Winter's On the Wing

by Marie Noire

Just my take on what might have happened if Victor had not seen the news report about Nora's recovery. And how Nora might've reacted to hearing of her husband's exploits.

Author's Note – None of these characters belong to me… as far as I know, they belong to Warner Brothers and DC Comics.  I am making no money from this and am broke anyway, so you can't sue me for very much.

#1 Victor Fries: Winter's On the Wing

            He slid effortlessly through the water, just as he had all those years ago on the NYU swim team.  He could not feel the water sliding over him as he had so long ago but that was not a great concern.  Even if he had been able to feel, this water was not something he would wish to experience with a normal neural system.

            Hypothermia and death were not pleasant thoughts, after all.  But as he was now, hypothermia was a physical impossibility and to his figuring, any other death was another thousand years off.  He smiled for a brief moment as Shaka and Nochka swam past him.  He ran his hand over Shaka's back as she passed.  There was a thrill in knowing he was the only man in the world who could swim with these most unusual companions.

            He swam for the surface and bobbed for a moment, taking in his surroundings.  This was definitely the most peaceful place he could have found.  There was not a settlement of any sort for at least a hundred miles in any direction… no reminders of what had been lost.  After pulling himself from the water he shielded himself from the spray Shaka and Nochka flung out as they shook out their white fur.

            "To home."  he gestured to the two bears, these were companions, not pets. 

            The warmth in his voice when he called them would have surprised many.

            It seemed the only vestige of the man he had once been.

********

            In perhaps the boldest moment of her young life she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, gently seeking what she has dreamt about almost since meeting him.  She fought down panic when he stood stiffly for a moment before responding with two tentative hands at her waist.

            She tried to pull away, to apologize, to blush, to sink into the ground at least, but he held her to him in a gentle embrace.  Pity.  She thought, you ruined your friendship and now he pities you.  Her stomach lurched at the thought.  She pulled away again.  He released her just enough to allow her to look at him.

            She couldn't fathom the look in his eyes.  Fear, hope, pity, desire?   She had known him for four years, been his student, his assistant, his friend, and still many of his expressions remained a mystery to her.  After a moment she found she couldn't meet his eyes.  She looked down and sighed, promising herself that she wouldn't cry.  "I'm sorry Victor… I shouldn't have been so presumptuous.  After all… I'm a student, less than half your age… I don't know what made me think-"

            Her babbled apology was stopped short with a long finger curling under her chin, raising her head up to face him.  For a moment, she really did feel like the child she surely was in his eyes.  Before she could resume her panicky apologies, he leaned down and brushed his lips over hers before covering her mouth completely.  His kiss was as gentle as hers, but somehow stronger.  His hands ran slowly up and down her back, sending shivers up her spine as she pressed closer to him.  Leaving her mouth, he gently kissed the tender skin below her ear before pulling back to look at her.

            Now she thought she could place his look, hope and desire.

            Hers was no mystery to him, she was plainly shocked by his advance. He summoned his courage, "You have no need to apologize Nora… you merely exhibited the courage I lacked.  I could not have made the first move." he admitted, looking down and fervently hoping that he had properly interpreted that kiss.

            "So you do see me that way… not just an annoying lab assistant?"  she queried, still fearing that she had ruined things beyond repair.

            He tilted her chin up with a long finger so that their eyes met again.  "You were never just an annoying lab assistant and you know that.  You were the only person, save Dr. Marro, either student or faculty, which treated me as a human being… How could I not love you?"

            He had been more candid than he had intended.  He bit his tongue hoping he had not scared her off by confessing his love so quickly.

             After a moment of wide-eyed disbelief that nearly stopped his heart, a quirky smile crossed her face.

            "It's convenient you know."  she commented, laying her head against his chest and listening to the rapid beat of his heart.

            "What is?"  he asked, daring to circle his arms more closely round her waist.

            Her voice was muffled against his shirt and yet each word rang in his head.  "That you love me… because I love you."

            "Mrs. Fries."

            Yes, Mrs. Fries six months later, she thought dreamily.

            Her breath was shallow and she struggled with a deeper breath, feeling a mask pass over her face.

            Oxygen.  She remembered.  Victor's giving me oxygen.

            "Mrs. Fries?"

            Not Victor's voice.

            Her eyes snapped open in that instant and she found herself looking in to the rather boyish face of Bruce Wayne.  She tried to say something but she couldn't force enough breath to make the words.

            He smiled and held her hand.  "You've been taken out of stasis Mrs. Fries, you'll never guess what your friend Dr. Marro discovered the cure for… with your consent we'll give you the treatments and you should be back on your feet and talking up a storm by next week."

            She closed her eyes, a dim memory flitting behind the lids.  Victor lying beside her, lightly stoking the hair at her temple and gently kissing her hand as he explained the procedure.  Telling her how, after she was revived and cured, they'd leave on a second honeymoon, perhaps actually seeing a bit of Paris this time.  The prick of the needle, the drowsiness setting in.  A soft voice telling her how much she was loved.  Victor lifting her into the chamber.  One last kiss pressed to her lips as she fell into a deep sleep.

            She opened her eyes in a panic.  Where is Victor?!

