Frozen 1. The Bane of Her Existence

**A/N: **Hello! Thanks for checking out this story. Essentially, this is a dark story dealing with some heavier themes and scenes, but there will be a fair balance of fluff and, well, Anna. It's a ModernAU where Anna is a London Detective Inspector (DI) who's faced with a particular situation. Yes, there will be Elsanna but in a non-incest way since I probably wouldn't do them much justice. There will be other DinseyVerse characters. I will also try to put up warnings if anything trigger worthy will be mentioned in the chapters ahead.

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Bane of Her Existence **

Detective Inspector Anna Bunker sat at her cluttered desk, twirling her pen in an absent-minded manner.

Her gaze was unfocused, her mind going back over today's events.

They had finally managed to crack down the drug traffickers and, under Anna's watchful eye, arrested over twenty persons. They caught the gang red-handed, hand in a cookie jar, and a fresh batch of narcotics to prove their guilt. No barrister could undo what they brought on themselves. It wasn't as if the gang was careless, the contrary was true, however there wasn't a case that Inspector Bunker couldn't solve. She could always make the suspects talk, her charisma was what made her. Even through her initial awkwardness made the Superintendent doubt her, the Detective Chief Inspector, Kai Olhouser, vouched for her. Anna still owed him.

Suppose she'd have to thank him, not just for vouching for her.

Her friend and partner, Detective Sergeant Kristoff Bjorgman, had talked her into going to the celebratory party at one of the local pubs. Anna loved parties, _she _was the one who always dragged the grumpy old _Kristoff_ out for a pint or two and a laugh amongst their friends, but as of recent she started to enjoy herself a lot less. Maybe it was because of how sourly her relationship with Hans ended, or maybe she was getting stuck in the routine of her previously energising work.

Identify suspects. Interrogate them. Track down any leads. Arrest anyone found guilty of the crime. Fill out the paperwork.

Her life lacked excitement and Kristoff realised that. He knew Anna better than she herself, and as much as it bothered her at times when she wanted privacy, it also brought her great comfort when words got stuck in her throat and her head seemed too heavy for her neck. She didn't _have_ to tell him what was on her mind – he _knew_. It was the same for her, a look and she knew everything. Her cousin, Rapnuzel, often teased her about their near telepathic connection.

'When's the wedding, ging?' she would ask her, a suggestive smirk tugging at her lips. All Anna could do was stare at her.

The two knew each other since they were 15, meeting when Anna had to change schools after her parent's death left her family-less and essentially without a roof over her head back in London. Her aunt and uncle, who lived in Liverpool, were kind enough to take her in with their daughter doing her Masters, but it was never the same. It seemed that only Kristoff really got her, he who lost his parents so long ago that their faces began to fade like old photographs.

They were close, yes, and Anna knew that Kristoff loved her more than a sister or a friend – that he wanted to be able to hold her and kiss her and make her feel right. But she just couldn't bring herself to love him like he loved her, they tried and it failed. The blond gracefully settled for picking up her broken heart each time a careless boy or girl dropped it and, on occasion, set fire to it. He settled for wiping away her tears and soothing her ache with kind words and chocolate.

_There's something wrong with me, any sane person would go for and stick with Kristoff. Sure maybe he's a bit of a gruff and could do with a shower every now and again, and maybe he likes reindeers a little bit too much, but he's a sweetheart. _

Anna sighed quietly. There was no point in thinking such thoughts, it'd do her better to at least _pretend_ she was excited for tonight.

The redhead glanced up at the clock placed precariously on top of the metal file drawer.

_4:55_

Nearly another hour before her shift ended.

She let her eyes trail down to the brown file laying on her desk. Then dragged them up to the mountain of paperwork glaring down at her from their semi-circle formation around the file.

Her meeting with the Chief Inspector had dragged on longer than she would've liked and she got into her office not even five minutes ago. The minute she walked out of Chief Inspector's office, however, it seemed like the entire station wanted to talk to her. She found herself in midst of sea of bodies which clapped her shoulders, shook her hands and told her how well she's done putting them 'thugs' behind the bars, how they won't corrupt the youth. How proud her parents would've been.

Anna cleared her throat before the lump there got too big to swallow and the stinging of her eyes incapacitated her eyesight. She accepted all pleasantries and praises with a broad smile that didn't reach her eyes and escaped to her office under the pretence of completing her paperwork.

The Inspector loved her work, and keeping the streets crime-free and reinforcing the law brought her a sense of completion that was never truly there after her parents perished. She was crushing down the violence before it could sink it's teeth and destroy another person's life, that was her reason to even bother to come in some days. It was her goal at least, realistically, she knew that lives would continue be violated and cruelly ended no matter what she did or how much of it she did.

'If it helps at least one person though', she would say, 'what's the harm_.' _

Yes, she loved her job, but the thing she loathed more than unnecessary violence was the never-ending paperwork. It was the bane of her existence, the thorn in her side. And if she ever caved in, lost it all beyond a shadow of a doubt, it would be all paperwork's fault.

Anna stared at the mountain.

The mountain stared back.

It was a ritual of Anna's, the Stare-Down. She never won but at least it gave her some sort of motivation to actually do her work.

She brushed a lose strand of her hair behind her ear and looked down, she lost once again.

She only did the paperwork to prove something to herself – maybe she couldn't win the Stare-Down but she could conquer the mountain, scale the sides, stick her flag in it and topple it. She owned it and how dare it even challenge her.

_I should start before Kristoff gets here_, the redhead glanced up at the formidable white body and with a dejected sigh, grabbed the least mean looking stack.

She took a deep breath and clicked her pen.

_And she's off._

Anna Bunker worked and worked, pen flying over the pristine white surfaces. She slaved over the masses of white, one hand entangled in her fiery locks, brows furrowed in concentration and lips clutched between her teeth. She was certain no other colour but white and black existed in the universe. All that mattered was her pen and the pages. They became her best friend, lover, her _everything _for the next hour.

Signature here, signature there.

Stamp down here, maybe there.

Repeat until everything was done.

Kristoff could wait a bit if there was more papers to sign, to write out more reports or to reread rookie DC reports. He knew that she cared about her work, and she knew if she took too long he wouldn't quibble about dragging her out of the office by the scruff of her neck. It was yet to happen, but Anna knew the day it did, it would be the mark of her caving in. The corner of her lip lifted in a half-amused, half-bitter smirk at the image of the 6'4'' Kristoff carrying the kicking, screaming, 5'4'' Anna over his shoulder while avoiding getting an elbow or a knee in the face.

Anna dragged her blue eyes across the darkened wall to the clock on the drawer.

_6:18_

Her eyebrows lifted. Blue eyes darted down to her desk only to discover that her 'inbox' side of her desk was void of any whiteness. She scribbled her signature hastily at the bottom of the page and set the document alongside it's fallen brothers. She has won. She was the queen.

Her lips lifted into a wide grin and her eyes brightened with joy. She jumped out of her chair with near childlike glee. A giggle escaped her mouth, her eyes squeezed shut and her fist punched the air.

"Score one for Anna! Beat that paperwork!" she laughed. Her joy accented with a jump into the air.

She ran around the chair, peeling her coat off the back of it and pushed it with her hip while trying to stuff her arm through the sleeve. She grabbed her keys from the desk to place them between her lips and spun around on her heels fluidly to face the door. Her legs made a beeline for the closed obstruct and she managed to stuff her other arm into the sleeve before yanking the door open. The other hand flicking the light switch off in the office. She closed the doors behind her and locked it quickly.

She skipped down the nearly desolate halls of the station. Her shoes clicking against the stone floor as she made her way to the elevators. She couldn't wipe the grin off her face, she was mentally pumping herself about the night ahead of her while congratulating herself for finishing her work in under half an hour after her shift finished. Anna hit the call button for the elevator and hummed as she dug in her pocket for her phone. She looked at the screen to see she had a new message. With a swift swipe of her thumb she unlocked the screen and clicked into messages.

_Unmanly Blond, 6:13  
__**Hey, I'll be waiting for you down in the garage don't take too long.**_

She chuckled and started typing a message.

_**On my way now.**_

The Inspector hit send as the elevator arrived with a ding. She slipped the phone back into her pocket and stepped into the polished metal and wood cabin, pressing the button to take her down to the garage. She leaned against the polished metal railing as she waited for the elevator doors to close.

The descent downwards to the garages was quick and the elevator once again produced the overtly chirpy ding when it arrived. Anna stepped out of cabin and started looking for her hulking friend. She hummed as she continued looking for Kristoff and when she finally spotted his silhouette leaning against his dark BMV, she skipped over greet him.

"Have you been here for long?" she said in a way of a greeting.

The blond man turned around to look at her. He grinned.

"Not as long as usual," Anna approached, "c'mon, I told 'Punzel and Sven we'll be there by seven."

He stalked to the driver's side and slipped inside, Anna wasted no time and followed suit. She giggled when she seated herself inside the car, the silly reindeer toy still hung from his rearview mirror. Her mirth only intensified when Kristoff told her to be quiet and to belt up in his best grumpy voice.

They pulled out of the garage and made their way down to Kristoff's place quickly and efficiently. He swivelled in between the traffic with ease, avoiding the jams by going through the back alleys, as if he lived in London all his life and not just four years. They managed to arrive under his terraced house in less than 15 minutes. Anna's mood only brightened along the way as the two shared their normal banter.

The two Detectives climbed out of the car and the redhead bounded up the steps to open the front door with her spare key. She left the door open for Kristoff before he could ask her to.

Her coat was thrown on the sofa, and she grabbed her clothes bag and headed for the bathroom to get changed. She ignored Kristoff's demands to not take too long when she locked the bathroom door.

She glanced around the bathroom while setting her down bag on the toilet seat. She laughed when she spotted a new set of towels that was set out.

_Bloody reindeers!_ She fingered the soft cotton like it was the finest silk and allowed a more tender smile to don her face.

Quickly snapping out of her admiring-your-towels-trance, Anna changed into the clothes she picked out earlier that day and managed to put on a bit of make-up and to refresh herself before Kristoff's heavy fist knocked on the bathroom door.

"'Mon, I'm gonna leave without you!"

Before Kristoff had a chance to make fun of her for taking too long, she flung the doors open.

Kristoff stared, mouth hanging open, and seeing Anna raising her brow at him in a questioning manner, he cleared his throat.

"We gotta get going," he looked down his feet quickly, refusing to look at her, and nearly ran for the front door.

Anna was at his side quickly, darting down the London streets in a brisk walk-run. A hint of confusion overtook Anna's mind, why was Kristoff refusing to look at her? She wasn't wearing anything _special_, nothing gobsmacking. Just a pair of jeans, a black tank top, a leather jacket and a pair of old worn boots. Her make-up was minimal too, nothing special. She gasped internally. Maybe it was because she looked so plain he didn't want to look at her, he probably had this image of her in his mind where she's a drop dead-gorgeous seductress who would pounce at him the minute either allowed themselves that pleasure.

She shook her head. _No way. Kristoff's known me since forever, he _knows _I wouldn't fancy up just to go out to a pub. Speaking of pubs..._

"Where are we going to exactly?" she looked around. They had passed their usual place but the hulking man made no indication of stopping.

"Oaken's. It's only a few more minutes away." He replied quickly and slowed down his pace to fish his phone out of his pocket. "We'll make it there alright." He turned to give her a smile.

She smiled back.

The two settled back into their usual playful banter, any signs of sexual frustration (on Kristoff's part) and sheer confusion were quickly dispensed in favour of a good night. And Anna firmly decided in her mind that she was not looking to meet her true love out tonight.

"Here we are!" the two stopped to look at the establishment.

Oaken's was a large enough corner pub with a rustic feeling to it, but as they approached it, Anna could hear the undeniable _thump thump _of basses coming from the interior of the pub. She eyed it cautiously and went ahead of Kristoff who grumbled something about her being impatient.

_Best to get it out of the way._

She turned to Kristoff and shouted at him to follow her least he wanted everyone to know about his new reindeer towels. She watched as he spluttered out an indignant response with a grin and couldn't help but to laugh at her friend's embarrassment.

She urged him again and when she saw he was following her she pushed the door open, still laughing and poking fun at her friend.

And promptly froze mid-motion.

At the bar, nursing a glass, sat a Goddess.


	2. The Redheads

**A/N: **Thank you everyone who reviewed and followed (and favourited!). I honestly didn't expect the response and I'm genuinely thrilled. The first like four chapters are to establish the relationship between the two girls and then we're gonna head straight into the actual plot and not, yanno, frick-frack. Hope you enjoy reading the chapter, and hey maybe tell me some of your theories about were this might be heading.

* * *

**Chapter 2: The Redheads**

Elsa Arendelle sat in a bar stool, swishing the amber liquid around in her glass in a clearly distracted manner. She grimaced when the cool liquid sloshed onto her hand and slouched in her seat, proper posture be damned.

She didn't know why she was in the pub, she didn't _want_ to go. But her friends begged her for the past several hours until she finally agreed to their plan. Identical mischievous grins, which never boded well, sprang forth on their faces and they promised she'd have fun.

Elsa bit back a sigh that threatened to leave her airways.

She could never say no to Rapunzel or Olaf. They seemed so happy to drag her out into whatever mess they wanted to get into. Be it getting so drunk they passed out beside bins, which vomited up takeaway containers, or skipping classes to attend concerts in far away cities.

She glanced down the wooden bar to look at the aforementioned duo as they laughed at a joke someone from their entourage slurred out. Probably Sven, he always had a knack for making people laugh, and if Olaf was laughing as hard as he was at the joke, Elsa would bet her money on it.

She vaguely recalled the reason why they ventured out to the pub tonight. Rapunzel's younger cousin (was it Anna?) had done something or other and there was a need to celebrate.

_What did she do again?_

Elsa racked her brain for an answer but nothing came to mind. Rapunzel mentioned it to her a week or so ago, but Elsa couldn't recall much. If only the woman hadn't started talking to her about it while she was attempting to write up the theses paper due for the _next day,_ maybe she would've been able to remember something more concrete, but _no_ it had to be right _then_. She even stole Elsa's paper from right underneath her pen and refused to return it until Elsa agreed to go.

_Damn that chick._

She looked down into her drink, perhaps if alcohol wasn't clouding up her brain she would've bothered to try to remember harder. But Elsa just shook her head with a small, tipsy smile and took a swing of her drink, halving the content of the glass. She swallowed the harsh tasting liquid with ease and felt the biting warmth sliding down her oesophagus and then through her veins with renewed vigorousness.

She could get drunk if she wanted to, who cared if it was barely 7 in the evening; it was Friday, nearly everyone around her was either tipsy or roaring drunk.

She drowned the rest of her drink.

The sound of glass against wood prompted the bartender to take her glass wordlessly and to refill it with practised ease. Elsa dragged her icy blue eyes across the mass of bodies swarming in the pub.

Blue eyes flickered from students who stank of Lynx and sweat, to business men with bellies full of riches and heads filled with alcohol, and finally settled on girls in deliciously short skirts grinding up against anything with a pulse.

A beautiful woman with dark hair and chocolate skin, which made her green eyes shine in the dark of the pub, caught Elsa's attention. Her skirt rode higher up her thighs and she rode lower still against the body behind her. She noticed Elsa's eyes on her and send her a quick wink.

_Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?_

The dark-haired girl turned around and slipped down the front of the stranger, shaking her hips and letting Elsa see the curve of her ass. Elsa let her eyes roam the chocolate expanse and paused at the shapely curve. She lifted her eyes to the dark beauty's and found her looking back at her. The girl giggled soundlessly and winked playfully.

Elsa's lip lifted into a minuscule smile, and looked up and down her moving form.

_Mmm..._

She tore her eyes from one of brunette girls' exposed thighs. Maybe if she had another drink she could brave up some courage to go on the dance floor, sweep the girl of her feet and convince her to go home with her.

She shook her head to clear away such thoughts. She couldn't risk something like that, not now. Not after what happened with Merida, her fierce Scottish lass who treated her like a Princess out in the daylight and fucked her until she could no longer see during the night. It was far too soon, even for a one night stand. She came to Oaken's with her mind set on just having fun without getting with anyone.

The bartender returned with her drink, she slid a crumpled note his way and nodded her thanks. Her eyes flickered down to look into her glass. Whiskey.

When did she order that?

_Why_ did she order that?

It was Merida's drink, the proud Scot refused pints everytime they've gone out, instead settling for a whiskey or a scotch or something similarly strong and bitter.

'How could I drink anything else?' was her reply each time Elsa inquired about her choice of drink. 'Everything else is piss, _this _is water.' She'd wink and grin at Elsa's eye roll.

Her mind started replaying images of her Scottish lass on top of her, her lips on her neck, branding her, the strap on claiming her insides, her words claiming her mind.

Elsa bit her lip. Her eyes flickered up to the dancing brunette. _Maybe _it wouldn't be a bad idea for someone else to rewrite her memories, anyone else to get the redhead out her mind, out of her system.

_And maybe you should stop drinking_. The still conscious rational part of her brain pipped up.

Elsa chuckled and lifted her glass. She could drink, what's the harm.

That's when Elsa first laid her eyes on Anna Bunker, Rapunzel's little cousin.

The door opened, the cool breeze swept into the stuffy pub and beckoned Elsa to turn her head, whispering sweet little nothings while reassuring that looking will be worth it. And she did and their eyes met. Suddenly, Merida or the dark-haired girl no longer existed, it was just the young woman in the doorway.

Elsa's mind blanked as she continued to _stare_ at young woman in the doorway, somewhat aware that the lumbering man behind the girl was watching their silent exchange.

However the spell was broken just as quickly when she heard Rapunzel exclaim Anna's name in slurred excitement and nearly tackled the beautiful redhead to the ground.

_Great a redhead. Nice going Elsa, wanna get rid of the Scottish redhead? Replace her with an _English _redhead. It's the little details that are vital. _

She downed her glass, forcing her eyes to focus anywhere _but _the young women. She called the bartender for a refill. Which glass was it? The fifth? Screw it, she could drink and get drunk if she wanted to.

The whiskey was pushed her way and she traded another note for it.

She willed her mind on the bartender and how she _didn't _notice the new redhead's perfectly proportionate curves or how she had freckles sprinkled across her collars bone or how they dipped into her well-defined cleavage. Or how well her tank top hugged her breast and contrasted her glowing skin.

_Goddamn it Elsa, get a grip! _She tried to until a warm body draped itself around her shoulders.

"And this is Elsa! She's a good friend of mine, y'know the one I told you about?" Rapunzel pressed her cheek into Elsa's hair, who sighed.

The blue eyes met again and Elsa rolled her eyes at her friends behaviour. Anna giggled at this and Elsa swore her face got red, well _redder _than it already was from the booze.

