"You're back!" Aiden stood up quickly as I opened the window and slid in. "Where did you go? I thought you'd be back ages ago."

"Around." Was my generic reply. I sat down on the worn couch in the middle of the apartment. I stretched out, thinking.

It was about ten minutes before I noticed Aiden staring at me. I sat up. "What?"

"You don't act like any girl I've ever met."

"And I'm glad of that."

"Haven't you ever, you know, hung out?"

"Why would I?"

"Have you ever had a boyfriend? Any friends at all?"

"I don't need friends, and relationships just aren't my thing."

He looked at me again, shaking his head. "I just don't get you, Ice. You say that you've lived here all your life, but you act as if this is all you've ever known, like there's nothing outside of it. Haven't you ever thought that there's something better than this?"

"No." I rearranged my body so that I was dangling off the end of the sofa, with my feet in the air. "Why would I even want to? This is my life here and now. And the past is the past." But this is my past. I added silently.

Aiden looked more confused than ever, looking out the window. I suddenly realized that he was seriously cute.

Of course, the bruises and the cut lip kind of took away from that, but he was tall, muscular, with dirty blonde hair and dreamy brown eyes. I looked away. I wasn't the type of girl to start the heart-fluttering thing at every cute boy that crossed my path. So why was it so hard to glance away?

"So…" I started, just trying to make conversation. "Did you have a girlfriend?"

He nodded. "I had just graduated high school. She and I had been together since sophomore year. I was going to ask her to marry me."

"Oh." I didn't know what else to say. Now that he was in here, she had probably moved on, not knowing whether he was alive or dead, and not knowing how much he loved her.

"Was she cute?"

Aiden nodded, his face lighting up. "Her name was Katie. I had a crush on her even longer than we were a couple. She was gorgeous, with dark hair like the clear sky at night, and eyes like sapphires in the dark-"

"Were you meaning to become a poet?" I asked, trying to get away from this topic that made my chest feel just like it did when somebody hit me when I wasn't looking. Anger was the closest thing I could think of. But I wasn't mad at Aiden. I was mad at this girl Katie. I pushed the emotions away before I could think about them too closely.

He laughed softly. "I don't know. Maybe. If I was, I would say in complete honesty that your eyes sparkle in the dark like Katie's, only colder."

I sat up slowly, not wanting to reveal what this made me feel like. It was like what I felt whenever Dad hugged me, or gave me a present. It made my whole body feel light, but I kept my tone neutral as I walked to the window and looked across the lightening sky. "Go on."

"I would say that your hair was like the finest golden silk. That you had something in you that made everyone stop and stare. That you were the…"

He trailed off. I didn't turn, afraid to look at him. "That I am the…"

"That you were the one I could learn to love." He whispered, suddenly right in my ear. I whirled around, but I didn't do anything as he leaned towards me, unwillingly leaning towards Aiden. I was scared, more scared then I'd ever been before. These emotions were so different from the ones I was used to.

Then his lips met mine. I leapt backward, scared to death. Aiden stood there, looking mortified. "I – I'm sorry."

I was out the window and gone before he could say anything else. And as I raced home against the growing light, I tried to ignore the tears tracking their way down my face.

When I got home, the first thing I did was go take a shower. While I was waiting for the water to warm up, I noticed in the bathroom mirror that my mascara and eyeliner had run, leaving black roads across my face. I wiped angrily at them, smudging the black and making it even worse. I gave up and pushed Aiden to the back of my mind. This was too weird to be dealt with in one night.

It was about two in the afternoon when I heard Dad yelling at me. I groaned and turned over, instantly regretting it, as the ice on the floor of my room reflected the sunlight and made me squint.

Well, after that there was no way I was going back to sleep. I yawned and stood up, brushing my hair as I slowly walked into the laboratory.

Dad came towards me and grabbed my arms in a vice-like grip. "Dad, you're hurting me!" I cried, dropping the hairbrush, which clattered on the ground.

