Chapter 2:

Bridging the Gap

London, England

Alice stared at her cup of tea. Her final cup of tea. The one that would bring her misery to end. The one that would reunite her with Cyrus.

That is, if she didn't go to hell, for what she was about to do.

It was worth the risk, however. Cyrus was dead. Her father had a new wife and daughter and didn't want her anymore, not the way she was now. Her elder sister took her in, but she was so overwhelmed with her problems – her husband, children, gossiping matrons – that 'poor delusional Alice' was no doubt a burden to her. Why shouldn't she just end not only her suffering but everyone else's as well?

She picked up the cup and nearly had it to her lips, when –

"Miss Alice, I believe you about Wonderland."

Alice stilled, cup paused midair, as she looked to the woman standing in the doorway, who had made such an outrageous comment. No one believed her about that. Ever.

"Are you mocking me?"

Her niece and nephew's new nanny with the bright gold hair and warm brown eyes glided towards her to sit in the chair next to hers – without permission. How forward of her.

"No," she replied with a gentle shake of her head. "I am not. I am sympathizing with you, as I am from another land, a place called the Enchanted Forest, and I know how lonely it can be to be the only one who knows of it." She looked kindly at her, before waving at the tea cup and adding, "Although I wouldn't go so far as that. Belladonna can cause you to have a horrific maddening episode before death."

"How did you - ?"

"I saw you pick it in the garden. I tried to get to you sooner, but your nephew is quite the handful."

Alice did not know what to say to all this. She felt shame from being caught. She felt frustrated at being stopped. She felt curious about this woman and her otherworld…

"I'm not – I'm not drinking – It's not because no one believes me. It's because my love is dead," she blurted.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Ms. McKinley stated empathetically.

Alice wanted to blurt 'He was a genie' to see her reaction, but she refrained and accepted her kindly meant solicitude, whispering a quiet, "Thank you."

The nanny nodded her head, and then with more sensitivity than anyone had yet shown her, Ms. McKinley observed thoughtfully, "It must be a terrible burden, your loss, especially since you haven't been able to grieve him properly."

Before Alice could agree or pertly inquire as to what constitutes 'proper grieving', the nanny instructed with genuine interest, "Tell me about him."

That request was all she needed to let the floodgates open. She held nothing back. She told of his being a genie, of their adventures together, of his kindness, of his belief in her, of his love for her…

At the end of it all, her audience declared softly, "Your Cyrus seems to have been an exceptional man."

"He was."

"And I hope you don't think me too forward, but I would imagine that he would want you to live, not only for your sake or for your family's, but for his as well, that he would want you to live the full life that he cannot."

The truth of what she said hit Alice and with horror she pushed away the tea cup that she had been toying with throughout the conversation.

Ms. McKinley patted her hand, giving it a brief squeeze of comfort, before picking it up and emptying its contents in the fire.

~0~

Storybrooke, the Rabbit Hole

The day after Emma came to town…

"That's quite the hustle you got going on there," chuckled a woman with a low contralto voice.

Will turned and faced the blond who had joined him at the bar, replying only with a noncommittal, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, almost as good as a whore having her 'first' orgasm ever."

At this brazenly vulgar comparison, he spewed his drink, very narrowly missing the bartender, who shot him a dirty look. When he was finally able to reply, he sputtered his protest, "Al-" (cough) "-most?"

Note, that he did not deny the truth of her accusation or the crude imagery. No, what he objected to was her assessment of his game.

"Mhmm… I highly doubt you could have gotten away with it, if it had been quick-tempered Leroy and not the far less quick Larry," she replied with a noncommittal shrug, sipping away at whatever it was that she had on the rocks.

He eyed her up and down. She was slightly taller than him, but only because of the killer boots she was wearing. She had that whole 'I'm-gutsy-and-ready-to-take-you-on' vibe going for her in her tight black pants, tucked into said killer knee-high buckled boots, and in her low cut, bust accentuating, black and maroon vest with its gold buttons and trim. Her hair, which was dark blond at the roots and pale gold at the ends, was pulled up into a pony-tail with a black bow that was just begging to be untied.

