By the time they got down there, Tilly was the only one left. All the other woman who had been with her when Detective Rogers had escaped, had now vanished from their places around the circle. Instead there were a series of small trees at each corner of the deep red markings along the ground. Margot had no idea what happened to the women Rogers had claimed were there, but for some reason, the sight of the trees made him pale and he looked even more terrified than before. Weaver looked as confused as Margot felt, glancing around the open area, like he had expected more than a lone girl in a dark robes, muttering quietly to herself in a way that came across as almost angry and distant. It was like she was sleep walking through a nightmare.
"Where is everyone?" Margot asked nervously, feeling an eerie silence stretch around them, so tight it was almost smothering. Half the reason she spoke up was just to fill the empty space and bring some life back to the damp caves.
"Gone…" Rogers whispered, his voice sounding haunted and Margot looked back at him with a slight suspicious frown, but he didn't say anything else. Instead he eyes locked down on the only girl left in the room with them.
"Tilly?" Margot said, following his gaze back to the young woman, shadowed by the strange robe she wore and looking oddly serious, in a way she never had before. It seemed the detectives were telling the truth when they said Tilly was having a bad day. In fact it looked like her worst day yet.
Suddenly she felt a hand on her lower back and looked up to find Weaver gently pushing her forward. "Go on…" He said encouragingly.
Margot momentarily stalled on the spot, second guessing herself, but not for long. Despite all her doubts, she forced herself to begin walking around the strange circle marked into the middle of the cave floor. It was an odd drawing, and yet she had seen it many times before now, thrown about randomly around town over the last couple of days. It was almost like someone was sending a message to the town and its citizens. It made her wonder just how deep this weirdness really went.
But before she could think anything else about it, she shook her head and forced herself to focus on the more important task at hand. She was here for a reason. And that reason was currently muttering something under her breath a few paces in front of her with a strange glow that seemed to be coming off of every part of her uncovered skin. Was that really all just the molten fire burning from the grounds in front of her?
"Tilly?" Margot said, slowly stepping up to her side.
Tilly gave her no answer. Margot glanced silently back over to the detectives for some help but Rogers was still looking very lost and afraid, glancing at the small trees growing from the ground like he might faint from just being near them. Luckily Weaver seemed to be thinking clearly enough for them both. He gave her an encouraging nod and gentle wave forward. For whatever reason, he really had a strong belief in her, trusting she could do this.
With that strong belief egging her on, Margot turned back to the other girl, reaching up and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Tilly?" She repeated
Still no response.
Margot resisted the urge to look back at the detectives for a second time and instead, leaned closer to her girlfriend, trying to get her attention and speaking slightly louder in case she hadn't heard her before. "Tilly?"
Just then, something in her mind began telling her what she had to do to free Tilly from herself. But it was crazy! Or it was at least just really dumb. Yet that something was shouting in the back of Margot's thoughts, demanding that she do it now while she still had the chance. And, well, this whole situation was crazy anyway, so why the hell not?
Stepping slightly closer to her and ignoring the men still watching them from across the cave, Margot squeezed Tilly's shoulder tightly for a second longer before taking a breath and leaning towards her. Rogers frowned at them in confusion while Weaver had to fight the urge to smile, knowing exactly what was going to happen next. As Margot closed the gap between them and pressed a soft kiss to her lips, there was just a fraction of a second of stillness before a rush of warmth ran through the two of them and flooded outwards at the same time.
Had Margot seen some of the bizarre magic from early, and had she believed in what she was seeing, then their kiss might have done more. It might have stretched across the whole of the Heights and even further to the rest of the world if she had just believed in the hidden truth behind what Tilly was doing down there in the dark caves all by herself. But she didn't see or believe in any of it, so when their lips met, the kiss had a different reaction than to that of breaking the Dark Curse. Instead, it protected Margot and Tilly from the magic of Gothel's spell as it attempted to complete itself and transform its final sacrifice into a member of the grove.
Along with protecting the two of them, it also freed Tilly from the last clinging remains of the spell's compulsion and hypnosis. Of course, that didn't mean she was immediately back to her old self again. Unfortunately for them, her bad day continued to linger, looming over her like a cloud that refused to break even with the sun so close to the surface.
"What's happened?" Rogers said suddenly, feeling the wave of heat that hit them but unsure where it had come from. When Margot finally pulled away from the kiss, she turned and looked around the tight space.
Only then did Margot notice that the room had become suddenly duller and somehow more tighter. The flames that had been all around the room began to go out all at once, dimming until the people inside could just barely see what was in front of them. Even the fire from the ground began to die away and the trees at each corner of the markings were left in a cold darkness, trapped away from the necessary light above.
