Chapter Five

"Ughhh.." Emma groaned softly as the darkness began to subside. A hand slowly moved up to touch her head, but her hand only moved up a few inches before the restraints around her wrist stopped her from moving. Her eyes opened with a quickness to find that she'd been shackled, but she wasn't in her cell. No, quite the contrary. She was in a large bedroom furnished with the finest decor meant only for royalty. Where was she? Confusion set in as she started to look around at her surroundings.

"I had to make sure you didn't sneak off again. Anyone who can escape my cell once certainly would be able to do it again," Regina said, standing over by the door. Her arms remained folded across her chest, as Emma had seen so many times before. Seeing her alone, leaned against the door made Emma miss the old Regina. Maybe, if she would've taken more consideration of that Regina, none of this would've happened. If she fought harder, been more loyal, anything! Yet, here she was, staring into the eyes of a distrusting Regina who held no warmth or familiarity toward her. She wanted nothing more than to simply hear Regina call her Miss Swan once more. All she wanted was her old life back without this insanity.

"You have all the power in the world and you felt the need to put me in shackles. What does that say about me?" Emma joked, tugging at the shackles a few more times. A sigh escaped her lips, meeting Regina's stare once more. "Come on, really? I saved your life and you still think I'm out to get you? I just want to help you!" Regina moved from the door, heels clicking against the stone beneath her as she walked over to where Emma remained helpless.

"I could've defeated her on my own, thank you very much, so don't expect any sort of gratitude from me that you stepped into harms way. It's not my fault that you were dropped on your head as a child. What were you thinking, anyway? She could have killed you," Regina stared down at her, as though trying to assess just how much of a threat Emma was.

"I was not dropped on my head as a child! And I do not want your gratitude! I just want you to trust me! I'm here to help you!"

"Well, you're more likely to get my gratitude than my trust, and right now, you're nowhere near either of them," Regina laughed before she slowly leaned down to be eye level with Emma. Her smile faded and there was that icy glare once more.

"Why did you jump in front of me?" she asked, the tone in her voice all the warning that Emma needed. If only Regina had the same ability that Emma did, maybe Emma would be able to tell her the truth. She wanted to just blurt out that she was from the future, they had a son together and she was here to save Regina from being killed, but there was no way in hell she was going to get Regina to buy that story.

"It...was just a reflex. I told you. I'm here to help."

"Yes, I've gathered that much. What you haven't told me is why. And don't tell me it's to get back at Snow White, because I'm not a fool. I know better than to think you'd risk your life multiple times just to get back at Snow White because you're sympathetic to what you think you know about my life," she stood up and hovered over Emma. Then, with a simple flick of her wrist, small clouds of purple formed over Emma's hands as the shackles disappeared entirely. Emma lifted her hands up quickly, rubbing over her wrists where the shackles clamped against her skin as she sat up. Okay, so her original story wasn't panning out. She was going to have to come clean without being entirely honest. Ugh. Being a liar wasn't working well for her. How did Regina and Rumple do it so well?

"I'm here...to stop Zelena. She's putting a lot of people I care about in danger and I knew she was coming for you. I thought if I teamed up with you to stop her that we could both benefit. She wouldn't kill you and I could keep my family safe." Regina's laughter interrupted her explanation.

"You think she can kill me? I'd be offended if that wasn't so ridiculous. Do you know who I am?" Emma didn't seem nearly as amused.

"I know you're powerful in dark magic, which isn't going to help you defeat her. She's stronger than you." Emma's response caused Regina's laughter to stop, anger flashing in those dark eyes that, even from across the room, struck fear into the hearts of many. Even Emma felt her stomach sink lower in her abdomen as she held Regina's gaze.

"No one is stronger than me. Even if she were, she won't remember who she is once my curse is complete."

"Her plan is to kill you once you've started the curse. Then she can take your place and nobody will ever remember you existed." A moment of silence between them grew as Regina stood there, staring Emma down while trying to determine just how truthful Emma was.

"It's not possible."

"It is, and if we don't work together, she'll succeed, Regina."

"Your Majesty. How many times have we been through this already?!" At this point, Emma was not backing down.

"I'm not going to keep calling you that while we try to figure all of this out. So unless you have a nickname you prefer or something that doesn't consist of me bowing at your feet, then I'm sticking with Regina."

"Then I'll just kill you or make you spend the rest of your days thinking you're a mule after the curse is completed. Your choice."

"Or I just not help you find a way to kill Zelena and she can turn me into a mule instead. Is that what you want?" Emma snapped back, standing up as if to defend herself. Regina's hand came up, threatening to form one of her notorious fireballs. Emma didn't back down from it. She couldn't back down. There wasn't any time for that.

