4B: The Underworld

by DaesGatling

After Mina Harker's death, and the dreams that followed, Emma and the others venture to the underworld to make sure everything is alright. They get more than they bargained for when friend and foe alike meet them and bonds are tested, broken, and made.Hades and Persephone's links to Mr. Dark and Dracula come to light as they struggle with their own decisions against the heroes

4. 4B E03 - Barriers and Traps

Regina had been one of the lucky ones she supposed, that she didn't have to endure many of the Mina nightmares that her family did. It had happened twice and Regina hadn't cared. She'd had plenty of dreams in her past in which people she loved and hated stood there begging for her help and she couldn't or wouldn't give it.

She had the dreams the first two nights, and then when it didn't happen again, she didn't think much of it. She slept like a baby until Emma woke them all up announcing that more than one of them were having nightmares about the Harker woman.

Even in death, she and the Dracula mess were a pain in her ass. Regina still hadn't forgiven her for punching her in the face for listening to those tapes. Mina was a hunter, she'd do the exact same thing to Regina if she thought Regina was a threat.

But then that night after her family were gone to the underworld, problems started when Regina went to try and get a few hours of sleep.

She found herself standing in the middle of town square, she knew it was a dream deep down; The burned Volkswagen and collapsed rotting clock tower gave it away, but for some reason she couldn't pull herself out of it like she always could.

And Regina wanted to wake up more than ever when she knew before looking down that there were bodies all around her. They were practically in pieces. It was hard to recognize who was who until her eyes fell on a long tangled blonde hair and red jacket of Emma Swan.

Emma was covering something. Regina walked forward and put her hand on Emma's shoulder.

Please don't be this, please don't be this, please don't be this…..

A horrified cry left her mouth when she saw a bloody wolf under Emma. The brown fur and large frame told Regina immediately that it was Red.

"No!" she sobbed, "NONONONONONO"

She pulled the head in her lap and sobbed, not again, she couldn't bury someone else.

She stood, stumbled around and looked up to look at the carnage around her. She saw Rumple's body covering Belle's. Charming was crushed under the clock tower, he had a sword in one hand, he was reaching for Emma with the other.

She heard someone gasp behind her. She turned just in time to catch Neal stumbling towards her. He was bleeding from the mouth. She didn't brace herself and went down with him when he collided.

Something blocked her light. She looked up to see Mina Harker standing over her with an… almost bored vacant expression in her eyes.

"This is your fault," Regina hissed, "We wouldn't be here if it's not for you"

"You're not here are you?" Mina tilted her head, "But they are. SO are others and there are plenty of them. Dracula, Dark, Pan, your mother, your enemies, their enemies, all of them, they're here and you let your family walk right into the lion's den."

"No-."

Regina knew it was a dream, she had to get herself to wake up.

And finally, she did. The vision before her flickered and then it was gone.

And Regina pulled herself out of the dream, she scrambled out of the bed and stood up. She was safe in her room, it didn't happen, none of it happened, they weren't dead.

She heard the door open down the hallway. She knew from the steps that it wasn't Henry.

Regina didn't need to ask to know that Snow had had the same dream.

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Melinoë was the goddess of madness and nightmares. Zeus had given that title to her when she was born. The other gods might find it insulting and boring, like her siblings did. But Melinoë learned about the human world, she paid attention. And when gods were hurt or murdered by humans, she used her skills to make every waking and sleeping moment of the perpetrator miserable.

She tormented the Harker family for years with nightmares, and then doubled down when her brothers died.

By now, she was thousands of years old and tormenting them wasn't remotely challenging. It hadn't been since she was the human equivalent of five years old.

So, she was sending dreams to Snow and Regina. At the same time, she was giving each living and dead person in the Jones/Milah household a horrible night. If they were afraid to sleep, they'd be more tired and that made them more prone to make mistakes.

And if they made mistakes while exhausted, they could be more susceptible to be broken.

The sat with her charms with the lights off and did the ceremony she liked to do to send nightmares. It was relaxing in ansort of way, maybe tonight she'd actually be able to sleep herself.

And then there was the pounding at the door that pulled her out of her concentration and she lost them, all of them at the same time.

She pulled on her robe and answered it to find Pain and Panic both standing there, "What is it?"

"Your father and mother have requested your presence in bedroom."

"Why?" she wrapped the robe tighter, "What's happened?"

She looked between them but they didn't look like they heard her, "Your presence, my lady, is requested."

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When Hades had her called into his quarters, he expected his daughter to at least look ashamed or nervous when he brought her in but she just looked annoyed.

He looked at his wife for reassurance. Persephone alternated between wrapping her arms around herself and playing with her braid. He looked back at their daughter and then back to his wife, like he was hoping that somehow his wife would take over or a meteor would somehow hit the Underworld so he wouldn't have to do this.

But his wife waited for him, he was the disciplinarian when their kids made major mistakes, and here he was now having to ask his daughter if all this was her fault.

"Papa?" Melinoë looked, "What is it?"

"Did you….," he stopped and took a breath, "Mellie, did you send nightmares to the intruders to bring the humans down here?"

The seconds stretched out into an eternity, he wanted her to avert her gaze or look ashamed, but Melinoë just watched him, "I did."

He let out a sigh.

"Oh gods," Persephone put her hands in front of her face and moved to walk in front of the roaring fireplace.

And something inside Hades snapped, he turned angrily to his daughter, "Are you INSANE? Have you gone crazy?!"

"No, I have a plan."

"You brought them here!"

"It's all under control. I have a plan-."

"No, no, you do not have a plan, you are a child playing with things that you can't possibly understand."

"I'm thousands of years old!"

"I. Don't. Care," Hades snapped.

"What's the plan?" Persephone asked.

"It doesn't matter what the plan is!" Hades told her, "Whatever it is, we're not doing it. We're not-."

"Don't talk over me!" Persephone told him and turned to her daughter, "I want to know what bringing down your brothers murderers will hope to accomplish. I want to know what you were thinking when you sent them nightmares knowing they would come here. I want to know what went through your mind when you saw us grieving, and decided to endanger more of your brothers and sisters. I want to know if you care that your parents now have to fix the problem that you've brought by trying to enact your vengeance."

"You're not my parents."

Persephone blinked, "Excuse me?"

"Well not both of you," Melinoë looked up, the betrayal written across her face, "You think I don't know whose daughter I really am? You think I don't know what happened? I hear the whispers, I see the looks. I know that my hair's dark like Zagreus when everyone else was born with red or blonde hair. I know my siblings only changed their appearances after what happened to Zagreus happened so the other gods couldn't identify them in case they wanted to tattle. My dad is Zeus. I know what he did to mom-."

"That's enough," Hades warned.

"I know what Hera did to my brother."

"Stop it now," he walked forward.

"We're all victims of gods and humans. Why should we let humans continue to kick us further?" Something terrifying must have been on his face because she paled when she looked at him and stepped back.

He forced himself to take a step back as well. It wasn't enough, he turned and walked to stand at the balcony that overlooked the ocean water. The smell and sound of the water didn't feel right with how angry he was. The ocean breeze did little to sooth how hot and feverish he felt that his daughter brought this down on their heads.

"You led them here to face us where we're vulnerable."

"No, it's our territory, we know this place, they don't. It's a maze. Not even Rumple could possibly know this place completely."

"No, we're fish in a barrel and you handed someone a gun and said fire. Your mother is right, you endangered all of us. How did you think this was going to go? That we were going to kill them and make them permanent residents?"

"No."

"Then what was the plan, Melinoë. I'm demanding answers as your father. Yes, I am your father. I don't care that Zeus created you, I raised you, I am your father. And the fact that you pulled out some little childlike 7-year-old argument like revealing you knew I wasn't who created you just proved to show that you have no idea what you're doing when you brought them here. You brought a savior and a dark one. Do you realize what that means? You brought powerful magic and one of your brother's creations here. Rumpelstiltskin is dangerous, he'll stop at nothing to make sure his family is safe and if that means coming after us, then he'll do it. You are nowhere near equipped to deal with someone like him. You have no experience, you have no training. You are a child playing with your toy army and thinking you are ready for war. It breaks my heart you did this, I was going to name you heir of the Underworld because I thought you had potential but now I have to sit down and rethink that decision."

Melinoë flinched at that and finally he got a reaction out of her that wasn't impassive self-defense.

She lowered her head and started sobbing, and he realized he'd gone too far. But he couldn't comfort her because she needed to realize what she did was that dangerous.

"I need to find a way to clean up your mess without bowing down to a bunch of humans to get what they want," Hades went to the desk in the room, "You're banished to your room until this is over."

Melinoë looked up, panic in her face, "Papa."

"Hades," Persephone said sharply.

And it hurt him to have to do this, he didn't want to. He wanted to see her, he wanted to show her where she was wrong but he was too angry to be rational. And he didn't want her acting recklessly. He didn't want to bury another child.

"If she's going to act like a child, she's going to be treated like a child. You may eat with the family, you have a balcony where you may sit outside. I'll have books sent to you if you like but you are not allowed to leave your room. And when this is over, you and I are going to have a long talk until you understand."

She looked up, he saw the tears pouring down her face, "But papa-."

"Go," he couldn't look at her as he sat down.

He had to figure out what to do.

Melinoë took a step forward and looked at her mother. When she saw she'd get no help on her side, she wiped the tears away and went to leave the bedroom.

Hades put his head in his hands.

"You were harsh on her," Persephone said.

"I had to be," He looked at his wife, "We would have had time to figure out what we were going to do if she hadn't…if she hadn't brought them here. At the very least, she should have come to us if she wanted to do something this big."