"She's free." Weaver said, turning back to the girls. "Margot, you can bring her along now. Quickly. We have to get out of here before Eloise comes back."
Margot still had no idea what was happening, but she had long since given up questioning any of it. At least for now. There would be plenty of time for that once everything else had been dealt with. So for now, she put an arm around Tilly's shoulders and began to guide her back around the room, all the while Tilly continued to blink into the space in front of her, like someone still trying to wake themselves up from a deep sleep. It seemed she was stuck in an odd daze and allowed herself to be moved and controlled like a puppet on strings which was almost as worrying as when she had been stuck chanting on the spot.
As Margot began to lead Tilly around the markings, the cave continued to darken around them. They were lucky there was so much open space, meaning there was little for them to stumble on and the distant light from the open door upstairs called out to them. As she took Tilly passed Rogers, he took a sharp step back from them with a hiss of pain. Margot didn't bother questioning it, though it was definitely odd, and instead she took Tilly carefully towards the light, up the stairs and out of the building, all the while with Weaver was following closely at their heels and Rogers lingered somewhere behind them.
Outside, the wind was blowing harshly and the sky was now covered in thick clouds that were steadily growing darker and more threatening with every passing minute. It was bitterly cold, almost like it had become winter in a matter of hours, and yet it was still continuing to grow worse just in the short time they lingered in the doorway. There was a definite storm building overhead, as if this day couldn't get any more dreadful for Margot and everyone else, than it already was.
"What's happening? I mean what's really happening?" Margot demanded, looking back at Weaver.
Weaver hesitated then shook his head. "It would take too much time to explain. I need you to just trust me and take Tilly somewhere safe. Somewhere away from all of this. Somewhere you can protect her."
It was hard to argue with him when he put it like that, what with Tilly still standing in her lost daze by her side, not reacting to anything that was being said or happening around her. She didn't even flinch at the wind that was blowing at the black cloak she was wearing, pushing down the hood and causing her blonde hair to slap at the sides of her face. As much as Margot wanted to find out what was happening and why the world seemed to be on the verge of an apocalypse, she wanted to protect Tilly even more. She knew, right now, she had to do that before anything else.
"Where can I take her?" Margot asked, pulling Tilly slightly closer against her side.
Weaver hesitated, then reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a pen and notepad, quickly scribbling something on the first page before tearing it off and holding it out to her. "Go to the station, head downstairs into the evidence locker. This code will get you in. No one will find or disturb you in there, but keep the door locked behind you all the same. Don't let anyone in but me. Understand?"
Margot stared down at the paper, then nodded her head and looked back up at him. "Understood."
"Go on then," Weaver nodded, he paused, looking at Tilly like he wanted to say something to her but instead shook his head. "Detective Rogers and I will hunt down Eloise. Go. Keep her safe."
"I will." Margot promised. "I will keep her safe."
With that, she turned around, keeping an arm on Tilly and leading her away from the theatre, back towards the police station. She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Rogers finally stepping outside of the double doors, looking very pale and weak as he took his place beside Weaver. She wondered if that had anything to do with the storm still ragging overhead.
"Mother nature has come." Tilly mumbled suddenly, her first proper sentence since Margot found her.
"Tilly?" Robin gasped, coming to a stop and grabbing her shoulders, looking her in the eye. "Are you back? Are you okay? Everything's alright, Tilly. I have you."
"Mother nature has come." Tilly repeated. "She's here. And the world will start fresh."
"Tilly…" Margot blinked, then shook her head, putting her arm back around her once more. "Come on, let's get somewhere safe first."
Tightening her grip on Tilly's arm, Margot led her along the open pathway, clear from people who were busy taking shelter from the storm, and in direction of the police station. It was an irritatingly long walk back to the station and Tilly's mumbles began to get louder and more confusing with every sentence she managed to get out. In fact it seemed like the further she was getting away from the theatre, the more she had to say and yet not a single bit of it made any sense. In the end, Margot was incredibly relieved when they finally caught sight of the familiar building ahead.
Margot continued to lead Tilly inside and was taken aback by how chaotic it was. The many people on the police staff were dashing back and forth from one end of the room to the other, with a loud buzz of them shouting across desks and chairs while the others seemed to be taken a series of phone calls from people who were in similar states. They were in such a rush that they didn't even notice, nor pay any attention to Margot as she gently pulled Tilly through the crowd of people in her way and towards the backroom beside the front desk. They were almost halfway through the rush when suddenly Tilly came to a rigid stop, her eyes wide as she glanced around the room, her breathing picking up until she began to hyperventilate, all in a matter of seconds.
