"Lighthouse"
Fingers flexed and clenched over and over into a fist, yielding a punctual hiss of pain each time. Jack winced and lightly shook his hand, before flopping back into the chair by the unused infirmary bed.
"Still sore, huh?"
He glanced sideways at Rapunzel, who was busy with checking Merida's vitals. "A little," he responded quietly.
"Can't do anything about that, I'm afraid." Rapunzel let one of Merida's eyelids close before opening the other to shine a penlight into her eye. "Well, I could, but I'm not going to."
Jack arched a brow. "Oh?"
"Yeah. Call it a lesson." She straightened up and clicked off the light, before pocketing it.
"On what?"
"Other than what happens when you repeatedly punch a solid brick wall? Talking." Green eyes met blue in a disapproving look. "Nearly everyone has talked with someone else about what they've seen. Elsa. Astrid. Me. I managed to get a few words out of Koz, for pity's sake. Yet you, for the past few days, bottled it all up and refused to talk it out. Thank fuck it was a wall you pummelled, else you could have killed someone."
Jack rolled his eyes and sighed. "There's nothing to talk about."
"The injuries I had to heal say otherwise." Rapunzel's voice softened. "Jack, I know you're struggling—"
"You don't know a goddamn thing!"
The words had left his mouth before he could stop them, in a vicious bark that should have stirred Merida right out of her coma. Still, Rapunzel wasn't fazed in the slightest. Professional, as always.
"I'm leaving," he snapped, jerking up from the chair and heading to the door.
"No. You're staying here until you talk to me," she responded bluntly.
He turned the handle and opened the door. "You can't stop me."
"Actually, I can."
Jack hesitated.
"Captain Jackson Overland, if you leave this room I will have no option but to relieve you of your command of this team, effective immediately, by my authority as Chief Medical Officer."
Her voice was firm, loud, uncompromising. It rooted Jack's feet to the floor, tensed his every muscle. He was used to being spoken to with authority - he'd been reprimanded enough over the years - but for such a small, bubbly, almost naive person, Rapunzel had one hell of a commanding tone.
"Stay, and we'll work through this so you can keep your command. Jack—" she paused, and he heard her take a step toward him, "—you had an emotional breakdown. What you saw, what's weighing on you—it needs to come out. Otherwise, I can't let you lead the team. You'll put lives at risk."
Jack was silent as he listened, letting her words have their due attention. She was right. He was a mess, a hot mess inside, barely held together by pseudo-military training and the need to be the team's immutable rock. Time and events had given strength to a growing disillusionment, resentment, that Rapunzel's order had given a voice.
"I don't want to have to do it," she said, like a closing argument. "You're a great leader—but I will if I have to."
From Jack's nose came a quiet but bitter snort, and his head shook barely an inch either way. "Cute ultimatum, but it's meaningless."
"Why?"
"Threatening to take away something I never wanted in the first place? That's not a threat."
Jack looked at her.
"That's a gift."
Without another word, Jack left the room and closed the door behind him. It seemer dire, felt it, but when someone is struggling in tempestuous waters, they will latch onto anything to survive.
Even if it won't save them.
The armory door abruptly opened, and the lack of knocking was a blazing clue as to the visitor's identity. Only Anna would barge in without announcing herself first.
The tricky part was, Elsa thought to herself, she had come to the armory for some peace and quiet. Solitude to think and reflect, to process and contemplate. Hence the disassembled parts of Hailstorm laid in an organised manner on the table, after having already taken apart, cleaned and reassembled Pippa, Daybreaker and Hansbuster. Order and simplicity was top of her list, and if she could focus on the task of weapon maintenance, her subconscious could go about the comparatively mammoth task of mental maintenance.
Of course, the antithesis of order was chaos, and chaos suited Anna just fine.
Elsa let out a quiet sigh, lamenting the loss of her solitude, as Anna walked in and closed the door behind her.
"Hey 'sis," she said. "Been looking for you everywhere. No-one knew where you were."
"That was the idea," Elsa murmured under her breath, before responding properly. "What can I do for you?"
Anna went over to the chair at Elsa's left, and gingerly lowered herself onto it. "Just came to see how you were doing."
"I think you already know the answer to that."
Anna's eyebrows quickly rose and fell as she let out a bitter snort. "Shyeah. Everyone's off-balance. Shaken. Astrid barely talks, Rapunzel had to threaten to ban Koz from being near Red if he didn't wash or eat. Last time we were like this was… the night after—"
Elder blue eyes found the steel table. "The Guardian Star."
"Yeah. I'm just… worried."
Elsa looked up at her. "You have your husband back, though. That counts for something."
Anna half-smiled, but Elsa detected an element of uncertainty in her eyes. "Yeah. I'm over the moon. My family's whole again. Our baby gets to grow up with her dad."
"You don't sound it."
Hurt flashed across Anna's face, and for a moment, Elsa admonished herself for speaking. However, when Anna's words left her lips, Elsa understood.
"They really did a number on him in that place. He can't sleep in a bed, only on the concrete floor. He freaks if I approach him too close or too fast, and… he won't touch me. Last time he touched me was after we came home. It feels… it feels like I'm losing him again."
"Have you two talked?"
"Yeah. He said that 'cause he was dosed up with the serum for three months, plus the starvation, he got used to being… well… weak. Now it's out of his system, he has to relearn how to be careful again." Anna scratched at the side of her head, then covered her mouth with a loose fist. "Gone from barely able to lift a crate, to being able to break a bone with a flick."
"He's scared of hurting you." Elsa stroked her sister's upper arm. "That's understandable."
"I know, it's just… we'd already worked through that a few years ago. Just feels like it's all been reset."
"Give him time. Give yourself time. Many things have happened over the last few days. We need time to process them."
"Yeah. You're right. I guess… I guess I'm just feeling sorry for myself." Anna looked up at her, and Elsa recognised the twinkle of an idea in her eyes. "Hey. Let's go see Mama and Papa."
Elsa's hand gently jerked away from Anna's arm, and hesitated for a second before she placed it on her lap. Looking away, she busied herself with cleaning the barrel and said quietly, "You can. I'll stay if you don't mind. I need to ensure our kit will be dependable."
"C'mon. Please? The guns aren't going anywhere. We could go see them and come back, and I'll help—"
"I'd really rather stay," Elsa flatly interrupted.
"Why?" Anna looked positively bewildered and disappointed. "It's been four days since we got them back, and you haven't seen them once. They keep asking about you. C'mon, let's go—"
"No, thank you."
"Please—"
"No."
"Why?" Anna loudly cried. "Why can't you—"
"I said no!" Elsa snapped in a shout, glaring. "Why is it so imperative you—"
"Because you're about to lead the team!"
