Author's very important note: Possible TRIGGER WARNING for part of this chapter. An OC is coming into this story and she has things to say about another character. Her name is Mrs Cooke and she will testify after Charming. Please avoid that section if you are triggered by mentions of rape. If you choose to avoid it and still want to know what was said, PM me and I will give you the gist.

Much love

Jane

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Chapter 19

James walked unwavering footsteps to the witness chair by Snow and sat. There was right and there was wrong and his mother had raised him to know the difference. But back then things were different. No one had ever told him that there was something in between the right and the wrong: the omission. He touched Snow's hand. They had talked about this at length. He had felt her stiffen in his arms when he had first told her that he wanted to speak. He loved Snow. He loved her like no one else in the whole wide world. But that did not blind him to her quirks. It did not blind him to the little things. He knew she would have accepted this from anyone else. But from him? It was personal. It was personal even now that they had spent the night awake, morosely looking at each other from opposite sides of the bed; it was personal even now that they had talked and that he had explained that he had an obligation not just to Emma, not just to the truth but even to Regina. Regina. Not the Evil Queen. That people changed- both for better and for worse. He held on to her hand even knowing that she hated him a little bit at that moment, even knowing that she could probably not stand the sight of him. But she was his true love and he was not going to give up on her.

He looked at her and tried to convey that with his steady gaze. The courtroom was silent. Probably trying to take the measure of this new development. And then there was his daughter. His perfect, beautiful daughter standing there in the middle of the room, studying Snow. He knew what was going through her mind, through her heart: the love for two people so different from each other and having to hurt one to save another. He knew that very well. As he knew also how much she would sacrifice of herself to see that her decision cost each of them the least possible. He looked at his daughter and saw all that he had hoped for her from the moment he knew she was coming into the world. And it was Regina that she was defending; it was Regina that brought out the best in her. Regina that had made her stay and made her fight and made her come into her own. That, more than anything, he was thankful to the woman for. She had caused him to put his daughter in a wardrobe and lose her for 28 years. But she was also the reason she had stayed. The reason he had her back. He cleared his throat. They had procrastinated enough. It was time to start.

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Emma looked at her mother and wondered if she was going to have to hurt one of the people she loved to save another. If she was going to have to make a choice. Snow had said she was okay with it, with people coming and saying something that could help Regina. But until that morning, Emma did not know that it would include her father. It did not look like it was coming as a surprise to Snow. It looked a lot like Snow knew this was coming. Which did not mean she looked even remotely okay with it if the pained –though stoic- expression was anything to go by.

But her father- her dad (oh, she had a dad) - was sitting on the chair by Snow's side and he was going to testify and he did not look the least bit reluctant. How would it have been to have grown up with a father like him?

She had no clue how to start. She had no clue how to even address him. "Hi." He gave her an encouraging, uncomplicated smile. "David. James."

"How about David? Or Charming? I know it sounds ridiculous but it is more my name than James."

"How come?"

"He named my brother James." He pointed with his chin at the Prosecutor. "When the real James died, I became James."

"I wish that had been true!" The Prosecutor mumbled from his seat loud enough that the whole room could hear.

"Or not. But James was never my name. It was David."

"I thought that was your cursed name…"

"Funny, isn't it? When I woke up here, with no memory of who or what I was, I was David again. The curse gave me back my real name."

"I like David." Emma saw Snow's hand squeeze David's. Maybe she liked it too. The reluctant little smile on her face told Emma that Snow liked it too. At least a little bit. "David, some people might think that you agreed to come here because of me. I wouldn't blame them. I really wouldn't. Part of me likes that thought too, the part that will always need a little validation to feel better about herself. But that's not it, is it?"

"No. Or not only. I guess none of us will ever be quite sure." He looked at Snow as if the comment was all for her.

"I mean, certainly, you would be justified to hate Regina. To want to see her hang or however it is you execute people in the Enchanted Forrest."

"Well, there are several schools of thought. King George was partial to the guillotine. My head was between his blades at some point."

"You had Regina facing a firing squad."

"Indeed. Arrows."

"So why the change of heart?"

"It's not. Not really. Or not totally. I had the Evil Queen on the docks. But this is not the Evil Queen… I think. It's the Mayor. Or Regina Mills. It's not the same person."

"Can you be a little more specific?"

"We all know the story. Or think we know, at least. But for all of that, for all the times she tried to kill Snow, for the curse and everything else, she saved my life. Twice. How easy would it be to let me die? To let Snow lose her true love, like Regina lost hers? She saved me that day in the gallows. The king that bought me to be his son gave the order. The blades were on their way down. Do you know that I could actually feel the wooden frame of the guillotine rumble with the blades coming down, the air swishing around my neck…? The Evil Queen turned the blade into water when it was already on its way down."

"Out of kindness of her heart?"

"Whatever her motives, she stopped the execution. I lived to have her in the docks. If her purpose was simply to annihilate Snow, she could simply have shown her the execution through her magic mirror. Or whatever magic thing she could think of."

"So what's your theory?"

"I don't have one. At the time I could only see the cruelty of getting me in a dungeon, of making me watch Snow bite into that apple for me. I still see that as cruel."

"It sounds like you have a theory after all." But David was looking at Snow again and there was a little twist of his lips that promised a smile. No, he had a theory, but Snow came first. And Emma could live with that. "And the second time she saved your life?"

"Here. She found me and took me to a hospital where I was cared for; where Snow found me and woke me up. If the end game was to hurt Snow, by then she did not remember me. But whatever the motive, she took me to where I was cared for. She could have left me to rot where she found me. Why bother?"

