Jonathan Crane was sitting up in his bed, reading a book he'd snuck in past the guards. He pulled his blanket up a little higher around him, shivering as the thin sheet gave him little warmth. He heard a soft whimper from across the room and glanced over at his cellmate, Edward Nygma. He was huddled under his own equally pitiful blanket, asleep. He gave another soft sound and trembled. Crane ignored him, focusing back on the book in front of him. Edward yelped loudly, tossing in his sleep, clearly having some sort of nightmare. Crane rubbed his eyes tiredly, put down the book and considered his options.

One, he could let him be. He knew from experience that this wasn't an option. Edward would get louder until he was practically screaming. Then not only was it impossible for Crane to sleep, but guards would rush to their door and drag the Scarecrow into solitary confinement for however long it took them to figure out that he had nothing to do with Edward's terror.

Two, he could wake him up. This didn't seem any better than option one. Either Edward would wake up in a good mood and would talk on and on, annoying Crane to no end. Or he would wake up in a bad mood. Jonathan recalled that although Nygma wasn't particularly strong, he could still beat him in a fight quite thoroughly and Jonathan didn't feel like being injured again. He only just recovered from the broken arm he'd got the last time he ran into Batman.

What else could he do? Crane pressed his finger to his forehead, working through everything he knew about nightmares. He let out a long sign as he realised that although he knew so much about nightmares, he really didn't know much about curing them. He had always focused on causing them.

He sat for a while, listening as the sounds from the other bed grew steadily loudly. Suddenly an idea struck him. It didn't seem very agreeable, but definitely better than any of his other options. He stood quietly and made his way over to Edward's bed. He paused, before steeling himself and crawling under the blanket. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around Nygma in, what he hoped, was a soothing embrace. His eyes widened as Nygma instantly moved closer, his own arms tangling in the front of Crane's shirt. Jonathan froze for a moment before tugging the shorter man closer; his head nestled against his chest. Edward gave one last quiet murmur before growing still.

Crane lay there, feeling drowsy, as the warmth Edward provided seeped through him. A small smile tugged at his lips and then he was asleep.

Edward opened one eye and looked up confused. Sunlight was shining through the tiny window on the wall of the cell lighting him and another body lying on the bed. He could feel the other man's face resting against his hair, breathing softly. He pushed back a little careful not took wake him and glanced at his face. At the sight of his roommate Edward paused for a moment before snuggling back up against the taller man. He curled his fingers a little tighter into the course fabric and inhaled deeply, Jonathan always did smell ever so slightly of straw. He felt the hands resting on his lower back curl tighter around him and the legs intertwined with his own wrap themselves a little more securely.

For the first time in years Edward felt safe. He let himself relax and fell back into a deep sleep.