Anna's nearly hysterical cry stopped Elsa in her tracks. Silence reigned as, whilst her her mouth hung open, Elsa stared with dumbfounded eyes into her sister's wide, panicked blues.
"...what?" she whispered.
Anna screwed her eyes shut and held a breath, before letting it out in a slow exhalation. "You're going to be Captain soon," she murmured in a quiet voice.
"H-how?"
"Jack was relieved of command by Rapunzel on medical grounds. I overheard—"
More like eavesdropped, a cynical voice in Elsa's head spoke.
"—Rapunzel telling him if he left the room, she'd relieve him of command. He… he left anyway."
Elsa frowned, looking away as her eyes danced her thoughts. "But… why?"
"I don't know." Anna sniffed, and wiped over her forehead with her left hand. "Whatever it is, Jack is officially no longer Ghost Captain. Which means—"
"—that I'm next in line," Elsa finished, her voice hollow.
"Yeah." Anna snorted bitterly. "Pretty soon, you're gonna be Cap."
"Is that why you are so adamant we see Mama and Papa?"
Anna sniffed again as she nodded, and Elsa noticed a small welling in her eyes. "The last time I encouraged someone I care about to lead the team, I ended up losing my best friend. I know I have to accept some responsibility for that, but… I often wonder what it would be like if he didn't become leader. I might still have our friendship."
She thumbed away the errant potential tears. "Leadership… it changes you. Changes everything. I… I'm scared I'll lose you too, so I just wanted one last moment as a family before… before you took the job."
Elsa found herself unable to respond for a time, her mind dizzy with the feeling of the rug being pulled from under her, and again when she barely recovered the first time. Jack had been relieved, and she was next to take up the mantle. She, who was inexperienced as a Ghost compared to others. However, stubbornness rose within her, a firm conviction that took Anna's hand.
"Then it is fortunate I have no intention of leading."
Anna blinked, looking wholly bemused. "Wait, what? You have to, it's protocol."
Elsa shook her head. "To hell with protocol."
"I don't understand… I mean, you've got leadership experience—you're pretty much suited for it."
"That's just it—I'm not." When Anna opened her mouth to argue, Elsa shifted on her stool to face her. "I was made Valkyrie Leader because Hans wanted it. Not because I was qualified, nor because I was talented for it, but because someone decided it for me. And that resulted in a terrible team dynamic, distrust and resentment. I didn't lead so much as order, guide so much as demand."
"But that was different."
"No, it isn't. Rather than someone in power making the decision for me, it is arbitrary protocol. This has happened, therefore I must lead. I do not recognise that protocol, and refuse to abide by it."
"But why?"
"Because I did not earn the command. I have been a Ghost barely two months, and have participated in only one operation as a Ghost. If I am to command, it will be when I have earned the position on my own merit."
"Yeah, but Jack became leader by that very protocol, and it worked out."
"As I understand it, the X.O. can only take command if the current captain is dead, missing, or medically relieved. Jack took command in the wake of the presumed death of your husband, but the difference is he possessed years of experience, countless operations and built a strong rapport with you all. And even then, command has clearly exacted a heavy price. Simply put, Anna, I will not command the Ghosts until I have earned the role."
"Or if you have no other option."
"Indeed." Elsa half-smiled. "For now, however, Hiccup is far more appropriate a candidate."
"I could do it."
Elsa looked into her sister's eyes, and to Anna's credit, she held the deadpan gaze for five whole seconds before they both snorted into laughter. "Nah. That'd be a disaster," she said. "I wouldn't follow me."
"Someday, maybe."
"Heh, yeah." Anna let out a long sigh. "So… why aren't you comfortable with seeing Mama and Papa?"
Elsa screwed up one side of her face as she tilted her head. "It's difficult to put into words but… the Elsa they knew going into her room is very different to the Elsa who broke them out of that bunker. I think… I think they're still wondering when that Elsa will come back."
"What makes you say that?"
"When Jack and I were escorting them out of that room, Mama saw the bodies of the people we'd killed to get there. Saw the way we killed the Titan. Just before we went into the elevator shaft… she looked at me for a few seconds as though she didn't recognise me. Recognise the woman I'd become."
"Well… the hairstyle's a little out there in comparison."
Elsa chuckled. "Perhaps, but… six years is a long time, and I have had time to think."
"About?"
"I'm angry, Anna. Angry about what was done to me. I know I was understanding and forgiving about it before, but… being around you, Jack… being a Ghost has taught me so much. I've learned the power of being able to choose. To carve my own destiny." Elsa rose from her stool and faced the weapons rack, her hands on her hips. "Thinking our parents were dead, I put it behind me, in the belief that I would never see them again. No point seeking resolution if none could be found. But… since that night, it all came flooding back. I feel… betrayed."
Elsa looked up at the ceiling and closed her eyes. "Being a Ghost has taught me the value of freedom. I could walk out of this place tonight, with provisions and weapons, and blaze my own trail. To be able to make a choice is so, so precious. By having that gift now, I was able to see just how crippling it was to not have it. Mama and Papa took it away from me. They, and that infernal serum stole three years of my life, and for what? To stop me becoming an abnormal?"
"There has to be more to it than that…" Anna offered, though the lack of enthusiasm detected in her voice led Elsa to wonder if her sister agreed.
She turned around, and spread her arms wide. "Maybe, but would it have been so bad if I did bloom? I can do amazing, incredible things. I am more whole now than I've ever been. I am an abnormal—and as a consequence of the actions of my parents, rather that it be an exceptionally painful process, my bloom very nearly killed me. I lost so much time. I lost you for six years. I lost myself for six years. I lost my right to choose for myself."
Elsa then sat on her stool, and rested on her elbows, a loose fist over her mouth while she stared at empty space. "Maybe their intentions were good, but to them the ends justified the means. Just like what Jack pulled. And just like they cost Jack, those means cost me dearly. I haven't been to see them because… I'm not sure I can forgive them for it."
Elsa felt a hand enclose around her loose fist and gently pull it away from her mouth. She looked at her sister, who regarded her with an encouraging smile and sympathetic eyes.
"I've been waiting so long to hear you say that. What happened to you… you can't just shrug off something like that. You deserved better than what you got—and I'm happy you finally came out and said that. But…"
"What?"
"Don't you think Mama and Papa should know this? They need to know the damage they did to you. You need to know what was going through their heads. Even if—"
Anna hesitated, and a worried look flashed across her face.
"—even if it means your relationship with them is affected, you'll at least begin to heal. It's not them that needs closure. It's you."
Elsa gazed at her sister for a long time, before smiling and nodding. Every now and then, Anna could still surprise her. Perhaps it was the impending change to her life that precipitated such wisdom, or being around people like Kozmotis. Either way, Elsa was grateful for the support.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to finish cleaning Hailstorm. After that, we can go."
Anna winked and made a clicking sound. "Attagirl."
