Chapter Text
Jonathan Crane is dead, Jervis was certain. The last thing they had established was that Scarecrow and his minions were going to infiltrate Haven for supplies.
And then Haven blew up. Completely destroyed to rubble. Hundreds of lives lost.
And therefore, Jonathan was most likely taken with it.
Jervis, for a while, went on a rampage. Rage, hatred, and grief filled his every being. He eventually found momentary peace in working with Jeremiah, helping him in organizing a twisted recreation of the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents. And afterwards, being left with looking over a chemical facility.
His days were… dull, to say the least. He couldn’t even bring himself to rhyme anymore. The only amusement he had at his disposal was Ecco, who also helped out with looking after the factory. She… wasn’t exactly his top pick of people to be around, but oh well.
Things only became more dull from there.
Jonathan inhaled sharply, sticking one hand out from the gravel that covered his entire body. He sat up slowly, wincing as the aftermath from the explosion took its toll on his body.
His entire body was a combination of aches and pains that made even something as simple as breathing an incredibly difficult task. He tried to survey his surroundings, but his head ached in protest, so instead he just sat there, eyes closed. Maybe he was hallucinating, hell, maybe he was in a coma. It was all the same.
His face felt naked, due to the lack of his Scarecrow mask covering his head. He didn’t FEEL like the Scarecrow right now, he felt like… he felt like Jonathan Crane. A man who grew up too quickly due to unfortunate circumstances.
He grumbled, wincing once again as he reached a hand up to feel his face. His nose was bloodied, that much he knew. The rest of him was probably a mess too.
His body trembled, not just from the pain he was in. The explosion had been loud, extremely loud. He had probably gotten a concussion from it, or at the very least his ears were ringing. He couldn’t tell.
He slowly started to stand up from the ground, using a broken piece of wood to support his shaky frame. He groaned, his back hurting as he slowly got to his feet.
His eyes darted around, taking in the sight of what remains of the sanctuary. He almost couldn’t believe it.
He was surprised that he was even alive honestly, but hell, he’s gone through worse before. He still wasn’t even sure if he was hallucinating or not. He managed to take a shaky step forward, his legs felt like they were on the verge of collapsing from under him. He stumbled for a moment before catching himself.
He took another step forward, and another, and another, trying his best to avoid any sharp looking wood or metal so he didn’t stumble on it. His breathing quickened, and he took a moment to lean against a large chunk of debris.
He could’ve sworn he heard voices coming from the distance, but it also could’ve just been the voices in his head playing tricks on him again. Fuck, his vision was growing blurry again, threatening to lose consciousness.
He was getting dizzy again, leaning heavily on the debris. He tried to call out, but no words came out. He tried to speak again, but only ended up making some sort of wheeze.
His eyes drifted shut for a moment, before his knees buckled and he slid down the pile of rubble once more. Everything felt like it was spinning, and his entire body was racked with pain. He was tired, so incredibly tired…
“Bruce! I found someone!” A faint voice shouts, and he tries to turn his head to see who it was. He couldn’t open his eyes anymore, even as he feels himself falling.
The last thing he remembers is the impact of hitting the ground.
“This is a horrible idea, Bruce. You literally brought a criminal into your home!” Selina argued as she paced around his bedroom, eyeing daggers at the unconscious man who’s sprawled out on Bruce’s bed. He looked like a rag doll with bandages that were slapped all over his skin a little while earlier. “What if he’s aggressive and attacks you the moment he’s up??”
“Selina -”
Bruce began to argue, turning to face her and leaning against his desk in a relaxed way, crossing his arms.
“He’s unconscious and severely wounded. The only thing he’s going to be worrying about right now is staying alive. And besides, it doesn’t look like he has his fear toxin on him. I think it all got destroyed during the explosion…”
And with a groan, Selina threw her hands up in the air with an exaggerated motion.
“I just don’t understand why you’re so concerned with helping him. He’s insane.”
Bruce kept his gaze locked on the unconscious man before them, watching the way his chest rose and fell with each deep breath he took with a focused look in his eyes. “He’s a victim too. A defenseless young man that needs our help.”
