During the next few weeks, Jefferson tried to ask Elizabeth about that evening, yet every time he had tried to broach the subject, Elizabeth acted as if she hadn't heard him: though that soon became the least of Jefferson's concerns. The only changes that had taken place amongst their schedule of travelling the realms and stealing were down to Elizabeth herself, much to Jefferson's incomprehension.
Her mood shifts were startlingly subtle: one moment Elizabeth would be laughing at a joke he'd made, the next, she'd be reprimanding him from something as simple as forgetting to the washing up, then hours later she'd apologise and blame it on being tired.
But to Jefferson, tired was an understatement. Elizabeth seemed to be almost permanently exhausted, though she did her best to hide it from him. Even after a long day's work, Elizabeth insisted that they traversed the realms during their time off.
Despite his concerns, Elizabeth insisted that she was fine, fixing a smile on her face that didn't quite hide the dark circles around her eyes. But her veneer was fading by the day, and late at night, whilst Elizabeth slept soundly, Jefferson lay awake, gazing up into the darkness. More than anything, he wished that Elizabeth would tell him the truth. He didn't know how much longer he could pretend to swallow her lies, to pretend to ignore how ill she appeared.
Having returned from Narnia after another day's theft, Jefferson had anticipated that they could take a well-deserved afternoon off, though when they returned to Rumplestiltskin's castle, the imp sprung a surprise on them: a visit to the trolls for what Rumplestiltskin vaguely informed them was 'something important.'
"Something important: it could be anything," Jefferson muttered, scowling as they climbed the rocky pathway to the trolls' bridge.
He wasn't impressed with the additional request from the imp, or that Elizabeth had averred on coming with him, despite seeming worse than ever, far too pale and strained to be trekking through the forest to the troll bridge.
"Remember that time he got us to pluck a feather off that golden goose?" Elizabeth replied from behind him, "Goodness knows what he wanted with that."
"I think it's for people to use when they sign deals," Jefferson said.
Having reached the bridge, Jefferson looked back over his shoulder at Elizabeth. She seemed to waver in the wind that breathed the promise of autumn, her arms crossed to keep out the cool chill that rippled across the bridge.
"Elizabeth, you really shouldn't be here. Whatever it is Rumplestiltskin wants, I can get it myself. You can go home through the hat, have something warm to drink-"
"No. I'm staying. I'm fine, really," Elizabeth said unconvincingly, "but let's just hurry up and deal with these trolls- this place smells foul."
As if to prove her point, the stench of decaying fish and rotten wood wafted towards them. Elizabeth recoiled slightly and swallowed hard to stop herself from gagging. She looked as though she was struggling to keep what little she ate for breakfast down. Jefferson nodded in agreement and hurriedly pulled out a few glistening coins from his satchel before throwing them down onto the bridge.
Within moments a grisly hand emerged from beneath the bridge, causing the ground beneath their feet to vibrate. Elizabeth tightly clutched the ropes that formed one side of the bridge, watching as the troll hauled itself up onto the bridge. Another wave of rotten fish gusted to them but Jefferson to a step forward and called out to the unsightly troll:
"I wish to trade."
"You want to trade? Most humans don't come here to trade, they seek passage…" the troll grunted, grinning to reveal a mouth filled with yellow, broken teeth the size of small boulders, crushed human bones lodged between them.
Elizabeth murmured something indistinguishable, but Jefferson continued impassively, turning his repulsed grimace into a similar grin.
"Perhaps I'm not exactly human- more, the dark one? " He bowed with a flourish, imitating Rumplestiltskin.
"Dark one?" The troll slowly repeated, staring hard at him, its colossal eyebrows knitted together as though it was thinking hard, "but…I've heard the dark one is old and scaled: like a crocodile."
"I have many personas," Jefferson said, impatiently rocking on his heels, "now, to business. I believe you owe me something?"
"A trade requires something from both parties. Give me the girl- then we'll talk."
"She's not for trading: she's to be my maid. However, this is what I will give you," Jefferson mentally cast an enchantment and upturned his satchel.
Masses of gold coins spilled out, raining down onto the bridge. Creaks echoed from beneath them, as though the cliffs were splitting, and from the shroud of mist more trolls began to appear.
"Give it to me," Jefferson snapped at the troll, who had been staring down at the mound of coins, "or do I have to destroy this bridge?"
Begrudgingly, the troll produced a leather pouch and tossed it across to Jefferson, who caught it. He was surprised by how light the pouch was, as though there was nothing in it at all.
