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)

11. Chapter 11: The Cricket Game

Edited: 17/09/2023

AN: Warning of Violence and Injuries.

---

Enchanted Forest

Years Ago

Bloodied and bruised from the battle, the Black Widow rode hard on her loyal steed Achilles from the battle she had just left at the bottom of the hill to find the Evil Queen awaiting news of the battlefield that she could still see from the fire that raged through the forest. They were losing. Badly.

Snow White and her allies had managed to break through their lines on several fronts. Even the mercenaries she had brought with her from Monteriggioni to sure up the numbers were struggling to keep them at bay. King Georges's men had either been killed or ran. She knew when to admit defeat.

With two knights behind her the assassin let out a breath of relief to see Regina sat upon her own horse watching the battle from a safe distance in an dressed in her own armor.

"My Queen!" the Widow called out to the monarch as she neared the woman. Hearing Amelia's voice, the Queen's head snapped towards the voice to see that her loyal Black Widow had been in the thick of battle herself. Blood and mud smeared her once white armored robes as her face was covered in smoke from the fire that raged around her as she spilled their enemies blood onto the ground.

"We've received word" the assassin continued as she pulled the reins of her horse to come to a stop in front of the Queen "Snow White and the Prince have defeated King George. His army has fallen. The kingdom is theirs" she informed her.

"And what of George?" Regina asked in annoyance.

"Unknown. But, without his forces, my mercenaries have either fallen or fled. We are now alone" Amelia gulped "We cannot defeat them".

"Do not tell me what we can or can't do" Regina snapped at her Assassin "Where is Snow White now?".

"Alone. On her way back to meet the Prince".

A grin grew on Regina's face as an idea came to mind "Excellent. I don't care how many men you lose – keep them apart long enough for me to find her. I will not let them defeat me" turning her horse the Queen rode down the opposite track as the guards behind the assassin left to carry out her orders, a bad feeling came to the former's gut, told her something was wrong. as she spurred Achilles forward to catch up to her Queen.

"Your Majesty!" Amelia called out to the other woman as she easily caught up to her love, maneuvering her horse to stop right in the Queen's path to stop her from going any further.

"Regina" she huffed out as her heart continued to beat hard and fast in her chest "It may be a trap. Send me, and I will give you to her alive on a silver platter with her Prince's head on another" she offered the woman as a wicked smile grew on her lips at the thought of swinging a sword through the Princes neck.

"I'll take his head myself" the Queen huffed at her Widow in annoyance "Go back and make sure she's alone" she tells the redhead trying to move past the woman's horse to continue forward.

"Regina" Amelia pleaded with her "Please. Don't go" tsking at the woman's words. The Queen rolled her eye's at the redhead before spurring her horse on, shoving Achilles to the side to leave Amelia alone in the dark woods watching the Queen shrink into the distance.

---

Walking down the chilled streets of Storybrooke towards Granny's, the assassin couldn't help but tug the long sleeves of her tan leather jacket down past her wrists feeling how light her forearms felt from the gauntlets that were missing from their usual place.

Running into Emma and Henry earlier that day in town, she had been invited to the evenings festivities to celebrate the return of the savior and her mother from their brief stay in the Enchanted Forest. She could tell the blonde was still weary of her, as she spoke to the assassin that had nearly killed her the previous day. She seemed to relax though as Henry and the redhead spoke comfortably between themselves in the middle of the sidewalk. The young boy had told his birth mother of the time he had spent with the assassin during her brief absence.

It was like Henry had known her for years and not a week or so after the curse had been broken.

It was the eleven-year-old himself that had suggested the invite first, not the blonde, which the assassin took personal note of. She was still the villain that helped The Evil Queen cast her curse not the woman that put everything on the line to get her to the wardrobe.

That morning she wasn't surprised to wake up alone after spending the night with Regina after admitting her love for the former Queen. She had left not long after she had fallen asleep after their trysts, finding the disturbed sheet's on the other-side of her double bed cold and empty. Not that she ever expected the woman to reciprocate the gesture and tell her their partnership together had not been for nothing but death and destruction, she however still felt a welt of disappointment grow in her gut from her leaving without so much as a goodbye.

Pushing the thought of the woman aside for the day, the assassin carried on with her work in the bar to distract herself from showing up in the mayors' door demanding to know why she left like she wanted to, hoping she wouldn't have to see the woman until she had a stiff drink or two. Five at most.

Her hopes were quickly dashed as she neared the diner. Looking up from her sleeve she saw the woman herself walking towards her, carrying a casserole dish in her hands. The second she saw her, she knew it was too late to turn back and go back home to think of a good excuse to tell Emma and Henry in the morning of why she didn't come.

Stopping just in front of the archway that led up to the diner, the air quickly turned uncomfortable as the event's of the previous nights came back to the front of their minds as they stood in front of the other.

"Amelia" Regina curtly greeted her loyal Assassin.

"Madam Mayor" the red head replied the tension was thick between them after last night. Clearing her throat awkwardly the redhead hoped to diffuse the air between them in one simple question "Are you hoping we've missed the speeches as well?".

"Let's find out" Regina replies with a hint of a smile "Shall we?".

Holding out her right palm towards the diner, the assassin silently invited the Queen to go first before following her up the path as they heard a round of cheer's sound out from inside the diner. From the sound of it, they had just missed any hope speeches as Regina opened the door making the bell above it ring out that announced their arrival to those inside as mugs of beer clinked together in cheers.

Meeting the surprised gazes of those inside the Queen put a friendly smile of her face as greeted those inside "Sorry we're late" she announced.

A hint of a smile flashed on the redheads face as she followed in behind Regina seeing the surprised look on the Charming couples faces, taking in the cold reception towards the appearance of the villains.

Reaching for a knife from the counter Leroy turned with the weapon his hand to face the pair at the door.

"What are they are doing here?" the dwarf growled out with gritted teeth clenching the knife in his hand as his gaze was met by the Black Widow's own. The assassin was tempted to match the dwarfs knife with the one she had in her pocket. She if couldn't wear her gauntlets there was no way she was going into the diner with nothing.

"I invited them" Emma quickly told the other's meeting both Regina and Amelia's eye.

Surprised by her daughter's decision to invite both the former Queen and her Widow to the party, the Charming couple quickly dragged their grown daughter to the side the party continued as the redhead noticed how quickly the hero's closed ranks while Henry happily made his way over to his adopted Mother as she deposited the meal she had brought with her.

Her watch of the royal couple and their daughter hadn't gone unnoticed by Ruby as she caught the redhead watching the Charming couple speak to their daughter.

"Amelia" Ruby called out to the redhead making her look away from the conferring Charming family.

"Hey Little Red" she greeted the she-wolf with a wink of her eye before joining the mayor at the counter.

"We're celebrating today because of Regina and Amelia" Emma explain to her parents "They helped us get home. No matter what they've done in the past, we owe them our thanks now" she tells them.

"Didn't you think to tell us about it?" Mary Margaret replied.

"I did, but you two were a little busy this afternoon" referring to how she and Henry had found them once they returned to the loft with groceries.

"Emma, they tried to kill us. Yesterday!" her mother pointed out.

"No, they didn't" the savior corrects her mother "She's trying to change for Henry. He believes in her. And, Henry's crazy about Amelia, he wouldn't shut up about her on the way back" Emma told her parents glancing over to the counter where Henry had joined his adopted Mother and Amelia.

The red head was smiling sweetly at him happily conversing with the boy, she looked back at her parents "And by the look of it, Amelia just as crazy about him. Right now, that's enough for me. I couldn't have changed if I wasn't given a chance, so… they get one, too".

Looking over to the scene at the counter, the Prince had to agree with his daughter. He saw the bright smile on the redhead face as she excitedly conversed with his grandson. Even in the short time they have had together, he had started to look up to the assassin stood next to the Queen, hell he had even asked her to look after him while he was cursed. He trusted her. And that was enough for now.

