#She's definitely very squeamish but it's less the blood itself that worries her and more how her stomach reacts to it.

[beyondthetemples]

WHAT DOES YOUR MUSE FEAR?

repost. do not reblog. italicize for ‘uncomfortable, but bearable if necessary’ ; bold for "keep it away!"

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OBJECTS & THINGS :・needles・knives・sharp objects・bruises・blood・paddles/belts/objects used in beatings・germs・vomit/vomiting・holes (trypophobia)・alcohol・cigarettes・drugs/narcotics・pills・medicine・bikes・cars/buses/trains・boats・planes・bridges・elevators・stairs・roller coasters・fire・water・snow・rain・thunder/lightning・dolls/puppets・stuffed animals・balloons/popping balloons・bright lights・crowds・loud noises・animatronics・robots・technology・(other: )

PLACES: ・your home・your childhood home・the countryside・the city・closets・bathrooms・bars/nightclubs・doctor’s offices・dentists/orthodontists・hospitals・operating rooms・schools・jails/prisons・morgues・cemeteries・open spaces・cramped spaces・abandoned places・attics/crawlspaces・junkyards・churches/synagogues/mosques・religiously-significant places・haunted houses・back alleys・the outdoors・the mountains・the woods・the ocean・outer space・(other: places where very bad things happened)

EXPERIENCES & CONCEPTS : ・failing・heights・falling・jumping off a high place・climbing a high place・the dark ・showing off a talent ・the cold/being cold・heat/being hot・eye contact・accepting change・being challenged・getting lost ・getting separated・getting arrested・being trapped・being stranded・being followed・getting surgery・getting tattoos/piercings・swimming・driving・riding a bike・riding in a car/bus/train・flying in a plane・boating/sailing・being on the open water ・getting photographed・religion・thunderstorms ・blizzards・tsunamis・floods・tornadoes・hurricanes・earthquakes・mudslides・avalanches・poverty ・hunger・public speaking・performing in public・talking on the phone・talking to strangers・humiliation・pain・illness・death ・disassociating・danger・surgery・vehicular accidents・being burned・drowning・being choked・being starved・being poisoned ・suffocating・being stabbed・being shot・breaking a bone・being restrained・being laughed at ・being yelled at/demeaned・confrontation ・conflict ・physical fights・verbal fights・war・commitment・isolation ・silence・responsibility・taking responsibility・introspection ・apologizing・falling in love・emotional attachment・emotional intimacy・sexual intimacy・physical contact (any)・getting married・having a child・loveless relationships・unrequited love・falling out of love・divorce/separation ・breaking up・pregnancy・being pregnant・ageing・losing your attractiveness・the unknown・the past・the future・mistakes ・(other: )

CREATURES :・animals (general)・insects・spiders・creepy crawlies・snakes・scaly animals・frogs/toads・slimy animals・mice/rats・rodents・birds・dogs・cats・wolves/coyotes/wild dogs・lions/tigers/wild cats・bears・raccoons・possums・woodland animals・crocodiles/alligators・sharks・fish・aquatic animals・cryptids・aliens・sea monsters・vampires・werewolves・mummies・ghosts・monsters・angels・demons・zombies ・God・the devil・(other: )

PEOPLE :・people (general)・ men・women・yourself・your mother・your father・your siblings・your family・family・parental figures・elderly・adults・teenagers・kids・babies・clowns・drunk people・doctors・dentists・teachers・pastors/clergymen/nuns・religious figures・bullies・criminals・killers・police・authority figures・introverts・extroverts・aggressive people・overbearing people・pushy people・manipulators・hyper-sexual people・anxious people・liars・cheaters・people stronger than you・people weaker than you・(other: )

INTERNAL & EXISTENTIAL : ・not knowing・trusting ・forgiving・forgetting・being forgotten・being alone・being misunderstood・being used ・being taken advantage of ・being unloved・being hated・being abused ・being lied to・being hurt・hurting others・being unpopular・being humiliated ・being stood up ・being ignored ・being powerless・losing power ・being abandoned ・being betrayed ・being replaced・being unwanted/unneeded ・being excluded ・being a failure・being untalented/boring/not special・becoming poor・becoming ugly・losing control (of your situation)・losing control (of yourself)・lacking identity・lacking a purpose ・letting people down・disappointing others・losing friends・losing family・watching loved ones suffer・watching loved ones die ・getting sick・getting hurt・dying・’existing’ but not living・(other: death happening AROUND her moreso than TO her)

[jarienn972]

Curse of Undoings - Part 5

I know it has been a few days since the last update but now that I'm back to my semi-normal routine after pulling something in my back a few weeks ago,  I won't be able to update this quite as quickly as the first few chapters. There's still lots more story to tell and absolutely lots more whump to be had. This chapter is heavily focused on Henry but (spoiler alert) we'll have plenty of Captain Cobra action coming.  This chapter does contain some semi-graphic descriptions of injuries - nothing too clinical, but adding warnings to the squeamish.( although if you fall into that category, this probably isn’t the best fic for you.)

