Fearful and the Fearless- A Jonathan Crane Fan Fiction

Chapter Fifteen

Harley sat upside down on the ratty couch in the lair, Shannon lying on an old carpet in front of her. She hadn't wanted to have to steal the lady back, but she also hadn't wanted to make her Mistah J upset with her. He had told Harley to keep Shannon safe until he and Jonathan got back out of Arkham if they ever got confined. Harley had let Shannon stay with Edward long enough, and she was sure that the day of her puddin's return was drawing close.

"Jonathan…" Shannon whimpered in her sleep for what seemed the hundredth time. Harley sighed dreamily.

"So romantic," she mused, smiling softly, "It's been a whole month and she's still just'a dreamin' of him… I wonder if Mistah J is dreamin' of me…"

"Too long," Shannon continued whimpering, looking disturbed and pained as she twitched on the ground, "Too long.. Don't hurt me…. No… No!" Harley jumped as Shannon sat up, screaming the last word.

"Mrs. Crane? What's wrong?" Harley worried, running over to inspect Shannon. How was she to know that the crippled girl had rather strong arms? Or that she had become extremely violent?

"Where is Jonathan?!" Shannon screeched, flinching away from Harley's outreached hand.

"Arkham, Mrs. Crane," Harley assured gently, confused by the outburst, "You know that, Mrs. Crane.." Harley reached out for Shannon once more, but this time Shannon reached out and grabbed her wrist, yanking her to the ground next to her before using her hands to choke the blonde woman.

"You put him there!" Shannon accused angrily as Harley choked below her, "You put him there! I will kill you!" Shannon continued screaming obscene threats until Harley stopped struggling beneath her and went limp. She was still alive, but as Shannon wasn't in the right mind, she didn't bother to check for a pulse. In her mind, the person she had choked was dead… And in her mind, the person she had choked was Batman…

Slowly, Shannon stood, maintaining her weight on her good leg, the other one aching… But she ignored that… She saw keys on the table and grabbed them up before she began towards the door of the room she expected led out, having a rather drastic limp. When she came to the door, she pushed it open, hanging to it for support momentarily before moving out. She saw the car within a moment in the dark night, another pretty red thing.

Unconscious tears slid down Shannon's cheeks as she limped slowly to the car, a war waging inside her. She knew where her body was taking her as she slid into the car. She had been holding out as long as she possibly could waiting for Jonathan, but everything was becoming too much. Every time she closed her eyes she saw that awful scene came into her mind and each time it got worse… Jonathan had lied.. He said she would be fearless and that he would always be there… Now whenever she felt fine, she craved fear and every time she felt fear, she craved Jonathan… And he wasn't there.. Shannon couldn't take it anymore, the constant paranoia… She had nearly killed Edward, thinking he was Zsasz…

She didn't want to kill anyone.. But it was getting worse every day. She could feel herself going insane.. She just had to accept that Jonathan wasn't going to come back and she wasn't going to get better, only worse… And she needed to end it.

Shannon was thankful for the nearly empty streets as she drove uneasily down them. She had at one time tried to drive, but had never learned properly… She regretted not having that experience as she neared her ultimate fate. After a few minutes, she saw the bridge that connected Gotham to other cities to which Shannon had never gone and would never get to go. Another regret…

There weren't many cars crossing the bridge at that point in the night, so Shannon was able to pull the car to the side of the bridge without getting in the way. And since she was not in the way, no one really noticed as she climbed out of the car to limp a few steps to the edge of the bridge. Looking down, she saw the black water of the icy river raging on. Her fate…