Jack knocked three times on the door, and waited somewhat impatiently for the occupant to open it. Judging by the way the handle slowly and carefully turned, much the same way as on the Star, Kristoff's strength had returned and therefore everything had to be treated as though it was as delicate as a spider's web.
The door opened a small margin, and the face of Kristoff poked through. He looked less gaunt than before, and colour had returned to his complexion. His eyes were still party to that haunted look, however. Eyes that told tales of abuse and subjugation.
Fear, too.
"Room service," Jack quipped.
Kristoff's eyebrows rose. "Great. I'll have pancakes and syrup, with orange juice and a side of what-do-you-want?"
Jack cocked a brow. "Charming."
"Sorry." Kristoff winced. "Weird day. Come on in."
He stepped aside and opened the door wider, and Jack walked into the room. The first thing he noticed was a pillow on the concrete floor, something Kristoff hastily rectified by tossing it onto the bed even before he closed the door. His erstwhile C.O. gave him an innocent smile of which Jack was none too believing, before offering him a chair.
"I'll stand. I don't plan to be here long."
Kristoff shrugged, and parked himself on the edge of the bed. "Suit yourself. So, what can I do for you?"
Jack looked him dead in the eye, his expression wholly serious. "I'm here to return command of the Ghosts to you."
Kristoff blinked. "Say what?"
"I have been relieved of my command, and I believe it should be returned to its rightful person. As far as I am concerned, I have only been Acting Captain, and I would like to be demoted to Lieutenant. You don't need—
"Jack—"
"—to worry about an X.O. Elsa's a good soldier. She's experienced, skilled, and one day she'll lead her own team. I just feel—"
"Jack."
"—I would be better—"
"Stop."
The abrupt, firm tone to his voice like a parent scolding a child stopped Jack in his tracks, and he flinched slightly with the surprise. Kristoff nodded to the chair with an expression leaving no room for argument, therefore Jack figured it would be simpler to obey.
"So what's brought this on?" Kristoff asked in a far gentler voice.
Jack leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as his hands wrung together. Mouth open, he waited for his formless thoughts to coalesce into reality-changing words, staring at an empty spot on the floor.
"I… I don't think I can do this anymore."
"What?"
"Lead." The word felt so hard, so heavy to speak. "I just… don't think I have it in me to go on as Captain."
"I heard you had a breakdown. You okay?"
Jack smiled bitterly and slowly shook his head. "No. I feel like… like I'm suffocating in darkness."
"Talk to me, dude. All of it."
"Talk." Jack let out a chuckle. "I euthanised five hundred of our kind. Five hundred. Some of them… were our friends. People we fought beside. Shared our home with. Not to mention the other five hundred Unity already cremated."
"Yeah." Kristoff's voice was relievingly grave, as though Jack couldn't cope with anything else. "That was a horrible position for you to be in. Making that call must have taken a lot from you."
"Yeah, well, Rapunzel says there was nothing that could be done for 'em. That the only thing keeping them in that horrible excuse for the word alive was the Toxin-siphoning machine. The prisoners at the camp? Nah. They were alive and kicking."
There was a long pause, ended by a deep breath. "Hiccup told me what happened at the camp."
"Yep. One day after we get back, and Unity swoops in and shoots 'em against the wall. They were terrified, alone, and their last chance of salvation left them behind." Jack bitterly snorted. "I abandoned them. I made the call, and killed forty people to save four. Not exactly the Vulcan way."
Kristoff let out a long breath through his nose. "Like I said before. Shitty position for you to be in."
"Yeah well, I don't think I can be the guy who makes those calls any more. It's costing me so much." Jack sniffed, and bowed his head. "I'm not like you."
Kristoff scoffed. "What, you think I was any more capable of it?"
"You led us for years, Kristoff."
"Yeah, and I couldn't tell you how many times I couldn't look at myself in the mirror. Remember the call I made in the depot? Four of our best scouts—good men—were left to be tortured and killed so we could get you all out of there." Kristoff ran a hand over his head, which bore the signs of hair growth. "I still carry the guilt for that. No matter what Eugene says."
"So you know why I don't want to carry on."
"Jack," Kristoff leaned forward and put his hands together, "Sometimes our decisions aren't clear cut. Sometimes our choices are between something terrible and something worse, and making the choice means we don't sleep well at night. But you do it so maybe, just maybe, we can pull some good out of it. So we can one day look back and try to convince ourselves that it was all worth it."
"You're not selling it."
"Jack, being a leader isn't about barking orders or making tactical plays. When the darkness comes, the leader is the first one it hits. Why? Because they're the one who guides their team through it to the other side. They're the shield and the sword, the candle in the night. They're the ones the team looks to when the shit's hit the fan, because they can keep everyone breathing another day. They're the ones strong enough to make the hard calls so the rest of the team don't have to."
"What makes you think I'm strong enough?" Jack said, his voice rising, glaring at Kristoff. "I just had a fucking meltdown and had to be sedated! How could you make me your X.O. knowing what it would be like if I did end up in command?"
Kristoff, as ever, did not lose his cool. Rather, he looked Jack in the eyes, and calmly spoke.
"Because you were the best of us."
Jack blinked, dumbfounded, his anger and anxiety vanishing. It was all he could manage to blankly say, "...what?"
"I chose you to be my X.O. because there was no-one else I'd rather have. You always kept morale up even in troubled times. You knew right from wrong but weren't afraid to tread the line if it saved lives. When I was leading from the Star, the team looked to you. Not me. You were on the front lines, you set the tempo, you had their backs. Not to mention—until Elsa, I'm told—you were the most powerful abnormal, bar none. Hell, I'd find myself asking what you'd do in a situation. You weren't afraid to throw yourself at danger, to do the hard stuff if you knew it was the right thing to do."
Jack stuttered, "I… I…"
"I mean," Kristoff straightened up and held up a loosely cupped hand as though it contained tangible thought, "let's look at the evidence. You managed to get the team through hostile territory, to a place some of us didn't believe existed. You dealt a crippling blow to their Toxin-draining system. Best of all, you turned our greatest enemies into our greatest allies, and now the team is stronger than ever - because you made the hard call and gave them a second chance. All this, on your watch."
"Yeah, and five hundred and forty people died on my watch, too."
"Dude—yeah, okay, you killed those five hundred people. Here's the thing: it was a piece of mercy. Guarantee you that if they could, they'd have asked you to do it. The other forty? Nothing you could have done. Nothing. You tried to salvage what you could of a shitty situation and because of that, Anna has her parents back, and you saved mine and Eugene's lives. That's a debt I can never repay."
"Take command and we'll call it even."
"I'm sorry, Jack." Kristoff shook his head. "I can't. Rather, I won't."
"Why not?"
