Exchange of News

D slipped a note under Jefferson's door and turned to make her way down the street to Victor's apartment, where Gerhardt was staying. August was walking Peter through his portal-making process as she went about her errands, and odds are he would have finished by now, so they were probably playing Parcisi or Yatzee or something. Didn't much matter, she thought, shaking her head. She knocked on Victor's door and wasn't much surprised to find that Gerhardt had answered. "Yes?" he asked.

"There's another way," D replied. "I figured you'd want to know, and I figured I owed it to you to tell you. I didn't want you going through unwarranted trouble."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem."

"Have you told Jefferson?"

"He knows. I left him a note." Gerhardt nodded. "How's your brother. Is he holding out okay?"

"It's another rough day at the hospital, I take it, since I haven't heard from him in hours. He did get some sleep, though."

"That's good. He probably needs it."

"Oh, he does."

D nodded. "Well, I'll leave you alone so you can focus on making sure you can take care of your brother."

"Thank you." She nodded again and turned to leave. "Excuse me, D?"

She looked at him again. "Yeah?"

"Will you come in and rest? If you don't have anything pressing, of course."

"Sure." She crutched into the apartment, and Gerhardt closed the door behind her. "You just wanna talk?"

"Yes."

"About what?"

He shrugged. "It doesn't much matter. Anything will do."

"Well, I can tell you anything you ever needed to know about Oz, and a lot more you didn't need, too."

OUAT

A party of four moving ever north at the rate at which D, the Lion, the Tin Man, and the Scarecrow were going was news by anyone's standards, and their mission, what details of it that escaped their tight-knit circle, swiftly became the talk of the whole of the Land of Oz. Many said that it couldn't be done, and D couldn't help but scoff when she heard that news when they stopped to rest. "Here's to proving them wrong," she said, raising a glass in toast. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man toasted with her, but the Lion still looked around like someone would jump out at them. "The point of this is to face the threat head on before she can do anything about it. Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway."

"R-really?" the Lion asked.

"Yeah, really."

"I thought I was just here to support you."

"That is perfectly fine, and I appreciate it."

"Oh. Thanks."

"No problem. Any time." The Lion nodded and threw back a shot. D nodded, smiled, and took a sip.

OUAT

Belle was teaching Bae the fundamentals of the cereal bowl when someone knocked on her door. She answered, and Bae followed immediately at her heels. She opened the door, and a young woman rushed past her and threw her arms around Bae's neck. "Don't you ever disappear like that again," she said.

"Morraine, how did you find me?" Bae asked.

"I asked around and finally talked to someone at the hospital. She said this woman took you back home, and it took me a little while to get her to tell me where exactly that is. Now I know."

"Now you do."

"You're Morraine?" Belle asked.

"Yes," Morraine replied.

"This is Belle," Bae added.

"Oh."

"Bae told me you might need some new clothes." She gave Morraine a quick once-over.

Morraine glanced down at her apparel and paused for a moment to think what someone of higher rank than herself would say. "I'd...I'd appreciate that, thank you."

"I'll be right back, then."

Belle walked into her bedroom, and Bae turned to Morraine. "The Barrier still holds, but I think now we're all trapped. I don't know yet if outsiders can still get in, but we're certainly stuck now."

"Breaking the knife didn't work?"

"No." She gave him a kiss which could have meant any number of things, and for a moment, it completely distracted Bae from his problems. She pulled away, and he whispered, "Thank you."

"Alright, I've got something," Belle said, returning from her room with some clothing in hand.

"Thank you," Morraine replied. Bae let her go with Belle into the room.