15: Day Three: part three
Almost immediately after Rumple left Cora wanted to leave as well. She felt trapped and suffocated in this tiny cabin. She knew she was being hidden away, and if she didn't want her spell book back so badly she wouldn't have listened to a word Rumple said. But the only way to get it back was to listen. She didn't have time to start a war for the book and the wand, and besides, she'd be getting them both back by tonight if everything went according to plan with Jennifer. After all, she had to get back to her daughter in the Enchanted Forest. Cora had big plans for little Regina.
But the more she started thinking about Rumple getting angry with her about Mara, and the more she thought about him hiding her away the more curious she became. Was he hiding Cora from the town for the same reason he was hiding Mara's identity from her? Was Cora really a part of this town in the future? And who was Mara to her? Her curiosity was often something that got the best of her, and now there was no one here to hold her back. Gold probably wouldn't be back until they were ready for her at the town line so she had half an hour at least. That was definitely enough time to find out who Mara really was. So, as a final show of dominance over this place and these people she left the cabin with a simple wave of her hand.
As if Gold's flimsy protection spell could hold her in this cabin, please.
. . .
Jennifer was stubborn at the hospital. She wouldn't let a single nurse touch her. "Just let them draw blood!" Regina insisted ridiculously as Jennifer grabbed a tourniquet and a syringe. She was following Jennifer around the ER as she grabbed supplies. The woman had even "borrowed" a lab coat so no one would stop her. It looked very~her chest heaved as her eyes raked over Jennifer, the coat billowing out behind her~official.
"I don't trust them anymore. Do you know where they got their medical training? From a curse."
Jennifer's tone was final and harsh as she stuffed things into her coat pockets. Regina sighed up at the ceiling in the middle of a busy clinic. "Dr. Alexander." That caught Jennifer's attention because she glanced at Regina over her shoulder.
"Oh. Doctor Alexander? That's even more formal than Miss Alexander! Are you mad at me?" She asked, motioning Regina into an empty exam room. Regina grit her teeth as she strode in furiously.
"You're just making things rather difficult. There are plenty of capable nurses out there who know how to draw blood. I'd rather they tend to you than you do it yourself cowboy style." She gushed, folding her arms tightly over her chest, the button down wrinkling under her touch. Jennifer eyed her calmly, a ghost of a smile quirking at her lips. "What?" She snapped.
"Nothing. It's just...you can call me Jennifer, you know." She glanced at Regina, searching and curiously amused. A wave of heat spread up Regina's neck. Awkwardly, she swallowed and bit the inside of her cheek. That was...far too personal. And Jennifer was leaving soon. Why bother at this point?
"Do you need me to do anything?" Regina asked instead, ignoring the question in hopes that it would just go away~or that she wouldn't have to think about it, whichever came first.
"Just one thing. I need you to tie the tourniquet around my arm." Jennifer answered before quickly setting her supplies down on the counter, washing her hands, and slapping on a pair of gloves. Regina picked up the strip of blue rubber as Jennifer slipped off the lab coat she'd stolen and hopped up on the exam table. "Just above my elbow here. And don't be shy, I need it tight. Hold on lemme pull my hair back first." Regina watched as she gathered a full head of brown curls up and tied it tight with a black ponytail holder. She'd never seen anyone with hair like hers before, and Regina, well, she liked it~a lot in fact. Every time she looked at it she saw something else, a new curl, a new shade of brown, a new way it fell across her shoulder.
Regina focused on tying the rubber band around her arm instead.
She didn't want to tie it too tight, but Jennifer insisted. She didn't want to hurt her. But she didn't say that either. After she'd tied the tourniquet for the third time, Jennifer was finally satisfied. But Regina wasn't. "I've never drawn blood before, but is that syringe sanitary?"
"First of all, it's not a syringe. It's a hypodermic needle, and this is a vacutainer. It catches the blood. Secondly, we are in an emergency room, Regina. Everything you see is sanitary." She glanced up at her. "I hope you're not squeamish."
Considering all the horrific things Regina's done in her life, being squeamish was out of the question. The only thing she truly disliked was the mess...and possibly the idea of Jennifer getting hurt. "No." Regina responded distractedly. "No, of course not." She shook her head. In the silence that followed Jennifer eyed her with a sort of morbid curiosity but didn't say anything as she held the needle up to her arm. And Regina watched as blood flowed freely into the "vacutainer."
"Can I ask you something?" Jennifer didn't take her eyes off her arm.
"You already did." Regina droned, her stance guarded and her brow furrowed.
"Alright, thank you, Mayor Smart Ass. I just wanted to know...is everything in Henry's book true?"
