"You've been really quiet love, you alright?" Killian's voice pulled Nadri out of her thoughts as she sat at the desk that was covered in stacks of paperwork and files from David's absence down in the Underworld. David had popped out to grab the promised doughnuts from Emma's favourite shop in Storybrooke after he had shown Nadri around the station and left Killian in charge in case anyone decided to call the station if there was an emergency. She had just been trying to adjust to how…normal everything was. All these people had been plucked from the Enchanted Forest and thrown into a Dark Curse and this was the product of it and now they all lived in harmony together.
It was just a lot for Nadri to take in. The amount of people that were walking the streets, the hustle and bustle of the shops were heaving and Nadri trying to wrap her head around technology was something else especially when it came to the telephone ringing whilst David had gone out and gave Nadri an almighty fright.
"It's not…not because of last night is it?" Nadri looked up at Killian as he lowered his voice, his eyes were filled with worry as he sat on the edge of the desk next to Nadri lounging in the office chair that she turned side to side aimlessly in. "If I did something that made you uncomfortable in anyway…"
"Killy, last night was amazing. I promise you." Nadri shook her hair with a warm smile, her hand resting on his knee.
"Are you sure, Nadri?"
"Of course." The smile crept back up from behind his beard only from looking at her, she just radiated at him. But sometimes the sadness would just seep back in and Killian couldn't help but worry.
"I wouldn't have changed last night for anything in this world. I'm trying to get used to it all, I need to." Nadri reassured her lover, still smiling sweetly. "I feel a bit…lost?" Killian's smile towards Nadri faltered. She didn't want to hide away from the world after so long of being locked away in the dark but Nadri couldn't expect to not have been thrown in the deep end.
"Do you want to go back to the ship, darling?" He was quiet, Nadri tried her best for it to come across in a way that wouldn't offend Killian.
"I just don't want to feel afraid of this new world. I'm struggling to malvuld." Nadri huffed with a nervous laugh. "Maybe today can be a day where I don't have time to think about being so lost."
"I'd always get you to where you need to go, Nadri." Killian gave her a smile again, one hand on hers and gave it a tight squeeze. David entered the door of the station, his arms carrying two boxes of freshly made doughnuts with an excited smile. Nadri's eyes couldn't help but light up at the sight of the baked goods in front of her. David placed the boxes on a somewhat clear space of the table, Killian getting up and eyeing up the delicious food in front of him. "Two boxes?"
"I'm hungry." David shrugged, hands on hips with a grin. "And Nadri won't be able to get enough of them. You were down there long enough, you're telling me the first thing you wanted wasn't food?"
"Rum, mate. Always rum." Killian dryly responded as David lifted the box lid and showed the contents to Nadri. She looked down at the thick rings of fried dough, sweetly glazed as well as the powdery decorated oval shapes that were injected with a glistening strawberry goodness. "But a doughnut couldn't hurt I'sppose." Killian leaned forward and hooked a glazed ring, bringing it up to dangle it in front of his mouth. He took a large bite from the doughnut and moaned at the mouth-watering food. "I've missed that." Nadri gave a disgusted look at Killian talking with his mouth full and then she looked back down at the intimidating desserts in front of her.
Both men waited with anticipation at how Nadri would react to the food. She daringly picked up the oval shaped one, Killian continuing to chew through his doughnut to see how Nadri would respond to the burst of flavours.
"Wait." David spoke suddenly, holding his hand out as the doughnut was about to brush against Nadri's lips. "Are you allergic to strawberries?"
"No?" Nadri knitted her eyebrows, darting back down at the doughnut that was begging to be eaten.
"I just don't want to take you to hospital that's all." David defended and Killian slapped his hand on his forehead, shaking his head.
"Eat your doughnut, love." Killian rolled his eyes towards David who was scratching the back of his head sheepishly.
Nadri brought the doughnut up and hesitantly opened her mouth to bite into the dough. Her sparkling pearly whites sank down into the doughnut and a squirt of strawberry jam burst through the top of the doughnut and up Nadri's cheek. Nadri squealed, trying to chew the doughnut down as her fingers were covered in the powdery goodness, looking around for something to try and wipe her face. Her thick lips were coated in the sugary powder, eyes wide like saucers from the sudden drip of sweetness that fell on her face. David spluttered with trying not to laugh and Killian openly howled, his laughter shaking his body.
"I'm sorry, love but you should have seen your face!" Killian handed her the napkin, still howling away so hard that his body was shaking. She gave him a stern look as she took it from his hands and wiped her face to get all of the doughnuts remains from around her lips and tried to find the spatter of jam up her high cheekbone.
"I would have appreciated it more if the filling did not go to battle with me." Nadri spoke, picking up the doughnut again and analysing it suspiciously as if it was going to lash out at her again with its jam. She bit into it again, less messy this time, getting a chance to savour its sugary flavours. The dough was savoury and filling, enough to make Nadri know that wanted even more from it. The filling was sticky and sweet to the point that Nadri was sure it was stuck on her teeth. As much as she wanted to try and eat as many of them as she could, she didn't like the fact that her teeth were suffering for it. "Oh, now this is pruzah." Killian felt a shiver run through him at hearing the words, only his mind he could only remember her moaning them.
