Nightshift 36: Main Hallway, 2-West

[spirit_forge]

[from here]No one else appeared to be in the hallway. It should've been good news, but Archer still found it disconcerting. There were usually other patients around by now, but he couldn't be certain. His sense of time felt off in this place

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[jokers_wildcard]

If not for the medication still holding her back, she'd have enthusiastically agreed. She had no intentions of letting anything stop her from finding her two darlings. Harley would fight tooth and nail before letting anything happen to them. That half-handed reassurance Crane had so casually offered actually gave her a sense of peace, a boost in confidence. Funny how the mild support of one other person just made her feel so much more capable.

His next answer was a great deal less encouraging. How was that possible? Even people outside Gotham had heard of The Joker. For it to not be 'terribly familiar,' he'd have to have been living under a rock for the majority of the last decade.

"...Between the Gothams we know?" she repeated. Maybe it was the sedatives, but he really wasn't making any sense. As far as she was aware, there was only one Gotham City in the USA. Although, if there were two Gothams and they were really far apart, maybe that would make a bit more sense... But what were the chances of there being another Gotham with another Arkham Asylum? ...And a guy named Jonathan Crane. Really, those were too many coincidences. And he had mentioned the Bat last time, too. There was no way there was more than one Batman, right?

The look she gave him indicated she though he was sputtering nonsense and she wasn't sure where he was going with this, but she'd go along with it anyway. She tried to steady her breathing so her speech wasn't so broken up. "...Well, let's see. The other Professor Crane is a friend of mine from Arkham. Kinda quiet, plays chess a lot, but nice if ya get to talk to him. Most people wouldn't think Scarecrow would be, but... Oh."

She cut herself short and just looked at Crane. Right. If he hadn't heard of The Joker, he probably wouldn't have heard of Scarecrow either. "Dunno if ya heard of him. Scarecrow was that guy with the weird powder and gas and stuff that makes people freak out. Dunno much about it 'cept what was on the news. Never really talked too much about that kinda stuff."

She was feeling a little better after the rest. At least the hallway around them wasn't spinning anymore. It was easier to focus and speak now.

[scaredy_crow]

And there it was.

"Fear toxin, yes. As I thought. Actually, you could say I know Scarecrow fairly intimately," he said, staring back at her with a blank expression. She'd said that this Professor Crane was a friend, so hopefully what he intended to reveal would go over well. He could certainly find some way to use someone like her. "In fact, back in Gotham, I also went by the name Scarecrow."

She was most definitely from a different Gotham than he was. This proved the alternate Gotham theory, so now it was just a matter of explaining it to her.

"Tell me, Ms. Quinn, have you heard any of the rumors since you've been here that relate to alternate realities? It seems that's the problem that we have on our hands, and why I'm not the same Scarecrow you know."

[jokers_wildcard]

"What? ...Wait. Slow down, there, buddy-boy." He had just earned the most dubious expression to cross Harley's face since... well, visiting hours.

If she understood this guy correctly, he was stating that he was also called Scarecrow? Another Jonathan Crane, another Scarecrow? It could have been a twisted nickname to give someone with the same name as the Professor Crane she knew. But that didn't seem to be the point he was trying to make.

Suddenly bringing up alternate realities... Was he actually trying to say he was the Professor Crane from Arkham, but not really? An 'alternate reality' Crane-y? This was nuts and not normal nuts. It was something straight out of those late night sci-fi movies, only this poor guy actually believed it.

Harley knew about people like this: people who made up some world in their head and convinced themselves they were Abe Lincoln or whoever the heck. It was pretty common. After all, she'd met a man-turned-girl only a few days ago who'd convinced herself she was in some kind of giant game.

Had she not had that entirely unsettling meeting with Red a few hours ago, she'd have said exactly what was on her mind. Harley knew she wasn't delusional... She couldn't be. She knew she wasn't! But even still, it sure hurt a lot to be told someone else thought you were. With how nice he was to her, she didn't want to hurt "Crane's" feelings. She'd at least try to be a bit sensitive about it.

"...Can't say I heard nothin' about alternate realities." Though she said with a straight enough face, it was obvious she wasn't buying the idea. "Ya think... there are two Gothams and two Professor Cranes. And you're one of them? No offense, bucko, but ya don't look a heck of a lot like Professor Crane... or act like him."

