Thirty Three: Right Now

Hours of pouring over the files Olaf sent had yielded nothing. Well, nothing save a massive headache and more frustration than Elsa needed at this point in her investigation. Naturally the knock at her door was less than welcome, resulting in a snippy response when the sound yanked her from her train of thought.

"What?"

"Don't shoot the messenger." Kris grumbled as he slipped inside, tossing another sealed folder in Elsa's direction. "Got another one."

Elsa caught the envelope and turned it over in her hands. Her name had been scrawled across the front in messy handwriting but there was no return address, no indication of who might have delivered it or how it had come to arrive at their pod with no indication on the envelope of where it was supposed to go.

"Who brought this?"

With a shrug Kris began to pull the door to her room closed, "No idea, it was leaning up against the door when I went to leave. Later."

Gone as quickly as he came Kris left Elsa holding the mystery envelope and wondering just who could have left it here. A cursory glance over the envelope revealed no return address and though Elsa's initial sniff was cautious she found that there was no scent on the envelope save for Kris's.

"Interesting..." Elsa muttered to herself, feeling the weight of the envelope in her hand.

It seemed safe enough, so with care she slipped a finger beneath the seal and ripped it open. A single sheet of paper sat within, neat little boxes all arranged along the form and filled out in meticulous, loopy handwriting.

"Suicide." Elsa spat the word as she scanned Adam's autopsy report.

In spite of her disbelief there was apparently nothing wrong with Adam. Well, nothing except his strange and sudden transformation. No ligature marks around his neck from a hanging, no wounds from an attempt to bleed himself to death, nothing at all that would indicate that he had taken his life and yet the declaration was there in plain english.

"Stomach contents...nothing remarkable." Elsa read aloud, growing more frustrated by the moment. "Heart and lungs show no damage, all other organs in tact-"

Elsa's heart nearly stopped as she reached the bottom of the report. The difference was slight, the angle of the letters was just a bit off and the strokes seemed cleaner than she had seen before but Elsa was almost certain. This was the same signature that had been on Anna's paperwork, the same signature that had been hidden at so many scenes of grisly murder.

The information settled like a stone in her stomach and Elsa was out the door and headed for the morgue more quickly than she had ever left the pod before. Power-walking couldn't even describe Elsa's pace, which only became more rapid as she entered the building and skillfully dodged between workers. In minutes she had weaved her way through the building and barreled right through the double doors, which this time were miraculously unguarded.

The woman within looked momentarily stunned by the swiftness with which Elsa entered, but smiled as soon as she realized it was Elsa. "Well now, isn't this a pleasant surprise. Come here often?"

The phrase caught Elsa off guard and for a second she stared at the woman in confusion. She was dressed casually, no medical gear hiding her face or hair, but when the scent of the woman reached her Elsa knew with certainty that it was the same one who had performed the autopsy.

When Elsa didn't answer the woman tousled her auburn hair, likely newly dyed if Elsa's eyes weren't deceiving her, and added, "I suppose not, otherwise I would at least have your name by now."

Reigning in her desire to immediately confront the woman was difficult, but Elsa managed to put on a smile and tamp down her intuition for the moment. "Elsa."

"Mine is Vanessa, in case you were wondering." Vanessa looked at Elsa thoughtfully, "You seemed in a rush to get here, did you miss me that much?"

"I-" Elsa had to remind herself of why she was here and replace her immediate reaction with a more polite one, "I was hoping to get a copy of that autopsy report."

It was a lie of course, but one that could help Elsa to suss out more information about what exactly Vanessa knew.

"Oh sure, it's downstairs." Vanessa cheerily announced, motioning for Elsa to follow her toward the back of the room.

Elsa was surprised to see that the door led to a staircase rather than to just another room. Down they went, Elsa following close behind until the stairs ceased and the narrow staircase opened up into what looked like a workshop of some sort. Vanessa instantly launched into what felt like an endless stream of discussion about how she wasn't sure how to get the report to Elsa or Anna given that she knew almost nothing about them, but Elsa's focus was entirely on the room.

In the center of the room was what looked to be a plexiglass cage of some sort, at the center of which sat a table with a man strapped to it. He struggled as they came into the room but seemed to settle as he realized that neither was approaching the barrier, the sight made Elsa wonder if he was being kept in or if others were being kept out.

"This room is...interesting." Elsa cleared her throat, taking note of other things in the area. "What is this room used for, exactly?"

