Regina smoothed her hand across the page, fingertips tracing the lines of the unfamiliar rune. It was a curious thing, a straight line crossed by two bars on the bottom and one at the top with a small sort of dip in the middle of it. On the opposite page there was an intricate drawing of a birch leaf, beneath which were scrawled words but she didn't yet know how to read them. "What's this one for? It's sort of pretty, isn't it?"

"That, is a summoning spell. Qui Shin."

"Q-what?"

"A wraith. Soul sucker. That, dearie, is only for the worst sort of vengeance."

########

'Getting reeeeally tired of this bullshit.' Red thought as consciousness came swimming dizzily back to her. That was twice now in two days that she'd been clocked for trying to do the right thing. She was never going to be rid of the splitting headache lancing through her skull. She might just throttle Regina herself, save a whole lot of-

'Oh gods, Regina!'

Red lurched to her feet, hitting the door back into the sheriff's office at a staggering run that made it swing on its hinges. There was no metallic taste of blood on the air, which at least was reassuring. Just lingering traces of the man who'd knocked her out and fear. Sweet sticky fear that made the wolf inside her raise its head in keen interest.

The office was empty, only peeling paint an empty desks and Regina, safe on the cot in her cell. The coffee maker in the corner burbled, no doubt running on a timer, and Red's tensed muscles relaxed.

"What happened? Are you alright?"

Red approached the cell slowly, realising here was the source of the fear stuck in her nose. It rolled off the tense woman in waves as she sat staring at something on the palm of her own hand. She might not have even noticed Red was there, for all the interest she paid her.

"No, I'm as far from alright as one can possibly be." Regina said finally, placid tone at odds with her words.

Red tilted her head, not understanding, and Regina held up the hand she had been focused on so the girl could see it. There was some symbol etched in the skin there, angry and red, and it almost seemed to glow in the shadow ridden cell's dim light.

"What's that?"

"Something very, very bad."

########

"Where is he? Where the hell is he?"

Emma paced restlessly outside Gold's shop, legitimately closed for the first time she could remember. The door was locked, the lights extinguished, and no amount of pounding on the windows had made the man they sought appear. He wasn't at the diner. He wasn't at home. He wasn't here, unless he had super human patience for incessant knocking, and now she worried she had missed her window of opportunity. He must have bolted, gone into hiding. Not that she could imagine why; As near as she could tell it all began and ended with him but no one seemed so hold him any ill will. If anything the town's people were a little in awe of him; The same sort of awe one might hold for a caged lion, but awe none the less.

"I'm sure he'll be back." Snow said, watching her daughter's antics with a furrowed brow. "Where would he go? If we can even leave. I really can't imagine him testing the barrier himself."

Emma made a noise that was almost a growl, continuing to pace until Snow physically moved to block her path. She placed her hands on Emma's shoulders as the blond drew up short, smiling even though the crease between her brows didn't ease. "Hey. Can we talk?"

Emma scowled, looking down at her own booted feet. How was it this woman, who she had seen as a friend only a few short days ago, could make her feel so young? "What, now? Can't it wait?"

"No. No it can't. Emma, Emma, you're my daughter. I want to talk to you. I want to know you. I know that we have talked, that we have spent time together, but we didn't know it. And now we do and I just- Please, I want to talk to you."

David (Or was it James now? She thought she'd heard someone call him that but she just couldn't remember.) joined them, a reassuring presence at Snow's shoulder, and they both regarded her with such earnest wonder that she felt the stirrings of guilt in her gut. "Okay. What do you want to talk about?"

"We've waited for this moment for so long. And it's here, and we're finally together, and Emma, I can't help but think you aren't happy about it."

"I am! I've spent my whole life wanting this." Emma sighed, dearly wishing she could be anywhere else, having any other conversation than this one. She would gladly slay another dragon if it meant she didn't have to stand here, trying to put her feeling into words. There wasn't any way to say it that wouldn't hurt them. "But you have to understand- For the last twenty-eight years, all I knew was that you sent me away."

Snow's expression softened, her thumbs circling in a comforting way through the supple leather that covered Emma's arms, and it ached. Oh it ached, to be touched like this, by a mother. It was a luxury she'd never before experienced. "We did that to give you your best shot. We wanted you, Emma. We always wanted you. But if we'd kept you, you would have been cursed too."

