A/N: This is the last chapter. Once again, it's from Joar Mahkent's point of view, so don't be surprised if it's a little OOC, because that man is seriously difficult to write.
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. If I owned them, one would think that I would be able to write them properly.
Like many prisoners, Joar had been making a mental list of things that he would do when he got out (and it didn't matter that he had a life sentence, Joar was getting out of this place. The very first thing Joar planned on doing was tracking down the person who had decided that Belle Reve should be located in the middle of Louisiana and kill him. If that guy was already dead, than Joar would find his relatives and punish them instead, because somebody had to suffer for this idiotic decision.
Joar was an ice villain for a reason. He would take the cold over the heat any day. Unfortunately, Louisiana was not a cold place. Even in the middle of winter it was still fairly warm. It was even worse in the middle of summer. The heat was overbearing and the humidity was extremely stifling. Nobody, not even the fire villains, liked it.
The heat was terrible enough on it's own. Throw in a broken A.C. in the prison and it became unbearable. Tensions were rising just as much as the temperatures were, and as miserable as Joar was he had to take on the role of a mediator for dozens of criminals who only seemed to know how to deal with their frustrations with their fists.
"Alright, knock it off!" Joar shouted in annoyance when he had to break off yet another fight. It was the fifth one that day, and something told him that things would only get worse before they got better. If the fights continued like this then sooner rather than later they would have a riot on their hands, and that was the last thing that Joar wanted to deal with.
"Hey, Capo, when's the air getting back on?" Brick glared at Joar, who returned the look easily.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?" He growled. "Do I look like the maintenance to you?" In all honesty though, Joar knew exactly when the air would come back on, because he knew why it was off in the first place.
Hugo Strange was a very interesting and manipulative warden. Ever since the failed break out nearly a year before Strange had been hinting about how maybe Joar wasn't cut out to be Capo. He was always throwing 'tests' at him, to make sure he could keep control of the prison. This whole air conditioning situation was just another one of Strange's tests. He wanted to make sure that Joar could keep the prisoners from rioting in such extreme conditions, and if he managed it for a week then he passed the test and Strange would owe him a favor.
It was an interesting and stressful game they played, but if it kept Joar in Strange's good spirits then it was worth the annoyance.
Joar was just glad that he only had to do this for another day after this, because word on the news was that this heat wave would last for another week, and even he wouldn't be able to hold off all the fights and riots for that long. Especially since he had other things to worry about.
Not seeing any more fights at the second Joar returned to his place at the bleachers and sat next to Mr. Freeze. Just a few feet away and on the other side of the glass wall separating the women's ward from the men's Joar could see Killer Frost leaning against the wall. Anybody else would see her and assume that she was bored, which she was, but Joar could see a miniscule layer of worry under her cold exterior. He only recognized it because he was feeling the exact same way except much worse.
"Any word from Cold yet?" Joar asked in a neutral tone, though he was feeling anything but neutral. He was tired, and his exhaustion was making him more sentimental than he usually was. At least, that was the excuse that he was telling himself, because he couldn't allow himself to go soft. Not even for his only son.
Freeze looked annoyed by the question, but he knew better than to say anything about it. "Not yet."
Joar scowled. Even before this damned heat wave had started Cameron had been feeling off. That kid's ice powers may be extremely useful, but they also had their downsides. Because of his naturally low core body temperature Cameron was very affected by high temperatures. Summer weather in California often caused Cameron to get heat exhaustion at least once or twice a year. Things never got horribly bad though, because Cameron's ice powers had served at least partially counteract the heat.
The thing was, they weren't in California, they were in Louisiana, which was hotter and much more humid. They were also in the middle of a bad heat wave, which was bad news for Cameron. Especially since because of the damned collars, Cameron couldn't use his powers to even try to protect himself. He was vulnerable to the heat, and there wasn't much any of them could do about it.
Captain Cold, who was Cameron's cell mate, had volunteered to keep an eye on him. Joar was just grateful that Cold wasn't worried about his showing of concern tarnishing his reputation. It helped that Cold was a Rogue, who already had a reputation of being soft. Joar would never be stupid enough to think of Captain Cold as soft, but he wasn't going to complain about him showing concern for Cameron, because somebody had to.
Joar glared out to the rest of the prisoners and tried to distract himself from thoughts about Cameron. So what if the circumstances were different and he was probably worse off than he ever had been before? So what if Joar hadn't even laid eyes on Cameron for five days now because he hadn't left his cell and, as Capo, Joar couldn't risk the others seeing him checking up on his son. And so what if he hadn't heard from Captain Cold about Cameron's condition since yesterday?
