Part Eight

"Strange, I thought, how you can be living your dreams and your nightmares at the very same time."
― Ransom Riggs, Hollow City

Entering the main room of the Sherriff's station, David moved immediately to the coffee machine to start a new pot. He felt like he was running on fumes, the revitalisation of his earlier shower lost in the adrenalin rush of Emma's confrontation with Mr Gold. He was hoping that now Emma had trapped Gold into helping them they'd be able to sort out this whole mess and they'd all get some much needed sleep. As soon as the coffee was ready he poured two large mugs and went to join the subjects of his musings in the Sherriff's office.

Emma gratefully accepted the mug from her father and settled back in her desk chair waving her free hand toward Gold, sitting in the visitor's chair, to begin.

"First of all, I'm basing this entirely on your descriptions and I really should examine the Evil Q…" He paused and backtracked a little when Emma scowled at him over the rim of her mug before slamming it down on her desk.

"As I was saying I'll need to examine Regina to confirm my suspicions."

"Fine, just get on with telling us what you think is going on." Emma growled.

"Based on your descriptions I believe the… Mayor has been hexed."

Emma's brow creased in confusion.

"I thought you agreed she was cursed?" The Sheriff leaned forward in her seat.

"That was before you described the situation, the details you supplied point to Regina having been hit with a Dreaming hex." He clicked his teeth in annoyance when the blonde interrupted him once more.

"So there's a difference between a curse and a hex?"

While stating her question she noted the immediate spark of triumph that appeared in the man's dark eyes. Emma quickly ran over in her mind the words she'd used in their agreement and immediately realised the possible loop hole the slippery snake in front of her would try to slip through. She put her hand up to stop his reply, and reached down to open the bottom drawer of her desk, digging round in it till she pulled out a large hardbound book. She thumped it down on the desk in front of her and flicked through the thin pages looking for something before she flipped one page back and began to read. Scanning down the page she smiled and tapped her finger near the bottom before swinging the book around so Gold could see where her finger was pointing.

"My world, my definitions Gold so don't even try it."

Emma smiled down at the dictionary between them where a hex was clearly described as a spell or curse. She'd be damned if the Dark One was going to weasel out of their agreement because she'd consistently used the word curse instead of hex.

"Pah!" He glared at the print and then up at Emma before pushing the offending book across the desk. "Fine! A hex is still a curse."

"So why did you make a distinction? What's a Dreaming hex?"

"In my world a hex is enacted differently than a curse in that it works through a talisman."

"A talisman? What's that?"

Gold slapped his hand down on his arm rest aggravated with Emma's constant interruptions.

"Miss Swan we might actually get around to me discharging my obligation to you if you'd let me say more than one sentence at a time!"

Emma smirked but sat back and again waved her hand for him to proceed.

"As I was saying, while some curses might incorporate a talisman, a hex absolutely requires one. In order to hex someone you imbue an object with a spell that will enact the hex when the intended victim comes into contact with the item. For something such as a dreaming hex that is meant to activate only under specific circumstances like a time of day or an action such as during sleep, the talisman must be something that stays within proximity to the person you want to hex."

Gold paused expecting Emma to interrupt to demand more details, but the Sheriff remained silently attentive so he shrugged and carried on.

"For a limited type of hex all one would normally need to do is remove the talisman from the vicinity of the victim and the hex should be removed as well."

A sour look slipped onto Gold's face and the next sentence was growled out reluctantly.

"You can accomplish the same effect by removing the victim from proximity to the talisman. However if you fail to destroy the talisman the hex will enact all over again if the victim ever comes within the active area of the hexed item, so you need to destroy the talisman as soon as you identify it and get the victim away from the proximal effects."

"So if we find whatever talisman that's hexed Regina and get it or her away from each other you can destroy it right?"

"Possibly."

"Possibly? What the hell do you mean by that?" Emma's anger rose at Gold slipping back into his usual aggravating cryptic half answers. This time he didn't seem phased by her reaction but he did answer her question.

"With a standard Dreaming hex, the talisman can only be destroyed during the inactive time of the hex."

"Meaning Regina has to wake up first." The words were whispered and despairing as Emma slumped in her chair.

David took the opportunity to remind them of his presence.

"But that shouldn't be a problem. We find the talisman and separate it from Regina, she wakes up because she's outside its range and we destroy the thing then."

Emma sat up in relief smiling at her father before she looked to Gold for confirmation of David's words. The older man still looked grim and didn't answer.

"David's right isn't he Gold?"

"Well he would be if this was the Enchanted Forrest, but as you've said Saviour this is your world, and magic doesn't work the same way here. A dreaming hex is time sensitive Dearie, it should only work during the appointed times and yet…" He trailed off leaving Emma to finish the thought.

"It's daytime and Regina isn't waking up."

"Exactly. Definitely not standard results for the hex type."

Silence reigned in the office for a few minutes while Emma and David processed the information Gold had given them.

"Could her staying asleep be something deliberately built into the hex?"

Gold appeared taken aback at the idea but after a moment's thought, he shook his head in the negative.

