AUTHOR'S NOTE: I HAVE DECIDED TO RAISE THE RATING ON THIS STORY FROM 'T' TO 'M' JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE. I AM IN THE HABIT OF WRITING 'M' RATED STORIES AND AM STILL DEBATING ABOUT WRITING A VERY 'GROWN UP' CHAPTER IN THE NEAR FUTURE! THIS STORY IS STILL TAKING OFF SO I AM STILL KIND OF FEELING OUT WHERE IT WILL GO. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PATIENCE AND THE SUPPORT. STAY TUNED! THANKS FOR CHECKING IT OUT! PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW!

~ Detective Olivia Stabler ~

Thief of Hearts

(Chapter Two: Desperate Measures)

"You're laughing at me?" she asked with a glimpse of that old familiar look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry dearie, I just never thought I'd see you come through that door again. But here you are."

"Yes, here I am."

"What seems to be the problem?"

She exhaled and pressed her lips together as she trailed her fingertips along the glass displace case.

"I need you to do a spell," she whispered.

"I can't help you if I can't hear you! I poses many skills, but mind reading is not one of them," he declared.

She exhaled in annoyance. It was obvious he was going to take full advantage of the fact that she had turned to him for help.

"I need you to do a spell," she repeated opening her palms against the counter.

"I thought you were through with magic?" he asked folding his arms in front of him.

"Just a little one really. Nothing much."

"Just what did you have in mind?"

"A true love spell."

"Let me stop you right there. I can't help you."

"Why not?"

At this point it was clear she was becoming irritated.

"You can't force true love, dearie. I'm not one to meddle in people's love lives."

"Please," she replied folding her arms. "You meddle in every single thing that ever goes on in this town. This is important, Rumple! Name your price. Just tell me what you want."

He giggled his annoying giggle and shook his head.

"Listen to me you miserable little slug," she growled reaching over the counter and pulling him to her by his jacket.

Regina, paused for a moment catching herself. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then exhaled and released him.

"My apologies," she said calmly regaining her composure. "I am asking you, nicely. Please help me with this."

"Can't."

"Why won't you help me?"

"I didn't say I wouldn't, dearie. I said I couldn't. This is out of my hands. There is no spell that can do what you are wanting done."

"There is. I have seen it. In my mother's things. A true love spell. It does exist."

"Magic can't make someone fall in love with you. Many, many have tried and it always ends badly. It is just something we have no control over. Either it is going to happen or it isn't. You can't force love."

"I don't want to force it. Reinforce it, really. Look, I don't need him to fall in love with me. I know that he loves me. All I need is to know for sure that his love for me is true. So, I really only a tiny fraction of a spell anyway."

"That's not how it works."

"Of course not," she exhaled smoothing her hands over her face.

"May I offer a simpler solution? One that can get you what you seek without breaking the promise that you made to your son that you wouldn't use magic."

She raised her head to look at him.

"Go on."

"Just ask him."

Regina's brow furrowed as she looked at him.

"I can't just ask the man if his love for me is true love."

"Why not? It is what you want to know."

"Because that is…. It's just…. I just can't."

"Well then, you may never really know."

"I have to know," she said softly. "There has to be another way."

Rumplestiltskin watched as she brushed past him and hurried out the door.

Across town Regina stood in the doorway of Henry's classroom watching as the children took turns reading out loud from their history books. From the front of the room Mary Margaret raised her eyes and smiled a warm smile.

"Excuse me for a moment," Mary Margaret said to her students. "Please continue your reading and we will have a quiz at the end of the chapter. Adam, you read the next page. Then Nick and Sarah. I will be back in just a few minutes."

She made her way to the back of the room and stepped into the hall.

"Regina, do you need to speak to Henry?"

"No," Regina said watching her son interact with his classmates, "I don't want to disturb him."

"Is there something I can help you with?"

"I don't think anyone can help me now," she said in a hoarse whisper with a knot in her throat.

"You seem troubled."

"I just….Tonight is my night to have Henry. But I was wondering if maybe Emma could switch with me. Just this one time. I have something very important that I need to take care of."

Mary Margaret could see the sadness behind Regina's dark eyes.

"I will talk to Emma, but I'm sure it won't be a problem. I will just take him home with me after school."

"Tell him I will call him later. Thank you."

Mary Margaret smiled her warm smile once more.

"Any time," she said as Regina turned and headed down the hallway. "Are you sure there isn't something I can do to help you?"

Regina stopped for a minute, then turned to look back at her.

