CHAPTER TEN
A PROPER LADY

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Josie stared at the place where Morgana and Zelena had disappeared in what she really wanted to be shock. From the moment they'd laid out their plan, Josie had a bad feeling about it, she knew something would go wrong or wouldn't go their way and now here they were, standing in the abandoned home, having failed at doing the one thing they had set out to do.

To no one's surprise, Regina was not happy. She had demanded answers out of the air, questioning no one about where her sister was taken. As Josie sat down on the nearest surface she could in order to catch her breath, Abraham was patient in trying to calm Regina, assure her a second attempt once they find Morgana's new hideout, would be a success. Josie wanted to believe her father as much as Regina did, she was sure, but after their failure, the young vampire hunter just didn't have it in her.

Nicholai sat down next to her, just close enough that their arms brushed. It was a silent way of offering comfort when they were both too tired for anything more. Judging by the look on his face, he was getting close to needing to feed. He hadn't fed since before the quake and the collision and with how much energy he'd needed to exert in that time, Josie questioned just how safe it was for him to be around all these people, especially with how angry Regina was. She would never deign to question her best friend's control, but she knew that if he waited too long, it didn't matter how much control he had.

"No, she knew that we were coming," Regina said, suddenly rounding on Kate. "You told her, didn't you? Warned her that we were coming."

"I did no such thing!" Kate protested.

"How else could she have escaped us?" Regina demanded.

"Regina," Robin said softly, placing a hand on her arm.

"No one had to inform Morgana of our plan," Josie said, finally looking up and meeting the eyes of those around her. "As far as she was aware, two of her prisoners managed to escape. Why would we not have come for the one remaining with immediate haste?"

Everyone exchanged glances before Emma spoke up. "She knew who she was up against."

"Of course, she did. We are heroes, are we not? She assumed, correctly so, that we would do the heroic thing and rescue Zelena," Josie continued. "We might as well have walked into a trap."

"What are we supposed to do now, then, just let her keep my sister captive?" Regina asked, her tone still heavy with anger.

"No," Abraham said. "We will find out where Zelena is and get her back from Morgana. Only this time, we will do our proper research so that we are properly prepared."

With that said, Abraham was able to easily turn the topic of conversation to them all getting out of the woods and back home. It wasn't safe to linger in the woods of Nightmoor, after all, and they couldn't say whether they were near or far from a part of the woods that had originated in Nightmoor. Emma was quick to agree with Abraham, which helped get everyone on board to get out of the woods.

Though Josie was more than eager to get out of the woods, instead of doing what everyone else was doing and making sure everyone had everything they would need, she pulled Nicholai aside where no one else could hear them but they were still in sight of the group.

"You should remain while we all head back to the city so that you can feed," she said.

"I appreciate your concern, but—"

"Nic, it has been three days. Three rather treacherous days, I know you hate having to do it, but..." Josie said, trying to meet his eye as he avoided her gaze. "What would you do if I hadn't eaten anything in three days?"

"They are not the same thing."

"T'is the very same. Blood for you is equivalent to both food and water for mortals," Josie argued. "You gain nothing by not feeding, in fact, you are weakening yourself and these are not times when you can get away with not being at your best."

Nicholai sighed heavily, finally meeting her eyes. "You are right, of course."

"Aren't I always?" she teased, making him roll his eyes. "You know I trust you would never hurt me, even when you get too hungry, but our new allies... there is no part of you which holds the same attachment to them you do to my family. The beast you hold back would think them simply easy targets because they already trust you. And I know you do not wish to harm them."

"So I should feed before the beast gets control," he finished her thought, prompting her to nod in agreement. "All right, I will inform your father of my intentions."

"And you will return to my home after you have fed," she said.

"Josie, I really think it would be best if I returned to the office, my primary residence."

She shook her head, grabbing his arm. "I think we would all feel better if you were close by. My father was kidnapped, you smelt him following us, I saw Renfield when I went to the office with Henry... I— I don't want to take a chance on you being alone there. Not now."

