Hello again, my loves!

I'm terribly sorry to have kept you waiting for so long and I thank you for you patience! The reason I took so long with this update is that I kinda lost my writing mojo for a while and, as a result, experienced some difficulties writing. And, in my defense, this is the second longest chapter in this story xD

Also, thanks to all who reviewed, favorited and followed my story! I love you!

Before you start reading, I would like to say that I've gone through and edited the previous chapters - nothing major, just typos and grammar errors. But I have also made a few other changes. When I first started writing this story, I decided to use the original names of the characters. But as I read more stories, I noticed that many of my fellow writers are coming up with names of their own. So, since this is an AU, I decided to do the same. Below you can see the changes I've made:

Ean Aster "Bunny" Mund (Bunnymund)

Tia "Tooth" Wang (Toothiana)

Edward "Pitch" Black (totally stole 'Edward' from WickedgreenPhantom's awesome story "Cold Rivalry", with her permission, of course)

Another name I changed was Rapunzel's. I'm going to refer to her as Punzie from now on.

I would also like to give special thanks to my friend VenusKnight who surprised me with the beautiful fanart that is currently a cover image for this fic! *hugs*

This said...

DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters or their respective stories. I own nothing! Damnit...

ENJOY!

GIVE IT A CHANCE

CHAPTER 14

No sooner had he hung up the phone than Jack received a text message listing the missed calls from the hospital. He knew that he and Anna were Elsa's emergency contacts, which immediately led him to believe something bad had happened to Elsa.

Jack didn't waste any time. He didn't even bother to change out of his PJ pants, before he slipped his sneakers on and grabbed his jacket off the hanger, as he and Bunny exited the apartment and went into the elevator.

"We're taking my car," Bunny stated firmly, watching as Jack fidgeted with his car keys, his hands trembling. "You're in no condition to drive, mate."

Jack looked up at him and nodded, nervously running a hand through his hair and exhaling loudly, just as the elevator doors opened to let them out. They exited the apartment building and hurried towards Bunny's Nissan, parked on the side of the street. Getting on, they buckled up and Bunny started the engine, driving off in the direction of hospital Elsa was admitted to.

Bunny navigated the car through traffic, occasionally glancing at Jack, who was biting and chewing on his lower lip, frowning, as he looked out of the window, shifting his position every few seconds, obviously eager to get to the hospital faster.

Noting how stressed out his friend was, Bunny felt the need to say something, anything. "It's going to be alright, mate," he finally spoke, frowning a little at what he'd said.

"Oh yeah? And how do you know that?" Jack snapped, turning to face him. "'Cause I, for one, don't have a fucking idea what's going on right now!"

The truth was that, even though Bunny was sincerely hoping for it, he didn't know if things were going to be fine. He could only imagine how confused and terrified Jack must be feeling at the moment. He'd just found out his long-term girlfriend, the woman he considered the love of his life and was planning to marry, was pregnant. Worse yet, he'd learned this not from her but from his best friend and hadn't even had time to react to the news, because he'd been informed that his pregnant girlfriend was currently in the hospital. Bunny didn't even want to think what could be passing through Jack's mind right now. Sighing, he chose not to reply. Instead he focused on the road, determined to get his friend to the hospital as fast as he could.

Jack just looked out the window again, rubbing his forehead with the tip of his fingers, trying desperately to make sense of the situation he was in now. To say his mind was a mess would be understatement. He was overwhelmed by the news he'd received and he wasn't exactly sure how to react. He'd always imagined that discovering he would be a father would be the happiest moment in his life. Yet somehow he wasn't feeling happy at all at present, mostly because he had imagined that, if Elsa got pregnant, it would be her who would tell him about it and not his best friend. But it wasn't just that. There was something in the way Bunny had presented him with the news of Elsa's pregnancy that felt terribly alarming. Why would Elsa not tell him she was pregnant? How long had she known and how did Bunny come to find out? More importantly, why had Bunny decided to get involved in all that and tell him?

Too many questions plagued his mind, begging to be answered, but he had no idea which one to ask first. And to top it all, something had happened to Elsa and had landed her in the hospital and he had no idea if she was alright. He was terrified of all the possible scenarios swimming in his mind, which added to the sickening feeling he had in his stomach.

