A/N: Please bear with me, this chapter is an experiment/ test! Full explanation at the end.
It was about two hours later that Elsa received a text message consisting of nothing but an address and a number figure. A few minutes' walk and she arrived at the listed location to find a plain gray van with tinted black windows sitting nestled between two non-descript buildings adjacent to the waterfront.
After a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, she carefully opened the nearby dumpster and tucked a black duffel bag filled with a few thousand dollars inside. Having dropped off the payment, she checked the vehicle to make sure it was unlocked. The driver's side door swung open easily, so she quickly climbed in and settled into the seat. With the keys already in the ignition, a quick twist resulted in the satisfying hum of the engine. Elsa leaned back in the seat and raised her purple hood, then shifted the van into gear.
It was only a short drive to her destination, a garage she'd retrofitted months ago to work on vehicles she'd use for jobs. The garage was conveniently located in one of the less reputable sections of the city, helpful in the way that cameras and prying eyes were mostly a null issue. Elsa pulled around the side of the small white building, then guided the van around to the rear garage door. A few quick taps on her phone resulted in the door raising up to receive her.
It required a bit of finesse, but Elsa managed to park the van atop one of the two lifts in the main room. She shifted it into park, removed the keys, and hopped out.
A quick survey of her purchase revealed nothing special about the vehicle, it was basically just a generic gray van with a fake license plate and a filed off VIN number. Such measures would ensure that the vehicle couldn't be traced back to the original owner, the person who'd stolen it, James, or herself.
Elsa whipped around and set about retrieving various tools and components from the large assortment of tool boxes and cabinets scattered about the room. She had work to do.
Anna hummed quietly to herself as she lazily stirred with her right hand. After the session she'd had earlier that day… She'd decided a halfway decent dinner was in order. While microwaveable meals tended to be convenient, an actual cooked meal every now and again was a pleasant change of pace.
The smell of tomato sauce had permeated her kitchen-slash-living area and was certainly fueling her growing appetite. It would still be a few minutes before the noodles were done boiling, and she only had to stir the sauce to keep it from burning. Without much to focus on her mind began to wander, reflecting on the events of the past couple of days.
Yesterday morning had been a rather unpleasant surprise. Anna still didn't know what she was going to do about the blonde girl who'd stolen her money and run. She knew she wanted to track her down, but hadn't the faintest clue about how to go about doing so. At first she had simply wanted revenge, but now something else was driving her to locate the hacker. Something more akin to… Curiosity?
Anna sighed. As usual, her emotions were a tangled jumble that she couldn't begin to understand. A quick glance into the pot to her left revealed the noodles to be done, so she proceeded to drain them over the sink. A few minutes later and she was seated at the counter with a plate full of spaghetti and a plastic container filled with parmesan cheese.
With a fork in one hand and the TV remote in the other, she began to dig into the plate of food while flipping through the channels on the television. It hadn't taken Anna long to notice a pattern in the media - Everyone was talking about the Russian mobsters that had gotten arrested early that morning. More than the Russians themselves though, people were talking about what the criminals had been storing in their warehouse.
Guns, ammunition, drugs, explosives - Just a few of the many things that the authorities had recovered from the building. According to several news channels she passed by, the current theory was that the warehouse was being used to store smuggled contraband. Whether the items were being smuggled into or out of the country, the reports didn't say. Apparently no files or documents had been found, and the only computer system on the premises had been scrubbed completely clean.
Anna frowned as she pondered her meal, which while tasting especially delicious, was inherently frustrating. She loved to cook, but often ended up with more food than she could eat by herself. This was one of those times where she wished her social anxiety wasn't so crippling, that maybe she could actually share a meal with someone. Anna supposed Kristoff counted for something, but while the blonde boy was undoubtedly her best friend, she was wishing for something significantly less platonic.
It didn't take her long to finish her dinner, completely demolishing two plates of the pasta with ease. Having no desire to deal with clean-up later, Anna quickly set about storing the remaining food and rinsing the dishes before stuffing them in the dishwasher.
With the kitchen sorted, she moved into the living room and unceremoniously flopped down onto the couch, remote in hand once more. Anna flicked through a few more channels, but was disappointed to still find nothing to watch. Resigning to find entertainment elsewhere, a quick press of a button and her media computer's interface appeared on screen. She'd been meaning to catch up on the massive amount of shows she'd queued up over time, and now was as good a time as any.
She selected a show and settled back into the couch, trying to get cozy. Melodic theme music began pouring from the television's speakers just as she found the most comfortable way to sit.
Anna let out a small breath, finding herself somewhat content in this moment, an unusual but certainly not unwelcome feeling. Too often the world seemed to press down on her, causing unwanted stresses and anxieties that just didn't seem to go away. At least for right now she had some modicum of peace.
Her mind drifted, only somewhat focused on the show she was only half watching. Not that the plot wasn't interesting or anything, what with the pair of heroes travelling across the galaxy and saving the day, it's just her mind was elsewhere.
Anna wished that could be her, sometimes. She wished she could be a hero, save the day, fall in love, all of that stuff you see in the movies. A small sigh escaped her lips as she frowned slightly, remembering how you actually had to put effort forth into having a life beyond your own apartment for things like that to happen.
