Chapter 3

When Regina arrived at the kitchen, she felt more tired than she had in years. Life as a teapot wasn't exactly easy and with her magic gone, it just made all of it that much more difficult. She jumped up on the counter to make sure that her son had actually gone to bed like she had asked.

He was on his base, his eyes drooping. Among all the other small teacups, he was almost indistinguishable, except for that small chip in his rim. But she had become able to tell them all apart during the past few months. They were all children of Storybrooke and though some of their parents were somewhere in the castle, brooms or feather dusters maybe, but most of them had been placed out in the Enchanted Forest somewhere. At first, she had taken care of just Henry, but eventually she had started taking care of all of them.

I've gone from a queen to the runner of a chinaware orphanage, she often found herself thinking. The idea had bothered her at first, but she had come to love them all. The teacup sleeping next to Henry, Roland, was one that she simply adored. He was one of the lucky ones-his father, Robin Hood, was a clock and while he usually was there to watch over his son, he seemed to be running late. Probably with Will Scarlet, whom she assumed was a former acquaintance, with apparently some bad history.

All the better, she thought.

She went up to her son, who was just about to fall asleep.

"Mom?" he whispered.

"Yes, Henry?"

"Aren't you glad Grandpa actually came? We'll be human again!" Roland and some of the other teacups stirred at the sound of his whisper-yell.

"Shh, Henry, you'll wake the entire castle up. Yes, I am happy. Don't get your hopes up too high though. This curse is complicated."

"I know, but there's nothing wrong with hoping right?" She gave him a soft smile.

"You're right. Now go to sleep. I love you."

"Love you too, goodnight." He nestled back in the cupboard and she nudged the door almost closed with her spout.

"Are all of them tucked away?" Robin Hood came up onto the counter, doing it as quietly as a mantle clock could. She simply nodded, yawning a bit. Though she didn't act like it most of the time, she actually quite enjoyed talking to him. She had even found herself wondering what he had looked like when he was human. He knew who she was of course, as she had made that clear when they had first arrived at this godforsaken place. She knew he hated her, as she had come to expect from most people, but lately he had managed to be civil with her and they had ended up running the castle together in a way.

"I see we have a visitor in the common room. I am assuming our message got through then?" he asked.

"Obviously. Looks like that Hatter is actually good for something."

"He has a name you know." She turned to him.

"I don't care about what his name is. I care about getting this curse broken. I hate having to take a bath in a sink. He was a means to a hopefully successful end. Once he had seen and spoken with Grace, he was up for anything."

"I can't imagine what it must be like for him. Losing his daughter so many times, and then finding out that she's a teacup while he's still human? I don't think I could do it once with Roland," he said solemnly. Regina considered that. She had lost Henry once to Pan, and she was indeed very grateful that she didn't have to do it again.

"Regardless," she said, "Pan made this curse complicated. The attack was proof of that." And with that they both hopped onto a nearby cart and she told it to take her to the common room where the Prince was.

They rolled into the common room. It was somewhat large, not as big as some of the other ones in the castle. There was a lit fireplace opposite the door, with a large cushioned chair in front of it. The room was dark, save for the firelight. The walls were sparsely decorated, with a few landscape paintings here and there. The Prince was sitting in the large chair when they arrived, his feet on the ottoman. He was speaking with the candelabra that was on the end table.

"...and I was woken up by this sudden loud roar-woke me up from me nap- and then I look down-no legs, these brass things for arms and a flame on top of me head. Bloody hell when I find out who cast this curse, I'm gonna-"

"Will, that's enough," Robin said softly. The Prince and the candelabra looked over.

"Who are you?" Charming asked, sounding tired of asking that question.

"My name is Robin Hood. I see you've already met Will." Charming just nodded, giving him a faint, tired smile.

"Well now that we've imitated the beginning of an AA meeting-" Regina started.

"A what?" Robin asked, while Will just gave her a look.

"-let's get down to business," she continued, pointedly ignoring both of them, "We have a curse to break, remember?"

