Chapter Ninety—"Soulmates"

"I thought you might want to know that there's a lynch mob gathering downtown, Your Majesty," Hook's voice said over the phone line, and that brought Cora up short.

March 14th had begun pleasantly; Rumple was as withdrawn as usual, but she liked the fact that she could make him so afraid. Oh, she missed his fire, but she'd fuel that with darkness over time, because his anger had to win over his fear eventually, didn't it? Regardless, the morning had been pleasant, and she was just finishing off breakfast when her pet pirate called with that helpful little bit of information.

"What did you say?" she asked, just to be certain she'd heard it right.

"I'm not so much of a pariah that I can't visit the local establishments for breakfast, and when I passed by the ruins of town hall, a short little bloke was busy stirring up a crowd against you. I thought you might be interested in knowing."

"I am interested," Cora forced herself to say levelly, leaning back calmly in her chair. "Thank you, Captain."

"I'm always glad to be of service, love."

"And I won't forget it," she promised. For once, Cora actually meant that, too; although Hook didn't stand out amongst the powerful magic users she had gathered to herself, his ability to go anywhere in the town and his observational skills were certainly useful. And Cora did prize loyalty. She would have to find a way to reward him for this.

First, however, she and her pet needed to destroy this lynch mob.

"See?" Tink smiled. "It worked."

Had she not been sitting on his desk and looking so very enticing, Killian might have paid more attention to the sinking feeling in his stomach. Yet he also felt…good. Lighter, somehow. Like he was actually doing something worthwhile instead of self-serving. How long had it been since he'd done that? Certainly several lifetimes, at least.

"So far," he replied cautiously. "I just hope she doesn't realize what I've done."

"All you did was give her information," Tink pointed out.

"It's the timing that counts, Tink," Killian sighed. "Cora's no fool. Sooner or later, she'll connect the two."

"Well, then it's a good thing you're making friends, isn't it?" the fairy countered, and leaned in to kiss him lightly.

August couldn't remember having ever been this nervous. Even lying to Neal—Baelfire, now, he supposed—had been less nerve-wracking. Generally speaking, he was pretty comfortable with lying, but what happened if Zelena actually believed him? That could have absolutely catastrophic consequences, even if Emma seemed to think that other events would keep Zelena from taking advantage of the situation. She had let him have the Book, though, and it sat on the table in front of him. August wasn't an idiot, and he didn't really want the villains to win, but he wanted his family to be safe more than anything.

Papa believes in me, he told himself firmly, wishing that he'd been able to discuss this with Geppetto last night. Unfortunately, Cora still had his father's heart, which meant any conversation they had could be monitored, even if Geppetto probably wasn't important enough for that. So, August had kept his worries and his fears to himself, had gathered his courage, and called Zelena's cell phone after Will Scarlet started getting a crowd riled up outside what used to be the town hall.

"I wasn't expecting you to call, doll," the Wicked Witch giggled from the other end after two rings, and August almost hung up. "Did you find some other friend you wanted to betray?"

Not snapping back at her took all of the self-control he could muster. "Not particularly," August said as smoothly as he could manage. "But I did come across something that you might find useful."

"Sucking up, are we?"

"I'm trying to keep my father safe," he retorted with just enough vitriol, and she seemed to believe him. It wasn't even a lie.

"Well, then, why don't you come show it to me?" Zelena cooed. "Drop by the house. You know it well."

"Actually, it might be smarter if you came here," he said slowly. "I kind of had to steal what I want to show you, and I don't want anyone to realize I have it."

He was really glad that his nose couldn't grow anymore, but August had always been a very accomplished liar. Like Emma had said the night before, he could spin tales like no one else, and that skill was proving very useful now. He knew he had Zelena hooked before she said another word; he could hear the excited way her breath caught. She tried to sound casual, but he knew better.

"Where are you, then? I happen to be free at the moment, but it had better be good, doll."

"I'm at my father's. He's not here." Thankfully.

"Don't run away, then," Zelena giggled, and the call cut off.

When had Will learned how to work a crowd? Robin had no idea; so far as he'd known, Will's main skill set involved sneaking into places and stealing things. Or writing sensationalized newspaper articles, but I doubt that was a skill he got from back home, the outlaw thought, lurking on the edge of the crowd with Much the Miller's son. Then again, maybe being a reporter—good with words and all that—helped Will now, because he was sure good at getting people riled up. I just hope we don't get anyone killed with this, Robin thought, pulling out his cell phone and clutching it tightly in his left hand.