"But we would have been together." Emma pulled away from them, arms wrapping round to hug herself. Her lips quirked in a small smile, to soften the blow, though she was sure it didn't help much. "You did it for everyone, because that's who you are. Leaders, heroes, whatever. And that's great, and wonderful and amazing but it doesn't change the fact that for my entire life I've been alone."

Whatever Snow was going to say was cut off by the click of a cane on hard cement and a jauntily whistled tune, some old nursery rhyme that Emma couldn't quite place. She turned to see Gold strolling jovially towards them and relief seeped through her limbs even as she put her game face on.

"What's this? The Charming family reunited at last? Come to thank me, have you dearie?"

"Hardly." Emma wished suddenly she hadn't left the sword at the apartment, if only to have something to hold in her hands. It would make it a lot easier to fight the urge to wrap them around his neck. "What did you do? What was that purple haze you brought?"

Gold pointed a single finger skyward with a flourish. He was entirely too pleased about something, nearly vibrating with some inner joy. "You know. Magic."

"Why?" Snow asked.

"Not telling."

The ground shook suddenly beneath their feet, every transformer on the block, and beyond for all Emma could see, exploding in a shower of sparks that sent them scrambling, Emma instinctively throwing her arms out to cover Snow and David round the both of them.

"The hell was that?"

Gold was unmoved, leaning against his cane with deep, utter calm, and said as though remarking on the weather, "That is my gift to you, Snow. That is going to take care of Regina."

Emma recovered, meeting the man's dark, smirking eyes with growing horror clutching at her chest. So stupid. While they'd been waiting, having their little heart to heart, he'd been off stirring more havoc.

"Tick-tock, Miss Swan. Best to run, if I were you dearie. You won't want to miss this."

########

Emma was gone before Rumpelstiltskin had even finished speaking and it was all Snow could do to keep up with her. There were screams everywhere as presumably the entire town lost power, sparks flying from downed power lines and all manner of debris left in the wake of whatever it was Rumpelstiltskin had unleashed, but it was all a blur of extraneous background noise as she fought not to loose sight of the gold and red streak that was her daughter.

The sheriff's station looked as if it had been gutted, the door off its hinges and random bits of its innards-Chairs, paperwork, window screens, all meaningless drivel now- strewn across the parking lot. The sheriff's cruiser was flipped over on its back, now a useless hunk of twisted metal.

Inside was as bad, the entire front railing of the cell block ripped free and cast as carelessly aside as a child's toy. Red was on her knees by the little table that supported the coffee maker, one of the few items in the room left miraculously untouched, staring wide eyed at the giant hooded spectre that was connected to Regina by an unsettling beam of light. All Snow could see of the figure beneath the cloak were two skeletal arms, still clung to by rotting leathery flesh. It reeked like nothing Snow had ever experienced before, blood and must and meat past its time.

Emma shouted at it, hurling one of the few office chairs that remained intact at the creatures back, and it whirled on her, leaving the former queen gasping. It was distracted just long enough to send the blond flying into James' arms, both sprawling to the floor, then went right back to it, unaffected.

Snow didn't know what it was, didn't know what it was taking, but somehow she was going to stop it. She had real adrenalin flooding her system for the first time since she had become Mary Margaret and it was wondrous to finally feel herself again. The princess who acted, who did, fearless. She cast around for something, anything, but other than the splintered furniture and smashed computer there was nothing but the coffee maker and an aerosol can of ant spray rolling across the floor.

An aerosol can... the part of her memory that belonged to Mary Margret tingled with awareness and she snatched the can up.

"Red, give me your lighter!"

"W-what?"

"Your lighter, quick!"

Red frantically patted her pockets, fishing out the little silver zippo and tossing it over. Snow caught it deftly and flicked it open, lighting it.

"HEY!" The creature didn't look round, intent on its victim and Snow pressed down on the can's spray button, directing it at the flickering flame. The gush of fire did the trick, drawing forth an inhuman scream before the spectral figure seemed to curl in on itself and shoot out the office window in a hail of shattering glass.

Regina crumpled to her knees and Snow was suddenly jostled out of the way as Emma ran by her to get to the woman's side.

