TemperanceTales: I do not own Once Upon a Time in anyway shape or form and I give full credit to the creators. I don't own any fairytales not done in the show either and give credit to respectful owners.

Chapter Sixteen: Cold Hearted.

"Well that was a bust."

The Queen of Hearts stormed into her rooms with the Snow Queen following behind her, looking rather relaxed. The Queen of hearts was far from calm as she started throwing some things aside from the closet. Snow Queen scowled lazily and said, "Don't be so agitated. Are you really surprised that the child was the Mage?"

"Silence!" thundered the queen grabbing the box at the back of the closet. She clicked it open as she stormed over to the fireplace. Snow Queen narrowed her eyes and said, "What are you doing?"

"Something that needs to be done," The Queen of Hearts snapped at Snow Queen, "I will not be betrayed by my own!"

"Betrayed by your own? Please, the child doesn't even belong to you, let alone liked you," Snow Queen said rolling her eyes, "Just let it go, what's done is done."

The Queen of Hearts threw powder into the fire place, speaking incomprehensible words. Fire roared, the red flames swarming out of the fireplace viciously. Snow Queen looked shocked as the Queen of Hearts shouted, "Find her! Find Alison Kinsleigh and destroy her!"

The fire kept growing as it began to escape through the chimney. Suddenly the fire was cut off by a burst of ice. The Queen of Hearts spun around and said, "Don't interfere!"

"Interfere!? You crazy lunatic, you have no idea what that thing will do!" Snow Queen thundered, ice forming on the walls, "That thing is cruel and uncontrollable!"

"Why are you defending her?" The Queen of Hearts spat, "You don't even like her, you told me yourself!"

"I said we had history," Snow Queen said flatly, but loudly, "I never said anything about hating the child."

"And what history is that I wonder?!" snarled the Queen of Hearts but the chill growing in the room made her shiver. The Snow Queen looked dangerous as she glared at the Queen of Hearts saying, "My history is my own business. You're lucky I now I have something to go do or I would freeze your miserable narcissism till the end of time."

The Snow Queen turned on her heel and walked promptly from the Queen of Hearts quarters. The queen snapped at her saying, "There is no use Morgana! Now that thing has been unleashed, there will be no stopping it! By the time you get there, she will be gone!"

"So is it done?"

Jefferson didn't look as Gold entered the room. They were in his living room, which was filled with the bright light from outside. Belle was safely tucked away upstairs, most likely reading in the library. Jefferson put his tea cup down on the window sill he was standing by. Glancing at him, Jefferson nodded while saying, "Everything is set here. I think the question is, are you ready for this?"

"Of course, Regina may be powerful, but she'll never beat me," Gold said, smoothly but Jefferson shook his head saying, "I'm not talking about Regina."

"Then what are you talking about?" Gold said, almost mockingly. Jefferson walked forward and said, "I'm talking about Autumn. Are you ready for what you're asking for?"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Mr. Gold said and Jefferson chuckled before walked towards him with his cup of tea. Jefferson looked at him lazily as he said, "Look, I've known Autumn a while and while she may be sweet, fiery, and sometimes adorable, she is also difficult, cunning, and has wall up for protection to a fault. She won't ever just tell you something, and if you don't ask the question directly, you won't get the answers you want. Are you ready to take care of a child like that?"

Gold looked at Jefferson before giving a smug smile. That smug smile irked Jefferson to his core. He wanted nothing more than to make that smug look fly off his face but he didn't want Autumn on him for it. Gold then walked over to a shelving unit and said, "Don't worry your head over it, just play your part and Autumn won't be under Regina's thumb for long. Out of curiosity, why do you like the little girl so much? Remind you of your own little one?"

"Do not bring Grace into this," Jefferson growled a dangerous looking coming into his eyes, "Autumn is special. She's the only one that's been able to come into the curse without having been there for the initiation."

"And I wonder why that is," Gold said, not looking at Jefferson, "Any theories on how she could have gotten here?"

Jefferson said elusively, "I don't know, perhaps you should ask her."

Gold was annoyed but didn't let it show. He looked over at Jefferson and said, "Oh believe me I will. And if you are hiding anything from me, you better think twice about it. I don't need Regina entangling Autumn more. Do we understand one another?"

Jefferson smirked with hints of insanity and said, "Of course."

S.C.

