.

Catching Up

Hans wandered through the palace searching for Jekyll and hoping it was indeed Jekyll. He found the man in the library, but it didn't seem like he was Jekyll right now, given the wonder with which he was looking at everything. "Dr. Hyde?" he said.

The man looked quickly over and smiled warmly. "Henry, please," he said. "King Hans, how may I be of assistance?"

"I've set you up at a house out in the woods. It's beautiful and isolated, so you'll be safe from your brother. We'll bring you in a covered carriage, so no one notices," Hans said. Also so that Hyde wouldn't know the way back. "I'll check up on you each day, but I can only do so for a while. We're leaving soon on a trip to Africa. You may have to be alone for some time there."

"Leave me a healthy supply of provisions and I shall be perfectly fine. Though I admit I'm not fond of isolation. I'm quite the socialite you know. I very much enjoy being with people," Henry Hyde said.

Hans felt a tightening in his throat. How unfair was it that the perfectly balanced personality was an alter and not the real thing? Was this really how Jekyll might have been if Hyde had never formed, and Jekyll's home life had been better adjusted? He would have liked to know that Jekyll. He guessed he was getting to know him now, but the total unfairness of it all… That was something even he struggled to wrap his head around.

"I'm sorry, Henry. I would have put you up in an inn or even in the castle but…"

"No, no, it's fine your majesty. Really it is. Safer for me besides. I do hope Henry—Jekyll that is—will be alright and that Hyde doesn't find him," Dr. Hyde said.

"Was Jekyll ever alright?" Hans asked. Henry looked puzzled. "He's your cousin. You should know, shouldn't you?"

"Jekyll has always been very closed off when it comes to such things as his personal life. For good reason I suspect. He was quite the rapscallion in his day. I'm sure I don't even know half of what he got up to," Henry said. "I don't suspect he ever had much peace though, thinking about it. His father was…" Henry trailed off, flinching a bit, and Hans sensed a switch coming. "Was..." Henry began again, a hand going to his head.

"Please don't go," Hans meekly pled, though he knew it would do no good. He saw a darkness pass over Jekyll's face. Not a despair, but a darkness. Hyde. He rested his hand on his blade.

Hyde blinked a few times, then smiled darkly and looked around. "Such a fine castle," he said. "A shame if someone were to burn it down."

"A shame indeed," Hans agreed coldly.

"These books… they would burn so brightly."

"Have you gone pyromaniac now, Edward?" Hans asked.

"I should have burned that asylum to the ground. No one would have identified the slaughter then," Hyde ruefully said. "But that miserable Jekyll… Oh he just had to show up."

Hans wondered if either Jekyll or Hyde were aware of Henry Hyde. Would it be cruel to tell Jekyll of the alter more balanced than he could ever be? "Jekyll is all that keeps you from hanging," Hans said.

"He ruined me by keeping me from burning the place!" Hyde replied.

"Maybe that was his intent then," Hans said.

"How does it feel to know your dear friend is on a suicide mission?" Hyde asked.

"Is he?" Hans tiredly asked.

"Jekyll is a coward. He'll hold the gun but never pull the trigger," Hyde said. "That's how I know I'm safe."

"You're not safe from hanging," Hans said.

"Jekyll will flee before he hangs," Hyde said. "A more cowardly man was never born."

"Says the man who killed unarmed men, women, and children in cold blood?" Hans asked.

"Blame the Jotun for that, not me," Hyde said. "I couldn't have done it without them, after all."

"You still did it!" Hans replied.

"Look at yourself in a mirror, Prince Hans. You've done the same," Hyde darkly said.

Hans's eyes widened a little as the memories hit him hard. He could think of nothing to say to that. Hyde darkly chuckled and for a brief and dark, dark moment, Hans wanted to cross the space between them and run him through. Oh it would feel so good… Until he saw Jekyll in Hyde… "Give Jekyll back," Hans finally said. Hyde darkly laughed. "Give him back!" Hans repeated. "Henry, please, come back!"

"Stupid boy! That isn't how this works, and you know it!" Hyde snapped.

"Eventually he'll come back when I call," Hans replied.

"Not because of it," Hyde said.

"I don't pretend he'll come back because of it," Hans said.

"You little…" Hyde began. He stopped suddenly. "No. Stay down. Stay down! Damn you Jekyll! Damn…" Hyde stopped suddenly, wavering a bit. Hans let out a breath. "Jekyll?" he nervously asked.

