Love in the Dark

I was in a car with the Jonathan, being held captive. I sat in the middle seat, the clown man sitting on top of me. Looking in the back, I saw Jonathan being held down by several men in clown masks and shot him a worried look which he returned. We drove up the levels of the parking tower and the sound of machinery came. It grew louder and louder as we continued our way up and looking out of the window, we found a helicopter. We were then taken from the car and pushed into the body of the copter, feeling the sickening jerk of it leaving the ground. I crawled over to Jonathan who hugged me close to him, tears were forming in my eyes, but I felt safer in his arms than away from him. The door on the opposite side from us was open and we watched as they took us up and over the dark city, and to the top of a bridge.

"This is our stop," said the clown man. Grabbing a hold of me, he tore me away from Jonathan, leaving his clown masks to take care of him. He jumped out of the copter and landed with me on the top of the bridge's towers. We stood near the edge where the clowns struggled to get a backpack on Jonathan. Wind blew at us with a terrible force, my hair came out of it's bun and my dress whipping madly behind me. My legs were weak in the black heels.

"You see what they're doing," asked clown man, "They're putting a parachute on your boyfriend. It's going to go off soon, hopefully after we push him off of the bridge," I gasped and tried to get out of his grip to help Jonathan, "But here's the catch, that's either an actual parachute bag, or a bag full of nothing. See, the fun thing is that we don't know what's in it!" He gave a shrill laugh. As he did so, the clown masks moved Jonathan closer to the edge and now I was crying.

"No, no, please let him go!"

"Let him go?" The clown man laughed and slapped his knees, "You have a terrible choice of words." Looking up at the clown men, he said, "You heard her, let him go."

The clowns nodded and shoved Jonathan off of the edge, "No!" I jerked forward so I could see what was going to happen, but the clown man held me in place, "Jonathan, no!"

Then I saw it. A white parachute being carried over the river with Jonathan strapped to it. I collapsed, almost falling to my knees if the clown weren't holding me up. He shook his head, "Well that's no fun," turning to me he added, "That means that you're going to die."

"No, please don't do this," I struggled against him. The cars down below had all stopped, everyone was watching us up here. Spot lights from police squad cars were shone on us.

Joker, called a voice from a megaphone, Do not harm the girl.

He laughed, "Fat chance." Turning to me, he pulled out a switchblade and put it up to my mouth, "Do you wanna know how I got these scars?"

"Joker," came a low raspy voice. Looking behind him, I saw a man with a cape and a mask that looked like a bat.

Batman?

"You! I was waiting for you," said the Joker, pushing me away. I fell my body falling off of the tower, but I held on. I let out a scream, "Shut up," he snapped at me.

I heard people fighting and tried to pull myself up, and was assisted by a white glove, looking up I saw the face of the Joker, "Please help me."

He jerked me away from the tower, me loosing my grip, now I was just freely handing, the Joker holding onto my wrist. I saw the Batman on the ground, getting up. He saw me and his eyes widened under his mask, "Joker, don't."

"She's really pretty," he said, "She'll look good as she falls."

"Joker, no!"

Then he let go of me. I screamed as I fell. I couldn't hear anything, the wind rushing past my ears was deafening. Then I felt an arm wrap around my waist and I jerked to a stop. Looking up, I saw that I was in the arms of the Batman. I gasped, and held onto him for dear life, then felt whatever it was he was dangling on start to jerk. Looking up, we saw the Joker kicking at the claw.

"Hold on to my belt." I did and he let go, allowing me to dangle from his waist. Reaching over to his side, he grabbed an other gun, and shot it at the Joker. It hit him and he fell off of the tower, the cord connecting him to Batman snapping as his decent was halted. He could be heard laughing as he dangled from his foot. Batman lowered us down to the bridge where the police helped me onto the ledge. Batman stood on the railing, and pulled up the Joker. The police grabbed a hold of him and arrested him. During the commotion, Batman disappeared.

"Ma'am," said a cop, "My name is Commissioner Gordon."

"Jonathan," going to him, I said, "Did you see what happened to him? The Joker put a parachute on him and he went down the river...." I started to cry. Commissioner Gordon wrapped his arm around me.

"We have a boat looking for him." As he said that, his walkie-talkie crackled to life.