Autumn sat in the office of Archibald Hopper, staring around his office with feign interest. While she had not gotten in trouble for hitting Gage, everyone seemed to think of it as a good idea that she go to therapy. Regina hadn't helped matters when she insisted that Autumn needed it after years upon years of abuse. So here she was sitting in the office while Kathryn waited outside. If it hadn't been for Jefferson's discussion at the school yard, she would have been more cross about having to come. Archie was sitting in the arm chair across from her and he said, "So, Autumn, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?

"I'm ten years old, my father is dead, my mother out of the picture, and I've been in the foster system for five years too many," Autumn said with an air of disinterest. Archie noted this and asked, "I take it you don't particularly enjoy being here."

"Not really," Autumn said, with a sigh, "I honestly don't see why I need to be here."

"No?" Archie said, "So you feel you're here because everyone says you need to be."

"Pretty much," Autumn said, stretching and Archie asked, "Why do you think that is?"

"Because of Felicity's stupid boyfriend," Autumn said, in a rather accusatory manner. Archie leaned back in his chair and said, "You call your former foster mother by her first name?"

"I only called her mom for everyone else's sake. She never wanted to be called mom because she had no interest in being one," Autumn said. Leaning back on the couch, she laid down to stare up at the ceiling. Archie didn't protest, hoping she had done so in some comfort. He then said, "You know, Autumn. We don't actually have to talk about the incident with your former foster mother. In fact, we don't have to talk about anything you don't want to. I'm here to listen and to help as needed. Sometimes we just need that person to talk to."

Autumn nodded slowly digesting what he said. She was grateful for what he had said, but she didn't let it show. In fact, she had been that way a lot lately. Not that she was complaining, it was better than the anger or tears. Wondering on what to talk about, she glanced over at a calendar on the wall. Still not looking at him, Autumn said, "My birthday is in a few days…"

"Oh?" Archie asked and Autumn nodded. She then said, "I remember I used to go into my dad's bedroom, because he always would spend the day with me."

"What would you do?"

Autumn smiled bitterly and said, "Nothing people would consider extravagant, but we would go riding, play outside, and at night after dinner we would sit outside reading stories until I fell asleep. It was perfect."

"You seem to have fond memories of your father," Archie said, and Autumn said, "Yes, sadly."

"Sadly?" Archie questioned obviously confused. Autumn nodded and said, "Yes, because all I have is memories. Not him."

Archie watched her for a moment and said, "Do you think little of those memories?"

"No," Autumn said sharply, "I just wish he was here. It would have made things so much easier."

"How so?"

Autumn didn't say anything at first but then said, "I don't think I should be telling you that."

"Okay," Archie said, slowly, "Do you trust anyone enough to tell them that?"

"No," Autumn said, smoothly, "It could ruin everything."

"Do you like keeping secrets?"

"No," Autumn said, with a sigh, "But it's necessary."

"Why?" Archie asked and Autumn said, "Because I want to be loved for me not my secrets."

Archie looked at her and said, "You have no intention of tell me anything straight."

"I will tell you the answers to your questions," Autumn said, "It's up to you to ask directly."

Autumn paused, looking thoughtful. Archie watched her as she finally asked, "I have a question."

"Yes?" Archie asked and Autumn thought for a minute. She said, "Say there is this girl, who has these memories, but not visual ones. They are more, hearing ones. But she's not crazy, it just replays in her head. Then she starts feeling upset and angry, and bad stuff happens. How do you get it to stop?"

Archie looked at her and said, "By talking it out with someone. Perhaps someone with a fresh pair of eyes. It's hard to deal with things by ourselves; sometimes there are no other choices but to talk with others."

Autumn nodded slowly and said, "Do we still have to keep talking?"

"No," Archie said gently, "We don't have to keep talking."

"So I can go," Autumn said, sitting up. He nodded and said, "Yes, you can. I will be here if you need me."

Autumn got up and walked promptly out the door. Kathryn looked up as Autumn came out and she smiled. Standing up, Kathryn gently touched her shoulder saying, "Good start?"

"I guess," Autumn shrugged and Kathryn stroked her hair back. Kathryn looked over at Archie and said, "See you next week?"

"Yes," Archie nodded before closing the door. Autumn looked surprised and said, "You're not going to ask him what we talked about?"

"No, not unless you want me to," Kathryn said, gently. Autumn stared at her in surprise before walking towards the door. Kathryn followed as they went down to the car. Autumn got in without another word, looking in deep thought. She felt shivery, she didn't like it. His answer was not the one she had wanted. Kathryn got into the car and drove off down the street. The car ride was silent, like it usually was. But inside Autumn's head, it was wheeling about. What would she do now? She didn't want to tell Gold everything, not yet. She didn't even like to talk about Wonderland, especially the events that followed it. But she didn't want her magic constantly exploding either.

