While the Storybrooke High students were going home and turning in for the evening after their Neon Lights Ball, something big was going on that would involve the adults in their Fairy Tale town. Two people waited in a car until a truck with a trailer was being brought up by the Storybrooke town border. The two people soon came out of the car, showing to be Goldie and Greg. Tamara soon saw them from the driver's seat and she left the door to go and meet up with the two of them.
"Hey, beautiful. We all good?" Greg greeted once he spotted the other woman with his flashlight.
"You never call me 'Beautiful'." Goldie scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"That's because you don't earn that title." Greg scoffed at her.
"Such a gentleman," Goldie rolled her eyes before smirking darkly. "Your father must be so proud of you~"
"At least my family didn't abandon me in the woods to be left all alone and fend myself off against bears who got mad cuz I stole their porridge." Greg retorted with a smirk back.
Goldie narrowed her eyes in response.
"Hey, you guys wanna do this thing properly or what?" Tamara asked them as she crossed her arms. "We haven't got all night, ya know."
"Right... Sorry~" Greg said before he smiled at Tamara and kissed her right on the lips and she kissed him back.
"Eugh..." Goldie groaned and stuck her tongue out at that.
"Grow up, Goldilocks." Greg and Tamara scoffed at the blonde.
"Whatever." Goldie scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, I'm better than good," Tamara soon told Greg. "Now should we unwrap the package?"
Greg nodded at that as they walked over to behind the trailer. "You think he'll cooperate?" he then asked her.
"Wouldn't worry about that," Tamara reassured. "From what I know of him, I don't think he'll need much convincing to help us."
"What makes you say that?" Greg wondered.
"Because if there's one person you can always count on to do your dirty work, it's a pirate." Tamara smirked as she soon opened the trunk.
Greg then flashed his flashlight on their hostage who was none other than Captain Hook who was bound and gagged.
"Man... We got Captain Hook... How badass is that?" Goldie commented.
"No, I got Captain Hook. You were too busy playing cute and little innocent bystander in Storybrooke," Tamara retorted with a scoff. "And you said you could take on my brother and his 'wives'."
"I did so! You can call and ask him about his new scars if you don't believe m." Goldie glared and scowled at the other woman.
"Oh, dear... Someone got up on the wrong side of the stolen bed this morning." Tamara smirked darkly.
Goldie snarled and crossed her arms, feeling frustrated and annoyed with the way Greg and Tamara were treating her. Soon, Greg and Tamara threw a bag over Hook's head and began to pull him out of the trailer and take him to a new location luckily (for them anyway) without being seen by anybody.
Soon, they were all inside the clock tower once the bag was removed off of Hook's head to show him his new surroundings. "Actually, I prefer it with the lights on," he soon said to his captors. "I've spent enough time below deck to not be afraid of the dark, so if this is your idea of torture, well you're just gonna have to try a little harder."
"Torture you? No, we just want to offer you a job." Greg replied.
"Oh. And then you're gonna let me go?" Hook laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I already did that last job. I killed Rumplestiltskin. I'm sated. Replete. My life's purpose met. And soon, my dear son Harry, wherever he is right now, shall do the same to that crocodile's kin in this town."
"I wish I could have been there, to see you stab the Dark One." Tamara smirked darkly in response.
"Well, look who's up to speed." Hook commented.
"I'm a quick learner." Tamara replied.
"Then you know my work is done!" Hook scoffed and reminded.
"Yeah, I don't think so. Take a look." Greg retorted as he and Tamara pushed the chair Hook was tied to over to the window and handed him a telescope. Through it, Hook could clearly see Mr. Gold pulling up to Storybrooke High after The Neon Lights Ball in his car and coming outside to pick up Ben and Audrey since Lonnie was going to be walked back home with Elwin.
"No. No!" Hook gasped once he saw that his arch nemesis survived being stabbed by poison somehow.
"He's alive, Hook. And there's his younger son too." Tamara firmly told the pirate as they watched the Golds reunite.
"He beat you. Now this guy has some powerful magic here, 'mate'," Greg added sternly as he and Tamara pushed the chair back as Goldie took the telescope. "He's untouchable. You'll never get another chance to take him down and who knows what he probably did to his son Ben to protect him away from YOUR son?"
"Oh, I will," Hook glared in determination. "I will indeed."
"So this is where we come in," Goldie soon told the pirate. "By letting us help you if you help us."
"How can you help me?" Hook scoffed in response.
"We know how to kill magical creatures." Tamara informed.
"And the price?" Hook then asked.
"I need you to help me find someone," Greg soon said as he looked at the adult pirate. "My father. He was taken in this town a long time ago."
"Why the bloody hell do you think I'll be able to help you find your father?" Hook huffed.
"Because you know the woman who took him: Regina," Greg retorted. "Do we have a deal?" he then asked as he brought out the pirate's hook that he used as a left hand due to personal reasons. "We'll also help you reunite with your own son who's lost in this sleepy little town."
Hook began to look thoughtful over that question even as he looked over at his namesake.
Meanwhile, at Storybrooke Harbor, David and Mary Margaret were shown to be sitting and talking with each other, enjoying a chilly evening together while comfortable under a blanket with a couple of hot drinks.
"If, we're going back to the Enchanted Forest, are we really going to leave Regina behind?" Mary Margaret soon asked out of concern.
"She's too dangerous to bring with us. We have to leave her." David reminded and warned.
"But... Henry and Evie won't like it," Mary Margaret replied softly. "She is their mother, despite all the horrors."
"Mary Margaret, those horrors will continue," David said. "Do you wanna give her another chance, because every time we do, she-"
"She slips, I know," Mary Margaret nodded and pouted. "What do we do? And who knows what Evie will even do, especially since she's Regina's birth daughter?"
David sighed sharply. "First things first. Evie is nothing like her mother The Evil Queen," he began to say. "And instead of a second chance, we give Regina a choice: come back, live out her days in Rumple's cell, or stay here."
