Won't Someone Save me From Me?
Part Two: You Were the Only One Who Did
Emma awoke in the camp in the woods. Her head was pounding something frightful and there was a weird taste in her mouth like herbs and honey.
"She's awake!" a voice called out and there was some rustling before Mary and David came in.
"Sweetie, we're so glad to see you okay," her mother breathed out, leaning down to kiss her forehead.
"Ugh, yea, if by okay you mean feels like shit," she grunted out, attempting to sit up on the skins she had been resting on. There was a bandage around her head and wooden bowls around her.
"We gave you some first aid treatment. You should be all fine now. You just need some rest so the wound can close properly."
"And how's dad?"
"Looking less beat than you even though I picked a fight with a house," he said and grinned at her. But Emma could see some bandages on his cuts.
"And Regina? Is she-gone?" A lump stood in her throat. There was no telling all the terrible things the queen could do to Regina. And there was no telling what terrible repercussions the two of them meeting could have on the past and present.
"Yes, the evil Queen left. She's no doubt back in her castle."
A fourth voice said this and Emma turned her head slowly and mindful of her wound, to see another Mary standing there. Though, this one was younger and had long black locks.
"Where did she come from?" Emma questioned, shooting her parents a look that said 'this is bad, why the hell would you bring your past self into this?'
Mary shot her an apologetic look back. "She found us."
"The birds told me there was trouble and people in need, so I came as fast I could," Snow stated.
"And it's a good thing she did," David pointed out. "Because she had the herbs needed to help heal you. Their magical in a way so you should be good as new by the end of tomorrow."
"But I need to be as good as new now. I need to help find Henry and retrieve Regina."
"Why would you want to retrieve her?" Snow asked, in confusion.
"Uh, we've got a friend named Regina. Totally not the same person as the Evil Queen. Not at all," Emma quickly said.
"Emma, we can't let you do that. Not without a solid plan. Her castle is fortified with magic."
"And you forget I also have magic," Emma pointed out to Mary.
"Not enough to get in."
"So then we just get her out. Tell her to take Regina and that we want to make a trade or something."
"I could help," Snow piped up. Her hands landed on the small knife by her side as she talked. "The Evil Queen wants me. I've been in hiding. If I give up my location, she'll surely come to find me."
"That's too dangerous," David rushed to add, coming up to stand by Snow's side and looking on at her with love and concern. "We can't risk it."
They couldn't risk past Snow being hurt or killed. The present one could be changed for ever.
"If I've survived this long, I could survive a bit longer," was the confident reply. Mary edged her way in between David and herself. "Yes, but you did that by hiding, not by taking her on directly. Let us handle this. We know her a lot better than you do."
"I suppose you would know, considering you are me and from the future."
Emma's eyes bulged out. "You told her?"
"I had to. She had too many questions and we needed her and the bandits help. How do you think we're in a safe location?"
Emma would have shook her head in disappointment if only it wouldn't hurt to do so. "We need to erase their memories afterwards."
"I'll gladly agree to it. I don't want to change the future," Snow said. "I'll talk to my men, see what they have to offer in terms of advice."
"Thank you," Mary said and Snow left. David watched her go with admiration in his eyes.
Mary elbowed David hard. "Would you stop doing that?"
"What, she's you! I can't admire you?" he protested and she glared at him before rolling her eyes. "Men," she scoffed and went off. David raced after her.
"It's not cheating if it's you!" he tried to explain.
Emma lay back down on the skin pelts. She wanted action and she wanted it now. But she knew nothing more could be done for now. She just hoped Regina would be alright.
Regina slowly came to, every muscle in her body aching. She smelt like singed skin and burnt hair and electricity still crackled between her finger tips.
"You took your sweet time waking up," a rough voice greeted her and she sat up to see she was in the throne room, the Queen sitting on her throne, Regina at her feet.
She had been captured. This was very unfavorable. She needed to escape. But the queen must have sensed the magic brewing under Regina's skin because she magicked a pair of magic restraining cuffs on her and that was that. Regina growled in frustration, forced to her knees with another burst of magic.
"Who are you, I wonder," the queen spoke to herself and then tugged off the mask, revealing Regina's true identity.
The Evil Queen's eyes went wide.
"Me?" she gasped out. "How is this possible?" She got up from her throne, needing an outlet for her shock. She paced around Regina, examining her in a new light. Took in her clothes, her hair length, and even the way her body was held. "You are me. But a different me. Or are you only pretending to be me?" She stepped in closer, face to face with Regina.
