Chapter Ninety-One—"Small Victories"
Regina was awake.
How in the world could she be awake? Zelena had felt the magic inside the summer house, and it had brought her back in a hurry, away from the puppet and his fascinating tale of an author who could rewrite their stories. Zelena had known that she would have to go back to talk to him later, but first she had to investigate which fool had dared use magic inside her mother's home. So, she'd returned, only to find Regina and some outlaw cuddling on the bed, with her sister awake!
The pair turned to face her like two deer caught in the headlights, wide eyed and terrified. Snarling, Zelena reached for all the magic she could muster, knowing that her mother would be furious if Regina escaped and desperate to stop her. But Zelena was more powerful than Regina, and she knew she could defeat her. After all, she'd beaten her once and put her under a sleeping curse during their second encounter—
A swirl of purple smoke filled the room, and suddenly Regina and the outlaw were gone.
Gone.
"No!" Zelena cried, and then proceeded to unleash her magic on the room, destroying the bed first, then the dresser, shattering the mirror and both windows before she tore the carpet off the floor in her fury. The walls shook and the ceiling creaked; the overhead lights fell onto the bed and the red plush armchair slammed repeatedly against the door. None of the destruction, however, did anything to calm her fury.
It only made things worse.
Mother was going to be very displeased.
"Oh, my," Robin said as they landed in the forest not far from her mother's summer house, stumbling slightly. "That was…interesting."
"Sorry," Regina apologized, swaying a little herself. "I appear to be a bit rusty."
"No matter. We survived it, at least, and without dealing with your mad sister," her True Love shrugged off obvious dizziness lightly. Just listening to him talk was intoxicating; Regina had never, ever expected to have a second chance at love, let alone True Love.
What was it that Rumple always said? True Love has to be fought for. Well, Robin had obviously fought for her—he'd rescued her!—and Regina would fight for him until her dying breath. Daniel had meant everything to her, and he always would. Her feelings for Robin did nothing to change that, and she would never heal from his loss. But she would not squander this second chance, either. Not on her life.
"So we did," she said, dragging her mind back to the present. "Because of you. You saved me."
"Right before you saved me," he laughed. "So, I'd say we're even, and—oh, damnit! John!"
"John?"
"Little John," Robin explained hurriedly, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "You knew him as Mel Anzo. He drove me out to the house in his Jeep, and if Zelena sees him…"
He didn't have to finish that sentence; Regina's imagination was good enough to put the pieces together. Besides, Robin was already speaking into his phone.
"John, it's me. We're fine, get out of there as fast as you can—" he cut off to listen, and then turned to Regina with wide eyes. "John says he's got flying monkeys chasing his Jeep."
"Flying monkeys?" Regina repeated, rolling her eyes. "Really? Nevermind; don't answer that. Of course there are. Hold on tight."
Grabbing Robin's arm, she teleported the both of them back towards the summer house, this time landing them a lot more smoothly—also on the road leading towards the house instead of inside. Sure enough, there was a rugged looking green Jeep speeding down the road right towards them, with a quartet of flying monkeys chasing it. Even as Regina and Robin watched, a pair of monkeys grabbed the top of the Jeep and hauled it into the air.
Twang. An arrow whizzed past Regina on the left, and by the time she turned, Robin was already fitting another to his bow with impossibly fast reflexes. The first arrow hit one of the monkeys in the leg, making it screech, but the damn creature didn't drop the Jeep, either. The other two lurked near the doors as the Jeep lurched into the air, shoving them shut when John tried to jump out. Soon, they'll be high enough that a drop like that will kill him, Regina realized, knowing that Robin couldn't shoot both monkeys fast enough. Her first instinct was to throw fireballs at them, until she remembered what Rumplestiltskin had told her after her last battle with Zelana.
Use your strengths. Regina's anger wasn't as strong as her compassion, so why not save John and then destroy the monkeys? She could see him, and although teleporting him out would be tricky, Regina reached out with her power, shoving away all the days of being under a sleeping curse and focusing. Robin shot another monkey, while she reached, but Regina didn't notice. She just concentrated on the large man inside the Jeep, wrapping magic around him and pulling.
