The escape out the castle was far more eventful than breaking in. For one, Elsa had managed to alert every single Sentinel by improperly destroying the others' communicators. For the other, she was currently dragging another person behind her who seemed to be extremely identifiable as someone who should not be dragged out of a library by anyone. The only useful functions the alarms seemed to serve was to freak out and disorient any enemy, and Elsa was not happy to admit that it was working.

She held the other girl tightly in her grip as she tore through the castle, blurs of black and the grey of the standard-issue prison garb. There was a whole team of Sentinels after her, and she thanked the Gods that at least the girl seemed to be important enough for the Sentinels to avoid trying to attack her through long-range methods. Pulling out a magneto-cuff from one of the many and various pockets of her jumpsuit, Elsa wrapped it around their hands, keeping them connected, and allowing her to focus more fully on getting out with her life.

Never before had she so royally screwed up a mission. Ever. This was the reason why she never had joined OLAF; too many things could go wrong when you had to rely on other people. If it was just her and Kristoff, that was fine. He could be trusted, and they had a constant communication. This time, she had been relying on the blind faith that everyone had done their own job. A faith that had, obviously, been misplaced.

Rounding a corner, she noticed a door slightly ajar. Running towards it, the girl panting behind her, Elsa shut it softly as soon as they both where inside. It seemed to be a small storage cupboard of some description, but without any lights, and unwilling to activate her Impulse for the Sentinels to hone in on, she wasn't able to see much.

What she could see took her breath away.

Despite the baggy clothing, the girl was definitely not so much a girl as she was a woman, and a very pretty one at that. A flame of red hair sat atop a face willed with a galaxy of freckles, with a button nose and eyes calm enough to storm even the angriest of oceans.

"What are you doing?" the girl asked. Elsa's eyes widened and she clapped a gloved hand over the girl's lips.

"Shut up!" she hissed. "Or you're going to get us killed." Also you have a very lovely voice and I can't concentrate with you breathing let alone talking. And yes I know there are very loud alarms but even they won't hide us for long if you practically scream- no, don't finish that thought.

The red-head took a breath and Elsa knew she had gotten the message. Slowly, she lowered her hand.

"What's your name?" she asked, voice as low as she could possibly make it. Which was supposed to be quiet, dammit, not husky. There was a time and a place, and a storage cupboard in Castle Arendelle during an escape with a former prisoner was neither.

The girl finally answered, after Elsa'd had more than enough time to mentally berate herself. "A-Anna," she stuttered softly.

"Anna, my name is Elsa. I need you to tell me what the best way out of this place is so we can get out of here, okay?"

The girl shook her head, a motion that could be detected easily in the stillness. "I don't- I don't know where we are. I've never- they never took me down this hallway before. I swear!"

Elsa slapped her hand over the girl's mouth again at the sudden increase in noise, but this time, Anna was prepared. It had been there for only a few moments before she felt a sharp pain and jerked away.

"Fuck!" she cried, surging forward and pressing her forearm against the girl's neck, trapping her. Elsa could feel her quivering. Her hand ached and she could feel the wool of her glove scraping against the new wound. "What the fuck?" she hissed. "You bit me!"

Taking a breath, Elsa shut her eyes. It was obvious that the girl was terrified, but it was also obvious that she was lying. The light streaming in from under the door illuminated next to nothing, but Elsa could still make out the way the girl's hands clenched, how her eyes never stayed on one spot.

"Look, I just need to get out of here. Please."

The girl was silent for a moment before she whispered, "Why are you here?"

Elsa pursed her lips. She needed the girl to trust her and telling her that she had been sent to kill someone wouldn't help at all. Then again, this girl was a prisoner too, so maybe she wouldn't are so much? Elsa didn't want to lie to the girl. That required planning and forethought and never worked because Elsa knew she was a shit liar anyway. The girl was terrified and if she discovered any kind of ruse (likely from Sentinels who didn't know when to keep their damn mouths shut) it would make it even harder to get out. Dammit, and this was supposed to be easy!

… Then again, the plan to get out of here had been 'back the way you came, Snow Queen, because the trail should still be clear'. That didn't happen, and now she was hopelessly lost, relying on the person she believed to be her target to guide the way.

"I got lost," she ended up saying, not quite sure how to phrase it. "I got lost."

The girl nodded for a moment before saying, in a small voice, "I'll help. Just please, take me with you."

And how could Elsa say no? If she did one good thing in her life, let it be this.

"I swear," she said, "that I'll do everything I can."

The girl bit her lip, worrying it visibly even in the near-darkness. The sound of footsteps began to echo down the hallway, and Elsa instinctively straightened, pressing herself against the wall. Unfortunately, there just so happened to be another person in that space. The other girl, contrary to her actions earlier (and Elsa's expectations now), said nothing.

Her eyes were wide, body pressed against Elsa's in a deliciously warm way, and she almost shivered at the sensation.

Just before she could step back, Anna's hands came to rest on her hips, neither holding her nor pushing her away. Well, not explicitly.

Without her consent, Elsa's own hands moved up, fingers digging gently into Anna's waist. The sound of the Sentinels grew closer, and barely aware of her own body in the small space, Elsa found herself moving ever-closer, until they were sharing the same air.

"I thought I'd be stuck here forever," Anna breathed out, her words barely a puff of air between them. She moved her head closer, arms up, until she was resting in a full-body hug with her would-be saviour.

"Elsa…" Anna murmured, a thankful sound that had the blonde's body heating up in ways she never imagined (and certainly not in a storage cupboard on enemy territory, no less). Anna's hand kept moving upward, and she moved her face to look into the eyes of the blonde woman. She could feel Elsa's warm breath wash over her in little bursts, and she leaned forward a little, almost desperate to touch the woman in front of her; desperate to hold her and convince the both of them that everything was okay and real.

Even that small space between them began to decrease as Elsa leaned forward; even in the almost-darkness, it was impossible to mistake her intentions. Not when the blonde licked her lips, eyes glued to Anna's as her fingers dug in even further. Neither had thought it possible to decrease the distance between their bodies, but suddenly the pressure of the wall against Anna's back was met almost equally by Elsa pressing to her front. She had to stop and swallow the gratuitous groan that wanted to burst forth at the leather-jumpsuit-clad blonde because fuck.

Anna closed her eyes, unable to take the sight of Elsa so close and yet not close enough, patiently waiting for the single moment their lips would meet. It had been so long, after all, stuck in here.

That moment never came.

The sirens that had become mere background noise died away, leaving the two girls in an almost unnerving amount of complete silence. And though Anna was expecting it, she still couldn't help the bubble of disappointment that rose when Els jumped back, clearing her throat. They spent the next few seconds looking at each other through the gloom of the cupboard until Anna finally gained the courage to speak.

"So… escape?" she asked, a small grin forced onto her face.

The tension seemed to leave Elsa almost straight away, and she gave a pathetic smile of her own. "Escape."

Everything else could wait. They could talk about it later. Or never. Never worked well, too.

As the red-head moved to the door and peeked out, shooting Elsa a more genuine smile from the corner of her face, the blonde gave a mental sigh. She had the strangest feeling that things were going to change.

And for some reason… she didn't mind so much…