Chapter Seventeen
The collar made Waylon's neck very itchy, but also prohibited him from scratching it. It had been a while since he'd had this damn thing strapped around his neck, but the minute they had clamped it on all the days spent being experimented on in Iron Heights and Arkham seemed like they happened only yesterday. These people, whoever they were, had placed him in a very large cell with glass windows on all but one wall, so his privacy was practically none existent. There was the tiniest little room for the toilet but he just felt claustrophobic in there. Scientists in hazmat suits walked around outside the cell, marking data down on their clipboards and glancing at Waylon as if he were some boring zoo animal and not an actual person. Or at least had once been a person. The cell didn't have anything else interesting in it other than a very large but very thin mattress that did not look comfortable in the least. There was nothing for entertainment purposes, not even a TV. What did they think he was going to do, hack the TV to send out a signal or something. Please, they knew he was as dumb as a sack of bricks. What was he supposed to do all day. He knew the answer to that. Experiments and tests would make up his endless days here. At least these guys didn't have him locked in a grotty cage or strapped to a freaking chair like the people at Iron Heights did. He couldn't believe he was happy that this operation was more professional. They were all assholes.
"Okay Croc, time for your lunch order." A familiar but long forgotten voice said and Waylon glanced over at one of the windows where a man who was not dressed in a hazmat suit was standing. He was a tall man, black skin, short military cut hair, and an arrogant voice that held disgust and pity in the same tone. Waylon stalked forward and glared at the figure, scanning him up and down and smirking when his eyes landed on the hook hand.
"They brought you back from the dead but they couldn't give you a new hand, huh Cash?" Waylon growled with a menacing smirk, quite pleased that even resurrected Cash would have to walk around with a constant reminded of that day Waylon tore his hand off.
"Funny." Cash spat dryly, crossing his arms and sighing a heavy sigh. As much as he must have hated Waylon he seemed somewhat happy that Waylon was before him once more. Maybe it was because Waylon was locked up again, trapped behind glass with a shock collar on like a vicious dog. Or perhaps it was because this facility that seemed to resurrect the dead didn't have any other familiar faces in it and seeing one, even if it was Waylon Jones, was a comfort. That was oddly enough how Waylon felt upon seeing Cash.
"How the hell are you alive? I tore you limb from limb?" Waylon growled with curiosity. "I must be getting rusty."
"Same way that little girlfriend of yours is alive. Although you just tore my limbs off, I've seen the pictures of what you did to Madeline." Cash sneered, his words intended to piss Waylon off and remind him of how much of a bad person he was. "I didn't think it was possible to bring someone back from the dead after their internal organs had spilled out into the gutter. But these people seem to be in the habit of doing the impossible." Waylon growled a sigh at the reminder and felt a small chill of dread that more of the people he'd killed over the years were going to magically reappear and remind him how savagely he'd killed Madeline.
"Who else is here?" Waylon asked, glancing around for familiar faces, but everyone else was in hazmat suits.
"I've seen Scarecrow knocking about in the labs."
"Scarecrow? Seriously? How? Last I saw him he was still crying and whimpering in Arkham from all that fear gas Batman pumped into him when that batman-wannabe tried to take over the city or something." Waylon pondered. He wasn't sure on the specifics since he'd been in Iron Heights at the time.
"He's here too you know." Cash added.
"What? Batman?"
"No, although I wouldn't be surprised if they had him stored away here too." Cash said, scanning around as if a clue would pop up at any moment. "Na, they got the Arkham Knight, the batman-wannabe as you put it. He's the one that re-captured you actually."
"Madeline called him Jason." Waylon remembered, trying to remember what had happened. If he recalled correctly, Madeline had hissed his name like someone who had just suffered the most painful betrayal.
"Oh yeah, they were friends when he was still in the cell next to hers. I heard he had a thing for her, hence why he agreed to work for the facility when they started sending the poor girl out on missions to fight you."
"What?" Waylon growled, blood boiling and vision flashing red. The thought of another man even thinking about Madeline like that made him very angry. He had become even more territorial now that he had devolved some more and especially since he had been apart from Madeline for so long.
Cash laughed at Waylon's response.
"I'm surprised you're this pissed?" He chucked, rather amused by it all.
