author: Lucinda
rating: PG 13
mentions Willow/Oz in prolog, becomes Willow/Remy
disclaimer: I own nobody from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Marvel
Comics.
distribution: Charity's site, anyone else ask
prolog....senior year of high school.
Willow had been keeping two secrets from her friends. Her first secret was her friendship with Harmony Kendall. That unexpected relationship had come about as a direct result of Willow's second secret. Willow was a mutant, specifically an empath. She had been an empath for most of her life, her abilities growing stronger with time.
She had known Harmony for years, in the vague sort of way that you know a person who goes to the same school with but you never have anything in common with. They had become friends unexpectedly. Willow had been walking one night, before she had learned about vampires and demons, and had been almost assaulted by the emotions of someone in horrible despair. The emotions of despair, self loathing, humiliation, and the echo of physical pain nearly sent Willow to her knees. She couldn't ignore this. Her stomach was twisting into knots, and her head as throbbing. She had also been raised with the idea that you should help someone in trouble, so she had gone to investigate.
The pain had been coming from Harmony. Her boyfriend had raped her, and had managed to leave her convinced that it was somehow her fault. Harmony had wanted to die.
Their friendship had resulted from Willow helping Harmony to heal after that. The physical injuries had been minor enough that with a minimum of effort, nobody had to ever know. The mental damage had been far more severe. Willow had helped Harmony rebuild her shattered self image, and convinced her that it hadn't been her fault. They would pretend that nothing had changed while they were at school, not wanting people to wonder when and why they had become friendly.
When Willow had discovered that vampires and demons were real, she had told Harmony, wanting her friend to be safe. When Harmony had discovered that she was a mutant, capable of making illusions, she had gone to Willow. They had spent time together, trying to learn control of their abilities. Willow had also discovered a growing telekinetic ability. She couldn't move anything heavy, but she was getting more precise, and gradually gaining strength as well. Willow had helped Harmony adjust to the idea of being a mutant. She was still the only person that knew about Harmony's mutation, as Harmony was the only person that knew about hers.
Willow knew that her abilities made her vulnerable. She had spun out wisps of herself, attaching bits of herself to her friends. She knew if they were in trouble. She always knew how they really felt when they spoke to her. It hurt when they lied to her. It had hurt worse that Xander, her friend since kindergarten has become involved with Cordelia. He had made it worse by trying to conceal it from her.
Now, since the incident at the factory, every meeting with the Xander or Cordelia was painful to Willow, the both of them blaming Willow for Cordelia's impalement. Buffy was to busy trying to make something work between her and Angel that Willow was at the bottom of her list of concerns. And Oz was hiding something.
The impending Ascension that the mayor had planned to have occur during graduation was the only thing holding her with the rest of the Scooby gang. They didn't need her socially, that was made painfully apparent every time they made plans without her. She had Oz to console her...at least, she thought she did. Harmony had told her that some of the other girls at school were flirting with Oz, not taking the relationship between Oz and Willow seriously.
They had finally made a plan that called for the entire graduating class to be armed, and actively fight the mayor after his transformation into a gigantic demon. Willow was checking to make certain everything was moving smoothly as the actual ceremony was nearly here.
Oz was missing.
She could feel the thread that connected her to Oz, he was nearby, and not injured, but she couldn't tell anything more than that. She headed towards the parking lot, intending to check if his van was there. The feeling of Oz-ness was inside the van, and he wasn't alone.
Oz was very busy having sex with a girl from his biology class in the back of his van. Willow felt something shatter inside her. She deliberately felt the thread that connected her to Oz and snapped it. There was no longer a reason to stay in Sunnydale, assuming that she survived her graduation.
She would have to see if the position with Worthington Computers was still open to her.
end prolog/part1
The job at Worthington Computers had been open, and she had eventually moved to an affiliated company that focused on research and development of more durable electronics. They also tried to make things that were faster, smarter, and lighter weight. She had been there for three years now. They did a lot of work for and with various scientific research groups. They made electronics to take into the tropical heat and humidity of the Amazon river basin, to the sandy heat of the Mojave desert, to the depths of the oceans, and the frozen ends of the earth.
Actually, some of that was still in development. When something particularly new or touchy was being sent out with the researchers for testing, someone from the research group normally accompanied the expedition. Depending on the destination, these trips could be delightful and educational.
Willow had been to Egypt, the middle of the Atlantic ocean looking over equipment used to search for sunken ships, and into some lovely mountains. She had also been to scorpion infested deserts, mosquito ridden swamps, and a storm on the ocean. This time, she was being sent to Antarctica, with a research group from Yale that wanted to study the hole in the ozone layer. They would be there for over two months.
She had actually made most of the modifications to a device that was supposed to measure wind speed, direction, and calculate the wind chill factor. Hopefully, the modified sensor wouldn't get frost inside that disrupted it's functioning.
Willow was hoping the trip would go smoothly. Her life at home hadn't gone well recently. Two of the other people at the office had been having an affair, it had ended badly. Willow got headaches and an upset stomach anytime one of them was near her. Her next door neighbor had just got a small, very noisy dog that barked at all hours of the night. Her car had something wrong with the engine.
