"Can I remove the muzzle?" Rose asked, glancing at a bristling Maleficent.

"No." Fiona answered.

"Why not? You have chained her like an animal."

"She is one." Myra said with a look of disgust.

"She is a beast." Fiona amended. "And it keeps her from breathing fire. I already lost one castle today. I don't want to lose another one. I happen to like this one. So many memories." She looked at the Swans and the Charmings, all chained and at her mercy. "The answer you all are looking for is this," She held up her hand and a vial of red liquid appeared in it. She tossed it across the room, where it bounced on the rug and rolled near Regina. "That is my pixie dust serum. Potent and pure, it is the excess of my magic. A single drop is worth more than everything in the dragon's vault, but...it is also just the beginning."

"How about you start at the beginning." Rose said. Fiona tilted her head, watching her daughter carefully. "Let's skip the stuff with Rumpelstiltskin because we already know about that."

"Do you?" The fairy asked. "Or do you only know what the fairies told you?"

"I know you did everything you could to protect your child. You darkened your heart, used some magic shears to change his fate, became a fairy to try to help him."

Regina glanced at the others as Rose asked questions, Grace catching her attention by subtly shaking her head. She noticed Emma give her mother a nod. They needed to let Rose speak, be their voice. Emma said she was once a good interrogator. Perhaps she could discern a way out of this, or at least buy them enough time to figure out a way themselves. As angry as she was, she followed their example.

"I did." Fiona said, lifting her chin. "As a mother is supposed to do. I did what the fairies were too weak to do. They knew about the prophecy, treated it like it so important and yet did nothing. They did nothing to protect my child or prevent this great evil from being created. What's the point of fairies if they aren't willing to do their jobs, hmm? They're as selfish as the rest of the world and pretend to be so holy. I'm sure you all already know that, don't you?" Fiona stood up and stepped forward. "I needn't have bothered. Rumple was weak. I don't know if the shears did anything or if that's just the way he was, but he was, still is...weak. Sure, he's the Dark One now, but he is still a man driven by fear. Fear...of being weak. The Great Evil never had to worry about him. You, however, Rosie, are a different story." The Black Fairy smiled, almost proudly. "It was always you. It took me years of searching, experimenting, and perfecting my plans to realize that you are the thing I've been searching for. The one that got away. Do you want to know how you did it?"

"No, I don't." Rose replied. "Why did you kidnap Myra and Nala? Why them? Out of everyone, why them?"

"Because I tried everyone else and none of them took to the serum."

Myra's face dropped and she stood up. "Mother, what is she talking about?"

"I am not your mother by blood." Fiona said, casually, as if her words would not destroy the girl she had beaten into submission and brainwashed into believing her true mothers were the enemy. "Emma and Regina are."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said." Fiona turned to face Myra. Regina wanted to break Fiona's neck seeing the distress on Myra's face. Her little girl didn't seem to know what to do and Fiona didn't care at all. "I'm sure they spoke to you, told you all about them, all about me. They were right. I took you when you were a child and made you mine. It's been years for you, but it's probably been a few days for them. Time flies in my world." Myra looked at Regina, who nodded.

"It's true, dear. We came to rescue you."

"But…" Myra shook her head. "It's not true. It can't be."

"It is." Fiona blinked slowly. "Last night you almost killed your mothers, your grandmothers, grandfathers, and your great grandmother. Not to mention the beast. Last night you stood toe to toe with some of the most powerful people in the known realms. That's the power I gave you." She turned to smile at Rose. "I didn't even have to give her much." Myra looked at Emma, who was struggling to get out of her chains. Her next course of action was true to her blood. She got angry. Myra's fist was charged with blue electricity instantaneously and she took a swing at Fiona, who didn't even turn around to deflect it. With a wave of her hand, Myra's magic disappeared. She looked at her fist in shock and Fiona held out her hand and pushed it down. Myra crumbled to her hands and knees, panting and trembling as if she'd run a marathon. "Do you truly believe that I would give you all of this power and not devise a way to stop you in case you turned on me? The moment that serum entered your bloodstream, you became mine, Myra. That's why I can end this little charade. Believe me, it'll be worth it."

Regina scowled and pulled against her chains. She twisted around, trying to see them. Perhaps she could slip a hand out…

"Mother. Come back to me." Rose instructed, moving into Fiona's line of sight. "Just keep talking to me. Explain what you said. You tried everyone else?" Fiona continued glaring at Myra and Rose made the bold move of grabbing her mother's wrist, finally drawing her attention. "You've attacked us, stalked us, abducted some of us, you owe us. After all this, you owe us an explanation. If you're so powerful, don't be afraid to tell us. Explain." Rose said earnestly, adding the slightest bit of emphasis on the word 'afraid'.

Fiona slowly smiled and dipped her head. "So be it. I suppose it won't hurt to tell you. You won't be able to do anything with this information anyway."

"Okay, explain." Rose commanded, standing between Myra and Fiona. The Black Fairy turned around and started to slowly walk around the room, strutting nonchalantly through her captives.

"I needed exceptional bloodlines. Regular people didn't seem to work well with the serum so I assumed it was the blood. A few did, but they never survived for very long. Those that do are carefully trained and monitored. My powers allow me to see the future. Only fragments, but given enough time I can piece parts together and I saw some of the most incredible stories in people I had never met. So I waited to find these people."

"That's how you knew our stories." Regina said.

