Best Laid Plans

Emma was quiet as she stood in Mary Margaret's apartment, looking over at Henry and August, the two men sitting on the couch, their heads bent together, quietly talking and discussing the papers Henry had come by. She still didn't know how exactly he'd gotten the pages that had once belonged to August. The excuse he gave was that he'd snuck into Gold's shop and found them, but now that she knew Piper was there, she was more inclined to believe that he'd gone to see her and she'd given him the papers.

It was…a relief, to know that, to know Piper still cared about Henry, to know she obviously still cared about August…and cared about HER too. She wouldn't lie and say she hadn't been a little worried when Piper had been shouting at Mary Margaret at the town line, when she had been telling the woman that she wasn't going to fight her heart hardening against Snow White and her 'people.' For a moment she wasn't sure what that meant, if people meant every single person in Mary Margaret's life, including her and Henry, or if they were safe. No, not safe, safe wasn't the right word. Safe implied there was a danger to them and, no matter what, no matter how Piper had looked at Mary Margaret, she couldn't bring herself to think that Piper would be a danger to Henry or HER. It was nice to be reassured though, to know that the woman still loved her and Henry despite being angry at Snow White.

There were questions though, so many questions that she had about all of this. Piper had said to talk to Henry, to ask him and she supposed it made sense to start with Henry, find out what he knew, before she confronted Piper again. Something was going on, not just with her parents and Hook, but with Piper too. There was something off about the woman when she'd seen her in Gold's cabin. She really wanted to talk to her again, see exactly what was going on.

Of all the people in her life, from the feel she got off them, from what she sensed in their words…Piper was the one most likely to actually TELL her the truth. It seemed like there was something she wanted her to know, but she didn't know who to ask or how to phrase it.

Looking at August and Henry now, the two thick as thieves since August had been awake, she knew she needed to take matters into her own hand and really START asking and listening. And now she had the time. Her parents were with Neal, Regina was taking a photo of the page with the door on it to Gold to help them keep 'looking' for the door, as she'd been instructed to steal the page back from Henry, Hook was at the dock, and there was nothing to really do or that could be done but to wait till Regina checked in, and her son deserved at least an hour of normalcy in the middle of all this crazy, he would always be her top priority.

"Hey kid," she called, "Why don't you let August get some sleep?" she offered, seeing some bags under August's eyes, being restored to a full-grown, non-wooden man had taken a lot out of him, she could tell, and the man hadn't gotten to bed till late, had been woken up at the crack of dawn by Henry, the two whispering, stopping when anyone got close enough to hear, but August had to be exhausted, "How about we get breakfast at Granny's?" she added, "Bring some back for August?"

"That'd actually be great," August smiled at her thankfully. He wanted to keep talking to Henry, to go over what he knew of the Author, to be able to help more with Operation Bluebird, but he wouldn't lie and say he wasn't tired.

"I guess," Henry sighed, making the adults chuckle at that, but he got up and followed Emma out of the house, August flopping down on the couch to sleep the second Henry's back was turned, which had Emma shaking her head on the way out.

~8~

"So, kid," Emma began as she sat in the booth across from Henry, "Seems you've been keeping something from me?"

"Nothing like what grandma's keeping from you," he muttered.

"What?" her eyes narrowed at that.

"I'm sorry I was keeping it from you," Henry amended quickly, hoping that Emma hadn't actually heard him, it was too important to Operation Bluebird how Emma found out about everything for it to come from him, "I…I'm assuming Aunt P told you?" she nodded, "I'm sorry mom, but I'm not sorry I gave grandpa back his dagger and…"

"Whoa, whoa, hey," Emma's eyes widened, "You gave…" she quickly lowered her voice, leaning in, "You gave Gold his dagger back? YOU were the one that took it?"

Henry winced at that, "I'm guessing that wasn't what Aunt P told you…"

"No," Emma huffed, "She might have let slip that you'd been calling her. Why didn't you tell me?"

"About the phone calls or the dagger?"

"Both."

Henry sighed, "The dagger because…it was the right thing to do," he admitted, "The only thing it was good for anymore was killing grandpa. And…" he looked her in the eyes, "You know that's why Mary Margaret and David kept it."

It didn't slip her notice that he hadn't called them grandma or gramps, "It was a precaution," even as she said it her words felt hollow in her mouth. She had NOT agreed with keeping the dagger for that reason at all.

"I gave it back to Aunt P," Henry continued, "Because she's had it practically for forever, she'd protect it, I didn't want it to be near Mary Margaret or David."

"Why not?" she narrowed her eyes slightly at that.

"Because they're heroes," he stated.

"And that's a bad thing?" she shook her head, there was something in his tone that told her the heroes was not meant to be a compliment.

"It's not good and it's not bad," Henry sighed, trying to find the words to explain it, "Mary Margaret sent grandpa over the townline because she wanted to protect everyone, but the town wasn't in danger from grandpa. Aunt P had the dagger that whole time, he could have done anything and he didn't. He…"

"Hey," Emma held up her hands in surrender, "You don't have to convince me, I agreed with you."

"Right," he nodded, sheepish, "She didn't think about what she was doing, or what it would do to Aunt P. I didn't want to risk them thinking that they HAD to do something worse than just banishment to grandpa and then regret it later."

"Ok," Emma let the word out in a long breath, "I can understand the Dagger. And the phone calls…"

"She's Aunt P," Henry shrugged, "She had to be devastated at what Mary Margaret did, I wanted to make sure she'd be ok. I know she had a life in the land without magic, but grandpa didn't. I just wanted to make sure they were doing ok."

