Terror On The 25th Story [Edward]

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

The thought of doing something for Edward, for any reason rather than gaining something in return, was ridiculous. He told himself that there was always an ulterior motive to what he did and this case was no exception. Edward did have something that he wanted, regardless of what it was. Edward had told him that their next meeting had to be somewhere secluded and quiet. It had to be somewhere where no one would look, see or hear them speaking. Dr. Crane could really only think of one place he found appropriate now for the two of them.

Dr. Crane’s long and lanky form hung over the beam that linked a support from the tall unfinished skyscraper. He wasn’t at the top but he was quite high. He was exactly 25 stories off the ground and that number held significance between them, but he knew Edward would understand that. The bean supported two other beams that were vertical; he lazily laid on the one in the middle and looked out at the Gotham sky. It had a red and yellow hue from the sun setting and the mixture of the pollution in the air. It would almost seem cleaner here, being up so high. Even the pollution enjoyed stalking the people below more than the empty air above.

He placed both of his feet on top of the beam but didn’t lift up. He slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out the drive that Edward had asked him to install into Lexcorp. This was his proof that he had done as he asked. It was one problem down and now Edward was going to explain what he wanted for the other two. He had a general idea of what he wanted, but it was something that he was sure the man would want to be specific in every detail. If he wanted him to kill her he would have simply said so. Edward knew that Dr. Crane wasn’t a supporter of mindless killing however; it was a waste of time and research. Each person had their own unique contribution that they could dedicate to his study and practice.

He moved the drive in his hands, up and down, waiting for Edward to arrive. As he turned it on his stomach, moving the object between index and thumb he became lost in thought about what he’d done and what he was going to do now. Despite what he had just done for Edward, that didn’t mean that there was any trust between them, not that there ever could have been. He didn’t know what Edward expected of him, besides what he had spewed the night he was paralyzed in his hotel room. Had he actually considered Edward his friend? The thought gave him more questions than answers, he would let it decide for itself after all of this was over. There was something between them, but exactly what he couldn’t identify or measure.

The climb up here would be long but he wanted it to be. He had given exact specifications to where his location would be. Edward always did enjoy a challenge.
--
Sunset
Tomorrow
Main and 1st
25th story
Are you scared?
--

The note he had left posed a challenge in itself. Of course he could always come down to Edward’s level if he really wanted him to, but something told him that Edward would have none of that and he’d be seeing him shortly. The man couldn’t resist showing others that he wasn’t beneath them, that indeed they were beneath him. The spot would function for what they needed, low enough to not be battered by too much wind and high enough to not be heard or seen by anyone.

All that was left was to wait for him.

[Deleted]

Edward climbed up the stairs to the 25th floor of this unfinished building. Stairs had become easier to climb since his dip in the Lazurus Pit. It didn’t mean he was jumping with glee over climbing them. If he still had his issues with leg, he would be cursing Jonathan’s name by now. Instead, he huffed in frustration and continued up the next flight of stairs. He could hear Allen behind him, panting like a tired dog as well. They had used so many elevators during their time working together this certainly was a new experience for both of them.

When he finally saw the painted 25 on the wall, he let out a dramatic sigh. “Finally,” he muttered going to the door, and throwing it open in frustration. He gazed over the unfinished floor and looked at the support beams, including the ground multiple floors down. He took in a deep calming breath. He should have expected this. He was dealing with the Scarecrow after all, and the man knew he wasn’t fond of heights. He frowned as his eyes finally fell on the man causally balanced between the beams.

The past year had been a rollercoaster between the two of them. Before whatever physical aspect they had in this so called relationship had ever started, tension naturally always encompassed them, leading to either banter or agreement. So naturally, when things were pushed to a different level, the game had become far more challenging than either had expected. We’re they friends or enemies? Edward amazingly enough did not know the answer. He knew deep down the man in front of him would do anything for him, but he also knew that the man was incompetent when it came to social interactions, only proven when he betrayed him to the woman to give him some strange romantic poem. Yet even through their ups and downs, he still found himself here. He felt like a bi-polar man constantly refusing to take his medication.

He stepped out into the room on the floor that actually existed, but he didn’t dare go on a balancing beam. The last time they had been this high together, the man had almost thrown him off the building.

“I’m assuming you didn’t bring to the top of a hardly stable building to watch the sunset with me. Did you accomplish the task?” he asked, arms folding across his chest.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

The fact that he was laying out on a balance beam obviously didn’t bother him. If anything, after being locked in the asylum this time around, it was freeing. He was able to feel the wind sweep through his hair and curl around his fingers. If you looked hard enough you could see the pollution in the air settling to the dirty streets below. He heard him finally come through the door that lead to the dangerous unfinished floor. Slowly he turned his head and stared at him from where he laid.

