AN: What's this? Another chapter? In one day?
Lucky you!
The cold rain on her face was the first thing she felt as she eye's fluttered back open. She was on her side on the cold wet ground as she heard sirens in the distance, as her vision blurred in and out of focus. Rolling herself onto her back a groan escaped her throat as her head thumped and her shoulder and side screamed out in pain as she took in strangled gulf's of air as she tried to make sense of the world around her.
The town's sheriff's finally arrived on the scene after a rather frantic phone call from Gold. Belle had gone over the town line and Amelia was hurt. Mary Margaret joined the pair to offer all the help they would need
David gets out of the squad car first running towards Belle and Mr. Gold, with Mary Margaret trailing behind. Meanwhile, Emma radios for more assistance seeing the car that had crashed at the side of the road
"I'm at the town line. Three people down, maybe four. There's a car – pretty banged up with Pennsylvania plates" Emma says into her phone as she approaches the scene.
"What's going on?" David asked a distressed Belle and Gold
"She crossed over the line" Gold started "She doesn't remember."
After calling for more help she finds Amelia and Hook not far from one another banged up from being hit by the car, they were both alert and moving as Emma checks over the assassin's condition first. apart from nasty cut on her forehead and a cut lip she was okay as far as she could see. Then she saw the bullet wound and the blood that leaked onto her leather jacket. She was trying her best to fight through the pain to get up.
"Hey Lia, try not to move" she tells the redhead
"Couldn't if I tried Swan" she groaned out from the ground as Hook see's the blonde
"Hey, beautiful" Hook groaned out clenching his ribs. Leaving the redhead the savior walks over to the injured pirate "Here, I didn't think you'd notice" She leans down and pushes down on his ribs, making him yell out in pain.
"Your ribs are broken" Emma pointed out
"Oh, that must be why it hurts when I laugh. Did you see his face? His one true love, gone in an instant! Just like Milah, crocodile!" Hook tried to see up with his injuries "When you took her from me…"
"But you took her first" Gold retorted as he kicks Hook on the chin sending the pirate back onto the ground with a chuckling Amelia next to him. Gold lunges down and digs his cane into his neck. even if she couldn't move, she knew what the man was in store for.
"Gold, are you insane?!" Emma exclaimed as she and David try and pry Gold form his homicidal rage
"Yes, I am!" Gold retorted
"You can't do that!" David yells at the man
"I can if you let me go"
"You don't want her to see that" Emma tried
"I'm a stranger to her"
"Murder is a bad first impression"
"What would Belle want you to do?" David tried to beseech to the man. Hearing more sirens in the distance as an ambulance arrives, distracting Mr. Gold long enough for David to pull him off of Hook.
"Over here!"David calls the paramedics over to Hook, only for Emma to directs their attention to the driver of the car instead
"No! Him and Her" pointing to Amelia still on her back "Take care of them. He can wait" referring to Hook
Mary Margaret, who is still tending to Belle, overhears Emma "What?"
"There's someone in there"
Mary Margret places the confused and dazed Belle next to the car "Stay. I'll be right back" she tells the woman than goes to Emma. They watch as the paramedics look over the unconscious driver of the car
"Do you know this guy?" Emma asks Mary Margaret
"I've never seen him before" her mother replies
"That's because he drove into town" David points out
"From the outside?"
"Looks like the world just came to Storybrooke"
The redhead vaguely remembered being in the back on an ambulance with a very skittish Belle. She drifted in and out of consciousness while she was wheeled into the hospital. Now she was in a wide awake with her arm and left shoulder in a sling and an IV with what she presumed were pain killers. She couldn't remember what the nurses had told her she had hurt, she guesses by the pain she felt in her ribs, head and shoulder. They called her lucky that the bullet missed an artery. She didn't feel that lucky. Not at all
Her eyes watched the clear IV from the bag as a drop of liquid dropped out and traveled down the tube and disappear in the needle that was embedded and taped down to the top of her hand. Feeling the presence of dark magic at her door she looked up the door to see Mr. Gold stood there with his cane and shawl, staring at her.