Their plan depended upon getting the timing just right. He had to be ready—which was why John had his Jeep waiting and everyone but Much was already out in the woods—but he couldn't be early. If we go early, we're likely to die, he reflected, feeling the familiar chill run down his spine. A lot of years had passed since Robin of Locksley had risked life and limb against since a treacherous foe, but he still had it.

There, he thought, watching Cora and Rumplestiltskin appear in a cloud of purple smoke. Cora was smiling that damned smirk of hers, but the Dark One looked rather…miserable. There were dark circles under his eyes, and although the man radiated power, it was obvious to even a slightly observant onlooker that something was wrong.

But Robin didn't have time to worry about that, now. Instead, he dialed a number he'd programed in during the curse, when they'd turned into drinking buddies and partners in a really odd affair.

"Hey, it's me," he said when David picked up on the other end. "Will's got the crowd going and she just showed up."

"We're on our way," the king replied, and Robin hung up without another word. It was time.

Catching Much's eye, he gave the smaller man a nod. Much would stick around and keep an eye on things, warning Robin if Cora left too early and trying to help Will if he could. Not that any of us expect to be able to save Will if the worst happens, but Will Scarlet's a tricky bastard, Robin thought, slipping out of the crowd and around the corner to where John's Jeep was waiting. There was no way to know what would happen; all they could do was their best and hope a few breaks came their way.

"Robin says go," David said, hanging up the phone and slipping it in his pocket. The four of them had been squashed into the cab of David's truck, with Bae jammed in between Emma and the passenger door. The door handle had been digging into his hip since they left the Nolan house and had probably caused a bruise already, so he was delighted to jump out the moment David spoke. Emma was right on his heels, looking more than a little disgruntled after having had her mother mostly on her lap for an hour.

"It sure as hell took long enough to get a riot going," she grumbled.

"Hey, riots are hard," Bae said with a grin, just happy to be out of the aging truck. "Or I'd guess they are in a town as scared as this one."

"Whale stirred one up quickly enough," Emma pointed out dryly.

"Yeah, but Whale's a monkey right now, or we'd have enlisted him," her father cut in as Snow hopped lightly out of the truck. "Let's go."

"Got the blood?" Emma asked, drawing her gun to lead the way.

"Right here," Snow confirmed, a full bag of O+ in her hands. Stealing it from the hospital had been ridiculously easy, even if Emma probably could have gotten it (more or less) legally. But they didn't want Cora to have any idea what they were up to, so Bae and Emma had crept in the night before to steal Regina's last blood donation.

"You think we'll need the whole bag?" Emma wondered, glancing Bae's way.

How did I become the magic expert here? We need Belle. But Belle was watching Henry, Gabi, and Roland. After what happened to Johanna, none of them wanted to trust the kids with someone outside the family. Now that the plan of using Jefferson's hat to steal Cora away was off the table, Belle was the one available, which meant she'd drawn that short straw.

"I don't know," Bae answered as they jogged up to Cora's creepy looking vault. "We should start with a little, though, in case there's multiple doorways sealed with blood magic."

"Good idea." Emma looked over to Snow as they stopped. "You want to do the honors?"

"Let's try the old-fashioned way first," David suggested before anyone could throw blood at anything. "The front door has always been easy to open—it's going down the stairs and into the real vault that's hard."

Bae almost asked how David knew that, but the man had been married to Cora's other daughter under the curse, so perhaps he'd been here before. Sure enough, the outer door swung right open, and then David was able to show them how to shove the marble casket aside to reveal a hidden set of stairs. There was a barrier there, of course—Snow's foot hit it, making her yelp—but a quick splash of blood removed that.

"I wish I'd thought to wear gloves," Snow muttered, her fingers dripping as she led the way down the stairs. Emma, and her gun, were right behind her left shoulder. Bae and David followed close behind.

"If that's what goes wrong today, I'm all for—Stop!" Emma cut herself off to bark the word, and they all froze.

"What is it?" Snow asked.

"I'm not sure. Do you see that?"

Next to Bae, David leaned forward, squinting. "See what?"

