Bane of His Existence
Chapter Two
After he had left Eloise in the park, Detective Rogers went to the hospital to check in on Lucy, Henry, and Jacinda. Unfortunately, there was still no change in the child's mysterious condition and both Henry and Jacinda were feeling depleted of any of their usual strength and courage. Rogers didn't stay long thinking they might prefer to remain alone. Besides, Roni was also there at the time, along with a slightly older woman with long flowing red hair whom he didn't recognize. Someone who appeared to be new in Hyperion Heights, yet close to the bar owner who had also grown close to those staying there in the hospital.
When the detective left, he returned to the precinct as he expected to so he could work long into the night like he usually did. Two days later, Rogers walked past Roni's again carrying a few case files at his side, then stopped in front of the window upon seeing that the bar was open and walked inside, only he didn't see Roni behind the bar or anywhere else like he expected. Instead, the stranger to him whom he had seen with Roni the other day was there looking after the place for her.
Rogers walked in, then took a seat at one of the back corner tables where he, Roni, and Henry spent much of their time working together on trying to take down Victoria Belfrey and anyone else who worked against them in their efforts to bring peace back into the town. He laid the files down on the table and began to carefully read through them until the red haired woman walked over and stood above him, then cleared her throat before she started to speak.
"So… you must be Detective Rogers," she stated with a wide smile as she extended her hand to him by way of encouraging him to talk with her. "I'm Zel… Kelly. My name is really Zelena, but then most people call me Kelly. Long story, but perhaps one to be saved for another time. Roni's told me about you. Said you're a good detective, a good man."
"Thank you, but I'm not exactly feeling too sure about that lately," he responded in frustration as he wearily rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose, then stared down at the single photo of an unknown woman within one of the files opened in front of him. "Sorry, I shouldn't let my frustrations out on you. Could I get a large coffee please? Just black. On second thought, if you could bring over a few creams, I'd appreciate it."
Zelena looked down at him strangely as she asked, "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer a glass of rum? You don't strike me as the kind of guy to drink plain, boring old coffee even with a little bit of cream. You appear to be off duty, aren't you?"
The detective nodded and then replied, "I don't drink anymore. Doing so has only brought me trouble. The coffee would be much appreciated."
"I'll be right back," the good witch answered, then walked away to get the man whom she had become close friends with on account of their daughters finding love before the curse had made them forget one another, what it was he had asked for.
Once she was gone, Rogers continued to shuffle through the papers of one of the others files until his thoughts wandered off as it's often done, making completing his work over the last several weeks almost impossible. At least he was able to concentrate on one thought, as his mind fell back to a conversation he had with Henry the day he had found and rescued Eloise.
"Hey," the writer uttered upon finding Detective Rogers sitting at one of the tables in the patio area, then walked over to stand above him. "Whatcha doing out here?"
Rogers spoke frustratingly saying, "Some work.I, uh, had to get out of the, uh, office for a while."
He looked up at Henry until he sat down as well and began to look over the strewn out paperwork on the table between them as the young man in his late twenties questioned, "Uh, is this the Eloise Gardener case?"
"Yeah, it is," the detective responded quietly, staring down at the papers while Henry kept his eyes on his friend. "I feel like I'm so close I can almost touch it. It's just, I can't put the pieces together to find her."
"Have you ever considered it's because she's… not around to find?" the younger man asked again with concern, knowing it wasn't something Rogers was ready yet to even consider.
As expected, Rogers immediately snapped back at him retorting, "Of course she bloody is."
Henry quickly felt ashamed for asking as such and replied, "Okay. Okay. But how do you know?"
"Ever since I started looking for this girl, I felt… I felt a connection," his friend then answered his friend while feeling more frustration rising up within him than before. "Like a bond. Look, if you spend enough time with a person, or even… or even the idea of a person, you get to know them. And, as crazy as it sounds, I feel like we're… family. If she were dead, I would know it."
"There's someone I have to see," the detective suddenly added as he stood up and gathered together the papers so he could leave.
Henry stood with him and responded, "Well, hey, how about I, uh… tag along with you?"
Rogers let out a heavy sigh, not feeling confident about having the man he had come to care about since they began working together helping him on the case that had become his own obsession, then the writer said again, "Come on. You shouldn't have to do this alone. Come on."
"All right," the detective replied when he finally relented and together they left the bar to see if they could find Tilly.
His thoughts were finally interrupted when he suddenly felt a gentle hand touch his shoulder, and Rogers found himself looking up into Roni's eyes he could tell were clearly looking down on him with concern. However, when Rogers became aware of his true surroundings again, Roni released his shoulder and then took a seat at the table across from him.
"You had me a little worried for a moment there when you didn't respond to me right away," Regina stated out of concern for him, while Rogers then noticed the coffee he had asked Zelena for sitting on the table in front of him. "I even called out your name a few times. A penny for your thoughts? What's with these old files? I take it you've gotten yourself involved in another cold case?"
"Aye… though not one of my own this time," the detective answered quietly as he stared down at one of the women within the pile of papers, whose face seemed to stare up at him from her picture. "I'm looking into some of the files the precinct has on a few more runaways who might not want to be found, or who went missing around the same time as Eloise. As a favor to her. She asked if I could help her find some of her friends. She's worried about them."
