The Evil Queen's Black Widow

by 06bromleys

Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted. Cursed for betraying her Queen, Amelia Montague must figure out how she wants the rest of the world to perceive her. As the villain she became, or the hero she wants to be, but will her feelings for the Queen be a help or hindrance to the Master Assassin or she will she always be known as the infamous Black Widow (Rated M for safety)

83. Chapter 83: Siege Perilous

AN: For reference Amelia's new outfit in Camelot is Evie Dr Daniel's Garm from Assassin's Creed Syndicate.

---

Camelot

With the previous nights event's forgiven and forgotten for the time being, the Storybrooke resident's got to work in Merlin's tower as they scoured every book they could get their hands on to find a way to free the man himself from the tree in the courtyard. While Belle looked through the shelves, Regina, Mary Margaret and Emma were left to read through every page for anything that would do the job., leaving David and Amelia on the sidelines watching the women work around them.

At least the Prince had been given something to do as he cradled his son in his arms as the assassin idly stood by, waiting and ready for anything that might need her expertise. Which was a lot more boring than it sounded.

The only good thing about that morning -not including waking up to the woman she loved in a place neither had been before - was that she had been given another set of robes to wear, provided by the King's own squire, Grif.

The set were a lot more casual than the one's she wore that horrible evening. The green and blue pinstripe bodice that went over a long sleeved blouse, matched the pinstripe on the train of the hooded robe, with matching pants and a set of brown boots that matched the shoulder guard, holding up the blue cloak that had a brown leather Brotherhood insignia sewn onto the cloth. She had to admit it wasn't bad, it hid her stomach nicely which earned a few extra points for the outfit from her. The high collar of the hood piece wasn't as uncomfortable as she first thought when she was putting the whole thing together as it allowed her to keep her long hair sat on her shoulders with the braids intact at the front.

"If we're going to free Merlin, we need witchbane" Regina argued to the group from where she stood at a table with various books and equipment the redhead had only seen in her vault and the palace before, sporting a more modest red dress that suited the former Queen.

"Yeah, but the labels are all faded" Belle argued from the bookcase "Lia!" she called out her friends name from where she stood with David, catching the older woman's attention "Can you help reading labels. Use your sight?" she asked.

The assassin went to answer her aunt, only to get cut off by Emma who joined her mother on the opposite side of the room.

"Forget the de-cloaking potion. It's not a glamour anyway" the blonde tells the group as she glances towards the assassin in the room with the memory of the redhead using her dagger against her fresh in her mind.

The guilt had shrunk overnight as the assassin weighted up the drawbacks to her actions, but if it meant she had more time to tell Regina and Tom, she would do just about anything to make sure that happened. And the blonde should know by know what lengths the redhead would go to to protect her children, even the ones that hadn't been born yet.

"You sure?" Regina asks the blonde making the latter take her eye's off the assassin.

"If I'm getting this right" Mary Margaret spoke up from her place with her own book in front of her "-the tree could actually be him transfigured, right?" Mary Margaret asked.

"We could find out with a sample" Belle suggested to the group.

"Yeah, and when we snap off a twig and it turns into a finger, who's crying then?" Regina dismissed the suggestion "Come on, someone. Witchbane".

"Are you getting any of this?" David whispered to the assassin in the room the librarian went back to the shelves.

"Not really" she replied honestly as the other women in the room continued their search in the books provided "I learnt during the early days just to smile, nod along and pretend that you understand everything that's going on".

"How did you learn that exactly?" David asked the Assassin in a hushed whisper.

"Painfully" Amelia told the Prince pointing to a faint scar just above her eyebrow "I still have the scar to remind me" David looked were she pointed to see a faint white line just below her neatly shaped eyebrow.

"We can all hear you dear" Regina said from her place without looking up from her book.

"You threw a vase at me, sweetheart" she retorted to the former Queen with a tight grin fluttering her eyes at the Queen "You were lucky you didn't take out an eye" she continued in her sickly sweet tone directed towards her partner "You nearly did" she added her voice dropping back to it's normal tone.

"And I apologized for that" the Queen drawled as she never lifted an eye up from the book.

"No you didn't" she hissed at her partner under her breath making the brunette stop what she was doing to look up at her with a raised challenging brow and a hand on her hip, a look she knew very well. But she wasn't going to let her Queen make her back down from the challenge. Not now, not ever.

"Amelia" Belle suddenly called out to her friend making the assassin tear her eye's from the silent staring contest with her partner. As the former Queen went back to her book, the brunette librarian crossed the room with a fairly thick brown leather bound book in her hands, offering it to the assassin "I think this might interest you" her aunt tells her.

Taking the book from the younger woman, dust instantly covered her hands as she looked over the seemingly normal book, wondering why her aunt thought it might interest her when she saw a familiar arrowhead Brotherhood insignia molded on the spine, mumbling a 'thanks' to her friend as she opened the book, to find out what it was about.

"You guys sure you don't want me to just wiggle my nose and get him out of that tree?" Emma offered to the group.

"No!" here mother quickly shut her down from next to her.

"Your magic is dark now" Regina reminds her again "It's not worth it. I'll just keep pretending to be the savior destined to free him, and we can do this together".

"Regina's right, Emma" David added, finally being about to have some input into the current conversation.

"I heard someone say a woman is right" King Arthur said as he joined the group in Merlin's tower "That's always a safe assumption, isn't it, David?" he teased the Prince as the King joined Regina at her table. The redhead couldn't' help but see the starstruck look on her friends face seeing the legendary King. Sure she knew the stories, of the man and his round table, but she would treat him just like any other monarch she met. With respect before they tried to kill you.

"How are you progressing, Madame Saviour?" King Arthur asked their current savior.

"Um... progress. Slow but sure" the former Queen answered with a smile.

"It's, uh... marvelous having Merlin's own books to work with" Belle tells the King "It's like talking with the master" the King nods along as he looks toward the woman that would be the key to their problems with a book in her hands.

"Ah, I see you've already found Altair's journal" he say's catching Amelia's attention as she tore her eye's off the pages to look at the King "It was rumored it was found in an underground sanctuary with it still in his hands long after the man had died, protecting all the Brotherhoods secrets before it was opened by the assassin Ezio Auditore a century later" he went on as she group took interest on the conversation between the King and the Assassin.

Ezio Auditore was a legend of the Brotherhood. The story went that he was pulled into the Brotherhood when his father and brother's were accused of treason and hung, only for him to survive. Becoming an assassin, he was able find his vengeance against the men that betrayed his family only to created the Brotherhood she knew. He evolved the Brotherhood Altair founded.

"Sanctuary?" she blinked at the man in surprise "You mean the one in Monteriggioni?".

"Yes the very same" he answered her with a charming smile before it dropped a second later as he stepped towards the assassin "I heard what happened. A great shame, I was sorry to here what had happened to it".

"Its not a place" she tells the King "It's where-".

"-our people stand" he finished the quote for her as the smile reappeared on his face. "A few of your people passed through my kingdom on their way to find a new home for themselves after the city fell. They told us of the brave heroics of a lone assassin that fought for them, long after it's people had escaped. I must say your actions on that day will live long in the memory of those who you saved".

The former Queen couldn't help the swell of pride in her gut hearing how her love's fight against her sister had spread throughout the world, as the other's listened closely with the smile on their faces hearing the King praise the woman who had words so hard to distance herself from her darker side. But the man's praises weren't going to swoon the assassin just yet. If it hadn't been for Percival's actions the previous night, she couldn't let his sweet words distract her from their current situation.

"I was only doing what another other assassin would have done that day" the redhead humbly acknowledged to the King ,wanting to change the subject away from her.

"It is nothing to be humble about my lady. Stories like those put you within arms reach of Assassin's like Altair and Ezio. Your story will be spoken of for years".

"Oh" Mary Margaret suddenly perked up with an idea hearing the King's words "What if we could talk to him?" she suggested to the group.

"What?" the redhead asked her. Silently thankful for her interruption.

"Yes!" Regina chuckles looking at the former princess, pleased with the woman's suggestion "You are... very occasionally... a genius" she complimented the younger woman as she quickly turned through the pages of the book in front of her.

"Yes, if we talked to him, he can tell us how to get him out" Belle went on as Regina got to the page she was looking for and showing it to the rest of the group to show them a picture of a red mushroom with white spots littered on the large cap that the Assassin recognized.

"A mushroom" David stated.

"Toadstool" the assassin quickly corrected the Prince "Deadly poison" she supplied as they all look at her in of concern and surprise that she knew what it was "Oh big surprise, the assassin knows deadly poisons" she drawled out rolling her eye's at them.

"Yes" Regina spoke up to carry the subject forward "Also extremely useful in communicating across barriers, even through spells. Says here it's called the Crimson Crown" she adds marking the page with a piece of paper with a question mark on it.

