Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters and dialogue.
Struggled with this for a long while... I meant to get it up at the beginning of August but that wasn't happening. (We'll count this as a very, very, very late birthday present, bellarose-riddle) Then school started, and with eighteen credit hours I have no time to myself whatsoever. Also, in regards to Lily being Tiger Lily... hopefully this chapter, and the next one, clears some stuff up.
Thank you all for your support, especially recently. You guys rock!
Chapter Playlist: 'A Window to the Past' from the 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: OST'
Neverland
Pan rose fluidly from the stump in the center of the camp, slipping past the playing boys, the sentries, until the cacophony of noise and light of the fire were drowned out by the eerie stillness of the jungle. No one followed him, though he could feel the curious stares on his back as he went. None of the boys would ask questions, he'd made sure that they would never question him or his actions, and even if they did, Felix would handle it. Leaves rustled as he went, loud as thunder in his ears, though he ignored it, straining as a faint sound echoed through the trees.
Baelfire had slipped away from camp hours ago, and while Peter knew exactly where the boy had gone, he was mildly surprised when he found who was with him. Though he was a likeable boy, despite his frequent attempts to escape, Baelfire had little friends or allies within the lost boys, so it shouldn't have been surprising that he and Lilith would bond. He'd barely noticed it at first, the shared looks between the two, the faint smiles when no one was looking, and the way they held each others hands so tightly, as if trying to snap bones.
Cautiously, hidden in the shadows, he peered into the small clearing to see Lilith's head on Baelfire's shoulder, with his head resting on top of hers. His arm was about her frail shoulders, her own loose about his waist. Something clawed inside him, grabbing hold of his heart and squeezing painfully. Jealousy was an ugly emotion, one he knew all too well, but before he could act on it, Lilith's soft whisper drifted toward his ears.
"I wish my mother had never come here," her grip tightened, fingers digging into the loose tunic Bae wore, nails scraping the rough fabric. "I wouldn't have been born but… maybe that would have been for the best." She exhaled sharply, visibly struggling with herself, words lodged in her throat.
"Don't say that," Bae returned sharply, though it did little to mask the worry that darkened his eyes. "How- "
"My mother died when I was three, my father before my fifth birthday," she began, eyes vacant and voice bereft of any emotion. "My brother started to verbally abuse me just before she died. It only worsened when my father passed." She could still feel the bruises along her body, the sharp crack as her bones broke. None of it had been worse than the pain in her heart, however, when the loving mask Darren had worn slipped, revealing his true nature and feelings. "He sold me to a Baron, knowing full well that the man would try to rape me."
He tightened his arm reflexively, as if hoping to shield her from the horrors of her past. Slowly but surely, Lilith had begun to open up to him, revealing bits and pieces about her past, but she had never delved so deeply into it. Learning about how her parents had died, how she'd come to be under the protection of his father and how she'd eventually ended up on Neverland had been both interesting and heartbreaking.
Shifting closer to the boy, Lilith closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. She felt nothing from him but acceptance, no disgust or pity, only a calm affection that she no longer shied away from.
"I wish you had been my brother."
Storybrooke
Drawn from her thoughts by the smell of bacon and eggs, Mary Margaret turned from her pensive reflection to stare down her husband. Unable to sleep, she'd slipped from their shared bed hours earlier, barely aware of the passage of time, she hadn't eve noticed when he'd joined her in the kitchen. Narrowing her eyes at the fact that he was cooking something that wasn't cereal, given how busy both of them were in Emma's absence, she stalked toward the island.
"What are you doing?"
He froze mid-stir, guilty eyes fixed on the skillet. "I'm making breakfast."
"Why?"
"I'm hungry."
"You think I don't know what you're doing?" She demanded, refusing to be put off by the kicked puppy expression he wore. "We talked about this, we had a deal."
"I know, I know," he raised his hands in surrender, the innocent expression vanishing. "But, with the curse broken, I though maybe you would change your mind."
"Well, I didn't." Her eyes snapped to the table and narrowed. "What's this?"
David warily watched her touch the small wrapped box and card. "Birthday present," he offered innocently.
"No, I told you- "
"It's not from me!"
Mary Margaret paused, forcibly tamping down the angry retort that sprang to her lips. "No one else knows."
"Apparently, someone does," worry leaked into his words, and he watched her fingers tighten on the lovingly wrapped gift. He crossed the floor to lean against the island. "And they also think you should celebrate. It was left outside the door this morning."
Ignoring the card for the time being, she began to tear at the carefully wrapped gift, lips pursed. She pulled the lid off the small box and peered inside. Any and all doubts that David was lying, that he'd purchased a gift and left it in another's name, evaporated when her eyes landed on the diamond tiara nestled within tissue paper. She reached for it with trembling hands, her sharp intake of breath drawing out her husband's concern.
"What is it?" He watched her begin to tear up, seconds away from ripping away whatever was in the box, when she produced the diamond tiara for him to see. "I thought that was lost when the curse hit."
"So did I." Her eyes fell on the forgotten card and, handing off the tiara to her dumbstruck husband, she carefully opened the envelope. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of the carefully written words. 'Thinking of you today. -Johanna'. "Johanna."
He startled at the whisper of her handmaid's name. "I didn't know she was in Storybrooke."
"Neither did I."
"After the curse, you were gone for a while. We're all still finding each other," he reminded her, easily remembering the first few days after Emma broke the Curse. It had been pandemonium, especially without his wife there (Snow had always handled the people, while he usually stayed away from politics). Even now, weeks after the curse was broken, he still hadn't found others he knew had to have been brought over when Regina cursed them. "It hasn't been easy."
Reaching out to take the tiara from his fingers, she rushed toward the door. "I have to go," retrieving her scarf from the hook, she whirled around to find David on her heels.
"Okay," he smiled fondly at her, reaching to pluck her coat from the hook before he began to help her into it. "Hey… " She paused, still struggling one-armed into her coat, refusing to relinquish the glittering crown. "Happy Birthday."
Standing on the tips of her toes, she pressed a quick, chaste kiss to his lips. "Thank you for understanding. You should go, it's getting late," she reminded him briskly, pointedly eyeing the clock on the far wall. Once more, David had taken it upon himself to step into the role of Sheriff, though he'd freely accepted Emma's offer when she made him deputy, and she didn't want to be the cause of him being late. "You have to get to work."
"I know. I just… I just wish this day made you happier."
"I know. But we both know it can't." With a last, sad smile, she opened the door and headed for the stairs, intent on tracking down one of the last remaining links she had to her mother.
It took the better part of the morning, and she was reunited with so many different faces that, by the time she had a solid lead on where Johanna might be, her head spun. Cautiously approaching the small, well-maintained house that bordered the woods, Mary Margaret headed toward the backyard. There, she found Johanna standing over a small flower garden, bundled up against the cold.
"Johanna?" She breathed into the cold air, happy tears stinging her eyes when the red-headed woman turned.
"Snow… "
Mary Margaret continued forward, smiling passed the tears. "It's 'Mary Margaret', here."
"No," Johanna told her, shaking her head firmly. "You will always be my dear Snow."
Tucked in Johanna's embrace - though she towered over the poor woman now - felt like coming home. The older woman had been her rock during those very dark months after her mother's death, months during which her father had dragged his family and court across the lands, searching for a bride in an attempt to fill the hole in his heart her mother had left.