“Of course. A victim that helped destroy half the city and murder a dozen people.” She retorted dryly, raising a skeptic eyebrow at him.
Despite the sarcasm dripping from her words, it didn’t seem to effect Bruce. In fact, Selina’s skepticism just seemed to annoy him even more. He narrowed his eyes and pushed himself off the desk he was leaning on, taking a step closer to her and letting his arms drop to his sides.
“There’s obviously more to the situation than that, Selina.” His words were calm and firm. “Who knows what Jonathan’s plan was before this, or why he was even near the sanctuary to begin with.”
Selina scoffed softly under her breath and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Great. And why is that our problem?” She questioned, shooting him a look with a hint of defiance in her green eyes that Bruce knew all too well.
He sighed to himself and rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at Jonathan. “Because I have to know why he was there.” He replied quietly after a moment, his words firm and resolute. He had a way of getting what he wanted, and he was determined to get some answers out of the Scarecrow.
Selina noticed the stubborn look in his gaze and sighed softly under her breath. “You’re determined… I’ll give you that, Bruce. But you’re being careless.”
Every part of Jonathan’s body ached as he slowly began to stir, groaning softly. His eyes opened, but it felt as if they were glued shut, forcing him to blink repeatedly in an attempt to focus his vision. He took a few deep breaths, and he noticed that he was laying on something soft and comfortable.
Why was he here? Where was here?
He tried to sit up, but quickly found that his body had other plans. He let out a sharp cry of pain, falling back against the soft mattress he laid on. He winced, his eyes finally focusing on a blurry ceiling above him.
He was confused, he didn’t know where he was. He groaned again, letting one hand reach up carefully to feel around the bandages that were tightly secured over various parts of his body.
Whoever patched him up did a hell of a job.
He tried to lift himself up once again, and this time he was able to prop himself up on his arms, sitting up with a soft grunt. His head was still fuzzy, like there was cotton stuff inside of it.
He took a moment to survey his surroundings. He recognized that he was on a bed, in a bedroom no less. But nothing stuck out as familiar in the very large room.
He couldn’t figure out why he was here, and where “here” even was.
As Jonathan sat there trying to figure out where exactly he was, he could hear faint voices coming from outside the bedroom door. It was the voices of a man and a woman, arguing back and forth about something. The woman seemed to be doing most of the arguing though, while the man spoke in a quieter tone but with an annoyed edge to his voice.
As the voices quieted after a minute, the sound of footsteps grew closer and closer until they stopped right at the door. Before Jonathan could process what was going to happen next, the door suddenly opened.
Bruce poked his head into the room as soon as he turned the handle, his gaze landing on Jonathan who was struggling to sit up. He slowly began to step into the room, while Selina followed him in shortly after with a skeptical look in her eyes.
“You’re awake.” He simply stated.
His eyes widened even more at the sight of Bruce Wayne standing in the doorframe.
Of all the people to have patched him up, why him?? It literally could’ve been a homeless guy, or maybe a stranger that didn’t care all that much about him as a person.
But noooo, it’s the billionaire boy himself.
Great. Just great.
At the moment though, Jonathan was too tired to put up a fight. His limbs felt like lead and he didn’t have the energy to sit up anymore, so he laid back down, resting his head on the pillow.
His eyes darted over to the girl, before returning to Bruce as he slowly approached, keeping his guard up as much as he could. “Not exactly feeling fantastic right now, Mr. Wayne.” He replied dryly, keeping his gaze locked on him.
Bruce stopped at the edge of the bed, folding his arms across his chest and tilting his head as he examined Jonathan.
Selina, standing a few feet away, rolled her eyes with a scoff of her own. She clearly didn’t trust Jonathan as far as she could throw him, and she didn’t bother hiding it.
“Consider yourself lucky.” She sneered, her voice cold and unamused.
His eyes darted over to her for a moment, scoffing under his breath. “Yeah, I feel like a winner.” He grumbled sarcastically, turning his head back to look at Bruce.
He tried to read his expression, to see exactly what he was feeling at that moment. Was he angry? Annoyed? Bored? It was hard to tell, given the man’s poker face.
Bruce leaned forward slightly, his gaze locked intently on Jonathan. “You’re probably wondering why you’re here.”
