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Title: Cold as Ice
Author: Kirsten Tapp
Feedback: kirstent@clear.net.nz
Standard Disclaimer: Buffy, the vampire slayer doesn't belong to the author, but to Joss Whedon, WB, etc. The characters of Cassandra, Marcus, Stephanie, The Ice Maiden, Sheakif Demons, Edwin and Zeak however do belong to the author. No copyright infringement intended.
Rating: PG - some graphical violence
Cold As Ice
By Kirsten Tapp
LA had never been this cold in December. Ice forming on the road, icicles hanging from the lamp posts, people pulling their coats tighter around them to keep warm. A mind numbing breeze cut through the night like a razor sharp knife.
Amongst the public on the night street, human and creature alike past a single figure, face tilted up to the cold. Her skin so pale against the darkness around her. The wind caressing her golden hair, and swaying the folds of her long white dress. This woman was invigorated by the cold. Slowly she glided along the city streets, searching for something or someone. Turning the corner she found what she was looking for.
A homeless man stared up at her in awe, struck speechless at her beauty. Awe turned to fear as she reached out and touched his face. Inch by inch the man painstakingly started to freeze, until finally he was just a block of ice.
"I can't believe this weather." Cordellia huffed as she looked out of the window. "This is supposed to be sunny LA, not freakish winter LA." She slumped down in her chair. "I don't suppose you even notice the cold." She glared at Angel.
Angel continued to read the book Buffy had sent him. "I notice the cold." How could he not with Cordellia complaining non stop about it.
Wesley frowned. "Can you actually feel the cold?" He wasn't impressed with the weather either, but the former watcher felt there were most drastic things to complain about.
Angel looked up from his book. "I feel the cold just as I can feel the heat from a fire I'm sitting next to. It's just my body temperature doesn't adjust to the weather." He felt as though he were on a game show, 'Everything you ever wanted to ask a vampire, but were afraid to'. He went back to reading his book.
Cordellia grabbed the edge of her desk to steady herself as another painful vision came crashing into her head. "Oh God. Not again. I'm really going to find a way to get Doyle for this."
Angel quickly put his book down and grabbed Cordellia around the waist before she slid on the floor. "What do you see?"
"Oh, big surprise. Ice. A homeless man. Something froze him into a icicle." Cordellia breathed a sigh of relief as the visions came to a stop.
"So a man froze in the unusual weather we're having." Wesley wasn't very impressed. There didn't seem to be anything strange or supernatural about that.
"No." Cordellia corrected him. "I said something froze him. I actually saw a hand, looked female, reach out and touch him and he turned to ice." She looked over at Angel. "It looked as though he was downtown in an alleyway. Remember that one you killed that thing with all the arms in."
"I'm on my way." Angel grabbed his coat and raced out the door.
"Painkillers!" Cordellia ordered Wesley.
"Yes, of course." Wesley frowned to himself. Why did Cordellia's vision sound so familiar to him. Shrugging his shoulders, he went to get some aspirin for Cordellia.
Kate pulled her coat tighter around her, but it didn't seem to help make her any warmer. She marched up to a fellow officer. "Where is he?"
"In the alley." The officer pointed to his right. "We can't move him. He's like a giant ice cube. Still seems to be alive." As she headed down the alley he stopped her. "Your friend's here as well."
Kate raised an eyebrow and continued walking down the alley. She spotted Angel crouching beside the human ice cube. "Are you going to tell me that some greater power did this?"
Angel looked up at her. "You know of something natural that can freeze a man and keep him alive?" When he got no reaction, he looked back at the man. "Let's see if there's a way to defrost you." He pulled his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed a number. "Hey Cass. Know a safe way to defrost a human ice cube." He stood stretching his legs which were beginning to cramp. "Got it. Tell Buffy I'll call her later. Thanks Cass." He switched off his phone and put it back in his pocket.
Kate waited for the explanation that didn't come. "So are you going to tell me what's going on or do I have to guess."
Angel clapped his hands together and started to chant something that sounded like Latin. Slowly pulling his hands apart he glided them down either side of the frozen man, not quite touching the ice. His hands glowed red and seemed to be slowly defrosting the man.
