Regina rubbed her temples in frustration. Not only had she not been sleeping (thanks both due to the late hours she pulled, researching ways to hold Zelena off and the nightmares that plagued her sleep) but now she had to deal with the daughter of an enemy.

Emma Swan, daughter of Snow White, stood stubbornly in front of her. She was caked in mud and sweat, leaves clinging to her hair and clothes. Regina wrinkled her nose in distaste, both at Emma's appearance and the situation in general. Emma's arrival had forced her to revisit her grudge with Snow White, or as Regina privately called her, the White Demon.

"You have a what?"

"Flying monkey."

"Right. And how did you come to possess one?"

Emma sighed in annoyance, an act that made Regina more irate.

"I already explained this to you." She huffed.

Regina glared at her.

"I'm aware. I just don't believe you."

Emma threw her hands up in defeat.

"This isn't a trick, Regina. I want to help you, to help this town."

She took a deep breath and continued.

"I know you and my mother aren't, well, on the best of terms-"

"And yet here you are."

It was Emma's turn to glare.

"I want to help."

Regina regarded her, noting her defensive posture. Why was she so adamant to help? "Why?"

The blonde faltered for a second.

"I, well…you see-"

Suddenly the truth dawned upon Regina, and she rose furiously from her seat, her sudden movement startling Emma.

"You." She accused, her nostrils flaring angrily. "You're the reason Rumplestilskin left."

Emma's guilty expression confirmed it.

Regina should have been furious. She should have thrown this girl out, sent her back with warnings for Snow. Yet still, she had more questions. Rumplestilskin wouldn't have left if he wasn't planning something. He was definitely up to something, but Regina couldn't tell what it was. She eyed the blonde in front of her. What was that old saying? The enemy of my enemy was my friend? Right now, Zelena was more of an issue than her feud with Snow, much as she hated to admit it. Perhaps this girl could be useful.

"Well, where is it?"


Emma eyed the caged monkey apprehensively. Moments ago it had been awake, shrieking horrendously, throwing itself at the bars of the cage. It had caused such an awful din that Emma raised her sword to knock it out once more, only to be pre-empted by a lazy wave of Regina's hand. The creature fell silent and slumped against the bars.

"That should buy us a few more hours." She remarked coolly. "Though I wouldn't mind if it stayed like that."

They had been in the vaults of the town hall for hours, pouring over ancient texts for any answers to the question of how to communicate with the winged beast. Emma had to confess that Regina had been doing most of the work; the strange texts that filled the books were not one Emma was familiar with. Finally they had discovered that the creature once had another form, mostly likely human. Regina had called a colleague of hers (by the way she dismissively addressed the other woman, it was clear to Emma that Regina did not regard her as a friend) named Blue to help them, a name Emma assumed was a nickname, although given Regina's nonsensical demeanor, perhaps it was her real name.

Blue was a kindly-looking petite lady, with neat clothes and sensible shoes. She listened patiently as Regina rushed through the events of what had happened, and then had summoned a bevy of ladies who looked just like her. They swarmed the room, efficiently setting up test tubes, beakers, and flasks. They produced a number of suspicious looking vials and then conferred together about the best way to approach the situation. Regina nudged Emma with her elbow.

"We'll leave the ladies to do their work."

With that, she headed out of the room. Emma reluctantly followed, throwing once last glance over her shoulder as she left the room, only to see one brave woman carefully inserting a tweezer into the cage to pluck a hair from the monkey as the other women watched nervously. Emma couldn't help but chuckle.

When Emma finally returned to the main hall, she found Regina waiting for her. Both women stood in front of each other for a while, neither one sure of what to say. However, before either one could utter a single word, Liam burst into the room, sprinting towards Regina.

"Regina!" he wheezed as he skidded to a halt in front of her, trying to catch his breath. In his haste, he hadn't noticed Emma, and she was grateful for that.

"Killian…Zelena's taken him" he managed to get out.

Emma's stomach dropped and her blood ran cold. Zelena had taken Killian? Why? Was he alright?

"What?" she demanded, stepping forward towards Liam, begging for clarity.

He blinked rapidly at her, clearly taken aback by her presence.

"Swan?" he asked. "You're back?"

