Of Ice and Men (Young Justice. Icicle Junior SI.)

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 58: Chill Your Guts
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Gotham City
November 12, 10:43 PM EST

Batman doesn't bring us back to the Batcave with him, to my eternal disappointment. Instead he drops us off at Artemis' school and leaves us on the street outside Artemis' place.

The knights seem conflicted about how to feel about the revivals I provided. Most of them believe it was done from the kindness of my heart, or for the loyalty of service. But Sir de Mille is convinced it just means I'll never let any of them see Heaven.

"Can you ask him why an innocent knight full of virtue..." I trail off and give the shifty looking man and his pencil thin moustache an intrigued look. "Would ever need to fear the fires of Hell?"

"Uh..." Tommy blinks a few times and frowns. "I don't know enough of those words yet Boss."

Unable to be even slightly annoyed considering I'm still on the second page of my intro to French book, I try to think of something else that will work on the knights. "Tu es a moi." The armoured men shift uncomfortably at that and exchange nervous glances. "Froid pas chaud."

"Just get them back to the museum once we finish with the Cains." Oswald is giving me a discount on his security services for the night. "I'll check on the Cains once I hand over Jade to her sister." But it's still a ridiculous amount and I would prefer not to get charged for another whole hour.

Jade isn't growling at anything that moves anymore and is finally functioning above Gnarrk's level when the door swings open before us. Artemis is not impressed at her sister's condition and glares at me with crossed arms.

"Mom called and told me what happened." Her voice is barely holding back the worry. "It's really over now?"

"Some clean up while your mom takes over. But yeah, no more getting ordered around by a super villain for me or Jade." The elder sister perks up at her name and follows my pointed finger inside once Artemis steps aside.

Relief floods the youngest Crock's face as she lets the news finally sink in. "Dad's going to be pissed."

"His ex wife is his new boss and he doesn't know about the change in the Shadows' tactics." I smirk back at my shorter friend. "Lawrence is probably already restocking his toilet paper."

"What are you talking abo-" Artemis stops herself as she realizes I mean her dad will be shitting bricks. "Oh."

"I got one more thing to do tonight before I can crash." Knowing it's better if I don't give David a chance to try subverting the Gotham cell, I'm relieved when the taxis start arriving. "Jade might try giving you trouble at first. Just show her you're the boss and she'll calm down again."

Amusement fills Artemis' face and laughter pours out of her mouth. "I heard about the non consensual hand holding."

"Don't make me freeze the utensils before breakfast." Glaring down at the blonde who seems to have figured out how to retract her armour fully, I gleefully imagine the cursing that would come from it.

"That's a really good idea Khaji." She smiles wide as the alien machine whispers something. "We should assimilate some flame throwers."

Trying not to let the idea of a homicidal AI get to me, I flash a snarky grin back in response. "Ask Danette for the specs and you might actually have a chance."

"Khaji! That's rude," Artemis admonishes the voice in her head, a massive grin growing on her face. "Glenn's my friend. Don't call him names when you list all the ways you have to beat him."

A crash inside makes her dash off with a quick goodbye, her armour snapping back in place. Leaving me and the knights our assignment, I join them on the sidewalk. "Let's get this over with fast. I do want to sleep tonight."

It ends up being a pretty quiet walk, the French men still uncomfortable with how much power I seem to play with daily. All of them are very relieved to only watch the Cain residence from the outside.

Knowing those opinions will only change with time and exposure, I manage to shrug off most of the annoyance it brings. The neighborhood is middle class and nothing about the house screams assassin.

"Twenty minutes and you storm the place." When I give the order, Tommy doesn't even consider arguing.

"You got it." He nods with confidence. "Nobody will disturb you and Mister Cain."

My approach to the door starts of stiff and awkward. But it quickly turns into a determined march, my fist slamming down hard on the door.

It takes a few minutes for the light behind the door to flicker on and is soon followed by a gruff voice from behind the peephole. "What the hell do you want?"

"Lady Shiva sent me to do an inspection to make sure you're keeping up your side of the bargain." My response is growled out and is more than loud enough for David to hear me on the other side of his door. "And the Great One agreed. You know, since I'm taking over the Gotham cell."

The door swings open to reveal a muscular man in his forties, with dirty blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail. "I assume you have proof of this?"

He has at least a dozen visible weapons strapped to him and a rather larger hunting knife in one hand. Honestly, it's almost big enough to call the thing a short sword.

"Of course." Paula made sure to give me a recording and I hand over the disc. It's a little terrifying how Khaji was able to do recreate the voice of Ra's, with only the brief encounter in the cavern as a vocal sample.

"She's in the basement." David points to a door with more locks than my cell at Arkham had. "You will have nothing to complain about to her mother over. Everything is exactly as she instructed."

