Hot and Cold (PG-13, Mick, Champagne Challenge #124)

[allegrita]

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Rating: PG-13

Author's Note: This story was written for Champagne Challenge #124, "It's Cold." It takes place during "Fever." Excerpts from the episode were written by the wonderful Jill Blotevogel.


Hot and Cold

I knew that guy was trouble from the second he walked into the diner. Said he was Victorville PD, but he was wearing a Sheriff’s uniform. And he had a heavy coat zipped all the way up, even though it was over a hundred degrees outside. I could smell blood on him, too… even though I couldn’t see it.

“Must be hot in that jacket,” I said.

He shrugged. “I never get hot.” In this weather? Yeah, sure. He must’ve had visible spatter on him.

I bared my teeth in a fake grin. “Cold as ice, huh?”

He laughed. “Somethin’ like that.” Bastard.

I knew I had to get Leni out of there, and his cruiser seemed to be the best shot. Yeah. Great plan, St. John. Steal the black-and-white with the big number on top. Should’ve known an arms dealer would send a chopper. This is not good, not good at all. No cell service, and we can’t risk going back to the diner to use a pay phone, or trying to take the Benz. Every instinct in me is screaming, Don’t leave the road! But what other option is there? I swore to protect her, and the cops can’t be trusted.

* * *

After half a mile or so, Leni says, “I’ve gotta stop for a sec.” She sits down on a rock and takes off one of those silly cowboy boots. She’s got a nasty blister forming.

“You OK?” I cross my arms to hide my hands from the sun.

Leni turns her boot upside down and shakes it. “Yeah, I just had a rock in my boot.” She smoothes her sock and puts the boot back on, and then looks up at me. “Do you think they’re following us?”

I scan the horizon. No movement, only the shimmer of heat waves. But I can still hear lots of activity back at the wreck. “We can’t wait around to find out.”

She stands up and ties her sweatshirt around her waist. “OK.” We trudge on. It’s getting harder and harder to breathe in this hot, dry air.

As I walk along I keep looking at my phone, hoping for bars. I need to let Beth know what happened. There’s a leak, all right, and if they don’t find it fast… well, it might already be too late. I pull my phone out again. Still no service. Crap, it hurts like hell to reach into my pocket. My skin’s breaking down badly. I’d give anything for a dark cave and a bag of cold A-positive right about now.

* * *

It’s getting harder to pick up my feet as I walk. I’m focusing on Leni, staying a few feet behind her. I can see sweat staining her armpits, but my sense of smell is screwed up. All I can smell is her blood. I pull my cap down farther and try to curl my fingers up inside the sleeves of my jacket. But I can still feel the sun burning me through the cloth.

How long have we been walking? I didn’t look at my watch when we started. I squint up at the sky. It feels like hours, but the sun hasn’t moved much. It’s still the middle of the day. Got to keep going. Follow Leni. I’ll never last till sunset if we don’t find shade.

* * *

When I was still human, I survived the Battle of the Bulge. Six weeks in a trench in the Ardennes. Coldest winter I'd ever felt.

The casualties of that campaign were enormous. Nearly ninety thousand Americans wounded, nineteen thousand killed. Sometimes I can still hear the sound of gunfire and mortars, the moans of the injured and dying. But the worst part was the cold. I was from Los Angeles; I didn’t know a thing about winter. The only snow I’d ever seen was the time my granddad took us up to Big Bear Lake so we could slide down the hills on borrowed sleds. The weather in Belgium was brutal – worst Christmas weather anyone could remember. There was nothing we could do to get warm. We stood shivering, teeth chattering, with our hands stretched out over a roaring bonfire, and we could hardly feel the heat. One of my buddies – a guy I met over there – lost a foot to frostbite. Perfectly healthy guy, never got shot – but his foot just rotted, and they had to cut it off.

There were two guys who had this great idea to keep warm while they were on guard duty. They made a tent out of blankets next to a generator, and they found a bottle of wine somewhere. They had themselves a little party in there. They died from breathing the exhaust.

Funny – back then, I thought I was in hell. But now the thought of that frozen landscape makes me bite back a groan of longing. To be cold, actually cold…

My boot hits a rock and I stumble. Leni glances at me, but I look aside so she can’t see my face. I can’t stop my fangs from sharpening anymore.

“You look dehydrated. Do you wanna stop for a while?”

Oh, man. How can I explain? Dehydration’s not the problem. It’s not water I need, it’s blood.

I shake my head. “We can't.” I start to walk again. Her heartbeat is thundering in my head, hers and the baby’s. Maybe if I stay in front of her, I won’t be so tempted.

