A/N: Thank you, Gwenhyfer, for your review and to everyone who has followed and favorited.

To answer your question, yes, Eros has struck Emma with his arrow. Fortunately, Emma is suspicious of romantic love in general and Hook in particular, so she's fighting it. We'll see how that goes in upcoming chapters.

Endgame

Chapter 10: Interrogation

~ Catspook

"Tell me about the Author," Regina demanded.

"A little late for that," Isaac said. "I would have been happy to tell you before if-"

She grabbed him by the throat. She'd been all over the Sorcerer's mansion, and through all her own books as well. With Henry gone, Rumple's home and shop were inaccessible, but Robin had noticed that Henry had the Book and Quill with him and speculated his new role was the reason for his disappearance. And, fortunately, she had a source that could tell her everything she needed to know about that new role. "Listen, you sniveling coward," she hissed. "You know exactly what happens to people who get between me and what I want. There is no Savior here, and you've thoroughly pissed off anyone else who might have wanted to take your side. You're mortal now, and completely at my mercy." She dropped him into the chair. "Talk."

"You can't kill me," he croaked, "The 'heroes' would never forgive you."

She leaned over him, sneering, "I don't have to. You share a prison with several very dangerous people, all of whom would sell you out for a busted radio. Just how long do you think you'll last if I offer them time off their sentences for information about the Author?"

He's been confident before; immortality could do that to a person. And losing it could make them a lot more… vulnerable. He swallowed hard, which made him cough. She watched emotionlessly as he rubbed his throat. She kept that expression on her face as he caught his breath and said, "I want to make a deal."

"The deal is that we continue to protect you from Cruella, Malcolm, and my sister. I'm done playing your games."

"Then move me to a different prison; they've been threatening me!"

She almost said, "no", then had a better idea. If he wanted safety, he could have it - in the cell in the mines. "Lie to me, or hold anything back, and the deal is off," she warned.

"Why would I? Merlin played me too!"

"Then it's a deal. Talk. How do the Author's powers work?"

"OK, so it's like this…"

When they arrived in DunBroch, the sun had begun to descend. Tink shaded her eyes, looking for smoke that would indicate villages. "There," Granny said pointing with her crossbow, "And there."

Maleficent reached into her pocket and presented Tink and Nova with shards of mirror. "You know how to speak through a mirror?" she asked.

"I do," Tink said.

"I… kind of do," Nova admitted.

"Well, if it doesn't work, you can always call on the Dark One. This one is a great deal friendlier than the last," Maleficent said with a smile.

Tink snickered. "You're telling me." It didn't bother her that August and Maleficent had clearly had fun the night before. That was simply August, and she was glad he'd been able to hold onto himself. She knew what the curse of the Dark One could do to a person. I wonder what it does to his stamina? And she liked Maleficent too. The night they had worked on the carpets, she'd noticed Tink using her old wand. She'd said she was glad someone was getting some use out of it, and congratulated her on leaving Blue. Yes, her hands weren't the cleanest, but Regina's and Rumplestiltskin's weren't either. Tink was beyond caring about the past.

"Eh, Gold's mellowed a lot," Leroy said. "He didn't even kill me when I punched him."

"You punched him?" Maleficent asked, disbelieving. Tink raised an eyebrow.

"Right in the face," Leroy said with a grin.

"You had to," Nova protested. "Baelfire was about the cross the town line, and we know what would have happened then."

"I think I need to hear the rest of this story," Tink said, "But not now. Let's get that tear. I'll go west. Nova, you've got east?" She nodded. "And Maleficent, you want to try further up the coast?"

"Very well." She transformed herself, not into a dragon this time, but a raven.

I've got to learn how to do that. She'd thought about it, but adjusting to the twenty-fist century had been enough of a job, especially with Zelena and then Ingrid and the Author. For now, the carpet would do. She rolled it out, and Granny climbed on behind her. They took off, and she was glad it was spring here instead of the winter back in Storybrooke. She lowered her head and tried to listen.

What is your wish?

She heard nothing at first. Then a garbled sort of whisper reached her. It wasn't like a usual wish, but this person clearly needed help…. lonely… want free… Maybe it wasn't the wish they needed, but Tink's instincts told her to follow it. It led her to a home steeped in magic. Granny shouted above the wind, "What do you…" she grabbed Tink's arm… "Ruby! My Ruby's in there!"

"Ruby?"

"I can smell her! She needs help!"

The place was so flooded with magic Tink couldn't tell if a werewolf was present or not, but Granny's nose had never steered them wrong. Tink drew her wand. "Do you smell anyone else?"

Granny sniffed. "No. There's a witch that lives here, but she left a couple of hours ago by the smell of it."

