I changed the name of this story! If you hadn't noticed. But I'm sure you did, haha.

I started this in like...08 when I was around fourteen( I know know, it's taking me FOREVER to finish. But don't worry, I promise I will before I die!) I was looking at it like, "Love mixed with a little bit of danger?" Seriously? Is that the best my tiny creative mind could fetch out? I've grown so much since then I decided that the name had to go!

So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the next installment of "Frozen" (: Enjoyyyyyyy.

Chapter Six

Ranger was fading.

After cleaning off his leg wound and wrapping gauze around it, Stephanie had worked up the courage to move him onto the bed. It had taken over a half an hour to make it happen.

Ten minutes to explain to him what she was planning to do, that he would have to help her. He had seemed to recede into his own mind, probably trying to bear the pain. His teeth had been clenched and when he finally comprehended her words, he nodded.

And thirty minutes to carry him all the way to the bed, help him crawl onto it and tuck him under the covers.

He was pale. Very pale. And his wound, amateurishly cleaned and covered by her, didn't look very good. She had cleaned off the cut on his forehead as well. It was jagged and raw but no longer leaking blood, which made her happy enough. He wasn't moving. He hadn't said much since he had screamed in pain while she operated on him. It broke her heart to see him so...so...

Vulnerable.

Stephanie knew that she had to do something productive to help him. Make some food, give him some water, do something. But she didn't know how to do two things at once. She needed to keep watch over him to make sure he didn't doze off. But if she didn't heat up the temperature in this cabin and get some food into both of their bellies, they'd freeze to death or starve. Possibly, the lather.

"Ranger?" Stephanie gently shook him and his eyes vibrated with warmth, coming out of a daze. He flicked his gaze to her. "Listen, you need to stay up. For at least a few hours. Okay?"

I waited for him to respond but he just continued to stare.

"Answer me. Are you listening?"

Slowly, he nodded.

Stephanie crossed the room to her bag, its contents spilled across the floor, and started picking through it. There wasn't much to salvage from it. Articles of her clothing, toothbrush, lipstick, stun gun, hair spray. She wished she had been more efficient like Ranger and packed more necessities. As she wandered into the kitchen, she called out, "Tell me about your daughter!"

He didn't say anything a long moment and Stephanie was about to rush out to wake him when he replied with a low, "Julie?"

She would need to keep him conscious, that much was established, so she would keep him talking while she searched the cabin. She wasn't sure what possessed her to touch onto the daughter topic though. Ranger had been married a while back, to a woman he had met in Miami, where his parents sent him after he got into too much trouble in Newark, New Jersey. He had many secrets and Stephanie had only uncovered about 10% of them. Which included his pre-martial life, his age, and the proposition of a Batcave.

Stephanie had met Julie once, under tense circumstances. The girl, who had only been ten years old at the time, had been kidnapped. Stephanie remembered how bravely she had handled the situation and how fierce her attitude had been.

"Yeah." She called, opening the wood cabinets. There was a wood stove sitting off to the back and three coolers lined up behind her. The cabinets were filled with miscellaneous things : frozen bread, cereal, soup, beans, condiments. Maybe not the most elaborate meals but meals nonetheless. "Do you see her often?"

"No." Ranger said. "No, I barely see her at all. Rachel virtually absolved me of parenting her."

Rachel was his ex-wife, remarried. "And you're okay with that?" She had never really questioned him about this before but, honestly, Stephanie was curious. She knew that he sent money towards Julie's well-being but aside from that, Ranger didn't seem to contact his daughter much. While she waited for him to answer, Stephanie searched the coolers. Milk, beer, water bottles, mayonnaise, butter.

"I have to be." It had taken him over five minutes to reply and his voice was slurred. "I'm not exactly father material. Rachel understood that."

Stephanie came out of the kitchen with two cans of soup and two plastic spoons. She handed him one. "How do you think Julie feels about that?"

Ranger opened the can of soup, used his spoon to scoop some up and put it in his mouth. "Cold."

Stephanie gave him a sympathetic look. She had tried to turn on the stove but it ran on wood and there must not have been any in there because it hadn't turned on, no matter how many times she tried.

"I suppose," He started, continuing to eat. "that Julie doesn't really care if I'm in her life or not." His color was beginning to return, his eyes weren't as dull. He shifted in the bed and Stephanie saw his mouth twitch down in pain. She carefully sat down beside him.

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I've already put her life in danger. She's better off without me." He winced again.

"What hurts? Your leg?" Stephanie asked, jerking forward to assess his body.

He shook his head and his hand went to his stomach. "Ribs." He croaked. "I think they're broken."

Oh no, Stephanie thought, biting her lip to keep it from trembling. She wasn't a doctor, she didn't know how to fix broken ribs. She didn't know how badly they were injured. What if he had internal bleeding? She started to feel her chest heave up and down and breathed in deep to calm down. Stay strong, stay strong.

"Stephanie?"

"Hm?" Her voice came out as a squeak and she mentally cursed herself.

"You look cold."

She glanced down at herself. Blood was splattered on her coat – his blood. Her fingers were starting to crack, snow was in her hair, there was a tingly feeling on her cheeks.

"Come here." Ranger pulled her against him and she gently laid her head on his chest. "Tell me about how you came about Rex. I wouldn't have pictured you with a hamster."

Stephanie squinted up at him and saw him smile. He was trying to make me feel better, she realized, he was trying to keep me from worrying. So she sighed and launched into the tale of how she had acquired Rex while, outside, the sun started to depart and night dominated the sky.

0o0o0o0o

Tank didn't know what was worse. The sun setting or being with Hal.

The man had started out singing, had gone to sulking and was now whining. He was cold, he was tired, they weren't covering enough ground, it was getting dark.

The bad thing was, Tank was beginning to get sucked into his ideals. They had been on this mountain top for at least two hours, trekking around in the hard snow and had found nothing. The big man was just about to tell Hal that they could wrap up and head to the cabin to regroup with the boss and Bombshell when something caught his eye.

In the bushes. A person. Or what looked like a person. A mountain cat? No, it was snowing too hard. They didn't travel around in the snow….did they? Maybe it was just his imagination because as soon as he spotted it, it vanished.

"What's up?" Hal asked, coming up beside him and looking in the direction Tank was staring. "See a ghost?" He joked, smirking.

"No. I just thought I saw a…..You know what, never mind." Tank turned. "Lets head to the-"

Tank was suddenly on the ground, pain exploding in his neck. He heard Hal screaming something, his visions started to blur and double, black spots began to cover his eyes. Something hot and wet was leaking onto his face. It dripped into his mouth and landed on his cheek.

Blood.

I need to get up, he told himself as he fought to stay conscious. He yelled out to Hal but didn't know if the man answered because his world swam into darkness.