Hi Everyone! I know it took a while but the next chapter is up! Yay! Thank you for your reviews and your patience and your support. I hope you enjoy the next chapter. Happy Reading! :)

Summary:

Klaus discovered Hans' ploy in covering up his true feelings about Elsa. As he threatened to tell their father, King Richard, about this revelation, Klaus had an incident that landed him in the infirmary while Hans was dragged to the prison due to being unjustly blamed of his brother's sudden collapse. Later, Head Nurse Leila Nott was able to prove his innocence and with the help of her old childhood friend, Annaliese, they convinced the guards to let Hans go free. Meanwhile in Arendelle, Elsa and the Captain of the Royal Guard participated in a spar that resulted in Elsa accidentally throwing a solid punch to the Captain's jaw. Unfortunately, as Elsa tended to his injury, Anna walked in and caught them in a seemingly intimate embrace. Afterwards, Anna had a talk with her sister and insisted that Elsa was feeling lonely due to recent events, however, Elsa denied such claims. Later that night, after Anna had a good talk with her husband (among other things) she realized how she may have overreacted. However, a few hours later, Anna suddenly woke up from a disturbing nightmare/vision that prompted her and Kristoff to wake up Elsa and suggest that Rapunzel and Eugene may be in danger. Elsa realizes that Corona is completely vulnerable to Vortex's advances since they have not been informed about recent events and quotes, "We need to warn them. They'll never see it coming..."


Chapter 11

It was late into the night as the storm clouds continued to bombard the Kingdom of Corona with blinding flashes of lightning and deafening rolls of thunder. The rain pounded against the roof and walls of the castle as the howling winds shook its windows. However, despite the loud chaos of the storm, the inside of the castle was silent as everyone found sleep and escaped into their dreams. That is, until an extraordinarily loud crash of thunder woke up the princess of Corona, causing her to bolt upright in her bed and frantically look around. In the midst of the lightning's glow, Rapunzel could see everything was normal in her and Eugene's bedroom. Out of habit, Rapunzel got out of bed and tiptoed her bare feet towards the nursery to check on the twins, Flynnigan and Evangeline. As usual, the door to the nursery was half-way open so that Rapunzel or Eugene could peek their head in without moving the creaky door and waking one or both of the babies.

However, this time Rapunzel decided to squeeze through the half-opened doorway and sneak further into the nursery. She lightly tiptoed over to the large cradle that held the two five-month old twins. Although they each had their own bassinet, during loud stormy nights such as this one, Rapunzel found that the twins slept better when they were in the other's company. Rapunzel smiled as she looked down at her precious babies, noticing that Evie had a tiny hand resting in her brother's hand. Rapunzel reached down and brushed some strands of Evie's hair out of her face, still feeling a bit uneasy that Evie had inherited her fast growing golden locks that possessed the flower's healing powers. Although Rapunzel and Eugene had kept Evie's magical locks a secret, Rapunzel still could not help but worry that someone would try to kidnap Evie like what Gothel did to her.

With a tired sigh, Rapunzel gently grazed her fingers through the dark brown tuff of hair on Flynn's head, smiling as he wiggled his nose in his sleep as a reaction to her touch. Rapunzel quietly shuffled out of the nursery and slid through the narrow door opening as she meandered back to bed, listening to the steady drumming of rain on the window. Although the rain continued to relentlessly pour, the thunder and lightning seemed to have stopped for the moment, which was an opportune moment for Rapunzel to try and catch some more sleep.

As she climbed back into bed, her movement caused Eugene to stir as he rolled over to face her but he remained asleep. Rapunzel smiled at his calm, peaceful expression and out of curiosity she reached forward and gently combed some of his hair out of his face, trying not to giggle when he too wiggled his nose in his sleep as a reaction to her touch, just like their son. With a loving heart, she leaned toward him and gently kissed his forehead before nestling close to her husband and falling asleep with an overpowering sensation of love in her heart and a joyful smile on her face.


Rapunzel did not know how long she had been asleep when a loud bang, she assumed thunder, disturbed her from her slumber. She was still nestled close to Eugene but her side was starting to feel a little sore so she decided to roll over. And that is when she saw it…the open bedroom window. That's what that loud bang must have been…the strong winds probably forced the window open. Rapunzel thought as she climbed out of bed and hurried to close it before too much water and cold wind found its way into the room. But as Rapunzel closed the window, she noticed the lock on it was broken and in the bright flash of lightning she was horrified to find wet footprints coming from the window and leading to the nursery.

Rapunzel's heart began pounding so loud she could hardly think as she ran towards the nursery and slammed the door open, "NO!" She yelled over the roar of thunder, "Stay where you are, don't move!" There, in front of the twins' cradle stood a tall menacing figure dressed in a black cloak who glanced over its shoulder before breaking into a sprint towards the twins' nursery window. Although the nursery window did not open, the figure broke through the glass and was about halfway out as Rapunzel raced forward and grabbed its cloak, "Stop! Get back here!" She screamed as she forcefully yanked on the cloak to bring the figure back inside. She noticed that through all the chaos that there was only one baby crying in the crib and that wail belonged to Flynn. "No!" Rapunzel cried as the figure's cloak slipped out of her fingers and climbed out onto the narrow terrace. Not giving up, Rapunzel effortlessly climbed out on the slippery terrace through the broken window, slicing up her hands, arms, feet, and legs pretty badly. But she did not care. She only cared about protecting her daughter.

