Disclaimer: Not mine!
Gotham City was without its protector- not that anyone was aware of this yet. And if the surviving villains had anything to say about it no-one would.
It had all started with the first snow fall of the new year...
Mr. Freeze had taken it into his head that the criminals of Gotham were the ones responsible for his continued failures, not any flaw in his plans. If it weren't for them then the Batman wouldn't be kept sharp enough to best him at every turn.
To say he had finally lost the last vestiges of his sanity is putting it mildly.
He started with the numerous street thugs that the police never arrested, and then moved on to the whole populace of Black Gate. By the time the police realized he was doing anything he had taken the inmates of Arkham as well.
He covered his tracks well and it took Batman a full day to find him on an oil rig pulled in for maintenance in the harbor. He might not have found him if not for the ice burg he was building to one side of the rig.
When he arrived there was no sign of the crew or any of the criminal abductees.
While searching for Freeze, or anyone at all, he stumbled across a thick layer of ice across an alcove. Melting it with his pin laser he found five of the Arkham inmates: Two-Face, Riddler, Ivy, Harvey and the Joker.
Trying not to let himself wonder where the thousands of other criminals could possibly be, Batman directed the group to where he had left his Batboat and continued his search before they could say anything.
It wasn't much longer before he found the ice man. Dodging a freeze beam, he threw a baterang for distraction and they began the fight.
It was a terrible battle.
Freeze would ice over Batman, Batman would use sonic heaters to free himself.
Batman would begin to dismantle Freeze's refrigeration suit, Freeze would spray liquid nitrogen at him.
And the oil rig suffered more and more damage. Fires began all over, and finally the whole structure blew. The two combatants were sent over the side nearest the large ice burg Freeze had made.
Climbing up the jagged side, Batman coughed up sea water- if he noticed the blood mixed with it he ignored it, he had a mad man to catch.
Once on top of the icy structure he realized that it wasn't made entirely of ice. It was mostly made up of bodies.
All the criminals he had been trying to find were frozen in the giant ice-cube!
His mind went blank. The pain in his lungs receded as the shock took over.
Looking at his feet he saw he was standing on Penguin's chest.
Bain was just to his right and Catwoman to his left.
Over further was Firefly in frozen flight and... so many more.
Something was breaking inside him. He couldn't hold himself together anymore.
Every villain he had ever put away- dead.
Every person he had ever felt a connection to- even if he hadn't admitted it until now- gone.
Every last person- except for five...
"Beautiful, isn't it? My greatest work. A solid embodiment of all that is vile in this world. And you, standing above it all as you always have. You shall make my work complete. And then I shall retrieve the last of the filth from your boat and lay them at your feet." Taking aim with his freeze gun he was suddenly hit with a baterang in his face shield.
Then a fist smashed through his armor plating.
As hands began to tear his life-sustaining suit to pieces, pain began to make itself known across his iced over nerve endings.
Looking up at his attacker- his killer- from his new position on his back, Freeze had a moment of clarity just before a foot smashed through his face shield and continued on through his skull.
He, Mr. Freeze, had been the one to finally break the great Batman.
Batman kept pounding into the pile of grease and metal that was once his enemy until his brain finally caught up with his actions.
Panting and coughing, breathing harder than he should have even if he had just murdered someone, he looked down at what he had just done... and felt nothing.
He was empty. No disgust. No remorse. No anything.
Walking to the edge of the floating tomb he called for his boat to come get him. Gliding to the deck he set the autopilot for his personal dock and sat down.
Ignoring the five sets of eyes staring at him, Batman removed his mask and cowl.
"I'm done." As he began to cough once more- he could no longer ignore the pain in his lungs- he might have heard a gasped 'Bruce?' from Two-Face, but what he mostly heard was Ivy.
"Harley! Get over here! He's coughing blood and freezing. I need your help!"
Opening his eyes- he didn't remember closing them- he sought out a pair of sharp green eyes. As he began to pass out he had only one thought in mind:
Would the Joker ever be able to forgive him for what he had just done?
JOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKERJOKER
Alfred Pennyworth was an unflappable man. He had seen much in his long life, even before his young ward had taken up crime-fighting.
