Batman Begins/Dark Knight 1. Chapter 1

Apprentice

This plot bunny has been jack hammering my brain.

Disclaimer: This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter One 

Looking over the file, Alondra Wolfe walked down the hallway. The guards beside her were all a bit too tense for something that should have been a quiet routine to them. After all, the guards and prison-_patients_ (she had to remind herself that this was an asylum, not a prison) always stayed and went through routine here day after day. It was the psychiatrics and doctors that were always new.

It was a few patients that she had to watch out for. Like the ones she was going to see.

After she was framed and kicked out of her university, she had left Gotham and had only just recently returned. As such, the names on all the files she had been given didn't ring any bells in her head. The fact that the files only had the alias names of her patients wasn't helping her either.

Then again, they had probably given her the edited files, just so that she could have a healthy fear of them. The only one that she didn't want to be around was the Joker and Killer Croc. The others she felt confident that she could handle with or without the guards there to be a constant warning.

Turning down a hallway, she entered a room that would serve as her 'interrogation' room. She had to scoff as she looked around. The police had better interrogation rooms, and she would know seeing as to how she had been in a few of them when that fiasco had happened.

Giving herself a mental shake, she took a seat on one side of the table, the side that faced the door. Just one of many forced habits that she had picked up while growing up, but enough of that. Her problems could wait (it always had so what was the difference now?) because the first patient of the day was about to show up.

If the rumors were true, than she would have her hands full.

Looking over the file one last time, she heard the door open and open of the guards snarled out a warning before the patient was shoved into the room. A frown marred her face at the treatment. It wasn't their job to force the patients to do anything. Perhaps she would need to go about and do an impromptu inspection.

"Child?" Her hands froze and she felt her eyes widen while her mind suddenly went blank. Slowly, she lifted her head up to look at him. "Professor Crane?" Her 'r's sounded like 'd's and it was the one thing that she could never change about herself.

There was no denying it, it was Professor Crane and he looked just the same as he had back at the university. "This is…unexpected." That was an understatement of a lifetime.

* * *

It was just another average day for Jonathan Crane, more famously known as Scarecrow. Then again, the guards had been going on and on about a new doctor that would be coming to work at Arkham and he didn't like that. No doubt he would be the first one to be introduced to the naïve idiot.

In fact, he had plans for this new doctor and the other Rogues knew it. As far as he knew, a bet was going on as to how long it would take before this doctor ended up:

A) Quitting and leaving Gotham

B) Dying

C) Going insane (like Harley)

or

D) Just quitting the silly little job here at Arkham.

Honestly, did no one understand that these doctors would never last long when dealing with the Rogue Gallery members of Gotham? Not even Batman himself would deal with _all_ of them. No, even batman only went from the most dangerous (Joker or Scarecrow) and down the list.

Five days later and they all knew who would be the first one to see this new doctor and the other Rogues had been on especially good behavior just so that they would be in their respective cells so that they could hear the news as quickly as possible.

"Alright straw-boy, get up." He could only send a glare at them. If he acted up now, than the whole plan that he had (as well as the bets that everyone – even the guards – had made) would be null and void. As far as he was concerned, this new psychiatrist was just wasting her (the guards had let slip that much) time.

A trip down the all too familiar hall and he was in front of the door. Seeing as to how there were guards already there, the new doctor was already inside. Fingering the small canister of fear toxin that the Joker managed to get for him, his escorts shoved him into the room. One of them snarled a warning that he was half tempted to ignore.

Once the doors closed, he looked at the doctor, about to comment on the fact that she wasn't prepared, but he stopped and blinked. Crane _and_ Scarecrow could have sworn that they recognized that hair color and posture.

Time to test the waters. "Child?" He asked softly, a bit too low to be a whisper, but loud enough to be heard if this person was who he thought she was.

The freezing of the body, tenseness in the shoulders and sudden twitching in the left hand told him everything. Wolf yellow eyes were soon on him. "Professor C'dane?" Yes, it was definitely Child.

He leaned backwards in his metal chair. "This is…unexpected."


	2. Chapter 2

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

Thanks to those that have reviewed and added this story to their favorites. I am pleased to know that there are those that are interested in this.

* * *

Chapter Two 

Of all the things that could have happened, this was the Best and Worst moments of her life. How that was possible, she wasn't entirely too sure, only that it was. Of all the things that could have happened on her first day with a patient capable of holding a conversation, this was not it.

In fact, Alondra wasn't sure if she had fallen victim to a co-worker's juvenile prank, inhaled some kind of hallucinogen, or even get out of bed and start her day at Arkham Asylum. Either way though, it would be best to play along, dreaming or hallucinating were basically the same thing (in her opinion anyway, it wasn't like she said such a thing out loud to anyone) and as such could be responded to the same way.

"Seems as if nothing has changed," Professor Crane, no, _Scarecrow_ said. "We're just missing the tea, the coffee table, and of course, being in a more…comfortable setting," Alondra responded as she pulled out a notepad and pulled the cap off of a pen. She had heard how skilled these people were at escaping and she hadn't wanted to take chances.

Right now though she was more in denial about her Professor being Scarecrow than in doing her job. _This is just a dream…or a nightmare._ A quick glance at her watch told her that it was only a minute into the one hour and forty-five minutes she had with her one time Professor

A sharp pain made her blink and she released her lower lip. _Stupid habit._ Had _anything_ changed since that fiasco? It felt as if nothing had changed and the frightening part was that she wasn't sure if she enticed it.

"My superiors forgot to inform me that _you_ were Scarecrow." Alondra did her best to still heartbeat. Keeping a black face, her eyes looked at him (when had she looked away in the first place?). Even to her ears it sounded as if she was accusing him of some unspoken crime.

But that was it, wasn't it? Somehow he had betrayed her and she wasn't sure how he had; only that he did.

* * *

Jonathan watched her. Child truly hadn't changed since he had last seen her. It was just a shame that she hadn't been around to see what it was that he had been working on.

However, the way this situation was set up gave him a sense of déjà vu. One that he really couldn't help but comment on. "Seems as if nothing has changed." She was slowly looking away and he could see that she was worrying away at the lower lip. It was a wonder how she retained any skin on that part of her body. The way Alondra gnawed on it often reminded him of the way she used to gnaw on a straw.

"We're just missing the tea, the coffee table, and of course, being in a more…comfortable setting." Scarecrow snickered in the back of his mind. No, she hadn't changed at all. It was good to know she hadn't changed since _the_ incident.

Crane watched as Child glanced at a watch (she always seemed to have one) before jumping when the absentminded gnawing drew blood. _She truly has not changed._ They were only just starting to relax when Child slowly started to look at him, with a blank face.

In all the time that he had known her, this was a clear sign that she was displeased with something. "They forgot to inform me that _you_ were Scarecrow." His hands clenched and he could feel Scarecrow wanting to take over, to show her just _who_ it was that was the _real_ Scarecrow.

Was she accusing _him _of doing what _she _couldn't do? For being what _she _could **_never _**be? The _nerve_!

"You have grown bold." Yes, she had. Perhaps being away from Gotham had done her some good after all. "How have you been?" He would try to keep things civil between him, Scarecrow and Child.

"…Professor, don't." _Please._ The way Child said it hinted at that one unspoken word. He still remembered the last time he had pushed further than she had been comfortable with and he wouldn't make that same mistake.

Relaxing in his seat, Jonathan looked just past her shoulder. He would let her do her job, but sooner or later a confrontation would happen. When, no one knew, only there _would_ be one and that the doors had better be locked with the guards not paying attention for that moment to happen.

* * *

When the 'interview' ended, Alondra had all but ran out of that room. The Professor hadn't looked offended when she left, merely understood. It made her just that much more confused.

What had happened after that fiasco? _Why_ did he become Scarecrow? Why was he tolerating all of this? _What happened after she had left Gotham?_

That last question was digging its claws into her skin and opening it's maw for a better grip on the flesh of her mind.

* * *

My apologizes on the shortness of this chapter. The reunion between Jonathan and Alondra was the only thing that was supposed to happen in this chapter. The first two chapters was a way to set the stage for the rest of the story. As such, I will appreciate your reviews and your thoughts on this story of mine.

The next chapter will be out within 5-8 days and two weeks at the latest.

With regards,

XIV-Forsaken-Seer


	3. Chapter 3

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Three 

The next session for her one time mentor was in two weeks. This gave Alondra barely any time to put her thoughts together and to convince the board that was in charge of Arkham that yes, she was fine and that yes, she could still continue on.

Part of her had wanted to snap at them, to tell them that no matter what happened, nothing short of the Joker getting out and threatening her life would cause Alondra to quit or fail at the job that she had accepted. It wasn't that hard to read the fine print scattered throughout the contract that they had given her.

Sighing, Alondra looked at the _complete_ file of her one time mentor and one time friend. It was surprisingly hard for her to put aside the image she had of Jonathan Crane, the University teacher that went out of his way to make sure she was safe after having stumbled upon an incident between her and a few of her peers.

Perhaps that was the reason right there; pity.

No, that wasn't right; Jonathan Crane was not one to pity another person. The man might _understand_ the _situation_, but he would not _pity_ the _person_. No matter what happened, he would _not_ pity _anyone_, such was the lesson that Alondra had learned quickly during the time that he had talked with her outside of being just a mentor but as a friend.

Shaking her head like a wet dog, Alondra rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times before going back to the file. In this job there was no _time_ for personal feelings to get in the way, especially not when they could end up potentially dangerous. Her little known apprenticeship under Professor Crane was _extremely_ personal and what was once the highlight of her life was now biting her in the ass in her choice of career.

She had already wasted one week thinking about what had happened in that interview room (interrogation room was more like it, really) and Alondra was all _too_ aware of the vultures that were her co-workers that was just _waiting_ for her to slip up, for her to make a mistake that would cost her the interaction that she would need in order to move on in life. Never in all the years of bitterly dreaming about working in Arkham did Alondra think that she would have to interview her own mentor, the one that had given her the _idea_, the _dream_ of being a psychiatrist in the first place.

After _it_ happened, Alondra had been all but sure of Jonathan being disappointed in the fact that she had been such easy prey after all that he had done for her. But now? No, now it was her _job_ to cure him of insanity.

* * *

It would be another two weeks before they would be able to see Child again.

Two more weeks of thinking over their first conversation in six years.

Two more weeks of dealing with Joker and the other Rogues.

But most importantly, two more weeks before they could talk with Child again.

Out of all the possible therapists the Rogues were expecting Crane and Scarecrow to get, no one, not even Riddler, had expected for him to get his one time student who might as well have been his apprentice. When he had first gotten back from the interview last week, the Rogues had bombarded them with questions like "What was the therapist like? Just like the others, right?", "What'd you do? Threaten the naïve idiot?", or "Are you all right? You seem a bit…dull."

In his befuddled state of being, Crane had accidentally let it slip that his one-time student was his new psychiatrist.

It wasn't every day that an inmate of Arkham became a patient to their former student. As such, Child was a topic of interest that the Rogues kept pursuing. Though the Joker was having a field day with all the possible things he could do to Child. Before, it had never been hard to feign indifference of boredom with the Joker's elaborate schemes and death threats on the Orderlies and doctors that Arkham seemed to have an innumerable amount of. However, his plans for Child were pushing the limit of his tolerance and they all knew it.

"Perhaps I'll hang her upside down over a tall building with a detonator and make Batsy choose between the city and one silly little girl," Joker was on a roll with his many plans on the girl that Scarecrow seemed to have been attached to 'once upon a time'. There wasn't much that the onetime psychiatrist could do to him, well, not while his fear toxins were still locked up anyway. To him, baiting Scarecrow was fun, especially since it was the topic of this 'Child' that was finally making Crane pay attention to what he was saying.

This 'Child' must be fairly interesting then, if this was the type of reaction Joker could get by just _threatening_ to kill the kid. It made him wonder what dear old Johnny boy would do if he actually went ahead with some of his threats.

For the first time in the Rogue Gallery's memories, someone that wasn't Batman was getting under Scarecrow's skin.

* * *

Running through the halls, Alondra slid around a few corners as she made her way to the scene with a few sedatives that she had managed to grab. A fight between two patients had broken out and as a doctor within Arkham's walls; it was her responsibility to provide treatment of any sort.

Rounding the last corner, she had to blink in shock (the blink was the only sign of her surprise and only to those that knew her). Joker and Crane were being separated while the other patients were being escorted back to their cell. Dashing forward, she yanked the cap off of the needle and stabbed it into the thrashing Joker's arm before injecting it. While it might sound easy, it was far from it. Five guards were having a hard time restraining the man, let alone keeping his arm still enough for her to safely sedate the Joker.

Jerking the needle out, Alondra quickly capped it before pulling out another one and repeating with Crane. This was the first time she had seen her one-time mentor and present day patient so…so determined? Furious? Her blood went cold at the mere look on his face when he noticed just _who_ it was that had jabbed his arm with a needle full of sedatives.

"_I'm doing my job,"_ was what she wanted to say, but that would just give away the fact that the guards would know that something was up between her and Crane and they would take that as a sign that something personal was growing between them and would quickly assign Crane to another psychiatrist while giving her another patient that would, hopefully, not do her any harm until Alondra gained more experience to deal with the more violent patients.

Withdrawing the needle, she carefully capped it. Joker was already being taken to an isolation room where they had plenty of straitjackets waiting to be used. No doubt Crane would suffer the same fate. Looking at the object of her thoughts, she made sure to keep her face blank. "You and I will be talking later about this," Alondra muttered as she watched as the sedatives took affect and he was hauled off down the same hallway as the Joker. Sighing, Alondra ran a hand through her hair. _First month in Arkham and already I'm dealing with fights. Lovely._


	4. Chapter 4 The REAL Chapter Four

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

**A/N:** Because of what I said in that note, this chapter is unedited for mistakes beyond the ones that I saw. As such, the mistakes you see are because I have accidentally overlooked them or something that I didn't truly want to look at after the argument with my beta.

Note: I originally had this chapter posted a few days ago after I took down my note. For some reason, FanFic did seem to register that action, so without further delay, I present to you Chapter Four of Apprentice.

Chapter Four

A steaming cup of coffee was a heaven sent gift at that moment. Taking a sip of the divine gift, Alondra inhaled the scent and mentally sighed in contentment. Looking over at her patient, she took the time to observe him in the way that she hadn't the first time they had been in this room together.

Ex-Professor Crane now had a bruised eye (she wouldn't say black, but it was close to it in coloration, despite the fact that it had been a couple days since the fight between him and Joker) as well as a cut to complement the opposite cheek. His clothes were ruffled and spots of blood on them. As far as Alondra could tell, he didn't have any other injury that would require medical attention.

"It's not poisoned," She said, seeing the way that he was eyeing the Styrofoam cup that was filled with heavenly goodness. Why would she poison him? Alondra thought about that before sighing. If she was willing to sedate him, what else was she willing to do? "Do you want to trade?" The look she got made the situation slightly less tense. Crane preferred his coffee to be strong with little to no sugar or crème whereas Alondra preferred hers to have lots of crème with some sugar. To say that they hated the way the other preferred their coffee was an understatement. "Well? You and I both know that I wouldn't be stupid enough to poison myself and no one else would poison my drink unless they knew that you would handle it before I took a sip." Among the Arkham staff members or out among the populace of Gotham, many were trying to push the court to declare 'Scarecrow' incurable and to just 'put him out of his misery'.

They could literally spend the whole day in this room and nothing would be done about it, seeing as to how her appointment with Crane (or rather, Scarecrow's appointment with her) was all that they both had for the day and for the rest of the month. Anyone that could get into the Warden's office or her office would see the schedule and think 'opportunity'. Ex-student and ex-teacher both knew this and Alondra had taken measures to make sure that any attempts at foul play could only be done when she was in a very crowded room. However, Crane didn't know that.

Pushing her cup forward slightly, Alondra reached over to take his still untouched cup. Her one time mentor would either:

A) Keep the cup out of her reach

B) Let her take it, or

C) Drink it in an attempt to make her see that he still trusted her and then later use her trust of him to break out.

She honestly wouldn't put it past him to take advantage of her like that. Joker had done something similar in the past and she had no intentions of letting Scarecrow get the idea that something similar would work. She knew that there was a difference between the two names and that not everyone could see that. Why? She didn't know, but she knew her mentor enough to know that there was two sides to him and that it was the one dubbed 'Scarecrow' that was the more dangerous of the two.

Alondra repressed a smile when her mentor's hands snapped out and grabbed his cup before sending a glare at her. Pulling back, she grabbed her cup and took a sip. This was always amusing to do because it was so similar to dealing with some of the dogs that she had before she had even graduated high school. Move or threaten to take away something from them and they would go running to make it clear that the item in question was theirs and the same trick applied to kids, but she wasn't going to tell him, no, _them_, that. It felt odd to her to describe her one time mentor as two people instead of one, but it was the correct way of referring to him…them.

"Five days ago you got into a fight with the Joker. Normally, I wouldn't ask about why you got into a fight," The fact that Jonathan Crane, even when confronted with a situation from before _it_, never fought. "But this was right after our first session and the two of you had to be sedated." Of course, she wasn't going to say that she was the one that sedated the both of them, the three of them knew that already and it was pointless to repeat what was known and the very reason why he was wary around her, she could read him just as well as he could read her, it was the reason why she had stayed as his doctor instead of 'giving' him to someone else the moment the staff had figured it out.

She tucked her lower lip between her teeth and started to chew. It was so…odd to be in a situation like this. Instead of being in _his_ office telling him about everything that went wrong in _her_ day over a cup of coffee or tea, depending on how bad her day had been, and then _him_ telling _her_ that it could have been worse and then proceeding to tell her just _how_ much worse it could have been, they were here, in _her_ office with _her_ trying to get _him_ to say why he _got into a fight when he never fought for her back when the situation was worse._

What reason could he possibly have for picking a fight with someone that wouldn't hesitate to kill him for something simple and worse than picking a fight with him? It was bothering her to the point where she just might snap at him and demand answers out of him, answers that had nothing to do with this situation, like _why didn't he tell _them_ that _it_ was as accident and she hadn't meant to do it!_

"That is true." Was the only thing that Jonathan said and it was infuriating! Even after _it _and even after Alondra had left Gotham and he would barely say anything to her.

