Poison & Wine

Chapter 40

"What do mean he's missing?" Neal demanded to know.

Regina rolled her eyes. "You'd know all about it if you didn't skip town like a coward."

The sheriff gave a look to her girlfriend before she answered Neal's question. "Someone took his dagger and we think they're using it to control him."

"So you don't know where he is?" The former lost boy questioned to which Emma nodded. "And you don't know who took him?"

Belle put a comforting hand on the man's shoulder. "They're using a locator spell to find him."

Neal looked at Regina. "I want to go." He said.

"You can't." The mayor shook her head.

"Why not?" He growled.

"It's dangerous." Emma stepped in for her girlfriend. "We don't know who we're up against here, but we know whoever it is can control over Gold. If they know who you are to him, that could fuck up this entire thing. They could make Gold kill you."

Neal scoffed. "They could make him kill you!"

The couple looked at one another for a second. "We have a plan." Regina assured him. "If anything like that happens, I'll magic myself and Emma to the town line and we'll cross it. If Gold crosses that line then he won't be controlled by the dagger or have magic at all."

"That's plan B." Emma revealed to the group. "We're hoping we can get to Gold without alerting whoever took the dagger."

"What happens when you find him?" Neal asked.

Regina licked her lips. "Then we put Pan's cuff on him and take him. He can tell us who took him, why they took him, and figure out how to stop them." She said simply.

Neal let the information sink in. "Okay." He said slowly. "Is there anything I can do while you while you're locating my papa?"

The former queen shook her head. "No-"

Emma cut her off, eyes wide. "Actually there is." She smirked, a plan in mind. "Go into town." Everyone looked at her in confusion. "If whoever took Gold is in town then Neal could create a distraction to keep them from being onto us." She explained.

Hook nodded his head. "That's actually a good plan, love." He complimented.

"Yeah, I could do that." Neal agreed willingly.

"What would he do to distract everyone though?" Regina questioned her girlfriend.

Emma shrugged. "Just make some noise about Gold. Everyone will be surprised to see him anyways. He can make a wave."

"But it will do us no good if the person that took Gold isn't there." Belle pointed out.

"It's worth it either way." Regina sided with the savior before looking at Neal. "But if you do this, Mr. Cassidy, there's a chance that whoever took your father will go after you as well."

Neal wasn't deterred. "If it could help save my papa, I'll do anything."

"Well we should get to it then." The mayor told the group. "When we leave for Gold, you head to town."

The woods were thick as Emma and Regina followed the tie. They had been following the item for over thirty minutes now and were both thoroughly lost so whenever they found Gold they'd have to magic themselves back to his house.

"This better be worth it because my feet are killing me." Regina complained as they trudged through the thick bushes.

Green eyes rolled. "Maybe if you weren't wearing heels your feet wouldn't be in so much pain."

The brunette huffed. "Like your boots are any more comfortable."

"They stop my feet from getting cut up." Emma countered.

Regina dropped the conversation and cleared her throat. "So… Neal is back."

The sheriff nodded. "Yep."

"How do you-"

Emma cut her off. "Don't ask me how I'm feeling about it. Please."

The mayor breathed deeply. "Fine, but you should know that when you don't tell me how you're feeling I make up the worst possible scenario in my head."

The blonde groaned. "We have a bigger issue to worry about right now, baby."

"I understand that, Emma, but lord knows how much longer we have until we find Gold. It could be an hour, two. These woods go for miles. We might as well multitask. You're the one who did paperwork while I went down on you last week. I think we can handle-"

"I wish he wouldn't have come back, okay?" Emma confessed in a hurry, cutting off her girlfriend's rambling. "I know he's helping us out tonight with Gold and everything, but after all this shit is over he's going to want to see our kid and you saw how much it hurt Henry when he left. Neal's going to want to sweep in here and play daddy again."

Regina scoffed. "Like Hell we're going to let him going anywhere near our son after he abandoned him."

"I'm sure that will go over well with Neal." The sheriff noted sarcastically. "It's a fucked up situation no matter what we decide to do. If we let him back into Henry's life then we risk hurting him all over again and if we don't let Neal near the kid then we look like the bitches who are keeping him away from his son."

