CHAPTER NINE
RESCUE MISSION

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Over the years that she had been hunting vampires, Josie had been involved in a number of larger plans that involved raiding lairs and taking down a group of vampires at once. She had even helped her father take down a coven of witches once, which had not been easy but it had been made easier by the previous enchantment they'd put on her crossbow.

Regardless of those, of all the plans she'd been a part of that had at first seemed doomed to fail but ended up with a success or all of the plans that had seemed like they would succeed and then had or even the plans that they were sure were solid but had instead failed, Josie didn't like their current plan.

It was too soon. They didn't know enough about their foe. And even if her father had faced Morgana once before, he didn't seem keen on sharing what he'd learned from the encounter. Josie knew that they needed to rescue Zelena, she was Regina's sister and baby Marian needed her mother. But knowing what she needed to do and believing they would succeed were two very different things.

After discussing the plan in the tavern, the group had gone their separate ways to collect the supplies they needed and for those who wouldn't be joining the rescue mission to go about whatever else they might need to do that day. It would only be a few of them actually going, after all, there was no need for everyone else to halt their days.

Josie made sure her crossbow was properly loaded with as many bolts as it could hold and made sure her quiver was fully stocked as well and hung securely on her belt. Though they hoped to avoid conflict and just escape with Zelena unseen, she knew it was possible that would not be the case. She wouldn't be holding out hope.

Josie, Abraham and Nicholai met up with Emma, Regina and Robin on the edge of the woods to make the treacherous journey to where Abraham knew Morgana's lair to be. Though the Storybrooke residents knew the dangers - or lack thereof, rather - of their own forest, the dark forests of Nightmoor were another story entirely. They'd warned them briefly when they first met of the dangers, but aside from Robin, none of them had needed to venture within since their two worlds collided. As if Josie wasn't nervous enough about how this rescue would play out, they had to hike through the woods to get there.

Luckily, they didn't have to hike far. Just enough that the city was well out of sight and no sound would carry to the residents that lived closest to the forest's edge. Just deep enough to put them squarely within the forest's realm of danger and just far enough from any help coming quickly.

They stopped just out of sight of the remains of what was surely once a grand home. Vines grew over the white stone walls, creeping over the edges of where they had broken or worn away with time. The roof held together in only a few places, collapsing in on itself in most others. Through a larger hole in one of the walls, Josie could see that even the floor of the second storey hadn't held the test of time and mostly collapsed.

"This is where Morgana is holed up?" Regina asked Abraham.

"Yes," Abraham confirmed. "She was holding us in the basement of the home. Though she did not venture down there often, preferring to remain on the main level of the home where we could not see her."

"So you would never know where she is, preventing any plans of escape from being properly hatched," Nicholai guessed.

"Yes, correct," Abraham said, smiling proudly at him. "We discussed attempting it but Morgana's routine was impossible to predict so every plan relied too heavily on assuming we were in the clear."

"Let's just get on with the plan, shall we?" Robin said.

"Of course, of course, my apologies," Abraham said. "As we said, we will split up and one group will engage with Morgana to distract her and the other will sneak down to the cells to release Zelena."

"You shouldn't be in the group that faces the witch, Father," Josie said. "We don't need to give her another opportunity to capture you."

Abraham places a hand on her shoulder. "I agree, I should lead the way to where we were held. And with me there, I think it is best if you go with the group to face Morgana."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Emma asked him.

"I am the only one with a weapon she cannot use her magic on," Josie pointed out. "It only makes sense I should face her."

"Then I guess I'm in your group again," Regina said. "I'd like a shot at the witch who kidnapped my sister and niece."

"I'll go with Abraham, then," Emma said. "In case there's a magical lock where Zelena is being held. Only witches have opened them, after all."

"I should go with Abraham and Emma as well," Nicholai said. "I will be able to find Zelena quicker and know if someone is coming on our way out."

"So I'm going up against the witch as well, then," Robin said.

With everyone knowing where they needed to be and what their jobs were, they divided into two separate groups, with Abraham leading Emma and Nicholai around the back side of the house through a cellar door and Regina guiding Josie and Robin around to the front of the house.

"How do we get Morgana's attention?" Robin asked quietly, the question directed to Regina as the woman seemed to be pondering their next course of action.

"The way I see it, we have two options," Josie answered for Regina. "We can sneak up on her, take her by surprise."

"Or?" Robin asked, brow raised.

Josie lowered her crossbow with a shrug, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Or," she continued, "we can knock on the front door."

"Knock on the front door?" Robin repeated in disbelief.

"Yes," Josie nodded her head. "It's surprisingly effective, trust me. Both me and Nicholai have done it before and it has worked. He knocked on the door and kept them distracted long enough for me to sneak in behind them and apprehend them."

"Let's do it," Regina said. "I'll keep Morgana distracted while you two sneak in from behind."

"I'm not letting you go alone," Robin disagreed immediately.

"I can handle myself," Regina said reassuringly.

"He's right," Josie agreed with the archer. "You shouldn't go alone, Morgana will suspect something if it's only you. Robin should go with you. I'll be able to sneak in properly on my own, anyway."

"It's settled, then" Regina nodded. She straightened out her jacket and then stepped forward. "Let's go distract a witch."