Tagging @killian-whump, @hookaroo and @castielamigos for the new update and you can read from the beginning here: Part 1  Part 2  Part 3 Part 4 or on AO3 and FF.net

Henry leaned his back against the cobweb strewn wall of the crawl space behind his mother's office – well, what had been Regina's office before the advent of the Black Fairy's curse and his adoptive mom, along with so many others from town, vanished. For some unknown reason, Henry appeared to have been immune to Fiona's curse. Maybe it had something to do with him being the Author or perhaps it was because he was, by blood, Fiona's great-grandson, but either way, he'd not been subjected to the false memories plaguing his mother, Emma.

Having grown up playing in and around the Town Hall building, Henry knew all of the secret passages within its walls – including this narrow, dusty air vent that was adjacent to the office. Regina had discovered it long ago but Henry made the assumption that Fiona would be oblivious to the secreted space, being new to the town and the occupant of this office for less than a day. He'd come here straight from the park intending to spy on Fiona, ducking inside through the building's rear entrance before climbing into the vent from its access point in the janitor's closet.

He just didn't expect to stumble upon a conversation between Fiona and Gideon, the pair discussing a prisoner being held downstairs. Henry hadn't realized at first who they were talking about, but a few minutes later, he very quickly put two and two together when Emma strolled in to Fiona's office. Henry couldn't see the expression on her face, but Henry was horrified by the lust for vengeance resonating in his mother's voice while bragging about questioning the prisoner about murders that never occurred. He was especially disturbed by her statement that she didn't care if her questioning killed him first. What exactly had she already done to Killian? Worse yet, how could she harm someone she loved so much? Was the curse really so strong that it could destroy True Love?

Now Henry knew he had to find Killian. He knew that his stepfather was hidden away somewhere in this building, or more correctly under the building in the super creepy sub basement. If he could get Fiona to leave the office for five minutes, he knew where Regina kept a duplicate set of keys in her desk. He'd just need a distraction to get inside and grab the ring, preferably before his mother got done with lunch and before she discovered that he wasn't at home like he'd promised. Nothing difficult about any of this…

He knew nearly every nook and cranny of Regina's office and from all appearances, Fiona hadn't changed much during her takeover. There were a few new touches – photographs of various infants he didn't recognize and a few random knickknacks added to the shelves, but otherwise, his mother's office seemed intact. Fiona just had to leave so he could get inside and he'd be able to check to make sure she hadn't changed anything within the desk itself. It didn't seem likely that the Black Fairy would have had time to search for hidden false panels or stashed away duplicates of the keys to every door in this building and probably to every other public building in town.

She wasn't really the Mayor so Henry doubted there would be much for her to do here in the office. He could only hope that it wouldn't be a long wait before she vacated the office. Mercifully, he heard Fiona's phone ring and while there was no way to know what was being said on the other end of the conversation, it was quite clear that the person she was speaking to was someone else who had retained their real memories. Midway through the conversation, Henry heard Rumplestiltskin's name mentioned and saw Fiona push her chair back from the desk and stand, agreeing to meet the caller in a few minutes. She strolled briskly toward the office door, but Henry noticed an odd action as she left the office. She took a glance at one of the bookshelves as she passed it and appeared to smile, but Henry couldn't tell what object had drawn her attention. He thought it was strange, but it was something he simply couldn't think about right now.

As soon as he could no longer hear the click of her heels on the marble, Henry scrambled to the vent exit and cautiously peered into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear. Certain he was safe, he hurried to Regina's office door which now bore Fiona's name emblazoned across the glass. Shaking his head at the surname she'd adopted – Black, he shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a chain containing a copy of the office key that still successfully gave him access. Fiona was so certain she'd win that she didn't even bother to change the locks. And that was a good thing.

Now to the desk where he found that the duplicate key he'd made for the bottom drawer also worked perfectly, giving him access to places he'd poked through so many times before the original curse broke when he'd been hunting for information about his family or evidence that his beliefs were true. That was how he'd first stumbled onto the concealed false panel in the bottom right drawer containing a huge ring of assorted keys in every imaginable shape and size. Over the years, he'd learned what most of the keys would open but there were some he'd never really tested. He knew there were a series of doors located in the sub-basement that he'd never asked about. He didn't know what purpose they served or what they'd been intended to hold, but he was certain that he'd find Killian behind one of them.