"Look. We want the same thing here. We want to defeat Zelena and continue on with our own plans. You with your revenge and me with my family. Can't we just do that and go our separate ways? I won't even tell anyone that you went soft and let me off the hook. It'll be our secret."

"That I, what?" Regina was liking this plan less and less, her eyebrows furrowing in an irritated expression. Emma, however, held a small, playful smirk in response to Regina's surprise.

"Kidding. It's just a joke."

"You're not funny." Emma's smile faded quickly.

"I am so! Maybe you just don't have a sense of hu-" she was quick to defend herself, but stopped, knowing that this was wasting time. "Okay, seriously. We have to work together on this because the only thing that will stop Zelena is light magic. Dark magic has no affect on her." Regina scoffed.

"Light magic? This is absurd. I am not going to keep playing this game with you. Come with me," Regina retorted as she took hold of Emma's wrist. Before Emma could react, they were surrounded by a puff of purple smoke forming from the ground and rising to cover them entirely. For a few moments, she saw only darkness, the only light showing hues of dark purple. In a flash, the smoke disappeared, leaving her in an entirely new environment.

They were no longer in the lavishly decorated bedroom. Instead, she was surrounded by cave walls, lit only by a few torches that hung above them. They were in a dungeon. Not any dungeon. Based on the cage before her, Emma knew exactly where they were. They had come to visit Rumplestiltskin. His small figure moved from the darkness of the shadows up against the edge of the cage with scaly fingers wrapping slowly around the bars. He gripped the bars as if he had all the time in the world. As if he were almost mocking them.

"Hello again, dearie. I take it by the fact that we're all still here that your plan is yet again failing," he said in that sing-songy tone. Regina stepped forward with her cloak swishing back against Emma's legs, not hesitating to walk up to the cage as she'd done before.

"There's a small...annoyance that I need to handle first," she growled, eyes shifting to Emma from behind her before looking back at Rumple. He, in turn, looked over Regina's shoulder and let a little giggle escape his lips.

"You got further than I thought you would. Perhaps you've been underestimated," he spoke toward Emma, which caused Regina to take a step back in surprise.

"You knew about her?"

"Of course, dearie. I also know that you have bigger concerns to deal with. Such as, oh, a green-faced witch who wants you dead, perhaps?" His eyes were filled with excitement over the drama unfolding before him.

"Wants me dead, maybe. I doubt she'll succeed. Many try and want me dead, and yet, here I am." There was a smirk of arrogance curling on Regina's dark-painted lips. Rumple pushed against the bars and poked his head out a little.

"Ah ah ah. Not so fast. Don't be so quick to underestimate her. Her dark magic is more powerful than yours. Only light magic will destroy her." A wide smile formed on his face as he looked over at Emma. Regina began to pace, and Emma knew that whenever Regina paced, she was genuinely starting to worry.

"Light magic? Where the hell am I going to find that?" Emma took this opportunity to step in and join the conversation.

"It's inside of you, you know." When Regina snapped her eyes up to look over at Emma, she continued. "It stems from love.." Regina scoffed.

"Oh, don't patronize me. You already know that my love has been taken from me."

"There are second chances for everybody," Emma said softly, causing Regina to look away. The moment with Tinkerbell had happened too soon. The man with the lion tattoo had been her second chance and she ran away from it. From him. To this day, Regina couldn't figure out what made her run away from what she'd been told was her destiny. Now, she was seeing the repercussions of her actions.

"I gave up my second chance. I can't be the one to do it," she whispered with her gaze lowering to the ground. Emma wanted so desperately to argue it. She saw it! She knew that Regina could do it because it'd already happened once before! There was only one problem with that approach. By doing that, she'd have to tell Regina who she really was and risk whatever consequences changing the future would be. Running a hand through her hair, Emma spoke up and prayed that she wouldn't regret her words later.

"That's not true. I know you can do it, because I've seen you do it." Regina's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as her head lifted up to look at Emma.

"I'm in no mood for games. Explain yourself," she said in a low, dangerous tone. Emma remained wide-eyed and hopeful that this idea would work.

"This is going to sound crazy, but it's the truth. I'm not from the Enchanted Forest. I'm from...another land in the future. The dark curse works and you send everyone to a place called Storybrooke. That's where I'm from." Regina laughed and started toward her, but a hand reached out and snatched her arm to stop her.

"I'd listen to her, dearie. She's telling the truth," he hissed, grinning when their eyes met. With a harsh yank, Regina pulled her arm away from his grasp and looked back at Emma.

"Then why are you really here?"

"Seriously? We're going through this again? I've already told you. Zelena has put my family in danger and I have to stop her. She opened a time portal and came back to take your place in the dark curse. It'll re-write everything and she need to be stopped."

"You said you've seen me do light magic. How?"