            Bruce sighed and patted her hand.  "Victor couldn't be here today… he's out of the country."  he added as an afterthought… No one knew where he was, but no sense panicking his wife with the details until she was well.

            She was still groggy but it seemed weird that he wouldn't be there and there was something in Bruce's eyes that she didn't like.  He wasn't telling her everything but it could wait until she was well.  It was too hard to think and question someone when breathing was a difficult task.

********

            Sometimes the small snow globe in his hand seemed a portal to the past.  He would gaze into it for hours on end and lose himself.  Often these were good memories, the ones that had sustained him and the ones that had led him to risk everything for her.  Today was different.  While looking for his fishing spear he'd stumbled upon a bit of a newspaper in his bag.  It featured a grainy picture of Batman and Robin.

            He had instantly crumpled it and gone for a long swim.  Later, as the twins ate his catch of fish, he sat and stared at the tiny figured encased in glass.  He tried everything to rescue his darling from the massive fires that had enveloped the burning oil rig, in the end it had been Batman who had pulled her from the danger.  Now, he had no idea what had become of her.  He supposed she was dead, snuffed out of existence because of his foolishness.  Even if Batman had taken her to a hospital, the organ transfusions she would've needed would never have arrived there on time.

            He had not saved her.

            Lost.

            He sat in the waiting room, calmly thumbing through a copy of Time and chuckling at a media interpretation of Dr. Marro's research.  The blood work was supposedly in and they wanted to take a few x-rays to rule out pneumonia.  He had shaken his head at that tentative diagnosis last week, just as Nora had.  If I'd been stricken with pneumonia, she had commented to him that evening, I'd be hacking up more phlegm than chain-smoking Aunt Ruth.  He tapped his foot impatiently after checking his watch again.  It had been over two hours and despite the assurances he'd made her on the way over, he was beginning to worry.  The cough had gotten worse since the week before and there had been some shortness of breath.

            He turned his attention back to the magazine and read another article, though had anyone asked him what it had been about he would not have been able to tell them.

            After another hour of jumping every time the door to the waiting room opened he was rewarded with the sight of his wife's face.

            Something was very wrong.

            She couldn't meet his eyes as she sat down.

            Her shoulders shook, both from fear of what was happening to her and what would happen to Victor.

            "What is it love?"  he whispered, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand.

            She could hear the worry in his voice and fought back tears.  This isn't fair!  I am only 33… still young enough to have a healthy immortality complex for god's sake!  Her bitter thoughts fled and were replaced by wondering how best to tell her husband, her love, her greatest friend, that she had less than two years to live and that was if she was lucky.  She cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders.  "Gregor's Disease."

            No explanation was needed.  Their friend and colleague at WayneCorp, Bob Marro, had lost his mother to the disease and had dedicated himself to finding the cure.  That cure was still a long way off.

            The words hit Victor like a bullet.  For a moment he couldn't breath.  And then he couldn't speak.  The details of the disease he knew so well from assisting Bob ran through his mind… no one had survived more than two years after the onset of symptoms, no cause had ever been found, the lungs eventually collapsed and then, death by slow suffocation.

            "Nora."  he whispered, pulling her into a tight embrace.

            She couldn't hold back the tears any longer.  Her body shook with sobs.  He held her tightly and rocked her.  He was glad that her face was buried against his chest, she did not need to see the tears that streamed down his cheeks.

            He shook his head and the twirling figure in the snow globe came back into focus.  He had done everything he could, took a year off work, took her to treatments, nurses, doctors, and in the end cryogenic freezing… but it hadn't been enough. 

            The figurine of Nora swam within his vision as tears gathered in his eyes, ice cold as the rest of him before freezing into snowflakes and breezing away to mix with the snow outside.

********

            "Dammit, Bruce, I am going to do this with or without your help.  Lead, follow, or get the hell out of my way." Nora's eyes flashed angrily as Bruce listed off the dangers of a northern search for the umpteenth time.

            He sighed in resignation.  "I can have the survey crew ready by Friday… one condition though Nora…"

            She cocked an eyebrow at him but was relieved he'd agreed.

            "I'm coming with you."

            She smiled in relief and hugged him.  "Thanks Bruce."

            He smiled that lopsided smile that drove all the women in Gotham wild.

            "It's nothing Nora, I just want to help."

********

            There was an accident with one of the cryo-chambers. The words burned in her mind as she left camp that morning.  What kind of man will I find?  She wondered, still reeling over her husband as a villain.  She had teased him once that he was about as dangerous as tapioca pudding and they had both laughed.       

            God how she missed that laugh!

            A month after her recovery Bruce had led the expedition North with a crew of only twelve.  The Northwest Territory of Canada seemed likely for its scarce population and temperature; no way Victor would return to the Arctic Circle.  Each of the crew would use their snowmobiles to scout the area.  It was accepted that Nora left at dawn, well before anyone else and returned well after midnight while the crew slept in their thermal sleeping bags.

            No trace of Victor Fries.

