Chapter 30: Frozen

I can't believe he's here. Ben Turner, the Bronze Tiger. I haven't seen him in years. Not since before Dinah found me. What in the world is Ben doing here of all places? And why?

Long before I came into Dinah's life, when I was still with the League of Shadows, Ben Turner was a Shadow too. He was one of the most skilled fighters I had ever met at the time. Besides learning from others at the time, Turner taught me various fighting styles. Jee Kun Do, Aikido, Savate, Taekwondo… He made me sweat my ass off until I could match him evenly in a real fight. But he did more than that. He looked out for me, had my back if I was up against a wall, be it in a fight or not.

Ben also, surprisingly, showed more compassion than I would've expected him to have when I first met him. With the Shadows, we were taught and bred to show no mercy, make your enemies suffer and anyone who gets in your way, eliminate them. But Turner, he wasn't like that all the time. I remember we traveled through a village in Singapore, and we saw a boy being abused by his father. Before I could do anything, Ben stepped in and grabbed the father's arm. He twisted it behind his back so far, I thought it would stay in place forever. He then kneeled to the boy and apologized for what he had done. He told the boy that no parent has the right to lay a hand on their child.

Ben Turner is one of the bravest and kindest men I've met in my life. So why in the world is he a prisoner at Belle Reve?

I look over to M'gann/Tuppence and Connor, who're both keeping their eyes locked on the Freezing Family. I look back over to Ben, who's still reading his book in silence. How the hell am I supposed to get Turner's attention without raising suspicion from anyone? Including my own teammates?

I look over to the opposite end of the glass wall and see some scrawny guy moping around by himself, mumbling what sounds like gibberish. He'll do.

"Psst, hey you", I quietly say to the toothpick of a felon. He hears, turning his head towards me. He walks over to me, curious as to why anyone would talk to him no doubt.

"Something I can do for you, miss…" He says oh so charmingly. Yeah right, Wally's got more charm than this clown.

"I need you to give that guy", I say pointing to Turner, "a message for me."

He looks over to Turner, with most likely a scared reaction seeing who I want to talk to. "What do you want with him? He's a murderer, and not the nicest guy in Belle Reve."

"Neither am I, especially if you don't do this for me. Now."

"And what if I don't? It's not like you can actually hu—"

I punch the glass hard enough in front of his stupid face so that it bounces onto his, leaving a red reminder. "You were saying?"

He looks at me with this irritated look on his face. "Fine. What's your message?"

"Tell him the Canary is watching him."

"You sure about that? I could always tell him a riddle instead if you want."

"Just tell him what I said!" That last remark scares him off running to Turner. If anything, Ben should get what the message means. Even before Dinah and Grandpa Grant, I always considered myself a bird, a canary. They just helped give it more meaning to it.

M'gann, Sara, do you copy?

Connor's voice snaps me back to reality. Why I'm really here. What've you got Superboy?

Icicle Sr. is planning to break out of Belle Reve. Along with every prisoner housed here.

A massive outbreak of criminals on that level, that won't be easy to pull off, M'gann says.

If anything, Mahkent's got help from other prisoners besides his below zero pals. Maybe from someone inside the prison. However he plans to pull this off, we have to assume it's going to happen sooner rather than later, I add.

Agreed. I'll update Aqualad.

"Sara?"

Hearing my own name snaps me out again. I turn around towards the glass wall and find the scrawny runt gone, and instead find Ben Turner in front of me now.

"Ben…"

"What're you doing here? Where have you been?"

"I could ask you the same thing. How did you end up in Belle Reve? I would've never figured you'd let yourself be captured so easily. You're a Shadow."

"Not anymore."

"What? But you dedicated your life to the cause. What made you walk away, alive nonetheless?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Little Bird." I shake my head in frustration a bit, like I do with Dinah at times.

"You know I always hated that nickname."

"That's why I gave it to you, it suits you so well."

"You're so lucky I'm on this side of the prison. Anyways, I was rescued on the last assignment I went on, by the Black Canary. She took me in, raised me and brought me back from that life. Trained me even."

"So then how…"

"I'm on a mission, and I'm not alone. As much as I trust you Ben, I can't disclose their identities or else risk jeopardizing it all together."

