Bane of His Existence

Chapter Twenty

It was just after two o'clock in the morning when Roni and Weaver finally returned to her bar with Rogers once again between them, his arms draped over both of their shoulders. Tilly remained with them like the others expected she would want to, as she refused to leave the younger detective's side because he had already done so much for her. Much to their surprise and concern, Henry was sitting at the bar speaking with Zelena when they suddenly stumbled inside. However, he stood from the barstool as he cried out Rogers' name with shock and concern in his voice upon seeing his friend's fevered state and immediately rushed forward to help him, followed closely by Regina's sister. When they stepped in, Tilly nervously backed off to let the others help Rogers so she wouldn't get in their way.

"My God… What the hell happened?" Henry finally asked while they struggled to carry their wounded friend down the stairs that led to the secret room hidden behind the bar and beneath the floorboards, then gently laid him down on the cot. "I'm so sorry. I should have been here sooner. I've just been so worried about Lucy and Jacinda, hardly getting any sleep these last few days… I didn't see the news until only a short time ago. What they're saying about him can't be true. Rogers isn't a killer, or a kidnapper."

"Eloise Gardener… that's what happened," Gold responded callously and angrily when he too stepped back along with Henry so that the women could begin to tend to him, knowing there wasn't much more he could do for his partner except for figuring out how to clear his name. "She did this to him."

While Roni quickly ran up behind the bar to grab the first aid kit she kept there and a couple of blankets, then returned, Zelena carefully got to work in pulling off the shirt Rogers was wearing. However, upon remembering that Henry and Tilly were still in the room with them, she stifled her gasp and quickly pulled the cloth back down to wait for her sister upon seeing the black growing striations she too knew well enough to know it wasn't a poison of this realm that had made her friend so ill, but one of Neverland.

Henry glanced over at the senior detective strangely as he asked, "What do you mean, she did this to him? Why would Eloise do this after all Rogers has done for her?"

Weaver turned to him as well and replied, "It's called a fatal attraction. Eloise at first was grateful to Rogers for saving her from Victoria, but then her gratitude changed as it grew into desire, lust, and finally a dangerous obsession. She wanted him and because he denied her what she wanted, she has done all of this. Drugged him, framed him for murder and kidnapping in order to destroy everything that makes him who he is, beat and poisoned him before finally kidnapping him herself with some help, then… she raped him. I fear Eloise has come to believe that if she can't have him, then nobody can. Hence what you see before you now."

"She really did all that to him?" Tilly whispered fearfully as she stared down at the man she didn't know was her father in horror, while everyone looked over at the teenager with worry and regret that she was just forced to listen to the Dark One explain in great detail all that Rogers had suffered because of the witch. "I knew she was dangerous. You promised you would protect him, Weaver. But you didn't!"

"Tilly… wait!" he called out as she suddenly ran away from them, then attempted to go after her until Zelena stopped him by grabbing his arm.

He glanced back at the former wicked witch from Oz when she spoke again worryingly saying, "Let me go after her. Right now she's in no mood to listen to you because all she can see is the man she partially blames for what's happened to Rogers. She may not know yet who I am here, but she might talk to me."

Realizing that she was right, as she and Alice had come to know each other fairly well before the curse because of Zelena's daughter, Gold nodded and then he answered, "You're right. Look after her."

"Of course," Kelly stated and left, then Henry moved in to take her place at Rogers' side to help Roni minister to him.

"What do you need me to do?" he questioned when he looked over into Roni's eyes while she looked worryingly into his until she let out a sigh in frustration.

She tenderly laid her hand over Rogers' forehead and could feel the heat of his fever rising against her skin, then she responded, "You know where the kitchen in the back of the bar is? Go up and get me some water so we can help bring down his fever a little."

Weaver looked around at those helping his partner as Henry rushed past him to do like he was asked and then uttered in frustration, "While you're all helping Rogers down here, I'll head upstairs and keep my eyes open for trouble. Just in case. I'm going to think of a way to clear his name. Tilly's right that I did fail him before. I won't make that same mistake again. Let me know if you need my help for anything else."

A few minutes later…

Zelena walked down the street in the direction she saw Tilly run before the teenager disappeared, then finally found her sitting in the park on one of the benches facing the river where she realized Tilly was sitting now because Rogers liked to sit there in order to try to find comfort at times.

"It's probably not the wisest idea for you to come running around theses streets all alone and so late at night," Zelena said quietly as she carefully walked up from behind the young woman in hope she wouldn't startle her.

"I've been living on these streets for a long time," Tilly replied coldly without turning her head to look up at the red haired stranger came she around to stand beside her. "I can take care of myself. It's other people I can't care for. Detective Rogers is proof of that. Not only did I fail to look after him when I refused to work with Weaver to do so, but I allowed myself to think I was his friend and became fond of him. It's not like me to make friends with people and now he's wound up like this."

Kelly slowly sat down on the bench next to the teenager as she quietly answered, "That's not true. All of you have been so quick to blame yourselves for what's happened to Rogers, yet you've all seemed to have forgotten that it's this Eloise Gardener who's to blame for his suffering. She's been hurting him for a long time because she's a wicked woman and until now there's been nothing anyone could do to stop her. Not even he could because he never knew just how much power over him she's had. But now… now we're all here together and we're going to fight for him. That's what friends are for. It's what heroes do."

The younger woman scoffed as she glanced over her and responded, "You certainly think highly of yourself. Who are you anyway? I've only just seen you a few times since you've come back with Roni after she returned from her trip out of this town."

"My name's Kelly," she replied. "I'm Roni's sister, from San Francisco. I have a daughter who's a little bit older than you, but something tells me you would both get along really well. Last I heard, she was in Amsterdam. She's somewhat of a world traveler and free spirit."

"I wish I could be more like that," Tilly stated, until she stood up again to leave, but stopped and turned back around to look into the red haired woman's eyes at last when Zelena talked once more.

She spoke confidently saying, "From what I know about you, something tells me you're more of a free spirit and world traveler than you think. Come back with me to look after Detective Rogers. I know it's where you would rather be. If I recall, Weaver isn't the only one who gave his word to help care for him. Am I right?"

The teenager smiled and then answered, "You're right. I just hope that he'll be alright."