With the blood from her injuries dripping and running down her body, she continued to run after the figure who still had Evangeline. Suddenly the figure came to a screeching halt as it finally reached the edge of the castle roof. Rapunzel was close behind as she tried to keep from sliding into the figure or sliding off the slippery roof in general. "Give me back my daughter and I may reconsider your death sentence for breaking into the castle and kidnapping the new princess." She growled in a threatening way that made her own skin crawl.

The figure turned toward her but she still could not make out the face. Finally, the figure spoke, "You seem to be hurt pretty badly, Your Highness. I would hate to see you bleed out again like you did during childbirth."

Rapunzel easily recognized that the voice belonged to a man, "Sir, let my daughter go." She tried to sound strong but she was losing a lot of blood fast and her vision was starting to get blurry as she tried not to sway on the slippery narrow beam they were standing on that hung over the dark cold ocean waters below. The wind was still powerful and the rain showed no sign of letting up as they stood facing each other for what seemed like an eternity.

The man held out Evangeline who was wailing loudly at this point, "So beautiful…so powerful…I must have her for experimentation…for science." He laughed menacingly as he cradled Evie in one of his arms, "You could have avoided this you know? But you just had to save her, you just had to be persistent." He suddenly pulled out a revolver with his free hand and effortlessly shot the gun at Rapunzel, striking her right shoulder, "Now your scars can match hers." He growled, his voice filled with hatred.

Rapunzel stumbled back from the force of the bullet, miraculously stumbling far enough back that when she slipped off the beam, the edge of the castle's roof was underneath her and caught her fall. Rapunzel firmly pressed her hand against her wounded shoulder, her mind racing through the man's words. "Your scars match hers"…who is 'her'? Realization hit Rapunzel as she glanced up at the man who was now standing only a foot away from her, with the barrel of his gun pointed only inches away from her forehead. Unless this man is referring to Elsa's scar from the bullet she took in London…which means…

In a dramatic moment of reveal, a bright flash of lightning sparked and the man's face came into full view…Thomas Sullivan. As the loud clap of thunder rumbled closer, Sullivan took this moment to use the thunder to cover the sound of the gunshot. He cocked the gun and smiled down at Rapunzel, "I could have had Elsa, but you took her away from me. You took everything away from me. And now, it is my turn to return the favor. I will take your daughter to destroy you. I will kill you to destroy your husband. Then I'm off to Arendelle to deal with those meddling sisters, after a quick detour to the Southern Isles, that is." Once the crescendo of the thunder roared above them, Sullivan did not hesitate to pull the trigger and a loud BANG! echoed.


"NO!" Rapunzel woke up with a scream, something she had not done in a long time.

She instantly covered her mouth with her hands and silently wept as Eugene ran into the room from the nursery, "Rapunzel, what's wrong?!" He was disturbed to hear her horrified scream and seeing the rivers of tears pouring down her paled face terrified him. "My God, what happened?" He ran over to her just as she leapt out of bed and ran towards the nursery, "Rapunzel?"

She burst into the nursery and a new wave of tears formed, this time from relief, as she saw both Flynn and Evie in the cradle with each other, although they were now crying. Rapunzel skillfully reached down and scooped both of them up in her arms, "You're okay. I'm here." She nestled her face against their cheeks and the warmth of their mother caused the crying twins to quiet down to minor whimpering.

"Rapunzel?" Eugene was still standing in the nursery doorway, his pulse racing in confusion, "What is going on?"

"I-I…" She tightly squeezed her eyes closed as she resisted the urge to start crying again, "I'll tell you after we get the twins to sleep."

Eugene nodded as he hurried into the room, gently took Flynn from Rapunzel, and gently bounced and rocked him back to sleep like Rapunzel was doing with Evie. During this time, neither one of them spoke but Eugene noticed that Rapunzel's eyes kept drifting towards Evie's golden locks. He started suspecting that perhaps she had another nightmare about Gothel kidnapping either Evie or even herself again. Although several years had passed since Rapunzel had been free from her tower and Gothel's possession, Eugene still held a special hatred towards Gothel because even though she was no longer alive, she still continued to torture and haunt Rapunzel in her dreams. He loathed that Gothel would always hold a small part of Rapunzel's mind under her control for the rest of Rapunzel's life.

A few minutes passed until both of the twins had fallen back to sleep and Rapunzel tucked both of them into their individual bassinets since the thunder and lightning had stopped. Only a steady rain continued to tap on the castle's roof and windows as Rapunzel and Eugene tiredly shuffled back to their room. Eugene closed the nursery door halfway, like usual, and then turned toward his wife with a concerned look on his face, "Rapunzel, are you alright?"

Rapunzel silently walked over to the window and tightened the lock, making sure that nothing had shaken loose due to the stormy winds. She looked out of the window and watched the raindrops run down the windows, "I'm sorry I screamed." She tiredly sighed as she pulled her gaze from the window and looked at her husband. Seeing the loving concern on his face made her think about what Thomas said in her dream, "I will kill you to destroy your husband." Tears began to form at thought of Sullivan's words, "Why won't they just leave us alone?"

"What?" Eugene's pulse began to quicken in anger as he assumed she was referring to Gothel, "What happened, Rapunzel?"

She covered her face as she walked towards the bed and heavily sat down on it, crying into her hands, "He's coming for us, Eugene. He's coming for all of us. You, me, Evie, Flynn, Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, and Hans."

