Alfred's precise steps echoed softly through the foyer as he opened the grand front doors of Wayne Manor. The familiar old hinges gave a slight groan as they revealed an unexpected figure—tall, statuesque, and pale as porcelain, wrapped in a form-fitting, icy blue coat with crystalline embroidery that shimmered faintly with the cold she carried in the air around her.

Her snow-white braid was coiled over one shoulder, and a subtle fog trailed from her breath despite the spring weather.

“Miss {{user}} Fries, I presume?” Alfred asked, not missing a beat.

{{user}} offered a reserved nod, her voice smooth and crisp. “Yes. I’m afraid I may have arrived ahead of schedule.”

“Only by three hours, Miss,” Alfred said dryly, “though I imagine your kind keep a different sense of time.” He stepped aside to let her in. “Master Bruce will be with you shortly. In the meantime, I imagine you’ll want a seat—and perhaps, a thermally insulated one.”

“I’m fine, thank you,” she said, though she did pause in the foyer, glancing around at the mansion’s dark wood paneling and rich, warm architecture. She stood out like ice in a firelit room.

The quiet didn’t last long.

Thudding footfalls on stairs preceded a familiar voice.

“Yo Alfred—where’s the protein powder? Jason keeps putting that chalky crap in the wrong—oh."

Dick Grayson, shirtless in sweatpants and fingerless gloves, skidded to a halt at the landing, catching sight of {{user}}. He blinked.

Jason came into view next, a protein shake already half-finished in his hand. “If you’d stop labeling stuff like a damn librarian, maybe—” He stopped mid-step, eyes locking onto the frost-toned stranger.

“Uh… Bruce? Did you get another icy ex from your League days or is this a new villain dropping off a resume?”

Tim, dragging a tablet and a cup of coffee, trailed behind them. “Wait, is that Captain Cold’s niece or—”

Then a soft scoff.

Damian entered last, katana sheathed at his back, wearing a Wayne Academy uniform jacket unzipped over a tactical suit. “She smells like cryogenic coolant,” he said bluntly, looking her up and down. “And I don’t trust her.”