Reminder, in this universe, the town line is still under the tree curse.


(Present Day, Storybrook)

Emma thumped her head against her desk. Despite hours of debate, the heroes had no solid plan. Trading Angelica for baby Neal seemed fair enough and she didn't have to like the idea of trading Killian for Henry to see the wisdom in it but no one could concede to a viable way to get baby Robyn back. While they could try to take Zelena head on, they might also get a lot of people killed. Blackbeard might be the safer prey, especially if they could get their hands on whatever that magic-draining magic he had used on them was, but she saw no way to take a shot at him. He wasn't likely to be lured back across the town line and no one had found a way across the town line since they got back from Camelot. Not her. Not Regina. Not Mr. Darkest-of-them-All, who flatly refused to get involved, because becoming a mega-Dark One apparently didn't come with a complimentary set of fucks to give. Still, if they could just get past the town line, the tables shifted. Unlike the Jolly Roger, the Queen Anne's Revenge seemed to have lost its magical capacity when it crossed the town line, leaving it prone to attack, and she defied any pirate crew to take on her family when Henry was at stake. Charming could use the adventure; he'd be set for weeks after clearing the decks of an honest-to-goodness pirate ship.

Only they couldn't get across the line.

She looked up from the desk. Her parents were still snuggled together in the love seat near the cell. Robin and Regina stood at a distance, arguing softly among themselves. Killian sat on the other desk, staring at her with that look that said he knew that she knew exactly what they should do, but she, being stubborn, wasn't about to admit that, so she huffed and looked away.

Emma's eyes flicked back to Angelica, as was almost habit now. A silence spell on the cell kept their conversation from her ears (and her colorful commentary far from their ears), but Emma still found her distracting. Angelica had taken a more relaxed pose; her back against the wall, one leg slung across the bed, the other dangling over the edge like a bored teenager. She absently spun one of the rings on her finger with her thumb. It was a simple silver band with a dark jewel, plain compared to the menagerie of jewels on her other fingers, hardly worth a pirate's interest, or Emma's, and yet she found herself suddenly curious. Almost transfixed, Emma got to her feet and walked over to the cell. The movement caught Regina's attention and she stepped away from Robin.

"Emma, what is it?" Regina asked.

"That ring," Emma replied, almost dazed.

Angelica, who hadn't seemed aware of what she was doing, sat upright and slipped her hands under her thighs.

"If it's jewelry you're interested in, aren't you barking up the wrong pirate?" Regina asked. She crossed her arms. "Please tell me you searched her before you threw her in there," said Regina.

"Of course I did, and I did a sweep for dark magic."

Regina pursed her lips, unconvinced.

"Open it up."

Emma rolled her eyes but conceded. With a wave of her hand, she took down the shield. Regina, with a wave of hers, popped open the cell. Angelica looked poised to run for it, but at a snicker from Regina, vines shot out of the cell wall and hauled Angelica against the cold bricks.

Regina held out a hand, slowly scanning Angelica from head to neck to-

Suddenly Regina's fingers curled. She lurched forward and shoved a hand into Angelica's chest.

"Regina!" Emma shouted, scrambling forward into the cell, but she could do nothing.

Regina ignored her, frowning as she pulled back an empty hand, "No heart."

"It's safe from greedy green hands," Angelica hissed back, "and washed-up witches."

Emma bit her lip. The truth, unfortunately. Well, the first part of it, at least. It made sense that Blackbeard would protect their hearts from Zelena.

And it meant there was a crack of distrust that they just might be able to exploit.

Regina only set her jaw and gestured again. The vines yanked Angelica's arms forward-painfully, by the grunt she gave. Regina waved a hand over the pirate's hand and the very silver band she had toyed with began to glow white.

"I swear I didn't detect a single speck of dark magic," said Emma.

"The operative term there is 'dark.' This ring is light magic," Regina wiggled her fingers and a little speck of magic floated away from the ring. It drifted in the air for a moment then, like a dog catching a scent, took off and zoomed into Emma's chest. "What's more," Regina continued, "it's your magic."

"My magic made that ring?"

"Makes that ring. That's why it's bugging you, it's your magic sensing itself."

"Why does she have a magic ring that I made? Make. Whatever."

"Perhaps she killed someone you loved and took it," Angelica said. Her eyes flicked from Emma to Killian and Emma's blood went cold. Blood pounded so loudly in her ears that she almost missed a familiar tickle at the back of her mind.

"You're lying," said Emma.

Angelica's lips twitched down.

Regina tried to take the ring with magic, but it let off a stubborn spark in protest. "You're right, Emma. It's soul-bound," said Regina. "Not only did you definitely make this, but you definitely didn't want it to come off."

"Why?" Emma asked. "What does it do?"

Regina shrugged. "Beats me, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's a muzzle."

Angelica let fly a flurry of curses. Suddenly there was a loud crash from behind Emma and Regina. The two women spun on their feet to find Robin sprawled out on the floor. He'd taken a desk lamp with him. Killian, being closest, dropped down to check on him. He plucked a tiny red dart from Robin's neck.

Emma's eyes darted to her parents, who still sat nestled into each other on the couch, stone still in sleep, similar darts sticking out of their necks.

A dark figure dressed in dark clothes and a dark hood whirled around the corner from the entrance to the station, a tube in his hand. Both Emma and Regina reacted, immediately blasting him with their magic, but their attacks passed straight through him, leaving him untouched. He blew through his tube and Regina went down. Emma moved to catch her, to soften her fall. Killian, seeing his chance, jumped up from the floor, hook flashing. The man threw away his tube to pull out a sword.

