“Good morning, Master Bruce,” Alfred said as Bruce Wayne entered the mansion’s kitchen. Bruce just grumbling in response. “And I see we’re in our normal cheerful spirits today,” he added turning to see Bruce toss the morning paper onto the kitchen table. The front-page a story about Gotham’s newest protector, ‘Catwoman’. “Ah yes, her. I knew Master Dick should have told you about her.”
“Dick knew?” Bruce growled, not at all pleased.
“Yes, he felt it was better you didn’t find out right away. Felt you had too much on your mind, what with Miss Carrie, as well as Ra’s appearance, not to mention the accident at WayneTech last week.”
Bruce shot Alfred a look at the mention of Ra’s. “Where is Carrie?”
“She’s just left for school,” the butler replied. “Miss Brown picked her up. A charming young woman, although she has been around very often recently. I’m starting to run out of excuses.”
“She’s concerned that I might be beating Carrie,” Bruce said simply as he sat down for a quick bite.
“Well technically…” Alfred started, cutting off at the glare from Bruce.
“You know what I mean.” Bruce sighed. “At least Ra’s seems to have left town. That’s one less thing to worry about.”
“I still believe Miss Carrie should know,” Alfred told him. “If Ra’s Al Ghul does indeed know what happened to her parents…”
“No!” Bruce replied, cutting Alfred off.
“I do have some good news at least,” Alfred told him. “Miss Kyle phoned last night. She’s requested a date with you at the first opportunity.”
“I’ll phone her this afternoon,” Bruce said.
Unknown to the pair, Carrie had reentered the mansion, having forgotten her keys. She was on her way back outside when she heard him mention Ra’s name, a small bit of anger growing inside her as she listened. For a second she was going to confront the two men before she changed her mind. If Bruce wouldn’t tell her, she decided, she’d find out some other way.
* * * * * * * * * *
Lucius Fox sat in the back of his limo, reading the morning paper as he made his way to work. It was a beautiful sunny day; the kind Lucius enjoyed the most. He had just started to read the financial section when his driver slammed on the breaks, the limo skidding sideways across the road as Lucius bashed into the door beside him. As the vehicle came to a stop, Lucius pulled himself up. Getting out of his car to go check on the driver, Lucius froze in shock at the sight before him. A thick layer of ice covered the entire street on either side of the wrecked limo.
Just then, a blast of white hit the ground in front of him and Lucius to covered his eyes. When he looked again, a person stood before him, atop a short wall of ice. Dressed in some kind of metal suit, face hidden from view beneath a transparent helmet. The interior of the helmet was misty, and Lucius was prevented from seeing more than a shadow of the head inside.
“This is just a warning!” said the being, the voice cold, mechanical. “There is corruption in your company! You have forty-eight hours to take care of it! If you do not, then I will!” The strange figure in armor raised an advanced, bizarre looking firearm and pulled the trigger. It created some kind of ‘ice ramp’ that the being rode away from the accident site.
* * * * * * * * * *
“I’m sure you know why we called you here,” Lucius said to Jervis Tetch as he sat in front of the small man. Bruce and Derek Powers, head of human resources, sat on either side of him.. A small bandage on Lucius’ forehead was the only sign of his ‘encounter’ that morning.
Jervis nodded, nervously fiddling with his clothes as he looked at the three men.
Lucius sighed. “I am afraid we have to remove you as head of research and development, Jervis.”
“I understand,” Jervis said. “I’m glad I was given the chance to work here.”
Before he could continue Lucius raised his hand stopping Jervis.
“However,” Lucius said, glancing over at Derek for a moment before continuing,. “you have been a very loyal and effective worker in your time here and I would hate to lose you. So…we would still like you to stay on board as a team member at the same pay as before.”
“Really?” Jervis asked.
“Yes,” Bruce said, giving him a smile.
“Oh, thank you,” Jervis told them, smiling. “I won’t make you regret this.”
“I know you won’t,” Lucius replied. “You can go now.”
Jervis thanks them again, shaking each man’s hand before turning to leave. He was partway down the hall when Bruce caught up to him.
“Jervis!” Bruce said, approaching the man, and lowering his voice to a whisper. “If you’ve had any contact with Dr. Fries lately…”
Jervis shook his head. “I’m sorry, Mr. Wayne,” he said. “But I haven’t seen him since that night.”
Bruce nodded. “If you do hear anything… I’m just concerned about him.”
“I’ll let you know,” Jervis told him before the two separated, Bruce returning to his office, while Jervis returned to his lab.