"I didn't say it wasn't needed," Persephone whispered, "I just worried what you were going to do."

"I would never lay hands on any of them, you know that."

They sat in silence.

"Maybe we made a mistake…," Persephone whispered, "IN letting their little revenge plan go on this long."

Hades knew it was going to be a mistake as soon as his children came up with it. But they were old enough to be independent and make their own decisions, so he had let them avenge their mother.

And now look where they were.

He went for his wife's hand. She reached out and took it.

"We have to find a way out of this without looking weak," he told her, "And I don't know how we're going to do that."

Because if he gave them what they wanted, or they left the underworld unhurt, he was opening up the possibility to letting more people find out how to kill gods and terrify his family, that could not happen.

"I'll call for some wine," Persephone went to the door, "I have a feeling we'll be talking all night."

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When Emma first started to wake up, she enjoyed the good exhausted sore feeling that was still set in her body. Her mind was still a thousand miles away, she had had a nightmare but it had faded to the back of her memories for now. She still had a few minutes to doze, it wouldn't be long before she had to get up and feed the baby and Henry. Then they'd go through her day.

Then she remembered where she was, and what happened to get them to this point. Her eyes shot open and she looked around the still unfamiliar room.

There was a tired moan next to her, she looked over to see Neal dig his head under the pillow, "It's too early to be shooting out of bed like that."

Her boyfriend, who she had sex with for the first time since the Mr. Dark problem…

They had taken the next step, they had gone there again. Emma had expected to feel resistance, or doubt or any of the number of things that came with the other relationships she had but it didn't happen now. For a brief period, as far as this went, she was happy.

And frankly, she didn't know what to do with that and THAT scared her; the other shoe was bound to drop eventually.

"You always did like to sleep late."

"I never get to anymore, something's always happening above world." He stretched and then flopped facedown back on the bed

Emma propped herself up on her elbow, "Like the Lost Boys setting a fire in the common room to dance around the chaos?"

"Or the baby crying," Neal's arm snaked around Emma's waist and pulled her closer to him.

"Well she does favor you."

"Not when it's feeding time," Neal muttered with his face buried in Emma's pillow.

Emma smiled a bit and then frowned when she thought about how normal this all was and how they could have had this so many years ago with Henry if other decisions had been made.

He frowned and opened his eyes, studying Emma, obviously thinking the same thing, "We should get out of bed."

"Real life happens when we get out of bed."

"We have to save her, we have to plan"

"We have to wait to get information, my dad has to see if he can locate her in that asylum today while he's with Persephone" Emma buried her face in Neal's shoulder, "And we can do that right here, where it's just us and it's perfect and quiet."

They lay there in silence for a bit before Neal spoke up, "I bet the Lost Boys have tied up the administration and are roasting them over the spit right now."

"THERE'S an image," Emma hit him with a pillow.

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When Rumple woke up, he felt like he hadn't slept at all. The bed was strange, the room was claustrophobic and he knew that subconsciously this wasn't his house, this was the Underworld version of his house and his enemy's brother and former sheriff had his and Belle's real room.

Above world, He used this room for a storage closet.

He groaned when he saw the sun coming through the dirty window and turned to hold his wife, he wasn't ready to get up yet, hopefully she wasn't either.

He found an empty side of the bed.

He opened his eyes and sat up with a start, he looked around for Belle, only to find her leafing through what looked like three telephone books combined, "Belle, please…it's too early."

"I haven't slept all night," Belle scanned the pages

He sat up, "What are you doing, sweetheart?"

"Do you know how many Colettes there are? Thousands. It's a popular name in like…twenty six worlds. "

He stopped. He knew the name, it was the name of her mother that was taken from her shortly before he named her as a price to stop the monsters that had brutally killed her. It wasn't one of his more prouder moments, "Belle…that's…that's…you don't know she's in this place, she could have moved on."

"I have to know," Belle crawled over to him dragging the large book with her, "Look it has the names and the dates they were born in our world and the date they died and what world they're from. It has everything."

"Alright."

"But the print is so tiny, and it keeps growing as more and more people come. I keep losing my place."

He kissed her temple, "We don't know where any of these areas are."

'But you know some of them, you were here before."

"I went two places. This district and the palace of Hades and Persephone when they would have me. I didn't have anything else. I was planning to keep my head down and wait for you…or somehow earn my redemption and pass on to see you in Elysium."

Belle's excited glint dimmed, "Why don't you want me to see my mother?"

He felt his heart tighten, "It's not that."

"Then what is?"

He was trying to get them in, get Mina out of the asylum and hidden before they all were here permanently, "Hades tried to grind our organs last night. Our hosts are already in danger of his wrath. If we're not careful, it could affect a whole lot more. I don't' want the ripples we're creating to spread to your mother."

And that was the truth, but it was only part of it. He just didn't want their presence to end up being full of distractions. They were here for one thing; his granddaughter. The rest they could do later when they were all dead and hopefully not shut in a cell like she was.

On the other hand, there was no chance of escaping that fate, so what would it hurt for her to see her mother and get to say goodbye?

And she was his wife, he couldn't refuse her this.

"Alright," he took the book, "Lets narrow it down then, shall we? And go from there."

He started down the list, trying to squint and separate the names when the door opened and Graham came in, "There's a huge problem."

"Knock!" Belle pulled the covers over her slip.

Graham didn't seem to hear her, "The mirror's been shattered.."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that the last person to use it was Emma and when she came to get it and check in on Henry, it was in shards. And no one else is coping to it.."

"Well, I haven't touched it, dearie," Rumple said a bit nasally for old time's sake, "There's no one there for me."

Graham's eyes just narrowed, "Well it didn't just break itself."

Rumple threw back the covers, "No one touched it?"

"That's what they said."

"Yes, well you're forgetting that we aren't the only ones in the house."

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Centuries Ago

When Milah was born, she was stuck with the very unfortunate fate of being born the fourth in a line of 7 daughters. With three stillborn brothers and two that died shortly after birth, she was the middle child of a surviving gender that her father saw more as 7 mouths to feed than much of anything else. They were always on the verge of starving to death and had no dowries to speak of that might make them seem as anything more than just a burden for an equally poor husband.

She wasn't the oldest, or the prettiest. She wasn't the spare daughter, she wasn't even the spare spare. She was stuck in the middle of 7 with no hope of ever having a better chance of being an equally poor starving farmer's wife.

So, with no son to teach, it became Milah and her fifth sister Renata that were selected to learn. While their sisters got jobs as tailors and servants, it was Milah and Ranata that were toiling in the fields with trousers under their dresses trying to maneuver plows and hoes that were too big for them.

Though she didn't learn things like sewing or knitting, she sat with her father at lunchtime and learned what a strong man was supposed to be. They worked, they provided, they did whatever was necessary to keep a roof over their family's head, and food in their bellies. They sunk to whatever they had to to make sure that the family stayed intact and alive. Anything else was less than and weak.

As Milah grew, the days in the field were a way out of a small crowded household. Eventually, the hoe didn't cause her back to ache, the plow wasn't so heavy. The rows straightened, the field was better maintained.

And Milah grew stronger.

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Present Day

Milah had spent all her life packed on a small mattress with siblings, husbands, and lovers that when she ended up in the underworld, having a bed big enough for two people that she could have just to herself made her feel like she was some sort of royal or noblewoman. Then she found out that this was a regular bed for other worlds but it never stopped being fascinating for her that she had all this space AND a room to herself.

So, when she heard a knock on her door and the door open, she groaned and moved to the empty space in the bed like she could somehow spread across the whole bed hand not let anyone on it.

"Milah?" she heard Killian's familiar voice, "Are you awake?"

"No"

She heard him trot into the room anyway and flop on the empty part of the bed with a familiarity only he could have.

She groaned louder but he didn't get the hint .

"I found something on this metal ear talk thing," he nudged her, "Look at this."

Milah opened one eye and watched as he moved the back to face him and lit up with a smile. Milah heard a click and he turned the device to show her a strange color magic drawing of himself on the device.

Milah lifted her head slightly, "What on earth?"

"It's called a CAM-UR-AH" he said a bit too loudly but seemed satisfied with the pronunciation, "I can take GAL-LUR-RIES of myself and send it up to my daughter. So she can know what me and her mum look like when we rescue said mum."

Milah saw several small squares on the device with a small version of Killian on all of them, "how many of those did you take?"

"I don't want her to forget," he pressed a few more buttons, "And there's this thing called VIDEEEEEO that I can record myself on. She'll know what I sound like too. I can give her advice."

Milah yawned, "That's wonderful, Killian."

She wrapped her arms around both of his and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I have so much to tell her."

"I know the feeling," Milah rested her chin on his shoulder, "Bae and I bonded last night. He showed me how happy he was."

Killian smiled, "that's fantastic, love."

She smiled as he kissed her forehead and opened her eyes to look at him, "Did you make it right with your brother?"

He frowned then, and rolled on his back, "Look how fantastic this machine is."

"Killian."

"I hit record and I can tell her anything I want for as long as I want."

There was a knock at the door, the door opened and Liam stuck his head in, "We have a problem."

Killian stubbornly stared at the ceiling and ignored his brother. Milah sighed and looked up, "What is it?"

"The mirror's shattered. Everything thinks James somehow did it."

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James had been stuck in the basement for what felt like days. He couldn't see outside, they kept the windows covered so that he couldn't alert anyone. The clock that was stashed down here was broken ages ago, and so other than mealtimes, he was never quite sure what part of the day it was.

