Chapter 45

A/N: So life update, I'm graduating next week. That's pretty crazy. But I've been stretched thin trying to square everything away before I do, and it's really cut into my writing time. And honestly right now my brain is not liking me.

All this to say that I'm gonna take a little break again, not a hiatus like last time, just…maybe a couple weeks so that I can recharge and recuperate. But not until I put out one more chapter. Thanks for being patient y'all, I plan on finishing this story before Frozen 2 comes out.

Anna knew she should have listened to Rapunzel when she said all the crazy people came out at night; because she now found herself driving to some place in North Arendelle, as a hooded figure wearing all black pointed a gun at the back of her head.

She's terrified for very obvious reasons, especially when they tell her in a gruff, baritone voice that they're not going to kill her- which she finds hard to believe. Nonetheless, she does what she's told.

The drive is silent save for Anna trying to catch her breath and trying to ask questions- like who they were and where they were going- only to get more silence as a response. When she isn't trying to get an answer out of them, she's searching the streets for any cop cars to no avail. Which soured her current opinion on the justice department.

She was all alone with her executor, getting lonelier with every mile.

Finally they make it, wherever it is. From the rear-view mirror, she sees her captor gesture the gun towards her door and she opens it as they follow suit.

More and more questions filled her mind with each careful step she took. Like why were they doing this? Were they delivering her to somebody? Like Hans? Was she going to die? And if she was going to die, why was it going to be at a gym in the middle of nowhere?

None of these questions were answered, and none of them were asked in the first place. Anna kept her hands neutrally by her side- unsure of whether they should have been behind her head or up in the air because the masked person still wasn't saying anything- and walked forward. The windows were too dark to make out if anyone was inside or not.

As they neared the front door, Anna couldn't help but think about her life choices up to this point. All the good memories and bad, all the accomplishments and regrets, but above all those things she kept thinking about Elsa.

She regretted the way they ended their last conversation, due to her stupid anger she was deprived of saying to Elsa that she loved her one last time. And now she was most likely going to die, alone and regretful. And fit, on the off chance that they make her do a full workout before shooting her.

When they got to the front door, Anna braced herself for the worst. Whatever was going to happen, she was just going to have to accept her fate. "I'm sorry, Elsa." she said under her breath, hoping that those words somehow reached the woman she loved. And then the gunman opened the door.

They pushed her inside, but didn't follow her in. Instead, they tucked the gun behind their pants and pulled off the mask to reveal a vaguely familiar man with a scar under his cheek and a face permanently stuck in a scowl.

"She's waiting by the treadmills." He said in a voice that was still booming and formidable even through the glass door.

"Who?" Anna asked, wondering what woman she had pissed off badly enough to get her here. But he didn't answer, he just stepped away until the cover of darkness engulfed him.

"Well then…fine mess we've gotten ourselves into, Anna Dawson." she said with a nervous laugh. With no other leads, and still no one to greet her, she walked further into the gym to meet this mystery woman.

There's light, poppy background music coming from the stereos above, but they do nothing to ease her mind. With each careful step towards the treadmills, Anna continues to rack her brain trying to figure out what the heck is going on. She thinks about running out of there and booking it as fast as she could to her car, but there's no telling where that gunman slid off to.

Besides, amidst the panic and fear, she was also a little bit curious. So, she kept moving.

Step by tentative step.

Finally, she reached the treadmill area of the gym and sees a figure in a black hoodie and sweatpants sitting at one of them, head hung low and arms resting on her knees. Anna must have missed the memo on the all-black dress code.

"A-are you the person I'm supposed to see?" Anna asks cautiously.

No response, although she sees the hood move slightly and a quiet noise coming from it. Is she talking to herself?

"Hello? Your henchman or whatever brought me here." Anna moves a couple steps closer to take a closer look, hoping that she doesn't pounce on her. "Did I do something? And also who are you?"

All of a sudden the hooded figure stands up, and walks slowly towards Anna. But she doesn't stab her or slit her throat or bite her head off; she simply takes off her hood, which causes Anna's eyes to grow wide.

