A/N: I mean... technically you didn't have to wait a year... only six... hah x_x. Well I'm back! And I finally know where this story is going, hope you enjoy! :)
They've been walking in comfortable silence, arm in arm for around five minutes, maybe closer to ten – Elsa always lost track of time during moments like this. As relaxing as the walk was, it was slightly unnerving to the secret agent not being the one to lead the way; she was used to being in control, allowing her to minimize risks and deter unwelcome surprises, however Anna hadn't informed her on their destination. Naturally, the blonde assumed they would go into the first high-end clothing store on their quest to find her a new coat, however now as they passed Chanel – the fourth fashion store thus far – Elsa was beginning to think the redhead had a special store in mind. It's probably about time to get some info….
"Anna," she started, lingering just long enough in front Chanel's display window to use the faint reflection on the glass in her peripherals to ensure they weren't being followed. "Where are we going?"
Looking up at her with a smile, Anna shrugged, "that's for me to know and you to find out!" The younger girl laughed mischievously and continued leading the way, relishing in the privileged knowledge she kept from the blonde. "Come on Elsa, stop getting distracted!" Eventually she rescued Elsa from that mesmerizing display window, gently pulling her arm until the blonde reluctantly gave in and continued walking. "We're almost there Elsa, I promise! And then we can get your new coat and it'll be amaaaaazingggggg!"
Elsa couldn't help but smile at the girl and allow herself to be pulled along. She seems more excited about the coat than I am. Oh Anna….
They walked a few more blocks, Anna leading the way, weaving between bystanders and oncoming pedestrians. Elsa had no idea how Oaken parted the sea of bodies to give his burly shoulders room to maneuver, but somehow the bodyguard managed to keep up with them. There were many more people out and about now than there was earlier that morning, which meant more potential threats to Anna. Elsa quickly scanned over each bystander they approached, searching for a concealed weapon, watchful eyes, a potential signal to an accomplice, anything that might reveal the slightest interest in the girl clinging to her arm. And jesus – fucking – christ, she found there was A LOT of interest in Anna, not from anyone who actually posed a threat to the girl – at least not while Elsa was there – she'd gladly break every finger of any man who fucking dared try to touch her… – but there were lots of lingering looks, men turning to watch her pass by, discrete comments to friends and obnoxious cat calls. Elsa would've killed them all or at least left their misogynistic asses permanently disabled had Anna not been holding her. But she was. And as infuriating as it was, Elsa could live with that. And so they passed right on by, peacefully ignoring them all without a single casualty, though Elsa did manage to get one man to choke on his water after a single glare. Elsa smiled at the recollection. Well he was thirsty….
The crowds slowly dissipated; Anna stopped abruptly, almost causing Elsa to run into her. "O – Oh, whoops, sorry… haha," the redhead apologized as the blonde braced herself against Anna's shoulders to slow down. The agent looked around; there was nothing of importance here. Explains the lack of people…. To the left, the way they came, customers crowded outside Dior's imposing five-floor boutique and 50 meters to their right stood the modernized six-story Louis Vuitton flagship store. However directly in front of them was a door. Yup, just a door. No large signs, no display windows, just a small black wooden door – an unusually small black wooden door actually. Elsa might have to duck her head in order to enter. Anna turned to the blonde excited as ever, "we're here!"
Elsa nodded, still unsure where "here" exactly was. Such an unassuming place hidden in plain sight, buried beneath the extravagance of Paris fashion and wealth, it hardly seemed like the type of place anyone, especially Anna, would know about. And yet, apparently she did. This girl is full of surprises… someone sure did a shit job with her dossier.
Anna walked up to the door and knocked, her two companions following behind. The middle panel in the once thought to be wooden door slid open to reveal a small screen displaying a rather large man, though definitely smaller than Oaken, in a suit and black sunglasses. What the fuck is this place?
"Do you have an appointment?" the man asked blandly, his voice emitted from a hidden speaker.
"Uh, no… haha. I'm a friend," Anna nervously replied, "I just wanted to – "
The man interrupted her, "All visitors are required to make an appoint – "
Rude mother fucker.
"Get out, get out," a woman interrupted, a handful of papers waving across the screen, shooing the man away. "Go take inventory or something," the mysterious voice called out to the man. Yeah get the hell out of here, asshole.
"What is it, who are you, what do you want?" the woman asked, lifting her nose up to the screen in order to see the visitors, the camera positioned just above her eye-level.
Anna cheered up at the appearance of the unknown woman, "Hi Edna!"
