Epilogue
"Jefferson?" Victor yelled from below. "Aurora?" As he raced up the stairs.
But Jefferson didn't hear anything as he started to mutter "No, no, no" over and over again as he collapsed down on his knees looking at where the portal had been.
"My god, Jefferson what happened? Where is Aurora?" When Jefferson didn't acknowledge him he knelt down in front of him and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Where is Aurora?"
"I let her slip away again." He muttered staring at the spot the portal had been. "I couldn't hold on to her…"
"What happened? My God all the blood? Are you alright?"
Jefferson just pointed to the railing behind Victor. "King Phillip took her back… Back to her kingdom, Back to the Enchanted Forest. He used the last Giant's bean. She is gone, Victor. She is gone forever. I lost her again. Only this time it is for good. She is gone…gone.. gone…" Jefferson started to laugh crazily.
"Jefferson stop that!" Victor commanded grabbing him by the chin. "Look at me, where are you bleeding from?" He asked searching to see where all blood he was covered in was coming from.
Jefferson stopped staring at his friend a moment before he continued to bounced his head off the railing repeating. "Gone, gone, gone."
Victor leaned back a moment relieved to see Jefferson wasn't physically hurt. "I said stop that Jefferson!" Victor leaned down grabbing Jefferson by this coat collar giving him a good shake to stop his mad rantings. "Who's blood is this? Was Aurora hurt?"
Jefferson heard a deeper fear in Victor's words and it helped him focus on his friend's question enough to answer it. "They were okay when they went through the portal. Aurora healed me."
Victor stepped back breathing a sigh of relief. It took a second but Jefferson's words hit him full force. "They? Did Aurora tell you about…"
"About the baby…" Jefferson laughed. "The son; the gypsy foretold about all those years ago. She said he would be a Prince, but I had the nerve to think I actually would be the one married to the Queen. I was so stupid to think for one second..." he shook his head. "I told you King Phillip would win out. I am not a Prince. I never should have tried to get her back. Our story just plays out the same, Rumple was right…"
"Jefferson you need to get yourself together you are starting to sound like you did during the curse. And since when do you use Phillip's title?"
"I had access to all these different fucking worlds because of my hat and we wouldn't have been safe in any of them. Why did I ever think I deserved her?"
"Please you two are so perfect for each other that it makes even Belle sick."
"This is just the Faiths reminding me of my place in the universe. I could never do what she really need of me. Maybe the worlds just kept trying to protect her?"
"My friend, you are not making any sense, protect her from what?"
"Me."
"She needs protection from Phillip, George, or Cora, not from you. They are the ones who will hurt her."
"All I have ever done was hurt her."
"That isn't true. That is your guilt speaking. But you have nothing to be guilty of. It is Phillip who is to blame for this, not you. Aurora chose you, not him. These actions are because he couldn't handle that decision now stand up and be the white knight, she needs you to be to go save her."
"Will you just shut up?" Jefferson hissed at his friend. "Don't you understand, I'm drowning in the flood. You saw it before I've always been a fighter, but without her, I give up."
"Oh we are not going to start quoting and paraphrasing songs again. Get up before anyone else gets up here." Victor order.
"I am crazy I will do what I damn well want to." Jefferson laughed.
"You want quotes here is a fucking quote for you." Victor grabbed Jefferson's scarf and gave him a hard shake. "'The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.' So get the FUCK UP NOW!" Victor yelled at him pushing him back hard into the railing.
"I don't believe Ralph Waldo Emerson has ever been quoted so harshly before." He muttered as he got to his feet trying to fix his scarf one-handed. "What now" he demanded pulling on his chains. "I am on my feet but I am still chained, and the bastard took the key to another fucking world with my wife to be, and I am never going to see her again."
"This world of color doesn't deserve such dark thoughts. You were not alone the first time you thought you lost Aurora and you are not alone now. In fact, you have more than enough magical friends just outside who are going to make sure we help you get Aurora back."
