Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC where they have an actor who was actually on Doctor Who. Try to guess who! Anyway, thank you for the reads and reviews and follows. I am so sorry I haven't gotten back to any of you or updated until now, but I basically had two problems: One, I seem to be the only person to ever suffer from severe summer allergies and two, the NBA Finals. Go Spurs Go. Now we're going to be getting into 3B, which is going to be decidedly different from the one that was on TV because well, Beatrice wasn't in that one and how boring would it be if I just did a transcript of 3B? Anyway, please let me know what you think and happy reading!
Beatrice woke up.
She was cold.
"Maine, why do you do this to me?," she grumbled.
She opened her eyes to see Martha.
Who was much bigger.
"Um..."
Beatrice sat up and looked outside.
It was snowing.
She frantically got her iPhone and looked at it.
It was February.
Of the next year.
That would be why her Dalmatian was bigger.
"Dad!"
She rushed down the hall, knocked on the door and rushed in. Her parents were still asleep.
"Dad, Dad, wake up."
Gold stirred, then Belle.
"Beatrice, what's wrong?," asked Belle.
"It's February. Next year. This year. I don't know."
"What?," asked Gold.
She handed him the iPhone, then went to the window, pulling open the curtains.
"February next year?," asked Belle. She got a look at Martha as she jumped on the bed. "Oh, Gods."
"Yes, we are definitely missing a few things," said Gold.
"Should we call Mary Margaret and David?," asked Belle.
"No, I'm sure their highnesses will come calling as soon as they awaken and realize our predicament."
"What's happening?," asked Beatrice.
"If I had to guess, I would say that someone has cursed us with a memory potion," said Gold.
"Like the Dark Curse?," asked Belle.
"We're all still here. We all remember who we truly are."
"Oh, my God," said Beatrice.
"What, sweetheart?," asked Gold.
"The Doctor Who fiftieth! I've forgotten everything!" She inhaled sharply. "The Christmas special! The Doctor regenerated and I don't know anything about it!"
Beatrice rushed off.
Belle and Gold looked at each other.
"I should call Bae."
"I'll call Merlin."
October 22, 2013
"Happy Birthday!"
Beatrice opened her eyes to see her parents and her dog standing over her.
"So, this is a yearly thing, huh?"
"Sit up," Gold ordered and put the breakfast tray over her lap.
"Seventeen!," said Belle, getting wistful. "I can hardly believe it."
"Well, sixteen was last year..."
Gold shot her a look and pulled Martha off the bed.
Belle was undeterred. "Next year you'll be eighteen and the year after that you'll be off to college!"
Gold shot Belle a glare.
Belle rolled her eyes. "Rumple, she already knows about college."
"Yes, I'm not sure I would have let that get out."
Beatrice looked up from her pancakes. "Any big plans for the day?"
"We're meeting up with the family at Granny's later," said Belle.
Beatrice groaned.
"It's much smaller than last year," said Belle. "Mary Margaret and David have sworn up and down."
"And if it's not, I'll wave my hand and all the unwanted guests will vanish," said Gold.
"Oh, that'll be fun."
"Did you invite Mahnaz?," asked Belle.
Beatrice frowned. "Did I invite my one friend in the real world to come to my birthday party attended by a cast of fairy tale characters?"
"She spent the night without incident," said Belle.
"I think she's suspicious about the spinning wheel," said Beatrice. "Besides, her dad is almost as strict as him. He's not going to let her drive here on a school night."
"I am not strict," said Gold.
"Really?"
"There's a difference between locking you in a tower and not wanting you to waste your time on those who are beneath you."
"Let's not discuss that again," said Belle, looking between both of them. "I am going to put a call in to Drury's to make sure your cake is ready."
Beatrice opened the door still in her pajamas holding a bowl of popcorn. Merlin eyed her.
"Can't talk. Doctor Who."
Merlin followed her into the living room.
"This new curse doesn't concern you?"
"The new curse will still be here after I finish watching the new series of Doctor Who, both specials, the new series of Sherlock and another series of Downton Abbey. Unless it's like a really short term curse, but that doesn't seem likely."