The fisherman of the harbor seemed to have been listening in to their conversation before being engulfed in magic smoke, revealing to be Regina in disguise. "Jail cell and separate me from my princess? I don't think so." she then replied before she shook her head and stormed off into the night.
The next day came as Henry was still with Nova, Leroy, and Dee Dee. Breakfast was made and it was a special one of waffles and soon, nearly everyone was downstairs to eat, but there was still someone missing.
"Do you like waffles?" Nova asked Henry as she began to share the plate of homemade waffles with her family and guest.
"Oh, yes," Henry smiled as he sipped his glass of juice. "Very much, thank you."
"No, thank you." Leroy replied as he looked up from his newspaper briefly.
"Oh, my..." Nova soon gasped and realized once she picked up the syrup. "We're missing somebody."
"The other dwarves have their own houses, Nova. You know that." Leroy reminded.
"No, no, not that, Leroy," Nova replied as she looked over. "Oh... Dee Dee. Henry, didn't you tell Dee Dee that breakfast was ready?" she then asked.
"Yeah, and I thought she was right behind me," Henry frowned out of concern for his best friend. "I hope she didn't go back to sleep."
"It's not like Dee Dee to miss breakfast... I wonder if something's bothering her?" Nova frowned out of concern as Leroy looked like he was trying to get the syrup from her, but she seemed to keep moving it all around other directions out of his reach.
"I know she's a little nervous about her big show about her own story, especially against Olga von Rothbart, but I keep believing in her no matter what." Henry piped up then.
"Lousy 'Rothbrat' if you ask me." Leroy scoffed and snorted under his breath as he couldn't stand Olga's behavior around Dee Dee.
"Leroy!" Nova tutted and firmly pouted.
Leroy shrugged with wide eyes before hiding his head behind the newspaper.
"Oh, the poor dear... Maybe I should go up and talk with her." Nova suggested as she put the syrup down.
Leroy grinned as he swiped the syrup and going to pour it on his own waffles before he looked upstairs, thinking he heard a little something that seeped into his heart. He may had been a grumpy dwarf in a former life, but in Storybrooke he had two special things that made him happier than finding all of the diamonds in a mine with his brothers: his true love Nova and their little Diamond girl herself Dee Dee. He sighed sharply as he felt like he was going to regret this before he stood up suddenly. "Kid. Nova. You stay here," he soon spoke up. "I'll go talk to her."
"Oh, Leroy, are you sure?" Nova asked. "I mean, no offense, but you don't have a lot of experience in talking down to a child in a way to make them feel better."
"That may be so, but let me try this," Leroy insisted. "I'm her new papa and it's my job to protect her from bullies or anyone else who breaks her little heart."
"Oh, Leroy..." Nova sniffled and smiled at how sweet that sounded even if Leroy was in his usual grumpy tone of voice.
"I'll be right back," Leroy said to them as he headed upstairs. "Don't touch my syrup or my waffles while I'm gone." he then demanded.
"Would we really do that?" Nova asked with a small amused smirk.
"Dopey would!" Leroy called back.
Nova sighed and shook her head before she smiled at Henry as they stayed behind at the dining table.
Leroy soon came upstairs to see Dee Dee's room cracked slightly open and found the girl all alone, sitting on her bed and looking awfully sad. He soon came closer and strode up beside his new daughter figure. "Hey, Pigtails, what's wrong?" he soon asked her.
"Nothing." Dee Dee replied softly as she hugged her nutcracker doll.
Normally Leroy would take that answer as a sign to butt out and mind his own business, but something told him to sit down next to her to find out what was really on the girl's mind. "Come on now. Come on," he then said as he tried to give her a dreamy smile which gave him his old dwarf name before he turned into Grumpy. "No secrets. You can tell your old Papa Leroy, huh?"
"I'm thinking about quitting the competition at Dance School." Dee Dee soon said, still not looking at him as she held her nutcracker doll in her lap.
"Oh? Why?" Leroy asked. "Why would you go and say a thing like that?"
"Olga and the other girls say that my dance is gonna be gross because I'm a stinky dancer, especially with my weird looking doll," Dee Dee explained as she glanced away, but a tear could be seen rolling down her cheek. "They're all prettier than me."
"Oh... They couldn't be!" Leroy glared suddenly, though he looked soft around her again as he came closer to her side. "Now you listen to me, Pigtails. You're something extra special."
"No, I'm not." Dee Dee said softly as she got off of her bed and came closer to her window, looking out to the distance.
"Why, someday, people will come see you in your Dance School lookin' for a pretty dancer like you just like your mother, Clara." Leroy insisted as he soon got off of her bed and walked up beside her.
"Honest?" Dee Dee asked softly as she looked back at him.
"I'll bet my pic-axe on it, but you've got to believe it," Leroy reassured as she soon had tears fall down her face a little before he wiped them away gently. "Keep the faith, Pigtails," he then looked out the window as a bird was visiting Dee Dee's birdhouse from school. "Do you see that bluebird?"
"Yes, I do." Dee Dee said with a small smile.
"Well, Pigtails, let me teach you something someone once taught me." Leroy began to say.
Dee Dee nodded, looking hopeful to hear more.
"Faith is a bluebird you see from afar. It's for real and as sure as the first evening star. You can't touch it or buy it or wrap it up tight, but it's there just the same, making things turn out right." Leroy soon told her as kindly and paternal as he could.
"Can't touch it or buy it or wrap it up tight, but it's there just the same, making turns turn out right," Dee Dee smiled as she hugged him suddenly and he began to smile back at her before she soon grabbed her nutcracker doll and the ballerina snowglobe, holding them out to her father figure. "But whoever has to come watch me dance has to come see The Nutcracker Prince and Princess Ballerina too."
"Oh, they'll love 'em!" Leroy said as he began to humor her with a warm smile. "They don't eat much, do they?" he then asked.
Dee Dee giggled at that before she pulled out two cookies from her pocket. "Oh, here! I've brought you something." she then said softly.
"Oh, I see..." Leroy said before he nibbled on one of the cookies and smirked a bit. "Dwarf Snaps."