"Jeff!" Hook's voice called up as he rushed up the stairs, seeing the blood. "Are you hurt." He grabbed Victor, "Why aren't you doing anything."
"He's fine Aurora healed him before they took her."
Hook let him go turning to look his boy over. "Is that true?"
"Yes." Jefferson pushed him away one-handed. "I couldn't unlock the cuffs. I am still a bit dizzy from the blood loss. But that could just be me breaking from reality again." He broke into another fit of nervous giggles and started slide back down the rail.
Hook grabbed him roughly by his jacket's collar keeping him on his feet. "Get your shit together before anyone else sees you. You especially can't let Snow see you like this, or they are going to take Grace away from you."
"Emma would never let them…"
"Emma can't always make her parents see reason. She may be the so-called savior, but Snow hates you as much as she does Regina, or me. You have to pull yourself together so you can rescue your princess and be the father that I never could be."
"Queen." Jefferson corrected his father. "She is a Queen. She is not just out of my league she is currently out of my realm forever." He broke into another round of crazy giggles.
Before Hook could answer the there was a cloud of smoke and Rumple appeared. "Jefferson!" He cried seeing the blood thoughts of finding him outside of King George's kingdom all those years flashed through his mind. "Are you hurt?" He quickly bent down checking him, but before anyone could answer could the elevator dinged, and Neal, Emma, and her parents came rushing up.
"Oh my God, the blood." Snow commented before everyone started talking.
"He is fine!" Victor's voiced boomed. "Aurora took care of it before they took." The added comment just made everyone start talking again arguing about what steps to take next.
"Enough!" Jefferson screamed silencing the whole clock tower. "How is this nightmare going to end?" He whispered locking eyes with Rumple. "You knew all those decades ago you told me we would never…." He trailed off closing his eyes. "To come all this way, to get her back, and it ends like this."
"This isn't the end we will get Aurora back." Victor placed a hand on his friend's shoulder.
"The good Doctor Frankenstein is wrong. This is most defiantly an end." Rumple stated.
"I knew it." Jefferson collapsed back down to the floor.
"Someone shut the Dark One up and get him away from my son before I bury my hook in his lying throat." Hook hissed.
"Gold maybe it is best you leave," Emma suggested trying to keep the peace so they could figure out what to do next.
"Everything must come to an end, but that doesn't mean there won't be a new beginning. Henry has repeatedly said we are the good guys and in the end we will always win."
"Are we thou? Are we the good guys in the story?" Jefferson wondered out loud.
"Some of us certainly are." Snow commented. "And we are not going to let Phillip, George, or Cora get away with what they did to Aurora or let them destroy our home."
"There has to be way back to the Enchanted Forest, and we won't stop until we find it," David added agreeing with her.
"It is late and the storm. We should get you back to Grace. She is waiting for you at Granny's." Neal tried to comfort his half-brother.
"She was waiting for me to bring Aurora home." Jefferson ran his free hand through his hair rocking back a moment. "What am I going to tell her."
"The truth." Rumple leaned over placing his hand on Jefferson's shoulder.
Jefferson felt a wave of magic as Rumple cleaned and fixed his bloody clothes and unlocked the cuff mending the cut on his left hand as well. Jefferson pulled it down close to his body as he flexed feeling no more pain.
"You tried your best, but it was an unfair battle. Next time that won't be an issue."
"Next time?" Jefferson mutter looking up at Rumple who still hadn't removed his hand from his shoulder. "Do you really think there will be a next time? Even with your help look at what they did to all of us tonight. The one-way home is gone. My house which finally after decades of it being a prison had become a home, but is now destroyed, a burning shell of what it was. Oh God, my house is destroyed where am I even to take Grace to? It is just another failure for Grace to see."
"Jefferson my boy you need not worry. You and Grace may come home with me until I have a chance to fix your home." Rumple gave his shoulder a little squeeze trying his best to comfort him.
