Emma couldn't sleep. She was beyond exhausted, her nerves frayed beyond repair. She turned her head and looked at the bright neon numbers of her alarm clock staring back at her. 3.14am. She sighed loudly in frustration and threw her head back onto the pillow dramatically. The silence throughout the house was a welcome comfort though. Emma scrunched up her face thinking back to a few hours earlier where even with a pillow wrapped around her ears she could still make out the muted noises of Charming and Snow 'reuniting'.

'That's just one final trauma I could have lived without today' she moaned internally. She reached over to her bedside table and picked up her phone, just staring at it blankly in the darkness. She was tempted to text Regina. So much had happened that day to them both, and still Emma's day had paled in comparison to Regina's. Surely if she was lying here, exhausted and awake the Regina would be too. After all, how could she sleep with everything that had come to light? Emma continued to stare at the phone and then tossed it to the side with a huff. She was probably the last person Regina wanted to hear from anyway. After all, it was less than 12 hours since Emma had almost killed her daughter. Her daughter. Regina had a daughter. Emma still couldn't believe it, her head spinning with the thought. Regina had a daughter. And she was beautiful and courageous and kind and she had saved Henry and Snow White. Not Emma, not Charming, not Regina. No, it was Regina's daughter who had saved her son and mother, putting her life on the line to save theirs. And in return, Emma had almost killed her. She thought back to the hours earlier in the day as she straddled the young woman's chest, literally watching as she caused the life to fade from her eyes. Emma closed her eyes and tried to think of something else, but she couldn't stop thinking about those eyes. Eyes that Emma could swear she had seen before. Eyes that Emma could swear she had known her whole life. But that was impossible, they had just met... And she had almost killed her.

Emma rolled onto her stomach and rubbed her temples, trying to sooth her cluttered mind with thoughts of Henry. Henry was back, he was safe. Yes, that's what she should be thinking of. Henry, her son, her beautiful son who had disappeared almost a month ago after being sucked into the vortex with Snow.

Emma winced thinking back to that day, the very thought of it still made her stomach churn and head spin. Emma, Regina, Charming and Snow running so fast down the docks that they made the world look like it was standing still. Henry was screaming for them, screaming for their help as Greg and Tamara held him captive. Emma could still hear his cries even now. As Regina, Emma and David made a dive for Greg, it was Snow who's mothering instinct made her divert and run to Henry. Emma was thrown back by a magic force so hard that hit the ground with such violence she was sure she must have broken bones. Her ears ringing with pain, she turned her head just in time to see Snow and Henry pulled into the vortex. Charming ran with all his might to get to there in time, but it was too late. They were gone.

The vortex closed and all that was left were three lost souls lying on the wooden docks beneath the greying sun. Charming sobbing, shattered, on his knees looking half dead and half alive. Emma, crumpled on the ground not moving. Her son. Her mother. Gone. Some Saviour she was turning out to be.

And yet somehow, it was Regina who had pulled it together first. All Emma remembered was Regina pulling her to her feet. The brunettes faces was marred with tears, but there was also a look that Emma recognised straight away - sheer determination.

"Pull it together Ms. Swan." was what snapped Emma back to reality. "We need to focus. We need to act fast. You can fall apart once we have them back, but not now. We need to find Gold and we need to find a way to open the vortex and find our way to them."

But they hadn't opened the vortex and they hadn't found them. No, quite the opposite. Charming was beginning to loose hope as day after day, every attempt to open the vortex failed. It was as if Storybrooke had fallen into an early winter, dark clouds hovered over the sleepy town day and night. The loss of Snow and Henry had hit everyone, it was as if time was once again frozen. And then as suddenly as the vortex has vanished before their very eyes, it had reopened and they had returned. But they hadn't returned alone.

