Hello, It's Mrs. Hyde

Prologue:Ch.8: The Cure and the Captive

Jessica (Narration):
*"Three years is a long time.
Long enough for pain to settle, long enough for hope to shrink into silence.
But sometimes... the right formula takes time to burn.

And once it ignites, nothing stands in its way."*

She ran.
The vial burned cold against her scalp where it was braided into the base of her hair — tucked beneath the thick plait that fell over her shoulder like armor.
She hadn't stopped moving since the moment the final compound held.
It worked. It finally worked.
Jessica's boots hit the cobbled road with a familiar rhythm as the tower of the Warden's Fortress came into view beyond the mist.
It had been three years.
She'd wandered, worked, begged, and bartered her way across dead kingdoms and crumbled fiefdoms. All for one chance. One cure. One final piece of salvation.
And now she was back.

The guards at the main gate looked up in surprise.
Then beamed.
"Jessica?"
"By the stars—"
"Look who it is!"
One of them — Bram, older now with a silver scar under his eye — stepped forward and swept her into a crushing hug.
"We thought you were dead."
Jessica grinned, breathless. "Not yet."
They let her in without question, warmth rising in her chest. It was the first kindness she'd felt in weeks.
She didn't slow.
She took the stairs two at a time, barreling toward the lab like her body had no choice in the matter.
Please be Hyde. Please be Hyde.
She threw open the door.
And stopped cold.
Jekyll turned slowly at the sound, hands clasped behind his back, glasses perched too neatly on the bridge of his nose.
"Look what the cat dragged in," he said, smiling too wide. "Hyde will be so disappointed he missed this."
Jessica's heart thudded.
She didn't let it show.
She slipped a hand casually to her braid and tucked it over her shoulder — the vial's weight pressed reassuringly to her skin.
"I came to check on him," she said smoothly. "Guess I got unlucky."
Jekyll's smile tightened.
"Oh, now don't be cruel. I've missed you." He walked toward her, slowly circling. "Three years. No word. No letter. I was beginning to think you'd found a better monster to serve."
Jessica's jaw clenched. "Maybe I was just busy living a life."
"And yet here you are." He stopped just behind her shoulder. "Curious."
He stepped in front of her again, gaze sharp.
"Tell me. Did you find it?"
"Find what?"
"The cure. The final ingredient. The answer to all our problems."
Jessica blinked. "If I had, do you think I'd waste it on someone who shouldn't even be here?"
That wiped the smirk off his face — briefly.
His eyes darkened. "Still so mouthy. I forgot how annoying that was."
Jessica smiled tightly. "Funny. I forgot how irrelevant you were."
That did it.
Jekyll's face snapped into something cold and brittle.
"Guards!" he barked. "Take her to the cells. We'll see how smug she is in a few days."
Jessica didn't resist as they grabbed her arms.
She didn't speak.
She just clutched her braid like a lifeline and walked.

Moments Later – The Holding Cells

The stone corridor reeked of damp and iron. Torches flickered. The cells were smaller than she remembered.
She didn't look up until the bars clanged shut behind her.
Then she blinked.
Three strangers sat across from her — two women and a man. All looked worn, travel-stained, and not from this realm.
But the man closest to the bars lifted his head with a groan and narrowed his eyes.
Jessica's jaw dropped.
"...Hook?"
Killian Hook groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. "If it isn't the girl who bargained and gained the respect of Pan."
Jessica stepped closer to the bars, stunned. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Don't ask. I haven't even figured it out myself."
The two women beside him exchanged a glance.
"Well," said the first — tall, curly red-haired, with a rogue's grin — "any friend of the pirate's is probably a bad influence."
Jessica cracked a dry smile. "Lucky you. I specialize in bad decisions."
Killian leaned back against the wall. "Welcome to the Warden's dungeon, love. What brings you back to the pit?"
Jessica exhaled, voice steady.
"Redemption."