Everything was fine. It had to be, because Joar didn't know what he would do if it wasn't.
Even when he was trying to focus on the other prisoners and being the Capo Joar took notice the second that Captain Cold entered the red room. His face was serious and Joar felt his blood run cold because he knew that whatever news Cold had for him it couldn't be good.
Cold wasn't approaching the bleachers though. He was staying right near the door, a cold, unmoving look on his face as he looked at Joar. The Capo glared straight back, because he got the unspoken message that Cold was sending. Cold wanted Joar to talk with him, probably outside the room. It was a bold request, and Joar was both annoyed and impressed that Cold even had the balls to silently demand it.
Normally Joar wouldn't allow anybody else to call the shots. He was the Capo here. He was the one who was in charge, and he demanded respect. But he knew Cold, and while the man liked to be in charge just as much as Joar did he didn't make potentially problematic demands like this unless it was absolutely necessary. Something was wrong, and Cold thought that Joar should hear about it without risking anybody else eavesdropping.
So even though he was seething the whole time, and he swore to himself that he would make Cold pay for this later, Joar got to his feet and approached the door. As soon as Cold saw that he was coming he retreated back into the hallway to wait for him.
"This had better be important, Snart." Joar hissed the second they were out of the room.
"Cam's gotten worse." Cold glared at him as though it was his fault.
"So take care of it." After all, that was why Cold had volunteered to keep an eye on Cameron in the first place.
"I can't." Cold growled, because they both knew that there wasn't really much they could do. On the first day that Cameron had been feeling off he had spent nearly two hours in the showers, blasting himself with ice cold water. It had been a pain in the ass to arrange, and it hadn't really been worth it. The chill had kept Cameron okay for a few hours, but it had just been a temporary fix. The next day Cameron had been feeling even worse off than he had before.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Joar said, because there wasn't much that he could do that Cold couldn't. "Look, Cam'll be fine. He just has to toughen up, deal with it, and the A.C. will be back on tomorrow night."
"He won't last that long." Cold said, which threw Joar off.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Joar growled to mask the worry in his voice.
"He needs to go to a hospital, Joar." Cold addressed him by his actual name instead of Icicle, to show that he wasn't speaking to the prison Capo right then, he was talking to Cameron's father. Unlike Joar, Cold didn't bother hiding how concerned he was. "I think his heat exhaustion has escalated to heat stroke."
Joar felt his breath catch in his throat. He didn't consider himself an expert on heat stroke or heat exhaustion, but it was clear which one was worse. "How do you know?"
Len scoffed at the question. "I recognized the symptoms. Mick has told me stuff like this so many times that it got branded into my brain." Mick Rory was another Rogue, Heatwave. A man who had as strong an obsession with fire and all things heat as Leonard Snart had for ice and all things cold. The man probably knew as much about heat stroke as Cold did frostbite.
Joar didn't know how much worse Cameron was now. He needed to see it for himself. "He's still in the cell, right?"
"Obviously." Cold almost sounded offended that Joar had implied that he might be somewhere else. It probably wouldn't be so bad for Cameron to be in the showers, except they both knew it wouldn't have been a good idea to leave Cam, who was probably incredibly weak and defenseless, in there by himself when there was even the smallest possibility that another prisoner could be in there too.
Joar and Cold quickly headed towards Cameron's cell. From the second Joar entered the small cell he could see that something was definitely wrong. Cameron was lying on his stomach on the bottom bunk, even though he had made it clear to all of them that he definitely prefered the top bunk. Cameron's eyes were closed, but he definitely wasn't sleeping.
"Cam." Joar snapped his fingers to try to get his son's attention. Cameron lazily opened his eyes, but they were very unfocused. It took a few moments for him to focus on his father.
"Dad." Cameron's voice was weak and almost pathetic. Normally Joar would punish him for showing so much vulnerability, he was supposed to be stronger than that. Considering the circumstances though, Joar could bare to cut his kid some slack.
"How're you feeling?" Joar asked, because that was really the best way to tell how good or bad it really was. After all, nobody knew better than Cameron just how bad he was feeling.
"Hot." Cameron groaned as he closed his eyes again. Joar frowned. Cameron had never responded with 'hot' before. It had always been 'fine', 'bad', or 'warm'. Cameron's low core body temperature kept him from every truly feeling hot. Something was seriously wrong.