Belle entered. "Oh, Merlin, you're alright, thank the Gods," she said embracing him.
"Perfectly fine. And you all?"
Gold came downstairs. "Bae has not answered."
"What?," asked Belle.
Gold grabbed his coat off the rack. "I'll go to his apartment."
"I'll come, too," said Belle.
"No, you stay here with her until we know what we're dealing with," said Gold.
"In the event of a new curse, I need to be babysat?," asked Beatrice.
"I tend to agree with sunshine. For all you know, the new curse is about Beatrice," said Merlin. "Oh, not to mention, I don't quite know what we did with Viviane yet."
"Right, that's fun," said Beatrice. She motioned back at the TV. "I'm just going to keep watching Doctor Who then."
"Mary Margaret and Emma are going to have a town meeting," said Belle. "At noon."
Beatrice checked her phone. "That's only two episodes."
"And what about her charming husband?," asked Gold.
"He has gone with the dwarves to check the town line," said Belle.
Gold scoffed. "Better him than me."
Aurora had arrived to ostensibly spend some time with Beatrice. She was now experimenting with every one of Beatrice's nail polishes while they watched Doctor Who.
"May I bring a date to your party?," she asked suddenly.
Beatrice frowned at Aurora. "You want to bring a date to my birthday party?"
"Why not?"
"Look, Aurora, I don't mean anything by this, but you have been going out with a different guy every night for months. It's not a big town, you've already run through all the single men once and you're coming back around."
"Nothing improper has happened."
Beatrice shook her head. "Yeah, whatever, can't you just take a night off?"
"Do you know how old I am?"
"Oh, God..."
"I am twenty. If you're an unmarried princess at twenty, everyone will wonder why."
"Except you're not in the Enchanted Forest," said Beatrice.
Aurora scoffed. "It doesn't matter. I am not going to be an old maid."
"Ariel's not even bringing Eric which is honestly probably better for Eric's safety since the last time he saw my mom was when all he could talk about was meeting her at some ball."
"Your father only threatened him verbally," said Aurora.
"I know. He's really lightening up," Beatrice admitted.
"Perhaps I could find you a date."
"No thanks."
"I know! You could invite Jamie!"
Beatrice shook her head. "No way. I am not inviting the only boy I know with so much as a passing interest in me to come to Storybrooke for my joint birthday party with the Savior."
"Well, you have to tell him sometime."
"My parents would freak."
Aurora looked pensive.
"What?," asked Beatrice, convinced that some piece of princess knowledge was about to come out whether she wanted it to or not.
"It is your seventeenth birthday and you haven't met your True Love yet."
"Oh, God," said Beatrice, getting up.
"Where are you going?"
"To get more espresso. I need it if you're going to talk like this."
Beatrice opened the door to find Aurora.
"I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Really?," asked Beatrice.
"I thought you would be with the others, trying to figure out what's going on."
"I'm on house arrest," said Beatrice, letting Aurora in.
Martha bounded up to Aurora and the princess gave the Dalmatian her usual enthusiastic greeting.
"I've only done two Doctor Whos, but I'm thinking of starting Sherlock. Want to watch? The second episode has a wedding. I know how you love that."
Beatrice sat to realize Aurora hadn't joined her on the sofa. She stood stiffly.
"Something unusual happened to me this morning."
"You woke up and couldn't remember the past year?," Beatrice offered, petting Martha on the head.
"Something else."
"Aurora, other than waking up missing memories in a town of fairy tale characters, I can't think of anything else unusual so you are going to have to fill in the blanks."
"I woke up with someone."
"Okay, good for you. Let's start the show."
"I woke up with Mulan," she said abruptly.
Beatrice froze. "Okay, like she's your roommate?"
"We were naked."
"Are you sure you don't want to watch TV?"
"Beatrice, this is important! I don't know what happened or what to do."
"Look, Aurora, we have two options. We can come up with a theory for the past year that explains how Mulan got here from the Enchanted Forest and how you ended up sleeping with the woman who last I heard, you accused of stealing your True Love from you. Or we can watch Sherlock."