            She shivered as she whipped over the snow and ice on one of Bruce's cutting-edge mobiles.  She'd procured the warmest clothing she could find right down to the Cuddl-duds underwear and polar-fleece socks, and she was still freezing cold!  The storm she insisted on going out in was getting worse by the second and she stopped the snowmobile.  Her eyes watered from the icy wind that screamed around her, trying to rip her parka hood from her head.  Everything was so barren and sterile out here... so unwelcoming... would her lost husband be as unforgiving? 

            As if in answer to her desperate question, the wind died down and the snow settled as it should, sparkling at her in apology for its previous behavior.  With a sigh of relief and brief acknowledgement to whoever was in charge up there, she scanned the horizon in front of her.

            "Well, well... would you look at that." she commented to no one but herself.  Before her stood a huge glacier, as big as a mountain from the Rockies, almost like a winter land castle in the snow.  She shook her head at herself and turned the key to the snowmobile, looking up at the jagged white top of the glacier.

            Nothing... not even a rumble of protest from the piece of machinery.

            "No, no, no... don't do this to me now." she seethed at it.  Dammit, apparently mobiles hated her as much as cars did, she imagined as she remembered all the times her car wouldn't start because of the cold. 

            With a few choice words muttered under her breath, she sat back on the snowmobile to wait.  It would start eventually, probably in just enough time for her to get back to base and receive a lecture from Bruce about being careful.  In the meantime, she stared at the top of the glacier, admiring its pristine, if somewhat cold beauty.           

            Glaciers usually meant caves too, and that was what they were looking for.  Right, because in all of the frozen wilderness you're gonna find one former Biology professor in a random cave.  Girlfriend, you need a reality check.  She shook the bitter thought out of her head and tried to start the snowmobile again.

            She stopped with her hand on the ignition when two polar bears appeared about 100 yards away.  Now polar bears she had seen, they were nothing new out here.  What was new was the tall man with bluish skin walking between them in what looked like swim trunks.  It was a silhouette she knew very well; the long legs and trimly muscled torso, the broad shoulders and hawk nose, the bald head she affectionately dubbed the chrome dome.

            "Victor..." she whispered, putting a hand over her mouth to keep from calling out to him.  It would be better to find out where he was hiding, just in case he got one of his stubborn ideas about what was best for her and ran.

            She followed well behind, abandoning the mobile in favor of padding after him on foot, nearly missing his disappearance into a well hidden cave because of the deep snow. 

            Gotcha, hon.

********

            "Would you like a fish, Shaka?  Hmmm?"  The large bear rolled to her back and put her paw to her mouth with a dog-like grunt of approval.

            A light chuckle followed this performance along with the requested fish.

            Nochka was not happy at being left out of the attention and the fish.  He lumbered over and set his head in Victor's lap, a muted moan that shook the cave in its timbre emitting from his throat in rebuke.

            "My poor neglected Nochka."  Victor crooned, scratching behind the bear's ears before handing him a fish.

            He spread the rest of the fish in two piles on the ice and stood, leaning against the icy, stone wall of the cave, prepared to whisk himself back into the past as he always did when boredom threatened to settle in.

            Suddenly the low growls of the normally lazy bears filled the air as the two bear sniffed the air furtively and padded in circles around the perimeter of the room.  Nochka took off first barreling out the door and down a hall, the fur along his back risen and his teeth bared.  Victor barely had time to look up in surprise before he heard the scream of a woman.

            Without thinking, he took off running, hoping to beat Nochka to the prey.  The huge bear had cornered what looked to be a young woman with a slight frame, although it was difficult to discern any of her looks what with all of the clothes she had on.  A blue parka hid her form, its hood concealing her hair and snow goggles over her eyes.  She was backed up against an icy wall, eyeing the two bears fearfully.

            "Shaka!  Nochka!  Here!" Victor barked at them.

            The bears returned dolefully, looking ashamed of themselves despite not knowing why and nuzzling Victor's hands for forgiveness.

            "Nice bears." The woman commented breathlessly.

            "One must expect to encounter polar bears in this region.  You'd best be on your way if you wish to beat the worst of the storm outside." He replied indifferently despite the odd sensation that he knew her somehow.

            "The storm's already hit… and my snowmobile won't start." She stammered, probably frightened by his cold rebuff and his even colder form.

            "That is not my concern." He insisted, sending her an hostile glare.  This little slip of a girl was annoying and he was in an already foul mood.

            "Victor… don't you recognize me?" she asked softly as he turned away.

            Her voice!  Why was it so familiar?  He turned back in an attempt to search her features with formal precision.  He couldn't see her eyes enough to guess their color and her lips, though turning blue at the moment, were unmistakably pink… and still oddly familiar.

            "Should I?" he answered, tiring of this little chit's game of Guess Who.

            "Victor… it's me." She sighed, pulled back her hood and removing the snug goggles from her face. 

            He couldn't breathe, even his heart had stopped.  That ivory pale skin that he had caressed with his fingertips countless times before, the sapphire blue eyes that had never failed to express her love for him, the golden blonde waves that fell past her waist and had brushed his face as they had slept in the past.  The soft, full lips that he had thirsted after for years before he had been allowed to sample them. 

            "Nora…" he whispered, a sharp pain erupting behind his eyes, so foreign to him now… the feeling of being in tears.  "I thought you were dead… you escaped the oil rig… but you needed an organ transplant… how..?" he stuttered.