"I see it," Bae said quietly, cocking his head to the left. "Emma, I didn't know you could see magic."

"I can?"

"She can?" her parents echoed at the same time.

"Well, it looks like, since she just saw that barrier. I can't tell what it is—I'm just pretty decent at finding magical barriers, because the light tends to hit them just so—but it's probably a bad idea to walk into it face first," he answered.

"I guess I've got beginners' luck," Emma said slowly, looking more than a little creeped out.

"You want to throw some blood on that one, too?" Bae suggested to Snow, mostly to take the heat of off Emma, who seemed really uncomfortable with the way her parents were staring at her.

"Right." Snow glanced over her shoulder at the others. "What happens if it's not blood magic?"

"Well, then we're screwed and we might as well go home," David shrugged. "Let's try it and see what works."

Fortunately, that barrier went down, too, and the next one, which guarded the actual vault of hearts itself, was also blood magic. The doorway opened just as Bae was starting to think that this had gone way too easily, revealing box after box of hearts. There were literally hundreds of them. Most glowed an eerie red, pulsing (beating?) with a muted thump-thump-thump noise, making the entire room feel like it was trapped inside some speaker with too much base. The very floor seemed to vibrate with the thumping, and as far as Bae could tell, there were no actual lights inside. Just hearts.

"Oh, shit," he whispered, staring.

"How the hellare we going to get all of those out of here?" Emma wondered, eyes wide.

Snow turned, her face stark white. "More importantly, who do they all belong to?"

Zelena appeared within five minutes of his call, teleporting herself straight into Geppetto's living room and making August jump in surprise. He'd already contemplated pouring himself a really stiff drink and discarded the notion; as much as he needed something to steady his nerves, he couldn't afford to addle his brain. He'd need all of his intelligence to keep Zelena from stealing the book or doing something utterly crazy, and August wasn't dumb enough to use alcohol to harm his chances of living.

"Well?" the Wicked Witch demanded right away. "What was so important that I had to come all the way out here?"

"It's this book," he told her, remembering what Emma had said. "Or rather, what's inside it."

We need at least fifteen minutes, maybe more. A half hour if you can do it. We're counting on you, August, the Sheriff had told him, but she hadn't really understood how little that mattered. Oh, August wanted to be able to show his face in this town without getting punched—he still had a huge bruise from Neal's right hook, thank you very much—but he was really thinking of his father. Papa will be proud of me if I help, August thought. I won't let him down again.

"Which is what?" Zelena asked impatiently, and August took a deep breath, preparing to spin the tale just so.

"To explain that, I have to tell you a story of Sorcerers and Authors. It's the history of the Enchanted Forest, in a lot of ways, a tradition—and a duty—going back to pretty much the beginning of time as we know it," he answered. "In fact—"

"Give me the cliff notes version, doll," she snapped, cutting him off, and August fought back a smile. He'd known she'd be impatient. That's why he'd started by implying that it would be a long and boring story.

"It does have a lot of important details in it," he said slowly. "If you don't want to be bothered, I can always take it to your mother instead."

"No!" Zelena cut in quickly, her eyes growing wide. Yep. Gotcha, August thought triumphantly as she visibly calmed her impatience. "I'm ready to listen."

Perfect. I can drag this out for hours if I have to. But he wouldn't. That would be bad for his health, and probably for everyone else's, too. August just nodded with what he hoped was enough apparent respect to keep Zelena satisfied. "Very well. So, the story starts back in the Enchanted Forest, or maybe even somewhere else. The Sorcerer originally picked an Author, one man who was chosen to record the history of events in all the realms. As time passed, many authors were chosen, and they all faithfully recorded history…in books like this."

"What's so special about that book?"

"Aside from the fact that it was written by the Author? This is the book that appeared here in Storybrooke, that told Henry Nolan about the curse, and about everyone's history here." Opening the book, August flipped to the story of the Wicked Witch, showing Zelena her own green face glaring out of the page.

"I never looked like that!" she snarled immediately, although August thought the picture was actually a pretty good likeness.

He shrugged. "The art leaves something to be desired. You should see Rumplestiltskin—"

"Show me."

