AN: I bet Pongo wrote Henry's book. That dog is up to something, I'm telling ya.
I JUST CAN'T LET THIS DALMATIAN GO! WHERE DID YOU COME FROM, PONGO!?
MORE IMPORTANTLY, WHERE ARE YOUR 101 PUPPIES!?
Chapter 11.
Third Person P.O.V
Main Street was completely packed. People were all crowded together, making for the perfect audience, exactly what Zelena wanted. Felix muttered darkly under his breath, shoving people aside in order to keep up with Emma and the others.
"If these people don't move I'm gonna fucking shoot something!" Serena said, exasperated.
"And that's exactly why we don't let you have a gun," Emma replied. She glanced at the others. "Have you seen Regina or Amy?"
Snow White answered for the small group. "Not since the vault. And I haven't seen Amy since after the funeral."
"If they don't get here then that witch could take it out on all of us," Tinkerbell said tensely, shooting Felix a dark look when he tried to elbow his way past her. He sneered in response, stopping when Serena raised an eyebrow at him.
David moved past the group, saying, "Well then let's get everyone out of here before that happens." He moved to the center, where there was enough space for him to be noticeable. He raised his voice to be heard over the murmurs of the excited crowd. "Alright, everybody, listen up! We need you to get back to your homes-."
"No one's going anywhere."
Everyone turned around, a ripple of gasps going through the crowd at the sight of Zelena, with Rumplestiltskin standing behind her. Felix just stared boredly. If she didn't have the dagger she'd be much less frightening, he noticed. Women had never really frightened him before and Zelena certainly wouldn't be the one to do so. Then again, adults in general hadn't scared him for a very, very long time.
"Every show needs an audience."
She sure was dressed for a show, Felix noticed. He did wonder how she planned to fight with a black dress that tight, or with Rumplestiltskin's dagger clutched in her hand.
Zelena walked forward, a menacing smile playing on her lips. The crowd began to edge back, clearly realizing the risks they had all taken of "being an audience". Rumplestiltskin, was following Zelena closely, a tense, even fearful, look on his face, especially when he caught sight of Belle in the crowd. She looked at him sadly, as though she were restraining herself from pushing through the crowd to run into his arms.
Felix sincerely hoped that she didn't.
"Out of my way, munchkin," Zelena snarled, walking past a man who Felix was certain wasn't actually in her way.
"I'm a dwarf," the short man stammered.
Zelena scoffed. "That's even worse."
"Why don't you pick on someone your own sized, whore," Serena seethed.
It wasn't until after Felix stepped in front of her that he realized that he had automatically known that Serena had been prepared to throw herself at Zelena for a fight. More importantly, he'd held her back.
Zelena's lips curled, her eyes flickering between Serena and Felix. "You're one to talk, Tiger Lily. Let's just hope that this one lives long enough for the honeymoon, hm?"
The tension seemed to grow even thicker than before. Felix stared at Serena, whose face might suggest she had been physically wounded. "I swear to God if you don't shut the fuck up I'll kill you myself," she whispered.
"Not very fairy-like, now is it?" Zelena scolded. "Your husband wouldn't like this side of you. What was his name again? You know, before King George's army slaughtered him along with the rest of those savages you called 'family'."
Felix's arms constricted around Serena's waist, holding her back as she screamed at Zelena, swearing so badly that even the Dark One was visibly wincing.
"Shh," Felix murmured, desperately trying to quiet her. "It's okay. It's okay."
Without giving himself the chance to talk himself out of it, he turned her around and pulled her into a hug. She smelled familiar. But he couldn't recall ever being so close to her before, or ever resting his chin on the top of her soft, red and brown hair. It felt natural though, which lead him to press a kiss to the top of her head.
"It's okay," he whispered. "Don't let her get to you. You're much better than that."
She just nodded against him, no tears being shed, but her body was trembling. His own hands were shaking from the effort of staying under control, to keep himself from punching the witch's face.
"Where are they?" Zelena questioned the crowd, having grown bored of the fairy. "Hm? Don't tell me. They're cowards." She chuckled slightly. "Well this isn't good. For any of you."
Her voice raised threateningly. "If my sisters aren't here in five minutes . . ." She looked around, her lips curling cruelly. "I'm going to let the Dark One off his leash."
Amy's P.O.
I paced the kitchen at Regina's, walking around the room in circles and stopping every so often to open the fridge, just for the sake of looking inside. Satisfied that nothing had in fact changed in the twenty seconds since I'd last checked it, I closed the steel door before continuing my rounds around the island table in the center.