"Tilly! Tilly, it's okay." Margot said quickly, pulling her into a protective hug. "Come on, Tilly. Come on. It's okay. We just need to get through that door. Then everything will be quiet and we'll sit down and we'll have a cute little date just you and me. We'll turn this bad day good. I promise, just come on, please, come on, follow my voice."
After a second, Tilly put one foot forward, and then a second. Then another, then another and another, until she was walking slowly forward with Margot guiding her the whole way. It felt like forever before they had finally reached the backroom, pushing open the door and rushing Tilly through before anyone could spot or stop them.
"It's nuts out there," Margot mumbled, still keeping an arm around her and taking Tilly down the hallway before pausing and glancing around. The spare was suddenly quiet and empty with multiple mysterious doors lining up either side of them. "And I have no idea which way I'm going. Great. This day just can't get any better, can it?"
Just then, Tilly broke away from her, charging ahead before Margot react. Margot was left blinking after her before she snapped to her senses and rushing ahead, following with only a slight concern for where she might be leading them. When Tilly rounded a corner, Margot stopped short as she caught sight of a heavy looking mental door at the end of the hall.
Tilly had come to a stop in front of the door, staring at it with her eyes still glazed over in that unfocused gaze of hers. She allowed Margot to catch up, standing by her side while she looked over the door slowly, eyes landing on the lock sitting by the wall with a series of numbered buttons on its silver surface. This had to be the room Weaver was talking about. Margot remembered the paper he had given her… Only it seemed to have disappeared.
"Damn it, where's that stupid code?" Margot hissed, digging her hands through her pockets.
Tilly pushed passed her again, reaching up and pressing in four short numbers into the control panel without hesitating. There was a loud buzz that seemed to echo down the hallway and then Tilly pulled open the door, slipping inside and leaving Margot to quickly duck after her, or otherwise be left locked out. She wanted to spare a moment to be surprise at Tilly's sudden bold movements, but was also afraid that if Tilly locked herself inside the room then she wouldn't come through enough to let Margot in after her and they would be separated.
And if Margot did nothing else today, then she was going to at least stay by Tilly's side. Until Tilly's bad day passed for sure.
After slipping inside the evidence room, Margot found she was caught by surprise to see Tilly had come to a stop right in the doorway and nearly ran into her. She stepped around her carefully, placing a hand against her lower back and looking her in the face, still searching for a sign that the bad day was beginning to ease off a bit.
"Let's get you out of that dumb cloak," Margot said, unsure of what else to do at this point.
Tilly didn't respond at first and Margot gave up waiting for her. She carefully moved to stand directly in front of her, reaching up and unfastening the front of the robe, pushing it back and letting it drop carelessly to the floor behind them.
"There. Isn't that better? Come on, let's take a seat." Margot said.
Tilly didn't move.
"Tilly-" Margot began.
"Mother Nature…" Tilly croaked, finally her glazed eyes seemed to focus and she looked at Margot. "She's here."
"No, its okay, Tilly, you're safe." Margot insisted.
"Mother Nature…" Tilly repeated, looking at her. "She's playing a game for the win and we've all fallen behind on the board. Our pieces are missing and the games nearly at an end. We can't see the finish line and if she crosses before us…"
"Tilly," Margot interrupted gently. "I don't understand."
"We're missing pieces," Tilly said, backtracking away from her arms. "We can't win while we're missing pieces."
Margot hesitated on the spot, watching her stumble backwards, staring at her with wide eyes and looking very close to all out babbling about these missing pieces they apparently didn't have. This really was the worst day Tilly had ever had. Margot had never seen her this bad before and she wasn't actually sure how to react or how to help her get through it.
Still unsure of what else to do, Margot rushed over to the table in the middle of the room and began knocking everything to the floor. All the pieces that fell to her feet were quickly kick to the wall and corners out of her way. She didn't care about any of it and if it was valuable, well then Weaver should have it put away like a normal person.
"Tilly, come sit down." Margot said, patting the stool she pulled from the side.
"I can't. I can't. Not until we find the missing piece." Tilly gasped, rushing towards the closed off area and grabbing onto the metal gate keeping her out. She wrapped her fingers into the gaps and began shaking it violently, knocking over a nearby bow which happened to have been leaning nearby, clattering to the floor loudly in front of a quiver of arrows.
"Tilly!"
Margot ran to her side and grabbed her wrists, pushing them down to her side and pulling her back at the same time before she could hurt herself.
"NO!" Tilly gasped, fighting to knock Margot off of her. "I have to find the missing piece! We can't win the game without it!"
"Tilly! Please, stop!" Margot said, forcing Tilly to turn around and face her. "I will help you. I promise, I will help you find the missing piece but for now, just calm down. You can't find anything when you're all worked up like this."
