Bruce cradled his fallen friend as he lay drenched in blood on the snow covered lawn. “Lucius” The man had been a father and a grandfather to everyone who at any point in time had stayed at Wayne Manor. His quiet nobility, his fierce intellect, a dedication to justice and the nurturing love only a man such as he could possess. All of it snatched sway by the heart of ice beating inside Victor Fries. There was no time to mourn, not yet. There was work to be done. Selina knew this and continued to usher the stragglers out of the property and to safety away from the mechanical maniacs the good doctor had brought with him. Bruce took off his black tuxedo jacket and draped it across his faithful companion, hiding his face from the cold. He would be honoured soon enough.

Barbara had already made a swift exit into the cave, watching the battle from afar. It didn’t take her long to figure out what to do about their attackers, it was all down to how long it would take for her to make the adjustments. Of course, the young Miss Gordon may have been a hacker extraordinaire but she was also a bit of a whiz with Batman’s assorted tools as well. After some technical tampering and a little luck, she was finished and soon was back up top, handing Bruce his weapon of choice. “I’ve increase the range of the EMP, get this between the gruesome twosome and their going down”

Bruce launched his EMP batarang with extreme precision. Striking the centre of the ground, the blast struck the tandems as well as their stashed away bombs like a car hits a wall. Within seconds it was all over, the TANDEMS were down, the bombs had been disposed of unknowingly and Bruce had showed everyone in a second why he was the bloody Batman. A short but sweet moment was taken as Lucius was lay in a safe place. His body would be returned to his family soon but first his other family had business to take care of. Bruce brought everyone down to the cave, including Kate as he revealed he had been well aware of her identity for quite some time. 

In the midst of their sadness and anger, Dick took it upon himself to finally reveal Mr Freeze’s real motives for the attack that day. What had often separated Fries from the other rogue’s was his code of ethics. He was first and foremost a scientist and never wished to take a life and he never did until this fateful Christmas day. After years at war with the Batman and in his desperate search for a cure for his wife Nora, Victor finally made a break through. Unfortunately fate stepped in. On the run with Nora in the back of his truck, Freeze was speeding out of Gotham only to be stopped on the Robert Kane Bridge by Batman. Soon enough a wave of Freeze’s goons descended on the old red bridge, Batman was overwhelmed until Dick appeared amongst the fray and helped Batman fight off his attackers. During the course of the fight, Batman forced the cure into Victor which surprisingly cured his biology from its icy infection and made him a regular human once more. In the midst of the chaos a bullet was fired and deflected by Dick using his bo. The stray bullet lit up a gas tanker and the frozen Nora was blown into the river where she was forever lost. Grief ultimately destroyed what was left of Victor’s soul and turned him into what he never wanted to be. A killer. It was after this particular event that Bruce and Dick parted ways. Both blaming the other for the death of Nora.

A man of few words, it was obvious what Bruce was going to say and for one time only, even Dick was going to agree to the next two words to leave his mentors lips.

“Suit up”