Victor Fries, otherwise known as Mr. Freeze, was a villain who liked to work on his own. Occasionally he would join up with other villains or criminals for a bit, but it never really went anywhere. He prefered to be on his own and do things his own way. Victor had long since learned that getting close to people was just going to end in pain, so why bother?
And that wasn't the only reason that Victor didn't like working with other people. He was a villain, and honestly it wasn't all that hard to not grow attached to other villains that he may work with. The real problem that arose when working with criminals is there was no trust between them. The only thing you could count on when working with criminals is that they were going to end up stabbing you in the back the first chance they got. Especially if it was just a one time thing.
So you can either have a temporary team up that will more likely than not end in some sort of betrayal, or you can form an actual team where there is more trust, but also the higher chance of getting attached, which never ended well.
Either way it was a situation that Victor didn't want to deal with, so he didn't even bother.
He did sometimes make exceptions to his rule, such as when Icicle had come to him with a proposition. Icicle had suggested that the two of them, as well as Killer Frost and Captain Cold, form an alliance of sorts. They weren't exactly going to be teammates or partners, but something a little different.
Icicle's idea for an alliance included that the four of them would occasionally work together for a heist of scheme. Even when they weren't working together they would still have to hold a certain respect for each other. The four of them had an understanding. They would work together when the situation required it, but other than that they did their own thing.
Even though Victor didn't like working with other people he had been intrigued by the proposition, so he had agreed.
One of the best parts about this arrangement was that there wasn't ever a power struggle. The four of them had agreed that whoever had come up with the individual plan would be the one in charge of it. All in all the arrangement worked fine.
The only problem that Victor had with this whole deal was that when he had signed up for it he hadn't known that it wasn't just going to be the four of them.
Technically their little alliance did only have four members. Him, Killer Frost, Captain Cold and Icicle. However Icicle rarely joined up with them on his own. His little brat was always tagging along behind him, and it annoyed Victor to no end. They were criminals. They were planning heists. In Victor's opinion child had no place in this business.
Icicle, of course, disagreed. He wanted his kid to follow in his footsteps and be a master criminal too. He had even already given the brat an alias, even though it was barely more than a copy of his own. Icicle Junior was the name they said he was to go by.
Victor refused to call him that. An alias or nickname was something that had to be earned. In his eyes the kid had done nothing to deserve such a name, even one as useless as Icicle Junior. No, to Victor the boy was still just Cameron Mahkent. A little kid who was in way over his head. Victor wouldn't even think of him as Icicle Junior until he proved that he deserved the title.
And the more that Victor saw the kid, the more he was beginning to think that that day would never come. Cameron was too complaint. Too sensitive. Too soft. The boy tried to pretend that he was tougher than he really was, but that only showed how truly pathetic he was.
Icicle wasn't blind. He saw, as Victor did, how weak Cameron was. Icicle tried to fix this by teaching his son the way should be. He treated his son harshly in hopes of making him stronger. It wasn't the worst plan, but not the best plan either.
People couldn't be taught how to be evil, it just had to come to them. It could come naturally, like it did for Killer Frost. Or their criminal instincts come out because of tough trials and circumstances, which was the case for both Victor and Captain Cold. Sometimes it was a combination of both.
Victor didn't know which was the case for Icicle, and he also didn't know if either would be true for Cameron, though maybe it was too early to tell. Yes, Cameron had done some things that were pretty malicious for an eight year old child, but was it really his intention to cause trouble, or was he just doing as he was told and following his father's example?
If that was the case, then Cameron wasn't bad, simply naive. A child who was blindly following, not knowing nor question if what was being done was right or wrong. Until the boy did something of his own free will, he would never get anywhere. He was just a wannabe.
What irked Victor to no end was that even though the kid was a nothing he was still brought along on their heists. In the years past Icicle had come alone, but now he brought Cameron along with him. He said that he wanted the boy to get a feel for the family business.
Even though Victory hated it when Cameron came along, he didn't let his annoyance get in the way of getting the job done. Victor would do his best to ignore the kids presence. It wasn't as if Cameron got in their way, then again, he didn't really help out much either. Cameron simply did as he was told by his father. Whether it was good or bad, it didn't matter, the kid still did it.
Maybe that was what irritated Victor so much. That the kid didn't act with a mind of his own. He was acting more like Icicle's pet than his son.
As long as it wasn't Victor's job to take care of the kid though, why should he care? He shouldn't, and he didn't. The kid was nothing. It was as easy as that.
Victory ignored the kids very existence, but occasionally a heist would come along that would make it impossible. One of those heists was one that Killer Frost had planned, and it had seemed normal enough at first.
