Hello, It's Mrs. Hyde

Prologue:Ch.13: The Bargain and the Breaking

Jessica (Narration):
*"I never imagined we'd face him again.
Not like this.
Not standing in front of the monster
who took everything from me...
...and looking him in the eye face to face."*

The chamber beneath the fortress was cold and thick with tension. The magical wards shimmered faintly at the stone edges, reacting to the presence of their uninvited guest.
Rumplestiltskin stood with his hands folded neatly behind his back, looking far too calm for a man who had just been summoned via stolen magic and held under threat.
Or perhaps he simply didn't care.
His appearance was not what it once had been.
Gone was the impish posture, the flamboyant spin and golden skin. The man before them looked... ordinary. Mortal. His dark coat hung heavy on his shoulders, and his once-immaculate hair was streaked with gray. He looked weary. Human.
But Jessica knew better.
"Mr. Hyde," he drawled, the familiar hiss still lingering in his voice. "This is a surprise."
Hyde stood like a statue beside Jessica, arms folded, eyes narrowed.
Rumplestiltskin's gaze flicked to her.
Then narrowed.
His mouth twitched, not quite a smirk. "Well. If it isn't the little witch whose powers I put in a jar. Impressive stealing them back"
Jessica didn't flinch.
Hyde stepped forward. "We have your wife."
The words hung in the air like a blade.
Rumple arched a brow.
Jessica opened the enchanted box with a whisper. Light flickered briefly, revealing Belle — still glowing, still suspended in magical sleep.
"Untouched," Jessica said. "And safe."
"You came to bargain." Rumple looked back at Hyde. "For yourselves?"
Hyde shook his head slowly. "For everyone. Every soul in the Land of Untold Stories. You'll open the way to Storybrooke — a clean transfer. You get Belle. We get freedom."
Rumple laughed once — dry, unimpressed.
"You expect me to help you. You — a creature born from cowardice," he said to Hyde. "And you—" he turned to Jessica, "a child who never learned the rules of making deals and trusting strangers ."
Jessica took a single step forward. Her eyes glowed faintly red.
"I learned," she said softly. "And I remember everything."
For the first time, Rumplestiltskin's jaw tightened.
"Fine," he said at last. "You want Storybrooke? I'll open the way. I'll even throw in a generous spell to protect you from the worst of the fallout. But I want what's mine"
Jessica looked at Hyde. He smirked.
"You'll get what's yours after you've transported all of us to Storybrooke"
"Fine. I'll cast the spell," he said, voice low.
He raised his hands.
Gold maroon light shimmered at his fingertips — not as bright as it used to be. Duller. But still potent.
The spell circle flared around them. The stone beneath their feet warmed, pulsing with runes old as the realms themselves. Jessica closed her eyes as wind surged through the chamber, lifting her hair like a storm was forming inside her chest.
She could feel it working.
They were leaving.
But then—something shifted.
The magic twisted.
She opened her eyes.
"Hyde?" she called, panic lacing her voice.
He turned to her at the same moment—
And vanished.
She felt herself yanked violently sideways — the circle fracturing under her feet. The world shattered.
Darkness swallowed her whole.

The Woods — Storybrooke

Jessica woke to the smell of pine needles and damp earth.
Her body ached.
She pushed herself up on trembling arms, coughing. The sun bled through the trees above — early morning, cold, hazy. Her coat was ripped at the elbow, and her braid was tangled with dirt.
She sat up slowly, rubbing her temple.
Then the realization hit her like a breath stolen from her lungs.
They had done it.
The air buzzed with the magic of this world — subtle, yes, but it was here. She recognized it. Different than the Land of Untold Stories. More whole.
Jessica rose shakily to her feet.
"No... Hyde?" she called out, looking around.
Nothing.
She spun in a circle, dread curling in her belly. She was alone.
The bastard had separated them.
Of course he did.
Of course Rumplestiltskin would twist the deal. He couldn't kill her. Not directly. But he could strand her. Isolate her. Rip her away from the only person she'd let in since—
Jessica bit her lip and closed her eyes.
"No time for that," she muttered.
She opened her palm and let a thin crimson line form across it — a small cut from her thumbnail. Blood welled. She held the bleeding hand over the earth and whispered a name.
"Jefferson."
The blood pulsed, then sizzled into the dirt.
The soil glowed. A faint trail of red light slithered off into the trees like a whisper.
Jessica didn't hesitate.
She followed it.