I thought about making something to eat, just so I'd have something to do to distract myself until Peter came. But I was starting to feel nauseous and the idea of eating didn't seem so great. Besides there wasn't a single quick fix in that entire kitchen. Either Regina had a personal chef here or she'd never learned the joys of ravioli in a can.
I bit my lip. I missed the Enchanted Forest as much as I missed Neverland now. I had finally gotten used to the idea of being able to live there with Peter, as husband and wife. Now I was hiding the fact that I was pregnant from the town, who was all at Zelena and Rumplestiltskin's mercy.
Feeling even sicker, and a little dizzy, I stopped my pacing and found myself sitting on the floor, trying to distract myself from the fact that my body seemed to be rejecting that chocolate shake from earlier.
I couldn't stop rubbing my stomach, as though I expected to already feel kicking or something. Which was impossible, despite my baby having developed faster thanks to Regina's magic. Frankenstein had said the baby had the appearance of being three weeks along, despite only being a few days old. I only hoped that the growth rate would slow down, to give me and Peter time to figure this all out.
I was an idiot for telling Peter so soon. I had had a plan. I would find out all the facts from Frankenstein first, like see how fast the baby was growing, then make sure I was nice and calm, and then sit Peter down and tell him.
Instead, I sobbed so hysterically that he had to drag me out of the diner where I babbled the truth out in an alley. I could still picture his face when he realized. I was fairly certain it was the exact face that I made when Frankenstein told me. Shock, horror, fear, and way deep down, a little bit of awe.
Awe at my little baby growing inside me. Our baby.
The idea of having kids with him had crossed my mind a number of times, but never did I ever even dream of it happening so soon. I had been thinking about ten years down the road or so, hopefully when there were no more threats in this town and Peter and I had finally regained some lost time.
But it'd happened and I was scared. What if I was bad at it and the baby grew to loath me as much as I did Cora? What if Peter decided he didn't want to be a father?
What if Zelena succeeded with her plan and we lost him or her? That had to be the most horrifying thought of all. Even if we hadn't planned on this, it didn't mean I wanted to not have the baby. Despite the extreme complications, our child was staying with us, whether we were ready or not.
I couldn't wait for Peter to get home any longer. I shot to my feet, prepared to run out the door to find him.
Or possibly get sick. I wasn't sure which would come first.
My decision was made, however, when Peter ran into the kitchen at the exact moment I had started to run out, catching me by my shoulders before I rammed into him. His eyes, which had previously looked absolutely furious, immediately changed into concern.
"Peter!" I cried. "If she changes the past we'll lose each other and now we'll lose the baby!" I hugged him, my hands clutching at his back. I had to remind myself of his scars so that I wouldn't sink my fingernails into him. I'd done that once and it had really hurt him, though he wouldn't admit it.
He inhaled slowly, the thudding of his heart by my ear growing faster. His arms encased me against him, wrapped around me and resting on my back. I noticed he'd ditched the funeral clothes in exchange for his usual attire. It was nice to feel the familiar rough fabric of his green and brown shirt against my cheek.
"Hey," he said softly. "We'll stop her before that happens. Even if she still had my dagger you know there's a whole town ready to take her down."
I swallowed. "Do you really mean that?"
He scoffed and tilted my head up to look at him, a teasing smirk on his face. "As long as the Savior doesn't mess this up everything will be fine."
"I meant about wanting to protect the baby."
The smirk abruptly vanished. "What are you talking-" he cut himself off at the sound of a small thud from somewhere behind us. With a fierce scowl, he pulled away from me and strode towards one of the counter cabinets. He knelt down on one knee beside it, putting on a mockingly thoughtful look.
"I wonder what could be in here?" he pondered aloud. He yanked the little door door open and wrenched out a very sheepish looking Tootles.
"I knew I saw you run in here."
I was completely dumbfounded as Peter dragged him to his feet and held him by the scruff of his neck. I hadn't even heard the kid sneak in.
"Hiya, boss," Tootles said pleasantly in his rough, childish accent. "Nice day, ain't it?"
"Not really," Peter replied coolly, digging into the pocket of his brown trousers with one hand and pulling out a vial filled with some kind of liquid. "Considering I've been trying to track you down to drink this for hours."
Tootles shrugged, an innocent smile on his adorable face. "Not thirsty, sir."
He rolled his eyes. "It's not going to hurt you, Tootles."
"I won't drink it!" he shouted. He looked to me, his eyes pleading. "Please, miss! I'll keep yer secret, I swear it! I'll sign my name in me own blood, I will!"
