Whipping Boy

Chapter Fourteen

Upon leaving the hospital, Tilly started walking down the streets through the neighborhood in the direction of Rogers' apartment like she planned. All she longed for after speaking with the woman who suddenly claimed to be her mother, was a peace of mind and the detective's apartment was the only real place in Hyperion Heights where she truly felt safe. Not even her storage container had done that for her despite it being the only place she had to call home until now, for as long as she could remember. Yet while she continued to walk, the more her mind grew distracted since she couldn't stop thinking about Eloise Gardener's words over and over, almost to the point of madness.

Her madness certainly wasn't unfamiliar to the invisible girl, but she still hated it because it frightened her more than she's ever told those who knew her best like Rogers and Detective Weaver. Yet she's found it has grown more infrequent ever since she had gotten to know them both. Especially Rogers. At least until now, as Tilly began to mutter her thoughts out loud and beating her temples with her fists to try to get them to settle down.

Her thoughts now had grown so loud, that Tilly failed to hear Roni calling out to her and it took the bar owner coming up to her and gently shaking her to finally gain her attention, as Tilly's head suddenly snapped up and she found herself staring in confusion into Roni's eyes while the dark haired woman looked into hers with worry.

"Tilly… what's wrong?" Regina asked her in worry upon seeing the confusion and fear in her eyes. "What happened?"

"Where am… Where did you come from?" the young woman questioned nervously, then looked around her to try to get a sense of where she was and found she had made her way as far as the precinct.

The Queen turned her head to look towards the station and replied, "I just walked out of the police station after I finished talking with Weaver and now I'm on my way home. What about you? Are you alright?"

Tilly shook her head and turned away from Roni while she answered crossly, "You're going to think I'm nuts, or more so than usual anyways. Even I don't understand it."

"Tilly… whatever it is, I promise you that you can trust me," Regina responded to her with sincerity as she walked around Rogers' daughter to face her again so she could continue to try to help her. "I would never think you're crazy. You might just be surprised by what I'm willing to believe. So please tell me… what's wrong?"

"I just came from the hospital," she replied worryingly as she looked into Roni's eyes again. "I snuck in so I could see Rogers. I needed to know he was okay. Or at least that he was alive and safe."

Regina fearfully asked, "And is he? Okay… I mean."

The girl nervously answered, "I think so. Or at least he's about as good as he could be in this sort of situation. It's just… I got into the hospital fine. No one saw me like usual, but… but as I was talking to him… He wasn't awake mind you. Still unconscious with a breathing tube down his throat to keep him alive. So I was speaking to him and as I was, that Eloise Gardener caught me. Only, she was pleased to see me. Roni, I have to know something… Is magic real and is that woman somehow my mother?"

Regina stared at her in shock until she glanced in the direction of the precinct and then urged Tilly to come along with her as they both headed back inside the station to find Gold again so they could discuss her questions together. While the Queen knew the answers, she also knew that Rogers' daughter wouldn't believe her as much as she might believe Weaver, since she had more of an established friendship with him.

"Back so soon?" the senior detective questioned when he turned his head upon seeing Regina again as she entered his office, where he walked back to after he left the evidence locker to prepare to leave for the night himself. "Did you forget something?"

"We have more to talk about," she responded sternly, as Tilly stepped around from behind her.

Gold looked at both women in apprehension, then stated, "I see. It's been a really long night."

Tilly looked outside the window as she corrected, "It's actually morning now. The sun's rising."

"Yes it is," Weaver replied, glancing outside as well, then turned back to his friends once again. "And it looks like all of us have a long run of sleepless nights to come. What seems to be the trouble now?"

"Go ahead and tell Weaver what you've just told me," Roni said to the young woman now standing beside her. "Including your questions. You know you can trust him."

Rogers' daughter looked between her friends as she shook her hands nervously, then answered, "It's like I said before… I snuck into the hospital to see Rogers. I needed to know he was relatively okay. I got in just fine. No one saw me, but while I was talking to Rogers, who's still unconscious and is breathing because of a tube down his throat. At least he's alive. He didn't look so good though. But back to the problem… Eloise Gardener came into the room as I was talking to him. She caught me in there and she was surprisingly pleased to see me. Not cross like I expected. Said some malarkey about wanting to talk. Asked me to go with her back to her place where it'd be more private, then she went on to say she could tell me secrets which neither of you, or Kelly would be willing to talk to me about. That there are powerful forces that few people knew about. Magic. I didn't believe her, but she showed me something… impossible."

