Unwanted Allies- Dr. Jonathan Crane Story

Checkups, Friends & Photographs.

Lilah was still and her tired eyes were locked onto the table. Jim had been gone for awhile now, but, she was certain he wouldn't return. The look in his eyes suggested that he no longer acknowledged her as anything. To him, she was just the villain; Phobia. The name was echoing through her head, Phobia... Phobia... It was fitting she guessed, she was sure Jonathan would have liked it. Thinking of Jonathan, her brow furrowed, she wondered what he was doing. Where he was. If she had even crossed his mind. She highly doubted it. Jonathan wasn't one to dwell on past events and Batman was right about him. He more than likely was in search of a new Mistress of Fear- one that would be more useful than her.

"Knock, Knock." Turning her head to the door, she wasn't surprised to find that the doctor who was to 'assess her wounds' was Thomas Elliot. Of course it was, she just knew that Thomas would have volunteered straight away once he heard whom the Gotham Police needed to have examined. Out of concern, curiosity or simply the opportunity to mock her, Lilah would never know his exact reasoning for coming, but she didn't need too. He was here, which meant Jonathan didn't fulfil his statement and didn't 'deal with his issues.' Issues being Thomas.

"You look stunning." Thomas mocked, moving towards her with his first aid kit in hand. Lilah flexed her bounded wrists that ached from being restrained for so long,

"Care to give me a hand with these?" She cooed, her eyes fixated onto Thomas who took a seat across from her, pulling out a key that he dangled in front of her.

"I have to do my job." Thomas said, leaning forward, "Don't think I'm breaking you out." Lilah laughed,

"I'm a big girl, Tommy. I can handle myself." She smiled. Taking a small breath, Thomas stood, moving beside her and unlocking the handcuffs that fell carelessly to the ground. Rising to her feet, Lilah faced him with a smile. Thomas returned a smirk,

"I heard you went face to face with the man they call Batman." Thomas muttered, bending over to look at her ankle that was bandaged and hurt whenever she put pressure on it. "Do me a favor and sit on the table." Thomas ordered. Lilah did as she was told as he undid the bandages,

"Yes." She answered, "I thought he was a myth... or well, I was wishing he was a myth."

"As did I." Thomas replied, his eyes focused on her ankle. Turns out, the wire had cut into her flesh, causing a lot of bleeding and pain, but she supposed that Jim wouldn't allow her to take a step out of this room, so thus, Thomas was brought to her. Opening the kit, Thomas pulled out a syringe, some clean bandages and some other things that he laid out beside him in a particular order. "My, my, what have you done?"

"Batman did it." She replied. Thomas chuckled lightly,

"He did a marvellous job. The wound is infected and you more than likely won't be able to apply pressure on it for at least... three days." He approximated, "That means no walking far distances in a hurry, no running, no fighting Batman and no Jonathan Crane." He added with a whisper. Lilah shot him a glare,

"He had nothing to do with it." She lied. 

"I'm sure." Thomas replied rolling his eyes. Glancing down at his kit, Lilah noticed something- something strange even to her,

"What are those?" She asked, pointing down to a clear zip-lock bag that contained photos of different people, people she had never even seen before. On the photos, there were red circles placed on different parts of their faces. Following her gaze, Thomas picked up the bag, examining it himself before his eyes flicked to her,

"You like it?" He asked, "I've been collecting them for awhile." Peering into the bag, she saw a few people that she recognized, but the main image that stood out was that of Bruce Wayne, which had no circles at all on the photo, in fact, it was pristine.

"What are they?" She asked. Thomas watched her with a small smile before he shook his head, placing the bag back into the kit and out of view,

"Nothing for you to worry about." He smiled, his eyes flicking back down to her ankle. Pushing the thought out of her mind, she kept quiet as Thomas did his work. But in the back of her mind, those photos concerned her. However, she trusted Thomas enough to know that he would tell her if something was wrong. As Thomas finished his work, he stood upright, his eyes locked with hers,

"You need to be more careful, Lilah." He said, "Or do you prefer Phobia?"

"Call me what you like Tommy." Lilah replied stubbornly. Thomas smirked,

"Can I give you some advice?" He asked. Lilah watched him, by the tone of his voice it sounded as though she had no choice, "When you get out of here.. and you will. Lay low. Don't do anything to attract attention to yourself and stay away from Crane. I know he has a lot to do with why you're here in the first place" Lilah bit her tongue, but she couldn't help herself, she had to speak. Thomas didn't understand, how could he?

"Who are you to preach to me?" She spat bitterly. Thomas stared at her for a few seconds before turning on his heel and heading towards the door, "No, wait!" Lilah called after him, hopping off of the table and landing on her injured ankle, ignoring the pain she slowly limped forward, "I'm sorry." Stopping in his tracks, Thomas looked over his shoulder at her, she hadn't thought her words were that harsh, but apparently they were,

"I can't help you if you're not willing to help yourself." Thomas said, his tone was filled with a mixture of frustration and urgency. Lilah stared at him, she hadn't heard that in his voice before,

"I know." She breathed, "It's okay. It's what I want."

"And what exactly do you want? Jonathan or to be fearless?" Lilah looked away from him, opening her mouth to speak, Thomas once again cut her off, "Or maybe, it really does have nothing to do with Jonathan." He smirked, Lilah tilted her head,

"Do go on."

"How long has it been since you've been in love? Nine years?" Staying silent, her eyes fell to the ground, he was the second person to have brought Him up, the first being Mercious all those months ago when he first met Jonathan.

"Look, I know what I have to do and it isn't screw with Jonathan or Batman or lose the only person who would go to bat for me." She said. Thomas was silent, turning his head away from her, the room was filled with a cold silence that chilled her to the core and it almost felt like she had lost everything in those few seconds before he finally spoke once more,

"That's a very... interesting statement, Li." He replied slowly. "Guess that soft spot I have for you isn't as dead as I would like." Lilah sighed, leaning back against the table,

"We're family... you and I... we're one big messed up family." Letting out a small laugh, Thomas once again headed to the door,

"So it would seem... I doubt you and I will be seeing each other for awhile. I have important business to attend too." He smiled, glancing over his shoulder at her, "I do hope to see you again." Lilah returned a slight smile as Thomas departed and in his place stood Jim, watching her with caution,

"There is a phone call for you." He said. Tilting her head, Lilah smiled, she was still trying to decipher Thomas' words, when it came to him, everything had a meaning and somehow, she was convinced it had everything to do with those photos.

"From who?" Lilah replied casually. Jim was silent, his eyes gave no hint at any possibility of it being Jonathan, Mercious or even someone she knew,

"He gave no name." He said, "He simply said that it was a life and death situation and that he had to speak with you." As he finished his sentence, two officers walked into the room, each taking one of her arms and dragging her from the room.

Authors Note: Read carefully. There is going to to be a few... surprises. Let's see how many of you can see the hints. ;) I love being mysterious! :P Unfortunately, it will very much so be the end of Thomas for awhile. :( Also, thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote and review! (I love reviews) Cheers! xx