Looking to his wife, the pair silently agreed to give the former Queen and the Widow a second chance.

"I'm glad you came" Henry told his mother.

"Me too" she replied with a genuine smile on her face as she plated a piece of her lasagna to share seeing Leroy hovering behind the eleven year old who was eyeing her dish suspiciously "Oh, I made a lasagna" she offered the dwarf.

"What's the secret ingredient?" he asked the former Queen suspiciously "Poison?" .

"Red pepper flakes" Regina simply answers the dwarf "Gives it some kick" she adds as the man accepts it giving it a curious sniff before digging in.

"If we wanted to poison you" Amelia spoke to the shorter man distracting him from the food "We'd spike the drinks, not the food" she adds with toothy smirk that make his eye's widen for a split second "Or that's what I would do anyway" she says giving Henry a playful wink making him laugh at her 'joke'.

The laugh in turn made the former Queen smile at the way Amelia interacted with her son and vise versa. She could see how easily they got along.

Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as they both first thought it would.

---

As the evening wore on, the assassin felt more at ease in the new environment she had found herself in as guest had split off into groups to speak and enjoyed the food provided, leaving the former Queen to be sat alone in one of the booths while the assassin found herself sat on one of the table in the windows looking out into the dark street.

The mayor's dish was a hit with the dwarfs as the white casserole dish it came in sat empty on the counter next to Henry as the young boy happily conversed with the shorter men that aided his grandparents. The thought of her cooking made the assassin smile to herself as she tried to imagine the woman at a stove.

The last twenty-eight years had certainly changed the woman, none more so than the ten years she had with Henry before the savior came to town. While she was stuck in an endless cycle of her cursed life for trying to stop her loves own destruction. She should've left the Queen as soon as she took her fathers heart and join Snow and her Prince Charming, but something told her to stay.

Loyalty? Love? She had no idea now.

As the evening wore on and the celebrations winded down, its guests had split off into groups to quietly converse to themselves

Later in the evening the party was winding down, its guests had split off into groups to talk, leaving Regina to sit alone in one of the booths while Amelia sat in one of the widows looking out into the dark street. Regina's dish was a hit with the dwarfs, the thought of her cooking made the Assassin smile to herself at the thought of Regina at a stove.

At one point of the evening, the redheaded assassin has excused herself from her conversation with Ruby to use the restroom. When she stepped out, she was in a world of her own when a voice stopped her.

"Hello" turning around she saw the woman she had been thinking about that whole day waiting for her to emerge from the restroom. Out of her jacket she stood in a red blouse and skirt.

"Hi" she breathed out seeing the nervous energy coming off her "I just wanted to thank you for earlier. The thought of coming here was bad enough, but having you here, had made it a little more bearable".

"You should be thanking Henry" she tells the former Queen "He was the one to invite me after bumping into him and Swan earlier".

"He really like you doesn't he" Regina observed out loud.

Amelia shrugged at her conclusion "He's only see's the part of him I want him to see. He's learnt everything about me from what his book says about the Black Widow" she could only say "He's important to you, that's enough for now".

"For now?" Regina asked her in confusion. What did she mean by that?.

Not wanting anyone else to hear them the redheaded assassin closed the distance between them making the former Queen turn to press her back against the hallway wall as the assassin stood in front of her as she felt like the redhead had cornered her, lowering her face so close that she felt the assassin's breath brush against her cheek as she spoke the next few words.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice that you left after what I told you last night?" she lowly whispered in her ear the question made the brunette look away from her piercing emerald eyes that she easily got lost in over the years they worked together.

"I don't tell people that unless I mean it for a reason. Because somehow, I'm the one that feels like crap afterwards".

"So I'll wait" she tells the Queen making her look back up to her "Because for some reason I think I could be something more than the Evil Queen's Black Widow. That we could be something more than the Evil Queen and the Black Widow. But I'm not gonna wait forever Regina, I've been hurt too many times to hold out for something that's not going to happen. I'll see you around".

Leaving the woman in the hallway the assassin took in a deep breath and headed back into the diner to take her place back next to dark-haired waitress. She didn't quite hide the emotion on her face as much as she thought she was as the she-wolf saw sudden change in her from when she left to how she came back.

"Hey, you okay?" the waitress asks her.

"I'm fine" she made herself say as Ruby nodded along as they picked back up their conversation from earlier.

---

Other than that one interaction that night, the former Queen and her assassin kept their distance from the other. With the occasional visit from Henry, he tried his best to keep her involved with the celebrations as his grandparents kept a close eye on his each time he went near her.

His grandmother took extra note on how she interacted with her grandson, she couldn't help but notice the natural smile that would grow on her old friends face each time Henry joined her, she couldn't remember the last time she had seem her smile like that.

A quick smile flickered onto her face as she saw the first sighting of her old friend peeking through the mask the redhead had put on as she spoke to him, and he was just as happy to talk to her.

It came to no surprise to the assassin as she saw the mayor make a quick exit out of the diner as she was hastily followed by Emma, she would have to make her exit soon, through the back seemed like a good idea as everyone seemed too pre-occupied to even notice she was gone.

Seeing her daughter leave after the mayor, the pixie haired teacher excused herself from her husband and best friend to approach the lone assassin at her table with a mug gripped between her hands and a half-eaten piece of Regina's lasagna on a plate.

Tapping the woman on her shoulder, she took the redhead by surprise as she snapped her head around to see the former Princess stood before her with a friendly smile on her face.

"Archie made cake. Would you like some?" Mary Margaret asked her old friend with a friendly smile.

"No thank you" Amelia stiffly declined the offer and looked back outside as the Princess took a seat opposite her.

"Henry really likes you" the younger woman continued the conversation "He's not stopped talking about you since we've gotten back".

"He has a certain charm I guess" she replied as she felt the corner of her lips turn up at the corner in a half-smile "Must be hereditary".

"David also told me all you did for him while we were back home. I wanted to thank you" this made the red head look at the former Princess in front of her "I know we don't have the best past, but I'm glad you could put that behind you and help us get home. Henry believes in you, and so does Emma".

"Is that really enough for you though?" Amelia asked the Princess with a raised brow.

"It is. For now, at least".

"Until what exactly?" the redhead asks her. Her voice low, almost dangerous.

"Until you or Regina do something to let Henry down" Mary Margaret tells her straight without blinking an eye.

Leaning on the table with her elbows the assassin shortened the distance between her and the younger woman sat opposite her seeing what she was trying to do. She wasn't going down without a fight, she should know that by now.

"You'd love that wouldn't you" she told her "To prove your daughter wrong be the hero in her eye".

"I don't need to prove anything to her" Mary Margaret told her with a straight face.

Relaxing back in her chair a tight knowing smirk played on the assassin's lips, knowing she was winning this war of words between her and the former Princess.

"I think you do; she doesn't see in black and white like and your husband do. Your blinded by your sense of justice. You always have been".

The pixie haired teacher gave the Assassin a tight-lipped smile and stood from her seat just as the bell rung out with Emma re-entering the diner "Goodnight Amelia" Mary Margaret stood up from her seat and went to leave but Amelia stopped her.

"Snow" Amelia called out making the princess look back at her. A few people had heard her call out Snow's name and were looking at the pair, including Emma. The assassin froze as all eyes rested on her, she was outnumbered if she didn't defuse the situation quickly "I-I'm sorry" she internally chastised herself for stuttering.

Mary Margaret watched how nervous Amelia had become, her eye's twitched around the room and her fingertips nervously tapped against the surface of the table. Like she was waiting for something to happen.

Giving the woman a tight-lipped smile, she made her way back to the red head as the others went back to their conversations with David continuing to watch closely. Amelia saw this and kept her voice low as she spoke to the former Princess.

"Does your husband really think I would kill you right here and now?".