"Yes. Of course I also watched, listened." Fiona paused to look at her. "Tell me, Regina, about Henry. He was probably about six years old when you got a call from school that said he'd fallen ill during gym. Correct?"

"...yes." Regina remembered that day all too clearly. It was the first time that Henry had gotten really sick and as a new mother she had been so lost. Her little prince had to be hospitalized for two weeks before he showed signs of recovery and Regina was allowed to bring him home. Not even the doctors could tell her what was wrong with him. They claimed all of the tests they took were inconclusive and Regina had been irate then but if Fiona knew about that…

"His body rejected the serum. Quite terribly. It was rather easy to sneak into your quaint little town and-"

"You fucking bitch!" Regina roared, pulling at her chains.

Regina, calm the fuck down! Regina went still, hearing Mal's voice in the back of her mind. Let her talk. If Rose can get her to explain her plans then we can stop guessing at them and figure out a way to destroy them and her. You can't get free anyway so save your energy. Regina glared at the dragon, but slowly settled back into her kneeling position. She was going to rip this bitch apart. Henry's sickness had scared her to death. She thought her son was going to die and it turns out he was just some experiment for some villain that used people like test subjects and pawns!

"I tested you too." Fiona had not turned away from Regina. "You probably don't remember, you were so young. Heart of the Most Resilient? How could I not? You weren't a match either unfortunately." She turned back to Rose. "So I had to come back to you. The children you would have, the children they would have. I mean the chances of how you find your kids are astronomical. The Evil Queen decides one day that she wants a child and somehow adopts the grandchild of the people she hates? Your daughter," She gestured to Grace. "Manages to adopt the Savior. Out of everyone in the world? Her ex boyfriend adopts the dragon's daughter? I mean, it's insane. Fate must love your family."

"You tested all of them, didn't you?" Grace said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I did." Fiona nodded, meekly. "I had to. Who knows if your other children or any others in your life were from some other world? Considering Emma and Lily, it was most certainly possible. It was around flu season, I believe. Almost all of your kids fell ill? Were bedridden for weeks. Your husband had to leave the army base because you got sick taking care of them. None of you were a match unfortunately. That was a lot of wasted serum."

"Lily wasn't a match?" Rose asked.

"Oh no." Fiona glared at Mal, her lip curling in disgust. "Dragons. Their blood is oh so special. It has natural healing properties, burns away infections, diseases, parasites, poisons. One of the reasons they're so difficult to kill. Lilith didn't react at all to the serum. That's how I confirmed what she was." She walked towards Mal, whose growling intensified with every step she took. "If only. What a weapon you or your daughter would have made." She circled the dragon before looking at Rose again with a smile. "Any more questions?"

Ask her how the serum works. How she knows it works or not.

Zelena?

And Jackson. I activated the sight spell again. We can see and hear everything you do. I reinforced it with blood magic. Fiona won't know as long as you play it cool, Sis.

"How does it work?" Regina asked. "The serum. How do you know it works?"

Fiona smirked. "The serum attaches to the blood. The person injected will eventually recover, slowly, but they become twice as good as they ever were. More vibrant, more energetic, more confident. They will also possess magic. Powerful magic. If they already have magic, their power is increased tenfold. If it works, they become mine." She held up her hand and Myra was jerked into a standing position, like a puppet. She could see veins popping out on Myra's neck as she strained to move her own body. Fiona barely glanced at her feeble attempts to get free. "The serum is an extension of me. She is mine to control. Her cooperation is always good but I don't mind a little force."

"And if it doesn't work?"

"The serum fizzles out. You return to normal...or you die instantly. It's all a bit of a gamble really, but you weren't lying when you said your family was hard to kill. Unfortunately, I can't control any of you since the serum didn't work for you all." She grinned at Regina. "What a weapon you would make. Or your sister. I tried to test her too but all those damn witches in her world kept getting in the way and when she was older she was far too paranoid of strangers for me to sneak it in."

Fuck you, bitch.

"You've gone to great lengths for your plans." Rose said, watching her mother carefully. Fiona met her eyes evenly, seemingly amused. She probably already knew what her daughter was trying to do. "And they're interesting, very complex. I'm surprised and impressed that you've managed to stay under our radars for so long, even during the curse." Fiona beamed proudly. Her cheeks even turned a rosy color under her child's flattery and praise. "You said your pixie flowers are extensions of you? That means your power must stretch across worlds, realms. It's also quite amazing."

Fiona narrowed her eyes slightly. "Don't be getting any ideas, Rosie. I assure you that I am stronger than ever and no matter how far I stretch my power, or how many pixie flowers I plant, I only get stronger."

Rose nodded slowly. "I only want to understand, Mother. Even now, I don't really know why you've done all this. Are you building an army? World domination?"

"Nothing so trivial, sweetheart."

"So why don't you get to the good part? I know you want to tell us your real plan." Rose challenged. "The endgame. The culmination of all of your hard work leads to what?"

Fiona smirked. "You know what, I do want to tell you since you play such a large part in them. But not today. Perhaps tomorrow." She made a gesture to Myra. "Take them away."

"I'm not going to do anything you say-"

Fiona snapped her fingers and Myra's eyes rolled into the back of her head. For a moment, she didn't move at all. Then she blinked and Regina could see her little girl was gone. The woman that looked at her now, with eyes filled with malice and hatred was the same one she fought the night before.

"Myra, my darling, will you take our prisoners to their rooms for the night?"

Myra gave the Black Fairy a smile and dipped her head. "Yes, Mother."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Read and Review!