A swirl of purple smoke appeared right in front of her, leaving a very confused Little John standing on firm ground.
"What the—" he started to say, but Regina didn't give him a chance to finish the sentence before she teleported all three of them back into the forest.
Let the monkeys have the Jeep, she decided with a grin. Zelena could call it a consolation prize.
Snow had wound up driving when they'd all piled back into his truck, speeding down the road out of the cemetery while David pulled his cell phone out. Something had made Cora summon a heart out of her vault, and logic said that was because they'd been found out. Or maybe August had sold them out, too. Either way, they had to get out of there fast. And we're not the only ones.
"Yes?" Robin's voice answered on the second ring.
"I hope you're clear, because I think we've been made," David told the outlaw without preamble. "Cora summoned a heart out of her vault, and it turns out that one of our so-called allies might still be working for her."
"The pirate?" the outlaw asked astutely.
"Actually, no," he said. "August."
"Well, that's bloody wonderful," Robin breathed. "But we're clear. Regina's awake, and we're all fine, though John's Jeep flew away with a quartet of monkeys."
David couldn't hold back the snort of amusement, but he kept on topic. "We're heading into town. You want to meet us there?"
"Good idea. Will could probably use the backup."
Nothing else needed to be said; they both hung up simultaneously, and David turned to look at his wife. "You hear that?"
"Absolutely." They hit a bump even as Snow answered, making Emma swear and Bae yelp when she landed awkwardly half on top of him. Snow drove his old truck like a daredevil, but David wasn't in a mood to argue. Not that he had any idea where she had learned to drive like that, because there was no way Mary Margaret had ever picked up these skills as a school teacher or a waitress.
"Got a plan?" Bae spoke up from where he was sandwiched between Emma and the window. "Cora's a bit of a tough target."
"I'll make one up on the way," David shrugged. "Worst case, we can hit her with the truck."
"I'd pay to see that," Rumplestiltskin's son muttered, and David really wished he could figure out how to pull that one off.
Rumplestiltskin saw the girl coming, but he wasn't in any way obligated to tell Cora, so he kept his mouth shut. Anastasia Scarlet was the rather less 'evil' of Cinderella's stepsisters, and the hardship she'd encountered since leaving her mother's home gave her a spine of solid steel. Obviously, she'd heard Cora command her husband to find her, and Anastasia wasn't an idiot. She didn't try to run. Instead, she circled around the back of the crowd, heading the opposite direction from her husband, and crept up on Cora.
Briefly, the girl's eyes met his. She knew she'd been spotting and was terrified, but Rumplestiltskin only gave her a slight shrug. Cora couldn't see either of them from where she was gloating with Scarlet's heart in her hand, and, well, she hadn't ordered him to watch her back. Given the way Cora treated him, not to mention the way pain still coursed through his entire body, Rumplestiltskin certainly wasn't going to go out of his way to help his 'mistress.' She'll hurt you if you don't, the spinner's terrified little voice said from inside him, making a shiver run down his spine. Yes, Cora would undoubtedly punish him for whatever he did, unless it was warning her of danger. But she would find a reason to punish him, anyway, and Rumplestiltskin would at least prefer to be hurt for something he'd done. At least that gave him some small measure of control.
Meanwhile, Anastasia rushed right by him, her teeth bared fiercely and arms outstretched. She hit Cora with a snarl, knocking the Evil Queen right off her feet. Cora hit the ground with an undignified cry, and although Scarlet's heart bounced out of her left hand, she had an unfortunately tight grip on his dagger, even once Anastasia landed one punch, and then a second one, quickly taking advantage of Cora's surprise.
A wave of Cora's arm sent Anastasia flying, but the girl was smart and scrambled for her husband's heart instead of trying to attack Cora again.
"Will!" she cried as Cora climbed to her feet.
"You foolish, foolish girl," Cora hissed, brushing her expensive suit off. Rumplestiltskin could feel her anger through the dagger, could feel her desire to hurt and kill, and for a moment her wish translated into an unconscious command. Pain hit him hard, making Rumplestiltskin reel back a step, his vision swimming.
