5

~ A Nightmare Come True ~

Author's Notes: It is strongly suggested that the stories Child's Play: Baby Regal's Revenge and Regal Mischief be read as there are many references to both in this chapter as well as a trigger warning for references to child abuse. Also please send any PMs regarding update requests to me ... CJ Moliere.

Zelena looked up from her book to see Cora in the room, two terrified little girls at her side, clinging to each other and sobbing. She recognized one of them immediately, her despised younger sister Regina but the other girl was a complete stranger.

"Have you found a spell that will work?" Cora demanded.

Zelena sighed exasperatedly.

"Would it be too much to ask for you to say hello once in a while Mother?"

"Be quiet and answer my question: did you find a spell that will reverse this aging?"

"Not one that works longer than a a few minutes but I have my suspicions the answer we need is in the mirror down the hall."

"Then get that book off him!"

"I've tried!"

"Try harder," Cora spat and vanished. Zelena groaned and glared down at the two brats her mother left in her charge.

"What are YOU staring at," she demanded of her toddler sister.

"Don't 'member me, do ya?" Regina asked, grinning mischeviously. "Well I 'member you and I'm gonna kick your wicked butt like I did last time!"

"You're delusional," Zelena retorted. "We've never met until now. Mother wouldn't allow it."

"So that witch is your mommy!"

"Who is this Regina?" Meredith asked her.

"Her name's Zelena. She's the Wicked Witch of the West an I kicked her butt before!"

"In your dreams maybe," Zelena snorted and grabbed Regina's arm.

"Owww...you're pullin too hard. I'm gonna have you 'rrested for child abuse!" she screamed.

"Shut up!"

Meredith cringed, her mother's angry face flashing before her eyes.

"I'll be good, I'll be good..." she chanted fearfully, hugging herself.

"You too! Come on!" Zelena commanded.

"I'll be good!" she sobbed. "Regina, please stop...she'll hurt you worse!"

But Regina was unwilling to give up without a fight. She kicked at her captor and screamed all the way down the corridor to a bedroom. Zelena shoved the frightened girls inside and slammed the door, locking it with a key. Just once she wished her mother would do her dirty work herself. The sooner she got her troublesome sister and the brat she was with out of her sight the better.

"Let us out you witch!" Regina pounded on the doors with her fists. Meredith huddled in the corner hugging her knees, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I want Daddy and Gramma," she wailed.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay. We're gonna get outta here," Regina soothed and sat down beside her. Meredith lifted her head.

"How come you're not scared? She's the wicked witch. You know what she can do."

"Uh-huh an don'cha 'member me sayin I kicked her butt?"

"Yeah but how?"

"It's hard to 'splain. I was at Unca Rumple's shop playin around and there was this mirror...kinda like the ones we saw out there. I saw Unca Rumple in it, in a cage so I went through it to try to help him get out an SHE was there."

"She was?"

"Uh-huh. Only thing I could find to try to help him was a wand. Now I'm not 'sposed to touch wands cause I got in reallll trouble the last time I stole one from the fairies. I made a fossil T-Rex come alive and Unca Rumple almost got eaten tryin to stop him!"

"Whoa!"

Regina smirked. "Greenie there wanted the wand so I told her she hadta make a deal for it. Y'know like Unca Rumple does?" Meredith nodded. "So I told her she had to let him out." Regina snorted. "'Course she said she would...if I made it in her best interest. Sooo...I decided I was gonna drive her nuts and MAKE her let him out."

"She didn't turn you into one of those monkeys?"

"Nope. I had four hours to drive her nuts but I didn't think I was gonna need all of 'em."

Meredith laughed. "So what did you do?"

"She kept braggin how wicked she was and wicked always won well I'm naught and naughty never fails!" Regina cackled. "But I was worried 'bout Unca Rumple too 'cause that witch wasn't feedin him right an he was cold so I gave him some Golden Grahams and a blanket. Just wish I coulda got him out earlier. That witch was treatin him worse than an animal!"

"You gotta be careful Regina. She might hurt us...bad."

"Merri, why are you so scared? Did somebody hurt you?"

She nodded.

"Who?"

"My mom." Meredith looked away. "I'm not always bad. I try to be good, I really do but my mom never thought I was good. She hit me all the time and other stuff." She rolled up her sleeve to show Regina a faint scar on her arm. "I was playin dress up one time in her room and she got mad 'cause she said I messed everything up but I didn't make a mess! I just put on some of that stuff she uses on her face and tried to curl my hair but she turned that iron on and did this! It really hurt!"