Frost wasn't a schemer, she was a destroyer. She was a fan of killing and chaos, though she did sometimes commit a simple robbery, just for the sake of it. Her plan had been simple enough. They were to meet up in a medium sized city that wasn't under the direct protection of any heroes. Frost would hold up a jewelry store, Captain Cold snag a couple of priceless artifacts from the museum and Icicle and his kid would go rob the bank.
Victor had been given the task of driving the getaway vehicle, because he was the least inconspicuous of all of them. He despised the job and thought it below him, but had reluctantly agreed. After all, this was Killer Frost's party, he was just a guest here.
All of these heists were to happen simultaneously. With no hero around to protect the city the task of stopping them would fall to the cops, who wouldn't stand a chance. Super criminals flocked to where masked heroes were. Plain cops in a smaller city like this wouldn't have any experience with people who used ice the way that the four of them did.
It was a simple enough gig, but still they agreed to meet up a few hours before the intended time, just to be sure they were ready. It was a good thing they planned to be early because, despite their agreement Icicle arrived later than their designated time. By the time he finally arrived Frost and Cold had already left to scout out their places. After waiting around at the meeting place for a bit longer Victor frowned, got in the getaway van, which still felt pretty cramped to him, and drove to the bank that was to be Icicle's mark.
Victor parked about a block away, just that they had planned, and waited. He knew that Icicle would show up, because he always did. It was just annoying to have to wait for so long. Finally he could spot Icicle making his way towards him, with his son following close behind him.
"You took your time getting here." Victor said coldly when Icicle got to the car. If there was one thing that he didn't like about Icicle, other than the fact that he continually involved his son in matters that didn't concern him, it was that he was always acting like he was better than them, just because he was the oldest. As if age equaled experience, and experience was the same thing as being allowed to bend the rules to their will.
"We got held up." Icicle scowled. He opened the door to the back and shoved his son inside. Icicle climbed into the van as well and began going over the plan and the things that he would need. For a while nobody said a word. They just sat in silence, with both of the men going over the plan in their heads while they boy just sat there thinking about whatever it was little kids think about.
The key to this heist was that Icicle, Cold, and Frost struck at their targets within a matter of minutes of each other. When the time for him to strike drew close Icicle gathered his things, grabbed his ice gun opened the door of the van. Icicle jumped out, more than ready to take on this job. Victor turned on the car again. It was his job to provide getaway for the other three (and a half), and since Icicle would be striking first, he would be the first to get picked up. That was why Victor had come to this location in the first place. Because this was his starting point.
Icicle and Cameron were supposed to be sneaking inside right about this time, and yet even though Icicle was clearly ready to go, the kid wasn't. He hadn't moved from the spot where he had been sitting quietly this whole time. Icicle glared at Cameron, who refused to meet his gaze.
"You're seriously still doing this?" Icicle asked, obvious irritation in his voice, though also the slightest trace of concern. Cameron didn't answer his father, he just stared at the floor of the car. Victor was annoyed with his behavior, and Icicle was as well.
"Cam, look at me." Icicle ordered harshly. The kid lifted his eyes at the sound of his father calling by his true name, which he never did during a heist. "Look, we've gotta get this thing. If you're not up for using your powers, I need to know now!" Cameron frowned, his eyes full of fear, though Victor wasn't sure why. After a moment the kid shook his head.
Icicle's expression darkened. He was obviously angered by his son's unwillingness to cooperate. However, there was still a job to be done, and they were on a schedule. "Suit yourself." Icicle growled. "But we are going to be dealing with this little problem of yours as soon as we're done here, got it?" Cameron nodded meekly.
Icicle scowled and made to slam the door shut when Victor realized too late when he intended on doing.
"You can't leave the kid here." Victor said stiffly. It was one thing to be driving the getaway car, but to be a babysitter? Forget about it.
"I don't have a choice right now." Icicle growled. "Junior's been refusing to use his powers for the past week and he'll just be a dead weight in there without them. I'm better off working solo for this one."
"I'm not watching him." Victor said. Icicle glared at him irritably.
"You don't have to watch him." Icicle snapped. "It's not like he'll be in any danger out here." With those words Icicle closed the van doors and went on his way. Victor glared at the place where Icicle had been previously, and then moved his glare to the boy that was the source of his ire. To the kid's credit he didn't even flinch under the icy stare. He just stared at him with sad eyes.
