Chapter Thirty-Four: Deal with the Devil
Following the DNA signature obtained from an arrow Snow removed from his shoulder before being captured by King George's men, the Doctor was able to use the sonic screwdriver as a tracking device to find Prince James's whereabouts in the castle. As expected, he and Snow discovered him to be held in the dungeon of King George's castle. At the moment Snow saw James in his cell, she was all prepared to go right to him and set him free; however, the Doctor quickly stopped her before she could have taken another step towards the cell. "What're you doing? That's Charming!" She tried to convince the Doctor.
The Doctor did not need the sonic screwdriver to tell him that something was amiss about the man who was in that cell. Without saying another word to Snow, he approached the cell himself and used the sonic to open the lock on the door. Stepping inside the cell, the Doctor smirked as he discovered exactly what he anticipated. Snow got closer and looked over the Doctor's shoulder, seeing the same shocking discovery: Prince James's image in a standing mirror.
The image of James could clearly see Snow and the Doctor, and he said despairingly, "I'm sorry."
"Charming." Snow said softly as she cried. "We were rescuing you."
James chuckled. "Snow." He then placed his hand against the glass that separated him from the woman he loved.
Snow approached the mirror and placed her hand on the glass where James's was. The Doctor watched the two in defeat, wishing there was something he could do; but the truth of the matter was that he could not, even if he tried. There was still much magic in the enchanted world he was trapped in that he yet to understand, and the Evil Queen's was the most powerful magic he had ever encountered. He continued to watch Snow and James promise each other that they would one day be reunited until the happy moment was disrupted by the sudden appearance of Queen Regina in the mirror, laughing right in the face of Snow White.
"I just had to stop you." Regina said. "I have no interest in cleaning tongue marks off my mirror." The Doctor stepped up to the mirror, glaring at the image of Regina, who was just smirking back at him. "So you're the infamous Doctor. Doctor who, if I may ask?"
"You may…but first you'll have to let Prince James go." The Doctor requested.
Regina grinned. "I intend to, Doctor. In fact, I'm issuing a parlay…just for you and that little troublemaker accompanying you."
The one bit of detail from the Evil Queen's offer made the Doctor very curious. "Just for me? Why just for me? I serve no importance in this matter."
"Oh, but you do, Doctor." Regina contradicted. "You are the living legend of all lands. I wouldn't want to pass an opportunity in meeting the man everyone's talking about. Come unarmed…both of you."
"Where do we meet?" The Doctor cautiously inquired.
"Where it all began between Snow and me." Regina answered. "She knows the place I'm referring to. Meet me there and we'll discuss a truce."
The image of Queen Regina vanished from the mirror in a puff of dark purple smoke, leaving nothing but the reflections of the Doctor and Snow themselves. The Doctor turned away from the mirror and moved out of the cell while muttering to himself, "It's all changed. The story's now been changed. I've changed everything that's happened in the book."
Snow could hear the Doctor's mutterings and grew even more concerned. "Doctor, what's wrong? Is it a trap? Does she really intend on bringing peace between…?"
"Snow, listen to me." The Doctor hastily demanded. "When we go to see the Queen, she's going to force you into sacrificing yourself by giving you an apple. That apple is poisonous, but it won't kill you. The only way to save Prince James is to eat that poison apple. Do you understand?"
Snow White blinked rapidly in confusion. "W-What? Why would she do a thing like that?"
"Because you never kept your promise about Daniel."
Snow's eyes grew wide. "Daniel?"
"The day you told Regina's mother about her love for Daniel, she had him killed in the stable…right in front of her. Ever since that day and the one where she discovered you let out her secret, she's been vengeful against you and everyone you cared about, including Prince Charming."
Tears fell from Snow's eyes as shock and realization shadowed her face. "How do you know all of this?"
"It doesn't matter. I've said too much already." The Doctor sighed, turning away from Snow and looking to the ground. "I've always said that time could be rewritten, but this is one story that – under no circumstances – can't be." He made his way out of the dungeon, failing to take notice of the suspicious way in which Snow was looking at him.
The event played out just the way the Doctor read it from Henry's storybook, only with the Doctor himself involved; he and Snow went alone to the stable to meet Regina, who afterward took the two into the field to see Daniel's grave. Following the Doctor's instruction, Snow pretended not to have known about the grave or Daniel's death; but the tears falling from her eyes could not hide the truth of her knowing already.
"I'm sorry," she told Regina.
