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going2go-away4-awhile · 4 years

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This isn’t What I Wanted: Chapter 1-Arrival

Summary:

Waking up in a hospital is always alarming, waking up in Hope County Hospital is terrifying. Suddenly thrust into a body that isn't hers and knowing nuclear fallout is on the horizon. Adaine must gather supplies while she can before the big day happens, and trying to stay clear of a radical cult is easier said than done.

Hi and thank you for clicking! I'm very nervous to be writing again, I haven't written fanticion since 2013. So please be patient with me if things don't seem right or if there are mistakes. I hope you enjoy reading!

Also, I do know there is no real hospital in Hope County, but I’ve based this in Faith’s region near the jail.

FInd the story also on Archive of Our Own: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25543036/chapters/61978045#workskin

TW: Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Death, Description of dying, Car crash, Slight body Dysphoria.

Her name is Adaine. She loves her mom, likes animals and gardening, hasn’t found a real spot in life to settle into, and relaxes with a good game night with her friends.

(Adaine dies but at the same time she doesn’t. Nothing could have prepared her for this. Nothing in the world.)

_______________________________________________

Blearily waking to the sounds of quiet machines, voices murmuring faintly out of ear shot, and faint alarms going off in the distance. Her thoughts were slow, her whole being ached with a dull pain. Opening her sleep crusted eyes to a hospital room was surprising, given she knew the probability of her surviving a 50 foot drop off was astronomically low. But she needed answers, ‘How did you find me? Is my family coming? Where am I?’ Reaching for the call button was painful, but so worth the relief of seeing another person.

_______________________________________________

Adaine had been out for 3 days, massive head trauma, a cracked rib and a broken foot. The Doctor had joked that she was lucky to survive the crash, but she didn’t survive a car crash. Last thing Adaine remembers was hiking and taking a tumble down a drop off, explaining this too the staff was met with gentle pitying tones of “Oh honey, your mind is blocking out the crash, it was a traumatic accident.”

But it was all wrong, she had gone for a nice day walk on the Appalachian Trail in Kentucky and taken a nasty fall. How she ended up in bumfuck Montana after a car crash was nerve wracking. The staff had at least managed to get her phone, but everything in her phone was wrong. Her mother’s number was wrong, she didn’t have her best friend's contact info and all of her pictures told a different life than the one she led. Her social media timeline was off, her job wasn’t her job. Her mother’s number didn’t work. Having a major panic attack made the doctors take her phone rights away, sighting it was “detrimental to her health for the time being, we should focus on rehab for now.”

Being stuck in a hospital for weeks was awful. The food was bland, the local accents were different, she didn’t have anyone here. She felt as though she was in a horror movie, when she looked in the mirror something was just off; her hair was longer, the mole she’s had all her life was gone. She was missing scars or the scars had simply moved a inch or so in another way. She had a million questions and no answers, ‘Where did the old Adaine go? Had her and her counterpart swap bodies? Why was this Adaine going to Montana?

When she tried contacting her family there was no answer and when she tried with friends, most claimed they had only met once or had never known her. The loneliness of the situation finally hit, Adaine didn’t get a good night's sleep for the rest of that week.

_____________________________________________________________

Adaine had finally found the reason the old Adaine was in Montana. Apparently her great aunt had died and left her property and possessions to Adaine, the only family member she deemed “Smart enough to know what was really going on”. Whatever the fuck that meant. But, she felt a spark of love when she thought about the old woman, either from the old Adaine’s consciousness or the gratefulness she felt because this meant she wasn’t homeless and had a source of income for the time being. The property was 40 acres which had a house, river access at the back of the property, and a fallout bunker. Adaine felt a great sense of loss looking over the paperwork sent to her by her great aunt’s lawyer.

Hospital got marginally a little better every Friday, a small group from a local church would drop by and bring well wishes to those who were sick, and most importantly for Adaine, a chance of company. Adaine sometimes invited them in, but other times the thought of company was too overwhelming. She even met the Pastor of the church, Jerome Jeffries, a nice man who sat with her and talked about his own experiences in the hospital. However, every time he left, Adaine had a small voice ringing in her head.

