Chapter One: Snow White pt. 1

"Now, every time you look in the mirror, you think about just how powerless you really are…"

Merida gasped as she sat up in bed from the nightmare as he alarm went off. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around her, and gasped at the unfamiliarity of the place. Then she remembered. This was her apartment. Her brand new apartment in San Diego. And she was about to start her new job in…

…an hour!

Jumping out excitedly she raced to put on a pair of stretchy and comfortable dress slacks, a grey blouse, and a pair of flats. She packed a pair of tennis shoes and hiking boots in her already stuffed full duffle bag. She looked herself over in the mirror in the bathroom again, let out a content sigh, and took off out the door.

Stopping at a drive-through for coffee and a sausage and egg biscuit before parking at the San Diego FBI office. Humming happily, she skipped into the tall building, and examined her surrounding before walking up to the desk.

"Excuse me?"

The receptionist, a pudgy man with balding hair and a big nose smiled at her. "Yes? May I help you?"

"I'm Merida Dumbroch, a new recruit," she stated, grinning.

"Well welcome aboard! Okey-Dokey, let me see," the receptionist began typing on a computer. "Dumbroch…Dumbroch…Dumbroch…Dumbro-Ah, yes! You're with-Oh, you're with Ice Queen," the receptionist chuckled.

Merida raised an eyebrow. "Ice Queen?"

"Elsa Arendelle. We call her 'Ice Queen,' she has a bit of a reputation as you can tell. But don't worry, she's actually really nice when you get to know her. I'm Olaf, by the way," he extended his hand. Merida shook it, smiling.

"Nice to meet you."

"And you. Agent Arendelle's team is on the third floor, you better go on and head up. Agent Arendelle doesn't like tardiness."

Merida nodded as she headed towards the elevator. As she rode up to the third floor she rocked excitedly on her heels. Here she was, she made it to the FBI. This is what she wanted to do since she was 17 years old, now she was here! Yeah, she was a little nervous, especially given her brief intro to "Ice Queen." Still, she was ready to go!

The elevator doors opened and Merida stepped into a giant room with several desks lined in two straight lines in the middle. A giant monitor hung on the back room and was currently showing the news. Vending machines lined the right wall, and a young woman with a thick blond braid was buying a granola bar.

On the left wall there was a balcony that lead to a set of double doors and beneath the balcony was the opening to a hallway. Merida took in a deep breath. It smelled like an office, but in a good way. It smelled like a busy office, not stuffy like the office her mother and her event coordinator colleagues worked in.

"So, you think you can…" A tall, well-trimmed man with dark brown hair was hovered over the desk of a thin man with wavy auburn hair and a pair of square glasses.

"I am not hacking into anything for you, Eugene."

"Aw, c'mon. Just a teensy weensy hack? No one will know."

"No!"

"Ahem," Merida called.

"Well, hello there!" the well-trimmed man with the goatee answered as he extended his hand. "You must be the new girl. I'm Special Agent Eugene Fitzherbert. And you are…?"

"Merida. Merida Dumbroch."

"Well, Merida, since I am the first to make your acquaintance, allow me to give you the tour!"

"Don't get too friendly, you got a hot date tonight, remember?" The man with the glasses called.

"Don't mother me, Hiccup," Eugene snapped playfully as he began. "This is my desk, and this is me," he gestured to himself with slight bow, causing Merida to smirk slightly. "And this is," Eugene moved to the desk across from his where the guy in the glasses sat. "This is Hiccup's Desk-"

"Hiccup?" Merida asked.

"Don't worry," he answered, green eyes sparkling. "You'll get a nickname here soon enough."

"Harrison Haddock, or as we call him, Hiccup, is a Special Agent, Intelligent Analysts, Cyber Forensics Technician, Fingerprint Analyst, and a terrific Hacker. He's basically a jack-of-all-trades. And speaking of Jack, over here…"

Eugene moved to the desk next to his, where a platinum blond headed man sat with his feet propped up on the desk, playing on his phone. "We have Jack's desk, and Special Agent Jack Frost-I mean-Overland!"