"Why?" Waylon growled, casually imaging crushing Jason's skull in his hands.
"Madeline is gorgeous man, don't tell me you haven't had to deal with other guys being interested in her before?"
"They don't usually live long enough." Waylon growled, glaring at Cash and baring his teeth. Was he interested in Madeline too?
"Easy, I'm not interested." Cash protested, putting his hands up in surrender. "She's gotta be a whole lot of crazy if she'd into you." Waylon uncomfortably rolled his shoulders and tugged at the collar a little. Where was Madeline? Did they have her in another cell? Was she nearby or at the other end of the facility?
"Who else is here?" Cash mumbled to himself as he thought. "Professor Pyg, Dr. Strange, Dr. Langstrom, he's the head of the Gene Activation project so you'll be seeing a lot of him."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" Waylon queried, rather confused as to why Cash wasn't damning him to hell and was instead giving him helpful tips and heads up for what was going on. "You trust me or something?"
"Hell no!" Cash exclaimed, sounding rather insulted. "I don't trust you in the slightest."
"But..?"
"But I don't trust these guys either?" Cash added quietly, checking that no one was listening.
"So leave?"
"Not if I want my head intact." Cash laughed, tapping the side of his neck. He had a bomb in there too.
"So what are you getting all chummy with me for?" Waylon grumbled, starting to get frustrated with how cryptic Cash was being.
"I don't trust you, but I do trust that you hate these guys as much as Batman hated Joker, and I hope that when you get your act together and bust out of here you'll leave a nice hole in the wall for those of us that want to follow."
"Waylon!" A voice called out cheerfully, cutting through the tension and anger like a hot knife through butter. Waylon's blood instantly settled and he turned to see human Madeline running towards his cell, an expression of happiness and worry on her face. She wasn't trapped in a cell like he was? She out and about walking around the facility? Why? What deal had she made? Madeline pressed her face up against the glass and Waylon quickly realised he should go over to her and stop being suspicious, although his suspicions still remained. Why was she out? But more importantly, why was Jason only a few feet behind accompanying her. Was he her supervisor, warden? Was he just doing it because he wanted to.
"Oh my God I'm so glad you're alright." Madeline sighed, her hands on the glass and her head down as a weight seemed to be lifted off of her. She must have been so worried about him. It was comforting to know that she still thought of him first. Waylon glared at Jason who stayed a few feet away from Madeline but watched her every move closely and didn't even notice Waylon glaring at him with intense hatred.
"Babe, she got me to sign some agreement to do whatever they want me to do and in return I can walk around this place. I asked about you but she said they can't offer you the same deal so..."
"What kinds of things do they want you to do?" Waylon interrupted, curious as to the details and to find out if Madeline had just signed over her soul to the devil or something.
"Experiments, or missions and stuff." Madeline blundered, sounding worryingly unsure. "I don't know the details but whatever it is they're going to make you do it too."
"They'll send you on special covert operation missions." Jason interrupted. "Things that normal people can't do. Jobs requiring a certain level of 'ferocity'."
Waylon did not like the way Jason was speaking, and not just because he was actively doing so. Was he insinuating something of a sexual nature with regards to Madeline, suggesting that she was 'ferocious' as Waylon had done many times before. He was certainly keeping an eye on her and probably imagining being with her, if he hadn't already done so in his sleep. The very thought of Jason even thinking about Madeline in the slightest way pissed Waylon off beyond belief. He wanted smash through the glass that held him inside the cell and pummel Jason into a fine paste. He wanted to crush his skull, tear his limbs and devour his flesh only to puke it up with disgust.
"Babe? Are you okay?" Madeline asked, cutting through Waylon's vicious fantasies and bringing him back to reality. "Your pupils turned to slits?" Waylon shook the thoughts of carnage and monstrosity from his head. He hadn't even realised his eyes had switched and his vision had blurred red. It was to be expected now that Madeline was back in his life. He was protective of her, and definitely the jealous type. Even after so long without her he so easily returned to how he had been four years ago. It kinda made him feel like shit when he thought about the progress he'd actually made in those four years, not devolving into a monster or losing it nearly as often as he once had. Of course that wasn't what made him feel shit. It was considering that Madeline had something to do with that that made him feel like a terrible person.
