Author's Note: Sorry it's a day late, I promise it won't happen again. Just three more chapters after this one.

~o~

Our kinky freak of a doctor lies passed out on the couch by me. Jasmine is snoring in the recliner. I can hardly blame them. It's been a long day. There is a guard at every door, with five more outside, and one at all four of the windows on the second floor. A nurse sits in a chair next to Anna's bed. Waiting is killing me. She's been back home for almost twelve hours now. Why can't she just wake up? Please, Anna, I need you.

"Why do I feel like I was hit by a semi?"

That voice. I leap to my feet and run to the bed. Her eyes are still closed, but I know it was her. "Anna?"

"I sure hope so." It's her. It's really her. Her brows knit as she tries to sit up. I don't know when the nurse joined me, but she holds her down.

"You shouldn't be moving yet. You've been through a lot." She wipes Anna's forehead with a damp cloth.

Her eyes open and she takes in her surroundings. "Elsa, who the hell is this? I have work to do, and she can stop holding me here."

"Anna, you were attacked. You need to rest."

She squints at me. "You put me in charge, you think I'm going to let a little thing like a truck running me over stop me? Just give me a few painkillers, I'll be fine."

The nurse, taking absolutely none of Anna's shit, explains, "You were impaled multiple times. Then you went through surgery. Sleep. You can run your illegal business later."

Her squint turns into a glare, directed straight at the nurse. Her eyes seem to blaze with her anger. I think I might be melting a bit. "What hospital do you work for?"

"St John's –"

"The head of internal medicine is on our payroll. Good man, came to my father's last birthday. So when I say that I'm fine, I assure you, he'll tell you the same." She looks at the wall then down to the foot of the bed she's in. "Elsa, where am I?"

"You're in a safe house. I made sure that no one knew where it was, and I took everyone's phones. We just have radios to communicate. I even made sure that we sent cars to two other safe houses. No one knows where you are."

"Well I was going to tell her to let me go home, but I suppose that does simplify things." Her expression softens. "Do you know what happened to me?"

"Notos – that wind god that attacked me before – she attacked you. It's my fault. I'm so sorry, Anna."

She squeezes my hand. "You're not the one who attacked me. It's fine. I love you, Elsa."

Dr. Lee stirs on the couch. "She awake?" she asks, her voice a dry croak.

"Yes, doctor." The nurse turns to her. "Maybe you can talk some sense into her."

She checks the readouts on a couple of machines plugged into Anna. "Well, Ms. Arlotti, you seem to have recovered really well. I'd really like to keep you under observation for another twenty-four hours though."

"I can't. You don't understand. I can't look weak right now. I need to go back to work."

"Do it from here for the rest of the day at least. Just let me keep an eye on you tonight." Now she's trying to spend the night with Anna, and here I was thinking I was special.

"Fine," Anna grumbled. "But do you have to observe so closely? Go get some coffee or something, let me have a few minutes alone with Elsa." Barely recovered and already rearing to go.

"All right. Come on, Carol, I'll buy you lunch." She gestures toward the nurse, who was apparently named Carol, I hadn't bothered to ask, and they head out.

"Wait, they can't leave the compound," I realize, almost too late.

"It's fine, Elsa." Anna pulls herself out of bed and manages to stand. She takes a step and turns to me, looking a bit more confident. Fuck, I can still barely manage standing. "I'll humor her for tonight, but I'm not concerned anymore. Let them know where I am. If they can manage to get through you and all of the guards, then I clearly deserve it."

I grumble in acknowledgment. Her reasoning is ridiculous. We should actually work to keep her safe, not just dare Notos to attack her, but I'm certainly not going to question her. I put her in charge for a reason, if you want to talk her out of it, be my guest.

She walks over to the couch and throws herself into it. I guess those few steps took more out of her than she was willing to admit. "Elsa, I know you're scared, Believe me, I am too. I'm still not entirely sure what happened. But we can't show weakness. The Marcone Family is eager to jump on any perceived chink in our armor. They don't think I'm capable of leading this family, and I will be damned if I let them prove otherwise. Because of this, I need you to –" she reclines on the couch, her leg hitting Jasmine. "Who the fuck is this?"

"Erm?" she murmurs, wiping at her eyes. "Elsa?"

