notes: srsly unbeta'd i'm v sorry i will check when i sleep bc it's 2am rn and i want to sleep but also give u guys this chapter. and a massive thank you to wickedgreenphantom and kuro-d for their unwavering support and peer pressure. without them i'm pretty sure i would have never updated.
chapter eight: moments like these
Anna had never really understood why she and Elsa had grown apart. Her earliest memories consists of the two of them playing dolls together in the family living room, dressing up as princesses and sneaking into their mother's makeup collection to smear on green eyeshadow and bright orange lipstick.
And then one day, there's a policeman at the door in a stiff blue uniform, with stiff hands clasped behind a stiff back. With stiff words and stiff eyes, and he says that Mr and Mrs Queen are dead and he says that he is very sorry for your loss and he says a lot of things that Anna can't remember, just remembers that Gerda had collapsed before his feet and her wails had shook the house.
Usually, stuff like that pulls the family together. Except it does the exact opposite. She remembers reaching for Elsa's hand, desperate for some semblance of normality, for a touch of human warmth, but when her fingers tremble against her sister's, Elsa flinches as if she's been burned, and her large blue eyes flickers down to her face, wide and terrified and childlike, and she pulls away from everyone and runs into her room.
It was that moment, Anna thinks, where she had a strange, unsettling feeling that she had lost some part of her older sister, and she will never get it back.
Mr and Mrs Queen weren't the only ones who died that day.
The Red Lily is empty when she arrives, the restaurant front dark and a sad CLOSED sign hanging crookedly from the glass. Elsa fishes out her keys and heads to the back, seeing a sliver of light from underneath the back door.
The kitchen seems quiet and strange in the eerie night, pots gleaming idly in the dull light, and Elsa almost jumps out of her skin when something nudges her right shoulder.
Choking back a scream, Elsa whirls around blindly and swings her bag at whatever it is, but her wrist is grasped in a painfully tight hold.
"Slow down, sweetheart, or I'll break your arm," an accented voice murmurs in her ear, and Elsa feels a lot like crying. The last time someone had whispered in her ear, she was bleeding from between her legs and agony was ripping through her body like—
"That's enough, Bunnymund," says another voice, deep and irritated. "Stop scaring her."
"She tried to hit me!"
'Bunnymund' is a grizzled man with two faded pink scars running deep down his right cheek and triangular tribal tattoos neatly inked into his biceps and down his arms. He has two large front teeth, and when he smiles it doesn't quite reach his stormy grey eyes. There are two handheld daggers strapped to his belt, and Elsa is willing to bet there are more tucked hidden under his clothes, with intricately carved wooden hilts that have been worn smooth by years of use.
"Jack," Elsa breathes, spotting the other man lounging against the deep freezer door. Jack is swathed in a black trench coat and navy blue scarf so huge that it covers his mouth and nose. He waves and winks at her, and Elsa recoils immediately.
"Elsa," Jack says amicably. "Thank you for turning up on time."
There is movement behind the two, and to Elsa's great relief, the huge shadow of Shang appears, ghostlike and soundless. Elsa hadn't even heard the door open. Shang offers her a gentle smile and claps Jack on the shoulder.
"Good evening," Shang says, and his grin is almost lethal. He's wearing jersey that has Shaolin Ravens printed in threaded gold that stands in stark contrast against the black fabric; Elsa knows that on some weekdays when the restaurant isn't as busy, Shang is a part-time kung fu instructor at the local institute. "Please don't touch anything in my kitchen."
"Aye, aye, captain," Jack says mockingly. The clock overhead ticks steadily towards 12:10am. "Who are we still waiting for?"
"Ping will be here soon," Shang says. "She's got the rest of the group."
Her hands are sweating, and Elsa makes sure she puts a fair distance between herself and Bunnymund especially, unconsciously inching closer towards Shang, whose face puts her most at ease in this room.
"What—what am I actually doing here?" Elsa manages to stutter out, and thankfully her voice remains quite steady.
"All you need to know is that there's gonna be a lot of injuries tonight," Jack says sinisterly. "I hope you've got your best bandages in that little backpack of yours."
"We're just going for a little raid," Shang says. "Gang business. You don't want to know."