Autumn felt the car stop and she quickly got out. Kathryn watched Autumn run inside the house with a sigh. Always on the run, she was. Kathryn got out of the car, walking up to the house. She entered the home, shutting the door behind her. She could hear Autumn running about upstairs, obviously looking for something. Smiling softly, Kathryn walked upstairs saying, "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I wanted to go see Mr. Gold," Autumn came out of her bedroom with a backpack on, looking at Kathryn hopefully. She smiled and said, "Just come back for dinner alright?"

"Okay," Autumn said, giving Kathryn a brief hug. Kathryn rubbed the little girl's head and said, "You and Gold are really close aren't you?"

Autumn pulled away, looking up at her hesitantly. Kathryn noticed and said, "Don't worry; I don't have an issue with it. It's good that there is someone you can trust."

Autumn would have winced, feeling a stab at her heart. She knew Kathryn hadn't meant to hurt her with that comment, but Autumn's guilt was pushing over. Not only did she have the king of all secrets but she had Gold's happily ever after and she was hiding her in Jefferson's house. Autumn didn't even know how to surface her memories without her potions. Maybe he would? Regardless, she need to talk to Gold. This wasn't working like she hoped it would. Autumn then looked up at Kathryn and said, "I'll see you later okay?"

"Okay," Kathryn allowed Autumn to go with a smile. A voice from behind interrupted any quiet moment that was to follow.

"Is she okay?"

"She'll be okay," Kathryn said, as David came to stand next to her, "She needs him."

"Even though Regina told you that he wasn't good for her?" David asked and Kathryn said, "I can decide for myself, Regina is not her mother."

"True," David said, "But I can't help but think she's hiding something from everyone."

"Of course she is," Kathryn said, turning to face him, "But with the life she's had, can you blame her?"

"No," David said, hands in his pockets, "No I can't."

Autumn ran all the way to Gold's shop only to find, much to her surprise, that it was closed.

"Oh come on!" Autumn said aggravated, "The one time I actually kind of have the guts to tell you stuff and you're not around!"

Sighing, Autumn walked down the street, looking quite glum. It was eating at her, this feeling. She didn't know how to describe it; she didn't know who to talk to about it with. Majority of people she couldn't, they would think she was crazy. Jefferson already knew and had problems of his own and Gold… was unpredictable. And Henry… Henry was the closest friend she had. The last thing she wanted to do was drive him off. Walking around, Autumn barely noticed that she had wandered into the woods. Stopping in a clearing, Autumn stared down at the ground.

Autumn lifted her left hand concentration on the stick by her foot. It had been forever since she had tried using magic. Trying to let of her emotions, Autumn breathed out slowly. When she breathed, the wind blew gently. She felt a twinge in her nerves that had nothing to do with the sinking feeling in her stomach. The stick twitched, but didn't move anymore.

Anger suddenly surge forward, exploding the ground in front of her. She fell backwards, watching as dead leaves floated back down to the ground. Finally, the lump in Autumn's throat made her cough and tears finally began to fall. Pulling her knees to her chest, she buried her head into her arms. She didn't hear someone come up behind and wrap her arms around her. Autumn nearly jumped out of her skin to see Henry sitting there sheepishly.

"I followed you," Henry stated lamely.

Autumn wiped her tears, as he said, almost timidly, "So… you can use magic?"

"Yes," Autumn said, her voice broken, "Or at least, I used to."

"Why isn't it working now?" Henry asked, "Is it because of the curse?"

"No, no," Autumn said, sniffling, "It's because you need to have control over your emotions, or it explodes like that."

"How did you get it?" Henry asked, hints of excitement creeping into his voice. Tears fell down her cheeks as she said, "It's not a pretty story…."

"Tell me anyway," Henry said, taking her hand. Wiping her wet cheeks hastily, Autumn looked around. She then said, "I was almost six years old. My father and I lived in the country side, where he was able to write all his stories in peace. He had a special object, on that helped him see into the other worlds. He was using this when I snuck outside. I liked to play in the woods, so I would go to my favorite tree. This one day, I saw something. A creature hopping into the base of one of the trees. I went to go look and something grabbed me by my hair and pulled me in. I fell, I don't know how long or how far but I fell. Next thing I knew I was staring around a room, unable to remember anything. I couldn't remember my father, my home. I escaped the room, and I found myself in a land I had only ever read about: Wonderland."