"Then let's go." Sensing no barrier, she brought the carpet into a steep dive, halting just next to the door. She stepped off and tried to make sense of the tangle of magic, searching for booby traps or alarm spells. She sensed nothing and so took the risk of reaching for the door. She opened it carefully. Nothing happened.

Crossbow drawn but pointed at the ceiling, Granny stepped inside. "Ruby? Ruby, we're here."

Tink heard a low growl from the corner. She raised her wand, lighting the space. Ruby, in her wolf form, was backed against the wall, hackles raised, teeth bared. "Ruby, don't you know me?" Granny asked.

"I think she's enchanted," Tink said. "Get behind me."

"Can you break it?"

"If I can't, we'll call on Maleficent - she is a master of shape shifting magic."

Ruby didn't give them the chance. She charged, and Tink summoned a hasty barrier. It sparked as Ruby bounced off, sending her crashing into a set of shelves. Books and magical paraphernalia scattered everywhere. At least one bottle broke, leaking green smoke into the room. Ruby righted herself and stalked through it, the smoke doing nothing but make her sneeze. "I don't suppose we could be lucky enough that whatever's in that bottle would reverse this," Granny said.

"No one's that lucky," Tink said, "But let me try something." She took a careful step back, taunting her, "I'm right here. Come and get me."

Ruby charged again, but this time, when she bounced off the barrier, Tink used that second to drop it and cast a general disenchantment. It worked. "Ruby!" Granny cried, pushing past Tink.

A watery - human - smile. "Granny." They hugged briefly.

"Looks like you got yourself into a spot, my girl," Granny said, patting her on the back.

"The witch that lives here is supposed to make bargains. I came here to ask if she could help me find my pack; instead she placed me under her thrall. I guess not every magic peddler follows the same code as Rumplestiltskin."

"Well, that's something I thought I'd never hear. But let's get out of here before that witch gets back," Granny said.

"Yes. She doesn't usually return until well after nightfall, but I'd rather not risk it. But how are you here? Did the portal to Arendale open again?"

"It's a bit of a long story," Tink said as they stepped out into the sunshine. "We'll tell you in the air."

Ruby spotted the magic carpet and smiled nervously. "Don't worry," Tink said, "I know what I'm doing."

Ruby climbed on, her grandmother behind her. "I trust you."

Once the witch's hut was out of sight, Tink gave Ruby a brief rundown of what had happened since she and the others had left with Ingrid. "So you're here to pick a fight with the Sorcerer?" Ruby asked.

"It's already been picked," Tink said. "The hope is we're here to end it."

"And why did you come?" Ruby asked, twisting around to face her grandmother. "You're not exactly August's biggest fan."

"I think you can guess."

Ruby lowered her head. "Did you know I was in trouble?"

"Didn't know. But something felt wrong."

"Well, thank you. Both of you. If I can help with Merlin, I will."

"Maybe you can," Tink said. "Before the witch caught you, did you hear any rumors of someone that lost their love?"

"Sorry, I didn't spend a lot of time in the human settlements. Although it seems there was an invasion not long ago; someone must have lost their lover in battle."

"Then we'll keep looking. Between the three of us, someone is bound to find it."

I wish these robbers would stop bleeding us dry.

"A wish!" Nova said, pointing in the correct direction.

"Is it a wish for lost love?" Dreamy asked.

"Well, no, but it's the only one I hear. And I want to help them."

Dreamy grinned and shrugged. "Good enough for me."

Nova smiled and corrected their course. The carpet wobbled, and she gripped the edge tighter. She wasn't the best flier in the world (hadn't been when she'd had wings either), but Dreamy never complained. He did have a pretty tight grip on her waist, however. She slowed down. "There!" she said, pointing towards a tavern. The carpet wobbled again.

"A tavern? You sure?"

"Yes. And that person leaving it now, they're what the wish was about; they're a robber!"

"A robber, huh? I can take care of that. Wait, that armor looks familiar…" It looked so to Nova too, now that he mentioned it. But she could not place it. She'd never had a good memory for that sort of thing. Fortunately, Dreamy did. "Wait, I don't think that's a robber…" The warrior looked up, drawing their sword. "Mulan?" Dreamy said.

"Mulan!"

"Nova," she said, lowering her sword slowly. "And Grumpy. What business do you have here?"

"What business do you?" Dreamy asked. "That's a lot of loot you've got there, sister."

Mulan raised her sword up again. "That's none of your concern."

"Hey, we're just here to help!"

Nova reached behind her to touch Dreamy's arm. Anger wouldn't help them. Looking at Mulan, Nova could see that her newfound hardness was not without explanation: she was heartbroken. "We do want to help you."