"Ahhh Anna! Hello hello, darling!" the woman greeted, her face still pressed up against the camera. Her tiny eyes darted across the screen, studying something visible on her end. "And Oaken too," the bodyguard nodded in response. "My god you've gotten fat…" the lady brazenly commented, obviously unconcerned with offending her visitors. "And who's the third, darling?"
Wait, that's right. She can see us. The thought just occurred to the blonde, a little late. Ugh, no shit Sherlock. But there were no cameras on the door or attached to the building – Elsa already made sure she conducted a preliminary sweep for surveillance equipment when they first stopped outside the inconspicuous door. Well if it's not on this building… The agent looked at the neighboring structures – nothing that could provide a good view of the doorway. She looked back at the buildings across the street, nothing she could see, and even if there were cameras there, they'd be quite too far to do any real good. Where the hell… Elsa's eyes crawled up several of the nearest streetlights, still nothing. What the fuck…it has to be here somewhere. It's not like it's just sitting in a bush or – .
The agent quickly glanced over the hedges that lined the sidewalk. No… too bad of an observation point, you'd barely be able to see anyone's face. However… Elsa's eyes ran up the trunk of the lone tree standing at her 4'oclock on the sidewalk, placed at the perfect angle to observe visitors. A faint glint caught her eye. Found you. The tiny camera was expertly hidden, sitting within the trunk of the tree with only the tiniest hole for the lens to watch the outside world. Any ordinary person would completely miss such an elaborately disguised camera, but Elsa was far from ordinary. Content with locating the camera – in case it ever had to be avoided, blocked, or you know, shot – the agent turned back to the door, just as Anna looked to her.
"Oh! Um, this is Elsa!" the redhead answered excitedly, smiling over to the other woman. Turning back to the computer screen, Anna continued, "She's the one I told you about… for the… you know…." Elsa's eyes narrowed, all this information that the younger girl kept from her was definitely putting her on edge.
"Hmmm…. Interesting…" the lady thoughtfully commented, her watchful eyes narrowing behind large glasses. "Yes, very well. Come in, come, come!" The mysterious woman reached over to press a button and the computer screen went black. Suddenly, the once ordinary-looking door slid aside with a faint hiss, granting the visitors access to the mysterious building. What the hell is this place….
The trio entered a hallway, the door sliding shut behind them. Pristine beige tiles lined the floors, bouncing the fluorescent lighting off the undecorated white walls. There was only one other door leading out of the hallway, located opposite the one they came through.
"Anna…" the blonde warily started as they walked down the hallway, "who was that woman you spoke to?"
"Oh!" the younger girl exclaimed as she stopped walking, suddenly realizing how strange this must all seem to the blonde who knew nothing of what they were doing. "That's Edna! She's actually Gerda's sister." Anna smiled at the blonde before resuming her pace.
"Um… Anna…" the blonde started again, still confused, "so who's Gerda?"
Anna stopped once more. "Oh wow that's right, you don't know Gerda! How did I not realize that? I keep forgetting you don't really know much about me." Apparently not. Elsa silently cursed the stupid CIA analyst who created the useless briefing packet on the redhead.
"Anyways, Gerda is one the workers in our house. She's basically like a second mother to me…" Anna trailed off, a wistful look in her eye. "…um," the redhead quickly recovered, "she's really sweet. I'll definitely introduce her the next time you come over. Don't let her spoil you though. For one of my birthdays when I was younger, she asked me what kind of cake I wanted and I just told her anything with chocolate. She ended up baking me three different chocolate cakes just because she wasn't sure which one I'd enjoy the most! So naturally I had to eat them all. And I did over the span of five days – chocolate cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – oh and dessert! I don't think I ever decided which one I liked the most, but that was the only time in my life that I was ever sick of chocolate. I couldn't even look at hot cocoa for a month without feeling queasy!" Anna laughed to herself as she recalled the memory. The three continued walking to the door. "But yeah, that's Gerda! You'll definitely love her. She practically loves you already!" Anna's eyes widened; she probably shouldn't be telling Elsa about the goofy, proud smile Gerda seems to get whenever she ends up talking about the blonde. In fact, she probably shouldn't be mentioning that she talks about Elsa at all. That's definitely weird. Stop it, Anna.
Elsa smiled, happy that the girl has such an amazing person in her life. And apparently she talks about me. Duly noted. The three approached the door, which also automatically slid open. "So, um…." Elsa started, there were still so many questions running through the agent's mind. "What are we doing at Gerda's sister's place?"
Anna smiled and shrugged, "you'll see!" Elsa simply laughed, hiding the growing uneasiness and frustration from the younger girl's purposefully vague answers.
"Hm…that's strange," Kai stated, the light from the computer monitor illuminating his puzzled look.