You know him

_____________________________________________________________

Adaine could have jumped for joy, if she didn’t have boot on her foot, when she was cleared to leave the hospital. On the count she didn’t currently have a vehicle or that there wasn't any taxi service in such a rural area, Pastor Jeffries had offered to drive her to her new home.

“Pastor, I honestly can’t thank you enough.” Her voice breaking the quiet interior of the old pick up truck. She’s so nervous and excited, her stomach now housed butterflies and her heart had moved to her throat. Peering into the bed of the truck, where her measly belongings that survived the crash were stashed, she looked back at the normally soft spoken man driving.

Turning his expressive dark eyes to glance at her for a brief moment before he spoke, “Think nothing of it Adaine, I’m always happy to lend a hand to those in need.” His lips turned into a warm comforting smile, but warmth of the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. His hands tightened on the worn steering wheel, before relaxing once more. Feeling as though she had misspoke or had bothered him, she turned her head to look out the window. She could understand why her great aunt had moved out here, it was beautiful. Tall evergreen trees covered the landscape, roaming hills and valleys that were cut by crystal clear water of slow rolling rivers. She rested her head against the glass and let her mind wander.

_____________________________________________________________

Her thoughts were broken when Pastor Jeffries spoke, “I’m sorry for your loss, I personally didn’t know your Aunt very well. Most folks who live up here tend to keep to themselves, hell I’m pretty sure there’s a good chance that i’ll never meet 15% of the population who lives here.” He waved at a passing car on the small dirt road they had taken, his attention once again back on Adaine. “Do you plan on living here? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“No I don’t mind, I’m planning on staying here for a while at least. I’ve got to clean the house and the bunker before I’ll make a decision.” He nodded and hummed in understanding, before gesturing to her broken foot.

“That's going to be a problem for you, I can give you a number to call for some help. He’s a good kid, his family is-was part of my congregation, name is Jackson Wilson. I would like to help but… there are some problems I need to deal with.” His lips tightened into a small frown as he talked, and when he finished his brow had furrowed. She couldn’t tell if his mood was downed talking about the family, his inability to help her, or the problems within his own life.

Adiane offered a small grateful smile to him. “I would love to have some help around the house. Thank you again for helping me out, it really means a lot. And, if you ever need any help please let me know.” He nodded and smiled as they pulled onto a small dirt road with a rusty mailbox at the end.

“Well this is the address.” A little ways from the main road sat a large old white house, the flowers her Aunt had planted were being strangled by tall weeds, paint chipping off the window shutters, and a rusty old pick up truck sat in the driveway.

….It was a fixer upper for sure.

Carefully stepping out of the truck, Adaine took in a deep breath, her ribs twinged at the notion, but the smell of the forest surrounding her senses was worth it. Helping the Pastor Jeffries take her stuff out the back of the truck and lugged it to the front door, she fished out her keys and slotted it into the door. It opened with a small click, and she released a sigh of air she’d subconsciously been holding in. They placed her things in the foyer and took in the sight of her new home. Books, magazines, and mail were pilled here and there, dust covered the majority of the windows and end tables, and an old ratty blue rug greeted them.

Coughing into his elbow, Pastor Jeffries took a step back out the door. “Well, it's a diamond in the rough.” His eyes darted from the overgrown garden to the inside of the dusty house. “A lot of rough.” He pulled out a cellphone from his back pocket, “Here let me give Jackson’s number.”

Exchanging numbers with Pastor Jeffries and an introductory text from Pastor Jeffries for her, and an exchange in goodbyes. He moved to walk back to his truck, but stopped and took a few steps back toward her. The same frown he had had before on the car ride was back on his face.

“I don’t want to seem rude, or God forgive me if I’m just being petty, but I think you should know something about Hope County.” He took in a deep troubled breath, “Recently there have been...disturbing allegations about a local religious group. It’s called Eden’s Gate, and I just want you to be careful around these people. It's run by a man named Joseph Seed and his brothers, I just don’t want you walking in blind, but I'm sure it’s nothing. I need to be heading back now, hope to see you later Ms. Adaine.” Adaine stood in stunned silence as Jermone Jeffries drove off. Ice cold fear shot through her body, she could feel her heartbeat in her ears like a rapid pace drum.