"You haven't given us much reason to trust you" she reminds the woman.

The redhead paused as she thought of her answer for the younger woman in front of her "You're right. I haven't".

"But your trying, that's all that matters. Did you want some of that cake now?".

"No thank you. I think I'll go. Tell Emma thank you for inviting me" Mary Margaret didn't get a chance to protest as Amelia quickly left the party and made her way back to her apartment. Unaware of who watching her from the rooftops.

---

With his telescope, Hook found the Black Widow leaving the diner shortly after her Queen, noting the leather gauntlets absent form her arms, pausing in the middle of the pavement to watch the retreating form of the woman she love walk down the sidewalk. The Widow pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders before turning and leaving in the opposite direction.

"And what of her Widow?" Hook asked the Queen of Hearts as her ally in this realm Puck stood behind her.

"Leave her to us" Cora tells the pirate "She has something I need still. Something, powerful".

---

White hot anger pumped though her veins as her mind reeled with the news that the Evil Queen had been captured by the Royal couple after expressing her bad felling about her going on her own to face the Princess. Innocent vases and glasses were among the items that took the brunt of her anger as she threw anything she could get her hands on, as Henry stood by trying his best to sooth the woman's anger towards his daughter.

But smashing everything wouldn't get the Queen back, she needed to know what they were going to do with her. Using the steady stream on people going in and out of the castle, the assassin sneaked past the guards in to the castle grounds on the back of the cart carrying fresh hay without raising any suspicions.

Once inside she had restrain herself from cutting the throat of a couple of guards that mocked the Queen's current residence within the castle as a prisoner. But she couldn't leave any evidence she had been there. Meaning no dead bodies.

She would have to come back for them later.

Keeping to the shadows she managed to find out the royal couple were about to meet with their 'council' to discuss what would happen next. Finding the ornately decorated round table the assassin slipped into the room and found a place to hide just as the the royals walked in with the other members of their council to listen closely to the discussion.

"I fear the Queen will never change" Jiminy Cricket voiced from his place on the table, his small voice amplified for the group to hear what he had to say "We must dispense justice" she had to suppress a growl at the crickets comment and resist coming out her spot to crush the bug once and for all.

"Agreed. What are our options?" Charming opened the conversation to the council.

"How about giving me five minutes alone with her and my ax?" Grumpy offered "…She's still restrained, right?".

He wouldn't get anywhere near her without him finding his own ax in his head.

"Yes" Blue answered the dwarfs question "But the magic that we used to capture her, will only keep her powerless for a short while".

"How about banishing her to another realm?" Granny suggested to the group.

"We can't" Jiminy quickly dismissed the old women's suggestion "It would be unconscionable to condemn another realm to the suffering that we've endured".

"Jiminy's right" Red agreed with the cricket "She's our problem, and we have to deal with her".

"Then only one thing is certain" Charming addressed his and Snow's council standing from his seat "As long as the Queen lives, the kingdom is in danger".

The assassin had to stop an audible growl that threatened to rumble from deep within her belly hearing the Prince say this. How how she was tempted to come out of her hiding spot to just plunge her blade into his throat.

"Are you saying…" Snow trailed off.

"Yes" he tells his fiancee "We must kill the Queen" he announced, the whole table going into a hush as their decision sunk in.

"Aren't we forgetting her" Grumpy pointed out to the couple breaking the uncomfortable hush "The Black Widow" he reminded them as quiet murmur's washed over the table.

"I have to agree with Grumpy" Blue sighed gaining the whole table's attention back to her "By now the Queen's capture has already reached her ear. And once she finds out about the execution. I'm fearful not even my magic would stop her in the end. She will want revenge for the Queen's demise, she has allies hiding in plain sight throughout the forest, maybe in this very castle. She won't stop until she has killed either one of you or both".

"We haven't forgotten" Charming told the council "We plan to deal with the Black Widow once it comes to it, for now our focus is on the Queen".

That wasn't the answer the council wanted to hear. His vague answer failed to put his friends fear at ease knowing what his true love wanted to do with the Black Widow if they ever got the opportunity to capture her.

Even she didn't feel assured of what they had in mind if the unlikely even should ever happen. She wanted to know too.

"That's reassuring" Grumpy comment came out in as a scoff as Charming looked around the table to see that the rest of the council weren't convinced by his answer. They were afraid.

"Charming.." Snow whispered to her true love tugging on his hand "We have to tell them, otherwise we're all in danger".

Nodding in agreement the Prince stood tall as he let out sigh out of his nose, knowing he wasn't completely behind his love's plan. But this is what she wanted. He would happily see the woman die for her actions to help the Evil Queen, but he had to listen to what his future wife wanted. No matter how naive the decision was.

"Snow and I have discussed what to do with the Widow. The first option is if offer the assassin to surrender to us, lay down her weapons and banish her forever to wherever she came from".

"And the other?" Red asked the man.

"We capture her just like we did the Queen. We can keep her under lock and key here for the rest of her life, where she can't hurt anyone else. Alive but under lock and key".

"Why not kill her too?" Doc voiced from his seat.

"That's something Snow doesn't want to happen" he answered the council retaking his seat clutching onto her hand, giving all the support she needed.

"Despite what she's done, she's always protected me" Snow added to the conversation "She saved me when I was a child and she nearly died for saving my father. She was good once, and she can be good again if we gave her a chance without the Queen by her side".

Amelia shook her head at Snow's stupidity. As long as her beat in her chest she was never going to be their prisoner. And she was going to get her Queen out of her cell, no matter who got in her way. Whatever it took.

With the decision about the Queen made and the knowledge of what would happen to the Black Widow if and when she was captured the council dismissed themselves leaving the royal couple to themselves to think over the decisions they had made in the last few minutes.

"You sure this is what we must do?" Snow voiced to her true love as Amelia listened on.

"What choice do we have? As long as she draws breath, she will come after us. After you. The same goes for the Widow".

"There's always a choice" Snow tells her love repeating the lesson her friend had taught her over the years she helped her. That's what Amelia taught her anyway "You stopped me from killing her once. Took an arrow to save her. Why is this different?".

"I took that arrow to save your life, not hers" Charming tells her taking a seat beside her "That was an assassination. This is an execution, if we don't stop her now, there's no telling what she'll live to do".

"And Amelia? Is putting her in a cage for the rest of her life not just same as killing her?".

Her godfather Romeo once said to her having one's freedom taken away is the same as killing them. Instead of killing a body, they would be killing a soul. Something that is much more precious than a body could ever be. A body is just flesh, bone and blood to inhabit a soul. They'd be sentencing her to a death much worse than the one the Queen would suffer.

"What do you think Amelia would want?" The Prince asked her "The Amelia you knew if you could speak to her again, what do you think she would want?".

"I don't want to think want she would want" she told her true love, tear threatening to escape her eye's.She already knew the answer. She would want her to kill her.

"Then doing what we agreed would be the best for her. Because if she's free, she will be just as a dangerous as the Queen, if not worse".

---

An uneventful day quickly passed the town of Storybrooke after the party, as Amelia found herself in the familiar routine she had of her cursed days of working at the bar. The only difference this time was that she didn't find a stack of new paperwork that had magically appeared on her desk that morning.

Like always, the redhead ate lunch at Granny's like she always did, going over a liquor order that didn't seem so urgent to be completed as before with a half-eaten sandwich to her right. The endless ringing of Granny's bell didn't disturb the assassin it was drowned out with the coming and going's of Storybrooke residents until someone sat themselves across from her in the booth she say in

"Hi" Henry's voice met her ears as she suppressed a smile on her lips of seeing the young boy once again. Instead for feigned disinterest as her green eye's flickered up to see him in his school uniform, before she quickly glanced over to the clock to see it was ten minutes past 3.

"Henry" she greeted the eleven year old opposite her "Good day at school?".