Until they came down here with their disoriented faces and bleary accusations.

"What, you think I got out, broke a mirror that I somehow knew that you were communicating with the Overworld with and then came back down here to shackle myself up? Are you insane?"

The blonde one; his niece, stood there with her arms crossed, "No one else would break the mirror."

"If I wanted to, I'd use it to talk to my father again, I certainly wouldn't break it and I certainly wouldn't stay here while my brother steals my life."

"The irony of anyone stealing your life after you're dead," Rumpelstiltskin examined his nails, "And doing it twice."

He snarled, "I've built this for myself. I haven't had any titles or riches, I only had the job I was given and I made something of it and you all come in here to try and steal it away from me again."

"We're not here to steal anything, we're just borrowing it."

"Do you know how much trouble you're all in?" James glared at Liam, Killian, and Graham, "You're done when I get out of here, all of you are going to wish for that asylum when I catch up to you."

"We could just put him in a coffin and throw it in the ocean," Killian mused.

"We're not doing that," Emma snapped.

"You all will be gone when we get Mina, you won't know what happens to him after this," Killian grumbled and glared at the sheriff, "I never did like you."

"Enough!" Emma held out her hand, "We're not hurting anyone."

"It's inadvisable that you bring harm to me, I'm valuable, which is why I wouldn't stay for any sort of spy mission. Why would I? We all know why you're here and they all know you and your type. They've seen it before. They'd probably dealt with it before. You're not the first living that came down here and if you do leave, you will never be the same. I know that, so why would I bother?"

"Then who broke my mirror?" Emma asked.

"My guess is one of the gods got in." James leaned back against the wall he was chained to, "Broke it while everyone was asleep."

He said it casually and he didn't expect them to visibly look afraid like they all did. They all took a step back and looked at each other. If they weren't alerted that a powerful god was able to come and go as they pleased while everyone slept, what chance did they have?

Emma lowered her arms, "If you're lying. We've protected the area"

"Why would I lie?" James smirked, "David can't keep up the act forever and when they find out he's been near their children well…I highly doubt any of you are walking out alive."

Their worried faces were exactly what he needed as he leaned back and assessed the damage he just caused.

"Now what about breakfast?"

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There were just a few too many people crowding the basement and so Milah hung back and made herself a bowl of cereal and waited for them to leave.

She stared at the broken mirror that was put on the table. Magical mirrors and phones that were machines and not magic? IN her day, they would have killed to have something like that to communicate. She might have even seen her sisters again. Milah didn't see herself as wanting one though, who did she have to talk to when she was on land?

She could have talked to Baelfire.

Milah clenched her fists. Killian telling Rumple she would be used and killed hadn't been her idea, it was his need to humiliate and challenge Rumpel to show he was the alpha male. Milah hadn't forgiven him for that choice and it was what came up in arguments that they had. She still loved Killian with everything but when he did that…. It ended up cutting her off from her son.

Her hand went to the directory that the new wife had been looking through since she got here. There was a torn piece of paper marking the place that Milah knew wasn't there before. Curiosity got the better of her and she opened the book to find a name circled.

Interesting, who was Colette?

"Yes?"

Milah looked up to see the new wife standing awkwardly staring at her as she looked through her own book, "Looking for someone?"

"Yes, my mother," Belle looked over her shoulder, "I was hoping maybe we could see her but I don't think that's going to happen today "

Not paying attention to the needs of his wife, that sounded like her ex.

"Where is it?"

"The Redstock district."

Milah put the book down, "I know where that is."

"But it isn't safe."

"Why not?" Milah asked, she wanted a way out of the house, the walls were closing in with this many people. If this got Belle out, fine, at least Milah could assess what sort of woman would marry Rumple, "He knows you're here, he can destroy us at any time, he just doesn't want to."

"Unless we're all separated."

"Even if you're all together," Milah went to grab her coat, "Might want to write a note. If he finds you're gone with me, he might rip my heart out again."

Belle cringed, "Please don't."

Milah stopped, "So you did know what he did to me."

"Yes," she said with some hesitation, "He told me."

"And you were already married?"

Belle was quiet and that was her answer. She had known before.

"Well then," Milah said with no humor in her voice, "This will be for a very illuminating day."

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Unmoving for several hours, Mina lay numbly chained to her bed in the infirmary wing of the asylum. The chain around her ankle had cut through the skin hours ago, the pain burned but she ignored it. She was hurting worse everywhere else.

To be attacked by the minotaur was agonizing. To have her body magically heal from it was unbearable. She hadn't slept all night, she hadn't moved from where they'd put her after they took her to the lavatory. The guards were watching her, she couldn't cry as she lay there feeling her bones snapping into place.

The sun rose, they brought her a cold breakfast which she ignored. She wasn't hungry. One lost their appetite when they felt their ribs moving under their skin mere half an hour ago.

She was healing. They were going to take her to her cell by the end of the day at most. She had little time to figure out an escape plan. With being out of her cell, and the minotaur also healing, this was her only chance to get away.

She just needed her leg to mend itself so she could walk and thus far it was showing no promise.

So instead she lay there thinking about her friends that had come down here. She replayed the words Dracula told her over and over about how they'd never truly accept her if she had outlived him. Surely this meant that she had made true friends with him, right? It wouldn't be just obligation to keep her around after she'd helped save them.

And then she thought about her mother. Her mother would be grieving now that she knew she lost Mina. But she had Lizzie with her, so that was a piece of Mina. At least she knew what had happened now. At least she had that.

If Mina had gone home eventually like she'd wanted to, this never would have happened.

Damn pride.

She choked back tears. Her mother would be devastated. When her father disappeared, Mina heard one of her uncles say that the only reason her mother got out of bed every day was because of her. Would it be the same for the baby or was it all going to be too much?

A tear slipped down her face but the guards had turned to address someone coming in the infirmary. Mina had time to wipe it away before Jekyll came in.

"Ah Ms. Harker," he had a book in his hand that Mina supposed was only there to make him look more nebbish, "I hear you didn't rip out anyone's throat overnight, I suppose that's some improvement to your overall behavior in the last 24 hours."

"Come closer, we'll see if I can keep the record," she hissed.

"Actually, we need your help today, I'm only down here to ensure your safe transport."

"I'm not helping you with anything."

"It's not voluntary."

"I continue to respectfully refuse."

He gave her a condescending smile and went to open the door. Mina watched as several guards came in with guns trained on her.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Like I said," he told her, "It's not voluntary."

Mina felt the chain on her ankle fall away. She drew back and kicked the agent in his face. She felt several hands grab her and fought as they lifted her up into a gurney to be transported somewhere. She thrashed and kicked with her good foot. Her leg caught one gun and sent it sliding across the floor and under a table whose bottom was so close to the floor that it'd be impossible to get it now with their big bulky hands.

She was slammed painfully onto the gurney; her arms and legs were put in restraints. The loss of control made her only panic more. The brought in more binds in response. Her legs, chest, and head were all bound to the cot she was laying on and it was then that she finally stopped fighting.

Jekyll came forward and rested a hand on her hair, "He enjoys this, you know. This fight. I, however, take no pleasure from any of it."

"Liar," Mina hissed as the bindings kept her staring at the ceiling.

"You could have done this voluntarily, it would've been a lot less painful for everyone involved but you always seem to want to take the hard route."

"You sound like my mother when I was being punished."

"I do wonder if Hades and Persephone will let me study your brain when we're done with you," he mused, "Surely there's some deformity we can find that would explain why you react the way you do."

Mina tried not to shiver. She understood the implication of what he was hoping for. It was one thing to study a person's brain when they were dead, but when they were already dead and couldn't die again….

"Put her to sleep," Jekyll told a nurse, "I don't want her to know how to maneuver her way through this asylum.

"I liked you better when you had to hide the monster within you," Mina spat.

"And I liked you better when you didn't cause trouble for me, so we're both disappointed," he looked to the nurse, "Put her to sleep. Now."

Mina could only move her eyes as they followed the nurse to the medical supply closet. She caught a glimpse of an oxygen tank and a window that was submerged underwater.

And to keep herself calm, she started to form a plan.

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Charming regretted this little twin switch with every passing moment. He had to sit in his brother's house all day with no communication from his family and no way to reach his wife. They were cut off, they had to be. Once Emma got it through the mirror that the house was being watched, he had to lay low. He had to keep the cover now that the rest of them were blown.

And that meant cut off communication. For all he knew, they knew about him too. His family could be captured, or hurt. And unless the gods let him know, he had no way of reaching out without risking exposing himself too.

So, he lay on the couch in his brother's living room and fell asleep in the early hours. When he woke up to someone knocking, he found his back and neck were stiff. Like the furniture in his brother's room at the castle, most of everything here was for more of show than comfort. The first thing he'd done when he took back the kingdom was burn everything in the room and replace it with more comfortable simple decorations.

He might do the same here.

No, that was petty. He was risking enough without resorting to childish tactics.

The knock was more frantic. When he realized, it might be Emma, he strapped the holster on and came for the door. He yanked it open only to find...Hades and Persephone's daughter. The one that had actually stolen James's heart and framed Cora.

"Melinoë?" he asked and tried to remember if they had an appointment. He had been uncomfortable in dealing with her, mostly because he didn't know what her and his brother's relationship actually was.

She looked up. Her eyes were completely bloodshot. Her face was puffy and splotchy from crying, "They found out. They found out I was the one that sent the dreams."

She sent the dreams too?!

He blinked, stunned at the confession. He should be angry, he should pull away and leave her out here. It was too much and it was what James might do. But she just looked so upset and confused that he just pulled her closer in an embrace.