It took him under a minute to locate and pop open the panel, finding the keys exactly where they'd always been but while he had the desk drawer open, he plucked out a few other items that might prove useful later and pocketed them all. He knew what trinkets and potions Regina kept on hand here and since she wasn't around to tell him no, he figured he could ask for her forgiveness later – assuming this worked… He didn't care what he had to borrow or steal right now because getting his family back was most important.

As he departed the office, he found his own eyes drawn to the same bookshelf he'd watched Fiona peruse earlier, wondering what object she'd been grinning at. Had it been one of these books or perhaps a photograph? Some other shiny object? There was no way he could know what it had been so he dismissed the thought with a brief shake of his head. He'd worry about finding Killian first and then maybe his stepfather would be able to provide some insight into all of this.

With so many people missing from Storybrooke, Henry encountered little resistance as he descended the stairs to the basement level of the Town Hall. He hurried past the storerooms and maintenance closets to the unilluminated doorway at the end of the hall marked DO NOT ENTER in vivid orange lettering. Neither that sign nor the door's lock had ever deterred him before and he was already quite familiar with the dimly lit concrete staircase that lay on the other side.

Those shadowy stairs led down to the bowels of the building which he knew housed the boiler room and a series of locked steel doors. It definitely resembled a dungeon down there so it made sense that they'd stash Killian in one of those rooms. But before he could search for his stepfather, he needed to get past the single guard positioned at the bottom of the steps. The uniformed guard didn't seem overly enthusiastic about his dungeon duty, leaning his chair back against the concrete block wall while playing a game on his phone. No one really knew about this place so Henry figured if he could get past this guy, he likely wouldn't encounter any other guards. Giant, locked metal doors generally provided enough security themselves so the solo guard was probably just there to ward off any would-be trespassers.

Henry had taken into consideration that he might encounter guards along the way so he made his way down the stairs as silently as he could. When he reached the landing where the steps changed direction, he paused a moment to pull a tiny velveteen pouch from his jacket pocket. He untied the drawstring that sealed the pouch and tipped it onto his palm, spilling out a handful of bright purple powder. With a hearty puff of air, he blew the colorful powder towards the oblivious guard's face, waiting as the man coughed a couple of times before tumbling off of his chair and onto the floor in a deep slumber. Henry smiled triumphantly at his first success. Sleeping powder sure comes in handy at times. This guy would be out for at least an hour now.

After the cloud settled enough to be safe, Henry scurried down the remaining steps with his mother's ring of keys now clutched in his fist, ever so thankful that they hadn't shifted in his pocket to betray his position. In the poorly lit corridor, he could see the five steel doors lining one side of the hall that ended at the boiler room – well, officially ended at the boiler room. He'd previously discovered that the room contained a hidden tunnel that connected the Town Hall to the mines, a passageway that, as far as he knew, not even a single dwarf was aware of.

Henry stood before the first door for a few seconds while fumbling through the plethora of keys in his hand, trying to figure out which might be the right one. The lock had a large keyhole so he could easily rule out the smaller keys, focusing on the larger ones that more closely resembled the skeleton key that opened Regina's vault. He had to fiddle with a few of them before locating the correct one but he finally felt the mechanism turning and then tugged the heavy door towards him.

Peeking in, he had an involuntary shiver wash over him as he took in the horrific sight behind the door. Rusty iron chains and shackles hung from the ceiling and he could see more of them strewn across the floor that appeared to be anchored to the concrete walls. He couldn't really tell from his present location but he was certain that the stains on the cement floor, despite being the same ruddy hue as the chains, were probably blood – and he didn't want to venture any further into the empty chamber to find out. It was clear that nothing good had taken place in this room and he was now feeling a bit more consternation about what Killian might be experiencing.

Not bothering to close or re-secure the first door, Henry moved quickly to the next. With little time to spare, he repeated the process with the keys until he found the right one to unlock the second deadbolt. When he pulled this door open, he found the room to be completely dark, but he remained still for a moment, certain he'd heard sounds coming from inside. There was a faint scraping and a rattle that could have been something metallic like the chains in the other room but there was something more – it sounded like labored breathing and maybe - whimpering?

Henry tentatively ran his hand along the wall closest to the door feeling for a light switch. The first little torture chamber had electricity so this one must too. His fingers finally found the switch but as the light illuminated the room, he realized he wasn't fully mentally prepared for what he would find. In the center of this second concrete block chamber, there was a man laying atop a raised metal table and even from the threshold, Henry could see that the man was secured to the table by a series of heavy shackles and sturdy padlocks. The restrained man's breathing seemed to become more accelerated after the light came on and Henry now knew that the rattle he'd heard was from the prisoner's fearful quivering, likely in anticipation of further torment.

