Chapter Fifty-One: The Price of Magic

David awoke to a buzzing noise that he believed to have come from the mild head trauma he sustained while being hurled out of the shop by Regina. He was thankful to see, after regaining some focus in his vision, that it was just the Doctor attempting to reopen the locked front door. The futile attempts led to the Time Lord screaming at his alien tool. "You can't do wood, now you can't do magic! What good are you to me?"

David carefully sat up, trying to regain his bearings. "Cora locked us out?"

"It would appear that way." The Doctor confirmed, aiming the sonic screwdriver at the lock, trying several times to get it open, only for the sonic screwdriver to give a dull, negative buzz to signify that it could not do the deed.

"Maybe that's for the best." David said. "If Cora and Regina are still in there, it's a sure bet either one of them will be ready for us to come in, so they can have another shot." He reached into the right pocket of his jacket, pulling out his phone. "I'm going to call Emma. Hope she and Neal are still O.K. with River and Jack." He was about to dial in the number until he received on a prompt on the phone, suggesting a free, "unlimited" Wi-Fi network. The odd prompt could not have come at a worse time with their current situation. David instinctively accepted the offer and continued his original task of contacting his daughter.

London

"David Nolan. Not much information on this one. In fact, his exact location comes up as 'unknown' on the computer." Alexei alerted this information to Kizlet immediately as it came upon his computer screen. "We got a lock on him as soon as he accepted the advertisement on his phone."

"Is he located here in the city?" Kizlet questioned.

"No, ma'am. He's American." Alexei notified. "The computer traces the call directly from somewhere in Maine, although the precise location doesn't show up."

"Pull up the audio." Kizlet ordered. "Perhaps we can get more from his call."

Alexei did as he was ordered and typed on his keyboard, entering the command on the computer that brought up the audio. David's voice was instantly heard from the monitor's speakers. "Emma, are you safe?"

"For now. I got the spell up in the backroom."

"Is Mary Margaret okay?"

"She's not with you and the Doctor?"

"No. Where the hell is she?"

Kizlet's ears flared upon hearing one crucial bit of information from David Nolan's call. In a stern tone of voice, she instructed Alexei, "Keep tracing that call. Find out the exact location and alert me when you've found where David Nolan is."

"You don't want me to upload him, ma'am?"

"No. Not just yet."

Kizlet left Alexei's station and returned to her office, from where she activated a large, wall-mounted touchscreen to contact her client. Her face lit up from the bright screen as the face of her client came upon it. "Sir. The one you told me about. We've found him. We've found the Doctor."

Storybrooke

"If Mary Margaret's not in the shop with them, then where can she be?" David wondered aloud.

After struggling to open the front door for several minutes, the Doctor finally gave up trying and focused on David. "Think, David. Think like Mary Margaret. If you found out that someone you cared about – someone from your past, someone who represented the happiness of your childhood before it was torn away – was killed, what would be the first thing you do?"

David thought hard; his face eventually lit up with disturbing revelation. "I'd find a way to get my revenge." He then shook his head, refuting the idea that struck his mind. "But…no…Mary Margaret…she's not that…she's pure and…"

"She's not the same woman right now. She realizes how dangerous Cora is alive. She's finding a weakness of hers – anything to use to end her. And where is the one other place here in Storybrooke to use magic against Regina or her mother?"

Following on the Doctor's plausible claim, David finally realized exactly where his wife currently was in the town. Without saying another word, he ran away from the shop, leaving the Doctor to continue standing by the locked front door. As he gazed exhaustedly at it, he was soon reminded of the other entrance – the side entrance. He figured that it was the only door untouched by Cora's magic, or he at least hoped that it had not been. Quickly, he rushed to the side of the shop, coming upon the door and opening it with his sonic screwdriver. The Doctor rushed right in and was horrified by the sight that greeted him in…

On the floor, right in front of the Doctor, were piles of ashes and the World War II clothes of Jack Harkness. No, it can't be, he thought in horror as he went to the ashes and scanned them. The readings on his sonic screwdriver clarified what he feared – they were Jack's ashes. The Doctor's body grew tense. He did not think it could ever happen to Jack of all people. But it did happen. Cora managed to do the unthinkable – permanently end the life of Captain Jack Harkness…and she was nowhere to be seen in the room to admire her handiwork.

In his mourning of Jack, the Doctor heard the side door of the shop open and turned to find Regina rushing in with a small box in hand. She stopped as soon as she saw the Doctor in her way. The Doctor did not say a word to her; he only gazed at the box she carried on her way in. "You want it to be all over? You want to make peace? Well, here it is, Doctor." Regina said. "The one thing that will help bring my mother at ease…and get Henry back to me. I do this, and things will start getting better again. I'll get my life back."

The Doctor still did not say a word; he did not ask what was in the box, even though he had a good idea. He stepped aside, allowing Regina to rush past him and head to the backroom, where Cora possibly was, relishing over killing Rumplestiltskin and becoming the new Dark One. None of it seemed to have mattered to the Doctor, who was downhearted from the loss of his great friend. He was soon snapped out of his despair when he heard a woman coughing nearby. Checking the section of the shop where she had coughed from, he found River, shaken from her battle with Cora but otherwise unharmed.

Once she saw the Doctor before her, River softly smiled. "What took you so long, sweetie?" The seriousness on his face jogged her memory of the events that unfolded before she dropped into unconsciousness. "Oh, god! Cora!"

"It no longer matters now." The Doctor dejectedly said.

His words surprised her. "What do you mean? This isn't over. We can still stop…" She noticed how sad he was. It was not sadness from believing he lost to Cora. It was the same type of sadness he showed when he lost someone dear to him, just like Amy and Rory. "What is it, Doctor? What's wrong?"

The Doctor was speechless, which encouraged River to get to her feet and see the aftermath of the battle with Cora. It did in fact look like an intense battle was unleashed there in Gold's shop – many broken antiques, broken glass from the shattered counters, and some of the weapons used scattered across the floor. But it was the image of Jack's clothes with his remains covering them that horrified River.

"Jack." She whispered, too stunned to speak any louder. "What happened?"

It took every ounce of the Doctor to compose himself. "Cora. Cora is what happened."

River was flooded with rage. "That woman has taken too many lives. We have to finish her." She looked to the Doctor, who could not turn away from Jack's remains. "Did you hear me? We can't allow this woman to live any longer, Doctor. You can't reason with her. Especially not when she wants you dead."

The Doctor knew that River was right. What Cora had done to Jack was unforgiveable, and she needed to pay for it. However, there was always going to be a sense of ethics in him. In killing Cora, he would have also taken away the one bit of happiness Regina had left, thus returning her to the evil queen that she had become legend for. If Regina did in fact carry Cora's heart – which he deduced was in the box that she brought back with her – then perhaps there would be no need for revenge. He knew that letting her live a happy life with Regina would not bring Jack Harkness back, but neither would killing her.

"Mother!"

The cry came from the backroom, and it was from Regina. Shortly thereafter, David and Mary Margaret returned. Mary Margaret in particular looked panicked and guilty to the Doctor. On the verge of tears, she told him, "I'm sorry."

The Doctor eyed her suspiciously. "What did you do?"

She gave him no response, prompting him to dash to the backroom and find a scene just as worse as the one in the other room: Regina, on the floor, cradling her dead mother in her arms. Standing over them was a fully-healed Gold with his dagger back in his possession. River, David, and Mary Margaret followed the Doctor in. Hearing all of their footsteps, Regina looked up with reddened, furious eyes that were directed acutely at Mary Margaret.

"You did this."