"The Light wants to take over Belle Reve."

Dick continued with his homework but tilted his head, a signal that he was listening carefully to Slade.

The man continued. "The plan is that Hugo Strange will become the new prison director, replacing Amanda Waller, so that Belle Reve will be under Light control. Another goal is to escape the Riddler. To do this they have orchestrated a breakout with empowered inmates such as Icicle Sr. and Jr, Captain Cold, Mr. Freeze and Killer Frost." Slade gave a mischievous grin when he saw Dick abruptly raise his head from his homework, surprise briefly flashing in his eyes. "Strange plays a key role in smuggling cold resistant technology to prisoners."

The acrobat grunted and returned his attention to the homework. "When would it take place?"

"Tomorrow."

"Good. As much as I hate Amanda Waller with all my heart and the way she operates, I reluctantly admit that it is better that she remain in charge of Belle Reve than replace her with Hugo Strange." stated Dick with a sigh.

Slade grunted in agreement with his son.

He hated Waller's guts too.

"That means Renegade will make a courtesy visit to Belle Reve tomorrow and take out Strange."

"You will have to come up with a good plan if you want to succeed. Belle Reve is the toughest and safest penitentiary in the world."

Dick rolled his eyes and turned to his father, meeting his neutral gaze. "I don't need a plan."

Slade arched an eyebrow and tilted his head slightly, showing genuine curiosity since he did not know what was going through his son's mind. Although he could boast that he used 90 percent of his brain, which was literally a high-tech machine for him thanks to the super serum, Dick was literally the most unpredictable person he had ever met and most of the time he could not figure out what the hell was going through his son's head, never mind that Dick had been living with him for seven years.

He was simultaneously amused, frustrated, proud and defeated by it.

"I'm going to kill Strange and make it look like someone paid me to do it. Like it's a contract."

Slade blinked once, the only sign of his surprise. He narrowed his gaze and analyzed his son's shit-eating smile. "You want the Light to come to find out that you are the one responsible for Strange's death and for causing their escape plan to fail."

Dick nodded and sent him finger guns with a smirk.

Slade had many questions but the only one he asked was: "Why?"

"Actually just to piss them off more." the Talon admitted with a shrug. "Don't worry: making it look like I had a contract for Strange's death will make them think it was just an accident and that I had nothing to do with sabotaging their previous plans.

"And that will be your main line of defense when they inevitably ask you questions. That and the fact that as I am your former apprentice, I am no longer under your control and we have not been in contact for a long time now, so you cannot control my actions." Dick concluded as he returned to his homework.

The super soldier mentally contemplated his son's entire plan for a few seconds and finally nodded. "I'm in. Good plan, kiddo." he complimented, ruffling his hair.

Dick gave him a bright smile. "Thank you!" he paused. "It will be so much fun to see their pissed-off reactions, won't it?"

"Absolutely. That's the main reason I agreed to your plan."

"And then they say I'm the asshole."

"You are the worst of all, in fact."

"Best compliment you could have given me, dad."

"It wasn't supposed to be a compliment."

"I know."

"You little shit."

"Thank you!"

"Hn."

"Victor!"

Mr. Freeze jerked awake when he heard someone whisper his name furiously. He rose from the bed of his holding cell and was paralyzed on the spot when he observed that on the other side of the bars was a familiar mercenary. "Renegade?" he muttered confusedly, approaching the bars. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked as he looked as far as he could to the left and right but did not notice any guards nearby.

"Listen, I don't have much time to waste and I'll get straight to the point: I know that you are affiliated with the Light and that you and the other criminals have been planning an escape." Victor opened his eyes wide in shock but the Talon quickly continued. "I'm just here to tell you one thing. Do not participate in the escape attempt. And don't have anything more to do with the Light."

Mr. Freeze was on the verge of protesting but stopped when he noticed the serious and dangerous attitude taken by the assassin. He merely sighed and fixed the young man with a weary look. "If I don't obey you, I will bitterly regret it, won't I?"

