AN: Please read the Author's Note at the end.
The burnt-out Apple of Eden in her hands only raised more questions in the redhead's mind as she sat out on the veranda of Gold's cabin the next morning, overlooking the lake as she tried to process the last few hours. It was early morning after the night before hiking with Anastasia looking for the object she held in her hands while Regina's job with Maleficent was kidnapping Pinocchio and using magic to age him back into his older-self August.
Her Uncle had sneaked himself over the town line with the help of Anastasia, Ursula and Cruella and now. Now they were trying to get answers out of August about the author, out of any means necessary. She wasn't going to stick around while her sister played.
She still didn't know why she and the former Queen needed to be undercover. Regina was hiding that close to her chest for the time being. All she knew was that it was something to do with Emma. But there was something else she was keeping from her. She didn't like it one bit.
All she did know that the longer she spent with the other's in the cabin her 'role' as the Black Widow wouldn't just be that.
Anastasia's words to her the previous night had rung true to her. Maybe all this time she wouldn't be able to take the Black Widow out of her. She was simply waiting, biding her time to come out again and this time there would be no way of fighting her.
"Darling" Cruella called out to Ursula who was lost in the own thoughts listening to opera on a radio "Come. You're missing out on all the fun" putting the radio down she heads to the cabin when Cruella looked to the red headed assassin.
"What dog breath?" Amelia asked the woman.
"I just thought you'd be in that thick of it. The fetus seems to be enjoying herself immensely" Cruella said referring to Anastasia. She could feel the envy from where she sat.
Compared to all of them the blonde assassin was still a baby taking it's first footsteps only to keep stumbling. She knew it was noticeable to the others. She stuck out like a sore thumb. She simply didn't have the history behind her like the rest of the women and man that had with them. But fortunately for her sister, this meant they severely underestimated her.
Standing from her place she approached the heiress with the Apple in her hand "I recommend you don't insult her, otherwise you'll find yourself tied to a high tree branch from your neck" she warns her. Amelia watched as a sly smirk grew on the other woman's lips as she heard the threat from the infamous Black Widow.
"Hmm" the heiress hummed to herself "I knew you still had it in you, Mal thought you lost your touch" Cruella commented as she followed Amelia back into the cabin where August was tied to a chair being interrogated by Regina and Gold. All the while Anastasia stood oddly calm as she waited patiently for her turn by the fireplace.
Regina's and Gold version of interrogation wasn't quite what she and Anya had been expecting. It involved a lot more sharp objects on the assassin's part and a lot less time of questioning from the other side of the room.
"I already told you... I don't know anything about this Author" August tries to tell the Evil Queen and Rumpelstiltskin as he see's Amelia walk back into the cabin with Cruella behind her. He was her only hope of getting him out of this situation. He tried to help him when the first curse broke. She could help him now. but his pleading eyes did nothing as the former Black Widow simply ignored him.
"He's lying" Anastasia sang-song to the other's from her place rolling her eye's as boredom had set into her mind.
"Yes we know Duchess" Gold scolds her for her constant interruptions "You don't need to keep telling us that".
"Well, perhaps you could use a little incentive" Ursula tries her hand at the interrogation, as she grabs a knife and holding it up to his neck.
An audible scoff came from the Black Widow as she crossed the cabin to join her sister at the fireplace. Placing the dead Piece of Eden on the mantle.
"Oh, that knife is not gonna make me remember something that I don't know" August tells the sea witch.
"Wait" Regina tell the women using her magic to take the knife from Ursula landing in Amelia's skilled safe hand.
Ursula looked between the couple at the knife being taken from her "Is there a problem?" she asks them both.
"I knew she'd never the stomach for this" DeVil accused the Evil Queen and her Widow.
"Please" the Queen scoffs at her "I was torturing people back when you were still playing with puppies" The Queen spat at the heiress.
"It's true" Amelia added from the fireplace placing the knife on the mantel as her partner approached the tied-up man with Maleficent flanking her "She even taught me a few things" she adds with a sly smirk only the Queen understood as the smirk with mirrored on the Queen's face.
"Really?" the heiress exasperated at the Master Assassin "What could she teach about torture that the Brotherhood couldn't? Weren't you supposed to be the experts?".
"I never said it was torture" she corrects the woman with a suggestive wink.
"Urgh" the heiress groaned in disgust at her insinuation. It was bad enough they had to put up the looks between the pair but now this"How much longer must we put up with her Rumple?" she asks him looking for some support in the matter.
"As long as it take's dearie" he answers with gritted teeth "If we have any chance of getting to the Author it's through my dear niece" the Dark One tells the woman straight.
"Thank you Uncle" she says keeping her eye firmly on the heiress. Making sure she reminded her that out of everyone in that cabin she was the only one related to the man who was orchestrating this whole plan as Regina continued her advance on August.
"This sorry excuse for a man used to be made of wood" the Queen pointed out producing a fireball in her hand "So let's light a fire under him and see what happens" at that the Evil Queen elegantly summons a ball of fire in her hand.
At the prospect of being victim to one of her fireball's the man relents "Okay All right" he starts keeping a close eye on the flame in her hand "You know something? I actually, uh, do remember something about The Author" August suddenly changes his tune.
