SUBJECT 204

Notes: ENJOY THIS LONG AF CHAPTER HUMANS. It has many feelings and it's one hell of a ride yo.

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

Branches whipped at her face and legs, but she kept running, pushing herself in a blind charge, taking random turns and climbing up rocky hills. It helped to focus on nothing more than the wind in her fur, the ground beaneth her paws. Each stride propelled her forward, power rippling through her shoulders.

They cut her up. They experimented on her. They used her and discarded her like she didn't mean anything to anyone. Piece by piece. They took her soul.

Granny deserved better than that. She was better than that.

A growl rumbled in the wolf's chest as she pictured the cruel little man who relished and abused the power he held over his subjects. Each experiment was a game of discovery for him, a nightmare of pain for those under him.

Granny shouldn't have even been in that facility. Not if she was never really the killer. Not if the house still smelled like blood even after she was gone. Not if Mother was so experienced with cleaning blood from clothes and maintaining a stoic expression the morning after a full moon. Not when Mother was so hell-bent on leaving the country and finding others of her own kind.

The ground came to a sudden stop under the wolf and before she realized it, she was skidding down a sheer drop. Her claws scrambled for purchase on the loose earth, the frantic motions sending her tumbling to the ground below, crash-landing into the damp soil of the riverbed.

Whimpering as her body healed itself of bruises and cuts, the wolf slowly pulled herself to her feet and shook the mud from her pelt.

Ripples covered the surface of the water as droplets flew from her fur.

The pain in her chest had dulled from the run but it still throbbed, still filled her with thoughts of Granny and the torture she didn't deserve.

A howl tore out of the wolf as she tried to release the pain in a song of sorrow. It echoed through the trees, the notes carried away by the wind.

She howled for Granny, for her forgotten death, for her ruined reputation, for her lost time. Another howl filled the woods, this one for the other subjects- for Emma and the misery she went through, for Regina and her lost childhood, for Merida and her shattered family, for all the subjects who were reduced to just numbers and paperwork.

As she looked up at the sky and tried to find the answer to what path she was supposed to go from here, the wolf let out another howl. This time, it was for those who suffered and strained themselves in their drive to help those who didn't have the means to help themselves. It was for Mulan, who suffered great pains at Gold's hands. For Aurora and Neal and Killian, who worked together to supply the team and fulfill their needs, even at great risk to themselves.

And for Belle.

Belle, who was patient and kind and loving and gentle and so strong. So very strong in ways the wolf couldn't imagine how to be.

The wind shifted and a scent reached the wolf's senses, followed by the sound of shifting earth and falling rubble.

Looking behind her, the wolf saw Merida skidding her way down the drop, using her claws to control her descent. Along the last few feet, she jumped and landed lightly on her toes, then turned to the wolf.

"Ruby?" Merida moved carefully, each step slow and deliberate as she brought herself closer. "You there?"

Standing up, the wolf suddenly felt aware of how bare she now was. Shock went through her as it dawned on her how seamless the transformation had been. Her eyes still felt warm with the glow of the wolf's, and her claws were still out. But looking down at herself, she saw pale skin and long legs.

"Yeah." Ruby's voice was still hoarse, but she could feel her throat starting to clear while the warm glow around her eyes faded away. "I'm… h-here."

Merida worked herself out of her hoodie and tossed it to Ruby. "Here."

Catching the hoodie, Ruby pulled it on. It was shorter on her than it was on Merida, and it barely covered her pelvis, but it was better than nothing.

"I tried to find your clothes, but they were either torn up or really muddy." Merida moved closer until they were mere inches away from each other. "Do you wanna talk for a bit?"

Ruby looked away and fiddled with the drawstrings of Merida's hoodie.

What was there to say? Gold destroyed so many lives and there was a chance that he might walk free if the investigation was stopped by his money and his network of connections. The fact that he may be able to avoid repercussions for his actions the way Mother did was aggravating.

"Feel… bad." Ruby managed to say, "Helpless. Sad. Angry… Guilty."

"Why do you feel guilty?"

Ruby shrugged. "I'm… a monster. Mother… was a monster. Granny… tried to… protect us." She tried to say more but the words were stuck again and she choked on them. Her chin trembled and her legs felt unsteady.

"And she got herself punished for it." Merida reached over and put a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "She tried to protect her family by turning herself in. I'm pretty sure my Mum or my Dad would've done the same."

"But… why?"

"Love? Family? Selflessness?" It was Merida's turn to shrug. "Selfless love for family?"

Ruby didn't know how to respond to that. She dug her hands into the hoodie pockets and looked up at the sky.

It still fascinated her, how big and vast it was. After spending so much time with just the facility roofs above her head, with the lights always on in her cell, Ruby still found great fascination in the night sky. There wasn't a gradient of colors to it like with sunrise or sunset, but the clouds were fascinating and the moon was beautiful.

The moon enslaved Ruby, controlled her emotions and body, subjected her to its whims.

But there was still a beauty and power to it that Ruby couldn't help but respect.

"What she went through was shitty," Merida said. "What you went through was shitty. What I went through was shitty. The shit we all went through was fucked up. But you know what that means?"

Ruby looked away from the sky and turned her gaze to Merida. "What?"

The smile on Merida's face was pained. "If you think about it, you can almost be glad that Dorothy had a quick end instead of winding up like all of us." Her sigh came out as a foggy cloud that hung in the air. "Because you and I both know that those claw marks you left on her might have been deep enough to turn her if the shelf didn't kill her."

It hurt to remember that awful day.

Dorothy just wanted to help. She cared for Ruby and was being nothing more than a concerned friend. And death was the price to be paid for that.

"I wish…" Ruby swallowed. "I wish… I… could have… d-done things… diff… differently." It was hard to look Merida in the eye now, and Ruby occupied herself with staring at the ground, jaw tense, brow furrowed. "Should have… obeyed Mother's… rules. Maybe Peter and… and Dorothy… would still… b-be… alive."

When Merida's hand tightened its hold on Ruby's shoulder, she expected a shove and a string of curses, but instead she found herself being pulled closer, into an embrace.

Feeling her eyes warming up with tears instead of the wolf's power, Ruby buried her face into Merida's shoulder and clung to her shirt. "I'm sorry."

"I know." Merida whispered.

They stayed that way for a moment, clinging to each other, shoulders growing damp with each other's tears. Soft sobs were the only sounds they exchanged as they both thought of the past and dwelled on their scars. Merida was pressing her face against Ruby's shoulder, balling up the hoodie in tight fists. It was strange to be this vulnerable around someone who not so long ago was determined to kill her.

But now, here they stood. Ruby had her arms around Merida's shoulders and a hand against the back of her head, stroking the short hair that was finally given the chance to start growing out.

"I loved her." Merida's voice was shaky and broken, muffled into Ruby's shoulder. "She made me so happy. We… we got along so well."

Ruby had managed to take control of herself and now focused on calming Merida, stroking her hair and whispering stuttered words of comfort to her. "Sh-she loved… you… too."

Merida pulled away to look at Ruby with teary eyes. "I wish I could wake up and go back and find a way to keep Dorothy from meeting her fate. Make sure she somehow wasn't in that classroom that day." She sniffed and moved back into the hug, pressing her cheek against Ruby's chest. "But it's done and nothing can be done to change it."

"Yeah…" It was painful to accept the fact that they had no other choice but to accept the past.

"Best we can do is move on," Merida sighed, "and continue to live with this reality."

Ruby rested her chin on top of Merida's head. "She… was lucky… to have found love… with you."

Memories of Dorothy were drifting through Ruby's head. She couldn't help but think about the sleepover when Dorothy told Ruby about liking girls. Turmoil had accompanied the confession as Ruby wondered if she felt those things herself. "You weren't… afraid… to love her."

Another sob broke through Merida as she pushed her face closer to Ruby's shoulder. "I loved her… I loved her so much…"

Swallowing, Ruby whispered words she never thought she would have said out loud. Never would have admitted to even herself until after it was all too late.

"I did too."

Pulling away just enough to be able to look at Ruby's face, Merida's brow furrowed. "Not like I did, Ruby."

It was too late to turn back now. If she always thought about Peter and Dorothy as the boy she loved and the girl she was afraid to love, then it was time that someone knew.

"Exactly… like you did." Ruby said, forcing herself to maintain eye contact with Merida. "I just… didn't have… didn't have the… the guts…" Her body was trembling and she found herself tightening her grip on Merida to steady herself. "…didn't have the guts… to go for it… like you did."

"I…" Merida shook her head, her shining eyes now wide open. "What…?"

Ruby couldn't maintain the eye contact anymore. She looked towards the river. "She… deserved you… You were… great… for her."

"Ruby…" Merida squeezed Ruby's arms.

Unable to control her trembling, Ruby pulled away from the embrace and hugged herself. She focused on looking at the river, watching the gentle lap of the water as it flowed away.

"I'm… I'm happy… that she… got to be happy… with you." Ruby swallowed and it felt thick and painful going down her throat. Her voice came out tight and strained. "I hope… I hope you… get to be happy… like that… again."

If anyone deserved to feel that love and happiness again, it was Merida. After her life was destroyed by Ruby's carelessness, after she was toyed with and tortured by Gold, after she watched her family suffer, after she spent years surviving on hatred and anger…

She deserved to find happiness again. Happiness, peace, love.

"I hope that for you, too." Merida said. "I hope you can be happy again, too. And loved. And not be afraid to go for it anymore."

Surprised, Ruby turned to look at Merida. "Really?"

"Really."

The response and accompanying confirmation was so stunning that Ruby couldn't even come up with what to say in response. Her mouth opened and closed uselessly before settling into just gaping open.

"And Ruby?"

Finally finding her voice, Ruby managed to choke out a word. "Y-yeah?"

"I…" Merida exhaled and dug her hands deep into her pockets. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "I forgive you."

