The Dragon's Secret
Chapter 2
Disclaimer::: I do not own OUAT or it's characters, just my imagination.
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Morning arrived and their plan was set into motion. Emma agreed she would stay at a distance but come only when Regina needed her help. In the meantime, Emma made arrangements for Ruby and Granny to keep an eye on Henry and make sure he did his homework and went to school. Henry knew something was going on and when he asked his blonde mother about it, her response was that they were working on a case and that Henry would be safe once it was over with. Emma promised to explain everything to her son, but not while she was working with his other mother. She explained that they didn't want to lie to Henry but that this was for his own protection. He was better off not knowing anything else so no one could use him to get to Emma or Regina. Henry agreed not to push them for more information. He was happy knowing his parents were not going to lie to him. He promised not to go visit the Charmings until it was over with. His parents' priority was to keep Henry safe at all times, no matter what. He trusted that his parents knew what they were doing.
Regina headed out and found Maleficent sitting with Ursula and Cruella at the diner. She moved over to their table and talked them into letting her join them, explaining that she was bored with her life and hoped to get in on whatever they were involved in, just like old times. The trio knew that Regina would have to prove herself to them before they could trust her again.
Maleficent smiled at Regina darkly, she clearly missed what they used to do together, getting into all kinds of mischief and she hoped that Regina was still the same girl she used to know. There was so much she wanted to share with her. So much she needed to tell her, but she would need to wait until the time was right. She wanted so much to be able to trust Regina again. She also knew her old friend could help her to get what she needed based on what Gold told her when he first brought her back. But first, she needed to know that Regina was on her side before she could make any sort of revelation to her. She needed to see whether or not she could trust Regina again. After a while, she bought them two shots of tequilas and handed her one. "Are you still a bad girl Regina?" She asked.
Regina looked at her darkly and took the shot, swallowing it. "The worst." She looked at Maleficent. Hoping her old friend would believe it. She would do whatever it took to reassure them that she had not gone soft like they had thought. She wanted them to believe she was one of them, if not badder than they were.
Maleficent smiled at the mayor. "Ready to create chaos and destruction like old times darling?" She wanted to see if Regina could rise up to the occasion, to be the Evil Queen she once knew. Cruella and Ursula smiled, when Regina joined them, showing them that she was game. Soon, Cruella drove them off and they caused trouble, blowing up property and destroying the Sheriff's car. They kept testing Regina, looking for any sign of weakness that would show them that she couldn't be trusted. But Regina surprised them when she'd gotten involved in the fun of destroying things, knowing that Regina was supposed to be the Mayor of Storybrooke. Maleficent had turned into a dragon and blown up David's car… THAT was on purpose. She needed to vent somehow and blowing up his car made her feel just a teeny bit better. Regina had then used fireballs to destroy other pieces of property. Mal had gotten a kick out of that.
Of course while this was all happening, Emma had received a call from David and Mary Margaret. They'd informed their daughter that David's car had been destroyed completely, burnt beyond repair. Emma had gone out there to check out the damages that the Queens of Darkness left in their wake. She knew it would cost money to be replaced, but at the same time, she also knew that Regina would need to pay for the damaged properties out of the budget they had for something like this. A part of her knew what happened even though Regina had not told her what to expect. But she was going to play along with what was happening and play dumb, hoping that Regina knew what she was doing. Of course Mary Margaret was so quick to judge Regina without knowing what was really going on. Emma rolled her eyes and glared at the dark haired woman standing there acting so high and mighty. She was still upset that her parents would not tell her what had happened with Maleficent in the past. She sighed, "Don't worry, we will see to it that you get a new car as soon as we can David. I will take care of this." She had tried to get them to open up to her and tell her the truth, but they were still lying. Especially Mary Margaret.
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After having so much fun getting away with what they did, the trio brought Regina to the cabin, and when they arrived, Regina was not surprised to see that Gold was back in town. It was more of a Gotcha! moment. But nobody needed to know what Regina was thinking at the time. Of course Gold reacted badly to Regina's presence, thinking that the good Mayor was going to foil their plans. Regina had to do her best to assure him that she wasn't going to stop them from doing what needed to be done. In order to appease Gold, Regina had agreed to go out with Maleficent to kidnap Pinocchio and bring him back to the cabin. Regina agreed, knowing it was the only way she would be able to convince them that she was on their side. When Regina and Maleficent arrived at their destination, the Mayor did what she could to assure Geppetto that she would make sure no harm came to his boy. She did this without Maleficent knowing what she really did. Maleficent waited outside for Regina.