There had also been the final ending of the relationship she had been attempting. He had been a lawyer, and the trouble had started with the fact that he valued his own job as more important and more worthy than Willow's. He had wanted her to move into his apartment with him, and take over the cooking and laundry. He had also been trying to pressure her into sleeping with him. Willow had had more than a few words to say to him.... It had been three weeks since they had separated, and Willow was happier without him than she had been with him.
At least things were going better for her friend Harmony. She had recently gotten involved with a new guy. He was strong, handsome, and protective, with a sweet side underneath. His name was Spike, and she was delighted. He also happened to be a vampire, but if he made Harm happy, Willow could live with that.
end part 2.
They had been here in the frozen bottom of the world for a month. Willow had almost become accustomed to the eternal cold outside. She had to go outside every day and inspect each external sensor, making certain that it was functioning properly.
The cold had seeped into her bones, freezing her body and doing nothing to help the raw pain of her anguished soul.....
Willow staggered. She had on protective warm layers of clothing. She wasn't particularly cold, and her emotional state was just fine. The glowing emotional presences of the scientists and grad students on the expedition were a solid presence in the base. Everyone was present, and felt healthy. But, Willow had sensed somebody outside, freezing and in strong emotional pain. It had come from the east.
She grabbed some thermal blankets and one of the covered two person snowmobiles. Willow listened to the soul in the frozen wild, trying to learn what she could as she headed east to save him.
It was a man, adult in emotions if not body, though probably of adult years as well. He echoed with a feeling of betrayal and abandonment, and had a crushing burden of self loathing and guilt. He despaired of ever leaving where he was.
Willow didn't think he was quite coherent, and he might be barely conscious. She had to hurry before he froze to death. As the snowmobile rose up over another white hill, she saw something dark against the snow. It was a man in an ice encrusted brown trench coat, and tangled, frozen mass of hair about his head.
She wrapped him in a blanket and stowed him into the back of the snowmobile as fast as she could, and turned to go back to the base. She used the radio to call ahead to the expedition's doctor, letting her know that Willow was bringing in a half frozen man she had found out in the snow. Medical attention would be waiting for him as soon as they reached the domes.
Unfortunately, there was a shortage of space. They decided that since Willow had found him, he might as well stay in her room for now. To prevent the ice from melting and soaking the poor stranger in cold water on top of everything else, they took his clothing off. He had some sort of body armor under his coat.
Why on earth would he be in the middle of Antarctica in body armor and a leather coat? How had he even gotten out there? Why was he alone? Willow had no answers to her questions, and could only hope that her guest could answer some of them when he eventually awoke.
end part 3.
Images swirled through his mind. There were flashes of people walking down streets of different cities, at various times of the year. Images of extravagant jewels in velvet cases. Lovely women in fashionable gowns. Echoing bits of jazz music, bits of conversations that taken out of context made no sense.
Something was not right. He was not well.
There were more people, frozen images of faces he should know... could almost recognize. There was a child with a cloud of white hair contrasting with her dark skin, perched on a roof and smiling at him with bright blue eyes. He could see an older man with a walking cane and a nice suit, sitting down at a table with bowl of something...
There was a blue man with feathered wings yelling at him, calling him a traitor and coward. He was joined by a pale skinned man with red eyes in a long lab coat, looking at Remy as if he were an interesting specimen. There were momentary flashes of a buxom woman with long dark curls and a white streak, smiling, laughing, floating in the air.
"You're honest with the people ya love. Otherwise it's a gamble." Something told him these words had been spoken by her, to him. " Ya lost your gamble, swamp rat. Game over."
He felt himself falling. He was alone, abandoned by the woman with the stripe in her hair, the woman he had loved. He had loved her, hadn't he? Remy thought that he had, but wasn't quite certain. It was fairly clear that she couldn't have loved him, not if she had dropped him onto the cold....
Remy was freezing, cold to the marrow of his bones... or possibly he was burning up, consumed by the fire that seemed to surround him. He was no longer certain what was real, only that the people he had thought he could trust had left him to die alone in the cold.
* *
Willow sponged more cool water over the forehead of the stranger. He was running a fever, brought on as a result of his exposure to the cold. She didn't know what he was thinking, but she could feel that he was confused, and dreaming unhappily. He was tossing, and twisting in her bed, sweating from his fever.
There were occasional murmurs, bits of words and sentences in french and english. He was twisting, trying to escape something unpleasant in his dreams. There were whispers... 'no... not again... no' that suggested at least part of the images plaguing him were memories. At other times, he called out to someone named Stormy, asking where the girl was. There were other times that he pleaded brokenly to someone, begging them not to leave him in the cold.
He still hadn't regained consciousness, and there had been no identification in his body armor, or in the pockets of his battered leather coat. She had no idea what his name was. She really didn't know why he'd been carrying six and a half decks of playing cards, three books of matches from various nightclubs, a set of lock-picks, and sixty eight cents in change either.
Hopefully, he would wake up and be able to answer some of her questions.
end part 4.
Remy was dreaming again. He had been trapped in a giant web, tangled up and unable to move, suspended over a large pit, that radiated the smell of fear and a bitter cold. He was alone, and had been left to die here.
That wasn't right. He wouldn't be completely abandoned. He had people that would save him. Stormy wouldn't let her brother die in a giant web. He could see her in his mind: a tall, elegant woman with dark skin and a cascade of white hair, tending a garden of orchids.