* * *

Looking at Child as she drank from the Styrofoam cup, Jonathan Crane refused to touch the steaming cup of coffee that was in the second cup. Why? Because who knows what Child would have done to it before she brought it in, and if she didn't do anything to it, then someone else might have. He honestly wouldn't put it past the members of the staff to 'accidentally' frame Child for drugging him.

After all, if she was willing to sedate him, than who knows what else she was willing to do. He eyed the Styrofoam cup. "It's not poisoned." Looking at her, Jonathan made sure to keep his face blank. She had sedated him and it was taking every ounce of experience he had to make sure that Scarecrow didn't take control so that his alter ego could express just what he thought of her. "Do you want to trade?"

Slowly, Jonathan blinked and gave her a look that he _knew_ she would understand before flicking his eyes towards her cup. You couldn't pay him enough to take so much as a _sip_ from that too sweet concoction that she called coffee. He and Scarecrow both preferred their coffee to be strong with little sugar and no crème.

"Well? You and I both know that I wouldn't be stupid enough to poison myself and no one else would poison my drink unless they knew that you would handle it before I took a sip." She could have an antidote capsule in her mouth, he had shown her how to conceal one when she was still in his class and _that _hadn't happened. A few times _they_ had felt that it was a good idea to sneak into a lab and steal a few poisonous matters and slip them into her drink.

He honestly wasn't sure if he was looking forward to spending the whole day in this room. On one hand, the confrontation that he knew would end up happening would happen in a room where the guards wouldn't be able to do anything, seeing as to how Child had made it clear that she could hold her own and that he wasn't armed with anything even _potentially_ dangerous. However, on the other hand, Jonathan was not fond of the idea that someone would be digging around in his head.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her push her cup closer towards him and moved to take his. Scarecrow was just beneath the surface now and a lapse in attention would bring him out, something that would end in disaster for one or both of them if that happened. In his mind, Scarecrow was whispering what they should do to Child if she didn't stop and give up this job. Joker and Harley would be heading the "Let's Kill Child" line, Joker because Crane had been foolish enough to react and actually _fight_ the self proclaimed 'Clown Prince of Chaos' or something like that, and Harley because her 'Pudding/Mistah J' was after her.

Blinking at the sound of the metal clasp brushing against the metal table, Scarecrow took over and snatched the cup out of Crane's Child's reach and for good measure, sent a glare at her. Why Crane insisted on keeping his Child around like this was something that Scarecrow didn't care about, just as long as she stayed out of his way whenever he came out. The fact that she knew them as well as she did, Child would most likely be able to know when Crane was out and when he was in.

"Five days ago you got into a fight with the Joker. Normally, I wouldn't ask about why you got into a fight. But this was right after our first session and the two of you had to be sedated." Scarecrow stayed silent and slipped control back to Crane. Why Crane kept the girl around, he didn't know. If Crane wanted her so badly, then he could be the one that dealt with her and her need to get inside their mind.

Blinking slowly, Jonathan watched as Child tucked her lip between her teeth and proceeded to gnaw on it. This was different from her previous gnawing, from their first session. The last time she had gnawed on her lip it had been out of nervousness but this time it was done out of growing anger if the clenching of her jaws were anything to go by. The confrontation that they had been avoiding since they had first recognized each other was going to end up rearing its ugly head soon enough.

Closing his eyes, Jonathan leaned back in his chair and took a sip of the coffee that Scarecrow had placed in their hands. They hadn't seen it as a accident, regardless of what he had said and what evidence he had managed to bring up in her defense. If he had fought too hard, he would have lost more than just the battle.

In the present situation, he and Scarecrow both knew that this situation was just a reverse of what was normally done with Child back when things had been simple and easier to manage. It had also been easier to cover up the small but illegal things that Child had done in order to protect herself. However, he couldn't cover up what she had done last nor could he have made the Education Board see her side of things. He had tried, even Scarecrow had given ideas on how to prevent the judgment that they knew that the Board would pass. However, on the day of their judgment, he knew that the battle was lost and hadn't spoken a word before the Board. Perhaps that had been a betrayal of the highest regard to Child, but he didn't have many options to begin with and he had exhausted them all.

"That is true." What else could he say to her? That there was nothing else he could do? That he was sorry that he hadn't pressed the issue harder? What did she honestly expect from them? There was nothing that Crane or Scarecrow could say that would make the situation better or show Child that he had done his best and that, for the umpteenth time, there was nothing that could have been done.

Scarecrow took that moment to take control. "Be glad that Dr. Crane managed to make it an expulsion, only." He could read Child just as well as Crane and he knew what she was thinking. Regardless of what had happened to cause the incident, Child would have been facing jail time and Crane had managed to sway the Board to just label it a chemistry accident in the eyes of the public with one unnamed student being expelled. The girl in front of him was lucky that there wasn't any fear toxin in the room or within reach. If there was, not even Crane would have been able to stop him before he gave Child a good long dose of the gas.

Right now she was acting childish and that was _not_ how Crane's Child was supposed to act. "Is that all that you plan on asking? About the fight? Or is this your way of getting back at us for that incident that caused the death of five of your peers?" It was wrong, but Scarecrow thoroughly enjoyed the look that crossed Child's face at that moment.


	5. Chapter 5

**To my readers:** Chapter 4 was already done when I had gotten into a rather bad argument with my beta. As such, this chapter has not been looked at by a beta and the rest of this story will remain without a beta. If my grammar is that horrid, then I shall do a rewrite, but only after I have finished this story.

Now that I have had my little fit done and over with, I present to you the next chapter of _Apprentice_.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Five

Alondra glared at him. "That was an accident and you _know_ it, the _both_ of you do." She snarled out at Scarecrow. Her ex-mentor would know better than to bring that subject up, even after they had spent so long out of the other's presence. From what she had learned through the files and reports that the staff members and Warden had given her, Scarecrow was the one that would push buttons, especially if he was aware just what kind of affects those buttons would have on the intended target. It wasn't Crane that she was talking to right now, it was Scarecrow.

Scarecrow only sent her a nasty smirk. He knew just what kind of buttons to push due to Crane's relationship with her and this was quickly becoming a reason for Alondra to hate herself for _needing_ someone to protect her. "If you want to get into our head, it's _only_ _fair_ to return the favor." She was indeed starting to hate herself. "I hope you rot in hell, Scarecrow." He flashed her Crane's charming smile but somehow succeed in making it look evil. "I'm sure you wish that, but I'm fairly certain that you understand _my_ relationship with Dr. Crane."

"_Ex_, ex-doctor, Scarecrow, remember that. Legally he is no longer a doctor." Scarecrow grinned evilly at her. "And what of his knowledge? I can just pick his brains the next time I get out and have all _sorts_ of fun the next time we get to escape." Alondra felt a chilly creep down her spine. That was one thing that she had honestly hoped that Scarecrow couldn't get at. "From what the both of you have said and done to the other doctors, Crane was to _willingly_ give you the information that you want or need." They were both good at lying straight to the other's face and hopefully that little piece of information was a small bit of truth that they had let slip for amusement purposes. "And who says that we didn't lie?" Alondra narrowed her eyes at him. Scarecrow knew how to play these words games, but Crane was better and her time away had shown her just how much she had forgotten. "You won't be going anywhere, neither of you will." She snarled at him. Of the two, she hated Scarecrow with her whole being and cared for Crane more than should be acceptable, given their current situation. "Put Crane back in control." It was Crane that she was supposed to be interviewing right now.

"But we are having such a _wonderful_ conversation. It's not often that _I_ get to come out and talk with someone, let alone Crane's Child." Okay then, so to Scarecrow, being called 'Child' was a title, not a name, and to add to it, she was 'Crane's Child'. How…interesting. Should she be worrying now?

* * *

Scarecrow watched Crane's Child. Obviously she had an idea that he wasn't supposed to be out right now, but Crane had his fun time and it was time for Scarecrow to get a breath of stale Arkham air and to taunt the girl that Crane had tried so desperately to save all those years ago. He tilted his head to the side slightly as he thought about it. Had it truly been only five years ago that Crane's Child had been expelled? Well, time just flew by it seemed. Even when Crane was still Child's mentor, Scarecrow hadn't understood the _reason_ why Crane had done what he did for her. As such, he stayed silent, offered a few ideas here and there, observed, and then whispered a few ideas to Crane when Child had slipped up. _And she had been doing so well._ Scarecrow thought to his counterpart, who was still trying to force his way back into control.

Silly Crane, he should know by now that the one in control had to be _extremely_ distracted, unconscious, or weak willed in other for the other to take control. Crane's Child was smart; she'd be able to figure out how their little switch-a-roo worked after they had done it a few times. However, that didn't mean that she would know how their little knowledge sharing worked. Scarecrow knew _everything_ that Crane did but, until Batman had turned their own fear toxin against them, hadn't been truly able to take control over their shared body. Guess he would have to thank Batman for that, but there were more pressing matters on hand. Like picking Crane's Child's brain and figuring out why Crane was so attached to her. Didn't he understand that to be close to anyone but him was a weakness? Yes, Crane's Child had shown, despite what she claimed, to be capable of killing someone in the most creative way possible, but there had to be a reason _why_ Crane had taken her in like he had. And now he was rambling.

Turning his attention back to Crane's Child, Scarecrow leaned back in his seat. "Just what did you even plan on accomplishing, Crane's Child?" He let the words slid out before looking at a blood stain. Because he and Crane were criminals, they weren't exactly allowed a new change of clothes every day or every other day. Nope, new clothes came at the end of the week, and they still had two more days left. Despite the fact that the three of them hadn't seen each other in five years, Scarecrow knew how Crane's Child would react and had the advantage of being a wild card so that she couldn't truly react to him.

"What do you mean?" Ah, the heated, clipped tone which told Scarecrow that Crane's Child wanted to leap over this table and punch him but was restraining herself. Time to push a few more buttons. "You know what I mean, Crane's Child. Your studies, research, experiments, and then your end result, if you had even been able to finish it properly. What did you plan on accomplishing?" If Batman had known about Crane's Child, it was possible that he would always keep tabs on her in order to create a larger pool of antidote, but Batman had produced his own far quicker than Crane's Child had, but that was only understandable, seeing as to how Batman most likely had some kind technology that allowed him to read the chemical compounds of the fear toxin and then create an antidote. But still, to know that a person out there that _knew_ how to make an antidote by hand was someone that needed to watched.

When he looked at her again, Crane's Child was glaring at him. "It was just a project that ended up being my downfall." But of course, who would have expected _that_ happening and her expulsion following sooner after? Scarecrow honestly felt that she had gotten lucky when the accident had gone to court and she had been found innocent. "Yes, and look at you now." Scarecrow leaned back in his seat. "Just what deal did you have to make in order to be accepted into Arkham? Aren't there other places where you could have gotten a job?" Oh how he just loved the look that crossed her face.

"Scarecrow put Crane back in control."

"Or what? You'll throw cooled down coffee at me?" Honestly, what could she do to him? She respected Crane too much to attack this body and if she did, then she would end up losing her job for attacking a patient. His thought process paused at that. Even if he was a patient, she could say that he was trying to attack her first and then it would all just be in self-defense and then she would be praised for putting one of the more dangerous criminals 'in his place'.

He watched her carefully and Scarecrow could see a smirk slithering its way onto her face and the mischievous look in her eyes made her seem…_evil_ for some reason. "So glad that you figured out the 'or else', _Scarecrow._" She snarled at him. "Right now I have no fondness for you _or_ him and I don't care what happens just as long as neither of you try anything." Crane's Child leaned back in her seat and glared at him. "Now put Crane back in control or I will tell _everyone_ about the two of you and _then_ we'll see just how long it takes before they're shoving you into the mental ward."

This wasn't the Child that Crane had taken in under his wing all those years ago. Scarecrow blinked as he allowed his control to recede. Obviously someone had grown up while away from Gotham.

* * *

***End of the Day***

* * *

Oh how she just wanted to _smack_ him. Alondra slammed the files down onto the desk and glared at the Warden, daring him to say anything about her mood when she turned in her first report on Crane's treatment. "His doses need to be a little bit stronger." The Warden merely blinked before nodding slowly and then dismissing her. It wasn't abnormal for Crane to get under someone's skin, but the fact that it took so long said that there was something going on around here.

Was this her way of getting back at Scarecrow and his words? Yes.

Was it childish? Yes

Did it feel good? Oh _hell_ yes.

Was she getting back at Crane? No, not yet.

Did she _need_ to get back at Crane? He let her fall when she needed him the most, so yes.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Once again, I am sorry about the shortness of this chapter and the fact that I have not kept to my update schedule, but I feel as if I have put off writing this story and I honestly had to force this chapter out. It surprises me to say this, but for Chapter Five, I honestly had no idea what to write. However, here it is no, and to those that are reading this. Happy (late) Father's Day.

For those that are curious, I plan on writing a one-shot/short story about the frequently mentioned _Incident_ that got Alondra expelled. Last chapter I had posted a little shocker, and as the story continues, I will expose a bit more the past that Alondra just wants and wishes to forget.

Until next time,

XIV-Forsaken-Seer


	6. Chapter 6

**To my readers:** In case there are those of you that did not read my message at the bottom of the previous chapter, I am sorry for the lack of updates and the shortness of my chapters. I am trying (and failing) at putting more into each chapter without revealing too much or repeating what has already been said, but it is hard. I will not give up though.

In this chapter, you will find a flashback of Alondra Wolfe's past, but most importantly, how she met the one and only Dr. Jonathan Crane.

Without further delay, here is Chapter Six of _Apprentice_.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Six

Looking at the steaming cup of tea in front of her, Alondra sighed and looked up at the ceiling of her apartment's kitchen. Nothing was going the way that she had hoped that it would go and vaguely, Alondra was wondering if she shouldn't be requesting for Crane to take on another doctor. Alondra knew that she was too close to him, even after all these years and after the fact that he hadn't fought for her in front of the Board…however, he _had_ been there for her court hearing…

"The hell am I doing?" Alondra muttered to herself as she stood up and went over towards a window. "Answer? Sitting around my apartment moping and reminiscing, that's what." Rubbing her hand over her face, Alondra stalked back towards her cup of tea. Her yellow/amber eyes looked around the room slowly and carefully, as if the contents of the kitchen would give her the answers to the questions that she really wanted to ask but never had the courage or the heart to ask. A picture speaks a thousand words, but the way a room is designed speaks volumes.

The cabinets were orderly and labeled, every single jar on the spotless, almost sparkling counter was labeled and arranged by how often it was used and then by the size of the containers. The warm colored wood table was in a corner with the two chairs positioned so that the person sitting in them would have a perfect view of the door and windows. The crème colored walls showed no signs of damage or the usual signs of oil, seasoning, and slight scorch marks that would be near the stove, and speaking of the stove, it was, like everything else, spotless but well used. The wooden drawers were labeled and even had separators in them that kept everything in the drawers orderly and clean. The tiled floors themselves were clean and spotless and no matter where she looked, Alondra could tell that she wouldn't be getting any answers in this room.

"Talk about compulsion." She muttered to herself as she grabbed her cup of tea and wandered into the living room area. Once again, everything was neat and orderly with clearly defined labels on all the cabinets, drawers, and cupboards. Just like in the kitchen, she couldn't find any answers here.

Sighing, Alondra turned the corner and paused when she saw the mirror that she had placed at the end of the rather small hallway. An angled face that, back when she first met Crane, had looked like the rounded face of a child, but now, with the combination of her eyes, made her look…well, wolfish. "I _am_ a wolf." She muttered to herself as she walked over towards the mirror. It had actually been a wonder as to how Crane had even recognized her when he first saw her as his doctor. The yellow eyes were the same, just older…colder and more jaded that she would have liked to admit. Her facial features looked more angled, but only because she had finally grown into the features that her mother had said she would have.

"Yellow eyes, high cheek bones, slightly pointed chin, and hair that frames the face just right to make me look like a humanoid wolf…guess he was right." Alondra couldn't help but snort angrily and before she knew it, the mirror was broken and the knuckles on her left hand were bleeding with shards of glass in them. "Just great."

* * *

_Tears were spilling down her face as she ran down the halls. Laughter and taunts greeted her everywhere as she ran. Term had only just started a few weeks ago and already Ariel could tell that nothing would change. If it wasn't her eyes, it was her brain. If it wasn't her brain, it was her clothes and how they weren't 'brand new'. If it wasn't her clothes, it was the fact that she never talked. If it wasn't one thing, it was always another. Always, always, _always_._

_Ariel yelped as she collided with someone and hit the ground hard. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Hastily, Ariel whipped away her tears and looked up at the person she had run into. Lucky for her, the person had managed to stay standing. Black hair, glasses, blue eyes…and a professor's jacket. _I'm soooo dead. _Ariel thought to herself as she looked around for a place to dash to. "It's alright child; may I ask why you are running around covered in pink paint?" He held his hand out and hesitantly, Ariel grabbed his hand and he pulled her to her feet and immediately, Ariel looked at the ground, her fingers messing with her sleeves. "It's just a stupid prank, sir." Rather, _one_ prank in a _stream_ of pranks._

"_I see. This wouldn't happen to be the latest _prank_ since the term started, has it?" He knew something. Slowly, Ariel looked at him and blinked when she found a blank face instead of one that displayed pity or hidden mirth. She hated both expressions but his was just…pleasantly blank. It was a nice relief from the looks the others always had. Ariel gnawed on her lower lip and looked away. Her main tormentors had made it clear what would happen if she told anyone what was happening. "Hmm, I see. Come, I'll escort you to your dorm and then to class so that you can go unmolested. Haze week has long since been over."_

_Blinking, she watched the professor before warily following him back towards the dorms. The only thing that was good about this place was that her roommate helped her when she could. Unfortunately, the girl had two jobs and was taking night classes, so they didn't really see each other unless it was on the weekend. No doubt this professor would be just like all the other teachers and would soon find all of these pranks to be 'just for fun' and nothing serious. Just like all the others._

* * *

Alondra was lying down on her balcony and watching the sky. Cities weren't her thing, never had been, never would be, but she only came back to the city, to Gotham, in order to make peace with her past and move on. Was that likely to happen, now that she was working on bringing her one time mentor - one time savior - to sanity? No, it wasn't going to work like that. "What the hell am I doing?" She sat up so that her arms were on top of her knees. Crane had been there when she had needed him, but he hadn't been there when the school board was expelling her. Instead, he had been there when she had to go to court and explain to the jury that she had been working on a project that all of her teachers had given their approval on, but that because of some interference on the behalf of her peers, it ended up causing an explosion.