"And still you do not have a theory."
"Still, I don't, no. What I know is that I see a different person now. I just wanted to say that. I'd forgotten she'd saved me once. I did not want to forget it a second time. I did not want anyone to forget."
"So you believe that people can change?"

"I didn't before. Now I do. And I believe in mitigating circumstances too. But most of all, I believe in the truth. The whole truth. Not the truth according to some or the truth by increments. And it may not mean much that she saved me, not in the grand scheme of things, but it meant two things for me: one, that I lived to be your father and two, that I lived to see you again, to remember you. To be proud of you. That means the world to me."

Oh, god, he's gonna cry, Emma thought with a mixture of emotion and embarrassment, and her eyes burned too. And if she cried, she was going to kick David up the backside for ruining her street cred.

"So," The Prosecutor interrupted from his desk, arms across his chest and slightly slumped on the chair as if he simply could not force himself to care. "You propose what? Forgive and forget? BFFs forever and ever? Isn't that sweet? WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF US?" He bellowed the last few words. "What about justice for us? She had a problem with you two. Should we have been involved in that? Or should you two sit in the docks with her for all the nuisance you have caused us, innocent bystanders?"

"Innocent my ass!" Emma turned on her heels. "Have you heard nothing of what went on in here?"
"Only the important parts, my dear. My brain carefully selected only the truth."

"How handy."

"Does the Prosecution have any further questions?" Snow interrupted just in case the conversation got out of hand.

"No. That will be all."

"Go figure!" Emma could not help but provoke the Prosecutor a little. James stood and walked to sit behind Regina.

"Thank you." Regina whispered when James accommodated his long, fluid frame behind her. "And I'm sorry."
"For what part? The dungeon? The curse? The rest of it?"

"The seduction lasagna dinner. I'm so sorry." James pinched his face in disbelief. At that moment Regina wanted to laugh because he was so much like Emma they could be carbon copies.

"Seduction?"

"Pathetic attempt at. I'm sorry."
"One more jab at Snow, right?" Regina merely nodded, a blush covering her cheeks. "Don't mention it. I'm serious. I'm already on thin ice with Snow. Don't mention it at all."

Regina looked at Emma. No, she would not. That would be all levels of uncomfortable. She felt pathetic enough as it was.

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Blue approached the Prosecutor. It was a gamble to reveal her hand so easily without any leverage, especially because he seemed not overly fond of her which really bothered neither way, except for the repercussions. She flexed her hands by her side and felt the magic inside her hum, hum, hum like an engine revving, roaring to life. She sat behind him, carefully watching for someone paying attention to her movements, to someone looking at her more closely. It seemed, though, that once again, the throng of Storybrooke was, collectively, dimwitted, inattentive and, as usual, that played right into her hands. The Prosecutor spared her a glimpse but inched backwards on his chair, close enough that they could maintain a conversation without standing out.

.

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From her wallflower position, Nova gritted her teeth against the soreness in her back and the heartache of disappointment.

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Regina's body relaxed when Emma returned to her seat and exchanged a few words with Charming. He pointed at the woman that had intervened in the morning and Regina followed his gesture with her eyes. The woman sat very much in the same spot as in the morning, a few rows back, disappearing between other women who clustered together as if they were a castle made of playing cards. She didn't know them. They had been part of the landscape of Storybrooke from the beginning. She remembered the fading red of the hair of the woman that had spoken. She remembered the plump cheeks and the pretty dimples and the working hands of the woman but she could not quite place her in Storybrooke, just like she could not place her in the old land. But here she was, brought here by her curse.

The woman was nervous, shaky, flustered and when Emma called her, Regina could see the tremor in her hands. She wished she could remember anything, anything at all about this woman. Anything that could mitigate whatever the curse had done to her. The curse was her revenge but too many had been caught up in it. Too many that she could not justify to anyone, to Emma, let alone to herself.

"The defense calls Mrs Cooke."

Mrs Cooke walked towards the witness chair with her eyes scanning the room as if she were prey looking out for a hunter.

Emma waited for her by the wooden railing that divided the room and walked her to the chair. Mrs Cooke's eyes were locked with Regina's as if they could not break the connection in that gaze. She sat by Snow not without a small curtsy that Snow acknowledged with respect.

Emma could not help but wonder if this was going to be the way of things from then onwards, as if they were living in a period drama where everyone had forgotten their costumes and the props had not yet arrived on set.

"Mrs Cooke, thank you for coming. I know this is not the easiest place to sit for you."

"It's not, no."

"And still you came."

"Yes, Your Highness, I did. I heard that we would all have our say here. So I came to say my piece." Mrs Cooke choked on her words by the end of what was clear to Emma was a rehearsed sentence. Mrs Cooke had rushed through it as if she would forget some of the words or run out of time for them. Mrs Cooke replenished the air in her lungs. "I came to say my piece." And she wrung her hands in her lap, twisting the skin into purple and white ripples under her calloused fingers.

"Mrs Cooke, you know that no one can hurt you now, don't you?"

"With all due respect, Your Highness, after certain things in life, it is hard to believe that you will ever be safe." What do you say to that? What promises do you make? Emma took a moment to admire Mrs Cooke's courage, her determination. Emma simply assented silently to the remark. "In any case, I don't stand to lose any more that I already did."

"Mrs Cooke, can you please explain for the court who you were before the curse?"

"No one. No one of import anyway. A woman that no one wanted, working in the king's feud land away from his sight."

"What king?"

"King George." Mrs Cooke pointed with her chin but averted her eyes as if she could not surpass a lifetime habit and fear.

"And with the curse?"

"No one of import either. Housewife to Mr Cooke."

"Mrs Cooke, please forgive the bluntness of the question, but why is it that you wanted to come here today? What is that you want to say to the court?"

