Chapter 19
Regina and I walked down town together, chatting idly. She'd asked me that morning as we ate breakfast if I wanted to take a walk around town together, and I'd readily agreed, needing a distraction from the update Skulduggery had sent that morning. He was on his way, Fletcher and Tanith in tow and he'd be there by the end of the next day. I still hadn't figured out how to tell Regina and Rumpelstiltskin that they were coming, and that their arrival would essentially be the beginning of the end for my family finding trip, especially now that the American Sanctuary knew that I was here. There was no way they would let a known Irish agent stay stateside, regardless of the reason.
The conversation Neal and I had had the previous night also lingered heavily on my mind, and I paused briefly to ask my mother something that I'd been wondering since then.
"Would you want to go back?" She stumbled slightly, glancing over at me in question. "To the Enchanted Forest that is. Neal mentioned something about it last night, and I…" I sighed. "I didn't even know it might be an option for us." Regina watched me carefully for a moment before responding.
"A big part of me does, it's our home after all." She said softly, unaware of the conflict rising within me. "But I'm not sure I'd even be allowed back." She hesitated, looking around suspiciously before continuing on in a low tone. "I heard Mary-Margaret and David speaking late last night, the only way they'll take me with them is if I agree to be locked in a cage for the rest of my life."
"Excuse me?!" I sputtered out, horror coloring my voice.
"They seem to think I'm irredeemable." Regina's head dipped down. "Maybe I am."
"Hey." I said sternly, pulling my mother to a stop. "You are not irredeemable. No one is." Taking in her skeptical look, I sighed heavily. "During the War of Sanctuaries, I did…I did horrible things." I began, looking away from my mother's intensely focused face. "At times I was cruel, and I justified those terrible things to myself because I was convinced that it was necessary. In retrospect… I just don't know if they were." I swallowed harshly, turning my eyes back to Regina's face. "I took some time off afterwards, convinced that I had become irredeemable after all I'd done, and you know what changed that?" She shook her head. "Skulduggery. He tracked me down and after everything he'd seen me do, he told me that he still believed in me. That despite it, he knew I could do good things, help those around me, change the world for the better, even if it was just in a small way. And, eventually, I did." I grasped her hands in mine. "So listen to me when I tell you, mom, that you will never be irredeemable in my eyes, because I believe in you. You can change for the better, or you can stay the same, but no matter what, I'm always going to love you." I finished quietly, watching her eyes light up. Regina grinned shakily at me, and drew me into a tight hug.
"Thank you darling." She whispered into my hair, pulling back after a few moments to wipe a tear or two away. We started walking again, turning the conversation to lighter, less emotional subjects.
After a few blocks, we spotted Henry filling a bird feeder, and I waved Regina off, knowing that she would probably want a word alone with the young boy. As she stalked off, my phone began to ring, and I answered it without looking.
"Valkyrie Cain, detective at large, what do you want?"
"Well that is a good question, isn't it love?" A smooth Irish voice echoed down the line, and I groaned internally, recognizing Captain Jones, or rather Hook's, sultry voice. I glanced towards Regina, making sure that she was engaged with talking to Henry before I turned back to the conversation at hand.
"What do you want?" I hissed out, furious at the fact that the man who stabbed my father would be contacting me at all.
"Well love, no need to be hostile, I just wanted to see if you fancied a drink with me tonight." He sounded taken aback, as if he had truly expected me to be excited to find out that he was back in town.
"No need-" I cut myself off abruptly, suddenly realizing that Hook didn't know who I was, or who Rumpelstiltskin or Regina were to me. A terrible plan began to take shape in my mind, and I smirked slightly to myself as I continued on in a hurt tone. "No need to be hostile? You've been gone for weeks, with no word, and you expect me to be happy to hear from you?" He cleared his throat roughly.
"Well," He started apologetically. "Let me make it up to you, hmm? I promise I'll make it worth your while." I hummed contemplatively at that, letting him sweat for a few seconds as I pretended to consider his offer.
"Fine. The Rabbit Hole, around nine tonight. Don't be late." I said in an annoyed tone, cheering internally as he sighed on the other side of the phone.
"See you then love."
