Work Text:
The first thing they do after Alice turns Gothel into a tree is call an ambulance for Rogers. Or rather Hook. Robin's not quite sure if it's the right decision. Hook's injury is magical in nature and Alice aside, they're all a little short on magic. Plus, who knows if anyone will come now that the curse is broken. It's a neighborhood of displaced Fairytale Realm residents. Any modern medical training is from their cursed selves. But Robin still has echoes of Margot within her. She supposes, if she had to, she can easily whip up a cocktail, no sweat. Margot's knowledge is her knowledge. And though it is more hectic than usual, someone answers and an ambulance does show up.
The medics are loading Hook’s stretcher into the ambulance when Tiana walks over. “I’m assuming you girls need a ride to the hospital?”
“Oh! If it’s not too much trouble?”
“Alice,” Tiana admonishes, “I already promised your father. Don’t worry.” She places a hand on Alice’s shoulder and gives an encouraging squeeze. “He’ll be fine. Are you ready to go?”
There’s a quick exchange of goodbyes as they leave the square and Aunt Regina manages to extract a promise from Robin to keep her updated through the night.
On the ride over, while holding Alice’s hand in the back seat, Robin thinks ahead and she has a sort of plan by the time she and Alice get to the hospital. First, they check in to let the hospital staff know they’re here so they can get updates on Hook. Once they’re settled in a corner of the waiting room, Robin finally calls her mother.
“Well hello Margot, it’s always nice to hear from you.” There’s an undercurrent of stress in the chipper greeting. Robin had sometimes picked up on it when she was Margot, but she never really understood the reason for it. Not until now.
“Mom,” Robin says, “ I remember. ”
“Robin! Honey, is it over? Is everyone okay? If you need me to-”
“Mom, it’s okay. We don’t have to worry about Gothel anymore. She’s sort of a tree now. We needed to check on Hook’s heart so we’re at the hospital.”
“I see. I assume Alice is with you then? Let me talk to her please.” So Robin passes the phone over to her girlfriend.
It's a short conversation. She can't hear her mother's side of the conversation but Alice is just nodding and making affirming sounds so she assumes her mother is trying to comfort her. Then Alice says, "Thank you," and passes the phone back to her.
After a request for updates, her mother ends the call. Now, there's just the waiting. It's an hour before a nurse walks over to their corner of the waiting room.
"He seems to be doing well. Obviously, we don't have any equipment that can see how the poisoned heart curse is progressing. But his heartbeat has become more regular and steady. And his pain has lessened. Still, we want to keep him overnight for observation."
"Can I --" Alice starts to say before she clamps her mouth shut. Can I see him? No, she can't.
The nurse shakes his head, "I'm sorry. But he did want me to give you a note."
Alice takes the folded paper and opens it with shaky hands. It simply reads, "I will be fine. Don't worry Starfish." At the bottom corner of the note is a quick, messy sketch of a starfish.
When the nurse leaves, Robin turns to Alice. She looks so distraught.
"Hey," Robin tells her softly, "you have the keys to your dad's apartment right? Let's walk over."
Hyperion Heights had never had much of a bustling nightlife but, as the young couple walked down the street, the quiet felt different tonight. It's like there's a dazed confusion infecting the air. The curse was broken. But what came next?
Alice only takes one step into the apartment when she suddenly pauses and says, "oh."
"Alice?"
She turns back to Robin with a stricken look on her face. Her eyes are tearing up.
"I have to pack, don't I? I can't live with Papa anymore." And then Robin is stepping forward and wrapping her arms tightly around her.
"I'm so sorry Alice," she murmurs softly.
It was nice living with Rogers. They were cursed and they didn't know their shared past. But it had been nice . Rogers had given Tilly a home and had taken care of her even though they barely knew each other. He made sure to keep orange marmalade in the fridge. Once, Tilly had stopped by the precinct with a bag full of beneigts . Because that's what you did when you cared about someone.
They hadn't been them. But until they could undo the curse on his heart, that's all they would get for the foreseeable future.
She can feel Robin making slow, soothing circles on her back. “You can stay with me,” Robin says, “It’s only a bedroom above Roni’s bar but I’m sure Aunt Regina wouldn’t mind if you stayed. And then we’ll figure something more permanent. Later. But for now…”
“Now?” Alice says, looking up at Robin.
“We’re going to find something to eat,” Robin finishes. Then she kisses Alice’s forehead. “Show me around?”
Alice smiles and takes her hand, pulling her into the apartment. “Of course Nobin.”
It’s hours later when they finally head into Tilly’s bedroom. Dinner has been made and eaten and they’ve packed away at least half of Alice’s things.
“I can lend you some sleep clothes if you want,” Alice says as Robin unwraps her scarf.
“No, it’s fine. I’m so exhausted that I’m just going to collapse as soon as I hit the bed.”
They crawl into the guest bed. It’s a twin bed and it doesn't have enough room for two bodies. Still, Alice wraps her arm around Robin’s waist and pulls her in close. Robin slides herself even closer so that there’s barely any space between both women’s faces.
“I missed you Nobin,” Alice confesses in a whisper. “I missed you and I didn’t even remember you. Isn’t that strange?”
Robin knows what she means. When she lived as Margot, it was like she was walking around half empty without knowing why. Then she had ran into Tilly by chance and had this insane impulse to kiss this strange woman right in the middle of the sidewalk. It was like a paperclip discovering a magnet.
Robin kisses her now. Because the curse is broken and she knows her. They found each other. There is so much left to figure out of course, but in this moment, Robin has the love of her life in her arms and that’s enough for now. “Go to sleep Tower Girl,” she murmurs.
Alice presses her lips against her, one last time, before she closes her eyes. And as they drift off to sleep together, Robin has one last coherent thought: ‘ I want to do this forever .’