            "Bob Mauro, you remember him?  He finished his cure and I was the first test subject to receive it.  My lungs may always be a little weak, but other than that…" she drifted off.

            What had happened to her loving husband?  She had expected him to run to her as she longed to run to him, to sweep her up in his arms, at least say how much he had missed her.  Did he no longer care for her?  Oh dear… this is not good.  She watched him stand motionless, his normally expressive eyes betraying not one nuance of what he was thinking or feeling.

            "Nora… why are you here?  This environment can't be helpful to your lungs if they're weak." he asked only a slight waver of compassion in his voice.

            "I… I wanted to find you, Victor.  You're my husband." She stammered uneasily, pausing in the act of removing her gloves.

            "Nora... I am no longer the man you fell in love with.  I'm not even human.  I would not have you remain loyal to a vengeful chunk of ice." He replied tonelessly.

            She had no reply for that; her heart had stopped dead in her chest with his unfeeling words.  Slowly, clumsily, she managed to make it to a makeshift bed of sorts, sitting on it unsteadily with her gloved hand clutched to her chest.  She had been so wrong!  Victor no longer loved or even cared for her.  She couldn't find breath, stress and the high altitude stealing the nutritious oxygen from her fragile lungs.

            "I'm sorry…" she managed to pant, choking back tears as best she could.  "I guess I was mistaken… I only wanted to find the husband that I thought loved me."

            They were purposely hurtful words, meant to scratch where she had been shredded, and Nora found herself wishing for the ability to hurt back.

            "Nora…" he whispered her name, a hint of the warmth he felt for her shining through the frozen tundra at last.  "I never stopped loving you.  This frozen heart is unable to express it adequately, I fear."

            "Victor, don't turn me away.  You promised me that everything would be all right!  You promised that you wouldn't leave me!  You promised!" she cried, remembering his tender words during her illness.

            "I didn't count on this happening, Nora.  I cannot do anything about it now." He shook his head.

            "Yes, you can!  Yes, you can!  You can come back with me!  We'll find a way to fix this!" she insisted, stroking his cheek with her ungloved hand.

            He grabbed her hand, leading it away to reveal small blisters forming on his cheek.  "And condemn myself to fifty years across from the Joker in Arkham?  No."

            "What about me, Victor?" she asked tearfully.

            "You… are better off without me." He sighed.

            Her heart was breaking.  This man who had saved her life, who had made her life worth living in the first place, who had cherished her with all of his heart… was now abandoning her without a second glance.  Her eyes flooded with tears and she ran, no longer able to bear the sight of Victor in his frozen shell.

            She bolted outside, half praying that he would follow and half praying that he wouldn't.  The mobile still refused to start and she was forced to head out on foot, compass in hand.  One glance told her where North was and she headed in that direction, knowing that she wouldn't be found until it was too late.

********

            Victor sat where Nora's warm body had once been, already cursing himself for chasing her off, even if it was for the best.  Tears flowed freely now, streaming down his cheeks before freezing into snow.  She was alive… and he had not been able to express even the slightest bit of the relief or elation that he should have felt.  Emotions had been frozen out of him.  He remembered his love for her only as a vague memory, albeit one strong enough to drive him to such vengeance against those who had taken her from him.

            Sometimes, while looking at the snow globe, he could see her in his memories; experience his love for her second-hand… but little more. 

            He looked about his icy home briefly, wondering what to do with himself now.  Shaka and Nochka had finished their fish and were now curled up together in light sleep.

            He had to go… for a walk or a swim… something.  He suddenly couldn't stand the sight of the glassy walls of his home.

            "Shaka.  Nochka.  Come along." He called to the sleepy bears, who responded groggily to his request, but responded nonetheless.  Victor stalked towards the entrance wondering at the abrupt wanderlust that had seized him.  From his left, something called his attention… the stark black shadow that rested patiently against the white wall of ice.  His suit, one he had recently redesigned for better defenses and cryogenic control… why did it call his attention now?

            Questioning his certainly questionable sanity he slipped into the suit, shaking his head at the fanciful notion that he might need it… never mind that it was almost 60 below outside, not including wind chill.  Whatever… be prepared and all that.

            He and the bears wandered aimlessly North, pausing only when the storm became too powerful for even Nochka to transverse.  Eventually the wind died down and the snow calmed to a gentle fall of lacy flakes.  The twins were frisky now, jumping and pawing at each other happily.  Victor, deep in thought, almost didn't notice Shaka, the more sensitive of the two, stop her play and head deliberately for a small mound of snow and start sniffing it in interest.

            "What have you there?" he asked the big she-bear, walking over to where she worried over the mound.  He reached out a hand to help her brush the snow away more delicately.

            Slowly, long strands of honey-blonde hair were revealed and Victor pulled away as if burned when he saw the face attached.

            "Nora!" he cried out at the sight of his half-frozen wife, unconscious and shivering, but alive.  "Shaka, girl, move aside."  He pushed the animal away and proceeded to unbury Nora, pulling her from the icy jaws of death as he never had been able to before.  With a gentleness that discounted his earlier treatment of her, he cradled Nora against his chest, grateful that he had brought his suit… otherwise her body against his would have burnt him.