"What now, Your Majesty?" Anastasia challenged Cora, her eyes wide with terror as she held onto Scarlet's heart for dear life. "Going to kill us all?"
"Oh, of course not, dear," Cora smiled her dangerous sand dark smile, the one he'd loved so long ago. "Not all of you. Every queen needs peasants to rule."
"Yeah, well, go rule somewhere else," Scarlet drawled, coming up to his wife's side. They stood shoulder to shoulder as Cora beckoned Rumplestiltskin forward—which made his vision clear—but they should have run.
Poor brave fools, he thought, surprised at the flicker of pity he felt for them. He shouldn't, Rumplestiltskin knew. Most of these people wouldn't matter, and their bravery was utterly pointless…yet he felt for them. Perhaps it was because he was as trapped as anyone else was, truly helpless for the first time in three centuries. Or maybe he was just growing weak.
Cora laughed. "You fools," she sneered, echoing Rumplestiltskin's thoughts. Then he left hand came up, sparkling with power and darkness that even someone with no magical knowledge could have felt. What Rumplestiltskin noticed, however, was that she was too angry to order him to kill them—or to notice the sudden appearance of three newcomers at the back of the crowd.
Magic whirled out of Cora's hands, zeroing in on the too-courageous couple, but even as the Scarlets braced themselves, the spell stopped cold.
"Not today, Mother," Regina said, walking through the mob like she hadn't just spent a week and a half under a sleeping curse.
"Regina." Cora actually went white.
"Hello, Mother. I'm sorry your sleeping curse didn't stick," his best student retorted, and Rumplestiltskin found himself smiling ever so slightly
Surprisingly, the outlaw at Regina's right shoulder gave him a slight nod, gratitude shining in his blue eyes, and that made Rumplestiltskin blink. He hadn't expected Robin Hood to actually acknowledge the role he'd played—but he was grateful that the outlaw hadn't said a word out loud. Cora was going to be angered enough by Regina's escape. Rumplestiltskin had no desire to be her target when she raged.
Not like I won't be, anyway, he thought darkly, trying to push down his own fear as mother and daughter glared at one another.
"I'm delighted to see you awake, darling," Cora recovered quickly. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Much better now that I'm not your prisoner," Regina retorted.
Cora snorted delicately. "That can change easily enough."
That response made Robin fit an arrow to his bow, and Rumplestiltskin had to wonder where in the world he'd gotten that bow—because it was the one he'd taken from the outlaw so many years earlier. Belle, he realized. Of course she had. She was a believer in helping the heroes, and she'd remember that bow. And she was smart enough to know that even an archer like Robin Hood would need an edge when facing a sorceress…but that bow would do the trick. Cora was the type to teleport away from an arrow, after all. She wasn't given to showy tricks like catching arrows, which Rumplestiltskin knew from experience was the only way to avoid being shot by that bow.
While Cora and Regina were verbally fencing, the crowd had slowly started to back away—including the Scarlets, at least after Little John grabbed them both and pulled them back. Now a wide area cleared between where Regina stood with Robin at her side and Rumplestiltskin stood slightly behind Cora, but that sight only made Cora smile.
"Standing against me with an outlaw, darling? You should know better. It's not too late to come back to where you belong."
"I'd rather live in the woods with a legion of outlaws than join you," Regina retorted. "In fact—"
A swirl of green smoke interrupted her, and Zelena started talking before she even finished teleporting. "Mother! Regina is—oh."
"Hi, sis," Regina grinned sarcastically, and Zelena went red.
"Let me kill her, Mother. Please."
"There's hardly any need for that," Cora replied easily; Rumplestiltskin could see her measuring the odds, and Cora knew as well as he did that Regina didn't stand a chance against all three of them. I really hope you've got a plan B, dearie, instead of just pointlessly playing hero to give these people a chance to escape, he thought.
"She'll only betray you again!" Zelena protested. "I can take her."
"In your dreams," Regina sneered.
"I did before!"
Twang.
