In statu nascendi (ch.39 up) - sequel to ATTFABH

[blue]

Ahh poor Jonathan! + Cruel Scarecrow. Great chapter... Forceful, like Azina said.

[fosforito]

Hi people!

Okay, here´s the chapter 7!

Hope you enjoy and please don´t forget to leave feedback!

Chapter 7 (The Order)


It was almost 10 p.m. when Jane Deveraux arrived at Arlington Road crossing to Mercer Street.

Mercer Street was just a few steps away from Gotham River and Jane could see some tramps preparing their night´s lodging under the pier of Gotham Bridge, just a few meters away from her.
It was dark due to the bad street lighting. It had rained on the early evening and because of the damaged road surface of Mercer Street the water gathered into big puddles. Jane could hear the rustling noise in a corner being stuffed with garbage and she knew, this noise could have be caused only by rats.

Alexandra hated the slums.

After the war in Germany she didn´t know anything else but penury, dirt, crime, drug abuse, even jail over so many years. She had hated herself. She had hated herself for what happened, she hated herself to allow to get hurt so much, to allow to have lost Jonathan. She had blamed herself for being raped. She had blamed herself for losing her child, her and Jonathan´s child.

At the beginning, she wanted to die. She just didn´t want to live anymore. And she did everything possible to destroy herself and for a while she didn´t care about what was happening to her...

Jane was torn out of her thoughts when she heard the big steel door next to her was opened with a big squeal. A bald headed man stepped out, looking at her.

„Deveraux?“, he asked and Jane recognized his voice. It was the same voice she had heard on the phone this morning.

„Yes.“, she answered.

The man opened the door a little bit more, Jane and the man stepped it and the he closed the door again.

They both walked through a small corridor, getting into a hall. Jane could now see that is was a warehouse. The hall was empty besides of a big table standing right in the middle. Another man was standing behind the table, looking to his colleague and Jane. Jane knew the man.

„Deveraux!“, the man greeted her. „We were waiting for you already.“

Jane stepped forward into the light, looking around. She and the two men were the only ones in here.

„What is the job about, Ray?“, she asked, looking at the guy right in front of her.

Without saying anything, Ray gripped the folder lying in front of him, holding it up.

„See for yourself.“, he said, placing the folder on the table again, right in front of Jane.

Jane gripped the folder and opened it. She found two photos in it.

The first one was showing a man she already knew.

„Dr. Jonathan Crane! This morning, at the court. This was your first contact!“, Ray said.

„Yeah...“, Alexandra said in a soft voice and for a split second she had that scene with Jonathan in the parking garage in her mind again.

Jane took a look to the other picture. The man on it was unfamiliar to her.

„Carmine Falcone!“, Jane could hear Ray saying.

She gazed into his eyes.

„What am I supposed to do?“, she asked.

„First, get into contact with Falcone.“

„How?“

„Falcone is doing certain things for us...you´re kinda `business gift´ for him, like from one colleague to the other.“

Jane gazed again into the man´s eyes.

„What does it mean?“, she asked, hearing a hissing undertone in her voice.

Ray propped his fists on the table and bended forward, his knuckles whitening.

„Do for Falcone what you usually do, do what you know the best to do. He knows we´re sending you to him and he´s awaiting your arrival. We have promised him – something special.“, Ray said with a big smirk.

„Does our boss know all about it?“

„Yes, he does.“

„Is he here?“

„No. But he´ll get into contact with you very soon.“

Jane took a deep breath.

„But that´s not everything, is it?“, she said. „I am not supposed just to kill people for Falcone, right?“

„No.“, Ray said. „You´re supposed to observe Falcone. Observe him, watch what he´s doing. Same thing for Crane. Just observe. Make sure, they both are working just to our liking. And you should inform us until the boss says something else.“

Jane closed her eyes for a moment, sighing lightely then she gazed at Ray again.

„Do you have my stuff?“

Ray grinned.

„Of course!“, he said then he gripped a briefcase and placed it on the table right in front of Jane.

Jane opened it and found her „working tools“: two 9 millimeter-semiautomatic guns in a holster, two replacement magazines, a Bowie knife, a ski-mask and a wristlet bristling with acupuncture needles.

Ray watched Jane taking her coat off to put on the holster. She put the knife into her waistband behind her back.

„What is this about the needles?“, Ray asked while she put on the wristlet with the acupuncture needles in it.

Jane looked up.

„This is for the case when everything else doesn´t work any more.“, she said in a dry voice.

Ray placed a piece of paper and an envelope on the table while Jane put on her coat again.

„Drive to this place.“, he said, pointing to the address written on the piece of paper. „Falcone is there.“ Then he placed a bunch of keys on the table.