Totally floored, Ruby thought her legs might give way underneath her if Merida didn't come and pull her in for another hug.

And they spent another moment in each other's arms, this time feeling lighter, feeling almost at peace. Or as close to at peace as they could ever come.

"By the way," Merida was smirking now as she pulled away and raised an eyebrow at Ruby. "If you were kind of gay for Dorothy, are you kind of gay for Belle?"

Ruby's eyes widened and she had to blink a few times to get herself back to the present. Even she didn't know the certain answer to that question, Ruby felt like 'no' was definitely not it.

"I… don't… know." Ruby said, then she shrugged. It was hard to sort through the feelings since they were mixed up with all kinds of other thoughts. And Ruby had spent so much time hating herself and denying herself humanity that emotions as complicated as this was difficult to sort through. "I… maybe…?"

It was cold, waiting at the porch. Belle's breaths came out as puffs of fog. Suppressing a shiver, she dug her hands deeper into her jacket pockets and brought her feet up on the chair, curling her knees close to her body.

The howls weren't hard to miss.

Belle could hear them and hated how pained they sounded.

When they stopped, Belle's worry only intensified. She didn't know if that meant Ruby was off running even further from the cabin or if Merida had caught up to her. It was impossible to know and not knowing was giving Belle major anxiety.

As much as it was a concern that Ruby might be getting attached to Belle in an overly dependent way, Belle realized that the same was a possibility for herself. She was antsy when Ruby went on the run with the bears and admittedly a touch jealous of the closeness that Ruby and Merida were developing.

Which was stupid.

Ruby finding friendship and building relationships outside of Belle was desirable. It was recommended, even. Otherwise her social skills would remain stunted if she was dependent on Belle or even took Emma up on the offer to link and serve as a translator of sorts.

It was great though that Ruby turned down the offer and chose to speak for herself. Belle was proud of her for that, and extremely proud of how Ruby found the strength and courage to keep talking and share her story. The confession had taken a toll on Ruby, but she seemed lighter for it.

Then Neal talked about Gold and everything went to shit.

But Merida was going to talk to her.

Belle pushed away the ridiculous feelings of jealousy. She focused on the fact that someone who experienced the facility in much the same way as Ruby did would be able to voice thoughts and reveal epiphanies that Belle might not be able to.

The door opened, interrupting Belle's swirling thoughts. She looked over her shoulder and was surprised to see Mulan by the doorway, hand held close to her chest.

"Hi, Belle." In Mulan's other hand were blankets, and she offered one. "Thought you might be cold."

"Thank you." Accepting the blanket gratefully, Belle wrapped it around herself curled up on the chair, waiting for the shivers to subside. "Would you like to sit with me?"

"Yeah. Thanks." It was more of a struggle for Mulan to wrap the second blanket around herself, but she managed before Belle could move to offer help. Mulan settled into the other chair and looked out towards the woods. "The howling seems to have stopped."

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing." Belle hugged her legs and rested her chin on her knees. "You couldn't sleep?"

Mulan shook her head. "The pain was bothering me."

"Why aren't you taking the painkillers Aurora keeps offering?"

Leaning her head back against the chair, Mulan said, "I'd rather not get hooked on it. And I'd rather not mix more foreignness into my body. I already have Regina pushing and pulling things around supernaturally. That's more than enough."

"Fair enough." Belle would have preferred Mulan take something for the pain, and didn't quite understand the reasoning. But this was her body and Belle had a feeling that finding some sense of agency in choosing what would and wouldn't go into Mulan's body was another factor in her decision.

"I'm worried about you, though." Belle admitted, rubbing at her temples. Though the alcohol had mostly worn off by now, there was still a feeling of heaviness to her head.

Mulan adjusted the blanket around herself. "I'm fine."

"We all know you aren't." Belle looked over at Mulan, who just shrugged. "You can talk to us, you know. I understand that you're used to fading into the background and keeping your thoughts to yourself." That came with the job, for sure. Mulan's work required that she quietly stand by in the background, but that didn't mean she needed to maintain the same protocols of silence and passivity among this group of friends.

"You don't have to, you know." Belle continued. "You're not at work anymore."

Mulan didn't answer right away, continuing to stare at the roof of the porch, her head leaning back against the chair. She lifted her good hand and ran her fingers through her hair, cut short from when she and Aurora tried to alter their appearances.

Looking back, Belle felt both amused and embarrassed by how much effort they put into their changing their looks while Emma and her group barely bothered with more than wearing hats and keeping their heads down. They even had the gall to get drunk and make a scene at a bar.

Then again, they had Neal with them and he could easily alter security cameras and block police scanners.

"There's another reason I can't sleep." When Mulan spoke again, her voice was soft while her face was hard and tense. "When I do… I tend to have nightmares."

"Of the facility?"

With a shaky sigh, Mulan nodded. "Been having them every night since the escape. Aurora's usually in too deep sleep to notice. Her sleep has gotten a lot better since realizing her powers. Now she actually enjoys going to sleep, I think."

"And now you don't."

"Yeah…"

Mulan straightened up and adjusted the blanket with her good hand. She rubbed at her hair again, making the short strands stick out at odd ends. "Sometimes… sometimes I feel like…" She held out her damaged hand, which was still swollen, with skin coated in so many bruises barely any of the colors on it looked natural. "…like this is my punishment."

The train of thought was painfully familiar, not unlike how Ruby rationalized the pain she experienced in the facility.

"What makes you think that?" Belle asked, worry and concern evident in her voice.

"For allowing Gold to torture Ruby for so long." Mulan rubbed her injured hand before cradling it close to her stomach. "For turning a blind eye even if she felt vaguely familiar to me."

"Mulan…" Belle tried to speak but Mulan shook her head.

"I feel like the universe is giving me a taste of what Ruby had to go through alone." Mulan said, "It's not the same, and what Gold did to me is nowhere near as bad as Ruby's seven years but… but this hand and the nightmares… they feel like they're my karma."

Belle gripped the armrests of her chair and leaned towards Mulan. "No, that's not true. Mulan, out of all of us who worked to get the subjects out, you were put through the worst suffering and that's not right. You didn't deserve that."

"Didn't I?"

"Mulan, no." Belle heard her voice come out cracked and pleading. "You did not. You were such a vital part to the escape. We got Ruby's name because of you. And did you forget how you used to sneak food to Ruby and hold her hand when she struggled with panic attacks?"

Jaw clenching and unclenching visibly, Mulan kept her eyes out towards the tree line.

"And your hand will heal. Regina's doing her best." Belle wanted to go over to Mulan and wrap her up in a hug but wasn't sure if Mulan was willing to engage in one. "Please try not to believe you deserved what Gold put you through?"

Mulan looked down at her hand. "Okay."

"Your hand will heal." Belle insisted. "The nightmares… that will take a while to fade away, but each day will bring us closer to more peaceful sleep." Shifting in her seat, Belle decided to add, "And I think when the time comes for us to step forward and testify against Gold, we'll be sleeping a lot easier when he's behind bars."

"That's a nice thought." Mulan said, eyes still on her hand. It twitched and trembled but otherwise barely moved. "Regina said she just needs more time to access and read through more detailed books. Neal got his hands on some pdf's for Regina and let her borrow his tablet so she could read them."

"That's good news, right?"

Mulan shrugged. "I still have my doubts." She winced as the strain of trying to move her hand seemed to send pain shooting through her. Face tense, she massaged the swollen, discolored mess from fingers to elbow.

Looking over at Belle, Mulan added, "I was disposable, according to Gold. I served my purpose as far as he was concerned. He did, after all, try to use Ruby to kill me."

"Even if you were disposable to Gold, you aren't disposable to this group." Belle said, but Mulan was shaking her head.

"Am I? Ever since we got here, I can barely do anything. You're setting tables and washing dishes while I can barely carry my own plate. You're laying out mats and carrying coolers of booze while all I do is sit and watch like… like I'm useless."

"You're injured!" Belle insisted. "We're letting you heal."

"I feel like I'm just a prop here. I can't lift anything or move anything, I just sit there doing nothing!" Mulan seemed to realize she was raising her voice. She stopped and let her shoulders drop, burying her face into her good hand. "I'm sorry."

Belle stood up and walked over to Mulan. She didn't pull away at the touch of a hand on her shoulder. "Mulan, whether or not you heal, you have value to us. Like I said, we got as far as we did because of your resourcefulness. We bought enough time for Emma and the team to prepare a new plan because you didn't fold under the pressure Gold put on you. We are here because of you."

Wiping her face with her hand, Mulan looked up at Belle. "You really think so?"

"I know so." Belle squeezed Mulan's shoulder. "You've got drive and courage and I admire that so much. I hope you and Aurora can be very happy together."

Managing to smile, Mulan said, "I hope to bring her on the roadtrip I promised. As soon as my hand is better and the facility controversy is over. I want to take her on a ride with my bike, bring her somewhere nice." With a chuckle, she added, "But we need to buy her a helmet and gear first, of course."

Belle returned the smile. "Of course."

"What about you and Ruby?" Mulan asked. "Are you two also planning to live together after this?"

Nodding, Belle said, "Yes, we've talked about that in passing."

"Wait, I just want to confirm since I can be a little dense sometimes, but… uh…" Mulan rubbed the hair at the back of her neck. "You two… you're a… a thing, right?"

Furrowing her brow, Belle tilted her head to one side. "What do you mean?" She realized the habit of tilting her head had probably come from Ruby and Belle found herself straightening up.

"A thing. Y'know… like… are you… together together?"

Stumbling back, Belle felt her eyes widen while her face flushed. "I… I don't, I- I mean…"

Mulan was flushed now too. "I'm sorry, that was probably… I was just… I'm sorry… I didn't mean… I'm sorry, Belle."

