The Queen Is Dead

Piper was walking through New York with Gold beside her, Emma in front of them, with Neal and Henry before her, the two men were talking quietly, Emma watching them tensely, while she held a phone to her ear, smiling as she heard someone pick up, "Happy Birthday Snow," she said instantly, knowing that Snow would likely hang up if she said anything at all before that.

Mary Margaret was silent on the other end, "You…you remembered."

"Of course I did," she smiled to herself sadly, "I have never forgotten your birthday Snow, not ever. I had hoped that this year I could be with you for it, I do have 28 years to make up for, but…"

"What about before then?" Mary Margaret asked her quietly.

"Before? The curse?"

"Yeah," she murmured, "You…you made me think you were dead. You made me think I was alone and…"

"Did you not receive my gifts?" Piper started to frown.

"Gifts?"

She sighed, "Of any day of the year, Snow, the one day that I wished I could be with you more than anything was today. I could not though, so I sent you a snowbell, just one, via a bluebird, just to…"

"That was YOU?" Mary Margaret gasped.

Piper let out a relieved breath that she had received the flowers that she had been named after, "So you DID get them."

"I just thought it was the birds being kind," Mary Margaret replied.

"No," she shook her head even though Mary Margaret couldn't see it, "I had to charm those little demons to just get close enough to give them one and tell them to go to you. I wished I could be there with you Snow, I wish I could be there right now. I know how hard today is for you."

It was the hardest day of her cousin's life, she knew, a day that should have been brightened with love and joy had forever been tarnished with death. Today wasn't just Snow White's birthday, but it was the day that her mother had died as well. Ages ago, when Snow had been but 10 years old and she 8, the Queen, her aunt Eva, had fallen ill. Well, that wasn't entirely true, she had been ill before then, but had seemed to hide it from Snow and her for their sakes. But she'd grown so weak that day, just hours before Snow's birthday, she'd fallen and been forced to bed. She and Snow had gone on a desperate quest to find a way to save the Queen but they failed.

Snow failed.

She winced at that, at her thought of that moment where hope had been lost and Eva had passed to the afterlife, the funeral that had been the next day, Snow's birthday. The choice had been there, a means to save the queen, but Snow hadn't taken it, and because of that Eva had died. She had never ever expressly said a word about her thoughts on that moment to Snow, she knew that her cousin had had to live with the guilt of knowing she had had a way to save her mother in the palm of her hand (literally) and had refused it. Snow had been so torn apart, so guilt ridden, so devastated by what happened that she couldn't bring herself to tell her cousin what she thought, what she truly thought. She'd buried the feeling but…it came out from time to time as they grew older, got worse when she saw her cousin making decisions that she knew would lead to more harm for her and her family.

She and Snow had had one terrible argument once about something similar to Eva's death, she'd been harsh to her cousin and even now she hadn't taken back what she'd said. Because she had been right. Snow, being raised by Leopold (and even if Eva had been alive, she knew that it would be the same, Snow would possibly be even worse with all Eva's talks of being pure and good and fair and kind and other emotions that not all rulers could afford), she had aspirations of being just like her father, to be kind and easy going and beloved, to see every single person in her kingdom happy above all else. But kindness and empathy could only get a ruler so far and they were the emotions that could be the easiest manipulated.

She shook her head, now was NOT the time to bring up past demons she and her cousin shared. She knew that she had many, many characteristics that Snow didn't like, that she had never liked, that she complained about but put up with and accepted. There were many things about her that Snow wasn't pleased with, there was many things about Snow that SHE wasn't pleased with either, but all that could wait till this was sorted and today was NOT the day to go over them.

"But…" she added, "I did manage to find a gift for you this year."

"Rose, please tell me you didn't do a deal with Gold to give me something from his shop," Mary Margaret asked.

Piper laughed at that, knowing that there were a few trinkets here and there that Gold had in his possession that belonged to various people throughout the town, "No, though I should like to point out that I DO get rather spectacular deals," she glanced at Gold and winked at him when she saw him starting to smile, clearly eavesdropping on her conversation, "That is not the gift."

Mary Margaret sighed, "What is it?"

"You should be finding out rather soon," Piper remarked, "I believe David is going to work soon?"

"Yes?" Mary Margaret sounded curious about it.

"Then you shall find out what it is then."