"Avremmo potuto farlo più velocemente sorella" (We could have done it faster sister) Anastasia grumbles to the redhead in their native tongue knowing no-one else in the room would understand them. Hearing the young blonde, Rumple looks over at the pair of adopted sisters with no clue what they were talking about. The only thing he did know. It couldn't be good.
"Lo so, dobbiamo solo ricordargli quella". (I know. We just need to remind him of that) A devilish smirk grows on the redheads face as she makes eye contact with the man tied in the chair before he hears a giggle leave the blonde assassin's lips.
Throwing the fireball into the fireplace, neither the Assassins either side of the fireplace flinched as it lit up "Um..." he hesitated looking between the villains that surrounded him.
"Don't hold out on us now August" Anastasia's broken English comes from the fireplace "Otherwise my sister and I will get it out of you. And you really don't want us to ruin those pretty eyes of your's" she purred at him.
"They are pretty aren't they?" the redhead muses to her sister "I think you've been looking for a new pair of earrings haven't you Anya?".
"I have" The Duchess finishes off the conversation.
Gold couldn't help but smile to himself hearing the pair at work. Only if they had put their differences aside back home. The Black Widow and The Duchess, now that was a force not even he would reckon with, nor anyone in this room.
August's eye's bugged out at the female Assassins before looking back up at the Regina and Maleficent "W-when I was in Hong Kong, uh, before the curse broke, I met a mystic. His name was The Dragon. I don't know how he knew about the book, but he had been looking for The Author for years." he says looking at Gold.
"And what did this "dragon" learn?" Gold voiced from his seat across the room.
"He died before I could ask".
"Oh, well, that's something you two are about to have in common" Gold warns the man standing from his place and walks to August standing in between Regina and Maleficent
"And after he died" he quickly added stopping Gold's murderous advance "I took his research. And I brought it with me to Storybrooke".
"Do you really think this man-child is telling us the truth?" Maleficent asked the Dark One.
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time he's lied to my face" her Uncle answered her, remembering the time he pretended to be Neal.
Only two people in this whole cabin when he was still lying, it had been drilled into their head to see every twitch, quiver or droplet of sweat that came from someone's face. Everyone had a tell.
"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to pay a visit to his trailer to find out" Gold tells the group as he walks over to the coat rack to pick up his jacket "Amelia, will accompany me" he announces taking everyone including his won niece by surprise as she tried to ignore the anger that rolled off her sister's shoulder's at not being his favorite assassin anymore. She'd just been put down the pecking order.
"-Her parlor trick will come in use for our search" he continues as the redhead crosses the room to join him at the door.
"While you're doing that, shall we carry on with the rest of the plan?" Ursula pressed the man. Making the Queen look at him.
"Rest of the plan?" she barks at the older man "What aren't you telling me?" the Queen demands out of him.
A look of annoyance came over the Dark One at the Evil Queen's demands "You're gonna have to do a lot more than just kidnap a marionette and torch a few logs for us to tell you everything" he tells her "In the meantime, be content that you've finally chosen the winning side" he tell her before opening the door "Come Miss Montague".
At the use of her surname Ursula takes a second look at the Black Widow as she leaves with her Uncle, while Regina headed to the fireplace.
"Darling?" Cruella calls out to the sea-witch "Everything alright? You look like you've just seen a ghost".
"Don't be ridiculous" she scoffs at the woman before walking away.
Nearby in the woods the Charming family plus Hook were tracking the back roads for any sign of either Regina or Amelia.
The former had ditched her tracker after kidnapping Pinocchio and the latter hadn't been seen or heard from since the previous night.
Tom was getting more worried by the hour despite the brave face he put on while Emma was feeling the same as she had promised to leave Anastasia to the red head. She had a bad feeling about all of this.
"It's okay, Emma" Mary Margaret tried to reassure her daughter "As long as he's with Regina, Pinocchio will be all right. And Lia can take care of herself, she always has".
"We don't know that. I just wish I hadn't let her ditch me. And Lia could be in an actual ditch with no memory of who anyone is. Again" the blonde fretted to the others.
"Swan, you couldn't have known that she'd drop that tracking device" Hook tells her "And the Widow know's what's she's doing. A lot like her father in that respect, she learnt from the best" the blonde savior could only give her boyfriend a sad smile at his sentence, knowing what Romeo had asked of him before he died.
"Yeah, but I let her talk me into thinking kidnapping him was a good idea. If anything happens to that kid, it's my fault" Emma concluded as they came to a crossroad. The former Prince stops to inspect the tracks they have been following.
"Uh, the tracks end here" he tells them "Looks like the rain washed them away".
"Oh, would now be an appropriate time for a locator spell?" Hook suggests to his girlfriend as the pixie haired teacher see's coming in the distance.
"We may not need one. Look" They all stop to look at a mass of purple smoke travelling heading straight at them. Attaching itself to the former Princess before disappearing inside of her as the other's looked on in concern.
"Mary Margaret?" David calls out to his wife not getting an answer from her.
"What the hell was that?" Emma asked her mother "Are you okay?".