"It's all there," the troll said hurriedly, noticing Jefferson suspiciously weighing the bag in his hand, before scooping up a colossal handful of gold, the outlines of its fellow trolls growing more visible.
"Excellent doing business with you, dearie," Jefferson paused as the rumble of trolls thundered beneath them.
The ground shook so violently that he lost his footing and stumbled, the hat falling from his head and landing on the wood. It began to enlarge and Jefferson cursed, the rippling gush of magic startling the troll.
"The dark one doesn't jump portals…" the troll murmured, its mouth gaping as it realised that it'd been deceived.
"Yes. You see, I may have lied about my name," Jefferson admitted, turning to find Elizabeth had vanished in the vapour of smoke and magic.
The troll gave an enraged roar, and for a moment Jefferson thought he briefly heard a retching sound, but before he could consider it any further, the troll swiped an arm the size of a castle tower at him. Jefferson ducked his heart rate quickening as he desperately searched through the haze for Elizabeth, whilst the hat grew larger and the troll angrier with each second.
Suddenly, something grabbed his arm, fingernails digging into him. Elizabeth grasped onto him, breathing shallow, rapid breaths. Jefferson lifted her am onto his shoulder, her limp body resting against him, and they jumped.
With a rough jolt, the whirl of magic faded away, tearing the pair apart. Jefferson was thrown onto the forest floor. His head spun as he gazed around the woods, trying to locate where they had landed. There was a rumble from behind them and Jefferson bolted upright, recalling what he'd stolen from the trolls. He grabbed the pouch from a pile of leaves, freezing as he heard the retching sound again.
Jefferson turned to see Elizabeth, bent double as she was sick, her hands gripping a tree trunk to support her. She straightened up before slumping against the tree, not seeing Jefferson. He moved over to her, placing both hands comfortingly around her shoulders. Elizabeth looked up, her glassy eyes meeting his. Before she could protest, Jefferson made a glass of water appear and handed it to her. The glass trembled in her hands and Elizabeth slowly brought the water to her dry lips.
"Are you alright?" Jefferson asked, his eyebrows raised in concern at her as he studied her pallid face.
Elizabeth remained silent, tears trickling down her face. Her quavering lips opened, and Jefferson hoped that Elizabeth would finally confess as to what was wrong with her.
"I…I'm fine," Elizabeth rasped, breathing heavily, "It was just the smell of the trolls, that's all."
"No, it's not all. You're ill; you can't deny it any longer. You've gone off half my meals; you're always tired, now you've been sick, twice I suspect. As soon as we've given this pouch to Rumplestiltskin, we're going straight to your brother."
Elizabeth choked out a mouthful of water, staring at him in horror, "No. I'm not ill; I don't need to see a doctor: especially not Victor."
"Yes, you are seeing a doctor, and it ought to be your brother, " Jefferson said firmly, his tone softening as he took hold of her hands, his fingertips covering her white knuckles, "I'm worried about you Elizabeth, and I'm sure Victor is too. You haven't seen him in over six weeks, though it may be longer for him."
"I do miss him," Elizabeth conceded. She gulped down more of the water, her head still bowed, gazing miserably at the floor.
"You know, I miss your brother and his disapproving glares too," Jefferson joked, and Elizabeth laughed weakly, "Come on, let's bring whatever is in this pouch back to Rumplestiltskin, before those trolls catch up with us. I don't think we're too far from the castle though."
Elizabeth nodded and hauled herself up, Jefferson's arm wrapped across her back. Inhaling deeply, she took a few shaking steps before relapsing, her knees buckling. Jefferson caught hold of her and kept his arm around her as they cut through the woods to the castle. There was a faint roar from direction of the troll bridge, and Jefferson quickened his pace. Elizabeth's breathing had steadied and she was no longer as shaky, matching his pace as they hurried through the woods. Eventually, Rumplestiltskin's castle came into view, and they hurried up the steps. Carefully retracting his arm from around Elizabeth, Jefferson pushed open the doors to the hall.
To his surprise, the dining table that had been there earlier had been replaced with a huge, gilded mirror, which Regina stood before, her hand gesturing to her oversized nose, Rumplestiltskin smirking by her side.
"I thought you said I could transform my whole face?"
"You need to focus," Rumplestiltskin tutted, "else it won't work. Try again, and reverse your nose."
Regina nodded grimly and turned her attention back to her reflection. Rumplestiltskin watched her for a moment, and then suddenly whirled around face to Jefferson and Elizabeth before striding over to them.