The former queen rubbed her lover's shoulder as they kept trucking forward. Emma was right. Now wasn't the time to discuss any of that. They needed to focus. "You're right. I'm sorry, honey." She told her. "One problem at a time."

Emma let out a relieved sigh. "Thank you." The woods ended suddenly and roughly 100 yards away was a small farmhouse. The tie didn't quite reach the house and instead moved through the air and landed on what looked to be a storm cellar. "I've never seen this house before." She noted and turned to her girlfriend. "Who lives here?"

The mayor shrugged her shoulder slightly as she looked around the area. "I have no idea."

"You ever seen this place?" The blonde asked before she took a step out of the woods, only to be pulled back by the older woman.

"Are you insane?" Regina hissed. "They could be in there." She was whispering as if someone could hear if she talked to loud.

Green eyes rolled. "I'm not going in the house, Regina. I'm going to get Gold." She pointed to where the tie landed.

"They could be watching." The brunette whispered.

"Seriously? All the lights are off." Emma argued. "Quit being paranoid. This is the plan. We get Gold and get the hell out of here."

Regina was nervous. One wrong move and they could both be dead. Sure she could use her magic to whiff them away from danger, but who knows how powerful the person who took Gold was. They could very well be walking into a trap. When her girlfriend stepped forward again she grabbed her arm before cupping her face. "I love you, Miss Swan."

The sheriff grinned at her true love and gave her a quick kiss. "I'm not going off to war, baby. We'll be fine. Trust me." She assured the brunette before pulling her gun out of the back of her jeans and took a slow step out of the woods.

Despite the unnerved feeling in her stomach, Regina followed behind her, hands itching to destroy someone with magic. The couple slowly walked over to the storm cellar. It had a padlock on it.

As Regina bent down to observe the lock, Emma watched her back. With a quick spell the lock unhinged and that's when the blonde grabbed the handle and quietly opened the heavy metal door.

The mayor was the first to walk down and Emma followed behind her, apprehensive of someone finding them and trapping them with Gold. She hoped her true love could get them out of there with magic if that were to happen.

What the couple saw when they reached the end of the stairs was truly appalling. There was Gold literally in a cage, shaking from the cold.

No one said anything for a while. Gold was trying to figure out if what he was seeing was an illusion or if it was Zelena messing with him. "What do you want with me?" He demanded to know, his voice raspy and desperate.

"We're here to get you out." Emma told him and dug in her jacket pocket for Pan's cuff. She displayed it to Gold.

The pawnbroker became relieved. That witch knew nothing of Pan so he knew what he was seeing was very much real.

Regina bent down and unlocked the cage. "Who brought you here?" She asked in a quiet voice, not wanting to alert whoever had the dagger.

"The wicked witch." He snarled as Emma slipped the cuff on his wrist to hinder any and all magic he possessed. "I'll tell you when we leave this awful place but we must hurry."

Belle was on the couch reading through one of Gold's notebooks when she saw a cloud of purple smoke in front of her. As it faded she saw her boyfriend being held up by the sheriff. "Rumple!" She ran to him and wrapped her arms around his cold body. He was shivering slightly and he looked a wreck, but he was alive and back in her arms. "Oh, I missed you." She told him and kissed his cool cheek. "I was so worried."

Regina and Emma watched the scene with a small smile at one another. "Call Hook and tell him to retreat."

The blonde nodded and unlocked her phone. It was on Do Not Disturb mode and she saw that she had a missed call and voicemail from her dad. She quickly brought it to her ear.

'Emma. It's David. I was on my way to Gold's when I saw a shadow go into the woods.' His voice was a whisper and it made the blonde worry. 'I'm by the Toll Bridge. Come when you can. I think the person who took Gold is nearby.'

Emma quickly went to her contacts and called her dad back. It rang and rang, but he didn't pick up. "Fuck." She muttered quietly.

Regina looked worriedly at the younger woman. "What is it, dear?"

"My dad. He went after some shadow in the woods and now he's not answering his phone!" The savior informed her, pissed at the blonde man. "He's by the toll bridge. I have to go get him."