That sounds ominous and I hope I keep any reaction from my eyes. "Good. Join us when you are convinced of the Great One's words."

He tosses me the ring of keys and no further instruction. Making me waste even more time matching each one to the correct lock.

The door creaks open and I can see a dim light illuminating the room. Old wooden stairs are cracked in enough places that I'm worried about falling through them.

"Inspection!" David bellows before I have a chance to enter and gives me a nod. "She probably isn't going to try killing you now."

"Thanks..." My muttered response only draws a wry chuckle from the father I am rapidly growing to hate.

At the bottom of the stairs, I find the eight year old girl. She reminds me a lot of Jade actually and I have to blink a few times.

The long black hair and half Asian features bring me right back to Cameron's childhood and it's only the silence that shakes me out of it. "How are you Sandra?"

She doesn't respond to my attempt at forming a connection and only stares up at me. Her eyes shine with intelligence and watch me for the slightest movement. But none of my questions get more than her head shaking yes or no.

"Didn't Shiva tell you what the training entails?" David snorts, surprising me at how he was able to descend the stairs so silently. "Cassandra can't talk. It only got in the way of making her the deadliest women on Earth."

"The Great One no longer requires your services." Searing rage ignites inside me and I don't even try to control my response.

"What ar-" He doesn't finish his question, the words getting cut off when a spear of ice emerges from his chest.

"I will finish her training." I thought the Crocks and Cameron had shitty childhoods.

Cassandra isn't even being raised as a pet. She's a tool to kill Lady Shiva one day and nothing more.

"Do you have anything you want to bring?" If that's all Shiva wants... I'll give it to her myself.

The girl didn't react when I killed her father. She still stands at attention, waiting for her orders with perfect poise.

She observes me, her eyes taking in more about me than a hundred would with the same time. As the anxiety of her reacting poorly churns, I can feel my desire to help her grow.

I hold out my hand and treat her like a child for what I assume is the first time in her life. "My name is Glenn and I want to finish your training."

I'm not letting Shiva get her hands on you and Batman would probably try turning you into a sidekick. I'm going to have to handle this myself and I can already tell this means exposure to my greatest fear.

Twenty minutes have passed and the windows upstairs shatter, the knights charging to my rescue. The mute girl actually reacts to the sound and dashes past me. The stairs not creaking until I manage to give chase.

"Wait!" I try to let her know the knights work for me, only to manage the feat after she's got a pen pressed against Tommy's ear.

She saw he was the only one without a helmet and went straight for the apparent leader. Making me explain the situation as fast as I can. Her eyes are locked on my body the whole time and she only lets go of Tommy when she's convinced by something she sees.

"Thanks Boss." Tommy rubs at the blue spot on his face and watches Cassandra with terror in his eyes. "I guess this is the girl?"

"Yeah and I'm-" The girl takes the hand I had offered earlier and I try not to let how startled I am show. "... Bringing her home with me." Megan is the best person to get actual answers and Artemis can have her here in the morning.

"You uh..." Tommy points at my chest. "Got some blood on you Boss."

Oh yeah. "Thanks for the reminder. I need to call the Commissioner and tell him this was self defence." Considering how many weapons the body has on it, I'm really hoping it gets believed.



Notes: Tu es a moi = You are mine.
Fraud pas chaud. = Cold not hot.​

 

[Flightless Man]

Chapter 59: Exfrosted
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Gotham City
November 13, 6:31 AM EST

It takes far less time to get Cassandra and myself out of trouble than I had expected. But when Bullock found all the explosives, my story of self defence saved me a trip to the station. David Cain being wanted in seven countries, that probably helped a bit.

Tommy actually argued with me when I told him and the boys to skedaddle down to my gallery. Insisted I already had Jade to deal with and he could sleep on my couch. Which is how I ended up with him and Sandra playing video games on mute, while I kept myself busy in the kitchen.

I've been too anxious about Nora's reaction to join the pair, instead I use up all of Paula's milk making ice cream. Will have to pick up some cocoa powder and caramel syrup too.

"You're up early." Artemis rub the sleep out of her eyes, while an embarrassed Jade looks anywhere but at my face.

"Couldn't sleep." I relax a little bit, when Nora doesn't also appear out of nowhere. "The check in on the Cains, got a little complicated." First time I killed someone on purpose and I'm honestly terrified of the nightmares.

Snorting at my understatement, Artemis notices the pair on the couch. "Who's the girl?"

The game has been paused and both are watching with wide eyes. Tommy with an amused grin. While beside him, the eight year old has a wary expression.

