Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC which is owned by Disney which is a company that was founded by a man named Walt who was played by Tom Hanks in a movie. Just keep that in mind. Anyway, thanks for the reads and reviews. I know it's been a while and I'm sorry. Life? I'll get back to you soon. Please let me know what you think and happy reading!


1960

Isaac Heller sat in the waiting room of the studio room with his briefcase placed squarely in his lap. He exchanged smiles with a secretary before the man he had been waiting for arrived.

"You must be Isaac."

"Yes, Mr. Disney."

"Walt. Call me Walt."

Isaac smiled sheepishly. "Okay... Walt."

The man grinned. "You came highly recommended. You talked with Cheryl?"

"Sure did. Haven't seen so much paper since I delivered the early edition."

"You did? So did I."

Isaac shrugged. "Small world."

"Yes..."

"Dick said you were working on something pretty special."

"Would you like a look?"

"That's what I'm here for."

"Then you will be the very first one in the papers to report this," said Walt.

They walked down the corridor and Walt opened the doors into another room where rows of animators worked furiously.

Walt smiled proudly. "This is where we're making the latest Disney animated feature: The Dark Princess."


Now

"What do you know?"

Regina snapped her head to look at Emma. She had tried to teach Emma to conjure a locator spell and it currently had mixed results as they traipsed through the woods looking for Cruella and Ursula. Mary Margaret and David had broken away to search in the other direction.

"What do you mean what do I know?," Regina snarled. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"No, but my parents are being weird."

Regina snorted. "Because that's unusual."

"They didn't want to call Gold. That is weird. What's going on with them?"

"How should I know?"

"I don't know. I thought it would be some fairy tale thing. Ursula and Cruella. Do they have some connection to Gold?"

Regina scoffed. "Whatever happened with those hags and Gold is their business."


The Golf stopped at the cabin. Cruella and Ursula had long since arrived, greeting them with drinks. Maleficent went to them.

"I think we should probably be leaving," said Joseph.

Beatrice turned. "What?"

"Your parents will be wondering where you are."

She shrugged. "I'll just say I was with you."

"Is there a problem?," Maleficent asked.

"No, we're fine." Beatrice turned to Joseph. "If you want to go home, you can."

"I'm not going anywhere," he said staring at the three sorceresses.


"Maybe we should come clean with Emma..." David mused.

Mary Margaret stopped and looked at her husband.

"David, we can't do that! She'll never trust us again! She-"

They heard a rustling in the woods. Mary Margaret pulled her bow, David unsheathed his sword.

Gold emerged and looked unimpressed with the display in front of him. Merlin soon followed.

"Oh, never mind, it's the earnest morons," said Merlin.

Pamela and Belle soon followed.

"Mary Margaret, what are you doing out here?," asked Belle.

"What are you doing out here?"

Belle frowned at her friend, but her husband was to quick to answer.

"Well, we're not on a nature walk in the middle of the night, dearie," Gold quipped.

"Unless of course dragons are a part of nature and slaying one would be part of the walk," Merlin added.

"You're describing hunting," said Pamela.

"Dragons?," asked David. "There's a dragon in Storybrooke?"

"It would seem Maleficent has returned," Gold answered.

"Ma-Maleficent?," Mary Margaret stammered, looking to her husband.

"So you've met," said Merlin. "She usually has the effect on people."

"What does she want in Storybrooke?," asked David.

"Does it matter?," Gold snapped.

"Rumple, they only want to help," Belle said softly.

"They still haven't answered what they were doing out here."

"Well, Cruella and Ursula found us at the diner and threatened us," said Mary Margaret.

"Threatened you in what way?," pressed Merlin.

"Just the usual," Mary Margaret shrugged.

"Well, then the band's back together, is it?," said Gold. "No matter. Just two more to kill. If you'll excuse me."

Gold walked past them, then stopped and turned. He pointed a finger accusingly at the royals.

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"What?," asked Mary Margaret.

"You two didn't say anything. Usually by now you've started some speech about second chances or redemption or how murder is not the answer, but instead you said nothing. Why?," he snapped the last word.

"Belle didn't say anything," said Mary Margaret.

"Yeah, but Belle usually saves her arguing for later," said Merlin. He put on a fey voice. "'No, Rumplestiltskin, stop, you're better than this. I know this isn't the man you truly are...'"

He ended his impression with his daughter shooting him daggers.

"What? Was it because I didn't do the accent?"

"Well, there's only one possible explanation..." Gold continued back with his own line of deduction.

"What?," Mary Margaret asked, turning pale.

