Chapter 32.

Kristoff and Sven, as well as several other police officers, had arrived to where Anna and Eugene were about an hour and a half ago. However, when they entered to infiltrate the abandoned building, it was empty. They'd been looking for an entrance to the underground base since then, but they'd found nothing, and most of them thought it had only been a joke or an hallucination, since nothing seemed to be particularly odd, not even around the part of the street where the car had entered underground.

"Anna…" Kristoff approached to her. "I think we should stop for now. Unless you have more proof, these men won't stay here much longer."

"But Kristoff, it's Elsa's and Rapunzel's lives we're putting at risk, we can't…!" She tried to argue, but was soon interrupted.

"I know." He sighed, an apologetic expression clear on his face. "But there's nothing we can do right now. Not when we can't even get into that subterranean base."

"Then let's ask Weselton!" Eugene interrupted with an angry tone of voice. "We know it's him, so then why can't we go to his house and see if he has some incriminating evidence?"

"It's not that easy." Kristoff answered deviating his gaze. "We'll need an order from a judge, and to get that, we'd need more solid evidence, especially if we're talking about Weil Hanssen."

"Well then, tell me where he lives." Eugene answered determined.

"Wait, what are you planning?" Anna asked worried.

"I was a thief before. I think I could get in there and find some evidence. Enough to get an order from a judge." Kristoff frowned at his mention of illegal activities, but didn't comment on it. Instead, he seemed to think about it for a few seconds before sighing and nodding.

"Alright. He lives near here actually. There's a huge mansion a couple of blocks from here, just follow this street and you should get there in no time." He pointed to the street and Eugene nodded. "Just… don't steal anything, alright?"

"Got it." Eugene nodded and gave him the thumbs up. "And don't worry, I won't take anything… that isn't of value." He added under his breath, so only Anna could hear him. She only shook her head and giggled.

"I'll stay here and keep looking." Anna said.

"Alright." He answered. "Take care, red."

"You too." She answered as he walked towards Weselton's mansion.

Elsa was sitting in her cell, anxiously looking at the door, kinda expecting a bad guy to enter and torture them in any moment, but fortunately, it hadn't happen the last few… hours? Had it only been hours since she was dumped in the cell? She had already lost all concept of time staring at those white walls and cold lights. That's how used she was to solitude and prisonment. She wondered if when she got out of there (if she got out) she'd lose all the progress she had made for almost a year now and revert to the scared little creature she was. The thought gave her chills.

Suddenly, she felt someone lightly pulling the sleeve of her nightgown, and looked down to find a pair of curious grey eyes.

No, this time is different. I'm not alone.

"Can you hold me?" The little girl (Mildri, was her name) asked. She had probably just woken up, since she had fallen asleep after Elsa had endured the punishment meant for her, which apparently had granted Elsa her complete trust.

"Uhm? I think so." Elsa said and opened her arms to let the little girl settle into them. "Did you have a nightmare?" She softly asked. Mildri nodded. "Why don't you tell me? It always help."

"Well…" The girl started but paused, frowning. "Not a nightmare."

"Let me guess, it was a memory." When Mildri nodded and closed her eyes, hugging Elsa closer, she knew she had the same problems she had had. Fortunately she knew how to deal with them. "Was it about a concrete event or a collage of images?"

"Uh…" Mildri tried to remember, but everything was too confusing, except one thing that stood out and that had waken her up. "I think… I… my parents…" She chocked a sob and started crying, pulling herself closer to Elsa, when she finally remembered. Elsa didn't want to ask, afraid of what she may hear, but decided it was best for Mildri to let it all out, otherwise it'd consume her.

"W-what happened to your parents?"

"T-they…" She shook her head, refusing to say the words she dreaded. She didn't want to acknowledge what had happened. However, Elsa didn't pressure, letting her take her time to prepare herself. Eventually, she finally decided to say something. "I-I… there were knocks at the door." Mildri started, swallowing. "They told me to run, but…" Her sobs interrupted her, but after a few soothing words from Elsa, she was able to calm herself down enough to speak. "I-I was scared and… they got in." At this she broke down crying and Elsa's heart broke for her; she was sure she was talking about Weselton's men. She wished she could hug her, caress her and give her the comfort she needed… but those shackles wouldn't let her. She sighed and settled instead on placing her chin on the girl's head, hoping this would help. Apparently it did, because soon she was quiet again and unmoving, to the point Elsa believed her to have fallen asleep, at least until she talked again, this time calmer, but also sadder and weaker. "T-there was a sound. It hurt my ears." She continued. "A-and then… t-there was a red liquid and… t-they didn't move." She whimpered, as if the sole memory was able to make her feel intense pain. And Elsa actually let a few tears fall at this. Maybe she didn't know this girl at all, and maybe she had only met her a few hours ago, but she was pretty sure no child should ever go through the pain of seeing her parents being killed violently by a bunch of psychos.

