Professor Fear (the sequel) - Jonathan Crane

Chapter 1

"Doctor Jonathan Crane, you have been invited to this court hearing to explain, from your examination, whether Adam Cleary should be legally declared insane. If so, we ask you give a statement and suggest whether he should receive medal treatment or continue his incarceration at Blackgate Prison." The judge appeared to be a greying man in his forties. New to the world of law. Perhaps a converted business man? Whatever the case, Jonathan found his suit, watch and cologne too expensive for his current line of work. It had been unpleasantly diffusing around the room since the moment he'd arrived.

"Thank you for the introduction Your Honor," Jonathan leaned into the microphone. He took a moment to cast an eye over all those present and left his gaze on the man who the court had been organised for. He was dressed in smart clothes; a buttoned up white shirt and navy blue blazer, whereas when not in court he wore the garments of Blackgate. His dirty blonde hair was tightly combed back and gelled. He'd even brushed his beard to look presentable in the court.
Jonathan cleared his throat. "I have no need to even say that it is my opinion that Mr Cleary should be brought to Arkham, He clearly displays the symptoms of dissociative identity disorder,"

"You have evidence?"

Jonathan passed over four sheets of paper tattooed in his messy scrawl. "Yes I think you'll find it all right there Your Honor,"

Adam Cleary looked up at the two men exchanging papers. He'd heard from his cellmate who had heard from an outside source that the life at the asylum would be better than life at Blackgate. Cleary himself had no history of mental illness nor history of issue in his family. His crime had been working for one of the small mob families that had been overthrown by Falcone and the mess had been cleaned up by Batman and his associate Robin.  He was told he would get paid a large sum of money if he lied to the court.
And so he did.

Jonathan Crane left the court-room and briskly made his way out of the building. Once he felt free from judgemental gaze, his solemn expression broke into a smile. He now had a strong healthy male specimen for his toxin. It was easy to convince a man with no rights to do things that the typically 'free' would refuse. However this hadn't been Jonathan's idea to carry out. He owed it to his new indirect partner in 'crime'.

"Ya tellin' me that you don't think that $2.50 is a lot for a Croissant?" The stranger asked the girl who had just ordered a croissant, black coffee and a decaf cappuccino. She looked over to him and noticed that he still had a McDonald's bag in his right palm and grease stains on his work shirt which encased his round belly.

"It's $2.50 for the whole melt in your mouth gourmet experience," She replied, shrugging. "Why are you here if you're gonna complain about it?"

"The coffee ['kawfee'] is amazin' here, best in Gotham if you ask me," The man flashed her a yellowy grin. "But you won't be gettin' that propah experience with a decaf. Ya seem too young to be worrying about caffeine,"

"You don't know the half of it," Daria mumbled at the ground. She smiled at the charismatic Kenyan barista who had placed the cappuccino, black coffee and croissant on a tray for her to take. The café had large windows which let the midday sunlight pour through in thick warm rays.  In between each of the windows were hanging baskets with plants such as ivy hanging down. The natural light made the room a slightly friendly yellow tint and the reflections of the light on the chlorophyll plants made the shadows on the opposing wall large and green. It was a sweet place. Daria took a table for two by the window furthest from the till.

"Sorry I'm..." He looked to his silver watch on his wrist, "...A minute late." Jonathan slid into the chair across from the girl whose braided hair was a glowing soft brown in the yellow sunlight. The green of her irises were strongly accented by soft pencilled black eyeliner and mascara. Her 'Moroccan jewel' earrings swayed forward emphatically when she looked up at him and smiled admiringly.
He pulled the steaming black coffee towards him. "I see you ordered for me based off of what I ordered last time, and the time before that,"

"I'm going to assume that since you're here on time everything worked out?"

"Adam Cleary is being escorted to the secure wing of Arkham this afternoon," He announced before taking a sip of the coffee while holding the saucer the way one does when exhibiting proper tea drinking etiquette – Daria noted. She then imitated a round of applause, acknowledging his success.

"It's great to see you eating," Jonathan admitted when Daria - unattractively – ripped the croissant and shoved a piece in her mouth. She began to laugh. Jonathan raised an eyebrow at her demeanour.

"God I should never eat on a date," She admitted. "And I'm laughing because you didn't see me eating this morning: I had an apple and then I had two bowls of curiously cinnamon - which I added extra cinnamon to if you really wanna know," Jonathan wasn't surprised by this. Those recovering from periods of malnutrition and starvation have to make up for starving the body of nutrients. When at her lowest Daria had rapidly lost all of the muscle, and fat, she'd built up the summer before. 

This was the third 'date' since Daria had recovered from the Scarecrow's use of the fear toxin on her.  Two months had passed. Jonathan had resigned from teaching psychology at the university in order to take full responsibility of being director of Arkham Asylum and of course while resuming as Scarecrow in his passing time as well.

"I personally prefer toast in the morning." He declared, offering a closed-mouth smile.
She loved his smile. She loved his bright blue eyes behind his rimless glasses. His dark brown hair neatly framing his head. The squareness of his jaw. The way he neatly wore a suit to work. His dark green sweater he wore on the colder days. She loved his intelligence. Crane had been awarded the title of 'doctor' at the age of twenty seven. He was fascinated by behaviour. His dissertation had been on the fear response in mammals. Jonathan told her more about his horrible grandmother and irresponsible father during the days she had stayed with him while recovering.

After a week Daria's body had expelled all of the drug from her body. However it took much longer for her mind to heal itself. Ironically fortunate for her Dr Jonathan Crane was a psychiatrist and was able to use his learnt techniques as a therapist to help her get through the difficult times.
Once deemed safe to be alone, she returned to university to finish the semester and, briefly during so, cut off Jonathan. When confronted by Ethan and April, she told them that she had fallen into an alcohol dependency which had resulted in depression. Thankfully the two believed her plight and made sure to examine her behaviour constantly to check for signs of 'relapsing'. Meanwhile, Ethan had finally asked April to be his girlfriend and she had immediately said 'yes'. 

After finishing the coffee and catch-up, the two parted ways for the day.  Daria had to go into the university to give in her work in time for graduation and Jonathan had to return to his duties at Arkham Asylum.