Super plotty chapter, but I promise that the next ones will be less ensemble and more Emma & Regina! This one was a bit of headache with SO MANY CHARACTERS omg and it took me much longer than it should have to write because of that. I should still have a chapter for you next weekend or maybe sooner~

There had been a night, over a decade ago, when Regina and Emma had sat around a table like this, the room overwrought with tension and fear. This morning, though, Henry is at the table, and he's looking increasingly alarmed at their monosyllabic replies and wary glances at each other. "What's…what's going on?" he demands finally.

Regina blinks at him, looking perplexed. It's a very good false face, but Emma's known Regina much too long to fall for the masks- as has Henry, from the way his eyes narrow. "Nothing is going on," Regina says. "You're going to school in a few minutes. I will go to…work." She smiles a plastic smile at Emma. "Emma, how about you?"

"Work," Emma says, expressionless. "I have work, too."

"Of course you do." Regina lays a hand on hers, their eyes locking with suddenly unfriendly stares. Henry drops his spoon with a clatter and rises. "I'm going to get my knapsack," he announces, glaring at them both as he storms upstairs.

Regina sighs. For a moment, Emma thinks she might say something, but instead she turns to the exit and hesitates in the foyer.

Emma hurries after her, catching her wrist, and Regina slides gladly into the kiss. They're standing pressed to each other for even longer than the kiss lasts, breathing the same air with foreheads resting together and Emma's hands on Regina's waist. It's more intimate than Emma had intended for them, but she can't seem to pull away. "Don't do this," she whispers, loud enough to be overheard. "Don't give us up for her."

Regina buries her face in Emma's shoulder, and Emma can feel through thin fabric the way that her lips curl up against Emma's skin. "Don't make me choose," she murmurs when she raises her head again, and they pull apart with somber, stubborn faces.

Regina heads in the direction of the docks and Emma walks Henry to the place where that yellow monstrosity picks him up for school before she ducks into the woods. She makes a brief stop at Lancelot's cabin and then heads to the one across the clearing.

"Okay, Tamara," she says, pushing open the door. Tamara looks up at her, nonplussed. "Let's do this."

The Blue Fairy stares at Emma and closes her eyes, murmuring an instinctive, "Lord give me patience," like she's still an acolyte or whatever religious figures they're supposed to be in here.

"Is that how you say hello when people come into the convent?" Emma asks, smiling with as much affability as she can manage.

"Only you," Blue says sweetly, and if Snow hadn't been hanging onto her, Emma might've tried for a swipe at her. Blue turns her attention to the woman behind them. "And who is this?"

Emma watches her face carefully and sees a flicker of…something stronger than recognition on Blue's face. Of course, Tamara has had some nasty history with Regina, so that might just be appreciation. "I'm the midwife," Tamara says, straight-faced. "Were you expecting the Wicked Witch of the West?"

Snow gives Tamara a dark look and turns back to Blue, smiling brightly at her. "I thought I could get a look at where I'm going to have the baby!" she says, squeezing Emma's hand. "And my OB-GYN has some concerns about the birthing room?"

"Now she gets an OB-GYN," Tamara mutters. "Evil witch first, actual medical doctor second. This fucking town."

Blue ignores her, thankfully. "Let me show you the room," she says, eyes only for Snow.

She leads them through the fairy dust room they'd been in last time– except now the fairy dust is gone and there are pews and some kind of podium. The room still gleams with the aftereffects of the dust, and Emma casts her eye around, searching for where it had been hidden.

There's nothing. There aren't any fairies around, either, and Emma and Tamara exchange worried looks. Blue is one step ahead of them, even now.

Time to sidestep.

"And this is the nursery," Blue announces, gesturing to a room set up with two beds and two small cribs. "We have you and Aurora together so you'll both have double the protection. The Wicked Witch won't get close to you with four fairy godmothers on hand."

"Thank you," Snow says, a flash of guilt passing over her face. Emma nudges her, wary of losing their weakest link, and when Blue moves on to show her the birthing room, Snow lets out a pitiful moan.

