Emma and Regina finally discover the cause of their recent behaviour. Henry takes the risk of seeing Rumple, and a new visitor to Storybrooke tries to help.

Miami Beach, Florida

"You're not serious?" Regina couldn't believe it. "You're saying we were poisoned by some sort of old potion the Snow Queen left behind five years ago?"

"I saw all of it with my own eyes, mum. And yes, before you ask, Ingrid's definitely dead."

"What are you talking about?" Emma was equally unconvinced. Gold was clearly playing him. "She was only here or a few days."

"You remember that day you all went off searching for Fiona, the Black Fairy, two weeks ago? I was still at Harvard at the time. You two went off together into the forest and found that little hidden ruined cottage, didn't you?" Emma nodded. "And in there, you found a broken jar of green sludge in the sink? Well Grandma Snow and Ruby searched that same cottage an hour or two earlier, before you got there. Ruby opened that little cupboard door above the sink, and the glass jar fell out. It had the same effect on them, as it did on you two. I told you, we saw it all in the dreamcatcher."

"Dreamcatcher? What dreamcatcher?"

"I asked for Grandpa Gold's help, because you two were acting so weird and just plain horrible. I was sure you'd been cursed somehow. So, he mixed up locks of hair from each of you, made some weird goo, and used it on that big dreamcatcher in his study, to find out everything you two had been up to for the last few weeks. Where you've been, what you've been doing, that sort of thing?"

He spotted Regina's expression slowly morph into a look of horror, as it dawned on her what he'd probably witnessed. A look matched by Emma, who was clearly thinking the same thing.

"When you say…everything?"

He looked grim. "Yeah, that bit too, unfortunately. At least grandpa fast-forwarded through most of that stuff, and I looked away. Let's face it, no son, even one my age, wants to see their own mothers doing stuff like that, do they? But we needed to keep playing through to hear what you were saying in between, so we could figure out what happened. That's how we found out about you keeping Sidney Glass hostage all that time mum, and what your plans were for evicting the Merry Men."

Regina suddenly felt sick. He'd obviously seen the two of them having sex, and the added thought Gold had also been watching made her feel violated. "So, you and the imp? Anyone else?" The way he immediately looked away from the screen confirmed her worst fears. "Henry?"

"Yeah. Robin too, unfortunately. And Belle."

At the mention of her husband, Regina immediately dropped the phone into Emma's lap, as though she'd just been burnt, before getting up off the bed and racing into the bathroom, where she dropped down and vomited violently into the lavatory.

"GINA?" Emma guessed what had just caused her reaction, but rather than dropping the call and going straight to her, there was something she desperately needed to know. "What about Killian? Did he see?"

"No. We haven't seen Killian, or Hope, since the day after you choked him on the Jolly. And the ship hasn't been seen in the harbour for at least a week."

Emma frowned. This was getting worse by the minute. The man she loved had taken their daughter and sailed away. To where? She didn't even know where to begin to look. But after everything she'd done to him, she could hardly blame him, could she? And Hope? Her little three-year-old could be in any realm by now, on that ship. Would she ever see them again? She remembered the last time she saw her, the terrified look on her face, as she throttled her beloved daddy. Emma felt like joining Regina and vomiting beside her.

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No," he shook his head. "Sorry, ma."

"It's not your fault Hen, it's mine. I'm the one who caused this, remember? I'm just sorry for everything that happened, and hitting you like that." She shook her head, the sound of Regina heaving still coming from the bathroom. "And especially for lashing out at Roland. That was unforgiveable."

"It was, quite frankly. You well deserved that punch you got from Robin!"

"I know. Still, at least now I know what caused it, if we can prove to everyone we were poisoned, hopefully some of them can forgive and move on. So we'll come back, you can take these bloody magic bracelets off, and I can go find your sister. And make some sort of grovelling apology to Killian. If I can even find him."

"Good luck with that. And sorry, but I swore to them I wouldn't take the bracelets off you till the guys agreed. And before all that, I need to go speak to Hank Morgan. Since you left, there's a warrant been issued for mum's arrest. And yours."

"Why her? I'm the one who hit people!"

"Sidney Glass? Keeping him hostage? As her pet slave, trapped in a mirror to do whatever she needed, long after she'd stopped being the Evil Queen and long before you both smelt Ingrid's potion, so she can't use that as an excuse. Plus, there's the coercion to falsify evidence against Robin and the rest of the guys, to get them evicted? It's all left a bit of a mess back there, ma. And…I guess you should know there's now a mayoral, and a sheriff election been called for next month. And it's going to be strictly every four years after that. So if you want your old jobs back, you're going to fight for them without magic."

