Hannah ate her lunch in silence, steadfastly avoiding eye contact with everyone around her as she focused on the open book before her. It had been a rough morning, and despite the fact that she was sitting alone, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to be around anyone at the moment. It had been a long morning, and she needed a few minutes to collect herself.
Although she'd entered the classroom when the others had, all eyes had followed her for the first several minutes. It would have made an outgoing person feel self-conscious, so for someone like Hannah, it was downright excruciating. Even after her teacher, Miss Kirkland, had called the class to order and had begun their lessons for the day, Hannah could still feel the other kids' eyes on her from time to time. No one snickered or seemed to be making fun of her, but even now at lunch, no one made any attempt to approach her, either.
Math had been the first subject, and Hannah had quickly discovered that she already knew how to solve the problems. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering she understood the math Henry was doing in middle school, but she had hoped maybe there would be something she hadn't learned yet. No such luck. She hadn't wanted to attract any attention, so she'd tried her best not to work ahead – which had resulted in a great deal of boredom. Hannah had the feeling she was going to have to find a way to secretly do her homework in class while her teacher was explaining the math to everyone else, so she wouldn't be completely bored.
Next had been English/Language Arts. The class was in the middle of reading Hatchet, a book she'd read back in third grade. Even after all of that time, she could remember the book clearly enough to answer the questions Miss Kirkland was asking the other boys and girls, but she didn't dare volunteer. Miss Kirkland assured her that she had plenty of time to "catch up" on the reading the others had completed, and that she wasn't required to complete the homework assignment that evening to write several paragraphs about the book. Instead, Miss Kirkland had offered to let Hannah write about herself. Hannah knew she'd much rather write about the book, but she wasn't sure whether she wanted Miss Kirkland to know that she'd already read it.
Science and social studies were after lunch and Hannah had no doubt the afternoon would be just as long and tedious as the morning had been.
She couldn't wait for school to be over.
Mary Margaret was waiting eagerly at the door when Hannah returned home that afternoon.
"How was your first day?" she asked, surprisingly bubbly for the mother of a newborn.
The response made Hannah wonder if her mother was a bit delirious from lack of sleep, but either way she didn't have the heart to dash her mother's excitement. "It was fine," she said softly, heading for the stairs up to the loft.
"Wait!" Hannah paused at the command, hoping the woman hadn't seen through her "fine" comment. "Come sit down and tell me all about it!" insisted Mary Margaret.
The eleven-year-old held back a sigh. She really didn't have the energy to sit there and pretend she'd had a good day. "I'm a little tired," she said. "I was kind of hoping I could go rest for a little bit." She yawned for effect.
Mary Margaret frowned a little, and Hannah resisted the urge to roll her eyes as her mother felt her forehead for the second time that day. Why hadn't she been more concerned that morning before Hannah had been forced to go to school? "Are you feeling unwell?"
"Just tired," Hannah assured her. "It's been a couple of weeks since I was last in school."
"Maybe you should have a little snack first," Mary Margaret pressed, unconvinced. "It's been a while since lunch."
"I'm not really hungry," Hannah said truthfully. "Can I just go lie down for a few minutes?"
For a moment it didn't seem like she would agree – Mary Margaret seemed doubtful –but finally she relented. "All right, go ahead."
Hannah mustered up a small smile, hoping it would pacify her mother. "Thanks, Mom."
Once up in her room, Hannah changed at once from her school uniform into leggings and a sweatshirt. Much more comfortable, she settled on her bed and pulled out her homework. She only had math and writing, and she knew they wouldn't take long. She much preferred to complete her homework up here, away from prying eyes, even if working at the table might be easier.
The math problems took all of five minutes. Hannah hadn't expected them to take a great deal of time; it would be a breeze to get her math homework done in class, if she could pass it off as working on the actual assignment. The writing assignment took a bit longer, mostly because she ended up covering the front and back of a piece of notebook paper instead of just writing a couple of paragraphs. She'd decided to go ahead and complete the assignment the others had to complete. It wasn't as if they'd know what she'd written, and she detested writing about herself. All in all, though, her homework was complete and neatly stored in her backpack in less than thirty minutes.
Homework now out of the way, Hannah stretched out on her bed, resting her head on one pillow as she hugged the other to her chest. She was exhausted, though for completely different reasons than what she'd told her mother. Avoiding making eye contact with the other kids all day had been exhausting. Pretending she didn't already know everything they were learning in class that day had been exhausting. Resisting the urge to work ahead and pull out Harry Potter from her backpack had been exhausting.
Closing her eyes, Hannah decided a quick nap might not be a bad idea.
Her second day wasn't any better than her first had been.