"I mean…" Belle put a cold hand to her suddenly warm face. "I guess… Well, I think for now…"

"They're back!" Mulan stood up and pointed towards the trees with her good hand. Belle turned and felt her chest lift at the sight of Ruby and Merida come jogging over. They were both covered in mud and leaves, and Belle blushed as she realized that Ruby was wearing nothing more than Merida's hoodie.

As they drew closer, Ruby sprinted with a burst of speed, running over and nearly knocking Belle off her feet in a move that was half hug, half tackle. She had to stumble backwards to catch herself and narrowly avoided crashing into Mulan.

"Belle." Ruby nuzzled Belle's shoulder. "Did I… worry… you?"

"Just a bit." Belle admitted, holding Ruby's back with one hand and stroking her short hair with the other. "But are you feeling better?"

"Sorry…" Ruby pulled away so she could nod. "But… yes. Feeling better."

Belle smiled. "That's good."

Ruby's expression hardened and for a moment, there was an amber glow to her eyes. "But… I want… Gold… to pay." Her eyes cooled back to their usual green, but the hard, determined look remained. "If… have to… talk to anyone… attend anything… I want to."

"Okay." Belle nodded. "We'll make sure he doesn't get away with everything he's done."

The next night found them back around the campfire at Killian's insistence after he managed to buy more beer. This time, he also got several cans of soda for Ruby and the triplets.

"So, we didn't finish letting everyone take the floor last night, mates." Killian took it upon himself to act as facilitator. He ruffled Neal's hair. "You didn't finish your piece last night. Is everyone cool with having Neal continue telling us about the shit Gold did to destroy his own family?"

Scattered nods and murmurs of agreement came as the response, until Ruby felt eyes turning to face her.

"Are you comfortable with Neal continuing?" Belle asked.

Ruby took a breath as the wave of emotions from last night settled over her once more. The anger and grief at knowing some of the suffering that Granny went through was still a pain in Ruby's chest. Talking about the facility still made her cringe and squirm with discomfort.

But if she were to be honest with herself, Ruby knew she wanted to know more. Wanted to learn more about Neal and hear his story. Wanted to get a better grasp on the monster that Gold truly was. Wanted to add fuel to the new fire in her heart that wanted to burn Gold and everything he stood for. Burn it all to the ground.

Exhaling and straightening her back, Ruby nodded. "Yes. Want… to know… more."

"Okay." Neal nodded as well. "Okay."

Rubbing his palms together and pursuing his lips, he seemed to think over where to start. "So… I mentioned Mama leaving, right? And that was a turning point for Gold and it was like one of the big things that turned him from workaholic Papa to workaholic asshole Papa."

"Why did your mom leave?" Aurora asked, "Was it because of something she did, or was there another reason?"

Neal rubbed at the back of his neck. "There were some nights where she talked about wanting to go somewhere else. Somewhere close to the ocean. And she would ask me if I wanted to go with her." Pausing, he took a swig of his bottle and sighed. "At the time, I still had faith in Gold and thought maybe someday he'd be more invested in spending time with us. I didn't like the idea of leaving him behind."

"So she left without you?" Belle said.

A nod and another swig of beer was Neal's answer, accompanied with, "She left without me."

"Just like that?" Mrs. Dunbroch's eyes were wide and horrified. She seemed to clutch Hamish more tightly. "She left her son behind?"

Neal shrugged. "I think she had her reasons… She left me a note though. A different one from what she left Gold." He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, his expression tense and uncomfortable. Another sip from the bottle helped him continue. "She warned me to be careful about my powers around Gold. Suggested I practice, but never around him. And never show him how much I can really do."

"Wait, so did they both know about your abilities from an early age?" Belle asked, her arms still around Ruby. "Did they manifest early?"

"Hello, my papa was the number one go-to guy for psychic stuff. Of course he knew about my powers. He really wanted to run tests with me but Mama forbade it. They argued about it pretty often, as I recall. She made the final decision to leave after a pretty big fight." Neal said, "So after she left, he kept trying to ask me if I was up for doing some tests. I kept saying no. Mostly because Mama's note told me to say no."

Neal paused again. He toyed with the now empty bottle in his hands. "If I were to be completely honest, I would have considered saying yes if it weren't for Mama's warning."

It was Regina's turn to show her surprise with raised eyebrows. "You would have been willing to be tested? By Gold?"

Accepting a fresh bottle from Killian, Neal nodded to Regina. "When your Papa spends almost every waking moment talking about this little girl he's running tests with, you get pretty jealous and want to take that girl's place. Just so you can maybe win over his love. Or at the very least, his attention."

It was strange -unnerving, even- to think about how Neal and Regina had their childhoods shaped by Gold. One starved for his attention, the other drowning in it. Ruby couldn't even begin to imagination what it must have felt like for either of them.

But, looking back, she could understand wanting to please him. Wanting even to be loved by him.

"I… understand." Ruby said, slowly, forming her words as well as forming her thoughts. "When… when I was… new…" It still made her nervous when everyone's eyes would turn to look at her, but she managed to get herself to keep going, albeit at her usual, frustratingly slow pace. "I… I wanted to… do what he said. Make him… happy… with me. Proud of me."

The gold glints in his smile were something she knew she thirsted for because that meant she did a good job.

And of course the raised voice and brandished prod were always to be avoided.

"Always hated… disappointing… him."

Nodding his head vigorously, Neal raised his beer. "Exactly! The fucker was just so good at doing this thing where you want to jump through hoops of fucking fire just so he'll tell you that you did a good job!"

Mrs. Dunbroch cleared her throat.

"Ah… sorry. Language. Yeah. I'll watch it. Sorry, ma'am."

"Thank you, Neal."

With a sheepish smile, Neal nodded to Mrs. Dunbroch.

"So what ultimately made you decide to leave?" Aurora asked. "If he was your only remaining parent after your mom left and if you were still hoping to foster a relationship with him, what changed?"

"I…" Neal swallowed visibly. He put his bottle down and clasped his hands on his lap. Ruby noticed they were trembling. "Okay. Remember I mentioned having to do work for Gold at his facility when I was ten?"

Ruby nodded along with everyone else.

Emma put a hand on Neal's shoulder. "You got this."

A low whistle whooshed out of Neal as he shifted uncomfortably. An uneasy smile formed on his face. Stiff and not reaching his eyes. His chin looked like it was trembling too.

"Okay." He pursued his lips and sniffs. "Okay, let's do this."

"If you can't, mate, we won't force you." Killian offered.

Neal shook his head. "Nah, mate. Even you should know this." He took a deep breath, bracing himself. "Okay. I did work for him like I was told to, and while I generally had access to most of the facility, there… there was a sector he never allowed me to go to."

In the flickering firelight, Ruby could see how shiny Neal's eyes were as he continued to speak in a voice that grew shaky and unsteady. "I was… I was around eleven when he grumbled something about how I can check out the other sector. But I still need clearance for certain files."

"What was he hiding?" Belle asked, her voice soft and stunned.

"When I was thirteen, after seeing more and more of how shhh…cruel he was to the subjects…" Neal swallowed, took another deep breath. "I used my powers to look into their system. I'd been practicing quietly, so I figured I was ready to do it without getting caught."

He sniffled and wiped at his eyes.

"Neal…" Emma reached over and took one of Neal's trembling hands, clasping it in both of her own.

"Gimme a sec." Neal breathed.

Killian shifted closer to Neal and took his other hand, mirroring Emma's position. "We're here, mate. Take all the time you need."

"Okay." Neal exhaled and straightened up, his eyes clearly wet with tears that glinted in the flickering light of the fire. "I… I saw my Mama's file."

Ruby felt her own eyes widen while Belle spoke up, "He was keeping her there?"

Neal nodded.

"Did she…" Ruby cleared her throat. "…have… powers?"

"No."

Blinking, Ruby took a moment to process the information. She frowned and tilted her head, trying to figure out how best to ask her next question. The fact that Gold had a regular human with no abilities in his facility was jarring and it meant that what he did to Mulan and Belle after the first escape attempt wasn't a first-time incident.

"Neal…" Regina started.

Unclasping his hand from Emma's so he could wipe his eyes, Neal kept his head down. "Gimme a moment."

A heavy, suffocating silence settled over the group. Ruby huddled closer to Belle, leaning into her and clutching her arm.

"Her file showed his notes… trying to figure out where my powers came from." Neal continued, his voice soft and breathy. "If she had any… unusual resistance… to electricity. If he could… awaken anything in her."

"Shit…" Killian put an arm around Neal's shoulders. "Mate, I'm sorry."

Neal shook his head. "Gold should be sorry. My mother didn't survive the tests he put her through." A growing hardness took hold of Neal's voice as he continued to speak. "After I went through her file, I was pissed as hell. I burst into his office and confronted him. He rationalized and explained everything away and that…"

Lifting his head from where he had it pressed against his hand, Neal looked around at them. "That was when I realized he didn't deserve my love. That he was sick and cruel and messed up. I told him I was done with him. I was done with the facility."

"Then you walked out on him?" Aurora asked.

"He tried to stop me." Neal said, "At the lobby, he had guards try to apprehend me. I remember he said some shit about stopping the nonsense and showing proper respect a father deserves. Or I'd be spending a week as a subject having my powers tested."

"What the actual fuck?" Killian spat out the words, his face growing red. "I mean seriously, what the fuck?"

Neal nodded to Killian."Exactly."

"How did you get past the guards?" Mulan asked.

"I was still getting the hang of more major overrides with my powers," Neal said, "But I managed to short-circuit the lobby doors and shut off the power in the lobby. While everyone was caught off guard, I took off."

A low chuckle rumbled in Neal. "I took his car even if I didn't really know how to drive. I was just thirteen, after all. But I bailed out of it eventually, of course. Otherwise he could use it to trace me. Then I walked and wandered till I basically passed out close to a place where Killian was dealing. And, well.."