Jack sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose and shook his head a little, trying to push all these thoughts to the back of his mind and concentrate on the task at hand, which was getting to the hospital and finding out what had happened to Elsa and what her condition was.

Ten minutes later they reached the hospital. As soon as Bunny pulled up in the parking lot, Jack jumped out of the car and sprinted towards the entrance of the building, running through the automated doors with Bunny on his heels. Once in the lobby, he looked around. A few meters away he spotted Kristoff, who had his arm wrapped around Anna's shoulders, while talking to a shorter, dark-haired man.

"Anna!" Jack shouted, hurrying towards them.

"Jack!" Anna breathed, stepping away from Kristoff, and flung her arms around Jack's neck, letting out a small sob. "Oh God, Jack!"

Jack hugged her back for a brief moment, before he pulled away, holding her by the shoulders, as he looked in her tear-filled eyes. "Anna, what's going on? What happened to Elsa? Why is she in the hospital? Have you seen her? Is she alright?" He blurted out.

Anna didn't reply. She was too shocked and distressed to reply. She just brought a hand to her mouth to muffle yet another sob that escaped her lips. Seeing how distraught Anna was, Jack felt his stomach drop, fearing the worst. He looked up desperate for answers, his eyes shifting between Kristoff and the other man.

Kristoff sighed, reaching to pull Anna back in his arms, as she buried her face in his shirt. "Unfortunately, we haven't seen her and we have no news of her condition either. We arrived a bit before you and Bunny. We…um… " Kristoff faltered, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, staring at the floor, wondering how exactly to express himself. "We spent the night at my place," he stated, looking up again, blushing slightly. "And this morning Anna got a call from the hospital, informing her that Elsa had been brought in during the night. We got the call around 11 am and Anna called you immediately after. Apparently, since you were listed as Elsa's first emergency contact, they tried calling you first but your phone was off, so they called Anna."

"Yeah… I… It was out of battery," Jack stammered, running a hand through his hair. "But do you know what happened to her?"

Kristoff took a deep breath. "Jack…" he started, glancing at Bunny before looking back at Jack. "Elsa… She's been a victim of assault."

"What!?" Jack said, his eyes widened in shock, his breath getting hitched in his throat.

"Shit," Bunny muttered under his breath.

"Jack, this is Flynn, Flynn Rider," Kristoff said, gesturing towards the young man. "He's the person who brought Elsa to the hospital."

Jack turned to look at the dark-haired man. "Jack Frost," he introduced himself and extended his arm, briefly shaking the other man's hand.

"I know who you are. I'm a big fan of The Guardians," Flynn said, nodding and, noticing Jack's uneasy expression, he decided to cut to the chase. "As I was just explaining to your friends here," he started, gesturing towards Anna and Kristoff. "I was going home from a party at around 3:30 am…

"Wait, hold on a second… 3:30 am?" Jack interrupted, lifting a hand to pause the man's story. "That's not possible. I… I came home last night at 2 am and Elsa was asleep in our bed… What would she be doing out at 3:30 am?" he asked doubtfully, shaking his head.

"Let him finish the story, mate. You don't even know what he was gonna say," Bunny said calmly, placing a hand on Jack's shoulder.

Jack nodded and looked at Flynn, waiting for him to continue.

Flynn looked confused for a moment, but then proceeded with the story. "So, yeah, then I saw a guy brutally kicking a woman, who was lying on the ground, curled into a ball," he said and Anna let out another sob, making Kristoff tighten his hold of her. "I called out to him and started running in their direction. Then the guy turned, saw me and ran away into one of the smaller streets. I went to the girl and turned her over to see if she was alright, but she didn't respond and, a second later, lost consciousness. I immediately called an ambulance and insisted to ride with her, because I wanted to make sure she was alright. The paramedics were checking her vitals and looking for any sort of ID. But besides the clothes she was wearing she didn't have anything on her. No phone, no wallet. Nothing."

"She had no ID on her?" Jack asked, narrowing his eyes.

Flynn shook his head. "She wasn't even wearing a jacket," he replied.

Jack turned to look at Bunny, who matched his worried expression. "How did they found out who she was then?" he asked.

