I just want to take the time to thank everyone who has taken the time to read and provide feedback. You guys truly make this gal's day. But I also appreciate you, silent, anonymous reader. Anyway, enjoy the chapter n'stuff.
Gotham was a city that was separated from the rest of the country, hanging onto the mainland by a few bridges that looked like threads from above. The meeting spot was at the city border, right up to the water's edge.
From where she stood, Gotham looked so vast that it stretched to either ends of the horizon. A few hours had passed since midnight, yet the city was completely alight. This place really was the East coast's Vegas.
Looking back, the Specter continued on her way. As a precaution, her cloak was engaged and she walked with light footsteps. Even then, she was nervous. There were just so many things off about this meeting. So many impossible chances that had occurred. This could very well be a trap, but she was willing to risk that to know what was going on.
Axiom had been a multi-national organization that was dedicated to taking out terrorist threats across the globe, big or small. When Jocelyn joined them after leaving Gotham, the organization had been fairly young. It had few numbers and poor equipment. But over the years she had been with it, Axiom grew. With her and Verlix's help, it became more advanced, more effective, and its numbers grew. Despite playing a major role in the organization, Jocelyn never really knew any of Axiom's people aside from the members in her task force. She worked with them in all of her missions. They became a close-knitted team; the only thing Jocelyn could call a family at the time aside from Verlix.
Then, one fateful day, a virus hit Axiom's headquarters. Undeterred, the virus dug out sensitive information on the identities of Axiom's members and began distributing them out. Verlix finally managed to destroy the virus and stop the leakage of information after a few hours, but the damage was irreversible. Agents out on the field were jeopardized. And worse, the families and friends of Axiom members became vulnerable. The last thing Axiom ever did over the next few months was try to clean up the exposed information and change identities to protect most of the agents and their loved ones. After that, the organization had no choice but to dissolve into nothingness. Jocelyn and Verlix returned to Gotham after hearing about Scarecrow and the Arkham Knight's domination over Gotham City. She never heard from Axiom since then.
Until last night, when he called her using that old, decrepit channel. Dust was shaken up from old memories, just as they had been two years ago when she faced the Arkham Knight. And once again, she was scared.
Finally, the Specter spotted a figure down at the bottom of the slope. He was leaning on one of the pillars that held the bridge up, staring out silently towards the black water. It certainly looked like him. Some of the Specter's trepidation ebbed away. She began to approach a little more carelessly. As she made her way down the slope, a few rocks were loosened by her feet and rolled down.
The man at the water's edge immediately looked towards the source of the noise. He unfolded his arms and straightened up. "If I didn't know you better, I'd be sorta creeped out," he said aloud. The Specter didn't answer. "Come on, enough fooling around. Now I'm really getting spooked." More silence. "I get it. Look, it's really me." The man stepped out from under the bridge so that the moonlight could illuminate his face. "My name is Connor Johannes, and I served with you in task force 778-C9. I have a 13-year-old daughter named Allie, and my wife's name was Kendra. Is that enough?"
"I never expected to see you again," the Specter replied as she appeared before him. "How did you find me?"
"You know me, Spec. We worked together long enough," Connor replied.
Spec. That was the nickname he gave her during the Axiom days, because apparently he couldn't be bothered with the second syllable. "How's Allie these days?"
"She's growing fast," Connor remarked.
"That's good to hear," the Specter said. "But now you've got a teenager in your hands."
"I survived the terrible two's. I think I'll be fine."
"If you say so." She looked down as water from the shore reached forward and lapped against her foot. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Weren't you relocated to somewhere overseas?"
"There's something important happening," Connor said. "That's why I've come to find you. Spec, I think it's time too—." He stopped, his eyes snapping towards the water. The Specter had heard it too. The faintest noise—like an abnormal swilling of water not caused by waves—had sounded from the black water. In any other place in the world, the sound could have been innocent. But this was Gotham. Even the smallest anomaly spelled trouble.
Suddenly, the water seemed to explode. The Specter's gut feeling had been right. A large figure burst from the water, slamming its body down onto the ground. The Specter and Connor managed to jump back from being crushed, but the impact trembled the earth so violently that they both fell over.
Sucking air through his bared fangs, Killer Croc regarded both humans with his orb-like eyes. His gaze concentrated on Connor. "New face," the reptilian man growled in his throaty voice. "New meat." With a snarl, he lunged at Connor with a clawed hand. Connor, who had managed to stand in the last second, dived to the ground as Killer Croc's claws passed over him. He unlatched a handgun from his belt holster and fired a bullet at the beast's arm. Killer Croc's scales were too thick.
"Weak human, weak toy," Killer Croc taunted. Opening his jaws, he bared down upon the downed man. Connor pulled a baton from his belt and caught the corners of Killer Croc's mouth with it before the teeth reached him. Grinding his teeth from the strain, Connor glanced at where the Specter had been. But the ground was empty.
The Specter appeared from her cloak mid-jump, landing on Killer Croc's back. She pulled her robotic fist back and slammed it into his side. The scales under her fist cracked from the blow. Killer Croc roared in pain, distracted. Connor took the opportunity to push the monster's jaws away from him. His foot flew up and connected with Killer Croc's chin.
Snarling viciously from pain and anger, Killer Croc reared up and began shaking his body, trying to throw the Specter off. She clung on, and when the shaking subsided, she drew the laser out from the interior of her robotic arm and fired in straight into the cracked scales. The flesh underneath was seared.
