Well hello strangers *waves* Yes, Ive been gone for a while. I apologize for that! Life and whatnot, ya know? Anyway.. Finally got my hands on Arkham Knight and hearing the voice of our one and only genius mad man got me fired up and ready to go to continue this story! sooooo hopefully you all will still enjoy. This chapter may be a bit short as Im just getting back into the swing of things... but hey! Its at least an update!

I knew I wouldnt sleep. I just needed away from that asshole. My head continued to pound like fireworks on the fourth of July as I flipped the switch to my bedside lamp on angrily.

My face was hot. I knew I looked like the bumbling blushing idiot that I was.

How could I have been so STUPID? These psychos ruin my life left and right and yet here I am holding onto some childhood fantasy that "Mr. Nashton" wasn't that bad of a guy. I should have called the commissioner the second that loony started butting into my life again. But no - I figured I could handle it myself.

... and now I have a giant crocodile thing, a narcisist, and a scarecrow all knowing where I live. Oh my.

But I didn't feel much like a Dorothy.

Looking at the walls of my bedroom, I felt more like a prisoner to my own mistakes. A was pretty much in a rock and a hard place. Either continue helping Edward and hope he kept me safe from whatever it was that just came after us (Croc?) while risking my companions finding out Im harboring one of the most dangerous criminals in the city, or hand him over and feel the wrath of whatever knows where I live.

I grabbed my cell phone and fiddled until I came to my bank account amount.

Nope. No where near enough to go on an extended vacation.

Damn. I should have gone to that Wayne party for the police some months back and smooshed up to Bruce Wayne like lots of the other female cops had talked about doing. But -no-, I had to have some sort of sense of justice and all that other bullshit.

I groaned in frustration as I set the phone on my pillow and banged my forehead up against the window a little too hard. I winced in reaction and reeled back immediately to see if Id cracked anything.

Good. I hadn't.

None of this made sense. Edward seemed to know Strange's idea for Arkham was a little bit more than he implied.

And then something he had said finally hit me - like a lightbulb had finally been screwed in completely and sparked on to life.

Strange knew who Batman was?

That was it. Maybe if I went to Strange he could get me to Batman. And if I could get to Batman, I'd be able to have him help me and my family out of this mess! After all- its a -lunatic- telling me Strange was bad. What was so bad about a doctor trying to keep Rogues and criminals alike away from the rest of the city? Nothing, that's what.

I grabbed my phone back and did a quick search. Perfect. He and the mayor were running a speech tonight regarding more Arkham business. As I hoisted my sore body to its feet, I grabbed my secondary badge I kept hidden in my bedroom and stuffed it under my shirt, into my knickers. I wasn't going to risk anything with Edward anymore.

I tried walking swiftly. But I knew the winces were apparent to anyone who looked at me. Still- I made through my door and down the hallway. I just needed to get to the front door-

"Already back?"

The pompous, green-clad jackass was still sitting on my couch, his eyes still glued to all the papers before him.

"I'm going out." I merely stated.

"To where? You're hardly in the condition to-"

"Strange is hosting another speech with the mayor of Gotham. I'm going to see what is said, and to see if I can maybe figure anything else out."

This earned yet another look from him, however instead of condescending, this one was quizzical.

"So... You're actually cooperating?" he said slowly, testing his words. I pursed my lips and straightened my shirt.

"Yeah. I guess so." I muttered as I grabbed my jacket and wrapped it around myself. "I'll be back when it's done."

I didn't bother listening to his next retort. I was already to the door, opening it, and shutting it firmly behind me. The last thing my brain managed to understand was

"Kitty wait maybe you'll need-" and the click of my door.

I locked it from the outside, glanced down, and noticed the scratch marks on it.

Big. Deep. Like some sort of Lovecraftian monster had jumped out of the old books and had a fun night at my front door.

With the nervous flop of my stomach, I clung my coat closer to me and headed out.