Chapter Fourteen: An Issue Of Trust
He went by the name Christian Stevens here.
Regina supposed that was as good a name as any, though it did feel a bit strange rolling off her tongue. But she had not seen the man in years, and calling him anything other than Uncle would probably have sounded odd to her.
Talking to him at all was odd.
She looked around the living room. It was a small room in a small house that was easily overlooked. The house itself was tucked back behind two large oak trees that blocked the view of the street. The yard was well kept, but plain, and the inside of the house was clean and cared-for, but nondescript.
It was the home of someone who did not want to be noticed, and she had just intruded on Christian's anonymity.
He did not invite her to sit.
She did not ask.
"When was the last time you saw my mother?" Regina questioned, tucking a few loose strands of hair behind one ear and studying him carefully, wondering if he would lie. But he would only lie if he actually had something to hide, and did he?
Christian considered her for a moment, his eyes meeting her steady gaze without flinching, and then he said, "A few days before your wedding. She came to gloat."
Her wedding to Leopold had been a triumph for her mother, for Leopold, for Snow... for everyone except Regina.
And Daniel.
But Cora's triumph had not lasted long, and she had never truly gained what she had wanted from Regina. All her bitter hatred of royalty, of Snow's mother, of her own husband's parents, of Leopold himself... what had that actually gotten her beyond banishment to another realm and a daughter who had tried to kill her? Cora had planned for so much more, and it was clear enough to Regina that now her mother was going to make good on all those plans.
Regina sighed, then pursed her lips and looked away, not wanting to dwell on those memories.
Christian said softly, "Before that visit, I don't believe I had seen her in years. After everything that had happened - after what she did to my father... I don't know why, but she never came to see me. I would have expected it of her. I would have thought she'd want to rub it in my face, want to point out all the ways I had failed..." He stopped, shaking his head and abruptly cutting off the words as a look of pain flickered across his features.
Regina was not the only one who didn't want to think about the past.
Regina sighed, frustrated, but she had expected as much. She had not come here believing that Christian had much of anything to offer her, but he was the only person in this town who would not dismiss her warnings about her mother, and she needed that. She needed someone who understood. Even if he could not help her win the upcoming confrontation, she at least wanted someone who wouldn't second guess her on this.
"And the last time you did talk to her… did she say anything that might be helpful for me to know?" Regina asked.
"Helpful?" Christian repeated, and Regina had the feeling he would have laughed outright at her if he'd had the nerve. "Were you hoping that she told me all about her future plans? And how would she have done that? She did not have the gift of foresight, Regina. I doubt she had any idea what you were going to do – to her or to the rest of us."
Regina gritted her teeth. She did not need to defend her actions to him.
They were both silent for a moment, then Christian sighed and said, "I assume she has something to do with the current unrest in this town?"
Regina inclined her head. "It seems likely, but I doubt anyone realizes it."
"I suppose," Christian agreed bitterly, dark eyes fixed on Regina. Then he asked, "But have you actually told anyone that she is here?"
"A few know," Regina said sharply, "but what does it matter if I tell them or not? No one will care. Those fools will underestimate her…" She trailed off and murmured quietly, more to herself than to Christian, "just like everyone always did."
Regina closed her eyes for a moment. If she was truly going to call the others fools, she reflected harshly, she would have to apply that term to herself as well. She'd underestimated her mother once before, and it had cost Daniel his life.
But now it was Henry's life on the line, and she would not make the same mistake twice.
"Perhaps," Christian said, "but I would not be so quick to dismiss the inhabitants of this town if I were you." Scorn trickled into his voice as he added pointedly, "Or do I need to remind you, your Majesty, that you've underestimated them before, too?"
Regina scowled. She did not want a reminder of her loss to Snow White.
Christian turned his back on her and stared out the window that overlooked the front yard. The sun had just begun to rise, and rays of light pierced the branches of the trees and scattered shadows across the lawn.
They were silent for a long moment.
"What do you want from me?" Christian asked finally.
Regina didn't answer. What she truly wanted was to be able to speak about her mother and know that the person listening would actually understand. But how could she admit that her motives for this visit were so weak, that all she wanted was for a few seconds to have someone agree with her? She had two enemies to rescue from another land, a comatose prince and a reckless son to protect, a powerful witch to deal with, and an entire town that wanted her dead. She didn't have time to waste seeking conversations that were meant to make her feel better.