He shrugged his shoulders as an answer more interested in what the assassin was doing opposite him. Was is something to do with her old life as an assassin? He wanted to know everything about her and the assassin.

"What are you doing?" he curiously asks her.

"Boring paperwork" she sighed him she putting down her pen to lean in and whisper to the boy "Otherwise I'll be in trouble with the mean sheriff" she added giving him a a playful wink that made him chuckle to himself as Emma approached the booth to find that Henry had found Amelia sat in a booth hearing what she had just said about a 'mean sheriff'.

"What's this about a mean sheriff?" Emma appeared at the table with a to-go cup in her hand "I hope you weren't talking about me" she said as she playfully ruffled her son's brown hair.

"Of course not" Amelia smoothly answers the blonde's question "I was talking about David" she quickly answered the blonde making her chuckle.

"Hey kid, go wait in the car, while I talk to Amelia quickly" Henry huffed at his mother's instructions before saying a quick goodbye to the redhead to leave the pair of adult women alone in the booth.

Slipping into the seat opposite the red head seemed relaxed in the blondes presence despite not knowing much about her, other than what Mary Margaret had told her during their short stay in the Enchanted Forest.

She was an assassin. Part of a Brotherhood that operated in the realm, and that she worked for the Evil Queen. There was no mention of any family or friends, other than she once saved her mother and Regina from a pack of mercenaries sent to kill them and derail a plot to kill her grandfather, King Leopold. Somehow in a short space of time she turned from the devote assassin, protecting people to serving the Evil Queen. There was no reason, no past that made the blonde feel a sense of unease with the woman that knew how to kill people.

And then she saw her with Henry last night. That tough exterior seemed to vanished as soon as Henry spoke to her. She was a completely different person than the one she was told about. That person she trusted and felt at ease with, and she needed to speak to her about and find out what had happened when she followed Regina out of the diner.

"I didn't get a chance to speak to you last night" Emma started "I was just wondering how everything was. David told me how you helped keeping people from going too near the town line".

"It wasn't me per say" she tells the woman honestly "It was my thieves and mercenaries that worked for me back home, I gave them food and shelter when they needed it back home. They help me out when I ask for it in return".

Nodding along to her answer the blonde brought up the real reason for their private chat.

"Listen, what happened between you and Mary Margaret last night, when I came back in everything was a little….tense" she tried to best describe the tension in the room.

"Just a misunderstanding. Your parents and I have had a lot of them over the years. It's nothing new" she brushed the savior's concern off.

"It didn't look like one" she argued remembering how quickly she had left "Look Archie told me you're trying to change bu-".

"What exactly did Dr. Hopper say to you?" Amelia interrupted the blonde becoming defensive, her relaxed image suddenly tensed in seconds as the mention of Archie speaking to her about her sessions.

"He told me you were trying" Emma told her truthfully "You and Regina. That you want to change".

"Anything else?" she pressed the blonde further, eager to hear what exactly Dr. Hopper had been telling the hero's about their confidential conversations.

"No nothing" Emma tries to tell the woman, only to see the distrust "It's not a big deal, there's no need to get defensive about this".

"I need to go" Amelia suddenly announced to the blonde, hastily find a bunch of bills in her jacket and drop them onto the table as she slid out of the booth in one smooth motion "I have an appointment" she adds quickly gathering the paperwork in her hand before heading straight for the door.

"Amelia!" Emma tried to call out to the hot tempered woman as she followed her out for the diner and down the path "Come on, it's not a big deal" she tried to reason with the redhead only to be ignored as she watched her cross the road narrowly missing oncoming traffic as a car or two came to screeching halt to avoid hitting her to disappear from sight into Archie's office building.

"Is everything okay?" her head snapped at the voice to see Henry with his head out of the window having seen Amelia storm out shortly followed by his birth mother.

"I hope so kid" she sighed knowing Archie was in for one hell of a session.

---

She'd never felt so mortified in her whole life than to know that Emma or the hero's knew something about her past, that Archie could be going behind her back and reporting to the royals on what she had been saying to him under the guise of confidentiality.

That is what had made her so angry, that she could be so easily fooled under the niceties and sensitivity that the man exhibited whenever she felt comfortable to tell him about her past. About Romeo. About John and Thomas. About Regina.

Her pain was all a game to them. They just wanted to find her weaknesses and use it against her. Each step she took towards the mans office, white hot anger flowed through her veins like a drug she had been dying to take again as the sound of tire's coming to a screeching stop didn't even register in her mind as she zeroed in on her target.

Wrenching the door open the assassin shot up the staircase up to his office taking two steps at a time until she got to the top, pausing briefly in front of his door as she tried to give herself a second to, gather her thoughts at what she would tell the man, to call out to the voice in her head that told her to not do this. but to hell with reason.

She didn't get this far listening to that voice.

She was tempted to kick the door down, but she didn't fancy another night in a police cell, especially now either Charming or Emma would be keeping her company for the duration for the night in the office.

Grasping the door handle with her hand, the assassin let herself into the office seeing Happy on the couch in the middle of a session with Archie when she burst into the office with no warning.

"WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN TELLING THEM!" she bellowed at the man as Pongo jumped from his bed at the threat, starting to bark and growl at the woman that had disturbed them.

"Amelia!" Archie gasped in surprise seeing the woman barging into the office as he stood from his chair to confront the woman "This is highly inappropriate, I'm in the middle of a session with another patient" he scolded her.

So the dwarf was the only thing between her and Archie. That could be easily taken care of. Turning her head the Black Widow's hard gaze met Happy's as he shook with fear on the couch.

"Get out dwarf" she ordered the shorter man as he stood to stand up to the villain.

"What?! No way! This is my appointment" the dwarf protested. She wasn't the only one with problems since the curse had broken.

Taking a deep breath the assassin tried to regain some control of her emotions as a low hum was heard from the woman's throat before she spoke.

"I said.." she calmly trailed off, before fixing her gaze on the dwarf again as he took a step away from her in fear "Get out!" she screamed in the dwarfs face "Or find your pickax in your head" she bit at the man as the dalmatian continued to bark at her.

Happy meekly nodded at the Black Widow before he carefully move around her to find the exit, shutting the door behind him before he ran down the stairs as Pongo continued barking at her, sensing the anger that rolled off her body.

"Shut it!" she snapped at the dog making him whimper and lie back onto his bed obediently.

"Amelia-" Archie started, he knew what this was about. Regina had confronted him that morning, somehow he preferred her to this any day.

"You told Emma about our sessions" she accused the man as she remained on her feet.

A sigh let his mouth before he answered "I was simply trying to help you. I mentioned only that you had to come see me as a way to process your past, to identify your trigger-"

"My triggers?" she laughed off with a flash of an amused smile "Tell me doctor, what exactly am I triggering when I find out the person that knows my deepest secrets is telling every person that walks in here?".

"I would never betray the doctor-patient confidentiality".

"You got your PhD from a curse" she reminded him "The same way I got my liquor licence that kept running out every fucking day for the last twenty eight years" she growled out to the man.

"Why are you so afraid of your past getting out?" he suddenly asked the woman.

"Excuse me?" she replied narrowing her eye's at the man in confusion.

"Everyone has a past. Half the people share the same trauma you do. They've lost parents, a spouse and children. I'm sure they would be able to sympathize with everything you've gone through, to share in the pain-".

"No they haven't" she gulped as her felt her throat suddenly dry "They weren't raised the same way I was. They don't know what pain is until they've been raised by people who think the only way someone can get stronger is putting them through hell each day. To be beaten within an inch of your life for every silly mistake you made that day and tell yourself that you brought it onto yourself for making it. They don't have to see those scars everyday, or relive them every night".

Archie watched her the whole time she spoke, she was finally being honest with him and couldn't help but feel a slither of disappointment that it took her to be angry to finally open herself up to him. Every session he had tried to his best to gain more and more out of her, only for the secretive assassin to put her walls up as soon as something started to upset her. The Black Widow had been protecting her for so long, and Amelia Montague was finally coming out for the first time in decades.