"Are you sure? I mean how do I fit into this hex? I've been in those dreams too, could that have changed things? I mean if this hex has to have a talisman that's in proximity to the dreamer, how the hell did I end up in her dreams? I was nearly a mile away in my own bed so we couldn't have both been near the talisman. Could we? How far is the proximity you mentioned?" Emma took a breath to continue her list of questions but decided to wait for some answers first.

"The proximity aspect has two factors, one the victim has to initially touch the talisman to first activate it and secondly it then needs to remain no more than a foot away from them for the timed element of the hex to work."

Gold paused in his explanation his mouth dry and his lips pursed in displeasure before he drawled.

"As your visit to my shop was so unexpected this morning I wasn't able to offer you any morning hospitality."

He eyed the mugs that David and Emma were sipping from before sneeringly continuing.

"My throat is quite parched. Perhaps I might get a cup of that coffee so I might continue to help you Sheriff Swan?"

David snorted but immediately rose to fill a mug for the older man before resuming his seat. The pause had allowed Emma's brain to tick forward with a dozen more questions she wanted answers for and she started scratching them down on the notepad on her desk wanting to be certain she didn't forget a single one.

Gold took a sip from the mug and placed it in front of him grimacing a little at the quality of the brew before he continued with his explanation and answered the blondes follow up questions. Despite himself, Gold was forced to admit, if only to himself, that Emma was being admirably insightful and thorough in her hunt for the information she needed to help her former enemy. That thought made him curious as to why the Saviour was so invested in helping the Evil Queen, eyeing the agitated blonde he gave a mental snort and amended the thought to, 'Regina.' Rallying his attention he moved on to exploring possible ways to address the problems at hand, such as Emma's connection to the hex. The sooner this was all over, the sooner he could get back to remastering his magic…he had his own plans after all.

The Blue Fairy adjusted her posture sitting up straighter in her desk chair attempting to process the shock of Snow White's declaration. The upset and agitated Snow, sat opposite her, rocking backward and forward holding her stomach as if it ached. Blue ignored her, her mind turned inward and whirring with thoughts on how to deal with this unexpected and certainly unwelcome news. Her attention was suddenly brought back to the other woman when the brunette abruptly stopped her rocking and spoke again.

"Blue, something's gone terribly wrong! Emma, she's been hurt. In the dream world, somehow she got beaten to a pulp, cuts and bruises everywhere and badly bruised ribs, she looks terrible." She eyed the fairy accusingly before continuing.

"You promised nothing would happen to her! You said she'd just be a spectator to Regina's punishment, that the punishing spirits wouldn't be able to harm her. I never wanted Emma to be hurt, I only wanted her to see and finally understand that Regina ruined so many lives, killed so many people, that she should be punished for her actions, not let off like nothing before the curse being broken counts."

Snow White's shoulders slumped in defeat as she whispered the last of her fears now that her plans had gone astray.

"When she finds out it was me, Emma will never speak to me again. What am I going to do? My daughter's going to hate me."

Blue's eyebrows shot up at her words and she leant eagerly forward.

"Wait, are you saying she doesn't actually know it was us who hexed the Evil Queen? Who does she think it was? What exactly does the Saviour know Snow White?"

Snow recounted everything Emma had said to her at the loft ending with her husband and daughter's intent to confront Gold and try to get information about Regina's condition from him. A slow and decidedly nasty smile made its way across the fairy's face in reaction to Snow's more detailed information. A plan quickly formed in her mind to not only permanently punish her long time victim, Regina but also to escape the Saviour's potential just retribution by shifting the blame for the hex onto the Dark One himself. Plan firmly set in her mind, Blue returned her attention to the woman opposite her internally smirking at the look of confused uncertainty on Snow's face probably brought about by the less than fairy like expressions she'd allowed to show as she thought.

Blue easily slipped on her mask of fairy kindness and concern, struggling not to snicker at the noticeable relaxing of Snow's shoulders as she spoke with a familiar kindly voice.

"Not to worry Snow, all is not lost, it appears that Emma hasn't connected the dots and I'm sure we can manage to ensure that she never does, you won't lose your daughter's love I promise."

"How can we make sure Emma doesn't find out? She's very clever Blue and very tenacious." Snow couldn't help a small grin before continuing. "She gets that from both her parents."

Blue refrained from commenting, but it was a near thing, Snow's smug self-absorption and self-righteousness was just so cloying and annoying it tested her patience.

"Yes of course, and that's one of the things we're going to count on to make sure her trail leads her away from us and straight to the Dark One instead." She leant forward as she began to outline her plan, hoping earnestly that Snow would be able to handle her pivotal role in its success.

"Well, first off you absolutely must get Emma's talisman back immediately so that she is unable to return to Regina's dreams. Then I want you to….."

As the Blue fairy continued to outline her plan to Snow White, not too far away, Emma, David and Gold were headed to the mansion so Gold could confirm the hex and hopefully so that Emma could break it and rescue Regina from her nocturnal demons.