And whether or not they were family, she couldn't trust him. She truly doubted he would help Cora with anything - not after what Cora had done to him - but that did not mean that he would be on her side, either. She had more enemies to worry about than just her mother, and she could not afford to show weakness to anyone she could not trust completely.
Which raised the question - who could she trust?
She let out a slow breath. She had spent two days trying to come up with a plan for dealing with her mother, and she had absolutely nothing.
"I was hoping that you…" She stopped, shook her head, started again, "You know my mother well. I was hoping you might know of a weakness of hers."
"A weakness?" the man scoffed. "Your mother doesn't have a weakness. She cares for no one. She loves nothing." He turned away from the window and eyed Regina thoughtfully. "Rest assured, she wants power. Complete, total, indestructible power. And she wants you. But your mother will delight in destroying this town simply so that she can watch it burn."
Regina pressed her lips into a thin line. "Don't talk to me as though I know nothing about my mother," she snapped.
"You don't know anything about your mother – you never did," he shot back, shaking his head at her as though she were still a child. "You love her because you still cling to this ridiculous notion that there is good in her, that there is some part of her that might love you in return. There isn't. Your mother is heartless in every sense of the word."
"My mother is not a soulless monster," Regina said coolly, wondering how this conversation had turned so that she was now defending the woman who was currently causing her so much trouble.
Christian actually dared to roll his eyes at her.
Annoyed, she said coolly, "She has a plan. She always has a plan. She doesn't just destroy things for fun."
"Doesn't she?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.
Regina felt her power thrumming in her veins. It would be so very easy to incinerate the man before her.
It would be wrong, of course. She couldn't kill him. She had to do better, be better.
She'd promised Henry.
"You say the rest of the town will underestimate Cora, and you are right about that," Christian pressed, "but I think you might be underestimating her as well."
As she walked towards her car, still seething at the complete uselessness of the conversation with Christian, she glanced up and down the street idly, scanning for threats. It was an automatic action, something she had adopted during her reign in the Enchanted Forest, and though she had given it up for the last twenty-nine years, now that the curse was broken, she had to be cautious again.
She slid into the driver's seat of her car and pulled out onto the street, still thinking.
She had not fail to notice the cold stares she received every time she passed someone on the street, nor was she unaware of the undercurrent of vengeance that seemed to have taken hold of the town. It was new, different – after the curse had broken, most people had skirted away from her, afraid of her magic, of her power. But these past few days they had openly glared at her, and she knew there were threats in their stares.
And there was something else. Tension and greed. She could feel those in the air as well as the makeup of the town shifted around her. Whatever little order David had maintained since the curse had broken was rapidly weakening, and chaos would soon reign.
How much of this was her mother's doing? And how much of it was simply inevitable given that she had forced several different kingdoms with very different cultures, laws, and histories into a single town?
The drive home took her by the town hall, and that was when she saw them. Two men guarding the entrance to the building, and though she did not recognize them she knew from the crests they had crudely sewn onto the backs of their coats that they belonged to Leah and Stefan.
She parked her car and got out.
They both caught sight of her at the same moment, an identical looks of apprehension flickered through their expressions before they pushed away their fear and stood taller, hands resting on the firearms at their waist.
She smiled disdainfully at them as she approached. "I didn't realize there was anything in town hall that needed such… stalwart… protection," she said, lips curling into a smirk.
"You are not allowed here," the first guard said.
She fixed him with an icy stare, but he refused to quail under her glare. He was brave, she supposed, and clearly loyal to his king and queen.
Of course, he was also incredibly foolish if he thought bravery was going to help him against her magic.
"By whose orders?" she asked, willing to play along for the moment. She would be civil enough - well, she would at least refrain from attacking them - and perhaps she could learn something useful.
"King Stefan," came the response.
"I didn't realize King Stefan was now the ruler of Storybrooke," Regina said, an eyebrow raised as she glanced between the two guards. "I must have missed that particular memo."
The guard drew his gun halfway from the holster.
Regina blinked, unimpressed.
"Is that supposed to scare me?" she asked in a dangerously quiet voice. "Do you really think you can draw your weapon before I use my magic on you?"
"We defeated you once, and we can do it again," the second guard snapped.