The dragon had her suspicions, but didn't confront Regina with them right away. Before they'd arrived at the cabin, Maleficent turned to look at the sleeping boy in the backseat of Cruella's car and looked at Regina. "Pull over." She directed her to turn at the next road.
Regina looked at her old friend, surprise on her face. "What? Why?" She'd hoped that the older woman was not about to catch on to what really happened back at Geppetto's place.
"Relax Regina. Just do it. Pull over. We need to have a talk." The older woman replied, getting very serious.
Regina did what she was told and parked the car before she looked over at the dragon. "What's going on? Do we really have time for a chat before they start looking for us?" She asked.
Maleficent smiled knowingly as she turned to look at her old friend. "You don't fool me darling. You're playing with fire. I know what you are really up to, Regina. You may have been evil once upon a time, but that spark just isn't there anymore."
Regina looked at Maleficent. "How did… No. I will not explain myself to you. You're up to something and it involves Snow White doesn't it? What happened between you two anyway?" She was putting the question out there. What did she have to lose now that Maleficent clearly knew what Regina was up to? She had made a promise to Emma and she had every intention of keeping her promise. No matter what.
The Queen of Darkness chuckled then. She was amused. "Why don't you ask HER? She knows very well why I want to make her suffer." She smirked darkly.
Regina licked her lips, remembering what it felt like wanting to do the same thing to Snow White not so long ago. "We tried to get her to tell us what happened. But she's too afraid to say anything to us about what she did to you. We do know she's keeping a big secret from us."
"We? Am I to assume you're talking about you and Emma? Snow White hasn't told her anything yet?" The dragon smiled widely as the wheels started turning in her head. She couldn't wait to tell Emma the whole truth of what happened.
Regina frowned, seeing the look on Mal's face. Something wasn't right here. She was most certainly up to something. "What do you know about Emma? What hasn't Snow said that Emma needs to know?" She asked warily.
The older woman laughed softly. "Snow White has absolutely no idea that her actions have very serious consequences. But because of what she has done, she is going to be paying a very high price. I will make sure she pays very dearly. She thinks she got away with it, but because she knows I'm back, she is running scared. I'm not surprised that the bitch is keeping secrets from Emma." She smirked darkly. She knew it was very obvious that Snow White's absolute fear was the potential of Emma learning the truth of what happened.
Regina knew Maleficent was dancing around the truth right now, she was stringing her along. "What secrets Mal? What does Emma have to do with this? She doesn't know what her mother did… Whatever it is, you cannot hold that against her. I mean I know she killed you before. I just hope you're not going to..."
Maleficent smiled. She could see that Regina cared about Emma. She shook her head and lifted her hand to stop Regina from finishing the sentence. "I'm not going to hurt Emma or the son you two share. If that's what you're worried about. That's the last thing I would ever want to do. They are not responsible for Snow White's actions. Emma and her son are as much victims in this as I am. Let's get going. We need to get back to the cabin before they send out a search party." Maleficent smiled, indicating that the conversation was over for now. She didn't want to give away too much before she had the chance to do something about it.
Regina was flabbergasted by what Maleficent said to her. It left her with more questions than answers. But she needed to know. "How do you know about Henry? What's going on?" She asked as she began driving again.
"Tomorrow, I plan to talk with Emma. I'm going to tell her everything her 'mother' did. You will need to be there for Emma and your son. Because what I have to say is going to really destroy Snow White and her idiot. It's going to unfortunately turn Emma's life upside down." Maleficent sighed. "It's going to hurt her. And it's all Snow's fault. I'm sorry Regina. But this needs to be done. The truth needs to come out. That truth is really going to hurt them." She stopped talking as they finally arrived at the cabin.
