(Don't Fear) The Scarecrow

How You Met

A/N: Realized that I probably should've done this first... oops.

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Walking into the Court Room, you steadied your breathing. It was your first case since becoming a forensic psychologist and frankly you did not want to mess it up. Especially considering that 1) it was a hard case, and 2) you were going to be going up against equally hard opposition.

Settling down in your seat, you shuffled you papers around and waited patiently for the hearing to start.

Mitchell Turner, 25 years old, convinced of kidnapping, raping, and then murdering a 10 year old girl. It sucked that you were defending such an atrocious human being, but a job was a job, and at the end of the day it came down to whether you could pay the bills.

While you waited, you observed the people coming in, paying particular attention to those on the victims side of the case. When doing so, you accidentally caught the eye of the opposing psychologist, Dr. Jonathan Crane. He was known to be ruthless in all the cases he was in, always using the same excuse for every case; that the defendant was criminally insane and should be put in Arkham Asylum for rehabilitation for which he presided over. The reasons why varied from case to case, but always the same result, he usually won them too.

You gave him a polite nod before looking down at your papers. You were fully prepared to go against everything he said. Someone like Turner didn't deserve to be put in an Asylum, he deserved much worse. You couldn't be bias though, but enough evidence pointed towards it anyways.

"All rise."

You stood up as the judge entered the room, and in the corner of your eye you could see Crane smirking at you.

You knew exactly what he was thinking, it was what everyone thought when someone new entered the game, easy. Determination flooded through you. You'd win this case, no matter what. You had all the facts laid out in your mind, and had practiced saying your speech in a way that would be understood by all those present.

Sitting back down, you give Turner a disgusted look as he attempted to wink at you. His lawyer, the one that hired you, scowled and directed Turners eyes forward.

The case started off without a hitch, and when it came to your part of the argument, you gave it flawlessly. Relieved you sat back down and let out a breath. You had specifically left out the part of the insanity plea in attempts to bait Dr. Crane, as it was his favorite thing to stake his claims on. Just because he wasn't on the defendants side didn't mean he couldn't push it on you. This was particularly dangerous, as if he succeeded, you'd lose your credibility before you even got yourself off the ground.

"I have a question for Dr. (l/n), your Honor," Crane said, standing up.

"Go ahead," the judge said with a nod.

Crane turned to you with a devilish look in his eye, "Have you considered the defendant might be insane?"

There it was, what you'd been expecting.

Standing up you clear your throat, "I had considered it, but no evidence ever supported the claim."

"So you believe that killing someone is not a show of insanity?"

Oh this clever snake, cutting right to the chase. No flowered words, nothing silver tongued, just straight forward and blunt.

"I never said such a thing," you said, raising your chin slightly.

"You client recently lost his own daughter," Crane said.

"You don't need to remind me of my own client, Dr. Crane," you reply.