"I'm sorry, too," Regina stated, although it was not in the same sincerity as Snow's apology was. "But nothing can change what happened…what you did. You promised to keep my secret. You promised and you lied!"
Snow did her best to rectify the situation. "You must understand that I was very young, and your mother…"
Watching the two women go back and forth and arguing like little children made the Doctor's presence there only feel more awkward; he still could not understand Regina's true intentions for bringing him there. Was it just to see her belittle Snow for something that happened ages ago? The moment finally arrived when Regina reached into a small bag that she brought with her and revealed the poison apple – the very one that the Doctor warned Snow about. Seeing the apple, Snow glanced to the Doctor nervously; the frightened look on her face told the Doctor how much of a bad idea it was to alert her of it, and he was beginning to regret his actions.
"Did you know that apples stand for health and wisdom?" Regina's brief lecture only made the moment more unbearable for Snow.
It was then that the tears stopped and Snow began to face the situation with a sense of bravery, refusing to take part in the charade that the Doctor requested any longer. "Let's just get this over with, Regina. I know what you plan on doing to me…the Doctor told me so." Hearing this brought out a good deal of anger from the Evil Queen as her glare switched from Snow to the Doctor, who was just as surprised as she was to hear Snow let out another important secret. "I know that apple is the only way to save the Prince…but I won't take it."
Regina looked back to Snow and smiled. "The Doctor really has gotten to you, hasn't he? I guess that's why incentive must be given." Dropping the bag she held in her other hand, Regina raised that hand in the air and loudly snapped her fingers.
The snap was a signal for a pair of cloaked Cybermen to appear at both sides of the Doctor. Not anticipating this turn of events, the Doctor was caught off guard, which was the right time for them to restrain him. The Doctor struggled to get free from the powerful grasp of the Cybermen while Snow attempted to rush to his hand; unfortunately, she was prevented from doing anything by Regina, who snatched her arm and kept her near her.
"They will kill him, if you take another step closer." Regina cautioned. "Now you have three choices – you can accept the apple and save both your Prince and your Doctor, you can refuse again and risk killing them both, or you can refuse and I send every single one of these metal men to kill everyone and everything you've ever cared about – the Doctor, your Prince, your friends…I destroy it all!"
Snow kept her focus on the Doctor during Regina's threat, her tears commencing in streaming down her cheeks. The Doctor beseechingly beckoned to her, "Do what she asks, Snow. Everything will be alright."
Slowly, Snow looked back to Regina, who once again held the apple in front of her. "I take that apple…and everyone lives? That's the deal you want to make?"
"With all my heart." Regina sneered.
Tearfully, Snow took the apple from Regina's hands, but it was not in silence. "Then congratulations…you've won." With that said, Snow willingly took a bite out of the poison apple, much to the delight of Regina. The Doctor watched helplessly as Snow allowed the poison to take effect, grunting as it tore her apart from the inside to the out until she finally collapsed to the grass, letting the apple roll out of her hand and out of sight.
After witnessing her sacrifice, the Doctor looked to Regina. "There…you've gotten what you want! Now let the Prince go, just like we agreed!"
"He'll be set free, Doctor." Regina assured while approaching him. "But before I go my merry way, there's just one more transaction I wish to make."
Before the Doctor could have anticipated it, Regina grabbed him by the chin and locked her mouth over his, giving what appeared to be a kiss. Of course, from the sudden strain that went over the Doctor's body, he knew this was not an ordinary kiss Regina was giving him. The Doctor could feel bits of energy being siphoned, sucking him up like a sponge to water. Another second of it and he would have been dead; fortunately, Regina released her hold, moving her mouth away from his. The Doctor fell into unconsciousness, his body going limp under the heavy restraint of the Cybermen.
The transference had taken quite a toll on Regina as her eyes glowed in a golden hue and even hints of it trickled from her mouth when she tried to catch her breath. Regina fell to her knees, clutching her sides and fighting to maintain control of the remarkable power that she extracted from the Doctor. It made her hands and face glow, showing signs of taking over for a brief moment. Once she felt herself regaining some sort of composure, her body ceased glowing; she got back to her feet and ordered the Cybermen, "Let him go. I've got what I needed from him."
The Cybermen followed their orders and released the unconscious Doctor, who fell right beside where Snow had collapsed. The two were left where they were when Regina and her Cyberman cohorts departed from the field. It would be only an hour and a half later when Red, Granny, and the dwarves would come to find them – Snow, who appeared to have been dead, and the Doctor, who had fallen into a coma.