Regina's mouth dropped open. "Didja tell somebody?"

"I was too scared."

"Merri you gotta tell when somebody hurts you! That's child abuse an Emma can 'rrest 'em an put 'em jail with some big Bertha who can beat them up an see how they like it! When we get outta here you gotta tell your gramma an granpa Archie or I'm gonna tell 'em for ya! She's gotta go to jail!"

"I don't live with her anymore. I live with Daddy."

"Yeah but she still hasta go to jail!" Regina said firmly. "She do anything else?"

Meredith nodded. "One time she hurt me really bad and lied and said I fell somewhere but I think Daddy knew what was goin on 'cause that's when he started comin around and asking to see me. He kept asking me if she hurt me but I was still too scared to say anything because I still lived with her and she told me she'd hurt me worse if I said anything."

"Pinky promise me you're gonna tell," Regina pleaded and held up her hand, exntending her hand, her pinky finger raised. "And pinky promise you'll help me get us outta here."

Meredith held out her own hand and entwined her pinky finger around Regina's small one. "I promise."

"Now you can't break it."

"I won't. Now I really wanna hear how you kicked the witch's butt!"

"Okay...first we gotta try to get a wand...I'm sure she's got one somewhere and then..."

Meredith suspected that Regina's previous encounter with the witch was just a dream but they wouldn't let that stop them from making the dream a terrifying reality for Zelena.

"...Kidnapping? Why am I not surprised?" Zelena's captive glared at her through the glass. "Your counterpart was evil but that is one thing she never did because the person whose body she occupied wouldn't dare take a child from its parents when she lost her own! Harm one hair on either child's head and I'll find a way to break out of this prison and mount your green hide on the wall!"

"Good luck trying my pretty." she taunted. "But I will let you out for some air if you give me that book."

"Nice try. No dice."

"Not even for a few minutes?"

"Why, when all I'd be breathing in is raw sewage?" he retorted. "You really should invest in some Glade or Air Wicks. Would make this place somewhat bearable to live in."

"What?"

"Never mind." He reached into his pack and took out another book. It was the third time he'd read it but something new always jumped out at him every time he reread the Harry Potter series. Ah, the writers in the land without magic certainly did know how to weave an interesting tale! Part of him longed to write one himself. He certainly had enough experiences to write dozens of novels. Zelena growled and waved her hand over the glass in an attempt to snatch the book from his hands. An energy bolt shot out and threw her to the floor.

"You bastard!" she puffed as she struggled to stand up. "You WARDED your books!?"

"Of course!" He giggled. "Can't have you trying to use them as toilet paper to wipe your boiled green ass, now can I?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh I forgot! You don't even have a toilet. Just sit on a hole and let the stuff drip down. Let me tell you, indoor plumbing is one of the best inventions. You really should think about it because I'm just as tired of listening to your shit as I am of smelling it!"

"Must you be so crude!" she complained.

"Need something to pass the time, don't I?"

"I can think of a far more pleasant way to," she cooed, leaning down to give him a view of her low cut bodice.

"Oh gods, not THAT again! Give it up, will you. I don't want crabs!"

"There are no crabs here!"

He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Can you just do me a favor and go away? I'm getting to a good part here," he mumbled and picked up his book again. "Wish I had Severus Snape here right now. He'd wipe the floor with your crab infested green ass."

"I would incinerate this Severus! Who is he?" she demanded.

"Oh, relax, Crabby. He's just a character in this book. But I would summon the Sorceress and Commander if I could and THEY would be able to wipe the floor with you and wear your innards as a hat."

"I'm wicked and I always win!" she sneered.

"Against them? You wouldn't stand a chance. Now git! I wanna finish this chapter before sundown!"

She sighed. She was wasting time arguing with him and it was only a matter of time before her mother returned and demanded results.

Belle sensed something was wrong the moment Rumple returned to the Victorian. His eyes glittered with rage, sparks of magic emitting from his hands and Princess at his side.

"Cora has taken Regina and Meredith!" he announced.

"Oh no! Snow and David...are they all right?"

"I found Princess turned to stone near the apartment and Snow and Cas are under the sleeping curse. I only have fourteen days to find David or they'll die from the curse." His eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm sorry Jimmy but we'll need to cancel our dinner for tonight."

"It's okay Papa. We have to help the Nolans first. Hook and Milah probably know where David is. I'm sure of it. They wouldn't just kill him. They probably have him on the Jolly Roger."

"Then that's where I'll go."

"Not without me you're not!" Jimmy cried.

