Turn Back the Pendulum, Part Two

07:00, 20 July 2030

"Jack?" Rapunzel asked. "Are you in here?" She peeked into the darkened room, then tiptoed inside. She had to haul in her unbraided hair for a few seconds before she could close the door again.

"Turn on the lights and I will kill you where you stand," Jack mumbled.

She laughed just a bit. "Sorry I wasn't here today, I had to go to Washington. Something about me knowing you better than anyone else. Maybe... maybe TSARS won't wipe your memory. If I was convincing enough."

"I'm sure you were great, 'Punz." Jack was buried underneath a large mound of blankets, and his voice was muffled so she could hardly tell what he was saying.

"Jack, I heard about today," she said tentatively.

He didn't reply.

"I'm very-"

"Don't say you're sorry. It doesn't matter if you're sorry. A sorry can never change anything," he accused. "Just go away."

Hot, prickly tears welled in her eyes. "Jack..."

He shoved the pile of blankets away and sat up to face her. Even in the dim light, she could see his white hair and blue eyes. "I'm scared I might kill someone, 'Punz, the next time."

"That's ridiculous..." she tried to reassure him, sitting down on his bed. "You've never done it before, and you won't in the future."

"But he did," he whispered. "I saw him on the news. And they're all scared that we'll be like him."

Rapunzel twisted her hair between her fingers. "You won't."

"And how do you know? Isn't that why we're always kept under lock and key? Because you're scared? Don't you know we're scared too?"

She threw her arms around Jack and hugged him as tight as she could. "I know. And I'll do everything I can to make you un-scared."

"Here's a thought... don't let them wipe our memories." He pulled away and tugged a piece of her hair affectionately. "That would be really, really, really nice."

"Yeah, I figured. I'm working on it..."

"Don't do it," she begged. And she hated begging. "I promise, next time, I'll be able to control them. I swear."

"You said that last time, and the time before that... And we can't have another incident like the Guardian program happening again."

Rapunzel wanted to scream. "But it's wrong to just wipe their memories clean like that!"

"There's no other alternative! The only other option is killing, and I would really, really not like to do that," Lunar told her. "Neither would you."

"But..."

"I'll tell you what. You can join their program, once their memories have been wiped and everything's stable again." Lunar looked pretty satisfied with that solution.

Rapunzel folded her arms. "Their program? I thought we all were in Project Praeses together."

"Well, no, not anymore. They're part of Project Moonrise, new and improved."

"I thought you said we were new and improved!" All this program switching made her head spin.

"...We thought you were. We were wrong. You four are just lucky that I didn't scrap your project the way I did with the Guardians." Lunar waved her off.

"And Pascal, and Flynn, and Jamie, and all the others? What about them?" she demanded.

"What about them? They're part of Moonrise too."

"And what about me?"

"You, my dear," Lunar said, "are still part of Praeses. We're very curious about you indeed."

Rapunzel ran. She ran to the cryo center, all the way on the opposite side of the building, where her friends slept. Finally, she stopped in the back of the room, where Jack's cryotube was. Jack's eyes were closed, and his soft white hair floated around his head in a cloud. Little ice crystals rimmed the edges of the cryotube window.

"Jack?" she whispered. "Jack, I'm so sorry. I did what I could... I'm always letting you down. I'll see you soon, though. Promise."

She wanted to break the stupid tube open and shake him awake. She wanted to save him.

Of course, Lunar wouldn't like that at all.

Rapunzel was surprised by the amount of input she got into the Moonrise Project. She arranged the teams, leaving the fourth Alpha spot conspicuously empty. And she helped decide what should be taught in the Moonrise school.

Then there was the other side of her life. As the only remaining member of Project Praeses and the only one who stayed herself, all the scientists were very interested in her. Very.

Four years.

It took four years for them to decipher what made her different.

Four years of waiting, of watching her friends join Project Moonrise one by one.

Hiccup still had Toothless, and Merida still had her fiery personality.

Jack, though, had magically acquired a shepherd's staff, nearly as tall as he was. It seemed to focus his powers, which had previously been unpredictable. He had less trouble making snowstorms now, and seemed to rely on the staff to do everything. Even freezing Hiccup's face to water fountains.

Over those four years, Rapunzel watched the Guardian program closely. They actually didn't display the dual personalities her friends did... Except for the one that dressed in black, who was called Pitch Black. Appropriate.

