did her best to stop, but it took a few seconds.

"Sorry, just...you're right, I can't argue with that, but he didn't use to be. But now...it's the eyes, I think, they're very intense."

"Yeah, that's what it is! That and the cheekbones, very sharp." The blonde was clearly fishing for more of a confession.

"I don't know, Harley. We've been friends since high school, you know? To me, he'll never be 'Doctor Crane,' he's just...Jonathan. I think anything from my side is just due to a positive association. We were there for each other right when it started mattering the most. But that doesn't mean that either of us wants anything to happen." Harley let out a frustrated sigh.

"Fine, but you'll still have to start fighting off other girls with a stick. I'm not the only one that thinks something is going on between you two, and some'a them are gettin' a little jealous." El laughed.

"I shall defend his honor valiantly; it'd be a first though."

"Not very popular with the cheerleaders?"

"Not even close." El shook her head and couldn't help remembering what had happened to Sherry Squires and Bo Griggs. God, how could I have forgotten? Counting Granny, Jonathan had already had three bodies under his belt before they even graduated high school. She really shouldn't have been surprised by the recent turn of events.

"Ya know, I gymnastics and cheer in high school. I only kept up with the gymnastics, though."

"Maybe that's why he doesn't like you," El teased and poked her new friend's nose.

"He doesn't like anyone. Except for you, I don't see why you wouldn't just give it a shot!" Elianna was starting to get annoyed with the conversation. She just doesn't give up, does she?

"Look, Harls, if you're that concerned with my romantic life, why don't you take up the case? We'd make a hot couple, don't you?"

"Without a doubt, gorgeous," Harley agreed with a grin and a wink. "Maybe I'll kiss ya later though; I gotta go."

"Alright, take care of yourself, babe," El laughed and patted Harley's hand as she withdrew her arm and headed off to wherever she needed to be. Once she was safely out of earshot, El let out a somewhat relieved sigh. If Jonathan could have heard that conversation, he would have been very uncomfortable. Even thinking about him like that felt disrespectful.

The first thing Elianna did once she was safely in her office was to double-check her patients for the day. First on the docket was Mr. Thomas, one of the inmates that Jonathan must have been using for his experiments. She had spoken to him twice before, and neither time had he shown any signs of misconduct in the facility.

Sure enough, their third conversation uncovered nothing of significance, neither about his mental state nor of Jonathan and his toxin. She was quickly learning what Jonathan had known for a long time: that fear was the best leverage. It was how his great-grandmother had kept him under her thumb for so long, and it was how he was keeping these test subjects quiet.

Fascinating.

The rest of the day, and then the week passed in the same way that Mr. Thomas's session did: slowly, nothing of significance. Arkham managed to avoid any trouble for an entire week, and while every passing day without incident from Zsasz (or anyone else for that matter) filled Elianna with relief, she found herself anticipating The Day more and more with every hour that passed, and it was almost driving her crazy. The anticipation did nothing to help the long week.

#the mind's power over the body #jonathan crane #scarecrow #batman begins #nolanverse #elianna montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #slight au #fanfiction #multi chapter fic #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #tmpotb chapter 10

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

Text

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 25: ...Before They Hatch

Word count: 1738

She knew it was wrong, but El couldn't remember the last time she had enjoyed herself this much. She and Scarecrow had stumbled across an abandoned police horse running loose and had been riding it through the streets. The added speed gave them the chance to experience more of the anarchy in a shorter amount of time while still letting them be amongst it.

It was...intoxicating.

Several people on the streets had looked up at them riding by on the horse and succumbed to their poison induced terror. There was something about people being afraid of her that made her feel good. She remembered feeling it for the first time when they had dosed Zsasz in the basement, then again when they had cornered Dawes in the elevator. But at this scale, El felt her blood singing through her veins, the most incredible high she had ever experienced.

Jonathan, getting closer to the surface, could hear El laughing behind them, and as she grew more comfortable, her once tight grip around their torso had begun to relax. He was sure that she was in her own world, not paying attention to their surroundings. He knew the feeling.

He had started his experiments out of necessity and fascination, but after a while, he had slowly grown to enjoy the power. It was at that time that Scarecrow had begun to grow stronger.

He wondered how long it would be before Elianna was that far gone. Before she was unrecognizable.

Conversely, Scarecrow was on top of the world, much like the redhead at his back. Reveling in the screams, the panic, in her laughing and holding onto him. With free reign to spread his influence, it was what he had been aching to do ever since he had come to be.

He didn't care what Jonathan thought. Him? A protector? No, he was meant for this. To redistribute fear and retribution on a world that had done the same to them.

And damn, did it feel good.

Suddenly, a movement caught his eye, and he would recognize that particular voice anywhere.

"Well, well well, look what we've found, Doctor Montgomery," he laughed, catching El's attention. She leaned to look around his shoulder and immediately spotted what he did.

"Oh, Rachel," she cooed with mock pity, only loud enough for Scarecrow to hear. "Always in the wrong place at the wrong time. She should have quit while she was ahead." Scarecrow urged the horse faster, eager to see her under the effect of the toxin again. The gas in the air didn't seem to be affecting her, but that didn't matter. Just a little closer and she would be within the range of El's sleeve rig.

She seemed to be shielding a child, eyes wide open in fear. That was the beauty of the whole city in turmoil: even if one person wasn't affected by the gas, the fear of the environment would still get to them.

As they approached, they could hear her voice as she tried to soothe the boy that had tucked himself under her arm, loud over the violent discord of the streets.

"It's okay! It's okay, no one is going to hurt you," the brunette shushed, trying to remain calm. This made El—fully caught up in her euphoria—laugh as they approached.

"Of course they are!" She called as Scarecrow pulled the horse to a stop mere feet away. She had never particularly liked children anyway.

"Crane? Mongomery?"

"No." The pair snapped at the same time.

"Scarecrow," the masked man corrected. El, however, hadn't yet thought of what she might want to be called. She was happy to let Scarecrow take charge of the moment until he turned the horse side face to their quarry and reached his hand back to rest on the outside of her thigh. "And The Rook." She grinned under the mask at the name. It was perfect.

Rachel, knowing what was sure to come next, grabbed the boy and bolted away. The fog of the gas and pollution was thick and provided good cover as they stumbled through the streets, the ominous hoofbeats never too far behind.

She and the boy both choked and coughed against the fog, praying to anyone who would listen that they wouldn't cross anyone else before they could hide; before it was too late.

Finally, it seemed that they had found somewhere, zigzagging back and forth. The clicking of hooves was still audible, but for a moment, it seemed far enough out of the way that they might pass them over.

It didn't last long. When the booming voice spoke up again, they had cornered themself against the building, and Rachel cursed her own lack of foresight.

"There you are!" The horse reared, and although Rachel knew that the effects of the toxin couldn't reach her anymore, she could swear that its eyes were a glowing red. She could only imagine what the boy was seeing. She pulled him behind her protectively as Scarecrow spoke again.

"There is nothing to fear..."

"But fear itself!" Montgomery's voice wasn't as loud, but it was just as clear and gleeful, and in the context of the situation, just as terrifying.

Knowing that she had to react quickly, Rachel dug her taser out of her inner jacket pocket, aimed, and fired.

For the masked pair, watching the wires spring toward them happened in slow motion. El had turned her torso to look at the vulnerable brunette, and one of the nodes made contact with her exposed collar bone, while the other stuck itself into Scarecrow's straitjacket.

The second they made contact, the current was released. The barbs burned El's skin, and the pair cried out in pain. Not expecting their quarry to fight back, and in an attempt to get away from the current, the straw man snapped the reigns, sending the horse running without a destination.

Elianna felt herself being jostled uncomfortably and no longer secure on the saddle. She had only been holding onto Scarecrow with one arm, and the taser had hit the front of her shoulder on that side. Her grip strength decreased dramatically, and she scrabbled to hold onto the back of the material. Scarecrow didn't seem to notice as the rage and frustration rolled off of him. His mind was focused only on finding more victims.

Trying to make up for the lack of stability, El did her best to keep herself on the frightened horse with leg strength alone until she could tighten her fingers enough. Unfortunately, the hard bouncing of the horse's hindquarters tossing her about made it difficult for her to orient herself enough to entirely assess the situation. She was afraid that swinging her other arm forward would be just enough to throw her off balance.

She grit her teeth from the effort as her thigh muscles began to grow sore; she wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to take it.

They had only traveled two blocks when the horse made a sharp turn down another street. Feeling herself being wrenched off of her perch, she made one last desperate grab at Scarecrow's back, her nails scratching the skin beneath the material of the straitjacket as she was thrown to the ground.

The last thing she felt was her head connecting painfully to the concrete, knocking against the long beak of her mask and sending it clattering to the ground a few feet away.

.xXx.

As the masked pair had pursued Dawes, Jonathan was able to pull himself closer and closer to the surface, until finally, he was just barely out of control.

As such, he could faintly feel El trying to hold on, something that Scarecrow apparently didn't notice.

Scarecrow, hold onto El. Nothing. Stop the horse; she's going to fall. Not even the slightest indication that he was heard. Then the horse was turning, and the sensation of nails on their back...

Scarecrow! Jonathan was beating against the proverbial walls of their mind in a mad dash attempt to get the straw man to pay attention, but he was too enraged by the taser to register anything else. Stop, we have to turn around, she fell!

Jonathan couldn't even turn his head to see if she was okay. He strained as hard as he could to push Scarecrow out of the driver's seat, but as Scarecrow felt him on the edges of his consciousness, he strengthened his control. The straw man could barely hear Jonathan's protests, and frankly, at that moment, he didn't really care.