"I recognized her," Flynn stated matter-of-factly. "Once we were inside the ambulance, where there was more light, I realized she looked familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it at first, but then it dawned on me that I had seen her sitting in the VIP seats at hockey games and then I remembered that there was a point, when my teenage sister had a crush on you and wouldn't shut up about you and your girlfriend. She would constantly show me the latest paparazzi photos of the two of you in gossip magazines. Thanks to my sister's droning though, I managed to remember your girlfriend's name and gave it to the paramedics. Once we arrived at the hospital and they wheeled her in the emergency room, I knew they weren't going to give me any information about her condition because I wasn't an emergency contact or a relative. So, I decided to wait until somebody came for her. "

"Thank you," Jack said with a small nod. "For everything that you've done."

Flynn gave him a small smile. "Don't mention it," he replied. "I'm just glad I was in the right place at time. I'd be happy to help with anything I can, telling what I just told you to the police as well and all that…"

Jack blinked, overcome by a sudden realization. "Have you actually notified the police?" he asked, turning to look at Anna and Kristoff.

Kristoff shook his head. "We wanted to wait for you, Jack," he said. "I mean, getting a call that Elsa is in the hospital must have been shocking enough. I don't know how you would have reacted if you came and you found the police here…"

Jack nodded. "Okay, I'll call them," he stated, taking his phone out.

He turned away from the group, making a few steps, rubbing his forehead, as he made the call reporting the assault on Elsa. A few minutes later, he returned to where his friends and Flynn were standing.

"They are gonna be here soon," he said, looking over at Anna, who was still pressed against Kristoff's chest, but seemed to have calmed down a little.

"Flynn," Bunny spoke, attracting the younger man's attention. "You never said anything about the guy who attacked Elsa. Did you manage to see how he looks? Can you describe him?"

Flynn shook his head. "Unfortunately, I was too far away and the light from the street lamps was just about enough for me to only recognize what was going on. I'm sorry," he replied.

"Nothing to be sorry about, you've already done a lot," Kristoff assured him. "Hopefully, Elsa will be able to describe him… once we get to see her and talk to her."

Hearing Kristoff's words, Jack felt his stomach drop. He'd been so focused on finding out what happened to Elsa and why she was in the hospital that he hadn't stopped for a moment to actually think about her. He looked up, his eyes scanning his surroundings. Doctors and nurses were running around, patients were being rushed in various directions. He wondered if somebody was finally going to come and inform him of Elsa's condition. He was desperate to know if she was alright… if the baby was alright.

His thoughts were interrupted, when he noticed the two police officers who had just walked in. Quickly, we walked over to them and introduced himself, saying he had been the person who had reported the assault. He led them to the rest and quickly explained the situation, giving them the opportunity to ask questions. Everybody had told them what they knew about the case and they were currently listening to Flynn, who was once again recounting what he'd witnessed and done.

"Ms. Anna Andersen?" a voice came, causing Jack, Anna, Kristoff and Bunny to turn around.

A few meters away from the group stood a doctor holding a clip pad, looking in their direction.

"That's me," Anna replied, as she freed herself from Kristoff's embrace, wiping the tears from her eyes, and started walking towards the doctor, with Jack following suit.

"And who are you?" the doctor asked, looking at Jack.

"My name's Jack Frost. I'm Elsa Andersen's other emergency contact," he stated, watching as the man nodded.

"How is my sister, Doctor?" Anna asked, her voice pleading, her eyes searching the doctor's face for answers.

Jack frowned, observing how worried and stressed out Anna was. Gently, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her closer to him, directing his attention back at the doctor and waiting for his reply.

The man sighed, flipping through the pages clipped to his pad. "Fortunately, Miss Andersen's injuries are not very serious," he reported calmly, looking up at Anna and Jack. "We had x-rays done on her, which showed bruising to the ribs, but no fractures. She has suffered a minor injury to the head and, as a result, has a mild concussion. Her lab results just came through and showed elevated white blood cell count, which is most likely caused by the few cuts and the bruises she has sustained. Luckily, Miss Andersen hasn't suffered any injuries to the abdominal area, so the baby is fine," he said and Jack let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.

Anna looked at the doctor in surprise. "Baby? What baby?" she asked, her eyes darting between him and Jack.

"Your sister is pregnant," he said. "Seven weeks along to be precise."

Anna gasped, turning to look at Jack. "Did you know about this?"

