The footsteps down the hall grew closer and closer. Eames, Arthur, and Cobb were all aflurry with silent hand signals, then each one of them took cover behind some of the furniture that had been tossed about the room. They steadied their guns and aimed them straight down the doorway, ready for whatever was coming at them. Alfred wasn't quite sure what to do with himself, so he found his own piece of debris to hide behind and held his gun forward ready just like the others.

Click, click, click. The footsteps tapped against the tile and echoed down the hall. Alfred tried to not focus on the weight of the gun, or how sweaty his palms were getting. He shifted his weight a bit, trying to find a more comfortable stance but not knowing if he had enough time to re-adjust. He glanced quickly to the side to make sure that Cobb and the others were still in position.

A man came around the corner. He had jagged features and a prominent nose that supported his thick, black-rimmed glasses. He was wearing a dark suit, but hardly visible underneath his white lab coat. In the real world, that same coat had been pristine and white, but here it seemed to be stained with dirt and... well, if not blood then something that looked a lot like blood.

"Bloody hell!" Alfred stood up and wiped the sweat off of his brow. "Dr. Crane! Do you realize that we almost shot you?" He shook his head and a relieved smile broke out across his face. "What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to stay back and administer the kick?"

Crane stepped all the way into the room and glanced around, taking in Cobb, Eames, and Arthur. None of them had moved a muscle since Crane revealed himself. He put up each of his hands as though moving in slow motion. "Yes, right. I asked my assistant to do it instead."

"Relax, gentlemen," Alfred told the others. "It's Dr. Crane, remember?" They raised the barrels of their guns, though a bit reluctantly. Dr. Crane came further into the room and shook Alfred's hand. "Boy am I glad to see you," Alfred said. "I was expecting some sort of monster to come around that corner, to be honest. Quite a joy to see a familiar face."

"Of course," Dr. Crane said slowly, carefully studying Alfred's face. "And same here. Good to see you again."

"How'd you make it to the island so fast?" Cobb asked. "We got stuck in traffic on the bridge. Didn't you?"

Crane turned to look at him, studying him intently like a specimen under a microscope. "No, I... took a boat," Crane answered. "Straight across the river. It's the fastest way to Arkham."

"Wish we'd have known that," Alfred lamented. "'Course, we didn't even know that Gotham would be an island in Bruce's dream. Was that something he'd mentioned to you before? In your sessions or something?"

"Yes, of course," Crane answered. "Bruce talked about it many times."

"Of course." Alfred shook his head. "We probably should have gotten more information from you instead of just coming in blind." He paused for a moment, then shrugged and dismissed those regrets. "Say what you will about Bruce, but he's sure got one hell of an imagination," Alfred looked through the broken window to the gothic courtyard of this version of Arkham. "Definitely incorporates a bit of Wayne Manor's architecture. It would probably be a beautiful place, were it not for all of these raving monsters Bruce has thought up." As if agreeing with Alfred, the Joker's squealing laugh came blasting through the intercom system again.

"Did you say Wayne Manor?" Crane asked casually as if he hadn't heard the maniacal clown's voice at all.

"Wayne Manor, yes. Where Bruce grew up, yo know?" Alfred said. "I suppose that means some part of him still misses home, even when he's living as this 'Batman' persona..."

A grin spread across Crane's face. "Of course. Of course, that all makes sense now."

"All right, that's enough chatter," Cobb said, glancing down the hall where Crane had come from. His rifle rested on his shoulder, but his finger still teased the trigger. "So what was so important that you had to come in here yourself, Doc? Is everything OK up topside?"

"Oh, indeed," Crane answered. "Everything is perfectly fine. I was just curious is all. Wanted to see what this Joker fellow had gotten himself into now."

Eames actually snorted in disbelief, while Cobb and Arthur just looked stunned. "That's it?" Cobb asked once it became clear Crane wasn't planning to explain further. "You just wanted to see? You're jeopardizing our lives to satisfy some weird curiousity about one of your own patients?"

All four of them stared at Crane, waiting for some sort of answer.

"Well..." he finally said. "I guess that's not all. I wanted to show you all something as well. Just a little hobby of mine. Sometimes I show it to my patients as well..." From underneath the lab coat, he pulled out what looked like a worn burlap sack. "This..." he held it aloft to reveal vacant black holes for eyes and stitched mouth, "Is my mask."