Dr. Crane

Crane has just finished inputting some information into his computer when he decides to check other things online. Sometimes he does that - he browses for random information, or the occasional mind game that he can work on to let a few minutes pass, just so his mind can be fresh and relaxed for a few more hours of work. It's part of his routine, because even if he hates to be predictable, sometimes habit wins over everything else.

Just as he's about to close the browser, Harry's entry makes him stop and read it over. And he does it again, and then again, until he realizes that there's a tugging at the corner of his lips into a sort of smirk. Or maybe it's a smile. Either way, as he imagines the scenario, he has to admit that it doesn't sound too bad.

It sounds...normal.

There's a shudder that takes him over for a moment, and he stands so he can pace for a moment. He stretches his back, and if someone were to look into the lab at that moment they'd figure that he's just taking a break. In reality, however, he's still thinking. Of spending Christmas with Lucy, and with Harry. of what they can do for the holidays, and how different this year will be compared to the last. Compared to all his other ones, actually, and he knows that this year will be different for his sister as well. And for Harry.

For everyone. This is something new. Something...good.

Another small shudder, and Crane stops. He looks over at the screen and stares at it, even if the browser is now closed.

Later on he might admit it, or he might not. He might put up a fight about being dragged out of the lab, but deep down it will be just to keep up with tradition. In reality, he has to admit, he's looking forward to Christmas for the first time in his life. With Harry. With Lucy. Just being with them will be perfect, despite how odd it is to think it.

But he doesn't mind it. Not as much as he once figured he would. Jonathan Crane has always been a fan of perfection, after all. That day, he's sure, will be perfect just because they will be together no matter what they could do throughout the day.

1. Breach of trust.
2. Practiced some experiments on patients.
3. Abused my position at the asylum.
4. Making illegal drugs.
5. Selling illegal drugs.
6. Using fear toxins in the city.
7. Would not making an antidote for the toxins so people could go back to normal count as a broken rule?
8. Used my position at Arkham to use the basement as my own laboratory/manufacturing plant.
9. Breaking out of Arkham.
10. Hurt the men that my sister...'spends time with.' Using human beings as guinea pigs.

[locked to Harry Osborn ONLY]

Nothing.

Usually that is my very first answer when that question is asked. You know this, of course. You have known it for... Heh, I think you began to know me long before I actually started to figure you out. Which is strange in itself, because that never happens. I don't let that happen. It's not supposed to happen.

The details as to why you came into my life don't seem important now. Can you believe that? I can't. I still can't. It doesn't matter how much I get it through my head, and it doesn't matter how much I try to make sense of it. I can't make sense of it. It's infuriating. It's frustrating.

And, to be honest, it's terrifying.

I'm not afraid of you. I'm afraid of what you represent. No, wait, let me rephrase that: I'm afraid of what you represent in my life. Because I care about you, Mr. Osborn. More than I'm supposed to. I'm NOT supposed to care. About you, about anybody. It's a liability. It weakens you. It...

Damn it.






Remember this?





There's a possibility





I think




I love you, too.

It is very hard to capture Jonathan Crane's attention. This isn't a secret. It never has been, and it never will be. He prides himself in being selective, after all. His standards are high because why should he waste his time on those that don't deserve it in the least? Crane's time is precious, he believes; wasting it on simple no ones is out of the question.

That the reason why Crane has never truly been in a relationship. Or, rather, one of the many reasons. He can appreciate the outer beauty in some people, but that is the most Crane had ever come to know about love. It had always been lust. He knew what it was like to be attracted for a moment or two, to be infatuated with someone, but he always tended to be bored. No one was interesting enough. No one could hold his interests and keep him alert.

And then came Harry Osborn.

Now he's in Greece, and what started as a game and an experiment, has evolved into something else entirely. It's not just about making Harry scream, or experimenting on him. It's not just about how much he can last. Now he feels something when he's near him, when he's with him, when he steals a kiss. That's something that Crane had never, ever experienced. Something that he doesn't quite understand.

And something that, as he watches Harry sleep next to him, he has a feeling it's no longer lust anymore.

1. I have never felt like this before.
2. I should not be feeling this.
3. I should not love care for him.
4. Loving someone is a weakness.
5. Admitting it is an even bigger weakness.
6. It makes me vulnerable.
7. This is new. In every sense of the word.
8. ...damn it. This is terrifying. How ironic.

- He lets me do whatever I want.
- He, surprisingly enough, seems to understands me.
- He knows what I want.
- He lets me have what I want.
- Nothing seems to shock him.
- The more it hurts, the more he likes it.
- He's very powerful. Whether or not he realizes it or not is another matter altogether.
- I need him.

