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: The character of TJ Morrison is a Manifest character. The characters of Nick and Greta Branson are based on Hansel(also known as Jack and Nick Branson) and Gretel from Once season 7. The character of Isaiah is a Manifest character.
Another Note: As we get further into season 2 and season 3, I will be focusing more on the major Manifest plotlines and not so much the minor ones that involve one offs with passengers, in addition to the original plots I have created for this story. Season 4 will be premiering soon and once I see what I'm working with, I'll make a decision if this story will be going with a Manifest type ending or if I have to move to more of a Once ending. Most of you that watch Manifest know that (spoiler alert) that Margaret's counterpart character in the series, Grace, dies at the end of season 3. I will not be doing that with Margaret. Either way, when the time comes, I will give this story a satisfying ending that may or may not match the series. :)
This one will update bi-weekly on Sunday nights now. Please consider leaving a review, it is much appreciated. Here are individual responses to reviews:
Jennifer Baratta: Yep, Nick is dangerous. Olive is sad, but all might not be lost. Glad you're enjoying!
Sexystarwarslover: Yeah, it's probably not what it seems with Killian. Yeah, TJ might be alive. Yeah, Olive is definitely in love. Yep, looks like George is leading the anti-828 group. Yeah, Neal is in trouble and nearing his death date. Hopefully, Regina can help. Yep, Killian may be a double agent and David's Callings just may lead to TJ. Glad you're enjoying it!
AnonSnowing: Yeah, it may mean that TJ is alive. Yeah, it's definitely the bracelet. Yep, seems like George may be leading the X'ers. Yeah, it's looking like Killian may be a double agent or undercover. Yep, David and Olive are going to do the Calling together. Glad you're enjoying it and you're welcome. :)
Lightning in a Bottle
Chapter 69: Carry On, Pt 2
David arrived at the nightclub and saw the outpouring from the community. They had built a vigil for the victims lost and he set some flowers down for TJ. Suddenly, he was assaulted with the chanting Calling again and it was much louder this time. He looked around and followed the sound across the street and down the block for a while, until he came to a Zen center. He looked around and then went inside, finding that the chanting was a bit stronger.
"Excuse me…but do you hear anything?" he asked one of the employees. She smiled.
"Just the heater…it's always clicking like that," she responded. He nodded with a pleasant smile. So it was a Calling for sure and somehow, he was positive that Olive was meant to take this one on with him. So he left for home, with every intention of convincing his daughter to come back here with him.
Ruby sat down next to Emma, as they ran the photo she had gotten from Nick when he came outside the bar, lured by Ruby.
"I hate to tell you this…but the bartender smells good," she teased. Emma smirked and shook her head.
"That's it…I want a new partner," she joked.
"You do not…you love me," Ruby replied.
"No…" Emma refuted, as they got a hit.
"Hello dirtbag," Ruby said, as Nick's face came up on the screen.
"Stints for assault, drunk and disorderly...and, wait for it, a recent charge for vandalism," Ruby added.
"Arrest report notes anti-828 graffiti. Killian's bestie is officially a criminal and an Xer.
"He really is one of them," Emma said.
"Killian? Are you surprised?" Ruby asked.
"I mean, now the haircut makes sense," Emma mentioned.
"Hey, you okay?" Ruby asked.
"No, not really," Emma replied.
"I-I can't help but feel like I did this to him," she added.
"What, made Killian a bigoted hate-monger? No…he did that all by himself," Ruby admonished.
"This isn't the guy that I was gonna marry," Emma replied.
"Something's wrong here. Something seems not right here," she added wearily.
"People change. But are you with me on this? Now what?" Ruby asked.
"Just knowing they're in a hate group doesn't give us cause to move," Emma answered.
"Not yet anyway," Ruby said.
"But the Xers are gonna do something. Killian stole my case files, and that can unravel a lot of lives," Emma replied.
"So, how are we gonna figure it out, Supercop?" Ruby asked, as Emma made a call.
"This is Detective Nolan for Judge Trilling," she said into the phone.
"The judge who released Neal?" Ruby asked.
"Your Honor, I...yeah, hi. It's me. Judge, I need a favor," Emma requested.