"I have to make this quick" Mary Margaret spoke but it wasn't her voice it was Regina's "We don't have much time".
"Regina?" David questioned in confusion.
"Pinocchio's fine" 'Mary Margaret' continued looking at Emma "He's back to his old self, or older self" she corrects herself.
"August" Emma murmured.
"But there's something else you need to know... Gold is here" the new information troubled the group as Hook clenched his jaw in worry "We're holed up in his cabin, and he's in town for more than just The Author. But he won't tell me why, which means whatever it is he's planning...it's bad".
"Wait!" Emma called out to Regina/ Mary Margaret "Is Lia with you? She hasn't answered any of our calls".
"She is" Regina/Mary Margaret answered "and she's safe..for now. Gold's keeping her close. Expect a message from her soon" she adds knowing the redhead will try and get a message to the rest to them about the reappearance of the Apple of Eden.
"Got it" Emma tells her before Mary Margaret lurched forward as Regina left her body, ending the conversation.
"So the Dark One's returned" Hook concluded the conversation.
"Yeah" Emma sighs turning to look at Hook "There's only one person who can help us drive him back out".
A while later the women inside the cabin had grown bored since Gold had left with Amelia. The sorceress had gone off to their own ends of the cabin as Anastasia ventured outside shorty after they had left.
Regina was surprised that the young woman was trained by the Brotherhood of Assassins, she was the total opposite to Amelia. She let her feelings known when Gold chose Amelia over herself to help him with his task while Amelia would have kept her annoyance to herself. Anastasia was reckless while Amelia was calculating. The years she missed out of her trained became evident between the pair the more they spent time together.
While Cruella, Ursula and Maleficent kept to themselves Regina took the opportunity to sit next to August who had been left in front of the fireplace checking the other women whereabouts before pulling out the story book page that Amelia had taped back together for them.
August sighed seeing the former Evil Queen take a seat next to him taking out the piece of paper "What's that... more kindling?" he asked the woman as she unfolded it to reveal a picture of her younger self in a passionate embrace with their resident Assassin.
"This page appeared to someone very important to me".
"Amelia?" he answered the silent question softly taking the Queen by surprise.
"How do you know about Amelia?".
"Just 'cause the boy doesn't remember being the man doesn't mean I don't remember being the boy" he tells the Queen.
"Well, you're right. Amelia did find it. But this page... it depicts something that didn't happen. And I think you know more than you're saying" he could only scoff a laugh at her, rolling his eye's at the woman "What?" she hisses at him not expecting him to respond this way.
"It's just..I don't know how you're doing it" he starts in a low voice "Getting her to play along with all...this..but I have a feeling she doesn't know the full story" he paused "Am right aren't I?" he calls her out making her shift uncomfortably in her seat, averting her eye's from his, knowing he was right "You see, I saw the real Amelia Montague when she tried to get me to speak to my Papa. She was heartbroken, all because you couldn't love her and not the Widow".
"-So if what you're not saying is true, and you still want to find the author to change your happy ending, then you really don't deserve her. Then that piece of paper in your hand is just that. A piece of paper. Because you truly have no idea what's she's capable of, no one in whole whole town does and it all stems from that little ball of power on the mantelpiece" he say as his eye's drift to the burnt out Apple of Eden as she follows to see the object her own mother was after.
"Wha-?" she goes to ask him only for Cruella to interrupt them as she notices Ursula suddenly uncomfortably shift across the room "What's the matter, darling? Is there something out there?".
"It's nothing" the sea witch brushes the concern off as she heads for the door, while Regina quickly places the gag back around August's mouth "Just gonna go stretch my tentacles".
"So are you going to say something or are we going to continue this family walk through the woods in complete silence" his niece broke the silence that ad stretched out between them ever since they had left the cabin.
A small smile grew on the old man's face at his nieces question "I thought you enjoyed an awkward silence or two dearie" he asked walking beside the red head that reminded himself so much of his sister.
"Maybe a few years ago, but since having Tom back. My patience has since thinned"
An amused smirk grew on his face hearing this before replying "Speaking of my nephew. I haven't seen your husband around. I do hope going back to Regina hasn't created too many awkward encounters with him".
"It would if he was here" she answered her Uncle who seemed genuinely surprised at the Captains actions seeing how far he was willing to go to get her back "He left with the other's to Arendelle" she paused feeling the sting she still felt despite the weeks that went by since he decided to leave. "He wasn't going to get in my way of a happy ending anymore" she tells him.
"And have you?" Gold asked her coming to a stop in the middle of the path "Got your happy ending?".
"I took your advice; I took the happy ending I wanted" she gulped.
"And is it everything you've been hoping of?".
A smirk grew on her face as a dark chuckle came from the red head catching the man off guard "You really think I'd open up to you after saying goodbye to me".
"I simply thought it might help" he offered as they came to a stop in the middle of the dirt track. She felt the rage that she felt whenever she thought back to how he manged to manipulate her for so long. And she let him because of how desperate she was to make her marriage work.
"You used my home situation so you could go behind my back while I was dealing with John's sudden return and Robin's infatuation with me to try and hurt the people I care about" she accused her maternal Uncle.