Kristoff rose from the bed, and Jack glimpsed the code tattooed to his forearm, sending a small chill down his spine. Putting his hands on his hips, Kristoff turned his back to him as he spoke.
"Couple of months in that camp, I was starting to lose hope. Middle of nowhere, starving, beaten, no way to escape. Hell, even if we could, the guards would've let us leave 'cause the Reapers'd get us. Then I got something I never thought I would: I got to survive. Got to be with my wife. And in six months… I'd gonna be a father. I was lucky enough to get a second chance."
Kristoff turned around, and fixed Jack with a grave look.
"I'll never be able to hold my baby. Won't be able to feed them, dress them, change them. Won't be able to play with them in the way other fathers can, because if I mess up once?"
Kristoff snapped his fingers. Jack felt the implication slam down on his heart like an iron ball. "But that doesn't mean I'm useless. I'm gonna be there for my baby. I'm gonna help Anna any way I can. I can't do some things, but what I can do, I will do to the best of my ability. And nothing is gonna keep me away from that. I'm sorry, Jack, but there's no decision making process here. My family is more important to me than command, and I'll be damned if I let command get in the way of my relationship with my baby."
Jack let out a long, defeated sigh. Kristoff was right, he knew it in his heart. And if he learned anything in his tenure as a kindergarten teacher, it was that a parent's love is the strongest force in the universe.
"Piece of advice. I've been where you are. I've asked myself that question—hell, I even went to Neve and asked her to replace me with someone else as leader. Why? Because I thought being a leader meant I had to deal with all the responsibilities alone. That it was all on me. And I couldn't take it. Know what she said?"
"What?"
"She told me: you are a team for a reason. They will be there for you, so when it's crunch time, you'll be strong enough to lead them through the shadows. Jack… your biggest flaw is thinking you have to face things alone. You are not alone. From what you and Anna have told me Elsa is probably the best X.O. you'll ever get. Talk to her. Lean on her. That's what an X.O. is for."
Jack quirked his lips to the side. "Makes no difference now. Rapunzel relieved me of command."
"I'll talk to her. Far as I'm concerned you're the only one for the job. Jack—" Kristoff sat back down on the bed, "—I wouldn't have made you my X.O. if I didn't think you were capable of leading. Neve endorsed it."
Jack gave him a surprised look. "She did?"
"Yep. You might not take my opinion into account… but Neve believed in you. That has to count for something."
"Maybe." Jack inhaled and let out a long, contemplative breath, before rising to his feet. "I need some time to think."
"Well, with Hunter out of action, I'd say you've got plenty of it. Jack… being a team isn't a bunch of people with their own agendas. Being a team is a bunch of people supporting each other no matter the situation, so when the chips are down, we know we're stronger together. Remember that."
"I'll try." Jack went to the door and opened it, throwing out a quick glance for any eavesdroppers. "Thanks."
"No problem."
Jack left without further discussion. His heart was heavy, yet his mind was abuzz with thoughts and contemplation. It wasn't the outcome he'd hoped for… but there was a nagging feeling it was the outcome he needed.
Elsa's hand hovered over the handle to the mess hall, hesitation staying her limbs. She could see her parents chatting to Candace, who, quite frankly, looked like she'd had enough. It was as though her body was frozen in time, unwilling to continue.
"What's up?"
Elsa turned her head ever so slightly, her eyes fixed on her parents. "I… I don't know what I'm going to say to them."
"Don't plan it, just… let things play out."
"It's not that, it's—" Elsa took a deep breath, "I know they are Mama and Papa, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm looking at two strangers."
"Kind of like how Mama looked at you?"
Elsa chuckled somewhat acidly. "Yes. I suppose."
"Hey." Anna's hand rested on Elsa's shoulder. "No matter what happens, I'm in your corner."
Elsa reached up and touched her sister's hand for a few seconds before collecting herself with a deep breath, and pushed open the door.
Almost instantly did every head in the room swivel to them, with her parents wearing wide smiles of recognition, and Candace looking like she didn't know whether to be relieved or desperate. In fact, she was on her feet before Elsa had even entered the mess hall; had Elsa not been aware Candace had to chaperone her parents for the past few days, she might have been offended.
"Hello there, honey," Agdar greeted, waving. "I haven't seen you for a while."
"Indeed." Elsa nodded at Candace as she approached the table at which her parents sat. "We'll take it from here."
Candace mouthed her gratitude as she passed, her footsteps nearing a jog as she left the mess hall. "She's very nice," her mother gushed. "So chatty."
Elsa didn't know whether or not her mother was being sardonic. "Yes, well. How are you both?"
Idun quirked her lips sideways and tilted her head. "As well as can be expected, I suppose. I must admit, I'm getting the same feeling of restriction as before, just with a little more freedom."
"Darling," Agdar gently chided her.
"Protocol, I'm afraid." Elsa moved to sit opposite her mother. "Frost takes the safety of his team very seriously."
"He can trust us," Agdar said.
"Can he?" Elsa looked at her father. "Papa, Hans went to great lengths and committed substantial resources to kidnap you, and conceal you from the Unifier and everyone else not part of that camp."
"At the risk of our family get-together turning into a debriefing, I gotta say," Anna said as she sat beside Elsa. "I am curious how he did it."
"And why," Elsa added. "Clearly you were important in some way to him. So, until we know, the restrictions will continue."
Agdar and Idun exchanged resigned looks, as though they expected that topic to come up yet hoped it wouldn't. She sought his hand, and derived strength from his touch.
"We were driving home from the laboratory when we were stopped under the bridge by a squad of clones. Their Alpha told us to get out of the car and stand on the sidewalk."
"They covered our heads with black bags and dragged us to another car," Agdar continued. "I tried to memorise the route but… it was no use since they sedated us after that."
"We woke up somewhere else. Hans was there—holographically, at least. He told us that we were dead. Authorities found our bodies under the bridge."
"How'd he do that?" Anna whispered.
For Elsa, it was clear. It all came flooding back; the holographic images of Jack, the requisitions, the data and the image of Supreme Commander Henrik Larsen. The clone orders of Jack, Kozmotis and Kristoff, and the two mysterious orders.
"Clones," she said, to a gasp from Anna.
Idun nodded. "Yes. He put our clones in the car, and had them killed."
"Surely an autopsy would've revealed the truth, right?"
Elsa turned her head slightly toward her sister. "It would be reasonable to assume Hans planned for that. He either paid off the staff, or they are already loyal to him."
"We thought the same," Agdar said. "In any case, once he'd finished gloating, we were sedated again and woke up in the camp."
"Why?" Elsa leaned forward a little. "What was the reason for your abduction?"
Her parents shared another grave look, before Idun answered, "The serum."
"The anti-abnormality vaccine?" Anna looked between them as Elsa let out a shaky breath. "Why would he want something that's already widely available? Hell—the A.A.S have it as mandatory field equipment."