It was a tiara…one that Gold had had in his shop, the tiara that Eva had gifted Snow with before she'd died. SHE hadn't purchased it from Gold, she hadn't been lying when she said that, no…it was the person who had purchased it that was the gift. The woman had wanted to just anonymously leave the tiara outside Mary Margaret's apartment, but she had insisted that the woman put a note with it, had convinced her to let Mary Margaret know she was alive as well. The woman had listened, because she knew who she was, beyond the Piper, she knew her as Rose Red, she was one of the few in town who did.

Johanna, Snow White's most beloved maids, a friend of her mother, one who took care of her after Eva died but before Regina was her step mother. She was so close to Snow and she knew that for Mary Margaret to learn she was alive, to have someone there with her on such a day, would be gift enough. She'd only requested that her typical snowbell be left with the gift as well and Johanna had promised it would be.

Mary Margaret was silent for a long moment, "I wish I knew it was you, Rose," she murmured, "That the flowers always came from you."

"I know," Piper's smile started to fall, "But I will stand by my choice Snow, I know I hurt you, letting you think I was dead. I would do far worse to protect you though, you know that. I will always do whatever I can to keep you safe."

"I know," Mary Margaret mimicked, "Thank you though, for the snowbells. They always made me smile to get, even if it was for a moment."

"Then my nefarious plots worked out," she joked, making Mary Margaret laugh, "I will call you later Snow, once I am certain that you have found your gift and see how you enjoyed it."

"I'll look forward to it," Mary Margaret remarked, "I miss you already Rose."

"I miss you as well, but we shall be back to Storybrooke soon enough," she glanced at Gold, seeing his smile starting to fall and she knew that he was thinking about what would happen if Neal refused to return with them, "Goodbye."

"Bye," Mary Margaret spoke before ending the call.

"So, uh…" Neal was saying, glancing back at them and then to Henry, "You like pizza?"

"Yeah," Henry smiled, "Let me guess, you're going to tell me the best pizza's in New York, and I got to try it, right?"

"Actually, it's in the Kingdom of Damarian on the north shore of the Dragon Fields of Zorn," Neal said seriously before chuckling, "Nah, it's in New York. Here, let's get you a slice."

"So you're really from there?"

"Yeah, I am," Neal opened a door to a nearby pizza parlor, allowing Henry in, before following his son without waiting for the three to follow.

"Do you think that we should…" Emma nodded at the parlor.

"If we were welcome, I feel confident an invitation would have been extended," Gold sighed, "It's a sad truth that the people closest to us are the ones capable of causing us the most pain."

"The most powerful betrayals never come from your enemies," Piper remarked wisely, linking her arm with Gold's, "Trust is hard to give and those who hold it hold the secrets that can wound you the deepest."

Gold leaned over and pressed a kiss to her hair, silently telling her that would never ever be him, he would never hurt her like that, she could trust him, he would never betray her. She smiled and looked up to him, catching his lips in a gentle kiss, promising him the same as Emma shifted beside them, really not used to this and starting to be slightly disturbed.

"This is so weird," she muttered.

"What is?" Piper glanced at her.

"You two," she gestured at them, "I mean…for Henry's sake can you tone it down?"

"Why should we?" Gold frowned, not sure why she was so set to see them apart.

"You're his grandfather," she gestured at Gold, "And she's your girlfriend so…like a step-grandmother? But she's also his other grandmother's cousin or sister or whatever the hell you two call each other that makes me your niece and Henry your nephew and it's just…weird."

Piper raised an eyebrow, "As weird as his step-great grandmother also being his adoptive mother?"

Emma blinked at that, not having thought of that, before groaning, "Great, the kid's gonna be so scared from how dysfunctional this family is."

"He seems fine to me," Gold remarked, glancing into the parlor to see Henry trying a slice of pizza and grinning.

"You can rest assured Emma, none of us will harm Henry or allow harm to come to him," Piper told her, "That is at least a common ground for all of us."

Emma let out a breath, "I just feel like…we're all going to just let him down. I already did," she shook her head, "Guess my lying to him just caught up with me."

"Ah, give him time," Gold shrugged it off, "He'll forgive you."

"Is that you projecting your own hopes?"

"My son and I have some way to go."

"I can see that."

"You will both get there eventually," Piper reassured them.

"I need you to speak to him," Gold turned to Emma, "Try and convince him to come back to Storybrooke with us."

