[h2]Mayor Hayes' private residence.[/h2]

The day had been strange, even for Gotham City. Mayor Carlton Hayes had been present with the rest of Gotham City's elite when violence and insanity errupted at Wayne's wedding. That something happened at a Wayne event wasn't completely surprising--no Gotham big donor had worse luck than Bruce Wayne. From his parents to his wedding, it appeared. With an ache in his lower back from being shoved into an SUV by security and hurried away, to say nothing of a headache from all the frightened screams, all Carlton Hayes wanted was to escape into his private study, relax his weary and battered body into his plushy cushioned chair, then pour himself the biggest glass of Scotch he possibly could.

After today's events, GCPD had demanded to go through his Gotham City midtown penthouse with a fine tooth comb. Carlton allowed it, though insisted the officers hurry about it. They had just COME from combat...did the GCPD really expect it to follow him home? Of course not. It was an unnessary safety precaution. On a day when all Hayes wanted was to be alone with his thoughs, his Scotch, and process just what he'd witnessed. It wasn't until he reached the mini bar of his private study, poured that drink, and let the strong scent of alcohol aged in charcoal barrels sift up through his nostrils and to his brain, allowing the man to relax for the first time all day.

The first bitter sip was taken with a near smile, his eyes locking into his chair and the television built into the hard wood bookshelf lining the west wall of the private study. He even sighed audibly, contently, when his backside finally met the soft leather of the study's desk chair. A sigh interrupted by the sound of flatulence, a sound that surprised and sent Carlton Hayes straight back to his feet. 

"What the he--" The word went unfinished, fear freezing the last syllable of the word in his throat when the whoopee cushion came into sight, and that laughter cut across the private study like a dagger in the darkness, until it settled into a twisted cackle. Carlton Hayes turned to scream, but his throat refused, swelling and forcing the man to drop the glass and bring his hands to his throat as he gagged, and choked for air.

"Bad gas, Mr. Mayor?"

The pale faced demonic grin was the very last thing Mayor Hayes would see before blackness flooded into his vision, conciousness seeping from the Mayor of Gotham City until his body hit the floor of the private study.


[h2]The Batcave[/h2]

That Jason Todd would leave before intelligence was disseminated and a plan of action could be briefed was disturbing. Surely, Bruce thought, he'd trained the boy better than that. But there were more important issues at hand. Freeze had turned to madness and irrationality in his overwhelming grief, looking to strike Batman and Bruce Wayne on a bitterly personal level. The only explaination for Freeze targetting Lucius and not Selina that Bruce could immediately see as plausible was that Freeze either believed he was seriously hampering the Batman's capabilities by taking out Lucius. But that assumed a certain logic that it was just too dangerous to assume Freeze still possessed in his mourning for Nora.

When everyone re-appeared dressed and at the ready, Bruce spoke up. "We've tracked Freeze to an old STAR Labs facility on the river, in the shadow of the Kane bridge. Satellite imagery suggests the building has been fortified with giant sheets of ice. Freeze may be a mortal man once more, but I would expect him suited and ready for blood. His suit is still his greatest weakness, even cured. He depends on it. He obsesses over it. He will presume advantages that we can take advantage of. Hit him fast, hit him hard. Same for his thugs; some I recognize from time spent with other criminals, most notably Black Mask and the Penguin. These are professional killers he has hired, not Freeze's normal thug. Be aware. They will likely be armed with his ice weaponry. I would expect Freeze to be holed up in the cryogenics lab at the STAR facility, it's the largest room, and the most secure--located at the center of the building. We should be able to burn our way into the building; I'll take the front approach. I want everyone else finding ways in from the roof and river. If you have questions, ask them on the way. Barbara will be acting as our eyes and ears in the sky from the Batcomputer. Go. Take whatever vehicle you feel would work best for your decided approach."

Everyone moved to get going, until Bruce's voice rose once more: "Damian, Stephanie, stay behind should something come up. "

Like a ninja ninja'ing a ninja, so Stephanie Brown appeared behind Damian Wayne as if by magic, both her gauntleted hands gently gripping Damian's shoulder, squeezing with the slightest of pressures to convey the silent message to the boy, knowing the displeasure he all but certainly felt in that moment: [i]Not now.[/i] "We got it covered." 

It was with a kindness and a softness rarely, rarely, seen that Bruce Wayne stepped to his son, and knelt to talk to the boy eye-to-eye. "Each of us a role, and each role of vital importance, Damian." As his father had to him, so Bruce's large hand settled on the back of his young son's neck, pressing their foreheads so close they all but touched, the voice of Batman appearing in such a hush, only Damian would have heard him. "Do. your. job."

Even as Bruce let go and stood to his full height, his eyes never left the boy. Not until the last moment, until he turned and walked to the path that led up and to the right--towards the mag-tube system that he would step into, and be shot from the cave to the city, changing into the Batsuit as he went. 


[h2]Gotham City, Riverside Industrial Distract.[/h2]

When the ride stopped, the multiple doors hissed open, allowing Batman to step out of what appeared to be a large industrial A/C unit atop a building...only half a city block from the STAR facility Freeze had chosen as a last stand. A few rooftops later, and Batman was perched upon the roof of the building just across from the STAR facility that glowed an icy azure from it's massive ice walls, and giant ice spikes coming from the building at gnarled, lethal, angles. 

"Batman in position. Check in. Go on my mark."