Eden’s Gate.

Project Eden’s Gate.

The Seeds.

Far Cry.

How could she be so oblivious, the familiarity of Pastor Jermone Jeffries, Hope County a name that she should have known. God she was so stupid. Shaking hands grabbed the door frame to support her body from collapsing. The bombs, there was going to be a nuclear fallout and she was stuck in place that would become ravaged by a lunatic cult. Adaine sucked in a deep breath before her knees collapsed under her and her mind was overcome with fear.

_______________________________________________

His body was slammed into rapidly passing trees, he clawed at the steep rocky ground. He had to stop. Why wasn’t he stopping? As he tumbled, he got a fleeting glance of a large piece of wood jutting out of his abdomen. Fear gripped his heart as his head came crashing down on a rock.

A jolt of movement and suddenly he was driving a car swerving into a large forest. Fuck, fuck, fuck, turn the wheel! Jerking the wheel, caused the car to flip and the last thing he knows is his head slamming into the steering wheel.

Jolting awake clutching his head, Joseph stumbles out of bed, barely making it to the bathroom before he vomited violently into the toilet. Resting his face against the cool floor tile, Joseph gets the last bits of the vision.

Groggily waking up in an unknown place. Pain. His body is Pain. This isn’t right. Nothing is right. Sadness. Loneliness. Why doesn’t someone come for him? All alone.

Flashes of a face not his own in the mirror. Wrong. Things are wrong.

Strength. This will not break me, move on you must move on.

A trembling smile comes onto his face, finally you were here. He’s waited so long.

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lilacmoon83 · 3 years

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Clarity

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 11: Pressing On

Mary Margaret watched the paramedic check his vitals, as the ambulance sped toward the hospital. She recognized him as one of their Knights and recalled that his name was

Gareth, but she didn't know who he was here. He gave her a reassuring nod though.

"His vitals are strong and though he's lost a bit of blood, he'll be fine. I'm sure Dr. Whale will have no problem stitching him up," Gareth offered.

"Great...Whale," David muttered and she squeezed his hand.

"You know there is no competition there," she whispered to him.

"I know…" he said, as they shared a long gaze. They arrived at the hospital and wheeled David in, with Mary Margaret running beside his gurney.

"What do we have?" Whale asked and then saw that it was David and Mary Margaret.

"Stab wound…" the paramedic said.

"Okay...let's get him to a room. You'll need to wait out here," Whale told her.

"I am going in with him...I don't care what you say!" Mary Margaret protested.

"It's usually family only," he replied.

"She is my family," David said, as he saw their fingers entwined.

"And he's mine," she added, though she really wanted to scream at the man she had made a mistake with that David was really her husband. She wanted to scream that to the whole town, but knew now was not the time for that.

"Fine...whatever," Whale said irritably, as David was wheeled into one of the emergency rooms.

"You do know that the Mayor is still your emergency contact in your file, right?" Whale asked.

"That needs to change. I don't want Regina anywhere near him," Mary Margaret snapped and then stopped to try to quell the swirling emotions inside her.

"Oh...okay, we can change that. I'll have the nurse update it to you," Whale said, taken aback by her fierceness and she supposed that made sense. The Mary Margaret under the curse was so soft spoken and a proverbial doormat to everyone. She was still angry with herself that she had ever let Whale near her when she was vulnerable, let alone touch her. David must have sensed that and squeezed her hand.

"It's okay...I'm okay," he promised, as he kissed her cheek. Whale looked away and put David's chart down.

"Well, I'm the doctor and it's up to me to determine how okay you are or not," he said, as he began examining the wound.

~*~

After Emma finished the preliminary report and locked Keith up, Ruby's words proved effective, as she found herself at the hospital.

"Hey...you came," Ruby said.

"Uh yeah...like I said, I need his statement," Emma deflected.

"He saved your life," Ruby reminded again.

"Really?" Henry asked, as he arrived with Neal and Gold. Emma sighed in irritation.