"Your Highness asked who thought they were better off here. Who thought Storybrooke was not such a bad place. For me, it was a good place. It was a good time. Now that the curse is broken, not so much. There is nowhere else to run and believe me, the past has a very big stride to catch up with you. I had forgotten, you see. And now I remember it all again. I wish I could forget."

"What do you wish to forget, Mrs Cooke."

"I want to be Mrs Cooke again. When we remembered who we were, Mrs Cooke disappeared under the old skin, under the old shame, under the nightmares and the hurt that never heals. I want to be her again. I want to be Ada Cooke again. I don't want to remember being Adela the kitchen maid or Adela the poor soul. I don't want to remember what he did to me. I was at peace during the curse. I had no memory. Do you know what a curse memory is? I wish to forget. I wish I could forget."

"Mrs Cooke, you don't have to talk about it if you do not want to."
"I know. I don't really want to… to talk about it, you know? But it's not going away. We were told we would all have a turn. He said that we could all have a turn. And I think I will take my turn at the truth now. I have hidden my shame long enough for this. So now I want to speak of it. I want to say it loud because the curse ended so my peace ended. Now I have all the memories, all the nightmares of that time again as if no time at all has passed. And maybe the truth can bring me some of the peace the shame didn't. Look at us." She pointed towards the end of the room where four more women bundled together as if they were preparing to face off a hurricane. "We have all been hiding. What we had here, what lives the curse gave us, we lost when it broke. Look at us…"

Mrs Cooke's voice broke then, unable to continue. Emma gave her time to regroup, to get a hold on herself. The she asked. "Mrs Cooke… What truth do you want to have a turn at?"

"Do you know what was different back there? No one would think of their rights. No one thought they had the right to protect their children. My mother was happy when I started to serve at the King's household. It was good, you know? There was food likes of which we have never seen and my mother had one less mouth to feed, one less to clothe and one less to take care of. And then he took me to his bed." She looked at the Prosecutor and did not lower her gaze until she had finished. "He took me to his bed. Commanded me to his bed. When I was fifteen. And afterwards, when I dragged myself home, my mother cleaned me up from what he left behind and sent me back because when you start at the service of the king, you don't leave unless he tells you to go. So I went back. To the castle and to his bed when he wanted. Who else would want me anyway? Who else was I good for after I had served a king like that? What else were we good for after that? When he got tired of me- tired of us- there were more, younger, prettier. He forgot about us then. He walked over us like fall leaves on the floor. We never could forget about him. For us, there was only loneliness of knowing that you will never find someone that can look beyond what happened to you. People looked at us funny, they pitied us. Do you know what it feels like to have pity be the best you can hope for from others?" She changed the direction of her gaze then. She looked at Regina and remained silent, catching her breath, gripping ferociously at the tears that had been dancing at her eyes since she had first looked at the Prosecutor. "My truth… our truth," Again she included the other women huddling together in the crowd, "Is that we had nothing there, not even peace. We can only be thankful for the curse. For Storybrooke."

Emma looked at the other women. Mrs Smith; Mrs Wood; Mrs Brooke. Completely unremarkable. How do you go about life dragging such weight with you? "Mrs Cooke… You are all married here."

Mrs Cooke smiled but it was a tragic smile laden with tears. "It would appear she gave us our hearts' fondest desires. We got to have what could have never have been ours back there- a home, a husband, a life of our own. And yet, here we sit alone again."

"What happened?"

"We are both, your highness. So are our husbands. They are both. They cannot forget what they were then: unable to see past the shame. They walked away when they remembered who they were. Who we were."

"I don't have any more questions…" It was difficult for Emma to walk away. It seemed that no one could look past what they had been. What others had been. When she sat, Mrs Cooke was just waiting for the Prosecutor, waiting for the storm.

The Prosecutor spoke from his seat, not bothering to stand. "It was called a King's tenure, his birthright. But this is not what we're here to discuss. What I would like you to answer is very simple, though. You seem to be looking at the defendant as if you have something in common… some sort of… bond? I see you looking at her as if the defendant had granted you some sort of special favor. But let me remind you that, not knowing you from anywhere, she, more likely than not, did not design your life here to your heart's fondest desire. More likely than not, it was an accident of fate."

Emma ground her teeth, gnashing them together until her jaw hurt. The Prosecutor was enjoying the systematic destruction of even the smallest consolation for Mrs Cooke. Callous bastard. "Is there a question in there? Or is this another preview to the closing arguments?"

"Oh, no, there is a question. Do you see the difference, Mrs Cooke? Between you and her? And I don't mean the title or the power. I mean the heart. You have just painted a miserable life for the court. The defense painted a miserable life for the defendant, so, on all accounts, you could be kindred spirits. Is that what you think? That you have something in common?"

Emma moved forward on her chair, ready to stand between the Prosecutor and Mrs Cooke who seemed unable to form words. Mrs Cooke nodded but no words formed.

"Do you think you two are the same? Because you're not. You lived your life as you should have lived it. The defendant perverted the laws of nature, ensnared, plotted and murdered, cursed an entire world for the sake of power. You are nothing like her. And you should be proud."

A tear slid down Mrs Cooke's plump cheek, the pretty blue of her eyes clouding over. "Do you know what I thought when the trial began?" The Prosecutor's half smile muted. He had not expected her to speak again. His had always been the last word. "When I realized that we were here because the queen had cast a curse? I thought that I should sneak into that cave where they're keeping her and ask her to teach me how to do it. How to cast it again. I know I don't have much in common with her, but I promise you that I am not proud. Because if I had half her strength, you'd be dead too."