"My boy and granddaughter are not going anywhere with you." Hook barked.
"What you expect them to go back to your ship?" Rumple let go of Jefferson turning sharply to face him.
"My ship is his home."
Jefferson couldn't handle the arguing. He looked away to the right and he saw ghostly image of Alice appear. "You promised me you would always take care of our daughter."
Jefferson groaned shaking his head in his hands trying to block Alice out but her voice echoed in his head.
"They don't trust you with her."
"A ship is never a home. It is just transportation from one place you are running away from to another." Rumple explained doing a mocking hand motion as he stepped protectively in front of Jefferson.
"Like your castle was between jobs you sent him on?" Hook moved forward a few steps matching Rumple's advancement.
"I gave him more of a home than you would ever be able to give him." Rumple challenged.
"I am his father," Hook shouted taking two more steps and pointing at the ground he added. "and I will take care of him as I see fit."
"You are not his father! You had two hundred and fifty years to raise him and you drove him away. I raised him from a boy to a man."
"And in those twelve years you did such a great job you drove him away and he was so desperate for a few gold coins he went back to helping the Evil Queen and got stuck in Wonderland away from my granddaughter." Hook filled the remaining space between.
"I was there for him in those twelve years in ways you could never even dream to have been." Rumple hissed not backing down from Hooks advancement. "Everything I did was to keep him and Aurora alive. Tell me how many times have you almost killed Aurora yourself? Is it more than the two I know about?"
"Papa, Hook, stop they can stay tonight with me at Granny's." Neal quickly added trying to step in between the two men before Hook could do anything to make the current problem worse.
"No… No…No…" Jefferson muttered.
"Or with me." Victor offered. "You and Grace won't be homeless."
"Now none of that will be needed." Rumple moved back closer to Jefferson leaning on his cane. "I can easily fix your house and everything you value in it."
Jefferson watched Alice's ghost disappear before he turned to face Rumple not believing what he heard. "You would do that?"
"Yes"
"No, Jefferson my father never does anything without asking for something unreasonable in return."
"What do you want Rumple?" Hook hissed.
"I want your son and Miss Swan here to help me create a new hat. And then we are going to go back home and kill not only Prince Phillip but King George as well."
"You Son of Bitch." Hook's voice boomed. "As if you haven't used my boy enough already."
Rumple waved his hand and Hook flew back to the wall and he silenced him. "He's not a boy anymore Hook. He's grown into quite the young man while you pined away in Neverland, and it will be his choice on what actions he wants to take moving forward. His and Miss Swan's choice of course."
"Enough!" Jefferson screamed and Rumple lower Hook back down to the ground releasing his spell. "I knew who I was all those years ago, but I've changed a few times since then. You both shaped me into the mess of a man I am now. So not something you would think either of you would want to take credit for." He laughed. "But Aurora was still happy with me. God only knows why, but she was. And I need to get her back. So, can you both please stop trying to kill each other until we figure out how to save her? Because as you can clearly see I can't handle what has happened let alone you two going at each other."
Rumple and Hook both grew pale and moved away from each other.
"I am sorry Jefferson," Rumple quietly commented. "I never should have gotten in the way of your happiness."
"Don't apologize help me get her back."
Emma stepped up. "I think it is clear, we are all going to help save Aurora and fix whatever mess Cora and George are making of the Enchanting Forest. Like Rumple pointed out Henry is right we are good guys, and we will find a way to right this wrong. But for starters let us just get everyone to Granny's and go work on our next steps from there."
To be continued...
in my last planned long fanfiction between Jefferson/Aurora, called Meant To Be. The first chapter is already posted now.
Author Note 1: Paraphrasing and Quotes from Bon Jovi's Always and Ralph Waldo Emerson
Author Note 2: Thank you to everyone who has read all or some of my stories over the last seven years or so. I hope you are enjoying them and always feel free to leave me a note or a review to let me know what you think.