Out of the Ashes

Victor sucked down yet another cup of straight black coffee, the strongest blend Granny's Diner produced, and had himself sterilized yet again for some more emergency surgery. Yay for giants, he thought bitterly. As if this Rumpelstiltskin business didn't have the eye and ear of the town already. Then again, at least the giant business did, because Rumpelstiltskin had more enemies than either he or Gerhardt had time to count.

When the victims of the giant's rampage first came in, Victor was grateful that Gerhardt made him sleep. Now, though, it probably wouldn't have mattered. He was going in to operate on someone who was run through with a wooden pipe which needed to be carefully removed, splinters included, from his torso. This should have been a top priority, he thought, the same way he would've said to a nurse. Then again, so should a lot of patients, every last one. He was the town doctor, and these people, magic fiends or no, depended on him.

So he ran on coffee. Beat running on alcohol, that was for sure. It was a miracle he could get Greg out of the position he'd been in. He didn't necessarily attribute it to God, but it was a miracle nonetheless. Now the beverage of choice to keep him up and running was coffee, and if anything, he did his job better. Of course, he had to give credit where credit was due and attribute part of his newfound stability to Red's presence in his life.

The werewolf danced around at the back of his mind as he set to work on yet another challenging case. If he was one hell of a doctor, this was certainly the arena in which to prove it.

OUAT

"I'm sorry I don't have much in the way of boys' clothes," Belle said as Bae turned the shirt and pants combination over and over again.

"It's okay," he replied.

"Let me know how they fit." Bae nodded, and Belle walked out of the room. Bae stood and separated the shirt and trousers, to find a grey long-sleeve shirt and a black short-sleeve shirt in the pile. She must have expected him to wear the shirts together, and Bae felt he had a good sense of exactly how. He changed into the shirts and the trousers of strange material that seemed to hold together remarkably well in spite of the signs of wear. He went through several movements to find that the fabric didn't tear or pull at his flesh or rub the wrong way, and armed with this knowledge, he slipped out of the room to the main room, where Belle sat on the armchair, her arms in her lap. "What do you think?"

"They fit well."

"That's good. Do they itch?"

"What's this made out of? What's all this made out of? It feels a little strange."

"The shirts are cotton, the jeans are denim."

"That's what they're called? Jeans?" Belle nodded. Bae walked over and took a seat in the chair facing her. "No one called, did they? No news yet, one way or the other?"

"Dr. Whale called early this morning, when you were asleep. He says that your father is stable but in a coma."

"What does that mean?"

"It means he's alive, but in something of a deep sleep, as if under a curse."

"It'll be okay, though, right? He'll...wake up?"

"That's likely, yes."

"What happens then?"

"We have no idea."

Bae nodded. "Just so long as he's alive."

"Agreed," Belle said, reciprocating his nod.

OUAT

Red walked into Victor's office with a basket of goodies, which nowadays was mostly composed of coffee. "Thank you," Victor rasped, reaching for a cup and downing it in seconds before throwing the cup into the wastebasket.

"Somebody had a long day," Red said with a laugh. She set the basket on his desk and sat in the chair opposite his.

"Thank God Gerhardt made me sleep, but it hardly seems to have made a difference." He sipped from the second of this series of cups. "Why don't you help yourself to one?"

"I don't need it. You do."

"Surely you'd like some."

"Actually not really. I just wanted to say hi, see how you were."

"In that case, hello, and I'm quite well, considering."

"Considering that you're sleep-deprived and trying to make up for it with a beverage you know will make you crash later?"

"Yeah, that's basically it." He took another sip of coffee. "Thank you."

"Any time. Monster to monster."

Victor raised the cup in a toast. "To monsters." This earned a laugh from Red, and he smiled.

"Maybe this time you won't get called anywhere, so we can actually talk."

"Are you off today?"

"Granny actually approves, so she let me take a little extra time off to see you."

"There's a shock." He chuckled and took another sip. Then he licked his lip and looked at Red. "What was it you wanted to discuss?"

"Us."

"What about us, may I ask?"

"Will you go out with me?" Victor's cup fell from his hand and burst open upon impact with the floor. Coffee spilled out in every direction. Red couldn't help but burst out laughing. "You look so ridiculous right now," she managed. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but..." She took a few deep breaths. "Have you never been asked out by a girl before?"

"I haven't been asked out period. The people I did ask out stood me up or turned me down. I was like...I was like that nerdy kid in high school that was a social untouchable."

She shrugged. "Their loss. So, yes or no?"

Victor nodded. "Yes." Red grinned.