Before either of them could leave, Josie called out for them to stop, and they looked back at her with quizzical expressions. The teenager wordlessly reached into her quiver and grabbed one of her magic-proof arrows, passing one off to Robin.

"Just in case," Josie said.

Robin grabbed the arrow with an appreciative nod, holding it firmly in his hand as both he and Regina began approaching the house. Josie watched them for a moment before jumping into action and creeping around the side of the house.

Josie threw her back against the side paneling of the house and listened carefully for a moment. When she didn't hear any movement coming from the window above her head, she took that as a sign that she could enter. She carefully peered up through the filthy glass, taking a moment to make sure that the area was clear before she secured her crossbow across her back and stealthily opened up the window, hauling herself up inside the house.

The van Helsing kept her crossbow raised as she began creeping through the house, pausing only once when a floorboard creaked and the sharp noise echoed through the quiet house. But just as anytime before, she adjusted to the situation, and continued moving through the house with caution.

It was when Josie realized that she couldn't hear any voices coming from the house that she knew something wasn't right. The front door should be open and Morgana should be standing there, speaking with Regina and Robin, but she wasn't. The house was seemingly empty.

Josie crept up to one of the windows at the front of the house and peered through a small sliver of the torn curtain. There, in the front yard, she saw Morgana standing where they had previously been grouped together and discussing their plan, speaking with Regina and Robin, who were still standing on the front porch steps.

She wasn't sure if Morgana had heard their plan and decided to sneak up behind them, or if she had simply used magic to teleport behind Regina and Robin when they had knocked on the door, but Josie kept her guard up regardless and used Morgana's positioning to her own advantage.

With the window she was looking through already open, the curtains blowing in a gentle breeze, Josie got down on one knee and lifted her crossbow. But before she could even take aim and prepare herself to take a shot, Morgana waved her hand, using her magic and propelling both Regina and Robin through the front door.

Josie startled as the wooden door was torn from the hinges and shattered beside her, and she turned to look at Regina and Robin as they landed with audible groans on the floor. She then quickly turned back around, looking out through the scope of her crossbow at where Morgana was just standing, but the witch was nowhere in sight.

Suddenly, Josie was thrown backwards by a strong force, her crossbow having slipped from her grasp at the abrupt movement and she felt a pain explode in her right shoulder as her back hit a wall. The teenager groaned and looked up, noticing Morgana standing right where she had been kneeling down, the woman obviously having used her magic to teleport inside the house after attacking Regina and Robin.

Josie glanced across the room at her crossbow, silently cursing herself for being careless enough to drop it. She had to get to it, and fast. But first she had to figure out how to do that without giving Morgana the impression of how important the weapon was. She knew that if the witch figured out that they had magic-proof arrows then they would never be able to take her by surprise with them.

Morgana looked at each of them, clicking tongue as she shook her head. "Did you really think that you stood a chance against me? Do you even know who I am?"

"Yeah," Regina sneered, climbing to her feet. She tilted her head to the side and held out her palm, conjuring a fireball. "Do you?"

The former Evil Queen thrust her hand forward, throwing the fireball at Morgana, who caught it with ease and quickly distinguished the flames with an amused laugh tumbling from her lips.

"That's all you've got?" Morgana smirked. "A pathetic little fireball? I expected more from the Evil Queen. I guess you really have gone soft now. What a pity." She sighed, shaking her head as she looked at Regina with disappointment. "I could have used someone like you on my side. Just imagine what we could have done together."

Regina's nostrils flared with anger, and her clenched fists began to glow red at her sides. "Never gonna happen."

When Regina thrust her hands forward, striking Morgana in the arm with her magic and causing the malevolent witch to become angry and retaliate, Josie used that as her opportunity to make a run for her crossbow. She kept herself low on her hands and knees, crawling across the wooden floorboards until she finally reached her weapon.

The sound of hurried footsteps could be heard as Josie reached her crossbow and picked it up off the ground. She lifted her head, watching as Emma and Nicholai burst into the room just as Regina was thrown backwards.

Morgana tilted her head to the side as her eyes landed upon the new arrivals. And then, in the blink of an eye, everything seemed to click in place within her mind. She whipped her head over to the right and her expression morphed into a sneer as she caught sight of Abraham van Helsing escaping into the woods with Zelena Mills.

Everyone else in the room followed her gaze, their eyes widening when they realized the situation that they've suddenly found themselves in.

Not wanting to lose her father again, Josie, with her heart hammering against her ribcage, quickly turned and fired her crossbow at the witch. But as her finger touched the trigger, Morgana already teleported from the room in a cloud of thick, black smoke, and Josie watched with disappointment as her bolt lodged itself in the wall behind where Morgana had previously been standing.

They quickly ran outside, and as they rushed around the side of the house, they found Abraham laying on his back against the ground, holding his side in obvious pain. Morgana stood some ways away, her arm wrapped securely around a weak Zelena. With a final smirk in their direction, the witch teleported once more, and the heroes were left standing there in utter silence as they each processed what had just happened.

They had failed.

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an. special shoutout to dunbonnet for this chapter as she actually wrote the fight scene for me as I struggle a lot with them and that's why you didn't get this chapter any sooner, I was struggling with the fight scene. And yes, for those who have been reading this as it's been posted, it did take me that long to figure out before I was saved by the amazing Rea.