"I did," Jack confirmed.

In reality he did know, even if he'd found out barely two hours ago. He watched as Anna opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the doctor.

"Are you the father?" he asked, looking at Jack.

Jack nodded. "Yes," he replied, unable to ignore the faint tingling sensation he'd felt, hearing himself say that.

"I see… We've performed a pelvic examination and, fortunately, there was no evidence of sexual assault," the doctor said, flipping another page on his clip pad.

"Oh, thank God!" Anna breathed.

"We also did an ultrasound, which showed that the baby hasn't been harmed. Also, so far, it seems to be developing perfectly well. However, since Miss Andersen is still in the early stages of her pregnancy, nothing is certain, especially after going through physical trauma. Unfortunately, we still can't exclude the possibility of miscarriage. Therefore, given that she's pregnant and was brought here unconscious, we would like to keep her under observation for two nights. Currently, we can't administer any painkillers, so we're giving her only fluids and we're also monitoring the activity of the baby, just to be sure everything is going well," the doctor explained. "We've just moved her to a room. She's awake, if you would like to see her."

"Yes, please, yes!" Anna exclaimed, nodding vigorously, her eyes rimmed with tears.

"Follow me then," the doctor said and turned to walk away from the waiting area with Anna following close behind him.

Jack glanced at Bunny and, noticing his friend was looking at him, he nodded and turned to walk away, following Anna and the doctor. A minute later, the doctor stopped in front of a door and turned to face them.

"We've got Miss Andersen settled here. Take your time, but keep in mind that she needs to stay calm and rest. Try not to upset her," he said and walked away.

They watched him go and glanced at each other, before Anna pressed on the handle and opened the door. The moment they walked in the room, Anna gasped, clasping her hand over her mouth.

"Oh Elsa!" she breathed, rushing towards the bed.

Jack made his way in, closing the door. He watched as Elsa's bloodshot eyes opened tiredly and she groaned a little at the offensive sunlight coming through the window. It took her a moment to focus. She looked at her sister for a second and then, realizing there was somebody else in the room, she scanned her surroundings and her eyes landed on him, widening in what he recognized as panic.

He remained standing by the door with his arms folded over his chest. His eyes lingered on hers before shifting to inspect her image. His jaw tightened, when he noticed the faint red marks on her pale skin, which served to prove that whoever had attacked her must have hit her hard across the face. He shifted his gaze downwards, looking over her bandaged forearms. Then he glanced over at the IV, where the saline solution was dripping slowly into the small tube, connected to the venflon in Elsa's arm. The next thing he noticed were the electrodes attached to Elsa's exposed stomach. They were plugged into what, he guessed, was the electronic fetal monitor the doctor was explaining about. The apparatus was printing out a line graph that Jack couldn't quite make out from where he was standing, but he sincerely hoped it did not indicate anything he should be worried about. His insides clenched into a ball at the thought of what could have happened to Elsa if this man, Flynn, hadn't been there to intervene.

"How are you feeling, Elsa?" Anna said in a soft, soothing voice, as she positioned a chair close to the bed and sat down, carefully taking Elsa's hand in hers.

"Anna…" Elsa murmured, her voice quiet and hoarse. She tried shifting her position a little, but winced in pain and gave up.

Anna furrowed her brow and her worried eyes scanned her sister's body. "No, don't push yourself. The doctor said your ribs are bruised," she said, gently resting her other hand on Elsa's shoulder. "Oh Elsa, we heard what happened. The guy who called the ambulance told us what he'd seen. What were you doing out at three in the morning!?"

Jack continued to stand in his spot by the door, silently watching, as Anna shot sentence after sentence, not giving Elsa the time to react to anything she said, let alone reply.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter right now. The important thing is," Anna continued, her expression softening, "that you're alright. Both you and the baby."

At these words, Elsa gasped. Her eyes widened, flicking over to Jack, staring at him in horror. He, however, did not move a muscle and simply continued to look at her, his face conveying no particular emotion.

Anna smiled warmly, obviously oblivious to her sister's distress. "When were you going to tell me, Elsa?" she asked and, letting go of Elsa, she clapped her hands together. "This is such exciting news!" she exclaimed happily, seemingly forgetting about the assault. "Why have you two been keeping it a secret?" Her gleaming eyes moved from Elsa to Jack and she frowned, her happy expression changing to one of reproach. "Jack! Why are you just standing there!?"