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The whispers spread through the courthouse like wildfire. Mrs Cooke's tears were finally spilling, silently, as if nothing else was standing in the way of them. She stood and walked to her seat in the middle of the room. When she walked past Regina, she slowed and curtsied. Regina caught herself in time, having reached out to touch the other woman's hand, retracting hers just before they touched. The Prosecutor was right about that: they had very little in common. Mrs Cooke did not carry the sins she did.

But Mrs Cooke reached out her hand and touched Regina's shoulder and told her "Thank you." And then she walked to the other women, where she huddled with them, shoulder to shoulder, leaving Regina shocked and teary.

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She hated the energy in the room, this restless thing between understanding and sympathy that included the Evil Queen. No, that would not do at all. This was not the plan and she was getting upset and tired of all the variables that seemed to have multiplied when the curse broke. Oh why, oh why had the blond meddler decided to stay in her town? Why had the Queen not followed through in that pavlovian behavior of attack, attack, attack, when she felt trapped? The fairy looked at her hands and tried to understand the moment where someone, anyone, had made a decision that did not fit into her plans. When had the queen deviated that tiny little bit from the plan, from the behaviors Rumplestilskin had invested so much in and ended up here, the curse broken, the easy control over the populace gone. It was like an avalanche: the moment that snow flake had fallen on the wrong spot, all had unraveled. Now there was only one thing left to do: damage control. That little shit Emma Swan.

She took a deep breath and clasped restless fingers on her lap. The Prosecutor stole a glance at her. They were agreed then. There was only damage control. She stood, straightened the skirt of her blue habit and walked out of the courtroom, struggling to keep the Mother Superior's small steps all Storybrooke could see.

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Snow looked at the crowd filling the sits and worried. She was not a good queen. She did not love her people above everything else, not like her father and mother had done. She knew the worst about her people. She had lived among them, and knew the unspeakable things they could do when they became a mob instead of individuals. She spotted Ruby sitting in the crowd, demure – by her standards – jeans and tee affecting a not a care in the world attitude. And she worried. She worried about Ruby every single day. What the nice people of Storybrooke could do to her when they became a mob again. And they did. So easily. But Ruby winked and it reminded Snow of their phone conversation that morning. Relax, Max. Snow took a deep breath and felt for the bow and arrows discretely tucked under her desk.

"Would the defense call their next witness?"

"Sure. I call Ruby. I mean, Miss Lucas."

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When Emma called her name, Ruby stood and walked to the front of the room, next to Snow. If she knew her friend- and boy, did she ever- Snow would have packed a small arsenal under her desk just in case. And Ruby was grateful. She was strong but she was not invincible. With the full moon approaching, the wolf in her made her bolder, feistier… stupider. She wanted to do this. Not for Emma. Or not just for Emma, because as close as she was to her, as thankful for the reprieve being a deputy gave her, she was closer to Snow and she hated hurting her. Sister of my soul. No, Ruby wanted to do this for herself. Or as much of her self as she could distinguish between being Ruby and being Red and being wolf. It was complicated. It was probably the pack think. Not a conventional pack like before but a pack at least. The pack of misfits, monsters, lost souls. Everyone around her was just so... fucking perfect. Perfect language, perfect manners, perfect heart. That left Regina. And yeah, she was aware of how bad it looked that her kindred spirit was Regina Evil Queen Mills. But a pack was pack. And her pack, it seemed, was Regina (Regina was what Regina was), Whale, looking at her from the cheap seats… and Emma to the point that she did not fit in with all the other effin princesses with the enchanted life and the shiny glass slippers. Ruby raised her head and challenged the town to look at her, to look at her and see something else that was not Ruby or Red and still accept her. Not that they ever did. A girl with legs that go for miles, short skirts and red lipstick is always fated to be looked at with suspicion and dislike.

"Hi Ruby," Emma approached her. She liked this. It was okay, they could do this. It was just like sitting for coffee at the diner. Just shooting the breeze for a little. No life and death situations here. "Thanks for coming."

"I was gonna say no problem but I guess I should save that to the end of this conversation. See what happens, huh?"

"Yeah. Maybe." Emma paused for a second and Ruby could see her working out the safest angle, the one with the least questions, the least danger. "Ruby, you were the first one to tell me you'd do this."

"Was I? Man, I never think things through, do I?" The only thing that betrayed her nerves was the biting of the nail. Or at least Ruby hoped so. She had her legs perfectly still, she was not fidgeting, she kept her gaze steady on Emma. All good.

"I think you do alright… generally…"
"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Why did you come, Ruby? My dad… god, Ruby, my dad just said that he had an obligation to the truth. That Regina saved his life. "

"Yeah. She did. Probably mine too." She hoped Emma would rise to the challenge and ask her why because Ruby was not quite sure she could say all the things she had spent the night awake rehearsing.

"She saved your life and you want to pull a David and thank her…"

"Look, Emma, I could just say that and go back where I came from. It would not be a lie. But your dad is right. We have an obligation to the truth, don't we? I mean… Did I ever tell you why Granny raised me? No? My mom was something else. And then she was killed, that's why."

She could see Emma's eyes widening, she could smell the pungent smell of fear coming from Emma, from Snow. From Granny. But she had lived her life in fear before. Enough.

"Ruby, you don't need…" Clever girl, Emma. You did not have to tell her a whole story. She was good at filling in the blanks. But in a way, Ruby had waited her whole life for this, for the moment she could be what she was in broad day light and not have to fear for her life.

"Ask me why, Emma."
"Ruby…" The plaintive tone was strange on Emma.