"I never though I'd see you again," Mary Margaret choked out, sniffling as she pulled away and reached into her purse. "Or this." Her fingers closed around the delicate silver of the tiara, and Johanna's eyes lit up when she held it out.
"Oh, I came across it in Mr. Gold's shop, and I knew how much it meant to you." The once maid ran her gloved fingers over the tiara with a sad, sad smile. "I knew you had to have it."
Smiling so widely her cheeks ached, Mary Margaret nodded. "Thank you." Suddenly lost for words, she turned her attention to the small patch of flowers before them, admiring their simple beauty. "I haven't seen those flowers in a long time."
"They reminded me of you. Because they could survive the harshest winter, and you were born during the harshest one of all."
"That's why she named me Snow." Mary Margaret whispered, almost to herself.
Johanna nodded. "I thought keeping this garden would be a nice way to honor her."
The sudden awkwardness melted away, and Mary Margaret slipped her hand into Johanna's with a tearful smile. "It is."
"I miss her, too." The older woman confided, eyes shining with fresh tears when one slipped down the dark-haired woman's cheek. "Oh, you… "
The moment was broken when the sound of metal hitting rock echoed from the woods that sat just behind Johanna's home. Spinning round, both women watched the now silent woods warily, Mary Margaret more so than Johanna.
"What was that?"
Alarmed, Mary Margaret scanned the bare trees, eyes narrowing. "Stay here," she forced herself to smile for Johanna's benefit. "I'm sure it was nothing."
"Snow… "
"No, no, please," her voice lowered to a whisper in the face of Johanna's fear. Though the older woman had faithfully stayed by her side during the years she struggled to reclaim her birthright from Regina, Johanna had always been kept away from the fighting. "Please, just stay here. I'll be right back."
Leaving her purse with Johanna, she carefully crept her way into the woods. Side-stepping the sticks strewn on the icy ground, she followed the soft sound of voices until she identified Cora's snide tones. Positioning herself behind a tree, Mary Margaret peeked from behind it, breath catching in her throat at the sight of Regina digging, while her mother stood just off to the side, watching.
"Are you sure this is where we're supposed to dig?"
Regina had gone noticeably stiff at the obvious doubt in her mother's voice. "Yes," she lowered the shovel, chest expanding as she expelled a deep sigh. "Hook marked it clearly," producing the transcribed map from the pocket of her coat, she ran a critical eye over it. "Rumpelstiltskin's dagger is here."
Her mother's red lips twisted into a mockery of a smile. "Unless, Hook lied to us."
Chest tightening, her grip on the map tightened until the thin paper had crumpled in her fist. "Well, then this map is useless. Gold is the only one who can translate it."
"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart," Cora soothed, expression flipping so quickly from mocking to loving that Mary Margaret, still hidden, could see Regina reeling from the older woman's mood swings. "Hook could've saved us a lot of effort with honesty, but, the truth is, we don't need anyone." Cora gently uncurled her daughter's fist, retrieving the map and smoothing it out with her hands. "I can reconstruct the map - it'll just take a bit more time. And when we find it, I promise you, I'll use that dagger to force the Dark One to kill anyone you like."
Stock-still from a mixture of shock and dread, Mary Margaret remained where she was until the two women had whisked themselves away in matching clouds of purple smoke. Head ringing as the implications - and truth - finally settled within her mind, she was on her feet, hurrying back to Johanna's. Her former handmaid grew more and more worried, noticing her former charge's obvious agitation, and though she clearly didn't believe Mary Margaret's halfhearted assurances that all was well, she didn't try to stop her from leaving after exchanging a warm goodbye.
"David?" Already inclined to fall into hysterics based on the newest threat she'd just witnessed, Mary Margaret felt her heart jump into her throat when she entered the Sheriff's Station. "David?!" Lying on the ground, with a bloodied bruise on the side of his head was her husband. Scrambling to his side and falling to her knees, she reached for his shoulders. "David!"
It took several repeated calls of his name - and she was close to slapping his cheek - when he finally came to. Disoriented blue eyes framed by dark golden lashes fluttered open, gradually focusing on her.
"What happened?" She asked wildly as he groaned lowly, a hand raising to touch the injury.
"Hook," he spat the pirate's name like a curse, wincing when his head throbbed in time with his heartbeat. "He ambush me."
"Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine," he muttered, head swimming and stomach lurching as she helped him to sit up. "It's not me he wants, it's Gold… " As she helped set him up, he became aware of the open drawers in his desk. "And his hook. Yeah, I'm going to enjoy throwing his ass in jail."
"Hook isn't the problem, David."
He leaned against the lip of the desk, fingers pressed against his forehead. "Tell that to my head."
"It's Regina." Mary Margaret said, catching his attention at once. "She's been lying to us. She's working with Cora to find Gold's dagger."
"The dagger controls him," he reminded her. "If Cora gets it, she can force Gold and all his power to do her bidding."
She nodded. "Or… become the Dark One herself."
"Neither one of those options sounds good. Lucky for us, we can call the man himself, he's with Emma."
"Tried it," she said before he could even pull the phone from his pocket. "Called and sent a message."
"What about Lillian?"
"Her phone's dead too."
The pounding between his eyes seemed to increased. "Well, we can't just wait."
"No, we have to buy time until they call us back or return."
"How?"
"Regina," she shrugged a shoulder listlessly at his look of surprise. "She doesn't trust her mother, she never has." Even as a child, she'd been able to see the blatant hostility that existed between her step-mother and the woman's own mother. "If we can put some doubt in her about Cora's motives, it might slow them down."
He watched her dubiously. "And you think she'll just trust you?"
"Well, she doesn't really need to trust me," she pointed out. "She just has to listen to me. And I know how to get her to do that."
New York
Though she wasn't blatantly ostracized like Gold or Emma, Lillian hung back as they left Bae's apartment, allowing father and son to bond without interference. While she'd been without Bae for over three decades, Henry had a greater claim to his attention than she did, and she refused to force her presence on them. However, the moment they left the confines of the apartment, Emma and Gold cautiously following at their heels, Bae turned his head with the sweetest smile. The sight sent a pang through her chest, and her limbs were trembling when he drew her to stand between himself and Henry.
"So, I hear you have a new 'brother'," he teased, arm loose about her shoulders. Lillian wrapped her arm about his waist, an unconscious movement that she was scarcely aware of.
"Oh, do I?" She made herself tease Henry, who immediately raised his voice in mock protest. "I hadn't noticed."
Swallowing passed the bitter disappointment, Gold listened and watched intently as the three before them interacted with one another. For a brief moment, he could almost believe that Lillian truly was the sister of the pair on either side of her - his son and grandson - as both liked to claim. Though Bae's hair was a few shades darker than both Lillian and Henry's, his had curled just like the young woman's when he was barely younger than her, and he dimly remembered Henry's doing so when he'd been a toddler.
Beside the silent pawnbroker, Emma watched, but for a different reason. Though she had somewhat resigned herself to allowing Henry to spend time with his father - and come up with his own opinions of the man - she was even less enthused by the way Lillian and Neal were acting around each other. She'd heard several times how Lillian saw 'Baelfire' as a brother, akin to her relationship with Henry. Neal was tender with the teenager, treating her as if she was breakable as glass, even though Emma knew firsthand how tough the dark-haired teen really was… and it unsettled her more than she could say.