Concerned, but still unwilling to show it Joar just laid a hand on Cameron's bare shoulder. Joar's eyes narrowed when he felt that Cameron's skin was actually warm to the touch. That wasn't supposed to happen. Ever.
Cameron sighed and leaned slightly to the touch. "Your hand is cold."
"No, your skin's just warm." Joar looked back at Cold, who raised an eyebrow at him that clearly said 'I-told-you-so', and he had. Cameron really wasn't doing well at all and something needed to change. The air wouldn't be back on for another two days, and even then it wouldn't do a lot for Cameron. Joar just didn't think that having Cameron brought to the infirmary or even a hospital would do the trick. He honestly thought that their best bet would be for Cameron to have his natural resistance against the heat again, but that wouldn't happen as long as he was wearing the damned collar.
Joar knew that there was really only one thing he could do to make this stop. It was something that he really, really didn't want to do, but he would just have to suck it up and deal with it.
Joar gave Cameron's shoulder a hopefully assuring squeeze. He tried to ignore Cameron's small whimper when he brought his hand away. Joar glared at Cold in his default cold and calculating way. "Keep an eye on him. I gotta talk with Strange."
It was times like this that Joar was glad that he was the Capo. He was the only prisoner in Belle Reve who could walk right down the hallways towards the warden's office and not have a single guard try to stop him. They all knew about the arrangements between him and Strange, and they weren't stupid enough to try to stop any potential confrontation from happening.
Joar was able to just walk straight into Strange's office. The warden raised an eyebrow in surprise, because it took a whole lot more than this to actually fully catch this man off guard. "Icicle, what an unexpected surprise." Strange almost said this as though he had actually been expecting Joar the entire time, which wasn't really possible. He was just really good at making it seem like he was holding all the pieces. "Are you here about the heat again?"
"You could say that." Joar slammed the door shut so nobody would listen in on them. He glared coldly at Strange and approached his desk. "I need you to turn Cameron's collar off."
Both eyebrows went up at the blunt demand. "You must recognize how much you're asking of me. If word got out that I turned his collar off, even just temporarily...well, I'm sure you can imagine what would happen?"
Joar knew exactly what would happen. Strange would worm his way out of all consequences, and Cameron would be the one to take the fall. Even though it had a while since the failed break out, the other prisoners, and even some of the guards, hated Cameron. They just saw him as a kid who only got respect and power (even though he had neither) because his dad had respect and power.
If anybody even suspected that Cameron's collar was off, something that the majority of the prisoners here would kill for, they would end up taking their frustrations out on the kid. Again.
"Yeah, I've thought about it." Joar said, but it was just something that he would have to deal with when it came up.
"May I ask what this sudden need is for?" Strange asked. "You're not planning another break out, are you?"
"Of course not." Joar growled. Strange had to know that he wasn't stupid enough to do that so soon after the first attempt. And if he was planning a break out, why would he want Cameron's collar off? He would probably be the one person most useless in a break out, as he had already shown. "Cameron's being affected badly by the weather. He needs his ice to cool himself down.
"And you want me to make special adjustments for your son?" Strange asked.
"You do it for Freeze." Joar pointed out. That man couldn't survive in temperatures above freezing, which was why he wore his suit. Allowing Cameron access to his powers would serve pretty much the same purpose.
"I'm afraid you're asking too much." Strange said in that patronizing tone of his. "I cannot just let people wander around the prison with full access to their powers and no way to reign them in. It would be trouble."
"What trouble?" Joar shouted, because he was sick and tired of this game. He knew what Strange was doing. The man just wanted to see how desperate Joar was for this to happen. And, unfortunately, the warden was definitely winning. "Cameron's the lowest threat prisoner in here! Even if he had his powers he wouldn't do a damn thing with them."
"Not even if he was being threatened?" Strange smirked ever so slightly. "I've heard that the other prisoners are quite unhappy with him." That was a damn understatement if Joar had ever heard one.
Joar seethed at the comment, because he had been working with Strange for long enough to know a veiled threat when he heard one. Basically, Strange was saying that if Cameron's collar was turned off, then it was a guarantee that there would be another beat down going on, a bad one, and Cameron would be expected to keep his use of ice powers a secret. It would be yet another sick test from Strange.
That man definitely liked his tests.