"I get it. Can you at least tell me why you're here?" I nod my head to my left, in the direction of collection of ice cubes. "Icicle?"

"Apparently he and his fellow freezers are planning a jailbreak for every con in Belle Reve."

"How the hell's he gonna pull that off?"

"You tell me. What do you know about Icicle Sr.?"

Ben looks over towards Icicle Sr. "He basically runs the prison, other than the warden. Anything he needs, he gets. And if he's planning an escape from Belle Reve, he'll probably already have the means to do it."

"Good to know. Now your turn. What're you doing here, Ben?"

He looks down to the floor, almost not wanting to face me for some reason. I can still see his eyes, and all I see is pain and anguish. Something bad must've happened. I mean really bad…

"Sara, I—" The yard bell rings loud as can be before he finishes whatever he was gonna say. Every other prisoner, on both sides, heading back to their cells. I know I have to keep my cover, but I don't want to leave Ben just yet. I haven't seen him in years, and I think he needs a friend more than he lets on.

"We're not done with this."

"Never said we here, Little Bird."

"Good. See you soon, Tiger." I say as I start walking back to my cell. I look back once more to see Turner walking through the doors. A tiger forced back into his cage…

San Francisco

September 17, 10:52 PDT

After nearly an hour of travel time (me and Jade flying, with Artemis and Robin as our passengers; Kid Flash running below), we finally make it to San Francisco.

When I saw those coordinates on Jade's map, I knew it was San Francisco. I know Coast City, my home, and I do my best to know everything near or around Coast. Thankfully it's not too far from San Francisco, especially when we go at top speed. Makes me glad they're no cops patrolling the skies. I'd be piled up with so many sky-speeding tickets.

Jade and I start to slow down as we descend on top of the Golden Gate bridge tower. Jade carefully sets Artemis onto the ground; I do the same with Robin. He doesn't look to shaken up from the air ride. Artemis does look a bit more winded. If anything, Robin's a bit more accustomed to flying, or in his case gliding, through the air than she is. Let's just hope no one vomits and it drops hundreds of feet below us.

Kid Flash runs up the cable lines to meet us at the tower. "I gotta say, I am loving this view!" And for once, he's actually taking about the view itself, not Jade. I was halfheartedly expecting Wally to be throwing lines her way but hasn't said a one.

"Where to?" I ask Jade.

She constructs a new map, this time more local to the area. Her tracer points north of the bridge. "It looks like they're about 60 miles due north of here." She looks to Artemis. "Ready to go again?"

"Ready as I can be. Just don't drop me is all I ask." Artemis wraps her arms around Jade's waist.

"Follow me." Jade ascends into the air, with Artemis in hand, and flies due north.

"You ready?" I ask Robin. He nods yes. We fly into the air as Kid Flash runs in Jade's direction. We follow in suit.

As we head our way into what will probably become a battle with intergalactic smugglers, I look to Robin, who's remained quiet for quite some time now. Or at least with me.

"You okay man?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"It just feels like you've been a bit distant with me today is all. I didn't do anything that I don't know of, did I?"

"No, you didn't do anything. Not you..."

"Then what—Oh, you're upset that I'm leading this aren't you?"

"I get why the League put you in charge for this mission. It's smart, strategic, and you've got the experience. It's just… When will I get my chance?"

I look to Robin, seeing how much he wants to prove he's a capable leader. Not just to Batman. Not just to Kaldur'ahm. But to all of us. "Your time will come to lead us soon enough. To be honest with you, I was surprised they put me in charge. Corps mission or not, I'm still not comfortable with the idea of leading others into battle. Being a Lantern is a lot of responsibility. But being the guy who's responsible for any lives that could be lost… If I could be half the leader that Hal is, that'd be enough for me."

"Okay, now you're not feeling the aster. More like the disaster." I swear…

"Come again?"

"Kyle, you're an amazing Green Lantern and a valuable member of this team. If you weren't with us on half of those missions, we'd be in worse shape that I'd like to admit. You've literally saved our asses so many times, I can't count. You've also had to make the hard calls, like pulling me from a fight with Kobra. Which ended with you getting caught temporarily. And best of all, you see the best in people. You saw that Sara was more than just a crazy stalker, and now she's a member of our team. You are more than capable to lead this team." Part of me wants to blame the wind in my eyes, but I'm a little teary eyed now.