„The keys are for your motorbike.“, Ray said, nodding to his colleague. „Joe over there will show you where to find it.“

Jane grabbed the stuff and placed it into the pockets of her coat, then she nodded Ray good-bye and followed Joe out of the warehouse into a small narrow lane.

„Over there.“, he said, nodding to the motorbike, hided in the corner and barely to be seen because of the bad street lightening.

Jane stepped forward and turned around to Joe again. But he was gone. She pulled the envelope out of her coat pocket and opened it. In the envelope there was again a bunch of keys, another piece of paper and a hand written message. She pulled out the message, trying to read it under the flickering light of the street-lamp. She recognized the handwriting.

„The keys to your new home... be careful.. H.“

Jane took a deep breath and placed the envelope and the message into her coat again, then she walked over to the motorbike. She mounted it and started the motor.

Alexandra took a deep breath again before she drove out of the narrow lane, out into the dark night.

[azina]

Even more intriguing ... and acupuncture needles? What will she be doing with acupuncture needles? This chapter raises more questions than answers, but I think you intended it that way. Right now Alex is cool as a cucumber and seems about to go through with whatever is needed, but somehow I think things will be different once she's gazing back into Jonathan's eyes. As always, amazing job on this chapter. This story is one of the gems on the fanfic forum.

[blue-eyed struck]

This sequel is so different than your first story. It's much deeper and the characters are more developed. I felt so sorry for Jonathan. It's ironic because he used to have such a miserable life, but then he met Alex and he became happy. Now, it seems like he had made a perfect life for himself, until Alex stepped back into it! I hope I'm making some sense. I'm doped upon cold medicine and it sounds feasible in my head! *exalt* again for you my friend.

[fosforito]

it does make sense in a way...

he had his perfect life, his system, his "illusion" of Alex being dead.. and now she returned..

and his whole world starts to break up now..

but... you´ll see... don´t worry...

BTW: thanx for the exalt :-)

flygirl00 said:

This sequel is so different than your first story. It's much deeper and the characters are more developed. I felt so sorry for Jonathan. It's ironic because he used to have such a miserable life, but then he met Alex and he became happy. Now, it seems like he had made a perfect life for himself, until Alex stepped back into it! I hope I'm making some sense. I'm doped upon cold medicine and it sounds feasible in my head! *exalt* again for you my friend.

[fosforito]

Here´s chapter 8!

Enjoy!

Chapter 8 (Carmine Falcone)

Jonathan´s apartment was fogged because of the hot water. The windows in his bedroom were all steamed up because Jonathan has left the bathroom door open the entire time.

He didn´t know how long he crouched at the wall in the bathroom, until a phone call tore him out of his lethargy. He got up and had turned off the water before he stumbled into the bedroom, coughing to pick up the phone.

His secretary Mrs. Nichols had called him up to inquire after his condition. Arkham had tried to contact him several times over the afternoon, over his beeper as well as over his phone at home, but Dr. Crane didn report back.

„I´m sorry.“, he had said to Mrs. Nichols. „I didn´t feel well. I fell asleep at home and didn´t hear the phone. Please call up Dr. Stone, my substitution. I won´t come to Arkham anymore today.“

„Alright.“, Mrs. Nichols had responded. „Get well, Dr. Crane. See you tomorrow.“

Jonathan had hung up the phone and lay down on his bed, still holding Alexandra´s necklace in his hand.

He had fallen into a fitful sleep when the ringing phone tore him out again. Jonathan realizied that it was dark already and 11 o´ clock in the evening.

„Crane.“, Jonathan answered the phone, still sleepy, rubbing his eyes.

„Dr. Crane!“, he could hear a male voice on the other end of the line and he recognized this voice. It was the voice of Carmine Falcone!! „Were you asleep already? Or did I interrupted you in a special session?“ Jonathan could hear Falcone laughing.

„Mr. Falcone! It´s 11 p.m. There are people who got to work early in the morning!“, Jonathan hissed into the phone. „And I also have told you once not to call me up at home.“

„Ohhh!!“, Falcone said and giggled. „I´m sorry, Doc, I wasn´t aware of that anymore.“

„What do you want?“

„Oh, you don´t remember? You just wanted to talk to me!“

Indeed, Jonathan didn´t remember anymore. He was realizing that he didn´t remember anything that happened after his encounter with Alexandra and his drive home. I other words, he had a complete blackout.

„Not on the phone, Mr. Falcone.“, he finally said. „We should talk about this in personal.“

„Agreed.“, he could hear Falcone saying. „Tomorrow evening. You know where to find me.“

„Alright.“, Jonathan said in a dry voice, looking down to his hand, still holding Alexandra´s necklace in it.

By the way... Dr. Crane?“, Falcone giggled into the phone. „Have a nice evening. Just like me as I´ll have a lady-visitor right now.“

Carmine Falcone hung up the phone even before Jonathan Crane could say anything. He leaned back into his chair when his office door was opened and one of his „employees“ and a second person in a black coat stepped into the room. The second person was shorter and more delicate then his employee. He realzied that the person was wearing a ski-mask.

