Devotion
Ever since she had returned to Storybrooke, Emma Swan had the feeling she was being watched. Ok, she knew she was being watched, watched by her parents, by Regina, even by Granny at the diner. In fact, the only one she thought wasn't watching her was Belle. But then the other woman seemed to keep more or less to herself, which wasn't a big surprise either. The woman had been the great love of Rumplestiltskin's life, and one of the reasons he had sacrificed himself to save them all. While no one could really understand her choice, everyone respected what he had done for them, what he had done for her. So they had treated her as if she were his widow, kindly, friendly, but careful not to intrude on her grief which had still been close to the surface. It wasn't lack of care, but an understanding about loss that kept Belle from being a part of the well meaning surveillance team. Emma was incredibly grateful for it.
But when she went into the woods looking for the witch, she still felt like she was being watched. When she was alone in the room at Granny's, or with Henry, she still felt it. For a while she thought she was being paranoid, then she thought she was being spied on magically by Regina, but that didn't seem right either. It wasn't until after finding Neal, after loosing him and watching Gold fall apart at her feet, his mind ravished by grief and madness. She had been unable to do anything, he wouldn't leave and she couldn't stay. But as she walked away to get help she heard something, something above her, something like the sound of wings, then it was gone.
The next day, Neal's funeral, they had stood together, a few words to be said. All missing him, and all feeling the empty space where the one person next to Emma herself who should be there, wasn't. She had offered the shovel to Belle, letting her stand in for the one who should be but couldn't, because of the Witch. The witch who tricked Neal, the Witch who had driven Rumplestiltskin mad in his grief and his captivity. As she walked away from the graveyard, she heard it again, the sound of wings. She pulled her gun and turned, spinning around looking for trouble. The witch had flying monkeys after all, Emma should know, she'd almost married one. After that, Emma was particularly careful, listening for the sound. She wondered if she was being followed by one of the witch's creatures.
After the funeral, after the failed attempt to free Rumplestiltskin that had left Belle emotionally torn apart, after Regina's draw in the showdown against the witch, she had retreated to her room, needing some time alone, and she wasn't the only one. Alone in her room, she found an odd bouquet of flowers, left on the desk by the window, which was opened. She wondered who had left them. They didn't look like something that Hook would leave, and besides, in his own way, he grieved Bae as well. There was a story there, one that she only knew part of it, but there was time for that later. Emma regarded the flowers, they looked like they had been picked in the wild, or from someone's back yard, not the sort of thing that could be bought at the store. She put them in a vase with a shrug. There was no card.
The next morning started as so many did here, with an impromptu war council in the diner. They seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. Henry had been sent off with Killian again, having enjoyed spending time with someone who had known his father. Maybe, she thought, she should let him spend time with Belle, after all, she had spent the last year together in the Enchanted Forest, and while she didn't have specific memories, she could speak to him about who his father had been. Like everyone else in town, after they had returned from Neverland, he had become protective of Belle, stepping in to keep her safe while Rumplestiltskin tried to save the rest of them. Besides, though she didn't like to think about it, if they never got him back, Belle might be the only one who could tell Henry about the Grandfather he wouldn't know. Not that he knew the one he had, but that was all for later. There was probably a way to get a memory potion but she admitted to her reluctance. Henry had been happy in New York, could she take that away from him for this...this life? In her distraction, Emma had wondered down through town, past the pawn shop and was headed for the old toll bridge, the one that some wit had renamed the Troll Bridge with a can of spray paint. Aware of how alone she was, Emma thought about heading back toward town. But it was nice to just be alone with her thoughts. Still she looked around cautiously. She could feel herself being watched, and while who ever or whatever it is hadn't attacked yet, didn't mean that they wouldn't. Before she could get too paranoid there was a sound, something bursting from the bushes. Emma turned but before she knew what was happening, whatever it was had disappeared, if it was ever there in the first place. For a moment, she wondered if Gold had managed to escape his imprisonment again, but when they had tried to get him before, it hadn't ended well, and she had a feeling that whatever loop hole had allowed him to escape had been closed. But before she could put it off as her imagination, something fell and landed at her feet. It was a piece of gold thread or yarn, woven into some kind of symbol. Tiny strands, carefully woven together, in and out, the closer she looked the more she wondered how he managed it.
Emma wasn't certain what it was, but she knew one thing, gold thread meant Rumplestiltskin, and there was one person who could tell her what it was, and what meant. Casting a look around again, this time looking up as well, Emma tucked it into her jacket pocket one handed, her pistol still out and retreated carefully back along the way she came. Mr. Gold's Pawn and Antiquities was locked though the sign was turned to open. Considering the situation in town, she was fairly certain Belle was just being cautious. Emma knocked on the window briskly.