Tilly sighed loudly in frustration and took a few moments to think back to what happened in the hospital as she began to shake her hands again, while Weaver asked, "What did she show you, Tilly?"

"A strange light glowed from her hands," she responded nervously as she finally looked between the detective and Roni again. "As she laid one over the wound in Rogers' stomach and kept the other against his cheek. She said she could save him and she did. She healed him… his wound. Or at least I think she did. Unless I've at last gone bonkers like a part of me has always feared I would. She didn't heal him all the way, but enough to make him better. Said that doing what she did drained the magic she possessed because of circumstances. It looked like he was better, even if he didn't wake up before I left. I had to get out of there. She's a monster! Just like I've been trying to tell you. I don't care if she healed him. It's only so she can continue to hurt him even more. I know it! What does she want?!"

"It's all right," Gold then replied softly, as Regina reached out to lay her hands once again over her arms until she lowered them down to take her hands into her own to try to comfort her. "Just try to stay calm. You're right, Tilly. You're absolutely right. Eloise Gardener is dangerous. Roni and I both believe you and I promise you we have been doing everything can to try to protect Rogers from her. Only, she's very smart and powerful in her own right… just like you saw."

Tilly breathed in and out a few times to try to calm down and then she spoke again quietly saying, "I know. I can't always believe my eyes, but I know you care about Rogers like I do. Please tell me… Is magic real? And is that witch really my mother? She said she was."

The Dark One glanced over at Regina, then turned back to the girl before him as he answered firmly, "Yes she is. At least… she is by birth, but the blood you share doesn't make her your mother. She abandoned you and…"

"…and she killed my father," she retorted angrily before Weaver could finish. "Took him away from me when I was very young. I've missed him for as long as I remember because of her."

"She didn't kill your father, Tilly," Regina responded with worry as she tightened her grasp over her hands and looked squarely into the girl's eyes.

Gold turned to his old friend and with a warning tone, he uttered, "Regina…"

The Queen crossly interrupted, "No! She has a right to know. She needs to know the truth whether it wakes her or not. Knowing will help her to understand why she feels so close to him."

"Detective Rogers is my father… isn't he?" Tilly asked sadly, as she looked again between both Roni and Weaver. "It's just that somehow… neither of us remember the truth. Am I right?"

"Yes," Regina replied out of concern after she saw as Gold nodded his consent for her to continue. "It's true. Rogers is your father. He just doesn't know it either. But the two of you found each other despite the curse that's keeping you apart because of Eloise and her coven of witches. Her real name is Mother Gothel and magic… it's very real. Except she's the only one capable of wielding it right now."

The young woman shook her head while she struggled to apprehend everything she was being told despite the disbelief that her mind was trying to get her to feel, until she finally stopped Roni from continuing to talk, then wiped away the tears which began to fall from her eyes as she uneasily stated, "This is too much. I have… have to try to get some sleep. I'm tired. I believe you. It's just… I need some time to think all this through. I have to go."

And for the second time that morning, Tilly suddenly ran away from them as she left the police station and at last returned to Rogers' apartment like she wanted to do hours ago. Only this time, Regina and Gold knew it was so she could hide her tears and to keep from breaking down in front of her friends.

Regina reached up to her cheeks to wipe away her own tears before she finally turned back to her oldest friend again while she asked, "Did I just make a terrible mistake? She deserves to know Rogers is her father. After all… we are trying to find a way to wake Hook. Just maybe Tilly is the key we've been looking for."

"Telling her wasn't a mistake," Gold answered her in sincerity. "I wasn't sure at first, but just maybe you're right. Tilly has powerful magic within her too and while she isn't able to wield it now due to the curse, she may be able to find enough of it to help her father. I only fear that if she does, and they both wake… it could cause for the poison around Hook's heart to become activated again. And if it doesn't, then Gothel will most assuredly try to make it so as punishment for all our roles in thwarting her. You should go home and try to get some sleep. It's late… Or early rather. I'm going to try to do the same. Neither of us will be of any help to Rogers or Tilly if we're too exhausted to stand on our feet."

"I will," the Queen responded assuredly. "But then… I need to somehow get back into that hospital to see if what Tilly said about Gothel healing Rogers is true. Even if it's just for a second. I need to know he's alright."