Sabrina ripped her eyes open and let out a gasp, gaze immediately roving over her surroundings. Where was Puck? How long had she been passed out? She tried to stand up, but her legs felt shaky, and blacks shapes burst across her vision. She collapsed back onto the couch she had been laying on, and turned around. She was still in Mustardseed's room, and Puck was laying on the bed across the room from her.

"He'll be okay." She heard. She turned and found Mustardseed sitting in a chair opposite her, watching her intently. "I cleaned it, drew out the poison."

"What… What happened? To Puck?"

"It's what happens when someone goes into the treasury when they're not part of the royal family. I fed him the herbs to counteract the poison, and I cleaned and stitched the wound. It will simply take time for him to recover." Sabrina let out a breath, closing her eyes for a second. Puck was okay.

"Thank you," She told him.

"I also bandaged your hands, and looked at your head," He told her. She looked down, and sure enough, her hands were carefully wrapped in bandages.

"How did my hands get hurt?" She asked.

"When I came back, you were passed out on the floor, and you had dropped the bowl of water. It shattered and cut your hands."

"Oh." She looked down. She supposed that she had hit her head harder than she thought.

"You still owe me an explanation," Mustardseed demanded. "I saved Puck. Now tell me why you're here." Sabrina sighed, considering how to explain their situation. She knew she couldn't lie, and owed him an explanation, but their story did sound pretty unbelievable.

"Just, let me finish before you say anything," She cautioned him. And then she told him everything. She started with the cloaked man and the ring, and how they ended up in the middle of the street two hundred years in the past. Then she explained that they needed to find the ring to get back home, but had no idea how to do it. Mustardseed stayed silent as she spoke, his expression unreadable. But she could see the suspicion in his eyes slowly giving way to disbelief, then to curiosity and intrigue. As soon as she finished, the questions came pouring out of his mouth.

"But why were you and Puck chasing the man with the ring? And do you honestly expect me to believe that he chose to grow up?" Sabrina clenched her teeth. She did not want to explain the Everafter War, and everything that came with it to Mustardseed.

"Basically, we met when I was twelve. And we hated each other. But he started aging with me. And…" She hesitated for a second. "And there was a war." She looked down. "The Everafter War. My family, the Grimm's, were at the center of it. A lot happened, and Puck and I became very close. Sort of. In the end, our side won, so life settled down. But my family and I are magic detectives, and we were chasing down that man before all this happened."

She halfheartedly waved a hand around as she spoke, but Mustardseed could see the anguish in her eyes as she spoke of the war. He could tell that that part of her story, at least, was true. Or at least close to the truth. He pressed his fingertips together, pursing his lips. He wanted to talk to Puck, Sabrina's Puck, to confirm his side of the story, but Sabrina did seem sincere. It had to be the truth, if only because if it was false it would have been such an outrageous lie that Sabrina would have had to have been crazy to tell it in the first place.

"So," he started. "What do you need to get home?" Sabrina's eyes widened hopefully.

"The ring," She said quickly. "We need to find the ring. We thought it might be in the throne room, or the treasury… or one of the dungeon vaults. But we were really hoping that it would be the treasury." Mustardseed nodded, but then a huge inconsistency in her story jumped out at him.

"Why can't your Puck go into the treasury?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. "If he really is Puck from the future, he's still part of the royal family. He shouldn't have triggered the curse." Sabrina shifted uncomfortably. The answer had occurred to her when she was explaining their past to Mustardseed, but had been hoping he wouldn't bring it up.

"Puck was, um… banished." She whispered. Mustardseed's eyes widened. "Oberon banished him years before I met him. That's why he was living with my grandmother. Titania reinstated him as heir a few years ago, but I don't know why the enchantments weren't renewed." She had conveniently left Oberon's death out of her summary, deciding it was better not to get into that, but Mustardseed had picked up on her omission.

"Why my Mother? Shouldn't Father, as the king, have…" Realization and horror dawned on his face as he seemed to put the pieces together. "Is he…?" Sabrina bit her lip, but nodded minutely.

"It happened after I met Puck. I would explain, but it's… Complicated." Mustardseed nodded, and took in a shaky breath.