Emma opened her eyes again in the darkness. She looked at the clock again. 3.27am. She wondered if she would ever sleep again. She had never been a good sleeper, trained from a young age to always sleep with one eye open. Growing up in the system, you learnt fast that sleep was your enemy. When your eyes were closed people could steal your stuff, they could touch you, they could hurt you. Sleep had evaded her for weeks due to the persistent fear that the family she had finally found after 28 years alone were slipping through her fingers. Henry was gone, Snow was gone. Charming was fading away right in front of her eyes, no longer the strong, optimistic, brave man she knew. And even Regina was crumbling. Yes, Regina was her family too. On the surface, Regina was focused, resolute, reading every magic book she could get her hands on trying to find a way to open the vortex. She didn't eat, she barely talked. But as the days passed, Emma could see that Regina was falling apart. Her resolve was breaking, she was no longer convinced she would be able to find a way to bring them back.

Towards the end of the third week, Emma found Regina standing in her library, surrounded by books. She had been reading, lost in her thoughts, when she had accidentally knocked one of the many piles of books off the desk and onto the floor. She went to curse as she leaned down to pick them up but had stopped. Nestled in one of the books had been a photo. Regina just stared at it and froze like a statue. In the photo she was crying, but the tears were happy ones. The smile on her face was incomprehensible to her now, wide and full of hope. In her arms she cradled a baby, no more than a month old. The photo had been taken the day Regina had finally got to hold Henry in her arms for the first time. She had given up all hope of having a child of her own what felt like a lifetime ago. After all, isn't that how all this pain started in the first place? And yet, when she got to hold Henry for the first time it somehow felt like the vast valley of grief and pain and darkness that had split her heart in two was finally mending.

"Regina?" Regina didn't look up, but she reached down and picked up the picture. Emma had silently entered the room and instantly felt as though she were interrupting an incredibly intimate moment. She half expected Regina to tell her to 'Get out!' and 'Leave me alone Ms. Swan!' but Regina didn't say anything as Emma walked towards her. As Emma got within a few short steps of Regina she could see the photo the Mayor was holding.

"We'll get him back Regina" Emma said, her voice not wavering. "We just have to keep trying." Emma heard it before she saw it, an audible crack coming from inside of Regina. Emma rushed the last few steps to catch the brunette before she collapsed to the floor. It broke Emma's heart to see her fall apart, to hear her sobs, to feel so powerless to stop the avalanche of emotion that was clearly tearing the older woman apart. Emma pulled Regina into her as the two of them fell to the floor. She wrapped her arms around Regina trying to anchor her as her cries ricocheted throughout the room.

"It's all my fault" Regina sobbed, clutching at Emma's jacket. "All of this, all this pain, all this misery. Henry, Snow, everything. It's all my fault." Emma shook her head as she rubbed Regina's back. There were tears rolling down her face.

"It's no one's fault Regina. We're going to fix this." Regina shook her head violently and started to pull away from Emma.

"You know it's my fault, just say it! Just say it!" Emma shook her head again as she could feel Regina's sadness turning to anger. Emma knew Regina wanted her to scream it, she had been wanting it for weeks. Charming hadn't held back, he had let his vitriol rain down on Regina numerous times as the three of them huddled together trying to find a solution. It was his way of feeling just a morsel better, so Regina had let him use her as an emotional punching bag every time things looked dire. 'You're to blame! You're to blame for everything! You doomed this whole town! You took my wife, you took my daughter and now you've doomed your own son! What kind of a mother are you?!' he had screamed at her more than once. But Emma had always said nothing. She hadn't defended Regina, because she knew the brunette hadn't wanted her too. She had just let her Dad yell and scream and watch as Regina sat there saying nothing. Eventually Emma would just say something like 'This isn't helping Dad. Why don't you go for a walk?' and he would storm out and the two women would just stare at each other for the briefest of moments before resuming their impossible task.

But not anymore. Regina wanted to hear it, she needed to hear it. She needed Emma to say the awful words that she had said to herself every day and every night since Henry and Snow had disappeared. But Emma wouldn't, she just shook her head.

"Just say it! SAY IT!" Regina yelled slamming her fists into Emma's chest.

"No." Emma said, barely above a whisper.

"You think it, so just say it!" Regina said, her voice still ravaged by her tears. "I ruined your life. I ruined your parents lives. I ruined the lives of everyone in this godforsaken town and now I've ruined Henry's!" But Emma just shook her head.