"So, uh… you like pizza?" Neal asked, breaking the somewhat strained silence as they strode down the pavement, all three of them virtually ignoring his father and Emma.
Lillian scoffed at the question while Henry nodded. "Yeah," he raised a brow as they came to a stop, slipping his hand in Lillian's. "Let me guess - you're going to tell me the best pizza's in New York, and I gotta try it, right?"
"Actually, it's in the Kingdom of Damarian on the north shore of the Dragon Fields of Zorn," Neal deadpanned with a completely serious expression. Catching his son's suddenly wide eyes, the facade cracked and he grinned. "Nah, it's in New York," he glanced up at the small, nondescript hole in the wall shop they'd stopped in front of. "Here, let's get you a slice."
"So, you're really from there?" Emma heard Henry ask as he and Neal, the both of them dragging Lillian this time, entered the small pizza shop.
"Yeah, I am."
Emma watched, heart settling somewhere around her shoes as the door shut behind them, cutting her off from the sight of her son. "Do you think that we should… " she made a halfhearted motion toward the door with one gloved hand, feeling more than a little awkward around her son's newly discovered grandfather.
"If we were welcome, I feel confident an invitation would have been extended," Gold intoned quietly, grip tight on the handle of his cane. A wry, pained smile flitted across his lips as he continued. "It's a sad truth that the people closest to us are the ones capable of causing us the most pain. That's our common ground, Miss Swan."
She wanted to flinch at the matter of fact tone he used, desperately hoping she could scrounge up the ability to remain as unflappable as he did in the face of her son's anger. "Guess my lying to him just caught up with me."
"Ah, give him time," he advised her gently, sensing that he'd found a temporary ally in Miss Swan and, under the circumstances, unwilling to alienate the woman. "He'll forgive you."
The side-eye she gave him was impressive, even by his standards. "Is that you projecting your own hopes?"
"My son and I have some way to go."
"I can see that."
"I need you to speak to him," Gold prompted instead of taking her to task for her tone. They were losing time, and he had no qualms about how he accomplished bringing Bae back into his life. "Try and convince him to come back to Storybrooke with us."
She sent him a flat glare. "If I recall, there was only one favor I owed you, and I think I'm paid up."
"This isn't about me anymore," he said, considering his words with care. "You'll do it for Henry."
"How do you figure that?"
Seeing that he had her full attention, he ruthlessly exploited it. "Well, because if you don't, you're going to wake up one morning, and discover he's hopped on a bus back to New York." He watched her eyes widen and continued outlining what the future could hold. "He ran away to Boston to be with you. He'll do the same thing for his father. And, whose to say that this time, he won't have Lillian helping him?"
"Until Neal lets him down - which he will." She retorted without missing a beat, sidestepping the mention of Lillian's probable involvement. The teen had no love for her, Emma was under no illusions on that score. She refused to be played once more by the man in front of her. "It'll be a hard lesson, but then at least Henry will understand that I lied to protect him."
"Someone's beginning to sound a lot like Regina," he observed faintly, gratified when an angry flush formed high on her cheeks. "I think the real reason you lied was to protect yourself."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"From getting hurt again."
Her glare threatened to sear through his skin. "That's not happening."
"You want a second chance with that man," he nodded in the direction of the shop that contained his son, almost smiling at her defensiveness.
"What makes you think that?" She asked, brow creased in a faint frown.
"The look on your face."
"You have no idea what… " She trailed off when the door behind them opened, the scent of pizza billowing out as Henry, Lillian and Neal joined them on the sidewalk.
Looking between his father and ex, Neal correctly sensed the tension between them. "What are we talking about?" He asked carefully, sharing a brief, meaningful look with Lillian that neither Gold or Emma missed.
"Emma, Neal wanted to show me the museum," Henry piped up, not especially interested in the drama unfolding between his grandfather and mother. "Do you think we can go back t the apartment and get my camera?"
Neal smiled in return, wilting slightly when he looked toward his son's glowering mother. "Yeah, well, I… kids like culture, right?"
"Sure." Her cheeks were beginning to ache from all the forced smiling. "Yeah, that's fine." Satisfied that they had her permission, Neal, Lillian and Henry began heading in the direction they'd come from, toward the former's apartment. She sidled up to Henry as they walked, taking in his contented smile and the Half eaten slice of pizza. "You like the New York pizza?"
Henry smiled placidly at her. "Yeah. It's delicious, cheesy, and doesn't lie." That said, he turned to grab hold of Lillian's hand, leaving Emma to watch brokenly after him.
Storybrooke
Mentally replaying the encounter she'd witnessed between Regina and Cora in the woods, Mary Margaret barely noticed when the bell tinkled in the doorway. Eyes raising from the table, the dark-haired teacher watched in silence as Regina spotted her and strode across the diner to the booth.
"So, how is Henry?" Regina asked at once, looking so earnest and worried for her child that it almost made Mary Margaret's simmering anger abate. "Is he okay?
Mary Margaret nodded, hoping to put the other woman at ease so she'd sit down in the booth. "he's fine, everything's fine."
"What'd he say?"
Steeling herself, Mary Margaret opened her mouth. "I didn't actually talk to him."
Though her eyes narrowed until they were practically slits in annoyance, Regina slowly lowered herself into the seat across from Mary Margaret. "Then why am I here?"
"Because I know you've been lying. And I thought it was time we talk about it."
"I don't know what you're talking about- "
"No, no," Mary Margaret cut off what was sure to be a well-rehearsed speech. "No more lying. I know you've been with your mother, I know you're looking for the dagger."
Lips curled into a cutting smile, Regina leaned across table. "What I'm doing is my business."
"There's a war starting, Regina."
"That much is clear, yes."
"Lucky for you, you've earned enough good will with me to give you one last chance – a chance to choose the right side… the side of good." Mary Margaret knew, before she'd even finished saying her piece, that she'd lost the older woman.
"Have you ever considered that maybe, perhaps… I am good?" Regina countered, with an unflappable calm that surprised even her. "I was always the Queen. It was you who added 'Evil' to my name."
Mary Margaret struggled to stop the incredulous tone from entering her voice. "Good doesn't do what you do. Why? Regina, why go back to being this way after how hard you tried?"
"And what did it get me? Dinner with a bunch of hypocrites who pretend they'll forgive me, when in their hearts, they know… they never will." Regina retorted coldly. "You're giving me a chance? How about I give you one? Stay out of my way." She stood and made to leave, but was halted by Mary Margaret's words.
"Listening to your mother is a mistake, Regina."
Regina sneered in return. "Because listening to you will work out so much better."
"She doesn't care about Henry," Mary Margaret countered matter-of-factly. "All she wants is power."
"Power is how you get things."
"She doesn't care about you."
Regina raised a brow. "Really? And what would you know about mothers?" With that last parting shot, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the diner.
Neverland
"Is it that one, you think?" Bae pointed to one of the stars, face screwed up in thought. Though he'd once wished upon the Blue Fairy's star, it had been a long time ago, and the stars all looked different here on Neverland. "Or, maybe that one."
