Senses (Crane)

[Cass]

Cass ran, clutching the one suitcase to her, through the dank underground of Gotham. She remember, not too long ago, running these very streets and encountering the man who was now her bodyguard. She hadn't brought him with her tonight on her night into the casinos. Not that he would come. He was rather stubborn that way, just like she, and she would argue him right out of the building if they got into it.

Besides, she would never have done half the things she did if he had been there. Including running with a suitcase full of money, wondering if she was being followed.

Her mind was still spinning with the cold blue eyes she had seen earlier. Jonathan Crane. Was it even possible he was here in Gotham? How had she not seen him or heard of him? And when had he chosen to turn into a villain that projected fear gas? Even as a child she should have seen that coming but it was still a real surprise.

And the way he'd made her feel after merely looking at her. That was completely unexpected. It was similar to what she felt when she got near Chase...only with Crane there was something more fundamental. She had felt like she'd found something that had been lost for a very long time.

Which helped to explain why she was running. For some reason her mind was betraying her tonight. Best to get to her house and think.

[The Scarecrow]

Ignoring the bag of goodies he had obtained on his own, Jonathan felt the need to continue his follow that woman tat began to flow forgotten memories back into his mind. "Cassandra!" Crane cried out to her as he quickly closed in behind the woman. He knew she remembered him as well. He quickly ripped the mask off his head and slipped his glasses back on.

"Cass!" Crane tried as he finally caught up with her. His hair in a rut and his breaths were heavy. "I believe we are not being followed at the time, you can slow down." He informed as he gave a quick glance behind him.
Turned back to the woman he began to show small hints of a smile. He remembered her now.

"How have you been, Cass?" He asked her to try and change the mood, and plus out of curiosity he wanted to know what had been going on with this old Child hood friend.

[Cass]

The voice behind her belonged to one of two men, and as he came up beside her Cass slowed down, listening to him almost against her will. Memories were flooding her mind, all the way back to their first meeting, and given the nature of that meeting it should have come as little surprise that she spun around and slapped him firmly across the face.

And then she smiled and threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly, pressing her body against his and remembering the gangly little boy to whom she had spilled all her secrets. "I told you everything," she said in his ear, "and you left me. How the devil do you think I've been?"

She pulled out of the hug and looked into his blue eyes, tracing over his angular face, slightly hooked nose, and full lips, then over his slender body. He'd filled out, no doubt, into someone that Cass realized was - quite attractive.

Oh, things aren't suddenly awkward at all.

She released him and stepped back. "How have you been, Jonathan?"

[The Scarecrow]

Remaining stiff as the slap nailed him crossed his face. He knew, at least she remembered him. Not even twitching or reaching to calm the pain, Jonathan looked back to the girl who's personality quickly changed as she then hugged him and replied to his earlier question. He just sighed at her question and remarks and gave a small grin. "Eh, Ive been better. Kinda wreaked my life just a bit, but I am alive. Heh." Crane confessed as he took his gaze off of Cassandra's eyes and onto the ground below him.

"Forgive me for leaving you back there....." He asked in a near whisper. He raised his eyes up from Cass's shoes to her face. She had grown up since he last saw her. He was a bit, bewildered. "You look great." He commented out of the blue.

[Cass]

Cass smiled. Exactly as she remembered him. Reserved, shy, looking at the ground a lot. She remembered she'd been the one usually to initiate conversation, the one to almost bully him into speaking back to her. She felt both relieved and sad that this seemed to be the same situation years later. His comment about her looks colored her mocha cheeks and she smiled and looked down at the ground. She felt suddenly shy.

"I'm sorry things haven't gone well for you," she said, not knowing really what she could say now. Her life had been fairly interesting now, especially with her work in the D.A's office and with Rachel Dawes. Also with this Batman character running around...

"I forgive you for leaving me back there," she said, "and I understand high school must have been rough on you for you to just leave me in the dust like that." Her voice was mock-cool - the truth was as much as she wanted to be angry at him, she couldn't. She was too doused in surprise and smiles to really be angry.

"You've grown up too, Jonathan," she said, looking over him. "And you look very put together. Whatever wreck your life has gone through hasn't affected your job, has it?"

[The Scarecrow]

Jonathan sighed as he began to confess. "Not entirely...with my job as a Fear researcher, I've brought it into the streets of Gotham. I learn something new every time I use it." Crane raised his right hand to show a can of Fear gas on his wrist that seemed to send a spray into anyones face his you moved you hand right.

