Animal ||Edward Nygma|| [3]

Chapter Eighteen || Walking on thin ice

"They are not your friends, until they have defended you in your absence."

- Unknown

Charlotte, Lee, and Oswald were at Mr. Freeze's lab. It was obviously freezing and both Lee and Oswald wrapped their coats closer around themselves while shaking like a leaf. Charlotte walked around the room, seeing if Victor Fries had made any advancements to reverse his condition.

"Thank you for coming to my rescue," Oswald said to the two women.

"Don't bother," Lee replied annoyedly. "Without you, I can't get to Sofia".

"Hmm, touching," Oswald remarked sarcastically.

"It's fine, Oswald. You know I'm always here if you need me," Charlotte told him kindly as she looked at him over her shoulder.

Oswald looked at Charlotte and nodded thankfully. Then he huffed as he looked around the frozen room. "I cannot believe I'm doing this".

"Believe it," Lee said. "No Ed, no Grundy, we're running out of time".

"You know this cockamamy scheme will probably get me killed?" Oswald asked as he shook with both cold and anxiety.

"If it puts Sofia in the ground, I'm okay with that," Lee replied emotionlessly and Oswald gasped.

"I can always be the one getting frozen," Charlotte suggested, but both Lee and Oswald quickly shut that idea down.

Oswald looked at Charlotte and pointed at Lee. "Why can't Victor freeze her?"

"Because Sofia doesn't care about Lee," Charlotte told him. "She already thinks Lee is down after she crushed her hand. Sofia doesn't see Lee as much of a threat anymore".

"Yeah, I'll show her who's down when I shoot her in the head," Lee said bitterly.

Charlotte was also worried about Ed. He had gone to talk to Grundy and didn't come back. The thought of him leaving her saddened her, but since he was the Riddler again she probably shouldn't be surprised if it happened.

The blonde was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the sound of Victor's freezing gun. She looked over in his direction, but he had his back to her. His torso was bare and exposed to the cold air just like he had been when she first met him. Victor placed his gun on top of the table and spoke directly to Oswald. "Last time you came to me with one of your schemes to regain the city, you promised every resource I needed to reverse my condition". Then he finally turned to face them. "So that didn't happen".

He saw Charlotte and his usual cold expression seemed to soften slightly. He had left her to go to the mountains on the north side of Gotham, but that place reminded him too much of her. It had been the place where they first met. So, he moved to somewhere else to be able to continue his research. He still thought about her every minute and he hoped she was happy. She was the reason why he still kept himself breathing. Even if they couldn't be together, he still wanted to be there for her.