She let the can drop from her hands as she watched her daughter, watched the tender way Emma's hands cradled her greatest enemy's face, held her close, finally linking their hands together and pulling the woman to her feet.

She was never going to be okay with that, Snow thought, watching the way Regina sank into Emma's arms. There was too much pain there. Whether or not Regina had changed at all was debatable but either way didn't stop Snow from seeing the woman who had stood over her, laughing while James lay bleeding, every time she looked at her.

"What was that thing?" Red asked, suddenly at Snow's elbow.

"A Wraith. Soul sucker." Regina's voice rasped as she spoke, her skin pallid, and Snow felt a cold shiver slither down her spine. Soul sucker? That's what it had wanted, what that strange light had been. Regina's soul.

"Did I-"

"Kill it? No. It'll recover and then it will be back. It will never stop until it gets its prey-Me."

"How do we kill it then?" Emma asked, watching the woman in her arms with soft green eyes. It made Snow's stomach turn in knots and it took all the willpower she could muster not to try and snatch her daughter away.

"You don't. You can't kill what's already dead."

"Then we have a problem."

"No, we don't." Snow looked around at Charming, her noble prince, always the calm center to her more fiery emotions, in shock. His jaw muscles were tense, angry, more livid than she could ever remember seeing him and she wondered what had finally made his infinite patience hit rock bottom. "Regina does."

"You want to let her die?" Snow asked, gaping at him.

"Why not?" There was a sheen to his eyes, not quite tears but close. "Then it goes away and we're safe. Our family could finally be safe."

He wasn't, in that moment, James the charming prince or even David the well intending coward, just a father. A father scared for his daughter and desperate enough to do the unthinkable to protect her.

Snow could sympathize.

"She's not dying." Emma's eyes were hard as she glared at her father, fingers still twined through Regina's, and under different circumstances it might have been adorable how alike they were. They had the same stubborn jaw, the same fierce, protective spirit. In another world she would have been her daddy's girl, but now it looked like they might just come to blows.

Snow chanced a glance at Regina, who was being strangely quiet while they discussed whether she should live or die, and found brown eyes staring back at her. The woman inclined her head, not putting voice to the question but Snow could imagine the words all the same, the familiar biting timbre; 'And what say you, dearest Snow? Would you have me die as well?'

It would be easy wouldn't it? They would be rid of the wraith and Regina all in one.

But one look at her daughter and Snow knew Emma would never forgive them if they stood by and allowed that to come to pass. And whatever her personal feelings on the subject were she couldn't lose her daughter. Not again.

"Charming, no. There has to be another way."

"There might be- I have one last trick that just might do it." Regina said, stronger now.

Snow gripped Jame's bicep, quelling the protests she knew were still raging within him. It hurt, to see the borderline betrayal etched on his face-and she didn't like the idea of going along with any plan of Regina's either- but in what choice did they have, really? "Let's have it then."

########

The mayor's office was dark, like much of the rest of the town, but Regina seemed to know exactly where she was going even without the benefit of light. She weaved gracefully around the furniture, zeroing in on a large, leathery hat box in the corner by her desk that Emma had noticed before but never really took note of. She had always assumed it was just more decoration. The mayor was one for excessive embellishment.

"What's that?" She asked as Regina settled the box atop her desk, scattering the papers and nick knacks that covered the wooden surface everywhere.

"A hat. A hatter's hat, to be precise."

"A hatter- Wait, wait, as in 'Mad as'? You telling me Alice in Wonderland is a part of this mess too?"

Regina lifted the lid, revealing a rather innocuous looking velvet top hat. She lifted it free with extreme care,smoothing her fingers across the brim. "I don't know anything about any 'Alice', but yes. Wonderland is another world, like the one we come from. One of many."

One of many. There was so much about that statement that Emma wasn't okay with but that could wait. "Okay. So how the hell is a hat supposed to help us?"

"It's going to open a portal. Back to our world. And we're going to push the wraith through it. If it still exists, there's no one left there for it to harm anyway. And if it doesn't... Well, that's banishing it to oblivion."

"You don't know?"