Emma smiled at that, "You're a good kid. I wish I had thought of doing that."

"Well, no one really knew if the phonelines would work between there and here," Henry shrugged again, "I think that's what mom, er Regina's, hoping with Robin Hood," he looked down at that, "That THAT's the reason he hasn't called or contacted her, because it won't work. But…I know it does."

"Yeah, well we're working on that," Emma muttered, thinking about a request Regina had given her last night. She'd had a dream, apparently, that she'd found Robin but then the Evil Queen threw a fireball at them and, she wasn't sure why, but Regina thought the Queen was trying to protect Robin. She was sure something had happened and that Robin was in danger and needed her help to track him down, find a way to contact him, a number or something. She'd promised to get on that.

"Anyway," Henry continued, "I called them a few times while they were in New York, that's where they went. And then I called them because I wanted to look at August's things that Gepetto gave Aunt P…and found out they were here."

"So you knew," Emma murmured, thinking about how her parents had known that Piper was back as well, Gold too because one wouldn't be far from the other. Regina had clearly found out or known beforehand, it felt like everyone knew but her.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you mom," Henry reached out to take her hand on the table, "I didn't want to tell anyone till I could get them the dagger back."

"Mary Margaret and David are NOT going to be happy to know you did that Henry," Emma warned.

Surprisingly, Henry's expression darkened, "I don't really care," he stated firmly, "I did the right thing and they can't get mad at me for it. That's what Mary Margaret did at the townline, wasn't it? What she thought was the right thing? But it wasn't. It was the worst thing possible."

Emma looked at him a long while, seeing that he had the beginnings of tears in his eyes, "Hey, kid," she squeezed his hand, "What's wrong? What's going on?"

Henry swallowed hard, looking out the window a moment and back to her, "Mom…Mary Margaret betrayed Aunt P. She didn't even give grandpa a chance, she just…threw her cousin's true love over the townline to fend for himself."

"Yeah, I got that," Emma nodded slowly, "What else is there?"

"Aunt P is half-Siren, right?" he asked, sounding more like he was trying to explain something than questioning her, "Well Sirens, they don't do well with betrayal, it's even worse if their family betrays them. You know how Aunt P's heart can harden, well…now it's hardened against Snow White. Because she saw her cousin banish her true love, she tried to keep Aunt P from going with him. She…she basically tried to separate a Siren from their mate and that's a HUGE no-no in siren world," he waited a moment to make sure Emma absorbed how BAD it really was, "She can't help it," he added, "Aunt P, she can't help that her heart hardened, it just happens. And…the only way to reverse it is to take revenge on the person that hurt you, to hurt them as much as they hurt you."

Emma let out a breath at that, "She's going after Mary Margaret now?"

Even saying it out loud it felt so surreal, to imagine Piper, the one that had defended and stood by and protected Mary Margaret from the moment she arrived in town was now trying to take her out.

"Kind of," Henry hesitated to speak, "Grandpa's going to keep her from really hurting her, but…what she's planning, mom I…I think Mary Margaret might actually deserve it."

Emma blinked at him for that, to hear her son say such a thing, such a…non-heroic thing, "What?"

Henry looked frustrated, "Things…happened. To Aunt P and grandpa, BAD things mom. Really bad things happened, and they're still happening, because of what grandma did."

"What kinds of things?" she frowned.

"I can't say."

"Henry," she gave him a look.

"It's not MY secret to tell," Henry shook his head, remaining firm, "You need to talk to Aunt P if you want to know, but, trust me mom…she has her reasons for standing against Mary Margaret this once. And they're good ones."

Emma fell silent at that, thinking over what her son had said. Henry was…the most heroic, pure-hearted little boy she had ever known. For HIM to tell her that she needed to hear Piper out for her reasons to be opposing Mary Margaret…she was going to listen. She had promised to listen to him more, often he was wiser and smarter than she was. It didn't sit right with her at all that her family was so divided that Piper was taking a stand against her mother, but…she was NOT going to jump to conclusions and take one side over the other till she knew BOTH sides.

She was not going to make her mother's mistake at the townline.

She'd already made the same mistake her mother had in the past, causing Regina the loss of her true love, she was not going to risk losing her Aunt P, especially not if the woman actually WAS justified to be at odds with Mary Margaret.

She was going to wait, and learn the truth before she did anything.

"Are you mad at me?" Henry asked her after she'd been quiet for a few minutes, fidgeting in his seat.

Emma let out a long breath, "No," she told him, "I'm not. I'm…I'm actually proud of you for sticking to your convictions and for doing what you felt was right. But next time," she pointed at him, trying to be serious but not demanding, "You tell me first. Ok?"

Henry smiled, "Deal," he reached out to shake her hand, "Once you know the truth mom, there's something else I need to tell you about."

"What?"

He smirked, "You said next time, the 'something else' is in the past."

"Smart," she rolled her eyes at his cunning, he really was Neal's son, the Dark One's grandson with wit like that.

"Now…since I told you some things," Henry began, "Would you tell me something?"

"What?"

"Why are we really here?" he asked her, "You could have made breakfast in the apartment, and you could have asked the others to come, but you only asked ME. Why?"

Emma shook her head, "You're getting too smart, kid."

Henry just grinned smugly at that.

"All this going on, with August, with him going from Pinocchio to August again, the boy to the man, and…the lies…it made me think of you, and Hook."

