Cora wasn't surprised that her car wasn't where she had left it, but it did make things that much more inconvenient. Standing just outside the alleyway she had just emerged from, Cora Mills gulped lungfuls of cold night air. Having that tape over her mouth for so long had made her realize how much she had taken breathing for granted. Then, she heard noise from behind her. Cora turned around to see Zelena and Hades staggering out of the building that served as the hacker's secret hideout. Zelena was supporting him, with his arm around her shoulders.
If he survives this, I'll make sure that Hades loses everything, Cora decided. Before either of them could spot her, Cora quickly walked away down the street, hiding herself in the shadows of a large tree that stood with its roots tangled in the sidewalk. She watched as Zelena and Hades left the alleyway and started making their way towards the hospital while Zelena shouted out for help on the off chance that someone sympathetic was listening. Cora decided that Zelena wouldn't be living with them anymore. To make that clear, however, she would have to get home to her husband and daughter. Regina, who had defied and abandoned Cora, was now safe at home where she belonged, and Cora was never going to let that change again. Once Zelena and Hades were out of sight, she emerged from behind the tree and turned around to start making her way home. The last thing she had expected, however, was to see Jefferson standing in front of her, with a gun pointed at her head.
"Hello Cora," he said, his voice low and gruff.
Cora's eyes widened at the sight of him. "Hello Jefferson."
"Where is she?" Jefferson wanted to know. With the pale light of the full moon overhead shining on his face, he looked even madder than usual.
"Who? Y-You mean Regina?"
Jefferson's face contorted in anger. "We'll get to her later! I'm talking about my daughter, Grace! Where is she?!"
"Grace...?" Cora found it hard to keep her thoughts together. Having a gun pressed to her forehead had that effect. "Look, Jefferson, why don't you put the gun away and we'll talk somewhere more–"
"I'm sick of talking!" shouted Jefferson. "What has talking ever accomplished? My daughter is gone! Then Regina is gone! You took her, didn't you? You took Regina away, just like my Grace was taken away from me!"
Apparently, nobody living nearby could hear Jefferson yelling into the night. Cora wished death upon them all.
"Regina is my daughter, not yours," Cora replied, keeping her voice calm and conversational. "Grace is dead."
Jefferson's eyes grew large, and his grip on the gun tightened. "W-What? What are you talking about? Grace isn't–"
"She is," said Cora. "The case was resolved by Detective Weaver a looong time ago. Thankfully, I convinced the local authorities to hide it from you."
"B-But why?" said Jefferson, tears welling in his eyes. "Why did you keep it from me? My Grace..."
Cora gave him a shrug. "Isn't it obvious? I needed you, Jefferson. Your expertise is unmatched by anyone else in Storybrooke. I wouldn't have gotten away with half the things I did if it weren't for you. And anyway, I was doing you a favor. I knew that if I told you Grace was dead–"
"No!" Jefferson roared, his voice echoing. "You don't get to say her name!"
The gun clicked, but Cora's dark eyes never left Jefferson's own blue.
"You really don't want to do this, Jefferson," Cora murmured. "I have contacts everywhere. If you kill me now, you'll be sorry."
Jefferson stared at her for a long moment, and then let out a chuckle. "Hasn't anyone told you? I'm never sorry. Never."
When Zelena and Chad got to the Storybrooke General Hospital, the medical staff there rushed outside with a stretcher which Chad was laid onto and carried inside the hospital. Zelena struggled to keep up with the emergency team as they hurried down a white corridor, hurling medical jargon at one another.
"Is he going to be okay?" Zelena asked one of the nurses who walked alongside her.
"I'm gonna have to ask you to step into the waiting room," the nurse replied, now standing in her way, "unless you're a relative."
Zelena tried to look over the nurse's shoulder, but she was a tall nurse. "No, I'm his... girlfriend."
"Please wait in the waiting room," said the nurse. "We'll bring you an update about his condition as soon as we can. Does he have any close family members?"
A sister who I murdered, Zelena thought to herself unexpectedly.
"His mom," she said.
"Call her. I'm sure she'll want to know."
As Zelena walked back down the corridor towards the waiting room, she fished out her phone and dialed the Gardener home number.
"Hello?" came the voice of Mrs. Gardener, who – appropriately enough – was the Gardening teacher at her school.
"Mrs. Gardener?" Zelena spoke. "Hi, this is Zelena Green. I'm calling from Storybrooke General Hospital. Chad's been stabbed."
"Stabbed?!" Mrs. Gardener's voice suddenly became frantic. "Wait, what? Stabbed by who?!"
"M-My mother," Zelena said without thinking. Then, her eyes grew wide.
"Your mother?! But Kelly's–"
"Cora!" said Zelena. "He was stabbed by Cora Mills. Please, come quickly! The nurses won't tell me anything."