When they had found her to be innocent, the extent of the damage didn't stop there. She had to change her name, go clear across the continent, change professions, and so much more. All of this, because of one thing that hadn't been her fault. She was really, just lucky that the people in her second college hadn't really bothered her once she made it clear that she wasn't from Gotham and that the Chemistry Lab Explosion there had nothing to do with her. That lie had to take a while to actually get people to believe, but once they did believe it, it had been easy to separate herself from Gotham and from everything else that had happened there.

Well, separate until she was put into a situation that made it impossible for her to separate herself from it all. The only thing that had truly changed was that Crane was now criminally insane and that she was now in a slight position of power that would enable her to actually do as she pleased.

"_One day, you will look like a wolf. Should anything happen, model yourself to match their reputation."_ Those had been his words after a particularly vicious prank that had landed her in the infirmary and given a few of her many tormentors suspension, but not expulsion. When she had been forced to leave Gotham, she had done just that and Alondra had told herself that she wouldn't take anything else he said to heart. _"Wolves instill fear, and so shall I."_ That had been something she had told herself when she had picked her new name, her new identity.

Five years she had managed to succeed at being a wolf, at making sure that no one would dare attack her without fear of retribution. So why the hell couldn't she stick to that image and let things that happened in the past stay in the past?


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:** My apologizes on the lateness of this chapter. Real life has caught up to me and not only has my writing time gone out the window, but so has my internet connection. By the time I'm able to post this chapter, there is a rather high chance that I will be posting multiple chapters at the same time.

Until I am able to reply to some reviews, here is chapter 7 of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Seven

As far as Joker was concerned, Scarecrow and his boring other half, Crane, were a bit too...focused on the girl. It didn't help that _Crane_ – NOT Scarecrow – was the one that had seen fit to fight with him over the matter of the new doctor. Then again, if he had his own personal doctor that was for him and him alone, then he would probably want to keep it…

But doctors weren't any _fun_! They didn't know how to smile, how to laugh, how to enjoy life, _how to have fun_! Harley was the type of girl that knew how to smile, laugh, enjoy life, and, most importantly, _how to have fun_! Crane's girl – because that was really what his doctor was, just as everyone knew that Harley was his girl – was still an unknown and he really _did_ want to know what the girl could do.

It was such a pity that Crane and Scarecrow were being rather tight lipped about her. Only the doctors, nurses, guards, and Crane – _especially _Crane – seemed to know what she looked like – that brief glimpse of when she had drugged him didn't count…but the fact that she dared to get close to him was a point in her favor on just how much fun she could be if in the right hands – and that _just wasn't fair!_ Far from it really.

How could they keep someone that could be just as much fun as Harley or Batsy from him? Him! He was Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime, Bringer of Chaos and Smiles, the known and accepted other half of _the freaking Batman!_ Where was the justice in this?...Oh wait, he was a high class 'insane' patient of Arkham and they were under the belief that they could deny him what he wanted and get away with it.

Perhaps a breakout was in order, Gotham seemed to have gotten far too quiet without him out and about to give them a reason to close their doors and lock their windows…among other things, really, but still, Joker was going to escape, cause havoc, make Batsy chase after him – he loved playing hard to get, it was entertaining – and then he could see just how Crane and his boringness managed to get him a girl.

It _made no sense_ really, on how Crane and Scarecrow could have a girl that would come back after a few years. Scarecrow's surfacing moments were becoming fewer and fewer and Crane was staying around longer and longer.

How did he know this? Simple, Scarecrow was the fun half – the side that liked to cause pain in some way, shape, or form…or so Joker liked to think – and Crane was the boring half. It was easy to tell who was in control at any given moment, and Joker really did hate the fact that this girl, this _wolf_ – he already had a few ideas on how she looked and acted like. Perhaps like the hyenas that were Harley's babies? – could make Crane stay for _days_ and ruin the fun that he always had with Scarecrow.

Though Crane was just a little bit of fun when they fought that day. It was interesting to know that this wolf-girl – perhaps she was a wolf version of Killer Croc. Maybe THAT was why Crane stayed in control instead of Scarecrow – could bring out the fight in Crane, the fight that wasn't Scarecrow. He would have to figure out just what made the wolf-girl so special.

That, and to see if she could actually fight like his Harley could when there wasn't any guards, Crane, or needles to offer her any comfort. No doubt his Harley would like to join in on the fun and he wouldn't deny her that…though he would probably have to see who else would like to join in on his fun. Ivy was out, she wasn't interested in this type of thing, and so was Riddler, simply because that one wouldn't be able to keep this plan to himself and would most likely end up telling Crane and Scarecrow and that would just ruin his fun. So really, leaving out Riddler would definitely be a good idea.

Now he just had to figure out how to escape this time, along with the rest of his plans. It was rather important to make sure that only he knew the full extent of his plans and what he intended to do. Harley could end up finding out at a later time, probably when he had the wolf-girl in his grasps and when the real fun as about to begin.

Though this breakout would have to be planned rather carefully, seeing as to how he couldn't let on just who he was targeting this time. Well, not until it was too late, anyway. This plan would be the best one he had felt like coming up with yet.

Though it really annoyed Joker that Arkham kept upgrading their security in the vain hope that they would be able to keep him in someday. If that happened, he would have to kill a few guards and trash their security system to the point where it would take months to repair. Nothing of the sort had happened yet, and the technology to keep him in wasn't created yet. By the time they _did_ create such a thing, Joker would either be dead or no longer able to be caught.

Though it was well known to the Rogue Gallery members that 'going to Arkham' was the same thing as 'going on vacation' and this vacation was showing Joker just what he could do next. _Time to play, wolfy._ This game would be the best one yet.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** I, once again, apologize for the lateness of these chapters and the fact that I haven't been able to update as I have promised. Real life takes a priority, and I have been typing this up when I can.

Once again, I apologize for my lateness and without further delay, I present chapter 8 of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Eight

"Breaking News," Alondra sighed tiredly as she rubbed the bridge of her nose and turned up the volume. "-er has escaped from Arkham once again. I repeat; Joker has escaped from Arkham once again. The policed recommends for all citizens to lock their doors and windows." The TV was clicked off and Alondra leaned backwards in her comfortable lounge chair so that she was lying down. "Why am I not surprised?" She really hadn't thought that Arkham would truly be able to hold Joker, not with his record of escaping so frequently from this place.

"I do believe that is supposed to be my seat." Tiling her head back, Alondra didn't even blink when she saw Crane. "As I recall, you prefer an actual chair over a lounge chair." There's the familiar quirk of his lips, the quirk that told Alondra that Jonathan Crane was amused and the look in his eyes tells her that, even to him, he's reminded of their frequent situation five years ago when she would sneak into his office and sleep on his lounge chair because she didn't feel safe in her dorm room.

"Dwelling on the past never did anyone much good." Alondra glared at him. "Not like I have much of a choice."

"There's always a choice, Child." Even now he was acting like he was still her mentor. "Not from this angle." Rolling over, Alondra folded her left arm under her chin and let her right arm hang as she watched her one-time professor take a seat at her desk. "Feel better?" She knew that he enjoyed being in a position of power, the fact that he was also know as 'Scarecrow' and drugged his victims into seeing their worst fears was just a point towards that fact.

Crane looked at her. "Yes, though we'll have to switch the moment the guards start to come back." It was self explanatory as to why they would have to. "I know." Resuming her original position, Alondra stared blankly at the ceiling. "You and Joker are the two 'Kings' of Gotham. What do you think he's out to do this time?" Joker was more of the 'King of Gotham', simply because he was Batman's 'other half'. Either way, Crane would know, seeing as to how they were both part of the Gallery.

"I'm not that imbecile's keeper. Joker doesn't do anything that I find worthy of attention." Turning her head to look at him, Alondra raised an eyebrow. "As I recall, you said that about most, if not all, of the world's population." He merely nodded, to show that yes, she had a point with that. "There are a few exceptions." The fact that she had been a pseudo-apprentice to him in the university was enough of a clue as to how few there were. "What of Batman? Is he an exception?"

The glare that she got in response to that was worth the question and Alondra couldn't keep the grin off her face. "I'll take that as a 'yes'." It was…fun to point out that a person that came up out of nowhere was the person that could take him down, bring Scarecrow out…and to make an antidote. Alondra scowled and turned her attention back to the ceiling.

An antidote. That had been what started this mess and it had been the very reason why she couldn't become a doctor like she had wanted to. "Do not dwell on the past, Child. There is nothing there for you."

"The past screwed up my future, Crane!" Sitting up, amber yellow eyes glared at him.

The long await confrontation between one-time mentor and student was about to begin.

It really shouldn't have been like this, but Jonathan had known that Child resented him. Scarecrow had known it as well and had been waiting for the wolf to finally snap its jaws at them. Jonathan was just glad that Child didn't have anything sharp and point or fragile to throw at him, seeing as to how he _knew_ that she had rather good aim.

Especially when she was angry, which was exactly what she was right now.

"I did what I could to lighten their decision." This would have to be the only time in his life where he would have to explain himself and his actions to anyone. No one had been able to make him do this, not the Commissioner, not Batman, not the other pathetic excuses of doctors running around this place, not his mother, and certainly not his grandmother.

He would do this for Child and Child only.

Jonathan watched as her face took on a look of disbelief mixing in with the rage that was still right below the surface. "'Did what you could'? You stayed silent the whole time I was in front of the Board!" Child snapped out at him, her hands fisting and looking ready to just attack him then and there.

_At least you have a desk between you both._ Thank you, Scarecrow, that made him feel _so_ much better when dealing with a person that could easily jump over the desk and throttle him. "I had talked to the Board before your hearing, Child. I managed to convince them that it was just an accident." And had just about lost his license because of how strongly he had perused this matter.

A flicker of something before it was gone and replaced with a blank look. _Better run, Johnny._ A blank look wasn't good because it could mean a hundred things and none of them might be the right one.

"Liar." Now _that_ hurt. Of all the things that could be said to him, being called a liar – from _Child_ – was something that hurt. "And why do you say that?" Of all the things to call him, _why_ did she call him a liar? "I know you; you wouldn't have done that, because it would have meant _admitting_ that you _cared_ and you wouldn't do that." And the whole _university_ knew that he would never _admit_ it to anyone, not even to himself.

So it was an understandable reason as to why he was a liar in her mind. "I testified _for_ your case in the court, Child." And that had almost damned him as well. "You barely said anything then!" A flash of anger, that was good, it really was. _A pity, I wanted to see the two of you fight._ Of course he did. "I said what I needed to say, Child." Jonathan narrowed his eyes as he glanced towards the door. People were always listening in. "Be glad that you're not in prison for what they did." He hissed out to her.

A wordless snarl was her response to that. Obviously she wouldn't be pleased with that. "How is barely talking for five minutes considered 'saying what needed to be said'?" Jonathan sighed and looked at her. "It is, when the other witnesses that were called up could testify the same thing." They all knew Alondra and how she had always ran to him when it had gone too far. She was a child, and had thing gone the way that it should have, he would have made her his apprentice.

But things hadn't gone the way they should have and now she resented him for a perceived betrayal and it was only just now coming into light that he had done only what he could. They all knew that it could have been worse than what it was. "The past is history, today is a present, and tomorrow is a mystery." She needed to move on or risk ending up as something else.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** My updates will hopefully become a bit more stable soon, but I don't have high expectations of that. While I am able to write and post, here is chapter 9 of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Nine

Three weeks after escaping Arkham, and Joker was still being cautious about his movements. This meant one of two things to Batman.

1) Joker was planning something big

Or

2) Joker was targeting one specific person.

Neither option was good and knowing Joker, the clown intended to make a game out of this. "What are you planning Joker?" Bruce Wayne, also know as Batman, was asking the question that only the clown would know. He rather doubted that Harley would know, seeing as to how the girl was still in Arkham while Joker was planning something in one of his many hiding spots within the city of Gotham.

Perhaps he would need to pay a visit to Arkham and see if the Joker had actually been talking about doing something specific. Knowing the clown, that was most likely what he had done, seeing as to how he _wanted_ Batman to be able to figure out what he was doing, where he was, and maybe a why – if there was one that is.

This _was_ Joker, after all. He was the craziest of the Rogue Gallery members and it would be next to impossible to get a logical 'why' out of him.

* * *

Three weeks, that was how long it took for Jonathan to convince Child that she needed to stay in crowded areas and to avoid being alone if she could help it. As far as he was concerned, he had done what he could – while still in Arkham, anyway – to keep her safe from Joker. He didn't know if Joker was serious about his threats on what he would do to Child, but he didn't want to take any chances, not when the bridges were only just starting to get rebuilt and they were starting to go back to how they used to be.

Sitting in his cell, Jonathan had to wonder when Joker would end up coming back into Arkham. There was actually a betting pool on how long it would tae for anyone to get thrown back into Arkham and that happened whenever one of them escaped. Joker was expected back within two months from the day he escaped, so the crazy bastard now had five weeks left before he was expected to be back. Either way, Jonathan and Scarecrow would both feel…better when Joker was placed back in Arkham and kept away from Child.

The doctors here were more concerned with the fact that he _hadn't _scared her off than the fact that they were having civil conversations…all of which were, as part of protocol, recorded. It was be cause of this that the other Gallery members were taking bets. The prompt? Who could sway who; could Jonathan and Scarecrow sway Child into the dark side – she wouldn't need much swaying with that, really. Not if Child was still keeping up her slight illegal activities like she had five to six years ago – or would Child sway them to becoming legally sane and no longer wanted to commit crimes.

Even the guards and Orderlies were in on that bet. _I feel insulted._ Of course Scarecrow would, this bet was showing just how much faith that their fellow criminals had in them. They would have to break out and show them that they were still a person to be feared. _Just convert your Child._ If only it was that easy.

_Child is not one to be converted to something if she has no true interests in it._ The crimes that Child had committed would be small scale and she would have no interests in committing large scale crimes, the type of crimes that he and Scarecrow had and would be committing. They would have better luck converting Two-Face to Buddhism and taking Ivy off the path of mass human genocide than talking Child into the life of large scale crime.

_Then you better start talking._ Jonathan gave a light sigh. Why did his alter ego insist on reading his thoughts when he wanted them to be private? For that matter, since when had Scarecrow ever cared about Child? _Since she grew a backbone._ Ah, that explained it then. Scarecrow always did prefer the one with backbone, if only so he could watch them break down when they got a dose of fear toxin.

"Crane! Get up! You got a _visitor_." Jonathan looked at the door when the guard pounded on it. "Who?" He drawled out. The only person that would visit him while in Arkham was Child, and she was his doctor, as such, Jonathan would have just been called to her office or one of the neutral rooms for an interview. "You'll find out when you step out here, _doctor._" They didn't know how to appreciate those of higher intelligence…then again, most people didn't. "Hmm, no, I'm rather comfortable in my ten by ten cell." It wasn't a goof idea to egg on the guards, but this was really the only entertainment that he would get until his next session with Child.

Typical guard reaction kicked in and the door burst open before he was quickly dragged out before being thrusted into a room. "Professa!" Harley waved at him before bounding over. "They bring ya in too?" Jonathan nodded. The only reason why he even remotely tolerated her was because she acted a bit like how Child used to. _Weakness, Jonathan. Just wait until the others figure out just how _close_ you are to her. Then you'll _always_ be looking out for her, _again.

Scarecrow had a point with that, but Child could handle herself now, or rather, that was the impression that he had gotten when she had dared to insinuate that she would set them up in order to put them in isolation. "Harley, how many others have they brought in?"

"Just the others." The other Gallery members…obviously something to do with Joker then. "We're the last to be talked to?"

"Uh-huh, they want to know about Mistah J and if he was planning anythin'." She leaned in close and held her hand up to the side of her mouth, as if she was about to tell him a secret. "For cops, they talk rather loud, ya know?" Oh he knew alright, seeing as to how he had overheard them talking before and after Child's court case and on the court cases of Falcone's men. No good gossipers, the lot of them.

Looking at her, Jonathan felt Scarecrow stir a bit. "What has he been telling you?" Joker always told Harley something, even if it was irrelevant. Harley merely waved dismissively at him, something that truly made Scarecrow start stirring. "Nothin' much, Professa. Mistah J has only been sayin' how he'd like to get some fresh air and collect a few things that he would need."

"What things, Harley?" Scarecrow had paused now that they were getting information. Harley opened her mouth to answer when one of the cops – an actual cop, not one of the guards that were always around in Arkham – called her name while walking over towards them. "Oh, see ya, Professa." Harley waved good-bye to him happily before prancing over towards the police.

"Jonathan Crane!" Turning around, Jonathan didn't even blink when the Commissioner himself called for him. This day just got better and better, it seemed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:** Hello my faithful readers, I have managed to make it all the way up to Chapter Ten in Apprentice. This is a big deal for me because in all the other stories that I have attempted to write, I always stop or lose interest in the story, so this is a monumental moment in the writing of this story for me.

As such, I present to all of you, Chapter Ten of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Ten

Watching the one time brilliant doctor that was sitting across the table from him, Gordon merely fingered the files that he had been given. "Three weeks after the clown breaks out, and you and your goons-" Gordon felt his eyes narrow slightly at that. They weren't _goons_, they were _cops_. There was a genuine difference between the two. "-have only just now seen fit to question the inmates? Rather shoddy work for Gotham's finest." If Gordon was any less of an honorable man, he would punch Crane. "My apologizes." Alright, perhaps Crane wasn't so bad. "Gotham's finest is Batman, not Gotham PD." Scratch that, the temptation to just punch Crane was back again and from the look on the man's face, he was all too aware of it.

"This is a last resort, Crane." The criminally insane man merely gave him a look that quite clearly said that he didn't believe that as he adjusted his glasses with a taunting smirk on his lips. "If you say so, _Commissioner_, if you say so." If Gordon didn't know better, he would swear that the man was either bi-polar or had multiples personalities…and Jim Gordon was seriously thinking that they had another split personality criminal here.

"Has Joker been speaking of anything that he would do when he got out?"

"Of course." Crane merely gave him a smirk as he leaned back in his seat a little bit. "He was talking about so _many_ things. A shame that I never pay attention to that idiot." Gordon glared at Crane. "I am aware of the fact that you and Joker have never gotten along, especially two months ago where the two of you had gotten into a fight." Something in Crane seemed to…shift. What it was, Gordon wasn't sure, and he wasn't too sure if he was talking to a different aspect of Crane or if it was Crane himself and he was just imagining things.

