Oh my goodness... this story is just simply writing itself, my fingers just seem to be flying over the keys!
Will Regina get help?
You now me right?
It's NEVER gonna be that easy!
As always please review.
Regina stumbled her way forward, the light from the flashlight kept dipping out but now that she recognized the tunnels it was easier going. She moved forward with purpose although each step was torture on her already battered bare feet, why had she left her shoes behind?
"Is this what I'm reduced to?" she grumbled as she hobbled onwards "I am a Queen. Where has the respect gone? That damned imp will pay for this... when I am done with him he is going to wish he had never been born"
But in the next second she found herself hopping madly after having stubbed her toe for what felt like the millionth time, she growled low in her throat before suddenly screaming into the darkness.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU RUMPLESTITLSKIN... DO YOU HEAR ME?"
But of course he didn't hear her and she suddenly felt deflated as she realized that she probably still had to walk for about another fifteen minutes before she reached the elevator to the library and her feet hurt... a lot.
Pulling out her cell again she sighed in frustration when she still had no signal... is this what it was like for mere mortals on a day to day basis?
Life without magic was just so infuriating.
She gripped her cell tightly in her hand when a sudden thought hit her, she was heading back to town, what if Rumple had discovered the missing gem? He would be looking for her as soon as he realized that it was gone. Her eyes wandered about and when they settled on a large crack that ran from ceiling to floor she raised a brow and smirked, this would be perfect.
Pulling the gem out she quickly took a couple of snaps with her cell before jamming it into the small crevice then photographing that too along with the surrounding area to remind herself where it was hidden so that she could easily find it again when she returned with some back up.
She knew that she could easily brew a potion to stop Gold from digging about in her head for the gem's location so she needn't worry about that... she'd make sure that Hook drank some too, he knew where the other gem lay.
Hook, he still needed help!
She stuck her cell back into her pocket and now that she knew the gem was safe all she had to do was get to the library, she could call Swan from there and tell her that her Pirate needed her. Belle would hopefully still be there but Regina was NOT looking forward to being the one to once again break the young girl's heart... for some reason that Regina just could not fathom, Belle really did love the Dark One.
Regina often wondered if the girl would ever be free from the darkness, she seemed to be just as cursed as Rumple was, perpetually trying to turn the Dark One into a good person. It was a fools errand but Belle seemed to embrace it wholeheartedly... more fool her!
Perhaps it was like a drug to her, something that she couldn't give up, something that she needed... whatever it was Regina just didn't understand, the imp was simply too much trouble for anyone to take.
The Queen breathed out in relief as she finally reached the hidden doors to the elevator, she repeatedly thumped the button until the doors slid open and she was inside in seconds wanting to get to the library as quickly as possible... Her mind kept wandering back to Hook, he was in a bad way, she had to get him help.
The doors slid open and she was calling out for Belle before she'd even got out of the elevator.
"Belle? Belle are you here? I need to talk to you, I need your help"
She pulled her cell out and growled again when it showed that she still didn't have any reception, damn these old buildings and their thick walls.
"I think you'll find that you don't get a signal in here... most annoying don't you think?" Gold's sickly sweet voice ran down her spine
Regina opened her mouth to answer but Rumple's hand was up in the blink of an eye and she suddenly found herself frozen to the spot unable to move.
"You have been a bad girl" he sneered as he paced forward "You should have stayed where you were Regina but you just had to try and be the hero and once again you have failed quite spectacularly. When will you ever learn Dearie? Heroes are weak, they lack the ability to do WHATEVER is needed, they are governed by rules that quite frankly I find all too boring."
He paced around her, eyeing her from head to toe before continuing "Now, I just need you to hold still while I sort out that mind of yours, soon you won't even remember this conversation never mind that dirty Pirate that you left behind in that cave, he gave me the other jewel you know. I had fun getting it's location from him, he however did not. It took a little bit of persuasion if you know what I mean..."
Regina's mind was racing, Hook, she had to get him help but how? She tried to move but there was no way, she was stuck and in the next second she felt strange as Gold's magic hit her, she needed to scream but nothing would come out, she could feel it working it's way into her mind, pulling away at her memories, she pulled in a shuddering breath
…...then lurched awake at her desk in her office as her cell rang in her pocket.
