Hello again! The author here to bring an update. Just so you guys know, I toned down Joker's usual "Harley abusiveness" a little :)
The two chatted the day away until it was time for Damian to leave. They said their goodbyes and parted ways once again. It was a good refresher to Damian, an old face other than idiot Grayson popping in.
Danny found the meeting pleasant, and extremely lucky. He knew better than to believe Gritsin sent him to take care of Mr. Wayne's ward just because it was "convenient". The woman wanted him out and fast.
It was the next day, and Danny was having a small talk with Harley. It wasn't all fun games, sometimes it was a real therapist to patient interactions.
"Mistah Jay's finally here, Doc!" Harley exclaimed, shaking her fist in the air like a child. "I'm so gonna meet up with puddin' during lunch, see if I can get him in the mood." Harley kept babbling with innuendos in every sentence, which Danny found lucky that Kristofferson wasn't within the room.
The kid was getting a regularly scheduled doctor's examination. Danny had to reassure him that it was for the best since he was not going to live in Arkham all his life. The boy needed his vaccines.
He'd heard of Harley's relationship with Joker, and it sounded much less bad than he heard before. He'd thought Joker was an abusive bastard that Harley had deluded herself to love. Instead, he was just a bit of a bastard that Harley loved. The bastard part primarily coming from breaking his jar.
Putting that grudge aside, Danny has always found minds like Joker very curious. He disagreed with his actions but was willing to help if it meant for said actions to cease. It just took some good influence for a person to change.
"-word between the cells say that Freeze's being cut off? Crazy right?" This piqued Danny's interest especially.
"What do you mean 'cut off'?" He asked, trying to expand on the topic before she continued ranting about Joker.
Harley leaned forward to Danny, "Like Arkham's stopping his whole 'coolant room', say that it's too expensive to maintain. I think it's crap, keeping one room in freezing temp while the rest of Arkham is like a sauna should be reasonable. If gossip's right, he's got a week left to live." Danny's jaw was nearly dropped at the notion. If this Freeze guy didn't have a freezing temperature, he'd die.
He had to do something, and confront as certain someone.
As soon as asylum lunches started, Danny started his fast walk to Teresa Gritsin's office. If it was anyone willing to sacrifice the life of a patient for extra cash, it'd be her.
His heart raced a bit, not from nervousness but from how heated he was getting. He burst his way into the witch's office and faced the hag.
She looked surprised at first but became annoyed when she saw his angered face.
"I demand to know if-!" Danny began.
"I am cutting off the supply of Victor Fries, Dr. Joan Leland came in with the same question. I am." Her words cut deeper than any knife and her face seemed a hundred times more ugly and villainous.
The worst part was that she was giving a knowing smile. She knew how much it ticked Danny off and that a bad move could call for a reasonable discharge. Not only that, but she also seemed perfectly content with her decision. Disgusting.
This infuriates Danny. He slammed his hands on her desk, "You can't legally kill a person-"
"But I can, you horse doctor." A smug smirked appeared on her caked face. She lifted a piece of paper from her desk and shoved it at his face. "I have a signed document from the mayor himself that allows me to do so."
The tension in the air was thick between the two in the bland office. Danny stared at the witch which such intensity that he was sure lasers might shoot out. Of course, he didn't have that power but he sure wished he did at the moment. And Teresa stood her ground and looked as calm as ever, unaffected by the unconscious danger aura Danny projected. Truly a cold-blooded woman.
Danny looked at Teresa and squeezed the paper in front of him before throwing it at the desk. He felt so defeated. It surely was payback for her plan with pairing Danny with Damian being unsuccessful. But this was too far. This was a man's life.
"If that's all, then you may go." She shooed Danny away, and he started to march from the room. He couldn't even say anything, he didn't know what.
"By the way, horse." She called out before he left the room. "I'm assigning you to inmate Fries until his execution. Make the psycho's last days count." And Danny left while she was left cackling her ghastly laugh.
When Danny shot out through the doors, Teresa's smile stayed. What else than an inmate's death to get the thorn out of her side gone? She knew Danny would grow close to Freeze, he always grew close to "patients." She knew firsthand, after all that walkie-talkie in his room didn't go only one way...
Danny paced in his room, trying to think of what to do. Talking to the police was a no-go, mayoral confirmation trumped that. Batman was sure to oppose, but the guy wasn't exactly on the right side of the law. Saving a "villain" was sure to hurt the hero's reputation even further. Even using his powers were out of the question, being discovered was no such option.
