AN: Thanks for the incredible response to this Snowing story! See previous chapter for important authors notes on characters and story notes.
Important note: Milah is not Neal's father in this universe. Cora is I've taken some liberties again with characters and back stories. :)
Special Note: By now, most of you know that NBC made the horrible decision to cancel Manifest, despite ending season 3 on a terrible cliffhanger. Thankfully, Netflix has saved Manifest and is giving us a final super sized season 4 with 20 episodes!
Another Special Note: The character of Cody Webber is from Manifest and not a Once character, FYI.
This one will update bi-weekly on Monday nights. Please consider leaving a review, it is much appreciated. Here are individual responses to reviews:
Jennifer Baratta: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Ghostwriter: Yep, things are getting serious. Glad you're enjoying it!
Alissa: You're welcome, glad you liked them!
Grace5231973: Yep, Emma and Neal are making progress. I am worried David will be provoked too. Glad you're enjoying!
Number Ten: It's a plot from the show and I am using the person from the show since he's not a huge part, or won't be really. Yeah, it was pretty cool. I don't really like Stephen King much, but respect him for how huge he is. Love Shatner though and that was really cool. Glad you're enjoying!
Sexystarwarslover: Yep, they are not going to love that website at all. Yeah, Emma and David were her family cause her own father was horrible and still is. Yep, Thor is the best. Yep, the red X on the door means trouble. Yes, David will do anything to protect his family. And Neal has had an interesting life here. I agree, poor Wendy. Hopefully, Neal and his father can get a second chance. I agree, angry David is very sexy. *Heart Eyes*. Regina is fitting in and has found a family too, because Cora is horrible, just like Leopold. Yeah, the haters are going to be a problem. Glad you liked the flashbacks. I did too. Glad you're enjoying!
AnonSnowing: Yeah, I was just hoping for one more normal sized season. It wouldn't have been quite enough, but something so the fact that they are giving us 20 episodes is definitely a blessing. And speaking of blessings, it is a blessing that they came back. Unfortunately, small minded haters don't see it that way. Yeah, sometimes it's difficult to keep the relationships here straight since they are so different. Yeah, Neal has something in common with the passengers. Hopefully, he can get a second chance too. Yeah, I love the flashbacks too and exploring their lives when they were young here. Emma and Neal do have a lot in common. Yep, the 828 hate is going to be a problem. Yep, fortunately Margaret can work her magic on David. I love their love too! Glad you're enjoying it!
Lightning in a Bottle
Chapter 40: Cleared for Approach, Pt 3
David navigated to the hate website and immediately got a knot in his stomach at what he was seeing.
"There...that's him. Cody Webber," Margaret said, as she pointed at the video. He sighed and hit the play button.
"These people...these passengers are different. The people that got on that plane almost six years ago are gone. And whoever or whatever returned in their place...they aren't the same," Cody claimed.
"Instead of detaining these people, they've released them into the public to mingle with the rest of us. It's what you do when you want to attack without invading," he continued.
"Infiltration from within. The passengers of flight 828 are all ticking time bombs!" he ranted, as photos of passengers flashed on the screen, including ones of Regina, David, Emma, and even Henry. David gripped the table and his knuckles were white, as Margaret put a hand on his shoulder.
"I don't know what these freaks are...but I doubt they bleed like us anymore," he said, as the video ended and she realized Killian was right. Everything he said was speculative and no direct threats were made. Just accusations and a man spouting off.
"Killian was right...he wants passengers to come after him. He's baiting you," she warned, as she saw that her husband was practically boiling in his own skin.
"And if not for you...it would have worked, because you're the only thing keeping me from not finding him and pummeling him into oblivion!" David said, as he got up from the table and started to pace like a caged animal.
"And then he would have you arrested and make another video, validating all his claims," she reasoned. He sighed.
"And get even more people behind him," he realized, as she stood up and slipped her arms around his waist.
"Promise me you won't go near this man," she said.
"I promised you before...and I won't break that. But he's dangerous, MM...I can feel it," he replied.
"Me too...but that means we just stay vigilant. We do not confront him. If he comes to us again...that's a different story. But we cannot go to him," she said. He nodded. She was right and she kissed him tenderly.