Ah, here we go. The million dollar question.
Jonathan raised an eyebrow. “Oh, am I?”
He feigned an expression of mock surprise, using it as an excuse to buy himself some time to figure out what he was going to say. “Gee, I dunno why I’m here! I’m so forgetful, maybe you could remind me?”
Selina rolled her eyes once again at his snarky tone. She muttered something under her breath that was probably an insult before looking back over at Bruce.
Bruce, on the other hand, only kept his gaze fixated intensely on the man in front of him, his expression giving away absolutely nothing. “You’re here because we saved your life. That’s why.”
Jonathan groaned softly, rolling his eyes once again.
“Oh, you’re a saint, Mr. Wayne.” He responded dryly, giving him a tired smirk. “The mighty billionaire saving the day again.”
He leaned his head back against the pillow, feeling a growing sense of weariness. This entire situation was just… so damn exhausting.
“… now what do you want from me in return, huh?”
Selina opened her mouth to speak, probably intending to say something sarcastic and unhelpful. But she shut her mouth the moment Bruce shot her a look that said to let him handle this.
Bruce’s expression never wavered once, his eyes narrowing a tiny bit as he spoke.
“I didn’t save your life to get something from you. I just… saw someone who needed help, and I wasn’t going to just let them die.”
A pause.
“…Also, I need information. I need you to tell me why you were so close to the sanctuary before it exploded.”
A huff of laughter slipped past Jonathan’s lips, and it was actually genuine. He was surprised by his own amusement, considering how shitty he was feeling.
“You want me to spill my guts.” He chuckled softly. “Let’s make a deal first. An answer for an answer.”
He studied Jonathan for a moment, his gaze carefully assessing him. Despite Jonathan’s exhausted state, there was no mistaking the calculating gleam in his eyes.
“Fine. Answer my question first though. Why were you there? Did it have something to do with your work for Jeremiah?”
Jeremiah, another one of the psychopaths that made Gotham the mess it currently is. Fun.
He exhaled slowly, thinking over what he wanted to say. Was he going to be honest? Would it be to his advantage?
His gaze flicked over to Selina again.
No, it couldn’t hurt, right?
“Sort of. Me and… the goons that work for me, have been keeping an eye on Jeremiah… He’s been working on something big, if you already couldn’t tell.”
“You were spying on his plans.” Bruce stated aloud, his gaze hardening once again. “And you decided to take a look at what he was doing, is that right? But why ?”
Jonathan shrugged carefully, wincing as the bandages around his torso pulled at his wounds. “Curiosity, mostly.” His eyes darted to the window, before returning to look directly at Bruce again.
“Jeremiah’s got a habit of keeping secrets, and I wanted to see what he was working on. He’s a little… unhinged, shall we say. Some would say even more so than Jerome. I’ve only worked with Jeremiah once, and i’m still not exactly a fan of him. He’s just… too much, in the calmest way possible.”
Selina let out a huff, scoffing softly under her breath. “Unhinged, that's an understatement." She remarked dryly, keeping her gaze locked on him.
“When you say you were ‘keeping an eye on’ Jeremiah, what exactly does that mean? Were you just monitoring him, or trying to stop him from hurting more people?” Bruce asked, facial expression unmoved.
He took note at how serious the billionaire was in trying to interrogate him, to get some sort of answer out of him.
“Both, actually.” He responded, not breaking eye contact with him. “Me and my… crew, were keeping an eye on Jeremiah, and tried to prevent him from causing a total shitstorm in Gotham. Not that it made much of a difference, of course. He’s not the one who blew up Haven, right?”
Bruce tensed at the question, his gaze hardening even further. His eyes flicked to Selina for a brief second, before returning to gaze at Jonathan.
He took a moment to respond, his voice low and almost dangerous. “No. It wasn’t Jeremiah. Someone else did it. We don’t know who exactly, though.”
Jonathan’s eyes widened a bit, eyebrows raising quizzically. “Someone else did it? Then who? You don’t know who?”
