Chapter 25
Episode - In The Name Of The Brother
"Mother?" said Regina with bewilderment. "How did you get here?"
"Crossing Realms is difficult." explained Cora. "But after Snow, Emma, and Hermione Granger stole the enchanted compass from me and went through the portal at Lake Nostos I managed to find an alternative way to cross realms."
"Mother, what are you doing here?" asked Regina.
"Truthfully?" asked Cora.
"Yes." said Regina.
"Plain and simple, I missed my daughter and I wanted to see her." said Cora.
"Well with all due respect mother, I don't want to see you." said Regina with emotion. "And there are plenty more people here in Storybrooke that don't want to see you either."
"Can I come in please?" asked Cora. "Please Regina, I want to talk. Can we talk please?"
Regina paused to think for a few moments.
"Fine."
At the Storybrooke Medical Hospital the wounded were being rushed in. The motorist was in critical condition, while Captain Hook would eventually make a full recovery but he would need to rest. Belle had reverted to her cursed-self, who apparently only had memories of being locked up in the asylum and apparently no cursed memories of that world. She had seen Mr. Gold do magic and apparently she was afraid of him now.
Dr. Whale was wallowing in a pool of self pity while reminiscing about how he ended up here to begin with. Dr. Whale was not from the Enchanted Forest. He was from another realm of story, similar to Earth, but more than a century behind in advancement. He was a medical doctor that was trying to find a way to resuscitate a corpse that under normal circumstances would have been beyond resuscitation. In his realm, he was known as Dr. Victor Frankenstein. It was an unfortunate coincidence that he happened to be in the Enchanted Forest on the day of the Dark Curse. He wanted to bring his brother Gearhart back from the dead, but for that he needed a magical heart. Initially he had one, but now he needed another one. He found a way to leave his world and travel to the Enchanted Forest in order to find one, unfortunately shortly after he arrived The Queen enacted the Dark Curse and he was brought to Storybrooke. He wanted another way to cross Realms back to the Enchanted Forest so that he could have another go at restoring his brother. That was also the shenanigans that he got into a couple of weeks back. He thought Regina knew how to get back to the Enchanted Forest and so he brought back her lover Daniel only with a monstrous result. The same result that happened to his brother on the first try. After the failure with Daniel though, he concluded that his science would never work.
When he got his memories back with the breaking of the curse and then remembered this world's version of his fairy tale story, he was rather amused and kind of insulted. In his world his science was meant to be a symbol of medical advancement and scientific progress. The original writings of novelist Mary Shelley was just meant to be a form of horrific amusement for its readers.
But science alone wasn't enough, which is what allowed him to get his arm back which Daniel had ripped off. Rumpelstiltskin had reattached it with a wave of his hand. Only after he admitted that he needed magic. Initially he believed that science was a power greater than Magic. But yet in order for his science to work he needed a 'Magical Heart'. Hypocritical.
He had no interest in returning to his world now. He had nothing to go back to. And now he was being paged to come to the ER.
Harry came into the Storybrooke Medical Hospital having lingered at the Town Line as he examined the Town Line more closely with his wand.
Mary Margaret, David, Ruby, Leroy, and his wife Astrid were all there.
Emma plugged the motorist's cell phone into a small computer hacking device to get through the phone's password. It turns out that the man's name is Greg Mandel. It showed a variety of phone numbers and text messages to friends and family as well as a variety of photographs of himself at Eastern Seaboard tourist locations and that he Tweets pictures of his food.
"Well," said Emma, "it looks like we've got ourselves here a regular ordinary American Joe…or…Greg."
"Well," said Ruby, "it seems that whatever has kept random people from stumbling into Storybrooke is now gone."
"Any random person can just come into town." said David. "Why does something tell me that that's a bad thing?"
"Have you ever seen ET?" said Leroy. "Or Splash? Or any other movie where they find something magical and study it to death?"
"I just stayed back to examine the Town Line." said Harry. "I determined that the protection spell, which was a modified version of an anti-muggle repellent spell, is gone. Which probably is what allowed this person to get inside."
"Now, obviously people have crossed the Town Line into town before. First Voldemort had crossed the Town Line into town on the first day of the curse, according to Regina, though I attributed that to that he was the original creator of the curse. Second, Regina left town, which I attributed to that she was the one who enacted the curse, and then brought Henry into the town, but that's probably because she was the one who enacted the curse and she personally brought him in. Third, was when Emma crossed the Town Line into town with Henry, though it was assumed that she could cross the Town Line into town because she was the savior, and that Henry could leave town because he was never initially under the curse. And the fourth person to cross the Town Line was…"
"August." Emma interrupted Harry in mid sentence. "He crossed the Town Line into town, though it was attributed to that he was a magical being from the Enchanted Forest and that the curse was also weakening."