"T-that's how they captured you?" Elsa asked after a while and Mildri nodded. "Then I guess that means you have powers too."

"Air." She confirmed.

"You can control air?" Elsa asked amazed, ecstatic to finally meet another person who could control the elements.

"Not much." Mildri shrugged. "Only started a few weeks ago."

"But… you've been here for longer, haven't you?" Elsa asked puzzled, and Mildri's little nod only confused her more. "How did Weselton find out about you then?"

"I-I…" She paused tightening her grip on Elsa's torso. "I-I had wings."

"H-had?" Elsa asked, having a bad feeling about this, and carefully lifting a little Mildri's collar to be able to see her back. As she had feared, there were two little scars, that for most people wouldn't seem to have been caused by anything more than a little scratch, but in the skin of a magical child, if she indeed had the same healing powers Elsa had once had, they showed a remain of a pretty bad injury. Elsa's heart ached so realistically, she almost thought it was physical, but no, she was just suffering for Mildri. That must have hurt a lot. "I'm sorry." Elsa said, though she didn't know if she was apologizing for asking or saying she was sorry that she had had to go through all that. She promised herself in that moment that she wouldn't let anything happen to Mildri ever again.

Anna was pacing outside the building about an hour after Eugene had left to Weselton's house, and she was getting a little anxious. What if he was caught out? What if he didn't find anything? What if he didn't get back in time and the cops decided to just go away? It had been quite difficult to keep them there even with Kristoff and Sven's help, so she didn't really know how much longer they'd stay.

Just when one of the cops was about to suggest they left, Eugene came back running. And he was carrying a portfolio. The redhead instantly ran towards him, Kristoff and other cops following close behind.

"Hey, did you find anything?" She asked, hopeful.

"Yes." He nodded, a mischievous smile on his face.

"Great!" Anna said enthusiastically.

"Well, what did you find?" Kristoff asked, eyeing the portfolio. Eugene smirked and proceeded to open it, getting out of it a file with a series of names and pictures.

"This has all the names of his victims, as well as their age, where are they from, if their family is a threat and also their…" He paused, eyeing at the other cops. "Their 'powers'." He said skeptically, though Anna knew it was faked.

"Powers?" One of them asked as if he thought Eugene had lost his head.

"The man is insane." Anna shrugged, picking up Elsa's file and showing it to the man. "Here it says my girlfriend has ice powers even though we all know that's impossible. However, his motivation may be crazy, but I assure you that his methods are very carefully planned, and that he has all these people down there. Now do your fricking job and get them out!" She almost yelled, desperate that they had been out there for hours doing nothing.

"We will." Kristoff assure her. "But may I remind you we still don't have a way to get in?"

"Uh… about that." Eugene interrupted, pulling from the bottom of the portfolio a black device, similar to the one used to put the alarm to the cars, and a blue card that said 'Zero Monsters' and had a picture of Weselton, as well as his fake name. "I think this may help." Saying that, he pressed the bottom of the black device and instantly, the ground next to the abandoned building descended a little before discovering a ramp that went down to the underground, just where the car they saw had arrived.

"You're a genius!" Anna smiled, almost jumping over Eugene and hugging him as never before. She refrained, though, because she was sure he'd tease her about that later.

"I know." He said with a smug smile, to which Anna shook her head before following the cops inside the underground base.

Elsa had been trying to cheer Mildri up with some silly stories she was making up for a few minutes now when suddenly the door opened and they both tensed, Elsa instantly getting up and putting herself between the man who had entered and the little girl, glaring at him.

"Calm down, freak." The man said. "I didn't come for her. I came here for you, actually. Weselton wants to see you personally." At this Elsa relaxed a little, but still stayed tense; a meeting with Weselton was never a good thing.

"Don't take her!" Mildri pleaded as she attached herself in Elsa's leg, surprising her and the guard.

"Hey, calm down." Elsa said softly as she noticed the guard was about to interfere. "I'll come back, I promise." She gave her a comforting smile even if on the inside she wasn't sure what Weselton was going to do with her. After all, he could kill her.

"Promise?" She asked with teary eyes.

"I promise." Elsa repeated. "But only if you let go of my leg." The girl reluctantly did so and eyed her with sad eyes as her chains were taken by the guard and she was dragged out of the cell.