Logan, a short, gruff man. Logan was direct and blunt, he wasn't certain if Logan liked him, but they were team-mates. Logan would only let a teammate be left behind if he himself were being dragged away unconscious.
Bishop, a tall black man with a scar shaped like an M over his eye... Bishop didn't trust Remy, thought he was going to do something bad in the future. That meant Bishop wanted to keep Remy nearby, so he could watch him... no, Bishop wouldn't rescue him. The crazy Shi'ar woman called Deathbird had kidnapped Bishop before they had returned to earth...
His father, Jean Luc, the man in the suit that he had remembered earlier... no, his father didn't know where he was. Henri? no, his brother was dead.
Remy woke up. He was tangled in blankets, which explained his dreaming he was trapped in a web. Trying to sort his limbs out from the blankets, Remy made two discoveries. First, he was very weak, his hands shaking as he struggled with the blankets around him. Secondly, he was naked.
Where was he? How did he get here? Why was he naked, and most importantly, who was keeping him? Remy's head spun slightly as he tried to figure out where he was. Looking around, he learned that he was in a small room. He had been in a tangle of blankets on a small bed. The only other large item in the room was a trunk. There was a hairbrush sitting on it, a small box, and a stack of papers. The room had no windows. The smell of sweat and fear filled it.
A few moments careful and shaky investigation proved that the smell of sweat was coming from the bedding, and therefore him. ick. The papers looked like weather reports, and seemed to be from someplace miserably cold. There were long red hairs caught in the brush. He could barely stay on his feet, and outside of the blankets, the room was unpleasantly cold.
In the main area of the base, Willow sensed her guest wake up. He was confused, and worried. She had best go talk to him, find a name for him and reassure him that he would be okay. She quickly sent her weekly report that in technical terms said all the equipment was working properly here where it's incredibly cold.
She opened the door to her small room, and there he was. Her guest was standing in the corner, leaning against the wall. He was still naked. He was alert, his eyes scanning the room for anything. He focused on her, staring at Willow with strange red on black eyes.
He pulled a blanket around himself, shivering slightly.
"Where am I? How did I get here? Who're you an' what happened t' my clothes.." His voice was low, accented, and slurred slightly with exhaustion. He was probably not supposed to be up, and looked almost ready to fall over.
Willow looked at him a moment before answering. Moving slowly so she wouldn't frighten him, she walked over to the trunk and moved the papers to the side before sitting down. He was awake, and he felt confused and afraid. She tried to project soothing feelings.
"My name is Willow Rosenberg. I found you out in the snow and brought you back here with me. This is a research base so that scientists can study the hole in the ozone layer. I am here to make sure all the electronics keeps running in the cold." Willow fidgetted with her shirt sleeve.
"Umm your clothing.... I brought you back here covered in ice. We took your clothes off of you so that you wouldn't get covered in water as it melted. I have them in a box in one of the other rooms. Now that you are awake, I can ask one of the grad students if you can borrow some of his things to wear for now." She paused, looking at him thoughtfully.
"What else would you want to know..... I have no idea how you got out there. We didn't find anyone else, or anything to tell us why you were out there without enough insulation. You've been here for a week, with a fever. You might have already checked, but you were lucky enough to not loose any bits and pieces of yourself to frostbite. Mmm Some of your hair kind of broke off while it was all icy. I think I'll go get you some warm clothing, some food, and a cup of hot coffee now."
Willow left the room. She was trying to tell herself that she needed to help him get better, not hang around lusting after his naked body. He had a really nice body. Coffee..
end part 5.
Remy sank against the wall, watching Willow leave the room. She was pretty, and seemed to be fairly nice. As much as he could tell, she had been telling the truth in response to his questions. She had promised him warm clothing and coffee. She had some shields, enough to distance the emotions of others slightly. He could read her through them. She had wanted to help him. And she thought he looked good naked. He smiled, both at her appreciation of his looks and the promise of coffee.
He took advantage of her absence to wash up quickly with the water in the room. It was very cold, and he was unable to use his powers to try to warm it. The effort made his vision blur and his head spin. It was obvious that he was to tired to use his kinetics. At least it didn't take any active energy to read someone in the room with him.
At least he didn't stink of sweat and fear anymore. He was shivering when a tap on the door announced her return. She came into the room carrying a stack of clothing in one hand and a tray with hot food and a steaming cup of coffee.
She blushed when she looked at him standing there. She walked in and put the tray on the trunk, and handed him the clothing.
"I think I'll just step back outside so you can get dressed... these should be about the right size, and much warmer than...ahh well anything would be warmer. I'll just step out so you can get dressed, eat some food." Willow's words rambled a little, and she was blushing. After the tray was down, she darted back outside to let him put some clothing on.
The clothing had been worn enough that it was soft against his skin. It fit fairly well, and felt much warmer. He pulled on the thermal underwear, the jeans, the long sleeved shirt, and after a moment of debate, pulled the green and black sweater over his head as well. There were thick, fuzzy, green socks. He didn't want to be cold any more. The food was... actually, the food was rather bland. It was tolerable enough, although he certainly wouldn't want to eat like this all the time. The coffee was like the nectar of the gods. Okay, maybe it wasn't that great by coffee standards, but as Remy was lucky just to be alive, any coffee was great right now.