"Strange? What's strange?" a muffled voice asked from the couch. A sprawled-out Kristoff tossed the pillow into the air again. The boredom of inactivity started gnawing at him 15 minutes into the mission. Elsa had her "shopping date" with Anna and Kai was tasked with monitoring the computers and street cameras along the blonde's route, but Kristoff was backup – essentially nothing during this straightforward mission. He originally attempted to help Kai monitor the cameras, but he couldn't stare at one camera for longer than 5 minutes without getting sleepy, let alone the other 5 Kai had set up to display simultaneously on the TV in front of him. So instead he let Kai handle the monitoring while he endured the slow and painful torture of boredom – hence a game of catch with gravity and the couch pillow.
"I lost them…"
"You what?!" The pillow fell into his face amongst the confusion. Gravity – 1, Kristoff – 0. The agent abruptly stood up to join his partner behind the computer screen.
"The signal cut out for both of them at the same time. Something must be interfering with the phone signals – "
"What happened? I thought you were following them this whole time! What's their last known location?" Kristoff interrupted.
"I was! They were walking past Dior on Avenue Montaigne, but never made it to the street camera across Louis Vuitton."
"I'm heading there. Keep me updated." The agent replied, grabbing his pistol from the dining table and checking the magazine before holstering it. Armed and ready, Kristoff grabbed his keys and ran out of the apartment.
Racing down the Parisian streets, Kristoff mentally prepared himself for anything he may encounter once he arrived. Times like these made the agent actually miss the boredom, appreciate what it really means for his team. Kristoff would happily endure centuries of that dull torture if it kept his fellow agents safe. No one ever deserved to die; no matter how unappreciative they might be of his jokes.
They entered the other room; this one was organized much like the extravagant fashion stores they passed. A handful of mannequins dressed in luxurious clothes and fancy accessories were spread throughout the room. Soft black leather chairs and benches lined the walkway while display cases flaunting exquisite jewelry ran along the wall. Everything seemed like another typical fashion store, except the lack of customers – and lack of workers for that matter.
"Wow… um… is this where we're getting a coat?" Elsa asked, somewhat impressed at the quality of items offered in such an unassuming place. "Anna, when you said we were going shopping at Le Triangle d'Or, I figured you meant we were going to Chanel or – "
"Oh please, darling," a familiar voice sounded. The woman from the computer screen walked out of a door to their left. Elsa blinked in surprise, almost not believing her eyes. The woman was smaller than she originally thought – much smaller, definitely less than three feet tall, maybe even two. She was wearing a black suit – or was it a dress…. Elsa wasn't quite sure, but it was layered with pieces of fabric almost like scales – certainly a unique and quite bold look – though the woman's personality seemed exactly that from what Elsa gathered during the conversation at the entrance. Edna walked towards a group of leather chairs, continuing, "Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton… they're nothing darling, nothing at all. I sell my designs to all of them. Bah! 'Sell', it's practically charity, darling. Pitiful, all of them simply pitiful." Literally having to jump, Edna sat herself on the nearest chair and waved her hand, gesturing for the three to join her, "come, come my dears, have a seat."
Anna eagerly waltzed over and plopped onto the soft cushions of the leather couch directly across from the tiny woman. Elsa cautiously followed her, still wary of the small, mysterious fashion designer. The redhead quickly made room for the blonde by sliding to the left-most cushion of the 3-seated couch. Thanking the younger girl with a smile, Elsa gently placed herself in the middle seat. The blonde looked over to the approaching bodyguard, who would undoubtedly need at least one and a half seats to fit on the couch. To accommodate the man, Elsa shifted closer to Anna, perhaps a little too close because their shoulders were now touching; the blonde looked over, slightly nervous at the close proximity hoping not to make the redhead uncomfortable. Anna simply smiled at the blonde before turning back to Edna. Elsa noted she didn't pull away.
"Hi Edna! How are things?" the redhead cheerfully asked.
The secret agent watched the bodyguard approach them; he obviously noticed the effort she made to provide adequate space for him to sit beside them. But he passed the couch, seating himself in another chair at the far end of the group. Elsa could clearly make out the familiar smirk he had on his face; the same smirk he always had for no apparent reason other than annoying the fuck out her – though he couldn't possibly know it's effect on her, Elsa had done a pretty good job masking her irritation throughout the day so far. Fine then, asshole. The blonde turned to focus on the conversation. It was too late to modify her seating arrangement.
"Ahh yes, things are going quite well, quite well, my god. No complaints," Edna started with a sigh, "but… you know, it's – it's just not the same, not the same at all."
