SURPRISE! Why one day early? BECAUSE I CAN, THAT'S WHY!
Elsa was annoyed. Which wasn't exactly a surprise - she was often annoyed. She was annoyed at a lot of things that morning - more specifically, she was annoyed at the fact that Megara had smacked her awake at 6:30 in the morning. She stumbled beside the woman, listening as she went on and on about her current mission assignment. Another thing to be annoyed about: Her best friend having a mission. While she didn't. She hadn't had a solid mission for almost two months; a record for her.
"Starkmen, the little shit-head, left me no choice after that - I had to bring out the big guns. So, after a shot or two with my glock 20, I snatched up a hunting knife -" She paused in her tale, thinking for a moment, "Buck, I think - and then I slit-"
"That's great Meg, but not before breakfast, please." Elsa cut her off with a sigh. As much as she loved Meg's mission tales, she didn't exactly adore her friends vulgar vocabulary. Her friend huffed in response as they stepped into the mess hall.
The mess hall was a monstrously large room, with high, glass ceilings, and hundreds of glass tables. Around almost all of them, agents lingered and talked excitedly. The smell of salty bacon clung to the inside of Elsa's nose and made her mouth water. Her stomach growled so loud she could've sworn it rippled. Megara headed off in the complete opposite direction of their normal table, pulling Elsa behind her.
"All the way!" Hercules chanted, as Jack pushed another banana down his throat. Megara, who happened to be his longtime girlfriend smacked his arm as she settled beside him. Elsa begrudgingly slid down next to her best friend.
"Good gods, Herc," she scoffed, "enough with that." He smiled in response, pecking Meg on the lips.
"Hey Elsa." He acknowledged the blonde girl with an awkward smile. Elsa grinned lightly in response. Jack looked up from what must have been his fourth banana since they had sat down, and frowned.
"Why's she here?" He growled, disdain clouding his eyes. Elsa just sent him a sarcastic smile and wiggled her fingers in greeting.
"Whatever." He mumbled angrily, looking back down at his fruit. Elsa rolled her eyes and caught a flash of red hair as it tumbled into the seat beside her.
"I see the party moved here this morning." Anna laughed as she straightened herself in her chair, smoothing her wild bedhead. Anna had been at the agency as long as Elsa had, and the two had grown up thick as thieves. Meg, on the other hand, had been there since Elsa was ten. The first time they had met was when Meg had drugged Jack's water bottle with laxatives during training. The two had been best friends ever since. Sure, all three of them had had plenty of fights and arguments, but always came out closer in the end.
"Yeah. Woop woop. Party hard." Kristoff said sarcastically, from his seat next to Jack.
Just then, an alarmingly small woman with a bobbed haircut swooped up behind Jack's chair, and rapidly yanked it from underneath him. A noise of surprise escaped his lips as he slammed into the marble that coated the floor.
"Edna!" Elsa exclaimed warmly, a smile crossing her features. Edna looked up at Elsa and smiled impishly.
"Dahhhhling." She said in greeting, going to take Elsa's hand and kiss it ceremoniously. Jack rolled his eyes. "You've been called by Director North. Congratulations - you have a case."
Elsa felt her heart stop in her chest. Finally! Megara clapped sarcastically.
"Right then! I'll see you at lunch!" Elsa sang, standing from her chair. Jack stood too, snatching the chair from Edna and sitting back down on it. As soon as he did, he was walloped in the head with a newspaper.
"You too, idiot!" She snapped. He shot her a glare, which she returned with just as much force. Jack was the only one in the building, it seemed, who wasn't scared of Edna.
"Fine." He growled, standing abruptly and following Elsa and Edna from the room. They strolled down the hallways, and he watched as they turned down a completely black marble hallway. Edna knocked on a heavy oak door four times, and it swung open to reveal North, lounged unimpressively on his chair. His head was tilted to the side, a small stream of drool drowning his beard.
"Erm... Director?" North's head shot up, and he grinned at the two.
"Agents. Please, take a seat." One beefy hand shot up to wipe away the slobber. Elsa settled into her chair, Jack sitting, rather uncomfortably, next to her. The director reached over and grabbed one vanilla folder, grasping it in his large hands.
"Well?" Jack asked, extending his hand for the folder. The director said nothing, and only let his eyes flick back and forth between the two. An awkward, forced smile was torn into his slightly worn face.
As Elsa stared at the file, and the increasingly awkward smile that seemed to burn the director's face. Suddenly, Jack shot up in realization.
"No." He said. Just then, it clicked for Elsa; he wanted them to-
"Absolutely not!" Elsa roared. "How do you expect me to work with that uncultured swine?"
"Agents, please, allow me to explain." North pleaded. "You two are our company's best agents - we need both of your brilliant minds out there to crack this one."
"Just send me, North." Jack smirked, snatching the folder from the man and flipping it open, scanning the sheets. "Yes, this definitely looks like a man's job." Jack concluded.
"Excuse me?" Elsa snapped, grabbing the folder from Jack and sending his chair down with a sharp kick. "I haven't had a case in months! And besides, why should he give it to you if it's a man's job?"
"Because I'm clearly more of a man then anyone in this building!" Jack snarled, standing up angrily and glaring down at Elsa, who remained in her chair.
"Agents-" North sighed.
"Oh yes, clearly," Elsa drawled dramatically, "which explains why Hercules literally threw you off the side of a building during conditioning last week."
"I had my guard down! Why won't you guys just let that go?!" He exclaimed.
"Agents-" North began again, this time looking much more frustrated.
"Let it go? Just like you did with So-"
"Enough!" North shouted, slamming his fists down on the desk. It was too late. Jack's expression was unreadable, but Elsa could almost smell the fury radiating off of him.