"And Fifth," Harry continued, "was when me, Ron, and Hermione crossed the Town Line into town, but that was attributed to that we were not Muggles but that we were Wizards and that the curse was at its weakest Point, short of being broken completely. Once the curse was broken, several Muggles and wizards were able to come into town, but it was assumed that they were lead in by wizards."
"But now it seems that any muggle in the world can cross the Town Line into town without any restriction." said the fairy Nova, who was holding onto Leroy's arm.
Harry was wondering if it would be possible to 'muggle proof' the entire town line, but that would be a very wide area. The circumference of the Town Line was quite extensive in this remote secluded location of Maine.
"What do you think the people of this world will do with a werewolf, or a fairy, or dwarf?" said Leroy in concern.
"Oh, and his friends and family will probably come looking for him eventually." said Mary Margaret.
"Let's try not to overreact." said Emma.
"No," said David, "Leroy is right we don't need Outsiders here."
"Excuse me." said Harry as he pointed to himself indignantly at David's remark.
"Present company accepted of course." David quickly corrected himself. "And anyone that you invite in that you trust."
"Hook says he doesn't know where Cora is." said Emma. "And God knows what she's going to do, especially with other people coming here."
"And having to deal with this while Voldemort is around." said Harry.
Some X-rays and MRI were done of the injured motorist. Turns out his internal injuries were extensive, and he was dying.
"Mr. Gold." said Dr. Whale. "The injured motorist. You can help him. You can heal him with a wave of your hand. I know you don't do anything without getting a benefit from it in return but this is a simple little thing that would take you all of a second and it will cost you nothing."
Doctor Whale was trying to reason with the Dark One who never does anything for free that sometimes doing something for free doesn't cost you anything.
Rumpelstiltskin seemed to be in a bad mood and with the look on his face indicating that he didn't care.
"No!" said Mr. Gold in a mean derogatory tone of voice. "I don't owe you anything. I don't owe any of you anything. And some of you owe me. Oh, and the motorist, he saw me using Magic. So you had better hope that he dies or else he's going to be running tour buses up and down the streets of Storybrooke. So quite frankly I really am glad that I don't give a damn!"
He then walked away.
"Harry Potter." said Dr. Whale. "What about you? Can you heal this guy with your wand?"
"Unfortunately not." said Harry. "Healing is very careful and delicate Magic. And I am not a magical healer. I can heal minor cuts and scrapes. I can mend a broken bone with a great deal of difficulty and concentration, and most likely I would fail. If I tried to heal this guy not knowing what I'm doing I could just make his injuries worse."
"So it's up to you Dr. Whale." said Emma. "Perform the surgery."
Dr. Whale walked away.
It was then that Greg Mendel's cell phone began to ring. The ringtone was the Star Wars theme song. The caller ID simply said, 'Her'.
"Someone's looking for him." said Emma.
"And so it begins." said Leroy in an 'I told you so' manner.
After a little while they realized that Dr. Whale was missing.
Ruby followed his scent to try and find him.
"Where could he have gone?" asked Harry.
"Who knows?" said Mary Margaret. "Maybe he didn't even run. Maybe he was grabbed by Cora. Or Voldemort."
"Why would Cora or Voldemort want to kidnap Dr. Whale?" asked Emma.
"I don't know much about this Cora," said Harry, "but Voldemort, you'd be surprised on who he would capture for whatever reason."
"I'm not sure he was taken." said David. "He's been in a pretty rough place ever since he brought Regina's lover Daniel back to life."
"Wait a minute, what?" asked Mary Margaret in surprise and confusion. "What in the world happened while we were in the Enchanted Forest?"
"Dr. Whale brought Regina's lover Daniel back to life."
"What?" said Emma. "Like some kind of…Frankenstein?"
"Yeah, that's Whale." said Harry.
"What?" asked Emma in confusion.
"Dr. Whale is Dr. Frankenstein." said Harry.
"Okay," said Emma in disbelief, "I know that we have a lot of storybook characters around here, but Frankenstein?"
"Yeah, I was surprised as well." said David.
"Well, we need a surgeon to perform the surgery on this patient. And now he's missing."
"Any member of the Order of the Phoenix or Dumbledore's Army that can heal this guy?"
"No." said Hermione. "But I do know of another surgeon that can perform the surgery."
"Who?" asked Ron.
"He is the finest surgeon in all the realms." said Hermione. "It was during my fellowship at the Ministry of Magic in the Department of Mysteries. I learned that there were multiple Realms of story. And I happen to have something that can transport him here."