"That fight has already been talked about with my psychiatrist, Commissioner." Gordon merely opened a file and nodded. "Yes and your psychiatrist just so happens to be someone that you once taught." He slid the file of Alondra Wolfe – a rather beautiful woman, really. Even with her resemblances to a wolf – in front of Crane and tapped the picture. "What is she to you, Crane? Two months and not once have you made a death threat to her." Watching Crane's face, Gordon wasn't sure how to take the glimpses of things that passed before Crane's eyes.

"I have Riddler's words," Really, that was most likely the only way that they referred to each other, by their criminal names. "That tells me that Joker was talking about killing Miss. Wolfe." A flicker of anger and concern before nothing. "I also have Riddler's word that says that you don't call her 'Dr. Wolfe' like patients are supposed to." Gordon watched Crane and the look he was getting told him that even if the Scarecrow didn't have fear toxin, that this topic would push the man to making him fear him by just normal actions alone. "You always call her 'Child'."

"What of it, _Commissioner_?" Gordon eased back in his seat. As a precaution, all the patients were handcuffed to their chairs so that they wouldn't attempt to attack their interrogator. "Nothing, just the fact that perhaps Dr. Wolfe is too close to your case and needs to be assigned to a different patient."

"That has nothing to do with Joker, Commissioner. Or are you more concerned with patient-doctor relationships than you are about a mad clown on the loose?"

"What exactly did Joker say about Dr. Wolfe?" Crane merely gave him a look. "He talked about various ways on how to kill her."

"I'm aware of that, Crane. But what did he say _specifically_? Was there anything that he said that might hint at possible small scale crimes before he launches one large scale one?" Everyone knew that Joker and Scarecrow didn't get along. The whole Arkham staff knew that Joker often talked about possible crimes near Scarecrow for one reason or another, but it generally had the effect of getting him attention from everyone _but_ Scarecrow.

Crane merely took his glasses off his face and started to clean them, using his Arkham issued shirt as a cleaning cloth. "I assure you, I don't know what Joker is planning, but if Child goes missing, you'll be hard pressed to find her." The glasses went back on his face. "She's rather good at hiding." The look on his face said that he knew from experience, and that it would be a question of 'hiding from' or 'hiding what'. Obviously there was some kind of history between doctor and patient here. "I was her mentor, take those four words however you wish, just know that Child, should she feel cornered, will lash out, regardless if it is a helping hand or a hand that is raised to strike at her." There was that look again, and Gordon really did have to wonder just how far Scarecrow's mentorship with the girl had gone.

"Is that all, Commissioner?" Gordon watched the man. There was just something off about him in this case, something that Gordon wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. "For now." Collecting the folders, Gordon stood up and walked towards the door before pausing and looking back at the criminally insane that was restrained to a chair. "One last question, Crane." The one time professor gave him an annoyed look but nodded. "Why are you so concerned about Dr. Wolfe? She's no longer your student."

The look that Crane gave him, made Gordon pause. "Child will _always_ be my student, and she _knows_ it, Commissioner." That wasn't answering the question, and they both knew it. Gordon watched as Crane looked straight ahead, a clear sign that he was done talking.

Frowning slightly, Gordon left the room and started down the hall to gather with his co-workers. Crane's last words were running in circles inside his mind. Was Crane teaching her how to create his fear toxin? If that was the case, then they would have to find Dr. Wolfe as quickly as possible and make sure that she didn't go into hiding – is there was any truth to Crane's words, they wouldn't be able to find her if she did.

Gordon could feel a headache happening. The least he could hope for was that the other police officers had something more substantial to go off of. The only thing they knew for sure, was that Joker would be targeting Alondra Wolfe and that they would need to figure out where to find her, and then where to put her in order to keep her from Joker.

The 'why', was pretty much understood, after the talk with Crane. Dr. Wolfe was only a target because she held Crane's attention and would be the perfect way to make Crane snap and settle the score on just who 'ruled' Gotham.

It was times like these that made Gordon wish that Batman was still in the clear with the public and with the rest of the task force. A headache was forming and that was most likely just the beginning of his problems for today, he could just tell.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note:** I am attempting to update multiple chapters at one time in order to give you, my faithful readers, more than just one, small chapter to read at one time. As such, I am intending to upload at least two chapters each time I update.

As such, I present to all of you, chapter eleven of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Eleven

_Whipping away the tears, Alice jolted slightly when a cup of something hot – hot chocolate from the smell of it – was held in front of her. Looking up, she blinked when she saw Professor Crane. Reaching out, Alice took the cup and blinked down at the steaming liquid. "Child, you know I dislike repeating myself." Alice nodded solemnly at that. "I know, Professor."_

_Nervously, Alice took a sip of the hot chocolate. It wasn't a good idea to waste things, especially not when it was from the only person that seemed to care about what happened to her. His office was silent, save for the sound of the wind blowing outside and the heater kicking in to keep the room at a reasonable temperature._

_Fabric rustled and Alice looked up at the Professor, seeing him sit on the lounge chair next to her, his hands wrapped around a cup of coffee, dark with little to no sweetener or crème if the color was anything to go by._

_The silence between them was something that was comfortable, but at the same time, uncomfortable. "I tried." Alice muttered out when the silence became too much for her. She had always hated the silence and it was the main reason why Professor Crane had given her free use of his computer…provided that she only looked up the true classics of the musical world. The classics were something that was playing now. Moonlight Sonata if she was recalling the tune correctly._

"_I know, Child." Alice looked at him. He had always called her 'child' and even though she had told him her name, he still called her 'child' and it was a bit of a…endearing term for her. "I really did try." And she was sorry that she hadn't tried harder. Professor Crane looked at her and gave a slow nod. "So I saw." Alice winced at that. She had hoped that he hadn't seen her…_newest _encounter with them._

"_Your arm will be bruised." That was just a given, really. "Marcus grips rather hard." She whispered out. It was something that she would much rather not talk about. "You were lucky that the security guards were right there." Alice nodded at his words. Marcus could have and would have done worse if the security guards hadn't been there._

_Taking another sip of the hot chocolate, Alice looked at Professor Crane. "Professor…thank you, for everything." It was only polite to thank him for everything that he had done for her._

Jackknifing up, Alondra looked around quickly and then sighed. Memories just wouldn't leave her alone. Shaking her head, Alondra lifted the sleeve of her shirt and looked at the area where the bruise had formed so long ago. Her time at the university hadn't been all that great, but it didn't matter anymore because Alondra Wolfe, formerly known as Alice Johnson, was learning the truth that she had tried to find in her apartment, in the way she had organized everything, in the way she _lived_. "Even after all this time, you're still teaching me."

That was the truth, the answer that she had tried so hard to find, and at the same time, to never know, to bury underneath memories, lies, and masks.

He was teaching her.

Throwing off the blankets, Alondra quickly got dressed and did her morning routine before taking her purse and walking out the front door and locking it. This was all just part of a daily routine.

He, Jonathan Crane, was still teaching her.

It was an idle thought, but one that stayed in the forefront of her mind as she walked down the stairs – the elevators were things that should never be trusted – and walked out the front doors of the apartment complex.

He, Jonathan Crane, her one-time University professor, was still teaching her.

It bothered her a bit that, after all this time, when she had believed that she no longer needed him to show her how the world worked, how the _mind_ worked, and, most importantly, attempting to show her how to be strong, it seemed that he turned around and showed her something else that put her right back as his student.

He, Jonathan Crane, her one-time University professor with an alter ego named Scarecrow, was still teaching her.

Walking down the streets, Alondra was well aware that she was currently breaking her promise to Crane, the promise that he had coerced from her before he had unlocked her office door and allowed her to leave Arkham for the day. She wasn't in a crowded area or one that was monitored, but there was no harm in taking this route. Joker would go for a target that would get him a lot of attention from Batman and the police. That wasn't her.

He, Jonathan Crane, her one-time University professor with an alter ego named Scarecrow, was her patient and was still teaching her.

No, Joker's way of thinking told everyone that he wanted attention and that would mean he would go after high profile people like Bruce Wayne, Commissioner Gordon, or a celebrity, even a boat full of people that he could broadcast over the news, but her?

Alondra Wolfe was a nobody.

The only person whose attention she was able to catch was Jonathan Crane's, and he was just her mentor. There was nothing truly important about her.

Alondra Wolfe was a nobody that was once apprenticed to Jonathan Crane.

Running a hand through her hair, Alondra waited for the crosswalk light to change to green. Despite the fact that it was early in the morning – barely 5 o' clock – the streets were crowded with early morning traffic. People were just barely starting to crowd the streets, and as such, it wasn't what could be considered a crowded area. Crossing the street, she should have known that her one-time mentor and her job at Arkham was all the connection she needed to be considered 'high profile'.

Alondra Wolfe was a nobody that was once apprenticed to Jonathan Crane and she had drawn the attention of a mad man.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note:** Some of you might be wondering about how long I intend to make this story. I'm intending for at least fifteen chapters, maybe twenty. It depends on how much detail I put into each chapter and which ending – I have multiple ideas on how to end Apprentice – I decide to write because I have no intentions of writing alternate endings for this.

With that out in the open, I give you all chapter twelve of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Something felt off, had felt off for a few days now, but Jonathan couldn't place it. Scarecrow, on the other hand, could. _Feels like the time your Child _accidentally_ killed five of her peers. _Jonathan frowned at that. _Child won't deliberately kill anyone. We both know this._ He could hear Scarecrow laugh inside his head at that and got the vague idea that, if Scarecrow had his own body, that his alter ego would be smirking at him. _That was then, what about now? Even if it wasn't on purpose, it was still a first kill. Either way, your _sixth sense_ or rather, your 'Child is in over her head' sense is going haywire. You're no good to her in Arkham._

Jonathan frowned and walked towards the indoor entertainment area, today, like the past few days, he didn't have a doctor willing enough to interrogate him, and as such, he was having a few…free days. The indoor entertainment area was rather simple for such a big building. Big enough to seat fifty people comfortably, three couches big enough for three people, five tables with two chairs per tables, a few chairs next to a magazine stand, and three flat screen televisions mounted on the walls just high enough to where one would need a ladder in order to tamper with it

As always, the other Rogue Gallery members – the ones that didn't have to be in a special confinement area at all times – were already in what was considered 'Rogue Gallery Member Only' area. However…they seemed to be acting a bit…odd. Something might have changed; he was expecting something or another to change, seeing as to how it was the first time he had seen then in the few days that Child hadn't shown up. It didn't sound like anything odd - Child's disappearance that is - seeing as to how he expected Child to lay low – or go into hiding – until Joker was back in Arkham – something that he had actually recommended to Child when he had extracted that promise from her.

"Why, is the television off?" He drawled out, looking at Riddler, and then at Harley. Those two were always watching TV, whether it was game shows, the news, or cartoons. Poison Ivy merely stood up and left the area going over towards the magazines and Jonathan blinked before he snapped his attention to Riddler and Harley. "Give me the remote control." The only reason that Ivy would have for leaving when he just got into the area, would be if there was something happening or if something rather dangerous would get drawn up and she didn't want to get drawn into it.

Riddler fingered the remote and watched him. "Jonathan, now you know I look out for your best interest whenever we're both in Arkham." Jonathan took a step towards him, his hand stretched out. "Nygma, I will not ask again." Harley bit her lip and looked at the two as Riddler took a step back. "Jonathan, I'm looking out for your best interest right now." Jonathan narrowed his eyes. "And how is this in my 'best interests'?" It was rather hard to keep calm when he knew that Child was in trouble and his temporary friends – they were friends with each other while in Arkham…well, most of them anyway – seemed intent on keeping him in the dark about something important.

"Eddy, just give it to him. Better he finds out from the TV then from someone else." Harley piped up at last. Some of them were different people when in Arkham, or at least acted different then they would in the outside world. "Harley! Do you have any idea what the news would do to him?" Riddler had turned his attention to Joker's sidekick and that was all that was need Scarecrow needed when Crane all but shoved the control into his hands.

"I'll take that." Snatching the remote out of Riddler's hands, Scarecrow turned the TV on and blinked as the news came on. _Child is missing._ Was Crane's thoughts as they watched the news. _By Joker's hand_. Scarecrow tossed back to his counterpart as the broadcast showed the general area of where Crane's Child was abducted from. It was easy to tell, seeing as to how there were a few lines of blood, evidence that Crane's Child did not go down without a fight.

A few days…_Your child just can't stay out of trouble._ "Professa?" Scarecrow looked at Harley and pointed a thumb at the screen. "How long, exactly, has she been missing?" Riddler shrugged and answered for the girl. "About three days, give or take." Well then, looks like Child really was in trouble. _Still not sure she's in trouble, Johnny-boy?_ Scarecrow already knew Jonathan's answer, and he couldn't wait for the actually moment to arrive. _We're getting out. Tonight._ Tonight? Short notice, but it would have to work.

It wasn't like Scarecrow was complaining though; he was rather bored with nothing to do and with no new or old buttons to push. _Do _you_ want to break out, or should I? _Jonathan had broken out on his own a few times, but Scarecrow was the one who broke out all the other times. However, he knew how personal this was for his other and that Johnny-boy would want to handle most, if not all, of this himself.

After all, Crane's Child was the only one who could ever make Jonathan even remotely human. It was the main reason why he didn't like the girl, but _this_ version? The one that wasn't afraid to bare her fangs at anyone was someone that Scarecrow just might find himself tolerating in the long run. Especially if she continued to make noteworthy threats to him.

Perhaps she could even offer a few noteworthy ideas when they got her back. After all, if she was willing to bare her fangs at _him_ of all people, then surely she wouldn't object to immersing herself into the life of crime if it was _Crane_ that was asking. She was a wolf now if her attitude was anything to go by, and as such, cause fear should be something that was right up her alley, especially since she knew what it was like to live _in_ fear, so perhaps she just might like _causing_ the fear this time around.

_I will. You cause too much commotion and that will give Joker a warning and that is something that we don't need to give him, not while he might have Child in his grasp._ Scarecrow gave a soft snort as he took a seat on the couch. Riddler and Harley were keeping their distance from him right now, obviously sensing that he wasn't in the mood to talk with the\m over anything right now. After all, who could blame them when his other's protégé might be at the mercy of a mad clown?

"Harley, where would Joker go if he had a high profile hostage that knew how to fight back?" Jonathan drawled out as Scarecrow gave him back control. Riddler gave him a look as Harley sat down next to him. "Why? Just what does a doctor mean to you?" The girl wouldn't understand just what Child meant to him.

He had found her broken and chipped, and he had done what he could to mend the breaks. It was her years out of Gotham that had hardened the glue on her mends. No one lived forever, and Scarecrow had it right. She was _his_ Child and had things gone the way they should have, she would have been well on her way to being groomed as his successor.

The life of a criminal was never predictable and as such, he and Scarecrow could end up as one of the underground's next victims. As such, Child had to be found and groomed. "Harley, answer my question or we both get to see just how well cleaning chemicals work in a new batch of fear toxin." Arkham staff wasn't stupid enough to leave around chemicals that he could use to recreate his fear toxins. However, the threat would have the added affect of showing Harley that he didn't care if 'frenemies' – a ridiculous term, but fitting in this case – got in the way because he would just rip them out of his path.

Riddler winced and quickly left to join Poison Ivy by the magazine rack. This was one conversation that he could do without hearing. This was also one of the many times where he wouldn't bail one of the Rogue Gallery members out of the war zone of another Rogue Gallery member. "Gotham's been waiting for a war between those two." Poison Ivy idly commented as she flipped a page. "Well, Gotham should be careful what she wishes for." Riddler muttered as he picked up a crossword puzzle. It was obvious that Jonathan would be out for blood this time. "Yes, Gotham should be, but that's humanity for you."

Riddler looked at her, idly throwing his arm over the back of her chair. "Dear Ivy, not all humans are idiots." Poison Ivy looked at him. "No, some are just naïve fools that can't take a hint." Smiling, Riddler retracted his arm and turned his eyes towards his puzzle. "What do you think of Jonathan and his doctor?" For once, Poison Ivy smirked and looked at him. "Jonathan and Dr. Wolfe? I say that it'll be interesting to have a new villain running around with us. Especially if Joker gets what he deserves." With that, Poison Ivy went back to her magazine.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note:** Things are starting to heat up in Apprentice now. Wouldn't you say so? Though I have to warn you now that this part of the story I have vague details for and that I honestly hope that it turns out alright, especially since it has taken multiple attempts to write this chapter the way that I like it.

As such, here is chapter thirteen of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

**Reference:** _Italics_ = thoughts/Scarecrow 'speaking' to Jonathan

**Bold **= Jonathan 'speaking' to Scarecrow

* * *

Chapter Thirteen

The blinking red light was maddening for the sole reason that it's consistent blinking seemed to remind Alondra that every sound and every moment she made was being recorded for who knows what reason. Breathing was rather difficult at the moment, seeing as to how her – ribs? Nose? Lungs? – chest – was that even the right area? – hurt every single time she inhaled and exhaled.

Time was irreverent for the sole reason that no matter what happened, the end result would still be the same, would still be a painfully slow death at the hands of the Joker. Alondra paused on that line of thinking. If all options lead to death at the Joker's hands, then would it really matter if she taunted the demented clown? If she pressed the right buttons just enough times then Joker, like everyone else, would lose his temper and end this cycle of pain. Given her options, this was honestly the best option…even if it was basically suicide and, should someone find a way to raise the dead, she would end up getting a lecture to remember from her one time mentor.

Despite the fact that it would be hilarious – in a rather disturbing way, given the fact that Scarecrow would definitely be adding in a few comments and that Crane wasn't well known for raising his voice to anyone – to be given the lecture regardless of who or what was within hearing range, it would most likely be something that would never happen.

Who would have thought that one would want to be lectured by their mentor as a way to know that everything was alright?

It was all too easy to break out of Arkham, but the same could not be said in the matter of finding Joker, and through him, Child. By now, only the staff members and the coherent patients of Arkham Asylum knew that the long awaited war between himself and Joker had begun and no doubt the news would be spreading to the people of Topside Gotham and Underworld Gotham.