Wonder what she means by that…. Before Elsa could question the woman, Anna spoke. "Weren't you just in the news? Some show in 'praygue' – I… um… 'prahgue'…?" The blonde softly laughed at the girl's mispronunciation of Prague.
"Milan darling, Milan," Edna casually corrected. "Supermodels… Ha! Nothing super about them… stupid little stick figures with poufy lips who think only about themselves…."
Elsa smiled at the brash comment. A dislike for pretentious, self-absorbed barbies –looks like they'll get along just fine.
"Hah!" the fashion designer scoffed, "I used to design for gods…." Edna thrust her arms in the air as if gesturing towards the heavens.
Anna giggled at the woman's enthusiasm, softly leaning her body into the blonde's. Elsa gently pulled away to give the girl more space, but the change in contact caused the younger girl to slow her laughing and look over to the blonde, checking if anything was wrong. She obviously thought nothing of the act – Neither should you, idiot. Just do your fucking job. Elsa simply smiled back at the innocent girl and leaned back in to ease her worries.
"Oh!" Anna exclaimed, turning back to the tiny woman, "this is Elsa! Though I guess you two kinda sorta met at the entrance… but I guess I could introduce you two again since that wasn't really an introduction and now you can see each other in person, sooo… yeah!"
Elsa laughed at the girl's rambling and gently waved at Edna, "hi there. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Mmmhmm…" the tiny woman's eyes narrowed as if examining the blonde – or was she just imagining it…? "Yes, yes, well the pleasure is all mine, darling," Edna turned back to Anna. Now Elsa's eyes narrowed at the quick dismissal. Okay, maybe we won't get along. The designer continued, "How's Gerda, dear? Is she still spoiling you too much? Yes, tell her to stop feeding you so much chocolate, darling; you'll get fat like Oaken."
The bodyguard let out a chuckle, shaking his head. Anna giggled and rolled her eyes, "Edna…"
"What darling?" the woman asked feigning innocence. Anna simply shook her head with a smile. "Bah! Fine, fine, it's your funeral. Just remind me to send some flowers to your father before you leave us. 'Dear Vincent, I tried to warn her but she was too stubborn to listen to me, you know how she gets. Love, Edna.'"
Anna gapped, pretending to be offended though she was clearly smiling, "Edna!"
"I jest, darling. I jest. You know I love you. And shush, you'll probably keep your fabulous figure no matter how many pounds of chocolate you eat a day. Anyways, darling, how can I help you?"
"Um… I was just wondering if you were done with that thingy I called you about…? I probably should've called ahead to confirm – why the heck didn't I call ahead? If you need more time, we can just – "
"Don't be ridiculous, darling. I told you I'd finish it by today and I never miss a deadline, it's simply unacceptable. The coat was finished days ago."
Elsa perked up, "wait…coat…?"
The designer waved her off, "yes, yes darling, a coat, try to keep up." She turned back to Anna, "everything was made to your specifications…as much as it may have pained me and my years of design experience…." Edna lifted her hand to her forehead for dramatic effect.
Anna smiled at the theatrics before her and played along, "I graciously thank you for your enormous sacrifice." The small woman nodded in mock approval. Anna continued, "So can we see it?"
"Yes, of course darling," Edna hopped off her chair walking towards the side-door where she first entered. "Follow me, Elsa."
Wait… me? The blonde blinked, surprised to be singled out. Hesitantly she stood to follow the woman. Elsa looked back to Anna for some kind of reassurance, but more importantly the agent didn't want to leave the girl's side – not again. Sensing the uncertainty from the blonde, Anna stood up to follow them.
"Bah!" Edna exclaimed as she looked back to see the redhead standing up. "Sit, sit darling, give the woman some privacy. You two cling to one another like young lovers!" The designer's choice of words froze the redhead, forcing her to sit down. Accepting that she had no choice but to follow the tiny woman alone in order to preserve her cover, Elsa looked back at the younger girl with pink cheeks and mouthed the word "sorry" before hurrying to pursue the designer.
The two women entered the side room – though 'side room' definitely did not accurately describe it; this room was almost twice as big as the first or maybe it was just the lack of mannequins and display cases. There were only two chairs in the spacious room, angled towards one another but facing a tall glass wall to the left. Elsa couldn't make out anything on the other side of the clear panels – the glass seemed to be tinted.
"Take a seat, darling," the tiny woman said after shutting the door behind them. Elsa hesitantly sat down in the far chair; the designer quickly jumped into the other. Attempting to be friendly, the agent smiled politely at the smaller woman. Edna looked at her, seeing right through the blonde's forced smile.