In the end, he knew what he had to do; make sure Victor Fries' last days counted. If he couldn't help, he'd at least try to make it count.
He reorganized his schedule so he could meet with Victor every day, and then it was time for Edward's session.
Danny calmed himself down, trying to become cool and collected. He was projecting a stressed and agitated aura unconsciously, and he did not want Ed to be affected by it. He forced it into a trusting and calm feel and did his best to convince himself he was exactly that.
Edward waltzed in, the guards already knowing to stay out of the room. "Afternoon Dr. Fenton, what can go up and come down without moving?"
"Temperature," Danny immediately answered.
Edward snapped his fingers, "Exactly. If you could turn it up a bit, it's practically freezing. This apparel isn't meant for the cold." Danny didn't understand what the man meant until he realized...
...his ice powers were acting up. It was probably because of how focused and angry earlier that he let them slip. He didn't even notice, the cold never bothered him anyway.
As soon as he realized he got up and went to the thermostat and turned it a little up while closing his core's output. "Of course, barely even noticed it."
Edward raised an eyebrow as Danny went back to his seat, but he didn't question it. Some people were just used to the cold.
"Speaking of cold," Edward began, leaning in a little in his seat. Danny knew where this was going, but he was still intrigued.
"Heard around that Mr. Freeze's icebox is getting decommissioned. Honestly tragic, he wasn't the worse person to be around." Edward kept going and Danny listened more. Ed was a regular gossip mill, spewing everything he knew as if he was the first to find out. Goes to show how much ego he had.
Danny modded along as Ed brought up past events with Freeze. More tragically, Nora.
"That's why the man's so obsessed with the money and the cold. His wife's current location is unknown but all he's ever wanted to do was cure his ill lover. Sometimes he's a bit crazy, like when he freezes half the city to preserve its perfection. But that was so Nora could wake up to the best world imaginable. The things he does for love, it baffles me!"
Danny didn't even know how to respond. Victor didn't seem the type that should be locked away. He should be receiving help for his dying wife. If only they'd allow him and fund him to save her, Victor could live a happier life. One without villainy.
"What an interesting person, do you know him personally?" Danny prodded. He knew that this was supposed to be Ed's time, but he needed to prepare to meet Victor. It was priorities.
Ed tapped at his chin while staring at the ceiling. "He's the quiet type, but very assertive when it comes to what he believes in. He's a kind person from what I know and adores children. He'd do anything to make sure his wife his safe and a good person to work with. I partnered with him once and it wasn't the worst experience." Danny nodded along.
He decided it was time to drift from Victor and focused more on Ed's thoughts and complaints. He didn't want to fill the entire time talking about someone else. But the thought of him stood in the back of Danny's mind. He replayed their probable first interactions and what he'd say to Freeze.
As soon as Ed's appointment ended, he canceled his next session (sorry Harley, he was going to apologize) and prepared himself to go to Victor's cell. Victor couldn't leave his cell without a special Arkham cold suit, and they didn't allow him out often. The cell was in a special part of the West Wing at a lower level.
He looked himself up and down, making sure nothing was wrong with his appearance. He straightened his coat and brought his clipboard to his hands.
He had used the walkie-talkie to call for two guards for backup, as per requirement. He told them to wait by Victor Fries' cell for him.
He traveled to the West Wing and stopped before the security checkpoint to the cells.
It was a usual checkpoint, two sets of doors, the one behind him, and the corrugated metal fence in front of him. There was a small window where Aaron sat behind and a metal detector for extra measure.
Aaron was once again the man at the checkpoint and he recognized Danny.
"Oh, hey! What brings a therapist to the west?" He asked, honestly surprised.
Danny sighed, "My recent patient has... special living requirements, and I need to in there myself."
The hooked man nodded, "Got it, let me check you in and you'll be on your way. Don't stand too close to the cells, don't interact with any other inmate, and try not to anger anybody."
While he was checking in, Danny went through his words again. He had to make sure everything was perfect, the man was near death and he wanted to make every second count. He wanted to make sure Victor left the world without regret.
It was the least Danny could do.
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Well, this was shorter than normal, but I made sure to jam-pack it with excitement!
Hope you enjoy the update, been on my mind to do it. Things are really slow where I am and I try my best to come up with good ideas for chapters! So welcome to the next few chapters of Freeze ^-^