Regina's mind was racing overtime as she processed everything her old friend shared with her. She had seen the look in her eyes and knew with great relief that Henry and Emma would not be harmed by Maleficent. Not intentionally. She knew that she would need to call Emma soon and let her know what she found out and make arrangements so Maleficent could have that conversation with Emma. Regina would be there for Emma through whatever the dragon had to share. She had a nagging feeling it was going to be bad. Whatever Maleficent had to share with her best friend was huge. It sounded like it was going to change Emma's life, and it was going to destroy the Charmings in the process. Regina had started to be friends with them and now, she wasn't sure how she would be able to handle seeing this happen. But whatever happened, she would be there for Emma and Henry, no matter what. She carried Pinocchio inside and the others were surprised, yet happy that Regina had carried out the kidnapping without incident.
They tried to get the information they'd needed from Pinocchio, but it wasn't getting them anywhere close to what they needed, so they tried to age him to his older form of August. They were in awe of how August could transform into a wooden man and found that pretty amusing. Well, Maleficent did. She'd thought it was very fun to watch. August was not going to forget the faces of his tormentors. And true to Regina's promise to Geppetto, she had made sure he wasn't harmed. He'd come pretty close a couple of times, but Regina had managed to protect him as much as she could until Gold finally got somewhere and unfortunately, put someone close to Regina's heart in danger. It was time to contact Emma without letting Gold or the others know what she was doing. The only one who seemed privy to what Regina was doing, was Maleficent. The Mayor felt like she could trust the Dragon not to let any harm come to Henry or to Emma. Regina took matters into her hands and was able to send a message to Emma through Mary Margaret whom Emma was still trying to be civil with, despite the constant arguing they'd been having earlier.
After getting Regina's message, Emma was having a hard time being around Mary Margaret who was proving to be very difficult. She still refused to let Emma help her after she'd tried to get her to tell her the truth yet again. Emma felt like she was going to explode. Mary Margaret was still refusing to budge. At least they had been almost civil up until that point. The blonde groaned in frustration as she stormed off. She felt helpless and not just with the situation with her parents, but with the fact her son was in danger now. Her parents were no help at all. Mary Margaret was now upset that Emma and Regina would not let Henry see them or visit with them until the whole situation was taken care of.
"We need to tell Emma." David couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't let his wife keep up with her charades. When his wife began protesting, he stopped her. "Well, what do you prefer? Emma hearing about it from us or from someone else? How do you think she would feel if we kept this from her and let Maleficent destroy this new relationship we are working to build with Emma?" He pointed out.
Mary Margaret finally nodded. "Can't we just wait a little longer? Let me figure out what to say to Emma. Just not today. I promise, we will talk to her maybe tomorrow." She wanted to sleep on it in order to work up the courage she needed in order to tell Emma everything.
David sighed and nodded. "Alright. Tomorrow we'll tell her." He agreed. They headed back to town, trying to catch up with Emma.
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Regina paired up with Maleficent again while Cruella and Ursula left together. Gold went to do his thing. Regina looked at her friend when they were finally alone. "We can't let the others get to Henry. It was time for me to get ahold of Emma. I was able to warn her about Gold's intent…"
Maleficent looked at the brunette and nodded. "I agree. We need to protect the boy. I'm not so sure tomorrow can wait. I need to talk to Emma, the sooner, the better. It's time."
Regina looked at Mal. "I can't help but wonder what the whole story is... why you are so invested in talking with Emma. You clearly have something important to tell her." She called Emma. It was time to get the dragon and the savior together to sit down and have a very important conversation. There was no point in delaying the inevitable.
Emma heard her phone and answered, "Yeah, Emma here… Regina? Are you okay? What? Okay, I'll be there in a few minutes." She hung up and saw her parents as they tried to get her attention. She sighed and rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood to deal with them right now. They'd put her in a very lousy mood. "I don't have time for this. I'm going to meet Regina at Granny's."
They nodded. "We'll join you. Maybe grab something to eat." They moved to follow their daughter. Emma had rolled her eyes again as they headed that way.
By the time they'd arrived, Regina was already sitting there with Maleficent, waiting for Emma to join them. The younger blonde was surprised to see who Regina was there with. She moved toward the booth they were seated at. "What is she doing here?" She eyed Maleficent. She was curious about why they were there together. She thought maybe Regina was still undercover.