"You know what North?" Jack began softly, his eyes as hard as diamonds, "This isn't a man's case. This is a bitch's case. A cold-hearted, stupid, bitch. But where could we find one of those?" He began in mock thought. "Perhaps someone who, say, lost their boyfriend to their closest friend, only because she couldn't put out?" He hissed. "Or maybe someone who tried to drown a four year old in an icy lake? Hell, maybe even both." He suggested cooly. Elsa was silent. She felt her hands clamp up and pain began to tear itself from where it was shoved down deep inside of her. She forced in back down, swallowing it like bile from an upset stomach.
North cleared his throat. "I'll have individual copies of the folders sent up to your rooms now." He said awkwardly.
"Don't bother." Elsa said quietly, as she stood up.
"Elsa," North pleaded to her retreating back. "The lives of over a hundred children are at stake."
"Even more of a reason not to send me." She hissed, slamming the heavy wooden doors behind her. Jack turned back to North, and tried to hand him the copy. North just shook his head.
"Keep it. Read it." He sighed, turning back to his computer and sliding on his glasses, beginning to type away. Jack left without a word.
~X~
Elsa slid her glasses off of her face, and rubbed her eyes. Outside, the twinkling pinpricks of stars were just starting to poke through the deep, violet sky. The artificial light from the overhead that hung over the kitchen table seemed to burn into her skull as she blinked. Anna slid her a mug of tea.
"So, you wanna do the case?" Anna asked, squeezing her arm reassuringly. Elsa shrugged.
"Not sure. I mean, it'll be one of the greatest cases of my life to be honest. One HUNDRED and SIXTEEN children Anna - just, gone!" She looked down at the papers before her in amazement. "It's... insane, to be frank. I'd take the case, but let's face it," She chuckled darkly, "I've never been good with kids."
"No, you haven't." Anna sighed, sipped from her mug. Elsa shot her a scowl.
"I say you take the case - just for, you know, shits and giggles." Meg smiled as she entered the room, settling herself at the table. Elsa still felt a jerk of pain from the argument she and Jack had had earlier, but ignored it, instead looking up at one of her greatest friends in the whole wide world, the closest thing she ever had to a family. "So what if it's with that son of a bitch? All three of us know you're a way better agent than he is - just ignore him, get the kids, and get out. No hard feelings, no arguments, no nothing. You're a professional, Elsa. Don't let some stupid feud that's been bursting at the seams for, what, 21 years, get in the way." Meg stole the cup from Anna, taking a sip before placing it back.
"I know I shouldn't, Meg, but he's just so aggravating." She hissed, taking a hard swallow of her tea - it burned on it's way down her throat. "Whatever. I'll email North back tonight - I'm taking this mission."
~X~
Across the hall, Jackson Overland rubbed the light stubble that now graced his chin. He stared down at the mission overview he held in his hands. Hercules slid him a beer, which he caught without looking up.
"What do you think, Jack? Will you take this case, which," Herc's tone became more and more dramatic, "May just be your toughest case yet?"
"Especially if I'll have to work with Elsa. What a little..." He just shook his head, stuffing his papers back into the folder. "Doesn't matter. I'll put the bitch in her place." He growled as he stalked off to his office.
"Atta boy!" Hercules called after him as he flipped on the television.
~X~
North looked at the two bleary-eyed agents sitting in front of him. "I'm assuming you've read all of the information in the packets?" They nodded. "So, let's recap - 116 children gone. Little to no evidence. Almost," the man peered at his watch, "36 hours ago. Roughly. No trace of the children." The agents nodded again.
"Right. What you haven't been, well, informed of yet, is your identities. As Mr. and Mrs. Frost."
Both of the agents were silent. Elsa cast a look at Jack, before looking back at North.
"Edna's already been working on the outfits. You two are 21 years old, having both graduated high school early and marrying right out of college. Elsa has received a job as the TA in the local high school, while Jack is the newest trainee police officer, and moonlights as a bartender. You own a dog, called," He smirked, "North. You both want children, but have decided to wait until you become financially stable." He slid a photo across the desk, along with a thick packet. "We've managed to score you a large house in the center of most of the kidnappings. Very..." He paused, thinking. "Nice area. Lot's of well-off, catholic folks. You both are heavily religious." He tossed Elsa a cross, which clattered in front of her. She still hadn't moved.
"This packet," he continued, "contains the names and addresses of all the kids who went missing. It also contains a list of some key witnesses and some of the folks you'll be needing to talk to." He stopped, looking up at the agents, eyebrow raised. "Questions, comments, concerns?"
"No sir." Elsa said, and slipped the cross around her neck.
"We're going to be married?" Jack spat in disbelief.
~X~
Elsa was annoyed. Perhaps it was that she would have to work with the man seated across from her in the sleek car that would drive them to the airport - maybe it was simply because he'd stolen shotgun. She slammed the car door behind he as she settled in to the sleek leather.
"They're going to murder each other." Meg mused as she watched the car pull away. Hercules just chuckled and kissed her head softly.
"Let's hope there wont be a lot of blood." Anna quipped as she tapped away on her phone.
'Please don't let me regret this.' North internally sobbed.
'Please.'
BOOM! ALL DONE! Good lordy people, I'm very excited for this story. FLAS in on a bit of a hiatus for now until I can actually churn out some good content. I care about quality, not quantity.
ANYWAYS, How did you like the story!? I hope you enjoyed it :) See you NEXT friday, and the EVERY FRIDAY AFTER for an update. The next chapter has already been written, and the third is underway. I CANT HARDLY WAIT! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember to review, and follow and favorite if you enjoyed it! Thank you sososoososssoso much for reading, and until next friday, my lovelies!