The guard led her trough the hall and upstairs, before stopping in a section off the lab she'd never seen before; a thick metal door that led to an almost empty room with only a metal ring anchored to the ground in the middle of it, probably meant to attach the chains, which the man did as soon as they came in there. Instantly, four more men, all with large guns came through the door, Weselton following after. His sole presence was enough to give Elsa pretty bad shudders.

The old man stopped in front of the captive, the other men standing behind him, and the guard stepping in front of the door.

"Well, well, Elsa. We meet again." He said maliciously. Elsa didn't answer as she resolutely glared at him, but her heart felt as if it was about to explode out of her chest and her legs felt like jelly. "I honestly thought you'd be dead years ago, with how your father treated you and your healing powers diminished with time. But I guess I underestimated the strength of you monsters." He sighed. "However, that won't happen again. It's my duty to make sure abominations like you don't roam freely around the word." He looked at her with a wicked smile, and Elsa actually gulped and attempted to take an step back, only to be kept in place by her chains and shackles, which were promptly covered by a layer of frost, from inside and outside, causing her a lot of pain, but that was the least of her problems in that moment. "You are of no use to me now that your healing powers are gone, and you're far too powerful to be kept captive." Elsa looked nervously around and pulled on her chains, knowing what he was implying and wanting to just run away. "Oh, yes, Elsa. This is your last day on earth." He smiled with a crazy expression. "I hope you go to hell."

That said, Weselton stepped back and let his men take their positions, pointing at her with their guns. Elsa was all the time trying to get out of her shackles, but every little pull caused her to feel more and more pain, making it more difficult for her to concentrate. She was well conscious that ice was slowly covering the entire room, but she couldn't control it at her will; it wasn't ice created from conscious thinking, but fear and pain.

"Any last words?" Weselton asked as the men put their fingers on the triggers.

"I'm sorry, Anna." Elsa said and closed her eyes as the strong explosion of four guns was heard.

Elsa opened her eyes, surprised she was even able to do so, since she thought for a moment she was dead, and what she saw really impressed her. Her powers, sensing the danger she was in, had acted on their own and protected her, freeing her from the shackles and creating a thick barrier of ice between her and her attackers, effectively stopping the bullets. Elsa was pretty sure not even the strongest axe could penetrate that ice.

Taking advantage of the situation, Elsa quickly shot ice towards the nearest wall until there was a big enough hole for her to get through. Then she got out and ran down the corridor, trying to remember the way she had walked from her cell; she wasn't going to just leave Mildri and escape after all.

When she got to the stairs, however, she found a guard, and before he could even pull out his gun, she froze his hands, feet and mouth and took his card, figuring it'd be easier for her to move inside the lab if she had one. She then opened the door and ran downstairs, incapacitating the man she found at the entrance to the cells.

Elsa was about to just go directly to her former cell, take Mildri and get out of there before someone discovered her, when she looked at the other doors and figured they also must be cells, meant to contain people with powers like her. People who had been tortured everyday by Weselton and that she shouldn't leave there just because she didn't know them. Sighing, she went to open the first door, the large one that read "authorized personal only", but to her surprise, it didn't open and she sighed, supposing only Weselton and his most faithful servants had access to that door.

She thought on just trying on the next door, but… maybe with her powers she could open it? She would be needing all the help she could get if she was planning to escape of that subterranean fortress, after all. So she shot ice towards it, discovering after a few seconds it wasn't enough and increasing the power until she was able to make a small opening at its middle, trough where she took a peek to see if there was really someone in there. What she saw almost made her jump.

"R-Rapunzel?" She screamed.

"Elsa?" The girl at the other side of the door asked as she also looked through the hole. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I got caught." She answered, before remembering they probably didn't have enough time to catch up, since undoubtedly guards would be soon arriving. "Move, I'm gonna open the door." She commanded, glad that the brunette didn't doubt a second before doing as she was told, allowing Elsa to unleash her power, stronger this time, and blast the door open. Then, Rapunzel practically jumped over Elsa and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so glad you're here!" She screamed. "Well… I'm not glad that you were caught, but…"

"Hey, it's alright." Elsa assured her, not wanting her to start rambling like Anna, because that would only make them waste time. "Now help me free the others." Rapunzel fortunately seemed to understand the situation soon enough and nodded, following Elsa to the next cell.

The blonde quickly opened the door using the card and found a chained redhead boy inside, wearing shackles to contain his powers. He looked at them wearily for a moment before Elsa froze his chains and freed him saying:

"Don't worry, we're prisoners like you. We're here to free you."

"Thanks." He said, slowly getting up. And walking towards them.