He took a deep breath and took a moment to re think. He glanced at Madeline who had taken a few steps back after seeing his eyes change. She was still scared? Sure it had been a while and he certainly looked different, but she had gone toe to toe with him only a few days ago. Then again, up until yesterday she had been reptilian like him. She had been able to stand up to him and seemed excite in being able to do so. He examined her closely. She was human now and seemed so ordinary in comparison to the amazing creature he had fought and made love to the day before. It was hard to comprehend but when he thought of Madeline now, he didn't see the girl standing before him in his mind. He saw the reptilian creature, the one with turquoise scales, slightly darker splodges over her nose, feathery hair and a nimble body, long legs and a talented tail. He still loved her, that went without saying, and hearing her speak and just being in her presence made him feel whole... But he found himself shutting his eyes and pretending she was like him again. Maybe it was because he felt like they were better suited to each other that way. Or maybe it was because that form suited Madeline better than her human body. She was aggressive, tough, sexy and ferocious, everything that reptilian form embodied in appearance, movement and potential. Her human body now seemed like it just didn't do her justice.
Jason hadn't been referring to Madeline being ferocious, Waylon now realised. He didn't see Madeline that way since he hardly even knew her. No, he would perhaps see Madeline only in the physical sense and know nothing of who she really was. 'Ferocious' was most likely a jab at Waylon above anything else. Then again, did Waylon really know everything about who Madeline was. She had been outraged at the idea of Waylon becoming a human. Didn't she want him to be happy. He only wanted to become a human to be with her since he didn't see any scope for it to work with him the way he was. Not anymore. They needed to be the same. It was the only way. Otherwise their differences would just grow and they would... or at least he would feel less and less compatible with Madeline. Surely there would also be a point where Madeline turned around and realised she was with a giant crocodile monster. Sure it had worked for Beauty and the Beast but that was only because the beast became a handsome prince in the end. Would Beauty have stayed forever if he hadn't?
"Babe? You're zoning out." Madeline queried, again cutting into Waylon's thoughts.
"Oh. Sorry, I'm not feeling too good." He half lied, rubbing his head. "Must have something to do with being locked up against my will." He glanced deliberately at Jason as he spoke but the guy just shrugged as if there was nothing he could do about it. Or more accurately, nothing he wanted to do about it.
"Don't worry. I'll figure something out." Madeline whispered, stepping closer to the glass so no one else heard. It was a good thing that Waylon's hearing was excellent otherwise he would have not heard. What was Madeline going to do though? They had bombs in their necks. Madeline put her hand against the glass and rested her head against it too.
"I wish I could touch you." She whispered, her eyes cast down. Waylon felt a small tingle in his chest. While he had no immediate desire to grab Madeline, press her down and kiss her with passion, no attraction to this form, he still longed to be near to her. He still longed to be close to her, to hear her voice and be soothed by her presence. He put his hand up too on the opposite side of the glass to Madeline's, and rested his head against where her head would have been if the glass between them was destroyed.
"I'm sorry I got us into this mess." Madeline said, her words a surprise and somewhat confusing.
"What do you mean?" Waylon asked, glancing up.
"If I had... I dunno, fought harder, not held back."
"You were holding back?" Waylon clarified, rather befuddled.
"Well yeah." Madeline said, as if it wasn't surprising. "I didn't want to kill them."
Waylon couldn't help but grin to himself. Yes, that was the other thing that made them to drastically different, other than how they appeared. Madeline was not a criminal. She wasn't a killer. Sure, she wasn't exactly an angel and had appeared to enjoy watching Waylon kill someone for her. The bank robbers, her ex boyfriend, but Madeline had never been the one to kill. Those militia, they were just following orders, it was their job to capture them, just as it was a postman's job to deliver mail. They were innocent, and did not deserve to be killed. Waylon didn't really see the point of morality and killed whoever he wanted to kill, although it wasn't like he went on rampages and slaughtered blind orphans and pregnant women. He did have no qualms with letting said innocent people die, he certainly wouldn't rush to save them. Madeline had an issue with that of course. At the Gotham Bank when Riddler held everyone there, including Madeline, hostage, and Waylon had shown up to rescue her, she had refused to leave without all the other people, and even become quite upset when Waylon had tried to push her to abandoning them. He had ended up getting crushed by the building afterwards though.
