Faint beeping broke the silence as Tim's eyes fluttered open. Everything around him was a hazy blur and he realized that was because he wasn't wearing his spectacles.

"Hello?" He called out, hoping someone was around to hear him.

"Welcome back to the world of the living."

He recognized the voice immediately and he blinked twice, trying his best to see her, "Stephie?"

"Don't you Stephie me," she huffed, quite evidently furious at him for the mess he was in, "I was so worried about you."

"I'm sorry..."

"Apology not accepted," she replied, folding her arms as she leaned back in her seat, "and if it hadn't been for Dick's lectures to not bother you right now, I would have asked you all about what was so important for you to be out in the Narrows."

He paused, blinking again as he still couldn't see her clearly, "but I was not in the Narrows...?"

"You think? Your friend Miguel brought you here, he said you got mugged because you had the nerve to outsass a goon twice your size."

Tim felt something was off. His head was ringing but he was conscious enough to know that he hadn't been in the Narrows by the time he had passed out and definitely not with Miguel. Although he might not want his family to know where he had been exactly and with whom because that could be a bigger issue.

"Where am I right now?"

"In the hospital because you got your back broken."

"Broken?"

"A few of the bones are broken, thank God the spinal cord is intact but you still need to be in a back brace for the next few weeks," she told him, "also, I sent Jason to fetch your spare specs from home so until he comes back, you'll have to put up with not seeing things clearly."

He let her words sink in, trying to make sense of the situation. The last thing he remembered was injecting Crane with his tranquilizer and getting slammed back first into the wall of his basement. He did not remember anything after that.

"You said Miguel brought me here?"

"Yup. Looks like you did end up getting a concussion and losing your memory."

He couldn't fathom why Miguel would be the one to bring him to the hospital nor did he know anything about him being in the Narrows and outsassing a goon. Crane must have had something to do with it. It could be a cover story.

Thinking of Crane, he wanted to know where he was and how he was doing as the effects of the drug might have worn off but that felt like an impossibility at the moment.

On the other hand, Stephanie had taken advantage of the fact that he couldn't clearly see without his specs so he wouldn't know what she was doing. So she was going through his experiment book and stumbled upon a very shocking find.

All the details about Jonathan Crane's behavior were documented visit vise and that seemed weird because she didn't know Tim had been visiting Arkham regularly since the past one month.

But things got complicated further as she read about the diagnosis and recalled how she had found Tim fervently studying DID a few weeks earlier. He had also made some sort of toxin on the basis of all that information and her eyes widened as she saw the page containing the aftereffects of the toxin injection performed on Crane.

"Hey Tim, will it be okay if I go check if Jay is here or not? You're gonna be fine for a few seconds, right?"

He tried to nod but found his body frozen from the upper half, "yeah, no problem."

She stepped out of the room Tim was kept in and dialed Bruce's number, feeling that she should tell him about it. He picked up immediately as he knew she was with Tim and it could be urgent, "yes Steph, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, Tim woke up and he's okayish. Can't see without his specs so Jay is bringing his spare ones for him," she replied, "but I found something which I think you need to see. It's about what could have happened to Tim."

"And what is it?"

"He was experimenting on Crane and I found very detailed notes in his diary. So there's a high chance he wasn't in the Narrows tonight either, he was in Arkham."

There was a pause on the other end until Bruce spoke up, "but the guy who brought him to the hospital...?"

"It's Miguel, Dick said he's a receptionist in Arkham. So I think the whole Narrows story was a lie and maybe Crane hurt Tim."

"Have you asked Tim directly?"

"No, because I know he's going to lie about it again. If he kept this a secret from us for so long, he's not going to open up immediately," Steph reasoned.

Bruce thought about it, knowing the situation was more serious than he thought. "When are you coming back to the Manor?"

"As soon as Jay shows up here."

"Good. Come straight to my study then and bring Tim's diary."

"Got it."

***

Bruce had studied Tim's notebook and it made him anxious as well. He sent the formula and composition of the newly made toxin to the research team who worked with Tim so that they could find out what it was used for while he called Richard as well to discuss the matter.

Steph was in his study already by the time Richard came and he too was just as worried for Tim as the others.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's conscious now. Jay is staying with him," Steph told him.

"Richard, I want you to go to Arkham and meet Jonathan Crane. Find out from him what has been going on in these past few weeks with Tim visiting him and taking notes. There's a high chance he might not be in his cell so if that receptionist tries to stop you from visiting him, alert the authorities."

