This is the continuation from the third chapter of this here story into the fourth chapter of this here story.

I really have nothing else to say right now so let the newest chapter commence!

Killer Croc had a new room. Again.

He was satisfied enough with it, he supposed. It wasn't much different from the others, except that it was better in every way. Not only did he have plumbing, but he had something akin to a bathroom. There was no door, but since no one else was here there was no need for one. He had a toilet, a sink, a small cabinet, and a shower. A shower. The water was always freezing because it came directly from outside, but he didn't give a damn. The feel of water on his skin was something he'd longed for since the beginning of his captivity and he would do anything he could to keep it.

The mat from his old room had been moved to this one. He had a steel barred window, which was perhaps his favorite feature. He could watch the water. It also put him at ease, because he didn't have to worry about things like gas leaks, and truthfully, there was nothing like sea-air for him to take in.

The most important thing, however, was its location. Directly next to that woman.

Croc had found it odd that she chose to reside in an abandoned cell block next to his, but if he had to guess, he'd say she wasn't much of a people person. He wasn't going to complain; she proved herself slightly more competent than the average Arkham guard.

Currently, he was standing on his hands with his feet against the wall. It was the only way he found push-ups challenging anymore, and he saw no reason to sit around doing nothing now that he could wash away the sweat.

As he began his first set, he wondered about his close-call. The woman claimed to have theories, but she never parted with any. Would she tell him, if he asked? Croc wasn't sure. Most likely not, even though he felt he had a right to know.

He'd have to find a way to get it out of her; she was too clever to be easily fooled. He'd have to test the waters by bringing up the issue and gauging her reaction.

Selene was sitting at a table with one of the few female guards at Arkham Asylum and one of the few females in the place that didn't act like an ass or a know-it-all. So dinning near her friend Lucy, Selene was enjoying eating her lunch in silence for a rather nice change of pace, when an arm draped around her shoulders.

"Oh, Miss Grey, how are you today"? Sam purred in her usual sultry sing-song. The Adviser merely scowled and continued eating. "And our darling little Lucy..."?

"Good afternoon, Sam," The other woman offered pleasantly as she brushed her long, blonde hair out of her face. "I heard that you just returned from your trip to Metropolis".

"I did. Mmmm, such a lovely place for watching Superman duke it out with some of his own baddies, truly it was". Lucy nodded politely. "Oh, before I forget; Miss Grey-"

"Adviser," Selene cut in. Sam huffed.

"Adviser Grey-"

"Just Adviser".

Sam stared at her a long moment, as if daring Selene to interrupt her again. "Adviser. The Vice Warden asked to see you after your break. Mmm, I like the sound of spring rolls," She meandered off, and Selene tossed the rest of her salad in the trash bin.

"Oh, Selene, you haven't finished eating. You shouldn't waste food like that". Lucy told her as she readjusted her glasses.

"You know she's coming back. I'll starve before suffering that woman any longer than I have to," Selene announced, getting up from her seat. Chief Guard Samantha Woodward was everything she despised in a person; shameless around everyone, undisciplined in the rules of the asylum, and unprofessional in every sense of the word.

"I don't think she's so bad," Lucy observed, watching the scantily-clad woman tease the line cook. "I mean she gets the job done and keeps her prisoners- I mean patients- in check".

"Well, then you can eat with the crazy bitch. I'm gonna go see what the hell Law wants from me this time".

Selene flung his door open without so much as a quick tap to warn him. It was something he was long used to, he'd just prefer it if she'd try to catch the door before it hit his bookshelf and skewed all his nick-knacks.

"You sent that pink, flamboyant closet-case to tell me to come see you"?

"It was convenient for me, and I thought you might like to know what I was able to get from our assassins".

"Wh- oh. You talked to them"?

"I did; I discovered two things- most importantly, that there is still another perpetrator at large. He is the one responsible for the attack on Waylon Jones".

"And the other"?

Law smiled reassuringly, "From what I can tell, no one else was a target".

Selene visibly relaxed. So Vlad would be okay. "So what about this... other man? Any idea who he is"?

Her boss frowned. "It's as we feared, Selene. He's one of our own".

