Chapter 35

"You made him forget?"

"Hello, Maleficent. Lovely to see you again. Can I offer you a beverage?" Regina smiled brightly, offering a fuming Maleficent the glass of cider she'd just poured herself.

"How could you make him forget?" Maleficent raged.

"I believe your request was for Aurora to suffer. I don't see why her husband should suffer along with her, thinking his wife just up and left him. As far as he's concerned, his wife died years ago." She took a slow sip of cider, watching Maleficent over the rim of the glass.

Maleficent smirked. "Well at least he's half right."

Regina nearly choked on her cider. "You killed her?" She sputtered, narrowly avoiding spilling cider down her t-shirt.

"Of course not. I didn't want her dead," Maleficent pouted. "I wanted her to suffer. But alas, you said something bad would happen to anyone who left Storybrooke and at least now we know what that something is." Regina stared at Maleficent, at a loss for words. "It's quite upsetting, really. I followed her to the edge of town, watched her stroll down the road, and then…thud."

"Thud?" Regina said, raising an eyebrow.

"Just dropped dead, right there in the middle of the road."

Regina shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"Really? Go see for yourself. She's probably still lying there. I wasn't about to test the curse's boundaries just to retrieve her corpse." Maleficent opened her mouth to say something else, but Regina was already grabbing her coat and heading out the door. "A lovely visit as always, my dear," she called after her.

Regina's head was spinning. How could it be? Was Maleficent telling the truth? There was a simple way to check, Regina knew, but as she stared in the direction of the town limits she felt a shiver run down her spine. She didn't quite understand it; she was no stranger to death. But she didn't need to see a corpse to know that Maleficent was telling the truth. All she had to do was search her memory, years ago when she first ventured out of Storybrooke. The pressure building, the searing migraine – she froze, nearly choking on her shock and horror. She had nearly reached the edge of the boundary. She had nearly died. That realization was difficult enough to swallow, but with it came another blow: she was as much a prisoner in Storybrooke as anyone else.

Her legs began to move, running on auto-pilot, her mind still reeling. Her thoughts were such a jumbled mess that she hardly even noticed the buildings rushing by until she came to an abrupt stop. She looked up and was not the least bit surprised to see the sign for Gold's pawn shop. She stepped inside without hesitation, marching briskly up to the counter where Gold was dusting some shelves.

"Ah, Miss Mills. I hope you're enjoying this beautiful weather. Come to browse, have you?" Gold smiled cheerfully.

Something in Regina's throat caught as she started to speak. Gold gave her a concerned and slightly curious expression. She swallowed and took a deep breath. "Rumplestiltskin." She waited for the shock of the transformation to wear off before she said, "I want to make a deal."

"Well there's always time for that," Rumple said, grinning. "What exactly did you have in mind?"

Regina had intended, upon entering the shop, to confront Rumple about yet another flaw in the curse. But as she stood there, gazing into his glee-filled eyes, she felt disgusted. Not with him, but with herself. Rumple had explained that 'something bad' would happen to anyone who left, and Regina had been so eager to get her hands on the curse that he might have said anything and she wouldn't have cared. Now here she was, faced with the possibility of Storybrooke citizens wandering off and simply dropping dead at the next town. Her lack of foresight was too sickening to admit. "I want you to create a barrier around the town," she said at last.

Rumple raised an eyebrow. "A barrier?"

"No one crosses the town border…unless they know about the curse, or have my express permission. Anyone who tries will…experience some sort of unease, or minor emergency that forces them either back into town or back out of it. Can you do that?"

"Not without magic."

"And not without something in return, no doubt?"

"We know each other so well," Rumple said, smiling warmly.

"What have you done?" Emma coiled her fist around the front of Regina's shirt, thrusting her back against the kitchen counter, her eyes blazing with fury.

"I had no choice! He forced me!" Regina shouted, alarmed and equally furious.

"You liar!" Emma screamed.

