Emma landed hard, chest heaving as the portal closed behind them. The cold floor pressed into her back and pieces of straw clung to her hair. For a moment, she was back in a dark cell, changes binding her ankles as she shivered in the cold, damp air.

Emma shook it away. She couldn't keep going back there. She had survived worse in her eighteen years of foster care. Hell, she had survived worse after foster care. Living on the streets and jail time weren't exactly a piece of cake. But this was different. This was the Evil Queen. Emma hadn't just suffered at her hand. Not like her foster families who neglected and abused her out of anger and selfishness. The Queen had a purpose, to claim her in every way possible.

Each move the Queen made was as methodical as it was unpredictable. Punishments and rewards were given and taken with no discernible pattern. Emma was left floundering in the dark with the Queen's rules as her only foundation.

She had held out as long as possible. After being captured as Princess Leia, she'd spent a week in the dungeon. She was given no comfort and only enough food and water to make sure she didn't die. She was certain she'd lost ten pounds that first week. She'd lost even more weight sense, her red leather jacket sliding over her shoulders. Food was a reward, as she quickly found out. A reward and a temptation.

When the Queen arrived at her cell with a roasted chicken and cooked vegetables, her stomach betrayed her, fighting against any resistance she'd thought she had. She managed not to answer the Queen's request for her real name the first three times she asked, but as the Queen un-lidded each plate, her strength faded.

The Queen pressed a silver fork into the tender mean, steam wafting into the air. She stepped closer to the cell and Emma trembled, her nostrils flaring.

"One last chance, and this," The Queen gestured to the tray of food, "disappears. What is your real name."

Emma squeezed her eyes shut. She knew giving Regina any information was dangerous. It could change their future irrevocably. Then again, she'd already managed to mess things up with her parents. If the damage was already done, what would her name hurt? She was still disguised as Leia. If she did manage dos et things right and get home, there thousands of people who shared her name. Besides, how much longer could she survive without food? The more strength she lost, the less likely she'd be able to escape.

Opening her eyes, she met the Queen's gaze. "Emma."

"Good girl," The Queen whispered, extending the fork. Emma reached for it and the Queen drew back. "Ah-ah-ah. Open."

Emma's eyes widened and her body tensed as her desire for food warred with her pride.

"Three seconds. One. Two. Th-"

Emma lurched forward, her teeth and lips closing over the offered morsel. She pulled back and dropped her eyes to the floor, chewing slowly. When she swallowed, the chicken pressed down the lump building in her throat. It was the first dent in her armor. She tried to tell herself it wouldn't happen again, but as she glanced at the Queen's cat-like smile, she know it would. For whatever reason, the Queen found her intriguing and from she she knew about the Regina in her world, if she took in interest in you, she'd find a way to get what she wanted. The questions was, what did she want now?

The cell opened and magic pushed at her back. Emma stepped forward, bracing when the Queen's fingers gripped her chin. "I'm going to let you out, Emma."

Emma's eyebrows creased. "Why?"

"Don't misunderstand, dear, You are in no way free to go. You broke the law and you are my prisoner. But if you please me tonight, just maybe I'll let you be something else."

Cold tendrils of magic swirled over Emma's skin, tantalizing as they caressed her. Each brush sent a shiver down her spine and goosebumps trailing her skin. The Queen's eyes darkened as a soft whimper slipped through her parched lips. Emma's mind was growing fuzzy, her legs weakening. A faint pulse had started low in her belly. It flushed heat to her center and Emma clenched her thighs. The magic was intoxicating. It was also deceitful, a game The Queen would play over and over again.

In the next second, pleasure turned to pain, razor blades slicing at the protective glamor covering her body. Emma knew it wasn't really her skin being peeled away, but in that moment it was hard to tell the difference. She felt raw and burnt as the air shimmered, Gold's powerful disguise falling away.

When it was over, Emma was on her knees, the Queen's fingers tight in her hair. "Did you think I didn't know?"

Emma didn't answer. She stared up into the dark eyes of the woman who had been her greatest enemy and her greatest friend. And now? She wasn't sure what this was.

"Welcome to your new life, Emma. The first thing you need to know? It is mine."

There were many rules Emma was expected to follow, but that was the first and the one she was expected to remember. Her life was no longer her own. As such, the Queen decided when she slept or ate. She made the decisions as to what comforts Emma received, whether clothing or a bed.

For the most part, The Queen provided Emma with whatever she needed, as long as she was obedient in every other way. That's where it got tricky. Emma was allowed to eat, but only after the Queen gave her permission. Sometimes that meant sitting in front of a warm plate, her hands folded in front of her while she waited for the Regina's nod of approval.

The Queen! Her mind retaliated.

It was how she had survived the last three months. Hook was right to make the distinction when they first fell through Zelena's portal. She couldn't think of the Queen as Regina. If she did…

Emma clamped down on her lip, her body trembling. She felt like an addict, fighting the urge for another hit. When her magic returned, she had almost told the Queen about it. It took everything in Emma to fight the Queen's carefully instilled habits of obedience. It was harder still, knowing she didn't have the skills to just poof away from the castle. If the Queen caught her, she would have felt the reprimand for weeks.

In the end, it was the thought of Henry that made her take the risk. She'd used her magi to skirt passed guards and open the castle locks that kept her prisoner. Afterwards, she threw her efforts into reuniting her parents, erasing the Queen's memory and getting back to Storybrook. As long as she had something else to focus on, she was fine. But now?

No. She was fine. She could do this. She didn't need her Queen.

The Queen, her mind corrected.

"Emma."

She glanced to her left where Hook was limbing to his feet.

"You okay?"

"Fine." She sat up quickly - a little too quickly, and dusted her hands on her jeans. She took his offered hand, allowing him to hoist her up. Everything looked the same way they'd left it, right down to her broken cell phone on the ground. She picked it up, blowing dirt from the cracked screen. She would have to get that fixed, but at least it still worked. The screen lit up, revealing three missed calls: one from her parents, one from Henry, and one from Regina.

Emma swallowed hard and shoved the phone in her pocket, not bothering to listen to their voicemails. "Do you think they're all still at Granny's?"

"Aye. It's still early."

"Late for us." It was the middle of the night before she'd mamboed to open the portal again. "I think I'm just going to go home and get some rest."

"And then what?"

She narrowed her eyes. She hated how arrogant he could be sometimes. While his persistence had gotten them out of a few scrapes, she didn't need it in her personal life. He hadn't prodded about her time locked in the Queen's castle, but his eyes cut to her constantly, careful as if she were cracked glass. She hated it. She didn't need or want his pity. He didn't even know what had happened between them. He assumed the worst, but she wasn't about to tell him the details. She needed space from his worried hovering. Whatever might have been between them was over. That much she knew.

"What are your plans?" Hook tried again.

"I get up and go to work."

"And say what to your parents?"

"That I was tired. I think they'll understand, considering the day's events." She walked from the barn, massaging her forehead when she heard him on her heels.

"And when they ask why you look pale or like you dropped twenty pounds over night?"

"Then I say I'm getting sick. I'll wear layers for a while."

"Emma the book changed-"

"And so did their memories, so just drop it!" She paused, taking a deep breath. "We fixed it, okay? Everything is back to normal. That's all that matters."

"Not everything, love."

"Hook!" She spun on her heel, jabbing her finger into his chest. "You need to forget about this, because as far as I'm concerned, it never happened."

They were both silent, Hook deciding how much further he could push before she killed him. Not far.

"You can't hide from this, Emma."

"Hide from what?" She asked, backing away. "It never happened."