The other kids continued to avoid Hannah, who for her part was doing her best to remain invisible. She'd brought her Harry Potter book again, and today she'd actually managed to sneak it out during reading. Hannah had figured out how to get her homework done in class without attracting attention, so it was a little easier to pass the time, even if she was still bored by the actual content the other kids were learning.
After school, David was waiting outside to give Hannah a ride to the mayor's office. Her mom was having some kind of "mayor's fireside chat" thing, and since no one else was going to be home, Mary Margaret had insisted that Hannah come along. Really, Hannah thought it was kind of silly – at eleven, she was more than old enough to stay home alone for a few hours, but her mother wouldn't hear of it, so there Hannah was, seated in the back row in her mother's new office. Predicting that the meeting would be boring, Hannah fished out her book from her backpack and curled up in the chair the best she could to finish reading about Harry's adventures in Order of the Phoenix.
As someone who tended to get lost in the books she read, Hannah had pretty much tuned out everything around her, until she heard a voice yell, "Marian!" Glancing up from her book, Hannah realized that Robin's wife had just collapsed. Hannah stood, setting her book on her chair, and tried to move closer to see what had happened. Marian was really pale, which was particularly striking given her light coffee complexion. Hannah noticed a streak of white hair originating from Marian's forehead. She definitely hadn't noticed that on the woman earlier.
Robin lifted his wife and set her gently on a nearby sofa as the other people in the room were slowly ushered out. Then, to Hannah's surprise, Robin strode out of the room. She thought it was odd that he would leave his wife after she'd just passed out, but no one else seemed to think anything of it.
"What happened to her?" Hannah asked softly after a minute, looking at her mother and stepfather.
"We don't know," David said, shaking his head.
Mary Margaret wore a frown. She'd just remembered that Hannah was there, and suddenly she wanted Hannah to be as far away from there as possible. "Maybe you should go wait at home," she told Hannah.
"Nuh uh!" Hannah protested at once. "I'm not waiting at home by myself while everyone else is here."
"We don't know what we're dealing with," Mary Margaret pressed. "I'd feel better knowing you were safe at home."
Hannah put two and two together. "You think this is something magical, don't you?"
Footsteps in the hallway grew louder, and Hannah turned to watch Robin reenter the room, Regina and Henry close behind. Regina strode over to Marian, leaning down to examine her. Hannah noticed that Marian's eyebrows and lips looked… frosty? No, that couldn't be right.
"This is strong magic," Regina said. "I-I can't stop it, but maybe I can slow it down."
"What happened?" Emma demanded as she, Elsa, and Hook joined the group.
Hannah watched as Regina pointed a finger at Elsa, who in turn insisted it wasn't her magic. Emma defended Elsa, Regina disagreed… It was like a fairy tale soap opera was playing out right before her very eyes! Quietly retreating to the chair she'd vacated earlier, Hannah sat and watched the adults with interest. It nagged at her that they didn't seem to object to Henry's presence, and that Mary Margaret made no move to part with Neal, even after she had fussed over whether or not Hannah was safe being there. Still, it was better than reality television, and she had a front row seat, so she wasn't going to waste the opportunity by pouting.
"How was school?"
Hannah dropped her backpack on one end of the sofa before plopping down on the other end. "It was fine."
Whale perched on the edge of his desk, studying his daughter doubtfully. She certainly didn't look fine. "Your words say it was fine, but your voice and body language say something else. What's going on?"
"Nothing," she lied, shaking her head. "It was fine, really. I'm just tired."
The doubt didn't dissipate from his gaze. "Your mother mentioned you've been tired the past few days." Straightening up, moved to stand before her, leaning down to feel her forehead. "You don't feel warm, but maybe a quick checkup, just to make sure nothing is amiss…"
"No!" Hannah said quickly, shaking her head with greater vigor. "That's not necessary…"
Whale couldn't help but find amusement in Hannah's knee jerk reaction. The kid had a serious aversion to medical professionals. He hid his amusement so Hannah wouldn't think he was laughing at her. "I think it is." He walked around to the other side of his desk, where he kept a medical bag in case he had to visit a patient outside of the hospital. It didn't happen often, but he still felt better being prepared.
"I think I'll just go home and go to bed."
Spinning around, Whale spotted Hannah not three feet from the door, backpack slung over her shoulder. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Freeze." Relief washed over the father when Hannah stilled her motions; he really hadn't wanted to chase her through the hospital. "Sit back down."
Hannah turned to face her father, though she made no move toward the sofa. "I'm fine," she tried once more. "I don't feel sick."
"As the only doctor in this room, I think I'll decide that for myself." He pointed to the sofa.
