Closing her eyes and focusing her emotions, Regina popped the cork to the vile she held in her hand and drank the potion as she mumbled under her breath. The potion was to fortify her as she created her first spell, and she mentally said a prayer to whatever entity might be listening to help her ensure this worked.

The Charmings watched and waited for Regina to give them a sign to move to the second part of the phase. Quiet and breathless, they could barely hear what Regina was muttering, but it was enough to make David stiffen and Mary Margaret flinch.

"Ms. Swan," the former mayor's voice was scratchy. She was stern and determined as she spoke aloud to help her better focus her energy through their connection. "It's imperative my mother does not remember you or Henry, lest it destroy our current present. I am sending a spell through you that will affect her, hopefully erasing her memories of your encounter." She could tell Emma understood what she was communicating, and some of the apprehension began to leave her. "There are two things you need to know. This will hurt, and, for this to work, she must maintain contact with your heart. Do not allow her to let it go."


"Fat chance of that happening," Emma muttered.

"What did you say?" Cora's hand squeezed tighter. "How dare you speak to me in that manner."

The blonde groaned but managed to opened her eyes and glance quickly to Henry before turning back to lock her gaze on the cause of her current physical pain. "I'll talk to you however I want." She tried to focus her emotions, and she hoped Regina was receiving what she was saying. At Cora's disgusted sneer, she added, "I'm strong enough to take on whatever you throw at me."


"One can hope, Sheriff," Regina whispered. Clamping her jaw shut and relaxing her body, she pushed forward with the spell, sending it hurting through her shared connection with the other woman, and directly into the hand trying to squeeze the life out of the blonde.


Emma screamed. The pain that emanated from inside of her was hundreds of times greater than what she had thus far been experiencing. For a brief moment, it blacked her out. As she came to her senses, she realized that both she and Henry were free of their restraints and Cora and her guards were unconscious.

"Ma?" Henry rushed to where she remained on the ground. "Are you okay? What happened?"

She gasped for air as she tried to stand. "Regina sent a spell through me to take Cora out." She glanced around again. "Looks like it worked."

Henry's eyes were wide with fear and stress. "What do we do now?"


"You wait, Henry," Regina whispered in a raspy voice. A little louder, she commanded, "Now, David."

He quickly rushed into action, opened the pouch he'd been handed, poured the contents onto the items belonging to his daughter and grandson, and dropped them into Regina's lap.

Meanwhile, Mary Margaret stepped up, took Regina's trembling hand in her own, and touched the mirror's frame. She let out a small gasp as she felt Regina's magic snake its way through her to find her own. The feeling was odd and unsettling, and she fought her natural inclination to prevent the dark magic from pulling her own, purer magic out. In an odd moment as her mind tried to understand what her body and spirit felt, she thought it must be what water and oil feel like when people attempt to combine them.

"I was never fond of that type of salad dressing," Regina quipped, and she chuckled at Mary Margaret's little jump of surprise. "Once they're through, make certain to remove your hand from the mirror, Ms. Blanchard," she said in a less steady voice before refocusing herself to her task.

The room fell silent save for the labored breathing of Regina. Then, slowly, the image in the mirror changed to one of Emma and Henry standing among fallen bodies somewhere in a forest. David quickly reached in and pulled his hand out, pulling both of them through the mirror and into the stony room in which their rescuers were waiting.

Mary Margaret dropped her hand and pulled away from Regina, rushing to Emma and Henry. "It worked." She wiped at Emma's sweat drenched face. "Are you okay? How badly are you hurt?"

Emma glanced around, trying to understand everything that was happening. She looked up to see Ruby and Doctor Whale coming down the stairs of the mausoleum and then to the spot beneath the mirror that she somehow knew was where Regina was.

She froze. "Oh God." Regina was slumped against the wall. It was hard to tell if she was breathing, but she was, at the very least, unconscious. Emma pushed away from the crowd around her and fell down beside Regina. "No," she said in a panicked tone. "No, no, no, no." She was beyond herself, caught between being angry, terrified, and despondent. "You don't get to do this, Regina." She checked for a pulse, and found one. "Thank you," she said to whatever entity was keeping the other woman alive.