By the time Jonathan could finally interrupt Scarecrow's rampage, they had made it another borough over, and it seemed like the toxin had been stopped—likely by the Batman. Expected, but still infuriating to no end. That fact, on top of that fact that they had lost Elianna in the middle of a city desperate to survive and crawling with violent, psychotic criminals, Jonathan was not having the night he thought he would be.

Scarecrow's spree finished, he had quickly joined in the shame and anger at having left her behind, kicking himself. She was theirs, and if he found out that anyone else had laid a hand on her, there would be hell to pay.

If you had paid attention, this wouldn't have happened. I told you—

Don't start with me, Jonny. I'm in the same place as you. Just fucking get her back.

That was that. Luckily, it seemed that all of the first responders in the city were somewhere else as Jonathan urged the horse as fast as it could go to the corner where El had been thrown off.

Nothing.

No, not nothing. A mask. A mask with a long, curved bill, lying small and pathetic, alone on the concrete. Before he knew it, Jonathan was off the horse, which immediately trotted away, eager to get away from the masked maniac. He picked up El's mask, turning it in his hand.

The swarm of rising emotions—anger, panic, worry, anger again—blinded his vision, and he began walking on instinct. He couldn't go back to their apartment, but he needed somewhere safe to plan.

Back to the Narrows it was, then. There were always plenty of abandoned, empty apartments and very little police presence.

No matter how long it took, how many people they had to kill, if they had to burn the city to the ground, they would find her.

#the mind's power over the body #Attraction To The Insane #atti #Jonathan Crane #jonathan crane fanfic #jonathan crane x ofc #scarecrow #scarecrow fanfic #scarecrow x ofc #cillian murphy scarecrow #Elianna Montgomery #batman begins #Nolanverse #slight au #multi chapter fic #tmpotb chapter 25

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

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The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 24: Don’t Count Your Chickens...

Word count: 1136

Jonathan wasn't entirely sure where he was. Physically he knew he was in Arkham and was vaguely aware of the straightjacket binding his arms to his torso. But mentally, he was adrift. Neither in control nor out of control, he felt that he was somewhere in the middle along with Scarecrow, who was characteristically raving against the situation. Unable to gain full awareness of his surroundings, he had already lost track of time, but he was sure that if he had to listen to Scarecrow for much longer, he might truly go insane.

Luckily, that didn't seem to be in the cards. When the door to their cell swung open, it came so unexpectedly that the shock pulled both Jonathan and Scarecrow back to the cusp of control, each trying to force the other back down.

They watched the corridor as their fellow inmates began trickling through. While Scarecrow found himself confused, Jonathan's heart began to beat faster as he slowly pieced together what was happening.

Good call sending El away, Jonathan praised, feeling pride as he realized who must have been behind this.

Unfortunately, restrained by a straitjacket as they were, there was no point in them joining the throng of criminals spilling out of the asylum.

As quickly as they had resigned themselves to that fact, two SWAT men entered the room, dropping a bolt of burlap—our mask, no, my face— onto their lap before loosening their restraints. Jonathan's feeling of pride swelled even further when the taller of the two men spoke.

"That girl, Elianna? You must be pretty important to her. We asked why release everyone instead of just you, and she said something about revenge for taking you in the first place. She was pretty angry."

"I don't doubt it," Jonathan spoke disconnectedly while Scarecrow stood and put on their—his. Our?—face. "She has some...." while Jonathan was conjuring up the right word, Scarecrow took over, chuckling darkly. "Issues."

.xXx.

El was waiting impatiently just outside the asylum grounds, flanked by Axel, Aleksi, and Sam. The more inmates came spilling out before Jonathan, the more frustrated she became. However, watching the swarm of criminals through the slightly distorted lenses of her mask brought her a twisted sense of fulfillment.

If they wanted to play hardball, then she would gladly oblige.

Between the dispersion of the toxin that would soon occur and the criminally insane being let loose on this city, Gotham's finest would have a hell of a time trying to maintain order. The thought of the impending chaos summoned a smile to her face.

Gotham in freefall. What a beautiful thing to have the opportunity for rebirth. They should be grateful.

Finally, she caught sight of Scarecrow's mask, and her heart leapt. He was being escorted through the mire by two armed guards.

El dashed forward to meet them, her men right behind her. The masked pair stopped right in front of each other.

"Scarecrow?"

"I'm here. Beautiful job with all of this, gorgeous." The rough voice was surprisingly comforting, given El's previous run-ins with the straw man, and she grinned beneath her mask.

"Is Jonathan alright in there?"

"Oh, he's just fine. Very proud of you. Let's get started. Tearful reunions can come later." He brushed past her without another word, leaving El to dismiss the SWAT officers. They understood that their work was done and retreated to their truck with a nod from her without question.

With that done, El turned back to follow Scarecrow, beckoning the trio of men to trail along. As the five stood on the hill of the long driveway, looking out over the city, sounds of unrest and fear were already spreading, no doubt caused by the mass break out.

"Listen to that." Scarecrow was already enjoying himself immensely, practically breathing in the panic.

"They have no idea what's coming." They stood another moment, bracing for what else the night would bring before El spoke again. "I take it we won't be getting out of the city before it hits?"

"No, we missed the pick-up. I'd much rather be here anyway, wouldn't you?" The burlap mask turned to El, and she could practically hear the deranged smile behind it, flashes of the first time she had seen it swimming before her eyes. Despite that, she found herself smiling back.

"Yeah. I've put too much skin into this game to miss it." She gave one last look to the city before turning to the thugs that had helped her. "You boys had best find somewhere to hide. You're not going to like what comes next."

"You sure, boss?" That made Scarecrow's ears prick, and he whipped his head to watch the interaction with narrowed eyes. "You know we'd have your back anywhere." The trio had grown very attached to El in 24 hours. All things considered, she was the best boss they had ever had.

"Oh, I know, and we'll remember that. For now, you all get out of dodge. And stay out of our way, for your own good." The trio nodded, and she said her final goodbyes with a quick hug for each of them before returning to the masked man, while the goons retreated in the opposite direction.

"They should know better than to talk to you like that in front of me."

"What, you jealous?" El scoffed. "Unsubstantiated, don't you worry yourself about them. Come on; it's about to start. I don't want to miss anything."

With that, the pair started their trek into the city. As they grew nearer, the sounds of screaming and chaos grew louder and louder, signaling that the attack had begun. Scarecrow smiled to himself at the cacophony. He had waited almost Jonathan's whole life for something like this, and nothing was going to stop his good time.

Jonathan—trusting Scarecrow to handle the situation, given that this was his area of expertise—let himself float in middle space. The distant, muted cries of a city in distress marked his success, and he allowed himself a moment of rest. He had done it; all of his work and effort to bring the night's events into fruition had finally seen a conclusion.

Amidst the pandemonium of the city burning, he and El could find a way out of the city. Maybe steal a small boat from the city's elite and get to the mainland. Regardless, they would get away, find somewhere else and mind their own business. It was a nice thought, relaxing.

Even still, he was careful not to get too far ahead of himself. Anything could happen before Scarecrow had had enough to let him try to regain control. Even residing in the back of their mind, he had to stay vigilant until he could take that chance.

It was going to be a very long night.

#the mind's power over the body #Attraction To The Insane #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #Elianna Montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #scarecrow x ofc #cillian murphy scarecrow #multi chapter fic #batman begins #slight au #cillian murphy #Nolanverse #tmpotb chapter 24

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

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The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 8: Acceptance

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven

Word count: 1986

Minutes after Jonathan left, Elianna was still staring at the wall, unable to think about anything other than the sudden and jarring conversation. She couldn't help but feel astounded that she had even agreed to what he was suggesting. Why would I do that? If she hadn't accepted his proposal, would he have gone along with the plan on his own? And what would have become of had she refused?

Her clock glared at her from its place mounted on the wall, reminding her that she didn't even have the distraction of a session to rush to. Damn it. Paperwork, paperwork, paperwork...

Finally forcing herself into action, El gathered all of her files and situated herself on the floor with them, playing music on her smartphone to help her focus. She ended up with papers stacked around her as she reorganized all of her files in an attempt to occupy her mind with something—anything—else. Honestly, there hadn't been anything wrong with the previous system in the first place, and now she was just surrounded by mess as she reshuffled the notes in each folio to justify her decision.

Two hours later, her office was spotless, and she had gone through at least three new filing systems. With nothing left to do for an hour, she found herself still sitting on the floor against her desk, desperately trying to unwind her conflicting feelings over the new situation.

She knew that she should care about the moral implications of her decision, but the more she thought, the more she realized that she just...didn't. Not for lack of trying. For God's sake, Scarecrow had gotten Jonathan to kill his granny when they were teenagers, and she hadn't even questioned it. The old woman did have it coming, just like she had thought earlier that morning, but did that way of thinking make her a bad person? She had never been one for philosophy.

And now, when the opportunity presented itself to exact horrible, torturous revenge on Victor Zsasz, she had taken it without even fully thinking through the consequences. She hadn't even been able to through her confusion. If it comes down to it, which seems likely, can I take a life the way that Jonathan did? Do I even want to?

Yes. She did. Each thing that she came to realize about herself sent El spiraling into a new set of questions. When had she become this person? Had she always been like this, keeping busy to avoid confronting that reality?

She couldn't tell how much time passed as she took inventory of herself until finally, another look at the clock told Elianna that her first session began in ten minutes; today, she had been scheduled a series of low profile patients to be seen in her office. Sighing, she finally lifted herself off the floor. She would have time to re-evaluate her life later. For now, she needed to get to work.

.xXx.

"In my opinion, Mr. Zsasz is as much a danger to himself as to others, and prison is probably not the best environment for his rehabilitation," Jonathan spoke into the mounted microphone on the stand with steady resilience. It was getting difficult for him to ignore Scarecrow, who had become practically giddy from the anticipation of getting to "play" with the newest batch of the toxin. He was almost exploding, insisting that Elianna would finally give in to her dark side.

