A/N: Thank you to the people who've reviewed so far. They're very appreciated. :)

"Then man says, 'Thank you, Doctor. But have you no medicine other than vodka?'"

Anna burst out laughing. The other soldiers in her guard chuckled around the flickering light of the campfire, caught awkwardly between not understanding the joke and not wanting to offend the largest, most-hulking member of their party.

It'd been two days since they'd left Stralshagen. A kind farmer had let them camp in his barn for the night, and they'd managed to make themselves rather cozy despite the snow outside.

Anna had hoped that by heading south the storm would've lightened up a bit, but they seemed to be stuck in the dead middle of it now no matter which direction they headed. The wind was slightly in their favor, pushing them forward instead of back, but that was about the extent of their luck.

Although speaking of luck…

Anna leaned back and stared up at the rafters of the barn. She had no idea how much longer these sort of luxuries would last. Hans' map - or at least the vague directions he'd reluctantly divulged so far - would be leading them straight into the mountains soon.

The main object of their destination remained a mystery as well. Anna had tried to worm details out of the prince several times now with mild success. Apparently the "artifact" was some kind of glowing stone. The description seemed to satisfy the rest of her party for the time being, but not her.

He had to be hiding something still. She just… felt it.

There was a metallic clink from the corner. Anna glanced over to see the "hero" of this whole delusional crusade, his manacles twisted due to the haughty, cross-armed position he was trying to maintain as he sulked under the not-so-careful watch of his current guard. It'd quickly become a rotating duty that the men in her party now bartered chores to avoid doing.

"Now, Princess," came the deep, rumbly voice of Vladimir. "You tell joke."

"Oh! Me?" Anna said, snapping back to attention. Everyone's eyes were focused on her, and she blushed. "Umm… Haha, talk about being put on the spot! Okay, I've got one! So there's this ice harvester and he's the leader of his whole local ice harvesting operation thing. One of the new guys doesn't have a hat, so his ears get super cold. I'm talking frostbite levels cold. So the main ice harvester gives the new guy the warmest hat he has, and for awhile he feels really happy about it. You know, doing this good deed for one of his fellow workers. But soon the harvester notices the new guy isn't wearing his hat. He's confused since the guy seems as cold as ever, so he asks him why he isn't wearing it anymore. And the guy says—"

"Someone offered him lunch but he couldn't hear it because of the hat," Hans finished.

The whole party groaned. Anna shot Hans a dirty look. He returned it with a smirk and a shrug.

"What?" he said casually. "That's what happens when you pick such a common, stale joke."

"I swear," muttered a grey-haired guard. Rogir. "When he's not complaining, he's inventing completely new ways to be irritating."

"Well…" another guard, Caldwell, said as he glanced at the prince. "Since his mouth is the worst bit about him… we could always just gag him." The young man kept his face as innocent as possible, like he hadn't just suggested manhandling royalty.

All of them looked at each other before turning to Anna. She was the fellow royal and leader of the expedition.

To be quite honest, it was tempting… but she personally liked to think she was above such petty—

"You wouldn't dare," Hans said.

—and his fate was sealed.

"Could someone hand me a strip of cloth?" Anna asked with a sweet smile.

Her request was granted instantaneously.

She waltzed over to Hans. He attempted to stand as she approached, scowling in all his indignant pride, but was quickly yanked back down by his current guard.

"You'll regret this," Hans spat out.

"That a threat? Coming from the man in chains?"

"You and I both know I won't be in chains forever. Do this and I'll swear I'll…"

He trailed off as Anna leaned in close, gently cupping his chin and raising it until his eyes met her own. They stayed like that for several moments, Anna taking in every crystalline facet of his perfect face. Then she smiled.

"Oh, Hans," she said, slamming the makeshift gag through his teeth and quickly knotting it in the back. "If only there was someone out there who cared."

Life became so pleasant without Hans' constant snide commentary that the gag stayed on for the rest of the night and most of the next morning.

As their horses plodded forward with Maximus in the lead, Anna occasionally glanced back to see the young prince glaring at her from the back of their train. She was always sure to return his muffled scowls with a cheerful smile.

