protocol_02.02: hash function

Despite how much Anna may want to race over to the Black Court, it's been a long day, and it's never been a good idea to verbally spar with, or even have a friendly chat with, the Contessa on no sleep. Which it has a high chance of being because her sort-of mentor likes that sort of thing. Plus Kristoff needs to return the suit before Doc kills him, and she needs out of these damn heels. They'll meet up at Doc's again mid-morning and make their way over then.

Which leaves her up to her own devices once she's back at her apartment, having showered and changed into the most comfortable pair of pajamas she owns. Even though she's emotionally exhausted from everything, she's just too wired to sleep, so she's left staring at the ceiling. The muted lights from the street mix with the glowing monitor to washout the room in bluish-grey.

"Go to sleep, Anna."

Anna sighs. "Doesn't it bother you?"

"Which part?"

"Any of it." She flings her arm around before letting it flop back down on the bed. "All of it."

"Of course it does."

"It's just...this is the closest we've been in three years. And we had to run." She thumps her head against the pillow for emphasis. "I hate running."

"I know."

"And you're just so, so...so accepting of all of this!"

"What else am I supposed to be?"

Anna rolls over. "I don't know, maybe more...frustrated? Angry? Three years is a long damn time."

"I've waited longer," Elsa says. Ugh, and the truth of that is the worst really. Anna sometimes wants to throttle her sister for being so damn calm and...doormat-like about this. "A bit longer isn't going to kill me."

Anna winces. That's the thing, isn't it? She doesn't know what to do when Elsa talks like that. Because it's been more than three years, so very long, and she doesn't know what that means for her sister, not anymore. She doesn't know how Elsa's been living, and from the little she's learned, including what she told Kristoff tonight, it really doesn't paint a good picture.

Now that she knows, she can admit, well, it's easier to admit, that Elsa was right. Going after Scratch, or whatever his name is, tonight would have been a mistake. Thinking back on it, now that she could think more clearly, Elsa had sounded...well, she'd sounded scared. Which, considering the firepower he's capable of packing, seems entirely reasonable. And he's the one who took her. God, she said she never even saw his face. Anna had nightmares about the crash for months afterward, waking up crying and begging to sleep in between Mama and Papa.

She really doesn't like this picture.

"Elsa," she murmurs into the pillow.

"Yes?"

"You'd tell me, right? You'd tell me if something was wrong with you."

"...of course."

Anna breathes out. They can deal with this, working together. Just like they've always done. If one way doesn't work, she'll try another. It's just a matter of not giving up. The Contessa and the Black Court will have something. And tomorrow is another day.

Now she just has to actually sleep, somehow. "Elsa?"

"Yes, Anna?"

"Can you tell me a story?"

There's a small pause. "A bedtime story? Really? You haven't asked me for one of those since you were five."

"Please?"

"You are impossible." She imagines Elsa rolling her eyes. "All right, let me think." Anna snuggles into her blanket as she waits. "Once, there was a Jewish community. They didn't have very much, having been pushed into a small bit of the city by people who didn't like them. There was a rabbi who saw this, and it saddened him, seeing his people so oppressed."

Elsa's voice settled into a cadence as she told the story, washing over Anna in an ebb and flow. "Wanting to make their lives easier and safer, the rabbi built a man out of clay. He wrote the Hebrew word for 'truth' on the forehead, bringing the golem to life. And since the golem could not speak, held no soul, it was not considered a person and so could perform duties no one could, even on the Sabbath."

The story is weird, not at all what Anna expected from a bedtime story, but the rise and fall of her sister's voice start carrying her into a warm contentment. Which is exactly what she wanted. She'll have to tease Elsa about her bizarre taste in stories later. "This worked for a time, and everyone was happy. But eventually, the community heard rumors that those non-Jews who did not like them planned to attack them. So the rabbi took the golem and told it to protect them. And that night, not a torch or sword touched the community, and in the morning, not one of their enemies remained, all of them destroyed. The golem had done its job, if a little too well. That kind of protection was dangerous, too easily abused and uncontrollable. The people were uncomfortable with it. So the rabbi wiped the first letter from its forehead, and the golem collapsed, as the word 'death' now graced its head and it had no soul to hold it up."

