#ROGUES STICK TOGETHER good thing Croc got that reminder :')

[brutalscaled]

@masquenoire

“Yeah, I got an idea. Don’t offer yourself up like a turkey at an all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving buffet.” Roman replies. The bite of his words had softened slightly compared to seconds ago, mollified by the weight of Croc’s hand on his own. His fingers remain locked fast on those scales, in his mind being the only lifeline keeping the other man tied to Gotham. He lets out a shaky breath that causes his smoke-addled lungs to rattle, the sound they make being the only indication as to the nerves he feels right now.

 ”So Chimera’s been watchin’ you. So fucking what. Guessing this is their bright idea of getting you to come nice n’ easy instead of coming into Gotham to get you. I’ll tell you why, and it’s ‘cuz they’re scared. Maybe not of you, maybe not of me but they’re scared of something and there’s a lot of shit they gotta crawl through first before they can get to either one o’ us.”

The Joker. The GCPD. Batman. Arkham. The corruption that ran through the city like filth through the waters of Gotham Bay. Hell, even the civilians were as rugged and dirty as the criminals that ran it and that wasn’t even counting the ‘rogues’ famous for causing murder and mayhem like the two of them happened to be. Even C-Listers like the Ratcatcher would be too much of a handful to deal with anywhere else.

”If you fucking go, tell me, what’s stopping ‘em from doing what they want anyway once they get what they want? Dunno about you, but I never liked giving up without a fight.”

Roman would torture every last one of those Chimera fuckers before he'd let them take Croc.

Croc was silent as he listened to the other man's words, watching his blood drip from his claws in idle contemplation. The more Roman spoke, the more frustrated Croc got– though none of it was aimed at the other.

He was glad Roman caught him before he went through with leaving. There was nothing like another voice to throw things into perspective and clarify the incredibly stupid decision you were about to make.

Roman never gave up without a fight. Neither did Croc. Had Chimera’s threat really startled that fight out of him that badly? Had him fearing for their lives like his friends were incapable of defending themselves? Sionis was right: Chimera had a whole city to chew through if they wanted to get their hands on him, or anyone else mentioned in their message. And if they actually found him? God help whoever was unlucky enough to be on that team. 

A dangerous glint had returned to his eyes by the time he gave the hand on his arm a heavy, reassuring pat. 

"Ain't nothin' stoppin' 'em from doin' what they want. So I'm not goin' anywhere," he rumbled. "They’re gonna take on a lot more than they bargained for if they decide to come out here themselves."

A pause, followed by an amused snort.

"For all the good it'd do, I wonder how hard it'd be to get the Bat on their asses."