Regina smiled at her friend. "It's okay Emma, actually, Maleficent just wanted a chance to talk with you… said it was very important." she moved so Emma could sit next to her.
Emma saw the way Maleficent smiled at her. She nodded and started to move to sit next to Regina.
The Charmings became visibly shaken when they saw that Maleficent was there, wanting to talk with Emma, no less. Mary Margaret put her hand on Emma's arm, stopping her from sitting with them. Her mother shook her head, eyes wide open with panic. "No Emma. Let's get out of here. You don't want to talk with her. You can't trust what she says. She's a villain." She glared at the older blonde as she tried to pull Emma away.
Maleficent smirked at the petite woman clutching at Emma. She was right. Mary Margaret did not want Emma knowing the part she played in what happened that day she gave birth. This was her worst nightmare coming alive right now and that pleased Maleficent to no end. "So you still haven't told Emma the truth about the part you and your shepherd played in taking my dau…"
"No! Stop talking! Don't say it!" Mary Margaret snapped, beginning to panic, digging her fingers into Emma's arms.
"Mary Margaret. Stop." David replied. He knew his wife was making things worse for them. They could no longer keep lying to their daughter or to themselves. He knew there was no way out of what they did all these years ago. This was it. The truth would come out and there was no stopping it.
Emma removed Mary Margaret's hands from her arms and looked at her. "I asked you for your honesty when you first told me about your encounter with Maleficent and her friends. But you refused to tell me the truth. That's why I'm very interested in hearing what Maleficent has to say. If you're not going to tell me, then I am going to find out for myself." She moved and sat down next to Regina, sitting across from Maleficent. She could see that the older blonde was extremely happy to see she had decided to hear her out.
"No please! Emma! You can't trust her!" Mary Margaret cried out loudly.
Emma turned to look at her. "And I can't trust you right now." She deadpanned, "I gave you plenty of time to tell me the truth. You had your chance and you didn't take it. Now I want to hear what Maleficent has to tell me." She turned to look at her. Maleficent now had Emma's undivided attention.
Mary Margaret began protesting loudly until Regina flicked her wrist and took her voice away, silencing her. The Mayor was tired of hearing Mary Margaret's voice and was very curious to hear what her old friend had to say.
Maleficent smiled darkly. "Thank you Regina. I was this close to…" She chuckled, letting the words hang as she watched the Charmings move to another table. She looked at Emma. "First of all, I just want to say I'm sorry because I know what I'm about to share with you will turn your life upside down. I only just found out some interesting things that were revealed to me. And if you do not believe me, I have witnesses ready to back up what I have to tell you because they were there when it all happened. Those Charmings are not who you think they are." She began. "This happened before you were born. Before the curse changed our lives."
Regina sat up at the mention of the curse, realizing that Maleficent had a huge story to tell them. "What happened Mal? You mentioned the curse… I always wondered why it was so easy for me to steal that curse from you…"
Maleficent gave Regina a dark look to remind her that she had a story to share. It was her turn to talk and she didn't like being interrupted. "Because I was pregnant." She smirked at the look of surprise on Regina's face.
"You had a baby?" Emma asked the older blonde.
Maleficent looked at the younger blonde with a gentle smile and nodded. "For so long, I thought I'd lost my daughter for good because your so called parents stole her from me." She heard them gasp in surprise. "Hold on, there's more to this story. So much more." She saw and heard Mary Margaret trying to get up as David refused to budge. David had a look of guilt on his face, but Mary Margaret was trying to talk, failing to do so, thanks to what Regina did. Maleficent gave them a cold dark look.
Emma turned to look at them, a glare on her face. She couldn't understand why they would take her daughter like that. "Please continue. I want to hear the whole story. Don't leave anything out. Just remember, don't try to lie to me. I always know when someone is lying." Just like when her parents had been lying to her. She thought to herself.