"So darling, what does the CIA want with Anna Walker?" Elsa almost choked on the air she sharply inhaled. Wait…what? How the fuck?
Concealing her sudden panic with a cough, the agent decided killing the woman on the spot probably wasn't the best course of action, though it was definitely in the top three at the moment. Probably best to talk this one out…. Elsa turned her coughing into laughter. "Excuse me?" she asked between laughs, "you think I'm some kind of… secret spy?"
"Drop the act, darling, ignorance is not a good color on you." Edna stated bluntly, ignoring the blonde's façade entirely. "I made you at the door – no one has ever found my camera as quickly as you did, quite a remarkable feat really. You certainly are an interesting one…." The tiny woman peered over her glasses, piercing through Elsa's act.
There's no way she made me that fast. I barely looked around for two seconds. The agent's earlier laughter died away as the situation became increasingly difficult to salvage. "Um…sorry…I'm confused," Elsa replied, still trying to hold up her front, "you think I found a camera outside? I thought I saw a squirrel in a tree…." She laughed a little at the absurd accusation from the designer.
Edna rolled her eyes – not a good sign…. – she glared at the blonde through her glasses, a look that put the agent's death stare to shame, "Darling, I don't have to ask nicely…." Elsa tensed at the threat, clenching her fists to prepare for any type of attack from the woman.
Suddenly Elsa glanced back at the wall of tinted glass in front of them. In this big empty room, she was completely exposed. A dozen semi-automatic rifles could be aiming at her right now. Was this all a setup? Her eyes widened – Anna. The oblivious pure-hearted girl was sitting just a few feet from the door. Elsa's brain kicked into overdrive. Need to get back to Anna. The spy quickly looked back at the tiny woman next to her, it'd only take a split second to lunge over and pull Edna in front of her as a human shield. They wouldn't shoot Edna too would they? With such a small shield and just a few paces from the glass, it was all still extremely risky but there was no other alternative. At least the woman would shield her vital organs.
A sigh interrupted the spy's survival instincts. "Relax, darling, it's just the two of us," as if on cue, the tinted glass wall suddenly illuminated, revealing another small empty room. So it was just the two of them. Killing this bitch option is definitely back on the table.
The designer nonchalantly continued, seeming to ignore the blonde's deadly thoughts, "No matter, I don't care what you're here for. All I want is Anna's safety." Elsa blinked, surprised at their sudden common goal. That was unexpected. Maybe it's not such a bad idea to read her in…. Wait, no, what the fuck? Of course it's a bad idea, you can't just fucking share classified information with some overly observant European gnome.
Another eye-roll, Edna was practically eavesdropping on the blonde's internal struggle. She casually waved her hand, "fine, fine, get it over with darling. Tell your people to look me up. I disabled the signal jammer in this room for you. That's 'Edna Mode' with an 'e'." The woman was either stupid or overly confident in her security system, Elsa could make one call and two swat teams would be breaking down the front door in 5 minutes with an attack helicopter circling overhead. But for some reason, the designer's calm and self-assured ego made her doubt the effectiveness of such a call. Who the fuck is this woman…?
A few seconds pass as the blonde considered her options.
"Tss…" Elsa scoffed, standing up to walk to the other side of the room before pulling out her phone. She surveyed the room once more, looking for any potential weapons or recording devices, but found none. Oh what the hell, just do it…. She pressed 'call', turning back to keep an eye on the tiny woman seated across the room.
"Incoming call from 'Unknown'," the car's computer announced. Kai was undoubtedly calling with an update.
"Thanks SVEN," Kristoff acknowledged. The AI was just one of Kai's many creations, however Kristoff insisted he get to name it since it was being installed in HIS car. SVEN - Secure Vehicle Espionage Network, Kristoff was quite proud when he first thought of the name, though it may be a bit misleading. SVEN didn't have too many features yet. Kai promised to enhance its functionality but –
"Oh shit!" Kristoff swerved to avoid a taxi abruptly pulling over to pick up some tourists. "Phew, that could've been bad. SVEN, Answer."
"Kristoff?"
"What do you have for me, Kai?"
"Agent Frost's signal started broadcasting again. It appears she's inside the building between Dior and Louis Vuitton, first floor. I'm only receiving her signal, there's no camera to gain a visual in that area. Proceed with caution."
"Understood. Thanks Kai. I'm five minutes out."
Beep beep… Beep beep…
"Actually, standby," the technician replied, "Agent Frost is contacting me now. I'll patch her through."
"Hello? Agent Frost?"
"Hey, it's me." Elsa replied quietly, trying to hide her conversation from the mysterious woman still seated across the room.