"I'm not lying!"

"Emma," Snow placed a gentle hand on Emma's shoulder. Emma felt a warm, calming sensation spreading through her from Snow's touch. Her fury began to dissipate and her breathing slowed. She looked into Regina's eyes and knew that she was telling the truth.

"Tell me what happened," she ordered, releasing her grip on Regina's t-shirt.

Regina smoothed her crumpled shirt, her own anger still burning. "It was part of a deal we made in the Enchanted Forest. In exchange for telling me how to properly enact the curse, I agreed that once we came here I would grant any request he made as long as he said 'please'."

"And you agreed to that?" Emma asked, eyebrows raised in shock.

"I knew we were going to a land without magic. Without magic, there was nothing in place to actually enforce the deal. Of course, breaking it would have consequences so I honoured our agreement, but he knew there were limits to what I would do. There's always been a very delicate balance between us."

"Until now," Emma added, shaking her head. She took a deep breath, watching Regina closely. "Let me get this straight: now that magic is back in Storybrooke, you're effectively his slave?" Regina bristled at the word, but she nodded. "So that's why he was willing to bring you back. And give you back your powers without consequence." Again Regina nodded, knowing Emma's assumptions must be correct. "Well, I guess there's only one solution now." She held out her hands. "I'm taking your power back."

"WHAT?" Regina shouted.

"As long as you have magic Rumple can use you as a weapon. You have to give it up." Regina just stared, horrified. "Give it up or you can go back to prison." Far from the fury and indignation Emma expected, Regina's eyes widened in sheer terror. Emma could see her begin to tremble slightly and she regretted the threat instantly, but she couldn't back down from it. She took a step towards Regina, her hands held out. "Don't make me do it."

Blinking back tears, Regina clasped Emma's hands in her own. Unlike Emma's long, guided, clumsy efforts, Regina quickly gathered her magic and threw it at Emma with such force that it sent her flying backwards. "Take it," Regina hissed, and she marched into the guest room and slammed the door.

"Are you alright?" Snow asked, rushing to Emma's side.

"I'm fine," Emma grabbed the hand August offered her and he pulled her up.

"Did it work?" James asked.

"Definitely." Emma rubbed her shoulder gingerly where she had struck the floor.

"You shouldn't have threatened her like that," Snow said quietly, looking Emma straight in the eye.

Emma sighed heavily, guilt solidifying uncomfortably in her stomach. "I know. I panicked. Rumple could come back at any minute and who knows what his plan is." Emma looked at Snow imploringly. The look in Regina's eyes was burned on her retinas and she couldn't erase it. A threat was one thing, but Emma knew better than anyone what Regina had suffered. Emma was shocked by her cruelty and she silently begged Snow for some sign of forgiveness. Snow looked at her pityingly but said nothing. Emma recalled her inability to assuage Snow's guilt over ignoring Regina's illness and she knew that Snow could do no better for her now. She shook her head, trying to bring her focus back to the situation at hand. "We never should have trusted him."

"All this time," August marvelled.

"He knew we'd all rely too much on my ability. He knew exactly how much truth to spill to make us trust him." She looked around at everyone. "So is he in league with the Blue Fairy now?"

"No way," August said. "He hates fairies, especially her. He blames her for losing his son."

"His son?" Emma asked.

"Baelfire."

"Baelfire?" They both said in unison.

"You know about him?" August asked.

"Rumple has a son?" James asked, incredulous. Snow appeared to share the sentiment.

"No," Emma groaned, putting her hands over her face.

"What's wrong?" Snow asked, concerned.

Emma let her hands fall. She shook her head, looking up at the ceiling. "I owe that bastard another gad damn fucking favour."

Just so no one's confused, that moment I described with Regina reaching the edge of the boundary isn't something you've read about yet. If you're feeling lost, don't worry.
Oh, and I know I said no SwanQueen, but next chapter has a nice little moment in it for all you SQ fans.