Tamara scowls at her. Snow moans louder. "Oooh. Oh. Just a stomach cramp," she says, smiling nervously at Blue. Blue cocks her head. "Aah! That's another one. Oh god. I think I'm in labor." She lets out another moan, more protracted and convincing, and Blue frowns this time as though she might believe it.

"What do we do?" Tamara says, her voice rising stridently.

Blue says, "Aren't you the midwife?"

"Sure. Right." Tamara waves her hands in a vague motion toward Snow. "Just…sit down and prepare for labor, okay? You got all the books and shit?" Snow bobs her head, looking pained– though it might be at Tamara's sad attempt at midwifery more than anything.

Emma steps in. "When I was in labor with Henry, there were breathing exercises…"

Snow immediately begins breathing, deep and loud huffs as she sits back on the birthing table, and Blue takes a step forward. "I'll–" She pauses, producing a phone out of nowhere. "Just a minute. Philip?"

And oh crap, they'd prepared for every eventuality but this one. "Aurora is in labor, too," Blue says, and she doesn't look surprised at all by the coincidence. "I have to go to her."

"No!" Emma says without thinking.

Blue blinks at her. "Is there a problem?"

"Yes, there's a problem!" Snow cuts in. "I'm having the baby! You said you could keep me safe! Zelena is after me and–"

"You'll be safe here," Blue says, pressing a hand to Snow's baby bump. "You have your midwife and…" Her lip curls as she assesses Emma, and Emma isn't sure if it's a compliment or an insult when she says, "One of the most tenacious people in Storybrooke with you. I'll be back in just a few minutes." She hurries out the door and they watch her go with frustration.

The plan had been to tempt Zelena out of hiding with Snow's labor and to force her and Blue and a revelation all into the same room. It's a desperate plan, one without much direction, but Tamara had agreed to it and Emma's working a bigger game. "What now?" she wonders, sinking down into a chair.

"We keep this up. Get Zelena here." Tamara produces her taser. "Then we get some answers."

Emma's eyes narrow. "Put that away." They're already falling apart as quickly as their big plan had, and Emma won't be responsible for some bloodbath between Zelena and Tamara. "We're not killing Zelena today."

"You're not, maybe. I'm not sparing every witch with a pretty face," Tamara scoffs.

"Now is not the time to get bloodthirsty–"

"No blood involved! Just science." Tamara flashes her taser again.

There's a groan from in front of them, and they both twist to stare at the wheelchair where Snow has settled down. "Uh," she manages. "I think Blue did something to me before she left." She touches her stomach, sliding her hand up along it as her stomach tightens and loosens again. "I might actually be in labor now."

"No," Emma breathes in horror. No, this is all going wrong. She had had a plan.

Snow manages a smile. "I can still…leave it to me, okay? This isn't my first time tangling with Regina's family." She quivers in her seat, moaning again. "This isn't even that bad. I can take– AHH!" She doubles over, her eyes squeezing closed as tears leak from them, and Emma's hit with sudden fear about what exactly it is that Blue had done to her. If this is about hurting the baby...

"Kalla," she says urgently. "Snow, where is Kalla in this world?"

Tamara already has Snow's phone in her hand, moving her thumb up and down the list of people on it and calling them. Emma paces, chewing on her lip so hard that she's pretty sure it's going to be swollen in a few hours.

They still have no idea how babies fall into Blue's plans or Zelena's. Babies are the Blue Fairy's purview, aren't they? Emma remembers with the vagueness of a long-lost memory being at a baby ball thrown in Snow's honor when Emma had been fostered by one of George's less-liked nobles, remembers sneaking upstairs with a few other children and seeing Blue hovering over Snow's crib protectively. And for all Blue's issues with Emma, she's always seemed loyal to Snow.

Snow and Aurora are the only two royals Emma knows of who have family fairy godmothers. Ella- Cinders-ella, the one who'd once trapped the Dark One- had had one, murdered long ago. And there's something about the two women remaining and the babies they're expecting that's a little too coincidental.

She whirls around, heading for the main room where the fairy dust had been, and the door to the convent slams open and Zelena strides in. "Oh, hello, Emma," she says, smiling, like they've just bumped into each other at a village event.