"Because it was never finished."
Silence fell, like the words had been stolen from the room, the empty space left behind filled with shock. Elsa couldn't speak, and simply stared at her mother with wide, stunned eyes.
Anna, however, had no such issue with speech.
"What."
Agdar winced, and closed his eyes. As he spoke, his entire upper half seemed to enunciate his words. "The vaccine, in its current available form, is the prototype. It is… incomplete."
"We were still developing it when Hans kidnapped us." Idun shifted on her seat. "As it stands, the vaccine is perfectly functional as a suppressant, but…"
"You mean to go further," Elsa finished, her voice haunted. "You created it not as a temporary solution, but a permanent cure."
Agdar nodded, swallowing. "Yes."
"Why?"
"Because… because abnormals everywhere were suffering. Taken from their homes. Nearly permanently sedated. And now that plant…" Idun swallowed, her face frowning as she tried to force out her words. "People were hated, persecuted, for their abnormalities. Not for who they were, but what. So we decided we had to do something."
"The only problem was that creating the serum was not something we could conceal… so we went to the Unifier." Idun rubbed at the back of her neck with one hand as she held her husband's fingers with the other, and gazed at the salt shaker between them. "We brought our idea of a suppression vaccine to him, and he bought it. We were given whatever we needed to create it."
"Our intention was to distribute the vaccine as a temporary solution while, under the guise of refining the serum, we worked on making the nullification effects permanent. Once completed, we would spread that vaccine around, and those that took the serum would be permanently cured. We would then accept the consequences once the Unifier would find out."
"The serum works by an enzyme disrupting the bond between human and abnormal DNA." Idun grasped for her drink, and took a quick sip before continuing. "Once the bonds are separated, the abilities and changes caused by the abnormal DNA become inert."
"The enzyme is then supposed to leave behind a molecule that adheres to the human-abnormal helical bonds and prevents re-emergence of the abnormal DNA," Agdar said. "We were never able to stabilise the molecular connection to the DNA, however."
"It would work for a limited period, but… after a while, the synthetic bonds would degrade and the abnormal DNA would reassert itself." Idun looked at Elsa. "We were able to create small quantities of the vaccine with a stronger molecular bond, but even those only temporarily worked."
"We ran simulations and found that if we were to make the serum even stronger, it also made it very unstable… and it had an unfortunate effect on abnormals."
"Like what?" Anna asked.
"It was lethal." Agdar said quietly. "It not only disrupted the bond between abnormal-human DNA, but caused a chain reaction that disintegrated all DNA bonds."
"It would take someone apart cell by cell," Elsa murmured.
Agdar nodded. "Yes. So we deleted all records of the simulation and erased anything that could lead to it, and commenced production of a small amount of the vaccine for trials. But then, the unthinkable happened."
"You began your Bloom Event," Idun said. "One moment we're leaving you two to chat, the next minute… your room is covered in frost and ice. You were hysterical with fear… so, we did the only thing we knew at that moment we could do."
"You trialled the vaccine on me," Elsa said, her voice quiet. "I was your Patient Zero."
"Please, you have to understand—"
Elsa's interruption was harsh and abrupt. "What happened next?"
Her parents winced with a stung expression, before sharing an uncertain look. "Within twenty minutes, soldiers from the A.A.S burst through our doors, demanding to know where you were. They were just about to search the house when their Alpha received orders to stand down. Thirty minutes after that… Hans arrived."
"He had the soldiers leave the house before… well, blackmailing us. We were to keep you locked in your room and dosed at all times, and in exchange, your Bloom Event would be kept secret." Her father gazed at her with imploring eyes. "It was either that, or the A.A.S would take you away."
"So you made a deal with the devil," Anna said, ill-hidden accusation in her voice. "Funny thing about that: the devil always comes to collect."
"What we didn't know was that Hans had planted a mole in our laboratory, who found out about the lethality of the serum. They didn't know the specifics, and were unable to gain information about it, but it was enough." Idun sniffed and wiped a finger under her left eye. Elsa was quietly surprised to discover how unsympathetic she felt inside. "Hans must have wanted the data, but since we erased it, he changed his plans."
"And so, you were abducted and kept prisoner in Camp Serenity." Elsa's hands, which had so far been clenched to the point her nails had carved indentations in her hands, were mentally forced to relax. "You still have not told us why."
"Hans wanted us to continue our work on the serum. He wanted us to create a stable version of the lethal serum which could be produced in a gaseous form." Agdar's other hand enclosed over Idun's. "Of course, we couldn't let that happen, so we dragged out our work as long as we could. We came up with excuse after excuse for Derrickson, intentionally sabotaged experiments, requested obscure chemicals we knew would take time to procure. As it stands, the only living things to whom the serum is lethal is the Reapers. Since the last of our data was on that crystal and in that Uni-Com, there's no way Hans can use it."
"That you know of," Elsa said. "Hans has been remarkably able to adapt his schemes on the fly."
"There's no way," Agdar said, looking her in the eyes as he shook his head. "Even if they did salvage anything, we are the only ones who know the intricacies of the process, and we intentionally uploaded our data in code."
"We'll see."
The curt tone to her voice prompted her mother to blurt, "We had no choice. We—"
"Locked your daughter away on the whim of a dangerous man, trialled on her the very substance Unity uses to control the abnormal population, and cut her off from contact with the outside world—especially her own sister. Yes, I'm acutely aware of the details."
"Honey—"
Elsa stood, and leaned on her hands."Do you truly understand the consequences of the choices you made? Shall we start with the broader implications?"
"Yes, abnormals everywhere are suffering. Yes, our existence is one of persecution, pain and hatred. But your solution was to take away what makes a person who they are. Your solution was to eliminate the target of persecution, pain and hatred, rather than address the source. Whether or not it was your intent, you were to punish us for being abnormals. And do you honestly believe, in the long run, you will have changed anything?"
"Not to mention someone taking your idea and running with it, which—surprise surprise, contestant three wins the game—Hans did," Anna drawled.
"You do not solve society's hatred and discrimination by taking away that which they hate. You solve it by fixing society."
"And what if that entire society is built on hate and fear?" Agdar responded coolly. "What if it is so deeply rooted?"
"Then you take it apart and rebuild it from the ground up," Elsa bit back.
"Elsa Marie—" her mother started in an attempt at a stern voice.
"I have not finished, Mama. In fact," she glared at her. I have not even begun."
Elsa glanced at Anna, and was surprised to note her expression. There was no discomfort, no pleas for her to cease. No, her face told a tale, as she would have said, of 'you go, girl'.
"You have been understandably out of the loop regarding some… developments. So, allow me to illuminate you."
"Can we—"
"I wasn't asking," Elsa cut her father off.
