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. The character of Alice is also a Manifest character, not the Alice from Once. Just to be clear.
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! Yep, Cora will lose in the end.
Ghostwriter: Cody was just talking to a random employee, no one important in particular. Yeah, it's looking like Cora was involved somehow. I like seeing Emma and Neal growing closer too. Glad you're enjoying!
Grace5231973: Yeah, I'm glad Margaret stopped David from giving that creep what he wanted. No, it will not go down well with Killian, but yeah, we know this is going in the Swanfire direction. Yeah, Cora definitely knows something concerning Eva. I hope Regina can gets answers too. Glad you're enjoying!
Number Ten: Yeah, it sucks that there are so many trolls like this out there that bully and then when the person being bullied takes action, they are the ones punished. It's definitely something that bothers me sometimes. Since you don't watch Manifest, I can tell you that Josh's character in the show does actually confront Cody and ends up being the one arrested. I went a different direction here for now, but it sucks in the show, because he seems like the bad guy when it's really Cody that is the scum. Yeah, Johanna is probably on borrowed time. Yeah, it will be a tough one to prove, but we know Regina doesn't give up. Glad you're enjoying!
Sexystarwarslover: Yeah, the twin situation with Henry and Olive would be strange, but yeah, doesn't seem to bother them. Yep, Neal is staying with Emma. Killian won't like this, but he doesn't really have a say. Yep, the hate website. At least Margaret was able to keep David from going to confront him, which would have been playing right into his hand. Cody is trouble. Yeah, it is kind of like all magic has a price. Definitely a similar concept here. Yep, David totally acts like Emma's dad. Yeah, it sucks that even Regina got targeted. Yeah, looks like Eva's death is suspicious and wasn't cancer. Yeah, Cora is very rude and definitely knows something about Eva's death. Yep, the peacock came up again and probably will again. Glad you're enjoying!
AnonSnowing: No, Cody doesn't know what he is talking about. Yeah, it made trouble for Ben later. Here it still might, but probably a bit different. Yeah, they may be different, but that doesn't mean bad, yet Cody is going to walk. Yeah, Cora and Leopold are a monster match made in hell. Yeah, Margaret helped him scrub the graffiti away. It was a sweet moment. Yeah, hospital security is either lax or they let the person do it. Yep, Regina suspects foul play now and low and behold, there is Cora. She definitely knows something and got squirrely when Regina mentioned Eva's death. The courts are tricky. Lawfully, Leopold was married to her at the time of death, he would retain his rights since they were not divorced. Now, if you could somehow prove that he was being unfaithful to Eva and that her death was suspicious, that would imply motive. A judge could grant Margaret a request to exhume. I think. In theory. But you never know what a judge is going to rule in cases like this. Especially since it's more than twenty years old and they have no definite proof it was murder and even exhuming might not give conclusive proof with that amount of decay. It's tricky, but at this point, they basically need a smoking gun or a confession, but we'll see how it plays out. Not even I really know where I'm going with this storyline yet. :) Yep, peacocks will be important and the Xer's are ignorant. Glad you're enjoying so much!
Lightning in a Bottle
Chapter 41: Upgrade, Pt 1
"Well…I'm glad you're home, but are you sure about him staying with you?" David asked. It was mid morning and Margaret had left for work, while the kids had gone to school, leaving him to job hunt and get things done around the house.
"Yeah, I mean he has nowhere to go and he's not ready to stay with his father. Plus…he's not dangerous and I can keep an eye on him. You know, I don't think any of us are ready for people to find out about him," Emma said. He sighed.
"Then you heard about what happened?" he asked.
"Killian left me a message and I gotta say, I'm pretty impressed by you not running off and confronting the guy. Grateful, but surprised," Emma replied. He smirked.
"Yeah..I would have, but Margaret stopped me and she was right, as usual. It would have been exactly what that creep wanted," he admitted.
"In the meantime, I think we need to try and figure out where Neal fits in all of this. Regina says he has the blood marker, just like us," David said.
"And he's definitely getting Callings. I just don't know how that cave and the plane are connected...unless it's the lightning," Emma replied.
"Captain Jones did seem to think it was the lightning that caused all this and I have no idea if it means anything, but I had a vision after the explosion in Red Hook when I was waking up. I saw a peacock," he said.
