Disclaimer: I don't own any of the DC comics characters. This is a work of fiction. All rights and stuff go to them except for the characters that I make.
Bruce disappeared for a second, in the next room I could hear the sound of pots. Finally after a few moments he rounded the corner carrying a large tray of food. As he sat it down, I got a good look at the contents. A large bowl of salad, two dinner plates, a basket of bread and a pot of spaghetti with meat balls. I watched as Bruce pulled the silverware out of his pants pocket. As he handed me a plate, I watched as he was having trouble lifting his arm.
"I can serve you."
"You wouldn't mind, even though you're my guest?"
"Not at all."
So with that I quickly plated Bruce a large helping, and then plated myself some. As we were eating, I noticed the gleam in Bruce's eye, it was telling me something...but I wasn't sure what.
Chapter 6: The Scarecrow
As we finished dinner I noticed that Bruce seemed very nervous and when I asked him if he was alright he lightly nodded. So there we were sitting across from each other, and after as few strangely quite moments, Bruce broke the silence.
"Frankie you know that I love you right."
"Yes, and you know that I love you." This was weird behavior, even for Bruce and when I finally looked at him and asked what the problem was, he looked deeply into my eyes.
"Frankie I want you to move into the manor with me, please."
The tone in his voice was stern and dark, it was the voice of Batman.
"Bruce is this what has been bothering you...why are you so desperate to get me in here."
"It's for your safety...and because I want you to be with me."
There was something that he wasn't telling me, something that he was trying to hide. A thought came to mind, an insanely impossible thought, but I figured I'd give it a try.
"Bruce, does someone else know your identity?"
He looked towards the fire, not wanting to look me in the eye. His voice changed yet again, this time full of anger and fury.
Yes."
I tried not to get upset,
"Who, who is it?"
"Jonathan Crane."
I felt all the air leave my body, and a cold chill ran over my skin. I knew exactly who that was. He had a reputation around my old neighborhood, few people knew that he started his career as a back alley therapist, before becoming a full fledged psychology professor, then loosing his mind after being fired. He claimed to be trying to help the youth with their problems, ended up making some kids go insane, giving them a permanent cell at Arkham. The last know siting of him was on a plane heading to the Caribbean, but the plane didn't make it. My vocal strength left, allowing my voice to only whisper.
"The Scarecrow, how does he know?"
Bruce still wouldn't look at me, be he finally spoke.
"You remember the night we first met? Those two thugs who were trying to kill you down that alley."
I nodded, never forgetting the smell on their breath.
"After I left you at your house I went and took them to the police station, the commisioner informed me that they belonged to the Falcone crime family. He told me that they were in league with Crane for a drug that would drive people mad, to the point where they could no longer see what is real and what is not. It would make their worst fears come to life. A few weeks ago I spotted them out and about, when they saw me they fled. It took a few hours before I finally got my hands on them again, and as I was escorting them back to jail, they said your name, and that you were on their hit list. I stopped and listened as they told me that Crane knew my identity. It turns out the thugs were smarter than they appeared. Because of the amount of money and dirty cops Falcone has in his pocket, the thugs were released 12 hours after they tried to kill you. I'd been trying to find them after I found out they were released, but they seemed to have slipped in the cracks of Gotham. Apparently they were waiting down that alley for the next few nights. The day I asked you if you still had my gloves, that night you missed the bus correct. The thugs spotted you and followed you home. They were almost ready to strike before I pulled up, taking you to the batcave remember. Well by my error I smoked myself out it seems, because when I snuck through your window, the thugs saw me.
They reported this back to Falcone and to Crane. Crane told the thugs that you and Batman were clearly romantically involved. Falcone paid a pretty penny to get your file, it says everything, that little pyro fine you had to pay, your birth records, business records everything. After giving it to Crane, who analyzed it, said he had an idea of who you are, what kind of person you were. He said that when you're romantically connected with someone it's only that one person. I'm not sure who, but someone spotted you with me and not Batman. The thugs said that even though they don't know who I am, Crane does."
I was speechless, there was so much to digest. I pushed the plate of spaghetti away from me, I had suddenly lost my appetite. I stood up and walked over to the fireplace, leaning against the mantle. Time ticked away, the moments seemed to go on forever before I felt his arms wrap around me. He whispered into my ear.
"Everything will be okay Frankie, I'll protect you."
"Bruce right now my mind is a mixture of emotions, I'm scared because I know Crane, and I know what he is capable of."
"How do you know him?"
"You remember how my parents died."
"You said they were killed in a plane crash."