The shark-like grin he received was enough to send shivers of fear down his spine and it was a real response. Renegade's gaze softened slightly. "I know you're a good person after all, Victor. Behave yourself. I know I've told you this a hundred times before but it's what Nora would want from you. Do it for her. Honor her memory."

The icy supervillain gave a pained sigh and looked away guiltily for a few seconds. When he brought it back in front of him, there was no sign of Renegade.

Victor Fries took a deep breath and closed his eyes. An image of his beautiful wife ran through his head, tearing a sob from him.

"You are right, Renegade." he whispered softly.

He would strive to become a better person and leave his criminal activity. Nora would not want this life for him. He would try in other ways to try to save his wife.

He would not let Nora down again.

Renegade slipped into the shadows and walked away from the Riddler's cell.

It had only taken one threat to change Edward's mind about escaping and it consisted of the inappropriate but definitely painful and brutal use of Nygma's staff that Renegade would force him to endure.

Snorting in amusement, the assassin silently made his way to the section of the prison dedicated to the cells where the female super-villains were contained. He used the shadowy areas to his advantage and easily passed all the guards.

Man, they really do a bad job. I would be much better even if I were blindfolded and with my hands tied to my back.

Eventually he reached the cell of the super-criminal he was interested in meeting. He looked around, noting that no guards were around, but froze when he saw a camera pointed at the bars of the cell. The Talon gave a mental sigh and, knowing that there was a chance that something too personal would happen, he raised his holographic glove and hacked only that camera. It did not even take him five seconds to deactivate the camera and with a smirk he silently wandered toward the bars.

"Louise!"

Louise Lincoln turned sharply when he whispered her name and he could finally see her again after so long: ice-blue hair, blue eyes, pale skin and fearless attitude. Her blue eyes lit up when she saw him. Not wanting her to accidentally shout his name, he brought a finger to his lips, giving her a meaningful look.

"D-Ren!" she whispered in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I might ask you the same question. What were you arrested for this time?"

"I just created a bit of a mess with my powers but no one can appreciate that." she declared contemptuously, snatching a giggle from him. "Your turn, Ren." she assumed a mischievous look. "Are you here to release your old flame?"

Renegade rolled his eyes and snorted in amusement. "On the contrary, madame. I am here to tell you not to participate in the mass breakout."

A surprised look flashed in the eyes of the young woman who lifted her lips a few inches. "I shouldn't be surprised that you know that." she pulled back the lock of hair and gave him a smirk. "Give me one good reason why I should listen to you. Don't even start with your intimidation tactics: we both know you wouldn't dare raise a hand to me."

"That's true." admitted the Talon with a nod. A mischievous smirk made its way across his features. "Shall I perhaps show you my best weapon?"

If possible, Killer Frost's skin grew slightly paler. She gave a defeated sigh, although she had a small smile on her lips. "I see with pleasure that you still use your puppy eyes to get whatever you want."

"Of course. They're my winning weapon."

She rolled her eyes, continuing to smile. "All it took was a please, you know? You had me convinced as soon as you asked."

The assassin's smile expanded. "I know." he became more serious. "I know you have come in contact with the Light but please don't have anything more to do with them. They are just heartless bastards who think only of themselves. They-"

"Okay." she interrupted him.

The mercenary blinked once. "I didn't expect it would be so easy to convince you."

"That's because I only allied with the Light because they promised to get me out of this shithole." Louise said, shrugging casually. A twinkle appeared in her gaze, which turned mischievous, and she stared intensely at him with her blue eyes, aware that they were one of the few weaknesses of the notorious Renegade. "You know, you could always help your old flame and get her out of here."

Renegade stared at her for a few seconds with a blank stare but eventually his shoulders slumped defeated and the ice girl knew she had already won. "I don't understand how your eyes are still a weakness for me when I no longer feel anything for you." he grumbled disgruntled.

Killer Frost emitted a silent chuckle. "What's the plan, boss?"

"I will let you escape only after I complete my mission here." she tilted her head slightly in a silent question and the acrobat continued. "Kill Hugo Strange."

Louise briefly opened her eyes wide. "Why do you want to kill him?"

"Contract." he lied, not wanting her to bear the burden of his secrets and true intentions.