"Really?" he raised an eyebrow at that.

"Hear me out," she chuckled at his incredulous expression, "August was a kid, and you're MY kid. And now he's a man, who wore a leather jacket and got me to believe in things again, a man that I know you were close to in Operation Cobra. It made me think of Hook and you. Look," she sighed, knowing this was about to get serious, "Before, I asked you if you were ok with me and Hook. You said no. But also that you wanted me to be happy. And that should have been a red flag to me, but it wasn't. In New York, I wanted to make sure you were ok with me and Walsh before I did anything, it should have been the same here, it shouldn't have mattered if it was Walsh or Hook. You weren't comfortable with me and Hook, not like you were with Regina and Robin Hood. And I ignored you. And I'm sorry."

"It's ok," he shrugged but looked away.

"No, it's not," she told him, "You are my son. You are the most important person in my life, and what YOU feel matters to me. I never should have asked Hook out while you were uncomfortable with him," she sat back a little, taking a deep breath, "Which brings me to a question I need to ask…"

"Why aren't I comfortable with him?" Henry guessed.

"Yeah."

He was quiet a little, "I know Walsh was a flying monkey, that he was…he was using the two of us. And it hurts to know that. I just…I don't want that to happen again. With Hook. I don't want him to use me to get to you."

Emma frowned at that, leaning in, "Henry…" she paused, not wanting to think of what the answer would mean, "HAS he? Has he made you feel like that?"

"I'm not sure," Henry sighed, "Whenever we're on his ship for 'lessons,'" he used quotey fingers, "Sometimes it feels less like him giving me a lesson about sailing and more like he wants me to give him a lesson about you."

"He what?" she demanded, feeling her anger rise. How DARE he do that to her son?!

"I mean, he asks a lot of questions about you, and I get that he's interested in you, and guys probably ask that a lot but…I don't like it," he admitted, "I don't like answering them because it feels like I'm just helping him…manipulate you or something. Like with Walsh. I really liked him, he seemed interested in me too, not just as your son but as a person. With Hook…"

"It feels more like he's using you to get to me," Emma muttered, silently cursing Will Scarlet under her breath.

"Sometimes," Henry nodded, "When Zelena was around, when I didn't remember Storybrooke, Hook kept trying to get me out. And it just felt more like he wanted your son away instead of that he actually cared that MY life was in danger with Zelena coming after me. I felt more like he wanted Emma's son safe, instead of being worried that Henry's life was in danger."

Emma nodded at that, "I understand."

"And…" he hesitated.

"What?" she frowned.

"His story is in the book," he added, "The things he did as a pirate."

"He's trying to make up for that," she could only half offer, knowing that a large part of that was that he thought SHE wouldn't like a pirate.

"I know," Henry said quickly, "It's just…do YOU know any of his story?" Emma was silent, telling that she didn't know nearly enough, "I get he's a villain trying to redeem himself, like my other mom. But…she doesn't hide her past from me. Everyone here knows what she did. She'll talk about it if you ask her a question and she tries not to lie to me or cover things up. She doesn't let other people downplay what she's done or sugarcoat it. I…the times I'm around Hook. If I ask him, he never talks about it. I don't think he's actually told YOU about half the things he did. The book has some of them, more quick descriptions of things, and I know some are probably not exactly how it happened, cos it's not like that for my mom either, and there's probably WAY more that he did in 300 years than can fit in the book, but…I don't like that he won't be open about with you. I feel like he's trying to hide himself or…or lie about the past, like he IS trying to downplay it or sugarcoat it for you, to make you like him more. I mean, what kid doesn't want to be a pirate when they're younger?" Henry tried to lighten it up, "I wouldn't think less of him for being honest, but he won't be. Even when I ask. Even when I tell him that I already know. He lies all the time about it or doesn't talk at all. And I get it, pirates lie, but if he really wants to be with you, shouldn't you know about HIM?"

"Yeah," Emma nodded, "I should. And I've talked to him about it. It's up to him if he wants to change that part though."

"Good," Henry smiled at her a little, "I'm glad you talked to him. That makes me feel better."

Emma smiled at that, about to say more…when there was a buzz of her phone on the table, she picked it up, "Speak of the devil," she muttered, answering it, "Hook?"

~8~

"Hey," Emma called as she and Henry walked back into the apartment to see Hook standing there with her parents coming down from the upper level, August dead to the world on the couch, "What is it? What was so important you couldn't tell me over the phone?" she paused, seeing the very solemn, grim look on Hook's face, "What's wrong?"

Hook took a breath, seeming to steel himself for what he was about to say, "Before Ursula left, she told me what the villains have planned. To get their happy endings, they intend to darken your heart, love," he looked at her, ignoring how Mary Margaret gasped at the revelation, "To turn you into a villain so you'll no longer be the savior."

Ursula had told him how, according to Gold, Emma was the key to getting the happy endings for the villains, that it wasn't just the Author they needed, but something from her too. In this land, Emma was the one responsible for giving people happy endings, and while she was still on the side of good, only good would have their happy endings. He had feared that Gold was going to try and kill her, but Ursula had revealed it was much worse. The plan…was to fill Emma's heart with darkness forever.

"What?" Emma scoffed, noting that Henry was silent and she knew her son well enough to know it was either one of two reasons.

Either he knew that was the plan and agreed to it, which she knew, no matter what, no matter how justified he thought a punishment for Snow White would be, he would NOT agree to her being manipulated to darkness.

