Whipping Boy

Chapter One

It was nearly two o'clock in the morning in Hyperion Heights and the neighborhood within Seattle was still wide awake when Rogers returned from his sabbatical, having left in the hope he could rediscover himself and try to fix the flaws he saw in his character after his abduction and in learning the dark truth about Eloise Gardener. While he had people he left behind who had expressed they cared about him and for his wellbeing, the detective had been deeply shaken by what Eloise and the women of her evil cult had done to him when he was their captive for the short time in which he had been.

Yet what shook him even more was that he still couldn't rid himself of the dangerous infatuation he felt for her, which went far deeper than a crush and despite his time away, it hadn't lessened much. An infatuation he couldn't even begin to understand now that he knew Eloise for what she really was and reviled her for all she had done. To him and to everyone else she had hurt as they fought to save and protect him from her. Rogers couldn't get Eloise, or his yearning and animosity for her out of his mind. And the longer he stayed away, his feelings only grew deeper. It frightened him.

So, Rogers decided against his better judgement to return home so he could get the proper help he knew he needed and to be together again with his friends. Eloise was most likely still at large and if she was, he could at least continue to work with his former partner should Weaver take him back like the older detective had told him he would once he returned, to bring her and her other cult followers to justice. Rogers could only hope now that doing so would help in a way his time away couldn't.

However, the moment in which he stepped foot within the bounds of Hyperion Heights after his long walk from Oregon on account of his car breaking down in the middle of nowhere on his way back from Arizona, a sense of alarm fell over him and Rogers lowered his bag he carried over his shoulder while he cautiously looked around him for whatever dangers might be lurking. However, nothing or no one was there. So, the detective picked his bag back up after he had set it down on the ground and continued walking towards Roni's bar, where he hoped that she and her sister wouldn't be the only ones inside to greet him.

Unfortunately, he didn't get much further into the Heights when Rogers was suddenly attacked from behind him as an unknown assailant forced a taser against his neck and pushed the button to send electric shocks through his entire body until the detective was rendered unconscious, then collapsed to the ground. The hero wasn't given the chance to fight back, only to cry out in pain. And the attacker, who wore dark clothes as well as a ball cap and hoodie over his head to keep his face hidden from Rogers' and any surveillance cameras' views, at last bent down and lifted the smaller man's upper body, then began to drag the detective away.

Six weeks since Rogers' departure from the Heights…

Inside Kelly & Roni's Pub, Regina was standing inside the basement where she and Zelena kept their wines stored along with the rest of the liquor crates and barrels, as well as the food for the establishment in which they ran together, as she came down to grab another two cases of brandy upon running out underneath the bar. However, the former Queen took a few minutes within the quiet to be alone. The bar upstairs was fairly busy, but thankfully not too crowded. Yet the constant commotion and noise had been getting to her as of late, and tonight she had begun to take some of her frustrations out on their patrons.

Before she could come back up, Zelena walked down to take a few minutes to talk with her sister as the former Wicked Witch spoke sternly saying, "Look… I realize that the goon you kicked out of here earlier undoubtedly deserved to have you unleash some of your penned up frustrations, worries, or… anger on him. But those patrons you barked at a few minutes ago for asking for the one drink we were out of beneath the bar… they didn't deserve that. You're lucky I just so happened to know what to say and do to get them to stay."

Regina glared at her while she retorted, "I don't care if they go or stay. At least not tonight I don't."

"Fine…" she quickly stated once she realized she was wrong, then let out a frustrated sigh before she continued. "You're right. They didn't deserve to have me bark at them. I'm sorry, Zelena. It's just that I'm… I'm so…"

"Frustrated?" the older woman from Oz interrupted her in response before Regina could finish. "Angry? Worried… about him?"

Regina quickly glanced over at her again in confusion as she questioned, "Him? What do you mean by that?"

Zelena shook her head and then replied, "You know exactly who I mean, Regina. And don't try to deny it. You're worried about Rogers. And you miss him. He's been gone for six weeks now and he could be anywhere. You haven't heard a word from him in some time."

"Of course I'm worried about him," her younger sister answered sadly. "He was so good about keeping in touch every once in awhile to let me and Gold know where he was. So we knew he was safe because we asked him to keep in touch. But lately… Not a sound. I do miss him."

"He will be back soon," the witch responded gently to try to reassure her that he would be. "Now… if you're ready to keep working, we should get back up there. Margot and Henry are hard workers, but even they can't handle this crowd tonight for too long without going crazy too."

Regina nodded as she picked up one of the crates of brandy, while Zelena picked up another, then they both returned upstairs to the bar with them and upon seeing his fiancée carrying the heavy crate, Chad immediately took it from her hands to take over carrying it for her until the dark haired woman could put the liquor from her own away. Chad had driven back up from San Francisco again to stay with her for a couple of days and to have her sign a few papers that had to do with their marriage coming up in three months.

Despite the craziness of the curse and danger they were all in so long as Gothel still had power over them, Zelena was grateful to have the man she loved with her. She had even told him the truth about who and what she really was since they had nearly been killed by Nick… or Hansel. She loved him all the more for being understanding once he got over the initial disbelief that came from being told fairytales were real when she proved it to him by showing him a few of her spell books and other magical possessions she still had despite the curse, and despite his confusion about the whole fairytale world. He still stayed with her because he truly loved her.