            "Nora… Nora, wake up." He shook her in an attempt to revive her.

            She moaned softly, shivering so violently that the noise could have been involuntary.  "Victor…" she sighed, her face stretched with pain.

            "Nora, quick… tell me where your camp is… what direction?" he prodded her urgently.

            "South… Wayne's camp…" she managed before falling back into unconsciousness.

            Without wasting time, Victor headed South, almost running in his determination to get her warm.  The polar bears, while confused, followed obediently, bounding through the snow more like rabbits than bears.

********

            Bruce scanned the white-cold horizon with his binoculars for the thousandth time that evening.  It was way past nightfall and still Nora hadn't returned… and he was getting worried.  He sighed and glanced longingly at his tent, where a Batsuit appropriate for the subzero temperatures was stored for emergencies.  He would be hard pressed to explain why Batman had taken off from his Gotham City duties to find one woman lost in the Arctic… but if Nora was in danger then there was no choice.

            One more hour and he would go after her, he decided as he raised the binoculars to her blue eyes once more.  First the blank whiteness of the North, like a television station off-the-air… then…

            Movement!  Someone was walking quickly towards the encampment!  Bruce nearly collapsed with relief, bringing the binoculars down to adjust the setting to something stronger.  That done, he quickly looked back, his breath catching in his lungs.

            "Freeze..?" he mumbled aloud.

            Dark against the snowy background, the tall apparition stamping so resolutely towards the camp was undoubtedly Victor Fries.  It didn't take long for Bruce to figure out that the small bundle he was carrying was Nora… he'd recognize her royal blue parka anywhere.

            Dropping the binoculars, Bruce slid down from the makeshift tower and broke into an all-out run towards the two, shouting orders to the first-aid station as he sprinted off.

            "Victor!" he called out, waving his hands to get attention.  "The camp's over here!"

            Under normal circumstances, he might have tried to hide… or at least prepared the other members of the camp for an icy assault.  But the fact that Victor carried Nora made him relatively certain that he meant no harm.  After all… they weren't here to hurt him, right?  Bruce tried to ignore the fact that Victor had frozen an entire prospecting crew before without a thought.

            "What happened?  Is she all right?" Bruce asked gently as soon as Victor was within a reasonable hearing distance.

            "She headed in the wrong direction and got lost.  Her ankle is sprained as well." Victor answered without slowing his pace towards the camp and ignoring Bruce's offer to help carry Nora.  "You should not have let her go out alone, Mr. Wayne." He added.

            "You try to keep Nora from doing something she's got her mind set to." Bruce defended.

            "In that case, I'll forgive… Nora is notoriously stubborn."

            "Take her in there… the red tent and I'll fetch the first aid supplies." Bruce pointed Victor towards Nora's tent and took off.

            Victor flung the flap of the tent aside and laid Nora down on her thick pallet, removing her fur-lined boot with a medical doctor's detachment, giving no vent to the unheard-of emotions running the gamut through his soul.  How could she have gotten lost?  She'd had the best sense of direction he'd ever seen and the weather hadn't been all that bad when she'd left… she'd been less than a mile from the camp.

            Her ankle was swollen and even through his suit, he could feel the fever-heat of the skin.  She'd twisted it more than adequately enough to keep her off her feet for a week… maybe now he could convince her to leave this frozen wasteland.

            "Victor…" she whispered softly, her eyelashes fluttering before the cornflower blue of her eyes focused on him, nearly taking his breath away.

            "Nora… what were you doing?" he asked, covering up his momentary lapse with coldness.

            "I… got lost." She looked away, a sure sign that she was not telling him the truth.

            "Nora…" he prodded her with his voice.

            "You… you promised me everything would be all right.  You've never broken a promise before… not to me.  I was upset… I wanted to… to…" she babbled, leaving no doubt in Victor's mind as to what she had been attempting.

            "Nora, no!  Why would you try that?  Especially after what you've already survived." He demanded, holding her by the arms with sudden anxiety.

            "If I don't have you, Victor…" she didn't finish.  She didn't need to.

            "Damn it, Nora, why won't you see reason!" he breathed heavily.  "I'm no use to you now.  Forget me and go on with your life, I beg of you."

            "No!  Damn you, Victor!  You didn't give up on me!  Not when I was dying from that accursed disease!  Not when you were doused in cryogenic fluids and transformed!  Not when Grant had me in his clutches!" Nora suddenly exploded on him with every ounce of stubborn energy she had left.  "Now you expect me to give up on you?  You promised me that we would be together and now you're not even going to try?  I will not let you do this Victor.  You are not abandoning me!"

            "Nora, please…" Victor pleaded weakly, bowing his head.  "Even if I choose to go back with you, I'll be in Arkham for the rest of your life.  I have four life sentences to serve and I very much doubt any defense team can get me out of it.  I can't see you as the wife of an Arkham inmate."

            "Victor… you fail to see all of the aspects in your favor.  I'll be pleading your case along with Bob, Bruce Wayne, Barbara Gordon, Koonak, even Batman.  The Mayor of Montreal would like to thank you for saving that train of 212 people as well." Nora continued her logic.

