Love in the Dark

Jonathan sat in the Lay-Z-Boy chair, not looking at me. I curled up on my end of the couch, waiting patiently for him to explain whatever it was that he wanted to say, "It... probably should start with my childhood," he said, "I was born out of wedlock. My father left before I was born, and my mother... well, I don't think she ever wanted me. We moved in with my great-grandmother who thought I was the devil's creation; she was very religious and let my mother know that I was an abomination whenever she could. I was a child born without married parents which was after all a sin. My mother had no problems leaving me with her, going out on her own; never once did she hug me... never once did she tell me that she loved me.

"One day... I did something... wrong. I'm not entire sure what it was, but my great-grandmother thought that I needed to learn a lesson. She put me in a suit, saying that we were going to church... only this church had been abandoned a long time ago. She pushed me in and locked the door. The suit was laced with a chemical that smelled terrible... and the church was filled with crows that didn't like the smell as well. They attacked me, clawing at me, nipping at me, destroying the source of the smell. I managed to get every article of clothing off of me, and I crawled in a corner and cried. An hour later, my grandmother came back and took me home. That was when I developed a liking of crows.... I know it sounds weird but the experience was so interesting to me... to see them act as a unit to eliminate the source of something that they all hated... the way they attacked in unison. It taught me to appreciate the birds, and it was how I felt the rush of fear.

"I became obsessed with the concept of fear. I learned as much about the feeling as I could. I became wrapped up in the sensation of fear. As I grew up, I was teased by the kids in the neighborhood, being called Ichabod... and Scarecrow. The boys threw rocks at me, chasing me down the streets. I became even more obsessed with fear, and then the concept of revenge. I hated those boys... so much. They were bullies who tormented me both in school and out of school, from kindergarten all through my high school career. I would fantasize getting back at them, scaring them like they scared me.

"However, as much as they tormented me, they sort of helped me... find myself. I read the story Sleepy Hollow for a class assignment and found the origin of my nick name; Ichabod Crane. He sort of became an unofficial hero, I particularly loved the fact that he could dance. The one thing that I hated about Ichabod however, was that he was a coward... I swore to myself that I would never be afraid of anyone again. I took him on as my alter-ego, coming up with my own version of a 'violent dance' which I combined with the elements of crane style of Kung Fu.

"When I was seventeen, I fell in love with a girl named Sherry Squires. She was amazing... beautiful, funny, smart.... But she was dating a guy named Bo Griggs. Bo was one of those guys, ya know... the kind that you relate to the boys of your childhood... the boys who taunted you, who picked on you, who bullied you. I decided that I wouldn't let Bo bother me, and I asked Sherry out to a costume party... it was Halloween. I was going to dress up as Ichabod Crane, my hero, and she was going to dress up as a nurse. When we got to the part, she lead me to a dark room, where Bo was waiting with a Jack O' Lantern head and chased me out of the party and down the street, throwing the pumpkin and it hitting me in the back of my head.

"I hated them so much for what they did to me. That year, during our senior prom... I dressed up as a scarecrow, and brandished a gun in front of their car, scaring them. They drove off of the road and their car flipped down a steep hill. The crash paralyzed Bo, but it killed Sherry. I was eighteen years old. I loved the feeling of being able to literally scare people to death. Later I killed my bitch of a grandmother, she had it coming. She was too self righteous for her own good. When I found out that my mother had given birth to a baby girl, I tried to kill the daughter as well.

"After high school, I went to Gotham University and went into psychology. My professor, was brilliant, although he dismissed the psychology of fear. I wanted nothing more but to be his colleague, but there were no positions left. Angered, I turned my back on him and tried chemistry. There I found the compound for a fear inducing toxin, which I used to kill my beloved psych professor, and then I took his job; I specialized in the subject of fear. I was fired for firing a bullet into a plant's pot as a demonstration of the body's use of fear... one of the shards barely blinded one of the students. I later killed those responsible for my being fired, then I transferred to Arkham Asylum, to the job I have now. I used the toxin to conduct my experiments on the patients, dressing up as a scarecrow, which became my alter ego, using the name that the boys back at home used for me. I became a career criminal, terrorizing people to death. Then the Batman came along.