He couldn't yet see the man's face, but Henry noticed that on the left side of the table, the prisoner's arm was dangling off of the surface, trailing blood onto the floor that dropped from a scarred and stumped wrist. Only one man he knew had an amputated left hand… "Killian?" His initial voicing of his stepfather's given name was more of a stunned statement than an actual question. He knew this was Killian, but he had no idea what condition the pirate would be in, the sight of blood not a promising indication. Hearing a grunted response, Henry moved closer to the table and immediately saw the reason he didn't get a verbal reply – Killian had been gagged with some sort of harness contraption and his neck was encircled by a huge metal collar that was chained to the table too. "Wow, Killian… what happened? Uh, never mind… Let me see if I can get these things off of you…"

Killian watched the boy with hopeful eyes and a racing heart as Henry flipped through a bunch of keys, searching for one that might open the padlocks but none seemed to be the right fit. He had no idea when Emma or Gideon might return and the last thing he wanted was to see any harm come to Henry if he got caught in here trying to free him.

"None of these is the right size," Henry announced in a slightly disappointed voice. "But don't worry – I'm not done yet. We can try these…" Resting the ring of keys on the tabletop next to Killian's shackled hand, Henry reached into his back pocket and withdrew a small, rectangular case that had a zipper running around three sides. The pirate recognized the case as Emma's lock pick set as the teenager unzipped it and withdrew two of the picks, one with a straight, flat tip and one with a narrower, slightly curved tip. Henry went right to work, first on the padlock securing the collar around Killian's throat. With a few practiced maneuvers, he had the lock popped open in no time, tossing the padlock into the floor as he freed Killian from the cumbersome collar. His next task was to free Killian's wrist from the iron shackle which then enabled him to help his stepfather into an upright, seated position so that he'd be able to get a better look at the contraption secured to Killian's head and see how the harness was fastened.

As he swiftly released the padlocks from the ankle shackles, Henry began to take increased notice the wounds on Killian's battered body. His wrists and ankles were chafed and ringed with bruises from the cumbersome restraints. His abdomen bore angry red marks on each side that looked like burns as well as a patch of darkening bruising beneath his ribs and of course, there was a deep puncture wound in his left shoulder that was bleeding heavily, but it wasn't until Henry moved behind Killian to remove the harness and gag that he saw the worst of the horrors Killian had been subjected to. Killian's entire back was laced with crisscrossing cuts and welts, some bright red and seeping, others deep black and blue, pooled with blood that hadn't escaped his skin.

"Wha…what happened?" Henry asked, trying not to stare at the open, obviously painful wounds, but he immediately chastised himself, remembering that Killian was still gagged. "Oh, sorry… You can't answer that yet…" the boy apologized as he located a narrower pick to release the smaller padlock securing the harness buckles. Once the lock and straps were opened, Killian yanked the offending device off of his head and massaged his aching jaw that had been forced open far too long.

"Thank you, lad," Killian croaked out the words in a raspy whisper, his throat burning and parched. "Have you any water?"

"No, sorry… I'll find you some as soon as we get out of here."

"How? Where are we even?"

"Beneath the Town Hall and I know a way out. Come on, we need to hurry."

"You're taking a huge risk rescuing me," Killian said honestly as Henry helped him off of the table, his legs shaking as his bare feet reached the cement floor, not even certain if he had the strength to walk, but for Henry's sake, he had to, but Killian also knew they had another problem – should they make it out of this prison safely, he had no clothing. He couldn't exactly venture outside clad only in his undergarments. "Also, we have a small problem I've no clothing. I was locked in here with scarcely a stitch…"

"Then we'll borrow the guard's," Henry stated, gesturing toward the sleeping man on the ground as they made their way into the corridor.

"Shouldn't we worry that we might wake him?"

"Nah… I snagged a pouch of sleeping powder from my Mom's desk when I borrowed her hidden ring of spare keys. He'll be asleep for a while yet. The clothes might be a little big on you, but at least you won't be naked."

"Some interesting skills you've acquired, young man," Killian commented with a proud smile curling on his lips while Henry started rapidly undressing the slumbering guard.

"My mother was a thief, my grandmother was a bandit and my stepfather is a pirate. I'd say it runs in the family."

"Indeed," Killian smiled broadly before biting it back with a wince as a wave of pain caught him unprepared, but he didn't let Henry see his grimacing. Clearly the lad had been paying attention during their adventures. Perhaps a bit too much attention, but that would be a conversation for another day. Escaping this hellhole was his foremost priority then he'd think about giving lessons on misspent youth. Maybe after vanquishing a fairy…