"Let me go and I shall tell you all you want to know," Regina bartered. The queen laughed right in her face.
"I think not. I shall find out the answers on my own through my favorite methods."
Regina knew what exactly those methods were. "You'd really hurt your own self?"
"You may look like me but until I know for sure, then I have no such qualms about my devious methods."
"Then let me make this easier for you," Regina said. While she wasn't squeamish to pain, torturing herself might have bad consequences. "On our sixth birthday, mother gave us this lip scar. On our fourteenth we met Daniella. We were only sixteen when she died and we turned to magic to give us power. Rumple became our mentor and our hatred for our mother grew with each spell we learned."
The Evil Queen, grabbed Regina by the neck, shaking her. "How do you know all this? How? Who told you?"
"No one did," Regina managed past the tight hold. "It's because I've lived through it all."
The grip loosened as the queen's mind worked. "So, we are not from the same time."
"No, we are not."
"Your clothes are so strange and your magic while the same as mine is also different. Tell me, what am I like in your time." Curiosity gleamed in the queen's cat like eyes.
"You're in a position of power. But you are respected by your citizens. And you have friends and family who love you."
The Evil Queen looked in disbelief. "Me? Loved? Respected? Now that is a fairytale."
"It's true. It takes a lot of time and effort but it happens. I know how bleak everything is right now but things do get better. Trust me."
The evil queen's eyes softened at this and she looked away for a second into the distance as if trying and failing to imagine how her life could get better. She closed up quickly, that glimpse of vulnerability, of young innocence, gone.
"So you are me, truly," the queen said, with a mix of disgust and intrigue. Her mask slammed back on. "But why are you here?"
"I was brought here by force." It sat on Regina's tongue to warn herself about Rumple, about the curse. About every little bad thing. But she knew she couldn't say anything about it. She couldn't change the past because then Henry wouldn't be here and she needed him. And Emma wouldn't be here either and she needed her. "And only you have the power to help me go back to where I belong."
"And where is that?"
"You know I cannot tell you unless you wish to tear the space time continuum to bits," was Regina's sharp answer.
For once the queen did not make this too difficult. "Very well. But what exactly would I be helping you with?"
This had not been expected- Regina being able to reason with her less reasonable self. Even though she knew her past self and how she would have reacted to certain things, there were still parts of her that were unpredictable.
But she was going to milk this helpful mood of the queen's for all it was worth. "I need to cast a curse. And I need Rumple caught."
"So, there are two of him here as well?" Regina arched a brow. "Oh joy," was her sarcastic answer. "But I will help you with finding him and with casting this curse. Only because this world isn't big enough for the two of us."
Regina knew that was only the partial reason. The hopeful gleam in her past self's eyes clued her in that she was hopeful for the better future. For the better things to come. And that she wanted her copy to get there so that she could too. There was no need to trap her future self in the past where only the bad ever existed.
"Free me from my chains. We both know we are geniuses. Our two minds will find a solution faster than anyone else."
That stroked the Evil Queen's ego. "That we are," she purred, pleased.
Back at Snow's bandit camp, she, Mary, David, the seven dwarfs, and Emma sat in a circle around a bonfire.
"We need to split up our forces into three teams. One to rescue Regina. One to find Henry. And one to track down Rumple before he does something evil once more," David stated.
"The best options for tracking are Ruby and myself," Mary stated.
Emma didn't know how she felt about using Ruby. She was still a tad pissed at the woman for what she had done to her during her heat. Trying to force herself onto her and then picking a fight with Regina were not how friends should act. And Ruby hadn't even bothered to come up to Emma and rectify the mistake.
Emma sucked in a breath. She would have to put those hard feelings aside for now if she wanted Henry found and Rumple captured.
"I think we should send her after Rumple," David voiced. "He's a bigger threat right now and we need to find him before he mucks everything up even more. We have word from Miss Muffet that Henry was last seen with Hook. That means in the least Henry will be protected."
"Hook used to be a villain. Are we sure?" Mary asked, fretting.
"While he's a drunkard and a scumbag, he's not evil," Emma shrugged. "We should give him the benefit of the doubt. Which Regina didn't get much of."
"That's because Regina's evil was so much bigger- and don't get me started on this." Mary wagged her finger. "Because you know I'm still not one hundred percent okay with you being mated to Regina."
"I'm a grown woman. I can make my own decisions! And stop judging her for her past mistakes. We all made some."
"I think the fact Emma's in love and mated is wonderful," Snow said.
"See, mom, why can't you be less judgy like Snow?" Emma burst out.