Regina walks behind her, her eyes unreadable. Emma grabs her arm. "Regina, wait–"

"Don't touch me!" Regina growls, and Emma is hurled across the room. The force of it lessens by the time Emma hits the wall and it's more of a gentle tap, but she still slides to the ground, eyes wide and shellshocked. Regina doesn't spare her another glance.

"Dorothy!" Zelena shouts. "Come out here and face me, you coward!" She's trembling a little, eyes glassy and frantic, and there's the madness flirting with them again. Good.

Tamara wheels Snow out into the room, her taser in hand, and Regina flinches, barely visible if you aren't expecting it. Emma swallows hard. Whatever split might've risen between them, she still doesn't know how she's going to forgive herself for allying with Regina's tormenter. "Tamara–" she croaks.

But Tamara just stands there, eyes glinting with stubborn defiance as she glares at Zelena, and she looks so very young. Both of them do. Emma can imagine them now, girls who'd been thrown into a strange world and lied to, manipulated, used every step of the way by those with a greater agenda than their safety.

Both little orphan girls thrust into the company of a witch, Tamara had described herself and Emma. Little girls who'd seen humanity and been brokenhearted by lies. Girls who'd fought back and run and broken hearts in return. "Dorothy," Zelena says again, stretching her hands out to fire a blow at her, and Tamara still stands in silence.

And Snow, Emma's sister– Emma's sister with a grasp of people that can be frighteningly cruel– says, "Are you going to take my baby?"

Zelena starts. "Am I…Of course I am," she says nastily, glaring down at Snow. "Not like you have the brain cells necessary to raise a child. Be grateful."

"Grateful for you doing to a child what Cora did to you?" Snow murmurs.

Regina rumbles warningly, "Snow…" but her eyes flicker once to Emma's set expression and she falls silent.

"Grateful for another child being rejected from her family because you're…what, following orders?" Snow is picking her words carefully, her eyes crinkling in what looks like sympathy as Zelena simmers with uncontrolled energy. "Is Glinda really worth it?"

Zelena eyes flash. "You know nothing about her."

"I know that she's been using you as a servant, just as Cora did," Snow leans back against the chair, hands clawing at her sides for a moment as a contraction hits. There's sweat beading at her forehead but her eyes don't move from Zelena's, nor does her compassionate smile fade. "I know that you spent years helpless in a new land and she didn't come for you until you were powerful again. Didn't you think about it when you saw what Emma would do for Regina? Where were the people who loved you?"

Zelena quivers. Snow says, smile still pained on her face, "Have you ever been anything more than a tool to Glinda?"

Zelena roars forward, unleashed and wild and furious, and her hands are gripped around Snow's throat a moment later. Tamara tenses on her taser but Regina growls, "Don't you dare," and she drops it, frowning.

Snow chokes and Zelena hisses, words coming and going like sharp breaths, "How dare you. You know nothing. I'm in control. I'm in– I'm in–" Her hands tighten and Snow is beginning to turn colors, her hands waving frantically in front of her.

One more second, Emma vows silently. One more second and they take action if it doesn't work and–

Glinda appears.

She waves her wand and turns in a circle, showering all of them with sparks, and Regina recoils as Zelena jerks up, eyes eager and afraid as she releases Snow. Glinda's voice is oily and sugar-sweet, and even Tamara watches her warily. "Ah," she says. "My dear Zelena, I did worry you'd become a liability." Zelena slumps, eyes wide with stunned betrayal.

And then she crooks her finger at Tamara. "That's why you're here, child."

Tamara stands still, her knuckles nearly pink as they squeeze against the handles of the wheelchair. "I work for the Home Office. Not for witches and magic."

Glinda laughs, high and echoing in the hall, and Emma tenses against the wall. This, she'd suspected and never said a word to Tamara. And if they'd gambled wrong– "Oh, dear," Glinda says. "There is no Home Office. I am your home."

Tamara's lips thin and her eyes slit. She doesn't get angry like Zelena, lashing out and hurting everyone around her, but there's something dangerous about her like this, as though she could blink and strike out without anyone stopping her. "You're lying."