"And he is completely wrong. I know that the man that got on that plane came back to me. You're my husband and you are the same," she replied. He looked at her.
"Except we know that's not entirely true. He might be right about that...on a biological level with that blood marker and a psychological level with the Callings," he reminded her. But she shook her head.
"But your heart is the same...you are the man I fell in love with when we were just kids. Our love hasn't changed and only grows stronger, if that's even possible," she replied, as he kissed her again.
"The kids are in bed…" she said, as their lips parted. He smirked and took her hand, as he led her up to their bedroom.
"You're free to go, Mr. Webber," Killian said, reluctantly unlocking the cell. Cody smirked.
"Thank you, Detective. I guess this was all a misunderstanding," he said.
"Not at all...you're just lucky I can't make anything stick. But I know you vandalized the Nolan house and I'll warn you to leave them alone," Killian said. Cody smirked.
"You can't prove I did anything and hating those freaks isn't against the law," he goaded and Killian clenched his fists.
"Pick up your things at the desk, mate...and be on your way," he said, as the perpetrator waltzed out of the station, scot free.
"Please tell me we can at least keep tabs on him," Killian said, as Graham watched him go.
"We don't have the manpower for that...and even if we did, you know we can't. There's a million hate websites out there and as long as he's not violent directly, we can't touch him. He knows it too...he was careful, because we can't prove he's the vandal," Graham said.
"He's dangerous…" Killian replied.
"Yes...but now David knows about him and hopefully, he will be discouraged from seeking vigilante justice. But he and Margaret are aware, at least. You should tell Emma as well," Graham said.
"She's not back yet…" Killian muttered.
"She will be soon though, I'm sure. In the meantime, you should go home to Milah," Graham said. Killian had lost his nerve the other night and hadn't told her that he cheated on her. He had proceeded to avoid her as much as possible and knew it was not fair to her. She suspected something was up and knew it would soon come to a boiling point. But he was far from ready to face it.
"I think I'll stick around for a while," Killian said. Graham shrugged.
"Suit yourself," he replied, leaving Killian to mull over the paperwork on his desk and further torture himself with thoughts of Emma.
Neal and Emma walked back to the cabin in silence after his confession.
"We're not hearing the voice anymore. Does that mean we solved this one?" he asked. She shrugged.
"Probably...but just until we get the next one," she replied.
"How many have you had?" he asked.
"A few...a couple of them saved lives, so that was pretty great," she replied.
"And the bad?" he asked.
"I misread one and blew a covert operation...it was bad," she replied. He sighed.
"Sounds like coming back has a price," Neal surmised.
"Maybe...but it's worth it so far, even though the man I was almost engaged to moved on and married someone else," she said.
"Wow...that's rough. I guess your brother is the lucky one in that respect," he replied. She smiled.
"Yeah...but there was never any doubt in that. I can't even imagine either one of them ever moving on from each other if the worst happened," Emma said. He looked at her.
"You light up when you talk about them. If they weren't just a couple years older than you, I'd swear they really were your parents. David totally acts like your Dad," he mentioned. She smiled and laughed.
"You don't have to tell me and just wait till you see how MM mothers me. She'll probably try to mother you too, so prepare for that," she said. He smiled.
"It sounds kind of nice to be honest, especially since I know that my birth mother seems to be a real piece of work," he replied.
"That's not even half of it. MM's real father is the worst too. He tried to ship her off to boarding school when she was sixteen to get her away from David," she mentioned.
"That sucks...but are you telling me this to try and make me feel better about my Dad?" Neal asked. She shrugged.
"Maybe a little. I mean, he messed up, but it wasn't because he didn't care or was malicious about it, right?" Emma asked. He shrugged.
"I guess," Neal replied.
"I'm not saying forgive him overnight, but at least give it a chance," Emma pleaded.
"Come back to the city...hang out with us and meet your half sister and maybe start hitting some meetings again," she said. He nodded.
"Okay...but I don't have anywhere to stay and I'm not staying with him," Neal said.
"Fair enough...you can sleep on my couch," Emma replied.
"You're okay with that?" he asked. She shrugged.
"My life is really weird so this won't even be a blip on the radar," she joked. He snickered.
"Okay deal...let's head back," he agreed, as they made their way back to the cabin to pack up.