After what seemed an awfully long time, she saw the blinds twitch and then the lock clicked and the door opened cautiously. "Emma?" Belle asked. Her eyes were puffy and she looked like she hadn't slept last night. In fact, she was still wearing the clothes she had been wearing when they made their aborted attempt to rescue Rumplestiltskin. "Sorry, I was in the back trying to research the components that Zelena is trying to gather, to see if we can figure out what her plan is."
"Have you slept at all?" Emma asked as she followed the shorter woman inside, watching as she carefully locked the door behind them, and led her into the back room. Belle seemed to have set up housekeeping there, though Emma knew that she probably had 'inherited' the big pink house that had belonged to Gold as well. Of course, in her place, she wondered if she would do any differently. She knew the two of them had lived together briefly after the curse ended, and that from what she could tell (and everyone else in town) she was moving back that way when Gold had sacrificed himself to destroy his father (and geez, could her son have a more screwed up family tree than that?) Would she have been able to do it? She wasn't certain but really it was none of her business.
"I can't sleep, there is too much to do. We need answers, and this is the only way I can help," Belle said, the frustration showing clear in her face.
"Killing yourself won't help anything though, you know. I know you are worried about him, but if Gold thought you were.."
"You don't understand Emma," Belle said urgently.
"I do, I saw the way she had him...caged," the Saviour spat the word out like a bad cup of coffee.
"No, you don't," Belle said. "It's not about the cage, or the filthy suit or any of the other things you can see, those are just the trappings. The real prison is his own body. With that dagger, he has no control over himself, none. She plays with him, just like she played with us yesterday. Did you think that little demonstration was just for us? It was a reminder to him, of what she can make him do, of the fact that while he can resist just a little, ultimately, his body is not his own, and he is a prisoner inside of it, and the whim of that...that woman." She spat the last word out, an epithet filled with more anger and disgust than Emma thought was possible from the little librarian who seemed to always see the best in other.
"I..." Emma didn't have an answer, the implications were worse than she had ever imagined. Her stomach rolled and if she had ever thought that she would be nauseated on behalf of Gold, she would have decided she was losing her mind. She needed to get them off this subject, and right now. "Belle, I might have something, but I need your help and now. Does this mean anything to you?" She pulled out the little...well, whatever it was and showed it to Belle.
"It...the work is clearly Rumple's, do you think he has escaped again?" she asked, excited. "Where did you find it, we should go look..." The woman was halfway to the door when Emma stopped her.
"I don't think so, I mean, I am sure he made it, but it kind of fell out of the sky on me. I just don't know, but I thought the symbol might be important? Maybe he found a way to help us?"
"It looks familiar, but I'm not exactly sure what it is. I can look though. Leave it with me, I will start on it immediately."
"Yeah, just let me take a picture of it to send to Regina, she might know something as well, maybe the Blue Fairy?" At the mention of the fairy Belle pulled a face, but nodded, her mind clearly on her research. She understood, this was something that the woman could do, a way she could help in the fight to get her love back. Belle was no warrior, though she doubted the woman was bad in a fight, but she was a first class researcher and she knew more about Gold (and on a more intimate level) than anyone else in town. She finished taking the picture and sending it out, and handed it to Belle.
"I'm going to put it in a magic proof box, just in case its another trap by the witch," Belle said. "Then I will get started."
"You do that, I'm going to try to figure out where it came from. I'm going to send someone over to keep an eye on you as well. I know you aren't harmless in a fight, but you need to be able to get your work done without having to look over your shoulder."
"All right, I accept, but this time can you give me anyone but Hook?" she said with a heavy sign. The two of them were never going to be friends, and besides the Captain was spending more time with Henry today, so Emma agreed and got Belle to let her out, waiting for her to lock the door behind her. The savior was already on the phone with two things on her mind, getting protection for Belle, and finding whoever it was that had dropped that little token at her feet. Once again when she left the shop, she thought she heard wings. Was she really being followed by one or more flying monkeys, or was she just getting paranoid. Certainly there were plenty of winged things in Storybrooke, most of them sea gulls.
Instead, she decided to try to figure out a little something on her own. She knew that Zelena's flying monkeys were people that disappeared from Storybrooke and that they tended to get people who got close to the old town line, the barrier between them and the rest of the world. But where were they when they weren't picking off errant Merry Men? If she could find out where Zelena kept them, she could find a way to contain them, keep them out of the fight. No one wanted to kill them, not knowing if they were killing a friend or family member. Besides, she was starting to wonder about those monkeys, how much of the person remained, were they like Rumplestiltskin, trapped in their bodies (or rather in transformed bodies) unable to do anything but what they were commanded? What she needed was an answer, and for that she needed to find where flying monkeys roosted, or nested or whatever the hell it was they did.