"What the hell?" she groaned blinking widely sitting herself up with a wince as her neck protested having been cricked at an angle while she drooled over her desk.
She grabbed her phone and answered the call in a harsh whisper "Mayor Mills"
"Mom?! What's wrong?"
"Nothing Henry, I just fell asleep at my desk and my neck doesn't appreciate it" she chuckled "How are you doing? How's Killian?"
"I'm fine but I think Grandma could use you, I'm calling you from the washroom so she doesn't know. Mom and Grandpa left a while ago... they think that Killian, our Killian... Hook may still be alive and little Killian isn't doing so well."
"What? Are you serious?" she gasped sitting up straighter listening intently, Hook was alive?!
"Mom, we need you. I'm scared. Little Killian had a panic attack earlier that we think came from Hook, he was doing fine afterwards once Grandma calmed him down. We were all sitting on his bed and he was playing with Neal but then he was screaming in pain clutching at his chest... The nurse is running tests now, they think it was his heart but I think it was Killi... Hook's heart, what if Grandpa and Mom are too late? What if after all this time we were too late to save him?"
By the time her Son had finished his ramblings he was crying, she needed to be there for him... for Snow.
Could Hook really still be alive?
"Henry, I am coming. I will be there in ten minutes just be strong for your Grandma and for Killian too, that boy needs you to be strong for him."
"I will Mom just hurry, we need you too"
With that Regina ended the call pulling herself to her feet, she grabbed her purse and marched her way across the floor towards the door but she stopped with a gasp suddenly looking down at her feet in confusion.
"Where the hell are my shoes?!"
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Rumple smirked to himself as he pushed back through the shop door and made his way into the back room to find Belle still pouring over the book that she had brought in from the library.
"Have you found anything?" he asked putting down the take out bags he had in his hands, he had made the excuse that he was going to get them dinner so that they could study late when he had gone to the library. He had started to think that he was going to have to think of something else when Regina had failed to show up but that was all sorted now so he didn't have to worry.
All too soon he would be reuniting the gems and all his problems would finally be solved but he had waited centuries for that moment so he could wait another day, he could do that for Belle. He looked across at her and a genuine smile formed on his lips, she looked so happy sitting at the table with her nose buried in the book.
"Not yet, what took so long?" she glanced at him with a frown before looking back at the book
"Some catastrophe with a frozen lasagna or something, who knows." he gave a shrug and carried on pulling out the food.
They ate and chatted back and forth for a while, it was nice... this was what life would be like all the time before too much longer, he wasn't just doing this for himself, no this was for Belle too. Time passed quickly and when Belle's cell suddenly rang Rumple was surprised to note that it was nearly seven pm. He looked quickly back at Belle from the clock when she suddenly gasped.
"What? Yes, of course. I'll come and get him now"
It was Rumple's turn to frown now "Who was that?"
"It was Mary-Margaret, I'm going to go to the hospital and collect Neal, I said that I would keep him overnight. It seems that Killian isn't doing very well and Mary-Margaret doesn't want to leave him"
"Go" Rumple said standing quickly and gesturing towards the door "I'll lock up and meet you back at home"
She lent in quickly and kissed his cheek "I'll not be long, it's passed Neal's bedtime already. Can you make up the crib?"
"Of course" he replied rubbing her arm gently
She gave him a sweet smile before rushing from the room and seconds later he heard the bell chime above the door as she left. Rumple practically ran thorough to the front shop locking the door quickly before rushing back over to the counter to the book that he had been forced to abandon earlier. The minute his fingers hit the cover he felt the thrill of his plan run through his veins.
"At last" he breathed out pulling the gem from his vest pocket and holding it up "One more night is all we have to wait, tomorrow you will be reunited"
He smiled to himself as he thumbed back the pages to reveal the hollows but when his eyes fell on the empty spaces his brain refused to register what he was seeing... or wasn't seeing to be more precise.
The other gem was gone!