"Cassandra Cain. Raised by a bigger piece of shit, than all three of our fathers combined." I include Tommy's late father in the insult and both sisters gain sympathetic expressions. "She can't talk or write." That has the sympathy replaced with fury. "So I need you to give your friend Alf a call and ask if she can take a peak in her head."

It takes Artemis a few seconds to realize I mean Megan and she groans. "Alf? Really?"

"I'm not calling her Miss Martian unless she wins a beauty pageant." I really don't like that codename.

"I can ask." Artemis doesn't even put up a token argument, reaching for her phone at once. "You want her here any specific time?"

"Soon as possible." I need to know how bad I should feel for killing David.

While the younger Crock is focused on her text, Jade finally turns to face me directly. "Are you bringing her to Lady Shiva?"

"Tell Shiva that Sandra is fine and she can see her once she finishes your training." The growl that escapes my throat, surprises even me. "If she has a problem with the new terms..." I have to take a deep breath to stop myself from snarling. "Tell her David's training was subpar and his corpse proves it."

Shiva comes across like a more capable Lawrence Crock. And in my experience with those kinds of people, they only care about results.

"You killed him?" Artemis gasps at the news, while Jade's eyes shine with approval.

"And I already dealt with the cops." Nodding stiffly, I hand each sister one a bowl of the newest batch. "So stop giving yourself wrinkles and eat some damn ice cream."

"For breakfast?" The Blonde shakes her head in frustration. "You really are a terrible babysitter."

I stick out my tongue as far as it will go and blow a raspberry. "I notice you aren't putting that bowl down."

"My sister died yesterday." The blonde's smirk is back, as she carefully 'forgets' to mention the revival. "I'm allowed to eat ice cream."

"Glad to see you're back to normal. Was worried I had to start reading you bed time stories with Sandra." My comment plasters a blush on Jade's face and gets Artemis to bend over with laughter.

"Thanks for..." Jade's guilt ridden expression is nearly impossible to name. "You know, bringing me back to life."

Alright Glenn, how do we handle this? Should I try and brush it off with a stupid joke, or should I just go with raw honesty?

When I finally make up my mind, Jade is starting to lose patience. "I meant what I said you know."

"I..." She hesitates, her face relaxing with the shock of the realization. "Believe you."

"What did you say to her?" Growls Artemis, very annoyed at the missing details.

"Don't worry about it. Glenn just proved his point." Jade waves her hand in a dismissive motion, which of course only makes the younger sister more curious.

Trying to change the subject before the pair can start bickering, I point to the bare skin of Artemis' arm. "I see you finally got the armour all the way off."

"Khaji has trust issues. But he agreed to retract when I told him about your patents," Artemis explains with a guilty look.

"Why did that convince him?" Does really he want a freeze gun that bad?

"He doesn't want to get stuck with some random person after I die and wants an android body." Shrugging at my expression of shock, Artemis explains herself. "Khaji wants to find out where he came from and we all know it's not Earth."

Oh. That's a lot less homicidal robot than I thought.

"Since I want you to outlive me, I'm actually fine with that." It will give everyone a chance to find out if the Scarabs are trustworthy or not.

Rolling her eyes, Artemis has a hint of laughter in her voice. "See Khaji. Glenn will probably even get his dad to make you a freeze gun if you stop calling him names."

"Any reason you went with calling her Sandra?" Jade points with her chin at the mute girl still observing our every motion.

"Half of your friends already call the Sandsmark girl Cass." It's just going to be easier for everyone in the long run. "So I wanted to make sure she had a name all her own."

"Sounds like you plan on raising her yourself." Confused by my intention, Artemis stares me down.

I will if I have to, though that's definitely my backup plan. "I kind of took away Nora's ability to have children. I figured I'd ask her first and go from their."

"For future reference..." Jade's eyes dart back and forth between me and the child who I still think looks an awful lot like her. "I don't want any surprise children as a present."​

 

[Flightless Man]

Interlude 33: A Little Help From My Friends
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Gotham City
November 13, 3:58 PM EST

Wally, Kirk, and M'gann, arrive in the alley. One at a time they emerge from the phone booth after a matching flash of brilliant blue light, making the waiting pair cover their eyes each time.

"I thought only Megan was coming?" Dick emerges from the shadows, his sunglasses in place of a domino mask.

"May as well give Glenn the Queen's invite personally." Puffing up his chest with well deserved pride, Wally tilts his head towards Kirk. "And he's getting antsy about his ship. Wanted to come fly it back himself. You know, before Batman tries to confiscate it or something."

Instead of getting offended, Dick just gives Barbara Gordon an amused smirk. "Sounds just like him."

"I just wanted to talk to someone else who knows what it's like." Kirk tries to deny the claim, despite his rather pink cheeks.

"Like what?" Slapping the crosswalk button, Barbara frowns up at the clone.