"Papa won't love me anymore," she sobbed.

"I'm sure that's not true," he said awkwardly. He didn't actually KNOW the relationship between father and daughter but when he'd been in the house he could see various signs of the children occupying the house and Hades SEEMED like he loved his children. He was trying to comfort this girl, taking a shot in the dark, and hoping for the best.

"You don't understand," she pulled away and wiped at her eyes, "I've never seen him that angry before. And I told him I knew I wasn't really his daughter. He knows and I know, he doesn't have to pretend anymore."

"That's not how fatherhood works," David said and tried to slip into his James persona…though any thought of his brother trying to give good advice was terrifying at best, "My father chose to adopt me and he loved me. Your father will feel the same for you."

"Your father replaced you when you died," she reminded the man.

Yeah, he was there, "And Geor- my father regretted it as soon as it happened, I hear. He never really replaced me because I was still his son. Your dad is mad at you, dads all get mad at their kids. But he loves you enough to adopt you and raise you as his own, he'll forgive you."

Melinoë wrapped her arms around herself, "He'll find out I took your heart to make you mayor and get access to the island. He'll find out I went into their hideout while they slept and smashed the mirror."

His blood ran cold, "What?"

"I have to get the rest of them here," she sobbed, "I can't do that if they can still talk back and forth."

He went forward and grabbed her shoulders, panic was rising in his chest. If they had no way to communicate, Regina and Snow might come down here. They wouldn't know what they were getting into, "Melinoë, what did you do?"

"What I have to!" she sobbed, "To make sure my family's safe! My parents power is bound to the underworld. They're not as powerful above world, but I am thanks to the gift Zeus gave me when I was born and I can do something!"

He was about to stutter…something, he didn't know what, but he was thankfully cut off when a police car pulled up to the yard. He expected to see Graham or Killian driving. He stopped however, when he saw Persephone get out of the passenger seat. The driver door opened...and Pan came out

But not Pan the child. Pan the adult, the man they all only got a glimpse of before Rumple sacrificed himself and killed both him and his father to ensure everyone's safety.

"What's that," Charming demanded and pointed to Man Pan, shaking with rage.

"What are you doing here?" Persephone demanded of her daughter, "You're supposed to be in your room."

"I'm sorry, mama," Melinoë whispered and looked down.

"You're sorry?!" Persephone hissed, "You're already in enough trouble and we confined you to your room and you immediately leave it?!"

"I needed someone to talk to! Someone that understands."

"Really, and what does Mayor James understand that we can't?" Persephone glared at him.

Charming's eyes were glued to Pan, "What's HE doing here?"

"Oh, his name is Malcom," Persephone said offhandedly, thankfully not catching the blunder he realized he made over recognizing Pan. She was too busy furious at her own daughter for apparently sneaking out, "He's an enemy of our visitors."

"Where's Graham and Killian?!"

"They're harboring our visitors. They didn't dare come into work today." She turned to Melinoë, "You know, your father and I are against locking you in your room. We couldn't, we thought that would overstep. Though, apparently since you're still disobeying us and running around with this plan of yours, endangering your own life, we should."

Charming stepped in, "I do think that's overstepping."

"This mess started with the death of your baby brother, I lost two more children because of this insane plot you all formed. I WILL NOT BURY YOU TOO!" Persephone screamed and waved her hand, "GO HOME"

Charming was taken aback by the hurt and the vitriol that came out of her mouth. He loathed Dark and Dracula for what they did to his family and so many other innocent people but he forgot that he was standing here next to a grieving mother who saw them in an entirely different way. They weren't monsters to her. He knew that deep ta since he got here. But his priority had always been seeing them as monsters to protect his family; staring at her trying to protect her daughter without hurting her, he really wished they could come to some sort of understand. He didn't want anyone in this to be the villain.

Persephone turned, "It's time to take Cora to the asylum."

"Yes, my lady," he went to put his hand on her elbow and assist her.

She pulled away, "Don't."

"Of course," he glared at Cora and Pan sitting in the car, "Is it wise to have someone I don't know taking care of my old job?"

"He ran a magical island, he can run a district," Persephone decided, "Besides, he's Rumpelstiltskin's father. I don't think you have to imagine the blow that will be when he realizes who is in charge of driving them out now."

Charming shivered, he had to alert them somehow, this wasn't good. He was supposed to have an ally on the island with him when he found Mina. It would make their chances of escaping easier.

Instead he had more enemies in the car with him.

"I know what you're thinking," Persephone said, "Cora's mother, Rumple's mother, and Melinoë's mother all in the car, what a fun time for you."

It was everything he had to put one foot in front of the other as he went to sit beside Cora. Cora looked over and took him in. He returned the gaze. She looked older, more haggard, he saw the exhaustion in her voice "You're not James."

"What?" he let the annoyance show through his voice. This was a bad idea. This was going to blow up in his face. He had to get away.

"You're not James, I worked with him daily, you're not him," Cora turned, "It's not him, your majesty, it's Charm-."

Persephone held a hand up. Cora's words became muffled as suddenly her mouth was gone.

"Please drive, Malcom, I already have a terrible headache," Persephone whispered.

Charming looked for a way out, he had to get away without ending up captured. They were going to blow his cover!

He heard the door lock and looked up. He saw Malcom glaring at him from the rearview mirror.

Persephone may not believe he was an imposter, but Malcom did.

And he just locked him in.

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Centuries Ago

When Milah turned sixteen, it came time for her father to find her a husband. It was a task easier said than done. Most of the boys wanted a dowry that they did not have for the middle daughter. Her oldest sister barely had enough to maintain any sort of household. She was given to an aging butcher two towns over as his second wife. More like Coraline was his mistress, but his even older wife was senile and needed someone to take care of her. When the old woman would eventually die, her sister would be his official wife.

Her other two older sisters had been married to soldiers. One was a recruiter looking for men in the town who wanted to volunteer their services to a war that didn't even concern them, the other sister was just given to a foot soldier they opened their home to for a small fee.

The family had nothing more to offer. So, while she and her sisters worked in the field, her father took some pelts to the next town over to sell and look for someone that might marry her.

When he came back in the evening, he brought with him a lithe shy boy who was too skinny for his clothes and whose eyes were too big for his head. He was handsome enough with a washed face, and he didn't seem to be the type that would beat her. It was as good a match as any, she supposed. He was abandoned by his coward father to some spinsters who were nice enough to take him in. But they were getting on in years and thought it was high time for him to find a wife. No one in his village wanted a poor coward's son. Soldiers were in much higher demand. Marriages usually didn't last long before widowhood happened and the women were given a slightly higher status as a war widow…which made their marriage prospects even better.

But she didn't want a soldier, and her father saw fit to at least give ONE of his daughters a husband that would live longer than five years. Milah was kept away from him until her father brought in an elderly knight who gave them the marriage vows and that was that. She was a married woman now. Marriage between royalty was a celebrated affair, she'd heard. Here, in a small village, it was just…something that happened. They got a bit more stew that night in their food and her sisters were cleared out of their bedroom and put in the barn to sleep in. That was as far as the marriage celebration went.

By the time they were finally alone, they sat on the bed in silence with only a candle to illuminate them. He fiddled with his nightshirt, she kept her knees to her chest as the silence stretched out.

Neither was in a hurry to do what marriage came with.

"You can call me Rumple if you like," he offered.

"Alright," she whispered and stared down at the worn cotton gown she had on.

"I'll be a good husband," he promised, "I don't drink, I won't hit you, and I can make you new clothes. I'm not rich but I'm not starving either. I get work."

"Oh," she twisted the gown, "What if there are babies?"

He turned, looking in her blue eyes with his brown ones earnestly, "I won't hurt them either."

And that's all Milah needed to know. Because her father had taught her that a man took what he wanted and he did what was required to keep his children alive and fed. Milah wasn't much looking forward to the former in an ideal husband, but it looked like she got lucky. And with that, she trusted him enough to finally uncurl herself and move on the bed, "We should probably get this done. We have a long journey tomorrow."

He hesitated, 'I heard it hurts women."

Milah rolled on her back, "My mother told me it hurts at first, but one gets used to it."

Milah didn't tell him her mother said it in a way that made relations sound entirely unimpressive. Men didn't like to hear that.

It took him a few moments to get the courage to come to join her on the bed. He was clumsy, and awkward. And it hurt, but Milah took comfort in the idea that she was his first and he was hers. It was the most romantic notion she'd been able to have about the husband she'd known for less than twelve hours.

His promise not to beat her came a close second

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Present Day

Milah was at a loss, the woman beside her in the car used large words, she could read, she seemed intelligent, so why on earth would she end up marrying the man that murdered his first wife? It made no sense, and not even the most desperate women Milah had ever seen in her life were that depraved unless a LOT of money was involved.

"Do you just ignore it, then?" Milah asked after an hour out. She couldn't take it anymore, she just had to know.

"No, I don't ignore it," Belle said and Milah was grateful that she didn't have to remind Belle that Rumple had murdered her in cold blood again.

"He ripped my heart out, you know"

"I know."

"He stood over me and Killian and crushed it into dust."

"I know that too."

"So, then I'm baffled at why you'd allow yourself to be married to a man that would willingly do that?"

"I don't know, why would you let yourself be with a man that bragged about using and killing you if Rumple didn't fight for you?" Belle looked over.

Milah raised an eyebrow, "He was testing his character."

"You and I both know better than that." Belle shifted, "He was declaring his dominance."

"And Rumple returned the favor, only that time, I actually died."