Regina chuckled lightly, amused by how quickly the people in this town were willing to co-opt history for their own purposes. But maybe that wasn't a trait unique to fairytale characters. Maybe everyone did it, maybe everyone rewrote history in their own minds to make themselves feel better.
"You didn't defeat me," she replied pointedly. "In fact, your entire kingdom had nothing to do with any of that."
The guard opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by another voice interrupting the conversation.
"Regina."
Regina glanced up at the red-haired woman stepping through the town hall doors and descending the steps towards her with a regal heir that very few monarchs actually managed.
"Leah," she mimicked.
Leah's eyes were hard, her gaze flat. She did not shy away from the magic she knew Regina possessed, nor did she cower behind her guards. She dismissed them with a wave of her hand, and they withdrew slowly, though not before muttering protests that she was needlessly putting herself at risk.
But Leah had never been one to back down from a fight, and sometimes that served her well. But sometimes it didn't.
Regina wondered which category this confrontation would fall into.
"What are you doing here?" Leah asked.
"It's a beautiful day," Regina replied glibly, allowing a smile to split her lips, revealing perfect white teeth. "I decided a stroll would be a pleasant way to spend the morning."
"It's winter in Maine," Leah replied coolly, not returning the smile. "Don't insult my intelligence with such blatant lies."
"Am I interrupting something, dear?" Regina questioned, eyes darting past Leah to the building. "A war council, perhaps? Have you taken my town hall as headquarters for your plans to kill me?"
Leah swiped a few curls out of her eyes and did not reply, instead merely stared at Regina impassively.
Regina had not spoken to the other queen in years, and did not know her well now, but she did have to admire her stubborn courage.
"You know," Regina commented dryly, "we weren't enemies once."
Leah pursed her lips. "You cursed all of us, Regina," she replied sardonically. "You separated me from my daughter. I rather think that negates whatever tentative truce we had before."
"I suppose it does," Regina agreed readily enough, "but I still think it is worth remembering that, once upon a time, you had no qualms about leaving me in peace. I destroyed lives, I killed people… but as long as I wasn't friendly with Maleficent, it didn't matter you."
"You did not destroy lives or kill people in my kingdom," Leah answered. "I had a responsibility to protect my people, and as long as they were safe, Stefan and I saw no reason for open war." She frowned, and added needlessly, "Open war causes more harm than good."
"If you only care about your own people, then why are you so invested in the murder of Moe French?" Regina shot back. "Neither he nor Miss Lucas were part of your kingdom, so you have no responsibility to protect or condemn either of them."
"Things are different now," Leah answered calmly, although a hint of color suffused her features. "Your curse saw to that."
"Did it? Or is it just that you want power, and are willing to take it by any means possible?" Regina countered.
A brittle smile formed on Leah's lips. "Not all of us are as greedy for power as you are, Regina," she replied softly. "I am merely trying to create order in this town before it all falls apart."
"Keep telling yourself that, dear," Regina answered patronizingly, "and one day you might actually believe it." Leah bristled, but Regina pressed on, "I suppose in the mean time, though, that you will have to consign yourself to persecuting wolves."
Leah rested her hands on her hips. "And I suppose you are going to tell me that Ruby Lucas is innocent," she questioned, "and that it is actually your mother who is behind this."
Regina started, not expecting this turn in the conversation. "How…?"
"I spoke to Miss Lucas this morning and she tried to convince me that she had been framed by your mother," Leah said dismissively, as though the entire idea was ludicrous.
"And you don't believe her?" Regina questioned carefully, not particularly surprised that Ruby would try such a ridiculously desperate strategy… or that Leah would refuse to believe it. She did not know Cora - had never met her. Anyone with common sense would have ignored Ruby's arguments, assuming them to be nothing more than frantic attempts at diverting blame.
Cora was clearly counting on that.
"Do you really expect me to believe that your mother came through a portal into Storybrooke and decided the best use of her time was killing Maurice and framing the wolf?" Leah scoffed. "Has she ever actually met either of them?"
"I doubt it was anything personal," Regina replied honestly, though her voice was laced with acerbic scorn. "My mother does not tend to care who she kills as long as she gets her way."
"Hmm… the apple truly does not fall far from the tree, does it?" Leah commented.