Well, there was the first distraction. August was able to use a full ten minutes up showing Zelena various pictures. He saved Regina's for last, of course, picking the worst looking likeness in there, just to give Zelena something to crow over. She really was a shallow and petty woman, he reflected as he showed her this and that within the Book. But he wasn't going to argue. That shallowness meant August could string her out, and then Emma and the others would have to be thankful to him for once. And maybe that means they'll help my father, he told himself, barely daring to hope.

There were a hundred ways to break into a house, but Robin picked the easy one. He climbed the wall and went through the window, the corner one with the red curtains that Gold had told him to use. I really hope the Dark One wasn't lying to me, the outlaw thought as he scaled the wall. If the rumors going around are right, and he's faking the fact that Cora is controlling him, I could be absolutely toast. But no. Robin had seen the man up close twice now. Gold was miserable, and something about his body language told Robin that the man was in pain. He's Regina's friend, Robin reminded himself. He might not like me, but I hope he likes her enough to help her.

Picking the lock was child's play; it wasn't even attached to an alarm. Was Cora so confident in her magic that she wouldn't bother with mundane things like alarms? Granted, Robin had already made sure to disconnect the house from the alarm grid; it was one of the nice things about being the chief firefighter and having the sheriff on your side. Between him and Emma, they'd managed to make sure no one would be alerted to their little escapades until it was far too late, or at least not by any electronic means. Robin would just have to chance whatever magical wards were in place. Here goes nothing!

Slipping through the window, Robin landed lightly on the floor, taking the room in at a glance. It was well-appointed in an luxuriously empty kind of way. The bedroom looked like it had come right out of a magazine centerfold, not like someone actually lived there. It was perfectly put together and very neat; Robin couldn't even see any dust. But definitely not a home.

Soon enough, however, his eyes zeroed in on where Regina lay on top of the bed. Her hair was fanned out around her head like a shiny black cloud, and she looked like she was sleeping peacefully. Her hands were folded regally over her chest and her ankles crossed; she looked like she'd been arranged as carefully as the room had, and that made Robin snicker. The noise was impossibly loud in the empty room, but he couldn't help himself. He'd seen Regina sleep, and she was never this dignified. Regina was a blanket thief. She always wound up wrapped up in everything on the bed, on top of one pillow after throwing the other across the room, and her hair never behaved when she was sleeping. This artfully arranged woman was someone's ideal of Regina, but Robin knew the real woman.

"It's now or never," he told himself quietly, walking over to look at the face of the woman he loved. Robin wanted the messy Regina back, the complicated Regina. Not this facsimile of perfection that Cora had probably set up.

Slowly, he lowered himself to the bed, sitting by her side and taking her right hand in his. Robin couldn't remember ever having been this nervous—he should just kiss her already! If it didn't work, he already had a plan. Henry was at Gold's house, and worst case, he and John would take her there. They'd be able to wake her regardless, which meant his hands had no business shaking like this. And he had no business hesitating, even if he was terrified that Regina didn't feel the same way about him as he did her. She might not, after all. David had said that she'd been awake for some time before the curse broke, but what if she'd only loved Errol, a man he wasn't anymore? Or what if his love just wasn't enough?

Do or die, Robin thought firmly, and bent over before he could stop himself, gently pressing his lips against Regina's.

Cora was seething, but Rumplestiltskin found it all rather amusing. He hadn't any part of his life lately, but watching Cora deal with an obnoxiously rioting crowd was actually something of a pleasure—or would be until she ordered him to start killing people, he reflected darkly. For now, however, watching Will Scarlet make verbal mincemeat of Cora was rather a pleasure.

"Yeah, I know, you've got me heart," Scarlet shrugged in response to Cora's threat. "An' you can kill me at any moment. But you can't kill all of us, even with your pet Dark One tagging along. If this turns into a scrap, somebody'll getcha."

"Do you doubt my power that much?" Cora asked, her voice low and dangerous. She lifted the dagger, and Rumplestiltskin felt his skin begin to crawl. "The Dark One could kill you all in the blink of an eye."

"Funny how you talk about your power and then threaten us with him."

Cora snorted. "They're one and the same."

"Well, then give Gold that shiny little piece of metalwork and let's see if that holds true, huh?" Scarlet retorted, and oh, Rumplestiltskin wished she would. Several people in the crowd actually voiced agreement with that, much to his surprise. Apparently he was less of a threat than Cora was, probably because at least they'd never known him to start killing for fun.