"Yes, I know this name" Arthur confirmed "It's rumored to grow in Brocéliande, the Forest of Eternal Night. Its existence is the stuff of legend, though. Almost certainly fiction" the King tells them.

"Sounds like a lovely place to visit for a picnic" Amelia hummed to herself as she re-opened the book in her hand now she knew it was Altair's journal.

Hearing the man's words Davids interest as he finally found something her could do to feel useful "People say the same thing about us. How far?" the Prince asked the King.

"A half day's ride. But if it is there, it'll be protected by magical forces" Arthur warned the man.

The Prince looked to his wife, like he was asking her if her could go and find it.

"You know what, David? Wait until we know more" his wife tried to dissuade him.

"It's not like I'm needed here. It's a chance" David answered handing Neal over to his mother not taking no as an answer "I'm taking it" he says taking his leave from the Merlin's tower with King Arthur hot on his tail, the room went silent seeing how eager the man was put his life at risk for something that might not exist.

"Okay, I'm not the only one with a bad feeling about this right?" Amelia asked the question out-load before shrugging going back to her book "It was nice knowing him".

---

Storybrooke

Six Week's Later

Stood in the station with her partner. She and the former Queen were presenting the town's only remaining Sheriff and his wife with what they had discovered after stumbling across some book they had found in the vault that hadn't been there before.

The former Queen had found a page in one of the books that hand been marked by a piece of paper with a question mark on it. The page was about a toadstool that went by the name of The Crimson Crown.

"This question mark..." the Queen pointed out the piece of paper to the Charming couple "That's my handwriting. I must've marked this page in Camelot. I don't know if this is the right answer, but these books came from there. I think we were looking at this for answers".

The meeting was interrupted when the dwarf's burst into the station looking angry towards the second sheriff "We've been violated!" Leroy angrily announced to the Prince as they stomped into the bull pen.

"What's the problem?" the Prince asked his old friend with his hands on his hips ready to hear why they so angry.

"What do you think it is? Your kid" Leroy spat in anger.

"She took my axe" Happy clarified for the others.

"Uh, dwarfs are your department" Regina stated lifting the pile of books into her arm "We'll stay on this" she went to leave only for one of the heavy books to fall onto the floor with a thud. The redhead instinctively went to pick it up only for the Prince to do it for the pregnant assassin, offering it back to her.

"David Nolan, thy name is chivalry" she quipped as she took the book off the Prince before following Regina out of the station.

---

Walking out of the station with her partner, heading for the Mayor's parked car the assassin took note of the book that had fallen on the floor. It was different from the other's, older as well as she carried it outside. A light covering of dust covered the book as it transferred onto her fingers. Trying her best to brush the dust off the assassin felt the pocket where her phone usually stayed only to find it empty.

"Damn it" the assassin hissed in annoyance as she came to a stop on the sidewalk to turning back to see the station behind her. She put it on the desk when they got there, seeing a text from her sister.

"Melia?" Regina called out from her car hearing the curse "What wrong?" she asked in concern, her brown eyes flicking down to the bump thinking it was the baby.

"I'm fine. I left my phone in there" she tells her soulmate "Go back to vault without me. I won't be too far behind".

A curious brow rose on the mayor's face "Really? or are you just trying to delay your appointment with Dr. Whale?" she asks her partner "Again" she adds.

Ever since her partner had finally accepted the idea of being a mother again, the redhead had been smothered by the older woman at every waking moment. Over what she ate, what she drank. It was getting annoying already.

"Maybe?" she answered. She thought she would get away with only having the scan after being thrown around by the Fury, but the former Queen insisted that she needed her 'proper' twelve week scan that just involved her and John together.

"Amelia" she sternly scolded her partner as the dwarfs file out of the station behind her.

"Fine, I'll go, but I really need to get my phone back before it give's Snow and excuse to drag me to one of her' Mommy and Me' meetings" she visibly cringed to herself.

She dreaded the thought of going to one of those meetings, even as a guest for the time being, she didn't want to stuck in a room full of princesses. She'd also be the first 'villain' to join the group.

"Just be careful please" the former Queen tells her. The words made her stomach comfortably flutter, which had happening a lot often now the further she had gone into her pregnancy, as a warm smile grew on the assassin's lips. Seem's he or she liked being told be careful by the older brunette after as well.

"Always" she replied "Love you!" she adds being turning around to head back into the station with the book still in her hands.

Venturing back into the station the assassin headed straight for the bullpen only to stop when she heard raised voiced coming from the small glass office, making her dive, back first, into the wall as her eye's gently shone in her eye's as she reached out with her sixth sense to listen on to whatever was going on.

"David!" Mary Margaret scolded her husband after kicking his chair in frustration across the office.

"I just wish she'd talk to us" David tell his wife in frustration over the news that his daughter has stolen a pickaxe.

"I know. Me, too!".

"Worst part is, we can't save her".

"Yet" his wife corrected him "We're trying" she argued.

"How? What am I doing?" he asks her.

"You're leading" his true love tells him.

"Nobody seems to be following".

"Oh, don't worry about the dwarfs".

"I'm not. I'm worried about Emma and how this is my fault!".

"She made the choice to save everyone".

"I should've stopped her. I am her father, and now I'm... I'm paralyzed. There's nothing I can do, for her, for you, for anyone".

"You are doing something. You are helping our people the best you can".

"That's kind of the problem" he sighed out.

Blinking her gift off the assassin, eye's faded back to their normal green, not needing to hear anything more from the man that seemed to have the world on his shoulder's yet again. Only this time it was the person that was meant to fix all their problems, the issue right now. She wouldn't know where to start if she were in his shoes. Her thoughts were interrupted when Mary Margaret came sauntering own the hallway, spotting the assassin straight away.

"Lia" Mary Margaret called out in concern "Everything alright? I thought you left.

"Everything's fine, just left my phone, I have an appointment with Dr. Whale to get to first"

A fond smile grew on the younger woman's face as she thought back to her own when they woke back up from their year back home "I remember mine, are you nervous?".

"A little, if I'm being honest" she tells the pixie haired teacher.

"Isn't Regina going with you?" she curiously asks the redhead.

"Not while she's on full research mode. John's will be there though".

"That's nice. It won't be long until you'll have that baby in your arms Lia, and then you can come with me and Neal to our classes, with the other new Moms".

New Mom? Where the hell did that come from?.

"I think, I'll be okay, I had three years under my belt before everything happened" she argued in her defense. She knew how to look after a baby with little to no guidance, she was fine.

"Oh I know, but that was over thirty years ago, in a different land. It'll be nice to have some other's to talk to about this stuff. But I'm sure you'll be fine, Lia" Mary Margaret says giving her friend a comforting squeeze of her arm before heading out of the station.

Was it too late to get another poisoned apple?.

Shaking her conversation with Mary Margaret out of her head, the redhead continued her way into the station the assassin rounded the corner to find the Sheriff staring at picture she knew that was there of the former Prince and his daughter stood in front of a the sheriff's car.

"This a bad time, Sheriff?" her voice brought the man out of thoughts making him look to see her there.

"No, course not, everything okay?".

"Left my phone on the desk" she says pointing to the desk behind him, turning in that direction the redhead was right when he saw a phone on the desk that belonged to her, quickly snatching it up in his hand "...also I need to make a small confession" she adds.

"Oh? What is it?" he asks in curiosity.

"I might have overheard you and Snow in the office" she admits to the man, knowing she had made an agreement with the rest of her family that if she or Tom ever overheard a private conversation using their sixth sense they would fess up as soon as they could, it was only fair after all "In my defense I heard something crash" she quickly adds.

"Sorry" he sight out, knowing what she had overheard as he hands her phone over to her.

"Look, if it helps, having been where Emma is at the moment. She thinks she's doing the wrong things for the right reason, even if hurts the people that care about her the most. I know, because I've done it before".

"You have?" he asked in interest.

"Robin" she gulps as the Prince see's a pinch of pain in her features "When I sent him away from me. Behind the rage and betrayal, I was saving him from the Widow, before she could really hurt him. Emma will come around...eventually, just promise me you won't give up on her, because I know that Romeo wouldn't have given up on me in my darkest days".

"I won't" he tells her "Thank you".

"No problem" she replied as she glanced towards the picture he was staring at "You know, I seem to remember a time when this town was without a couple of it's hero's. A Prince clearly out of his depth saved this town from going to hell by taking a chance on an enemy of his. Even offered her the badge when he wanted to get a message to his true love, on the slimmest hope that she would be on the other side waiting for him".

"I do" he says as a fond smile grew on his face remembering the time after the first curse had broken. Helping the town not fall apart, gave her a chance to show David and the other's the other-side of her and not the Black Widow side they had always known.