She rolled her eyes. "Says the man who got his medical degree from a curse," she muttered, shuffling back over to the sofa and dropping once more onto the cushions.
"I was a doctor back in the Land Without Color," Whale said with a chuckle. He grabbed the back of his desk chair, rolling it around so that it was positioned in front of the sofa. "This gives us the perfect opportunity to talk about your aversion to doctors," he announced, taking a seat and setting the bag on the cushion beside Hannah.
Hannah folded her arms over her chest as she leaned into the back of the sofa, wordlessly warning her dad that she wasn't about to make this easy for him. "Lots of people don't like doctors."
Reaching into the bag, Whale extracted a thermometer. "True," he agreed as he placed a disposable cover on the thermometer. "They typically have reasons for their dislike of doctors. I'm interested in knowing your reasons."
"I just don't."
He held out the thermometer, just millimeters from her lips. "Under your tongue."
Grateful for the excuse not to talk, Hannah willingly held the device under her tongue.
"I don't believe that for a second." Whale held out his hand. "Let me see your arm, please."
Hannah glared, unable to respond and still keep the thermometer in place without moving her arms.
Whale couldn't be certain without some sort of confirmation from Hannah, but he suspected she was worried he might poke her with something. Fear of needles was a common reason people feared doctors, at least from his own experience. " I'm just going to check your pulse," he assured her.
Cautiously Hannah untangled her arms and extended her left just enough for Whale to reach. She watched nervously as he gently turned her arm, placing two fingers on the inside of his wrist. He glanced at the watch on his other wrist, and Hannah remained as still and quiet as she could.
After what seemed like a long time (in reality fifteen seconds), Whale gently set Hannah's wrist in her lap and reached out for the thermometer. "Your pulse and temperature are both normal."
"I'm fine," Hannah reminded him, annoyed that he wouldn't just take her word for it. "Are we done?"
"I want to check your blood pressure and listen to your heart first," he said, dashing her hopes. "Besides, we weren't finished talking."
She watched him toss out the probe cover and replace the thermometer in his bag before reaching for another item. "I'm finished talking," she announced in a less than polite way. "If you want to talk to someone, you'll have to have a conversation with yourself." It was snarky and even a bit disrespectful, considering whom she was speaking to, but Hannah found she didn't care. He might scold her, but she seriously doubted he'd actually do anything.
Though he did indeed find her response disrespectful, Whale didn't push it. As he placed the cuff on her arm to check her blood pressure, he wondered if it might be beneficial for Hannah to talk with Dr. Hopper. Given everything the kid had been through, most of which she had yet to share with her family, it made sense she'd need someone impartial to talk to, and Whale was fairly confident that Mary Margaret would agree.
Whale said nothing more as he finished checking Hannah's blood pressure, which also turned out to be normal. He doubted he'd find anything out of the ordinary with her heart, but he checked anything. Aside giving directions on how he wanted Hannah to breathe as he pressed the stethoscope against her shirt, he worked silently.
As the silence grew, Hannah began to feel bad. She didn't regret putting an end to a conversation she had no interest in having in the first place, but she began to wonder if she'd made her father angry. He'd been so calm and patient with her since she'd first met him that she'd begun to feel safe around him, even if she still didn't feel safe around doctors. Still, the nagging fear in the back of her mind was that eventually she'd push away her family – Whale, Mary Margaret, David, Emma, Henry. Sooner or later they'd have to get fed up with her, just as almost every other foster parent she'd ever had had done.
Watching him place the stethoscope back in his bag, Hannah decided she could no longer take the silence. "Are you mad at me?"
He should have figured she'd worry about that, he thought to himself as he twisted his chair momentarily to place his bag on his desk. "No, Hannah. I'm not mad at you."
Hannah bit her lip nervously. "I'm sorry about what I said," she apologized. "I realize it might have been a little rude…" As Whale raised an eyebrow, Hannah sighed. "A lot rude…" she amended.
"Something's bothering you," Whale observed. "I've noticed that when something is bothering you, you keep it bottled in, which makes you a bit irritable. I think you'd feel better if you told someone, anyone, what it is that's bothering you, but I can't force you to talk."
"I'm fine," she said softly.
"You don't appear to be ill, kiddo, but you're not fine." At that moment, Whale was paged over the intercom. Sighing, he reached for a blanket. "Lie down."
She gave him a curious glance, but obeyed nonetheless, setting her backpack on the floor and curling up on her side. Hannah watched in silence as Whale covered her with the blanket.
"Rest," he said gently, rubbing her back. "I'll be back as soon as I can, and if you feel like talking then, I'll be here. If you don't feel like talking, I'll still be here." Leaning down, he kissed her temple before heading for the door.