            "How did that news get out?  Besides, all I did was bridge the track's gap with ice." He shrugged as much as he could from within the metal confines of his suit.

            "On an elevated train." She reminded him.

            "Nora… do you have any idea how many people I've played in part in killing?  I'm no longer the college professor you fell in love with.  You would not be happy binding yourself to one such as I, a frozen monster." He sighed, looking distractedly at the floor.

            A sobbing sound caught his attention and his eyes snapped up to see Nora curled into a fetal ball, rocking back and forth and weeping like a lost child.  Her cornflower blue eyes were glassy and bright with tears and something in Victor broke, the thick coating of ice that surrounded his coldly beating heart had finally cracked, weakened by the warm love that flowed through him.

            Cursing his inability to feel her, Victor leaned forward and took her in his arms, cradling her head on his shoulder.  "Nora… my sweet Nora…" he whispered in her ear, feeling her tremble in his embrace although whether from cold or emotion he could not tell.

            "Please…" he voice was so soft he almost didn't hear it, but her hot breath melted the frozen heart as surely as a the blistering August sun could melt a lonely ice cube.

            "As you wish, my love." He breathed.  "I'll not disappoint you again."

********

            "Commuted sentence."

            Nora thought she might faint.  She'd never heard two more beautiful words in her life.

            The 20/20 special on the infamous Mr. Fries, the amateur film of him saving a trainload of people, the security film of the accident and the testimony of his wife had won the judge's heart.  Victor was on parole, no longer an inmate of Arkham, just a resident until the cure, that was coming closer everyday, was found.

            She found Victor staring at the snow globe that held her figure when she came in.  "Miss me?" she asked ruefully, gesturing at the figure.

            "Very much." a genuine smile crossed his face when he looked at her.  Much better than the week or so after he returned with her.  He'd persisted in attempting to convince her to leave him until she'd wanted to slap him.

            Finally she'd said that he hadn't given up on her when things looked their worst, did he think her love for him was less than his love for her… that she couldn't be as faithful?  He fervently denied ever having thought such things and now more of the Victor Fries she had fallen in love with during college peeked through the frozen exterior.

            She sat on the bench next to him.  "You're just being sweet… good thing, 'cause I've got good news."

            "Do you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.  "Are you going to tell me or must I guess?"

            "Nah, no torture for you… that's for after I perfect the formula and get you home." she commented with a wicked grin.

            "Your hearing was today… you got a commuted sentence, you're just a resident, no longer a prisoner of Arkham." she patted his bare hand with her gloved one and smiled sweetly.  "Which means as soon as I make a successful clone, you my love, will have a new body… one which I will have to properly christen when you get home."

            Victor's eyes went wide for a moment, both at his new status in the asylum and Nora's rather overt comment.  He smiled, and then chuckled, wishing for all the world that he could hold her.  "Sounds like my beautiful imp is getting anxious."  He replied with a wicked grin of his own.

            She smiled and looked down, nodding.

            In a gesture that he had used so often between them that it neared on reflex, he reached for her cheek with his fingertips.

Ice.  How in the hell did I get ice on my face? she thought for a moment.  Her eyes snapped open to see Victor's fingers caressing her cheek in the lightest of touches.  He pulled away a moment later, cradling his hand against his chest and looking down.

"Victor." a trace of wonder was in her voice.  She reached for his hand and uncurled it to reveal fingertips that were several shades darker than the rest of the hand and forming small blisters.

            "I'm sorry… I didn't think, it was the only way I could feel you." he admitted.  A blush would have crept across his cheek had it been able.

            She shook her head.  "This will be over soon enough… no more masochism, promise?" she smiled in wonder at what he had done.

            He looked up with a smile of his own.  "It was worth it."

********

            "Good Morning, my name is Dr. Fries and this is Biology 101.6-" he looked up from the lecture notes he'd been setting out and stopped when he realized that half of his audience was asleep in their chairs.

            I hate 8:30am classes.

            He shook his head and clapped twice, loudly.  Most of the class was startled into wakefulness.

            "If you would like to sleep in I suggest you do it at home.  Now, for the second time-  Good morning, my name is Dr. Fries and this is Biology 101.6, if anyone is in the wrong class, leaving might behoove you… Last but not least, my last name is German, pronounced 'freeze', not 'fries', despite what the spelling suggests to the American tongue.  Anyone who can't figure this out should leave now because this lecture will certainly be over your head." he finished, setting his notes on the podium and reaching for a piece of chalk.  A giggle in from the front row caught his attention.

            He scowled, this day was not shaping up well.  He had been up for tenure and the board had turned him down.  Topped off by having his car break down and subsequently being late to the Biology Department meeting, it was not one of his better days.  He had missed a vital part of his morning too... his coffee... so he was not a particularly gracious mood.  "Please, tell me... am I amusing you, Miss…"

            "Dawson, Miss Nora Dawson." she supplied without missing a beat.

            He smiled inwardly despite his mood, she wasn't easily intimidated, a rare find in a freshman. "Miss Dawson." he repeated, looking through his papers for her name.  "Ah yes, the lab section you scheduled has been cancelled, stop by my office today after class and we'll rework your schedule.  In the meantime, please refrain from disrupting the class with your personal amusements, is that clear?"