Will mentally shrugged. She was attractive. He was bored, so...

Turning on his most charming grin, he asked, "Do you care to join me for a celebratory drink of my victory, Miss…?"

"Gwen McKinley, and only if you teach me a few of your tricks."

He arched his eyebrows, inquiring, "You mean the ones that are only 'almost as good'?"

Gwen replied with another casual shrug, explaining with unabashed frankness, "'Almost as good' is still not bad, and I can always use the extra cash."

~0~

Storybrooke

May 13th, 2012

8:14pm

Will was watching The Game – Manchester City versus Queens Park Rangers for the Premiere League title. He and his mates from work had been watching the NBA playoffs all day, but nothing beat good ol' football, and not the American kind. Of course, none of his Yankee friends shared his opinion, which was why he was watching it home alone.

Cracking open his ice cold beer, he mused that despite his solitude, it was the perfect way to spend a Sunday night. Of course, that is when it hit him – The Pulse.

He gasped and sadly dropped his beer (not that he noticed, to his regret, until much later). No, he was far too preoccupied with the memories that flooded his mind, as if he was the victim of a Vulcan mind-meld.

The gorgeous noble blond dressed in pink satin who caught him red-handed, who with a sly, coy wink taunted, "See you at the Weselton Winter Gala? I hear they have rubies ripe for the picking."

The clever girl who caught him in a net.

The sassy blue-eyed blond who met him at the Falls with a bottle of her mum's best champagne to celebrate his recent 'pickings.'

The two-toned blond with hazel eyes who took to pick-pocketing and poker like a sailor to the sea and who had the foul-mouth of one too.

The spitfire who became his friend, hustling pool, and then more than a friend, hustling horizontal style.

The woman who tasted of strawberries.

The woman who tasted of honey and vanilla.

The woman who dared to leave all behind and jump into a new world, into a new life.

His love who found him wanting, who left him for jewels and power.

His loner waif of a friend too scared and scarred and proud to let anyone in, to have him be a source of strength, whom he rejected in kind.

The girl who dared to steal his heart back from the Queen.

The not-a-nanny who marched into a pub, a Mad Hatter at her back, and offered him a new life, as long as he was willing to be Cursed.

When the room quit spinning and the ghosts of lives' past returned to hell, Will swore a blue streak. He did not cry. He couldn't. He felt empty, as per usual, but now he knew why. His heart. Ana.

'Down with the bloody Red Queen.' He wanted, no needed, a drink, something stronger than what he had here.

He was halfway to the Rabbit Hole, when he realized that Gwen would go there first thing too. He wasn't ready to face her yet. He had been a right arse the last time he saw her; and now when he could use a friend to talk to, he wasn't entirely sure he was welcome.

'Bullocks. Granny's, it is then.'

~0~

Wonderland

Present…

At her suggestion of Tweedle, Rabbit finally made his presence known, popping out from wherever he had been eavesdropping to say, "Our Tweedle has been at Heart Court, explaining to his family why he didn't notice his younger, if taller brother's disgraceful disloyalty. We can meet with him mid-morning if we leave at dawn."

They all agreed to the plan, even Ms. McKinley who looked exhausted from her quite emotional arrival to Wonderland.

As weary as she looked, she did not seem eager to retire for the evening, for while she and Cyrus were attempting to arrange bedding in the tent's cramped quarters, Ms. McKinley grabbed her partner's hand and declared, "We're going for a walk. Don't wait up," before slipping from the tent.

As soon as they were gone, Alice could not help but note aloud, "She is nothing like I recall."

Will snorted, "She is exactly how she was in Storybrooke. All hell-cat and most definitely un-governess-like."

Something in his tone caught her attention, and she accused, "You say that almost with admiration. Were you two …intimate over there?"

He smirked, "Yeah, when we weren't fighting. We were f–" He stopped to amend, smirk spreading wider at the sight of their furry friend, "Screwing like rabbits."