"No! They're ginger snaps!" Dee Dee corrected and giggled.
"Well, I suppose an old dwarf like me could use a little ginger." Leroy chuckled warmly and smirked before he ate the cookies since Dee Dee gave him both.
"I took two extras from lunch the other day," Dee Dee told him before looking around and dropping her voice low to a whisper. "We're not supposed to do that."
"Well, you can trust me," Leroy reassured before he winked with a small smile. "I won't tattletale on you."
"I love you, Papa Leroy~" Dee Dee beamed as she pulled him into another hug.
Leroy blinked in the hug again as he smiled and enjoyed her hug.
Dee Dee smiled before she gasped and looked at the clock in her room. "Gee! We better hurry or we'll be late for breakfast!" she then told him before she rushed out of the room suddenly.
Leroy chuckled warmly at that before he followed Dee Dee downstairs and back to the dining table so that they could share some breakfast together along with Henry and Nova.
After breakfast, Dee Dee and Henry were soon outside, looking at Dee Dee's birdhouse from school. Henry smiled, glad to see that Dee Dee was starting to feel better and more confident about her story for her class which would of course be based on her parents' story The Nutcracker Prince even though she still felt a little hurt inside that her birth mother abandoned her and she didn't know any more else about her. At least for right now.
"Good morning, Henry." Regina greeted her adoptive son.
Dee Dee let out a frightened squeak and hid behind Henry, looking at Regina a bit wide-eyed.
"Um, what are you doing here?" Henry asked the woman.
"I've missed you. And I wanted to show you something," Regina began to tell him before she looked around. "Is your sister nearby?"
"Uh-uh," Henry shook his head. "Doug's parents picked him up and she asked if she could sleep over after The Neon Lights Ball."
"Oh... I see... Well, this is important, so I'll be sure to tell her too," Regina said before she soon took out a magic bean from her pocket. "Emma and Mary Margaret and David have been keeping this from you, darling. They've been growing magic beans in secret. They want to take you and Evie to the Enchanted Forest, without me." she then explained.
"The Enchanted Forest?" Dee Dee asked.
Regina nodded in confirmation.
"Maybe we're all going and they just haven't told you yet?" Henry suggested.
"No, they won't let me help. They don't see the good in me. The good you've seen," Regina explained as she bent down a little to his and Dee Dee's height. "All they see is The Evil Queen, which they made me. And I don't want to be that anymore. This is my chance to go back and start over, for me to be the hero. And you'd like that, right?"
"I-I'd love it." Henry nodded.
Dee Dee kept hidden and stayed silent as she wasn't sure what to say or do in this situation, but she had a feeling that Regina was keeping a sinister secret which reminded her heavily of The Rat King keeping the nutcracker prince's identity a secret or when Rothbart's daughter Odile posed as Odette in order to trick Prince Derek and doom the rightful princess of Swan Lake to be a swan forever.
"Here's how it will work," Regina soon began to tell Henry. "There's a fail-safe built into the curse. A trigger."
"Like a self-destruct button?" Dee Dee soon asked.
"Like you never did it? Henry added.
"Yes. It's the next best thing to turning back time." Regina nodded at both, deciding to include Dee Dee to keep up appearances.
Henry beamed before looking curious. "That's amazing. What happens to Storybrooke?" he then replied.
"It disappears. Forever. But no need to worry, dear," Regina explained as Henry soon looked worried about Storybrooke disappearing. "We can get away first and we need to round up your sister before we go, back to The Enchanted Forest, using this."
Henry frowned and bit his lip before he suddenly looked over at Dee Dee since she was his best friend. "But, what about everyone else?" he then asked his adoptive mother while looking worried about his best friend. "What about Evie?"
"Evie will be fine because she will be with us, but everyone else? They die." Regina admitted.
"What?!" Henry and Dee Dee both suddenly cried out.
"I don't have any other choice," Regina told Henry. "As long as there are other people in our lives, you and your sister can never fully be mine. You both loved me once. With them gone, you'll both love me again. And you both can see me for what I truly am: a hero."
"Not if you kill everyone," Henry frowned. "You're a villain!"
"Just like The Rat King and Rothbart and Odile!" Dee Dee added.
"Me? They're the ones that have been keeping us apart, they're the villains!" Regina told Henry and began to feel worse with being compared to those villains from Dee Dee.
"How I can I ever love anyone who would do such horrible things? I know that Evie wouldn't either," Henry retorted. "Why would you even tell us this?"
"Because I don't have anyone else to talk to." Regina defended softly.
"Well, we're gonna stop you." Dee Dee spoke up as bravely as possible.
"Everything I just said will come to pass." Regina replied as she took her spell book out of her bag.
"Never! Why would we let you do any of this?" Henry retorted as Dee Dee looked like she was about to run away to get her parental figures.
"Because you won't remember a thing." Regina countered as she cast a spell on both Henry and Dee Dee, causing both of them to forget everything Regina just told them.
"Mom. What are you doing here?" Henry greeted almost as though nothing had happened and because of what happened to him, that was how it was for him and Dee Dee.
"Henry was gonna help me with my new dance, Mayor Mills." Dee Dee added softly.
"Just came to say hello. I've missed you," Regina smiled innocently. "Why don't you show me Dee Dee's little dance?"
"Uh... Is that okay?" Henry asked his best friend.
"Yes, I think that will be just fine," Dee Dee replied before she looked at Regina bashfully. "Just know that it isn't very good."
"Oh, come now. I'm sure it'll be wonderful," Regina insisted. "And maybe after this, Henry, we could go and find your sister?"
"Okay, sure," Henry nodded before he stepped out of Dee Dee's way so that she could have room to practice her dance routine. "I think she said she was gonna spend the night at Doug's house."
"Let's just hope that's all they're doing together." Regina muttered to herself as Doug and Evie were teenagers after all.