_Shit, I'm meant to say something! But what? Just say 'hi'! _

"Um, hi, I'm Elsa," Elsa extended her hand to Anna who took it with a quirk of her brow and tiny smirk on her lips. _Not like Rapunzel hasn't introduced you to her or anything._

The lumbering blond who arrived with Anna introduced himself as Kristoff and excused himself quickly, mumbling about getting a drink and finding Sven.

"I'm Anna." The redhead's expression became dreamy as she shook Elsa's hand and held on.

_Did she just bite her lip? _

Before either knew Anna was whisked away from her and into the throng of people, she passed her an apologetic smile. Elsa rolled her eyes at the gleeful shouts of 'Anna! You're finally here!' and took a gulped down some of her drink, keeping an eye out for Anna in the crowd.

* * *

_Oh she's dreamy_.

It was constantly on her mind on the reply, the statement popping up each time she caught a glimpse of Elsa.

She could feel her eyes burning into the back of her neck but everytime she looked around to catch her in the act, the blonde beauty has turned away. Anna pouted when she tried again to catch the blonde's eye only to find her staring intently into her glass or talking to another person in their large entourage. She couldn't felt the pang of longing; another person was receiving Elsa's attention while she was left standing in the sidelines to just look. How she _wished _to be that person or even Elsa's glass so she could touch her lips...

_Wow, Anna, where did that come from? What happened to not looking for anyone tonight?_

She berated herself and downed another shot passed her way. She grinned and rolled the glass between her fingers.

_But it's true..._

She called for another round to be served. Anna waited until the shots were served and before anyone could grab theirs, stood up.

"Guys!"she called out, a few people turned to her. "Guys!" now she had everyone's attention, even Elsa's.

"As you all know, today Kristoff, wherever he is, and I accomplished a wonderful thing today! And in spirit of the celebration I'm buying the next round!" a cheer passed through the drunken group. She knocked back the bitter vodka, enjoying the burn as it slid down her throat and settled in her stoamch. Glasses clinked together and the shots were gobbled down with ease.

Elsa saluted Anna with her glass and knocked it back.

She was drunk, of course she was, how else could she have worked up the nerve to get up out of her seat and slide into the one beside Elsa. She was grinning, her face hurt if she had to be honest, but she just couldn't stop, she felt like she was on cloud nine. The best thing about drunk Anna, in her own humble opinion, was that she was absolutely fearless. The world was hers and nobody could tell her otherwise.

Her grin grew when Elsa smiled her way and turned so they could talk.

_Privately_. Anna thought and bit her lip, gaze falling quickly to the blonde's lips and back to her astounding blue eyes. Were they closer than a second ago?

"Hi," came Elsa's husky voice, their knees brushed and Anna gasped at the contact, the electrifying touch making her shiver.

"Hi," she bit out, tongue darting out to lick her suddenly dry lips.

"You look beautiful," Elsa's eyes darkened, catching the motion of Anna's tongue.

_I want that tongue in my mouth._

"You look beautiful-ler! I mean you don't look _fuller_!" Elsa's eyes flicked up Anna's eyes and grinned at how flustered the girl was getting. "I mean- What I meant to say was- was that you looked more _beautiful_." Anna's gaze fell down and she went to brush a strand of her hair behind her ear only to find Elsa's hand up there tucking the strand in for her.

She bit her lip again.

She gasped when Elsa's fingers brushed the skin behind her ear and dipped down to caress the line of her jaw with utmost gentleness. She looked up shyly at the blonde who was gazing at her with that soft expression and dark eyes.

Her spine tingled.

"Thank you." came Elsa's hushed response.

_I swear I'm going to melt if you keep looking at me like that._

Elsa chuckled and Anna realised too late that she said that outloud.

She groaned. Couldn't her mouth just stop spouting nonsense when she was trying to talk up a beautiful stranger? Was that so much to ask for?

"Well if don't want me to look at you like that, I'm sure we can think of some _other_ activity than _talking_. What do you say?" The innuendo was there and Anna thought she had heard wrong but then a hand started to trail up her thigh with feather like touches, and squeezed her knee.

Elsa cocked her brow when the girl in front of her shivered and nodded, albeit dazed.

_She's biting her lip again. I think _I'm _the one who's going to melt._

Elsa leaned in to whisper in Anna's ear, she swore the girl shivered _again_ at the motion. "Shall I go tell Rapunzel that you're leaving?" _With me._

"Please."

Elsa pushed back and paused at how close they were, she could count every freckle on the redhead's face, over the bridge of her nose and her cheeks, and, if she leaned in a little closer she could kiss her right now. Anna seemed to have the same thoughts, her eyes half-lidded, she leaned in to claim the blonde's lips but the hand on her knee squeezed again and Anna stopped.

_Public place, Anna. You're an _adult _stop acting like a horny teenager._

The blonde woman indicated with her head she was going over to talk to Rapunzel, she waited until Anna nodded, and vacated her seat to look for the petite brunette.

Anna pouted at the loss of contact but glued her eyes on the woman's behind as she sauntered over to where her cousin was drinking.

_Look at that._

Anna felt the urge to whistle in appreciation but caught herself before her lips could produce the sound. _I'm probably just too drunk._

How true indeed she was, she could put an Irishman to shame with how much alcohol she had consumed. Shot after shot of vodka and tequila without a spit of a non-alcoholic beverage in sight, she downed everything and now, now she was going to have a one night stand with a drop-dead gorgeous Goddess.

She was glad she agreed to go out tonight. If she didn't she'd be home alone probably watching EastEnders and trying to convince herself that she was living the best life possible. If that happened she wouldn't have gotten the chance to meet Elsa, well maybe she would, but not in circumstance which allowed her to ravish the woman thoroughly.

She leaned on her hand and watched Elsa saunter back with a predator grin on her lips. Her hips swaying and making Anna's mouth go dry at the sheer _sight_.

_She really is something else._

"Ready?" The blonde said as she approached the redhead.

"I was born ready." Anna smiled back. She accepted the blonde's extended hand and hopped out of the bar stool. Making sure to brush her fingers on Elsa's ribcage who shuddered at the light touch.

Anna's grin grew even larger.

They looped their arms, hips touching, and left Oaken's.


	3. The Seductress

**A/N: **Thank you everyone who reviewed! You're all wonderful! Wow, nearly 60 follows and over a thousand hits, jesus I'm honoured! If you enjoy this chapter please review and now without further ado here comes the smut.

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Seductress**

As soon as the two women left the pub, and the thumping of the music faded from their ears, Elsa glanced down at the intoxicated girl clinging to her arm. A wicked smile chased across her features and with a swiftness near to that of a pouncing cat, dragged the redhead into the nearest alley.

Anna wanted to protest but before she could a pair of soft lips pressed against hers.

It wasn't what Anna expected.

She thought Elsa would crash theirs lips together in a drunken frenzy just to get closer, to feel more and to sate her burning desire, but the blonde woman instead gently pushed their lips close and cradled Anna's face gingerly between her soft palms. It made Anna's head spin and ache with longing that threatened to combust her insides.

Not one of her previous trysts had held her with such gentleness.

It felt so _nice_, so _pure_.

But to Anna's hazy mind, gentleness was something undesirable, the only thing worth a damn was friction between her legs and Elsa's bitter taste. Her hands wrapped themselves around Elsa's waist, pulling her in closer and closer until nothing but the layer of clothes separated the two. The blonde's growl reverberated in the back of her throat when she felt Anna tug her closer and she could feel the other's heat wrapping around her.

_What a minx._

Her tongue slid out to beg for entrance and the redhead happily obliged.

Anna moaned into Elsa's mouth as the taste of drink and the slickness of their tongues filled her mouth. Elsa pulled back, Anna's lip between her teeth, she released the redhead's lower lip when darkened hooded eyes met hers.

The redhead whimpered quietly at the loss of Elsa's lips against hers and moved in to claim another kiss.

Before Anna's lips could connect with Elsa's, the blonde titled her head to ghost her lips over the shell of Anna's ear and tugged at the lobe. Anna's breath hitched in her throat and let her eyes flutter close for the briefest moment. Upon opening her eyes, the younger woman found herself with a godly, unmarked expanse right under her nose. She pressed soft kisses on the porcelain skin, nipping gently at the pulse. Elsa's moan sent electricity down her spine and then she felt hands moving down her curves to rest on her hips, massaging them with experienced ease which made Anna groan into the blonde's neck.

"So," a soft kiss to the back of her jaw, "mine or yours?" The blonde grounded redhead's hips against hers for added emphasis.

Anna burrowed her face in Elsa's neck and tried to thrust her hips against the other woman's but steady hands prevented her from moving. The younger woman whined and mumbled into the blonde's neck breathlessly.

_What was that?_

Elsa tilted her head to peer into Anna's blushing face. "Sorry?" this made the younger woman chuckle nervously and she lifted her head just enough to press a gentle kiss to Elsa's lips, her arms rising up to wrap them around the blonde's neck.

"I said," she spoke into Elsa's lips, "that we should go to mine."

Another kiss was peppered onto Elsa's lips, and then another and another until their breaths ran short and Elsa thought she would end up taking the girl right then and there. She pulled the girl away from the wall by her belt hoops and placed a quick kiss on the redheads lips, making sure to nibble on her lip. A noise bubbled out of Anna's throat and Elsa swore she got goosebumps.

"Lead the way, Miss Bunker," voice husky and eyes dark, Elsa offered Anna her arm. A cocky smirk tugging at her lips.

"Naturally, Miss Arendelle," Anna mimicked the older woman's expression, linking their hands together and tugged the blonde down the road.

* * *

Anna threw the door open of her terraced house, pulling Elsa in with a kiss and tug on her loose blouse.

Their lips remained connected as they crossed the threshold and Elsa shut the door by slamming Anna against it.

She rotated her hips against the other woman's, pushing her further against the door. Hands on hips were kneading the bones underneath and Anna felt heat gathering in the apex of her thighs. She moaned but it was swallowed when their lips met with ferocity unlike the first kiss they shared in the alley, bruising in its intensity and making Anna feel light-headed.

Her knees were going weak and her hand shot out to find purchase in her partner's hair, enticing a growl from the blonde haired beauty, while the other gripped the front of the older woman's blouse.

The blonde's lips stopped their assault and Anna nearly shouted in frustration. A series of quick pecks that followed, starting from the corner of her mouth down to the back of jaw followed in quick succession, left Anna panting. Elsa ducked her head down and let her tongue trailed liquid fire along Anna's pulse, nipping occasionally and swirling patterns that made the redhead pant louder and tighten her grip on the blonde woman.

"_Elsa,_" the younger woman moaned and threw her head back against the door as the aforementioned blonde bit down hard on her neck and sucked.

_Mine._

It was getting too hot, the heat between her legs started to feel uncomfortable. She groaned and thrusted her hips against Elsa's, hoping for the friction to bring relief to her ache. Elsa seemed to realise that Anna was itching for a scratch and rotated her hips, thrusted, rotated them again and kept the rhythm going. The hands on Anna's hips came up around the small of her back, making her arch into Elsa who's tongue started working on her collarbone and descented downwards toward the valley of her breasts. The hands travelled up further to her shoulder blades and started to tease Anna out of her jacket.

The article was dropped unceremoniously on the floor and Elsa's hands trailed up and down Anna's tanned arms. Her mouth was pressing soft kisses to the redhead's throat.

Elsa groaned as a particularly pleasing sigh passed Anna's airways and pressed their jean clad centres more roughly, pathetically trying to control the desire that threatened to swallow her whole.

She was going to melt.

She trailed the kisses up Anna's jaw and was about to place another kiss on Anna's swollen lips, when she stopped a mere breath away from the younger woman. Lust darkened eyes open to find themselves staring into half-lidded blue. Their breaths mixed as they clung onto each other, all other movements had ceased to exist par breathing.

"Bedroom." came Anna's quiet command. Her head lolled back from the wood of the door, dark eyes looking through her eyelashes to gaze at the Goddess in front of her.

_Is that the voice she uses when she's interrogating? I wouldn't mind being her prime suspect then._

Elsa's mouth ran dry as more moisture shot downwards, she tried swallowing but her voice failed her so all she could do was nod dumbly.

Strong hands pulled her wrist to drag the blonde woman up the stairs and into the darkened streetlight lit bedroom. She managed to locate the bed before Anna turned to her with a playful smirk and unabashed look of desire in her eyes.

Elsa's heart was doing flips in her chest, beating so loudly against her ribs that she was sure Anna could hear it. Especially when the young redhead pressed a kiss against her lips, hands darting down to undo the buttons of the blouse the blonde woman was wearing. Her nether regions where jumping at the thought that the petite girl was undressing her and what she would do once the task was completed.

Elsa let out a moan, the redhead's teeth dug into her lower lip, drawing tiny drops of blood. Deft fingers undid the last button and threw the blonde's blouse on the ground, not caring where it fell. The redhead didn't stop, undoing the bra clasp with a single motion and nearly ripped off the offending article off the blonde woman.

Hands roamed Elsa's body, kneading the soft flesh and pinching the pert nipples, mouth on Elsa's neck, sucking, biting and marking her with efficiency that made Elsa breathless with desire. And still the redhead ventured lower, teeth grazing Elsa's collarbones and seeking the pale globe with a gravity near to that of a star. Elsa felt the heat rising up higher and higher, and suddenly she couldn't hold in how much she wanted to claim Anna as hers.

To fuck her until she saw stars.

To look at her face as it twisted with absolute pleasure.

To hold as she came down from her high.

She wanted to mark her, to make hers in every way possible.

The possessiveness of her thoughts for Anna disturbed her, they had only truly met not four hours ago, talked for barely ten minutes and were now in progress of screwing their brains out. Andyet, she felt her heart thaw a little everytime she looked at the redhead.

_It's definitely not because she looks like Merida. For _fuck _sake's they don't _even _look a little bit like each other! Yeah there's the hair but that's about it, girlfriend!_

To diverge her thoughts, Elsa swiftly picked up the _still_ fully clothed Anna, who gave a startled cry as her worship was interrupted so suddenly, and carried her to the bed, sitting Anna on the edge. She kissed the redhead over and over, only breaking the kiss to rip the tank top and the bra off her gorgeous body. She kick their shoes off efficiently and tossed them to the side. She kept nudging the young woman and directing her with her kisses, crawling after her. When they reached the pillows she pushed Anna back until she was lying against the bed.

Elsa perched over her, knees at either side of the other woman's hips, hands at both sides of her head. She let her eyes roam over Anna's body, drinking in the sight before her, submitting it to the depths of her memory.

_Definitely nothing like Merida._

Her eyes trailed down Anna's toned abdomen to where skin met with the jean and she nearly growled at the obstructive material.

Anna wrapped her arms around Elsa's neck, snapping the older woman out of her righteous anger at the material. Blue met blue and Elsa felt herself melt a little bit more inside. Anna pulled her down towards her and Elsa quickly lowered herself onto her elbows, a single breath separating their lips.

"You're looking at me like that again," Anna drawled, pushing a fallen strand from Elsa's angelic face. Elsa only cocked her head in question.

"Like what?"

"Like you did in the pub." _Like you love me. _

Anna's eyes softened at the thought and she caressed Elsa's cheek with her thumb. The other woman welcomed the touch and closed her eyes at the small gesture, she kept them closed as she felt Anna tugging her down to kiss her softly. Before it turned passionate, Anna pulled back giggling at which Elsa quirked her eyebrow at the woman below her.

"Sorry, it's just, ah I think you really did melt me," her eyes darkened again, "I think you should be a _good girl _and clean it up."

Elsa bit her lip and nodded quickly, lowering herself to suckle on the tender flesh of her neck and murmuring a tender "yes ma'am,". She ravish each inch of the exposed flesh, everywhere the freckles where she'd kiss and suckle on. She left marks on her shoulders, collarbone, the swell of her breast and with each mark the redhead moan louder and louder, panting in between.

_A masochist detective who uses her 'cop' voice to make me do things, did _not_ see that coming._

"_Elsa_, please, hurry the _fuck _up!"

Elsa looked up the length of Anna's body and her breathing became a little more erratic. _Oh my..._

Anna's arm was thrown over her eyes, the other bunching up the sheets in an effort to control herself. Her fine hair was unruly from all her tossing and her back kept arching up everytime Elsa's mouth even came in _contact_ with her skin. She looked wild, on the verge of breaking, and Elsa wanted to see how much further she could push her before the redhead lost her inhibitions.

_More so than she already has_. Her mind quipped and she grinned as she considered her next move.

Elsa, who was very near to removing the other's jeans, slid back up Anna's body. She made sure to press skin to skin, at which Anna groaned and arched up even more. She lowered her head to latch onto the hardened nipple, but instead of sucking like she has done previously, she bit down and pulled it. She was vaguely aware of the cry of pleasure which erupted from Anna's throat, her hands busy at work memorising the feel the redhead's skin, each curve memorised.

The next thing that occurred left Elsa's hazy mind stumbling for a few moments. She was above, teasing the other woman's nipple and then suddenly she was lying flat on the bed. It was a sudden movement and one that required undeniable strength, strength that Elsa was passively aware that a member of the force needed to posses.

It came down on her suddenly, the wet centre was in her face, dripping the juices onto her cheeks. A hand entangled in her hair urged her head forward. Gods, that's what heaven smelled like.

Elsa slid her tongue over the wet slit, savouring Anna and getting drunker off the taste.

"_Fuck_!" Anna's hips buckled forward, her head flying back and her eyes shutting at the sensation.

Elsa's tongue darted around the soft nub of nerves and Anna cried out louder, urging her forward. Her hand gripped Anna's hip with bruising force and hand slipped under the redhead, fingers dipping into the wet centre. She pushed two fingers in and slammed into the writhing women above her.

A moan louder than the ones before gushed out of the redhead's lips. Another hand forced her head into the gripping centre and Elsa increased her pace.

Licking. Tasting.

The redhead moved her hips in time with Elsa's hand, meeting her stroke for stroke.

Teeth clamped around the other's clit and her fingers sped up mercilessly. She curled them up inside her and knew she hit the sweet spot. Anna's voice was like a crack of the whip, the bed creaked as she neared her crescendo.

"Shit! Shit! I'm _coming_!"

Anna's screamed vibrated in the room but still Elsa did not stop, letting Anna ride out her climax, tasting her as she came. The muscles around her fingers hugged them in an intimate hug and all Anna saw was white.

She became aware, as she came off her high, that she still clutching the blonde's hair in a death grip and promptly released it, smoothing it down. She then became aware that Elsa was lying underneath her _grinning _like a Cheshire Cat.