Aurora thought on it. "You said there was a wedding?"
"Beatrice!," Belle called from upstairs. "You need to get dressed for the town meeting!"
Aurora looked at Beatrice in shock. "You never said your mother was home! What if she tells someone?!"
"You mean like everyone? Because that's probably totally happening."
Beatrice entered Granny's with her parents following her. The dwarves had arrived. Ruby, Granny and David chatted happily. Henry was talking to Ariel and Archie. Mary Margaret was the first over.
"Happy birthday, Beatrice," said Mary Margaret, giving her a hug. The princess was sporting a small baby bump now, evidence of her second child on the way. She started motioning around. "People are still arriving, but presents are over there. Food is on the counter."
Mary Margaret led Belle away. Beatrice turned to Gold.
"Why is it we have all of our social gatherings here and the actual food never comes from here?"
Beatrice noticed her father was distracted. She followed his line of sight to where Emma talked with Neal.
Gold shook his head. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. What were you saying?"
"You're still trying to make that happen?"
Gold looked at her seriously. "You know my only desire is my children's happiness. Miss Swan inherited stubbornness from both her parents. I simply wish your brother was having better luck."
Beatrice leaned in. "You do remember the part where he let her take the fall for a robbery, right? Then she like went to jail..."
Gold shrugged. "All relationships have their difficulties."
"And if some guy set me up for a robbery?"
"I see your point. Though I am pleased to see you haven't given up on love entirely."
"Nope. That's still happening."
At that moment, Tinker Bell approached. "Hey, Beatrice. Happy birthday."
"Oh, good," said Gold. "Perhaps a fairy can actually be useful for once."
Tink rolled her eyes.
"No, hear me out, I think you'll be interested. Certainly if you're convinced Regina has a True Love somewhere out there that she rejected and Regina is well... evil is in her name, isn't it? If she has a True Love somewhere, certainly my daughter- who has never slaughtered a village or cast a Dark Curse- has hope."
Tink turned to Beatrice. "You don't think you have a True Love? That's so sad. Of course you have hope."
Beatrice threw her head back in frustration. "You all seem to think the universe is fair and it's not. The universe doesn't care."
Beatrice walked away, brushing past her mother. Belle walked over to Gold.
"Rumple, did you start with her again?"
"What is it I am supposed to do when she is so devoid of hope?"
"Contradicting her just upsets her and it is her birthday."
"How long has this been going on?," asked Tinker Bell.
"It all began at that ridiculous camp," said Gold.
"We sent her to a science program in Boston for a few weeks, just to get her out of Storybrooke and because she loves physics. It was really good for her. She made some good friends, including a very sweet girl."
"How was it good for her?," asked Gold.
"What went wrong?," asked Tink.
"She fell for a boy and it turned out that he had a girlfriend back home."
"Oh," said Tink.
"Luckily, she had made friends with another boy and they met up at a convention in Boston." She turned to Gold. "Where Rumple decided he didn't approve."
"You went past the town line?," asked Tink.
"I didn't approve because there is no way he's her True Love and therefore he is not worth her time."
"When she told us she didn't expect to find a True Love," said Belle.
"Well," said Tink, "I've been appointed her fairy godmother. Now it's my job to change that."
Belle grinned and looked over at Gold. He didn't seem quite as persuaded.
Beatrice walked up to Emma.
"Your parents are talking pretty seriously to Tink," said Emma.
"Yeah, I'm sure that she and Astrid will find a way to fairy godmother me between the two of them." She held up a small gift bag.
Emma acknowledged the bag with an eyebrow raise and took a gift bag off the table of her own. They exchanged them silently.
"A Wilson's leather gift card? Thanks."
"A Tenth Doctor travel tumbler! Awesome!"
"I feel bad, how much is on here?"
"Oh, don't worry, my dad bought it. He's still trying to suck up to you."
"Right. Great."
"Tink has an idea," said Belle.
Beatrice looked up at her mother and the fairy.
"Make a wish on your birthday candle to find your True Love," said Tink.