"I don't think that." Emma said quietly. The briefest of moments skipped between them where Regina genuinely looked shocked. How could she not think that? How could she not hate her? Want her banished? Want her dead? Of course she did, she was just lying to her.

"You're a liar." Regina spat coldly as she tried to pull away. But Emma tugged her arm back and Regina turned to look at the blonde woman, her eyes starting to heat with rage.

"You want me to say those things because that's what you think. You hate yourself for what's happened and I get that!" Emma's voice was getting stronger, louder. "You don't think I don't hate myself too? For giving up on Henry, for giving him away, for the million shitty things I did with my life before I came here?" Regina looked at Emma blankly. "But you know what, we don't get to play the victim card this time Regina." The brunette stared at her bitterly and tried to wrench her arm away, but Emma held strong.

"I wasn't playing the victim card" Regina said angrily. "Quite the opposite."

"Fine, you being a martyr and me playing the victim!" Emma practically shouted. "We don't get to do that! We've both done a lot of crappy things in our lives Regina and had a lot of crappy things done to us. But this..." she said, waving her free hand in the air. "This is not our fault. You protected Henry all these years, you protected him and loved him and cared for him when I didn't. It's not your fault they took him. It's not your fault and it's not mine. We don't get to blame ourselves for every fucked up thing that happens in this world just so we can curl up in a ball and scream defeat!"

Even Emma looked surprised by her outburst, but Regina didn't rebut her. She said nothing. The two of them sat silently as the vintage mahogany clock that sat on Regina's desk ticked with excruciating loudness, as if to remind them that every second they sat there they were wasting more time. Emma finally cleared her throat.

"We just need to find a way to fix this" she said somberly, slumping back against the wall in defeat. She was still holding Regina's arm, keeping the older woman close. But Regina's mind was beginning to drift as she stared at the hundreds of books strewn around the room. All consumed with the promise of a spell or some magic that could reopen the vortex and give them back their loved ones. But all tossed to the side as one after one, the books proved worthless.

"And what if I can't..." Regina finally whispered. The feeling of defeat growing stronger and stronger inside of her, threatening to take over.

"That's not an option I'm willing to consider" Emma said.

Regina sat at the dining room table in the dark. It was getting close to 4am and she hadn't slept a wink. She hadn't even tried, knowing that there was absolutely no way it would come. Her fingers toyed with the untouched glass of wine that she had poured more than 3 hours ago when she had finally given up on laying in bed and had come downstairs. She stared blankly at the lush scarlet liquid in the glass, her mind swimming with the days revelations. Henry was upstairs, sleeping soundly. She knew because she had sat at the foot of his bed for over an hour, watching his chest rise and fall contently.

Henry was home. Henry was safe. More than that, Henry was happy. Whatever had happened on the other side had changed him. What had been the most torturous month of her life had in actual fact only been a week for he and Snow White. And yet somehow the trials and tribulations, the adventures they had gone through clearly having had an impact on the young boy. And yet he seemed older, more mature, more understanding. The feeling in her heart when he had run into her arms after coming through the vortex was indescribable. Delirious with happiness is the only way she could think to describe it.

When she had pulled away from the hug, crouching down so she could cradle his face, see his eyes, truly let herself believe it was him she had felt overwhelmed.

"There's so much to tell you Mom" he had said as he watched the tears roll down her face. "I understand everything now. It wasn't your fault, none of it was. I know you think it was but it wasn't." Regina had of course assumed he meant his disappearance into the vortex, somehow understanding that she had of coursed blamed herself. It was only hours later after what felt like a lifetime of conversations that she began to understand that his emphasis was on 'none'. "None of it was your fault." And yet somehow, here alone in the darkness armed with a lifetime of hidden secrets and manipulations revealed, Regina felt worse than ever before.

After she had quietly closed Henry's door she had walked slowly down the corridor to the guest room and stood silently outside the door. She didn't even dare to breath. She pricked her ears and listened with every morsel of her power to even make out faint breathing, but there was nothing. She put her hand on the door handle, contemplating opening the door to look inside. After all, she just wanted to make sure the mysterious brunette was okay. It must feel so strange for her, to all of a sudden be ripped from everything she has ever known and be under this roof. Their worlds after all, were very different.

