Epilogue
Cassandra lets herself fall on the plane’s chair without too much care. The meds have managed to numb most of the pain, but if she doesn’t fall asleep right this second, she is surely going to pass out.
A moment later Elsa slides in the chair beside her, hand casually settling on Cassandra’s wrist, resting on the armrest, and the spy leans her head on her shoulder with a sigh, already closing her eyes.
She can’t fully relax, because she hears some familiar heavy footsteps approaching, and someone sittings in the chair in front of them.
“Alright then, I need-”
“What I need” Cassandra interrupts F, not even opening her eyes, “is fucking sleep.”
“Agent Knight.”
She cracks one open. “With all due respect, F. I know you want a report, and I’ll give you one. But now I am very tired. So please, give me three, or at least two hours to rest, then I’ll tell you everything you need to know.”
“I need you to tell me exactly what happened now. About Zhan Tiri’s involvement, Russians and Americans’ response, and especially… about the Moonstone.”
“I told you the basics: no, America and Russia have nothing against us, and if they have, they can’t reveal anything about it without exposing each other. Yes, Zhan Tiri is a traitorous piece of scum who now you have detained, so you can go ask her anything you want instead of bothering me. Her men are dead, but I am not really sorry about that, obviously... Andas I told you before, the Moonstone got destroyed in the fight, there was nothing I could do to save it.” She concludes with a groan. “But the important thing is it’s neither in the hands of the KGB nor the CIA. So, you are welcome. Can I sleep now?”
“I need a full report, Knight. Not a summary.”
“I can give you preliminary one if you want.” Elsa interjects, “I’ll answer your questions as best as I can, but let her rest. In the span of more than 24 hours she hasn’t slept, not only that, she has been drugged, beaten, tortured, and still she was able to fight long enough to complete the mission and get us out both alive. I think she deserves it.”
“As you know, miss Arnaldr, the mission wasn’t completed fully. The MI6 doesn’t have the Moonstone.” He points out sharply.
But Elsa doesn’t appear fazed by his remark and quickly fires back: “Its loss was a casualty, but considering that the mission was to prevent the Moonstone to be taken by our counterparts, we can consider it a success.” She raises an eyebrow. “We wanted to stop Russia and America from getting it, even if we didn’t manage to recover it, its destruction still serves our purpose. Don’t you think?”
Her reasoning makes perfect sense, almost silently challenging him to retort, but they all know she would be perfectly capable of shooting down every excuse. And if he did admit that the Moonstone had to be brought safe and sound imperatively, he would just reveal their intention to use it for the MI6’s own gain.
Cassandra manages to mumble something, her voice muffled by the fabric of Elsa’s new clean jumper, as she moves her head to find a more comfortable position on her shoulder. “Spare some details…”
It’s quiet enough to make only her hear, Elsa whispers back: “Yes, I know.”
Before fully giving in to slumber, Cassandra sees the way F is looking at them, as if he can’t fully object without giving away the hidden intention of the agency, and probably the Prime Minister’s, but mostly he appears dumbfounded, as if he can’t believe his eyes.
She can’t blame him, just a month ago he saw them passive aggressively snark at each other, instead now they look like they are plotting together. Probably what surprises him the most is seeing Cassandra, a notorious loner, perfectly at ease with an assigned partner.
More than at ease.
*
“What do we do with the Moonstone?”
Cassandra finishes tapping her message to F from Zhan Tiri’s pager hastily, probably the only good thing that witch has provided them, then she turns to look at Elsa, who is glaring at the drive still on the ground, she doesn’t even want to touch it anymore.
Cassandra approaches her in a few heavy steps and doesn’t even hesitate, she points the gun at it with her other hand and pulls the trigger. But nothing comes out, the loader unfortunately empty. “Shit.”
Apparently, she used all the bullets in the fight, she can’t complain, it was a miracle by itself that it only took her one gun to win this match. Thankfully she doesn’t need a weapon to be lethal.
Still that forsaken object keeps haunting them.
Cassandra turns the gun in her hands. “Give me a second and I’ll take care of it.”
Elsa’s fingers around her arm block her.
Then without further due the diplomat stomps her heel on the drive in one precise movement, wrecking it in pieces. If she hits it a couple more times for precaution, Cassandra doesn’t stop her.
The spy shrugs. “Or that will work.”
“It’s really a pity that the Moonstone got lost in the crossfire, don’t you think?”
“A real pity.”
“No one gets it. No one exploits its data.”
“It won’t be really missed.”
Cassandra throws the by-now-useless gun to the ground, putting her own hand on the one still firmly clasped around her arm, gently leading the other woman closer to her.
She feels the need to touch her, to let her know she is there, and to ground herself too.
At this point she doesn’t know who needs it more.