"She was a wolf, you see. She was a wolf and she ran free. I didn't. I was too scared. But she did. And god, it was beautiful, Emma, beautiful to see, beautiful to be. She was killed because she was a wolf. I was there. You were too, weren't you, Snow? She was killed because of what she was. Do you wanna know the funny thing? Granny passed it on to her. The wolf. And she passed it on to me. Some parents give the most fucked up things to their kids, huh? But look at my Granny. Everybody loves my Granny. Except for the ones she actually makes a point of offending, right?"

Beside her, Snow grabbed for what had to be her bow and quiver but kept it under the table. The crowd was stunned into silence. "My mother was what she was through no fault of her own. Granny too. Me… We got screwed over by somebody else and that I understand about Regina, you know, about Mrs Cooke. We were made into something grotesque by others. And all we ever wanted was what everybody else has so easily." Man, she was not gonna cry. Not now, nor ever. "See, most people remember me with the hood. That was supposed to stop the wolf. Even when I learnt to run with the moon, I had to wear it. People did not feel safe around me. Do you know what that was, Emma?"

Emma turned to see the crowd, to check how long they had. She could see and smell and hear Emma, the blood pumping, the heart beating, the muscles quivering, ready to cut everyone's losses. "I don't know Ruby. Half a life, I guess."

"Less than half a life. I spent my days waiting for the full moon, trying to cheat my luck, because odds are, had we stayed there, I would have ended up dead, my head on some wall as a trophy. I was never whole. We think we're so great, so strong, but let me tell you, it is no picnic to hide what you are from others. To live only a small part of your life in public and hide the rest because it upsets others.

"So you're here now because…"
"During the curse, I was only Ruby. No wolf, no secrets, no memories. If this was supposed to punish us all, god, Regina, you did a pretty half ass job of it. Do you know how many of us have shit they would rather forget?" There was shuffling of feet and general fidgeting in the crowd and Ruby through, well, this it, they are getting their pitchforks now and that never ended well for anyone.

And then granny stood, crossbow at the ready and turned to face the crowd: "Come on then! What are you waiting for?" That's my Granny and she smiled and cried all at the same time. Next to her, Snow took the bow in one hand and loaded it, expertly, with an arrow from the quiver at her feet. She did not say a word. She did not need to. The crowd did not exactly simmer down. There was fear and distrust in the air - god, she'd be glad when the moon was over and her senses would dull a little – but no move yet, not for her anyway. She would have felt it.

She kept on expecting it, though, the moment the rumble of feet would become shouting and cursing and fists and weapons. Emma did too. But Granny sat again and Snow took her cue from her and sat as well. And all the while Regina was just there, looking absolutely bowled over. It was such a strange look on her if you had not looked at her for past two weeks that Ruby wanted to laugh for causing it, for causing the unflappable Regina Mills to feel overtaken by… emotion?

"I don't have any more questions. Thank you Ruby."

The Prosecutor stood and moved to stand in front of his desk, facing Ruby, pretending to study her.

"A werewolf?" Ruby could not care less if it was question or an accusation so she did not reply. "And this is who comes to the defense of the Evil Queen! A werewolf! Is this a joke? A kitchen maid, a bastard playing prince and a werewolf. Do they go into a bar too? Who's next? The Ugly Duckling?"

It was the most surprising moment of the day, the moment Regina replied from her seat: "The Ugly Duckling was in fact a swan, so we've got that covered." And she leaned against Emma, chin on her shoulder, all challenge. Ruby snorted. It was an act, the defiance. A lie for public consumption. Ruby could still hear the rumble, the trepidation of the muscles, the unsteady beat of Regina's heart, but she liked it. She liked attitude more than that devastated Regina of late.

"Oh, so the truth and the chance at the truth are privilege of princes and kings? Kitchen maids have no say in it?" Emma gave him a second and then tacked on "And if you ever call my dad anything like that again, I shit you not, you're gonna wish you hadn't."

The Prosecutor must have thought better of replying because he simply proceeded as if he never been interrupted.

"I am curious about one thing, though… Why?"

"Why what?"

"Allow me to elaborate: Everybody loves your grandmother."

"Because she hid what she is."

"There is nothing wrong with that. But_"

"There's all manners of things wrong with that. I want to be loved for what I am, not what I could or should be. And Granny has already missed that."

"So what do you think is going to happen now?"

"I know what you think should happen, King George. But I'm past caring."

"Is that why you're here? Do you think you have that in common with the defendant?"

"I don't know. No one knows her- 'cept probably for Emma. No one ever took any time to see her, the real her. But what she did for me? She gave me time without the wolf. And when the curse broke, I got something else out of it: perspective."

"I'm glad of it. Maybe now, with all that perspective you see why a werewolf is a dangerous animal, one that should be controlled. Surely you see the damage that unbridled passions can bring about to others_"

"Oh go to hell. Get your head out of your ass because you can't hear me from all the way up in there. Your sins were always very public. Your crap, your damage to others. King's tenure, huh? You've had the privilege of being born a king so our perspectives are a little different. Mine is that I'm done hiding. I want to close the diner early on full moon nights and I want to run free like my mother did, without having to hide alone or with my pack where no one can see us. And I want to not open the next day in the morning because I'm gonna be exhausted and I want to sleep it off. I want people to come to me and ask if I had a good night, how it felt, what I saw, how the air smelled. Because that's me and why should I just talk about coffees and diners when I'm all of this and it is so beautiful?"

"Because none of us are interested."

"Because none of you know me. The real me."

"I can't say I have any interest in that particular topic."

"And for once I believe you are telling the truth."

"More's the pity!" Whale spoke from the middle of the crowd where he had sat inconspicuously until that moment. "Sheriff, I think I'll take my turn now."

Welcome to the pack of misfits, Whale.