"That was something," Elsa's husky voice reached her ears and Anna felt herself getting red.

_And wet._

"All in a day's work," she matched Elsa's grin with her own.

She slid down the other woman's body and kissed her, tasting her own juices on Elsa's lips. She winked at the blonde woman as their lips parted and kissed her way down her body. She heard Elsa groan as she enveloped a pink nipple in her mouth, but continued to descent downwards. Her attention focused solely on the treasure that awaited her behind the trousers.

Hands quickly pushed down the black trousers and lacy panties out of her way. She didn't ask need to ask if Elsa was ready, the bucking of her hips and the glistening of her juices told Anna all she needed to know.

A mouth latched onto Elsa's clit and three fingers were pushed into the tight heat. She moaned loudly, spreading her legs wider for the redhead.

"Damn it, you're _tight_." Anna forcefully pushed up and slammed the heel of hand into the blonde.

"It's, ah! It's been a while."

Anna curled her digits in Elsa's warm heat, savouring her juices as they flowed like River Nile onto her quickly moving her. It was like water, she needed it to keep her sated and alive and the fact that it tasted so _damn_ good was a definitive bonus.

A flick to her clit and Elsa was crying out as the orgasm hit her like a bulldozer. Anna continued to push her fingers in and out, albeit slower, and kept her eyes firmly planted on the blonde woman's face as it crunched up with pleasure.

_She's so sexy. And she's all mine._

Her eyes flickered down to the purplish marks littering Elsa's skin and her eyes gleamed.

Blue met blue and Anna retracted her fingers from Elsa's core, earning her a whine at the loss. She glanced at her fingers and back to Elsa.

"Would you like a taste?"

A nod.

The three digits were swallowed up by Elsa's mouth. Anna's eyes fluttered close as she felt a quick tongue licking her fingers clean. Elsa kept the fingers in her mouth long after they were clean, initiating a makeshift blowjob, and sped up when their eyes found each other.

The fingers left her mouth with small _pop_ and Elsa licked her lips.

"I think I prefer your taste," came her teasing reply accompanied by a smug smirk. Anna knew her eyes darkened, but pushed down the desire to shove the blonde head first into the mattress and fuck her from behind.

Anna instead leaned in to place a chaste kiss on the other's lips and tumbled to the side, pulling the covers over them.

Another kiss later, they drifted to sleep, exhausted from their activities.

Anna tucked her head under Elsa's chin and a content smile played on her lips as she dreamt of the blonde beauty in her arms.


	4. Anna Bunker, DI

**A/N: **Wow! Thank you everyone who reviewed, favourited and followed! As mentioned before, we're going to get into the plot in this chapter. Also I added the link to my tumblr on my profile so if you have any questions pop an ask in my inbox.

Please review and tell me what you think and all that shizz. With that said, please enjoy the ride!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Anna Bunker, DI**

The sun was hanging mute and low behind the sea of grey clouds over the morning sky. The clouds holding a promise of rain for the day. Even in it's low intensity, the sun still snuck it's way through the haphazardly closed curtains and struck Elsa in face like a toxic gas, burning in its intensity.

The blonde woman tossed in the bed, trying to shield her face from the sun that threatened to melt her eyes in their sockets. Warm softness tickled Elsa's face and she sighed quietly at the feeling. Her nose burrowed into the warmth and the sun stopped it's merciless assault. Elsa pressed more into the mysterious softness, sighing contently, and hoped it would take away the pounding headache that the sun seemed to activate.

_Not like it's a hangover or anything, just the sun being a bitch. Wait, hangover?_

The memory of Rapunzel toiling Elsa after the bouncing Olaf as they headed for the pub, surfaced from the depths of her mind. She could distinctly remember Rapunzel's voice telling her to 'loosen up' and that they were only going for a few drinks to celebrate. She remembered Rapunzel sitting her down at the bar counter as they waited for the rest of the group to arrive and all she could do was sigh and order the first drink that popped into her mind.

_Whiskey_. She groaned internally. _The Devil's water_.

What happened then? Her mind was still hazy from the alcohol and the pounding in her head wasn't helping her recollections.

She knitted her brows and nuzzled into the warmth below her.

_Wait a second._

A groan pulled Elsa out of her thoughts and her eyes snapped opened, the sun temporarily forgotten as her vision filled with a ruffled mane of red.

_Oh no. No, no, no, no, __**no**__! _Her eyes glanced down fearfully into the face of the stirring woman cuddled into her shoulder. Her mind, albeit still hazy, was able to allocate the face with a name.

Anna Bunker.

Anna _fucking_ Bunker.

Rapunzel's little cousin and _the _Detective of Scotland Yard, it just _had_ to be her.

_What have I done!? _She felt her mouth hang open in a shocked 'o' shape and with sheer force of mind, slammed it close.

_Ok calm down, you can still leave, she's still not awake. Chances are she won't even remember what you've done, just get your shit and leave._

The young woman pressed her face into the blonde's neck, consciousness drifting back rapidly.

_Now, Elsa. _

Before she could dart out of the bed, warm lips pressed themselves against her neck, trailing butterfly kisses up to the apex of her jaw. Elsa's eyes fluttered close at the contact and she tilted her head to expose more flesh to the redhead's seeking lips. Anna pulled back to peer into Elsa's face and grinned when Elsa's eyes opened again. Their eyes locked and Elsa swallowed carefully.

_Put on a show, Elsa. Don't be a coward, you got yourself into this so get yourself out._

"Hi," came out her strangled reply, she forced her eyes to remain on the redhead's face and not to venture any lower. It really wasn't helping that from up this close she could nearly count all the freckles that dusted over the younger woman's nose bridge and cheeks. And the tug in her chest _defiantly_ wasn't helping.

"Hi," the younger woman started to lean in to press a chaste kiss on Elsa's lips but stopped short, suddenly unsure. It was a one-night stand, could she really ask for kisses and soft touches after the act was done? She never woke up first each time she dragged someone home. She found herself at loss. Her teeth worried her bottom lip and she glanced to the side, hoping that if she ignored the want to kiss the blonde it would waver and vanish.

Elsa noticed the small movement and saw the hesitation shining in Anna's eyes. She took pity on the girl, she owed her, in a sense, to offer her the comfort of her lips after she had, surely, violated her the previous night. She willed herself to let out a breath she was unconsciously holding in, purpose clear in her mind, and leaned forward.

_So much for getting out of this._

Their lips met gingerly in a brief kiss. Anna encouraged by this, pulled Elsa closer and meshed their lips into a more passionate kiss. Her tongue slid out to beg for entrance and the blonde conceded with a mewl. Their tongues moved against each other in an intricate dance, tips brushing the roof of their mouths and groves of their teeth. Anna slid her hands up to rest on the blonde's shoulders and without breaking the kiss, threw her leg over the other's waist, driving her into the mattress to loom over her.

The need for air separated them but they remained close, foreheads resting against each other. Anna's thumbs caressed the underside of Elsa's jaw and a lazy smile graced her lips when Elsa closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle but firm touch. It only widened when the blonde cupped Anna's hand and brought her palm to her lips, kissing the inside of her wrist. Her lips laid soft kisses up the inside of Anna's arm and the younger of the two shut her eyes, relishing the feeling.

The blonde's lips ghosted over Anna's collarbone, who bit back a hiss, and promptly froze, seeing the dark purple-blue hickey on the redhead's neck.

_Shit._

She stared in horror at the mark.

_What have_ _I done?_

Anna sensed the mounting tension in her lover's body and lolled her head to look down at the blonde. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion at Elsa's face and it only grew when the blonde raised her hand to gently finger the area.

"Elsa?"

The blonde's eyes snapped up to meet hers, terror passing over her icy eyes like rippling surface of water.

"I..." she swallowed and quickly averted her eyes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left marks on you. I-I-"

Anna's gentle finger hooked under her chin and forced her head up. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and in fear that Anna would see through her like glass, Elsa focused her gaze on the bedsheets. She was sure Anna would hate her. She would, _should_, be utterly disgusted with her complete disrespect and disregard for her person.

"It's ok, really. I mean, yeah, I'll need to cover up when I'm back on Monday but until then everything's fine." The hand that held up her chin moved to caress Elsa's cheek with a light touch, coaxing the blonde to accept Anna's words as the truth. Elsa's hunched shoulders relaxed and a minuscule shiver rattled her frame. A lopsided grin blossomed on the redhead's lips and she leaned forward, bare breasts touching, and trailed soft kisses along Elsa's exposed throat, coming up to her ear.

"It's so fine that I was wondering if you want to go for another round, hmm?"

Elsa turned her head to face the redhead, licked her lips and gave a small nod. They closed the gap in a second, Anna's fingers ghosting over Elsa's jaw, her body pressing closer. She could feel Elsa's hands coming up to her waist, pulling her impossibly close.

And then Anna's lips were on her throat again, grazing and nibbling at the pale skin and Elsa thought she would melt. Her fingers entangled themselves in Anna's red locks, frizzled from the sleep, and scratched her scalp as the redhead hummed in appreciation.

_Ring_. _Ring._

Anna groaned into Elsa's neck, her body slackened and more of her weight rested on the blonde. Elsa couldn't bring herself to care that she couldn't quite take a deep enough breath, she was perfectly content with the way their bodies seemed to fit together like a pieces of jigsaw. Anna raised her head to peer into Elsa's face and pulled on an apologetic half-smile.

"I need to answer that, could be work." She explained in a way of an apology.

"That's alright," the blonde managed to answer.

Elsa kept her eyes glued on the redhead as she slid out of bed and started to look for something to throw on. Seeing no other alternative but Elsa's blouse the redhead quickly picked it up, making sure to ask Elsa for permission to don her clothing and after receiving the positive, flung her arms into the sleeves. She tightened the white cotton around her frame and turned to the blonde woman.

"Feel free to use the shower," she threw a cheeky wink Elsa's way, and dashed downstairs to answer the phone.

Anna's departure left Elsa's body tingling with what remained of the redhead's warmth and she sighed. Her hand slicked back her hair and she dared to look around the messy room.

The sun spilled into the room in it's lazy saunter and seemed to catch each piece of dust as it descented in its downward spiral to oblivion and the masses of microscopic creatures. The room screamed with Anna's personality. The walls were light pastel green and an entire wall was covered with a sliding wardrobe, one side open, shielding the mirror in the middle from Elsa's eyes. The clothes tumbled from the wardrobe like lava and Elsa grinned at the mess. Her attention was brought to the pictures lining the walls and standing proudly on the various flat surfaces within the room, her eyes zoomed in one of pictures littering the drawer beside the bathroom door.

The blonde woman padded over to the framed photography and picked it up, bringing it close to her face.

A teenage Anna had her arms looped through an older man's and woman's arms, and she was absolutely glowing. There was an elated smile on her face, dotted with childlike innocence, and Elsa could tell even from her brief not-shit-faced time with Anna, that the redhead hadn't smiled like that in a long time. Elsa spared a glance at the two adults on either side of the girl, and deducted that they were her parents, she could see them both in Anna.

She knew their faces and her eyes seemed to grow colder as they remained glued to the photo.

Her eyes returned to Anna's face, finding something amiss in the red mass.

_The white-streak._

Elsa felt her eyes hardened again. Surely the skunk-strip weaved through the red hair was dyed, maybe some sort of genetic anomaly that made that piece turn white, it couldn't be anything other than that, right? Elsa shook her head, a humourless smile on her lips.

_If only it was any of the two_.

She put the frame down and slunk into the bathroom.

* * *

Anna dashed down the stairs in a mad hurry, knowing that any of the rings could be the last.

She reached over the banister, nearly falling through, and grasped the wireless phone. She didn't have time to check the caller ID before she pressed the receive button and pressed the speaker to her ear.

"Anna Bunker, who am I speaking to?" she chirped, tilting her body back to the steps and walked down the remaining few stairs.

"_Anna! It's me Kristoff!_" the voice across the line answered, a hint of urgency slurring his words together. Anna frowned lightly at this and ventured into the kitchen, retrieving an apple from the fruit bowl and attempted to wipe it in her hands. She leaned against the counter.

"Hey!" She bit into the apple, chewing quickly before continuing, "What's up?"

"_Seems like a new case,_" there was a brief pause, "_Can you come down to the station?_"

"Now? Kristoff, I have a -"

"_A guest, I know. Look, I don't know the details, but the Chief just told me to call you after the report came in. Yes there is a body from what I hear, and no they hadn't let me see it._"

She chewed thoughtfully for a minute. "Can't they have someone else take on the case?"

"_The Chief asked for you, Anna._"

"Fine," she grumbled. "But you're buying me coffee."

"_That's fine, just come as quickly as you can._"

The line disconnectedand Anna fiddled with the phone, trying to decipher what awaited her once she arrived at the station.

_Probably another case of a lovely stabbing. _She sighed and finished off the apple, tossing it in the bin.

She quickly glanced at the oven clock.

_10:05_

Anna nodded at the oven and strolled out of the kitchen into the hall, quickly plugging the phone back in. She turned to head up the stairs, when she spotted her jacket lying by the door. Retrieving it quickly, she dug out her phone from the pocket and checked for any unread messages. Finding she had a few messages, she unlocked the phone and scanned to see who texted her, only to realise the only ones of real importance were Kristoff and her cousin, who weren't expecting an answer anyway.

She hummed at her phone, locking it again and hung her jacket on the coat hanger. She turned to walk up the stairs, taking two steps at a time she reached the bedroom swiftly and upon hearing the shower running, and slipped out of the blouse. Biting her lip, she glanced towards where she knew her Elsa would be.

The bathroom door was left ajar and Anna slipped through under the cover of the mist, quietly approaching the blonde woman. The shower curtain was drawn back, the blonde was obviously expecting her company. Anna let her eyes appreciate the slim form of the Goddess, the warm water streaming through all nooks and crannys and embracing each curve in a watery hug. Anna's eyes locked onto a single drop of water as it travelled the length of Elsa's body, down her neck, alongside the swell of her breast and dipped between her legs.

She could feel the liquid heat gathering between her legs and continued roaming her eyes over the blonde's body, lingering whenever she saw a contrasting mark on Elsa's perfect skin.

_Mine._ The feral part of her mind growled and her consciousness nodded in agreement.

With a last quick up and down of the form in the shower, Anna stepped in behind the blonde, pulled Elsa into her and proceeded to pepper her shoulder with kisses. The blonde woman locked up against Anna at first but upon feeling the softness of Anna's lips, she melted into the redhead, head lolling up Anna's shoulder and eyes closed.

Anna swore the water got colder for the brief moment when Elsa tensed, but she ignored it. There was a far more important task laying ahead of her.

Anna nipped up Elsa's neck and along her jaw and landed a kiss on Elsa's lips.

"Hey," Anna whispered, breaking away.

"Hi," The blonde replied, turning around to face Anna, arms wrapping around the redhead's neck. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the corner of Anna's mouth.

"Mind me asking, was it work that called?" she murmured against Anna's mouth.

The redhead glided her hands down to cup Elsa's round behind and squeezed, pleased with the small gasp that escaped the blonde.

"Yes it was," she ducked her head to nip at Elsa's jaw, swirling her tongue as she descended downwards.

"And what is it 'work' exactly?" Elsa rasped, trying to control her breathing when Anna nipped at her pulse.

"I'm a detective."

Elsa hummed. Her breath hitched when she felt Anna's hand trailing from her behind to her hip and down to core, into her slick folds. Her hand gripped Anna's saturated hair as the redhead's thumb circled her clit and two fingers slipped inside.

Lips returned to her ear as the fingers found their rhythm. "The only bad thing about working for Met is the fact I can get called in at the worst times," Her voice was strained and teeth clamped down on Elsa's earlobe. The blonde nodded, understanding Anna's meaning, she'd have to leave and soon at that. The thought of leaving the redhead's side made Elsa's heart clench a little but that was thrown aside when Anna increased her pace.

Moans filled the bathroom and in a matter of seconds Elsa was riding out another orgasm. Inner muscles clamped around the slim digits buried inside her and white blinded her. Coming down from her high, she felt Anna pressing their mouths together, drinking in her moans and pants.

The fingers retracted and the two women helped each other clean up.

* * *

It was a blur after that, they got dressed and exchanged phone numbers (Anna high-fived herself mentally as she saved the number) and then they were in the car, shooting down the busy London streets. Anna dropped Elsa off at her shared flat, they parted with a kiss and a promise to call the other. And then she was squeezing past the traffic, swivelling between the cabs and fancy cars to get to the Yard building.

She pulled the car into the garage, careful not to hit any other cars, and adjusted her collar in the rearview mirror. Satisfied that her dark coloured hickeys were hidden from prying eyes, she allowed her feet took her to the elevator at the end of the garage. She called it and tapped her foot impatiently. The elevator took her up to the floor with the Chief's office and the elderly woman at the desk, Gerda, told her to go right through to the office.

She checked the time on the clock suspended on the wall.

_11:00_

A sigh of relief passed through her lips.

_At least I'm not _awfully _late._

Anna steeled herself and rapped her knuckles against the wooden door and waited for a muted 'Enter' from the other side.

"Come on right in," the voice from the office seemed strained and Anna frowned. It was unlike the Chief Inspector to sound like that, even for his mature age, Chief Kai Olhouser was a bright pudgy man who cracked jokes at every possible moment. He'd seen everything, it would seem, and nothing could surprise him enough to promote a serious change in demeanour.

_It must be real bad._

Anna swallowed the nervousness that bobbed in her throat and pushed the door open into the large office, stepped through the gap, and shut it again. She observed the large man with two tuffs of red hair along his temples, dressed in a sharp dark green suit. His hands were folded on his desk and his brow seemed heavy, the wrinkles on his forehead becoming more pronounced.

"You wanted to see me, Chief?"

"Ah, yes. Please sit down," the balding man indicated to the seat in front of his large desk.

Anna slid into it with as much grace as she could manage, and silently congratulated herself for not tripping. She fixed the Chief with a questioning look and waited for him to speak.

"I'll get right down to business, Anna, we have a problem." His blue eyes clouded with worry as he leaned back in his chair to observe the girl in front of him.

"Chief?" a raised eyebrow.

"There's been a murder. A _very _strange murder." A file from the top of the mountain was passed Anna's way. She opened it and scanned the morgue report, frowning at the wording.

_What the...?_

She looked up at Kai, who was fixing her with a rather grim look on his face. "Surely, this can't be right. How can someone be-"

"Frozen from inside out?"


	5. The Bishop

**A/N: **Quick note, the church that's being referred to in this chapter is the Church of England in which the priests are allowed to marry. If you enjoyed this chapter please don't hesitate to review, favourite and follow cos if you do then you're pretty awesome.

