Ficlet!
Because my pink-tipped, DDR-playing ex-weather system randomly popped to the fore of my brain, I decided to ficletise her interrogation after she was captured. Enjoy!
Frost was crying again when she heard the door of her cell open. Startled, she looked up to see a pair of Agents enter. The larger of the pair remained by the door, glowering at her; it was all Frost could do to keep from staring at the empty sleeve folded up and pinned neatly to the shoulder of his suit. The smaller, less physically imposing Agent coughed lightly to get her attention. "Name and rank?" he asked mildly.
She swallowed before replying, "I'm Frost."
"What is your status in the Draconic command structure?"
The one-armed Agent was eyeing her as if he wouldn't mind seeing her vivisected alive. It was very disconcerting, and the smaller Agent had to repeat his question before Frost replied, "I… I never had one…"
This answer earned her a raised eyebrow. "Are you saying that you were not a member of the Draconic forces?"
She nodded.
"Yet you were discovered with one of their allies," he pointed out.
Frost's world shattered again. "Gale…"
"That was his name?"
She nodded again, fighting back more tears.
"What was his status in the Draconic command structure?"
Frost wiped her eyes roughly - how was she supposed to know? She'd hardly ever seen him since he bargained with Alala. "He… I… I don't know…."
The two Agents exchanged a glance before the smaller turned again to her. "He was wearing a ring which marked him as an ally of the Dragons," he explained, as if to a child. "What function did he perform for them?"
"I… I guess what he was doing during the fight…?" she ventured uncertainly. The big Agent was now continuously glancing at a slim, as yet unopened suitcase. It was not easing her mental state at all.
"What function did you perform for them?" the other one asked her.
"Me? None. I wasn't with them."
The bigger Agent spoke for the first time, in a deep, flat voice. "You were in the battle zone."
"Yes," she admitted.
"And he flew to your aid. This argues that you were indeed 'with' them."
"That's because he's been with me since I was Exiled!" she blurted.
Another shared glance, then the smaller Agent inquired, "What were you doing in the battle zone if you weren't a combatant?"
Frost squirmed - she was well aware that her reasoning was foolish. "Looking after Gale…" She swallowed a sob; she would not cry in front of them.
The smaller Agent altered his line of questioning. "What are your combat capabilities?"
Frost let out a short, derisive laugh. "Nonexistent. I only play DDR."
The Agent blinked. "DDR?"
"Dance Dance Revolution." She had never before seen an Agent look puzzled, so she added, "It's a game humans play."
The Agent appeared to process this and dismiss it as being irrelevant to the current line of questioning. He exchanged yet another look with his one-armed partner, seemingly coming to a mutual conclusion with One-Arm before turning back to her. "We believe you have told the truth up to this point. I advise you to continue to do so. Otherwise, we will be forced to use coercive methods to obtain accurate information. Do you have the access codes to the Dragon's subsystem?"
"No. Never been there." She wished One-Arm would stop glancing at that suitcase.
"Do you know anything about their plans of assault, present or future, no matter how small the detail?"
Of course she didn't. "No."
"Can you speculate on their plans of assault, present or future?"
She thought about this one. "Gale told me he'd be gone a long time… but other than that, no."
Palpable tension gathered in One-Arm's shoulders as Two-Arms asked, "Do you consider yourself an ally of the dragons?"
"NO!"
Two-Arms cocked his head to one side as One-Arm relaxed a tad. "Why not?"
"Because I refused them outright when they propositioned me, God damn it!" Frost yelled.
Another shared glance, then One-Arm asked, "Will you join the Alliance and stand against them?"
"And do what!?" she cried. "I'm just a fucking kid! I spend all my time at the mall playing video games! What use am I to you!?"
The Agents weathered the sudden explosion without batting an eye. "If you join the Alliance forces, you will be offered protection under Shepherd's Law, which guarantees certain rights and freedoms for all Exiles," Two-Arms pointed out. "As for what assistance you may offer us… that is for Shepherd himself to decide. If you are not combat capable, you will nevertheless be entitled to the benefits of his Law."
After a moment, Frost sighed. "Sure. Why not? It's not like I've got anything," or anyone," left."
Two-Arms nodded, touching light fingers to his earpiece, then rose from his chair. "Shepherd will see you now."
Frost paled slightly, but carefully got to her feet and suppressed a gasp of pain when she moved her right arm too far. One-Arm opened the door, and the pair of them escorted her to Agent Shepherd's office.
For anyone who cares, after the Dragon crisis is over, Frost leaves the chateau. I don't know where she goes.