Mulan sheathed her sword angrily. "I don't need help."

"Yeah, not buying that," Dreamy said. "I know that look, sister."

"What look?" Mulan challenged.

"You forgot about love. Happened to Snow too."

Mulan glared. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Yeah, I guess you weren't there. So back when Snow thought she couldn't be with Charming, Rumplestiltskin sold her this potion-"

"I have taken no potion."

"Doesn't always take a potion. Trust me, I know. There's a reason they started calling me Grumpy."

Nova looked back at him. They didn't really talk about that time much. Shame on her for thinking he had let himself forget about it. "Please," Nova said. "We'd like to help you - and we need some help ourselves."

"You need help?" she scoffed. "Well, the only help I offer now is bought and paid for."

"Great!" Dreamy said. "We've got Rumplestiltskin as our bankroll. Whoever you're working for now, he can top what they're paying you."

"Rumplestiltskin?" she asked, skeptically.

"It's a long story. Why don't we get a drink and talk about it?"

Mulan looked back at the tavern. "I don't think a drink is in my near future."

"Give it back. If we're buying you out, you can leave those robbers hanging."

"They'll send someone else for it."

"Then tell us what we can do," Nova said. "We don't want anyone to get hurt."

Mulan looked at the bag in her hand and shrugged. "Show me the gold."

Fortunately, Gold had anticipated that whoever they found might prefer coin for their tear rather than magic (for peasants, a lost spouse often meant lost income, after all). Nova landed the carpet (not very elegantly), and Dreamy helped her up then showed Mulan the pouch he was carrying. When she peered inside, she could see it held more gold than the outside would indicate.

"I'm listening," she said.

"What did Isaac say?" David asked Regina.

She was ready the slam the door, but the presence of the sleeping baby - and Roland, who had been a little jumpy after everything with Zelena - prevented her. Instead she sighed. "Well, apparently with the power to change any aspect of reality, my son now also has the unlimited ability to travel to any realm he chooses. I'd say he is grounded when he returns, but that hardly means anything now."

"Henry's a good boy," Mary Margaret said. "He'll listen because you are his mother." Regina raised her eyebrows. "…well, except when someone's in danger."

"Which is exactly when I need him to stay out of it."

"Which isn't an option anymore," David said. And maybe he did understand. No one knew more than Mary Margaret and David that there was no keeping Emma away when there was a battle to be fought - but then Emma was an adult. Not when she was banished to this world to be their last hope against me.

Karma's a bitch.

Regina sighed again and pulled out her crystal ball. Robin gave her an encouraging smile and said, "He saved you - and all of us - from Isaac's world. He'll be alright."

She smiled bitterly, wishing she had his optimism.

"You want what?" Mulan asked.

"We need a tear from someone who has lost a love," Nova said.

Mulan slammed back her drink and stood up. "I cannot help you."

"Yes, you can," Leroy growled, "You just don't want to."

"No," Mulan said, "I can't." Perhaps he had discerned that she had lost a love - and a friend, and a home, and her old notions of honor - but a warrior did not cry. And after living as a warrior so long, Mulan was quite certain that even if she were to allow it, she had no tears inside her to give. "If you want to pay the tavern keeper's debt, it is 150 gold pieces. Beyond that, I want none of your money."

"I thought the only thing you cared about was gold," the dwarf said.

"It is."

"Not if you have enough self respect to turn us down."

Furious - at both herself and him - she placed her hand on her sword. "Are you paying the debt or not? Either way, I have a delivery to make."

The fairy looked at her imploringly, but before she could speak, the dwarf placed his hand on her wrist. "Fine. You don't have the tear we need. We could still use help finding one. Help us track one down, and you can name your price."

She almost left. But he knew that she knew he wasn't bluffing about the payment; if she left, she would be admitting that she was more that the sword for hire she claimed to be. She named an absurd price. "5,000 gold pieces, and that magic satchel you're carrying."

The dwarf didn't hesitate; he extended his hand. "Deal."

Damn.

"So they'd gone to look for an ingredient we need," the Savior told Guinevere. "If we're right, it might be the key to freeing Merlin."

Guinevere's mind calmed, and she smiled. "I knew you would find a solution - Merlin would not have foretold your arrival if it were not to save us. Please, as we wait for them to return, enjoy our hospitality. Your rooms are ready, and the cooks are preparing a fine meal for this evening. I can also have refreshment sent up to your rooms, if you require."

"Well, actually, I was wondering if I could have a tour of the castle? I, ah, haven't seen many castles."

Guinevere was pleased, but also puzzled. "Of course you may; I will have one of my ladies in waiting escort you. I would escort you myself, but I must attend my king. However, I must admit it is a surprise to hear that; you are the Savior, after all."

