Hello, It's Mrs. Hyde

Prologue:Ch.9: The Return, and the Serum

Jessica (Narration):
"I didn't come back for forgiveness.
I came back to finish what I started.
But I wasn't prepared for the way he looked at me — like a ghost, a mistake, a miracle... all at once."

Jessica leaned against the cold cell wall, her arms folded tight as the other three prisoners debated quietly among themselves in the neighboring chamber. She didn't speak. Not yet. Not until she had answers.
She had expected this to go wrong. But not like this.
Killian's voice broke through the quiet.
"Well, don't all sit at once. Someone be kind enough to introduce yourself ."
The red-haired woman scoffed, dusting herself off. "Honestly, pirate, not every crisis needs your commentary."
He smirked. "Zelena, this is Jessica. She's the one who brought me to Neverland three years ago. Long story short, she bribed Pan, didn't die, and I've respected her ever since."
Jessica gave him a half glance. "I'd say 'likewise,' but your flair for drama's gotten worse."
Zelena rolled her eyes. "Of course she's friends with him."
The brunette woman stepped forward, kind eyes filled with hesitation. "I'm Mary Margaret. But most people call me Snow. This is my husband, David."
Jessica blinked. "Wait. Snow White and David?"
David gave a polite nod. "Prince Charming, technically. And you already met Zelena."
"The formerly Wicked Witch of the West," Zelena said sharply. "And not green anymore."
Jessica raised an eyebrow, clearly amused.
Killian dropped onto a bench. "We were trying to send folks back to their realms from Storybrooke. Zelena was using her wand. Next thing we know, poof — door flares, sucks us in. We land here. Uninvited."
Before Jessica could form a reply, the metallic groan of the corridor door echoed across the stone chamber.
She turned her head sharply.
Her breath hitched.
Hyde.
He stepped into the room like a shadow given weight. Coal-black coat sweeping behind him, dark eyes scanning each cell with slow, practiced control.
The strangers all tensed at the sight of him.
Hyde's gaze locked on Killian first — assessing, calculating.
Killian shifted uncomfortably under the weight of it... and subtly tilted his head toward the cell beside him.
Hyde's brow furrowed.
And then—he saw her.
Jessica.
Frozen in the dim torchlight, her braid falling neatly over her shoulder, eyes wide and alive and here.
His whole body stilled.
The silence pressed in.
When he spoke, his voice was soft, but clipped. "Why are you here?"
Jessica stepped forward until the bars were the only thing between them.
"I had to take a gamble," she said quietly. "I didn't know who I'd find in control. I hid the serum in my hair in case it wasn't you. Now I'm glad I did"
She reached up and gently unbraided the thick black plait, pulling free a small crystal vial filled with shimmering liquid.
Hyde's throat bobbed as he stared at it. At her.
Three years.
And now this.
He took a step closer.
"You're so damn reckless."
"I had to be."
"You could've been killed."
"But I wasn't."
Their eyes held — something crackling between them that no one else could read. Years of history in the smallest exchange.
Hyde glanced down and noticed the silver charm on her wrist — a tiny doe, swaying gently as she held out the vial.
He remembered that charm.
He'd given it to her after one month of working together. She'd found three rare ingredients faster than anyone he'd hired in over a decade. He'd called her efficient. Quietly impressive. And she'd smiled — really smiled — for the first time.
"Do you remember—" he began.
"I never took it off," she whispered.
Hyde blinked hard.
Then stiffened as Killian cleared his throat from the neighboring cell.
"And how exactly do you know her?" Hyde asked darkly, turning to Hook.
Jessica answered first. "He took me to Neverland. I made a deal with Pan for the enchanted waters."
Killian shrugged. "Saved my life, too. That's why Pan didn't gut me on sight."
Hyde scowled. "How convenient. The pirate, the witch, the prince and his damsel. What is this — a cursed bedtime story set up by the dark one to destroy us?"
Snow frowned. "We don't work for Rumplestiltskin—"
"You expect me to believe that?" Hyde snapped. "That the Dark One didn't send you here to end me once and for all?"
Jessica stepped beside the bars. "Why would he send them? They're human. A pirate. A princess. A not-so-green witch."
"I'm not green anymore!" Zelena snapped.
"They're exactly who he'd send," Hyde snarled. "Unassuming. Righteous. Disposable."
Jessica shook her head. "Or maybe you're being paranoid."
"Paranoia has kept me alive," he growled. "You of all people should know that."
Snow stepped up. "We were trying to send people home. Our grandson, Henry, stole a powerful crystal Rumplestiltskin had taken to protect his wife. It's disrupting our world's magic. We were fixing it when we were pulled here."
Hyde stared them down. "Do I look naïve to you?"
Jessica crossed her arms. "Oh, don't start this."
"Tell me," Hyde hissed, "was it me the Dark One wants dead? Or you?"
Killian blinked. "Wait—you know the Crocodile?"
Hyde turned, grabbed Killian by the throat through the bars, and slammed him against the wall.
Jessica didn't move.
"You're wasting time," she said coolly. "And getting no closer to answers."
Snow's voice cracked. "Please—! We're not with him."
Jessica raised an eyebrow. "Why would your grandson steal from Rumplestiltskin?"
Zelena spoke up. "The Dark One took the crystal to protect Belle. He's her husband. But Henry stole it. It's causing magic to collapse in our world."
Hyde let go of Killian at last, breathing hard.
Jessica blinked. "Wait. The Dark One's married?"
David nodded. "Belle. She's pregnant."
Jessica's lips parted in horror. Her eyes darkened.
She stepped forward slowly.
"I should return the favor," she whispered. "Rip her heart out in front of him. Make him watch someone else suffer for once. The way I suffered... when he took Alice's life. When he stole my power—"
David paled. "Alice? Do you... do you have a brother named Jefferson?"
Jessica flinched.
Hyde's head snapped to him.
Jessica's voice trembled. "Let me out."
Hyde stared at her.
"Let me out, Hyde."
"I can't."
Jessica's hands curled into fists. "What do you mean you can't?"
Hyde gripped the bars. "Control is fragile. You know that. I don't know if this works yet. And until I do, the safest place for you is here."
"I can't even go to my room?"
He looked her up and down, regret in every line of his face.
"No," he said softly. "You can't stay anywhere Jekyll could hurt you."
A long silence.
Then, quietly: "Learn everything you can about them."
Jessica blinked.
He leaned in. "Find out what they're hiding."
David stepped forward. "Let us out and we'll leave. We won't trouble you again."
Hyde chuckled darkly. "In my experience, if I want peace, I keep it in a cage. It's when I let it out..."
He turned his back to them, coat sweeping behind him.
"That's when the real trouble begins."
He paused, glanced back once at Jessica — and something softened in his expression.
"If this works," he said quietly, "you won't be in there long."
Then he vanished into the corridor, the heavy door echoing shut behind him.

Jessica (Narration):
*"He didn't say it, but I knew.
He was terrified.
Not of them.
Not of Rumplestiltskin.
Of me.
Of what it would mean...
if the serum worked.
And what it would cost him...
if it failed.*