"All of it." Regina confirmed. Jennifer hummed. There was a thick silence between them and Regina knew right then, her words so heavy in the air, what Jennifer was thinking. She could see it in the delicate way even the dust tiptoed around her. "I'm not...evil." Regina broke the silence with a soft confession, however bitter and small and angry the last note of it was. With a whispered sigh, she just barely glanced at Jennifer. "I just want my son back."
And Jennifer could feel all the hurt and anger and desperation in her tone. "I know."
"Miss Alexander~"
The silence grew as Regina choked on her words, blinking, struggling to...prove her worth. She didn't need to, not with her. Jennifer's heart clenched painfully. So she willed a joyful tone into her voice and parted her lips.
"Ah, back to Miss. I suppose I should just be glad it's not Doctor anymore." In response, Regina rolled her eyes, but the knots in her shoulders and the breath she'd been holding were gone. Jennifer smirked as she took the needle out of her arm and clenched her fist into her shoulder. Then she used medical tape to secure a cotton ball over the vein and looked to Regina.
"Ready?" Regina asked. Jennifer separated the needle from the vacutainer and stood up with a small vial of her blood. She heaved a sigh.
"Sure."
. . .
In the next half hour Regina and Jennifer rounded up the necessary people at the town line. Actually, they had just collected Miss Swan and Gold. Gold had collected Cora. He'd stowed her away somewhere when Belle came to the shop, Regina heard.
Collecting Emma was the most interesting. Jennifer had been relatively fine up until Regina mentioned that they had to inform Miss Swan. She'd swallowed and started rubbing her fingers again, back and forth, back and forth. As much as Regina could tell that Jennifer didn't want to deal with Emma right now, she agreed to come.
Emma's eyes had lit up hopefully when they appeared back in the garage, a cloud of purple smoke dissipating around them. "Jenny…"
"We have to talk. Emma." Jennifer cut her off with a firm voice and wavering eyes, trying to hold herself back or possibly together. "Just...later." And that was that.
. . .
It was getting dark now, and the forest was particularly cold and eerie. She could feel the magic being drained from her the closer she got to the town line. In places, the spell was already cracking and crumbling, exposing Storybrooke to a realm without magic, a dangerous realm that Storybrooke residents weren't equipped to navigate. An icy tendril of dread wrapped itself around her and squeezed. Doubts came spilling into her mind. What if Cora couldn't do this? What if Miss Alexander didn't believe enough? She tried to shake them off but the darkness of the forest held onto them for her. All she could do was tell herself that there was nothing further to be done at this point but watch and wait as if that was a comfort at all.
The air was cold and deep and empty. Cora stood closest to the town line with a protective bubble of space around her. Not even Gold got close enough to look over her shoulder. Old magic was new territory, and Cora was the master. And right now she held her spellbook in her hand, flipping through the broken words pensively.
Emma stood watching, the furthest back, her sheriff's eye scanning the crowd of evil sorcerers for any sign of wrongdoing. Gold and Regina were stoic pillars, apparently unaffected by the cold. And the only signs that they felt any trepidation at all were the identical creases in their brows and the soul deep frowns they wore. Jennifer, however, was the only one that seemed particularly lost. She shivered, out of her depth by miles and chilled to the bone in this damn night air. All she could do was hold the vial of blood and wait to be called upon.
"Blood, Jennifer." Cora demanded, hand out. She'd been trying to keep the vial cool in the night air. It was nowhere near medical standards, but Jennifer didn't think that quite mattered here. And after observing many a doctor perform many an operation, she knew that tone in her sleep. Urgent, calm, commanding. On instinct, she moved forward and set the vial in Cora's hand in one swift movement~calm, collected, eagerly obedient. "Scalpel." "Scalpel, doctor."
However, when Cora took her blood, opened the vial, and poured it all over the book, Gold flinched and lurched forward almost as if in physical pain. "Oh, hush, Rumple. I'm not ruining your precious book." She supplied, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. And she was right. Jennifer watched~in awe and horror~as the blood slid over the paper and formed words to fill in the blank spaces and missing sentences.
She couldn't read the words. It was a strange language, but it must have made sense to Cora because the next thing Jennifer knew she was casting the spell. She didn't know exactly what she'd been expecting but certainly not this. Light and sparks and this warm sort of...energy...shot from Cora's hands. Jennifer jumped and stumbled backwards. She lost her footing in the gray shadows of twilight and ran right back into Regina who let out a soft oomph. Her hair brushed Jennifer's cheek, and her thick perfume wafted forward to engulf her. There was a vice like grip on her arm as they steadied each other, and Regina's low, throaty laugh filled her ears as she turned around. "It's only magic, Miss Alexander."