"Wait, where's Father?," asked Belle.

This took Gold's attention away from the Charmings.

"I hate that man," he announced, continuing on the path towards the cabin.


Then

Isaac showed Walt around the room for an hour or so, detailing the ways in which the film would be different from the others the studio had put out.

"Most fairy tales are black and white, well, just my early cartoons," he said, smiling at his own joke. "But you must know what I mean, all heroes and villains."

"Winners and losers," Isaac said crisply.

"More or less. I know I've been guilty of that, but life's not like that. People aren't hero or villain. No one is all good or all bad. The truth is somewhere in between. That's what this story is about."

Isaac frowned. "You want to get that across in a kids' picture?"

"Children are smarter than adults give them credit for and I like to think I make pictures for families. There's something for everyone to enjoy. That's why I've been so successful."

"I don't remember a fairy tale called The Dark Princess. Is it an original idea?"

Walt patted the shoulder of an animator who just finished up a sketch. "Well, I've been around this business long enough to know there are no original ideas. All stories come from somewhere."

"And where does this one come from?"

"Well, Isaac, you might say it's got a little of everything I've done. A little of Rumpelstiltskin thrown in, too, I really ought to get around to making a picture of that one of these days."

Isaac came around to observe one of the animators' model figures, a brown-eyed, dark-haired princess swirling around in a tea length lavender gown.

"The Dark Princess. What's her story?"

"Well, her father is the darkest sorcerer in the realm and her mother is the kindest, most loving woman in the whole Enchanted Forest."

Isaac looked up in surprise. "Quite a contrast."

Walt nodded. "It's sort of a Beauty and the Beast thing."

"I heard you were trying to make a picture of that, too."

Walt grumbled. "Darndest thing that story. We just can't seem to get the songs right and I have the best people in the business on it."

He walked over to a table and quickly pulled out a book. Isaac watched him as he took what seemed to be a quill from his breast pocket and jotted something down.

"That's an unusual pen," said Isaac. "Where did you get it?"

"A friend gave it to me," he answered.

"Right. So, what gave you the idea to put Merlin in?"

Walt turned slowly.

"Could we clear the room?," he asked suddenly.


Now

Back in the cabin, the celebration had begun with Cruella pouring drinks.

"Joseph, darling, why don't you relax?," she said placing a martini glass in his hand.

"No, thank you," said Joseph, placing it on a table. "I have a thing about taking drinks from potential psychopaths."

She shrugged. "Fair enough."

Beatrice turned to Joseph.

"You can leave if you want," said Beatrice.

"No, I am staying, that is, unless you're leaving."

"We're supposed to be working with them."

"That doesn't necessarily mean we ought to trust them."

"Reunited at last," purred Cruella handing a glass to Maleficent. "And with the latest member of the team."

The three women looked pointedly at Beatrice.

"Oh, good, a team..." muttered Joseph.

"A job well done, beastie," said Maleficent.

"Now we can finally get on with what we came here for," said Ursula.

Beatrice frowned. "Um, yeah, before we get too carried away with that..."

The trio turned and glowered.

"I just think we should outline what that is," she said.

They stared.

"I don't want to get anyone to get hurt."

"You don't want anyone to get hurt?," Maleficent repeated slowly, the words might as well have been foreign.

"No. Obviously, expose them for what they did to you, but there's really no point in hurting them. You'll be ruining their whole
'We always do what's right' thing. That's plenty. Oh, right, then there's my friend, Aurora."

Even Joseph turned in disbelief now.

"To think you nearly forgot to mention that," he muttered quickly.

"Friend?," Cruella practically screeched.

"Sleeping Beauty's daughter," said Maleficent. "The one I put under a sleeping curse."

"Yeah, that one and as I understand it, your dispute was with her mom. Not her. Seems kind of excessive. I was thinking you kind of owe her an apology."

Joseph made a show of looking at his watch. "My goodness, the time. Let's go."

"I won't apologize to anyone, especially her," said Maleficent.

Beatrice shook her head. "But she didn't do anything to you."

"You know, it's been quite a tiring day what with you coming back from the dead, I realize how taxing that can be-" Joseph began.

"Shut it," Maleficent snapped.

"Oh, why don't you shut it..."

Beatrice froze. They looked up to see Merlin.

"You sour-faced, bitter, scaled hag."

"Back at you," Maleficent snarled. "Is this the part where you ask me nicely to back off?"

Merlin scoffed. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Well, color me surprised-"

"No, I made a promise to you once long ago. I promised I would burn the heart out of you if you set so much as one claw near her again. I'm here to make good on that promise."