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Bishop**

The rain drummed a steady pattern behind Anna, hitting the floor-to-ceiling window with unnerving accuracy. Each raindrop serving as a knife that pushed her reeling mind into a further pandemonium. The minute Anna walked out of Chief's office, the sense of uneasy settled over her like a blanket and she sought her partner out in his office. She offered little explanation as she toiled the hulking man with ease and shoved him into her car, speeding off to the holding hospital to view the body.

And now that Kristoff and her had returned from the morgue, she couldn't help but feel her head growing heavier with each breath. The assistant, a man bigger in stature than Kristoff by the name of Oaken, had repeated everything that was written in report, commenting loosely about the lack of blood loss and how the wounds seemed to just expand from the victim's body. He offered his own theory about the murder but it didn't sit right with Anna, there was too many variables and too many blanks were left empty.

Upon returning to the station a young woman met them at the desk, explaining quickly that their team was in a briefings room waiting for them and that a press conference was to begin in around an hour. Anna didn't speak as the young Constable led them to one of the briefings room where the remainder of their team loitered about. Anna spared them a glance, feeling her head was near bursting, and took a seat at one of the grey desks littering the perimeter. The room seemed to quieten down and all eyes turned to her expectantly, all knowing her face and name and reputation.

The Detective Inspector sat in the briefings room's desk, hands clasped in front of her face like in a prayer, elbows bracing on the smooth surface. Her mind was reeling, the case was something completely unearthly altogether and she was no longer surprised that the Chief has asked for her to take it on.

She was _the_ Detective of Yard. The absolute best.

No crime, no _murder_, could leave her mind unravelled and without a clear, concise answer. She could always come up with a solution even when the rest of her team were left flabbergasted at the human cruelty. It was her job and the only thing that mattered to her. It was what she was best at, and not just best in her own mind – she was _the _best in England's mind. A shining beacon of hope in the darkest of cases, something that soothed the public.

They knew the case would be solved and the ones involved would receive a hefty penalty for their crimes whenever the newspapers declared she was the one on the case. They always made sure to emphasise that it was Anna Bunker taking up the case.

And yet in all her shining glory she couldn't see into the assailant's mind. She couldn't understand how or more importantly, _why_, they would commit the crime. It wasn't a passionate kill. It was cold and meticulous and completely impersonal. It pulled Anna to a stand still. She emphasised with the criminals to get into their head, see how they'd react and what they'd do, and then used it against them.

But how could she begin to do that when there was no witness, no leads, a simple and devastating _nothing_ to give her an insight of some sort. There was nothing par the body and even it bore no clues to how the act was done.

Well, there was one thing.

In the victim's clenched, frozen hand, laid a dainty crocus. A pretty little thing which would've aided the case as much if it wasn't there at all.

Anna wanted to laugh. The whole thing seemed ridiculous, it was almost like some ethereal being had glided down from it's high perched throne in the sky and struck in the dead of night for no other reason than to simply mess with everyone's head. It confounded the Inspector that something so glacial, so utterly psychopathic, could've happened.

She frowned like thunder and focused on what her mind was repeating to her. The 'detective' part of her mind, courtesy of her parents, always got her back on track when her 'Anna' part seemed overwhelmed, but now it appeared that the two halves of her consciousness were stuttering in disbelief. They were only able to focus on one phrase, and repeated it like a prayer, over and over and over.

_Frozen from inside out._

The words left a bitter taste on her tongue with each repeat. She forced her eyes shut and made her heart slow down. She carefully laid out a question in her mind.

_How could it have happened?_

She turned to the suggestions offered by Oaken and the various forensics working on the case. Some guessed liquid nitrogen was used, the body immersed in it post-mortem, others that the victim was placed in a tank of water and taken over by hypothermia as the night fell. They seemed plausible and had a sound logic behind them, but neither explained the ultimately killing wounds or the lack of blood.

They then offered that maybe some sort of blood clotting drug was used, but without evidence, Anna turned it down as well.

It was all too well prepared, all too perfect, to be a simple murder. But with a single death, could Anna really slap on the name of a serial killer on the case? Her gut was telling her yes and the 'detective' instilled in her mind was agreeing in earnest.

She stood up from the desk. All eyes in the room following her movement as she took out an enlarged copy of the crime scene and strode over to the white board at the head of the room, sticking the photo on it. She stepped back to let the team to examine the photograph and let her eyes roam the faces in the room, seeking out their reactions with a carefully trained expressionless face. A mixed reaction of horror, confusion and curiosity swept over the faces and she glanced at Kristoff.

He wore a similarly masked expression as her, the two having looked over the photo enough times to have it etched into their minds. Noticing that Anna was fixing him with a look, he locked their eyes and nodded.

A murmur has broken over the room and breaking their eye contact, Anna cleared her throat, all eyes returning to her.

"As you can all see, we have a _very _unusual case. A precise murder which I believe could be a start to many," she pronounced carefully, making her meaning known.

"Wait, you think it's a serial killer?"

"Exactly."

A series of confused muttering followed the statement.

"Hold on now!" the mutterings dulled down, the sea parting to reveal the speaker. "We can't just slap on the name, we've no proo-"

"I trust you've read the autopsy report." The officer opened and closed his mouth, clearly not used to being interrupted. He gathered his bearings and nodded. "Then you will know that we have all the proof we need."

_Of course we won't tell the press that._ She wanted to add but stopped herself short.

She fixed the team with a steady look, pausing deliberately to get the words right.

"The killing wasn't something fuelled by an intense emotion but was done in a deliberate and calculated way. It would've taken a lot of time to prepare and execute, not mention arranging the body. The location and what was found on the victim is also crucial," she paused again, striding over to the desk to retrieve the remaining photograph.

"The victim was found holding a crocus his hand," the photo was stuck to the board, "and the location is Durward Street, Whitechapel." The white board marker scribbled down the two pieces of information.

"Questions?" Anna turned back around, leaning against the board and crossing her arms over her chest. Her heart was still thundering against her ribcage again and she took shaky breaths in a feeble attempt to calm it down.

"Have they identified the victim yet, Ma'am?" The title was added like an afterthought.

She glanced at Kristoff, knowing he would remember the name better than her.

"Yeah, they have," he spoke up, the room turned to him in unison. It would've usually made Anna laugh at how the roomful of grown men and women looked to Kristoff like a group of children, hanging onto each word that left his lips. But now was not the time or place, and she highly doubted she could muster a laugh.

"The victim was identified as Bishop Claude Frollo of Diocese of London."

"Who identified him, Sir?"

"Um, his son."

Anna glanced at the board behind her. She had a nagging feeling that the flower placed in Frollo's hand wasn't just a signature but more of a hint.

A Bishop, who's sole reason was to guide and teach, didn't deserve to die for no apparent reason.

Maybe it was a hint? Maybe the killer was punishing the Bishop for something? And if that was the case, if the killer thought themselves to be some sort of avenging angel, it would give Anna an insight.

"What does a crocus symbolise?" She asked the room, feeling the eyes on her neck. Her eyes were still locked with the crocus. It was almost like it was trying to tell her something and _Gods_ it was killing her that she couldn't figure it out.

"Um, it's meant to be the flower of fun." Maybe it wasn't telling her anything about the victim then.

It could however, Anna rationalised, be a glimpse into what the killer felt during the act.

She turned to write the tibit on the board. As her back was turned to rest of the team, she allowed her frustration to show on her face. The nerve of that killer. It would amuse him to no end to know that Anna Bunker hadn't a clue what was going through his head. He must be congratulating himself for his wit.

_It must be real fun to fuck with us._

She nearly growled at the photo of the blue flower. In that moment she swore she would find him and bring him to justice, even if she had to drag his corpse up to a figurative podium and shout out that he was the one responsible. Hell knew she'd do it.

She returned the marker to it's original place with contained anger and before turning around, schooled her features to remain blank. She needed to hide her turmoil, the anger boiling up inside of her, from her team, although she was sure that Kristoff could practically smell the deadly broth on her like sewage. She glided over to the desk and flipped through the file, reading over her hastily written notes.

"Thank you. Now then-"

"Blue is the colour of Lust." Anna tore her eyes from the pages. Eyes locking unto a placid woman with a ponytail that spilled over her shoulder like a waterfall. Brown eyes stared into blue and Anna refused to back down from the improvised staring contest.

Maybe the flower was a bigger hint then. Or maybe it was simply holding a candle to something, letting Anna read something kept in the dark. It could be showing her that the death of the Bishop wasn't for simple thrill of the kill but for a 'righteous reason'.

Tearing her eyes away from the brown orbs, she shifted her attention to Kristoff. "Does the Bishop have a file?"

"I'll send someone to check." He left the room before Anna could thank him.

_Send yourself to check, you mean._

She nodded her thanks to the placid woman and returned her attention to the situation on hand.

"Alright, we seem to have what appears to be a copy cat," she strode around the perimeter of the room, arms folded across her chest. She heard a vague mutter and strained her ear to catch it.

_Did they seriously ask of whom? For real?_

"A copy cat of Jack the Ripper," she tried to identify the whisperer but upon failing, glanced up and down the mass. "As such, areas known to have been a Ripper scene are to be patrolled around the clock and anyone who seems suspicious is to be detained immediately and held for questioning."

With that she strode to the desk, gathered her files, and left the room with a stunned team staring at her in confusion at her abrupt finish.

* * *

Kristoff found her soon after she stormed out of the briefings room. Pushing the door open of her office armed with lunch and coffee and Frollo's file. Well dinner really, considering her clock was telling her it past five already.

Anna sipped on her coffee while reading the file.

She needed to put the sandwich down when she opened up it. The man was a dearly respected authority figure within the community, this she knew, but her view of the elderly Bishop shifted completely when she began to read.

He was one of the priests involved in the paedophilia scandal a few years back, but the charges were dropped and he didn't face the trail like other lower ranking men, no doubt thanks to his influence and money. All of the youths who accused him withdrew the charges and laid low, eventually moving from London or left the country entirely. There was also a mention, many years before the scandal, of how he was held for questioning due to his wife's and her lover's murder, he wasn't charged and was subsequently released.

Anna let out a humourless chuckle and tossed the file on the desk, returning her attention to the forgotten sandwich.

"When's the conference?" she asked between bites. Gods, she was starving.

The news of the strange murder in Whitechapel spread like wildfire. The presses have been calling since the body of the Bishop was found in the early hours of the morning and were at the scene when Anna and Kristoff arrived there on their way back to the station from the holding hospital. The Inspector was sure hers and Kristoff's images were circulating around the web, the Ripper fans probably likening her to Inspector Abberline and feverishly creating their parallels.

"About fifteen minutes," came an answer. Kristoff chewed his own sandwich thoughtfully. "What will we tell them?"

"Well," she sat a little straighter in her chair, "we can't really say that Frollo was killed because someone wanted revenge for what he's done. Let's just stick to solid facts."

The blond man made a sound which indicated his approval and the two continued eating in silence.

* * *

Fifteen minutes passed far too quickly for Anna's liking.

She had the words clear in her head as they entered the high ceiling conference room filled to the brim with cameras and reporters. She swallowed a lump in her throat as she took the seat beside the Chief. She was feeling thoroughly unnerved with the whole ordeal, normally meetings with press was a thing she nearly looked forward to.

She hated to admit it but she liked when attention was on her. It made her feel just a little bit more special knowing that all those people wanted to hear what she had to say, that they maybe even admired her.

She straightened her notes, taking it as opportunity to glance around the room to see who was in attendance.

Anna gulped as she realised that all the reputable news-providers had sent their representatives. She quenched down her growing anxiety with a long sip of water.

A hush sounded throughout the room as the Chief started to speak, introducing Anna and Kristoff, all but a formality, they all knew their faces and names. The cameras were rolling, recording each word. The snippets of the conference were to be aired during the six o'clock news, to be shown to the world and all Anna could do was steel herself.

_Don't fuck up Anna._

The Chief turned to her. Anna took it as her cue and began reading out her notes with as much poise and clarity as the lump in her throat allowed. The journalists clung to each word that left her lips as she recounted the location of the body and the state it was found in. It was the solid facts, just like she and Kristoff agreed, but she knew by the look of some journalists that they drew up to the same conclusion as she has.

The killer was Jack the Ripper copycat who held a grudge against the Bishop.

She cleared her throat as she finished recounting the facts and took a tentative sip of her water. She could barely hear past the drumming of her heart.

"Any questions?" She heard Kristoff ask. It was like being underwater, his voice seemed distant even though he was sitting right beside her.

A woman dressed in a sharp dark suit raised her hand, the journalists around her seemed to follow suit, cameras flashing as pictures were taken. Kristoff indicated for her to speak and she stood up with flawless grace.

_Not her._

"Is it possible that the murderer was targeting Bishop Claude Frollo due to his involvement in the Church scandal a few years back?"

Anna cleared her throat.

"It's a possibility, yes."

The woman nodded, scribbled Anna's answer down and sat down, keeping a keen eye on the Inspector to gauge out Anna's reactions. Another wave of hands shot up and again Kristoff picked for Anna.

A man this time.

"Is it true that the murder is allegedly to be labelled as an act of a serial killer?"

There was an excited whisper amongst the crowd, and the scribbling of pens intensified. The journalists absolutely loved serial killers, they could make up so much about them, especially when they were particularly elusive. Anna knew this. She also knew that she needed to quench down the idea of a new serial killer roaming the streets of London now least she wanted widespread panic to overcome the city.

"We don't have enough evidence to label the case as anything other than manslaughter at current time." She could feel the throb of a headache behind her eyes. "One last question, please."

Once again Kristoff picked for her, sneaking her a worried glance.

"Does the Police have any suspects?"

_Oh bother._

"Currently we're working on the motive," Anna answered with an exhausted sigh.

"And what's the motive?"

She clenched her jaw. She had to admit it, she knew nothing, she was clueless. So much for being the best Yard could offer.

"We don't know yet."

The three officers thanked the collective, closing the conference, and the room seemed to erupt as Anna and Kristoff quickly made a beeline for the door. Eager to escape the journalists and their questions.

Little did they know that the murderer grinned as they escaped the room, utterly pleased that they managed to make Anna Bunker look like a complete rookie.

The noise of the conference room and the journalists seemed to swallow their grin.


	6. Comfort

**A/N:** It's nearly 5 am and I'm here updating for you guys. So bit of background in this chapter also sorta fluff near the end. As always, if you enjoyed this chapter please tell me, make me happy when I wake up.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Comfort**

Elsa's pale fingers drummed against the desk, fingertips grazing the thick stack of papers, playing with the edges. The maths papers were neatly tucked under her right elbow, the question clearly visible. Her icy blue eyes scanned the printed problem, making sure the numbers she substituted into the formula were correct, and scribbled down her answer.

She flicked through the stack of papers to find the solution, quickly checking the answer she got with the computer generated one. Upon seeing that they matched, Elsa dropped her pen and stretched her arms above her head, joints popping.

Her arms dropped and she allowed her rigidly straight back to relax and slump into the worn leather. Her fingers tousled her windswept hair and she trailed them down the column of her neck to circle the dark bruise she knew to be there.

She let herself into the flat when Anna dropped her off, mind set on getting a coffee to soothe her throbbing headache. She wanted to simply relax on the sofa and sieve through the memories of last night, she told herself firmly that it was only because she wanted to make sure she didn't violate the wonderful redhead she spend the night with, and not to relive the night of passion.

However, the moment the door opened she was greeted with a bouncing Olaf who pulled her into one of his trademark 'warm hugs'. He prattled on about what mischief he and Sven got into last night and upon releasing her from the crushing hug, which she had somewhat reluctantly returned, pulled her deeper into the flat and into the living room.

Her eyes zoomed in on the plush sofa in the centre of the room, wanting nothing more than to cuddle into the soft cotton, and felt her body tense up. Her shoulders going ridged and back straightening to a vertical line immediately when her eyes found the short brunette staring up at her. Rapunzel had crashed at their flat last night, it being closer than the brunette's and Eugene's house on the outskirts of the vast metropolis. It was planned, naturally, so the sight of Rapunzel wasn't what startled Elsa, it was the guilt bubbling up in her gut like heartburn.

The guilt that she slept with her friend's younger cousin.

The guilt that she came back baring marks of last night for all to see.

Olaf, bless his soul, noticed the tension overtaking Elsa's body and escaped to the kitchen, promising to return with coffee. The two women were left alone and Elsa felt her throat close up, knowing she won't be able to get the apology which scratched at the closed airways pleadingly past her still swollen lips.

"I see that your night went well," brown head nodded at the dark mark peaking out from behind Elsa's braid, green eyes shining playfully.

A grin spread across Rapunzel's pretty face, eyes crinkling, when she spotted her friend's deep crimson blush igniting her face like wildfire. Elsa tried to splutter out her apology, guilt eating up her insides even more with the knowledge that Rapunzel _knew_ what they did. She attempted to cover the mark with her hair, folding the braid around her neck like a scarf.

_She's going to hate me. She'll remove me from her life. Oh god, oh god, ohgodohgodohgod._

A mirthful laugh snapped Elsa out her trance, eyes zeroing in the petite woman. Her voice finally found her and she managed to rasp out, "You aren't mad?"

The brunette took a tentative sip of her tea, mulling over her words before answering her friend of over five years.

"Why would I be?" a gentle smile, honest and lacking any teasing or threat of imminent friendship breakdown. "As long as you make her happy I don't care. And I know you _will_ make her happy, Els." she added before Elsa could interrupt her.

_I doubt that, Punzie. _She wanted to say but stopped short. The brunette didn't need to know the depth of her self-deprecation. Elsa instead just smiled a small barely there smile and nodded, seemingly accepting her kind words.

A moment of silence fell over the duo as Rapunzel continued to sip her tea, Elsa took the liberty of taking one of loungers, tucking her legs underneath her. Olaf returned from the adjoining kitchen with two steaming mugs and handed one to Elsa, who thanked him gratefully, before bouncing over to the sofa. The aroma flooded Elsa's nostrils and she took an appreciative smell, the coffee soothing her headache in it's bitter velvet. She smiled, bathing in the smell, and took a tentative sip of her steaming coffee.

"Did you get her number?" She nearly choked on her drink, her throat burning and blistering from the contact with the hot liquid.

She spluttered for a minute, trying to clear her airways, she could practically _feel _the brunette grin on her skin.

"Yes." She answered shortly, coughing lightly as she returned her lips to the brim of the mug.

Rapunzel and Olaf exchanged a sly look, and the dark haired boy giggled, swirling his drink in his mug.

"You should call her, Elsa! Invite your girlfriend over for dinner!" He grinned at her.

"She's not _my girlfriend_."