Jack sighed, dropping his hands to his sides. He glanced at Anna, before his eyes settled back on Elsa. "Anna… Could you please give us a m-" he started only to be cut off by a knock on the door followed by one of the police officers poking his head in the room.

"Excuse me," he said, slowly making his way inside, followed by his colleague. "We're sorry to disturb, but we were told that Miss Elsa Andersen is awake, so we would just like to quickly ask her a few questions."

Jack moved out of the way to let them in, which caused Anna to frown.

"I'm sorry but I don't think that's a good idea," she protested standing up, her eyes darting between Jack and the police officer s. "My sister is tired and scared… She's still in shock. Can't this wait until she feels better?"

"We understand," the police officer said calmly. "However, it is better to ask the questions now, while the incident is still fresh in your sister's mind. I know it might seem bit heartless and inconsiderate but it is the better option. This will only take a minute, I promise you."

Jack glanced at Elsa, who seemed even more terrified than before. Given her emotional and physical state, he wondered for a moment if he should let the police question her. He knew that she had to stay calm and rest, for hers and the baby's sake. However, on the other hand, he too needed some answers.

Sighing, he turned to the police officers and nodded. "Go ahead."

"Jack!" Anna exclaimed. She opened her mouth to object but he gave her a cold, stern look and that silenced her.

"Miss Andersen," one of the police officers addressed Elsa, attracting her attention, while the other took out a small notebook and a pen, ready to take notes. "Can you please tell us what exactly happened?"

Elsa gulped, licking her dry lips. "I… I…" she stammered nervously.

"Anything that you can remember would be helpful," the man said reassuringly.

She closed her eyes and brought a hand to her face, pinching the bridge of her nose. She stayed silent for a minute and then she let out a breath and opened her eyes again. She looked at Jack for a long moment before focusing her attention on the police officer questioning her.

"I really don't remember much," she replied. "Everything is a bit of a blur."

Jack watched, as the police officer nodded in acknowledgment, and briefly wondered if the sudden confidence with which she had spoken wasn't a sign that she was lying.

"Do you by any chance remember anything about the person who attacked you?" the officer asked. "Anything that could help us identify him?"

"Yes, I do. I know him," Elsa said boldly, causing everybody in the room to look at her in surprise. "His name is Hans Westerguard."

"Wait… WHAT!?" came Anna's loud and shocked response, as both she and Jack stared at Elsa.

"Do you know this man?" the police officer asked, turning to look at her.

"He's my ex-boyfriend," she said frowning.

"Have you had any altercations with him?" the man continued with his questioning.

Anna puffed out a bit of air, rubbing her brow. "Um… apart from the fact that I dumped him and he ended up being kicked out of university, not really, no. But that happened almost two years ago and his expulsion wasn't really my fault."

"That doesn't matter," the police officer responded. "It could still be a motif for an act of revenge." He turned around to look at his colleague, who nodded, making sure he was writing everything down. "Alright, Miss Andersen, I have just one more question for you," he said, looking at Elsa. "Can you please explain what you were doing wandering the streets alone at night?"

Jack's gaze returned to Elsa, as the police officer asked a question he himself really wanted to hear the answer to. He watched, as her short-lived confidence seemed to disappear, giving way to panic once more. Her eyes landed on him and he could see her struggling to come up with a good explanation.

"I… I… uh…" Elsa stuttered, her eyes darting between the police officer and Jack, who cocked an eyebrow, waiting with interest to hear her response.

"What's going on here?" a stern voice came from behind them and they all turned to look at the door, where a nurse stood with her hands on her hips.

"We were just asking Miss Andersen a few questions regarding the assault on her," the police officer replied.

The nurse frowned, making her way into the room. "This poor girl has been through so much in the past few hours. She needs to relax and sleep. Not to mention that any undue stress she experiences is fed to that baby she's carrying. I'm sorry but I'll have to ask you to leave," she demanded and the police officers nodded, heading for the door. "All of you," she added, looking at Anna and Jack.

