Whipping Boy

Chapter Eleven

Hyperion Heights…

After he left the precinct, Drew caught a cab back to his apartment since his car remained parked behind the building upon him being arrested. Once he paid the driver, he got out of the cab and walked inside, but as he attempted to turn on the lights, he was surprised when they only flickered, then went out. However, his surprise quickly faded and Drew rolled his eyes. He'd worked long enough with the voodoo witchdoctor to know the flickering lights were because of his dark magic and not because of a short in the electricity throughout the room, or the bulbs burning out.

Without restoring the lights, the former Prince's employer now known around the Heights as Baron Samdi, spoke up saying, "It's a little late to be returning home from a bar which closed hours ago on account of it becoming a crime scene. Where have you been, Drew?"

Drew turned his head to the sound of the deep voice behind him as Facilier allowed the lights to finally come back on and found the villain sitting in the recliner in the far corner of the room, then in honesty he replied, "Thanks to you, I've spent the last few hours down at the police station in an interrogation room being questioned by Detective Weaver. He somehow discovered right away I had something to do with his partner's abduction and the condition he's in now."

"Did you tell him anything?" Sidney asked when he too stepped out from the kitchen with a sandwich he had made for himself from the food he found in the younger man's fridge and cupboards, then walked over to stand beside the man who held a contract over his head as well.

"Weaver caught me red handed," the Prince responded in frustration as he took a seat on the couch so he could face his employer and the genie. "He came to question me as I was attempting to get rid of Rogers' things he had on him when I abducted him for you, then arrested me. I tried to make up a plausible excuse for having his things, but the Dark One saw right through my lies and he's angry. I didn't have a choice. He knows who I am and that I work for you."

Facilier kept his eyes on Drew while he answered, "Don't worry about it, Drew. I'm not angry you ratted me out, or even possibly tried to make a deal with the Dark One so he can help you out from under my control. I've known Rumplestiltskin's awake since I first came here. He won't make a move against me, seeing as I have magic and he does not. And he won't try to arrest me either. He's grown weak and sentimental."

Drew glared at the man he hated as he replied, "You underestimate him. You didn't see the determination in his eyes to make all responsible for his friend's current state. Not to mention that you'll have the former Evil Queen to deal with as well. I saw Regina tonight as I was leaving the station along with that young street girl who's really Rogers' daughter."

"I can handle Regina," the villain responded smugly. "We go back a long way. Her love for Hook only makes her weak. I may have agreed to work with Mother Gothel so I can finally get my hands on the Dark One dagger, but if it helps to rid this world of the fake version of Captain Hook so that the Queen will see she can do better than a pirate… Well then, all this is worth it even if that witch fails."

"If you really believe Her Majesty will choose to be with you after all this is said and done, you're setting yourself up for nothing but disappointment," Sidney coldly uttered under his breath. "Especially once she learns of your involvement in her boyfriend's abduction and the anguish he's suffering now."

Facilier stood from his chair and turned to face the genie who had also once believed himself to be the Evil Queen's lover, then answered darkly, "I didn't bring you into my services to mock me for any decision I make, Genie. Your role in this was to do as Gothel needed you to do. Now that you've completed your first task, I'd like you to be the reporter you once were and spin this story the way we've discussed. You will do for me as you did for Regina back in Storybrooke. Is that understood?"

Sidney nodded and then in frustration he replied, "Fine. I guess it's time the heroes finally come to know I'm back. I'll get writing."

Meanwhile, still at the precinct…

Regina stared down the Rogers' prosthetic hand she was holding in her hands while she allowed herself to become lost in thought, until she turned her head and saw the metal hook that belonged to his true self still in its evidence bag, then she reached over to pick it up as well. Gold watched her do so, but he didn't say a word. At least not until she started to open the sealed bag.

"What are you doing?" he questioned her when he looked up from the things belonging to Rogers' attacker still lying spread out on the table in front of him. "I assure you, his hook is perfectly safe here."

"I'd feel better if it was with me and not among police evidence," the former Queen responded coldly. "His hook… Rogers' belongings… they're not evidence in a crime, Gold. And this evidence locker isn't your pawnshop back in Storybrooke. I'd like to keep them with me for when we wake up Hook. I know I mentioned this before, but do you suppose we could use his hook to somehow help him remember?"

Weaver shook his head in frustration and then answered, "And like I told you before, it's possible. However, we still need to bring Rogers back out first and we don't even know yet how far back into his mind Gothel has forced him, seeing as he hasn't woken up from his attack yet. It is too early to say for a certainty what we can do to help him. Remember, we're here to try to discover a way to bring down Gothel once and for all too and to do that, we need one piece of evidence that leads to Rogers' condition being because of her."

Roni nodded and went back to work in helping the senior detective go through Rogers' attacker's personal effects, then she said, "On my way in here tonight, I saw the younger man who works for Samdi… Facilier. Why was he here?"

"Because I was questioning him about his involvement in all of this," Gold replied in concern, as he understood this was her subtle way of getting to the truth about whether or not a man she had had a brief relationship with back when she was still the Evil Queen was involved in Rogers' state as well. "Tilly said she had seen Gothel talking with Facilier not long after he arrived here in Hyperion Heights. So, I went out to find him and ended up finding Drew first as he was about to get rid of Rogers' things. I'm afraid Drew was the one who had actually abducted Rogers once he first arrived back in the neighborhood… I suspect before he could get back to you at your bar. Drew tasered him and delivered him to Facilier, who then delivered him to Gothel. Two weeks ago."

"He was that bitch's prisoner for two weeks?" she uttered fearfully as she struggled to get a grasp on the bitter truth, then suddenly slammed his hook down against the metal table in front of her out of anger. "I knew something was wrong. He stopped calling. Neither of us heard from him since two weeks ago and yet we did nothing to find him. Why didn't I trust my gut and ask you to help me find him sooner? Instead, he had to find a way to escape and it got him a stab wound in his stomach and a trip to the hospital where he's now fighting for his life. And on top of all that… he's married to that bitch because she manipulated whoever she had to so she could keep him her prisoner legally!"

Gold reached out to lay his hand over hers to try to calm her when she became angry and then he responded, "Regina… we will help him. I promise. Do you believe in me enough to trust that I have my partner's best interests at heart?"

Regina turned her head and looked into his eyes as she nodded, then wiped away a tear that fell from her eye as she answered, "Yes. I do."