"Agh! You horrid, biting parasite!" Killer Croc screamed. Suddenly, he leaped into the water, the Specter still in tow. She heard Connor yelling for her as she submerged. The force of the water as she broke through its surface struck her far worse than any punch had. She didn't know how far into the depths Killer Croc had taken her before she finally had the sense to let go. Her head spun wildly and she struggled to orient herself. Which way was the surface? Everything was black, just pitch black.
"Little, little prey," she heard him say softly, his gurgled voice reaching her through the water. It was impossible to tell where his voice was coming from. "You're in my domain now. He wants you dead. After I devour you, the other one's next." Terrified, Jocelyn waved her arms in a desperate attempt to swim towards… somewhere. In the water, she was vulnerable. If she phased, she'd fall through the water until she hit the ocean floor. The suit would treat the water like any other wall, any other obstacle besides the ground, and go through it.
The Specter scanned the water for anything. It was just black. She couldn't even see the large, swimming beast that she just knew was nearby. But there was the cloak! Jocelyn engaged it, quickly vanishing into the black.
"I still see you," came the ominous voice. "The motions you make in the water, I feel them." Jocelyn dropped the cloak. She needed all of her concentration to hold her breath and swim. Her helmet was slowly filling up with water, the small pocket of air within it diminishing fast. But with each stroke, she felt the burning in her chest growing more and more intense.
Suddenly, a blurry motion in the corner of her eye caught her attention. Instinctively, she looked. And when she did, she opened her mouth to scream, though the sound was completely snuffed out by the water. An open, gaping mouth filled with needle-like teeth flew at her. The Specter couldn't get out of the way in time. Killer Croc collided into her with a force like a train. His jaws closed in over her torso, his razor-like teeth piercing the suit and stabbing her flesh. The Specter would've shrieked with agony, but there was no air left.
She tried to hit Killer Croc's head over and over again with her robotic arm, but the drag of the water softened her blows. She felt them rushing through the water and knew that he was taking her down deeper. The pain was starting to fade fast, and that was a bad thing. Her consciousness wouldn't hold out for much longer. With the last of her strength, the Specter pointed her arm and directed the concentrated beam of laser at Killer Croc's eye. She felt him jerk sharply. There was a terrible, shrill howl that resonated through the water. The Specter felt herself being thrown. She tumbled through the water, unable to control her limp body. The last thing she remembered was how cold she felt, and how she hoped that Jason would never find her body after Killer Croc was done with it.
When she opened her eyes, she saw black. As everything came rushing back to her, she quickly became panicked. She was still down in the water! He was going to kill her!
With a weak cry, Jocelyn's whole body jolted. Then there came a gentle voice.
"Whoa, easy there, Spec. You're safe now."
It wasn't the voice she had heard in the depths. It was… him! "C-Connor?" The black she saw was only the cloudy night sky. Then, his face appeared in her sight.
"Yeah, it's me. I'm glad you're okay. When I went in to get you, I thought I wasn't going to make it in time." He helped Jocelyn sit up. "Looks like you managed to scare the big guy away," he remarked, staring out into the water. "I didn't see him at all when I went down. Then again, I could barely see anything at all."
"I burned out one of his eyes," Jocelyn admitted in a hoarse voice.
"Well shit. I don't think we'll be seeing him for a while then."
"No, he'll be back. He can regenerate." Jocelyn grunted in pain as her arm flew to her stomach. She saw blood seeping out from under her hand. "H-he bit me."
"I saw that. Nastier than any shark bite I've ever seen."
"I need to get home. J-Jas—."
"You're in no fit condition to travel," Connor insisted. "There's an abandoned gas station not too far from here. We can rest up there, and then see about heading back into the city in the morning." Jocelyn treated the wound with her small bottle of sterilizing fluid. Connor tore pieces from the bottom of his jacket to use as makeshift bandaging. Then, with her arm over Connor's shoulders, Jocelyn managed to get back onto her feet. They slowly made their way up the slope and into the gas station's empty convenience store. Just moving was an effort. Pain shot through her body with every step she took. When they got to the building, Jocelyn dropped away from Connor and collapsed heavily onto the ground.
"I'm fine," she insisted when she saw the look of concern cross the man's face.
"Okay. I'm going to look around from any kind of bedding. Meanwhile, I guess you're going to tell Verlix what happened?"
Connor hadn't been in Gotham two years ago. He didn't know about Verlix. And tonight, the pain and fear she had gone through was making her emotional. She felt tears well up in her eyes. "Verlix is gone," she managed to say. "Jason's all that I have left." And right now, she wanted him there more than ever. But for some reason, another part of her didn't want him to see her like this.
"Jason?" Connor repeated. "I… see." He turned away. "I won't be far. Yell if you need me."
"Will do." When Connor was gone, Jocelyn activated the comms link and established a channel to the den. She only hoped that he'd be able to hear the computer. But after a few seconds, she dropped the call. Letting him know what had happened would just cause more trouble. Besides, he was probably asleep.
There were footsteps. "Look at this!" Connor mused, holding up the fruits of his labor. "Not bad at scavenging, huh? We got us here some cardboard and Styrofoam. Sorry to give you the hobo treatment, but it's all this place has."
"Better than bare ground," Jocelyn mumbled.
Connor crouched down and began laying the pieces out. "How are you holding up, Spec?"
Before Jocelyn could answer, there was another voice. "So we're giving each other pet names now?" Leaning against the doorway, arms crossed against his chest, was the Red Hood.
Addendum: Oh shit BUSTED. How awkward.
That's one of the things that absolutely terrifies me and makes my palms sweat: being trapped in dark/murky water with no idea what kind of nightmarish hellspawn is around me (much less a giant, bloodthirsty crocodile man). Good thing I live in a land-locked place.