"He?" Eugene sat down next to her, wrapping a loving arm around her slim waist and another underneath her legs as he slid her onto his lap, "Who is 'he'?"

"Thomas Sullivan…" Rapunzel lowered her hands and rested her head against his sturdy chest, trying to speak through her sobs, "I-I dreamed that he came through our window and broke into the nursery and stole Evie because of her hair." She managed to gain a little bit more composure before continuing, "I managed to chase him onto the roof…I was cut up and bleeding profusely from the broken nursery window…he was holding Evie and he told me that I could have avoided this if I hadn't healed Elsa back in London…then he shot me in the shoulder, just like he did with Elsa." She took a couple soothing breaths as she continued her dream, "He told me that we took Elsa away from him, that we took everything away from him. And that he was returning the favor by taking Evie away from me for experimentation." New tears started to form and roll down her cheeks as she looked up at her husband, "He then pointed his gun at my head and told me that he was going to kill me in order to destroy you and afterwards he was headed towards Arendelle to kill Elsa and Anna after he stopped by the Southern Isles…then he shot me in the head."

As she continued to cry, Eugene gently tucked her head to his chest, letting his shirt soak up her tears. He rested his chin on top of her head and soothingly combed his fingers through her hair, "Rapunzel, I am so sorry this happened to you." He protectively tightened his grip around her as he felt her shaking, "I honestly have no idea how to respond to this…what do you need me to do?"

"Not you…we…" Rapunzel spoke with a shaky voice as she managed to regain her composure, "What should we do?"

"We do what we always do…" Eugene gave his wife a determined look as he tenderly cupped her cheek with his hand, "We stick together, we fiercely protect our loved ones, and we fight. Whatever Vortex throws our way, we throw it back at them."

Rapunzel nodded in agreement, feeling the scared sensation fade away as a strong sense of protective motherly instinct kicked in, "I think we should send a letter to our family in Arendelle. We need to warn them."

"Yes and we should discuss this with your father as well. We need to keep our guard up." Eugene paused as he remembered something, "Wait, you said that Sullivan told you he was going to detour to the Southern Isles before Arendelle?"

"Yes."

He furrowed his brow in confusion, "Why?"


It was about three in the morning as Hans stood outside of the infirmary, staring at the large wooden door that separated himself from his brother Klaus who had been resting there all day and night. While he was saying goodnight to Annaliese a few minutes ago, Leila went ahead of him to relieve Doctor Var from watching Klaus. But now, here he was…knock…just knock. He thought as he balled up his fist and held it up. With a deep cleansing breath, he gently knocked on the door in order to not wake up his brother if he were asleep. A couple seconds passed until the door creaked open and Leila's friendly face appeared, "Hello, Your Highness. Glad to see that you finally made it."

"You didn't think I would come?" He smirked with a raised eyebrow as he stepped inside.

"Well…let's just say that it took you a lot longer to get here than I expected." She quietly laughed as she closed the door behind him and led him down a narrow hallway within the infirmary that broke off into multiple private recovery rooms. She lightly tapped on one of the doors before peeking her head inside, "He's asleep right now." She whispered to Hans, "Would you like to come back later in the morning?"

"I'm afraid I'll probably be busy once the sun comes up." He noticed a cushioned chair was at Klaus' bedside, "You mind if I sit here?"

"It's your castle. You can sit wherever you want." She teased as she watched him wander over to the chair and sit down, intensely watching his oldest brother, "Please don't poke him or something."

Hans suppressed a laugh as his head immediately turned toward the head nurse, "Poke him? How old do you think I am?"

"Well, I don't know how desperate you are to talk to him." She smirked as she filed through some papers and supplies. She then walked over to Klaus and took his pulse followed by using a stethoscope to check his heartbeat and breathing. After she wrote down her observations in a file, Leila glanced up at Hans, "You know what? I missed dinner and since you're here to watch him, I'm going to quickly grab something from the kitchen, you want anything?"

"No thank you." Hans automatically responded without looking up at her.

Leila shrugged as she headed for the door, "Alright. I won't be long."

Once she left, Hans leaned far back in his chair and let his body relax. It was not the most comfortable position but the chair was far more comfy than the wooden board he slept on all day. Before he knew it, his eyes were growing heavy and his head began to drop. He did not know how long he had been asleep, or that he even fell asleep until a light knocking on the door woke him. He immediately stood up and quickly wiped the sleep off his face as he strode over to the door. When he opened the door, he was unable to hide the surprise on his face as his second eldest brother stood before him, "Viktor? What are you doing here?"

"Am I not allowed to see how my older brother is doing?" Seeing the weird expression appear on Hans' face made Viktor laugh, "I'm kidding, Hans. I actually came here to see you."

"Me?" In his surprised state, Hans could not help but smirk a little, "How did you know I was here?"

"Leila told me you came to visit Klaus earlier this morning so when I went to your room and you weren't there, I assumed you were still here." Viktor inquisitively scratched his goatee, "Actually based on your haggard appearance, I would find it appropriate to assume that you slept here?"

"Uh-huh…well…" Hans glanced at the clock in the hall over Viktor's shoulder and noticed that it was half-past six, "I guess I did fall asleep."

"It's alright, Leila told me how you haven't slept very much prior to the incident with Klaus and I bet sleeping in your old cell wasn't all that comfortable."

Hans slightly winced when his brother mentioned 'his old cell' but he was not going to let that bother him now, "What was it you wanted from me?"

