I had been aiming to get this up over the weekend but between horses, family, and spontaneous shopping sprees with someone elses card, it was not written in its entirety until today! Lol! The consensus (minus one ;) ) was to save Snow! Please leave a review and let me know what you think and what you want to see next!

She was on her knees as she worked. She found she could cope better when she focused on something so after she helped Gold move from the floor to the couch and Henry got him a clean shirt of David's, Emma began cleaning up the blood on the floor. She used her magic to pull the blood from the grain of the hardwood floor and it kept her busy and focused while Henry kept busy putting the books back on the shelf after she had thrown them all off.

She was exhausted and so was Henry but neither of them could sleep until Regina was returned to them. Emma hadn't realized how much Regina meant to her until that evening when she found herself absolutely hysterical over the fact she had been taken by a psychopath. The house was silent except for the soft sounds of Henry sniffling and the movement of books as he put them back on the shelves. But aside from that the house was silent.

Silent until the front door swung open just as she and Henry finished their tasks. Snow was limp in David's arms and Emma was back on her feet faster than she thought possible in her state of exhaustion, "what the hell happened?!" She shouted louder than she had meant to as panic started to settle in her heart again.

Henry was quickly at her side but as soon as David's big body was out of the way and he saw who was behind him he was sprinting toward her, "mom!"

"Henry," she breathed out and he collided roughly in to her causing her to cringe and hiss as she stumbled back but Cora quickly caught her and helped her stand.

"You're okay," he cried in to her chest as he squeezed her and she hugged him back and kissed his head.

"I will be," she replied in a hoarse voice and then breathed out a small cry in to his hair as she hugged him a little tighter, "I love you."

"I love you," Henry cried as he took tight fistfuls of the back of her silk shirt, "I was so scared I would never see you again."

"Oh, Henry," she whispered as she kept herself curled around him while Cora patiently stayed by her to help her stand, "I'm so sorry. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

"What did he do to you?"

"That's not important, sweetheart."

"It is important!" He argued as he lifted his head from her chest to look her in the eye but he only started crying when she shook her head in a gentle decline to tell him as her soft eyes held his. "But how bad was it?" He asked in compromise and she shook her head before kissing his.

"I'll be alright, Henry. Let's get you to sleep."

"I don't want to sleep. What happened to Snow?"

"The same thing that happened to Rumple."

"...but she can't heal herself like he can!"

"I know," she forced out as her throat tightened, "let's get you to sleep."

"I can't sleep right now! Mom! You need to help her!"

"I can't, Henry," she shook her head and felt her tears threaten to pool in her eyes.

"Mom! You can't just let her die! Just because she's Snow White and you two-!"

"I can't use magic, Henry!" She blurted out and he looked at her in anger and confusion but was then struck with horror as he looked her up and down and her shoulders slumped as she shook her head and repeated softly, "I can't use magic, Henry."

"What...what did he do to you? What did he do to you?!"

"Henry-"

"What did he do to you?!" He roared as his tears started to fall down his cheeks and she pulled him back in to a firm hug as he cried in to her chest and clung to her as he cried, "what did he do to you."

Cora frowned as Regina's shoulders shook as she held her boy but remained silent. Her attention was drawn to the dining room again by Rumple and David yelling at one another over Snow as Emma paced with a hand over her mouth and tears rolling down her cheeks. So with a short flick of her fingers, Henry slumped against Regina and Regina made a startled and panicked sound as she tried with her withered strength to catch him but he was soon weightless and floating in the air and Regina relaxed and fell heavier against her.

"Thank you," she whispered and felt Cora nod before she began steering her toward the living room with a sleeping Henry in tow. She couldn't help but look in to the dining room and she felt absolutely sick to her stomach seeing Snow unconscious on her dining room table with everyone yelling over her. Only when she was settled on the couch with Henry laid out beside her with his head in her lap did Cora leave to go aid the others with Snow. Now that she was alone she found herself crying. Audibly now as she covered her mouth with the back of her hand and tried to focus on something else. Anything but the ache in her heart and the nausea in her stomach over the fact that she was completely useless.