"If I recall, there was only one favor I owed you, and I think I'm paid up."

"Then do it for Henry," Piper stated, "Or would you like to experience what Regina did and wake up to find he ran off in the middle of the night to find his father?"

Emma let out a long breath at that, knowing that it had to be something truly important to Gold if Piper was willing to try and guilt her with sympathy for Regina of all people.

"He did it for you," Gold nodded, "He'll do the same for his father."

"Until Neal lets him down," Emma countered, "Which he will. It'll be a hard lesson, but then at least Henry will understand that I lied to protect him."

"Were you?" Piper tilted her head, "Or were you protecting yourself?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You want a second chance with that man," Gold seemed to realize as well.

"What makes you think that?" Emma narrowed her eyes, trying to refrain from doing any of the things that Piper had pointed out before were her tells.

"The look on your face."

"You have no idea what…"

But whatever she was about to say was cut off when Neal and Henry stepped out of the parlor, "What are we talking about?" Neal eyed them.

"Emma," Henry turned to her, "Neal wanted to show me the museum. Do you think we can go back to the apartment and get my camera?"

"Yeah," Neal shrugged when Emma looked at him, seeming surprised he would recommend a museum, "Well, I…kids like culture, right?"

"And men like treasures," Piper remarked, thinking about the similarity between the Dark Castle and some museums, Baelfire really didn't see just how like his father he was.

"Sure," Emma nodded, "Yeah, that's fine. You like the New York pizza?" she glanced at Henry.

"Yeah," he grinned as they turned to walk off, "It's delicious, cheesy, and doesn't lie."

Emma winced at that.

"You'd like it Piper," Henry smiled at her.

Emma winced again at that reminder.

~8~

The small group of five was walking down the street towards Neal's apartment building, Henry and Gold speaking as Piper walked beside him, her arm still linked through his, Emma and Neal behind them.

"So, should I call you grandpa, now?" Henry grinned slyly up at Gold.

Gold sighed though Piper could see a small quirk in the corner of his lips for just the briefest moment, likely thinking about how that was just a reminder that his son had a son of his own, "Call me whatever you'd like."

"Awesome," Henry nodded, and glanced around him up at Piper, "What should I call you though Piper?"

"I will have to agree with Rummy," she smiled at him, "Whatever you wish to call me Henry I will be fine with. I understand our particular relationship is rather odd."

He nodded, "My grandmother is also my aunt," he muttered to himself, not hearing Piper inhale sharply at that.

Gold looked at her and the quirk in his lips was back as he saw the barest hints of possible tears in her eyes at that. She knew that Henry had accepted her as family, as Snow White's cousin (or sister as they liked to call each other), that he had even come to see her as an aunt too despite the distance in lineage between them and that she wasn't actually his aunt, technically. But to hear him call her that out loud, to HEAR that he really did see her as an aunt, it touched her. Henry was her cousin's daughter's son and that made him family, that automatically gave him a place in her hardened heart and earned him her unwavering and unending protection. And now, to hear him call her a 'grandmother' as well?

THAT was what was truly touching to her. How easily Henry was accepting that Gold was his grandfather, that she was someone so important to him that, even being unwed, she was still seen in Henry's eyes to be a permanent part of his life, to have a permanent spot in Gold's heart. Henry clearly didn't think that she would be leaving or that her relationship with Gold would be ending any time soon. Henry was truly a remarkable boy with the biggest heart ever to accept her and Gold so easily in that role.

Henry glanced at her, pulling her out of her thoughts, "Can I just call you Piper though?" he asked, not wanting to hurt her or upset her by not using a title like gramps or gran like he did with Snow. It was just…he'd known from the moment that he learned who Emma was in the story and who Emma was to HIM, that Snow White was his grandmother and prince Charming was his grandfather. This was new, and he'd only known Piper as the Piper, not as his potential grandmother. Even though he knew Mary Margaret from his years growing up, he knew Snow White as his grandmother.

Wow, his family really was complicated wasn't it?

"That is just fine," Piper nodded, just knowing that he did consider her family, doubly so from Mary Margaret and Gold was enough for her.

"Great," he beamed at her, before glancing back as his parents, "So, Neal, do you think we can take the subway?"