_But she should be._

"Yet!" The two pipped up brightly, flashing her disarming smiles in unison.

Elsa opened and closed mouth like a fish.

_Unbelievable. _

She really wanted to storm out of the living room and go to her room like a grumpy child, but her manners and upbringing prevented her from doing so. She huffed in the most dignified manner she could muster and firmly plastered her attention to the black liquid.

The two shared a chuckle and continued to tease Elsa amongst themselves, and the woman in question blocked their voices out. Her focus never once wandering from her mug.

"But seriously, you _should_ call her, or text her. Whichever works," Rapunzel remarked lazily, stretching her limbs and flopping down again.

"Not today."

"Why not?" Olaf pipped up.

"Something came up in work." Elsa glanced up at him.

_Something big._ She wanted to add and suppressed a grin that wanted to bloom on her face.

She could feel a dark chuckle in the back of her mind, knowing it was nearing to the surface speedily. She needed to get away before it reared it's ugly head, least she wanted her friends to come head to head with it.

"I'm going to be in my room, call me if you need me," she said quickly, feet taking her to her bedroom with practised ease. The lock clicked in place and she started to pace, the mug still in her hands, burning against her flesh.

_Olaf called Anna my girlfriend._ _Shit, shit, shit, shitshitshit._

She was starting to hyperventilate. She welcomed the painful sizzle of the ceramic against her palms, clenching them around the mug like an anchor. It was her her only link with reality as far as she cared, the burning sensation keeping her planted in the now.

_And Punzie thinks _I'd _be good for her._

'_Who are you kidding you're going to break her, like everyone else. And when she finds out _what _you are she'll leave you quicker than you can ask her to stay._'

The liquid started to freeze, room becoming noticeably colder with each passing moment.

_No! No she _won't_! She's _different_! She'll _understand_!_

Elsa tried telling herself that but the voice in her head just chuckled in it's cruel way.

'_You'll think she'll accept you? And what maybe even _love _you? Don't be foolish, you're a monster!_'

It's like she was hearing her parents all over again.

Parents who were meant to love and cherish her.

Parents who forced her to stay shut in for nearly thirteen years after her powers came to light.

Parents who fought each night, laying the blame on the other.

Parents whom she _tried _to love only to be turned down each time.

'_How could she love someone __**who killed her parents**__! How could she love someone who doesn't even respect her! Someone who hurt her so much that the mark is still _there_!_'

The mug cracked and fell in heaps on the floor, frozen coffee hitting the carpet with a dull _thug_. Elsa crumpled around it, tugging at her hair.

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!" Her nails dug painfully into her scalp, the pain distracting her from the mad laughter in her mind.

'_The minute she finds that the only thing that makes you _feel _is death, she'll be gone. She'll arrest you. Throw you into jail, lock you up for life. Maybe then you'll _learn_._'

She shook her head, trying to disagree but she knew deep down that it would happen. And all she could do was sob.

She didn't know how long she laid on the floor, but only when the voice subsided into the depths of her retched mind, did she allow herself to look up.

The room was frozen, frost and snow lining everything in sight, each falling snowflake has stopped mid motion and the frost lined the carpet where she laid broken. There were long spikes radiated from the walls, pointing at her with an accusing finger. She swallowed painfully and focused on breathing steadily, reigning her powers in, and watched the frost and ice disappear into nothingness as she calmed.

She nodded, pleased that she was able to defrost the room by herself.

_Conceal, don't feel._

She steeled herself, shutting out all her emotions and wiping her mind of the gorgeous redhead. She needed to control herself, knowing that the biting element could run wild if she lost her precarious grip on it.

She wiped the drying tear marks from her face, the salt burning upon contact.

Elsa continued to breathe steadily. In and out. In and out.

She flexed her hands, clenching them despite the shakes and made herself stand up, clean up the shattered mug and the still frozen coffee.

_It's a shame, it was my favourite mug as well. _She grimaced at broken ceramic and tossed it into the bin without looking back.

The blonde seated herself at her desk, pulled out an old maths papers and started solving any and all equations that came her way.

It relaxed her, the numbers were so much more stable than her and she found solace in knowing that there wasn't many ways she could fuck up. Whilst in real life, there was so many variables, so many ways to die or to screw up her life that it made Elsa's head dizzy. Yes, there was steadiness in numbers that she craved to possess but knew it would be always out of her reach.

The blonde woman chuckled, it all sounded so silly, even in her head, to crave so banal as steadiness. She would never get it. Like comfort and love and understanding, it was something so out of her reach that she questioned it's existence.

She fiddled with her phone, sending a quick message to Olaf, and continued working.

* * *

Anna gathered her coat and files in one arm, the other was busy finding the name that Anna yearned for.

She was exhausted, completely emotionally and mentally drained from the press conference and subsequent meeting with Kristoff and Sven. All she wanted to do right now was to curl up and shut the case out. She wanted to forget the photograph of the Bishop, forget reading his file, forget everything that has occurred today par Elsa.

Elsa. That's who she needed right now and as if her phone has read her mind, the blonde's name rolled up on her screen.

_Wait, what if she doesn't want to talk to me?_

She stopped a foot away from her car and nibbled on her lip, suddenly anxious.

_I mean _it is _a one-night stand. What if that's all she wants?_

A vague memory from last night resurfaced but it was all sharpened down to Elsa and the way she was looking at Anna. The redhead Detective admitted that no one has ever looked at her with such tangible love all clearly written on their face, it was a look that long married couple would send in each other, the complete adoration and openness and so _content_.

Yes, Elsa looked at her like she loved her and although Anna wasn't sure if it was the alcohol knitting Elsa's beautiful face into such a breathtaking expression, she was sure she wanted to see it again. Even if she wasn't on the receiving end.

Gathering her wits before her screen shut down, Anna selected Elsa's number and dialled.

After what seemed like an eternity, Elsa picked up and Anna's heart fluttered in her chest at the sound of her voice.

"_Hello?_"

"Hi, Elsa! It's, um, me Anna?"

"_Hey! How are you?_"

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," she opened up the car door and climbed in.

_Sure, Anna._

"I was wondering..."

"_Yes?_"

"Would you like to grab something to eat? I know this lovely restaurant, it's kinda secluded and all, not that I would you know try to do anything without your permission, but it's good for conversations and stuff, which is something I'd like to do to y- with you! With you." She went to slam her head against the steering wheel but instead ended up hitting the honk, the blare making her jump.

_Smooth, Anna. You must be a hit with the ladies._

A chuckle came across the line and Anna groaned, feeling the blush creeping up her neck. Elsa sure as hell heard the honk, no way she didn't.

"_I'd love to_," came a silky response laced with a tint of humour.

_Apparently, I am a hit with the ladies._

"Great! Um, I'll pick you in half an hour? Does that suit?"

"_Half an hour sounds perfect, Anna_." She shuddered at the way Elsa said her name, she swallowed and continued speaking, albeit shakily.

"Alright I'll see you then!"

"_See you._"

The line disconnected and Anna sat with the phone pressed up against her ear, a wide completely idiotic smile glazing her lips. She pulled the phone away from her ear and _simply _stared at it with the same dopey look on her face.

_That just happened._

She mentally congratulated her as she slipped the phone into her jeans and tightened her seatbelt, she was speeding down the streets in no time.

* * *

Anna fixed her leather jacket as she stepped out of the car holding a bouquet of roses, praying to whoever was listening that Elsa didn't find them too cheesy. She texted the blonde when she arrived under the flat that she was outside and waited another five minutes before she stepped out.

It was a chilly night, however the rain had subsided before she arrived home from the station.

She leaned against the hood of her car, sneaking glances up and down the street. She was distracted by one of the fancier looking streetlamps to the extend that she didn't hear the door of Elsa's flat complex opening and closing until she heard a faint _click clack_ of shoes on the pavement.

Anna turned her head and her mouth fell open.

_Wow._

Elsa's choice of clothes hugged her figure delectably, her curves accented by a grey-blue button down and a simple black blazer. And Anna felt her heart stop.

_You're so beautiful._

"Thank you," Elsa chuckled, smirking at Anna in a dopey manner.

Anna felt her cheeks redden, great she really _couldn't_ control her mouth Elsa. But how could she when Elsa looked every bit a Goddess, she was perfect, completely and utterly godly and really if Anna wasn't already falling in love with the real life Greek statue, she was going to now.

She cleared her throat and presented Elsa with the bouquet like a child would to their mother, liking that Elsa's eyes widened at the sight.

_Jackpot. _

She didn't expect, however, for Elsa to lean in and press a gentle kiss on her cheek. Her breath got stuck in her throat, the contact sending electricity down to her fingertips. She wanted to pull Elsa closer and press their lips together. But now was not the time, no, first she would have to woo Elsa before she could hope to kiss and touch her like that again. And if she fell in love while trying then she wouldn't mind one bit.

She nearly caved into the desire when Elsa breathed out her next words, lips still against her cheek.

"I'm quite sure you trump them in your beauty."

Anna swallowed and turned her head slightly, adapting a voice which she hoped would send sparks down Elsa's spine.

"You're one to talk, milady." She grinned when Elsa visibly shivered at her words. Their eyes locked and she could feel Elsa releasing a shuddering breath. And Anna then realised how close they were standing, Elsa's breath tickling her lips and she had to swallow to get a grip.

She was going to do this properly. She wouldn't cave into some carnal desire like last night. No she was on a mission, a mission to make Elsa hers. Properly hers.

"Shall we?" The redhead nodded in a general direction and upon receiving a nod from the blonde, opened the passenger door for her.

Elsa only rolled her eyes at the gestures, seeing it as unnecessary but going along with it because hell it was nice to be treated like a princess by someone who didn't need to treat you as such. The doors closed after Elsa clambered in and before she knew it Anna was beside her in the drivers seat.

They tightened their seatbelts and they left the flat complex with dexterity.


	7. For the First Time in Forever

**A/N: **Soo I'll be honest I put off writing this chapter, mainly cause I thought I wasn't gonna right it well enough. I'm kinda happy how it turned out though, so if you guys feel the same please let me know in the reviews. I do appreciate all your thoughts and insights and if you want to share either please do.

With that said I've an announcement to make, I'm going back to school tomorrow, Monday, and I won't be able to update more than once a week. So don't worry if you don't see an update, I haven't given up on this story, I'm probably just swamped with work. Fifth year isn't fun, you guys.

Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 7: For the First Time in Forever**

Anna took a deep breath as she led Elsa down the street to the new bistro. She was focusing on the footpath in front of her, making sure her foot didn't catch in the uneven and time cracked concrete.

After she parked her car as near to the restaurant as the parked cars allowed, the young redhead went around to open the door for Elsa. She admitted that as much as it was to protect her property from being knocked off it's hinges, she didn't want Elsa to get hurt and she really wanted her to impress her. However, on her way around the car, she managed to get foot caught in her own blasted car and in the end, Elsa exited the vehicle without Anna's assistance.

She nearly huffed and puffed but one look from Elsa and she was all warm smiles and gentle words.

The redhead firmly told herself when they started heading towards the bistro, that she wouldn't trip and make a fool of herself in front of the elegant, poised blonde. She was absolutely consumed with her very important self-administered task that she never realised that Elsa looped their arms and traced absent-minded patterns with her thumb on Anna's biceps.

She was getting perpetually more worried with each step that brought them towards the bistro. It only opened recently, an extension to a widely popular Parisian bistro operated by a son of a chef who stumped around claiming anyone could cook. And Anna overheard one of the younger Detectives praising it wildly, amongst gushing about what occurred after the meal was finished. The redhead nearly tackled the young man to get the address, probably scared him half to death as well and convinced more officers that she was insane.

But now as they were nearing the establishment, Anna became worried that Elsa wouldn't share her enthusiasm for French food and wouldn't enjoy herself half as much as Anna wanted her to. Maybe she wouldn't even want to see Anna again. What she do then?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts as they approached the metal hanging sign, embedded with the famous rat logo.

Elsa's arm was tucked into Anna's as they stepped into the the bistro, the warm air wrapping the two contrasting women in a tight hug. The air inside a contrast to the cool night.

The aromatic smell of meticulously prepared food wafted through Elsa's nostrils, tickling her appetite in all the right places. She could feel her mouth watering as she experimentally sniffed the air inside the bistro under the pretence of looking around the tasteful interior.

The dark boiseries were illuminated in the low hanging lights suspended over each individual table. The chairs' elegant dark wood with plushy red velvet matched the dark tables and fitted underneath them perfectly like a glove. And as the waiter, a tall auburn haired man with sparkling green eyes, led them over to a more secluded corner of the bistro, Elsa concluded that the interior had a definite French streak to it.

The dark wooded chair slid under Elsa as she sat down at the offered table, nodding a polite smile to the waiter.

The redhead flashed the blonde a wide smile and rested her hand on the table. Elsa reached out, pausing slightly in hesitation, and rested her hand Anna's, thumb circling the redhead's knuckles. Anna's grin widened at the gesture and the slight tension in her shoulders dropped like a sack of flour.

_Good going Anna_. She extended her fingers to squeeze the blonde's thumb.

"I didn't see you as someone who likes French cuisine," Elsa remarked cautiously, icy blue eyes glancing around the establishment. "You seem more like an Italian type of person."

Anna shrugged, "I don't seem like a lot of things and yet I am."

"Like what?" The blonde cocked her eyebrow.

_Like totally falling in love with this one cute blonde girl. You may actually know her too, sweet like sugar and more beautiful than the stars and heavens. Gods, if you only knew how I couldn't stop thinking about her all day, it's like she's already become my entire solar system and galaxy. And I really want her to become my universe too._

"Like having a horrible sweet tooth, seriously, I could eat anything as long as it was sweet. But my favourite has to be chocolate, yes sir," the redhead giggled. Elsa swore her heart swelled in her chest with the affection for the younger woman.

_She's so cute._

"And what would be your favourite chocolate, Miss Bunker?"

"Hmm, now that's a difficult question Miss Arendelle, you're putting me on the spot," the redhead tapped her finger against her lower lip in mock contemplation, "I say my favourite would have to Lindt because it tastes like actual chocolate? It just melts on your tongue and, ah! It's absolutely amazing, best chocolate you can get without paying an arm and a leg for."

The redhead giggled nervously and Elsa grinned, squeezing Anna's hand.

The tall waiter returned with a jug of water and bread basket, menus tucked under his arm, and set the jug and the basket between the two women as they somewhat reluctantly slid their hands away from each other.

"Have you ever been to been to France?" The blonde asked after the waiter handed them their menus and slunk away to tend to other patrons in the bistro. Elsa flicked through her menu as Anna filled their glasses. The blonde nodded her thanks at the offered glass.

"I have," the redhead took a sip of her water before continuing, "Kristoff, the tall blond guy that was with me the other night, and myself went to Paris with our class when we were sixteen. You know, a class outing before the exams started. I think our teacher thought it would do us good to actually speak French outside of class, but I'll be honest, I had Kristoff do all the talking," she pushed a lose strand behind her ear as she reached across the table. Elsa grabbed her hand without hesitation.

"The food is just so different from chippers that I couldn't help it, I stuffed my face with everything in sight. I don't think I actually remember anything from that trip but the food." Anna finished with a chuckle, eyes focused on hers and Elsa's hand. She flipped Elsa's hand over and started tracing lines across her palm, noting that Elsa shuddered at her light touch. "I must admit, food is sort of my life. Although I can't really cook anything but a toast and even then I burn it, so I stick with eating out most of the time."

The redhead looked up through her eyelashes to lock eyes with Elsa.

"Have you ever been in France?" her voice was quiet, and Elsa leaned forward to catch the words.

_Definitely not counting all her freckles._

"I went with my parents when I was very young, regrettably I remember very little," she shrugged, fingers stretching out to caress the inside of Anna's wrist.

Anna nodded. Comfortable silence fell over the two as the younger of the duo flipped through the menu with her free hand. The blonde busying herself with one of the baguettes in the bread basket. Anna stole a glance when the torn off piece of bread was pressed up against the red lips and she swallowed thickly when it disappeared into the wet cavern. She snapped her eyes back to the menu, willing her libido to stay down and let her enjoy the night.

"Where are you from exactly?" The redhead looked up at Elsa, "I mean Punzle mentioned you weren't English before but she didn't tell _where _you were from?"

Elsa took a sip of her water, "I was born and raised in Norway – Bergen area," she smiled at Anna's raised brow. She concealed her giggle behind her hand as Anna's expression grew from slightly surprised to an exaggerated appreciation. Still smiling, she turned the question back at Anna.

"Hmm, well I was born in London but I spend a lot of my childhood in Ireland, Galway city specifically. My mother was Irish, you see, so I lived with her parents until I was eleven, then I moved back to England and started going to secondary school here and yeah." She smiled brightly at the woman opposite her.

Before Elsa could inquire any further, the waiter returned and asked if they had chosen what they wanted to eat. Their hands separated and fingers flipped through the pages of the menu with practised dexterity.

"Um, could I have a Blanquette de Veau and a Paris-Brest for dessert, please." The redhead replied swiftly. The waiter muttered an affirmative, scribbling down the order in his little notepad.

"And you, ma'am?" His head turned to Elsa.

"A Confit de Canard and a strawberry pie would be lovely, thank you," she passed him a small smile.

"Perhaps you could bring us out a bottle of Chateau Latour 1982 as well?" Anna added after a moment, winking at Elsa when she levelled her with a questioning look. The waiter nodded and took up their menus before leaving quickly.

_Isn't that expensive?_ Elsa wanted to ask but stopped herself short, she didn't want to bring up the topic of money this early on.

"Aren't you driving?" Elsa cocked her head at Anna, hand returning to the smooth surface of the table to grasp the warmth of Anna's flesh.

"I'm only going to have a glass with the food," the woman answered quickly, her hand squeezing Elsa's lightly to bring weight to her answer.

A bottle of the wine Anna requested, and accompanying glasses, were dropped off on their table by the waiter. He offered to open it, and upon uncorking the bottle poured in the ruby liquid into the simmering glasses. Anna nodded her thanks and clinked their glasses together.

She swirled the dark liquid around in it's glass and took an appreciative sniff of the beverage, an equally appreciative sip followed.

"Mind me asking something?" Elsa asked somewhat hesitantly, taking a tentative sip of the wine in hopes it would give her some courage. She felt her insides curling in on themselves from the fine wine, it's like they were trying to back away from the poison Elsa fed them, but found themselves trapped in a cage made of bones and skin and muscle. A wall impenetrable from both inside and outside.

"Sure," Anna replied with a grin, her own glass returning to it's place where it would vigilantly vanguard the table until the mouthwatering dish would arrive.

