A Happy Beginning

Jefferson clutched to the remnants of his right hand in much the same way he clutched onto the fragile hold he held on the Hatter as they both experienced the agony of severed fingers and the confusion that ensued. The Hatter was calling for the blood of his attacker, but as they were now being magically transported elsewhere, Jefferson feared that should the Hatter gain the upper hand in their strained equilibrium, that he would instead lash out at whoever was unfortunate enough to be nearby. Namely Emma. It also didn't strike either sides of the man as a good idea to kill the man who was currently controlling the magic whirlwind they were all held in.

He struck the ground hard as both Emma and Chesh lost their grip on him once they stopped moving, he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment as the agony in his hand flared at the harsh landing. Once he felt he could open them and would actually be able to see he did so, taking in the sterile white room around them and the empty white beds with slight confusion. It was a hospital. Emma pulled Jefferson up to sit on one of the beds, supporting most of his weight as she did so; concern and confusion clearly etched in her beautiful, harsh features.

"Where are we Chesh?" Emma asked with a tight note in her voice.

"I would have thought it was obvious Saviour – we're in a hospital." Chesh replied with a slow drawl that implied great impatience at her inane questioning of the obvious.

"You mean we're back in Storybrooke? You took us here? Why the hell didn't you do it sooner?" Emma's voice rose in anger as she spoke, throwing daggers at Chesh with her sparkling green eyes. The lying feline could have saved them a lot of trouble and severed limbs if he had just done this earlier; Jefferson had to struggle twice as hard in order to restrain both the Hatter's and his own anger.

"I couldn't do so until you'd fulfilled your purpose as a Saviour." Chesh shrugged and wisely took a step or two backwards, definitely a good mood judging by the thunderous expression on Emma's face. "And besides – why should I solve all of your problems for you?" The last part came out as a grumble before he snapped his fingers as if remembering something, then promptly disappeared in a puff of purple smoke once more.

Jefferson turned his hazy gaze to the doorway as he heard an intake of breath - just across from them, looking utterly bewildered was Dr Victor Frankenstein dressed in a hospital coat and scrubs. "What the hell?" he asked in a bemused half murmur.

"Whale! I never thought I'd be pleased to see you again – you've got to help him." Emma ushered the disorientated looking doctor over to the bed, which he did, quickly taking in the sight of Jefferson's injured hand and the much abused state of both of them.

"I'm dubious of asking what the hell is going on right now Sherriff Swan, but I can see that your Hat jumping friend is in enough of a sticky situation to warrant a "treat-first-ask-questions-later" situation." The Doctor moved over to the bed, slipping on latex gloves as he did, reaching out a hand to take Jefferson's injured one. The Hatter fixed him with a suspicious glare and spoke in a mocking yet still steely tone.

"I'd appreciate having no one else attempting to remove any other of my body parts today if at all possible Doctor."

"Wouldn't dream of it old friend." Frankenstein replied with a brittle smile that didn't quite reach his blue eyes. Jefferson held out his shaking, injured hand and the doctor began to examine it before his gaze flickered back up to Jefferson's. "As much as I loathe to admit it... you do know that I'm probably not the person you should be speaking to if you want these fingers back again right?

"Had enough dealings with magic and Rumpelstiltskin to last a few lifetimes thanks." Jefferson stated firmly as the Doctor began gathering medical supplies in order to stitch and clean the wounds. The blonde man raised an eyebrow at him and then nodded as if to himself, most likely conceding that Jefferson had a very valid point.

Emma looked slightly confused by the whole exchange between the two men, but she didn't comment, only tightened her grip around Jefferson's good hand in an attempt to comfort both herself and him. Jefferson gritted his teeth as the doctor asked him to remove his coat and shirt, trying to ignore the flares of pain that shot through his injured hand as he manoeuvred them off, dropping Emma's hand as he did so.