"'til then, Capitan Jones." I hung up before he could say another word, details of the plan coming together in my mind becoming clearer and clearer. I glanced over at Regina to see her talking quietly with Henry about bird feeders and smiled.
What's the harm in getting a little payback, I thought to myself as I made my way over to the pair, grinning as Henry noticed my approach and waved excitedly. It's only right after all, I am my parents daughter.
Regina had been dropped off by Valkyrie at her office, the younger woman citing that she had a few errands to run before that evening. Regina smiled to herself as she glanced out her window, thinking about the young woman her daughter had grown to be. She was as beautiful as Regina had always known she would grow to be, but, more than that, she was resilient and strong and forgiving, so much more than either of her parents had ever been. She had the makings of a great future Queen, whether Valkyrie knew that or not.
A set of footsteps approaching from behind Regina shook her out of her thoughts, and she turned towards the sound, moving quickly to her desk as the door to her office swung open to reveal a hesitant looking Hook.
"Captain." Regina breathed out as Hook swung the door shut behind him. "You look like you've had a rough time."
"Indeed I have." He responded, stalking over to her. "I've come to ask you for your protection."
"From Gold?" Regina asked as the man came to a stop next to her in front of her desk. "I'm surprised you'd show your face in this town, once you noticed your murder didn't take." God help him if Valkyrie finds out who stabbed her father, Regina thought smugly to herself, the knowledge of how dangerous her daughter could be swirling around her mind. Their talk earlier that week had opened Regina's eyes to not only how much training Valkyrie had had in the time she'd been away from them, but also how utterly determined her experiences had made her. To be powerful was one thing. To be able to see your plans through successfully was quite another.
"We've got bigger problems." The pirate said seriously, interrupting Regina's train of thought. "That man, Greg Mendell- the one who hit me the night I shot Belle- well, he's in league with some woman. She abducted me in New York and dragged me back to Mendell. And they want me to make an alliance with you, and then betray you." Regina's brow furrowed. "That's why they let me go. And I say, let's you and I make an alliance and we'll… we'll skip the unpleasant betrayal business." Hook stepped closer to Regina, noticing absentmindedly how much the Evil Queen reminded him of someone…who exactly he could not say.
"Why should I trust you?" Regina bit out.
"I took up with your mother for a reason." Hook said, taking note of the sudden sadness that entered the Queen's eyes with confusion. "Perhaps the three of us could reestablish our alliance." Regina looked away for a moment, gathering herself.
"My mother died." She responded quietly. Hook sighed regretfully.
"Well, that…is sad news indeed." His mind spun as he tried to salvage the situation. "I'm sorry. She will be missed. I will tell you this, Regina- I knew her well enough to know that what she wanted most in the world was to see you win." The woman stared up at him, eyes rimmed slightly red. "Now I failed in my revenge. The best tribute I could give her is to help you with yours." Regina nodded.
"Well, can I..." Regina cut herself off, sighing. "Let me show you something." She stalked over to a glass container, in which a Magical Bean plant grew steadily. Hook eyed the thing thoughtfully.
"An escape plan?" he shook his head mirthfully. "Oh, she'd have loved that. She brought that giant for the beans, so she could go back and start over with you."
"And now I'm going to do that with Henry and Valkyrie…" Hook started, alarmed at how softly Regina had said the woman's name, and suddenly aware of who Regina reminded him of. Regina carried on, ignorant to how shaken Hook had become. "If you'll help me." Hook forced himself to refocus, meeting Regina's eyes. "This is how we're going to escape the total destruction of Storybrooke… if I can trust you."
"Now when you say 'total destruction,' you're including the crocodile, yes?" Hook questioned. Regina's heart sank slightly. She had almost taken Valkyrie from her father once before, and the girl had forgiven her. But would she forgive Regina killing him off for good? Her daughter's words echoed in her mind. 'no matter what, I'm always going to love you.' She resisted the urge to smile. Maybe this was worth the risk.
"Oh, yes." She exclaimed. "Rumpelstiltskin will die, if you help me."
I had been in the middle of shopping and plotting late that afternoon, when I got a call from Neal.
"Hey big bro." I said, phone stuck between my head and my shoulder as I absently pocketed my receipt, mouthing thank you to the clerk who had helped me find some of the things I had needed.