"Why did you decide to be join the police? I mean you don't really seem the type and ah," Elsa sheepishly looked down, biting her lip. She could _hear_ Anna's grin widening across her lips.

The redhead turned Elsa's hand over again, tracing meaningless lines with her fingertips, making Elsa quiver in her skin. The blonde hated to admit how sensitive her hands were, perhaps it was the lack on manual work in her life and the constant pampering when she was still a child, but even that didn't provide a suitable excuse for how the lightest brush against her palm or the back of her hand could ignite an inferno across her skin.

"My parents were part of the force. I guess I just kinda wanted to follow their footsteps and I really don't like to see people hurt so I guess that was part of the reason too," the woman shrugged and turned her attention back to their intertwined hands. Fingers trailed up to the inside of the blonde's wrist.

"_Were_?" The fingers stopped their tantalising touch and splayed against the pale flesh.

"Yeah, they died when I was fifteen, shot on duty," her voice was but a whisper. The redhead sighed at the bitter memory and forced the lump that threatened to bob up in her throat back out into the depths of her heart, a place she hadn't visited ever since she became a Constable. Now was not the time to drown in sorrow and she willed herself to not follow the lump of sadness.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Elsa feigned an apologetic look.

She didn't feel particularly sorry for the faith her parents had suffered by her hand, although it was an accident – that's what she told herself at least. She did feel sorry, however, for making Anna suffer and for hurting her in the progress: the white streak in the younger woman's hair standing as evidence of her guilt. She forced her eyes down when they started to trail up to look at the offending mark hidden in the vibrant red and prayed Anna didn't notice.

She couldn't look her in the face. Anna's soulful eyes would reflect the sadness and hurt and all the emotions she kept under the pillow ever since Elsa mercilessly took her parents away from her. They would plague Elsa's dreams and follow her around and more than anything, they would make Elsa feel guilty. She didn't want to feel guilty. It was an accident, she didn't mean to do it, so why feel guilty about something that she couldn't have stopped anyway?

_Now that's a lie. You _could've _stopped it if you wanted to. But you didn't and for God's sake look the girl in the eye. It's your fault so at least help her shoulder her broken heart._

"It's fine," Anna gave her a dimmed smile, eyes watery.

_Great Elsa, look what you've done now._

A faint inkling of regret itched underneath Elsa's skin and she wanted to squirm at the unusual sensation. She was so caught up in chastising herself for upsetting the one person in the world she never wanted to hurt that she nearly missed the next words that went past Anna's pink lips.

"What do your parents do?"

She could barely make herself look up at the redhead, not wanting to face the sadness emanating from Anna's gorgeous eyes but knowing she should shoulder some of it. She was the cause. She ought to shoulder some of the hurt Anna was experiencing even if it was an old scar's ache. She should be there for Anna.

Perhaps it was then that she realised that she never wanted to see Anna sad or in pain which bore no physical wounds. She wanted to make the redhead feel good, make her happier than anyone ever has, but knew in the dark corner of her mind than it would be her that would in the end cause her the most pain.

"My dad's a businessman, nothing exciting really." The blonde swirled the wine around in her glass, lifting her eyes to lock with Anna's, forcing herself to swallow each ting of disguised sadness.

"You've very pretty eyes, Anna," it came out without thinking and Elsa winced, expecting a rebuffing comment that told her she was being too forward. Apparently she had no control over her mouth now, and she'd pay for it surely, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to care. She was almost glad for saying the words.

_They are so beautiful._

She heard Anna chuckle at her remark, a warm smile gracing her face and a splash of absolute adoration making her eyes twinkle in the dim lights. Elsa's breath caught in her throat and tongue darted out to lick her suddenly dry lips.

"Thank you," came the reply and the fingers restarted their lazy pattern.

Anna had been told by nearly every single significant other that her eyes were pleasing to the eye, but somehow when Elsa said it she felt warm all over. It was like her voice soothed out any bumps and bruises and scars on her heart and made her feel whole. Maybe it was in the way she said her name or maybe it was the way she looked at her, but Anna felt warm and complete in that moment.

"You know they say that eyes are the window to the soul," she took a steadying breath and maintained the eye contact, "and if that's the case then yours is absolutely dazzling."

Thin eyebrows shot up into Anna's hairline and her mouth opened and closed like a fish. She cleared her throat and attempted to hide the blush that overcame her cheeks like the Easter fire. She wanted to tease Elsa, to see her blush with a flirty remark but she couldn't find her voice.

Not once has anyone ever told her that she was a good person.

"You know," Elsa tried to break the silence that took over the two. She wanted to apologise for her forwardness but one look at Anna's face and she bit back her words.

"I always thought that beauty was something tangible. But now that I look at you I see that it's not a _thing_ but a feeling. It's something that makes your soul quiver. It's how you feel inside and how it reflects in your eyes. And what I see in your eyes is so vast, so calm, like the ocean and it's pulling me in." She reached out to caress Anna's cheek.

"There's so much beauty in you. You've a beautiful mind, a soul that shines brighter than the sun, and yet I see so much sadness in you. It breaks my heart, because pain changes people and you've lived with more pain than most people will ever feel in their lifetime. And _yet_, you're constantly the kindest person I've ever known. You're an embodiment of optimism and selflessness and a little a like a ray of sun. But I've a hunch that this little ray of sun hasn't see the light for a long time. Anna, you can steel yourself against any kind of hurt, but the simple act of kindness will undo you, like right now."

Elsa's thumb swept away the solitary tear that silently slid down Anna's cheek. Her other hand came up from holding Anna's and cupped the redhead's cheek, thumb moving gently across the freckled cheekbone.

"I... I don't know what to say," Anna's voice was but a whisper, hand coming up to hold Elsa's hand on her cheek.

"You don't need to," the blonde smiled.

Anna smiled back, her eyes crinkling and eyes shining.

Elsa understood her, she saw her for who she was and the blonde wasn't running away from it, she held onto her fast.

And Anna, for the first time in forever, felt truly content and complete.


	8. Star-Crossed

**A/N: **I'm afraid it's a bit of a short one this time.I'm afraid there's not much more in this chapter than a bunch of foreshadowing and some relationship development but bear with me, we'll head back into actually plot come next chapter.

A special 'thank you' to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and chapters before last. I do appreciate everyone who goes out of their way to leave a review and/or to favourite/follow. If you have any comments please share them as that would be super sound.

And now without further ado, enjoy.

* * *

**Chapter 8: Star-Crossed**

The two women spent the rest of the evening making careful conversation over their food lined plates. Anna told the blonde various anecdotes, skirting around anything that included her parents. Elsa stayed quiet and listened to Anna's tales with a small smile and warm eyes, she asked the right questions at the right time and encouraged the redhead to continue.

Anna was vaguely aware that her mind was in turmoil after Elsa's previous words, the words that sneaked into her soul and ripped apart the carefully erected walls. She was dead on with each syllable and Anna felt her head swimming with the weight of them.

Her inner turmoil was forgotten, however, when Elsa connect their hands again and leaned in closer. Throughout the dinner their hands parted only to handle the cutlery or the glasses, migrating back towards each other like magnets. Each time their hands found each other, Elsa's icy eyes would soften minutely and her head would tilt to the side, making Anna's heart flutter in her chest.

They were closer now than they were through the dinner, breaths mingling. Elsa was leaning her cheek on her knuckles and just looking at Anna with an emotion that the redhead couldn't place.

From up this close Anna could see each eyelash and count the freckles dusting over the blonde's cheeks and nose. Anna secretly relished the discovery of the freckles, they added an air of youthfulness to Elsa's more regal bearing and, if Anna had to be completely honest, they were absolutely adorable on the noble lady.

Anna felt warm under Elsa's gaze and her cheeks blossomed with colour. She was content, happy even, and her smile seemed to grow when Elsa squeezed their hands, intertwining their fingers. Their knees were touching and her whole world shrank around her and Elsa.

She wanted to kiss Elsa, run her fingers through the soft blonde hair. Her eyes fell upon the dark, slightly make-up concealed, mark left from the previous night, and she knew she wanted to do much more than to kiss Elsa.

However, a small corner of her mind replayed Elsa's speech over and over and Anna knew she wouldn't be able to do much more than kiss Elsa, if even that. She needed to separate herself from Elsa for the evening, as much as it pained her to do so, and attempt to piece things together again.

She was getting progressively more worried as they stepped into her car. She felt her head getting heavier to the point where it was becoming difficult to focus even on the road.

It was a shame, for she never felt Elsa's hand settle upon hers. Anna never saw the way, each time Elsa sneaked a glance, her eyes filled with love which would melt even the frostiest of hearts.

They did kiss, on Elsa's doorsteps, the flowers sandwiched between them. It was brief and sweet, and when they parted it was with mutual agreement to see each other again.

Anna left and headed for nearest off-license, wanting nothing more but to make the heaviness in her head disappear.

* * *

The redhead laid on the sofa, an arm thrown over her face, a dry smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

Her head was swimming and she felt like she was falling through the fabric and fluff heart of the couch. She'd descend down and away from the bottles littering her living room floor and past the 'Snow Queen Case', as the presses nicknamed it. She'd leave it all behind with the slimmer of hope that a certain Elsa Arendelle would cushion her fall.

She coughed out a chuckle.

No, Elsa wouldn't catch her. Why would an angel catch sinner falling down to hell?

Angels had no business with those who were beyond redemption. They didn't, _shouldn't_, associate with those who embraced their fate with a lazy smile and a bag of marshmallows ready for roasting. An angel wouldn't catch the likes of Anna, someone who's innocence was ripped from them before it could come to full blossom. Someone who didn't even try to replenish it afterwards but let the remaining roots shrivel up into nothingness.

Angels only sought out the ones who sought them in turn. And Anna never sought Elsa, she ran head into her and toppled them both. Even her touch marked Elsa's purity with it's filth. It was like the mark of Cain, the mark of Anna, that would cling onto the very fabric of her angelic being.

Anna was sure that Elsa was an angel. She was pure, par Anna's mark, and unblemished with a dark past. She could see into the redhead's soul with clarity that surely only a supernatural being could hope to possess. And she didn't run away from Anna when she saw and announced her devils to the world, she instead made them go away as if they were nothing but dust. After Elsa saw her soul, for the longest time in Anna's life there was no demons, no guilt or self-hatred.

It was just her and Elsa and everything was perfect.

Anna's heart swelled in her chest when the blonde embraced her demons with tenderness she didn't expect nor deserved. She cursed herself for possessing them in the first place and tarnishing Elsa's glimpse into her soul with their darkness.

And yet she couldn't repay the favour.

She couldn't see into Elsa's soul. She couldn't embrace Elsa with the same tenderness. She couldn't show Elsa how perfect she was or how much Anna loved her. It made Anna feel like a failure and she knew she didn't deserve the angel whom she crashed into. But just because she didn't deserve her didn't mean she would give up on her.

Not in a million years.

Elsa was the kind of person who once you found them, you held onto them with every fibre of your being. You gave them everything. As little as she had, it was all Elsa's. Now and forever, it would always be Elsa's.

And Anna would work until she deserved her. All the devils and angels be damned, she would repent and recant until she earned her place in the blue heavens if only to be able to gaze upon Elsa's beauty for eternity. She would repay for all her sins seven times if needed. Anything for Elsa, her Elsa.

She ran her hand over her face, a lopsided drunk smile on her face. Where did all the talk of angels and demons come out of? Her hand fell away to blindly grasp the neck of the nearly empty bottle nearby. It must've been the alcohol talking, decorating the truth in flowery words that made bile climb up her throat.

But truth being the truth, it prickled Anna's heart cruelly.

Yes, she didn't deserve Elsa. The Elsa who managed to make her age old scar bleed all over and heal less painfully with few words.

How could she ever deserve someone who saw all there was to her and still refused to back away.

Her hand and lips still tingled with the residual coolness Elsa's fingers left on her hand. She could imagine, in the back of her mind, that if Elsa's touch could brand her as hers, her arms and face would be covered in frosty fractals. Ice suited Elsa, she decided with a wider but humourless smile.

Ice was pure and unblemished and beautiful. It was the perfect definition of Elsa. She wasn't just physically attractive, her mind, her very being radiated beauty and Anna was absolutely smitten by it.

She loved her.

Maybe it was too early to even think of the big, bad 'L' word but it was the closest thing that could sum up what she felt for the gorgeous blonde.

In a way, she wanted to hate Elsa. How come she of all the people walking the Earth had to see into her, past the walls she build up ever since her parents died. How come it was Elsa, someone she barely knew, and not someone who knew her longer than time itself.

It was like they were linked by an invisible thread that shortened and pulled them closer with each breath they took. In her hazy mind, it was the best explanation available. Fate tied them together, an angel and a sinner, and there wasn't a practical way to get out of the invisible contract.

Anna couldn't hate someone the heavens said was made for her. She was glad she wouldn't have, Anna reckoned she didn't have the heart to do anything but love the blonde. And that suited her just fine.

She emptied the bottle and made a staggering way up the stairs, into the bed that still smelled like Elsa. She snuggled into the pillow scented with the fresh smell of pine and juniper berries, a gentler smile grazing her features.

She wondered briefly, before her drink induced mind lulled her into a slumber, if the old tale Grand Pabbie, Kristoff's grandfather, would sometimes tell was indeed true. He'd tell her that fate tied people together at the start of all time and drew them together whenever they were born in the same time, and the loop around them never loosened, even if they never got to be with them – romantically or otherwise.

She feel asleep with a smile, deciding that if the old, warm faced man was right, she really wouldn't mind being with Elsa for the rest of all time.

* * *

Elsa slumped into the fabric of the couch, a lukewarm, untouched cup of coffee cradled between pale hands. The roses settled into the only vase she owned, perfuming the entire apartment in their smell.

She kept replaying the dinner and the conversations both before and after the said event in her mind.

She worried her bottom lip, eyes settling on the vase. She wanted to let Anna know that she wanted her, and upon the review, she realised she shouldn't have said a lot of the things that went past her lips.

Elsa realised now that she couldn't control her mouth around the younger woman. That could, _would_, be dangerous if she didn't learn to control it. She couldn't afford Anna to find out just _what _she was least she wanted to bring damnation on the redhead.

She could afford being damned into hell for all eternity but she wouldn't bring Anna with her.

Anna was definition of an angel. She shone so brightly in her goodness that it nearly burned Elsa with it's intensity. The blonde could barely breath in Anna's presence, in fear that if she did, her filth would somehow pollute the near holiness of Anna's aura and corrupt her.

Yet she still kissed the redhead, allowing her smog to bleed into Anna, for if she didn't kiss the redhead she may as well not live at all. It was like Anna was water she hadn't drunk for days. She wanted to take deep gulps of the redhead but she needed to rein herself in, least she wanted to corrupt the young woman with her hastiness.

She was already forward beyond belief, but her forwardness brought out an old light in Anna. She recognised it from the pictures she'd seen in the redhead's bedroom, from the time when her parents were alive, from the time before Elsa already marked her with her curse.

She made Anna happy with her little spiel and that made it all worth it. Even if it ached.

She'd be lying if she said that everything she said to Anna was there for her to see. It was mostly guess work and connecting the dots, but it hit the nail on the head and that's all that mattered.

Elsa wasn't sure if she wanted to congratulate herself for making Anna smile so brightly, the eternal light around multiplying sevenfold, or if she wanted to curse herself for letting on too much. She could've just as easily told Anna that she knew everything there was about her. She practically had, only managing to marginally to pass it as a romantic gesture.

She couldn't afford Anna to find out just how much she knew about her. It would only make the redhead realise something was wrong about her. Elsa didn't want that, she wanted Anna to see past her issues and love her for who she really was, not the psychopath boiling beneath the surface.

But more than anything, she didn't want to hurt Anna, not again, never again. If she did, she may as well die herself. It hurt her just to think of Anna in pain. And she would cause it again if she wasn't careful.

She needed to detach herself from the young redhead emotionally. She couldn't her in for if she did, the redhead would see her for all she was and she would never embrace Elsa for it. She'd chastise her and lock her up, Elsa was sure of it and Gods it hurt to even think that Anna would do it.

Anna, after all, was devote to her job and even if she did harbour any feelings for Elsa (something the blonde highly doubted), she would still do her job. Anna was the definition of justice and Elsa was anything but, not in the traditional sense anyhow.

Elsa was justice in a way, but not heavenly like Anna. No, she was the devil collecting souls and each soul to be taken was meticulously selected to bring the satisfying outcome. That's what it was about Elsa, she only cared for herself, it was her pleasure that mattered the most, not others.

With a sigh, she abandoned the mug on the table in the living room and made her way back into her room. Quick fingers quickly drawing out the thin notebook, which listed all the selected targets, from it's place in the back of the book shelf.

She plopped on the bed, flipping through the pages on the aforementioned book. Eyes scanning each name as it came across the pages, and upon finding the name she was looking for, she started plotting and planning.

She would hurt Anna, she was sure, but some things larger than the two of them were worth it. At least that's what she told herself.

Her eyes branded the name into the back of her mind until she was sure she wouldn't fall asleep without it dancing beneath her eyelids like tap dancers.

She closed her eyes, seeing the black ink fluttering behind her eyelids, and sighed blissfully.

The name branded into her brain gave her purpose, made her realise that all that she had done and everything she would do was in fact real and not a strange concoction created by her broken psyche as a taunt to mock her imperfect world. It made her feel whole in a way, as strange as it might sound to an unknowing ear.

She refused to call what she did to Frollo as murder, assassination, even if that's what it was – the words were too dirty for Elsa's liking. No, it was a vendetta in the truest of it's meaning. Her fingers flicked through the pages filled with names of the men whose punishment was long overdue.

They all committed crimes against humanity. They all induced terror and unease within the populous. And they all continued to get away with their heinous acts.

Nobody bated an eye, not even the ones who swore to protect the peoples of their countries.

It made Elsa sick to the stomach, the ease they evaded justice. But it wasn't all about the greater justice of mankind – no it was more _personal_. It was justice for herself and her family, a closure of a painful chapter of her life.

All of the men have disgraced Elsa and her family. They made them suffer and made them break. They made them become less of a family and more of a royal show. And her family had no choice but to dance to the rhythm the barbarous men picked as they pleased – like cowboys shooting at their feet.

And for the suffering they've induced, the embarrassment and shame hanging over Elsa's head like a sword on a fraying line, they would pay sevenfold. Forty thousand lifetimes wouldn't be enough to satisfy her bloodthirsty, hell-risen vengeance.

Yes, Anna would suffer if she ever found the content of the book and Elsa's mind, but Elsa was hell bent on never letting her see that side of her. She'd kill anyone who threatened to unravel her secrets to the redheaded Detective. Even if it was the last thing she did on the forsaken plain of life.