"Alright, alright, I get it! Regina was going to go back anyway, and I was going to wait in a hotel we reserved in Portland. But after what you just said, maybe we should both wait?"

"Portland? That's where I dropped off Belle and Ruby. I'm on my way home from there now. I only pulled in to make the call."

"They're in Portland? Why, what the hell's going on?"

"Grandpa Gold threw them over the town line. It seems those two had been having some sort of affair, though they both swear it wasn't anything like that, for the last four years! Grandpa found out, and nearly killed Ruby; but luckily for them, he threw them both out instead. I caught up with them on the highway and took them to Portland. They're in a little hotel owned by Percy Green's parents."

"Belle was cheating on Gold, with Ruby?" Henry nodded. "What, are they insane? Did she smell Ingrid's potion, too?"

"No, I told you already, it's been going on four years! I asked her straight out, why she did it. She clammed up at first, but as she needs my help getting back to Gideon, she finally opened up a little. She insists she still loves grandpa, but wouldn't explain why it happened. Her and Rubes swear they don't love each other like that, but who knows? Maybe she discovered an itch? After all, lesbian sex is becoming really popular in Storybrooke these days, isn't it, ma?"

"Ouch!" Emma flinched, looking up at Regina, who'd heard him, and was now coming back in, wiping her mouth with a towel. "That's a cheap shot, Henry!"

"Sorry you're right, but I'm pissed off. Like all you guys, she cheated on grandpa, but unlike you, she can't use that potion as an excuse."

"Henry, I'm getting confused..." Regina stepped back on the bed, now looking flushed. "One of the first things I learnt when I started practising magic, was that it can never bring anyone back from the dead or make someone fall in love with you. What were Ingrid's intentions in the first place?"

"Grandpa thinks when she was here she was trying to make some sort of sister-bond, between her, ma and Elsa. But she screwed up the mix. He's even got the potion book she used. And mum, you're right, you can't make someone fall in love with you using magic. But you can massively increase feelings that already exist between two people. Like Snow and Ruby? Or you two."

"Henry, as I told you before, your mother and I are NOT in love!"

"But that's not strictly true, is it?" Henry gave her a knowing look. "You may love Robin and Killian more, but it's fairly obvious to most of us that you two do have real feelings for each other. And please don't insult me by denying it, mum." He arched a brow, defying her to deny it. "And as for Ruby and Grandma, well they were in a relationship before she even met Grandpa David, weren't they? So Ingrid's screwed up potion just increased it to the detriment of everyone else. So much so, Ruby even threatened to kill grandpa, right in front of grandma, when he found the two of them in his bed at the farm! She told me he put a gun to her throat, to make her get out and never come back."

"God, what a bloody mess!" Emma put a hand over her brow, shaking her head in sheer disbelief. Everything was so screwed up!

"If the imp really threw them over the town line, what's happened to Snow?" asked Regina. "If she was bonded to Ruby anything like we were, shouldn't she be with her?"

"Yeah, you'd think…" This was the bit Henry was dreading, not looking at Emma, unsure how to explain it without her panicking. "Ingrid's potion only worked temporarily on them, too, as I just found out this morning. I've left them in Portland, with Ruby bawling her eyes out about what she's done to Dorothy. And I happen to know Dot even suspected something with Belle. Ruby's now just a pathetic mess, to be honest. They both are."

"And Snow? What, has she come to her senses and gone back to Charming?"

"No. It seems yesterday morning, Ruby found her lying on the kitchen floor back at the old loft, where they'd moved in together. She, erm, took a lot of sleeping pills."

"AN OVERDOSE?" Emma was mortified. "She tried to kill herself? Is she still alive?"

"Yeah, but in a coma. She's in hospital. We nearly lost her yesterday, but she rallied. Grandpa went to her, before he had to get off and find Neal. Yeah, and that reminds me. With all the stress he's been through, his magic suddenly came in, and he…disapparated. We found him, fortunately."

Emma clutched her hands to her mouth in horror. Her own marriage was over, her daughter god-knows where. Her parents' marriage was broken, her mother had tried to commit suicide, possibly grieving over what she'd done, and her brother had disappeared with his magic out of control?

"Regina, stuff Portland, we have to get back! Even if i have to get arrested and locked up first, we need to get home!"

