"You need to undo it and fast, I don't know if anyone has been hurt yet, but it is a possibility especially if it keeps happening." Henry looks between his mothers, fear and panic flooding his features.

It doesn't make sense.

"It can't be possible DG! This doesn't make sense. The ink-"

"Henry?" And Regina is at his side in an instant, cupping his cheeks and forcing him to look at her. "Henry breathe," she soothes. Henry feels his chest tighten, a million different thoughts running through his mind; he feels light-headed.

Regina, noticing this, strokes his cheek with one hand, rubbing his back with the other, in an attempt to keep him grounded. She waits until he looks her in the eyes, "Henry, whatever has happened, has happened. Now we need to fix it, okay? Let's stay focused on that," he searches her face for a minute, taking in her calm posture, the sincerity in her tone and the belief in her eyes before exhaling deeply and nodding.

Regina smiles softly feeling pride bloom in her chest. Her son is much too young for all of this, but he handles it so maturely. She glances over at Emma, who shares the same look of pride and understanding.

"You're right mom," he looks back down at the phone in hand and furrows his eyebrows in thought. "Okay, do you know how many stories have come to life DG?"

"I'm not sure Henry. I don't know particulars just that even stories from years ago are starting to come to life, how can that be?"

Henry cringes, "I was refreshing your bookmark page when it happened."

"Well that explains it. My bookmarks page is full of all sorts of SQ fics and glass-spun dream is one of the most recently saved."

"That's it! DG can't you just remove them from your bookmarks? The ink can't bring the stories to life if there are no stories on there, right?"

"Well I mean I would, if I could get onto Ao3. The site is down – I keep getting error 503 every time I try to access it, it's temporarily overloaded and can't handle anymore requests."

"Wha-" Henry swallows trying to moisten his dry throat, "What does that even mean?"

DG chuckles, "It means that you inadvertently used – I guess you could call it a DOS attack – and shutdown Ao3 for the foreseeable future Henry. Well at least until the Wi-Fi over there finishes reloading the page, so yeah the foreseeable future."

"What?"

"You know, I should be absolutely furious with you right now for keeping me away from my daily dose of SwanQueen fanfiction. But I'm actually very impressed... and slightly turned on," she pauses momentarily, "Okay this is getting weird considering I don't even like guys in that way."

Upon seeing Henry turning a deep shade of red, Emma intervenes, "Agreed. It's getting weird. Let's move on."

"We've established that even a drop of ink is enough to bring all of these stories to life. But why then are the stories taking their time to unfold?" Regina asks in thought.

"Does it really matter? I mean can't you just use the pen to undo it Henry?"

Henry shakes his head, quietly replying, "No I... I no longer have the pen."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," DG mumbles.

"It's okay, we're going to fix this somehow, and I'm going to get it back. If we can figure out why the stories are taking their time to come to life, maybe we can use that and stop them. I mean when I first used the pen to get us out of the story that Isaac placed us in, we were out of there straight away, it didn't take any longer than a few seconds."

"You're sure it didn't take more time to load?" Regina questions and Emma gasps sharply, suddenly being hit with a eureka moment. Regina eyes her worriedly, "Emma?"

Emma turns to look at her, "That's it! Regina you're a genius! I could kiss you right now." Emma smacks a hand over her mouth, eyes widening and face turning a deep shape of red. A little squeal of excitement can be heard over the phone. Henry shakes his head in amusement, DG is such a fangirl. "I-I mean you-I-I won't obviously I... sorry I didn't mean to-"

"Emma focus," Regina says for the second time that day, "It's okay, just tell us what you figured out... please." Regina reaches over placing a hand on the blonde's forearm, squeezing to offer her moral support. She makes a mental note to let Emma know sometime that they will be talking about this at some point, but now really is not the right time.

Emma sighs, relieved, "Right, yeah. Uh it's the Wi-Fi. I mean it has to be right?" she asks sheepishly, now unsure of her previous theory.

Henry gasps, "You're right ma! The Wi-Fi in Storybrooke really is that slow, that's why the stories didn't all come to life at once."