"What is he doing here?" she asked him.

"He wanted to go to the diner with his...with David and Mary Margaret. He wanted to see Mary Margaret specifically since the school fired her today," Neal started to explain.

"Yeah...I heard," Emma replied.

"My Mom is behind it...I know she is," Henry replied, causing Emma to sigh deeply again.

"Anyway, I called Mary Margaret to see if they could meet us and that's when we found out David had been stabbed," Neal replied.

"Is he okay?" Henry asked.

"I think he's going to be fine, sweetie. He saved Emma from getting stabbed," Ruby replied.

"I had it under control...he didn't save me. If anything, he got in the way," Emma argued. Neal smirked.

"I'm sure," he said, as they continued to wait to hear about David's condition.

~*~

Sidney typed away on the old computer in the newsroom when his phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked.

"What the hell went on at the Rabbit Hole tonight?" Regina demanded to know.

"Uh...well, it appears that the Sheriff arrived to deal with a drunken disorderly that went bad. Except instead of taking the knife wound herself, I interviewed an eyewitness that said Mr. Nolan took the knife for her," Sidney reported.

"You better spin that story in a negative light. The last thing I need is David Nolan being hailed for some heroics!" Regina said irritably.

"Well...people are already saying that's exactly what he is. I was able to cover up that he was homeless for a while, but I'm not sure how we bury this," Sidney replied.

"Then you need to figure it out!" Regina snapped.

"He was there with Miss Blanchard. I can remind everyone of their scandalous affair and their amorous antics in the park earlier today," he said.

"Whatever...just spin it to make them look bad," Regina said, as she hung up. Sidney sighed and decided to run to the diner for more coffee, before he finished and put the paper to bed. He walked out and didn't see August waiting outside. He slipped in and sat down at the computer. He slipped a flash drive into the external USB. The computer was so old that it didn't even have an USB slot, but fortunately Sidney happened to have a solution to that when needed.

August slipped his story into the pages of tomorrow's paper layout, deleting some column about the mine collapse, which was just a story that was in the paper weekly lately. No one seemed to notice that Sidney cycled the same stories over and over again. But August did notice and he had also noticed the changes lately. He now knew that Snow White and the Prince were awake and that meant that Emma just needed a little more pushing toward the truth. He was also shocked to find out that Neal was in town as well and he was hoping to keep a low profile and avoid him. It was good though. It meant that things had accelerated and he was hoping his article would accelerate them even more.

He felt slightly bad about running the story in respect to Kathryn, but taking away Regina's narrative that David and Mary Margaret were somehow a pair of adulterous, terrible people might go a long way to waking people up. He was exposing in the article that David's marriage license to Kathryn was phony and Regina drew it up when he woke up in an attempt to keep him and Mary Margaret apart. Essentially, his article was one hundred percent true, except the part where Kathryn was in on it and went along with it. But once the curse broke, any ill feelings anyone had toward the blonde would disappear. Truth was what they needed now. It was what he needed. Truthfully, he wasn't doing this to help David and Mary Margaret. He was selfishly doing this to save himself. The curse breaking was his only chance or he would soon have more than just a wooden leg.

~*~

Mary Margaret waited impatiently, as Whale stitched up David's wound.

"You're lucky...the knife missed all your organs and any deeper, you probably would have needed surgery. But it appears there is no internal bleeding," Whale replied.

"You're sure?" she asked and he looked at her.

"I'm sure...but just the same, he needs to rest once he's home for a few days. For now, I'd like to keep him overnight," Whale replied.

"I'm staying with him," she insisted. He nodded, as he did another test.

"What is that?" she asked.

"It checks his hemoglobin or blood level, which is slightly low. Since we're keeping him overnight, I'd like to give him a pint of blood," Whale replied, as he wrote something on his chart.

"I'll be back soon and we'll assign him a room," he said, as he exited. David smiled up at her once the doctor left and she leaned down to kiss him on the lips.

"I'm fine…" he assured once their lips parted.

"I know…" she said.

"I'm just sorry," he replied.

"For what?" she asked.

