Fearful and the Fearless- A Jonathan Crane Fan Fiction

Fearful and the Fearless (A Batman/Jonathan Crane FanFic)

A/N: most of this was written from my iPad so please don't mind any errors; I promise they shall be fixed! This is basically a mini prequel, which is why it's really long. This does not contain a lot of Jonathan Crane, but don't worry- it shall! Enjoy!!! Vote, fan, and comment!

Disclaimer: I own none of the marvelous DC characters, nor the setting. The only things I claim here are the few characters I have created- Shannon, Jake, and whoever else- and the plot.

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Shannon Marks peeked over the top of her tattered text book, her dark eyes falling upon a certain boy she had harbored a secret infatuation over since her days in middle school- Jonathan Crane. His piercing blue eyes were staring, bored, at the same science textbook that Shannon held as he adjusted his glasses. It wasn't a surprise to Shannon, though, that Jonathan was so disinterested. He was definitely a genius, even if the teachers in the high school they had been now attending for three years doubted him.

Shannon was so lost in her thoughts, she hadn't even notice that Jonathan had removed his gaze from the dull pages of his book to instead watch Shannon staring at himself. It wasn't until his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance of being watched that Shannon finally realized she had been caught. Her face lit up red as her eyes met the intense blue ones, and she ducked down to hide behind her book. She couldn't believe it; how embarrassing! Jonathan probably thought her crazy like most of the teenagers in the school did.

Shannon suffered from two very intense fears- xenophobia, a fear of strangers or foreigners, and claustrophobia, a fear of enclosed spaces- and because of them, she never really fit in well. In group work, she always worked alone; in the hallways, she was always shaking, her eyes on the ground. The only times she was calm in such a crowded place with hundreds of unfamiliar faces was when Jonathan was around- he eased her paranoia. Though Shannon didn't know why his presence helped her so, she guessed it was because she had known him a little bit in the sixth grade before her fears became so prominent in her life. Before her mother had been murdered.

Shannon was only a week into her seventh grade year when her whole life had been turned upside down. At the time, she was living in a new home with her mother and new step-father, who seemed to like Shannon at least. Shannon had woken up like any normal day; had brushed her teeth, done her hair, and gotten dressed. She was just coming down the stairs when the doorbell had rang.

"Could you get that, Shan?" her mother had called from the kitchen where she was undoubtedly cooking breakfast. Shannon had pulled back the curtain to look out the window at the visitors. A group of three men stood on the porch; she had never seen them before, but supposed they could be friends of her new dad. And so she had opened the door, and then had been grabbed, a hand put over her mouth. One of the other men ran into the house and had found Shannon's mother.

"Mommy!" Shannon had shouted as she fought against the man who was clutching her.

"Let her go!" Shannon's mother had screamed, tears running down her face at the thought her daughter could be in danger. The men didn't heed Shannon's mother's orders, and so she had fought hard as Shannon herself cried out, trying to break loose of the human restraints. The unoccupied man pulled a knife, trying to get Shannon's mother to stop shouting- it was going to attract attention. She wouldn't stop. And so a knife was stuck into her throat, piercing her jugular.

"Put the kid somewhere she can't get out of," the killer had instructed the minion who was holding onto Shannon as she cried and shook, unable to make a sound because of her shock. The man holding her had dragged her through the house, stopping outside of her parent's bedroom as in there was a rather large chest. The man had stuffed Shannon in there with a pile of blankets and slammed the lid shut, somehow managing to lock it up without a key.