Whipping Boy

Chapter Four

Eight years before the dark curse was cast…

Alice awoke early one morning as the sun rose and shined down on her through the leaves of the tree she had climbed and allowed herself to fall asleep in the night before. The young woman smiled as she felt the warmth of the sunshine through the cool breeze surrounding her, then after a few more minutes as she pondered on the overflow of thoughts that entered her head in trying to come up with what she was going to do in the next couple of hours, she at last jumped down from the tree upon deciding she was going to see if the rumors she had heard through the talk from the other rebels outside of their camp were true about her friends, Henry and Jacinda having had their baby yet.

After she took the time to clean herself up at the brook not too far from where she had slept, Alice finally began to run through the forest. She wasn't in a hurry, but running among the trees, and the flowers, and the world she was living in made her happy. At least, about as happy as she could be without being able to be near the one person who mattered most to her in this world. Alice could only hope that her father was also about as happy as he could be without her in his life, knowing just how much it pained him to be separated from her.

Unfortunately, she didn't get far before she was suddenly ambushed by several soldiers who quickly surrounded her on their horses until the men dismounted and pulled their swords as they explained they were under Lady Tremaine's orders to take her in, then demanded she come with them quietly.

"I wouldn't try to fight us, girl," one of the soldiers stated, when Alice swiftly picked up a large stone from the ground and raised it over her head as she prepared to throw it at the man in an attempt to defend herself against them. "That stone in your hand won't help you against five blades."

"Maybe not," the young woman responded curtly. "But it might be satisfying to see it hit you in the head so that you'll stumble backward and possibly fall over. Or at the very least it ought to draw a little blood."

Alice swiftly threw the stone at the last man who had spoken and like she had said, her strike left a large gash over his left brow which she saw when he stood straight against after having attempted to shield himself from being hit. Two more of the soldiers moved in and were about to strike the girl to render her unconscious, when one of them was suddenly run through by someone else's sword from behind him as they all heard someone scream out in anger. The other soldiers spun around to find the pirate who lived among the rebels before them until he immediately began to fight against the remaining men as their swords clashed together in battle.

When their fight began, Hook first worked to gain full attention of the men as he cleared a path for his daughter to get away, then he called out to her shouting, "Alice… run! Now!"

Alice ran out from among the men as though she was about to leave, yet she quickly spun back around and froze in fear when she saw that her father was well outnumbered, then she cried out, "Papa… no! I'm going to help you!"

"You can't!" he shouted again as Alice quickly pulled a dead branch from off one of the trees beside her in order to use it as a weapon to defend her and her father with. "Please… just go!"

Hook swiftly thrust his hook through the chest of the soldier he was currently fighting and pulled a dagger from his belt to throw it into another's back as the man was about to charge at Alice. She immediately backed away to avoid the dead man falling against her, but when she looked towards her father again, she saw as two more soldiers were about to charge her father from behind him and she started to call out a warning to him. Hook managed to turn around just in time to raise his hook and sword again in order to be able to block their blades from killing him, but the two men suddenly shoved him backward and off his feet, causing him to fall back only inches away from where Alice was still standing.

"No!" Alice screamed, when all of a sudden, Hook cried out in pain as the poison in his heart began to activate upon becoming so close to his daughter, which made it impossible for him to raise himself back up from the ground while the agony only worsened until she backed far enough away so he might be alright again. "I'm so sorry, Papa!"

Hook weakly rose to his knees as the remaining soldiers still alive came up again from behind him and grabbed him by his arms despite his struggle to break free from their grasp, then he turned his head towards Alice again while he sternly called out, "Run, Alice! Go now to get help. Please… Aah!"

Knowing she could no longer help him, having realized that by staying to try had only made it possible for the soldiers to capture her father, Alice finally spun around and ran as fast as she could towards the rebel camp in hope that she would find Regina, Henry, and the others so she could get their help to rescue him from Lady Tremaine.

Present day, inside Hyperion Heights Hospital…

Hours passed by and the more time that did, the antsier Regina grew. But she was grateful that Jacinda, Lucy, and Sabine had showed up within that time shortly after Weaver had left so they could also be there with Henry, Zelena, and Chad to show their support and concern for their friend.

It was now quiet in the waiting room and everyone else from the neighborhood who had been there waiting for their own loved ones were now gone, which left the cursed heroes alone as they continued to wait for word on Rogers. Though Regina was the only one to really show her anxiety, the others with her all certainly felt it too.

At last, the silence which had fallen over them was finally broken when Henry stepped outside of the waiting room to get a candy bar from the vending machine across the hall, then turned his head just when Tilly entered the wing and slowly started walking towards him while he motioned to Roni to get her to come over to him as he whispered, "Roni… Tilly's here."

"I'll talk to her," Regina said quietly, then Henry walked back into the waiting room to rejoin the others, while the former Queen walked down the hall to meet up with the young woman she knew was Rogers' daughter. "Hello, Tilly. I take it that you've heard?"

"You mean… that Detective Rogers has returned from wherever he's been the last six weeks, but has done so in such a state which required that he be brought here?" the young woman questioned brusquely. "What happened to him? Just how badly is he hurt? He's going to be alright, isn't he?"

The dark haired woman looked down on her sadly and then answered, "Honestly, we don't know yet. Whether or not he'll be alright, or about all that happened to him. We just know he's in really bad shape."

Tilly groaned in frustration and anger, then she curtly replied, "It was Eloise who did this to him… wasn't it? Our laws suck! If it weren't for all the legal technicalities Weaver claims her so called lawyer brought up so that he can't arrest her any longer, she would be rotting away in prison where she belongs. Eloise and her cult followers. It isn't fair. After all they did to Rogers before? And now they're free to roam around our neighborhood like they never hurt him! It's ridiculous!"

"Believe me, I know," Regina responded sadly. "I completely agree with you. But I promise… Rogers is going to be fine. He always is. Because he's… Well, he's a survivor. He always has been."

"Can I see him yet?" the girl asked again, until she turned and glanced over at everyone still sitting within the waiting room as well. "I guess that's a silly question. No one would be waiting out here if we could see him."

She swiftly hit her forehead with the open palm of her hand as she mumbled, "Stupid. I am so stupid."

The former Queen quickly reached out to grab Tilly's hands to stop her from hitting herself and beating herself up over such a trivial question, then answered, "No… no you're not stupid, Tilly. Listen… Why don't you come and join us as we wait for the doctors to come out to tell us how he's doing."

"I can't," she replied nervously. "I hate waiting. And I hate hospitals. They make me feel like I'm crazy. Being here now is bad enough as it is. It's just that I owe Detective Rogers for being so good to me. He's let me stay in his apartment since he's been gone. I even have my own key. I want to be here, but… No! No… what's she doing here?"

"Eloise Gardener," Regina uttered darkly under her breath upon turning her head to see what suddenly frightened Rogers' daughter when she saw Tilly look towards the entrance and then spotted Mother Gothel as the witch entered the wing as well and started walking towards them. "I don't know. But whatever it is, it can't be good."