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

This was a bad idea if he'd ever had one. On every single count possible. Ruby. This was Ruby. Ruby had a Granny. And a Queen armed to the teeth. And a Sheriff. Ruby was brave and that was hot, hot, hot. And he was a wimp, hiding behind his curse name. And now he'd gotten himself carried away thinking with his privates first and his brain had not even engaged yet. Scheisse.

But when he looked around, the whole court room was looking at him expectantly, as if he had been about to impart some great medical breakthrough and his feet got so cold it could have been arctic. What have you done? Always this stupid need for validation. Nein, nein, nein.

"You will have your turn when I am finished with this witness, Dr Whale."

"Or that." God, he was pathetic. "I can wait. No rush."

The flood of relief running through his body was of tsunami proportions. He just wished Ruby would stop smiling at him before he lost the rest of his mind and confessed to everything.

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

He looked cute, Ruby thought from her seat. A little weak at the knees, stinking of fear and cowardice, but cute. Damn, good thing the moon was coming and she would be going after the stronger gene pool or Whale might just be a dear enough for her to get herself in trouble.

"I believe that is my line, Mr Spencer." Snow finally released the bow under her desk and crossed both hands on the desk. "Does the Prosecution have any further questions for the witness?"

Ruby wanted to laugh because the Prosecutor's face was textbook for pissed off. No he had no further questions. Or none that he could drum up at such short notice.

"No further questions, Your Honor."

"Good! Ruby, thank you." And Snow gave the crowd a look that was, quite clearly, a warning. "Will the Defense call their next witness?"

"Yeah, sure. Dr Whale, then."

"Can I not speak from here?"

"Come on, Whale, grow a pair." Ruby challenged him on her way back.

"Sure. Easy for you to say."

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

"Dr Whale?"

"Your Majesty?"

"Are you sure you want to be here?" There was a petty little part to Snow that wished he would just reconsider and leave. Then she looked at Regina and at her daughter and sighed. Still, she would not force anyone.

"I'm not, no, Your Majesty. I'd rather be on a beach surrounded by tanned bikini babes, but it seems I have one last shred of decency that refuses to listen to better sense. Pity, really."

"Okay, then, Dr Whale. Emma?"

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

Emma walked to Dr Whale and studied him because she did not know what his angle was. She was trying to get a bead for him but the man was a clam. A closed off, glued shut clam. "Dr Whale… I'm not sure if I should beat around the bush with you or not, so here goes nothing. Yesterday you weren't even remotely inclined to come here today. In fact, you seem to have only just changed your mind…"
"Huh… what an understatement, Sheriff. I can barely believe I changed my mind. Doesn't happen to me often, I can assure you."
"So… was there any decisive factor?"

"Besides Miss Lucas, you mean?" When Emma looked at Ruby and then at him, Whale nodded sadly. "It occurs to me that I will never be a hero. Not like you or Ruby. I mean… that's not me, okay? If there is an easy way, I'll take it. If there is a short cut, I'm on it. But… we all have secrets, don't we? It seems to me that this whole town is sitting on a cesspool of secrets, so I figured maybe… I don't l know… I guess I figured if I speak now, everybody else is too busy just trying not to sink in their own crap to mind me… That came out pathetic didn't it?"

Emma sighed because yes, it was pathetic but it was also the truth and that was rare. "I'm not even sure what to ask you, Dr Whale. I mean… do I ask you what your secret is? What you're hiding? Or do I ask you if you owe Regina anything that you want to settle now?"

Whale shook his head disconsolate. "You can ask me my name. My real name."

"Your name?"

"Yes. Quite contrary to your father, I am not so proud of mine."

"What's your name, Dr Whale?"

"Frankenstein. My Name is Dr Victor Frankenstein."

Emma missed a beat where her stomach just turned and churned. "The monster?"

"You don't need to look so horrified. You know, I was watching Scooby Doo the other day. Don't make that face, Sheriff."
"No face. No judgment. My favorite was always Shaggy."

"Mine was Scooby. Do you think that says anything about us?" Emma shrugged. It probably did. "They always call the green monster by Frankenstein or creature. Make him evil, monstrous. But I can tell you this because I know it here, in my heart: Gerhardt was not a monster. He was kind and honorable and all that a father- my father- could ever wish for. I did that to him. The displacement, the pain, the anger. The monstrosity. I got him killed. I got him into the living hell of suffering and misery that were his last days on earth. Me. It's a rare film that shows me, let alone me as the monster. How can perception be so wrong, Sheriff? I just wanted my brother back. My perfect brother."

"You did a lot of…. If I remember the films and the books correctly, you did a lot of nasty stuff, Dr Whale."

"You should know better than most that the fiction from this world does not do justice to those of us they call characters. But in my case, yes. I did a lot of nasty stuff. Most of which they could not begin to fathom."

"Can I ask, then, because I'm sure that the Prosecution will…"
"I'd rather hear it from you, Sheriff. You make everything sound better than the Prosecutor. Prettier too…"
"Whale!"

"Sorry. Force of habit."

"Yeah. So why is it exactly that you are here? Is there any parallel? I'm gonna go with the fact that you both lost people you loved and did horrible things to get them back "

"And it would be a nice guess. Not a bad one. But the truth is that among the many horrible things I did, I wronged the queen the most. Willingly. Knowingly. For that I owe her. I am here to apologize. To say that I have a hand on what she became." For a moment it looked like Whale was going to continue but he stopped and his eyes were lost somewhere that Emma could only guess was the past. She looked around for Ruby, hoping for a cue from her on what to do, but Ruby simply shrugged, a sad little smile.