Willow came back in as he was finishing the last of the coffee. She had a cup of coffee for herself, and had brought him another cup. Remy could feel the questions bubbling in her mind, and figured that he might as well see what she wanted to know.
"Go ahead and ask. I know you got questions." His voice sounded stronger after his meal. Less shaky, but still blurred a bit by his accent.
"I guess the first question would be who are you, because then we wouldn't have to call you that guy, or hey you, or the guy from the snow. How did you end up out there, was there anyone else supposed to be there with you? I hadn't seen any signs of anybody else, but that doesn't always mean there wasn't anyone....Are you human? Because your eyes are different from anybody else's that I ever met, and I didn't think that humans had eyes that were red on black, so I thought I would ask you because if you weren't human than you should know..and I'm babbling. I really thought I had grown out of that, sorry."
To Remy's surprise, the words cascaded from her in a long, rapid babble of words that was almost to difficult to follow. They were all released in a single breath. He was most concerned with her question of was he human. If she had problems with the fact that he was a mutant, would he end up back outside in the snow? What did she think he might be if he wasn't human? Remy's mind wandered to his recent trip into the multi-planetary Shi'ar empire, which included dozens of sentient species.
There actually were a number of options there....
"My name is Remy LeBeau. I am human, jus' a mutant. I...there was an accident. Nobody else was in the snow with me."
Remy decided to stay close to the truth, having a suspicion that Willow would know if he were lying. He was very careful how much he told her.
"You said there was an accident. Is there anyone that you wanted to contact?" Willow asked her question softly, not wanting to upset or worry Remy.
Her words triggered a maelstrom of images and sounds in his mind. The trip into the Shi'ar Empire...being held prisoner with the other X-Men by Nanny and Orphan Maker...the Trial at the hands of Erik the Red. His team-mates, the people he thought he could count on him finding him lacking, unworthy. The memories of the Morlock Tunnels, blood splashed everywhere, the mockery of the Marauders, not content to simply slaughter the defenseless Morlocks, but needing to mock them as well.... The woman he'd offered his heart to rejecting him, casting him down to die in the snow. He bolted to the door without any deliberate thought involved.
He made it halfway across the tiny room before tripping on one of the blankets he had left on the floor. Guilt, shame, self-loathing and despair, along with a deep, unreasoning terror radiated from him.
Willow caught him before he connected to the floor, sinking to the floor with him. She held him in her arms, trying to project soothing and calm at him. She murmured words of reassurance, trying to tell him that he was safe here... nobody would hurt him. He didn't have to contact anyone if he didn't want to.
Remy's shields were worn as thin as old socks. Willow's sincere desire to help him, and her good-natured faith in him slid though his shields as if they were not there at all. Her honesty shone in his mind like a beacon. Remy was left with complete faith that Willow would do everything in her power to protect him.
end part 6.
Remy had been regaining his strength. He hadn't been happy when Willow told him that he had to stay with them in Antarctica for another month, but had reluctantly accepted the logic when she explained the reasons to him.
The research group would be leaving to return to America in a month. Until them, the only contact they had was through small vessels that brought them supplies. He hadn't wanted to trust his safety to whoever happened to be manning those small vessels, nor had he wanted to contact anyone else. He would just have to stay with the group until everybody left.
He wasn't a scientist. He didn't know enough to follow why they wanted to study the hole in the ozone layer. He didn't really know enough about electronics and computers to do more than hand Willow things if something broke, or take notes on her inspections. He had met the expedition's doctor, but doctors made him nervous, so he didn't want to do anything with her. Remy had felt bored, and useless. The food had still been very bland, and one afternoon he had ventured a complaint about it.
That had somehow caused Remy to end up cook for the expedition. It wasn't to demanding, physically. He was certainly capable of the moderate activity that cooking required. It was also something that he could do. It made him feel less useless, less of an inconvenience to everyone.
He had been relieved to know that Dr. Calder had pronounced him extremely fortunate. She had told him that he hadn't lost any body parts to the cold, and his more lingering physical symptoms should heal with time and sufficient rest. Her professional opinion was to avoid further exposure to the cold where possible, drink plenty of fluids, and rest. She had then winked at him and suggested he have Willow keep an eye on him.
She had said that as she didn't know what had happened, she could only guess at the extent of the emotional distress his ordeal had caused him. With time, she hoped that his emotional state would improve, as she was aware that he occasionally had nightmares. She presumed they were from being out in the cold.
He was still staying with Willow. She had been there to hold him and reassure him that he was safe when he woke, screaming from his nightmares. Willow was a constant reassurance that he was safe, and that he was here and now.
She had caught him worrying about the future as he washed a plate in hot water. When she had finally coaxed him into telling her that he was worried about the future, she had smiled at him.
"I have a two bedroom apartment in New York. I haven't got any pets, and I don't get many visitors, but if you want to, you can go home with me and stay for a while." She had smiled at him then, a warm smile full of laughter and sunlight. "You can save me from my cooking, it's pretty bad."
The idea of moving in with Willow had been very appealing to him. It would save him the trouble of trying to find a place to live. She would be there to help him get past the nightmares. Living with an attractive woman was always a plus, even if there wasn't actually anything sexual going on between them. There hadn't been any sex with Willow, but he thought that he could easily fall for her.
end part 7. End Ice on the Willows.
rating: PG 13
mentions Willow/Oz in prolog, becomes Willow/Remy
disclaimer: I own nobody from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Marvel
Comics.
distribution: Charity's site, anyone else ask
prolog....senior year of high school.