"Isabelle, listen to me carefully." He said, and even with the vocal distorter I knew that he was dead serious. I tried to ignore how tight his grip on me was and looked him in the eyes (well, it was actually in the goggles, but that's beside the point.).

"Cobblepot is trying to get in here, and I can't hold him off much longer."

I was wide-awake now, and I know knew how serious the situation was. Penguin, should he get in here, was ruthless, and he wouldn't care that I was Mr. Freeze's daughter, or that my dad was Mr. Freeze.

"I want you to go back to your room and close the door behind you, do you understand?"

Dad was getting ready for desperate measures if he was going to have me shut my door. Since I lived in one of the cells, then closing the door meant locking me inside it, and I couldn't get out, but nobody else could get in either.

I nodded, and he released me, going back to whatever he had been doing at the lab.

I picked up my hairbrush and ran quickly back to my room, shutting the gate behind me. It made a clattering noise as it slid close, shutting with a sense of finality.

I sat down on the bed and rocked back and forth quietly, trying to pass the time until Dad would come by and let me out. The room seemed unnaturally cold, and I slid my leather jacket on over my orange jumpsuit. I winced as it grazed my injured shoulder.

I had disinfected it and wrapped it, but it was still pretty tender. It was a small cut, but deep, and while not serious, I was going to be in a whole lot of pain for a while longer.

I heard yelling outside and Dad's gun discharging. Silently I picked up the bat Harley had given me. At the time it didn't occur to me that I had a gun, but just the fact that I was armed made me feel better.

"Isabelle!"

Dad's voice brought me out of the trance I had been in. I stood up and walked over to him, but he snapped, "Stand back!"

I did as he asked, quickly back-tracking until I was standing on my bed.

He brought up his freeze gun and discharged it, covering the whole cell door with ice. Then, as I heard muffled voices approaching from the lab, Dad moved on, putting some distance between him and me.

"Ge' this door open!" A grouchy voice sounded from the other side. "The Icebox must ha' a reason fo' keepin' us ou'!" Oh, perfect. The Penguin was smart and Dad had been too slow.

A sound from the other side of the ice made me jump. Muddled black and white on the other side made it impossible to tell how many there were, but the ice was making it easier for them to break through.

The sounds of the ice breaking sounded like my doom spelled out for me, but then I shook my head. Where was the confident girl who stood up to Harley and Joker? The girl who stole Two-Face's coin? I needed to find that girl, who had flown since Aiden and I – you know what, I'm not even going to say what happened.

More and more cracks appeared until a chunk fell off. A thug stopped to pear in, but I hid myself out of his line of vision. He retreated and muffled words made them all continue their work.

As I waited, I took a deep breath. Okay, as soon as they had made a hole big enough for one of them to step through, I'll start going berserk, and take out everyone until Dad and I could meet up again.

Finally, they were done. A hole big enough for Bane to fit through was what they had made, and now they were going to come in here and find out why this area was so important to my dad.

One solitary guy came through and got a mouthful of my bat. I shuddered as one of his teeth flew out and hit me on the arm. But while he was howling in pain, I was out the door, only to face a thug with a mask on.

"You!" It was a low growl, but I recognized it. Big Brute was coming back to take his revenge, and this time he had friends. Oh, well, I beat him with even less experience before, and I can do it again.

I hefted my bat up onto my shoulder and smirked. Nothing like a person who wants to kill you to bring your confidence back. "Yeah, me. Now get over here so that I can kick your butt again."

"Now, tha's not very nice." A voice sounded from behind me. I whirled around, but I wasn't fast enough. An object came up to meet me and I was smashed against the wall.

It is so not fun when you get smashed against a wall. Think running full speed in a race to reach the wall and not putting your hands out. I staggered, trying to blink away the black spots impairing my vision. I could barely see Big Brute, not to mention Cobblepot, who had been the one to take an umbrella to my head.