Her voice is getting softer, although Anna can't tell if that's real or she's just tipping faster into sleep. "But the rabbi thought that one day the golem might be needed again, so they folded it up and hid it away. Where it still sits, waiting for someone to breathe life into it again."

Elsa's voice trails off. Anna's barely awake, but she manages to slur out one teasing "'s a weird story."

Her sister sounds quiet. "I suppose so. Go to sleep, Anna."

So she does. She dreams of fire and a clay man, of doors and glass and a smiling man, of a child crying in the dark and remembers nothing but shadows in the morning. Instead, Anna wakes up vaguely anxious, and chalks it up to what she has to do today. In the light of day, last night was a setback, sure, but it was also a clear way forward. They have a face now, and some idea where to at least start looking.

And there's Adze. Kristoff. It's, well, complicated. And simple, all at the same time. For the longest time, it's been her and Elsa against the world, and it's really, really hard to trust another person, especially with all this. But he's...well, not simple, but clear-cut? Steady. And he cares. Not the fake-caring that Anna's become familiar with, the attentiveness that's second-nature and a screen for 'what can I get out of you?', but honest-to-god caring. It's weird and strange and Anna's sure she's still falling.

She shakes her head to clear it as she pulls on clothes. Get your head in the game, Anna.

Elsa's quiet this morning. Part of Anna hopes this is because her sister is actually, you know, sleeping, but she knows better than to live in hope of that. And it's not that Elsa's anywhere close to being a chatterbox, but after last night, she'd have expected something. Although, maybe not. Getting personal feelings out of her is worse than pulling teeth; no way would she be willing to spill on this.

Anna sighs and rubs her forehead then double-checks her holsters. Why is her life so complicated?

Kristoff is waiting outside Doc's by the time she jogs up, Sven at his side. The dog barks and wags his tail in greeting, then shoves his head under her hand for ear rubs. "You are so spoiled, I swear," Kristoff says to him, smile tugging at his lips.

"He probably deserves it," she says.

He mock-glares at the dog. "He tell you that?"

"Of course he did."

Kristoff laughs then rubs the back of his neck. "So where are we off to?"

Anna bites her lip, fingers stilling on Sven's furry head. "Well, like I said yesterday, we need to go to the Black Court. You ever been?."

"Not really, no," he says, shrugging. "I'm more of an independent. I'm a bit surprised you're in with them."

"Eh, sort of? Half and half." She says, starting off. Sven trots along behind them as Kristoff walks by her side. "It's a little complicated."

"After last night, I doubt it's that complicated."

Okay, he has a point. She sighs. "It's mostly I know the Contessa."

"Yeah, about that. How did that one happen?"

"It's mostly T's fault, really. But long story short, the Contessa taught me the basics of how not to die as a blacksider, so I sometimes do jobs for her and the Court as payback." She shrugs. "Don't ask me how T managed that one, though."

He shrugs again. "T is T. I've about stopped asking questions."

"Good plan."

They walk in silence for awhile, through the broken streets and dingy buildings. It might not be raining, but it's chilly and there's barely any sunlight to give even the illusion of warmth. Anna finds herself envying Kristoff's black knit cap, but they'll be indoors eventually. The walk is good, she tells herself. The streets aren't exactly crowded, mostly people keeping their heads down or huddled in alleyways to keep warm. Dressed as they are, most people give the three of them a wide berth as they move along to wherever they're going.

It's hard and cold down here, far away from the glittering warmth of the upper levels. But Anna's found it's a little more real, down here. If nothing else, the undercity doesn't bother to dress up its dirt and rot in pretty words and fancy glitter.