Frankenstein slipped a tourniquet over his and up his arm with practised hands, tightening it just above the elbow until Jefferson felt the feeling in his injured appendage had lessened. A needle was then pressed into his vein, pumping a clear solution into his body that made him feel light headed and numb; likely anaesthetic. Jefferson's already heavy head fell back against the starched white pillow. He turned his head towards Emma, knowing that in his state he would likely soon pass out; he shot her a tired smirk.

"Please don't let him steal my organs while I'm out would you?" Emma raised her eyebrows at him again and shot a glance at Frankenstein who winked at her teasingly before looking back down to the IV he was setting up.

"I wouldn't trust you alone with him even if you hadn't said that." Frankenstein looked affronted at the mild glare Emma sent his way and spoke in a tone of mock innocence. Jefferson snorted with laughter as he got the feeling that Emma might be misreading the vibes flowing between the two men.

"You have no need to worry about anything like that sweetheart – I like my lovers how I like my alcohol – pale, blonde and liable to cause a fight." Emma's eyebrows raised impressive heights and her scepticism and confusion were evident, but somehow Jefferson was having far too much trouble keeping his eyes open now to be too bothered. Fuzziness took over his mind and he let the drugs, pain and exhaustion overwhelm his system.

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Emma felt somewhat relieved when Jefferson's eyes finally slipped closed. She was glad he could get some much needed rest and could escape the pain that flowed both trough his body and mind, if only for a little while. But at the same time she was a bit wary of being left alone with whoever Dr Whale was now that he was his fairytale self; especially seeing as how he seemed to be staring unashamedly at where her corset pushed her breasts up to the forefront. And how Jefferson was concerned that the man might try to hurt him and steal his limbs... oh wait.

"For god's sake, you're Victor Frankenstein aren't you?" Emma asked with a hand pressing at her temple to attempt to repress the re-emerging headache she felt coming on.

"At your service." He said in a decidedly up front manner, blue eyes flicking up and down as he sidled a bit closer. "I trust you know me by reputation?"

"Oh yes." Emma spoke, leaning her head a bit closer conspiratorially. "I've heard so much about your mental experiments and womanising from your ex assistant."

Whale lost the confident air quick and leant back from her, his eyes flicking to the ground before refocusing himself back to his work of cleaning Jefferson's mutilated hand with surgical spirit. "Ah... good to know Igor is still alive – haven't seen him in quite some time."

"He's as well as can be expected after working for a man who steals dead bodies and attempts to reanimate the dead." Emma replied in a clipped tone, refusing to mention the other part that Igor had spoken of – that Victor had been responsible for the death of both his brother and father. She didn't feel the need to bring it up and reopen old wounds... after all... everyone makes mistakes.

"Well I wasn't ever successful if that makes a difference." Frankenstein muttered, angrily dabbing at the wound with the now dry cloth with blind repetitiveness. Emma caught his hand briefly in a loose grip which pulled his gaze up to hers.

"From what I hear, you were just trying to do the right thing for your family and made a few mistakes along the way that ended worse than you could have expected." Emma spoke in a calm voice, feeling that what she was telling him needed to be said – influenced by something deep inside her that needed people to know the truth.

"I... uh thanks um...Emma." Frankenstein replied in a clearly taken aback manner, his eyes flitted back down to Jefferson for a moment before a slight smile pulled at the corners of his thin lips. "If you wanted to go and find your family, I promise that I will try to refrain from removing any limbs or organs from your boyfriend until you get back."

Emma eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds before her natural instincts told her that she could trust him on this one and that he was honestly just trying to make a nice gesture – however out of character that might be for Whale, she wasn't quite sure about Victor Frankenstein. "I'll be back soon."

Whale nodded and Emma pushed herself up from the edge of the bed and left to the room, walking down the halls and out into the street outside. She walked quickly down the adjoining streets towards the town centre, and was promptly nearly bowled over by two running figures who smothered her in a litany of hugs and tear filled cries of "Emma!"