"We made a pretty good team back then, Sheriff".

"We did" he admit's crossing his arms across his chest "Are you suggesting I give you a badge, Deputy Montague?" he teased.

"As much as I would love to play cop at the moment, I feel you'll be in more trouble with Regina at the moment if I missed my appointment with Whale" earning a chuckle from the man.

"Who are suggesting then?".

"Anastasia. She's been a little, bored, since coming over to the good side. She needs a little purpose other than being an occasional babysitter, she'll be more help with anything angry dwarf related, than I can at the moment, and she was a big help the other day helping the Camelot residents. Underneath the sarcastic comment's, and the glares, she has a good heart if you show her a little trust".

Their conservation was interrupted when King Arthur strolled into the station behind the redheaded assassin "Good morning to you, Sheriff" the Kings' voice made the pregnant assassin turn to see the man "Milady Assassin" he adds in slight relief to see the Master Assassin in the building.

"Your Majesty" David greet's the monarch as his eye's light up "How can we help you? Any luck finding your blade?".

"No luck finding Excalibur, I'm afraid" he tells the pair "But I'm coming to you two with something far more urgent. Our reliquary's been robbed".

"I'm sorry, your what?" the former Prince asks the man in confusion.

"A container that's used to hold magical objects" Amelia informs her friend "Monteriggioni held a few".

All the Brotherhoods reliquary where hidden in plain set as the marble stones that held up the marble assassin's that flanked Altair in the Sanctuary. They were all full of the codex's that held every piece of information about the Brotherhood in them. to training techniques to blueprints of the hidden blade that had evolved over and over again as new idea's formed to make their signature weapon more adaptable to the world around them. All except one held the codex's. Altair's always contained magic beans the Brotherhood used to travel between worlds.

The Sanctuary was the only part of Monteriggioni that was left untouched by the anti-magic shield deep underneath the Villa, which made it the perfect place for any travelling Assassin's to create a portal in.

When the city fell, she and few of the dwarf's forced their way into them with a dwarf's axe or three, to take the rest of the codex's that couldn't be taken when the city was escaped, taking them back to the palace in case Zelena had a change of mind about them.

"Exactly, Milady Montague" the King says to her, before looking back to the Sheriff "Magical relics collected by the Knights of the Round Table. They're all very precious. I had no idea it was here until it turned up in this land nearly empty".

"Empty? I thought those were locked up tight?".

"I thought so as well milady, I-" he was cut off when he saw what the redhead was holding, recognizing the brown leather bound book in in her tucked under her arm "You have it" he trailed off to himself in surprise.

"Excuse me?".

"The book in your hands. It's Altair's journal from when he first formed your Brotherhood. He wrote about his earliest memories of Merlin and the creature that would later known as the Dark One. They say Merlin came to him in his dreams, to guide him through the Brotherhoods infancy".

"You've read it?" she asked the King, surprised at how much he knew about the secret Brotherhood.

"I have" he informs the assassin with a smile "It was kept in the reliquary for safe keeping, I thought it was lost along with the other items, but I see that you already have it".

"Oh, uh sorry" she says's offering the book back to him, only for the King to refuse it.

"There is no need. It belongs to the Brotherhood. It would be wrong of me to take from you".

"Thanks, I guess" she blinked in surprise.

"Wait" David spoke up getting the man's attention back "When you say precious...".

"There was a magic bean inside" he informs them "This bean can take my people home in an instant. I have to tell you I will find it if I have to search every residence in your city" he warns them.

"You don't have to do anything alone" the Sheriff tells him.

"You can both help?" he ask looking between the assassin and the former Prince.

"My sister, Anastasia will help" the redhead quickly tells the man "She's was trained along side me, she's just as good as I would be" King Arthur nods on agreement with the pregnant assassin.

"Thank you milady. We are always grateful for any assistance from the Brotherhood".

"Glad to help" she tells the King before looking back at David "I'll get Stasia to meet you two at the campsite" she tells them quickly excusing herself from the bullpen with the book in her possession as she blinks on her sixth sense to listen back to the two men in the other room.

"I'll get you back to Camelot. I promise" the assassin heard her friend promise the King.

"Thank you".

The King made her nervous, she didn't know why, but she needed to find out before her gained the trust of a good friend of hers.

---

She really hated the first trimester. She couldn't wait for the second to come along knowing it was worth the waves of nausea that made her head swim. As the weeks went by, it was getting harder for her to hide them from her partner and family. The closest she had come to her partner noticing her sudden change was when she gagged at the smell of the service station coffee. But she wouldn't have that luxury of hiding her symptoms as her stomach had already started to show signs of a bump.

Currently the assassin was doing her best to ride out the latest bout of nausea, as she concentrated on the scribbled words on the pages of the journal that King Arthur had told her about. It was making her nervous by the amount he knew about a creed that were supposed to be secret. It didn't sit well with her the way he was doing his best to talk his way into her trust after Percival's actions.

Lost in her thoughts the assassin jumped in her seat as her partner suddenly slammed the book she reading shut, breaking the assassin's concentration as the redhead looked up to her love to see the stress on her soulmates features.

"Please tell me you found something useful" she plead to the woman next to her, needing some good news now more than ever.

"Nothing solid yet, it's mainly just scribbles about the idea's Altair about the Creed" she answers her partner honestly, which only made the former Queen sigh out in disappointment.

"It's okay, we'll get there" she tells the woman standing up from her seat, quickly closing the distance between them to smooth of the woman's dark hair behind her ear "How about I sneak into Granny's and find us some of that tea you like so much while she's busy babysitting" she suggests to her soulmate "Calm nerves leads to clear thoughts".

Regina silently nodded along with the assassin's suggestion, as the redhead leans forward catching her soulmate's lips in a chaste kiss, before leaning her forehead against her Queen's. The Queen breathed in her soulmate's presence as she willed for her nerves to calm lacing her finger's in with the redheads by her side as the assassin's other hand held the side of her face.

"We've been here before, this is nothing new we haven't been though before. We'll figure it out. Insiene" (Together) the redheads voice gently smoothed out her frustration.

"I know" the former Queen replied as the redhead pulled away to meet her Queen's brown eye's.

"I'll be back soon" she tells her "Ti amo" (Love you).

"Ti amo" her Queen replied without a beat, making the assassin smile at her. She knew her teaching her love some phrases in her native language would come in handy. Parting from her soulmate the assassin made her way out of the small study to search for the tea as the former Queen glanced over to her half-sister sat in the corner, rolling her eye's at the couple's interaction.

"You're here so I can keep an eye on you, mute handmaiden. I don't need you rolling your eyes at me" Regina scolds her older sister "We need to clear the air" she adds.

Silently the Wicked Witch reminds her little sister about her inability to speak, theatrically gesturing to her neck "Fine" the former Queen relents lifted her mutism off the woman with a simply wave of her hand.

"Ah!" Zelena laughs, grasping at her neck in delight as she stood from the stool she was sat "Oh, there you are, my lovely voice" she marvels to herself "It's so light and feminine".

"Enough!" the former Queen interrupted her sister "Now... let's have a little chat about you trying to escape back to Oz" her older sister pouted taking a place opposite her sister from across the table the former Queen was stood at "Zelena" the former Queen starts rounding the table to stand in front of the Wicked Witch "You know you can't take that child away from Robin" she tried to beseeches to her "And you know Amelia would never let that happen".

"Can you blame me? She's done nothing but threaten me since you came to New York. She'll take it from me as soon as can" she tells her sister "This child could be my only chance for someone to truly love me, and... you and your assassin got a second chance. Why can't I?".

"Oh, I'm sorry. But you've had a second chance. And a second, second chance! You can't keep painting yourself as a victim. It's absurd" Regina argued to her.

"You can tell me that life is fair all you want. All I can tell you is that from in here, I'm still seeing one sister with all the toys..." having enough Regina waved her hand taking her voice away once again.

"Be quiet and listen for once in your life" the former Queen interrupts her as Zelna angrily stomps her foot on floor in protest "You forgot who I am. The Evil Queen. I can be a far greater nightmare than you can possibly imagine. But now... my gift to you is a promise. We will make sure your baby is fine and loved and safe. Just as I promise... The same will certainly not hold for you".

---

Searching for Regina's tea was harder than she thought. Granny had locked up all the food that came with them up tight as if she knew one of the assassin's in the party would try and break into it. Giving up on the search, she re-entered the dining area to find Anastasia waiting for her in one of the booths with a dagger in her hand with the tip of the blade poised directly onto the surface of the table .

"You know, Granny will actually kill you if you leave a mark on her table" the red head warned her joining her adopted sister to sit opposite her.

"You said to wait until they try and kill us" the blonde assassin reminded her of her advise when they entered Camelot "They nearly did".

