Batman Begins/Dark Knight 1. Chapter 1

Jonathan brushed his fingertips against the rough burlap material, tossing It from hand to hand. Juliet sat in the corner of their hideout, watching him squirm nervously.

"Will you stop that?" she snapped, irritated. "Stop worrying. We double checked everything. Three times. You're worse than Santa."

Jonathan let out a huff and stood up, throwing his mask at her in annoyance. "You know, dear, sometimes you are the most profound irritation." If only he didn't look down to the band on his left ring finger, he might have followed through with his complaint.

The haughty toss of her head was just for theatrics but she caught the look he cast toward his hand so she glanced at her own. Her glare softened, turning to an almost fond gaze with tired eyes that drooped more and more with the minute. She rubbed her fingers on the mask like he had done a few moments before.

"We only checked twice. At the very least, I'm as bad as Santa. Well, if I were a child, I might believe that." Jonathan can' believe he's engaging with the silly conversation but he's just as fatigued as she is.

"Oh, hush." She says and shoves him to the makeshift bed on the floor. "I've seen you work, you'll be fine." Juliet said, still snapping at him but without so much irritant in her voice.

Jonathan allows himself to be pushed down to the bed. He gives up and just lays there, the formulas flashing in front of his eyes as he stares up at the leaking ceiling of the abandoned building. It reminds him of something he's sen in those Transformers movies, something that he would never admit t out loud. Small sacrifices of his pride were acceptable (and an unfortunate side effect of marriage) but things such as that were unspeakable.

"Will you please just relax, Jonathan?" Juliet said, her voice steadily becoming soothing, like a quiet voice singing a familiar lullaby. He felt her hair brush over his face. It needed a wash but still made him feel more at home, like they were in a suitable house.

The weight of her body made he mattress sink down slightly. He turned his back away from her for the night, waiting for his cue. Juliet wouldn't have it. It was better to pretend.

"You're a side effect." Jonathan mumbled,just barely loud enough for her to hear.

Juliet moved closer to him. "Of what?"

"Of marriage."

"You better explain yourself in the morning."

She leaned over and kissed his temple, just as the screams of terror across the street began. Jonathan went to sleep, snoring along with a slight smile.


	2. Homecoming

Jonathan rocks back and forth on his heels while searching around himself. He was standing outside the window of his own home, still wearing he orange jumpsuit Arkham provided him, though it was considerably more torn than when he had received it.

The window was covered with the light frost of the beginning of winter, shielding the interior with a light veil that made it hard to see. He could just barely spot Juliet, curled up on the couch wearing her favorite Mickey Mouse pajama pants and an old ratty t-shirt of his. The glow of the television was shown on her skin and he knew what she was watching: the news.

Undoubtedly, there were news reports on every channel, alerting every citizen in Gotham with a television of the Scarecrow's latest escape from Arkham. He could already hear her nagging voice, urging him to be good. But he couldn't, it wasn't becoming of him.

Jonathan slunk into the backyard. It was small with dying grass, a tree, and a shed that he had turned into his lab at one point. Walking up to the back door of the house, he knocked quietly and tapped his foot as he waited for Juliet to answer.

The door flung open almost immediately and Jonathan was blinded with a fresh and painful slap to the face. Juliet didn't waste any time before pulling him inside by grabbing the front of his jumpsuit.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she said, anger bubbling over in the volcano that was his wife. "Why can't you just stay in Arkham, do your damn time so you can get the hell out and we can be together again!"

Jonathan shrunk away as she tried to assault him again. "You wouldn't understand. My work is... special." He knew he better change the subject before she thought about that too much. "Will you let me stay or am I going to have to sleep in an abandoned building tonight?"

Juliet rubbed her temples, trying to calm her senses and discontinue the lashing that she thought about giving him. "Get your ass upstairs and if the cops break down our door, I have no fault in this." Juliet growled, turning away and heading upstairs.

He knew she hated it. She hated the way he dedicated his life to fear, the way he got caught and thrown into Arkham. The first time, she cried, promising him that she couldn't wait until he did his time and it was the past. But each time he broke out, the time kept adding and adding. Juliet in no way supported his criminal activities and he knew this was tearing her apart.