Peter sighed, sounding truly sorry. "Tootles, you're very brave and I know you'd never intentionally try to go against us. But I can't take any chances with Zelena."
Tootles spat. "That nasty ole witch will never make me talk!"
"You might not have a choice!" Peter snapped. Impatiently he tried to force the vial to the boy's lips but he fought back hard, keeping his mouth firmly clamped shut and thrashing against him. The fear on the little Lost Boy's face was evident as he eyed the potion, crying out for him to stop.
"Peter, wait!"
The two of them froze, Tootles looking hopeful while Peter was giving me the most exasperated look I'd ever seen on his face. "What?"
"He can stay with us." The words leapt out of my mouth before I could help it. "I'll keep an eye on him."
Tootles yanked out of Peter's stunned hold and ran at me, throwing his arms around my waist. There was a moment when I thought the pressure around me would make me sick but it passed, going back down into a manageable nausea. Peter stared at me in disbelief as I hugged Tootles back. I kissed his cheek and stroked his hair, wondering if I could really handle taking care of a little boy at the present time being.
"Look at his face!" Peter sputtered. "You little brat! You're just manipulating this situation for a place to stay!"
I glanced down to examine him, concerned when I noticed how cold he was. "Peter, he's trembling! We can't leave him on the streets!"
"It's alright, miss," Tootles sniffed. "I'm used to it. He made me sleep on the ground all the time back in Neverland."
My jaw dropped and I shot Peter a horrified look.
"He liked it!" Peter exploded. "He used to roll around in the mud and eat bugs!"
Tootles lower lip trembled. "That's the only way I got to eat. Once he snatched berries out of my hand when I tried."
"They were poisoned and you know it!" He narrowed his eyes at Tootles' hands warningly. "And watch where you put your hands."
"I 'ave no idea what yer talking about!" Tootles declared indignantly, though his hands slid back up to my upper back immediately under Peter's glare. He squeezed me extra tightly, which turned out to be a huge mistake. The nausea I'd been feeling immediately turned into vomit about ten seconds away from shooting up my throat.
"Oh, God!" I gasped out. I pushed Tootles away and managed to run to the bathroom before I began throwing up my milkshake from earlier.
It wasn't so good the second time around.
I wasn't bent over the toilet for very long before I felt Peter's fingers carefully pull my hair aside, his other hand rubbing my back. Part of me felt absolutely humiliated that he was seeing me like this, the other part was grateful for his comfort.
I didn't stop until after the acid in my stomach burned at my throat, my stomach now completely empty of everything except the actual baby. Peter gently helped me to my feet. "You okay?"
"Peachy," I mumbled. I leaned my head against him and allowed him to help me walk out of the bathroom and to the living room.
"Wheres Tootles?" I asked, disgusted with the vomit smell and taste on my breath.
"I think you scared him off. But I can guarantee he'll be back at the worst possible moment and will never leave after that."
I let out a weak giggle. I suppose throwing up as loud as I had could frighten a child. I'd apologize when he came back. For now I'd focus on not getting sick again.
We made it to the couch and he helped me lay down before kneeling next to me and taking my hand. I took the time to examine his face, which was confused.
"Why did you get sick?"
I smiled faintly. "It could be morning sickness, or maybe stress."
He looked even more puzzled. "Morning sickness? But . . . it's the afternoon."
"It's just what they call it," I explained quietly. "It happens for the fist stage of being pregnant, I think."
"Oh."
It hit me again at how little the two of us knew about childbirth or being parents. Neither of us had ever been taught about any of it. For heavens sakes, I didn't even know how a woman got pregnant until I was fifteen and researched it out of curiosity, mentally scarring myself at the same time. Neither Sir Maurice or Belle had sat me down and explained it to me, considering I was with them when I was only little kid.
Then the idea of my mother or Paul sitting me down and explaining to me about sex and childbirth was just completely laughable.
"Peter, you can't wipe Frankenstein's memories. We need help."
"No we don't," he said flatly. "Besides, I already did it. He fought back but I managed to get him to drink it. He doesn't remember a thing."
I clenched my teeth. "We don't have a God damn clue about what we're doing or what to expect during the pregnancy, much less actually having the baby! We need someone to teach us, to guide us through this."
"We'll learn," he said dismissively.
I shook my head, unable to believe how completely foolish he was being about this. Easy for him to say. He wasn't the one who just lost vomited her guts out. And something told me that that wasn't going to be the first time. I would have to work on trying to convince him. Maybe research enough things about pregnancy to confuse him so badly that he'll admit we need someone to help.
