[ WP ] A day after losing your job , you find yourself in the one place you swore you would never go , doing the one thing you swore you would never do , to help the one person you never wanted to see again

`` I was fired from the bar tonight, you know. Just ten minutes ago. Manager said they were losing too much money, that they were sorry to see me go... gave me the whole spiel. Said he'd pay me double if I closed up shop tonight, but after today, I'm not to return.'' I squinted at my audience, a drunken college girl with her head on the bar, who seemed to barely process what I was saying. I sighed. 
 
 `` Speaking of which, it's closing time. Get out now, I'll call a cab for you.'' The girl nodded numbly. After I ushered her out the door, I began the mind-numbing routine of closing up shop. I scrubbed down the tables, put up the stools, mopped the floors. I began emptying the leftover beer mugs when I caught my reflection in the smooth, curved surface. An unfamiliar, rugged face stared back at me. How far I've come.... 
 
 `` Dr. Frost,'' came a man's voice from behind me. I froze. It had been years since I'd heard that name. Memories flashed before my eyes... a woman on fire, my laboratory in ruins, government officials amidst a sea of sirens, sifting among the scientists' broken bodies, no doubt looking for mine.... 
 
 I did n't turn around, but I was instantly on edge. Slowly I turned the mug in my hand, and caught the reflection of a shadow behind me. From the reflection on the glass and the sound of his voice, the man was standing perhaps six or seven feet away from my back. 
 
 `` I do n't know that name,'' I said, my voice sharp. `` Bar's closed. Please leave.'' The man laughed, and the sound of it was strangely familiar. 
 
 `` I'm afraid I need your help, Frost. It would be a lot easier if you would come with me willingly. Otherwise...'' I heard a metallic *click* as the man readied a gun. 
 
 I looked down into the mug in my hand. There was still a good amount of beer left. I kept my movements slow and deliberate as I raised the mug to my lips and took a sip. I grimaced. 
 
 `` That's nasty stuff,'' I murmured. 
 
 `` Enough games, doc,'' said the gunman, an irritated edge creeping into his voice. `` Come with me.'' I whirled around and tossed the remnants of the beer at the gunman's hand. It instantly froze, encasing his fingers and the trigger in a block of frozen alcohol. Strangely, the gunman smiled at me from behind a ski mask. 
 
 `` Very good, Frost,'' he said, his voice still hauntingly familiar. `` I was afraid you'd lost your touch.'' I reached out and ripped the mask from his face. A wild-haired young man with sharp green eyes grinned back at me. 
 
 `` Baines,'' I hissed. `` I should've recognized you from the start. If you're here, that means *she's* here...'' I looked wildly around the room, ready to spring into action. But Baines shook his head. 
 
 `` Ah, see. That's the problem,'' he began. `` Pyra's not here tonight. I'm here on my own, playing the role of the dutiful henchman. As I said, I need your help. Or rather, *Pyra* needs your help.'' I stared at him disbelievingly for a second, then threw back my head and laughed. 
 
 *'' Pyra* needs *my* help?'' I repeated. `` Does she not understand the meaning of archenemies?'' 
 
 `` These are special circumstances,'' said Baines, his voice grim. `` We have a common enemy this time. By the way, could you unfreeze my hand, please? It's getting a bit chilly in there.'' He glanced meaningfully a the block of ice that still encased his outstretched right hand. I frowned and tapped the ice. It instantly melted, and the gun fell uselessly to the floor in a puddle of alcohol. 
 
 `` I'm gon na have to clean that up now, no thanks to you,'' I grumbled. I crossed to the other side of the bar and grabbed a mop from the wall. Baines delicately massaged his fingers, looking up at me curiously. 
 
 `` Never thought of you as a bartender, Doc,'' he said, his voice questioning. 
 
 `` Everyone else sees me as one,'' I said. `` You should start thinking the same way.'' 
 
 `` She misses you, you know,'' Baines blurted out. I glanced at him, raising an eyebrow. He lowered his voice conspiratorially. `` Probably overstepping my role as a lowly henchman here, but she liked having you as a challenge. She'd been getting bored lately... a bit careless... I guess that's how she got caught.'' I stopped mopping the floor. 
 
 `` Pyra got caught?'' I repeated. I thought of my arch nemesis, pictured her laughing wildly as she shot pillars of flames from both hands. She was crazy. Unpredictable, probably the main reason she'd never been caught before. `` By who?'' 
 
 `` The government.'' 
 
 `` So you want me to help her break out?'' I snorted. I mopped up the rest of the alcohol. `` Yeah, right. I swore to myself I would n't do the whole'Dr. Frost' thing anymore, in case you have n't noticed.'' 
 
 `` You have to help,'' said Baines, his voice insistent. Almost pleading. `` The government... they're trying to make more superhumans. They're going to run tests on her. Horrible tests. And they would've done the same to you, if they could find you, and you know it. Superhero or supervillain, it does n't matter to them. They're just after your DNA. That's why they attacked your laboratory seven years ago.'' I slowly set the mop aside, and leaned on the bar, burying my face in my hands. 
 
 `` Good God, Baines,'' I sighed. `` I'm just a bartender.'' Then I remembered that I had just been fired. `` Not even that anymore.'' 
 
 `` No.'' The firmness in the henchman's voice made me look up. `` You're more than that. You're Dr. Frost. That's the man I saw tonight, when you froze my hand in a block of solid ice. You want revenge, right? You want to get back at the government for destroying your lab, your life's work, for killing your whole team.... Well. We'll get back at them together. But we need more... firepower.'' He smiled as he said this, and I rolled my eyes. `` So the first step is to break Pyra out.'' I looked away and sighed, but a reluctant smile played on the corner of my lips. 
 
 `` That was a good speech,'' I admitted. `` You'll grow up to be an excellent monolouging super villain one day.'' Baines almost seemed to blush with the praise. I straightened and clapped my hands together. 
 
 `` So,'' I said. `` Where is she?'' 
 
 `` North Point Base,'' said the henchman, an excited glint in his eyes. 
 
 `` God,'' I scowled. That was where the government had accidentally given me my powers. `` Back to the start, eh? I swore I'd never go back to that place.'' 
 
 `` You probably never imagined you'd be saving your arch nemesis either,'' Baines pointed out with a wry smile. 
 
 `` True,'' I conceded. `` Let me go find my suit... I think it's collecting dust somewhere in the cellar... then we'll be off.''
