A/N: So this fic was kind of inspired by a few things. If any of you have every played 'The Wolf Among Us' it's kind of the sort of world I was picturing, but without the fables backstory. So basically a darker, modern twist on old fables where none of them are in good positions. Anna, though she really doesn't appear in here, is really inspired by Detective Shannon from 'The Heat', if anyone's seen that (probably not but you should watch it). It's really probably just going to be a oneshot, though at some point I might follow it up with a oneshot of Kristoff and Anna in the same world. We'll see what happens. I hope you enjoy it, I really loved writing it and exploring such a different Hans!
Hans fiddled with the lock, doing his best to appear inconspicuous. He'd already gotten three of the deadbolts, but the last one was proving tricky, and he didn't want to chance anybody passing by and catching him. God-forbid, telling Anna that he'd been breaking into her and Elsa's flat. Not breaking in, just...visiting. He told himself. Breaking in would imply he wanted to steal something from them, or vandalize their apartment. He had no such intentions for his forced entrance. But he knew that she wouldn't feel that way, and he didn't particularly feel like being held at knife/gun/grenade-point again if he could avoid it.
The pins finally clicked and he felt the lock slide back, a breath of relief sliding past his lips. Any self respecting man would never learn the art of lock-picking just so he could break into the apartment of two young girls, but he unfortunately acknowledged the fact that his self respect had gone missing a long time earlier. Now he did what he had to feel okay with himself. To prove to himself that there was some humanity left in the world, or something of the sort.
Slipping inside, Hans shut the door after him and locked the deadbolts once more. He considered himself a sturdy man, but the complex they were in was far from savory. The neighborhood they were in was far from savory. He couldn't help himself from snooping around a little. The fridge, that was full of guns. Not surprising considering Anna. She might be a cop, but that didn't make her trusting. And it didn't make her entirely legal, considering he was pretty sure half of the stuff in there wasn't supposed to be owned outside a military base.
Hans shut the fridge with a shake of his head and moved along to the cupboards. There was some food in those, at least. Mainly Ramen, some questionable looking loaves of bread and one wheel of cheese that had an unidentified mass of green growing on the side. He shut those as well, hardly resisting the urge to set aside his bag and go to work cleaning up the dump. But he didn't have that much time, and it would only be back to the same state in a few weeks time. Anna was obviously out of her league when it came to caring for herself or her sister.
He might've been able to do more. If he hadn't tried so hard, lost sight of the big picture. A fake date just to get into the apartment had only managed to result in a permanent ban. But with some work and charm, he'd gotten ahold of her work schedule and found time to slip into her apartment, hopefully leaving her none the wiser. He passed by a pile of dishes in the sink nearly as tall as him and moved through the living room. It wasn't much better, take-out containers scattered about in a morbid, heart attack-inducing graveyard of cardboard containers.
He did his best not to touch anything, and paused to pull on a pair of gloves and a dust mask before knocking on the door on the far wall. He heard a soft cough from the other side, and the sound of someone shifting.
"Anna?" A feminine voice called. "Is that you? I thought you just went to work an hour ago." There was a fit of coughing, and Hans waited for it to finish before he spoke.
"No, it's Hans. Hans West? We've spoken briefly twice before, I brought some medicines for you. May I come in?" He was all but pressing his ear to the door waiting for a reply, tensing with each painful second that passed. She was silent too long.
"You can enter." She finally said. Hans exhaled, realizing he'd been holding his breath. He pushed open the door, slipping inside and shutting the door after him. It seemed as though the rest of the apartment could ooze inside and get the mess everywhere, the excess of germs. Inside was a striking contrast to the rest of the apartment, though. Everything was starkly clean, hardly anything in the room but a bed, a desk and a bookcase full to the brim with books.
In the bed was possibly one of the most stunning women he'd ever laid eyes on. He remembered the first time he'd seen her, at a park. Standing under a tree and looking up as though she was in awe of the world. As though she'd never even seen it before. Then she'd collapsed and he was one of the first to rush to her aid, though Anna had quickly gotten in the middle of them. It was after that he'd learned she was sick, too sick to leave her flat most days. Anna was her sole caretaker, and didn't believe in hospitals.
Being a doctor himself, he couldn't stand the thought of her wasting away because her sister didn't believe in something. He'd been blinded and stupid, and gotten close to Anna in order to sneak in and see Elsa. But that plan had backfired on him, and now the redhead had it out for him. He'd gotten five speeding tickets in the past two months. Traffic citations for things that nobody even knew about. And yet he still hadn't been able to stop thinking about her.