OR…he knew the plan that Gold had, and it was NOT that.

It was possible Gold lied to Henry and that the real plan was what Ursula described. But she couldn't see Gold or Piper lying to Henry, of all people, about this. Piper loved that little boy, she wouldn't lie, not even to get the dagger back, she wouldn't manipulate him like that. And after all that Piper had done to keep darkness from infecting her, infecting Snow White, she wouldn't just reverse that. Piper wasn't angry at HER, but at Mary Margaret.

She doubted Gold or Piper lied to Henry…no, it made more sense he'd lied to the Queens of Darkness than his grandson.

"Ursula said Gold has a way to do it," Hook told her, "He can use the Author to do it."

"That's insane," Emma shook her head, "Aunt P wouldn't…"

"She's joined the Queens of Darkness, Emma," Mary Margaret cut in, her voice breaking, sounding like she was genuinely frightened her cousin as now targeting her daughter.

"She wouldn't do that to ME," Emma shot her mother a glare.

"She's very angry right now, Emma," Mary Margaret argued.

"Yeah, she is, at YOU," Emma pointed out, "She has no issue with me."

"You're my daughter."

"And I'm her niece," Emma defended, "YOU were the one that betrayed her, Mary Margaret, YOU were the one that brought the siren out in her, not me. I know how it works, she's not coming after me. She protected August, for god's sake, he's not even her blood-family and she protected him from the Queens of Darkness. She is NOT going to hurt me," she shook her head and looked at Hook, "Whatever Ursula told you, whatever Gold told her the plan was, was a lie. Author or no Author, I am not going dark."

"Swan…" Hook began, drawing her attention to him as Mary Margaret and David spoke quietly behind her, "Darkness is tricky, it creeps up on you. It's…tempting and hard to resist, and it's far easier to infect someone than you know."

"Not really," Henry stepped beside his mother, "It took the Dark One himself years to be able to get my mom's magic to turn dark," he reminded them, not needing to clarify which mother it was, "And Aunt P's been protecting her and Snow White from darkness since forever."

Emma nodded at that, getting the subtle feeling that Henry had confirmed her suspicions. He seemed to know something about what Piper was planning, and if he was defending her, saying the darkness wasn't a part of it, she would believe Gold lied to Ursula. Even if Henry couldn't reveal what the actual plan was, couldn't reveal to the others that he knew Gold was there and had spoken to both him and Piper, she understood what he was trying to say

She jumped, however, when Mary Margaret suddenly turned and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her.

"She'll be fine," David told them quickly, before hurrying after his wife.

~8~

Piper looked up from where she and Gold were gathered in Regina's vault when the woman herself entered.

"Oh, at last," Cruella rolled her eyes, "I feel I've aged a decade waiting for you."

"Well, you certainly look like it," Reinga sassed.

"I would say more two," Piper offered, earning a glare from Cruella which just led to a smirk in return.

"Where's the page, Regina?" Maleficent got right to business.

"Don't tell me you failed," Gold taunted, far too calm, though it appeared to be something only Piper picked up on.

"The page was under a protection spell," Regina informed them, "Something cooked up by the Savior. She almost caught me trying to break it. I had to flee."

Piper had to wonder just how stupid the former-Evil Queen thought they were if she honestly believed that they thought she, a master sorceress, wouldn't be able to break a simple protection spell that Emma, a novice to magic, put on a piece of paper.

Gold nearly snorted at the ridiculous lie, "Are you sure that's what happened?"

"Of course I am," Regina glared.

"You have been gone quite a while," Piper baited, "Was it truly that difficult a spell to break?"

"It must have been," Gold added dryly, "For her to come back empty-handed."

Regina smirked at that, "I'm not empty-handed. I got this," she held out her cell phone, a picture of the paper, a door on it, depicted though there was a flare if light across it that obstructed quite a bit of the door itself.

"A photograph," Gold deadpanned, trying to sound disappointed.

It was part of their plan of course. When they had returned to the cabin after searching the Sorcerer's house and coming up with nothing, when they had seen that August had been taken, that the heroes 'attacked' and got him out (which DID help solidify the remaining Queens of Darkness's understanding that Snow White's cousin was really on their side of Snow White would attack her), they had determined that they needed to get their hands on the paper with the door on it, and that task fell to Regina, to 'prove' her loyalty to their cause.

Piper had, of course, contacted Henry to warn him of that fact, to keep him abreast of the situation, as promised.

This actually helped their plans quite a bit that Regina returned with only a poor copy of a picture of the door. Or it would have, had it not been for the glare nor Cruella commenting on it.

"Oh, and an incompetent one, too. That glare ruins any clear view of the door."

Gold sighed as he looked at the phone, knowing he had to speak the truth about the 'glare' that had appeared, because Maleficent was there and SHE would recognize it if she saw it, and she would grow suspicious as to why the Dark One himself hadn't noticed, "No, that's not a glare. That's magic. This door has been sealed by it. This is the door we've been looking for."

"You think the Author is trapped in an illustration?" Maleficent tried to follow along, "But that would mean…"

"The Sorcerer imprisoned him in the book," Gold regretted to say, he and Piper already knew that part of it, but now their hand had been forced and the Queens knew it too.

"Then we must get ahold of it," Piper stated simply, though it was FAR from simple. Because that paper was with Henry, and if those Queens went anywhere near him, three of the five people in that room would kill them, and then their plans of using the women as distractions would be up in smoke.