Elsa is already melting into it, allowing her body to release the tension of the last hours, and wraps both her arms around Cassandra’s with a sigh, her forehead coming to rest on her shoulder.
Cassandra nuzzles her nose in her hair and murmurs: “Are you alright?”
A snort. “I think I should be asking you. I can feel you trembling, and I can see your injuries.”
“I’m fine. This is… normal administration. And nothing a 36 hours nap and lots of meds can’t fix.”
“That’s not a nap, that’s a coma.”
“Still.” She strokes her elbow. “Are you okay? What you did… I don’t even know from which part to begin to tell you how nuts it was.”
“I had to do something.” She turns her head to raise it, so she can properly look at her in the eye. And frankly anger is the last thing Cassandra feels right now, there is only relief.
“Thank you…” It comes out surprisingly soft, she blames it on the exhaustion, even if they both know it’s not the only reason, “for coming back for me.”
“Of course.”
*
“Cassandra?”
She slowly comes back to her senses, when she feels someone nudging her on the shoulder. The moment she opens her eyes, she finds herself staring into Elsa’s blue gaze. She tries not to appear fazed by the way she is smiling at her, but her stomach gives a revealing embarrassing flutter just at the sight.
“What is it?”
“We are home, we just landed.”
“Finally.” Cassandra groans, gripping the armrests of the chair as she pushes herself up, stretching with an ungraceful yawn. She can’t wait to get out of there and be back home, after a quick stop at the headquarters to settle all the remaining doubts, nothing will stop her from crashing on her bed in her beloved apartment. She probably won’t get up for the next three days.
After all she has been through, no one can deny her that.
Without putting too much thought, she wraps her fingers around Elsa’s already outstretched hand, trailing after her as they head towards the exit.
The moment they step out of the plane the light blinds her for a moment, she has no idea what time of day they took off, all the events of yesterday are kind of a blur at this point, but she can guess it’s early morning now in London.
She shields her eyes with her free hand, taking in that the deserted airstrip, there are only their plane and two parked black SUVs, probably sent by the MI6.
Someone gets out of one of the cars, it’s a woman, probably younger than her, the hair a distinctive red, and the moment Elsa spots her, she gasps, letting Cassandra’s hand drop and gripping the handrail of the boarding latter. “Anna!”
The redhead turns with a snap and shouts with probably as much excitement as hers. “Elsa!”
Cassandra’s initial puzzlement is soon replaced by recognition.
That’s her sister.
They start running, Elsa even skips a few steps to be faster, when they come to be very close, Anna throws herself at her and her sister catches her right in her arms, hugging her tightly.
Elsa is visibly beaming, while her sister is buzzing her with words, talking so fast it’s impossible to capture what she is truly saying from afar. They are constantly touching, their hands never leaving each other, as if after all this time apart, they are trying to make up for it all at once.
It’s a scene so touching and heartfelt that Cassandra can’t help but smile a little.
Usually the protocol consists of keeping everything top secret, every detail of the mission, the family of the agent is involved only when everything is over, or in case of serious injuries or any fatalities.
Apparently, this time F has allowed the younger Arnaldr sister to come, because Elsa is not a proper agent. She was probably brought here to offer the comfort of a relative, or a loved one, after a potentially deadly situation that normally could have upset any civilian.
She strolls down the boarding latter slowly, she doesn’t want to intrude their little reunion, they have a lot to catch up on, but as she passes through, she can catch a few words of their conversation:
“That’s so cool, did you punch some bad guy?”
“No, Anna. I didn’t.”
“Not even one?”
Cassandra tries to suppress a laugh, then her eyes spot a very familiar and welcomed face, exiting from the other car, and the smile pops out on its own.
“Cass, I am so glad you are here!”
Rapunzel doesn’t give her the time to react, she just launches at her, expecting her to be caught swiftly, but Cassandra takes her embrace with a groan of pain, her injuries awakening at the sudden contact.
“Raps, easy.”
“Oh, sorry.” She grabs her face in her hands, examining her with wary eyes. “Wow, you look awful.”
“Great to see you too. What are you doing here?”
“What do you mean what am I doing here, I came to pick you up.” She hugs her again, this time more carefully and gently. “My best friend comes back from a mission who almost got her killed? Of course I am going to be there.”
She needs to remind herself to thank F for this later, for stretching a little the rules for her.
Cassandra normally would dismiss any kind of display of affection, but she doesn’t have the energy or the will to do it. She is just happy to see her here, and hugs her back with her good arm, hiding her face in her shoulder. “Thanks Raps.”
“Let’s get you home now. I am going to cook something for you, you look too thin, that’s not good.”
She starts pulling her by her hand, and Cassandra can’t help but shoot a glance at Elsa, still engulfed into her sister’s grasp, and feel a bit nauseous at the thought of leaving without her.