Her phone vibrated on the blanket near Elsa's feet and with practiced graced she rose up to retrieve it. Slender fingers dug into the sleek side of her expensive touchscreen phone, bringing the large screen to life, casting deep shadows on the contours of her face.

Elegant eyebrow rose at the sight of the notification informing her of a new message and a slightly smile graced her lips as she unlocked the screen.

She quickly tapped the message icon on her home screen, the message immediately zoomed in on her screen and her smirk turned more foreboding.

_Olaf, 10:15  
__**Look who I found :)**_

A dark picture of a muscular, grey-skinned man with a bald head and carefully maintained moustache appeared under the text of Olaf's message. Elsa's icy eyes zeroed in on the photographed man's black eyes with a yellow sclera. His eyes were his ID, a number burned into his flesh, his brand, his give away. The thing that would get him killed by Elsa's merciless hand.

Her fingers input the message, the soft click of her nails against the glass of the screen echoing off the beige walls of her room.

_**Where.**_

She didn't wait for Olaf to reply. Throwing the phone back on the bed, she picked out a pair of comfortable jeans and a loose top and changed quickly. Her phone buzzed again and she leaned down to snatch it off the bed.

Olaf's reply was short, containing just the address.

Elsa pocketed her phone, grabbed the keys from the bowl near the front door of her apartment and dashed down to the street, eager to see her next target.


	9. The Masters of the Underworld

**AN:** There's a large correction in chapter 8 which is relevant to the plot as whole, so please read that. A bigger note is at the end of the of the chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 9: The Masters of the Underworld**

The thick smoke coiled around the dark room in search for the slightest opening to make an escape from the tense atmosphere that settled over the room like a blanket. The palpable tension radiated in waves from the menacing group sitting around the only table in the seemingly shrinking room.

The aged wooden table with the high-backed chairs was occupied by the six of the seven Masters of the Underworld. The Dukes and Duchesses, Count and Countesses, and the Henchmen of the London Underworld stage spread out from the table like rippled water. Some clung onto bar as if their life depended on it, others sunk into the crimson sofas littering the room, avoiding all eyes.

They all knew that the people that held their lives in the palm of their hands were severely displeased with the recent death of the Bishop. None of them wanted to displease their masters or to give them a reason to act out their frustrations. And so they kept their eyes planted on the floor, quick eyes sneaking glances at the quivering women around the perimeter of the smoke filled room.

The barely clad, feminine bodies pressed up against the walls, eyes glued to hard floor beneath their feet. Their masters hardly ever gathered and if they did, one could safely assume something big went down – that's when they most unpredictable; either nearly maniacally ecstatic or downright volatile. The either extreme was usually taken out on the girls and they'd rather not speed up what they knew to be in store for them.

So they kept their heads down and tried not to shiver with disgust everytime they felt another pair of eyes looking them up and down like meat for sale.

The pale Queen cast green eye across the room, taking in the drawn faces of the girls delivered by Frollo the previous day. It was one of his worse deliveries. The girls were sallow skinned with eyes that seemed too large for their sucked in faces. Stick thin arms and ribs that prodded out from beneath their skin – they would cost more in their upkeep than they could bring in.

The Queen wanted to scoff. The Bishop failed them once again and ended up getting himself killed.

She didn't care that he was dead – she never cared much for the man, holding him in contempt – there was plenty of men and women far more capable than Frollo to take his place as the Duke of the Underworld. The Queen, however, cared that the police could get the wind of who was involved in the vast syndicate. She knew that the force couldn't do anything to them; it was well paid off in all the right places, Weselton being one of the Dukes himself.

No, they wouldn't get charged, she knew that much, but the attention from the presses, if they caught wind of their activities, would make it extremely time-consuming to disappear into the shadows once again.

The Queen wasn't worried, it was more of an annoyance that such a thing had happened.

She dragged her eyes from the malnourished girls to the Grandmaster of the Underworld. The nearly green skinned woman with high cheekbones and a haughty, arrogant air – Maleficent.

The Grandmaster wore a mask of indifference, her hand firmly clasped on the table in front of her. Diablo, her right hand man, stood behind her with Maleficent's staff resting against his shoulder, and a barely there smirk on his lips. His loyalty to the Grandmaster was ocean's deep and steady like a heartbeat, and many thought the two were involved due to it. But the Queen knew that Maleficent didn't care an ounce for such trivial things as emotional intimacy.

A throat being cleared brought the Queen out of her silent contemplations and she turned her green eyes to meet the brown eyes of Hades, another of the Masters of the Underworld.

"So, when's your man coming?" his slick voice drawled out while he raised the glass of amber liquid to his lips. His eyes were trained on her, looking for the slightest crack in her apathetic mask.

She regarded him coolly for a minute, feeling the eyes of the ones closest to the two of them turn to look at her as well.

"Soon," she pronounced curtly.

The Queen could feel Maleficent's slight smile on her neck.

"Awfully precise, Queenie," Hades drawled, passing his fingers through his blue hair, and leaned back in his chair, thin smile on his lips.

The Queen chose not to respond to his small taunt, opting instead to glare at him until the muscular man chuckled and broke the eye contact. She could still feel Maleficent's eyes on her and she turned her head to meet the Grandmaster's dark eyes.

"I trust you know what you're doing," the green skinned woman pronounced carefully when their eyes met.

"Of course," the Queen answered her quickly.

She knew Maleficent trusted her on some level. She trusted her enough with the dealings of the Underworld to let her reign her sect more or less freely. The Queen, however, knew not to overstep her boundaries – she had seen what had happened to those who did such a foolish thing, such as Captain Hook, and didn't want to share their fate. Her beauty was one of her strongest assets and hell would freeze over before she let anything damage it.

As such, the Queen cleared it with Maleficent before she set Shan Yu on the mystery killer. The Grandmaster shared her annoyance with Frollo and wanted the situation sorted as quietly and quickly as possible. Already have the presses started snooping, the fact that Anna Bunker was put on the case only heightened their curiosity and it wouldn't be long until they linked Frollo with the syndicate.

The killer needed to be removed from the picture before then, and Shan Yu was the best for the job.

The heavy door opened and the Queen titled her head to take in the young woman and the hulking man who passed through the threshold.

She recognised the young, blonde woman as Aurora – the girl that Maleficent essentially owned due to an old debt with the girl's father. Aurora's father was a Member of the Parliament only because of the need of the Underworld, and heavily borrowed money from the syndicate.

It seemed like the most logical thing to the man to put his daughter as his assurance for a particularly large loan. He probably thought he would be able to pay back the ridiculous amount. However that didn't happen and when the young woman turned sixteen she became Maleficent's contemporary slave.

Maleficent made use of the young woman, making her join the force as their mole. Aurora provided, in the years she served in the London Met., the syndicate with valuable information on a large range of cases. The information she provided protected a great number of sects from police raids over the years, but at the same time cost many men and women their fingers and lives.

The Queen passed her eyes over the man accompanying Aurora, realising that it was Shan Yu, and noted the look of distaste on the man's grey face. Surely, he must have heard about what happened to Frollo and gathered why he was called before the nearly entire assembly of the Underworld.

The tense mood seemed to intensify as the two newcomers stopped in front of the aged table. Aurora visibly swallowed and her blue, nearly violet eyes, darted around the room in a nervous manner. The Queen glanced at Maleficent from the corner of her eye, seeing the well disguised pleasure darting across her feature, forming her lips into her signature smirk.

"I understand you know why you've been called here," the Grandmaster began, eyes firmly planted on her two underlings. She waited for them to nod before continuing, "In the light of Frollo's murder we need to take action."

The green skinned woman paused again, gaze zeroing in on the young woman who stood a little straight under the dark gaze. But the Queen saw the way the young officer's eyes widened fearfully and how her back seemed to tremble with desire to bend and bow away from the Grandmaster's unnerving gaze.

She wanted to scoff at the blonde woman, she ought to worshipping the ground Maleficent walked on, and here she was trembling like a child.

"Aurora, I need you to gather information about the case. Who's on it, what they know and whom they suspect. Understood?"

The blonde woman nodded slowly, her trembling frame making her voice quake. "Yes ma'am."

Maleficent turned her dark eyes to the hulking man beside the girl whom she viewed as a daughter dressed in rags of a slave.

"And you Shan Yu, I want you to track down the killer and make sure he never repeats his perpetration again. Understood?"

The man grunted in response.

Maleficent raised her eyebrow, "Understood?" She repeated the question slower, drawing out each syllable with a promise of pain should the man chose to be stubborn.

The room grew, if at all possible, even tenser. The leaders of the Underworld drew in a collective breath in anticipation. They all knew _that_ tone of voice and what usually followed it and wanted to see if the infamously barbaric man would concede and come to heel or act like an untrained dog.

The large man shifted under the weight of Maleficent's gaze.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

"Are you sure _this _is where Shan Yu went in?" Elsa asked Olaf for the umpteenth time.

"Yup!" Olaf replied cheerfully, a bright smile on his lips. "This is the place, Els."

Elsa sighed and slouched into the leather of the passenger seat. A completely undignified pout breaking out across her face.

They've been waiting outside the shabby looking warehouse for the past hour and managed to see absolutely no one go in or out of it during that time. It frustrated Elsa to end, she thought that perhaps it was a decoy set up to throw people like her and Olaf of the Underworld's meetings, rare as they were. It made sense the more Elsa thought about it.

They've just wasted their time following up a lead that was more than likely a dead end. It annoyed Elsa. She cold, wearing only a t-shirt in face of the wet evening, and terribly, _horribly _bored. She could be a home studying the notes of Shan Yu or thinking up of ways to seduce Anna without exposing her true colours in the process. Instead of doing either of the things she was stuck out on a desolate parking lot observing the warehouse which she was sure housed none of her desired targets.

She huffed and glanced at Olaf who was fiddling with the camera straps with a content expression painted on his face.

The blonde woman sighed and shifted in her seat. "Olaf, let's just go it's probab-"

"Wait!" the dark haired man held up his camera in the direction of the warehouse and Elsa followed the lens with her eyes.

Sure enough, the hulking figure of what Elsa could only hope was the Mongolian mercenary exited the building. She squinted at the figure advancing away from the building in a feeble attempt of trying to place any defining features on the figure.

She heard Olaf quickly snapping pictures of the figure and Elsa tilted her head to look at her companion.

"Is it him?" she asked quietly.

The man continued taking the pictures. "Yup!"

She turned her face toward the disappearing figure and raised a brow. She leaned back into the leather of her seat and allowed a smirk to pass over her lips.

"We should follow him," she suggested, leaning her elbow on the arm rest and resting her in the palm of her hand.

"We won't find out anything from that. Flynn is in there, we could ask him what happened," Olaf suggested lightly, removing the camera from his eye and turned to give her a bright smile.

_Flynn? As in Eugene?_

Elsa nodded. If the meeting was an all Underworld event then Eugene would surely be there amongst other croons that ran London from the shadows.

She was mildly surprised when she first found out about Eugene's connection with the Underworld. She was introduced to him by Rapunzel when the two where still dating and it wasn't until a few months after when she was preparing her notes and list that she stumbled upon the revelation. She didn't tell Rapunzel of course, why would she do that. She instead used it as a threat against Eugene to have him work on her behalf.

It seemed the fear of possibly losing the brunette had Eugene agreeing rapidly under the condition that Punzel wouldn't hear a word of his involvement with the syndicate. And Elsa, being true to her word, hadn't told the petite woman. Yet.

The man in question had stepped out of the warehouse and headed towards the parking lot where Olaf parked his Lexus. Elsa could see his features illuminated in the only working orange tinted streetlight in the parking lot and sat up a little straighter when their eyes connected through the windshield.

He hadn't been expecting her if Elsa could say from the startled expression on his face and the halt in his step. He quickly recovered and continued walking towards the dark grey car.

Olaf unlocked the door and the brunet climbed into the middle seat in the back.

"So what happened?" Olaf asked , turning his body in his seat to face the new passenger.

"Maleficent put Shan Yu and Aurora on Snow Queen case," the brunet answered cautiously, eyes darting between the two friends in the front.

"Snow Queen case?" Elsa piped up, half turning in her seat.

"Yeah, you know, Claude Frollo's murder? The newspaper are loosing it. They think it's a serial killer. So, this woman from the Guardian, what was it? Belle something? Anyway, she ran this whole article on it and now people are loosing it. Honestly Els, do you not read the news or something?" The man chuckled.

Elsa stared him down and he cleared his throat, realising that Elsa was not amused.

"Anyway, Maleficent asked the Khan to take care of the killer and her little slave to keep tabs on the police. Nothing more than that other than a few spats amongst the Counts and Countesses, all of them want to replace Frollo, be closer to the big guys."

Eugene rubbed his palms against the jean of his trousers and awaited the two's verdict.

Olaf nodded and gave him a smile that eased the man. "Alright, thanks Flynn! Want me to drop you back home?"

"If you don't mind," the brunet smiled sheepishly.

Elsa picked it as her time to leave. She bid the two men farewell and exited the vehicle, leaving the door open so Eugene could sit in front beside Olaf. She made her way across the parking lot and unlocked her car waiting in the shadows.

She didn't waste time and drove off quickly in the direction of her apartment. Her notes were in a deep need of an update.

* * *

The morning light hit Anna square in the eye and the redhead groaned. She rolled over on her front in an attempt to block out the offending stimulus, the pounding of her head was bad enough without a further insult. Anna inhaled the barely there scent of Elsa still clinging to her pillow from two nights prior and smiled to herself, hugging the pillow.

She carefully opened her eyes, deciding that if she was to wake up to the smell so uniquely Elsa it wouldn't hurt too bad to open her eyes and face the onslaught of colours.

She eyed the bedside clock and pouted.

_6:45_

She had a few more hours to kill before she had to come into the office and try to piece together the minuscule evidence in an attempt to find the killer.

She buried her face in the pillow, basking in Elsa's scent, and decided to go for an early morning run. It always cleared her head and gods above knew she needed it after last night.

The redheaded detective threw back the covers and made her way to the conjoining bathroom. She paused in front of the mirror to admire the fading marks left by Elsa two nights previous and grinned, relishing the memories of the blonde coming undone beneath her. They needed to re-enact the night of passion, soon.

With that thought Anna turned on the shower and slipped under the warm stream of water.

She was ready in less than twenty minutes, a personal record of hers, and steered her car through the quickly filling roads of London. She pulled the car into the nearest parking lot beside Hyde Park and stretched her muscles before starting the jog through the green scenery.

Her pounding headache ebbed away with each meter and she relished the feeling of her mind clearing. Anna passed the few early risers on her way through fast park, nodding her head in a way of a 'hello'.

She pushed all her worries from last night into the back of her mind, willing herself to forget them, and just as she was sure they were gone, the head of the person she spend last evening with came into her sight.

Anna contemplated leaving Elsa be and just continue running, but the sight of her back turned to her, completely unsuspecting made Anna change her mind. She quickened her pace and quietened her steps and within moments she was behind Elsa.

The blonde woman still hadn't noticed her and so Anna did what any other person would've done in that situation.

She dug her fingers into the gorgeous blonde's sides, eliciting a surprised yelp from the woman. Elsa turned around with lighting speed and Anna miscalculated her step, twisting her ankle and falling into the blonde. Elsa had a second to catch a glimpse of her attacker before the world shifted vertically.

"Whoops!" Anna threw her arms around the back of Elsa's head, cushioning the impact with the concrete.

Next thing the either woman knew they were lying on the ground in the middle of Hyde Park, blue meeting blue. Their faces inches apart and a crimson dusting of a blush colouring Anna's cheeks.

"Hi."

* * *

**AN: **First of all thank you to everyone who favourited/followed/reviewed! You seriously make my day. Second of all, I would like to apologise for the nearly month long break – I had my exams and end of year stuff but now that that's done I'll have time to write again so you can expect (hopefully) weekly updates :) And third of all, this fanfiction has now been added to the Elsanna community which is a great honour and a mark of how far this fic has come. I never expected that to happen and I'm truly grateful to all of ye, bualadh bos lads!

As always if you enjoyed this chapter please tell me in the reviews or through a pm. We're finally getting into the plot and that in itself is exciting.

Thank you for reading and again thanks for the continued support :)


	10. You are my Sunshine

**Chapter 10: You are my Sunshine**

"Hi."

Icy blue eyes blinked up rapidly at the dazzling set of eyes staring into her own. Elsa could feel her cheeks lighting from the proximity of the gorgeous redhead, the feeling of the warm weight pressed up against her, and from the realisation that if Elsa leaned up a little bit she could connect their lips.

Up this close she could count the stars of the galaxy sprinkled across Anna's bridge and cheekbones. The galaxy which was quickly disappearing under the redness emitting from the depths of Anna's dermis.

Elsa felt a lump in her throat and her mouth going dry, preventing her from formulating words.

Elsa's eyes roamed over Anna's face, taking in the way the redhead was shyly biting her lip and the way the corners of her eyes crinkled in embarrassment. And holy shit, she could feel Anna's strong arms clenching up under her neck. She realised that those arms had cushioned her impact with the cold unforgiving concrete and her heart swelled up at the protective gesture.

And yet even though her heart was full from the arms sneaked up behind her head it was accompanied by a slight sense of horror at how easily such a small thing came to Anna.

She didn't even hesitate when throwing her arms around Elsa. Anna didn't care that she might end up hurting herself in progress of protecting the older woman – it was already like a second nature to the redhead, and that terrified Elsa more than anything.

She was going to hurt her and yet all Anna could think of, when there was no time to think but to act, was Elsa's well being.

That realisation in itself was enough to bring a pang to Elsa's heart and the blonde forced her eyes to lock with Anna's. The longer she stared into the depths of the redhead's irises, the more of rational thinking and her insecurities ebbed away to make way for the pure adoration that Elsa felt in the deep crevices of her being.

_My god her eyes..._

Elsa never liked blue eyes – they remained her too much of her own – but she was sure that Anna's were an exception she would gladly allow.

The blonde spent a good portion of the previous night staring into Anna's eyes like a lovestruck fool, and she still wasn't able to fully appreciate their beauty in the dim light of La Ratatouille. In the bright morning daylight, the first decent morning of May, could Elsa truly see the wide spectrum of the colours swivelling around the blue backdrop of Anna's iris.

She could see the green indents intertwining with the grey veins that criss-crossed the light bright blue surrounded by the dark limbal ring. The morning sun came up from behind Elsa, catching in Anna's eyes and bringing the green nebulas out from behind the greys and blues and making the redhead's eyes teal.