            Her answer was a quick salute and militaristic "Sir, yes, sir!"

            His only response this time was to raise a warning eyebrow and ignore her comment for the time being... definitely not intimidated by the tyrannical Dr. Fries.  The class had gone well with several unexpectedly intelligent questions from Miss Dawson and Miss Levin who was seated next to her.

            Nevertheless, he was grateful for the sanctity of his office that afternoon.  Having forgotten about requesting her to stop by, he brewed a pot of strong coffee and sat down at his desk to look over the list of seniors he would advise for thesis that semester.

            A knock at the door startled him.  Unless it was a dire emergency of scheduling, students usually avoided his office, calling it the Ice cave when he wasn't supposed to be in hearing.  In truth he was as feared by the students as Dr. Crane, or the decidedly autocratic Mr. Bandt who went by the student-given nom de plume of Nazi-Bunny-Man.

            "Come in?" it came out in a question.

            Miss Dawson walked in, reminding him for a moment, of a fairy he'd seen depicted in a Brian Froud book. Long, honey-blond hair that she hadn't bothered to tie back, a tiny frame with slender limbs, and large eyes of bright blue.  The entire presentation was one of delicate beauty and yet there was a certain strength about her.

            He blinked and the image was gone.  He motioned to a chair.  "Have a seat."

            "Thanks." she swung her heavy pack off her shoulder and placed it next to the chair before sitting.  Pulling a battered course schedule from her bag, she thumbed through it and then, pointing to a line, said, "I think I can fit into the Thursday morning lab."

            "Yes, you'll run five minutes into your next class, but the labs rarely last the whole three hours and Dr. Marro will allow you to arrive late for Chemistry as long as you let him know on the first day." he was rather surprised again by this girl.  Most of the freshman he advised were not so organized.  Hell, half the seniors he advised weren't as organized.

            "Cool… mind if I ask why the lab was cancelled?" she shook her head mentally.  Why was everyone so down on this guy?  It wasn't like he was the abominable snowman or anything… a little rough around the edges, but not bad.  Kinda handsome in an off sorta way.

            "You were the only one in the section and while we try to cater to the students, we don't like the lot of you that much." he replied as he signed the change in her schedule and handed it back to her.

            "Gotcha… professors don't like students.  Weird career choice." she grinned, stuffing the form into her bag and slinging it on one shoulder.

            "It pays the bills, gets you the research grants and besides, confusing freshman can be fun."

            She smiled.  "Not nearly as much fun as confusing professors.  It was nice to meet you, Victor." she commented as she left.

            It was a few moments before he realized she'd called him by his first name.

            "Victor."

            I love the way she says that, he thought dreamily.

            "Victor, wake up." the words were accompanied by the sensation of fingers to his brow in a brushing motion.

            It was the lightest of touches and yet it nearly overloaded his senses.  He could feel the warmth of the skin, smell a faint perfume, feel the slight pressure against his flesh.

            He opened his eyes and found himself looking into Nora's smiling face.

            In an instant he remembered where he was and what had happened.  "It worked?" he asked hesitantly.

            She nodded, bending closer and brushing her lips across his.  His body went rigid and a strained moan escaped his lips; the sensation had been so strong it was almost painful.

            Having been forewarned of this possible side effect, she backed away and sat beside him.  "It's because your brain's not accustomed to dealing with this sort of input.  The hypersensitivity should pass in a week or so." she assured him as he attempted to catch his breath.

            "Oh good… I'd like to be able to hold my wife without having an aneurysm." he replied with a smile.

********

            He slid into the bed, relishing the feel of the cool sheets against his skin.  The sensitivity was still there, but it was no longer mind numbing, it just made him more aware of his surroundings.  He inhaled sharply, both for the feel of cool air over the mint toothpaste he'd used and the scent of Nora's perfume that lingered on the bed.

            A moment later Nora emerged from the bathroom and crept under the blankets, careful to keep some distance between them.

            Victor smiled in the low light and moved closer, pulling her into his arms as

he'd wished to all week.

            "Are you sure you're ok?" the question was muffled against his chest.

            "Yes." he replied simply, kissing the top of her head.  "I am a bit better today."

            "Good." her hands made a careful path around his waist to return his embrace.

            He reached into the pocket of his flannel pants (light blue with little polar bears, for Nora had an odd sense of humor) and pulled out a small velvet box.  "I have a question for you."

            "I probably have an answer."

            "I was wondering… as I am in effect and as cliché as it sounds, literally a 'new' man, would you like to renew our vows?  Nora Fries, will you marry me?" he asked, opening the box and revealing a ring.  It was of white gold with a snowflake pattern laid out in diamonds.

        It was just like the ring he had given her when he'd proposed the first time.  That one had been lost during her many misadventures as a life-size snow globe, as she had dubbed herself.

            "Yes, yes and yes all over again." she grinned as he slid it onto her finger and kissed her hand.  She pulled his face down to hers and covered his mouth with hers.  A kiss, long and deep as she'd dreamed of doing for so many nights, like their first kiss, even down to the rigid back and hesitant response of the man she held.  But this time there was no fear; he was just close to being overloaded.  She'd have to get him sensitized to this sort of thing.  That thought made her grin as she pulled back.