Viktor lightheartedly chuckled, "I don't want anything from you."

"Then why are you here?" Hans unintentionally crossed his arms in front of him in a defensive manner out of habit from when he used to get bullied by his brothers.

Viktor noticed the defensive shift in Hans' behavior and an immediate look of regret stretched across his face, "My God, we must have screwed you up bad if you think we only want to hurt you."

"You're not wrong." Nevertheless, Hans slowly dropped his arms in an attempt to seem less cautious, "Why were you looking for me?"

A small wary smile tugged at his lips, "I wanted to see how you were doing."

Hans let out an amused scoff, "Psh, you're a little late for that. I could've used the company when I was unjustly locked up in the prison."

Viktor dejectedly lowered his head with a sigh before looking back up at his brother, "You're right, someone should have gone down right away to see you. However, I was a little busy dealing with the situation at hand since both Father and Klaus were incapacitated. Being the next Southern Isles authority in line made me quite busy but I did ask Leila to solely focus on proving your innocence-"

"You asked her to do that?" Hans casually leaned against the doorway.

"Of course. Her original duties were to work with Doctor Var in caring for Father. I figured Father was healthy enough that he didn't need two highly qualified medical personnel watching over him. Besides, I figured someone with her intellect and experience would be your best shot at getting out of there relatively fast."

Hans silently analyzed his brother's behavior, trying to depict any lies he could have possibly told but he could not find any. Plus, Viktor was usually a pretty lousy liar anyways, he always blinked too much when he lied but he seemed to be acting normal if not genuine. Hans pushed himself off the doorway and stepped further back into the room, "Well…thanks, I guess."

"Actually…" Viktor anxiously rubbed the back of his neck, "There's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Can I come in?"

Hans shrugged as he opened the door a little wider, "I guess…" He walked back to his chair while Viktor grabbed a stool and brought it over to Hans.

"So…" He sat on the stool and clasped his hands together, "I wanted to address what happened at breakfast yesterday."

Hans tiredly sighed, "Listen, I know that storming out of the dining hall wasn't the best-"

"I wanted to apologize."

Hans' eyebrows instantly shot up in shock, "Wait, what?"

"Yes, you heard right." Viktor uneasily chuckled, "What Jefferson and Charles said was completely inappropriate and I did scold them afterwards but you know those two, they think everything is a joke. I told them to apologize and make amends. I even gave them the entire day to do so but I assumed that they didn't so here I am." He scoffed with an eye roll, "I can't believe I have to apologize on behalf of two thirty year old men."

"And to think that you aren't even their father." Hans sneered.

Viktor glanced down at his hands, "I know that your relationship with Father hasn't exactly been civil but he is still your father after all. He may not say it, but he loves you Hans."

"I seriously doubt that. He just likes using me to fulfill his agenda." Hans let out a heavy sigh as he stretched out his back, "But I guess that's better than him publically hating on me and allowing you guys to beat me up."

"Hans-"

"Don't tell me I'm wrong because I know I'm not." Hans leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees as he stared down at his feet, "You don't understand. You have been and always will be one of his favorites."

Viktor was quiet for a few moments before carefully speaking, "I may not completely understand what exactly you went through but I've had my time of shaming from him."

"Really?" Hans looked up at him in disbelief.

"Are you kidding?" He humorlessly chuckled, "I'm the second born. I'm the spare."

"The spare?"

"Yeah, you know. I'm not allowed to inherit another kingdom like you or the rest of our brothers in case something should happen to Klaus. But I'm not born to be king, I'm just somebody hopelessly in between. I've lived in the shadow of Klaus my entire life. I've spent my entire life just waiting in the wings for the chance of an opportunity to do something, to be someone." He ran a hand over his face in tired frustration before sitting up with a small smile, "However, there is one perk to being the spare." Hans curiously raised his eyebrows in silence in order to prompt his brother to continue, "I was allowed to marry for love instead of business. I never had the pressure of marrying into another royal family in order to secure a kingship. And to that, I am truly grateful for."

A small smirk played across Hans' lips, "Although marrying the daughter of a well-known foreign dignitary from America didn't hurt. Mary may not have been royal but she was still politically powerful."

Viktor laughed as he mischievously grinned from ear to ear, looking between Klaus and Hans, "Vous parlez français, oui?" Which translated to: You speak French, yes?

Hans nodded, "Oui."

Viktor's smile grew as he continued to speak in French, "Mary was not the daughter of an American foreign dignitary. She was a maid servant in the embassy I stayed at in America during one of my voyages."

Hans' jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide in surprise, "What?"

Viktor laughed at his stunned expression, "It's true! It may sound cliché, but it was love at first sight. She came in to deliver my linens my first night there and I was dumbfounded by her beauty. She was dressed in her humble uniform, yet she outshined all other upper-class-royal women in even their most elaborate dresses. She was so sweet and pure and I knew in that instant that this young woman was something special and I couldn't let her walk out of my life." Viktor bashfully smiled as he played with his wedding band, "During my year-long stay, we grew very close and when Father had written me a letter to return home, I kept coming up with excuses and reasons to stay in America. We were in love and neither one of us could fathom the thought of being separated by such a great distance. So when I finally ran out of Father-approved excuses to stay, I proposed to her. I knew that marrying her was the only way to ensure that we could stay together despite my travels. Of course, since I'm now the liaison between the Southern Isles and America, my travels are far and few." He let out a lighthearted chuckle, "Fortunately, she was very close to one of the American foreign dignitary couples. She grew up working in the embassy and they were like the parents she never had and she was like the daughter they knew had. So with their support, we hatched a plan to fake her status in order to ensure Father's approval of our marriage."