In the dim light of the restaurant, Anna's eyes were tinted grey and the transformation to the green tint left Elsa feeling more breathless than she already was. Oh how she wished to reach out and graze her fingertips across the redhead's cheeks, to pull their faces closer until all that existed in the world was Anna.

_Gods, I'm hooked._

Elsa smiled sloppily at the woman perched above her, settling gentle hands on the slope of Anna's midsection. She allowed her fingers to graze the soft cotton of Anna's green tank top.

Anna wiggled at the feather light touch, her stomach muscles flexing, and bit the inside of her cheek to deny the laughter gathering in her throat from coming forth. Tickles were Anna's greatest undoing. The blonde felt Anna stir above her and she snapped back to reality, making Anna want to pout at the sudden realisation that crossed Elsa's face.

Quick hands pushed at Anna's tank top clad stomach, making the redhead lean back on her heels and extract her arms from underneath Elsa. Anna tried her best to suppress the disappointment that flared up in her stomach at the premature separation.

The blonde woman caught a glimpse of disappointment rippling under the surface of the redhead eyes when she pushed her back. She also briefly noted that her neck felt unusually colder from the lack of Anna's flesh. She nearly scowled at the sensation but pushed the thought aside as she once again connected her eyes with Anna's.

"Hello," she smiled, prompting the redhead to smile back at her. The blonde woman pushed herself up on her forearms, keeping her eyes trained on the redhead.

"Sorry, I don't usually-" the sentences died short on Anna's lips. The redhead was midway through the process of getting up off of Elsa but by the luck of being, well, _Anna_, she caught her foot on an invisible crack in the pavement and toppled forward again only barely managing to brace herself against the concrete.

Their faces came dangerously close again and she could feel a cold waft of air gliding on the heated flesh of her cheeks.

"Whoops?" Anna giggled breathlessly.

"Are you alright?" the dazzling set of blue eyes inquired worriedly. The cool air tickled her lips and her tongue darted out to taste Elsa's breath on her lips.

_Oh shit. __Were her eyes always this blue? Man..._

"Me? Oh yes I'm fine!" the pushed herself back again. Sitting back on her heels she reached up to tousle her braided hair and sheepishly smiled down at the blonde woman.

"This is awkward." An elegant brow rose and a playful grin tugged at Elsa's lips.

"But just 'cause we're – I'm awkward!" The blonde grasped Anna's warm fingers between her cold ones and Anna's breath hitched at contact. She felt a tug on her hand and realising that Elsa was pulling her up into a more vertical position, her head snapped back from their intertwined hands to stare into the Arctic blue. She could feel the word vomit coming up.

"You're gorgeous." The words left her lips in a breath and wouldn't have registered with Anna's brain if it wasn't for Elsa raising her brows as if in a question. "Wait? What?"

Elsa hid her chuckle behind her hand, eyes shining with laughter and something that resembled adoration. Anna's stomach saltoed at the look designated only for her and a warm smile erupted on her lips.

"Thank you," the older of the said gently, eyes crunching up from smiling. Elsa noted that she smiled so much more whenever Anna was around and decided that it was definitely a good thing. It was too long since anyone managed to make her feel so _free_. It was nice, refreshening, and something Elsa wanted to continue.

To accentuate her thanks, Elsa leaned forward and planted a lingering kiss on Anna's cheek, feeling the redhead's skin heating up against her lips. When she leaned back she hid a satisfied smile at the blush embracing the redhead's cheeks in a fiery hug. Not to mention the gobsmacked, hanging open mouth expression at the brief contact.

The blonde allowed the redhead a minute to compose herself, quenching down the desire to trail her fingers under Anna's chin to close her still open mouth.

"No problem!" The redhead spluttered, blue-green eyes glancing at their still intertwined hands and a cheeky grin stole across her lips. "Does that mean that everytime I compliment you I get a kiss? 'Cause I'm like totally on board with that."

Elsa couldn't resist rolling her eyes at the grinning redhead. "Only if you do the same."

Anna put on a mock contemplation look, even twisting her lips in a way that made Elsa want to kiss her all over, and finally nodded, her braid bond hair jumping at the gesture. "You've got yourself a deal Miss Arendelle."

And just like that, Anna leaned forward and connected their lips in a leisurely, feathery kiss. Before Elsa could reciprocate, Anna was pulling away, each centimetre drawing Elsa's lips into a pout. The redhead must have noticed for she leaned back in again, setting another light kiss on Elsa's cool lips.

The redhead broke the kiss and instead of moving away, pressed their foreheads together. "For last night," she said in a way of an explanation, nuzzling their noses against each other.

Elsa allowed a smaller smile graze her lips. She enjoyed the feeling of their skin touching and sighed softly. "I'm glad I bumped into you, I needed my dose of Anna."

"Of course, Miss I'm-up-at-ungodly-hours," the redhead grinned up at the eye roll, "What _are_ you doing so far away from your apartment at this hour anyway?"

"I could ask you the very same question. I live in Mayfair, what's your excuse Miss Detective?" Elsa teased lightly. She kept their hands connected as she straightened up and trailed her fingers across Anna's jaw.

"No fair, I asked you first," Anna pouted and pushed a fallen bang out of her face. "And anyway, it's sorta obvious that I've been jogging."

Elsa let her eyes Anna's appearance. The dark navvy tracksuits hardly did her curvaceous figure any justice, however the tank top had a generous neckline and from her slightly elevated position, Elsa could look down and see the curves of Anna's breasts peaking out. The blonde licked her lips unconsciously and knowing that her eyes had darkened, glanced back up to meet Anna's teal eyes.

"Indeed you are."

The redhead swallowed thickly at the unabashed desire directed at her.

"So what are you doing then?" she choked out past her dry throat.

"Oh you know, the usual, killing and such," Elsa said lightly, making Anna chuckle.

"Seriously? That's a completely different side of you."

"I'm just kidding. I was only heading to Tiana's," Elsa bit her lip, suddenly unsure. She was glad for one that Anna took her words as a joke, but she hoped to whatever gods above that the redhead wouldn't deny her her next request. "Would you like to come with me?"

Anna's eyes light up at the inquiry and she tightened her grip on Elsa's hand before replying. "I'd love to."

And just like that, Elsa breathed a sigh of relief, tugging at Anna's hand to lead the redhead towards her original destination.

* * *

Tiana's Palace was a quaint restaurant tucked into as much of a desolate corner that being near Hyde Park, and in London centre, allowed. It had a unique atmosphere created the buzz of patrons, the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen, the jazz music and the lively spirit of the owners – Tiana and her husband, Naveen – to produce a music unlike any other in the confines of the metropolis.

Elsa found the place when she was still doing her Bachelor's degree. She was walking through Hyde Park per habit and stumbled upon the newly open restaurant. The musical quality of the place was what drew her in at first, the food made her want to stay there forever. However the exuberant cheery blonde that welcomed her initially by throwing her surprisingly strong arms around Elsa's neck and then proceeded to drag Elsa to a vacant table, made Elsa never want to come back.

But she did – just for food. At least that's what she told herself.

Truth was, she enjoyed going there in the early mornings after her walks for a cup of coffee and some well made pastries. The atmosphere was enamouring, and the owners were a delight to talk to.

She found out from Tiana that the blonde woman whom nearly scared Elsa away was none other than Charlotte La Bouff, the daughter of the Mayor and the woman who funded the restaurant. For that alone Elsa approved of her and tolerated her company whenever Tiana or Naveen were too busy to talk to her.

She never brought Merida or any other of her previous girlfriends to Tiana's Palace, feeling that it too much of a home to let them into it. It was Elsa's get away. All of her troubles seized to exist whenever she stepped through the threshold. It was hers, and she used to never want to share it with anybody but herself. That is, until today.

The decision to bring Anna, to let her into her _home_, wasn't a thought out one. It just came by Elsa and she decided to go with it. Maybe, in the depths of her soul, she knew Anna wouldn't think less of her when she saw that this place was more of home than the house she was born in. Maybe Anna wouldn't hate her for what made her the way she was today. And maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't stop loving her if she found out what Elsa truly was.

Throughout their walk, their hands remained connected and the reality of their maybe relationship seeped through Elsa's pores. She nearly deterred them from the path leading up to Tiana's, unsure once again. After all it wasn't said that Anna wouldn't think less of her upon seeing the place, that she wouldn't hate everything that destroyed Elsa. What if Anna took one look at the restaurant, see into the crevices of Elsa's being and left her just like that because her insides were too ugly for the purity of her insides.

Elsa was about to lead Anna down the path which would bring them out in front of a different restaurant, a safer place, a place where she wouldn't expose herself as much. But Anna rested her head against Elsa's shoulder and looked up at her with those teal eyes, and in that moment Elsa knew that everything would be fine. It was _Anna_ whom she was thinking about, Anna could never hate her.

With that, Elsa led them up to Tiana's Palace and through the threshold. Only to be greeted by Charlotte La Bouff.

"Elsa!" the cheery blonde threw herself around Elsa, effectively breaking her hold on Anna's hand. "How are you? And who's that?" Blue eyes rounded onto Anna and hold around Elsa's neck relinquished.

The redhead stared at the young woman sandwiched between Elsa and herself. Anna's eyes darted down to the ample cleavage that the pink dress provided, and quickly brought her eyes up again. She extended her hand, "I'm Anna, nice to meet you."

The blonde woman pumped Anna's hand excitedly and while introducing herself animatedly, "I'm Charlotte, but you can call me Lottie if you want."

"Ah, sure, yeah."

Charlotte grinned back at the redhead woman and quickly glanced between Anna and Elsa. "Are you-?"

"Oh Lottie, don't harass Elsa and her friend," the dark skinned woman interjected quickly before Charlotte could finish her question. She quirked her eyebrow at the blonde woman and crossed her arms. She turned dark eyes to Anna and her lips broke out in a smile.

"Tiana," she said in a way of introduction and extended her hand to Anna.

"Anna. Are you the owner?" They shook hands and Anna stole a look around the large interior of the restaurant. Taking in the more the homey entrance littered with bistroic tables and then the large arch which separated the establishment into two, and which led to the more ornate section.

"Yes, I am." Tiana's voice brought Anna's eyes back to the dark skinned restaurant owner and she offered the woman a wide smile.

The two newly acquaintanced women led Anna and Elsa to the usual table which provided a view out to Hyde Park, took their order and left them. Tiana and Charlotte exchanged a smile, the blonde giggling as they went.

"Do you think?"

"I hope so, they look nice together."

Elsa watched the retreating backs of the two and swallowed thickly past the newly forming lump in her throat. She snuck a glance at Anna who was admiring the high-celling building and taking in all the small details. Her eyes seemed to shine whenever she spotted something green and Elsa couldn't help but to chuckle.

Anna snapped out of her reverie and locked her eyes with Elsa's, immediately looking down and tucked a loose bang behind her ear. The blonde was looking at her with such an incredulous expression, brimming with such emotion, that it made Anna feel like a shy teenager talking to one of her long time crushes for the first time.

"Do you come here often?" she managed to finally say after a drawn out pause that started to border on awkward.

"Every morning. Although it's the first time I brought anyone with me."

"Not even Olaf?"

A shake of Elsa's head was her answer.

_I'm sorta special then._

"Indeed you are." A chuckle had Anna burying her face in her arms. She was sure her face was red all over again. God damnit, why couldn't she control her mouth around Elsa. It was second time that morning she made a blunder and this time it wasn't 'cute' or anything along the lines, but plainly self-centred and shallow and none of the things that she really was (or was ready to admit to being).

Her thoughts were interrupted when a tall dark-skinned man, who introduced himself as Naveen to Anna, brought out their plates. Naveen slunk away quickly, giving Elsa a wink as he left, leaving the blonde woman equally red and spluttering.

The Detective took pity on her companion, who was trying her hardest to look anywhere but Anna, and enveloped the blonde's hand with her own – squeezing lightly. The tension between the two women evaporated as they exchanged shy smiles and turned their eyes to their plates.

Anna's eyes nearly popped out when she saw the dark chocolate slice of heaven sitting amongst the white powdery snow on the ornate plate. She could feel her mouth salivating and she forced the excess down her throat before she started to drool all over the table and further embarrass herself in front of Elsa.

She had to suppress a moan when the first slice of the brownie slid down her throat, and licked her lips clean of the liquid chocolate. Never noticing the lingering look Elsa aimed toward her lips.

They ate their treats in companionably silence, exchanging fleeting looks accompanied by bitten lips, and stealing pieces from the other's plate. Anna pretended to be annoyed each time Elsa's fork ducked down into the brownie in front of her but she could never maintain her charade when she looked at Elsa's laugh filled eyes and petite smile around the fork.

It was all too soon that eight rolled around and it was time for Anna to leave and get ready before she had to face another day to trying to put together the mystery of Claude Frollo. Just the thought of going into office again and sieving through the frightening small amount of evidence they managed to collect made Anna want to both cry and shout. It was utterly frustrating and seemed like a perfect crime with an equally perfect dead end.

"If you want I could give you a lift down to college?" The redhead offered with a smile when they left Tiana's with kind parting words and a promise to come back. She barely missed the wide grin that Tiana and Charlotte gave Elsa and the shushed word of 'You better keep her' before the blonde woman joined her in the May sun which only served to illuminate her blushing face.

"My college is rather far from Yard building." The older woman remarked as they headed down towards to where Anna parked her car.

"I don't mind, I get to spend more time with you."

Elsa couldn't find a proper answer, she _did _want to spend more time with the beautiful redhead. And so she climbed into Anna's car and let her drive them first to Anna's house in Cambridge Street. After all, Anna couldn't go into Yard in her running clothes.

While the redhead dashed upstairs for a quick shower and a change of clothing, Elsa made herself at home in the living room. She scanned the walls for any other pictures of a younger Anna in hopes of catching a glimpse of the youthful smile she saw days before. Alas, the walls of the living room lacked a defining personal touch (something that surprised Elsa) par Anna's laptop and few bills littering the coffee table. Regardless, the room still held warmth of being lived in.

Elsa's eye was drawn to a painting above the fireplace and she squinted. The paint strokes and the style looked familiar but she couldn't place where she had seen it. It wasn't a famous artist, of that she was sure, being passionate about art made her acutely aware of the different styles used by various artists. This particular style had a dream like quality to it – like something taken out of a fairytale – and by gods if it wasn't remarkable then not even Anna's beauty was.

_But who painted it._

She allowed herself to ponder on the evasive name, knowing the feeling that the painting brought out in her and then tried to work backwards to link it with the large range stored in her mind. She let the feeling of childlike wonderment and happiness fill her for a minute, she could nearly _feel_ the name pounding at the insides of her skull but her tongue wouldn't form it.

In all her ponderings she never heard Anna descent down the aged stairs nor hear the redhead's brief airy chuckle when she saw Elsa gazing at the painting with a firm look of determination screwing up her eyebrows into a frown.

"Rapunzel painted it," Anna finally said out loud. She smirked when Elsa turned to her as if she wasn't expecting to see Anna standing there, looking every bit the Anna Bunker she oft saw in newspapers and on the TV. The redhead's sat in a twisted bun upon her silky hair and her clothes screamed 'I'm a professional'.

Elsa swallowed, giving the painting one sidelong glance before she turned her attention fully to Anna.

"That's why it looked familiar."

They clambered back into the car and Anna zoomed down the busy streets to get to Gordon Square. Elsa didn't speak, knowing that the morning London traffic was pure hell to get through. She focused instead on the music playing through the radio and the buildings they passed by.

"I can't believe I never asked you before, what are you doing in college? Like a PhD or something?" The redhead asked when they forced to stop at yet another red light.

"I'm doing a PhD in Political Sciences," the blonde answered with a shy smile. She expected one of the standard questions of 'Oh is it difficult?' or even 'What's next after you get the degree?', and she mentally prepared herself for the questions, how ever they might be phrased.

"Do you like it?"

Elsa blinked a few times at the question. She wasn't expecting it and her mind stuttered upon hearing it. She could always lie, it wasn't the first time she was asked the question. Lying could always get her out of an uncomfortable situation, but then again it would be _Anna_ she'd be lying to and that would be unforgivable. Anna deserved only the truth from Elsa, and truth she would get, even if it hurt Elsa to say it out in the open.

"No, my father thought it'd be good for the business for me to do it. But no, I can't say I enjoy politics." Her teeth worried her bottom lip and she glanced out the window to see how much farther they were from UCL.

"Politics for business? Wouldn't economics be better? What kind of business is it?" The young redhead chuckled, glancing at Elsa from the corner of her eye.

"A very political business. That and he wanted me out of the house."

"I see. If you could do anything you want, what would you do? I'm sure you could, I don't know, _change_?"

It was Elsa's turn to chuckle at Anna. "You can't change your PhD just like that. You need to do an undergraduate. And anyway, it doesn't really matter what I like."

An uncomfortable silence stretched between the two women. Elsa stared firmly out the window, back straight and ever poised, while Anna looked mildly distressed at Elsa's words.

"Of course it matters what you like, it's _your_ life. Not your father's or anybody else's, but yours." The blonde nodded after a minute, letting Anna know her words registered with her. The remainder of the car journey was silent, save for Anna's curse every now and again.

It wasn't until they arrived in the parking lot in front of the main building of the college, that Anna did speak, determined to fix her blunder and make it right with Elsa.

"Hey," she spoke up before Elsa could gather her things and leave with a brief goodbye. A quirked eyebrow was the only indication that she got that Elsa was listening.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Could I maybe make it up tonight? At 8 at mine?" She looked at Elsa hopefully and finally when the other woman smiled and nodded did the weight of a hundred stones drop off her shoulders like dust.

"I'd like that. Thank you for the lift," Elsa leaned in and pressed their lips together in a feather light kiss. She was out of Anna's car before the redhead could say 'Hey!' and disappeared into the main building with a small wave.

* * *

Anna realised that her face was spilling into a smile, but she had no desire to hide her joy – both at the kiss and at the fact that she'd be able to see Elsa later on that night.

The long-ish drive down to Yard seemed shorter than it should've to the Detective and she parked her car in the underground parking cheerily, a smaller smile still attached to her lips.

She made her usual way up to her office, momentarily forgetting the deadend case that awaited her when she entered the office. Her peace of mind was shattered by the lumbering stature of her partner.

"You won't believe it," he said in a way of good morning.

"What?"

"They've found a witness! Some bloke was delivering goods to a shop and saw the happening."

Anna dashed down to her office, dropping down her handbag and the light jacket and turned to Kristoff.

"Who's with him?"

"Aurora."

* * *

**Ta-da! Hopefully this meets everyone's standard. It's nearly 3 am here so I'm off to bed. Please tell me what you think and all that jazz. **


End file.