"Mom?" Snow gasped, suddenly looking on at Emma and Mary with new understanding. "I have a daughter in the future?" Her hands came up to her mouth.
"Did you have to tell her?" Mary gave Emma an exasperated look.
"You told her about us first, so don't give me that!"
Snow rushed over to Emma, hugging her and nearly suffocating her with her embrace. "I always wanted a child. And you're so beautiful, Emma," Snow cooed, leaning back and grasping Emma's cheeks between her hands.
"Uh, thanks. But can we focus on the mission?" Emma said, her cheeks squished so that she talked funny.
"Of course. And then you have to tell me-"
"We can't talk about it, Snow. The less you know about us, the better," Mary interjected and Snow relented with a deep sigh.
"We can go after Henry and Hook," Grumpy suggested. "While Ruby and David can go after Rumple."
"I'll send some bandits to aid them," Snow offered, "Which would leave us two and Emma, for the castle."
"And with no idea how to get in," Emma grumbled, feeling useless. She was certain if the situations were reversed that Regina would have already solved everything.
"Don't worry. We'll find a way in. Eventually."
"Regina doesn't have 'eventually'!" Emma rose to her feet, upsetting the stump she had been sitting on. "The queen could be torturing her as we speak."
The rest sat in silence, knowing this could full be true. But what could they do about it? Nothing.
Emma stormed off and went to sit by a small stream, needing some peace of mind. She tossed small pebbles in and watched them sink. She felt like a failure. She didn't know where Henry was, didn't know how to get to Regina, and didn't know what Rumple was up to.
She was supposed to be the savior but what had she done? Nothing but literally fuck around until the curse had broken and gotten them stuck here.
Splendid.
She let out a discontented sigh and lay down on the bank, looking up at the sky. Even the stars here were different. They were rearranging in the air, making a new pattern.
"Don't give up," she read as they changed once more. "You're a star."
"Kinda corny coming from a bunch of stars, ya know," she called out to them, weirdly certain they could hear her.
This time they rearranged themselves into a middle finger.
"Well fuck you too," she muttered up to them. Why was the nature here so fucking rude?
Candles lit the dark of the library as both Regina's poured over countless textbooks. There had to be an alternative to killing a loved one to cast the dark curse. She knew there had to be. Already she had found some information but not the whole of it.
Her frustration permeated through the air and made the silence around them heavy. She rubbed the back of her neck. What if there wasn't one? What if she couldn't find one? Then what would they do? Would they be trapped here forever?
But no, there had to be a way. Her memories of the past did not reflect this situation so she needed to have faith. She only wished she could pass on the word to her friends that she was alright. She didn't need them worrying over her, thinking she was in pain.
But asking the queen would guarantee her not being able to send out a word. She just knew it. So she silently continued working on her texts.
"I've been pondering over something. Something this whole time," the queen stated, which wasn't a surprise. Regina could sense curiosity radiating off of her. Regina figured it would probably be a question about the future.
"I cannot tell you what lays in the futur-"
"It's not that. It's your scent."
Regina froze, back to the queen. She had forgotten all about it. Forgotten about how she smelled different because she was mated.
"At first I thought it was me. That I was scenting you wrong because you were from the future and the world was different then in regards to smells and alpha beta omega dynamics. But then I realize I wasn't wrong. And that I was merely scenting a mating claim." A chill went down Regina's spine as the queen continued to speak. "And it doesn't smell like Daniella's scent."
Regina turned around, magic in her hands but in a second the magic shackles were on her wrists, holding her magic back. The queen stalked towards her, jerking down the collar of her shirt, pressing her into the table top, the edge biting her skin.
The mating bite was exposed for all to see. A sneer overtook the queen's face. "This is a fresh mating bite. Who gave you this?" The queen's voice was calm. But it only lasted for a second. "Who GAVE YOU THIS?!" thundered across the library and Regina took in a shuddering breath, preparing for the worst.
"Stay quiet," Hook ordered as he peered behind the tree. Henry rolled his eyes. Just because he was 12 didn't mean he was a child. He was older and smarter than his peers and he knew that the best thing to do when a troll was around was to hide from it. It was ugly and with gray skin that had moss covering the back. It had given the illusion of being a moss covered rock until it had moved and it's sharp teeth had snapped at where Henry's feet had once been if Hook had not caught him by the back of his jacket with his hook and hauled ass out of there.
This water troll had tried to drag them into the river as they'd been about to cross it but had not succeeded. Both of their clothes were soaked and they were shivering with cold. The troll was canvasing the banks, looking for them.
