Authors note: So I'll probably do a couple of chapters set in storybrooke and then a couple in the Enchanted Forest then hop back and forth for a while then we will take it from there. Thank you to those who are enjoying the story so far and I'll continue to try and do the best I can to type and upload as soon as I can. Aaaallllrighty then on with the next chapter.
Storybrooke, Maine
Jack's eyes slowly began to open. All he could see was a bright light above his head and the sound of people talking. As his eyes began to adjust, he could see Mary Margaret sitting in a chair near the foot of his bed talking to Dr. Whale and to his surprise he also saw Regina Mill's standing next to Dr. Whale and looking right at him. He let out a groan and Mary Margaret's eyes darted to him. She smiled brightly and got out of her chair.
"Hi Jack, how do you feel," she asked.
"Uhg," Jack muttered. "I need a smoke."
Mary Margaret frowned but Jack grinned big. When she saw his grin, she smiled and let out a chuckle.
"Mr. Trench," Dr. Whale said. "To repeat Mary Margaret's question, how do you feel?"
"Like I've been smacked in the head with a sledgehammer."
Whale did not seem amused at the quirk.
"Well…you will need to take it easy for a little while," Whale replied. "We think you had a minor seizure. We will keep you overnight for observation and sending you home with some anti-seizure medication tomorrow. For now, just get plenty of rest. I'll send the nurse in here with the paper work to excuse you from work and to get your insurance information."
"Thank you, Dr. Whale," Jack said.
With that Whale nodded and stepped out of the room.
"Well, Mr. Trench I'm glad to see you awake," Regina spoke up.
Jack knew Regina hadn't been glad of anything or looked glad in years if ever.
"Thank you, Madame Mayor, but why are you here," Jack asked.
Regina looked slightly annoyed at the question. "I just came by to check in and see how you were doing. Is it wrong for a Mayor to care about her citizens well-being? Mr. Gold told me you were in his shop when it happened?"
"Yes, I had come by to pay the month's rent," Jack answered.
"Do you remember what happened at the moment you had the seizure?"
"I just was looking at an old photo and medal he had in his shop and it just happened," he answered. "But I don't think that has anything to do with it." He could see Regina was trying to detect a lie. She had always been strange and made him as uncomfortable as, if not more, than Mr. Gold.
"Madam Mayor I don't mean to be rude but I'm very tired. Maybe we could talk another time," he asked.
A fake smiled popped on her face. "Of course, Mr. Trench," she said. "I'll let you rest then." Jack could see Mary Margaret trying to hide the nervous expression on her face as Regina waked by her. "Goodbye, Miss Blanchard," she paused to say before she left.
As soon as the door closed Mary Margaret let out a sigh of relief.
"She makes you that nervous, huh," Jack asked.
"Unfortunately, at times she does," Mary Margaret replied. "Honestly being around her and seeing how she acts just makes me worry for Henry." She looked over at the clock on the wall. "Oh, I'm sorry Jack but I have to go." She darted over to the bed and gave him a quick hug. "I'm sitting with John Doe again."
"The coma patient," Jack asked.
"One in the same," she smiled and headed out the door.
Jack sat alone in the silence with his thoughts. He began to think about the nightmare he had had the other day. The woman in black began to show clearer in his mind. She almost looked familiar but her face seemed fuzzy to him. He had never had a seizure before and it was strange it just happened out of nowhere. He quickly pushed the thought from his mind. It was just a minor seizer that could had happened to anyone.
He heard the door to his room open and saw a red headed nurse about his age step in. He was left breathless her for a moment as she did look very beautiful. "Mister Trench I have your paperwork to excuse you from work right here and I'll have to ask you a few questions about your insurance," she said.
"Jack is fine," he mumbled nervously.
"Pardon?"
He cleared his throat. "Jack is fine. You don't have to call me Mr. Trench."
"Alright Jack I just have a few questions to ask you."
"Ask away," Jack smiled.
Several minutes and several signatures later they were finished. "Thank you very much Jack," she said, being very formal. "Now do you have any questions?"
"Yes, I was just wondering…what's your name," he shyly asked.
"Irene," she smiled. "Irene Tompkins"
He noticed the small stone that hung around her neck.
"So, uh…where did you get that from," he asked in a vain effort to make conversation.
"It was just given to me a few days ago," she said. "Mr. Gold was checking his stock the other day and was going to get rid of a few things. I was passing by on my way to work and he just came out and asked if I'd like to have it." She glanced at the clock. "I'm sorry Jack but I've got to go. Maybe we can talk more tomorrow when I have time?"
"I'm being discharged in the morning."
"Well maybe you could swing by and eat lunch with me sometime at Grannies. I'll leave my number at the desk for the morning nurse to give to you before you leave," she smiled.
"Sure, sounds great," he replied.
"Well, try and get plenty of rest and I will see you later," she said and left the room.