Maleficent smirked, walking towards him.

"How should we start?"

"I think by finishing you."

Merlin lobbed a ball of magic at Maleficent that she narrowly avoided. The other four went crashing to the floor as well, but the intended target remained on her feet.

"So it's like that?," asked Maleficent.

"It most certainly is," he snarled back.


"What is he planning?," Mary Margaret asked as they hurried up the path.

It was then that a giant dragon burst out of the cabin. Merlin was blown back onto the ground.

"Father!," Belle shouted, frantically hurrying up the path. Gold ran after her, unable to stop her as she rushed to Merlin's side. "Father, are you alright?"

He pushed himself to his feet.

"I am fine. You know who won't be? Charcoal breath!"

With that, Maleficent roared fire in their direction, a quick wave of Gold's hand sending her reeling, but not aground.

"I have her!," Merlin snapped at Gold.

He tsked. "Could have fooled me, dearie."


"Oh, seriously?!," Beatrice snapped at her boyfriend as she flung him off. "Stop trying to protect me! Why is this so hard?!"

Joseph fumed. "Well, it might be a bit easier if you didn't keep flinging yourself into danger!"

"Oh, sure says the guy who threw himself off a waterfall!"

"For you!"

"Exactly!," she snapped at him.

Joseph looked at her in confusion. Beatrice grunted as she rushed outside, Joseph on her heels. Maleficent had gone full dragon as Ursula and Cruella watched from the deck of the cabin with their glasses.

"Dad! Grandpa!," Beatrice shouted, dodging one of the flames coming out of the dragon's mouth.

"Beatrice!," Belle shouted, running towards her, narrowly averting another with the aid of Pamela's umbrella. She finished closing the distance to her daughter.

"Mom! They have to stop-"

"Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. I've got to help Maleficent."

"What?" Belle looked at her incredulously. "Beatrice, you don't know what she's done to you!"

"I am fine. Meanwhile, they-" She motioned at David and Mary Margaret. "Well, they really suck!"

"What do you mean?," asked Pamela.

Just then, Regina and Emma emerged from the woods.

"I know I say this a lot, but what the hell is happening?," demanded Emma.

"And what the hell's she doing back?!," Regina shouted.

Beatrice snapped her head towards Regina. "I brought her back!"

"I helped," said Joseph.

"He helped."

Regina narrowed her eyes. "The only way to do that is with the blood of the one who wronged her the most. How did you do that without my knowing?"

"Well, I killed her..." said Emma. She looked up at the flame coming out of Maleficent's mouth singeing the trees. "At least I thought I did..."

Regina looked at Emma. "Oh, please, some half-baked swordplay doesn't compare to thirty years of confinement."

"It's not either of you!," Beatrice snapped. She pointed at David and Mary Margaret. "It's them."

A moment passed where David and Mary Margaret stood frozen.

"Okay, get serious," said Regina.

Beatrice looked at the Charmings. "Tell them!"

The couple looked to each other as the others' expressions turned curious.

"Tell them!"

As Beatrice shouted, a crack of ice and thunder knocking Maleficent from the sky and back to human form.

"Now that's no fun..." Cruella tsked.

"No, but it certainly makes things easier..." said Gold.

"Rumple, stop!"

"Here we go," said Merlin, dismissively waving his hand. "What did I say?"

"Then why don't you just kill me?," Maleficent demanded.

"I beg your pardon, I will kill you in my own time. If I want to murder you, I will not be bossed about by some middling evil fairy..."

"Middling?!"

"Sleeping curse, sleeping curse, you are a like a one hit wonder that had stupid lyrics to start with!"

Belle turned to her oldest friend. "What did you do?"

"What did you do that could possibly be worse than what I did?," asked Regina.

"Mary Margaret?," asked Belle.

The princess trembled.

"Snow," Belle demanded.

Mary Margaret looked at her daughter. "Emma, you have to understand we didn't have a choice-"

"Didn't have a choice in what?"

"We had to make sure you were good-"

"What are you talking about?"

"We took Maleficent's child- we didn't know it was a child- because we needed a vessel to put your darkness in."

Emma was incredulous. "You what? That's a thing that can happen?"

"We had to. It was the only way to make sure you would be a hero. So you could be the Savior," said Mary Margaret.

Merlin frowned. "What child?" He turned to Maleficent. "When the hell did you have a child? Who would-"

The sorcerer stopped. "You can't be..."

The others frowned.

Joseph nodded. "That answers one question."

Merlin shook his head. "Are you serious, you scaly winged tart?"