Dee Dee blushed a little and she soon got into position and soon started to do her dance for both Henry and Regina as she told the story about Clara and The Nutcracker Prince based on the story that everybody knew from fairy tales as she didn't know much about her biological parents and the true story aside from Clara having to give up Dee Dee shortly after birth almost like when Emma gave up Henry back in Boston. Nova looked out the window, looking cautious as Regina was out there and interacting with Henry and Dee Dee until she saw the other woman leaving and decided to take the kids out into town just to make sure that they would be okay.
Meanwhile, Regina went home to her office and stared out her window, studying the beans that she stole from the bean fields until she heard her door open and someone came inside. She then looked over to see who had entered her office. "Captain! You look like you've had a rough time." she then greeted the adult male pirate.
"Indeed, I have," Hook nodded. "I've come to ask you for your protection."
"From Gold? I'm surprised you'd show your face in this town after you noticed your murder didn't take," Regina replied before she remembered Harry was still wandering around Storybrooke. "Though I suppose even you have standards of stranding your own son in a town he knows nothing about."
"Well, we've got bigger problems. That man Greg Mendell, the one who hit me the night I shot Belle, well he's in league with some woman," Hook explained. "She abducted me in New York and dragged me back to Mendell. They want me to make an alliance with you, and then betray you. That's why they let me go."
"Mm-hmm." Regina nodded.
"Well, I say that you and I make an alliance, and we'll skip the unpleasant betrayal business." Hook soon suggested.
"Why should I trust you?" Regina narrowed her eyes.
"I took up with your mother for a reason. Perhaps the three of us could reestablish in our alliance," Hook defended. "Besides, I need to recruit my son and you seem to have lost your own daughter to the ones you despise."
"My mother died." Regina replied.
"That is sad news indeed. I'm sorry, she will be missed, but I tell you this, Regina. I knew her well enough to know what she wanted most in the world was to see you win," Hook simply said. "Now I failed in my revenge. The best tribute I could give her is to help you with yours. Besides, my son still has to go after Rumplestiltskin's son with the aide of Miss Smee, the sister of my most loyal and trusted crew mate from The Jolly Roger."
Regina looked a bit thoughtful. "Well, can I... Let me show you something." she soon said to him before gesturing outside to the beans she collected from the dwarves.
"An escape plan? Oh, she would 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 Evie. If you'll help me," Regina told him with a small smirk. "This is how we're going to escape the total destruction of Storybrooke. If I can trust you."
"Now when you say 'total destruction', including The Crocodile, yes?" Hook soon asked.
"Oh, yes. Rumplestiltskin will die and his son will be in the hand and hook of your son," Regina reassured with a small smirk. "If you help me."
Hook smirked back as he began to look hopeful about that. They soon went over to the elevator together, causing Hook to feel rather quizzical.
"This why it's a two-man job?" The pirate soon asked. "You need me to lower you?"
"No. Used to be. Before magic." Regina replied as she soon magically operated the elevator and she and Hook entered after the doors opened.
After going into the elevator, the doors soon closed and they lowered down into the subterranean level of Storybrooke.
"You ever wonder if this constant pursuit for revenge is the reason we have no one who cares for us?" Hook spoke up as he and Regina made it underground. "I mean, when all this is over, and I know The Crocodile is dead, for good and all, I'll have nothing to look forward to. My life will be empty. Revenge may Saturday your being, but don't misunderstand me, my dear, it's an end, not a beginning. The End is just the beginning, especially for my son to take on the son of The Crocodile."
"For you and your descendant, maybe. Not me. I have Henry and Evie. And destroying Storybrooke?" Regina replied. "Well, that seems like a small price to pay to allow us to live in peace."
Hook soon extended his arm to guide Regina further into the depths and she saw that he was wearing a cuff that once belonged to her mother.
"Where did you get that?" Regina demanded. "It belonged to my mother."
"Yes. Well, she enchanted it so I could climb the beanstalk in our world. She-" Hook began to try to explain.
"I don't care why she gave it to you," Regina interrupted firmly. "It's hers and I want it back."
"You plan to blow this town off the map and you're worried about a scrap of cowhide?" Hook scoffed.
"She was my mother." Regina reminded sternly.
"Well, she was my friend." Hook defended.
"Hardly," Regina glared as she took the cuff off of Hook. "Now, follow me closely." she then demanded.
"Precarious. You couldn't have just hid the trigger in the back of your wardrobe?" Hook remarked.
"It had to be both well-hidden and well-guarded. I put it somewhere no one would ever think I'd go." Regina clarified simply.
"Yeah, when you say well-guarded, who's guarding it?" Hook retorted.
"A friend. She's been through a lot. There's a powerful spell here that sustains her in whatever form she's in," Regina explained. "In fact, Hook, she's the reason why this is a two-man job."
"And what exactly am I here to do?" Hook soon asked.
"I'll get the trigger, and you? Well, you're the distraction." Regina told him.
"What?" Hook asked only for Regina to push him down a steep underground cliff into the lair of the trigger's guardian. After falling, Hook landed in this lair and saw that the ashes of the guardian began to reform and there appeared to be graffiti on the wall next to a broken-down looking bed that had purple and black sheets, almost like a dark princess bed even with curtains. The graffiti also appeared to be a large lime green flame with a black horned being inside the flame and in golden letters read: "LONG LIVE EVIL".
The ashes of the guardian soon swirled around before Hook could question about the bed and the graffiti as the formerly slain dragon was resurrected as an undead creature.
"Maleficent. Love you in earth tones." Hook soon greeted the villainess.
Maleficent roared and screeched in response, nearly sounding like the dragon form she was best known for especially in attempting to defeat Princess Aurora like her mother Carabosse tried with Queen Briar Rose.
Hook looked around, wondering how he was going to deal with Maleficent as Regina was searching for the trigger. He soon found what looked like a pouch underneath the graffiti which had the words "PROPERTY OF MAL" on it and inside included a leatherbound book that came with a lock that was broken that puzzled and perplexed him until he thought of something to do with the book, but would wait until after he faced Maleficent. That is, if he were able to get out of the situation alive. Meanwhile, the screams of Maleficent could even be heard up in the higher regions of the subterranean Storybrooke, where Regina was searching for the trigger. She found the coffin that once held a sleeping Snow White. Regina soon broke through the glass coffin and found a pouch containing what looks like a small brown diamond, but it was really the trigger capable of ending Storybrooke.