"It's probably better that you don't tell me anything else," he said. "I don't want to mess up the future at all." Sabrina realized that she should have thought of that before spilling her life story, but there was nothing to be done about it now.

"So," She started, changing the subject, and hopefully the mood. "Will you help us get the ring?" Pursing his lips, Mustardseed nodded.

"I will. But I need to talk to your Puck, once he wakes up. I also need to figure out what's going on in the rest of the castle, before we make a plan. But," He caught her gaze. "I promise you, I will get you back home." Sabrina was flooded with relief, and to her horror, felt her eyes well with tears. She furiously swiped at her eyes, but still noticed Mustardseed respectfully turn away from her, looking uncomfortable. She almost laughed at the sight, but clamped it down, knowing her chuckle would come out as a sob.

"Thank you," she mumbled, and Mustardseed jumped up off the chair he was perched on.

"You're very welcome, but I am doing this for my brother. I'm going to go see what's going on in the rest of the palace, after your… Let's call it a break-in. If Puck wakes up, try to have him drink some water and explain to him what's happening. He'll be confused." he nodded at the pitcher full of water and the empty cup perched next to it on the bedside table before sweeping out of the room.

Sabrina immediately headed over to Puck to check over his injuries. She did trust Mustardseed, but she wanted to make sure he was okay for herself.

Pulling up a chair to his bedside, she gently pushed his hair back, inspecting his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful, asleep, even though he was probably in pain. Moving down his body, Sabrina looked over the bandages that almost covered his entire torso. She wanted to inspect the wound, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to rewrap it half as well as Mustardseed had. Briefly, she wondered where he had learned such good first aid before she was pulled out of her thoughts by a small groan from the top of the bed.

"Puck!" She shrieked, grabbing his hand.

"'Brina," he mumbled. He tried to sit up, but let out a grunt of pain before falling back down. Sabrina felt him squeeze her hand weakly, and she moved her other hand up to smooth out his hair again.

"It's all right, you're going to be fine," She soothed. "Mustardseed dressed your wound." Puck's eyebrows squished together confusedly.

"Why Mustardseed? Why would he need to..." His face whitened, and Sabrina knew that his memories from earlier that night were rushing back to him.

"What happened? How did I get hurt?" He demanded, trying to sit up again, but his voice wavered and Sabrina gently pressed him back down.

"Apparently, the enchantment letting you into the treasury was never fixed after you were banished, so you triggered the curse," Sabrina explained. Then, she told him how Mustardseed had been there, and that the past Puck was back. She relayed the conversation she had with Mustardseed, and how he said he would help get them the ring. As soon as she had caught him up to speed, Puck pulled her in for a hug. Careful of his injury, she returned it, sinking into the warm, if awkward, embrace.

Puck pulled back a little, grabbing her hand with a frown.

"What happened?" He asked, tracing the bandages with his index finger. Sabrina grimaced. She may have brushed over telling him about her injuries.

"I cut my hands when I passed out," She told him, and before he could freak out she elaborated. "And I hit my head earlier, but it's feeling better now. It's not a big deal." She could see his jaw clench at her blatant disregard for her own injuries, but she had had worse before. A couple cuts and a bruise on her head weren't a big deal.

"What's this?" Puck questioned, and the note of anger in his voice drew her attention immediately. His hand had traced up her arm and pushed aside her sleeve, revealing a hand shaped bruise on her forearm.

"It's nothing," Sabrina hastily pulled her sleeve down, but Puck yanked it back up, staring at the print.

"Who did this?" He demanded, voice getting harsher.

"Puck, calm down! It was Mustardseed, but he thought I was evil!" Puck's face darkened.

"I'll kill him."

"Puck! It was an accident! I didn't even notice it was there until you pointed it out!"

"But Sabrina-"

"Shut up! It's my injury, and I say it's fine!" Puck huffed, relaxing back into the pillows while pinning her with a baleful stare.

"I still want to punch him."

Sabrina sighed.

"Please try not to." It annoyed Sabrina endlessly when Puck acted like she couldn't take care of herself, but she had to admit it was sweet that he was always ready to defend her. Sometimes. Pouring a glass of water from the pitcher next to her, she thrust it at Puck.

"Drink."