Both Jonathan and Scarecrow had known that it was there for a long time. Jonathan had had his suspicions when he had told her about Scarecrow for the first time, and she had accepted it, and they had been confirmed after Granny's "accident," when she had helped them cover it up and had stuck around to boot.

At a glance, someone less close to the situation would say it was denial (which she was good at, apparently), but she had no qualms talking about it when the topic came up; she simply didn't care about most things that she should. She had somehow managed to convince everyone else—including herself—that she did, and that was the part that mattered.

The trial ended quickly after Jonathan's testimony. Falcone had already paid off the judge to rule in favor of whatever Jonathan said, and the rest was just formality. As such, he had already filled out all of the appropriate paperwork for the admission and transferred the deranged man to his care.

Finally, it was over, and Jonathan was on his way to the parking lot to make it back to the asylum when he was stopped by the most irritatingly incorruptible person on the planet.

"Doctor Crane," Rachel Dawes's voice rang through the courthouse lobby. Unable to ignore her, Jonathan paused to look at her, barely breaking his gait, suddenly needing to focus extra hard on keeping Scarecrow under control; he hated her as much as Jonathan did, possibly more.

"Miss Dawes," he acknowledged, having nothing else to say. That was passable as polite, wasn't it?

"You think a man who butchered people for the mob and attacked an innocent woman doesn't belong in jail?" Right to the point with this one, always so straightforward. Ambitious. If she would only take advantage of the ample opportunities that the city provided, she might even be able to make something of herself. Unfortunately for her, she didn't have the drive.

We don't need her sniffing around, Jonny. Let me take care of this now.

Not a chance, keep quiet.

"I would hardly have testified to that otherwise, would I?" Politeness be damned, the insufferable woman could chalk it up to a bad day if she wanted, just as long as she didn't notice the distaste rolling off of him in waves.

"This is the third of Falcone's thugs you've had declared insane and moved to your asylum, and the fourth time you've done so for Zsasz individually." Dear Lord, was she implying that he was corrupt? In Gotham? Never. Impossible.

"It isn't my fault if our security officers have yet to discover his means of escape. As for the rest, the work offered by organized crime must have an attraction to the insane." There, a safely noncommittal answer, and one that held basis in fact too. He turned to leave, having just about reached his limit with the conversation.

"Or the corrupt," Dawes's heels clicked on the floor as she took a few steps after him before he stopped in his tracks again. So she wasn't implying anything, just outright accusing him. Jonathan ignored Scarecrow's outraged (and far from empty) threats and caught sight of Dawes's boss in his periphery. A little childish perhaps, resorting to involving her higher-ups, but at this point, he was willing to shoot himself in the foot to avoid continuing this tiresome discussion. Interrogation, more like.

"Mister Finch," the suited man looked at the sound of his name. "I think you should check with Miss Dawes here just what implications your office has authorized her to make." That captured his attention; Finch's brows raised as he aimed a pointed look in the direction of the woman in question. "If any." That should do it.

I'm gonna get our hands on that one. Pick her brain and spit in it.

There's something we can agree on.

.xXx.

As desperate as Elianna had been for any kind of distraction earlier, each of her sessions had been more boring than the last. She was still of the opinion that people with simple anxiety disorders didn't belong in an asylum; she had half a mind to sign them all out and send them back into the world. But until she learned more, she had to operate under the assumption that they had each been admitted for a worthwhile reason; but the second she was shown any sign of real-world competence, she would sign all of them out to keep them from taking up any more space. God, what's wrong with me today?

Before she could ponder on her behavior any further, a knock on her door signaled Jonathan's return, and she let him in quickly.

"So it's...you did it then?" She asked, still unsure of how to address the situation.

"He'll be transferred back in by tomorrow."

It was done. At this point, all she could do was trust in the combined efforts of Jonathan and Scarecrow to keep her safe with some...foolproof evil plan. No matter how much she tried, she hadn't been able to bring herself to feel guilty for wanting revenge; she couldn't help feeling justification in her decision, and it was clearly justified in Jonathan's as well, and really who else mattered in this scenario? Zsasz? Certainly not.

"Okay. Well, are you alright? You seem tense." Jonathan rolled his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head.

"Everything is fine, just this...tedious woman from the DA's office tried to give me some trouble, but it's taken care of. I, ah," he checked the time on the clock, "I just need to go finish some paperwork, and then we can go back home and talk about this some more."

"Sounds good. I'm almost done here myself; when I'm finished, do you want some help?" She offered, and he seemed almost grateful for it.

"If you don't mind, I wouldn't say no."

"M'kay, then I'll see you later. Oh, wait, actually," Jonathan looked at her expectantly, unsure of what exactly she was bringing to his attention. "How often would you say security looks at the footage from our offices?" Good god that made him worry. What now?

"...Can I ask why you want to know?" She looked embarrassed, and any ideas he had had of her doing something that might incriminate them went out the window. Dear God, what now?

"I...may have been sitting on the floor for a long time today." She said sheepishly, and Jonathan pinched his eyes closed briefly before casting his gaze up, fully exasperated by the fact that she had found that important enough to bring it up right then. "And I'm a little embarrassed about it." Scarecrow, on the other hand, found it hilarious whenever El caused him even the slightest bit of undue stress.

"It's fine; they really only review the footage from sessions. I doubt anyone will even know." Elianna seemed relieved and nodded, a tiny smile at the corners of her mouth. "You still sit on the floor when you're worked up?"

"It helps me think," came the defensive response, and Jonathan gave her a look that said that he would tease her about it later, and finally turned to go.

Jonathan left her office for the second time that day. Only this time, she had finally realized that her conflicted feelings from before were due entirely to outside influence. For as long as she could remember, she had found it impossible to feel truly concerned about the things that mainstream society seemed to want her to be. Why should she try to force herself into a box that she didn't fit in? She could at least try to keep her mind open to revenge.

Elianna's hesitant resignation to her anticipation for revenge began to chase away any confused reservations that she had had before and gradually replaced them with a hazy excitement bubbling under the surface.

#the mind's power over the body #jonathan crane #scarecrow #batman begins #nolanverse #elianna montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #fanfiction #multi chapter fic #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #tmpotb chapter 8

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

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The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 21: The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Word count: 1522

Ooh, the chapter title is the same as the fic title

Elianna could not have been more proud of her mask. She had spent every second of her free time measuring and adjusting and sewing and sending Jonathan to the store to get what she needed: something he found tedious, she was sure.

Either way, she had gotten it finished with one day to spare, and she was positively giddy. Even Jonathan had seemed impressed, and from what she could tell by what he had said, Scarecrow was thrilled with her dedication to the fear project. When she had finished, Jonathan had surprised her with a fear gas sleeve rig like his, and she was aching for the chance to use both of her new toys.

It was getting dark out when Jonathan came into her office, looking annoyed.

"Rachel Dawes is on her way here," he monotoned, making her frown. She had yet to meet Dawes, but she had been causing trouble for them from the start.

"Why?"

"Apparently," he began with a sigh, removing the doorstopper to let it swing closed, "she disagrees with the fact that Falcone got moved here. She finds his mental break suspicious."

"She's really up on her white horse, huh?" Jonathan scoffed in response.

"Either way, she might back off if she thinks I have a second opinion on this case. Are you up for a little acting?"

"Absolutely. What's the plan for if she doesn't buy it?"

"You have your mask on you?" El nodded, fondly remembering Jonathan talking her through making the false bottom of her briefcase.

"We match now!"

"Yes, we do. Just make sure it closes all the way when you're done with it."

"Good, she'll be here in a little under an hour. And we're the only ones here besides the orderlies, so I just got Falcone's men downstairs to supervise. Hopefully, everything will be able to go smoothly tomorrow."

"I'm sure it will just focus on the task at hand."

El had been surprised when Jonathan told her that he had managed to pay off some of Falcone's thugs to be loyal to them, and more than a little suspicious. But after meeting them and working with them for a few days, she was actually very grateful that she and Jonathan had people to delegate to for the last few days of work.

.xXx.

Dawes ended up arriving much earlier than projected, which only served to irritate Jonathan further. The entire walk to Falcone's cell was spent with him practically fuming and El becoming more and more curious about just how annoying one person could actually be.

"Miss Dawes, this is most irregular," Jonathan spoke as they approached, not giving the woman a chance to get the first word in. El caught on to the energy and jumped in before the other woman could get a word out.

"I'm Doctor Montgomery, I've been consulting on this case, and I speak for both of us when I say that we have nothing further to add to the report we filed with the judge."

"I have some questions about your report."

"Such as?" Jonathan challenged while El arranged her face into what she hoped was something patient and expectant. God, she really is tiresome.

"Isn't it convenient for a fifty-two-year-old man who had no history of mental illness to suddenly have a complete psychotic breakdown just when he's about to be indicted?" She had a fair point, but El made sure to keep her face impassive.

"Well, as you can see for yourself, there's nothing convenient about his symptoms." Oh dear, he's getting pissed. The woman didn't have a response planned for that, so she turned her attention stubbornly back to the man behind the glass, who was muttering to himself.

"What's 'scarecrow?'" The brunette fired off. El took it upon herself to reply so that Jonathan wouldn't snap.

"Patients suffering from delusional episodes often focus their paranoia on an external tormentor," she explained, doing her best to keep her voice pleasant and collegial. "Usually one conforming to Jungian archetypes. In this case," she gestured to the glass, "a scarecrow."

"And he's drugged?" This question seemed to amuse Jonathan.