"Um…hi, what can I – "
"Blondie, what's happening?" Kristoff interrupted, "we lost your location for a moment. I'm almost there to help if – "
"Kristoff, shut up. We're fine, I'll explain later."
"Sheesh, glad you're doing well too, blondie…" A slightly offended Kristoff mumbled to himself. Well at least he can stop violating every traffic law known to man now.
"Kai, I need you to look someone up for me. In ALL databases." The blonde stressed 'all'; you could never be sure what you'll find in some of the databases the CIA could access from other intelligence agencies around the globe and even more so for those that were believed to be inaccessible.
"Er…" a flurry of keystrokes and mouse clicks emitted through the phone. "Okay send it."
"Edna Mode," Elsa glanced over at the tiny woman and rolled her eyes. "With an 'e'," the agent added, "Give me everything you got on her."
"Standby." Another burst of typing sounded. "Err… Agent Frost…why are you – "
"Just tell me what you found, Kai."
"Okay…. Um, says here Edna Mode was French Intelligence for 15 years, a counter-espionage specialist. One of their best from the looks of it."
Guess that explains how she made me so damn quick.
"Go on."
"After a tragic mission failure resulting in the deaths of several of her team members - says here the root cause was... huh, that's interesting... wardrobe malfunctions? Um... okay, not sure what to make of that... Anyway, after that mission she transitioned to Research & Development, quickly becoming the Head of R&D, but suddenly quit a few years later due to 'family reasons'."
"Interesting…. Any anti-US sentiments?"
"None stated here, in fact during her time there, she worked closely with the CIA, heading several joint counterintelligence task forces and even sharing a few inventions with the agency."
"I see… How credible is all of this?"
"Her profile comes directly from the French, however there are numerous reports in our agency's database that support this information."
"Interesting, thanks Kai. Send me her photo and biometrics."
"Roger, will do."
"Hey there Kristoff, what're you gonna do, buddy?" the man asked himself, since no one else seemed to care, "Oh, I don't know…maybe I'll get some grocery shopping done."
"Ugh," the blonde sighed, "just stay in your damn car and try not to blow my cover. Frost out."
Elsa hung up the phone. Fiddling with her phone as she waited for Kai's text, the agent looked over at the tiny woman, analyzing her with this newfound data. A buzz brought the blonde back to her phone. Opening the message, Elsa met watchful eyes, masked by giant glasses that practically took up half the picture. The woman in the picture was younger, visibly less annoyed with the world, but it was unmistakably a photo of the brash designer sitting across the room. Unsure of whether to be relieved or angry that the woman's identity was confirmed, Elsa scoffed, settling for mild annoyance as she walked back over to the seating area. Well this is fucking great.
"Hold out your hand", the blonde ordered, standing over the former intelligence worker.
Edna rolled her eyes again, "I literally created that darling, but very well," opening her hand, palm up. Elsa quickly snapped a picture with her phone, within a few seconds the woman's fingerprints were confirmed an exact match to the biometric data Kai sent over.
Still not having decided on the next course of action, the blonde walked back and reoccupied her seat in petulant silence.
"Well, darling, seeing as how you haven't tried to kill me yet, I assume my identity has been confirmed?" Edna looked over at the agent with a smug grin. "Ah well, I suppose there's no choice in the matter anyway. Now, what does the CIA want with Anna?"
"Tried?" Elsa detested anyone's assumptions of her abilities. She glared back at the puny defenseless woman who was doing just that. Clenching her jaw in frustration, the blonde attempted to think of a way to show this cocky bitch that the option of killing her was still VERY much on the table, and it wouldn't be a matter of her "trying", instead it would be a question of "how fast".
Edna let out an exasperated sigh, seemingly uninterested in the agent's violent inner turmoil. With a wave of her hand, the designer dismissed her unanswered question, "Fine, fine, you push too hard, darling." Lowering her gaze, she continued, "Just tell me one thing. Will Anna be safe?" Edna peered over her glasses, staring directly at the blonde, expecting a serious, definitive answer.
The secret agent exhaled, unclenching fists she never realized were closed. Anyone this concerned with Anna's safety couldn't possibly be a threat. Right? Ugh, fuck it.
"Anna will be safe," the blonde stated reluctantly, deciding to provide the woman some piece of mind without divulging any information, "I'll protect her." I mean, if I find out this tiny lady is involved, I'll just have to hunt her down and kill her – more time away from my desk. Elsa smiled at the thought.