And so she began, barely stopping for a second. She told them everything. The moment she found out about their supposed deaths. Hans. Anna's Bloom. Elsa the Valkyrie. The Guardian Star. Refuge with the Ghosts. Her own Bloom. Every single detail up until the moment she opened the door in the bunker.
Her mother and father were silent, struck dumb by the revelation of all they'd missed. It was a good thing, since the anger burning inside her was liable to make Elsa explode were they to say anything.
"Do you even know what that did to me? I mean, I'm not talking about becoming a Valkyrie; that was a choice I made, and for the consequences of that choice I will spend my life redeeming myself. I hated myself. I hated what I was. My abnormality had caused me so much pain and suffering, and every day in that room festered that hate. Why, how should I feel anything but self-loathing if my own parents locked me away for what I was? So when I did become a Valkyrie, I unleashed all that self-hate on innocent people. People who were just trying to survive. People like me. And I made a terrible mistake. For a while… even Anna couldn't stand to be near me."
Elsa pushed herself up, and gestured around her. "It isn't until recently I learned to love myself. Thanks to Anna, Frost, Pitch, I learned to accept who I am, and what. I am an abnormal… and I'm proud to be one."
"So what should we have done instead?" Agdar retorted hotly. "Tell us! What else could—should—we have done?"
"I don't know." Elsa's voice turned calm and measured. "Maybe you are right, and you truly had no choice. Maybe I am being unfair—but I must ask: if I was on the vaccine, I would not have been a threat to anyone. You could just as easily have allowed me to move around the house. To interact with my own sister. Hans would never have known. So why my room, and only allow me out when the house was empty?"
Elsa didn't miss the anxious glance her parents exchanged a second before her mother winced, bowed her head as she let out a breath, and spoke.
"Because you are an Omega."
Elsa frowned. "I'm a what?"
"Unity has a threat-assessment classification system for abnormals: Alpha, Delta, Gamma and Omega. They are classed according to how drastically they affect the world." Idun rose to her feet and slowly paced along the table. "Alphas are the weakest; their power lies internally. They are still dangerous, but their effect is no more than the average human."
"Deltas," her father continued, "are classed by the physical changes to their body and the inherent effect. Mr. Bjorgman is a prime example."
"Abnormals who can directly control or manipulate their surroundings are classed as Gammas," said her mother. "They are as such because, if they feel so inclined, they are capable of causing severe damage to property and loss of life."
"That'd be people like me, then," Anna muttered bitterly.
"And Omegas?"
"Omega." Her father rose to comfort her mother. "At least, it used to be singular. It transpired that a new abnormal had bloomed, one with the power to manipulate the weather itself. One who, if sufficiently enraged, could cause destruction on a possibly national level. Unity had to create an entirely new classification just for them."
"Frost," Elsa breathed.
"Yes." Her father nodded. "Frost was classified as Omega-level, and was the only one in the whole system ranking that high. Until he wasn't."
"Me."
Her mother slowly returned to her seat, reassured by Agdar's hands on her shoulders. "After your near-Bloom, we ran a program designed to measure radiation levels. Humans give off negligible radiation readings, and abnormals generate slightly higher, but there is always a spike in radioactivity during a Bloom. The readings we registered were matched only once, by a Bloom in the vicinity of a settlement in the north."
"Omegas are colloquially called world-enders, though I suspect it's somewhat of an exaggeration." Agdar squeezed her mother's shoulders and then returned to his seat. "Either way, should the worst happen, your Bloom would have been contained."
"It wouldn't," Elsa said quietly, the words struggling to pass the lump in her throat. "When I underwent my Bloom, Frost had the basement completely sealed and was using his own powers to contain the event, and even then the house was freezing. It took all he had."
"We didn't want to do it. You have to believe that. We didn't want to lock you away. You are our daughter. We love you." Idun's eyes shone with pleading hope and shimmering need, as though Elsa's acceptance was as vital as breath. The very sight welled tears in Elsa's eyes. "We are so, so sorry for the pain we caused you. I hope… I hope, one day—when this is all over—you can find it in your heart to forgive us."
Elsa's left cheek bore witness to a single tear, travelling down to lips which smiled a sorrowful smile. "I believe you, but I cannot deny the damage your actions caused. Perhaps one day I will look back and be at peace with it. But not today."
The crestfallen but accepting faces of her parents would surely etch itself into her memory, but as far as Elsa was concerned, it was something she could live with. Politely excusing herself, Elsa made for the door with no small amount of haste.
For when she escaped into the outside world, her legs buckled from underneath her and she fell to her knees. No tears came, however. No overwhelming tide of grief, or shame at the words she'd spoken. She let out a long, long breath; it was done. The knot inside her had loosened, the closure achieved. She could now heal.
It wasn't long before she felt a familiar warmth on her shoulder, emotional and physical.
"You okay?"
Elsa smiled at her sister's voice. "No… but I will be." She looked up over her left shoulder. "Thank you."
Anna looked a mite bemused. "For what?"
"For being there. Supporting me. Just… being my sister."
Anna beamed at her. "You know I've got your back."
"And I have yours."
"See? S'all we need." She looked away, and opened her mouth to say something, but frowned and closed it again.
"What's on your mind?"
Anna looked blankly at her for a moment, blinking. "Oh. I just… you know when you said 'when all this is over'?"
"Yes."
"Well, I think I just had that moment. Um… I need to talk to someone."
Elsa smiled wryly. She knew exactly who that someone was.
Jack pulled out the three tablets from the drawer of his desk, and placed them next to the collection of pens oddly named Sharpies he'd procured from the other drawers. He leaned over them with his hands on the wooden surface, brow furrowed with conviction.
Kristoff had given him a lot to think about. Maybe the men and women of the harvesting plant were given merciful deaths, but the people in the camp were not. Maybe he had no choice; he even said as much before the operation. There was no way he could have saved them all, yet the knowledge of what happened to them weighed heavily on his heart. In the end, though, leadership was a crucible. Maybe he was up to the task. He didn't know—but hopefully he would find out.
Jack gazed down on the tablets, mulling over the idea he had. It would take time—and likely a coating of ice on his wrists—but it would be worth it.
His door knocked with two light taps. "Yo," he called out.
The door tentatively opened with a high-pitched groan that set Jack's teeth on edge, and he caught himself surprised by who knocked. She never knocked.
"Hi," Anna said, poking her head through.
Jack cocked a puzzled eyebrow. "Uh… hey."
"Got a minute?"
"Um, yeah. Sure. Sup?"
Anna sidled through and closed the door behind her. She stood, flexing her fingers and awkwardly smiling whilst looking around. "So… how're you doing?"
Jack shrugged. "Better. Clearer."
"That's… that's good."
"You?"
"Uh…" Anna shrugged. "I'm doing okay. Elsa had the talk with Mama and Papa."
"The talk?"