"Psychopharmacology is my primary field. I'm a strong advocate." The thought of Jonathan being an 'advocate' for anything nearly made El laugh. "Outside, he was a giant. In here, only the mind can grant you power." Dawes shifted her eyes between the pair through narrowed eyes.

"You two enjoy the reversal." Jonathan allowed himself a mildly amused smile if only for a second.

"Doctor Montgomery and I respect the mind's power over the body." El nodded in agreement.

"It's why we do what we do," she smiled, keeping up her friendly persona. She was hoping that if she did her part properly, maybe it would lessen the suspicion on Jonathan, but it didn't seem to work. In fact, Dawes sent a scowl in her direction.

"I do what I do to keep thugs like Falcone behind bars, not in therapy." With that, she breezed past them toward the elevator. Jonathan and El shared a look, knowing what had to happen next. She was still talking as they turned to catch up with her. "I want my own psychiatric consultant to have full access to Falcone, including bloodwork. Find out exactly what you two put him on." El rolled her eyes, thankful that the Dawes's back was still turned to her.

"First thing tomorrow then," Jonathan sighed as they flanked her at the elevator doors, knowing what had to come next.

"Tonight," she charged into the elevator ahead of them, and El suddenly understood very well why Jonathan and Scarecrow seemed to hate the brunette so much. She herself was struggling not to choke her out right there in the elevator. "I've already paged Doctor Lehmann at County General" as if they were supposed to know who that was. Maybe Jonathan did, but judging by his lack of reaction, probably not.

Jonathan inserting his key to take them to the basement didn't go unnoticed by the redhead, but Dawes didn't seem to catch it. "As you wish," he forced out through gritted teeth as the door closed behind them.

Dawes gave Elianna a questioning look when the doors opened to reveal the basement, to which El replied with a reassuring smile.

"This way, please," Jonathan directed, leading them into the hallway. "There's something I think you should see."

The one thing that El didn't understand was how they would get her through the secret panel in the closet. She was going over different scenarios in her head when Jonathan passed the door and instead approached a larger one at the end of the hallway where it turned and pushed the double doors open dramatically.

They all came forward to stand on a balcony overlooking the workroom that El had grown familiar with, one level above where the secret panel led out. She understood now why they took the other way: the stairs going from the level they were standing on to the next level down had been taken out.

The redhead watched the dawning horror on the attorney's face as she took in what was happening as Jonathan spoke again.

"This is where we make the medicine." No, not Jonathan. It was subtle, but once she heard it, it was unmistakable. That was Scarecrow mimicking Jonathan's voice. Dawes was too shocked to notice the slight change in cadence, and her gaze was affixed to an inmate pouring a drum of the toxin directly into a busted open water pipe.

Not just any inmate either. Zsasz. Feeling someone watching him, he looked up in curiosity; when he saw El standing there, he shuddered and quickly turned back to what he was doing, his breath coming in broken gasps as he remembered something he would rather not. Elianna grinned when she saw Rachel make the connection and snap her head to look at her. "You-!" she managed to gasp out.

"Me," El confirmed with a wink. A low chuckle drew their attention back to the bespectacled man beside them.

"Perhaps you should have some, Miss Dawes. Clear your head." The brunette woman bolted for the elevator, and the two leftover partners in crime shared a look. Scarecrow smiled at El, a full smile; something she had never seen from Jonathan. It was sort of nice to see, and she smiled back as Scarecrow produced his face fluidly from their briefcase.

Rachel had reached the elevator. Luckily for the scheming pair, it wouldn't budge without the basement key. All Rachel managed to see when the elevator doors opened again were two masks, one burlap and one that seemed to be lined on the outside with faux leather, fashioned into a long, sleek beak.

Then, a cloud of gas—fired at the same time that she gasped in fear—and she coughed as the gas entered her lungs. When she looked back up, the masks had been distorted and twisted, oozing from the holes and crawling with...god, something. It didn't matter because they each seized an arm and dragged her back out of the elevator before her thoughts dissolved completely.

#The Mind’s Power Over the Body #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #batman begins #Nolanverse #Elianna Montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #multi chapter fic #slight au #Attraction To The Insane #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #tmpotb chapter 21

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

Text

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 18: Unstoppable

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Part 13 / Part 14 / Part 15 / Part 16 / Part 17

Word count: 2011

This chapter is really dumb and cheesy just a heads up 😂 I wanted to dabble in old school fanfic while I wrote this one I think. Idk, it’s kinda cute

El had come to hate the weekends. There was no substance to her days off now that she knew the thrills offered by the wretch of a city. Jonathan wouldn't let her run his underworld errands with him; an attempt to keep her safe from Falcone, he said. While she understood and appreciated the sentiment, the result was dreadfully long and slow weekends. They couldn't go to Arkham to supervise the project, lest they draw suspicion, and if Jonathan wouldn't take her with him to meetings, it left her with very little to do in the apartment.

Luckily, the day after her nightmare Jonathan had no reason to leave the apartment. On the other hand, he had spent his day worrying over her incessantly. Well, as much as Jonathan could "worry incessantly" in his own subdued way.

He had let her sleep in for hours, made her breakfast when she woke, and she was currently curled up on the couch next to him with the softest blanket from his linen closet. He had even let her pick the movie they were watching.

"Hey, Jonathan?"

"Mm?"

"Am I dying or something?" He looked across the couch at her, confused. "You're being really nice today. Are you still 'being me,' or am I dying?"

"Oh. Neither." He fell back into silence rather than offering the explanation that El was looking for. She waited patiently for a minute or two, giving him the opportunity to explain himself of his own volition before sitting up with a huff and pausing the TV, moving to sit next to him.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" El watched as Jonathan set his jaw firmly, releasing a long slow breath, all the while staring inscrutably at the coffee table. By the time he finally looked at her, the anticipation had made her too anxious even to admire the hue of his eyes as she normally would.

"Last night, you..." he trailed off and let out another sigh before continuing, "it made me worry. I've been thinking all day, and I'm wondering if maybe you would be better off leaving Gotham now and going somewhere without me." Whatever she had been expecting, this wasn't it. Her brow furrowed, and she struggled to organize her thoughts enough to argue as he spoke again. "I know you, and I know that that wasn't normal, and it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't gotten you involved."

"So what?" she sputtered. "Jonathan, you got me involved, but if I didn't want to be still involved, I wouldn't be. Don't worry about me. You're not responsible for my decisions."

Her words did little to soothe him, and he leaned against the back of the couch with his head tilted all the way back to look at the ceiling. "No, I'm not, but this is clearly taking a toll on you. I just think it might be better if-"

"I understand what you're saying, but you're wrong," interrupted El. "If I were to leave now, I would just worry about you more. Without me, you're on your own here, and it's going to take a lot more than some stupid bad dream to make me abandon you. I know that you can handle all of this on your own, but as long as I'm here, I'm going to keep supporting you in whatever ways I can."

He was technically right, to an extent; it wasn't normal for a nightmare to break her like that. But the fact remained that it was only a dream, and the fact that it had immediately followed a dosing of fear toxin only served to solidify her point further. It would never have affected me like that if I hadn't insisted on a second toxin trial.

Jonathan mulled over what she said for what seemed like ages, to the point that Elianna wasn't even sure where his train of thought may have taken him. Regardless, she knew that he must have been trying to come up with some absurd reason why she should leave anyway. Deciding to let him think (and knowing that she would win this debate with this move), she pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders and lifted his arm to slot herself against his side.

He looked down at her as she settled his arm around her back, only to find her already looking up at him patiently with big green eyes. Shit. He could never argue with her when she looked at him like that, and she knew it. He did his best to steel his resolve, but then she blinked at him so sweetly that he had no choice.

"Fine," he sighed, finally looking away from her. "But no more toxin. From now on, you're just helping me supervise, understood?" He felt her nod fervently and wrap her arms tight around him. How did she always manage to get under his skin so well?

"I can't believe you thought you could get rid of me that easily," she scoffed. "I'm here to stay, love. I left you behind once, and I'm not going to do it again." Jonathan was amused by the childish notion behind her words but appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

He was silently glad that she had pushed against him on this particular issue. While he still believed that she would be safer away from the city, he really didn't want her to leave. She was too...important. As proven by how easily she could get him to concede just by looking at me, for fuck's sake.

"You know I would never try to get rid of you." Jonathan still faced difficulty coming to terms with her effect on him, but this time he didn't have the energy to fight it. Deep down, he knew that he had let her win, selfishly wanting her to stay. Unwilling to resist, he let his cheek rest against the top of her head. "Sometimes I might think about it, but I'm not stupid." He felt her laugh.

"Understandable." She tilted her head back to look at him, and he lifted his head from hers to mirror her gaze. A soft smile spread over her face. "One of these days, I'm going to get you to admit outright that you love me." She said smugly, undeterred by his impassive expression.

He could tell by the look on her face that she had begun speaking absentmindedly, but Jonathan found himself more focused on the conversation in his head; naturally, Scarecrow had his own opinion on what El had said.

She's got a point. We should just get it over with now.

That isn't what she means.

Sure it is! See the way she looks at us? Come ooonnn, what's the harm? If it goes south, I'll just take care of it.

You absolutely will not.

I still don't see why we shouldn't get rid of her anyway. Loose ends, Jonny. If she's dead, she can't snitch.

She isn't going to. She would have done it already, and she's never told anyone about everything else we've done; why would she start now?

Yeah, and why do you think that is? Principle? Honesty? She likes us, Jonny. If you don't take care of it now, then I will.

With that, the straw man retreated to the back of Jonathan's mind in smug silence. The ambiguity of Scarecrow's ultimatum made him nervous, as he was unsure of what Scarecrow's version of "taking care of it" might be. But Jonathan knew ultimately that his alter was actually right this time. All of the jokes, the affection, the trust, and when she looked at him the way she had done just a minute before...

