Sorry for the delay. Bad case of writer's block and life. Haven't found solutions to either.
Actually, we're getting to the meat of this. Be patient.
The usual disclaimers.
Mr. Mills
Henry Mills, Sr. lay still in his hospital bed as he is surrounded by Mayor Regina Mills, his daughter, Sheriff Emma Swan and Deputy Sheriff David Nolan.
After all this time, he does not know why the dark-haired woman who is his daughter...and who literally ripped his heart out...would still be the only think in this world he would even love. he had a chance for revenge, but he did not take it. It is the main reason he was in the hospital.
Sheriff Swan told the the old man quietly that they had a few questions and that they would try not to press too much. Hank Mills nodded.
The sheriff and the deputy started asking.
"Who did this to you...?"
Silence.
"Can you tell me if Killian Jones was involved?"
Silence.
"What about Gold?"
SIlence.
"Can you give is a motive...a reason?"
Silence.
"Did...did Cora Mills do this to you?"
"No." It was a definitive a "no" as can be.
The Mayor looked up to the Sheriff with pleading eyes. "Emma..."
The sheriff and the deputy said they may be back when the old man was up to it. They left the hospital room, but not before the sheriff looked back on the mayor and her father. They mayor had a tear in her eye and small sad smile on her face. The sheriff returned the smile and left the room.
Ian Gold.
Rumpelstiltskin was not his usual wisecracking self. Neither version of Belle/Lacey was in the room. His son had not been seen since he went down that rabbit hole. He was alone. Bruised. Wanting to die.
The last person he wanted to see was the last person to see Bae/Neal before he got sucked into the hole again. Not to mention her daddy.
His manner was uncharacteristically terse to the daughter-father duo. None of his trademark flowery gestures. Just a short, almost mumbled "hello." The man only had only two things on his mind. One was suicide. He was done with all this. What started out as elaborate mischief had left a rancid taste in his mouth. And he was all alone. But before he went, the crocodile would end his chaser.
Emma was direct and to the point with her questions. To her surprise the Dark One was exceedingly candid.
Yes, Boston was a ruse to get certain people out of town. He still did not know who the strange woman was who stopped his plans in their tracks. And it seemed he didn't care.
Yes, Cora was involved. And Hook. the elder Henry was at first, but he tried to push back.
Yes, Albert Spencer was involved. The ringleader. King George. Figures.
Yes, Graham was involved, but he tagged along only to try to kill Regina. Obviously, that failed.
"Anyone else?," asked the Sheriff.
"Yes," replied the imp.
But Gold seemed hesitant to provide the name. Maybe he feared a reprisal. Maybe he was right...
"His name here is...Leo White."
It took a few moments for both Emma and David it process that information, and other few seconds for mild manned David Nolan to become a madman, rushing the bed, and grabbing the collar of Gold's sleepwear, knocking the monitoring equipment to the side and disconnect much of it.
"So help me you sonufabitch...if you're fucking lying to me, I WILL END you!" As Emma tried to pry her father off of Gold, she knew this was not her dad. Or idiot David. Or Charming. This was a man who was protecting what was his. Protecting his Snow.
Leo White was King Leopold. The man Regina had killed. The man who, in essence, raped Regina every night.
Snow's father. He was alive again.
And as Whale and various orderlies burst in and removed David from Gold, the imp just laid there, all the fight had left him, as if he was hoping Nolan would end him.
WIth Emma looking at her young father with concern, David straightened himself off, said he need to go back to the office to calm down and walked out of the room, doctor and assistants in tow. Emma was about to leave too...
"Wait."
Emma turned around and walked toward Gold. She'd seen that look before. Scores of times on Regina when the world beat her down to submission. She never thought, though, she would see it on Ian Gold, master dealmaker.
But there he was, eyes brimming with water, breaths staccato.
"Sheriff Swan...I am not asking for your forgiveness, I deserve none. But you still are the savior. You have to stop him."
"Who?"
"King George."
There was a look on the Sheriff's face, the look one would get waiting for a shoe to drop.
"George has more power than us all combined, dearie.."
Swan's lie detector said Gold wasn't lying.
"There is one more thing, Sheriff Swan...as you would say, for record..."
She listened.