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Killian groaned and curled in on himself as he came too... God's he hurt, what had happened?
He peeked an eye open to look around himself and in the blink of an eye it all came back to him. The Cave, he was in the cave.
It had collapsed on their heads.
He was trying to move in an instant but the minute he flopped over onto his front he was in a world of pain, he gasped loudly as his vision faded and his hearing dipped. He needed to move, he needed to find them... they must still be under the rocks.
But why was he not?
He clearly remembered the rocks falling down on him, he had been trapped by his legs. He breathed into the sand heavily trying to sort out his muddled mind.
How had he got here?
Maybe one of the others had pulled him free?
"Swan?!" he croaked out, his throat was dry and his lips were cracked but he didn't care, he needed to make sure that everyone was alright. "David?"
He tried to move again focusing on getting himself over to the rock pile but he just couldn't do it, his stomach was doing somersaults now and he knew if he carried on he was going to be sick. He flopped back down with a grunt. He couldn't find the others, he would just have to hope that a search party would be arriving soon. He listened for a while and realized that the tide was receding again, surely someone had noticed that they hadn't returned and help would be here once they had access to the passageway again.
"You are pathetic"
Devin's voice suddenly burst into his head causing him to pull in a few steadying breaths before starting to recite his favorite song in his mind, he needed something to distract him from the voice threatening to take him somewhere he most definitely did not want to go.
Henry's voice broke through his thoughts "You can do it Killian, I believe in you"
Killian's eyes flew open as he suddenly remembered that the boy had been by his side when the cave fell in and before he knew it he was yelling again "HENRY... where are you Lad?"
Henry had been right there, the Lad had been in his grasp but somehow in all the chaos Killian had managed to lose him.
He was moving again this time more determined than ever to reach his goal, his heart thumped harshly in his chest as he dragged his body across the ground, it felt strange almost like it was beating twice as much as normal but he didn't have time to question it, he needed to find Henry.
Somewhere between the pool and the rock pile things went badly, his churning gut finally decided it was time to do something and he suddenly found himself vomiting into the sand, he must have passed out again because that was where he found himself sometime later when he came too next to a slightly wet patch of sand, he hadn't had any food left in his belly for which he couldn't help being thankful right now.
It was getting dark and as he lay there the temperature started to drop causing him to start shivering against the cool air. He closed his eyes again knowing that there was no point in keeping them open, he wouldn't be able to see anything soon anyway. He just lay listening to the distant sounds of the ocean that carried their way up the passage to where he was, his teeth were chattering now as his body convulsed against his wishes, every shiver sent waves of pain across his body and pulled at his sore ribs but he couldn't stop them and the longer he lay there the harder he shivered.
Just as he didn't think he could take anymore he suddenly heard something, or thought he had. He frowned deeply trying to pull his head up to listen harder and he heard it again, there was someone coming up the passage.
"Help" he tried to call out but his voice was small and didn't carry very far.
"HOOK" Swan's voice was like music to his ears, his heart lurched in his chest. She was alright.
"Swan" he croaked letting his head fall back into the sand
His shivers were getting worse but somehow he didn't seem to notice them anymore as suddenly there was the circular light from a flashlight dancing across the cave wall, she was coming.
"HOOK" David's voice suddenly joined in with Swan's, they had gotten out. Perhaps Henry had gotten out too, why had they left him behind?
But his questions were forgotten seconds later when Emma and David rushed around the corner, the flashlights were shone down on him and he squinted against the bright light trying to bring his hand up to shield his eyes.
"HOOK" Emma skidded to her knees by his side closely followed by David.
Other people were there too but he couldn't make them out, he only had eyes for his Swan.
"Henry?" he croaked giving a slight groan when someone pressed into his ribs
"He's fine" she smiled sweetly although her face wore a worried expression.
David spoke drawing his attention away "Which is more than can be said for you, you look like hell. Do you get off on this? " he chuckled.
"You would think" Killian tried to joke back but he ended up gasping in pain again when someone touched his leg, the pain was too much and he couldn't focus anymore. Someone was stroking his face but his vision was gone, his hearing was going to and when his leg was touched again he went out like a light.