"This and that." Vanessa moved to a filing cabinet next to what looked to be a refrigeration unit chock full of vials containing a liquid that looked very blood like. "Mostly research."

"Oh?" Elsa took a step nearer, "You're involved in research as well? What are you researching?"

Vanessa chortled, it might have sounded good-natured if not for the hint of a sneer on her lips. She snapped back to a friendly smile though as she extended the report to Elsa, "An impossible mission if you ask me. S.N.O. has commissioned a cure-all, if you will. Something to stop non-humans from ever forming in the first place, or at least to fix the ones that are already here."

"You're kidding." Elsa masked her shock perfectly, wondering if Vanessa was actually permitted to tell her anything about this project or not. "I couldn't imagine S.N.O. doing something so against their monetary interests."

Vanessa laughed outright, clearly enjoying the little jab Elsa took at their employer, but not elaborating too much on the matter. Instead she seemed content to let Elsa continue to peruse the report. Elsa made note that she would need to look into this research, it could potentially be a connection to their explosive encounter in the woods.

Elsa forced herself not to skip straight to the end in case Vanessa was watching her, but as her eyes scanned the bottom of the report it became clear that this signature was not the one that she had seen on her copy.

"And who signs off on these?" Elsa tried to sound casual, but even if the question had been odd Vanessa didn't seem to mind answering it.

"Me, of course."

"Right, of course. That makes a lot of sense." Elsa agreed calmly in spite of the somersaults her mind was doing. "Does anyone else ever sign these? Or is it just you here doing all the hard work?"

Vanessa seemed to take the question as a compliment, "Just me. I could use an assistant if you're free, though I imagine you'd be more of a distraction for me than anything else."

Laughing with as little awkwardness as she could Elsa handed the paper back to Vanessa before gesturing over her shoulder at the refrigeration unit. "Part of your work?"

"Oh yes." Vanessa preened, "Source blood."

The words came out as if anyone should have known them, but Elsa had no idea to what Vanessa could possibly be referring. "Source...blood?"

"Vials on vials of blood directly from our source." A dreamy sigh escaped Vanessa as she looked fondly at the vials, "It's served as a base for so many attempts at a cure, nearly five years now since we started using it and it's been far more successful than any other blood types."

Elsa's eyes narrowed slightly at the time frame and, though she knew it wasn't possible she still had to ask the clarifying question. "And what type of blood is that?"

Vanessa's eyes lit up. "I knew you'd be interested. I could tell we'd get along well. You wouldn't believe it, but it's werewolf blood!"

Something about Elsa's expression must have changed in that moment because Vanessa jumped to assure her, "All gathered ethically of course! Some was donated, but after their untimely death we did collect what was salvageable."

Five years. Elsa felt sick as the reality became clear in her head. She couldn't think of a single werewolf within S.N.O. that had died the same year Merida had, nor did she have any idea that Merida was helping to work on anything like a cure. She had been such a champion of loving the way they were, how could she be working on a project like this without Elsa's knowledge?

"Interesting." Elsa managed to say, plastering the kindest smile she could on her face. "I'll have to come by and check out your research sometime."

XXX

Anna was in the middle of a heated debate with Chernabog when the door to her lab creaked open. Trusting Milo to handle whatever it was Anna didn't miss a beat in her conversation, but when Chernabog's expression turned grim Anna whirled around to find Elsa barely standing.

"Elsa!" Anna rushed to her side, gesturing at Milo to join her on the other side so they could guide Elsa to a seat. "What happened? Are you alright?"

Elsa sat in silence, prompting Anna to look her over for injury. Finding none Anna took a seat next to her and grasped Elsa's hands between her own. "Talk to me, Els. Please, you're scaring me."

"Where do I even start?" Elsa whispered quietly, still staring off into space.

"Anywhere." Anna answered right away, "Anywhere, and we can find the story together. Alright?"

"They have Mer's blood."

The robotic monotone Elsa spoke in was worrying enough, but when the reality of what she was saying dawned on Anna the true concern began to settle in. "Her...her blood?"

"She was helping with a cure." Elsa said, as if the words somehow made sense to anyone but her. "I don't understand. She never hated what we were, it brought us together! How could she..."

Silence fell in the room as Anna and Milo looked at one another, trying to piece together the scant clues Elsa was dropping, but it was Chernabog who spoke first.

His voice was casual, as if he were asking asking about the weather. "Inhumanity isn't for everyone, is it?"

As Anna glared at him over her shoulder she half expected to see him examining his nails smugly, but instead his hand was flat against the glass separating the rooms. His lips were drawn in a thin line, displeasure written all over his face.