Regina pulled back her hand, her courage leaving her. She turned and headed down the staircase. And now, three hours later she sat motionless at the table trying to wrap her head around the incomprehensible days events. It felt like a lifetime ago, not just shy of 24 hours, that Regina had woken drearily preparing herself for another day of torturous spell searching in order to bring about Henry and Snow's return.

She, Emma and Charming had met at lunchtime at City Hall as they had everyday, sharing anything of note from their individual efforts. Of course there was nothing to note, a few possibles, maybes and potentiallys. But just as they had shrugged and muttered their goodbyes, the floor beneath them had begun to move. The small quivers quickly began to erupt into an enormous shaking, pictures falling from their hooks on the wall and smashing into the ground below.

"Earthquake!" shouted Emma as ground moved beneath her, knocking her feet out from underneath her. Charming rushed towards her and pulled her to the nearest doorframe, but Regina crouched down and stayed where she was. Glass around them began to shatter and the sounds of car alarms around the town began to erupt.

"Regina!" Emma yelled, trying to urge the older woman to take cover. But Regina instead moved towards the window. She got there just in time to watch it explode before her, throwing her arms up to protect herself as she was thrown back, smashing into the ground and showered with shards of glass. Charming struggled with Emma, trying to keep her safely in the doorframe but she pulled free and ran to Regina. Her back to the window she reached down to pull the brunette to her feet when all of a sudden everything stopped.

"Are you crazy Regina?" Emma yelled frustrated "Did you miss the 101 rule of earthquake training that says not to stand near windows!" She still had her arm outstretched, offering to pull Regina to her feet. She noticed that the older woman looked slightly off. Slightly scared, slightly giddy, slightly shocked. "What is it?" Emma asked.

"That wasn't an earthquake Ms Swan." Regina said, ignoring Emma's hand and pushing herself off the ground. They stood apart as Charming walked towards them.

"Well if it wasn't an earthquake then what was it?" He asked. Regina stared out the window and moved towards it, Charming and Emma falling in behind her. The clouds over Storybrook were storming together, lightening crackling inside of them, a dark menacing hue blanketing the entire town. In the distance the three of them could make out the epicenter of the swirling storm, the lightening and dark clouds magically pulling towards a single spot. It was Regina's house.

"I think a vortex just opened" Regina said slowly. The three of them stood silently for a few seconds more.

"Well if it did" Emma finally said, "it's opened right above your house." The three of them turned to each other and stared blankly and then in the flash of an eye all three bolted for the door and ran down the staircase and out onto the street.

The people of Storybrooke were starting to emerge from their hiding places, all eyes staring upwards at the looming storm clouds.

"The cruiser!" Emma shouted to Charming and Regina as she ran across the street towards the police car. Regina had barely closed the passenger door before Emma had flipped the car into gear, switched the sirens on and was gunning it down the street at a ridiculously high speed. Weaving in and out of cars that had stopped dead in the street during the quake, Emma beeped the horn furiously.

"Emma slow down!" yelled Regina from the backseat as the cruiser sped through a stop sign at 70 miles per hour towards the Mills residence. Emma paid no attention.

"Emma!" Charming yelled from the passenger seat, "She's right! Slow down or you'll kill us before we get there!" And yet the yelling only made her more determined. Emma pushed her foot harder down on the accelerator, ignoring Charming as he continued to yell at her.

As they got closer and closer to Miffin St, Regina started to feel a tingling in her fingertips. She started to breath hard, feeling her lungs contract with every breath she took. Something wasn't right, she could feel it. As the car came to a screeching halt out the front of Regina's house, Emma and Charming dove out of the car stopping for only a second to stare upwards towards the sky. The wind above them was verging on demonic, howling so loud that it drowned almost everything else out. Standing directly underneath the swirling clouds Emma could feel herself becoming lightheaded. She shook her head and turned back towards the house, 'No' she scolded to herself. 'Now you need to focus, forget about everything else. Find Henry & Snow.'

As she began to rush towards the house she felt someone pull her back violently. She turned to see Regina pulling on her jacket, her face filled with terror.