Meanwhile, at Granny's Diner, Henry and Dee Dee were shown to be there with Nova, getting some lunch sorted out together as Leroy had to get to work with Anton and the other dwarves. However, the two kids looked over as they saw Emma on her way into the diner just as Tamara was leaving.
"Here you go." Kiara said as she gave Tamara a bag.
"No mayo, right?" Tamara asked to check.
"That's right." The waitress nodded.
Tamara was then about to leave when she crashed into Emma.
"Ohh! I'm so sorry. I'm-He still hates mayo, huh?" Emma gasped and frowned as she tried to help Tamara pick up her things until she found a list with the names of nearly everyone in town and their respective Storybrooke counterparts as well as who their descendants were.
"Avoids it like the plague." Tamara nodded as she quickly took the list and put it in her purse.
Emma blinked at how sudden that was. "How are you doing here in Storybrooke?" she then asked softly. "I mean, it's a lot to take in."
"Understatement," Tamara replied as both women laughed over that. "But, uh, I guess you know that better than anyone." she then added.
"Yeah, I guess it's true, but I had Henry," Emma nodded. "He got me through it."
"Yeah. Right. Neal's doing the same for me." Tamara replied.
"I hope Goldie is alright too." Emma said.
"Don't worry about her... She's used to strange new places where she doesn't belong in." Tamara muttered darkly.
"Even so, it's pretty crazy here," Emma soon said to Tamara. "If the world found out about this place, do you know what that would mean for Henry or Neal?" she then asked.
"Look, Emma, you don't have to worry," Tamara soothed. "You can trust me."
"That's good to know." Emma replied.
"I'll be seeing you later." Tamara soon said as she had to get going.
"Yeah, I'll be seeing you." Emma nodded in response.
Henry and Dee Dee soon looked at each other from their table as they waited for Nova to come back before they would do anything else, but they soon began to plot together.
"Spy work?" Dee Dee asked Henry.
"Yep." Henry nodded.
"We're gonna follow Miss Swan and try to find out what's really going on around here?" Dee Dee then asked.
"Definitely." Henry nodded again.
"And we're gonna get help from Doug and Evie too?" Dee Dee then asked.
"I didn't think about that, but yeah, they might be great help too," Henry nodded. "Now I know that Evie is spending the night at Doug's house after The Neon Lights Ball, so let's get our food to go and head out."
"Agreed." Dee Dee nodded.
Soon, Nova walked over with a small smile to the two children.
"Mama Nova, can we have our food to go?" Dee Dee soon asked.
"To go?" Nova frowned. "We just got here, sweetheart. I was hoping we could spend the afternoon out together until Henry goes back home to Ms. Blanchard and Mr. Nolan."
"You can call them David and Snow White. It's okay." Henry said to the former fairy woman.
Nova bit her lip in response.
"Please Mama Nova? This is very important," Dee Dee pouted and put her hands together. "I promise we can all have dinner together later."
Nova sighed a little. "I'll be right back." she then said before going back over to the counter to ask Granny for some to go containers and to change their lunch order.
Henry and Dee Dee smiled at each other before they slapped their hands together.
"Come on. Let's go get Doug and Evie." Henry told Dee Dee.
"Right." Dee Dee nodded in agreement.
And at that, the two kids took off and headed right for the residence belonging to Dopey and Ebony Black. Henry soon knocked on the door and stood beside Dee Dee as they waited for an answer. Ebony smiled as she soon walked in and answered the door, wiping her hands with a rag as she had just finished washing the dishes.
"Oh, hello, Ms. Ebony." Henry greeted.
"Are Doug and Evie here?" Dee Dee added.
Eventually, Evie came out from one room and smiled once she saw who was there. "Henry~" she then beamed at her little brother and hugged him instantly.
Doug soon walked over before he cried out and was grabbed by his mother as she licked her thumb and began to wipe a smudge off of his cheek rather roughly. He tried to put up with it before chuckling nervously at Henry and Dee Dee who giggled at that while Evie glanced over to her good friend curiously.
"Evie, we're gonna need some work done about Tamara, Emma, and my dad," Henry told his big sister. "Can we count on you and Doug to help us out?"
"You know you can count on us, Henry," Evie smiled. "I'm always happy to help you with your little spy missions."
"That's what we like to hear, Evie," Dee Dee spoke up. "As long as me and Doug are both back home before dinner of course."
"Yeah, that would be wise," Doug added with a nod as he rubbed his cheek which felt sore from his mother's cleaning. "Especially since Dad went off to go to work for the day with Anton and the other dwarves."
"You're free to go as long as you do that." Ebony agreed as she stood there with a smile.
"We'll see what we can do," Henry replied. "Thank you, Ms. Black."
"Yes, of course," Ebony beamed as she went back inside. "You kids have some fun now."
The four watched her go before they smiled at each other and began to get ready for their next task.
"So where are we going now?" Doug asked.
"Right now, we find my mom and talk to her," Henry spoke up. "We'll explain more about what's happening on the way."
"Please do because I have no idea what's going on here, but I want Evie-" Doug began to say before his eyes widened and he blushed suddenly. "Erm... To be there with me while I help out you guys too."
"Aw, thanks, Doug~" Evie beamed as she hugged the boy suddenly. "I'm so lucky to be friends with such a nice boy."
Doug blinked and blushed in the hug with a shy chuckle. Henry and Dee Dee just looked at the two teenagers a bit long and distantly.
"Erm... Ahem!" Doug cleared his throat and coughed as he stood up straight. "Let's get moving then." he then suggested.
"Let's," Evie nodded. "Okay, Henry. Lead the way."
"Gladly." Henry replied as they soon took off and headed right for the Blanchard loft.