Let it be if the heroes, or worse the Light, decided to interrogate Killer Frost using unorthodox methods, or torture in the case of the Light. Dick could never forgive himself if she suffered -or worse- because of his secrets and so he had to lie to her, even if he trusted her with his own life.

"I can wait a little longer in this hellhole while you do what you need to do." Killer Frost shrugged her shoulders.

"I'll see you later." the assassin nodded to her, which she returned, and he slipped away, moving away from her cell.

Louise Lincoln let out a silent sigh and stared in the direction in which the young mercenary walked away.

I'm afraid you've gotten yourself mixed up in something extremely dangerous that could endanger your own life. Be careful, Dick. Please.

"Release her immediately or we shoot!"

The attention of all the super-villains gathered in the canteen snapped toward the angry shout and they were shocked by what they saw.

Upstairs Renegade was holding the prison director Amanda Waller in a potentially deadly grip and with his other arm was holding a gun to her temple. Soon whispers began to spread among the super-villains.

"Is that Renegade?"

"What's he doing here?"

"Is Deathstroke nearby?"

"He would be doing us a huge favor if he killed that bitch."

"Kill her!"

"Damn, Renegade is a lot hotter than I expected."

Killer Frost rolled her eyes at a female inmate's comment and watched with a neutral gaze as the situation unfolded.

About 20 policemen surrounded Renegade, who, despite the situation, maintained a calm and composed gait, and pointed their guns at him. "You have no way out! Let her go!" shouted one of the guards.

"If you don't want your director back with a bullet straight through her filthy brain, bring Hugo Strange to me." Renegade ordered in a snarl.

"Strange? What do you want with him?"

"None of your business." the mercenary spat venomously. "Bring him in front of me. Now. Otherwise my finger will accidentally slip on the trigger and, again accidentally, I will kill Waller."

The guards exchanged a glance and Amanda Waller emitted a fierce growl. "You idiots! Shoot him!"

"Shut up." Renegade struck her violently with the barrel of his gun and she let out a cry of pain. He watched in satisfaction as the streak of blood flowed from her temple and returned his gaze to the policemen who had stiffened. "Move. I don't have all the time. And don't even try to contact the heroes, the police or anyone else. I have momentarily disabled every alarm and isolated your servers from the rest of the world and only I am capable of reactivating them, so don't waste time and bring Strange here."

Two guards walked away, presumably to inform Strange of the situation and bring him to Renegade. "You're a bastard, you know that?" Amanda growled in his grip.

"I know." the assassin replied easily.

"You're not going to get away with this. You will pay dearly for this."

"Of course." the Talon drawled sarcastically and bored with her threats. He shifted his gaze down to where the supervillains were standing and narrowed his white eyes menacingly. "You people don't do anything stupid. I have no interest in either creating a revolt or letting any of you escape."

Icicle Sr. stepped forward and proudly raised his chin in defiance. "What are you going to do about it? You have your hands full."

The acrobat did not answer him as he heard three pairs of footsteps approaching and turned, staring at the two guards from before with Hugo Strange at their side. "I heard you wanted me. What do you want?" asked the prison psychiatrist.

Although Strange outwardly had a calm and composed demeanor, Dick easily sensed fear twisting the man's limbs and felt Strange's heart beating faster than normal, despite being about ten meters away from him.

Man, Dick loved his enhanced hearing.

Renegade cast an discreet glance at the mass of super-villains who were apparently more interested in enjoying the show than creating a revolt or attempting to escape, to the visible displeasure of Icicle Sr.

"Unfortunately it's not about me, Strange." Renegade shook his head with mock displeasure. "It's just that you stepped on someone's toes and now that someone wants you dead." he shrugged indifferently. "I'm just the performer. No grudges, okay?"

Belle Reve's psychiatrist paled noticeably, easily understanding the mercenary's words. "You don't mean that-"

"That's right. I have a contract and you are my target. And as you well know, I have never failed a contract and never will."

Strange turned and began to flee. Renegade abruptly pushed Waller against the wall while simultaneously a shot echoed loudly throughout the prison.