Margaret was roused late that night and felt that he was gone, before she looked beside her. Subconsciously, she somehow knew and that was why she had awakened. She
had been sleeping in his arms since they were teenagers and was innately aware of his absence. Even during his five and a half year absence, she had always been aware that he was not beside her and had never gotten used to it. She knew after what had happened that he would be restless, even after lovemaking. Curiously, she got out of bed and put her robe on, before quietly padding downstairs.
She heard something that sounded like tapping on the screen door and cautiously opened the door. She sighed in relief, as she found her husband there, scrubbing the spray paint off their door.
"Baby…" she said, as she peered out. He looked up at her helplessly and it tore at her heart.
"I'm sorry...I thought I'd be able to sleep, but I can't stop thinking about this," he apologized.
"It's okay...I understand," she replied, as she stepped out and knelt down beside him, before grabbing one of the brushes in the bucket of water. She smiled at him and started scrubbing with him. He smiled and continued to scrub as well. As with everything, they were going to do this together.
Cody Webber walked back into his shop after they released him that night and was greeted by his co-workers and friends.
"You beat the rap," one of them said. He smirked.
"We got lucky this time...a direct hit against that freak house was risky," Cody said.
"Yeah…I thought the freak himself would have come barreling in here by now," another replied.
"I was hoping so too...but we'll get him. We'll show the whole world the threat that they are," Cody assured them.
Regina walked into work the next morning and noticed eyes on her immediately, as she made her way to her office. She noticed her assistant standing outside, looking uncomfortable and noticed the reason on her door. A big red x was spray painted there and with hospital security, it wouldn't have been easy to do.
"Well...good morning," Regina said.
"It was like this when I got here...no one seems to know anything," Margot said.
"Of course not...I'll make a call to a cleaning person I know that may help with it. For now, we can just ignore it," Regina said, as she went inside her office to begin work.
"So...I was digging for you and I found the patient file you were looking for. Eva Blanchard," Margot replied.
"Oh wonderful…" Regina said, as she opened the file and glanced through it.
"Anything odd?" Margot asked.
"Well...this woman's daughter was very young when her mother died and they told her that it was cancer, which makes no sense in looking at this," Regina replied.
"Yeah...this death was sudden and is ruled unknown. Why would they tell the little girl that it was cancer?" Margot wondered. Regina was about to answer when they were interrupted.
"Regina...what on Earth happened to your door?" Cora asked in concern.
"Mother…" she greeted, as she looked at her assistant.
"This is good work. Keep reading through it and I'll be back in soon," she said, as she led her mother out.
"Your door…" Cora said.
"That's just small minded people. I think we need to talk about something else," Regina replied.
"What is it, dear?" Cora cooed.
"Eva Blanchard," Regina said.
"Eva Blanchard? Why on Earth would we need to talk about her? She's been dead for over twenty years," Cora replied.
"Yes...but there are a lot of things that don't add up. Johanna told Margaret that her mother died of cancer when she was just a little girl, but I have looked through her patient records. There is no mention of cancer at all," Regina said.
"Why are you looking through Eva's old patient records?" Cora questioned.
"Because Margaret wants answers and I might be able to provide them to her," Regina said.
"You need to leave this alone, Regina," Cora pressed.
"Why?" she asked.
"Because it's ancient history that is best left in the past," Cora replied.
"Margaret is my step-sister and she deserves answers," Regina protested.
"Oh dear...Margaret is an unruly, unsophisticated pariah. Unlike you. You were meant to be a Queen...you still could be a Queen of Wall Street, like me. You are so unsuited for work like this," Cora said.
"I love my work, Mother and I love my new family as well. I will protect them from you if I have to," Regina warned. Cora smirked.
"I see...I get you back, only to have you abandon me again," she said.
"You mean like you abandoned Daddy in a home?" Regina replied.
"Well…I see we aren't going to be civil," Cora said.
"You're right...I'm surprised you waited so long to leave him for Leopold, though I bet Eva wasn't even cold before you were getting cozy with Leopold and all his money," Regina replied.
"I will not tolerate your insolence, Regina," Cora said sternly, as she turned to leave.
"Eva's records don't make any sense, Mother. She didn't die of cancer and I will figure out how she died, even if I have to exhume the body," Regina warned. Cora smirked.