Margaret held their daughter and looked up, as her husband came in and gently smiled at the scene. Gently, he put his hand on Olive's shoulder and she looked up at them.
"My heart. It just feels like someone's...punching it out. None of this makes sense. It just...I don't know how to make it stop," Olive said.
"I think I might. I think the Calling wants to help us heal," David replied.
"No, Dad, I already…" Olive said in exasperation, but he cut her off.
"No, no, no, no. Just listen. I had the chanting Calling again, and it led me from the memorial site to this Zen Center," he explained and she looked at him.
"Wait…you went to a Zen Center? Like, for Buddhists?" she asked.
"Exactly," he answered.
"The place was empty, but the chanting... it was...I don't know how to put it," he said, struggling to describe it.
"Enveloping me," he explained.
"TJ's mom was a Buddhist," Olive said.
"The bracelet he gave you…" Margaret realized.
"When he came back and he learned she was gone, he did his own DIY Buddhist ceremony for her, to say goodbye," Olive explained.
"Maybe we're supposed to do that for TJ. You know, to have some sort of...spiritual closure," he suggested.
"It's just like the Alzarus drawing. You carried her through the flames. Maybe the Calling wants you to...carry her through her grief? Carry each other," Margaret suggested.
"What do you think?" David asked, as he looked at their daughter.
"I couldn't care less what the Callings want," she said, pausing for a beat.
"But TJ...he would have really liked that," she agreed.
David and Olive arrived at the zen center and entered. Immediately, the chanting was back and they proceeded to conduct their own little ceremony.
"I don't know how to do any of this…but TJ mentioned he used beads like this in his mother's ceremony," Olive mentioned, as she picked up the beads.
"Sounds good…" David said, as they each found a cushion and sat next to each other.
"Now what?" Olive asked.
"Well, how about we think of each bead as a memory of TJ? And we can share it with each other and with him?" David suggested.
"Out loud?" she asked. He winced.
"Too hokey?" he asked. But she shook her head.
"No," she said, as she decided to go first.
"When I first saw you in my dad's office, I could...I could barely breathe. I was too embarrassed to admit that I remembered you from Jamaica and that I had...the biggest crush on you ever since. Your kindness and your sweet smile and your heart, it...it stayed with me for five and a half years," she confessed," as she passed the beads to her father.
"First day of school, my tryout, you not only came to support me, but you gave me that lifeline in class. That was...that was really cool. All of a sudden, you weren't a student or just an 828 passenger. You were...my friend," David said, as he passed the beads back to Olive. She sniffed, before continuing with another memory.
"You always talked about how…your mom taught you to stay true to yourself and follow the path of enlightenment. I hope you found your path, TJ. I'll keep looking for mine," she said sadly, as they stood up and David hugged her.
Emma walked into the bar and looked around, before sitting down at the bar. Gretta froze and gave her the dirtiest look that Emma had ever seen.
"Wow. Good. Well, you know who I am," she said.
"I know who you are, so that saves us the introductions," Emma added.
"You've either got big brass ones or you've just wandered into the last place you want to wander into," Gretta warned.
"I'm gonna go with that first option, seeing as I definitely meant to show up here. I actually came to talk to you," Emma replied.
"If the idea is to talk me out of seeing Killian, I'll tell you right now you're wasting your time," Gretta said.
"No, I actually came to help Killian. Maybe help you, too," Emma replied.
"Who says we need help?" Gretta questioned.
"Well, I know that Killian is a part of an anti-828 group, and I know that your brother is too," Emma answered.
"You got issues with Killian and Nick, you should be talking to them" Gretta refuted.
"NYPD will be. Soon. That nightclub fire triggered a zero-tolerance policy on anti-828 violence. I know there's more coming and that Killian is a part of it, so that gives me two choices. Either you're a part of this group and you get busted along with him... or you're actually a good person who's just in way over their head. And if you care about Killian, then you'll help extricate him from this mess," Emma reasoned.
"Look, I know your brother...he's a lost cause, but...Killian's not," Emma said.
"Maybe you think you still know who Killian is. But you don't," Gretta retorted.