"Thanks, Robin. You're a great hero too and will be a great leader for the Team too. You'll have the chance to prove yourself one day. I'm sure of it."

"Thanks Kyle." He looks ahead as we're still following Jade and Artemis. "So, I know you don't talk to much about the Corps, but why didn't you ever mention Jade?"

"It just never came up. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you guys met her. Well, half of you anyways. She's just always been more of a free spirit. Always doing her own thing, but still loyal and valiant enough to be there for you when you need it."

"Is that why you two aren't together?" BRAKE!

"What!? What're you talking about?"

"Come on, GL. You two have a chemistry, probably a history too."

"You know you sound like Wally right now, and that's not a good thing. But no, we've never been together like that. We thought about it, sure. We both just felt we're better suited as friends. You get what I mean?"

"Yeah, I do. Let's just hope Sara sees that too." BRAKE!

I can feel my face turning red probably, which is more than likely amusing him. I notice Jade starting to slow down and descend. "Thank god, we're here. Let's drop down." Robin laughs as we start making our way down.

Robin and I land next to Jade and Artemis on top of a building. Kid Flash runs his way up to us. Jade brings up her map construct. The tracer is blinking way brighter now than it was before. Jade points towards a warehouse across from us. Looking past it, we seem to be near the bay.

"Looks like the Black Circle is in that warehouse. Whatever deal is going on, it'll be inside."

"Let's go take a closer look then."

As I lay back on the top bunk, my mind is still going in circles over today. Ben is alive, and here of all places. I thought I would never see him again. I just wish it was under better circumstances. I just wish I didn't have to leave him here when the mission is over.

The slot in the door opens as my train of thought continues on. Two new prisoner jumpsuits slide through and fall to the ground. Devastation, who's on the floor already doing pushups, takes one herself.

I jump to the floor and grab the other. Before I unfold it, I find a piece of paper sticking inside of it. Pulling it out, I see it's a folded note with the name Jack on it. I guess it's for me, but from whom? Maybe Ben…

I unfold it and read before me: Meet me in the showers during lunch time. Come alone. KF.

Frost? But why would she… Oh boy, I really hope this is not what I'm thinking of right now.

I shake my head, trying to get said thoughts out of my head and focus on the mission. Thankfully, the voices in my mind help with that.

The break is coming sooner than later.

Updating Aqualad now.

Time to pull you out. Call in the League.

You can't. That'll just spook Icicle and make him believe we're onto him.

Icicle would only postpone. We need to learn how they're busting out or they'll just try again.

Agreed. We remain on alert.

Kaldur has every right to be worried about us in here, as I'm sure the others are too. But M'gann is right. We need to figure out how Icicle is planning his breakout and stop him from doing it. Hopefully we don't die in the process.

Jade and I create two spy camera constructs. They fly into the warehouse through a broken window. My ring creates holographic monitor, showing us what the camera is seeing. Jade does the same, a picture appearing slightly above her hand.

Both our monitors show us the inside of the spacious warehouse. They show at least a dozen armed Circle members, all varying different species. All armed with what looks like Qwardian weapons. Blasters that resemble axes, energy-powered shields. Heavily armed. They also show three steel crates holding whatever is being sold. Guess they don't want anyone trying to steal or sneak a peek inside.

My camera does catch one person in particular. Black leather pants, black jacket with yellow edges. Two Qwardian gun holsters on each side, and what looks like a sheath on his back. His skin is a bright pink, with white eyes. He carries himself with a confident demeanor, and what looks to be anger too. An Ungaran, but he looks familiar…

"Okay, so there are twelve-armed Black Circle members with Qwardian guns. Qwardian weapons are some of the best made weapons in the galaxy. Be extremely careful when facing them. We do not make a move until the buyer arrives. All parties on Earth will be enough for us to arrest them. We just have to be smart and quick about it."

"You gotta plan, GL?" Robin asks me. I nod to him.

"Robin, you'll take the rearside of the building through the window. Artemis, Kid Flash, you'll take the front. Jade and I will come crashing from above. You move in when I give the word. The objective here is to apprehend all parties in the building and recover the illegal product, whatever they may be. We have each other's backs and we'll make it out of this. Any questions?" I look around my comrades and all look assured in our cooked-up plan. "Okay then. To your positions."