Madeline's morality did make Waylon wonder however, how well she would be suited to whatever these missions were going to be. If they involved hurting the innocent how would Madeline cope? He decided upon taking those tasks into his own hands and ensuring Madeline had no part in it. He didn't want her to become tainted with the blood of innocence on her hands. No, that was his responsibly, besides, he couldn't exactly wash his hands clean.
"Madeline." Jason interrupted, and the way Madeline removed her hand and turned to Jason was a little too quick to make Waylon feel anything other than jealous and annoyed.
"What?"
"I have to take you back to your room. The curfew for subjects is soon and they'll punish us if we're out for so much as a second late." Jason explained. Waylon wanted to believe that it was a lie to keep Madeline away from him for jealous reasons, but sadly Jason was most likely telling the truth.
"Okay." Madeline said, and turned back to Waylon. "I'll come and see you as soon as I can tomorrow okay?" She pressed her lips against the glass for a kiss. Waylon hesitated. He was perfectly fine with resting his head against the glass and putting his hand up in some spiritual connecting thing, but kissing the glass? Seriously?
"Babe you're supposed to kiss back." Madeline pouted, looking rather frustrated with him. Waylon really didn't want to do something so sappy, but Madeline was looking at him with her big emerald eyes pleadingly. He felt guilty about all the things that had been running through his head, and even if Madeline wasn't aware of them, he still needed to show her he loved her. Even if that meant being a pathetic suck and kissing her through glass.
He shut his eyes and did the quickest most awkward peck on the glass, he wasn't even sure if he had kissed Madeline's lips or missed entirely. When he opened his eyes he was met with a grinning, beaming face filled with mischief and ecstatic entertainment.
"What?" He asked suspiciously.
"You looked ridiculous doing that." Madeline giggled, covering her mouth so she didn't laugh too loudly. Wait... had she made him do that knowing that it would be embarrassing on purpose?
"Oh... I see how it is. Fuck you." Waylon growled playfully, grinning a half entertained half pained smile. If he was capable of blushing he certainly would be.
"Yes well, that is exactly what we'd be doing if there wasn't any glass here." Madeline said with a smirk, pressing her chest up against the glass just a little bit. She couldn't be totally provocative since there were lots of scientists around and not to mention the impatient Jason standing a few feet away. She was acting very sexy though, and while Waylon could logically see how it was sexy, he just wasn't feeling it. Maybe it was because he was locked in a cell against his will with an electric collar around his neck. Or, maybe it was because in comparison to her reptilian form Madeline's human body just didn't... No, he wasn't allowed to even think that way.
"Madeline, come on." Jason said impatiently. Madeline sighed, blew Waylon and kiss and gave him a brief wave goodbye before following Jason back down the hallway and further and further away from Waylon.
"Man that was kind of pathetic." Cash said, his amused and mocking tone not the best way to remind Waylon of what had just transpired.
"Yes well, I kiss the glass and she kisses me in other places. Seems like a pretty fair trade off to me." Waylon shrugged. The thought of Madeline doing that in her reptilian body drifted into his mind and then his body responded in the way it should have before. Then he considered that her reptilian body was like his and she had teeth like his, and the rising manhood subsequently subsided.
"Oh gross, man." Cash shivered, looking thoroughly disgusted. It was either because he was imagining it or he was a prude. Possibly the former.
"You're as bad a Riddler." Waylon complained. When he had been living at the orphanage with Riddler he had tried to do the banter thing he knew men were supposed to do. Riddler was not the right person and just seemed half disgusted and half insulted by Waylon's attempt to ensue banter.
"Sorry, it's just kinda gross... you know... when it's you." Cash tried to explain, completely failing at not being offensive. "So I gotta ask. Why is Madeline into you?"
"What? Isn't my charming good looks obvious enough." Waylon joked, flashing his teeth and making Cash look even more disgusted and slightly uncomfortable. "She finds me charming and irresistible."
"Seriously?" Cash asked, actually asking it as a question and not a statement of disbelief.