"Yes," Gold looked at Regina, "Bring us the page."

"That won't be easy," Regina shook her head, "The Savior isn't about to let it out of her sight."

"Don't worry about her," Maleficent smiled, "I've got just the thing."

~8~

The small group of villains stood on an overlook above the town, Maleficent lowering her staff as she finished casting a soft purple haze over the area, a less threatening sleeping curse that would keep the town quiet and their quest unimpeded as they went after the page.

"It's done," Maleficent declared, "Now let's get to work."

The group turned and started to make their way through the forest, Regina and Cruella in the lead, Maleficent and Gold in the center, while Piper trailed behind just far enough back where she could hear Gold and Maleficent's discussion while she subtly texted Henry a warning and amendment to the plan, knowing he and a few others would be awake despite the sleeping curse. Once one fell under it, they couldn't be forced into it a second time, they were immune. Which meant Henry would be awake, as would Mary Margaret and Aurora, but David, Emma, Hook, nearly everyone else wouldn't be.

"Now," Gold glanced at Maleficent, "You know what you have to do."

"Quite well," she nodded, "The question is, do you?"

"Our deal was that you were gonna help us find the Author and our happiness would be secured."

"Well, I'm altering the deal because, let's face it, you need that page from the book to get the Author, and to do that, you need me."

Gold scoffed, "Do we?"

"I just put the town to sleep," she pointed out, "I'm useful."

"Not quite as useful as you may think," Gold remarked, "I've seen Pip put towns to sleep before as well. She could have done the same here."

This time Maleficent scoffed, "Could she?" she mocked him, "You and I both know she doesn't have it in her at the moment to do magic like that," she smirked at how Gold's eyes narrowed at her, hearing the barest hint of a stumble in Piper's steps behind her, "She's not exactly at the top of her game at the moment, is she? Face it, Rumple, you need me. Cruella and Ursula were a means to an end…ME. That's why you haven't shed one tear over our tentacled friend's departure because you have me. And to have me means you have to give me what I want. It's oh so simple. I need to know what happened to my child after those two heroes got rid of it. I need to know its fate. In return, I will get us both the Author. We'll get you the page. And once I know what they really did to my child, those heroes will pay."

Piper's lips pursed at that, but she had to admit…Maleficent was partially right. They DID need her, but not for the reason she seemed to think. There were more plans and branches of plans going on than the Queens realized, and in order to keep their true plan secret, they had to let the woman think she held the cards.

Just a little longer.

~8~

Getting into Mary Margaret's apartment had been entirely too easy, which made sense as there were a handful of magic-users that could break the lock with a snap of their fingers and there hadn't been time to put a magical block in place when the curse hit. Piper had almost smiled at the sight of Emma and August sitting up on the couch, leaning against each other while Hook, passed out in an armchair nearby, even in his sleep, looked irritated at the sight.

"The Savior looks a lot less threatening in this state, doesn't she?" Maleficent eyed Emma, standing before the trio with her arms crossed, Cruella beside her while Regina 'looked' for the papers.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't tempted to wring her scrawny neck right now," Cruella muttered.

"Try it and we shall see which of us has more control over animals," Piper threatened, moving past the two Queens to block their sight of Emma, "Be mindful, Cruella, I can sway both beast and man alike, and I have no preference in which I use to tear you limb from limb."

"I'd like to see you try, darling," Cruella smirked.

"I would not try," Piper challenged, "I would succeed."

"And if she failed," Gold added, "You would be left to face ME."

Cruella shot a glare at him but said nothing else.

"I think we can all agree that killing the Savior at this point would be ill-advised," Regina commented from the side of the room, sifting through papers.

"You're right about that, yet wrong about the location of the page," Gold remarked, "It's not here."

"We just have to keep looking," Regina insisted.

"I sense no magic here," Gold argued.

"The page was here two hours ago," Regina sniped, "It didn't just grow legs and walk out of here on its own."

"But it IS possible someone walked out of here with it," Piper pointed out, stepping back over to Gold's side, content that Emma was safe at the moment.

"I put the whole town to sleep," Maleficent disagreed.

"Except those who have been under a sleeping curse and are immune," Gold countered, staring at Regina's back, smirking as he saw the woman tense at the mention, knowing she knew exactly where his mind had gone and who he was implying, "I may know a resourceful young man who's wide awake. One who's very protective of the storybook and all its contents, one who's gonna test his mother's commitment towards helping me."

Regina turned and glared at him, before striding out of the room, leaving them little choice but to follow, "No one goes near Henry but me," she nearly spat as they reached the street, "If you have a problem with that, you can take it up with one of my fireballs."

Gold waited till Regina had strode off a few feet before looking at Cruella and Maleficent, "Follow her," he ordered, "And do what's necessary to convince the boy. That page is the key. Let's not lose it when we're this close."

"Where are you off to?" Cruella frowned as Gold offered Piper his arm, the two of them heading in the opposite direction.

"We have other business to attend to," Piper stated, walking off with Gold, gripping his arm tightly, knowing he was more leaning on her for support than walking with her on a leisurely stroll through town.

The moment they were around the corner and out of sight of the others, a red swirl of smoke surrounded them, transporting them to just outside Gold's shop. Piper quickly pushed the door open, helping Gold inside when…

"Grandpa!" Henry called, hurrying to help the man in as well, seeing him struggling to catch his breath, "It's getting worse, isn't it?" Henry frowned up at Piper, remembering what she'd told him about Gold's 'condition.'

