Something was wrong. He didn't feel right inside. There was a steady burning in his heart, insisting that his body wasn't working the way that it was supposed to. He blinked and grimaced, trying to dismiss the feeling. It wasn't the time for any phantom feelings that were likely all in his head. It definitely wasn't the time for the ideas popping into his head that didn't sound anything like him. Ones that involved spilling blood, dark paths that he would never consider. He didn't know why they were in his head, but it was like something outside of him was putting them there.

"Prince Hans, are you alright?" The concerned voice of a commoner cut through his thoughts, and Hans focused on the woman in front of him. He nodded and convinced a smile to his mouth.

"Fine, miss. Do you have enough blankets?" He returned, concern clear in his eyes. She laid a hand on his arm and nodded kindly.

"Oh yes, we're all doing quite well, thanks to you. You're a good man." She assured him, and the next smile on his lips didn't have to be forced. It seemed wrong to find pleasure in the midst of a catastrophe, but there was something comforting in feeling as though he was leading well. It was almost enough to distract him from his worry over whether or not Anna would make it back whole.

"Prince Hans, you must come quickly! The Princess has returned!" A shout pulled his attention away from the woman he was talking to, spinning to see several servants rushing towards him. He expected a jolt of relief to know she was alright, but there was nothing but a numb feeling around his heart. The burning had ceased, now it was just nothing. Like he couldn't even feel his heart beating. But he pushed himself into motion regardless.

"Take me to her." He ordered, finding himself getting shuffled down the icy halls, worried mutters all around him. His own mouth pressed into a thin, worried line as he walked with long, purposeful strides. Right now his focus needed to be Anna, not whatever was going on with his heart. He pushed into the library, but only the other dignitaries awaited him, forlorn looks on all their faces. His numb heart felt just enough to sink at the sight.

"She's not here." He stated simply.

"No, Prince Hans. It was a false alarm." The Frenchmen said sadly, shaking his head in despair. Hans' fists clenched at his side, frustration and anger overwhelming him. How long would he be made to sit and do nothing while his fiancee was out gods knew where wandering through a blizzard? He lasted another ten minutes or so, pacing back and forth and trying to think of anything else to do before he couldn't take it anymore. He was losing feeling himself, his heart now beating again, but in erratic spurts. More dark thoughts were playing into his head, and he felt the need to act before they overwhelmed him.

"I'm going back out to look for Princess Anna." He finally announced, striding towards the door. The rest of them followed him, apparently intent on not letting him out of their sight.

"You cannot risk going out there again." One of them insisted, and Hans spun on his heel.

"If anything happens to her-" He was cut off, by a more urgent voice.

"If anything happens to the Princess, you are all Arendelle has left." The Spanish dignitary cut in, actually causing Hans to pause. He knew the man was right. The responsible, adult thing to do was to sit tight in the castle. He knew it. But he didn't want to. He wanted to know that Anna was safe. You are all Arendelle has left. Those words sunk a little deeper, taking his stomach along with them. How had he become Arendelle's last hope? He wasn't ready to be a ruler. He was Navy, he had a job back in the Southern Isles. He had never been trained to be a king, he was thirteenth in line. There was no hope of him becoming king. Not until now.

Before he could form a response, the doors behind him reopened. "Prince Hans," Kai's voice broke in, and Hans turned.

"Anna!" He ran forward to catch her, taking her from the arms of several servants. "You're so cold." He said as his arms slipped around her, finding that she was emitting cold from her body. He relief he'd initially felt upon seeing her faded to worry.

"Hans, you have to kiss me." Anna demanded, giving no response to his statement. He felt his eyebrows rise, instinctively leaning back as she pressed in.

"What?" He asked, unsure where the sudden aversion to the woman in his arms was coming from.

"Now," she said, grabbing handfuls of his jacket. "Now." She repeated, tugging at him insistently, trying to pull his head down.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down." A nervous chuckle colored his voice with the words, moving back as much as she moved forward. Something was welling up from deep inside, insisting that he get far away from her. The last thing he could do was kiss her. But it was wrong, it was something unnatural inside of him and he didn't know how to fight it.

"We'll give you two some privacy." The elderly maid said, waving everyone out of the room. Hans wanted to shout at them to come back, but the doors shut with a thud and left him and Ana alone. Something he had wanted just a day earlier, but now everything was feeling fuzzy. Her hands slipped around his neck and still pulled, but he didn't budge.

"What happened out there?" He asked, trying to fight his way through the fog that seemed to be getting worse by the second.

"Elsa struck me with her powers." Anna said, something akin to an angry tone in her voice. He felt his own blood run cold at the statement.