"What? Am I not allowed to have a personality other than 'evil cannibal monster crocodile'?" Waylon joked, but it had always annoyed him that most people only saw him as a monster and never actually considered him a person. Aside from Madeline of course, and maybe Riddler.
"Maybe the GCPD should take all the villains out on dates and get to know them first before putting the cuffs on them." Cash suggested, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Waylon laughed at that, loud and heartily. It was the first thing he'd heard that was actually funny in a long time.
"Yeah. I personally like long walks on the beach and getting shit faced drunk. Red wine only though, cheap, and straight from the bottle." Waylon added, making Cash laugh in response. It was kinda of annoying to consider but Waylon had to begrudgingly admit Cash was actually an okay guy. Perhaps they could have been friends if Waylon wasn't a criminal, or looked like a freak, or grew up in Gotham for that matter.
"Red wine?" Cash asked, most likely surprised the big bad crocodile drank wine of all things. What would a crocodile drink anyway?
"Well it was all my abusive alcoholic aunt had in stock while I was growing up as an outcast, minority child in a low income estate with a horrible skin condition and no friends."
Cash glared at him.
"Well now you're just make me feel like shit." He complained.
"That was the point." Waylon grinned, rather satisfied with his accomplishment. "So why aren't you rushing off with the curfew?"
"I'm staff, not a subject. Which reminds me why I came here in the first place." Cash announced as he scratched the back of his head with his hook hand. "What do you eat nowadays?"
Waylon didn't respond, he looked down and honestly tried to think of the answer. It wasn't really a case of what he wanted to eat, but more of what he could eat. He knew he wouldn't be getting any human down here but it was all he had been eating for the past four years.
"Croc?" Cash asked again, and Waylon shook his head.
"Just... meat." He explained in the vaguest way possible.
"Chicken? Fish? Beef? Pork..?" Cash listed. "...human?"
"No!" Waylon protested, maybe a little too suddenly to be convincing. "Just whatever."
"How old?" Cash asked, sounding disgusted at the question.
"What?"
"I heard you like your food slightly rotting." Cash explained, sounding like he was trying to be considerate and tip toe around the fact that it was disgusting. Waylon was disgusted by it. Not the meat, that he found it more delicious a few days old. He was disgusting. He was a monster, truly. But that didn't really bother him. He could live with that. What did bother him was that Madeline didn't know about this disgusting little preference he had. How repulsed would she be if she found out. Repulsed enough to leave him and run into the arms of a waiting Jason? No, he had to stop thinking about that otherwise he'd just go crazy with jealous rage.
"That's not true." He lied. "I eat fresh, cooked meat." Again, he was lying.
"Oh." Cash said, sounding surprised and slightly relieved. "Sirloin steak it is then."
Cash left and Waylon dragged the mattress over to the corner of the cell. There was too much space for him to be comfortable sleeping, but he wasn't really concerned about that. He was more concerned about Madeline. Was she safe in her room. Was Jason far away from her or just next door. They had better be in separate rooms otherwise he was going to tear the place town, electric collar or no electric collar. He didn't know why he was so worried. Madeline would never do that to him, he knew that. But the thing that bugged him was that she had the option to do so. If she wanted to leave him she could. That was the difference. He didn't have the option, not that he wanted one, and even if he did he wouldn't want to leave Madeline, at least that's what he believed. He didn't like the feeling that Madeline could potentially leave him. If she did, and left him while still alive for that matter, it might just kill him. Her death had left him on the brink of losing his humanity, and it had taken a very long time for him to regain control over himself. But if Madeline made the conscious decision to leave him, he would surely slip into the darkness for good.
Yes, I know it has been a while. But I shall try to update more frequently. Maybe I'll commit to once a week. Please leave reviews as it incentivises me to update more frequently when I see people are still reading, although I know a lot of you are probs sick of waiting for so long. Here is an incentive to stick with me. Coming up in chapters to follow we will have some more characters making their appearances, including King Shark, Poison Ivy and more. So stay tuned and bare with me. Also I've been drawing a comic on deviantart and that takes up a lot of time, combined with study, gaming and work, I'm fairly busy. But I love you guys so I shall try to be more vigilant.