Speaking of which, at the Blanchard loft, Emma soon came over to talk with her mother about the drama that was going on in Storybrooke lately. "I'm telling you, Tamara is the 'she' August was trying to warn us about." she then urged the other woman.
Mary Margaret sighed and shook her head before answering Emma again as she tried to think about what to tell her. "Look, I know this has been hard for you." she then started to say.
"No. This isn't about me. This is about August," Emma retorted. "He died trying to warn us about someone. A woman. 'She'."
"And why do you think it's Tamara? Why not someone else like that Goldie girl that Neal brought with him straight from New York?" Mary Margaret then asked.
"I don't know much about Goldie, but something tells me she's not as bad as Tamara, who by the way, has a list of people who live here, what their fairy tale names and who their descendants are," Emma defended as she tried to explain. "Doesn't that worry you?"
"There could be a million different explanations for what you saw." Mary Margaret dismissed.
"We don't know anything about her. And she lied to me," Emma pleaded. "When she said I could trust her, she lied."
"Your 'superpower' has been known to be unreliable, Emma," Mary Margaret shook her head. "Especially when you're emotional."
"For the last time, I do not have feelings for Neal!" Emma complained. "That was over a decade ago! I'm over it!"
"Well, that may be, but if you tell Henry that you think his dad's fiancée may be up to something, then Henry's gonna think that there's a chance his parents could get back together. So keep it to yourself. Please. 'Til you know something more." Mary Margaret advised as she was just about to leave only to find a surprise at the door. "Oh! Henry, Dee Dee, Evie, Doug. What a surprise." she then greeted innocently.
"Hi, Ms. Blanchard/Grandma." The group greeted as they smiled at the woman.
"We just thought we would come to visit for a little while?" Evie smiled innocently.
"Oh. Well, that sounds very nice, I was just leaving actually," Mary Margaret replied. "But Emma's here if you'd like to visit with her."
"I'd like that a lot." Henry nodded.
"I'm sure you would," Mary Margaret smiled. "And hello there, Dee Dee. How's your dance coming along?"
"Oh... Erm... It's coming..." Dee Dee replied softly as she rubbed her arm.
"It's okay, Dee Dee. I'll help you out with that as soon as possible." Henry soothed his best friend.
"Thanks, Henry." Dee Dee smiled warmly.
"Very sweet... I'm sure your dance will be just fine, Dee Dee," Mary Margaret nodded. "Excuse me, I must get going." she then said before walking off.
The four then said goodbye to Mary Margaret before looking back at Emma suddenly.
"So... We're back in business?" Henry asked with a small smile. "I heard everything."
"How? You just came to the door." Emma replied out of surprise.
"Exactly. Operation: Cobra's back on," Henry nodded. "We're investigating Tamara, right?"
"I'll get my coat." Emma sighed and smirked before she walked away briefly, deciding not to question anything else right now as she knew how Henry and Evie could be when it came to adventures.
Soon, Emma along with Henry, Dee Dee, Doug, and Evie were in the blonde woman's car and having a stake-out. Henry and Dee Dee ate the sandwiches and fries that Nova ordered for them from Granny's for their lunch, also sharing some of the fries with Doug and Evie while Emma sipped some coffee.
"Operation: Cobra was about breaking the curse. This is about keeping Storybrooke secret," Henry soon spoke up. "We need a new name."
"Operation: Tiger." Emma suggested.
"Why?" Henry wondered.
"I need a why?" Emma replied, agape at him. "You never need a why!"
Evie chuckled a little at that.
"I want something like the town, something that hides in plain sight." Henry soon suggested.
"How about a praying mantis?" Doug suggested.
"Now you're talkin'." Henry nodded before the jingles of a door's bells could be heard in the distance.
"DUCK!" Emma cried out before they all suddenly ducked to avoid being seen only to see that it was Ben and Audrey leaving the diner together, arm-in-arm with each other. "No, it's not them." she then said.
"Cool, it's Uncle Ben," Henry pointed out. "I always liked having him around back in the day."
"You sure did." Evie smiled warmly at the nostalgia of that.
"Stake-outs are fun." Dee Dee giggled as she continued to eat.
"Not usually. But this one? Yeah, kinda." Emma replied before she nodded.
Henry smiled back as he looked soft. "I thought by now we'd be having adventures. Over there, you know? Riding horses, shooting bow and arrows. This is cool, too." he then said.
"That does sound like fun sometimes... Maybe I could be a seamstress since I don't wanna be an Evil Queen like my mother or grandmother." Evie said softly.
"You could never be evil, Evie~" Doug said softly.
"Thanks, Doug." Evie smiled warmly.
"No problem, Evie." Doug smiled back before blushing.
Emma began to look soft suddenly. "Is that still something you want? I mean, if there was a way to... Go back to The Enchanted Forest?" she then asked the young ones.
"Is there?" Dee Dee asked hopefully.
"No, don't be crazy." Emma shook her head.
"There is. A way back. A bean or something," Henry soon memorized. "The giant brought it, didn't he?"
"Yep! Who knew that giants and dwarves could end up working well together?" Doug remarked as he knew that better than anyone else due to being the son of a dwarf.
"You are a smart kid." Emma remarked to her estranged son.
"That's awesome!" Henry beamed out of excitement. "We could get, like, a castle; you, me, Evie, and Neal. Evie could even have her own starter castle to make all her clothes in!"
"Oh, hey, whoa. No way," Emma shook her head quickly. "That... We're not... That's not-"
"Duck!" Henry gasped once he saw something.
Everyone soon ducked down and glanced over to see that Tamara and Neal were leaving the building together.
"Operation: Praying Mantis is on." Doug soon said.
"I love that enthusiasm, Doug." Henry smirked in approval.
"Me too~" Evie beamed.
Doug chuckled sheepishly as he blushed at Evie's approval.
"Dougie, why are you blushing?" Dee Dee asked her foster cousin.
"Allergies." Doug covered up.
