Chapter 11: No One's Alone
"So, do you think there's any way the fairies can counteract the Shattered Sight spell?" Mary Margret asks over the phone. She lays on the couch, completely exhausted. She'd overseen more repairs done downtown after the dragon attack and had just put her son down. She's on the phone with Regina discussing ways to avoid the Snow Queen's curse.
"It's possible, but they need a sample from a previously cast spell. Pieces of the mirror used in the curse, unfortunately, I've never broken my mirrors or delved down into such practices so I'm at a dead end at the moment."
"Right, you… hurt people with your own hands most of the time," Mary Margret swallows.
Regina sighs and nods. No matter how much she's changed, her past would still haunt her.
"Yes…"
"I wish we could find a way to help Elsa remember more about her aunt," the new mother says. "I wish we had a clue of some kind."
"I'd like a clue on how I'm going to end Marian's curse."
"How is that going by the way?"
"I'm as stumped as the day it happened, the only thing I've done is remove her heart to prevent her from freezing over completely. The true love's kiss isn't working for… reasons."
Mary Margret tries not to smile, as happy as she was that Regina had found love with Robin, the man still had a wife and son to worry about and with his wife in grave peril, it certainly wasn't helping anyone. Especially considering the two had spent the night together in her vault.
"Are you okay?" the former princess asks.
"I just wish there wasn't so much pressure on me. You may be the new mayor, but somehow I end up doing most of the work."
"I wish I could help more, but magic is more your expertise and with Neal…"
"I know, I know," the former Evil Queen rolls her eyes.
She hears the sound of David's keys fiddling in the lock to the loft. Her heart pounds with excitement, happy that her husband was home.
"I've got to go, but I'll stop by later and maybe we can have some coffee or something."
"That'd be great."
Mary Margret hangs up and stands just as her prince charming walks in the door. He hangs his gun and belt on a hook and then turns to hug his wife. The two kiss for a long time, happy for some moments of peace.
"How is everything?" she asks, keeping her arms wrapped around him.
"We're getting there, the magic really helped move things along, but there's still debris and the roads to repair. Leroy thinks he and the rest of the dwarves can get it done in no time though. How's the little one?"
"Sound asleep finally. Are you hungry?" she asks.
"Not really, I want to just spend some time with you." He lifts her into the air and carries her bridal style towards the couch. Snow laughs happily as he sits on the couch, her in his lap. The two begin kissing, giving in to the passion and hunger for one another. They hadn't spent as much time as they wanted to, just being with one another. With all the problems surrounding them and a new baby in the house, this moment was precious and they needed to savor it.
Snow begins kissing David's neck and removes his leather jacket. Her hands find the buttons on his shirt, while David runs his hands through her ebony black hair. He begins undoing her bra and sweater when they stop for a moment. Their lips separate, realizing that their son is in the next room and now was not a good time. Someone could walk in any minute and catch them. There just wasn't a moment that they could be intimate, not right now at least. Although, they wanted to celebrate their love because the Snow Queen could cast her curse at any moment and they'd suddenly see the worst in one another…it was hate and anger that no one wanted to notice. No one was safe from its power, not even the couple with the truest of love.
The two make themselves presentable again, but not wanting to leave each other's embrace, they lay on the couch together, David has his arms wrapped around his wife.
"I miss this…" she says softly. "Just time with you."
"I know,"
"Sometimes I wonder if we bit off more than we could chew with a new baby and casting the new curse."
"Maybe, but our happy ending would never have been complete without Emma and Henry. Plus, our lives were never meant to be normal anyway…"
"I love our children and everyone around us, but I just wish that even for a moment, we could be normal, just raise our son and live our lives as everyone else."
"We're not like everyone else," he whispers, kissing her cheek. His head is in the crook of her neck, the two fitting perfectly together.
The two lay quietly for a long time, enjoying the peace. That is until Mary Margret can see her breath. A chill is running through their bodies. The two sit up, slightly alarmed.
"Do you think it's Elsa?" Snow asks.
"No, we would've heard her come in."
The two parents suddenly hear their son stir in the next room. They think that the temperature might've upset him. The two go around the corner and freeze in horror.