Once he grabbed the crate from her, Chad looked over at his fiancée as he said with frustration, "I'm sorry, Kelly, but I'm afraid I have to leave tonight instead of tomorrow night like we planned. The hospital needs me back. One of my patients isn't taking to the new heart we gave him like we hoped he would. He's sick."

Zelena looked at him in understanding and remorse while she replied, "I'm so sorry. Of course you need to get back then. Are you leaving now?"

"I can stay for a little while longer," he answered before he leaned in to kiss her. "Long enough to grab some dinner if Regina can handle you breaking away from here for an hour?"

"Of course I can," the Queen responded once she finished putting the crate under the bar while she unloaded a few of the bottles to keep them on hand for the next patrons who would want brandy, then took the crate Chad was holding to unload as well. "We can handle things here just fine. Go have fun."

Zelena and her fiancé thanked her, then turned as they were about to leave. However, as they did so, the door clanked open again and everyone turned their heads to see who was walking inside, becoming shocked when Detective Rogers stumbled inside until he suddenly fell roughly to the ground a couple of feet away from the front door.

Zelena, as well as Henry and Margot who were both working that evening, just stood there in shock like the rest of the patrons who were all staring down at the drunken or wounded man on the floor. But Regina immediately rushed out from behind the bar and ran over to him while she cried out his name, as Chad also ran over to help him, reaching him only seconds after the dark haired woman who loved the detective did.

Regina carefully rolled Rogers over onto his back while she held his head to keep him from striking it again against the floor, and quickly saw the reasons why he collapsed when Chad pulled up the bloodied torn shirt he was wearing, revealing a severe knife wound in his lower abdomen, as well as several burn marks showing he'd somehow been electrocuted multiple times, a small gash over his left brow, a large ugly bruise along his right cheekbone, and his prosthetic hand missing on top of what they couldn't see yet.

When Henry slowly approached them as well, Regina kept her eyes down on Rogers while she called out to her son, "Henry, quick… call for an ambulance and get everyone out of here. Kelly… Margot…"

The young man swiftly began to do like she asked as he replied, "We've got it, Roni."

"Come on people," Zelena brusquely stated when she, Henry, and Margot got to work in steering the patrons looking down on them out. "You heard her. And now you're hearing me. It's time for you leave. We're closing early tonight."

"Rogers?" Regina whispered fearfully while she tried to rouse him again, as he was still barely conscious, but not coherent and burning up because of a fever raging within him. "Come on. Oh God…"

Chad noticed what had suddenly frightened his fiancée's sister too despite his struggle to stifle the blood flow from the knife wound in his stomach by holding his hands over it, as he looked down at his hand and uttered, "His wrist looks to be pretty badly broken and his thumb is dislocated. Not to mention there are bruises and lacerations from being bound around his wrists… his wrist… Your friend only has one hand?"

The Queen despondently answered, "Yes. For as long as I've known him. He's only had one for centuries."

"Centuries?" the doctor questioned softly when he briefly raised his head so he could see into her eyes. "As in… more than a hundred years? You mean he's… another friend from the fairytale world?"

"That's right, honey," Zelena responded when she finally knelt down beside him and her sister, while Henry and Margot were still busy trying to get everyone out because a number of them were too interested in the emergency taking place before them.

Chad thought for moment to try to work it out in his mind who this man might be from the little he knew about fairytale characters in general, until he spoke again saying, "Wait… is this… Captain Hook?"

Zelena looked at him in surprise as she replied, "He is."

"I'll admit, Peter Pan is one of the few stories I do kind of know," he said, sounding about as surprised as she was, then focused again on his task at hand by pushing harder into the wound while Rogers' blood kept seeping out between his fingers. "I have a niece and I might have seen that Disney movie with her when I watched her for my sister once. I'm guessing he's no longer a villain then? Like you and Regina? You know… since you're friends and all."

"He's a good man," Regina answered sadly while she kept her hands on both sides of his face. "I love him like he loves me and yet he doesn't even know who I really am right now because he's still cursed."

At last, they could hear the sound of the ambulance sirens in the distance and Chad lifted his head again to look behind him when the rescue vehicle pulled up outside, then turned back to Rogers as he responded worryingly, "Thank God. This knife wound is deep and he's lost a lot of blood. I don't know how he's still alive, let alone how he made his way here from wherever this might have happened to him."

It was then that Henry and Margot finished clearing everyone out and came over to stand above them while the young man replied, "Rogers survived getting shot and left for dead in an alley before he was finally found supposedly by that mysterious woman from my book. He's too stubborn to die."

"I hope you're right," Regina whispered fearfully as the paramedics entered and rushed to help the injured man lying on the floor in front of them.

"He'll stand a better chance once we get him to the hospital," one of the medics answered when the EMTs quickly pushed their way in and the injured man's friends aside, including Chad despite him being a doctor, then began working to stabilize him before they could lay him on a stretcher and load him into the ambulance. "If we can get him there. Just stay back and let us do our jobs. You can follow behind us in your own car."

The Queen stepped back when Zelena pulled her back with her, but to the medics demands she retorted, "No… I'm staying him."

Zelena turned her sister around to face her as she also whispered, "You have to let them do their job and in order to keep him alive, they need the room to work, Roni. We'll follow after them. I promise. Come on… everything's going to be okay. You'll see."