Emma had a terrible thought at that moment: that it might not be enough. Any of it. Whale was her last witness having run out of time, of fairy dust, and maybe, none of it might ever be enough to save Regina and she gave Whale a break. "I have no more questions."

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

Emma returned to her seat and fought the urge to bury her head in her hands tooth and nail because she would not do this to Regina, she would not show her how hopeless she felt at that moment, how absolutely terrified she was. How was this enough? A prince, a wolf, a king's victim, Frankenstein and an ugly duckling against all those that had come for the prosecution? How could she have possibly done enough? What had she been thinking, taking this on her own, Emma Clusterfuck Swan?

A cold hand touched her face, soothing. Regina just closed the gap between them and said so very softly "No one has ever done so much for me. Thank you. You mustn't worry, Emma. Whatever happens, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. One that I am absolutely sure I did not deserve. Thank you. For all of it. All of this. For bringing me back my heart. For Henry, for the hope. No one would have done it any better."

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

The Prosecutor stood and circled Whale like a hyena studying its prey. "Dr Frankenstein."

"I prefer Whale, if it is all the same to you."

"It's not. Dr Frankenstein, on all accounts, you come from a well-off family. Titles, land, standing… Do you not miss it?"

"Being the second. The runt of the litter. The disappointment. Always several apples short of a bushel. No, I can't say that I do."

"Your father's love, your family honor."

"The war, the blood and guts my father wanted to send me to. Knowing myself- having my father know me- for a coward. No, Mr Spencer, I don't miss it at all. Your point?"

"In a minute. You said you killed your brother. Please explain."

"Do you know who I find I have something in common with, Mr Spencer? You."

"I resent that."

"Yeah, me too. But it's there, nonetheless. And what we have in common is pride. A blinding, insurmountable pride." Whale waved it way as if that was neither here nor there. "I wanted to prove myself to my father. For pride. My brother got caught in the crosshairs. For love, I tried to get him back. For love, for guilt and for pride. I was going to be the brilliant Dr Frankenstein. I was going to give my father back his son. I would be the best loved, the greatest. It got my brother killed."

"So this is the poor excuse for a man that you are comes to the Evil Queen's defense. Small wonder. She cannot find any better than the assorted villains and monsters. That is my point, Dr Frankenstein."

"I'm not sure, Mr Spencer. I was never any good with words. But, for once, I like the side of line I'm standing on."

"Your side of the line is defending a monster."

"Maybe we have different definitions of monsters. Gerhard only ever wanted for peace among our family. He was labeled a monster. But I alone condemned him to the monstrosity, to the loneliness of being a monster among perfect people. Do you know what that does to a soul? To know that you are hanging on to your last shreds of humanity and there is no one to stop your fall? No? We are all monsters in our own way, Mr Spencer. For all that he loved Gerhardt, my father wanted him dead for having lost his perfection. That was the last my brother heard from the father who loved him. When we drop people from our hearts, like birds from their nests, how can you expect them to rise again and fly? I was instrumental in the Queen's fall. I walked over her heart, her life, her last hope and made dust out of them in the search for the redemption of my own sins."

"So you think you have that in common with her?"

"Why are you so worried about all of us that came here today having something in common with her? Do you worry that much that some empathy for her might be found? I have nothing in common with her. I create monsters. She was made into one. I was there for that event. I owe her my apologies. I owe her my prostration on the floor and begging for forgiveness. I owe her the great charity she has given me of forgetting what I did to my brother."

"I never took you for the poetic sort, Dr Whale."
"So now it's back to Whale. What happened to Dr Frankenstein?"

"I have no further questions."

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

When Snow dismissed him, Whale stood and walked back to the gallery but stopped short, by Regina's side. "I don't know how to do this gracefully… how to apologize gracefully. How to ask for your forgiveness. But I must. What I did… I wish I had no memory of it. What I did to my brother, to you. He is beyond my reach now, but you… you're here. So I guess… I am so sorry. I am so immensely sorry."

Regina swallowed the thickness that settled on her throat. She could feel Emma behind her, the warmth of her and the steady beat of her heart. "You loved your brother."

"I did."

"Then I understand the choice you made. It wasn't really a choice."

"No, it wasn't. But I am sorry."

"Losing someone you love, it can make you do unspeakable things…"

Whale only nodded. It truly could.

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

Blue was waiting for Emma and Regina by the time the school bus delivered them to the mouth of the cave. She had the vial of fairy dust in her hand and a softly concerned expression on her face. It pinged Emma's radar immediately, that there was something wrong but she couldn't put her finger on it and Henry was just there and he wanted to stay and she was just feeling lonely enough, overwhelmed enough to want Regina for herself for one night, to want the warmth of the skin and the recondite places of her body, her sighs of pleasure in her ear. She turned Henry to her and knelt in front of him. "Kid… I just… look, I need to talk to you mom. We need to work a little on what I'm going to say tomorrow…"

The fairy took off Regina's collar under Henry's watchful, steady gaze and motioned her to the cell. Henry lowered his eyes to Emma. "Memma, it's okay. You don't need to lie, though. You want to be alone with mom tonight, right?" The cell door closed, the usual sound of metal melding together with a whoosh. "What the hell is she doing?" Emma stood abruptly. "Hey! Open that. I told you that I was gonna stay the night. Open it!"

"Your highness, be reasonable. You know we are running out of dust!" She swirled the vial right in Emma's face but her eyes were set on Regina alone, on her reaction, on the rush of air leaving Regina's lungs, on the color draining from her face. On how immensely satisfying those two tiny little things were.

Emma wasn't a total disappointment either, the quick glance she stole at her lover, the quick lowering of the eyes in defeat and acceptance. It was lovely. She couldn't help it but to rub a little more salt on the wound. "Surely it would be a waste to squander it on a whim, your Highness."