"Again, everyone gets a nick name around here," Hiccup called from his desk. "Jack, wake up!"

"Huh?" Jack picked up his head from his game and looked around. "Oh, hey, new girl, right?"

Merida smiled. "Yup. I'm Merida."

"Jack," Jack shook her hand.

"Moving on, over here," Eugene slid smoothly, and spun around as he leaned on the desk across from Jack's, trying to look smooth.

"This would be the desk of Kristoff, and-ouch!"

A burly blond man whacked Eugene on the hand with a ruler. "I need those files."

Eugene picked up his hand, rubbing it with an offended look on his face. "This is Special Agent Kristoff Bjorgman. He is also a combat expert, he can break your neck with his little finger. So play nice."

"Or just not play and work while we're at, y'know, work?" Kristoff asked.

Eugene frowned at him. "Yeah. We call him The Troll, and I think you can see why. Moving on!"

He slid again to the desk next to Jack's where the blond woman from the vending machine earlier sat, munching on her granola bar and tapping on her laptop keyboard.

"This is the desk of Astrid, and seated we have the lovely, soon-to-no-longer-be-sole-woman-of-the-special-agent-floor, Special Agent and Weapons Specialist, Astrid Hofferson."

Astrid looked up, smiled, and extended her hand. "Hey."

"Hi, good to meet you," Merida answered as she shook her hand. "And what's your nickname since everyone apparently has one?"

"Scary," Astrid chuckled as she went back to typing on the computer. Merida chuckled.

"Yeah, if you think she's kidding, she's not. We really do call her 'Scary.'"

Astrid pointed her finger at Eugene and pretended to shoot a gun at him as she typed.

The sound of chattering women came from the hallway under the balcony. Three women: a blond with a long braid and flower headband, a red-head with her hair in two pigtails, and a brunette with pixie cut, and teal and purple highlights.

"Ah, and right on cue, Merida. Dumbroch. Merida of the Dumbroch, I give you the Lab Gals! Rapunzel, Anna, and Toothiana!"

"Alright, what are you're real names?" Merida asked.

"Well, mine is really Anna," the ginger said. "But you may hear some people calling be Baby because when I was hired I was the youngest person to ever join this team."

"And my name is really Sunny," the blond continued. "But I think you can see why they call me Rapunzel," she gestured to her long yellow hair.

"And I'm Tatiana," the brunette continued. "But I…um…" the Lab Gals began to chuckle. "I had eight wisdom teeth when I was a kid so they nicknamed me 'Tooth'iana."

"Oh," Merida raised an eyebrow at the odd story. "Um, okay."

"I see the new girl has arrived," a regal sounding voice boomed from the balcony. Merida looked up and saw a tall woman with a platinum blond bun dressed in a navy blue pants suit. Merida ran towards the steps to meet her. The woman walked down and met her at the bottom.

"I'm Special Agent Elsa Arendelle, leader of this team, you must be Merida."

"I am," Merida held out her hand. "Glad to meet you."

Elsa sized her up as they shook hands. "Strong handshake," she said. "You look eager to start your job." Elsa pulled a briefcase out from behind her and walked to an empty desk across from Astrid and set the briefcase on top of it.

"I assume you've already figured out that this is your desk," Elsa said as she popped the briefcase open and began handing things to Merida. "Gun. Hat. Jacket. And of course, badge."

Merida ran her thumb of the badge, shivering as the cold metal. This was real. She'd really made it!

"Don't lose it," Elsa cautioned as she closed up the briefcase and pulled it off the desk. Merida strapped the badge to her belt, along with her gun, and set her hat on her head before dropping her briefcase on the desk.

"I would say make yourself at home, but you don't have time." Elsa said, before turning to the rest of the team. "We've got a Missing Person, 15-year-old girl. Let's go!"

Everyone stood began gathering their things, and headed out the door. Merida pulled her tennis shoes out of the bag and swapped them over for her flats.

"Let's go, rookie!" Eugene called as they headed out. Merida skipped after them, changing shoes all the way.