Ch. 11: Wounds

Thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites.

It took less then an hour for Emma to break down and ask Regina for help. After that Regina was too busy scowling to have any immediate suggestions. "George planned a coup, without me?"

"Maybe you missed the notice in your last Supervillains Monthly," suggested Emma.

Regina glared at her. "As usual, George is leaping around without any real thought to his plans. If it wasn't for me, he wouldn't have had any success in battles."

"Didn't my parents beat you?" needled Emma. If she was going to force herself to ask for Regina for help, she might as well get some enjoyment out of the process.

The other woman gave her the kind of look that would freeze molten lava, "There were exigent circumstances," she snapped.

"Right," Emma rolled her eyes. "So are you going to help me, or not?" Emma crossed her arms as she stood in the bright lights of the apartment's kitchen.

"I haven't decided," Regina snapped, with a proprietary hold on the container she had brought with her.

"You know, this puts Henry in the line of fire too, right? George threatened all of them." Emma wanted to point out that Regina had pretty much already agreed to this but she also knew arguing was their default response to one another.

"Which gives me a good reason to simply take Henry and disappear," Regina shot back.

"Like he'd stay with you if you did that," Emma scoffed.

"I might not give him a choice," said Regina in ominous tones, her fist clenching involuntarily.

Emma stood practically nose to nose with the other woman, "Then you'd really lose him," she said quietly.

Some of the intensity died in Regina's eyes. "I know, which is why I haven't done so. Yet," she finished, so as not to sound weak.

Emma nodded grudgingly. She knew that was true, and she knew how hard it was for Regina to admit. "So…" she asked leadingly.

"I will help you," sighed Regina.

"Good," Emma was relieved despite herself. The thought of King George's army, as pathetic as Regina thought they would be, worried her. "Just think, you can piss off Rumpelstiltskin at the same time," she said, her voice encouraging.

Regina pursed her lips. "I don't know why the Imp is a part of this, but I don't like it."

That's been nagging at me too," Emma admitted with a shrug. "You're sure he hasn't let anything slip to you?"

"Rumple and I are hardly on the same side, Miss Swan. If you'll remember, he has manipulated me as much as anyone. More really," she said in a low voice.

Emma bit her tongue. That point could certainly be argued. But then, she had been reading Henry's book more and more and decided there was nothing so far that didn't have Rumpelstiltskin's fingerprints on it. "Well let's try to get ahead of him then," she said optimistically. That wasn't really in her nature, but with her parents gone she felt the need to fill in. A little. As irritating as their optimism could be, it did serve a function.

"Very well. We'll start by putting a protection spell around the children," Regina began rummaging through the large container she had brought to the apartment after Emma had called. "I would prefer to charm the children themselves, but that won't always work. I brought necklaces that they can wear." Dangling from her hands were two small medallions.

"What about David?" sighed Emma, closing her eyes as she realized every part of this process was going to have a price.

Regina pursed her lips, and frowned, looking at the children who were spread out in the living room. "Oh. Right. I suppose so."

"Henry," called Emma quickly, before she said anything that would cause more friction, "C'mon over here. We're going to try something."

"Something that will help Snow and David?" asked Henry eagerly as he trotted over. He desperately wanted to help his grandparents.

"Yes," said Regina, muttering an incantation over the medallion and sprinkling it with a sky blue powder. "I made this after Emma and I spoke. It should protect you from being harmed, ideally it would protect you from being taken as well, but that doesn't always work."

"How come?" asked Henry.

"The spell needs to have a sense of danger. It's difficult if someone is snatched before they realize the danger. Or…" she began.

"Or what?" asked Emma.

"Or if the danger is coming from a loved one, especially if it hasn't happened before," Regina admitted.

"No one here loves George," said Emma firmly. "That won't be a problem."

Regina nodded stiffly, then loosened a little when she turned back to her son. "I need to prick your hand, just a little bit." She assured him. "We need to have some of your blood on the medallion."

Henry nodded seriously. "Okay."

When Regina deemed it ready, she gently lowered the necklace over his head. "No we need to test it," she said, looking up at Emma.

Emma nodded, she had been ready for this, ever since she and Regina had discussed it over the phone. She made a call, then sent Henry to play as Regina began preparation of the next medallion. "I really hope this works," said Emma softly.

The dark-haired woman looked at her, "It will," she said.

Emma nodded, looking at the children. Regina followed her gaze, then frowned. "They're plotting something," she said, her hands still busy with the potion.

"What? What do you mean? They're doing the same thing they've been doing all afternoon."

"Snow has that look on her face," Regina said, darting another glance at the children as she began to pour the mixture.

"What look?"

"Her scheming look. I've seen that look a lot over the last half century. Your mother would be a terrible poker player."