"How's Rime?" Kristoff asks, slightly hesitant, breaking her out of her thoughts. Thoughtful of him to ask, though, and the words send a jolt of warmth down to her fingertips.

"Same as ever?"

He looks at her from the corner of his eye. "Seriously? After last night?"

Anna shrugs helplessly. "She's...it's hard to tell, sometimes. I mean, yeah, last night, badness all over, but..." But with Elsa, it's sometimes really damn hard to tell.

"I can hear you, remember."

Anna slaps a hand over her mouth to hold in the laughter as Kristoff jumps. Guess he did have a comm on. That's nice he remembered. She takes pity on him. "She does that."

"That's something I'm gonna have to get used to, isn't it." It's not really a question.

"Yep."

"Fantastic. I can just feel my heart rate jumping all the time."

"Along with the rest of you." He mock-glares at her as she grins unrepentantly.

"You're a riot," Elsa deadpans. "And to answer your question, Adze, I'm fine. Actually, do you prefer Adze or Kristoff?"

He blinks, then scratches his head. "Um, either's fine. If, you know, you know both. Which you do."

"Anna, your speech patterns are catching." And Elsa sounds way too amused.

"I hate you so much right now," she says, even though she can't help but grin widely. "Anyway, what are you up to now?"

"At the moment? Checking up on Olaf. Not that he's found anything yet."

"Did you expect him to?" Anna asks, curious. Olaf is a clever little bit of programming, but it's also useful to know what Elsa's expectations of herself are.

"Not really, no." A pause. "I'm also trying to dig up any kind of information on Scratch and whoever Helios is working with. That arcology is going to be a problem, you know."

Anna makes a face. "Yeah, I know."

"...we're going to need to shut it down."

Her shoulders tense, then slump. "Yeah, I know."

"Wait, hold up, I'm missing something," Kristoff says, holding up his hands. "Did you two just say we needed to stop a megacorp? And their multi-billion-dollar project? Collaborated with a guy who brings mil-spec equipment to a press conference?" He shakes his head.

"Yep," she says, letting the syllable pop.

"Are you crazy?"

"Honestly? Probably, yes."

Anna waves her hand. Elsa's sometimes dramatic. "The damn thing's no good. Seriously, it's got to go."

"I'm clearly not getting my memos," he mutters. "Okay. How is this different from any other rich person project?"

She sighs and tugs on a braid. "It's...okay, it's a little complicated. And I mean, I know this because I know Papa designed it. So you're not missing something obvious, okay?" She hedges. Okay, she's going to talk in circles if she doesn't stop herself. Ugh, this is hard. "But basically, it's a scope thing. They make pretty speeches about how individual freedom blah blah sustainability blah, and a lot of people buy into it. But who do you think is going to have to build it? Where do you think all the stuff comes from? And then who do you think is gonna get to live in it?"

Kristoff's quiet for a moment. "Us. Us. Them."

Anna nods. "Right, exactly. And you think they're gonna want to do the actual work to keep themselves alive? Like, growing food and cooking and cleaning, that's all full-time work. And look, I know the type of people. They ain't gonna do that stuff. I mean, best case, we'd all live in there and it'd be great. But it ain't gonna happen."

"Which means we're still paying for it, even with them gone."

"Father was an idealist. He originally designed the arcology for everyone," Elsa says quietly. "But he couldn't make it work when I..." she trails off.

"He stopped trying, after you...were gone." Anna's voice is soft. It's hard to think about that time. Most of it is a blur, from waking up in the hospital and then finding out. She's mostly just got impressions, wisps of memories of the strongest things. "I think he gave up. I...I think he stopped believing in altruism when you...it was bad."

"Anna, I'm sorry."

She shakes her head. "It's not your fault. And he didn't really stop believing in good things, not really. Did you know you have a hospital wing named after you?"

"Huh. He did that?"