Regina looked at him once more with worry as she sternly responded, "I'm not so sure that's such a good idea, Rogers. I mean… you know how you felt ever since Eloise disappeared all those years ago. Looking for these other women, especially for her… Don't you see how this might not be a good thing? For you I mean."
She then reached out to lay her hand tenderly over his as she continued, "You ran yourself into the ground trying to find Eloise. It may have paid off, but I think she's trying to use the guilt you've been feeling over her abduction to get you to do her more favors. Believe me when I tell you that Goth… Eloise is not who she seems. She's dangerous, Rogers. And you're a good man who doesn't deserve to keep beating himself up over something that was never your fault in the first place."
"Wasn't it you who warned me the same thing about Weaver?" he asked snidely as he pulled his hand away upon feeling a bit uneasy by her touch even though something about it felt right. "Yet I've come to trust him because it turns out he isn't the villain we thought him to be."
"We all make bad judgement calls," Roni replied curtly. "I admit I too was wrong about Weaver, even if he is the most frustrating son of a bitch I've ever known. But I'm telling you, I'm not wrong about Eloise Gardener. She's poison to you, Rogers. The bane of your existence. If you continue to shake off these uneasy feelings you've found yourself having about her… Don't try to deny it. I can tell I'm right from the look in your eyes right now. …then I promise you, things will not work out in your favor. You will come to regret you didn't trust your instincts you have inside of you. They're there. Trust me, I've seen them. Just listen to your gut… and to your heart."
Rogers shook his head in frustration and then answered curtly, "The problem is… that I can't help but feel drawn to her. It isn't love because I feel as though she's more… family than she's a possible romantic partner. Not to mention that I'm not even looking for one right now in my life. My point is, I can't stop thinking about her and the more I try not to, the worse I feel. It is almost painful. I don't know how else to explain it. I'm obsessed with Eloise, even though I have finally found and saved her. I just can't understand why."
As Rogers opened up to her about all this, Regina began to realize that Gothel must have somehow written these feelings into his persona when he became cursed along with the rest of them in order to torment Hook, but she couldn't explain as such to Rogers so instead she facetiously responded, "It sounds like a curse to me."
The Queen looked again into Rogers' eyes for any hint of recognition as though her wording might have triggered something in the back of his mind with the hope that her words could help Hook to awaken without needing the potion Gothel had made for Drizella so the witch could wake her up and she in turn could awaken Zelena. Unfortunately, the look of defeat in his eyes told Regina that waking Hook was going to prove to be far more difficult.
"So it would seem," he replied sadly, as he looked down at the coffee he realized now he had unknowingly picked up with his prosthetic hand sometime in the middle of their conversation, then he cleared his throat to try to shake off the new uneasy feelings that fell over him since Roni sat down across from him and reached out to try to hold his hand. "But enough about all this. I should get going. I've got to go back on duty soon. I need to start heading back to the precinct."
"What you really need is to catch up on sleep," Roni retorted. "You look like hell. Have you been sleeping at all?"
Rogers stood up from the table to leave as he laid down a few bills to pay for the coffee despite her effort to keep him from paying with a wave of her hand, then he answered, "I'll sleep when there's nothing more for me to do… I guess. But I can do my best to try to help these women too, as I did for Eloise. I was lucky with her. I fear I might not be so with the rest of the runaways she asked me to find for her. Thank you for listening, Roni. Good night."
With that said, Detective Rogers turned away from her and left the bar, as Zelena walked up from behind her sister and then upon having listened to most of the conversation between them, she spoke up saying, "I hope you realize that Gothel has enlisted Rogers to help her by finding the rest of the women from her witch coven and not some innocent runaways."
"Why do you think I was so adamant with him about not helping her?" Regina curtly responded while she picked up the cup the detective had left behind without barely having taken a sip of the now cold coffee inside it, then collected his money as well.
"Maybe that's true, but we both know there's more to you objecting to him helping 'Eloise' so much," Regina's sister replied, then pulled her around so she was facing her. "You care about him, Regina. And while he may not remember all that happened between the two of you years ago, you do. It's killing you to not be able to tell him you love him. And you're scared for him."
Regina glared at her sister again and then retorted, "I was only on the verge of falling in love with him, Zelena. Until I told him we wouldn't work. This whole curse is killing me. Hook isn't the only one whose life is at stake here. Everyone's lives are, especially Henry's and Lucy's. And it's my fault we're all in this situation. If I didn't cast the curse…"
"If you hadn't have cast it, Henry would have died that night," the good witch finished for her before she could continue to put herself down. "And at least here, Hook can be with his daughter even though they don't know they're father and daughter. As terrible as this whole situation here is, there are good things about it too. Even if they are only temporary. Don't worry, sis. We'll find a way to save Lucy very soon and in turn Henry too. We'll also find a way to cure Hook so he can be with Alice again. Remember… you were so close in doing so once before."
"How can I forget," the Queen answered despondently. "We need to come up with a way to convince Rogers just how dangerous Gothel is, or we need to get her to stay away from him. Or our third choice is to wake him… somehow."