Kate looked over her shoulder to make sure that none of her fellow officers would stumble on the scene in front of her. There was no way she would be able to explain this.
Angel helped the man stand. "Sorry that took so long." He handed the man to Kate and quickly built a small fire, so that she would be able to explain what had happened.
"Any idea what did this to you?" Kate immediately went into police mode and started asking questions. "Can you give us a description?"
"Kate. The guy's just been defrosted, can you give him a minute." Angel couldn't believe Kate sometimes.
"Sorry." Kate took a step back to let the man pass her.
"She was so beautiful." The man was still shaking. "Her golden hair was like a halo. Then she reached out and touched me and I ended up in ice."
"Ring any bells?" Kate watched Angel put the fire out before it got out of control. The fire gave her an explanation on how they had defrosted the man, but not on how he had gotten that way in the first place.
Angel shook his head. "No. I'll head back to the office and see what I can find out. I'll check in with you later."
"See that you do." Kate looked over her shoulder, but Angel was already gone. "Come on." She guided the man out of the alleyway. "Let's see if we can at least find you a blanket."
"I know this sounds familiar." Wesley flicked through the pages of the book in his hands. "Anything in the computer?"
"Zip." Cordellia threw her hands up in the air. "Either she's new or really old. Cause she's not in here."
Angel thought about the description the homeless man had given him. "She might not look the same to everyone." He pressed redial on his phone. "Hi Cass. Yeah it worked. Any idea what might have done that?" He listened for a moment. "Really? What? Hold on I'll ask." He turned slightly from the phone. "Cass wants to know if you two are going there for Christmas. The Sunnydale gang are coming here for New Years."
Wesley was touched by the invitation. "I would be honored. Tell Her Royal Highness Thank you."
"I'm there." Cordellia had sort of expected Cass to invite her over for Christmas.
Angel put the phone back to his ear. "Yeah, you'll need two extra beds. Wesley says thanks. So about this Ice Maiden: Do you have any current information about her?" Angel nodded even though he knew the Princess couldn't seen him. "Great. Thanks. I've really got to get that book. See you next week. Bye." He switched his phone off. "She's faxing the information though."
Wesley's head jerked up as he remembered where he had heard of the Ice Maiden. "She's been spotted before in America. I believe it was in New York. Nobody has ever survived one of her freezings before."
"This guy probably wouldn't have either if I hadn't had a vision and Angel hadn't rushed off and saved him." Cordellia quickly pointed out. "Hey, who sighted her if none of her victims have ever survived."
Angel quickly read through the pages Cassandra had faxed through. "She only targets men. She was sighted by a woman." Angel spotted the drawing of her. "Well, I guess that might explain why the homeless guy didn't just get up and run away."
Cordellia grabbed the fax sheets out of his hand. "Wow. What plastic surgeon did she go to, to look that perfect."
Wesley looked over her shoulder. "She certainly is beautiful." He saw that Angel wasn't to concerned. "You don't think so?"
Angel shrugged his shoulders. "I've seen better." It was only his opinion, but he felt that both Buffy and Cassandra had the Ice Maiden beaten, hands down. He looked up to find Kate standing in the doorway. "How's our friend doing?"
Kate walked into the office and sat down in a spare chair. "He's a bit shaken up, but thanks to you, he's alive. This had happened before. The freak change of weather, men turning into ice bergs. No explanation for it. What did you come up with?"
Cordellia ran a photocopy of the sheets Cassandra had faxed through. "Here. The woman you're looking for goes by the title of the Ice Maiden."
Kate glanced through the pages that Cordellia had handed her. "It doesn't say how to stop her." She looked over at Angel. "Any ideas."
Wesley scratched his head. "Nobody seems to have ever been mobile enough to stop her. No man can get near her without being frozen."
"Cass says you should try melting her." Buffy seemed to appear out of nowhere. She walked over to Angel and kissed him hello. "I came via the ghost roads." She answered the unspoken question which was hanging in the air. "I'm also supposed to give you this. Cass has two copies. There's a similar case to what you're experiencing here. The Princess marked the page."