She gulped nervously. This wouldn't be a friendly visit. "I'm sorry" she croaked as the heart monitor to her right stared to beep faster as fear grew at the sight of the angry Dark One. In saving Belle from getting shot she forced her across the town line, making her forget her un-cursed life.
"As you should dearie" he said through gritted teeth. He slowly walked up the bed slowly "Your little heroics came with a price"
"I didn't –" Gold brought his cane up and whacked it against her ribs making her stiffen and stifle and grit her teeth together to stifle the scream that wanted to escape, taking in deep breaths as she waited for the pain to subside
"Nevertheless" he continued taking the cane away and back onto the floor "You did as you were ordered, you protected Belle despite what happened" he reached up with his left hand, a purple hue of magic surrounded the hand as she waved it over the shoulder she was shot in, healing it instantly "Consider this your reward for a job half done" he headed towards the door. But before he left he stopped in and turned back to her "I expect you to be recovered by the time I wish to resume the search for my son"
"Yes sir" she answered, letting out a breath as he left her.
Downstairs' the drama continued as the guy that hit Hook and Amelia was waiting to be operated on by an absentee Dr. Whale. As Emma and her parents waited for Ruby to return with Whale to save him. They also needed to find Regina before she did anything brash for accusing her of 'murdering' Archie.
There was one person in this hospital that knew Regina better than anyone else in the entire town. And she was bed bound upstairs.
Getting her room number from a nurse, Emma had found out that Amelia had requested her personal effects and clothes back ready to be discharged despite the nurses apparent protests.
She easily found the redhead's room seeing the woman herself already on her feet and dressed in the same outfit she came in through the window and blinds as she zipped up her black leather jacket over her chest, up to her chin. The nurses had fixed her up pretty quickly seeing a wound dressing stuck to her forehead under her hairline and the hole the bullet made was big enough to see the white gauze that covered the wound. The only bit of good news they had heard was that they got the whole bullet out of her shoulder with no damage.
"Hey, heard you were leaving?" Emma started from the doorway of the room
"I need a change of clothes. They dumped my shirt because of the blood" she answered sliding a ring on the middle finger of her right hand
"Well you were shot" the blonde retorted pushing herself off the frame and into the room "Maybe you should take a break, I don't suppose they had bullets in the Enchanted Forest"
"My target's didn't, I did" she said as she reached up too quickly to put her necklace back on only to jerk forward in pain clutching her ribs "ahhh" she hisses as she had to steady herself on the edge of the bed. Emma closed the distance and held out her hand to the former Assassin, offering to put the necklace on for her. Amelia complied sitting on the edge of the bed as she caught her breath.
"Please tell me Hook's in more pain than I am" she asked Emma as the latter threaded the silver chain that held a stone like pendent and a slender silver ring that looked like a wedding band from the quick glance she got of it before it was tucked under the collar of her jacket
"Don't worry. He is"
"Good. He still owes me money"
"That I don't doubt for a minute" her eye caught the gauntlets that Amelia wore lying on the bed until Amelia snatched them up and slid them back on her forearms the movement made the woman hiss in pain once again.
"I need to go" Amelia stood up from the bed to head for the door walking past the blonde. Wherever she was going, it was important.
"Back to Regina?" Emma asked the woman. Amelia snapped her head to face her "We need to tell her about Archie. We were hoping you would give us a clue to where she is" Amelia shook her head making her way out of the ward with her belongings with Emma closely following behind her.
"Weren't you bails bond woman-"
"Person" Emma correctly her as she found an elevator pushing the call button, several times.
"Bails bond person" she corrected herself "isn't that you do, find people that don't want to be found" she paused a minute but got impatient with the world's technology and headed for the stairs.
"Yeah but with the outsider and Gold and Belle, we could really use the help"
"Outsider?" Amelia questioned the blonde as they descended, the stairs. Amelia was surprisingly fast for just being hit with a car and shot a couple hours ago.