"See? Now-" A rippling earthquake began to wobble the ground, Nadri dropping the doughnut that was in her hand and back into the box that was also shaking with the table. David and Killian looked around and soon enough a booming sound of an explosion racketed through the town, almost ripping the glass out of the window panes. Nadri felt the intense power shake through her, it felt almost nostalgic like she had been around something so powerful before. The shaking of the room knocked all of the paperwork and folders straight from David's desk, a box of doughnuts slipping off the table with it and upturning over onto the paperwork causing the icing to squish across the paper.
"What the bloody hell was that?!" Killian shouted, storming over towards the window and investigating what was going on outside. He inspected the clock tower over in the middle of town, seeing that there was black smoke emitting from the top. "Something has happened at the clock tower."
"That was magic." Nadri deadpanned, getting up from the desk and brushing her hands off. "That was very powerful magic." She went to raise her hand to analyse the aura that had been left behind by the earthquake but sighed, dropping her hand down to her side, feeling useless.
"We need to get over there." David led the way, rushing as quickly as they could out of the Sheriff's station and into the car, making their way over to the clock tower that was still smoking away from the explosion that had hit the tower. From inside of the car, Nadri and Killian could see Emma, Regina and Zelena gathering around the clocktower and making their way inside. David beeped the horn, stopping them in their tracks and he parked the car nearby. They got out, meeting with the three women who had blind panic written over their faces, Regina immediately clapping eyes on Nadri and Killian and began to internally fume at the sight of them.
"Oh look who it is." Regina sarcastically spat, her dark eyes watching them closely. The couple approached them, Nadri feeling the pure hatred piercing through her from Regina's eyes. Killian kept his hand against Nadri's back, a silent reassurance that he was there for her. "Enjoy your nice night did you? Picnic with cheese and wine before going to bed together?" Heartbreak was sticky in Regina's throat, her eyes wet with sadness and anger. "You two get a happily ever after."
"Regina." Nadri spoke up first, trying to stop Regina from going on anymore. "I know that you are heartbroken and it is very weird to see us like this-"
"Don't you dare tell me how I'm meant to feel!" Regina growled animalistic, furious with Nadri. "You do not understand this at all! My heart was ripped out in front of me and crushed. I saw the love of my life die. You do not know what that's like!" Regina shouted in Nadri's face, Nadri standing small to Regina's tall height and pressed her lips together as she let Regina take her grief out on her.
"Believe me, sosin, I have been at the hands of Hades myself. I know what he is capable of and I am sorry for every soul that has encountered him."
"You know nothing."
"Look, we all need to calm down and find out what is going on up here. Can we shelf this for later?" David cut in, stepping in and putting an arm between the women, stopping Regina from digging at Nadri even more with her hissing and knife-edge words. Regina refused to step away at first until Zelena reached out for the woman dressed in her jet-black pantsuit, taking her hand to pull her away into the direction of the entrance of the clock tower. Emma went up to Nadri with an apologetic expression, it was clear that telling Regina about their arrival had gone completely tits up.
"You were more calm than I would have been." Emma said to them before they made their way in, making sure that Regina had gotten a head start so they didn't overhear the conversation. "I'm sorry, she just…she's not coping. She took it really badly."
"How else can we tell everyone we came back from the dead, love? Not exactly an easy topic." Killian chimed in.
"I think this would have happened regardless if we left it a night or a week. Human grief…it's strange." Nadri contributed as the group headed up the metal staircase and was met with Zelena and Regina looking around and inspecting the magical power that had been left by the explosion. They headed up to them, looking up at the burnt hole that Zelena was staring up at, the metal grate of the flooring had been completely melted through in one small section.
"It's Gold. He's got the Olympian crystal, or part of it, anyway." The red-headed witch dressed up in her emerald green petticoat looked over her shoulder at Emma and David who had joined their side. Nadri looked around, looking at the metal dust that had been left behind from the grate being disintegrated. Nadri looked up to Zelena with a raised eyebrow at hearing mention of the Olympian crystal and Rumpelstiltskin in the same sentence. Nadri couldn't begin to understand what had occurred since they had arrived topside but clearly Zelena had changed sides and had a hand in Hades defeat. She could see the flickers of grief that would occasionally wash through Zelena's eyes. Her magic might have been gone but she had spent a thousand years analysing the world in front of her.
"Did some of it survive?" Nadri questioned her, looking up at the hole that had been burned through the roof of the clock tower.
"The smallest shard would do this sort of damage. Gold used it to cast a tethering spell."
"Tethering spell? What was Gold attaching the crystal to?" Emma questioned Regina as she walked along the top floor, her hand in the air trying to feel the mystical energy that was lingering around. Killian glanced to Nadri and she shook her head, holding her hands up in defence.
"I'm powerless now, remember?" Nadri reminded them and the answer clicked. "You said the Dark Curse built this place, correct? It's Storybrooke's magic. He could gather all of the power in this town that makes it what it is." Nadri deducted and sighed with disbelief, rubbing her forehead. "He didn't have the power of the Dovah like he wanted to when we made the deal since I became human. He had to go a step further but why does he need more?"
"To wake Belle. True love's kiss didn't work because she doesn't want to be with him."
"Aye, and once the Crocodile wakes Belle, do you think he'll stop there? Do you think he'll just turn the bloody crystal and all of its power over to us? Doubt it." Killian chimed in after Emma. "We need to find him."