The bullet grazed several policemen until it brutally pierced with a precision unique anywhere in the world the middle of the back of Strange's head, who fell dead to the ground. A hole was visible in the center of the back of the victim's head and a large pit of blood began to form rapidly beneath him.

Renegade holstered his gun and performed a backflip, easily dodging the shower of bullets intended for him, and as soon as his feet landed on the railing that was at the edge of the floor he launched himself into a successive backflip. He performed a double somersault in midair and landed crouching on the floor below and sprinted away, running past several super-villains and forcing the policemen to be unable to fire or they would risk hitting the inmates.

"Get him! Get him!"

Renegade ignored the cops' shouts but stopped briefly when he saw Icile Sr. to his right and decided to sprint toward him. Icicle Sr. did not even have time to blink when a brutal punch from Renegade connected painfully with his jaw, sending him flying several meters and causing him to crash violently with his back against the wall, creating a small hole on it. "That's for before, asshole!"

"Dad!"

The mercenary ignored Icicle Jr.'s concerned shout and threw a smoke bomb to the ground, forcing the super-villains near him to cough from the sudden smoke that covered that area of the canteen. When the smoke disappeared about a minute later, there was no sign of Renegade.

A murmur spread among the inmates and guards, wondering where the hell Renegade could be when suddenly a very eerie laugh resounded throughout the prison, sending shivers of fear down the spines of all the super-villains and guards.

Glad to know that he still hasn't given up that damned creepy laugh. Killer Frost chuckled silently after shuddering at the giggle, snorting in amusement when someone compared Renegade's laugh to the Joker's.

Louise looked up just in time to see Amanda Waller staggering forward, her ugly wound still visible, and she saw her lean her weight on the railing and cast a grim glance at the guards. "What the hell are you waiting for? Renegade can't have gone far! Find him and get him!" she growled, a little paler than usual. "And you inmates, return to your cells!"

I hope Dick hasn't forgotten about me.

"I sure didn't miss riding the Deadly-Cycle with you." Killer Frost stated as she got off the bike and staggered forward, still shaken by Renegade's reckless riding. She shook her head and looked around, observing the small abandoned warehouse in which they momentarily took refuge after escaping from Belle Reve.

The young assassin chuckled as he turned off his little gem and got out. "Come on, I didn't go that fast!"

He burst out laughing at the flat look of the young woman seven years older than him. She shook her head with a smirk and huffed. "I admit that for a moment I feared you had forgotten me or willingly abandoned me in that jail."

"So that you would freeze me to death the next time we met? No thanks."

"So that your overprotective father would literally burn me alive? No thanks."

Renegade and Killer Frost looked at each other for a few seconds and simultaneously burst out laughing. Still giggling to herself Louise brought a hand to her neck and sighed contentedly when her fingers met skin instead of the metal of the inhibiting collar the guards had put on her ever since they brought her to Belle Reve.

"When do you think they will notice that my collar is in my cell along with my inmate dress?" she asked, managing to restrain herself from using her powers since she knew that ice was one of Renegade's true few weaknesses.

"Probably around dinner time." he replied with a smile that she returned. "And the good thing is that without it they won't even be able to locate you. Anyway, you looked really hot even in the prison suit."

Killer Frost sent him a mischievous smirk and put her hands on her hips, shaking them sensually left and right. "Oh, I know." she whispered in a voice of mock pride. Then she smiled. "But I much prefer my classic super-villain outfit." she affirmed, briefly touching the fabric of her blue dress and then bringing her hands on the blue diamond set in a compass-shaped gemstone.

"Me too."

The ice-powered super-villain winked at him. Afterwards she gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you for freeing me when you had no reason to do so."

Renegade shrugged noncommittally. "No problem. You've never killed anyone and only used your powers to create a bit of a mess, no big deal. And I can personally say that you are a good woman, deep inside your heart of ice."

Killer Frost stared at him impassively before a giggle involuntarily came out of her. "I can't believe you said that." she murmured, running a hand over her face and smiling slightly at his giggle. She returned to look at him. "Seriously, thank you, Dick."

"Once again, no problem."