Emma nods, "Exactly. I mean come on we all know the real reason Grumpy is so grumpy is because he can't get past the Netflix loading page, that's how slow the Wi-Fi is here."

"Wait, so that means that all of the stories will continue to keep coming to life until the Wi-Fi finishes loading?"

"No. We won't let that happen," Regina says before Henry can start to panic once more.

"But how are we going to stop it mom? I can't get to my laptop; our home is currently being overturned by Smurfs and Minions."

"The answer is simple Henry. We just need to turn off the Wi-Fi."

"But we can't get anywhere near the house mom."

"Who said anything about going home? We're going to the source Henry. We're going to turn off the whole of Storybrooke's Wi-Fi," Regina replies, her smile so dazzling that Emma feels faint just looking at it.

Crap, this is not helping her focus at all.

Damn this infuriatingly magnificent woman who- Oh, oh she's now looking at Emma with that dazzling smile and Emma wants to cry.

This woman is going to be the death of her, of that she is certain.

She realises that she must have missed something, when Regina's smile drops and she arches an eyebrow eyeing Emma in confusion.

"S-sorry, I... zoned out for a minute there," Emma says rubbing the back of her neck – a habit she often does when nervous.

Regina is in front of her immediately, holding the blonde's forearms gently "Are you okay? Do you need to sit down for a minute?"

A small crease appears between Emma's eyebrows as she meets Regina's eyes. They're so ridiculously warm and there is something, something those captivating brown orbs hold that make her own eyes widen, beginning to feel light-headed as her heart rate increases rapidly.

No.

No she can't be thinking about this right now.

Now is not the time to be contemplating what that look meant.

It frightens her at times, how easily she and Regina are able to read each other.

Emma gulps, "I'm... okay," she nods. "I am. I promise," she says gently, hoping the brunette will take her words at face value. Regina watches her momentarily looking like she's about to protest, but thinks better of it. She gives a small nod, smiling softly at Emma; before letting go and taking a step back. Emma immediately feels the loss of warmth on her forearms. She shakes her head trying to snap out of it. "We better hurry. If the stories finish coming to life, they'll superimpose the real world including Storybrooke. And we'll have no home left."

The entire room is silent, all occupants staring at Emma; Emma's gaze darts between the people present, "What? I know big words," she defends, seeing Regina look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm impressed you know that that word even exists and can use it correctly within a sentence," Regina teases.

Emma chuckles, "Always here to impress Madam Mayor," she says, giving a little bow and smirking cheekily at the Queen.

"God, you guys are so cute!" DG squeals over the phone excitedly. Henry, upon seeing the matching scowls sporting both his mothers' faces, decides it best not to have poor DG subjected to their joined wrath.

"Hey DG, we gotta go sort this out. We'll keep you updated."

"Okay, good luck. Bye!" with that the phone clicks off.

Henry chuckles nervously, "We should go."

Both Emma and Regina share a look, then glance back at him and shake their heads in fond amusement.

Snow watches them and gets lost in thought. Visions flood her mind of countless wandering glances and soft smiles, of 'Well shouldn't someone be out looking for Emma?' And 'I'm sorry Regina's doing what?' Of two women who have grown to mean the world to one another but aren't in a relationship. Of Emma and Regina slow dancing; Emma doing press ups with Regina sitting on her back, Emma and Regina being intimate on Emma's kitchen counter.

Okay, she could do without that last one.

It isn't that it bothers her per say, it's just after 28 whole years she finally got back her child.

But, she also didn't.

Not really.

Seeing her with Regina like that reminded her that Emma is all grown up now. No longer a child who needs parents to look after her. Not to mention the fact that her grown up daughter was doing the deed with Regina.

Snow knows Regina is no longer the woman whose anger burns the world, her pain spreading destruction and chaos throughout the lands. She knows Regina has changed, back to a Regina with kindness in her heart, who grows through her pain and emerges stronger than ever. Where she would spread devastation, now she spreads compassion. Where she would protect herself and her heart from pain, now she is fiercely protective of the people she loves.

But even after knowing how far the Queen has come, Snow still never thought this would happen.

The Saviour and the ex Evil Queen?

It's unthinkable.

