Nighthawk: Frozen Hearts-Part 4 (FINAL)

Later that night, Sabrina Winters stood patiently in one of Raymond Lockwood’s warehouses, hands in the front pockets of her white hoodie. Lockwood himself stood in front of her, his arms frozen to the wall. She wanted to kill him now, but she was going to torture him first, to make him suffer the way she had. All she had ever wanted was to be normal—or as close to normal as an ice-manipulating mutant could get. That was what Lockwood had promised her: a way to better understand and control her powers. But after the experiments they had done on her....

Hearing a rush of wings behind her, she spun around to see Nighthawk standing there, pulling his goggles up as his wings folded in. She looked up at him, her pale blue eyes meeting his green ones. “I knew you’d find me, Nighthawk,” she said coolly.

* * *

“I know about Project Frostbite,” I replied. “I saw what they did to you, Sabrina. I’m sorry.”

She looked away, but I could see the pain and anger in her eyes. “Ever since then, it’s gotten harder and harder to keep my powers concealed.”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Then let me help you. I can teach you how to control them.”

She brushed my hand aside, shaking her head. “You don’t get it, do you?” she asked, anger seeping into her voice. “I don’t care about that anymore. I’m through being Little Miss Perfect.” She turned away from me.

“Don’t say that. You still have a chance, Sabrina; don’t cross the line.”

She looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes turning white. Before I had time to react, she knocked me back a few feet with a burst of cold. As she walked towards me, her hair turned white as well, and her skin turned pale blue. The sheer cold emanating from her body eroded the lower half and sleeves of her jacket.

“LOOK AT ME!!!” she shouted, enraged. “They did this to me, Nighthawk; they turned me into a monster. My line was crossed a long time ago!”

“Sabrina, wait!” I exclaimed.

“She’s gone now, Bird Boy!” she shot back. “Call me...Killer Frost.” She blasted a wave of cold at me, following me as I dodged out of its path. I felt the adrenaline pulsing through my veins, my brain working frantically to come up with a plan. I took cover behind a crate, and a few seconds later, the blast ceased.

I poked my head out from behind the crate and said, “You know, you really need to chill out.” She responded by hurling a shard of ice at me, but I ducked before it hit. “Tough room,” I muttered to myself. I leaped out and cast a veil of shadows around her, rushing over to where Raymond stood frozen to the wall. I needed to work quickly; it was unlikely that the shadows would hold Frost back for very long. I soon managed to free Lockwood, and led him to the door. “Get out of here!” I ordered.

He nodded and ran out of the warehouse. Moments after he did, I heard an angry yell from behind me as Killer Frost broke free from the shadows. Her body radiated cold, and her face was contorted into a scowl of pure rage.

“If you’re going to help him,” she growled, “then you’re guilty by association.”

“Come on, then!” I retorted. “Don’t hold back; hit me with your best shot!”

I flew towards her, dodging her bursts of ice and delivering a solid kick to her gut. She grabbed my foot and ice spread up my leg, causing it to go numb.

“If you can’t take the cold…get out of the freezer!” Frost cackled, unleashing a barrage of ice shards. I dove aside, grabbed a discarded oil drum lid, and threw it at her like a Frisbee. Unfortunately, she caught it and froze it before tossing it on the floor, where it shattered. She smirked. “Did you really think that would work?”

“To be honest, yeah,” I answered. I could feel myself slowing down; hypothermia was setting in. I need to finish this, I thought, and fast. “So let’s try this!” I flew up into the rafters and went into a dive bomb, shoving her back into a shelf. The impact knocked a crate loose, which fell and landed on top of her, knocking her unconscious.

I smiled. “Out cold.”

* * *

A few minutes later, the police arrived. While the medic looked over my leg, Detective Ripken asked me, “You think you’ll be okay?”

I nodded. “I’ve been shot, stabbed, and beaten within an inch of my life; I can handle this. Besides, the cold never bothered me anyway.” I chuckled a bit at my joke, but stopped when I saw them strap Killer Frost to a gurney and load it into an ambulance. “I just hope that Sabrina’s all right.” I muttered.

* * *

Sabrina lay in her bed in Davison Memorial Hospital, sleeping peacefully. However, she awoke when she heard someone enter her room. Her visitor, to her surprise, was Nighthawk. “How are you holding up?” he asked.

“Does it really matter?” she replied.

“I meant what I said back there,” he went on. “I won’t give up on you, Sabrina.”

She shook her head. “Then you’re just wasting time on a lost cause,” she said dismissively.

Nighthawk turned and left the room, casting a mournful look over his shoulder at her. A look that said, “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Soon after he left, a man in a black suit and crimson shirt entered the room.

“Hello, Miss Winters,” he said calmly, running a hand through his slicked-down black hair. “The name is Alex Kage. I have a rather interesting proposition for you....”