Alas, all good things inevitably came to an end.

It was slightly past noon when they reached the last of their given directions and were forced to ask Hans for the next set. After a brief elimination game, Vladimir was chosen to remove the gag. Hans coughed and spluttered for a good half minute and then sulked in silence, refusing to talk.

It was all very good and dramatic, but Anna was too tired from the journey to deal with his spoiled antics. Snow continued to fall, and her fingers had grown numb beneath her woolen gloves long ago.

"You know, for someone obsessed with constantly being the 'hero,' you're not even close to acting heroic right now," she said. "Even if you manage to help us bring summer back, we're only going to tell everyone how much of a whining baby you were about it."

"I have not been—!" He paused as he seemed to realize he was playing straight into Anna's comments, his pride quickly overtaking whatever personal slights he might have felt.

Instead they were left with silence again. Anna crossed her arms, waiting, but - whether it was out of stubbornness or contemplation - Hans didn't say a word.

Sitron pawed the snow beneath his rider, and Anna had to force herself from sighing in exasperation. Even imprisoned, the poor prince had been allowed to keep his precious horse-y worse-y. The more Anna continued to learn about Hans' punishment over the past two years, the more she found it a joke.

Not that room confinement was a walk in the park, but the sentence definitely lost its edge when said room was in a palace. True, now that she was on first name terms with Hans' brothers, Anna admitted that having to deal with them on a daily could possibly count as mild torture... but still. Palace.

They hadn't hadn't even moved him out of his usual room! It wasn't like the Southern Isles were lacking in prime dungeon real estate.

Okay.

Once again Anna had to grant the brothers some credit. Apparently Hans had been imprisoned in their dungeons for a grand total of one month… but one month! God! She'd been grounded as a kid for longer than that!

If Elsa had known about the arrangement, she probably would've kept him in the Arendelle dungeons, politics and diplomatic immunity be damned.

"We need to go south southeast for another half league until we reach a lakeshore," Hans finally said. "We'll follow that lakeshore until we reach its western point, and then ride another three leagues until we reach the entrance of an abandoned mining tunnel. That should take us all the way through to the other side of the mountain ridge."

Anna snorted at that.

"Yes?" he drawled.

"Nothing," Anna said. "Just marveling at how a common miner's tunnel managed to get itself included on an oh-so-ancient and secret map."

Hans sniffed, drawing himself up. "I may have made some alterations based on the current state of the area, but-"

"Alterations? So you planned for all of this?"

"No! How many times I do I have to—?!" He paused again to collect himself. "I've been under house arrest," he said. "For two years. I came across an ancient, secret map that led to an ancient, secret cave. I thought it was interesting. I don't know who wouldn't think it was interesting. So I compared that map to other more recent maps. Why is that so hard to believe?!"

"Coming from you? Gee, I wonder."

"Princess," Thomas said from her right. "He's not worth your frustration. We should move on."

Despite the insult, Hans simply grinned and inclined his head in the direction he'd pointed out as though to say 'after you.'

Anna tried to reclaim her cheerful facade but her smile quickly dissolved into a scowl. She spurred Maximus forward, and the rest of the party fell quickly inline behind her.

They found Hans' tunnel sure as ever, but not even he knew how long it'd take them to pass through to the other side. Thomas and the others held a small debate over whether it was safer to camp at the entrance for the night or press on until Anna reminded them that time wasn't exactly on their side.

Maximus had no difficulties entering the tunnel and the other horses seemed to be comfortable enough following him. They allowed themselves to be slowly led, one by one, into the far-reaching blackness. The guards lit a couple torches, but their light only penetrated so far. Anna couldn't help but keep a continuous watch on Hans, sure that the prince would attempt to use the confined quarters and low visibility to his advantage. But to her relief — and small annoyance — he didn't try a thing.

After several uneventful hours, their party reached the tunnel's exit just in time to see the sun begin to set behind another distant ridge. With night fast approaching, they made an unanimous decision to set up camp inside the tunnel.

Not able to stand Hans' presence for a minute longer, Anna volunteered to help collect firewood with another one of the younger guards as the rest hunted for dinner and got the camp ready.