"I never knew you cared for the pirate so much" he quickly retorted.
"When you get screwed by the same person again and again, a fondness grows. The enemy of your enemy so to speak" she tells him "I also lost one of my best bottle's of rum to him, thanks to you" she adds thinking to the evening she had Hook had spent outside Granny's diner with two glasses and the bottle she had wagered with him on the way to find the Snow Queen's truck.
They managed to get through the second bottle she had brought with her before their respective partner's dragged them away after getting a noise complaint from Granny.
"But you wanna know what the real kick in the teeth was when I found out what you were trying to do?".
"What exactly?".
"That I understood why" she loudly admitted to the man "While everyone was trying to figure it out. I understood perfectly. When I used the dagger against you to stop you killing Zelena, it made me sick to my stomach." she gulped holding her stomach as the knot pulled at the memory "I NEVER wanted to have that kind of power over you again. I would've even helped you find a way to help you that didn't involve my friends dying, if you had just told me".
"As I recall you were too busy trying to find a way to cure the wife of the man you loved more that your hus-".
"Don't you dare!" she seethed at him "This is between us" she tells him.
"There was no other way" he simply tell her.
"Bullshit" she spits at him is disbelief "There is always another way. you're the damn King of Loopholes, you obviously didn't look hard enough".
"Then help me now" he says taking a few steps towards his niece "Help us get the happy ending we deserve, that you deserve".
"Then tell me how the Apple is involved" she asked her Uncle "Tell me what you want with power like that".
"Not just yet. You need to trust me" her green eyes that once belonged to his sister bored into his as she tried to find his tell. But there was none. She never could find his tell.
"Search the trailer yourself old man" she tells him before turning her back on him, going back the way the had come.
"You would've done the same had the tables been turned!" he called after his niece.
"Wrong!" she states stopping in her tracks to look back at her uncle "I wouldn't have gotten caught" she said before turning back and walking down the trail by herself leaving her uncle to whatever he really was doing.
The redheaded assassin had found herself walking down a trail she didn't recognize as she tried to put as much distance between herself and her Uncle as she could. His deception was something she could not let go as the conversation he had with her in the car just as she was about to say goodbye to her best friend.
"Amelia!" A familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts as she looked down the path to see Robin Hood running towards her.
"Robin?" she breathed out as she made herself move forward to meet the thief hallway to engulf her closest friend in a tight embrace, his arms encircles her waist as she held him tight against her as she hold him around his shoulders holding the back of his head. "I- I don't understand. How did you get here?" she asks him as she pulls away from him.
"That doesn't matter" the thief tells her pushing his forehead into her's as the smile failed to falter seeing the man she missed more than her own husband "The only thing that matter's is I'm here with you now" closing the distance of mere inches between their lips he smashes his lips onto her's in a passionate kiss that she eagerly reciprocated.
Pulling back from the kiss her wide smile faltered as she felt a powerful presence approaching them. "Someone's here" she whispers to the thief lips as she pulls herself away from him. Her head whips to the side to see the person that was interrupting the reunion.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Amelia sneers the intruder. Taking his hand, she turns around putting him behind her, shielding him from the fast approaching Evil Queen as she summoned a fireball in her hand as she closes the distance between them.
"Get away from him!" was the last thing Amelia heard before the Evil Queen threw the fireball at the redhead.
Regina gasped awake from the vivid dream of Amelia and Robin Hood to find herself back in the cabin. She realized it was a dream when she saw the red head herself sat on a trunk next to Maleficent in the corner of the room after returning early from her task with her Uncle.
"If you're having trouble sleeping" Maleficent drawled out from her place "I have something that might help" the sorceress offered before peering over to the redhead with a sly smirk.
"Better yet, we'll give you and your Assassin the room" the heiress spoke up "You became sleepy after you two disappeared for ten minutes during our girls night" Cruella added,as a knowing smirk grew on Maleficent face as one of confusion washed over the Assassin as she tried to remember what the sorceress was talking about before the ball finally dropped for the red head.
A snicker was heard from Anastasia from a seat next to the heiress as she watched her sisters face as she couldn't contain her laughter at Cruella's insinuation towards the couple.
"I'm fine" Regina tells the women sitting up in the chair "Thank you".
Amelia heard Regina gasp in surprise when cabin door opened to reveal Gold's return.
"Hello, dearies" he greeted the five women waiting for his return. His eye lingering on his nieces presence after leaving him to his task in the woods. All women stood up to attention waiting for the information he had gathered about the Author as Golds attention turning to the gagged August tied to the chair.
"Tell us... did you find anything at the puppet's trailer?" Cruella asked the old man.
"Of course not" Gold chuckled out "I didn't even look" he said turning to hang his coat up behind the front door "The man's a born liar. He never would have cracked so easily. Instead, I paid a visit to the fairies. Or rather, a visit to their ample supply of magic" he explains pulling out a small potion vile, showing it to the women present.
"Now, this potion can temporarily reverse any spell those do-gooders cast. They made him real. This can undo that. I promise you, deary... This is gonna hurt" Gold removes August's gag as Anastasia come up behind the man tied to the chair holding his head back painfully as Gold forces the potion down his throat. The pair of villains stood back to watch very slowly August turns back into wood.
