<span class="bbc_u"><em>Something Old</em></span><br/><br/>She came to the old Gotham Heights Cemetery a lot these days. Too often. He'd been her husband for 47 years, but when he was diagnosed with MacGregor's Syndrome- that was death sentence. It always was. It was the only disease to have a 100% mortality rate, even AIDS didn't have that. It was just a matter of time after that. And it wasn't like George was a young man either. Old men don't fight disease off like they could when they were younger.<br/><br/>Stage 2 took George about a year and a half ago. There was nothing anyone could do really. One Researcher at GothCorp had developed a drug that could slow the transitions between the stages but didn't really help the stages themselves. She remembered him. A nice young man. A bit emotionally distant but that pretty fiancee of his was helping with that. A pity she had Stage 1 herself. Even worse that they both died in an accident a year ago. Such a waste, they deserved more time. They deserved the kind of time George and her got.<br/><br/>She remembered how he fought to get George into that Drug Trial, told his bosses it was to get toxicity data across a wide population but there were better ways to do that, she wasn't stupid.<br/><br/>This time her visit was different though. Normally she brought a taser just in case. This time there was a gun in her purse. And she had no intentions of going home afterwords.<br/><br/>"<strong>I love you, old man.</strong>" she says quietly to the grave, an old woman feeling older without her husband- but if what the offer said. . .someone was going to pay for taking her soul mate from her. Someone had too. They promised nothing too hard for her, just watch from the outside. The gun was a suggestion, just in case. She took it, gladly.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><em>Something New</em></span><br/><br/>"<strong>What's taking so long? The Business Elite are going to be here any minute!</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Sorry Mr. Boyle, an issue with Catering Mr. Boyle.</strong>"<br/><br/>Ferris Boyle, CEO of GothCorp - a company considered a bright spot of hope on the corporate scene. 'The People Company', a company truly dedicated to the betterment of the Community. And this year, Ferris Boyle was announced the winner of the Humanitarian Industrialist of the Year. The CEOs and Boards of Directors of dozens of major corporations around the world were going to be here tonight and of course it was just amazing PR to insist on hosting the ceremony himself.<br/><br/>"<strong>Solve it! If I so much as see one undercooked Clam people are getting fired!</strong>"<br/><br/>A pause in the conversation.<br/><br/>"<strong>Kidding, of course. Sorry, I'm rather excited.</strong>"<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><em>Something Borrowed</em></span><br/><br/>Gotham Central Hospital. One of the beds that aren't so nice. One of the beds they tuck poor people in when they don't want investors to see them on 'surprise visits'.<br/><br/>"<strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 6pt;">Johnny,</span></strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Momma?</strong>" says a man who in any other situation tries to give off the look that he'll kill whoever sees him as being weak.<br/><br/>"<strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 6pt;">Johnny, I don't think I have much time left.</span></strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>No, no momma. The doctors say you're going to be fine.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 8pt;">Don't lie to your mother, boy.</span></strong>" she replies, trying to sound angry. Instead she just coughs, with some blood coming up.<br/><br/>"<strong>Alright Momma, sorry Momma. But it's going to be all better soon. Promise.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 6pt;">Look, if it's about money- please, don't do anything like joining a gang.</span></strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>It's not like that Momma. Promise. But I do have to head out for a while, but it's going to be all better soon.</strong>"<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><em>Something Blue</em></span><br/><br/>Somewhere in Gotham, there is a man with a Heart of Ice. That's what he told himself anyway. That something so horrible has happened to him that emotionally he's been frozen dead. It was a lie of course, to anyone who talked to the man.<br/><br/>Right now, for instance. Would a man with frozen emotions be sitting here, looking past glass and ice at what lay in the chamber? He says nothing, just looks on- watching. Hoping.<br/><br/>Someone else walks into the room. Shivering a bit.<br/><br/>"<strong>We're almost ready, just need to wait for the ceremony to actually start.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Good. How many people are going to be in the building besides us and people with the event?</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>A few security guys. Boyle practically was pushing them out the door at 5. And we're sure we can get them all in the same room when the time comes.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Good, that's all we need. Was there anything else?</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Yeah, one thing. As a man who lost his wife young too.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Yes?</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>I don't care what anyone else says, that's the part that hurts the worst. I prayed that God would take me instead of Her, even added that it could be a painful death that gets me to try and sweeten the deal.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>A kind and loving God wouldn't of let that situation happen in the first place.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>I know, but I was desperate. 'How Far Would You Go?' is the question, right? Well, I know. And you know. And truth be told- I'm thankful that this time one of us actually has a chance, you know? I mean, yeah- I get it. It's Slim at best, but it's Really There. No tricks, nothing false- this time one of us actually has a chance.</strong>"<br/><br/>The man who tells himself he has a Heart of Ice smiles at that, looking back at the glass and ice.<br/><br/>"<strong>If this works, so will a lot more of us. But. . .someone understands. Thank you.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Right, well- we're almost ready.</strong>"<br/><br/>"<strong>Right, give it an hour, then start phase 1.</strong>"