"I need to go . . ." He hesitated a moment, his blue-green eyes focused on my stomach. "But . . . you're sick."
I sighed warily. "I'm an emotionally unstable pregnant teenage girl. A little throwing up really won't make much of a difference at this point."
When he didn't show any signs of moving, my face softened. "Honestly, I'm okay. But how are you going to pull this off? When I don't show up, Zelena's going to have a field day and Regina will be all alone."
"Don't stress, angel. I'll take care of it, I told you." He leaned over me and kissed my forehead. "Stay here and get some rest. I'll be back."
Before he pulled away, I wrapped my arms around his neck to hold him for a few more seconds. "You swear?" I whispered.
"I promise."
I nodded, watching him leave before I went back to rubbing my stomach. As long as Zelena didn't question where I was too much, we should be fine.
I hoped.
Third Person P.O.V
"Times up," Zelena announced. She strolled over to Rumplestiltskin. "Who do you want to kill first, Rumple?" she asked the man, who remained stoic.
Serena, however, made a face, hating the way her voice even sounded. After five minutes of waiting, she'd managed to pull herself back together, shoving every painful memory she'd repressed right back down and putting her usual demeanor back on. Though Felix's hand hadn't left hers, much to her relief. She wasn't sure what it mean, but it was a comfort she was in no position to turn down.
Her eyes grew huge when she realized that Emma had stepped forward, warning bells going off in her head.
"He's not killing anyone," she said, sounding as though she had had to muster up every ounce of courage she had. "If you want to fight someone, Zelena, fight me."
"Sorry, dear," Zelena responded, her eyes raking over the blonde in disgust. "I don't dance with amateurs."
"I'm not an amateur, I'm the Savior," Emma replied coldly.
"Hmph. Seems someones got an inflated sense of self-worth." Zelena turned and pointed her dagger at Rumple, who immediately raised his hand, causing Emma to fly back and slam into Serena and Felix.
"Nicely done," Serena complimented sarcastically, taking Tinkerbell's hand as she and David helped the three stand back up. Felix didn't take her hand again once they were on their feet, but he stayed close.
"Anybody else want to give it a go?" Zelena called out, pride surging in her tone.
"We do."
A malicious smile spread across Zelena's face when she caught sight of Regina and Amy walking towards her.
"Didn't anyone tell you?" Regina asked mockingly, the two of them coming to a stop right in front the witch. "Black is my color."
Amy stayed quiet, simply glaring at Zelena with a harsh ferocity that Serena didn't know she had in her.
Zelena giggled. "But it looks so much better on me." She looked between the two. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."
"We couldn't let our sister off that easily."
"So you've really accepted me as part of your family?" Zelena smirked.
"Amy already made it clear that we share a mother, yes," Regina retorted. "But I still have one question. What the hell did we ever do to you?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Zelena leaned closer to Regina's face. "You were born."
Regina slapped Zelena across the face, causing her lip to bleed. Zelena just smiled as though she had been wanting that to happen. Amy snorted, smirking at her eldest sister, almost mockingly. Serena glanced at Felix and saw his eyes focused on the youngest Mills sister, his eyebrows furrowed in disbelief.
"I've been waiting to do that all day," Regina said, pleased.
"Rumplestiltskin can't save you this time," Zelena hissed.
"But Pan might be able to," Felix muttered under his breath.
Serena cocked her head at him. "What are you-?" she cut herself off with a quiet gasp. "Oh my . . ." She glanced at Amy. "You mean . . ."
"That's him," Felix said quietly, the corners of his lips twitching ever so slightly. "I doubt that he would switch bodies with her so he must be using magic to disguise himself."
"Does Regina know?" Serena wondered.
"Probably not." Felix snickered. "I knew he wouldn't have wanted her to fight. I just can't believe she agreed to stay out of it."
"Unless there was a good reason," Serena offered.
The two stared at each other for a few moments, oblivious to the chaos that was growing behind them.
"Want to go find out?"
"Thought you'd never ask."
AN: *yawns for six years* Yep. It's time for bed.
SPOILERS FOR THE LATEST EPISODE S4e3
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So when Marian was frozen I burst out laughing maniacally and my mom stared at me all shocked and said, "I don't think it's supposed to be funny" and it really put it into perspective how different us fangirls are from regular viewers, ya know?
Also, when our adorable baby Hobbit, aka Roland, was all, "Regina let me get ice cream!" I cannot be the only one that yelled, "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH! I LOVE THIS KID!"
I ship OutlawQueen as hard as I ship Captain Swan.