Louise smiled at him. "By the way, I really like the change of armor. It looks very good on you." Renegade smiled brightly at her. "When did it happen?"

"A few weeks after we broke up. I managed to beat Slade in a fight and from then on I officially stopped being his apprentice and became my own man and mercenary."

"I'm glad." his former fiancée nodded sincerely and then sighed. "I suppose I'll have to keep a low profile for a while from now on."

"If you want, I can accommodate you until the dust settles." the Talon offered genuinely, although in that case it would be harder not to involve her in his plan to bring down the Light but he and Slade would be able to find a way to keep her out of their business.

Killer Frost shook her head and smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you but no. I don't want to be a bother." she sent him a mischievous smirk. "Knowing us, even though we've already broken up we would end up traumatizing your father."

The mercenary burst out laughing, easily reading the message hidden between her words. "You're right." he conceded with a chuckle. "Stay out of trouble, okay?"

"I'll try but I'm not promising anything." she affirmed with an innocent smirk. Her smile became genuinely sweeter and more tender. "It's been a long time since we've seen each other. I had missed you so much, Dick."

"I had missed you too, Louise."

The two smiled at each other and pulled each other into a gentle embrace. Although both were cold at just touching, as usual they were able to enjoy the inner warmth that came with it. They broke away after about thirty seconds and Renegade sent her one last sweet smile before turning away. He was on the verge of getting on his motorcycle when he heard her call his name so he turned around curiously.

The next thing Dick knew a pair of cold lips were stuck on his. He gasped, taken aback but soon he succumbed to the familiar dance and returned the kiss, placing his hands on her hips and drawing her even closer to him. The Talon let out a moan into her mouth when her cold tongue collided with his, eagerly exploring his mouth.

The kiss lasted just over a minute when Louise broke away, slightly flushed, and sent him a mischievous smirk. "That was my thanks."

Renegade burst into a giggle, also with a blush that contrasted sharply with his pale face. "I thought so."

"When you want some action write to me." Killer Frost purred seductively, staring at him intently. "I'll always be free for you."

"I certainly will." he winked at her from behind his mask and climbed onto his motorcycle, starting it up.

"One last thing, Ren." she waited for her ex-boyfriend to look at her before continuing. "Do you still have a huge crush on Wonder Woman?"

Killer Frost burst out laughing as the motorcycle abruptly took off, making a U-turn and then speeding out of the warehouse.

"I'll take that as a yes."

As Renegade sped down the road breaking every possible road limit, he became immersed in his own thoughts concerning his ex-girlfriend.

Their relationship lasted just less than a year and ended, as previously mentioned, months ago, a few weeks before Dick beat Slade in a fight. They met at one of the super-villain meetings and got together when Dick was 16.

Dick didn't care at all that Louise was seven years older than him: the only thing that mattered was their pure and genuine love and nothing else. And yes, he knew it was ironic that he had fallen in love with a woman who possessed as a power one of his few weaknesses but could do nothing about it.

Irony of fate.

And somehow the coldness conveyed by her -tongue, body, mouth, skin, etc.- made him very excited and hot inside and he always managed to enjoy it fully on every occasion.

They were very happy together and shared many experiences, most of them very pleasant. She was his first real relationship and Louise was the first woman he fell in love with ignoring his huge crush on Wonder Woman and she was the woman he lost his virginity to.

Unfortunately, they broke up when they both realized that their feelings for each other were gone on both sides. They parted on very good terms and despite a few make-out sessions and occasional sex -the last time occurred shortly before the whole Cadmus affair. Dick began to realize that they have not met since both because he was busy foiling Light's plans and because she had probably been arrested- they were still best friends.

Although Dick no longer had any romantic feelings for her, he didn't mind having other casual flings with her -come on, Killer frost was one of the hottest and toughest girls in the world: only a fool could say no to her!- and he genuinely still cared a lot about her -feelings reciprocated completely- and he couldn't have wished as his first girlfriend any other woman instead of Louise Lincoln.

He would not have exchanged his memories with her for anything else in the world.

Although he wished Louise would stop teasing him about his totally nonexistent crush on Wonder Woman, thank you.