Well, she tried.

[scaredy_crow]

Crane was perfectly aware that what was coming out of his mouth sounded absolutely ridiculous, but he'd seen and heard enough about the ridiculous in his life. He lived in a city with a man dressed up as a bat, for the love of God. He still wasn't entirely convinced, of course, but there was evidence here that he just couldn't ignore.

He was glad to hear that it sounded just as strange to her, and that she wasn't entirely ready to buy it. There was hope for her to make a good ally, yet. She was crazy, and she was willing to admit it, but she wasn't entirely stupid, either. It was all down to who was right. Either she was, he was, or they both were, but he was willing to bet that it wasn't solely the first. He was likely a bit crazy, but he knew he wasn't wrong.

"Oh, I'm sure. I suppose you're right, then." Crane shrugged and put on a faintly amused expression, although his next words dripped with sarcasm. "It's all a simple coincidence, and logic applies in an institution that allows its patients to run free rather than lock them in, as they're supposed to."

Really, his words were partly an argument with himself, but it suited his purposes just as well. Her not believing that he was himself was a bit of a problem, but if she wanted proof, he could provide it. He didn't know just what this Crane that she knew looked and acted like, but he didn't sound like someone that Crane would be too pleased to deal with past their business of fear.

If he wanted to go about proving it, though, then it was simply a question of what frightened her most. Best to start small. From what she said earlier, she could well be afraid for her babies. He wasn't certain if she would recognize what he was doing, but it would still be interesting experiment. It was always a good idea to be certain of what the people he knew were afraid of, in case he ever needed them out of the way.

"This place is abnormal in other ways, but I suppose that that is a bit too far-fetched, isn't it? It still begs the question, of course, of why they would have your...'babies'. What sort of experiments they may be doing to them, or perhaps they'd like to use them as leverage to get you to cooperate in something. After all, I doubt they would have any qualms with killing them."

[jokers_wildcard]

Well... Okay, the guy had a point there. The place definitely wasn't normal by any means. At first she had assumed these nightly things were just blackouts, but who heard of consistent blackouts every single night? The staff seemed to make no attempts to fix the problem as far as she could tell. In fact, at night she didn't see so much as a security guard wandering around, let alone all the nurses that overran the place during the day.

Odd. She hadn't actually stopped to think about it, but it really was like they were all alone at night, alone with giant man-eating bugs and monster cats. So what did that mean exactly? Not that she really felt she should care. She had to escape eventually. And it's not like it was really her place to sit around and try to make sense of what other people do. ...Or should she?

His other point was true, too. Everything he said couldn't be more than just a coincidence, and if he was some kind of delusional nut who only thought he was Professor Crane, well, he wasn't doing a very good job of it at all. What kind of delusionist gets the image all wrong?

Weird as it was, 'alternate realities' didn't seem to be the immediate conclusion to come to. At least Crane seemed to realize this all sounded strange.

As soon as he mentioned her babies, her eyes snapped up to his in surprise. What he said... it made sense. She was only sure they didn't release her sweet hearts because no one else had seen them after that day and couldn't imagine that weirdo doctor actually setting them free. Why would he?

The idea of using them as hostages she dismissed after only a moment's thought. If that were the case, they would have given her their demands by now. You don't take a hostage and hold them for days on end before using them.

And the thought of anyone torturing them, using them as guinea pigs, and possibly killing them...

"N-No... No! I won't let them! I'd kill them all first! There better not be a single scratch on their faces or I... I..."

But what if it's too late?

She hugged herself a little at that thought. No... She'd taken too long to come get them. So many days. It very well could be too late. Harley looked down the hallway that led to the animal storage labs. Now she was kind of scared to go... What would she find when she got there? What if they were just... a bloody residue by now?

"No..."

[scaredy_crow]

When she looked up at him that way, Crane knew he was on the right track. She was already scared that he might be right, and he could use that. "You'll what, Miss Quinn? I don't think there's much you could do in this condition if you have to fight, not even with that," he gestured to the bar in her hand before looking back down the hallway, trying not to smile. He'd pegged that one easily, but this was just the start. Now what else could she be afraid of?