"I'm sorry that happened to you Amelia".

The redhead seemed struck by the words the man had just said as she paused to look at him. Like it was the first time someone had every said that to her.

"No" she shook her head at the man, feeling her eyes sting "Don't do that, don't be sorry".

"Why not?" he gently asked her.

"Because you have no idea what to be sorry for. You didn't watch my father murdered by those you called him brother. You didn't watch my true love killed by a monster. You didn't watch as our son was taken away from you. I did that. I stood by and let that happen. You can say sorry all you want, but it won't ever stop that pain, because it means killing the only family I ever known. Has been for nothing".

Nodding at her conclusion the psychiatrist turned to fetch Happy's file off his desk and go to his cabinet as the now docile assassin watched him swap it out for another, before taking a seat on the wooden chair and pick up a pen ready to continue the progress he had made with the volatile assassin.

"Please take a seat. Let's talk" he simply tells her as she looked at the man in bewilderment before taking a seat on the sofa to continue the impromptu session.

---

Later that night, while Ruby was closing up the diner across the street, she saw Regina walking towards Archie's building where she was met by Amelia who opens the door to his building and let the former Queen enter first.

Looking around to check their surroundings, the assassin's eye's met hers. A toothy smirk grew on the redheads lips making a shiver roll down the she-wolf's spine as playful wink was send her way, before following the former Queen into the building, shutting the door behind her and climbing the stairs.

Something was off. But shrugged the feeling off as it passed as she picked the sidewalk sign to take into in the diner.

---

Sat at his desk in his office later that evening with Pongo in his bed unaware of who was making their way up the stair up to his office, Archie added detailed notes to of his spontaneous appointment with the redheaded assassin after she interrupted his appointment with Happy with her own accusations of their confidential conversation being the talk of the town.

After her initial anger had dimmed, the woman she had been hiding under the dark hood had finally come to light for the first time in fifteen years while she served the Queen and hunted down her family. The one that was still mourning her father, husband. She had more made steps today than she had made in weeks. There was hope.

He was disturbed when a knock came from door. Forgetting his task, he stood and answered the door to be met with Regina on the other side.

"I know it's late, but I was hoping we can talk" Regina said to the man hoping to speak to him.

"Sure. Come on in" he answered, letting her step into the office as Pongo stood from his bed to growl and bark at the woman as his owner shut the door behind her.

"Hush, Pongo. You know Regina" Pongo quietens down at Archie's scold as he went to his desk to retrieve Amelia's file and go to his filing cabinet to find Regina's "I know how hard it is. Real change can often be a… A struggle" he turned back to find the former Queen stood right behind him, making him jump back in fright as he hears a familiar voice that was just in his office that afternoon.

"I couldn't agree more Doc" he suddenly hears Amelia's gravelly voice say locking his door behind her. He didn't even hear the door open.

"Amelia is there something-" before he could finish his question Regina grabbed him by the neck and lifts him into the air. Seeing the threat Pongo once again begins to bark and growl before the former Queen silences and freezes him in place.

Struggling in the Queen's hand, purple smoke starts to flow from the woman's hand as the assassin closes the distance between them, using the couch she had spent the majority of the afternoon on as leverage to jump up high, as a hidden blade snaps out of her gauntlet and sinks into his throat.

---

Leaving the building together and around a corner into an ally way. When they are out of sight 'Regina' transforms back into Cora while 'Amelia' transforms in Puck. Cora looked to the young man with a pleasing smile,

"Excellent work Puck" she praises him for his part in their plan "Now we wait".

---

Finding Archie's body the next day covered in blood was something the blonde sheriff was not going to forget anytime soon. After breakfast with Henry that morning, the pair had found Pongo out loose in the street without his owner anywhere in sight. Ruby had quickly run outside

Emma's discovery of Archie dead in his office covered in blood was a sight she didn't think she would forget about anytime soon. After breakfast with Henry, she had found Pongo loose in the middle of the street. The Dalmatian led her and Ruby back into his office to see his body lying in a pool of his blood that had soaked into the carpet underneath him overnight.

Ruby had told her what she saw the previous night. This led her and her parents outside one of the suspects apartment door. Emma knocked on the door first.

"Amelia! It's Emma open up" but no answer. She tried again but no answer. Knocking on the door again, the blonde waited to hear any sign of movement inside as her father became visibly agitated from the the lack of answer.

Pushing his daughter aside, the Prince used the side of his closed fist as he let out the frustration and betrayal he had felt for allowing himself to trust the woman that lived inside the apartment after everything she had done to get his family back. She has used him, and now Archie had paid for the wool she had pulled over his eyes.

"Amelia! Open the dman door!" he yelled through the door as his temper got the better of him. Giving up, the former Princes took a step back, ready to kick the door open when a voice behind him made him stop.

"I swear if you break my door, I will break your arm" the Charming family looked behind them and saw Amelia at the top the stairs that led to her apartment with a to go cup in her hand.

"You do that, and I'll throw you in a cell" Charming almost growled at her as he turned to confront her head on.

"I'd really like to see you try Shepherd" the two came together sizing each other up, chest puffed out ready for a fight before Emma had to physically pull her father away from the red head.

Something told her he would come off worse in this situation. Call it gut instinct.

"Enough!" she told them as the pair continued to stare the other down ready to pounce if either made a single move "Amelia, we just need you to come down to the station to answer some questions".

"I'm not going anywhere without a warrant" she broke eye contact with the man present to make her way to her front door told the blonde as she pushed her way her door taking out her keys already done with the small family for the day.

"Amelia, we're not arresting you…" Mary Margaret tried to speak to her old friend.

"Yet" David added earning a pointed glare from his daughter and wife.

"Somethings happened" Emma spoke interrupted her father "You were named by a witness. We just need to talk" Amelia turned to face the Charming's her eye's darting between the father and daughter in suspicion before finally settling on the blonde.

"If I come with you, would you stop breaking into my apartment?".

"Deal" she breathed out in relief having dodged the bullet for the moment.

---

The Black Widow stood in the gathering crowd for the Evil Queen's execution with the latter's father as they saw Regina being escorted by four guards in chains. With a lilac hood covering her distinct red hair, the assassin easily blended into the crowd in her old lilac robes as the royal couple and their allies watched the Queen being tied to a post set up in the courtyard.

Sat in their 'thrones' to watch the execution, the redhead saw the way Snow looked uneasy putting her step-mother to death. Her good heart would be her undoing in the end and the advantage Amelia was going to take whatever it took to get the woman she loved back.

She knew she couldn't go on the offensive straight away or try to break the Queen out of her cell while her life hung in the balance. No this needed a delicate touch. Glancing up to the castle walls, the assassin easily found the guards the patrolled them, seeing them quickly and quickly being taken out one by one by her loyal thieve and mercenaries as she heard Senu, her eagle call out the all clear to her down on the ground.

Turning back on the scene in front of her, she saw the bug fly over to the Queen and say something to her. Blinking on her sixth sense the assassin was able to hear what he said to her;

"Regina" he addressed her making the assassin's brow's furrow in annoyance, she was still a Queen as long as she had a beating heart. Maybe she should have Senu eat him for good measure "This is your opportunity to meet your end with a clear conscience. Do you have any last words?".

"Yes. Yes I do" she answers the bug as it flies away to re-join the royal couple. Pausing the Queen finds her father in the crowd as she tried to find the familiar redhead within it, only to be left disappointed as she wasn't able to find the pair of friendly green eyes that would make this a slither better for her.

"When I look back at everything I've done, I want you all to know what I feel. And that is… Regret" she paused again "Regret, that I was not able to cause more pain. Inflict more misery. And bring about more death" she seethed at the royal couple as her lips curled into a snarl as she continued to glare at Snow White as the redheaded assassin smiled to herself seeing the Queen giving what her audience wanted from her.

