A/N: Hello, everyone! Okay, just a few words: this story is set after episode 4x11 but I've given my own twist to the plot. I won't be introducing the Queens of Darkness. Instead, you're about to meet another beloved Disney villain. There will be a note about that at the end of the chapter, because I don't want to spoil anything now.

Due to university exams and my ever-so-busy schedule, I'm afraid I can't guarantee regular updates, though I'll try to do my best.

Well, I hope you enjoy reading this story. x

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon A Time nor its characters, nor any Disney character mentioned in this story.


Chapter 1

Someone was knocking on the door of her office, but Regina was so absorbed in paperwork she neither replied to whoever was at the door, nor did she look up to acknowledge their presence when they entered without waiting for her permission.

"Regina, is this a bad time?"

At the lack of a response from the woman sitting at the desk, Snow stepped closer and tried once more.

"Regina?"

The concern in the younger girl's voice was so annoying that Regina eventually replied, thinking maybe the sooner she did so, the sooner she'd get rid of Snow.

"Yes?"

"I know you're busy, Regina, but could you take a break for five minutes and look me in the eyes as we speak? Please…"

Regina closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath as she straightened up. When her eyes opened again and met the green ones, a sad smile formed on the girl's face.

"Hi."

"Snow, I have a lot of work to do, is there something you needed to talk to me about?" Regina bit back, but Snow didn't waver, she remained ever so calm and relaxed, with that annoying, sympathetic smile still plastered on her face.

"You look tired, Regina. I know you asked me for your job back because…"

Snow was smart enough to shut up when Regina glared at her. She had asked for her job back after Robin had left because she was going mad, doing nothing all day, alone with her thoughts in her mansion, but she had also made it very clear she did not want to discuss the matter ever again.

"I'm just worried about you, we all are. If you need any help…"

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of this town on my own. I've done it for thirty years, in case you've forgotten."

"I know what you're trying to do, Regina, but you've come such a long way, please don't cut everyone out again. Hope is not lost, we will find a way to bring him back…"

"Enough, Snow…" Regina warned in a low, menacing voice.

"Robin wouldn't want to see you like this."

"I said enough!" Regina yelled louder than she had actually intended, slamming her hands on the desk as she stood from her seat abruptly. "Don't you dare talk about him, I don't need your hope speeches. What's done is done, he's gone and that's it, I don't want to talk about it, ever again. What I do with my time is none of your concern, I just need to be alone, I need time…" her voice cracked, betraying her feelings, but she refused to show how broken she truly was.

"It's been six weeks, Regina…"

"You think I don't know that? That I don't think about it every single day? I lost my soulmate, you have no idea what that's like! The only thing that keeps me from thinking about it, albeit briefly, is my work, so please just leave me alone and go back to your perfect little family."

Snow circled the desk until she was standing a few feet away from the mayor.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked, but Snow didn't reply. Instead she looked for a couple of seconds into Regina's watery eyes before pulling her into a tight hug.

"You're my family too, Regina."

At that, Regina closed her eyes, allowing a few tears to fall down her cheeks. She knew that Snow was right, that pushing everyone away wasn't the solution to her problems, but it was the only way she knew how to deal with them.

She wasn't pushing everyone away, anyway. Henry still lived with her and only spent his weekends at the Charmings', and she'd never push him away. Still, she basically refused to talk to anyone else, which was why Snow and the others were worried in the first place.

Opening up to them was difficult for her. She had never had anyone that cared for her, not until Robin, so it was hard to accept that she had an entire family that was worried about her now and willing to help her through difficult times like this one. She was positive she would come around, someday, but right now she needed time.

Regina slowly pushed Snow away, put her coat on and grabbed her bag.

"Where are you going?"

"Home. And please, don't follow me."

Snow sighed as she watched her stepmother walk out of the office. She knew better than to follow her, it wouldn't help, anyway. All she could do was hope that Regina would eventually realize she could rely on them and open up to them a little.


