Oh goodness, thank you all for your comments and replies and reviews. They do help. I've found a time for myself to write every day, and while it won't always be updates I'm working on, I will make sure I do more often. I've missed writing EC so much, and this chapter doesn't have much because we're still working with their missing memories, but there will be a little more of it to come in the next chapter!
Please review :)
It was late that evening, not long after David and Snow had finished dinner, that he opened the door to see his daughter. Relief at seeing her flooded through him and he pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight for a moment. When Emma had stared in surprise at Snow's pregnant belly, his wife had given a light chuckle.
"You should see Regina," Snow said.
Emma raised her eyebrows. "Regina's pregnant?"
"Uh, she had twins while we were there, apparently. They're a few weeks old, three I think she said," David chimed in.
"Well… that's… something. And we're certain she's not behind this?"
Snow shook her head. "Regina's been as clueless as all of us. I'm sure she didn't do this."
"Still seems like her. No memories, cursed…"
"No. I think she's changed," David answered. "Whatever happened in that missing year, even if she doesn't have her memories, Regina's behavior is different. Maybe it's the babies, or missing Henry, but I really don't think she was behind this."
"Well, then we need to figure out who did do this, and how to break the curse."
David sighed. "There's a lot more to talk about, but it's late, maybe we should turn in for the night and talk tomorrow. Where's Henry? Do you want to get him and stay here?"
With a shake of her head, Emma stood. "No, we'll go to Granny's. Hook only had enough potion for me, so Henry doesn't have his memories, and I need to think of how to try to keep magic and everything a secret from him until everyone does get their memories back."
They said their goodbyes with the plan to meet for breakfast at the diner. David called to invite Regina, not telling her that Henry and Emma were in town because he didn't know how to explain to her over the phone that even though she'd get to see her son again, he wouldn't know who she was. After barely getting her to agree, he hung up and relayed the conversation to his wife.
The next morning, Regina brought the babies in the double stroller into the diner again, going to the table where David and Snow were already waiting for her. She left the stroller there, then went to the counter to order a coffee. She hadn't had any the day before and her head was pounding. She wasn't supposed to have much while breastfeeding, but she needed a little. She waited the half minute it took Granny to make her a cup, then picked it up and turned, immediately dropping the mug when she saw Henry and Emma walk in.
It shattered, the sound echoing through the diner, Henry's head jerking up at the sound, and she just stared at him for a moment. Finally, she managed to choke out, "Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."
"Oh, that's okay," Henry said, his tone and manner the kind he'd use with any stranger, any casual acquaintance, not that of a boy speaking to his mother.
Emma moved toward her, telling her they needed to talk and gently nudging her to get her to the back hallway so they could talk alone.
Regina's breath shook as she rounded the corner and looked at the woman who had once been her enemy. "He looked right through me."
"Because he doesn't remember you."
"But you clearly do. Why are you here?"
Emma shrugged. "Storybrooke, a new curse, missing year… What do you think?"
"No," she answered, furrowing her brow in confusion, "what I mean is, how did you know to come back? I gave you and Henry a new life, new memories."
"Hook found me, gave me a potion that made me remember. There wasn't enough for Henry," the blonde told her, shaking her head lightly as she spoke the words.
"Oh. Well, how convenient. Look, I didn't cast this curse, if that's what you're thinking." Regina told her.
"The thought did cross my mind, but I can't see you cursing your own memories, and David seemed pretty certain that you weren't responsible."
Tilting her head, Regina pursed her lips. Why would David, of all people, stick up for her to Emma? She knew there was something between them, friendship, some odd relation, some life debt, something… something that would lead her to name her son after him, but how would David know that? She was certain he hadn't seen Lucas' middle name in that book. Finally, she shook herself out of her thoughts. "So Henry doesn't have his memories, which means we cannot talk about this in front of him. And he needs to be protected at all costs, of course."
"We need a plan, a way to figure out who cast this curse."
Regina rolled her eyes. "And just what will you do? Go around asking everyone if they cast it and hope your super power works on them?"
"Well obviously not that, but we'll have to figure something out. Uh, I guess I'll just be in touch when we need to talk. Once I get Henry settled in doing something."
"I don't know how much help I can be, Emma," Regina admitted. "Those babies are not even a month old, and I can't remember who their father is, and I don't have… well, there aren't many people in my corner to help so I can run off saving Storybrooke."