Jennifer blushed and swallowed and nodded, a quick furrow in her brow. "Right, of course. How silly of me." She whispered back, hoping she sounded sarcastic, lighthearted. Regina fought a smirk, and Jennifer found herself blushing even more.
When she finally focused back on the magic, the light from Cora's hands was creating a bubble around all of Storybrooke. It reached high into the sky and spread back like pouring water over a glass table. Except it shimmered and glowed like nothing she'd ever seen in this world.
Wind shook the trees and howled through the branches and blew Cora's hair every which way. The words in the spellbook glowed and shined on Jennifer's cheeks. Then it was gone. Cora clenched her hands into fists and gasped for breath, stumbling back in her pant suit and heels. The lights in the words faded and everything was dark and still. The stars twinkled and an owl hooted and everyone at the town line was speechless.
Magic. That was...magic.
Regina was the first one at her mother's side to help her regain her balance. Rumple was staring at the town line critically, and Jennifer was gaping helplessly~wide eyed and open mouthed~at the empty road before her. Emma was the first to step forward. "So did it work?"
Regina's hands were tentatively ghosting over Cora's arm, but she never quite touched her. Cora took a deep breath before straightening up with the book. Her lashes fluttered; her lips parted like she'd just run a mile. "Yes." She gasped. "It worked. Your protection spell is fixed. It's stronger."
Rumple, Emma, and Regina collectively sighed in relief. Jennifer didn't quite know how to react to a situation like this. She was still in a sort of state of incredulity, frozen. Emma laughed a delirious, relieved sort of laugh, breaking the ear ringing silence. Her voice died in the acoustics of the forest around them, but it was still piercing in the emptiness. Seeing Jennifer's white face, her brow furrowed in concern though she was still smiling. "Hey, you okay? I know this is a lot to take in."
Jennifer nodded dumbly. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be okay."
"Alright, good. I…" She motioned behind her. "...have to go tell Mary Margaret and David." Jennifer nodded, blinking, not knowing what else to do. "I'm gonna go gather some people. Meet me at Granny's, alright?" Her voice was urgent and breathy, but she quickly sobered, looking at Jennifer over her lashes. "We'll talk. I promise."
As soon as Emma had left in her bright yellow beetle, Gold rounded up Cora. He exchanged a few hushed words with Regina before they were enveloped in a cloud of dark smoke. When it cleared they were gone.
This was all so normal for them.
Regina turned to her.
They were on opposite ends of the street. It was pitch black out now. The sun was set, the sky was clear and twinkling, crickets were chirping. Regina's car sat just a few yards down the road.
"Congratulations, Miss Alexander. You helped save Storybrooke." She paused, taking a few steps toward her. "Granted, you were also the one to jeopardize it in the first place."
"I still don't understand, though. I mean, how did I cause...this?"
"That's an excellent question that I don't have an answer to." She supplied honestly. She must have seen the guilt on Jennifer's face, however, because she quickly frowned. "I wouldn't dwell on it. For all we know it had nothing to do with you. It's all speculation."
Jennifer just sighed in response, scrubbing a hand down her face. "Speculation." She echoed distantly but then turned to face Regina with a shake of her head. "I can't believe I'm even speculating about magic in the first place. I mean I can see it, but it's still...magic!" Regina chuckled and nodded, watching as Jennifer stuck a hand in her hair. "It's surreal. It's...kinda like Cora being here, I guess." She suggested, dropping her hand as she looked to Regina who scoffed and shook her head.
"You don't know the half of it." She sighed, a tired smile in her eyes. Jennifer furrowed her brow but didn't prod. "Come on. You have a party to get to." She encouraged, ushering her towards her car.
"You're not going?"
"I don't think I'd be wanted." She admitted, trying desperately to hide the twinge of self-deprecation in her voice. Jennifer's frown deepened, keeping pace with Regina.
"I want you there."
They were on opposite sides of Regina's car now. As she opened the driver's side door she looked over at Jennifer, admittedly slightly stunned at the admission. "I want you there, Regina. You deserve it. Without your help I would not have believed in time."
Regina stood with her mouth open before pressing her lips together and shaking her head dismissively. "I'm not a party person."
"Regina." Jennifer sighed, sliding into the car after the mayor. "Please?" As Regina started the car, she glanced at Jennifer out of the corner of her eye. Regina did not want to go to this party. She didn't want to go to any social events in Storybrooke at the moment. But she might be able to stand it if Jennifer was there.
"Very well."
