Title: The Iceman
Disclaimer: Nope, not mine. Just playing in BBC's wonderful sandbox.
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None, though 'Iceman' reference taken from A Scandal in Belgravia.
Series; Pairing: Sherlock BBC; pre-slash Mycroft/Lestrade
Rating: PG/K+
Word Count: 410
Summary: 'I know who you are.' He says, fearless despite the cold weight that sinks onto his stomach. 'You're The Iceman.' Slight fairytale AU.
Author's Notes
1. I wanted to hug Mycroft after he was called 'the iceman' in aSiB, but then figured Lestrade should do the honours.
2. A big thank you to Alphera for reading this over and helping me make sense of what I've written in a sleep-deprived haze at 3:00am.
3. Goodness, it's been a while, so I'm still trying to get my head around these lovely characters again. I'm so glad season 2 has so much information I can work with. Oh Mystrade, I have missed you so.
The Iceman
When he was still just a boy, wide-eyed and curious about the world, his Gran used to tell him the legend of The Iceman. A man who traded his emotions, his humanity, to feel no pain - wandering the ages alone, drawn to suffering hearts, willing to inflict his chill upon those who wished for an end to their despair, for those who wished for the ice to consume them.
She taught him that the only way to ward off The Iceman was to love, fully and unconditionally; for if he did, The Iceman could never find him and his heart would never be frozen.
Years later, when he slid the wedding ring onto his smiling bride's finger, he had thought, rather naively, that such an endless love was not that hard to find.
He had almost forgotten his Gran's story, until, one night, upon entering the empty house he once shared with his estranged wife, he meets a man with cold blue eyes that shone brighter than the moon, despite the darkness he could see in the stranger's soul.
'I know who you are.' He says, fearless, despite the cold weight that sinks into his stomach. 'You're The Iceman.'
A wry smile and the slight tilt of the stranger's head acknowledge his suspicions.
He stands his ground as he watches The Iceman come closer.
'Are you here to make the pain go away?'
'Would you like me to?' He had always expected The Iceman's voice to sound frigid and caustic. Instead, he hears a deep and rich tone that makes him feel... safe. Protected.
He thinks back to his Gran's warning and his promise to never let the cold into his heart. He thinks back to happier days and nights nestled beside the one who had fooled him into thinking he was loved. He thinks of the loneliness that now plagues his waking hours and haunts his sleepless nights; chewing him ragged and eating him whole.
His decision to reach for The Iceman's outstretched hand is an easy one.
He wishes for the frost to consume him quickly, for the ache in his heart to disappear.
But it never happens.
For no one, not even his Gran, knew that The Iceman's curse could be broken by the one whose heart could never be turned to ice; by a heart that loves so freely and so completely that it could melt the bitter darkness of The Iceman's own, frozen, one.
-end-
Comments and thoughts are most welcome and greatly appreciated.