Emma nodded. "We'll figure that out later. Obviously they can be there anytime we talk, and we can all come to your house so you don't have to bring them out all the time. But if there are leads we need you for, uh, we'll figure something out."
Regina nodded, looking up when David rounded the corner. "What?" she asked, the look on his face bothering her.
"One of Robin Hood's men was grabbed and taken by a creature. They don't know what it was. We've gotta go," he told Emma.
The blonde woman looked back at Regina. "We'll talk and make a plan later." Then, following David, she stopped at the table and told Henry she had to follow a lead and he'd spend the day with Mary-Margaret until she got back.
Regina went back to the table, swallowing thickly. She was so torn; she wanted to stay and talk to Henry and ask him about his life, but he had no idea who she was, and it was killing her, every ounce of her strength was devoted to keeping herself from breaking down.
"Uh, Regina," Snow (Mary-Margaret, she reminded herself) said, "would you like to join us?" She looked at Henry to explain, "Regina's the mayor here, so she's sort of the person who approved hiring your mom."
Henry gave a small nod. "Oh, hi. I'm Henry. So do you know my mom, too, then?"
It took her a moment to finally find her voice, but Regina awkwardly tucked her hair behind her ear and gave a small nod as she sat down beside the other woman. "I do. Though not as much as Mary-Margaret and David."
Henry furrowed his brow together, and the expression was so like her that her heart thumped harder in her chest. "There's all these people here that know my mom, but she's never talked about this place. It's just not like her."
Regina wanted to hug him, wanted to tell him everything and make him remember her. Lydia started fussing, though, so she reached to take the baby out, lifting her to her shoulder. It was better this way; having to hold one of the babies kept her from reaching out to him in a way that would be far too familiar for what his memories would allow, and she didn't want to weird him out if she wanted him to be willing to be around her. "Sometimes people don't like to talk about things that are too difficult to explain," Regina reasoned soothingly. "But I'm sure, after your mom has closed her case, that she'll be able to explain her life here better."
Henry gave a small shrug, then his eyes fell on the baby. "Are those your babies?"
Regina nodded, rubbing Lydia's tiny back. "They are."
"I've always wanted brothers and sisters," he said.
Mary-Margaret smiled. "Well, maybe one day you'll have some."
"I doubt it. I think part of the reason mom took this case was to get away because she turned down a guy's proposal."
"Wait, what?" Mary-Margaret. "She was engaged?"
"She declined," Regina said, answering the obvious for him, "so no."
"Anyway, I don't think I'll ever have a very big family. But it's okay, we do alright."
"Maybe one day," Mary-Margaret repeated cheerfully. But Regina knew what Henry meant, how he felt alone so often, she'd felt the same when she was young, knew what it was like to be an only child.
Lydia started fussing more, and Regina knew it was time to feed her. She excused herself, wishing she could stay longer, but a preteen didn't want to see some random woman breastfeeding. Besides, she still had her own difficulties getting them latched, and she didn't need to struggle in front of a diner of people. She went to the quiet sitting area of the Inn, settling in with Lydia while Lucas remained asleep. She would wake him to eat if he didn't get up by time she finished burping Lydia, since it was just easier to get them both on the same schedule.
By the time she was done feeding both babies and getting them ready to go home, Emma and David were back with bad news about the town line. They'd decided they needed to draw the person who cast the curse out. Devising a plan, Regina left the babies with Snow and David, while Emma sent Henry with Hook to learn how to sail. Regina and Emma had created a diversion that would make everyone not in on it think Emma was suspecting, and hunting, her. Then they set to her office to try to replicate the memory option.
While Emma and Regina were working hard to find who cursed them, Snow and David sat in the diner with the twins, each of them holding one. In her hand on the table, she held a baby book and looked at David.
"Have you ever heard of cradle cap?" she asked him.
"Uh, no." He shook his head. "You're working yourself up reading those books."
"Well I don't know what to expect." Snow sighed.
"It goes away, you know," an accent-laced voice said. David looked over at her, not remembering her from the last curse.
Snow was eager to talk more, though, and David watched her make animated conversation. He didn't pay much attention until the woman was closer and seemed to be eyeing the babies.
"Well you have one on the way, these can't be yours!" the woman said, her voice cheerful and grating. "Your babies, then?" she said, looking at David.