"Hmm…" Edna was studying the blonde, attempting to determine if she was lying. Another wave of her hand signaled she concluded that Elsa's information was truthful. "Bah! Very well, very well. Onto the coat then! Wait here darling." The tiny woman hopped out of her chair and scurried over to another door. After scanning her hand on the glass panel beside it, she opened the door, leaving Elsa alone for a few minutes. Just as the blonde started feeling uneasy about the wait, the door burst open to reveal the tiny designer pushing out another one of her mannequins, this one standing tall on a platform with wheels.
Elsa's eyes widened as she saw the mannequin, adorned in the coat made just for her. White as snow, made with the highest quality materials, the cashmere fabric sleek and smooth, not a crease out of place. A bold, wide notched collar exposed the soft, warm inner lining. Two silver buttons fastened side by side at the front held the entire masterpiece together.
"Yes, yes, stop drooling and try it on, darling."
The blonde hesitantly approached the display almost afraid looking at the coat would tarnish the pristine condition. Cautiously she ran her hands from the shoulders down to the midsection almost afraid her sin-filled hands would stain the purity of the untouched snow-white material. She grasped the silver buttons and carefully undid them. Slowly Elsa slipped into the coat, one arm at a time, feeling how it lightly hugged her shoulder, firmly wrapping around the backside of her neck, and reaching around her other shoulder. Examining her reflection in the silver mannequin, as Elsa refastened the buttons in front of her, she found the coat managed to cover her body while exposing it at the same time. The outerwear naturally formed to her curves, accentuating her waist and hips while broadening her shoulders – a display of confidence, intelligence, and power with a hint of sensuality and air of mystery. Simply, perfect.
"Come, come let's show Anna. I have a feeling she'll be very pleased." Edna commented with a smug grin. Elsa couldn't shake the butterflies that suddenly started fluttering in her stomach.
Elsa and Edna had been gone for almost fifteen minutes and Anna was starting to get worried. And when Anna gets worried, her mind loves to fabricate the WORST scenarios causing an inevitable downward spiral of overwhelming worry and doubt. Of course, there was absolutely no possibility that the two women were viciously ripped apart by a pack of rabid wolves, but that couldn't stop the redhead from worrying about it.
Anna couldn't escape into her phone like she normally would to occupy her mind; she could never seem to get reception in Edna's shop. As a last resort to distract her disturbingly violent imagination, she started twiddling her thumbs about five minutes ago. It sounds quite trivial and childish but it turns out "thumb twiddling" is quite the engaging pastime. It takes an enormous amount of concentration to keep your clumsy thumbs from touching, especially when you're twirling them really, really fast and you get a good rhythm going and you try to make the circle just a liiiiittle bit smaller which makes your thumbs move a bajillion times faster and your eyes can barely keep up and –
"Ugh! Dang it, you big dumb thumb!" Anna exclaimed just after her thumbs collided, ending her longest streak yet: a solid minute and 9 seconds according to her phone timer. Anna let out a little giggle, realizing her accidental rhyme from earlier. "Dumb thumb…" Haha I'm hilarious! Oh gosh Anna, you weirdo… See what happens when you go unsupervised?
A faint rustle sounded, causing the young woman to look up. Speaking of supervision… The girl's latest outburst seemed to have woken the sleeping giant. The bodyguard fell asleep almost immediately after the other women left the room, leaving Anna defenseless from the hypothetical wolves that were possibly attacking Elsa and Edna.
"Rise and shine, sleepy head!" The redhead greeted, finally glad to have some company during this eternal wait.
"Ugh…" Oaken mumbled, still only half-awake. With a suppressed yawn, the bodyguard lifted his arms above his head, stretching to the point where Anna started worrying that he'd tear right through his suit.
"Hope you had a good nap!" Anna started cheerfully, "You're lucky I wasn't kidnapped, my father would've deducted the ransom payment from your salary. Not to mention the years of therapy I'd need to recover from the trauma," playfully sticking her tongue out at the half-awake bodyguard who rolled his eyes at her morbid joke. Anna always enjoyed teasing Oaken, but she knew he'd never let anything happen to her.
"That's impossible, Ms. Walker," Oaken countered, "this is probably the safest… place in the city…" Oaken's voice trailed off, followed by a half-hearted chuckle. Anna tilted her head slightly, furrowing her brow in mild confusion at the statement.
The sound of a door opening interrupted the pair's exchange.
She's back! Anna literally jumped up from her seat in excitement. Oh god I hope she likes the coat, oh god what if she doesn't like the coat… The redhead's eyes anxiously widened. Oh god oh god, what if she secretly hates the coat… of course she'll be too polite to say so, Elsa's literally the nicest person in the world…. Oh god Anna, why didn't you just take her shopping, she could've found the perfect coat… but now she's just stuck with your boring crappy design-
Anna froze as the blonde walked out the door. Time, like Anna, stood still as Elsa approached. Perfection. Absolute perfection. Anna always knew Elsa was beautiful, anyone with eyes knew that, but this….