It was almost terrifying to think that the woman he had held so dear for so long might harbor feelings for him, and the true rush of the unknown exhilarated him. As strange as it would be, Jonathan knew what he wanted to do and resolved on the spot to act upon it before he could talk himself back out of it as he was wont to do.

"Not verbally, necessarily," she spoke up again, "but one of these days, you're going to do something, and I'll kno-"

The rest of El's sentence was cut short by something that could not have caught her more off guard, and while some part of her seemed to process it immediately (judging by how hard her heart was beating), it took a moment for her brain to catch up.

Jonathan had interrupted her by cupping the side of her face with his free hand and, in one fluid motion, had tilted her head back more and kissed her full on the mouth ever so softly. Her mind hadn't yet finished racing with unanswered questions when her internal monologue switched abruptly to, "oh, fuck it."

At that moment, she didn't need to understand anything. By way of response, she lifted her own hand to close lightly around his wrist, keeping his hand against her face and returned the tentative kiss with one of her own.

Both of their stomachs exploded into butterflies, but for vastly different reasons. Jonathan felt a rush of relief from the reciprocation and a flutter of nervousness caused by sudden instability for the future that it implied. In the same moment, Elianna found an emotional release and a thrill caused by the same unclear future, eager to build something new, powerful even.

Whatever her motivation, when El kissed him again, Jonathan was more than eager to return the action, and all of his apprehensiveness began to melt away. It was a rare moment of clarity for him, as he found himself truly in the moment. She had kissed him. Things that had been so important to him only minutes before were suddenly irrelevant, and when El pulled away and buried her face into his neck, holding him so tight, he was all too glad to squeeze her closer.

He thought that he had never been more determined to do anything as he was to keep her safe previously, but having finally given in to the impulse that he had been repressing since their teen years, Jonathan realized his previous resolve had been trivial. This, with all of its implicit devotion attached, changed everything so drastically. Nobody would ever hurt her again; not Zsasz, not Scarecrow, not anybody.

It was a good feeling, if a bit overwhelming. Following his new theme of letting himself enjoy the things he wanted, Jonathan allowed himself to feel at ease, content. He even cracked a smile when a small voice chimed, "I told you so," from somewhere near his collarbone.

"Yes, you did." He stroked back her hair and left a lingering kiss on top of her head, and felt her delighted smile split her face as she hugged him tighter (if that was even possible).

"Now you're really not getting rid of me. You know that, right?"

"I know. That's what I wanted." El hummed happily in response, breathing in the smell of his clothes. Being wrapped up against him like this felt...right. Like this was what their entire friendship had always been leading to, and now that it had been fulfilled, nothing could stop her.

Ever at the whim to her desires, and knowing that Jonathan couldn't be relied on to do the same, El straightened back up to stand on her knees and captured him in another kiss, deeper than before. With no protest, Jonathan locked his arms securely around her waist to keep her close and responded in kind.

Everything else forgotten, the new couple passed the day away in a world of their own making, testing the limits, and exploring new possibilities. Totally focused on each other, they both forgot everything about the killing of the city, the crimes they were committing together, the hells they had been put through, all of it wiped away; with every kiss, every gentle touch, every movement erased every atrocity, past and future. The new, stronger nature of their companionship made them unstoppable.

#the mind's power over the body #Attraction To The Insane #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #Elianna Montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #scarecrow x ofc #slight au #fanfiction #multi chapter fic #scarecrow fanfic #fic series #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #tmpotb chapter 18

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

Text

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part 13: Worst Fears

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine / Part Ten / Part Eleven / Part Twelve

Word count: 2040

Trigger warning, graphic descriptions of phobias, including arachnophobia, trypophobia, nyctophobia, extreme pain, and sleep paralysis. End of fear sequence is marked with .xXx. if you want to skip to the end for some fluff. Next chapter will be posted today as well

As soon as the toxin took hold, the room grew dimmer. In fact, it seemed to Elianna that the lights in the bedroom turned off completely, and her surroundings were illuminated only by the light coming in from the living room and the large window overlooking the city.

Already, El felt herself growing nervous. It seemed silly as an adult, but she had always been afraid of the dark. Jonathan usually left the bathroom light on when they would sleep, but the light coming from the living room was far too dim to stave off her anxiety.

As she stared at the doorway, trying to focus on what little light she could see, a figure slowly came into view, effectively blocking the door and dimming the room even further. It was the shape of a man with no discernable features, flat black in front of the light. She recognized the figure from her occasional episodes of sleep paralysis; she knew it wasn't real, but oh god, when it started walking toward her, she nearly forgot that it wasn't. It was tall; the top of its head had nearly touched the top of the door frame.

Her teeth dug into something as the figure drew closer, carrying a box, and she suddenly remembered the belt. Jonathan. She turned to look at him for some reassurance, suddenly needing to convince herself that this wasn't real, but what she saw wasn't Jonathan. She made a strangled noise, not quite a scream, when she saw that another shadow creature now occupied the chair that he had been sitting in, but this one was...different. It was covered in dark grey markings, just barely visible over the void of its body, and it took her a moment to recognize them.

Tally marks.

Zsasz.

At that point, her fear got the better of her, and she pulled experimentally at her arm restraints as she turned to look straight up at the ceiling, trying and failing to keep her breathing controlled and quiet.

However, when the other approached from the other side of the bed, she couldn't help but give it her attention, eyes wide and fearful, her breathing labored and loud around the belt. The first shadow was now hovering over her, barely a foot away from her face as it seemed to examine her.

Her mounting fear grew every second that it remained in that position until tears began to prick in her eyes. She wasn't sure if it was from her seeming inability to blink or the knowledge that this was only the beginning of what was sure to be a life-changing experience.

Finally, the figure straightened up, now towering over Elianna's vulnerable frame, and lifted the box high, holding it over her body. El resumed her struggle to get free; she didn't know what was in the box, and she didn't want to find out.

After holding it over her for almost half a minute, listening to her muffled whimpers and cries of terror, it finally upended the box over her.

A cascade of spiders, varying in size and species, cascaded in slow motion onto her abdomen and immediately begin to spread out, agitated by their fall. Only then did El begin to scream in earnest, her voice too quiet to hope for help around the belt still held clenched in her teeth. She tried her best to shake them off, but no matter how hard she tried, the thick cuffs securing her limbs reduced the movement to restricted thrashing, only angering the arachnids more.

No no no no NO NO get them off, get them off of me, PLEASE!

Elianna watched in horror as a particularly large one on her thigh appeared to open its mandibles, frightened by her sudden movements, and bite down hard on her leg, just below where the material of her pink pajama shorts ended.

A dramatic, searing pain surged through her whole leg, and the tears finally fell; she couldn't help the cry of pain as she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, the shooting agony sending a wave of nausea through her stomach.

When she opened her eyes again to see the wound, she was instead met by a tight cluster of holes in the soft flesh of her thigh, slowly spreading down her leg. At that point, she was thrashing and screaming in earnest, unable to think anymore.

The shadow man was real; she knew that now. She couldn't have made this up; she couldn't have, could she? And piling onto the pain and the terror, there was the betrayal. Jonathan had just left her there, and that thing had taken his place. El began to cry, really cry. She cried from the abandonment, the pain, and the sheer, unadulterated fear that was overtaking her.

More and more of the spiders were biting now, each one leaving another cluster of holes in her skin, but it felt to her as though her distress had reached a plateau.

However, the shadow figures seemed to realize that, and the one in the chair stood opposite the first, creating a towering wall of darkness and menace around her, closing her off from anything and everything else.

El's eyes frantically darted between them, her fear mounting again as they waited to do whatever it was that they were going to do. Suddenly, they were each holding her, one hand around her wrist and one around her ankle, effectively removing all ability she had to move.

Together, they began to squeeze her joints, gradually applying more and more pressure until it hurts, and they didn't stop for a second. Finally, they were squeeing so hard, constricting her blood flow, and El began to feel her bones shifting, groaning, grinding together, and then cracking, shattering underneath their grip, the enormous pressure that they exerted, and they still didn't stop.

The pain was unbearable, and El screamed as loud as she could, the sound still barred by the belt between her teeth as the lining finally gave way, and she finally bit through it and into the thick, supple material that it was made of underneath.

Her mind could only take so much of the pain and the terror, and she felt her vision finally, mercifully, going black around the edges. The pain dulled to numbness. Fear, to numbness. Everything was dull, and she felt heavy and dizzy and numb all at once and then finally

nothing.

.xXx.

Jonathan had sat through many of these experiments, and when it started, he had thought that he would be able to sit through this one just the same. He had told himself that just because it was Elianna, that didn't mean that it would be any different.

He was wrong. At first, everything went as normal. There had been times before when they slept in the same room, and she had woken him up with a nightmare, so the initial labored breathing had been easy enough to sit through.

But that had changed when she had turned to look at him, looking for a lifeline, and instead found something else. She had made a sound of distress, quiet and pathetic, and jerked her gaze away quickly. From that point on, he had felt a growing and genuine concern that he wasn't used to, and soon after abandoned his notes. It was an old recipe anyway, already tested to hell and back.

For a while, he had thought about leaving, moving to the other room to avoid the feeling but feeling that he couldn't. To know that he had indirectly caused this for her, and then to leave her on her own through it...he knew when he had the thought that he wouldn't be able to handle it, and although he couldn't do anything to stop it, he stayed there in his seat out of principle.

It seemed like a lifetime of watching and listening to her struggle and cry before she finally began to lose consciousness. Slowly, her eyes finally fluttered closed, and her body stopped twitching. He quickly checked his watch to record the time (he had abandoned his notes, but he knew that they would talk about it the next day) and pushed down the unwanted anxiety as he checked her pulse.