The Gold Mansion – Two hours later

Henry had hesitated before deciding to go back there. Especially after what his grandfather had done earlier today. David and Belle had both insisted that the man who threw his wife over the town line, was not Rumpelstiltskin, but The Dark One. His dark side had taken control, apparently.

But apart from Belle, Henry knew him better than anyone. Since becoming a father for the second time, with his beloved Gideon, it seemed to Henry that the love of his son, and his wife, had made it much easier to suppress his darker urges. He was a complicated man, but he'd managed to open up to his grandson as the boy had matured into a man. So much so, that the two of them had become close, much to his mothers' consternation. Rumple had even travelled with him to Cambridge, to Harvard, to look at accommodation. The man permanently tortured by his darker side was starting to see a better life ahead. In fact, when he was outside the magical town, he even started to brighten noticeably, like a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. And now? Henry was guessing that the betrayal of the woman he loved and trusted, over four years, had been a heavy blow. A heavy blow that allowed The Dark One to take advantage of. Would it be permanent?

He deliberately made his entrance a little louder than usual, calling out for Rumple, who he usually found working in his study, the workshop, or at the kitchen table. When he'd first turned on the light in the study, the second place to look, he almost missed him as, instead of sitting by his desk, he was now sitting on the floor, his back to the wall, curled into a tight ball, clutching his knees to his chest.

"Grandpa?" He spoke softly, not wanting to surprise him. "Why are you sitting in the dark?" The older man didn't answer, remaining motionless. "Grandpa?"

"Leave me be, Henry, there's a good lad." It came out as barely a whisper, as he kept his head down.

Henry dropped to his knees beside him. "Sorry, I can't do that, grandpa.

"I'm not good company tonight. It's for the best."

"Maybe. But let me be the judge of that?" He rested a warm hand on his grandfather's knee. "You don't need to say anything. Just let me be here?" He turned around, to rest himself on his backside against the wall, right beside him, shoulders almost touching. Without asking, he reached his right arm around Rumple's shoulder, pulling him closer. The older man didn't stop him, but continued to look at the floor. Henry guessed he'd been crying, and pulled himself in tighter. "I think I know what happened. I'm so sorry."

They stayed like that, still, for several minutes, neither saying a word. Because there was now almost a foot in height difference between them, Henry slowly wrapped his left arm around his front, pulling him into a gentle hug, as Rumple responded by resting his head against his shoulder. Then the sobs came, and the younger man was sure it had happened quite a few times already. But still he stayed silent, letting him get it out of his system, as they held together. It was a good ten minutes later that he finally spoke, his voice croaky.

"Did you manage to find her in the end?"

Henry should have guessed he knew what had happened. He always did.

"Yeah. I caught up with her."

"Where is she now?"

"Portland. In a hotel run by the parents of a friend of mine."

"And how is she?"

Asking about Belle? Clearly, the Dark One hadn't taken over completely. "Broken. She knows what she did was wrong."

"I'm more than familiar with that feeling."

Another few minutes passed by silently, until Henry broke it again. "I spoke to both my mums on the phone on the way back. It appears you were right; Ingrid's potion was only temporary. For them, too. They're awake now, and both devastated at what they've done."

He shrugged, but stayed resting against him. "No doubt they want to come back and persuade you to take the bracelets off?"

"They can try all they want, but I made a promise to Robin and Killian that I'd leave them on, until both of them were satisfied. Although the Jolly hasn't been seen for over a week."

He nodded, but still refused to look up at him.

Storybrooke Town Line – The following morning

As the black saloon crossed over the magical boundary, it slowed to a stop, next to the two fairies who'd been waiting, expecting him. The driver's window slid down.

"Thank heaven you were able to get here! Hopefully, you've arrived in time."

"Hello Reul, it's nice to see you again." He looked across at the green fairy. "You too. Tinker Bell, isn't it?"

"Yes, my lord. It's wonderful to see you again."

The tall, lean man, now wearing light summer slacks and a white cotton shirt under a leather jacket, looked very different to his traditional magical robes, as he stepped out of the car and hugged the blue fairy. Tink could feel the warmth of the powerful magic aurora emanating from him. To a fairy, pure white magic had an almost aphrodisiac quality.

"I came as soon as I could. And how is Snow? Has there been any improvement?"

"Not good. I'll take you directly to the hospital…" Blue looked past him, to the car. "Though my magic may not stretch to taking that along with us?"