Elsa glided effortlessly across the floor, the coat accentuating the way her hips swayed as she walked. The cuffs gently hugged her wrists, exposing the pale skin beneath ever so slightly as her delicate hands swung back and forth with each step. The sleeves, smooth as silk embraced her slender arms, rising up to the almost unnoticeable padding broadening her shy shoulders. The wide notched collar, boldly rose up over her chest to kiss her collarbones and caress the edge of her elegant neck. The snow-white fabric enhanced the dark pink of her lips and the deep blue of her gorgeous eyes and contrasted ever so slightly with her luscious platinum blonde hair draping over her left shoulder, leading down to the two dainty silver buttons that held the masterpiece together. Only the lightest touch was needed to undo-
"Dear god. Anna darling, I can reach your jaw from all the way down here."
The redhead jumped at the abrupt sound, blinking as she regained her senses and noticed Edna standing next to her. When did she…? A barely audible chuckle escaped the bodyguard still seated behind her.
"Um…" the sound from the blonde instantly recaptured Anna's attention, "…how do I look?"
The younger girl blinked in disbelief at the question before finally realizing Elsa was genuinely unsure of her appearance.
"Elsa… you… you're… absolutely breathtaking," Anna confessed, wincing slightly, worried the compliment may be a bit much. The resulting smile from Elsa instantly erased any concerns.
"Why thank you," Elsa returned with a small giggle and a light curtsy, "I'm glad you like it." Anna's smile grew as the blonde visibly relaxed, her earlier nerves fading away.
"Uh," Anna started again attempting to shift the conversation before she did anything else awkward, "what took you guys so long?"
Elsa laughed, "Oh! I was just asking Edna about the color," her innocent smile quickly turned to a devilish smirk, "I wasn't quite sure white was the safest choice if I'm going to be spending a lot of time around a girl who spilled coffee on me the first chance she got."
Anna's mouth opened to respond, but immediately closed as she playfully glared at the blonde, unable to come up with a witty comeback. A lot of time…. Anna's smile returned.
"Yes, yes, darling," Edna chimed in, "and I informed her that the coat is completely stain-resistant – coffee, chocolate, blood…" Edna looked over at the blonde as Elsa giggled innocently. "It certainly isn't my first time designing something that needed to be 'Anna proof'."
The redhead's mouth shot open again in feigned offense, "Edna!"
"I jest, I jest – though the coat really is stain-resistant - only the best materials for you, darling."
Anna smiled at the woman's statement, "Well, your work is amazing as always Edna."
"Bah!" the small woman retorted, brushing the compliment aside with the wave of her hand, "I know, darling, I know." Both Elsa and Anna laughed at the brazen vanity.
"Well then. Everyone is happy with the product, now out with you darlings," Edna started, quickly ushering the women back towards the door, "you too, Fat Oaken," the bodyguard groaned as he reluctantly stood up.
"Ednaaaa, we just got here!" Anna complained.
"Edna Mode is a much-desired woman, darling, next time I suggest you make an appointment," the tiny woman jokingly jabbed.
Anna laughed as the trio was quickly escorted back to the entrance, "Well it was great seeing you! I'll tell Gerda you said hi."
"Tell her I said to stop feeding you so much chocolate," Edna smiled knowing Anna would never, "it was wonderful to see you too darling."
"Thank you for the coat," Elsa said with a gracious smile, "it's beautiful."
"Oh hush darling," Edna replied, now lowering her gaze over her glasses, "just take good care of it."
Elsa giggled at the surprisingly stern response, "I certainly will."
The bodyguard finally caught up with them, instinctively taking the lead to exit first. Taking a quick glance around, Oaken nodded back to the women, indicating they could follow suit.
"Byeeeee Ednaaaa!" Anna called back as the door automatically shut behind them.
Turning back to the blonde, Anna squealed in joy at the successful meeting. Elsa giggled at the adorable girl and offered her arm like before – another squeal of delight as Anna wrapped around the slender sleeve, sighing contently as her hands finally ran over the smooth material and her cheek lightly rested on the coat's shoulder padding. So soft….
The blonde smiled as Anna quickly folder around her arm, "Alrighties! What shall we do now… mon amour?" Anna slightly tensed at the words.
Dang it, Anna, why'd you have to go and teach her that.
A/N: I'll finish this fic even if it's the last thing I do (though I really hope it doesn't take that long again).