A full tip jar and a bar full of happy customers left a smile on Melody's face as she wiped down a tiny spill on the bar top. She'd been on shift for hours, since opening, and though her feet stung with every step she took and her cheeks started to hurt from putting on her best customer service face, the memories of last night when she'd kissed Rogers kept her going even more than the money she was making.

She hadn't heard from anyone all day since Henry had texted her to say they'd arrived successfully in San Francisco. But it didn't particularly matter, as the bar kept her running back and forth. Why so many people decided to frequent Roni's that morning, she had no idea. But she couldn't complain. The more customers to come in, the more money she could make off tips.

Flashing a grin at the couple sipping at beers and sharing a plate of onion rings, she tried to check on all her patrons. There were three families at tables. At the bar she had had the couple at the far end. Taking a moment to rest her feet, she leaned against the bar and downed a drink of ice water.

"Melody, right?"

She turned around at her name. Nick, the lawyer that Jacinda had hired, wandered up to the bar. He had a smile on his face, and Melody offered one back. "Yes. Nick, right? You're still hanging around these parts?"

He let out a small laugh. "Yeah, yeah I am." Sliding into a seat at the bar, he gestured to the alcohol behind her. "I'm not just the lawyer. I'm Lucy's dad," he said. "I'm hoping to spend a bit of time with her."

Melody's eyebrows shot up. As she got the beer he ordered, she tried to wrap her head around the fact that the man in front of her was Lucy's father. The girl was convinced Henry to be her father, but though they all knew that wasn't possible, she feared how the girl would react to her actual biological father appearing out of nowhere after a decade away.

"Oh really?" was all she could manage. She set the beer in front of him and looked closer. He was gorgeous, flashing her a nice smile, though some part of him gave off frat boy energy. She straightened back up and, with a tilt of her head, watched him. "Lucy's a great kid."

Nick grinned. He swirled the beer around for a moment before taking a drink. Then he nodded. "Just like her mom, I'm sure. She sure has spunk."

Melody laughed at that. "That's one way of putting it."

"I'm just glad I could get them back together."

He sounded sincere. As Melody excused herself to get the couple at the end of the bar refills, she tried to wrack her brain for any conversation she'd had with Jacinda over her ex. He'd never really come up in conversation. All she knew was he'd been a failed musician at the time, and when Lucy came into the picture, Jacinda had left him. She had never had a name for him. To find out it was Nick, all put together and apparently a wonderful lawyer, caught her off guard.

She made her way back over to him. "Hopefully you can get to know Lucy. It can't be easy, not knowing her."

He nodded. "Yeah, well. I can blame myself for that." Nick took a drink and closed his eyes. "Gotta start somewhere, though, right? Hopefully, she'll give me a chance."

Melody smiled. "Like I said, she's a good kid. I'm sure if you don't rush it, she'll do just that."

The door opened, and Melody looked over. Remy walked in. As he finished texting and slipped his phone back into his vest pocket, he looked over and gave her a small wave. It was almost time to switch. Her shift was ending in a matter of minutes. She hoped Rogers would be done around the same time.

When Remy joined her behind the bar, she brought him up to speed on the goings-on. A customer had reported a leaky faucet in the men's bathroom. They'd lost one glass to the floor. As she pocketed the tip money for the day, she just wished him luck and went to clock out.

The sun had set by the time she had her stuff together. Melody pulled out her phone, checking for any messages. There weren't any. But as she went to stuff it back in her pocket, it started to ring. The caller ID read Sabine, not Rogers.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey, Melody." The woman sounded stressed, voice tight as she spoke through the phone. "There's been an accident."

Her blood ran cold. "What do you mean?"

"It's Lucy. She collapsed about an hour ago, slipped into a coma. The doctors don't know anything or if they do they aren't telling us." She paused. "Jacinda could really use some support."

Melody nodded, forgetting in the chaos that Sabine couldn't see it. She slammed the door to the bar closed as she rushed into the street. "Of course. I'm on my way. Do you want me to pick anything up?"

"No, not right now. I might send you out later, though," Sabine said.

"I'm on my way."

She hung up, hurrying to Hyperion Plaza to catch a cab. By the time she'd slipped inside, her panic had risen. She tried to take deep breaths. As headlights filtered in through the car windows, she reminded herself that Lucy was a survivor. She could handle this. She'd be fine.

Melody paid the taxi and then stumbled out into the drop-off loop of the hospital. Sabine had texted her where to go. After asking for directions from a hospital staff member, she hurried through pristine hallways and tried to ignore the stench of rubbing alcohol that filled her nose. Beeps from machines and the sound of non-slip shoes squeaking against pale tile floor filled her ears.

She found Sabine on the phone outside Lucy's hospital room, Jacinda beyond her, visible through the glass panes sitting by her daughter's bed, the girl's limp hand in her mother's. Nick stood nearby, hand covering his mouth as he couldn't take his eyes off the scene either. Melody couldn't breathe for several beats. Lucy's usually vibrant face looked deathly still. Almost lifeless.

Sabine hung up her phone. Looking at Melody, she shook her head and Melody pulled her into a hug. "Thank god you came," Sabine said. "We can use all the help we can get."

"What happened?" Melody demanded. She drew back, shaking her head a bit as she looked at Lucy again. She turned back. "Why?"