They all fall silent after that. Elsa finds herself eyeing Jack, who's playing with a butchers knife, much to Shang's silent chagrin. It's nearing half past twelve when the back door finally squeaks open, and a dozen or so footsteps patter in, soft as mice.
Ping is a slight little thing and Elsa almost mistakes her for a boy if not for her chest, with inky black hair that falls just past her collarbones and bronze skin. She's wearing a shirt that falls off one shoulder and with sleeves too long, and when she walks Elsa notices that her shoes are much too big for her tiny feet. Ping keeps her eyes lowered, and bows hurriedly to Shang, who nods curtly in her direction. Trailing behind her is a group of teenagers all in various states of nervousness, and it almost pains Elsa to watch them awkwardly shuffle into a scattered circle around the fryer.
"Alright," Jack calls out, and his voice sounds like a gunshot. "Listen up everyone. Here's what's going to happen tonight."
"Pitch Black has a warehouse in the East end of the city," Bunnymund chimes. "Now I'm sure you're all aware that a couple of days ago, that fucker dropped a roof on our King and his lieutenants, and just yesterday busted one of the warehouses for our weapons storage. So tonight we're going in for a little intel, and if it just so happens that Pitch's warehouse takes some damage that may or may not have been caused by a couple of gangly good-for-nothing teens, then so be it."
"So, gentleman," Jack continues, "This is Ping. She will be leading you tonight."
Elsa raises an eyebrow in disbelief and she isn't the only one to do so. Ripples of anxiety run through the rest of the group, and Ping seems to shrivel up under all the attention. Elsa doesn't know why Jack has entrusted this mission onto a girl who looks as if one gust of wind could blow her away, but if there's one thing she's learned so far, it's that gangs aren't stupid, and if Jack has put her in charge then he has a very good reason to. Elsa just hopes that more than one member of this group will return unscathed tonight.
"I'll, uh, I'll do my best," Ping murmurs, and when she peeks out for under long black lashes, Elsa feels a twinge of uneasiness. There is something off about Ping, but Elsa doesn't know what.
"That's settled then," Jack grins. He claps his hands in mock delight. "Shang over here will give you guys a short debrief, and then you're all off!"
"Have fun," Bunnymund says cheerily and rests a hand casually on one of his daggers.
"I say we kill the guard, take the keys, and just make a run for it."
"And I say that's a terrible idea because then it's obvious who killed him and I refuse to be a criminal convicted for murder."
"Awww, has the little puppy never killed no one before?"
"Hardly. But unlike you I leave the bodies buried, and no one will ever be able to pin me for them."
"Well, for your sake, I'm hoping that that little camera in the corner over there can't pick up what you're saying, because to me that sounds like a really nice confession."
"Please. The Olympians disabled sound on all the cameras when they took over this precinct. God knows why though; Zeus always had some funny things running around in his brain."
Flynn raises an eyebrow at her. "Zeus thinks more with his dick than his brain."
"And yet he's King," Rapunzel counters easily. She sighs and draws her knees up under her chin. "I'm so bored. Let's get out of here already."
"We will once we have an escape plan," Flynn says. He scratches his stubble absentmindedly, and Rapunzel refuses to think that it's cute. "Why can't we just wing it? This police station is the shits anyway."
Struggling not to roll her eyes, Rapunzel says, "Because we'll get shot before we make it outside. The police are corrupted, but they're not on our side. We need to be smarter than that."
"Or we could just wing it."
After Ping's group leaves, Shang bids the remaining three a goodnight, and Bunnymund follows soon after with a huge yawn. And then it's Jack and Elsa left in The Red Lily's gleaming kitchen, with its cracked tiles and forever stained rags. Jack doesn't look at Elsa, even though she's staring at him so hard it should burn a hole right through his head.
Anna thinks she's doing an internship at the local hospital. Elsa has to physically force the words through her throat, to stop herself from crumpling up with guilt when she sees Anna's face light up with joy and oh my gosh you're like becoming a real doctor Elsa that's so amazing I'm going to tell everyone oh my gosh I'm so excited for you!
"Let's move," Jack says, surprisingly softly. "We'll move to someplace safer."
Elsa blinks up at him, brain responding slowly. He doesn't come any closer to her, just jerks his head at the door. Outside, the air turns white when they breathe, and Jack amuses himself briefly as he tries to make rings. Elsa just hovers unsurely by his side, clutching her medical bag with tight fingers until Jack lets out a loud, unexpected laugh and turns his head towards her. His eyes dance in the moonlight.