"They...had fired me a while back....I call this my new job." He gave a calm grin as he showed her the mask in his other hand. "But I will thank you for the comments." He grinned and let out a small sigh. "How have you been all these years?" He asked, hoping she would not slap him again...deep down inside. It was hard for him to hold in the stinging pain. As he remembered, she was a tough cookie.

[Cass]

Cass stared in surprise at the canister on his wrist, then moved her liquid eyes to the mask. It seemed a harmless little thing, a piece of cloth. But she had seen those men on the floor after he'd fired a burst of it. She had little doubt as to its potency...but that didn't mean, standing there in that alley with him, she wasn't just a little curious as to what it was like.

No. Now is not the time to go exploring.

He had said he had been a fear researcher and they had fired him. Who had he worked for? It sounded like he should have been somewhere around Arkham Asylum, but she had never seen him or heard his name mentioned...

And then it hit her. Rachel. Rachel had complained about a Dr. Crane constantly, and then around the time the Narrows had had that massive breakout, she had blamed this mysterious doctor. Cass had never really paid attention to the name but now she stared at him in utter surprise. "You're Doctor Crane," she said. "Rachel Dawes spoke of you. And...I never realized..."

She trailed off, blushing. How could she have been so blind?

Blinking, she looked up at him and noticed he had asked her a question. Flushing a little bit, she said kind of playfully - trying to make up for the awkwardness - "A little here, a little there...I'm working as district attorney now, helping some of those poor madmen into their proper homes in Arkham."

[The Scarecrow]

Crane nodded as he heard Cassandra remember his old name. "Doctor Crane" Those were the days. "Ah yes, I see you have heard of me." He grinned with a sigh as he shoved the Scarecrow mask back in one of his many pockets. "Most know me as Scarecrow now." He cooed as he looked back to the ground. Ah Rachel Daws. He almost forgotten about her. Looking back to his old childhood friend, he kept his small grin. "An Arkham worker too I see. You seem very fit for the Job." He commented.

"I am rather shocked that our paths have not crossed sooner since we were pretty close to Arkham." He informed with some question.

[Cass]

"Fit for the job?" she asked, a hint of disapproval in her voice. Mock disapproval, that is. She was perfectly aware her ethics were a little unbalanced, and she was fine with that. She had known nothing else her entire life, so why should she continue to speak for the sane when she herself was a little insane? It fit, it had unity.

"I don't know why we never crossed paths. Or maybe we did and I never noticed you." This was true, she was a little off in her own little world most of the time. "But now...you are the Scarecrow? What does the Scarecrow do?"

[The Scarecrow]

Jonathan clasped his hands together as he answered her last question. "Well.......Scarecrow....scares things. Mainly people." He raised his left hand over his head sliding back his naturally greased hair. "As I said, I have taken my research and my know how to the streets of Gotham."

He had just realized, how could a cold man like, Jonathan Crane, open up so kindly to a woman he had not seen since child hood. His cold blue eyes widened as he looked to her once more. "Wow." He whispered to himself. If they were to get to know each other more, might as well go somewhere a little more private. Seeing such a smart and amazing woman standing before him, he did not want to bring her to a ratty apartment compared to what ever her home may be with the job she still has.

[Cass]

Cass smiled slightly as Jonathan lifted himself, slicking his hair, straightening his posture. That was a move she hadn't seen him do too much, but when he did it when he was younger she'd always been happy. However, a part of her recoiled a little when he spoke about what he did. He scared people - for fun? And then did little scientific experiments on them because of it? It was...wrong...yet so interestingly strange. Little Crane, who had been picked on so much as a child, was now all grown up and a master of the mind. She was both impressed and intimidated. She wondered what he thought of her. She wondered why she cared about it. She wondered why she felt like she couldn't get quite enough air when she looked at him.

She needed to reason it out. She needed to.

His eyes widened and he said wow as though to himself, not for her to hear. She smiled at him and then looked down at their suitcases.

"Jonathan," she said, tasting his name, "we shouldn't have this conversation here in public, particularly with our suitcases." She didn't dare take him to her house - Chase would be indifferent but they would have zero privacy. "Any ideas about where we can go?"

[The Scarecrow]

Jonathan looked around. "I agree........" He eyed both of their cases and quickly lifted his own. "Do you know of a nice, private place we may be able to visit at?" He asked calmly as he began to hear the signs and sounds of police cars and the chopping winds of Helicopter blades. "And if you do know of a place, please inform me as we should be on our way...." He informed as he raised his head to look at the on going chaos that seemed to echo around them.