Angel took the book and hugged his tiny girlfriend. "Thanks. We need all the help we can get on this one. Can you stay a while?" Angel knew the answer before it was spoken. Buffy had used the ghost roads to save time.
"No. I'll see you next week though, right?" Her face full of hope.
"Yeah." Angel kissed her good bye and watched the Slayer walk back into something that resembled a black hole. "Next week." He whispered more to himself than anything.
"So what does the book say?" Cordellia's impatient voice broke through Angel's thoughts. "Do we turn on all the heaters in Los Angeles cause I hate to burst your bubble, but I think that's already happening."
"We have to find her first." Kate looked at the drawing on the page in front of her. "I'd say that having this drawing would make it easy to find her, but I'm guessing that would be too simple."
"The sun is out during the day, so I assume that she only comes out at night." Wesley thought out loud. "That also rules out the sun melting her or the ice that has formed over Los Angeles."
Angel read through the section of the book Cassandra had marked for him. "Not necessarily. If we can find the Ice Maiden and get her into the sunlight, it might be enough. The problem is neither Wesley nor I can get near her."
"That presents me with a problem as well." Kate rolled her eyes. "Half of the LAPD can't get near her either."
Cordellia leaned over Angel's shoulder to look at what he was reading. "Maybe it's not as bad as we think." She never noticed the confused look on the other's faces. "It says here," she waved the fax sheets at him. "That she attracts men and freezes them. What if there was a man that wasn't attracted to her."
"You want to find gay men to capture her!" Wesley was completely confused.
"No." Cordellia shot him a irritated look. "Gay guys would still find her attractive. They just wouldn't want to sleep with her. I'm talking about a guy who doesn't find her attractive."
Cordellia and Wesley looked straight at Angel. Kate was more than a little shocked by the implication Cordellia was making. "You don't find the blond bombshell attractive?"
"I didn't say that." Angel was a little defensive. "I just said that I had seen better." He gestured to the drawing. "I mean, look at her. She doesn't have the poise and elegance that Cassandra has. She doesn't have the look of strength, innocence or natural beauty that both Buffy and Cassandra have. Cordellia, you yourself thought she was a plastic surgeons dream creation. She just doesn't have a look of someone real about her."
Kate looked at him in amazement. "God. Why aren't there more guys like you around?"
"Yes, there really should be more vampires with souls that are in love with their Slayers in the world." Wesley quipped sarcastically. "Any ideas where to start looking for the Ice Maiden?" Wesley tried to get the discussion back on track.
Angel considered the options for a moment. "We could probably start with anywhere dark. It's possible she may need to keep cold so we could also try cold storage factories. If she doesn't work alone, it might be an idea to see if someone has hired a giant fridge or freezer."
"That's a lot of ground to cover." Kate read through the fax pages again. "There's no mention of the Ice Maiden working with anyone."
"Yeah, well just cause nobody's seen anyone working with her, doesn't mean it couldn't happen." Cordellia began to giggle. "Remember when Willow told us Harmony had minions!"
Kate sat in her chair totally confused when everyone burst out laughing. "I guess this is a private joke." She stood and headed for the door. "Let me know if you find the Ice Maiden."
Wesley watched her go. "I suppose you have to have met Harmony to really understand why that was so funny."
Cordellia shook her head. "No. Kate just doesn't have a sense of humor." She started to giggle again. "Wouldn't you have loved to have been there when Harmony turned up at Buffy's and announced she and her minions were going to kick the Slayer's butt." Again the office was filled with laughter.
Kate searched the police data banks for any other strange icy occurrences. Although only one sighting had occurred, the ice maiden had made it around most of America. There seemed to be no pattern to her movements. So engrossed in her work was she, that the sound of the phone ringing made her jump. "Hello." She struggled not to sound irritated about being disturbed.
"Kate. It's Angel. We've found a company that sold a deep freeze unit two days ago. Whomever brought it paid cash. A lot of it. The owner's not giving out any information without a warrant."
"What's the address." Kate searched her desk for a pen and a scrap of paper. Quickly scribbling down the address, she shoved the piece of paper in her pocket. "I'll meet you there." She hung up the phone and raced out the door.