Lying in her bed, she looked more frail than ever. She was slightly propped up on some snowy white pillows, a baby blue comforter spread over her and making her eyes look that much more colorful. She managed a soft smile at his entrance, but even that looked tired and weak.
"Anna won't be happy that you came." She told him, her voice hoarse and sounding like a chorus of angels. He returned the smile and sauntered up to the side of her bed, stealing the chair from her desk to sit down in.
"You let me worry about your spitfire little sister. All you need to worry about is feeling better." He coached gently. She started to reply, but more coughs came instead and he leaned over her with worry. "Let me prop you up more, that should make it easier to breathe." He urged, slipping an arm under her back. He could feel her ribs through her nightgown and it made him want to shout curses that would make a sailor blush. Instead he just lifted and moved her pillows, pulling her up as much as he dared so she would be sitting up more. Leaning back again, he thought he caught a faint blush on her pail cheeks.
"Thank you, Hans." She whispered. Good heavens, his name from her lips made his knees feel weak. He nodded, transfixed for a moment by the halo of white hair spread out on the pillow behind her. But he shook himself back to reality and pulled his bag into his lap. Opening it up, he started pulling out several bottles.
"You need to hide these from Anna. I'll give you a list of what to take and when, and it should make you feel better. Stronger. You'll be back on your feet. Your condition can't fully be cured, but I'll see to it that you can at least get out. Breathe fresh air." He told her, pushing the items at her. She reached out, pulling them into her lap and her cold hands brushed his for just a moment.
"Why are you doing this?" She asked him, blue eyes unsure and questioning. It made him think that not many people had done much for her in her lifetime. It saddened him, to see that look in her eye. Against his better judgment, he reached out to take one of her hands.
"I'm a doctor. It's what I do." He told her. She smiled again, this one fading more quickly than the last.
"Anna's not all bad, you know. She's just afraid, and trying to do the right thing." Elsa told him, and from the way she was looking at him he got the feeling she needed him to believe her. So he nodded.
"I know. But it's not what's best for you, and you deserve a chance to be healthy. Doctors, medicines, they can help you. I can help you." He told her, finding himself gripping her hand tighter until she grimaced and he released it. Afraid of hurting her on accident. She was too frail, like a leaf hanging onto a tree in the middle of winter that might fly away at any moment.
"Why do you care so much?" She questioned, pulling her hand back to herself. Han put his head down. What could he say? That he was in love with her when he'd hardly had a full conversation with her? That it drove him mad to think of her more or less locked away, kept from what could truly help her? That she consumed his thoughts in a way that nobody else ever had? She would think he was mad.
"I don't know." He admitted. "I just don't like the idea of you hurting." It seemed a strange thing to say to a stranger, but she didn't feel like a stranger at all. It felt as though he'd known her a hundred years. He felt comfortable with her, but on edge at the same time.
"You're a good man." She said, and he felt one of her chilly hands reach over to rest on his arm. He rested one of his over it and looked up enough to smile a her. Those words meant everything coming from her.
"I should go. You ought to rest." The words dragged reluctantly from his mouth, though it was the last thing he wanted to do. She tightened her hand around her arm, and though her hand was cold, it sent warmth all throughout him.
"Please stay. I get so lonely." She requested, and his heart nearly broke. He didn't care if Anna did come home and he spent ten years in jail. He'd spend as much time as Elsa wanted by her side. He set his bag on the floor beside him and took the things he'd given her, slipping them in drawer of her nightstand.
"Of course. What would you like to talk about?" Hans asked her, settling in he wooden chair once more. Her eyes flicked off behind him.
"Would you read to me? Anna doesn't have the patience and I get such a headache from reading too much. I don't want to bother you, but just for a short while would make a difference in my day." Elsa explained, chest rising and falling more with the apparent exertion. Hans nodded easily.
"Of course. What book would you like?" He turned in the chair look behind him at the bookcase that stretched all the way up to the ceiling.
"The Little White Bird. It's the fourth row down, right in the middle."
He stood long enough to find and take the book from the shelf before sitting again and facing her. He hadn't read the book before, but it was obvious she had read it a great many times from the way the pages were worn and tearstained and well-loved. He opened up to the first chapter and began.
He was four chapters in when he looked up again. The soft sighs from Elsa had stopped, replaced by a steady breathing. She was asleep. He set the book aside and rose to his feet once more. Unfortunately he did need to leave. Not stare at her sleeping until Anna came home. He tugged the dust mask down long enough to lean over her and press a kiss to her forehead.
"Goodnight my Snow Queen." He whispered, taking his bag and disappearing out the door once again.
