"You know who I haven't seen around in a while? The Ice Dame," said Joker. "Did you and she have a little spat, Freeze? Trouble in parad'ice'?" he giggled.

Freeze ignored him, regretting yet again his decision to leave his room. But he had locked himself away for weeks, and while he was generally used to being by himself, solitude left him no escape from his thoughts of Nora. Any distraction, however annoying, was a distraction that might knock his thoughts out of their torturous cycle. But he should have known that his fellow inmates would be no help in that regard. Especially not the Joker.

"'Snow' good arguing with women when they get in a mood," continued Joker. "They just need time to chill out and cool off before they let you ice the cake again. But don't worry, Freeze, I'm sure it won't be long before you're frosting that pie."

He looked around. "Who else wants to make puns about Freeze's sex life?"

"Just you, J," said Poison Ivy, not looking up from her magazine.

"I wonder what Victor and Nora's couple name would be," sighed Harley Quinn, pointedly. "Vicra? Or maybe Noter. Those both sound like alien robot names."

"Christ, Harley, don't bring this up again!" growled Two-Face, who was trying to watch TV. "If you have two people, you have two names! It's just nuts otherwise."

"Victor and Nora probably wouldn't want a stupid couple name anyway, because they're both two different people, and wouldn't wanna be condemned to be chained to the other for the rest of their goddamn lives," snapped Joker.

"I am afraid you are mistaken in that, Joker," said Freeze, quietly. "I very happily and voluntarily bound myself to Nora a long time ago. I understand that you are not a decent enough man to marry the girl you have despoiled, but if you were ever to take part in a wedding ceremony, there is a part of the marriage vows about two people becoming one flesh, one soul, and one spirit. And that is true for Nora and me. We may not have combined our names, but she took my name, and we shared our life. And that is what love is – a merging of identities, of two people in an equal partnership sharing one soul, and one life."

Harley had teared up. "That's just beautiful, Victor!" she sobbed. "Ain't it, Mr. J?"

"Yeah, love is making your other half suffer your stupid, punnable name," retorted Joker. "I bet she was thrilled to be stuck with the name Mrs. Freeze. You could call your first kid Re, and your second kid Deep, and your third kid Nuclear…"

"Do not joke about our children," murmured Freeze, softly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is it a bit of sore point for you, Freezemanator?" chuckled Joker. "Gee, guess it is kinda impossible for the two of you to procreate – I mean, I've heard of getting your sperm frozen, but I think you have to defrost it before it does any good…"

Freeze's temper was swift and brutal. He had seized Joker around the throat and thrown him into the wall in a flash of movement, making the entire wall crack as Joker collided with it. "Not one more word is to be said about my wife!" he roared. "I will not have lunatics like you discuss her! You will never see her again, and neither will I! What is past is past, and Nora and I are through! I am no longer her husband! I am simply a monster!"

"Takes…a lunatic to know…a lunatic, Snow Cone!" gasped Joker, trying to catch his breath.

"You deserve that, Mr. J, for being so unpleasant about Harker and Joley," sniffed Harley.

"What on earth is going on?" demanded Dr. Leland, who had been alerted by the commotion.

"Freeze threw me into a wall," snarled Joker, clutching his chest.

"Did you provoke him?" asked Dr. Leland.

He paused. "Define provoke."

"Never mind, of course you did," sighed Dr. Leland. "Guards, take Joker to the infirmary. Victor, come with me. I'd like a word," she said, nodding toward her office.

"Nora stopped by to drop off this letter – she said to give it to you," said Dr. Leland, going over to her desk and handing him an envelope. "It's up to you whether you choose to read it or not."

Freeze nodded slowly, taking it from her. "She has not…tried to visit me again?"

Dr. Leland shook her head. "No. She may explain why in that letter. Maybe she's respected your wishes after all, and moved on."

Freeze maintained his expressionless face – that was what he had wanted, after all. But even the suggestion that Nora might have moved on caused his heart to snap in a million places, like a brittle icicle melting in the sunlight.

He returned to his cell, leaving his suit on for the time being – he didn't want to postpone reading the letter any longer than necessary. His heart beat in nervousness as he opened it and read the following:

Victor,

You said there was no way for us to ever be together again, but you and I both know that's not true. There is one way. It probably won't be very pleasant for me, but it's worth it, for your sake. For our sake. It's the only way.

You're a smart man, so I'm sure you can figure out what I'm talking about. Remember that I'm a cryogenic scientist same as you. I've spoken to Mr. Boyle about the accident in the basement of Gothcorp, and I've seen the tapes. I know what I have to do, for you. For us. I know if you were in my place, you would do the same for me.

If something goes wrong, I want you to know that I love you with all my heart. If everything goes right, I will see you very soon.

Always and forever,

Your loving wife Nora.

"Nora!" he gasped, the realization slowly hitting him. "Nora…Nora, no!" he roared, slamming his fist against the frozen wall of his cell so that the stone began to crack against the strength of his suit. He continued to smash it desperately as he heard the alarm go off, but no guard would stop him getting to Nora.

The wall caved in, leaving a hole wide enough for Freeze to smash through to freedom. He treated the high wall around the asylum the same way, the bullets of the guards bouncing off his suit. Nothing would stop him getting to Nora. He only prayed he wasn't too late.