Fearful and the Fearless- A Jonathan Crane Fan Fiction

Chapter Six

A/N: Yaaaaay! New update :D I'm trying to make the chapters at least slightly longer, though I'm not sure it's any longer than normal :P Anywho, if there are any errors with spelling/grammer, please forgive me. I began this chapter at midnight and it is now two... Okay, you know the drill! Fan, vote, and comment! And, as always, enjoy!

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Shannon had arrived at Arkham at eight-thirty. Now, three and a half hours later, Shannon was preparing for a short lunch break. She had had her life threatened at least five times, having only had eight patients visit. One even had to be wrestled out of the room as he had been wielding a knife... That was when the guard had advised Shannon to take her break.

At the moment, however, she couldn't bring herself to move. Only a minute ago a man had held a knife at her throat; his name was Ned Brann, but he called himself the Dagger. He was truly obsessed with knives and had insisted Shannon take a closer look at his favorite in his possession. Thankfully, Charlie had registered the threat and was throwing Brann out of his seat before he could dig the dagger he held into her skin... Charlie had assured Brann's room would be searched, as well as his person, but he wasn't the only one Shannon was now worried about.

She remembered the other interviews. The first, Doodle, had said he would paint her death scene and do her face justice. The third- who was supposed to be the second-, Mr. Dumpler, had said she hadn't looked put together. He had suggested perhaps he could take a look at her and try to fix her. She reclined, but he didn't let the subject go throughout the whole interview. The forth, a woman known as Jane Doe, had asked for her skin. When Shannon had politely declined from giving up the layer that held her together, Ms. Jane Doe had said she would just have to skin her. She had then been yanked out of the room by Charlie, as Shannon looked down at the information she hadn't yet checked.

Name: Unknown

Alias: Jane Doe

Age: Unknown, suspected mid-thirties

Previous Occupation: Unknown

Current Ailment: Dissociative Personality Disorder; Patient uses skins of victims to play as her different personas

Crimes Committed: Five counts of murder, one count attempted murder

The sixth patient, Lester Buchinsky, had simply tried to shake her hand while he was armed with something that looked oddly like a joy buzzer. Shannon had almost fell for it, but Buchinsky's hand was slapped away by Charlie just in time. He had then held up the patient's hand for Shannon to see, and had warned her against the seemingly simple minded tricks of some of the psycho's locked within Arkham's walls. After all, Buchinsky wasn't called the Electrocutioner for nothing...

What a day... and she still had at least twelve more patients to go through. How in the world was she supposed to interview twenty psychopaths daily?! Perhaps most of her later patients would only be the ones like Mr. Coyne, just obsessive compulsive in things such as robberies...

Knock, knock, knock. Shannon's eyes darted up. Was her break already over? Or had Charlie forgotten she was going to take one to collect herself and calm her nerves?

"Shannon?" Jonathan asked, as the door opened, pushed open by the lanky man. Shannon jumped a little at the door opening. So far that action was not met with good consequence as it had meant all day a new patient was entering into her midst...

"Oh, Jonathan," Shannon breathed, relaxing as she saw him. She hadn't realized how rigid and tense she was, sitting literally on the edge of her seat. Jonathan's eye brows knit together as he noticed this. He walked quickly, but with his normal cool demeanor. He dropped the bag of food he had brought with him on Shannon's desk as he rounded it, and then his arms wrapped around Shannon. He could sense her fear; it was radiating off of her. If it was anyone else, Jonathan would have laughed and wallowed in their terror... But, Shannon was different. He didn't want her to be scared. Not when she already feared the world so much.