"Goodness we were just being polite," Will said defensively.

"I don't care," she huffed, "We're trying to break a curse here, not eat a fancy dinner."

"Well we're not getting any farther by arguing, so shall we begin?" Robin said, taking his eyes from Regina and looking at Charming, "So what happened on your end, Your Highness?"

The Prince went into a long speech of what had happened to him, how he had been treated and finally, how he had gotten his memories back.

"That was probably the Mad Hatter," Regina cut in.

"Jefferson?"

"Yes. He had come to us in an...unorthodox manner, looking for his daughter."

"What do you mean?" Charming asked. Regina looked to Robin, unsure of whether to tell him or not. Robin gave her a small nod and she went on.

"Three months ago, the castle was attacked. They were looking for Hook."

"Hook? Why? What did he do?"

"This curse is complicated to say the least," Robin said, "Most of the objects in this castle were human before the curse hit. People were turned into dusters, ovens, wardrobes and a lot of them were separated from their families. Well, the families were convinced that Hook was the one who took them away. The Hatter was no different. His daughter, Grace, was turned into a teacup. So they got a mob together and attacked the castle. They searched high and low, destroying a lot of the castle, unaware that it was their loved ones they were harming. Jefferson had come into the kitchen, and Regina got his attention. She knew what he was after, and convinced him to get a memory potion to you, that it was the only way to save his daughter."

"Wait Regina, you have your magic?" Charming asked, a glimmer of hope in his eye.

"No, I don't," she said, looking down, "we found a couple of them in the castle, both around Hook. We've been trying to get him to take one but he refuses, says he doesn't want to remember. Stupid stubborn pirate." The last words were muttered.

"They were going to destroy and kill everyone in the castle, but Hook stood up to them. When they saw him, they were terrified but he managed to fight them off-with the help of a few of us of course. Once they saw the moving objects, they left. He saved many lives that day, and for that we are all grateful," Robin said.

"Well then where is he? I really need to see him."

"Yes you have made that abundantly clear. He's here. He doesn't have any inclination anymore to even come out of his room," Regina said.

"It's like he's gone mad," Will piped up, "He used to be social, he would come down for meals, chat with us and the only odd thing about him was that he wanted all the mirrors covered. After the attack though, he changed. Now the only ones he talks to are me, Regina and Robin."

While Charming appeared to be considering that, Regina was thinking back to the night of the attack. Henry had escaped the cupboard, wanting to see the action and he nearly got trampled in the commotion, but Hook had picked him up just in time. That had made it twice that he had saved Henry.

"It sounds like he's out then," Charming said, sounding more than disappointed.

"Not necessarily," Regina said, "He goes around murmuring about Miss Swan sometimes. I think he wants to remember her."

"Emma? Why would he remember her?" Regina gaped at his genuinely confused face.

"You never noticed the yearning looks and doey eyes?"

Charming continued to give her a puzzled look. She groaned.

"He has a thing for her. He's had one since Neverland and it's only grown since then. I think he loves her, and he's trying to remember her, but he just can't. God, am I the only one who notices these things?" she huffed.

"Even if he does want to help though, it seems like he just can't. We'll need more than just a memory potion if we want to defeat this curse," Charming said.

"What did you have in mind?" Robin asked.

"Rumplestiltskin. Is he here? Did he survive being stabbed?"

"Well yeah but that's the Dark One. Why would you want his help?" Will said.

"If you guys can get the memory potion that Hook didn't take, then I can go to Rumplestiltskin and get to the other realm. I might even be able to get another memory potion from him."

"That's insane," Regina said, "All magic comes with a price and Rumple is all about deals. You won't be an exception to those rules. You might have to give up something horrible."

"Well, I can't think of anything else to do. If it means saving my family and the people of Storybrooke, then I'm willing to do whatever it takes, even if that is working with the Dark One."

"You work for the Dark One?" a cold voice said from the door. They all looked over.

Hook.