"So, that's it?" Belle asked, looking down at her rounded stomach in awe, "I thought it would be so much more complicated than that!"

"Well, that's the easy part done, to be honest," Mal told her, "now… you are carrying a magical child, from two magical parents, so the baby's needs are slightly different to a normal child."

"What do you mean?" Regina asked, stroking her own now-flat stomach with an underlying sense of loss. She was grateful the baby was safe, but she felt empty, both physically and emotionally.

"Belle is not magical, so she will need both of us to infuse her with magic. When the baby was inside of you, Regina, she was able to draw from your natural magical reserves," Mal advised them both, "we will need to provide Belle with that manually. We can both give her direct infusions, but I was thinking that we could also fill the amulet she is already wearing with a combination of our magic, so that she always has a flow of it feeding the baby."

"This is so strange. I always wanted a life of adventure, but this is something I never imagined," Belle lifted up her top, to reveal her stomach, and her now sticking out belly button, "I think it will take a while to adjust to," she laughed, as her delicate fingers ran over her stretched skin.

Regina just stared at her in horror, her eyes following the deep red lines that were tracing a path across her stomach, "I'm so sorry, Belle, oh god, I'm so sorry!"

"What?" Belle's confusion turned to slight fear at the tone of Regina's voice.

"You weren't prepared! Emma has been massaging my stomach with oils since we found out about the baby, but we didn't even consider it when making you the surrogate," Regina looked horrified at their oversight.

Belle looked at Mal for more of an explanation, completely lost and not knowing what Regina was trying to tell her.

"You can't see them, because they are below the bump, but you have stretch marks. Your skin was forced to grow too quickly, and it has left its mark," Mal apologised.

To their shock, Belle just started laughing, "is that all?! You had me worried!"

"Belle! You'll be scarred! These marks will be permanent!" Regina told her, shaking her head sadly.

"Let me guess, right now they are vivid red?" Belle checked, looking at the other two women.

"Well, yes," Mal confirmed.

"Look closely, on the sides of my stomach above my hips, you will see faint silvery lines. Yes?" Belle gestured for them both to check.

Both Mal and Regina looked, and sure enough, there were very faint lines where Belle had pointed.

"I don't understand? Have you had a child before?" Mal asked, slightly hurt that it had never come up in conversation before.

"No, no child. I did however have a growth spurt when I was in my early teens, and the result of it was stretch marks. It's ok, they fade in time." Belle gave them a genuine smile, "the way I see it, these new ones will be a reminder. A trophy if you like, from the time I was able to step up and be the hero I always wanted to be! These are a gift, and that's how you should look at them, because I will always treasure them."

"Really?" Regina asked in wonder, looking for any signs of dishonesty. All she found was a genuine smile, and sparkling blue eyes telling her that the words were sincere, "thank you so much."

Regina felt a moment of relief. The baby was safe, and the immediate worry was fading into the background. Everything else was so wrong without Emma, but at least they could make sure the baby would thrive.

Regina cried out, suddenly filled with overwhelming sadness, sinking to her knees as despair washed over her and cut her off from the world around her. Robbing her of her senses, she felt like she couldn't breathe and started hyperventilating to try and take in oxygen.

"Regina?! What's wrong?" Mal asked, sinking down next to her, and putting an arm around the now shaking woman.

"Emma! I think Emma knows the baby isn't with me. I can feel her grief," Regina cried, shoulders shaking and tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Oh no," Belle whispered, "she has no way to know what we've done. She thinks," here Belle stumbled over her words, "she thinks…"

A devastated Regina continued from where Belle had left off, "she thinks the baby died."

xxxxxxxxxx

Snow sat at the table, watching the woman in front of her with fresh eyes, suddenly realising that she didn't necessarily have the upper hand in this arrangement. Snow had never believed that she could ever truly feel scared of Blue, until this moment.

"You killed him?" she looked at Blue in disbelief, "why?"

"He was becoming a liability. He knew too much and his loyalty was wavering," Blue replied nonchalantly, "he needed to be dealt with."

"He didn't need to die!" Snow glared at her, "this should have been discussed!"

Blue continued as if she hadn't heard her, "he was coming out of the mansion. Who knows what he told them? He certainly had no business going there for any other reason. We need to move the timeline up."