Jekyll blinked at him, seeming momentarily confused, then looked defeated. "Hans," he greeted quietly.

"You're staying in Arendelle for a while. In my cabin in the woods. I can't remember if you've been there before, but if you have, hopefully Hyde won't know the way back," Hans said.

"Is there rope there?" Jekyll dryly asked.

Hans was quiet at first, but soon quietly said, "Please don't joke."

Jekyll sighed. "I'm sorry, my boy."

"My boy? That's a new one," Hans replied. Jekyll shrugged hopelessly. "You'll be alright."

"Be safe in Africa," Jekyll tiredly said.

Hans stared at him a moment then suddenly crossed to him, hugging him tight. Jekyll started, but then relaxed a little and returned the embrace. "Be here when I get back," Hans pled, tears threatening his eyes.

Jekyll closed his eyes. "I'll be alive, though perhaps not in Arendelle," he promised.

"Henry…" Hans began.

"Hush now. It's alright. I'll still be breathing."

"Maybe I should have left you on the Southern Isles," Hans said, withdrawing from him and wiping at his eyes.

"You cannot hide me away forever," Jekyll said.

"They'll want to see you before…"

"I'll see your brothers soon enough," Jekyll promised, cutting Hans off. Gently he took his shoulders. "Dear boy, don't presume the worst will happen just yet."

"Don't give me false hope," Hans said, not looking at him. "Please don't."

"I don't want to leave you. Not any of you. For as long as I can, I will fight that fate. If only for your sakes," Jekyll promised. He wondered if Meleagant had told his own companions something similar. Hans nodded.

Frozen

Jekyll looked dully around the cabin. It was cozy, isolated, and most of all safe. Separate from Arendelle, separate from a potential murdering spree. Then again… "There is a chance Carabis will guide Hyde back," he said to Hans and Elsa.

"We'll tell the guards to be on the watch for you," Elsa replied. Hans was quiet, attention on little Kay who was curled in his arms. Bruni scrambled up to Hans's shoulder to peek at the baby. While we're here, they'll inform us if they see you. When we're gone, they'll inform Thord."

"Hold on, when were you planning to tell me your cousin would be watching over our kingdom while we were gone?" Hans asked.

"I thought it would be obvious," Elsa dryly replied.

"Uh, no?" Hans replied, frowning. "You realize he still can't be trusted, right?"

"I realize you still won't trust him," Elsa said, a hand on her hip and eyes narrowed.

"He tried to take over your kingdom!"

"Oh come on. That was years ago!" Anna protested, holding Gerda.

"And he came plotting against you not even long ago!" Hans said.

"He was trying to save his life! Then he almost gave it up instead, so yeah, Hans. We trust our cousin," Anna said. "I get you have some major trust issues going on, but we don't. We really, really don't."

"Uh, question. I get how we'll be able to tell if Jekyll isn't Jekyll, but how will Thord tell? He barely knows the guy," Kristoff said.

"Give us a question he can ask to make sure it's actually you. One Hyde won't know the answer to," Elsa said, looking at Jekyll. "One Thord can remember the answer to," she threw in.

"What is the name of the girl child you killed in the asylum, who was being protected by her nurse," Jekyll replied.

There was a beat. "Don't do that to yourself, Henry," Hans defeatedly said.

"Her name was Harriet," Jekyll said.

Anna let out a shaking breath and held Gerda closer. Kristoff wrapped his arms around them. "Very well," Elsa said. "We'll be leaving in a week or two. Then Thord will be in charge while we're gone."

"Is he bringing Honeymaren and Ryder?" Anna asked.

"I'm not sure," Elsa replied. "I'm guessing probably not. There was an… incident."

"A what now?" Hans asked.

"Let's just say a tentative courtship suddenly got really hot really fast," Elsa dryly said.

"Oh no," Hans said, face-palming.

"He's definitely, definitely not sure what Ryder's going to think of that, so he's pretty well begged her to hold off from telling him what happened between them until he's in Arendelle. She will. She's probably just as nervous about it as he is," Elsa said.

"I hear shotgun wedding bells," Anna sang. "That'll be a crapshoot marriage."

"Anna!" Elsa said.

"A fifty-fifty marriage!" Anna quickly corrected.

"You. Stop rubbing off bad habits on my sister," Elsa bit at Kristoff.

"Okay, that one wasn't my fault!" Kristoff replied. "That was all Thord."