"I cleansed Oz of darkness," Glinda coos. "I took the worst of the children– I always know which children are Bad and which are Good–" And her eyes focus on Snow's stomach with sharp knowledge. "I sent the Bad ones to Neverland for Peter Pan. I had my dear wizard look after you. I knew this day would come." She smiles at a frozen Zelena. "You, Dorothy, have been destined to remove the child I always knew would betray our cause."

Zelena shakes her head wildly. "No, Glinda, I wasn't going to touch the baby! I wouldn't– I didn't–"

"Shut up," Tamara snarls, and Glinda beams. "No, you shut up, too. The Home Office wants to contain magic."

"Dark magic," Glinda corrects her. "Like Zelena's. Haven't you been waiting for all this time to finish her off? Now's your chance, for the greater good." She waves her hand and something beeps in Tamara's pocket. "Your orders," she says sleekly, as Tamara pulls a phone out of her pocket and stares at it in horror. "Kill the unworthy."

Tamara takes a step forward– Regina screams, No! and Zelena screams with her but with rage, the sisters' voices echoing through the room together as Glinda trills a laugh– and Emma fumbles for her bow from her spot on the floor and points it at the whole scene.

And then Tamara takes another step past Zelena and activates her taser, plunging it against Glinda's ample chest. "You killed my family," she says, low and furious.

Glinda shakes her head sweetly, waving her wand and giggling as though the taser is only a tickle. "Victor made sure you would have no distractions. You're a very special girl, Dorothy." She frowns at the taser. "But this is poor behavior. I'm afraid you may be beyond saving, after all." She raises her voice. "Zelena," she says.

Regina is standing in front of Zelena, guarding her and Snow from Glinda and Tamara. "No," she says, and she sounds desperate. They all have opposing agendas today, all locked in by alliances and by their own private plans, and Emma knows that Regina's will be at odds the moment Glinda makes her command.

"Zelena," Glinda repeats, and hope blazes past the defeat in Zelena's eyes. "Perhaps I do still have use for you."

Zelena blows past Regina toward Tamara, a green fireball springing into her palm. Tamara flicks her taser but it doesn't light up with electricity this time, just shorts out and stops working altogether, and she takes a step back and breathes out a "Fuck." Zelena stares at her, the other woman helpless and unarmed, and Tamara meets her gaze grimly. There's only a hint of vulnerability beneath it.

Glinda laughs gaily and claps her hands together. "Don't trust too much in your science," she says coyly. "You never know when it'll fail you. Zelena, end her."

"Zelena, no," Regina says, and Zelena hesitates with a fireball in hand. Tamara backs up, flattening herself against the stage at the front of the room, and Glinda steps aside with a smile still on her face and her eyes on Snow. Emma keeps her crossbow steady, finding Glinda with it. No. There's no use. Glinda can wave away her blows and defend herself with that wand, and right now, Emma can't waste her position outside of the scuffle.

"Zelena," Regina says again. "Snow was right. She doesn't love you."

Glinda scoffs. "How dare you. Zelena is mine. Of course I love her."

"She tortured you, Regina," Zelena says, the words spitting out rapid-fire. "She poisoned me."

Regina doesn't defend Tamara, doesn't speak about forgiveness or redemption. Regina still looks at Tamara with wariness and underlying loathing. "Yes," Regina says, laying a hand on Zelena's wrist. "But she isn't the enemy."

Zelena tears away and hurls the fireball toward Tamara. Regina vanishes and reappears in front of her target, catching the fireball and letting it dissolve into thin air. "No!" Zelena shrieks. "No, my vengeance–"

Regina surges forward and catches her arms, wraps her hands tight around Zelena as she twists in what's kind of an embrace, kind of a restraining hold, and Zelena stares at Glinda's face as it becomes dark and disapproving. "No, no, no," she chants, shrinking back deeper into Regina's arms. "I can't– I failed–"

Regina is murmuring something into Zelena's ear and Zelena shivers and sinks down to the floor as Regina releases her, pale and terrified and miserable under Glinda's thunderous gaze. Glinda swipes a hand and Tamara goes flying, too, her limbs tangling with Zelena's as she picks herself up from the floor and then sinks down beside Zelena, the two of them glaring at each other with a helpless kind of rage.