Then I got my first look at Penguin. He was small, almost shorter than I was, with greasy slicked back hair, and a face that could in no universe be called beautiful. The monocle in his eye was broken, and I was at a loss as why he continued to use it. His clothes were fancy, a lot of furs and such, but I didn't have time to identify them all before he brought the umbrella around again.

I wasn't sure why he was the one attacking me instead of Big Brute, but when the umbrella came at me I did the natural thing. I leapt backwards. Then I felt Big Brute's arm encircling me. Oh, great. I should have done that triple back flip.

"Let me go!" I cried, struggling. "I haven't done anything wrong!"

Not that they knew, anyway.

"Oh, my dear." Penguin's voice grated across my ears, and I flinched as he pulled on a chunk of hair. "O' course you didn' do anythin' wrong. But my museum nee's a few mor' attractions. And I think you and the Icebox will make qui' the exhibit."

Then he hit me on the head again. Stars and dark circles popped in my vision. One more blow and I was out cold.

I woke up in a jungle. Well, it was a billboard of the jungle, but it was good enough. Then I noticed how small the cage was. It was barely bigger than a queen-sized bed, and I don't do small spaces.

My breathing was loud in the almost absolute silence that had settled over Penguin's quarters. I tried to calm myself. I'm in the jungle. The glass in front of me is just a gate. I've got plenty of room to breath. The walls aren't closing in on me.

My breathing slowed, and then I stood up and pressed my face against the glass. Across from me was an exhibit that looked like it had been put together by… oh.

Penguin was crazy! Well, we were all pretty crazy, but come on! How did he ever think he was going to capture Joker and put him in a cage?

The thought so boggled my mind that I took a look at the floor. I knew immediately that it was a map of Arkham City, and it took only a couple more seconds to figure out that he had laid out all the different territories and who controlled them.

Then I looked to my left, and gasped. My dad was standing in an exhibit that looked to be modeling Miami, as far as I could tell. He didn't look too good, and I almost went into hyperventilation before I realized he had one of his small cooling packets plugged into his chest, right where his heart was.

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The hours went by and only a few people came in and out of the room. The men stayed away from me after one that brought me food and tried to kiss me earned a broken arm. And leg. And – well, let's just say that he probably needed a body cast after that.

I nearly flew into a rage the first time I heard someone press the button on the display case that was supposed to explain what the exhibit was about.

"This little Chri'mas flower is supposed to be the Icebox's brat. Now, I wonder whether she's actually loved, or if he's just trying to feel redeemed for 'aving created a life?"

But after that it was kind of like listening to a broken record. Whenever someone came by, I kind of ignored them, and just tried to meditate, when I found out some very cool things about myself that Dad probably didn't even know.

I found out I had a retinal scanner, which meant that even if someone was disguised with contact lenses, I would know exactly who they were. And I found out I could meditate and use my cyborg-brain just like a regular computer! I could write documents, listen to music, download content, and surf the web! Of course, I didn't really use anything but my music player, and that was just to keep myself busy.

Just in case you were wondering, I had on my music list, among others, "Disturbia" by Rihanna, "Beat It", by Michael Jackson, and "Circus", by Britney Spears. I guess it's obvious that they're all about crazy scenes and areas, and tough guys. Exactly like Arkham City. Anyway, most of the time I was slumped against the glass.

The days went by terribly slowly, and yes, I did try to escape, but when I tried to break open the glass display front, I bounced off my shoulder rather painfully. The glass didn't show any breaks in it, so I resigned myself to mouthing all the rerunning loudspeaker announcements.

"Welcome to the Cyrus Pinkney Natural History Institute."

"All visitors with a valid ticket or concession card can enjoy a discount at the nearby, world-famous Iceberg Lounge."

"All visitors must be searched as part of our ongoing commitment to keep you safe and protect the unique collection we have on display."