"Well...this isn't exactly how our Valentine's Day was supposed to end," he replied. But she only smiled.

"Well...for us, I'd say this is pretty normal and you saved our baby's life. Again," she said. He chuckled.

"We always did manage to find our fair share of trouble," he agreed and she sat down beside his bed and rested her head against his shoulder.

~*~

Whale stepped out of the room and found people waiting in the lobby area.

"Is my...Mr. Nolan okay?" Henry asked the doctor, who managed a smile for him.

"David is going to be fine. I stitched him up and I'm going to keep him overnight, just to be safe," Whale replied.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get a transfusion going for David. He's a little low from the blood loss he suffered," the doctor added.

"Maybe I can give him blood!" Henry chimed in. Whale chuckled.

"That's very generous of you, Henry, but I have to give David his type of blood and it's highly unlikely that you have the same type," Whale replied.

"I'm B negative. What type is David?" Henry asked curiously.

"How do you know what blood type you are?" Neal asked.

"Tonsils...two years ago. I didn't have to get blood, but I got a lot of ice cream and the nurses told me what type I am," he replied.

"Well...that's a coincidence. David is also B negative, but I'm afraid we can't take a pint from you, Henry," Whale said, as he started to walk away.

"Wait…" Emma called, as he turned.

"I'm also B negative...if you're short," she said. He looked at her and then nodded.

"Wait at the desk and I'll send a nurse for you," he said, as he walked away.

"Wow...same blood type," Neal mentioned.

"It doesn't mean anything," Emma protested.

"Of course not. I mean, you, the kid, and David all being the same blood type couldn't be anything except a coincidence," Neal mused.

"In my experience...there are no coincidences," Gold said.

"Whatever...you better get him home, before Regina has an aneurysm," Emma mentioned.

"Dad is filing for custody," Henry chimed in, causing her eyes to widen.

"What?" Emma asked.

"Uh...it wasn't my idea, but it's what he wants and I guess I have a lawyer already," Neal replied.

"Are you insane? Regina is going to go nuclear!" Emma hissed to him, as she pulled him aside.

"I know...but if I'm being honest, I want this too. I would have never given him up in the first place if I'd known about him!" Neal hissed back.

"I was in jail! What was I supposed to do!? I couldn't raise him!" she said.

"I know and I'm not blaming you. I got scared and should have never listened to August," he replied.

"I made a lot of mistakes, but now I'm going to make up for them as best I can and clearly our son is not happy with his adopted mother, who happens to be the freaking Evil Queen," he said. She scoffed.

"Not this again…" Emma complained.

"Like it or not, Em...it's all true and my Dad mentioned earlier that our chances in court would be better if we were on a united front," he mentioned.

"Wait...you mean your father wants me in on this too?" she asked. He nodded.

"Even if we're not together...we are his biological parents and you may have given him up, but I didn't. You were under duress and I didn't know he existed. Biological parents have won cases with less," he replied.

"Not against people like Regina. She controls this town. The district attorney is in her pocket, so there's no reason to believe the judge won't be either," she reasoned. He shrugged.

"Maybe not...but people are more afraid of my father than they are of her, trust me…" he countered and she found that she couldn't argue with that.

"Fine...I'm in," she agreed.

"Really?" he asked. She nodded, with a shrug.

"Getting him away from Regina is the only reason I stayed in this crazy town. I just didn't think I had a ghost of a chance," she replied. He smiled.

"Well...we do. A really good chance," he said.

"She will wage all out war on us...all of us," Emma warned.

"Guess we'll have to bring it then," Neal said, as Whale motioned to her.

"Go...go give your father some blood," Neal said.

"Don't call him that...he's not my father," Emma replied.

"Yeah...and denial is a river in Egypt," Neal said.

"Shut up," Emma replied, as she walked away. Neal smirked. She was going to deny the reality until she was blue in the face, but he knew her better than anyone. The walls around her were slowly beginning to crack.

#Snowing #SnowxCharming #Emma Swan #Henry Mills #Neal Cassidy #Mr. Gold #Regina Mills #A 7x15 am AU #romance #adventure #family #drama #AU #Clarity

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