Regina looked away to collect her thoughts. She was not used to arguing with someone who could exchange quips so readily. Emma Swan had that ability, of course, but no one else in her life did, not even Ruby or the dwarves. And certainly not Mary Margaret or David.
"You should not underestimate her," Regina said after a moment, her tone serious. "My mother… Cora… she is dangerous."
"Don't tell me you are actually concerned about my wellbeing?" Leah mocked.
"Well, if anything were to happen to you, who would maintain order in this town?" Regina retorted in an equally sarcastic tone.
Leah's eyes narrowed. She was silent for a moment, then she said, "I expected something better. Something more… plausible. But instead you would have me believe that your mother – whom you apparently left behind when you cast the curse, although I have no idea how or why – snuck through a portal into Storybrooke with the express purpose of causing chaos and ruining all our lives?" She took a step forward. "How did this portal open?"
"She opened it," Regina drawled. "She does have magic, you know."
"I see… And you just happened to be standing there when she came through?" Leah asked disbelieving. "Quite the coincidence. Tell me, how did that family reunion go?"
"Gold and Miss Lucas were there as well," Regina said wearily, suddenly tired of the conversation.
"A murderous werewolf and the Dark One. That is quite an interesting choice of witnesses. They are so very… trustworthy," Leah said scathingly.
Regina shrugged. She would never be able to convince Leah that her mother was a threat and the most likely culprit behind Mr. French's death. Cora would slowly spread her poisonous influence throughout the town until she had destroyed all of it.
And at the moment, Regina was sorely tempted to just let her.
Leah turned to leave, then paused and glanced back over her shoulder. "Enjoy your freedom while you still have it, Regina. I assure you, it won't last long."
"Quite the brave speech from someone without magic," Regina countered.
Leah smiled coldly. "Who says I don't have magic on my side?" she asked, and Regina remembered the enchanted bars on the jail cell and the feeling of fairy magic there, and wondered.
Leah disappeared in town hall, and Regina remained on the sidewalk, thinking.
"Wait… so it's true?" Belle demanded in shock. "Everything Regina said is true?"
Gold frowned in response to the anger in her tone and replied with a hint of derision, "You should never believe a single word her Majesty says."
Belle took a step backwards. "Then why are you refusing to help free Ruby?" she questioned skeptically, angrily.
He sighed. "Belle, what makes you think I can? Fairy magic is powerful, and the Blue Fairy's magic is stronger than most."
Belle nearly laughed at that excuse, but bit back the action in the last moment and practically spat, "And you aren't more powerful? Is that what you are telling me?"
"I thought you didn't want me to use magic," Gold countered.
"And yet that hasn't stopped you from using it, has it?" Belle retorted sharply. "But now that I am actually asking you to use your power to help one of my friends and protect this town, you aren't willing?"
She brushed at her eyes, feeling the burning sting of unshed tears. His refusal to help shouldn't have surprised her – and it shouldn't have upset her this much. He had shown, more than once, that he was incapable of making the right choice, of even understanding that there was a right choice. With Regina and the wraith, then by lying to her about using magic, not to mention all the things he had done back in their old land...
He tried, she knew that. And she loved him for it, for the good inside of him, just as she loved him in spite of his failings. But her father had just died and her usual patience was wearing thin.
She looked away, still blinking back the tears. "If Cora is truly as powerful as you and Regina say, then you have to help fight her."
"Why?"
"Why?" Belle repeated softly, aghast that he could even ask such a question - though again, not really surprised. "Because it is the right thing to do. Because there is good in you, Rumple. I know it."
"I am doing the right thing."
She spun to face him. "By exchanging this entire town for my safety?" she asked softly. "Is that the deal you made with Cora?"
His expression was unreadable, then he replied, "It is a bit more complicated than that."
"How?"
He sighed. "I stay out of her plans, and in return she does not harm you and stays out of my plans."
"Your plans?" Belle questioned, brow furrowed as she pondered his response for a moment. Then her expression cleared, and she asked, "You mean your plans to find your son?" She received a single nod as her answer, and scowled. "You can't do that. You can't let everyone here suffer."
"You want me to break my deal with Cora?" Gold asked quietly. "You are willing to sacrifice your safety in order to help a woman who locked you away for over eighteen years?"
"I am willing to sacrifice my safety to do what is right," Belle countered. "Just like I did years ago when I agreed to go with you in exchange for the safety of my family and my father's people."