"Yeah," Neal nodded, looking ahead, pulling himself away from his conversation with Emma. Piper had vaguely heard them quietly mention Storybrooke and could only assume Emma had been attempting to convince him to come with them, "Sure, of course. Let's go get that camera," he pulled the door open to the apartment building as they reached it, allowing them all in to the lobby.

"Come on," Henry tried to move over to the intercom panel, not entirely sure how it worked to get into a building with such an electronic lock to it.

"Here," Neal chuckled, "I got it," he stepped over to the door to the building and unlocked it with his key, allowing Henry in to the actual building, the two moving for the stairs while Emma, Gold, and Piper stayed behind, "So after this, maybe Times Square?"

"So, uh, did you talk to him?" Gold glanced at Emma.

"He said it's complicated," she sighed.

"Oh," he looked down, "I see."

"Well, maybe he just needs some time. I don't know. It…"

Emma was cut off when Piper turned and ran for the door to the lobby, reaching for the lock just as Hook appeared on the other side of the glass door and slammed it open, sending Piper crashing back into the wall behind the opening door. He rushed at Gold, shoving Emma to the side with a hard hit to the face, before he grabbed Gold and pushed him into the wall, pinning him against it for only a moment, staring the man in the eyes as he stabbed his hook down and into the center of Gold's chest.

"Tick tock," Hook hissed, "Time's up, crocodile. You took Milah, my love, my happiness. And for that, I now take your life!"

An angry shout sounded from beside him before Hook went flying to the side, Piper's body and shoulder slamming into him, half tackling him off of Gold as Emma scrambled to her feet and grabbed what looked like a small metal pole with an astray on the end of it and slammed it against Hook's head, knocking him out. She panted, dropping it and turned to see Piper was already at Gold's side, holding his hand with her good one, the man panting and wincing.

"Rummy!" Piper gasped, squeezing his hand.

"Gold, are you alright?" Emma ran over, and knelt on his other side.

Neal rushed down the stairs, having heard the commotion from the stairwell as he waited for Henry and spotted his father on the ground, "What the hell is going on?"

"One of your dad's enemies found us," Emma told him, glancing up as he came closer.

"Hook," Neal glared at the man on the ground.

"You know him?"

"Is this really the time Emma!?" Piper nearly snapped at her as Gold flinched and groaned, squeezing her hand.

Neal hurried to them, crouching down and gently tugging back Gold's shirt to look at the wound, only to pull away and see blood on his fingers, "Papa?" he breathed.

Piper swallowed hard, closing her eyes a moment before taking a breath, "Bae, take him to your apartment, Emma," she glanced at her, standing, "Help him."

"What about Hook?" Emma frowned.

Piper's jaw tensed as she looked down at the unconscious man, "Leave him to me."

"Whoa, whoa, wait," Emma jumped up and grabbed Piper's arm as she took a step towards the fallen man, "No."

"Emma…"

"Look you're angry, I get it," Emma squeezed her arm, "But right now we do NOT need you to go all Pied Piper on him…"

"The PIED Piper?!" Neal looked at her, shocked, not quite sure what he'd been expecting. Clearly she was from the Enchanted Forest and there weren't many girls named Piper from what he knew, but the Pied Piper was not at all who he was expecting his father to be courting…

Actually, thinking on that a moment and what he knew of her…he could see it.

"Emma," Piper turned to her, "Help Rummy, leave Hook to me."

Emma just shook her head, "No, we need him alive to find out how he got here and how he found us."

"I can get that out of him easily."

"Your magic is weaker here."

Piper smirked dangerously and Neal could see what might have attracted his father to her, the glint in her eye, was nothing but darkness and something that spoke of how much pleasure she would get out of torturing the man on the floor, "You think I only know methods that involve my magic?" she shook her head, "He will sing like a bird when I am finished with him."

"Yeah, how?"

"Like this," Piper turned and grabbed Gold's cane in her good arm, turning to Hook and raising it, clearly about to try to beat the ever loving daylights out of him for what he'd done, when Emma rushed forward and grabbed her from behind, holding her back as she struggled, not even caring if her squeezing Piper would harm her shoulder, if it would get her to stop.

"And people will hear!" Emma reminded her, "This isn't Storybrooke, this is New York, this is the real world, there are different laws and…"

"I am well aware of the laws, thank you," Piper snapped, before trying to calm herself, not wanting to take her anger out at Emma, "What would you propose we do?"