Four hours and what seemed like several hundred miles later, Emma felt that if she saw another tree she was going to scream. She had explained her idea to David (her father, yeah, that never got any easier), and he had agreed with her, forming teams to search every outlying house, barn, shack and shed, not to mention some caves that the dwarves knew of. She'd been paired up with a couple of Robin Hood's men, the one called Will Scarlet and another who went by the name of Much. They had sent Sneezy and one of the other dwarves down to search the caves, figuring that they were the best in caves and mines, and besides, Sneezy was like to be heard a mile off. Leroy, the dwarf known as Grumpy, had volunteered to take his pick axe and guard Belle. Granny, while keeping an eye on the diner, had her crossbow out and when not serving customers, was surveying the street, looking for trouble.
"Nothing here," Much said from the old storm cellar that was all that was left standing of an old house that was their latest target. Before she could comment, Emma's phone rang. It was a very excited Belle.
In less that thirty minutes, she was back in her car, getting ready to head to Gold's shop. She heard the wings and this time she turned quickly enough, seeing the flying monkey as he dropped something out of the sky onto the hood of her car. A bundle of weeds, looked like, or maybe they were supposed to be flowers? "Great, now I'm getting flowers from a flying monkey, as if one wasn't enough. A flying monkey and a pirate, great going, Swan," she said to herself, but for some reason she put the bundle in the car. She wasn't sure why, but since she was pretty sure he had been following her, and that if he wanted to attack, he already would have done, there had to be something in it. As she drove, she started to wonder about the flowers she had found in her room. Was the thing trying to tell her something? Did it have something to do with the gold symbol that had almost fallen on her earlier? Was it possibly it was working with Gold? If there was a loop hole, she knew that man would find it, he was the king of loopholes, and between what Belle had told her and what she had seen, the pain in his face when he had watched his son die, the horror and fear of what she would make him do to Belle, if there was a way out, he was going to find it. Then the Witch would have a lot bigger problems, and Emma wasn't certain she would bother with even a token protest. If he wanted to make that green bitch a smoking crater, the only thing she would ask is that he cleared the blast area.
With this sort of cheery thoughts in her head, Emma headed for the shop. Pulling up to the front, Emma was shocked. The parking area next to the shop was full, she saw David's truck, Regina's little Mercedes, and two other cars that she didn't recognise. She jumped out of the bug and hurried to the door which was already being open in anticipation of her arrival. Obviously she had been seen. As she stepped in she felt the tingle of magic, like she was walking through some kind of shield. She remembered the protection spell Gold had her cast before, when he was wounded. Inside Leroy greeted her. "Took you long enough, sister. They are in the back. Looks like things are starting to turn."
Emma hurried behind the curtain, the small space had more people than she had ever seen in the shop at one time. It was almost claustrophobic, and she wondered how Belle felt about having her space invaded, but realised that if it meant getting her love back and saving them all, she probably wouldn't care if they were rifling her underwear drawer. Regina was there, as were David, Mary Margaret, the Blue Fairy, Astrid (probably only because Leroy was on guard duty), Granny, complete with cross bow, and, for reason's she couldn't fathom, Archie Hopper and his dog Pongo.
"He can smell them, the flying monkeys that is," Archie said, clearly seeing her confusion at his presence. She just nodded.
"I don't know where you got this, or who gave it to you, but you were right, it is important," Regina said straight out. "It must have taken him forever to make it, it is definitely Rumplestiltskin's work. It is incredibly delicate, and while he was working it, his magic would be effected, so he had to be really careful with Zelena around. The question is what exactly does he want us to do with it, and how are we supposed to do it with him under her thumb."
"Can we start with what it is?" Emma asked, feeling like she was missing a few pages.
"It's an anti-magic charm," Belle said, picking it up. Emma watched as Regina and Blue both backed away from it. "It doesn't protect me from their magic, but if you were to say, hang it on Regina, she would be unable to do magic. It wouldn't negate the magic that she had already done, but it would prevent her from doing any more."
"Ok, so we have something that will neutralise her magic, that helps, but it still doesn't tell us how to get close to her, or give us a way to get rid of her. Its not like we can lock her up in the jail."
"Why do we need to do anything with her?" Regina said. "Once she is nuetralised enough to get the Dark One's dagger away from her..."
"And back into his hands," Belle said immediately, making her position clear.
"Of course," Regina said, a little quietly as if she had never thought anything else. "Anyway, once he is free and in control of himself, I say we just step back and let him have at her."
"That's not..." both Snow White and the Blue Fairy started at the same time.
"Revenge," the Blue Fairy said, "never leads to anything good, surely."
