Author's Note: Sorry, sorry, sorry and a million sorryes. It has been way too long since I posted and my only excuses are just that, excuses. I won't bore you with them. So, here is the next chapter, which is shorter than I like, but the next one, which I am still working on, will be really long so it balances out. Enjoy more Chopper cuteness.

Chapter 16-Mr. Freeze #2

From where he stood on the roof, Mr. Freeze could see all of the excitement around the Gotham Concert Hall. The police officers looked like ants, scurrying in a panic. In the midst of the chaos, a tiny reindeer was sneaking around to see if he could contact his friends. Chopper had been so upset thinking that his friends might be arrested that Freeze couldn't resist helping. He showed the little guy where the hall was and gave him advice on how to avoid the cop's attention. Stay low, he had advised, they never look down. They would be focused on the big fancy car that was pulling up, especially when the former Robin, Nightwing jumped out. Good, no one, not even the Bat would notice a little plush of a reindeer in all that mess. He turned away, mentally going over what he would need for Chopper's plan. He thought he'd have enough of everything, so at least he wouldn't need to stage a heist, though it would be easy to do in all the chaos of the night. Maybe he should check, just to be sure. If they needed to break in somewhere, they would need to do it right away. Better not to waste time.

A short while later Mr. Freeze heard a knock on the door to his lab. He knew it was the reindeer because of the ring of hooves on the metal. He turned form his inventory of chemicals (he was more prepared than he thought from a hijacked shipment a few months ago) to unlock the door with a loud clang. Opening the heavy door, he revealed his new little friend, who was beaming excitedly up at a young man in overalls. The boy's most distinguishing feature was his absurdly long nose, but Freeze didn't comment, because honestly, he didn't care.

Chopper led the way into the lab, pulling his friend by the hand. "Look at all the equipment, Ussop!" he chattered excitedly. "He has everything we need. I'll be focusing on synthesizing powder but you'll need to work with Dr. Freeze for the delivery system. I think it'd be easiest to create a two pronged system, but that will be up to you. Dr. Freeze is very knowledgeable so I'm sure you'll get along great. "

"Whoa, hold on a minute, Chopper. I'm still trying to catch up with everything. You pulled me away from Batman to a creepy factory," Ussop shook his head in confusion. "Just, start at the beginning. And introduce your friend, here." He pointed, quite rudely, at Freeze.

Freeze glared banefully at the boy. "Careful," he warned coldly. "I have frozen people in response to disrespect. Do not assume that my benevolence to your friend extends to you."

Ussop visibly gulped and moved his satchel in front of him like a shield. "Yes, sir, Dr. Freeze, sir," he said with a distinct quiver in his voice.

Chopper shook a hoof at the Gotham rogue. "Be nice," he scolded. "We're trying to cure your frozen heart, and we need Ussop's help. He's an inventor and the best sniper on the Grand Line and he's fought gods and sea monsters and giant goldfish."

Freeze turned an unimpressed looked on Chopper but didn't argue the point. "Put this on," he ordered Ussop, grabbing a heavy parka coat from a peg next to the door. "At the temperatures I have grown accustomed to, you would only survive a matter of minutes before you succumb to the cold."

Ussop nodded and gratefully pulled on the coat. His teeth had already begun to chatter, but the warm coat and gloves he found in the pocket had him back to normal soon enough.

"Thank you," the pirated acknowledged politely. "I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot. It has been a long night. First I wake up in this strange city, then I'm attacked by over a hundred armed hooligans," he started to get into the swing of his story. Freeze could tell that he was embellishing the tale, but Chopper seemed impressed so he refrained from calling the boy on his lies. "After I fought them off, I was arrested by the local authorities. They interrogated me cruelly, but I held my tongue. No one and nothing can crack the manly resolve of the great Captain Ussop. Then finally the Commissioner admitted his defeat in the face of my greatness and introduced me to his ally, Batman."

"Who's Batman?" Chopper asked, stars in his eyes.

"A terrifying man who makes grown men's knees shake. But I stood my ground and told him 'Batman, I need to find my crew. Either you help me willingly or I will force you to.'" His voice dropped as he supposedly quoted Batman, "Then he said, 'Ussop, even here, we have heard tales of your greatness. Come with me and we will find your crew."

"Then what?" Chopper squeaked.

"Then I said, 'Thank you, Batman.'"

"And did he find the crew?"

"Well," Ussop said, losing the storytelling voice. "As luck would have it, Luffy had already found him and while we were talking, Nami found us. Batman said that his partners had found Franky with the ship and an ally was going to bring Zoro and Sanji to the Concert Hall where Brook was. So with you, that's almost all of us."

Chopper tilted his head as he counted up his crewmates. Freeze would never admit, even to himself, but it was adorable. "Where's Robin? The radio said she was nearby."

Ussop smacked his forehead. "That's right, the police said that someone had broken into the Concert Hall by growing arms out of things. I think she's with Brook."

Chopper nodded happily and turned to Freeze. "All my crew is okay, so we can focus on helping you."

"Don't you want to return to your friends?" Victor asked, dreading the answer despite his control. He had honestly been surprised Chopper had returned at all when he went to retrieve Ussop. He didn't want the little reindeer to leave, but he expected abandonment.

Chopper shook his head firmly. "No, you are my patient now and I never leave a patient until he's better. Luffy will understand."

Ussop nodded in agreement when Freeze looked to him for confirmation. "We're not exactly normal pirates," the long-nosed man explained, and unlike his early story, he sounded earnest and honest. "We all have our dreams and our Captain supports that just like we support his dream to become King of the Pirates. If Chopper says he needs to help you, well, that's what we'll do."

Victor Feis considered the two pirates for a long moment before nodding. All he said was "Thank you," but that seemed to be enough because Chopper's smile became blinding.

"Okay!" the little reindeer cheered, transforming into his gorilla form in excitement. "Let's make it snow cherry blossoms in Gotham!"