Willow had been keeping two secrets from her friends. Her first secret was her friendship with Harmony Kendall. That unexpected relationship had come about as a direct result of Willow's second secret. Willow was a mutant, specifically an empath. She had been an empath for most of her life, her abilities growing stronger with time.
She had known Harmony for years, in the vague sort of way that you know a person who goes to the same school with but you never have anything in common with. They had become friends unexpectedly. Willow had been walking one night, before she had learned about vampires and demons, and had been almost assaulted by the emotions of someone in horrible despair. The emotions of despair, self loathing, humiliation, and the echo of physical pain nearly sent Willow to her knees. She couldn't ignore this. Her stomach was twisting into knots, and her head as throbbing. She had also been raised with the idea that you should help someone in trouble, so she had gone to investigate.
The pain had been coming from Harmony. Her boyfriend had raped her, and had managed to leave her convinced that it was somehow her fault. Harmony had wanted to die.
Their friendship had resulted from Willow helping Harmony to heal after that. The physical injuries had been minor enough that with a minimum of effort, nobody had to ever know. The mental damage had been far more severe. Willow had helped Harmony rebuild her shattered self image, and convinced her that it hadn't been her fault. They would pretend that nothing had changed while they were at school, not wanting people to wonder when and why they had become friendly.
When Willow had discovered that vampires and demons were real, she had told Harmony, wanting her friend to be safe. When Harmony had discovered that she was a mutant, capable of making illusions, she had gone to Willow. They had spent time together, trying to learn control of their abilities. Willow had also discovered a growing telekinetic ability. She couldn't move anything heavy, but she was getting more precise, and gradually gaining strength as well. Willow had helped Harmony adjust to the idea of being a mutant. She was still the only person that knew about Harmony's mutation, as Harmony was the only person that knew about hers.
Willow knew that her abilities made her vulnerable. She had spun out wisps of herself, attaching bits of herself to her friends. She knew if they were in trouble. She always knew how they really felt when they spoke to her. It hurt when they lied to her. It had hurt worse that Xander, her friend since kindergarten has become involved with Cordelia. He had made it worse by trying to conceal it from her.
Now, since the incident at the factory, every meeting with the Xander or Cordelia was painful to Willow, the both of them blaming Willow for Cordelia's impalement. Buffy was to busy trying to make something work between her and Angel that Willow was at the bottom of her list of concerns. And Oz was hiding something.
The impending Ascension that the mayor had planned to have occur during graduation was the only thing holding her with the rest of the Scooby gang. They didn't need her socially, that was made painfully apparent every time they made plans without her. She had Oz to console her...at least, she thought she did. Harmony had told her that some of the other girls at school were flirting with Oz, not taking the relationship between Oz and Willow seriously.
They had finally made a plan that called for the entire graduating class to be armed, and actively fight the mayor after his transformation into a gigantic demon. Willow was checking to make certain everything was moving smoothly as the actual ceremony was nearly here.
Oz was missing.
She could feel the thread that connected her to Oz, he was nearby, and not injured, but she couldn't tell anything more than that. She headed towards the parking lot, intending to check if his van was there. The feeling of Oz-ness was inside the van, and he wasn't alone.
Oz was very busy having sex with a girl from his biology class in the back of his van. Willow felt something shatter inside her. She deliberately felt the thread that connected her to Oz and snapped it. There was no longer a reason to stay in Sunnydale, assuming that she survived her graduation.
She would have to see if the position with Worthington Computers was still open to her.
end prolog/part1
The job at Worthington Computers had been open, and she had eventually moved to an affiliated company that focused on research and development of more durable electronics. They also tried to make things that were faster, smarter, and lighter weight. She had been there for three years now. They did a lot of work for and with various scientific research groups. They made electronics to take into the tropical heat and humidity of the Amazon river basin, to the sandy heat of the Mojave desert, to the depths of the oceans, and the frozen ends of the earth.
Actually, some of that was still in development. When something particularly new or touchy was being sent out with the researchers for testing, someone from the research group normally accompanied the expedition. Depending on the destination, these trips could be delightful and educational.
Willow had been to Egypt, the middle of the Atlantic ocean looking over equipment used to search for sunken ships, and into some lovely mountains. She had also been to scorpion infested deserts, mosquito ridden swamps, and a storm on the ocean. This time, she was being sent to Antarctica, with a research group from Yale that wanted to study the hole in the ozone layer. They would be there for over two months.
She had actually made most of the modifications to a device that was supposed to measure wind speed, direction, and calculate the wind chill factor. Hopefully, the modified sensor wouldn't get frost inside that disrupted it's functioning.
Willow was hoping the trip would go smoothly. Her life at home hadn't gone well recently. Two of the other people at the office had been having an affair, it had ended badly. Willow got headaches and an upset stomach anytime one of them was near her. Her next door neighbor had just got a small, very noisy dog that barked at all hours of the night. Her car had something wrong with the engine.