"I remember" she tells her sister "Trust me".

"Then we must do something before they try again and succeed".

The redhead paused thinking about her sister's request, but she had to think logically for her hot tempered sister, as must as she wanted to on the offence with the King, the others still needed his trust.

"We can't".

In a fit of anger Anastasia lifted the dagger and stabbed hard into the table making the redhead sigh in annoyance , knowing it would leave a mark Granny would easily find.

"They nearly killed you!" the blonde yelled from her place "While your so-called family squabbled among themselves, you bled out. Swan was talking to a fucking empty chair! They nearly left me no choice but to ease you into the next world myself" the blonde seethed at her from across the table.

"I'm alive, and that's all that matters" Amelia tries to reassure her sister "At the moment the King doesn't trust us, and we don't trust them. Belle found a book on the Brotherhood in Merlin's tower it's Altair's journal from the early day's of the Brotherhood, the King know's about Monteriggioni, the Sanctuary even Ezio Auditore. I have no idea why he know's so much but he's trying his best to get into my good graces. I need more time to go through it, to find what they are hiding".

"Until what exactly? They actually kill you next time?".

"If it mean's we find out why he know's so much, then yes. Arthur is looking to play nice with us after the other night, which means he'll accept any help we'll be offering".

"What do you have in mind sister?".

"He and David are going somewhere called Brocéliande, to find a toadstool that might help us freeing Merlin from the tree, if you can join the search party then-".

"I can get into the inner circle" Anastasia added knowing her sister's train of thought to the venture.

"With Percival and Sir Lancelot dead, there are two spaces open on the round table. Until then, we do nothing. We play nice, we smile and nod along until they slip up, and when they do, we'll be there. Do you understand?" Anastasia let out a huffed before falling back into the seat with her arms folded like a petulant teenager.

"They will pay for attacking us, sister, te lo prometto" (I promise you). At that the redhead slid out of the booth with the intent to go back to the castle only for her sister to stop her.

"What about the test?" the blonde assassin asks her making her turn around to face her sister.

"What?".

"The pregnancy test I found in your medicine cabinet. You didn't throw the packaging out before I moved in, I found it when you returned home with Lily and Zelena. Tell me sister, was it positive, is that what the Dark One felt when she healed you the other night?". She saw the surprise of the blonde's face as clear as day when the woman reached the wound on her sister's side "I will do as you ask, but please do not lie to me" she plead to her sister.

She was going to hell for this for sure as her sister waited for her to answer "No. I'm not pregnant. Just a scare" she told her sister, hoping the she put as much disappointment in her voice to convince her sister of the lie.

Anastasia nodded accepting her answer before leaving the booth pulling the dagger out of the table with a hard tug.

"Where is the King going?".

"The Forest of the Eternal Night. Take Senu, she'll be able to guide you through the dark".

"Sounds like a lovely place" the blonde drawled out to herself "I will get us what we need sister" the blonde assassin tells her sister being sauntering out of the diner, leaving the redheaded behind alone in the building as her hand found the small bump that had started to form under the layers of her clothing.

She would tell them soon. she just didn't know how.

---

"Where the hell is he?" the redheaded assassin seethed out to herself, as she watched the hospital corridor for any sign of the father of her child. She had been stuck on a hospital bed with her pregnant belly exposed as the nurse prepped her for her 12+ week check-up taking vials of her blood and taking her blood pressure as she waited for John to appear.

The tensed former Assassin was taken out of her thoughts when Whale appeared in the door with a clipboard "Miss Montague, nice you see you again" he greeted the woman taking a seat on a stool in front of the monitor next to her "Any more creatures hell bent on taking you to the Underworld today?".

"None so far" she replied, giving the man a tight lipped smirk she could muster at that point, just as John showed up suddenly at the door out of breath. She knew she should've waited at the entrance with him, but she had been called through quickly by a nurse.

"Sorry am I late" John panted stepping into the room.

"Just in time Captain" Whale reassured the man "Take a seat" he said pointing to the chair placed next to where his wife was lied out on a bed. Moving his feet forward the man quickly took his place, on the edge of the seat.

"Where were you?" she whispered at her estranged husband, annoyance lasing her face.

"Sorry I was with Robin" John answered as Whale squirted clear jell on her exposed stomach making her jump at the sudden chill she felt, as John tried to look for the third party involved with his wife's unexpected pregnancy "Regina not here?".

"No, surprisingly we've got other things to think about than a cookout with Robin Hood" she snapped at the man as Whale started his examination ignoring the arguing couple. Gently pushing the probe against her swollen stomach.

"We were at Granny's" he tells her. He was doing his best to comfort his friend as Robin he looked at the first picture of his own child from a sonogram on his phone.

The mixed emotions his friend felt didn't help the ones he felt when he woke up that morning knowing he had to be at the hospital. This wasn't exactly how he envisioned having another child with the redhead, sure the subject had come up with David and Mary Margaret the last time he was in Storybrooke, even downplaying the idea to the couple. All he knew that he wasn't going to miss the opportunity of being a father again. It was his second chance to fix some of the things that went wrong in their marriage to salvage some sort of relationship with the mother of his children.

"Ahem" Whale cleared his throat interrupting the couple's spat "Now if your both done, I would like to talk to you about your unborn child".

"Go ahead Doctor" John says giving the man an apologetic smile as Amelia fell back on the pillow behind her as Whale looked to John across the bed as she listened.

"Anyway, Amelia informed me of her history of her previous pregnancy, so I would like a couple more scans as we move further along, just to keep on how things are progressing" Whale started as he observed the monitor in front of him, moving the probe against her stomach. Great. More appointments.

"We can do that" John answered for them with a nod as the redhead nodded along.

"And despite being thrown around by a hellish creature, Mom's and baby's vitals are strong and is a picture of health. Nothing to worry about" he was happy to report to the couple with him as he caught their eye "Are you ready to see your baby now?".

The question almost took the redhead by surprise for a second or two as she forgot this part of the appointment as her nerves from that morning seemed to triple as the assassin remained in stunned silence at the simple question to see her baby. They hadn't shown her the other day, kept the screen to themselves as they fussed over her. She suddenly felt like the room had closed in on her as her ears rang out in her ears, her heart thumped in her chest.

She was panicking. But why now?. Everything was telling her to get out of the room, get as far away from the situation at hand. She was fine. The baby was fine. That's all she needed to know. But, Mary Margaret's words replayed in her mind, they started to ring true. She didn't know what she going to do with a baby. This tiny thing that could be taken away from her again at any moment. And it would be her fault. Again. She literally didn't know what had happened to her in the last six weeks, anything could've happened. Something did happen. How the hell was going to do this all again?.

"Amy" John's voice brought her back to Earth as she felt him take her hand into his making her look into his eyes, seeing the distress on her face. Her eye's suddenly flashed a bright gold, before going back to normal. The sea captain had seen this before with her, when she was pregnant with Tom. She was panicking.

"Amelia" the man called out to her once again as she making her come back into the room with him "We don't have to" he simply tells her placing his free hand over her stomach "We can go home right now, we got the news we needed. She's okay in there. Perfect even" he added with a watery smile.

Letting a shaky breath the usually composed assassin gripped her first love's hand back as she gave him an equally shaky nod of her head wanting to see her son or daughter while they were still growing. He wanted to see his son or daughter, if he wanted to, she could do it.

"I want to" she tells him, making let out a breath. This was hard on both of them. This was uncharted sea's neither of them had seen coming, but if they stuck together, they would figure something out.

Whale had waited patiently as he waited for John to calm down his panic stricken ex-wife before the Captain gave him a firm nod to him as he kept the assassin's hand between his. Repositioning the probe on her stomach as he fixed his eye's on the monitor in from of him, getting the best picture for the couple in the room. Not even a few seconds later Whale turned the screen towards the couple as their eye's became transfixed on the little person they had accidentally made.

Nothing was said between them as her eye's stung from the tears of joy that she was fighting back. But her resolve broke as they heard something she would never forget hearing again. The sound she had been holding out on hearing for the first time since she found out she was pregnant. The tiny heartbeats drowned out the rest of the world, working so hard to be heard by its parents.

It was a fighter. A true Montague. This one was stubborn to hang around for as long as possible.

---

With the quest to collect the toadstool for the others to communicate with Merlin in mind, King Arthur took David to the throne room as they prepared to Brocéliande, in the Forest of Eternal Night. Pulling back a part of the wall the King reveal a hidden space that was housed a number of swords and shields for the journey ahead.

"Wow" David said in awe of seeing he weapons withing arms reach.

"I like to be prepared" the monarch says as he and David each picked out a long sword as the doors to the throne room were opened and closed, gaining the two men's attention.