He nudged Killian. "The rest is history."

"Shit." Aurora sighed. "That's… that's a lot to take in, Neal."

"We have to make him pay." Belle tightened her grip on Ruby. "He's not going to get away with what he's done to all of us. We have to do something."

Neal nodded. "I'm working on it, pulling up receipts with Regina since we've known him longest. I'm also keeping track of the stuff going down with the investigation and the surrounding discourse. Maybe in another couple of weeks, we can talk again about if we should testify or not."

"I… want to." Ruby said.

"Okay." Neal said. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Ruby. And… by the way…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm sorry about last night."

Shaking her head, Ruby said, "No… not your fault."

Neal raised his beer. "We'll bring him down. One way or another."

"Aye," Mr. Dunbroch raised his bottle as well. "He'll pay for what he's done."

"Down with Gold and down with Baelfire." Killian also lifted his drink as the rest of the group followed suit, Ruby and the triplets joining in with their soda.

When the chorus of "Down with Gold," died down, Ruby looked around the campfire and wondered who would go next and share their story. Mulan tended to be quiet for the most part and Ruby wondered about her. They didn't really know each other in school, but Mulan managed to remember Ruby enough to find her name. And Mulan had shown kindness and gentleness to Ruby as much as was possible given their circumstances at the facility.

Ruby hoped to learn more about Mulan tonight.

"Belle, why don't you take the floor next?" Killian asked. "I mean besides Emma, you're the MVP who got this whole gig moving along. What do you say, mate?"

Turning to look at Belle, Ruby nodded, also eager to hear more about her life.

"Oh…" Belle shifted in her sitting position and tightened her grip on Ruby's hand. "Um, sure."

"How did you find out about the internship?" Aurora asked.

With her free hand, Belle toyed with her bottle, swirling the drink inside. "Gold gave a seminar in my school. At the time I was… well…" She cringed. "…very in awe of him. When I approached him after his talk, he gave me his card and told me about the internship."

"So he really talked to you about it?" Aurora said, rubbing her chin and looking intrigued. "I had to search for it on his website. Then I applied and got through the screening process somehow."

"I'm not going to forget how he used my thesis to find Elsa and bring her to Baelfire." Belle's voice grew hard and cold. "I hope she and her sister are okay now. I hope Gold doesn't walk free from everything he's done."

"Would you 'ave still helped bust us out?" Emma's words were loud and slurred as she leaned against Regina. "If Regina and I didn't reach out t'you, would you jus'be Gold's bae?"

"Well…" Belle drank up what was left of her bottle before putting it aside. "Like I said last night, I may have felt something for him, but that was gone as soon as I realized what he was truly capable of."

"Yeah, but part of what drove you t'see that was me'n' Reggie, right?" Emma's face was flushed and her eyes looked unfocused as she swayed while she spoke. "Would you have still seens'it? On y'own? Would you have still wansted to help us lowly labrats?"

Looking down, Belle leaned her head on Ruby's arm. "I… I did try to rationalize away some of the more questionable things I saw…"

"I did too." Aurora admitted.

Belle nodded to her. "Yeah. I feel like Gold was good at making everything look like it was all standard procedure. And he did make it a point to keep Ruby and the Dunbrochs hidden from anyone who wasn't authorized to know about them. But… but I think I would have still seen the cruelty for what it was."

"Does this've summin do withor mom?" Emma's slurs were growing less intelligible as she took swig after swig of her beer, waving her hands around as she spoke. "I get… I got flashesover from you… sometimes."

"Emma Swan, if you spill your beer on me, you're spending the night in the living room." Regina warned, dodging Emma's wild gestures with the bottle.

Emma moved in to place a sloppy kiss on Regina's cheek. "Sorry, babe." Then Emma pointed her beer at Belle. "So…?"

Belle's face showed her discomfort and this time it was Ruby's turn to squeeze her hand and wrap an arm around her. "You… okay?"

With a sigh, Belle said. "Yeah. I think I can talk about this." She looked at Ruby, the pain of long-buried memories came to the surface of those blue eyes. Belle waited for a nod from Ruby and another squeeze of the hand before proceeding.

"My mother… She was a psychic too." Belle said, "I mentioned this to Ruby the other night. She had abilities close to Emma's, but they were more erratic, and based on her journals, it seemed like they were triggered very easily, at the mildest stimuli. Even the slightest contact could plunge her into another person's thoughts. And when she was out in a crowd, she would tend to get overwhelmed by the influx of thoughts and emotions and…"

Brushing her hair back, Belle backtracked. "Well, yeah. In the most clinical sense, she was a psychic with little to no control over her abilities."

"What happened to her, dear?" Mrs. Dunbroch asked.

Belle bit her lip and looked at the fire. "She… she committed suicide."

The crackling fire filled the brief silence that followed.

Aware of the light shivers starting to take hold of Belle's body, Ruby rubbed circles into her back, hoping to soothe and encourage her. "I'm… sorry." She whispered.

"It happened when I was five, so I don't really… I don't really have my own memories of her." Belle said, "And it was back when Papa and I were still staying in Australia."

"I knew your accent was Australian!" Emma burst out. "Regina and I were betting on if'was New Zealand or Australian. We thought 'tmight be British or some'in at first."

Regina hushed Emma while Belle just nodded and continued. "Yes, we're from there. I was eight when we moved. Never really managed to shake off the accent. Papa got an opportunity here and thought it would be for the best since the painful memories in the house wouldn't dull. I was ten when the newsreports about Baelfire… about Neal going missing were circulating."

"Oh yeah…" Neal nodded, "I remember Gold had my face and my old name all over the place. It's why Killian and I came up with a new name for me. Hiding my face was a bit trickier, but I did get to grow my hair out for a bit and that made me less recognizable." With a small smile, he added, "Although long hair really didn't suit me so after about a year or two I cut that shit off. The search for me died down by then anyway."

"Yeah…" Belle said, "I… Yeah. That's how I found out about Baelfire Research Center. And that kind of got me very interested in psychics and supernaturals. While other kids were watching cartoons and talking about superheroes, I spent a lot of time getting my hands on every other book I could about psychics and supernaturals. I mean besides the usual fiction books of course. I still enjoyed reading fiction as a hobby. But my childhood obsession was psychics."

"So you developed a fascination for the likes of us early in your life?" Regina eased a bottle out of Emma's reach. "Did that last all the way until high school? College?"

Belle toyed with her hand still clasped in Ruby's. "There was a time that it dulled for a bit. I… I was twelve when Papa was making big progress with setting up his flowershop. In the chaos of having stuff all over the house, I… I came across Mama's diaries."

A low whistle came from Neal. "That must have sucked."

Trembling, Belle shifted closer to Ruby, who tightened her grip. "It did. I was twelve when I read about how she couldn't bear to be near me. I read about how she believed a dead mother was better than a damaged one. And that… that was a very difficult year for me, trying to process that. I eventually talked to Papa about it and he tried to assure me that it wasn't my fault, that there was nothing that any of us could have done."

Belle's jaw clenched and she managed to put firmness into her voice. "I think that was when I decided that wasn't acceptable. That doing nothing? Accepting that nothing could be done? I decided that I would never settle for that. That I would always do something."

She turned to look at Ruby, meeting her eyes. "That even if someone thought they might believe they're beyond saving, I would find a way to help them through that. I would do something. Anything. Because nobody deserves to feel like a slave to their condition, beyond retribution."

The rush of resolve coming from Belle was almost overwhelming. Ruby felt both stunned and touched. Warmth rushed through her as the concept of Belle helping Ruby no matter what, helping her heal and recover and learn to stand on her own… the concept of it felt more concrete now than it ever did before. More than Ruby would have thought possible.

At a loss for how to express herself, Ruby settled for burying her face into Belle's shoulder and pulling her in for a tight hug.

"No matter how long it takes. I'm with you, Ruby." Belle promised. Then she loosened the hug and turned to the group. "It was during a school trip, one of those 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' trips that I came across Baelfire again. That's when I decided to go into the field. Then I went to college, majored in the supernatural and well… the rest, you already know."

"Ruby'n'Belle are so fuckin' cute." Emma slurred.

"Shut up, Emma." Regina rolled her eyes. "You're drunk."

"Are you two gonna like… live together'n'stuff affer dis?" Emma asked, trying to reach for another bottle, which Regina was sliding further out of reach.

Not sure how to process the sudden heat rushing to her face, Ruby just nodded and turned to Belle, hoping she would be able to answer the question.

Belle's face was also flushed, but her voice held more composure than her trembling body did. "Yes, Emma. We've toyed with the idea of that. Although if it were up to me, I'd love if we could all live together like this if we could. I got so used to being connected to all of you that it feels almost painful to think about parting ways."

"I feel you, bro!" Emma lifted both her hands. "Tolally feel you."

"It's a lovely thought, yeah." Aurora agreed.

"So're you two… like… officially… a thing or…?" Emma's bleary eyes wouldn't leave Ruby and Belle and it was starting to get uncomfortable.

"Swan, can you just-"

"Why don't you take the floor, Emma?" Killian suggested. "You're drunk out of your mind anyway."

"Actually," Emma leaned against Regina and pointed at Aurora. "I wanna hear from Sleeping Beauty over there. And maybe Mulan too. Can they go next?"

"Oh," Aurora's eyes widened and she looked at Mulan.

"C'mooon," Emma grinned, "Tell's how you got into paranormal and supernatural and psychicnotnormal shizz!"

Neal clasped his hands together and pleaded with Aurora, "Please, just share anything or whatever before she starts begging really obnoxiously."

"If Emma is this loud now, I can imagine how it created a scene when they went to that bar." Belle whispered to Ruby. She nodded, vaguely recalling the story they told several days ago of the trouble Emma, Regina and Neal got into when the group parted ways to hide and wait for Killian's signal.