"YOU help Neal get him upstairs," Emma told her, "I don't know, hold doors open, push buttons, something. I will deal with Hook."

"Pip…" Gold wheezed, his face scrunched in pain.

Piper swallowed down the anger she felt, the fear, and pulled her way out of Emma's hold, moving to Gold's side, letting him take her arm, knowing that his cane would be of no use to him now. She threw Emma a warning look over her shoulder as she helped Neal bring his father to the elevator up. The two of them hurried down the hall, Piper opening the door to the apartment for Neal, startling Henry as his father brought Gold in and placed him down on the couch, Piper moving to sit beside him instantly, taking his hand in her own.

"Found a storage room and locked our stab-happy pirate in there," Emma told them as she rushed into the room a moment later, "Shouldn't be causing anyone else any problems. And get this, he had a map on him. It looks like he sailed his ship here."

"How'd he get a pirate ship into New York?" Neal frowned.

"It is invisible," Piper muttered, wanting so badly to stroke Gold's hair in comfort, so she switched his hands to hold the one in her sling and proceeded to do just that.

"Don't worry," Emma looked at Henry, "He's not going to hurt any of us."

"He already did Emma," Piper told her, a harsh note in her voice. She couldn't help but think, if Emma had just let her keep Hook's heart, let her have the control over him instead of leaving him alive but chained up, that this wouldn't have happened. Gold would have gotten his revenge on the man as he'd wanted and he wouldn't be hurt right now.

"But is Mr. Gold going to be ok?" Henry frowned.

"Henry, he's going to be fine," Neal promised.

Henry hesitated, glancing at his father, not sure if he believed him, and moved to Piper's side. True Neal hadn't lied to him yet but…just thinking about all the adult figures in his life that lied, especially in the parent department, all he could think about was that Piper had been open and honest with him from the start, answering his questions truthfully and she was not one to lie to herself about something like this either, "Piper?" he stepped next to her, "Is he going to be alright?"

Before she could answer though, Gold reached out and grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him forward, his face contorted in pain, sweat on his brow, "You stay away from us! You caused this. You brought us back here. You did this! You…"

He was cut off gently by Piper shifting, her slinged hand taking one of Henry's at his side, her other good hand softly resting on Gold's wrist that was grabbing him. Neal watched with a small frown as, at that simple touch, Gold released Henry and turned his hand, sliding it to take Piper's.

"I'm sorry," he panted, looking at Piper, his anger gone, "I'm sorry. I…"

"Shh…" Piper whispered, "I understand," she told him, moving his hand to press the back of it to her heart, "It will be alright Rummy. You are in pain, I understand…" she lifted his hand to kiss the back of it, before returning it, "Sleep?" she asked, sounding more like she was asking permission for something than requesting him to do it.

He winced, biting his lip as a spasm of pain hit him and nodded.

She smiled and started to hum a faint tune, a lullaby, under her breath, the trio watching in slight aw as Gold's eyelids started to droop till they had fallen shut, his breathing evening out, his face relaxing only slightly.

"Your magic works here," Neal breathed, seeming stunned by that.

"Slightly," Piper nodded, "It is more powerful in Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest…"

"I'll say," Emma muttered, thinking about how shocked Piper had looked when she tried using her magic in the Enchanted Forest.

"But it does work a bit even outside it," she sighed, "It is weak, but I can at least manage soothing a boy to bed."

Neal frowned at that, "You have a son?" he guessed, not getting the sense that she had raised Henry in anyway.

"Adopted, yes," she nodded, "Pinocchio."

"August!?" Neal gaped at her, clearly not knowing that bit of information from the man he'd run into a handful of times.

Piper blinked at him, "You…know August?" clearly that was another bit of information that SHE didn't know either, "He…he MET you? And he failed to tell me?"

"Well," Neal shrugged, "I think he knew I was running from dad…and if he knows who you are to him…" he shrugged again.

Piper let out a breath at that, it did make a bit of sense though she was very unhappy to hear this. August, for all her attempts to tell him that the Dark One wasn't quite so evil as everyone thought, he would always fear the man even if that fear diminished over the years with her. Two little boys from a world with magic, lost in a realm without it, she could see an empathy August likely felt for Neal, she could understand…but she was going to have a very, VERY serious discussion with August when she found him again about all this.

"We need to help him," Piper declared, focusing back on the most pressing matter.