"Your Majesty" looking to the door David saw John Smith stood at the door, dressed in a blue leather tunic that fitted his broader structure and muscle-tone as he saw the chain main that came up and over the tunic's neck with his signature maroon knee high boots.

"Ah Captain! Just in time" King Arthur greeted the blonde man waving him in with a wide friendly smile. At the man's beckoning the King turned to David "I hope you don't mind the extra company, Captain John Smith has become a very valued member of my court while he's awaiting his ship to be fixed in the nearest harbor town and demonstrated his skill with a sword against my most skilled knights" the King explained as the Captain crossed the room to greet the monarch before looking to David.

"David" John greeted the Prince with a friendly smile, holding out his hand to the man, he had befriended during his short time in Storybrooke.

"John" the former Prince greeted the Captain with a wide smile grasping the man's hand in his own in a firm shake "Good to see you again".

"You two know each other?" the King sends the question to both men in front of him.

"We do, your majesty" John answered for the pair "I was married to one of the assassin's. Amelia" the Captain informed the King. That explained why the man was already so friendly with the redheaded assassin the the teenage novice.

"Married?" he queried the man. He knew for a fact that Assassin's were prohibited from marriage or children of their own.

"It's a very long story. We have a son together, the you've already met. Tom"

"Well I'm glad Camelot has allowed your family to re-unite. Please help yourself to weapon of your choosing Captain". with a firm nod of his head, the Captain helped himself to the crossbow and bolts, seeing that he already held his own sword at his waist.

As the men tested the weigh of their weapons for the quest, David and John noticed the only char that sat with a sigil on the back.

"Is that... Percival chair?" the Prince asks the King, pointing out the chair to the man, making the Captain look at the chair that once belonged to the man that nearly killed his wife.

"Yes" Arthur confirmed seeing the guilt in the man's face for killing him and the hard glare that grew on the Captain's face "But no need for more apologies. A leader does what needs to be done. I'll find a man worthy to fill that seat" he tells the men before pointing to the tallest seat at the table with his sword as he makes his way over to the one seat that rose above them all "This is the one that will stand empty forever".

"I assume that was your chair" John tells the King "Suitable for a king".

"No. No, no, no, mine is no different than the others in the same way that the table is round" the King corrects the Captain as he and David make their own way around the table as the King continued.

"Many of our order are kings and princes in their own realms. Nonetheless, happy to sit shoulder to shoulder with the rest of their knights. No one of us above the other. Except for this one" Arthur says standing being the taller chair "This is the Siege Perilous. Reserved for the knight with the purest heart, the one destined to carry out the most sacred quests. Belonged to a man I trusted more than a brother. But he betrayed me. It's been vacant since".

"Lancelot" David stated to the King.

"You've heard of him" the King asked him.

"Well, all of you are kind of legends".

"Really? I shudder to think what our tale must be".

"Oh, only one of the greatest romances of all time" the former Prince informs him with a knowing smile "Your love for Guinevere was ripped away by your best friend, Lancelot. It's a tragic story that clearly had a happy ending" David tells him as John couldn't help but feel the slight bitterness he felt seeing the similarities between Arthur's story and his own as David and Arthur's voices being drowned out by his own thoughts.

His didn't have the happy ending he had in mind when they had a second chance to be together. Instead she fell in love with his best friend, planning a future with him that he should've been planning with her. But even Robin's love wasn't good enough as she fell for someone with a heart just as dark as her's, if not darker. He had to watch as the woman he still loved danced with the woman she truly loved and not just because she was obligated to be with.

The Captain's thoughts came to end when the door to the throne room was suddenly opened, making him whirl around to see Grif, the King's squire enter with a metal container in his hands. Stepping out of the way he allowed the squire to place the box onto the table making it audibly thud

"Careful" Arthur scolds the man, before Grif pull one of the chairs out of the way allowing Arthur to step towards it and unlock it.

"This... is our reliquary, containing our sacred magical items our knights have recovered. I'm sire the Brotherhood of Assassin's had something very similar to this" he adds taking out a torch that was already set alight.

"I've never seen magic like that" John tells the King as David nods along with the Captain.

"It's the Unquenchable Flame. Said to be part of the burning bush itself. This will light our path, and where we're going, we're gonna need it".

---

Upon her sister's request, the blonde assassin had found her way to the campsite on the motorcycle that her sister used to own. The former Queen had practically gifted it to her when she joined her sister more than six weeks ago, behind her partner's back. Her sister wanted her to help David as Camelot's reliquary had been broken into and items had been taken, it certainly beat babysitting her nephews anyway.

"The reliquary, Your Majesty" his squire announced to the King as David crouched down to examine the chest.

"So, you're the one who found this broken into? Any theories?" David says looking at the squire for an answer.

"Me? Oh, well, um... everyone speaks of the Dark One in this place" the squire starts "Perhaps..."

"Stop being a fool, man" Arthur openly scolds his grown squire making the blonde assassin look at the man with a raised brow. He may be a King, but he needed to treat his people with some sort of respect.

"Arthur, to be honest, she did take a dwarf axe" David admits to the King.

"It's not Swan" Anastasia tells the men around her as she crouches down next to the Sheriff to get a closer look at the chest "The lock was pried open. You can see the scratches" she points out to them to the men "The Dark One or anyone with magic would not need tools to open something as this pathetic excuse for a lock" she grumbles to them "My nephew could've unlocked this blindfolded and his hands tied behind his back. And I was not talking about Tom".

"You're right" David tells the blonde with a smile seeing why Amelia wanted him to take the blonde assassin on to help him out.

"This is your land. What are you thinking?".

"I'm thinking I may not know who did this. But I think I have a good idea of what their next move will be".

---

As the former Queen waited for her soulmate to return to the tower, she couldn't help but think over her conversation with Zelena, who only sat a few feet away as she tried to re-focus on her task at hand. She was scared that her baby would be taken away from her by Amelia. Could she blame her?.

She wasn't wrong to be mistrusting of her partner, seeing how much her 'surprise' pregnancy hurt her. She wanted a life with Robin long before she wanted one with her. And if she wanted, she could still have that. Was that why she suddenly wanted to talk about their future?. Did she want to adopt Zelena and Robin's baby?.

She needed to get a clear answer from her partner just as she heard her voice coming from the open door of the room as the woman herself appeared on the other side with a very grumpy looking Granny with her.

"You can hardly see the mark, Granny" she heard her partner tells the diner owner "It's tiny, wee , petite" the redhead carried on doing her best to downplay her sister's actions, only for it to go unheard as the older woman continued to stare at her, un-amused by her description of the mark in the table.

It was a losing battle. She knew that "I'll have it fixed when we get back home okay?" she tried to reason with the older she-wolf "Okay?".

Accepting the redheads agreement the Grandmother walked away leaving the assassin to sigh in defeat with her hands on her hips before turning herself to re-enter the room.

"What was that about?" Regina asked the redhead.

"Just my sister bleeding me dry fixing her tantrums. She stabbed on of Granny's tables with a dagger, left a mark".

"Didn't you once stab a hole into the drywall?" the former Queen reminded her with a challenging brow.

She did. "Touche" she tells her partner taking her re-taking her place in the chair in front of the journal Belle had found earlier "Granny's locked up all the good stuff. Couldn't get the tea. Ran into Anya instead, she's still mad about the other night" she informs the former Queen before she finds Zelena perched on her stool "But enough about me, how's Silence of the Lambs over there?" she asked her partner looking at Zelena, who gave the assassin a pointed glare.

"She's fine" the former Queen tells her aware of her sister's presence in the corner, putting their current mission on hold for the next few minutes. This was the perfect time to get the answers she needed from the redhead, even if her sister was in the room. She needed to hear what the assassin had to say about her sudden interest in starting a family with her.

"Actually" the former Queen starts closing the book in front of her. I was hoping to talk to you about that conversation we were having back home".

"Conversation?" the redhead blinked at her. So much had happened since arriving in Camelot the assassin almost forget about the serious conversation she was trying to have with her soulmate before the darkness ruined the moment.

"You know, the.. thing that you trying to tell me about before Emma was sucked into the vortex of darkness" she reminded her as she sat herself in front of the woman she loved, perching herself on the edge of the table as Zelena became interested in what her sister was talking about.

"Oh" the redhead finally realized, as siting up in her chair. She nearly forgot with e "The..thing" she went along with her partner's code as she glanced towards Zelena, not sure why her partner wanted have this conversation right in front of her sister..

"Melia, you know I would love to have that with you" the former Queen started, to answer her partner's request "Another chance, without curses or lies to hold us back. And I understand that you've missed out on so many milestones with Tom. But do you really think you're doing it for the right reasons?".