Elsa sighed in exasperation. "However it goes for our cousin, I choose to believe his whirlwind romance will actually work out."

"Could your cousin get any stupider?" Hans asked.

"I can't believe we're doing this now," Elsa said.

"Laying with a woman before marriage? Seriously?" Hans asked.

"We get you don't like him, Hans!" Elsa replied.

"At least you don't hate him either though, I guess," Anna said.

"It doesn't stop him from finding every possible way to criticize every step the guy takes," Kristoff dryly said.

"He walks like a sneak-thief," Hans said.

"Now criticize how he breathes," Kristoff flatly said.

"He does," Hans replied.

"Okay, that's enough!" Elsa said.

"I feel you have some family drama to work out," Jekyll dryly said.

"Not drama, just… disagreement," Anna said.

"Yes, well, I'll settle myself here then while you deal with your little… disagreement," Jekyll said.

"He's coming today, by the way," Elsa said. "To get a rundown."

"Oh dear," Jekyll said with a sigh.

"He's what?!" Hans demanded.

"Children!" Jekyll sharply snapped. They looked quickly at him in shock. That was a term the man rarely ever used. "Take your argument elsewhere," he added.

"Our apologies, Dr. Jekyll. We'll take the question and answer to Thord. I hope you're comfortable during your stay in Arendelle. Send for us if you aren't. Hans will check on you every day," Elsa said.

"So I've been told. Thank you, Queen Elsa," Jekyll said.

"Of course, Dr. Jekyll," Elsa said, bowing her head to him. Turning, she walked out. Hans followed begrudgingly. Kristoff and Anna waved goodbye to the doctor and followed Hans and Elsa out.

Frozen

"These are things I'm supposed to know about, Elsa!" Hans said as they approached the castle.

"It slipped my mind. I'm sorry," Elsa said, in a bitter temper now.

"Sorry's not gonna stop Thord from coming, is it?" Hans said.

"It wouldn't have stopped him from coming even if I'd told you," Elsa said. "It's done, Hans. Get over it."

"Queen Elsa!" a guard called. Elsa looked up. "Your cousin is arriving in Arendelle."

"Phew. We got here just in time," Anna said, hopping out of the cart and hurrying to the doors. The others followed her in. They quickly handed off their coats and capes and made their way to the throne room to greet him.

It wasn't long before the doors opened and Thord walked in looking distracted. "Thord!" Anna happily exclaimed, handing Gerda to Kristoff and approaching her cousin with a smiling Elsa.

Thord looked up and couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips, but it dissolved into a frown when he saw Hans glaring. "Cousins," Thord greeted, embracing them. His eyes, though, were locked on the prince.

"Thord," Hans greeted.

"You haven't spontaneously combusted yet?" Thord replied.

Hans started and scowled. "If I did, it would be like wrapping myself in a warm blanket!" he replied.

"Enough," Elsa warned, drawing back from him and frowning warningly. Anna did so as well.

"He bullies me enough!" Thord said.

"And you bully him right back whenever you get the chance, so how about you both stop being bullies to one another altogether?" Anna said.

"He was raised with them. It's in his blood," Thord said. Hans started.

"Now what's your excuse?" Elsa replied, arms crossed.

"How about we not bring up opportunities to talk about my psycho birth father?" Thord replied. "But to answer your question, I probably got the inclination from said birth father. The environment I grew up in didn't really help either. You forced your way to the top or you got crushed underfoot."

"You're more like Hans than you know then," Kristoff dryly said.

"That's probably why they hate each other," Anna replied.

"Because we hate ourselves? Oh please," Thord said.

"Deny it," Elsa said.

"I deny it!" Thord said.

"Mean it," Elsa replied.

"I don't have to mean anything!" Thord said. "Look, are we doing this rundown or not?"

"Keep Arendelle running and safe, is the gist of it," Elsa said with a sigh. "When you're holding court, you have no authority to sentence execution, so if you have to, have them thrown in the dungeon until we get back. The people like you, so you should be safe from assassination, but…"

"Try not to win the hearts and minds of the populace with the objective of taking over Arendelle and deposing your cousin," Hans cut off.

"And here we go," Thord said. "Hey, not my fault they liked me better than you! I didn't try and murder the Queen and Princess. Just… usurp them. And even that I did quietly! I mean, you chose to tip your hand early. That's on you. They liked you before then."

"We're not getting into this now!" Elsa shouted, cutting them both off.

