I know I said this would be up yesterday but holy shitballs there was no time to do anything yesterday lol! So here you are, a day late, I'm sorry. I hope you enjoy it! Please leave a review :)
They were almost done when there was a knock at the door but no one could answer it. It had them all laughing and yelling at one another between yelps of needed help and pleas to not leave them alone with their task. The night had significantly improved once David had come home with Henry and Cora and once again Regina found herself wishing she didn't have to make this night go to hell. But oh well.
With a laugh and several reassurances from Henry that he could watch the sauce while David helped Emma strain the water from the obscene amount of spaghetti noodles from their biggest pot, Regina went to answer the door. "Hello," she greeted with a happy laugh and then heard Cora laugh and tell the imbeciles to get out of the way before she burned them while pulling the bread from the oven.
"Are we early?" Neal chuckled and Regina laughed and shook her head.
"No, no we just fell a little behind is all."
"Ah well I know you said we didn't have to bring anything but I did bring a bottle of wine," he smiled and Regina nodded and took it with a smile and a laugh lacing her words.
"Actually that is rather helpful. It seems Miss Swan finished nearly an entire bottle before dinner was even close to finished," she chuckled and Neal laughed with her as she stepped aside, "please make yourself at home. It should only be a few more minutes."
...
Henry walked casually up to Neal while he was talking with Tamara. It was time for Operation Raptor to move to the next stage and it was his job to get Neal away from Tamara which had suddenly become a much easier task now that they actually had something to talk about. "Hey Neal...can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Yes of course," he nodded and then glanced at Tamara and she smiled and walked away.
"So this is kind of...crazy."
"You're telling me," Neal laughed softly and rubbed his hand over his jaw.
"I just want to clear things up a little so that we know what's going on..."
"Absolutely."
"I like you. But David is my father. I like spending time with you and stuff but I feel like you're more of a friend or a big brother even rather than my dad. That might change over time but David will always be my dad first. Just like Regina is my mom first. Make sense?"
"Makes perfect sense," Neal replied with a relieved breath.
"And it's alright?"
"Definitely," he smiled and stepped forward, "quite happy with it actually. I mean I really like you, kid, and I love that you're my son but I don't quite think I'm ready to be a father. So your game plan sounds just fine to me," he smiled and when Henry smiled Neal pushed his hand through the boy's hair which had him laughing before fixing it, "let's go see if they need help in the kitchen."
...
Tamara found herself in the queen's library and quickly she began skimming through the books in search of anything that could be valuable to her or her quest. She failed however to notice when the queen walked in to the room. What Greg's obsession with the woman was she did not know but the moment they found out Henry was her son, the queen fell in to the middle of their plan anyway. They needed to be rid of her and any information regarding how to do that would be invaluable.
"You're a fan of books?"
Tamara jumped at the sound of her voice and then smiled it off and shrugged her shoulders, "always have been. You have a beautiful collection."
"Thank you," Regina smiled as she stepped up beside her and continued to make conversation with her, "you can come and read them whenever you like. I've read them all so they are just sitting there collecting dust," there were two parts to this trick. Rumple taught it to her long ago. No magic, undetectable by any human senses, and very easy to antidote. It was two parts and both parts were entirely harmless on their own but when mixed together, well, the victim was out like a light for nearly half a day. The first ingredient she had placed in her own wine and as she stood next the the woman, the sedative was carried through the aroma and in to her nostrils and from there in to her bloodstream. The second half would be ingested during dinner and would of course affect no one but her. Regina had already inhibited her system from it and no one else would be smelling her wine before she poured it down the drain.
"Tempting. However I'm sure Neal would appreciate it if I first read the rest of unopened books in my possession," she improvised and Regina shrugged and smirked.
"He'd never have to know."
"I'll think on ways I can get away from him," Tamara smiled in mock mischief and the queen smiled a truly convincing smile back. It made Tamara feel like she was entirely transparent and the woman could see right through her and yet her smile was not much different than her real smile. Perhaps it was in her dark eyes. They seemed to bite at her and hiss 'liar, liar, liar'.
"Dinner is ready, I came to fetch you," Regina nodded toward the door and Tamara nodded eagerly.
"Oh yes of course. The smell is making me starving."
"Well eat as much as you can. I'm afraid I may have made too much," she laughed as she turned around and Tamara followed her.
"Oh I'm sure Neal will eat you out of house and home."