"Now... Let's see if we can pull this puppet's strings" he says as the wooden August painfully turned back into flesh and bone again.
"When you said it was temporary, you weren't kidding, were you, darling?" Cruella complimented the Dark One.
"You see, you may no longer look like the puppet you once were, but it matters not" Gold explained to the restrained man in front of them "That potion you just drank has activated that... built-in lie detector of yours".
"I don't know what you're talking about" August tells the man. But his lie is caught as a he groaned out in pain as his nose grew out, flagging the lie to the group.
"Excellent" Gold chuckles in amusement "The next lie is gonna hurt" Gold turns his head towards is niece and her adopted sister with a dark smirk on his lips "Widow, Duchess would you do the honors" unfolding her arms the red head nodded at her uncle while Anastasia smiles to herself in excitement of doing something to their prey.
"With our pleasure" the duchess drawled out as the two woman got ready for Gold's next move.
Using his magic, he forcibly turns August in his chair as the redheaded assassin steps forward grabbing the back of his jumper savagely pulling him up from the chair, before dragging him towards the fireplace taking everyone but her Uncle and sister by surprise at the strength she possessed to single-handedly carry the adult man to the fireplace.
Only the Queen's surprise wasn't about her strength, she had seen the redhead pick up men twice her size with armor without a problem. But it was the viciousness behind it that surprised the former Queen. She was kicking the Widow up a gear.
Whatever was said between the pair while in the woods must have been something for Gold to be testing the woman as much as he was now. He was testing her loyalty to this venture and she had to pass it or risk exposing their true intentions of banding with the villains.
Anastasia rounded the pair coming to the other side of the pair as Amelia held him by the fire. Completely at the assassin's mercy as he tried to get out of the Black Widow's hands but he couldn't do anything as the blonde assassin took a hold of his jaw, making him stay still with his nose hovering closely to the open fire.
"What do you know about The Author?" Anastasia asked the man in her sister's hold.
"I already told you everything" Augusts tells them as the assassin's watched his nose yet again grow at another lie. Taking the back of his head Amelia pushed his face closer to the fire with gritted teeth, making the man grunt in pain.
"Try again, dearie" Amelia seethes into the man's ear joining in with the interrogation "Where. Is. he?".
"I don't know" he groans out, his nose grow again.
"Do not fool yourself" Gold spoke up as he joined the assassin's at the fireplace "I will get my answer" Gold voices as Amelia once again uses he grip in his head to push his nose near the flames again.
"Okay" August relents "Okay" he pants out, only for them to fall on the redheads deaf ears as she continued to torture the man in her hands. Gold could only watch with a smirk on his face the way his niece was slipping back into her old ways. All sentiment for the boy he used to be disappeared as she continued to hold him closer to the fire.
"Sorella!(Sister!)" the blonde assassin tried to call out to her sister only for her voice not get through to her.
"Stand down Widow" Rumplestilskins' simple order brought her back to her senses as she blinked out of the red haze that had come over her mind. Pulling him away from the fire as she stumbled back onto her feet allowing Gold to take her place as cool air filled her lungs. Sweat covered her forehead as her sister stared at her in disbelief seeing what the Black Widow was really like for the first time.
"Where is he?" Gold repeats Amelia's earlier question.
"All right. I'm gonna tell you what you want to know" August pants out between breathes thankful that he had managed to call the Widow off "The Sorcerer, uh, trapped The Author behind a door".
The villains behind him watched for his nose to grow again only for nothing to happen. "The Sorcerer? A door? He's speaking in riddles" Cruella comments on August's admission.
"No, listen to me, Gold" August pleads stretching his head back to look at the older man "You know about the sorcerer. You know I'm telling the truth. And she..." He turns to look at Regina "She knows about the door. I know my papa gave you my things. There was a page that I took out of the book. Had an illustration of the door on it".
The admission sent the room into a pregnant pause until Gold broke it "Regina?" he asks the Queen turning to his right.
"They were just scrap's of paper" Regina defends herself.
"Then you'll have no problem sharing them with us now".
"Well, I would if I hadn't already given them to Henry and...Tom" she didn't need to see the disdainful glare coming from the older assassin as she felt it for involving their son's in this mess they had found themselves in. The only condition she had of going undercover with her partner was that their boys would be kept out of it.
Gold nods accepting the answer before looking back at August "Do you remember what the door looks like?".
"Uh... Made of wood. Hand-carved frame. Gilt in gold" he tells them.
"Where is the door?".
"All I know... Is... it's somewhere in Storybrooke" he carefully answered the Dark One's question.
Gold chuckles darkly before waving his hand up telling Amelia to bring the man back up.
Taking hold of his jumper once again he dragged the man back onto his feet before he was thrown back into his chair.
"There we are, now. That wasn't so hard, now, was it?" Gold asks the man before turning to the Queen's of darkness and the Assassins "Since the sorcerer was the one who did the trapping, we will start our search for the door at his mansion" he suggests putting on his jacket.