"Jesus fucking Christ. I'm on my way!" And then Mrs. Gardener hung up, just as Zelena reached the waiting room. She put her phone away, sat down on one of the chairs, then placed her head in her hands and burst into tears.
In the Mills household, Regina sat on the bed in her room, while Robin looked out the window into the night.
"How do you think your mom'll take the news?" he asked.
Regina sighed. "If she doesn't try to kill you, then she'll definitely try to kill me. That's if she ever comes home. This isn't like her, Robin. My mother is many things, but she would always tell my dad where she was going... I have a bad feeling about this."
Then, her dad's voice came from downstairs. "Regina!"
Regina rose from her bed, frowning at Robin. He walked over to her, put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, and then the two of them left the room and descended the stairs down to the living room, where her dad was waiting.
"Dad?" said Regina, noticing how pale and distraught he looked. "What is it?"
"T-That was Detective Weaver," her dad said, putting the phone down. His voice was brittle. "Your mother's been found on the other side of town. Dead. She's been shot dead. I... I don't... oh, Regina, I–"
Regina hurried across the living room and embraced her father in a hug, her eyes welling with tears as he wept into her shoulder.
"It's going to be okay, Dad," Regina sobbed, patting her dad on the back. "We're gonna be okay..."
"I loved her so much," he said, his voice muffled. "Regina, what are we going to do without her?"
"Shhh," Regina soothed her father, before giving Robin a meaningful look.
"Oh," he piped up suddenly. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. Mills. I'll, uhh, I'll get a pot of coffee going."
"Tea," said Regina, moving her father over to the sofa. "Strong, sweet tea."
Regina's dad reached for a box of tissues as Robin disappeared into the kitchen.
"I... I have to say, Regina..." he said as he wiped his face with several tissues, "...you seem to be taking this news well."
"If there's anything Mother taught me well," Regina said, "it was how to be strong. We'll get through this together, Dad, I promise. You'll need some time off work for a start. You work too much as it is, and you need to be allowed to grieve. Also, one of us is going to need to arrange the funeral."
Her dad sniffed. "Your mother hated funerals."
"I know," replied Regina, "but Cora Mills was the most powerful woman in Storybrooke, and people will want to line up to pay their respects to her."
"You're right," said her father, nodding and reaching for more tissues. "Detective Weaver... he said that we'd have to go to the police station as soon as possible to... to identify..."
"I'll go," Regina said, as Robin emerged from the kitchen carrying a steaming mug. "You stay here and rest. If you need anything, Robin will be here."
"Where are you going?" Robin asked, as Regina grabbed her coat and put it on. She looked at him.
"To identify my mother's dead body," replied Regina, before she turned to leave.
Driving in his car, Detective Weaver abandoned the long winding road in favor of the forest path. As he drove through the woods, trees flying past the windows, Weaver thought about all the things that Cora Mills had him do. Now that she was dead, it was going to be a pain in the ass to find somewhere else to get enough money. Being a detective in Storybrooke did not pay well, and he had a wife at home with a heart condition. By working for the police and Cora, Weaver had been able to scrape together enough cash to pay for the medication that his wife needed.
Eventually, when he arrived at a log cabin in the middle of the woods, Weaver stopped the car. The lights were on inside. He stepped out of the vehicle and walked over to the cabin, knocking on the door. From within the cabin, a girl's voice spoke.
"Who is it?" she wanted to know.
"Who do you think?" Weaver replied. "It's me, Detective Weaver."
He heard the sound of several locks being unlocked, and then the door opened. Inside, a teenage girl with brown hair looked up at him. Her hair had formerly been dyed blue, but now it was reduced to the tips of the girl's hair.
"What's the matter?" the girl asked as Weaver stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "What's happened?"
"Mrs. Mills is dead," said Weaver. "Someone shot her."
The girl's eyes widened. "Who?"
"We don't know yet. Cora had a lot of enemies, but only a few who might be brave enough to actually harm her."
"Does that mean... I can go back home?"
Weaver nodded. "Yes, it does. Now that Cora is gone, there is no threat to you. Do you remember what to say?"
"That I skipped town and went to live in Boston," the girl said.
"That's right," said Weaver. "Did you want to go now? I can drop you off a few streets away from your home, uhh... you never told me which name you preferred to be called by. Was it Crystal, or Leota?"
Leota rolled her eyes. "At this point, I really don't care. But I would like to be dropped off, thanks. It's been too long."
"I know, I know," Weaver replied with a sigh. "You understand why I kept you here though, don't you? You understand that, as long as Cora was in Storybrooke, you wouldn't have been safe?"
Leota nodded. "What about you? Are you going to find out who killed Mrs. Mills?"
"Who? Me?" Weaver scoffed. "I had a certain fondness for Cora, I admit it, but she was just using me and I was just using her. No, I think I'll look for a job over in Seattle, maybe. That's where my wife's family lives. I won't be able to afford her medication for much longer, so... she should be with her family. Speaking of which, you should be with your family, too. Let's get out of here."