"Impossible," Regina smiled over her shoulder and Tamara laughed, "have a seat. I'm going to help David bring it all to the table," she nodded and continued on to the kitchen while Tamara sat at the table with Neal, Henry, Emma, and Cora. The first thing she did when she entered the kitchen was pour her wine down the drain and then proceeded to rinse the glass before setting it aside and taking a new one and filling it halfway with new wine.
"Not happy with your first choice?" David chuckled as he set the large platter of pasta on the island for a moment so he could step up behind her and wind his arms around her waist, "or did you simply remember that you are pregnant?"
"Not happy at all actually," she replied with a smile and turned in his arms so she was facing him, "as for being pregnant, no I have not forgotten. The baby's fine. Good and safe in their little magic alcohol proof bubble," she nodded and he let out a slow 'aahh' as he stepped closer with a grin and a nod, "I also can't have Tamara or Neal knowing that I'm turning from the alcohol because I'm pregnant," she added and he hummed as he pinned her back against the counter.
"I'm pretty sure this all started with you simply being unwilling to give up a delicious wine that would pair quite nicely with your dinner," he nodded and grinned when she shrugged one shoulder and bit back her own grin.
"There's always that too," she smirked and he breathed out a laugh and then he was kissing her. He went straight for a full kiss and it was delicious and playful and had her smiling like a giddy teenager. And then his hands were sliding lower and behind her to settle on her ass as he pulled her closer to him and started kissing her neck as she laughed and tilted her head back and to the side for him. "We have guests in the next room."
"Your point?" He smirked and kissed her just below her ear.
"You can't fuck me with guests still in the house," she whispered and he hummed against her throat which had her shivering in delight.
"I suppose it's a good thing I'm only kissing you then," he reasoned and kissed her a little lower on her neck.
"Indeed," she breathed out as her fingernails scratched lightly down his chest while she held her glass of wine away from them with her other hand.
When he lifted his head she was quick to push her forehead against his in search for another kiss but he made her wait. "You are beautiful tonight," he whispered and she smiled and laughed quietly against his mouth, warm and pleasant before she rose up and kissed him.
"David! Quit screwing around with your girlfriend, we're starving!"
The both of them broke their kiss and laughed at Emma's call from the dining room above all the voices that had been speaking and were now laughing too. "I suppose we should feed them lest we get caught red handed," Regina grinned as she leaned in to him with her bottom lip caught between her teeth.
"I suppose," he smiled back and then kissed her mouth one more time before letting her go. He'd be lying if he said he didn't take pleasure in walking behind her and it seemed as though she knew where his eyes had fallen.
...
Surprisingly enough Tamara found herself having a great time. She had expected a dinner with so many complicated relationships to be an absolute disaster when really it turned out to be the most fun she'd had in ages. The queen herself was actually quite an easy woman to like and she found herself having to be reminded that they wanted this woman out of the picture. The older woman was Regina's mother, she had learned. A queen as well but of what she didn't know. Henry was a bright boy and just as quick tongued and clever minded as the woman who had raised him and she believed that that may cause her and Greg some grief later. But it wouldn't be anything they couldn't handle.
Emma and Regina appeared to be quite close friends and they often had her laughing along with the rest of the table. David though was going to be difficult. He was truly enthralled with the woman, his love for her could be seen by any blind man. If his queen were to ever vanish she was certain a storm would rise and it would not settle until she was back in his arms unharmed. That was going to be difficult. But she was sure they'd find a way around it or simply move quicker. The very moment the boy would be taken Tamara knew that both Regina and Emma would be out for blood and she knew that Regina would not hesitate to draw it from her body.
Cora she could not get a read on though. She knew she was adored by Henry and Regina but she couldn't say to what extent the woman would go to retrieve her daughter and grandson should they be removed from her. Tamara did however get the strong impression that she did not want to find out the answer.
She was only half listening when Neal asked where he could find the bathroom and Regina pointed him in the right direction. Henry was finishing a story that had everyone laughing and while Tamara thought it to be odd Neal had left before the end, she didn't put too much thought in it. Not until the story was over and the entire table erupted in laughter once more and Tamara found herself starting to grow lightheaded while her head felt heavy upon her shoulders. She tried to shake it off but dread hit her square in the chest when the tunnel vision started.