Beatrice paused. "You people are serious. What is that going to do? Unless you've replaced the candle with some sort of magic candle in which case, why haven't we been using it?"
"Regular candle with the wish of the Dark Princess," said Tink.
"What could it hurt?," asked Belle.
"Right because no one has ever had anything go wrong using magic. Especially not anyone in this room," she said motioning at Archie and Marco.
"I think you're afraid," said Belle.
Beatrice scoffed. "I'm afraid? Of what? Other than the dark."
"You're afraid that you will find True Love," said Tink.
"It's not happening," said Beatrice.
"Then what's the harm?," asked Belle.
"Fine," said Beatrice. "I will use up my birthday wish on this. Nothing will happen. When I die a non-literal spinster, you will see I was right."
"Everyone it's time for cake!," called Mary Margaret.
They got into position. There were two cakes. Emma's was pink- Beatrice could only assume Mary Margaret or David had chosen the color- and decorated in icing buttercups. Luckily for Beatrice, Mr. Drury had really gotten into reality baking shows and was happy to attempt a TARDIS cake. He still wasn't taking Beatrice's suggestions for new cupcake flavors.
Emma blew out hers.
"Make a wish," Belle whispered.
Beatrice held her hair back and leaned down to blow out the candles. The small crowd at Granny's applauded.
"Sorry to intrude."
At which point, Beatrice looked up to see the most beautiful boy, well man, but youngish, she had ever laid eyes on.
And he had an English accent.
Beatrice turned to Gold. "What the hell kind of candle was that?," she hissed.
Gold frowned.
"I wanted to get a room at the inn, but there was no one there."
"You're visiting?," asked Henry.
"I am."
"Um, I can check you in," said Ruby, eagerly stepping forward.
"That would be very kind."
He glanced back at Beatrice, then she realized he was looking at her mother. Great.
"Just back here," said Ruby.
"Thank you," he said. "Oh, happy birthday."
Beatrice waited an awkwardly long time before saying thank you.
So awkward he was gone.
Beatrice turned to where her mother handed her a piece of cake.
"That was unrelated," said Beatrice.
Belle shook her head and handed Gold a piece. "I never said it was. Tink?"
The fairy nodded. "Of course not."
Gold stared at them quizzically then took a place at a table.
"Because handsome young men with the exact accent that you adore wander into Storybrooke all the time," she added.
Belle giggled. She passed out slices of cake then went with Beatrice to sit with Gold and Merlin.
"Ruby," said Belle. "Who was the guest?"
All ears turned to the lupine girl now.
"His name is Joseph. He says he's a nature photographer looking for autumn foliage."
Emma frowned. "He came to the middle of nowhere in Maine for that?"
"We've had a few tourists wander around," offered David.
"He's cute," said Ruby.
"What do you mean by that?," asked Beatrice.
Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. Just that he's cute."
Beatrice walked with Belle towards City Hall.
"Town meeting, this should be fun," said Beatrice.
"Belle!"
Beatrice and Belle looked down the sidewalk to see a very pregnant Mary Margaret.
"Oh my God," said Beatrice.
"It's not outside the realm of possibility," said Belle.
"She looks so..."
The word Beatrice was thinking of was huge. She last remembered a tiny Mary Margaret and now she was...
Huge.
"Don't say it," Belle warned. "Don't say anything."
"I'm so glad you're here," said Mary Margaret. "There are so many new people."
"New people?," asked Belle.
She nodded. "More people from the Enchanted Forest that didn't come here with the last Curse. They remember who they are and have no idea how anything works."
"That must be so unsettling," said Belle. "Maybe I could organize something at the library to help out? A sort of orientation."
"That's a great idea," said Mary Margaret.
"So..." said Belle, looking at her friend's stomach.
"Yeah," said Mary Margaret following Belle's gaze down.
"That must have been quite a surprise," said Belle.
"Yeah."
"What does Emma think?," asked Belle.
"She hasn't said much. Actually, she has a boyfriend. Another surprise."
"What?," asked Beatrice.