Anna nods once. "Both him and Mama. I'm a little surprised you don't know. But he stopped working on this, said it was impossible, said there were too many things wrong. I thought he destroyed it. I'd really like to know how that bastard got his hands on it."

"Well, we've got to figure that out, don't we?" Kristoff shrugs. "Sounds like a piece of cake, next to everything else." Sven whines, then woofs. "Hey, that was uncalled for, buddy."

She can't help but laugh a little. She's still laughing as she hops up the steps of the worn, brick warehouse and strolls inside. Anna can feel Kristoff stiffen slightly in surprise as he follows after her, clearly not expecting to end up here. She really can't blame him; most people, when told they're heading for a secret blacksider lair, probably don't expect to end up at a food bank.

There's a boy with a blue knit cap jammed on his head, black spikes falling into his eyes, sitting with his feet up on the counter. He yelps a little when he sees them, nearly falling off his chair. "Um, you totally didn't see that. I mean, can I help you?"

She can guess Kristoff is frowning behind her as she leans against the counter. "Hey. Crazy weather we're having, right?"

The boy's eyes sharpen slightly, but he shrugs. "Getting colder. More people coming by, looking for help. We try to do what we can."

"Yeah. Blessed are the meek and everything."

He grins fiercely, teeth white against his darker skin. "Theirs is the kingdom." The grin is gone, transformed to lazy smile. "If you need some help, second door on the right." And then he slouches back against the chair and kicks his feet back up onto the counter.

Anna waves in thanks and saunters off down the hall. After a second, she can hear Kristoff's heavy boots following along with the clacking of Sven's nails. Second door on the right turns out to be a supply closet. Classy. It's a tight fit to get all three of them in.

"Arc, what the hell?" he hisses as the door closes.

She holds up a finger. "Wait for it..." A click, and then the whole back wall slides open to reveal an elevator. "There!"

"You know, this is really only leading to more and more questions."

Anna shoves him into the elevator. "Give me a second." Sven trots in before the door closes. She pushes the call button. "Hey. Arc and Rime with guests are here to see the Contessa if she's free."

The intercom crackles to life as the elevator shutters before going down. "Copy that. We'll send someone to pick you guys up. And welcome back."

Kristoff is scowling against the back of the elevator when she turns to him. She really can't blame him. The secrecy here is necessary and all, because the Black Court is twitchy as all hell, but in his position, she'd be a little pissy about being left in the dark. She scratches her head and sighs. "The Black Court are almost paranoid enough to make Rime look tame in comparison."

"I can still hear you."

Anna rolls her eyes. "I said 'almost'. You still win." She shakes her head and looks back. "Anyway, I kinda forgot to warn you. Sorry."

His scowl melts away and his shoulders relax. "Okay, I can actually understand that. It's fine. I just...I'm not good with being led around."

She snorts. "Tell me about a blacksider who is."

"Point."

The elevator dings as it stops. "I promise, I'll explain what I can later. Just...roll with it?" she asks, stepping backwards through the open doorway.

"I'm going to keep you to that...whoa." He says as he steps out. Sven barks once, tail thumping against the tile in what she wants to imagine is appreciation. Kristoff looks around, and she can see him putting the pieces together. "The old subway system. They reappropriated it, didn't they?"

"Yep. They even keep some of the trains running. Well, cars. Come on." She waves her hand, intending him to follow. He does, but still half-paying attention the the old tunnels. Considering how long ago the subway was shuttered, officially to encourage use of the elevated trains and skyway, everything was still in really good condition. She certainly remembers crawling through the tunnels and maintenance shafts; keeping them up is pretty much a survival requirement for the Contessa's students.

There was a rumbling down the tunnel, followed by a squeal of metal-on-metal as the small subway car came to a halt by the platform they stood on. A teenage girl with brown-and-blue hair poked her head out the driver window. "Hey. Heard you called for a lift?" The doors of the car open with a hiss.