* * *

Back in the bad old days, some guy at a party was telling a story about the time he drained a pregnant woman, and then hacked her open and drank the blood of her unborn child. Nectar of the gods, he said. It turned my stomach. I was about to throw him out on his ass when Coraline walked up, hips swaying, and licked her carmine lips. Mmm… sounds like a fun date. She’d been in one of those moods that night, the kind where she loved to push my buttons. I didn’t say a word, just left the house. Didn’t come back for a month.

Step. Lurch. Another step. It’s hard to lift my head, so I watch my boots scuffing through the gritty dust. I have no idea how long it’s been; the clock in my head’s all messed up, boiled away by the sun beating down on us. I don’t even remember Leni giving me her sweatshirt. It helps block the sun – some – but it’s too little, too late. I can taste ketone in my mouth. My body is dying.

Ha – big joke. I’m already dead. The laugh turns into a cough, and I nearly fall.

“You OK?” Leni’s arm is around my waist, keeping me on my feet. What a sweet girl she is, trying to do the right thing and still protect her baby. Trying to make a life for both of them. And after all she’s been through, she still worries about me.

Poor kid. If we don’t get out of this, and soon, I’ll drain her. I won’t be able to stop myself.

No, don’t think about that. Think about frosty air caressing me as I pull the freezer lid down, cool blue light surrounding me. That peaceful moment just before sleep when I let all the human stuff go. Watching my last breath wisp away like smoke. Shutting my eyes and feeling my heart slow. Letting all of it… just… stop.

I stumble again, and she catches me. Big mistake. Those twin heartbeats are so loud they drown out everything else. My face turns toward hers… a web of veins pulsates under her glistening skin… her head is tilted, her neck exposed, just like the freshies do it…

Do it…

“Mick – Look –”

I drag my eyes from her neck and peer into the heat-distorted distance.

Buildings. Shade. Wait… it’s a motel!

Maybe it’s not too late. If I can get cold… maybe I can save her.

Maybe there’s an ice machine.
<>

[francis]

This is absolutely great!!! I love how the theme of hot and cold goes through this story, in so many variations. You captured the scene and expanded it, you included flashbacks that made sense. It all feels like one big nightmare, and I guess for Mick it was.
Love it!!!

[fairytoes]

Great response to the challenge allegrita! And like Francis, I love how the theme of hot and cold goes through this story.

thank you!

[choccyterri]

Alle, I love this. I love how the time moves along.. you can feel it passing...
It almost feels as if his mind is wandering with hallucination. Drifting off and dreaming. How much he needs the cool he imagines...

[redwinter101]

This is wonderful, alle. I've always loved this scene because it told us so much about Mick - past, present and future - and you've added to that beautifully. His desperation and determination shine through and it's also a wonderful evocation of the physicality of being a vampire.



Red

[Luxe de Luxe]

Mick's life has been one of extremes. The snippets of his life you show us here seem to be saying that up til now Mick's fate has been never to have what he wants - first the freezing cold as a human, now the blazing heat as a vampire. Even though we know what happens next, you build the tension beautifully. I was beginning to get worried that Mick was going to lose it and hurt her! This isn't the first time you've had me on the edge of my seat with a re-telling. Now that's great writing! Lucky for everyone, your story ends with this being one time in his life Mick got exactly what he needed.

[jen]

Wonderful.

I need to come back and reread this again and will leave a more coherent comment.

Came in here to read some fanfic, but the room has no heat and I am freezing.

Thanks! This was fabulous, but I can barely feel my fingers.

Jenna

[redwinter101]

Oh, jen, how wonderfully appropriate for all these chilly fics!

Red

[cassysj]

This is wonderful First of all I love the contrast between the desert and Leni and WWII winters. For a California boy the harsh European winters would be torture. Poor Mick is suffering with temptation and trying to keep the monster inside under control. The image of a pregnant woman being drained chilled me to the bone.

[wpgrace]

OMG x 2!!!!!!!!!!

ALLE also wrote a fic!!!!

This is lovely... it was such a seminal scene in the series, and I love the insight you've added. More of his internals... we can always use more of that.

[darkstarrising]

I'll echo what others have said, Alle, but what I found fascinating was where Mick's thoughts strayed as he broiled under the burning sun. As a vampire, the heat of the sun could destroy him, just as the ice cold of the Ardennes nearly killed him as a human (it seems that you and I are on a common theme tonight ). How ironic is that what nearly killed him decades ago is what he so needs right now.

So he focuses on what it will take to stay alive, and his thoughts turn to blood. He's promised to protect Leni and her baby, even though he might perish in the process, even though their blood would save him. In your writing, you can hear Mick's delirium overcoming him; he's getting punchy as he gets weaker and more worried that he'll do something he'll hate himself for.

The flashback to the party, though, was chilling...Mick was disgusted then, but if he didn't find shelter soon, he might have to do the same thing to survive.