"Ohh..." Dee Dee said as Doug turned away bashfully.
At Granny's Inn, Emma and the others left the car. Doug and Evie would hide out up front to keep an eye out for anything suspicious while Emma brought Henry and Dee Dee upstairs with her. She was soon picking the lock of the room that Neal took during his stay in Storybrooke. "Hang on. I almost got it." she soon told the two kids.
"So once we find proof that Tamara's evil, I guess the wedding's off?" Henry asked innocently.
"Henry... Neal and I are not getting back together," Emma advised. "You know that, right?"
"I mean, once he's single, it could happen," Dee Dee piped up as she swayed about like the prima ballerina that she aspired to be. "Thrown together, moonlight, wine, dancing together by Swan Lake and sharing a spaghetti dinner for two..."
"Listen to me, you two. I am onto Tamara for other reasons, not because she's with Neal, okay?" Emma told them before shooing them away suddenly. "Go. Go, go, go."
Henry and Dee Dee then got out of the way and soon the lock clicked.
"Ah! Yes!" Emma cheered, coming into the room as Henry and Dee Dee followed after her only to be sent out of the door suddenly. "Uh-uh! Uh-uh! You gotta be the lookout like Doug and Evie are doing for us outside." she then told them.
"But... But what do we do? Whistle?" Dee Dee asked with a shrug.
"No, that's too obvious. You gotta hit the door," Emma replied as she tried to explain, kicking against the door and even thumped against it. "You know, like, just like... Like, kick it like you're bored. Like... Or, like, stumble into it. Like, 'Oh, I'm...' You know? Just hit the door, okay?"
"Hit the door." Henry and Dee Dee replied.
"Yeah." Emma nodded.
"Got it," Henry replied. "Now go."
Emma soon began to sift through Neal and Tamara's things in the room. After coming up empty-handed, after searching their closet, and under their bed, Emma hoped that a creaky tile in the floor would yield some evidence. "Gotcha." she then smirked.
Neal was soon heading over to the inn, startling Doug and Evie a bit. "Hey, guys. What's up?" he then greeted.
"Why would you ask us that?!" Doug replied out of panic.
"Doug!" Evie hissed nervously.
Doug then covered his mouth nervously.
"Uh... I dunno..." Neal shrugged in response. "Anyway, I gotta get back inside."
"No, you don't!" Doug replied, sounding even more suspicious.
Neal then glanced at him oddly as he wondered what had gotten into the teenage dwarf.
"I mean, of course you can go home for a little while," Evie smiled innocently. "What kinda people would we be if we stopped you?"
"Exactly, so can I get through?" Neal asked.
"Uh... Erm... Uh..." Evie soon stammered.
Neal shook his head. "You two are acting so strange." he then said as he walked off ahead of them to go into the inn.
"Evie, I'm so sorry about that, I don't know what came over me." Doug said nervously.
"It's okay, Doug. You'll just have to work on that in the future." Evie advised.
"Yeah... Maybe you're right..." Doug sighed and smiled nervously.
Evie smiled back as she tried to soothe him.
Dee Dee was soon practicing some dance moves while Henry watched her so that they could wait out the time for a little while until they saw a certain someone come up.
"Hey, guys! You too?" Neal greeted, a bit surprised and very curious. "What's going on around here?"
Dee Dee flinched as she froze in place before looking around as she didn't know what to do or say.
"Uh..." Henry stammered as he soon remembered something to do as he kicked the door right away.
Neal soon caught on to his suspicions. "Oh, hell no. I taught her that. Emma!" he then replied firmly before coming right into the room along with Henry and Dee Dee.
"So you weren't here, and the door was open, and we just..." Emma tried to cover up, but she knew that it was pointless.
"Emma, wh-what's this about?" Neal soon demanded.
"Tamara. I think she's playing you." Emma explained.
"She's playing me? How?" Neal scoffed.
"I think she's the 'she' August was trying to warn us about," Emma continued. "I didn't wanna tell you until I had proof."
"Oh. Okay, yeah. Well, as long as you broke into our room to spare my feelings..." Neal scoffed with a sarcastic chuckle. "Are you out of your mind?"
"He warned us about a woman." Emma reminded.
"Yeah, which covers half the world," Neal replied. "You roped the kids into this?"
Dee Dee shrugged as she stood beside Henry.
"She lied to me," Emma retorted. "Remember I had that thing with lies?"
"You thought you had a thing with lies. I never bought it." Neal clarified.
"Yeah, you did," Emma replied before she continued to try to defend herself. "Listen to me, Neal. She's got a list of fairy tale characters and who they are and even who their descendants are; whoever she's gonna give that to that could blow this whole town right open."
"Emma, I helped her make that list. It was to help her come to grips with this place especially since one of those descendants happens to be the little brother I never knew I had," Neal explained. "It's not easy, you know? I mean, she's trying to deal with it for me."
"Okay, I know what this looks like, but it isn't that," Emma huffed. "Do I look like a jealous ex?"
Neal, Henry, and Dee Dee just looked at Emma blankly in response to that.
"Okay, maybe I'm crazy, but let's find out," Emma then continued from there before she explained more. "There's a floorboard loose. It shouldn't be. So let's look under it. If there's nothing there, fine. I back off."
Neal shrugged a little with a sigh. "Okay. Yeah, sure. What the hell?" he then decided.
Emma nodded as she knelt down and tried to open the floorboard, but she struggled a bit. "A little help?" she then asked him.
"Oh. Right." Neal replied before he and Emma soon removed the floorboard, which contained nothing.
"Oh." Emma frowned out of defeat.
"Listen. I know Tamara being here is a little awkward-" Neal started to say to try to help make Emma feel better.
"Don't," Emma interjected suddenly. "Guys, let's go." she then started to leave before Dee Dee and Henry trailed behind and came to share the news with Doug and Evie before they left in the woman's car for the time being.
Back at the Storybrooke library, Regina came back up the elevator with her trigger without Hook only to discover that he was waiting for her and he seemed to have a pouch in his grasp. "How?" she then demanded, surprised to see him alive.