"The car that hit you and Hook had Philadelphia plates, the guy driving isn't from here"
"Looks like a problem for you to deal with Saviour" Amelia told her as they reached the lobby
"What about Regina. Cora's in Storybrooke, aren't you worried"
"At the moment between Cora and Rumpelstiltskin. I am more worried of the latter" Amelia walked past Mary Margaret, David and Grumpy in the lobby
"Lia!?" Mary Margaret exclaimed in surprise seeing the redhead up and about so soon
"Snow" she acknowledged as she walked past. The pixie haired woman watched as Emma was struggling to keep up with the red head. The royal couple looked at each other in concern before they started to follow their daughter chase the former Assassin out of the hospital as they reached the front entrance the red head stopped and looked back at the Charming family
"Look I don't know where she is, she hasn't been picking up my calls. So unless anyone's gonna offer me a ride to the bar leave me alone so I can finally be free of the Dark One once and for all" No one spoke and allowing her to leave the hospital to head to her bar.
Letting herself back into her apartment and straight to the shower where she could wash off the events of the night she had had, she headed straight for the bar to give everything over to Lance or Puck to look after the place while she was away with the old man.
The crowd in the bar was in full swing when Amelia made her way through the occupied tables and up to her office after nodded to Launce in greeting as he served customers at the bar. It was business as usual as far as she was concerned as she got the man off her back once and for all. Finding her office door her pursuit was abruptly ended when she saw it open.
It was always's locked. Even if she was around, she always locked it behind her.
Lifting her right hand into a fist letting the hidden blade jump out as she slowly pushed the door wider to see the top of Puck's floppy brown hair behind her desk going through its metal drawers.
With the drawers to the metal filing cabinets already open and paper covering her office floor. He was searching for something.
"What the hell are you doing?" in the surprise of her sudden appearance Puck jumped and hit his head on the underside of the table making the piece of furniture move with the impact of hitting his head. "Ow" she heard him groan before he stood up from behind the desk holding the back of his head
"Amelia, I-I thought you were in the hospital?" his voice squeaked out in panic
"Answer my question first" she demanded out of the younger man as she stepped into the room blocking off his only exit
"I-I can explain" he stammered as Amelia shut the door behind her, shutting them both inside the small room
"What are you looking for?" Amelia clarified herself
"Launce-" he started by Amelia interrupted him
"Enough!" she yelled at him "Tell me why you're in here"
"Amelia"
"In the matter of two days I have been accused of a murder, found the victim of that murder alive and well, been shot and run over, answer the question before I really lose my temper. Answer the damn question or I'll really make your day bad"
A devilish smile suddenly grew on Puck's face making the woman's heart skip a beat in trepidation "You really thought you'd beaten the Queen"
"Which one?"
"The Queen of Heart's. She's here"
She knew what the older woman wanted straight away. She made that clear the last time they spoke.
"The Apple's not here" she tells him "The Dark One made sure it didn't come through in the curse"
"And you really trust him of all people to keep his word"
"I trust him more that you right now"She started to circle the edge of the room as Puck stood frozen like prey going up against it predator "You confuse me for someone else Puck. I assume you and Cora were behind Archie's disappearance"
"She needed to break Regina and get you out of the way"
"So, you used a cloaking spell Cora made to make it look like me and Regina going into Archie's office, using Ruby as an eyewitness"
"It was too easy" he gloated as he walked from behind the desk
"So, you admit to framing us and kidnapping Archie"
"Yes. It was too easy we had the hero's and the damn saviour eating from the palm of our hands"
The corner of Amelia's lip quirked up in a half smile "Thank you for your cooperation, Puck. I'm gonna miss you"
"What?" he questioned in confusion. Amelia simply pointed to a mounted camera recording their entire conversation he looked up as his stomach dropped
"You bitch" he snarled at her and ran at her with the hidden blade jumping out form his gauntlet raising his arms fist towards the red head. Amelia simply dodged the incoming blade at he went for her head and sent a swift punch to his stomach making him double up in pain, she grabbed him by his shirt and effortlessly lifted him and slammed his back onto the metal desk before hitting him square him the face knocking him out as she heard the door to her office open behind her, she looked over her shoulder to be met with her bartender after hearing a loud commotion from the bar.
"Get some chains and a padlock" she ordered the man as she pondered what to with him. For now she would give him over and let the law of this land do it's job but afterwards, he won't be so talkative after the thieves have their way with him.
