Fear Is In The Eye Of The Beholder[Heather]

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

[Note: This takes place after "A Cure For A Boring Day"]

An all too familiar silence hung within the vehicle as they exited West Gotham and headed towards the outskirts of the city. Dr. Crane pulled off his mask and ran his hand through his hair fixing it to slick backwards. Turning the mask over carefully he clicked off the distortion and placed the mask face down gently in his lap. His right hand moved from the mask carefully into his right pants pocket and pulled out a glasses case. With a pop he opened the case and adjusted them onto his face, before sliding the case back into his pocket.

His eyes remained out the window not really caring for the others in the car or heaving any desire to speak to either of them. His eyes never met Heather's, he never said a word to her once they were in the car. There was nothing that needed to be said right now and he was a man of few words anyway, unless you got him on the right subject. There would be plenty of time to talk once they got back to his hideout.

The lights of the city reflected off of the windows and through the car reflecting off of the rear view mirror. Dr. Crane caught his own image in it and his left hand slowly rose to his neck noticing that the bruising around it could still be seen. It was fading but it could still be seen. His hand rubbed around it for a moment inspecting some of the bruising. Without another thought into it his sight turned from the rear view back out the window, letting his elbow lean on the frame.

The life seemed to fade away from his eyes as he gazed out the car window. His thoughts were clearly elsewhere. If Heather was saying anything he wasn't hearing it, his mind was somewhere else. Nor did he have any desire to hear it at the moment. She could get out her frustration when they were at their destination.

When he had originally received funding from the Penguin he still had good chunk left over from it after his escape from Arkham. During his stay of course all ties and funding had stopped completely. Of course it didn't mean that he still didn't owe him a hefty debt. The thought of how to remedy the situation was still fresh in his mind, but for now he would rather let The Penguin find him than go looking to pay his debts. With the money he had left he was able to purchase a small property on the outskirts of Gotham City. It wasn't too far out of the city but it was just enough to have more solitude than usual. He had invested in some small things for his hideout including making it into mostly a research lab. It had a few separated area's that were designated as 'containment' or bedrooms. Most of the money was poured into getting his chemicals and certain necessary lab tools. The only other portions that were significant was a large portion in the back of the building that was still under construction and a security system that had been installed.

After a long ride they arrived at their destination pulling up in front of a somewhat out of place building that looked like it was one a large storage hold. Dr. Crane got out of the car not saying a word to either of them and shut the door behind him. Mask in hand, slowly he walked to the other side of the car and opened the car door for Heather....Of course it wasn't really for her it was for him. He reached in and grabbed her by the arm pulling her up and out of the vehicle. With a double tap of his free hand he let the driver know it was safe to pull away and away he went.

With that he pulled Heather to a door in front of the large building which had a single flickering light above it. To the side of the knob as an encoded security system that required his finger print. He placed his finger onto it and the door opened with a click. He held on to her arm rather loosely. Dr. Crane certainly wasn't worried about her running out here. Even if she did turn tail and run towards the city she wouldn't get far without him being right behind her and eventually catching up to her. It was inevitable, she might as well just make the best of the situation.

Opening the door he reached in and flipped on several switches lighting the rest of the building inside. Most of what could immediately be seen looked like a laboratory. Many various tables of standard shape and size littered the room with what looked to be reticently used vials and test tubes of all different sorts placed on them. Towards the back there was a small loft above though from the ground it wasn't easy to see exactly what was up there besides a railing.

Dr. Crane let go of her arm and walked in holding the door behind him as he welcomed her to enter.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

The first thing that VerMillion did when she got into the car was simply catch her breath. After that, she started to gripe a bit, but quickly realized that she was being ignored and lapsed into silence. What's the use of griping if nobody is listening to you? Instead she finds herself just sitting, staring at nothing, and waiting to get wherever they're going. She doesn't bother to look out the window, because she doesn't really care where she's being taken. All she really knows is that her arm hurts, now she's bored, and she'd really rather be somewhere else.

That, and she realizes that she's tired. And not just because of the running. No, it's because in spite of the fact that she's found it easier and easier to sleep at night since the first attack, it's still very difficult. However, as she's currently unable to feel fear, it's unable to interrupt her thoughts. Even in this situation. So as the car moves further along she can start to feel the hours of missed sleep catching up with her...

But just as she starts to drift off, the car stops and she finds herself being pulled again. "Do you have to do that?" she complains grumpily, though she doesn't put up any more of a fight than that as he takes her to the building.