"That was different."
"No, it wasn't," Belle snapped. She shook her head, unwilling and unable to accept his explanation. Regina had used her as a pawn in the chess game she and Rumple seemed to be constantly playing, and Belle was not foolish enough to believe that she could trust the other woman. She would not let her guard down around Regina, not ever, because she did not want to end up locked away in a tower or a mental hospital again.
But this was about more than just Regina, and she could not in good conscience allow the entire town to be destroyed.
Besides…
"Cora killed my father, didn't she?" Belle murmured softly. "That's what Ruby and Regina think, anyway."
Gold said nothing.
"And you want me to just… forget about that? To let her get away with murder? With murdering my father?"
"Your father tried to send you over the town line!"
"And that gives Cora the right to kill him? That means his life doesn't matter? That means that I shouldn't care about what was done to him, that I shouldn't want justice?" Belle sighed. "I'm fighting her," she said, jerking her chin up and stubbornly meeting Gold's disapproving stare. "I am going to work with Regina and I am going to fight Cora and free Ruby. If you want to hide away like a coward…"
"I am no coward!" Gold seethed. "I am doing this to protect you."
"I don't need your protection," Belle shot back, "and I don't want it. Not when it comes at so high of a price."
"Charles? To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Stefan asked, rising to his feet as Charles entered the town hall.
Charles glanced around, taking in the scene. Stefan had installed himself in the mayor's office, a clear sign that he intended to run this town now that Regina had been removed. It was a bold move, and one that the other members of royalty would not be so quick to accept once they realized just how much power Stefan and Leah were gathering.
He pushed the thought away. He was not here to fight over who should be mayor.
"I wanted to speak to you about the trial of Ruby Lucas."
Stefan's lips flattened into a thin, disdainful line at the mention of the werewolf. "Yes, that is a ghastly business. Well, what about it concerns you?" he asked.
Stefan had not offered Charles a seat, but he seated himself opposite Stefan's desk anyway. Stefan might be the one seizing power in Storybrooke, but they were both still kings, and Charles had every right to act as an equal around the other man.
He said bluntly, "I would like to oversee the trial. When can you make arrangements to transfer the suspect into my custody?"
Stefan stared at him blankly, then murmured, "You would like to…"
"Sir Maurice was a noble in my land," Charles continued, pressing on smoothly so that Stefan would have little time to protest. "His murder is my concern."
"Of course you are concerned," Stefan said. "You would not be a good king if you weren't… But Leah and I have already started the planning."
"I appreciate that, and I would appreciate any assistance you can give me in the trial," Charles said. "I am sure that your Blue Guard has quite a bit of information that would be most helpful to me."
Stefan leaned back in his seat and regarded Charles thoughtfully, as though weighing his options. Then he said firmly, "I don't think it will work to transfer the defendant into your custody."
"Why not?" Charles demanded, not bothering to keep the irritation out of his voice.
"First of all, Ruby Lucas is best kept in her cell in the sheriff's station," Stefan replied. "There is magic on the door, magic that prevents Regina from freeing her."
"Well, that is easily solved," Charles answered with a shrug. "We can leave her there, and I will take the sheriff's office as my own."
"The Blue Guard is using it right now."
"I doubt they would mind moving somewhere else," Charles said in a clipped tone. "Or, if that is too much trouble, I am sure we can share the place. I won't need that much space."
Stefan clicked his tongue against his teeth and regarded Charles in uneasy silence.
"He's right, of course," Leah said as she deftly knotted her hair into a bun and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. "He has more of a right to try Miss Lucas than we do."
"So you think we should give him this trial?" Stefan asked skeptically as he pulled off his dress shirt and reached for sweats and a t-shirt.
Leah frowned and turned to face her husband. "I don't know," she replied. "I am… concerned."
"About?"
"Ella," Leah replied, crossing the room and sitting on the edge of the bed. She ran a hand down the fabric of her nightgown, smoothing out the wrinkles, and continued, "She was close to Snow. Too close to be impartial in this instance. What if she influences her father-in-law? What if she convinces him that he needs to find Miss Lucas innocent regardless of what the evidence says?"
"Do you think she will?" Stefan asked curiously.
"I think Snow's friends have a habit of doing whatever they think will make their dear princess most happy," Leah answered, her words bitter. "And we both know Snow would not want to see her precious werewolf imprisoned, regardless of the horror of the crime."