"Move the timeline? We don't have Neal or Henry yet. I'm not leaving without them," Snow stated flatly, "you know the plan. They will die if we leave them here."

"If Sydney told them everything he knows, then they will never let us get anywhere near Henry or Neal. If we don't leave soon, then we will lose our chance," Blue calmly laid out her options, "you can either escape with Emma, or you can lose them all. I am activating the device tomorrow, will you join me or not?"

Snow stared at her in shock. This is not what was discussed, and for the first time, Snow wondered about the fairy's motives. What did she have to gain from this? Why had she been so willing to help? Realising it was better not to upset the fairy at this time, she nodded.

"Of course I'm coming, they will kill me if I stay here. I will be ready to leave with you tomorrow. Once we have activated the device, how long will we have before we need to leave?" Snow asked.

"I think we should leave immediately, just to be sure, but I believe it will take several hours for the magic to be absorbed and for the town to blink out of existence. I have some preparations to do back at the convent, but I will be back in the morning," Blue walked over, and absently kissed her cheek before leaving the property.

Blue knew she needed to tread carefully. She had to keep up the charade that Snow was in control, that Snow had the power.

Blue scoffed to herself. As if!

Once Blue had activated the device and it was set to absorb the magic from the town, then she could escape to the Enchanted Forest, with the second device that Snow knew nothing about.

This secondary device would channel the magic directly from Storybrooke into her, and then there would be no one left, in any realm, that would be more powerful than she.

Snow considered her options. If she stayed, then she had already lost her entire family. If she went through with the plan, then at least she would get Emma back. She would find Emma a suitable man to marry, maybe a Prince from another land, and then once she had provided an heir, Snow would be able to shape the future of the kingdom.

She would have control once more.

Deciding that was still her best course of action, she was almost surprised to find she felt no remorse at what she was about to do. The shame she had felt at the trial, as all of her secrets and dark deeds had been aired out for all to see, stoked the ever burning rage inside her. Stomping out of the kitchen, and into the room with the stairs to the basement, she opened the door and walked down the steps.

Emma had been crying for hours. She was dehydrated, and her muscles ached from the awkward position she had been in for so long. She was humiliated from her earlier trip to the bathroom, when she was allowed to relieve herself. Blue standing watching her, while Snow helped her with her jeans and underwear and other things that a woman of her age did not want someone helping her with. She knew why they would not untie her arms. Emma was strong, and could easily overpower them, even without her magic, and they knew her too well to take that chance. So, that left one option for bathroom arrangements and yes, Emma was humiliated. She felt violated in the worst way.

None of that was anywhere close to the depths of misery she felt at the loss of her daughter and family though. Emma was devastated.

Hearing a noise she looked up and saw Snow sauntering down the steps, looking smug. She had visited a few times since Emma was captured, but had mostly left her in the hands of Blue. She seemed to take great pleasure in Emma's distress and couldn't help taunting her.

It was at times like this that Emma wished she was still the Dark One. Not only would she have seen their plan to capture her, but she would be able to wreak revenge in all the worst ways. Ways that they both, Blue and Snow, undoubtedly deserved.

Emma was a fighter, and even in her current state of despair she knew she would never give up fighting to get her family back.

"This will all be over soon, Emma," Snow cooed in a fake voice, "soon, you will be happy again and you will realise that you don't need anyone but me in your life."

"You're delusional, Snow. I will always hate you for what you've done."

"Oh, the baby? You're still peeved about that?" she taunted maliciously, "what kind of a monster do you think it would have been? Born of two women? With Regina as a parent? We did you a favour. You should be thanking us."

Emma had felt hatred before, but now it was burning so hot she thought it would destroy her. She could feel her magic flaring underneath the power of the restraining cuff, but just couldn't quite reach it.

"I hate you. I will never stop fighting for my family, Snow, and as soon as I get free, make no mistake I will kill you. I don't need to be the Dark One anymore to eviscerate you," she threatened.

"Oh Emma, by the time I'm finished with you, you will be begging me to brush your hair, and dress you up, ready for your marriage. You will be grateful that I saved you from that evil woman. You will love me and you will understand that everything I am doing is for your own good. You'll see," Snow gloated.

"Do you not know me at all? You really are deluded. You could never make those things be true."

"That's where you're wrong, Emma. A potion here, a bit of magic there, and finally you will be the daughter I always wanted. The Princess you always should have been," Snow told her casually, not realising that her words were actually scaring Emma, not that she would ever show it.