"Surely you jest," Belle spoke up, her usually bright and friendly face bitter and angry. "It's not revenge, its justice. She tricked Bae and then stole his life. she's chained Rumple in a cage like a dog, unable to do anything but obey her whim. I would kill her myself if I could." The blue fairy looked around but even Snow White was nodding in agreement. They had lost so much, and the witch was to blame. Rumplestiltskin was the most injured party.
"So the question is, how to we stop her long enough to hang a magical amulet on her, and how do we prevent her from taking it off?" Emma asked.
"I don't suppose anyone saved any of that squid ink?" Regina asked. "I know I'm fresh out."
"There might be some in Rumple's laboratory at the house," Belle said but there was a hesitation in her voice, one that everyone understood. Still it was a surprise to everyone when Regina spoke up.
"I will go look for it if you like. He taught me, I imagine I can still remember how to navigate his ingredients. You don't..."
"We will both go," Belle said. She seemed to have more or less made peace with the other woman, but while she might trust her to find a potion ingredient, she wasn't about to let her riffle through Rumple's laboratory, not without her.
"Alright, so let's meet up in, say an hour at Granny's?" David, ever the general, asked checking his watch. There were nods all around, though Leroy decided to stay at the shop.
"Thought I saw one of those flying monkeys around, think I'd best keep an eye on the place, magical protection or not." On that there was agreement, though Belle sighed when Astrid decided to stay with him. She just hoped he kept her with him and away from the breakables.
Emma went back to her car, debating with herself whether she should bother to move it. Bluntly, Storybrooke just wasn't that big. But when she get to the car, she saw another bundle of those weeds on the hood. Probably from the flying monkey Leroy thought he had seen. But why would a flying Monkey want to bother with her. Why would it risk going against its mistress to help them or Rumplestiltskin? But those were all questions for later, right now she needed to figure out what she was going to do about Henry. They could hardly have a war council with him around, though she knew how much he would have loved it before. Which was better, she wondered, to mourn a father he had gotten to know and love or spend the rest of his life without that memory? What of his grandparents? Could she leave all this behind and just try to forget again, her parents, her friends, not to mention that new brother or sister?. Then there was Regina. As much as the woman occasionally annoyed her, she had raised Henry. It most certainly was unfair to her.
But she couldn't worry about that right now. At the moment, her priority had to be dealing with Henry. He would be back from his day with Hook soon enough. Unsure exactly what to do, Emma made her way back to Granny's carrying both 'bouquets'.
"What is that you've got there?" Granny said as she walked into the back hallway on her way up to her room. "Got yourself a secret admirer?"
"Not a clue," Emma said. "I think the flying monkey dropped these on my car. The same one that I think dropped that thing we found earlier."
"Well, if they are meant to be romantic, I'd hold out for roses." The old woman turned toward the kitchen while Emma continued up the stairs.
"Achoo."
"Bless you," Emma replied out of habit, recognising Tinker Bell coming out of her own room. "Not catching a cold are you?"
"Not at all, we fairies aren't susceptible to those things. No, the only thing that makes me sneeze is...Where did you get that?" the fairy said suddenly, looking suspiciously at the bundles in her arms.
"They landed on my car, why?"
"That is Fairy's Tansy, it's an incredibly rare herb. It grows only a couple places in the Enchanted Forest, but I didn't know it grew here."
"No idea, I'm no botanist. Does it have a meaning or a use or something? Seriously, it's important. We just might have a way of getting rid of the wicked witch," she said urgently.
"Not sure, don't let the colour fool you, herb lore was never my thing. The only thing I know about it is that fairies are allergic to it, rather like what do you call it, hay fever. You need Magenta for that."
"Can you get her for me, like now?"
"I suppose, sure, I'm not actually doing anything at the moment, certainly not anything more important than defeating that witch. What do you..."
"Bring her right back here, we are having a meeting. Belle and Regina went to Gold's to see if he had some squid ink."
"So there's a plan?" Tink said with a smile. She had been like the rest of them, anxious for something that she could actually do, even if it was just getting the person they needed. Actually they were all spoiling for a fight but no one was going to take on the Dark One, not with him under the Witch's control Still, any plan was better than none. She turned back down the stairs to head to the convent.
They were all gathered in Granny's. Henry was sitting at a table with his headphones on, playing his video game. It wasn't ideal but it was what they had. "No luck with the squid ink. Gold was out too." Regina started with no preamble.
"Well that sucks," Emma said. "But we have a new clue, two bundles of this," she indicated the herb sitting on the table. She had only brought down one piece of the plant in deference to the fairies. "Tink says it's Fairy's Tansy, I don't know what it does except make them sneeze but Tink is going..." As if conjured by the sound of her voice Tink, Blue and another fairy, probably Magenta came through the door. The minute they got near the table, all three of them started to sneeze.