"Okay." Aurora said. "I could talk about what it was like, growing up with my Grannies and my parents. And what it was like dealing with the insomnia and the strange dreams."

"I am ready!" Emma shouted. This time she was shushed by Neal, Killian and Regina.

Aurora put her bottle aside and straightened up, one hand clasping Mulan's good one. "I always struggled with sleeping. Growing up, insomnia was always a problem with me. Sometimes my dad would sing lullabies or read poetry to me until I finally fell asleep. But every night, my sleep was erratic. I would either have nightmares of people I didn't know, going through pain or suffering. Or I would wake up and not know where I was. No matter how much I would run, I couldn't find my home. No matter who I tried to talk to, I couldn't get anyone to respond to me, to even look at me or acknowledge my presence."

"So that was your astral projection, wasn't it?" Belle said, "Your consciousness wandering and you couldn't contact anyone because you were there but not really there."

"Exactly." Aurora agreed. "It took me just about my whole life up to this point to figure out what my dreams really were. To be honest, I have you to thank for that, Belle. If you hadn't opened my eyes to the reality that my dreams weren't just dreams, then I would probably still be living on coffee during the day and alcohol during the night."

"Thaf soundssike living d'life though." Emma hiccupped, wrapping her arms around Regina.

Regina looked to be growing irritated as she shook her head and whispered, "Emma, no."

Seeming to choose to ignore Emma's interruption, Aurora continued, "My insomnia and strange dreams did open up interest in studying sleep. It was during my research that I learned of astral projection and similar conditions. That was when I decided to switch majors and focus on the supernatural, with a focus on sleep-related conditions."

A short, clipped laugh came from Aurora. "I don't know how I never connected my research with my own symptoms. Although admittedly, I never did have an opportunity to check if my dreams were real until they intersected with what Belle witnessed in the facility."

"You saw Gold running his sick tests on us, didn't you?" Regina asked. "The night of the full moon? When he made us…" Hesitating, she looked across the fire to Ruby. "When we were forced to take control of Ruby."

Shuddering at the memory, Ruby clenched her jaw and looked away from Regina's eyes. The memories from the wolf's perspective were very vague, but the feeling of losing control of her own body as it was forced into position was vivid enough to make Ruby cringe.

"Thas wassor you got checked permarortly, right?"

"Yes, Emma." Regina said, somehow managing to understand Emma's garbled words. "That was the night I became a detained subject at Baelfire and that… that honestly made me realize how much I had. How great was the privilege of being able to step outside after every time I went in."

Belle was stroking circles into the backs of Ruby's hands. "If it's any consolation, that night became the turning point that pushed forward the move to break you all out."

"Did… did you…" Ruby cleared her throat, swallowed, tried again, "Did you have… other dreams? About… me? About… facility?"

Toying with Mulan's good hand, stroking it and fidgeting with it, Aurora took a moment to figure out her response.

"I… I had a few dreams about being in the facility, yes." Aurora said. "I saw you sometimes, Ruby. Nothing… concrete. Just vague… vague snapshots, I guess. Usually it was when…" A blush crept over Aurora as she continued to fidget with Mulan's hand, bringing it up and under her chin before looking at Mulan. "….when the two of you would interact. I saw you sneak food to Ruby. And I saw you going on a ride with your brother. I also saw you play boardgames with him."

Mulan blinked. "Aurora… what?"

"Look, it's creepy and stalky, I know." Aurora's face was very red now as she clung to Mulan's hand. "I'm sorry. I was trying to figure out how to tell you that I dreamed about you before… er… saw you before. Although that was before I knew that astral projection was a thing I could do. Before I knew that I wasn't dreaming about you but… well… spying on you, which I understand is wrong and totally a breach of your privacy."

"It's… well… knowing this is a little uncomfortable." Mulan admitted, then shrugged. "But I mean after you figured out the extent of your power, you always asked us before you linked into us and brought us to the facility, right?"

Biting her lip, Aurora nodded.

"Then yeah, sure. It's… it's fine." Mulan then looked at Emma. "Does anyone else have anything similar to share?"

"I'ready toldju 'bout peeking in your'ead right?"

"It was Belle who told me about it."

"Ah… right. Shorsry, dude."

"And you're more conscious now about asking before using your powers to peek into anyone else's thoughts, right?" Mulan looked at the triplets. "Because last night Hubert just called you out on poking into his and his brother's heads."

Emma nodded and lifted her hand. "Yesh ma'am. Being more careful'ow. Force o'habit buworking'un it."

"That's good." Mulan said. "Thank you."

"I have a question." Belle said, "Aurora, if you dreamed about… or rather, visited Mulan a few times, does that mean you had some semblance of control over where you projected? I mean assuming of course you were thinking a lot about Mulan already at that time."

Aurora was blushing again. "You could say that. I… I did have a lot of dreams or… or whatever you'd call them. Featuring the people I was attracted to when I was in high school and even when I was in college."

"Wait, I'm curious about something." Regina said, "How were you able to keep your… Mulan-related dreams secret for this long? Given that several times you've linked consciousness with Mulan and Emma."

Shrugging, Aurora said, "I'm not too sure, actually. I guess my focus was so centered on getting our plan to work that there wasn't a lot of time to dwell on my guilt until now that things have slowed down? And I have a theory that Emma and I, given the range of abilities we have, have better control over filtering our thoughts when we link with other people."

Regina and Belle were both nodding and eyeing Aurora with interest.

"Have you and Mulan linked in your sleep? I'm curious." Belle said.

Aurora glanced at Mulan. "We… we haven't since getting out of the facility. Mulan would rather not and I respect that."

"Thank you." Mulan said, then after hesitating for a moment, she said, "Maybe I'll… maybe we can try in the future. I… I want to tell you something, but maybe later." She shifted uncomfortably then seemed to switch topics away from whatever she was going to say. "You've mentioned a few times how you used alcohol to help you sleep. And we all know you kept a thermos full of coffee on you when you were in the facility."

"Yes?"

"Do… do you sleep better now than you did before?"

Aurora nodded. "Yes, actually. For the first time since… since forever, I guess. I'm having real, restful sleep. I still project sometimes, but it's generally just in short bursts and I otherwise have a good sleep. Since we started the escape plan and… and everything that came after, my coffee and alcohol intake decreased, I think."

She kissed Mulan's hand before leaning into her shoulder. "Actually, what Killian said about this feeling group feeling like family is on point. My parents were quite protective but also very distant. Especially as they got busier with their jobs. I was closer to my Grannies than I was with them. But this group? You guys? I feel like I have a purpose here, you know?"

"Yeah, and that purpose isn't driving."

Aurora bolted upright. "Oh yeah, Belle? You're right. It's reaching the cereal on the top shelf at the grocery for you."

"You are practically just an inch taller than me!" Belle tossed a twig at Aurora.

Snickering, Aurora said, "An inch can make or break whether or not you're this tall to ride the rollercoaster."

Putting a hand to her chest and pretending to look deeply offended, Belle gasped, "Aurora!"

"Belle, mate, I think Aurora wins this one again." Killian chuckled.

Belle turned to Killian. "You're keeping track?"

"Yeah. Aurora's on two points now. You're still at zero."

Rolling her eyes, Belle said, "Fine. I'll get even eventually."

"I loves seeing you dwo do your back'n'forth'ing." Emma started reaching for Neal's bottle. He noticed and moved it to his other side. "And Aurora'n'Mulan are suuuuper cutesests ever. But y'know wha's rully nice?"

Regina sighed. "What, Emma?"

"Merida'n'Ruby bein' fffrens'gain."

Glancing at Merida, Ruby gave her a smile. Even with everything that happened, even with all the darkness and pain they carried, Merida found it in herself to forgive Ruby. It was a pure, warming, uplifting feeling and she still couldn't believe that it really happened last night.

But Merida returned the smile, proving that it really did happen.

"You could say we're friends again, yeah." Merida said.

"Do you want to talk about that, dear?" Mrs. Dunbroch asked.

Putting aside her cup, Merida nodded. "Sure. Okay." She looked at Ruby. "I… I had a talk with Ruby last night. And…"

Merida looked away. "I spent so many years hating her. I blamed her for what I was going through. What my brothers were going through."

Well Merida wasn't exactly wrong. If Ruby hadn't gone berserk in that classroom that day then maybe Merida would be living a very different life right now. Ruby could imagine Merida with her red hair flowing in the wind as she joined those archery competitions she used to enjoy so much. She would be winning left and right, maybe competing internationally.

And she would have Dorothy by her side.

"It was hard." Merida said. "Really, really hard. The moment Gold realized I could heal faster than any of his other bears, his tests got harsher and more painful. I think even the guards also got less gentle."

Mrs. Dunbroch put a hand on Merida's shoulder. "I'm sorry, dear."

Putting a hand over her mother's, Merida said, "'Salright, mum. I… I survived each hardship by hanging on to the thought of one day seeing Ruby in the facility. I knew she was in there with us and I… every day and every night, after every test, I prayed for the chance to see her and tear into her. And Gold gave me that chance."

With a shaky sigh, Merida looked up from the fire and back to Ruby. "And I almost killed you."

"I… I would have… let… you." The new scars across her face and stomach were always going to be reminders of that day and how close Merida came to succeeding.

Hugging herself and bringing her knees up to her chest, Merida continued. "Yeah… I… know."

"It was horrible, watching it happen." Belle whispered. "I… I was so scared that you'd kill her. You told me how much you wanted to."

"Yeah." Merida nodded, "I really wanted to. But… but after seeing what she'd been through. After seeing and… and realizing how much Gold destroyed Ruby as well…"

Picking up a twig, Merida tossed it into the fire. "I can see now that even if Ruby fucked up phenomenally, she… she was a victim, too. A victim of Gold's torture. A victim of the choices her family made. A victim to her own condition."