"So... that means that we basically have to evaluate every single guard in Arkham Asylum"?

"Some we can rule out already, but yes, we have our work cut out for us".

"Ugh"! She took a seat and let her head fall back against the wall. "Law, you've got to fucking kidding me! If we start asking everyone questions, then he'll catch wind that we're on to him"!

"Then ask no questions".

She raised her head slightly to get a look at his expression. "You have a plan"?

Law nodded, looking slightly pleased with himself. "After learning about his poison gas method, I went down to the ventilator room to have a look for myself. Sure enough, I found this," He used his foot to slide a black, mechanical-looking box from behind his desk.

"Wait... that... I've seen one of those somewhere".

"Do you recall the Technical Ingenuity Conference we attended last year"?

Selene got to her feet in sudden understanding, "Right! Bruce Wayne hosted that event on the recommendation that that company gave him to insure their product's success. Their device was on display as a prototype from one of those big manufacturing firms! It houses chemicals that react dangerously with air".

"The firm is Veera Developers. The device was designed for use by the marines, but they weren't interested because the cost of materials was too great. So Veera tried to catch the attention of other buyers at the conference; only the prototype didn't hold much appeal because the conference itself was a charity event".

"So our guy somehow got his hands on it"?

"Allow me to paint a picture for you." Law tossed her a napkin; she recognized his shorthand and gathered that he'd been taking notes in a hurry. "The prototype fails both at private exhibitions and the TIC. When it's discovered there's no money to be made, Veera scraps the project. A year later, one shows up in our prison. So I contact the company and ask if the project was ever sold, stolen, or distributed. I learn that only three were ever made, and that up until recently they remained in storage. However, just a month ago Bruce Wayne mysteriously purchased one of the three devices, but it was apparently taken apart and studied. Then I happened to learn that just last week a private citizen arrived claiming to be a collector, and asked to purchase one of the boxes. The sale was conducted personally by the firm's chief executive officer".

"So the collector is our culprit"?

"Not so fast. Remember that these men are hired hands. Care to take a guess as to who the CEO of Veera Developers is"?

Selene shook her head, "I wouldn't have the slightest clue, sir".

"Bartholomew Chambers, Minister of International Affairs."

"You mean one of the council members"?

Law nodded.

"So he's the one who's been clearing all of those accusations of him excepting briberies all these years"?

"It appears to be that way".

"Alright. So Chambers attends your meeting, and he learns that you plan on collaring the Dark Knight. So that forces him to hire someone to kill the people who know details about the investigation. Did he stage one of the assassins to purchase the box"?

The Vice Warden sighed. "That's what's bothering me. Two pieces aren't fitting; why would he go to such extremes for such a criminal, and why would he use a device that so obviously points back to him"?

"It would make sense if the Batman actually provides some kind of service worth killing for. And we could assume we weren't meant to find the device; I mean, they meant to kill us and obviously failed- it's reasonable to think that they made other mistakes".

He tapped his chin. "Perhaps. Take another look into the Batman's activities and see if you can't find the link between him and Chambers. I'll speak to the CEO".

"Right, sir".

Selene approached the door slowly and knocked on it with her usual double-tap before opening it. She was careful opening the door with a lunch tray under her arm and expecting to find Killer Croc asleep in his cell. Although, she wasn't expecting to find Croc hanging upside-down from the ceiling pipes that somehow held up his weight.

"Err... lunch," She announced, trying not to look alarmed. She set the tray on the floor and turned to go when his voice stopped her.

"Do ya know who's tryin' to kill us"?

She paused, unsure of how to respond, or whether to respond at all. The man who'd tried to kill Killer Croc was still out there, but should she tell him that?

He didn't miss her moment of hesitation. "If you were plannin' on tellin' me the truth, it wouldn't take you so long to answer".

"I'm not obligated to tell you anything, so don't act so don't act all entitled to get something out of me".

Croc unhooked his feet from the pipes and dropped to the floor. Selene turned to watch him with a wary eye. "Listen, woman; whatever you're up to, you're gettin' me mixed up in it. So don't you go actin' like you've got more to lose than me".