"What?!" Emma practically barked, "What is it?!" Regina shook her head.

"You can't feel that?" she yelled bewilderedly at the blonde over the howling winds. Emma knew exactly what Regina was referring to - magic, coming from inside the house. It was unlike anything Emma had ever felt before - powerful, all encompassing, an overwhelming force. Emma knew she should probably be afraid, very afraid, because after all, anyone or anything who embodied magic that strong should be feared. And yet, she just felt off-centre. Not scared, but confused.

"What are you doing?" Charming yelled up them from up the path. The magic in the air clearly lost on him. "Let's go!" he ordered, pulling his gun from his holster. Regina shook her head.

"Wait!" She yelled "Whoever is in there has some kind of incredible force. Your gun isn't going to help you Charming!"

"Forgive me if I don't put much faith in your warnings when it comes to anything magical Regina!" Charming sneered. Emma felt torn, she knew with certainty that whoever or whatever was in the house was their answer to getting Snow and Henry back. She turned to Regina.

"We have to try" she said over the wind as she unholstered her gun. Regina slowly nodded, understanding that despite what the both felt - this strange powerful magic, coursing through their veins - they had no choice but to follow it.

The two women started towards the house, following Charming as he ran up onto the porch and opened the front door. Despite the enormity of the storm outside, the chaos in the street and the general raggedness from the three weary souls that stepped inside - the house remained untouched. It was in fact eerily quiet as they entered the foyer. Emma and Charming entered the foyer with their guns drawn, looking wildly for signs of life but saw nothing. Regina however looked towards the stairs, whatever was in the house was upstairs.

Regina hissed in Emma's direction and blonde spun around. The brunette nodded towards the staircase and began to ascend them. Charming and Emma followed suit, Charming happy to let Regina take the lead. If anyone was in the house, with any luck they would attack her first and let him get Emma to safety in time.

The silence echoed through the house as the trio tiptoed up the stairs towards the landing. Out of the corner of her eye, Regina could see that Henry's door was ajar and she knew instantly that the intruder was in Henry's room. Every night over the past 3 weeks when she had come home, exhausted and feeling like her eyes were going to roll out of her head from having read too many spell books, she would sit in Henry's room. Lay on his bed. Smell his pillows and finger his toys. And she would cry. She would cry for hours. But eventually, she would pull herself together and leave the room. And she knew without a doubt that she always closed the door.

She looked at Emma and turned her head towards Henry's door then nodded. Emma nodded understanding that someone or something was in the room. Emma started to creep towards the door when all of a sudden she heard a thud. While it wasn't a loud sound in any other circumstance, a book falling on the floor most likely, in the suffocating silence of the mansion the sound was deafening.

Charming made a move towards the door, but Emma stopped him. They would have a better chance with this creature sneaking up on it then announcing their attack with brute force. Emma held up her palm to Charming, signaling for him to wait. She looked to Regina but Regina's eyes were fixated on the door, her expression perplexing.

Knowing that the time for action had arrived Emma swiftly but silently moved towards the door quickly pushing it open. She was startled by what she saw to say the least. There was no creature, no magical beast, no warrior in the room - just a young woman with her back to Emma, holding in her hand a small wooden box. Emma felt herself hesitate for the briefest of seconds until she realised the box the intruder was holding belonged to Henry. Emma would recognise it anywhere, afterall, she had given it to him.

The box was small, no bigger than an adults fist. On the front of the box where five rows of ivory cubes, each row containing 10 cubes, 50 in total. All with their own unique symbol on them. The cubes could be spun around, each showing four sides. Neal had given it the box to Emma for her 18th birthday, just before everything had turned to dust between them. She had held onto it for all those years despite the pain and anger it stirred in her because she couldn't bring herself to throw it away. So when Henry's birthday had come around earlier this year, Emma thought it perfect to pass the unwanted trinket onto him.

