Bruce wasn't sure what it was about him that always drove him over the edge. He couldn't pin point. But something about the doctor that always split him into two, like he wasn't already. The batman part in him loathed the man. He was a criminal, a guiltless psychopath and an incurable narcissist. There wasn't any excuse for what he did to the city, to the narrows and to his patients. He broke every law of ethics possible in the world, including the Hippocratic Oath. His crimes were unpardonable.
But with Bruce Wayne it was different. He didn't have to be incorruptible. He didn't have to the conscience keeper of the city.
Perhaps it was other way around. Bruce Wayne was the "scarecrow self" of batman. He was indeed the bolder self of the vigilante. That's why he could feel things he couldn't possible feel as batman. He understood the darker greyer side of human nature which the batman never could. He could actually empathize with them.
The batman always saw the world in plain black and white. There were the victims and then there were the criminals.
There was nothing in between. There was no back story, no empathy. Batman was in fact the impartial judge of moral values.
Bruce had none. He could do things, even public others would have qualms about. He had the scope of having an ID completely different from his bother conscious and subconscious mind. And he had no qualms about feeding his ID.
One of the things that differentiated him from the batman was how he felt about Jonathan crane. The batman hated him. The very sight of him, his smug expression and his "know it all" persona coupled with the fact he was a raving sociopath to begin with always pissed him off.
But Bruce understood where he was coming from. He got why and how he became the man he was now. When he remembered his own childhood and his memories of his loving parents he could see what Jonathan had missed and had gone through. And strangely enough he also understood his urge to kill. Didn't he, Bruce want to kill Joe chill some time ago?
He could see that plainly. He could see it written all over the good doctor's persona.
There wasn't any self preservation there.
There wasn't anything hidden. He knew he was self destructive. How could anyone have missed that?
The batman looked at the man sitting beside him in his car. He had been staring at him for a long time. He could almost feel the tension building in the air. Blue eyes of the crazed maniac had never left him.
As much as he tried to remain in his batman persona somehow the doctor always managed to bring out his "Bruce Wayne "self out. It didn't make him happy in the least. When he put that suit on, he always discarded his Bruce Wayne façade at home. But this man always managed to bring that one out.
Suddenly Bruce remembered the jab Jackson had made earlier on that the batman was probably gay. The batman wasn't. But Bruce couldn't deny the fact that Jonathan's incredibly superior mind always held an attraction for him. He was always fascinated by the man's intelligence. And besides he wasn't bad to look at.
Trying to unnerve me Bruce thought bitterly.
" what are you staring at ?" he growled
" I was wondering" came the crisp reply.
"keep wondering, stop staring at me….its creepy"
"I creep you out batman?"
"You creep everyone out crane"
"hahah"
Bruce looked away.
" why didn't you run crane? Why didn't you fight?" he asked him after a long phase of silence.
"we don't fight the batman…we need him dont we? Scarecrow spoke up suddenly.
"for what?"
"you know batman…. We don't have to spell it out for you…and we suspect you feel the same way"
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"If we need you to feed our addiction to fear batman" he paused " you need us to feed your alter ego"
"I don't understand"
"Oh don't insult my intelligence" the doctor spoke " I have seen how you look at me… its not very difficult to decipher…perhaps you should try to do that a bit more… makes you human "
"Shut up crane you are crazy"
"So I am. But my diagnosis wasn't wrong"
"I am not attracted to you"
"Perhaps not sexually "he grinned "but I somehow ignite your mind …. Your sapiosexuality … and perhaps the persona…lying underneath the Kevlar"
Bruce didn't say anything for a long time, then said 'I would still take you to back to arkham you know"
"And I will eventually break out. Scarecrow will. Then we will once again seek you out "
Ps this is a sequel to the story "the mirror has two sides..". It happens right after batman apprehends Jonathan and attempts to bring him back to arkham. you will find the story @ fanfiction.net
this is alos a prequel to the story midnight encounter