"Fairy's Tansy?" the new fairy spoke up instantly. "Where did you get that?"
"Long story, but it might be part of a plan to defeat the Witch," Emma answered.
"Well, it's really rare at home, not sure if it grows here at all, but it has one specific magical property, it can be used to immobilize magical beings. It's kind of like squid ink. But that little bit won't do much."
"I have two bundles of it upstairs, they were dropped onto my car. I just didn't want to bring it all down considering..." A flurry of sneezes from the three fairies interrupted her. "That," she finished.
"Might be enough to make up a potion," the Magenta fairy said, nodding and accepting a handkerchief from Mary Margaret. "There is only one problem. I can't make it up. It's really best handled by someone who..."
"Can I do it?" Belle asked. "I've helped Rumple a time or two, with the potions, I have no magic myself." The Magenta fairy looked her over carefully. Most of the fairies didn't know Belle, due to her association with Rumplestiltskin and his distaste for him.
"You have magic, the most powerful magic of all, True Love, but it is not the kind of magic that can be effected by anything like this. If you know how to follow instructions, I can talk you through it. It's best not to have a magical practitioner do it, one wrong move will immobilize them, It's a lot less stable than squid ink, which can be handled more or less safely. We will need a laboratory, but I am sure..."
"We can use Rumplestiltskins," she said quickly.
"Ok, you two go get that started, please Belle. Now we just need an actual plan for getting the witch where we want her, a distraction, and someone to hang the charm on her. Piece of cake," Emma said sarcastically. As Belle and Magenta left, they settled down to work on the rest of the details. When Emma looked up, her son was still buried in his game.
"Mom, are you thinking of staying here?" Henry said to her as they were coming down to breakfast the next morning.
"Why, do you want to?" She asked startled.
"I don't know, maybe. It just seems you've got so many friends here, and well, I don't know, this place seems kind of familiar for some reason. I just thought, you know with things not turning out with Walsh and all..."
"Henry, we aren't here because of what happened with Walsh, it's...well, it was about helping your father," she said, not really knowing what to say. She couldn't tell him the truth. But did she want to stay? That was still the question.
"If my dad hadn't died, do you think...you know, you and he..."
"I don't know, Henry, I... I loved him, a lot. But things just got complicated," Emma said. She didn't want to think about it, really. She loved Neal, she would always love him. Did she want to be in this place that reminded her of where they had loved each other, of where he died. Could she take Henry away from all of that? "We will just have to see about staying. Right now, I need to concentrate on the getting the person that killed him. Maybe after that we can talk. Do you really want to leave your friends?"
"I can make more friends, besides, I just don't feel like I know those people anymore, like it was some kind of dream but I don't remember anything else. It's weird," he said. Emma looked at him. Maybe just being in Storybrooke was breaking down the spell on his memory. But that was for later, after they had destroyed the witch, or more accurately after they had freed Gold to do it. It wasn't the best plan, but one thing she knew, Regina couldn't stand against the witch and she surely couldn't. Maybe her job this time as savior was to make it possible for someone else to break the curse. It was the best she could come up with at the moment. They still didn't have a good plan to draw the witch out. All they had come up with was that they needed to get her to a spot where they could use the potion on her.
Regina had suggested calling her out, much like she had done, but no one really wanted to use that option unless they had to. The one thing they knew, she would cheat. It was Belle, unsurprisingly, that suggested making another try at getting to Rumplestiltskin. But if he knew the plan, he could be forced to tell Zelena, probably why he had found this unorthodox method of communicating with them. No one had any doubt that he was pulling the strings from behind the scenes, using the time when he was not under her direct compulsion, or possibly finding a way around her orders to get the talisman to them. Now they just had to do the rest themselves.
The final piece arrived as Emma was taking Henry to spend the day with Belle. It was time and past that he got to know his grandfather's...well, whatever she was. Belle could also speak of his father, in a way that no one else could. Besides, Gold's shop was one of the safest places in town. As she walked back toward the diner, she saw something, a flying monkey drop out of the sky and leave something on the beetle, the car that had been where she first met Neal. When she got there she found a pocket watch, one she was sure she had seen before. It was wrapped in a pocket handkerchief, the old fashion kind, with initials embroidered in the corner, RG, in gold thread that could only mark it as belonging to one man. It had stopped at eight o'clock, and on the fabric, written in what looked like blood, the word 'tonight'. Looking at her watch, Emma knew one thing, they had ten hours to get a plan together. She was dialing before she even got across the street.
