This choice: There has been a break-in at Star Labs. • Go Back... Hidden in an experimental secret lab in Gotham City, a woman named Dr. Caitlin Snow—whom most of the world knew as the villainous "Killer Frost"—was trying to make her way out unseen. She'd discovered a lead there which may have held the secrets to curing her illness—the illness that had gotten her into this mess in the first place. It was definitely a risk, and one which would not be without consequence even if it did work. Gene splicing was highly experimental at best, but she was certain that it would allow her to at least no longer be dependent on hurting others to survive.
Getting inside was a cakewalk for her. She froze over the security systems and destroyed the locked metal doors with ease. However, what she hadn't accounted for, was a single silent alarm that was a failsafe should the other alarms cease to function. This alarm sent a direct feed to the Batcomputer, which the Dark Knight was promptly notified.
Bruce was busy about to crack the case in an investigation he'd been working in regards to the string of kidnappings that had been occurring all over the city. Since he had his hands full, he sent Jason Todd to go check it out and report back to him with his findings.
Red Hood was dispatched to the secret research station which had been broken into. The aforementioned facility was working on a cure for all disease by experimenting on animal DNA and splicing certain animal cell attributes with human ones to create something of a hybrid. The project was still mainly in its research and development phase and hadn’t been tested on a human subject yet.
With his dual pistols in his hands, Red Hood headed down the corridor. As soon as he laid eyes on the obvious culprit, he brandished his weapons at the pale woman, standing in between her and the exit.
“Easy there, Elsa. How about you hand over what you stole and we’ll put you in a nice cozy cell back at Arkham…” he stared her down through his emotionless crimson helmet.
Caitlin groaned and rolled her eyes.
"I'm afraid I can't do that just yet. Last I checked, Arkham wasn't exactly great if you're the type of person who actually wants to recover." She knew she couldn't easily talk her way out of this one by any means, but it's better than actually getting either of them hurt or getting thrown in a cell.
"If you'd just let me explain myself, neither of us would need to get hurt." Still, she was fairly certain she was not getting out of there without a fight; she readied her hands to summon an icicle at a moment's notice if need be.
Red Hood stood firmly with both handguns drawn like he was in a Mexican standoff but with only one other person.
“What’s there to explain? You broke in here to steal that vial. Hand it over and then we can talk. If not,” he pulled the hammers back.
“My rounds are made of rubber but I guarantee you they still hurt like a bitch,” he prepared to fire as soon as he saw her raise her hands. That wasn’t a surrendering gesture.
"I didn't want to have to go this far, but you've clearly left me no choice." She placed the vials on the table in order to keep them safe, and then let her hands take on a misty aura as the temperature around her palms dropped. Before long, she'd formed an ice shield from the water molecules in the air to protect herself and was ready to launch as many icicles as needed.
Red Hood was itching for a fight anyway. He didn’t hesitate to open fire on Killer Frost. His rubber bullets weren’t about to penetrate the ice walls so he took cover and lobbed an explosive batarang her way. The device exploded on contact with the wall to clear the way. If it didn’t breach through, he’d still use it as a distraction to allow him to safely move from cover to cover closer to the vial.
“You’re the one that’s asking for it, lady!”
The ice wall shattered from his repeated assaults, leaving her considerably more vulnerable, but clearly still ready to defend herself. She launched several icicles in his direction, intending to pin him to the wall so she could actually explain why just handing the vials over was not an option.
Red Hood somersaulted and weaved out of the way of most of the icicles except one, which pinned him by the jacket to the metallic wall as he was behind cover. That was a little too close for comfort. It took him a second to bash the butt of his pistol against the icicle until he broke it off.
“Hey! This was my favorite jacket!” Jason snapped. The vial wasn’t far now. All he had to do was get control of it and then figure out a way to turn up the heat on Caitlin over there.
Still trying to defend her admittedly illicit findings, Caitlin threw herself between the table where she'd placed them and Red Hood himself.
"I swear, if you just give me one minute," she muttered through clenched teeth. She was clearly frustrated, but there really wasn't any way to resolve this situation rationally and she knew it. By then she was standing directly in front of the vials, attempting to keep them from being damaged or taken from her.
Jason threw a table over to use for cover. He picked it up and used it as an impromptu shield to block the incoming ice picks being shot his way.
“Listen, either you can deal with me or you can deal with the bat!” Jason called out. He started firing rubber bullets in her general direction. None of which hit her but they were ricocheting off the metal surfaces and bouncing dangerously close to the vial.
At this point, Caitlin was just desperately trying to ensure the vials weren’t damaged in any way. Losing the samples she’d obtained could mean losing her chances of finding a cure.
“I’d rather not deal with either of you if I can help it!”
She continued trying to defend herself and parry his attacks… until one of the bullets shattered the vials she’d placed on the table.
“Dammit!”
The vial shattering released a gas of the experimental compound. Caitlin was the closest so she likely inhaled the majority of it. Vestiges of the gas that remained seeped through Red Hood’s mask causing him to cough sporadically. He fell to his knees dropping his weapons and grabbing his throat.
“W-what’s in that shit!”
He was wearing a small black mask over his eyes under his mask like the one he wore when he was Robin. He safely removed his helmet without worry of his identity being compromised.
Taking off his helmet to allow himself to breathe better, he only inhaled more of the gas by default. He didn’t notice but his voice started to raise slightly in pitch with each cough. His skin grew paler and paler by the second.
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