"I thought you said that one of the perks of being a spare meant you could marry whoever you wanted?"

"I did, but you and I both know our Father would not have approved of my marriage to a maid servant. His idea of 'marrying down' includes marrying the princess spare to another kingdom and not killing the heir." Viktor huffed with an angry eye roll, "But never mind that. All that matters is that Mary and I successfully tricked Father into approving our marriage and this year we are celebrating our 14th year wedding anniversary."

Hans could not help but genuinely smile at his brother's story. It turned out that at least one of his brothers' had a heart after all. Hans only met Mary a couple of times but he always had a feeling that something about her was different. He just assumed it was because she was from the Western region of the world and people from that region had a different quality about them. But it turns out that Hans was not the only Southern Isles prince who had put on a façade in order to marry the woman he loved. This realization about Viktor made Hans feel a newfound respect and connection to his older brother, one he never thought would ever occur.

Viktor glanced over at Klaus who had been sleeping throughout their entire conversation, "You mustn't tell anyone about this. Klaus, especially. If he found out, well, let's just say Father would know about Mary's and my charade before nightfall and who knows where that revelation will lead. Hence our speaking in French."

"Klaus doesn't speak French?" This surprised Hans since the Southern Isles princes were required to learn at least one alternate language other than their native tongue.

"No. Since I'm fluent in French and Latin, he figured that learning those would be a waste of time since I'll, how he put it, 'always be there to translate'." Viktor chuckled in disdain, "So he's fluent in German and Italian."

Hans glanced over at Klaus before looking back to Viktor, "How did you know I was fluent in French?"

A sad smile spread across his brother's face as he looked down at his shoes, "Mother loved the French language and you two always had a special connection. It was a pretty simple deduction."

Hans slightly nodded as he leaned back in his chair, letting his mind wrap around what his brother had told him about his past. After a couple minutes of silence passed, Hans cleared his throat and peered over at his brother, "Why did you trust me with your story?"

Viktor pried his eyes away from his shoes and forced himself to look his youngest brother in the eye, trying to think of how to carefully proceed with the conversation, "Because I also deduced that you have a similar story about you and Elsa?"

Hans kept a relatively stoic expression on his face as he was about question his brother's claim, "How-"

"The way you reacted yesterday was a good hint about how much she means to you." A small, kind smile shown on Viktor's face as he noticed Hans' stoic expression melt.

"Was I that obvious?" Hans groaned with a deep furrow in his brow.

"I wasn't referring to you storming out of the dining hall, I was referring to our private conversation we had while eating. Your answers to my questions about Elsa were quite generalized and you never really gave me a direct answer. You could not directly say anything bad about her. You seemed to talk around the questions I asked, which was a very good ploy by the way."

Hans humorlessly laughed, "Obviously not good enough."

"Only because I've used those tactics before with Mary."

Another silence filled the room as both Hans and Viktor glanced over at Klaus. Hans could not believe that Klaus was still asleep and started wondering if he had been faking it in order to listen to their conversation, "We probably should stop speaking in French, it may seem a bit suspicious if Klaus were to wake up and hear us."

"Agreed." Viktor chuckled as he readjusted his position on the stool, "Can I ask you something rather personal?"

Hans shrugged as he pretended that there was something interesting to look at across the room, "You were honest with me, so I guess I could try to do the same."

Viktor paused with a sense of hesitation before slowly asking, "Are you and Elsa having trouble getting pregnant?"

Hans had a feeling that this is where the conversation was headed and he really did not know how to respond. He felt like he could trust Viktor, especially after everything he had just told Hans. But at the same time, could he really trust anyone? However, Hans felt that deep down, he could trust Viktor to keep a secret. So with a deep breath and a long sigh, Hans decided to truthfully answer his brother's question, "Yes and no. It's not getting pregnant we're having trouble with…" A small lump formed in Hans' throat, much to his surprise, "It's staying pregnant that's the issue."

Viktor knowingly nodded, "Miscarriage?"

"Yeah…" Hans cleared his throat in order to regain his composure and shove his emotions down.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Hans." Viktor carefully reached out and placed a kind hand on Hans' shoulder, "How is Elsa doing?"

"She…" Thinking about Elsa and how devastated she was when she received the horrid news about losing the baby brought back awful memories for Hans as a strong sensation of sadness and regret washed over him. He realized that through Elsa's grieving process, Hans never once allowed himself to grieve their loss. He kept himself distracted from the pain by acting as Elsa's support and strength. But now, Elsa was not here to distract him from the pain and he did not like how his shoved down emotions were starting to boil up. "It was rough at first…lots of tears…lots of regret…" Hans constantly cleared his throat to keep his voice from cracking as tears stung his eyes.

Viktor gently squeezed the hand that was resting on Hans' shoulder, "And she blames herself, right?"

Hans was startled by Viktor's astute remark, "How did you know-"

"Mary and I had trouble getting pregnant when we first got married too. At first it was just the one miscarriage and about a year later she was pregnant again…then she lost the baby for a second time." Viktor regretfully pinched the bridge of his nose and tightly shut his eyes, "We went through four more miscarriages in six years. We were convinced that we were never going to have children." He opened his eyes and stared at Hans, who was intensely listening to his story, "But finally, in our seventh year of marriage, Mary gave birth to our first child, a little boy we named Matthew." Viktor smiled with a small chuckle, "Two years later, another baby boy, Joshua. Another two years later, a baby girl, Elisabeth." He gave Hans an encouraged pat on the back, "Never give up hope, Hans. It may take a while but if you and Elsa want a family, then you fight for it."