"We got to get him to an ER, fast," Neal agreed.

"No, I mean… we must return to Storybrooke, NOW."

"Why?" Henry frowned, sensing something more to it than that.

"Because of this," she gently tugged Gold's shirt back to reveal the wound, now looking yellow/green in color, something she'd spied when he'd jerked forward to grab Henry.

"What the hell is that?" Emma gaped.

"Poison," Piper sighed.

"It's one of Hook's," Neal frowned, "There's no antidote for it here though. Not in this realm."

"There has to be some way to help him," Henry looked at the adults.

"There may be," Piper nodded, "But to combat a poison from the Enchanted Forest, we would need connections to it. Our greatest chance is magic."

"Storybrooke," Emma nodded, understanding, "There's magic there now."

"I'll get a car," Neal turned to head for the door.

"We need something faster than that," Piper shook her head.

"What about Hook's ship?" Henry offered, "I read about it in the book, the Jolly Rodger is the fastest vessel in all the realms!"

"Well, that's great, but who's going to captain it, since the only guy qualified wants Gold dead?" Emma deadpanned.

"I can do it," Neal straightened.

"You?" Emma gave him an incredulous look, "You know how to sail a pirate ship?"

"Yeah. I do," he nodded, pulling out a phone to text someone.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting us a car."

"I thought you were suddenly a pirate and were going to take a ship."

"Yeah, well, we still got to get his ass to the ship."

Emma had to agree there was that, "So you know Hook?"

"It's a long story. Short version, is this world wasn't my first stop when I left home."

"No?"

"Baelfire was lost centuries ago Emma," Piper told her, "He would be centuries old now if he had been here that long."

Neal looked down at his phone as it buzzed, "That should be our ride. Hang tight," he turned to answer the phone, moving to the bathroom to speak in private.

Piper let out a sigh as her own phone rang and picked it up, frowning instantly at the voice on the other end, "Snow?"

"Rose!" Mary Margaret gasped, "Oh thank god! Do you still have Gold's dagger?"

Piper blinked at that, and looked at her other booth than the one with the pipe in it, "Always," her frown deepened, "Why? What has happened?"

"Cora found Regina," Mary Margaret told her, making Piper stiffen at the news, "And now they're both trying to find his dagger to…to control him or become him or something, I don't know, but they seem to think it's IN Storybrooke."

"They found the map then?"

Mary Margaret was silent a moment, "…you know about the map?"

"I was there when Rummy made it," she sighed, "He has a second dagger Snow, a false one. He was using it as a decoy incase something like this happened, where an enemy wanted to try and find his dagger and use it against him. He did not want them to seek me out or try to harm me to find it so he created a second one disguised to look like it."

"He…he really wants to keep you safe, doesn't he?" Mary Margaret murmured.

"Yes," Piper nodded to herself, "As much as I do him."

"We can't let Regina or Cora know it's a fake one," Mary Margaret determined, "I confronted Regina before, she knows that I'm aware they're looking for it. They'll be watching David and I. They probably guessed I'd contact Gold to find the dagger and protect it. We'll go find the decoy, make it seem like it's the real one. Maybe…maybe even 'let them' take it, make them think they won. That'll keep Gold safe till you get back, buy us some time, right?"

"It might," Piper agreed.

"Good, so that's what we'll do. Where is it?"

"Hidden on the face of the clock in the tower."

"Ok," Mary Margaret took a breath, "We'll go get it."

"Let me know how you fare Snow and please…be careful."

"I will, I'll see you soon but I have to go, the sooner we get to the dagger the better."

"Goodbye," Piper called.

"Bye!" Mary Margaret answered before hanging up, Piper looking up at Emma and Henry as they listened to all that, able to hear Mary Margaret's voice from how loud and frantic she'd been speaking.

"They ok?" Henry asked.

Piper nodded, "Snow wishes to try and trick Cora."

"Think that'll work?" Emma frowned.

Piper glanced at Gold, the man's breath coming unevenly and reached out to take his hand again, "All we can do is wait and see. But…yes," she nodded, "I do. I trust Snow. I was speaking truly when the curse broke, she would never allow someone to kill my true love anymore than I would allow someone to kill David."

"You had no problem torturing the guy," Emma reminded her.