The intruder stared down at the box, completely lost in thought and unaware of Emma's presence. 'Now or never' Emma said to herself went to lift her gun. The girl turned at the last minute, broken from her trance. Emma rushed towards her watching almost in slow motion as the girl started to raise her hand. 'She's going to use magic on me' Emma fear told her, pushing down the other voice that was crying out inside her head. Knowing if she shot and killed the girl, she would be further from Henry and Snow then ever before, Emma swiftly spun the gun in her hand as she moved at lightening speed towards the intruder. Just as she came into reach, she swung her arm with all her might. The sound of the butt of the gun cracking against the girls head was sickening. Like metal colliding with bone in brute force. The intruder collapsed to the floor at once, eyes closed, completely unconscious. Emma's breathing shallowed as Charming and Regina rushed into the room.

Emma knelt down to the girl, blocking out the flurried noises of an excited Charming. "You got her! Good job Emma! Good job!" she could faintly hear as he patted her on the back.

'She was going to use magic on you' Emma told herself again as she wiped gently at the thick, crimson blood starting to trickle down the girls face, instantly feeling sick with regret. 'No...' the other voice inside her finally said 'she was telling you to stop'.

Lucy could hear the faintest flurry of voices from somewhere far away. Far away and under water and all mixed up like a jumble of words that she knew should make sense to her but she couldn't for the life of her make sense of right now. Her head was throbbing beyond belief and she could feel the wet warm stickiness of fresh blood drying down the left side of her face. She felt like she been kicked in the head by a wild stallion. Or just hit in the face with a blunt object by a total lunatic.

Lucy tried to move her hand to her head but instantly realised that she was stuck. She groggily began to open her eyes, but her vision was too blurry to quite make anything out. She was sitting upright and was tied to something, but not tide with rope. Someone had used magic to bind her arms behind her back. The magic was strong. Her blood froze in her veins. Cora, she thought. Cora's magic. No... not it wasn't Cora's magic. It wasn't strong enough. But it was connected to Cora somehow. This wasn't good, she thought, shaking her head. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

Snow had warned her this was a bad idea. Splitting up so she could retrieve the box while Snow and Henry searched for their loved ones. But Lucy knew that the Soul Screamers were right behind them and unless she got to the box in time, all this would be for nothing. And now she was tied to a chair while some of Cora's crazy henchmen tried to... well, god only knows.

She opened her eyes again and focused on ground in front of her. Her vision was swaying from double to blurred to triple with every blink. But at least the voices were starting to be a little clearer.

"What the hell are you saying? She broke into your home, she was trying to steal his things! Clearly she's one of them! She must know where they are and you're just saying we should let go?!" a man said in an angry whisper.

"I didn't say we should let her go" a calm, raspy voice said. "I simply said beating her within an inch of her life before we've even established who she is, isn't the best idea."

The arguing continued and Lucy lifted her head slightly to try and make out where she was. Her blurred vision made out white, cream ivory, eggshell and every other dull pale colour known to man. She was still in the foyer of the house Henry said he lived in. So at least it stood to reason that she hadn't been out long if they hadn't moved her very far. And if she hadn't been out long, she still had a good chance of saving Snow and Henry.

As the voices began to get raised and more heated, Lucy heard one voice rise above the other two. "Look, stop it! Both of you, just stop it! We're waisting time! Whoever she is, she knows where they are. So yes, I will ask her nicely but we don't have time to stuff around here. This is best lead we've had in a month and the only way to make sure we don't loose it is to act quickly."

Lucy groaned loudly, trying to make it seem as though she were just coming too and had heard none of their conversation. The three voices stopped and they began to walk towards her, each one still keeping their distance except the blonde. Lucy lifted her head towards her and subtly started to try and break her wrists free from the magical bind. Her vision was still incredibly blurred and she felt as though her left eye was beginning to swell, making it even harder to make out the faces of her captures.

The blonde woman stopped just a few short feet in front of where Lucy was tied to the chair.

"How's that head feeling?" she asked as she folded her arms across her chest. Lucy looked up and squinted.

"It's been better" she breathed out. "But I can't say it hasn't been worse." The howling wind from outside the house was growing stronger. Lucy swallowed hard, the Soul Screamers were getting closer to breaking through the protective force field.

"Well I can make it better for you if you like" the blonde said. "Or I can make it worse. So why don't you just tell me where they are?"