Emma felt her face flush with embarrassment. It was now clear to her that Killian had not mentioned their recent brief discussion. She nodded quickly, hoping to turn the conversation back to Killian.

Liam shot her an unfathomable look, making Emma squirm for a minute, and then took a deep breath.

"He was taking a long time gathering supplies from our ship, so I went to help him. That's when I saw them. They were standing aboard the ship talking for a bit, and then she grabbed him and vanished in a puff of smoke."

Regina looked furious.

"How did she get past my spell?" she asked angrily.

Liam shook his head.

"I don't know. It's clearly still up though, Grumpy saw it deflect one of her flying cronies an hour ago."

Regina fell silent, her eyebrows knotted together and wrinkles of concentration appeared on her brow.

Liam surged on. "She did leave this behind." He produced a necklace from his pocket and Emma gasped.

"That's mine!" she exclaimed. "I thought I lost it!"

Liam looked at her again, that same unfathomable look in his eye.

"Killian had been wearing this for weeks."

Emma felt her face flush once more, but the reason behind this blush was completely different.

Regina reached out and took the necklace. She held it up, inspecting it carefully.

"This has traces of magic on it."

She glanced at Emma, who was startled. Before Emma could respond though, Liam cut in.

"It's probably residue from one of Zelena's spells."

Regina continued to look at Emma thoughtfully.

"No," she said slowly, "this seems to be a protection spell."

Liam's eyes drifted to Emma, who stared back at both of them with an expression of shock.

"What, did you think I did that?" she scoffed.

"Perhaps not on purpose." Countered Regina, and to that, Emma had no response.

"I don't have any magic." Emma protested weakly, but both Liam and Regina looked at her skeptically.

"I-" Emma faltered under their scrutiny, and was grateful when Blue entered the room just then to gleefully announce that they had made an antidote to reverse Zelena's magic. They all hurried down to the vault just in time to see one of the other women administering a dose into the monkey. The minute she removed the needle, the creature stiffened and then began to twitch. They all watched in horrified fascination as the monkey flailed and morphed into a human form.


The form lay at the bottom of the cage for a few minutes, before stirring and letting out a deep groan. It was a young man, a few years older than Emma, with short brown hair. He shakily rose to his feet, and moved his lips as if he were attempting to talk. He cleared his throat, and huskily requested some water. A young woman stepped forward with a glass, and the man gulped it down. Regina strode forward and unlocked the cage, gesturing to the man to come out. He moved slowly, as if he was not sure of his legs. After a short distance, he collapsed into a chair.

Regina moved quickly to his side, towering over him. Emma realized that she was going to interrogate him, and rushed to join her. Regina was surprisingly gentle, her manner less brusque that Emma expected it to be. She managed to find out that his name was Baelfire, and that he had been travelling through Oz when Zelena had turned him into a flying monkey that would do her every bidding. The way that he spoke about Zelena and his treatment told Emma that he was likely to be on their side.

Regina leaned in closer.

"What can you tell me about her camp?"

He paused, reaching for his glass of water that had been refilled and took a long sip. He placed it down and wiped his lips with the back of his palm. Without blinking, he shrugged. Emma could feel the annoyance roll of Regina and waves, and she couldn't blame her. Here they were, wasting time that Emma could have used to save Killian. What was more frustrating was Baelfire's apparent refusal to help them. Emma squared her shoulders and nudged Regina of the way with her hips. Ignoring Regina's glare, Emma focused her energy on the man in front of her, and clenched her fists tight in order to keep her rage from bubbling over.

"I know you know, Baelfire. I'm not sure why you don't want to help us. Maybe you think we can't defeat her, but I assure you, I will use every fibre of my being to defeat that evil woman. So what do you know about her camp? What can you tell us?"

The lights flickered for a minute in the room, and everyone glanced nervously upwards. All except Regina, who continued to stare at Emma with a look of angry curiosity, and Baelfire, who appeared to be considering Emma's words.

He looked her up and down carefully, taking her in and assessing her. Emma stared back defiantly. Finally his eyes met hers, and he smirked up at her.

"Anything you want. How to get in. What her weakness is."

Emma inhaled sharply, her eyes aglow with excitement.

"Tell me everything."