"There is something."

"Anything."

"Tell me….True love….how do you know that it is really true?"

Mary Margaret looked confused.

"How do you know when love is true love?" she rephrased the question hoping to clarify her inquiry.

Mary Margaret thought for a moment, then she smiled and her eyes lit up.

"When it is true love, you just know. You feel it, deep inside every fiber of your being. They are in every thought that crosses your mind and you can't imagine living your life without them."

Regina felt an uncontrollable smile cross her face as a tear slipped down her cheek.

"You have found it," Mary Margaret said softly.

"Yes…yes, I have," Regina replied smoothing her palm over the place where the baby kicked inside of her. "But how do I know for sure that his love for me is true?"

"He hasn't told you?"

Mary Margaret tipped her head.

"People show it in different ways," she said softly placing one hand supportively against Regina's arm. "You can feel it in his kiss. And in his arms when he closes them tight around you. You just know."

"Yea," Regina agreed. "Don't forget to tell Henry I'll call him."

"I will."

Deep inside Regina knew exactly what she had to do. Risking her marriage, her family and the life of her unborn child just was not an option. She had to do what she had to do to guarantee the best for her husband and children, even if it meant breaking a promise to them.

Regina climbed the steps and entered her family mausoleum. In the basement, she sifted through old trunks of her mother's belongings.

"It has got to be here somewhere," she exclaimed, tossing clothing and random useless items aside.

She sat up and wiped the sweat from her brow, taking a moment to catch her breath.

"Come on mother," she whispered as her eyes scanned the room once more, "I know you hid it here somewhere. If you ever cared for me….If you ever really loved me, please just help me with this," she pleaded in the empty room as her tears began to fall.

"Damn it!" she growled in frustration and listened as her voice echoed around her.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, then wiped away her tears. There was no way she was giving up this easily.

"Mommy is sorry darling," she said softly circling her hands over her abdomen as the baby kicked wildly. "But I am not giving up."

She pressed her lips together and pulled a long satin gown from one of the trunks, as she did she heard a clanking metal sound as a key fell to the floor. Holding it between her fingertips Regina noticed the top of the skeleton key formed a hart. She smiled and couldn't help but laugh, realizing that the answer had been right in front of her the whole time.

In the back of the room stood the case that held each and every heart that she and Cora had collected over the years. She made her way across the room and opened the case. Sliding the rows of drawers aside, Regina found a hidden compartment that she had long forgotten about. A compartment that she, herself had never before opened.

As a girl, she had once seen Cora open the hidden cabinet. But her mother later told her that the key had long been destroyed. Another lie, she thought to herself. This seemed exactly the place where Cora would hide something of such great value.

"There," she said placing the key into the old lock and turning it.

She stepped back placing her hands protectively over her belly as the room began to rumble and dust fell from the walls and the ceiling. When the tremor had stopped there was a series of clicking sounds and a pop. Regina heard the creak of the cupboard as it opened and her eyes widened at what she found.

Inside, wrapped in a red velvet cloth was an old spell book her mother used to use. The book was rumored to have been bound in human skin and the spells inside were stronger and more powerful than any other spells in the world. This was the Book of Half-light, as her mother had called it. And inside were spells that carried the darkest of magic and spells of light magic as well.

Regina had remembered Cora speaking of a True Love spell from this book that she had used once to make the King of Hearts fall in love with her. Sadly, it was all a ploy to steal his kingdom and she used another spell from the book to kill the king shortly after their marriage. But it was here. In this book, somewhere. And it worked. Regina had seen it with her own eyes.

She carried the book across the room and took a seat on one of the trunks. Lighting another candle for more light, she flipped through the pages of the thousand year old book.

"Here," she whispered as her fingertips skimmed across the top of the page. "It doesn't look that complicated."

Moving to another of the trunks she pulled several ingredients from a box. Mixing a little of this and a pinch of that, she was beginning to doubt she was even doing this right.

"Now I need three drops of my blood," she said reading from the page. "Okay," she replied pricking her fingertip and watching the deep red droplets swirl as they mixed with her concoction.

Placing her fingertip in her mouth for a moment, she turned the page and then uttered the words that bound the spell. She watched in amazement as a purple glow began to radiate from the liquid.

"I did it," she laughed smiling as she poured the potion into a vile and placed a cork in the top. "Now we just have to get your daddy to drink this and everything will be just fine."

She stared down at her belly as the baby kicked once more.

"Don't worry, my love. Mommy has a plan that is going to save us all."