"You've got what I wanted from the trolls, I trust?"
"Indeed," Jefferson pulled out the pouch and handed it over to the imp, who undid the drawstring and peeked inside.
A satisfied grin crept across the imp's face, his eyes gleaming, "excellent, excellent. One moment, I shall go and put this in a safe place. Then you will be free to spend your afternoon as you wish."
Rumplestiltskin vanished through the doors to the potions room, and Regina turned from the mirror, her nose having returned to normal.
"You don't look well dear," she commented, and Jefferson frowned in confusion, realising that Regina was gazing at Elizabeth.
"I'm fine," Elizabeth said coolly, and Jefferson saw the look that quickly passed from one woman to the other, before Elizabeth sarcastically added, "but thank you for asking, your majesty."
Regina smiled cruelly, a malicious glint in her eyes, "you do look so pale- almost as though you'd just been sick?"
Jefferson glanced questioningly across at Elizabeth, who began to stutter a reply when the tapping of approaching footsteps sounded on the dusty floor. Rumplestiltskin re-entered the hall and called over to Regina, "I see you've sorted your nose. Now this time try to change your whole face."
Regina scowled, disappointed at not being able to taunt Elizabeth further and went back to studying her reflection. Shaking his head, Rumplestiltskin strode over to his spinning wheel and plucked a
spool of golden thread from the basket.
"Your earnings for the day," he said and handed the golden thread to Jefferson, "now, how did you manage to trade with the trolls?"
"I told them I was the dark one. Used an enchantment to create a small mountain of fake gold and gave that to them. I knew they wouldn't be able to resist, although when they realised I was portal jumper, they weren't too happy," Jefferson explained, missing out the events in the woods.
Rumplestiltskin gave a giggle and laughed darkly, "Oh, I wouldn't like to be a human straying near that bridge anytime soon."
Sensing the conversational tone to Rumplestiltskin's voice, Jefferson quickly cleared his throat, "Well, if we've done our business for the day, I suppose Elizabeth and I may leave?"
"Yes, yes, of course: off to visit dear doctor Frankenstein, are you not?" Rumplestiltskin asked and a pouch, bulging with gold, materialised on the table, which he then gave to Jefferson, "pass on these wages for me, and find out how his monster is going."
Ignoring Elizabeth's look of confusion, Jefferson pocketed the gold and tipped his hat to the imp, before taking her arm. She remained silent until they were back outside, letting go of his arm and demanding, "how did Rumplestiltskin know we're going to visit my brother?"
"He can see into the future," Jefferson said, "although as far as I'm aware, Regina can't see into the past. How did she know that you'd been sick?"
"I don't know!" Elizabeth said, a little too quickly, not quite meeting his eye, before hurriedly adding, "Well, aren't we going to go the land without colour then?"
"Yes," Jefferson snapped, setting the hat down and twisting it forcefully. 'Why does she have to lie?'
Once they had jumped and arrived in the hall of doors, Elizabeth blanched and Jefferson feared that she'd be sick again, his irritation towards her fading as she grasped his hand, exhaustion lining the creases on her forehead. Although Jefferson wondered if he should let Elizabeth rest and take her to the land without colour another day, he knew he had kept her from her brother for long enough, particularly in the state she was in.
He followed Elizabeth through the steel door, moving his hand to her back to support her: Elizabeth reminded him of the fragile china dolls he'd once seen in a far-off realm. One misjudged step, and Jefferson was almost convinced that Elizabeth would shatter. Pushing the door shut behind them, Jefferson looked out at the black and white land before them. Having spent six weeks in realms with colour, at first it was difficult for his eyes to adjust to the stark contrast of black and white.
"Jefferson!"
The sound of his name coincided precisely with his realisation of what would happen to Elizabeth and when Jefferson turned, he saw his suspicions were confirmed. The sky blue of Elizabeth's dress had darkened into black, along with her eyes and hair, whilst the little colour she regained in her cheeks vanished. Elizabeth had returned to being as colourless as when they'd first met.
"Everything seems different now," Elizabeth mused as she examined herself, "it's like I'm seeing this place through brand new eyes: I never even realised just how colourless life was here!"
"It's not completely black and white here- the red roses from Wonderland may still be growing."
"We can have a look once we get to the castle," Elizabeth said, her voice sounding brighter than it had done in weeks, despite being back to dull black and white, " I don't recognise this part of the woods, is the castle near here?"
"It's not too far from here, down this way," taking Elizabeth's hand, Jefferson carefully guided her through the woods.