Maleficent scoffed as she picked herself up off the ground. "As if I was thrilled." She turned to the Charmings. "That doesn't change the fact that I loved my child and I will have your-"

"Shut it, Angelina," Merlin snapped. "Could we possibly get back to the matter at hand?"

"This is the matter at hand!," said Maleficent.

Regina spoke. "To be perfectly honest, I'm unclear on what that is..."

"I am," said Emma, turning toward her parents, nostrils flaring. "You kidnapped a baby? For what? So I could be a hero? What the hell's wrong with you?!"

Emma turned around and began marching back down the path she and Regina had come. Regina turned without comment to follow her.

"Emma, wait!," called Mary Margaret.

"Mary Margaret," said Belle, her voice growing serious.

"We should go after her," said Mary Margaret.

"Snow, stop!," Belle snapped.

That had their attention. Mary Margaret stopped and turned as Belle approached her.

"I need to know something and you need to tell me the truth-"

"Belle, I-"

"Why did you come to the Dark Castle?"

"What?"

"When Beatrice was a baby and Charming waited outside, why did you come?"

"Belle, I-"

"Did you come for the same reason that you took Maleficent's daughter?"

Mary Margaret paled.

"She didn't know it was your baby-" David fumbled, trying to help.

"You did," Belle nearly whispered, a soft but angry sound. "You came to steal my daughter from me, to force someone else's darkness on her-"

"Belle, I didn't know it was your baby, the man on the road only told us the Dark One had a child-"

"Would that have stopped you? Would that have made Beatrice's life worth something to you? Or was it that Rumple came home?"

"We thought..." Mary Margaret took a breath. "I thought that she would be a monster just like him and I didn't see what difference it could make. I had to make sure Emma was good."

Belle stared.

"I only see one monster here." She took Beatrice's hand and turned to Maleficent, Cruella and Ursula. "Whatever your reasons, you will stay away from my daughter."

"Or what, darling?," Cruella teased.

Ursula rolled her eyes slightly, knowing better than to taunt her but it was Maleficent whose full understanding enabled her answer.

"Or she'll rip us apart."

"Yes," said Belle.

Beatrice tried to intervene. "Mom-"

Belle silenced her daughter with a look.

"Your car. Now."

Beatrice started walking.

"Joseph," Belle said sharply.

"Yes, Belle."


Then

The confused artists left, leaving Walt and Isaac alone.

"What's all this about?," asked Isaac.

"You're not a reporter," said Walt. He held up the quill. "You're here about this, aren't you?"

"Mr. Disney..." Isaac said, his hands up in surrender. "Walt, come on-"

"You knew about Merlin and no one knows about Merlin," said Walt.

"You must have just mentioned it-"

"I didn't mention him. You know about there, don't you?"

"Yes," Isaac admitted.

"The question is how? How do you know about there?"

"You know how," said Isaac. "The Author."

"No, I don't think so."

"It's the truth."

"Why would the Author send you here?"

Isaac swallowed. "This story. You've got it all wrong."

"How do you figure?"

"The Dark Princess. She's isn't a hero. She's a villain, worst of them all."

Walt frowned and lowered the quill. "You can't be serious. Beatrice? Feeds the homeless? Dog lover?"

"She's a villain. That's how the story goes."

"But there's nothing in her character to suggest she's a villain. You're trying to force her to become one, aren't you? Just to fit your plot? What sort of hack writer are you?"

"I am not a hack."

"You're a hack. Why don't you throw in a love triangle with a werewolf and a vampire while you're at it?"

Isaac contorted his face in disgust. "Where did that come from?"

"A nightmare I had once."

The door opened. A security guard entered the studio. "Everything okay, Walt?"

As Walt turned back to face the man, Isaac took his chance to slam into him, snatching the quill from his hand and shoving him to the floor. The security guard ran towards him as Isaac made an escape out the other door.

"Are you okay, sir?"

"I'm fine. Get him!"

The guard gave chase and Walt followed, but Isaac was nowhere to be found.


Now

The drive back to the Golds' house was a silent one with Beatrice unsure how to broach conversation. They were in the house when she finally attempted it.

"I, uh..." Beatrice took her coat off. "So, this probably seems bad-"

Before she could finish her thought, her father came in closely followed by Pamela.

"I feel I should apologize," said Gold.

"Okay..."

"Because I never made it perfectly clear to you that Cruella was entirely untrustworthy, the same goes for Ursula and Maleficent-"

"I was trying to help her-"

"She doesn't need your help. She's quite capable of taking care of herself as evidenced by the time she cursed you."