"Wonderland…" Henry said slowly. Then reality dawned on him as Autumn pulled out her book. She began to flip through the pages slowly as he said, "Then your-then your-."

"Alison Marie Kinsleigh," Autumn breathed out, flipping the pages of the book. She finally stopped at the start of a new story saying, "But while I was in Wonderland, I was also known for another role."

"Role?" Henry asked and Autumn nodded. She then said, "I was found at the Hatter's by the Queen of Hearts' and her soldiers. She had brought me to her palace to be her 'pet'. Her pet named Alice."

"What was she like?" Henry asked and Autumn stopped, staring down at the picture. It was of a queen dressed all in red. Autumn finally answered, "She's beautiful like her queen sisters and she can be pleasant like her too. We actually got along a bit in the beginning… But…she's truly a bloodthirsty witch. She cares nothing for others; all she cares about is herself. If she's being nice to you, it's because she's getting something out of it; whether it's amusement or being the center of attention. As time went on, I couldn't bear watching her do all this. That's when my role was created in the Great Game of Wonderland."

Autumn flipped the pages back a few revealing the title words: Alice in Wonderland. Henry looked at it as Autumn continued, "I found out I could use magic after helping a friend escape the castle. I started traveling with him, using my magic to stop the queen's soldiers from hurting anymore people."

"So you can use magic," Henry said, "but doesn't all magic-?"

"Come at a price?" Autumn said, "Yes, it does. My price is unlike others though; I had to sacrifice something before I originally used it."

"What do you sacrifice?" Henry asked and Autumn said, "When we were running, I fell into the Queen's lake after being ambushed. It's not a normal lake, it's a lake the Queen of Hearts put soldiers in to try and create sorcerers. But it never worked because all of them died before absorbing the magic."

"So why didn't you die?" Henry said and Autumn said, "I don't know for sure, but I think there was a siren in the lake. She saw me and took pity on me. So instead of suffocating me with magic like she did all her other victims, she ingrained it into the core of my body. Magic flowed within me, taking me. That is the price with my magic, it took me and I can never get it out. After she pushed me ashore, I was able to save my friend."

"So the price you pay is having magic?" Henry said, confused, "How is that payment?"

"Because I didn't absorb the magic willingly," Autumn said, "I didn't want to get stuck in that game… but I wanted to save my friend and I couldn't let him die."

"So you kinda sacrificed yourself in a way," Henry said and Autumn nodded. She traced the words on a page of her book. The wind had died down to a still silence and the sun was getting lower in the sky, casting a golden glow. Autumn didn't move however and said, "After that, I was able to keep my identity secret from the Queen of Hearts, up until one battle."

Autumn turned the pages and stopped at a picture of a woman in white and eyes cold as night. Autumn said, "Wonderlander's are ones of warmth and life. The opposite of this is this woman, Snow Queen. Her magic is cold and deadly. Unless you know how to use the Wonderland gases, a wonderlander wouldn't be able to fight against her. But luckily the same can be said for her, since she can't stand Wonderland gases either."

"But if she does like Wonderland and Wonderland doesn't like her, why is she involved in this?" Henry asked and Autumn said, "Because the Queen of Hearts was desperate to know the secret of the Mage. So she brought in the Snow Queen and hence I was found out. She was truthfully shocked, but angry too. But she lost that day, and we won the war. I was able to go home to my father and The White Queen was rightful ruler again."

"But why is this not a pretty story," Henry said, "It ended in happily ever after."

"It didn't!" Autumn sounded angry, "It didn't because the Queen of Hearts destroyed my home!"

Autumn shot up and walked away. Henry darted after her stricken. He grabbed her shoulder, saying, "What? How did she destroy your home? Did she follow you?"

"No," Autumn said, tears slipping down her cheeks, "She has a spell, that chased after me into this world. But before I realized what was going on, my home was in flames with my dad still inside. I tried to stop it with magic, but my magic…was harder to use in this world. I tried to get inside but…the smoke got to me. Then next thing I knew I was in the care of the lovely foster system that threw me around from home to home. My father was gone; there was no one to come to my rescue because he was gone…"

Henry watched Autumn sink to the ground, sobbing quietly. He slowly bent down hugging her tightly. Stroking her hair, Henry said, sadly, "I'm sorry… is that why you like Mr. Gold? Because you thought he could help you?"

"No," Autumn whispered, "No, nothing like that. He's the closest thing I've had to family in forever."