Tilly slumped slightly, looking at her with that same wide eyed expression. "We have to find the missing piece."
"I know, and we will. But in a moment." Margot said, guiding her back to the stool.
"Promise…" Tilly said desperately.
"I promise, now sit."
Finally, Tilly did as she was told, settling herself down on the stool and grabbing onto the edge of the table tightly, clinging to it like she was afraid she might fall off if she didn't.
"I wonder if there's anything to eat…" Margot mumbled, glancing around.
"Cabinet."
"What?" Margot looked back to where Tilly was still clinging to the table hard enough for her arms to begin shaking.
"Cabinet."
Margot glanced up and saw what it was Tilly was referring to. She was staring at a set of plain brown cabinet's hanging of the top of the wall on the far side of the room. Margot wandered over and pulled open one of the small doors, peeking inside to find a series of crisps and snack packets inside, like something out of a teenager's bedroom rather than a detective's evidence locker.
"Here," Margot said, pulling out an armful of the snacks and dumping them down onto the table.
Tilly stared down at the snacks for a moment before reaching blindly for one, opening it and taking a large bite. She chewed quickly and swallowed after only a few seconds, like she was in a rush to finish and Margot hovered for a moment, wondering if she should stay prepared to give her CPR should she start choking on it. But when Tilly showed no signs of struggling, Margot took a slow seat beside her.
"Feel better?" Margot asked gently. "Sorry I don't have any marmalade sandwiches…"
Tilly paused mid chew and looked up at her, mumbling. "I forgot I liked them…"
"Well, we'll buy you some on the way home today after Weaver gets back." Margot smiled.
"Weaver?" Tilly looked at her, frowning. "Who's Weaver?"
Margot hesitated. "Detective Weaver." She said gently. "Remember. You're friends with him."
"Friends… Yeah but… His name. It's not Weaver." Tilly said, frowning slightly.
"Well, it's his last name." Margot shrugged. "I don't really know what his first name is."
"No. He has a funny name." Tilly mumbled. "I just can't remember. I'm still missing pieces but I know it's not Weaver. I just know it isn't."
"Okay well, let's eat and maybe things will clear up for you." Margot suggested, then hesitated and asked gently; "Hey, do you have your pills on you? Maybe you should take one."
"No way!" Tilly snapped, standing up and throwing some of the snacks to the floor in her rush. "I'll never find the pieces with those pills fogging everything up!"
"Okay! Okay!" Margot said quickly, standing and grabbing her arm. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do." She turned back to the table. "Please, let's sit down and finish eating. You'll feel better, I promise. It'll clear your head."
"Need to clear my head," Tilly agreed, nodding her head and sitting back down. "Once it's clear… I can find the pieces." She turned suddenly, grabbing Margot's arm. "Will you help me?" She whispered intensely.
For some reason, Margot had a strange sense of déjà vu from those words. She wasn't sure why but she just felt like she had heard Tilly say something like that to her before, except it was darker and they were outside…
"Um, yeah, of course," Margot mumbled.
"Thank you," Tilly breathed, visibly relieved. And something about the soft sweet happiness in her eyes suddenly made Margot truly want to help her. No matter how crazy that help might be.
"So… What pieces are you looking for?" Margot asked slowly.
"I don't know," Tilly moaned, shaking her head. "The fogs still too thick! I can't see it! But it's there. I know it is." She paused and looked up. "It's here." She gasped, looking at Margot and grabbing her hand. "Help me find it."
"Of course," Margot repeated. "I will, Tilly. I promise, I will help you any way I can." And she meant it. Maybe if they found the "pieces" she was looking for, it would help get her out of her bad day.
"Thank you," Tilly breathed, leaning forward like she might kiss her only to change her mind at the last second with a gasp of pain, reeling back sharply. "Do you hear that?!"
"Hear what?" Margot blinked.
"Those voices! They're screaming!" She gasped, looking at Margot wide eyed. "We have to find them."
"How?" Margot asked worriedly.
"Look for it!"
Margot didn't understand but already Tilly was on her feet, running around the room and pulling open the rest of the draws and cupboards, emptying everything onto the floor without hesitation or care. She was making a mess of the entire room but then Margot doubt Weaver would mind too much. And maybe there was something Tilly was really looking for in all this mess, something she believed was making a noise.
Either way, it would at least give them something to do to pass the time. And a part of Margot wanted to play along with Tilly as much as possible in hopes of getting her to open up a little more. Maybe if she kept Tilly talking for long enough then she could help ease her back out of her bad day.
"Okay, let's look." Margot agreed. "Can you tell me anything about it?"
"No, I don't know, I just know it's screaming." Tilly insisted, still shuffling through everything in her reach.