„Ahh!!“, Falcone said and his face brightened up. „So, you must be Jane Deveraux.“

„I am.“, she said.

Carmine Falcone pointed with his finger at the ski-mask.

„What is this about?“

„That´s the deal.“, Jane said. „Two conditions: first, I´m working incognito, second: I come in and go out as I want and as I have to. You already know, who am I working for.“

This big guy standing next to Jane turned around, on the way to step forward towards her..

„Don´t even think of touching me.“, she hissed over and gazed at him. The man paused.

„Leave her alone, Sean. It´s okay.“, Falcone said. „Now.. leave me alone with Ms. Deveraux.“

Sean nodded and left the office.

Carmine Falcone gazed at Jane, leaning back again into his chair with a big smirk on his face.

„Soo.. . my litte business gift. I think, first we should get to know each other a bit more.“, Falcone said while bending forward and Jane could see the greedy gaze in his eyes. „By the way, I never had a woman wearing a ski-mask before.“

Jane propped her fists on the table, her knuckles whitening. She bended forward, gazing firmly into Falcone´s eyes.

„You would be dead before you would even have the chance to pull him out.“, she hissed. „I recommend you to keep aloof if you want to stay alive.“

Falcone´s grin disappeared. For a few seconds they both just looked at each others eyes. Then, Falcone bursted out laughing.

„A woman who knows what she wants. This is great!“, he laughed, leaning back into his chair again while Jane straightened slowly. „I like that!“

Jane took a deep breath. She didn´t know what Falcone was talking about, she even didn´t care.

„I think I have the right thing for you now!“, he giggled and pressed a knob on the small video monitor standing on his desk.

Jane bended forward to take a glance at the monitor. She could see a man, obviously locked up in a room. He seemed to be very nervous and walked up and down like a trapped animal.

„Ramón Alvarez.“, Falcone said before Jane could say anything.

Jane looked at him.

„He has raped a woman.“, Falcone explained. „To be more precise: that woman was my little sister.“

Alexandra could feel a stitch in her heart.

„I want you to kill him. Right now!“, Falcone hissed. „And I want you to make him suffer!!“

`Why me?!´. Jane shook her head. „This is not my method of working. I usually observe my cases for a while before completing my job.“, she said in a dry voice but she could hear her voice trembling.

„Take it as an... application, my little business gift.“, Falcone said.

Jane didn´t respond.

„I want you to kill Ramón and I want you to make him suffer.“, Falcone hissed when Sean stepped into the office again. „And I want you to bring me his heart after killing him.“

For a split second it was quiet in the room.

Jane closed her eyes, breathing deeply. `Please Lord, forgive me what I´ll do now.´

„Alright.“, she finally said, opening her eyes again.

„Sean will take you down.“, Falcone said in a dry voice. „I´ll stay here watching the show. They told me you´re something sprecial. I´m very curious.“

Jane could see an evil grin on Carmine Falcone´s face when Sean opened the office door and guided Jane downstairs – down into the cellar, down to Ramón Alvarez.

[blue]

Wow.. that's a bit sick of him... Can't wait to see what happens next ;D

[blue-eyed struck]

This is all building up to Jonathan and Alex seeing eachother again! My question is, will Jonathan realize what Alex does for a living and will Alex find out about the scarecrow? Also, is Alex planning to hurt Jonathan!!?

Thank you for updating so soon btw! *sits very patiently for next chapter*

[blue]

flygirl00 said:

Also, is Alex planning to hurt Jonathan!!?

^^I sure hope not!

[azina]

I am curious at how violent this will be as you have hinted at. I'm sure Alex will be channeling some of the anger, shame and guilt she felt at her own rape experience into what she's about to do. Please post soon!

[fosforito]

Thank you for your replies girls.

Yeah, it´s sick of Falcone what he´s asking her, on th other hand he wants to "test" her - to find out if she really is the person she pretends to be.

I hope to post the next chapter soon and I´m glad to hear that you still like the story.

[blue]

And the question is: Is she the person she pretends to be? Post more!

[fosforito]

Now it´s done, here´s chapter 9!!

So we have the premier now of the new posting system.

BEWARE!! IMPORTANT!

This chapter is R rated and contains strong violence, sexual content and use of weapons. So please, have this in mind! I can´t take any responsibility for possible harm this chapter might have on you!!!

The R rated parts indicated with XXXXX´s and I put the link inside to the website. So when you get there please visit the website to read the rest.

I have to be honest: this is by far the most difficult chapter I wrote at all!!

When you read it, you might know why.

This is also a very long chapter but there wasn´t any chance to split it up, at least not a one making sense. So sorry for the long chapter this time!