_Careful, Johnny-boy. You just might end up biting off more than _we_ can chew._ Jonathan glared at the reflective surface of his current workbench. **Since when have you cared just how much **I**bite off? As I recall, you have turned the phrase 'biting off more than you can chew' into an art form.** He had long since gotten used to speaking with Scarecrow with just thoughts, had been doing it for years, long before Scarecrow truly came out and became known to the world. But that wasn't the point right now. No, the point was that he and Scarecrow were in on this together – even if his alter ego didn't agree with him on a few things, like how to get back at Joker for kidnapping Child for example – and if Jonathan ended up getting them killed, it wasn't just him that would die.

_Touché today, aren't you, Johnny-boy? Then again, I guess I can see why. You see so much of yourself in the girl, in _your_ Child that you've long since started to groom her. Haven't you ever wondered why you even _gave_ her _that_ project?_ Jonathan narrowed his eyes as he looked over the map of Gotham city. Scarecrow wasn't one to point out things like this unless they truly bothered him. **Just speak your mind; we have no need to hide things from each other.** Not when the rest of the world hid things from them and everyone else.

Scarecrow laughed inside their shared mind before idly pointing out a spot that the Joker might be in and watching as it got dotted with a red marker. Jonathan could feel Scarecrow settling down into a more comfortable 'position' in his mind. _You haven't even noticed then, have you?_ He purred out. _Back at the University all those years ago, you were perfecting our fear toxin formula and testing it on the pet rats. Then Child comes around and you finally get the _nerve_ to test it on _humans_. After the formula was perfected – with the help of your _darling_ Child – you practically _ordered_ her to create an antidote. We – you, me, _and_ her – all know how that ended up. But before all that, you were getting close to her. Helping her, protecting her, _cherishing_ her until, like the pup she was, Child became the one that would understand _us_ more than _anyone else_. The way you allowed yourself to act around the girl just _oozed_ your affections for her._

_Don't you know what the other Rogue members call her? _Jonathan's_ Child, _Crane's_ Child, even _Scarecrow's_ Child. She's the only chink in your armor, in _our _armor because even _I_ hold _some_ affection for that brat of yours. You've practically adopted the girl and the fact that you refused to scare her away like all the other doctors, the fact that you _fought _for her against_ Joker _only cemented the fact that you cherished the girl, you dear wolf-child._

During the whole time Scarecrow was talking, Jonathan had stopped looking at the map and was just gazing at it. He truly _hadn't_ noticed that he had made it so obvious that he cared– Scarecrow snapped out laugh. '_Cared'? You love her as a parent would!_ – for her. **It's all the more reason to get her away from Joker.** The clown was probably the only Gallery member that was truly insane and as such, who knew just what it was that he would do to Child.

All they needed to do was find her, and that would be one of the more difficult parts of this whole mess. Scarecrow merely grinned in their mind. He couldn't wait until Joker was in front of them. Scarecrow was, naturally, the more violent one of the two and Johnny-boy had just made it clear that he wanted to do all of this by himself like a big boy.

* * *

"_Professor C'dane?" Despite how often she had come into this office, Alice still found it to be a bit…intimidating. "Ah, yes, Child, I see you've made it." He always called her that whenever they were alone like this. Despite what her peers thought, nothing perverted was going on between her and the Professor. There was too much at stake for a man of his standing to be caught in that kind of scandal. No, there was nothing of that sort going on, but there was something of a slight intimate nature happening. _

_Professor Crane gestured towards the couch that he had in his office. "This is the fifth time we've gone through this, so you should know what I'm expecting by now." Nodding, Alice dropped her book bag to the side of the couch so that the next few minutes didn't end up as a struggle for her life and laid down on the cold leather couch before turning her head to watch as the Professor brought out a gas canister and a mask from his desk._

_He had been telling her that fear was more of a restraint in human life, a thing that held people back from their true potential. The past four times that he had called her into his office, he had been making her inhale something or another, she wasn't all too sure what it was, only that with each dose it seemed to last longer and the hallucinations becoming more and more lucid_

"_Are you ready?" Meeting his icy blue gaze, Alice nodded. "Yes sir." She knew that Professor Crane wouldn't intentionally hurt her. If that was the whole point of this, then why bother getting to know her?_

Yellow eyes snapped open and focused on the door. Joker had left with the camera earlier, but not before replacing it with a different one. As of right now, she had no idea if he was going to carry out his threat from the last 'session', as he called the torture he put her through, or if he was just sending someone in with food and water to keep her alive longer.

Curling her lips back, Alondra let off a small growl when Joker came into the room. "Now, now, wolfy, behave." Joker was grinning that damned grin of his, the one that Alondra was quickly learning to translate as 'I'm about to have fun and it's going to be at your expense'. He pulled out a rolled up material and Alondra felt her blood run cold and she knew that her horror reflected in her eyes when Joker started to laugh.

The rolled up material was a knife sheath.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author****'****s****Note:** I apologize for the lack of updates, I well and truly do but real life is a bit more important, especially when it comes to the matter of education and family reunions. That and I have just recently been informed that my grandfather had a stroke, so please bear with me when I do not update in a timely matter after updating so frequently in the recent past.

With that out of the way, here is chapter fourteen of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

**Reference: **_Italics_= Scarecrow talking

**Bold** = Jonathan talking

Chapter Fourteen

The recording that had been sent to him would normally have been dismissed, but this wasn't a normal occasion. No, one of Joker's henchmen had personally delivered the video tape to him and that was what had caught his attention. The only reason why Joker would send him anything, especially now, was if it was about Child.

And he hadn't been disappointed.

Scarecrow was wisely staying quiet. Why? Because Johnny-boy wouldn't need any prompting in attacking Joker the moment that the two came face to face, the video had taken away any hesitation that Johnny-boy might have had. Right now, Johnny-boy was on his way towards one of the few areas that Joker had openly claimed as his and none of the other Rogues had cared enough to dispute his claim.

Jonathan Crane's intention was clear the moment they had both seen that video. Since Joker had taken the one thing that Jonathan would have claimed as his – what need did he have for a claimed area? To do that would be to tell possible specimens that they were potential targets and they would leave the area – he was going to return the favor and take out Joker's claimed area with his fear toxin.

Gotham was waiting for a war, well now they would be getting one. The two top criminals of Gotham would finally show the city just who was truly in charge. A fight that the Rogue Gallery had been patiently waiting for for a good few years.

It wasn't how he normally worked, but Jonathan wanted to make it clear to Joker that he now had his undivided attention and that only one of them would be coming out of this. The henchmen that he had now were on the lower end of the intelligence scale and as such, they didn't ask too many questions if he told them how to do something. It helped that he made a few cameramen helping them out as well.

The people in the studio were looking at him in horror – as they should – however, he knew that the look wasn't because of who he was, but because of the fact that he was acting out of his normal comfort zone. _If __you __were __in __their __shoes, __wouldn__'__t __you?_ Jonathan looked around and watched the studio carefully. He wouldn't put it past Batman to suddenly show up. **Normally ****you ****are ****the ****one ****that ****takes ****delight ****in ****scaring ****them ****in ****new ****ways.** Scarecrow laughed. _Yes, _normally _being __the __keyword __here. _Normally _we __would __be __causing __terror __and __mass __panic __by __unleashing __fear __toxin __either __in __a __district __or __by __kidnapping __random __people __and __shoving __fear __toxin __up __their __nose. _Normally _we __wouldn__'__t __be __interrupting __all __news __channels __just __too __openly __challenge __Joker __and __to __inform __Gotham __that __the __Underworld __Version __of __World __War __I __will __officially __begin __the __moment __you __press __the __big __red __button __that __you __have __in __your __pants __pocket._

Scanning the area, Jonathan watched as one of the smarter henchmen he had in his current stint out of Arkham started to motion that they were almost ready to air his message. **That ****may ****be, ****but ****that ****does **not **mean ****that ****you ****won****'****t ****enjoy ****this ****as ****much ****as ****I ****will ****when ****we ****find ****Joker.** His only response was laughter from Scarecrow and a _We__shall__see__about__that_before his alter ego went quiet.

"Hey, uh, boss, we're, uh, gonna be on in…" Jonathan watched as the henchman looked over at one of the cameramen. "In one minute and counting." Was the hurried reply. Nodding, Jonathan took his seat. There was a light close to the ceiling that was showing just how much time he had left before he was declaring war.

40…39…38…37…36…

Looking around at them, Jonathan looked over at the areas where he was fairly sure that Batman could end up bursting through. Some of the cannon fodder that he had gathered together before this new stunt of his were making patrols and occasionally changing their pattern. He had made it clear that they were to be as unpredictable as possible in their patrol patterns.

Batman was not to show up and neither were the police.

28…27…26…25…24…

Only a few handfuls of seconds left and Joker would know that Jonathan was no longer playing around and that his tolerance for the mad clown had been shot to hell the moment he had taken Child. The video he had sent had only furthered Jonathan down that path and there was no turning back now.

23…22…21…20…19…

Almost ten seconds left. Jonathan leaned back in the rather comfortable chair. The burlap mask was on the desk in front of him. Why was it in front of him and not on his face? Because he wanted to show Joker that he was dealing with Jonathan and not Scarecrow, that this was now personal and he wasn't going to settle for sending Joker to an infirmary.

18…17…16…15…14…

The adrenaline was starting to pool into his veins and his heart started to beat just a little bit faster. This was the feeling that he had gotten when he had started to test out his fear toxin. Child had volunteered to be his test subject, had wanted to prove that she could offer something to him that would make him continue to acknowledge her.

But she hadn't known that she didn't need to do that because by then Jonathan – and Scarecrow to an extent – had started to care for Child more than he should have.

10…9…8…7…6...

Time was flying by and he was being nostalgic over something that could end on a whim. So much could be lost if he didn't win in this war and if he _did_ win this war, then the other Rogues just might see if it was a one time thing and target Child…but there was one thing that he knew for certain about himself in regards to Child.

For Child, he would risk everything.

5…4…3…2…1!

"Greetings, denizens of Gotham." He drawled out calmly. The screen to the right of the camera was showing him just what he looked like while being broadcasted. What he saw was a relaxed, dark haired, glasses wearing man with something on the desk in front of him. His face was neutral and betrayed nothing. That was good, very good.

Now all he had to do was leave one clear message to Joker and tell the police to leave him to his business. "Now there are those of you who are wondering why I am revealing myself like this. It is rather simple." He pulled out the hand-held switch in that was in his pocket. "I am well aware that Gotham has been curious about who is the true Top Criminal of Gotham." Jonathan fingered the switch his hand and the screen to the right of the camera showed him that he looked like the cliché master criminal that was broadcasting his master plan and knew that, this time, no one would be able to stop him. A person that reflected power, controlled arrogance, and danger.

The exact image he wanted to send to Joker and he _knew_ that Joker was watching the news and would see this. And if he didn't, one of his thugs would be and this message would still get to him. "This message is really only for one person. Since you are an arrogant, attention-seeking, poor excuse of an adult, Joker, I know that you will be watching the news for any mention of your name, even if it is in a vague relation to another crime." Jonathan leaned forward on the table, his arms crossed with his thumb on the switch but not yet pushing down on it.

"You crossed the line when you made those comments, but I have no intention of stopping when I saw that video that you sent me." He held up the switch as if it was a vial filled with an interesting liquid. That was the signal for one of his henchmen to turn on the screen behind him where a clear view of Joker's claimed 'turf' could be seen from a stationary camera.

"You damaged the only thing I cared to claim, and now I will be returning that favor." He pushed the button and the infamous fear toxin filled the streets and screaming could immediately be heard before he set the used switch down, the signal to turn the 'preview' off. "Gotham is getting its wish Joker." He stood up calmly, but he knew without looking at the screen to the right of the camera that his eyes betrayed his fury. "This is war." With that, he watched as the screen he was watching from the corner of his eyes went blank and the countdown time showed that they were now off-air.

Grabbing his mask, he slipped it on before pushing another button and calmly started to walk out of the studio that was filling up with fear toxin.

He was through with henchmen and pawns.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author****'****s****Note:** Alright, so the war between Jonathan and Joker has officially started. This chapter will be more of an interlude than an actual chapter. Why? Because I figured that you, my darling readers, are a bit curious as to the reactions of what the Rogue Gallery members, the GPD and Batman – who I only mentioned once in this story so far and should actually be a bit more involved with the story line now that I think of it – are to the official declaration. As such, this chapter will be divided into three parts; I will mark them clearly so that you can all know who is reacting to it.

Also, to those that want to know just how much time has passed, I will be putting up a Timeline in each chapter so that you can keep up with the passage of time.

With that out of the way, I give you Chapter Fifteen of Apprentice.

* * *

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen

Timeline of Events:

Joker's breakout: 4 weeks and five days ago

Jonathan's breakout: Nine days ago

Time Alondra has been in Joker's 'care': 11 days

* * *

**Reaction of the:**

**Rogue Gallery**

It was just another day in Arkham, though everyone – the nurses, the Orderlies, the guards, the insane patients, and the patients capable of speaking and thinking in coherent words – knew that, with Scarecrow _and_ Joker both running around outside of Arkham and _both_ of them laying low after their break out – Joker's break out was four weeks, almost five weeks ago and Scarecrow's was nine days ago – that something big was going to be happening soon.

None of them really knew just _how_ big it would be. Not until all the news channels were interrupted that is.

Riddler blinked in surprise as Jonathan – Scarecrow would have been the one wearing the mask and would never have appeared on TV like this – appeared on the news channel as relaxed as can be. "This can't be good." Poison Ivy merely smirked at the screen. It would seem as if Jonathan was finally taking control and willing to put Joker into his place.

"Ooh guys, it's the Professa!" Harley was excitedly pointing at the TV. The only time any of them were on TV was when they had just broken out of Arkham, had committed a crime, or when they were handed over to the Gotham Police to be transferred to the Asylum.

Riddler nodded. "Yes, it is." Of all the things that Jonathan could have done, did he have to declare an all out war on Joker? Poison Ivy was grinning by the time Jonathan finished and he released a massive amount of fear toxin into Joker's town. "My, my, Jonathan, it seems that you've grown a backbone at last." She didn't call the fight between the two about two months ago a show of backbone on Jonathan's part.

Harley had her hands over her mouth. "The Professa can't hurt Mistah J! He _can__'__t_!" of all the things for the Professor to have said that he would be doing, this wasn't what she had thought it would be and it was filling her with horror and fear. In her mind and heart, she _knew_ that this was all this 'Dr. Child's' fault. It just had to be!

Before this 'Child' had come along, Jonathan had never threatened her and had never taken an interest in hurting her Puddin'. After that manipulative bitch had shown up, Jonathan had changed and not for the better in her opinion. She would stop the Professor before he did something that she _knew_ he would regret doing.

* * *

**Reaction of the:**

**Gotham Police**

The news was always droning on in the background of the Gotham City Police Department. Why? Because sometimes the news cast would end up finding something that was a key component in solving cases, especially in a place like Gotham where crime happened everyday at least five times in different sectors.

As cliché as it would sound, it was just another day in Gotham City Police Department when all the different new channels that were droning on in the background suddenly changed to show the one thing that no one in the whole department would have expected. With that knowledge in mind, it was rather understandable why Commissioner Jim Gordon of the Gotham City Police Department was a bit shocked to see Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. Scarecrow, self proclaimed Master of Fear, show up on TV looking for all the world to see, the calm arrogance that everyone had remembered the man to have when he was just a simple professor and doctor at Arkham.

"Greetings, denizens of Gotham." Gordon couldn't help but stop what he was doing in order to watch the nearest television. Jonathan Crane was…acting out of his _modus__operandi_ and that was a cause of a great amount of concern. "What are you doing Scarecrow?" Gordon muttered to himself. It wasn't a good idea to just let criminals of such high caliber – Joker, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, etc. – roam around. The fact that two criminals that rated 10 out of 10 on the Dangerous Scale were out on the streets didn't bode well for Gotham.

"I am well aware that Gotham has been curious about who is the true Top Criminal of Gotham." Gordon's eyes narrowed slightly at that statement. Were the two intending on just sharing the position? No, Joker didn't share and Scarecrow was well known to dislike Joker and willing enough to do anything to get the man caught or to sabotage the man's plans to the point where Batman would be able to catch the mad clown just that much easier.

"This message is really only for one person. Since you are an arrogant, attention-seeking, poor excuse of an adult, Joker, I know that you will be watching the news for any mention of your name, even if it is in a vague relation to another crime." Gordon's eyes suddenly narrowed in on the switch in Scarecrow's hands and he swore. "Someone track this broadcast!" Jonathan Crane with a switch? He was going to gas a whole sector if not worse!

"You crossed the line when you made those comments, but I have no intention of stopping when I saw that video that you sent me." He held up the switch as if it was a vial filled with an interesting liquid. The camera suddenly turned and viewed out to a certain sector of the city, an area that everyone in the station recognized as 'Joker's Land'.

Gordon watched some of his people rush around to get a trace on the feed as he thought about what Crane was saying. Comments? Video? Just how personal was this? "You damaged the only thing I cared to claim, and now I will be returning that favor." Gordon couldn't help but watch in helpless horror as Crane pushed the button and fear toxin visibly started to appear in the sector. "Gotham is getting its wish Joker. This is war."

Gordon never thought that he would see the day where Crane would allow anyone, much less a whole city, to see him – without the mask covering his face – as anything but a calmly intelligence criminal that was better off in Arkham. "Men, prepare all units. We need to catch Scarecrow!" Joker could wait. Why? Because Scarecrow was the one going around gassing sectors.

* * *

**Reaction of the:**

**Batman**

The life of Batman was something that was never put on pause. The same could be said of the life of Bruce Wayne. However, unlike Jonathan Crane, Bruce Wayne could actually choose which aspect of himself to allow into control. It was when Batman was taking a rest and Bruce Wayne living the good life when the news that he was watching suddenly snapped to show a face that was more familiar to him when he was behind the cowl.

Of all the things that he had expected, Jonathan's little speak and his declaration of war on Joker was definitely _not_ it. Groaning softly, Bruce shook his head and then rewind the news feed. Something Jonathan had said didn't make much sense to him. Jonathan Crane was a calm man by nature, never allowing his emotions to get the best of him and to never allow them onto his face, in his eyes, or in his voice. So what was it that Joker had done that could have possibly enraged the man to the point where he answered the question Gotham had been asking for so long?

Re-watching the feed, Bruce frowned slightly. From what Jonathan was saying, this all started because Joker had done something, but Joker had been lying low for four weeks, so what damage could he have done?