Except the ones who believe I'm on her side willingly, he thought, listening to a few people shout something along those lines. Cora seemed satisfied with that, even if he could tell that her cold control of her temper was about to break. She liked the idea of the entire town believing Rumplestiltskin to be as evil as she was. For some reason, she seemed to think that would give him no choice but to serve her willingly, which Rumplestiltskin thought was ridiculous. Then again, her narcissism has been getting the better of her lately. She thinks she's winning, so she's getting overconfident.

He felt the tiny tendril of magic right before the heart landed in Cora's hand. She smiled at Scarlet.

"I think I'll just kill you instead," Cora purred.

"What the hell!" Bae yelped, making Emma turn just in time to watch one of the heart boxes snap open and the heart disappear into thin air. That left Bae staring at an empty box—he'd clearly been about to grab it to bring it out to the truck in the fourth load of hearts they were all carrying—while Emma crossed the room to stand by his side.

"Where did it go?" she asked curiously.

"How should I know? One minute the heart was in the box. The next, it was gone," he shrugged. "But if I had to guess, I'd say Cora summoned it."

"Whose was it?" Leaning forward, Emma read the small tag on the box and answered her own question. "Will Scarlet."

"Will?" David's voice came from behind them, sounding concerned as he hurried down the stairs. "He's working with us, trying to distract Cora."

"You picked someone to distract Cora when she has his heart?" Bae demanded, looking at Emma's father like he was mad. "Are you crazy?"

"Will volunteered."

Emma had to agree with Bae's assessment. "I think he just volunteered to die."

"We can't do anything about that now," Snow said briskly, reaching the bottom of the stairs. "If Cora's summoned his heart, that means we don't have much time. Let's get the rest of these hearts in the truck."

"Right," Emma said, returning to where she'd been pulling boxes out of their cubbyholes. Fortunately, they were neatly labeled, which at least meant that they'd be able to sort them out later. Quickly, she filled her arms up, and then went to grab one more box when the name on the tag caught her eye. Grumpy. She twisted to look at her parents. "Cora has Leroy's heart?"

"She what?" Snow stopped short, almost dropping the load she had.

"Yeah, it gets better," Bae added from where he was loading up. "This one says Geppetto. That means August is still a rat bastard, and he lied to us."

"We are so screwed," Emma found herself whispering, meeting Bae's eyes. They'd talked August into distracting Zelena—or bullied him into it, honestly. Neither of them had told August what they were planning, but if August wanted to betray them, he could sure as hell figure out what they were up to.

"Let's go," David said, and they grabbed the last of the hearts and ran up the stairs.

Finally, Zelena demanded August continue his explanation. It was about time; even if he was supposed to be keeping Zelena away from who-knew-what, August was starting to find her fascination with the Book boring.

"So, the Authors all faithfully scribed what happened, until the last one. This one took advantage of the magical quill that he'd been given, and decided to change the stories around a little," he said, watching Zelena's eyes light up as he talked about someone refusing to follow the rules. "He started forcing things instead of just writing them down, making his mark on people's stories and taking away their free will."

"And what happened? Was he punished?" the Wicked Witch demanded eagerly.

"He was. He was imprisoned in the Book by the Sorcerer's Apprentice, there to live out his days in isolation, stuck recording only what happened and nothing more."

"That's a dull end to the story," she pouted. Then anger engulfed the petulant expression. "Why tell it to me at all? Are you wasting my time?"

Yes, August didn't reply to that last hiss. Instead, he continued: "You didn't catch it, did you? The Author is still in the Book, just waiting to be freed."

At least Zelena wasn't stupid. She caught on right away. "And if he were to be freed?"

"Well, it would depend upon who freed him. I don't know how to get him out, but I do know he's in there," August said carefully. "But I'm willing to bet that the Author would be very kind to whomever freed him."

"He could write whatever I wanted!"

"That he could." But I hope he never will. This was a dangerous game August was playing, and he knew it; if Cora wasn't defeated, if she and Zelena didn't go down, they'd probably force him to find a way to get the Author out and then have all the power they could ever dream of. Then again, if Emma and her family lose, that might just keep me and my papa alive, so maybe this isn't a bad thing.

"How do we get him out? And how did you get that book?" Eyes narrowed suspiciously, Zelena studied August in a way that made him shiver.