"Loosen up, Elsa," Jack chuckles, more to himself than to her. "Moments like these don't come by every day."
"Moments?" Elsa echoes, brow furrowed.
"Yeah," Jack says, spreading his arms and tilting his head towards the night sky. "Kinda peaceful, don't you think?"
Not really, Elsa wants to say. Not really. I'm standing outside a restaurant at one o'clock in the morning, in the middle of gang territory and in a few hours I'll be treating a bunch of teenagers for injuries that could have been prevented if the stupid government could take care of its corrupt officials. I'm standing here in the middle of a back alley terrified out of my skin when I should be in bed. I'm standing here with guy who thinks that this is all one big game.
"Yeah," is all Elsa says, and Jack finally decides to stop ogling the stars and heads off. He takes her by the arm, and Elsa wiggles her way out. "Please don't touch me."
"Not much of a feely person, are you," Jack hums, but he doesn't look very offended at Elsa's actions.
"Can we just go?"
"Sure thing."
They wind through the back ends of Stella Morta, slipping through cracks and holes and behind bars and through secret passage ways, until Elsa's head is almost spinning from all the new information that she tries to memorise. Jack is confident though, easily picking his way through street brawls and winking at the scantily-clad women who lounge carelessly against thrumming club doors.
The city has a strange aura to it tonight. The lights are brighter, the sounds and smells sharper. Maybe because deep down inside where Elsa doesn't want to admit, she can feel thrills of excitement, thrills of rebellion, shoot through her like electricity.
It takes four hours for Ping's group to return. Jack leads Elsa to an apartment complex that's empty save for two other occupied rooms. Elsa rests on the bed that puffs up a cloud of dust when she puts her weight on it, while Jack had taken his place sitting underneath the window.
"Never stand at a window for too long," Jack explains to her. "Or you might get shot. And no, I'm not joking. Ange Noir's primary sniper is a trigger-happy bitch."
Two o'clock passes, and then three. The night darkens considerably, and at around half past three, the city goes silent for a while, with the occasional car beeping its way towards home.
When it's almost four in the morning, Jack's phone blips, and he says, "They've secured some info. They should be coming back soon."
"Why did you send for me so early though?" Elsa asks, and her voice cracks from lack of usage. "As in, I could have just come now instead of waiting for hours."
Because," Jack says simply, "you have to learn how to wait."
"I am patient," Elsa tries not to grumble. Sleep had eluded her, and she's feeling the effects harshly.
"It's not about patience," Jack says. His voice is so low, and Elsa has to lean forward to catch his next words. "You need to know how painful it is to wait for them to come back."
Home, Elsa nearly finishes for him. Out loud, she says, "They sound as if they've gone to war."
"There's a reason we call them gang wars."
"Oh."
Elsa feels as if things have been thrown into a new perspective, and she finds herself itching to ask questions.
"Then," Elsa says slowly, "are you close… with, um, Ping?"
"We're alright," Jack says. He's always been talkative, but today he seems happy to share something more substantial. "Ping is closest to Shang, to be honest. I just like her because she's a good soldier."
"How about Bunnymund?"
"He's a piece of shit."
"…"
"I mean, yeah, he's alright. He's an alright piece of shit."
Elsa squints at him, but the sound of fireworks stops her from saying anything further. Except it's not fireworks; Stella Morta is too poor for them.
"Seriously?" Jack groans, peeking out the window. "Hero's 6 are having a gunfight right outside the street. Come and take a look; you should get familiar with them."
"Another gang?" Elsa asks, scooting over and glancing through the musty panes of glass. There are three figures on the street, two with bandanas tied around the lower half of their face, the other wearing a kabuki mask and dressed in all black.
"Yup. Now remember them. The one with the yellow bandana is a chick named GoGo. She's insane, I'm not even kidding. If you try to shoot her, she'll pull out her gun and empty an entire magazine into your body before you can even reach into your jacket. And if you're chasing her on foot, you can kiss her ass goodbye. No one's ever been able to outrun her; the girl's a cheetah, I swear to god."
True to Jack's word, GoGo takes off at a sprint towards the kabuki-masked man, and in two seconds she's crossed the length of the street and delivering a powerful kick towards his face.