What were they planning to do to her? What potion? What magic could ever turn her against her family?

Thoughts of Regina, laying in her arms. Of Henry turning up at her front door all those years ago. Of Willow latching on to her after falling through the portal into this realm. Those thoughts made her realise that nothing would ever be able to stop her loving her family. Her mantra since her capture had been 'love always wins', and she would repeat that to herself, as many times as she needed.

Emma didn't reply to Snow, choosing to concentrate on thoughts of her family and all those that she loved. Allowing the love that she felt for all of them to bloom in her chest, she pushed as much of it through her bond to Regina as she could. Emma might be in a terrible predicament, but she realised then that she could still support Regina from a distance.

'Time to stop wallowing, Emma', she told herself. It was time to fight.

xxxxxxxxxx

Nova was suspicious. Blue had been coming and going at random times of the day and night lately, and had been entering the fairy vault without a known reason.

The vault had all kinds of potions and ingredients, and was guarded closely. An inventory was carried out monthly and anything used was noted and signed out at the time it was taken. Most fairy magic was good and pure, but the vault contained magic from the dark fairy which is why it was kept such a closely hidden secret.

Nova had risen through the ranks and Blue had bestowed the honour on her of becoming her second in command. However, Nova knew that the only reason Blue had done this, is because she thought she could control her. Blue thought that the meek and mild fairy was not of the highest intelligence, and therefore would be oblivious to any of Blue's nefarious deeds.

Little did Blue know, Nova was smarter than she gave her credit for, and the fairy had been watching her for weeks. Tonight was time for some investigation.

Having heard Blue leave, Nova snuck down the stairs and let herself quietly into the vault. It didn't take her long into the inventory before she had started to figure out that there were items missing that had not been signed out or accounted for. Making a note of them, she locked up the vault and stepped back into the main living area of the convent, unnoticed by anyone else.

She stood for a moment, weighing up her options.

If she was wrong, then she would lose her wings, for sure. Tink had lost them for much less.

If she was right, however, then she was potentially saving the life of every single person in this town.

This was not even a decision that needed to be made. Gathering her cloak around her, she stepped outside the convent into the cooling night air. Looking around her one last time, she carefully made her way along the path, to meet the road that headed into town.

xxxxxxxxxx

It had been a day of much activity but no results for the family. David had spent the day searching the town, still looking for any clues as to where Emma was.

They had been unable to tempt Belle away from the books, as she researched the device Sydney had told them about.

Regina and Mal had tried three types of advanced locator spells to try and find Emma, but still, nothing. It had been a frustrating day.

"It's so confusing," Regina whispered to Mal, not wanting to disturb the children who were sleeping on the sofa between them.

They were trying to keep things as normal as possible, so that the children felt safe and secure and not so worried about everything going on around them. She knew they missed Emma, they all did, but they had to make sure the children were ok. The children needed her to be strong, and they needed some consistency in their lives.

"What is?" Mal whispered back.

"Emma," Regina sighed, "she was so devastated, that it nearly tore me in half. It's changing though."

"Changing how?"

"She was really angry, and then I felt nothing but love flooding me. She's still there, helping me as much as she can, even though she's alone and probably terrified. I can feel her love like it's something tangible. Like I can reach out and take hold of it," Regina smiled.

Mal smiled back, "we all know how much she loves you. She won't allow anyone to keep her away from you for long."

"There's something else," Regina confided quietly, before sending the brightest smile Mal had seen from her in a while.

"What's that?" Mal asked curiously.

"I can feel her determination. She's fighting! She's going to fight and nothing will stop her. I can feel her belief, and it's so strong. She is giving me strength even when I feel so weak," Regina explained, eyes lighting up as she thought of her wife, "she's going to come back to me and we both know it."

Mal smiled back, enjoying seeing the woman feeling hopeful again. She trusted Emma, and knew she would travel the universe to get back to Regina and their kids, if she had to.

'Knock knock'

Mal and Regina looked at each other, "who the hell is that?" Mal wondered, getting up to go and open the door.

Looking through the peephole she couldn't see much. A hooded figure in a dark blue cloak. Summoning her magic, at the ready, she opened the door, as the figure looked up.

"Nova?!" questioned Mal, shocked.

"Can I come in?" the nervous fairy replied.