Unwanted Allies- Dr. Jonathan Crane Story

Nightwing's Redemption CH. 1

Dick Grayson, otherwise known as the vigilante, Nightwing, sat idly in the passenger side of the Batmobile. He and Batman had just finished apprehending Phobia and Harley Quinn. Nightwing stole a glance back at the brunette and the blonde, who despite the handcuffs, held each other's hands and were giggling about being reunited with their psycho boyfriends and in Phobia's case, psycho husband. Nightwing's gaze found it's way to the gold band sitting on Phobia's left hand. Crane and... Mrs. Crane, married two years ago at Arkham Asylum per their own request. The Warden had tried to reject the request, but Phobia and her three Bridesmaids that make up the Gotham City Sirens, caused quite the ruckus, ultimately forcing the Warden to submit. Batman, Nightwing and Red Robin all attended the so called wedding, if not to control the guests that were part of the condition. As Nightwing focused back onto Harley and Phobia, he couldn't help but smirk, they were very close and Nightwing often wondered who Phobia would choose if it came down to the Scarecrow, Dr. Jonathan Crane or Harley Quinn, the girl Phobia had literally thrown herself in front of when Batman and Nightwing burst into the building. Nightwing had an interest in Phobia, she just didn't fit the profile and in the conversations he'd had with the woman over the years, she didn't seem insane... until Crane was around.

Over the years, Nightwing had created a pretty extensive background on Phobia, previously known as Lilah Doute, now technically Lilah Crane. He was thankful that Barbara had known and dated Phobia's younger brother and was able to give Nightwing some information and leads on who to go to for more. Phobia's little brother stuck out to Nightwing thanks to his first meeting with Phobia and her words had stuck with him for years.

You remind me of Mercious. Get out of this line of work, kid. I don't want your blood on my hands.

Since then, Nightwing found that Phobia didn't put up much of a fight when matched against him. He had gathered enough information over the years to know that she was Crane's victim turned lover, Carmine Falcone's step daughter and has a daughter named Zoe with Floyd Lawton, AKA Deadshot. But there was still so much more he wanted to know: Why Dr. Crane? Why cut ties completely with your own daughter? Why are you willing to lay down your own life for Harley, but not Crane? So many questions. Nightwing was positive that part of Phobia's mind was in fact, sane and today, he was going to prove it.

As the Batmobile sped towards the bridge connecting Gotham and Arkham Island, Nightwing and Batman both turned to address Phobia who had begun laughing hysterically.

"What's so funny, Doute?" Bruce hissed at her, the way he always did. Batman made a point to use her maiden name when speaking to her. Then again, Bruce never did approve of the union between her and Scarecrow. Phobia was somewhat of a nuisance, she had a big mouth and loved to push people's buttons, in particular, she pushed Bruce's buttons. She was definitely not one of the most popular within the rogue's gallery and Nightwing could easily name five villains who had sworn to kill her off the top of his head: Penguin, Two-Face, Clayface, Victor Zsasz and not to mention Killer Croc who Phobia was relentless with when it came to her jokes.

Her jokes had also caught the attention of the Joker, who after offhandedly referring to her as Harley 2.0 was met with Phobia's fist. Thankfully for Phobia, the Joker simply laughed. Why this was interesting to Nightwing was the look of hatred on her face whenever she saw Joker. Phobia had never outright hated anyone in the rogues gallery... just Joker. She even went as far as to avoid the mad clown, something that was definitely not part of her normal behaviour. At the sound of Batman's question, Phobia fell silent and leaned towards the grate that kept them and the villainous women separate.

"Forgot to mention this earlier, batsy. But, I left quite a few little Fear Gas bombs all around Gotham before you found dear old Harley and I. Of course, I have a loyal idiot ready to activate the bombs at Midnight. So, have fun with that." Phobia leaned back, grinning at Harley who giggled and placed her head on Phobia's shoulder.