AUTHOR'S NOTE/DISCLAIMER

Belongs to ABC Studios and whoever owns the show. I only own the plot.

"Bae, you know this man?" Rumplestiltskin queried as the man went to undo Neal's bonds.

"Yeah, he's an old friend. But I have no idea what he's doing here," Neal responded, giving the other man a look of confusion. He's older, but those eyes. I'll never forget those eyes. The green with the speck of gold, he thought to himself. Neal looked at the older boy with suspicion.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

"Tom," the boy answered.

"I was realm jumping when I got pulled into the Wicked Witch's curse," Tom replied.

"Realm jumping?" Neal repeated. "You're a-"

"A wizard, yes. And yes that's different than a sorcerer," Tom confirmed. "My powers allow me to travel through realms with ease and I'm pretty adept at teleportation," he continued as he focused on Neal's bonds, his mind going back. Tom's eyes flickered as he focused on the spell that would take him where he wanted to go.

"That still doesn't explain your presence here," Neal pointed out. Tom had just started teleporting when he felt something pulling at him. What the hell? he wondered. This had never happened before. What was going on? A few moments later, he landed with a thump. He then looked around. Nothing looked familiar. As he looked around, he saw various people looking at each other in confusion.

"How'd we get back here? We were in the Enchanted Forest," a woman with dark hair stated. Uh-oh, Tom thought. He had gotten pulled into someone's spell. And the only way that could happen was if the spell-caster was a novice or unused to casting spells. Okay, play along, he coached himself. No need to make everyone else confused or tip his hand. At the loft, Zelena looked into her purse and frowned as her compact flashed green. Why is my alert going off? she wondered.

"Zelena, is everything okay?" Mary Margaret queried and the woman flashed a grin at the couple who was looking at her worriedly.

"Yes. I just have to take care of something real quick," she reassured them, standing up.

"Do you need any help?" David asked, doing the same.

"No, no. Take care of your wife. This shan't take long," Zelena was quick to say.

"Are you sure?" David queried and Zelena's smirk grew as she heard the desperate tone. So eager to help. So loyal, she thought to herself. Once again, her enchantment had worked like a charm. Now if she could only figure out a way for it to last longer than it did. But that would come later. Right now, she had some prisoners to take care of. With that, she walked out, and once she was out of eye sight, she whisked herself away in a cloud of green smoke. Back at Zelena's dungeon, feeling the familiar rush of air that signaled somebody teleporting, Tom pulled away from Neal.

"I gotta go. If I get caught here, I won't be able to get you guys out unscathed," he said.

"Tom, you can't just-" Neal protested.

"I'm not abandoning you, Neal," Tom promised. "Hey. Look at me." Neal did so. "One and done." What? What does that mean? Rumplestiltskin wondered. Hearing this, Neal nodded. He'll be back. He's doing what he has to, he thought.

"One and done," he repeated. With that, Tom quickly teleported out. Almost immediately, Zelena appeared.

"Who was here?" she demanded.

"No one," Neal responded. With a growl, the woman stomped over to them, magic bursting out of her fingertips.

"Your bonds are loose as if someone was working on them. Who was here?" she demanded.

"One and done," Neal responded with a grin. Tom's got my back. Always has, always will. Not diming him out, he thought to himself.

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Zelena demanded, her eyes flashing angrily.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Rumplestiltskin taunted. I would too, but I'm not telling her that, he thought to himself. Zelena let out another growl and threw her magic at the Dark One who groaned in pain.

"Leave him alone!" Neal snapped. I can't let this happen to him, he thought to himself. He had to do something to make it stop, but what? Need to figure this out, he thought to himself. He had to get Zelena to stop going after his father. But how?

"Tell me what I want to know," she demanded.

"One and done," he repeated and her eyes darkened. She had no idea what that stupid phrase meant and she was going to make the boy tell her. Without warning, she thrust her magic at him and he groaned in pain, gritting his teeth. Don't let her see how much this hurts. Don't let her get to you, he coached himself. It was just like taking whatever crap a foster parent dished out. He just had to put it aside-go away. He had always been pretty good at that. And now he knew that they had help. Tom would get them out. He just had to hold onto that. And he would. Tom had never let him down before, and he wouldn't this time. While all of this was going on, Emma and the others had spread out and had started the search. Wonder what's up with Snow and David, she thought to herself. It was just weird. They weren't acting like themselves and it was worrying her. Okay, focus. She had to focus. They needed to find Rumplestiltskin and Neal and she couldn't be worrying. She just had to focus on things. Like finding her boyfriend. Wait. Boyfriend. Did she think of Neal as a boyfriend? No. Of course not. Well…maybe…she wasn't sure. There was a lot of history, but she couldn't be sure of where they stood. What if he was still hung up on the memory of Tamara? Sure she had nearly killed him, but he had loved her enough to propose, so she had obviously meant something to him. And when they found him, she didn't want to just throw herself at him. He had hurt her once. Who was to say that he wouldn't again? While this was going on, Blue, Tinkerbell, and Nova had shrunk themselves down and were flying over Storybrooke. They needed to find Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire. Where could they be? Tinkerbell wondered. It wasn't like Baelfire to just disappear like this. Something was wrong. She was sure of it. Baelfire, where are you? she wondered. Nova glanced at her.