Fortunately, she's still remembering that he's faster than her. It's the only thing keeping her from giving it a try when he lets go of her arm - but why do something you know won't work? For similar reason, when he holds the door for her, she sighs heavily to indicate her disapproval but follows him inside. Once there, her eyes drift over the laboratory boredly. Were she able to feel fear the sight would be terrifying, knowing whose lab this is, but at the moment all she can really think about is that she'd rather not be here.

Her attention shifts over to the Scarecrow - as that's how she sees him whether he's wearing his mask or not. "Now can you tell me why you won't leave me the hell alone?" she asks, as that was what she was griping about in the car.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Holding the door open for a few moments Dr. Crane's static expression of nothingness held. He watched her walk in and turn to him. It was time to work at her. Right now the brave toxin was still in it's full effect. She wouldn't be worried at all for her safety in this place, regardless that if you bump a table wrong you may blow the place up. Thankfully the lab tables in this place were rather sturdy, lessons past learned.

His hands moved to the side of the door and pushed it shut. It came to the wall and latched into place with a click. It wasn't the strongest bolted door that money could buy but it was well built.

Dr. Crane brought a hand up to his glasses for a moment adjusting them on his face. When hearing her question at first he didn't respond to her. Instead he looked down at his mask that he held still and thumbed over it for a few seconds before looking back up to meet her stare. Why hadn't he left her alone? It was so simple, she still couldn't figure it out.

“I have given you plenty of time alone, plenty of time to think that you finally have your life sorted out and things can go back to normal...That you can undo what you've done” He paused and stopped thumbing over the mask in his fingers. “Right?...But it didn't exactly go how you planned it to. Or did it?” Dr. Crane asked finally throwing the mask onto the edge of a nearby lab table.

The subject was close to home as she probably knew being in her field. There was a point in his life where there was a dramatic change in everything he did. There was one truth through it all though, one constant that never faltered. One emotion in all of their faces that couldn't be mistaken. It was the only real truth.

He could have went into extreme detail on how every action that she had made up until now was because of fear but she wouldn't understand that. He had to use another way that she would. “Don't you understand VerMillion?” He asked as if she couldn't comprehend any of this “You are the reason that all of this has happened. You are the reason you're standing here right now...From the very first moment we met. I told you something...” The doctor had a long pause and a small smile appeared from the expressionless face. “That if you ran to the police you would see me again...and what did you do?” Dr. Crane began to advance slowly on her. She wouldn't be afraid of him, but that wasn't the point right now.

“The reason your here now...is because you wanted to be”

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

VerMillion scoffs at the first part of what he says and frowns at the vague statements, but she continues to listen anyway. Perhaps if she can find out why he's doing these things to her, she can tell him why he's wrong and get out of this. She certainly never did anything to deserve this!

So when he says exactly that, her eyes narrow in anger. However, when he finishes she suddenly bursts out laughing. "I wanted to be here? Hey, what I remember is that you said that you could either kill me, or I could run but see you again. That's a really shitty set of choices right there. Saying that I wanted to be here is like saying that if you put a gun to a woman's head and demanded sex, it wasn't rape because she let you. At best I want to be here more than I want to die, and that's just a technicality. So take your psycho logic and shove it!" she says, shaking her head in disbelief, an amused smirk lingering on her face.

"Oh!" she says, raising a finger as she remembers one more thing, "And I didn't go to the police, I went to the FBI - because I stupidly assumed that they'd actually keep you away from me and I already knew that the police are worthless. Why would I want to be around someone who never stops treating me like crap?" She shakes her head again, her logic simply not accepting his. She folds her arms across her chest defiantly, not so much as leaning away at his approach. While she strongly suspects that he did something to her, as she's felt... different ever being hit by that dart, she's still agreeing with her initial thought - that whatever it does makes her feel good. Or at least she recognizes that what she's doing right now doesn't seem like her.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Dr. Crane held his smile stopping mid movement to listen to her rabble on about how she thought she had it all figured out. There was just one thing she wasn't taking into account, his 'psycho logic' was not only dead on, but incredibly effective. She was resisting and protesting, of course she was, No one would want to admit that they got themselves right where they are. That's why addicts continued to do drugs, that’s why the alcoholic continued to drink, because it's everyone else's fault but their own that they are...where they are.

“ You're twisting what I said into what you would like to believe it was. I gave you two scenarios that I could choose. I could have chose to kill you then, or let you run to the authorities and I would hope that you would give yourself enough credit to at least act smart enough to know what I meant by the police. All that happened there was you made a choice to see me again, nothing would have stopped you from running away and not going to the authorities....But what happened?” Dr. Crane laughed softly at his last question. She really thought that she was going to get away with believing that this was his fault?