Sighing, Margot began to help her work through the shelves on display, holding things out only for Tilly to shake her head at and turn away each time. They didn't have much space to work with. Half the room was closed off behind the metal caging and the rest seemed to have pretty basic things spread out, like every day objects Weaver could use that held no real importance. Margot couldn't imagine any of the stuff that had been left out in the open to be of any real importance.
Just then, Margot opened the last cupboard in the corner by the floor and found a plain box settled inside. It stood out because it was the only object in the cupboard while every other space had been crammed full of various items. Carefully, Margot pulled it out, setting it on the side and opening the box, revealing the strangest looking knife she had ever seen.
"Tilly… Is this…" Margot began, taking the dagger carefully from the box.
"That's it!" Tilly gasped, rushing to stand in front of her, but she didn't take the dagger, instead she just stared down at it in wonder. "That's the voice."
"Um… What's it saying?" Margot asked.
"I don't know. It's all shouting at once. It's trying to tell me something," Tilly groaned, pressing a hand to her head. "I wish it would just be quiet! I can't think! I need it to STOP!"
It was just like the last time she had heard the voices, only back then, her cry had finally caused some of the whispers to quieten down enough for her to think straight. Now they persisted through her angry frustration, even louder than before, and Margot could see it was making Tilly's whole body shake.
Quickly, Margot put the dagger back down in its box and turned to Tilly, grabbing her arm. "Okay, enough of that. Sit down and eat something. I think you should try and ignore the voices for a bit."
"I can't!" Tilly said, on the verge of tears.
"Tilly, look at me." Margot said, pulling her close. "Do you trust me?"
Tilly finally stopped her panic and looked up at Margot's soft green eyes, becoming momentarily lost enough to calmly nod her head. "Yes." She whispered.
"Then trust me now. Let's sit down, just you and me, and we can just talk. We'll talk through all the voices, okay?" Margot said softly.
Tilly hesitated, then nodded. "Okay…"
Margot took her back to their seats, sitting her down and settling on the space beside her. Outside, she could still hear the distant sounds of the storm ragging on, but it was surprisingly easy to block it out when she chose to concentrate on Tilly instead.
"I missed you today," Margot began softly. "I thought you'd come by the bar later…"
"I- I couldn't-" Tilly began.
"I know," Margot said quickly. "I just missed you."
Tilly's eyes suddenly focused on Margot intensely. She squeezed her hand and leaned forward. "I miss you, too. I miss you so much."
"It's okay. I'm here with you now." Margot smiled.
Tilly shook his head. "No. It's not the same now. It's you but it's not and I still miss you, so much."
Margot stalled. She didn't understand what Tilly was trying to say, but she also had a desperate urge to prove her wrong at the same time. Margot wanted Tilly to understand that she was here with her, no matter what she said or did or what happened next, Margot wasn't going to leave her.
"Do you remember our first date? Even before I asked you out? We had beignets and we just sat and talked on the bench for ages." Margot grinned. "I really liked that. It was so simple but it was perfect."
"I liked it too." Tilly mumbled.
Margot hesitated, then grabbed one of the soft snack cakes from the pile of food still on the table. They were getting close to being stale and rather plain, but Margot doubt Tilly would mind. Unwrapping it from its purple packaging and breaking it in half, she smiled and held half up to Tilly's lips playfully. At first Tilly didn't react, and Margot's stomach started to dip nervously, only for Tilly to slowly open her mouth, letting Margot slide the cake onto her tongue.
"How's that?" Margot grinned.
Tilly smiled sadly. "Nice."
Margot leaned forward, pressing her forehead against Tilly's. "Things are really bad outside, I know. But we can still have a good day here, just you and me."
"But… The voice…" Tilly mumbled, swallowing the last of the cake.
"Ignore them." Margot said, shaking her head. "The only voices here… Is mine and yours. Just listen to me."
Tilly paused, then nodded. "Okay." She whispered. She reached over, picking up the other half of the cake from her hand and holding it to Margot's lips. "Just me and you."
Margot happily accepted the cake with a slight giggle and felt her body relax when Tilly returned with her first proper smile.
Yeah, this day could become a good one after all.
O*U*A*T
"I think we've eaten half of the stuff Weaver had stored here," Margot giggled through a mouthful of biscuit.
"I wish we had tea," Tilly said suddenly. "We could have had a tea party."
"A tea party?" Margot laughed, biscuit dribbling down her chin.
Tilly paused, her eyes growing unfocused. They kept doing that every now and then so Margot quickly wiped her chin on the back of one hand and reached across with the other, taking Tilly's and giving it a gentle squeeze, bringing her back to her. At first Margot had to shake Tilly to bring her back, but over time she had to do less and less and now even her touch seemed to be enough to help Tilly focus again.