"As you wish," he told her, bowing his head towards her with a soft smile. "As long as you make sure Tori has more of those chocolate tea biscuits waiting for me."

She laughed to herself as she watched her friend walk away towards where her father was, finally feeling better after their failure of a rescue mission.

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The next morning was chaos unlike what they had experienced in the few days since the crash and was much more akin to the normal type of chaos to be found in the van Helsing home prior to everything changing.

After their failed rescue mission, Luella had extended an invitation to Regina, Robin and their children to come for lunch the following day. Though Luella claimed it was just to get to know some of their allies better and she fully intended on inviting the others over, Abraham, Josie and Nicholai suspected she really just wanted to see Marian again. It had been quite a few years since Luella had a baby to hold, after all.

Like most days when the van Helsing family was hosting any kind of get-together, Luella took charge of making sure everything was going to be perfect before anyone arrived. From just about the crack of dawn, Luella had everyone awake and hard at work cleaning, organizing and preparing. While Abraham, Josie and Nicholai were put to work cleaning and then setting not just the dining table but also the sitting room for tea after their meal, Luella and Tori were hard at work in the kitchen, preparing their meal.

As they were getting close to the time they had told their guests to arrive, Luella finally came out of the kitchen to check on their progress and her eyes widened when they landed on Josie.

"Josie, darling, you told me you got dressed!" Luella exclaimed.

She looked down at her clothes, confused, as she had done exactly as her mother had told her to. She hadn't even chosen a pair of trousers to wear that day and had done the proper thing and chosen an outfit that had a skirt. It was one of her nicer sets, as well, a black skirt and matching shirt with an overskirt and vest of a deep purple colour.

"I am dressed," Josie argued.

"Then where is the matching coat?" Luella questioned her.

"Mother, we are not even going to be leaving the house, I hardly think I need my coat."

"You cannot greet our guests without being fully dressed."

"I am fully dressed!" Josie said. "Shirt, vest, skirt, stockings, boots... I hardly think anyone would be offended that I am not wearing the coat."

Luella sighed heavily, forcing a smile as her gaze turned to her husband. "This is your fault, you know. If you hadn't insisted she become a hunter like you, I might actually have a daughter who knows how to be a proper lady."

"I know how to be a proper lady!"

"My love," Abraham said softly, wrapping an arm around Luella. "That is why we had Victoria. So you would have your proper lady and I would have my hunter."

Rolling her eyes and shaking her head, Luella walked back towards the kitchen to finish preparing. Josie turned a questioning look to her father, gesturing to her clothes but Abraham simply held up a hand and nodded to tell her not to worry and that she was fine.

Just then, there was a knock at the door and Josie called out that she would answer it, hurrying towards the door. Upon pulling it open, she found herself looking at Regina and Robin, who were at the front of their family. To her delight, she found they had both dressed up further than she had previously seen them, likely so they would fit in better with her family, who had a very different style of dress.

"Welcome to my home," she said, gesturing them inside. "My mother and sister are just finishing up in the kitchen, you can go into the sitting room."

"You have a lovely home," Regina told her as they came inside.

"Please, you should save that compliment for my mother, it is all her doing."

After they had all come inside, Josie shut the door behind them and followed them into the sitting room. When they were all there, she finally caught sight of Henry as Robin and Abraham greeted each other and shook hands.

Henry had, like the rest of his family, dressed up a little bit. He wore a suit that, while quite dissimilar to the suits that she was accustomed to, she could still recognize as a suit. The white shirt underneath was plain, without the ruffles and accentuations that most dress shirts she normally saw had and his tie was longer and thinner than what she had expected. The suit overall fit him much looser than the suits that Nicholai and her father wore, the jacket still buttoning, but not tightly.

But regardless of all the differences she could see, Josie was still amazed at how well it suited him. She couldn't imagine how well put together he would look in a suit of the Nightmoor style.