They sat in silence before Belle spoke again, "He regrets it."

"Did he tell you that?":

"Yes.'

Milah didn't believe it, not for a minute, "There's plenty of people he sent down here that will tell you he didn't regret what he did at all."

"It's different, there's that thing inside of him now."

"Well you and I both know better than that," Milah repeated her words, "You know, I begged him to leave. I begged him to start over somewhere where we didn't have to be the cowards. He was good at his job, he put adequate money on the table but he wouldn't do it. He stood by while our son went hungry and I was abused. I went to the tavern out of desperation to get away and forget and you know what he did? Nothing. So, I got away, and he did nothing to stop that. Our son fell down a portal…and he did nothing. He only started doing something when my life ended. I would be worried if my husband's first attempt at doing something was to kill his first wife but that's just me."

"Would you?" Belle asked with a raised eyebrow, "You didn't seem bothered by the lives your pirate boyfriend ruined while he was sailing around pillaging. You walked right onto his ship with him. Who knows how many people he killed, do you know? Do you know he tried to kill me to avenge you?"

Milah was silent. She hadn't loved Killian at first, she had just wanted a fantasy; a way out, but as he talked, and as he paid attention to just her….he didn't look at her like the others did. He didn't see the cowardly legacy she was part of, he just saw her and she realized she didn't have to stay there.

"Killian's much different than what you probably would see," Milah told her.

"And so is Rumple," Belle told her, "He regrets what he did, he was ashamed of it."

"That doesn't bring me back to life."

"I know," Belle admitted quietly.

"And it doesn't get me the years back I lost with my son."

Belle looked out the window, her voice was softer, "Well I suppose that's partially your fault too."

Milah should've thrown her out right there, she should've turned around and taken them back home because she was a victim. She shouldn't be talked to in such a way.

But Milah also knew she couldn't hold Belle accountable for things that she had told herself for centuries.

They settled back into silence and Milah found she preferred that more.

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Killian stayed in his room most of the morning to avoid his brother. He spent the time alternating between going over maps and giving lifelong advice to his little girl. Lizzie would need it, the world was crazy up there and every time he thought he exhausted all conversation topics, he thought of something else.

Emma came to knock on the door slightly before noon and he went downstairs to see everyone gathered around except for Belle and Milah.

"Where are the ladies?" he asked Graham.

"They decided to take a road trip."

"Now?!"

"Belle's looking for her mother," Graham sighed and looked around, "No one's happy about it but they snuck out while we were busy with James."

He raised an eyebrow, Most tense carried ever. Would both survive?"

Graham turned back to Emma, "How did Belle escape Regina? She used to be her prisoner."

"I don't know," Killian muttered and preferred not to remember that time they'd met in the tallest tower.

When Emma opened the map that showed the island, he REALLY wished he could focus on his daughter instead of the plan or his attempts to kill Belle.

"Dad's going with Persephone and Cora today and he's going to see if he can locate Mina. Once he does, he'll work on getting her out. He'll either get her out then or come back with a memorized layout of the asylum so that we all can go. Once that happens, we have only a limited time to get off the island."

And Killian knew what that meant.

"Isn't there any sort of magic we can use?" he asked.

"That asylum holds some of the worst people that Hades prefers not to have in the pit without torturing them first; god killers, and the Titans. It's heavily fortified by magic. Magic older than anything I've seen or could possibly hope to understand," Rumple put his finger on the drawing to emphasize his point, "We need a fast ship."

"We need the pirates," Emma said with her shoulders slumped, "They have some of the fastest ships in the underworld."

Killian refused to look up because he knew Bae was looking at him. He had spilled what had happened to him all those years ago when he was a slave and the idea of Bae saying what happened now would be utterly humiliating.

"Perhaps there's another way," Bae finally said.

"No," Killian said weakly. He didn't pretend to completely know Mina, and he didn't profess to love her. He was fond of her, he cared about her as a person. They'd had an adventure together. But, she was the mother of his daughter. Whatever she thought of him, she at least thought well enough to bring a baby that was half his into the world. It was like…it was like choosing him in a roundabout way and so he felt he owed her this. She saved countless people, she saved his friends, she saved their daughter. She deserved to be safe and happy.

"Are you sure?" Liam asked.

Killian ignored him, he didn't owe his brother anything yet. His brother didn't get an easy pass for volunteering him without his consent, "I can listen to my father."

Emma watched him sympathetically. She opened her mouth to say something but stopped, "We need a place to stash all of you when this is done. You can't go back to work now that you know Hades is watching us."

"There's some farm land here," Rumple put his finger on a hidden area a few miles away, "We can take you there. Magic up a house and some farm animals. Cloak it so all they see is an empty field."

"It might not work," Emma said.

"What choice do we have?" Rumple sighed, "We don't. This is it, we have to put you all under cover in a place-."

"Where we can't leave," Graham said bluntly, "A cage."

"It's just until your business is finished."

"So, until Regina's dead then?" he hissed.

Emma flinched, "Well, good talk. Rumple I think you should look at that field and get the cloaking spell ready."

"I have a couple of hexes I'm working on. I'ts old. It's the sort of magic the gods are using so it's complicated. If I can get an understanding of it in time, this plan might work."

"Good, the rest of us will start getting everything packed."

"I'll get in contact with my father," Liam stood.

"Yeah," Killian turned to go back to his room, "Tell him we all say hi."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

The boat ride to the island was quiet and thankfully Charming didn't have to resort to pushing Malcom off the boat to keep him quiet. But he knew, and he knew Charming knew that he knew. They were in a game now, and one misstep could mean that he was the next resident of this place.

They had to get Mina out, he had to do it somehow today.

"Pirates on the port side," Malcom said.

"Leave them be," Persephone told them.

"My lady, we must get you to safety," Malcom said.

"Why, do pirates scare you?" Charming mocked, which earned a glare from Malcom.

"I'm not afraid of anyone," Malcom crossed his arms, "It's charming how you were so close with one."

"I'd think you were scared of pirates since all you did was take children," Charming did his best James smirk, "Took any ones you could but your own son. Even your grandson and great grandson were better substitutes."

"And how would a prince who died before I died know that?"

"I was the sheriff, and you were in my district. What, you thought I didn't know about Neverland? Everyone know about Neverland!"

Charming knew his voice was coming out James but he wanted nothing more than to haul over the side of the boat and throw up at the things he was saying. He didn't enjoy having to remind anyone that they kidnapped other children, abandoned their own, and tormented the rest of their family.

"Silence, both of you," Persephone snapped, "The pirates are at a manageable distance. They know better than to annoy me, they're probably just curious. They've been trying to get into the asylum for ages. It's the one place they can't plunder, it's like a treasure they all want."

And Charming was about to be trapped in there.

They docked the boat. Charming helped both Cora and Persephone out. When Malcom tried to climb on too, Charming pushed him back, "No, you're the sheriff, this is above your paygrade."

"Then why am I here?" he demanded.

"Cora was your responsibility until she got on the pier, now she's here and you can stay there," Charming turned, "I didn't get to come here when I was sheriff and neither do you."

They escorted Cora up the stairs that led to the building. They met a man there dressed in a Victorian suit and glasses.

"Jekyll," Persephone greeted.

He bowed, "My lady."

"I'm sure you can find a home for this one," Persephone nodded to Cora.

"Always," he nodded to two men dressed like orderlies who shoved the bag over Cora's head, lifted her up and put her on the gurney, "My lady, if I may ask…where's her mouth?"

"She'll have it back later," Persephone watched them wheel her away, "Now that that business is settled, take me to the bitch."

00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Charming didn't know what he had expected when they took them down the elevator and through the maze, but he didn't expect this. He thought maybe they'd be torturing her with a rack or an iron maiden but this was different.

Mina lay on a slab that resembled something one might find in a morgue. Her scrub bottoms and white shirt was dripping with sweat. Her body convulsed every few seconds in a terrifying rhythm that obviously wasn't under her control. Her eyes stared up at the celling, vacant. Her mouth hung slightly open.

At her head was something resembling a human, but it was too tall and too thin to be healthy. Its fingers were like suction cups against her head. He wanted to yank it off, he wanted to shoot it to get it away from her.

"What is this thing?" Persephone asked.

"I don't know, it won't tell me. It came to us about 200 years ago from a tiny world that I can't remember the name of. We've only ever had five but most of them move on. It'll review her memories, it'll come through them for something useful and it'll tell us everything we need to know about our visitors. We'll know their strengths, fighting styles, history that not even gods would know about and their weaknesses."

"She can't possibly know all that."

"Of course she does," Jekyll scoffed, "She's a hunter and the visitors have the Dark One and the Evil Queen in their ranks. She would do her research in case she had to go against one or both. We'll know everything she knows."

"Could we use this against them?" Persephone asked, "Find out everything they know about us and our weaknesses?"

"If we could get them here, yes."

Persephone's satisfied smile really started to creep Charming out.

"Why is she twitching like that?" he finally asked.

"Well the melding if you could call it that wasn't voluntary."

"Who would volunteer for this?" he muttered.

"It's painful for both to meld when the subject is unwilling. It's a slower process, that's why she…. that's why she looks the way she does. Being gored also didn't help."

"How long with this take?"

"It'll go on into the night, I imagine."

Charming needed to act. He could shoot them, that might take them by surprise long enough to get Mina off the bed. But she was dead weight at this point, and the hallway was heavily guarded.

Persephone gave the woman a seething glare, "Take her off, I want to talk to her."

"I don't think that's wise, we may have to start over. The creature will need it's rest too, remember it's also in pain for having to do this."