Uncomfortable with being framed in such away, Ruby looked away from Merida's piercing eyes. As much as Ruby hated herself for everything she'd done and all the lives she'd destroyed, there was a part of her that kind of agreed with Merida.

And knowing that part existed was still unnerving to Ruby and she wasn't sure if she could get used to seeing herself as more than a monster who destroyed lives.

But as Ruby looked around the circle, she realized that maybe Merida was right. And Belle. And Emma and Regina and Mulan.

Maybe Ruby had indeed suffered enough for her sins.

"I see you, Ruby." Merida said. "I see how hard you fight to control the wolf. I see how hard it is to control the wolf. Since I had to go through that, too. A lot of the tests they put me through forced me into the bear form and I was dangerous in the bear form."

Looking up, Ruby managed to meet Merida's eyes once more.

"I can understand the struggle to control it. And… and I'll be honest. It's hard. It's still really hard for me to put the past behind me." A small smile formed on Merida's face, but it felt bittersweet as sorrow still lingered behind her eyes. "But I forgive you. I stand by what I said last night. I finally understand that I can't completely blame you."

The smile faded and Merida's face hardened, her eyes looking almost red in the flicker of the firelight. "And I understand that we really need to bring Gold down after what he's done to all of us. If we need to testify or talk to lawyers…"

Merida faltered for a moment, "…even if that means turning ourselves in… facing police for the illegal things we did along the way… facing the people who fear us for what we're capable of… I…"

She straightened up, regaining her strength and putting conviction back into her words. "I'm in."

"Merida… are you sure?" Mrs. Dunbroch asked.

Merida nodded. "Yes, mum. I… I think it's for the best."

"We want in, too." Harris said, followed by nods from his brothers.

Mr. and Mrs. Dunbroch exchanged glances before the latter spoke up, addressing her children. "We can talk about this more later. I think we shouldn't jump into any conclusions. I still really don't like the idea of any of you getting locked up again."

"If… if I may…" Mulan spoke up, "Within this whole party, the boys are the least likely to get locked up again. They're still minors, for one. For another, they don't have a history of hurting anyone like… well… like Merida or Ruby. And they don't have a criminal record like Emma and her partners. And I'm pretty sure CPS will fight for the boys."

"They aslo might take'em 'way frum theirs parsents." Emma said.

"I…" Mulan sighed. "It's a possibility. But… it might not be for sure. This whole breakout aside, Mr. Dunbroch has a pretty clean record. And one could argue that he was just dragged along this whole thing and that could keep him in the clear."

"I'm really not comfortable with this."

"Mum, if we don't make things right, nothing's going to change." Merida said, "What's to stop more people like Gold from putting more people like us through the same fate? We have to change that."

Mrs. Dunbroch's brow furrowed and she looked away. "I… I just don't want you to get locked up again."

"I hurt a lot of the guards in the facility that night we got out." Merida said, "I may have…" Her voice cracked, but she managed to keep going. "I may have even killed some of them."

Continuing to look uneasy and uncomfortable, Mrs. Dunbroch kept her eyes averted.

"If I'm in trouble for that, I have to own up to it." Merida's voice was steady again. "If we don't own up to what we did, why should Gold?"

Taking a moment to close her eyes and mull over her daughter's words, Mrs. Dunbroch didn't answer right away.

"Mum… please? When it's the right time to come out of hiding and talk to whoever we need to talk to, I am going to."

Mrs. Dunbroch opened her eyes and turned to Merida. "Alright. I'll come forward, too." She looked to her husband. "But I would prefer you and the boys stay out of it unless absolutely necessary."

Big shoulders drooping, Mr. Dunbroch nodded. "Okay."

"I shtill don't like…" Emma hiccupped. "…don't wanna go'a cour'room 'gain."

"None of us can force you to, Emma." Regina said. "But I'm inclined to offer what I know and have seen to the investigation. And if there's a chance that my mother will finally experience having consequences for her actions, then I'm going to do what I can to increase that chance."

Emma looked away from Regina. "Okay."

"I want to monitor the investigation a bit more." Neal said, "And continue working with Regina on releasing more insider info and stuff. But I think we should give it a bit more time for more people to lean towards supporting us. When it feels like the right time for us to come forward, I'll let you all know."

"Thanks, Neal." Belle said, accompanied by nods and thanks from the rest of the group. Emma stayed quiet.

The thought of facing people she didn't know was frightening if Ruby were to be honest with herself. The thought of having to talk to strangers about what she went through was almost terrifying enough to send her running for the hills.

But Granny deserved justice. Mother needed to be caught.

And looking around this ragtag bunch she'd come to see as her new family, Ruby knew that those who suffered at Gold's hands didn't deserve to see him walk free. Merida's family suffered and her brothers lost their childhood. Regina lost her childhood. Neal lost his mother and never got the father's love he needed. And Mulan… still couldn't even use her hand.

Mulan who had been a flicker of light in the dark void of hopelessness and self-hatred Ruby lived in at the facility. Mulan who had snuck food to Ruby when the scientists tried to put her on a diet of raw meat. Mulan who had learned to help soothe Ruby through the moments when the wolf might come out. Mulan who tried to make sure the straps weren't too tight. Mulan who tried to make the shower sessions as painless as possible. Mulan who reminded Ruby that she had a name. Mulan who chose not to be like the other guards, employing compassion instead of aggression with the subjects.

"Mulan…" Ruby realized she'd broken the silence when all eyes turned to look at her. She tried not to squirm as she continued. "Just… want to s-say… thank you… again. For b-being… the nice guard."

Shrugging in response, Mulan said, "I could have done more. But I didn't."

"'Swasn't tha'simple for sh'you." Emma said. She managed to sneak a sip of Neal's bottle. Regina noticed and confiscated it.

"Well… yeah. I… I was stuck between two tough spots, I guess." Mulan frowned and shook her head. "I don't know what's the right thing to do anymore. I just know that I either have to finish what we started with Gold or…" She blinked and her voice shook. "…or never show my face to my family ever again. After what I did to them."

"What do you mean?" Belle's brow furrowed. "I thought you'd rather not leave your brother behind?"

With the attention starting to shift towards her, Mulan squirmed and ran her fingers through her dark hair. "I… I'd rather not. We've been together forever." She chuckled. "Literally since conception."

Mulan massaged her injured hand. "I miss him, yeah. We were super close and we loved boardgames. We liked Risk and Chess, but we did try some of the new games as well. Cards Against Humanity was really awkward to play with friends whenever Mom was within earshot so we didn't play that too often. But the games really helped. They helped us… kind of just forget, for a moment."

Tilting her head to one side, Ruby wondered if Mulan meant forgetting the stress of working at Baelfire, or something else.

"I… I feel terrible about the part I played, working at Baelfire." The muscles along her clenched jaw were thrown into sharp definition in the firelight. "I was part of this… this horrible place where people were treated like less than people. Where I contributed to misery and pain and I… I don't know how to forgive myself for that."

"Dude, you helped set them free." Neal said, "You fucking bled for the mission. Isn't that enough?"

Mulan shrugged. "I… I don't know. I just know that I hated the work but I couldn't leave and I couldn't change it because I needed the job. My family needed me to keep the job. My father needed me to keep the job."

"Mate, is… is your family in trouble?" Killian asked.

"You… could say that." Mulan said, "I… Emma and Aurora know about this. But I… my father is very sick. And the job at Baelfire was the biggest break we had with at least coming close to staying on top of the hospital bills. Shang had trouble getting work after we completed our training. We both did, with being Chinese and all… but… but Shang almost had a job after training until the company saw a picture of his boyfriend and they suddenly stopped replying to him. It took him another year or two to land his shitty mall cop job."

"So of the three of you- yourself, your brother and your mother, you had the highest paying job to support your father?" Regina clarified. "And that's why you were compassionate with us but not ready to actively support us?"

Mulan nodded. "Not until I figured out who Ruby was and it… I guess it humanized her for me since I was starting to…" It took a brief pause for Mulan to find the right word, "I guess I was starting to get desensitized. But connecting Subject 204 to this girl I used to see in school… it was one hell of a wakeup call for me."

"Wait…" Ruby frowned, "Did… does that…" She rubbed at her head and sorted through the words in her head. "You… you had to choose? B-between… helping us… or helping y-your… dad?"

Face tense, Mulan stared at the fire. "You could say that, yeah."

This didn't sit well with Ruby. She wasn't worth more than someone's sick father. Than Mulan's sick father.

But it wasn't just about Ruby. It was also about Emma. About Regina. About Merida and her family. The concept of choosing who should take priority was uncomfortable and Ruby couldn't imagine the turmoil Mulan went through. Or even what she might still be going through.

"Why didn't you bring it up before?" Belle asked, her voice soft, laced with guilt. "Or even during those times we were linked?"

"You all had your own burdens. I didn't want to share mine at the time. It would have distracted from the mission. Would have broken our focus." Mulan rubbed at the back of her neck and looked off to the side. "Look. My father was dying yesterday. Dying last week. Last month. Five years ago. Ten years ago. He will be dying tomorrow. He will be dying maybe even a year from now." There was a bitter tone to Mulan's words.

"But the subjects? Ruby, the Dunbrochs, Emma, Regina…" Mulan shook her head. "Gold was actively killing them now. Ruby almost died during one of his sick tests. Contributing to the breakout was a more immediate priority. That's… that's what helped keep me focused."

"Shit, man." Neal sounded stunned. "I'm sorry."

"We're not turning our backs on your father or leaving him behind." Aurora said, putting a hand over Mulan's knee. "We'll figure this out. I'm with you."

Mulan shook her head. "I can't ask that of you, Aurora."

"That's why I'm promising to do it." Aurora said, her voice firm.