"Look Lady. It's like I told your big friend over there, I'm not giving any information out without a warrant. I don't care how often you flash your badge at me." The store owner couldn't have been more than five foot tall with a head of greasy black hair that looked as though he had used an entire tube of hair gel on it.
Angel eyed the man cautiously. There was something off about him. "Are you even human?"
Kate frowned at him. "Why does everyone have to be a demon with you? What? You going to ring Cassandra up and asked her if one of her pet demons is in the white ware business?"
The man looked up at Angel. "You know Princess Cassandra? Hey, are you Angel?" When Angel nodded, he rolled his eyes. "Why didn't you say so, I'll go and get the delivery dockets."
Kate felt her jaw drop. "Is there anyone or thing that doesn't know Cassandra?"
Angel shook his head. "Not really. Most know her by reputation if nothing else." He took a look at the docket that the man handed him. "Do you remember who made the purchase?"
The man nodded. "Yeah. He was dressed like an Eskimo, you know, all covered up. I got a look at his face though. Looked like a Sheakif Dwarf. Hey, next time you speak to the Princess, tell her Zeak said hi."
Angel grinned. "No problem. Thanks for your help." He walked out the back of the store into a badly lit alley, followed by Kate. "Let me see what I can find out about Sheakif Dwarfs before you storm that address." It wasn't as though he could walk up to the front door in the daylight anyway.
Kate wasn't keen on waiting. "What if your friend tips them off. By the time you can walk up to the place, they could all be gone." She hadn't the patience to wait that long.
Angel lifted the man hole cover to the sewers. "Alright. You hit the place, guns blazing and hope like hell that Sheakif Dwarfs don't have any sort of super natural powers." His voice stopped her as she started to walk away. "And by the way, Zeak knows the price of betraying the Princess is a first class trip straight to hell."
When Kate turned back to fire off an acid retort, she found that Angel had slipped down the man hole and replaced the cover. "I hate it when he does that."
"Sheakif Dwarf?" Wesley flicked through the pages of the book, Buffy had given Angel. "Ah. Here it is. Usually sticks to the colder climates. That would explain why it would travel with the Ice Maiden."
"Ew!" Cordellia screwed her nose up. "Does that book have a picture in it, cause the computer sure as hell does."
Wesley looked over her shoulder at the screen. "I see what you mean." The Sheakif dwarf's face resembled that of a type of dog. The skin was so loose that it fell in folds around it's beady little eyes and flattened nose. Fangs protruded out of it's mouth and it's whole face seemed to be covered in slime. "No description of the rest of it's body is given as it always wears fur covered clothing. Judging by the face I'd say that's a blessing in disguise."
Cordellia searched the paragraphs on the screen. "O.k., here we go. The Sheakif Dwarfs fangs contain acid, so I'm guessing we don't want it biting us. No. problem there. I don't plan to get that close to it." She stood up and went to get herself a cup of coffee.
Wesley read through the paragraphs in the book. "That looks as though that's all we have to worry about. They don't appear to have powers of any sort."
Cordellia let out a short sharp laugh. "Well of course not. They don't need powers when their boss can turn people into ice cubes." She frowned. "Why does she do that? I mean is she sucking the warmth out of them or something?"
Wesley frowned. "If that was the case, why is she targeting just men?" He shook his head. "It would have to be something specific to men."
Angel walked in the door. "How many women do you know, who would let a strange woman reach out and touch them long enough to freeze them."
Cordellia started looking through the police files. "This narrows the field slightly. All reports of human ice cubes were homeless. Why target guys that sleep under newspapers? Wouldn't it be more productive to target lawyers, or doctors?" That made more sense to her.
"They've lost hope." Angel knew what that was like. In his case the hand that had reached out to him belonged to Cassandra. She had seen a side to him that Angel, to this day could not see. "Think about it. If you had no one and nothing and a beautiful woman reached out to you, despite the state you were in." He looked at his friends. "Would you turn away?"
"No. I'd wonder why such a beauty would want to touch me." Wesley suddenly clicked to what Angel's point was. "Oh."
"Somebody want to fill me in." Cordellia wasn't getting the point at all. "I get the not running away from a good looking woman bit, but why stay still long enough to be frozen."