He shook his head. "We're watching them for a friend. But we should be heading home now." He stood up, buckling the baby in the way Regina had shown them. His wife was giving him a curious look, but he didn't explain. Something about this woman just… annoyed him.
By time they got to the mansion, where they'd promised Regina they'd watch the babies once they left the diner, David had thrice explained to his wife that he was just too worried about Emma and the town to make casual conversation with a stranger. She'd protested each time, but eventually agreed she'd just meet the woman for lunch on her own.
He didn't know what it was about the woman, even after thinking about it for the whole drive, but David would figure it out. He had to. Or maybe it wasn't her exactly, maybe it was the thought of fatherhood with a new baby, and she was butting in. They didn't know her, and now wasn't the time to be around people they didn't know.
But his wife was the most trusting person he knew, and trying to get her to be cautious was never an easy task, so he'd let it go. For now, anyway. He'd find her in the town registry just for his own peace of mind, maybe agree to meeting her again with Snow so that he could at least keep an eye out.
His phone rang, jarring him from his thoughts. He answered it to a rambling Robin Hood, telling him to meet them at the hospital, that they'd found Little John, but he wasn't doing well. Letting Snow know where he was going and that he'd let Emma know to get to Regina's once she could, he headed to the hospital.
They'd tried restraining the man, but he was thrashing and fighting against them. Whale had a sedative in a syringe at the ready, bringing it to his skin to inject him with it, but somehow everyone who got near was suddenly thrown away, but David couldn't see what was doing it. After a moment, all the men turned their eyes unto a beast in the form of some… monkey with wings.
"Well, I didn't see that coming," he said, staring at the beast, before it took off through the glass and flew away. Wiping a hand over his face, he checked on all the men to make sure they were okay. He needed to get back to the mansion to see Regina, Snow, and Emma; this was a new development, and could certainly explain why they couldn't locate a few people. After making sure everyone was set without him, he took off to the mansion.
The four adults gathered in Regina's sitting room, discussing the flying monkeys and the green smoke the witch had disappeared in when Emma and Regina had tried to catch her.
"It's the Wicked Witch of the West," Regina said confidently. "But… I don't recall ever coming across her, so I don't know what she could possibly want."
"Maybe something happened in the year you can't remember," Emma chimed in.
David sighed then, shaking his head. "We need to get our memories back."
"Clearly, but our trick tonight didn't work, so what do we do?"
The group of adults stared between themselves, David and Regina pacing on either end of the couches, Emma and Mary-Margaret sitting, all four of them thinking hard on what they could do. Emma stood, looking at Regina. "What if we don't need your memories back?"
"I don't understand," Mary-Margaret started, "how is it going to be any help to not have our memories back?"
"If we can make this witch believe you have our memories back, then maybe we can catch her," Emma answered. "We make it town news tomorrow that we're almost done making a memory potion and you, David, and Mary-Margaret are planning to take it once it's ready to find out who cast the curse to send us here and that it's in your office or something, then we watch out for her to go to your office."
"Well… I suppose it may work. We'll have to let people know quietly. We'll have to pick someone to spread the news so it isn't obvious it's a trap. And we'll have to do it in the afternoon so that she'll try under the cover of dark."
"I know just who we can tell, too," Emma said.
"Leroy," Mary-Margaret answered easily, earning a nod from her daughter.
"Okay, so what's the full plan?" David asked, looking at his daughter, then Regina.
"Tomorrow afternoon we tell Leroy and he'll go into the diner to tell everyone," Emma said.
"And Mary-Margaret, you said you were meeting that midwife for tea right?" David said. "Maybe I'll come have tea with you, we'll do it at the loft, then we'll be out of sight, and Regina and Emma can watch for this witch."
"What about the babies?" Mary-Margaret asked.
"We'll see if Granny will watch them so that they're safe and away from the four of us, since it'll be us that this witch goes after," Regina said.
"Okay, so we have a plan," David said.
"Let's just see how it goes now," Emma added. Then the three left Regina's house, their plan to catch the witch set in their minds, and they were all hoping it would be that easy.
The stakeout hadn't worked; somehow the witch had known how to break blood magic, which Regina had never even heard of being possible. The brunette felt like she was in over her head. She needed to find this witch and beat her so that she could get her memories back and find out who the father of her infants was, and so Henry could get his memories and remember who she was to him. She'd spent time with him in the afternoon while David and Mary-Margaret had tea with the midwife they'd met, and Emma and Hook were searching elsewhere for the witch.