"Watch her," Regina orders them both, and they stare at her with disbelief. "Do it." She turns back to Glinda. "And you…"

"We don't have much time," Glinda says, eyes on Snow. "Labor can last longer the first time, but we have to get you away from these…influences." She casts a disdainful look at the rest of them, Regina with her eyes glinting dangerously and Tamara and Zelena huddled together on the ground, still gaping up at Regina as though they don't know how to react without her guidance.

And then to Emma, across the room, her crossbow raised and pointed at Regina. "Well," Glinda says softly, pausing on her way to Snow. "This is interesting."

It's the only way to salvage this situation, Emma thinks, and focuses on their disagreement the night before instead of Regina's eyes widening in betrayal. "Any enemy of Blue's is a friend of mine," she says.

"Don't you dare, Lady Swan," Regina says, and it's so easy for them to fall into old patterns, to swing around and lock crossbow and fireball and attack. Emma struggles to find damning words to throw at Regina, to make wild accusations and new reasons for them to be at odds, but her thoughts are scattered and blank and instead they fight in determined silence.

Regina hurls her fireball and Emma barely ducks, rolling out of the way and firing close enough that Snow lets out a cry that has nothing to do with the baby. Regina stalks forward, clearing Snow's corner of the room, and Emma swings forward and slams a fist into her face, drawing a bloody lip. She glances briefly at Glinda and sees her watching, eyes hungry as she takes Emma in. Glinda nods and there's a quality to her, something magnetic about her approval that has Emma struggling to remain afloat again.

Regina breathes out, face soft and then hard again, and sneers, "You're too trusting. You'll believe in anyone but me, won't you?"

"I won't believe in your fucking murderous sister, no," Emma grits out. This time, Regina catches her wrist and twists it, slamming her into the wall again. "I'm trying to keep our family safe. You, me, Snow. I don't care about those two and their pointless agendas."

Regina scoffs, pressing an arm to Emma's throat. "Forgive me for considering my sister family." Emma is backed against the wall, Glinda's eyes fixed on her as she struggles, and Emma tries to heave Regina away from her as Regina presses harder. "I thought we were on the same side, Emma."

"We'll never be on the same side," Emma says boldly, and catches Glinda's gaze and locks onto it. "Haven't you figured that out by now?"

It's Zelena who speaks up now, strained and nervous, and they all look at her in surprise when she says, "Don't… Not the two of you. Stop this." Tamara says something dubiously and Zelena glares at her.

Glinda waves her wand and both women on the ground are surrounded by sparks of purple that look like they're biting into them, sharp and fire-hot, if the way they both fall silent is any indication. Tamara curls into herself and Zelena twitches defiantly, lets the pain surround her– and then she waves her hand and summons the wind. It whirls and whirls around her, casting off the sparks from Zelena as Tamara cries out at last, and Zelena says, her words half-swallowed, "The wizard."

"What?" Tamara looks up and then ducks back down, and Zelena spreads her hands to expand the wind around her, too. When the storm clears, the sparks are gone and both women are unharmed, Tamara watching Zelena as though she's seeing her for the first time.

"The wizard gave you that potion," she says, piecing it together at last. "Glinda…she…" She turns, red-eyed and furious, and glares at Glinda. Glinda stares down at them in weighted disapproval, and Regina makes a threatening noise to tear Zelena's gaze from Glinda.

It works.

"Regina," Zelena says urgently, as though she'd already forgotten the attack she'd deflected. "You can't…don't hurt Emma." Tamara uncurls herself, blinking up at Zelena in confusion. Zelena doesn't seem to notice her so-called mortal enemy still huddled beside her, not when she's busy gawping at the two of them as though they've lost their minds. "Why would you hurt Emma?"

"Well, you know," Emma says faintly, reaching up and flailing at the arm pressed against her neck. She spots a movement near one of the inner doors out of the corner of her eye. "Sometimes there are irreconcilable differences. Sometimes we just really need to get a hold of a wand."

"What?" Zelena repeats. Glinda takes a moment longer.

Too long.

Lancelot tosses the Black Fairy's wand through the air, over Glinda in the center of the room, and Milah has her musket trained on Glinda. Mulan lurks behind them, sword out and equally threatening as Belle holds a book to her chest, and Kalla rushes past them all to seize Snow's wheelchair and roll her back to the birthing room.