Commissioner, we found the man.

"Good, bring him in," turning to me he said, "Ma'am, you're going to have to come with me down town. They found your boyfriend, you two can meet here."

I nodded, "Thank you."

"I'll give you a ride."

Helping me into the backseat of his car, I cried shamelessly into my hands. He drove to the station, looking in the rear-view mirror helplessly at me, "Would you like a tissue?"

"Yes please."

"Hey, aren't you a friend of Bruce Wayne?"

I smiled for a moment, "Yeah."

"How do you two know each other?"

A sob chocked out my answer at first but I managed, "We knew each other as kids.... Our parents were... very good friends."

"You an Elwood?"

"Yes."

"I remember your parents."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes ma'am. Good people. How are they?"

"They're both good. My mom is at Wayne Manor, and my dad is in Bermuda."

"Why there?"

"Divorced."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

We rode back to the station in silence, I managed to control my crying. When we entered the building we heard, "Bethany!"

Looking up I saw Jonathan, soaking wet, and I ran to him, not caring if my dress got wet. I wrapped my arms around him, and he did the same to me. Tears ran down my face as I hugged him, "Oh my God, I was so scared."

"I was more worried about you than I was about me." He cupped my face in his hands and he whipped my tears away with his thumbs, "It's over now," he whispered, "You have nothing to worry about."

I nodded and managed to slow my tears a little. He kissed my forehead and pulled me back into a hug. The room was frantic around us, no one really paying any attention. I clung to Jonathan, not wanting to let him go, and he was perfectly okay with that. Gordon approached us, looking at me more than Jonathan, something tells me that he wasn't all that fond of him.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

I swallowed then said, "We went to dinner, and was threatened by," I looked up and Jonathan and said, "The Joker? We left and were abducted in the parking garage, taken on a helicopter, and then taken to the bridge tower." The tears came back, but I continued, "Then they... pushed Jonathan off the tower, and the Batman was there-"

"Batman," Jonathan looked at me, "Oh thank God." He tightened his grip.

"Well, you two have nothing to fear anymore," said Gordon, "The Joker is contained."

"Because that worked so well last time," said Jonathan.

"It was from your institution he escaped from, Crane."

"And it should be back to that institution that he goes."

"So he can escape again?"

"Guys," I said, cutting between them, "Just... be thankful that the bastard is in custody."

Jonathan nodded, "She's right."

"Bethany?" I turned and saw Bruce fighting his way though the crowd of police. Coming over to me, he tore me away from Jonathan and pulled me into a tight hug, "Thank God you're okay."

"Bruce, I'm fine."

"I about had a heart attack when I saw you on the news."

"The news?"

"They were on the bridge."

I sighed, "Well, we're okay."

"Bethany, hunny!" My mom came up behind Bruce, "Oh my sweet baby, come here, are you alright? You're soaking wet, why? Oh come here." She pulled me into a hug and I let her. Hell I almost died tonight.

"Mom, I'm okay." Pulling away I went back to Jonathan, "We're okay."

"Who is this," mom asked.

"Mom this is Jonathan Crane, Jonathan, this is my mother Margaret."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Elwood. Although I do believe if would have been better under different circumstances."

"Indeed."

She didn't approve.

Gordon kept Jonathan and I at the police station for about an hour, then allowing us to leave. I rode home with Bruce and my mother after saying good night to Jonathan. Leaving him was so hard. I didn't want anything else to happen to him. When we got home, I ignored everyone and went upstairs, grabbed my purse and took out my phone. It wasn't until I was halfway through Jonathan's number that I noticed that both were in my possession. How did they get here? I could have sworn I lost them between the restaurant and the helicopter. Digging through the contents of it, I found that yes, it was my purse. I shrugged and figured that I must have left it here on accident.

Calling Jonathan, I was relieved when he picked up, "Hello?"

"Hey," I sank onto my bed, "I'm just calling to make sure you got home safe."

He laughed, "You're worried about me getting home safe? You were the one dangling off of a bridge."

"You were the one almost killed."

"We both were."

Tears swelled along the rims of my eyes, "So, you're okay?"

"Yes."

"Okay, good."

"Are you?"

"No."

Jonathan was quiet, "Do... you want to talk to me? I am a licensed psychiatrist."