Doing as she said, he followed her upstairs and changed into his own clothes for once. "In the morning, we've got to move..." Jonathan said. "Mike will find us a hideout to stay in."

"What if I decide I'm not going with you?"

"You will." She always did.

"Whatever."

He smirked, victorious. Before he woke up, there would be two suitcases by the front door, containing the essentials. She couldn't resist, no matter how hard she tried.

Under the blankets, he felt her hand search around until the iciness of her fingers found his, wrapped around his left hand. She felt for his ring to see if he was still wearing it. The day she found him without it would be the last day of his life.

"What are you planning this time?" Her curiosity got the best of her. She really didn't want to know...

"You'll see. I was hoping for a collaboration."

"Like Eminem and Rihanna?"

"What?"

Juliet smirked at the confusion that was displayed on his delicate features. "You're clueless."

"I would like to beg to differ." Jonathan scoffed, rather offended. She scoffed back at him, imitating him and shaking her head, turning her back to him.

"Goodnight, Juliet."

"Night, you fucker."


	3. Not as Smart

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything in DC or anything else, really. Sorry? **

"Attention, attention! Can't I have your attention?" Jonathan asked the woman before him, strapped down to a dentist's chair he had his minions look around for. She was stock stil, not moving him a muscle. Rigid in fear, she showed no sign of even being alive which surprised Jonathan for once. She was a fighter and had screamed until he had knocked her out with the headbutt approach, a trick he had learned from a very dear friend of his.

But even then, the moment she opened her eyes, she hadn't moved a muscle or gave a sign of fear. Jonathan doubted she had gone into submission and he wanted to break her. Around him were arrays of different toxins in syringes, vials, pellets, etc.

"I won't let you hurt me." Her voice broke through the silence that was driving Jonathan crazy and he turned to her, smiling. Of course, she couldn't see that through the burlap mask he donned on his head.

She looked so different from when he had first captured her. Her auburn hair was all over the place and her green eyes looked tired. The professional clothes she wore looked like a memory of the garments they once were. He wasn't sure what her name was... Leah? No, that wasn't it... Lana? Not that either. Lisa? Yes, that was it.

"You see, Lisa.." Jonathan began, choosing his words carefully. "I'm a man who isn't bound by the rules of society as you clearly are. I can do what I want, no matter how disgustingly inhumane you may perceive it to be."

Those bright green eyes widened as she realized she was stuck this time, honestly and truly stuck. Jonathan could practically read her as the ideas and plans flashed through her mind. "Shall we begin?" He asked.

Lisa nodded slowly, her eyebrows furrowed as she delved into her own mind, frantically trying to think of a plan to defy him. She knew it was finally all too late as the needle entered her, injecting her body with a toxin that would send her into her darkest moments and relive the things that she swore to never think of again.

For the first few minutes, she did nothing but cry. However, around the seven minute mark, she really started sobbing and struggling. Her eyes flitted to her chest where Jonathan noticed a deep scar that was about the length of his finger.

"Where did you get that?" Jonathan frowned, making note of it in his journal.

Lisa shook her head, her voice quivering. "Knife... Parking lot..." Her eyes were squeezed shut. When reopened, they were faraway and he knew there was a certain transition in her mind.

He was sure he had seen this before. Many people who had multiple traumatic experiences tended to switch between the situations back and forth. He also took note of this in his journal.

"No! Not my father!" she begged, resorting to a crying mess that was the polar opposite of the woman he had first kidnapped. "I-I'll make the call, just..." Lisa trailed off mid-sentence, her muscles tensing and relaxing rapidly as she squirmed in the restraints, her body convulsing in reaction to the toxin. It was most likely an allergic reaction to one of the chemicals in the toxin. She'd live, maybe.

"Thank you for your time, Lisa though you weren't particularly helpful in my research. You might want some cream for that scar and I'd consider counseling." Jonathan told her as he undid the straps.

Lisa ran out of the building as fast as she could, her body still twitching as she ran, her curly reddish brown hair whipping around her face in her cheap high heels.

"Well, Jack... I guess you're just not as smart as me." Jonathan whistled to himself in mid-chuckle.


End file.

Batman Begins/Dark Knight, Humor, Romance