Anna stares at me. This could be awkward. "Morning, Jasmine. I guess it's time for you to meet Anna."

Her eyes widen and she sits bolt upright, suddenly awake. "It's The Ice Queen! Don't go using my civilian name in times like this." She throws her arms out in a stretch. "Or if I'm helping the mob maybe I shouldn't be using my superhero name. I am working for the greater good – I think – but it hardly seems appropriate. Maybe a code name?"

"Let me rephrase my question. What the hell is this?" Anna gestures pointedly toward her footrest.

"This is Jasmine, she was helping me look after you." Granted, that was only because she fucked things up in the first place, but first impressions are important and I'm not THAT big of a bitch.

"Wait, Anna?" The grogginess finishes vanishing from her head as the momentousness of the occasion finally hits her. "She's okay? Oh thank God. I was so scared. I thought I was going to be responsible for her death. I don't know what I would've done." She throws her arms around Anna. "Oh I'm so glad you're okay!"

Anna stiffens but pats her back. "Elsa, why is it clinging to me?"

"It's a puppy. You know how puppies are. She needs you to smell like her."

"Isn't that cats?"

Jasmine seems to only squeeze her tighter as she shakes with sobs. "I was so scared. I could have cost Elsa everything."

"Um, there there,"Anna offers.

"I'm going to help Elsa avenge you, I promise. Not like kill or anything, just beat Notos up. Killing is still wrong, even if she is a murderer. I won't let anyone hurt the people of my city, let alone burn down whole city blocks. You can rest safe knowing that The Ice Queen and her new sidekick are on the case!" She pulls back from Anna to grin up at her.

"You're the sidekick," I spit back. God damn, do I regress with her.

Anna pushes Jasmine off of her and stands to face me. "Elsa, where did you get this new pet? Is it at least potty trained?"

"I'm not sure on the second part, but I picked her up on that job you sent me on. She's just kinda clung around since then – or at least after I kidnapped her."

Jasmine laughs and leans back against the couch. "It wasn't kidnapping, we're friends now."

"Why exactly did you decide to kidnap it?" Anna is looking at me in a way that suggests I'm going to pay for this tonight. She's gotten so kinky since I became immortal.

"She's a sweet kid and I figured she'd be useful." It's true enough. I can hardly let her know that I have a conscience.

Anna studies the younger woman like she's sizing up prey. "How exactly is she useful?"

Jasmine seems perfectly happy to answer that question. She leaps up from her seat and materializes an ice spear in her hand. "I'm the city's greatest super hero. You can call me The Ice Queen."

"Hm." She rips the spear from Jasmine's grasp and holds it an inch from her face. "It's just like yours, Elsa. There's another Borealis? How would that even work?" I know Anna well enough to know that she seems annoyed by this rather than impressed. I'm not sure why. Seems like this would be exactly what she'd want when there's a super villain trying to kill her.

"She has another god's powers. I forget which one. They just work really similarly."

Her expression morphs into a smirk. "I can use this. Elsa, I need you to go to a meeting with the Marcone's. Why don't you take your new toy with you? You can see if she's actually ready for this kind of life."

Jasmine jumps in front of her, waving her arms. "No, no, no, no, no. I am not joining the mob. I'm a good guy! I'm just helping keep you safe. There is no way I'm willing to work for your vile criminal enterprise."

I'm not up for corrupting this girl. I've already done enough damage to Anna, I'm not doing the same to her. "There's no way we're going anywhere. We need to watch over you. Let Uncle Pete go to the meeting."

Anna bites her lower lip as she considers this. She knows I'm right. It's ridiculous to do this now. The meeting can wait until she recovers. "All right. Elsa, you go. If she's just here to guard me from Notos, then let her do that. You go protect my name."

I take a step back. No way. There's so many other people she could send instead. "Anna –"

"No, Elsa. I need it to be you. There's no one else I can trust with this. I don't know who else might be vying for power. Even Pete is suspect, but I know you, and I know you don't want to be in charge. Besides, if it's a trap, you're the only one that I can guarantee will not only be able to make it out alive, but take every single one of them out in the process. I need you, Elsa. Please."

I never could say no to her. "Okay. I'll do it. I think it's an awful plan, but I'll do it."

"Good girl."

Fucking hell, Anna! Don't make me blush in front of Jasmine.