Edward had looked different from the last time they had met. He was just as well dressed, but he had been kept far more busy. He was dressed from head to toe in his usual attire; new, pressed, ironed….It was all expected. Dr. Crane couldn’t say he’d ever met someone so obsessed with how they looked to the world but he could see right through him, he always could. He couldn’t help but notice where he stopped and the smallest smile turned over his lips as he relaxed on the beam. He made no effort to get up or move from where he was. After their last encounter with heights he didn’t expect Edward to be “thrilled” about coming to the edge….But he did expect him to accept the challenge of it.

Several of their encounters went through his mind as he mentioned the sunset. He couldn’t help but notice the gentle fold of his arms across his chest, defensive. He still harbored some misplaced emotion for what he had done to him previously. This was, in fact, his effort to remedy that but with Edward nothing was ever so simple. He would use him to get what he wanted accomplished and forever hold it over his head as a noose ready to wrap around whenever he wished. But could he say that he wouldn’t do the same? They were always using each other as a means to an end. The real question was if they were both aware of this then why did they both continue to spiral into it?

His heart skipped with the answer but he brushed it off by slightly lifting from the beam and leaning against its support. He couldn’t possibly be enjoying it….That wasn’t possible. It was just a means to another end. Slowly, he lifted the drive out of his pocket and held it in front of his eyes for a long moment. Edward would never know what he went through to do this and he would never tell him. Finally, he pushed himself up from the beam and stood carefully on the small and narrow bar. He turned to Edward and held out the drive across the gap. “The building is as stable as you want it to be.” He stared him down, holding it over the 25 story drop, but it only reached half way. To get over to the beam he had to jump, so in order for Edward to reach it he’d have to come to the edge and reach out.

The sun was setting fast on his shoulders as he stared at the man in front of him. The man that had went out of his way to destroy his plans….That had stumbled into an even more complicated web but he couldn’t deny he felt trapped in the same twist and turn of string. As the sun set he saw Edward’s confident face darkened and take by shadow, something that he very much desired to do himself. In every movement he made and time he deliberately crossed his path he was warned by Dr. Crane, but Edward never did take well to threats. Even where he stood he felt a draw a pull from the other side of the beam to take one more step forward…One step to fall into oblivion. They had already determined that what was between them was doomed the moment it began, whatever it was. Whatever was left to salvage was what was in front of them…or below them. But he couldn’t help but wonder if that gap between what was left….

Was it what he feared?

[Deleted]

The cool air from the open floor froze his sweat drenched shirt. His jacket doing nothing to cover the chill that traveled down his back. He had just endured a stair lift exercise, so it came as no surprise. The man across the way looked more like a balancing artist then a criminal rogue as he stood on the beam with no thought of the drop. He knew Jonathan’s mindset, his focus on his immortality and inability to die. Why would he fear anything? If he thought he couldn’t die. Quite a ridiculous notion and he always felt half tempted to prove how close to death the man truly was, yet that would be a riddle for another day.

His eyes locked on the device that he pulled from his pocket. A smile spread across his face like butter as he took it in. A visual checkmark went off in his mind as another piece moved in the direction he needed. He took a step closer, but stopped as he reached the beam. The smile dissipated as he realized Jonathan’s little game. Stable as you want it to be? Pfft. Edward would rely on facts and the fact is the company that was building this skyscraper was known to cut corners.

He smirked and stayed in his place, taking no motion to acquire the device. “If you accomplished the task, I have no more need for the UBS drive. You can keep it. Maybe you will learn something from it. Advance your knowledge, perhaps?” he chuckled.

He looked at the man reaching out to him in his overly large outfit, as if he might fall at any moment and Edward’s hand was the only thing that could pull him back. Something always drew Edward to reach out…to reach in and pull out the answers to the mystery. Another part loved watching this man squirm.

“Come here, Jonathan. Unless you're afraid?,” he smirked, his eyes locking with his, mischief playing across them.

[Jonathan Crane - Scarecrow]

The doctor studied him, swaying with the wind on the pillar. Up here it was just the two of them but it had always been that way. In the gallery they had both stood apart from the rest. It was the reason their eyes met in the first place. He didn’t consider the man his equal, or at least he’d never admit it aloud. The man’s ego was already good enough without further encouragement. He couldn’t deny that the statement had to be close to the truth. There were very few beings that could hold his attention for this long.

He looked down at the device, ignoring the height below him. It didn’t seem to phase him as he let the wind move his body. A sharp gust would have sent him staggering, but even so he remained still and undisturbed by that fact. He put the technology back in his pocket, he didn’t know why he would need it but if Edward said it was important it probably was.

