Will they be able to save Regina and defeat Nottingham?
He's being pulled, someone's grabbing him, commanding him to move, but he refuses to let go of her. He hears a sigh and then he's pulled magically away from her. He goes to protest as he makes his way back to her side, but he sees the magic flowing from her mother's hands and doesn't want to break her focus.
He kneels on the other side of Regina and grabs her hand, pale and cold. He feels it warm up as the magic flows through her body. She shakes, sputters and then takes a deep breath in as her eyes open, locking on his. Relief floods him and it's overwhelming, he's awash with so many different emotions that he can't even begin to process.
He brings his hand to cup her face, then leans down and presses a soft kiss to her lips. She smiles at him as he pulls away and it calms his raging mess of emotions into something much more tolerable. He's just so relieved she's okay that everything else falls to the wayside for a minute.
He kisses her again, needs to feel her, that physical proof that she is okay. She sighs happily as he kisses her.
Her mother coughs, and until this moment, he didn't realize a cough could sound so judgmental. Regina flushes and pulls away, but keeps her hand in his as she sits up.
Everyone was crowded around them, but as Regina sits up, they move back. Robin fights the urge to roll his eyes as some of the Merry Men rush to claim the available seating
Two women enter, who he thinks are Regina's sisters, and they take in the room, the redhead standing uncomfortably at the door as the one with the pixie cut comes over to Robin and Regina.
"Thank God you are okay, what happened?" Before Regina can answer she turns to Robin, "I'm Mary Margaret by the way, Regina's sister and that's our other sister Zelena sulking in the corner."
He figures he should introduce himself as well. "Robin, and these are my Merry Men."
Regina interrupts the introductions, her voice soft but strong as she asks, "What now?"
Mal is the one who answers, venomously. "Now we destroy those bastards for everything they've done."
Robin's conflicted. Because of Marion's death, he wants to burn them all alive, have them suffer the way that she did as punishment, but murdering all of them without giving them a chance to redeem themselves doesn't sit well with him, it's too cruel. He believes, with proper guidance, most of Nottingham's followers could adapt to his lifestyle.
"We have to give them a chance, an opportunity to find the right path, so many of them are new vampires created by Nottingham and have never been shown another path."
"You can't be serious, after all they've done, they deserve to pay for it."
"Nottingham yes, and the ones that have been with him from the start, but not the rest of them, they should be given a choice, join the Merry Men and adapt to our lifestyle or… suffer the consequences."
Cora sneers, "What happens when they slip up and attack the village? I guess you are expecting us to swoop in and save the day?"
He glares at her. "Well, that is your duty, the one you've been sorely neglecting, but no, we would take care of our own."
"Like you have been?"
He rolls his eyes, can't believe they are having this argument when what they should be doing is hatching a plan. "At least we've been trying to deal with Nottingham and weren't working with him."
That brings gasps from both of Regina's sisters who look at their mother in horror.
Cora exhales loudly and dismissively. "Regardless, it's safer just to kill them all."
Mal agrees. "Yes, that's the only solution."
It's Regina who speaks up then. "No, it's not, Robin's right, we need to give them a chance."
Cora grimaces. "How do you propose we do that?"
"A freezing spell, make it so they all can't move and then give them the options, those who don't join the Merry Men die."
It's chilling to hear her talk so callously about murder but he puts that aside and supports her plan, as do the rest of the Merry Men.
Cora doesn't like it. "No, I make the decisions here and I say we kill them all."
Regina is firm. "Actually you don't, and the majority likes my plan, so it's settled, now you can help, or you can stay here, under watch, so we know you don't tip off Rumple."
Cora is clearly scandalized by that implication, which Robin thinks is a bit much given that, less than two hours ago, she was working with Nottingham and Rumple, but he bites his tongue, not wanting to waste anymore time on petty fights.
"Well then," she scoffs. "I guess I'm coming with."
"Okay, glad that's settled, now we just need to find out where they are so we can activate the spell."
Cora's haughty. "I'd assume Nottingham's castle."
Regina sighs. "Yes, well, I'd prefer we know for sure before we rush over there."
Mal clears her throat, drawing attention to herself. "I think I can help with that."
He's the one who asks the question they are all thinking. "How?"
"When he was testing my power, Rumple set up a bond, so he could experience what it was like as a magical vampire. He possessed me, but what he didn't realize was that the bond goes both ways, and when I have my magic back, I could possess him, too, and that would also keep him from counteracting the spell."
"So how do we get your magic back?"
Regina smiles, "That I can help with. I've been saving some spell remover, from the last time we were experimenting with potions and Mary Margaret got put to sleep."
Mary Margaret mocks offence. "Hey, that wasn't funny, I was stuck under a sleeping curse for a whole week because of that."
Regina stifles a laugh and conjures a jar into her hand. She turns to Mal. "Shall we?"
Mal nods eagerly and then Regina stands up and dumps the potion over her head.
It works almost instantly, and Mal turns her skin from grey back to its pre-vampire colour. She smiles wickedly. "Alright, let the fun begin."
Her eyes roll back for just a second and then she returns. "Yeah, they are at Nottingham's castle, I tried to be quick, and I doubt he felt that, but we should move quickly, just in case."
Within minutes, they are all outside Nottingham's castle, awaiting the signal. They all nod when Mal asks if they are ready and then she does it. She doesn't move, her body eerily still as mother and daughters freeze the inhabitants and transport them all out to the field, without their weapons.
Robin makes his speech and tells them to blink three times if they are willing to join the Merry Men. Only three take them up on their offer, even knowing the alternative is death.