"Now dear...you know that Leopold would never allow such a thing. Do yourself a favor and do not venture down this path any further. Please…" Cora said, almost like she was begging her, which only spurred Regina on more. Cora left, passing the janitor, as he came to clean the paint off Regina's door. She gave him a polite smile.
"Thank you Walter," she said, as she went back into her lab.
"I finished reading through everything and there's not much here. Without an autopsy, I'm not sure we'll be able to draw any conclusions. Do you think the family would agree to an exhumation?" Margot asked.
"The daughter would...but unfortunately, the husband would refuse," Regina replied.
"Do you expect foul play?" Margot questioned with fascination.
"Unfortunately...yes," Regina said.
"So we're at a dead end…" Margot said.
"For now...I have a lot of paperwork to do so feel free to catch up on anything else you need to," Regina said, as she left and headed to her office.
"Mmm...good morning," Margaret said, as David put his arms around her and kissed her cheek, as she made breakfast.
"Good morning...and thank you," he said.
"For what, baby?" she asked.
"For being you...and making sure I didn't shoot out of here and make a huge mistake, because I probably would have gotten myself arrested if I had confronted that asshole," he replied. She turned and kissed him tenderly.
"I don't blame you...I wanted to confront him for even daring to say such things about the man I love and one of my children. But it is probably exactly what he wants," she said.
"Good thing you have a cooler head than me," he replied. She smirked and kissed him again.
"Good thing...but that hot headedness of yours is sexy sometimes," she purred, as they started swaying together in the middle of the kitchen. Olive came in and rolled her eyes, as she filled her coffee cup.
"Morning sweetie," Margaret said.
"Morning," Olive greeted, as she sat down at the table.
"She really has that eye roll thing down pat," he muttered, as he mimicked her and she giggled.
"Definitely…" she agreed, as she turned back to finish off breakfast.
"Henry!" she called, as she dished out the scrambled eggs onto plates and they took them to the table with the sausages and toast. Henry arrived at the table and poured his son some juice, before noticing the picture in Olive's text book.
"A peacock?" he asked, as a memory flashed in his mind. He had seen a vision of a peacock just after the explosion that killed Vance had happened as he was coming to.
"Yeah...it's a symbol of resurrection and of the Goddess Juno," Olive explained.
"I saw this...I mean a peacock," David said.
"In New York?" Margaret asked.
"No...it was just after the explosion in Red Hook. When I was coming around, there was a peacock there. I think it was a Calling in the form of a vision," David replied.
"That's wild...I'll keep researching peacocks," Olive said. David smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Thanks peanut...I don't know what it means, but it could be important. I saw it for a reason," he said, as they sat down to eat as a family. As Henry picked at his food, David and Margaret exchanged a glance.
"Everything okay sweetheart?" she asked. He looked up at them.
"Am I a freak?" he asked.
"What? No...of course not," Margaret replied.
"But those people called us freaks and they hate us. They put an x on the door like we're bad," Henry said.
"They're wrong honey...they're very mean people with very small minds," she said.
"But...we are different now," Henry replied.
"You're right...we are, but that doesn't mean we're bad," David said.
"Daddy is right and I know that you are both still the people I know and love," Margaret replied.
"Mom's right...we totally still have that twin thing going on, even though I am older now," Olive said.
"Killian knows what they did and he's going to be watching them. When they slip up...he'll get them," David replied. Henry nodded, feeling better and started eating. They shared a smile and returned to eating as well.
Emma unlocked her apartment and showed him in.
"It's not much, but it's home," she said, as she tossed her keys on the counter.
"The sofa folds out into a bed," she offered.
"Thanks…I really appreciate this," Neal replied, as he looked around and noticed the personal touches. A few things that probably belonged to Henry and family photos.
"This must be your niece," he mentioned, as he noticed the family portrait, which included her and another older man that he assumed was Robert.
"Yep...that was taken not long before the plane. Now Olive is fifteen," Emma replied, as she pointed to a recent picture.
"Wow...that must be weird being a twin to a brother that's now five years younger," he said.
"Just a bit…" she agreed.
"Listen...thanks again for letting me stay here until I get on my feet," he said.
"No problem," she replied, as she went to unpack her bag, leaving him to ponder what was next for him.