Henry and Regina had gone to the park with her twins, the former eating ice cream as they walked around the pond. It was so nice being able to talk to him, to hear about his life and his schooling. It crushed her not to be able to put an arm around his shoulders as he talked about his worries of never having more than just him and his mom at the dinner table.
Her heart ached and her tongue wanted so badly to ruin it all and tell him she was his mother, that the twins in the stroller were, in fact, the brother and sister he had always wanted. But she couldn't; she had to keep pretending he was only the son of a friend from another life. He wouldn't believe her anyway, since this Henry didn't believe in magic. She'd been about to drop Henry off with Leroy when she got a call from Emma that David thought he might have found the witch in the woods, and they needed to hurry to help him. Thankfully, they were meeting Leroy at the diner, and Granny was okay with taking the twins to watch again, so Regina left the three children and magicked herself to Emma and Hook so the three of them could go help David. They drove in the bug to the woods, where she spotted a weird hooded figure standing over a kneeling David.
"Is that the witch?" Emma asked, halting to a stop so the three could hurry to help her father. The figure was gone by the time they got to him, and he was shaking his head and brushing dirt from his coat.
"What happened? Where's the witch?" Regina asked, looking around.
"It wasn't her. It was me," he stated, starting to walk towards the car with the others.
"What do you mean it was you?"
"It looked like me. It was fighting me, or my deepest fears, or it was my deepest fears, I don't know."
Regina paused, touching his arm. "Wait, it knew your deepest fears?"
"Yeah, it was trying to get me to admit them. Things I haven't even told Mary-Margaret. I admitted my fears, then stabbed it and it was gone."
"You stabbed it with your sword, and it disappeared?" Regina asked, confirming his story again as worries raced her mind.
"Yeah, I went to reach for the hilt and it disappeared."
"It didn't disappear, she took it." Regina frowned, looking at him, then Emma. "When we face our deepest fears, our courage comes out. Your courage must've transferred into the hilt of the sword, and she took it."
Emma shook her head in confusion. "Wait, so she took his courage?"
"A symbol of it, actually. It has to be an ingredient to a spell or something. We need to figure out who this is. If she has a symbol of your father's courage… well that's not a good thing. What were you doing before you called me?" Regina asked, looking at Emma.
"We were at that old farmhouse. I think it's the witch's."
Regina nodded, looking over their small group. "Let's go back there and see what we can find."
The group did, all piling into the bug with Regina and David in the back seat as they headed to the farmhouse. David looked at the brunette beside him, hesitating a moment, then asked, "So why would she want my courage? I mean, there has to be tons of people who face their fears everyday."
Regina sighed, looking at him. He was different now, different than before she had cast the curse that took them all to the Enchanted Forest. His hair was longer, thick and wavy at the top of his head instead of closely cut, and he looked like he'd been through even more in the year they were gone than his life before, because he looked exhausted. "Because, David, you're Prince Charming. You're well known for your bravery and your courage. Of course she's going to go after your courage."
He held her gaze a moment, then nodded and looked out the window. "Alright, I guess so. I just want to figure out what this witch wants and get rid of her. I'm tired of not being in charge of my life. I'm tired of witches toying with it."
Regina rolled her lips together, turning her own gaze toward the window on her side. "Then let's get this done," she answered, shifting her posture as they came up to the farmhouse.
"We were about to check the storm shelter over there," Emma said, parking the car and cutting the engine. The four climbed out of the small vehicle, then walked in a line alongside each other to the doors that led to the underground. Emma vocalized her surprise that the lock was broken, telling them it wasn't when they were here before.
So, cautiously, she readied her gun, Regina readied her hands, and Killian stood at the back of the group while David pulled the door open to reveal nothing of consequence, at least not immediately. The blonde woman led the group down into the cellar, where there was only an empty cage with a silhouette of something inside, but it certainly wasn't a person.
David reached up, turning the light on, then bent down and picked up a piece of golden straw. "Now how many people do we know who can spin straw into gold?" he said, looking at the piece in the light.
"Rumplestiltskin," Emma stated.
David glanced over at Regina, nodding. "If he's alive, we're going to win." And he knew she agreed by the smirk on her face.