"Now the other one in purple is Hiro Hamada," Jack continues, gaze never leaving the fight down below. "He's usually paired up with his older brother, Tadashi. The Hamada brothers are in a league of their own. They're crazy smart, and they have intel on every gang in this fucked up city, including the Red Crowns. They're neutral, though, and they trade in information. Everyone hates them, but everyone needs them too."
"What about the man in the mask?" Elsa asks. Hiro fires two more rounds, but he misses by a hair's breadth. Even in the darkness, she sees GoGo's eyes narrow.
"I don't know. He's called Yokai," Jack shrugs. "He's not our problem; he only ever bothers Hero's 6, for some reason. My guess is that he needs information that the 6 aren't willing to share, or the 6 have pissed him off enough for him to want revenge, which isn't surprising, to say the least."
"So there are six of them?"
"Yeah. Hiro, Tadashi, GoGo, some idiot named Fred, and two others who we haven't pinpointed yet. They have their own underlings, of course, but those are the founding members."
"Who's the leader?"
"About ninety-nine percent sure that Tadashi is their King." Jack wrinkles his nose. "He never shows up to any of the Assemblea. It really pisses everyone else off, because if there's one thing Kings and Queens take seriously, it's that stupid ass meeting. It's excellent for scoping out rival gangs. But then again, Tadashi Hamada's always liked playing with fire."
GoGo, Hiro, and Yokai disappear into the next street, and Elsa can still hear the sound of gunshots long after they have gone.
A loud rapping at the door causes Elsa to jump five centimetres into the air, while Jack waits for the series of knocks to finish. Three knocks, pause, one knock, pause, two knocks, and one final loud thump.
"That's them," Jack says, hurrying to open the door. "And they've got someone tailing them." He peeks back at Elsa. "I'll teach you the knock codes later."
The bloody tatters of Ping's group spill through the opening. Elsa confirms with a quick head count that the original number still remains, although they're all injured to some degree or other. Ping herself is fine, and she tells Jack with a quick mumble, "There's, um, a Nightmare following us. He's in the building, first floor, and he doesn't know we're onto to him yet."
"Thanks, Ping," Jack says with a wry smile. "You look perfect, as usual."
"Not a scratch," Ping replies with her own little smirk, and when she turns her deep brown eyes over to Elsa's, they're cunning and sharp and intelligent, and Elsa wonders how she's missed it before.
Elsa looks away and busies herself with the injured. They're nothing too serious, and Elsa is able to handle them by herself. Just bandages and some painkillers. There is one boy who had been shot, and Elsa had sent him off to the hospital with the name Belle Gold to use. Elsa hadn't lowered herself to stealing medication yet, and she still doesn't trust herself with serious injuries.
"Basically, we just need you to confirm which ones are serious and which ones aren't," Jack tells her. "Way too many fucking times, we've had members die of infection or internal bleeding or some shit because we couldn't recognise the signs and symptoms. That's where you come in."
"But you still need x-rays and scans and, you know, stuff," Elsa says weakly as she wraps up a huge scrape. "You don't really… need me."
"We do, so please just do your job," Jack says boredly. "This is easy. You don't get too many injuries on a raid. Think of it as practice."
Elsa catches a shadow underneath the door, and she's sure Jack and Ping see it as well, but neither bat an eyelash.
"Let him go," Jack says, after exchanging a loaded glance with Ping. "We won't be able to catch him, and he didn't see any important faces. All he'll have to report back to Pitch on is that we've got a new medic, and that's nothing to be worked up over."
Fear washes over Elsa, and she shakily clips up the bandage, before nudging her patient away so she can deal with the last few. "Will they—I mean—"
"You'll be fine," Ping assures Elsa quietly. "We protect our own."
And Elsa hasn't done anything yet. She's on her first job, not initiated, no tattoo. She's unwilling and scared and she wishes she were somewhere else. Gang life terrifies her to her core. She has no friends, and everyone around her intimidates her until she wants to curl up into a ball and block everything out. This is not her world, and she is an outsider forced onto an alien landscape. It's clear she does not want to be here, and despite all that, despite only doing this for the money, despite everything—We protect our own.
