Cold. Clean. Winter…. I thought entering the run down factory. An old ice-cream factory I had discovered years ago would serve again as a temporary hide-out. The Batman had gotten the better of me this time, but I let it pass from my mind. She was all I could think of.

"Leave me in peace," I spat coldly at the few fur clad henchmen that had escaped the museum with me. I had targeted a prehistoric display, a miracle that had been brought to life by modern science, surely inspiring young and old minds alike. Giving hope to the dreamers….I had not taken pleasure in reducing it to a pile of rubble. "But," I had remarked to Batman with a hint of amusement. "No one else will take pleasure in it either."

"But boss? The bat coulda-"

"Save you're dribbling for another. Unless you wish for me to give you the cold shoulder..." I let the threat hang even as their faces blanched. Staring them down with a blank face for a moment, I frowned. "I thought as much. Take the night and find replacements for those we lost. Tomorrow morning at 10…be here." I waited until they all departed from the old loading dock garage door to let out a sigh. Utilizing a rusty control switch, the wheels turned and brought the door back down, sealing myself in. Only being a little past two in the afternoon, I walked slowly through the abandoned factory and made my way to an old deep freezer. Checking the temperature on the rusty dial (minus 40 Fahrenheit, good enough) I pulled the gleaming handle and stepped inside. The problem with freezers, I've found, is that they only ever had a handle on one side, so first order of business was to install a door latch that opened from both sides. Not that I did it myself, oh no. What were henchmen for anyways? Closing the door behind me, I flipped a light switch, the outdated fluorescent bulbs blinking and humming for a few seconds as though they were considering whether to work or not. Finally the harsh white light remained constant, allowing my eyes to sweep through the contents of the room. Although it was a large freezer, having once housed gallons of ice-cream at any given time, a small bed, night stand, and silver metal table and chair were the only objects crammed into one corner of the room. Lifting the cold helmet from my head I walked over to the table and sat it down on the chrome surface. My hands worked mechanically and without thought, starting at my mid-section and working their way up. Latches, buttons, and switches were unlatched, pressed and flipped. Lifting the heavy upper body portion of my suit off, I let it drop heavily on the cold metal table. Reaching lower I performed a similar unfastening and stepped out from my leggings. What did The Joker once ask me?

"Hey Frosty? Always wanted to know what the snowman wore underneath his prom dress?" My only response had been a cold glare and fighting the urge to strangle the sick-minded clown. Standing on the frozen metal ground wearing nothing I ran a hand over my face, my red goggles coming away in my hand and joining the other items on the table. Hearing my feet lightly slap against the cold ground brought me some small comfort as I approached the one drawer nightstand. It was just one of those things.

Sliding the drawer open I gently pulled out a pair of white boxer briefs and an ice blue cotton shirt. Sliding both articles on, I ran my hand over the soft material. She had bought them for me…

Realizing that I was caressing the sleeve of the short t-shirt I shook my head and sat down on the bed, the special material of the sheets creasing instead of shattering in such cold temperatures. Why had I invented it? Spent all that money on something I didn't need…

Sitting with my feet hanging over the edge of the bed, I ran a hand over the cotton shirt. You know why you did this?...because, deep down, beneath the snow, the ice, and the cold, it made me feel just a little….human.

"But I'm not." I forced a laugh from my lungs. I ran my hand over my icy blue and white flesh, feeling nothing but the cold chill that was my existence. I reached up to my chest, inhaling sharply and holding it while I pressed my frost tinged fingers against where I knew my heart was. Thud, thud, thud. I released the breath. It was still there, pumping the ice like slurry that was my blood throughout this body. Allowing my hand to fall to the fabric beneath me, I reached out to close the night stand when a single note of music struck out into the frigid blanket of silence. Don't do it, don't go after it again, don't... I knew it was in vain, even as my hand reached down and pulled the drawer all the way out. Resting gently against the back was the prize I sought, feeling my fingers wrap around the cold glass; already my heart started to ache, as I pulled the object out and held it before my cold eyes.

"Nora..." I whispered to the silence of the freezer. In all her enchanting beauty, her glory, her…I felt the familiar sensation of my tear ducts trying to work…..but they wouldn't. Not when I believer her to have been taken from me, not on the day I found out she was still alive, and not on the day I had truly lost her had they worked. I remembered the day she brought it to me….

