Part 2. Marshall Mann

"Snowden, wait!" Elsa stopped and looked over her shoulder. Anna finally managed to catch up with her.

That's why I don't wear heels.

"What is it?"

"Before we go in there, you're going to tell me what to expect from the guy in there." She panted as she tried to keep up with the blonde's pace. Her heels weren't very helpful. Elsa was walking pretty fast, though Anna doubted it was intentional. The redhead finally caught her breath and brushed a strand of red locks behind her ear. Elsa sighed, annoyed.

"Relax, Summerfield. He's harmless."

"You told me the same thing about Olaf."

Sigh.

"His name is Marshall Mann. He-"

"Wait a second! Mann? He and Olaf are… related?"

"Yeah, they are. Marshall is his son."

"Oh, God."

"Don't worry. He is not Olaf's own. He was adopted."

"Oh thank God. No, wait — that came out wrong." Elsa chuckled at the redhead's reaction and resumed walking.

"You'll soon love Olaf. Every newbie has this kind of reaction after meeting him for the first time."

"We'll see." Anna mumbled to herself, following the blonde.

They trotted down the hallway, passing other laboratories. Behind the thick glass, people in white gowns were working on one project or another, checking their notes, or running from table to table.

They look like ants in those little ant farms for kids. Anna smiled to herself. Somehow all that image of running people made her feel calm and relaxed. Okay, maybe she's right. I'll like Olaf and I'll sure be visiting this place frequently.

They took a left twice and walked about twenty meters more before stopping in front of a metal double door, labeled with huge, yellow letters. "Weaponry". Elsa repeated her actions: slide her pass, enter a code, and confirm the password. The door slid open.

"Wow." Anna breathed out, looking around as they entered. There was a lot of weaponry of different kinds: pistols, machine guns, sniper rifles, shotguns. Technically, there was every piece of weapon that existed. Everything was organized, lying on its own place. Compared to Olaf's lab, the place was a standard of order and cleanliness. "Nice." Anna turned to Elsa. The blonde was frowning. She seemed to be in search of something — or rather, someone. Her icy blue eyes were darting from side to side. Anna frowned as well. "What is it?"

"Shh!" The blonde hushed. "Stay here." With those words she moved forward, carefully scanning her surroundings. It was quiet. Inside the enormous room, only the sound of Elsa's shoes stomping on the white tile echoed. In two steps, a hand grabbed her by the elbow, twisting it. The blonde didn't waste any time. She grabbed the hand back and kicked her attacker in the stomach. But her hit was blocked.

"Snowden!" Anna called for her.

"Stay out of this!" Anna had a good view of the blonde's opponent. He was a head taller than Elsa and three or four times bigger than the two women combined. His skin was darker in comparison to Elsa's. He had a strong jaw line, straight nose, thin lips (that were curved in a smirk), and round deep-set brown eyes. He had a crew cut with a short Iroquois. He was wearing a camouflaged T-Shirt, baggy brown cargo pants, and leather military boots.

Anna paid too much attention to the man's appearance that she almost missed when, with yet another try of hitting her opponent, Elsa ducked from the oncoming fist and rolled backwards. In a mere second she was on her feet again, and with a determined look on her face she dashed ahead. Her opponent didn't even try to strike. He blocked the blonde's hits with ease and simply pushed her around. The decisive moment came as they both rushed to each other. Elsa's hand was a few inches away from the collar of her opponent's T-Shirt, but the man grabbed her hand and his fist stopped an inch away from the blonde's nose.

"The victory is mine, Snowden." He grinned triumphantly, showing off perfect white teeth.

"Oh, is that so?" The man raised a thick dark eyebrow but then his eyes caught sight of Elsa's fist leveled to his solar plexus. One blow and the blonde would have all chances to claim victory. The man laughed with his deep baritone.

"Not bad, Els! Not bad! Draw?"

"Draw." They smiled at each other. But as the man's eye settled on Anna his expression hardened and his jaw clutched.

"Who is she?" Elsa turned around.

"Oh, yes, right. Come on." She approached the redhead, the large man following. "Marshall, this is Anna Summerfield. She's the spy hired by the high command."

"About that info problem?"

"Yes. Anna," she turned to the redhead, "This is Marshall Mann, our weaponry specialist, mechanic, and leader of one of the SFOD teams."

"Nice to meet you, Mister Mann." Anna outstretched her hand. She saw him look between her eyes and her hand. But after a moment or so, he shook her hand without any words.

You don't show your true self to strangers, but with the people you know you're a big softie. And you don't look like you were through PTSD. What happened to you before? Wait. Elsa said he was adopted. Cruel parents maybe?

"So," Marshall let go of her hand and turned back to Elsa, "What are you up to?"

"Nothing really. Just showing Anna around." The man shot another cold glance at Anna then went to one of the tables, sitting on it. "How have you been recently? Anything interesting?"

"No. But all SFOD teams are in permanent stand-to mode." He glanced to the side, thinking for a moment. "Els, y-"

"No, Marsh." Anna saw Elsa tense and her eyes darken. It piqued her curiosity. She felt the urge to ask about the situation when Elsa spoke again. "I don't know who it is… yet. But I'm determined to find out." Silence fell again. The redhead looked between the two. Something strange was going on. However, she recognized that look: greetings from the past.

"Okay." He breathed out and smiled up at the blonde. "Have you seen my dad yet?"

"Yes."

"How's he?"

"Another unsuccessful experiment. It's a mess there."

"Ugh!" Marshall groaned. Elsa laughed at his reaction. "I think I'll go there and help him." Marshall jumped off the table and headed to the exit. Elsa and Anna followed. "You know where to find me if you need anything." He told them after locking the weaponry. But Anna was more than sure the phrase was addressed only to the blonde.

"Sure, Marsh. See you around?"

"See ya." Without any more words (and without even glancing at Anna) he proceeded to where the two women came from. They stood there long after Marshall disappeared from their sight.

"Nice guy." Anna snorted.

"If you have a desire to know him better you will become good friends." Elsa took her glasses off, pulled a handkerchief out of her jacket pocket, and wiped the lenses.

"What happened to him in the past?" Anna asked. Elsa halted at once, her eyes locked onto her glasses. "Let me guess. 'Never ask him about it'?" Anna huffed at that. The blonde gave her a glance and placed her glasses back.

"We have quite a team here." Elsa smiled sadly. Without looking up to Anna, she started to walk. "Come on. We're done down here."

Anna looked at Elsa. Her pace was much slower than before. She had her hands in her trousers' pockets. Anna titled her head to the side, gazing at Elsa's walking figure.

Snowden, Snowden. Everyone is hiding something from there past here… What is your secret?

She smiled to herself.

"You lied, Snowden!" Anna called out.

"Pardon?" The blonde stopped and turned around.

"You told me that this guy is harmless." The redhead pointed at the weaponry door. "But after what I've seen, I don't think that he's as harmless as you think he is."

There was a short silence.

"Marshmallow."

"Huh?"

"His nickname is Marshmallow. Draw conclusions out of that."