Emma's pounded unsteadily in her chest as the doctors and nurses poked and prodded her daughter. She felt confused and helpless, but above all guilty. She had trusted Regina, she had brought the turnover home. Parents were supposed to protect their children and she had failed miserably. What would she do if Ava never woke up? How could she live with herself? David had told her it wasn't her fault, but the guilt slithered into her heart anyway.
David poked his head through the door, "Emma."
Emma tore her eyes away from Ava's still form and stepped into the corridor. "What's going on?"
"I called Mary and she's on her way with Nicky. Henry and Paige are sitting in the waiting room. They want to know if Ava's going to be okay."
"Well, so do I," Emma replied tearfully. "David, I don't know what to do. The doctors are running tests of her and on the turnover, but I don't if they'll find what's wrong in time."
"The only person who knows for sure what was in that turnover is Regina. I wouldn't put it past her to try to poison you."
What he said should have sounded absurd to Emma, but with everything that had happened, she found herself almost agreeing with him very quickly. "Why would she want to poison me, though?" Emma asked. "Does she think if I'm dead, that would somehow improve her relationship with Henry? She has to know that if anything happened to me, Henry would blame her."
"Only Regina can answer that," David replied.
Mary and Nicky came running into the hospital ten minutes later, wide-eyed and confuse. "What happened? Where's Ava?" Mary demanded.
Nicky wrapped his arms around Emma, "Please tell me Ava's gonna be okay!"
Emma held his face in her face and promise, "She's in good hands, everyone here is going to work hard to make sure everything's going to be okay. Just leave the worry to us." Nicky gave a shake nod, and Emma directed him to sit with Henry and Paige waiting for news of Ava. Once Nicky was out of earshot, Emma turned back to Mary and David. Her brown eyes were hard and angry. "I'm gonna bring Regina in for questioning. She made the turnover, her hands aren't clean. I'm certain she put something in it."
"Emma," Mary said seriously, "I know I joked about Regina trying to poison you, but do you honestly think she would actually do it? Poison you?"
"I'm certainly not ruling it out." Emma replied.
"It could be that Ava's having an allergic reaction to something in the turnover."
"She's not," Emma said firmly, "The nurses gave her a dose of epinephrine just in case, but nothing happened. Something Regina put in the turnover is hurting my kid, and I have to get to the bottom of it.
Mary pursed her lips, but nodded. "Do what you have to. I'll stay here with the kids."
David interjected, "Do you mind if I come with you?"
"I'd be glad if you did," Emma replied honestly.
Although James and Zela were technically prisoners, they were treated more like guests who simply weren't allowed to leave. They had their own tent, were fed three times a day, and wore decent clothes, but they had no freedom whatsoever. With James's identity revealed, David and Snow were using him as an hostage against his father. James resented him for that, he resented being used like a tool, but most of all he resented David attempts to be kind to him. What was kindness worth when he and his wife were using him as a political bargaining chip? If he didn't hate them already, he would have hated them for their hypocrisy.
As much as he would have liked to be able to lash out at them, he was afraid on Zela's behalf. He did not know quite what David and Snow were capable of. While James was too valuable to a kill, Zela was not. She had been in the tower for years without count, family all dead and her dynasty gone to dust. She did not know a person alive besides James himself, and there was no one else to protect her or even miss her if she were gone. She had suffered so much and they had been through so much together that James would never risk her safety indulging a stupid temper tantrum.
If only there was a way out of their imprisonment!
One evening, as a servant woman brought them their supper, she discreetly leaned over and whispered in James's ear, "The true queen sent me."
Regina stood on the ridge waiting for her knights to return. Beside, King George paced anxiously.
"Are you certain this will work," he asked for the tenth time in almost as many minutes.
Regina resisted the urge to slap him. "As I've told you many times before, my black knights have yet to fail me. Ah, there they are."
A band of riders appeared in the valley below them, cloaked in an early morning fog so thick, they seemed to emerge from the mist like ghosts. They were barely visible in the awn light, but the sounds of their horses trotting closer were unmistakable.
"Let's head down to greet them," Regina smiled, "Time to see your son again."
Below, they saw the group of knights Regina had sent hours earlier, with the two additional people they had picked up. The day's first glimmers of sunlight shone on James's face as he saw his father for the first in far too longer. He dismounted quickly, almost falling from the saddle. Father and son embraced each other tightly, the years between them melting the dew beneath their feet.
Though she would never admit it out loud, Regina's heart squeezed at the sight of George being reunited with his son. After years without answered, he'd gotten his son back. Regina remembered how happy she had been when she finally got Alexander back, and how bitterly it had all ended. If anyone deserved a reunion with their son, it was her. But now Alexander was dead, and nothing could bring him back. She forced down her painful feelings before she gave off the impression that was she was vulnerable or weak.
