Frozen In Time

02

When Stiles and the rest of his expedition team finally make it back to New York, somehow getting the block of ice back with them (with some help, of course). Stiles' boss was definitely impressed by their find, and much to Stiles' delight, left Stiles in charge of looking after and observing the block of ice and the person in it, needing to find out as much information in it as he can before the ice completely thaws out. It is obviously assumed that the man in the ice is dead, no matter how long he has been frozen in there for. Not that there have been any other incidents like this to compare it to as a way to confirm that he's dead, but it's pretty safe to assume that he is dead. There are probably lots of ways that this man died. As Stiles stares at the man in the ice and he writes down his observations a few days after he received his task from his boss, Stiles can't help but wonder what this guy's story is. How did he end up in the ice? What is this guy's name? What does his family think happened to him? Did he have a girlfriend? What kind of job did he have? When is his birthday? All of these mundane sort of questions make Stiles feel sad. It's not because he can't answer them, but because it reminds him that this guy probably had a great life and that was suddenly taken away from him, just like his parents and Malia's lives were suddenly taken. Stiles decides that the world is very cruel and unfair.

Stiles tries to distract himself from that and works on figuring out how long this man had been trapped in the ice. It's a very interesting investigation for him, this whole thing. He barely goes home, sleeping in his lab instead as he monitors the block of ice and the man inside. He tries to find out as much information as he can, including how long the man must have been in the ice for. As far as Stiles' calculations can tell him, it's been 70 years. As Stiles finds this out, he lets out an impressed whistle, surprised at how well preserved the man's body is after all that time.

While Stiles works, Danny comes down to see him and they have a few conversations. Danny seems impressed with Stiles' find and tells him that he knew he would end up doing something great one day, all of that determination being worth something. Stiles chuckles and blushes in response, surprised and happy to see that Danny is proud of him. Usually, Danny is quite impartial to Stiles as a person and his work, but perhaps they really are friends after all. The two of them promise to hang out sometime in a few weeks, outside of work for once. Stiles thinks it'll be nice to hang out with someone after work. He hasn't actually hung out with anyone since... Well, probably not since Malia and his dad died.

He's worried that he'll be out of touch with social standards, though he tries to reassure himself that it won't be that bad, he's not totally incapable of talking to people. In fact, people think he talks too much. If anything is going to make Danny annoyed when they hang out is that Stiles doesn't know how to shut his mouth. He'll just talk about anything, his hands flailing everywhere. Stiles' dad had hoped he would grow out of it after high school, but no such luck there. Stiles' heart aches at the small thought of his father, who he still misses dearly, his death still fresh in his memory, just like Malia's. Stiles sighs sadly and sniffles a little, wiping his eyes slightly and blinking back tears, trying to push back thoughts of his dad, mom and girlfriend right to the back of his mind so he can do his job.

Stiles takes a deep breath and looks up from his notes on his desk for a moment to gaze up at the large mound of ice standing in a contained, smaller glass room of the lab, where Stiles has turned the heaters on full blast, along with a few extra things to help melt the ice. He figures that he has got everything that he needs from the ice, unable to get any more information from it. Now, he'll have to look at the body. The thought makes him shudder, but thankfully, looking at dead bodies isn't his specialty and will have to hand the frozen man to someone who knows what to look for. Stiles will be definitely interested in hearing the result, hopefully before they go public. He did find this man, after all. If it wasn't for him and his determination and curiosity, the man might have gone on undiscovered forever. Stiles wonders if any of this guy's family or friends are alive. If they are, Stiles thinks it would be great for them to finally know the fate of this man. Stiles can't imagine what it would be like to lose someone and never get an answer on what happened to them. At least Stiles knows what happened to Malia and his parents.