Falling || Scarecrow

Ch.16

She arrived five minutes early at the Asylum. Feeling jittery and nervous as she wrapped her grey coat around her tighter. The extra guards with their big guns added to her anxiety.

She wasn't kidding when she said there were literally dozens of guards and two K-9 units. Guard towers were set up on each corner of the asylum, and a barbed wire fence went around the exterior. Bolton had literally made it secure. Solid. Unbreakable.

Maria was finally let in after showing her ID, and then sent to a visiting room. After careful eye examination, she noticed no cameras. Then she checked for bugs under the table and chairs. Finding none, she sat back down and fiddled with her hands.

A loud clanging interrupted her after a minute and she looked up to see Jonathan. He was led by a guard, handcuffed. But what made her gasp inside was how beaten he looked. He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes. He looked thinner if possible and had one black eye. She noticed when he had come in, he looked like he was limping.

"Jonathan?" She whispered, as he sat across from her. The guard had left.

He gazed at her with a distant look.

"It's Maria." She prodded.

After a second he nodded. "Sorry. Not in the right mind at the moment." He avoided her eyes.

"Are you ok?"

"Of course I am." He finally looked at her. "But you shouldn't be here."

"I needed to see you."

He shook his head. "Bolton is here. Once he finds out we're talking, he'll come and get you."

"He can't do anything to me."

He laughed darkly. "He has no limits. Just make a sob story up and then you're gone."

Maria could only look at him as if he was a stranger. "What happened to you?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "Don't worry about me. You need to leave. Leave now."

"Jonathan-"

She stopped speaking as he grabbed her hand, tighter then nessesary. "Please listen to me." His voice was laced with desperation. "Leave and don't come back for me. He plans on finding you and everyone else that has slipped past him. Don't let him catch you."

She was silently crying. "I can't leave you!" She said urgently.

Jonathan gently wiped away her tears with his thumbs. "I need you to leave... Please."

Her heart said no but her mind said yes. She nodded after a moment as she relchuntly stood up. "I will see you again." She stated as more tears fell. "I will."

He stood up also but didn't move towards her. "And I you." But she could tell he didn't believe his words.

But she didn't comment on it, just gave a small cry of anguish then left the room. Hurrying out the building and running and running to the docks. Feeling as if her heart was breaking into a million shards of glass that pierced her lungs every time she took a breath.

Thoughts kept racing through her mind at a lightening pace. Bolton making Arkham into an unbreakable hell. Jonathan looking beaten, defeated. Told to leave. To leave him. On the run. Criminals being targeted. Then...

She always ended up alone, on the brink of insanity.

...

As soon as she left the boat and got in her car, her heart seemed to break. She wanted to talk to someone but she had no one.

But then she remembered Bruce. He had treated her like a friend... So without a second thought, Maria drove to the Wayne Manor on the other side of town.

It had started to rain heavy as she parked on the gravel road and raced up the stone stairs to knock on the doors.

She was drenched in seconds as no one came. She was ready to start screaming, but then the huge doors opened to reveal an older man with white hair.

"Is Bruce Wayne here?" She asked desperately. "I need to talk to him."

"Yes, of course." The man said and let her in. Helping her out of her coat. "What's your name miss?"

"Maria. Maria Gardner."

He nodded and led her to a large living room where a fire was going.

"Dry off here while I go fetch him."

She nodded and practically collapsed to the floor in front of the fireplace. Hugging her arms to her chest, and biting the inside of her cheek till it bled.

What was she doing? Going to a stranger/friend for comfort. Why was her life so complicated. Why was she a criminal. Why was she in love... The list went on and on. Then her tears came again.

Sobs wracked her delicate frame as she tried to halt the floodgates of emotions within her.

She felt like she was breaking from the inside. She wanted Jonathan. And unless a miracle happened, she would never see him again.

Maria closed her eyes as she tried to regain control. Losing herself to a wave of darkness that threatened to consume her.

And suddenly she was just so tired. Mentally and physically exhausted, that she collapsed on the ground as everything started to fade away.

Vaguely hearing two men's voices before sleep pulled her in. Warm and comforting, she finally let go.