They arrived at the town of Evansville that afternoon. Gretel sighed with relief as the buildings appeared before her. Her body was more than ready to give out on her; the only thing that had kept her going was the driving need to get Hansel some help.

"The healer's cottage is that one on the right, near the well." Joseph informed them, pointing out the small cozy hut of the man who they hoped could help their leader.

Gretel slid off of her horse and hurried to the door. She knocked forcefully and waited impatiently as she heard the occupant inside slowly making their way to the door. The wooden door swung open to reveal a small old man with piercing green eyes.

"Are you the healer?" Gretel asked hopefully.

The old man nodded, but did not speak.

"Please my brother needs help." Gretel whimpered.

The man nodded again and stepped out into the sunshine. Gretel sighed with relief and then felt her knees give way. She dropped to the ground before anyone could catch her and slipped mercifully into unconsciousness.

Gretel awoke much like she had when Ben had taken care of her. She became aware of a warm wet cloth being wiped gently across the cut on her cheek. The hand taking care of her was gentle but it stung like fire as the wound was cleaned. Gretel opened her eyes and found an old woman with a kind face staring down at her.

"My brother?" She whispered in a hoarse voice.

"Shhhh. It's alright child. My husband is looking after your brother. You just stay still and let me get you cleaned up." The old woman comforted softly.

Gretel looked around and found that she was in a bedroom of what she figured must be the healer's cottage. The room was small but cozy with dried flowers hanging in bunches across the window. The bed Gretel was lying in was stuffed with feathers and the quilt covering her was soft and warm. She noticed that she was no longer wearing her ruined bloody clothing, but was now dressed in a soft wool nightdress and it made her wonder how long she'd been unconscious.

"Is my brother going to be alright?" Gretel asked fearfully.

The old woman ran a hand through Gretel's hair. "I don't know but my husband is a good healer. He'll do everything he can to see your brother through this."

Gretel nodded and settled back down on the pillow a few treacherous tears escaped and ran down her cheeks, further stinging the cut marring her lovely face. The old woman used the cloth to wipe them away.

"What's your name child?" She asked quietly.

"Gretel."

"Gretel the witch hunter." The old woman said, not as a question, but with a knowing voice which told Gretel that she and her brother's fame was known even here in this tiny village. "So that must be Hansel who my husband is looking after." She continued.

Gretel nodded, her eyes once more filling with tears. Had she ever cried so much in her entire life? She must have cried in those days following the candy house. The horror of what had happened to them and the knowledge that their parents had abandoned them must have brought her to tears. Or the days months later when Hansel lay writhing with pain from some sickness she didn't understand, she must have cried then too. But she couldn't remember crying during those dark first days. She only remembered some unspoken certainty that no matter what Hansel would keep her safe.

But this time Hansel hadn't been able to save her. He'd tried so hard and yet that man, the things he'd done to her had been horrible. Much worse than any of the injuries any witch had ever given her. Gustav had made her feel helpless, he'd taken away all of the bravado she'd built up over the years of hunting and killing witches and Gretel wasn't sure if there was anything left of her without that. Who was she if not Gretel the Witch Hunter?

The old woman shushed her and ran a soft warm hand over Gretel's forehead smoothing back the tangled blood matted hair. "It wasn't a witch who did this to you was it?"

Gretel shook her head minutely and felt the tears begin to flow harder.

"Oh child." The old woman murmured and pulled Gretel to her, rocking the young woman gently as Gretel cried.

Her tears tapered off a few minutes later and she pulled away from the old woman with a hiccup and a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry I don't usually cry like this." Gretel whispered.

The woman smiled kindly and brushed the tears away from her cheeks. "I'm sure that whatever was done to you was more than enough to warrant a few tears." She whispered. "I've heated a tub of water, would you like to get cleaned up?" The old woman continued.