It came down to one thing, in the end. Who would hang the talisman on the witch? Belle volunteered, of course, but was rejected out of hand. No one was going to send her in there, not knowing what Zelena was capable of. Of course, no one wanted to be the one to admit sending the Dark Ones consort into danger when he was back to himself either, or witness what would happen if something went wrong. Emma had suggested herself but been rejected. Despite her lack of training, she was still capable of magic and if there was a problem, they would need even her untrained talent to make sure everyone got out safely. David had tried to take the responsibility as King, but he was also shouted down. Mary Margaret was going to go into labour soon, and that was not the kind of stress she needed to be under. In the end, it was Killian Jones who volunteered. They didn't want to send him, but no one could think of a good reason to reject him either.
"This hero thing is getting to be a habit with you, isn't it," Emma teased.
"I plan to get back to my normal marauding ways just as soon as the current crisis is over, love." He told her with a smile. "Besides, what is she going to do, take my hand?" He held up his hook, the talisman already wrapped around it. Belle had attached a chain from Gold's shop, one that was made to meld into one chain as soon as it was on. The magic inherent in the amulet would not effect it, as it wasn't her magic.
Regina had spent most of the day making up as many sleeping potions as she could with the ingredients she and Gold between them possessed, hoping to avoid any casualties among the flying monkeys. One of them had been incredibly helpful, though no one knew who he had been, but regardless there was no way to tell one from another, at least not one that they knew of.
The plan was set, all of those who were not going to participate in the battle were to gather in Gold's shop, not exactly something he would approve of, but it was the best protected place in town. Henry had come back from his day with Belle quiet. Emma could see that he had a lot of questions, but she couldn't have answered them if she wanted to. In her pocket was a bottle of the memory potion that had been used on Belle and on Emma herself. She had debated giving it to him before the battle, long and hard. If things went wrong, she wanted her son to know everything necessary to protect himself, but she was still unsure what to do there after. They sat across from each other quietly, both lost in their thoughts.
Dinner was quiet, the diner resembled nothing so much as an armed camp before a battle, which really, it was. Archers had taken up positions on all the vantage points, including most of Robin Hood's men, Ruby was going around with the coffee pot, trying to maintain a positive attitude, but they all knew she was preparing to shift if necessary. Mary Margaret had argued for being allowed to participate, pointing out she was one of the best archers in any kingdom, but her current state made that an idea that no one was going to get behind. They compromised, allowing her to take her bow and arrow to the pawnshop, to use as protect those who couldn't fight.
It was seven in the evening, and all the preparations had been made. Belle refused to be sent away to hide, saying that they might need her once Rumplestiltskin was free. No one had an argument for that one. There wasn't one. That Belle was probably the only one that could calm his mind when all was said and done, there was no doubt. So they sat. The town clock struck the quarter hour, then the half, and conversation had died away completely as people said their 'good byes' to those who were going into hiding. Emma took a deep breath and took Henry into the back hall.
"I don't know if this is a good idea or not, but there is a lot going on that I haven't been able to tell you, kid."
"You mean like why the whole town looks like the scene before the final battle in a sci fi movie?" he asked.
"You always were a smart kid," she said. "And you are brave, like your father, like your grandfather too, though if this works out and you get to meet him, don't ever tell him I said that. This bottle," she said, fishing it out from where it had been burning a hole in her pocket all day. "It has the answers. If you want to know, take it. If you don't, I won't make you. In the end, it's up to you. You know I love you, right kid?"
"I know, Mom. I love you too."
"Ok, then, you go with Mary Margaret, and do exactly as she says, ok?"
"I will, Mom," he said as he gave her a hug. "You...be careful, ok?" he said as she led him back into the diner. Mary Margaret was waiting for him. She looked at Emma and gave her a hug. Words weren't really necessary. Emma watched as her mother put an arm over Henry's shoulder and led him out the door.
"What did you decide, Swan?" Hook asked where he lounged near the door, prepared to leave to take up his position. He had been with her when Blue had given her the potion.
"I gave it to him. It's up to him now."
"He'll do the right thing. At his age, his father jumped through a portal to an unknown land. He's a brave boy."
"Yeah, I just hope..."
"It'll all come right, Swan. Care to give me a kiss for courage?" he asked. Emma just looked at him. "Can't blame a bloke for trying," he said with a shrug before planting a peck on her cheek and heading out into the night. Emma took one last look around and left to take up her position in the doorway to the library, praying that it would all work out well.
The town clock chimed eight, having been fixed again after Regina's battle. Crouched in her post inside the door of the library below it, Emma counted the chimes, certain that everyone else was counting them as well. As the last ring of the final chime faded away, a swirl of green appeared in the middle of town. Zelena, with Gold behind her. He was still but something about him seemed to crackle with energy, as if he was ready to jump out of his skin, much the way he had been before the showdown with Regina. But his face had a look of madness. Still, when he turned to scan the street, she felt like he met her eyes, and for just a moment, the mask of madness slipped, and she knew. The Dark One was alive and well, and just as sneaky as ever beneath the facade.