Emma caught Regina and let her down as gently as she could manage, but it cost her. With Regina out, Angelica slipped free of the vines. A sharp kick to Emma's back sent her tumbling. Before Emma could recover, Angelica plucked the dart from Regina and jammed it into Emma's leg. Much like on the ship, her command of her magic started to slip away. She threw a punch, but her muscles, suddenly sluggish, swung too wide. Angelica redirected her into a wall. Emma slammed a shoulder against brick. Pain shot down her spine. Usually pain woke her up, but this drained her and a wave of grogginess almost brought her to her knees but for the wall. At the click of a gun, Emma turned her head back toward Angelica.

Angelica had Emma's gun pointed at her.

"Now for my happy ending," Angelica said.

"Like hell," Emma spat. She launched herself off the wall, straight at Angelica.

Angelica pulled the trigger.

-0-

(Present day, Queen Anne's Revenge)

Zarina's size gave her an advantage in sneaking around the old pirate ship, but a supreme disadvantage in nearly every other aspect. Without her dust, she couldn't fight, change size, or even open a stupid door. She'd used the last grains of it to sneak aboard the ship, without a thought for what she'd actually do once aboard. But she was here, now, and would do all she could to help free Henry.

And poor Morgan, too, if there was hope left to be had there.

If there was even a future left for any of them to get back to.

Zarina flitted down an empty hall below deck. The cramped design left nowhere to hide, so when a door to her left suddenly flew open, she had little recourse but to zip upwards and flatten herself above the doorway. Blackbeard stalked out of the door and down the hallway, so consumed in grumbling rage that he missed any sign of her. She took full advantage and dove into the room before the door slammed shut behind the pirate.

Tall windows that spanned at least two decks of the sterncastle let in light enough to be blinding after so much time below deck, and Zarina had to look away and blink for a bit. When her eyes adjusted, she found herself alone in the captain's cabin, a rather luxurious den of satin and baubles and heavy furniture. The high ceiling gave a looming, imposing quality to the cabin, heightened by the fact Zarina's size made everything on this ship seem like the work of giants. Through the windows, she made out a land mass a ways out from the ship. She figured this must be the fabled Storybrooke, where hope and help waited, if they could just get off this damned ship.

So close and yet so far.

She turned her attention back to the quarters, searching for anything that might help. Her eyes fell on a heavy wooden armoire reinforced with ironwork and a padlock. She had no chance of undoing the lock, but she drifted near and pressed an ear to its doors anyway.

The muted rumble of countless human heartbeats burned in her ears.

She pushed away quickly, sucking in air to curb a swell of nausea. She hovered there a moment, trying to settle her nerves. She heard a chirp from over her shoulder and whirled around, but saw no movement, nor anything that could have made the sound. Panic rose in her gut. Slowly, she pushed forward, toward Blackbeard's desk, and noticed a small pile of otherworldly items on top, in particular, a smooth, slim, shiny brick.

There was another chirp and the brick lit up. It was strange to her eyes, but she dashed forward to inspect anyway. The words "Lunch at Granny's" appeared on the brick, but that wasn't really what caught her attention. Behind the glowing message was an image of Henry and his two mothers, smiling. Surmising that this must belong to the young prince, Zarina tried to lift it. It was heavy and awkward for a creature her size, but she could just manage it. She'd heard happy thoughts help you fly, and the thought of turning a useful tide helped Zarina's wings to carry the load.

Maybe, she thought, it might make up for the heavy host of her bad decisions that got them here.

-0-

(Present Day, Storybrooke)

Emma woke to the bright fluorescent lights of the file room ceiling. A rash of confused thoughts dashed through her mind. The images of bodies dropping in the station and Killian drawing his sword took the lead and panic won out. Her stiff back and groggy eye disappeared and she immediately sat up on her elbows.

She was laid out on a blanket on the floor of the file room, Killian's jacket underneath her head, and she breathed deep the scent of leather and spiced rum to calm her. Next to her lay her parents, and next to them, Robin and Regina-all still fast asleep on blankets of their own, unharmed.

"Emma, you okay?"

Emma turned to find Granny, crossbow in hand, leaning into the doorway. Before she could reply, she heard boots running from the other side of the wall. Granny moved out of the way and suddenly Killian filled the doorway.

"Emma!" Killian breathed, relieved. He stepped in and knelt down, pulling her up into a hug. "My heart stopped when she pulled that trigger."

Right, Angelica.

Emma's mind sprang back to the fight in the cell and the gun trained on her. The gun that never fired, leaving Emma the precious second of surprise to tackle the pirate bitch. If Angelica whacked her head against the cot on the way down and knocked herself out, well, whoops.

"Sorry," she replied, a sleepy croak in her voice. "After the Uncle James incident, I enchanted my gun so only I can-"

Any further explanation died on her lips as Killian caught hers in a kiss.

"The others," Emma asked after they broke apart, "are they okay?"

"Sleep dart. They're fine, but they'll be out a while yet."

"Angelica? The… other guy?"

"Locked away," Killian replied, "with more than a few bruises between them."

Emma leaned in for another kiss to express her relief, but her phone rang. She leaned back to dig through her pocket. When she pulled the phone out, though, she sat bolt upright.

"It's Henry," she gasped and accepted the call, setting it to loudspeaker. "Henry!?"

"Mom!" Henry replied, and she knew instantly and without a doubt that it was him.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked.

Henry's reply came in a rush of stumbling words.

"I'm fine, Mom. They haven't hurt me, at least, not yet, but I'm not alone. I have a friend here, a fairy, but I don't know how much time I have before they figure out what's going on and I know you're worried, but you guys really, really need to hear this."

"Alright, alright," said Emma, swallowing a thousand questions and a thousand reassurances that she wanted to send.

"First off, congratulations, Killian; you're gonna be a dad."