"Yeah, maybe you're right," Emma conceded, but not before planting the bug unknowingly underneath the bar and then quietly left. Gretta picked up her phone and dialed, before putting it to her ear.
"You need to get back here," she said urgently.
"Thank you," Olive siad. He smiled.
"You don't have to thank me for anything. This was for the both of us" David replied.
"Even after how hard I've been, you've never stopped looking out for me," Olive mentioned. He chuckled.
"And I never will," David said, as the chanting returned and was even more intense this time.
"You hear it again?" Olive asked. He grimaced and nodded.
"Did we not do what it wanted?" she asked.
"Maybe not. Maybe there's more," he replied.
"Where is it coming from?" Olive asked.
"I don't know. Everywhere," he replied.
"Are you sure? Maybe it wants you to follow it," she suggested.
"I followed it here," he said.
"Right, but maybe this isn't the final destination. Concentrate," she replied and he did so, before walking over to what seemed like a door to a utility room.
"Come on," he said, as he looked to make sure no one was looking and they went into what seemed to be a maintenance room. The chanting definitely intensified.
"Stay here," David said.
"What? No way!" Olive refused, as she followed him.
"Anything?" she asked.
"The chanting. It's louder," he replied, as they came to a wall and looked around.
"What? Is it on the other side?" Olive asked.
"Yeah, I think it is," David replied.
"Aren't we underground?" she asked.
"I know. I don't get it," he answered.
"Over here! There's a door!" she called, as she looked back at him and they heard someone call down to them.
"Hello? Is somebody down there?" she called and they remained silent for a few moments, until she went away.
"I think we have to do this...together," he said.
"Let's do it," she agreed, as they tried to pry the metal doors open, as the chanting got louder for him. He found a metal rod and used it to pry the rusty door open.
"What is this? Some kind of subway track?" she asked, as they got through the door and it closed behind them. They were definitely going to have to find another way out.
"No…too narrow. Maybe part of an old coal transport or some sort of prohibition smugglers' tunnel," he deduced, as he heard a high pitched ringing now and he groaned.
"You still hear it?" she asked.
"Yeah, so much so my eardrums might explode," he said, as the chanting got louder.
"I understand chanting in a Zen Center, but down here? Why?" she wondered.
"I don't know. Your guess is as good as mine. This way," he said, as he led her down the path.
"I told you he was gonna be trouble," Nick hissed.
"Forget Killian. He and I have our own thing. It's his ex who's your problem," Gretta replied.
"My problem? It's his problem. Rogers better shut that 828 freak up, or he's the one who goes down," Nick warned," as Emma stopped the tape from her tap and looked at Graham, who definitely seemed shocked.
"They go on and on, but there's your proof," Emma said.
"Definitely incriminating. None of it's admissible. I don't have to tell you that an illegal tap is a felony" Graham said, as Emma produced her warrant.
"Surveillance warrant, courtesy of Judge Trilling," Emma replied.
"We've got Rogers, Captain," Ruby said.
"He's the leak who blew the Xer bust. And he copied Nolan's files and gave them to God knows who," she added.
"This is a serious accusation," Graham stated.
"I know you think it's always too personal between me and Rogers, but that's the problem...he made it personal," Emma replied.
"I'll take it from here," he said shortly.
"There's stuff in the air. I can feel it in my throat," Olive mentioned.
"It's ash. The nightclub's just a few blocks away. I bet this path is leading right towards it," David said, as the chanting suddenly stopped.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. It went away," he said.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"No, I'm positive," he replied.
"It...just all of a sudden, it just…" he stammered, as they heard someone call out, very weakly.
"Hello? Help. Anybody? Anybody, please," a male voice called.
"TJ!" Olive screamed, as she started crawling toward a grate ahead.
"Olive! Here! I'm here! Olive!"
"TJ! TJ!" she called, as she kicked the grate out and climbed down into the cavern, with her father scrambling after her.
"TJ! TJ!" she cried.
"Help, please!" he called weakly.
"Oh, my God," she cried, as she looked at her father in awe and David looked at her with just as much awe.
"You're alive," she cried.
"Take it…take it easy," David warned.
"How is this happening?" Olive asked.
"We're gonna get you out of here," David promised.
