Of Snowmen and Demons
by Lara

SUMMARY: Wesley and Fred have a little fun while up in the mountains for a meeting with a demon clan.

RATING: FRC [AU]

PAIRING: Fred/Wesley

SPOILERS: Through Season 5.

DISCLAIMER: I only wish I were as successful as Joss Whedon. He and Mutant Enemy own this; I just write fanfic for fun while waiting for my own big break.

DISTRIBUTION: Permission granted to to the usual haunts. If anyone else wants to archive it, please let me know.

FEEDBACK: Very much appreciated. Please e–mail lara@darling-moon.com. Flames, however, will be used to fuel the fire in Wesley’s next spell casting session.

AUTHOR’S NOTES:So I decided I needed a happier fic to balance the sadder one I wrote earlier this week. When I asked my friend Leyenn (who also betaed) for an idea, she threw out snowmen, and I ran with it.

"God, it's cold."

Snow crunching underfoot, Wesley glanced behind him at the small figure bundled up in an oversized parka with a long multi-colored scarf twined several times around her neck and head, leaving only her brown eyes visible. "You could have waited back at the cabin," he told her as he adjusted the wool fedora on his head.

"With Angel brooding about this meeting with the Yeti Clan tomorrow and Lorne complaining about the weather? No thanks." Fred caught Wesley's amused expression at her words. "Yeah, yeah...so Lorne has a point." She pushed at him with her gloved hands, propelling him down the wooded path. "Come on. The sooner we find the logs, the sooner we get back and warm up."

"Yes, ma'am."

As Wesley let Fred push him, they continued down the path through the falling snow down to an open-air shed filled with chopped wood at the edge of a clearing. A chopping block sat abandoned, a rusty axe stuck blade down into it.

"Well, I'm not sure how long this has been here, but there's more than plenty." Wesley walked over to the wood pile and began gathering logs, not noticing that his companion hadn't followed him. "Fred, can you...?" He suddenly realized she wasn't there and glanced around. "Fred?"

When he turned around, he found her in the middle of the clearing, kneeling in the snow, rolling a ball. At first, he wondered if she was going to throw the first volley in a snowball fight, but then she continued until she had something akin to a large boulder. Rising from the ground, she brushed the snow off the knees of her jeans before admiring her handiwork for a moment.

"Aren't you going to help me?" she asked with a glance back over her shoulder.

"What happened to it being cold?" he asked, unable to keep a grin from crossing his face.

"Making snowmen doesn't count. Now come on, Mister Wyndam-Pryce, and help me."

Shaking his head with a laugh, Wesley dropped the logs back onto the pile and tramped across the snow to join her. Fred was already packing together another ball of snow, so he started making another. The scarf covering the lower part of her face slipped down as she worked, revealing a that wide smile of hers, the one that made his heart melt every time he saw it, and despite the fact that the snow was numbing his hands even through the gloves, he found himself enjoying this moment of silliness.

Once they got the snowmen built, Fred pressed eyes, a nose and a mouth into the face then stood back for a moment. "He looks cold."

"Fred, he's a snowman. Of course, he looks cold."

"No, I mean, he needs something." Glancing over at Wesley, she grinned, and before he could stop her, she grabbed his hat from his head.

"Hey!" he protested as she deposited the hat on top of the snowman. When he tried to retrieve it, she grabbed his hand instead, holding it tightly while she studied their creation again for a moment. Surprised, he gazed at her, feeling his heart beating loudly in his ears. She was so close, practically pressing up against him.

"Still missing something," she decided.

Wesley finally forced himself to look away from her to the snowman. When he did, an idea crossed his mind, and with his free hand, he took the trailing end of her long scarf. "May I?" After she nodded, he unwound the scarf from around her head and neck and then wrapped it around the snowman. "There. Not so cold now."

With a laugh, Fred rearranged the hat and scarf until it was just right. "You know, he looks kind of like the Fourth Doctor."

"Fourth Doctor?" Wesley was lost for a moment then realized what she meant. "Doctor Who. Oh, yes. I think he's rather lacking in the wild curly hair department, though."

Fred glanced around, her eyes falling on something scattered on the ground near the chopping block. Running over, she gathered several wood shavings. As she straightened up, she also grabbed the axe and brought it all back over. Within moments, the snowman was sporting curled wood shavings for hair and wielding the axe as a weapon.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Doctor's weapon of choice a sonic screwdriver?"

"So he has a sonic axe," Fred told him.

Chuckling, Wesley turned to see that her cheeks were turning bright pink in the cold air now that she had given up her scarf. "Are you cold?"

She shrugged and hunched down a bit in her parka, obviously shivering. "A bit. But I'll be okay."

Without a word, he placed his hands up to her cheeks in an attempt to warm them up. "Maybe we should get the logs and head back to the cabin."

Leaning almost unconsciously into his hands, Fred opened and closed her mouth a few times, apparently unable to say anything. "I...we..." she finally managed to get out before her voice trailed away again.

Both of them now silent, they stood there, looking at each other for several moments before Wesley dipped his head down and brought his lips to hers. Fred wrapped her arms around him as his hands feel away from her face to rest on shoulders then run down the back of her parka. Embracing her tightly, he picked her up off the ground and, the kiss continuing, took a few steps back. As he did, he lost his footing, and the two of them went tumbling down into the snow, breaking apart.

When they landed, they looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"Are you all right?" he asked, reaching up to push her hair back from her face.

Her cheeks were now red, but this time it was obvious that it wasn't just from the cold. "Fine...really. Just...great."

"Good."

Within moments, they were kissing again, neither of them noticing the cold or the fact that they were lying on the ground in the snow. They rolled a bit so that Wesley was over Fred, whose hair was spread out around her while snowflakes caught in her eyelashes. Their gloved hands began caressing over each other though they couldn't feel much through the layers of their coats and sweaters underneath.

Finally, they broke apart again, both of them gasping for air.

"We...we really should head back up the cabin," Wesley told her.

Fred nodded in agreement. "Yeah...that would probably-."

Before she could finish her thought, a roar echoed through the clearing, causing both of them clambered up from the ground. Wes grabbed Fred to keep her from slipping in the snow. As they scrambled to find cover, a large creature came hurtling from the woods into the clearing. Wesley immediately began searching for a weapon only to realize that the only one was now decorating the snowman across the way.

However, as soon as the demon landed, it caught sight of the snowman. Letting out a yelp of fear, it reared up and hightailed it back the way it had originally come. Both Wesley and Fred stood next to the wood pile, staring at each other in amazement.

"I think Doctor Who just scared the demon away," Fred panted. "Was that one of the Yeti?"

"No, Yeti don't attack unless they're attacked first. I think that was a Glacius. They're related to the Yeti but are far more violent." He paused for a moment and glanced from the snowman to the direction the Glacius had taken off in. "At least, they're supposed to be."

"Maybe snowmen are some kind of ward."

"We'll have to check that when we get back to the cabin."

At that moment, Angel and Lorne came rushing into the clearing, weapons in their hands, ready to fight.

"Roaring. We heard roaring!" Angel called out as they came to a stop at the edge of the woods. He and Lorne looked around in confusion when there was no sign of a demon or blood. "Where's the...roaring?"

"Gone," Fred piped up. "Saw the snowman..."

"And ran back into the woods," Wesley finished. Turning his attention to Fred, he held out his hand to her. "Shall we?"

She nodded and took his hand, snuggling up to him as wrapped his free arm around her shoulders.

"While you two are down here, could you get the wood?" he asked. "We didn't get a chance."

With that, they headed past their two friends toward the path, stopping briefly for a kiss before they headed up to the cabin.

© January 2004

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