Anna sighed in defeat. She turned to Elsa and took her hand again. "I'll come by tomorrow to see how you are doing. Try to get some sleep now," she said and leaned down to kiss her sister's forehead. "I promise to bring you some chocolate," she whispered in her ear then straightened up and winked at her.

Elsa gave her a weak smile and watched her following the police officers in the hallway. Then she glanced at Jack who didn't say anything. With one last look at her, he simply left the room, pulling the door shut.

Once in the hallway, the police officer who'd interrogated Elsa spoke to him. "My advice to you, Mr. Frost, is to have Miss Andersen file a report," he said. "It is good that she could give us the name of the culprit, but it would be nice to have more details regarding the whole incident."

Jack nodded. "I'll take her to the station as soon as possible. Thank you for being so quick to react to my phone call," he said, shaking their hands and bidding them goodbye.

He watched them leave and headed for the waiting area with Anna following close behind.

"Why did you let them question her? Didn't you see the state she was in?" she scolded, as they walked down the hallway. "Not to mention that you didn't even ask her how she felt! You just stood there by the door like an idiot! It was like you didn't even care! Aren't you worried about her? About the baby?"

Jack didn't answer.

"What in the world is wrong with you, Jack!?" Anna fumed, angry at his silence.

That last part caused Jack to stop abruptly and turn to look at her, just as they entered the waiting area, where Bunny and Kristoff were still standing. His reaction was so sudden that Anna almost bumped into him, the look in his eyes making her flinch.

"You wanna know what's wrong with me?" he snapped, earning himself a few stares from passing-by patients and hospital staff. "I'll tell you what's wrong with me. Last night my girlfriend tells me she isn't feeling well and I want to stay home with her. But she convinces me that I should go and celebrate my team's victory and so I listen to her. I go to the bar to have a drink with my teammates and get kissed by a drunk university student. Then I decide to play the nice guy and take the girl home, so that my girlfriend's little sister can have a good time with her new boyfriend. I do that and then, having left my phone at home by accident, I head back to the bar to assure my girlfriend's little sister that her classmate is safe and sound. All this causes me to arrive home much later than what I have intended. So, I get home, I find my girlfriend fast asleep and I join her in bed only to wake up the next morning to an empty apartment, my girlfriend nowhere to be found and my best friend knocking on my front door to tell me that my girlfriend is pregnant. I don't even get a chance to react to the news because my girlfriend's little sister calls me to tell me that my girlfriend has been taken to the hospital. So, freaking out of my mind with worry, I go to the hospital to find out that my girlfriend has been wandering the streets alone at night and has gotten herself physically assaulted by no other than her little sister's ex-boyfriend, all this happening with me peacefully asleep and blissfully unaware. To top it all, I realize that my girlfriend, the love of my life and the woman I intend to marry, not only omitted to tell me she is pregnant, but has also clearly been hiding it from me for a while. That's what's wrong with me, Anna," he spat and glared at her, before he continued walking, brushing past Bunny and Kristoff and heading for the exit of the hospital.

Anna stood dumbfounded, unsure of what to say. Kristoff walked up to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"He needs some time to cool off," Bunny said to them. "I'll give him a ride home."

"Yes, make sure he's alright," Kristoff said.

Bunny nodded. "I'll see you later, mate. Take care of Anna," he replied and with that he followed Jack outside.

Hans looked around one more time, making sure nobody was following him, before he entered his apartment building and headed up the stairs. Reaching his apartment, he unlocked the door and walked in. Without a moment to spare, he went in the bedroom, grabbed his sports bag front under the bed and started filling it with his most important possessions. He'd screwed up badly and he had to act fast.

He'd spent the past several hours circling the building making sure nobody had been following him. After his plan had failed and the Andersen sister had been saved by that self-righteous idiot, he'd panicked. He'd ran back to his car and driven off in a random direction, trying to put as much distance as possible between himself and that bitch. It had taken him half an hour to calm down and start thinking straight. Then he'd decided that the best course of action was to go back to his place, collect his valuables and get the hell out of there, before they came looking for him.

"Fuck!" he cursed under his breath, as he took out his secret stash of money and stuffed into the bag.

The Andersen sisters. It was all their fault.