It kind of amused her how much time Lunar spent trying to disband the Guardians. They were a very effective team if a bit... Odd. Especially the feathered girl.

Eventually, she realized that she could hack into the TSARS request system. Only people with key codes could access the system, though, and Rapunzel definitely didn't have a code of her own. The codes were also alphanumeric and fifteen characters long, so she didn't stand a chance of guessing someone's.

Rapunzel decided to steal a code instead. Preferably from Lunar... hopefully he wouldn't notice too soon. At least she had a security code, which she used to get into the security systems. Not too unusual, since she used the same system to keep an eye on Alpha Team. Though this time, she glued her eyes to the camera in Lunar's room, which provided a very nice view of his desktop computer.

It took her a few days to decipher the actual code, and then she submitted her request.

TSARS Request Form

Request: reactivation of CORONA, transfer from PROJECT PRAESES and immediate instatement into ALPHA TEAM, PROJECT MOONRISE.

KEY CODE REQUIRED.

CODE: G0LD3N4G3BJB007

IDENTIFICATION: AUBERON LUNAR

GRANTED. CORONA DESIGNATION CHANGED. NEW DESIGNATION 016CORONA, AIR ELEMENTAL.

TRANSFER INITIATED.

Matthew the intern came up and poked her shoulder. "Hey, Rapunzel, you got transferred."

"Really?" She feigned surprise. "Where to?"

"Project... Moonrise. Well, I guess it had to happen sometime or another." He shrugged and handed her a bunch of files. "Fill 'em out when you have a chance. Probably won't have to do them since you're getting transferred..."

"Thanks, Matthew." Rapunzel waved goodbye to the intern. Well, at least-

Matthew spun around and called, "Oh, wait! Lunar wants to see you tomorrow at 0700 in his office."

Rapunzel wanted to cry. She knew he'd find out sooner or later, just not that soon. "Okay, thanks..."

Back in her room, Rapunzel found a new uniform waiting on her bed. It was white, grey, and yellow in some patches, and nothing like her Praeses one. Her name, 016CORONA, was stitched in yellow thread where her nameplate was.

She'd meet her friends again, tomorrow. Though they didn't remember her at all...

Lunar's office lay at the end of a long, mirrored hall, at the top of the Moonrise compound. She'd never been inside the compound in her four years of watching the project, just stayed in the admin building on top of the dome. She really wished she'd braided her hair that morning, because it dragged down the halls for several feet behind her.

Lunar's door was already open when she got there. "Ah, Rapunzel. Sit down," Lunar invited. He had nothing but smiles, and that was the most unnerving thing about him. "I see you've transferred yourself to Project Moonrise."

"Yes, I did," she retorted defiantly.

He surprised her by saying, "Good. Saved me the trouble of doing it. Now, Rapunzel... I'm sure you're aware of the situation with the Guardian Program. I'm permitting you to enter the field again to ensure Alpha Team neutralizes the Guardians. Can you do that for me?"

"...Why would I ever do anything for you?" Rapunzel asked.

"Don't you want to see them? Your friends?" Lunar leveled his gaze at her. "You can, if you do exactly as I say." Lunar made a gesture at the door and said out of the blue, "Please, come in. There's someone I'd like you three to meet."

Rapunzel turned around and saw Jack Frost, standing in the doorway, for the first time in four years.

And the rest, as they say, was history...

Author's Note: This chapter is early for the first time in MONTHS. I'll have a one-week hiatus (Spanish exchange student, wohoo!), and then a hiatus during November for NaNoWriMo (you might get a chapter anyway since I procrastinate). Sorry :(

Side note, TSARS stands for the Technological and Scientific Advanced Research Society. I wanted it to fit the word TSAR at least somewhat, ok?

Thank you to ember collins and FloraIrmaTylee, you're cool people. All others who came and read and left without leaving comments, thanks. You suck. IF YOU DIDN'T VOTE IN THE POLL, YOU ARE DEAD TO ME.

SO VOTE IN MY POLL. You get to decide what ship is in my new ROTG fic! If you don't vote, there will be no ships, and we don't want that. So gogogo! You can find the poll on my profile, along with writing weather updates. (You get kudos and my eternal love and also a promo on my tumblr if you leave your URL. I kid you not.)

Chapter Soundtrack: Dog Days Are Over, Florence + the Machine