The Fear Dissertation // A Jonathan Crane Dark Romance

BOOK 2 || PROLOGUE

Hey babes!!!!! How are my feral crows doin'?

So daddy Crane's coming back 😈 y'all dont know how bad I struggled with the ending last time, I was crying to my beta reader with two endings written and unsure which one to do. But as sad as I felt, I knew I wanted that full-circle moment of JJ becoming the villain to hammer home some of the themes and tragedy in the story, and the parallel of losing his parents etc. BUT I love Sienna and Jonny way too much to let them stay dead. So sit back and relax, things are gonna get a little weird, but we'll get through it. Okay? It's gonna be a little campy and a little full of plotholes but we're gonna ignore that and enjoy the ride.

And if it's not your thing, don't read, pretend our red flags survived the shooting and went on to live happy and merry lives in Gotham with Taco Tuesday with Harleen & Mr J every week x

A full updated warning list (the dark romance gets dark romancer) will be up along with chapter one. Here's a prologue/trailer. I'm just finishing the Liana's Dream fic and then I'll be focusing on this one <3

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The Batman remains stern-faced, even with the surge of anger, fury, and despair rising up inside of him.

Gotham is chaos. The city destroyed. Every citizen turned mad or dead. The clean-up will take years.

That's if anyone even bothers with a clean-up.

He's failed. Like he failed his parents that night.

But he pushes the thought from his mind and focuses on the hero stood in front of him, wearing a long coat and a grim expression.

"The time masters sent you," the Batman repeats, his voice cold and devoid of all emotion.

Rip Hunter gives a brief smile. "Yes. Well, it's quite the mess to sort out, isn't it?"

"You're here from the future." His voice isn't disbelieving so much as it is unimpressed.

"I am."

"And instead of stopping this massacre, you've come to tell me about it after the fact."

Rip Hunter sighs and inspects a speck of dirt on his sleeve. "There is only one way to undo all this. Only one way that doesn't completely destroy the fabric of the universe."

Bruce shifts his weight. "That sounds a little dramatic."

"It does, doesn't it?" Rip shifts his weight. "But if there is a god, and she is writing our fates, I'm sure she has her reasons."

Bruce's eyes narrow. "Right."

"And for right or wrong, our fates have been written so that we, being the time masters and myself, need your involvement to set things back on course."

"What do you need from me?"

Bruce turns away. Walks to the railing surrounding the roof on which they stand, leans against it and listens to the horrible, droning cries. The fear toxin has long evaporated from the air. The damage never will.

Not unless this man might actually have an answer.

Rip says, "Rewind your memory back. Eighteen years or so ago. Do you remember a Doctor Jonathan Crane? A Doctor Sienna Moore? Both from Arkham Asylum?"

"How could I forget?" Bruce remembers all too well. Losing Rachel. The hysteria around a fearless human. The post-mortem publication of a dissertation on the very fear toxin that just wiped out all of Gotham, pushed past the board by a Harley Quinn who insisted on Sienna being granted a posthumous doctorate. The cosplay Batmen who carried out the murder. Tarnishing his own name and reputation.

Rip asks, "Did you know she was a meta human?"

Bruce freezes. "You're wrong. I met her. Spent time with her."

"Perhaps she was not yet fully activated." Rip's gaze flickers to his own. "I can assure you, I am not wrong. A Professor has carried out extensive experiments on her corpse—"

"I'm well aware," Bruce cuts him off, bile rising in his throat. He's heard all about Professor Strange and the cult-like group he runs. The ones who believe Sienna and Jonathan were gods. More than human. Now, it appears, they have their proof.

Rip says, "The only way this can be done, is if they are brought back to life."

Bruce frowns. "Why not save them?"

"Fabric of the universe!" Rip cuts him off. "The God writing our fates! Please, my dear Batman, we do not have time for the details! In any case, we have the technology to bring them back to life. With only a few caveats... It must be done within ten days of the death. It must be done under the observation of Hugo Strange. And finally, both Sienna and Jonathan must retain not a single trace of their prior memories. The device should take care of that, but it is imperative they not remember a thing. The time masters and myself will take care of all the rest."

Bruce thinks it over for a moment. Then takes a single, menacing step forward. "And if I say no?"

Rip's jaw clenches. "Then I suggest you fly from this tower down to the streets and take a long, hard look at the faces of those people. This is the only way to save them. You're supposed to care about saving people. Aren't you? Above your own grudges?"

Bruce glances back across the dust-filled horizon. He might still have refused. Might still have told Rip and the time whatevers to sort their mess out themselves.

But for the past eighteen years, nothing's improved. Nothing's changed. The villains keep growing in number faster than he can cull them, and very few heroes are springing forward to aid his plight. Those that do quickly meet their demise. Or they end up turning. With the underworld running this city, nobody stays good for long.

And he needs that to change. He needs to feel the tide turning in his favour. Otherwise, all this has been for nothing. A lifetime of work and deception and constant fighting. A lifetime of hunting down villains, only to be thwarted in the end. A lifetime of crooked asylums and even more crooked courtrooms.

Jonathan Crane and Sienna Moore could be very, very useful to him.

He says, "Tell me more about the lack of memories."

Rip says, "We've got it handled. Everyone in Gotham will cease to remember their relationship. Their... offspring. The drama. Newspaper articles will never have been written. Exchanges will have never taken place. Only yourself, and Hugo Strange, will be any the wiser. Sienna and Jonathan will recognise each other as distant coworkers. That is all."

Bruce thinks it over for a minute longer. "And the kid?"

"Will be in our custody," Rip says calmly. "Unable to cause damage like this ever again."

Batman gives a firm, determined nod.

"I'm in."