"You should not have done that", David said, pacing in front of her.
"Why is that?" she asked, then grimaced slightly as the doctor stitched up the wound at the back of her head.
"Because look where that got you", the man in front of her responded, placing his hands on his hips in frustration.
"Look, it's not the first scar I've ever received", she responded with a shrug.
"Then why?" David asked and stepped closer. "Why did you do it? What made you push me aside? I do not even know who you are!"
She hesitated and looked down at her hands. That was the one question she could not answer. If the monkey's growing wing, which had been what had hit her, had moved towards Chris or Jade she would have known the answer at once; they were her friends and she protected her friends. That was simply who she was. David Nolan was something else. They did not know each other, they had hardly spoken by the town line when she, Toby and Filipi had appeared there and when they had met here at the hospital all she had done was explain to him why they had not stayed at Granny's. Hardly enough to build the kind of friendship that would make her want to take his place when it came to receiving an injury.
"I don't know", she sighed and looked up at him. His features softened somewhat and he nodded.
"Alright, well, it's been a confusing day for all of us", he said. At that Chris popped his head past the screen to her right.
"Is the reprimanding done?" he asked.
"Wouldn't it be better to ask if they're finished stitching up Rachel's head?" Jade asked, her head also appearing.
"Just about", the doctor answered. "The cut wasn't too deep; it should heal up nicely."
Rachel looked up at him with a smile.
"Thank you", she said and rose. This move caused also Hook to rise from a chair by the wall, but Robin remained seated, his eyes staring at something no one else could see.
"He needs to rest", a bald man, one of the Merry Men, said. "Losing John like this is hard on him."
"Agreed", David said. "Get him to Granny's, I'm sure there will be a place for him to rest there."
"We can take him", Chris offered. "I mean, we're staying there as well, so it wouldn't be any trouble."
"Good", David said with a nod. "Take the Merry Men with you as well; it's not safe for them out in the forest."
"But..." Robin said, blinking and looking up for the first time. "Roland. I have to get back to Roland."
"Who's Roland?" Rachel asked.
"My son", the outlaw answered and rose. "I'm sorry, but I have to get back to him."
"Robin, wait", David said, placing a hand on the man's shoulder as he turned to walk out of the room. "Let your men get your son. You are of no good use for him as you are now."
Robin was about to protest when the bald Merry Man spoke up.
"I will go and get him and the others, Robin. We will meet up at Granny's."
The outlaw's shoulders slumped in resignation and he allowed himself to be led out of the room by the doctor. Chris and Jade followed, along with the bald man, and Rachel moved to leave as well when David's hand landed on her shoulder.
"Not you."
"And why is that?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned towards him. "Do you need to lock me up somewhere?"
"No", the man answered, "but I want you to come with me and Hook to where I'm staying. We need to go over what has happened and figure out what to do next."
"You could have asked Chris or Jade to do that", Rachel pointed out. "Why me?"
David did not answer; instead a grinning Hook stepped up.
"Let's face it, love; you have made quite an impression on Prince Charming here."
"First; don't call me love", Rachel said, giving the pirate a sharp gaze. "Second; Prince Charming?"
"Yeah", David said and led the way out through the door. "That would be what people called me back in the Enchanted Forest."
"And the Enchanted Forest was basically the home of all fairytale characters living in this town?"
"Not quite", Hook answered, walking up next to her and allowing David to walk on ahead. "Now most might be from that realm but then there are some originating from other places, like Doctor Whale back there."
"Then where is he from?" Rachel asked.
"Some other place", Hook answered with a shrug. "I've never been there."
"Before he came here during the first curse his name was Victor Frankenstein", David filled in as they walked out through the doors of the hospital.
"Seriously, I just let Doctor Frankenstein stitch up my head?" Rachel asked with a frown while Hook opened the door to David's truck for her. "That will be something to tell the grandkids."
"You have grandkids?" David asked and gave her a slight frown as she jumped in next to him, ending up in her being lodged between him and Hook.
"No, I'm only twenty-six", Rachel huffed. "Why would you think I had grandkids?"
"Well, I do", David answered and fired up the engine.
"Don't ask, love", Hook said from her right. "This family-tree is a little more complicated than we all would like."
David parked the car outside a small brick apartment complex. Rachel doubted it hosted more than four apartments, maybe less.
"Rachel?"
The familiar voice caused her to turn and grin when she noticed the trio standing out on the porch; Indira, Wolfgang and Filipi.
"Hello guys. Are the three hours up already?"