Alice blushed at his crudeness, while all three gentlemen shot the Knave a baleful glare.

Not really wanting to know the details, but still curious, she asked, "Does it bother you that she is with this Captain Jones now?"

"Do you mean, do I love her?"

She nodded her head.

He shook his, admitting, "Attracted to her, yes. I seem to have a thing for blonds who enjoy the thrill of thievery. But even if I had my heart, I think I'd only see her as a friend."

Alice was troubled by all that she had heard. Intimate relations with someone who was not your betrothed or love went against all she believed, and it hurt her to think that the sweet woman she had known was anything like what he described.

Will must have seen her expression, because he said, "I knew her while she was Cursed. I think it brought out the worst in people, and she's right – I do bring out the worst in her. But from all that she said she and Hook did, she's still the good woman that you knew and is highly resourceful. She'll help us, if she doesn't choose her sister over us."

From the bedroll in the corner, Lancelot's deep baritone voice rumbled, "Oh, I can assure you, she will not be doing that."

~0~

Killian hated Wonderland. You could never trust anyone there. And so he was understandably very wary of the three people who approached them – a lass and two men.

Even more so when Tawny went ballistic on the shorter, paler male's arse.

Nor was he set at ease, when she seemed to also know the lass and know of the other gent. Although that could have been because, he was more than a bit irked that the lass had never mentioned this Alice or talked of this Will, whom she obviously cared very much about.

He would be taking that up with her later. But there was a time and place for everything and this was not it.

He was well aware that his magnanimous attitude had been bought by her staking her claim on him. He predicted that her masterful manipulation of him was going to be a source of both admiration and vexation for years to come. That is, if they survived this deathtrap of a realm.

When he got a look at the painting, he finally saw what caused both his lass and the knight's distress, and he understood why the knight had come with him – just not why the lass felt compelled to bring him.

The painting was of a lady who resembled his Tawny. It was obviously her half-sister Guinevere. He knew it was her, because his lass would have jutted out her chin when wearing her most determined and defiant expression. Moreover, the eyes of his lass would have been lit with fire that the portrait's creator could not have helped but capture.

Despite his discomfort and irritation, he had managed to keep silent and be as nonthreatening as possible, but when the man insulted him with his insinuation that he was a poser – well, that just took the rum cake.

"Oi!" he protested, taking a menacing step forward.

But like the whipped seadog he was, he was silenced by the wave of his lass's hand. It was that, and he wanted to see how his chit dealt with the little weasel.

And boy, did she deliver. She defended him, made a dramatic declaration of 'Neverland and beyond', and complimented him on his leathers. He was touched, truly. It almost made up for the fact that she had been keeping secrets from him.

It was enough that he was willing to offer her comfort when she was informed that she was a sort-of-widow. But it was not enough that he couldn't resist needling her about sisterly vigilante similarities.

Finally, they got down to the heart of the matter. And while he did not want to get involved again in a Queen v. Queen match-up, he could see that this was something that his Tawny-love could not walk away from.

So he renewed his vow to her, by declaring, "Lass, you do what you have to do, and I will do all that is within my power to make that possible."

~0~

As soon as it was remotely polite, she and Killian exited the tent. She felt as if trepidation and dread were haunting her every step, while they walked to the edge of the clearing. It made it impossible to gauge Killian's mood; a fact which made her anxiety skyrocket even further. A vicious cycle, it was. It also didn't help matters that he was so unnervingly quiet.

She stopped them at a rather large tree and sat down, her back to its trunk and facing the meadow. She had thought that the roots would provide relative comfort and support. She found out that 'relative' was the key word; their comfortableness was nowhere near 'just right' in her mind, no matter how much she shifted about.

Killian, who had seated himself on her left side, snorted, breaking his silence by dryly admonishing, "Give it up as a lost cause, darling."

She did so with a sigh, finally beginning their long overdue conversation with, "Killian, I have this horrible feeling, based upon all that I have heard and read about Wonderland, that it is only going to get crazy mad from here on out, so let me just say, thank you.