Lilith withheld the urge to scoff at his actions. Even if they hadn't been in another realm, Lilith wouldn't have expected the head of the light fairies to appear before them, given her affiliation with the Dark One, even though she had appeared before Baelfire decades ago. But she stopped the scathing retort that sprang to her tongue, choosing instead to shrug. Bae had just begun to open up to her, and she to him, and she wasn't about to ruin it.
They were all each other had, and she wasn't going to alienate her only ally on the island.
"Maybe," she glanced down at her scuffed boots, frowning at the frayed leather. Clothes were in short supply on Neverland, and while she could just magic new ones, she had no desire to deal with the fallout. The lost boys enjoyed facilitating between requesting that she dazzle them with magic tricks, and regarding her as if she was stricken with a plague. She couldn't even say she was surprised by their behavior. Many of them were from the Land Without Magic, and even the ones from the Enchanted Forest were wary of magic. They didn't even seem to like it when Pan cast a spell. "Bae, you know the stars here aren't the same back home."
She said it gently, but he flinched back all the same. Drawing away from her, he continued to study the stars, careful to stay away from the edge of the cliff. Lilith settled more comfortably on the log, keeping a watchful eye on him. Sometimes she wondered how it would have been if she'd shared her findings with Rumple before saying the magic words, drawing the Shadow to her. She'd never been impulsive, but the foreign feeling of excitement had been too much, and she done everything too quickly to truly process what was happening.
As Bae edged closer to the trees, she felt a presence behind her moments before Felix sat on her left. Bristling inwardly at his presumption, she sent him a flat glare that made his thin lips quirk up. He was chewing on a stick again, and she felt the violent urge to stab him in the eye with it before tamping down the emotion.
"Easy there, tiger," he cajoled, correctly reading her defensive body language. While he'd be the first to admit that she was a master at hiding her emotions, at disassembling, he found her as easy to read as a book. "I'm just here for a visit."
"Is that what you call spying?" She asked archly, scowling blackly at the nickname. "And you know I hate it when you call me that - Pan doesn't need to be giving me any other nicknames. 'Tiger Lily' is bad enough."
He smirked at her words. "Don't forget 'Princess'," he reminded blithely, well aware that she despised that particular moniker. Pan, however, delighted in it. He called her that at every available opportunity, seemingly amused by the distaste she held for the nickname. Felix, who was privy to the fact that the girl spitting in fury at him was a princess, found it likewise hilarious. He wondered if she even knew of her royal status back in the Enchanted Forest.
"What do you want, Felix?" Her eyes cut back to Baelfire, who had caught sight of Felix, his features set in a harsh scowl. However, he didn't approach them, well aware that Lilith could take care of herself, even if it was unlikely that Felix would attempt to go against Pan's orders and try to hurt the only lost girl.
"Pan's back," he said, slinging the club over his shoulder nonchalantly. "Just thought I warn you."
Surprise twisted up her features before they just as quickly smoothed into a mask of indifference. "Why would you warn me? What's happened?"
"Let's just say," Felix chose his words carefully, well aware of what Pan would do to him if he found out. "Things didn't necessarily go the way he wanted them."
New York
Hand in hand with Lillian, ignoring his mother, Henry strolled down the street, between Gold and his sister. Peering at the pawn broker with interest, he found it easier than anyone expected to welcome the sometimes surly man into his family.
"So, should I call you grandpa, now?" His innocent query brought a faintly pained expression to Gold's features, while Lillian snickered. Behind them, Neal bit his lip to stop from laughing, and Emma all but face-vaulted.
"Call me whatever you like," Gold replied, far more calmly than he felt.
"He's a good kid," Neal observed quietly, hanging back to allow his son and father time to bond as grandson and grandpa. "And Lily… God, I can't believe I got to see her again, after all these years."
Lost for words, Emma nodded lamely. "Yeah."
"Hey, I'm trying my best here," Neal defended mildly. He knew it was hard for her - hell, it was hard for everyone - but he refused to walk on eggshells because she didn't want to accept that he needed to be a part of his son's life.
"I know, we all are." She replied stiltedly, silently thanking him for giving her the perfect opportunity. Though she didn't like to admit it, there was some truth in Gold's words, and she didn't want to even entertain the thought of Henry running away from her. "It's just, we're going to have to go back. To out home."
"I'm just getting to know him."
"Then maybe… maybe you should come with us." Emma tried to sound casual, hoping he wouldn't smell the setup.
He felt like he'd been dunked into ice water. "To Storybrooke?"
"I've seen your apartment," she reminded him lightly, forcing a smile for his benefit. "You don't got a lot going on here."
"Looks can be deceiving." He paused at the crosswalk, demeanor changing in an instant. "Listen… there's something I've been meaning to tell you." He began nervously. "It's complicated."
Henry chose that moment to interrupt, addressing his father and completely ignoring his mother. "So, Neal, do you think we can tale the subway?"
"Uh, yeah." Neal chuckled at the request, shooting Emma an apologetic look before he let his attention become consumed by their son. "Sure, of course. Let's go get that camera," his hand immediately fell to Lillian's lower back, catching the attention of both his father and ex.
"Come on!" Henry rushed ahead of them into the small lobby, holding onto Lillian's hand, forcing her to trail behind him. Smiling more than she had in months, Lillian allowed herself to be pulled, turning to flash Neal a smile over her shoulder that Emma couldn't help but frown at.
"Hey," Neal followed them, producing his keys to unlock the door. "Here, I got it."
"So, where do you want to go next?" Lillian asked with a toss of her head.
"Maybe Times Square?"
Emma watched numbly as her son, his father, and Lillian slipped through the gate and up the stairs. Swallowing thickly, she dimly registered Gold's presence at her side, weary eyes raising to meet his when he stepped in front of her.
"So, uh, did you talk to him?" The pawnbroker queried softly as the trio's footsteps receded above them. "About returning with us to Storybrooke?"
Knowing he wouldn't like the answer, Emma glanced away from him. "He said it's complicated."
"Oh, I see."
Fed up with his knowing stares and not so subtle barbs, her eyes snapped furiously to me his. "Well, maybe he just needs some time," she defended, tired of letting the strain of the past twenty-four hours keep her down. "I don't know."
Locked in a stare-down, neither of them truly registered when the door to the apartment building opened behind Emma. Only when he caught sight of a familiar set of blazing, kohl-rimmed eyes, did Gold begin to understand what was happening. Grabbing hold of Swan, Hook threw her surprised form to the ground and advanced on the retreating crocodile. Pinning the crippled man to the gate, he wasted no time in stabbing the stunned crocodile in the chest. "Tick tock." The pirate hissed menacingly, practically spitting hate. "Time's up, crocodile. You took Milah, my love, my happiness." He pulled the bloodied hook away from the wound and raised it high above his head. "And for that, I now take your life."
Silent and still from the pain, Gold could only watch as Hook prepared to bring down his hook for the killing blow. Emma, head spinning in a daze, quickly regained her footing, hand closing around the nearest object, not even bothering to see what it was. Once she was on her feet, she hit the dark-haired man over the head with it as hard as she could, knocking him away from Gold. Throwing away the makeshift weapon and stepping over the unconscious man, Emma fell to her knees at Gold's side.
"Gold, are you alright?"
Before Gold could snarl back at her that he clearly was not alright, Neal and Lillian came running down the stairs, drawn by the noise. Though Neal didn't notice at first, Lillian did, and she made a beeline for the pawnbroker's side.