Robin grapples his way to the building's rear edge. Kid Flash speeds himself and Artemis to the front, both waiting beside each side of the door. Jade and I take flight and levitate above the roof of the warehouse.

"I hope this works."

"It will Kyle." She smiles to me in reassurance.

I look to my monitor and in the next minute, something appears out of thin air. A boom tube. Someone walks from said boom tube. A woman. Tall, black curled hair. Dark tanned skin. Muscular. Clad in black and green armor. Not like what you see on a Green Lantern. A symbol on her chest too, almost like a green tiara. She carries with her a long, silver weapon, with the top having the combination of an axe and a spear; the bottom appearing to be an energy blaster.

"I know this woman… Ring, search through the Corps' criminal database for a match with this woman." The ring takes a good minute of searching until a holographic profile appears. "Yrra Cynril, also known as Fatality. Charged with assault, smuggling, and murder… of Green Lanterns." Jade and I lock eyes with that last remark. "She's killed at least five Lanterns in the last year. My god."

Jade moves over to me midair, places her hand on my chest and looks me in the eyes. "Kyle, breath. This will work. Your friends will make it out alive, and so will we. Okay?"

I take a breather and shake off what fear I just acquired. "Okay." I reach my hand to my comms in my ear. "On my mark everyone." I look to my monitor and see the deal is happening as we speak. The Black Circle leader and Fatality are exchanging rare crystals for those crates. Another Black Circle member push one crate towards Fatality. "Now."

Jade and I blast two holes through the roof and drop downward. She moves towards her left, while I to my right. Robin swings in from the back window and grapples his way to the catwalk above, tossing one Black Circle member over in the process. Kid Flash and Artemis kick open the front door, with Artemis bow and arrow in hand ready to fire. Both are covering Fatality.

"On behalf of the Green Lantern Corps, you are all under arrest! I'll give you one chance to lay down your weapons. Refuse to do so, and we'll be forced to show force!"

The Black Circle members are all still holding onto their weapons. No surprise there to be honest. Looking nervous as hell but still. Fatality isn't showing any sign of surrender. But what's the most odd is the leader of the Black Circle. He's laughing. Like this is a joke.

"Green Lanterns, so predictable. Charging in full frontal, knocking down doors and criminals. Though I must say, I'm surprised to see these… earthlings as well. And a fraud Green Lantern." I look over to Jade, who's looking furious after that last remark. "I was half expecting more than this rabble after I found this", he says, pulling out Jade's tracer construct. "The only reason I didn't call off this deal is because my client here", gesturing to Fatality, "as well as her wanting to do business, loves killing Green Lanterns. Isn't that right, Yrra?"

"I've been wanting to kill a Green Lantern from Earth for a long time now", Fatality says. She looks towards me. "You're not who I want, but I'll still gladly take your ring as a trophy."

"Try it and I'll shoot you in the back", Artemis responds to her threat.

"Last chance. Turn over your product and surrender before this goes bad", I warn him.

"I cannot give you my surrender. But I can show you what you're after." He reachers over to the crate, places a keycard on the lock and it pops up. He opens the crate wide and takes out… a yellow rock. All this, over stones? "Here, think fast Lantern." He throws me the rock, which I catch easily. But something feels… it feels wrong in my hands. As soon as I hold onto it, my ring's light dies. I fall to the ground, my back taking the brunt of the fall. What the hell…

The armed Black Circle members begin to smile and laugh, feeling reassured after my fall. The others, however, look a tad worried. Even Jade looks surprised. I try to concentrate on creating a construct, any construct. But I can't. This rock, whatever it is, it's preventing me from doing so.

"What is this?"

"This, young man, is the end of the Green Lanterns."

I start to make my way to the showers for my secret meeting with Frost. Hopefully she wants to tell me more about the plan of their escape instead of… Well you know what I mean.

I'm about halfway there until I start to ear crying, soft but sad crying. There's no one else in this hall with me, so I can't see how…

M'gann…

Oh, Sara! I didn't realize that I opened my mind to you right now.

M'gann what's wrong?