"Don't thank me," Regina said in a very tired voice. "I was doing this for Henry." She slowly opened her eyes and gave a small upturn to her lips. "What don't I get to do, Sheriff?"

Emma gave a relieved sigh. Sitting back against the wall next to the other woman, she answered in a somewhat amused yet still serious tone, "Run away via death by magic due to saving someone else."

"Too heroic?" Regina asked with the same tone as she looked around to see they had an audience watching them and intently listening. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the cool stones.

"Sorry, Madam Mayor, but you're not allowed to run away after we figured all of this crap out. I'm not going to say it, but I think you know what I'm thinking here," Emma answered, as she nudged her shoulder gently against Regina's as they sat side by side against the wall.

The older woman gave a little hum. "If ever you do say it, I'll be forced to do horrible things to you."

"Just do me a favor and surprise me, then. That means no apples and no magic. You'll have to be creative about it," the blonde said in a mock serious tone.

Regina gave a tired sounding snort. "I've always enjoyed a challenged, Sheriff."

Emma smirked at the other woman. "I've always been one."

"That you have," Regina sighed out, eyes still closed.

Finally looking somewhere other than Regina, Emma came out of the moment and realized what Regina already had, they had an audience. Standing and awkwardly clearing her throat, she nodded to the doctor. "I think she needs to be checked out," she motioned to Regina, "and, honestly, I do, too. But we probably both should go to the hospital for it."

Whale grimaced. "Do I even want to know where you've been and what's happened in your absence?"

"No, probably not," Emma answered while she bent down to pick up her red leather jacket from Regina's lap. She slid it on and then grabbed the Hulk action figure. Raising an eye brown, she turned to her son. "This yours?"

Henry's eyes lit up, and he walked up to take the toy only to have his face fall a moment later.

"Ms. Lucas has Dino, Henry," Regina said in a calm tone. Taking the cue, Ruby held the stuffed dragon out to him, and he happily took it and clutched the two toys to him not caring in that moment how young it made him look. "Thank you for your assistance, Ruby," the brunette on the ground added a moment later.

"Sure," Ruby answered in an uncertain voice. "Shouldn't we be getting all of you to the hospital or something?"

With a miffed looked on his face, Whale strolled over to Regina and checked her vital signs as best he could. "Your pulse is weak, Regina."

"Imagine that," came her acrid reply.

"Regina, he's trying to help," Mary Margaret called out from her place across the room.

"Though I'd rather not," the doctor added. Looking up to see Emma giving him a very hard glare, he sighed. "I suppose we ought to get the three of you to the hospital. While we're traveling there, maybe someone can fill me in on the situation so I know what, exactly, I'm trying to treat."

"It might take a while," David answered as he helped Emma pick Regina up off of the floor. "Emma, how do you feel?"

As she slid her arm around one side of the Regina's small frame, she shrugged, "I feel gritty. I need to take a shower, but, other than that, I feel fine. Why?"

David secured his grip around Regina and they all began to move, "Because Regina is like this." The woman in question simply grunted in reply. "And you seem fine, but you both were experiencing a lot of pain, and you were the one Cora was attacking, so why aren't you more hurt?"

Emma stopped walking and glanced at the brunette between them. "You didn't have to do that," she said in an awed tone.

"Henry needs at least one fully functioning mother, Ms. Swan," Regina answered, though it was clear she was having trouble staying awake. "It was better for one of us to take on all the damage, than it be spread between the two with the potential for both of us to be incapacitated or worse."

"Is she saying," Mary Margaret called from behind them, "that she somehow took away the damage done to you?"

"Yeah," Emma nodded solemnly and started their slow walk back to the cars. Throwing a look over her shoulder to her mother, she didn't utter another word, but the expression said it all.

Where did the evil intent lay in this situation, and who was really to blame?

Mary Margaret stood still for a moment, processing. It wasn't until Ruby stopped beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder that she moved on, but the point had not been lost on anyone present. It was clear a shift in the powers that be in the town had just taken place, and, for once, Snow White wasn't sure what side she was truly on.


Next stop? Mushy Swan Queen feels! I've been SO looking forward to these next few chapters. :-D