Belle looked at her daughter again. "None of these things are impossible."
"I'm just saying Neal, Hook, I think Jefferson has a thing for her..."
"Really? Jefferson?," asked Mary Margaret. She shook her head. "We can worry about that later. I have got to start this meeting. Everyone is in a panic."
The party was winding down. Some of the guests had offered to take Emma for drinks at the Rabbit Hole and they had departed. Mary Margaret and David had taken home Henry. Now Belle and Aurora picked up the last bits of the party as Beatrice collected her presents and wrapped up the rest of her cake.
Knocking Aurora's present to the floor, she bent down to pick it up and stood up straight to face him.
Him.
"Hello," he said with a slight smile.
"Hi."
"I was just looking for something to eat."
"Oh, well, Ruby went to the Rabbit Hole and I think Granny is probably sleeping."
"Anywhere you recommend?"
"Well, Mushu's is open until ten. It's down the street. Then George's Taverna, a couple of blocks over."
"I don't think I'm that hungry."
"Do you want some cake?" Beatrice picked up the last already sliced piece.
"Thank you," he said, taking the plate and fork. "So, seventeen..."
"How did you know that?"
"It was on the cake, wasn't it?"
"No."
"By your appearance, I narrowed it some. Hard to tell with your mother who appears to have been very young when she had you, but also aging quite well. Your father is much older than your mother so he was no help," Joseph added, taking a bite. "Then I wondered where was the car?"
"The car?," asked Beatrice.
"Sweetheart," Gold piped up from behind her. "We ought to be getting home. You have school in the morning."
"Right," said Beatrice.
He held his hand out to the newcomer. "I'm Mr. Gold."
"Joseph Gilette."
"Will you be staying in Storybrooke long?"
"I suppose I'll see what the leaves do."
Now Belle was on the case. "I'm Belle," she said offering her hand.
"Hello, Belle."
"Ruby told us you're here for the foliage," said Belle.
"Yes, the Acer saccharum are supposed to be excellent," said Joseph.
"I'm the librarian. If you need anything while you're here, the library is just next door."
"Thank you. I might take you up on that." He put the plate down. "Thank you for the cake, Beatrice."
"I didn't-"
He smiled back at Beatrice.
"Nature photographer..." Gold said with a grimace.
"I think he's nice," said Belle.
"You thought Tamara was nice," said Gold.
"I thought you were nice," Belle teased back.
"And that just proves my point."
Following Mary Margaret into City Hall, Belle and Beatrice came upon Gold and Merlin quietly discussing the various ramifications of whatever Curse they were under.
"I'm telling you it makes more sense, sunshine," said Merlin. "One curse brings them over and wipes our memories."
"Yes, but why would you need to do both?," asked Gold.
"Uh," Beatrice began awkwardly, "for what it's worth, I don't think the same Curse brought them over and wiped our memories."
"What makes you think that, sweetheart?," asked Gold.
"Someone sort of told me that they woke up next to someone who wasn't here at the time we stopped remembering," said Beatrice.
Merlin shrugged. "A curse could do that. A curse could do anything."
"The circumstantial evidence around this suggests that they would have had to do something last night..." Beatrice said mortified.
"Well, I'd like to know who for my own amusement," said Merlin.
"I would like to know who so I can discuss with them that such topics are unsuitable for you," said Gold. "Was it Miss Swan?"
"What? No!"
"Rumple, if it was said to her in confidence, that's an end to it," said Belle. "Though, yes, Mary Margaret said Emma has a boyfriend."
This did not deter Gold. "Miss Lucas?"
"Why would Ruby come running to me about her sex life?," Beatrice shrieked.
Gold flinched.
"You do realize she knows sex exists, don't you, sunshine?," asked Merlin.
"What about Bae?," asked Belle, changing the subject.
Gold shook his head.
"What about one of your locator spells or the blood magic thing?," asked Beatrice.
"No such luck. Either they don't work under the new Curse or someone is intentionally keeping my son from me," Gold seethed.
"I have heard others are missing as well," said Merlin.