Emma looked over, recognizing what Regina meant but unnerved all over that Regina could tell that, just by looking at Snow's face. "I wouldn't know," she said, "I haven't known her as long as you have," it was meant to be cutting, but Emma was lying about not being able to read her mother. She had spent a great deal of time studying her parents' faces, both when they were adults and as children. She'd always been interested in the nature vs. nurture discussions and articles, being as her nurturing had been done entirely by strangers and paid caregivers. Although she was different from her parents, in many, many ways, she admitted to herself when she saw the crinkle in David's forehead, or her mother's smile, that it made her breath catch. It was identical to her. Even the way they stood or used their hands. How was that possible? She'd never known them enough to emulate them, but there it was. And it happened all of the time. Regina didn't answer, but she did roll her eyes.

When they tested the medallion's effectiveness on Henry, it worked perfectly. Unfortunately, when they tried it on Snow, then David, it didn't.

Regina frowned in concentration, as she ran her fingers over their medallions. "That's strange," she muttered.

"Why isn't it working?" Emma asked.

"I'm not sure," admitted Regina. "It might have something to do with the spell that reduced them to children."

"How can it do that?" Magic was still very new to Emma, and she wasn't terribly confident or comfortable with it.

"I don't know," snapped Regina impatiently. "Magic isn't exacting, like mathematics. There are all sorts of exceptions and minor details that can throw things off."

Emma made a sound of frustration as she slapped her open hand against the counter. The children looked up immediately and she tried to give them a weak smile. It didn't work. "I need some air," she muttered more to herself then Regina, then darted out onto the fire escape. She blinked in the bright sunshine, fading into sunset as she stared at the street below. There was an ominous feeling in the air and even if she didn't have much belief in her magic, she had a lot of belief in her instinct. Something was going to happen. She began reconsidering the idea about taking all of the children past the rebuilt border of the town. David and Snow no longer had curse memories so would it really harm them to leave? Or would it deny them from ever having the spell broken? Emma massaged her forehead.

"Mom?" Henry poked his head through the window.

"Yeah, kid?" she asked, still staring at the street.

"Is there something we can do to help?"

She turned to face him, "I don't think so kid. Not right now. Regina and I are trying to figure things out."

"But it's not working," the nervousness in Henry's voice was telling. "How are we going to protect Gramma and Grampa if the spell's not working?"

Emma closed her eyes, "I don't know that yet, Henry. We'll figure something out." She bit her lip as she realized she was repeating herself.

"You should let us help," Henry suggested, trying not to make it come out as a whine. "I think we could think of some things you guys haven't thought of."

"Yeah, okay kid. Get Snow and David and bring them over." It would probably annoy Regina but maybe Henry was right. Maybe they could come up a solution. When she gave the street one last look, she saw a large group of people coming towards them. She pushed down her fear. "Regina!"

xoxoxoxoxooxoxoxoxoxoxo

Regina's frown was rapidly coalescing into a concerned look as she waved her hands and nothing happened. "Something's blocking me," she said to Emma, who had gathered the children to the back of the apartment and hauled both her gun and sword out.

Emma looked worriedly at the children. "Could you take Henry at least?"

"I don't want to leave!" protested Henry instantly.

"I can't," Regina's teeth were gritted. "Not right now."

They could hear the noise of fighting and Emma closed her eyes. Ruby, Granny, the dwarves and a few other who'd volunteered weren't going to be enough protection. They hadn't had time to raise the army that George had. At that moment, the door broke open. Regina moved quickly toward the children, blocking them as Emma was.

Behind a man that Emma recognized as a former dock worker, Albert Spencer walked forward. His smile was calm, betraying no irritation or concern. "I'm sorry for the mess downstairs," he said lightly. "We had a bit of trouble getting here."

Visions of what "the mess" could consist of made Emma feel slightly ill, "Get out of here George," she snapped at him.

George smiled, "That is exactly what I plan to do," he assured her, "Once I have my son."

"He's n-"

"David?" interrupted George pleasantly. "Come here please," ranks of large men holding both modern and medieval era weapons began filling the apartment.

David poked out from behind Emma, his small indrawn breath indicated he had seen what Emma had seen, even as she tried to push him back behind her. Red, only in wolf form was chained tightly, bleeding from several wounds.

Henry whimpered a little, "Ruby…"

A small woman, clad simply yet elegantly stepped from behind the ring of men. With a small wave of her hand, David was propelled forward, easily evading the grab Emma made at him.

"Ah, there he is," George smiled at the little boy who met his eyes daringly. "Are you scared, boy?"

"No," David's voice was quiet but firm. Emma tried to move forward, but the sword pointed at the wolf's neck, and the gun pointed in their direction, made her pause.

"That's good. That's very good," praised George. "Because you shouldn't be afraid of me David. I wouldn't hurt you. I don't want to hurt anyone, but I needed to see you. Emma wouldn't allow it," he cut his eyes at her, then they went back to the child. "I have something very important to tell you."

"What?" asked David, his hand hidden in his pocket, but his eyes never leaving George's face.

"You see David, a long time ago, a man and a woman had twins. Two boys. But an evil imp came only a week after they were born, and told them they had to make a deal. One child would be taken. The couple begged him to reconsider, but he would not change his mind. When they realized that, they knew they had to take the deal or watch both of their children die."