Gretel nodded gratefully and sat up in bed so that she could see a large copper tub sitting in one corner of the room, steam rising from within. The old woman rose slowly to her feet and turned to leave the room, giving Gretel some privacy.

"Wait!" Gretel called. "What's your name?"

The old woman smiled brightly. "My name is Elsa, my husband's name is Uther."

"I can't thank you enough for everything Elsa. I- I don't have much money right now, we didn't get paid for the last job, but I can give you everything I have." Gretel stammered uncomfortably.

Elsa waved a hand dismissively. "The stories of you and your brother have reached us even here in our tiny town. I'd say that you've both done enough good work to earn whatever help we can possibly give you. You're both welcome here for as long as you need to stay."

Gretel's eyes dropped to the ground; partially from embarrassment, but mostly from gratitude.

"Get yourself cleaned up and I'll go check on your brother." Elsa ordered and pointed towards the bathtub.

After the old woman had left the room Gretel dropped the nightgown on to the bed and stepped into the hot water. The hot water soothed the screaming aches in her muscles, but stung the various small cuts and scrapes scattered across her skin. She watched with a kind of numb fascination as the dried blood on her body liquefied and swirled into the water, turning the once clear water a rusty brown color.

She sat in the water until it began to turn cold, for the first time in over twenty-four hours her mind was blissfully blank. Gretel figured things would get bad again at some point, but for the moment her brain was able to think calmly and rationally.

Hurrying to get clean before the water became uncomfortably cold Gretel used the bar of soap which Elsa had left for her to scrub her body and hair. She cleaned for longer than was necessary, but she still felt dirty and violated.

A sudden quiet knocking on the door made Gretel startle and drop the bar of soap into the water.

"Gretel." Elsa called from the other side of the wooden door. "Your brother is beginning to wake up."

Gretel jumped out of the water instantly and hurriedly dried herself before pulling the wool nightgown over her head once again. She was out of the room in less than three minutes. She quickly scanned the small cottage taking in the small kitchen area where Ben and Joseph were seated at a wooden table. On the other side of the room was a small cot, which the healer obviously used for patients.

Hansel rested on the small bed, covered by a thin blanket. He obviously wasn't fully conscious yet but was starting to stir and mumble a little. Gretel hurried to his side; oblivious to anyone else in the room, her attention focused solely on her older brother. She took a seat on the straw stuffed mattress and picked up Hansel's hand giving it a tight squeeze.

"Hansel can you hear me? It's Gretel." She whispered. Just as Elsa had done for her earlier she gently ran her hand over Hansel's forehead.

"It will take him awhile before he is fully conscious. The Sugar Sickness can be very hard on the body." Uther the healer explained to Gretel. She simply nodded and continued to focus on her brother.

Hansel struggled for another twenty minutes before finally opening his eyes. He looked around in confusion; his gaze glazed and unfocused.

"Hansel, it's alright I'm right here." Gretel comforted as she leaned over her brother.

"Gretel? Where are we?" He rasped in a hoarse voice barely above a whisper.

"We're in the town on the other side of the woods from Aft. At the healer's home." Gretel explained.

Hansel's brow furrowed in confusion as his eyes continued to dart around the room. "Why's it so dark?" He mumbled.

This time it was Gretel's turn to look confused. True it wasn't overly bright in the cabin but there was plenty of sun shining through the windows.

"Hansel it's not dark in here." She explained quietly.

Hansel's eyes stopped scanning the room and attempted to look into his sister's. Her heart felt like it dropped in her chest when his gaze landed a few inches to the left of her eyes, so that he appeared to be looking over her shoulder.

"Gretel I can't see anything." He whispered his voice full of fear.

TBC…

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A/N- So sorry it's been so long since I've updated. Who knew having twins would be so time-consuming? Lol. Plus the lack of sleep has given me a serious case of writer's block, but I'm trying to power through. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter and I'll try to be faster with my updating in the future. Thanks again everyone for reading and reviewing.