"Son, I need you and Bae to stay here. Cora will try to strike at you to get to me and I will NOT let that happen." He summoned a small replica of the Black Pearl Rhea had given him.

"What was that?" Belle asked him.

"Rhea's idea of a telephone," Rumple said softly. "She left this with me and told me all I needed to do was whisper my message into the sails and it would find her no matter where she was and bring her to me. Until then, I need you, Henry and Alina to strengthen the wards on the house, Emma."

"I've got this Rumple. Are you sure you don't want one of us to go with you?"

"I'll be fine dearie."

Belle cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. "You'd better come back to me Rumplestiltskin!"

"I will sweetheart. I will."

He teleported to the docks. "Cora is here and she's taken Regina. Come as soon as you can, dearie. I need you," he whispered to the sails and kneeled down, releasing the small boat into the water. Seconds later it vanished. He stood up and conjured a sword. "All right, pirate. It's time you and I had a rematch."

The man once known as the Commander waved his hand over the lantern and the image of Rumplestiltskin vanished.

"So that's why we couldn't track her! She used a soul transference spell."

"Can we reverse it?"

"Only if the other soul is willing to release it but we both know Cora Mills would never do that." The Commander glanced up at his wife, sighing heavily. "It looks like I'm going to have to be him….one last time. I wanted to leave him behind when I left Oz just as much as you wanted to leave the Sorceress behind."

"I know but this is what we do: protect the realms from the darkness and Zorinda needs to stopped or she'll move on to another realm and terrorize them."

"How is he? Have you heard anything?"

"Zelena said she would come over and let us know after she talked to Emma. The others are in the waiting room. I'm sure he's going to get yelled at when he wakes up."

"Well he's asking for it. I told him to go get checked, hell we all told him to get checked and stubborn ass that he is, he waited too long and now he's gonna be laid up for a while."

"He'll be upset at the timing."

"I hope Rumplestiltskin will be able to help me hold Zorinda off until he recovers."

"We released MacNamara eighteen years ago! Where is he?"

"Zorinda's Zelena has him."

"Dammit!"

"We may still have an advantage. Zorinda doesn't know the soul transference spell affected her sister too."

"So Lilliana is in this realm too?"

"Yes but for all we know, Zorinda may be using some kind of spell to keep her from regaining her memory of her other life. We may have to awaken her. She's the only one of us who's fought Zorinda before."

"And lost," the Sorceress reminded him. "We cannot lose this time. If Zorinda reverses Regina's aging process her powers will unlock and her memories of her life as the Evil Queen will return. She will side with her mother."

The Commander nodded in agreement. "As she did here until she finally started using her head." A katana sword appeared on the table in front of him. "MacNamara better keep a tight hold on the Book of the Ancients. If they get that, they'll find out who Rumplestiltskin is, how to reverse Regina's deaging and unlock ALL of her powers, not just the ones she obtained being the Evil Queen and what Rumplestiltskin needs to send Zorinda back where she belongs…. In Hell with her mother and grandmother."

"When are you leaving?"

"After Zelena gets here. I want to make sure he's okay first."

A cloud of green smoke appeared in the room. "I'm sorry I'm late," Zelena said.

"How is he?"

"They just took him up to his room but he's doing fine...already complaining to the nurses and threatened to turn me green because I mentioned getting some hamburgers for everyone down at the Grille. I'll just make him some of my famous veggie lasagna when he gets better. That cousin of mine can try the patience of a saint!"

The Commander chuckled. "That's his job. What did the doctor say?"

"It was gallstones...just like we told him it was so he's going to need to change his diet."

"That's not gonna go over well!"

Zelena's gaze focused on the lantern. "You've been monitoring the other worlds?"

He nodded. "I gave him my word that I would keep an eye on them while he's in the hospital."

"Those other versions of me are puttanas!" she snarled.

"You won't hear me arguing with you on that Zee."

"Promise me you'll kick this one's ass."

"Oh I think Regina will do it for me."

"I think I'd like to see that."

The Commander picked up his sword. "Don't tell him anything until he's better. He'll just worry."

"I won't but you be careful!"

"I will." The Commander kissed his wife tenderly. "Tell the kids I love them. And I love you."

"I will and I love you too." She kissed him back and placed an object in his hand. They went outside to his backyard garden. He tossed the coin he held in his hand and a portal opened. The Sorceress began to cry softly as he stepped through and vanished. Zelena put her arm around her cousin's shoulders.

"He'll be alright," she soothed.

"I know...but I thought our battle days were over."

She feared they never would be.