"What the hell is going on?"
Emma carefully helped Gold into a more comfortable sitting position, willingly giving up her spot for Lillian. "One of your dad's enemies found us," she threw over her shoulder.
As if just noticing the unconscious man on the floor, Neal's gaze focused on Hook for a brief moment. "Hook."
Startled, Emma could only gape at the father of her son. "You know him?" She queried, frowning when instead of answering her, Neal went to Lillian's side to check on his father.
"Gold… " Lillian whispered, a soft warble in her voice, as Neal touched the wound.
His fingers were sticky with blood when they pulled back. "Papa?" He whispered the childhood endearment; it was music to Gold's ringing ears.
Lugging them rapidly weakening man up the stairs to Neal's apartment was difficult, even for the three of them. Henry was still waiting in the apartment, camera nearly slipping from his suddenly slack fingers when he caught sight of Gold. While Lillian helped Neal lower his father onto the couch, Emma sprinted back down the steps to do something with Hook. By the time she'd returned, Gold was laying on the couch, with Lillian pressing a damp cloth to the wound on his chest.
"Found a storage room and locked out stab-happy pirate in there," the blonde announced, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Shouldn't be causing anyone else anymore problems. And get this - he had a map on him," she held up the paper. "It looks like he sailed his ship here."
Neal starred up at her in disbelief. "How'd he get a pirate ship into New York?"
"It was cloaked, last I checked," Lillian answered absently, fingers pressed to the wound. The healing spell was on the tip of her tongue, and she could feel her fingertips tingling, but nothing happened. Gold, as if he sensed her attempts, rested his hand on her own and squeezed as tightly as he could. It took several tries to swallow passed the lump growing in her throat. "Rumple… "
Emma, seeing the horrified expression on Henry's face, crossed the room to reassuringly touch his shoulder. "Don't worry, he's not going to hurt any of us."
"B-but is Mr. Gold gonna be okay?" He asked, voice pitched high in distress.
Neal forced himself to turn from his father to smile at his son. "Henry, he's going to be fine." he assured his son before he rushed off to get another cloth for Lillian.
As Emma too slipped from the room in search of the phone she'd left in the apartment, Henry approached Gold, hovering at Lillian's side as the teen continued to press the now blood-soaked rag to the wound.
"Mr. Gold, are you alright?"
Gold lunged, faster than either Lillian or Henry thought he would, and gripped hold of the collar of Henry's coat. "You stay away from me!" He snarled breathlessly. Startled, Lillian could only watch as Gold hissed at the equally surprised boy. "You caused this. You brought us back here," he accused in a low whisper. "You did this."
Recovering, Lillian reached out and yanked Gold's weakening grip on Henry, who stared at his grandfather, white-faced. "Gold!" She accused, slipping back into the more formal form of address without even noticing, though Gold doubted she'd even noticed calling him by his real name. He noticeably flinched at his cursed name though, but Lillian had already turned to Henry, quieting him softly as she stood from the older man's side.
Emma immediately noticed the sudden tension in the room, though was surprised to find that it was not solely between Gold and Lillian. She looked rapidly between Lillian, whose expression was angrier than she'd ever seen, attempting to glare a hole into the side of Gold's sweat-dampened features. The older man was panting, limbs shaking as if he'd exerted himself, and he was avoiding the eyes of everyone in the room. Henry though… he looked terrified. Half hidden in Lillian's arms, he was carefully making sure to stay out of his grandfather's line of sight.
Shaking herself - they had more important problems than a decades old argument - Emma handed her phone to Henry. "Hey, kid, the battery's dead. Go in the other room and see if you can find a charger, okay?"
Henry dared another last frightened glance in Gold's direction before he took the phone and slipped from the room. "Okay."
Fresh washcloth in hand, Neal crossed the room to sit at his father's side, taking Lillian's already vacant spot. "Oh, man… we got to get him to an ER, fast." Neal muttered gently dabbing at the wound.
"It's pointless," Gold breathed as another painful shudder wracked through his body. Before anyone could react, he shifted the cloth pressed against the wound.
Emma recoiled in disgust at the yellow-green color the wound had abruptly turned. "What the hell is that."
Lillian returned to Gold's side again, concern deeply etched into her features. Emma watched, feeling as if she was receiving whiplash from the sudden turn of emotions from the teen. As she poked and prodded at the wound, she and Neal both flinched at the same time.
"Is that… " Neal trailed off in growing horror.
Lillian's lips pressed into a thin line. "Yes."
Neal swore loudly enough in response that even Gold startled, though he just as quickly dissolved into another fit of tremors.
"What?" Emma demanded, irritated that, once again, she'd missed something. "What is it?"
"It's poison," Gold answered gruffly, craning his head down to look at the wound, grimacing before he let his head fall back onto the arm of the couch. "It's one of Hook's own making - there's no antidote in this world. It's… it's not from here." He whispered. His eyes went from Lillian, to Neal, and back again.
Sensing Emma's growing annoyance, Lillian took pity on the blonde. "Hook poisoned me with the same stuff," she told the older woman in clipped tones, twisting around in her seat to stare mournfully at Neal. "Bae… "
He ignored her. "Hey, hey," he whispered to his father, clutching his hand tightly, disheartened when Gold could barely close his trembling fingers in return. "There's gotta be some way that we can save you."
"There is," Gold wheezed through weakening lungs. "There is."
"We need to get home. We need to get to Storybrooke - I'll have my magic back." Though Emma looked at her curiously, both Gold and Neal were staring at the girl like she'd sprouted another head. "I'll be able to heal you."
"Lilith… you and I both know you can't. "
"We'll need a car if we're planning on getting back to Storybrooke," Emma pointed out, arms crossed defensively across her chest. She was very far out of her league, and the stress of the last forty-eight hours was beginning to take its toll on her.
"I'll get one."
Gold stopped his son when the younger man made to rise. "No, no, no," he managed to get the words out, even though every breath felt like fire. "There's not enough time. We need something faster - the Captain's ship."
Emma barely stopped herself from scoffing, and merely raised an unimpressed brow. "The Jolly Roger instead of a car?"
"It's the fastest vessel in all the realms."
"Well, that's great," the blonde drawled, narrowed eyes focused so intently on Gold that she didn't see Neal and Lillian staring at one another. "But who's going to captain it, since the only guy qualified wants you dead?"
"I can do it."
His son's reply seemed to shock Gold into more, and he managed to straighten up and look Neal in the eye. "Bae?"
Without meeting his father's curious gaze, and with Lillian's hand held tightly in his own, Neal nodded again in affirmation. "Yeah, I can do it."
"You know how to sail a pirate ship?" Emma asked, suddenly aware of the new tension lurking between Lillian and Neal.
"Yeah. I do."
Neverland
For once, Lilith refused to sit and wait for Pan to come to her. Finding him was easy, though it disturbed her how in tune with the island she was becoming, and he was sulking about his Thinking Tree when she stepped into the clearing. He didn't react to her presence, though she doubted he was unaware of it. Instead, he kept his face turned toward the sky, already pale features bathed in moonlight.