Belle rubbed Gold's arm. "You'll find him."
The sorcerers continued talking and Beatrice hung at her mother's side around the room.
"Mulan!," said Belle.
This was not happening. This was not happening. Her mother was actually calling Mulan over.
Mulan turned. She had her Storybrooke clothes on, military jacket, sweater, jeans and boots.
"Belle," said Mulan. She looked at Beatrice. "It's you. You were in the Enchanted Forest with the Dark One."
Belle smiled. "This is my daughter, Beatrice."
"Well, I suppose it's good to meet you formally, though I never expected to be here at all."
Belle nodded. "You'll get the hang of it. Do you need help with anything in the meantime?"
"I'll adjust," said Mulan. "So you and the Dark One..."
Belle nodded.
"I know," said Beatrice. "Lots of surprise pairings today."
Mulan blushed and excused herself, being sure to pick a seat as far from Aurora as possible.
"Everyone if we could all take a seat and get started," said Mary Margaret.
Beatrice followed her mother to a seat by her father and grandfather.
Mary Margaret and Emma took the space in front of the dais as everyone shuffled into their seats.
"So," said Emma, "does anyone remember anything after we got back from Neverland?"
The room was silent.
Then the rabble began.
"What happened to our memories?"
"Does the Enchanted Forest still exist?"
"Who cursed us?"
"We all know who did this!," said Leroy turning. "The same person who cast the last Dark Curse!"
The attention of the whole room turned towards Regina hanging alone in the back, save for one college-looking boy in the corner who Beatrice thought was pretty cute. She had never seen him before. Was he from the Enchanted Forest? He did seem pretty bewildered by the whole setup.
"Why would I do this?," asked Regina. The Evil Queen's snapping plucked Beatrice from her wondering about the new college boy. "What would be the point of wiping away a year of your miserable lives? And why would I bring over more of you?"
"Well, what about Gold?," asked Leroy.
Belle began first. "Rumple didn't-"
Gold placed his hand on Belle's wrist. "I can easily remove myself from the running. If I had cast a curse, I would know where my son was. Also, you would all be far less tiresome."
Emma nodded. "Fair enough-"
"There's someone else that powerful," Ashley chimed in. "And we have no idea what she's capable of."
"Ashley," hissed Mary Margaret.
"You are treading on thin ice, dearie," Gold sneered.
Merlin leaned forward to look sideways. "I would add something but I don't speak stupid."
"Oh, she meant me," said Beatrice.
There were some murmurs among the crowd.
Beatrice stood. "I can exclude myself."
"Beatrice, you don't have to-" said Mary Margaret.
"No, no, I can do this." She turned to the rest of the room. "First off, the hearts of everything I love most are fine. Dog's good, too. Second, if I was going to curse the town we would have a Starbucks. Maybe two. A frozen yogurt place. A cupcake place. I'm not talking Drury's cupcakes, I mean Sprinkles with fun flavors. Third, Comic Con would be held here. Fourth, David Tennant would be filming the American version of Broadchurch down the street and he would get to keep his Scottish accent."
Mulan leaned forward to Belle. "What is she talking about?"
"Okay, Beatrice, I think you've said enough," said Emma.
"She didn't say she wouldn't," said Ashley.
Emma groaned.
Beatrice shook her head. "I've got two seasons of Downton Abbey to watch, Ashley. I don't have time for your crap."
Beatrice felt Belle's hand pulling her back down to her seat as yet another town meeting closed without anyone getting closer to the truth.
Afterwards, Belle began to seek out the newcomers to Storybrooke and inviting them to the library for an orientation to modern life that she had just come up with. Gold and Merlin reconvened to discuss how to find Neal. Beatrice stood in front of City Hall and tried to go back through her text messages, but they seemed to be gone as well and she had apparently changed her iCloud password.
"I think I need to speak with you."
Beatrice looked up. It was college boy.
He had an English accent. Just when she had thought he couldn't be more attractive...
Beatrice tried to collect herself. "Did you need some help? Because my mom is having an orientation at the library tomorrow. She's filled up the morning session."