"The..right reasons?" she slowly replied in confusion by the woman's wording. There were right reasons?. She was pregnant, of course it would be all for the right reasons.

"Look" the former Queen understand seeing the confusion on the redhead's features taking her hand into her's, she needed to be a as gentle as possible with the sore subject but it was one that needed to be answered as soon as possible "I understand watching my sister, have something you wanted years ago with Robin, hurts. But do you really think adopting Robin's baby would make you happy?".

Now that was not she was expecting to come from the woman in front of her.

"W-w Robin's baby?" was all the redhead could stammered out at that moment in surprise.

"Well isn't that what you were suggesting back in Storybrooke? Adopting a baby that could be our's-".

"No!" she quickly shuts down her partner's theory in horror at what she was suggesting, pulled her hand out of her Queen's. She thought she wanted to adopt Zelena's baby. That was the last thing she wanted to do as she looked between her partner and the Wicked Witch in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me! Is that what you both really think?" she accuses the pair as she stand up from her seat to confront the pair.

"What other reason is there Amelia?" the former Queen retorts.

"Maybe because I want to look beyond the weekly battles we have with whatever villain decides to roll into town, is it really that hard to think of our future beyond that?" she questioned her.

"No of course not, I've think about it too. But if you really think deluding yourself into thinking that adopting Zelena's baby just because Robin's the father will make us happy, then my answer is, no, I don't want to think it's a good idea. Especially now".

She tried. She really tried. But as much as she wanted to correct her soulmate, she still couldn't admit to her what was really going on. They had too much on their plate, and with King Arthur sniffing around her, she couldn't let him exploit her weakness at that moment. She would just have to hold out until she had no choice but to tell her, she still had a little time.

"Okay" she relented "You're right" she admits to the former Queen as the latter seeing the disappointment lacing her partner's voice as her head dropped.

Closing the distance between them the Queen quickly takes the redheads's face into her hands making her look at her, placing her head against the assassin's, trying her best to comfort her soulmate after her disappointment as the assassin's hands instantly found her waist.

"I want that future with you Melia" she tells her love "Now is just not the right time".

A ghost of smile appeared on the redhead's lips as she tried her best to hide her disappointment at the moment missed.

"It'll never will be the right time, Queenie" she gently argues to her love, trying her best to reassure her partner "But it's okay. We've got time" she adds quickly pressing her lips to Regina's quickly taking them away before her partner could respond "Get back to work, I'm going to find Tom".

Her partner didn't get a chance to reply as the redhead , stepped out of her love's reach the assassin heads for door, leaving her to continue her own research on the matter at hand. Merlin. She was at a dead end anyway with the journal.

Glancing towards her sister a knowing smirk graced her face, knowing she had won her earlier argument with her younger sister.

"Shut up" the former Queen snapped at her sister before going back to the books. Her soulmate would be okay, she had to be.

---

Her sister wasn't kidding when she said the Prince and the King were heading for the Forest of Eternal Night with her sister's husband, much to her surprise. It had only reached noon when she followed her sister's loyal eagle into the dark forest, if it hadn't been for the bird of prey to intermittently calling out to her, she would've lost her already, but Senu seemed to know where to go as the blonde assassin kept to the tree's as the men's voices filtered up to her from the ground.

"What is it, noon?" the Prince asked the King as they walked up the dark path with John beside them "You weren't kidding about eternal night. I'm glad we have a torch".

"I'm glad we sent Grif home with the horses" Arthur replied as he held the torch in his hand "These woods would make him restless".

"Your squire works hard, Your Majesty" David speaks up for the squire.

"And you don't thank him enough." he echoes to he pair "I can hear you both saying it even when you don't".

"You'd be surprised where a little respect goes Your Majesty" Captain Smith spoke up from the King's other side "You never know that one man could be the difference between life and death. If I didn't respect my crew and treated the right, they would've leave me in the middle of a storm given the chance".

"You're right" Arthur tells him "I don't even have the excuse of ignorance. I was born a common man and I've been in service myself" he tells them, much to John and Davids surprise.

"You weren't born noble?" David asks him making the King chuckle.

"I'm as peasant as they come" Arthur tells them as they came to a pause in the middle of their trek.

"Shepherd" David tells the King before they both looked towards the Captain.

"Thief" John admits to the pair knowing he didn't have a great start in life when he was growing up, before he got the Godspeed.

The admission took both David and Arthur by surprise. The former Prince didn't know much of the man's life before he met the redheaded assassin on his ship, he supposed he had to start from somewhere. Possibly how he knew Robin so well.

"Ah" Arthur chuckles at the men, giving them both a firm shake each before continuing on "I can feel my backbone relaxing already. Let's stop with the "Your Majesties," shall we?".

"Of course" David agreed.

"As for my squire, I assure you Guin more than makes up the difference. Showering him and the others with gifts. She really is the kindest woman I've ever met".

"Sounds like my wife. When she decides you're family, she'd die for you".

"That's not to say Guin doesn't have her fierce side. With a bow and arrow, I've seen her take out the eye of a dove in flight".

"Mary Margaret could do that. She wouldn't, but she could".

As John listened to both men compare their love's to the other, the Captain couldn't help but silently beat each man's comparison each time, because he knew Amelia could easily beat what they come up with hands down.

Once anyone got underneath her tough exterior, you couldn't help but fall for the woman underneath the hooded robe. She was compassionate, brave, funny, warm, not afraid to show her strength to anyone, but when she get's upset or angry, even before she darkened her heart, she wasn't afraid to show you just how much you had hurt her. She had literally died for him before.

"We should have a tourney. Get them to compete" the King suggested looking to the sea Captain "I'm sure your assassin wife would love one" making the Prince and Captain chuckle at the thought of the over competitive woman. There would be carnage.

"Right. 'Cause I'm sure they'd love to be pitted against each other to let us feel good about ourselves" David replied with a humorous smile before they came to stop once again.

"Here" Arthur says offering the torch to the former Shepherd to unscrew his water skin before offering it the thief first "Then perhaps there are better ways for me to show off".

"You're a competitive man for someone with a round table" John tells the King before taking a mouthful of water, before handing it to David "I thought the idea was you didn't want to sit above anyone" he challenged the King.

"Someone who isn't competitive doesn't need a two-ton table to remind him to be humble" the King says making the Prince chuckle before handing the water back to the King.

"I know my weaknesses. Lancelot and Guinevere weren't the only ones to blame for what happened to them. I was a difficult man to live with. But I made a conscious decision to fix things".

"I understand that" John says knowing, that he wasn't the perfect husband hen he came back, always questioning Amelia's feelings for the Queen and then planning on running away when things got too much. Instead of fixing them he ran, like he always did. He needed to fix the bridges he had burnt with his family before it was too late.

"This way" Arthur guides the pair towards their goal.

---

Making their way through the thick foliage, the three men come across a lake to see that they had made it to where they needed to be, finding the toadstool to see across the lake, only accessible by a old wooden bridge that sat across the surface of the lake.

"Look upon that, brothers" Arthur told the men beside him as they looked upon the item the had been searching for.

Taking a small spyglass from his waist the Captain held it up to his eye to see the item he had been asked to help find on the other side of the lake on a moss covered tree stump before handing to the former Prince to down through himself.

"So it is real" he says gratefully taking the spyglass from the Captain to see what his friend spied "Crimson Crown" he states closing it again.

Stepping forward David gently tests his weigh on the less than stable wooden bridge with boot covered feet.

"It'll never take all three of us" he informs Arthur and John behind him "I'll go" he volunteers to the pair knowing John's heavier frame would be risky. He was lightest one there to go ahead.

"We'll wait here" Arthur agrees taking a step away from the bridge "Let the torch be your beacon back.

"Thank you" David says with a glint of excitement in his eye, before taking the next step on the wet bridge, unaware that someone had already made it to the other-side by the trees that surrounded them.

---

After a small detour to the pawn shop, King Arthur, David and Anastasia returned to the campsite housing the residents of Camelot with a silver chalice that the blonde recognized from Doctoberfest. Those dwarf's sure knew how to celebrate a birthday, the grumpy one nearly beat her at her favorite game.

With the chalice held up int he air the Sheriff addressed the crowd that their King had gathered to weed the thief that lived among them. The blonde assassin was impressed with the Prince's creativity, even though she would've gone down another route that involved her sister's knife collection, this was the better out of the two.

"Attention, subjects of Camelot!" he started with a strong voice "In my hand, you see the Chalice of Vengeance. There's been a theft in your encampment".

Hearing the news the crowd hummed among themselves as the Prince continued "The chalice will tell me which among you is the thief. So, line up for your chance to drink from the sacred cup".

As the Prince spoke the assassin kept a close eye on the subject, on that she had peaked her interest was someone who suddenly pulled a red hood over their heads before pushing their way out of the crowd.