Angel explained carefully. "If it were the first sign that somebody actually cared about you, that you had seen in a long time. I don't think that you would run away too quickly."
"So by the time they realize they're being frozen, they can't run anyway." Cordellia summarized. "Did some guy trample on the Ice Maiden's heart or something to make her like this?"
"Good point." Angel reached for the book that Wesley had been holding. "There's got to be another reason Cass sent Buffy with the book instead of putting it in the post." He opened the cover and saw Cassandra's handwriting. "Page 42: Freezing of a soul." Quickly he turned to page 42. Somehow one of the pages hadn't made it through the fax. The missing page had the history of the Ice Maiden. "I've heard about a woman scorned, but this is really extreme."
"I'm right, aren't I?" Cordellia said triumphantly. "Some guy dumped her and now she's hitting back at any guy that's easy to get her hands on."
"Not quite." Angel reread the page. "She fell in love with an aristocrat called Edwin. On the night that he was to propose he took her for a walk around the frozen lake at night."
"That actually sounds quite romantic." Wesley chipped in.
"Split the ice and tossed her in leaving her to drown." Angel finished off.
"Or maybe not." Wesley replied. "I take it she lived through the experience."
"Basically her aging process was frozen. When summer came, the lake defrosted, she didn't. She was unable to survive in the warmer climate so she willed back the cold weather. Everything she touches turns to ice, so she turned up on Edwin's doorstep, finds him with another, richer woman and ..." He double checked the information.
"And what?" Cordellia demanded.
"Froze his assets." Angel handed the book to Cordellia.
"Alright." Cordellia cheered. "I wish we could do that to every cheating guy in the world."
"The problem is, that she isn't just freezing guys that cheat on their partners." Wesley pointed out. "And she's changing the climate everywhere she goes."
"Well, as soon as the sun goes down, Kate and I are going to see if we can warm up the Ice Maiden." Angel looked at the clock. "I'd better see if I can get hold of Kate and warn her about the Sheakif Dwarf's bite."
Cordellia looked at him. "Shouldn't you wear protective clothing or something?"
Angel looked down at his clothes. "Like what? I don't exactly have any anti freeze gear in my closet."
"Well, what do the people who work in cold storage factories wear? They must have some sort of protective clothing." Cordellia pointed out.
"That's a good point." Angel noted. "I can't risk covering my hands but maybe I'd better put another layer of clothes on. Wesley, can you call Kate and warn her about the Sheakif Dwarf."
"Of course." Wesley was puzzled. "Why can't you cover your hands?"
Angel headed for his room. "I can't drag her into the sun, so I may have to heat her up the same way I defrosted the homeless guy. The minute my hands heat up, the gloves would burst into flames."
"This is going to be another one of those nights, I can just feel it." Cordellia rolled her eyes and went back to tapping away at her computer.
Kate looked at her watch again. Where the hell was Angel. She had stopped off to get some of the gear that was used to train the police dogs after Wesley had called her. She wondered, not for the first time how she had never noticed the strange goings on in Los Angeles. So deep in thought was she, that when Angel tapped on the car window she jumped out her skin. "What took you so long?" She snapped.
Angel shrugged. "Had to stop off for supplies." He had dressed warmly and added long metal cuffs under his sleeves along with his usual weapons.
Kate climbed out of the car. "Any ideas how we are going to get you invited in?" She walked beside him up to the house.
Angel smiled. "I don't think it will be a problem getting me in. Keeping myself from being turned into an ice cube that's the problem." He reached out and knocked on the door.
Kate could feel the change in temperature the closer they got to the house. She was about to knock on the door herself when the door opened.
Standing in front of them was the Ice Maiden herself. "How may I help you?" She spoke as though she had been to some high priced finishing school. She directed her question to both Angel and Kate, but looked only at Angel.
Just as Kate was about to flash her badge, Angel spoke. "We'd like to know if you have allowed Jesus into your life?"
Kate struggled to keep a straight face. Angel couldn't get near crosses or hold water, yet there he was claiming to be preaching the word of God.
The Ice Maiden smiled sweetly. "Why don't you come in and explain what the advantages of doing so would be." She stepped aside allowing them both to enter.