My office back at Gothcorp, well it wasn't really my office. I had shared it with three other colleagues. Some had kept mementos from their college days on their desks or hanging on the walls, pictures of family and friends, or (one of them at least) empty cans of soda and energy drinks he swore helped him think better. My desk had been clean, One inbox for incoming (on the left) one inbox for outgoing (on the right). My computer sat square in the middle with a small drawer pullout with a fresh notepad on it every morning. Everything had to be where it needed to be. No distractions.

She understood why I never took a photo of her in, why I never placed anything on that desk…but it still bothered her. So, for our 5th anniversary she bought me…

"Victor?" a female voice called knocking on the door to the office. It was almost midnight, my fellow researchers having gone home for the night.

"Hmm?" I questioned without looking up from my computer.

"Happy anniversary honey," I nearly jumped out of my skin! She had whispered in my ear, having snuck up behind me and wrapped one arm around me. She was so warm…

"Oh Nora I'm sorry I forgot again..." I cursed myself silently as I stood up and turned around, my eyes lingering on the floor, not wanting to meet her gaze, but those amber eyes drew me in like they always did. One of her arms was still on my shoulder, the other placed behind her and out of my sight.

"Shh, don't worry about it. But here, open it." She said gently as she revealed a small rectangular box from behind her back. I examined it curiously. What could she have gotten me that she would want to come all the way down to the office for? As the white box led me into white tissue paper, I gently unwrapped it and held it up to my tearing eyes.

"Its you..." I looked from the snow globe, which contained an identical miniature sculpture of my Nora, to the real one. Back and forth for what must have been an hour. She smiled.

"I had to sit two hours each day in the snow globe maker's studio for a week."

Gently shaking it, the snow spiraled around her, my angel….

"I know you never wanted your desk to be cluttered with nonsense, but I figured since it was kind of fitting. Almost like I was a part of your work…" she bit her lip slightly embarrassed. I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug, careful not to damage the beautiful glass globe. I released her from our warm embrace and eyeballed my desk for a moment. Winding it slightly, I set it down just to the right of my computer (between my outbox) I stepped back for a second, and then shimmied it over another centimeter. Perfect. I watched my miniature Nora spinning around to the music, almost as though she were dancing in her own private winter wonderland.

"Really Victor you…you don't have to put it right-"

"Yes I do," I said quietly, wrapping my hands around her waist.

"Oh Victor." She smiled again, her amber eyes flickering and forming small tears, as though I had just shouted from the rooftops to the world how much I loved and cared for her. And in a small way, I had.

As I held the miniature version of my Nora in my hand, I couldn't help but wined it slightly. As she began to dance, the cold winter falling all around her, sparkling, I sat it on the edge of the nightstand and laid back. Reaching for the secondary control for the lights, I pressed the button and all went black. Cold. Black. The music played for only a few more heart beats and then all was quiet. All was still. Wrapping myself in the sheets, more out of habit then for comfort, I rested my head on the pillow and whispered a pray to whatever god maybe listening.

"Let the nightmare not come tonight…" but even as I felt sweet oblivion take me for the night, I knew the nightmare would come all the same.

We had spent the whole summer day relaxing in the park at our own private picnic. We sat on the blanket she had brought, the grass warm beneath our bare feet. She would lean against my chest, her body warm against mine as I ran my hands through her hair. Reaching one of her slender arms around my neck, she would pull me in for a kiss, one that neither of us wanted to end and only our need for air breaking it. Summer days. She'd tell me about her hopes and dreams, about the kids she wanted, and I'd laugh and tell her I'd make all her dream come true. She would smile, and I'd lose myself starring into her eyes. Laughing, she brushed off her shorts and stood up.

"We should go to the pond." For some reason, at that moment, I couldn't help but notice a dark cloud appear almost out of thin air just above us. A slight sense of dread washed over me, quickly replaced by the warmth of my Nora's smile as I looked back at her.

"Oh, Nora. You just want to try to push me in again," I laughed.

"Come on Victor, I really want to go. Then we can go home." She added pulling me to my feet and giving me a wink.

"I suppose so," I said, noticing more dark clouds appearing in the sky behind us. "We should be quick though, I think a storm is coming,"

"Oh don't be silly," she started up the small hill that separated us from the pond, standing triumphantly at the top. As I slowly walked after her, a chill wind seemed to pick up. When did it get so cold? Maybe I should have brought a jacket.