They couldn't cross the river if it was hunting for them. Luckily, trolls had bad eye sight so it couldn't see them. But it had good hearing so they had to be very quiet if they wanted to sneak past it. "Let's us that part of the river," Hook pointed with his hook at it. "It's narrower and we can get across it faster. The troll won't be able to follow us on dry land. The river is it's home and trolls rarely leave home even when it comes to finding meals. They're lazy things."
Henry nodded his head, having found an unlikely ally in Hook.
He had been on his lunch break at school when Hook had come in, needing to ask him some questions about his mother. They'd gone for some ice cream, Hook's treat, and been walking down the street talking. "Is your mother alright?"
Henry knew enough to know Hook was concerned because of the omega curse dropping, though he didn't know why Hook cared. It's not like he and Ma were close. "She's okay. Mom's taking care of her."
"Huh, taking care," he said, his face darkening like Henry had given him bad news. He would never understand why the adults had to act so dumb during this curse. He took a lick of his cone.
"Yea, Ma looked and smelled really sick but whatever Mom did for her helped her. She's been feeling a bit better."
Hook's cone snapped in his hand, splattering ice cream all over his chest not that he noticed. He looked murderous. What was wrong now?
"Henry, I need to speak to your mother. Both of them." He announced rather suddenly and seriously.
Henry sensed he really shouldn't allow Hook to do that, but before he could say more, the earth underneath them began to shake as the sky cracked above them.
"What the bloody hell-" Hook looked around in panic, before he grabbed Henry and pulled him out of the way of a chunk of sky falling down that could have crushed the young boy. "Quick, in here," he pointed to the dumpster they were close to and the both of them jumped in. The shaking and creaking continued and the dumpster shook with each movement. It was hot and dark in here and it smelled. It was like a roller coaster in the dark. And when it all ended, they cautiously opened it up. A banana peel slid off of Hook's hair.
They were in a forest of sorts.
"Bloody hell. Not the Enchanted Forest," Hook had grumbled as they got out of the dumpster, flinging bits of garbage off.
"How do you know?" Henry asked, in awe as he took in his surroundings. He had read all about this place but never actually seen it. Until now. It was kinda awesome.
"Because of that," Hook pointed at a patch of singing daisies. They were singing something vulgar that had Henry covering his ears as they walked past. Until Hook stepped on them, of course.
"I hate everything in this blasted place. It's always out to get you," he grunted out, wiping the remains of the flowers off of his shoes on the grass.
"Do you think we're the only ones here?" Now fright began to take hold in Henry's chest. Were his moms okay? Did they know he was gone?
"We won't know until we figure out where we are. We need to get out of the woods first. I'm sure your moms will stop at nothing to find us," he ruffled Henry's hair.
"How do we get out of the woods?" Henry looked around but all he saw was trees and more trees.
Hook took out a compass. "Don't worry. If I can navigate the seas I sure as hell can navigate some trees." The needle pointed south. "We move in the opposite direction."
Henry didn't know how much he could trust a rum drunk pirate but he had no other option.
And that was how they had come to the river with the troll. A troll that had almost eaten both of them had Hook not called a retreat.
"Slow movements," Hook said as they used the cover of plants to crawl towards the more narrow lip of the river. Eventually they got there, Hook waiting until the beast had it's back to them before urging Henry to run. They splashed through the water, the river shallower here.
The beast heard this splashing and it turned to them, giving chase.
"Run!" Hook exclaimed as their legs churned. They erupted from the water in a splash and onto dry land, but the troll did not give up. It kept following them.
"I thought this troll wouldn't chase us on dry land!" Henry shouted out.
"It's not supposed to. It must be really hungry!" Hook shouted back as the beast began to gain on them.
And then, Henry tripped over a rock.
Rumple had just finished making a deal in the middle of the woods with some young stupid woman. The whole duration of it he could feel eyes on him and now that the woman was gone, he decided to confront the person who had been watching him.
"I know you're there. You can come out now," Past Rumple said. But he wasn't expecting himself to step out from behind the bushes.
"Well, what a twist," he cooed, delighted. The other him did not look as delighted.
"That won't be the only twist," Rumple said, eyes blazing fury. "I'm here to stop you from ever making that mistake. I won't let you ruin anything anymore for me."
"What are you blabbering on about?" past Rumple scowled, knowing this man was not joking around.
Rumple pulled out a knife from his pockets. It was enchanted with vile magics. "I'm here to kill you. And then to take your place."
He lunged, knife out.