"He ruined everything. He destroyed my plan to spread panic through the entire city. I was working with a Ra's al Ghul to destroy Gotham... but Batman ruined it. He stopped everyone, and took me to Arkham where I was offered a choice. Stay in Arkham as a patient, or take intensive therapy to try and... over come my past. I chose the later. It took two months, I was totally cooperative, in fact I still go." Turning to me he said, "I'm a changed man, Bethany. I resent my crimes, I resent my past, but I am no longer the Scarecrow. I am no longer the man that the Joker wants me to be." I looked at him, tears streaming down my face. I was suddenly fearful for my life here, sitting in the same room as him. "Jesus Christ, Bethany, say something please."

"What... do you want me to say, Jonathan? You... just told me that you... killed people... and enjoyed it. You just told me that... this was a lie-"

"This isn't a lie." Getting up, he came over to me, and I backed away from him, "Bethany-"

"Please, don't come over to me."

"Bethany... I'm a changed person.... I... love you."

The tears fell harder down my face, "Please... just don't."

He sat at the other end of the couch, looking defeated, "Beth... please come over here."

I shook my head as I stood up, "I'm sorry... I can't." Walking out of the room, I ran up the stairs and closed the door to his room, collecting my clothing, and my phone. I called Bruce.

"Hello?"

"Can you come pick me up?"

"Where are you?"

"Jonathan's house."

"Where?"

I gave him the address, "Please hurry."

"Okay."

Hanging up, I went sat down on the bed and cried. I cried for five minutes until there was a knock on the door. Getting up, I walked down the stairs and found Jonathan opening the door for Bruce, "What are you doing here, Mr. Wayne?"

"I'm picking up, Bethany."

"Why?"

"Because I called him," I said, slipping past him and out of the door, "I'm ready to go."

"Okay," Bruce wrapped an arm around my shoulder and said, "Thank you, Jonathan."

"Bethany, wait," Jonathan took a step forward, and I took a step back, "Please, give me another chance."

"I'm sorry, Jonathan... I don't think I can."

Bruce turned me around and walked me to his car. Getting in, I looked out the window as Jonathan stood in his doorway watching us drive away. I started to cry again, "What's wrong," asked Bruce.

"Did you know," I asked, "Did you know that Jonathan was a murderer?"

Bruce stiffened in his seat, "Yes."

I hit him and the car swerved, "You son of a bitch!"

"I told you that he was a dangerous man!"

"Yeah, but you forgot the part where he fucking murdered people! He sat down and fucking told me his entire fucking life story! He told me how he fucking killed people and enjoyed it!" I couldn't say anything else, as a new wave of sobs came over me. I cried into my hands as Bruce drove, the awkwardness filled the car. When he pulled into the driveway of Wayne Manor, I got out of the car and ran up to my room, closing the door behind me. Not even a minute later, Bruce opened the door.

"Bethany," I pulled him into me and hugged him as I cried, "Bethy... I'm so sorry I didn't tell you."

"Why?"

"I thought that it was a good idea... for him to date you. I hated the thought of you being with someone else, especially him, but I thought that if he wanted to make a full recovery that it would be useful."

"I had sex with a murderer," I whispered, "I fell for someone who had fun killing people."

"Hey... you're here now," he said, "You're here and you're safe."

"I know." Looking up at him, I smiled and placed a kiss on his lips. It meant to be a simple one, but Bruce made it deeper. I didn't protest. Hugging me close to him, he kissed me while I ran my hands through his hair. His hands ran over my body, touching me in places that he normally wouldn't. I remembered when we had had sex in the sauna and my libido went on over drive. I opened my mouth and allowed his tongue to enter me, his muscle dominating the kiss.

But then he pulled away, "We can't."

"What?"

"You just broke up with your boyfriend after finding out his secret... plus you used me. We can't."

"Bruce... I'm sorry."

Giving me a soft kiss he said, "I understand."

"I'm just... so confused, about everything."

"We can call someone and maybe they can help you."

I nodded, "Okay."

Kissing me again he said, "God I love kissing you."

I giggled, "Good."

Getting up he said, "Good night, Bethy."

"Good night Bruce."