"Y'know… about…"
"Oh! Right."
"Yeah."
"How'd they take it?"
"Not well. Pretty sure I heard Mama crying as I left the room but… y'know. Some wounds have to be revisited so they can heal."
"S'wise."
"Yeah. Which is kinda why I'm here."
Jack tilted his head, and allowed himself to relax a little. "Oh?"
"I've… I've been a bitch. To you, to others. I know pregnancy hormones and mood swings have been part of it but… there's some shit I have to own."
"Okay."
Anna took a deep breath and began to pace, her hands gently wringing together. "After that day on the rooftop, I went to see Elsa. Told her about it, how it felt… y'know…"
"Ending our friendship," Jack said, barely hidden acid in his voice.
Anna froze as she looked up at him with a start, before resuming her slow pace. "Yeah. She told me Rapunzel told her something. She said that there would be a moment where I'll have everything I ever wanted, and I'll have clarity so sharp, it'll knock me off my feet. I had that moment."
"I have my husband back, even if it'll take him time to heal, and I will wait. I have my sister. I have my parents. I was there when Elsa finally confronted her demons. I am lucky. I have so much I don't deserve—I've no right to have. Not when everyone else has lost so much. Their families. Homes. Lives. I am blessed."
She turned to face him, and stared at him for a few seconds, her mouth open with considered thoughts.
"I don't regret ending our friendship because… with how we were then, if I'd stayed as your best friend out of some sort of obligation, I'd have resented you. You deserve better than that, especially after what happened. At the same time, I wanna apologise for it. There were other ways—better ways—to handle it and I chose out of emotion. Being around Elsa, becoming a mom… I'm being taught the value of cooler heads."
Jack quirked his lips and tilted his head to the side and back. "You and me both."
"In any case—and I know I've no right to ask this—but I was wondering… we were so close once. Can we be again?"
It wasn't exactly the topic of conversation Jack had anticipated. Hell, as far as he was concerned, their friendship was over. Finito. Sure, there was a little animosity, but nothing distance and time would not heal.
He studied her for a few moments, turning over his thoughts in his mind. Would it be worth it? Possibly. There was a part of him that longed for the old days.
But those days were over, and if he was truly honest to himself? He didn't really want to go back. So, the overwhelming feeling was peace and conviction when he answered.
"No."
Anna blinked, crestfallen. Her eyes and hands fell, hurt written across her face. "Oh. Right. Yeah… I probably deserve that."
She turned and made for the door. "Thanks for… um… giving me the time to talk. I understand."
"I'm not finished."
Anna hesitated, then slowly turned back. Though she struggled to look at him, he could see resignation in her eyes, as though preparing herself.
"When we were best friends… it was a different time." Jack walked around to sit on the edge of the table. "I wasn't Captain, and you weren't a mom-to-be. We had responsibilities, sure, but… we also had a little more freedom. Lighter shoulders."
Jack twisted a little to rest a hand on the glass tablets. "Fast forward to now, and it's a whole other story. You've been through some real shit. I'm Captain—or was—of the team. The things we've seen, things over our heads, things weighing down on us? We've changed. We're different to how we were back then. Put us against our past selves, and it's almost night and day."
Anna nodded. "Yeah."
"I think the problem is we were both expecting and waiting for the best friends we knew to come back, and we were frustrated when it wasn't happening. Rather than accept who we are now, we were holding on to who we used to be. Those people might not come back."
"I know," Anna murmured.
"Hell," Jack gently threw up an upturned hand, "I've been a real asshole lately. Trying to keep it together felt like I was being pulled apart and… I took it out on you, on Eugene, Rapunzel. Wasn't until your husband gave me a kick up the backside that I got a handle on how to go on from here. Old me wouldn't have been like that, so that's on me."
"You were a bit of a dic… tator."
Jack snorted. "And then some. But it only shows us the difference between us and our past selves all the more."
"So, no, we can't be best friends again." Jack rose from the table and stood before her, the left side of his lips curling into a smile, and offered his hand.
"But we can start over."
Anna's mouth tugged into a gentle, small smile. Her eyes brightened as she glanced at his hand, and grasped it with gusto.
"Deal."
Their hands released, Jack caught her nodding behind him.
"Sure you should have them out after what happened last time?"
Jack glanced over his shoulder, and cottoned on to that which she referred: the tablets. He shrugged. "I keep feeling the urge to do something with 'em," he mused.
"Like what?"
"Dunno yet." He looked back at her. "It'll come to me, I guess."
"Alright, well if you do think of something, gimme a shout. Maybe I can help."
"Will do." He lightly clapped her on the upper arm. "Catch you later."
Anna gave him one last smile before nodding her acknowledgement and leaving the room. Resting his hands on his hips, Jack gently nibbled at his lower lip as he turned and gazed at the tablets, thought in his eyes.
History was in those glass tablets. History, containing the names of men, women and young abnormals who suffered under hate and fear. History of their kind, that truly was written in blood. Those names were priceless, and Jack could think of nothing more valuable. Those names that etched a promise onto the war-torn surface of the earth: never again.
The only problem? The tablets were destructible. Fragile. Whether by intent or accident, those names, their history, could be lost. Gone, like the vapor of a breath on a cold winter morning. Vanished for all time, like Unity's end goal. They needed more. They deserved more. They deserved immortality, for their names to be passed down from generation to generation as a solemn reminder of their past, to guide their future.
Jack surged to the table and shoved the tablets under his arm before grabbing the pens and darting out of his room.
He knew what he had to do.
Jack barely slowed his pace when he burst through the doors of the command centre, making a beeline for the table in the middle of the room. He carefully but quickly laid the tablets upon it, cast the pens down a tad more carelessly, and immediately went to tear down the myriad sheets of paper masquerading as a long-term battle plan.
He stood back, and felt a pang of worry. The concrete wall was grey and unpainted, but smooth enough that one could run their hands across it without impromptu exfoliation. The question was… would the colour interfere with the pen ink?
It seemed light enough, but as Kristoff once said, the proof of the punch was in whether your enemy was still standing.
Jack went back to the table and took the topmost tablet along with one of the pens. He gazed at the wall, picturing a grid fifty rows down and two hundred rows across, each field roughly eight inches long and one inch wide.
It should be enough.
Jack tapped the tablet with his pen hand before sticking the lid between his teeth and capping it with the end of the pen. He walked over to the very top left of his imaginary grid, and wrote upon the concrete the very first name from the tablet in his neatest possible handwriting.
One down, nine hundred and ninety-nine to go.
He had just put pen to wall for the tenth name when the sound of the door gently opening drew his attention. Head over his shoulder, he saw Elsa walking through, smiling at him. She did not respond when he greeted her; instead, she wordlessly picked up a pen from the table, stood next to him and adjusted the tablet in his hands so she could clearly read it, and began a new column with the fifty-first name.