“I suppose it should really be me asking why you want to be around me...Why you decided to welcome the Nightmare...But I don't have to, because I already know. “ He finished speaking now approaching her again. She didn't move at all, his serum was just working perfection in her. Dr. Crane stopped in front of her towering over her small frame and looked down into her eyes. She could go one forever about how much denial she was in of her situation but it wouldn't get her anywhere.

He didn't move in front of her. She had all the time in the world to hate him now that they were out of that building. He wasn't concerned about her lashing out at him in any way. Even if she tried the brave toxin didn't make her any stronger, just made her unafraid of the world around her.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

VerMillion frowns at his reply, her brow furrowing in mild confusion at it. It's not that she doesn't get what he's trying to say, it's that she really has a hard time remembering exactly what happened the first time they met right now. It's so clouded by an emotion that she can't currently experience that her thought processes at the time now don't seem to make the most perfect sense. Though she can manage to glean out the facts.

"Hey, I said I could not say anything. If that was what you wanted, you could have told me. But no, you told me to 'do whatever your fear drives you to do'," she says, mimicking him for that last part in a clearly mocking fashion. "How the hell was I supposed to interpret that? And don't tell me that you're so stupid that you didn't know what I meant when I told you no!" she adds, now growing angry again.

She scowls as she adds, "I don't want to be here, you want me to want to be here!" Again, she doesn't move as comes even closer, completely unbothered by his proximity. Nevermind that she now has to tilt her head back a bit to glare at him properly because he's so much taller than her. Perhaps the problem with the argument he's trying to make is that her memory of what they're talking about is so hazy, while what she's feeling right now is crystal clear: she does not want to be here! Her hazel eyes don't lose that defiant glint to them.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Seeing her reaction just confirmed everything he was saying. Slowly in her mind she was turning it on herself, he outward protest were nothing more than denial. If someones angry enough they will say anything to fuel the fire, if someone is sad enough they will say anything to make the pain not their own.

“It seems like you interpreted it just fine. You made your choice.” Her mockery didn't bother him. He just continued to stare now into her eyes. Watching her fight him with her mind and her words.

She had a certain fire in her that was brought out beautifully when she was angry. He couldn't help but laugh softly as she protested again to wanting to be here. “If you didn't want to be here, then why didn't you scream when we were escaping the building? “ Nothing could have excited him more than at that moment, the mention of fear that should have been there but wasn't. Something that her mind would toss around and battle itself with, he wondered just how much more she could actually take of him closing in on having her.

“You want to be here more than you admit” He lifted his hand and moved it to her neck slipping his fingers into her fiery red hair that matched her temper.

He was prepared for any retaliation she may have to his movements at this point. Not much she could do in the position she was in anyway. The way he slipped his hand to her neck was not normal looking at his track record. Usually he was calculated and cold in his movements, avoiding contact if he can, especially any type of social interaction. Dr. Crane could be very deceptive in his ways, and it could be safely said that there was always an exterior motive, and a purpose behind everything he did.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

VerMillion scoffs, shaking her head in disbelief that he's still trying to argue that it was her fault. Who exactly dragged who here? As far as she can remember, she's never stopped trying to do anything she could think of to keep away.

So when he asks her about why she didn't scream, her eyebrows furrow in thought for a moment. Come to think of it, that would have probably been a very good idea. Especially once they were outside of the building. She was horribly out of breath by then, but she could have managed a scream, and it would have at least let the police know where she was. But all she can do to answer that is shrug and say, "I didn't think of it." Of course, if she'd been able to fear that reaction would have been so instinctive it would quite possibly be more difficult to not be screaming at that point.

But as she's not currently one to worry over her own previous actions, her mind shifts off that thought quickly. Especially due to what happens next - or more precisely, what he does next. It doesn't really bother her knowing that she's been drugged, mostly because she knows that she likes whatever it is doing to her and she's not currently capable of worrying that it might be a problem. Similarly, it doesn't really bother her the way he's touching her head, mostly because she likes it and she's not currently capable of worrying about all the implications of either the touch or her reaction to it.