It hadn't taken him long to entice Anna Andersen, after he'd found out about the inheritance her parents had left to her and her sister. He had to admit that making her fall for him had been only too easy. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't been careful enough and soon she'd caught him cheating on her. She'd dropped by his dorm room unexpectedly and caught him in bed with one of her classmates. And then she'd gone and dumped him. After that, inspired by Anna's actions, some other girl had become all confident and brave and had reported him to the Dean, claiming that he'd blackmailed her into having sex with him, which had gotten him expelled. Upon hearing about the case, his father had kicked him out and he'd been forced to make his own living. At first, he'd tried the obvious options – fast food restaurants and cafés – but feeling that such work was beneath him and not at all profitable, he'd started looking for something that would give him at a faster pace the money he required to keep his high living standards. And so he'd ended up doing other people's dirty work. It had been small, but risky jobs that paid well, usually delivering packages with unknown contents to people whom you wouldn't want to meet under any circumstances.

Then, a few months ago, he'd been contacted about a bigger job. He was aware that the person who'd contacted him had been just an intermediary, so technically he didn't know who'd hired him. But he'd been only too happy to take the job, when he'd heard that it involves Elsa Andersen. He'd considered it his perfect opportunity for revenge.

The problem was he'd been too quick to celebrate his success. He'd called his employer, telling him he was bringing the bitch, but she'd run away and he'd failed to deliver. What's worse was that she knew him and surely she was going to report him to the police. He was aware that his employer wasn't going to be happy about it, to say the least, because whatever this person's intentions and plans for her had been, they were now ruined.

So, now he could only imagine that he would soon have a few thugs on his heels. And that's why he had to move fast.

Shoving his laptop into the bag as well, Hans looked around his apartment. He concluded that he'd taken everything that he needed or deemed valuable, so he decided to leave. Rushing out of the apartment, he pulled the door shut and headed down the stairs, towards the back door of the apartment building. He'd figured that it might be a good idea to keep away from the main streets and open spaces, thinking that it might help him stay out of sight for a while. Precisely for this reason he was completely taken by surprise, when a pair of large hands grabbed him from behind, restraining his movements and causing him to drop his sports bag, while another pair of hands pulled a sack over his head.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Hans yelled, struggling in vain to free himself from his captor's strong grip.

"Shut up," one of the men grumbled, as they dragged him away in an unknown direction.

"HELP!" Hans called, hoping that somebody would hear him and come to his rescue, only to have one of the men shove a fist in his stomach, causing him to bend down and cough.

"I said shut the hell up!" the same man growled again.

A minute later he heard a car door being opened and soon the two men pushed him inside the car without a warning, sitting on both his sides. And then there was silence, disturbed only by Hans's nervous, heavy breathing. He tried to look through the bag covering his head but discovered with disappointment that the fabric was too thick and he could see nothing through it. He had virtually no idea where exactly he was and in whose company, though he felt it was pretty reasonable to suspect it was the person who'd hired him to kidnap Elsa. But the only trace of information he had was the strong, stale smell of cigarette smoke.

"Mr. Westerguard," said a calm, smooth voice with a subtle British accent. "Fancy meeting you here. I don't suppose you have something for me…?"

Hans felt his breath get hitched in his throat, as he struggled to think of what to reply, though he reckoned he didn't have many options. "I… uh… I…"

"Just as I thought," the voice said again and suddenly Hans felt the strong grip on his arms again.

"No, please! I can explain!" he cried and the grip loosened.

"Oh, pray tell! I'd love to hear why I got news last night that my goods will be delivered, only to be kept waiting for the rest of the night, ending up empty handed," the voice said, still just as smoothly.

Hans' mind raced trying to figure out how to get himself out of this situation. "She… she managed to run away… but I can get her again!" he said, painfully aware that he didn't sound very convincing. "Please! I promise you I can get to her again and bring her to you!"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Westerguard, but, unfortunately for you, I don't think I'll be taking you up on that offer," the voice said and Hans felt the two men take hold of him once again, before the car door opened. "Deal with him."

"No! Please! You have to let me try again!" he cried, but one of the men clasped a large hand over his mouth, muffling his screams, as he dragged him out of the car.

The last thing Hans heard was the sound of the car driving off. Then something hit him hard on the head and he sank into oblivion.

A/N: So, how's that? :D

I would like to thank Arialene who gave me some insight on the medical stuff I've included in this chapter :)

Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Don't forget to leave a review on your way out ;)