"The point is I'm happy where I am, thank you very much. Lord of the Enchanted Forest or Duke or Guardian or whatever I'm called here," Thord said.

Elsa smiled a little. The smile, though, soon faded. "Have you seen your mother since…"

"No," Thord quickly cut off, not meeting her eyes. "I'm not sure I ever will again. I sense she watches over me, but that's all."

"I hope that one day she finds it in herself to get to know you," Elsa said.

"Can you blame her if she doesn't?" Thord quietly asked.

"Does Gale visit often?" Elsa asked.

"Old Grandpa Ullr stops by whenever the wind blows," Thord said with a sigh. "North Wind and all that. Honestly, I think he feels sorry for me. Not that I need his pity, or anyone's, but it's maybe kind of nice to have. Closest connection I'll ever have with my mother, probably."

"You need to stop doing that to yourself," Elsa said.

"There's always a chance she'll be brave enough one day to really talk to you," Anna added.

"Anyway, before I was interrupted and we went down this path, I was going to say if an assassination attempt does happen against you, or someone tries anything like that, summon us immediately and we'll return as soon as possible," Elsa said.

"If I'm alive?" Thord asked.

"If you're not, the guards and palace servants all know we're to be informed, but if the Ice Maiden is watching over you, and the North Wind, you should be alright," Elsa said. "You know the palace pretty well by now, I realize, so let's go through some protocols."

"Don't order execution, don't order torture I assume, don't steal anything, if diplomatic messages come through put them aside I assume, and…"

"And if they're urgent diplomatic messages, address them by saying that I'm not currently in Arendelle, but will respond as soon as I return," Elsa said. "If a letter comes from Lot of Orkney, flag it. It's important."

"If Ryder comes after you for what you did to Honeymaren, take your lumps," Kristoff threw in.

Thord blinked then narrowed his eyes. "How about you shove it up your…"

"Anyways! Let's continue," Anna said. "Make sure all the horses are fed, keep an eye on the ice baby, make sure the snowgies and Marshmallow don't destroy the place—they shouldn't since they're supposed to be going back to Elsa's ice palace soon—and make sure Bruni doesn't burn it down."

"Don't leave me with the lizard," Thord almost whined. "He doesn't even like me!"

"He likes you just fine, don't you Bruni?" Elsa said, tapping Bruni's head. Bruni scrunched up his face and stuck out his tongue. "Well behave anyway. We'll be back soon and then you can be pampered by Hans and cuddle little Kay." Bruni made a happy sound. Elsa hesitated. "How is the Nokk?" she asked a bit worriedly. Kelpie, rather, but she still sometimes defaulted into calling it Nokk.

Bruni blinked then looked out the window towards the sea. "Is he watching her?!" Hans demanded. Bruni hesitated then awkwardly nodded. "That's it. I'm gonna kill it," Hans said.

"No, you're not," Elsa said, frowning at him. "He's a friend."

"Who in his human form is in love with you!" Hans replied.

"And I'm in love with you, so he's out of luck," Elsa said.

"He's fae, Elsa. He's not going to care," Hans said, sounding anxious.

"He had plenty of chances to try and pull some faerie trick when we were in the Enchanted Forest, but never did. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess I'm safe," she dryly said. "He even had your life in his hands and still spared you. Even when his entire nature told him not to."

"Don't remind me," Hans said. "I'd sooner forget that day ever happened."

"So would I, so let's drop the nokk subject and focus on now," Elsa said.

"When are you scheduled to leave?" Thord asked.

"Within the next week or two," Elsa said.

"Yuwabe, right? In Africa?" Thord asked.

"Yeah! It's so exciting!" Anna said. "Or would be if, you know, there wasn't the whole Dr. Jekyll thing… Oh, by the way, if the guards bring you a report they see him coming, there's a question you're going to have to ask him that he needs to answer correctly for you to know it's actually Jekyll. Ask him what the name of the little girl he killed in the asylum, who was being protected by her nurse, was." Thord stared blankly at her. She grimaced a bit. "That uh, probably didn't come out as great as it was supposed to."

"It's a long story involving Edward Hyde," Elsa said with a sigh. "It wasn't Jekyll that killed the girl. It was Hyde. Jekyll just puts it on himself."

"So, I ask him: What's the name of the little girl you killed, who was being protected by her nurse in the asylum," Thord said.

"Right," Elsa confirmed.

"Okay. I can do that. What was her name?" Thord asked.

"Harriet," Hans replied.