But even as the thought crosses her mind, Snow knows that she doesn't really believe that. After everything, she just wants Regina to be happy. Snow was once part of the reason why Regina lost love; it only makes sense that she would be the one to give love back to her in the form of her daughter. She feels something at being able to do that for Regina, she's not sure what that feeling is, but it's a good feeling.

Snow remembers back to 'Your story went poorly because you made bad choices, but now you're making good ones' and 'Sooner or later your heart will find its way to happiness.' She thinks back on Regina's reluctant 'That doesn't feel possible' and Snow telling her 'But it is... don't let anything hold you back.'

Snow comes to a decision in an instant; she won't be what holds Regina back. She won't get in the way of Regina's happiness and she will do whatever she can to ensure that Regina does get that happiness that she so rightfully deserves.

And if Emma is part of Regina's happiness? Then she is all for it.

God knows, both women need the love each of them can provide and she has never come across two people who share such a strong understanding than her daughter and former enemy.

Snow feels excitement flood her at the thought of the two women getting together. Their wedding will be amazing, maybe they'll let her be in charge of the decorations and she can call her winged friends to help. Oh and their children - they're going to be so cute! Okay she's getting ahead of herself but she doesn't care.

This is going to be great! Oh she needs to tell David.

Yes she might be an adult now, but secrets have never been her thing, she has to at least tell her husband.

"Emma, if you don't mind I'd like to check in on Neal and update David," Snow says cheerfully, moving towards her daughter eagerly.

"Yeah of course mom. You guys be safe. We'll come see you later as soon as we've turned off the Wi-Fi," Emma replies, meeting her mother's very enthusiastic embrace. Snow steps back and stares at her, an adoring smile on her face. Her eyes start to water and Emma watches her wearily, unsure of what's happening. Snow then looks over at Regina for a moment - just staring at her - before releasing a loving sigh and then promptly leaves the shop to head home.

Emma looks over at Regina who is looking back with an equally bemused look. Both women confused by Snow's actions.

"So, where is the source of all Wi-Fi in Storybrooke mom?" Henry asks, breaking them out of thought.

"Henry dear, don't you know by now? Why the Town Hall of course," Regina smiles at her son, happy that they can finally sort out this mess and get on with their lives.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go and sort out this predicament," Emma looks over at Regina with a smug look.

Regina rolls her eyes playfully, "Yes yes Emma, we get it; you know big words. Come on let's go fix this. Thanks for your help Gold," with that she heads out of the shop, Henry and Emma following her.

Gold stands wearing a smug look of his own as he watches the trio leave the shop. True Love will once again prevail, he thinks, before going back to whatever he does best – whatever that is now that he's not The Dark One.

...SQ...

Okay so the problem with living in a town that is so far outdated is that the people living in it are sometimes also equally so.

Emma is currently standing in the basement of the Town Hall in front of some ancient; obsolete system that nobody in town knows how to use. At-present she is planning to bang her head hard against said system in the hopes that some idea might pop up or it will somehow shut down the old machine.

She watches - silently brooding - as the town electrician, an old man named Ernie takes his leave; Regina thanking him as he does so. Why the Queen is thanking him Emma will never know. As luck would have it, it turns out that Ernie – the town electrician - has no idea what Wi-Fi even is.

Oh that is it; Emma is so totally done with this day.

She looks the old system up and down, the cogs and gears whirring loudly; a thousand different buttons lighting up every so often and fills her lungs with air until it feels like she will pop, then sighs the loudest sigh that she has ever sighed.

If she gets a baseball bat and starts smashing the machine up will she have to arrest herself for vandalism? Well given the fact that the machine being switched on is technically causing more vandalism what with buildings and random beings falling out of the sky, she thinks she might be able to get away with it.

"Ma?" Henry breaks her out of her thoughts. He can tell she is growing more and more impatient at the minute, just wanting this mess cleaned up and dealt with already.

"Emma, what is it?" Regina asks tentatively. She too can tell the blonde is growing restless just as she herself is.

Emma huffs, "What is it? Do you really have to ask me that?" Emma tries calming her anger but she can feel the rage bubbling; if she had enough energy to get her magic working she could have used her fury to melt down the damn machine.