"I am afraid so," Piper nodded, solemn as they managed to help Gold over to a small chair so he could rest, "You should not have transported us here, Rummy," she knelt before him, placing her hand on his knee.

"I could have met you somewhere else," Henry agreed, "Somewhere closer."

"Here was the safest place," Gold argued.

"It is not for you to protect us at the moment, Rummy," Piper argued lightly, squeezing his leg, "It is MY turn."

Gold smiled at her, strained though it was, "I will always want to protect you Pip."

"And you cannot do that if you are dead," she told him harshly, needing to be so so he would understand he needed to keep himself safe.

Henry frowned, "This is all because of your magic," he nodded, "You shouldn't use it."

"It wouldn't matter if I use it or not," Gold insisted, "My magic has always come at a cost, and I have racked up so much debt I can never be clear of it," he sighed, "I could have stopped it had your grandmother not sent me over the line when she did. Now?" he shook his head, "It's too late, unless we manage to change the rules."

"Then we need to get the Author out of the book," Henry determined, "Here," he pulled his backpack off and rummaged through it, "I have the page, right here," he handed it to Gold, "How do we get the Author out?"

"If he was trapped in there, it shall not be easy," Piper commented.

"He isn't just trapped," Gold shook his head, rubbing his face, managing to catch his breath again, "This is a cage," he held up the page, "And every cage has a lock to it…"

"And every lock has a key," Henry followed, "We need to find the key to the door to get the Author out," he frowned, considering that, "It has to be at the mansion. The Sorcerer's mansion," he looked at them, "That's where all the other storybooks are, all the blank ones I told you about. If he put someone in a book, maybe he keeps the key around the other books."

"It is a reasonable deduction," Piper murmured.

"You two stay here," Henry ordered them, "I'll get the key."

"Henry no," Piper shook her head, standing, "It is too dangerous."

"Is it?" he challenged, "The entire town is asleep and you said mom would be looking for ME. If she doesn't know where I am, then she can't find me."

"Locator spell," Gold reminded him.

Henry blinked, "Ok," he hadn't considered that, "If I keep on the move, I'll always be ahead of her. I just need to make it to the mansion and snoop around before she gets there."

"And what will you do if she gets there before you find the key?" Gold inquired, "They want the page."

"Then I'll give them it," Henry smirked, pulling out a second one from his back, "THIS one. Mom, er, Emma made it with her magic this morning for my other mom before she took that picture of the page instead."

Piper smiled as she looked at it, "Your mother is brilliant."

Henry just beamed at that, both at the compliment for his mother but also that Piper seemed to be giving him her blessing to do this mission solo.

She trusted him.

~8~

The text from Henry that the plan had gone perfectly, that he had not only found the key that would unlock the Author but also that he had managed to slip Regina the fake copy of the page had been a welcome relief to Gold and Piper. They had remained in the shop, making a potion that would help Gold with the pain he was so clearly feeling. He needed to appear strong before the two remaining Queens of Darkness if he wanted to be able to see their plan through. And he couldn't do that if he felt he could hardly breathe the pain was starting to get that bad.

"What were you doing in there?" Cruella demanded as they left the shop, having heard her car pulling to a screeching halt before the doors. They couldn't risk Maleficent or Regina entering the shop and seeing the leftover potion ingredients, they would put two and two together and work out what they'd been making.

"Mind your own business," Gold snapped.

"Did you find Henry?" Piper changed the subject.

"We found the boy," Maleficent smirked.

"I found him," Regina shot her a glare, before handing over the false copy.

They would have accepted it as real, they truly would have…had they not seen a particular peculiar look cross Maleficent's face as Regina offered the page to them. The way she looked at Gold just after, it told them all they needed to know.

The woman was aware it was fake as well.

Emma's forgery might have looked near identical to the original page…but it didn't have the same magical imprint. Every spell cast carried something of the caster in it. They had hoped that, being seeped in dark magic, Maleficent wouldn't be able to sense the faint traces of Emma's light magic on the page, it was truly very weak…but the woman clearly had.

And now they either had to accept the page and go along with it, earning suspicion and retaliation from Maleficent…or call Regina out for the forgery, despite not wishing to do so as it would just make Henry a target all over again if the Queens thought he still had the real page…which they would because they couldn't reveal THEY had the real page without explaining how they'd gotten it.

"This is rubbish," Gold frowned at Regina.

"What?" Regina scoffed.

"It's a fake," he clarified, ripping it in two, "You've spent enough time with the book. You should know the difference."

"They tricked me!" Regina defended.

"Truly, Regina, did you honestly believe we did not have any suspicions about you?" Piper shook her head at the woman.

"I've been waiting for this moment," Gold smirked, at least that wasn't a lie, he HAD been curious just how long Regina would last with her ruse, "I knew it would come. Maleficent."

"Wait," Regina begged, "I can expl…"

But it was too late, Maleficent used her magic to put her to sleep.

Gold looked down at the woman sprawled out on the ground, "Bring her to her vault."

It seemed he needed to have a chat with the woman and her misconceptions about how it was 'heroic' to spy on them for someone like Snow White.

He honestly wondered if she knew just what Snow White had done to her 'friend's' child.

~8~

Mary Margaret, while relieved her husband had woken from the Sleeping Curse that had taken over the town, was not quite so relieved about other events that had happened while she had been trying to rouse him and get him back to their apartment. Emma had called her, had gotten an excited call from Henry that he had found the key that would unlock the door the Author was trapped behind in the Sorcerer's Mansion. Apparently, he'd been rooting around, hiding from the Queens of Darkness as he'd taken the fake page of the door with him, and stumbled upon the key while going through the drawers and desks of the Library Room he'd found in the man's mansion.