It's nothing, really…

I walk towards the wall and turn around, sliding down to the ground. If someone sees out here, I'd rather be seen up against a wall thinking rather than just standing alone waiting to be shived.

M'gann, I know something's wrong. I know the mission comes first, but you can talk to me about anything.

Silence fills the air for about a good minute until it's broken.

It's Connor. He took his anger out on me.

What? Did he hit you?

No, not like that! He… We were in a session with Dr. Strange and I pressed about Connor's—or Tommy's—issues with his father.

His father… You mean Superman.

Yeah. He hasn't really been comfortable about the subject or attempt to even talk to him ever since the others broke him out of Cadmus. And I know that Connor want's that from him, a relationship.

I get where he's coming from.

You do?

Yes. A long time ago, before Dinah, there was a man who was very prominent in my life. He saw the potential I had. He wanted to mold me in his image, make me into his weapon. And I was happy to ablige.

Where is this man now?

…Far out of my mind now. It may not be the same as it is with Connor, but I understand that need to connect. Especially since he and Superman are the only Kryptonians left in this world. Hopefully he will sooner than later.

I hope so too.

And don't take whatever he said to heart. Connor was angry, he would never hurt you. He cares about you too much to do that.

What! What're you talking about now?

Oh come on, M'gann. I see the way you two look at each other. You clearly like each other. So do something about it.

Okay!

I stand back up as we finish our bonding time. Good! Now I'm about to meet Killer Frost. Hoping she'll divulge details about the escape.

Okay. Good luck.

Thanks.

And Sara?

Yeah?

Thank you.

You're welcome.

I walk into the showers, which is absent of any prisoners. No surprise there. Well, except for one. In the corner with the shower heads, there stands Killer Frost, frosty blue hair and ice cold skin waiting for me no doubt.

She sees me as I come into her view. "Thought you weren't gonna show."

"I'm here, aren't I? So, what do you want?"

"Just wanted to see how you were, if you needed a cold shower."

"Lie."

"Okay, lie. I wanted to let you on a secret." Jackpot!

"A secret… Now I'm intrigued. Tell me."

"Not yet. First, I want you to tell me something, Jack."

"And what might that be?"

Frost makes her way towards me, slyly walking behind me, with her hand resting on my left shoulder. "Devastation, she hasn't been too rough on you, has she?"

I look towards her. "Not at all. In fact, after I pinned her my first day here, she hasn't said a word to me at all. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious…"

"About?"

She pushes me up against a wall, holds my hands up in the air tight. Her face is inches away from mine. "If you liked the cold or not, Jack."

"You tell me, Icetips." I move my face in towards her, closing the gap between us with our lips connecting. Her lips touching mine, soft and subtle. Even without her powers, I can feel the coldness from them. The kiss only lasts a few seconds, Frost backing away and letting go of my hands. "Satisfied?"

"Very. You're lucky this collar inhibits my powers, otherwise that kiss would've been your last."

"Lucky me. Now, your secret."

"Oh, right. When Icicle gives the word, Devastation and I are to freeze the laundry room wall, which separates the men and women wings, as will Junior and another heavy hitter, until one of us breaks through the wall. After that, it shouldn't take too long for us to get the hell outta here."

"How do you plan on shutting off the collars? Your whole plan hinges on them or else we'll all be stuck here for life."

"Icicle has everything planned out. He wants to make history by breaking out every prisoner in Belle Reve, where no one prisoner has ever escaped."

"Well then, let's go make history." I walk towards the exit and turn back towards Frost. "And what happens after?"

Frost walks over towards me. "Everyone goes their separate ways. But if you mean for me, well, you could always tag along and find out."

"We'll see." Frost walks down the hallway, heading back to her cell most likely. I wait till I see her no longer, then start making my way back to my cell. M'gann, you're not gonna believe what I just found out.

Author's Note: Just thought I should shed some light on the title of this chapter. I decided to name it 'Frozen' because of what we all know is coming in the attempting prison break. As well as Sara and Kyle having their own moments of freezing up, Sara at the very beginning and Kyle at the very end. I hope you guys like what I'm doing so far and I plan to keep it up. Remember, anyone has any suggestions or ideas for me, don't be afraid to private message me and talk to me. I'm open to anything and everything!