They leave Mal, Cora, and Zelena to deal with the rest of them, the Merry Men and Regina already having witnessed enough death for their tastes.
They return to the mansion and await the return of Cora, Mal, and Zelena. It takes them a while to return, and, when they return, Mal explains it was because of Cora. She had tried to save Rumple and Mal had had to stun her then cuff her, so she wouldn't interfere. She wanted to leave it on, as a punishment for Cora's crimes, but she leaves it to them to decide what to do with her.
In the end they decide a life without magic is a fitting punishment for her crimes. Robin's men return to camp but Robin stays at Regina's request.
She brings him to her room to her mother's horror and waits until Cora leaves them to apologize. "I'm sorry, Robin."
He's quick to reassure. "Regina, there's really no need, I know this is unconventional, but I'm willing to take the risk, I just need to know if you are, too, you don't have to decide right-"
He's cut off by her lips on his as she presses her body into his. She pulls away slightly, holding him close in her arms. "I want to, I want to be with you, I only said what I said because I knew my mother would kill you if she found out about us, and I didn't want you coming after me, but now she can't hurt you, and we can be together."
"Regina, I-" he doesn't have the words to express how happy he is but she smiles up at him.
"I know."
He pulls her in for another kiss, throws all of his feelings into it. She sighs breathily, and he wants more, but it's been a long day and, well, now they have all the time in the world. As they cuddle up in her bed to sleep, he can't help but marvel at just how lucky he is to have found her, amidst all the chaos. And how grateful he is that they can go to sleep with no threats hanging over their heads, and just enjoy each other's company.
"Robin," she asks quietly, testing if he's awake he thinks, which is he is, barely.
"Yes love," he mutters sleepily.
"What's going to happen to the children?"
He's been wondering the same thing, he knows what happens to orphans and can only imagine how much worse it would be those whose parents were witches. He doesn't want to break the peaceful mood, but he's honest. "Nothing good I'm sure."
He hears her breath catch and he waits for her to speak but she can't seem to find the words, so he tells her his concern. "The woman who was killed today, Marion, she has a young son, just a baby, I don't know what they've done with him but I'm going to find him, he deserves to grow up with people who knew and cared about his mother and who care about him."
She shuffles in his arms, turns toward him and he can just make out the outline of her face in the darkness. "I'm so sorry Robin. Do we know how many of them had children?"
"I'm not sure, Marion of course, and I think the girl before her as well, I can't quite remember her name, Eliz- no, um Emily maybe-"
"Emma?" she asks quietly and yes that's it.
"Yes, Emma."
As he answers she chokes back a sob and feels he like an idiot for being so callous about it. It's a coping mechanism to deal with the horror that was the witch trials, but it's unfair to the real people that suffered.
Regina speaks softly, her voice cracking with emotion.
"Emma, and she did have a son, Henry and I'm worried about him. She uh worked at the brothel and I used to visit sometimes, not for the services, but to give them money, make sure their children had everything they needed. They know what I am and accept me, and sometimes they would call for me as a healer. That's actually how I met Emma and Henry, she was so young and they were both so sick, tuberculosis. She begged me to save him, that it didn't what matter what happened to her as long as he was okay and made me promised to heal him first."
She takes a shuddery breath and he runs his hand down her back in a way he hopes is comforting as she continues. "When this all started she made me promise if anything happened to her that I would take care of Henry, but I didn't know what had happened to her, until today and I don't know where he is or if he's okay and I've failed her."
She chokes back another sob and he soothes with an "I'm sure he's alright, and wherever he is he's sleeping we will go find him, him and Roland in the morning."
"What if we are too late?"
"I'm sure they are fine love, and even if we found them now we would need to wait until morning to explain everything, they might already have people caring for them they like and we can't just steal them away."
It seems he's won her over because she yawns and asks, "We'll go first thing in the morning though?"
"Yes, of course."
It turns out there were three orphaned children as a result of the witch trials. Three children now outcasts, that the villagers are trying to determine what to do with. The two boys and girl, Roland, who is not even a year yet, Henry, who only just turned four, and teenage girl, Lily. They bring the kids to the witches estate, and Henry never leaves Regina's side.
She's able to comfort him, in a way no one else can and in the weeks that follow they become thick as thieves, as do Mal and Lily. Robin wants to stay close to Roland, but also Regina, and so the Merry Men move their camp onto the Mills family property, enjoying the magical protection it offers.
Robin has a soft spot for young Roland, he vows to protect him with all he has and to ensure he grows up happy and loved as Marion would have wanted. After a month, Mal leaves and returns to watch over her district, and it surprises no one when Lily opts to join her. Mal makes fun of Regina's tearful goodbye, reminding her that with magic she can visit anytime.
That night, as he lays in Regina's bed, Roland sleeping soundly in the next room, she surprises him.
"You should stay here."
He's not sure what she means, he wasn't planning on leaving her and going back out to his tent, not when Roland's settled in the castle.
"I'm not going anywhere, love."
"No, I mean you stay here, for good, make this your home, not the woods."
He's basically been living her anyway, can't remember the last time he slept in his tent, has used Roland as an excuse to stay inside and thus with Regina. She looks nervous, must think he's going to say no, which is ridiculous, because the answer is so obvious.
"I'd love to."
Thanks everyone for reading I hope you enjoyed this supernatural journey. If you want to chat or complain or about my flair for dramatic cliffhangers I'm on twitter as BabyLawyerOQ. I love hearing what you think of the story =)
