Oliver, despite his leaving the main room to give Cameron and Artemis some privacy, couldn't help but listen in on their conversation. It wasn't exactly the most polite or mature thing to do, but Oliver was glad that he had done it. Hearing the words exchanged between Cameron and Artemis just confirmed his original thought that the two of them were actually good kids who really cared about each other. Oliver suspected that, if it weren't for the circumstances in which they were raised, the two of them would have joined the heroes years ago.
Well, as they always say, better late than never.
At some point though, the conversation took a turn for the worse. Oliver hadn't seen what had happened, and, by themselves, the words spoken between Artemis and Cameron didn't really reveal much. However, combined with the fact that Oliver could feel the sudden drop in temperature and Cameron's insistence that Artemis leave, he could come up with a pretty good idea of what had happened.
Cameron had accidently hurt Artemis with his powers.
Cameron, understandably, was probably horrified about what he had done and, terrified of making things worse, had pushed Artemis away. As understandable as Cameron's actions were, Oliver knew that it wasn't healthy, for either of them.
Not wanting to scare or upset Cameron, Oliver hesitantly entered back into the main room. He immediately saw Cameron sitting against the wall. His hands were gripping tightly at his hair and he was breathing in short quick gasps. It looked as if Cameron was seconds away from either crying, or having an all out panic attack.
Not quite sure of what he could do to help, Oliver sat down next to Cameron. He put his hand on the teenagers shoulder in what he hoped was a reassuring way. It had been a few years since Oliver had had to deal with an angsty teenager, and he doubted he had been any good at it even back then.
"So, what happened with Artemis?" Oliver asked after a minute. Cameron groaned and shuddered. He tightened his grip on his hair and Oliver could see a layer of frost beginning to cover the teenager's hair. This frost came from Cameron's hands, which were thinly covered in ice.
Cameron took in a shuddering breath. "I hurt her." He murmured in such a way that Oliver could barely understand him.
"It was an accident though, wasn't it?" Oliver pointed out.
"Doesn't matter. She's going to end up dying either way." Cameron said blankly and shrugged. He was acting like he didn't care, which Oliver knew wasn't the truth. He knew that Cameron did care, a lot. But Cameron was obviously afraid of his feelings, and was trying to cover them up.
"Hey, she's not going to die." Oliver said firmly. "I mean, an ice attack might cause some pretty bad frostbite, but-" Oliver stopped talking when Cameron let out a short sob.
"It wasn't frostbite." Cameron said shakily. He clenched his fists, digging his fingernails into his head. "I...I did something, I'm not even sure what, and now her blood is turning to ice."
"You're not serious." Oliver frowned, though he knew that Cameron was being completely serious. Somehow, the teenager had made it so that a person would slowly freeze from the inside out. It was a terrifying concept, especially since Cameron probably didn't know how he had done it. "How do you know that's what's happening?"
"Because it's happened before." Cameron said simply. Oliver felt his own blood run cold at the implication. Had somebody else died from this?
"When?" Oliver narrowed his eyes. The ability to freeze people from the inside out was a dangerous one, and if Cameron had killed somebody else with this ability, even just accidentally...
"We were just little kids." Cameron whimpered. "It wasn't supposed to happen" Cameron tried to take in a deep breath, though it came as more of a gasp. "And now I hurt her again, and nobody's going to save her this time."
...Oh, so Artemis had been the victim both times. This was reassuring...not that Oliver was glad that this had happened to Artemis twice now! Oliver was just relieved that Cameron hadn't killed anybody, even with such a potentially fatal ability. And, if Artemis had been cured last time, then who was to say they couldn't cure her this time around?
"You know, you could always save her." Oliver said.
"Yeah, sure." Cameron scoffed and glared at Oliver. "And how exactly would I do that?"
Oliver stared at Cameron. He had thought that the answer was kinda obvious. "Can't you just take the ice, or whatever it is, back?"
"Look, man, that's not how this works." Cameron scowled. "I can create ice, but no way in hell can I take it back."
Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Really? I find that hard to believe, considering I've seen you do it."
Cameron snapped his head up and stared at Oliver with wide disbelieving eyes. "What are you talking about?!"
Oliver blinked. Had Cameron not even realized what he had been doing? "Cameron, you retract your ice all the time." It was clear that the teenager didn't believe him, so Oliver decided that the best way to convince him was by showing him. "Can you go into ice form?" Oliver asked.
"What?" Cameron was confused by the request. "Why?"
"Trust me." Oliver said. Cameron frowned, but did as Oliver asked. Within seconds Cameron was covered from head to toe in ice armor. "Good. Now go back to normal." Cameron shot Oliver an annoyed glare, but did as he was told. Over the years Cameron had learned that it was much easier to do as you were ordered than to question it all the time.
