The Psychiatrist-The Billionaire-The Crime Lord-The Insecure (A DC Fanfic)

Part 33

-Oz-

*Oz sat at the counter with his head down. He had no reaction when his phone started buzzing right next to his face. That was until he saw the number. A number he knew so well.* "It worked! She wants to see me! Oh, my God!" *He celebrated slightly before picking up the phone.* "Alex! Hi-" "HOW COULD YOU? YOU SORRY PIECE OF SHIT! I-" *She continued to scream and berate him, finally letting all of her emotions out onto him.* "AND THAT LITTLE HALLUCINATION STUNT? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?" *While the words hurt to hear, he was glad she was at least reaching out to him, but he honestly tried his best to stay apart from her since he left.* "Alex, what are you talking about? I've been away from you." *Alex was seeing red. How could he sit here and blatantly lie to her?!?* "No! You did something, Oswald, I know it." *Her voice was so serious and so stern, it was shaking.* "I love you, Alex, I r-" *She cut him off.* "Shut up with the 'I love you's'!" *Penguin let out a frustrated sigh,* "I want you back! Of course, I tried listening and giving you some space! I haven't done anything since the cat. Speaking of which?.." *His voice sounded enthusiastic like he expected her to suddenly forget everything and have a casual conversation with him.* "Fuck you." *Alex hung up, huffing.*

-Natalie-

*Natalie got up from her bed and made her way downstairs. Alfred was reading the newspaper and sipping tea. He removed his reading glasses and greeted Natalie. She greeted him back before he returned to reading.* "You know, Alfred, a man at work today threatened me." *Alfred shook his head disappointingly,* "Well, that's no good, is it? I don't quite like the idea of you working there." *Natalie rolled her eyes with a smile, Alfred never wanted her to work there.* "The only reason is because he thinks Bruce is this the Batman." *Alfred's eyes stopped reading the newspaper for a brief second. After she explained the rest, he let out a loud chuckle.* "How absurd is that?" *This was enough to make her drop the topic. She was excited to get back to work; she needed to find out more. She thought back to how secretive Jonathan was being about this Scarecrow thing. She quickly got ready for bed. Throughout the night, she had more intense dreams about this Scarecrow chasing her, but something about it was comforting. She wanted to run to it with open arms, embracing the terrorizing burlap sac, but her body wouldn't let her. It just kept running.*

-Alex-

*Alex threw her phone across the room, causing the screen to crack. She was screaming with rage, but couldn't stomp around like she wanted, or she'd risk hurting herself more. *"I love you, I love you, I love you!"* she mocked Oswald, pulling at her hair. *"Ugh, I'm never going to heal at this rate!"* she cried, staring at her arm. She wanted very much to have her full mobility back. *"There has to be something I can do to heal myself. Something, anything! So I can properly fight back! I'm done with this weak shit!"* In a fit of rage, Alex ripped off her sling and threw it to the floor. Then, she slowly extended her arm, screaming in pain as she did. *"You're healed enough!"* She shouted to herself, bending her arm back. She continued to yell at herself, to convince herself she didn't need any more downtime as she extended and bent her arm. *"This cast is so heavy! It's not helping... I have to get rid of it!"* She huffed, getting to her feet. She cried out in pain as she put pressure on her left leg, but she wasn't about to use her crutches. She struggled out to her kitchen, dragging her sore leg behind her. She nearly collapsed from pain as she leaned on the counter, but the adrenaline pumping through her body kept her going. Lucifer had followed her out, meowing at her constantly. *"I know what I'm doing."* She told him, rummaging through her cabinets for her ibuprofen. When she found it, she downed half the pills left in the bottle to soothe her pain. Then, she pulled a chef's knife from her drawer, a crazy glint in her eye as she held it up to the light. Without hesitation, she began stabbing her cast and hacking away at it.*

-Jonathan-

*The next morning was Friday, the only day Jonathan had off. He was glad, he needed a day to get back to his research. As much as he wanted to go looking for Selena Kyle, he needed to continue making advances or else he'd lose his funding. *"If only I knew how that toxin had affected Alexandria Kyle."* He muttered to himself. That was one of his latest batches. He was going to use it on Rosie to see what happened, but he couldn't risk exposing his secrets to Natalie. He had added more cortisol to the mix, as well as a minimal amount of Sulfur to cause a small dose of poisoning. He supposed he did have someone else he could use it on, though. Jonathan went over to the lab closet and opened it up. *"Ah, Sandra. Long time, no see."* He said to the girl in his closet. She was in her late twenties and had curly brown hair and bright blue eyes. He kept her well-fed, but she did need a shower. He had kidnapped Sandra off the streets a few months ago and was using her to test some of his more... experimental formulas. She was mute, and no matter how much she was psychologically tortured, Jonathan could never get her to scream. But, it helped to not raise suspicion. *"Someday Sandra..."* Jonathan murmured, leading her over to a metal chair and strapping her to it. *"All of Gotham will understand what it's like to be me. Haunted by terrors... but first, I need to perfect this formula. You understand, don't you?"* Sandra nodded, too scared to disagree. *"Good,"* Jonathan said before sticking a needle filled with his toxin into her shoulder."*