The mayor grabbed her. "No way are you going back into those woods alone. Call your mother. He could be home sleeping for all you know."

"He's not!" The sheriff yelled. "If he was he'd answer my calls."

"Well then call Killian. He's still wondering around the forest. Have him get David." Regina suggested. "But you aren't going in the woods alone and frankly, dear, we have to find out how much Gold knows about this witch."

"That witch could have my dad!" Emma exclaimed.

The shorthaired woman grabbed her lover's face. "Take a deep breath, dear." She instructed. "You need to think rationally right now. You'll get yourself killed if you go after him and that witch has him. Call Hook. Maybe he can find Charming."

Emma grumbled, but she knew deep down that the mayor was right. If she went after her father now, she'd just end up at that farmhouse, demanding him from the evil witch that took Gold. She'd get herself killed.

While her girlfriend talked on the phone to that pirate friend of hers, Regina turned back to where Gold and Belle sat on the couch.

The dark one really did look like he was put through the ringer while he was captured. "Zelena." He croaked out as his eyes were fluttering closed. "Her name is Zelena." He leaned against the auburn haired woman and all but passed out. "Should I be worried?" The librarian asked as she stroked his lengthy hair.

Regina shook her head in reassurance. "No. Who knows what that witch was doing to him. He probably hasn't slept in two days."

"Where did you find him?"

"In a farmhouse forty miles from here." The older woman informed her. "He was caged up in a storm cellar."

Dark eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "We don't have many of those here."

The mayor agreed. "No we do not. Whoever took him built that house. I'm almost positive." She wanted to wake Gold to find out more information, but she knew that was useless.

"Are you sure the dagger still can't take him away?" Belle questioned her. "I know he doesn't have magic with the cuff, but does the dagger still control him?"

"No." Regina shook her head. "The dagger controls his magic and since his magic isn't accessible, the dagger holds no value until the cuff is removed."

"What if she comes after him?" The younger brunette asked, chewing on her bottom lip nervously.

"I'll put a protection spell on your house before I leave, but without his magic he should be useless to her." The former queen explained.

Belle licked her lips. "Unless she just wanted revenge against him."

"If that were the case then he'd be much worse than he is." Regina was almost certain.

Emma came barreling into the room, relief written all over her face. "Hook found him." She had a hand to her chest as she sat next to her girlfriend.

"That's a relief." The mayor pointed out as she run a thumb over the savior's cleft chin lovingly. "Where was he?"

"In the woods." The blonde told her. "He was unconscious and mumbling something about fighting himself. Killian is taking him back to the loft. I already called my mom and told her about it."

Regina nodded. "Okay. Do you want to stop by there before we go home? Gold isn't going to give us anything reliable tonight."

The sheriff looked at the dark one, who was sleeping like a baby on his girlfriend's shoulder. "Did you get anything out of him?" She asked.

"Just a name." The mayor said. "Zelena."

Green eyes widened as she quickly stood up. "We have to go."

Brown eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? Why?"

"Because that's the name of my mom's new nanny."

Regina's jaw dropped.

Emma kicked the door open to her parent's loft, her gun taking a quick sweep of the surroundings. Snow gasped from the couch and clutched her chest in freight. "Lord, Emma! What are you doing?"

The mayor was right behind her, fireball in her hand as she looked around. "Is anyone here with you?"

Mary Margaret stood up from the couch and dropped the baby book she was reading. "No. David and Killian should be here any minute though." She observed as both the women visibly relaxed. "What is going on?"

"Zelena isn't here?" Emma questioned once more, just to be sure.

"No. She left shortly after your father did." The schoolteacher revealed. "What does she have to do with anything?"

Regina shook her hair out of her face. "She's the one who took the dagger."

Snow instinctively wrapped her arms around her stomach. "She- why?"

Both the sheriff and mayor shrugged. "No idea." The blonde said. "All we got out of Gold was a name before he passed out."

"So you have him?" She asked. "That's good news. Do you have the dagger too?"

"No, but we put Pan's cuff on Gold so he's no longer controlled by it." Regina explained. "When she was here earlier, did she touch anything?"

