The Fear Dissertation // A Jonathan Crane Dark Romance

67

"How much longer will this take?"

Batman glances around the underground laboratory. His arms folded across his chest, even his masked face showing contempt for everything in the room. Bubbling green liquids. Caged animals squealing. Hugo Strange, wearing a pair of circular glasses that magnifies his eyes three times their usual size, attaches electric nodes to the two perfectly preserved corpses. Bruce suppresses a shiver. He finds himself unable to look.

"Not much longer... I've activated the machine. They should be awake within two minutes." Hugo steals a longing glance at the small red unit, attached to the electrodes. "You sure I can't keep it just a little longer?"

"No. The time masters will be coming to collect."

Hugo heaves a wistful sigh. Then takes a lock of Sienna's hair in his fingers. Even as her skin loses its bluish tinge, Bruce finds himself again unable to look. "And her blood will be enough to bring Crane back, too?"

"Yes," Bruce says. "The time masters seem to think so. This procedure is only possible on metahumans. But the transfusion containing her DNA will do the trick."

Hugo appears enthralled by the liquids moving through all the tubes. "And they'll be fully reanimated?"

"Completely reverses the death process," Bruce says.

"So they'll be just like they were?"

"Without their memories. That was an agent added in." Bruce's fingers flex around his forearms. "And like I told you, it might not be strong enough. We don't know yet what Sienna's powers are. If she can fight it off, the time masters will need to resort to more failproof methods."

Even Hugo has the sense not to ask what those methods might be.

"So don't go spilling anything, Strange," Bruce says warningly. "One word from you to them, and you'll wish you were rotting in Blackgate Penitentiary."

"Relax. I'm not gonna say a word." But there's still that same wistful look in Strange's eyes. "Alright. The procedure should be finishing any moment now..."

Bruce takes the last few seconds to appreciate being in his younger form once more. His muscles lean and honed without the strain, his bones able to endure more. He almost misses the grey streaks through his hair, though. For some reason, they'd come even more in handy when, as Bruce Wayne, he'd go to the bar and pick up supermodels. Like he'd finally grown into the billionaire mogul role. Finally been granted the respect to be left the hell alone, too.

And best of all, he gets Alfred back. He sucks in a breath. If this goes wrong, if Strange or Crane or Sienna fuck this up, he'll lose all that. Be right back in the future, with a city torn to ruin. Or, as Rip had put it, the fabric of the universe ripped to shreds.

He can't let it happen.

Jonathan wakes first. Blinking, his brows drawing together in confusion, he pushes himself upright, lifting a groggy hand to his head. Strange lets out a small sigh of disbelief.

"Doctor Crane... Please, don't try to stand up yet."

Crane blinks. His dark lashes frame crystal blue eyes, generous lips pressed together in confusion. He clears his throat. Bruce stares at him for a long, cold moment. It's already taking all his self-restraint not to turn in everybody in this room. If Crane gives him so much as a nudge...

"Where... Where am I?" Jonathan asks, glancing around the room. His gaze lands on Sienna, still tied up to tubes on the flat aluminium bed beside him. "Isn't she from the psychology department?"

Bruce exhales a sigh of relief. "Strange, give the man his glasses."

Jonathan slips them on, the more severe edges of his frown easing as he does so. But when Sienna stirs, when her eyes flicker slowly open, she captures Bruce's attention as much as Strange's. Bruce's grip gets even tighter around his own forearms. If the amnesiac didn't work, if she remembers...

Sienna blinks. She gasps, bolting upright, immediately registering the tubes and electrodes and crying out as she begins trying to rip them off.

Fuck. Bruce goes to still her, clamping her arms firmly at her sides, while Strange makes quick work of safely removing the electrodes. Sienna's chest heaves. Her furious eyes rake Bruce all over, barely pausing to land on Jonathan.

Then, she calms. Only slightly. Enough to ask, "Are you the Batman?"

"I am." Bruce pauses. "Do you recognise the man beside you?"

Sienna turns her head. Jonathan becomes preoccupied with assisting Strange remove all the tubes from him.

"That's... Doctor Crane?" Sienna's brow furrows, and for a moment, Bruce fears the worst. But then, she continues. "What... Is this some kind of experiment for the asylum?"

"The asylum," Bruce repeats flatly. He releases her.

Sienna's confusion only grows. "Is this part of completing my doctorate?"

Jonathan's gaze snaps to Bruce's. "Did I consent to an experiment? I would like to see some paperwork."

Bruce heaves a sigh. They don't remember a thing. But he has to know for sure. It might be cruel... But not as cruel as everything that exists being torn apart.

He tells them in a quiet voice, "The baby is dead."

He waits for the grief. For so much as an inkling of it across their faces. He knows all too well how it feels to lose family. Someone you love. Someone you'd die for. There's no hiding that.

But Jonathan only blinks as he begins to button up the shirt Strange handed him. "Baby? What baby?"

Sienna gratefully accepts her sweater and jeans. "I think there's been a mix-up... I worked with young offenders in the past, but they were adolescents." Her gaze softens. "What baby? What happened?"

Satisfied, Bruce pulls away. "Nothing. This has all been part of an independent audit with the Gotham Police Department. Go home. Get some rest. You passed."