Good.

Boy, that was really something, wasn't it? Maybe we should do it again tomorrow; it was fun to watch her squirm. Real fun...

Jonathan ignored Scarecrow, angry that the straw man could still think about their friend in that context after what they had just watched. Preoccupied with his thoughts, he pried the now ruined belt from her teeth and undid the cuffs that held her spread eagle, and gently moved her up near the headboard with the pillow still under her head in the hopes that she would sleep soundly.

He was still distracted as he dressed for bed and finally laid on the other side of the mattress, carefully pulling the blankets over her. He laid in bed for a minute before getting up to turn on the bathroom light for her, hoping that the combined lights from there and the living room would help her to relax if she woke up.

After returning to bed, Jonathan stared at the ceiling, pondering over what had happened. He wasn't confused per se over the feelings of worry that he felt for Elianna. He had felt that plenty, but never so deeply. His thoughts were interrupted when the fitfully sleeping Elianna made a distressed noise and rolled over, reaching for something. He frowned as he looked at her, silently reaching out to touch her arm. In an instant, she was gripping his wrist tightly, using it to pull herself closer, until she was curled up at his side, holding his arm like a lifeline and her face pressed into his bicep.

He sighed deeply, deliberating over what to do. Before too long, he decided to go ahead and remove his arm from her grasp, only to carefully pull her closer, tucking her head against his chest and putting his arms around her. It wasn't something he would usually do, not even in the few times that he had been intimate with somebody, but he El had done the same for him countless times in Georgia, and he found himself still trying to repay her kindness after all these years.

It was strange for him to feel indebted to someone in this way. His connections with the mob, with Ra's Al Ghul, the favors given to him were repaid easily, through favors and money. But Elianna's sacrifice of time and care and support were so different and had to be returned in kind. He suspected that if she slept through the night, she would never know that he had done this, as he was sure to wake up before her.

That reminded him; he fumbled for her phone, which she had placed on the nightstand next to him. It took only three guesses for him to find her password and turn off her alarm for work—another favor.

That being done, Jonathan was finally able to settle in, and as though she could sense that, El wrapped her arm tighter around his torso, squeezing herself close. Jonathan rested his free hand on her arm, keeping her in place, slowly dozing off to the familiar sound of her soft breathing as she slept.

#the mind's power over the body #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #batman begins #Nolanverse #Elianna Montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #Attraction To The Insane #slight au #multi chapter fic #fanfiction #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #tmpotb chapter 13 1/2

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

Text

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

Part Twelve: It’s Time

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six / Part Seven / Part Eight / Part Nine / Part Ten / Part Eleven

Word count: 2524

Trigger warning for needles and toxin-induced self harm.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jonathan asked from the kitchen for the third time in two days. Elianna rolled her eyes; she was getting sick of this conversation. "I think you're the only person who would do it voluntarily."

"You did it," she pointed out nonchalantly, around a mouthful of ice cream. She hoped he was making dinner; the dessert wouldn't hold her over forever. The day before, the two had visited her apartment ("why do you have so many plants?" "I don't know, but I'm glad I do, the air quality here is garbage.") to retrieve some perishables from the kitchen so that they didn't have to go grocery shopping.

"I did it for research. I didn't have a choice at the time. You do."

"Okay, look," El stood from the couch and joined him in the kitchen. "The chance of learning how to break down fear is just too promising to pass up," she said earnestly. "If there is even the slightest possibility of a positive outcome, I have to do it. Since I was attacked, I've just been getting more and more paranoid, and I thought it would go away once we started using it on Zsasz, but it hasn't. And paranoia is just going to turn into anxiety, which is going to turn into fear, and I just can't handle that." Jonathan opened his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Elianna.

"I know that there are better ways to prevent that, but if I'm going to be joining you on this project anyway, then I should get an idea of what I'm in for in case of any accidents! I mean, I appreciate that you're worried, but I just don't understand why you don't think I can do this."

Jonathan sighed and rubbed his forehead, leaning against the counter; he knew that she was right, but...

"Because I don't know what it will do to your psyche. When I built up my immunity, it wasn't on purpose, and we have no way of knowing if it will do the same for you." El mulled it over, carefully considering what he had to say.

"I understand. But like I said, would you rather me be exposed here, in a controlled, safe environment, or on accident at a time when it really matters? It's almost guaranteed to happen anyway, so I still think that I should at least know what to expect." She reiterated resolutely. "We're doing this."

Jonathan saw the firm determination in her eyes and knew that at this point, there was no way to talk her out of it. If he didn't expose her to it, she would do it herself, and the results could be infinitely worse than if he just went along with it.

But that didn't mean that he had to be happy about it.

"Fine." He lifted himself from the counter and turned to continue what he had been doing before—making dinner, I knew it! El put her ice cream away before sitting on the counter, swinging her legs a little. "I know you're bored, but do you have to...hover?"

"I don't have anything else to do! If you have any ideas, I'd be happy to hear them."

"You could go out or something; I don't know. Look at you, go to any bar you don't even need to take any money. Someone would cover your tab." He sounded almost bitter. What's that about?

"Yeah, that's a great idea. When I get murdered, then you wouldn't have to give me the toxin." She shot back.

"I thought you had a guardian angel."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that guy. I wonder what he's up to."

"I don't care." God, what is he so upset about?

"You probably will in a few months. Maybe we should follow the news more closely." Nothing. El let out a short breath. Fine. "I know you don't want to talk about it anymore," she started quietly, "and I'm sorry that I'm making you do it." He didn't turn to look at her or even stop what he was doing when he spoke.

"You don't have to apologize. I understand why you want to do it, and I do want to help. I just wish you had taken the time to think about it before your decision."

"Fine, but I've thought it through now."

"I know. Since you're so sure, we can start tomorrow after work."

"Here?" He nodded.

"You'll want to be comfortable when it wears off, trust me." El smiled and slid off the counter. Satisfied with the way the conversation turned out, she went to take a shower.

"No going back now," She called over her shoulder.

"Wouldn't dream of it."

.xXx.

It was a slow day. A really, really, really slow day.

"Seriously, universe? Today?" El groaned, spinning back and forth in her chair idly. Of all days, why was she only assigned one session today? She had forgotten to check her schedule before leaving the previous day, so she hadn't even known that she could go in late. I hate looking forward to things.

For the time being, she resorted herself to see how fast she could spin her chair without knocking it over and found very quickly that the answer was 'too fast.' Way too fast. Already bored of that, she laid her head on the desk, trying to think of anything she could do. Finally, she decided to go on a walk, see if she could find Harley or Jonathan.

It took a while of wandering before El finally caught sight of blonde hair crossing the upstairs foyer from the west wing to the east wing. "Harley!" She called after her friend, jogging slightly to catch up. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Real good!" The blonde seemed more excited than usual. "I just got assigned to one of the maximum-security cases!"

"Oh, that's great!" El forced a smile, suddenly very worried about her friend. She had been assigned a max security case with Zsasz based on her work record, and it hadn't exactly ended up well.

"I know! I've been waitin' ages to get a career-making case finally, and I finally got one! I got my first session with her tomorrow." Her?

"Who is it?"

"She goes by Poison Ivy; she's an eco-terrorist. She's got this connection with plants. Apparently, she can control them, and she goes after organizations that harm the environment."

"Well, she sounds like a badass; you'll have to let me know how it goes."

"Of course, I will. They're gonna write books about me." Harley looked at El with bright eyes, and the redhead couldn't help but smile at the thought of her friend's face plastered on a biography all over Gotham.

"Just make sure to be careful okay, those guys are in maximum security for a reason." El found herself subconsciously moving the hair that fell over her forehead, where she would surely have a scar.

"Don't you worry about me, honey. What are you doin' today?"

"Apparently nothing for another few hours." Elianna sighed.

"Aw. Anything interesting?" She shook her head in response.

"I think Jonathan asked them to keep the dangerous ones away from me until I have more experience here. I mean, Zsasz didn't kill me. It's not like I'm helpless, right? I was savvy enough to get away twice." Harley bobbed her head in agreement with a sympathetic look.

"Well, maybe he's right; you're new in Gotham. It might not be a bad idea to let you settle in a while longer."

"Yeah, but now I'm only treating patients with borderline anxiety disorders. Borderline, Harls!"

"Aw," the blonde tsked and patted her friend's arm. "I'm sorry, honey, it'll get better. Oh, shoot!" She checked her watch. "I gotta go, I'm gonna be late. Maybe we should get lunch this weekend, whaddya think?"

"Yeah, that sounds nice. Go on. I'll talk to you later." El sighed as Harley rushed off to her appointment. That didn't last nearly long enough. She was now stuck where she had been before and made her way back to her office.

Who would have thought there would be so little to do in the most notorious asylum in America?

.xXx.

Finally, the end of the day came, but Jonathan's awful speed limit driving made Elianna antsy. She was so close. Besides all of the reasons she had given Jonathan over the last few days, she couldn't help but be curious about what it was like to be under the influence of the fear toxin. Seeing Zsasz's reaction had sparked an interest in the experience, although she couldn't fathom why.

"It's weird, isn't it?" She asked half an hour later as she helped Jonathan put leftover takeout in the fridge.

"What is?"

"Coincidence. Probability. Chaos theory."

"You need to stop watching Jurassic Park. It's turning you into a monster."

"Over my dead body, and you know what I mean." Jonathan closed the fridge as they finished and looked at her expectantly. "Well, my mom and I just happened to move to Arlen, out of all the places we were looking at. Then we happened to move down the road from you, and we had some classes in common. And even after all that, I still could have been really shitty and tormented you, or ignored you, or you could have been successful in keeping me away. Then we still managed to stay in touch after high school from opposite sides of the country, which is super rare, even in friends, and on top of all that we happen to have the same interests, and now here we are working in the same place after all of that, which led to tonight. To the decision I made."