Hans felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders, however, there was still something bothering him, "I am pleased to hear that you and Mary are doing so well now, but unfortunately my situation with Elsa is bit more complicated." He uncomfortably shifted in his seat, "The doctor said that there could be a chance that Elsa's powers made her infertile."

Viktor's smile immediately disappeared from his face as a deep frown took its place, "Well I am sorry to hear that Hans, but I have a hard time believing that."

Hans scoffed with an eye roll, "Oh so you're a doctor now too?"

"Of course not." Viktor laughed, "But if Elsa was truly infertile, she would not have gotten pregnant in the first place, right?"

"I suppose so…"

"See? Never give up, Hans." Viktor knowingly smiled as he readjusted himself on the stool, "How recent did this miscarriage happen?

"We got the news about a week ago." Hans gave a small shrug in hopes that his brother would not make a big deal out of it.

"What?" A slightly horrified expression shown on Viktor's face, "Hans, are you serious? Why on earth are you here?"

Hans scornfully chuckled, "You know I've been wondering the same exact thing recently. I was told that I was needed for this investigation but all I've done was eat, nap, and get thrown in prison."

"In all honesty, we do need you Hans. But so does Elsa…" Viktor thoughtfully rubbed his goatee as he thought about Hans' situation, "Why don't you stay here and help out for the rest of the week and then head back to Arendelle to be with your wife."

"Really?" Hans could not believe that his brother was actually giving him permission to leave. Hans wanted nothing more than to hop on the first boat out of here and Viktor was giving him the opportunity to do so. However, as badly as Hans wanted to leave, he and Elsa had a plan. Unfortunately, the plan required him to stay in the Southern Isles for a bit longer, at least until he gets the information, or person, he came here for. "Je ne peux pas." Which translated to: I can't. Hans did not want Klaus to hear about his reasons for staying and he pointedly glanced at the sleeping eldest prince in order for Viktor to catch on, which he did as he responded in French.

"Why not?"

Hans knew that since Gregory was not here to help him, he needed to find someone else he could trust to watch his back in case Vortex really was trying to attack him while he was separated from his Arendelle family. And he believed that Viktor was that someone. "I must speak with you later, in private, about something important."


It was still relatively early in the morning as the sun was slowly starting to rise and warm the Kingdom of Arendelle. Although most of the citizens of Arendelle were still asleep, the Queen was not only awake, she had already started work for the day. Thanks to Anna and Kristoff's 3am wakeup call about warning Rapunzel, Eugene, and the rest of Corona about the possible impending danger that could be lurking about, Elsa had taken advantage of the quiet in the early morning to write multiple letters to her family in Corona. She wrote a formal letter to King Thomas alerting him about the situation in the Southern Isles and what that may mean to their own kingdom as well as the new weapons Arendelle is producing along with familiarizing their alliances with each other and other kingdoms in case a war should break out. She wrote a less formal letter to Queen Primrose that concerned the well-doings of everyone in the Arendelle family in order to keep things lighthearted. She wrote a letter to Rapunzel about the possibility of Vortex's involvement in everything that is going on and to keep a close eye out for any Vortex-related shenanigans. Finally, she wrote a letter to Eugene in regards to utilizing their friendship with Aquata the mermaid from the Northern Isles and her connections to help obtain a secure means of communication between Arendelle, Corona, Northern Isles, Southern Isles, and their friends back in London. Elsa was concerned that if Vortex was as vast as Thomas had threatened, then there was a good chance that there were Vortex operatives in nearly every kingdom, including those Arendelle was in an alliance with.

It was a little after five in the morning by the time Elsa had finished writing the letters and her mind was reeling too much to fall back asleep for an hour, so she decided to get an early to start to her day. Now, it was coming up on six-thirty and she was standing on the front steps of the castle that led to the courtyard, waiting for the guards to bring James Jagger up from the prison as she prepared to welcome him to his new position and his new lab. Elsa nervously fidgeted her fingers as she tightly clasped and unclasped her hands together. She glanced around the courtyard and, aside from the guards doing their rounds, noticed how empty it was, which made this the perfect opportunity to walk Jagger from the prison to the castle. As Elsa continued to scan the courtyard her eyes fell on the Captain of the Guard as he was speaking to one of the other guards standing by the prison entrance. She carefully watched as he seemed to be subtly hiding the right side of his face, the side Elsa accidentally punched yesterday. But as she continued to stare at him, she noticed that the swelling and bruising had significantly diminished leaving only a small red mark that was not too noticeable.

Unfortunately, the Captain must have felt someone watching him because as soon as he finished speaking with the prison guard, he turned around and locked eyes with the queen. Embarrassed, Elsa quickly looked away and tried to keep her cheeks from burning as she noticed that he was now walking towards her, "Good morning, Your Majesty." He bowed.

"Good morning, Captain Stephen." Elsa curtly nodded as she tried to seem occupied by staring at the prison entrance, praying that Jagger and the guards would walk out at any moment.

"Is everything okay, Queen Elsa?"

"Yes…" She cautiously glanced over at him, "Unless there is a reason why everything is not okay?"