"I'll stay here and watch the puppet" Regina offered to the group before Gold quickly dismissed her offer.
"No, no. Cruella will be our guard dog" he tells her "Since you're the only one who's seen the drawing of the door, you're gonna have to help us find it" The group leave following Gold out of the cabin minus Cruella.
Amelia didn't give her partner a second glance as she followed behind her sister
Dividing off into teams, Amelia was left with her sister as they searched for any door that matched Augusts description in the sorcerers mansion. Her irises shone gold as she used her sixth sense to pinpoint any door that resembled August's description only to be met with dark blue surroundings.
Wooden. Hand-carved frame. Gilt in gold
She repeated the description to herself in her mind over and over as they sauntered into the ballroom where she said goodbye to the first man she ever loved.
The memory washed through her mind so did the emotion of that moment as she stopped mid-step as her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose and her face grimaced in pain as her sight turn back to normal to push back and push forward with their mission to find this damn door.
Not hearing her sister behind her Anastasia stopped herself before looking back to see her sister face contorted in pain with her eyes shut tight and her finger and thumb pinching the bridge of her nose like she had seen Romeo do a hundred times before, when she caught him having a moment to himself. She often wondered what it was about, but now she understood the pain of losing someone you loved.
"What's wrong?" she almost sounded concerned to her sister.
"I'm fine" she huffs out brushing off the younger woman's concern she shook her head and pushed herself forward passed her sister
"I know you're not 'fine', our father did the same" as the mention of Romeo, she stopped as a dark chuckle left her throat as she turned to face the younger woman.
"You do know none of that was real, right?" Amelia pointed out her younger 'sister' "We aren't sisters. Romeo wasn't actually our father, the other's weren't our family, it was all fake to get us to conform to the Brotherhood, to give up everything normal for a life of sacrifice and unhappiness" she went on "None of that was real so your concern is not needed".
"Please don't say that" Anastasia almost whimpered "It was real to me" she weakly argued "Just tell me what's wrong".
"I.." she paused trying to find the right word for what John was "lost someone here a few weeks ago" she started.
A curious brow grew on the blondes face as she tried to read what her sister wasn't saying "A man?" she questioned her .
"Yeah" she answered.
"But the Queen?" she had always thought the Queen had always been the only person she loved. She herself wasn't sure if she would be able to love someone else that wasn't Dimitri
"I met him after the others found out about Romeo, I ran and got onto his ship. After he found me, he tried to kick me off only to realize he had feelings for me, and I for him. He was the first thing I had complete control over, without Claudius telling me so".
"You were happy".
"I was" the redhead gulped "Or at least I thought so" she retorted "After I thought Angelo had killed him. I turned into the Widow, I didn't know he survived, so while I hunted the others down for what they did to me, what they did to Romeo. He was searching for me only to wind up in the Evil Queen's dungeons to be executed".
"-A twist of fate brought him back to me here in Storybrooke, only to find out I wasn't the same woman he fell in love with anymore. He decided to leave so I could be with Regina".
"I'm sorry" Anya tells her.
"It doesn't matter now, I have my son, my Queen. I'm happy" her sister tells her only for Anya not hear any sign of contentment in her voice "Come on this is a dead end, let's find the old man" she says as she heads towards the exit with the blonde easily catching up to her.
With search for the door was a failure as Gold led the women down the driveway of the sorcerers mansion with the Assassin trailing behind the magical threesome that was Regina, Gold and Maleficent.
"Well, that was a royal waste of time" Regina announced to the group as they walked down the dark driveway together.
"The door may not be in the sorcerer's mansion, but it's somewhere in Storybrooke. We will find it" Gold tells them as Cruella's Panther screeched to a halt in front of them with the owner getting out to meet their surprised faces.
"What are you doing here?" Gold asked the heiress "Where's August?".
"They rescued him... the heroes" she tells them before looking at Amelia "And they took your stupid hunk of metal as well".
"You let them take the Apple!?" Amelia fumed at the woman.
"You had one simple task" Gold tells Cruella in annoyance.
"It wasn't my fault!" Cruella retorts "We have a mole".
Maleficent looks at Regina "Who would be foolish enough to cross us?".
"I know exactly who" Cruella replies glancing at Amelia and Regina but neither flinch under the woman's hard gaze "Ursula. She sold us out for a reunion with daddy dearest".
"All right" Gold addresses the remaining five "We may have lost our informant, but we still have his information" He turns to face Regina and Amelia "Bring us the illustration of the door. Maybe there's something in it the puppet missed".
Quick AN: For Reference, Senu's breed of eagle is the Bonelli breed
A few hour's earlier...
She needed to warn the others about the Apple. After parting ways with her Uncle in the forest she found her way back into town trying to find the Charming family and Hook. Striking lucky she had found them all at the pawn shop. The only problem she couldn't speak to them out in the open, she needed them to come to her. And luckily for her there was one thing that had followed her into the this world that allow her to do exactly just that.
Leaving the shop with Hook planning on getting Ursula on side the family were about to go their separate ways only to hear a series of high-pitched whistling to float into their ears trying to get the human's attention.
