Hostages for Life

By Jamie Kizilos-Clift

Batgirl's eyes fluttered open and she looked around to see where she was. She saw ice everywhere and she knew exactly who had done this. It could only have been one man… Mr. Freeze. Suddenly she realized there was someone leaning up against her back. She was pretty sure it was a young man around her age, maybe a bit older, maybe a bit younger…she couldn't tell. She pushed herself back against the figure slightly to see if he was conscious.

He moaned a bit as if he were in pain.

"Hey, are you awake?" she asked quietly, hoping he was…she wasn't going to be able to escape by herself.

"Mfgh well I am now," he mocked playfully. She furrowed her brow, curious as to how he was able to keep his prospects up.

"What's your name?" she asked still struggling to see his face.

"Robin…"

"Batgirl," she responded quickly, before he could even ask. "Is that…blood?" she felt a warm fluid soaking through his cape and through her costume to her cold skin.

"Um… yeah, reach for my belt and see if you can open the back pouch, I have a knife in there…you can use it to cut the ropes," he instructed through gritted teeth, holding back the sharp pain in his back. She found the middle of his back and traced her finger down his spine to the pouch containing the small switchblade. His muscles twitched a little as her finger fell lower and lower down his back.

She tugged at the button on the pouch opening it to find the sharpest knife she'd ever seen. She cut the ropes with ease. Once they were free she stood, checking herself over, but when she got to her feet she saw a puddle of dark red liquid.

"Robin! You've lost a lot of blood…this is bad," she looked into his sky blue eyes. He tried to focus on her face but her features only blurred more and more.

"I don't feel so good," he muttered before passing out on the ground with a crack that shocked her. She looked down and saw a bone protruding from his side. She looked away…holding back the bile creeping into her throat.

She swallowed hard before ripping off her cape and pressing it to his wound in an attempt to soak up some of the blood. He squirmed and moaned from the pressure. He squeezed his eyes tight before opening them.

"What are you mmgh doing?" he asked, confused and light-headed.

"I'm trying to soak up some of the blood, sorry if it hurts,"

"It's going to hurt no matter what…thanks for the help, but you should save yourself,"

"No, leave no man behind," she grinned. Now that she could see his face she noticed how attractive he was. His eyes were a striking blue that put the sky to shame. His muscles, firm and well toned.

"Um, what are you thinking about?" he asked, a playful, boyish grin spreading across his face. She blushed; embarrassed she had been checking him out.

"Oh, just thinking about…about how to get out of here,"

"Any ideas Batgirl?"

"Er-nothing yet…" she felt her cheeks heating up. She focused again on cleaning Robin's wound.

"Um, do you think you can stand? We need to get you out of here…you need a real doctor,"

"I think I can…but, I have to be honest…I thought you were doing a mighty fine job taking care of me yourself," he waggled his eyebrows up at her. She blushed even more, looking away. He looked down at his ribs.

"I think I could try standing but I'm not going to promise anything…" he inhaled and held his breath, bracing himself for-what he guessed would be the most pain he had ever been in. He reached his hands behind him and pushed himself forward. Batgirl slid her arm under his and hoisted him to his feet. They slowly took one step then stopped to breathe. Robin squeezed his eyes shut, trying not to focus on the sharp stabbing pain in his side.

"Do you need to sit back down?" she asked, sensing his discomfort. He hesitated, looked at her and nodded. He struggled not to fall and lay slowly back down on his back letting the cold ice numb his wound.

"You really should go, get out of here, just leave me…I'm-I'm not worth it," he looked away from her, fearing for her safety he wanted her to go, but fearing for his own he wanted her to stay.

She stood and started to walk away, but stopped suddenly. She whipped her head around and ran back over to him.

"No," she commanded. He looked back at her and cocked his head to one side.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, no…I won't leave you here,"

He exhaled slowly, relieved. He didn't want to be alone. She shivered, the cold was starting to get to her, and she had used her cape to stop Robin's bleeding. She lay down and curled up into a ball huddled close to his chest.

He looked at her, surprised.

"Um-are you cold?" he had felt her shaking against him.

"Oh! Er-no, I just…yeah…" she gave in. Batgirl was just too cold to pretend anymore.

He held her closer to his body, and cupped her hand in his. He brought it close to his mouth and breathed warm air. She felt her fingers tingle as she regained some feeling in her frozen hands.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha," a mysterious man laughed from outside the door to the room where they sat huddled together.

"What was that?" Batgirl whispered jumping to her feet, striking a defensive pose.

"Our beloved captor, Mr. Freeze," Robin grimaced, a sickly green color spreading across his face. He gulped in some air, not wanting to pass out again.

The door swung open, gliding across the slick icy floor revealing a tall man in a suit resembling those that astronauts wore. A giant glass helmet encasing his deformed head, his skin a nauseating grey color. His malicious temperament shone through like a beam of light in a movie theater.

Batgirl looked from Robin to Mr. Freeze, and then back to Robin again.

"What do you want from us?" she yelled.

"Well, Batgirl…it's been a while hasn't it? I'm surprised you don't know what I want by now!" Mr. Freeze cackled.

"Just spit it out, you sick…" Robin interjected, stopping short, the stabbing pain in his side slicing through him with every word until he couldn't take it any more. Batgirl rested her hand on his shoulder; a much appreciated gesture.