"You thirsty, Til'?" Margot asked softly.
"Yeah," Tilly said, swallowing hard.
"Then let's find you a drink." Margot smiled.
Margot stood from her seat and began to search the room once again. They had found food, so surely Weaver had some kind of liquid lying around as well. He was clearly the kind of guy who kept his personal space well prepared, she just hoped it wasn't something disgusting like whiskey or whatever it was older detectives drank.
She wandered over and paused by the weird dagger that Tilly had said was whispering to her. Even without Tilly's bad day whispers driving her to the edge, Margot got a bad feeling from the dagger. It looked like something out of a horror movie involving a religious sacrifice or something. Except somehow darker. It had jagged edges that twisted into a danger sharp point, with a dark handle and even dark shades on its not so smooth blade. But the weirdest part of it all was the writing that stretched across it.
Rumplestiltskin.
Wasn't that name from a fairy tale? Margot didn't know many of them, but the name stuck out for some reason and she was sure it was from something involving a children's story. Which made the fact that it was engraved on such a creepy knife, all the more disturbing. Who would even do that?
Reaching up, Margot moved to touch the knife, intending to trace the letters of the name. She wasn't sure why, but she felt like it was such an odd thing and she needed to feel it, as if to assure it wasn't her imagination and someone really had written a fairy tale characters name on a lethal weapon. Afterwards she planned to put it away for good but first, she was just so curious, she wanted to see what it felt like.
But before she could, Tilly's hand reached over and snatched Margot's wrist, pulling away. It was such a surprise – she'd snuck up on her so quietly – that Margot jumped and gasped, turning to look at her wide eyed.
"Don't," Tilly whispered, looking terrified. "Please don't touch it. Only I should."
"Only you should, what?" Margot blinked. Tilly was squeezing her arm, but it wasn't painful, just firm. "Only you should touch it?"
"That's right." Tilly nodded. "I don't want you touching anything dark."
Margot hesitated, and then nodded. "Okay. I won't."
"Thank you," Tilly whispered, reaching up and hugging her. "Thank you so much. For everything."
"Of course," Margot said with a slight frown, still not understanding. She hadn't understood anything since the detectives came into Roni's and rushed her out of the building.
Tilly pulled back, looking Margot in the eyes with her face just inches away. For a moment they held themselves there, staring at one another and Margot had another strange sense of déjà vu, despite the fact that she was sure she and Tilly had never stared at each other this closely before. Then Tilly was smiling and Margot couldn't help but to smile back at her.
"I love you," Tilly whispered.
Okay, that was new. While staring at her, the sensible start of Margot's startled mind was trying to figure out how to explain to Tilly that they hardly knew each other well enough to share the L word. And while her mind was doing that, her lips were already saying something else.
"I-I love you, too."
Tilly's face split into another real smile and she leaned towards her. Margot found herself leaning in as well, even while part of her was still arguing with herself about it.
However before their lips could meet, there was a sudden buzzing sound and the door opened. The girls jumped and Margot instinctively grabbed Tilly and pushed her behind her back protectively. She didn't know how he had gotten in, but she knew instantly it wasn't Weaver, who would have no doubt called out to them rather than scare them by forcing his way in unexpectedly.
Sure enough, it wasn't Detective Weaver or even Detective Rogers standing in the now open doorway now. Instead it was the desk clerk.
Suddenly Tilly was shrinking against Margot's back like she was afraid. And that was all Margot needed to know.
"How did you get in here?" Margot demanded, glaring at the officer.
"Hand her over," He said plainly, striding towards them.
"What?" Robin blinked, putting her hands behind her and pushing Tilly back, walking to the side, away from the approaching man and around the table. "No! Stay the hell away from Tilly, you freak!"
"The spell must be completed." The officer said blankly, continuing to walk towards them. "The girl must be gifted."
"What? Are you high? I won't tell you again, stay back!" Margot shouted, still pushing Tilly behind her and backing away from him. "You touch her and you'll regret it!"
"Margot, be careful!" Tilly gasped.
"STAY! BACK!" Margot shouted, ignoring Tilly and keeping her firmly and safely behind her.
The man closed in on them sharply, picking up speed without warning. Margot wanted to look back, to see if they could make it to the door, but she didn't dare risk taking her eyes off this guy. He didn't appear to have any weapons on him, but he was definitely a big guy. And from Margot's experience, big guys could be twice as dangerous even without an actual gun at hand.