"You were able to use light magic because of your love for your son. Well...our son. We have son." Both Rumplestiltskin and Regina looked over at Emma in surprise.

"Well, I didn't expect that. Regina, you didn't tell me that Daniel was a Danielle." Rumple giggled.

"Oh come on! Not like that!" Emma looked over at Regina who was still staring in her direction, eyebrows raised. She held a look on her face expressing that she was not satisfied with leaving her fate in broken truths. With a defeated sigh, Emma continued.

"All right, look. I didn't have the easiest life. I made a lot of bad choices. Giving up my son isn't something I'm proud about, but I thought I was doing what was best for him. Then, when he was older, he came looking for me. Henry brought me to Storybrooke. You adopted him. You and I fight a lot. A hell of a lot, actually, but we have one thing in common. We both love Henry. We both want what's best for him and while we may not always agree on what that is, we're a good team. I need your help, Regina, to save our son. You've done it before and I know you can do it again. I have faith in you. Please.." she could only pray that this new information would make Regina change her mind. Her green eyes were glossed over from tears fighting to form pleading for Regina to look inside of herself for any remnants of decency hidden deep within her heart. A tear spilled over onto Regina's cheek as she leaned back against the cage, hand gripping her chest. Could it have worked?

"H-Henry..? I have a son.." Regina stared off into space, trying to process the truth of it all. Could it be that she finally found her happy ending? Swallowing slowly, she lifted her head to look over at Rumple. Then back to Emma. Could this just be true? Or was this a trick to overpower her authority? Any softness in Regina's features faded as she locked her eyes onto Emma.

"If I find out you've been lying to me at any point, or that you're trying to stop the curse from happening..."

'I'm not lying to you, Regina! I'm here to make sure you pull off the dark curse. If you don't, my entire world will no longer exist. All I want is destroy Zelena once and for all, and then go home," she said with great exasperation. Of course, Emma left out large chunks of her story. There was absolutely no way in hell she was going to let Regina know that she was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, the Savior meant to bring back all of the happy endings. As though she knew that Emma was hiding something, Regina marched up to Emma until their noses were only inches from each other.

"If you betray me, you'll wish your world no longer existed. Not existing would be a kinder fate than the one I will bestow upon you and your loved ones." Her voice was low, filled with dangerous warning. Although Emma's chin rose in defiance, she said nothing. It wasn't in her best interest to challenge the one she was trying to save. Their eyes remained glued to the other's, waiting to see who would back down first.

"Are you two finished wasting my time yet? As you can see, I'm a very busy man," Rumple broke the silence between the two with a loud giggle, pushing off of the bars as they both turned to look over at him. As if on cue, they rolled their eyes and started to walk toward him.

"As much as I'd love to pull off white magic, I haven't even met this son she's referring to to love him, so what's my alternative?" Regina asked, folding her arms across her chest. Rumple's pointer finger shot out between the bars to point toward Regina.

"You, dearie, are going to need some help. Beyond this realm, there's a witch you'll find incredibly useful. Her name is Glenda. I'm told she's quite the expert on light magic. Unless...I'm wrong. In which case, you're destined to fail." He grinned mockingly and shrugged his shoulders.

"How do we get there? It's not like portals are that easy to come by," Emma retorted, clearly irritated with Rumple. He was so much less annoying in Storybrooke. Rumple sighed and shook his head.

"Why don't you just let me out of this prison and I can do the whole mission for you," he snapped back, shaking his head before looking at Regina who was surprisingly quiet suddenly.

"At my castle, hidden in the attic for a rainy day, is a hat that opens The Portal of Doors. Jump into the hat. You'll need to go through the Green Curtain Door. It will take you to the land of Oz," he continued, staring directly at Regina with his instructions. Emma piped up once more.

"A hat? What sort of a hat? You really expect us to believe we're going to jump into a hat?" Rumplestiltskin slowly turned his eyes to look over toward Emma, a grimace beginning to form.

"A brown hat! Who did they send for this quest in your land? The village idiot?" he grumbled and Regina couldn't help but to smile a little to herself.

"We'll find the hat and this witch, Glenda. Then we will be back on track," she promised as she turned walk away from Rumplestiltskin.

"Good luck, dearie! You're going to need it," he called out after her as he stepped back toward the shadows. Of course, not before Emma caught a glimpse of the smile that formed on his face. Why was he so happy that Emma and Regina were running off to another land? Something didn't sit well with Emma as she turned to follow Regina out of the shadowed area and back in a cloud of purple smoke to return them to Regina's castle. As they disappeared, a loud cackle could be heard throughout the prison.

"I told them how to get there. Never did tell them how to get back.." he titled his head back and cackled, for at the moment, the jokester's plan was working.