A/N: I know, it's been awhile since I've worked on this. I don't really have any good excuse, so...yeah, enjoy the chapter, and I'll try not to take so long with the next one.
I still don't own these characters. If I did, I would probably be better at writing them in character. I swear, I may be familiarish with Mr. Freeze, but the four or five episodes of various shows ranging from Young Justice to Gotham haven't really done much to show me what his character is like, so if he's way off, well, that's my bad.
Victor Fries was not a fan of being imprisoned. He hated every second that he was incarcerated at Belle Reve, as did every other prisoner. The inmates were treated like wild animals. There was rarely a day without there being some sort of fight over positions or rankings, which Victor had never understood. No matter how high or low a ranking they were given, from capo to bitch, a prisoner was still a prisoner.
Even still, with all the fighting and humiliation that he had to deal with on a daily basis, Victor still acknowledged that there was worse places that he could be. Such as Arkham, for example. The inmates were treated even worse in the asylum than in the prison. Victor would of course prefer it if he wasn't imprisoned at all, but he would rather be here than at Arkham.
The one thing that was consistent in both places was that new inmates were always annoying as hell. All villains were incredibly bitter about being imprisoned, but nobody complained about it more than the ones who had just been caught. For days on end Victor had to listen to the newcomers whine about how they had been this close to getting away, and they could have done it if it weren't for '_insert hero name here_'. As Icicle Junior had so eloquently put it one day, they behaved like Scooby Doo villains after they were caught.
"This guy's just not shutting up." Cameron Mahkent muttered boredly after the fifth day of listening to Malcolm Merlyn's ranting. "I swear, I've memorized this stupid archer's speech about the stupid archer by now."
"We all have." Victor said dryly. He was so tired the sound of Merlyn's voice that he was making somewhat civil conversation with a boy that he barely tolerated. Yes, part of that may be because Icicle had business with strange that day, and he had all but ordered Victor and Captain Cold to keep Cameron out of trouble while he was gone. Still, Victor would rather talk to the boy than be talked at. Besides, Victor found the boy (young man? Was he already legally an adult at this point) to be much less tolerable when they were discussing something they could agree on.
"Please tell me I wasn't this bad when I first got here." Cameron pleaded.
"You did not." Victor confirmed. "Although, the circumstances were different." After all, Cameron had let himself get caught. The pale boy shrugged off his words.
"I don't care if they were different, this guy is seriously getting on my nerves." Cameron said bitterly. Apparently they weren't the only ones who had had enough, because not two seconds later Brick pounded his hand into the wall right near Merlyn's head, effectively shutting him up.
"A lot of us have gotten grief from that Robin Hood wannabe." Brick said roughly. "Get over it."
Merlyn crossed his arms indignantly, he was probably trying to come off as defiant yet in control. However, with all of the complaining the man had been doing Victor just saw a child throwing a temper tantrum. "It wasn't Green Arrow who caught me."
Cameron snickered to himself. "You got nailed by Speedy?" It was a fair assumption, as there were only so many masked archers.
Merlyn frowned. "No, it was the other sidekick."
Cameron tilted his head in confusion. "Green Arrow just has the one sidekick."
"Well, he got a new one." Merlyn insisted with a scowl.
"She's running around with the kiddie league." Captain Cold said. "Her name is Artemis."
Cameron tensed up at his words. "W-what? That's not...are you sure?"
"I've seen her on the news." Captain Cold said. They had access to television for an hour or so every week, but Leonard Snart was probably one of the only people who actually bothered to watch the news on it.
"I'm surprised you even noticed her." The men turned to the glass wall that separated the women from the men. A number of girls had gathered to watch the show, including Killer Frost, who was the one who had spoken. She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you only ever had eyes on your Flash Junior." A number of people snickered. They were all well aware of the strange, almost friendly relationship that the Rogues had with the young speedster.
Captain Cold frowned. "Blondie's been hanging around Kid Flash a lot lately." He explained as though he wasn't even aware that he was being mocked, though he probably was. "Nothing has been confirmed, but I believe the two of them are dating."
"Dating?!" Cameron's voice cracked pathetically at the end of the word. Nobody else noticed his distress, as they were all too busy muttering about this latest bit of gossip. Sometimes Victor wondered whether he was in prison or a High School. They were all so caught up in themselves that only Victor and Cold even noticed how upset Cameron looked. "When did this happen? How…" The boy trailed off.