Instead her expression turns surprised for a moment, before a somewhat annoyed smile crosses her face. "No," she replies, "You want me to be here more than you admit." Her own hand moves, slowly and clearly not aggressively, toward his neck. If he doesn't stop her, she'll put it in the exact same place on him that his is on her. It's not like she's afraid to follow her random impulses, especially when she's not currently angry enough for that to be another reason not to. She never noticed that he has blue eyes before. Probably because he's worn his mask around her so much, but also because she's not afraid to look at them and he's never been this close to her with it off before.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

From her expressions and her body language Dr. Crane could tell that it wouldn't take much more. She was slowly starting to break to her own logic. The brave toxin was a great tool to use against her since he never actually said to her what it was. She didn't scream because she had no ability to feel the fear that would come before it. Hearing her say that she didn't think about it just confirmed more of the beauty in his creation. Seeing Heather battle with her own mind was more pleasing to him than he'd ever admit openly.

When his hand came to rest on her neck through her hair for the first time he hadn't thought much of it. He was use to invading other people's space. It was certainly not the first time her had touched Heather but it was the first time that it was gentle. There was a reason of course behind his actions there always was. As his mind rolled over it a bit more he lost himself in the thought of it.

Dr. Crane catches the slight smile from Heather and tilts his head. Her next words never changed his expression or body language. In the midst of getting ready to have a protest to her comment he was stopped by the movement of her hand. Her hand came to rest at his neck, the same place he held hers.

The world came to a halt and the life in his eyes drifted back, so far back that he was looking through her. The thoughts of events past flooded his mind in flashes. One moment Sherry was standing there in front of him teasing him sweetly. Filling his mind with her lies. He remembered her various smiles and laughter that would come with her deceptive plan. Her laughter rang in his ears the most, the way she lead him into a trap so her real boyfriend could....

His mind halted at that moment and went in another direction. Dr. Cranes hand lifted from Heather and went to grab her hand that touched his neck. It was done a bit roughly but he hadn't hurt her. His eyes went from empty and lifeless to now full of intent. The thoughts that once plagued his mind now turned the tables on itself and thought of the outcome. The outcome was that he got his retribution in the end, in the end they succumb to fear. The residual gunshots could he heard in the back of his mind followed by a deafening scream. Who was in control? He was..the arbiter of fear.

This changed his mood quite suddenly. His mind kept going back and forth about what it wanted and how it felt though his outward body language only showed a little of what was really going on behind his eyes. He noticed that there had been quite a long silence between them since he had grabbed her hand. The fact that he was still holding her hand didn't bother him he had made that action. Her touching him was what caused the reaction, he didn't like to be touched.

The thought of dislike of human contact ran over his psychological mind. Was it a true statement? His free hand went to his bruised neck and slid around and behind it before pulling it back in front of her. “Nothing to fear.....If I didn't want you here I wouldn't have 'let' you come” He said simply not saying a word about the way her fingers had touched his neck.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

As it's his eyes that she's looking at, VerMillion doesn't fail to notice the sudden bit of distance in them. Of course she doesn't have a clue what that's about, but she smirks when he grabs her arm. Touched some sort of a nerve, did she? Well, good! He's been screwing with her head enough lately that she can probably count that as slight bit of revenge. Of course, she'd have a long way to go yet before she'd call it even on that account.

His words cause her to scoff a little and roll her eyes though. She doesn't care what he says - in no way does she want to be here. "Well, so why do you want me here then?" she asks, with a bit of sarcasm touching her voice. That's pretty much the question she was asking before, at least to her, before he started saying she wanted this. But if she has to ask the question that way to avoid that stupid argument, fine!

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Dr. Crane shifted his weight stepping away from her some. There were several reasons why she was here. None that she would believe or be able to understand. It was so complex that he wasn't even going to go into it. This was far bigger than her and went far beyond her perception of what it could be.

His eye contact kept with hers for a moment after she asked her question. How could he possibly explain this to her? It would be better to show her instead. Breaking his eye contact he beckoned her with a wave of his hand, not saying a word. Nothing needed to be said.

With a slow stride he began to wall through to the back of the room not bother to check if she was following or not. Of course he expected her to, but if she didn't it would only delay the outcome. He hoped for now she was done with delaying him. He strode passed the many filled vials of toxin and dangerous chemicals sitting in their various beakers. Dr. Crane made his way to the back of the room opening a door to a large room. Slowly he pushed the door back and allowed her to enter if she had followed him and wished to do so.

The inside was many electric and metal parts. There was a large booth in the middle of the room that had many various buttons, it looked like an editing station. VerMillion would certainly recognize it having worked with it all the time.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

VerMillion sighs quietly when he motions for her to follow. To say that all of this is very annoying would be putting it mildly, but she supposes that simply being requested to follow is an improvement upon being dragged around. She was very much not a fan of that! And she figures that since she's unlikely to get away just by making a break for it, she might as well find out what all this is about. Perhaps then she'll be able to figure a way out of this. And she's starting to get more of a sense that whatever he's up to isn't just to screw with her more, so she's actually somewhat curious.