The storm hadn't managed to pass over the mountains yet, and Anna reveled in the feel of bare grass and crunching pine cones beneath her boots even if she couldn't fully see them in the darkness.

By the time Vladimir returned with a fistful of dead rabbits, their party already had a decent sleeping area laid out and a more than decent fire roaring.

"It'll be a fine thing when all this is over," Rogir said, gesturing to the tunnel's exit. They were quite a ways away from its mouth, but every now and again a stiff chill would force its way in, causing them to shudder as one.

"Yes," said Thomas. "It definitely will."

They ate their rabbits in silence.

Anna picked at a bit of gristle as the flames crackled. When all this is over… The assumption of 'when' over 'if' weighed heavily on her mind. She suspected it weighed on the others too.

As much as Anna hated acknowledging it, as much as she'd try to wipe the thought from her memory later… Hans really was their only hope right now.

"What none of this answers though—" said Caldwell. "I mean, once we get the stone and bring back summer, we still won't know where this storm came from. Or what it came from."

"In Russia," Vladimir rumbled. "Gods get angry. Curse land."

Rogir shook his head. "You don't need gods these days to get a curse."

"But why curse every kingdom?" Caldwell asked. "And if some evil sorceror is behind it, why haven't they come forth with any demands. There's no reason. My bet's on some freak astrological occurrence. Planets crossing and all that."

"I still think it's a person. If the Princess Rapunzel and Queen Elsa could have magical powers, then who's to say that others can't?"

Something itched at the back of Anna's mind, tugging on some disconcerting feeling and wisp of a memory. She tried to shake it, but it only grew stronger.

"What do you think it is?" Anna said, abruptly turning to Hans.

It took him awhile to realize that she was talking to him.

"Me?" He raised an eyebrow. "I thought I wasn't allowed to speak."

Anna knew he was mocking her, but she played along. "I'm granting you permission, just this once."

"My lady honors me," he said, dipping his head in an informal bow. "What can I say though? I know just as little as all of you."

"So you've said. But that's why we're all guessing." She scrunched her nose. "Besides, what makes you so sure that this stone of yours will fix everything if you have no idea what's causing the storm?"

"I never said I was sure it world."

"And yet here you are risking your life with the rest of us."

He shrugged. "Everyone's life is at risk. If anything, it's probably safer here with you than back in Stralshagen where the storm is the strongest."

"Princess Anna…" Thomas said. "It's no use to—"

"Not now," Anna said.

He was going to tell her to ignore the prince, to drop it. But Anna didn't want to drop it. Pretending like Hans' actually had someone else's best interests at heart and that everything would turn out fine if they just followed him… Hans had been keeping information from them this whole trip. Was continuing to keep information from them.

And when that put everyone's life at risk, pretending wasn't good enough for her.

"Well," Anna said with a sniff. "I don't know if I want to go any further if our guide is really so clueless about our destination."

"I never said I was clueless," Hans muttered.

"Um, yeah. You did."

"Just because I choose to keep my knowledge to myself, doesn't mean that I don't possess it."

"Says a person with no knowledge to begin with."

Hans seemed to struggle for some sort of comeback before falling into a grumbling silence.

Anna fought back a smug grin. She seemed to be getting better at roping the prince into unwinnable arguments.

"Fine," he said, his manacles rattling slightly as he readjusted himself. "The stone supposedly nullifies all effects of magic. That's why I think it will be effective at stopping the storm."

"All effects of…" Anna mind slowly kicked into gear. "You wanted to use this stone on my sister, didn't you!" she exclaimed. She let out a noise of disgust. "That's why you spent so much time researching those books and memorizing all these directions in your head!"

"I can't deny that the thought never crossed my mind," he said with an innocent smirk. "But of course that's all irrelevant now."

"Like hell it isn't! I—"

Anna paused mid-rant as Thomas tapped her on the shoulder. He looked mildly contrite for interrupting a member of the royal family, but resolute in his decision in having done so.

"Princess," he whispered. "A word in private. Please."

Anna shot Hans a glare. His smirk had taken a far more devilish twist, and she bit back a foul-mouthed retort that would have made Eugene grin and Rapunzel blush.

