Chapter 12: The Favor
Mandy left Henry at the dock. He wasn't ready to go back home yet. She took her time walking to Gold's shop. She didn't want to do this favor for him, whatever it was, and she was nervous. She finally arrived at Gold's and took a deep breath before walking in. The little bell went off when she walked into the shop. Gold heard the bell and appeared from the back.
"Corinne, I've been expecting you." Gold said walking in front of the glass counter.
"I go by Miranda now." She said standing in the middle of the store.
"You like your Storybrooke name better I see." Gold said.
"Let's cut the small talk and get on with it." Miranda said folding her arms across her chest.
"Feisty. Just like your mother. You're staying with her I hear. I'm guessing Regina informed you." Gold said leaning against one of the glass cases.
"You knew who my mother was this entire time, haven't you? That's why you decided to train me." She said realizing her meeting him wasn't by chance.
"Well look who's putting the pieces together." He responded.
"Why did you do it?" She asked.
"Which part, dearie?" He asked back.
"Why did you teach my grandmother in the first place?" She questioned.
"Oh, she wanted it dearie. She wanted the power, just like you and your mother before you. See a pattern?" He paused letting her think about it for a minute before continuing. "But Cora…She went to great lengths for it."
"What do you mean?" She asked curious to what he was getting at.
"She ripped her own heart out for power." He said rather bitterly. "Her heart was stopping her from what she wanted."
"Who did she love?" She inquired.
"Don't worry about it, dearie. It was a thing of the past." He responded not wanting to relive the past.
"It was you, wasn't it?!" She said as a fact more than a question. Gold's silence confirmed her theory.
"That's just…eww." The thought sent shivers down her spine. "What price did she have to pay for your teaching her?"
"She got out of the deal, but don't think I can be fooled again. You will do me this favor." He responded.
"And what exactly does this favor entail?" She wanted to know.
"Nothing too extreme. I just need you to kill Henry for me." He said simply.
"What? Why?!" She yelled in shock.
"He is in the way. I was told by a seer that a boy would be my undoing and he is that boy." He responded.
"But that could mean anything! He doesn't have to die and I am certainly not going to kill him" She shouted at him.
"Oh yes you are, dearie. You are going to rip his heart out and crush it." He said making a fist. "You remember how, don't you?" he said as he stood in front of her.
"How could I forget that…" Her voice trailing off.
"It needs to be done by tomorrow night." He said.
"I never said I was doing it." She shot back.
"You must." He said getting in her face.
"Or what? You'll kill me?" She asked knowing that would probably be the outcome if she didn't kill Henry.
"No, not you…your mother." He said wickedly.
As soon as he said those words, her mouth dropped and she got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "But I…"
Gold interrupted. "Just met her? Started to get to know her? Well she will be taken away from you in a blink of an eye if you don't do this." He said threateningly.
"You're unbelievable!" She screamed.
"I believe the appropriate word is tricky." He said circling her. "You are going to lose the only family you ever had. Do you really want that to happen?" He asked trying to convince her to kill Henry.
A slight tear began rolling down Mandy's cheek. "Regina would never forgive me if I killed Henry."
"Well she doesn't have to know it was you, dearie." He suggested.
"But he's my friend too!" She argued.
"Sounds like you have something to think about." He was standing in front, towering over her. "Midnight tomorrow is the deadline. Choose wisely." He advised.
"If you want him dead so badly, why don't you kill him?" She hissed.
"Why would I do it when I have someone who can do my bidding for me?" He answered happily. She turned and headed for the door, wiping her tears that she tried desperately to hold back.
"Oh, there is one more thing." Mandy stopped but didn't turn around. "You can't tell anyone about this." Mandy put her head down and walked out into the brisk April air, leaving Gold standing in the middle of the shop. Moments after she walked out Hook came up behind him, spun Gold around and stabbed him in the chest with his hook.
"Finally got you, Crocodile." Hook said standing over him. He then walked out the front door like nothing happened, leaving Gold lying on the floor.
Emma decided to get to know this kid who was now living with them. She had nothing better to do while she waited for Neal to get out of the shower and for Henry, Snow and David to come back. She couldn't think of anything to say so she thought back to the actual movie, Peter Pan. She sat on the couch across from Peter.
"So…how was Neverland?" She asked actually curious about the land.
"Okay…" He replied not wanting to get into a conversation with her.
"Good. Good… Is it hard to fly?" She inquired. "Cuz it looked kinda hard in the movie."
"At first, but you get used to it after a while. I really miss flying." He admitted.
"I bet! There's no traffic in the air." She said trying to make a joke but he didn't laugh. "So…what's the deal with this Mandy girl? I thought you were with Wendy."
As soon as Emma said 'Wendy', a rush of memories filled his brain at once. He remembered everything from when he first met Wendy to the fight he had with Mandy over her. He was mad and needed to talk to her right away. Emma noticed the sudden change in Peter.
"Are you okay kid?" She asked leaning closer, examining Peter's face. Peter jumped off the couch and headed for the door. "I'll be fine when I talk to Miranda." He yelled leaving the door open when he walked out.
"Was it something I said?" Emma screamed after him. David and Snow came through the door to her surprise.
"There you two are!" She said when she saw who came through the door.
"Emma!" Snow yelled and ran over to her to give her a hug, followed by David. Emma hugged them back but quickly broke the hug to ask questions she's been dying to know the answer to.
"What the hell is going on? You're adopting random teenagers now? And what's the deal with this dagger?" Emma asked impatiently.
"We don't have it. Regina and Cora showed up and took the dagger from us." David confessed.
"What?! How?" Emma asked confused as to how the scene unfolded.
"They had Johanna, your mother's ladies maid when she was younger. They took her hostage until we gave them the dagger." David said.