"A peacock?" Emma asked in confusion.
"Yeah…Olive says they're a symbol of resurrection," David replied.
"What? So you think we died up there?" Emma asked.
"No…I mean, clearly not. We'd surely remember that. But it has to mean something. Anyway, Olive is doing more research for me," David replied. Emma smiled.
"She is your mini-me," she commented and that made him smile.
"That's what MM says," he replied.
"Well…I'm going to check in with the station and get Neal a few things. I'll talk to you later," she said.
"Okay...keep me posted," David replied, as they hung up and he went back to browsing for jobs.
"Welcome…" Baron Samdi said from the altar of his new church. It had been born right outside on the sidewalk near this building with many vying for his attention and praising him as one of the returned. The entrepreneur inside him immediately went to work and he cultivated these followers as a flock, which was growing by the day. He rented a building and quickly converted it into a church-type setting.
"Blessed are the returned. Those of flight 828 are a miracle and they have returned to spread their miracle to all," Baron preached from his altar. From a young age, he grew up in the church and his father was a minister. He became disillusioned in his teens and refused to follow in his father's footsteps. He left the church and became successful in a few entrepreneurial endeavors, some of which many would call pyramid schemes and scams. Nevertheless, he was a successful snake oil salesman and as he watched the donation basket fill with dollars, he knew this would be his most successful endeavor to date.
Some would say he was deceiving, but he didn't see it that way. Truly, he felt that he was spreading hope. No one could explain what had happened to the plane, where they had gone, and how they had come back five and a half years later. It was miraculous, so he disagreed that he was being deceptive. He saw the hope he was giving people and had embraced the notion that he was quite possibly a prophet. He had returned for this and to lead these lost people, who were struggling to find their way and looking for hope. And if he made a living doing so, all the better. Behind him, a poster hung with various passengers that had been photoshopped into robes to further punctuate his message.
"I have returned and we are the church of the believers and we have come to share our miracle with the world!" he preached.
"Blessed are the returned of Flight 828 and blessed are the believers," he said, as his donation baskets continued to fill up and his message, in turn, filled the heads of lost people.
Killian got dressed the next morning, ready to go to the station. He had worked a double the day before and came in long after Milah went to sleep. Now, he was anxious to get back to work since he heard Emma was back. As he felt Milah wrap her arms around his waist from behind, he felt instant guilt.
"You got home so late...surely you don't need to go in this early?" she asked.
"Aye...afraid so. We're slammed," he mentioned.
"Killian...I'm not stupid. You're avoiding me," she claimed and he turned to her.
"The doctor cleared you weeks ago, yet you have barely touched me since...since she came back," Milah said. He closed his eyes and sighed.
"Milah…" he started to say.
"Are you cheating on me?" she asked bluntly.
"No…" he fibbed. Technically, he wasn't currently cheating. He had cheated though and hated himself for it. He didn't regret that one night with Emma though, but she clearly did. He couldn't just go on like it never happened though, as much as he wished he could.
"Then what is it?" she asked.
"What do you want me to say?" he questioned.
"I want you to tell me the truth!" she snapped. He sighed.
"Fine...I can't get Emma out of my head, but you don't have to worry, because she wants nothing to do with me," he admitted. Milah was silent for a moment.
"I see...so you're not cheating currently. But you did cheat on me, didn't you?" she asked. He closed his eyes and decided that it was time to come clean. There was no more avoiding it.
"Yes...just once and it was a mistake. Emma won't even talk to me and can barely look at me," he admitted.
"But you're in love with her," Milah said.
"Aye…" he admitted, as she was silent for a moment and he wasn't shocked when she slapped him.
"I'll...I'll get my things," he muttered.
"Don't bother," she spat.
"Just go...I'll be gone by the time you get back," she growled. It was over. Killian took his phone out and texted Emma as a heads up, just in case.
She knows.
Neal idly browsed the Internet on Emma's laptop that she said he could use, mostly reading news stories and trying to catch up on what he had missed in a year. It was amazing how much could happen in a year and he imagined it was even worse for Emma and her brother, who had missed five and a half years. With a rapidly changing world, complete with a twenty-four hour news cycle and technology that evolved just as rapidly, it had to be like coming back to an entirely new world. He skimmed a few articles, but found the ones about the emerging hate groups the most compelling.