"Why would he not be in his cell?" Steph asked.

"It won't be easy for Tim to spend such a lot of time in Arkham without anyone knowing even if that receptionist is helping him stay hidden," Bruce mused, pondering over the matter, "Crane must have escaped and stayed low for the time being. Hidden somewhere we would least expect him to be... On that note, I will go to Drake Manor's basement to check if my assumption is true."

"Can I come with you?" Steph asked Bruce and he nodded, allowing her to accompany him to the basement where Tim lived before getting adopted.

As Steph and Bruce left for Drake Manor, Richard went to Arkham Asylum.

As expected, he found a very disinterested Miguel at the desk, working the night shift.

"How may I help you, Sir?" He asked, not caring to see who it was.

"I have to pay a visit to Jonathan Crane," Richard replied, watching the man's head shoot up in alarm, "I hope that's not an issue?"

"I will have to check you in first," he replied and Richard noticed that he was nervous.

Perhaps Bruce was right about assuming that Crane wasn't in Arkham and had escaped with a little inside help.

But Miguel checked him in and gave him back his cards as well as the pass to access Crane's cell, "I assume you know your way."

"Yes, I do. Thank you."

He was about to leave for the top security cells when the receptionist asked, "Mister Grayson, is Timothy doing okay now?"

He paused and his expression softened seeing that the man was indeed concerned. "Yes, he has woken up and will be fine in a few days."

"Oh. Okay."

"Although we would have appreciated it more if you told us the truth about how you found him," Richard added, watching his face pale at the remark.

Miguel looked like he would say something in defense but the concerned demeanor instantly got overcome by the aloof behavior of the receptionist, "the clock is running, you only have fifteen minutes for your visit."

Richard didn't respond to the remark, taking the hint as he left for the top security cells. He knew the way as he had been there before with Tim. He reached the cell that he knew would be Crane's and swiped the pass after shifting open the metal gate.

It was pitch dark inside and Richard edged closer to see whether Crane was in there or not. But he didn't have to wait long as he spotted a figure sitting in the corner, oblivious to the fact that someone had come to see him.

"Doctor Crane, may I have some of your time?" He asked and saw that figure shift closer to the bars.

Crane's blue eyes peeked through the darkness and he paused, seeing it was Richard who had come to see him.

"I had to ask you a few things about Timothy Drake and what has been going on in the past few weeks," he spoke up but it felt that the man wasn't really listening, "has he been visiting you?"

His eyes were glazed over and the very dim light that shone in due to the fact that the metal gate was shifted showed his features to be set in a very indifferent look.

"Doctor Crane, are you listening?"

"Doctor Crane isn't here at the moment," he spoke up at last, unnerving Richard as the voice seemed different from the one he recalled, "if you'd like an appointment, please leave a message."

He was confused; the man in front of him was undoubtedly Jonathan Crane but he was not acting like him. He seemed quite childlike in that state, confused and unaware, repeating only what he had been told.

Something was very off with him.

"If Doctor Crane isn't here then who are you? The Scarecrow, perhaps?"

The man shook his head, looking at Richard as if he had never seen him before nor did he know anything about why he was kept imprisoned in the first place, "you can call me Jon. It's nice to meet you."

"Jon?"

"I will let you know when Doctor Crane returns. Although I am pretty sure you would not want to meet the Scarecrow instead. Have a nice day."

Richard was weirded out by that interaction but it seemed Crane had decided that was enough and drew back in the corner where he had been seated earlier.

"Sir, your time is up." Miguel's voice alerted him and he stepped back, closing the metal gate.

"What happened to him?" He asked, unable to understand why Crane had acted so out of it, "it was almost as if he wasn't there and he was acting so weird..."

Miguel shook his head, following him out to the main reception area, "he's in the place where they keep the incorrigible crazies so acting weird is his thing. Who knows what goes on in his head anyway?"

"And he had been in Arkham this whole time... I mean he has never left Arkham?"

Miguel's reply was guarded as he too seemed to have guessed that Richard was onto something, "of course. He's an inmate and can't leave. There's no way he could have escaped. And if he did, the authorities would know. Now if you please excuse me, Sir, I have a lot to tend to."

Richard nodded, watching him go back to his desk where he was sorting out the files of the inmates. It seemed as if Miguel had a lot of work on his hands due to managing multiple jobs in the asylum.

So he left, intending to talk to Bruce about his interaction with Crane. It was unexpected for him but he felt Bruce might know something about it.

***