"You said she'd never hurt you." He felt a parent chiding a child, not meaning for the tone that came out of his mouth.

"I was wrong," Anna told him, her voice cracking. Then she gave a small cry and crumpled in his arms, and he leaned down to catch her.

"Anna," He swept her up, doing his best to brush aside his own thoughts and carried her to the divan in the center of the room. Leaning over her in concern, he waited for her to continue.

"She froze my heart and only an act of true love can save me." She explained, wide eyes looking up at him. Realization dawned on him, as well as a flicker of hope.

"A true love's kiss." He said for her. That had to be it. And maybe there was some way it could banish the increasing darkness in his mind, threatening to drive him to some extremes. But what was he thinking? True love? He had known her for a day. He cared for her, that was clear. But love, that came only with time. Didn't it?

No. No more doubts, he had to shove away those thoughts. Doing his best to clear his mind, he reached forward and trailed a hand across the side of Anna's face. If there was any chance that they could both be saved by a kiss, far be it from him to refuse. He slipped his fingers down to her chin and tipped it up, leaning in as she shut her eyes. He was almost there, too. Hardly any distance separating them, Hans paused. He drew back a bit.

"Oh Anna," he found himself saying, "if only there was someone out there who loved you." It was like being trapped inside a stranger's body, with no control. He was watching, trying to stop himself, trying to stop the words from coming out of his mouth, but they wouldn't. He was powerless against himself.

"What?" She breathed, confusion marring her face. Hans rocked back then stood, not bothering to respond. He walked to the window on the far side of the room, looking out at the blizzard that still raged on. "You said you did.." Anna's unsure voice sounded behind him and he wanted to turn around and correct himself. Instead he just drew the curtain shut.

"As thirteenth in line in my own kingdom, I didn't stand a chance, I knew I'd have to marry into the throne somewhere." The lies fell like poison off his lips, as he started to remove one of his gloves, wondering what demon had taken control of his body.

"What-what are you talking about?" Anna asked, voice shaking with the cold as she huddled on the divan still. Hans licked his fingers and put out the candle beside her, only a brief burn on his thumb before he pulled away. His mind was in a panic, but his body had never felt so calm. Like this was the way it was supposed to be. These were his darkest thoughts coming to surface, fanned much bigger by something else slipping into his head.

"As heir, Elsa was preferable of course, but no one was getting anywhere with her." He turned back to finally look at her again. "But you,"

"Hans," She tried to butt in, but he just kept going.

"You were so desperate for love, you were willing to marry me just like that." He turned back away, taking the pitcher of water setting beside the fire. There was no denying, he had wondered at her immediate acceptance of his proposal. But not like this. This wasn't him. "I figured after we'd married, I'd have to stage a little accident for Elsa." He continued, starting to pour the water over the fire. Smoke billowed up and Anna reached out for him.

"Hans," She said again, slipping off the divan and falling in a heap on the floor. "No, stop."

"But then she doomed herself, and you were dumb enough to go after her." The pitcher was spent, and he was running out of energy to fight the power controlling him. He set the pitcher back down, a chuckle escaping.

"Please," Anna begged.

Hans looked down at her. "All that's left now is to kill Elsa and bring back summer." He explained, approaching her, standing right by her head. She struggled, trying and failing to pushed herself off the floor as shivers wracked her body.

"You're no match for Elsa." She said in what he assumed she thought was an intimidating tone. Where the sane part of him still clung to consciousness, he hoped she was right. The rest of him though, knelt down and took her chin in his hand once more.

"No, you're no match for Elsa." He told her in an almost disgusted tone. He dropped her chin. "I, on the other hand, am the hero who is going to save Arendelle from destruction." He slipped his glove back on with his speech, straightening up again. The cold was winning. He couldn't fight it.

"You won't get away with this." Anna spat at him, even as he strode to the door. Hans opened it, pausing only once to look back.

"Oh, I already have." He feared that statement was far too true.


A/N: So this clip was based off of a fan theory I saw a long time ago. If Hans really was the person we saw in the beginning of the film, but was cursed. If you pay attention in the song Fixer Upper, the trolls talk about getting the fiancee out of the way, and the theory is that they put some kind of curse on him to turn him against Anna. I'm considering writing this whole fic at some point, and have a lot of ideas for it that involve a lot of Elsa and Kristoff being frustrated because they have to deal with two spazzy idiots running around the castle getting over-excited at the littlest things, but we'll see if I ever get to it. Let me know what you think! (It would still be a Helsa story because I'm incorrigible).