Hermione then held out what appeared to be a small green stone.
"With this, I can tap it with my wand and he will emerge to us in a few short seconds from his realm of story."
"Why couldn't you have used that to transport us back to Storybrooke while we were in the Enchanted Forest?" asked Mary Margaret.
"I tried to." said Hermione. "But unfortunately it was very realm specific. And it couldn't transport us to Storybrooke from the Enchanted Forest."
Hermione tapped the green stone with her wand and then waited a few moments.
Nothing happened.
"Just wait." said Hermione.
About a minute later a portal opened. It was large, round, and powerful energy, creating a lot of wind. But after a few moments a man came through. Then a young woman and another man behind her.
The man had very pale skin. Almost completely White, and his hair was blonde. And his eyes were a bright yellow.
The young woman, her eyes were a chocolate brown. She had reddish brown hair. And pale pink skin. The man behind her was tall. Almost 7 ft. And he looked Native American.
"Hello Hermione Granger." said the blonde haired man.
"Hello Dr. Cullen." said Hermione. "Welcome to Storybrooke."
"So the curse was enacted?" said Dr. Cullen.
"Unfortunately, yes." said Hermione. "But it has since been broken."
The man faced everyone else.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen. This is my granddaughter Renesmee. And her husband Jacob Black."
"Wait a minute?" said Emma. "Carlisle Cullen? Renesmee? Jacob Black? From the Twilight books?"
"Twilight books?" said Carlisle with confusion. "I don't know what that is?"
"Another realm of story." said Hermione. "In this realm there's an author by the name of Stephanie Meyer who out of her own imagination wrote about you and your family's adventures in a book series. Just like how in your Realm the author JK Rowling wrote a fantasy book series about Harry's life."
"Yes, of course." said Carlisle.
He extended his hand for a handshake.
"Harry Potter, a pleasure to meet you." said Carlisle.
They shook hands.
"And Ronald Weasley." said Carlisle as he shook Ron's hand.
He then turned to the rest of the group.
"I am assuming from Context that you are Snow White and Prince Charming?" said Carlisle.
"You're good." said David with a smile.
"I'm not quite familiar with your fairy tale story in your realm," said Mary Margaret, "I never read Twilight."
"Allow me." said Renesmee.
She stepped forward and she placed the tips of her fingers on the side of Mary Margaret's face. Mary Margaret's mind was then flooded with Renesmee's memories of her family's Adventures.
"Wow!" said Mary margaret. "That is quite a tale."
"Show us to the patient." said Carlisle.
Carlisle looked at the charts of the Medical Imaging scans that had been done on the patient.
"What do you think, Renesmee?" asked Carlisle.
"Surgery seems fairly straightforward Grandpa." said Renesmee. "Drain the hemorrhage, relieve the pressure, bypass, and reroute the artery."
"Very good." said Carlisle as he looked at his granddaughter with a smile. "Let's scrub in."
Carlisle and Renesmee washed their hands up to their elbows in the large stainless steel sink, and then donned masks, sterile gowns, and sterile gloves. The or was already filled with nurses who are also wearing personal protective equipment.
"Medical staff of the Enchanted Forest." said Carlisle addressing the room at Large. "Dr. Whale is missing. I will be the attending surgeon in the surgery. My name is Dr. Carlisle Cullen. Assisting me is my granddaughter Renesmee."
There was no argument from anyone in the room.
Carlisle and Renesmee took positions on opposite sides of the table where the patient had been prepped and draped.
"Nessie, would you like to take the lead in the surgery?" Carlisle offered.
"Sounds interesting." said Renesmee.
She looked over at one of the tables with a sterile metal tray covered in different surgical tools. All of the necessary surgical tools seemed to be present. She then extended her hand.
"#10 Blade." she requested.
The gang was waiting in the waiting room.
"How long do you think it'll take?" asked Leroy.
"Surgery takes as long as it takes." said David.
"Muggle doctors." said Ron with disgust. "Humans who cut up other humans. It's barbaric."
"It's medicine." said Jacob Black. "Besides, Carlisle isn't human, he's a vampire."
"Is it wise for a vampire to be around fresh flowing blood?" asked Leroy.
"In the Twilight books, it says that Carlisle had all but become immune to the smell of fresh blood after centuries of practice." Said Emma.
The discussion was about to continue but then the doors opened from The Doctors Medical area. Carlisle and Renesmee came out.
"The surgery was a complete success. I expect the patient to make a full recovery." said Carlisle.
"He is also conscious and I believe that you want to talk to him?" said Renesmee.
"All right." said Mary Margaret.