Or rather, what else could he bring up in regards to this fear? He hadn't exhausted all his options yet. This was certainly a far better way to convince her of who he was than by rattling off the chemical formula for his toxin (which was a secret, anyway, and there was no way he was telling it to her). Even if she didn't catch on, it was still fun for him.

"But I suppose you'll still want to try, correct? After all, if something happens to them, then you'll be all alone here, with no one to need you to look after them. All alone to fight off the mutant cats and insects and hope that you live long enough to escape and make your way back to your other cell in Arkham. Or perhaps that gang you said you're a part of...but wouldn't they have attempted to bail you out by now?"

There was no way that he could know any of that for certain, but there was a good chance that it would work.

[jokers_wildcard]

He had hit it right on the money with that word: alone. The thought was utterly unbearable. Even if she was alone now, knowing her darling, her family, and her friends were all out there waiting for her was enough to keep her going through anything. Sedation or no, she would keep moving for their sakes. She didn't like the implications he was trying to drive home here, and it showed on her face.

"Well, yeah but... It's not like they know where I am. Heck, I don't even know where the heck this place is! How could they? So that's why..."

No, wait. That made no sense. Red had obviously found out she was here and had been able to make it. If Ivy was able to track her down, then surely her puddin' would have been able to locate her by now. Harley looked away from Crane, looking lost suddenly. If Red had left her here, then did that mean Mr. J was doing the same, too?

"No. H-he wouldn't. They wouldn't. ...Would they?" If they did leave her, and if it really was two late for her sweethearts, what would she have left? Mister J. If he left her there, she'd have nothing to live for. She'd...

...She'd. KILL. Him.

[scaredy_crow]

It might not have been that sort of screaming fear that he so loved, but it was satisfactory enough. Enough that he wanted to drive his message home a bit further before hinting at just why he was doing this.

"I don't know," he replied simply, shrugging and trying to keep from smiling. Her reactions were just far too fascinating, but even if she'd looked away, there was still the chance that she would look back at him. "I'm unfamiliar with your gang. But I've heard it said that we're supposedly in New Jersey. There's only so many other institutions on the eastern coast that could be checked if you were transferred here directly from Arkham."

Of course, fear of abandonment and being alone were nice, but he wanted to move this along to at least glimpse what else she might be afraid of before letting on why he was doing this. If nothing else, she seemed bright enough to recognize that once he discovered her fears, he would hold some power over her. It wasn't always the best way to do things, but he could get her as an ally one way or another.

[jokers_wildcard]

In New Jersey? That was a pretty random place to stick some giant, psycho mental institution with a massive bug prob--

Okay, maybe not.

But that was far closer to Gotham than she'd expected. With the wacky regulations and the excessive number of Japanese people (who didn't look at all Japanese), it might not have surprised her if she wasn't even in America anymore. ...Though thinking on that, it'd be hard to be anywhere but the east coast, seeing as she'd been transferred in only one night.

If she hadn't been moved far, then surely it wouldn't be difficult to track her to this new location. ...If they really wanted to find her that was.

It all clicked in her mind right then. Nothing made any sense at all if she assumed people were actually looking for her, if people wanted her back. If people needed her. But if they abandoned her, everything fell into place. Even the doctors who'd sworn to help her and the town she'd lived in for so long didn't want her anymore. Why else would she have been transferred. It made sense. It all made sense. No one wanted her anymore!

The excessive emotions of terror, shock, and hopelessness were not doing anything to help quell the sedatives in her body. She might as well have run a marathon because her mind and vision was swirling all over again. She let out a whimper similar to what a 5-year-old might give when about to start crying. Harley reached a hand out toward the wall again to try and steady herself, but touched nothing but air, stumbling a step.

"No... They..." Her other hand grabbed at Crane's arm as best it could while still holding an object, mainly for stability's sake. Harley turned that cornered mouse look up at Crane, looking about ready to explode. "They left me? They really left me here? No one's... even my puddin'? After everything... I..." Her voice suddenly choked back a second. "Everyone's leaving me here?! They're not coming for me?! They don't... they don't care?"

In about twenty seconds, Harley was either going to throw the biggest temper tantrum physically possible in her condition (and likely collapse) or Crane was going to have a heart-broken girl bawling her eyes out on his shirt.