"I was almost killed tonight. By a man dressed as a fucking clown. I almost saw someone I care about fall to their death. I was saved by a man dressed as a bat, and...." I stopped to catch a sob that was about to escape, "And... I don't know."

"Beth, it's okay to feel this way, it's perfectly normal."

"You seem to be taking this well."

"I'm drowning myself in scotch."

"Really?"

Ice in a glass clinked from the other side of the phone, "Really?"

"Why us?"

"Because he is under my care at Arkham."

"Jonathan, I don't want to be alone right now... and I can't go to Bruce of my mother.... Could you stay on the phone, until I fall asleep? I just... need someone to talk to me, and tell me everything is going to be okay."

"Beth, I would do anything for you if it made you feel better." Sliding under the covers, I put the phone on speaker, and laid down. "Did you enjoy dinner?"

I let out a small laugh then sniffed, "Yeah, for the most part. You?"

"Yes, very much."

"What was your favorite part?"

"I had a few."

"What were they?"

"Every time you smiled."

I smiled, "Wow, you're good."

"Comes with the territory."

"I'm sure."

"I don't suppose you'd like to join me again sometime?"

"Can we not go to a... really public restaurant?"

"I think I know of a place we can go that's safe."

I smiled, "You don't have to take me out to every meal."

"I want to spend as much time with you while you're here."

"Well, if things go better, I might just stay a while."

"Really?"

"I was looking for apartments earlier today."

"That would be fantastic if you decided to stay."

"We could go to Wicked."

Jonathan laughed, "Yes, we could."

My eyes started to droop, "I'm about to fall asleep."

"Do you want me to tell you a story?"

"Sure."

"Once upon a time, there was a scarecrow, a scarecrow who had no friends. He worked in a wheat field. But the work was difficult, but indeed, it was very lonely. Days and nights passed by with no one to talk to. The only thing he could do was to look at the birds. Each time they flew by, he'd wave at them. But they never answered him. They flew away as if they were afraid of him.

"One day, the scarecrow did something forbidden. He offered a bird some seeds. But even so, the bird didn't seem to care. The scarecrow wondered why nobody wanted to be his friend. And so time went by until, one cold night, a blind crow fell at his feet. The crow was shivering and starved to death. The scarecrow decided to take care of him. After several days, the blind crow got better. The scarecrow told the crow how he wrapped the bird in a scarf and gave him seeds to eat. Before the crow flew off the scarecrow asked why the birds never wanted to be friends with the scarecrows. And the crow explained that the job of the scarecrows was to scare the poor birds. They are evil and despicable... monsters!

"Humiliated, the scarecrow replied, "It's not true! Take me for example. I'm not evil. And I'm a scarecrow." And one more time, the scarecrow was left with no friends.

"That same night, he made a decision. The scarecrow wanted another job, he no longer wanted to frighten birds. Seeing his scarecrow talking, the farmer screamed. Terrified, the farmer woke up all his neighbors. He told everyone that his scarecrow had come alive and that could only be the work of the Devil. The villagers chased the scarecrow into an abandoned windmill. There they set it on fire. The scarecrow was screaming but nobody did care except for a few crows flying around. One of them was the blind crow. His friends told them that the villagers were burning a windmill where a scarecrow with a very long scarf was trying to hide.

"Then, the blind crow told them that he was the good scarecrow who saved his life. Moved by the story, the crows longed to save the scarecrow. But it was too late and they couldn't do anything. The scarecrow burned to death. The crows had waited until dawn and, when the flames had died down, they went up to the remains of the windmill, took the ashes of the scarecrow, and flew high up, very high... and up on high, they scattered the ashes through the air. The wind carried the ashes all across the county. The ashes flew side by side with all the birds. This way, the scarecrow never had to be alone again, because his ashes were now flying with his new friends.

"In memory of the tragic death of the scarecrow, the blind crow and all his friends decided to dress in mourning. And this is why, since then, all crows are black, in memory of the scarecrow who wanted to be friend of the birds. The end."

"That was sad," I said, my voice slurred from the sleep that was taking over me, "But beautiful."

"Shall I wish you good night?"

"Yeah."

"Good night, Beth."

"Good night, Jonathan."

Hanging up the phone, I fell asleep.