The passengers were different and their re-emergence was both frightening and fascinating. There were opposing sides, both good and bad. They were loved, hated, and watched with scrutiny by the government and military. It gave him more than a little trepidation. Essentially, he was like them now. He had come back and was definitely different than before, even if he didn't like admitting it. But these Callings could not be denied and if he was honest, he was tempted to shoot up again and escape this world for one that he knew well. But he wouldn't. He knew that was not really escape and only a path to destruction. He had been given a second chance and he was determined not to squander it. Suddenly, a Calling gripped him and he heard a growling sound at the door. Cautiously, he opened the door and his eyes widened, as he found a wolf there, growling. He knew it couldn't be real, but it still scared the hell out of him. He watched it growl for a moment and then run off, before he was snapped back to reality.
"What the hell was that about?" he wondered.
Regina sat at her desk that afternoon, in an attempt to get some work done and catch up on paperwork. But as there was a knock at her door, she knew it wasn't going to happen.
"Excuse me...Dr. Mills?" a dark haired young woman asked.
"Yes, can I help you?" Regina asked.
"I'm sorry to just show up, but I wanted to ask you about your cancer treatment," she said.
"My...my husband is sick and the other doctors say there's nothing they can do," she added.
"Oh...well, my treatment is only approved for pediatric cases," Regina replied.
"I...I know, but I'm desperate. I was just hoping you'd take a look at his file?" the woman asked.
"My name is Alice," she said, as she accidentally dropped the file all over the floor. Regina knelt down and helped the poor woman pick it up.
"Okay…I'll take a look, but I do clinical trials and don't usually see patients," Regina tried to explain, as she sat down behind her desk with the file and leafed through it.
"His name is Jacob...and we've only been married two years. I...I can't lose him," Alice pleaded. Regina looked at the file and noticed that the diagnosis was correct. There was no more available treatment.
"Alice...I'm not sure there is anything I can do," Regina said.
"Please...you have to. Please...just come see him," Alice pleaded. Regina felt sorry for her and reluctantly agreed.
"Okay…I'll come see him, but I can't make any other promises," she said, as she followed the woman.
"Hey love…" David answered his phone, as he sat back from his laptop and the job browsing he was doing.
"Hi baby...have you heard from Regina? She's not returning my texts and that's not like her," Margaret replied.
"No...come to think of it, she hasn't and she said she was going to keep me updated on the tests she's running on Neal's blood sample," he replied.
"Maybe I'm paranoid...but I'm worried, David. Her last text said there was a red x on her door too," Margaret said.
"I'll go visit her office and check on her," he said.
"Thanks...but maybe swing by and pick me up? I have a teacher assistant today and I really want to check on her too," Margaret replied. He smiled.
"I'll see you in twenty," he said.
"You are my Prince Charming...I love you," she replied.
"I love you too, my darling," he said, as they hung up. He grabbed his keys and headed out.
Regina followed the woman into her small apartment and was led to the bedroom, where her sickly husband was. She could tell that the disease had almost run its full course and knew there was nothing she could do. But perhaps she could help the young woman accept that and prepare for her husband's final days.
"I brought help...this is Dr. Mills. She was on that plane," Alice explained. That struck a chord with Regina and suddenly made her wonder if it wasn't really her cancer treatment that the woman was after.
"This is my husband, Jacob," she said. Regina nodded.
"It's nice to meet you," she said, as she shook his hand and proceeded with a quick examination to humor the delicate woman. She could see the truth in Jacob's eyes too. He knew. He didn't want to die, but he knew there was nothing anyone could do about it.
"I'm sorry...but his cancer has progressed beyond the point of treatment," Regina said. Alice frowned.
"N...no, you have to help him!" Alice cried.
"Honey…" Jacob tried to console her, but she cut him off.
"No...your cancer treatment saved that boy from the flight!" she exclaimed.
"My treatment is still in clinical trials and only viable for certain pediatric cases. I'm afraid it may be years before it can be applied for adolescent or adult cases," Regina tried to explain, but this only enraged Alice further.
"No...you have to cure him! You're one of the chosen!" Alice claimed and a slither of dread slid down Regina's spine.