Josie shook herself out of her thoughts as her mother and sister appeared in the room at her father's call. Luella greeted both Regina and Robin kindly, accepting Regina's compliment of her home with pride and grace.

"I believe a round of introductions are in order before we make our way to the dining room," Nicholai said.

"Yes, of course," Robin said. He turned towards a blonde around the same age as Henry first. "This is Teresa Holmes, she has been like a daughter to me for many years. And the one hiding behind her leg is my son, Roland."

The young boy, Roland, much resembled his father, with the same dark curls and looked to be about the same age as Tori.

"A pleasure to meet you," Abraham said. "This is my wife, Luella, and our youngest daughter, Victoria."

"That must mean this young man is Henry," Luella said, smiling in the boy's direction. "My daughter and son have spoken very highly of you."

"They have?" Henry asked, glancing at Nicholai and Josie.

"I give credit where credit is due," Josie told him. "Your help, especially while my father was still missing, was instrumental."

A slight flush grew on Henry's cheeks as Luella gestured them all towards the dining room where their meal was ready to be served.

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After everyone had eaten and enjoyed the delicious meal prepared by Luella and Tori, they went to the sitting room where tea was prepared for them to enjoy as they continued to get to know one another.

While the adults continued their conversations from lunch, Josie, Nicholai, Henry and Teresa withdrew to conduct a tour of the van Helsing home and, as Roland and Tori seemed to have made fast friends with each other, the two children made their way upstairs to Tori's playroom where they could play without disturbing the rest of the occupants of the home.

Though most of the home was uninteresting, simply a normal home apart from the beautiful furnishings of Luella, most of the tour passed quickly. But both Henry and Teresa were quite fascinated by the parts of the house that stood apart from any in Storybrooke. That being, of course, the additions made to protect the occupants of the home from the monsters and unholy beings that occupied the world of Nightmoor.

They took time to show them how the steel coverings for the windows were hidden in the walls and even how their basement was constructed to be a safe room, should the protections on the outer walls of the home fail or it was a particular dangerous night. They even showed them the hidden compartment under the stairs where most of their hunting weapons were kept and Josie was particularly impressed when Teresa grabbed a bow off one of the shelves complimented its make, saying it was almost better than her own bow.

When the adults had finally finished with their tea, they all collected their coats once again to prepare to depart from the home. As they waited for Roland to come downstairs, the group began their farewells.

"That was a lovely meal, Mrs van Helsing," Regina said. "Thank you so much for having us."

"Oh, it was my pleasure. And please, call me Luella," she responded with a smile.

"I think we should meet tomorrow to gain further insight into our foe, Morgana," Abraham said. "There is a hunter I know who is as familiar with the witch as myself and I believe she will be of great use in helping us understand who we are going up against."

"Elsa Bloodstone?" Josie asked.

Abraham looked at his daughter in surprise. "Yes, it is Elsa indeed. How did you know that?"

"When you were still missing, after we had learned Morgana was the name of our foe, we went to the office to look through your files to see if we could learn more information. We found the file on your encounter with her alongside Elsa Bloodstone," Josie explained.

"Why didn't you or Nicholai say something earlier?" Abraham asked.

"I did not go with her," Nicholai said.

"I took Henry with me," Josie said.

"Henry?" Abraham questioned, looking to the boy.

Understanding her father's confusion as being, not about how Henry could have been of help, but rather about why Josie would have trusted a stranger with their files, she was quick to start explaining.

"I had never heard the name Morgana from you before, all we knew was she was a witch. Henry is the Author, he knows the stories of people and he would have known how to identify Morgana in any of the files."

"I see," Abraham said.

"Truthfully, Father, we have not had time to go into further explanations of what Henry being the Author means, but it is because of his knowledge that we found the file," Josie continued.

"Well, regardless of that," Abraham said, still looking confused, "I will contact Elsa and we will go and speak with her tomorrow."