"When Hook attacked me, it was Cora who begged him off. She saved my life..." The imp paused and sighed. "I did not deserve that..."
Emma nodded, turned and left the room.
He was telling the truth about everything. And the thought of Cora being alive and linked to Albert Spencer sent a shiver through her.
The vibration of her Galaxy III shook the sheriff out of her reverie. Three messages. The first warmer her heart.
"DADDY'S FINE...WE HAD A NICE TALK. HE FORGIVES ME. I LOVE YOU PRINCESS!"-Regina
The second sped her heart up a bit out of concern...
"EMMA, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU AND REGINA TONIGHT. SNOW WILL BE THERE. VERY IMPORTANT.."-Blue
And the other stopped her heart cold.
"MISS SWAN, I AM AT THE SHERIFF'S STATION. I'M TURNING MYSELF IN. KILLIAN."
That was enough to have Emma Swan racing out of the hospital back to the station.
Truck Stop just outside of Peabody, NH
Inside a black, unmarked Ram ProMaster Van, 8:30 pm of that same day
Two women walked towards the van. One had light skin, blonde hair cut pixie style. her figure was slight and she wore a simple green dress and sweater. The other woman had medium cut dark hair, much darker skin and wore similar colored clothing with a shawl around her neck. They both were very wary, as if they were expecting someone they did not want to run into.
When they got to the van, the occupants were waiting. The sliding door swung open, and the pair rushed inside with their cargo.
"Ok, five 10 oz. burgers and fries..." The blonde, who called herself Tink, distributed the burger bags...
"Rory." Young dirty blonde girl in her 20's riding shotgun..
"Maggie," Ebony-hair young Asian woman on the driver's side...
"Tammy," The young African-American woman who accompanied Tink...who complained about being called "Tammy."
And the final bag of food went to a thirtysomething man with a receding hairline. "Thanks, Tink..."
"You're welcome, Greg.."
"We also got some soup in the thermos for when our guest wakes up..."
The said guest lay on a back seat of the van, still unconscious. Cora Mills seemed to make attempts to awaken during the trip from where she was held where she is right now. Tink's cell rang and she answered.
"Do me a favor, Maggie, make damned sure that you hold me back when that old woman wakes up." Rory was grumbling between bites of burger. "I owe her a left hook..."
Maggie turned to look at her companion. "Princess...Rory...we have bigger fish to fry. We need to deliver the package as soon as possible."
Meanwhile Tink was on the phone: "Yeah we got her...she's still out, we got her some soup when she wakes up...no it's WHEN...they didn't kill her...its not just her...they should be finding out that their two top operatives are missing too...it won't take much to add two and two...It was magic all right...how else do could you get her OUT of Storybrooke and into New Hampshire that quick..."
"What else?...Oh, fuck...both of them?...how?...Remind me to get that Maleificent a vibrartor for Christmas...you think its the real thing? Well, great for her, and for her new girlfriend...for us..don't know..."
"Text me when we get back to base...out."
Tink looked down at the sleeping cargo. Cora looked peaceful. Considering what they they did to her, peacefulness was a gift from the gods.
"So..." Greg seemed very nervous as he prepared to chomp away at his burger. "..how long will it take for them to figure out Cora's gone...and we're with them?"
Tamara calmly replied, "Oh about...now."
The dark-skinned woman pointed to the video screen connected to the rear camera on the van that showed two black Lincoln MKTs. Disembarking from the autos were four Men-In-Black, two each, complete with earpieces and hands seemingly in the get-ready-to-fire position.
Rory summed up the situation succinctly: "We're fucked!"
Tink: "Not as fucked as you think. Maggie, how close can I get us to Storybrooke?"
The young Asian woman already had her laptop out and had Google Maps at the ready. "Fort Williams Park...that's just outside of town."
Tink knew what to. She raised her arms and held her hand flat against the roof of the van. "Tamara, hold Cora down...get ready everyone."
The Men-In-Black were about to attack the van when they heard a loud squealing noise, then light...probably the brightest light they had ever seen...surrounded the van. And within seconds the light was gone.
So was the van.
TBC
Ok...not the best, but it gets us there.
I promise, HUUUUUGE Giant Economy-sized revelations about a lot of folks in the next chapter or two.
COMMENTS PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!