"Let's go in and see him." said David.
"Wait!" said Emma, holding up her hands to stop everyone. "We can't go in as a group."
"Emma." said Mary Margaret. "We always do everything together."
"And that may be all in fine for us." said Emma. "But need I remind you we're trying to convince this guy that this place is normal. And what is normal in every other town in this country is that a police officer will go in to talk to the car accident victim to ask them a few questions."
"You're right." said David.
"Harry, you come in with me. We will Tell Mr. Mandel that you're my deputy."
Harry followed Emma into the patient's room. The patient, Greg Mandel, seemed to be awake and alert.
"Water!" the man said as he reached for his bedside table.
Emma rushed to the water bottle with a straw and gave it to the man who then sucked thirstily from it until the bottle was nearly completely drained.
"Mr. Mandel." said Emma.
She then held up a ziplock bag filled with several items.
"I have your personal effects. I'm just going to set them here."
She then set them on the bedside table.
She then held up her police badge.
"My name is Emma Swan. Sheriff of Storybrooke. This is my deputy, Harry Potter. I need to ask you a few questions."
"Of course." said Greg Mandel.
Emma then took the water bottle with a straw from Mr. Mandel and then handed it to Harry.
"Harry, can you fill this up from the sink please."
Harry could have done that with his wand, but of course he had to keep up appearances for a muggle. He went to the sink and filled it with tap water. He came back to the bed and handed it to Mr. Mandel.
"Are you aware that you were in a car accident?" said Emma Swan.
"Yes." said Greg Mandel.
"I'm conducting a forensic investigation on the car accident." said Emma in a professional police business voice. "If you can please, I would like you to tell me to the best of your knowledge what you remember. What did you see? What happened?"
"I was texting." said Greg Mandel.
Both Harry and Emma looked at each other. They had not expected this answer, though they weren't quite sure what answer they had expected.
"I was driving down the highway, just seconds before the accident. I received a notification on my phone. I looked down to check and then I replied. I took my eyes off the road for just a second. And then the next thing I knew I was running over a man and I crashed into the side of the road. That's all I remember."
Both Harry and Emma pause as they waited for Mr. Mandel to continue.
"I know it's illegal." said Greg Mendel. "I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry." said Harry. "Just be 100% clear. So that there's no confusion later. You didn't see anything else?"
Greg Mandel then put on a look of confusion on his face at Harry's question.
"Just to be clear Mr. Mandel." said Emma. "What my Deputy means is that we just need to be 100% thorough with our forensics Examination for the car accident."
"I looked down from the road towards my phone while I was driving." Said Greg Mandel. "And when I looked back up there was a man in the middle of the road and I tried to swerve but I don't remember anything after that."
Emma and Harry looked at each other and decided to accept nonverbally that this man's word was true.
"Well," said Emma, "the person that you ran over has chosen not to press any charges. So therefore, as sheriff, I will not press any charges either. On my legal Authority here in Storybrooke, I'm putting you on probation. I'm going to let you off with a warning. But if this happens again, I will have to prosecute you to the full extent of the law."
The guy then seemed to relax in relief.
"We have a special medical program here in Storybrooke. We treat patients pro bono." Said emma. "All we ask is that you take it easy and recover. Thank you for your cooperation."
Emma and Harry then left the room.
"I think he's telling the truth." said Emma.
"In The Wizarding world," said Harry, "it's been our experience as Wizards that Muggles usually don't know what they see when they actually see magic. I too am willing to take this man at his word."
They entered the waiting area where everyone was waiting for them.
"The man is ignorant and oblivious." Said Emma. "He doesn't know anything about magic or Storybrooke."
Everyone there breathed a sigh of relief.
It was then that Mr. Gold came walking into the hospital through the doors holding a white chipped ceramic tea cup in his hand.
As he passed by Carlisle looked at him.
"Rumpelstiltskin?" said Carlisle. "Is that you?"
Mr. Gold paused and then looked at Carlisle.
"Carlisle Cullen?" said Mr. Gold with a smile. "How long has it been? 100 years?"
"103 years, 1 month, 4 days, 16 hours, 33 minutes, and 11 seconds." said Carlisle with a smile. "But who's counting? And you look different?
"It's the curse." said Mr. Gold. "I never thought I would see you again."
"Did you find your son?"
"Not yet." said Mr. Gold. "But I believe I will soon."
"I hope for the best." said Carlisle.
"Did you ever find the family that you were hoping to create?" asked Mr. Gold, who in actuality had not read the Twilight books.
"Yes, several adopted children. A lovely wife of 91 years. My granddaughter, right here, Renesmee, and my grandson-in-law Jacob Black, a werewolf."
