Chapter 6

'Rumpelstiltskin, what have you done with Cruella and Ursula?'

The Dark One turned from the table he was stood at as Maleficent burst into the cabin. Her blonde hair, usually so neat, was dishevelled, half of it having fallen out of the style she had so carefully sculpted the night before. She'd lost her hat. Her tie was hanging out of her skirt, and her jacket was thrown carelessly over her arm. He couldn't help but smirk at her, only to be met with a fierce scowl.

'Good morning to you too, Maleficent. I've done nothing with them. It turns out when you threaten a woman out of her own diner, steal her liquor and then torch the place, she's a lot less likely to let you stay in her bed and breakfast.' He raised an eyebrow as the Dragon frowned angrily. 'She threw your associates out this morning, they showed up here looking about as good as you do right now.'

'I do not need that from you right now.' She was about to sit down when Rumple held something out to her. She approached cautiously, taking the silver packet in his hand hesitantly.

'You don't need to look so wary, it's not poison.'

'Not this time?'

A small smile crossed his face at that. 'Not this time, no. It'll help with your headache. It's aspirin. Just think of it as…the closest this World has to magic. Our allies have already helped themselves, Cruella took about five, I think. But, I'd just stick to two if I were you.'

That was enough to convince her. She swallowed a couple, grimacing at the bitter taste on her tongue. Maleficent then finally let herself sit down, appreciating the cushioned feel against her body that had spent most of the morning on Regina's crypt floor. She closed her eyes for a few moments, opening them again only when she became aware of Rumple's eyes boring into her.

'Can I assume plans are still on track?' He asked, taking the seat opposite her, ignoring her obviously painful hangover in his questioning.

'Of course. Tonight will still be going ahead.'

'And Regina?'

'Regina is sorted.' At the memory of the night before, she couldn't help but smirk. Magic wasn't the only thing Regina was good at. 'She's entirely on side.'

'Are you certain? I will not our plans ruined because you let yourself be blindsided by the Evil Queen again.'

'I'm completely certain. She's good, but she's not that good.'

'If she betrays us, Maleficent, it will be on your head. Don't start thinking you're irreplaceable in this plan. There are a whole number of villains who would be more than willing to help me to get their happy endings.'

'If that was a threat, it was as pathetic as you are right now, Rumpelstiltskin. You know you need me, or you wouldn't have gone through so much effort to bring me back.' She stood up, clearly having lost interest in the man sat before her. 'You needn't disturb the octopus and her guard dog, I won't need them tonight. I'll take Regina.'

'Maleficent…'

'Oh, you needn't worry.' She reached the door and turned around, her red lips curled. 'Her Majesty has never been able to resist the Dragon.'

'I'm getting too old to be doing this on a hangover,' Ursula moaned, as her lover sat straddled naked on her hips, panting lightly still from her recent climax. After a moment or so, she smiled wickedly and lay down next to the Sea Witch. Ursula couldn't help but roll her eyes as Cruella sat up and reached over to the bedside table for a cigarette. 'Do you have to, Cru? They stink.'

'And you smell permanently of fish, so we're about even there.' She raised an eyebrow as if to challenge the Sea Witch to stop her. When she didn't move, Cruella lit it anyway.

'I'm not the only one smelling of fish right now,' Ursula scoffed and watched as Cruella practically choked on green smoke in her shock.

'So crude, darling,' she said it disapprovingly, but the glitter in her pale eyes as she looked down at her fellow villain gave away her amusement. 'Where were you this morning? I woke up and you weren't here. I was worried you'd decided to have that night with Mal, anyway.'

'She has Regina back; notice even that we're not helping kidnap that puppet later.'

'In Mal's defence, kidnap has never been our strongest suit. You do tend to get rather a bit excited with your tentacles, usually.'

'That is if you don't have a gun pointed in their face.' Ursula sat up slowly, and reached for the glass of water on her own bedside table. 'And no, I couldn't sleep here after that hag threw us out this morning so I took a walk. Thought it might clear my head. It's nicer around here than it is in the town, less heroes around to glare at you. Less chance of running into that slimy pirate. More thinking space.'

'That all sounds absolutely ghastly. I'm presuming I'll be ruining all of my heels in these woods?'

'Not as absolutely ghastly as all those hookers your ex-husband slept with,' she said quietly, feigning innocence, and she took a long sip of water, aware of Cruella staring at her.