He could still recall the spot where he'd been attacked by the Count and his men, and Jefferson gave an involuntary shudder as they skirted past the trees that he'd been pinned against. Jefferson kept Elizabeth close to him as they made their way through the woods, hoping that they wouldn't be ambushed by a vengeful pack of vampires; however they reached the path to the castle safely enough.
It wasn't until they were in the grounds of Frankenstein castle that Jefferson relaxed, his tension fading. Elizabeth was now on more familiar territory, and led Jefferson deeper into the garden until they reached her bench, empty and abandoned. Weeds had begun to creep around the edges, but Elizabeth's initial displeasure dissipated at the sight of the roses. As red as rubies, the large flowers dominated the wooden arch they entwined, with occasional snippets of their green stalk and pointed thorns.
"I've been looking after them for you: I knew if you returned this would be the first place you'd go to," a familiar voice called from behind them.
"Victor!" Elizabeth cried joyously, rushing over and embracing her brother.
"Honestly Elizabeth, for someone so small you can certainly crush people with a hug!" Victor said, smiling warmly at her as he stepped back and surveyed her, "I see you've realised that portal jumping isn't all it's cracked up to be."
"No, it's even better than I thought!" Elizabeth said, smiling broadly at him, "but travelling the realms does leave you rather homesick. Even Jefferson was missing this place."
"Jefferson's with you?" Victor asked sharply, looking past Elizabeth to see Jefferson, who had lingered back from the reunion.
"Victor," Jefferson curtly nodded, and glanced questioningly across at Elizabeth, "Actually we're also here because-"
"I've really missed you Victor," Elizabeth hastily continued, "my goodbye at the wedding was so rushed, I know there's still a lot that we need discuss."
"If you haven't got anywhere else to visiting, perhaps you could stay for dinner? Igor's doing your favourite Elizabeth- roast dinner."
"Yes, that sounds lovely," Elizabeth chirped, taking Victor's arm and leading him up to the castle before Jefferson had a chance to speak to him, enthusiastically questioning Victor on his experiments.
As Jefferson followed behind them, he attempted to make sense of Elizabeth's shift in mood before coming to the realisation that Elizabeth was determined to keep her being ill a secret from her brother too.
"And yet I couldn't have been more wrong," Elizabeth said, "thinking the fairies were going to be friendly. The second they realised one of the bags of fairy dust had gone, they turned as ferocious as those lost boys from Neverland, isn't that right Jefferson?"
Jefferson looked up from staring at the rather unappetising meal before him, snapping out of his thoughts. Elizabeth had been in the middle of yet another anecdote from their travels, and Jefferson had stopped listening, wondering whether the he was put off the dinner by the fact that it had been overcooked, or appeared bland as it was in black and white.
"Yes, they were rather fierce…" he said, looking over at Victor, hoping to catch his eye.
'Surely he can see that something isn't right with his own sister?'
Elizabeth laughed, before eating a blackened carrot. She swallowed hard, her brightness fading as panic flashed in her eyes.
"Excuse me for a moment," she announced, her voice quavering slightly, though Elizabeth gave them both a reassuring smile before hurrying from the dining room.
The second she was gone, Victor turned to Jefferson.
"What's wrong with Elizabeth? She's hardly herself," he snapped accusingly.
"I don't know- that's why I brought her here, so you could tell me!" Jefferson replied, goaded by Victor seeming to blame him, "I tried to tell you, but I don't think Elizabeth wants you to know."
"I did wonder why she was being so conversational: Elizabeth's never taken that much interest in my work, and she's barely eaten anything, yet Elizabeth's always had a huge appetite."
"To be fair, colourless food isn't really that appealing," Jefferson quipped and Victor sighed.
"Look, we're both concerned about Elizabeth, but you're the one who's been with her these past few weeks. I can't diagnose what's wrong with her unless you tell me what other symptoms she's been displaying."
"Well, she's been acting oddly for a while, but it was just little things: always being tired, mood swings, I didn't really think much of it. But recently, she's been getting worse, eating less, and she'd been sick twice today. We'd stolen from some trolls and she claimed it was the stench of them that had made her ill, but I wasn't convinced. I should have brought her to you sooner, but I thought it would just pass over…"
Victor nodded slowly, taking in the information, his mouth set grimly. For a moment they were both silent, Jefferson watching him, waiting for an answer.
"Has she been sick before?" He asked and Jefferson shook his head.
"Are you sure?" Victor pressed, the urgency in his voice making Jefferson reconsider his answer as he recalled the past few weeks.