He chuckled softly, his expression one of mild disbelief mixed with amusement. “Well, that’s just… fantastic.” He winces, trying to sit up more. “Now, I want my question answered.” He paused for a moment, mulling over how he wants to phrase it without either of them growing suspicious of his whereabouts.
“Where is the location of… Jervis Tetch?”
Both Bruce and Selina tensed at the mention of Jervis Tetch’s name. They exchanged a quick, cautious glance before Bruce spoke up.
“And why do you want to know where he is?” His tone was guarded and his expression grew hard once more, his gaze fixed on Jonathan. Selina’s grip on her whip tightened unconsciously.
Jonathan feigned indifference, shrugging carefully as to not irritate his still wounded body.
“No reason in particular.” He replied, knowing damn well he was lying. “Call it curiosity. Or do you two not know his whereabouts either?” A pause, his fake smile melting into something more… vulnerable, just for a moment.
“Is he alive at least?”
Bruce took a step closer to the bed, his eyes still studying Jonathan intently. Selina watched closely from the side, her gaze flickering between the two of them.
“… Yes, he’s alive.” He replied cautiously. “For now, at least. His most recent location is located at Ace Chemicals. What’s your business with him?”
Jonathan let out a sigh both in relief and exhaustion, running a hand through his disheveled hair and wincing at the pain from his wounds.
Of all the places Tetch had to end up, why the hell was it Ace Chemicals??
He returned his gaze to meet Bruce’s, his expression returning back to one of nonchalance.
“Again, just curiosity.” He replied, keeping his voice even. “I just… wanted to check up on an old friend. That’s all.”
Selina scoffed from the side, clearly not believing a word of it. Meanwhile, Bruce’s eyes narrowed further, his expression growing harder in response to the obvious lie.
“Old friend, right. You expect me to believe that?” He retorted, raising an eyebrow skeptically. Selina shot him a look, clearly agreeing with his disbelief.
His expression darkened, giving both of them a sharp glare. “Don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to.” He retorted, his voice low and annoyed.
He knew he was being interrogated, and he knew that neither of them believed him. Why should he tell them his true intentions?
“So, what’s the plan now, Bruce?” He asked, crossing his arms. “Just going to keep me in your house as a prisoner? I have places to be.”
Bruce’s gaze remained fixed on Jonathan, the intensity in his eyes unwavering. Selina, on the other hand, leaned against the back of the doorframe, her expression cold and unamused.
“You’re not a prisoner here, at least for now. You’re free to leave whenever you please.” Bruce’s tone was firm, his voice almost taunting.
“But I wouldn’t recommend it. The city’s in even more chaos than usual, and you’re in no condition to be out on your own.”
Jonathan snorted in response, rolling his eyes once again. “Gee, thanks.”
He pushed himself up into a sitting position, grimacing as he did so. His head felt like it was spinning and his body was sore all over.
“And I’m just supposed to… wait here until I’m magically feeling better?”
Bruce raised an eyebrow, a hint of annoyance in his gaze.
“You’re not supposed to do anything. But seeing as you’re still recovering from potentially life-threatening injuries, you’d probably be better off staying here until you don’t look like you’re on the verge of fainting at any given moment.”
Selina smirked at that, a condescending glint in her eyes as she eyed Jonathan’s pale form.
Jonathan glowered at them both, feeling his annoyance slowly rising. He gritted his teeth, suppressing his urge to snap at the billionaire and the alleycat.
He didn’t like the fact that they were clearly enjoying his current plight. He was too weak to put up a fight, and he absolutely hated it. The fact that he was stuck here until he was healed? He hated even more.
But what he hated most… was knowing the fact that Jervis was out there, most likely under the assumption that he’s dead and buried under gravel.
The thought alone was enough to make him feel sick. He wasn’t one to care about people’s feelings, he knew that, but this was different. He cared, as little as he wanted to admit it to himself.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm his growing annoyance.
“Fine. I’ll stay here until I recover.” He spat out through gritted teeth, looking up at the millionaire. “but don’t expect me to play nice with you two. I would much rather be somewhere else right now.”
“That’s fine with me.” Bruce answered nonchalantly, his gaze still locked on Jonathan’s face. Selina scoffed softly, folding her arms over her chest and leaning back against the doorframe again.