"We're sorry," Regina leaned forward, her eyes soft and sincere. "If it's any consolation, Neal and I were planning to get working tomorrow on looking for more ways to speed things along with getting this whole Baelfire debacle wrapped up sooner than later."

"Thanks," Mulan sounded tired and broken as she wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to unload this on all of you. I… I know you're all dealing with worse." Her chin trembled as she continued, "I just have so much on my mind… Staying here is giving me way too much time to think and it's… it's eating me up. I'm sorry."

"Hey, hey. It's okay." Aurora pulled Mulan in for an embrace so she could bury her face into Aurora's shoulder. "We'll figure this out. I promise."

"I think I have a better hold on how to heal your hand." Regina added, "I've been studying the pdf's from Neal and I think we can make bigger progress on our next session if you want to have one tomorrow."

Mulan's reply was a soft and breathy, "…okay."

"You're norras bad ashyou think you are." Emma said, "Y'did best wish your sishwayshon."

"I don't know about that." Mulan said.

"I'm inclined to side with drunk Emma." Aurora said. "You were given a really bad set of cards and you did what you could with what you had. Nobody can fault you for that."

Mulan just shrugged. Then she eased herself off or Aurora's shoulder to be able to look her in the eye. "Aurora, there's something… something I haven't told you yet."

Careful and gentle, Aurora put a hand on Mulan's cheek. "What is it?"

"I've… I've been having nightmares." Mulan said, "Pretty much every night since we got out."

Brow creasing with worry, Aurora asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to trouble you." Mulan bowed her head, avoiding Aurora's eyes. "You kept saying how good it was to finally have real sleep, I didn't want to bother you and take that away from you."

"Hey," Aurora ruffled Mulan's hair, making the short strands stick out. "No more of this not wanting to bother anyone. We love you and want to make sure you're okay."

A flush of red crept over Aurora's face as she took a deep breath and said, "I love you and want to make sure you're okay."

Eyes widening, Mulan straightened up. Her mouth was agape and red was also starting to creep over her face.

"Don't look at me like that, you said it first and totally caught me off guard that time too." Aurora patted Mulan's cheek. "I just wanted to find the right moment to say it back."

"Gerra room!" Emma yelled through cupped hands, only to be aggressively shushed by Regina, Killian and Neal.

"And Mulan?" Aurora's face was still flushed and there were still remnants of a grin on her face, but that started to fade into a more serious expression. "If you're willing, maybe we could link dreams? So maybe I can at least help you or be with you through the nightmares."

Hesitating, Mulan looked away from Aurora. "I'm not sure… I'm… I'm scared of what you might see. And how it might affect you."

"Mulan." Aurora was completely serious now. She put a hand under Mulan's chin and guided her into returning eye contact. "I wasn't there for you when it happened. Let me be here for you now."

Mulan pulled Aurora in for a hug. "Thank you."

"Get a-"

"Emma!" Regina's irritation was clear in the hardness of her voice and even Ruby found herself fearing for Emma. "Do you want to be sent back into the cabin?"

"Nah, if she wants to talk so much, we should let her take the floor." Killian nudged Emma, "What do you say, mate? Share maybe how much you love your big bro's, good ol' Killian and Neal?"

Putting a hand on Killian's face, Emma pushed him away. "Nuthin' goo'bout eerther of you."

"I'm pretty sure we're at least good-looking." Killian winked and elbowed Merida, "Right, Merida?"

Merida shook her head, "Not my type, sorry."

Killian's smile fell. "Right… most of you here are either into girls or…" He glanced at Mrs. Dunbroch. "…married."

The scandalized looks on both Mr. and Mrs. Dunbroch's faces was admittedly amusing, as was the way Killian shrank into himself and hid behind his beer. "I did not… that wasn't… FORGET I SAID ANYTHING."

"Too late, mate." Neal had his face in his palm. "You said it and now it's weird and Mrs. Dunbroch will never go near you ever again."

"Can we talk about something else?" Merida rubbed at her temples. "Please?"

"Well Emma's the only one who hasn't had her spotlight time yet." Aurora said, "Although I'm not sure if she's in the right state of mind to say much of anything."

Leaning against Regina, Emma had bleary eyes and looked like she was falling asleep, her head bobbing down.

"Emma, do you want to go to sleep?" Regina's tone gave away her straining patience. "Because you are on the verge of passing out."

At this, Emma suddenly straightened up and raised her hand. "No, I gotsis!"

"Then proceed." Regina rolled her eyes before folding her arms across her chest. Though her neutral mask was taking shape, Ruby could still see annoyance in the hardness of her eyes and the clench and unclench of her jaw.

"Hey Reggie?" Emma rubbed at her forehead before dragging her hand down her face. "Shyou mad a'me?"

Regina shook her head, "I don't want to talk about this now, Emma."

"Look, I'll shober up." Emma reached for a cup of water and sloppily downed it, spilling about half it all over her chin and chest. "See? Hydrationing!"

"I really think you should just go to bed." Regina avoided looking at Emma.

"'Msorry!" Emma's begged, her shoulders dropping at how Regina's expression never softened.

Regina didn't say anything.

Emma's voice broke and she wiped at her eyes, "'Msorry I dishappoinsed you. Sorry 'mnot ready to tesserfy 'gainst Gold. Sorry 'm fuckin' dunk as shrit. Sorry. Sorry I'm like shis. Shorry I perfer to run away and nerver be found again. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

The neutral expression on Regina's face started to crack, but she didn't say anything and continued to look away from Emma.

"I shoulda shtopped when I gost buzzed." Emma pressed her palms to the ground and unsteadily pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled when she straightened up and Neal looked ready to catch her if she fell. "I shoulda shtopped but I juss… I haven'ad a taste o'dis shit forelever. And tha'sa shitsy escuse. 'Nother shitty ecsuse is the buzz feels good. Feels'ike being happy. I'unno. I'm shorry, Regshina."

"Emma, just sit down."

Emma wobbled again but took a step forward. Her face was red and her eyes were pink and unfocused. "'M not worsh anything. Y'all gimme credit for palning 'scape but Regina should take cerdit for sat. I's misesrsable there. Consisered starfsing self or baiting Gasson inso beating me to dearth."

"Emma, just-"

"You made it bearsable!" Emma gestured towards Regina. "You kep'me commany. You let me shee ousside world sru your eyes when I forfgot whassit looked like. You…" Her hands dropped to her sides and her shoulders drooped. "You geff me a rearson to live. To… to keep living."

She looked away from Regina, bleary eyes roaming over the group around the fire. "Now… being wis you all… being par' of this'ing… this… farmily… 'm scared o'fucking it up. I dunno how'o be part of a family. Nerver had one berfore. I'm… I'm sorry. I ruirned sa night. I'm sorry."

"Emma…" Mrs. Dunbroch was the one who stood up and approached Emma, putting a hand around her waist when she stumbled. "I think the first part about being part of a family that loves you is realizing that we'll love you even if you make mistakes."

Leaning heavily against Mrs. Dunbroch, Emma allowed herself to be led back towards the cabin.

"The second part is understanding that we want to help you avoid repeating those mistakes. And letting us help you. This is just one or two nights. That's okay for now, but we don't want to make a regular thing out of this. Okay?"

"Okay." Emma said.

"And you can talk to Regina in the morning, with clearer heads." Mrs. Dunbroch brought Emma inside. Ruby could hear them working their way up the stairs to the room Emma and Regina were sharing.

"Regina?" Belle said, "Are you… okay…?"

Regina shook her head. "It's… I'm uncomfortable seeing her in that state. I don't like it and I would have appreciated her being more respectful of that."

"That's something you're going to have to talk with her about." Aurora said.

"I know." Regina started picking up the bottles Emma had finished. Neal pitched in and eventually, everyone started cleaning up and packing up.

When they were just about done and starting to head into their rooms, Merida called Ruby's attention. "Wanna go for a run again?" Poking Ruby's ribs with an elbow, Merida added, "This time we run together? Maybe have a change of clothes ready for us at the edge of the woods?"

Although the bed sounded tempting, the call of the woods was noticeably more tempting. Ruby looked towards Belle, about to ask permission.

"Go ahead." Belle said. "You two have fun."

Ruby pounced on Belle to give her a hug before turning to go with Merida.

With Ruby out running with Merida again, Belle decided to camp out in the living room, maybe with another book. There were a lot of classics in the cabin she didn't mind rereading and it would keep her mind occupied until Ruby got back. The anxiety wasn't so bad this time since Belle knew that it was just a casual, supernatural run among two supernaturals.

And it wasn't the grief-ridden flight of distress as last night.

"You won't go to bed yet?" Aurora asked.

"I figured I'd wait for Ruby to get back." Belle said, rubbing the back of her neck and second-guessing herself. Was it appropriate for her to be waiting around for Ruby? Fretting about where she went?

She assured herself that the very unusual circumstances that brought Ruby and Belle together meant that some of their interactions didn't necessarily follow conventional social rules. They probably held hands more often than typical platonic friends, after all. And that was born out of a need to ease Ruby out of her tendency to self-harm.

That and they found comfort in it.

They both did. Belle had to admit to herself that she also drew strength from their handholds.

"Mind if we join you for a bit?" Aurora asked, "Unless you wanted to be alone with your thoughts?"

Gesturing towards the couch opposite her, Belle said, "Nah, go ahead. It would be nice to sit with you two again." With a smirk, she added, "The three of us sitting together is kind of where it all started, after all."

Mulan and Aurora sat down on the couch while the latter said, "Yeah, it does feel like old times. The first time the three of us sat together, you were high on sleep deprivation and Mulan spent the night searching for her high school yearbook."

"Yeah…" Mulan said, "It feels kind of strange… thinking of that as old times when it wasn't that long ago. It was what? A few weeks ago?"

"Roughly two months, I think." Belle answered, recalling that she'd witnessed Ruby on a full moon twice. Leaning back on the couch, Belle sighed. "It feels like longer."