"Yes, but I didn't tell you who caused it. What didn't make it into the papers was that Crane and a few of his friends planned to hijack the plane and crash it into Arkham Asylum. The police retrieved video from the wreckage, which was shown to me due to my parents involvement. I watched Crane point a gun at my mothers head and pull the trigger, and saw my father shot in the chest when he tried to avenge her."
"I'm so sorry Frankie I had no idea. Is there anything I can do?"
"My emotional level is a little unstable at this current moment. I'm mad Bruce because I should be strong enough to handle this and above all I'm upset because you left me in the dark, you should have told me this from the beginning. What do I do now, drop my house, my parents business, move into Wayne manor and become a shut in. No thank you. To be honest I wanted to move in with you, but now I feel that that decision was made for me and without my consent....I'm...is this what our life is going be like, shutting me away from the world?"
"Is it any different then what you had before me?"
I glared at him,
"Don't you dare patronize me Bruce Wayne, especially you of all people. He who was born with a silver spoon stuck up his ass. I can't believe you just said that to me. You know what you can spend the rest of this week and the weeks to come by yourself...good night."
I walked away from the fireplace and headed to the front doors,
"Frankie don't leave I didn't mean to upset you."
"I said good night."
I walked out of the manor and headed back to the city. It took an hour of frustrated walking before I got back to my place. After locking the door and turning the kitchen light off I headed to take a shower.
As I was finishing I heard a noise in my room. I was still pissed at Bruce for responding to me the way he did. I had a towel wrapped around myself. The lights were all off, but I had pretty good vision. I rounded the corner to my bedroom doorway,
"Bruce I do not want to see you..."
"I'm not Bruce."
Instant panic fueled me to the bone. When I tried to leave I hit into a large mass of flesh. The light switch was flipped on and as I looked up into the eyes of the largest man I'd ever seen, he smiled at my apparent fear. He placed his hands on my shoulders forcing me to turn around. When I looked into his eyes, there was no denying that this was Crane and that he was indeed the Scarecrow. His tattered burlap sac style pants and shirt, harshly stitched together, matched with a mask that was torn. The mouth weaved in a pattern that made him appear to be smiling.
"So tell me, who is Batman?"
"I...I don't know who he is."
I was terrified, not of Crane's look or mass, but what he could do to me.
"You're lying to me...no matter I think this will change your mind."
He reached down towards his waist and connected to a belt was a small container. He pulled the capsule from it's holder and turned the top twice to the left and pointed it to my face.
"This is your last warning Franklin, who is Batman?"
He glared now furious that I wasn't answering his demand, I suddenly realized that he was going to spray me with what ever craziness he had stored in that container either way. This gave me a small amount of courage.
"I thought you knew Crane, former therapist, a hack that gives all of psychology a bad name."
He smiled at this,
"To bad...Batman will die painfully now because of what you just said."
With that he pressed his thumb down and a large mist of white smoke hit me in the face. It smelt like chlorine, I tried to hold my breath but the large man came from behind and grabbed me, forcing me into a head lock, and crimped my nose. Crane waited for me to take a breath and right when I did, he sprayed me in the face once more. I took in over half the smoke, feeling a little light headed. Seeing this, the large man released me. As I fell to the floor I heard Crane's voice telling the man to leave him with me, that he would be out in a minute. I could see the man walk away, and as Crane leaned down, he whispered into my ear,
"I want you to know Franklin in these last few moments of sanity you have left, that I do know who Batman is, and I assure you Bruce Wayne will die, just like the rest of his miserable family, you will follow as well. Kind of touching if you think about it, obviously the two of you are a perfect match, both coming from shattered pasts. Too bad you won't be able to enjoy it. The gas I sprayed you with will begin with loss of feeling, then taste and smell, then vision and finally paralysis, all the while you will hallucinate, I hope you enjoy. Goodbye Franklin."
I watched as he walked out of my bedroom, after a few moments the front door shut and I was alone. I could feel the effects beginning to surface. I managed to stand up and get to my phone. The numbers were beginning to haze and criss cross one another. I tried the best I could to dial Bruce's silent line as he called it, it would patch me directly to him. The first try failed, I ended up calling Chinese take out, next it was an automated message,
"The number you have dialed does not exist, please hang up and try the number again."
So that is what I did, the phone was ringing. At last I heard his voice.
"Frankie is that you?"
I tried to say it as quick as I could before the full effects kicked in.
"Yes Bruce it's me I'm sorry, Scarecrow was here and he poisoned me, I can feel the effects already, please help me."
"I'm on my way, just breath."
"I love you Bruce."
"I love you too Frankie, just breath I'm coming."