"You'll never believe what just happened with Emma." Neal's frustrated voice came down the line, and I paused briefly, pushing open the door to the small shop, and moving down the street to my last destination of the day.
"What's going on?" I asked worriedly. "Is everything ok with Henry?" Neal sighed.
"Yeah, yeah, Henry is totally fine, if way too involved in my love life." I titled my head at that, utterly lost.
"What exactly happened?" I asked, checking my watch quickly. I still had a few hours to get the last of my stuff and get home to prepare before I had to meet with Hook.
"I caught Emma and Henry breaking into my room at Granny's, trying to dig up dirt on Tamara." Neal exclaimed. "They think she's playing me, can you believe that?!"
I was quiet for a few moments. "She has been…weirdly accepting of all of this."
"So were you!"
"Neal I've known about magic since I was twelve, normal people don't just accept this shit so quickly. Listen," I sighed, looking up to see my father's shop nearing as I walked down the street. "All I'm saying is that it's a little weird, ok? Maybe ask yourself why Tamara was so happy to go along with this crazy magical bullshit. Most normal people would have jumped ship long before this." Silence echoed down the line for a long moment.
"She's here because she loves me Valkyrie." He said quietly, his voice breaking my heart in ways I was unaware it could break. I sighed deeply, resigned to the fact that my brother was never going to listen to my suspicions, not without proof. I made a mental note to text Emma about it.
"I believe that Neal, just… just consider it, ok? I don't want my favorite brother getting hurt." He scoffed jokingly at that.
"I'm your only brother."
"I mean technically Henry is my brother too…" I drew out teasingly, ignoring the faux disgusted sounds Neal was making. "But you can actually drink with me, so you just barely managed to win out."
"Don't tell Henry that." Neal chuckled. "He'll be heartbroken."
"Fine, it'll have to stay between the two of us." I grinned, coming to a stop a few steps away from the front door of my father's shop. Faintly, I could see him puttering around inside, talking to someone I couldn't quite see. "I have a few errands to run, can we catch up for breakfast or something tomorrow?" I asked.
"Sure, text me the details." Neal replied. My smile dimmed slightly at his next words. "And then maybe we can talk about that poem from Henry's book." I sighed.
"Yeah, sounds great."
"Alright, see you then."
"See you. Bye, love you big bro." And I hung up, my eyes widening as I realized what I had said. After a brief moment of panic, I mentally shrugged, figuring that it wasn't that big a deal (or at least I would be acting like it wasn't a big deal next time I saw Neal in person) and I pushed my way into the Pawn Shop.
It was just as headache inducing as it had been before, but, having grown used to it at this point, I ignored the bright glow of the magical items around me in favor of staring at the pretty brunette woman who had stopped speaking as I entered.
"Oh." I said in faux surprise as I glanced between the woman and my father, who had turned to greet me. "Am I interrupting?"
A judgy eyebrow raised towards me as the blue eyed woman dressed in tight fitting clothing hopped off of the counter to come towards me. "And who exactly are you?" She sneered, unaware of the awkward look that come over my father's face behind her. He rushed over, gesturing between the two of us.
"Lacey, this is my daughter, Valkyrie. Valkyrie," he said, giving me a significant look that I completely missed the meaning of, "meet Lacey, my…girlfriend." My eyebrows shot up at that. Wasn't he dating a Belle? I shook off the thought, turning towards my father.
"I need your help with something." I said quietly, ignoring the annoyed woman next to me. That seemed to irritate her even more, and she turned towards my father as well, opening her mouth to say something, but was cut off by my father raising a hand. He smiled gently over at her.
"Lacey, would you give us a moment?" he asked sweetly, and after a moment she nodded grumpily, shooting a glare at me as she made her way to the back room. As she disappeared, I sent a weirded out look towards my father.
"What happened to Belle?"
"That was Belle, until your mother gave her cursed memories." My eyebrows furrowed, and he sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Never mind all that, it's between your mother and I, I shan't concern you with it any longer. Now," Rumpelstiltskin clapped his hands together. "How can I help you today my dear?" I hesitated, curious about the seemingly toxic relationship between my biological parents, before I shook the thought to focus on why I'd come here today.
"I'm in need of a knife."
My father's eyes lit up. "Well, say no more, dearie. Come with me."