"I does." Aurora agreed. "Sometimes I'm still can't believe it all really happened. Me discovering my abilities. Practicing with you guys and with Emma. Finding Neal and Killian. This whole escape plan debacle."

The awed tone shifted into a more melancholic one as Aurora continued, "Being on the run… being on the news as a criminal… having no idea how my parents feel about me now…"

Mulan patted Aurora's knee, dark eyes reflecting the same sadness. "Yeah… I really hope we can see them again… I need to explain myself to my family… they deserve that much."

A door opened and closed somewhere upstairs, followed by footsteps coming down until Regina came into view. She looked drained but put in the effort to straighten up and greet them with a polite smile. "Good evening."

"At this point I think it's neither morning nor evening." Belle said. "Ariel and I used to call it mornight when we would pull all-nighters working on our thesis papers."

"Were you heading to the kitchen?" Ariel asked.

The air of control and politeness wavered as Regina shook her head and rubbed at her arm. "I… I didn't feel like sleeping just yet."

"Do you want to sit with us for a bit?" Belle shifted so there was room for Regina to join them.

She hesitated for a moment before eventually shrugging and coming over to sit next to Belle. "Thanks."

"How's Emma?" Mulan asked.

"Asleep." Regina answered. She straightened her back and ran a hand through her hair, adjusting it. "Which is probably for the best. Mrs. Dunbroch said she threw up but at least it was in the bathroom and there was no mess."

"Do you want to talk about Emma?" Aurora offered.

Regina stiffened, the neutral expression giving way to irritation. "What's there to talk about? What business is it of yours?" A defensive tone came as her reply. She glared at Aurora, almost challenging her to say something else, just for the sake of maintaining an aggressive conversation.

"Hey, she was just asking." Mulan was leaning forward, meeting Regina's eyes. "It's not us you're mad at and you know that."

For several tense seconds, Regina and Mulan glowered at each other and Belle wasn't sure if she wanted to shrink into her seat or come between them. It had already been a long night and even if the buzz of alcohol was wearing off, Belle doubted she had the level of tact and perception needed to mediate a budding argument.

But thankfully, Regina broke the eye contact and leaned back against the couch. "You're right. I apologize."

"Apology accepted." Aurora said, putting a hand over Mulan's, easing her back into a more relaxed position as well. "I'm sorry for overstepping."

"It's fine." Regina leaned her head back and pinched the bridge of her nose. She sighed. "This just isn't how I hoped the evening would end. I hoped she would notice my discomfort much sooner. Not… not make a scene like that."

"Emma has issues she needs to address." Belle said, trying to choose her words carefully to avoid agitating Regina again. It felt like walking on eggshells. "And how she handled it tonight probably wasn't the best way to go about it. But I think the best we can all do is just move forward from here. There's still a lot of time for the two of you to talk things out."

Tight-lipped, Regina just nodded.

"You two are such a tightly knit pair." Aurora said, "You'll get through this rough patch just fine. We're all still just trying to make sense of this complete 180 in our lives."

"Aurora's right." Belle said, "And being here is giving us all more time to think and dwell on things that we normally wouldn't. So it's understandable that some very heightened emotions or troubling memories are coming to the surface."

Speaking from experience, Belle found herself dwelling on thoughts of her parents, particularly her mother, a lot more often than ever before. There was something about being in a cabin with little to do that put her in a reflective mood and she had a feeling she wasn't the only one experiencing it.

"I just hope this doesn't become a regular problem." Regina was sitting with her back straight once more, tense hands clasped tightly together. "Because I don't think I can handle that."

"Emma loves you too much let it become a full-blown problem." Aurora said. "We felt that when we linked together, we see how she's all over you. Even tonight, drunk out of her mind, the moment she realized that you weren't okay, she was very apologetic."

"I suppose." Regina said. She sighed and leaned forward leaning on her knees. "We've been through too much together and we care for each other too much for this to break us, you're right. I'll talk to her when she's sober and I… I'm sure we'll come to an understanding. She knows how I feel about… this."

It was a relief to see Regina starting to soften. Hopefully she wasn't going to start lashing out again.

"Yeah, I think it'll work out fine when you two get to talk." Aurora said.

Regina nodded. "Yes."

Even if the defensive look to her body language had softened, Belle could see that Regina hadn't quite relaxed yet and the attention on her was probably making her uncomfortable.

"What about you two?" Belle directed the conversation towards Aurora and Mulan. "I thought you were planning to share dreams tonight. Or did you not feel like doing that yet?"

They exchanged glances before Mulan turned to Belle and answered, "I'm not quite ready to go to bed and face the nightmares just yet."

"And we figured we'd keep you company for a bit." Aurora added. Then she shifted in her seat and bit her lip. "Also I wanted to ask you something I've been super curious about."

Belle raised an eyebrow. "This isn't another jab at my height, is it?"

Rolling her eyes, Aurora said, "Well if you want it to be, I could come up with something."

"What, like if I'm short enough to make do with taking my baths in the sink?"

That got a laugh out of Aurora. "I wouldn't even have thought of that." Snickering, she took a moment to compose herself. "I was going more for something like can you reach Ruby for kisses even if you're on your tiptoes or do you need a ladder."

Belle felt her eyes widen while heat rushed up to her cheeks. "What?"

"Aurora, no!" Even Mulan looked scandalized.

"What?" Aurora looked from Belle to Mulan and back. "Weren't they a thing?"

Feeling very conscious of how red she now was, Belle fidgeted with her hands before flattening them down against her knees. "What… what gave you that idea?"

Aurora looked uncomfortable now, her own face starting to flush. "I… I just… I assumed. You two seemed really close."

"To be fair, Emma and I kind of assumed, too." Regina said.

"Oh… so it wasn't just me then." Mulan said.

"I… Well… we're not… officially… we're not…" Belle pressed a hand to her cheek while her fingertips rubbed her temples. "I don't know…? I mean… well we're friends." She felt like she was in high school all over again, with her friends pressing their faces really close, smirking and waiting for the juicy details about a new crush.

But was that the case?

Did Belle have a bit of a crush on Ruby?

It felt so juvenile to think that though. Juvenile to blush and squirm and be jealous of Merida. It was dumb and Belle would have preferred to have this conversation without the effects of sleep deprivation and leftover alcohol.

"So like are you completely platonic or is there like… something going on there?" Aurora asked.

"I…" The initial inclination was to say it was a completely platonic relationship, but then Belle thought about her ridiculous envy of Merida. "I don't know. Does it count that I…" She bit her lip and ran her fingers through her hair, almost forgetting how much shorter it was now as it ended just along her shoulders. "Does it count that I feel a little bit jealous of Merida?"

Mulan, Aurora and Regina all stared at Belle with widening eyes and rising eyebrows.

"That's interesting." Aurora said.

"No, it's not." Belle shifted to lean forward. She suddenly felt lightheaded and giddy talking about it, but she brought herself back to earth. "Being jealous of Merida is wrong. Ruby should have friends other than myself. And it's great that she has this developing bond with Merida. It's a really big step for both of them. And I don't think anyone can understand Ruby better than Merida can, given the parallels in both their experiences and their abilities."

"You're just praying that said bond remains platonic." Regina was smirking and Belle wanted to hide behind the couch.

"I… maybe?" Belle did her best to regain her composure even if her stomach was doing a bunch of odd twists and flips. "Look. I feel… I feel good. Grounded. When we're close to each other. And I'm almost certain she feels that too. But as for pursuing anything romantic with her…"

Something in Belle sank as she continued, "…it wouldn't quite feel right to pursue a romantic anything with her while she's still so dependent. Regardless of what I feel for her, regardless of whatever these feelings are that I don't understand just yet… I…" She felt a strange sense of sadness blanket her at the thought of sticking to her principles and waiting things out with Ruby.

Belle had to reassure herself that it was the right thing to do. "I can't in good conscience take advantage of her dependence like that. I can't in good conscience enter into a relationship with her. Not one of that nature anyway. Ruby needs to learn to stand on her own first."

The silence that greeted her was uncomfortable and Belle found herself filling it with more reasons and explanations. "It just wouldn't be right, right? I mean there's such a clear power imbalance as it is and I just… it wouldn't be fair to her. I mean eventually… eventually, when she learns to stand on her own, maybe I'll do something bold like…"

Another blush took over Belle's cheeks while her hands felt cold as she rubbed them against her knees. "…like confess feelings for her or whatever."

"What if it takes a lifetime for Ruby to learn how to stand on her own again?" Mulan asked, her tone soft but serious. "Gold really did a number on her."

The thought of it taking a lifetime for Ruby to learn to stand on her own brought up conflicted, bittersweet feelings. It wasn't that Belle wanted to rush Ruby's progress or push her further than she was ready, faster than she was ready. Any small step she made towards healing was a step that Belle was willing to celebrate.

But selfishly, Belle felt hurt at the thought of never entering into anything more than platonic with Ruby.

And that just wasn't right.

Ruby came first.

Her healing was the priority here. Not Belle's feelings.

"No matter what it takes," Belle said, surprised to find conviction in her own voice. "No matter how long it takes, I'll stand by Ruby's side and help her heal and learn. I won't stop until she does heal. Even if that takes forever."

But hopefully… hopefully, it wouldn't.

Note 2: So my original plan was to wrap this up with a timeskip chapter and then an epilogue chapter, but I don't have a solid outline just yet so I have to figure it out first since there are still quite a few ribbons hanging too loosely. I can't promise to finish the next chapter in a week, since I want to get this to work out satisfyingly. But yeah. I'd really really love to hear your thoughts. What you're expecting, what you're hoping to see, whose confession broke you the most, whatever is on your mind. And lol feel free to bug me on tumblr at stefi-delly or wolfdogonthemoon awyea