"Gods could this get more depressing?" Thord said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh it could. Big time. We're just hoping it doesn't," Kristoff said.

"Enough about things on our side. What about things on yours? How are the Northuldra?" Anna asked.

"If you're asking specifically about Honeymaren, say so. She's fine. Been a bit sick lately though. Throwing up mostly," Thord said. They stared at him. He narrowed his eyes. "Don't even say it," he dryly said.

"I mean, when you plant a seed, man," Kristoff said.

"Don't say it!" Thord sharply repeated.

"It's a big responsibility," Kristoff continued.

"Kristoff!" Thord shouted.

"Alright, alright, I'll back off," Kristoff said.

"When's the wedding? Be sure to invite us," Anna said.

Thord sighed in defeat. "Yeah, yeah, I get the picture," he said.

"You and Ryder getting along?" Kristoff asked.

"We were. Not sure if we will be for much longer after Honeymaren tells him what happened," Thord said.

"If you promised you'd marry her, maybe it'll lessen the blow," Kristoff said. "Did you?"

"Of course I did," Thord said. "It's not like I don't want to be with her. Things just got… more intense than they should have. Guess there's something to be said for chaperones after all."

"Yeah. Too bad you didn't put that one together before it happened," Hans said.

"You know what, Hans…?!" Thord angrily began.

"Boys," Elsa warned.

"He started it!" Thord insisted, gesturing to Hans. He looked at him. "Your brother Franz is more of a sl…"

"Not in front of the babies!" Elsa sharply said.

"Untamed beast than I am," Thord finished.

"Untamed beast? I mean, I guess that works," Hans said, smirking a bit.

"It was the first thing that came to mind, okay?" Thord said.

"Like I said, it works," Hans said, shrugging.

"How is his thing going with Louise anyway?" Thord asked.

Hans hesitated a bit. "I haven't had time to ask," he admitted. "Things have just been going off the rails with Jekyll, and now this whole Africa trip coming up… I assume it's going fine, but I mean, I don't know for certain. He went to Britian to visit her though, so that's a good sign."

"Is she still undecided?" Thord asked.

"As far as we know," Anna replied. "That might have changed by now, though. It's been a while since we've actually been able to catch up with her. Everything's kind of been just go, go, go. Our visit took a bad turn like right away when we headed to the asylum first thing. Utterson seemed really on edge, so we just went with it and things spiraled from there."

"Okay, so I'm pretending I know what you people are talking about, but I really, really don't," Thord said.

"Right. Sorry. Let's start from the beginning," Anna said. With that, she, Kristoff, Elsa, and Hans summarized what had been happening on the Jekyll front as far as they knew it. From him signing himself into an insane asylum to now. Thord listened in wide-eyed horror at the story he was being told, but didn't comment until their explanation was finished.

"You're leaving me alone to deal with that?" Thord finally and dryly said.

"I mean, we could call in the Duke of Weselton, but he's getting too old for such long trips anymore," Anna said. "Pretty sure he's grooming either Erik or Francis to take over his position when he dies. They're basically his sons-in-law, so they're the closest thing to heirs he has."

"The Duke is still pretty energetic, though, so here's hoping he lives a long life yet," Elsa said.

"Double hoping because at this point, he's basically the Shadow Master. Those shadows are next-level useful," Hans dryly said. "Pharabu knew what she was doing when she gave him the ability to summon them. He's surprisingly resourceful with them."

"You guys done packing for the trip?" Thord asked.

"No. We've been distracted. We'll get on that tonight," Anna said.

"Okay, well, best of luck in Africa then. Don't worry. Arendelle will still be standing when you come back. I hope," Thord said.

"If something comes up with the knights, do whatever you can to help them," Elsa said in concern. "They're our allies. Some of our closest ones."

"Right. Knights. Avalon. Evil bears. Wicked sprites. Split-personality doctor whose evil side is a total psychopath… Yeah, I totally have this handled," Thord sarcastically said.

"Oh come on. We believe in you! That counts for something, right?" Anna said, slinging an arm over his shoulders.

Thord sighed. "Probably more than you know and more than I want to admit," he replied.

"See? You have this," Anna said.

"Yeah. Right. Sure," Thord said, walking away.

"He so doesn't have this," Anna tightly said through her grin to Elsa.

"What happened to faith, Anna?" Elsa sang.

"It only goes so far, Elsa," Anna replied.

"He's got this. I trust him," Elsa said.

"I hope you're right," Anna replied.