"Then put another one on. And if she's hurt, well what do I care?" Persephone demanded, "Take her off, now."

"I'll show you to a meeting room," Jekyll led her away.

Jekyll sighed and gestured. The monster took its hands of either side of Mina's face. Mina's body sagged slightly, he heard a sigh of relief escape her lips. She lay unmoving, but he saw her mouth move slightly, he saw her blink. She wasn't twitching anymore but she was shaking.

He saw the nurse approach with a giant needle, "What's that?"

"Adrenaline," The nurse uncapped it, "To help her become coherent."

Charming could only look away as the nurse jabbed the giant needle into her chest. He heard Mina scream and sit up.

When he looked over to her, she was looking around the room frantically. Her eyes settled on him but he shook his head slightly to keep her from talking. He saw her hesitate, but she gave a slight nod back, "What's happening?"

"You're to be interrogated by Persephone."

"Two gods in two days," she said weakly, "what a treat. Will this be a theme with all the gods?"

"Let's hope Zeus doesn't visit you," He took a step to lift her up but was pushed back by the asylum security, "I don't think Poseidon's fares any better."

She looked at him as they tied her down, "What were they doing to me?"

"Sifting through your memories about your friends," the nurse told her.

He saw the fear in her eyes, "Did they find anything?":

"For your sake, I hope so," he pretended to adjust a restraint after the fact and took her hand for a second, "You'll live through this."

Mina gave another small nod, "How unfortunate for me."

"Take her to interrogation," Charming stepped back.

He looked around frantically for a way to get her out.

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The adrenaline woke Mina up, it gave her energy but she was shaking from pain. The…bonding experience from that thing or whatever it was had put her in agony, but she had found she could not move and she could not scream. If that wasn't bad enough, she had to watch her own memories flash before her. It had started small, quick flashes from when she was younger but when it focused on her father or Dracula, then the thing took it's time. She had tried to resist though it only led to more pain. Then it was done, and she was here in a room with Charming on the other side of the door doing god knows what.

They had only stopped once to put her in a communal shower. Under the watch of several armed guards, the nurses stripped her, sprayed her with a hose, and once she was 'clean' they put her in a fresh set of clothes and put in a room with a table and chair. Her hands and feet were tied down. Two guards stood with their guns at the ready.

And finally, Persephone came in. She sat across from Mina. Mina watched her, uncertain. The woman was redheaded and blue eyed. Mina could tell she was trying to hide the emotions on her face but the sheer hatred in her eyes gave enough away for Mina to know that this woman loathed her.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked.

"You're Persephone, queen of the underworld," Mina tried to sit up straighter, "And mother to Dracula."

She bristled, "His name was Ichor."

"I don't know who named him above world then, but that's how I know him."

She didn't look amused, "You killed him."

"I killed myself," Mina told her, "And others killed him, and might I add, in self-defense."

"Do you dare question the gods?"

Mina angrily met her gaze, "My life was ruined by that monster. Do you know what he did to me? What he did to other women? He held us down, he forced us to drink blood. I saw him forcing himself on my best friend before she finally died after months of turning. You shouldn't come in here and act like whatever it was that he did; the murder, and the rape, and the turning, was some sort of...divine insight. He ruined countless lives, he murdered my husband in front of me for no reason."

Persephone almost seemed taken aback by how angry Mina was, "Everyone dies sometime."

Mina glared at her, "I was pregnant."

Then that got Persephone's attention, she looked up, stunned, "With his?"

Mina should lie, she should say it was Dracula's just to get some sort of revenge. It would hurt Persephone just as much as Mina was being hurt but she had to remind herself that both were mothers. Persephone was looking for someone to blame, "With my husband's. It was the last thing I had of him and it was too much and I lost the baby."

Persephone's hand almost went to her own belly but she stopped and lowered it, "You went into hunting then."

"Of course I did, I tried being normal but it doesn't work when one knows what's truly out there."

"You chased after Ichor when he went into Storybrooke."

"And I'd do it again, because it kept them safe," Mina leaned forward, eyes begging her to understand, "To keep my child safe. He killed my father when he came back after my father and Rumple thought they killed him. He came after me and my friend just to spit on my father's memory. We had done nothing to him. He lured my husband to Transylvania before we were married, he went from there. If I hadn't gone to Storybrooke, he would've eventually got his strength and gone after my daughter and I. I acted in defense of both my family and the countless people he would've preyed on."

"You can't save everyone."

"I made a sister in Emma," she told Persephone stubbornly, "They cared about me enough to come for me. I never wanted to hurt anyone all those years ago. I wanted to be married and have children and teach. I wanted both my parents alive. I wanted a simple life, but Dracula came in and he hurt us. He broke my family apart. Why should I have to be punished for something he did to us? I understand he's your son and I understand why you're hurting but I defended myself."

"You're a human, you don't have any rights compared to a god."

"Even a dog will have someone's sympathy if a human makes a habit of kicking it every day and it fights back."

Persephone slammed the palm of her hand against the table. Mina dragged her eyes down and then looked back up at Persephone.

"Your son hurt me,": Mina told her, "That's what happened. Why are we all being punished for not laying down and dying? Would you if your life was in danger? Or your children? "

Persephone stared at Mina, and shook slightly. Mina didn't know what was in her eyes now. Without another word to Mina, she stood and opened the door, "Take her back to her hospital bed."

"My lady, we still have a lot to sift through."

"It's enough for today," Persephone looked over to Mina, "We have other things we need to focus on before we leave."

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Charming was not allowed to be in the interrogation or the observation room for some reason, so he supposed there was still some things above James's paygrade.

So, he prepared to whatever he was going to have to do to get them out of here. Mina was going to be weak, he'd have to keep the armed guards off both of them, while assisting her, and trying not to die.

He was going to die.

He stared at the gun in his hand. He was in over his head and all he'd wanted to do was repay his debt to Mina for facing down her tormenter to save him. But here he was, he would never see his wife or children again if he didn't get off this island.

The seconds seemed to stretch into eternity, he paced the room. It all felt like it was coming apart. Seeing the vulnerable side of Melinoë today with no idea what to do, seeing Persephone and Pan and Cora, he didn't know how much longer he could keep up the act.

There was a file on the table, it had Mina's name. Charming opened it and read some basic information like height and weight. He scanned through the information and turned the page to read her known associates.

There were several pages of names, he expected that was what happened when one worked for eight years in the hunting community. Some were dead though, they had a district and address listed by their name.

He saw his name and his family but when he got to one of the last pages, his eyes fell on something he hadn't expected.

Jonathan Sherrinford Harker – Moxaxia Level 36, Wing B, Room 3056

Alexander Nathanial Murray – Monaxia Level 36, Wing B, Room 3057

Mina's father and husband were here too

Maybe now he had help.

He heard the door behind him unlock and closed the file. He turned just in time to avoid Jekyll and the creature in front of him catching him looking through her files.

"They'll be done in just a few minutes," Jekyll told him as the creature went to stand behind him.

"Are they both alive?"

"For now," Jekyll put some medical scalpels and saws on a table, "Persephone's being faced with the news that she can't deny about how her son is a monster."

"Didn't she already know?"

"Of course she knew, but it's a difference to know something and then being faced with knowing you cannot deny it when it's staring you in the face."

"I see."

"Like the knowledge that you're not truly the former Prince James."

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When Mina was taken back to the infirmary, the adrenaline was already starting to wear off. She didn't know what meeting Persephone accomplished. She just wanted her to know that she never wanted any of this. She wanted the goddess to understand that she had had no choice but to fight. She supposed it was different view if one lived in an underworld where the next life was just around the corner but it was entirely different if one was human and had family above world.

The soldiers and the nurses wheeled her back to her bed. She linked her arm around the nurse's neck as they grabbed the blanket under her and went to move her from the gurney to the bed.

While her hand was behind the nurse's head, she removed a small hairpin. She kept it concealed in her hand as her vitals were taken. The cool metal of the cuff closed around her ankle. The guards walked back to their station.

Mina grabbed the leaving nurse, "Might I have some water please?"

The nurse nodded and went to pour a cup. Mina thanked her and drank from it. She handed it back to the nurse. When the nurse was distracted, Mina also stole her pass card. She waited a few moments till she was sure the guards weren't paying attention and felt for the cuff under the blanket. She slid the bobby pin inside, working it until she was free.

Her leg had snapped into place when that thing was looking through her memories. She was ready, and the guards chatting amongst themselves, this was her chance.

She already knew she would never reach Charming. She just hoped that her escaped prompted him to get away as well.

They could meet later.

She slid to the floor, and went to look under that low table to see if the gun was still there. She was relieved that it was and pulled it out. She kept her eyes open to her surroundings as she kept close to the floor and slid toward the supply closet.

Once she got there and got the door closed behind her, she was hopefully as good as free.

Just as she reached the door, she looked up to see the minotaur passing through the hallway. It looked at her through the hallway window just as she met its eyes.

It let out a roar, the guards with it drew their guns.

Mina slammed the keycard against the sensor (that's what Emma had told her they were called.) and slipped in before a bullet barely missed her head. She pulled herself in and slammed the door.

Bloody hell, she had to get out.

Mina checked the gun. There were two bullets left. She didn't know if it'd be enough to get her out but she hoped so.

Mina saw the window and she saw the oxygen tank. Just what she needed

Mina raised the gun and fired. The bullet embedded in the glass but barely cracked.

Mina grabbed an oxygen tank just as the minotaur outside slammed against the door. She rushed over to shove a bookshelf in front of the door to at least buy her SOME time.