She suddenly felt rather drowsy, which was unusual for her this early in the evening. Anna stretched and let out a small yawn, then looked once more to the television. She was quickly fading, but was still just conscious enough to note the blonde protagonist and her accomplice share a romantic glance at one another, their words of affection unspoken.
Finally giving in, Anna turned her back to the television and fell fast asleep.
Just one more twist there…
Elsa inspected the circuitry she'd just attached to the expanse of plastic, giving it a small tug. When the piece stayed securely in place, she nodded in satisfaction and looked for the next piece.
Now just tighten this wire…
An obnoxiously loud chime sounded virtually right next to her ear and Elsa jerked forward. Pain spread across her forehead as she slammed right into the underside of the dashboard.
Ow…
She rubbed the now aching spot and grimaced. The chime sounded once more, eliciting a frustrated groan from the blonde girl. She felt around on the driver's seat for her phone, clasping it in her hand when she finally found it.
Elsa lowered her hand from her face so as to see the device's display, which showed a date, a time, and an address. This was what she had been waiting for. She had less than forty-eight hours to get ready, and she'd likely be done in two.
She crawled back under the van's console and resumed her work, but now her concentration had been broken. Her thoughts began to wander.
The most prominent thing in her mind was an image of sad teal eyes.
Elsa grimaced. She'd been avoiding thinking about the redhead, but she knew deep down that trying to avoid thinking about the girl entirely was simply futile.
Something was off about her, Elsa had been able to tell that the moment she'd first laid eyes on the redhead. She'd thought of the other girl as tired, but on further reflection that wasn't quite the right word for it. Perhaps drained was a more appropriate label for the expression etched across the redhead's face.
Elsa knew that look well, she'd worn it herself once upon a time, back when she was less motivated than she was now. It was a look you bore when the world seemed to be crashing down around you, and hope seemed to be absent from the world.
The young hacker would never wish that on anyone, she'd been too closely acquainted with such feelings for far too long. She knew how hard even the most basic functionality was when dealing with such pressures on a daily basis. Elsa sincerely hoped she'd never have to experience anything like that time in her life ever again.
She could only guess as to what had caused the other girl to sustain such a deep emotional scarring, but regardless of the origins Elsa felt nothing but sympathy for the redheaded girl. If circumstances were less complicated, if the world were a simpler place - She might even find a kindred spirit in her.
Unfortunately that was not the case, as she was all too well aware. The world was often a harsh and cruel place, lacking any degree of care for its denizens. Whatever the cause may be, the redhead's emotional state was evidence enough of that by itself.
Elsa finished securing plastic coverings over the electronic components she'd just installed, then carefully slid out of the vehicle. She took special care not to bump her head this time, not wanting to further injure herself.
Satisfied with her work, she wiped her hands against her baggy work jeans, attempting to clean them of the light coating of grease and powdered plastic that had come from working on the vehicle. She was dissatisfied to find it had little effect, if any at all.
A small twinge of guilt shot through her all of a sudden, as Elsa remembered the cause for her first chance encounter with the redhead. The other girl had been just another random victim of one of Elsa's more questionable activities, a fact that she'd tried to forget. She was usually able to justify such actions to herself by acknowledging that her work was worth the wrongdoings, but oddly enough that reasoning wasn't helping her just now.
Elsa let out a frustrated breath and began picking up her tools, gingerly laying them on the rolling trolley she'd pushed up against the side of the van. Once all of her equipment had been collected, she pushed the small cart back over to her workbench, where she would need to start on the second half of her preparation.
Having settled the trolley flush against the wooden side of the bench, she climbed onto the rotating stool sitting just in front of the workstation. This next part would be a bit trickier, Elsa knew. She quickly located her soldering tool and then reached over to pull closer the box of electronic parts that was previously pressed up against the wall.
As she warmed up the tool she had grasped firmly in her left hand, Elsa gave one last thought to the redhead. A part of her wanted to make what she had done right, but she didn't know exactly how to do so without directly interacting with the girl, something that couldn't happen.
Elsa bit down lightly on her lip as she began to think, trying to think of some way she could right her wrongs in this case. The tool finally ready, she began to work as her mind churned out possible solutions to fix perhaps just one of the many mistakes she'd made.
A/N: Okay so a few things: First of all, I wanna give a huge shoutout to appletopfp (you can find her via that on Tumblr!) who drew an amazing piece of artwork for Chapter 5. I felt like I'd died and gone to heaven, she captured it so well. I was smiling for a whole day! Links to the artwork can be found on my profile page.
Second, this chapter had to go without any beta-reading - Nobody was around to proof-read it and I'd already failed my promise to myself and others that I'd upload it yesterday, so I had to just get it done and published. Please note: I'm actually looking for a dedicated beta - If anyone's interested in helping me out, please shoot me an IM to let me know!
Thirdly, I mentioned this was an experiment - It really was. I wanted to try a few different things, which consequently may have harmed the quality of this chapter. If it did, please say so in the reviews! I want to know what I'm doing wrong, y'know?
Finally, I just wanted to thank each and every one of you - It blows me away every time I look at my follower count on this story! I never thought my story would get much attention, to be honest. I'm so glad it did... It makes me really happy okay?
Thank you all so much, have a great weekend!