She snapped her focus to Regina and the woman smiled a conniving and victorious smile from behind her wine glass. Then she pushed her glass forward an inch or so as if to say 'cheers' before she winked and took a sip. And then Tamara felt her body give out on her and she collapsed against the table, furious and dumbfounded as to how the woman was so many steps ahead of her and had managed to drug her.
The whole room went silent when Tamara's head fell against the table with a rather loud thud, everyone's focus was on the woman, and everyone's mouths were slightly open as though to say something but none knew quite what to say. Then Regina stood and gently cleared her throat and everyone's eyes were on her. As she walked around the table to Tamara the front door opened and Rumple walked in without a word. Merely a nod in greeting before he turned his attention to Regina pulling the chair out from the table with a limp Tamara on it.
"Under her arms," she instructed and Rumple looped his arms under Tamara's while she took the woman's legs and the pair of them began hauling her out through the foyer. "Slow down, Rumple," she hissed and he rolled his eyes.
"Perhaps you should have prepared and worn better shoes, your majesty."
"I've slaughtered entire villages in heels higher than these. The problem isn't the shoes, it's you."
"You used magic then."
"I'd use magic now too if they hadn't made themselves immune to it. And I don't like your tone-!"
Her voice was cut off from the rest of them in the dining room when the front door slammed shut. No one said anything. What the hell were they supposed to say to that? They were all stunned in to silence even when Neal returned.
"Where'd Regina and Tamara go?" He asked as he took a seat again and everyone stared at him.
"Uh...they had to go out...for a bit."
...
"Put your back in to it, dearie."
"Oh shut up you useless bastard," she growled as she tugged on Tamara's wrists and began dragging her over the bright orange spray paint that marked the town line.
"This was all your plan. I am merely the chauffeur."
"So humble when you don't wish to work," she retorted as she herself crossed the town line without incident and rolled her eyes with a smile when Rumple laughed quietly from his side of the line.
"Just as all men are," he replied playfully and Regina scoffed a laugh as she continued dragging Tamara over the line. Rumple watched with an amused smile as Regina carelessly dropped the woman's arms to the pavement and stood up straight once again, smoothing down the fabric of her silk shirt over her breasts and stomach as she did. And then she was clearing her throat and tossing the hair from her eyes as she walked back toward the line and her stilettos clicked against the asphalt and echoed in to the still night.
"That should do it," she nodded as she turned and kicked the woman's legs further from the town line just for good measure.
Rumple laughed quietly with a shake of his head and couldn't help but wonder if his efforts would be any more graceless than Regina's if he were dragging an unconscious body around without his magic. "Shall we get on with it then?" He smirked and she smirked right back at him as she stopped next to him and spun on her heels so she was facing the town line with him.
"You sure this will work?"
"No one will ever enter this town again unless either of us permit them. And no one leaves it either until you rid the town of its remaining intruder."
"Perfect," she nodded and raised her hands with him and let her magic go with a silent memorized spell. Her magic mixed with his and she couldn't help but smile at the familiar feeling of it. It was a welcome nostalgia that calmed her inside and made her feel like she was back at home. She hadn't realized how much she had actually missed working with him.
She could feel the strength of the spell grow exponentially as his dark and manipulative magic mingled with her seductive and hot tempered magic, both nearly equal in power and surely unmatched by anyone else's. The Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin back together. Plotting to save their town. When the spell was finished they dropped their hands back to their sides with a satisfied smile.
"It's been a long time, dearie," he smiled a little and kept his eyes out on the unknown world in front of them.
"I've rather missed it actually," she admitted with a smile as she turned her head to look at him and he turned his head to look back at her.
With a soft breath of laughter he shook his head and looked back at the road in front of them, "things have certainly changed haven't they."
Regina raised her eyebrows and nodded with her smile, "that they have," she agreed and the pair of them stood in perfectly content silence looking out in to the dark and admiring their handiwork. And then there was a loud bang that caused her to jump and gasp and the next thing she knew she was dropping to her knees to try and catch Rumple as he collapsed to the ground with a loud cry of pain and she cried out in a panic, "Rumple!"
Her eyes were wide and the adrenaline was coursing through her blood as she lowered him carefully but hurriedly on to his back and looked for the injury. His hands were over the front of his left shoulder and with panicky hands she pushed them aside only to feel the warmth of his blood coat her hands, "Rumple," she breathed out in a shaky whisper and he shouted in pain as he lashed out. But she stayed strong and unmoving despite his efforts.