Zelena didn't even try to teleport away from the arrow; no, she tried to bat it aside with magic when Robin—clearly not prepared to listen to anyone begging to kill his True Love—shot at her. Unfortunately for the Wicked Witch, the arrow sailed right through her attempt, burying itself just below her left cheekbone. It hit at a slightly downward angle, and actually pierced all the way through Zelena's face, with the arrowhead punching through her face and out near the right side of her jaw as Zelena shrieked in pain. Cora barely even twitched, even when Zelena started collapsing before she managed to teleport herself away.
Too bad he didn't aim a little higher, Rumplestiltskin reflected coldly. But I can't blame Robin for wanting to make her stop running her mouth.
The truck skidded to a stop just as Zelena disappeared in a swirl of green smoke, all four occupants piling out as quickly as they could. They had dozens of hearts to return to their rightful owners, but first they had to keep Cora from killing or capturing Regina again. Even with Zelena gone, the odds were definitely not in Regina's favor, and Emma was sure as hell not going to let her friend/step-aunt go down again.
"Would you like to me my next target, Your Majesty?" Robin said as Emma, Bae, and her parents rushed forward. "This bow never misses, and I'd love to put an arrow in you."
Stop talking and just shoot her! Emma wanted to yell, but Cora hadn't noticed them yet, so she wasn't going to start shouting. She and Bae headed right as Snow and David went left, jogging towards the combatants from where they'd parked across the street.
Cora, however, turned to Gold. "Bring me the bow," she smiled nastily. "Along with the hands that dared shoot my daughter."
Predictably, Regina stepped in between Robin and Gold as the Dark One moved forward stiffly. "Don't make me fight you, Rumple."
"He doesn't have a choice, darling," Cora drawled. "And you need to pay attention to your mother. Oh, and Rumple? Don't let him shoot me."
Cora issued that order just as Robin was readying another arrow to fire, but the arrow disappeared out of his hand before he could let it loose. The outlaw swore under his breath and reached for another, only to find his quiver empty and Gold shrugging. Regina, however, took advantage of Gold's momentary distraction to send an attack his way, but the Dark One merely swatted it away with the wave of a hand and used magic to throw her aside.
"Hey!" David shouted, obviously trying to draw Gold's attention away from Robin, but all that did was make another wave of power shove David and Snow back they came, tossing them across the street like they weighed nothing. David actually bounced off the side of the truck before hitting the ground hard, and Snow landed not too far away from him.
Okay, so that's not a good tactic. Making a split-second decision, Emma skidded to a stop. "Tell you dad I'm sorry later, all right?" she said to Bae, who'd managed to halt next to her. They were about fifteen feet away from Cora and twenty-five away from Gold—an easy shot.
"What?" Bae asked, but Emma already had her gun up and Gold in her sights. "Emma—"
Ignoring him, she squeezed the trigger. Bang. The angle was hard to hit center of mass without killing him, but Emma's shot still took Gold directly in the right shoulder, spinning him around and sending him crashing to the ground with a cry. Watching him fall, Emma thought about shooting him again, maybe in the leg, but given his past, she didn't think she could be that cruel. Not if he doesn't get up, anyway.
Cora watched Gold fall with fury in her eyes, and then suddenly strode towards her daughter. "I'll do this myself, then," she snarled.
"Bring it, Mother," Regina retorted.
The light show of magic between the two was short-lived but titanic, and each got in several good blows. Emma tried to take a shot at Cora, but the Evil Queen was ready for her, and magic whipped out to knock the gun out of her hands, crushing it into dust as it flew away. Bae had run for his father—not that she could blame him—so Emma started desperately looking for some other weapon to use against Cora. Meanwhile, Cora gained the upper hand in her fight with Regina, knocking her daughter back hard enough that Regina stumbled and fell into Robin. The outlaw tried to catch her before a wave of black smoke reached out for him and threw Robin aside, smashing him into a streetlight.
His cry of pain distracted Regina, and Cora hit her again and again, finally making her fall. Only then did Cora stalk towards her daughter, the fingers on her left hand flexing as she walked. Even as Regina struggled to her feet, Emma lunged forward, shoving Regina out of the way because she knew exactly what Cora was going to do.