"Thank you for coming. Thank you for staying. Thank you for waiting to have this, until after all of that." She waved her hand back towards the tent to indicate that convoluted and extensive conversation.

"You're welcome," he replied, and then gesturing with his hook between them, he asked, "But what is the 'this' that we are having, lass?"

She shot him an annoyed look, not appreciating his coyness. "The conversation in which I tell you what happened to me after you got caught by Regina and went on your Wonderland trip."

"And why haven't you told me before?"

Running her hands through her hair, she sighed tiredly, explaining, "Because at first I was waiting for you to ask. I had a bet with myself on how long it would take you to. But you never did, and then it just became too awkward to bring it up myself."

"Well, I'm asking now, love," he prodded with only a hint of remorse for his self-absorption.

Not that Tawny was expecting any; by waiting as long as she had, she had lost any moral high ground she could have claimed.

Grimacing, she began with, "Right, so the reason Regina made me clean her house for twenty-eight years was because I was the first and only maid stupid enough to cross her."

"She found out about you?"

"Aye."

~0~

Regina's Castle…

As she watched Jones' ship sail towards the horizon from her vantage point spitefully provided by the Queen, she reflected upon how she had arrived there and tried to determine what she could have done differently to avoid this predicament and how she could get out of it now that she was.

Jones had gotten into the castle, up the tower, past the guards – one of whom who shouldn't have been there, which had cost Claude his life – and into Belle's tower room. And from there it went tits up. Belle was still in the tower. Jones had gotten caught and had made some deal to get out of being the Queen's latest whipping boy. And she had been dragged before the Queen after several days of solitary confinement.

"Do you know why I have summoned you, maid?"

"No, Your Majesty."

"A pirate broke into my home, snuck past nearly all of my men, and tried to take what was mine."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Your Majesty, but congratulations on apprehending the trespasser…But what does this have to do with me?"

"Do NOT play the innocent card with me, maid! He could not get in without help, and whose face do I see?"

And there it was in that thrice-blasted mirror – her earnest face surrounded by golden curls, gazing up into Jones' as she listed off on her fingers which guards would be on duty that day.

Into a dank dark cell she had been sentenced, no ivory towers for her, and three days later, here she was, most likely breathing her last breaths, watching the pirate sail away and wondering if he had ever given her a second thought as he went off to avenge his Milah.

"…He used you, and then he left you. To face me – alone."

At the Queen's poisonous words, she stuffed her feelings of self-pity and isolation into the deep dark hole where they belonged and asked as dispassionately as she could while locking her quaking knees, "And what is to be my fate, Your Majesty?"

"Your fate is in your hands, maid," was the sinister woman's cryptic and ominous reply.

All that she, Tawny, could muster for a dignified response was a hesitant "Your Majesty?"

The vile witch smirked, obviously reveling in her confusion and fear, as she explained, "You have a choice. Your fate can be death and torture, most certainly not in that order, or you can earn my mercy by being my extremely expendable emissary."

Trying not to let her insolent tongue get away from her, as it had the tendency to do in high anxiety situations, she stated, "Doing penitence sounds agreeable to me so far, Your Majesty."

The Queen nodded in satisfaction as she produced an overly large black top hat from a travel-worn box. "I need you to collect two men for me from a world that I will send you to through a portal. One is a man who used to be from here and who I left in a different realm but has somehow managed to make his way to where I am sending you, to the realm, I can only assume, is where the second is from. You are to find them and bring them back with you."

"And these men are?"

"Jefferson and Dr. Frankenstein."

~0~

Wonderland…

"She sent you to a world you've never been to, had no connections with, to find two men to bring them to the Forest just so that she could Curse them to another world?" Killian inquired incredulously.

"Sort of," his lass admitted, waving her hand in a so-so gesture. "She didn't tell me about the Curse. I did know of it, of course. The whole castle, even the dungeons, was buzzing of it the day you left."

"If you knew about the Curse, why didn't you just stay in the other realm?"

