4 chapter 4

Danny might've been cringing internally as the man's head was slammed against the ground, but he managed to smirk outwardly and raise his glass towards the winner of the match. The rough crowd roared its approval at the win, especially those who had bet on the victor. From his spot seated at the bar, he could see several unhappy fellows being led from the building by some menacing men; he didn't want to dwell on that. After all, he didn't want to call any attention to himself on his third night here- the rogue he was looking for had yet to arrive.

Hayden Paine, nine, aggressive osteosarcoma originating from right leg, wants to meet Captain Cold because 'freeze rays are awesome.'

It had taken a lot of digging- and a few bribes to some teenagers hanging out on the streets in Central City- before he first located the bar that doubled as an underground fight club. Cold had been seen there at least three times before, and that was good enough for Danny. He hoped his trip to the city wouldn't be a waste, although the journey wasn't too much of a hassle; the boy who had requested to see Cold was currently in the neighboring Keystone City.

Danny looked up from his drink to see the man himself enter the pub, taking a seat at the far end of the bar. He tried to ignore the nervous lurch his stomach gave. "Gimme the usual," he heard the rogue say to the bartender, who gave the same sharp nod to him as he did to everyone else. Once the server turned away, Danny grabbed his file and approached Cold. The light glinted off of Cold's dark glasses as he tilted his head slightly to look at him.

"Captain Cold," he began, grimacing at his lame entrance, "my name is Danny Johnson and I'm from 'World of Wishes.' The other day, a boy with aggressive bone cancer named Hayden requested to meet you-"

Although Danny hadn't been sure what to expect, he sure didn't think the rogue would laugh in his face. Something inside Danny snapped, and he saw red as he lashed out and grabbed Cold by the collar of his jacket, pulling him forward so that their eyes were at the same level.

"Look, jackass, for some reason, all this kids wants more than anything is to see you and your frickin' freeze gun, so I'd appreciate it if you'd SHUT your GODDAMNED MOUTH and listen to me for your fan's sake!"

The room was silent.

Danny panted angrily as he came down from his rant, only now noticing that he had drawn everyone's attention onto the two of them. He was pretty sure if Cold had laser vision, he'd be fried by now.

"Rogues do not harm women or children. You are neither."

The rogue firmly removed Danny's hand from his jacket and stood up, snatching the file from him. As a heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder and began forcefully guiding him towards the door, Danny was sure this would be his last night in existence.

His walk of dread halted after the two had walked several blocks, heading towards a more run-down section of Central City. Cold roughly shoved him into a dark alley, and Danny winced as his infamous freeze gun was drawn and leveled at him. However, the sound of it firing and him being able to move afterwards didn't add up. He looked up to see Cold had spun around and frozen a pair of thugs who, he inferenced, had been following them for not-so-pleasant reasons.

Cold grunted. "Had to lead them somewhere unseen. Besides, I've got a reputation to keep that you almost destroyed back there." Danny was sure he was being glared at now. "So what the hell did you want?" Danny wordlessly held out Hayden's file in response, exhaling in relief when Cold took it and began to flip through the pages. "Is this some sort of joke?"

"You think any normal person would go through the struggle to find you for some prank?"

"I don't hang around 'normal people.'"

Danny huffed, but admitted the man had a point. "It's not a joke. I take my job seriously; the happiness of these kids means a lot to me." He shrugged. "You might enjoy it too- Poison Ivy did." He shook his head to refocus himself. "Point is, this kid idolizes you and wants to meet you. What would you lose from visiting him?"

"Ask yourself that when the cops show up. Or worse, that damned speedster."

He'd thought of this one already. "Then visit him during the nighttime, outside of regular hours." Neither said anything for several minutes, but Danny was patient. Not to lie, he was also mentally praying to every deity he could think of for Cold to say yes.

The rogue turned away, and began to walk out of the alley. "Midnight, tomorrow; side door of Keystone Medical. You're not there, your loss." Cold turned the corner and disappeared, file still in hand.

Danny considered it a success.