Chapter FORTY-NINE: Confrontation

Mother Superior had shown Mary Margaret and David to the Doctor's room at the Monastery and left them to it. They knocked on the door, and the Doctor answered it, and stared at them. "Now what do you want?" He asked. "I'm supposed to be figuring out who this Clara is. Not trying to go on all your errands."

"It's about Cora," Mary Margaret said. "She wants to get the Dark One's dagger."

"Guys, don't worry. It's safe. She won't get it."

"But wouldn't you like to know that it is safe?" David asked.

The Doctor looked at him. "What do you have in mind?"


The Doctor led them through the halls of the Storybrooke Monastery, til they got out the back door. He walked through the backyard, til he got to the TARDIS – which was in the corner, hidden by bushes. He took out his key, and unlocked the doors.

Mary Margaret and David watched him curiously. "Why is your ship far away from your room?" David asked.

The Doctor turned around, and said, "Cause it's the most powerful ship in the universe. I don't want it falling into the wrong hands." And, with that, he went inside, followed by both Mary Margaret and David.

Once they were inside the ship, they looked around in awe. "It's so beautiful," Mary Margaret said.

"Yes. Yes she is," the Doctor said, before walking over to the console in the centre of the room and fiddled with some switches. He flipped one switch and the doors locked again, before he fiddled with some more.

"What are you doing?" David asked.

"Just turning on the HADS," the Doctor explained.

"The what?"
"The Hostile Action Displacement System. When the TARDIS is in a hostile environment, the TARDIS will relocate itself to a more safer place."

David nodded slowly. "Makes sense. So, where is this dagger?"
"Follow me," the Doctor said, as he started to walk down some corridors, to the safe room.

As they were halfway there, they heard the faint sound of the TARDIS engines. "What was that?" Mary Margaret asked.

"The TARDIS taking off. Which means we were under attack..." the Doctor explain.

"Regina and Cora ..." Mary Margaret said.

"They found us," David finished.

The Doctor nodded, and continued on to the room. Once there, he went inside and went over to the wall of safes. He chose one, and placed his palm on the front, which made the door swing open and revealed the Dark One's dagger. "Told you it would be safe," he said.

"A clever hiding place for a very clever man..." David muttered, when the lights turned off suddenly.

"O...kay..." the Doctor said, as he looked over the room, before scanning it with his sonic screwdriver.

"What happened?" Mary Margaret asked.

The Doctor read the readings. "It appears the powers gone off. Like something is interfering with it. I have to go down to the engine room and override the whole circuit."

"They must have found a way. They always find a way," Mary Margaret said.

"Will the dagger be safe here?" David asked.

The Doctor shook his head. "Without the electricity running through, it's just a steel door."

"We have to take it with us," Mary Margaret said. "We can't let Cora get that dagger." She went forward and reached out to the dagger, grabbing it.

Once she had it, they started off to the engine room again. They reached the door to the Eye of Harmony a few minutes later, and the Doctor turned to face them.

"What's in there?" David asked.

"The Eye of Harmony. Its an exploding star on the verge of becoming a black hole. We can't stay in there for long," the Doctor said, as he opened the door and walked inside, followed by both David and Mary Margaret.

They walked in but were stopped when Cora and Regina poofed in front of them.

"The Dark One can finally be controlled. But by whom?" Cora asked.

"No..." the Doctor said. "He won't. And we can't stay here for long. Otherwise that star will start to liquefy us. And, anyway, how did you turn the TARDIS power off?"

Cora waved her hand and put a forcefield around them. "We paid a visit to some friends of yours, Doctor. They have no memory of you. But, they still know how to defeat a TARDIS. Oh, by the way … you can have your medallion back..." she said, as she took the Wraith's medallion out of her pocket and threw it on the ground in front of the others.

The Doctor picked it up. "The wraith..."

"Cora..." Mary Margaret said.

"...You're too late," David finished.

"Actually, it seems that we found you just in time," Cora said.

"I told you to pick your side carefully. Good has won, just as it always does," Mary Margaret said to Regina.

Cora chuckled. "I think the day has finally come, my darling Snow, for you to learn a long overdue lesson." She put her hand up, and poofed Johanna – Snow's Governess – into the room.

"Johanna!" Mary Margaret exclaimed.

"You see, in the end, it isn't good or evil that wins, but power."

The Doctor stared at her, shaking his head. "That's not true. Thats never true."

"Oh, Doctor. You should know that more than anyone. The reason why you have won over all these years is because of your status."

Regina walked in front of Johanna and stuck her hand in her chest, ripping out her heart. Everyone gasped, and the Doctor took his sonic screwdriver out. Regina turned to face them. "Your choice."

"Do not harm her. She has nothing to do with this," Mary Margaret said.