This extremely plausible (in his mind) inquiry earned him a scathing look of disbelief, "She did what Cora's daughter would do – she took my heart. If she sensed through it that I wasn't doing her will, she would have…"

Both he and the lass shuddered at the thought of what she had left unsaid. Tawny rubbed her hand over her what he knew was a beautiful beating heart, as she confessed, "It was horrible not being able to feel. But it was worse knowing that if I failed, I would never feel anything again. I didn't want to go that way, so…"

When she looked at him, her eyes were big, dark, and pleading. It set his hook into a murderous twitch, which she noticed, and so to distract him, she continued her tale, "She gave me a scarf of Jefferson's that she put a locator spell on, so that I could track him, and two dead bodies, so that I can bring them and myself back through after convincing them either by hook or by crook."

He did not get a chance to ask if that was a purposeful play on words, as it seemed that once his lass got started, she couldn't seem to stop.

She told him of how she dumped the bodies in the river. Of trying to blend in a strange gas-lit world of fast moving horse-drawn carriages, dirty wet streets, women with 'bustled skirts' and men with 'fancy cravats, monocles, and muttonchops.' Of stealing a dress and petticoat off a laundry line and money from wealthy careless shoppers.

She told of killing two men, her first – filthy men who attempted to take advantage of her unchaperoned state.

"Stabbed one in the neck and the other through the eye, and then tossed their bodies in the river too. Nearly regurgitated my meat-pie paid for by my easily stolen coppers. You were right though. The first is the toughest."

Killian let out an angry hiss when she told of the attack, but even then he did not interrupt. He listened to her tell of following the charmed scarf to a boarding house, where she overheard Jefferson talking to a young lady, this Alice, and discovering that she was the reason that he was no longer in Wonderland.

He listened to her tell of deciding to use Alice as a way to gain Jefferson's trust, of following her to her home. Of chatting up the stable lad who informed her that the family wasn't in need of a maid but rather a nanny for Alice's niece and nephew and that the position required references from a 'fancy agency.'

"When one of these nanny applicants showed up, I bumped into her, lifted her reference letter, and then from one working girl to another, I informed her that I had just left the family and had been told the position was already filled. Would you care to guess what the real nanny's name was?"

"Since the lass and the Rabbit both called you 'Ms. McKinley', I assume it was that."

Tawny snorted, "Yep, and that was how I acquired my Cursed surname."

"How did you acquire the lass's and Jefferson's trust?" he prompted.

"I saved her from killing herself."

He listened patiently as she told of Alice introducing her to Jefferson. Of afternoon teas and learning of Grace. Of confessing her situation and purpose to the desperate father.

"And like a true manipulative bitch, I used his daughter as bait. 'You'll be one step closer to her' and all that tommyrot."

"And Whale?" he prompted. He didn't attempt to assuage her guilt. She was like him in that she would not appreciate it, especially since there was some truth to it.

With a shrug, she replied, "He wasn't in that world. Whatever magic that Regina used to discover Jefferson's whereabouts was limited. The second person that it sensed was Will, another Forest native. The two of them had escaped Wonderland with Alice. Jefferson found a job at a hat shop, and Will became a hackney driver. Jefferson kept tabs on him."

"How did you convince him to go with you?"

"Eh, that was easy enough," she dismissed with a sniff. "Just like here, he had gambled himself into quite a lot of debt. He wanted a fresh start and a chance to forget the girl who broke his heart. Aside from Regina and Rumplestiltskin, I think he was the only one who was looking forward to the Curse."

This thoughtful assessment was followed with, "Once he was on board, we went to say our goodbyes to Alice, but she had been shipped back to her father's house…I'll have to ask her about that tomorrow…"

And then she told of Jefferson saving her from the Queen's wrath for bringing the unwanted Will and not the desired doctor. His heroic deed involved collecting Frankenstein for the price of Tawny's heart and his 'seeing' his daughter again.

Killian could see where this was going and noted dryly, "And, of course, our fair Evil Queen held up her end of the bargain by giving him an excellent home with an excellent vantage point to 'see' Grace through his telescope, did she not?"

