The icy cavern might have been there for centuries, or it might have been more recent; perhaps it had formed during his lifetime. Some of the strangest things one could wonder while in the process of freezing to death.

Neil stared numbly at the glassy walls. The sun’s reflected light made a kaleidoscopic effect in some places, although the technician’s mind was far from the mystifying sight. He sat in the snow; cold and alone; unarmed, unarmored; and barely aware of his surroundings.

His mind wandered, from grim hope to amused despair. There obviously weren’t going to be any Phantoms, not in this climate. Then again, death from exposure was almost certain. Hopefully the others were together, and they would make it back; and he wondered if they even cared that he wasn’t with them. With a glimpse behind him at the wrecked aircraft, he wondered if they would come to look for him or if they had already given him up for gone.

He wouldn’t blame them for it, if they did. There were a lot more important things for the others to worry about than his wellbeing; it was a thought that saddened him but a truth that he could accept. But if, maybe, someone eventually got around to recovering the downed aircraft, and they found him… he might get a half-decent funeral.

He imagined a room borrowed by the remains of his family and his squad-mates, who would be obligated to waste a few hours of their lives in attendance. A man he never knew, and probably wouldn’t have gotten along with if he had, would preach about the life of an unfortunate soldier his life, and his death in the Antarctic. And not because he cared, either, but because someone was obligated to and he might as well because he’d get paid for it. And Jane would have to wear a dress.

Neil leaned into the snowbank, gradually becoming more level with the ground as he went over this latest thought. Jane in a dress; oh she wouldn’t want to, of course, but Ryan would make her. She might complain, but she would eventually do as he asked. She would sit in the back, like she did, and only half listen while absorbing all the key information. She would stare ahead and start to think about things, and a lone tear would roll do–

"Not a chance."

He cried out, a hoarse sound, and pushed himself backwards and away from the ignited flare that had suddenly appeared in front of his face.

"Daydreaming won’t get you anywhere," the man, whose name presently escaped Neil’s recollection, went back to, well, Neil could only call it playing in the snow and wonder why he didn’t seem to feel the cold as badly.

Whether it was the hazy state of mind he was in, or simply he hadn’t noticed; the man seemed more foreign than Neil remembered. He had an exotic quality that pilot couldn’t place, try as he might. The effort slipped away as he fell into listening to the other man talk.

"Hey…" Neil struggled to keep what little cognizance still remained in his slowed perceptions. He already felt as though his blood had frozen, and inched back toward the flare for whatever warmth it offered. The sudden halt of babble from the other fellow reminded him that it was his line.

"I thought I told you guys to…"

"You did."

He was shivering too hard to care anymore, and so curled up as small as he could near the only source of heat and watched the officer… Neil blinked, when did they get another officer? He stared at the man through the warmth warped air. Between fatigue and cold, he was finding it harder to stay awake, and harder to discern the man’s curious actions.
 
 

He woke up to the officer’s eyes; peculiar blue eyes that scared the hell out of him… and he couldn’t move, and couldn’t feel, but heard the quiet voice that seemed inaudible and roaring at the same time. Something he shouldn’t have been able to hear, but was clear as the glass ice around him that set a view into whatever ancientness was Antarctica. That is to say: verily understandable.

"You’re a lucky one; you don’t know how exceedingly fortunate you are…." His hand hovered over Neil’s face and he somehow knew the man both longing and fearful of contact though he didn’t know why. The hand pulled away, and those terrible eyes disappeared from his view, "We will meet again someday. You or one of your kind."
 
 

A boot appeared in his field of vision as cold again invaded his perceptions; an armored boot that swiftly tread with its mate over the burnt out flare and towards the broken craft. And voices….

"-Oing? Get back here,"

Anger.

"I thought I saw a Phantom,"

Fear.

A pause; silence…

"There’re no Phantoms out here, so get over here."

"But I could have sworn…"

Anxiety.

"Damn it; then help me, so we can get out of here."

And the return of boots. And gloved hands, picking him up, helping him to his feet. He failed to stand; his legs were too numb.

"Oh man…"

Pity; and glowing blue eyes set into metallic helmets that stared at him coldly. He stared back as he was supported, and resisted the urge to try to press up against one or the other of the soldiers to steal the warmth he could feel emanating from them.

He passed out again before they had left the cavern.

The tent was cold, but not as cold as outside. Two layers of thermal cloth and a layer of snow made sure of that, even with the small entrance opening for light and air. Still, Neil hugged his knees; the injection he’d been given made him warmer than he was, but it wasn’t enough. He never thought he’d miss the scorching summer heat of the more temperate areas, but there he was.

