Meanwhile, Snow was busy playing out in the woods when suddenly…an ominous shadow loomed over her. Snow stiffened, sensing danger. She slowly turned around to see…Rumplestiltskin, or 'Rumple-R', if you were going by his street name.
Rumple-R did not look happy. Immediately, Snow was nervous. Rumple-R was known as an underground magic dealer, and he'd given Snow a couple of potions recently. But all magic came with a price – and Snow still hadn't paid up. She'd promised him her first born child. And she wasn't even pregnant yet!
Tense silence lingered between them as Rumple-R approached. "Hey Snow."
Snow nodded. "Rumple-R. I've been looking for you." she lied, forcing a smile.
Rumple-R did not look impressed. "Yeah, sure you have. Do you have my baby?" he asked, getting straight down to business. He'd waited long enough, had given her enough chances.
"…Yeah, it's coming." Snow lied again. "It'll be here in a few minutes."
Rumple-R clenched his jaw. He was so done with Snow's bullshit. "What do you mean, 'it's coming', Snow?" he growled, getting all up in Snow's grill. "Where's…my baby?"
Snow tried hard not to show her ever-rising fear. "O-okay. Just give me five minutes…"
Rumple-R crossed his arms angrily.
"Just give me five!" Snow insisted.
"Five minutes?" Rumple-R repeated, his rage beginning to boil to the surface. "You want five fucking minutes, Snow? You know what, I haven't got FIVE FUCKING MINUTES!" Suddenly he grabbed her, conjuring a crossbow in one hand and pointing it to her head.
Snow screamed and whimpered as Rumple-R leaned in to whisper. "I'm going to ask you again, Snow. Where's my baby?"
"I don't have a baby!"
"Where's my baby, Snow? WHERE'S MY FUCKING BABY, SNOW?! DID YOU LOSE MY FUCKING BABY?!"
"I swear to god, it's coming!" Snow sobbed.
"WHERE'S MY FUCKING BABY?!"
"Put the crossbow down!" she pleaded.
It was at that moment, conveniently, that Leopold and Sidney stumbled upon the scene. They'd decided to take a walk in the woods that day because they were best friends. They had been attracted by all the commotion.
As soon as he realized what was going on, Leopold charged at Rumple-R with Sidney close on his heels. Together, they wrestled Rumple-R away from Snow. Sidney wrenched the crossbow from his hands as the struggle continued.
Suddenly, Regina and Cora were there. "WHAT'S GOING ON SOMEBODY HELP!" Regina screamed.
Still working together, Leopold and Sidney began dragging Rumple-R out of the woods. "Let's take him to the police!" Leopold suggested.
"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD." Rumple-R threatened as he was dragged off.
Regina and Cora, meanwhile, ran over to Snow. "Snow! Are you okay?" Regina asked frantically, grabbing her shoulders. "What did that man want from you?"
"Nothing." Snow choked.
"Oh, that was not 'nothing'!" Cora snarled.
Regina, inexplicably, was sobbing hysterically by this point. "Tell me everything!"
Cora just continued to make it worse. "You have no idea what kind of trouble you're in here, do you?" she snapped.
Snow took a shaky breath. "I owe him my firstborn child."
"What kind of child?" Regina gasped.
"I owe him a baby!"
"What kind of baby?!"
"Everything is okay, he's gone!" Snow was about to snap under all the pressure.
"Everything is not okay! Snow, that is a dangerous man!" Cora told her.
Snow scowled. "Calm down, he's going to jail!"
Regina, however, was still hung up on the baby. "Snow, what kind of baby? Just tell me!" Was it a baby human, or a baby goat? A baby dragon or a baby armadillo? There were so many options!
"What do you need a baby for?" Cora scoffed. She'd never thought much of being a mother.
Regina rounded on her. "Mom, please, Snow is with me and Leopold!"
"A man like that, with a crossbow! My god!" Cora was appalled.
Regina ignored her now. "Snow, look at me in the eyes and tell me the truth." she pleaded. "We're your friends."
Snow gulped, gathering her courage to admit what she'd done. "I bought some magic off of him." She confessed. Everyone gasped. "Things got mixed up, I didn't mean for this to happen!"
"Snow!" Regina sobbed.
"But I don't have it anymore!" Snow reassured her.
"What kind of magic, Snow?!" Regina asked now.
"It doesn't matter, I don't have it anymore!" Snow insisted.
Cora puffed herself up. "It doesn't matter? How in the hell did you get involved with magic? What were you, giving it to him? Selling it to him? Where in the hell did you meet that man?"
"WHAT KIND OF MAGIC DID YOU USE?!" Regina had finally snapped.
Snow stepped back. "It's nothing like that!"
Her words did nothing to calm Regina's panic. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" she screamed.
"I just needed some magic to do some stuff!"
"How many babies do you have to give him?" Regina demanded.
"This is not the way you get magic!" Cora sniffed.
"HOW MANY?!" Regina screamed again.
Now Snow was crying too. "Stop ganging up on me!" she howled miserably.
Cora sneered viciously. "Well it is time someone ganged up on you, for God's sake! A man like that! Where in the hell did you meet a man like that?" She asked for what was probably the thousandth time. Regina continued to bawl.
"It doesn't matter!" Snow wished they would just mind their own fucking business!
"It matters a great deal!" Cora shot back. "A man holds a crossbow on you, you almost got killed, and you expect me to forget that?"
"You're not my fucking mother!" Snow wailed.
"You listen to me, little girl…" Cora snarled, using her own magic to make Snow levitate in the air.
"No!" Regina shook Cora violently, causing Snow to drop rather painfully back down to the ground. Regina ran over and hugged Snow while they both cried, and Cora continued to harp on in the background.
"Somebody had better do something around here!"
At that moment, Leopold ran back in and joined the group hug. "Are you okay, Snow?"
"I'm okay."
"Are you okay?" Leopold asked again.
Snow blinked. "I'm okay!" she repeated.
Cora scoffed, not even noticing that Sidney was suddenly behind her. "What's okay? She's using magic!"
"Come on, stop! It was a mistake." Sidney huffed.
"A mistake? That she used magic?" Cora snorted.
"Let's go home." Leopold sighed.
"Come on, it's clear!" Sidney insisted, resting a hand on Cora's shoulder.
Intent on causing as much drama as she could at this point, Cora shrugged him off. "What's clear? I am going to call the police!" she threatened.
Regina rounded on her again. "Mom, stop! It was Snow's mistake! Just stop!"
"Aw." Cora scoffed as Sidney finally succeeded in leading her away, leaving only Leopold, Snow, and Regina in the woods together.
Leopold frowned at Snow. "Why did you do this? You know better, right? Why?" he demanded.
"I'm sorry!" Snow whined.
"You know better, Snow. You almost got killed." Leopold pointed out unnecessarily, wrapping an arm around his daughter.
Snow sniffled. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I promise."
"Snow, you know that Leopold's like your father." Regina stated randomly. Snow looked over at her, blinking in confusion, while Leopold just sort of closed his eyes sorrowfully as Regina continued, "And we're your friends. We're going to help you."
"Let's go home." Leopold sighed, and all three of them returned to the castle.