Jonathan considered her words, leaning back against the counter, eventually nodding in agreement.

"It's not too late." He said quietly. "You can still change your mind."

"I'm not having seconds thoughts." El insisted gently, standing next to him and leaning her head against his arm. "Actually, I was thinking about how lucky I am to have this opportunity. Do you know how many people would jump at the chance to confront their fears? To try and fix themselves?

"Yes, I do, and it's not a good thing." El looked up at him, surprised by the empathy. "If no one were affected by fear, then none of this would be possible, and I wouldn't be able to continue my research." El stared at him in incredulous silence before laughing.

"Because that's what it all comes down to. You're really fucked up, honey."

"Look who's talking." He said with a little smile. He couldn't put it off any longer. Scarecrow was ecstatic that Elianna had volunteered for this, and it was giving him a headache. "Come on, let's get started. I'm going to give you a small dose, so hopefully, you'll be able to sleep afterward." El nodded as they straightened up, making their way to the bedroom.

She could hear Jonathan adjusting the bedsheets while she was in the closet, putting on more comfortable clothes. When she came out, he had folded them all to the end of the bed so that she wouldn't get tangled.

"I'm going to say this in advance: shut up." El gave him a confused look as he opened the false bottom of his briefcase and produced a set of four restraint cuffs that were usually attached to the medical beds, at which point she raised an eyebrow. "We needed a way to holds your limbs down so that you don't hurt either of us, just...don't." He said exasperatedly as he began to affix them to the head and footboards. El snorted, with a little smile; there was nothing she could say to make fun of him that Scarecrow probably wasn't saying already.

"Do people...hurt themselves often?" Jonathan nodded.

"Once or twice, they try to gouge out their own eyes, things like that." El swallowed herd, suddenly very glad to have such a thorough friend. "Which reminds me, I didn't think about it earlier, but I do have neighbors. We'll need to find something for you to bite down on; I've also had people bite through their own tongues." At that, El shivered and returned to her duffle bag, where she knew she had packed an old belt.

"How often would you say that happens?"

"Not too much, but it does make a mess, and we sleep here." Despite her sudden nervousness, El laughed softly at the ever-tactful Jonathan Crane. Normally she might be upset with him after that comment, but here she was volunteering for that risk.

She set the belt on the edge of the bed and positioned herself in the middle of the mattress, trying to prepare herself for something from which she didn't have a clear idea of what to expect. Gently, Jonathan lifted her head and slid a pillow underneath; the small act of care made her smile to herself as he continued to secure her wrists and ankles, careful not to tighten the restraints too much.

He took a few extra minutes to prepare the serum, during which she agreed to let him take notes. If they were moving ahead with this anyway, he might as well conduct his research on a new subject.

Jonathan was just about to put the belt in her mouth when El had a sudden thought, turning her face away. "Scarecrow, he's under control? He isn't going to try anything, is he?"

"No. He's excited, but he promised to be good. And he's impressed that you're doing this willingly." Satisfied with the answer, El nodded and let the belt between her teeth, biting down securely.

At that point, Jonathan prepared the syringe with a translucent fluid, flicking the chamber and getting rid of any air bubbles. "This is an old batch, so the effects might be a little less intense than they would normally be." Unable to speak, El nodded. He swabbed clean a patch of skin on her arm and gave her a look, giving her one last chance to change her mind. With no fault in her resolution, he finally pricked her vein and injected the serum into her bloodstream.

The concoction was thick, and El could feel it burning through her veins for only a moment

and then everything took a turn for the worse.

#The Mind’s Power Over the Body #Jonathan Crane #scarecrow #batman begins #Nolanverse #Elianna Montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #slight au #fanfiction #multi chapter fic #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #Attraction To The Insane #tmpotb chapter 12

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gothic-safari-clown · 3 years

Text

The Mind’s Power Over the Body

PART SEVEN: CONFESSION

Story Summary: They only ever had each other. It had been that way since high school, ever since Elianna transferred to dreary Arlen and took Jonathan under her wing. They go separate ways for college, and when they’re reunited at Arkham Asylum professionally, Elianna comes to find that they’ve both changed during their time separated. Can she look past the promise of danger and stay by Jonathan’s side as they slide further and further into the darkness while she grapples to come to terms with the truth about herself? Can she accept what needs to be done in order to hold onto the only person who holds any meaning in her life? This is a very self-indulgent AU that draws from several different canons of the DCU and ignoring others, starting in the Batman Begins Nolanverse. This will follow the plot of the movie, although the timeline has been very slightly tweaked.

Part One / Part Two / Part Three / Part Four / Part Five / Part Six

Words count: 3235

Elianna, generally speaking, was extremely stubborn by nature. As such, the more people told her that she couldn’t do something, the more she resolved to do it. She had been like that for her entire life, and very rarely was she convinced to concede.

However, she no longer had any qualms about passing off the Zsasz case. The day before, she had been pretty insistent upon keeping Victor as a patient, but that had been before he had not only escaped what was supposed to be a very secure institution for the fourth time, but had also found out where she lived. Unless he had somehow already found out from whoever must have helped him after their first session. God, had he been planning that from the beginning? El thought back to what he had said when he had passed her and Jonathan in Arkham as he was being escorted back to his cell.

“Leave your door unlocked for me.”

She shivered at the memory. In hindsight, she couldn’t believe how stupid she had been to have still gone to her apartment after that. While she wasn’t unintelligent, it was true Jonathan had always been the smarter one. But, Jesus, that was the worst thing for her to have done in that situation. I guess I’ll blame that on being stubborn too.

She pondered all of this, still in bed next to a restfully sleeping Jonathan, hours before she even needed to be awake. After sleeping for only a few an hour or two herself, she had woken herself out of a nightmare and had been unable to fall back asleep despite how tired she felt. It seemed that all of her sleep lately had been cursed by restlessness.

Suddenly, she was struck by the memory of the strange, shadowy figure that had saved her life in the parking lot. What was that thing? It had been man-sized and shaped, but she clearly saw pointed ears on top of the head in her memory. Even after being in Gotham for such a short period of time, El was acutely aware of the masked criminals that ran the streets. Still, in her tired haze and confusion surrounding the whole situation, she couldn’t recall having heard of a man dressed as a…a dog? Some kind of bat, maybe? Either way, it seemed a very poorly made costume.

The fact that whoever it was had attacked Zsasz was somewhat comforting, she supposed. But the question remained, was this person malevolent and just happened to have a personal vendetta against Zsasz, or was he some sort of vigilante that no one had heard of yet? Assuming this is a new development, I imagine we’ll find out over the coming months.

In the meantime, El was plagued by the feeling that she was being watched, despite being several stories high in a relatively safe part of the city, not that anywhere in Gotham could truly be considered safe.

Despite the knowledge that nobody could be watching, she shifted closer to Jonathan and cast a wary look around the room to identify the source of her discomfort, finally deciding that there was something about the window that made her uneasy. It seemed too dark outside, given that they were in a large city, but she knew better than to get up to close the curtains. She had seen enough horror movies to know that when she did, there would be a face pressed against the glass, watching her sleeplessness.

The image in her head of a person waiting on the ledge outside, waiting for her to fall back asleep scared her, even though she knew it was impossible. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced herself not to think about it. It’s amazing the things almost being murdered will do to your brain.

Jonathan shifted in his sleep suddenly, effectively taking her mind off things for a few seconds. She could tell that he hadn’t gotten enough sleep the previous few nights (she blamed Scarecrow) and made an effort hold still, hoping that she hadn’t woken him up. After a few seconds, he settled back into his pillow. She sighed and allowed herself to relax as well. I should try to get back to sleep before work. She would be damned if she had to stay home, even after everything that had happened. She needed the people she worked with to take her seriously. Going about a normal routine after almost dying twice seemed a good way to establish rank. Maybe stubborn and stupid, but what was the worst that could happen at that point?

All things considered, she felt surprisingly stable for someone who had had three near-death experiences in the past few years. Maybe there was something wrong with her that just hadn’t manifested yet? Thinking about that possibility, she wouldn’t be surprised. It might explain how she was finally on the verge of falling back asleep.

Eventually, her exhaustion got the better of her. Jonathan’s building had much better security than hers; surely, she would be fine to sleep those last few hours away…

.xXx.

Four hours later, El’s phone alarm sounded, blaringly loud in the previously silent room, and she scrambled to turn it off while Jonathan rolled onto his stomach and groaned into his pillow.

“Why do you wake up so early?” His voice was muffled.

“It takes longer for me to get ready than you. It’s nothing new. Go back to sleep.” El yawned and patted the back of his head before standing up, stretching and cracking her back.

He seemed to take her advice, and his breathing evened out again as she retrieved her duffle bag from the living room and headed to the bathroom to get ready for work. She had just finished washing her face and brushing her teeth and was starting in on her makeup when Jonathan walked in, looking tired.

“I’m awake now.” He yawned as he leaned back against the counter next to her and rubbed his hand down his face.

“I can see that. I’m sorry,” El replied genuinely—if a bit distracted by her foundation.

“It’s fine; I was starting to dream about Granny again,” he dismissed; El nodded and continued her routine as he watched.

“Can I help you?” She asked, slightly perturbed by the attention. He shrugged.

��There’s nothing better to do at the moment. Besides, I want to find out how it’s possible that you actually use all those brushes every day. It seems like overkill.”