"Well, I have seen one or two, but the land I've been in the past few years doesn't have many."

"Among the peasantry, then? That is well. It is the poorest of us that need the most protection; Arthur never allows himself to forget them."

"Yeah, I'm, ah, sure, your Majesty"

"Please follow me, and I will fetch your escort."

They followed politely.

Lily was starting to wish that she'd gone with her mother. The longer they stayed, the creepier Camelot got.

"You don't have a problem with your king invading DunBroch for no reason?" she asked Eleanor, Guinevere's lady in waiting. Emma, Rumplestiltskin, and August were pumping her for information. It wasn't hard; she was bubbly and chatty and apparently proud of her asshole king. Fucking magic sand.

"There was a reason," she said, "Our King would never attack anyone unjustly. It is simply that he did not have to state it; Camelot obeys him without question."

"Ever wonder why that is?" Emma gave her a sharp look, but Lily just shrugged. None of this mattered anyway. She'd taken it upon herself to let Merlin know that if he didn't talk to them by dawn, Arthur was toast. Emma wouldn't like that either, but Lily was too done with this shit to care.

It's not like they won't be better off.

"Were many men lost?" Rumplestiltskin asked Eleanor. He was starting to grow on Lily; he didn't have the same hang-ups as most of the heroes, and he didn't talk to her like she was defective.

"They gave their lives for their King," Eleanor said. If she'd had a shaved head, she'd have looked like a cultist as well was sounding like one.

"Do you know anyone that lost their husband?" Emma asked. When Eleanor looked at her confused, she added, "We would like to help them if we can. It must be hard for them, especially if they have kids."

"Worry not," Eleanor said. "They are well looked after. No one in Camelot goes hungry.

Yeah, I'm sure.

"Was any land captured?" Rumplestiltskin asked.

"It was not a battle for land. It may have been for a relic. The Knights of the Round Table have collected many powerful relics for our King. But what it may be, I cannot tell you."

"I suppose you can't tell us if they actually got it or not," Lily said.

"Our King has never lost a battle. If his aim was a relic, he did recover it. But please, take a look inside at our chapel," she said, opening a large door. "The windows are the finest in all the realms."

Lily looked inside. It looked like a regular Catholic church to her. She stopped. She didn't do churches. Wait… "So, you're Christians? Isn't that kind of weird? I mean, you know the Greek gods are real, and there are a bunch of others too."

"We do not believe them to be gods, only demi-gods or, according to some, demons. Our god is the only God."

"But what about Merlin? The Bible isn't exactly pro-magic."

"Merlin's power comes from God."

"How do you know that?"

"Our King has told us so."

Right.

Eleanor noticed when Lily did not follow them into the chapel. "Is something the matter?"

"I have a stained glass phobia," she deadpanned. Emma glared at her again, but August and Rumplestiltskin both hid a smirk.

"A… fear of stained glass?" Eleanor asked.

"Yup. Childhood trauma, I don't like to talk about it. It's fine; I'll just wait out here."

"I'll keep you company," August volunteered.

"Sure, whatever." Lily shrugged and leaned against a wall. August and Emma shared some kind of nonverbal communication as he passed her, and Eleanor didn't seem to be able to process that things weren't going the way the were "supposed" to. It was kind of fun messing with her, actually. Lily yawned obnoxiously.

August took the spot next to her, leaning back with his arms crossed, and though Lily didn't usually smoke, she wished right now she had a pack and a lighter just to see the look on Eleanor's face. Maybe there's a pipe around here somewhere…

Rumplestiltskin pulled Eleanor away, asking a ton of flattering questions about the chapel. August reached into his pocket and offered Lily something. "Gum?"

"Where did you get that? I thought the vault of the Dark One ate your clothes."

"And my phone," he confirmed.

"That sucks."

"Yeah, but I'm kind of interested to see what my bill will look like. If I get a $500 charge for Candy Crush, at least I'll know they need it more than I do. The gum is from Hook. Apparently, he's a fan - stocked his ship with it. I guess he figured out Earth girls don't appreciate rum breath."

Lily snorted and took a stick, crumpling the wrapper up loudly and dropping it on the floor. This place reminded herself of her adopted parent's house - everything was about appearances and had to be perfectly arranged to impress the neighbors. It didn't matter if they were all miserable; they just had to convince everyone they weren't. "Fake it 'til you make it," had been her adopted mother's motto.

She'd hated it then and she hated it now. She enjoyed messing it up, even if it was just a gum wrapper. August saw her drop it, and she braced herself to snap back if he dared scold her. But he just shrugged and tossed his own wrapper on the floor. He started blowing bubbles with his gum. She joined him.