When the moment passed, Regina turned to Zela and asked with forced sweetness, "And you might you be?"
"My name is Princess Rapunzel, but I go by Zela."
James added, "She's been my companion and friend during the time I was missing. We can talk more about it after we've rested from our ride."
"Of course," George replied. "You must both be exhausted."
Regina was not prepared when Emma Swan and David Nolan marched into her office looking, for all intents and purposes, like they wanted nothing more than to wring her neck. How had Emma not eaten the turnover yet? She was sure her plan would work, but her instincts told her that something had gone horribly wrong.
"What's going on?" Regina asked, deciding to play dumb. "Has something happened?"
"What the hell did you put in that turnover?" Emma asked coldly.
Regina's skin turned ice cold. The turnover had been her last hope. Squandered. "It...it's an old family recipe. Just some homegrown apples, cinnamon, a splash of vanilla-"
"Don't play dumb with me Regina." Emma's voice was deadly serious. "You did something intentionally, and now Ava is in the hospital. Tell me what you put in the turnover and what the cure is, or so help me I'll have tossed in jail. Don't think I wouldn't do it."
Regina maintained her performance, "I'm honestly offended that you'd think I would do something so horrible. I'm honestly sorry to hear about your ward, but you have no proof my turnover had anything to do with her condition."
"There were witnesses." Emma countered. "She was with the Lewis family when she ate it, and she got sick right away. That seemed like too much of a coincidence."
"We know what you really are," David warned. "And what you're really capable of."
Regina's face grew ever more brittle, "I'm afraid you've gonna have to be more specific."
"Okay, it's time to cut the crap," David continued, his voice as cold as Emma, "I'm remember everything. I remember who you are and what you've done. You're the Evil Queen, Snow White and Rose Red mother. You cast a curse over this town, and you did something to the apple turnover that caused Ava to fall into a coma. Was it the same sleeping curse you placed on your own daughter?"
Regina laughed out loud, though inside she was panicking. David, Snow's insufferable husband, had been awake the entire time and she had never even notice. Who knew how much he had gotten away with under her nose. Had he convinced Emma that magic was real? Regina looked to Emma, searching her eyes for any glimpse of belief. "Okay, obviously that coma you were in scrambled your brains, right Miss Swan?"
Emma's expression was unreadable for a moment, then changed to one of horrified understanding. "It was you. All this time, I couldn't believe magic was real, but you...Your voice, your expression. You're scared...because you know he's tell the truth."
"This is preposterous," Regina shook her head, unwilling to believe that Emma Swan had broken through the mind-alteration spell.
"This whole time..." Emma breathed. "You did something to me, to make me forget the truth. You cursed all these people, caused so much suffering. You're a monster."
"You don't even know a tenth of what you've talking about," Regina snarled.
"I'll take that as a confession," Emma sneered.
"I can't stay here, I need Henry," Regina tried to leave, but David blocked her path.
"Something tells me he doesn't want to see you," David stated.
"Where's my son?" Regina demanded. "What have you done with him?"
"He's not in any danger, if that's what you're wondering," Emma interjected. "But he's worried about his friend. You think Henry hates you now? I don't even want to imagine what'll think if you if you end up killing one of his best friends."
"It was meant for you." Regina yelled. "Besides, it's not fatal. It's just a sleeping curse."
"Just a sleeping curse," David chuckled darkly.
"Tell me how to get Ava to wake up," Emma demanded.
"Even if I wanted to, I couldn't," Regina replied, her voice a low, angry whisper. "Sleeping curses aren't meant to have cures. It's a miracle that True Love's kiss woke Snow White."
Emma looked to David, desperate for him to contradict Regina. He sighed deeply, "Unfortunately, she's not lying. When I found your mother under the sleeping curse, I honestly thought I had lost her forever."
Regina paused, needing time to process what David just said. "Your mother?"
Just then, it occurred to Emma that Regina didn't have the whole truth either. "Yeah, I guess no one bother to tell you...Grandma. Henry was trying to hide his book from you, not that you ever took much interest in what he liked."
"I knew Snow was pregnant, but I didn't imagine it was you."
"Yeah, well it doesn't matter much to me," Emma said coldly. "I don't care that you're my biological grandmother. After everything you've done to my parents and to my family, I don't want anything to do with you. David, we have to find some other way to save Ava."
David took Emma by the shoulder and led her from the room. "There's one other person who might be able to help us," he muttered once they had left Regina's office, "but I'm not sure he can or would help us."