"And he had no qualms with trying to run me through with a sword," Piper countered offhandedly, glancing at Emma, "Snow's stepmother tried to kill her. David tried to have Regina executed. Your beau sent you to jail, my mother was a cold-blooded Siren, Daniel attempted to kill Henry," she winced at that thought of the story that Henry had told them, how Daniel had come back from the dead and harmed many people till Regina, of all people, stopped him, "Welcome to the family."

~8~

Henry was sitting on the coffee table of Neal's apartment a short while later, watching as Piper sat on the edge of the couch, by Gold's head, gently dabbing at his forehead with a cold compress while Emma and Neal went to go get the car that Neal's contact was providing him and move it closer to the apartment, leaving the three of them there.

Piper picked up her phone as it rang, answering it instantly, "Snow?" she called, not even having bothered to check the caller ID, not that there was much need. The only ones who had her number were Snow (and David), Henry and Emma, Gold, August (and Gepetto), and Ruby…and there was little chance the last three were calling her and the prior three were with her.

Henry frowned, watching Piper's face carefully, seeing a range of emotions flitter across it, from surprise to alarm to sorrow and anger then to concern.

"I understand Snow," Piper swallowed hard, "We shall be there shortly."

"Everything ok?" Henry asked as she hung up.

Piper was quiet a moment or two, trying to process all that Mary Margaret had said to her over the phone. They had found the dagger and been confronted by Regina and Cora, just as they thought would happen. The two must have made a good show of not giving it up as Cora had Johanna transported there to use as leverage. During all the confrontation between the two sides, the truth had come out to Mary Margaret about Eva's death. She hadn't fallen ill, she had been poisoned by Cora so that Regina would eventually become queen. Cora had disguised herself as the Blue Fairy, the one that they had sought out for help for Eva, and plotted to try and corrupt Snow. She won either way, if Snow had accepted the help she'd be tainted, if she didn't her mother would die and had died.

She was silently cursing herself about that though, she had been so young when she first met the 'fairy' and when she met Cora again, she thought there was something familiar to her song, but she just couldn't place it. She hadn't known that Cora had magic, that she could disguise herself like that, and by the time she realized she hadn't made the connection.

Mary Margaret had given the dagger over to save Johanna and it seemed Regina was going to let her go…but then Cora sent her flying out of the clock tower and plummeting to her death on the ground below. Mary Margaret was refusing to let it go, was being eaten away at guilt that yet another person had died on her birthday, someone else who was like a mother figure to her. She was blaming herself for not seeing it coming, for not having another way to save her.

But she was starting to realize something that Piper was honestly fearful she'd come to…goodness sometimes meant a loss of life. She had saved Regina from execution and lost everything for it. She had sent her daughter through the wardrobe to this world and lost her for 28 years. She had chosen not to use dark magic to save her mother and lost her. Mary Margaret now believed she had been too good, too kind, too forgiving and this…this wasn't how she wanted her cousin to come to the conclusion that a ruler had to be more than that.

"We need to go back to Storybrooke Henry," Piper looked at him, "Now."

"Why?" he frowned, "What's wrong?"

Piper just shook her head, knowing she should be happy about what she was going to say, but there was so much more at work than Mary Margaret realized, SO much more and if she didn't get back to Storybrooke soon...her cousin would do something drastic, she already was planning it.

"Snow is going to kill Cora."

A/N: Sorry this was late :( Bit of a medical emergency with my mother last night. She fell on our stairs and hurt her leg. I had to take her to the hospital to get it checked because she couldn't stand on it. She's ok, she severely bruised her leg, but I had to help her get around this morning to just get it checked out again at her work as there seemed to be internal bleeding that wasn't there last night :( She's doing ok though, she can walk a little more :)

As for this chapter, we'll see a bit more Bae/Piper interaction in Storybrooke than here, along with a small realization for Bae in a very close chapter about just how much Piper means to his father and affects him ;)

Some notes on reviews...

I think Rumple sort of forgot because it was such a brief meeting and he had so much else on his mind, with corrupting Regina and seeing that his plans for the Curse worked out, that she didn't really factor into it and he just let her slip from his head. August's reasons for hiding will be revealed in a future chapter, but I can say a part of it is both guilt and shame :( We'll have a bit of a snag in the motherly side of Piper around Henry for a reason we'll see very soon, mostly how others see her in terms of her being around children but we'll have to wait and see what and why }:)