This is an interesting backstory of how Crane had his operation going under Arkham. Justin really didn't know what he would be in for :P
It really says something about how manipulative Crane is that Leland thinks he's actually a nice guy who cares about his patients. She really has the wool pulled over her eyes.

Great job!

great work with this, you write scarecrow so well its impressive

bye

Heh. I’m trying hard to figure out how daffodils can be scary. How they could be connected to a traumatic event is even harder.

Crane likes his hired help easy on the eyes? Curiouser and curiouser.

His strange behavior is fun. Simply standing there and practically interrogating the unlucky orderly. No way was he going to assist anyone out of his own volition.

Scarecrow really is scary here. Terribly ambitious and incredibly ruthless. The set-up is pretty cool as well, one gets the feeling all the city must be like this, for things to get as messed up as they do in Batman’s world. People like Justin everywhere, lots of secrets no-one knows of.

Good stuff.

Jonathan Crane: basement Scarecrow. That's like the Gotham version of Basement Cat, I guess.

All LOLcats asides, this story is great. We get to see Crane as he's just starting out on the path to nefariousness. He practically lives at Arkham-which probably didn't do his mental state any favors-and he sleeps on the couch. Not really the greatest existence, in my humble opinion.

He's a master manipulator, isn't he? Hey, I'll give your underpaid butt five hundred dollars if this stays between you and me. Justin isn't a bad guy for taking Crane's cash, he's just your average screwed-over American. Very nice details related to him.

Heck, very nice details related to everything. Lovely job! Lots of fun in the basement. Except for Peter, of course. His basement time is decidedly not fun.

Great prequel. I love how all the knots were tied together. I don't like Joan very much. She seems like a cheerful old lady who's way too nosy for her own good. Jonny needs to use the toxin on her one of these days. I love how the basement and such was described as well. Poor Justin...

Okay, so abducting patients and then using them to test horrible chemical compounds is not cool at all, but you write Jonathan as so wonderfully crazy (though pulled together on the surface) that it's actually almost cute.

Likewise, the thought of someone screaming in absolute terror about daffodils is far funnier than it has any right to be. I'm beginning to think that I'm a sadist. That, or you're just really good at making Jonathan sympathetic. I love how he interacts with Justin. The way he looks at the man like a pack horse really shows how awful he is at relating to other people.

I also love his reaction to finding out there's a basement. It's like Christmas came early.

Poor Joan. She tries so hard to relate to Jonathan. If only he were a little bit more trusting, this entire mess might have been avoided.

The bit where he's in the basement looking around is great. I especially like the bit where he's in the place with the pipes and the water mains. I'm always a sucker for scenes when you see the villains/heroes/what have you just starting out, which is probably why I'm such a big fan of "Burlap," and now this.

Speaking of making characters sympathetic when they shouldn't be, Justin's great. We all know that helping a crazy doctor kidnap patients and test drugs on them is all kinds of not cool, but you made it perfectly clear what a dead end the man is at without spending too much time on his back story. I love that his first thought regarding being presented with money is what he can get for his daughter. Again, things that shouldn't be cute but absolutely are.

I love that he checks the offices at night and keeps track of when Jonathan's sleeping. That's so cute.

Jonathan's rant about his vision was sad. Particularly that he believes what he's saying so fervently that it actually scares Justin. This is why psychiatric hospitals ought to require mental health evaluations for their doctors. Though, considering Arkham's track record, he could probably say anything he wanted and still pass with flying colors.

I like that Justin's uncomfortable with what he's doing despite his attempts to convince himself that it's okay. That's really humanizing. Usually, a lot of thought isn't given to the henchman's motive, but here, we're given Justin's struggle with his conscience, and it's nice.

I love the way that the end scene led right into where Burlap picked up. That was great. The ending sentence was especially perfect.

This was very good! I love Crane's public mask, appearing kind or at least normal enough, but underneath is the evil, and i love his condescending attitude toward the orderlies, and i love the gay little "easy on the eyes" which i'm not sure is supposed to be gay or not but i like how it provides a little ambiguity about his sexuality.

Justin is a great character as well. I love the whole humanity you set up around him. His whole do bad things for good reasons is a very human if selfish motive, and i think it's great you added that sense of ambiguity. E. Excellent story!