AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another new chapter, enjoy! :)

Gotham by Night

Nightfall was a dangerous time in Gotham. Everyone knew that once the sun had disappeared, the rats came out to play, one rat in particular being the Batman. The Dark Knight that haunted the dreams of petty thieves and lived in the shadows; an unusual creature of the night that had the city divided in their opinion of him. Though the haters were gradually beginning to outweigh the supporters as more speculation by the media was churned out shedding a negative light on him to the point that they castrated him of his former accomplishments, stating that a man who thought he could kill a saviour like Harvey Dent and get away with it, didn't deserve any praise whatsoever. To them he was a vigilante, a lost cause, a fallen hero.

Commissioner Gordon stood in front of the water tower of an apartment building rooftop not far from his home, it took some doing to get up onto the roof but then it was necessary. The police station wasn't a safe place anymore meaning compromises had to be made. It was difficult enough to get in touch with him, never mind specify a point of rendezvous. The number he possessed under another pseudonym often kept ringing out to receive no answer. However on this particular night he had gotten lucky as he was coming to help and Gordon needed him on the case. Waiting for his visitor to swoop in from the shadows, Gordon looked at his watch quickly before putting his hand back in his suit pocket. Luckily it was a warm night, the nights had been warm for about 2 weeks now but then that was the Gotham summertime for you; it was just as harsh as the winter season.

Gordon looked up at the night sky, looking for a sign when a distinct flap came from behind him. Turning around quickly he saw a dark figure emerge from the shadow behind the water tower. The small slither of light reflecting off it revealing a piercing blue eye that stood out with the black cowl surrounding it, a black pointed ear extending from the top of the heard and strong masculine jaw. There was no mistaking by the appearance that it was him – it was the Batman.

"When all this started I didn't think for a second that it'd become even more difficult to get in touch with you." Gordon smirked slightly as he approached the shadowy figure.

"What have you got?" his voice rasped in a low tenor, though it may not have been his real voice, and Gordon thought it possible that it wasn't, it was certainly fitting to his appearance in its gravitas.

"We found two bodies in The Sapphire Lounge this morning, two wise guys called Harry Taylor and Tony Moretti. They were involved with a few racketeering jobs a couple of years ago as well as some small time robberies. We had warrants for their arrest concerning an armed robbery in a jewellery store a couple of weeks ago. The bodies had been moved when we got there but we didn't find any prints on the clothing." Gordon informed the Dark Knight who absorbed every bit of it.

"You said earlier that there was something unusual about the bodies," Batman enquired to which Gordon nodded slightly in confirmation.

"No bullet or knife penetration was found and their faces looked like they'd inhaled Crane's compound but as far as I know all of that got incinerated after we confiscated it." He informed the Bat who was standing intently lingering on every word, the wheels of his mind turning as he processed the information but then again, he was a quick thinker.

"That means there's more of it out there," it was the most probable explanation and even though it had crossed Gordon's mind he didn't want to believe that there was still more of that crap out there. He'd sent for it to be incinerated, even attended the place itself to watch it go in. There must have been tonnes that were confiscated yet there was still more of it. It was typical of Crane to produce so much, in Gordon's opinion he was the epitome of an arrogant ass with the kind of sly smirk that begged for a hard punch whenever he spoke of the little 'experiment' he carried out less than a year ago.

"How's that possible?" Gordon didn't want to believe it; in all honesty he didn't even want to see Crane's smarmy face again.

"Don't forget that Crane perfected the substance before he got sent to Arkham the first time. There's no telling how much he produced in the time he was free and how much of it is still out there but there's no guarantee that we'd get the perpetrator even if he was interrogated. The compound could have changed hands numerous of times." It was true; the compound could have changed hands countless times. Maybe that was the reason that it was so hard for Gordon to keep track of? That and of course all the other events that had happened recently which had distracted him significantly. They were only lucky that the son of a bitch that caused those distractions didn't get his hands on it. That would have meant serious trouble.

"Did you find any of the substance on the bodies?" he asked Gordon who shook his head lightly.

"If there was any on them it had been stolen by the time my unit got there, that means whoever took that stuff is either dead or they have something to hide. The mob is our top priority for now, the history they have with Crane is undeniable." Although this was true, Batman shook his head slightly.

"The mob can wait; Crane's more likely to have information at this point. It's possible that he's been giving someone instructions on how to induce a lethal dosage."

"Why would he do that?" Gordon questioned.

"The more bodies that are found the more credit he gets. Everyone will know that it's Crane's compound causing it and they'll panic, living in fear of another attack like the one in the narrows a year ago. Leaving him satisfied in knowing that he's caused so many to continue fearing him." He really was a quick thinker and it never ceased to impress the Commissioner.

"So he's not forgotten. It sounds plausible enough." Gordon nodded in compliance. It certainly made sense, Crane was a sick individual and one determined to be acknowledged for his self proclaimed 'genius'.

"I'll get in touch with you after we've interrogated him." He assured the Batman before taking his cell phone out of his pocket to quickly check it for messages with a smirk as he continued talking to the Dark Knight.

"That's if you pick up the..." Gordon looked back up "...phone." he finished as he saw nothing there but a water tower and an otherwise empty rooftop. The Batman had once again fleeted into the night, where he went after these meetings was a mystery to Gordon but then how he swiftly exited with such silence was an even bigger one.

"Still have no idea how he does that," Gordon shook his head as he quickly contemplated what Crane's involvement was in this case. A phone call to Arkham was in order of course and although Gordon knew that Crane's new psychologist Dr. Young would be present, he also knew that those psychologists were tough customers; Jeremiah Arkham, the owner and Chief Executive of the institution, being the worst one. In fact Jeremiah alone was of the main reasons he hated having to go up to Arkham. The way he tried to undermine people's intelligence and how he often treated his staff like cattle. Although the asylum were doing all they could to redeem their reputation, it seemed to Gordon that it was a lost cause. In his opinion Arkham was one of those places that was destined to be a revolving door and it would only be that way as long as someone as narrow minded and old fashioned as Jeremiah Arkham was in charge. However much Gordon disliked him, he'd have to endure it because it was time to talk to Crane.