Hannah waited nearly a minute, just to be safe, before sitting up, shedding the blanket. She wasn't tired in the traditional sense, and knowing her father could be down in the E.R. for a while she had no intention of napping during that time. Standing, she made a beeline for the bookshelves, eyeing the titles on the spines. They were all related in one way or another to medicine, but they seemed much more interesting than what Hannah was reading at school.
After several minutes of deliberation, Hannah settled on a thick volume on human anatomy and physiology. Carefully sliding the book off the shelf, Hannah returned to the sofa and tucked her feet under her legs as she set the book in her lap and opened to the table of contents.
Hannah sat at the kitchen table, Half-Blood Prince open in front of her. She hadn't read any of the words on either page, though. Her mind was preoccupied with Emma, who was upstairs in the loft, getting ready for her date with Hook.
When Emma had announced that afternoon that she had a date with the pirate, Hannah hadn't known what to think. From the moment Hannah had met Hook, it had been glaringly obvious that he had a thing for Emma. Watching them dance back in the Enchanted Forest, Hannah couldn't help but notice that Emma seemed to have feelings for him as well. She knew they'd kissed once or twice, but they hadn't actually gone on an official date. Hannah didn't even really dislike Hook, as he seemed to care about Emma and Hannah hadn't thought she could ever truly dislike someone who was looking out for Emma.
She had been wrong. Now that they were going on an official date, Hannah felt an overwhelming distaste for Captain Hook.
In the meantime, Mary Margaret and David were helping Elsa find her sister Anna. Hannah heard someone approach, and glanced up as Mary Margaret set a stack of large, uniform books on the table with a soft thud, Neal sleeping soundly cradled in one arm.
"Census records from the first and second curses," Mary Margaret told Elsa. "If Anna has ever been in Storybrooke, we'll find some trace of her here."
"Your curses are very… thorough," Elsa said, eyeing the volumes in surprise.
Mary Margaret arched a brow. "That's just A through E."
"Here are the rest of them," David announced, setting an even larger stack on the table.
Hannah tried to turn her attention back to her book, to at least pretend like she was reading, but at the sound of Emma's voice, Hannah dropped any pretense of reading.
Emma was wearing a light pink sleeveless dress with a form-fitting bodice and a skirt that flared out to just below her knees. Her hair was pulled into a cute ponytail that flipped at the end, with her hair a little poufy in the front, just above her forehead. Hannah spied nude heels on Emma's feet, and her older sister's makeup was light, though the mascara and eye liner really helped her eyes to pop more. The whole look had a very 1950s/retro feel to it.
Hannah thought she looked positively beautiful.
"Okay. I want honest opinions here. What do we think?"
"Wow," breathed Mary Margaret after a moment of stunned silence.
"What your mother said," David added.
"Is that the corset?" Elsa wondered aloud. "Where's the rest of it?"
Emma glanced down at her dress in confusion. "This is the rest of it…"
"You look like a princess," Hannah murmured so softly she doubted anyone would hear.
However, Emma smiled at her. "Your time will come soon enough," she said knowingly.
Hannah shook her head, not believing that for a moment. "Not likely. Dad said I'm not allowed to date until I'm at least 30."
Mary Margaret laughed lightly. She imagined David agreed with the sentiment – he probably would have shared that sentiment regarding Emma, if not for the fact that she'd already had a child. He couldn't reasonably expect her not to date at this point, but Mary Margaret was sure that David felt just as protective of Hannah. "I'll talk to your father," she assured Hannah as she moved to set Neal down in his bassinet. "Someone's sister is going on a very big date tonight!" she cooed to the still-sleeping infant.
Emma started to object to the classification, but was temporarily blinded by the flash of an old-fashioned Polaroid camera. "I really need to get my own place," she mused to herself.
"Cut your mother some slack," David said. "It isn't as if we got to send you to a ball."
Just then, there was a knock on the door. As Emma went to open the door, Hannah was transfixed by the scene unfolding before her.
As she (and everyone else) had expected, it was Hook. He stared at Emma as if she was the most amazing creature he'd ever seen, and from her spot, Hannah could tell that Emma was equally impressed with his appearance. Hannah noticed that Hook had ditched his pirate garb for a pair of black pants, a black button-up shirt, and a black leather jacket. While he was still pulling off the all-black, bad boy look, he looked much more like a part of this world than someone on their way to a Halloween party. As Hannah watched him hand Emma a single red rose, she realized with surprise that his hook had been replaced by a hand that seemed so lifelike.
She only half heard the overprotective Dad bit from David, and as Hook escorted Emma out the door, Hannah felt a mix of emotions she couldn't quite label.
The only thing she knew for certain was that she now despised Captain Killian Jones.