* * * * * * * * * *
“I hope Lucius is okay,” Selina said as she sat across from Bruce, the two eating dinner at the Iceberg Lounge. Despite Bruce’s personal feelings about Cobblepot, even he had to admit this was the finest restaurant in all of Gotham. Today, however, he was merely picking at meal, far too much on his mind to enjoy eating.
“Huh?” Bruce asked, looking up. “Oh… right. No, Lucius is fine. His driver’s been taken to the hospital for minor injuries. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Selina smiled in relief, obviously concerned as she looked over at Bruce. “As if there’s not enough nutcases in suits running around,” she muttered.
“Yeah,” Bruce nodded in agreement. He took a few bite of his meal before opening his mouth to speak again. “What about this Catwoman that’s been seen in the East End this last week?”
Selina shrugged. “I doubt I know any more then the papers,” Selina replied. “She seems to be as much a mystery as the Batman is. Officially I don’t support such people, but Gotham does seem to need them.”
“Perhaps,” Bruce said. “I’m surprised you haven’t throw your hat in the race for mayor,” he added, changing the subject.
“Oh, no. Not me,” Selina replied. “I have enough to worry about as it is. Besides,” she added with a cat-like grin, “we barely see each other. If I get elected mayor I’d never spend time with you.”
As she spoke, one of her stocking clad feet slide across his ankle under the table.
Bruce jumped back a bit at the contact, resulting in a small laugh from Selina “That’s um… well that’s… nice. I guess…” Bruce said, coughing nervously.
Selina shook her head. “How did you ever get a reputation as a ladies' man?” Selina laughed. “I guess you’re just used to those bubble headed ‘trophy’ blondes, and not a real woman?”
Bruce sputtered again. “You just… surprised me,” Bruce told her. “You’ve never been this… forward before.”
“Well neither of us are getting any younger,” Selina told Bruce, slipping her foot back into her heels. “And we have been dating for a while.”
“I guess we have,” Bruce said, thinking back. While their dates tended to be few are far between Bruce had been seeing Selina for over a year now, the longest he’d been involved with anyone.
* * * * * * * * * *
“Damn it!” Carrie growled as yet another ‘access denied’ message appeared on the massive computer in the Batcave. While she had access to the computer in general, there were far, far too many files that needed codes, codes that Bruce wouldn’t give her. “You are not ready yet,” he’d tell her and despite her best efforts she’d been unable to break them. She needed a new plan.
Carrie wasn’t even going to try and hack the computer, besides having no skills at all in that area she knew Oracle had created the system’s security and the only person she knew with abilities even close to Barbara was Stephanie. Hmm… Stephanie.
The young woman sat at the computer for a long moment, weighing the pros and cons of her new idea.
* * * * * * * * * *
“I really enjoyed this evening,” Selina told Bruce, the two standing outside the door of her apartment building. “Would you like to come in? For a drink or something?”
“Thank you for the offer,” Bruce said, after spending what seemed like hours considering her words, “but I have business to take care of. Maybe another time.”
“Another time then,” Selina agreed, before pulling Bruce in for a long kiss. “Just don’t keep me waiting too long. I might end up finding someone else,” she teased before turning to enter the building.
“It appears Miss Selina is taking quite an interest in you, Master Bruce,” Alfred commented as the younger man entered the back of the small limo.
“Yeah,” Bruce said, frowning.
“And that is a bad thing?” Alfred asked, confused.
“I… I don’t know,” Bruce admitted. “I mean I like her, but… I’m Batman.”
“You are?” Alfred replied in fake shock. “I did not realize. Shall I inform the papers?”
“Very funny, Alfred,” Bruce sighed. “I’m already questioning myself over bringing Carrie in. Selina deserves someone who doesn’t dress up in black every night. Someone who won’t go out and might never come back.”
“I’m afraid that last part is a guarantee no man can make.”
“You know what I mean, Alfred.”
“I do, Master Bruce. I also think you are selling Miss Selina short.”
“Maybe…” Bruce said, looking out the window, his tone obvious that this conversation was over, at least as far as he was concerned.
* * * * * * * * * *
Alarms were already ringing out as Batman landed on the rooftop across the street from a small shop specializing in computer and electronic components, one that Batman suspected Wayne Tech owned. WayneTech owned a lot of companies and due to his other job Batman wasn’t as involved in day to day operations as he might have preferred. Lucius would know though. The front window had been shattered, pieces of glass littering the inside of the front of the building. What concerned Batman more was the melting ice scattered around the area.