"No, no…everything is fine." He chuckled at Elsa's relieved expression, "A couple of my men are just making sure that Jagger looks presentable enough to be living in the castle."

"I see…" An awkward silence fell between them and Elsa figured that she should say something, "I noticed that your right cheek is no longer swollen nor bruised."

A small smile cracked his stoic expression, "Is that why you were staring at me?"

"I was not staring at you I was staring at your injured cheek." She scoffed, "I felt it was necessary to explain myself so you would not get any wrong ideas-"

"About us? Because of yesterday?" He looked down at her with an embarrassed expression on his face, "Your Majesty, I must admit that I overheard some of what Princess Anna was discussing with you in the closet. I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, it's just that the Princess has a loud voice-"

"I understand." Elsa abruptly cut him off, slightly humiliated that he heard Anna's accusations, "How much did you hear?"

"Not a lot, I tried to hurry out of earshot before anything personal was said-"

"What did you hear?" Her voice was forceful as she feared the worst.

"Just that if someone else should have walked in then there would be a possibility of uncouth rumors being spread throughout the kingdom."

"Is that all?" Elsa's stomach tightened at the thought of him overhearing Anna talking about Elsa's 'need to fill a temporary void' because of her miscarriage and Hans' absence. The last thing she needed was people thinking that she was weak and mentally unstable without her husband.

The Captain gave her an honest nod, "Yes, I swear. Like I said, I hurried out of the armory."

"Good." Elsa quickly caught how overly relieved her response was and desperately tried to recover, "I mean, thank you for trying to be courteous and giving us privacy."

"Of course." Silence fell between them again, except this time it was less awkward. The Captain authoritatively looked around the courtyard, keeping a careful eye on his men, "Your Majesty, as the Captain of the Royal Guard it is my duty to always put you and Princess Anna's safety and well-being above all else. But that requires a certain amount of trust between you and I, and I hope that you trust me enough to tell me if something is bothering you."

Elsa knew that he was referring to the lessons they had been giving to Anna and Kristoff. She also assumed that he was curious as to the reasoning behind Arendelle's sudden development of weapons. However, she still did not know who she could and not trust due to Sullivan's widespread threat of Vortex accomplices. "Trust is a difficult concept for me to fully grasp, Captain."

"Well, let's start off with something easy." He stared down at her with a subtle kindness in his eyes, "You can call me Edward instead of Captain Stephen in these less formal interactions."

Elsa cocked a curious eyebrow, "And I suppose you want me to tell you to call me just 'Elsa' as well?"

"Only if you feel comfortable with that." Another small smile tugged at his lips.

"Well…" Elsa matched his small smile, "As long as it is only during informal interactions, I guess I can be okay with that."

"Alright." The Captain noticed that his men were ready to bring Jagger out and he gave them a nod of acknowledgement, "Well, it seems like my time for socializing is over. I must get back to work."

"Thanks for the talk, Edward." Elsa could not help but smile at their newfound familiarity.

"Take care, 'just Elsa'." He bowed with a chuckle before hurrying down the steps and striding towards the prison.

Elsa was confused for a brief second until she realized he was teasing her about what she previously said. As she got his joke, she managed to extinguish a laugh by covering her giggly smile with a delicate hand. She quickly regained her composure as two guards appeared from the prison with Jagger between them, his hands were still cuffed but the rest of his appearance was clean and well dressed. Captain Stephen stepped in front of Jagger and took the lead as he led Jagger and the two other guards towards Elsa, "Your Majesty…" He respectfully bowed, "Mister James Jagger is ready to work under your command."

"Thank you, Captain." Elsa firmly nodded as her stern eyes fell on James, "Mister Jagger allow me to show you to your new lab."


Hans confidently strode down the Southern Isles' castle halls, feeling a whole lot better since he ate a hearty meal to fill him up and had a nice warm bath to clean himself up with. After his good long talk with Viktor, he was feeling very optimistic about everything and maybe he could return home by the week's end if all goes well. Viktor had excused Hans from showing up to breakfast this morning in order to clean up and rest before visiting the King at noon. Perhaps not having to deal with the bombardment of his brothers is what put Hans in a good mood. He could also rest easy knowing that Annaliese was also excused from attending breakfast and that she was going to eat with Leila this morning in order for the two friends to catch up.

He let his mind wander to Leila. Something about her seemed familiar to him, like he had seen her before and perhaps he did. She did live in the Southern Isles for a short time, so there was a chance he had run into her when they were young. She was a fun-loving girl who loved to serve people and make them happy, she was a tad bit on the eccentric side at times but she also knew how to reel it in and act professional when her job required her to. Hans saw a lot of Anna in her which made him wonder about the Arendelle sisters. He hoped that everything was going well for them and that major progressions were being made in order to secure Arendelle's safety. He finally let his mind wander to Elsa, a person he desperately tried to avoid thinking about because he knew that she was the one person that could make him go soft and lose his focus. Nevertheless, he took some time to think of his beautiful wife, hoping that she was doing well in his absence. Of course he knew that she could handle herself without him, but sometimes he was the person to help her overcome her battles with anxiety and self-doubt. They understood each other in a way no one else could. But he also knew that Anna and Kristoff were there as her support and that was a huge weight taken off of his shoulders.