There had also been the final ending of the relationship she had been attempting. He had been a lawyer, and the trouble had started with the fact that he valued his own job as more important and more worthy than Willow's. He had wanted her to move into his apartment with him, and take over the cooking and laundry. He had also been trying to pressure her into sleeping with him. Willow had had more than a few words to say to him.... It had been three weeks since they had separated, and Willow was happier without him than she had been with him.
At least things were going better for her friend Harmony. She had recently gotten involved with a new guy. He was strong, handsome, and protective, with a sweet side underneath. His name was Spike, and she was delighted. He also happened to be a vampire, but if he made Harm happy, Willow could live with that.
end part 2.
They had been here in the frozen bottom of the world for a month. Willow had almost become accustomed to the eternal cold outside. She had to go outside every day and inspect each external sensor, making certain that it was functioning properly.
The cold had seeped into her bones, freezing her body and doing nothing to help the raw pain of her anguished soul.....
Willow staggered. She had on protective warm layers of clothing. She wasn't particularly cold, and her emotional state was just fine. The glowing emotional presences of the scientists and grad students on the expedition were a solid presence in the base. Everyone was present, and felt healthy. But, Willow had sensed somebody outside, freezing and in strong emotional pain. It had come from the east.
She grabbed some thermal blankets and one of the covered two person snowmobiles. Willow listened to the soul in the frozen wild, trying to learn what she could as she headed east to save him.
It was a man, adult in emotions if not body, though probably of adult years as well. He echoed with a feeling of betrayal and abandonment, and had a crushing burden of self loathing and guilt. He despaired of ever leaving where he was.
Willow didn't think he was quite coherent, and he might be barely conscious. She had to hurry before he froze to death. As the snowmobile rose up over another white hill, she saw something dark against the snow. It was a man in an ice encrusted brown trench coat, and tangled, frozen mass of hair about his head.
She wrapped him in a blanket and stowed him into the back of the snowmobile as fast as she could, and turned to go back to the base. She used the radio to call ahead to the expedition's doctor, letting her know that Willow was bringing in a half frozen man she had found out in the snow. Medical attention would be waiting for him as soon as they reached the domes.
Unfortunately, there was a shortage of space. They decided that since Willow had found him, he might as well stay in her room for now. To prevent the ice from melting and soaking the poor stranger in cold water on top of everything else, they took his clothing off. He had some sort of body armor under his coat.
Why on earth would he be in the middle of Antarctica in body armor and a leather coat? How had he even gotten out there? Why was he alone? Willow had no answers to her questions, and could only hope that her guest could answer some of them when he eventually awoke.
end part 3.
Images swirled through his mind. There were flashes of people walking down streets of different cities, at various times of the year. Images of extravagant jewels in velvet cases. Lovely women in fashionable gowns. Echoing bits of jazz music, bits of conversations that taken out of context made no sense.
Something was not right. He was not well.
There were more people, frozen images of faces he should know... could almost recognize. There was a child with a cloud of white hair contrasting with her dark skin, perched on a roof and smiling at him with bright blue eyes. He could see an older man with a walking cane and a nice suit, sitting down at a table with bowl of something...
There was a blue man with feathered wings yelling at him, calling him a traitor and coward. He was joined by a pale skinned man with red eyes in a long lab coat, looking at Remy as if he were an interesting specimen. There were momentary flashes of a buxom woman with long dark curls and a white streak, smiling, laughing, floating in the air.
"You're honest with the people ya love. Otherwise it's a gamble." Something told him these words had been spoken by her, to him. " Ya lost your gamble, swamp rat. Game over."
He felt himself falling. He was alone, abandoned by the woman with the stripe in her hair, the woman he had loved. He had loved her, hadn't he? Remy thought that he had, but wasn't quite certain. It was fairly clear that she couldn't have loved him, not if she had dropped him onto the cold....
Remy was freezing, cold to the marrow of his bones... or possibly he was burning up, consumed by the fire that seemed to surround him. He was no longer certain what was real, only that the people he had thought he could trust had left him to die alone in the cold.
* *
Willow sponged more cool water over the forehead of the stranger. He was running a fever, brought on as a result of his exposure to the cold. She didn't know what he was thinking, but she could feel that he was confused, and dreaming unhappily. He was tossing, and twisting in her bed, sweating from his fever.
There were occasional murmurs, bits of words and sentences in french and english. He was twisting, trying to escape something unpleasant in his dreams. There were whispers... 'no... not again... no' that suggested at least part of the images plaguing him were memories. At other times, he called out to someone named Stormy, asking where the girl was. There were other times that he pleaded brokenly to someone, begging them not to leave him in the cold.
He still hadn't regained consciousness, and there had been no identification in his body armor, or in the pockets of his battered leather coat. She had no idea what his name was. She really didn't know why he'd been carrying six and a half decks of playing cards, three books of matches from various nightclubs, a set of lock-picks, and sixty eight cents in change either.
Hopefully, he would wake up and be able to answer some of her questions.
end part 4.
Remy was dreaming again. He had been trapped in a giant web, tangled up and unable to move, suspended over a large pit, that radiated the smell of fear and a bitter cold. He was alone, and had been left to die here.
That wasn't right. He wouldn't be completely abandoned. He had people that would save him. Stormy wouldn't let her brother die in a giant web. He could see her in his mind: a tall, elegant woman with dark skin and a cascade of white hair, tending a garden of orchids.