Whirling around to the sound they see a large bird of prey perched on the edge of Davids truck "What the hell?" Emma trailed off to herself as the other's saw.
"Senu!" Mary Margaret exclaimed in excitement recognizing the bird of prey. Hearing it's name coming from the former Princess the bird happily chirped back in reply looking straight at the group as its walked across the edge of the bed, it's talons tapping the metal car each time she took a step.
"It has a name?" Emma asked her mother staring at the bird of prey that made her father's truck its home. She watched as her mother approached the animal.
"Aye she's the Widow's bird" Hook informs her "A damn nuisance if anything else" he grumbles out.
"Are you sure you should be doing that?" Emma asks her mother keeping her distance with the animal.
"Oh Senu's a sweetheart" Mary Margaret tells her daughter as the eagle allows the woman to stroke her light colored feathers as David joins her "Aren't you cutie?" she coed at the bird as the bird pushes her head into her hand enjoying the affection she received from the pixie haired teacher. Only to suddenly snap at David's finger's with her sharp beak making him hiss out in pain.
"She still bites though" the former Prince comments shaking his head out in pain as blood welts out of the cut Senu had made.
"If she's Lia's, then why is she here?" Emma questioned her parents.
"Regina said earlier Lia would be sending us a message" David reminded his daughter "Maybe this is it" at that the eagle extended its wide feathered wings and launched itself into the sky letting out a cry as it headed down the street.
Mary Margaret turned to the couple knowing what they needed to do to get the message "We need to follow her; she'll take us to Lia" the pixie haired woman told them before following the eagle down the street.
"Sure, I mean why not" Emma shrugged following her parents through the streets of Storybrooke until they followed the bird down an alleyway until it seemed to disappear around the corner as they tried to find her in the sky above them.
"Where'd she go?" David asked his family.
"She's here" a voice they recognized rounded the corner the bird disappeared around, with said bird perched on the redhead's forearm, it's talons gripping on the sleeve of her jacket being gently stroked it's wings with slender fingers "Sorry for the dramatics, I needed to talk to all of you".
"You sent a bird. Literally" Emma huffed out from the family's small run to keep up with the bird. At the word 'bird' the Eagle angrily squawked at the savior with her wings extended out making her step back in fear.
"Please don't call her that. I'll never here the end of it" Amelia complains to the blonde seeing the bite on Davids finger, she looks at her eagle with a scolding raised brow "What have I told you about biting?" she lightly scolds Senu only to get a small cry of protest from the animal. Emma found the interaction amusing as the assassin scolded the animal like a child.
"What did you need to tell us?" the savior brought the conversation back to what the assassin needed to tell them.
"We have a second problem" she tells the family as Senu jumps off her arm and flies up to the roof, perching on the edge of the building keeping an eye out from above.
"More than August being kidnapped?".
"We have the Apple of Eden" at that peice of information the faces of the family dropped.
"You mean the thing that can take out Storybrooke" Emma repeated Amelia's words from over a year ago.
"The very same, but it's dead, burnt-out. The trigger absorbed all it's power when I used it to give you all extra time to leave" Amelia tells the family "That was my job the other night to find it in the mines. I have no idea what my Uncle wants with it but I don't want to find out the hard way. Whatever plan's you have to getting August back needs to include the Apple" she says looking towards David, Mary-Margaret and Hook "I left it on the mantelpiece of the fireplace, but under no circumstances can Emma touch it".
"We can do that" Mary Margaret tells her with a sharp nod "But if its dead it can't do anything can it?".
"I'm hoping he'll tell me more about why he needs it if he doesn't have it, either way we can't risk Emma touching it" she says looking towards the blonde "if there's any trace of power still in it, I won't be there to control it, Odin know's what could happen to you or to the town if it got out of control" Emma nodded towards the woman in understanding.
"And you can control this Piece of Eden?" Hook questioned the redhead.
"So far I'm the only one that's been able to touch it let alone control it. I'd like to keep it that way for a little longer".
"We understand, consider it done" David tells the red head before Senu lets out a loud cry making the Charming family look up, they went to look back at Amelia only to to see she was gone.
"I hate it when she does that" Emma huffs out, before finding her way back onto main street followed by her parents and Hook.
With Gold seething that not only had August been rescued by the 'dead' Apple of Eden had been taken by the band of heroes. The couple took their leave to retrieve the page from their son's. Regina softly knocked on the loft door letting themselves into the apartment.
The pair peered round the corner to see August lied out on the sofa sleeping with Tom and Henry sat on chairs next to him with books in their laps with the burnt-out Apple of Eden sat on a small coffee table in-between the boys.
"We're lucky he's okay" Regina tells the saviour as they close the door behind them. The former Queen approaching the breakfast bar while Amelia headed straight for Tom greeting the teenager by ruffling his hair before planting a motherly kiss on the crown of his head before doing the same to Henry.
"It wasn't luck. You both got us those messages. Thank you" she tells the older woman.
"I need your help with something" Regina tells in a lowered voice once her partner was occupied with the boys across the room.
"What is it?".