            "Paris again?  Perhaps we'll actually see something outside the hotel room this time." he commented around irregular breathing.

            "Oh, I wouldn't count on that Victor." she grinned, slowly sliding her hands up and down his arms.  "After all, we've had a five-year fast, haven't we?  More if you count while I was sick."

            "True." he agreed, his eyes shut as he tried to exert control over his body.  "But you were in a frozen sleep, unaware of the time passing."

            "Maybe so... but that didn't stop me from dreaming about you... my handsome husband." she whispered, brushing the backs of her fingers over his cheek.

            "Nora... my beautiful wife..." he breathed in a hushed moan, turning his head to kiss her fingertips.  "Words cannot express how much I missed you... even my frozen heart pained at the loss."

            "I know, Victor.  I heard about everything... I think even Batman could feel the extent of your pain.  You weren't a criminal because you chose to be... you became what you had to in order to survive and try to save me." she whispered, kissing him gently on the lips before continuing.  "You said before that you were no longer worthy of me... I say that everything you've done for my sake points to a faithful, loving, and exceptional man."

            "But-" he started to protest.

            "By order of the Gotham courts, that is what you are, Victor.  Deny it and I will drop kick your butt right back into Arkham."

            Victor had the grace to look mildly affronted.  "I would love to see you try, my love… luckily for both of us I will desist in denying any such thing."

            "Good boy." she smiled at him, brushing his lips in a small kiss.  This time, it was Victor's turn to demand more, catching her face between his hands and drawing her mouth to his with an urgency she'd not seen in him before.   His tongue delved between her lips gently, sampling just a taste of all that he had been isolated from since the day of the accident.  These longings for his wife had been the one thing not frozen out of him and he found that even his most vivid memories did no justice to actually having her in his arms once more.

            "Victor…" Nora gasped as he moved downward to kiss her exposed neck, running his fingertips along the length of her spine, knowing full well that she was particularly responsive to touch there.

            "The female subject of the experiment seems willing, perhaps even eager to participate." he whispered softly against her collarbone, reinstating the game they'd been playing for years.  "Symptoms include… labored breathing, dilation of the pupils, increased heart rhythm, increased blood flow to the face resulting in a flush." He continued, sounding for all of the world like a mild-mannered, if somewhat out-of-breath, scientist recording his findings in a log book.

            "Male specimen is found to be in a similar state." she picked up, running her hands over his chest and stomach.  "All of the symptoms found in the female are also present in the male, suggesting some sort of contagion."

            At the feel of her gentle hands brushing his stomach, Victor sucked in a deep breath, every muscle in his body going rigid for a split second.  Nora smiled knowingly, enjoying the feel of his muscles flexing beneath the thin cloth of his shirt.

            "The female recalls the potent sensitivity of the male's abdominal region rather fondly." she teased lightly.

            Victor leaned his head back, trying to contain the low groans from escaping him and not succeeding very well.  It had been so long, five years since he had felt this kind of desire, this all-consuming urge to join his flesh with another's.    God, how he had longed for this; the feel of Nora's slender fingers on his skin, the tempo of her heart against his chest, the heat of her body next to his… all things he'd only been able to remember sadly or dream about in the past.  It seemed so long ago that he had donned the cryogenic suit and become Mr. Freeze, so long since he had tried to kill Barbara Gordon for his wife's sake, since he had fled the burning oil rig with the polar bears.

            "I love you, Nora." he breathed heavily, hugging her close so that she was flush against him, her head on his shoulder.  "I don't know how I managed to live without you.  All I could think about was bringing you back to me and when I thought you were dead… I almost couldn't bear the pain."

            Tears filled his eyes as he held her, his shoulders starting to shake slightly.  "But here you are… alive… with me.  And I can feel you!"

            "You're shaking... Victor, don't hold back your emotions anymore." She breathed gently in his ear.  "Go ahead and cry."

            With that, the man known to most of Gotham City as the cold-hearted and villainous Mr. Freeze held his living wife and wept tears of love as the moon climbed over the city.  Not far away, on a rooftop, Batman looked out over his domain with his binoculars, surveying for criminals.  He stopped when he saw the silhouettes of Victor and Nora through their flat window.

            "Looks like spring has finally arrived, huh?" Batgirl asked, smiling.

            "Winter's on the wing, that's certain." Batman replied.  "Godspeed, Victor.  May everyone find what you have."

Order of BTAS episodes with Freeze and Nora in them.

Note: Disregard the Batman Beyond episode "Meltdown" with Victor in it.

Note: Subzero fits in here between Deep Freeze and Cold Comfort, it was supposedly the last "episode" of the original series.

Note: Cold Comfort features the newly designed Mr. Freeze and assumes that Nora was killed at some point I believe.  So let's disregard that one as well.

1) Heart of Ice (9/7/92)

2) Deep Freeze (11/26/94)

3) Cold Comfort (10/11/97)

I think our story takes place immediately after what happened in Subzero, but we will assume that Freeze never saw the news-report on her recovery.  All he knew was that Batman got her safely out of the burning oil rig.