Lucy continued to wriggle her hands behind her back. The longer she kept the blonde talking to her, the better chance she had of breaking free.

"Where's who?" Lucy said, feigning confusion.

"I know you know who I'm talking about." The blonde said through gritted teeth.

"Well actually someone hit me in the head and I'm feeling a little foggy at the moment. So no, I don't know what your talking about." Lucy gave a floppy smile and she saw out of the corner of her eye that the male counterpart of the trio was rushing towards her.

"You think this is funny?" he yelled at her. Lucy shrugged her shoulders.

"What's funny?" she said.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" the man screamed, his patience clearly thinning with every passing second. Lucy shrugged and closed her eyes.

"There are so many places they could be..." she said in a wafty sing-song voice, "I think they went that way" she said and nodded towards the front door. The trio looked door and then at each other in confusion. The howling from outside was building to a roar, the house beginning to rattle all around them. The blonde shook her head, she looked towards the brunette who was standing back from them all, deep in thought.

"We don't have time for this!" The blonde said, turning her head to the brunette. Lucy squinted, trying to make out the brunettes expression, but she couldn't. The brunette said nothing. The blonde took that as all the approval she needed. She took one final step towards to Lucy, putting her hands on the arms of the wooden chair Lucy was bound too, their faces inches apart.

"Listen to me, I don't want to hurt you, but I will. So you have five seconds to tell me where Henry and Snow White are or we're going to have to do this a different way." Lucy could make out green eyes that were awash with sadness. Something wasn't quite right here, but as her mind was still struggling to just keep the room from spinning she had no hope of using her senses to get to the bottom of it.

"I answered your question" Lucy said simply, her wrists were starting to get movement, the magical bind was close to being undone. Just stay with me a minute longer, she thought staring at the blonde.

"Last chance" the blonde said, anger rising in her voice.

"Well," Lucy said flicking her wrists furiously, she was almost free "maybe they did go that way," she said again nodding again towards the front door. "Or maybe they went that way," she said nodding her head in the direction of the back door. "But as for me..." she said motioning for the blonde to come closer to her, as though she were going to whisper the secret into her ear. Pausing for effect, Lucy dropped her voice an octave and whispered "Personally I like a shortcut." She sat back in chair and smiled at the confused looking blonde. Finally the brunette spoke.

"She's quoting Alice in Wonderland" was all she said in a tired voice.

The blonde's eyes turned to fury and spun back to Lucy shoving the chair backwards with all her might. As the chair hit the floor Lucy finally broke the magical bind and managed to get her hands out in front, just in time for the blondes weight to come crashing down on her.

Lucy knew that with the flick of her wrist she could throw the blonde across the room, but she also knew that using magic would be like running outside and waving a white flag at the Soul Screamers. They would feel her magic from 10 miles away and right now, it was better for her to fight the blonde off with her hands than her magic. She wrapped her leg around the blondes and flipped the two of them over, finally getting the upper hand for the first time all day. All of a sudden, the house shook tremendously, the chandelier above their heads rattling and threatening to come down on top of them. Lucy looked towards the window, 'They're so close' she thought.

Sensing her distraction, the blonde moved swiftly to suckerpunch Lucy in the ribs with all her strength. Lucy winced as she felt the bone crack and had no time to defend herself as the blonde flipped them again, this time putting all of her weight on Lucy's chest. She was struggling to breathe, the blonde was strong and between her throbbing head and burning lungs she was running out of options other than magic. From far away she heard the brunette cry out. She was telling the blonde to stop, to get off her.

"WHERE ARE THEY?" the blonde screamed at Lucy. Lucy was starting to black out, she couldn't breathe. She needed to clear her head but all she could think about was the searing pain of the air being pushed out of her lungs. She closed her eyes and pictured Snow and Henry. They're safe, she thought. They're not here.

She opened her eyes again and with her last morsel of air she horsely breathed out "I'll never tell you." And with that her eyes fell shut and she went limp beneath Emma.

Suddenly the front door flung open and all eyes turned towards the door. And there she stood, bow and arrow drawn, eyes sharp: Snow White.

This is my first fic, let me know what you think.