“They’re all good for different things, now hush,” El mumbled in response, trying not to let him distract her from her eyeliner. “You know, if you talked to more women, you might be able to see them put on their makeup, and maybe even naked sometimes.” Now she was actively trying to get him to leave her alone; it was far too early not to be annoying about it, though. Sometimes she just couldn’t resist embarrassing him.

“Don’t give Scarecrow any ideas this early in the morning, or he’s going to think about you like that all day, and I have to hear it,” Jonathan said in mild disgust and shut his eyes in exasperation.

“Ooh, gross. Really?”

“Yeah. Breakfast?”

“No, thanks, love.”

“You should eat.”

“I should, but I’m not hungry, and you’re distracting me. Thank you, though,” she replied more forcefully. He shrugged again and meandered toward the kitchen. “Tell him to behave!” She called after him.

No longer distracted, El finished up and picked an outfit for the day, getting dressed quickly and walked out to the kitchen where Jonathan had already dressed and was making his way through a bagel while glancing over the newspaper. “They didn’t know your name. Would you mind if I started calling you ‘lucky woman?’”

“Sure! Would you mind if I start 'giving Scarecrow ideas’ every morning?”

“Still not a morning person, I see.”

“Nope.” El stole a quick sip of his coffee before grabbing her purse. “Carpool?”

Jonathan agreed, finished his bagel and coffee, and they walked to his car. In a few minutes were on the road sharing comfortable silence. El found herself reminded once again of the stranger that had saved her the night before. She decided to ask Jonathan about it; maybe he’ll know more than I do.

Then again, what if he thought she was crazy? A man dressed up like…oh, who could tell? What if it had been an adrenaline-fuelled hallucination? Jonathan wouldn’t turn her in, would he?

Of course not. The personality with whom he shared a mind was violent and murderous and had convinced him to kill his great grandmother—although, the old crone had it coming. Where the hell did that thought come from? That’s a horrible thing to think.

Either way, compared to that, seeing a man dressed as a…as something while fighting crime seemed perfectly sane, especially in Gotham. Not to mention the fact that whoever it was had definitely tackled Zsasz. It had to be real, or she wouldn’t be sitting there in the car.

“Jonathan?”

“Mm?” He responded right as they pulled up to Arkham. Damn, she had thought for too long; she didn’t feel comfortable talking about this where other people might hear. Jonathan might not think she was crazy, but someone else might.

“Remind me to talk to you about something later,” she conceded with a sigh and waited for him to park so that she could get out of the car. He caught up to her a second later.

“Why not now?”

“Because you already know I’m not crazy.” He looked at her pointedly but didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Do I?”

“Oh, shut up,” she smiled and elbowed him gently as they walked inside. Jonathan allowed himself a soft smile.

“I have to stop by my office for a minute, but then I’ll meet back up with you in your office before your first appointment. I have to talk to you about something.” El nodded.

“See you in a few minutes, love.” She walked herself to her office, stupidly worried now that she was alone. She knew that she relatively safe with security everywhere, but even so, she pulled on the door after it closed to ensure that it was locked. Paranoid. Zsasz wasn’t even there. She had seen in Jonathan’s newspaper in the kitchen that Victor was facing trial that day.

Not to mention whatever it was that Jonathan had to talk to her about. Knowing him, El didn’t even want to try to guess what that discussion would be like.

She killed a few minutes organizing paperwork that she had allowed to pile up, realizing that she would need to stay late to file that night and reviewing her schedule. Her first session wasn’t for a few hours yet, which gave her time to stave off the fear that another of her patients would attack her. I just got off to a bad start. A really, really, really, really bad start.

A knock on the door made her jump and then roll her eyes at herself. “Who is it?” Seriously? Nobody that would knock wants to kill you, El.

“Three guesses who.” Came Jonathan’s response, and she pressed the button to open the door for him. “I’m gonna have to stay a bit late tonight.” He informed her as he walked in.

“That’s alright, me too.”

“Well, that works out.” He sighed, pausing in the middle of the room for a moment. “I also need to leave for a while right now, but first, there’s a lot that I need to explain to you, and it can’t wait, so I need you to listen.” What?

“O-okay.” She nodded slowly. “What’s up?” She leaned back in her seat as Jonathan came around and leaned back against the desk in front of her, setting his briefcase next to him.

“Alright, there really isn’t a good way to ease you into this given the time crunch, so I’m just going to tell you all at once, okay?” Still confused, El nodded again. “First of all, I’ve been conducting experiments on patients here, research not sanctioned by the asylum.” He paused for a beat, giving her a chance to think about the confession. “A while ago, I perfected a recipe for what I call a 'fear toxin.’ In short, it causes the subject to hallucinate whatever they fear most, which allows me to study the effect of fear on the human mind.”

“What the fuck?” The question escaped El quietly as she closed her eyes in an attempt to help herself process the information that her friend was offering up out of the blue.

“I know, but I’m not finished yet, okay? Stay with me.” El found herself nodding on reflex. “The key ingredient that I need for each version comes in from overseas, it’s shipped here, and I’ve been working with Carmine Falcone, the mob boss, to bring it in.”

“Wh-what does this have to do with me? Why are you telling me this?” El asked in a panic, shaking her head, her eyes still shut. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing or how easily Jonathan said it. He was lucky that the security system was video only, no audio. Or maybe she was unlucky; it all depended on what his motivations were for sharing this information.

“Because Zsasz used to work for Falcone, but Falcone won’t risk Zsasz going to prison and leaking the secrets of the organization; as long as he’s here, regulations dictate that he has to be kept relatively comfortable and isolated, so he has no reason to leak information. I’m going right now to testify on his mental state so that he gets admitted back here.”

“Stop-stop talking for a second, hold on.” Elianna lifted a hand and tried her best to control her breathing. Jonathan did as she asked and waited while she began to gather her thoughts. “Just please, please tell me that you aren’t the one who’s been helping him escape.” She demanded quietly, finally opening her eyes but staring at the carpet. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him until she knew that he wasn’t the one to put her life in danger. She had never before felt unsafe around Jonathan. Scarecrow, yes, but never Jonathan, but this sudden dump of information had her suddenly questioning everything that she knew.

She should never have come back to the east coast. She should have stayed bored in California and just contented herself with their long-distance friendship.

Jonathan lifted off the desk and crouched down in front of her, making her look at him, however reluctantly. “Listen to me, El; I know that I’ve done a lot of horrible things, okay? I can admit that. But one thing that I could never do is put you in danger on purpose.” In a calm voice, he spoke slowly, and against her better judgment, Elianna found herself believing him. She nodded.

“Okay,” she said quietly. “Alright, I trust you, but I still don’t understand why you’re telling me any of this.” Her mind was still racing to make sense of anything that he had said in the last few minutes, although she began to realize that she shouldn’t really have been surprised. From the second that she had found out about Scarecrow, El had known that there was something—someone inside him that was more than capable of horrific things.

She found herself wondering, not for the first time, how Jonathan would have ended up if Scarecrow had never come along. Granny Keeny should have been the only warning that she needed to stay away from Jonathan, starting years ago.

Then again, if she had managed to look past and even help him cover-up the “accident,” the strange circumstances of the old woman’s death (or so they had passed it off), then she could find a way to look past this. There had to have been a reason he was telling her any of this, besides making her an accomplice. There needed to be.

“Okay,” she took a deep breath. “Tell me.”

“If I’m going to get Zsasz back here anyway, then I can get him transferred to my caseload, which puts us in the perfect position to make him regret coming after you.”

“Whoa, hold on,” El lifted her hand again to interrupt him. She almost felt bad for interjecting so often, each time having to remind herself that she wasn’t in the wrong this time. “I’m assuming that you mean you would use this 'fear toxin’ on him? In which case, he could have a full metal break, and then they would have to investigate you, so won’t they be able to trace it back to us?” Jonathan shook his head.

“They won’t find anything. I already have it all figured out. It’s an original formula, if they examine him, they may find severely elevated stress levels, but unfortunately, that kind of break happens to people all the time in here; as long as he’s alive, anyone looking into Zsasz won’t bother to test for any externally administered chemicals.”

“I-” El found herself at a loss for words by how quickly Jonathan had worked this out. “F-fine, just…give me another minute.” She stood from her office chair and began to pace, suddenly feeling claustrophobic, trapped in by the sudden wave of disturbing new information.

She couldn’t deny that the thought of mercilessly dealing revenge upon the man who thought that he could get away with killing her sounded incredibly satisfying. It was a natural desire to exact one’s pound of flesh, and even before her involvement Victor Zsasz was a murderer. A deranged serial killer that had killed how many women before she had even thought of moving to Gotham?

Elianna began to realize that she could remain in denial about what had happened to her for as long as she wanted, but she would never feel truly safe again until something was done about him.

She knew it was technically wrong, but she wanted Victor Zsasz to feel the terror that she did when she pictured his face—Lovecraftian, skeletal, bathed in yellow light—and if Jonathan’s toxin could do the job, then she wanted to do it.

Before her logical mind had time to talk her out of her resolve, she stopped pacing and looked at Jonathan. He looked back expectantly, sitting on the edge of her desk again. With an air of finality, she nodded. “Let’s do it.”

“Good.” He checked his watch and stood, taking his briefcase. “I need to leave now, but I’ll be back in a few hours. Just go about your day like normal, and we can talk semantics tonight.” El nodded in response in a stupor over everything that had happened in only two short days. She wasn’t even aware enough to be surprised when Jonathan kissed her head as he left her office, instead returning trance-like to her seat and wondering just the wrong side of too late, did I make the right decision?

#the mind's power over the body #jonathan crane #scarecrow #batman begins #nolanverse #elianna montgomery #jonathan crane x ofc #slight au #fanfiction #multi chapter fic #attraction to the insane #cillian murphy #cillian murphy scarecrow #tmpotb chapter 7

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