He grinned. "I can oblige, though perhaps it's best if we just drive there, don't you think? That should give us time for you to explain everything that's been going?"

Storybrooke Hospital

"So, she's just in a really deep sleep? Like that sleeping curse you broke in Henry's story book when you kissed her, dad?"

Neal Nolan stood by the edge of his mother's bed, studying her face under the oxygen mask. There were also tubes going into her arm, and white sticky patches with wires on her head and going under her hospital gown. And a machine nearby making some sort of beeping noises, with some sort of computer with green lines going up and down.

Charming sat on the opposite side, but didn't answer him, his mind clearly elsewhere. The senior nurse checking the monitor readings noticed and answered for him.

"She's unconscious, Neal, not sleeping." She spoke softly, trying to assure him. "It's a lot deeper than sleeping, and it means her body, and her mind, is trying to heal itself." She rested a hand on his arm. "But I'm quite sure she'll wake up, in time."

"When?"

"That we just don't know yet. But you know, if you try talking to her, even though she can't answer, she might even be able to hear you? And that might just help her come around a little bit sooner. Why don't you try?"

"Okay," Neal nodded, looking across at David, who was still clearly distracted. "Dad, could I talk to mum? Alone?" Still no answer. "Please?"

"Um, what?" His father finally looked up. "Sorry Neal, I was miles away! What did you say?"

Despite the fact his wife (or ex-wife, as he'd signed her divorce papers) was lying beside him in a coma, David's mind was definitely elsewhere, thinking about how this morning he'd woken up in another bed. With another woman. Should he be feeling guilty?

"Nurse Penny said I can talk to mum. I'd like to do it on my own, if that's all right?"

"Yes, yes of course it is!" He stood. "I'll go get a coffee and call Henry. Come out if you need me?"

Neal waited till he, and Penny, and left the little treatment room, before climbing onto the opposite side of the bed from the drips, wires and machines. He took the warm, but lifeless hand in his, as she had done so often to him when she used to settle him into bed with a story.

"Penny said if I talk to you, you might be able to hear me?" He studied the closed eyelids, praying to himself that somehow they might open. "Mum…I just want you to know that I forgive you! Dad told me about that weird potion that made you go bad, and run away with Ruby. And he said it made you do things you wouldn't normally do. I know you wouldn't miss my birthday on purpose. And I know you wouldn't normally hurt him, and me, the way you did. So…I forgive you." He leant closer to look at Snow's face, and the tube going into her mouth. "I hope you get better soon mum, I really do, cos despite everything you did, I do still love you!"

Although her face remained unchanged, Neal missed the tiny movements under her eyelids. Or the dramatic change in the patterns on the EEG machine. Or the sound of the heart monitor going faster. "Dad said that after all this, he just wants you to be happy; even if it's with Ruby. So, I guess I should want the same? But I'm sure, because I'm still feeling very angry about what you did? And I won't want to live at that loft, like ever. I'll stay at the farm with dad, because he needs me now, even if he pretends he doesn't!"

The brain monitor readings continued to fluctuate erratically. "And there's something else you need to know, mum. Dad said Merlin once told you two that I have magic inside me, just like Emma? And it would come out one day, but he didn't know when. But you asked dad not to tell me until I was older, didn't you?" He looked at his left hand, feeling it start to tingle, so he let go of his mother's. "Because you hate magic, don't you? Because it killed your own mum and dad and some of your friends? But, I can't help it mum, it's inside me!" As he started to feel more upset at the thought, it seemed to make his fingers tingle even more. So much so, he pulled both hands back, studying them. They were even starting to…sparkle? "I was going to find Emma, to help me. Or Regina, so they can help me. But they're gone, aren't they, so I don't know what to do? Maybe see Mr. Gold?"

At that, the green spikes on the monitor peaked even more, arching and swooping; and the heart monitor started beeping loudly, as did the oxygen machine, triggering another buzzing noise!

"What's happened?" Victor Whale burst through the door, followed by two other men, causing Neal to jump back violently off the bed, holding his hands up in front of his face.

"I NEVER TOUCHED HER!" Both Neal's hands were firing off…sparks? "HONEST!"

"It's alright Neal!" Charming appeared, coffee in hand, moving closer to his son who, clearly frightened, had backed himself into a corner. "It's going to be alright, my boy, just-"

"Don't come any closer!" he begged. "Don't touch me! I can't stop it!"