Uncharacteristically tongue-tied, Lilith stood near the base of the tree, struggling to find something to say. Usually, Pan found her and would infuriate her until she found herself snapping, losing her cool despite her best attempts at remaining calm. Now, however, she found herself at a loss. She'd never stumbled upon him right after a return from the Enchanted Forest, and she could feel from the resentment simmering just below the surface of his skin that, as Felix had claimed, his trip was not successful.
"Are you going to spend the entire night gaping up at me?" Pan drawled from his perch. One long leg hung from the branch, swaying lazily in the soft breeze.
Without a word, she was on a branch adjacent to the one he claimed for himself. He cracked an eye, smiling at her faintly before it slipped shut once more. She watched his chest expand and contract in deep, even breaths, and it didn't take long to ascertain what it was that had made him so cross.
"You're injured."
He didn't deny it, merely shifted so more weight was off the left side of his body. "What gave it away?"
"I smelt the blood the moment I entered the clearing, you reek of it." Her looked over his torso with the critical eye of a healer. "If you weren't immortal, you'd be dead by now."
"Tell me something I don't know, love," he ground out. When he shifted, she caught sight of a bright smear of scarlet against the bark. "I'll be fine, soon enough." He breathed through the pain before a low chuckle forced its way passed his swollen lips. "Don't tell me you're worried, princess."
"Don't call me that," she shot back calmly, far more interested in the still bleeding gash beneath his tunic. Both eyes open now, he watched her eyes flare with interest at the thought of healing someone. Whenever a lost boy injured himself, she'd heal them without a word, the magic in her blood refusing to let her watch an innocent suffer. "I can heal you."
"Our magic doesn't work on one another, remember?"
"Dark magic might not," she told him quietly, "but that's not technically all I know."
"Isn't it?" His head craned to the side in mock curiosity.
She bristled. "Do you want my help or not?" She pulled herself into a crouch, ready to whisk herself away if he replied in the negative. To her surprise, he smiled in a manner that made her stomach do several flips.
"Always, Lily."
New York
With Lillian running around, helping Henry gather what little of their luggage that had managed to spread through the apartment, Emma turned to waych Neal type rapidly on his phone. The sight of a more modern phone, one far more similar to her own than the clunky, older models that the citizens of Storybrooke owned, was both jarring and funny at the same time.
"What are you doing?" Emma found herself asking curiously.
Neal didn't even look up from the screen, his fingers hovered anxiously above it as he waited for the reply. "Getting us a car."
Emma quirked a brow. "I thought you were suddenly a pirate and were going to take a ship."
"Yeah, well, we still gotta get his ass to the ship," he reminded her with a pointed nod in Gold's direction.
They lapsed into silence before she once more voiced one of the questions that had been bothering her for the last few hours. "So, you know Hook?"
"It's a long story," he neatly dodged, expression suddenly guarded. His eyes didn't travel toward Lillian, but she saw his body lean slightly in the direction of the kitchen. "Short version, is this world wasn't my first stop when I left home."
"No?"
He smiled wryly. "If it was, I'd be a couple hundred years old by now." Before he could say more, or before Emma could demand to know the whole story, his phone rang. "That should be out ride," he shot her a faint smile before ducking into his bedroom. "Hang tight."
She watched him go, feeling an odd sensation twisting around her gut at the sudden fondness in his face.
"Emma!"
The blonde whirled around just as Lillian and Henry came tearing out of the kitchen, the latter gripping Emma's phone tightly. "You need to see this."
"What is it, kid?"
"You got a text from your parents, and so did I." Lillian said.
Henry held out the phone. "You need to read it - now."
Rapidly scanning the message, though it was only the dread she could easily read on Lillian's face that provided any insight into her parents' words, Emma turned to Gold. "Bad news, Gold."
He scoffed. "What, worse than incurable poison?"
"I don't know, you tell me." She shot back testily. "You got a dagger hidden somewhere in Storybrooke that's the source of all your power?"
At once, she knew it was a touchy subject. Both Lillian and Gold went stiff, exchanging a long, loaded look before the latter spoke through clenched teeth. "Get to your point."
"Get to your point." He growled out.
"Cora's after it," Emma explained shortly, scanning the text once again. "The only way to stop her, is have David and Mary Margaret get to it first."
Even as weakened as he was, Gold was still able to summon up an impressive amount of scorn. "Yeah, let Cora try."
"You can't seriously be willing to risk this," Emma snapped, losing the already frayed hold on her temper. "Not with your son coming back with you to Storybrooke."
"Miss Swan, that dagger has not left my possession for centuries." Gold snarled back at her weakly. "It's not about to now."
"Gold, she's right," Lillian pointed out, looking between the two of them in growing irritation. "You're at death's door, and if they get the dagger and we get back there with you still alive - you and I both know that won't end well."
"And right now, we are your best hope." Emma added, incapable of hiding her surprise that Lillian was agreeing with her. "Time's come for you to start trusting someone. And, if I were you, I'd start with family."
Storybrooke
With Lillian and Gold gone, Mother Superior was the only magical practitioner left within Storybrooke that didn't want them dead. Thankfully, convincing her to help them wasn't too difficult, and she willingly went with them to Gold's pawn shop to help them search for the Dagger. However, when she lifted her want and attempted to enter the shop, the backlash of the magic caused her want to burn her hand.
"Ah!" She hissed harshly, her wand clattering to the ground. "He's cast a protection spell."
"Well, then we need to try something equally powerful," Mary Margaret said practically.
David eyed her warily. "Dark magic?"
"Dear," Mother Superior began cautiously, unnerved by the younger woman's words. "You don't know what you're saying."
"Cora can't get that dagger," she couldn't even bring herself to feel guilty about what she was suggesting. Maybe Lillian finally had rubbed off on her. "If dark magic is the only thing that can break that protection spell, we need to make an exception and use it." Her eyes slanted toward Mother Superior, whose eyes were growing wider by the minute. "Just like you told me once before."
"What… I never told you any such thing." The head nun sputtered, obviously offended.
"Look, I kept your secret."
Before the clearly insulted nun could say anything more, Davids phone began to ring. "Everybody hold on," he muttered, visibly slumping in relief at the caller ID. "Emma? They told you were it is?"
In lieu of answering the unspoken question on his wife's face, David's face turned toward the town clock.
Enchanted Forest
When the lost boy tried to grab her arm, all hell broke loose. Lilith had his heart in her hand before he could blink; her anger was so great that there was a gaping wound that bled freely. With a shuddering gasp, the boy fell face first on the dirt at her feet. Raising the heart high enough that the rest of the boys could see it, she began to crush it.
"Lily!" Felix tackled the girl, sending them both sprawling into the dirt. Before he could react, she had hold of his club and swung wildly in his direction. Ducking into a roll, the blond lost boy cursed when the club connected with his shin. "Damnit, tiger!"
As he limped to his feet, favoring the left leg, the red-eyed girl glared fiercely in his direction. All of the boys gave them a wide berth, but still watched avidly. Some cautiously crept forward to tend to their fallen comrade, who was rapidly losing blood.
"Get out of my way, Felix," Lilith snarled, her voice higher pitched than normal. Her eyes, he noticed, were more wild than he'd ever seen, and there was a kind of dark glee in the depths. "Get out of my way or I'll kill you too!"
As if to prove her words, she swung the club once more. This time, Felix was able to grab ahold of it, though was unable to wrench it out of her grip. Locked in a standstill, with the eye of every lost boy on them, neither were aware of when Pan entered the clearing. However, the leader soon locked his arms about her waist and dragged her away from his second in command.