"There. Happy?" Cameron asked sarcastically as he reverted back to his normal self. "Don't know what you think you were trying to prove, but-" Cameron grew quiet and looked at his arms which were no longer covered in ice. His eyes grew wide with realization.
"No way." Cameron muttered in disbelief. Oliver raised an eyebrow. It seemed like Cameron had finally realized what he had been able to do this whole time. Oliver found it a little hard to believe that Cameron was only realizing this just now.
"You really didn't know you could do it before?" Oliver asked.
"Well, of course I knew that I could go in and out of ice form, but I never realized just what that meant." Cameron said breathlessly as he ran a hand through his hair. Oliver couldn't blame Cameron for being stressed out by this revelation. After all, it wasn't everyday you find out that something that you've believed your whole life was a lie.
"You mean it wasn't explained to you?" Oliver asked. He had thought that Joar would have taught Cameron anything and everything about his powers. Unless, of course, Joar hadn't been the one to teach Cameron. "Who taught you anyways?"
"Crystal." Cameron answered. Oliver sighed and put a hand to his hand. Crystal Frost. He should have known.
Crystal Frost, AKA Killer Frost, was the only other ice villain besides Cameron who actually had powers and didn't use a gun or machine. Of course she would have been the one to teach Cameron how to use his powers. It also explained why she wouldn't have told him that when he was going out of ice form, he was retracting his ice. She never would have explained that taking back ice was something that he could do.
Killer Frost was arguably the most coldhearted and ruthless of all the ice villains. She didn't know the meaning of the word 'mercy'. She likely knew exactly how to retract snow or ice, but never did. Killer Frost used her ice to hurt and murder people, and that's not something that could be taken back. Since she never took back her ice, she didn't bother teaching Cameron how to do it. She had taught him just enough that he could go in and out of his ice form, no more.
"Well, the point is, if you can retract your ice armor, you should be able to do it with other forms of ice. Including what happened with Artemis." Oliver said.
Cameron frowned doubtfully, but Oliver could see hope hidden in his eyes. "You really think I can save her?"
"I don't think there's any harm in trying." Oliver said. He got to his feet and held out his hand to Cameron. The teenager hesitated for a moment, but took the offered hand. Oliver pulled the boy to his feet. All they had to do was go out and find Artemis, and even if Cameron couldn't figure out how to undo whatever he had done, they would just find another way. Whatever the case though, Oliver wasn't just going to let Cameron sit around in self-pity and loathing. The kid was filled with so much anger, especially towards himself, and it would just get worse if he kept on bottling everything up all the time and keeping to himself.
Oliver couldn't think of a long-term solution to help Cameron, but right now, the teenager was mostly angry at himself for hurting Artemis. So, if they found Artemis and figured out how to heal her, Cameron wouldn't be so angry about himself over it. Simple as that.
Before they could get anywhere though, the penthouse door got thrown open violently. Two guys let themselves in. Oliver didn't know who these guys were, but he immediately thought that they were trouble. Oliver could see recognition in Cameron's eyes, which meant that the teenager did know who they were, and he didn't seem very happy to see them.
For a moment after seeing the intruders, a brief look of panic came across Cameron's face. In an instant though it was gone and was immediately replaced by a cold, slightly annoyed look. If Oliver didn't know any better he would think that he had imagined the fear in Cameron's eyes. He knew he hadn't though. The fear had been real. Oliver knew that what he was seeing now was Cameron hiding his true emotions. The cool teenager act was just a mask that Cameron wore. After all, if nobody saw the true him, they wouldn't get the chance to judge him for it.
Oliver knew that this was what Cameron was doing, because Roy used to do basically the same thing. He would act all cool and pretend that he was tougher than he actually was because he didn't want to be seen as weak or not good enough. It seemed to Oliver that Cameron was doing relatively the same thing.
Cameron crossed his arms and glared cautiously at the intruders. "What do you guys want?" He asked. His tone was hard, but also with an underlying respect beneath it, which told Oliver that these guys were not to be trusted, but also not angered.
One of the guys stepped forward and put his hands up in a calming gesture. "Now, Junior, there's no need to act so cold. We're just here to do our job."
"Yeah? And that is?" Cameron scoffed. "Wait, let me guess. The Light wants to see me." Cameron had a cool air about him, but Oliver could see his hands shaking slightly. Cameron may be acting indifferent, but Oliver knew that he was terrified. And Oliver couldn't blame him. If The Light really did want to see him, it probably wouldn't go very well.
"You made quite a scene earlier." The man said. He began walking around the room in a seemingly casual way. This guy made Cameron nervous though, so wherever he moved to, Cameron turned so that he was always facing him. The second guy was also looking around the room, but Oliver got the feeling that he was up to something.