"He's absolutely right, don't touch him yet, David!" The third man, now appearing from behind him, spoke calmly. A lean, darker-skinned man with close cropped black hair, probably in his late forties, wearing a white t-shirt under a leather jacket. "Young man, I'm Merlin. Allow me to help?"

Neal vaguely recognised him from his visit over three years ago. He was the one who helped bring Robin back. The one who told his parents he had magic.

"But I'll hurt you! I don't think-" But the tall man had already placed a hand on his, which had the effect of immediately snuffing out whatever was happening to his hands. "I couldn't stop it!"

"Of course you can't. It's all new to you, isn't it?" He had warm, kindly, dark brown eyes that reminded him of Regina. "But don't you worry. Now your magic's arrived, I can help you to master it. You see Neal, It's all about emotions and how you feel. Good or bad. That's how you control it."

"Listen to what he's saying, Neal?" His father nodded. "Emma was like this when hers arrived, and she needed someone else with magic to help. In her case, it was Queen Elsa. But Elsa wasn't even ready herself." He looked back at Merlin, who was now holding both Neal's hands in his own as he calmed. "Emma once said Merlin is the greatest sorcerer who ever lived. So I think we can trust him, don't you?"

"Guys?" Meanwhile, Whale had pulled out a ream of paper from the beeping machine. "Sorry to interrupt but…I'm not sure what the lad did, but there's been a change in Snow!"

Now he had all eyes on him, David hopeful. "She's waking up?"

"Not exactly. I just checked her eyes and she's still deep, but part of her brain's now responding, which it wasn't before. And her heart's racing like never before."

Merlin nodded. "What's the current condition of her heart, Doctor Whale?"

"Not great. She needed a defibrillator when she first came in. It's better, but still weak. And after that sudden jump just now, it's dropped down well below safe levels. To be honest, I'm not sure how much more she can take."

David noticed the look of concern exchanged between Whale and Merlin. Did Whale have to be so damn blunt in front of his son? "Neal, do you think you can wait outside a minute?"

"But…but dad?" He started to protest as someone else joined them.

"It's probably for the best, Neal." Blue rested her hands on his shoulders. As one of his mother's most trusted advisors he knew she was always looking out for her. "They need to give her a proper examination, and I don't think you should be there for that, do you?"

~oOo~

The moment the boy left, Whale gave them his blunt prognosis.

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Charming, but it's not looking good. You already know about her liver and kidneys, but…bearing in mind she only has half a shared heart, her chances of recovery are seriously reduced, so…" he looked across at the Sorcerer. "I spoke to Blue, and she called Merlin. To see if we can at least reduce the chances of a second death."

"Second death? You mean me?" David looked stunned. "Because if she dies, I die?"

"Knowing how your true-love heart works right now? Yes. Merlin, can you put together a heart that's been split?"

"Technically, yes…" he exhaled, loudly. "But it may not come to that. I think-"

"Wait…no! No!" Charming interrupted him. "You can't be serious? The moment you reconnect the heart, you'll be killing her!"

"I'm merely trying to stop a boy losing his father as well as his mother!" Whale yelled defending himself. "Nobody wants to do this, Charming, least of all me!"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" Merlin raised his hands in the air, trying to stop it getting too heated. "Please calm down. May I remind you both, that same boy is within listening distance?" He said it to calm them, but he'd already thrown a soundproofing spell over the room without them knowing. "David, I'm afraid you interrupted me. I was about to say there may be another way, without losing at least one of you. Now I haven't done this for a long time, by which in my case, I mean over a millennium ago. But I can...replicate the hearts."

"Replicate? You mean…make two of them?"

"Something like that. I can fuse the two sides together after using magic to freeze you both temporarily. Your healthier side with her weakened half, to form a single, less-weakened heart. Then I use further magic to duplicate it. Then we have two complete, functioning hearts."

"Sounds brilliant - let's do that then?"

"Very well. However, as always, there is a downside."

"Which is?"

"The true-love relationship that exists between you and Snow is a form of magic divided between the mind, the heart, and the soul. I can't replicate a soul, so it may likely be gone as a result."

"Meaning?"

"Your true-love soulmate connection may be gone forever."

"But there's more chance of her going on to live a healthy life if we do it, than do nothing?"

"Indeed. While I'm here I can help restore her liver and kidney functions. Although as for the heart, this is a decision you have to take yourself."

David paced the room, considering his options.

"If it's the only way to save her life? Do it!"

~oOo~