"Which powers do you have?" Rapunzel asked.

"Fire." He shrugged.

"You think you could help us free the others?" Elsa asked, noticing he was over fourteen and his magic should be pretty strong now.

"I could brake chains, yes." He answered.

"Great. Rapunzel, go with him and free the others. Meanwhile, I'll open the doors."

"Of course." She answered and Elsa didn't waste a second more before running towards the next door and the one after that, opening all of them but not actually checking to see who was in each, leaving that to Rapunzel and the boy. Until she arrived to the last door, the one she had been in.

The blonde opened the door with shaky hands and peeked inside, noticing to her relief that Mildri was just where she had left her, and even if at first she seemed a little scared, like the others. As soon as she recognized Elsa, she smiled widely at her.

"You came back!" She screamed happily as she ran and hug her legs, Elsa quickly bending down to somewhat hug her, despite their awkward position and the huge height difference.

"Of course I did. I promised, didn't I?" Elsa answered, smiling. "Now, come on, we have to get out of here before Weselton's men find out." The little girl nodded before letting Elsa carry her as she walked to where she had left Rapunzel, seeing that most of the prisoners were already free, the last ones being now helped by others. She noticed the majority of them were kids (and the rest teenagers), and that made her heart ache, but she decided there was no time to feel sorry. They had to escape.

"Punz, how is it all going?" Elsa asked to her friend.

"Great, we're actually all free now. "

"That's good, we should get going."

"Yes, of course. Let's go."

Rapunzel then called for them and they all followed her upstairs, to the labs, and the powers of many of them were pretty useful when taking care of the guards. They also destroying Weselton's files (after all, none of them wanted the knowledge of their powers to be spread once they got out, specially Rapunzel). However, when they were only a few meters from the doors that'd lead them to the parking lot and (probably) their freedom, Mildri spoke.

"Wait!" She said, making Elsa stop abruptly and try to look at her face, which was facing behind her.

"What is it?" Elsa asked worried.

"Can you go back? Please?"

"Uh…" Elsa doubted it for a moment, not wanting to expose them to danger, but figured a little stop wouldn't do much bad, right? So she turned to Rapunzel. "Go ahead, I'll catch up."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "We could wait if you…"

"No, it's fine, we won't take long." The brunette looked at her concerned for a moment, and was probably about to argue when Elsa turned around to where the child had pointed, not giving her the chance to object.

The blonde then got into the door that had caught Mildri's attention, one that was slightly open. She pushed it so she could get inside, finding two men in white coats lying on the ground. However, that wasn't the most eye-catching thing in that room, nor where the tables filled with papers or the multiple lab instruments, but the magnificent white wings hanging from a wall. Elsa felt sharp pain in her heart, knowing immediately they must be Mildri's, confirming her suspicions when the girl turned around to be able to see them, her eyes showing sadness and melancholy.

"I-I'm sorry." Elsa said, blinking away her tears, but Mildri didn't seem to hear her, too mesmerized with the sight.

"Do you think… they'd work If you put them on me?" She asked, and Elsa was very tempted to say yes, but knew she shouldn't lie in this case, because it wouldn't really save her the pain, it'd only intensify it, as well as her disappointment.

"No." Elsa felt a knot on her throat. "Sorry."

"Could you get closer?" Mildri asked, as if she was already expecting that answer but had decided to ask anyways. Elsa obeyed, figuring it would be no harm on it, and marveling at how each feather seemed to shine in different colors as she moved, just like the girl's hair. This only made the crime much more horrible.

Once they were standing directly in front of the wings, Mildri extended her little arm and softly caressed the feathers, her eyes shining with wonder, but also sadness.

"Do you think I could take one?" The girl asked.

"Of course." Elsa wasn't able to deny her that little request, not that she wanted to. Mildri nodded and pulled a particularly long feather, then holding it close to her chest, finally letting tears fall. "Hey, it's okay. It's in the past." Elsa tried to comfort her, to which she answered hugging her close and resting her head in the crook of her neck, sobbing quietly. "It's okay." Elsa repeated, rubbing soothing circles in her back, even if she also wanted to break down crying. But she had to be strong. She had to get them both out of there alive, so she swallowed her tears and walked out of the lab.

"Hello again, Elsa." Elsa looked up, feeling a chill run down her spine, as she saw Weselton waiting for her outside, in the hall where all the ones she had freed had somehow fallen asleep, including Rapunzel. She was alone with the source of her nightmares, as well as another man, thin and pale, with heavy bags under his eyes, but looking at her with so much hatred, it gave her goo sebumps. "And please greet my ultimate weapon: The Psychic."