Emma had, of course, called her to meet back at the apartment with David so they could discuss what to do.

Neither of them were pleased with this development, if Ursula was to be believed, releasing the Author would undo everything they had done to keep Emma from falling to Darkness.

And now it seemed like there was only one option.

"I think we should destroy the page," David told his wife as they reached the hallway that led to their apartment.

"What?" Mary Margaret blinked at that.

"If we destroy it, Gold and Piper can never free the Author and use him to turn Emma dark."

"The Author would be trapped inside the book forever!" she argued, "Or it could kill him. Regina wouldn't get her happy ending…"

"We don't know that," David stopped before the door, dropping his voice, "We just know that she won't get it from the Author, we have to do it," he took her hands.

"How?" she scoffed, thinking of how, if Henry gave the fake page to the Queens he wouldn't just give up the real one, not to them, he seemed angry with them, "Just…waltz in there and take the paper from Henry and…and light it on fire? Put it through a shredder?"

"We can ask for it," David supplied, "Say that we want the fairies to examine it, make sure it's not a trap that…that there's even someone trapped in there and that it won't release another hell-bat-demon on us. We say that it WAS a trap and the page disintegrated when light magic was used."

"More lies," Mary Margaret shook her head, "I can't do this. I gave Henry that book to give him hope, and I'm gonna lie and take it away? And what about Regina? She's finally becoming a friend. I went to her for help with Emma, with our secret. She's kept it. She's risked her life for us. And we're gonna repay her by destroying her chance at a happy ending?

"Well, maybe there's another way. Mary Margaret, we've gone too far down this path. We have to protect Emma!"

Before another word could be spoken, the door to the apartment opened, revealing Henry by the door, his face hard…Emma and Hook not two feet behind him, staring at them with wide eyes.

"Protect me from what?" Emma demanded, her tone leaving absolutely no room for them to even attempt to brush the question off or lie. She looked between them, "What are you hiding from me?"

Mary Margaret and David looked at each other, a deep regret and fear in their eyes as they realized there was no escaping this, they hadn't expected Emma to be back at the apartment yet...and now she had caught them…the time had come for the truth to come out.

~8~

Emma stared at her parents, horrified, as they explained to her the truth they had been hiding from her.

She wasn't even sure she'd heard half of it, couldn't even begin to process what they'd told her.

The Queens of Darkness had come to them, in the Enchanted Forest, before the Curse, before Snow White had even known she was carrying the Savior, to make a deal with them to stop Regina. They'd gone to a tree that would only answer the question of the most valiant of heroes…and none were more valiant than Snow White and Prince Charming…or so they had thought. The tree rejected them, which had led to Snow White discovering she was pregnant.

Not just that, but apparently the baby she carried had the potential for either great good and heroism or great darkness and villainy.

Instead of trusting themselves her parents had then sought out a unicorn that would show them a vision of her future. While her father had seen her innocent and a baby, pure and happy, her mother had seen her older, angry and bitter and cruel…her mother had seen, in her vision, her heart being ripped out and crushed by her own daughter.

They had been directed to the Sorcerer's apprentice for help, the man revealing that every baby was born with potential for good and evil, and that was why the vision her parents had contained a reality that could happen, she could be a hero or a villain, her fate hadn't been set yet. Snow White had been terrified of her child turning dark, becoming a villain, claiming it would be a life of anger and hate and pain and that she didn't want her baby to suffer that. She had begged the Apprentice for a way to prevent such a fate…

And he had revealed one, one that would be cloaked in a truly dark and terrible deed.

He could rip the darkness out of the unborn baby Snow White carried…and place it in a living vessel.

And her parents had agreed.

Not just agreed, they had stolen an egg that Maleficent had laid, and decided to use THAT for the ritual. Her parents had stolen another woman's child, had forced it to be infused with HER dark potential, and had it banished to another world so that such a vile creature wouldn't plague the Enchanted Forest.

Her parents had essentially stolen a woman's child from them, a child that could very well be dead and if, by some miracle, it wasn't…it would be living a miserable life, suffering in agony from a darkness it shouldn't have EVER had to carry, a burden that wasn't theirs and never should have been.

"This whole time…" Emma breathed, completely stunned, tears in her eyes, "I was right. You were lying," she looked at her parents hard at that, "I wanted to believe you. I wanted to believe in you…" and she had, she had so badly wanted to think they weren't lying to her, but she knew, she knew they were and they hadn't had the decency to tell her the truth.

"We were just trying to protect you," David offered.

"From what?" she shook her head, tears starting to fall, "Would it have really been SO bad if I wasn't your perfect little Savior of the light? Would it have been so terrible for me to be normal? To have any kind of darkness in me?"

Magic was a balance, she had learned that very well, you needed dark with the light, light with the dark, and all her parents had done was throw her entire being off balance…without her consent, and ended up condemning another baby for it.

"We HAD to," Mary Margaret sniffled, "I saw it, Emma. I saw what it was like to have a darkness in you that only grew stronger every day. I saw the pain and torment it could cause, the heartbreak, the tears, the fears and doubts and insecurities, the…the misery of it. I didn't want that for you. I was trying to save you from becoming…"

"Like Aunt P?" Emma cut in, a warning edge to her voice, "You are NOT telling me you did this to me because you didn't want me to be like her!"

