What joy that passed seeing Elsa emerge from the elevator faded in a split-second at that empty, vacant look on her face. Two shades whiter than normal. She wanted so badly to hug her. Shake Elsa out of her stupor. Did they hurt you? Did they make you do anything? Oh god no, not the furnace. Elsa merely tugged her hand and hottailed it out of the NSA lobby. Like wild dogs chased them. The silence persisted throughout the drive back. Her chest ached with each second Elsa sat there, grim-faced. A red light came up and Anna couldn't help but link her fingers through Elsa's. Pressure abated when the woman squeezed her back. All the way back home.

"Y-you don't have to go in yet if you don't want to," Anna stood on the driveway. Elsa turned around, hand still poised on their doorknob. She pulled her coat tighter over her shoulders, red hair flopping in the cold breeze. For a moment, they stared at each other on the concrete driveway. Five feet of distance feeling like the expanse of a canyon. How easily an afternoon had driven them apart.

"What did they do to you?" Anna dared ask, "Down there?"

"They didn't hurt me," Elsa's voice trembled like the surface of a calm lake, "but it's clear by now - exactly what your people have brought me into this age to do."

"Elsa-"

"They want my powers," Elsa looked at her hands, "for what purposes. I still do not know. But I've always been a means to an end. Conflict and strife and the fear people have when they approach me. It's all the same two hundred years later."

Please, Anna wanted to say, Just show them something, anything. They won't bother you after that. Two chains grounded Anna into the futility of their path.

1 - The NSA wasn't going to stop with some trivial display of icy fireworks.

2 - Using the powers hurt Elsa, torched a part of her soul she'd kept hidden all this while.

The realization weighed on Anna's head like lead. Taking a full minute to register that Elsa had already gone in alone to prepare dinner. Wordlessly, she's drawn to the blonde in the kitchen. Still wearing that thin floral dress they'd picked out together at American Eagle. The glow of a scented candle fell across Elsa's face. She appeared to shut her eyes for a moment. Anna's throat tightened when she detected the faintest of shudders. It'd been enough to make her cave in. Walking right up behind Elsa and throwing her arms around her.

"It's ok, it's ok," Anna whispered, fabric blooming damp from their tears, "I'm here."

"Oh, god - Anna."

"I don't want to lose you," Anna pressed herself deeper into the embrace. Soaking in the tremor of her chest. The fragile peace that laid in their closeness, now a ticking timebomb that threatened to tear them apart. No matter which day it'd inevitably explode - at least they'd have this. For now. A packet of pasta on the countertop. Two pairs of hands linked around her waist. Two hearts that'd stitched themselves together across two hundred years of familiarity and tender longing.

Sunrise bled through the curtains. Anna's arm landed on an empty swathe of sheets beside her. The shadow of Elsa's warmth still lingered in the air. She jerked upright. Already fearing the worst. Only relaxing when the faint melody of Elsa's voice streamed from the bathroom. She'd overslept again. Lulled into the deepest of sleeps with the firm presence of Elsa's body beside her. Once again, Elsa's voice drew her in like bees to nectar. Anna got dressed and walked over. Her breath hitched when she noticed the smallest of gaps in the doorway. Elsa had left it open. Just a crack. Inviting.

The blonde swiveled her head in the bath to face Anna. Cigarette dangled from her fingertips. Ashtray on the tub's edge. To Kill a Mockingbird novel in her other hand.

Elsa cocked an eyebrow, "Good Morning."

"It's not even eight and you're smoking and reading in the bath," Anna put her hands on her hips, "the 21st century has certainly been good to you."

Elsa set the book down on the edge, "I can do this in any century. 19th or 21st."

Wordlessly, Anna knelt and took the cigarette from Elsa's fingertips. Bringing it to her lips and taking a drag. Gazes held unwavering as she exhaled. Foggy tinted eyes dripped with desire.

"Would you like to join me?" Elsa invited.

"It's a bath meant for one."

"So was my bed," Elsa tucked a red fringe behind her ear, "and yet we managed to make it fit."

The words tugged at Anna's lips. She stood up and peeled off her clothes. Heat rushed beneath her skin as Elsa's unflinching stare burned into every inch of her skin slowly baring themselves. The blonde leaned forward. Warm waters sloshing about as Anna slipped in behind her. A sigh. Before she leaned back and allowed a pair of hands to explore the folds and crevices of her naked body.

"I was half expecting this bath to be filled with ice cold water," Anna murmured into the unruly mop of Elsa's hair.

"Well, I was anticipating company this morning - I wouldn't be as cruel as that."

Anna smiled and peered at the sunrise through the frosted window. How many more sunrises could they enjoy together? Perhaps it was better she didn't know. She'd savour each moment like it was her last. Absentmindedly running her nails through Elsa's scalp just to feel the blonde ease into her grasp. A hum. Stirring from the pit of her stomach as her face appeared to come alive with the heat of her touch. Her hands wandered lower. Down the wet knot of Elsa's braid. The woman curled as deft fingers worked away at her neck muscles. Kneading away the tension until they turned cookie dough soft.

"You're good at this," Elsa murmured.

Anna hummed in response. Pressing each ridge of her spine and enjoying the way she mewled in comfort. In another life, perhaps, Anna would explore each line of Elsa's body. Live in the canyons of her figure and swim in the crystal blue pools that looked back at her each night. Biting down on her lip, Anna committed every inch of Elsa's skin to her memory. Tracing down her back and taking her time. Little wonder that she found the slight bump behind her neck. No bigger than a fingernail. Elsa tensed.

Bile leached into Anna's throat. She'd long suspected this but kept hoping they wouldn't stoop so low. Once again her naivete blinded her to the depravity of what humans would do to one another for the sake of control. How utterly devoted the NSA was towards keeping this woman within their grasp.

Elsa hadn't let out her breath.

"You know what this is, right?" Anna whispered. Lips mere movements against her ear.

She nodded.

This was how the blow team caught Elsa so quickly.

As long as this was in her neck. As long as Hans had Anna under the iron grasp of her employment. They'd never be free. The clattering rage in her fingertips must've gone noticed. Elsa reached behind and took Anna's hand in hers. Waiting until she stilled into quiet. The waters sloshed around as Elsa shifted sideways and sat on Anna's lap. Arms circling her neck and noses touching. Anna could hear her heartbeat. A tremor in the silence. As their eyelids fluttered shut, she imagined hearing the Queen's thoughts too. A poem somewhere with her name on it. Magical voice calling her back to a world where there weren't trackers or faceless men chasing her.

"They can search for me all they want," Elsa whispered between soft kisses, "I'll be right with you. Always."