"Captain Cold frowned. "Cam, I thought you already knew about Artemis." The kid shook his head, causing Victor to feel irritated. How did one not know that their childhood friend had turned into a superhero?
"When did it happen?" Cameron asked again.
"I'm not sure." Captain Cold admitted, which was shocking because the man usually had an air about him like he knew everything. "I might be wrong though. There may not be a relationship at all."
"But they're close." Cameron darkly. "I can't believe she's actually dating that…wait a second." Cameron frowned. "Why is Artemis on the team?" Well, at least he was asking the important questions now.
"I started seeing her with them the beginning of September last year." Cold said, because of course he would remember exactly when the villain turned hero had started to make a name for herself.
"September?" Cameron frowned in confusion, but within moments his eyes widened in horrified shock. "Oh, shit!" Cameron started muttering under his breath and Victor thought he heard him saying the months of the year to himself, probably to remind himself of the order. Cameron wasn't exactly well known for being very bright. He muttered the months to himself three or four times, and he grew paler with each run through.
"Dammit." Cameron clenched his fists. "God dammit!" He punched at the wall suddenly, probably doing more damage to his hand than the wall. Victor and Cold were both taken aback by the sudden burst of anger. "That bitch!" Cameron hit at the wall again, and Victor thought he could see a flash of red on his knuckles. The kid really wasn't holding back. Victor would be impressed if it weren't for the fact that Cameron was about to draw unnecessary attention to himself, and that wasn't what they wanted right now.
"That's enough." Cold grabbed at the kid and held him back. He shoved Cameron towards Victor. "He needs to calm down. Get him out of here." Victor didn't really want to be put on babysitting duty, but he didn't object. Of the two of them, Victor was more suited to dealing with violent fits of rage. Cold always seemed to shy away from them as much as he could. Victor didn't know why Cold could handle violence, and he could deal with anger, but he froze up with he was face to face with somebody who got violent when they were angry, but honestly, he didn't care. Cold's business was his own. Besides, Victor was too busy trying to drag Cameron to a more secluded part of the prison to even think about the mystery that was Captain Cold.
Cameron was so scrawny that even with his slight resistance Victor was easily able to drag him out of the room. The guards didn't interfere like they usually would have, and Victor hadn't expected them to. Over the past few months Cameron had been jumped and beaten up so many times that that was probably what the guards thought was happening now. They hadn't done anything to stop it those times, so why would they start now?
Victor pushed Cameron into an empty storage room that was used more often for beatings than storage. Victor locked the door behind him and turn to face Cameron, who was seething. Victor didn't think he had ever seen Cameron look so furious before, and it was somewhat unsettling. For the first time Victor actually saw the family resemblance between Cameron and Joar. The boy looked a lot like his father when he was angry.
"That bitch." Cameron growled in a low voice. His glare towards the wall was absolutely deadly. "She-she...gah!" Cameron punched at the wall again. And again. "She just...she used me!"
"What are you talking about?" Victor crossed his arms. Cameron was breathing rapidly, but he had stopped hitting the wall.
"Artemis." Cameron scowled darkly. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "You know, I saw her last year. I didn't know she had switched sides."
"How did she use you?" Victor raised an eyebrow. It wasn't as though he honestly cared, but he was curious. Just what could one teenage girl do to anger Cameron so much?
"She...I thought she was getting arrested." Cameron frowned. "I saw her at the end of August last year. I hadn't seen her in forever, I almost didn't recognize her. She's the total babe now, you know."
"Get to the point." Victor glared at Cameron. He was not here to listen to the boy talk about his childhood crush.
Cameron rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Anyways, we started talking and I...I basically told her that something big was going to happen at Belle Reve."
"You what?!" Victor was not amused. Was Cameron saying that the only reason the Justice League had infiltrated Belle Reve in the first place was because this kid couldn't keep his mouth shut?
"I didn't know!" Cameron said loudly. "I thought she was one of us. She was my best friend when we were kids. How was I supposed to know that she would snitch on us?"
"And you're sure she was with the League at that point?" Victor asked.
"I don't know." Cameron shrugged. "But Len says he saw her with them beginning of September, and I saw her beginning of August. What are the chances that she decides to work for the League in those few days in between?"