'You've been waiting to say that, haven't you? I should not have told you. I hadn't told anyone that.' Her face was a combination of embarrassment and anger, with the sad glint of betrayal that passed quickly through her eyes. She regained herself though. 'And he's still my husband, darling. I think I've missed my chance at divorce. Just got to hope prison kills him now.'

'I'm surprised you didn't do that yourself. If not on purpose, then just by your dreadful cooking.' She shrugged, before softening slightly. 'Besides, I'm not judging anyone but him in this situation.'

'Well, I'd rather this didn't get back to anyone else…'

'Oh, because you don't want to ruin the illusion of your perfect marriage? I'm pretty sure you don't need to concern yourself with that, really.'

'Urs…'

'You secret's safe with me, Cru. We can add it to the list of things we're already keeping from our associates.'

'Do you think she guessed?' Cruella stubbed out her cigarette on the bedside table, and lay back down. She rolled over to nestle into the Sea Witch, who reluctantly lifted an arm to wrap around her.

'Who?'

'Mal, of course, darling. Do you think she realised we were lying about her little brat?'

'Do I think Maleficent, our friend and ally, realised that we didn't in fact lose her daughter, but actually left her to die in some woods somewhere in America because we couldn't be bothered to raise her?' Ursula asked, to be met with an unimpressed look from her lover. 'No. I don't. I somehow doubt we'd still be alive if she had guessed.'

'Oh, thank goodness. We just have to keep it up now, darling.'

'Unless Rumple tells her. Or the Author.' Ursula paused for a second, building herself up for what she needed to say. 'Speaking of the Author, Cru, why have you lied to me?'

She felt Cruella stiffen against her. The socialite sat up quickly, pretend confusion on her face. Any doubts Ursula had were gone. 'I'm sorry, what?'

'Don't insult me. You've been lying to me about your happy ending.'

Cruella could feel her heart thumping in her chest, echoing in her ears. She'd been so sure no-one would find out. 'Darling…'

'Don't "darling" me, Cruella. Not now.' The Sea Witch could feel herself become only more irritated at every attempt by the other woman to avoid answering her questions, and she could feel her voice getting louder. 'I told you all about my happy ending when we were in the Enchanted Forest. You always kept yours from me. Then, when we were banished here, when you left me, you said it was wealth. You wanted diamonds, and furs, and cars. You said you wanted everything you never got as a child, or some shit. And I accepted that. More than that, it was what got me through being on my own. I thought, if you could find your happy ending in this realm, then maybe mine wouldn't be denied to me too.' Flashbacks of New York threatened to flood her mind, and the tears she knew would accompany them. Ursula blinked them back, but she couldn't stop her anger. 'And then last night, I heard Regina ask you about your ending. And you told her you wanted reconciliation with your mother? Did you happy ending change while in this World? Was wealth not everything you thought it would be? Or did you just think you could lie to me?'

Cruella felt her heart rate slow down as Ursula spoke. She clearly knew nothing about the Author, or about her past. She'd have almost breathed a sigh of relief, if the look on Ursula's face, the look of betrayal and broken trust, hadn't made her feel like choking. 'Darling, there's a perfectly simple explanation for this, see…' She'd have lied again, had it been to anyone but her. 'I've been lying to you both.'

'What?'

'If you want me to be honest, I'll be honest with you; you don't need to look so flabbergasted. You couldn't possibly believe I'd ever want a reunion with mother, surely? And wealth is wonderful, but the road to it hasn't never quite been to my liking.' As she spoke, she lit another cigarette and climbed off the bed to fetch her fur. She wrapped her coat around her naked body, stroking it absentmindedly with her spare hand. 'No, darling, see like you, I had something taken from me. Something very important. And I want it back.'

'Why lie about that?'

'I can't have anyone find out. Not Mal, certainly not the imp.'

'Well, don't hold back on me, now, Cru. What is it?'