Henry nodded, feeling quite awful. He didn't trust Rumpelstiltskin, but the two seemed to care about each other a lot. Maybe she was just what he needed to finally make the right choice. The wind began to pick up again, blowing around Autumn's hair. Finally straightening up, Autumn wiped her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I'm crying like an idiot…"

"Crying is okay, you know," Henry said, "It helps let the feeling out."

Autumn smiled weakly and said, "So many people would disagree."

"Well, they're wrong," Henry said, firmly, "Believe me they're wrong."

Whether Autumn believed him wasn't clearly stated. Instead, Autumn gestured towards town and said, "We should go check on Belle. I already feel guilty hiding her in Jefferson's house with no one to really talk to."

S.C.

"So you didn't find Mr. Gold?"

Autumn shook her head as Kathryn sat on her bed. Autumn was underneath the covers and the clock showed to be nine at night. Her afternoon had been spent in Jefferson's library with Belle, learning bits and pieces of sign language. Henry and her had found it fascinating but Autumn couldn't help but feel even more guilty for getting so close with her. Kathryn pushed Autumn's long bangs out of her face, smiling softly. The lights were off, except for the lamp by her bed. She then said, "Your hair is so long. You're lucky to have such pretty hair."

Autumn looked up at Kathryn and said, "Your hair is pretty too."

Kathryn chuckled and said, "Well thank you. I'm sorry you didn't find Gold. You two seem very close."

"Yeah, we are," Autumn said, "Or at least I feel close to him anyway. I'm not sure if he feels that way."

"Is he much like your father?" Kathryn asked, gently and somewhat hesitantly. She knew Autumn was a bit touchy when it came to her father and didn't want to push it. But she was very much surprised when Autumn said casually, "Not really. I mean my dad was a bit like him in the sense of being one step ahead and planning, but my dad was more…gentle I suppose."

"I see," Kathryn said, gently stroking Autumn's hair. It had slowly become ritual between them. Autumn didn't say this, but she rather liked it. It was surprisingly soothing. Autumn then said, "But it's alright, I don't want Gold to be like my father. I want Mr. Gold to be the same as always. He's a bit of a trickster and sometimes lets his bad side get the better of him. But honestly if I was all alone, I would be like that too."

Kathryn smiled warmly and said, "Well you don't have anything to fear from me. I know that he's very important to you. I'd hate to take that away. He treats you like family and that's the important thing."

Autumn looked a little taken aback and asked, "Even if Mayor Mills told you to keep me away from him?"

"Even then," Kathryn said firmly, "I would only do it if there was risk in him harming you. He's done his best to protect you from what I've seen and I don't see a reason to believe otherwise."

Autumn smiled, a wash of relief swarming over her. Kathryn then looked over at the picture on the window sill and said, "I must say though, your father was very handsome."

"Hey, is that competition I hear?"

David had walked into the room, with a smile on his face. He sat down next to Kathryn as she said, "Hardly. I was just commenting on how handsome her father was. I highly doubt you have anything to fear."

David chuckled and then asked Autumn, "Are you ready for school tomorrow?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Autumn said, sitting up. He then ruffled her hair saying, "Alright you, it's time for you to get some sleep. Goodnight."

"Night," Autumn said, hugging Kathryn tightly. Kathryn hugged back, kissing the top of Autumn's head saying, "Sweet dreams, Autumn."

David turned off the light and left the room. Kathryn went to follow him when she heard Autumn say, "Kathryn."

"Yes?" Kathryn said turning to look at the girl's moonlit face. Autumn then said, "You can talk to Archie. You know, about what we talk about during my sessions. Okay?"

Kathryn looked surprised but then smiled warmly saying, "Alright. See you in the morning."

Autumn fell back on the pillows staring at the picture on the window. She traced the frame lightly, smiling weakly as she looked at the man. She then looked up to see the window was unlocked. Readjusting herself so her arm was free of the blankets, she snapped her fingers lightly. She felt a spark shock her fingers and the window lock flipped into place. Grinning, Autumn cuddled into the pillows with a smile. Maybe crying wasn't so bad after all.

Mr. Gold suddenly flinched, turning on his cane. He was in his bedroom, which was rather nice. The room was of fall brown and dull orange colors. The bed was surround by a somewhat see through curtains that were tied back. Mr. Gold was dressed in a plain black shirt that was unbuttoned at the top and his black dress pants. Frowning, Gold walked over to the window and looked out in somewhat disbelief.

Someone had used magic.