A while later, after they had called 911 and rescued TJ, he was rushed to the hospital and they followed. They had taken him right away and now he was resting in a room. David had called Margaret, who was overjoyed that he was alive and now they were talking to the doctor.
"Six broken ribs. His punctured lung created severe internal bleeding, plus extreme dehydration. I doubt he would have made it another few hours. It's a miracle, really," the doctor explained.
"He's a lucky young man," she added.
"Thank you," David said, as the doctor left and they went into his room.
"Mom is calling everyone and then she's coming down here," David said, as he put his hand on her shoulder.
"I don't get it. How? Aunt Emma found my bracelet," Olive said.
"I have absolutely no idea," David replied.
"Isaiah," TJ said weakly.
"Shh. Shh. You need to get rest," Olive hushed.
"I pulled away from him, and he was holding onto the bracelet," TJ explained.
"Isaiah. It was Isaiah's body that they found," Olive said.
"TJ, how did you find your way underneath that building, with all that smoke?" David asked curiously.
"I-I couldn't see a thing. I heard...voices. Chanting," he explained. Olive smiled.
"You found your path to enlightenment," Olive said. David kissed her head and stepped out for a moment, as he saw Emma round the corner.
"Wow. Good news travels seriously fast," he said.
"MM called me and I heard it over the scanner. How?" she asked.
"How do you think?" he asked.
"That's one hell of a Calling," Emma replied.
"It's a...really long story," he said.
"Mom was right. All things do work together for good. TJ surviving, us following the Callings, it's... it's teaching us something," David said.
"When you figure out what that is, why don't you send me the Cliff Notes?" she asked. He snorted, as they saw Margaret come around the corner.
"David!" she called, as he rushed to her and kissed her soundly.
"You found him…you saved him…" she gushed.
"I'm just glad it was in time. We have a very happy daughter," he replied, as he held her tightly and Emma looked on fondly.
"My problem? It's his problem. Rogers better shut that 828 freak up, or he's the one who goes down,"
Graham stopped the tape and looked at Rogers.
"We've got a problem," he mentioned and Killian sighed deeply.
Emma arrived home, after a stop at the hospital. She dropped her keys and badge on the table, along with her holstered gun, as Neal greeted her.
"Hey," he said simply.
"Hey," she replied.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," she said and he raised an eyebrow.
"No. Not really," she answered.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Killian...betrayed me in a way that I can't even describe. There's no way to justify what he's done, but why do I feel like I deserve it?" she asked, as he hugged her.
"Cause you have a huge heart. I'm so glad I have you and that we can trust each other," Neal replied. She smiled and kissed him gently.
"Me too," she agreed.
"Emma, I gotta…" he started to say, but words seemed to fail him.
"What is it?" she asked, as he showed her instead of telling her by holding his hands up, which had bandages on his discolored fingers.
"Neal, what is this?" she asked.
"Frost bite. It's happening," he confessed.
"No. No, I can't lose you. I can't," she exclaimed.
"Regina thinks she can help. She may have a cure. I'm not giving up without a fight," he promised. She nodded.
"Neither will I," she said, as she hugged him again.
Cora Mills-Blanchard stood in the penthouse apartment where she was laying low. Normally, they would have found her by now, but her host wasn't exactly an ordinary person and had all the connections needed to hide someone.
"A beautiful view…isn't it?" Fiona asked.
"Quite," Cora replied, as she enjoyed a glass of wine.
"You don't really strike me as the military type, Major," she said, as Fiona poured herself another glass.
"People aren't always what they seem, though I'm under no allusions as to who you are, Ms. Mills," she replied.
"Then why am I here? And not in police custody?" Cora asked.
"Because we are embroiled in the biggest mystery of our lives, possibly of this century and there is one family at the center of it all," Fiona replied.
"If you want them destroyed like I do…then we have common ground," Cora said.
"They're too unique to destroy and may unlock this mystery," Fiona replied.
"I want Margaret Nolan's suffering…so what is it that you could possibly need from me?" Cora questioned.
"All in good time, but you can help me or go to jail. Your choice," Fiona said.
"If it means that little family knows no peace…then I'm in," Cora agreed.