Ice

Spoilers: Pilot

Disclaimer: The characters used herein are not mine, in fact they belong to Paul Haggis and Alliance Entertainment. The baddie is mine, but I'd willingly give him up to keep from being sued.

Note: TYK Lucy story. If you know why, you know. If not, don't worry about it. I was listening to "Ice" on "Fumbling Towards Ecstacy" this morning and decided that would be a good title. Time frame is that in May 1993 Dief was an older pup (RWoB). Possibly 4-6 months old (I've seen husky pups that big at that age. Seems plausible to me).

Originally posted to Red Suits You in 2000/2001.


"The ice is thin, come on, dive in..." -Sarah McLachlan "Ice"

December 1993

"Oof!" A fist contacted with Fraser's abdomen, pushing the air out of his lungs. He inhaled sharply, the arctic sea air chilling his throat already. He tried to throw a punch; incapacitate the other man, but his movements were sluggish in the cold. He'd been dogging the man for two weeks now, they were both exhauseted, and that could be deadly in such an environment.

The man kicked Fraser's legs out from under him and ran for the small fishing boat tied nearby. Cutting the line he paddled away as Fraser searched in vain for something to use to reach the boat. As the boat reached a point where the man could surely escape, Fraser fastened a lariat out of the anchor line and tossed it out to the boat, luckily catching on the bow on the first time. He tried to pull the boat in but the man rowing was not only stronger, but wasn't standing on a patch of ice. Struggling to keep his purchase on the slippery surface, Fraser was dragged into the choppy water. The dog team he'd left tied to his sled yelped and tried to get lose.

"Oh Dear!"

He tried to pull himself to the boat, hand over hand, while keeping his head above water. His clothes were quickly filling with water like a sponge, making it more and more difficult to stay afloat. Somehow he made it to the boat, and had one arm over the side when the man hit him with an oar, dazing him and knocking him back into the freezing water. Too bad for the man in the boat the movement was enough to capsize the unstable watercraft.

Both spilled in to the water, Fraser grabbed onto the man's jacket and attempted to swim to shore. "Douglas Nash! You are under arrest..." Nash reached up and grasped Fraser's collar, twisting, cutting off his airway.

Fraser gasped for breath, sputtering frigid water. He tried to keep his head above the water's surface, knowing what damage it could cause. Nash, however, was not thinking and, in the process of choking Fraser, submerged himself. Realizing the situation he'd put himself into, he tried to push Fraser under; lever himself out. This action suceeded in only pulling both under. Nash panicked and screamed. Fraser tried to see where to swim, which direction the shore was, through the tiny bubbles from their clothing, the churned water and Nash's released breath.

Nash went limp, but Fraser knew he still had to bring the man in, it was his duty. His only problem was his hands were not responding to the signals his brain was sending and he lost his grip on Nash. He could feel the man's body slip away. In a split second decision he dove after him, but couldn't reach the man. He'd have to accept the loss and the reprimand from his superiors. He turned to go back to the shore, but felt a jerk on his leg. Somehow in the fight the line he'd used to reach the boat had entangled itself around his leg as well as Nash's.

Nash was dead weight, pulling him down to the bottom of Prince Rupert Sound.

He wanted to scream, but couldn't. He fought down the fear and the panic and retrieved his knife from his boot. Slowly, he cut himself free.

He made the surface and gasped for air. To his horror he realized that the waves that were just a little choppy before, were now carrying him farther and farther from shore. He was lifted high in the air and thrown back into the water, again and a gain until he had no hope of getting out of the water.

He thought he saw an ice floe off to one side, but wasn't sure if he could make it. Every time he tried to move his muscles screamed in protest. He couldn't breathe well, the punch he'd taken to his abdomen already bruising his diaphragm. Weaker and weaker he began to sink. Refusing to give up he reached up and felt the air, and as he pushed against the sea he felt the unmistakable feeling of a dog's paws kicking him.

Looking up he saw the legs and underbelly of Diefenbaker, the tough yearling he'd rescued the spring before as a pup. He'd chewed himself free of the team's gangline and jumped into the water to save his master. Fraser latched onto the harness Dief was wearing and whispered, "Shore, Dief. You've got to get me out. Please." Dief whimpered very quietly, not able to make much noise with all the weight his chest was bearing.

As Diefenbaker tried to fight the current to shore he faltered. Saving his energy he pulled them both to the ice floe. As luck would have it, the boat also washed up on the floe, but it was heavily damaged. Quickly stripping off his wet clothing, Fraser removed his box of waterproof matches from them. He needed to get a fire going and quickly. He was already suffering from hypothermia, and Dief was soaked. They wouldn't survive long in the cold.

Fraser stood near the flames, warming layer after layer so he would have something warm, if damp, to wear while waiting for help to arrive. If any would come at all.

He looked at a now dry--and slightly singed from standing too near the fire--Diefenbaker and noted the blood and fluid oozing from the wolf's ears. When Fraser had moved into the water his ears had been covered with his hat's ear flaps and it had been more gradual- less of a shock. When Dief jumped in the sudden chill constricted the blood vessels, but his blood pressure increased with the activity. Bodies were not designed to take that kind of temperature change and the eardrums burst.

Dief would be deaf.

'He gave up his hearing for me.' he pulled the wolf closer. "Thank you, Dief. I appreciate it more than you will ever know." Thinking he added. "But you didn't have to. But I guess it was like when my grandmother saved those children... Have I ever told you about that?" He talked to the wolf for many hours, chasing away boredom and insanity, until a small fishing boat came by and brought them to shore.

One of the fishermen spoke to Fraser after he told them why they'd been sitting on a chunk of ice. "That's a good dog. Keep him safe."

"I will, thank you. He's a good friend."

FIN