Mary Margaret thought back to it as her daughter went upstairs just to look. "I don't think so-" Then she remembered. "Well… she brought us the tea I made-"

Regina cut her off. "Do you still have it?" She questioned.

The pixie haired woman shook her head. "No. She did the dishes after she left."

Emma was descending back down the stairs as she caught the distraught look on her lover's face. "What's wrong?" She asked.

The mayor seemed to be in deep thought as she turned to look at her girlfriend. "Your father… he said something about fighting himself when Killian found him. Right?"

"Yeah." Emma said slowly, not sure where the older woman was heading. "Why?"

"Have you ever heard the story of Rapunzel?" She asked the sheriff.

The blonde nodded. "Yeah. An evil witch traps pretty blonde girl in a tall tower and a prince climbs her hair. They actually made a cute little cartoon about it a few years back. It was adorable."

"It's also incorrect." Regina revealed to her. "Rapunzel was never saved by some prince and an evil witch didn't trap her in there. She trapped herself."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows. Nothing the brunette was saying clicked for her. "Okay?"

Brown eyes rolled. "Back in the Enchanted Forest there's this hallucinogenic plant called Night Root. If it's digested it helps one overcome all their fears, but only by fighting yourself against them. As in literally fight yourself."

Realization dawned on the savior. "Like my dad said he did." She said and received a smiling nod from her girlfriend. "So he ate that night tree thing? How'd he-"

"Zelena must have slipped it to him." Mary Margaret filled in.

Emma was confused again. "Why would she do that?"

"Gold use to get strong warriors to eat night root so he could steal a symbol of their courage for a spell he needed." Regina explained.

"So Zelena is casting a spell." The blonde concluded.

The mayor nodded. "A big one." She rung her hands together nervously, wondering what that witch wanted. "And we just threw a wrench in her plan."

Emma took a deep breath. "So what's our next move?"

"We need to wait for Gold to tell us everything he knows before we move forward." Regina told her.

"Isn't that dangerous though? She could go after Gold again." Snow pointed out.

"Regina did some blood magic protection spell to guard his house." The sheriff told her mother.

The mayor looked at her former enemy. "Besides, Gold isn't tied to the dagger anymore. For all she knows he's coming after her."

Snow nodded. "So we just go on as normal?"

"Until we talk to Gold, yes." Regina stated just as Killian and Charming walked through the door to the loft.

When David and Hook arrived at the loft, it was revealed that Charming's sword was gone and the group discussed the night root and Zelena. They decided to meet up at the diner tomorrow for breakfast and then head to Gold's for some answers.

It had been a long day and the women finally arrived home around eleven. The dogs were sleeping soundly in Henry's room so they left them there and made their way to the master bedroom.

After changing and crawling into bed, Emma laid her head on her girlfriend's chest and let out a deep, tired sigh as she felt the mayor's hand rub her back lovingly.

"It's been an eventual day." Regina noted as her eyes closed.

Emma laughed softly against the older woman's neck. "That's an understatement, baby. I just want things to go back to normal." She admitted.

The brunette nodded in agreement, taking in the small minute of peace her and her lover were having. "Things will settle back down soon, honey. Just remember that we have Gold now. We took away her biggest weapon."

"We're going to bring that evil bitch down." Emma vowed before kissed her true love's neck. "I love you." She mumbled sleepily.

Regina smiled at the tired voice the blonde and scratched her back slowly. "I love you too."

Ten minutes passed and the former queen felt the even breathing of the savior on top of her. She was exhausted herself, but her mind wouldn't shut off. She was worried about the witch that was planning something, but more than that she was worried about the possibility that she was carrying a child. She was trying not to stress out, just in case she was pregnant but she couldn't help it. She needed to know. She needed to put her worries to rest and she needed to do it soon.

I know I said we would see Zelena in this chapter, but as it often happens, things took a turn. Lol. You will see her early in the next chapter though, scouts honor. Possible Swan Queen baby. Let me know if you want it to happen. Nothing is official yet. A bunch of things are planned to happen next post. Swan Queen magic practice, family reveal, & other stuff.

Tell me how you like it so far! Until Monday my friends!