She was exhausted and her hands were shaking and her cries were growing hysterical but still remained rather quiet. In her hysteria of fear and uselessness she didn't see or hear David come in. She didn't notice him at all until he was pulling her in to his arms against his chest and holding her there tightly.

His heart broke and his tears finally broke free when she fell apart and started sobbing in to his chest as she took handfuls of his shirt. "I am so glad you are alright," he cried quietly in to her hair and held her tighter as she cried and Henry slept.

"I am not alright."

Her long sobbed sentence caused a shaky cry to leave his teeth as he tangled a hand in to her hair and held her as tight as he could. "You are safe, my darling. My love. You are safe. You are alive. You are home. You are safe. It is going to be alright," he assured but she only buried her face deeper in to his chest as she cried helplessly, "I love you so much."

...

"Why isn't it working?!" Emma shouted as she paced with shaking hands and watched as Cora and Gold worked together to try and save Snow. It was unsettling to see her laying limp and unconscious on the table with blood pooling around her while her skin become more and more stained with the purple webbing.

"In case you have forgotten, Miss Swan, this poison is not curable," he hissed back, exhausted with his teeth bared in a snarl, "even I have yet to remove it all from myself. So unless you find time to skip off to Neverland with her so she can get the cure and remain there forever, I suggest you shut up and let us work," he bit out and she couldn't decide between yelling at him or bursting in to tears. It had been a long and sleepless night for all of them and the sunlight pouring in through the windows only reminded them how truly exhausted they all were.

"Just work harder!" She yelled, her voice cracking as she walked away with the back of her hand over her mouth and tears rolling down her cheeks. She quickly switched back to anger though over the fact that Regina was not there helping. She tried to rationalize that the woman had likely just been tortured and was trying to get a handle on herself but in her over emotional state and with her mother laying nearly dead on a dining room table, she simply couldn't cope.

That anger was immediately doused when she laid eyes on her though. She was shaking. Noticeable from even a distance as she cried and tried to soothe herself by running her shaking fingers through Henry's hair as he slept in her lap. David was right there with her on the couch with one leg bent up and behind her so he could be as close to her as possible and wrap his arms around her small figure and kept his face buried in to her neck. That anger was quickly replaced with sorrow and heartache as she walked up to the trio and kneeled on the floor in front of Regina.

The brunette looked at her but the fear and pain and guilt Emma saw in those dark eyes had her throat tightening and her chest aching. She took her shaking hand between both of hers and frowned when the woman squeezed hard and didn't release it.

"Thank you," Regina whispered and tried once more to steady herself.

"For what?"

"For being here for Henry, for helping Rumple, for breaking in to that cabinet," she tried to laugh but it only made her sound sad and tortured, "just thank you for being...here."

Emma could only nod and it seemed that that was all Regina could handle as well. But then something came to her attention, something that had her heart dropping to her stomach as she looked at their hands and then back to those dark eyes, "where is your magic?"

Regina laughed out a pained cry and shook her head as she looked to their hands and shrugged, "blocked," and then she was frowning and tears were rolling down her cheeks once more as she looked toward the dining room. David's arms tightened around her as he shook his head in her neck but that only made her feel worse as guilt seemed to swallow her whole, "some sort of serum derived from squid ink...I'm not convinced it will fade away as squid ink does," she added quietly as her tears fell and she closed her eyes and tried to take a deep breath.

After a moment or so she felt Emma's magic and she gave a startled and sharp hum as it tingled and moved between her skin causing her to shiver and the hair on the back of her neck to rise. But under her skin was as far as it would go before it was stopped as well. Didn't stop the persistent blonde from working away at it though.

...