"And above all else, with every ounce of my being, I regret that I was not able to kill… Snow White!".

Hearing this, Charming leapt to his feet as he barked out an order "Arrow's!".

At his order, four bowmen step up with their weapons as the Queen was blindfolded, drawing their arrows.

"Take your aim!" he called out again.

She head the sound of bow string being pulled tight as the guards aimed true. Squeezing her eye's shut, silent tears ran down her cheeks as Amelia's pleading face swam before her eye's wishing she could turn back time and made herself listen to the assassin's warnings. Her gut feelings were always right. But she didn't care. She just wanted Snow White. And now she was going to pay for her life for that, knowing she wasn't even there to witness her punishment for not listening to her.

"FIRE!" Charming's voice boomed through the courtyard as she waited for the sharp arrows to fly through the air and pierce her chest only to hear a sharp loud whistle come from the crowd, followed by the sound of four bodies hitting the cobble stoned ground.

"TO ARMS!" Charming called out with panic lacing his voice as the sound of swords being unsheathed from their scabbards fill the air only for it be closely by "Drop your weapons!".

Confusion filled her mind as silence filled the air before the Prince had to repeat himself " Drop your weapons, NOW!".

Swords clattered against the stone ground as a pair of footsteps approached her from behind to untied the blindfold from the back of her head and take it off her eye's.

She had to squint at the sudden light but as her eye's adjusted she saw the commotion she had heard and why Charming had ordered his guards to put their weapons in the ground.

The Black Widow was stood behind Snow White holding the Princess in a vice grip with a hidden blade being held close to her pale neck out in the middle of the courtyard for all to see and be able to do nothing as she held the young woman's life in the balance. She was there.

Charming stood frozen on his spot as his sword lied on the ground as he saw the fear in his true loves eye being at the Black Widow's mercy.

"You had an execution and you didn't invite little old me" she told the couple "How rude" she added with a wicked smirk on her lips that made the Prince spine shiver in fear

"Now, how open would you be a to a negotiation if I don't slit your true loves little throat".

---

With both named suspects to Archie's murder in the Sheriff station. Emma led the former Assassin to her office, locking her inside the small square office while she and her father questioned Regina in the interrogation room.

After her own interrogation, the former Queen was led out of the room like a common criminal when she saw a familiar figure with their boot covered feet perched on the edge of the Sheriffs desk minding her own business as her head snapped up her green eyes meeting a confused brown through the glass that divided them.

Seeing the former Queen being escorted out made Amelia stood from her seat and went straight for the door attempting to open the door only to find it locked making the Assassin to bang on the window in frustration as she saw Regina leave the station.

David huffed and took out his keys unlocking the office door and opening it for the red head "Come on it's your turn" David asked the assassin as politely as he could as she stood her ground on the other side of the office.

"What was she doing here?" she questioned the man.

"You'll find out in a minute unless you want to be cuffed and carried" he told her.

She liked getting a reaction from people, it what told her their weaknesses, but the Prince at that moment didn't give anything away as she sighed in frustration before leaving the office to be escorted to the interrogation room by the father/ daughter duo.

---

Mary Margaret watched on from the other side of the double mirror with a hard look on her face as her childhood hero took a seat that Regina was just sat while her husband and daughter walked to the other side ready to question her about the vicious murder of a good man that only wanted to help.

"What no Snow?" she asked the pair expecting to have the Princess join them "I thought this would be a family bonding opportunity for the three of you" she dryly said to the two Sheriffs in front of her.

"No, just us" David told her "So are you going to tell us where you were last night?".

The redheads eyebrow raised at the odd question "At the Hidden One's working, then I went home. Alone" she looked to Emma "What's this all about?". Sh seemed like the only reasonable one there at the moment.

"Archie was found dead in his office this morning" Emma told the redhead.

"He's dead?" she questioned the sheriff in disbelief. Emma watched the former Assassin closely for any hint that she was lying. But it was the same as with Regina. This was news to her.

"Stop it Amelia" David intervened by leaning down on the table to get into her face "Ruby saw you and Regina going into his office last night, how convenient we found that person dead the next day".

"The she wolf is crying wolf" the red head tried to argue but Emma interrupted.

"Then tell me what happened at your appointment with Dr. Hopper after you stormed out of the diner".

"I'll admit I got upset but I never touched him" she was telling the truth again. David shook his head at the Assassin with his hands on his hips "Despite what you may think I can restrain myself from killing people".

"Yeah right" David scoffed at the woman as he stood up straight "Doesn't your order have rules about killing innocent people. Stay your sword from the blood of an innocent".

"Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent" Amelia corrected him "Seeing how you've just butchered a sacred tenet that's been around for longer than anyone here combined, show's me that you have no idea what that even means" she glowered at the Prince "It. won't. work".

"I might not understand your damn Brotherhood, but a good man is still dead, and Ruby saw you and Regina going into his office late at night. I think that pretty self-explanatory".

"I've been killing people long before you got your royal title of yours. If I were going to kill anyone, you certainly wouldn't know anything about it. The fact that he's dead and you caught me shows sloppiness. I don't do sloppy. Its not in my nature".

"You've been caught out before" he points out as stormed for the door having had enough. He just about reached for the door handle just as she spoke again.

"Its funny you should mention that particular tenant your highness" she started as she relaxed into her chair with her arms folded across her chest.

He took the bait looking back to the redhead. Emma knew what she was doing, trying to get under his skin and he was falling for it.

"David" Emma tried to call out to her father "Don't listen-" but it was no use, the assassin had him, hook, line and sinker.

"That particular tenant stopped me from killing you and your lovely daughter where you stood, thirty years ago. It saved both your lives, because if it wasn't for it, we wouldn't be here right now" all the bravado he exhibited suddenly slipped away as he simply stared at the woman at the table allowing her to carry on.

"That terrifies you doesn't it Shepherd? No matter what you or your wife do. I'm always there. So, if you want to arrest me, arrest me. You'll know where to find me" at that he wrenches the door open leaving Emma to run after him.

"David!" she called after her father leaving the red head to kick up her feet on the table crossing her ankles and smile to herself happy, she was able to get under the man's skin so easily. She blinked her eyes and saw Mary Margaret on the other side of the mirror and gave the Princess a sickly smirk.

A shiver crawled down the Princesses spine as she knew Amelia could see her even through the mirror. All she could wonder was what lengths she would go.

---

"You wouldn't" Charming called the bluff of the Black Widow who had his true love in a vice grip holding a blade against her throat in the middle of the courtyard.

"You really want to try me Charming" Amelia called it and pressed the sharp edge harder on the skin making a small cut deep enough to cut and make her bleed "Ever heard of the term ear to ear?".

"No, no wait!" Charming protested in fear, Amelia took the edge of the blade away from the Princesses neck earning her a painful gasp coming from the younger woman as blood welled up from the small cut left by the blade "Please... let her go" Charming pleaded with the Black Widow, who held a blade against his heart.

"Lia" Snow whispered to the Assassin as she shook like a leaf.

"Don't call me that" she growls into her ear "You don't get to call me that. You're not my friend".

"Lia please, this isn't you, you're good" she plead to the assassin.

"You don't know me Snow White" her grip on the Princess only got tighter as the Princess tried to pull her arm away from her throat.

"You would've killed me by now if you hadn't completely turned you heart dark" Snow continued "Lay down your weapons and join the side of good while you still can" she pleaded to the Assassin.

"You're only alive because you have my Queen. Now shut up!" Amelia yelled in the younger woman's ear making her wince.

"BLUE NOW!" David yelled out. Amelia snapped her head around to see three fairies including the infamous Blue fly down and attack her garrison with fairy dust. The distraction allowed Snow to loosen Amelia's hold on the Princess and turn out of her grip to retreat next to her fiance.