Standing next to their son's cradle and holding the tiny prince in her arms is the Snow Queen. Neal doesn't seem to know any different, maybe that it's colder. For him, it was like lying in a deep snow bank, one that was warm.
"Such a beautiful baby, he truly is the product of true love," Ingrid says gently.
David immediately springs at the woman, trying to get his son back, but she merely steps aside and he slips on some ice she'd created. He slides along the floor and crashes into the nightstand. Thinking quickly, Mary Margret goes for her husband's gun. She fumbles until she has the weapon aimed at the woman.
"Put him down!" she orders angrily.
The infant stirs in the Ice Queen's arms.
"Shhh, now I'm no expert on babies, but I'm sure that yelling will wake him up," Ingrid says.
"Give me back my son you…" Snow warns.
"Such protective parents. If only mine were as caring as you."
David reaches under the bed and pulls out his sword, pointing the tip in the Snow Queen's back.
Ingrid chuckles, rocking Neal gently to keep him calm. "It appears we've reached an impasse because I know neither of you will harm me as long as I hold your son."
"I don't know about that," Snow hisses. "I have pretty good aim and I could hit you without hurting him."
"But you won't, you don't want to risk hurting your precious little prince. The one you love more than Emma."
"THAT'S A LIE!" David barks. "We love Emma too."
"Really, because if I can recall, you were both afraid of her after her powers became uncontrollable. And you, dear princess, even yelled at her for hurting him." She points to David.
"THAT WAS YOUR FAULT!" Snow shouts, tears surfacing in her eyes. "You made her feel like she was alone when she wasn't! We love Emma more than anything in the world!"
"Hmmm, it seems that is what you tell yourselves that to avoid the fact that you left her alone for 28 years. Put her in a wardrobe into a world that was not her own, helpless as this little one here.
"WE GAVE HER HER BEST CHANCE!" Snow hollers, cocking the gun. Neal begins to stir again, afraid of the loud noises around him.
Ingrid ignores the princess's shouting and continues. "Really? Her best chance. You left her all alone, to grow up without knowing what love felt like. To be cared for. If it wasn't for me, she'd have felt alone forever."
"You are not her mother and never will be! You can never understand the sacrifices it takes to raise a child. You can't feel how painful it is to see your newborn daughter be taken away, to be taken to safety, while we all suffer. We regret it every day that one of us wasn't with her, but we're here now and we're never going to leave her again!"
"As long as she has us, she's never alone," David says. He pokes the sword harder into the woman's back.
"Well, that could change very quickly," Ingrid smirks. Snow White's speech was moving, but it still could not change the past, make up for the years they'd left their daughter behind. She was playing on the weaknesses of both parents, neither wanted to see either of their children harmed.
She waves her hand and a cold breeze sweeps through the room. Then sharp splinters of ice hit the armed parents, causing them to drop their weapons. The gun goes off and this scares the baby. Screams erupt from the soft blue blanket. Then both David and Snow's feet become encased in the Snow Queen's ice before they can react. The two attempt to move to protect their son, the prince even hacking at the ice with his sword, but Ingrid knows what will happen next.
She shifts the baby to one of her and then removes a large ice crystal from her dress pocket. The chunk of ice begins to glow a very bright white. Ingrid then pulls out the crystal from around her neck and allows the dark purple energy to flow through her veins. She feels very powerful and drinks in the expansive abilities that will come with it. She waves her hand over the white crystal, causing it to turn purple and then without warning, aims it at Snow White. In a flash of bright white light, Snow vanishes from the spot she was frozen in.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!" David yells over the screams of his son.
Ingrid doesn't respond and simply turns, aiming the purple crystal at Prince Charming. In another flash of light, he too disappears.
Ingrid then turns her attention to Neal. She rocks him back and forth to soothe him.
"There, there little one, it's okay. Mommy and Daddy are safe, they're just not here any longer…" She holds up the large chunk of ice and the reflections of David and Mary Margret can be seen. "I put them away for safe keeping. They may be your parents, but they're not Emma's and they never will be…"
A/N: Random fact: The way I described Ingrid holding Neal is actually how Kai felt when he first met the Snow Queen and sat in her sleigh. Who do you think is next on the list? Let me know in the comments.