His mind suddenly went to the news feed that had been on about eleven days ago, when an Arkham employee hadn't shown up for work. In fact, it was only after Alondra Wolfe had been missing for three days that Jonathan Crane had broken out of Arkham. It was also thought to be believed that Joker had been the one to kidnap Alondra Wolfe for unknown reasons. If there was one thing about Joker that people could count on, it was the fact that he only abducted people that were high up on the social ladder, if they had a lot of money, or if holding them as hostage would put him on the news.

Bringing out a piece of paper, Bruce Wayne started to write down a timeline – nifty little things, timelines. They could often help one put seemingly unrelated clues together and fill in the missing link.

Joker breaks out of Arkham.

Three weeks later, Joker kidnaps Dr. Alondra Wolfe.

Three _days_ later, Crane breaks out of Arkham.

Six days later, Crane declares war on Joker and gasses 'Joker's Land'.

Four facts that were barely related to each other. It was here that Bruce took a look at what it was that Crane had said during the news feed. Things like 'crossed the line when you made those comments', 'saw that video that you sent me', and 'damaged the only thing I cared to claim' were key factors that could put the remaining missing pieces of the jigsaw together.

Batman had been told about the fight between Joker and Crane that happened in Arkham a good few weeks before Joker had broken out. Knowing how Crane operated, the 'comments' could have easily pushed Crane into fighting with the Joker at that time.

His timeline now read:

'Comments' made, Crane and Joker fight in Arkham.

Joker breaks out of Arkham.

Three weeks later, Joker kidnaps Dr. Alondra Wolfe.

Three _days_ later, Crane breaks out of Arkham.

Six days later, Crane declares war on Joker and gasses 'Joker's Land'.

With that out of the way, there were two remaining key puzzle pieces left to decipher out. A video and Joker 'damaging' something that Crane had claimed as his. The video could easily have been Joker showing Crane that he 'damaging the only thing' that he had claimed.

'Comments' made, Crane and Joker fight in Arkham.

Joker breaks out of Arkham.

Three weeks later, Joker kidnaps Dr. Alondra Wolfe.

Three _days_ later, Crane breaks out of Arkham.

Joker sends Crane a video showing Crane that he's damaging the 'only thing' that Crane had 'cared to claim'.

Six days later, Crane declares war on Joker and gasses 'Joker's Land'.

Something wasn't fitting. Where did Dr. Wolfe fit into all of this? Bruce Wayne knew that Wolfe's kidnapping was a key part of this mess and that in order to figure out why Crane would actually go to war with Joker over some unknown issue – and possibly lose everything – he had to figure out how much importance Wolfe had on this situation.

_Joker __wouldn__'__t __have __kidnapped __her __if __she __wasn__'__t __of __some __importance __in __the __grand __scheme __of __things._ That thought gave him pause and he looked at his timeline again. His trip to Arkham had shown that Dr. Wolfe was Crane's doctor, and had been for a good while – the longest record before her coming had been 5 days – and apparently from the Rogues he had managed to talk to in their cells, Crane had said, after the first day, that Wolfe had been his student.

Wolfe and Crane would have known each other on a personal level then, if the fact that Crane had held himself back from scaring her off was anything to say about it. That brought up the thought that, if Crane refused to scare her off, then Joker – who had been trying to get Crane's reaction for years now – would have taken Wolfe.

That explained her importance…especially if Crane truly did call her 'child' all the time and the other Rogue Gallery members seemed to believe that Crane had laid a claim to her.

Bruce Wayne paused at that thought and stared at his timeline in a small amount of horror.

The video…

…Crane's declaration…

…'damaging the only thing I cared to claim'…

Bruce Wayne, infamous playboy, head of Wayne Corporation, also known as Batman to the members of the Underworld, had put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Alondra Wolfe, the only thing that Crane had cared _enough__for_ to claim, had suffered at the hands of Joker and her suffering had been videotaped and sent to Scarecrow who had then declared war.

Batman was fairly sure that not even _he_ had seen the true extent of Crane's criminal potential. "Joker, what have you _done_?"


	16. Chapter 16 The REAL Chapter Sixteen

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the late update, but I believe that what was written was something that could make up for it, seeing as to how it is my longest chapter posted in a while.

I have been having problems writing this chapter and I needed some kind of inspiration. As such, I have you readers to thank for helping me get this chapter out. For you see, I went back to my reviews and I started to reread them. You will have to thank naturally morbid and her review way back in chapter 3 for giving me the idea on what to do with this chapter.

I must admit that I should have thought of this sooner because no doubt many of you would be curious as to the history between Alondra Wolfe and Jonathan Crane. Thanks to naturally morbid, I have only _just now_ realized this. However, due to this realization, this chapter will mostly be a flashback and it WILL be long.

Without further ado I give to you Chapter Sixteen of Apprentice.

**Random Fact:** Average word count for this story is 1,531.

* * *

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

Chapter Sixteen

"**You are a fool."** = Scarecrow talking to Jonathan

Timeline of Events:

Joker's breakout: 5 weeks and 2 days

Jonathan's breakout: 13 days ago

Time Alondra has been in Joker's 'care': 15 days

* * *

There was no time to waste; there was _never_ any time to waste. Not with how things were now. So far, nothing had turned up. **"Why all the fuss over one girl?"** Jonathan paused and looked to his left to see the old, dusty mirror that was leaning against the wall. In it, he could see Scarecrow, not himself, in its image. **"I can understand why Joker would take her, but I can't understand why **_**you**_** would go through all this trouble."** Jonathan walked over towards the mirror and leaned against the end table that was a few feet from it. "I suppose that you wouldn't understand." Half the time _he_ didn't understand either. "The best way I can explain this, is that looking at her is the same as looking in a mirror." Looking at Child made it feel as if they were the same side of a coin.

Two-Face would have been more than happy to hear that.

Scarecrow tilted his grotesque face to the side slightly. A sign that he was thinking about that little bit of information. **"The same **_**side**_**, Johnny-boy?"** Jonathan nodded. "Yes, the same side." Scarecrow shook his head slowly, his mouth twisting into a parody of a smile. Even to Jonathan Crane, self-proclaimed Master of Fear, it was a cruel smile, one that was capable of sending small shivers down _his_ spine. **"No, **_**she**_** is what **_**you**_** could have been."** Scarecrow's smile turned into a hair-raising grin before he turned his back to Jonathan in the mirror, a clear sign that, no matter what it was that Jonathan did, Scarecrow wouldn't answer.

Frowning at that, Jonathan turned his attention back to his current project and started off towards it. It would need to be finished now before more time passed and the chances of getting her back alive and _sane_ went down to zero. He knew Joker, that damnable clown wouldn't kill the girl, not before he got a chance to rub his 'art' into Jonathan's face. That was just how the clown was and he had no intention of letting Child stay in his presence more than necessary.

But where was the clown's base? It really shouldn't have been this hard to find. Speaking of bases, Child would have appreciated the place that _he_ had chosen as a base. After all, it was in her own family's home where her apprenticeship had started. Yes, he could remember THAT particular day rather clearly.

_It was raining, which seemed to be the normal mood of the universe whenever Dr. Crane and Alice Johnson always ended up running into each other. Today was no different really, just another boringly bland rainy day in Gotham._

_At least, that's what it should have been._

_The University had let out for the winter and the ending of a semester was in sight. For the arrogant little snots-I mean educated people with an admirable amount of ambition in their lives, the semester had already ended. For a few people, they would never be returning to Gotham University for the sole reason that they failed or because they were dropping out. Few would have completed their intended major to whatever degree they wished, and as such, it was just another rainy day in winter. In the morning all the roads would be iced over and people all over the city would be having a rather _fun _time in getting to wherever they needed to go with the roads in that type of condition._

_Either way, it was a rainy winter day, though one would have thought it was night with how dark and cold it was. The more sensible people were inside laughing over hot chocolate and eggnog or staying warm in their homes due to the weather. Jonathan Crane wasn't any different, but instead of hot chocolate or eggnog, he was calmly drinking – he would _never _be caught _sipping_, it was far too…_impolite_ – a nice, warm cup of tea – coffee wasn't exactly filling on a cold day such as this – and reading a rather interesting book on the human brain when there was a rather loud banging sound at his door._

_Unlike many people in Gotham City, Jonathan lived in a house that had a basement attached to it. It gave him much more freedom to do as he pleased and gave him the pleasure of not dealing with nosy neighbors should anything go wrong. He was a man of science after all, and in the name of experiments, things were, naturally, going to go wrong._

_Getting up from his rather comfortable spot on his rather comfortable chair, Jonathan made his way to his front door, carefully grabbing his experimental formula. It didn't have the effect he wanted, but it would be enough to cause the person at the front door to pause if this was an intended robbery. He wasn't naïve enough to believe that no one would bother him in this area. Crime was _always _right around the corner. So it was rather understandable why he paused at the door when he opened it. Tilting his head to the side slightly, Jonathan looked at the pathetic being on his doorstep. "Child, shouldn't you be at home?" It was…rather _odd _to have a student knowing where it was that he had lived…then again, he _had _told her where he lived, should she need to talk to him over the break. Seeing as to how he had left it as an open invitation, he took a step to the side and held the door so that she could enter his adobe._

_Child was slightly hunched over and if she wasn't dripping in ice cold water would have been the poster child for a child that was receiving a lecture from a parent and was feeling guilty. It was a tell-tale sign that something was wrong, and the way she hesitated before entering merely furthered the suspicion. "I'm rather surprised that you didn't bring an umbrella with you." He commented casually as he closed the door and Child merely took a step to the side and shifted on so carefully to keep him in the corner of her eye while she moved her left arm to grip her right arm._

_Jonathan's eyes narrowed slightly at that movement. She was right handed and as such, it should have been the other way around. "I'm assuming you'll want a towel." Child nodded and shuffled her feet. It was clear that she had turned her gaze to look at the floor…as if she were ashamed or nervous about something. Soon enough she would tell him, and he wasn't going to push her buttons…yet. Turning, Jonathan walked down the hall and into the bathroom where he kept the towels on a neat little shelf and grabbed it before pausing and then going back into the hall and opening a closet door before grabbing a small blanket and then going over towards his impromptu guest who was still standing by the door…but at least now she was acting her age and looking around._

_Of course, the moment she caught sight of him, she ducked her head, but not before he caught the sight of the colorful bruise on the side of her face. "Thank you." Child muttered as she took the towel and dried off her dripping hair before wrapping it around herself and letting Jonathan drape the blanket over her shoulders. Oh don't mistake the actions, it wasn't a _tender_ act, but merely one he normally did on the days her tormenters decided to pull a prank that left her soaking wet, freezing, or humiliated. Turning, Jonathan went back to his chair, marked his spot in the book, and placed it on the end table._

_If Child followed the normal routine of theirs, then she would soon ask for – "Would it be alright if…?" She shrank in on herself and the left hand darted out, grabbed the edges of the blanket, and clumsily pulled it tighter around herself. "Of course." The request was already in mind long before she had spoken as he got up and walked over towards the kitchen and went through the motions of making her tea. Had they still been on university grounds, he would have assumed that her tormentors had taken their 'fun' to another level, but this wasn't school grounds, so they couldn't have done the actions that brought Child to his door._

_**She's hiding something.**__ Well of course she was, her actions said _that_ rather clearly, now didn't it? Scarecrow huffed in the back of his mind. __**She's far too used to being tormented. You noticed this.**__ Yes, that had been the oddity of the situation. Children normally complained rather loudly if they were being mistreated by their peers, yet this child hadn't and had even gone so far as to try and lie about how the events had happened. __**Ring any bells?**__ Oh it rang _plenty_ of bells, but he didn't have any proof. He would need concrete proof before anything was done, and even then there might be a few things bound to go wrong because of how often they visited._

_Making the tea and walking back into the living room, Jonathan handed her the cup and resumed his seat. "I'm not…inconveniencing you, am I?" Child asked as she looked up at him for the first time that night and fully exposed the fist-shaped bruise to his icy blue gaze._

She was a rather odd child, even back then. The only difference between now and then was that Child was now baring her fangs at people and he had overheard a few guards muttering about how a doctor could finally handle themselves around the patients. "Should I pity Joker if that's the case?" Scarecrow turned his attention to Jonathan from the mirror. **"Pity him after his throat gets ripped out."** Joker was a nuisance that needed to be taken care of once and for all. Jokerland being gassed had created a rather large stir in Gotham City and the fact that both parties were making pot shots at each other didn't alleviate the growing fear people were feeling. One nuisance criminal on the loose was bad enough, but two? With both after the other's throat? Things were about to become bloody.

Jonathan glanced over at Scarecrow before jotting down a few notes and then going back to modeling a new canister for his lovely fear toxin. "I'd rather turn him into a vegetable and leave the throat ripping to Child." After all, _she_ was the wolf. Scarecrow merely grinned at him. **"Perhaps, perhaps not, we'll just have to see how things play out once you find them. Well, **_**if**_** you find them."** Jonathan glared at his alter ego. "If not for her willingness, the chances of us becoming what we are today are rather slim."

"**If not for her, we wouldn't even **_**be**_** in this mess."** Scarecrow pointed a cruel finger at him to make his point clear. "Yes, that's true." Jonathan turned back to his new canister and screwed a needle into the top carefully. "But that does not mean that her input into my experiments hasn't brought about grand results." Scarecrow snorted at that. **"The girl is useless beyond being a lab rat. Just **_**why**_** did you feel the need to walk her back to this place that day?"** Jonathan paused in his tinkering of something great. "Like I said, she is my reflection." Scarecrow hissed from the mirror. **"And like **_**I**_** said, she is what you **_**could**_** have been."**

_The rain had slowed to a sprinkle by the time Alice stood up and started for the door. "It was…pleasant talking to you, sir." She gave him a mockery of a smile – the only type of smile that she was capable of if she bothered with it at all – and opened the door. Standing up, Jonathan walked up and easily pushed the door closed before the girl could leave and then looked down at her – which was easy to do given the fact that he was 5' 9" and she was only 5' 5". Child had a startled look on her face and there was a touch of fear there as well. Normally such a sight would have encouraged him to seek out the rest of the fear for his experiments and for some documentation, but this time, he didn't feel that need. "Even in this part of Gotham there are dangerous people on the streets." The yellow eyes just stared at him before blinking and then Child nodded before taking a step back and letting him lead the way out the door._

_Jonathan Crane never was one to just come right out to say something._

_It was rather startling at just how _many_ alley roads Child took just to get to her residence and the further they went, the clearer it became that she was from the less than well off area of Gotham. If one followed the map of Gotham – or if one had a mental map of Gotham in their heads like Jonathan Crane did – then one would know that Child was leading the way to the poorer middle class region of Gotham and occasionally dipped into the Narrows to shorten the route. It was now understandable as to why she had been soaking wet when she had arrived at his door. "You remembered the route." Child glanced back at him and gave him that mockery of a smile._

_Of course she remembered the route. Gotham wasn't a safe place to be, regardless of the time of day…unless one lived in the upper areas of the city where the police made daily patrols._

"_There." Child stopped under a broken streetlamp and nodded to the house directly across from her. It was a normal looking house for this type of area, but something about it made it feel…uneasy. Child looked up at him and then quickly turned her gaze to her feet and shuffled uneasily, her left hand moving to grab her right. Personal space was a prized possession between the two and it was the main reason why Jonathan never grabbed her…until now. His hand flashed out and gripped her right arm in a firm grasp, but it was enough to draw a pained hiss from the wolf-like child and Jonathan back tracked so that they were hidden in the shadows of an alley. "I know the signs better that you think, Child."_

_Yellow eyes looked up at him and for the first time since they met and he had helped her in that hallway, they were full of suspicion and caution. "I don't know what you're talking about." An automatic response that flew from her lips, no doubt from countless repetitions. Jonathan tightened his grip and moved the arm in his grasp a few inches upwards and a muffled shriek reached his ears. "Do _not_ lie to me." She was the only student in his class that showed a true interest in the subject of Psychology and even seemed to be interested in __psychopharmacology and if her interests stayed true, he just might end up seeing her at Arkham in the near future._

"_I _don'tknow_ what you're _talking_ about." Yellow met blue and the blue narrowed._

"**Yes, you pushed her buttons that day."** It wasn't odd in the slightest to know that Scarecrow knew what it was that Jonathan was thinking about at a time like this. **"What are you working on over there?"** Scarecrow craned his neck to look at the table filled with knickknacks and other seemingly random things. Jonathan felt a small amount of amusement pop up in his chest. It was entertaining to know that there were some things that Scarecrow wouldn't know about him. "There is a new formula that I wish to test." He looked over at his reflection. "I wonder what Joker's worst fear is." Scarecrow grinned and laughed at that. Now THIS was more like it!

_It had been more than enough to make his blood boil. Child had insisted that it wasn't as bad as she was making it sound, but Jonathan understood the need to downplay the situation. The girl didn't know about his experimentations, and he really had no need for the girl to know, so he sent her on an errand, he couldn't even recall what it was at the moment, which pointed out just how pointless it was, and he made himself comfortable in Child's home. She had let him in after he had reassured her that he merely wished to talk to her parents – in a sense, that was actually true._

_Everything was going rather smoothly, the feel of the burlap mask in his hands was comforting. He was only doing this as a way to free himself of some past feelings. He saw how Child acted and it was like looking in a mirror. The way she looked at her torments when she believed no one was looking, the calculating look she had when he caught her in the chemistry lab after curfew, and the way she held herself in school, all of it left the bitter taste of memory in his mouth and if this would make sure that the reflection stopped _being_ a reflection, then so be it._

_It was pathetically easy to reassure the damnable pigs that entered the house a few minutes later that he merely wished to talk about how their daughter was doing. If it was possible, his blood boiled just that much more when he had to listen to how they described Child: insufferable, mindless, no ambition, careless, and irresponsible. He had really only meant to use just a little bit of his experimental gas, but he found himself standing over the two squealing pigs, the burlap mask over his face, and the gas quickly dissipating out the window and-_

_Something creaked and when he looked over, Child was standing in front of the door, said item closed behind her, and she was just…watching her parents scream their little heads off before she looked at him, yellow eyes wide and he was starting to get the vague thought that he just might to gas her when she said four wonderful words. "How'd you do that?"_

_It would be the start of a wonderful relationship for Master and Apprentice._


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note:** Yes, the last chapter could, technically, be considered just another filler, but at least it's another insight into how the whole thing started and why this war is going on as it is. I will be continuing the plot a bit more in this chapter, so don't worry your pretty heads off, my dear readers.