Crane isn't one for vacations. That isn't a secret, and he isn't ashamed to admit that he has never truly taken days off to simply relax. Jonathan Crane isn't one to relax on a beach somewhere, or being just a tourist in a foreign city. He relaxes, in a way, while working. Seeing results in his experiments is a great way to relax, too. But getting a tan, discovering new cities...? All that might as well be some foreign concept.

Harry wanted out of New York, though, and out of New York it is. It's not that Harry has that much power over him at least that's what he tells himself, it's just that he had used a lab to lure him out, and... Here he is. On vacation, sort of. In Greece.

As he begins to unpack he can't believe he's truly here, but here he is. The contents in his backpack make it easy to see, though, that he plans to work in that lab that Harry mentioned. He has his notes, books, laptop, notebooks and pens all ready to get settled in his work station. There's another suitcase that is for the other part of his vacation, the one that has all the clothes that Harry bought him, and even the swimming trunks that he's trying to avoid. He wouldn't have packed half the things that are in that bag, but he has a feeling that Lucy and Harry will insist on it. And he also has a feeling that they will refuse to let him just work all the time.

Has he mentioned he's not used to vacations?

But Harry brought along that friend of his, so maybe he'll be able to work more than he thinks. Which Crane is fine with, even if something in him flares at the thought of having to share Harry's time with anyone while they're here. Not that he's jealous, or anything. It's just his toy. That's all Harry is, really.

That's why he's in Greece. On vacation. With his toy.

Crane doesn't care.

He just goes back to unpacking, ignoring the beautiful view he'll be seeing for the rest of the summer.

1. I am a psychologist.
2. I used to work at Arkham Asylum.
3. My experiment and my work is usually misunderstood.
4. Frankly, I don't care if it is.
5. I used to live in Gotham.
6. I "moved" because the city didn't have much to offer anymore.
7. I am quite glad I moved.
8. Where I live now, only one person knows.
9. No, I will not say who that person is.
10. Oh, right. But even if I'm glad I moved, I am not entirely pleased for the reason. I hate Batman. If you needed a list about me, that fact is very important to know.

warnings: violent and disturbing content.


( He dreams of her today. )

Why.

Why hadn't Harry come up with something else in order to meet?

Why was he dressed in some stupid outfit for the event?

Why was that woman staring at him in the way that she currently was as he made his way inside?

Why was he even here?

Of all those questions, he had the answer to just one of them; that last one as to why he was where he was. At some stupid charity event, where he'd rather watch and be amused at people's shallowness and blatant stupidity rather than being actually involved in the auction himself. He wouldn't back down, though; not showing up hadn't been an option. Not after Mr. Osborn had gotten ahead in their little game, and his toy had managed to take him by surprise with the knowledge of a sister. A sister that he had been in touch with already, while he himself hadn't even been aware of it. That was certainly a bit of news that he was still trying to swallow down.

Tonight, though, it wasn't about that. It was about...an action. He, Jonathan Crane, was actually at an auction to bid on someone.

"Are you here accompanying your wife?" a woman suddenly asked him as he reached for one of the flutes of champagne being offered. A woman, he noticed, who seemed to be in her mid fifties, and was at the event to find someone that could make her feel young again.

That was, at least, Crane's assessment as he glanced her over. How her hair was fixed, the jewels she was wearing, the designer dress... All of them to make an attempt at feeling young. She still needed some botox to accomplish that particular task, he thought dryly as he plastered a small polite smile on his face. "No, I'm not. She's at home. Preferred to stay in, so maybe I can find someone for her tonight, hm?"

She laughed then in that fake, shrilly laughter that made his blood curl as she assumed he was joking, but he covered it up by taking a sip of the champagne. Count to ten. Count to a hundred. Spraying someone with toxins in public would give away the fact that Dr. Crane has been hiding in Manhattan while he was still wanted in Gotham. "And how about you, Mrs--"

"Miss Scott."

"Ah, right," Crane drawled with a nod, already imagining Harry snickering wherever he was in the building. "How rude of me."

"It's a charity event, of course. Anything for a good cause."

Another sip, and the way the woman smiled at him made him want to either choke Harry Osborn for putting him in this situation, or the woman for being so annoying and not taking a hint that he didn't want to talk to her. That he didn't even want to be here. It was difficult to guess which one he'd choke first if given the chance.

"So, Mr..."

Even if she trailed off, waiting for him to introduce himself, he cut her off. "I think the auction's about to start. Maybe instead of buying someone for my wife I'll buy someone for myself. I need to find a way to entertain myself tonight, so if you'd excuse me..."

Judging by the look on her face as he walked away, he knew he was going to have some fierce competition for Osborn. But Crane was used to getting what he wanted, and there was no way around that; that woman, and even Harry himself would see that.