The house was large with very little furniture. The air conditioning had been turned right down. It was so cold that Kate's breath was smoke like every time she breathed in and out. Icicles hung from the doorways and light fixtures. Turning to look around her, Kate noticed what she assumed were the Sheakif demons standing behind them. She reached out and touched Angel's arm to alert him to their presence. On doing so she realized that the vampire had probably sensed them anyway.
"How is it, that you found yourself preaching the word of God." The Ice Maiden was slowing inching towards Angel, while the Sheakif Demons were getting closer to Kate.
Angel smiled. "It seemed to be a good way to get you to invite me into your home." His face changed into it's demonic form. "Thanks for that by the way."
The Ice Maiden's expression changed from shock to anger as she reached out to touch him.
Thinking quickly, Kate grabbed a Sheakif Dwarf and tossed him at the Ice Maiden as Angel started chanting the Latin he had used to defrost the homeless man. She quickly side stepped another Sheakif Dwarf that was running for her. "You want to speed the chanting up a bit Angel." Kate had to yell over the strange noise the Sheakif Dwarfs were making.
The Ice Maiden untangled herself from the two Sheakif Dwarfs and stood up. "You're just another liar!" She was practically screeching. "Just like Edwin."
"Edwin was a vampire?" Kate tried to buy Angel some time. His hands had only just started to glow. "Hey, Angeles, did you have a brother named Edwin?" She could see the Sheakif Dwarfs start to back away at the mention of Angel's full name. "Boy, you really do have one hell of a reputation." Obviously the news of Angel's restored soul hadn't got around.
Angel grabbed the Ice Maiden, ignoring her screams he backed up towards the door. Turning her towards the window, he growled in her ear. "Change the weather back."
"No." The Ice Maiden had water trickling down her face as she began to melt. "Neither of you will make it out of here alive."
Angel grinned. "I'm already dead." He spun her around. The only other person in the room was Kate. "And your acid breath friends deserted you as soon as they found out who I was." Again he spun her so that she was looking out the window. "Now change the weather back."
Kate couldn't believe what was happening before her eyes. There was a large pool of water at the Ice Maiden's feet where she was defrosting. As she defrosted, the Ice Maiden was aging. Finally the woman that Angel was holding onto was a frail looking old woman, who barely resembled the young woman who had answered the door.
Angel let go carefully, unsure that the woman in front of him would have the strength to stand on her own. "You can't punish everyone for what Edwin did to you." He whispered.
The woman looked up at him, her eyes full of hurt and betrayal. It was a look he had seen so many times, in so many faces. "Why not?" Her voice crackled. "Why shouldn't everyone feel the way I feel? No one ever came to my rescue." She turned and walked away from him. "Get out of my house."
Kate walked over to Angel. "What do we do now? It's not as if I can arrest her for changing the weather. Not to mention there's no proof that she froze that guy the other night, especially not now."
Angel was still staring in the direction that the Ice Maiden had gone, his hands had stopped glowing. "The weather's getting warmer. You can already feel the change in the temperature. I don't think she can cause anymore trouble."
Kate realized he was right, it was getting warmer. "So basically, she's just going to get old and die. Not much of a life. I guess we have Edwin to thank for that."
Angel turned and walked to the door, holding it open for Kate to walk out. "At least she can get old." He cast the house one more look before walking out after Kate and closing the door behind him. "Staying young isn't all it's made out to be."
"So you defrosted her?" Cordellia screwed up her nose. "That sounds messy. Plus she got really old, really fast so I bet you're not on the top of her Christmas card list."
"For some people staying young can be quite a burden." Wesley reminded Cordellia. He noticed that Angel had been even more reserved upon his return than usual. "Especially when those around you tend to age."
Angel nodded. "Yeah. But then we couldn't let her keep going around freezing people and making the rest of us cold and miserable because she couldn't forget what Edwin did to her."
"Yes, well, by the sounds of it, he certainly got his comeuppance." Wesley announced.
Cordellia looked down her nose at him. "Do you always have to be so British?"
Angel rolled his eyes and walked out of the room while Cordellia and Wesley bickered. It was times like these, when those two managed the impossible and aged him.
THE END