She used what was left of her strength to prop the oxygen tank against the window and went to the corner.

She raised her gun and fired as the door slammed open.

The tank gave a small explosion, the window broke, Mina heard the loud sound of the tank embedding in the wall across from her. Glass and oceanwater poured in. An alarm somewhere sounded.

Mina let the useless gun fall and limped towards the window. She gripped the edge and took a breath, "Please…please…."

She pulled herself from the room, through the rushing water and into the ocean.

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Charming looked up, he paled. He should deny it but the millisecond of him being startled was all Jekyll seemed to need.

"Of course she suspected," Jekyll smirked, his body started twisting and contorting. Charming took a step back when he heard the bones grinding and snapping just under the skin. Jekyll started aging in front of him, 'But it wasn't until she found you hugging her daughter and hearing Cora talk that she realized you weren't who you claimed you were."

Charming reached to grab his gun. Jekyll threw an office table with one hand. Charming tried to move but it caught him in the side, and sent him to the floor.

He looked up to see the rest of the transformation. Jekyll was now no longer a middle aged solidly built man. He was a shriveled old smaller man with wispy hair and a goatee. And somehow Charming was more worried about this version of him than he was the larger Jekyll.

"She's very disappointed in you to say the least," Hyde walked forward.

Charming stood up, his fists balled. Hyde seemed amused that they were about to do this. Charming swung, aiming for the side of Hyde's head. Hyde moved inhumanly fast to avoid it and grabbed Charming by the neck. He lifted him up and slammed him hard against the table that Mina had previously been laying on.

"Did you really think you were going to escape with Harker in tow?" Hyde mocked, "This place was built to hold Titans. It was built to hold god killers. It was built to hold me. Don't tell me you arrogantly thought you could be the one to fool gods, storm the gates, and save some damsel?"

"It's not over yet."

Jekyll grabbed him with one hand, turned him over on his side and slammed a fist right into Charming's kidney. Charming screamed and knew that was going to damage his body. He had to get healed.

He felt something grab either side of his head. The creature was in the room, who once had its hold on Mina had him.

The memory of what it was doing to Mina made him resist, and that resistance twisted his body to feel pain. He tried to scream but felt it stop in his throat. He was losing control of his own body.

He had to get away, he had to see Snow again.

With the last of his control, he lifted one side of his body. His hand closed around the gun at the small of his back. He raised it up and aimed to where he THOUGHT the creature was. HE couldn't hear anything when he fired, but the thing removed it's hands. Charming was filled with a sense of relief. He kept one hand on his gun as he sat up.

The door was open, Hyde was gone.

Charming had to get to Mina before they did.

His body resisted when he got on his feet. His back hurt, his side was tender, he could barely walk.

He heard people running down the hallway and took the open elevator. He pressed the button and pressed the close button before they turned the corner.

Get to the medical wing, get to the medical wing.

He heard it before he saw it. The elevator dinged, the doors opened. He raised his gun ready for a fight.

Water rushed in, knee high.

"What the hell?!" he demanded and sloshed out. He saw the medical team was clearing out. Soldiers were helping the ones Mina apparently injured the day before.

The water was climbing, he grabbed a fleeing nurse, "What happened?"

"One of the patients blew a window out. We have to get out before the seal doors close."

He looked around for Mina but he didn't see her. He prayed to the gods that she was able to get away but he needed to be sure.

"You!" he called to a soldier and followed him up the stairway, "Where's the Harker woman?"

"She blew out the window and either she drowned or she escaped out of it, I don't care, I didn't sign up for psychos."

"Fine, give me our guns."

"What?!"

"I have to find her before she does any more damage, give me your guns!"

The soldier gave it to him without question. Charming holstered one and draped the machine gun across his body.

He was going to Level 36, Wing B

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Mina's lungs burned as she fought her way out of the window and kicked off with her feet. She didn't get far before an undercurrent carried her away from the island. She followed the direction and did her best to swim up.

But it was so far away, and she was so tired. She only made it somewhat close to the surface before her limbs became heavy, her head swam, and she was forced to breathe in the ice-cold water into her lungs when things started becoming dark. The agony closed off her throat, which left her in a worse position than she was before.

She didn't pass out like she thought she would, like they would above world. Her oxygen depleting, it was like she was dying while staying conscious. She nearly made it to the surface but it wasn't enough.

And then…she started to sink. And Mina knew that that was where it ended for her. She would sink at the bottom of the ocean floor. No one would find her. No one knew where she was. They would hope she escaped or assume she'd been captured and in reality, she was in a waking death, unable to breath, unable to move.

The sun above her was blocked by something...Mina felt her brain slowly shutting down but she could still realize that it was a ship.

Someone jumped in the water towards her.

And then she wasn't thinking anything anymore.

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No one stopped Charming as he raced through the hallways with a gun in tow. He was dressed as a civilian, he still had his visitor badge. So they were all more worried about making sure everyone was secure since Mina breached the infirmary and hopefully escaped.

He found the two doors easily enough and shot the locks. The doors slowly opened. He walked into the first one and saw an older man playing cards by himself. He looked over to Charming with a curious bemused expression, before asking in a thick German accent "Am I finally being executed?"

"Are you Mina's father?"

"I am….," he stopped, "How do you know my daughter?"

"We don't have time to explain, we have to go," he tossed him a gun.

The next room, a tall brown headed man sat curled in the corner. He rocked in place. Charming looked around the room to see there was nothing to entertain him like Mina's father had with the deck of cards.

"Who's this?" Alex asked in a thick German accent.

"Her husband," Charming went to kneel beside him. The man pulled away, "Are you Jonathan?"

"Can't talk, there's no talking," Jonathan whispered.

"Jonathan, my name is David. I'm here to save you."

"There's no way out."

"There is, Mina found one."

Jonathan stopped rocking back and forth, he turned to look at Charming with unfocused eyes, "Mina's here?"

Charming nodded, "We need to go."

"Where is she?!"

"Hopefully she's escaped by now," Charming pulled him up and went to the nurse's station where he saw the window that led underwater. Unlike the infirmary, it was much higher up, but it wasn't enough. He'd have to take him as far as he could and blow a window out before they were stopped.

Which meant back to the elevator.

He turned to face them, "Everyone can swim, right?"

For some reason, Jonathan started cackling, and Charming realized that maybe he was just going to spend the whole day in over his head.

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Centuries Ago

For a very long time, Milah was satisfied with her lot in life. She didn't know how to do 'womanly' things such as sewing and cooking whereas Rumple did. Rumple didn't know anything about running a farm other than what it took to get the wool he needed for clothes, and Milah knew how to do that. So, they went about their lives together, using their strengths while teaching the other how to do things they were supposed to know in their free time…which there never seemed to be enough of.

No baby came. They tried when the harvest was good but nothing came of it and secretly Milah was relieved. They didn't starve but money would be tighter with a baby….or seven like some families had.

And trouble was always in the back of Milah's mind. The ogre war that everyone thought would end in four years didn't. The front lines moved closer and closer. One's choice to serve in the army was quickly replaced with drafts and Milah knew it was only a matter of time.

Then Rumple received his summons, and she had to come to terms with the fact that her overjoyed husband might go off to die.

Months passed and she learned that in that last night they had spent together, they had finally conceived a baby. It couldn't have come at a worse time. Milah was often sick and had to tend the fields and her husband's business while ill. She wasn't as skilled as he was, and the sitting and standing for long hours at a time caused her back and hips to ache so badly that she lay in bed for hours in pain.

Milah didn't know how he knew. No one who was drafted from their village had known when they were taken away. Rumple could barely read and Milah herself was illiterate, she couldn't write to him to tell him the news.

But somehow, he knew, and he injured himself to come home.

At first, Milah tried to ignore the barbs and the whispers. She clung to the belief that her husband would never shirk his duties to his kingdom. He was eager to fight, he was eager to prove himself whether alive or dead. His own father had been a coward. He had been killed in front of Rumple, Rumple had said so.

Then he came home, barely walking, covered in filth. Things changed after that, Milah couldn't defend him. He injured himself to flee from battle, and to top it all off he lied to her. He told her a seer told him about the baby and how he'd die if he didn't come back. But Milah was confused, because if they DID have a seer, how was the battle lost? She would see what happened in the future, she would know.

So Milah didn't believe him, she couldn't. He had his son but so did countless other men that chose to do their duty. One family that had 14 kids lost their father and ended up begging on the streets.

And the town turned on them more. Why should a coward have a roof over his head when good soldier's families did not?

She was confronted, spit on, shoved, abused. One woman yanked her son out of her arms so they could throw her down without the knowledge they'd hurt a baby. Rumple was mocked, tripped, pushed down and bullied as much as she was.

But he did not want to leave. Mentally, she knew it was a fool's attempt. Rumple's ankle was twisted, he could barely walk. They had livestock and sheep they wouldn't be able to take with them, they had a toddler one of them would have to carry and their belongings.

And she knew that they couldn't wander a war-torn country logically but oftentimes things were so bad and she was so depressed that she wanted to try her luck.

It became too much; she took to the tavern to escape the pain. She ignored her son when she shouldn't have, but what sort of mother was she anyway? If he was to grow up like this? If he was to be the son of a coward and her husband didn't see why they shouldn't stay, what more could she do? She'd go mad if she was given any more stress.

His work requests dried up, they sold what they could to survive. Milah sold drawings to soldiers who were far away from home while Rumple worked a meager life for the rest of them.

She began to resent her husband. The more she was tormented and shunned, the more she realized that her father was right. A real man did what it took to get what he wanted and survive with his family. Rumple would never be that for her OR Bae.