"Cameron knows how to keep his ice out of a fight." In other words, Joar had taught Cameron well that he should just accept the beating and not try to defend himself, or things would just get worse. It was a harsh and cruel lesson, one that Moar hadn't even taught his kid intentionally, but at least it looked like it would actually do Cameron some good.
"Alright, so say the boy's collar malfunctions for a week or two and he doesn't take advantage of it." Strange said, sounding mostly convinced. "What do I get from this?"
And there it was. Strange probably couldn't care less whether or not Cameron's collar was turned off for a bit, he just wanted to know exactly how much he could take advantage of it. Joar had known this, and he wondered why it had taken so long for Strange to just cut to the chase. Especially since they both knew exactly what Joar's response would be.
"I would owe you a favor." Joar said, because he knew that was what it would take. Strange was treating this as though it was a big deal, even though, to him, it wasn't. He just wanted to use this situation as a reminder to Joar of just who exactly was in charge here. Joar was willing to play by Strange's rules, because it was to his advantage that the other man thinks that he was the one in charge. However, Joar couldn't just let Strange think that he held all the cards in this partnership. "Of course, in a few days you'll owe me one too."
"Yes, of course." Strange sighed almost boredly. They both knew that the favor that Strange would owe him if this air conditioning thing worked out was worth less than the favor that Joar would owe the warden if he turned off Cameron's collar. Still, it was the concept of the matter that counted. Every little favor that Strange owed him was a little reminder that even though the Warden was in charge, he still needed Joar.
"Alright, I believe we have a deal." Strange stood up and held out his hand. Joar was about to shake it when Strange pulled back. "I believe this goes without saying, but I feel I should remind you that if things go badly, I won't be the one to take the fall, and neither will you."
"Yeah, I get it." Joar growled. Cameron was an adult now. He had to deal with his own consequences. No more hiding behind other people to defend him. Joar knew this, Strange knew this, now it was just a matter of getting the idea through Cameron's thick skull. "Can we move one with this?" Joar was sick and tired of all of Strange's stalling.
"Very well." Strange held out his hand again and Joar shook it before he could change his mind again. "I hope you know what you're doing, Mahkent. It would be a shame for you to go to all this trouble only to find yourself regretting it later."
"I won't." Joar said as he dropped Strange's hand as though it was burning him. "Now, turn his collar off."
"Yes, alright." Strange sat back down at his desk and tapped a few keys on his computer. "There. It is done."
"Then we're done." Joar nodded at Strange, because even if he didn't fully respect the man he had to at least act like he did...for now. He left the office and wondered if turning off any individual collar was really so easy to do. For all the security they had in this prison, they certainly made it easy to get past.
Joar was planning on using that information to his advantage before anybody else realized the flaw in the security system and decided to upgrade it.
That would have to happen later though, because Joar still had Cameron to deal with.
It only took him a few minutes to get back to Cameron's cell. His son was still lying on the bed, but he looked like he was asleep now. Cameron was strange that way. Most of the time it took him hours to get to sleep, and usually he couldn't manage to sleep at all during a heat wave. Occasionally though he would fall asleep in seconds, which usually happened when his body and mind were just too tired to handle being awake anymore.
Captain Cold quickly noticed that Joar had returned and he looked at him with curious, slightly accusatory and yet also impressed eyes. "How the hell did you manage to get his collar turned off?"
"That's none of your business." Joar pushed past Cold with a threatening glare. "And don't even think about telling the others." Joar looked back at Cameron, who seemed restless while he slept. Concerned that he had judged the situation wrongly Joar took his son's hand in his own, because that was where his ice powers came from. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt that Cameron's fingers were slightly chilly.
Cameron had most control over his powers when he was tense or nervous, but he used them more naturally and sometimes unintentionally when he was completely relaxed. Joar couldn't count the number of times that Cameron had woken up confused because his skin and room were completely covered in ice. His powers would naturally cool him down while he slept. Joar was confident of this.
"You're going to be fine, Cam." Joar muttered so quietly that even Cold didn't hear him. He tightened his grip on his son's hand. "You're going to be just fine."
A/N: I swear, every single time I write Joar I write him as more and more fatherly and caring. I promise, I'm not doing it on purpose. He's just a really hard character to write. So if he's out of character, I very sincerely apologize. I'm just telling myself that Joar does care about Cameron, always has, and he's just not as worried about hiding that concern when Cam's in trouble. Especially if Cameron himself doesn't see that Joar cares, because there's no way that Icicle would allow himself to let his son see him as 'weak'.