"I went to bed in my flat last night. I woke up in a town in Maine where people say they're fairy tale characters. I even met Mulan."
"Okay, since you just said fairy tale characters, are you incredibly sure you're not from the Enchanted Forest?"
He didn't seem amused by that. "Right. What is the game?"
"The game?"
"Why is everyone pretending to be a fairy tale character?"
"It's not really pretending."
"Role playing. Acting. Whatever you want to call it. Is it for a television show or do you all just enjoy it as some kind of ritual?"
Beatrice looked around. "There is never anyone around to do the explanation speech when you want them. Seriously, where is Henry?"
"So, you're content to tell me that you and every one else in the town is a fairy tale character?"
"Well, I don't think everyone is main cast, there are a lot of role players."
"Prove it."
"Sorry?"
"There's nothing that points to you all being fairy tale characters, no evidence. Just your own delusions."
"Delusions?" She motioned towards Gold in the distance. "My dad is Rumplestiltskin."
"Well, short of him spinning straw into gold-" college boy said, his voice dripping with cynicism.
"You want proof?"
Beatrice stepped back. She stamped her foot on the ground and the courtyard was covered in ice.
He stood dumbfounded.
"What was that?," he asked when he finally spoke.
"Proof."
"Beatrice, someone could slip!," Belle called.
"Sorry," said Beatrice, waving her hand to vanquish the ice. She looked back at college boy. "So, you're not from here and you're not from the Enchanted Forest..."
"Decidedly not."
"You're not from the Land Without Color, are you? Frankenstein's from there."
"Frankenstein?"
"Yeah, he's real, too." She paused. "So how did you get here?"
"How would I know? I'm just as clueless as the rest of you."
"Beatrice."
She looked up. Gold and Merlin had managed to close the distance away they had been standing once they realized Beatrice was talking to someone.
"Who's your friend?," asked Merlin.
"Joseph Gilette," he offered along with his hand.
"Merlin."
"I haven't seen you before," said Gold.
"Yeah, he's not from here and not from the Enchanted Forest, so-"
"Then how did you get here, dearie?," Gold sneered.
"I don't know. I'm just as affected as the rest of you."
"Do you suppose you can sort that out without my daughter's help?," asked Gold.
"Dad!," said Beatrice.
Regina approached. "Gold, we have a problem."
"I'm a bit busy at the moment, dearie," said Gold.
"Trust me. You'll want to make time for this," said Regina.
"What seems to be the problem, Your Majesty?"
"I just visited my vault."
Gold rolled his eyes. "What's missing?"
"That's just it. Nothing is missing. Someone else is there."
"Who?," asked Merlin.
"My mother," said Regina. "She's dead."
"How did Cora get here?," asked Gold.
"I thought you used the Sword of Damocles," said Merlin.
"We did," said Gold. He glanced at Beatrice.
"I don't know, there weren't operating instructions on it," said Beatrice.
"Could Cora have cast your curse?," asked Merlin.
"In order for it to work, you need to sacrifice the thing you love most," said Gold. "Cora ripped her own heart out. She can't love anything or anyone."
"Terribly sorry. She ripped her own heart out?," asked Joseph.
"Yeah, she was kind of crazy," said Beatrice.
This earned a glare from Regina.
"What? Are you going to stand here and act like she wasn't?"
"Who is he?"
"Just for fun, let's make certain she's dead," said Merlin. "If we have to, we'll kill her again. And again. Until it sticks."
Beatrice and Joseph went to follow. Gold turned and pointed at Beatrice.
"You are going home with your mother until this is resolved."
"What? The Curse? The last one took like twenty-eight years."
"Let's hope this one moves quicker." He looked at Joseph. "You. I don't care."
"Mind if I come along then?"
Gold eyed him.
"I'm good with a corpse."
"Oh, sunshine, let him come. You only get one chance to see the dead Queen of Hearts," said Merlin. He turned to Regina. "Though I suppose it's more in your case, isn't it?"
Beatrice watched them leave and Belle walked up to her.
"So, who's your new friend?," she asked.
"No idea."