I dropped the phone and sat down on my bed. My vision was alright, but beginning to get hazy around the edges. My fingers were tingling and soon I couldn't feel them, along with my arms and face, I lost feeling in my toes when I tried to wiggle them, I looked down and saw they were moving, but I couldn't feel it. Just then I saw a huge snake crawl across my floor and under my bed. I fell back onto my blankets and closed my eyes trying to not focus on anything but breathing, like Bruce said. The moments went by, and I soon lost the ability to taste or smell. After what felt like hours I heard my window slam open, and as I turned my head I saw what looked like a huge bat with fangs, a pair of gigantic wings and ears. He looked like he had just crawled off the pages of Stoker's novel. He came up to me, hovering like a creature of darkness.
"Frankie, it's me Bruce."
But this wasn't registering with me.
"Don't don't bite me, I don't want to die. Please don't kill me. I don't know who Batman is, I sware."
I closed my eyes when I heard the creature speak again.
"Frankie it's me, Bruce."
I opened my eyes and there were brief moments where his face would fuzz in and out of focus.
"Bruce...Bruce help me. Don't let me die, I want to live with you in Wayne manor, please don't let me...let me..let"
That was all I could manage to get out before my voice came to a screeching hault. I was suddenly floating as he carried me out of my room, down the hall and out of the front door. When I opened my eyes, I could see a large amount of flickering light. We stopped moving, we were in complete darkness for a while. When I opened my eyes once more there were little sparkles of red and blue light. That was the last thing I saw before closing my eyes.
When I awoke I realized I could taste and smell, I could feel once more and when I tired to get up out of bed I realized I could stand on my own. The bed side light was on, and the curtains were drawn, it was night outside. When I looked around it became apparent that I was in Bruce's bed, but I was alone. The first few steps I took were a little wobbly, but I managed to get to his secret entrance. It took me a few minutes to get down the staircase to the batcave. I looked around the main entrance, the batmobile was still here along with the other modes of transportation. As I walked to the computer core, there he was, in his suit, but without his boots, gloves or cowl. I lightly walked behind him and leaned down to whisper in his ear, but before I could he spoke,
"I'm glad to see you're awake and moving."
"Thank you Bruce."
I pulled up a free chair and sat down next to him. He spun around, so that he was facing me and opened his legs so that my knees were touching his inner thighs. With only a few inches of space between us he was looking deeply into my eyes.
"Frankie I want you to know that I am truly sorry for what I said to you, it was out of line and cold hearted. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted to protect you." The quiet was relaxing, but off in the distance I could just hear the flapping of bat wings.
"So where do we go from here?"
"What happened to Scarecrow, Falcone and the thugs?"
"Me and the commissioner nabbed them, everything is alright for now, but I imagine Falcone wont be in jail for long. Crane on the other had, he went back to Arkham, where he belongs."
I nodded, thankful that the nightmare was over. But now the matter of Bruce and myself came into question, and that needed an answer.
"Bruce I want to ask you something."
"Anything."
"Can I move in with you?"
"You want to, I mean of course."
"Okay only on two conditions, one from now on you tell me the truth, even if it is a lot to take in."
I could see he was a little hesitant at first, but finally agreed.
"Alright, I promise and the other."
I leaned over and seductively whispered into his ear,
"I want you right now, in your suit, if that won't be an issue."
As I leaned back I saw the dirty smile on his face,
"That won't be a issue at all."
"Good, because I'm really pent up."
I got up out of my chair and turned the lights off, as Bruce was putting on his cowl. I ran and hid behind a rock wall and tried to keep low. I could hear his deep voice in the distance,
"I'm going to find you and when I do, your going to get it, all of it."
I kept low and did a cat like crawl around a table and found my way back to the main computer. As I went to turn around the last corner, past the operating table, I felt his hard hand grab me and could feel his hardness through his suit.
"You're mine now."
I turned to face him and I felt my body get hot, his rough hands began to massage my shoulders. He picked me up and carried me to the elevator, as I looked into his dark eyes, feeling a wave of lust wash over me. When we arrived, the doors opened into the study. He carried me through the room and back into his bedroom. The light was still on, allowing me to see his body in all it's leather covered glory. After setting me down on the bed, he removed his cowl.
I leaned my head back, resting it against the lushness of the pillows, all the while watching Bruce as he began to walk around to the side of the bed. He tossed the mask on the floor and hopped up on the bed, straddling my waist and placing a hand on each side, trapping me between himself and the bed. I lightly began stroking his arms, smiling while he peered down at me. He smiled back as he leaned down, placing a kiss on my throat, then up resting on my chin and finally on my lips. As I tasted his tongue, the strong yet soft organ protruded into my mouth making me want to release all at once.