"Suka! That is so annoying" the blonde assassin cursed to herself as she stormed to her bike, parked next the red ford truck "Why do they always run!".

"ANYA!" warned the assassin as he and Arthur ran to his truck.

"Don't worry I won't kill them"she tells the Prince revving the bikes engine before shooting forwards on her bike, riding through the Camelot residents, making them jump out of the way as the Assassin rode after the man on the horse.

With David hot on her heel the assassin continued to speed after the man on the horse through the fields on the outskirt of Storybrooke, keeping close to the sprinting horse, hoping it would detour the animal from running only for it to carry on. She couldn't risk spooking the animal in case it threw the thief onto the ground, snapping his neck in the process. They needed him alive.

Slowing down she let the truck catch up to her to see King Arthur driving and David climbing out of the cab to onto the bed at speed as the thief made a sharp turn finding a shortcut through the foliage a cut neither she or the truck could make in time without her falling off.

"Circle around!" David yelled to Arthur and Anastasia as the Prince picked up a piece of timber from back of his truck "Here catch!" he yelled to the assassin as he threw the wood down for the assassin to catch under her arm. Coming to a straight piece of road the thief though he had gotten away from his chasers only to see the blonde assassin coming towards him at speed holding the piece of wood up aiming for his shoulder.

From the bed of his truck the Prince and King watched as the assassin easily hit the thief off his horse onto the ground before dropping her 'lance' as she sharply pulled on the brakes of the bike to see the man still alive but in a lot of pain as a triumphant smile grew on her face at her small victory.

She didn't know what her sister was complaining about, being a cop was great.

---

From their place John and King Arthur both watched the former Shepherd carefully make the first few careful step onto the bridge before the Prince confidence grew the further he walked. The lake water lapped onto the surface of the steps as he kept his balance as he made a small run to avoid a gap only to slip and a fall face first onto other side before pushing himself back up to carry on, until he reached the moss covered tree stump only for a figure to jump in-between him and the Crimson Crown, making the man jump back in surprise reaching for his sword.

"Hello there, Charming" Anastasia greeted the man as she lowered her hood from her head "Sorry to step on your moment".

"Anastasia!?" David exclaimed in surprise seeing the blonde assassin appear from above "What are you doing here?".

"I came for the toadstool" she says with a shrug of her shoulders.

Seeing what had happened from the other end of the bridge the King and Captain jumped seeing someone stop David from getting to the toadstool.

"Who's that?!" Arthur exclaimed from the other-side seeing the other figure with David.

Snatching up the spyglass John looks through it see Anastasia, Amelia's adopted sister at the other end of the bridge arguing with David as she cuts the toadstool from the moss.

"It's Anastasia" he informed the King as he lowered the spy glass to see what the blonde assassin was doing there.

Ignoring the Prince the assassin turned, tensing her out her right forearm to trigger the mechanism on her hidden blade as it snapped out of it's place.

"Anya, what are you doing here?". David asks the woman with wide panicked eye's as he watched her cut the toadstool from the moss.

"My sister sent me" she answered him as she uses the hidden blade on her gantlets to cut the base of the stalk of the fungi.

"Why?" he demands out of the assassin.

"Why do you need a more complicated answer than to, his knight nearly killed her the other night".

"You know that wasn't Arthur" he argued as she picked the toadstool up with her gloved hand "You don't realize how important that toadstool is? We need it to talk to Merlin. I need it for my daughter" he pleaded to the former Duchess.

"I do" she says turning on the Prince to face him "Because the longer my sister and my nephew's are here is another second closer to something like that happening again. Do you even realize what Tom did?" she says making the man freeze for a minute "You can trust me to get this to Regina, David. Who I don't trust is the King" she plainly tells him.

"Give it to me then" he suggested to the woman in front of him "I need to save my daughter Anya. I'm her father, I should've done something more to stop her, that's on me, but I have a chance to save her know by speaking to the only person than can. Please" he implored to the woman in front of him. A beat later the blonde assassin handed the toadstool over to the man, who gratefully took it, from the younger woman, placing it in a small satchel on his belt.

"Thank you" he breathes out "Come on, we need to get back" he says turning back to the watery bridge, only for the assassin behind him to hesitate going anywhere near the water. Looking back he saw that Anastasia hadn't moved from the small island as she eyed the dark water around them.

There was a reason she used the tree's to get her to the toadstool and not just simply crossed the bridge before the other's got there.

"I uh can't.." she stammered in fear "The water, if I fall in.." she gulped not wanting the man to know one of her weaknesses. She never liked water as a child, always scared of lakes and the sea, after a while the other Master's had grown tired of trying to teach her to swim as they focused their energy on her older sister.

The Prince realized quickly realized what she was trying to tell him "Hey, it's okay" he calls out to the younger woman "You're not going to fall" he tells her offering his hand to her "Hold onto me".

Trusting his words, she took the man's hand tight into her's, allowing him to guide them back to Arthur and John only to stop half way as David saw a metal helmet emerge from the water as the assassin saw the same thing, whirling around they saw another starting to emerge from the water as once suddenly appear right in front or David.

Unsheathing his sword, the Prince met the phantom knight swords as Anastasia took hers out, the wooden planks shook underneath her boot covered heels as she watched David fight the knight off before finally taking of it's helmet with a swipe of his sword.

"Behind you!" John called out the assassin make her whirl around to meet the sword of another phantom knight, easily parrying off its attack before cutting off its metal gauntlet as she slipped on the bridge making her lose her footing. Heading straight for the water she was only stopped when a strong hand pulled her back up straight as the knight behind David pulled it's helm back on its shoulders.

Lunging for the Prince while he had his back turned the knight went for the killing blow only for the sound of Senu to make the pair on the bridge look behind them to see the eagle trying it's best to fight the knight with only her talons, only for a hard backhand to make contact with the bird of prey.

"Senu!" the blonde exclaimed seeing the bird of prey hit the water with a splash.

Using the distraction to his advantage the Prince swiped at the phantom knight, hitting home as it's head was cut off from the rest of it's armor, it's 'dead' body falling into the water as the knight behind Anastasia managed to pull it's 'hand' back on. With a battle cry the blonde assassin copies the Prince's actions severing it's head from the rest of its body as it fell apart in front of her. Only for another knight to emerged from the lake poised to attack the pair from the water only for the Prince and Assassin duo to easily strike it down in unison.

Wasting no more time the Prince grabbed Anastasia's free hand as they started to run back to John and Arthur, only for the Prince to be tripped up by an armored hand between the planks making the pair fall into the water together. She tried to fight the water from pulling her further under,only for all the kicking and clawing to proved fruitless as the air quickly escaped her lungs as she saw the edges of her vision to darken.

From the surface the Captain watched as David quickly re-merged from the water trying to pull himself up only for something to pull him back under. He tried to find Anastasia do the same knowing Amelia was a good swimmer. She should be the same. But at the seconds stretched he nor Arthur say no sign of the blonde assassin trying to break the surface.

"She can't swim" Arthur heard the Captain say to himself as they tried to see the assassin emerge from the lake "She can't swim!" the man didn't think twice as he dropped his weapon to the ground and ran onto the bridge before diving head first into the water.

Submerged in the the water, the Captain could only follow the small air bubbles that floated up past him to find the blonde assassin. Pushing himself further down he got a glimpse of long blonde hair suspended in the water as it continued to fall into the dark depths of the lake.

Seeing the slither of hope the captain reached out with his hand to find a part of the woman's robe to take a hold of before using all his strength to pull her up through the water. The blonde was dead still in the water with her eye's closed as the Captain wrapped his arms around her slim frame before heading back to the surface, aiming for the wooden bridge on the surface.

As the man broke the surface of the lake, a loud gasp left his mouth as he held Anastasia's dead weight on his chest he tried to find either David or Arthur

"John!" David called out the man seeing the man come out of the water "Here!" he urged the man to swim over to them. Kicking his legs in the water the Captain

Together the King and Prince pulled Anastasia out of the water to rest her body on the wooden planks as the Captain easily pulled himself out of the water to join the other's on the bridge.

"She's not breathing" David panted out still catching his breath, as Anastasia lied still on her back.

"Move!" he ordered the other's as he pushed Arthur and David out of way to kneel over the blonde assassin as he took charge to reviving the woman. Pulling her neck straight, the Captain lied his hand over the other, resting them over her heart as he started to push down hard on her chest in a rhythm.

One, two, three, four times before stopping to pinch her nose with one hand before placing his mouth over hers, pushing much need air into her lungs to dislodge the water that had filled them, before going back to the chest compression's.