Thinking fast, Margot reached out and grabbed the first thing her hand could find, which turned out to be a solid metal box, no bigger than a piggy bank, that was too light to hold anything inside. However it was still firm enough that when Margot swung it down onto the guys face, it caused him to shout in pain and stumble to the side into the table. Margot had kept a hand on the box and, while pushing Tilly for the door, she threw it at him before turning and breaking into a run for the now open exit.
However he wasn't as stunned as they thought him to be and Margot felt him grab a handful of her loose hair, pulling hard and causing her to shriek in pain and surprise. Tilly skidded to a stop in front of her, turning and crying out even as the man pushed Margot carelessly to the side and dived past her for Tilly.
"Tilly! Run!" Margot shrieked, scrambling back onto her feet and throwing herself at the officers back legs.
The two of them tripped as Tilly ducked out of the way, back into the room and accidentally causing Margot and the officer to slam into the door, shutting it hard. They fell to the floor and Margot scrambled onto her hands and knees, crawling away only for the officer to grab onto her ankle. She heard Tilly screaming again and saw her run to her side, grabbing her arms and attempting to pull her free while Margot used her other foot to kick at his face. Finally he was forced to let go and Tilly dragged Margot safely onto her feet, pulling her to the back of the room and away from him, accidentally causing themselves more problems as they became trapped.
As the officer climbed angrily back onto his feet, Margot looked around blindly for something to defend themselves with. Her eyes landed on the dagger at the exact same time as Tilly's, although they both had very different reactions to it. While Tilly screamed at her not to, and even moved to physically stop her, Margot reached an arm out and snatched the dagger from the side, pulling away from Tilly and pointing it at the officer threateningly.
"This is your last warning!" Margot shouted, holding the dagger in both hands. "Get out of here! Now!"
"She must be gifted," He repeated, walking towards her, unafraid of the dagger in her hand. "But I'll take that too. Mother Gothel wants the Dark One dagger as well."
There was too much crazy is that one sentence for Margot to process. So instead, when he moved close enough to reach for her, Margot screamed, stepping forward and driving the dagger into his shoulder.
She had meant to stun him, but somehow he barely seemed affected by the bleeding wound. He took a step back and gasped, but then just as quickly lifted his hand and back handed Margot across the face. She fell into the table and before she could recover from the blow, he grabbed her by the throat from behind, squeezing as he pulled her back and slammed her forward again. The force of her chest hitting the table choked Margot almost as much as the grip he had on her throat and she struggled to break free.
"You." The officer snarled. "Are expendable."
Margot gasped, trying to kick him but the force of his shaking knocked her off her feet and she clawed at his hands, scratching her nails over his knuckles and trying to pull his fat sausage fingers off, but no matter how much she clawed at his skin, he barely reacted. If anything he held on tighter and Margot reached out, trying to remember if the dagger had fallen from his shoulder or if it was still stuck there. She couldn't focus and she began reaching blindly for a new weapon but all she managed to grab were biscuit crumbs and crisp packets.
"NO!"
The officer was thrown off her without warning and Margot dropped completely to her knees. She gasped, rubbing her sore throat and twisting around on the spot. There was a clanking sound as the dagger landed on the floor by her leg, while the officer had been knocked all the way back over to the door. He slouched down against it and looking very shocked and confused, staring at something in front of him. Margot followed his gaze and found Tilly standing, staring back at him, a look of anger on her face that Margot had never seen before, not even on her worst bad day.
"You…" The officer gasped, standing slowly, pressing a hand to his now openly bleeding wound. "You must be gift-"
"NO!"
Tilly lift her hands up, pointing them palms out at him. The movement was followed with a burst of brilliant white light that came from the skin of her palms and was very near blinding. Margot tried to shield her face but couldn't resist peeking to see what would happen next. When the light died a few seconds later, she saw the officer lying unconscious on the floor, his wound healed and a look of genuine peace on his face like he had simply fallen asleep.
"Wha-…" Margot gasped.
"No," Tilly repeated, walking up to the officer, suddenly looking much more focused than she had before. "I won't be a gift for her." She waved a hand over the officer and he vanished in a cloud of white smoke, disappearing from the room and from their sight.
"Tilly." Margot repeated, climbing slowly back onto her feet and staring at her in open disbelief. "What… What was that?"
Tilly turned, her expression crumbling back to what it had been before the officer's arrival. She paused, looking down at her hands like she couldn't believe she had done it any more than Margot did.
"I… I'm not sure." Tilly whimpered, turning and walking over to her. Instantly, Margot reached out, grabbing her arms and pulling her close. "Everything's… Everything's all messy. It's foggy and broken and I can't clear it!" She waved her hands either side of her head, cringing with tears filling her soft eyes.
"It's okay," Margot said, still in shock but somehow fighting through it to give Tilly comfort. "Just… Take a moment. Breath. It'll… I dunno… Clear your head."