With that in mind, here is Chapter Seventeen of Apprentice.

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

Chapter Seventeen

* * *

Timeline of Events:

Joker's breakout: 6 weeks

Jonathan's breakout: 2 weeks and 4 days ago.

Time Alondra has been in Joker's 'care': 20 days

* * *

What day was it? Was the room a square or a rectangle? Alondra was lying on the floor of the white room and looking at the ceiling. The light bulbs were on the walls, very much like Arkham. Was she in Arkham? Alondra blinked at that. If she was, then had everything else been one bad dream?

Lifting a hand up, she stared at it and then flipped it so that she was looking at her palm and then her eyes travelled down to look at her arms where the scars crisscrossed in random patterns. Was it a pattern or just scars? Would it fade with time or was it burned in?

Shuddering at a sudden rush of cold wind, Alondra dropped her arm as she felt herself get dragged out by…someone. Where was she again? Looking around at the walls, she had to assume that this wasn't Arkham. The walls didn't look right, so it couldn't be Arkham…or could it? It could be a new wing that they had installed, so she wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

"Well looky here! If it isn't our guest of honor?" She was dropped to the floor and her head bounced off the cement floors, making stars briefly come to her eyes before she tilted her head up to look at Joker. She knew his voice from anywhere, especially after all the time that had been spent with him. "Joker…I'd say it's nice to see you, but I'd be lying." Why was she defying him again? It didn't matter at the moment right now, not when she was facing him and most likely going to suffer for this later. But it was just something familiar and it when around Joker; it was always a good idea to cling to something familiar.

Joker smiled down at her before happily walking over towards her. "Guess what, Wolfie! I'm going to dismiss that comment of yours because today we're getting a friend back!" He laughed and gave a small dance. The world was just starting to look that much better for Joker. Alondra gave a slow blink. "Let me guess, Harley." Who else would he be so happy to have running around this place? "You got it! No wonder why the Strawman keeps you around. You get questions right the first time around." He tapped his chin and paced just a foot above her head. "Hmm, you know Strawman before he became the Strawman, so that means you know how to make his Bunk."

"He kept that to himself." Alondra watched him. "I merely provided the lab rats and took notes." She didn't like where this was going all too much. Joker crouched down so that she didn't have much choice but to look up at him. "Oh really? But you're still good with chemicals and stuff, right? Oh course you are, Spooky wouldn't have kept you around if you weren't!" He cackled as if it were some kind of joke and the goons joined in rather quickly. Apparently they feared Joker if he caught them not laughing with him.

"Your point?" Alondra blinked slowly at him. Joker grinned down at her. "You see, Wolfie, you're going to make me something like what Spooky has, only instead of screaming I want laughing!" Alondra just stared at him. "What about Harley?" Joker grinned. "We're going to test that gas on them, so hurry up and make it. We're getting Harley in five days!" That should be more than enough time for the girl to make the stuff. "Just laughing, right?" Laughing gas large amounts? That should be a rather simple equation to work out…but getting the chemicals and then making sure that she got it right would take a while.

"Nah, I want their faces to get twisted into a smile once the gas is done working! Chop, chop, you have five days!" Joker bounced to his feet and started off. "I'll need more than that." It spilled out of her mouth before she could stop it. Stopping in his happy walk, Joker stalked over and crouched above her. "What was that?" He growled out. Alondra merely watched him. He had slashed up her arm and had barely allowed one of the goons to kidnap a doctor to see to it, so really, what was the worst he could do besides that? Kill her? "I'll need more than five days. If you want this gas, I'll need a few things and five days would eat up a lot of time in just _getting_ the right items." The goons shifted uneasily in the background. No one was supposed to argue with the Joker. "And just how much time would you need?"

Alondra's eyes unfocused as she thought about it. "Laughing gas would be easy to make, but I'll need to test it to make sure. Freezing the facial muscles will need a lot more, not sure what to use, Botox? No, no, that wouldn't-" Joker rolled his eyes at her mumbling before waving at the goons and getting to his feet…and then giving a sharp kick to the girl's shoulder and listening to the rather hoarse scream she made as she curled up. "Next time we chat, I want an answer and a list." Turning on the balls of his feet, Joker turned and started off. Pft, doctors! They always had to go into mumbled rants! It reminded him a bit of the Strawman and how he got whenever he had found something particularly interesting or had something new on his mind.

…Now that he thought about it, Spooky hadn't been mumbling as much after Wolfie came around. Was that what happened in their little meetings? Mumbled ranting just to make sure that things didn't get jumbled up in their heads? Ha! And they called HIM crazy! Joker let out a peel of laughter at that thought. He was getting inside Spooky's head and now that he had the perfect grunt, he could have another trademark that would make everyone realize just who it was that was stalking the streets of Gotham!

That brought a frown to his face. Lately a few of his goons have been dropping like flies and getting taken in by GCPD. He hadn't seen the news lately, but his goons here had told him enough. Strawman wasn't sitting back and waiting things out. No, he was getting rid of Joker's henchmen and leaving them…well, _some_ of them for the cops to pick up. The others…well; everyone knew what Spooky did when he had a new idea for some kind of new gas.

Perhaps he should take after the Strawman and show him that he wasn't going to stand for this kind of behavior? Yes, that would be a good idea. After all, this was, technically, a war and he wasn't going to let Spooky be the only one throwing around punches and attacks. But first things first, he would need Harley. Why? Because that girl knew how the best way on how to attack someone. Yes, that would work just nice. Harley could distract Strawman and Joker would be busy prodding the Wolfie along and making sure that she made his present correctly! After all, it would be a rather poor way of getting back at Spooky if he couldn't show him just what it was his _darling_ doctor came up with.

Ooh! Perhaps THAT was why Strawman was doing this! He was just like him! Joker cackled at that as he bounced along into the main room of the place that was serving as his hideout. Who would have thought that Strawman would have picked Joker as his role model! Thinking about it, Joker grinned. Perhaps all this was to just get his attention! Yes! No! Spooky looked rather mad on the one time he had bothered to watch the news after kidnapping the girl.

All well, it wasn't something he needed to think about right now.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note:** I know that some of you might have been disappointed at how…short my last chapter was in comparison to the Chapter 16. I can understand, but my writing style merely needs most of this to be made up of rather short chapters. A chapter with the same length as Chapter 16 won't be happening for a while or at all. It would really just depend on what I need to put in each chapter in other to get everything the way that I need it to.

Also, my absence from the site and the story was for two reasons:

1. The sudden deletion of stories. I was unsure if Apprentice would fall under the category of one of the stories that would be deleted and had opted to just sit and wait. Why should I continue to make more chapters if the story itself will just be deleted?

2. College. My summer vacation had ended and it was not an easy adjustment going from high school to college – I'm sure some of my readers are shocked at that little revelation – and as such, real life takes precedence over entertainment.

Now that those issues have been addressed, I will be leaving you alone to the long awaited Chapter 18 of Apprentice.

* * *

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

Chapter Eighteen

"**Bold"** = Scarecrow talking inside of Crane's mind

Timeline of Events:

Joker's breakout: 7 weeks and 3 days.

Jonathan's breakout: 4 weeks (28 days).

Time Alondra has been in Joker's 'care': 30 days

* * *

If one was in the countryside or in a forest and heard nothing, no birds, no crickets, it was the only warning of a predator on the prowl nearby and to be on guard. When in the city, it was harder to determine such a thing, but easy to know what to look for. For instance, in a place where people in a routine – forced or otherwise – suddenly became quiet and wore long, thick clothing on a hot day – for that would really be the real time where one would notice long clothing as out of the ordinary – then it was best to duck your head and appear not worth attacking…provided that you weren't the intended target in the first place. The meaning of this is simple: when a group of people that are normally loud, suddenly aren't, be on guard in the city.

In the Narrows, where dormant instincts from the long dead ancestors of the human race were brought up to just beneath the surface, one didn't need to look around at the people in order to know when trouble was coming. The people of the Narrows could smell it, feel it, hear it, taste it, it was thrumming through their bodies and they were staying close to the only safe areas in the Narrows which was, ironically, the alleys, lighting up trashcans with dancing flames and staying in large groups in order to deter the danger that they knew was coming.

Tonight though, it wouldn't do them any good.

People in clown masks, clown face paint for those that didn't wear a mask, and clown outfits were storming the streets, looking for the biggest crowd to test the newest toy that Joker had just gotten. "Over there." A flame thrower was lifted up and was aimed at the citizens of the Narrows. Instead of flames, however, an acid green colored gas came out shot towards the homeless citizens as they screamed and scrambled over each other in order to get away.

Their actions did nothing to save them.

Those that inhaled the gas fell down and started laughing, a wide grin coming over their faces, their eyes widening as they fell to the floor, clutching their sides. "Looks like it works." One of the other clowns snorted before pulling out a knife and stalking over towards the nearest guinea pig. "Only one way to find out for sure." He grunted out as he quickly slit the throat and then watched as the grin froze before slowly fading to just a small, Mona Lisa smile. "Time to draw straws!" The only way they would ever get around to telling Joker the back news was through pulling straws. The man with the short straw told the bad news.

One of the men walked towards the head grunt but paused and wrinkled his nose. "The hell's that smell?" This was the Narrows where it was better to just smell something and not ask questions, especially if you were new to them. If you were an experience person living in the Narrows, then you would know exactly what each scent was, what it meant, as well as the general location of where to find the largest amount of it. This smell on the other hand, was new, and new smells never boded well for anyone in the Narrows.

The other grunts started to sniff the air and they scowled, some putting a hand over their nose and swatting at the air in front of their face in a futile attempt to make the smell go away. "Don't know, don't care, let's just-" His words cut off with a loud terrified scream as he stumbled backwards, clawing at the air in front of him. "Stay away from me!" Similar reactions were happening with the rest of the goons.

Stepping out of the shadows, Jonathan Crane merely looked down at the clowns carefully. He had seen the new gas and really, was Joker that much of a moron that he wished to use chemical warfare tactics within Gotham? If the GCPD didn't catch the clown, Batman would, and regardless of who caught the clown, Jonathan would be the one that would…throw the last punch. Scarecrow laughed inside his mind. **"Because you wouldn't be 'getting the last laugh', am I right?"**Sniffing once with disdain, Jonathan gracefully stalked over the fallen goons until he was next to the one that held the straws, the one that seemed to be the one calling the shots. Pulling on his new glove, he knelt down next to the man and quickly injected him with the antidote.

It didn't take long for the man to come out of his high. "If you attempt to hit me, I will give you a fatal dose of my toxin." Jonathan calmly drawled out and couldn't help but join Scarecrow in feeling the satisfaction of watching the fear be replaced with terror. Oh how he had missed this feeling when he had been locked up in Arkham and experimenting. "I won't, I swear I won't! I'll give you whatever you want, just don't give me another dose!" Ah, the things that could be accomplished when fear was the motivation. Normally he would savor the feeling…and maybe put his victim under again, just to make it clear that he wasn't jok- _playing_, that he wasn't _playing_. **"My, my, Johnny-boy, having a hard time with the thoughts, aren't you?" **Moving his gloved hand slightly – just enough for the grunt to notice it – Jonathan flexed his right hand slightly. "Tell me, how is Joker?"

"Pissed as hell about what you did to his playground. Made his pet bitch scream." Not surprising, Joker was an abusive cad and wouldn't be content with restraining his anger when he had the perfect punching bag within easy reach. Tilting his head to the side, Jonathan carefully listened to his surroundings. As the Master of Fear, he was well used to the sounds of screaming and as such, could easily tune them out. It had been a poor idea to step into an open alley like this, but he had needed some information that only a grunt of Joker's would be able to provide. "I'll have to cut our session short, it seems." He turned his attention back to the grunt, who was looking slightly relieved. "I have a message for Joker." The grunt didn't even have time to blanch as Jonathan grabbed the man's jaw with his left hand, pried the man's jaws open and with carefully practiced movements of his right hand, shoved a capsule down the man's throat before stepping backwards into the shadows.

When Batman or the GCPD showed up, the goons would be whimpering in fear while the grunt would be found dead. The cause of death would be cardiac arrest and blood tests would only prove that Gotham was in a war zone.

* * *

Commissioner Gordon sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. The Medical Examiners had just taken away the most recent dead body since this whole 'war' – in his opinion, it was more of one really bad dispute – had started. "What's the body count up to now?" He asked, not even looking over at Officer Davis when he came up to him. "Fourteen clowns dead via Fear Toxin, ten civvies hospitalized from Fear Toxin, twenty-four civvies hospitalized from Joker's Laughing Gas, and five officers down." Officer Davis recited off of a list. Gordon sighed and shook his head. "This brings up the casualties to what, seventy-four now?"

"Yes sir…should I light the Bat Signal for you, Commissioner?" Commissioner Gordon could feel his headache turn into a migraine. "Yes. We need Batman's help on this one." Sure they already had the man's help, but it had been 'unofficially' and with all the bodies, dead, wounded, or otherwise, they would need the man's help 'officially'. Turning, Gordon walked off towards his patrol car. Ever since that broadcast twenty-two days ago, everyone had been jumpy and battle-ready. However, the real 'fighting' had only truly started three days ago when five Joker Goons had been found in an alley – flinching from everything – with smiling hobos – smiles that didn't look natural at all – and one dead Joker Goon.

Forcing his jaw to unclench just enough so that he wasn't grinding his teeth together, Gordon sat down in his patrol car, turned on the ignition, and then headed off for the station. His day couldn't get any worse. "All available personnel, report to Narrow Avenue and Michelle Street, shots fired! Possible sighting of Scarecrow in the vicinity." He had to tempt fate, didn't he? Flicking on the sirens, Commission James Gordon spun the patrol car around in an impressive display of automobile skill and roared down the street.

Hopefully he would arrive just in time to save a few innocent lives. "Batman, you better catch one of them soon." At this rate, the police would only be able to offer themselves as a citywide clean-up crew.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Normally I would not put this sort of thing at the bottom of a chapter, but I have to say something so some importance. This chapter ended up longer than I had thought it would be. It would seem that my break from Apprentice has helped me in writing this chapter, for this is the fourth attempt at writing this and it is finished. As such, feel free to show your gratitude at my hard work because this was almost as difficult as writing a full essay for College.

As sad as I am to say this, but Apprentice is getting close to the end.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note:** I shall assume that, after such a long time most of my readers had believed that Apprentice was discontinued or that I had left fanfic due to the purges and were surprised to see Chapter 18. I cannot guarantee that I will put this chapter out directly after it, but seeing as to how I am approaching the first break of the year, the chances of this chapter being posted soon are…rather high.

I make no promises. With that now out in the open, I now give you Chapter 19 of Apprentice.

* * *

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

Chapter Nineteen

"**Bold"** = Scarecrow talking inside of Crane's mind

Timeline of Events:

Joker's breakout: 2 month and 3 days.

Jonathan's breakout: 1 month and 3 days

Time Alondra has been in Joker's 'care': 1 month and 6 days

* * *

Reclining backwards in his chair, Jonathan Crane merely looked over his map of Gotham. Joker was the most comfortable in the Narrows, but had clearly shown that he would move into the middle and upper areas of Gotham City in order to get what he wanted done…provided that it fit with his agenda and woe to the nearest person if it wasn't.

He had to give it to the clown; he was smart enough to record his session with Child in a room that wouldn't give anything away about the economic status of the area he was in. As it was though, it was just another reason out of a list of reasons to hate him just that much more. **"Tsk tsk, Johnny-boy, you're forgetting something important~"** Scarecrow had been in a rather good mood as of late, most likely because of the new toxin he had been testing on the grunts and goons that Joker kept sending out into the city as a means of sidetracking them.

Slowly spinning the chair around, Jonathan merely looked at his reflection where Scarecrow was seen crouching down on top of the desk and staring back, head tilted slightly to the side and arms just dangling down in front with a slight sway to them. A bit like how he had seen a few of the wilder patients act when he had still been running Arkham and perfecting his toxin. "And what, would that be?" Scarecrow had…partially sang out the words, which was a good indicator of his alter ego's mood: highly amused and highly entertained.

The grotesque face just curled its lips into a horrifying grin before slowly raising the right hand, the hand that now sported the needles filled with the unstable liquid formula of the Fear Toxin, and pointed the index finger – or perhaps it would be index _needle_? – at the map. **"Tsk, tsk, Johnny-boy, I thought you would have picked up on it before I did."** Following the direction of the needle-finger, Jonathan looked at the map and tilted his head slightly to the side. He could feel that something was off about it, long before Scarecrow had pointed it out to him just now, but that didn't change what it was that seemed…wrong, missing, _off_.

Standing up from the chair, he stalked around the desk, icy blue eyes never leaving the map. Joker would have sent the goons and grunts out far enough so that he wouldn't see or hear the outcome, but he would have kept them close by for a quick report. Radios were easily hacked, especially since the Bat Signal had been spotted in the sky two or three nights ago, he hadn't been keeping track of the Bat much now. Scarecrow was doing that for him while he focused on thinning Joker's ranks, figuring out where he was hiding, and creating a new toxin in order to torment the clown with once he got his hands on the mentally depraved, scarred _idiot_ for daring to take something that was _his_. Jonathan would have gone after Harley, to return the favor, but he- he blinked and then turned his attention back to the map.

The red dots – areas where he had come across the grunts and goons – were steadily getting closer to Arkham…and he hadn't seen it. Joker would have wanted Harley Quinn by his side for this, all of this. Now that he was out, had made sure that he wouldn't be caught easily, had a hostage to prevent GCPD from getting trigger happy once they found him, and had the Batman after him, his next move would be getting Harley out of Arkham in order to make sure that someone was around that would be able to share in the 'hilarity' of the situation with him. **"And people called **_**you**_** smart." **Turning, Jonathan went over towards his equipment, carefully pulling on the gloves and filling the needles with a new cartridge of the still not perfected liquid Toxin. **"What do you intend to do with the girl, once you have her? Use her as a bargaining chip?"** Jonathan turned to the mirror. He hadn't bothered donning a new outfit, not when his original merely consisted of a burlap mask and while it was alright, he no longer needed to hide what he truly was, so he would need…more. Something that would make it clear that he wasn't going to change, that he was…unredeemable now, and he would figure out what the new look should be once he threw Joker off of his high horse.