"What's your problem?" Victor scoffed after their small staring contest had gone on for a minute. Sure, he didn't want to hear the kid whine about whatever was bothering him, but Victor was curious. Cameron loved using his powers, and he certainly seemed to enjoy being a part of his father's plans. The kid liked to feel useful, to feel like somebody needed him, so why was he giving up this chance to do just that? It didn't make sense.
"I don't have a problem." The kid muttered, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of that. "I just...I don't want to use my powers." Cameron pulled his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them protectively. He buried his face in his knees. "They're evil." He muttered, and Victor thought for sure that he must have heard wrong.
Why did the kid think that his powers were evil? And, better question, why did he care? Cameron hadn't showed any preference for good or bad thus far, so he shouldn't care if his powers were evil...and they weren't.
"It's not one's abilities that make them good or evil, but what they do with them." Victor reminded the kid, who began shaking his head fiercely in disagreement.
"No, they're evil." The kid insisted.
"What makes you say that?" Victor asked.
Cameron was quiet for a minute before saying quietly "...If I didn't have powers, she never would have died."
"What?" Victor was sure that he must have misheard that. There was no way that Cameron, a timid little eight year old, had managed to kill anybody. It just wasn't possible. "Who?"
"My mom." The kid muttered. "It was all my fault."
Victor was more confused than ever. Cameron was saying that he had killed his mother, but from what he had heard the woman had been dead for years now. In fact Victor thought he remembered Icicle saying once that his wife had died in childbirth…
...Oh.
"You can't blame yourself or your powers for what happened." Victor tried to reason.
"M-my dad said that she only d-died because I was too cold for her body to h-handle." Cameron stammered. "If I didn't have powers-"
"Then she might have died anyways." Victor snapped. "Women die giving birth all the time. It's just something that you have to learn to deal with."
"I don't want to deal with it!" Cameron cried. "I want my mom." The kid sniffled. "I wish I never had powers."
"Well, you do, and that is just something you will have to live with." Victor said irritably, though his voice was noticeably more gentle than before. "You can't change what happened. You simply must learn to live with the consequences."
"H-how?" Cameron lifted his head and looked at Victor with wide, desperate eyes. Victor considered how to go about answering the question.
"You just need to move on." Victor said. It was vague advice, but the best he had to offer. Victor was somebody who knew a lot about losing somebody dear, but he really had no right to talk about moving on from such a loss.
After all, the only reason that Victor prefered to be alone was because of what had happened to Nora. It had been years since it had happened, but the pain still felt as fresh as the day she died. Victor had never really gotten over the death of his wife. He still missed her every day.
"But it's hard." Cameron whimpered. "D-does it get easier?"
Now, Victory could easily tell a lie to the boy. He could tell the boy what he wanted to know, that he would get over it someday. Who knows? It might happen. In Victor's experience though, it wasn't the case.
"Not really." Victory said honestly. "Some days are better than others. You learn to live with it though."
"Yeah right." Cameron rolled his eyes and frowned.
"And even if you don't, that's still no excuse to run away from your problems." Victor continued. "Whether you like it or not, you have powers, and they're not just going to go away. That's something else you have to learn to live with. Your powers a part of who you are."
"I don't like it." Cameron said stubbornly.
"We all have that part of ourselves that we don't like." Victor said seriously. "Welcome to life."
The sound of police sirens from down the street stopped things from getting all too sentimental. Victor and Cameron both froze and looked towards where the sirens were coming from...the same direction to where the museum was.
"Are they-" Cameron trailed off, afraid to voice his thoughts.
"There for your father? Most likely." Victor said shortly. He turned the car back on and kept an eye out for Icicle. Unlike Cameron Victor wasn't the least bit concerned about the arrival of the cops. It would have been nothing short of a miracle if the cops hadn't shown up at all. They had arranged the three heists this way so that there would be less trouble for all of them, not no trouble for any of them.
It wasn't too long before Victor could see Icicle running towards them. He had the large duffle bag of cash slung over his left shoulder and his ice ray gun in his right hand. There were a couple of cops in pursuit after him, he had probably taken care of the others with his gun already. With just a few more shots over his shoulder Icicle was able to freeze the remaining cops in their tracks.
With his pursuers incapacitated (or dead, depending on who you ask) it looked as if it would be smooth sailing from there. It seemed as if this would be a relatively easy escape, but in thinking that they got cocky. None of them bothered to notice that one of the cops, while his feet were frozen to the ground, his hands were completely free. This cop was armed, and since he couldn't go after Icicle he did the only other thing he could think of;
He shot at him.