"You certainly have a very mixed family." said Mr. Gold.
Renesmee then stepped forward and then placed her hand on Rumpelstiltskin's face. Rumpelstiltskin then gasped in surprise and then closed his eyes in concentration.
After about a minute she took her hand off of his face and he looked at her with awe.
"Well, you certainly have quite a family carlisle."
"And what are you here for?" asked Carlisle.
"My girlfriend lost her memory and reverted to her cursed self because she crossed the town line."
He then held up the chipped tea cup.
"I've Enchanted this as a Talisman to restore her memory."
"I could do that." said Renesmee.
"Can you?" asked Mr. Gold.
"Memories are my specialty." said Renesmee.
"Well," said Mr. Gold. "If you can help me restore Belle's memories, I will be extremely grateful."
They went to Belle's hospital room. Renesmee walked up to the side of Belle's bed. Belle seemed a little uneasy about the visitors and cringed away from Renesmee.
"I'm sorry." said Renesmee. "I don't mean to trouble you. My name is Renesmee Cullen. Let me help."
Without Belle's consent Renesmee placed her hand on her face. It took a few moments. But eventually Renesmee removed her hand.
Belle had a look of dawning comprehension on her face.
She looked at Mr. Gold.
"Rumple?"
"Belle?"
They then embraced and kissed.
Carlisle, Renesmee, and Jacob Black returned to their world through the portal.
Emma had returned to the Sheriff's station to put a few things away for the night. Though the night was now over. It was almost sunrise. She was going to sleep for the day. She was about to turn to leave to go home when all of a sudden she was face to face with Lord Voldemort.
She gasped in Surprise and then drew her 9 mm firearm.
"You." said Emma. "You're Lord Voldemort. The dark wizard."
"That I am." said Voldemort.
He was not afraid of Emma's gun, as he had already cast on himself an anti-muggle bulletproof spell.
"What do you want?" asked Emma.
"Curiosity." said Voldemort. "I wanted to meet you. Emma Swan. The savior. Sheriff of Storybrooke. Bail bonds person. Daughter of Snow White and prince charming. Mother of Henry mills. And, oh yes, the one who broke the curse."
"You sound impressed." said Emma in observation.
"Oh, I am." said Voldemort with a smile. "I am very impressed. And that is saying something. I am not easily impressed. You are an extraordinary being Emma Swan."
"So what do you want?"
"As I said. I just wanted to meet the one who broke the curse."
And then he disapperated.
Everyone at Mary Margaret's loft was preparing breakfast. Mary Margaret was frying eggs on a frying pan. Emma was pouring cereal into bowls. David was microwaving sausage and bacon in the microwave.
Ron was catching up on his fairy tale lore by actually reading a book for once. The title of the book was simply, 'Fairy Tales'. It was a thick book with 100 small stories in it. And beside him on the side table next to the TV remote was a stack of cartoon Disney DVDs of all the classics.
Harry was preparing a breakfast pastry with several waves of his wand. Hermione assisted David and Mary Margaret with the cooking.
Henry came rushing down the stairs from the upper room in his pajamas.
"What happened?" said Henry eagerly. "I waited up all night. Granny wouldn't tell me anything."
"Captain Hook got into a fight with Rumpelstiltskin." said Harry. "There was an injured motorist where the vampire Dr. Carlisle Cullen had to stitch him up because Dr. Frankenstein decided to run away in a fit of self-pity."
"Frankenstein?" said Henry. "Oh, so that's who Dr. Whale is."
"Yeah," said Emma, "but without the neck bolts."
"The monster had the neck bolts." said Henry. "Not the scientist."
"You're right." said Emma with sleepy eyes drooping. "Eat!"
"Wait." said Henry again after a few moments of silence.
He then ran off. Where he then grabbed up his storybook and brought it back over.
"Frankenstein isn't in here. It's not even a fairy tale. It means he's from another realm of story."
Emma interrupted Henry as she forced a bowl of cereal with milk in front of him.
"Eat!" ordered Emma. "I'm exhausted and I really want to go to bed."
It was then that they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
David went over to the door and opened it. On the other side of the threshold was Mr. Gold and Belle on his arm.
"Mr. Gold?" said David. "Belle? What an unexpected surprise. To what do we have the pleasure?"
"I'm afraid I'm here on business." said Mr. Gold.
He then looked in Emma's direction.
"Miss Swan. You know that favor that you owe me from that deal that we made? I've come to cash it in. I found my son. He is alive and in this world. And you're going to help me find him. Pack your bags Miss Swan. We're going to New York. Our plane leaves in 8 hours."
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