She walks past the chemicals without paying them much attention. Chemistry and pretty much anything related to that has never held any of her interest. Nor has most of the sciences for that matter - she's more of a fan of the arts than the sciences. Public speaking, music, writing, and other such things are more her style.

Which is why, when she sees what through the doorway he leads her to, the annoyance in her expression takes a back seat to the curiosity. "I suddenly get the feeling you've been planning on dragging me here for awhile," she comments as she enters the room for a better look. Yep, that's definitely an editing station. "You're not doing a very good job of answering my question though," she points out, though she's able to easily deduce that it has something to do with her day job.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

Dr. Crane watched her carefully as she walked through the door and entered the room. Her initial reaction was expected seeing something familiar. He followed her into the room and approached the back of the station.

He had indeed planned on this for some time. Dr. Crane shakes his head at her comment. “We've already been through that..” He commented on her statement not really wanting to go through explaining to her that this was her fault again. “It's yours” He said while turning his body towards the machine and raising his hand slightly. “The room isn't completely finished, but it will come in time.”

For now it was just a gift. That's all he was going to tell her, and that’s all she needed to know. She could easily sit in front of it and radio for help at any time but it wouldn't matter. It would take someone with great skill to track this signal down. He ran his fingers over the back of the board moving to now walk around the structure and starts slipping switches on. He picked up and put a headphone to his ear for a moment checking on something. He felt no need to say another word to her about it.

Most of the station was still under construction. He had the plan in place for some time but had just recently had this part built. Having just escaped from Arkham recently he was still trying to get back into the swing of things. He hadn't been there for very long out of the hospital wing. Once he had recovered enough from his injuries he was let back into the regular cells. It wasn't days later that he escaped with Edward Nigma.

VerMillion didn't know about the Scarebeast, considering that the FBI most likely kept it a secret. His injuries were pretty severe from the incident. It wouldn't have been as bad as it was if Croc and The Batman hadn't showed up to make things worse. Shrugging off the thought, he continued to check a few settings and then motioned for VerMillion to join him at the station.

[Heather Glass - VerMillion]

Given the chemicals running through her system, VerMillion's ability to be suspicious has been severely crippled. It's not completely absent - she can suspect that something will happen that she won't like if it's obvious, especially if it will happen soon. But her ability to suspect that someone is up to something in a more vague sense has been severely compromised, so she's merely curious when she asks, "It's mine? Why are you giving me this?" It's simply contrary to what she expects of him - he's repeatedly acted like a jerk, and now suddenly he's doing this? She recognizes the incongruity and wonders at it but doesn't read anything into it.

And she's certainly not feeling a need to try to radio for help. She doesn't feel like she's in any danger here, even if she doesn't really wish to be here. Though she does look just a little bit lost as the Scarecrow starts switching things on. "And what would I do with it?" she asks herself quietly with a frown. Of course she knows how to operate it, but... Well, she's never just been given one before, and given how content she was with her life before she never really pondered what she would do if she did. Does she even want it? She's not sure.

Pondering all of this over, she readily joins him when he motions for her. Hopefully it's to tell her more about what's going on. Just because she doesn't fear the unknown doesn't mean that she enjoys not knowing what's going on. It makes it very difficult to make decisions.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

His hands moved about a few knobs listening to VerMillion as she spoke. Indeed he gave this to her for a reason but it was one she would not be capable of understanding, nor did she need to know right now. All that mattered right now is that she could use the machine as she wished. Flipping a few extra switches the machine comes on and lights up on a few parts. With a small turn of a dial he switched between frequencies. Many radio broadcasts fell in and out.

“Yes it’s yours; just take it as a gift….” He paused for a moment thinking about how he was going to explain the basics of this machine to her and what she could do with it. He wanted to leave most of it up to her. “This frequency is for the most part untraceable, it’s not perfect but it would take some difficulty to tack. It also has the ability to override any radio frequency you can lock onto in Gotham City.” He explained trying to make it clear.

What exactly she wanted to do with the machine would be entirely up to her. She could use it as she wished. This time with no rules, no regulations, and no boundaries from her original job. She was free to express whatever she wished. Of course he wasn’t just doing this out of the kindness of his heart, if there could be said there was any to be found. There was always an exterior motive involved in everything he did. It would all pay off in the end, considering he ever paid his debts to The Penguin.

He lifted his hands from messing with the dials and stepped back a step to let her investigate it more if she wished.