"I'm sorry, Elsa."
Elsa stood in silence for several seconds, letting the words sink in. Hans continued.
"I'm sorry for what this company did to you, sorry that we took your life away. I know nothing can make it up to you, but please forgive me." The sincerity in Hans' voice took Elsa off guard. She was still convinced this man had tried to sell her to the enemy, but now he seemed so remorseful. Elsa opened her mouth to accept the apology.
The concussive report of the gunshot echoed in the small room. Elsa could feel the heat from the muzzle blast behind her and the wind generated by the bullet as it passed within an inch of her left ear. Elsa spun around in place to face her attacker, only to be stopped dead by the scene in front of her. Anna had slipped into the room unnoticed and now stood just inside the door, gun drawn. Smoke still drifted from the barrel. Elsa heard a thump behind her as Hans fell to the ground, a pool of blood beginning to form. Elsa's focus shot back to Anna.
"What the hell are doing?!" she screamed.
"Well, you weren't gonna do it," Anna countered. Elsa noticed something different in her voice.
"Did you want me to kill him?" Elsa shot back, feeling panic start to rise.
"Not at first," Anna responded flatly, "but when I realized that you had no memory, the cruel irony of it was too good to pass up."
"What irony was that?" Elsa asked, still trying to wrap her brain around what was happening.
"That he would be destroyed by his life's work. But then he started apologizing and talking about feelings. I knew you wouldn't do it." Anna answered nonchalantly. Elsa was starting to get an idea of what happened.
"You… you used me?" Elsa questioned.
"Of course. Ya know, for some kind of super-spy, you are far too trusting." Anna talked as if she was addressing a child. Elsa rushed forward and grabbed Anna by the neck, tears starting to form in her eyes
"Was anything you told me the truth?" she yelled. Anna made an exaggerated show of thinking.
"Mmmmmm… My name is Anna," she replied with was coy smile and a light chuckle. Elsa resisted the urge to choke the girl right then and let go of her.
"What was your plan then? After he's dead, then what?" Elsa demanded, still reeling from the shock of Anna's sudden transformation.
"That's the beauty of it, Elsa." Anna was far too excited. "All I have to do now it sit back and watch this company destroy itself."
"Wha… What does the company have to do with anything?" Elsa asked, suddenly confused.
"Well, ya know, a job as an aid in unbelievably boring," Anna explained. "So, one day I just kinda asked myself 'I wonder if I could tear down a company.' So I did." Elsa stared at the younger girl with disbelief.
"So… So you did all of this just on a whim?!" Elsa felt anger boil inside her. "What did I have to do with it?"
"Ah, yeah… you were the little hiccup," Anna sighed. "See, I had this whole plan to frame Weselton for espionage. Ya know, selling weapons to the enemy and all that. It would totally discredit all of E.L.S.A.'s work."
You were the redhead with Weselton, not Hans.
"So, did he do anything wrong?" Elsa interjected, gesturing to the body behind the desk.
"Oh, no. Maybe just a little too obsessed with his research. But that's not important, pay attention," Anna sounded angry that Elsa interrupted her story. "See, I made the mistake of working with Weselton the same day they ran A113 integration trials. Ya know, see if you could be around other people without just killing all of them. You were allowed to just roam the facility. To be honest, you were really creepy, no emotions at all." Anna shuddered as she said spoke. "Anyway, you walked in our little meeting. You had seen too much and I needed to make sure you couldn't incriminate me, so I convinced Hans to kill the program."
"Hold on, wasn't I the result his father's life work or something? How did you make him shut down the program?" Anna gave Elsa a look as if the answer was obvious. The younger girl moved forward seductively.
"Oh, please. If you know what people want, you can get them to do anything." Her voice was now soft and provocative now as she continued to approach Elsa. Anna was a chameleon of personalities. She quickly reverted back to her controlled voice. "It works on anyone. Weselton wanted power and money, so I promised him seventy-five percent of the price if he helped me sell your DNA. It even worked on you. You just wanted someone to be on your side, I gave you that and now look at where we are." Anna spoke very matter-of-factly. Elsa's brain was reeling.
"Do you know how I survived?" Elsa decided to get as much information out of this girl as possible.
"No idea. They shot you full of enough barbiturates to kill a man ten times over. All it did to you was stop your heart for a few minutes and wipe your memory. You certainly didn't take dying well, though. It took, like, ten guys to hold you down to inject you. Heard a rumor that you killed three of 'em before they got you," Anna elaborated.
"Wait, how did you know I would kill Weselton?" Elsa asked.
"I didn't. I guessed you would, but I made sure I had my handgun back just in case. Luckily, I didn't need it," Anna replied.
"Hold on, it was my idea to come back here, not yours," Elsa countered.
"Educated guess. You didn't seem like the type of person to run away from the answers to your questions. I could see in your eye that you wanted to go back all along. It was only a matter of time," she answered calmly.
"So, why are you telling me all this?" Elsa inquired.
"Weren't you listening?!" Anna abruptly became incredibly angry. "I doesn't matter if I tell you this or not. You can't stop it!"
"But I can tell people the truth!" Elsa shouted back, anger growing in her as well.
"Do you want me to change that?" Anna asked as she pointed her pistol in Elsa's direction. Tense seconds ticked by as each waited for the other to make the first move. Anna suddenly smiled and let out a small laugh. She lowered the gun before dropping it to the floor. "Oh… I couldn't shoot you. I don't even know if bullets can kill you." Anna slowly walked forward as she talked. "Plus, who'd want to hurt that pretty face?" Elsa felt paralyzed as Anna drew her face within inches of Elsa's.
"What are you doin…" Elsa's question was cut off by Anna's lips. Elsa was far too shocked by the sudden turn of events to move for several seconds before she came to her senses. In one motion, Elsa broke free of Anna's kiss and spun the younger girl around into a headlock, continuing to fight the rage boiling in her heart toward Anna.
"Ya know something?" Anna gasped through Elsa's grasp. "I haven't had this much fun in years."
Let it go.
In one moment, Elsa let her anger go. She didn't try to hold it back. She let her arms give into the instinct that had been drilled into them over the years. One swift jerk of her arms caused Anna's body to immediately go limp. Elsa let the girl slip from her arms onto the floor with a thud. Elsa herself fell to her knees, tears staining her cheeks.
Oh, God, what have I done?
Author's Note: Turns out I did have some time to write after all! Please review and let me know if anyone saw that coming.