But no. That isn't an option right now is it?

And what makes it worse is knowing that after everything that has happened today, it will all just go back to being the same.

Well she doesn't want it to go back.

She wants to move forward with Regina.

Emma lets out a low growl, feeling her head pound; she closes her eyes and sighs - another deep sigh – turning to face the brunette and crossing her arms, "Seriously Regina, if you were going to make upgrades to the Internet here, couldn't you have at least used a system that has a simple off switch?"

Regina immediately grows defensive stepping up into her personal space, "Oh I'm sorry Emma but weren't you the one always complaining when you first came to Storybrooke about how the Wi-Fi kept switching off. Well now it's always turned on."

Emma moves in closer, feeling Regina's breath ghost her face; her heart rate speeds up at their proximity, "Well I wouldn't have been complaining if there was even half a decent connection available in this damn town!" she shoots back.

"Moms stop!" Henry shouts before Regina can retort. He looks between his mothers as they face one another, their eyes wide; chests heaving and wearing matching dangerous smirks.

God, what has he gotten himself into?

"Please don't fight. Turning off the Wi-Fi clearly isn't an option. We'll have to figure out something else."

Emma drops her arms and looks over at her son. She sighs, "You're right, I'm sorry I'm just..." another sigh before she looks back at Regina, "... tired." Regina's expression softens and she relaxes her stance, no longer in defence mode. She takes a deep breath, now slightly hot and bothered.

Arguing like that with Emma brought back memories of when the then infuriating blonde first came to town and all those delicious times when they would get into each other's personal space and battle it out with harsh words and cruel barbs. The Queen shakes herself, now is not the time to be thinking about such events, lest she make her current aroused condition any worse.

"I am too... sorry and tired," she looks at Emma smiling softly hoping the blonde can forget about it and move on.

Emma gives a small nod and smiles back. She attempts to calm her racing heart, the mini argument between herself and the brunette had taken her back to a time when fighting with Regina was the only thing that made her feel so passionately about something. Though their relationship has grown and changed so much since then, Regina always has been the perfect opponent for Emma and getting riled up by the Queen is something Emma enjoys very much so.

Before anyone can say anything further, a small gongs sounds, followed by a handful of moans as another version of Emma and Regina show up on the floor, both completely unclothed and doing something that Henry should really not be seeing his mothers do. Emma's eyes widen while Regina rushes forward to cover Henry's eyes before he can be scarred for the rest of his life.

Emma feels her heart race further, her temperature rising drastically and Regina feels her already aroused condition heighten, but neither woman can bring themselves to look away. They're once again blinded by a flash of light for the umpteenth time that day and are deafened by a chorus of "Mine, mine, mine!"

Oh no.

No way is this happening.

"What kind of fresh hell is this!?" Emma screeches as the room is flooded by a flock of deranged, possessive seagulls - the same ones from Finding Nemo.

Safe to say both Emma and Regina's aroused condition has lessened significantly.

Well, that's one way to do it.

Emma grabs Henry's arm with one hand and Regina's with the other and hightails it out of the Town Hall, only stopping to slam the basement door behind her and dead bolt it. She takes a minute to catch her breath then turns to face the mother and son duo, who are currently turned away from the Town Hall and staring out into the street. Emma's eyes widen as she takes in the scene.

Outside is absolute chaos. Some of the surrounding trees, a few cars and buildings are on fire, benches are flipped, rubbish is scattered everywhere and live cable wires are dangling dangerously. People are running every which way, being attacked by a multitude of animated characters – Lord Farquaad, Tai Lung, Maleficent? The animated version, okay that's a bit better. She can see Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear attempting to snatch Archie's umbrella from him. Captain DuBois is currently chasing Ruby - in werewolf form - with a tranquiliser gun.

God, Emma really needs to stop watching cartoons with Neal.

"I have no idea what the hell is going on, but someone is clearly obsessed with annoying cartoon characters from kid's movies!" she inhales deeply and then takes a deep breath, collecting herself.