"Yeah," his lass sighed, no doubt feeling guilty for her part in her friend's cruel fate.

Sensing an end to his lass's accounting, he stated, "Well, love, I'm a bit confused as to what was so 'awkward' about that tale. I mean, despite it being a bit hypocritical of you to be holding my alliances with Regina and her mother against me. Although, I do get that yours was far more under duress than my own…"

He drifted off as he could sense his lass shifting with discomfort next to him. She stopped when she noticed that he noticed, and with an unhappy grimace she admitted to him, "That wasn't what was so awkward."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes and snark 'obviously', he prodded his reluctant lass with a patient, "What was then?"

"My relationship with Will during the Curse," Tawny mumbled.

'Goddess, I'm a pirate, not a saint. Why does she try my patience so?' With last shred of said dwindling patience, he asked, "Which was?"

"We were fuck-buddies."

~0~

Alice and Cyrus' Tent…

When the knight did not elaborate further, Alice resumed her conversation with Will, saying, "You know, I can kind of understand her fury at your disappearing without saying goodbye, especially if that was the kind of relationship you were having."

"It wasn't. She dumped me."

"Dumped?"

"Ended the relationship," he explained. "She fed me the 'Let's just be friends' line, and apparently, that hit a little too close to home even though I couldn't remember Ana. I said some pretty nasty stuff and cold-shouldered her after that. When the Curse broke, I was working up the courage to find her and apologize when Rabbit showed up, and well, the rest is history."

"But now you have a second chance. Do you want it?"

Will took a moment to think, before admitting, "Yeah, I do. For the 'friends' part, that is." With a chuckle, he added, "I think I'll pass on being skewered by Hook."

At this Cyrus interjected with a wry warning, "You better hope that he is the forgiving sort, because I think the topic of their walk's conversation is how she knows Alice and you."

"Bloody hell."

~0~

'I'm gonna skewer the little weasel' was his first thought upon Tawny's declaration. His second was…

"For twenty-eight years?"

"Oh god, no!" his lover exclaimed, hastily explaining, "It was in that in-between time – before Swan broke the Curse but after she arrived. We met at the Rabbit Hole. I had just worked my first 'volunteer' shift at the animal shelter and was amused by his hustling at the pool table. We shared a few celebratory drinks and later I convinced him to teach me a few tricks so that I could earn some extra money."

"Have a thing for teachers, do you?" he snidely and cruelly remarked. His gentlemanly understanding was gone with his sore-pressed patience.

"Don't be that way," Tawny half-pleaded, half-ordered.

"What way?" If she had the audacity to order him about, he had the right to act obtuse.

"Jealous. Possessive. Cruel."

"How should I act?"

He said this derisively, but he truly wanted to know. He was a pirate, and he had just learned that his woman, whom he had bared his soul to on numerous occasions, had failed to mention a lover of recent significance. On top of that he was sure, Jefferson had had a good laugh at his being in the dark about their past association.

"I don't know. But not like this," his fiery lass replied with frustration, and then with great bitterness, she added, "I don't act like this about Milah or Swan."

"At least I told you of them," he defended with equal bitterness.

"Yes, you did," she admitted. But then because she was Tenacious Tawny, Mulish to the End, she added spitefully, "But I'm sure there are others who have shared your bed."

At her words, a sudden horrible thought hit him: "Wait. The apartment. He was the former tenant. The bed that we…did you two…?"

"No, I bought that when I moved in. You are the only one who has been in my bed, the only one to have such a hold on my heart. And for your information, I ended the relationship, losing his friendship in the process before the Curse broke."

He took great satisfaction at hearing that last part, even more so than her declaration of his claim on her heart. It was bad form, he knew, especially since the loss still hurt her so; but he was a possessive cad, and no matter how reformed a pirate he was, a tiger cannot completely change his stripes. Despite this, he managed a solicitous, "Why?"