Second stretched into minutes as the Captain continued to try and save his wife's sister, as the other men watched on, until finally the sign of life came the assassin as something gurgled in her throat before the assassin finally woke up, choking up the water in her lungs. No one had even noticed how Senu had emerged from the lake, as the water logged eagle padded over the humans to oversee the blonde's recovery.

"Her side, on her side" the sea Captain instructed the others as they helped move Anastasia onto her side as she continued to choke up more water before she was able to gasp for much needed air.

"You're okay" John tried to comfort the woman as much as he could "You're okay" he breathed as relief washed over his mind.

"You did it. You saved her" Charming told him with a bright smile on his face. But he didn't want the praises

"Come on" he said encouraging the blonde assassin onto her feet, the Captain, swept her off her feet, bridal style as he made the rest of the way back to dry land with Arthur and David following him.

He was ready to go home. And so was she.

---

After her small panic attack at her appointment, the assassin was glad to find her true love and friend again to give them the good news and to admit that she needed more help then she first thought. Even agreeing to sitting on one of Mary Margaret Mommy & Me classes with the former Princess.

While she and the pixie haired princess were fawning over the sonogram pictures they were interrupted when David and Anastasia joined them, with the first bit of good news anyone since returning to Storybrooke. Presenting the trio of women a toadstool they all recognized from this morning.

"That's the one in the book from Camelot. The one I found this morning" the former Queen tells the Sheriff and his deputy for the day before quickly finding the page once again "That's what we were looking for back there".

"But why?" Mary Margaret voiced next to her former step-mother.

"It's used to communicate through magical barriers" Regina informs them "We must've been trying to communicate with Merlin".

"I wonder if we did".

"Let's use it" David speaks up "Let's find out. If we can talk to him now..."

"He can help us save Emma from being the Dark One. David, you did it" his wife tells him as the man feels some sort of accomplishment for the first time since coming back to Camelot.

---

Anastsia's day following King Arthur, David and John had been an eventful one to say the least.

Once they returned to the castle, Amelia was quickly told of what happened to her sister, forgetting her conversation with Regina, the assassin had hunted Doc down practicably dragging dwarf towards her sisters room after her near death experience. She knew she couldn't swim. It was stupid considering what their father was.

She should've been more careful sending her sister. But her saving grace came in the form of her ex-husband who had a lifetimes experience saving people, who had fallen overboard. She herself was once saved by him, after being swept away by a storm.

As a reward for his heroics, John was being given a place alongside David at the Round Table. The only drawback was that it left the assassins back at square one, with no way of getting the information they needed. But that didn't matter, her sister's life was worth more than anything they could learn.

Everyone had been requested to the throne room for the ceremony as the assassin made her own way to the event seeing David in a full set of gold armor with a red cape trailing the floor with Mary Margaret with him and baby Neal in her arms.

While John stood in a grey set of armor that looked a little too small for his larger physique, trying his best to make himself comfortable in the foreign piece of clothing. He'd never worn metal armor in his entire life.

"You look good in armor Cap" she called out to her ex-husband making him turn around to face her walking down the hallway.

"Thanks. It's a little tight though" he tells her.

"You should try a corset, you'll want the armor back" she tells him "May I?" with a nod the sea captain allowed his ex-wife to reach between the plates of armor to find the buckle that would loosen everything up for him, as the man felt like he could breath a little easier.

"Thank you" he breathed out to her as he felt more comfortable in the suit of armor.

"No problem" she tell the man she had once fallen in love with "But I think I should be the one thanking you for doing this for me. I know you don't approve of my methods, but if I had any other option-".

"Like you said" her first love tells her "They tried to kill you first, we need to know why".

When Amelia came to him asking to get into King Arthur's inner circle, he jumped at the chance to find out why Percival had men trying to kill an honored guest. And when the King himself invited him to the search for the toadstool, it was an opportunity he couldn't pass on it. He was going to get as much information on the man as he could before something happened again. That was the least he owed to her and Tom for leaving.

"What I don't understand is why Anastasia was there?" he whispered down to his estranged wife, weary of David and Mary Margaret's presence further down the corridor.

"Playing a different angle" she simply tells him with a gentle smile. She hated keeping in the dark, but she had to play her own game with the King of Camelot, and the man before here was willing to incur the wrath of a King to find out why she had been dragged into a game she had no idea what the rules were.

"You're a good man John Smith. Even if I was too angry to see it at the time, you were just doing what you thought was best for our family. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for my part in everything that happened to us. I ran away when things got hard".

With a gentle nod from her ex, the assassin left her husband to enter the throne room to find the other's already waiting for the ceremony to begin.

"John?" a voice distracted him from his thought as he looked up to see Anastasia fully dressed and out of bed after returning from their failed journey to get the toadstool

"Anastasia. What you doing out of bed?" he asked her in concern. The blonde had been confined to her room since she had nearly drowned in the lake"

"I wanted to see the knight in shining armor, before his big moment" she replied as she made her way towards him with a smirk playing on her lips "Also, the dwarf was annoying me, so I made a break for it".

"Amelia-" he started to protest to the younger woman, only to quickly get stopped.

"Who do you think broke me out?" she tells him seeing a knowing smirk grace her lips, before it was mirrored on his face. He should've known the redhead was the one responsible to help her sister out.

"Right. Still doesn't explain why you're here".

"I wanted to thank you properly before you become a knight of the famous round table".

"You don't need-".

"I do, because my sister can't" she tells him "In all my time being back with her, I have never seen her more hurt than when she told me what you did. I wanted to hate you so much for hurting her like that. For making her choose between her family, but I can't. Because I wanted her to do the same thing, to choose me after so long apart. You could've let me drown, so I want to give you a second chance like my sister did for me, only if it's not too late for you to do the same for me".

"I can do that" the Captain soon to be Knight tells her. He wanted to show the blonde he isn't the man she wanted to hate. Before he knew it, the blonde assassins lips found the corner of his, in a deliberate kiss that lingered for a second or two sending warm sparks through his skin where her lips touched his cheek before she pulled away. Catching his hooded gaze in hers, their noses hovered close as he felt his heart beating a little faster than it did before.

"Thank you" she breathes to the Captain "For saving my life" she says before pulling away and headed for the door before he could reach for.

---

Stood with her soulmate and their son's, the redheaded assassin watched as her first love enter the throne room, walking the length of the room before stopping in front of the King, taking to one knee as the King used Excalibur to knight the broad shouldered man still inside it's black leather sheath that the redheaded assassin took note of as he placed it wither side of her first love's head.

"I dub thee Sir John Smith of the Enchanted Forest, now of the Round Table".

"Thank you" the Captain says from the ground.

"Arise Sir. Your seat will bare the coat of arms" the King says taking a wooden shield from his Queen's hands as John stand back to full height "Although I don't recognize the Kingdom" the King asks the man with an edge of curiosity to his voice as he hands it over to John.

The coat of arms on the shield consisted of a shield with two horses stood either side of it with three red suns in the middle, crowned with a royal coronet with two belts across the top with the word 'Priimuua' printed above the coat of arms. It belonged to his father's family, a family torn apart by a decade of war started by the Gods that walked among mortals.

"Because it doesn't exist anymore. Destroyed, a long time ago" John informs him.

Accepting the answer King Arthur looks towards his Queen to allow the newly knighted Captain to take his place at his table.

With his shield in his hands, the Captain turns to find his son stood next to his mother. With an encouraging push into the teens back from his mother, Tom steps towards his father to take the shield out of his father's hands, before leading the way to the seat left occupied by Percival.

Slipping into the space next to her sister as the audience watched John take his place at the Round Table, Anastasia watched her nephew place his father's shield on the back of the seat before the round of applause drowned out the conversation with her sister.

"Ty probralsya vnutr'?" (Did you get your way in?) the redhead asks her sister, under the cover of applause.

"ya sdelal sestra" (I did sister) the blonde assassin tells her, happy with the way the Captain reacted to her 'kiss'. Having heard the Captain's characteristics, it wouldn't be heard to get him to trust her.

"Good" she states to her sister as she clapped along with the other's with the smile on her face as they looked upon the image of her son and his father.

"Ty uveren, chto smozhesh' eto sdelat'?"(Are you sure you can do this?) the blonde asks her sister (Even if you hurt him? Hurt Tom?) she adds looking upon her proud nephew.

While John would be keeping his ears and eye's open for her from within the King's inner circle, her sister would keeping a close eye on her ex-husband, just in case her ex wasn't being as open as she would like him to be with infiltrating the Round Table.

"Like I said. Smile politely until the try and kill us. They drew first blood, whatever we do is fair game now".

A favorite saying of Iago's came to mind as she watched David be knighted by Arthur and given his place as Seige Perilous. He now had the former Prince under his spell, they had to be ready for whatever King Arthur's next move, even if the other's weren't.

All's fair in love and war after all.

---

AN: Hello there!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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