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

It was Henry that pushed the fairy away. It was Henry that reacted and told her good night and Regina was so, so proud of her son. "Emma?" she asked when the fairy turned on her sensible heals and walked out of the cave, leaving behind her the rancid smell of despair.

Emma took a few extra seconds to turn to her, just enough for Regina to know that there was something wrong. "What is she talking about?"

"The dust. We only have enough for one more day."

"Oh Emma…."

"I know. I know. I should have told you before. I just… I couldn't bear to put that one more thing on your shoulders. Not when there is nothing we can do about it."

"So you do it alone…"

"I'm not sorry. You didn't need to worry about this as well."

"Emma, please don't make any decisions about me without me. Please. That's all I had all my life. No more, please. Not from you too."

"Regina, I_"

"I would much rather you had spent the night with me. You must know Emma, there is no way this will end any way other than_" Emma placed her hand over Regina's mouth

"Don't say it. Please don't say it." Regina shook her head and kissed Emma's palm.

"I'm sorry, Regina."

"You're an idiot… sometimes…"

"Good thing I never pretended to be otherwise."

"Stay with me."

"You could not make me go anywhere."

"You guys did not forget that I'm right here, did you?" Henry stood next to them, hands stuffed in his pockets. "Don't worry. I called Grandpa and he's gonna come and get me in about five minutes. I'm sorry you did not get to spend the night… cuddling." He blushed all the way to the roots of his hair. "Can I get a kiss goodnight, mom?"

"Are you sure you're not too old?"

"No. I want a kiss goodnight from both my moms." He approached the bars first and slid his arms around Regna's waist. "Good night mom. Love you." And then he turned to Emma and handed her the burns cream. "Mom needs this, Memma. Make sure you put it on her. Love you."

"Love you too, Kid."

~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~SQ~

James dropped off pizza when he collected Henry. It made Regina salivate in a manner that was unexpected to her. She was standing trial for her life and this was the time she had picked to discover the simple pleasures of life. She devoured her pizza sitting Buda like in front of Emma, the bars between them. Were it not for those bars that heated up under her touch and burned her, she could have believed she was just sitting in their living room, sharing pizza at the end of the day and that was a good feeling. Bad timing, but good feeling.

She was on her fourth slice- four more that she had ever indulged when Emma produced the burns cream. "Do you want to talk about why you need this now or later?" Emma was just sitting there, mirroring her position but not eating, apparently, just looking at her.

"No…"

"No? What about the lecture of half an hour ago because I did not tell you about the fairy dust?"

Regina had the good grace to look chastised. She finished her pizza- and not just to gain time- and avoided Emma's eyes. "That was different."

"I don't see how. You made a decision without talking to me. Repeatedly."

"I'm not used to including anyone in my decision making process."

"Yeah, I noticed that. But you sat there, day after day with that thing burning through your skin and you didn't tell me anything."

"What would the point of that be?"

"For her not to put it on you. Tomorrow when she comes in with that shit, I'm gonna shove it_"

"Tomorrow when she comes in with it, you are going to let her. It's one more day Emma. The last day. We made it this far. Don't give her reasons to complicate your life."

"She can damned well try."

"I love the feistiness, Emma. It's good look on you. But please."
"How can you ask me that?"

"With small words, one after the other."

"Ah, the snarky comeback. I have to say, I've been missing it."

"Please, Emma, promise."

"Cross my heart, hope to die." Emma did a quick cross over her heart and then moved closer to the bars. "But I need something in return."
"Everything comes with the price?" Regina was taken aback and Emma quickly put a smile on her face to smooth over the request. "Talk to them. They have heard everyone else but you."
"I did already. Today."

"You know what I'm talking about, Regina. Explain to them why you did it. Why you cast the curse. Why here. Why them. They want to know."

"Are you sure it's them I would be telling? Not you?"

Emma run her fingers through that impossibly beautiful face and uttered softly. "I would too. I would like to know. From you, not from them. No justification, no demands. But I would like to know how you felt. Because… shit… Regina, I… have feelings for you, okay? I feel all of this for you and I don't know the first thing about you. I always had to get it out of you or others, strangers. You never volunteered anything."

"Why would you want to know, Emma? The past is better off in the past. It does not do anyone any good to drag it through the streets."

"Because of this." Emma rubbed at her heart as if it ached. "I feel what I feel not despite of what you are. But because you are all of this. Because you made it this far and you did all this. But I don't want to guess, Regina, not anymore. I want to know. From you."
"What should I tell them, Emma? What should I tell you? That they're here because I hated Snow? What should I tell them when they ask me if I stopped hating Snow? Because I haven't. I don't know how to do it. It was all I had for so long I don't know how to not do it now." She had half expected Emma to stand and walk away. She didn't. Her hands remained steady on Regina's thighs, her head against the bars as if she had lost all strength. Regina would have done anything to make Emma feel better than this. She would have given years of her life. "I could not see the forest for the trees, Emma. Snow was getting married to her prince and then she had a baby on the way and I was alone. All alone. Cast to the side like a broken doll, my usefulness outlived. For all that she had wanted me when she was little, for all that she cost me to get herself a new mother, by then she just wanted me to melt into the shadows and disappear from her life. Her hate, my hate… they were my only connection to life. So I tethered them all to me. I cast the curse, brought us here where no one could leave. Where no one could ever leave me."

And then the tears fell and neither Regina nor Emma made a motion to make them stop. Regina cried until she was empty of it all. And then she fell asleep on the sand floor, holding on to Emma's hand, clutching it to her heart as if she would never let go.