Dropping Puck in one of the cell's in the station, and chaining the young man into the cell. She left a USB on Emma's desk that held footage of Puck's confession of the frame job and kidnap she made her way to the pawn shop and let herself into the shop to see Rumple staring into a yellow globe at the far counter. Hearing the Assassin enter he looked over his shoulder briefly to see the woman walking up behind him
"I see you've recovered quickly" he commented on the women's recovery "Yet you still took your time" he added
"Apparently getting hit by a car is nothing compared to weeding out the weak in your own house" Gold looked over his shoulder to the redhead "Puck" she supplied "He's been working for Cora"
"Good you found out now and not later Miss Montague" she nodded along with the man
"So..what now?" the red head asked the older man
"We're moving forward with the search for Baelfire"
"You have a location for me"
"New York City"
Emma, Mary Margaret, and David arrive home to the apartment in the early hours of the morning exhausted from the long night spent at the hospital. Ruby had found Whale and brought him back to the hospital to save the outsider.
He told Emma that he saw nothing unusual. They had all dodged a bullet.
They were all greeted by Henry who ran down the stairs from his room as soon as they let themselves in. Mary Margaret went straight to make coffee and David started the breakfast for the family.
"You were out all night. Where were you? Granny wouldn't tell me anything. Did I miss it all?" Henry quick fired the questions at his family
"Cereal okay?" David asked Emma and said yes to the food.
Emma encouraged Henry to sit in the bar stool next to her. Mary Margaret started to tell Henry what had happened "Rumpelstiltskin, Amelia and Captain Hook had a fight, and someone got hurt." She tells her grandson
"We weren't sure if Dr. Frankenstein could fix him, but he did" Emma added
"Doctor?" Henry asked confused "Oh… That's who Whale is."
"Yeah, but without the neck bolts"
"The monster had the bolts, not the doctor" Henry corrected his mother
"Right, but either way, some of us having known him… It's weird"
"It's not weird. We're past it. We were cursed" Mary Margaret suddenly added
"What are you talking about?" Henry asked his grandmother
"Nothing" David quickly added
"Wait" Henry tried to broach the subject his grandmother was talking about
"Really, it's nothing" Mary Margaret brushed it off again. Henry left the bar as David gave Emma a bowl. He tried to stop him, but it failed. Henry grabbed his storybook from the bookshelf and returned with it. Sitting back on his stool and but the book on the bar.
"Frankenstein isn't in here. It's not even a fairy tale. That means it comes from another land with different stories, like Amelia's story, she's not from any fairy tale"
Emma placed the bowl of cereal on top of the book "Eat. I really want to go to bed" Emma tried to encourage him
"If the curse went to places with other stories, then who knows who else is in this town?" he told him. but there was a sudden knock on the door
Emma stood up to answer it, but the Charming family looked up to see Gold and Amelia at the threshold of the apartment letting themselves into the apartment.
"Gold. We've all had a long night" Emma started but Gold interrupted her
"You remember that favour you owe me, Miss Swan?"
"Yeah" she said apprehensively glancing towards the redhead who looked like how she felt
"I'm cashing it in"
"It's not… A good…"
"You do honour your agreements, don't you? I need to find someone, so we're leaving today. Pack your bag"
"Leaving?" Mary Margaret asked
"W-where?" Henry spoke up he was now stood from his place in the loft
"Wait. Find someone? Who?" Emma asked folding her arms in front of her
"My son" Gold told them "It has to be today, because every minute I'm here, is a minute closer to me killing Hook. So, it's really best for all concerned if I leave, and you're going to come with me. Oh, and, um, we have a long history. So know this, and know it to be true. If any harm comes to Belle while I'm gone, I'm killing all of you" he threatened the family "I'll see you at noon" at that he left the family to their morning with Amelia staying behind to address the sheriffs
"You two might want to swing by the station at some point, left a little present for you there" she threw a key towards David who caught it easily "And uh..keep him away from me and my thieves otherwise you'll have a real murder to investigate" as she finished, she turned and headed down the stairs of the apartment building leaving the Charming family in silent shock.
AN: Quick chapter this time.
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