Hours. It had taken hours and David had almost fallen asleep on her shoulder despite Snow dying in the next room over but hours later her magic came back in full force and both she and Emma laughed in relief. And then she was detangling herself from David and Henry and hurrying to the dining room as fast as her tired and shaky legs could carry her. It killed her and terrified her to leave Henry out of her sight after what she had learned from Greg but she forced herself to move from him, forced her exhausted and hurt body to push harder and further.

Her heart stopped when she saw Snow on her table. What skin wasn't covered in purple webbing was pale, so pale, deathly pale. She wasn't moving, she was hardly breathing, her body was beaded with sweat, and both Rumple and Cora were bent over her. Cora had her hands over her heart, her magic pushing away the poison. Her hands were shaking with fatigue and sweat beaded on her brow that was furrowed in concentration and Rumple was in no better shape with his hands over the wound above her hip pulling what dreamshade he could from her bloodstream. It wasn't enough though, it was merely prolonging her death.

She felt sick to her stomach as she studied the purple webbing tainting the flawless skin of her abdomen and crawling up her chest. "What do you need me to do?"

"Help Rumple," Cora breathed out shortly, forcing herself to push through her exhaustion alone and give her daughter's aid to Rumple who was having a much more difficult time than she was. Regina obeyed quickly and wordlessly and they both watched some of the strain leave Rumple's concentrated brow. She didn't notice Emma's presence beside her until she felt her magic touch the blonde's. Cora had to admit the woman was a very efficient learner. Regina had taught her well.

Regina was trying to keep it together but she was having an incredibly difficult time not letting her mind wander to Snow's death. She didn't want to know how she would react to it, how she would cope with it. Not well at all she was sure. Snow had always been there. Whether she loved her, hated her, lived with her, chased her away, Snow White was always there. Always somewhere. She couldn't just die.

David and Emma would be inconsolable. Henry would be devastated. She would fall apart at the seams. Snow could not die.

"How nice of you to join us, dearie."

"If you had just done it right in the first place you wouldn't need my help," she bantered but her voice was weak and shaky. His just sounded tired and strained.

Rumple laughed softly as he shook his head and then stated more sincerely, "I'm glad to see you on your feet."

"Likewise," she whispered with a small smile in his direction. One that he returned momentarily before they both returned their attention back to Snow.

"Regina," Cora breathed out as the dreamshade swarmed her shaky magic. She felt Emma's magic try and aid her but the poison was growing stronger and they were growing weaker. She was trying so hard but she had never needed to use so much power for so long. It was physically and mentally draining. Regina was at her side in a heartbeat and then there was a pause and Cora could practically see her daughter flipping through the pages and pages of knowledge in that pretty little head. But it was only a pause and then there was a knife plunging in to Snow's chest and everyone in the room shouted and shrieked Regina's name.

Rumple hissed and growled as Snow's unconscious body flailed at the added pain and he used his body weight to keep the woman's legs still until she passed out again, "Regina!"

"Regina what the fuck are you doing?!" Emma shrieked as Regina pulled the knife from Snow's chest and proceeded to cut a short line in to the skin on the underside of her own forearm.

"Regina! You're going to kill her!" David roared but was quickly backing down when he saw the snarl baring her teeth when she snapped her eyes to him.

"She's going to die anyway!" She roared back and didn't bother seeing his reaction to those words before she turned her attention back to Snow who was now out cold from the pain. Then her skin and ribs were pulled back so she could see her heart and she tuned out Emma's panicked murmuring as she turned the flesh translucent and matched the important veins and arteries. It was an art form as the blood once again began to travel where it was supposed to as if it were suspended mid air by invisible veins and arteries so that she could see her heart and the purple of the dreamshade. Essentially that was exactly what was happening.

Then she did the same with her own blood seeping from the cut in her arm, directing its path right in to Snow's heart. Her blood carried her magic through Snow's body, healing, strengthening, and pushing the poison as Rumple continued to pull it. "Don't be so picky, Rumple," she hissed and the man looked up at her worriedly, "take it all."