The temperature dropped, much to his annoyance, but he kept quiet and watched as the other closed the door, sat down, and removed her helmet. She stared at him for a time; which was more attention than she’d given him in the past week.

"Just so you know," she stated abruptly, "I blame you for getting us stranded out here."

Neil tried without success, and was irked regardless, "Well, just so you know, I didn’t plan for this to happen; and if yo-"

"Don’t. Start," Jane pointed an accusing finger in his direction, and he quieted again.

He watched in silence as she pulled off her gloves, and started breaking into the bundle that she’d brought back. When she failed to undo the knot with her fingers, she bit through the cord, and threw the thing in his direction. He caught the end of the thermal blanket as it began to unravel, and stared at it before hastily pulling it around him. He looked up to see her looking away from him, out the small window of an opening into the wasteland of snow and ice.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" The smile Neil couldn’t see faltered slightly, and faded altogether as she turned to face him.

The piercing glare didn’t affect him as badly as it might have under other circumstances; this time he just stared right back, "You…’re not planning on sitting there all night are you?"

"Barely night in the Antarctic now," she mumbled, "Yes, actually; why?"

He lowered himself, trying to lie down more comfortably, and kicked the blanket back over the lower half of his body. When he looked up at her, she was still watching him and waiting for his answer.

"The energy’s going to run low, so the EC’s not gonna work after a while," He explained, although he guessed she knew too. If she was going to act dumb, so would he treat her, "You’re going to be stuck here just like I am; at least if yo-"

"What would you suggest? Turn it off now, and freeze just a little faster?" The environmental control in her armor would last a little longer, maybe even until their captain returned with aid. She didn’t feel like being refrigerated for the sake of a little energy conservation.

Neil sighed, and plucked at her sleeve. When she looked at him, he raised the blanket a little. A peace offering, of sorts, "C’mon."

"You’ve got to be joking," she growled.

"No, I don’t,"

"Yes, you do."

"No, I… hey, look… I’m tryin’ to help you here. It’s warmer under here, and you can go outside whenever you want. I don’t see the problem." When she didn’t reply, he added more politely, "And it’ll make me feel better if I’m not the one responsible for your cold and grisly demise, okay? So please humor me this one time."

She stared, and his resolution failed. So he supplied an extra, "Please," and an "If this doesn’t work, we can go crawl under Sgt. Whittaker; between two blankets and him I’m sure it’d be warm enough." Yet she still only stared. He swallowed nervously, but he didn’t feel retracting his proposal. After what he felt was far too long a pause, Jane pulled off one of the arm guards she wore, followed by the other. Other armor pieces soon followed. She gave the ceiling an, I know I’ll regret this later, won’t I? look, and Neil could only chuckle at that.

He held up the blanket ‘til she’d crawled under, and until she’d righted herself after. His arm brushed hers as he dropped the cover, and all sense of selfishness flew from his mind. She was colder than he was!

"Jesus," he swore, and wrapped one arm around her in an attempt to warm her up a bit. She returned it to him violently.

"Don’t touch me," she growled, closing her eyes. She was trembling, something he mistook for shivering.

"But you’re freezing…" he protested, trying again. Not to be dissuaded, he pulled her to him and held her there, and without so much trouble this time. He scoffed at what little objection there was.

Despite outside, they did warm up a little… to the point of drowsiness, even. If he was indeed to fall asleep, Neil reasoned, it was best to be polite. He shifted his position a little, just enough to lean over the back Jane’s head to kiss her cheek.

"Goodnight," he bit his lip to avoid grinning as she jumped and snarled a long string of syllables of which he only caught a few, but he couldn’t help it, "I’m sorry, I didn’t hear all of that."

"I said, ‘Goodnight’," she snapped, and now he had to keep from laughing; for ‘Goodnight’ was far from most of those syllables.

The ice fields looked pretty from the other side of the large glass window. They looked very pretty, in fact, especially since he wasn't freezing to death in them.

Neil shivered from the memory; but at the very least he’d lived. And for that he didn’t mind.

He didn’t pay any attention to the conversation behind him; the base was fine, the people were good, the Deep Eyes were safe, and no one ever listened to him regardless. If they had, they wouldn’t have had to stay there the extra couple of days that they did.

There was a strange blue color of the wind blown snow reflected by the light of the sun which sparked an odd recollection in the tech’s mind. "Hey, what happened to…?" he trailed off; no, there were only them, and no more, "Never mind." His companions and the base personnel looked at him strangely, so he turned back to the window. The man on the other side of the window smiled at him, and he blinked to see only his reflection and the white wasteland.