Sven goes bounding in first, nearly barrelling into the legs of the driver as she sprints to the steering controls on the other end of the car. Anna laughs and hops aboard. She catches Kristoff's frown in the window as he enters before she swings through the open door between the car and driver's compartment. "Thanks."

The girl shrugs as she flips the switch to close the door again and starts the car up again down the tracks. "'s what I'm here for."

The tunnels don't exactly offer much to look at as they hurtle down the track. Anna hasn't been down here in awhile. At least, not for a few weeks. Months? She lets go of the overhead bar with one hand and rubs at her eyes. God, her sense of time is shot to hell. It's only been, what, a week? Maybe a bit more? Since she got the tip from T about Prince. Seems like so much longer.

Seems like no time at all.

She puffs out a breath, letting her bangs flutter. Her reflection in the window stares back at her. She sees a girl-woman, too old and too young, pigtail-braids and dressed like a blacksider, somewhere in-between everything and nothing. She's existed in this half-state for years, but now there's an urgency, an itching, that thrums inside her like a guitar string pulled taught.

Anna wrinkles her nose. She doesn't know when she got this thinky, but she's not sure she likes it. It's more Elsa's wheelhouse, not hers. Ugh, too much time to think in the small moments right now.

The bright lights of the station cause her to squint a little as they pull in. The driver-girl glances over her shoulder. "You'll have to check with someone, but you're probably clear to head on in."

"Right. Thanks again for the lift."

The girl shrugs and turns back. Anna gets the hint and steps back, waiting for the car door to open. Sven perks up at the hissing noise and trots over, waiting until Kristoff joins them this time before following Anna off onto the platform. The door closes behind them and the train car pulls off, but she's really not paying attention to that anymore.

The headquarters of the Black Court is a repurposed subway station, built over the multiple levels of track that lets it act as something of a hub to the rest of the city. And people, of course, are taking advantage of that. Sure, there are people and rooms off to the sides, training or having meetings or planning jobs or just hanging out, but there are a lot of people selling goods and services on the main floor. It's rapid-fire trade all over...and a good place to hone your pickpocketing skills. Anna had quickly learned to pay attention or stop keeping chocolates in her pockets within her first few days down here.

She dances between the crowd, weaving in and out between the people. Some people give her nods in recognition as she goes past, and she gives them a little wave in return. Normally, she'd stop to chat, to see what they might be selling, but Kristoff looks uncomfortable in the crowd and anyways, she's got an appointment to make. Hopefully.

There's a door, off to the side and a little out of the way. Anna makes it over there and double-checks that she still has everything she entered with. Kristoff stumbles a bit after her, Sven trotting behind, looking for all the world like he's laughing. "Christ, warn a guy next time, will ya?" he mutters.

"Welcome to the Black Court," she replies and gets an unimpressed look in return. "Eh, come on, it's not that bad from here. Well, not the same kind of bad."

"You are so reassuring."

Anna rolls her eyes and opens the door. Another boy, this one with short blonde hair going everywhere, looks up from the computer console on the desk he's sitting behind. He raises an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Arc and Rime here with two guests," she says, pointing at Kristoff and Sven, "to see the Contessa. I called ahead."

The boy slouches in his seat. "Oh yeah. Hold on." He checks the screen and types something. She watches, slightly amused, as his eyebrows creep up to his hairline. "Uh. Yeah, she's waiting. Um. Sorry ma'am. You can head on up."

Anna beams at him, which is slightly amusing since the boy looks slightly panicked now. "Great! Thanks."

She bounds up the stairs, trying to get her game-face on. Okay, she's...probably overreacting here. Contessa really isn't all that scary, but the thing is, she's going to be asking a favor. A very large favor. That's not something to be taken lightly. Anna's seen people brought to their knees thinking they could ask the Contessa to bend for them.

But it's for Elsa. And Anna would beg on her knees on broken glass for Elsa.

