There's Nothing To Fear | Jonathan Crane

Chapter Three- The Fearful and The Fearless

Chapter Three - The Fearful and The Fearless

Jonathan Crane lay on the worn cot in his small cell in Arkham Asylum. Hands behind his head, he stared up at the ceiling.

It was boring to say the least. Edward was usually his cell mate, but, he was on the large right now and Jonathan doubted that he was planning on getting caught any time soon. So, for now, Jonathan was on his own with nothing to do.

His boredom was interrupted by a knock on the glass wall of his cell, causing him to let out an annoyed noise and push himself into a sitting position. He raised an eyebrow at the figure.

"Commissioner? What a pleasant surprise... what do you want?"

"Pleasant as always, Crane," Gordon rolled his eyes. "I'm just going to cut right to the chase here. We found your sister."

Jonathan's smug smirk disappeared as he stared at him in shock. He didn't even know that they knew he had a sister. Was this some kind of trick? Coraline had been missing for fourteen years, the missing persons case had been closed. She had been presumed dead.

"Is she alright?" Jonathan allowed myself to ask warily, watching the surprise that crossed Jim's face at the amount of concern that laced hi voice.

"Well... yes and no. She's safe, but, she seems to be pretty beaten up, lots of scars and bruises, highly malnourished... we're not sure, but, I don't think she has any memory of before her captive life."

"You're not sure?" He repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Why don't you just ask her if she remembers?"

"She doesn't talk. She's either mute or just traumatized into not speaking. Again, I'm not entirely sure. To be honest, I figured having her see a familiar face would help. Maybe you'll be able to get her to talk." He explained, and Jonathan's eyes widened.

"What are you talking about? You're not bringing her-"

His words were cut off as the commissioner pulled a very fragile looking young woman into his line of view. She was shaking, looking down at the ground and avoiding her brother's eyes.

Jonathan jumped to my feet, suddenly put on edge. He didn't want Coraline to see him here, locked up in a mental asylum. What would she think of him? She wouldn't ever want to speak to him again! She'd think he was a lunatic-

His ramblings were cut short as Gordon opened the door, offering the entrance to the shaking young woman, who stared, rather frightened.

"Coraline? Do you remember your brother? Jonathan?" Gordon prompted, causing Jonathan to look down at the ground, ashamed.

She wouldn't remember him. Even if she did, she wouldn't want anything to do with him. He let her get kidnapped. He didn't save her. He was a felon, a criminal, a psychopath-

It took Jonathan a moment to register the thin arms wrapped around his torso, and the face burried in his chest. It made his heart flutter slightly, remembering the last day he'd seen her, the way she hugged him, like she was his hero.

"You look worried, Jonathan," Jim observed with a smirk. "One might even say... scared."

Jonathan ignored the man's words, knowing he was trying to get to him, but, all that was on his mind at that moment was his little sister, who was finally safe in his care once again.

"Thank you, commissioner." Jonathan spoke quietly, taking Gordon by surprise once more.

"I... you're welcome... if you don't mind, she'll be staying here with you until her trail against her captors. This would probably be the safest place."

"Yes that's fine." Jonathan nodded absentmindedly, pulling his sister down onto the cot, allowing her to nuzzle up against him. Jim watched the two for a moment before securing the cell door, and wandering off to discuss the girl's living arrangements with officials.

Jonathan was silent for a few moments, holding his shaking sister and petting her hair gently.

"I'm so sorry, Coraline... I never meant for anything to happen to you... I'm sorry I let them take you..."

She was quiet as he looked her over, his eyes taking in the bruises and scars on her shallow skin, the constant fearful shaking of her fingers. His blood boiled with anger as he held her closer to him.

"I won't let you down again..."

~*~*~*~

The next morning Jonathan was awoke to the sound of light knocking on the cell glass.

Blinking his eyes open, they hovered over Coraline who was sound asleep, clutching to his shirt, and then to the glass wall of the cell.

"Good morning, commissioner." Jonathan yawned calmly, watching Gordon raise an eyebrow.

"You're being uncharacteristically polite, Crane. What's the occasion?" Jim inquired, causing Jonathan to roll his eyes in slight annoyance.

"You saved my little sister and brought her back to me... I suppose I owe you."

Jim smirked at the words that were obviously a bit hard for the criminal to get out, as he avoided looking at the commissioner as he said them.

"Give up your life of crime and we'll call it even." Jim responded, causing Jonathan to chuckle lightly, shaking his head in amusement.

"Nice try, but no thanks. What did you wake me up for?"

"I just want to ask you not to try and escape with Coraline until at least tomorrow."

Jonathan blinked at him, his expression a bit perplexed at the police commissioner's words. Moving Coraline away from him slightly, he pushed himself into a seated position.

"You're giving me a date when I can escape?" Jonathan spoke in clarification, causing Jim to sigh and shake his head.

"No, I'm just asking you to not 'attempt' to escape."

"Why?" Jonathan questioned, his frown furrowing in confusion. "Why does it matter when I 'attempt' to escape? You know I will do it anyways."

"Yes, I know. But, tomorrow at eleven is Coraline's court meeting. You've been authorized to accompany her if you wish. We're working on locking up the men who held her captive." Gordon explained, to which Jonathan narrowed his eyes.

"Don't you think it's a little early to subject her to court? She's already fragile enough as it is! Don't you think having to sit in court, feet away from her captors could mess her mind up even more?" Jonathan growled, sincerely worried about his sister's mental state.

Jim shook his head, and Jonathan could see the apologetic look in his eyes.

"I understand your concern, but, we need to lock them up as soon as possible. Just make sure she's ready for the court, alright?"

Before Jonathan could reply, Jim turned and left, leaving Jonathan to look down at his sleeping sister, trying to figure out how he could fix what he had allowed to be broken.