Chapter Forty-Nine: This Means War
"Wow." Neal whispered as he stood in the TARDIS control room for the first time his whole life. When he last saw the blue box, he imagined it was just as small on the inside as it was on the outside. Seeing how much bigger it was on the inside, he was amused to realize how wrong he was upon standing inside of it with Emma, Henry, David, Gold, Ruby, Jack, and the Doctor – all of whom there was enough room for in the alien spaceship/time machine.
Even Jack was impressed with the new interior design of the console room. "Nice to see the 'playhouse' look has been ditched."
The Doctor was shocked by Jack's statement. "Playhouse? The TARDIS never looked like a 'playhouse.'"
Emma smirked. "Actually, Doc…it kinda did."
The Doctor looked to be biting his tongue, trying to keep from telling his two biggest "critics" off while operating the TARDIS controls. Playful criticism aside, he was delighted of the fact that he, Emma, and Mary Margaret were finally back in Storybrooke. Unfortunately, the happy reunion was disrupted by the fact that Gold was dying and needed to be returned to his shop – where his magic was – before it was too late to save him. While everyone was in the control room, River had taken Mary Margaret elsewhere in the TARDIS to discuss something that involved their other matter with Cora and Regina – something that was undoubtedly going to be devastating to her.
Meanwhile, after Neal's fascination over the TARDIS, he finally found the courage to talk to the woman he had not seen for eleven years. "Hey, Emma."
Emma slowly turned to him, feeling a bit awkward speaking to him under such circumstances. "Hey yourself." Henry stood in between her and his father, looking on with interest.
There was a moment of silence between them until Neal managed to say, "I, uh, I guess there's a lot about myself I need to exp—"
"The Doc told me everything."
Neal seemed a bit relieved. "He…he did? And y-you're not upset?"
"Oh, no, I'm pretty pissed at you right now." Emma admitted. "But the only reason I'm not unleashing my fury upon you is because of your father's current condition…and because of Henry." She looked down at her son whilst acknowledging his presence. "Kid, I'm so sorry for lying to you. It's been tearing me apart since…"
"It's O.K., Emma." Henry said. "I'm just glad to have you back in Storybrooke."
Emma was touched from his words, which had taken a massive weight of guilt off her shoulders. Nearby, the Doctor looked in on their conversation and smiled, happy to see that he managed to reunite the mother and her son.
"John?"
He suddenly heard the voice of Ruby, who stood close by him at the controls. "Hello, Ruby," he said to the woman he had not seen for almost an eternity. Just as awkward as the reunion between Neal and Emma was, the one between the Doctor and Ruby was just as much so. The Doctor circled around the control console, not once looking at her, and she continued following him, sensing something wrong.
"I'm so glad to see you again," she affectionately said.
"Yes." The Doctor indifferently remarked.
Ruby frowned – something was definitely different about him. "Did you miss me, John?"
The Doctor did not respond; instead, he yanked on a lever from the controls that sent a slight tremor over the TARDIS and rattled everyone inside. Needless to say, the dying Gold was not very pleased with what happened. "Would it be too much trouble to keep this infernal machine steady?"
"Yes. Yes. Sorry. My bad." The Doctor said. "We've arrived in your shop."
"Then let me the hell out of here now." Gold furiously demanded, and he was immediately helped to his feet by David and Neal, who then brought him through the front doors. Emma, Henry, and Jack followed them out afterward, leaving only Ruby and the Doctor in the control room.
"John, we need to talk," she urgently told him.
"Yes, Ruby. You're right. We do need to talk." The Doctor said, finally looking at her. "But it'll have to wait. Just…let me talk care of things here. Wait for me, okay?" He then left her inside the TARDIS, moving out into the atmosphere of Gold's shop to follow the others into the back of the store. While Gold was placed onto a bed, the Doctor immediately went to work, giving out orders. "Alright. First thing's first. Henry, I need you to go back into the TARDIS where it's safe." He did as the Doctor instructed and departed from the back of the store. "Now, Emma, Gold has a large jar that looks empty but has some invisible chalk inside. Get it."
A baffled Emma left to search for the item. Meanwhile, Gold was startled to discover the Doctor's awareness of the magical object. "Just how do you know about that chalk, Doctor?"
Approaching Gold, the Doctor removed his sonic screwdriver from his coat and scanned Gold with it. "I know everything you have in this little shop of horrors, Gold. When magic returned to this town, the magic of everything in this shop did as well, which makes you just as much of a menace as Cora herself."