Victor and Cameron watched in horror as Icicle cried out in pain and stumbled, their minds turning to the worst. However it seemed as though the cop who had fired the gun was just a rookie, probably hadn't actually shot anybody before, and his aim had been off. Icicle hadn't been hit straight on. He was still too far to tell if he had just been grazed or if the bullet was still lodged in his arm or leg or something.
Either way, he wasn't critically injured. Icicle had gotten worse than that all the time. The bad part was that he was still injured, so the cop had at least succeeded in slowing him down a fair bit. There was no way that Icicle would be able to continue running to the vehicle, and Victor was sure that by the time he staggered his way over here backup would have arrived or some of the other downed cops will have realized that Icicle was an easy target now and would open fire.
Icicle had gotten lucky with that first shot. Victor doubted that his luck would hold out for a half a dozen more.
Victor was considering his options. He could either sit here and do nothing, which wasn't the prefered option. He could get out and help Icicle, which would mean cluing the cops in to their alliance, but at least they would both get away with the money. Or he could just drive off and not get caught, but also be stuck without the cash and with the kid.
While Victor tried to figure out which option was the least horrible Cameron had already come to his own conclusion. The kid crawled over to the door and swung it open. Without hesitating, or perhaps without thinking, Cameron jumped out of the vehicle. The determination, fear, and concern on his face made it clear that he wanted to help his dad, which was an idiotic idea. Cameron was just a kid. What chance would he stand against a bunch of armed cops?
"Kid, what are you doing?" Victor asked when he saw just what the kid was up to, as if he thought the kid was insane, and he did. Icicle felt about the same way when he noticed his son.
"Cam, get out of here!" Icicle growled through his teeth. He was clenching at his leg, which Victor could see now was where he had been shot. "Now!" Icicle shouted when Cameron didn't move. Normally the kid would have obeyed without thinking, like a trained dog. Of course, Cameron just had to pick today to begin thinking for himself.
"I-i can't." The kid said in a quieter voice, and Victor was sure he was the only one who heard him. "I can't lose you too." Acting on instinct Cameron held out his hands and shot many shards of sharp ice out of them. The shards flew towards the cops, grazing some of them, knocking the guns away from others and actually piercing the rest.
Victor had seen Killer Frost use attacks like this before, all the time, but he hadn't known that Cameron was capable of such a thing. Apparently the boy wasn't quite at that level yet and ended up overexerting himself with this new ability of his. Cameron moaned slightly and began swaying on his feet until his legs could no longer support him and he just fell to the ground.
"Cam!" This was just the motivation that Icicle needed. Even if it probably hurt like hell Icicle staggered his way forward. Before too long he had reached the van, and his son. Cameron's little trick had worked to stall the cops for a moment, but they still didn't have a lot of time.
Icicle, with surprising gentleness, picked up his son and climbed into the vehicle, wincing at every small movement he made. The second they were in the van Victor sped off. He didn't even bother waiting for Icicle to close the stupid door. All that mattered was getting away from there.
Glancing into the rearview mirror Victor could see Icicle holding his son close to him, protectively. It wasn't very often that Icicle showed his fatherly side, but when he did it was obvious just how much he cared about Cameron. Love was a dangerous thing, especially in their line of work, but Victor knew that it wasn't his job to tell Icicle or his kid how to live their lives.
Besides, it had been a close call tonight, and Victor knew that many people, heroes and criminals alike, had a tendency to show or look for more affection after barely scraping by. It was why looking for a prostitute to spend the night with was such a common thing for criminals to do after a difficult heist. Victor never did that sort of thing, but he believed that Icicle might and Killer Frost and Captain Cold most certainly did...every single time.
That was another reason why Victor thought that love, human contact, and just emotions in general were a waste of time. Because they were also a waste of money. However, even he had to admit that affection could be a powerful motivator.
Like tonight. Icicle had forced his way back to the van in a rush because he was concerned about his kid. And Cameron...that kid had just ended up surprising Victor. The kid had used his powers just minutes after saying he never would again. He had attacked cops with an ability he had never even tried to use before. For all they knew Cameron could very well have killed one or two of those cops who had been pierced by the boys ice.
And all because Cameron didn't want anything bad to happen to his father.
'Not bad, Junior.' Victor thought to himself. 'Not bad at all.'
A/N: And now Mr. Freeze has accepted Cameron as one of them. Yeah, he still doesn't like him, but he's willing to acknowledge him, and that counts for something. I'm looking forward to the next chapter, which is actually the one that I've had on my mind for the longest. It was originally just a one-shot, but I expanded the idea. Anyways, look forward to reading that. I know that I for one can't wait to write about my all-time favorite DC character again...Leonard Snart.