This is what she has feared all this time, the moment they would have to part and go back to their old lives, maybe completely forgetting all they have been through.
They are the only ones who know what they experienced, they have been there for each other in a way no one could ever understand, but for Cassandra it’s more than that.
This time there are feelings involved, she doesn’t want to leave, because she cares.
But what they said there doesn’t necessarily applies here, it’s like they are back in the real world, they have been living a fantasy during the mission, a fantasy that now is over.
Sometimes it might have been awful and dangerous and scary, but there also were good moments, really good ones, and she can’t bring herself to get over them easily. She continues spiraling with these thoughts even as she heads towards the car.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Cassandra stops on her tracks, then turns to the all too familiar voice. “Am I?”
Her sister is beside here, busy shooting looks between Cassandra and Elsa, trying to piece the situation together. “Elsa, what…”
“Just a moment, Anna.” Elsa raises a hand to reassure her. “Agent Knight and I have some… unfinished business.”
Rapunzel nudges Cassandra with her elbow. “Who is she?” She whispers.
“Oh I… she is…” Cassandra stammers, she doesn’t know why she’s stammering, maybe because she has no idea how to call Elsa at this point. “My…”
“Partner?” Finishes Elsa, approaching her in a couple measured steps. “In the mission?”
She sounds hesitant, why does she sound hesitant? Is this a trap?
“Yes, my… partner.” She repeats numbly. “Just… a partner…?”
“Are you asking me or you?”
“I have no idea what I am asking.”
Elsa snorts, eyes glinting amusement. “I think you still owe me your number.”
It comes out so unexpected, and so abruptly, Cassandra blushes instantly.
“I assumed you didn’t want… that anymore.”
With one word she means a lot, but Elsa is perceptive, she knows what she is referring to.
“Didn’t we have this conversation already?”
“I thought…” Cassandra tries to sound firmer, she can’t blubber like a freaking teenager, she is a full trained intelligence agent for god’s sake. “I thought… you changed your mind.”
“I didn’t.” Her fingers briefly twitch, betraying a nervousness she has been able to conceal until now. “Have you?”
Cassandra is very tempted to just go for it and kiss her right there, but she can’t, not in front of everyone. She has to keep her cool, because she has already made a fool of herself enough.
Instead she turns to Rapunzel, who is the epitome of disbelief, her voice coming too close to a squeak. “Raps, do you have a pen?”
The moment the words leave her mouth, Elsa looks like she is almost bouncing.
“Actually…” Anna pokes her sister’s arm to catch her attention, “I have your phone with me, I thought you might need it after you got back. Do you want me to…”
“Yes Anna, please.”
The redhead takes it out of her pocket to hand it to her sister, who without missing a beat just passes it to Cassandra, avoiding every possible eye contact. The spy can’t say who is acting worse between them, they literally almost died just a few hours ago, and now they are debating about exchanging numbers. That why she taps her number in Elsa’s phone really fast, hoping to speed this awkward situation to finish soon.
“Here.” She says, handing the phone back to her.
“Thank you.”
They eye each other intermittently, falling into silence.
“Are you going to…”
Elsa doesn’t even let her finish: “Yes.”
“I’ll wait then.”
“Okay.”
Another silence.
“Don’t take too long.”
“I won’t.”
“I hate waiting.”
“I know.”
If Cassandra doesn’t leave right this second, she is totally going to melt, right in front of her.
They finally do look, their faces opening into complicit smiles, they are trying to convey more through their eyes than with their words. After spending a month of forced cohabitation, they now know how to do it perfectly.
“Well, kick some politicians’ asses for me.”
The wind makes one of her blonde locks blow in front of her face, she tucks it gently, her laugh filling Cassandra’s ears. “You try not to get into trouble.”
“No promises.”
She shoots her one last smirk before turning to leave, and when she does, she has to physically drag away Rapunzel by her arm to make her move. Her best friend is still too stunned about what just happened.
“Cass, what the-”
“Don’t ask, I’ll explain later.”
“I want to know everything.”
“You know I can’t talk about the mission.”
“Please. Do you really think I want to know about the mission?”
She pokes her on the cheek, grinning like a fool and making Cassandra wish to disappear at once. She really won’t escape this soon. But even if as they are walking away, the distance growing further, right before they get into the car, Cassandra can still pinpoint clearly the sisters’ voice. They are being too loud not to hear them:
“Were you just… flirting with her?”
“I mean… I wasn’t…”
“And you asked her out?”
“Well, I…”
“To the super scary hot spy who you spent a month with and who just left?”
“Anna…”
“You had to go on a life-or-death super-secret mission of the government to get a proper date?”
“Anna, I… wait, did you just call her hot?”
“Honestly, I am not even going to complain, good for you, sis. About time.”
“Anna.”
This time Cassandra does burst out laughing.