Gold slapped the hand that held the Doctor's whirring alien tool away from him. "You know nothing about Cora."
The Doctor glared. "No…but she does know about me."
Emma returned with the jar in her hands. Through the naked eye, it appeared empty; but, as Emma discovered upon reaching it and taking out the invisible chalk, appearances were deceiving. "Unbelievable! It really is invisible!"
"Yeeees!" The Doctor excitedly exclaimed. "Now use it in the front doorway to draw a line."
"What is an invisible line going to do?" Emma curiously inquired.
"Nothing until you cast a protection spell." The Doctor said.
Emma rapidly blinked in daunted disbelief. "I'm gonna do what?"
"I'll explain later." The Doctor assured. "Just draw the line at the front doorway."
Emma departed from the backroom once again. Meanwhile, David approached and asked, "Doctor, what do you want the rest of us to do?"
"Prepare yourselves." The Doctor instructed. "If Cora and Regina have Gold's dagger as we speak, they will be here within moments." His command was immediately carried out by David, Neal, and Jack. The three men left the backroom, while the Doctor continued standing by Gold.
"Acting like a true war general, aren't you?" Gold humorously questioned to the Time Lord.
"I've been through war before."
"Ah, yes. Back in the Enchanted Forest when you gallantly helped Snow White rescue Prince Charming. A failed rescue, I might add."
"No, Gold. I mean another war – one I was involved in long before I ever came to Storybrooke or the land it once was. The Last Great Time War."
Gold chuckled. "Sounds more ridiculous than the Ogre Wars."
The Doctor smirked. "All wars are ridiculous, Gold…even this one. But it's the experience that makes the ridiculousness worth it."
"I beg to differ, Doctor."
"Yeah, you would. You never did experience war like I had, because you ran from yours. In my journeys through your world, before my memory was wiped by Regina, I heard your story across many lands. The coward who broke his own leg just to escape the horrors of the Ogre Wars. Tell me, Gold…was that worth it?"
"SHUT UP!" Gold roared with fury. "Shut up, and leave me alone!"
The Doctor looked upon the dying man as he lied back in his bed, exhausted from anger and pain. The Time Lord then left the backroom, joining the others at the front of the store. Emma had finished drawing the invisible line at the doorway. "Alright. I guess it's done. Now what, Doc? I mean, I can't really cast a spell. I can spell 'spell.'"
"You can, Emma. The same way you were able to bring us and the TARDIS back to Storybrooke." The Doctor said.
"You mean by my emotions, right?" Emma queried.
"Yes." The Doctor affirmed. "You can do this, Emma. I trust you."
Emma nodded and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Within seconds, she felt the magic rushing through her, just like it had earlier within the TARDIS. In her mind's eye, she saw an invisible force field spreading from the front door to all sides of the shop's exterior. A cool breeze rushed past her lastly, and she reopened her eyes, smiling. The Doctor smiled as well, seeing her satisfaction over using magic. "Think I'm getting the hang of this," she said. "Thanks, Doc."
Just then, they heard the door to the TARDIS open. Turning to see who exited out of the blue box, they saw Mary Margaret. There was a look of depression on her face. Her eyes were very red, and her cheeks were wet from her own tears. She briskly walked past everyone, including David, who tried to talk to her but was quickly shunned by her as she headed into the backroom and joined Gold. Puzzled from her behavior, everyone looked to each other, wondering what happened.
River was soon spotted coming out of the TARDIS herself, and David did not hesitate in drilling her with questions. "River, what did you say to Mary Margaret?"
"I told her about Johanna." River said.
"You had no right to do that, especially not now of all times!" David bellowed.
"She needed to know, David!" River yelled back.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Emma shouted over them. "What the hell's going on?"
David calmed himself down to explain. "When we found Gold's dagger in the clock tower, Cora and Regina used Johanna as leverage in getting it from us. They knew how precious she was to Mary Margaret, who is precious to me, so we had to give the dagger to them in exchange for Johanna."
"But it was a fruitless effort." River said. "Cora killed Johanna…threw her out of the clock tower like she was nothing."
"Oh, my god." Emma uttered in shock.
The Doctor grimaced in anger on the news of the death that occurred in his absence. "No more killing will happen in this town today. Cora's wrath ends here."
Subsequent to the Time Lord's declaration, the group felt a large tremor come over the shop, almost knocking them to their feet. "It's them," deduced David. "Cora and Regina. They're here."