"Sorry, ah." Milo finally spoke up, "Who exactly is Mer?"

It felt wrong being the one to awkwardly explain the situation, but Elsa was clearly in no state to do it herself. "Merida was Elsa's girlfriend before me. She died during a mission."

"And she was a werewolf as well?" Milo asked, only continuing when Anna confirmed with a nod. "And someone has her blood?"

"Vanessa. In the morgue." Elsa answered in short, clipped sentences. "For a cure, she said. A cure for non-humans."

"That," Anna paused, shaking her head in disbelief, "That can't be right. Blood of a werewolf to cultivate a cure? That doesn't make sense."

"It might." Milo interjected, rapidly flipping to a fresh sheet of paper and writing out human blood typing, along with a large question mark, "Blood typing among non-humans hasn't been studied much. It's generally understood that they can accept most blood types, but that their blood absolutely cannot be injected into a human."

"Why not?"

Anna had barely gotten her question out before Chernabog was answering it. "They'll die."

His answer was short and sweet, but hardly enough to satisfy Anna. As usual though, Milo was prepared to jump in and continue the explanation. "Humans who receive the wrong blood type can often have a serious reaction to it, the body attacks the cells as if they were foreign bodies. I can only imagine Chernabog is right, the reaction to non-human blood would likely be destructive beyond measure."

"So what does that have to do with werewolf blood being the source for a cure?"

Milo began sketching out little drawings as he explained. "The line between human and werewolf is blurry, you could say. A werewolf isn't quite human or inhuman, as Chernabog put it. Existing in that gray area may be the key to reverting the non-human blood back to human blood, but I can't imagine by what process."

He paused, clearly racking his brain for some solution that clearly wasn't ready to come to him just yet. Anna on the other hand was considering the validity of all of this.

"And you're sure it's her blood?"

To say that Elsa was defensive in her rebuttal was an understatement. When Elsa relayed the little bits of information this Vanessa woman had given her combined with Elsa's own knowledge of the events surrounding Merida's death it seemed as reasonable as any conclusion to reach that the blood was indeed Merida's.

Growing more restless by the second Anna huffed, "So what do we do?"

The answer came was surprising. Elsa quietly shrugged her shoulders and said, "Nothing."

"Nothing?" Milo sounded more offended than he truly had a right to, but Anna could hardly blame him. "How can we just-"

"The cure is S.N.O. sanctioned." Elsa interrupted him curtly, "If she gave her consent then there isn't really anything we can do is there?"

Now Anna understood the helplessness with which Elsa had entered the room. The idea that someone so important to her could have committed to this project, something that would strip not only them but all non-humans of their identities? It was all more than Anna could wrap her mind around, and Anna knew that if her feelings about it were muddled then Elsa's were likely a raging whirlwind of conflict. Anna had half a mind to stop for the day and escort Elsa home, but Chernabog seemed to have other plans.

"Imagine what a botched cure could do to a werewolf." Chernabog mused quietly.

Anna was on her feet in an instant, her mind rapidly assembling the pieces together. "What did Vanessa look like, Elsa?"

Elsa shrugged, "Average. A little taller than you, dyed auburn hair-"

"No wonder!" Anna exclaimed, a bright smile overtaking her face as the last piece fell in. "The night I saw Adam, the night before his death, he saw me and recoiled in fear. As if I was the one who had been with him!"

When no one spoke, Anna elaborated further. "Either she's way off the mark or that's not really a cure they're working up, she had to be the one who injected Adam. The smell he described, the hair color...it all makes sense!"

Milo was sold on the logic, but Elsa looked skeptical. "Your hair colors are very different. I can't imagine he'd confuse the two of you."

"He'd been under duress!" Milo chimed in, nodding emphatically. "A mistake like that is well within the realm of possibility."

"What about the autopsy?" Anna excitedly asked, "Did it show a strange cause of death?"

The frown on Elsa's face all but answered Anna's question, but Elsa still verbalized a response. "Suicide."

Silence fell over the room as they all took in the word. It hung in the air like a black cloud, dampening any excitement they had felt moments before at the prospect of potentially having something more to go on regarding Adam's death.

"Well." Chernabog's thoughtful tone was edged with a little cattiness, "I know that I certainly wouldn't list my own supposed cure all as a cause of death if I were the attending mortician at an autopsy."

XXX

It had to be done today. Elsa couldn't delay seeking out the truth about the idea that Merida was willingly giving her blood as a base for this mystery cure. It had to be now, lest her confusion and pain begin to fester and eat her alive.