Henry sighs dejectedly, "I don't know what we can do Ma. Turning off the Wi-Fi was our last option, without the pen-"

"Then that's what we do. We get the pen back and get rid of this absolute mess of a situation," Emma says, feeling more and more exhausted by the minute. She's starting to suspect it's to do with the other versions of her and Regina popping up. She can tell by looking at Regina that the brunette feels the same.

"Emma's right. We need the pen; it seems like our only feasible solution to resolving this sorry state of affairs," Regina agrees.

"But how do we get the pen back mom?"

"We ask The Apprentice. It's the only way and I'm sure he will be willing to help us. We just need to find him," Regina offers.

"Yes but after he cast out The Darkness from grandpa's heart and into the Magic Hat no one has seen him," Henry says, trying to think of more ideas. He just wants this all gone. It was never his intention for all of this to happen.

"The Sorcerer's Mansion," Emma says, "He has to be there, come on."

...SQ...

Once at the mansion, Emma, Henry and Regina head straight to the secret library, knowing that if The Apprentice is anywhere, he will be there. As soon as they enter it becomes evident that The Apprentice isn't present, but that he was clearly searching for something.

The walls are covered in pictures and notes scribbled onto them, pins and red string connecting things together – like a crime scene evidence board a detective would use. Not unlike the one Lily had actually, back when Emma and Regina had tracked her down.

"What was he looking for?" Regina asks looking around, moving to get a closer look at the ink scrawled on the bits of paper attached to the wall.

"I don't know, but do you think he found it? Maybe that's why we haven't seen him?" Emma asks absentmindedly eyeing the notes; trying to make sense of things.

"I think I might know," Henry says reading through a small brown book. He holds it up for his mothers to see, "The Apprentice's diary."

Regina and Emma move to stand either side of Henry and he opens it back up to the page he was reading:

The Order is tracking my every move.

I have been able to keep them from finding this secret library, but I fear they may find out soon enough. Exorcising The Darkness took more magic and energy than was expected, it is simply taking too long to recover and I will not be able to keep The Order away for long. Therefore I must get word to the Saviour and the Queen.

They need to know that the Hat grows more unstable with each day The Darkness lives inside of it. It must be released. But it is far too dangerous to be allowed to exist freely without a tether.

Henry turns the page to the next entry – a few days later:

I suspect The Darkness is able to wreak havoc even whilst being contained within the Hat. But I cannot pinpoint the exact cause as to why it is able to behave in such a way.

The Order have been working hard in the shadows to ensure the victims of such evil are hidden away from prying eyes to avoid suspicion.

Henry turns the page again to the next entry:

The Darkness has taken more victims in its hold. I can no longer wait. I must leave at once. I have heard tales of a Grail, one that is the opposite of that which we already know of – a Dark Grail, capable of destroying magic.

This seems to be the only viable option left.

Before too long, the Magic Hat will no longer be able to hold The Darkness. And once it is freed, it can never be re-trapped. Therefore, I must venture out into the world beyond to find this Grail and bring it back. Only then can The Darkness be destroyed once and for all.

"It's the last one, from just a few days ago," Henry says.

"Wait, look," Emma points to the bottom of the page just as Henry is about to close the book. There written upside down is: Rare Reading Room, followed by a set of letters and numbers: 40°45'11.5"N 73°58'56.1"W.

"What are those?" Henry asks.

"They're coordinates. This must be where he's gone," Emma replies studying the ink scribbles.

Henry quickly pulls out his phone to search it "Ugh, there's no Wi-Fi," annoyed, he moves to shove his phone back into his pocket.

"Wait, take a picture," Emma says, "I have a Sat Nav in the Bug."

"And just where exactly did you get such a device from?" Regina asks arching an eyebrow at the blonde, a knowing hint in her voice.

Emma swallows "I may have stolen it from the sheriff's cruiser." And at Regina's wide eyes she adds, "Temporarily. It-it's more borrowed than stolen really," she chuckles nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

"Very well then, lead the way."

Once they get back to the Bug, Emma pulls out the Sat Nav and inputs the coordinates from Henry's phone.

"No way."

"What?" Regina asks, "Where is it that we're going now?" Emma holds up the Sat Nav for Regina and Henry to see.

"New York Public Library," Henry says.

"Yep, buckle up. Looks like we're going back to New York."