"Startling, aren't I?" Hook smirked. "Some people say 'striking'."
"You couldn't have survived that." Regina narrowed her eyes in response.
"Well, you should know by now the one thing I excel at is surviving. The amazing thing is, you almost had me," Hook retorted smugly. "All that stuff about a fresh, clean start, just killing 'em and movin' on... It kinda touched me. For a moment there, I thought we had a real connection. And honestly, I almost put a stop to my plan."
"Your plan?" Regina asked.
"Well, their plan, but I fancied it. And they did save me from that wretched... Whatever Maleficent is. Do you, uh, know these three?" Hook explained as Tamara, Goldie, and Greg suddenly came into the room. "Well, they have a way with magic. Or should I say, a way against magic?"
"Enough of this." Regina glared as she tried to use her magic, but she kept somehow failing in that.
"Yeah, sorry. That's not gonna work," Greg told Regina with a smirk. "Not anymore."
Goldie began to look a little guilty over what was going on.
Meanwhile, David, Mary Margaret, Leroy, and Nova drove out to where all their magic beans were being grown.
"You know, when we get back, Leroy, we're going to need your help restoring the palace." David advised.
"It's in pretty bad shape." Mary Margaret added.
"Cosmetic or a total teardown?" Leroy asked.
"Burn down," Mary Margaret answered. "By the way, Nova, congratulations on becoming the elementary school's new arts & crafts teacher." she then added with a small smile.
"Thank you," Nova smiled back. "The kids can just call me their Fairy Craftsmother from now on."
The four chuckled at that until they passed through the barrier and discovered that the beans had been ravaged.
"No!" David gasped.
"What happened here?" Mary Margaret frowned.
"The beans; they're gone." David replied in horror.
Leroy narrowed his eyes as he looked dangerously grumpy about that. "Nobody steals from a dwarf." he then huffed.
"They shouldn't steal from a fairy either." Nova added, firmly pouting but of course didn't look as grumpy as Leroy.
"Who would do this?" Mary Margaret wondered.
"Someone terrible and heartless." Nova suggested.
Back at the Storybrooke Library, things were not looking good for Regina as her magic was blocked somehow. "The cuff. You gave me this." she then said to the adult male pirate.
"No, you rather insisted." Hook reminded.
"You knew I would want it." Regina glared once she realized something.
"True. They rigged it with something that blocks your magic," Hook nodded. "It's impressive."
Regina glowered before she faced Greg. "So little bitty Owen does grown-up magic of his own now." she then sneered.
"It's not magic. Actually, this is something much better: science," Greg smirked darkly as Regina kept trying to access her magic until he shook his head at her. "You can stop doing that. It's not gonna work. You might be able to get rid of the leather, but inside are the toughest metals and machinery known to man, and right now they're counteracting every magic bone in your body." he then informed.
"Which one was she?" Tamara soon asked.
"Uh, she was the Queen. The Evil Queen." Greg explained to her.
"The mother of Evie Mills." Tamara then concluded and nodded as she checked her list.
"Yes. I was... The Queen." Regina agreed.
"But now... Here... You're nothing." Greg taunted.
"And what are you?" Regina scoffed.
"I'm just a man; a man on a mission." Greg retorted.
"And all this just to try to find your father," Regina replied. "I already told you, I don't know where-" she then tried to say.
"Yes, you do, but that's not my mission." Greg interrupted darkly as Hook just stood by and watched.
"Then what is?" Regina demanded.
"I'm not telling you," Neal scoffed before facing the blonde woman in the room. "Goldilocks, make yourself useful and bag her." he then ordered.
"Yeah, Goldilocks." Tamara smirked darkly.
Goldie firmly pouted and soon stepped over and put a bag over Regina's head suddenly.
Soon, after Regina was going to be taken care of, Hook made a stop over somewhere that had his son and best and loyal crewmate's sister.
"Dad!" Harry gasped and beamed before he ran up to his father and hugged him. "Dad... I was worried about you."
"You never need to worry about me, son. I've been through worse scrapes than this like when I defeated that Lost Boy for you to save you from Neverland." Hook coaxed as he reunited with his son.
"Captain... So good to see you..." Samantha greeted.
"Ah, yes. Good to see you too, Sammy Smee," Hook nodded at his best mate's sister. "I'm sorry to hear about your brother, but we'll help make The Crocodile pay for it later."
"Aye... Apparently, he survived getting stabbed, so I want to make his son pay for what happened to you, Dad..." Harry narrowed his eyes. "He may not be as vile and heinous as Peter Pan, but he will still pay as I'm next in line as the new Captain Hook."
"You're a fine lad and you will do tremendously when it's time for your story to be told... Although, before you face the spawn of The Crocodile, I might have something that'll power him down a little, much like we did with that beast's beauty." Hook nodded, sounding very proud of his son before he brought out the pouch he found from underground and tossed it to his son.
"What's this?" Harry asked as he caught the pouch before opening it up. "Tokens from a fair maiden?"
"A fair maiden indeed to The Crocodile's spawn much like when I kidnapped the boy and his beloved Belle for leverage," Hook nodded. "The girl who got away and broke that Beasty Boy's heart."
"Is that her diary?" Samantha asked as Harry plucked out a book from the pouch.
"Exactly," Hook nodded. "Harry, it's also my understanding that you're going to use a sword against the spawn of that Crocodile?"
"Aye. Miss Smee said that it was time and I had to avenge you by going up against him." Harry replied.
"Then you shall do it and that book will help you pull at his heartstrings and should have a guaranteed win," Hook advised. "She broke his heart by leaving Storybrooke behind and you shall break his spirit by having the remains of his dragon girlfriend."
"Oh... This will be the most excellent revenge..." Harry grinned darkly before he chuckled.
"Revenge shall be yours, my son." Hook smirked.
"Revenge is going to be mine~" Harry proclaimed before he took out the sword and held it high as he looked eager about beating Ben between the balance of good and evil once and for all.