And Killian came along, with his swagger and youth and vibrancy for life, Milah fell in love with the idea of him first. She bested him at gambling, which got his attention. He told her stories of far off places which she fell in love with.

He promised her he'd take her away.

It was all that she wanted, it was all that she begged Rumple for. And at first, she considered telling Rumple, in her naiveté that there was a ship that would take them far away from this place. They wouldn't have to travel and avoid ogres that slipped through the front lines. They could have a real chance.

Then Milah realized she didn't want Rumple to come with her. Too much had happened that the idea of leaving him behind was more relieving than taking him with her. He would never change, and she didn't want to have the same argument over and over again that they'd had for years.

Especially when Killian made it clear he wanted her just as much as she wanted escape. She was clever, she could navigate, he could teach her to read and she'd rise above the ranks. She'd be more than she ever could hope to be trapped in a town as an outcast's wife.

So she made her choice. She couldn't take her son, she knew that. Bae was better off here anyway, she hadn't been a true mother for years. It was better he stay with a father that loved him than risk the ship being taken and Bae being turned into a cabin boy for another pirate.

Killian was adamant about that. And from the way he talked, it was not a pleasant thing to happen.

The idea took root in her head, and soon it was growing, and she found herself making plans.

And then one day, when he was in port, he told her he still wanted her. He told her as they spent the year together talking…. he thought maybe he was in love with her.

It could have been word play. Maybe it was at first but the years they would spend together would change the feeling for both of them. They'd fall in love in that time.

Milah had never loved Rumple. Their marriage was arranged, it was a fondness but it lacked passion and real love. They were support, filling their obligations. That was it.

And it was what Milah told herself as she woke early in the morning, before the sun rose, and went to meet Killian on his ship.

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Present Day

Collette's house was an unassuming yellow one story with white trim. It was tastelessly perfectly boring. There was even a white picket fence.

"This is the address," Milah told her.

"Oh," Belle started, but made no move to leave, "Okay."

They sat there together for what seemed like an eternity, "I can't believe he's sorry, you know."

"Is it so hard?" Belle looked back.

"I sat here in purgatory for centuries because he murdered me," Milah said, "I get to be angry. That doesn't just go away just because he felt bad after it happened. I left, I hurt him, I understand where I failed in all this. But I didn't deserve that."

"I never said you didn't," Belle watched her, "I have to hope he's changed."

"For your sake, I hope so," Milah told her and genuinely meant it, "But I have countless people that came down here to say otherwise for me to believe he just suddenly decided to be better.."

"And how many people did you put down here?" Belle asked, "You're a pirate, plundering and pillaging doesn't come with no bodies."

"It was rare," she said, but she honestly didn't remember

"It was enough."

Milah's jaw tightened, "I do have to admit when I met you I thought you were weak willed. But if you stand up to him like this, I can see what he sees in you."

Belle looked back at the house, "I know you have no obligation but would you go with me?"

"I'm not the sort that mothers want to meet."

"For what it's worth, you are not the worst person I know," Belle opened the door. Milah followed and walked beside her as they walked up the sidewalk amongst the almost blinding green grass.

The door opened before Milah pressed the doorbell.

"Belle?" Colette gasped.

Belle's eyes filled with tears, "Mother?"

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Luckily for Charming, he found a higher floor that had a window that he easily broke. The waters flooded the room, they stayed in there until they couldn't anymore and swam for it. Both men were slow, he supposed he couldn't be surprised when they were trapped in a room for years.

The currents carried them over to the beach. Charming crawled into the sand and collapsed. They would continue to run in a moment…just…in a moment…

"That was exhausting," Jonathan gasped, "It's like my muscles atrophied except for the fact my body never changes, so they didn't."

Charming rolled back on his belly. He had to get up, he had to get them to safety.

He turned to address the only sane man with him, but saw Mina's father staring at him with mistrust, "Who are you?"

"He's Mina's new husband, it's obvious," Jonathan gasped.

"What?" Charming looked over, "No!"

"What do you mean by new husband?"

"I'm her old husband," Jonathan stood up.

"I'm sorry?" Alex looked at Charming again, "You're her husband."

"No! I'm her like…adopted dad or something."

He thought Emma and Mina thought of themselves as sisters but it was hard to tell given the way they talked about the other. Charming was often very confused at what the relationship actually was.

"David?"

Charming looked up to see a welcome sight. Rumple stood in front of him, the rest of them were behind him.

"What happened?!" Emma asked.

"The plan imploded," Charming struggled to stand.

Emma swallowed, 'Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he brushed the sand away, "Mina got away, I think…we have to go find her, the window she got out of was on the other side of the island. There's no beach on that side.'

A siren shrieked through the air, Rumple turned to it and then back to them, "There's no time."

"Papa?"

He turned to the voice and his eyes grew when he saw Alex, "Alex?"

While they stared at each other, Emma rushed to the water. She put her hand into the sand and closed her eyes.

"What's she doing?" Jonathan whispered.

"Looking for her," Rumple whispered back, then did a double take to Jonathan, "And who are you?!"

Emma pulled back, "She's not there."

"She probably got captured again," Killian whispered.

"We escaped from the fifth floor, Mina was a lot further down in the facility and on the other side," Charming coughed.

"So?"

"We'd have seen something if they'd dispatched a boat to get her," Rumple turned, "And if they had captured her, they'd have immediately come for Charming and these two. No, they'd have had to drag the bottom of the ocean for her, there'd be boats out there now. Emma confirmed it, she's not in the water."

"So if we don't have her, and the ocean doesn't have her, and THEY don't have her…. who has her?" Baelfire asked quietly.

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Mina was…aware that she was being pulled up a boat, she was aware someone checking her ID bracelet that she had from the asylum. She was aware she was being pulled up into a bigger ship but somehow her mind didn't process anything of what was happening to her. It was like she was aware of what was going on in her surroundings, but there was some sort of darkness that came with it. She 'knew' what was happening but her mind was shut off.

They started compressions on her chest and her stomach. Water left her mouth and nose. They breathed into her and finally her body seemed to click on. She rolled to the side and coughed up what felt like gallons and gallons of water.

"Good lass, get the sea from your lungs."

She was still weak, she nearly fell face first into the water she just practically vomited up but sets of hands kept her from face planting on the deck and rolled her back on her back.

A very tall man stood over her, "You just experienced the waking death, you will move in time. Your brain needs to heal and get control of your body again. It's not an ideal way to recover but we've dragged parts of the ocean and found men down there decades longer than you were. Unfortunately, they went quite mad."

Mina at least had enough control to blink. She felt them drape blankets around her and bundle her up while one man held onto her head to keep her from attempting to move. Her gaze slid over and noticed some men had hands on their pistols and swords.

She looked up towards the sky and settled on the flag. They would take her down below to a hidden room where she would sleep. And when she awoke, she would remember who the flag belonged to.

She'd seen it in some of her Uncles books one holiday.

It was Blackbeard's flag.

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Persephone had suspected when she saw James looking haggard that he was not James. It was something that just played in her mind, this little conspiracy theory. When she was bored, she went into 'what if' scenarios.

It wasn't until Cora said that James wasn't James that the belief started to take root. Combined with Malcom acting oddly, Persephone took a moment to step away from the former sheriff now mayor to look at how he acted alone.

When she saw him take Mina's hand on the cameras, she knew.

And then when she remembered finding him, of all people hugging her daughter, she took the boat and left with Malcom. She would murder him if she saw him again and that would waste his usefulness Hyde was given strict instructions. They were to comb through his memories and feed him to the titans. He would never be seen again.

When she reached the palace, she got the news about the breaches. Charming escaped, Mina escaped, her husband and father were with Charming when he blew out a window on the fifth floor and swam his way to safety.

"Any injuries?"

"Some, my lady, there were a couple of drownings."

"They'll be fine," Persephone muttered, "What of the living?"

"They're gone. They slipped past the guards. We think the Dark One figured out one of the hexes he was working on when he died, and used it to escape."

"Is there anything in the house?"

"He also used a hex to keep us out."

"Find a way in, Search the house, then Burn it to the ground," Persephone hissed, "Find them."

"Yes, my lady."

Persephone marched through the halls, ignoring everyone as they scurried out of her way and bowed.

She found her way to her daughter's apartment. Thankfully upon entering, Melinoë was sitting on a window seat on the bed, "Mother? Mother, I'm sorry, I just wanted-."

Persephone embraced her, she was safe. She hadn't snuck out to find 'James' again, and Persephone couldn't say that she was looking forward to breaking THAT news.

"Mother?" Melinoë asked in confusion.

Persephone pulled away and held her face, "I need you to tell me what your plan was when we found you out."

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It had taken a day to get their Storybrooke affairs in order. Snow and Regina had settled the matter together before morning had even come. After the dreams, it was obvious, they had to go try and help their family.

Breaking it to Henry was hard. When they hadn't gotten through to the family, he'd been terrified, but with much promising and threats, they finally got him to agree to stay behind. Robert and Lizzie were babies, and the nuns could take care of them but Henry needed to be there too….just in case.

And it wasn't something Emma would want.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Snow asked

"Rumple left a vial of his blood with me just in case this happened," Regina poured it into the water, "He knew this plan was shoddy at best but good luck telling any one of them anything."

They waited for the fog to come over the lake. Snow fidgeted. Regina had wanted to leave her behind but Snow had refused. If something was wrong, Snow needed to check on it, she needed to try and fix it.

Charon's boat appeared; Snow and Regina both stepped in the shallow lake to meet it.