~o~

Once Dr. Lee and Nurse I-Already-Forgot-Her-Name make it back from coffee, I head out. Apparently the meeting is at six, at a local restaurant. Gotta love the clichés. I want to make sure I arrive early enough to scope the place out, not that I really need to, so I should be getting there around 5:30. That is of course, if I'm not waylaid by some god bitch who seems to have made it her sole mission in life to ruin mine.

"Brother," Notos coos, stepping out from a nearby alley. I can't say I'm surprised. "I trust you enjoyed the present I left for you."

"Anna's fine. Clearly you suck at Christmas shopping." Wow that was an awful line. Wait, is it Christmas? Holy fuck it is. Wow this has been a long week.

"Well then I suppose I'll just have to remedy that after I finish with you." She takes another step towards me, wobbling slightly. She's definitely not fully recovered from our last fight. I wish I couldn't say the same.

"I'm done with this game, Notos. I'm sick and tired of being misgendered, I'm sick of letting you get away to hurt people I care about, and I am more than done with having my body systematically burnt. It's getting old. So I'm going to kill you." Hopefully she can't see my hand shaking as I reach for my sword. I shouldn't be as scared as I am. I almost won last time. Hell, if you count her retreat as a surrender then I did win. I can take her. The only problem is that she's the only person who can hurt me, and she's been doing a damn good job of it. I don't know if I can take much more, I'm already covered in injuries from her that show no sign of going away. They might actually never heal. I draw the blade and point it at her neck. "Apparently this grudge match has been going for millennia. Today, it ends." Much cooler than the Christmas line.

"Yes, it does." Her hands ignite as she knocks the sword away and leaps for me, her fingers wrapping around my throat, searing the flesh.

I knee her in the crotch. It's a lot more effective on women than the old adage says. Hell, it happened to me shortly after my surgery and I think I spent the night on that floor. "Get off of me!" I manage to knock her to the side and clamber onto her, bringing the blade to bear on her chest and shoving it forward.

She rolls to the side at the last minute, turning the killing blow into a massive gash. The blood ignites as it spurts out, evaporating in little puffs a few inches from her. She bares her teeth and snarls before hurling a wave of fire right at my face. I duck under it and come up swinging the sword in a wide arc.

She jumps back, the metal biting into her arm as she scarcely manages to keep it. "I will end you." I'm not sure which of us said it. Maybe both.

We fly at each other. Jagged flames in her hand meet my ribcage as the sword in mine buries itself to the hilt in her stomach. We're both a lot slower than in our last two fights. This one is going to be quick and bloody – or at least gruesome for the one of us that can't bleed.

She growls like coals crackling in a fire. I am so sick of her and her fancy dramatic displays of her power. I don't scream like cracking ice. You can make human noises, damn it! I kick her in the shin, then meet her with a left hook to the face from my ice gauntleted fist. I follow up with a few more punches for good measure before I rip the sword out of her and take another swing at her neck.

She blocks it with her forearm. Her hand does not go flying off. That's disappointing. "Boreas." The cinders that pass for her eyes lock on mine as she talks. "You have killed every last one of our siblings. I will not let you take me too." Her hand darts toward me and one of those daggers of fire takes my left arm clean off. I swear I just replaced that thing. Fuck that hurts so much more than last time.

She swings for my other arm, but I block it with the sword. I would really be fucked without this thing. Thanks, Hera. You're good people. I'm so glad I didn't think to give it to Jasmine. I use every last ounce of energy in my body and tackle Notos to the ground, pinning her beneath me. I've got weight and reach on every woman I've ever met, and that includes gods.

I adjust the blade until I can aim it at her throat without letting her out from under me and then I pull it back. "This ends here." I thrust it downward, my eyes locked on her throat. Then, the fire disappears from it. It doesn't even burn to sit on her anymore.

"Elsa?"

No. My weapon stops an inch from her throat. It can't be. Anna's face looks up at me. Those teal eyes I've spent my life looking into look back into mine. "Anna?"

That smile that had grown from innocent to cynical over the dramatic saga that was our lives contorts, the corners twisting upward into a vicious sneer as her hand flies toward my chest. It ignites again as it tears into me. She claims what was always hers.

The last thing I see, as the light begins to fade, is the love of my life holding my heart.