A/N I'm missing the transcripts for the next couple of episodes so I had to get all fancy and do everything from scratch. As you can probably tell, I get kind of uncomfortable when I go away from the story line too but, but I tried my best on this next few episodes. I hope you like it and reviews with constructive (but not rude, please) criticism are welcome.

Contessa was running. She was out of breath, but she couldn't stop. Her hands were still bound in ropes in front of her and her back was still in searing pain. She didn't care. She just knew she had to escape. Suddenly someone tackled her to the ground. She struggled against Cora's soldier, but it was no use. He yanked her to her feet and hauled her back towards the palace.

Tessa woke up like she had so many nights before; in a cold sweat and breathing like she'd just run a marathon. Regina tapped lightly on the door and then pushed it open to look inside.

"Tessa? Are you okay?" She asked quietly so she didn't wake up Henry in the next room. Tessa nodded vigorously. Regina gave her a strange look, but, much to Tessa's relief didn't say anything as she shut the door again. Tessa got out of bed and went to her window. It had frosted over with the cold of the night. She sat down on her desk in front of it, leaning against the window frame, watching the night outside.

When she woke up the next morning, she was still sitting on her desk. She moaned and flexed, working the stiffness out of her body. She glanced at the window to see the clock tower, but saw something else instead. In her sleep, she had traced a heart in the frost on the window. She frowned in confusion and wiped it away before going to get dressed.

She sat on her bed, flipping through one of her Harry Potter books, trying to pass the time. Henry and Regina had both gone out for something or another, so she had the house to herself. If you excuse the two dogs playing tug-of-war out in the hallway and the cat trying to lie down on her book as 'to herself'.

"Chess, get off." She complained, moving her cat for the third time in the last half an hour. She sighed and slammed the book shut. She couldn't focus. Her flashbacks were getting more and more confusing. It was getting hard to focus on anything anymore. She stood up from her bed and walked over to her bookshelf to put the book back. Her fingers brushed her old Alice In Wonderland book. A strange chill went down her spine. She yanked her hand back and hurried away.

She walked absentmindedly through the house and ended up in the kitchen. She sat down at the island and put her head in her hands. Another memory was coming on. She could feel it, the way you felt a migraine before it hit.

Contessa was sat down in front of Cora at a table. Cora put a small box in front of her. Contessa was struggling to keep calm, to think clearly. But she knew one thing at that time: there was no getting out. Cora held up a small bottle. Written on a tag tied to the neck of the bottle were two simple words. DRINK ME.

"Tessa! TESSA!" She woke up with a gasp, weakly struggling to shove Henry's hands away so he would stop shaking her. He looked down at her in confusion and worry.

"What happened?" He asked. She was sitting on the kitchen floor, next to the stool at the island that she had obviously fallen off of.

"I'm fine… I'm fine…" She gasped, not as reassuringly as she had hoped. She scrambled to her feet and leaned against the fridge for support. Henry climbed to his feet as well.

"Are you sure?" He asked worriedly. She nodded and then hurried out of the kitchen. She made her way upstairs and into her bedroom. She shut the door behind her and sat down on the floor, leaning against it. She closed her eyes.

"What is happening to me?" She asked herself quietly. She felt another memory tugging at her mind. She moved away from the door, choosing instead to sit by her bed as she let the memory barge its way into her mind.

Contessa stared at the bottle. Somehow, she was pretty sure the last thing she should do was drink it. Cora held it out to her.

"Drink." She said simply. Contessa stared at her, hoping she looked fierce instead of how weak she felt.

"And if I don't?" She asked. It was a bad question. Cora almost crushed the bottle in her hand, stopping herself a second before she would have. She held it out to Contessa again.

"You're a guest. But I'm afraid you don't fit in your new room. Not yet, anyway…." By guest, Contessa knew she meant 'prisoner', but she didn't say anything. Cora opened the box and showed the inside was covered in felt.

"Drink." She repeated. Contessa glared at her. She knew there was no way out, but she wasn't going to give up so easily.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked through clenched teeth. She was scared. For the first time in a long time, she was truly scared of what was going to happen to her. She tried to hide it. Showing her fear would do her more harm than good at the moment.

"There are several reasons… Because you are too powerful to be free. Because I need leverage over Regina… We'd be here all night we discussed each and every one of them." She shoved the bottle into Contessa's bound hands. Contessa stared at her for a minute but then uncorked the bottle. She held it in her hands for another minute, staring down at the blue liquid inside. Then she drank.

For the second time in too short of a time period, Tessa saw the bright lights on the hospital ceiling above her. She felt herself getting pushed on a stretcher. Voices floated around her, but none of it meant anything. She heard Regina's voice, frantic, unlike she'd ever heard her before.

"That's my daughter! You have to let me in! You have to let me in!" Tessa couldn't hear any response and she didn't have the concentration to try. She was slipping into the darkness again…