"So I'm assuming you gave them the dagger to save this woman?" Emma asked.
"Only we didn't save her." Snow said sadly.
"Cora killed her anyway. We were just burying her." David finished.
"Wow." Emma said in shock. "Wait! Isn't there a girl who is staying with Regina? Shouldn't we save her?"
Snow shook her head. "Mandy has magic apparently. We think Cora and Regina are training her to be on their side."
"We should do something before the girl turns completely dark. She's Henry's friend." Emma argued.
"And Regina's daughter." a small voice added from behind. They all turned to see Henry standing in the doorway.
"Are you sure?" David asked.
"She told me herself." Henry said.
"So it is true." Snow said realizing she was right.
"You knew?!" Emma asked shocked.
"I guessed." Snow admitted. "I was there when she was born. She's my half-sister."
"There are no words to describe how messed up this family tree is." Emma exclaimed.
"Speaking of family, did you tell him?" Snow whispered just in case Emma didn't tell Henry yet.
"I told Henry and Neal is upstairs taking a shower." Emma said.
"Are you okay kid?" David asked putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm still mad at you Emma." He said before going upstairs.
"I'm sorry!" She yelled up.
"He'll get over it. We have a bigger problem." Snow said eagerly.
"And what's that?" Emma asked.
"Cora and Regina have Gold's dagger. They can control him to do whatever they want." Snow said in a hurry.
"We need to stop them somehow." Emma exclaimed.
"They will probably go to Gold's shop. We should get there before they do so we can prepare as best we can." David suggested.
"We have to wait for Neal; it is his father ya know. And we need to drop Henry off at Granny's so Ruby can watch him. I don't want him around this." Emma said. They all agreed.
Mandy walked around aimlessly, thinking about the decision she would have to make. Henry was such a good friend and he was only a kid, she didn't want to kill him, not to mention Regina would kill her for killing her son. On the other hand, she just met her mother and she wanted to get to know her better and possibly fill the void in her heart that was missing from living a life without a family. She was too busy contemplating her decision to notice the tears running down her face. She walked into the house and headed quickly for the stairs, hoping to avoid Regina and Cora. She just began to climb the stairs when she heard yelling so she decided to get a little closer and listen in on the conversation. She stayed hidden behind a wall outside of the kitchen.
"Why did you have to kill that woman? You got the dagger." Regina yelled.
"I thought I'd cause Snow White a little more pain. She caused you so much." Cora said.
"You started it. You killed her mother. How come you didn't tell me about your history with Snow's mother?" Regina asked.
"I spared you that burden, like any good parent would do." Cora said.
"You didn't think I deserved to know exactly what it took for me to become Queen?" Regina questioned.
"Now you know." Cora simply replied.
"That day at the stables when I rescued her, that wasn't an accident, was it? You made sure I'd be in the pastures when Snow road past. You had to make sure that when I met Snow White, her father would be searching for a new Queen." Regina said realizing this whole thing was her mother's doing.
"And what does this knowledge change for you?" Cora asked.
Regina sighed. "I hated that marriage! I didn't want to become Queen. I wanted to be with Daniel and raise a family together." The thought of what her family could've been made Mandy shed a tear.
"I wasn't going to let you marry below your own status, Regina." Cora said flatly.
Regina sighed again. She wasn't up for a fight with her mother. "Well you've won mother. I am the Queen. And if that's what you wanted, why do you need Rumplestiltskin's dagger?"
"You're worried my interests are no longer aligned with yours." Cora said.
"My only interest now is Henry. Since I already have one child back, I want my other one." Regina admitted.
"And I've told you, you'll have him." Cora replied.
"But how?" Now that Snow and David know we have the dagger, we can't use Gold to kill them without Henry knowing." Regina pointed out.
"Have patience, my love. By the time Rumplestiltskin returns, Emma Swan and the rest of them will be nothing but a vaguely unpleasant memory…and Henry will be yours." Cora said.
Mandy decided to make her presence known. "Emma and Gold are back, ya know."
"How long have you been standing there? "Regina asked.
"Long enough." She said answering Regina's question. "I can't believe you chose power over love." She said to Cora.
"Where did you hear that?" Cora asked.
"Runplestiltskin. You loved him, that's why you had to rip your own heart out." Mandy blurted out.
"You loved him?" Regina asked disgusted.
"It was a thing of the past." Cora said simply.
"Ew. I don't think I want to know." Regina admitted. "Why were you at Gold's in the first place?"
"I had to speak with him about certain matters." She said trying to sound like she wasn't nervous.
"What's your side of the deal?" Cora asked knowing all too well that that is why she went there.
"How do you even know I made a deal with him?" Mandy questioned as though that wasn't the reason she was there.
"Because that is what he does. He taught you magic and I imagine it didn't come for free." Regina declared.
"That's for sure." Mandy mumbled.
"So what does he want you to do?" Cora asked again.
Mandy looked at them shyly. "I…I can't tell you."
"Why not?" Regina asked.
"It was part of the deal." Mandy confessed.
"Of course it was." Cora said aggravated.
She tried to hold her tears back. "I really don't want to do it. I really don't." Mandy said on the verge of crying. Regina wrapped her arms around Mandy and held her tight. "Don't worry, dear. We have a plan to take care of Gold. You won't have to go through with this deal." She said more interested in Cora's plan.
"We have to complete it before midnight tomorrow." She whispered still hugging Regina.
"Oh, we will. Believe me." Cora said determined.
"So what's the plan?" Mandy asked as Regina wiped away her tears.
Well I hope you liked this chapter. I was wondering how you all felt about Cora. Do you want her to die or would you rather her live? I can't decide so I need your help! Please review!