"If we refuse Charles…"
"I know," Leah muttered. She rubbed her eyes and sighed heavily. "I know. It won't end well, and the last thing we want is to jeopardize the safety and order of this town by turning to infighting. But we cannot allow Sir Maurice's murder to go unpunished. What kind of signal will that send to people? What precedent will it set? It is bad enough that we allow Regina and Rumpelstiltskin to wander about freely, but we don't have the power to stop them right now. Miss Lucas, though... we can at least get justice for Sir Maurice, so how can we take the risk of allowing Charles to try her?"
"So what do we do?"
"I don't know."
The pounding at the door woke Regina.
She had not been sleeping particularly soundly. Her subconscious seemed intent on tormenting her, and she saw her mother in every one of her dreams, watching over everything like a malevolent warden.
She jolted awake, the nightmares fading, and tried to get her bearings in the darkness of her bedroom.
The knocking continued.
She pushed back the covers, disentangling herself from the sheets, and hurried into the hall. Henry had emerged from his own room, wide-eyed and worried, and was standing at the top of the stairs.
"Henry, go wait in the guest bedroom with David," she said quickly.
He started to protest, but the look on her face silenced him, and he nodded slowly.
She barely had time to dwell on the fact that Henry was actually listening to her now, that ever since the revelation of his precious book's omission of Daniel he'd been starting to trust her. It was something she could think about some other time, a change that she could revel in later. Right now...
The knocking continued.
She rushed down the stairs, almost stumbling in her haste to get to the door. Her magic hummed in her veins, and she clenched her hands into fists, ready to attack if it was an enemy standing on the other side of her door.
Had her mother somehow gotten past the protection spell around the house?
But when she opened the door, it was just Granny standing there, looking strained and worried.
Regina let out a sigh of relief, and at the same time snapped, "It's the middle of the night. What could you possibly want?"
"There was a shipwreck at the harbor," Granny said quickly, her words tumbling out.
"A… shipwreck?" Regina repeated in disbelief, trying to wrap her sleepy brain around what Granny was saying. How could a ship have been wrecked in the harbor? Did they even have ships to be wrecked?
"A portal appeared, and a destroyed ship sort of… fell up through it."
"Fell up?" Regina said, again bewildered.
"Yes! Would you stop echoing everything I say and just listen?" Granny hissed. "Leroy called to tell me all of this. He said the ship was destroyed – in pieces, really - and they pulled a man from the wreckage."
Everything came together in startling clarity. There was only one possible explanation for the bizarre event, only one way this made any sense.
"Leroy thought that maybe Cora was bringing more people here, an army to attack us. Does that seem like something she would do? Does she have the power to do it? You didn't open a portal, did you? That was the other possibility, but..."
Granny continued rambling, but Regina had tuned her out.
She had never bothered to debrief Ruby or Granny - or any of her supposed allies - on Hook. The fact that he had been with Cora in the Enchanted Forest was a fact only a few knew... Gold, David, Henry. He had never factored into her half-formed plans to reach Emma and Mary Margaret, and whatever energy she had wasted thinking about him... well, mostly she had been angry that he hadn't killed her mother as he promised he would. So the others didn't know how he was, wouldn't understand what the appearance of his ship meant.
She didn't even know what it meant. Was he still her mother's ally? Or would Cora's betrayal turn him away from her? Were Mary Margaret and Emma with him, or had he left them behind just as Cora had left him?
Why had Cora left him? Regina had not bothered to think much about that. She'd been far too preoccupied with her mother's presence to wonder about the pirate. But he had been in the Enchanted Forest, and now he might be here, and...
"When did this all happen?" she asked sharply, interrupting Granny.
"I came over here as soon as Leroy called," Granny replied, "and they'd only been at the harbor for a few minutes."
Regina felt a shiver of anticipation down her spine as she asked for confirmation of her suspicions, "The man they pulled from the wreckage… did he have a hook for a hand?"
Granny gaped. "How did you…?"
Regina ignored the question. Hook was here.
She needed to get to the docks now.
"Stay with Henry," she ordered tersely, then she disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
A/N: The last fourteen chapters essentially all took place over the course of three days. Now that those three days are over, time is going to move a bit faster in this story.