“Don’t expect any special treatment either. You’re on thin ice, Crane.”
Thin ice, huh?
Jonathan felt his irritation grow. He didn’t care enough about Bruce’s opinion to want special treatment, but the fact that the two of them thought they were superior was starting to annoy him.
He rolled his eyes again, letting out a bitter laugh.
“Oh, because I was expecting you to throw a damn party for me.” He replied sarcastically, leaning back against the pillow passive aggressively.
“Ow.”
Jervis was standing at the top of Gotham’s Ace Chemicals, staring out into the barren wasteland that used to be Gotham. The sun was setting, turning the clouds a soft yellow. The sight of it was almost pretty, though the sight of it just made his mood even more sour.
He let out a loud sigh as he leaned forwards against the railing, closing his eyes. He was a mess, even at the best of times that was true. But now, it was especially noticeable. His hair was unkempt, he didn’t wear his hat anymore, his clothes were wrinkled, and he hadn’t slept in ages.
He hears footsteps behind him, and he quickly whips around. It was the sound of Ecco’s footsteps, which were a bit too recognizable. It seemed like she never had much of a rhythm to her.
"You look like a mess." She stated bluntly, stepping over to lean against the railing beside him. “Where’s that smile??”
Jervis let out a deep sigh, rubbing his face and eyes. He was too tired to put in the effort into even a fake smile. “The smile disappeared along with the monster who destroyed everything that I held dear.”
“That’s just dandy, hon.” She snickered, poking at him with a finger. Her voice was mocking, and she didn’t seem to really care about how miserable he was all of the time. It seemed like the girl was always in a good mood and had a constant smile plastered across her face.
“Don’t have much to do other than sit around and mope.” Said Ecco. “You’re no fun anymore.”
Jervis scowled at her, swatting her hand away. “I’m sorry to disappoint, but I’m not in any mood to act like a clown for your entertainment.”
He takes a step away from her, folding his arms over his chest defensively. She was right, though. He wasn’t as fun anymore. He was tired, miserable, and angry. And he wasn’t even bothering to cover it up.
“Leave me to grieve.”
“Not until you smile again.” She replied, grinning ear to ear. Just seeing his miserable state seemed to give her a sense of amused.
Ecco leaned against him, still smiling that same psychotic smile as she always did. This girl seemed so damn carefree, even in a crisis.
“Come onnn, where’s the fun in grieving when you can be… figuring out who blew up Haven in the first place..?”
Jervis looked down at her, annoyance written all over his face. He was tempted to flick her on the forehead and tell her to leave.
But… she was right… he had been too caught up in his grief to even care about finding out the truth about what happened.
“Fine. But where should I even start?” He grumbled.
“Beats me.” She shrugged, grinning even more at him. God, this girl’s smile never seemed to fade, did it? It was borderline unsettling.
Ecco let out a hum, glancing back over out at Gotham. There was hardly anything left of the city. Nothing but ruins, abandoned buildings, and rubble.
“Maybe… we could start with… revisiting the crime scene, and all that fun stuff. Y’know… evidence, clues. All that crap.”
Jervis considered her suggestion for a moment, rubbing his temples. “Perhaps that’s not a bad idea. Though how far will we get when Gordon himself has yet to solve the mystery.”
He gives a bitter scoff at the mention of the detective’s name. He wasn’t over what Gordon had done to his sister.
“Ugh, GCPD. Gordon sucks. You suck. Can’t you just admit that I’m super smart?? ” She huffed, pouting at him. Her tone gave off the impression that the girl was only teasing him, but it’s a bit difficult to tell. She always seemed to have a tone like that when talking.
“We’ll get farther than those useless policemen. Come on, let’s just go and check it out. I’ll sniff out the evidence we need within the first thirty minutes! And then we’ll go from there or something.”
“Of course, of course, you’re the smartest of us all. No one else could ever compete.” His tone was clearly sarcastic and he let out a small sigh, shaking his head. “But fine… let us go.”
“Damn right I am.” Her response was just as sarcastic as his. And of course, a smirk was plastered on her face.
Ecco gestured to the rooftop door, her smirk turning into an amused grin. “After you, hon.”