Her chest feels strange, tight, and Elsa realises that no one has ever said that to her before. Even since her parents' death, ever since she became head of the household at thirteen years old, she's belonged nowhere. Her home is cold, her room is suffocating. The streets are noisy and distracting, and school had been a place of constant suffering. And here she is, someone saying straight to her face, no lies and no deceit, we protect our own, and Elsa feels the horrible, horrible urge to cry.
I must be truly desperate, if something like this can move me, Elsa thinks to herself.
And she succumbs ever so slightly to that desperation, and feels a little of the weight lift off her thin shoulders.
"Merida," Anna snaps, stalking over to where the wild-haired girl is currently cleaning her sniper's rifle. "Did you shoot Stella Morta's governor?"
Barely looking at the enraged third in command, Merida hums thoughtfully and says, "Not technically."
"Not technically?"
"I shot a steel post, not him."
"Merida."
"And it just ricocheted off and happened to hit the lad."
"In the chest, right in his heart."
"Well, yeah."
Merida grins up at Anna, showing off her teeth. "I've gotten better. Last time I tried that the bullet went through the right side of the heart."
"Facilier is going to eat you alive," Anna says, relaxing a little. Her face settles into a blank expression. "You were supposed to wait till next week, when the governor's daughters arrive."
"It dun make a difference," Merida shrugs. She packs up her rifle and gets to her feet, brushing a stray strand of unruly red hair behind her ear. "The governor's dead. That'll teach the dumb cows not ta mess around with Ange Noir. Ya don't steal from us and expect nothing back."
There's a steady three knocks at the door, and then it opens.
"Did I miss something?"
"Hans," Anna says with a small smile. The man closes the door behind him, wary of letting diners see what was inside the back room. "What are you doing here?"
"Just checking up on the shipments," Hans says. The man looks ruffled and haggard, deep blue moons stamped beneath his eyes. His usually flawlessly gelled hair is a bird's nest today, and his nails are chipped and yellow. "I'm just here to update you both."
"Shoot," Merida says, tilting her head back. She sniggers at her pun.
Coughing, Hans begins, "Facilier is getting restless. He wants to attack Pitch now, but we have to recall our main forces back. Plus, we've been getting problems with our customers recently; none of them are paying, and we can't just keep killing them off. We're losing money."
The chatter and laughter of patrons leak through the door, and Anna hears someone drop a plate. She momentarily loses herself in the smell of bacon, and her stomach gurgles insistently. It's been hours since she last ate; she's been busy running around trying to sort out cover stories for the governor's untimely death, thanks to Merida's impatience.
"What's happening with Flynn?" Anna asks finally, when she's finishing mulling things over. In the corner of her eye, she sees Merida perk up at the mention of the name. Merida and Flynn had grown up together on Stella Morta's streets; they had been initiated at the same time, and though their different skill sets usually put them on different missions, they worked very well together.
Maybe it was the constant need to rebel against authorities, Anna grumbles to herself.
"Still in the north police station," Hans says tiredly, but he still holds himself straight. "I haven't had time to send anyone to get him out."
"Leave him," Anna says carelessly. She crosses her arms. "He's smart enough to get out by himself. We have bigger things to worry about, and no, Merida, we need you somewhere else, so don't even think about trying to help him. It's his own fault he got caught."
Merida, about to speak up, slumps back down again crankily.
"We've also been informed that the Red Crowns have gotten themselves a new medic," Hans says. "Hero's 6 info, so it's legitimate. Also heard a group of Nightmares whispering about it too."
"Has he been checked out?"
"She," Hans corrects, "and yes, I've done the background check. She's nothing to worry about."
Hans says this smoothly and cleanly, and yet Anna still feels as if he's hiding something.
"Is that so," Anna asks, hiding her suspicions. She'll do her own background check on this medic later.
"So? It's just a medic," Merida shrugs. "Why so worked up over it?"
"You've been in this life for three years already, Merida," Hans says, "you know that additions to any gang, whether it be the new medic or the new toilet cleaner, has to be checked."
"I don't pay attention to the details," Merida insists. Anna finally decides to take pity on her.