"I stole the book from Henry Nolan," he lied. "And I told you, I'm not sure how to get him out, but I can work on it if you want me t—"

"Shut up," Zelena cut him off, jerking like an electric shock had hit her.

"Are you all right?" August asked, hoping she wasn't.

"I said shut up!" she snarled, wheeling towards the window. "I have to go."

Was that fear in her voice? August wasn't sure, but he certainly didn't object when Zelena teleported out in a swirl of noxious green smoke. He'd done his part; he'd distracted her for as long as he could. Now he just hoped that Emma would be grateful…and that Zelena wouldn't come back too soon.

Magic whooshed outwards from the pair as Robin's lips met Regina's, golden and pure, like nothing else Robin had ever felt before. An agonizingly long moment passed, and then suddenly Regina gasped, her eyes flying open.

"Robin?" she whispered, and his heart did a backflip. She knows my real name!

"My lady," he replied, unable to control the huge grin that threatened to split his face in two.

Regina was awake. She was all right. She was staring at him like he was something amazing and wonderful, and Regina was all right. Robin felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest in relief; he hadn't known he was this worried until suddenly he didn't have to be. She sat up slowly, glancing around the strange room with confusion, and then turning back to Robin with that same awestruck expression.

"You woke me up," Regina breathed, her eyes still wide.

Robin nodded giddily. "I did."

"You know—do you understand what that means?" she whispered shakily. "That you and I—that we—?"

"My backup plan was Henry," he explained, his smile turning crooked. "But I did hope."

Regina kissed him again, and damn it all if that wasn't the best kiss of Robin's life. He felt alive with her, like he would never have to be alone again. It was like there'd been a hole in his heart that he hadn't known needed filling, yet was now bursting with joy and with love. Errol had been in love with this woman, but there had been something just a tiny bit off, something missing. Now Robin understood what had been wrong: it had been him. Whatever they had, it was between Robin and Regina. Not Errol.

"How did you find me?" she asked when they broke apart.

"Strangely enough, I had a bit of help with—"

The door slammed open, cutting him off as Zelena stormed into the room, a tornado of power ripping around her.

The impertinent little whelp! To think that she'd once found Scarlet useful. He'd always had a mouth on him, but now he dared to incite a crowd against his rightful queen? Cora hadn't intended to kill him, but now she would make him suffer.

"I think I'll just kill you instead," she purred, coming back on balance as Scarlet's heart landed in her left hand. She wasn't going to bandy words with this insolent flea any longer. Seeing what she had made Scarlet stop cold, but it was far too late for him.

"Or perhaps I'll make you kill your little wife," she continued, power surging through her sweetly. She would teach this mob what it meant to defy their queen. "I'll let you weep over her body before I crush your heart to dust, but only after you have killed her slowly and painfully."

"You don't have to do that," Scarlet pleaded, far too late. "Not Ana. This isn't her fault. She's suffered enough because of m—"

He cut off in a cry as she squeezed his heart, just because she was sick of listening to his pleas. Scarlet doubled over, and Cora started casting her eyes around the crowd, looking for the brazen bitch who had married the thief. She was not expecting the murmur to come from her side:

"Careful, dearie. True Love is not to be trifled with," Rumplestiltskin warned, and she could hear the smug edge in his voice. True Love is the most powerful magic of all, her old teacher had told her a hundred times, and the fool would never believe that love was weakness.

Her right hand, the one holding the dagger, came up in warning, and Rumplestiltskin actually flinched slightly. Watching his inability to hide his fear only made Cora want to hurt him more, though, so she channeled her desire through the dagger, and watched him stagger like Scarlet had, hissing out a cry of pain that he couldn't quite catch behind gritted teeth.

"Be silent," she ordered, and although he glared, Cora knew he would have to obey.

Watching all that power and fury thrash in a cage of her design was the most heady feeling ever, and Cora spent a moment savoring it before she turned back to Scarlet.

"Find your wife," she commanded, tightening her grip on his heart.

A/N: Thank you to everyone who is still reading and reviewing! It means the world to me to know that people like this story, even though it's gone on far longer than I ever dreamed it would.

Stay tuned for Chapter Ninety-One—"Small Victories," in which Regina and Robin waltz straight into danger, the heroes face Cora down, and someone gets hit by a truck.