Well, I hope you enjoy it though and as usual: leave feedback!

Chapter 9 (Revenge!)

Ramón Alvarez turned around when he heard the door of his room being opened.

He was locked up here after been beaten up by two tall beefy guys. Ramón still had the taste of blood in his mouth. But Falcone´s thugs didn´t want to kill him.

`If they would have liked to kill me, they would have done it already.´, Ramón thought.

Nevertheless he was surprised when he didn´t see the two familiar guys passing through the door. It was a small, slight figure, wearing a black coat. Ramón realized her wearing a ski-mask over her face. The person closed the door and turned around to him.

„What is this about?“, Ramón shouted aloud. „Where is Falcone?“

But the person didn´t respond. She gazed into the video camera, hanging down from the ceiling. Then she gazed at Ramón and he realized the hatred in her eyes.

„You made a mistake, Ramón.“, Jane said and now he realized that the masked person was female.
„You really made a big mistake.“

Ramón puffed. He was at least two heads taller than this woman standing in front of him.

„Who are you, biatch?“, he shouted, laughing aloud. „Do you really think you could scare me?“

`I will teach you what does it mean to be scared!´, Jane thought when she stepped forward quickly and punched him into his face.

She did it so quickly, that Ramón even didn´t have time to react. He stumbled backwards, hitting the wall behind him. He could feel his bleeding nose and he touched his face while Jane turned around placidly, taking off her coat and said „You tangled with the wrong people, Ramón.“

Ramón realised her wearing a holster with two guns, but he also noticed the knife in her waistband. Ramón dumped forward and he managed to grip the knife. He now was holding it in his hand, waving it around in front of Jane, laughing.

„Well, you little biatch!“, he laughed. „Now let´s see if you still have anything to say!!“

Again, Jane turned around placidly, just as if nothing had happened and Ramón could see the hatred in her eyes again.

„Give it a try.“, he could hear her whispering when Ramón attacked her with the knife.

Jane blocked his attack and punched him into the face several times. Left, right, left, right ...
She flipped Ramón around and he hit the wall again, still holding the knife in his hands.

The figure walked up and down in front of him, her gaze fixed and cold.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
please visit www.jonathancrane.tk to read the full chapter
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


„You haven´t disappointed me, my little business present.“, Falcone said with a big smirk on his face. „You haven´t promised too much!“

Jane took a deep breath.

„Mr. Falcone, I´d like to go now.“, she said and she could hear her voice trembling.

Falcone nodded.

„Well.. sure..“, he said. „But be here again tomorrow evening. There´s someone I want to introduce you.“

Then he grinned again. Jane nodded.

„I will be here...“, she whispered and stepped out of the room, following Sean who guided her to the rear entrance of the building.

It had started to rain.

For a moment Alexandra just stood there, when Sean closed the rear door again. Her hands and arms stained with blood got wet and the blood started to run down. Alexandra hided the knife and put on her coat. She could feel herself trembling. The trembling got stronger and Alexandra was gasping for air. She could feel all her thoughts and feelings rising up inside her and she was seized with panic.

She wanted to get away! She just wanted to get out of this place!

Alexandra started to run, trying to run faster and faster.

`Jonathan!´, flashed through her mind. `Oh, my God, Jonathan!´

Alexandra arrived at a public phone at the corner and she stopped.

The rain got worse and within seconds Alexandra was wet to the skin, the water running down her hair and her neck. Her hands were shaking when she took the receiver and dialed the number of Arkham Asylum. She could hear the call-signal and she had to fight her tears when she heard a clicking noise.

„This is the office of Dr. Jonathan Crane, Director of Arkham Asylum.“, Alexandra could hear a female voice saying.

It was an answering machine! Alexandra closed her eyes, feeling the pouring rain on her face. She pressed her lips not to sob aloud.

„Please leave your message after the tone, thank you very much.“

Then she could hear a loud beep.

„Hello?!“, Alexandra shouted into the phone, her voice trembling. „Jonathan?!.. This is Alexandra! Please, we need to talk, Jon!“ Alexandra tried to repress her sobbing as much as possible.

„Jonathan!?“, she shouted even louder into the phone when she realized the rain getting heavier.

Then Alexandra hung up the phone and now she couldn´t hold her tears back any more.

She clutched the reciever and cried bitterly.

[azina]

Oh wow. I am in shock. This chapter was so graphic, but rightly it should be so for such a traumatic experience. Poor Alex and her lost child. Now she must feel all must be lost for her after such a brutal murder of Ramon, yet it's not, she still has a conscience, she still feels guilt whereas Falcone is just delighted at the "job" she did. Ohh, poor Alex, poor Jonathan. You get an Exalt by the way for this courageous chapter.

[blue]

Omg poor alex... She's a vicious person though. Or at least, her rape must've been pretty bad.