That pissed her off. "What, your life? You threw that away when you became a lowlife criminal; you landed yourself here and now your answering for it. If you want to bitch about your situation, then go right on ahead, but you're not going to make me feel like the bad guy". She tugged the hatch closed and marched off, too frustrated to notice that the lizard-man was surprisingly not trying to kill or scream at her through the door.

"Well," He thought to himself, "that answers that".

The night sky glittered with stars, but there was no moon. Vlad lit up a cigarette, sitting near the edge of the rooftop of the police building. Selene was right; he had been thinking an awful lot lately.

He wasn't happy. It took him a long time to figure that out. He loved working with his sister, and honestly felt more at ease that she wasn't doing such a dangerous job by herself, but he had a harder time than her accepting government-sanctioned justice. He felt like a hypocrite; he wished he could make peace with his past as easily as Selene, but then again, she wasn't guilty of his crimes.

He'd hoped perhaps that playing a role in justice would atone for his past, and perhaps it did, but he couldn't deny the truth. And the truth was, he was miserable.

Commissioner Gordon took a seat at a table that was set up on the rooftop. "You look like you could use a drink, son". He offered the young man, but Vlad merely shook his head.

"Thanks, I'll pass," He said, getting up. He didn't feel like having any company right now.

"You only live once, you know," Gordon said with a shrug of his shoulders. What a strange thing for him to say, Vlad observed, but dismissed it just as quickly.

"Yeah," He sighed. "I'll be back to living my life just as soon as the Batman shows up to see why his damn signal is on".

"Oh he'll show up sooner or later,"

"You said that the other night, Gordon".

"The Batman has other people to track down and take back to Arkham, you know that Vlad. Why two weeks ago he told me that he was looking for clues as to the newest whereabouts of the Penguin and his little gang of rouges".

"Well as soon as he clips that crazy bird's wings, the sooner he can come put an end to this case with Killer Croc".

"Well he might show up tonight or he might not," He stated in reply, slowly making his way back to the stairwell. "Whatever the reason, it's no reason for you to stay out here all night and freeze your ass off, son".

"Rather freeze my ass off than have my sister kick my ass for not getting to talk to the Dark Knight". Vlad half laughed.

"Alright then," Gordon sighed. "Enjoy the rest of your night, Vlad".

Someone was humming.

Croc didn't particularly give a damn since it sounded sweet, but it was the fact that it was keeping him up. It was probably that woman; she was the only other person who had any business here at this hour. He was about to yell at her to shut the mother fucking hell up, but two things stopped him.

The first, was that the sound had a metallic twang to it; he deduced that it must be coming through the air vent. Their rooms were connected. Huh. Well how about that?

The second, was that he recognized the tune. It took him a minute to realize what it was, but when he did he was hit with a huge pang of nostalgia.

It was a lullaby he'd used to whisper to himself on those especially dangerous nights when his aunt got drunk and started to beat and kick the shit out of him. She'd end up calling him a freak (and several other foul names) and stormed off to grab a drink and her pack of cigarettes, wanting absolutely nothing to do with him. That pretty much left him to tend to whatever scratches and bruises that he obtained after his beating before limping to his room and crying for the rest of the evening.

It was definitely a real shame and a real mistake that after the death of his father, that he was put under the guardianship of his incredibly abusive and alcoholic aunt. Constantly and brutally abused in his own home and sometimes locked up in a closet like an animal as his aunt consumed more alcohol and engaged in sexual activities.

Without a doubt, this was not the best situation for him or any child to grow up in.

Hell, there were even some nights that he felt that he would be so terrified, that repeating a simple little lullaby was the only way to get himself to sleep.

How strange, hearing it here, of all places.

So now Croc couldn't bring himself to silence her now.

It just didn't seem right. And in some small way, in some small part of him, he found that it gave him a little comfort. Not a lot but just a little comfort that made him relax and so much that he didn't even notice when he fell asleep.

Yes, yes, I had to add in just a little bit of Killer Croc's backstory due to the fact that if someone who's reading this story doesn't know his backstory then they can see its bits and pieces. Also, I'd thought it'd be kind of sweet to add something like that little lullaby in; the idea was too much for me to overlook.

Ok so until the next chapter of the story, my good readers!