The cops would be here soon, but there was no way they’d be prepared for what Batman suspected they'd find. The caped crusader fired his grappling gun at the top of the shop, swinging down and into the building.
“Batman!” came the mechanical voice as the metal-clad being turned to face the newcomer. “Is this where you make some pathetic attempt at humor like ‘shouldn’t you come back during business hours’?”
Batman said nothing, launching a batarang that collided with the gun in the criminal’s hand. However, the villain managed to hang onto the weapon despite the contact.
“Who are you?” Batman ordered.
“Freeze!” was the reply, as a blast burst from the weapon, forcing Batman to dive to the side. Instead, the display behind where he stood was now frozen under a sheet of ice.
“Give up!” Batman called out as he took cover behind another display then moved into an advantageous position. “The police will be here any minute!”
“The police cannot stop me!” Freeze replied. “No one can! I will have my vengeance!”
Batman remained silent as he continued to move through the shop, finally stopping behind a large shelving unit. With a mighty push he toppled it, the shelves falling towards Freeze who stood on the other side.
In spite of, or possibly due to the suit, Freeze managed to get out of the way, gun releasing another blast that froze the shelf in mid-fall. “I have no quarrel with you, Batman!” Freeze yelled out, the gun creating a wall of ice between the two of them. “Do not force me to change that!”
Batman heard sirens arrive as he pulled out a small heating device from his utility belt. He pressed it against the ice wall that had temporarily trapped him in a small corner of the shop and hoped against hope that he’d free himself in time, but it was too late. As the wall melted Batman dashed towards the front of the store, Freeze was nowhere to be seen, but outside sat two completely frozen police cars, and to Batman’s horror two frozen officers as well.
Batman tossed a pair of his heating devices to the other officers present, hoping they might be able to save the two men, before he disappeared into the night.
* * * * * * * * * *
“How was patrol?” Carrie asked, taking a break from her merciless pummeling of a training dummy, to greet the returning hero.
Batman said nothing in return as he quickly made his way to the computer, hands flying over the keyboard as he began to type. “I ran into our ‘iceman’ tonight,” he finally said.
“The one that attacked Lucius yesterday?” Carrie asked, moving up behind Batman.
“Yes. I think its Victor Fries.”
“Fries?” Carrie replied, recognizing the name. “But he seemed so nice!”
“He was attempting to place his wife in cryogenic slumber when something went wrong. He was wearing some kind of suit. It appeared to be designed to protect him from the heat.”
“Poor guy,” Carrie commented. “Wait? Are you saying you think that somehow that accident altered his body so that he can only survive in lower temperatures? That doesn’t seem physically possible.”
“No less impossible than a woman that can control plants, or a man that fell into a pool of chemicals and was turned into a twisted clown,” Batman pointed out.
“Well… yeah… when you put it that way,” Carrie said. “So what are you looking for?”
“Some place that’s abandoned, but with some kind of large refrigeration unit.”
“That he can use as a home?”
“Right,” Batman nodded, the computer printing out a list of locations. Tearing off the paper, Batman turned and quickly headed back towards the Batmobile.
“Take care,” Carrie said, watching him go. Batman turned back to look at the young redhead for a moment, before jumping into the car and driving off.
* * * * * * * * * *
Victor frowned as he fiddled with the device before him, muttering as he became frustrated.
“It’s over, Fries!” Batman shouted out as he entered the freezing room, batarang in hand.
“No!” Fries shouted, jerking his head towards Batman as he stood. “You can’t stop me! Not now! Not when I’m so close!”
“I won’t let you harm innocents,” Batman told him.
“You don’t understand,” Fries replied. “I have to finish this.”
“I’m sorry,” Batman replied. “I know what it’s like to lose someone.”
“I haven’t…” Fries stopped. “You don’t…” His eyes widened at some realization. “You have to leave! Now! Before it’s too late!”
“What are you…” Batman started, his voice cut off as he heard that now familiar sound, just seconds before he was hit in the chest and knocked against the far wall. Despite wearing a specially designed suit for cold environments, Batman could still feel the cold through his costume, his upper body frozen to the wall, arms trapped at his sides.
His eyes widened as Freeze walked into the room, stopping beside Victor. “I told you not to get involved!” the mechanical voice said. Batman heard a loud hiss as the helmet was released from the rest of the suit. Freeze pulled it off, the mist dissipating as long hair was shaken out around her face.
The face of Nora Fries.