"Get off me! Get the hell off me!"
"No." Pan retorted, able to feel the faint sting of her magic, but knew it wouldn't do anything to him, just as his did nothing to her. "Not until you calm down. Felix!" He jerked his chin in the direction of the heartless lost boy. "Get him out of here, and put his heart back in him. Head to another camp and stay there until I say otherwise"
Keeping an eye trained on Lilith, Felix led several of the other boys in picking up and carrying the injured boy away. Felix himself picked up the forgotten heart, wrapping it in cloth before he and the rest of the camp cleared out in minutes. Once he was sure his lost boys had gone far enough away, Pan released his hold on Lily's waist. To his surprise, she fell straight to her knees, slumped over at the waist with her arms crossed tightly over her chest.
"Lily," he knelt before her, but refrained from touching her. Her magic vibrated with an intensity that unsettled him. "What is it, what happened?"
"I wanted to kill him," she whispered. "I wanted to kill all of them. It's what I do. It's what I am, and you can't change that." Accusing eyes glared up at him in the firelight. "You need to let me leave. This place… it's driving me mad. The voices won't leave me alone."
"And why is that?" He retorted, keeping his voice just as low. "Lily, you're adjusting to the island - it happens to everyone." He lied through his teeth, unable to come up with a real reason.
"You're lying."
Storybrooke
Carefully pulling back a pane of glass that protected the hands of the clock, David peered inside. Behind him, waiting on the catwalk inside the clock tower, Mary Margaret bounced impatiently for him to reveal if Gold had told them the truth.
"It's here!" His fingers closed around the hilt of the oddly shaped dagger and he withdrew it from its hiding spot. "A clever hiding place for a very clever man."
Mary Margaret accepted the blade with a small, victorious smile. "We did it."
"The Dark One finally can be controlled."
They'd both been around Lillian long enough to notice the change that magic brought to the air. David had already begun to turn toward them when Cora's pleased voice rang through the air.
"Indeed he can be. But by whom?"
Mary Margaret glared at the "Cora… " She breathed the word like it was poison.
"You're too late." David said heatedly.
Cora merely smiled. "Actually, it seems that we found you just in time."
"I told you to pick your side carefully," Mary Margaret addressed Regina coolly. "Good has won, just as it always does."
It was Cora who answered, tsking fondly at her former granddaughter. "I think the day's finally come, my darling Snow, for you to learn a long overdue lesson."
Husband and wife both tensed when Cora waved her hand, but no magical attack came. Instead, Johanna appeared between Cora and Regina in a puff of purple smoke.
"Johanna!" David had to hold his wife back from springing to her former maid's aid.
"You see, in the end, it isn't good or evil that wins… but power." Cora explained, gesturing toward the magically restrained woman.
To prove their point, Regina turned and ripped out Johanna's heart. "Your choice," she told the Charmings, expression appropriately sober.
"Do not harm her!" Mary Margaret yelled, beginning to start forward, only for David to once more draw her back. "She has nothing to do with this."
"Of course she does."
"Whatever they want, Snow, don't give it to them." Johanna whimpered, her eyes shining with tears.
"Quiet, handmaid." Cora ordered.
Cursing the fact that he no longer carried a sword and that they'd forgotten Mary Margaret's bow, David drew his gun.
"Mother, watch out!" Regina warned, relief filling her when her mother knocked the gun from David's hand.
"Leave me, Snow!" Johanna told her princess before Regina began to squeeze her heart.
"Enough of this," Cora said over Johanna's cry of pain. "Surrender the dagger. We know you'll follow your mother's example, no matter the cost." She smiled knowingly. "All she ever wanted was for you to be good."
Everything within Mary Margaret went cold. "Those words… where did you hear those words?"
"Where do you think?"
"The Blue Fairy made me swear never to speak of that candle again," Mary Margaret revealed, trembling with a sudden anger. "Not because it was a secret… but because it wasn't her."
"The dagger, dear." Cora repeated, as if she hadn't heard her step-granddaughter's words.
"She didn't give me that candle, you did." Margaret accused in a hushed whisper. "My mother wasn't sick at all, was she?"
Mindful of the unease Snow's words stirred up in Regina, Cora merely continued to smile. "Oh, she was quite sick."
"You did all of this. You killed my mother!"
"Actually, the candle would've worked." Cora informed her. "You could have saved her."
"But you knew I wouldn't." Mary Margaret snapped back, pain clawing its way up her chest, threatening to choke her. "Why? Why did you take her from me?"
"To make my daughter the Queen."
Regina had had enough. "Hand over the dagger." She demanded, inwardly resolving to get to the bottom of her mother's history with Queen Eva later.
"No, no, I will not let you win. Not again!"
"You've already lost your mother." Cora drove the knife in deeper, amused by the hatred contorting Snow's delicate features. "How many connections to her do you have left? Not many, I'd wager."
David, who had remained silent up until this point, quickly seized the chance to save Johanna's life. "If we give up the dagger, we can still win."
At his words, Johanna began shaking her head. "Let me go, Snow. It's alright -" Her words turned in a strangled cry of pain as Regina mercilessly squeezed her heart.
"What would she say, if she could see you now?" Cora wondered maliciously, taking delight in the raw agony across the Mary Margaret's features. "If she wasn't dead." As her daughter tightened her grip on the heart, causing the handmaid to once more cry out in pain, Cora continued to smile at the dark-haired woman. "The dagger, dear."
Despite Johanna's words, she refused to lose anyone else. "Enough!" Mary Margaret threw the dagger onto the ground, empty fingers immediately curling into a fist. Beside her, David's fingers wrapped around her arm in support.
"Such a good girl," Cora cooed as she summoned the dagger into her empty hand. Regina's grip on Johanna's heart slackened, and the older woman slumped over in relief.
"You have what you came for," Mary Margaret spat coldly, so much so that David cast a worried glance her way.
Regina turned, shoving Johanna's heart back into her chest. With her chest still throbbing, Johanna nearly tripped over her own feet in her attempt to get to Mary Margaret. Holding the red-haired woman close, Mary Margaret dimly heard Cora speak, the words registering seconds before Johanna was torn from her arms.
"Not quite everything."
Waving her arm, Cora violently sent Johanna through the face of the clock. The shattering of the glass barely covered the sound of Mary Margaret's scream, and the two sorceresses were forgotten in her mad rush to look through the gaping hole. The ragged cry sounded more like a wounded animal than a human, and despite David's attempt at getting her to turn away, Mary Margaret refused to look away from Johanna's broken body on the pavement.
"Well, there you go," Regina sneered through the oppressive silence. "You see where good gets you?"
Without waiting for an answer, Cora enveloped Regina and herself in purple smoke, taking them away from the standoff and to her daughter's office. Cora strode toward the desk, sitting behind it and placing the dagger in front of her with a wide smile.
"It's nice to be back," Regina began conversationally, hoping to stall the upcoming conversation as long as she could. While not happy with what the last hour had revealed, she was leery of creating new friction between herself and her mother so soon after their reunion. "Hiding was quite wearisome."
Cora reclined regally in the chair. "I like what you've done with the place."
"I'm so glad you approve," Regina remarked, not quite able to stop the doubt from creeping into her features.