"You know Drei Schönheit, the German girl gang?" Anna asks. When Merida nods her head, she says, "Well, a couple of years back, they initiated this girl whose street name was Snow White. They called her their new cook, and it made sense. Schönheit owns a restaurant chain dealing drugs under the table. And no one cared about her, she was just this air-headed chef who occasionally mistakes the salt for the sugar. Then when the War of the Centre Territories started, Schönheit was left in the dust, and everyone forgot about them. Then, people start dying mysteriously. Bodies were dropping like flies everywhere. And it was random, unplanned. No visible wounds. Everyone was freaking out. It took weeks of investigating, but then we realised that it was fucking Snow White. She was poisoning important gang members at those damned restaurants of theirs. Dropping toxins into a bowl of soup with a sugary smile on her face. God, her body count was horrific."
"How on earth did I miss this mess?" Merida muses.
"You were stationed on the north end of the city," Hans recalls. "They didn't touch that area. It belongs to the Crowns, and they aren't dumb enough to go there. They're strong, but their numbers aren't big enough."
"Moral of the story is, if someone had done a background check on Snow White, they would've found out that she's a class A criminal with a history of poisonings and has gone to juvie two times, and prison once, for them," Anna says. "Nobody could pin her down for the murders though, so she was charged with other things."
"Is she still active?" Merida asks interestedly. "I kind of want to meet her."
"Schönheit is lying low for the moment," Anna says, shifting her weight. "We haven't heard from them in months. Cinderella didn't attend this year's Assemblea, and Aurora didn't take her place as second in command either."
"Aw, shame." Merida kicks her legs back contentedly. "She sounds like a riot."
Moving towards the door, Anna says, "I'm off. I've got school tomorrow. Maths exam, English test, the usual."
"You should just drop out, like me," Merida sings out. "My life has gotten a whole lot better without it."
"I'd rather be literate, thanks," Anna says dryly. She steps out, smiling at a diner sitting nearby, and bade goodbye to Jane, who is a waitress and a low-key member of Ange Noir.
"Will Tarzan be back soon?" Jane asks, and though she's bubbly, Anna can sense the worry lurking underneath.
"Soon," Anna laughs. "Tomorrow, maybe. He's fine, though, so rest easy."
Jane smiles thankfully at her, and resumes working.
When Anna turns away, she clenches her fist and feels her heart drop like stone.
Tomorrow, Anna promises herself. Tomorrow, she will tell Jane Porter that Tarzan's body was found in a dumpster west of Stella Morta.
What Anna won't tell Jane the way Tarzan's limbs had been hacked off his body and neatly tied together with a huge red ribbon. She won't tell Jane the way his unseeing eyes had been glassy with agony. She won't tell Jane about the note that was scrunched up and shoved inside his mouth that read Ange Noir's secret motto: Anything for the Angels.
"Good morning, Olaf," Elsa croaks out, stopping in front of her apartment block. "What are you doing up so early? It's only six."
"Morning, Elsa," Olaf chirps. He's tiny little thing, ten years old, with dark brown hair and wide, excited eyes. Olaf lives in the complex beside Elsa's, and she sees him almost everyday playing with the children in the street. He's got buck teeth that gives him a slight lisp when he talks. "Just wondering why you're looking so tired."
"Late night, that's all," Elsa smiles wanly. She reaches down and pats his head. "I'm going to go and sleep it off now. Tell your parents I said hi."
"Will do, Elsa. Have a good sleep!"
As Elsa watches Olaf scurry off with his friends, she hopes and prays and wishes that what little innocence this city has will be protected, because children like Olaf don't deserve to live a life tainted by gangs.
BREAKING NEWS: Two criminals escaped from police station in North Stella Morta early this morning: Rapunzel Corona, Flynn Rider. If you have any information, please contact: XXX-XXX-XXX
author's note:
drei schönheit (german) = three beauties
because i heard that snow white and cinderella were set in germany (not sure about sleeping beauty though) so just in tribute to their origins, there u go. but srsly tho, a german girl gang. how awesome is that. girl gangs in general are awesome.
i'm just going to go ahead and announce that this will be a huge disney/dreamworks/pixar fiesta with all and any characters appearing and disappearing and doing the hula dance through this fic bc honestly i just need a large array of characters and limiting it to just frozen and rotg is not going to work. main fandoms will be frozen/rotg and main pairing will be jelsa, that's all u need to know.
finally, i am very very very sorry about how late this was (like 6 months or something lololol). you don't need to hear my excuses, just know that i'm sorry. also a HUGE thank you for over 200 reviews for only 7 chapters! much appreciated, and i love you all.
updated: 25 february 2015