The house was dark and awfully silent when she got there, it took her a while to realize it was Saturday and that Henry wouldn't be home until the next evening.

She dragged herself up the stairs and into her bedroom, where she kicked off her shoes and slipped out of her black dress and into an oversized sweater and yoga pants. Not exactly what she'd normally wear, but she was alone at home and she didn't really care what she looked like.

Her encounter with Snow at the office had clearly upset her, there was no denying that. She hadn't seen the younger woman since she had asked for her job back, almost one month earlier. She called, occasionally, but Regina never picked up. She thought Snow had finally understood that she wanted to be left alone, until she showed up at the office that afternoon.

She had kept herself so busy lately she had almost forgotten about Robin, until Snow showed up. At least that's what Regina kept telling herself so she could take her anger and frustration out on Snow.

Truth be told, work was the only thing that could distract her enough to forget her problems for a little while, but the moment she stopped working everything came flooding back, every moment, every glance, every kiss, and it was eating her alive, haunting her thoughts and dreams.

She wanted to forget, because thinking about what she no longer had was too painful, but she couldn't bring herself to drink a potion that would erase him from her memory either.

For once, she decided to let the memories in, let them flood her mind without her trying to push them out. She opened the bottom drawer of her nightstand and retrieved a green scarf from it. She had found it in her car after Robin had crossed over the town line and suspected he had left it there on purpose, so she'd have something of his with her.

Regina curled into a ball on the bed and held the scarf close to her nose. It still smelled like him and she closed her eyes, imagining he was there next to her, peppering her with kisses, holding her close to his body so she could feel its warmth.

Exhaustion eventually took over and Regina drifted off to sleep.


"Regina…"

Someone was shaking her softly but she was still mostly asleep and she was dreaming of Robin, so she tried to focus on him as she curled up even more, still holding the scarf close to her, as if her life depended on it.

"Regina, wake up."

Before she opened her eyes, she realized how unusual it was to be awakened by someone and slowly registered that it was the savior that was standing next to her, trying to wake her up as gently as possible.

"What do you want, Swan?" her voice still a little hoarse. "And how the hell did you get into my house?"

She sat up on the bed and glared at the blonde, who was looking at her with sympathy-filled eyes, just like her annoying mother. But Regina didn't see it as sympathy, she saw it as pity and she was having none of it. When she noticed Emma was eyeing the green scarf in her hands she tried to hide it as much as possible behind her back.

"I.. We used the key. Henry's downstairs."

"What time is it? Is he okay?"

"He's fine and it's almost 11am. We need your help, Regina. Belle thinks she found a way to free the fairies from the hat. I'd do it if I could, but… it's dark magic."

"So, you barged into my room and disturbed me just so I could set those moths free?"

Emma didn't even reply to that, she just stared at the brunette. She could see past her façade, she knew she had changed for the better, despite her current behaviour, and that she'd help them, in the end. Furthermore, Regina knew as well as she did that the fairies might help them take down the spell on the town line.

She didn't even try to hide her irritation as she huffed and said "Wait for me downstairs, I'll be down in ten minutes."


"So, how do we free them?"

They were standing in the middle of a clearing deep in the woods, Regina, Emma, Hook, Belle and the Charmings. Belle placed the wooden box containing the magical hat on a tree stump and opened the book she was holding so she could show Regina the spell. She examined the pages carefully before turning to face Belle "I need Rumple's dagger."

She handed the book back to her and asked everyone to take a couple of steps back.

"Regina, are you sure this is safe?" Snow asked.

"Would it matter?" She raised the dagger and her free hand towards the box and closed her eyes. She dug deep into herself to gather her magic and mentally recited the spell. Her hands started shaking but she never let go of the dagger. A purple, glittery smoke started erupting from the box and swirling on top of it. It started off small then grew bigger and bigger.