"All visitors should be sure to check out our latest attraction, "Dangers of the Deep", in the Aquatic Observation Chamber."

It was boring, and I really wanted to get out there and find someone to beat up, but something peaked my interest while I was senselessly staring at the wall. Now, because I'm half robot, I've got like this super-hearing and sight.

"I heard Bruce Wayne got put in Arkham City. I'd like to have five minutes with that rich playboy."

That sounded promising. I sat up a little straighter, trying to hear more, but they moved out of my range after that.

I'd seen pictures of Bruce Wayne, and he was kind of handsome, if that's what you liked. I wondered how he got in here and if he knew that the Monarch Theater, where his parents were killed, was right here in Arkham. Maybe so, maybe not. At times he seemed a little naïve to me.

I sunk down into my deep thoughts again, only to be brought out again about two hours later when someone was whispering a few corridors down, "Why's Batman in here?"

Okay, now thing's were getting interesting. Maybe Batman was in here to save Bruce Wayne, or something. I had gleaned enough information to know that Penguin had tried to capture Wayne, but he had like escaped, or done some kind of kung-fu move, I don't know!

But with Batman here, I wondered how this was going to affect Harley and Mr. J. Nothing else was helping him get better, so how was Joker going to make Batman help him? Joker's not the type to simply slip silently into death. He was going to go down fighting.

I wondered also if Batman was going to come over here and help save those cops that had been infiltrating Penguin's staff. Last I saw one of them, he looked worse than Aiden when I picked him up. No, don't think about Aiden. It makes you lose your focus. I told myself firmly.

It was a good couple more hours before I heard something that sounded promising.

"You're gonna have to kill me!" Probably one of the officers. The inmates loved hearing them scream. I'm not sure why, because personally, that's the part that is a mix between elation and repulsiveness.

Then I heard a scuffle, and then, "You're safe. For now." Was that Batman? I thought his voice would sound almost exactly like that. I whispered a few commands to keep track of that voice. Recognition software would really help me if I ever needed to find out his true identity.

"Thank God!" That was definitely the officer. Probably just saved from certain death.

"You may want to hold off thanking Him until after you've answered my question. Who are you?" I thought it was kind of obvious, but I listened even more closely.

"Sorry, man. I'm a cop. Gordon sent us in here. I'm in the 13th Precinct, part of the strike team. Been in here since the beginning." Huh. I'd better watch out for more cops, then. If they were around, then they could be a good way to find out some more sensitive information. But how to pretend I was one of them?

"If Gordon sent, you, you'll know the code?" A code? That would make this way easier!

"Oh, yeah, yeah! He said…oh man, what was it?" Come on, remember the code! I was silently begging. How did people survive with such forgetful minds?

"The code! Now!" Oh, no. If this guy got it wrong, he was toast now!

"It's…'Sarah'! He said to tell you the code is 'Sarah'." Sarah? Oh… Commissioner Gordon's wife! I thought she was dead, but maybe that was the point. I didn't know whether that was the wife Joker killed, or the one before it. But no matter, all I needed was the code.

"You're safe, officer." He didn't open up at all even after the code. I wished I could see his face. He sounded kind of emotionless.

"It's Jones, Batman. Elvis Jones." Elvis? I giggled for a second. But the name Batman sobered me. So now I knew it was Batman, but what would he do if he found Dad?

"Gordon always said he was planning on sending your team in." He did? This was a lot of information that could be useful.

"He wanted to know what was going on in here. I guess we found out. There were ten of us. Hopefully, there still are." I'm betting not. I sang silently. Knowing Penguin, they were going to be dead meat once he found out Batman was in here.

"I told Gordon it was too dangerous to send you in. Stay here. If the rest of your team is alive, I'll find them." I hoped he would find me, too, and just let me out and not press the exhibit button. I didn't need the Batman to tell the police that I was around at all. That would be the exact kind of bad rep I didn't need, but wanted badly.