As he approached his father's room, he cleared his mind about all things Arendelle and gathered his thoughts. He nodded to the guards outside of the door as he firmly knocked on the door. The door opened and Hans stepped into the large ornate room. He nodded his thanks to the young woman servant who had opened the door for him. Hans glanced around the room and noticed that Doctor Var was also in the room along with another young female servant. It never occurred to Hans just how many young women were employed in the castle and that rose a strange bit of concern for Hans.

"Hans?"

He brushed away the thoughts that clouded his mind as he realized his father was staring at him with an odd look, "Yes, Father?"

"Is everything okay?" The King's eyes were filled with concern.

"Of course." He took several more steps towards his father's bed and bowed, "How are you feeling?"

"I cannot complain." He shifted uncomfortably in his bed, "But finally getting the chance to talk with you has definitely uplifted my mood."

"What do you wish to discuss with me?"

"Well, first of all, I am glad to see that you made it here alright. I was told that there were some unruly storms occurring around Arendelle." King Richard sneered, "No doubt a result from your wife's inability to control her powers."

"Yes, sir." Hans mindlessly replied, not allowing his father's unjust words to irritate him.

"I assume that Klaus has filled you in on recent events?"

"Yes, sir." Hans stood at attention with his hands firmly grasped behind his back.

"I was also told that Klaus is resting in the infirmary as we speak?"

"Yes, sir. He should be released today and back on his feet by tomorrow."

"Good." He nonchalantly shrugged with his good shoulder, "Although my need for him is no longer valid since you are here."

"Father?" Hans was shocked to hear his father say anything negative toward his first born.

"Klaus is basically an over-glorified messenger." He chuckled at his own words, "I only needed him to go to Arendelle and convince you to come. You are the only son I needed to be here.

Hans deeply furrowed his brow, "You have an entire dining room full of sons who would beg to differ."

"Perhaps, but you are the only one with the ambition and ability to get things done in a timely matter. Hence you are my only son to obtain a kingship, and at such a young age I should add."

"Thank you, Father." As much as Hans hated to admit it, a tiny part of him swelled with pride at his father's praise, "What is it you want me to do?"

"I want you to take the lead on this investigation of my attacker. Bring him to justice by whatever means necessary. I'm sure someone as cunning as you would have plenty of ideas."

"Yes, sir." Hans continued his militant reply, knowing that it would please his father to show him the utmost respect.

"Excellent." He proudly smiled ear to ear, "I knew I could count on you. I expect nightly reviews about what has conspired during the day."

"Yes, sir."

He gave Hans a firm head nod, a serious tone to his voice, "Everything is resting on your shoulders, Hans. I trust you."

"Thank you, Father. It will be done."


*A week later*

The summer sun shone brightly into the London prison, gently warming the face of Thomas Sullivan as he tiredly sat against the stone wall of his prison cell. Despite the inviting sensation of the sun's warmth, he did not feel any sort of pleasure. It only reminded him of the outside world, specifically the people out there who had wronged him and put him in here. As a wave of anger hit, one of the guards banged on his cell, "You've got a visitor, Sullivan."

Thomas subsided his anger to see who his visitor was, but when he saw the person, his anger from before returned, "You again?! Why do you keep coming here?!"

The visitor smirked, "Is that anyway to treat the person who is doing all of your dirty work?"

"I don't care about what you are doing, I only care about what you are not doing."

"Such as?" The visitor crossed their arms in a challenging way.

"Getting me out of this bloody rotten cell!" Thomas paused in order to regain his composure and keep his voice down, "I know you possess the ability to break me out of here."

"Patience, Sullivan. Your rage is what got you here in the first place."

Thomas sneered, "What got me here was a bunch of novice royals trying to play hero. I have a personal agenda to accomplish and I can't do that from in here."

"Your personal vendetta against those royals is another reason why you are still in here. I can't have you compromising the mission."

"Wait a second..." Thomas furrowed his brows together as realization hit him, "Are you fazing me out? Are you purposely keeping me here so that you can continue controlling my organization?"

"Sullivan, I have far greater goals to accomplish other than running your pathetic organization." The visitor chuckled with a smile.

"Why you backstabbing son of a-"

The visitor suddenly outstretched their hand which released a powerful force that threw Sullivan across the cell and harshly slammed him against the opposite wall, "Tsk, tsk…" They rotated their hand upward and curled their fingers into the palm of their hand which caused Sullivan to be lifted off the floor and suspended in the air as the visitor continued to speak, "You know what I can do, Thomas. I haven't killed someone in a long time and I would hate to ruin my streak." They opened and relaxed their hand which caused Sullivan to fall to the floor, "But I will if I have to."

"Enough of your mind games-"

"My mind games are what made me powerful." The visitor contorted their hand as magical red vapors danced between their fingers, "But don't worry about those royals, Thomas. I have someone working on the inside. And with the addition of my abilities, they'll end up tearing each other apart. All you have to do is sit back and watch."


Phew! Pretty long chapter, huh? I hope it was well worth the wait! Let me know what you guys think! Please review or private message me with your thoughts and opinions. I know a lot of you have requested some Helsa fluff and I promise I will have them meet up soon. Thanks again for everything, you guys are AMAZING!

P.S. I have been watching (and obsessing over) Tangled: Before Ever After and Tangled: The Series. There has been so much amazing character development and background uncovered in that show and I would absolutely love to add some references into my story. The thing is, if not enough of you guys have seen it then my references would not make sense. Basically, I'm asking how many have seen the show and would understand these references? Thanks so much and have an awesome weekend! :)