"Hold still you bastard," she gritted out through her teeth but she knew her eyes gave away her fear as she tried to figure out why he wasn't simply healing the wound himself. "What the hell just happened?!" She yelled as if it were his fault but felt her fear grow and heard her heart hammer in her ears. When his magic still wouldn't heal the bullet wound she tried herself but as her magic flowed in to him, something kept her from healing him. "Just hold on, Rumple," she pushed out in a shaky voice as she frantically tried to find the answer to this riddle and he shouted and thrashed in his pain.
She couldn't understand it and she shook her head as she worked, constantly speaking to him and saying his name as her magic weaved through him to find a way to remove whatever had poisoned him and blocked both their magic. "Almost there," she breathed out in a panic but really she had no idea what she was doing. Her hands were starting to shake as her fear settled deep inside her and her untouchable mentor writhed on the cold pavement nearly incapacitated.
"Rumple-," her panicked voice was cut off by a scream muffled by a firm hand over her mouth as she was hauled to her feet from behind. She fought him but he was much stronger than she was and kept his arms too tight around her small frame.
"Regina!" Rumple yelled furiously as he tried to move only to shout in rage at the pain that crippled him completely, "Regina!"
"Rumple!" She screamed after shaking her head free as she fought her attacker and lifted both her legs and thrashed around to try and get away from him but he held on to her even still and then she tried then to use her magic to free herself but nearly choked on a terrified sob when her magic did nothing and she realized it was Greg hauling her away. "Rumple!" She screamed again and thrashed around with every last bit of strength she had and unsuccessfully tried not to let in the memories of Leopold holding her down in the dark from behind.
"Regina!" He shouted through his pain and heard her panicked breaths between her attempts to keep herself from crying, "Regina he only wants you dead! He only wants you dead! Nothing more!" He yelled to her and then shouted again in pain as he tried and failed to get up again.
Yes. Yes she was soothed by those words even if it was only a little. It gave her the clarity to push Leopold to the side and try once again to fight free of Greg's arms and just when she thought she was nearly free, she felt a sharp jab in to her neck. She yelped against his hand at the sensation and then she quickly found herself relaxing against her will and felt her eyes start to blink shut as she heard Greg hushing her and Rumple shouting her name.
"Regina!" Rumple shouted furiously and felt an uneasy fear settle in his stomach when he got no reply, "Regina!" Not so much as a sound from the woman and then he heard the familiar sound of his car engine roaring to life before it was driven off, "Regina!"
...
"Cora still upstairs with Henry?"
"Yup," Emma smiled as she gathered all of the placemats and dirty napkins.
"I must say this evening went surprisingly well."
"You mean before your girlfriend poisoned one of the guests and dragged her outside with her best pal Rumplestiltskin?" Emma chuckled lightly and David laughed too.
"Yes before that."
"I am beginning to think we will never have a normal family get together," Emma shook her head and David laughed and shrugged his shoulders.
"We are too good for normal," he chuckled and Emma laughed with another shake of her head.
"How would you know? We've never tried it!"
The pair of them laughed some more as they cleared the table but that was quickly silenced when Rumple appeared from nowhere and fell against the table with a loud thud. Both David and Emma jumped and then stared at him wide eyed as he tried to breathe and hold himself up on the table only to lose his strength and fall to the floor.
"Gold!" Emma shouted as she and David ran to him and the pair of them shared a panicked look before pulling at the man's clothes to find the source of the bleeding, "talk to us, Gold, what happened?"
"Where is Regina?" David asked with a sinking feeling and Emma paused her movements and looked up at him with fear in her eyes, "Gold, where is Regina?!"
Trying to ignore her racing heart, Emma again began pulling at his suit jacket and shirt to see what had happened, "why aren't you healing yourself?!"
"Can't," he replied shortly through his short and strained breaths and then let out another roar of pain and rage.
"Where is Regina?!" David bellowed and Gold shook his head while Emma ripped open his bloodstained white buttoned shirt.
"I tried, she tried to-," another growl of pain through his clenched teeth kept him from giving them the answer he wanted to give them.
"Shit," Emma hissed under her breath when she saw the prominent purple webbing of the poison she had just been introduced to a few days prior by one of the many books in Regina's library.
"Emma," David huffed when he saw the ugly pattern on the man's skin, "Emma what is that?!"
"Cora!" Emma shouted in the direction of the stairs and moments later she heard the woman's hurried footsteps coming down the stairs.