The Evil Queen's hand plunged into her chest, making Emma gasp.
"You fool," Cora snorted. "What are you doing?"
"Saving a friend," Emma shot back, feeling fingers close around her heart. The sensation was unbelievably painful, and stars danced across her vision.
"Don't you know? Love, friendship? They're weakness," the Evil Queen sneered.
"No," she managed despite the horrible feeling in her chest. "They're strength."
Sudden pressure made her stagger forward as Cora tried to rip her heart out, but a giant white light burst out of her instead, knocking Cora backwards. Wide-eyed, the Evil Queen stared at her, clearly not knowing what had happened any more than Emma did.
"Rumplestiltskin!" she barked. "Kill her!"
Emma's head snapped around just in time to see Gold pulling away from Bae, rising to his feet despite the heavy bleeding from his shoulder. I should have shot him in the leg, too, she thought desperately, but then Regina was at her side, magic crackling in the air between them.
"He'll have to go through me first, Mother!"
"Stay out of this, Regina," Cora tried to order, but Gold's woozy voice cut her off.
"You're going to be more specific, dearie," he rasped, looking rather horrible. Somewhere in the distance, Emma heard the roar of a truck engine, but she ignored whoever was finally fleeing the scene. "There's a lot of 'hers' in this town. Would you like me to start with your dear daughter? Or shall I put the elder girl out of her misery, after finding whatever hole she's crawled into?"
Cora wheeled furiously on the Dark One, the dagger slicing viciously through the air. Gold staggered immediately, crying out softly. Bae actually had to catch him before he could fall, but Cora jerked the dagger towards herself, and Gold stumbled away from his son once more.
"You know what I meant," she snarled.
"Intent is meaningless," he retorted, clearly playing for time. But why?
"Stop playing games, Dark One," Cora said, her voice suddenly soft and dangerous. "I command you to—"
Cora never finished the sentence as David Nolan's truck slammed into her.
Bae barely managed to drag his father out of the way of the incoming truck; they landed in a heap amid Rumplestiltskin's soft cry. Scrambling to his knees, Bae glanced over to where David had rammed Cora, but she didn't seem to be moving. David had plain run her over, then backed up and did it again, and Bae hoped that the vicious bitch was dead. He had seen the truck coming from his angle, and his father obviously had, too, which was why Rumplestiltskin had drawn Cora out like that. But his papa had paid the price for that, and Bae could hear the soft sounds of pain coming with every breath he took.
"Papa?" he asked quietly, helping Rumplestiltskin roll over.
"Bae." The whisper was hoarse but coherent, even if the brown eyes that met his were utterly agonized. Bae helped him sit up, trying to ignore the blood soaking the right shoulder of Rumplestiltskin's suit jacket.
"Is she dead?" He had to know. Please let her be dead. Then this is over.
Rumplestiltskin shook his head mutely, looking broken. "I'd know. She still has the dagger."
"But she's got to be unconscious or something, doesn't she? She just got hit by a truck! Can't you just summon it or something?"
"The dagger…doesn't work that way," his father wheezed.
"Then you stay here and I'll go see if I can get it," Bae said quickly, jumping to his feet.
He'd barely made it two steps before the voice came from behind him. "Don't—don't bother." Twisting around, Bae saw his father struggle to his feet, swaying drunkenly. "She's not here. She's—"
"Summoning you?" Bae felt his heart sink, and he didn't even need to see his father's broken nod of acknowledgement to know that was true.
"I'm sorry," Rumplestiltskin whispered, and disappeared even as Bae reached for him.
"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Regina demanded, whirling to look at Emma once Rumplestiltskin vanished. She'd already sent an exploratory spell towards the underside of David's truck, discovering—much to her disappointment—that her mother was not stuck in the undercarriage. Once, Regina would have felt at least a little regret upon seeing her brother-in-law slam his rusty old truck into her mother, but not today.