The space between them now was telling to their situation. Both of them were on opposite sides of the drop below them. With a breath one of them could go falling into the abyss. It was a situation they had both face before and would over and over again until one of them finally went down in the flames. His eyes lifted as he saw his hand come across, halting about half way over. His legs were long enough to make the jump with ease; taking his hand would be putting his success in his ability to hold him. It was a game of Edward’s, a game of trust.

His eyes locked with Edward’s no longer looking at his hand. That mischievous smirk of his played on his lips and the emeralds gleamed in his eyes, daring him to take the risk. It was a challenge, one he expected Dr. Crane to take without question. If it were any other man, he wouldn’t have cared about the remark before it. He didn’t have to prove to others that he wasn’t afraid, it was clear in everything he did. He would have simply crossed the gap himself and paid them no mind. But this wasn’t someone that he could simply negate.

“There is nothing to fear in front of me…” He responded, obviously including the drop and Edward himself.

The space between Edward’s body and the gap was not very much, but he was slender enough to be able to fit there. Edward expected him to rely on him to pull him back and to him. It was a physics problem that Edward had already calculated and knew the probability of risk himself. But it wasn’t the risk that kept Dr. Crane’s attention. In this moment it was just Edward, himself and the space between.

Without another thought he reached out and took his hand to try and get across to him.

[Deleted]

The riddle of Dr. Jonathan Crane had never been an easy one to solve. The Rogue Gallery was intricate and held a vast amount of personalities, and Jonathan had the honor of the first claim such a title. When Edward had taken up his mask and ventured into the criminal field, he had not once thought of the Scarecrow. He had not considered the man, nor cared anything about him. A man obsessed with fear sounded like an idiot. Why would Edward put a second thought to his affairs? He had been far more focused on his retribution to his buffoon employers and moronic doctors.

His first encounter with the Scarecrow had been in Arkham, and it had only been drawn out eye contact. Edward had found himself curious why everyone avoided the man. He hardly looked frightening, so when their eyes locked, Edward felt the challenge. He would not let the man win against him. He could play the game. He could match his piercing blue eyes and push further. It had all been a game to Edward. It had peak his curiosity. Even so, he knew he was far more intelligent than the other. He likely would have continued with his life with little interaction…if that rainy dark night would not have occurred. If fear toxin hadn’t been forced into his lungs.

Now that….that can focus a man. Jonathan always liked to assume that it was Edward who kept prying into the darkness, kept trying to dig out his emotions. Yes, Edward continuously did so now, but Jonathan had started this game. Jonathan had brought his obsession of fear into Edward’s life, so Edward wished to prove the man wrong, wished to show the powerful Scarecrow that his foolish thoughts were entirely incorrect. There were far more emotions than fear, and he had proved it over and over and over again. First in that decaying motel, than in the alleyway, than outside that run down bar. Somewhere along the lines, Edward had found the riddle so fascinating that he could not find away to stop. No matter how often he proved the man wrong, he continuously pushed against him. It attracted him like a magnet and Edward wanted to know more, wanted to know the reasons why. He wanted to understand Dr. Jonathan Crane.

However…times had changed.

The man in front of him, who he had analyzed and assessed thoroughly to the point he had considered a type of bond…had betrayed him.

Edward forgave him, but he certainly had not forgotten.

The riddle of Dr. Jonathan Crane had never been an easy one to solve, yet was worth it?

He smirked as the man took hold of his hand. He knew, while Jonathan himself might not, that indeed the man loved him in some strange way only Jonathan could. He knew he would do almost anything for him. It showed in his current actions. After all, Jonathan had invaded LexCorp technology for nothing in return, but Edward’s forgiveness. Why else would he do such a thing?

He would not lie. For a brief moment, Edward wanted to drop him, let him fall beneath and hit the pavement. He would enjoy seeing the man realize his mortality moments before it ended, learning in the very end how wrong he truly was and how right Edward had been. It would be cosmic justice for what Jonathan had put him through.

With a deep breath through his nose, he pulled Jonathan onto his side of the structure. His eyes looked at him, his smirk disappearing from his face for a moment. He could dive back into it all over again. He could lean forward grab the man and have him here. He could continue with the riddle, continue the challenge. He could play this game with the Scarecrow for years to come, the constant back and forth. He could…

Or…

He stepped back, turning away from him. His hand flicked in the air. “If that’s it, Jonathan, I have better items to be spending time on. Do let me know when you have the harpy, then we will be even,” he spoke casually, heading away from him and back to Allen who stood at the door.