"Not exactly, but we went here with the Sheriff after an event at the Town Hall", Filipi answered. "Why are you with those two?"
"Adventure at the hospital", Rachel responded while David and Hook walked past them into the building. "Apparently I was stitched up by Doctor Frankenstein himself."
"We just had a ride here with the Evil Queen", Wolfgang countered. "Though I think you beat that card by travelling with Captain Hook."
"If you want him you can have him; his flirting is getting on my nerves", Rachel groaned as she held the door open for her friends, letting them walk inside. At the top of the stairs they found a group of Storybrooke residents exiting Apartment 3. One of them, a woman with short, black hair, was heavily pregnant.
"Who are they?" she asked as the four newcomers made their way up.
"Non-fairytale characters who were somehow affected by the curse as well", Sheriff Emma Swan answered, then frowned as she spotted Rachel. "But you I don't remember driving here."
"No, she came with us", David answered. "We had an incident at the hospital."
"What kind of incident?" another dark-haired woman asked.
"We found Little John", David explained. "He was injured so we brought him to the hospital, but then he... changed."
"He turned into a flying monkey", Hook filled in. The pregnant woman looked startled.
"People are being turned into flying monkeys?" she hissed.
"Yes", the pirate responded.
"Do you think that's what happened to the missing dwarves too?" the woman asked, nervously twisting a ring she carried on her left hand.
"Dwarves?" Indira asked. "Does that make you Snow White?"
"Mary Margaret", the woman answered.
"It's plausible, at least we haven't found any trace of them", David said, answering the previous question.
"And Neal?" Emma asked.
"No sign of him either", David responded, shaking his head. "So it's possible."
Emma looked away.
"Wouldn't be the first flying monkey I've dated", she muttered. Mary Margaret's eyes widened in surprise.
"The person who escaped our trap disappeared in a cloud of green smoke", the dark-haired woman Rachel still did not have a name for said, sounding thoughtful, "and now there are flying monkeys in this town? I think we know exactly who cursed us."
"Who, the Wicked Witch of the West?" Emma asked, sounding sarcastic. The look the dark-haired woman did however make the sarcasm vanish from her face, being replaced by utter surprise.
"Seriously? She's real too?"
"Says the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming", Hook pointed out.
"Wait, she's your daughter?" Rachel said, looking at David.
"Yes."
"But you're the same age. How could she be your daughter?"
"I'm placing my bet on magic", Wolfgang said. "Anyone want to take the wager?"
"If I didn't know the answer I would take you up on that", Hook answered.
"I don't get it", Indira said. "The whole Oz-story is connected to Kansas; we're in Maine. Why would the Wicked Witch want to come to Storybrooke?"
"I don't know", the dark-haired woman responded. "I never met her."
"What if you did during this missing year?" Mary Margaret suggested.
"Even if I did I can't see how she could possibly know about the curse and of Storybrooke", the woman answered.
"There's a whole year missing from our minds?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, if we're affected by the same curse that's what we're facing; a year of missing memories", Filipi responded.
"So... could we have actually been in the Enchanted Forest as well during that year?" Rachel continued. "If we were there when this new curse was cast it would kind of explain why we were affected as well."
"So you think the vortex at Ollivander's brought us to their land?" Indira asked.
"And then the curse hit us there and brought us here", Wolfgang filled in. "Sounds possible."
"But if you were affected as well you should have shown up at the same time as the rest of us", David pointed out. "You didn't."
"There is a possible reason for that", the dark-haired woman said. "If they used a different kind of magic against the oncoming curse they might have stalled it, or forced it to fight their magic before it could affect them."
"What kind of magic would that be?" Mary Margaret asked. "Can we use it as well?"
The woman shook her head.
"I don't know."
She eyed the four younger humans with a dark, piercing gaze.
"Would our wands count?" Filipi eventually asked.
"What wands?" Emma questioned.
"Ollivander wands", Rachel responded.
"You mean wands from Harry Potter?" Emma asked, then looked around at the others. "Is that real too?"
"Not that we know of", Mary Margaret answered.
"Not quite", the dark-haired woman countered. "Those books aren't real, but Ollivander is. He's responsible for making the fairy wands."
"I thought fairies made their own wands", Mary Margaret said with a frown.
"No, they need a wand-maker for that. Ollivander was the one they usually hired for the job, but he sometimes made wands out of other materials than what the fairies used. If you obtained some of those wands you might have been able to fight back the curse."
"So we need our wands", Wolfgang said. "Brilliant. Now if we could just find them again."
So that's the batch for now! I'll post more chapters later on today :) Please read and review!