There was a sudden burst of light, Regina reopened her eyes in time to see the fairies being spat out of the hat one by one and landing on the ground.

"Are they all out?" Regina yelled over the loud noise.

"Yes, they're all here, you can close it!" Charming replied.

But she couldn't. The hat was somehow preventing her from closing it. She could feel its magic clinging to her own and not letting go. It was absorbing her magic, not completely draining her of it, but it was taking a huge toll on her, and the cloud of smoke kept growing bigger and taller.

"Regina, close it!" Emma yelled.

"I'm trying! I can't!" Her nose started bleeding due to the strain as she tried with all her energy to release herself from the hat's grip.

In a matter of seconds the smoke that had formed around the hat stopped spreading outwards and returned where it had come from, hitting the box full force. There was a blast that sent everyone flying backwards, hitting trees and falling unconscious to the ground as something black erupted from the box and burst upwards in the sky, creating a vortex. When it reached the clouds, darkness started spreading all over them, allowing no light to pass through them.

The world went completely dark, then a tall figure emerged from the hat, casting a blueish light around itself. Two little imps followed him in tow. When they were out, the box closed, darkness stopped gushing from it, disappearing as if nothing had happened. The only thing left was the tar-like substance that coated the clouds, but that slowly started fading as well.

The towering figure moved his head to make his neck crack before he opened his dark eyes to take in the surroundings with an evil smirk. He had a greyish complexion and was wearing a black robe that ended in a smoky base, but his most peculiar feature was with no doubt his flaming blue hair.

"Well, well, well… out at last."

"My Lord…"

"…where are we exactly?"

Came the two small voices of the purple and green-skinned imps behind Hades.

"In a land called Storybrooke."

He took in his surroundings and saw people lying on the ground.

"Someone freed us from our cage." He turned to face Pain and Panic briefly before going back to looking at the faces of the unconscious humans. "And now I can get my revenge. My brother will pay dearly for locking me up in that wretched place."

When his eyes fell on Regina he found himself unable to look away. Not just because of her beauty, which struck him more than that of any woman he had ever laid eyes on. There was something about her, something familiar, a memory connected to her and buried deep in his mind, struggling to resurface. He stepped towards the woman and the closer he got, the more he could feel the magic that surrounded her. He knelt next to her and let his hand hover over her heart for a few moments, then retracted it abruptly with a barely audible gasp as he realized why she seemed so familiar. The woman lying in front of him was not just powerful, she had both light and dark magic in her.

"Change of plans, guys. We won't be going straight to Mount Olympus, after all."

He turned and waved his hand to give them a human appearance, then did the same with himself. The two of them looked very anonymous, dressed in black clothes similar to the ones worn by the men on the ground around them. Hades, on the other hand, turned into a handsome man with blue eyes and raven, short hair, wearing a pair of black jeans that highlighted the sculpted muscles underneath and a light blue button-down.

"What are these?" The little imps looked positively disgusted by the clothes they were wearing.

"Guys, patience. This is all temporary. You see, there's a prophecy my brothers don't know about, which gives us an enormous advantage. Before Zeus managed to lock me up, the Fates told me of a mortal who wields both dark and light magic. This mortal will be crucial in the war that's to come between good and evil, it's his destiny to decide which side will be victorious. And the woman who set us free happens to be that very special being."

"So what do we have to do?"

"For now, we wait. But I have a plan in store for her."


A/N: I really hope this isn't too lame, the more I think about it the more stupid the whole idea sounds in my head. About Hades, I personally love this character a lot so I hope to do him justice. Still, this character is not based solely on the Disney version of Hades. In fact, I was inspired not only by the Disney movie Hercules but also by mythology (both Greek and Latin) and by a theatrical play written by an italian author during the Renaissance (let's thank my university's mandatory classes for this). So, I'll try to mix these things and also give the story and characters my own twist.

I really hope you enjoy reading this story, I look forward to knowing what you think about it.

Thank you for reading! x