Jack laid his bed back and started up at the ceiling. He could almost feel sleep coming on. Then he thought about Irene. Was I being creepy, he thought. No, I hope not. It was a short talk but hopefully not too forward.
He was soon fast asleep and no sooner was he asleep did his mind go to work. Images of a bombed-out church, a horrifying werewolf howling up at the moon in a clearing, and a stone necklace that looked familiar and all ending in a cloud of purple smoke and a wicked woman's laugh. He woke up in a cold sweat. He looked at the clock and saw it was 4:35 a.m. He decided he would stay awake in hopes of keeping his nightmares at bay.
The next morning, he was on the bus to Mr. Gold's pawn shop to pick up his car that sat in the parking lot where it was left. Then he went by the Pharmacy on his way home to fill the prescription Whales had given him and he headed home. When he pulled in front of his small house, he was greeted with the large tarp covered object that sat on the old train tracks. It had sat there on the tracks since the day his father passed just a little over a year ago. He'd go and check on it every so often just to make sure none of the parts had been taken but who would want to steal parts off that old machine. It had just maybe a day or two's work left till it was finished.
He decided it had been a while since he looked in on it so he got out of his car and walked to where it sat at the old train station platform. He reached up and pulled the tarp off sending all the dirt and leaves that had settled on it in every direction. The old steam locomotive was still in decent condition.
It was an old 'Consolidation' style locomotive. The paint on the small coal car his father had built was starting wear off but he could still read the 'Storybrooke Railroad Co.' lettering on the side of it. The coal car was built from the original car but his father made it more compact since the train wouldn't be taking any long trips soon. Jack could still see where it needed a cylinder replaced at the front of the engine, which his father had already bought and put in their shed, and he had to check the boiler for leaks. Those were the only things keeping it from moving.
Looking at the old train caused tears to form in his eyes. Every time he looked at the engine, he couldn't help but think of his father. The whole town had known him well. Martin Trench. He took up a job running the local museum. He had been gone a little over a year now and the town has slowly just forgotten about him it seemed. Only Jack's closets friends ever mentioned his father.
Then Jack remembered what Dr. Whale had told him before he left this morning, "No strenuous activities." But how strenuous can welding a boiler and replacing a cylinder be?
For the entire rest of the day Jack worked on the old steam engine. Once it started getting dark, he got out his father's old standing floodlights so he could continue working in the dark. It felt as if something was driving him. Maybe the thought of honoring his father or maybe just the will to do something big.
As he was sitting on the top step of a ladder in the middle of welding a small crack in the boiler closed, he heard a voice from behind him say, "You know I can see these lights from all the way in town?"
Jack turned and saw the blond woman in the red jacket he had met with Henry a couple days ago leaning again her yellow Volkswagen Beetle.
"Really," Jack asked, lifting his welding visor.
"Yeah, it's almost as if this part of the woods was on fire it's so bright," she said.
"If I remember your name's Emma, right," he asked.
She nodded her headed and said, "And you're Jack."
"Yeah. So…what are you doing here this late?"
"Oh, I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd take a drive and then I saw the bright lights in the distance so I thought I'd check it out."
"So are you're a cop now," Jack grinned.
"No cop. Bail-bonds person more like," she answered.
Jack climbed down off his ladder and took of his welder's mask. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and offered one to Emma. She shook her head and said, "Thanks but I'm good."
He shrugged and lit a cigarette for himself. "So, Emma," he said. "You're Henry's birthmother who he went out himself and found?"
"Yes, he stole Mary Margaret's credit card, used a website and he tracked me down. I have to hand it to him he's as smart kid."
"He sure is. Big imagination too."
"So, you know about the whole 'curse' thing too," she asked.
"Yeah, I do," he answered. "We're all in that book of his apparently."
Emma let out a chuckle. "Who does he think you are?"
"The soldier from out of time," Jack said. "I swear who ever wrote that book had been watching too much 'Back to the Future' and reading the wrong fairy tales."
"Yeah, apparently I'm some kind of 'Savior' or something. He's got the wrong person for that job."
"Nah," Jack said. "You'd probably make a decent savior."
"About as good as you would make a soldier," she grinned.
Jack put his hand over his heart. "Ow…my delicate feelings," he joked.
The two of them shared stories and talked for the next hour before Emma decided it was time for her to go. It was already one in the morning.
"How about you come back by later around two," Jack asked. "I should have this thing up and running by then and I'll let you be the first to test drive it with me."
"That iron death trap? No thanks," she chuckled.
"I'm serious. It'll be safe and besides it sounds like you need a bit of fun," he smiled.
She paused for a moment. "I'll think about it," she said and got into her car.
Jack waved bye to her as she drove off. Jack liked her right off the bat and he felt they had some sort of connection. Not of the romantic sort but some kind of connection. He watched her yellow bug disappear into the distance and he turned back to the train. Near exhaustion from the lack of sleep but fueled by determination he picked up the welder and slapped the boiler. "I'll have you up and running in no time old girl," he said.