Title: Revealing Reason

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own anything except Tierney and the general plot. This story does not contain slash. This story does not contain incest. This story does not contain extremely graphic violence. This story does not contain adult scenes. This story contains few (if any) swear words.

With this said, read on, valiant reader!

Recap: The Joker put the car into gear and off we roared. Jervis and Edward laughed with the Joker, I'm sure Harley and I had the same shell-shocked expressions, and I had no clue what Jonathan did.

As we went speeding off into the night, I put my head into my hands. What had I gotten into?

1: Getaway, Funhouse, and Fear Gas

The Joker was a very fast driver. We careened around street corners, over curbs, and through red lights; I was extremely thankful of Crane's arms around me. Edward, Jervis, and the Joker howled with laughter as we nearly slammed into the side of the highway. Harley alternately clutched her seat and the dashboard with a look of terror on her face. I wasn't in a position to read the speedometer, but I could imagine it was far above the accepted limit. As we roared through an intersection, we caught the notice of a cop car, who expected that? Enter my sarcasm here. Its siren wailed to life as it began to pursue us.

"Hey, what's black and white and full of fuzz?" Edward said between laughs. "A squad car!" They all howled louder. Why oh why oh why aren't we wearing seatbelts?!?!

We plowed through a large hedge and a field of mud, which made my head slam into the roof of the car. Evidently the cop car got bogged down in the slough, and gave up the chase. More enthusiastic yells from the men, except Jonathan; I got the impression he found all of this fun, but not the kind of fun that made you whoop and holler.

We drove down a dirt road, finally arriving at our destination. It was an old abandoned fairground, complete with Ferris wheel and carousel. The Clown parked in front of the funhouse and hopped out, going around to the passenger side to yank Harley out. We all piled out soon after. Crane still had a hold on my arm.

"You can let go now," I told him pointedly. He glared at me, but then smiled and dropped my arm. His smile and his eyes put me on the alert –they were dark and malevolent, and something inside of me knew this night wasn't going to end well.

"Everybody inside!" the Joker yelled, dragging Harley along. We all followed him into the funhouse, where we were met by some minions.

"Boss! You got outta Arkham?" The biggest one asked.

"No, Bullet. I'm a figment of your, ah, imagination." The Joker's mouth twisted. "This is the Riddler, Mad Hatter, and Scarecrow. They'll be working with us now." The muscle nodded obediently. "Show 'em around and stuff." The Joker pulled Harley off and disappeared through another door.

"You want rooms?" the muscle asked us. We nodded. "Follow me," he said, walking off.

"Say, what weighs six ounces, sits in a tree, and is very dangerous?" Edward asked all of us.

When no one responded, I said, "No idea Edward."

"A sparrow with a machine gun!" That made me smile a tiny bit. He showed us all rooms on the second floor of the funhouse, and then left. Edward and Jervis disappeared into theirs to sleep, I guess. I stared at Crane, waiting for him to speak. He didn't, so I just said what was on my mind.

"Was it all a lie? The whole 'I need you' thing?" I said softly, crossing my arms over my chest. "Because it sure seems like it." I refused to look at him and instead focused my attention to the door we stood before.

"I didn't lie, I simply didn't tell you the whole truth," he said impassively.

"Oh? It amounts to the same thing. I have no idea why I continue to believe you, you crazy–"

"Would you like to see my mask?" He asked abruptly, cutting me off.

I blinked. "What?"

His ma– …oh. OH! I turned to try to get into my room, but he grabbed my shoulder and twisted me around. His face was covered with a burlap mask, stitched to resemble a face –a scarecrow. I gasped just before receiving a face full of gas.

Choking, coughing… the world began twisting, distorting. NO NO NO…

"What do you fear?" he said, voice distorted by what I distantly knew was the fear gas and a re-breather into a growl. I yelped. What do I fear? I began to hyperventilate, taking too many fast, deep breaths. What do I fear? Horse rearing…flames… scarecrow… "the only thing you have to fear is fear itself –nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." I fear… fear itself. I leaned against the wall as the shapes closed in on me. What do I do, what do I do, whatdoIdo… I need to… Advance.

All the fear suddenly got channeled into anger, mind-bending, adrenaline-rushing hate. And the object of my anger was Crane. I launched myself at his throat, tried to choke him, hurt him, kill him, anything. He blocked me well, though, and after a bit, the gas affected my legs and I fell to the floor.

Child crying… bottles breaking… a woman screaming… blood everywhere… got to stop it… #&%* …NO!!!!

"Tierney!" the scarecrow called, but my eyes wouldn't focus anymore. Another aerosol canister sprayed its contents into my face, but this wasn't a harsh chemical –it was sweet, like vanilla, or flowers. I breathed deeply, and someone far away encouraged me, saying, "That's it. Good girl." Blackness descended.

I swam back up out of the darkness; I opened my eyes. The ceiling was very far away because I was sitting on the floor. Arms held me still, and my head rested on wool –a sweater vest. I lifted my head and Jonathan looked at me anxiously, his blue eyes bright. Where were his glasses? Oh. They were folded around the neck of his sweater vest. "How long was I out?" I mumbled.

"Only about five minutes," Jonathan said softly.

"You sprayed me with your fear gas," I hissed at him incredulously. "And now you're acting all concerned about me?" I shoved him away, scrambling away from him and attempting to stand by pushing myself up on the wall.

"Quinzel got nowhere helping you recall your past or get to the bottom of your irrational fury. The toxin brings out the hidden things inside you. But I gave you the antidote when you started to go over the edge," he said, standing as well.

"Let me get this straight," I said, poking a finger in his face, but keeping one hand against the wall to steady myself. "You're saying, spraying me with your toxin, threatening me, and scaring me half to death was really to help me remember?!" My eyes blazed, and my hands began to make fists.

"Yes." I opened my mouth to say something highly insulting and perhaps break his nose, but he said, "It worked, didn't it? You remembered something." I shut my mouth. I had: broken bottles and people screaming… and a large amount of blood. "See?" He said.

I sighed in frustration. "I want to go to sleep." Preferably before my brain exploded because of the confusion I was experiencing.

"Go ahead." He tried to help me through the doorway, but I slapped his hand away and did on my own steam, giving him a death glare. Then he entered his own room. I walked into the small, bare room that had little else except a bed and dresser. Sitting on the bed, I put my head in my hands. What is with this man?