Logan, a short, gruff man. Logan was direct and blunt, he wasn't certain if Logan liked him, but they were team-mates. Logan would only let a teammate be left behind if he himself were being dragged away unconscious.
Bishop, a tall black man with a scar shaped like an M over his eye... Bishop didn't trust Remy, thought he was going to do something bad in the future. That meant Bishop wanted to keep Remy nearby, so he could watch him... no, Bishop wouldn't rescue him. The crazy Shi'ar woman called Deathbird had kidnapped Bishop before they had returned to earth...
His father, Jean Luc, the man in the suit that he had remembered earlier... no, his father didn't know where he was. Henri? no, his brother was dead.
Remy woke up. He was tangled in blankets, which explained his dreaming he was trapped in a web. Trying to sort his limbs out from the blankets, Remy made two discoveries. First, he was very weak, his hands shaking as he struggled with the blankets around him. Secondly, he was naked.
Where was he? How did he get here? Why was he naked, and most importantly, who was keeping him? Remy's head spun slightly as he tried to figure out where he was. Looking around, he learned that he was in a small room. He had been in a tangle of blankets on a small bed. The only other large item in the room was a trunk. There was a hairbrush sitting on it, a small box, and a stack of papers. The room had no windows. The smell of sweat and fear filled it.
A few moments careful and shaky investigation proved that the smell of sweat was coming from the bedding, and therefore him. ick. The papers looked like weather reports, and seemed to be from someplace miserably cold. There were long red hairs caught in the brush. He could barely stay on his feet, and outside of the blankets, the room was unpleasantly cold.
In the main area of the base, Willow sensed her guest wake up. He was confused, and worried. She had best go talk to him, find a name for him and reassure him that he would be okay. She quickly sent her weekly report that in technical terms said all the equipment was working properly here where it's incredibly cold.
She opened the door to her small room, and there he was. Her guest was standing in the corner, leaning against the wall. He was still naked. He was alert, his eyes scanning the room for anything. He focused on her, staring at Willow with strange red on black eyes.
He pulled a blanket around himself, shivering slightly.
"Where am I? How did I get here? Who're you an' what happened t' my clothes.." His voice was low, accented, and slurred slightly with exhaustion. He was probably not supposed to be up, and looked almost ready to fall over.
Willow looked at him a moment before answering. Moving slowly so she wouldn't frighten him, she walked over to the trunk and moved the papers to the side before sitting down. He was awake, and he felt confused and afraid. She tried to project soothing feelings.
"My name is Willow Rosenberg. I found you out in the snow and brought you back here with me. This is a research base so that scientists can study the hole in the ozone layer. I am here to make sure all the electronics keeps running in the cold." Willow fidgetted with her shirt sleeve.
"Umm your clothing.... I brought you back here covered in ice. We took your clothes off of you so that you wouldn't get covered in water as it melted. I have them in a box in one of the other rooms. Now that you are awake, I can ask one of the grad students if you can borrow some of his things to wear for now." She paused, looking at him thoughtfully.
"What else would you want to know..... I have no idea how you got out there. We didn't find anyone else, or anything to tell us why you were out there without enough insulation. You've been here for a week, with a fever. You might have already checked, but you were lucky enough to not loose any bits and pieces of yourself to frostbite. Mmm Some of your hair kind of broke off while it was all icy. I think I'll go get you some warm clothing, some food, and a cup of hot coffee now."
Willow left the room. She was trying to tell herself that she needed to help him get better, not hang around lusting after his naked body. He had a really nice body. Coffee..
end part 5.
Remy sank against the wall, watching Willow leave the room. She was pretty, and seemed to be fairly nice. As much as he could tell, she had been telling the truth in response to his questions. She had promised him warm clothing and coffee. She had some shields, enough to distance the emotions of others slightly. He could read her through them. She had wanted to help him. And she thought he looked good naked. He smiled, both at her appreciation of his looks and the promise of coffee.
He took advantage of her absence to wash up quickly with the water in the room. It was very cold, and he was unable to use his powers to try to warm it. The effort made his vision blur and his head spin. It was obvious that he was to tired to use his kinetics. At least it didn't take any active energy to read someone in the room with him.
At least he didn't stink of sweat and fear anymore. He was shivering when a tap on the door announced her return. She came into the room carrying a stack of clothing in one hand and a tray with hot food and a steaming cup of coffee.
She blushed when she looked at him standing there. She walked in and put the tray on the trunk, and handed him the clothing.
"I think I'll just step back outside so you can get dressed... these should be about the right size, and much warmer than...ahh well anything would be warmer. I'll just step out so you can get dressed, eat some food." Willow's words rambled a little, and she was blushing. After the tray was down, she darted back outside to let him put some clothing on.
The clothing had been worn enough that it was soft against his skin. It fit fairly well, and felt much warmer. He pulled on the thermal underwear, the jeans, the long sleeved shirt, and after a moment of debate, pulled the green and black sweater over his head as well. There were thick, fuzzy, green socks. He didn't want to be cold any more. The food was... actually, the food was rather bland. It was tolerable enough, although he certainly wouldn't want to eat like this all the time. The coffee was like the nectar of the gods. Okay, maybe it wasn't that great by coffee standards, but as Remy was lucky just to be alive, any coffee was great right now.