'It was the Author. The Author made me who I am today, fur coat and all.' She sat back down on the bed, a half-smile on her face in memory. 'You say I've never told you anything, darling? Let me tell you now, then. I met the Author when I was a girl. I lived in an entirely different realm then, we didn't have magic, or heroes. And I was almost ordinary. I read books, I loved dancing. The music was wonderful there. I was blonde and young, practically dainty.' She had her eyes closed as she spoke, as if she was imagining herself back there, the jazz playing softly in her head. 'Mother never really understood me. She had me locked in the attic most days. When I was allowed out, she had her dogs follow me, just to remind me I wasn't quite free. And then the Author showed up. He got me out, took me dancing, introduced me truly to life. You know, I hadn't even had gin until I met him. He told me he'd help me escape mother. Even gave me magic so I wouldn't have to fear the dogs.' Her voice suddenly turned cold, her eyes open. 'And then he found out the truth, and he took the only thing I really loved.'

'What?' Ursula was sat forward, unable to take her eyes off of her fur-clad lover. 'What truth? You said you were pretty much ordinary?'

'Oh, I was far from ordinary. I thought I was, when I was a child. But my parents were always concerned. I saw them from the corner of my eye some nights, staring at me like a dog they couldn't train, a beast that needed putting out of its misery. I hated it. I hated them.' She broke out into a smile. 'So I killed my father.'

'Cru?'

She looked over at Ursula, a look of pure joy on her face. 'Oh, and it was wonderful, darling. I finally felt I had found myself. Who I really was. The power that I had, the control I could have on other people. It was truly marvellous. Mother realised, of course, that his death had not just been a heart attack. She tried to keep me from everyone. It didn't stop me though. I knew I'd found something that I loved, and I was not prepared to give that up. I killed both my step-fathers too. And then when the Author got me out of the house, I knew that was my chance to really pursue what I loved. But mother warned him.' The smile had gone from her face now, her eyes dark. 'Mother told him everything, and he thought it was his duty to stop me. He took what I loved, just as Hook took what you loved.'

'Hook took the only thing I had left of my mother.' Ursula frowned, her head still trying to understand entirely everything her companion had just confessed. 'And the Author took, what? Your ability to kill people? Are you going to try and pretend that mattered to you because of your mother now?'

'Good Lord, no, darling. Though I must admit the memory of her face when I had her own dogs turn on her is one that I have truly cherished.'

'Maleficent lost her daughter. Rumple lost his beloved maid-servant. I lost my voice. These are happy endings. You lost murder, and want me to think that's anywhere near the same league?' She wasn't quite sure where the aggression in her voice was coming from. Maybe it was shock. Or fear. She'd never known this Cruella before.

'Oh please, darling, don't pretend you're a hero. You're a villain, you've shed far more blood than I ever have.'

'I didn't enjoy it.' The Sea-Witch moved away from her lover, standing up on the opposite side of the bed.

'I can't pretend I don't.' Cruella followed suit, standing up, pulling her furs tighter around her so only her bare legs were visible. 'Some of us are born innocents, and made into monsters. And some of us feel the pull of darkness from birth. So I gave in. I accepted it. And I enjoyed it. I had fun. So I want that back? That can't surely bother you?' Ursula didn't respond, merely looking blankly at the other woman, unable to decide on anything to say that would truly express what she felt. She turned around instead, sitting back on the bed as she began to redress herself. Cruella's eyes widened as she watched the Sea Witch turn her back on her, and she felt a rising panic. 'Darling, I don't understand why you're so angry. Or upset. Or whatever it is you're feeling. You asked for the truth. I gave you it. And you know how it feels to have something taken from you. To be unable to do something. It's like being trapped. Like wearing a leash. It's ghastly. Can you honestly blame me for wanting it off? For wanting to be free again? Speak to me, darling, you can't be truly angry, surely? We're villains, after all?'

'I know how it feels to lose something that I love. Truly love. To have it stolen from you by a bastard so desperate for petty revenge he'll hurt anyone in his way. That's what I know.' She was redressed now, her voice and eyes cold as she turned around to look at Cruella. 'But don't you dare think that you can ever understand that. We are not the same here. I lost the only thing I had left of my mother. You ordered dogs to rip your mother into pieces. How can we ever be the same?'

'Ursula darling…' She walked around the bed to meet her, but the Sea Witch stepped away, grabbing her jacket from the chair where she'd thrown it that morning.

'Tell Mal if she comes back that I'll be here when she needs me.' She turned and headed for the door, pulling the leather coat around her tightly as if it offered some sort of protection.

'Urs. Please. Don't.'

The pleading in Cruella's voice made her turn around momentarily, meeting her tear filled eyes with an icy stare, and she slammed the door behind her.