"Yeah, you might have mentioned that Maleficent was my fairy godmother."

"Evil fairy who often doubles as an attention-seeking dragon. She kidnapped your mother to have control over you, it is what she has always wanted and I thought you would be more help," he finished, looking at Joseph.

"I got the blood of those who wronged her the most," Joseph said plaintively.

Gold glared.

"I drugged them."

Gold looked at his wife. "Belle."

"Hmm?"

He motioned helplessly at his daughter and her boyfriend.

Belle shook her head. "She's home now, Rumple."

"Right and she's not leaving the house until I've dealt with this problem."

"Wait..." Beatrice paused, jaw dropping at the realization of what he was planning. "You can't protection spell me."

He scoffed. "I can and I will."

"I'm nineteen!"

"You are cursed and you will not leave here until you are no longer cursed."

"Nineteen!"

"I don't care!"

"I'm sorry, am I actually powerful?"

Gold narrowed his eyes.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Because people keep telling me I'm powerful, but you act like I'm five!"

"Power doesn't necessarily mean you understand the full ramifications of what you are doing or who you are dealing with! I'm not about to risk your safety just because you want to go off on a quest for what? Maleficent's revenge? Do you even know?"

"I'm going to my room," announced Beatrice.

"Excellent idea," said Gold.

She stormed up the stairs.

"So, I suppose I ought to go..." Joseph mused. Gold glared. "I'll go."


Then

A week later with no sign of Isaac, production was completely shut down on The Dark Princess.

"Walt, this is months of work!," his producer, Dick protested.

He nodded at the workers currently packing up everything to do with the picture for storage in the studio vault.

"I understand that and it can't be helped."

"We shutter a picture just because of one reporter? He stole a quill?!"

Walt didn't answer.

"It can't be helped," he said simply.

"Walt, there's someone here to see you?"

"Not now, Cheryl!," Dick snapped.

Walt looked up at the visitor. A tall man with piercing blue eyes, sandy hair and a three piece suit.

"I'll see him now," said Walt.

They reached the garden finding a spot beneath an orange tree.

"You sent for me."

"Someone called Isaac Heller was here."

The man reached up to take an orange from one of the branches.

"He ran off with the quill. I've hired investigators, the closest they found was a television salesman with the same name in Yonkers. I'm sorry. He seemed to know a lot about The Dark Princess and you said you wanted to be contacted if anyone ever asked about her."

He peeled the orange nonchalantly.

"You could answer me," said Walt.

The man cocked an eyebrow.

"He lied his way into my studio to get his hands on the quill you gave me. Now, you might be the Author to end all authors and I might just be a man with a mouse, but that seems like something to be worried about."

"Probably one of Mother's creatures," he said. "She keeps so many... Thank you for your help, Walt. As usual, your skills are invaluable."

"Can I ask something?"

The man shrugged. "You may ask, but I don't know that I'll answer."

"Beatrice. Why's she so dangerous? She's just a girl."

The man scoffed and took his first section of orange. "No one is just anything."

"You know what I meant."

"Well, to Beatrice, magic quills mean nothing. If he can't get her to agree to his plan, there's no place to go. The trouble is that the quill means something to everyone else. No, he'll come after her beloved Mr. Holmes, I suppose. That's usually the way."

He resumed walking away.

"No."

"No?," the Author asked.

"Her mother. That's her soft spot."

"An interesting proposition. I wouldn't know."

"Not fond of your parents, are you?"

The Author tsked. "Always writing, Walt."

Walt looked away for a moment and the man was gone as he always was.


Now

Belle stared through the crack in the door at Beatrice. She was asleep, the TV was on as usual and the dogs sharing the space around her.

"Mrs. Gold?"

Belle turned to see Pamela.

"Pamela. I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No, in London it's time to get up. I'm afraid I shall need some time to adjust back. And you?"

Belle shook her head. "I don't feel well and Rumple is in the cellar conjuring gods know what." She looked back at Beatrice. "I keep thinking that she ought to know better and then I remember that the woman I've known since I was a baby, who I always thought was good, thought my children are worthless."

"Well-" Pamela looked as if she was attempting to find a reason for this.

"No," Belle cut her off. "She did. And I have a sibling that I never knew anything about. I still don't know anything because Emma had to be a hero. I can understand Maleficent, I almost was her and if Snow White had taken Beatrice..."

Her voice trailed off as it grew severe. She wiped a tear from her eye.

"Would you care for some tea?," asked Pamela.

"Yes," said Belle. "Thank you. That would be lovely."

Pamela left and Belle looked back at Beatrice before heading downstairs.