"Hey babe." Elsa says with a shaky smile.

Elsa doesn't know what to expect when Anna sees her again. Personally, she's elated to be reunited with her girlfriend all this time, but it doesn't seem to be the case for the redhead.

And if Anna's expression, which goes from shocked to slightly happy to angry in a matter of seconds, doesn't prove that, then the slap that she delivers across Elsa's face definitely does.

She's taken aback by it, slightly by the suddenness of it but mostly by the force, and rubs her cheek as the sting starts to settle in. "I deserved that."

But Anna doesn't stop there, she advances towards the blonde who's left to wonder if she's going to hit her some more or kiss her. The sudden pounding on her chest and arms with the sides of Anna's fists suggests the former.

"You *smack* little *smack* punk! *smack* How could you- *smack* why did- *smack* where have you been?!"

"Anna if you- ow- if you could- ow- stop hitting me for- ow- two seconds then- ow- alright that's enough."

Elsa grabbed Anna's wrists and did her best to steady them as they now tried to aim at her face. Even though these hits were well deserved, she knew that she wouldn't be able to say her piece if Anna kept hitting her.

However, it didn't seem like the redhead was getting the message.

"No!" Anna exclaims while she squirms, "You leave me in the dark for a week, stop telling me things, and then think it's a good idea to kidnap me?! Have you lost your mind?!"

"I know what I did was stupid, but if you could just let me explain what happened-"

"You lost that chance when you pulled a gun on me!" She continued to struggle and get her arms free, but Elsa held her steady.

"It wasn't even real, it was a water gun." Elsa explained, "Now stop squirming and- stop squirming and let me- Anna listen to me!"

"What?!"

In the struggle, the two had gotten closer than they were before. They stood nose to nose now, and the anger that was on Anna's face, and the sternness that was on Elsa's, both disappeared. All they saw in each other now was the woman they had waited too long to be reunited with.

And they kiss.

Anna doesn't want to enjoy it, she really doesn't want to, but damn if Elsa isn't so good at turning her into a puddle. She melts into the kiss, settling into her girlfriend's arms as the hands on her wrists let go wrap around her waist.

They stay that way for many long seconds, enjoying each other's company for the first time since their last kiss. And in that time all the anger between them, the frustration, the long nights without each other, and the long days without any substantial contact...

Everything's okay, everything is finally okay. They're together now, and all the dark clouds have floated away, and now everything is okay.

Except...except it's not.

As they kiss, and she feels a tear roll down her cheek, Anna realizes that everything isn't okay.

She pulls back in order to wipe the tear away and try and figure out what in the world is happening, and that's when she sees Elsa crying too. They embrace once more and just let the tears pour out. For weeks they'd been separated, and yes they do have things they need to talk about, but for now all that's important is that they have each other.

After some time Anna pulls away even though she doesn't want to, knowing that the more they hugged the less they talked. "What's going on?" She finally asks hoarsely.

"I...I'm so sorry, Anna." Elsa replies. "I'm so sorry for hurting you like this, I really didn't mean to, I-I was just trying to protect you from…"

"Shh, it's okay. It's okay, love." Her hands are still on the blonde's shoulders and she strokes them gently. "I know you were, I know you were trying to protect me from...whatever it is that's going on. But you don't have to, I can take care of myself. I was on that same lacrosse team with you, remember?"

"Of course I remember." Elsa smiles sadly, "You were my partner, I did so much better when you were on the field."

"Then you know that whatever we do, we do together." Anna smiles too, but it's an assuring one. "None of this lone wolf business, partner."

"I know you are, and that's…" She takes a deep breath, "...that's why I brought you here. I used some pretty extreme measures- I apologize for that, by the way- but I couldn't stand not telling you what was going. I just needed some place that I know Hans wouldn't have eyes on."

"Wait, eyes? What are you talking about?"