"Not very high." Victor said. He had thought as much.
"I just...I thought I could trust her, you know?" Cameron sighed. "Apparently not even friendships are safe. The first out she's given to get away from her dad and she jumps at the chance to take it, even if it means snitching on the one person who has always been there for her." Cameron scoffed. "A liar, a snitch, and a bitch. Oh yeah, she'll be a great hero. A good role model for people everywhere." The sarcasm in his voice couldn't be more evident if he had literally spelled it out.
Cameron still looked angry, but Victor got the feeling that it wasn't just towards his so called 'friend'. "Be mad at the girl all you want." The man said. "But don't hold in so much anger for yourself."
"Why not?" Cameron had a challenging look in his eyes. "We both know that when everybody else finds out about this they're going to blame me for not noticing, so why shouldn't I do the same?"
"You'll get nothing from feeling sorry for yourself." Victor said coldly. "You are not the first person to let themselves be charmed by a pretty face, and you won't be the last." Victor had seen people waste their lives away because they were feeling sorry for themselves, even though it accomplished nothing. Anger towards somebody else, especially anger caused by a broken heart, could be a powerful tool and motivation, but self pity wasn't.
Victor had never imagined Cameron as the type of person who could use his anger to his advantage. The boy had always been sensitive and got upset easily, which was something that Victor had seen as weak. Today though he had seen Cameron get angry rather quickly, and in a potentially powerful way, after receiving some upsetting news. It may have been just a fluke, but it was just as possible that this would be the norm now. That Cameron would still let his emotions get the better of him, but he would react in anger rather than sadness. And anger was much more useful when it came to being a villain.
Victor wasn't entirely sure, but he was curious to see where this would all go.
If Cameron began to get angry rather than upset, he would be much more useful. Especially if he was then able to learn how to use and control his anger rather than letting it control him. If he was able to do that, then Victor could see Cameron actually being a formidable villain one day. Not that he would ever tell the boy that, no need to make him any more big headed than he already was.
"Nobody else need know about what we've discussed." Victor said, which was his way of saying that his lips were sealed. If it ever got out that Cameron had given away information about their break out plan, there would be pandemonium. The young meta-human wouldn't live to see another day if anybody else found out.
"Thanks." Cameron muttered half heartedly. He straightened up and ran a hand through his hair. "You think Len's gonna be super confused?"
Victor chuckled. "Probably." They had only been gone for a few minutes. Cold would likely be extremely puzzled about how quickly Cameron had calmed down. The kid didn't get angry nearly often enough for them to know that his temper flared up quickly, but died down just as fast.
"How much you wanna bet that nobody else has even noticed we were gone?" Cameron asked, the usual cocky tone was back in his voice. Victor doubted his anger was completely gone at this point, but Cameron had learned over the years how to hide his emotions fairly well. As long as he wasn't too worked up over something, nobody could even tell that something was bothering him. Not unless he let them know.
"Our dinner desserts." Victor wasn't usually a betting man, and he didn't even care much for desserts anyways, but Cameron did. Victor didn't believe that it was likely that not a single person besides Cold or possibly Frost had noticed their absence. Victor was looking forward to seeing Cameron's disappointment that night at dinner if he won the bet. And if Cameron won, well, Victor probably wouldn't have ended up eating his dessert anyways, so he really didn't have much at stake.
That evening Victor found himself smirking all during the meal. It gave him immense satisfaction to see Cameron's pathetic, broody scowl while he ate. Victor couldn't care less about desserts, but seeing Cameron's disappointment about losing the bet made his victory that much greater. Victor had forgotten how good it felt to win petty bets and fights.
Maybe he should do it more often. It wasn't as though there was anything better for him to do in this prison. And somebody had to knock these upstart young villains down a few pegs.
And if he got a few extra desserts out of it, well, who was he to complain?
A/N: Not exactly the way I was planning on ending this chapter, but I'll got for it. Especially since I didn't exactly have a plan for this chapter. It's kinda strange, but it seems like the stories and chapters that I don't have a bigger picture in mind for are the ones that come easiest to me to write. I swear, my fingers just started moving and BAM! The chapter is finished. It's a nice change from my constant writer's block I seem to get. Still, I wish I could end up with chapters that are both more focused, and easy to write.