Batman Oneshots/Imagines

Confusion (Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane x Reader)

If I were able to say that Jonathan Crane loves me, I would. I'd tell all the woman who worked for him and secretly had a crush on him. It wasn't really secret, they'd blush and stammer their words awkwardly. Jonathan notices but doesn't care. Truthfully, I'm the the only woman he even allowed closer than five feet. And I'm not sure if that's a compliment or only because I work with him. I can't say that he loves me. I don't know if he does. I don't think he even can decide. He doesn't like thinking about love.

Specializing in phobias and paralysis', I
have a lot in common with Jonathan. The most common phobia, arachnophobia, makes me wonder if people only say they fear spiders because they didn't know what else to fear. Gotham, the most dangerous place in the USA, is filled with a lot of different people - the scared, the hungry, the wanted, the richest, the weakest. And spare me the detail on how Batman is The Dark Knight or how conveniently The Joker is the Prince of Crime. To me, they are just dessed-up freaks; no emotions, no fear, no pity.

But back to Jonathan, he confuses me. About emotions and feelings anyway. I know he isn't the one for attachments but I don't mind. I'm not either, but I can say that I love someone. Right now, we sit in my office in Arkham Asylum while in silence.

I stare at him. He doesn't have his glasses, it's odd but nice. I'm used to seeing him have his frames on his face everyday. Today, we didn't have an interview and we didn't have to test on fear - or phobias, whichever is preferred. Jonathan has on a dark suit with a dark red tie - the one I had purchased for him, actually. He looks through the files of Arkham patients and never lays an eye on me. I sigh. He doesn't notice.

It makes me want to laugh at how he's so oblivious to the woman's crushes they had on him. I hear them talk sometimes and it absolutely disgusts me. Some older than me, some younger, but all thinking the same thing; sex with Jonathan Crane. One had even said Johnny can take me into his office anytime - the nickname I hated and never said. What would Jonathan do with her in his office? Show the girl how many awards he had gotten, his diploma, or his PhD (in which he has three and it totally screws me up)?

At first, it seemed that Jonathan was cold-hearted and wouldn't give me a chance to speak when we first met. Now, he's just cold-hearted and he lets me speak. He's also more comfortable with me than anyone else. He even tells me stupid, silly jokes that only I can laugh at. It makes me happy how he tries to lighten my mood when sad.

"(Y/N), do you think Mr. Zsaz has had any fears in his life?" Jonathan suddenly asks me.

"Other than fearing the people he owed money to, no. Victor was into gambling, don't you remember? He got his family's inheritance and lost it all, too," I reply, telling Jonathan information that he should already know. Maybe he was just trying to converse with me. Weird. He liked his silence whenever he got it.

"I remember. I mean, now, I wonder if he has any phobias. I'd like to know if he does. Will you get that information for me?" He finally looks up at me. His eyes seem brighter than their usual light blue, even under this dim light of my office.

I want to squint and ask him why he can't do it himself, but I decide not to. It's best to not have sassy-ness to start off a day. I nod, instead. I don't think Victor Zsaz even has any fears.

After all, he's the one who is feared.

"Jonathan?"

"Yes?"

I ask myself why I had even called out his name. Maybe asking this would be a mistake. Maybe this'll ruin our friendship, if he considered it that - I knew I did. I shake off the feeling, smile and ask my question.

"Do you have a girlfriend? Or any relationship in general?"

"I have a relationship with you, don't I?"

"What--"

"We are friends, (Y/N), I hope you know that. Otherwise, I don't think I'd even let you in the same office as I. A girlfriend? No. Simply, I never felt the need to be sexually active with another human being," he sort-of smiles at the word.

He's such a child.

But I love it.

I sigh. "A relationship between two people where they call each other boyfriend and girlfriend does not have to sexually active," I feel myself getting defensive for no reason and I want to stop. I want to stop this conversation and act like it never happened. It'd be best for the best of us. Why did I even ask?

"I know that. Hearing you speak formally feels odd. Why don't you do it more often? You're usually sarcastic."

"Do you have any attraction towards any woman in this facility?" I suddenly ask, changing the subject. I feel like I shouldn't have asked, because he might say yes and it'll be someone other than me.

"I don't know," Jonathan answers after a while. It seemed like he didn't know how to answer, like he didn't know if he had any attraction to any females.

"What do you mean?" I almost yell. It's either he's playing mind games or truly doesn't know, like he's never thought about it.

"I don't know."

"Jonathan, you're real smart when it comes to fears - but you're an idiot when it comes to girls," I smirk.

"I've never spent any time on them."

"Because we're some kind of book you can read and study on? Jonathan. Oh, Jonathan, you're hurting me. Really," I face-palm and chuckle. Jonathan shakes his head to my reaction.

He knows this is a joke, my reaction, but I can tell that's he's actually thinking through the question I asked. If sort-of upset me when he said he didn't know but it also made me happy. It meant that he didn't like a girl and was able to joke about it with me.

"Do you feel attracted to anyone, (Y/N)?" Jonathan asks as he stares into my (E/C) eyes.

I want to say his name but act like it's a different man that I've known since my school days. I want to say his name and confess even more. I feel like it'd ruin my work, my life, and our friendship. Like a cliché movie where the boy likes his highschool bestfriend but she likes the popular boy and they separate faster than ever.

But I'm not dealing with highschool. I'm not dealing with an eleventh grade boy. I'm dealing with Jonathan Crane. I'm dealing with the professor of phobias.

"I don't know."