Tawny sighed, "Giselle made some comment about how I was 'practically living in his apartment,' so I was 'practically his girlfriend', and I freaked. I knew that I didn't love him in that way. He's a self-centered ass – which I kind of get now, knowing that he doesn't have a heart. And I felt that I was whoring myself just for a place to live. So I cut off the 'benefits'. He felt rejected, and being the ass he is, he ended it all."

By now, his lass had her knees drawn up to her chest and was hugging herself. Normally, he would have drawn her into an embrace at this action, but he was too furious, even while he yet wondered if her fear of 'whoring herself' was the result of her interactions with her other former lover, Arthur.

Without looking at him, Tawny continued, "When the Curse broke and he was gone with no explanation, I thought that he had crossed the town line so that he could continue to forget who he was or that someone he had pissed off in a former life found him and killed him."

At her admission, she subconsciously turned into him, seeking comfort. Her action thawed him. He might not be able to initiate affection, but he could not find it in himself to outright reject her. So he found himself pulling her closer to him and rubbing soothing circles on her back.

After a few moments of this, he realized that she was his. Even though she was just reunited with a man she had long thought dead, she was in his arms. He took satisfaction from that and let go of the rest…for now.

Instead, he changed the subject and asked, "Why by all the stars do you wish to reunite your sister and her lover? They don't deserve your forgiveness, much less your help."

Tawny took a moment to catch up to his sudden mood and topic shift, finally answering with a quiet, "She might not, but he's suffered enough."

Killian made a scoffing huff.

Tawny turned in his arms, so that she could look up into his face, asserting quite firmly, "Killian, not that I don't appreciate your loyalty, but this antipathy you have for Lancelot needs to stop. We're in Wonderland – which, if I'm not much mistaken, means we need all the skilled allies we can get."

While Killian could admit there was truth to that, he was not one to let go of a perfectly righteous grudge.

Taking his silence for what it was, Tawny persisted, saying, "And yes, he has suffered. Imagine how you would have felt if Milah had chosen to go back to Rumplestiltskin because her rival milk maid or whatever had fooled him and their son into believing she was her?"

At his glower, she proclaimed with a self-satisfied nod, "Exactly," and then, she mused with a shrug, "Besides, I don't think I will be reuniting them. At the most, for him, I'm providing the possibility of closure."

"For her, if she is this Black Queen?" he asked curiously, astounded once again with her capacity to forgive.

Tawny shrugged again, "A gesture of gratitude?"

Her answer bewildered him. For what did she owe that bitch?

Reading his confusion, his lass looked at him with warm brown eyes and elaborated softly, "If it weren't for her actions in exposing me, I wouldn't have met you."

And there went his rage at the Bitch, her knight, and his secretive lass.

Trying not to show the warm puddle of goo she had turned his insides into, he 'preened' with a droll rejoinder, "Now that would have been a travesty of epic proportions."

Not fooled for an instant, his savvy lass leaned up and kissed him, whispering, "Yes, it would."

~0~

When she felt Killian return her kiss, she nearly sighed in relief. It wasn't a harsh, biting, or punishing one of a jealous lover. It was ardent and affectionate – greedy and possessive, yes, but still generously affectionate.

When a different sort of sigh threatened to break through, she pulled back and divulged with a chuckle, "This is not how I planned for tonight to go."

"Oh?"

Toying with his necklace, she rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Yeah, I definitely did not plan on having the conversation with you in which I reveal being the Evil Queen's li'l bitch and in the process being a murderer, thief, and con-woman. Or having the conversation about exes. Yep, that was not on the agenda for post-Ariel and Eric nuptials."

"What was?" he rumbled softly. Provocatively. Her pirate knew the effect his voice had on her, and he probably had had a similar agenda of his own.

Imagining what that had been was like playing with fire, so she seized what she assumed was going to be a rare moment of privacy and swung her leg over his lap and straddled him, before leaning down and breathing huskily, "Shall I tell you, demonstrate, or both?"

Killian's breath hitched, before he did his own husky breathing into her ear, "I'm a greedy pirate, love. It's always both-and."

And then his sensual mouth began to trail kisses sinfully down her neck.

A/N: Thoughts?