So it's with a deep breath that she knocks on the door at the top of the stairs.

"Come in."

The office is well-lit and decorated in bright colors. A wall of computer monitors spans the back, and in front of them, illuminated by their glow, sits a dark-skinned woman at a large desk. Her head is bowed over some papers, pen in hand and dark hair spilling out over her headband. She looks up, green eyes glinting as she assesses Anna, and presumably her guests. "Arc. It's been awhile. And I see you brought...visitors."

"Heh, yeah. I've been...busy. Didn't mean for it to be so long. Oh, Contessa, meet Adze and Sven. Adze and Sven? Meet the Contessa."

Kristoff nods stiffly from his spot by the door, and Sven barks once. Anna glances between them and shrugs. Contessa has a small smile on her face. Hopefully, that's a good sign. "Pleasure to meet you," she says before turning her attention back to Anna. "Now, I know it's been awhile, but if I remember correctly, you're not the type to ask for a meeting on such short notice. So," she draws out the syllable as she put down her pen, "color me intrigued."

"It's a little complicated."

Contessa folds her arms over her chest and leans back in her chair. "Of course it is. I'd expect nothing less from you."

"It involves Helios." Elsa's voice crackles over the speaker of one of the machines in the corner.

Contessa blinks. "Rime. I was wondering when you'd join us. How long?"

"Over two, under five."

She hums. "I'll have to tell Hazard. It'll be fun to see his face to tell him someone broke his encryption on that machine. Even more amusing to tell him who."

Anna rolls her eyes. "You're so mean." She remembered the days of Contessa's idea of training, but making would-be hackers test against Elsa is just mean. Funny, but mean.

Contessa's grin is wicked. "But effective. Anyway, Rime, get your ass over to the mainframe so we can have this conversation properly like I know you want to."

"Thought you'd never ask."

"Only because at least you're polite about being able to break anything." She turns her attention back to Anna. "So. Helios. You have my attention."

Anna takes a deep breath. "We've been...doing our own thing, recently. A lot happened really fast. Adze here," she tilts her head in his direction, "he's been helping us with s bunch of it. But the long and short of it is that it led us to Helios."

"The person who set it up really didn't want someone to pick up that trail."

"Now you've got me curious as to what the path was."

"Fisk to Schwartzwald, to ZHI, to Mamitu, to Iwakura to Helios," Elsa says, matter-of-fact. Everyone else in the room, even Anna, blinks at that.

Contessa says what they're probably all thinking. "That's an exceedingly convoluted trail, yes. What in the world do a shipping house, a black-market group, a manufacturing company, an agricultural start-up, and a financial firm have to do with an energy megacorp?"

"Well, Fisk is a shell company."

"Really now." The older woman raises a dark eyebrow. "Well, that's good to know. But still doesn't exactly answer the question."

Anna sighs. "We're not quite sure yet how they all fit together, well, I'm not, but we know what it's all related to."

"Helios is building an arcology," Kristoff rumbles from his corner, finally joining the conversation.

Contessa's attention zeroes in on him. "Are you sure?"

He nods. "We were there when they announced it last night. Some private party at the art museum." And Anna is super-grateful to him, right now, for taking the reigns on this part of the conversation. Because she can't trust her voice right now not to betray the anger she feels whenever she thinks about her father's work. And Contessa knows her, and although blacksider code says not to pry into the personal, this treads too close to the surface for anyone to easily ignore. At least, with Kristoff saying it, his gruffness can't be taken as personal.

She thinks.

Anna's broken from her thoughts by the sound of Contessa's chair clattering to the floor. The older woman looks pissed, hands clenched into fists and the purple sash she wears around her waist trailing behind her like an angry flag as she paces behind the desk. "Dammit," she hisses. "That's going to..."

"Fuck us all over?" Kristoff drawls.

"In a word, yes." She closes her eyes and then opens them to look at the wall of monitors. "We've got people down here barely hanging on as it is. With the money moving out, and fuck knows about the waste, unless Helios dreamed up some new kind of energy when no one was paying attention..."