Cameron barely paid any attention to the second guy. In his eyes, the guy who was talking to him was the main threat. To make up for Cameron's lack of attention, Oliver made sure to keep a close eye on the second guy. If he tried anything while Cameron was distracted, Oliver would put a stop to it immediately.
"So The Light wants to talk to me about how I messed up?" Cameron asked, a twinge of nervousness in his voice. The guy he was facing shrugged.
"Look, Junior, all we know is that we're supposed to bring you in." The guy said. "We didn't ask questions."
Cameron and Oliver both tensed. 'Bring you in' wasn't exactly a phrase that said that this was just an invitation. These guys were planning on forcing Cameron to come with them. Yeah, because that would get the teenager to be willing to do work for The Light.
Cameron began to gather ice in his hands. He wasn't stupid enough to attack these guys because they worked for The Light. Any attack against these guys would be seen as an attack against Them. However, Cameron wanted to be prepared just in case he had to defend himself.
Cameron was so busy keeping an eye on the first guy that he had almost completely forgotten that he hadn't come alone. While he was distracted the second guy began to quietly approach Cameron from behind. Oliver grew slightly nervous. He reached for his bow and quiver that he had put on the ground earlier.
The second guy that Cameron hadn't noticed yet reached into his coat and brought out something that made Oliver's blood boil. It was an inhibitor collar, just like the kind that used to be used on the convicts at Belle Reve. Nowadays The Light used the collars to control their army of meta-human slaves. If these guys thought that Oliver was just going to let them stick that thing around Cameron's neck, they had another thing coming.
Oliver nocked one of his blunt arrows and quickly fired it at the guy before he could put the collar on Cameron. The arrow hit the guy in the hand, and while it didn't impale him, it certain delivered quite the blow. The guy dropped the collar, yelled out in pain and clutched at his hand.
All the attention was on Oliver now. Cameron went from staring in shock at Oliver, to looking in horror at the collar that was now on the floor. The two guys both glowered at Oliver. They were clearly furious that he had interferred.
"Big mistake." The first guy said darkly. He began moving towards Oliver. "You're going to regret that."
"I doubt that." Oliver said as he nocked another arrow. If this guy was looking for a fight, he was going to get it. Before either of them could do anything to each other, a blast of ice shot just over the guy's shoulder. It didn't actually hit him, but it did cause him to move his attention back to Cameron.
"What? Are you going to try to fight us?" The guy laughed. "Don't be stupid, Junior. You won't win."
"I know." Cameron said seriously. He made eye contact with Oliver and smiled sadly. "But I'm not going to let anybody else get hurt because of me."
...What? No!
"Cameron, don't!" Oliver shouted, but it was too late. Cameron ice blasted a barrier between Oliver and the two guys, making it so that they couldn't get to him...and he couldn't help Cameron. The ice barrier was thick and there was no way he would be able to break through it in time. Oliver wished that he had thought to bring one of his explosive arrows or something. As it was though, he was useless.
The two goons had also realized that it would be a waste of time to try to get to Oliver now, so they decided to just cut their loses and leave him. Cameron was the one that they had come for anyways. Growling in annoyance, the guy that Oliver had hit with the arrow picked up the collar and slapped it around Cameron's neck before he could try to fight them.
The ice wall was clear, which only gave Oliver a good view when one of the guys brought out a remote and pushed the button on it. Oliver could do nothing as Cameron doubled over and cried out in pain when a shock of electricity came through the collar. The shock continued until Cameron, unable to handle the pain anymore, fell unconscious.
"Cameron!" Oliver pounded his fist desperately against the ice, which did little good. The two guys ignored him, grabbed Cameron, and left without another word. Oliver continued to hit the ice, but a few minutes later it became clear that the ice wasn't going to break anytime soon. He wasn't going anywhere.
Oliver groaned in frustration. He had messed up, and probably made things even worse for Cameron. But if he hadn't gotten involved, they would have just tried to take Cameron anyways. Either way, things would have gotten messed up, and Oliver hadn't been planning on dealing with any of this when he had come to check on his penthouse.
Oliver hated to admit it, but this was probably getting to be more than he could handle by himself, and he imagined that things would only get worse from here. Oliver might have been able to handle things with Cameron and Artemis, and whatever The Light was up to now, except for the fact that he wasn't going to get out from behind this stupid barrier of ice anytime soon...at least, not without help.
Oliver groaned and brought his hand to his ear, turning on the earpiece. As much as he hated it, Oliver would need help getting out of here...oh, and it would probably be good if the league knew about what had happened.
"Hey, Batman?" Oliver said into his comlink "We've got a problem."
A/N: So, not exactly my best work, but I think the chapter turned out okay. I still really love writing Oliver. I don't know what it is about him, but he's fun.
I only just noticed when writing this chapter that I have him comparing Cameron to Roy a lot. But hey, the two teenagers are similar-ish.