"So where is it, Rumple, this army, this weapon that you say my sister has to defeat me?" she turned and ran the blade of his dagger down the side of his face. Even from the distance, Emma could see him cringe at the touch of the blade. "You wouldn't be lying to me now Rumple, would you?"
"That would be more your game, dearie. Black, black lies, the colour of your soul," his voice was high pitched and his giggle sent chills up her spine. She had heard things about how he was before the curse but this was the first time she had ever heard it for herself. "But you assume that the seer sees as they are, it is a subtle language, not something you ever mastered."
"I can feel you, come out and face me, or I will set him free to do his worst," Zelena said, loud enough to be heard the length of the street. "Who shall I have you kill first? Your lovely Belle perhaps? Or shall we make your grandson an orphan?" Rumplestiltskin struggled against invisible bonds, the pain it was causing showing through the mask of madness on his face. Had he given them away? She wondered. No, it wasn't in him. He had told her exactly enough to get her here.
"I'm here, sister dear," Regina said from the end of the street. She was no longer dressed in her Storybrooke clothes, but fully decked out in her best Evil Queen gear. She carried it off well, Emma had to admit. "And I think its time we got rid of you."
Zelena laughed. "Perhaps you should be the first target for the Dark One, though I would prefer that honour myself. Monkeys," she ordered. Chaos broke out as the flying monkeys descended from above, flying through the street, breaking whatever they could find. One of Robin's archers leaned a little too far out of the window and was snatched up by one of them. Before anything else could happen, the archers began to let fly. Arrows filled the night air, as Regina raised a fireball into her hand, taking aim at Zelena.
The Wicked Witch raised a magic shield and started to open her mouth, when from above, buckets of potion began to fall on her. The shield took part of it, but the shock of the assault left her doused in the Fairy's Tansy potion. "What have you..." she shouted as the potion began to take effect, freezing her in place.
It was then that Emma heard the last sound that she wanted to hear, now. "Mom," The cry of her son as he ran down the street towards Regina.
"You have made the choice for me, it seems. Kill him," Zelena ordered Rumplestiltskin. The sorcerer stood stock still, pain contorting his face as he fought his own body. Before he could stop himself he reached out for Henry and grabbed the boy.
"Nooooo," Emma and Regina yelled as one, running towards him.
"Wait..." Zelena said. "This could be perfect. Bring the boy to me," she said. Rumplestiltskin had his arms wrapped around his grandson, fighting visibly to resist the commands. "Release me, or I will kill him." She said. Gold was still locked in battle with himself, whispering softly though to himself or to Henry, she didn't know. He slowly and inexorably began, inch by inch to drag the struggling boy towards where the Witch stood immobilized. None of them knew how long the potion would last. Hook was creeping towards her, slowly, his black cloths making him almost invisible in the dim light.
Suddenly from the sky, a dark shape plummeted towards the figures. A flying monkey. For a moment everyone froze, certain the monkey would bear her away from their trap. Then the monkey flew at her head, attacking her ferociously. Before it could do more than claw at her, the others were upon it, feathers and simian cries ringing out in the street. In that moment of distraction, Gold released Henry who flew forward, grabbing at the dagger clutched in the Zelena's hand. The Witch tried to struggle but Henry was strong for his size. He seized the dagger and bit down on her wrist. The moment the dagger was free, he pulled away from her.
"Come, boy, would you release the Dark One to wreak havoc upon this little town. Return it to me, and I will see that your family is safe."
"I fell for that once," he said, throwing the dagger through the air. The battle inside Rumplestiltskin had stopped the moment the dagger had left Zelena's hand. He stood stock still as the blade flew through the air. "I return it to it's true owner, my grandfather, Rumplestiltskin."
It was almost as if everything had slowed, like those movies that Henry liked to watch. The dagger flew through the air but before it could hit anything, it was snatched out of the air. There was a puff of purple smoke and before them, wrapped in a heavy cloak, a face that none thought to see again.
Emma had only descriptions, she had never seen Rumplestiltskin as he had been in the Enchanted Forest. His eyes were black with pupils of amber, burning in a face that had taken on the texture of scale. He flung back the cloak to reveal a shirt of burnished gold under a vest of burgundy leather, and ...were those leather pants? Before anyone could make a move, Hook slipped through and dropped the amulet over the witch's head.
"What the..." the witch struggled but the potion held her still, and the amulet disabled her powers. "You lied to me, you..."
"Now, now, dearie. I did no such thing. I said they had a weapon and they do. I said that they would attempt a battle with you tonight, which they did. I may have left a few things out." He giggled, and Emma was glad that he was on their side (at least she hoped he was). Zelena continued to shriek but a flick of Rumplestiltskin's wrist and she was heard no more. No one was going to question him. The Witch was his to deal with and now he was free.