"I haven't seen her be sick until today, but I think she has been sick before…about a fortnight ago, I did a chicken pie, she used to love that, but she didn't eat much of it, said the smell of chicken made her feel funny. Then the next day, she came out the bathroom looking rather pale, exactly like she did after she was sick earlier. But I think that was just food-poisoning, because after a day or two, she was alright."
"Oh, I think you've given her more than food poisoning," Victor muttered darkly, his knuckles clenched on the table, before he suddenly rose and stormed from the room.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jefferson called after him, following the doctor through the hallway and up the staircase. Victor didn't reply, rushing up the steps like a man possessed. They reached the landing and Victor suddenly whirled around, looking angrier than Jefferson had ever seen him.
"I think you know what I mean. You just won't admit it," he retorted, before going straight to the door diagonally opposite the staircase and trying the door handle.
Despite his force, the door didn't open. Victor furiously slammed his fist against the door, startling Jefferson from trying to make sense of Victor's implications.
"Elizabeth! Unlock this door now!" Victor yelled, thunderously pounding on the door. From behind the door came Elizabeth's voice.
"Go away Victor," She cried hoarsely, as though she was struggling to hold back tears, and Victor dropped his hand.
"Elizabeth, please unlock the door for me. I need to talk to you," he said, his voice breaking at the sound of her muffled sobs, "please, Elizabeth."
The click of the lock shifting echoed through the silent hallway, and Victor cautiously pressed against the door, which gently swung open. Through the gap Jefferson could see the edge of a bathtub, and the glistening white tiles along the wall. Victor stepped into the bathroom, blocking his view. Jefferson leant against the doorway, watching as Victor approached his sister, who was curled up on the floor in an almost foetal position, except that she was upright, her back pressed to the sink.
Elizabeth was so pale, it was as though her skin had become translucent, emphasised by her wide eyes, as dark as coal. Her whole body shook with each sob, and as Victor knelt down before her, she let out a whimper, weeping uncontrollably.
"Come here to gloat?" Elizabeth choked out, "to tell me that you were right…that you knew this would happen…"
"No, Elizabeth, of course I'm not," Victor said softly, reaching out to her, his arms wrapping around her, and he pulled Elizabeth into him.
Her head buried into his chest as she cried and Victor patted her back soothingly. Jefferson remained stood in the doorway, feeling rather removed from the scene, watching brother console sister. He couldn't bear to see her so broken, and vulnerable, yet Jefferson felt powerless to do anything. All he could do was watch as Victor comforted Elizabeth whilst she sobbed even harder.
Eventually, Elizabeth withdrew from him, her voice trembling as she suddenly burst,
"I don't know what to do Victor, I'm not ready, I can't-"
"Elizabeth, everything's going to be fine," Victor said calmly as Elizabeth's eyes searched his face for any suggestion that he was lying, "it's not your fault, okay?"
Victor turned and gave Jefferson a disgusted look, shaking his head.
"You can't blame him Victor," Elizabeth said, grabbing Victor's arm as if to forcefully tear his gaze from Jefferson's.
"I bloody well can when he leaves you," Victor muttered.
"I'm not going to leave her!" Jefferson snapped, finding his voice, starting towards Victor.
"Why do you think she's been trying to keep this from you? Because she knows you'll leave her!"
Jefferson looked past Victor to the ashen Elizabeth, who guilty nodded in agreement as she sat on the floor.
"Victor warned me, months ago, what you'd do if this happened, and then Regina too. She saw me being sick in Rumplestiltskin's garden, and she knew straight away why. She said that you wouldn't stay once you knew and that you'd never give up being a portal-jumper. It's crazy but I thought that if I didn't tell you, somehow, it'd go away…" Elizabeth trailed away, unable to speak as her body was convulsed by sobs.
"I, I don't understand," Jefferson said, stepping past Victor so that he stood over Elizabeth.
Wiping away her tears, Elizabeth rose precariously, though she was stable enough to stand, gazing up at him. Their eyes met, and everything around them blurred as he stared at her, and slowly his eyes trailed down to her deceivingly flat stomach, as the realisation jolted inside of him. Jefferson could see the rich, extravagant life that he'd built up for himself crashing down around him Elizabeth's dry lips uttered the fact that he'd been trying to deny for so long:
"I'm pregnant."
A/N: *cue dramatic music* So finally, what this story has been building up to! I'm just about to go holiday and I didn't want to risk not being able to upload. However, I won't update for the rest of this week, but as this chapter is the longest to date, it should keep you going!