Tilly looked at her sadly. "I can't breath." She croaked.
"Yes you can. Just do it with me. Slowly. Okay?" Margot said, still holding onto her arms. She slowly took a breath in through her mouth, watching Tilly copy before she let it out. "See. It's easy. Just keep breathing."
Tilly nodded and for a moment they stood there, Margot holding her arms and breathing deeply with her. But no matter how much she breathed in and out, deep long calming breathes, her heart continued to race in her chest and her mind ran a mile a minute, trying to make sense over what just happened.
"Tilly," Margot said finally. "Are you okay now? Can you tell me what happened?"
"I'm not sure." Tilly mumbled. "I just… I couldn't stand to see him hurt you."
"So you stopped him." Margot nodded.
"I tried to." Tilly said quietly.
"No, you did, Tilly. You stopped him and you saved me." Margot smiled, then leaned towards her. "But how? Tilly, how did you do that?"
"I don't know. I just… I wanted to stop him and so then… I did." Tilly shrugged.
"But what was that?" Margot pressed.
Tilly hesitated for a moment before looking up. "Magic." She whispered.
"What?"
"I used magic," Tilly nodded. "I used magic to send him away."
Margot wanted to tell Tilly that magic wasn't real. That she was imagining it. That things would be okay once her bad day passed…
Yet Margot had seen it happen in front of her own eyes. She had watched Tilly throw the officer off without touching him, and then wave a hand and transport him away without even batting an eye. There was no possible way for her to deny that any of that happened.
"Magic's real." Margot whispered in awe, staring at Tilly. Somehow that very sentence felt like she was admitting something she had been denying for years. She felt better just for saying it and now the words had been uttered aloud, she knew they were as real as the magic Tilly displayed.
"I don't understand what's happening, Margot." Tilly croaked. "Everything's still so foggy."
"I know… But it's okay." Margot said, reaching up and stroking some hair from Tilly's face, pushing it behind her ear and smiling. "Everything will be okay so long as we stick together."
"You won't leave me?" Tilly begged.
"Never." Margot swore. Then, because the moment felt right, she leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss against Tilly's warm lips, pulling her closer as she did…
A burst of warm magic exploded from between them. They held the kiss but they were both aware of the warm wind that rushed outward, not from their lips exactly, but from all of them, stretching out, not just across the Heights, but to the rest of the country as well. In seconds the magic reached and touched every person who had once lived in Hyperion Heights, and all at once, every person woke up from the curse and remembered who they really were.
When the girls pulled away, they did so slowly, letting their eyes remain closed for a moment longer as they enjoyed the lingering feel of the magic of their kiss. Then, finally, they opened their eyes and looked at one another.
The fog in Tilly's mind lifted like someone drawing the blinds. She blinked away as the last of the confusion faded and the bad day, or at least the worst of it at least, finally came to an end. Tilly took a step back, and Alice moved forward, her face breaking into a smile as she stared at the familiar face of the woman she loved. "Robin…" She croaked.
"Tower Girl." Robin breathed, her own smile appearing as her own cursed persona faded away.
They stared at each other, smiling like fools before they both leaned in sharply for another, more passionate kiss.
They clung onto one another tightly, holding and deepening the kiss until they had no choice but to pull away in order to breathe again. When they did, they broke into excited giggles, still holding each other close and Robin moved to press her forehead against Alice's, shutting her eyes and taking a slow breath until her heart rate finally slowed to a steady calm beat.
Everything was okay now… They had found each other.
A sudden rumble from outside seemed to actually shake the ground and the walls rattled loudly, a few objects they hadn't knocked off in their search began falling from the shelves and shattering on the ground as the hanging lights swung overhead. The bulbs flickered and there was another loud rumble that followed it like an earthquake with a series of aftershocks.
"What's happening?" Robin gasped, looking around the room in a panic.
Alice felt a rush of dread ruin their perfect moment. "Gothel. She's trying to destroy the world. She's going to kill everyone! We have to stop her!"
There were so many questions. So many things they still had to say to one another. But sadly, all those things would have to wait.
"They must be near the theatre, where Gothel had you trapped." Robin nodded.
"Let's go," Alice nodded, taking Robin's hand and pulling her to the door.
Robin pulled her to a sudden stop before they could leave. "Wait a sec." She said, letting go and rushing to the metal gate that closed off half the room. She hesitated at the locked door, before turning away and running over to the table where she picked up the discarded Dark One dagger from the floor. In a hurry she used the daggers to physically break open the lock in her way and stepped inside.
A moment later, she returned with her bow back in hand and the arrows resting over her back. "Let's go."