Today, she'd watched her lover shoot her sister in the face with satisfaction, and then had watched in horror as her niece jumped in between Regina and her own homicidal mother. If David hadn't hit Cora with the truck, Regina didn't know what would have happened. Rumplestiltskin would probably have defeated her, though with a bullet in his shoulder, there was no telling who might have come out on top there. Either way, though, Emma would probably have been dead, even if her mother had finally failed to rip someone's heart out. It's about damn time that happened to her!
"I'm sorry," Emma retorted, looking her straight in the eye. "Was that a thank you for saving your life?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "She wasn't going to kill me, you idiot. She just wanted to rip my heart out."
"You're welcome," her niece snapped, and Regina just sighed.
"You're so much like your mother."
"Is that a compliment?" Emma asked, and now she was smiling. Out of the corner of her eye, Regina noticed Snow helping Robin to his feet, and suddenly the truth hit her. He's Robin, now. He knew about True Love's kiss and sleeping curses, and that means—
"Is the curse broken?" she blurted out. "How long was I under?"
"About a week and a half," David answered, walking over from where he'd been looking under his truck. "Cora's gone."
"Headed home to regroup, no doubt," Regina shrugged. At the moment, her mother's status seemed unimportant. "Where's Henry? Is he all right?"
"He's at Belle's," Emma said. "He's fine. But he'll be glad to see you."
Relief made Regina's knees go weak. Henry was all right. The curse was broken. That meant her family was still safe, and everyone remembered. Swallowing hard, she turned to face her sister as Snow and Robin approached, the later limping a little but otherwise all right. Her heart lodged firmly in her throat, the name came out as a whisper. "Snow?"
"Hello, Regina," her sister said, and neither knew who moved first. One moment they were several feet apart, and the next they were hugging one another tightly, hanging on for dear life.
"I missed you so much."
"Me, too. Even if I didn't remember," Snow replied, her voice just as emotion-filled. "And we were so worried about you. All of us."
"It seems like I missed a lot," Regina said as lightly as she could, pulling back to look at her family—and the odd man out, the thirty-ish looking guy with brown hair and a goatee. His hands were stained with Rumplestiltskin's blood—had he been the one to pull Rumple out of the truck's path? Staring at him for a moment didn't help Regina recognize him, so she finally just demanded: "Who the hell are you?"
"Baelfire," he replied, and then shrugged. "Or Neal Cassidy, in this world."
"That means precisely jack to me," she said, waiting for more.
Baelfire gestured at Emma. "She just shot my dad."
"Your what?" Regina gaped even as Emma retorted:
"Did you have any better ideas?"
"Yeah, shoot Cora next time. You only get to surprise her once, and then maybe we could have gotten the dagger," Baelfire countered.
"I'm sorry, I was trying to keep your father from hurting Robin," her niece replied, rolling her eyes. "You know, like, taking his hands off. Which sounds kind of nasty."
"Thanks for that, by the way," Robin piped up, and Regina shot him a tight smile before cutting into the very strange argument between the Savior and the Dark One's son.
"Wait a minute. Will someone tell me how the hell my mother got the dagger in the first place?" She looked at Snow and David, figuring they would know if no one did. "Don't tell me Rumple managed to lose it after all this time." Then a less fun thought occurred to her. "Or did Mother have for the entire curse?"
"It's kind of my fault," Baelfire said before anyone else could answer, which earned him a glare from Emma.
"More like August's," she snarled.
Looking between the two, Regina waited for someone to make sense of this story. Finally, Baelfire continued.
"August—Pinocchio—and I met before. A long time ago, but he knew who I was. He told Cora that right about when he convinced me to come to Storybrooke. She grabbed me, and after the curse was broken, told Papa she'd kill me if he didn't hand the dagger over."
"Well, that fits," she sighed. There were obviously a lot more details to be had—like what the layered looks between Emma and Baelfire meant, or how Baelfire hadn't been in Storybrooke in the first place—but Regina could ask those questions later. Right now, she wanted to go find her son.
A/N: Next up: Chapter Ninety-Two—"Hearts and the Heartless", in which in which hearts are returned, Regina is finally reunited with her son, Emma confronts August, Cora sends Rumplestiltskin to regain one particular heart, and Emma begins wondering about Ingrid.