[MickLifeCrisis]

This was very good! I really felt the passing of time as Mick walked, and how he was quickly deteriorating. Great back and forth of the hot and cold, past and present.

[allegrita]

Thanks, everyone, for your wonderful comments. It feels so good to have written a new story. This one's been kicking around in my head for months--ever since I did my silly little Hemingway parody, "The Sun Also Fries Us." That one, which was meant to be nothing but frivolous nonsense, turned out to have a grain or two of real stuff in it... and it got me thinking (obviously, very s-l-o-w-l-y) about doing a serious treatment of that trek through the Southern California desert. Thank you all so much for your thoughtful comments. I can't tell you how much it means to know that a story of mine makes people think about things in a new way, or gives them a taste of the Moonlight experience again. That's what I live for as a fanfic writer.

francis, a nightmare is exactly how it felt to me. Well, not to start out, but it descended into one, and I'm so glad you got that feeling. This story started out to be something a little different than it turned out to be... and in a way, I'm indebted to you for naming your Challenge entry "Cold as Ice," because that was what I was intending to call this story. You very sweetly told me it would be fine with you for me to call mine by the same title, but when I thought about my story, I realized it wasn't just about cold. It was about the dichotomy between hot and cold. I think the new title fits much better, so thanks.

fairytoes, thank you--I'm really glad the theme worked for you, and that you enjoyed it.

choccyterri, that's just what I was trying to portray--I'm so glad you got the passage of time! My first draft didn't work right, and I was very frustrated. I ended up changing the story around a lot, and I think the reorganization helped me make that passage of time and distance more clear. Thank you!

Red, thank you so much for your kind words. I loved the physical way Alex portrayed Mick's desperation and determination (as you say so eloquently) almost entirely through body language, and I wanted my story to describe that process that was hinted at on the show. Mick breaking down physically, and also mentally, was what I wanted to show. But he was so determined not to do harm to Leni. I love Fever for a lot of reasons, but one of the big ones is Mick's dogged determination to save the innocent from his monstrous instincts. He was willing to die to save them, if he possibly could make that trade. That's the essence of a hero to me.

Luxe, I'm grinning so hard my cheeks hurt. What a compliment! If I gave you a moment of thrilling uncertainty, I feel utterly fulfilled as a writer, at least for this story. I agree with you that Mick's life has been one of extremes, and also that he's not used to getting what he really wants/needs. That's one of the things that Beth will bring to him, and what he won't quite be able to believe in for a long time. I think that's part of what Red was writing about in her amazing Challenge story, "Cold Indigo"... so I'll have more to say on that subject over on that thread.

Jenna, you do me honor to type me a comment with your cold, aching fingers. Thanks for reading, and (bless you) I know you'll be back, O Prolific Reader!)

Cassy, ooh--I chilled you?! That's just awesome. I'm thrilled that the scene worked for you. And yeah, I thought about how much worse it would be for an LA kid to be up to his @$$ in snow than for a kid from, say, Kansas, where it happens all the time. It must have been a truly horrific experience to fight a grueling military campaign under those circumstances.

wpgrace, yes, stop the presses!!! I wrote a fic, yahooooooo!!! And I liked writing it, too. I'm glad you liked Mick's internals there... and I hope to be writing more of 'em for you (and me) to enjoy. I miss having the time and motivation to write as I used to do. I swear I'm gonna get back to writing regularly again... I miss it very much.

darkstarrising, I love reading your analyses, whether they're of my story or of someone else's. You always make me think, and you always have something really interesting to say. I'm so happy that Mick's mental breakdown came through for you. I struggled with it quite a bit; when I did the first draft, it just sounded choppy and poorly edited. I had to go back and really think about what would happen to him mentally as the sun took its toll. It was wonderful to get into his head, even for a little while... even at such a difficult time. Mick's heroism really came to the fore in Fever. He fought instinct with everything he had. He nearly lost the battle a few times, but he always managed to scramble back from the brink. I think that's part of why I fell in love with him so completely in this episode. I liked Mick before this; I was intrigued by him, and I wanted to learn more. I was even deeply sympathetic to him--who wouldn't be, at the end of Episode 2?! But here he showed us what he was really made of. Fever made Beth realize that Mick was much stronger than he believed he was... and it gave her a fundamental faith in his decency and strength of character.

MickLifeCrisis, thanks so much. That's just what I was going for, so I'm really glad they worked for you.

[Lucy]

you gave us so much more than the show did....
more dimension to his pain, lifted the curtain on his past life...
what repulsed him, what caused another one of those schisms between him and Coraline.....

Glad you had the time (Between the holidays and being the Ringleader) to write this.....THANKS!

[allegrita]

Thanks Lucy! I've got to say, I wonder how Phoenix ever found time to write a word. But it's worth it!