"The curse wasn't exactly explicit with those sort of details. Intentionally so I imagine, given who made it." Regina's shoulders lifted in a little shrug. "To be honest I didn't really care about what might happen to our world at the time. It was more a desperate, last straw sort of thing."

Some day they were going to have to talk about that. Emma still didn't know exactly what went down and Regina-Nor Snow, for that matter- hadn't been particularly forthcoming since that first confession, whispered in the dark. Someone had died. Everyone had been hurt. All was bad all around.

Emma pulled the hat from Regina's hands, tossing it on the desk in a way that made the brunette scowl darkly. The expression melted away as Emma kissed her, hard and fast and just a little bit needy.

"Don't die, okay?" Emma said when she finally pulled away, mustering up bravado she didn't particularly feel. Maybe third round of heroics was the charm? Or was it fourth? She'd lost track.

"That's never the plan, dear."

########

Regina had tried not to shudder with distaste when Charming arrived with his burning broomsticks, but she would have sworn his lips bore a mean little smirk all the same.

It was crude but effective, Snow and her Prince the first line of defense with their improvised torches, Emma, Regina and the hat the whole thing depended on surrounded by a wall of flame lit round the railing in the middle of the room (And when had Snow become such a fire bug?).

If she had been able to get the hat to work on the first go, it might have been enough to buy them all the time they needed. As it was, the wailing, unearthly creature was bearing down on them, bound to break through at any moment, and the hat only spun and flopped uselessly in her hands while she sat on her knees before it.

Emma was doing a weird sort of dance, torn between using her body as a human shield and trying to keep an eye on what Regina was doing. "Any time now would be good."

"I'm trying. Magic's different here."

She stared at the candle with all the intensity she could muster, making the wick the sole center of all her attention, but it steadfastly refused to burst in to flames.

"You'll never light it like that, dearie. It's not enough just to will it. Magic is feeling. It's emotion."

"What do you mean?"

"How did it feel, that first time? When you sent her away?"

Like rage. Sadness. Frustration. Like it was enough. She'd had enough and she just couldn't take it anymore. And there it was again, that rush, the warm glow. Magic. It was intoxicating, sweeter than kisses, more intense than lust, every vice she had ever indulged rolled into one and it pooled liquid hot in her belly. The candle suddenly flared to life.

"Ah, see? Remember that feeling, find where it lives inside you. That's magic."

But that feeling wasn't the right one anymore, not in this world. The magic Rumpel had brought here was formed from the essence of true love. But how the hell was she supposed to rewire her entire mode of thinking here, with a beast out for her soul breathing down her neck and the shouting and the smoke and the fear, all pressing in on her all at once? It was too much. "I can't- I can't, It's not working!"

And then Emma was there, her hand wrapped around Regina's arm firm and reassuring. "You can."

Purple smoke erupted from the hat and it began to spin, faster and faster. They both gasped, jumping back. 'Was that me or you?' Regina thought, glancing at Emma to see the blond staring back at her just as confused.

They scrambled to their feet, watching the portal grow wider and wider in the floor, and then the wraith had broken past James' and Snow's increasingly feeble defenses. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Emma pushed Regina to the side and she watched the creature be sucked into the spinning purple vortex, a long skeletal hand wrapping around the blonde's ankle as it went and pulling her in after it. It took only a fraction of a second, in which Regina realized she simply couldn't survive one more loss, a fraction of a second in which she was once again a scared young woman standing in a stable watching her lover's heart crushed before her eyes, to make the decision to plunge in after her.

########

The pain that lanced through Jame's chest as he landed on the once again solid floor was nothing compared to the pain that squeezed his heart as he realized that not only had he lost his daughter again but his wife as well, she having been quicker to the punch than he had. They'd slipped right through his fingers, along with that vile, evil woman they never should have been trying to protect in the first place. He slapped his fist against the floor, a wale of pain and rage ripping from his throat.

When he rolled to his side and freed the hat from beneath him he saw a hole had been punched straight through the top of it, the velvet crinkled and ruined.

"Mom?"

He looked up to see Henry, Granny and Red hot on the boy's heels, frozen in the entryway. "What happened? Where are they?" Then smaller, sounding his ten years for the first time since James had known him, "Grandpa, where are they?"

And James, the father who had never had a chance to be a dad, a grandfather but not really, didn't know what to tell him.