Willow came back in as he was finishing the last of the coffee. She had a cup of coffee for herself, and had brought him another cup. Remy could feel the questions bubbling in her mind, and figured that he might as well see what she wanted to know.
"Go ahead and ask. I know you got questions." His voice sounded stronger after his meal. Less shaky, but still blurred a bit by his accent.
"I guess the first question would be who are you, because then we wouldn't have to call you that guy, or hey you, or the guy from the snow. How did you end up out there, was there anyone else supposed to be there with you? I hadn't seen any signs of anybody else, but that doesn't always mean there wasn't anyone....Are you human? Because your eyes are different from anybody else's that I ever met, and I didn't think that humans had eyes that were red on black, so I thought I would ask you because if you weren't human than you should know..and I'm babbling. I really thought I had grown out of that, sorry."
To Remy's surprise, the words cascaded from her in a long, rapid babble of words that was almost to difficult to follow. They were all released in a single breath. He was most concerned with her question of was he human. If she had problems with the fact that he was a mutant, would he end up back outside in the snow? What did she think he might be if he wasn't human? Remy's mind wandered to his recent trip into the multi-planetary Shi'ar empire, which included dozens of sentient species.
There actually were a number of options there....
"My name is Remy LeBeau. I am human, jus' a mutant. I...there was an accident. Nobody else was in the snow with me."
Remy decided to stay close to the truth, having a suspicion that Willow would know if he were lying. He was very careful how much he told her.
"You said there was an accident. Is there anyone that you wanted to contact?" Willow asked her question softly, not wanting to upset or worry Remy.
Her words triggered a maelstrom of images and sounds in his mind. The trip into the Shi'ar Empire...being held prisoner with the other X-Men by Nanny and Orphan Maker...the Trial at the hands of Erik the Red. His team-mates, the people he thought he could count on him finding him lacking, unworthy. The memories of the Morlock Tunnels, blood splashed everywhere, the mockery of the Marauders, not content to simply slaughter the defenseless Morlocks, but needing to mock them as well.... The woman he'd offered his heart to rejecting him, casting him down to die in the snow. He bolted to the door without any deliberate thought involved.
He made it halfway across the tiny room before tripping on one of the blankets he had left on the floor. Guilt, shame, self-loathing and despair, along with a deep, unreasoning terror radiated from him.
Willow caught him before he connected to the floor, sinking to the floor with him. She held him in her arms, trying to project soothing and calm at him. She murmured words of reassurance, trying to tell him that he was safe here... nobody would hurt him. He didn't have to contact anyone if he didn't want to.
Remy's shields were worn as thin as old socks. Willow's sincere desire to help him, and her good-natured faith in him slid though his shields as if they were not there at all. Her honesty shone in his mind like a beacon. Remy was left with complete faith that Willow would do everything in her power to protect him.
end part 6.
Remy had been regaining his strength. He hadn't been happy when Willow told him that he had to stay with them in Antarctica for another month, but had reluctantly accepted the logic when she explained the reasons to him.
The research group would be leaving to return to America in a month. Until them, the only contact they had was through small vessels that brought them supplies. He hadn't wanted to trust his safety to whoever happened to be manning those small vessels, nor had he wanted to contact anyone else. He would just have to stay with the group until everybody left.
He wasn't a scientist. He didn't know enough to follow why they wanted to study the hole in the ozone layer. He didn't really know enough about electronics and computers to do more than hand Willow things if something broke, or take notes on her inspections. He had met the expedition's doctor, but doctors made him nervous, so he didn't want to do anything with her. Remy had felt bored, and useless. The food had still been very bland, and one afternoon he had ventured a complaint about it.
That had somehow caused Remy to end up cook for the expedition. It wasn't to demanding, physically. He was certainly capable of the moderate activity that cooking required. It was also something that he could do. It made him feel less useless, less of an inconvenience to everyone.
He had been relieved to know that Dr. Calder had pronounced him extremely fortunate. She had told him that he hadn't lost any body parts to the cold, and his more lingering physical symptoms should heal with time and sufficient rest. Her professional opinion was to avoid further exposure to the cold where possible, drink plenty of fluids, and rest. She had then winked at him and suggested he have Willow keep an eye on him.
She had said that as she didn't know what had happened, she could only guess at the extent of the emotional distress his ordeal had caused him. With time, she hoped that his emotional state would improve, as she was aware that he occasionally had nightmares. She presumed they were from being out in the cold.
He was still staying with Willow. She had been there to hold him and reassure him that he was safe when he woke, screaming from his nightmares. Willow was a constant reassurance that he was safe, and that he was here and now.
She had caught him worrying about the future as he washed a plate in hot water. When she had finally coaxed him into telling her that he was worried about the future, she had smiled at him.
"I have a two bedroom apartment in New York. I haven't got any pets, and I don't get many visitors, but if you want to, you can go home with me and stay for a while." She had smiled at him then, a warm smile full of laughter and sunlight. "You can save me from my cooking, it's pretty bad."
The idea of moving in with Willow had been very appealing to him. It would save him the trouble of trying to find a place to live. She would be there to help him get past the nightmares. Living with an attractive woman was always a plus, even if there wasn't actually anything sexual going on between them. There hadn't been any sex with Willow, but he thought that he could easily fall for her.
end part 7. End Ice on the Willows.