"Of course she does," Cora said.

"Whatever they want, Snow, don't give it to them," Johanna said.

"Quiet, handmaid," Cora said, as David took his gun out.

"Mother, watch out," Regina said, as Cora waved her hand, knocking David's gun through the forcefield and into the Eye of Harmony.

"Leave me, Snow!" Johanna exclaimed, as Regina started to squeeze her heart.

The Doctor aimed the sonic at the heart, and gave it a whir, which loosened Regina's grip.

"What are you doing?" David whispered to the Doctor.

"Oh, just reversing the polarity of the magic," the Doctor explained.

"Enough of this. Surrender the Dagger," Cora said. "We all know you will follow your mother's example, no matter the cost. All she ever wanted was for you to be good."

Mary Margaret stared at her. "Those words? Where did you hear those words?"

"Where do you think?"

"The Blue Fairy made me swear never to speak of that candle again. Not because it was a secret, but because it wasn't her."

Cora outstretched her hand. "The dagger, dear."

"She didn't give me that candle. You did. My mother wasn't sick at all, was she?"

Cora chuckled. "Oh, she was quite sick."

"You did all of this. You killed my mother."

"Actually, the candle would have worked. You could have saved her."

"But you knew I wouldn't. Why? Why did you take her from me?"

"To make my daughter the queen," Cora said, which made Regina turn her head to Cora in surprise.

"Hand over the dagger," Regina said.

"No. No. I will not let you win. Not again," Mary Margaret said.

"You already lost your mother. How many connections to her do you have left? Not many, I'd wager," Cora said.

"If we give up the dagger, we can still win," David whispered.

"Let me go, Snow! It's alright," Johanna said, but Regina squeezed her heart again. But the Doctor countermanded it with the sonic.

"What would she say if she could see you now?" Cora asked. "If she wasn't dead?" Cora held out her hand. "The dagger dear..."

The pressure was too much for Mary Margaret and she threw the dagger down on the floor and dropped to her knees. "Enough!"

Cora magically picked up the dagger, and said, "Such a good girl."

"You have what you came here for," Mary Margaret said., and Regina put Johanna's hand back inside her body. Once inside, Johanna went over to the Doctor, Mary Margaret and David, but Cora said, "Not quite everything." And with that, she magically threw Johanna into the Eye of Harmony, leaving the three horrified.

Mary Margaret broke into tears, and David held her tightly.

"Well, there you go," Regina said. "You see where good gets you?" And with that, Regina and Cora poofed out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor started to usher Mary Margaret and David out of the Eye of Harmony room. "Come on..." he said. "The forcefield is gone now..."

David nodded and walked with Mary Margaret out of the room and walked through the ship slowly.

"That never should have happened," Mary Margaret said. "Johanna was an innocent."

"You can't blame yourself," the Doctor said.

"Exactly. You did the best you could do in an impossible situation," David said.

"I've followed the same rule my entire life," Mary Margaret said. "Hold onto goodness. It's what my mother taught me. How many more lives is following that lesson going to take away from me?"

"You can't let Cora make you lose faith in who you are. Someone who does the right thing. You know, that's exactly what she wants."

"I made the right decision when I stopped Regina;s execution all those years ago, when it could have saved us all of this heartache. I made the "right" decision when I sent Emma through the wardrobe alone, and we didn't see her first steps. I made the "right" decision when I let my mother die from Cora's poison."

"And we keep beating them."

"At what cost? All I want is our happy ending. It's time. We've earned it. No more lives lost. No more hearts broken."

"You know, that dagger is useless til Rumple returns to Storybrooke, you know..." the Doctor pointed out. "It gives us time to get it back."

"And we can bring Cora and Regina to justice at the same time," David said.

"I don't care about justice anymore. We keep thinking that people will change. What if that's wrong? What if I'm the one who has to change?"Mary Margaret asked.

"Change how?" David asked.

"I'm going to kill Cora."

The Doctor shook his head. "There must be other ways."

Mary Margaret shook her head. "We've tried all. Death is the only thing that can stop her."

They exited the ship, which was now in the woods, and the Doctor walked around the exterior, pulling off the metal plates of the sides. Once they were all off, the Doctor heard the healthy hum of the TARDIS again. "There you go..." he muttered.

"Doctor..." Mary Margaret began again. "We need someone with your experience. Will you help us?"

"Only if I don't have to kill..." the Doctor said.

"Fine," Mary Margaret said. "You won't have to."


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Pinkylover68 ~ Once Upon a Time Lord: The Snowmen takes place after INTERLUDE THREE-POINT-FIVE in Once Upon a Time Lord: When Worlds Collide. The Bells of Saint John takes place in Welcome To Storybrooke, and The Day of the Doctor takes place between Season TWO and Season THREE. I hope this helps.