Henry ran and threw his arms around her, opening them wider to include Regina who had come up to join them. "Mom, and Mom," he said. The look in his eyes was more than enough to tell her she had done the right thing.
All over the street, reunions were taking place. Robin's men had come down out of their roosts and were rounding up the monkeys that weren't asleep, and corralling them together until someone could figure out how to turn them back. Without their Mistress, they looked confused. All but one. The one that had saved them lay in a heap near where the witch was trapped, soft sounds escaping from him.
In the middle of the street, Belle had flung herself in Rumplestitskin's arms, barely missing the dagger he held in his other hand. It would have been sweet if she wasn't now kissing him, despite the fearful appearance. Emma turned away, this was one reunion that she really didn't need to see. Instead, with Regina and Henry beside her, she moved toward the fallen body of the monkey that had saved them all.
"Can you save him, or turn him back or something?" she asked Regina.
"Well, I can probably heal him, but I don't know if I can turn him back, I don't even know what was done to him."
"Perhaps I can help, after all, he was ever so useful in this little war," Rumplestiltskin said with a giggle. Belle was still wrapped in his arms, though and at her fond look, the giggle subsided. It took only a moment, he seemed to be studying something. Then he went over to the immobilized witch and tore the necklace from around her neck. He dropped it to the ground and crushed it under the heel of his leather boot. There was a burst of magic, and the flying monkeys began to turn back into human form.
"Emma," the monkey that had saved them wheezed as his human features returned. In shock, she knelt beside the man she had almost married. "I'm so sorry. I really did have feelings for you, you know." Regina knelt beside them and began to heal him, the magic glowing purple from her finger tips.
"How?" she asked. "How could you, I don't even know who you are."
"I'm Walsh, I didn't lie about that. I am...was... the Wizard of Oz."
The street had cleared, and everyone had gone back home, all but four figures remained. Emma had sent Henry off to renew ties with his other mother. She deserved that at least. She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she knew for certain that these people, this town, was her world, no matter how much she tried to deny it, and it was Henry's as well. He still had to mourn his father, properly now that he remembered the man he had been.
There was a town to clean up, and a sibling to see born, and a family to rebuild, but she knew she had to stay for this, the final act. Next to her, Rumplestiltskin, one arm still firmly wrapped around Belle, was looking at the immobilized witch. He had returned to his normal appearance, all trappings of the Dark One hidden, but he hadn't bothered with the clothes. She couldn't blame him, he'd been in the suit he died in for far too long. The Witch was no longer screaming, that they could tell, and the Fairy Tansy potion had worn off. Now she was held by the bonds of Rumplestiltskin's magic.
"What to do with you, dearie, what to do..."
"Rumple, I know she has done a great deal of wrong to you, to us all, really. You would be perfectly within your rights to want revenge. But..."
"But what, Belle, my dear?" he asked. There was fury simmering in him, but he was listening.
"But, while I won't stop you, I would appreciate it if you did something...fair."
Rumplestiltskin thought about it, Emma could almost see the emotions passing the almost emotionless face. He was grieving, he had lost his son, the Witch had done that. She had almost killed his grandson and tried to make him kill his True Love. The least of her crimes was locking him in a cage like a dog and torturing him with his own dagger and that in itself deserved a lot of punishment. But there was something else in his eyes. Maybe it was calculation, maybe something else. "What do you think Bae would want?" he asked quietly. His voice had lost its high pitch and the showman's flourish was gone. Despite his still unusual appearance, he looked like what he was, a man of middle years, who had been through a nightmare.
"He would want you to live," Emma asked, though the question was not asked of her. "He would want you and Belle to be happy."
The old sorcerer nodded, a decision reached. "Zelena, for what you have done, I condemn you to live...a normal life," he said. With a flick of his wrist, the amulet around her neck began to move and change. It sank into her flesh, as if it was burning it's way inside. The Witch began to scream, as the terror of what he had done sank in. Emma watched in amazement as her power drained away, green smoke pouring from her mouth and fading away down the dark street. When it was done, there was an ordinary woman standing before them. Her skin was no longer green. She was just a woman, slightly older than Regina, beautiful still, but tired looking. The only thing unusual about her was the gold tattoo on her chest, small, and not particularly unusual looking to a woman who had spend the last year living in New York. Rumplestiltskin released her bonds. "Go, and try to find the life you could have lived," he said, and started to turn away, an arm still around Belle.
In a moment, the woman turned, and Emma recognised the look of madness in her eyes. Zelena moved with more speed that she thought her capable off, but madness can do many things. Rumplestiltskin didn't even have time to turn, and Emma didn't stop to think, she drew and fired. She had made her choice, now it was over, for all of them.