"Fine," she muttered reluctantly.

She followed Thomas deeper into the tunnel. They remained within sight of the main group and campfire but were out of earshot.

"The man is taunting you. Saying these things only so you upset yourself."

"Oh. You think?"

"Then surely you should know better to engage him."

"You think I want to? I don't have a choice! He holds all the information! I don't see anyone else trying to pry it out of him. I mean, I've gathered that you're all fine going into this completely blind, but come on! You just heard what he said about the true effects of this stone! Do you have any idea what kind of trouble he could cause with that?!"

"I understand your concern, Princess," Thomas said. "But do remember that there are six of us and one of him. On top of that, he is currently chained and will continue to be so for the rest of our mission. We are more than capable of handling him."

"I know. I know…"

Anna glanced at Hans. Thomas was right; he was completely outnumbered and completely out-armed. By any account he should've been harmless… and yet there was an unsettling trepidation that wouldn't shake away from her gut.

Maybe she was being paranoid.

Maybe there'd been something wrong with that rabbit meat.

"Just promise me that you won't let your hate overrule your better judgement," Thomas said. "He'll find a way to use your own emotions against you."

The guard's words struck a nasty chord within her as memories long past and buried bubbling up: the two of them sliding, giggling and breathless, down the wooden polished length of the north hall; the feel of his arms as he held her and twirled her around a floor of dancers; the pounding of her heart blocking out all other sounds as he knelt before her on one knee, gazing up at her, his face pure and earnest and… devious and plotting and—!

Anna fought back a primal scream and banished the memories straight back to the nastier little pit of her mind. They'd been the worse right after it'd all happened, getting slowly easier to forget as the months and years started to pass. Even so, there were nights where she woke up wanting to rip apart her pillows.

Maybe when she returned home she'd finally convince Kristoff's adopted family to get rid of those memories for good. They didn't like using their powers when it wasn't necessary, but she make them see the reason in this.

Anna looked over at where Hans was currently sitting and shuddered.

"Believe me," she said to Thomas. "He will never use me like that again."

The morning came all too soon.

Anna protested and stretched and did everything possible to catch just a couple more seconds of blessed darkness, and then she was up. Even with their party moving as lightly and swiftly as possible, there were still chores to be done: mats and tarps to put away, essentials to account for. At least they seemed to be getting a little faster at it every day.

And then there was—

"Are you lot still not ready? The storm's going to catch right back up to us at this rate."

Hans' voice echoed against the sides of the tunnel, grating against the back of Anna's skin.

He was just standing near the tunnel's mouth, next to Sitron and one of the other half-loaded horses. He was just standing there. Complaining. As the rest of them did all the work.

It was the last straw.

Maximus snorted beside her, fire in his eyes. Anna patted him on the muzzle.

"Don't worry," she said, soothing him. "I got this."

She marched over to Hans, Thomas' earlier warning be damned. She put her hands on her hips and glared straight up at him. He stared back cooly.

"Since you're not helping us pack," she said matter-of-factly. "You have no right to complain."

"Your problem. Not mine," he said, waving his manacled wrists in her face.

"Like we would really unchain you for that."

"Your problem," he said again. "Not mine."

"You know what?! I have had it up to here with you!" Anna yelled, jabbing at a random point above her head in emphasis. "All you've done since you've come on this mission is complain. Complain. Complain! Complain! Tell me this. Does this cave of your require the royal blood to be fresh?! Because I'm seriously thinking about slicing open a vein of yours and letting you sit here in this cave while the rest of us press on and actually get stuff done! You want to know why two of your brothers pretended that you didn't exist for years and years? Well, I can tell you why and it's certainly not a case of poor little Hans versus the big, bad—"

Anna paused.

Had she just felt…?

"Run out of steam?" Hans asked.

"Ssh!" she hissed, cutting him off with a wave of her hands.

She focused. Perhaps it'd only been her imagination.

Then she felt them again. Faint vibrations.

Her eyes widened a split second before the tunnel started to shake. From all around came the grinding sound of rocks being dislodged. Anna barely had time to gasp, let alone scream before the roof caved in above her.