"Alice...I'm just a doctor. If someone has told you that you have special abilities, because of the plane, then they were not being honest with you," Regina said in a measured tone, but this caused outrage in the unstable woman and Regina gasped when the other woman hauled off and slapped her across the face. She looked at her in shock and became even more frightened when the woman pulled a gun on her.
"You had better cure him...or else…" she growled, leaving Regina frightened to her core.
David and Margaret walked into the hospital, hand in hand, and made their way to Regina's office. The red x had been cleaned off her door and they were grateful for that. They found the door ajar and no one inside, which was strange.
"This doesn't make any sense...Regina wouldn't just leave her office open and her work unattended," Margaret said, as she looked over the desk.
"David...I have a bad feeling…" she said, as her husband knelt down and picked something up off the floor.
"What is that?" she asked.
"A pamphlet...the Church of the Returned?" he questioned. Such a thing was offensive to anyone sensible.
"Church of the Returned? A Church about Flight 828?" Margaret asked, just as alarmed.
"Baron Samdi…" David said, as he looked at the back of the pamphlet.
"Looks like one of the passengers has decided to make a buck on those that think we're prophets or something," he said.
"He's using passenger images, including yours and Emma's…" she said, as they looked at the cover. He opened it and saw some handwriting.
"Dr. Mills can help…" Margaret read.
"David...do you think one of these people came to Regina looking for help?" she asked.
"It's possible...and something tells me they're not looking for her skills as a doctor," he replied.
"Oh…I don't like this. We need to find her," Margaret said worriedly. He squeezed her hand.
"And we will...let's start with Mr. Samdi and he can explain what the hell he thinks he's doing with all this," he said, referring to the pamphlet. He took her hand and they left in a hurry, intending to confront Baron Samdi for any information.
Emma came home from her shift that afternoon and found Neal sitting on the couch, but he seemed anxious.
"Hey...what's going on?" she asked.
"I...I think I had another Calling," he answered.
"Really? What did you see?" she asked.
"A wolf…" he replied. Her eyes widened.
"A wolf?" she asked, as she watched him turn the pages in Henry's sketchbook that they had borrowed.
"This wolf...I think Henry had the same Calling I just did," he said. Emma blew out a breath.
"Well, grab the book and let's go. Margaret asked me to pick him up from school. She and David are caught up in something with Regina," Emma said. He nodded and grabbed the book, before following her out.
David and Margaret arrived at the Church of the Returned and entered hand in hand. Instantly, there were whispers among some of the members who were present.
"Brother David…" Baron Samdi greeted.
"What is this?" he asked sharply.
"I am merely bringing together a congregation of people that have been inspired by our return and seek a hopeful future. A hopeful future that the returned can bring them," Baron replied.
"Cut the crap...you're selling the passengers as miracle workers and you know damned well that we don't have that kind of power," David hissed. Baron raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure, brother David? How is it that your sister rescued those two girls? How is it that you yourself have helped several?" he questioned.
"I don't know...but promising these people that we're going to offer them some kind of salvation is wrong. Especially while you profit," David spat. Baron smirked.
"I mean well, I assure you, brother David and I have to make a living, after all. Everyone does," he said.
"Not like this," Margaret hissed.
"You do what you want, but you take my husband and sister-in-law's images off your posters and pamphlets. I will not let you use the people I love like this!" Margaret growled protectively. He smirked.
"I have nothing but respect for a Mama bear and on the next printing, I'll remove all members of the Nolan family," he conceded. David saw something on the prayer wall and held up the handwriting on the pamphlet to it.
"Same handwriting…" he said, as they looked back at Mr. Samdi.
"Did you tell someone that Dr. Regina Mills might be able to help them? This was found in Regina's office and now she's missing," David replied.
"I cannot violate the privacy of my parishioners," Samdi claimed.
"But you can violate passengers by using their images and possibly putting them at risk!?" Margaret cried.
"Regina is family and she is missing! She might be in danger and we found one of your pamphlets in her office!" she added.
"She's right...and you're not breaking any laws by having this "church". But if something happens to Regina and one of your parishioners is responsible and you know something? Then that's a different story," David said. Baron was silent for a moment and then retrieved something on his phone.
"Her name is Alice and this is the address. Her husband Jacob is dying of cancer. She is desperate to save him," he revealed. David took a photo of the address and took Margaret's hand, before they hurried out, while he called Emma.