"He will not so easily agree to trade, but she might know where he's hiding." And with the promise of reuniting them – however shortly – as an incentive, well, he was sure that Harley would forget about the small detail of him wanting Joker's head on a silver platter. After all, she had never done well without Joker around, not since he had gotten her to join him in his mad games with the world.

Scarecrow just tossed his head back and howled out his laughter before promptly falling off the desk as Jonathan merely gathered up the rest of his needed items and left the apartment. It was time to end this game.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Yes, yes, surprise, surprise. This is mostly a filler chapter and the only reason why I am posting this now instead of adding more to it and then posting it, is because as I said last chapter, I am a college student now and as such, classes and homework are going to eat up all my time and what free time I do have will most likely be committed to staying ahead in my classes.

Readers that are not yet in college/are not in college: Trust me, staying ahead in college is a full time job, and that's not mentioning if you already have a job that provides you with a paycheck.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note:** It is currently January 18, 2013 when I have started writing this chapter, and I shall let you, my dear faithful readers keep track of how many days it has been since this was written and when it was finally posted. I am quite sure that many of you will be surprised and disappointed at how long it will take me to write this, considering that most of my chapters are short and barely above drabble length.

If you want to read my previous, unfinished and poorly written work then look up Art-Is-Eternal –this is the author's name – and I shall let you be the judge of how much my writing has improved.

On the other hand, I am sure that most of you are wondering about the theme of this story as well as how it will end. I have stated this in an earlier chapter and only one person seemed to notice it, which is alright because it was in the Author's Note and not many people read those. This story is my baby, and like all babies, it is growing and ready to move out of my home. In other words, this story is almost finished and we are soon reaching the climax of the story.

However, don't be dismayed. I will be going back in this story and doing an edit of it so that spelling and grammar errors are fixed, and so that certain things become consistent through the whole project. That and I will most likely be adding scenes to the earlier parts of Apprentice. I am sure that most of you don't truly understand _why_ Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow is going so far for one person, and I will be posting another story that will explain how their relationship started and it will include the whole _Incident_ that has been mentioned repeatedly in the first few chapters as well as to why it's such a big deal.

As it is, I have rambled enough on this Author's Note, and if you have questions, do post them in either a review or PM me. I might be a college student, but even college students need a break every now and then.

Without further delay, I now present Chapter 20 of Apprentice.

* * *

Apprentice 

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

If you have questions either post them in a review or a PM, and I shall post my answer/response in the next chapter or e-mail you back.

Chapter Twenty

"**Bold"** = Scarecrow talking inside of Crane's mind

Timeline of Events:

Joker's breakout: 2 month and 3 days.

Jonathan's breakout: 1 month and 3 days

Time Alondra has been in Joker's 'care': 1 month and 6 days

* * *

Arkham Asylum was…pleasantly quite for once. Poison Ivy merely gave a content sigh at the silence before stretching out across her bed. As long as she was compliant with the orders and 'requests' of the doctors and nurses, then she would be allowed to have whatever was deemed 'safe'. In this case, she was only allowed to have a few plants with the promise that their only uses were to keep her calm and entertained. As it was, Poison Ivy merely used them to make sure that the plants all around Arkham were being well taken care of.

Of course, the quiet of the night was shattered when someone started to cry out of nowhere. Sighing softly, Poison Ivy turned her attention over towards the sound of the sobbing. "Harley, dear, it's been two months, surely you don't miss him that much now?" The others would start shouting soon, so she only had, maybe, three minutes before the others started to make the matter worse. Harley just sniffled. "But Red, that's the whole _point_!" Harley just couldn't help it. "Mistah J's out there all alone! With Batman and the police and even the _professa_ out there after him, how can I not be worried?" It was all over the news. One would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to have heard about how there was a new type of Fear Toxin and with each Joker Goon taken down, the effects seemed to become more and more damaging to the victim…and Batman didn't have an antidote.

The last part no one was sure of, beyond the fact that Commissioner Gordon had made a statement saying that all the Joker goons that had been found had been dead with high levels of a new form of Fear Toxin in their blood…and that automatically translated into "this form is highly dangerous and everyone infected with it has died from it." If one had a lover out on the streets, and said lover happens to be a criminal that has had the GCPD and Batman repeatedly after them, this fear was understandable.

Harley let out another wail and someone swore loudly. "Har-_ley_!" Edward was, for once, raising his voice against the woman. "It's what, midnight? Some of us would like to _sleep_." Penguin squawked out. Poison Ivy sighed. "Boys, go back to sleep. I'll deal with Harley." Harley was sniffling and crying a bit more now. Apparently having her 'frenemies' yell at her was a bit too much.

"Harley-" Poison Ivy was cut off by an explosion, a rather loud one that rocked the whole building. Harley squealed. "It's Puddin'! He came back for me!"

"Thank God Almighty." Another explosion, this time softer, sounded off. Poison Ivy narrowed her eyes slightly. "Where are the alarms?" They should have gone off by now. "Who cares? Joker better hurry up or the next time I see him, I'm settin' him on fire!" Penguin shouted as he grabbed the pillow and shoved it over his face. "Not before I put him into a death trap." Riddler was in a rather foul mood, something that was considerably hard to do for the normally laid back man.

"Now, now, boys, we can talk about this in the morning." When Harley wasn't able to hear what it was that they would be talking about, that is. That was the main reason for making _secret_ plots, after all. "Like that's going to happen anytime soon!" They were starting to get snappy with each other in Arkham, a zone where they had all agreed would be a 'safe zone' where they would go to and _try_ to avoid getting into fights with each other.

Fat chance of it, but they had managed to keep some sort of peace between themselves while they were here.

Ivy opened her mouth to make a smart remark as well as to try and calm Harley down when the lights suddenly went out and the screaming started, making everyone pause. Joker, while scream worthy, wouldn't be able to cause _that_ many screams, and not that high of a pitch.

Riddler tilted his head to the side. "Sounds like…fear." But that didn't make sense. He gave Ivy and Harley a quizzical look. It didn't make sense to him. Why would Jonathan break _into_ Arkham when it was well known that he hated being locked up in the place and had nothing here to come back for? Penguin just grumbled under his breath and threw his pillow at the glass door of his cell. "Then I'm going to kill Crane when he shows up!" He would kill the man with a pillow! Riddler merely shrugged. "I'll give it to the man; he certainly knows how to make a real-life horror movie."

"Then consider yourself lucky that I am not a poorly done actor." Poison Ivy couldn't help but gasp and whirl around to look down the shadowy hallway while Harley screamed, not having expected the voice to sound so _close._ Jonathan calmly walked out of the shadows, silent as a stalking cat. He wasn't wearing his burlap mask, but it was clear that it was the gas form of his signature that he had used, simply by the way that the ominous white cloud curled around his legs as it slid past him and into their hallway.

"Professa!" Harley backed away from the white cloud as it brushed against the glass of her cell and continued on past. "Crane…you're not wearing your filter." Jonathan lazily looked over towards Riddler. Penguin was staring at the white cloud with distrust, as if knowing that he had found a way to get it past the glass doors. "I don't need it." Moving a hand, Crane just watched the cloud swirl around after his hand as he waved it around over it, as if presenting a prized art piece. "This is a lower dosage than I normally make, but it'll due for what I have in mind." With that he merely stalked over towards Harley's cell and watched the girl flinch away and hurry over towards the back. "I have a deal for you, Harley."

Poison Ivy felt her eyes widen as she looked over at Riddler who just shook his head, a small smirk on his face. He should have known that the man would have his reasons for breaking into Arkham like this. That was most likely what the explosions were now that Riddler was thinking about it. It wouldn't take much to figure out where the power generators were located; take them out, while also filling Arkham full of Fear Toxin bombs.

"I'm listening." What else could Harley say? She sniffled as she watched the dark haired man in front of her. His month out of Arkham had certainly done him well and she wondered what her dear Mistah J would look like. "Tell me where Joker's hiding, and I'll take you to him." Harley perked up and smiled at him. "Oh would you?" Jonathan smiled charmingly at her and Poison Ivy merely rolled her eyes. Trust Crane to still know how to charm women…despite the fact that he never seemed to be in a relationship with one.

In her personal opinion, Crane was a bit like a poisoned apple: looks good, smells good, but deadly when eaten. No one that knew him would believe that he was as harmless as he was trying to make himself look. Poison Ivy frowned when she saw something on Crane's arm. Waving her arm slightly, she got Riddler's attention and motioned to the ex-doctor's arm and tilted her head to the side with a confused frown on her face. Riddler looked at it and also frowned before shaking his head once at her.

For once, he didn't know.

"Mistah J should be in his normal spot when he's planning something big. I can give ya directions to it!" **There goes that plan, Johnny-boy. **_On the contrary, it'll go just fine with the back-up plan._ "If you give me the correct directions, I'll let you walk out of Arkham on your own." Harley gave him an insulted look. "Why would I lie about my only chance to see Mistah J?" This beat all the other plans that she had come up with in getting of Arkham!

Jonathan just gave her another one of his charming 'I'm not guilty of anything' smile and it seemed to make the woman relax and look satisfied that her point had been made. "Step away from the door while I open it, Harley. No need to have you become…infected by my toxins." Smiling, Harley happily skipped backwards as Jonathan went over towards the key pad, still as graceful as a stalking cat and easily punched in the code for her cell with his left hand.

_Soon we'll have Joker._ Jonathan watched the door open and couldn't help but feel his pulse pick up. He would get Joker's location and get Child back in one go. **Don't forget about Harley.** That was right; Harley wouldn't just stand back and let anything happen to Joker if she could do something to protect him. As it was though, Jonathan had a way to deal with Harley without there being…too many side effects.

The white cloud rushed into Harley's open cell quickly and the woman ran out of it, in the hopes of escaping the cloud. "Don't run, Harley." Jonathan spoke amusedly before he turned and started down the halls back towards his personal entry way. Harley would follow, because he had promised a free ride to wherever Joker was. **Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Johnny-boy.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note:** Currently, it is January 24, 2013 when I write this note, and while it was six days between the posting of chapters 19 and 20, I believe that this chapter, one of the last chapters that shall be posted in this story, will be done in at least a week from when I start writing. I am merely telling you, my readers, this simply because I feel as if I need to tell you.

As we can all see, my writing has grown rather well since I first started writing this and I must say that, once I post the last chapter of Apprentice I will be going back and editing ALL the chapters to make everything flow better between chapters and ideas to make it a much more enjoyable read for you.

As it is, this is officially THE longest story I have ever written and of _that_ fact I am proud of. It is rather easy for me to get bored with certain story ideas. I'm sure some of you have noticed that certain chapters seem to just drag on or be just fillers while other are interesting and entertaining.

Either way, here is Chapter Twenty-one of Apprentice.

**Author's Note #2: **As I'm sure most of you have realized, it has been over a year since I have posted a chapter. The reason for this is simple and two-fold:

1. Real life

2. Difficulty figuring out how to write Harley

Now you may believe that, because I have used Harley in various bits of dialogue in earlier chapters, that the second reason is a bit of a lie, but in all honesty, it is not. Having someone _talk_ for a _very brief moment_ is rather easy to do. Making that same person _talk and act for a whole section_, on the other hand, is a bit difficult, especially when you do not understand that person, cannot get into their head, nor understand their reason(s) for doing what they do.

Hence the reason for the yearlong gap between the posting of the previous chapter and this one. It is current September 10, 2014 when I am writing this note, and yes, I do believe that I have figured out how best to portray Harley Quinn now.

All thanks to a bit of research into the minds of female serial killers, how they are created, and why they kill.

To add to that little fact, I believe I might not have as much action on Harley's part for this chapter now that I have thought about it. If that's the case, then that means that you, my dear readers probably have another one or two more chapters left to read before awaiting the prequel or for the revamped/edited version of this.

With that said, I now finally present to you Chapter Twenty-one of Apprentice.

* * *

Apprentice

**Disclaimer:** This is just for fun and to improve my writing skills. HELPFUL CRITICISM is appreciated, welcomed, and responded to. FLAMES will be ignored.

If you have questions either post them in a review or a PM, and I shall post my answer/response in the next chapter or e-mail you back.

Chapter Twenty-one

"**Bold"** = Scarecrow talking inside of Crane's mind

Timeline of Events:

Joker's breakout: 2 month and 4 days.

Jonathan's breakout: 1 month and 4 days

Time Alondra has been in Joker's 'care': 1 month and 1 week

* * *

The ride to Joker's current hideout – a nondescript, rundown apartment building – was…interesting to say the least. Jonathan was ready to actually attack Harley with how much she was talking. All he needed was directions, but Harley insisted on talking about what she intended to do to Joker the moment she saw him.

He could live the rest of his life without having heard _any_ of that.

In fact, he was pretty sure that he would have a pissed off woman on his hands if he even hinted to her what he was going to do to Joker the moment he got his hands on the clown, but at the current moment, he couldn't quite bring himself to care for any of that.

It had taken him a little over twenty-four hours to do the following:

1. Break Harley out of Arkham.

2. Get her in the car he had managed to hotwire and no one had yet to report missing; and

3. Convince her to give him _coherent_ directions while he drove around Gotham trying to find the damn apartment building that Joker was currently holed up in.

During all of this, Scarecrow was commentating the whole of the situation, and needless to say, Jonathan was more than ready to start using his new and improved Fear Toxin on the next person that he didn't have a use for.

Hopefully, that would be Joker. If not him, then he just might use his ungloved hand to give Harley a concussion, tie her up, and leave her in the car for either Batman or the GCPD to find.

"Ooh, turn 'ere!" Jonathan swore softly under his breath, making Scarecrow laugh at the sheer _impossibility_ of his chosen phrase – **"Johnny-boy, I'm pretty sure that would make a **_**hooker**_** blush!" **– as he had to break and then turned the wheel sharply in order to be able to make the turn without making the front of the car become intimately acquainted with the corner of a building.

Jonathan was fairly certain that he would be needing the car once he got Child back and had dealt with Joker…hopefully having accomplished both objectives before someone he'd rather _not_ deal with showed up.

A glance in the rearview mirror showed him that Scarecrow was lazily lounging in the backseat, acting very much like he owned the car, and if one ignored the very much increasingly grotesque form he was becoming, one could have mistaken him for the form of a rather lazy and relaxed Bruce Wayne.

Scarecrow grinned at him, cracked, bleeding lips pulling back to reveal blackened gums with jagged teeth that were stained a dark red with small chunks of bright pink _things_ slowly dripping out. Jonathan _really_ didn't want to ponder on what those _things_ were, but his intellectual mind readily supplied with him the answer anyway.

"**Johnny, even **_**you**_** have to admit that you won't know what you're walking in on."** That was true, wasn't it? Jonathan had _done_ the math. It had been slightly over a _month_ since Joker had taken Child, and he _knew_ his Child. She was a stubborn one, had always been after he had taken her under his wing, and after she had become sure of herself. All teeth and stubbornness, ready to fight for what she had carved out and claimed as _hers_. Jonathan was very much aware that particular trait had now been curbed with a sense of self-preservation now, with caution and intelligence that would have been frightening if he hadn't already been aware of the weakness that Child possessed.

Joker, however, complicated things. As always.

Joker wasn't one to take 'no' for an answer if he well and truly wanted something. If he couldn't _charm_ someone into doing what he wished – like he had done with Harley when she had first been a newly minted, unjaded doctor at Arkham – then Joker would very much use force.

And it would have been force that Joker would have used in order to get Child to cooperate.

In the backseat, Scarecrow nodded. Pleased to know that Jonathan was following along with what he was saying. **"It might be…**_**easier**_** to overdose her."** Jonathan's hands tightened on the wheel as he had to pull to a stop in front of a red light. Just because he had stolen the car, had broken himself _and_ Harley out of Arkham didn't mean that he would have to draw _even more_ attention to himself.

Shaking his head, Scarecrow tsked at Jonathan, as if he was little more than a misbehaving child. **"You like the little wolfy. I'll admit she had fangs, but that was what, a **_**month**_** ago?"** Scarecrow rank a thick, forked, glossy black tongue over jagged teeth, mixing the dripping dark red with inky black fluid that _foamed_ out.

To be honest, it actually made Jonathan's stomach _turn_, and he had seen a great _deal_ of disgusting things in his lifetime.

Tossing his head back, Scarecrow laughed, the sound raking against Jonathan's eardrums and making him very much want to cover his ears to try and block it out. **"Oh Johnny-boy! You're so **_**amusing**_**!"** As if to test how strong Jonathan's stomach was, Scarecrow's grin _widened_, more blackish red liquid and foam dripping out, only to disappear into a haze of steam that smelled distinctly of sulfur.

"**But let's get back on topic, shall we?"** As if there was a choice, what with Jonathan being stuck in a car with an overly chatty Harley that was _still _detailing what she would do with Joker, or something that she had done in Arkham that she would be giving Joker. **"Your Child might be beyond saving. After all, Joker has that effect on certain people. When you find her, just how **_**damaged**_** do you think she'll be? Do you think you'll be doing her a **_**favor**_** if you allowed her to live?"**

Yes, Jonathan had thought about those things in the back of his mind over the entire course of this little endeavor of his. Focusing his eyes back on the road, Jonathan did his best to focus on the new series of directions Harley was giving.

Scarecrow leaned forward in his seat, leaning in close to Jonathan's ear. **"The woman you **_**knew**_** might no longer **_**be**_** the woman that you **_**find**_**, Jonathan. Are you prepared to make that choice? Are you ready to put her out of her misery if you find her too far gone for even **_**your**_** skills? To put her back together the best you can with your **_**rusted skills**_** as a **_**nut doctor**_**?"** Scarecrow hissed out, his hot breath puffing against Jonathan's ear, and the stench of it reached his nostrils, making Jonathan want to gag.

"**Are you **_**prepared**_**, Jonathan? Prepared to do what you had **_**spared**_** her from when you first tried to **_**take her apart**_**?"**

Was he? For once, Jonathan didn't have an answer, and his musing was interrupted by a happy, ear-splitting squeal from Harley as she bounced in the seat. "Oh Professa! We're _here_! We're _home_!"

Time had run out, but for who, Jonathan couldn't quite say. He both heard and saw Scarecrow settled back into the backseat. **"Show time, Johnny-boy."**


End file.

Batman Begins/Dark Knight, Friendship, Hurt-Comfort