"Hello there." Elsa pressed all of that down for the moment, plastering on a friendly smile as she leaned on the information counter. "I need to see about getting some information regarding a project Vanessa is working on?"

The person behind the counter seemed to know her, or at least of her, and leaned back in their chair as if the slight bit of distance paired with the desk could protect them in the event Elsa lost her temper.

"Vanessa?" They asked, clacking away at their keyboard. "In the morgue, right?"

"That's right."

Elsa's confirmation didn't seem to clarify anything for them, they sat stock still as their eyes scanned the computer screen. "She's working on some kind of serum."

"I'm aware of that. I need to know how the blood she's using for a base was requisitioned."

The person's brows came together in confusion, but if they had some kind of qualm with her request they only shook their head and punched a few more keys to seek out the answer for her. "It was donated."

"I'm also aware of that." Elsa began, but the person interrupted her.

"Why don't you ask your question a little more directly, it'll save us both some time."

Elsa should have known better than to try to be casual, she had never known anyone working at the information desk to divulge any more information than they were strictly asked for. She suspected it was drilled into anyone who wanted to work in this area, but as far as she knew being secretive wasn't a requirement for the position.

"I want to know who donated the blood," Elsa paused, hesitant to arouse any more suspicion than she likely already had, "and whether the donations were voluntary or not."

"Don't get many questions like that." They sighed almost comically loud, typing with perhaps more vigor than strictly necessary. "Not much here about that, just an initial. M. No other information aside from that the donations ran up until a point, followed by a final collection on-"

"No need." Elsa interrupted, closing her eyes tightly as she swallowed down the disappointment. "I know the date."

Before the person could accost her further about already having knowledge of what she was inquiring about Elsa turned from the counter and fled. She wasn't sure where her feet were taking her, just that she needed to be outside. She needed air, to feel the earth solidly beneath her, to be grounded again before her mind allowed her to spin out of control.

"Agent West?"

No, not now. Elsa thought to herself, fighting the urge to sprint away and forcing herself to turn around. "Felix."

"I don't recall you having a mission to report in on, what are you doing here?"

Felix sounded as jovial as ever, his smile as always plastered firmly on his face. The sight of it turned Elsa's stomach and she found herself consumed with the urge to tear into him, to get the answers that she deserved.

"I spoke to Vanessa." Elsa struggled to keep her voice level and quiet. "Did you make Merida do it? Did you force her?"

"What on earth are you talking about, Elsa?"

Felix had dropped the title shtick in favor of her name, Elsa wasn't sure whether to take that as a sign of genuine confusion or an admission of guilt on his part. Steeling her nerves she knew that this was likely to be her only chance.

"Vanessa is using Merida's blood to make some kind of cure. Is that what you came here to do, Felix?" Elsa stepped toward him, lowering her voice further but inflecting more anger into it, "You took the reigns of S.N.O. just as that project began, you don't think I'm stupid enough to believe you don't know anything about it do you?"

Unexpectedly Felix reached out to grasp her forearm, tugging her in to a nearby office and swiftly shutting the door behind them. "Are you accusing me of something Agent?"

"Is it true or isn't it, Felix?" Elsa snapped, her breaths coming more rapidly as she struggled to control her anger.

There was a moment of silence during which the pair stared at one another intensely, Elsa half expected it to end in a stalemate. She was shocked to see the angry expression on Felix's face turn deeply sad, then he hung his head.

"It's shameful to admit." Felix spoke softly, gently. "We may not have been entirely honest with her about what the blood was for."

"So what? You trick her into giving the blood, you make the cure." Elsa spat, "And then what? You started to run low so you killed her?"

"My land." Felix whispered the words, holding his head in his hands before emphatically shaking it no. "How could you suggest such a thing?"

"Then what was it all for, Felix? Were you hoping to force every non-human in the world to subjugate themselves to-"

This time it was Felix who snapped, he didn't even let her finish the thought. "If that cure ever comes about it will always be a choice. Now Elsa I understand your grief, I know you're in pain, but this behavior is unacceptable."

"I-"

"No." Felix was stern in his tone, though his smile had already begun to return. "You know better than this. You're a good agent, but you simply cannot speak to me this way. As of now you are on a hiatus from missions, if you should find yourself back in your right mind we can discuss you taking them up again."

Elsa grit her teeth as she held back a snide comment. "Apologies, sir. I will more carefully consider my actions going forward."