"Yes ma'am," He flashed his teeth at her. Sabrina blushed through her glare, poking him in the arm.

"Just drink it!"

"Can I have a kiss first?" Puckering his lips, Puck made a pouty baby face, and Sabrina giggled.

"You can have a kiss after you drink it," She declared, and he pouted but obeyed. After setting the cup aside, Sabrina leaned in, brushing their lips together once.

"I'm glad that you're okay," Puck whispered in her ear.

"And I'm glad that you'll be okay," Sabrina whispered back into his. Leaning her head into his shoulder, Puck wrapped and arm around her. Puck pressed a kiss to her head, and they stayed like that, cuddled into each other, until Mustardseed came back.

Sabrina shot up when the door flew open, placing herself between the intruder and Puck. When she realized it was Mustardseed, her face reddened as he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Always ready to save the day," Puck announced from the bed.

"Shut up, Puck," Sabrina muttered. She sank back into her place on the side of the bed, and looked to Mustardseed.

His small grin at her action melted away, and his face looked grim.

"I have good news, and bad news." He announced.

"How bad?" Sabrina asked. Mustardseed simply sighed, and Puck just watched him from the bed.

"The good news first; The ring is in the treasury, and I think we can get it. But Oberon has the guards crawling over the entire palace, looking for you, so it will be much harder than it would have been earlier. And… How much do you know about the ring?" Sabrina exchanged a glance with Puck. They knew next to nothing about the ring… But did Mustardseed know something?

"We know that it can send us through time. That's… Well, that's it," Sabrina explained. Mustardseed nodded, pacing across the room to his desk.

"Well, I looked up the ring at the library, and I found a description." He pulled a paper out of his pocket, and scanned it as he spoke. "What did it look like?" Sabrina looked to Puck, then spoke.

"I think it was… Brass maybe? And it looked pretty old, it was all tarnished."

"It was also really thin, and had a green gem, probably an emerald or something in it." Puck continued. Mustardseed looked up sharply.

"An emerald? Are you sure it was an emerald?" He asked urgently.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah," Puck answered, confused. "Is that bad?" Mustardseed huffed out a breath.

"We have two rings similar to the one you described. But only one has an emerald, like you described. The other one is silver. The other one would have been easier, but if you came here with the emerald ring, then you shouldn't use a different one to get back." Mustardseed ran a hand through his hair, finally dissolving the half style it had been in for the rest of the night. "The emerald one has… Limitations. It's going to be much harder." Sabrina and Puck exchanged a glance, eyes wide.

"What limitations?" Sabrina questioned. Mustardseed pressed his lips together.

"You can only use it in one place."

"What does that mean?" Sabrina frowned.

"You have to go back to the place that you came into this time, in order to go back. Otherwise, it won't work at all, or you could end up going to some obscure time that's definitely not 'home'." Sabrina bit her lip, and looked at Puck again. But for the first time since they had gotten there, his green eyes were filled with hope.

"That's it?" He asked. His voice was filled with fragile emotion, as if he didn't want to believe that what his brother had said was real.

"That's it," Mustardseed nodded in conformation. "But that does make it harder, because everyone in the palace and city is on the lookout for you. There are guards everywhere."

"We can make it," Sabrina stated confidently. "We've made it through worse."

Her eyes met Pucks, and they smiled at each other. She leaned minutely closer, and Mustardseed cleared his throat, and pointedly looked away.

"There are other people present, you know!" Sabrina felt her cheeks redded, but refused to be embarrassed.

"What, are you jealous?"

"What? Of course not!" Mustardseed spluttered, while Sabrin and Puck broke down into giggles. For once, it felt like everything was going to work out.

The next day, they were ready. They had decided that they should try and get Sabrina and Puck out as soon as possible, which meant they had to get to the ring that day. They had considered waiting for the cover of darkness, but Mustardseed pointed out that it wouldn't make much of a difference with all the guards running around. And anyway, no one would expect them to make their move in broad daylight.

Sabrina and Mustardseed were going to go, as Puck was still injured, and bring the ring back to him. Then they would sneak out of the palace, back to the street where they had originally fallen, and get back home. Simple.

But simple plans rarely stay that way.