Maleficent smiled knowingly. She wasn't surprised by this revelation. "So do I darling. Nothing gets past me either." She winked at the younger blonde. "Cruella and Ursula were there outside the cave, keeping watch over us as I gave birth to my daughter's egg. I was temporarily weak after giving birth so my defenses were down. The Charmings knew I was pregnant because I had seen Snow White was also pregnant. I'd spoken with her before about our pregnancies. Anyways, I gave birth and not long afterwards, they trespassed and came into my lair as I lay there in dragon form. She grabbed my daughter's egg. They had yet to hatch." Maleficent was starting to get emotional and angry at this point of the story.
Regina gasped. How dare she? Even she knew better than to do something like that. She looked over at the Charmings, shocked by their actions.
Emma had a dark look in her eyes as she felt coldness spread through her. As a mother herself, she knew it would have been a nightmare to have your child snatched away like that. She found herself reaching out and taking a hold of Maleficent's hand. It was very similar to how she'd felt when she had to give her son up for adoption. She wondered how many children she had. She assumed from the 'they' that there were more. "What happened next?" She whispered, her heart going out to her.
Maleficent gave a small sob at the contact she got from Emma. She looked at the younger blonde and could see the compassion and empathy on her face. She held her hand, knowing she had so much more she wanted to share with her. "I begged her, mother to mother not to take them from me. I begged for mercy. But she called me a monster. She called my daughter a monster. What kind of a mother is she that she could do that to an innocent child?" A tear finally broke free and made its way down her cheek.
Emma's heart broke for Maleficent as she struggled to understand how they could do that to her. She turned to look at the Charmings. "How dare you?! How in the fucking hell could you do this to them?!"
"I'm so sorry." David hung his head. "We never meant for that to happen. The apprentice promised that we could bring her baby back to her. But he created a portal and before we knew it…"
Emma snapped as she growled. She didn't want to hear his excuses. "No! What the hell did you do?! Why did you involve the Apprentice?! What the hell are you not fucking telling me?!"
Regina allowed Mary Margaret to have her voice back. A part of her wanted to strangle them.
"Because we needed to! You had darkness inside you and we needed a vessel… A place to put your darkness inside her baby…" Mary Margaret tried to justify their actions.
Emma lost it then as she slammed her hands on the table, causing Regina to jump in surprise. "You...you did what?!" She snarled as she bristled visibly. Everyone in the diner went quiet as they watched what was happening. "My darkness? What the fuck?!" Her eyes flashed dangerously as fury began to build up inside her. The lights began to flash. Several light bulbs burst, sending sparks flying. She began to shake as she tried to regain control of her emotions which were all over the place right now.
The Charmings gasped in surprise at what was happening. What was happening? They gulped as they tried to explain further. "We had visions. Your father saw you as a baby, but I saw you as a teenager. You were dark. You were angry and you ripped my heart out of my chest! I didn't want you to be evil. To be dark." Mary Margaret tried to explain. "We needed to get the darkness out of you and the Apprentice told us how we could… we needed a vessel… The egg... Rumplestiltskin also said that you were supposed to be the savior but…"
"I also knew about your potential to be dark, Emma." Maleficent replied. "I tried to work together with your parents to form an alliance with them. I wanted to help them… But they betrayed me. It wasn't until after I thought I lost my daughter, until after Rumplestiltskin brought me back, that he revealed other things to me. He told me what happened before and after they put your darkness in my daughter. He reminded me of something they ignored. What happens when you use dark magic." She looked at Regina. "Dark magic doesn't affect me the way it affects those who have no training in the dark arts. You know what Rumple always says about magic."
Regina nodded. "All magic comes with a price."
Maleficent smiled darkly. "They didn't think about the consequences of putting Emma's darkness inside my daughter. The price of what they did to us. They think they got away with what they did. But they didn't. Had they not resorted to getting the Apprentice involved and not put Emma's darkness inside her, things would have been very different."
"What are you talking about?" The Charmings whispered.
Maleficent grinned, feeling so wicked and smug as she prepared to give them a blow that would change their lives completely. She almost cackled.
"Maleficent?" Emma turned to look at the older blonde who had taken ahold of her hand again as she looked at Emma, a dark smile on her face. It was very eerie, almost as if time was starting to move slower and Emma began to feel dizzy as she looked into her eyes, eyes that looked very much like her own.