Fear (A Scarecrow Fanfic)

Chapter Three

I jumped from my seat when there was a knock on my office door, startled from my sleep. The guard opened it, motioning for me to follow him. Grabbing my paperwork, I stood, my back and neck muscles stiff from sleeping so long.

Apparently last night, a few of my patients had broken out of Arkham, leaving me with free time until they were found and apprehended. This included Riddler and, surprisingly, some of the Joker thugs. Both Joker and Harley were still here though.

I walked into the psychiatric room, sitting in front of Jonathan and plopping the paperwork in front of me.

Before I could start the session, he smiled, "What's the matter, Doctor? Did you go to bed late?"

I frowned at him, too tired to deal with him, "Yes. I was with a friend and she ended up dragging me with her to different places. So before you can ask, no, I don't suffer from nightmares."

This seemed to silence him, his smile faltering for a brief second. While he was silent, I did the usual process of checking the clock before starting the recorder.

"Does your obsession have anything to do with any fears you have?" I asked almost monotonous, knowing he wasn't going to answer.

"Does fear motivate your ambitions?"  He asked, studying me like usual.

Ignoring him, I asked another question, "Does your obsession involve a major incident in your past?"

He grinned, leaning back in his chair and holding up a finger, "Perhaps, Doctor, if you want answers you should try giving some yourself.  How often do you think I hear these types of questions?  They get boring, but the people asking them are always different with different backgrounds, personalities, and fears."

I scowled at him and gestured around the room, "How do you feel about the fact you'll have to spend your entire life in this place?"

He shrugged, still smiling, "Did you hear that Riddler escaped last night?  No one is sure how he did it, but there's always a million ways to do something."

I glanced at the clock, wishing the session would hurry and finish.  Jonathan noticed my anticipation, leaning forwards in his chair again, smirking.

"What's wrong, Doctor?  Am I bothering you?"

"No, of course not," I lied, clenching my hands together under the table to stay focused, "I'm here to help you.  I just wish you'd want to be helped and accept any help I can give you."

"Such acts of charity are usually not for the purpose of doing good.  You live in Gotham, Doctor, surely you'd understand that."

I sighed, "Not everyone is selfish.  Are you afraid of being hurt by selfish people?"

"Not at all," he responded, still smiling at me, "You might want to check the clock now."

I did, seeing it was time to end the session.  The guards guided Jonathan out of the room as I stopped the session and took out the tape, grabbing my paperwork and leaving the psychiatric evaluation room.  I opened the door to my office and walked in, my heart stopping for a brief second when I noticed the figure in black standing in my room.

"Ah...." I felt nervous, afraid I had done something wrong since he wouldn't stop glaring at me, "C-can I help you?"

His voice was sharp and clear, threatening me if I didn't do what he wanted, "I was told you were Riddler's doctor.  Did he give you any signs before he broke out of Arkham?"

"No...." I muttered, thinking back before moving around him to my desk, "But I do have the tapes of the sessions we had if you'd like to go over them."

I opened up the filing cabinet, pulling out the two tapes labeled with 'Edward E. Nygma.'  Batman took them from me and I closed the cabinet, putting my paperwork down onto my desk.

"Is there anything else I could help you with?"  I asked, itching to hurry and start my report.

"No," Batman stated, headed for the door.

Before he left, I hurriedly said, "I'll need those tapes back when you're done!"

The door closed loudly behind him, leaving me to wander if he had even heard what I said.  I took a seat, glancing at the clock before I logged onto my computer to begin my report.  Not long after I began, I received a phone call from the front desk saying I had a visitor.  I left my office to see who it was.

'A visitor?'  I wondered as I walked through the halls, 'Who would want to visit me so desperately that they'd come to an asylum?'

When I walked into the waiting room where the front desk was, I instantly recognized the brown haired she-devil seated across the room. Jasmine waved at me excitedly, oblivious to the scowl on my face as she got up and walked over.

"Alright, I've signed a bunch of paperwork, went through almost ninety metal scanners, was patted down by some guards, and now I'm ready to follow you around," she ticked everything off on her fingers, over exaggerating.

I sighed, not surprised at all, "I was done with all my work. I just have to finish writing a report."

"Great, then when you're done, we can visit Scarecrow," she smiled innocently, expecting me to be okay with this.

"Really?"

She shrugged and wrapped an arm around me, leading me into the hallway I had come out of, "Hey, I told you I needed to take notes from him."