"Being made as a weapon and having implanted memories." Tapping his hears, Kirk explain what he heard on the flight to Roanoke. "Sounds like he's only half a day older than me. But he's having a way easier time fitting in."

<Remind me to tell Artemis about that,> The speedster directs a private request to M'gann. <She'll love being able to call Glenn a baby.>

Kirk takes a deep breath and admits how hard he finds the day to day parts of life. "Almost like he got a complete set of memories and not just the mission critical information I did."

"Dude, you're doing fine. You only got detention once." Shaking his head with just a hint of irritation, Wally reminds him how far he's come since moving in. "And none of Mom's friends ask if you're special anymore. I even heard dad say he's thinking you can start dating soon."

Holding his head high at those words, a proud Kirk takes the lead. The more dingy streets are slowly exchanged with ones actually cleaned occasionally. Block by block, the group unconsciously relaxes as they enter Artemis' neighbourhood.

"I'm thinking it's time I tell my dad..." Barbara Gordon lets the information sink in before continuing. "It's not the same just doing normal patrols. Not after I helped you against the Witchboy and did more than just get someone locked up for a few months."

The last few blocks are occupied by Dick filling the others in on what Artemis told him. The idea of giving the Scarabs an independent body, only make the speedster choke.

"Is he crazy?" With eyes flashing wildly, Wally cannot help but see a thousand ways it could go wrong.

"Glenn already considers the Red Robots his cousins and look how that worked out with Danette," Kirk reminds his brother calmly. "Why would he think the Scarabs deserve any less freedom?" No one should be controlled.

"Ask him yourself." Shaking his head as he goes over his own concerns mentally, Dick knocks on the door.

When Artemis opens it, she's almost entirely covered by her chitinous armour. Only her face is exposed and her expression is filled with frustration.

"About time you got here." She lets them in with a tired sigh and leads them towards the source of her tension. "We really need a way to communicate with Sandra, I don't know how many more stories I can take."

They are greeted by the sight of Glenn in his flannel pyjamas, reading Doctor Seuss to a very attentive eight year old. He even uses a higher pitched voice and makes funny faces with each line."

"Fox in socks." Glenn lifts his right leg and slaps his foot. "Our game is done, Sandra. Thank you for a lot of fun, Sandra." Each time he says the raven haired girl's name, he lightly pokes her on the nose. "These are my friends. Megan's here to help you tell us what happened."

The mute girl peers at the M'gann and frowns at the not quite human body language. She tries warning Glenn. But the artist calms her with only a few words.

"You aren't going to be able to read her, M'gann's not human." The news doesn't make the child freak out, only nod as the mystery is solved. "Actually..." Glenn pauses as a realization hits him. "Quite a few of my friends aren't. Which is why you've only been held back by incomplete training."

<Sandra was never taught how to speak. But she doesn't think anything is wrong with how she was raised.> Glenn directs his thoughts at the disguised Martian, who quickly links in the other heroes. <I'm trying to stop her from running off and have been framing everything like it's just the next step in her training.>

Letting her concern show on her face, M'gann finally understands why she was told to come o quick. <Introduce me and I'll see what I can do for her.>

"Megan is going to talk to you inside your mind." Glenn gives the little girl his full attention. "Are you okay with that?"

A quick nod is his answer, the long black hair barely even moving. With her permission given, M'gann take Sandra's hands and kneels in front of her. "Just let me know if you want to stop at anytime. This is to only to help you."

"Big step up from Glenn being terrified of our friendly Martian." Dick mutters under his breath, getting a snicker of agreement from Wally.

The speedster manages to contain his laughter long enough to mention Queen Perdita's invitation. Hearing that, the watching Nora's smile only grew wider.

"Great..." Glenn hangs his head, confusing nearly everyone until he finishes speaking. "Oswald's going to insist I talk to her about a Vlatava expansion for the Lounge."

"I heard what you said to Artemis." Deciding not to waste time, Kirk cuts right to the chase. "About how you 'woke up' the same day I did."

Blinking a few times as he processes, Glenn eventually gives the clone an intrigued look. "Is it the gaps in general knowledge or random flashes of memories, that you hate more?"

"My knowledge was downloaded like a textbook. No emotional connection to any of it." The clone's face twists uncomfortably. "It's hard to feel interested in anything besides the mission."

"Do you have a life outside the costume?" The snow haired teen can perfectly understand that feeling of helplessness. "Because life got a whole lot better for me, once I decided to start focusing on art."

Kirk's frown grows deeper as he thinks about Superman's even more identical clone on the Challengers. "I only got the strength, durability, and half of the X-ray vision. How do I use that constructively?"

"You just said it." Allowing herself to smirk, Barbara ends up being the one to answer the question. "Construction."​