"We'll find him," she assured.

"How can you be sure?" the second fairy wondered.

"Because it's what we do, Green. I know it seemed like I had forgotten that, but I haven't," the head fairy responded and Tinkerbell nodded. "And I'm sorry." Hearing this, Tinkerbell glanced at her.

"For what?"

"For underestimating you and Nova. You are fine fairies." The two younger fairies looked at each other and grinned. Wow. Blue had just complimented them! It was….unbelievable. Blue then concentrated on the land, keeping an eye out for their friends' familiar forms. They needed to find them. On the ground, Emma had decided to go to the loft to ask for David's help in the search and was now staring at her father in surprise. I can't believe I'm hearing this, she thought to herself.

"What do you mean can't help me?" she demanded.

"Zelena said that Mary Margaret needs and rest and that I'll have to stay here to look after her," he responded. I don't know why I can't make her understand, he thought to himself. What Zelena told him made sense: there was nothing more important than making sure that Mary Margaret was okay. Emma's boyfriend would just have to wait.

"I get that you're both on edge because of the witch but-" she began to say.

"Emma, stop arguing with your father," Snow snapped, her eyes flashing. I can't believe she's being so unreasonable, she thought to herself. She was an adult and should know that family was the highest priority. Emma's head recoiled at the sharp tone. She's never snapped at me before, she thought to herself.

"What's the matter with you guys?" she demanded.

"Nothing's the matter with us. Why would you even ask that?" David replied.

"You're not acting like yourselves," Emma pointed out. Yeah, David would be worried about leaving Snow, but he had never been so unreasonable as to think that he was the only one who could look after his wife. "You've always trusted the dwarves and now you won't even let one of them watch her while you help me look for Gold and Neal," she continued. "Or even Ruby."

"You really think I'd leave my wife at the mercy of a dangerous werewolf freak?" he asked harshly and Emma's eyes widened. Had David really said that? Okay, something's definitely up. But I'll play along, she thought to herself.

"You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. You stay here and keep her safe. I'll look for Gold and Neal," she said and then went to her car and drove off. As she did, she picked up her phone and scrolled through the contacts, smiling when she came across Ruby's number. So glad I never erased it, she thought to herself. Under her new memories, she had been tempted to erase it due to the fact that she had thought it had belonged to a friend that she had had a falling out with, but had never been able to go through with it. She opened the information, pressed the "call" button, and waited.

"Hello?" she heard a few moments later.

"Hey Ruby, it's Emma," she greeted.

"What can I do for you?" Ruby wondered.

"Something's up with my parents. They're not…acting like themselves. David wouldn't…he…"

"Let me guess, he wouldn't leave Snow and when you mentioned me, he called me a werewolf freak," the other woman supplied.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"They've both been acting weird for weeks. I'll check it out."

"Great." Both women hung up and Emma went to the Troll Bridge while Ruby headed for David and Snow's place. Something was wrong with her friends and it was high time she found out what. She wasn't going to lose them. She refused to. As she came closer to their house, a strong and sweet smell with a tinge of power reached her nostrils. Magic. That was magic. But Snow and David didn't use magic. Silently, she walked further up to the house, closer to an open window.

"Where's Zelena? It's not like her to be gone so long," Snow fretted. What if the witch got her? What will we do? she wondered.

"Relax. I'm sure she's okay," David soothed even though his heart was racing with its own worry. Zelena's smart. She'd know what to do to protect herself from any threat, he thought, trying to push down his nervousness.

"But she's helping us with the baby. We don't have a clue what we're doing. And we can't turn to anyone else. Only Zelena can help us," Snow reminded. What!? That's crap! She knows me and the dwarves would help them if they'd just ask, she fumed. Who could've convinced them of such a thing? Maybe Regina would know what was going on. Making a decision, she stepped away from the house, pulled her phone out, and dialed Regina's number.

"Hello?" the woman asked.

"It's Ruby. Snow and David aren't acting like themselves. They're talking weird, like they really believe that Zelena is the only one who can help them get ready for their baby's birth," the wolf reported. What in the world? That doesn't sound like Snow, the former Evil Queen thought to herself. She would welcome any and all forms of help if she needed it.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Her place," came the response and a moment later, Regina materialized in front of Ruby.

"Thank goodness you're here. They've stopped talking to me, but you had gotten closer together. Maybe she'll listen to you," the wolf stated. Regina nodded and went to the door, knocking on it. A few moments later, it opened to reveal Snow.

"Regina, what are you doing here?" she wondered.

"I thought I'd come by to see if there was anything I could do to help," the older woman responded.

"Oh. Well-" Snow's eyes widened in shock as her voice trailed off and David walked up to her.

"Thank you, Regina. That's very kind. But maybe if you could get Zelena?" he queried.

"Yes! Yes, Zelena! She'll know how to help us," the younger girl stated.

"Do you think you could find her? We really are lost without her," her husband continued. Oh this is not good, the formerly Evil Queen thought to herself as she noticed the glazed look in the couple's eyes.

"Yes. I'll see what I can do," she promised and then went back to where Ruby was, teleporting them both back to her mansion.

"What's going on? Why'd you poof us away so fast? What's wrong with them?" the wolf asked.

"They're under a loyalty spell."