Not once had Cora ever heard her name called like that. It made her jump and cause dread to settle in her gut as she told Henry to stay put and then ran down the stairs. Her feeling of dread only multiplied when she saw Rumple laying on his back fighting for breath while Emma's hands were covered in blood, "what happened?!" She cried out as she hurried to them and dropped to her knees beside Emma, her dread only settling deeper when she saw the purple webbing beneath his skin.
"It's dreamshade isn't it," Emma questioned through her uneven breaths and Cora nodded.
"But there's something else. Something keeping the magic at bay," she elaborated quickly and then the answer came to her when Rumple arched his back off the floor with a loud growl of torturous pain, "squid ink. Just a hint of it."
"Well what do we do?!"
Rumple grabbed David by the collar of his shirt and yanked him down so his ear was next to his mouth, "I couldn't save her," he pushed out and clenched his jaw to keep himself from yelling in pain or thrashing around, "I couldn't save her. I eased her fear but I couldn't save her. Greg. I don't know where she is. He came from behind. I couldn't save her," he pushed out and then pushed David backward again so he could yell and not deafen the man.
Emma looked at David by the sickened look on his face she could only fear what the answer of her question would be, "what did he say?"
"Mom?"
"Henry! Go upstairs!"
"Mom what is going on!"
"Henry!" Emma yelled but he wouldn't move and her whole body was filled with a fear she never wanted to know.
"What happened?! Where's my mom?!"
"David!" Cora yelled and snapped the man from his daze.
"Greg," was all he could answer with without being sick to his stomach. His hands were already shaking as the rage and fear burned in him and the fear and pain in Cora's expression nearly pushed him over the edge. It looked like she had just been stabbed in the chest and it was Henry's shaky voice that brought everyone back to the present.
"What do you mean?" He pushed out and felt the tears start to pool in his eyes and felt like he may be sick.
Cora was on her feet before anyone could even blink and she let out a shaky breath as she pushed an unsteady hand through her hair while Rumple shouted on the floor. She had never felt like this before. Never felt such a sickening fear that tingled up and down her spine and made her skin crawl. And then she was hurrying to the door and David was quickly following her without a word.
"Hey! You guys!" Emma called in a panic with her hands pressed down against Gold's shoulder, "you can't just leave me here!" But they did and she was left alone with Henry, "shit."
"Is my mom going to be okay?!"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?!"
"I don't know, Henry! But if anyone has a chance of walking away alive from him it's Regina!" She yelled and Henry cried and started pacing. He knew he couldn't run out with David and Cora but he was also having an incredibly hard time accepting that he could do nothing and needed to stay put. She felt for him but there were more pressing issues at hand.
"Perhaps try picking up where your teacher left off," Rumple pushed out through his teeth and fought for breath.
"What?!"
"Find Regina's magic. Learn from her path and then continue it."
"What are you talking about?!"
"You'll know her magic when you feel it," he gritted out and then shouted once more in pain and slammed his fist against the floor, "it is much smoother than mine."
"Gold!"
"You're a clever girl. Figure it out."
"Emma doesn't have magic!"
"Sure she does," Rumple laughed a little and then growled through his teeth.
"Gold-!"
"Do it!" He roared and Emma jumped but shortly after he felt her hesitant magic, "good."
"Mom..."
"Isolate the squid ink," he growled out and Emma clenched her jaw and cringed, "just as Regina was doing."
"Mom..."
"Gold I-"
"You can't kill me, Miss Swan," he laughed through gritted teeth, "there is only one way to kill me and it isn't this!"
"Mom..."
"Henry shut up for a second!"
"Once you've got all the ink render me unconscious so that I may heal without this wretched pain."
"How? How am I supposed to do any of that?!"
"Get creative, Miss Swan," he growled and then shouted once more in pain.
"How about I just knock you out now!?"
"Whichever you are more comfortable with, it makes no difference to me."
With a couple breaths to steady her thoughts, she kept one blood stained hand following and mimicking Regina's smooth and practiced magic and lifted the other so a different spell could leave her palm and cause Gold to go still and quiet. And then with a shaky breath with a hint of an underlying sob, she turned her full attention back to the poison inside him and Regina's skilled map she had started.
"...mom..."
"What, Henry?!" She yelled as she looked up at him with tears falling down her cheeks and he looked down at her with tears falling down his cheeks as well.
"You have magic."
"Yes, Henry," she pushed out with a soft sob and looked back down at Gold's chest, "I have magic."