Anna shakes her head. "Not that I know about."

Contessa drums her fingers on one of the consoles. "Not even their new thermoelectric batteries could be scaled up for that, we'd have heard something." She shakes her head. "That means traditional, which means they're going to be screwing us over." She rubs her eyes. "Rime, please tell me you know something."

"Nothing you want to hear." Elsa's voice is dry. Anna rolls her eyes.

"Wonderful. So, this is a fantastic bit of news. Ugh, the Court's job just got harder," she mutters. "Okay. Thanks for this." Anna must not have hidden her skeptical look as well as she thought. "No, seriously. At least we can start planning. But that's not entirely why you came here, is it, Arc?"

And this is why she wanted to be awake. "No, it's not. We...have a name." Contessa makes a continue motion. "Helios isn't working alone, we know that much. They've got a partner, of some sort, but, well, he doesn't exist."

She raises an eyebrow. "Doesn't exist?"

"Not a trace of him beneath the big things. Ask me what university he wrote newspaper stories for, absolutely. Ask me how he pays for his morning coffee, and I have no idea."

"Maybe he drinks tea."

Elsa makes a noise that's almost a growl.

Contessa waves her hands. "I'm teasing," she says, then looks serious. "That's actually worrisome, if you can't find anything."

"Especially when he was apparently equipping his security with mil-spec," Kristoff adds in.

The older woman's eyebrows creep upward. "Definitely worrisome. Okay, so you've got a ghost with connections working on something that can screw us all over. And you think he's the pivot?"

Anna nods. "Yeah. He gave his name as 'Benjamin Scratch'. We're hoping the Black Court could ID this guy the old-fashioned way."

"Legwork and by-eye?" Contessa frowns, looking thoughtful. "I can put out his description," she says slowly, "but it's not going to be easy."

"Nothing ever is."

"See, you learned something from me."

"And I still have the scars to prove it." Well, to be fair, the lessons were scarily effective, Anna concedes. Not that she's going to admit it out loud. And not that she'd actually give the Contessa the satisfaction of admitting it.

"Details." She pushes herself off from the console. "Say you find this guy, track him down. What's your plan, Arc?"

And say what you will about the Contessa, about the Black Court, but at moments like this, Anna understands completely why someone like T sent a kid to her all those years ago. Because the Contessa cares, almost painfully so. It's a different sort of caring than Kristoff's, but it's caring nonetheless. There's worry in the other woman's eyes, and Anna knows it's for her, for Elsa, and even maybe for Kristoff and Sven. The picture they painted isn't pretty. It's downright dangerous and nasty and farther-reaching than Anna ever thought it would be when she started this run.

But she can't stop now. Even as the stakes seem to get higher. Because, really, for Anna, the stakes have always been as high as they could go. It's just hard, at times like this, that she can't just tell people what those stakes are. It's one thing to trust Kristoff, when he's willing to stick his neck out there right there with her. It's still another thing to trust someone else. And maybe it makes her a bad person, to trust the man she just met and not her sort-of mentor. But the Contessa's loyalty has to be to the Black Court, and although Anna might sorta-kinda be a member, it's still not enough to bank Elsa's life on it.

But she can give her this.

"If we can find him, figure out who he is and who he's working for," Anna says slowly, carefully, "we might be able to use that. It might be a weak point."

Contessa's eyes narrow. Anna tries to keep her face blank. It's not really a lie. "Between them and Helios?"

"Something like that." Anna shrugs. "Or in the chain. Can't make a good plan without all the information."

The woman presses her lips together in a hard line. "Mn, I taught you too well if you use my own lines against me." She points her finger directly at Anna's chest. "Okay. I'll do what I can. But only on the condition that, when you can, you tell me what's really going on."

Which will be when Elsa's safe. She can agree to that.

"Deal."