"Nora? Maybe we should go?" as I reached the bottom of the hill she stood at the top of I noticed that behind her everything was still bright, the sun shining. Looking behind me, dark clouds loomed and I felt the temperature dropping fast.

"Come on Victor, just come up to me it'll be okay." She called at me as I began to climb. Drop. I noticed a large droplet of water splatter against my glasses. Wiping it off on my shirt, I felt a cold rain begin to pick up, quickly soaking through my clothes.

"Nora I think we should get to the car-"

"It's just a bit of a sprinkling darling. Just over the hill and we'll be fine." By now the rain had all but stopped. Instead, large flakes of snow had begun to fall. No, this can't be. I was now on my hands and knees crawling through several feet of snow. The water had frozen on my shirt, the ice weighing me down and chilling me to the bone. Still I was only half-way to the top….Just a little further.

"I'll meet you down by the pond. Hurry up Victor." She called as she crested the rest of the hill and I lost sight of her. I could barely catch my breath, the cold freezing the air in my lungs. I had lost sight of her. I had to keep going. Turning around and staring back down the hill…I'll just catch my breath for a second, and then I'll get to her.

"Vic-tor..." a weak voice called from the bottom of the hill. It sounded familiar, but sick….so very sick and weak.

"No-…no..." before my eyes I saw her appear in a wheel chair. She was thin, frail….The cancer.

"Why couldn't-…you…" her head fell into her hands, a coughing fit seizing her. I half-ran half-crashed to the bottom of the hill, the dark frozen storm swirling all around me as I kneeled at her feet. Using her wheelchair to pull myself up slightly I reached out a hand to stroke her cheek, to comfort her.

"Save…me..." her amber eyes glazed over suddenly, her whole body going stiff, as I watched my hand, no longer warm flesh toned, but now a cold icy blue, brush against her skin. I heard a slight tink as though a fine glass had been chipped by careless hands. I watched as a crack appeared in her cheek. Spider-web like cracks formed on her frozen features, and I watched in horror as she shattered before my eyes. Running my hands through the frozen shards of my lost love, I felt them bite into my hands. Dark blue blood, the color of dark water from a frozen lake, flowed onto the remnants of Nora. I felt the familiar rush as my tear ducts sought to give some relief to my sorrow…only this time they worked. My tears fell unhindered from my eyes, just as my blood was smeared over the shards of my Nora. Hugging them against my now bare chest, I felt them pierce blue flesh as more blood frothed from fresh wounds, but it was nothing to the pain in my heart. Throwing all my frustration, pain, and sadness into my voice I let forth a blood chilling howl of despair, the shards of my frozen love falling from my death grip. I sobbed harder then as I tried to pull them back to me, the shards of my angel cutting deeper into my hands and arms. I needed something to hold onto, something. Just as I had gathered most of her remains a howl of wind blasted into me, sending what little of my Nora I could find scattering from my hands. I watched in horror as they shattered further, now no larger than the flakes of snow that fell endlessly around me. Ignoring my pain, I clawed at what I thought were a few small pieces of her, and held them into my hands. Only snow. I stared down at nothing but snowflakes. Looking around desperately there was no trace of her. No trace. Nothing. I fell into the snow, my blood still oozing from my cuts and gashes as I clawed at the snow and ice. Sobbing uncontrollably I fell onto my back, feeling my life essence continue to ebb from my body. Soon, wait just a little longer my love. I'm coming…

"Huh!" I bolted up from my bed. Staring into the blackness I let the last remnants of the nightmare leave me. My facial features went from stark terror back to blank and expressionless. Reaching above my head, my fingers pressed against cold plastic, and the hum of the fluorescent lights returning as the freezer was again bathed in cold light. Swinging my legs over the edge of my bed, I felt and heard my feet slap lightly against the cold metal floor again as I made my way over to my cryosuit. I stole a glance at an arm panel that gave a number of different readings for the suit; backup generator power, coolant levels, current strength augmentation… digital clock. It flashed me 8:00 p.m. Lying back down on my icy bed, in this frigid room, I stared at the cold white ceiling, a small snippet of music coming back to me.

"Living in a world so cold. Wasting away. Living in a shell with no soul, since you've gone away." I took in a deep breath, and exhaled, steadying myself as I stole another glance up at my Nora. Forever young. Forever beautiful. Forever…untouchable. Forever…gone.

"So…cold." I whispered as my fingers brushed against cold plastic, the darkness returning.