Sabine shrugged. "We don't know. Jacinda called me after she called the ambulance. She said Lucy just collapsed in her arms. There wasn't any warning." With a deep sigh, she shook her head again. "This is the last thing she needs."

"I know." Melody frowned. "Do you want me to grab you all some snacks from the cafeteria?"

"Just grab a couple of coffees," Sabine said. "I have a feeling we're not sleeping tonight."

Melody didn't wait to be asked again. After offering the same to Nick and getting the request, she set off to find the cafeteria. It took fifteen minutes to find the collection of small food places and another ten to get her order, but once she had four Grande coffees in her tray, she hurried back. She didn't want to think about Lucy not making it through. They couldn't handle that.

They wouldn't have to, though. Melody believed it. She had to believe it. The girl was a survivor and if any one of them would make it through a mysterious illness, she would. With her boots echoing through the halls, Melody rushed back to the ward where Lucy had been given a room.

"Here." She handed the tray of coffees to Nick, who still stood outside the room. Sabine had gone in, sitting next to Jacinda, the single mother leaning on her friend physically and emotionally. "Can you give these to them?"

"Yeah." Nick took the tray as she took her drink. "Where are you going?"

Melody shook her head. She didn't really know. All she knew was she needed to take a walk and clear her head, to try to think of some way to be helpful.

She wandered down the hall in the children's ward. A few empty gurney beds sat against the blue walls decorated with children's artwork. Exhaustion crashed over her. Her panic had caught up to her and made her movements sluggish. As she came to a room with a young teenage girl sitting up watching TV, she paused. That would be Lucy someday. Lucy would make it to fourteen. She had to.

Melody turned away from the happy scene. Then she paused. A large brown book sat on a gurney just outside the room, cover inlaid with golden words reading "Once Upon a Time." She wondered, briefly, if Henry had published his title with a collector's edition. She knew some self-published authors ran crowdfunding goals, offering special editions for backers. She walked over to it.

She grabbed it. Her heart skipped a beat. The weight felt familiar. She looked closer.

Something punched her gut. She nearly fell as images filled her mind, flashes of beautiful forests, massive pirate ships, and beanstalks. Melody couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. Faces familiar and strange flashed before her eyes. Tears fell down her cheeks as wave after wave of pain tore through her chest. She dropped the book.

Looking up, she stared at the mirror on the wall. Her heart pounded. Memories of another life, of her life, of days when she'd traveled realms and loved and lost, constricted her throat. She was Calliope. She remembered the darkness, the pain that grabbed her like black tendrils and dragged her to this place, this Hyperion Heights. She remembered it. She remembered all of it.

"Melody!"

She startled, stumbling as she turned towards the voice she knew so intimately. Rogers. Hook. Killian. He stood next to Weaver, no, next to Rumplestiltskin. Rumple. The Dark One. Pain hit her again, her head spinning as she tried to make sense of it all. Tears flooded her eyes as she looked at Killian there, so close yet so far. He wasn't Killina yet. He was Rogers. And she had to be Melody.

"Hey," she forced out. "Hi. Lucy's..."

"We know, love." Rogers nodded, moving over to her. "We've been trying to find out what happened. Do you know where Jacinda is?"

Melody almost couldn't speak. She just looked into his blue eyes. She'd missed him so much, since the moment they'd been forced to separate before the curse. When she'd gone to protect Alice, and he'd gone to protect the others. She couldn't breathe.

"Down the hall," she finally said. "Take a right. She should still be with Lucy."

He nodded. "You alright, love?"

She paused again. But then she forced out a smile, and a tiny, strangled laugh. "Yes. Of course. Go find Lucy."

Melody watched as Rogers disappeared back down the hall. But Weaver didn't move. He just inspected her. Melody covered her mouth, hand trembling. So many memories.

"Well." Weaver walked over to her and pointed to a nearby stairwell. "We should have a chat."

She didn't argue. He was awake. She could tell. He'd been awake for a while if she had to guess. As they moved into the chilly stairwell, she collapsed onto the stairs, face in her hands.

"So the Muse is awake at last." Weaver leaned against the door. "Welcome back, dearie."

She uncovered her face. "Who else is awake?" Melody asked, nearly choking on her tears as her voice didn't want to cooperate.

"Me, you, and Regina." He pointed at her. "I should've known you and Hook would still find a way to make my life hell even when cursed, no matter which version of him it is."

Melody choked out a laugh. "I always did have a special talent for doing that."

"Your pirate made quite a mess," Weaver said. "Victoria Belfrey woke Anastasia by taking Lucy's belief."

"And that's Rogers' fault because?" she asked.

"Because they did it with Gothel's help," Weaver said. "When he freed her and got Belfrey arrested, she went back to Drizella."

Shivers ran down her spine. Gothel had been Eloise. Of course, she had. Of course, that witch had manipulated Killian again. She couldn't resist. She was like Pan, liked to play games, especially with Killian.

"Do me a favor, dearie." Weaver moved away from the stairwell door to head back inside. He pointed through the little window back into the hospital. "Keep that pirate out of my way."

He left her alone in the chilly, echoing stairwell. She put her head between her knees, tears spilling as she kept sorting through the memories that flooded her senses. Agonizing despair gripped her heart. She couldn't even talk to anyone. She couldn't go to Rogers; he'd call her crazy. She couldn't go to Roni, to Regina, as she had skipped town. That left her alone. Horribly, terribly alone.