"I had a dream today..." she started in a hushed voice, loud enough for Emma to hear her but low enough that the red head couldn't hear well enough "Robin Hood came back, he and Amelia were together, but then, I... The Evil Queen... showed up with a fireball in her hand".
"I may not be Archie, but it sounds like you're afraid of the villain you used to be and the one you might become again, or you're a little jealous about her and Robin's previous relationship" Emma suggested to the former Queen.
Regina shook her head at Emma's amateur diagnosis "No, I don't think that's it. In my dream, I don't think the Evil Queen was there to hurt Robin. I think she was there to protect him".
"From what?" Emma questioned her as her eye's glanced over to the redhead across the room "Lia?".
"Yes? No? I don't know. I just... Felt it" she tells the blonde "You used to track people for a living. Can you get me a phone number, a way to contact him, anything?".
"Yeah. Yeah, I can do that" Emma quickly agreed not sure how the redhead across the apartment would think to her partner's request.
"Mom!" Henry called out to his mother as they say August was waking up on the sofa.
Emma and Regina rush over as the redhead puts some distance between her and the man, placing herself behind the armchair Henry was sat on.
"What are they doing here?" August asks the blonde eyeing the Queen and her Widow.
"Oh, it's okay. I promise" Emma tried to reassure them.
"August..." Regina started as she knelt down to speak to him "We need to talk about how we're going to keep up our cover with Gold" she said pointing to herself and Amelia "The only reason we were able to come here..." Regina picks up the page Marco had given her from August's bag "..is because they think I'm stealing this page".
"We didn't find the door at the sorcerer's mansion" Amelia added.
"That's because it's not there" August tells them.
"What?" Henry questioned.
"But... You said you didn't know where it was. And your nose didn't grow" Amelia queried with the man she helped to question.
"My nose didn't grow because I wasn't lying. When Gold asked me, I didn't know where the door was because I didn't know where Henry was keeping this page. Regina..." August points at the page "This isn't just an illustration. This is the door. The Author is trapped inside the book".
After reuniting Ursula with her father Poseidon, and aided fixing their frayed relationship, Hook escorted the pair to the docks where they would be parting ways with the sea with and King of the Sea. With her happy ending in sight it was time for them to leave.
"I suppose this is farewell" the Captain says as they came to stop at the docks.
"It is, but first, I have to hold up my end of the deal" she says nodding to her father. Poseidon leaves the pair to speak "Gold's plan... I'm afraid it involves Emma. She's the only way he can secure happy endings for the villains" she informs him.
"Well, I thought he was gonna get The Author to rewrite everyone's stories".
"It's not that simple. The Author can't just change things in this world because he didn't give everyone their happy endings here".
"Emma did" Hook concluded.
"She's the savior. And as long as there's a savior, The Author can't give the villains what they really want. And the Dark One knows this".
"The Dark One's gonna try to kill Emma?".
"Worse... he plans to fill her heart with darkness forever" she tells him "His plan also involves the Widow".
"Amelia. How?" This was news to him.
"Long ago my father once met a man called Romeo Montague. He told me the Captain held a great power within himself that would make any witch or Dark One think twice if he should ever get a hold of an ancient power that hasn't been seen or used since even before the first Dark One".
"Let me guess" Hook stated with a clenched jaw "A Piece of Eden".
"Exactly. There is a reason why only she can wield a Piece of Eden without it harming her. Gold called them Hybrids. Her father was one as well".
"Hybrids?" he questioned her "What are they?".
"I don't know." she tells him "Gold never went into much detail but he did tell us one thing. Amelia is also a product of Star-Crossed Lovers".
"Star-Crossed Lovers?" the pirate questioned her further in confusion. He had never heard as a thing as star-crossed lovers. Only True Loves.
"Two people who are fated to be together" Ursula tells him "Two people who while love each other and are fated to be together, their union is also fated to have an unhappy end".
"What has this got to do with her?" Hook asks her.
"Most star-crossed lovers are separated before they could ever produce a child. By having Amelia, her parents unknowingly put all the realms in danger and Gold knows this. He told us that the Widow has the potential to become the most powerful being's in all the realms".
He had only heard that once before and that was from the redhead herself only weeks ago. She had just brushed it off thinking how ridiculous it sounded.
"He needs her to unlock that power. Once he darkens the saviors heart, he need's Amelia to use the Apple to create the villain's happy ending for them and once she does, no one will be able to stop her".
Unknowingly the hero's had delivered the very thing Gold needed all along create his plan. With Amelia in her Uncle's hands, they could only hope the redhead wouldn't succumb to the being the Dark One needed.
AN: Hello, Thanks for reading!
And a big HELLO and WELCOME to some new followers. Thanks for your support!
Firstly, just to be clear this story is NOT going anywhere. This is NOT a hiatus note or a goodbye.
This is just a warning if there haven't been many updates in the run up to the holidays. My job is very seasonal so it means that over the next few weeks I'm going to have less time editing/writing chapters. So expect slower updates.
But the time I will have will be focused on editing existing chapters that need a little bit of polishing and tidying up. As always I'll leave a note when its been edited. It will just mainly be spelling/grammar mistakes I didn't pick up before publishing. Nothing big is going to change to the story-line.
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