They'd all entered the convent just moments after Emma and Snow, spreading out as they'd taken advantage of Blue's distraction to find the wand they'd needed. Emma and Regina had staged irreconcilable differences and they'd brought in Tamara and Zelena and Snow, each of them an irresistible lure for Glinda. And with Belle's research, it's time at last to prove a theory.

"What is this?" Glinda growls, lifting her own wand. "You dare use the Black Fairy's wand against me?"

"Ah-ah-ah," Regina says, letting Emma go and sliding into her side instead, pressing a brief kiss to her neck. Emma wraps an arm around her waist and Regina lays her head against her shoulder. A lazy hand is raised into the air to catch the wand Lancelot had tossed them. "Nobody moves."

Glinda freezes, eyes on the Black Fairy's wand. Emma says, "Did you find the spell?"

"Right here," Belle says, walking to them under Mulan's watchful guard. She hands the book to Emma and Regina begins to read the words across the page.

"I don't understand," Tamara says weakly. "You played us?"

"More like we let you play with each other while we took care of things." Lancelot's voice is soothing. "Blue has had eyes everywhere, and we've had to be careful. She had to be completely distracted. And we had to know we could trust you."

"What does this have to do with Glinda?" Zelena demands, exchanging a glare of mutual solidarity with Tamara. "Blue left before Regina and I got here– were you and Emma fighting at all?" she demands, her voice rising. "I can't believe I…"

"I, for one, was very touched at your plea to save our relationship," Emma says, eyes dancing. Zelena glowers at her and looks very embarrassed. Regina smirks through her spell-casting, murmuring the words faster and faster.

The Black Fairy's wand is beginning to glow silver along its length, and Glinda waves her own wand and nothing happens. "No," she hisses, closing her eyes like she's struggling to use magic, but the Black Fairy's wand seems to tug it all out of her, drawing more and more from her at a rapid speed as Regina chants and chants and chants.

And then, bit by bit, Glinda herself is sucked into the wand. Her pink dress and pink skin and yellow hair are growing brighter and brighter into pinpoints of light that are swallowed by the wand, fading into silver and then nothingness. Her own wand clatters to the floor and she's shouting in her high voice, rising higher and higher until it's just a scream and Regina is still curled against Emma, wand out as she reads from the book.

More and more of Glinda vanishes into the light and then– finally– another form is visible within her light, tiny and nimble as she flutters out of reach of the wand. "I knew it!" Emma gasps. It's one thing to suspect, to theorize conspiracies and lies and secrets. It's another entirely to see it proven, Glinda and her nemesis one and the same, and she's dizzy with relief as she watches her.

Across the room, Tamara and Zelena's heads lift as they watch the Blue Fairy rise from Glinda's remains, exposed at last. "I should have known you'd be a thorn in my side until the very end," Blue sighs, taking in the room. "Still, though, you're too late."

"I don't think so," Regina says smugly. "I always knew you were a nasty little cockroach, but now you've been exposed as the villain of this piece."

Blue laughs, high enough that her tiny voice echoes up through the convent and then bounces back down to surround them. "Villain? Hardly, Your Majesty. My purpose has always been the legacy passed down by my mother." She gestures outside and Emma looks through the windows for the first time since their diversion had started–

Their diversion, they'd thought, one orchestrated late at night in bed as they'd whispered secrets and plans that even nosy fairies couldn't overhear. But now Emma sees the spurts of light outside that are fairies releasing dust across the town, drowning it in fairy-kindness as people walk past unaware, their gaits loose-limbed and easy. And she understands with dread that this diversion had been for them all along.

Blue flutters down and the wand springs from Regina's hand to hers, and when she waves it, the doors fly open. The dust begins to drift inside, sparkling around them, and Emma watches in horror as everyone around her seems to slow down. Tamara and Zelena's eyes droop. Mulan leans against the wall and Belle raises her head dazedly to watch the fairy-kindness sparkly through the room. Lancelot's hands drop and Milah's musket clatters to the floor. Regina's hands loosen and fall limp to her sides.

Blue smiles, satisfied. "Prepare for goodness to reign."