"Regina you need blood as well," he argued but shook his head in submission at the fierce look she gave him and began pulling all the blood from Snow's body rather than picking out just the dreamshade. It was easier this way of course. But what blood was taken from Snow was replaced by the blood from Regina's veins.

"Regina," David pleaded as he watched her colour fade from her face almost as fast as it faded from Snow's.

"Shut up," she hissed as she kept track of what blood went where and focused her strength on pushing the poison from Snow's body. She could hear the faint sound of blood dripping from the table on to the floor but it was not important. It just meant Rumple was doing as he was asked.

"Regina! Stop!" David yelled in his panic as he watched the rather elegant display of blood flow and the horrifying display of both women dying before his eyes.

"No!" She shouted back and felt her tears burn in her eyes. Snow could not die. She could not let her die. She felt so incredibly lightheaded and faintly felt someone's hands find her waist to help her stand. She assumed it to be Cora. David was in front of her across the table and Emma was at Snow's head holding it steady and Rumple was still dutifully draining Snow of her blood. Cora was the only one left.

Snow's heart was dying, practically sputtering in search of blood and her own body was screaming at her to stop but she wouldn't. She just wouldn't. She didn't know how long it took, she had no idea, but it couldn't have been too long before Rumple's voice was heard.

"Done."

She stopped immediately with a shaky cry and a sway that had Cora's grip tightening on her sides. She stopped the blood transfusion but did not stop the spell that kept Snow's chest open so her heart was exposed and clean. Regina stared at the organ, waiting for it to beat. It didn't and it had her breathing out a sharp cry and a quiet, "beat," and when it didn't obey she slammed her fists down on the heavy wood of the table and roared, "beat damn you!" And then it did. Slow and weak, each beat dangerously far in between but beating nonetheless.

It had her collapsing in to a chair and dropping her arms and head over Snow's stomach as she cried. She sobbed and it hurt and she was too exhausted to do anything else. She cried in to Snow's pale skin, too pale but no longer webbed with the dark purple poison and she could hear Emma crying as well but it was quieter than her own. Someone was touching her back, someone was breathing in to her neck but she could not bring herself to pay any attention to whomever was behind her. She was overwhelmed. She had never been so relieved to have Snow alive.

...

Snow woke slowly and moved even slower. Her head was pounding and she felt like the world was spinning. Every muscle ached with a pain she had never felt and for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. The room was bright and the bed was soft and warm and she was really quite certain that it was not her own. Slowly and carefully she blinked open her eyes and cringed at the sunlight still pouring in through the closed curtains over the window.

She did not recognize this room at all but piece by piece the events of the night came back to her. Regina had been taken, they had found her, but she herself had been unintentionally shot in the process. Upon that thought her hand went to her side and slipped beneath the fabric of her cotton tshirt she felt only smooth and unblemished skin. Had she even been wearing a tshirt? She could have sworn she remembered David tearing her shirt open and buttons went flying everywhere. This confusion was not helping her state of mind.

Slowly and painfully she made herself sit up and examine the room. David was asleep in a chair next to the bed and even in his sleep he looked exhausted but what caught her full attention as she examined the room was Regina standing against the wall on her right. Ordinarily she wouldn't have had such focus on the woman but that was because the woman never cried. Regina was standing with one arm over her middle and the other bent so that her fingers rested lightly upon her lips. Her eyes were puffy and red and there were tears both old and new falling down her cheeks. Her hair was a mess, she had not changed her clothes, and she was quite certain she could see some dried blood on her hands.

Snow opened her mouth to speak but was at a loss for words. It didn't matter anyway. Regina's voice was heard first and it was thick and hoarse and Snow had never heard her so emotional.

"I am the only person allowed to kill you," she nodded at her and hardly felt the tears rolling down her face. Snow was still at a loss for words and that was fine. Regina didn't think she would be able to handle a conversation with the girl that nearly died in front of her. So with those words she turned and walked away, her stilettos hitting the floor with light taps as she ran a hand through her hair and made her way to her bedroom to have a shower.