That was the worst excuse ever, this was Snow White! She was supposed to love Rose Red! Love her cousin and not want to change her. Not want her children to change because of her.

"She was miserable, Emma," Mary Margaret defended, "It hurt her so badly and…the darkness," she shook her head, "I saw what it was turning her into, how it was affecting those around her, how it was affecting her. It...it changed her, the older she became, and it scared her, it hurt her. I was afraid that it would happen to you too," she reached for her daughter's hand, but Emma pulled it back.

"You should have LET it," Emma nearly spat, "I would rather be like her than like you."

And with that, she stood up, ignoring the devastated look on Mary Margaret's face at her words, harsh but truthful words, at this point…she would rather have been like Piper.

Piper had accepted her, when her magic was on the fritz, believed in her, never made her feel like a monster. Whatever pain she suffered, however dark she was, she was still a better person, to her, than others had been. She was strong and protective and she loved her family, she would die for them, she would rather herself suffer than let anyone she cared about be hurt. And she was a villain.

And here she had her 'heroic' parents, who had kidnapped an innocent baby, used dark magic to affect not just her but the other child, and then banished it away to DIE...and they were still called heroes for it? Here were her heroic parents that had looked at her with fear when her magic went haywire. The heroes that had betrayed their own, had cast out villains when it suited them, used and abused those around them, and would rather harm another woman's child than allow their own to have even a modicum of darkness in them.

This woman…this woman that was her mother, who had grown up with a half-siren for a cousin, who had claimed to love her and accept her, darkness and all…didn't want her own child, a child she named in honor of her cousin, to be like the woman at all. Mary Margaret said she didn't want her to have a darkness because of what she saw in her cousin…all it meant as that she truly couldn't and hadn't accepted or loved her cousin as much as she claimed if she couldn't stand the thought of her child being even slightly like the woman.

"I've got to go," Emma shook her head, turning to head for the doors, she needed to get out of there, she needed to be away from them, from the 'heroes' that no one would ever call out for what they had done and what it was, villainous.

"Please, stop," Mary Margaret tried to run after her, making her pause in the doorway, "I'm your mother."

Emma stared her on, her expression devoid of any emotion but betrayal and anger, "I don't care," she said, slamming the door shut and just…running, wherever she went…she just wanted to be away from the lies.

~8~

Piper inhaled deeply as she sat outside of Regina's vault, looking up at the night's sky. She should have been inside with the others, she knew, but it felt too warm in the vault, stifling, she'd felt more like a caged animal and she just...needed air. So there she was, sitting on the small step that led to the mausoleum...when she heard an almost stomping noise approaching.

She looked over, standing up when she spotted Emma heading for her, the woman pale, tears in her eyes, "Emma?" she breathed.

Emma just looked at her, dead in the eyes, "Tell me the truth," she began, her voice breaking.

"About what?" she eyed the girl, assuming she had finally learned the 'truth' or at least the version Snow White would want to tell that made her seem the hero, there was no other reason she could see for Emma to be so upset or want the truth if she hadn't been told, "About your mother?" she blinked as Emma winced at that, "Maleficent's child? New York? Our plans? What do you want to know Emma. Tell me and I SHALL answer you truthfully. What do you want to know the truth about?"

Emma took a breath and answered with just one word that would change it all.

"Everything."

A/N: I know this chapter ends a bit differently than the episode, we haven't had August's explanation of the Author yet, nor Emma's decision what to do with the key, as much as I tried to fit it into this chapter, it wouldn't flow right. We WILL see all of that eventually, we will see August talk to Emma and we will see the Author appear, since most of the episodes seem to be just a handful of consecutive days, those two moments (and a bit about Maleficent) have more just been pushed off an hour or two in the grand scheme of things. So we may not see them here and now, but we will see them soon ;)

I'm not sure if that's how time with Hook would have gone for Henry, but I feel like Hook would have fished around for more about Emma and Henry would be the only one that might talk to him, or so he'd think. And after what happened with Walsh and how he trusted the man and was happy for his mother and found a guy he thought was good...and have him be using them the whole time, he'd be a little more cautious about other men with Emma, especially if he gets a not quite entirely good vibe from it, I think :)

I may be evil to tease this but...next chapter, my heart broke writing it }:)

Some notes on reviews...

It'll depend on what Isaac will change that'll determine if Henry agrees with it or not ;) I'm curious to see what they do with Camelot, and then at the same time I feel like I almost don't want them to go there and change things with the King Arthur legend. I feel like the writers could either make it really epic...or really bad with what they decide to tweak and things, and given some less than stellar plots and how they handled some things in past seasons, I'm not sure I trust them as much as I used to to make it epic, but I'm going to try and hope for the best :) That's my theory too, that the magic sort of transported her or her last conscious 'good' thought was to get as far away from her family as possible, to go somewhere that she'd be locked away and kept away from them so she couldn't hurt them and her magic reacted and took her to Camelot. I'm glad you enjoyed the scene :)

I hope you have fun at camp! I think I got the PM :) I'm falling a little behind in relying to them again, but I'm hoping to get my inbox completely cleared by the end of this month :)

I'm glad you liked the last chapter :) I really feel bad we didn't get to really delve deeper into Neal, something I'm going to be attempting in my other OUAT series when I resume it :) With Hook sort of taken by someone else and not hounding Emma while Neal was around, we'll get to see what they'd talk about and how they might heal :)