The silence was comfortable, and Jack understood the meaning.
Jack had started on the fifteenth name when the door opened again, and none other than Astrid entered, closely followed by Hiccup. They both gave him a single nod before they too walked to the table, picked up the second tablet and a pen each, and stood next to Elsa to start their own columns.
He barely finished his fifty names when the door opened a third time, and he gaped in surprise when not only did Eugene enter… but Kozmotis as well. Unkempt, unshaven and looking decidedly worn out, yet with eyes that radiated purpose, he nodded once at Jack before he and Eugene did the same thing Astrid, Hiccup and Elsa did.
Candace arrived soon after, and stood next to Kozmotis.
Rapunzel was the penultimate one to enter, which Kozmotis immediately noticed, prompting him to bid them goodnight and leave. It didn't take much for Jack to figure where he was going, and why he came - something reinforced when Rapunzel took his place and continued where he left off.
Jack looked over his shoulder just as the command center door opened one last time, and it all made sense; Kristoff ushered himself through, and carefully held the door for Anna. As soon as she caught Jack's eyes, she smiled wryly at him and gave him a knowing wink.
"My sister is cleverer than for which people give her credit," Elsa said quietly, just enough for him to hear. "Including me."
Jack watched as the two arrivals parked themselves at the centre table. "She organised this?"
"Yes." Jack felt the tablet tug a little away from him. "She felt you could use some help."
"Some help? This is… like… the entire team."
"Perhaps now you understand how anything can be accomplished," Elsa paused, adding one final, careful letter, "by not trying to do things alone."
Jack shot a look at her, but his jaw dropped when he caught sight of the wall.
What began as a humble five names had become hundreds stretching along the wall. From his just-about-legible chicken scratch to Elsa's elegant cursive, Hiccup's clear and concise lettering to Astrid's no-nonsense script, name upon name was carefully and permanently inscribed onto the concrete. He'd figured it would take him a few hours to transfer each name, but thanks to his friends, it took a fraction of that.
Jack let out a shaky breath, letting the sensation of overwhelming gratitude flow through his heart. There were so many - too many - names on the wall, but the weight of each one had been lessened. That was what it meant to be a team, he realised. Supporting each other not just in battle, but in life.
He had forgotten what it meant.
"United, we stand," he murmured.
Elsa turned her head just enough to rest her eyes on him, and knowingly smiled. "Divided, we fall."
Jack's gaze fell in thought, his lips tugging at each corner as he gently nodded. Somewhat renewed, he returned to his task, and it was but half an hour later that the wall of names was completed. Eugene had even taken it upon himself to add the prisoners they were forced to abandon, and even the names of the two guards. Sure, they participated in the abuse and mistreatment of him, Kristoff, and the other inmates, but when Death itself arrived in a horde of claws and teeth, they stood beside them in battle and gave their lives. Eugene must have felt they deserved remembrance.
Derrickson's name was unsurprisingly absent.
As they all stood back and took in their work, Jack felt an odd urge. The kind of sensation one feels when a task was unfinished. Something was missing, and as his eyes traced around the empty space surrounding the names, it clicked.
He turned and offered his pen to Rapunzel, who glanced at it in confusion.
"Heard you're one hell of an artist," he said, an encouraging smile cutting across his mouth.
Rapunzel stared at the pen for a few moments, before carefully taking it. "What should I draw?"
Jack winked. "You'll figure it out."
He stood aside and walked over to sit on the center table, and the rest of the team gave Rapunzel some space. He watched from behind, content to let her work her magic - until a small voice in his head reminded him of a certain word: trust. It wasn't that he didn't trust them; the Battle of Camp Serenity was proof. Maybe it was an unwillingness to completely trust them with matters beyond combat. Matters of the mind, heart and soul. A wall of names which needed something more, something only Rapunzel had the talent and sincerity to create. For that, he had to trust her with those names.
"I had a talk with the good doctor," Kristoff murmured close to Jack's ear as Rapunzel commenced her art. "She's willing to postpone the paperwork and give you another shot - provided you attend weekly counseling with her."
Jack smiled on one side of his lips, and gently nodded. She trusted him. He wouldn't let her down.
Rapunzel weaved lines with all the grace and confidence of a ballet dancer in their element, her creativity and her fingers working as one. It was easy to see it was a much her comfort zone as books were for Kozmotis or flying was for Hiccup. Unwilling to miss but a second, Jack and the team remained around the table, talking amongst themselves but keeping their eyes on her unfolding art.
What it became in a short while, considering she had but a Sharpie and a concrete wall, was nothing short of a masterpiece. Simplistic and minimalist, yet it conveyed exactly what Rapunzel intended; surrounding the names was an elegant row of roses, with curved lines in between representing the stems and leaves, all twisting and curving around each other. She even managed, with the aid of Kristoff's shoulders, to draw the face of a child, with the profile faces of a man and a woman on the child's left and right facing their respective sides above the memorial.
Rapunzel stood back from the wall, and clicked the lid back on, like an audible period at the end of a long sentence. For a few moments the team based at the memorial in silence.
"That's a lot of names," Eugene mused out loud.
"They're more than just names," Jack said. "It's important we remember that."
He looked at each person in the room.
"We're the only ones who can."
A/N:Well... this is awkward. It's time I explained my absence.
I'm going to level with you all - I am struggling to find motivation for this story. This chapter had been 80% complete until about three weeks ago, and complete ever since then. I just had, and have, low motivation to continue. I'll muse on my suspicions.
When I started OGaV I was in the midst of my then-undiagnosed depression. I believe the story was a method of coping with it, of vocalising (so to speak) the issues I was experiencing, and putting down my mental state on paper. OGaV is a very dark story, and I suspect it reflected how I was at the time. I feel it would be pretentious of me to say "tortured artist", but for some, art is a way of sorting through pain.
Fast forward to now, and I am on anti-depressants (and have been for some time). My mental state is now stable, more so than it has ever been. I feel like myself. I feel like a proper husband and father. I no longer need to write to stabilise myself... to keep myself away from those dark thoughts that had but one end. So what does that mean?
Well, it goes without saying that I can't go back to that person. My eating patterns were awful, my sleep patterns were worse. I wasn't the father or husband I could be. Worse, I could have a nosedive. It also goes without saying that I can't abandon this story. I refuse. I have spent too much time, written too many words, created a base of beautiful and charming fans to leave this story high and dry, and finish it with a half-assed "this is what happens next". So I intend to continue on. I don't know how, or how often, but I will finish this.
OGaV II: Apex Ascendant and OGaV III: Long Live the Queen is another story, pardon the pun.
In any case, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude, appreciation and apologies for those readers who have been patiently waiting for an update. I don't deserve the reviews I've been getting, nor all your kind words, but I thank you for them.
Let's go.