Elsa bites her lip, "He's...watching you, Anna. Hans tapped into the surveillance camera at your bakery, and probably put a camera in your apartment too. I didn't want to risk telling you anything, whether it was in person or through the phone, because he threatened to kill you if I spoke."

"My apartment? Eww, that means he's seen me naked!"

"What? Anna do you...walk around your apartment naked?"

Anna hesitates, "That-that's not important. So you don't think that he's watching this place too?"

When Elsa shakes her head, Anna thinks there might be some pinkness in her cheeks. "Not a chance. There are no cameras in here, I recently had tinted glass put in place for the windows, and I pay the employees extra for their silence- and to keep this place open late at night of course."

"Wow you really thought this through, huh?"

"Of course I did. I'm Elsa Andersen, CEO of the best performing company in ten years." The blonde straightened and slightly turned up her nose when she said that, and for a moment you'd forget that she still looked like a jaded college senior.

Surprisingly, Anna found the change in demeanor very attractive. She made a mental note to follow up on that later and rolled her eyes, "You're a dork."

Elsa broke from her pose and giggled, "I try."

Anna feels a sudden wave of joy crash over her and she pulls her girlfriend in for another kiss, placing her arms lazily Elsa's shoulders. All was right in their world, but she knew that wouldn't be the case once they left through those doors. It was going to take some cunning and perseverance to take Hans down, but at least they could finally do it together.

She smiled, "So what's the plan, Ms. Andersen?"

Surprisingly, Elsa found that formal addressing very attractive. She made a mental note to follow up on that later.

The way the two were positioned right now, with Anna's arms on her shoulders and her hands on Anna's hips, it was as if they were in the middle of a dance. Subconsciously, they both began to sway as if they were. It was oddly enough one of their most romantic moments.

Elsa continued while they danced under the fluorescent lights and lack of music, "Well...Hans is smart. Way too smart for his own good, and he thinks he always has the high ground regardless of the situation. But thankfully for us he's arrogant and aggressive, which makes him reckless."

It was odd saying that it was good that Hans was aggressive, but once Elsa had broken free from his control, she was seeing everything with fresh eyes. And eyes were a huge part of the plan.

"The first thing we need to do is to divert his attention away from the bakery, make sure he isn't keeping such a watchful eye on you."

"Won't he notice when he suddenly doesn't have access to the cameras?" Anna questioned.

"Only if we shut him out completely, if we intercut the live feed with some looped footage from the bakery he shouldn't suspect anything. And after that's taken care of, we have to get eyes on him too. We'll see how that creep feels when he's being spied on, and plus it'll finally give us some evidence of his misdeeds."

"And how would we do that?"

"Well if we could, I'd suggest planting bugs in his office in Corona, but that's way too risky. So we'd have to do it at Oaken's school. And Anna I hate to ask you to do this, but if he sees me step another foot at that school then-"

"I'll do it, I'll put up the cameras and everything." Anna interrupts, her face is steeled and confident.

"A-are you sure?" Elsa asks with wide eyes.

"I told you that we're gonna do this together, remember? Besides, I think it's time that I visit Oaken too. I'll make sure to keep an eye out for Hans and try to avoid him as much as possible, I have some experience being all sneaky and stuff."

That's true, after all if it wasn't for Anna hiding from Flynn and overhearing his conversation, she wouldn't even have a job right now. But it was still risky, and she couldn't help but be worried. "Okay...but Marshall's coming with you. If Hans is there too, it'll be good for you to have some protection."

Anna huffed, "Fine, but he better not pull a gun on me again."

"He won't." Elsa grinned and did her best to stifle a laugh. "Trust me."

"Well it sounds like a plan, and I'm on board, but do you know how to do all these things you're talking about. I mean I know we haven't seen each other in four years, did you learn how to do all this spy stuff since then."

Dang, she was really hoping Anna wouldn't ask that. She bit her lip as they both stopped swaying, "Er...no. No I didn't."

"Then how are we going to set this all up? And get all the equipment?"

"..."

"Elsa?"

The blonde sighed, "I know someone that can help, but you're not gonna like it."