Emma felt Regina shift beside her, and she tried desperately not to look at her and alert the guards to her movement.

George knelt down before the boy. "I've been watching you David, and talking with people. They tell me you're a very smart boy. Loyal. Kind. You were meant to be a prince. You see it was our family that was cursed. When you and your brother were born, Rumpelstiltskin made your mother and I give one of you up. We didn't want to. But the Dark One even has power over kings and queens. He said he would kill both of you if we didn't. We insisted it be a good home, and he found Ruth and Geoffrey. We wrote a letter and asked them to love you and take care of you like their own son. And they did, I'm so grateful for that," he touched David's cheek gently.

"That's not true," whispered David softly. One hand was clenching nervously, and the other had settled firmly in his pocket.

"But it is. Look!" George unrolled a piece of parchment and handed it to the boy. "You see there, at the end, where it says the deal has been struck…that's your parents' names, is it not?"

David studied it carefully, "It looks like their signatures," he said. "But that doesn't make it so."

To Emma's surprise, George smiled instead of scowling, pulling the parchment away, "That's right, that's right! You are a bright boy, aren't you? But tell me David, have you not ever heard your parents speak of another child, another boy? In secret perhaps?"

David's face clouded and Emma managed to choke out, "David…" before she was abruptly silenced, her voice blocked as if she were being strangled.

"When I was little," there was a dreamy quality to David's speech, "I got up in the night to see Mama and Papa. I didn't feel well. When I was near their bed I could hear them whispering. They mentioned a brother…" He looked at George, "But I had a fever that night so I thought I was dreaming. They told me I was…when I asked them later. Were they…were they talking of my brother?"

George patted his head, "They were David, I'm sure of it."

"Where is my brother now?" asked David, his hands had relaxed but his face showed confusion.

Real agony appeared on George's face, "He is dead, as is my wife, your real mother. They died long ago," unconsciously a tear slipped down his face.

David immediately took the older man's hand, "I'm sorry," he said, voice soft with compassion.

George wiped his face with a careless hand, "But you see David, out of this tragedy is a gift. With your brother gone, the curse is lifted, so you can come home now. You can be who you were meant to be. A prince."

Emma stared at the man in dumb amazement. It wasn't the story he was reeling out so easily, it was the tone he was using…the belief. Had he gone completely insane? Because he seemed to accept it as the truth. Everything.

David looked at him, understanding and belief dawning in his wide, blue eyes. "I'm a real prince?" he muttered dazedly, risking a glance back at Snow, who had used Regina and Emma's stillness to move in front of them as had Henry. "Really and truly? And you're my father? A king?"

"Yes," George's smile was genuine. "And you can live with me. When we find a way home, we will live in a splendid castle."

David blinked rapidly trying to process all the information he had received, and his mind instinctively moved to his mother. "Can my mother join us? Because she's still my mother and she's very, very good. And she-"

There was a flash of something when George raised his head to look at Emma again, then it changed as he took both of the child's shoulders in his hands and spoke softly. "My dear boy…"

Nooo, howled Emma inside her head. Don't you do it. Don't you say it!
"I'm afraid your mother has been killed," George said simply, in denial of Emma's unheard commands.

David gasped like he had been punched, and his eyes filled with terror. "No, she hasn't…she can't…I didn't get to say-" he tried to back away, but George held him fast.

"I'm afraid it is so," said George. "Emma has been keeping it from you. Lying to you because she didn't want you to know."

David turned to her, tears already falling down her cheeks as the spell was immediately ripped from her throat, "David," she gasped, "He's the one…"

But he saw the truth of his mother's death in her eyes. The tears overflowed, and Snow moaned softly as she saw them. "I'm-I'm an orphan?" he gasped again as he began weeping in earnest. Emma felt her heart break. George scooped the child up and pressed his face into his neck as a sound of anguish was torn from his throat. In the same motion, he had pressed a syringe against his neck and David ceased crying…ceased moving, except for the slow rise and fall of his chest.

"David!" shrieked Snow, running forward. Emma felt the hard grip of the spell cement her immobilization. She looked at Regina, panicked. Beads of sweat stood on the woman's face as she moved her lips without sound.

"Let him go!" Such as deadly tone should sounded ridiculous in a little girl but Snow managed to sound menacing. "I don't believe you at all. You aren't David's real father. You're nothing, nothing like him. David won't believe you for long and when you-"

George turned from her and made a careless gesture with his hand, and quicker then Emma could blink, a soldier had used a sword to run it through Snow's chest.

There was blank, white noise in Emma's head and several things happened at once. George disappeared with David and nearly all of his men. Henry screamed. There was a flash as Emma felt the spell release her and a puff of purple smoke as Regina vanished, only to reappear at Snow's side. She wrenched the soldier's heart from his chest and crushed it instantly. In a quick motion, she scooped up the bleeding girl…and vanished.