So when a ragged band of villains showed up in the Batboat with an unconscious- and unmasked- Batman, he took it all in his stride.
"What happened?" He directed himself to the two women as they seemed like the ones who were taking care of his masters health at the moment.
"It was Freeze!" Harley supplied in her high-pitched voice. Ivy gave him a more concise report.
"He must have been hit several times by Freeze's cold beam, and then the oil rig blew up and he went in the water. He's been coughing up blood since he removed his mask and passed out soon after that." As she spoke Alfred had led them to lay his Master on a medical table at one side of the cave.
"If any of you have medical training then I'll gladly accept your assistance, the rest of you should head up stairs and give me some room to work." Moving on automatic at the sheer command in the older man's voice, a the three male villains left the two ladies and the butler to their work.
Two hours later they had Bruce stablized. Leading the two exhausted ladies upstairs he found the three, equally exhausted, men sitting in his kitchen looking lost.
Taking control of the situation as best he could- he needed to keep them all contained as well to preserve his Master's secret- he set about getting the group in front of a warm fire with plenty of hot soothing tea. Perhaps he would find out the full set of events now.
Once he had settled everyone with a blanket and a warm mug he gave them a moment to collect themselves as he made up some guest chambers. Returning, he noticed a shifting in the sitting arrangement.
Two-Face and Riddler were snuggled up together, as were Ivy and Harley. The Joker was the only one alone, but he was staring at the fire rather intensely so the butler let him be.
"I have rooms ready for you all whenever you decide you need them. Although I would like to know what happened tonight I will not press. I will be downstairs with my Master if you need anything." Giving a small nod to the group of docile super villains, the butler turned to leave. He turned back as the Joker began to speak.
"Freeze finally lost it. He killed everyone else, and we're only alive because Batsy got to us in time. But that isn't what will affect him the most from all of this." Taking a deep breath as if to settle himself, everyone tensed. What could be bad enough to make the Joker nervous?
"He killed Freeze tonight." The Joker finally whispered. At Alfred's gasp and the others' objections he glared at them all with a fire burning in his eyes.
"Listen! He was covered in blood! That special black sludge kind that only Freeze had! And he had flecks of skin and brain matter all over him. If you don't believe me go look at his dirty costume yourselves! I'm sure you'll see that he didn't cough it all up himself!" Wiping away what might have been a tear, the Joker stalked out of the room.
In the silence that descended over the room only Harley's quiet sobs could be heard.
"Sir?" Ivy finally spoke, clearly addressing the butler.
"Alfred, please, and how may I help you?" He would need to think over what the Joker had said later, but for now he had guests to attend to.
"Alfred. Can you please show us to our rooms? It has been a long day."
"Of course, my dear. Right this way." As he showed the group of four to their rooms he had no doubt that some shifting would take place in the night, and by morning two of the rooms would be empty. He was happy with this fact though, everyone could use some comfort tonight.
Having settled his guests Alfred went to check on his Master, and found the Joker already there.
"Do you know Geeves, I've been trying for years to get him to break; but I never thought he would. Now that he has..." The clown trailed off, clearly unable to articulate everything he was thinking.
Taking pity on the confused clown the old man rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"Love is like that. Never knowing what you want until it's not there anymore..."
"You think we're in love?" Incredulous green eyes lit upon the old retainer.
"I think you two have been dancing around each other, not knowing how to bridge the gap between you. But know he has crossed that gap." Patting the clown's shoulder in reassurance, the butler moved away.
"The question now is this: Are you going to help him come to terms with what he has done when he wakes up? Or are you going abandon him just when he needs you the most?" When no response was forth coming from the clown, Alfred headed for the stairs.
"Call me if anything changes, and do think over what I have said." With one final look at the brooding Joker, the butler left the cave.
Some might call him crazy for leaving a vulnerable Batman alone with the mad clown, but the old man knew better. He had known for years that his Master was in love with the Joker, and one look at the clown showed him that those feelings were returned in full. His Master couldn't be safer than where he was right now, with who was watching over him.
Walking back up to the Manor to prepare for the next day the butler left the Clown Prince alone with his injured Dark Knight.