Cora's expression became concerned at once. "What is it, my love? You're troubled."
"You never told me about your history with Snow's mother." It sounded more like an accusation than she wanted it to.
"I spared you that burden, like any good parent would do." Cora told her gently, rising to her feet.
Regina felt her eyes narrow in growing irritation. "You didn't think I deserved to know exactly what it took for me to become Queen?"
"Now you know."
"That day at the stables, when I rescued her… that wasn't an accident, was it?" Regina stated, the memory of that day replaying in her mind. She remembered her mother arranging a surprise riding lesson, and how excited she was to spend time with both Daniel and her horse. "You made sure I'd be in the pastures when Snow rode past." Everyone had known, even in her grandfather's kingdom, that King Leopold had wandered the realm after his beloved wife's death, taking his daughter and their court with him. "You had to make sure when I met Snow White… her father would be searching for a new Queen."
And everything had worked out as her mother had planned. Regina had gone riding with Daniel the day King Leopold's entourage had been riding near their home, causing Snow's runaway horse to run through the pasture just as Cora intended.
"And what does this knowledge change for you?" Cora's cautious words tore Regina from her musings.
Correctly reading how apprehensive her mother was, Regina made herself shrug gracefully. "That you won, mother. I am the Queen." Though Cora relaxed at her words, Regina frowned when she added, "and, if that's what you wanted to badly, why do you need Rumpelstiltskin's dagger now?"
"You're worried my interests are no longer aligned with yours."
"My only interest now is Henry."
Cora nodded. "And I've told you – you'll have him."
"But how?" Regina demanded crossly. "Now that Mary Margaret and David know we have the dagger, we can't use Gold to kill them without Henry finding out."
"Have patience, my love." Cora cautioned her, smiling warmly. "By the time Rumpelstiltskin returns, Emma Swan and the rest of them will be nothing more than a vaguely unpleasant memory. And Henry, will be yours."
New York
"It should be one more block west," Neal directed them through the streets, Emma sticking close to his side. They'd left Gold, Henry and Lillian back at the apartment, and Emma was glad that she had this time to try and pry more information about Lillian from her ex.
"Once we get the car, what do we do about Hook?" She found herself ask.
"I don't know," Neal shrugged, unable to truly summon up any warm feelings for the pirate. After the first betrayal, he'd never been able to stomach being in the man's presence for longer than he had to. "He made his way to New York. I'm sure he could make his way out of a basement." He leveled her with a strange look. "You have a problem leaving him behind?"
She tossed her head in disinterest. "Actually, I've done it before."
Neal grinned. "Great."
"I have to admit, after some of the things you've said, I'm surprised you'd rally to his side like this." She said as they crossed the road, cutting down a less crowded side street.
"Yeah, well, there's a difference between running away from your father, and watching him die in front of you." He pointed out dryly. "He may be a monster, but he's my blood. Not to mention what it'll do to Lily, she's already lost so much."
"What happens when he's healed?"
He shrugged again. "I don't know. Forgiveness ain't something I think is possible with him."
"But somewhere inside you, you hope someday, it will be."
Ten years ago, he would have avoided her searching gaze and scoffed at such a sappy comment. Now, he looked her straight in the eye and smiled sadly. "Life's full of surprises, isn't it?"
"Well, no matter what, it'll be nice for Henry to be around you a little bit, even if it is just for a visit." She paused, quickly coming to a decision. "And Lillian."
As she predicted, his features immediately softened at the mention of Lillian. While she'd like to say it was the mention of his son, Emma had never known her gut to steer her wrong.
"Yeah, it's crazy that I got to see her again… I thought she was gone forever."
"Hook… he called her 'Tiger Lily'. That name mean anything to you?" She cursed inwardly the moment the words left her lips.
Neal's features became closed off, expression suddenly unreadable. "It's more of a title, actually. One she kinda hates, so I wouldn't go around calling her buy it." He glanced upward, gaze focusing on a car parked further down the street. "Here's our car." The door was unlocked, and Emma bit her lip when he plucked the keys from the ignition.
"Please tell me we're not going to hot wire this thing," she pleaded, trying to infuse a not of laughter in her voice.
He shook his head. "No. Uh… it belongs to a friend."
"That's a generous friend."
He rubbed the back of his head, suddenly uncomfortable. "Yeah, about that. Um… we need to finish our conversation from earlier. There's something you need to know about me before we get on the ship."
"Neal!" Emma turned to see a tall, dark-skinned woman racing toward them. "Thank God I caught you."
A sudden lump grew in Emma's throat when, as the woman approached him, Neal's hand came up to rub along her covered arm in a soothing manner.
"What are you doing here?"
"I don't know. I… maybe I got a little worried after talking to you." The woman said, clearly struggling on how to word her concerns. "You can't just say you're… leaving town for a while."
"Hey, yeah, listen." He gently squeezed her arm in a comforting manner. "Everything's fine, okay? I promise."
"Great, sweetie," she leaned some of her weight on him, the gesture intimate. "Just tell me what's going on."
Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, Emma chose to speak up. "Neal?"
The woman turned, as if just realizing Emma was there, and smiled guiltily at not introducing herself sooner. "I'm Tamara." She introduced, offering her hand with a beaming smile.
Emma forced herself to smile in return, taking the other woman's - Tamara - hand. "Emma."
Neal met her eyes warily. "She's my fiancée."
Storybrooke
"It was a beautiful service." David whispered, hesitant to break the tranquility of the moment as Mary Margaret laid flower on top of Johanna's grave.
"That never should've happened." His wife said quietly, body stiff beneath his touch. "Johanna was an innocent."
He shook his head. "You can't blame yourself. You did the best you could do in an impossible situation."
"And yet, Regina's family mausoleum remains untouched." Her gaze went to said mausoleum, pristine and grande compared to the other grave sites.
"Mary Margaret… "
"I've had the same rule my entire life - hold onto goodness. It's what my mother taught me." Her tortured expression broke his heart. "How many more lives is following that lesson going to take away from me?"
He reached out to touch her arms. "You can't let Cora make you lose faith in who you are – someone who does the right thing." He told her gently. "You know, that's exactly what she wants."
However, she shook her head and squirmed away from his touch. "I made the 'right' decision, when I stopped Regina's execution all those years ago. When it could've saved us all of this heartache. I made the 'right' decision, when I sent Emma through the wardrobe alone, and we didn't see her first steps. I made the 'right' decision, when I let my own mother die from Cora's poison."
"And we keep beating them."
"At what cost?" She demanded, moving out of his reach. She didn't want to be comforted, she wanted to be angry. "All I want is our happy ending - it's time. We've earned it. No more lives lost, no more hearts broken."
"The dagger… It's useless until Gold returns to Storybrooke." He scrambled to find an excuse, anything, to stop his wife from taking a step toward the path of evil. "We have time. We'll get it back. And when we do, we can bring Cora and Regina to justice."
Her expression twisted. "I don't care about justice anymore. We keep thinking that people will change." The truth was bitter to swallow, and judging by David's expression, he knew it too. "What if that's wrong? What if I'm the one who has to change?"
"Change how?" He asked, something inside him twisting up in apprehension. Her cold expression frightened him, and his stomach sank somewhere around his feet when she answered him.
"I'm going to kill Cora."
Thoughts? Comments? Questions?