Reaching into her pocket, the Princess took hold of the dust that lied in her pocket as she spun around to throw it towards the redhead, it falling into the redheads eyes.

The Black Widow screamed out in pain as the fairy dust went into her eyes, making the woman almost fall to her knees as she desperately tried to get the dust out, they could only watch as she stumbled on her feet as the dust scraped against her eye's like sand as the royal guards and Charming picked their weapons back off the ground to quickly surround the subdued assassin with their swords held out and poised at the deadly woman.

Amelia could do nothing as she felt two strong hands take her by the shoulder and pushed her onto her knee's as the tips of swords were held up to her.

With a straight back the redhead looked up at the Prince who stood behind the armed knights with weeping and red irritated eyes.

"Surrender or die with your Queen" Charming told the woman. He knew Snow's wishes for the woman, but the assassin was willing to do whatever it took to get the Queen back. He couldn't take any chance with her.

The Prince watched closely as the assassin gave up and held up her hands above her head in surrender as she was allowed to stand back onto her feet.

"Do you really think I need my eyes to see?" she panted out to the Prince. linking on her sixth sense and saw the guard surrounding her as bright red figures as the rest of the world turned blue. A guard went to stab her but quickly unsheathed her two hidden blades. She pushed the oncoming weapon to her right she used her left to push the sword down and slid up the sword until she impaled the guard her right blade into his neck killing him.

The other guards pounced into action. From behind her a guard swung his sword down at her she easily dodged the sword and slipped her arm under the guards sword hand while her elbow keep his arm down, she stabbed the guard in the abdomen, pushing the dead guard away three more appeared. She grabbed the guard on her left and threw him in the opposite direction to the stone floor, she turned back around to stomp hard on the guard foot to her right making him go to one knee as she turned to send her blade under the chin of the standing guard she swung her palm around the quickly slice the throat of the still kneeling while kicking the other to the ground.

In the adrenaline Amelia found the guard that she threw away and pushed her blade into his neck while she kicked one of his legs up from under him while she pushed him down to the ground dead with her hand. On the spin she kicked a guard hard in the stomach as she reached for her rope dart and send the dart into the back of another before doing back to the guard she kicked and ending his pathetic life.

She went for another guard but stopped when Regina called out to her. "Look out!" she whirled around to be met with a crossbow bolt hitting her in the shoulder. She was blind to see the bolt that she felt in her shoulder roar out in pain as she did her best to open her eyes making the fairy dust scratch her eye as she heard another one fly through the air. Not able to dodge in time, the wooden bolt impaled itself into the same shoulder making her lose her jerk back forcefully.

"Amelia!" Regina screamed to the Assassin as she tried to pull at her restraints in a desperate attempt to get to the red head.

As the world seemed to slow down her blood shot eye opened as far as she could to see who was responsible for the attack only to see none other that Snow White holding the offending crossbow before she fired the third and final bolt that hit her thigh sending the assassin on her knees.

Blinded and now wounded to the extent that she was now on her knee's as she bit her tongue to contain the scream that wanted to escape the remaining knights surrounded her with their swords pointed straight at her.

Slowly she held up her hands in surrender as she felt blood started to soak into her clothes. She knew she couldn't fight like this.

Defeated by a Princess. How pathetic.

"Take her to the dungeon's we'll deal with her later" Charming ordered, two of the guards she hadn't killed grabbed her by her arms and dragged her away from the courtyard, the only voice was Charming's ordering for is archer's to take their positions again.

"FIRE!".

Then her world turned dark.

---

"So, what do we do with her now?" Emma started after calming David down enough to join Mary Margaret in the adjoining room to the interrogation room while Amelia waited patiently for the family's next move.

"Lock her up, throw away the key" David answered as he paced the room his voice laced in venom towards the Assassin.

"We can't lock her up, because she didn't do it" Emma tells him.

"You really believe her?".

"I watched her when we told her Archie was dead. She didn't know. The same with Regina. They had no idea".

"Emma, I know that you want to believe that they can change for Henry, but-"

"I know what I saw. Look at her in there" her mother glances to see the redhead in the same position her feet up on the table as she waited patiently, for one of them to do something "The old Amelia wouldn't have come down if she knew and the old Regina would've reduced this building to ashes.."

"With all due respect, you don't know them like we do" David argued.

"Maybe that's the problem. I know in your kingdom; she was the Evil Queen and whatever Amelia was…" she came to stop not really sure who or what the redhead went as.

"The Black Widow" Mary Margaret corrected her daughter.

"Seriously?" she questioned out load in disbelief. She shook her head before continuing "But here, she's Amelia. And I'm still the Sheriff, and I say she's innocent until proven guilty, they both are".

"So… Uh, what do you suggest we do?" her mother asked the blonde.

"Let her go".

David protested the idea "Emma, sh- ".

"We let her go, and then we find the truth".

---

Crickets chirped in the cold night air as Snow took a walk through the courtyard where so much blood was spilled only for her to stop The Evil Queen's execution at the last moment. Returning the Queen to her cell, while the Black Widow was sat in their dungeons after she slaughtered several of their guards. She had Doc go down to her to tend to the wounds Snow inflicted on her old friend.

The dwarf told her she had first refused treatment from the dwarf when he, Red and Blue found her where the guards had dumped her in a cell, barely conscience but still alive. She would rather bleed out than live in a world where Regina wasn't in it. She cared for the Queen more than just a partner.

But then Red told her about Snow's last-minute change of heart. All Amelia did was laugh through the pain as Doc removed the bolt's from her body.

She came to a stop where eventually the deadly assassin was finally subdued due to her taking Granny's crossbow. She couldn't stand by as she killed more and more men so brutally, she had to stop her herself.

Peering down and saw the dark brown patches that stained the ground. Even in the dark she could still see the blood that stained the cobblestone ground where the servants just couldn't wash away.

"My, my. Aren't we troubled, dearie?" the voice made Snow whip round to see Rumpelstiltskin sat on her 'throne'.

"Rumpelstiltskin. What brings you here?" she asks the Dark One.

"You have to ask? I came to witness the Queen's execution" he stood from the chair and slowly walked towards the Princess "Even had my heart set on a wee souvenir. It's all very disappointing. But the Black Widow certainly livened things up. Remind me, how many guards did she manage to kill before you shot her?" the Dark One giggled to himself as he remembered Snow grabbing the old women's crossbow during the needless slaughter of men.

Snow ignored his manic giggles and held her had up high "I won't apologize for sparing her life".

"What about mercilessly shooting your childhood hero and send her to the dungeon to bleed out. Do you apologize for that?".

"No. Not when there's a chance they both might change" the notion made Rumpelstiltskin laugh harder.

"Regina and the Lady Amelia redeemed" he said between giggles "what a novel thought. And, um… How do you plan to accomplish such an impressive feat?".

Snow shrugged at the Dark One "I don't even know if it's possible. I'm probably just fooling myself".

"Maybe you need someone to show you that it is possible".

"What do you mean?".

"Simple. I provide you with a test to help determine whether the Queen and her Black Widow can truly change".

"Why would I trust you, when I know you want them dead? You never make a deal without a price" she challenged the sorcerer.

"Maybe I just want them alive".

"That I doubt".

"Question my motives all you like, dearie, but they shall remain mine. What is yours now, is opportunity. I can help you. Do we have a deal?".

---

Once she was set free, by the blonde Sheriff herself, the assassin headed straight to the suburbs taking several shortcuts as she went, through numerous back yards and footpaths to make sure the second Sheriff couldn't follow her. The redheaded woman finally made it to the former Queen's home, double checking her surroundings as she walked up the path to the white house. Knocking on the large white door she didn't have to wait long until it was opened by the former Queen herself.

"Did you kill the Cricket?" she asked the Assassin straight away without a beat.

"Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing" Amelia replied as she let herself into the house "I didn't by the way" she answered the former Queen's question as Regina closed the door behind them and followed the redhead into the living room. "Did you?" Amelia rebutted her earlier question as she turned to face the former Queen.

"Do you really have to ask?" she started with a scoff "Of course, I didn't. After everything I've done to change. Why would I toss it all away for a petty kill like the bug?".

"Well apparently the Charming's are convinced it was us" the assassin pointed out.

"Someone's framing us" Regina concluded.

"Who?" she questioned the former Queen with her hands on her hips as she stood clueless to who it would be.

---

The Hidden One's bar was the first place the Charming's hit to look for clues for the murder of Archie. They were desperately trying to get into Amelia's personal office, but her barman Luke, wasn't having any of it. He was ignoring every attempt David made to try and convince them to let them through. He even went to ignoring their mere presence. It was time for Emma to try a little harder.

"Look I get that your loyal to Amelia and everything, but this is a murder investigation. I need to prove that Amelia had nothing to do with this, I just need to see your security tapes, verify her alibi" Luke continued to clean glasses and instruct the rest of the staff ready for opening later as Emma waved her hand in front of the man's face "Hello? Sheriff to bartender".

"Hey LeBeau, LeFer do you hear something?" he asked the set of twin brothers across the room. the twins laughed hardheartedly at the man's jibe

"Ignore me all you want, but I'll be more than happy to arrest you all for obstruction".

"Why are you defending her after everything she's done, the countless lives she's taken" David argued.

"She us a home" Luke simply answered. He glanced behind David and looked towards Mary Margaret "She fed my family and put a roof over our heads when King Leopold and King George allowed his guards take everything from us. She's done that for everyone in here".

"My father would never allow that to happen" Mary Margaret tried to defend her dead father.

"Your own guards laughed at his kind heart Princess as they took our homes away. They would've have burnt down if Amelia hadn't turned up at the right moment. So, go ahead arrest us. Or better yet come back with a signed warrant. Get out before we have Lysander kicks you all out" the family looked to the staff that had gathered and saw a large blonde man step forward.

"Even at the expense of a good man losing his life after a temper tantrum" Mary Margaret added.

"She isn't like that" he tells them plainly "Yeah, she gets upset but she doesn't kill people just because she can, otherwise none of us would be here and as for an alibi, everyone in this bar will say she was here the whole night".

Emma's 'superpower' kicked in that told her he wasn't lying. This was a dead end.

"Come on let's try Archie office" Emma tried to appeal to David. It was a losing battle. It wasn't worth their trouble. Emma headed for the door with a reluctant David following his wife out of the building.

---

Gods she was bored.

Sat in the royal couple's dungeon chained to the wall by her ankles. It wasn't the first time she had been chained in any dungeon by any means but at least she was left alone and not visited by a dwarf escorted by Red or Blue to tend to her wounds on her shoulder and thigh. They hurt like a bitch.

Snow had stopped the execution at the very last second as the arrow's were about to meet their mark. So she was right after all. Snow's good heart would be her own downfall. She could only laugh through the pain she felt as the dwarf removed the bolts out of her body until her throat was dry.

She had been stripped of all her weapons and tool's including her healing tonic, barely leaving her in any clothes at all in fear she was hiding something that could kill them. They had spared her on humiliation as they left her in her black leggings and blouse that was still stained in her blood.

Her eyesight had begun to clear after spending ages rubbing the fairy dust out of them. But it still felt like there was sand in them. She should've cut the girls throat out and be done with it. Screw Rumpelstiltskin. He had no idea the crap that woman had put her through. She had no idea what the you woman's plan was with the dust, just she seemed to miss , getting her eye's instead of the dusts intended target.

Leaning her head back against the cold stone wall she let her eye's comfortably close when she heard the door to the dungeons open closely followed by footsteps.

"That better not be you Doc" she croaked out into the dark, her throat rasping from the lack of water the guards had given her "I'd rather die of infection that have you poking and prodding everything".

"We just might let you then" she smiled recognizing the voice.

"Mmhmm Prince Charming" she greeted the man cracking her eyes just wide enough to see the royal still in his armor next to Snow. The Princess was taken aback at the redness of her eyes. Her bloodstained blouse and dark leggings had started to dry into the material which made her stay there all the more uncomfortable as her bare feet had been left to the chill in the air.

Red actively searched the Assassin's body for any other weapon's she might had had on her. The only thing that they had found was a necklace that held a stone like pendant and a silver ring that had the Brotherhood's insignia engraved into it. The assassin verbally protested when the were-wolf had tried to take the necklace off. It was important to her, so she left it.

They had all her weapon's lied out on their council table. The number of knives and small blades she hid on her were nauseating. They just kept coming. Her leather bracers were also taken off her still dripping from the guard she killed.

She came here prepared to kill everyone to get Regina to safety, even if it meant that she had died in the process.

"Come to finish me off? You know there is some honor of cutting down your enemy while she's down and defenseless. Smart is some cases".

"I bet you've done that before" he retorted.

"Can't say I have, Your Highness. I want my target to fight back. Makes the final blow all that more satisfying" she drawled out letting her head fall back onto the wall and closing her eyes once again in fatigue.

"We're not here to discuss how you kill innocent people" the Prince told her.

"Stay you blade from the flesh of an innocent" she drawled out from memory. Charming and Snow looked at each other in confusion. Was she going mad? "It's one of the Brotherhood's tenants. Too bad no one gave a crap about it. But I did. I still do. What do you want? I'm a little busy".

"We're here because you weren't always like this Amelia" Snow spoke up "The woman who saved mine and Regina's life all those years ago, had good in her. Had hope".

A ghost of a smile grew on the red heads face at the memory of the day she met her Queen for the first time "I remember Snow. She drowned a while ago though. I didn't want to become The Black Widow".

"Then why did you join Regina?".

"A means to an end. Once I started to kill my old family my heart went dark. My price, but I can't stop before they can finally Requiescat in pace" (Rest in Peace) she sighed letting her eye's fall closed as fatigue washed over her once again.

"This is useless Snow" Charming whispered to his fiancée "She's obviously going mad".

Snow shook her head a Charming and knelt down to the bars next to where Amelia was sat near the front "I saw the way Regina looked at you when you finally fell. She care's for you. And I'm willing to bet you feel the same way".

Amelia's eye squinted open again to look at the Princess through her eye lashes "What do you know about it?".

"I remember the way you looked at her when you saved us. Even then you cared for her. This is your chance" Snow said, placing her hand on Amelia's almost limp hand resting on her uninjured thigh "A chance for the both of you".

"What are you talking about?".

"We offered her mercy, but when we tried to help her, to get her to change, she couldn't. She had a chance to walk away and start anew, but she chose evil and vengeance instead. We want to give you the same choice" she said with a gentle smile "Go to Regina, take her somewhere where she can't hurt anyone else. My godfather. He was apart of the Brotherhood. He spoke of a place. Monteri-".

"Monteriggioni" she said for the Princess.

"Right. He said it was a place even the darkest of magic couldn't touch. Take her there. A fresh start".

"She'd never agree to that" the assassin croaked out to the Princess.

"I bet she would if you asked her" Snow insisted.

A smile grew on Amelia's face she looked at the Princess that currently stood on the other side of the bars that separated them.

"You're still that naive little girl that still believes in happy endings aren't you? You just got taller" Amelia told the Princess snatching her hand away from Snows.

In a blink of an eye the assassin reached through the bars to take the dagger that was strapped to Snow's waist, shoving the end of it into the woman's chest aiming for her heart and twisted it into her flesh. The assassin watch as Snow didn't react the same way any other person would be if they had a blade in their chest.

"But at least you got smarter" the red head chuckled pulling the weapon out and throwing onto the ground laughing to herself "That bastard" she spat said in between bouts of laughter.

"How did you know?" Snow asks the woman in the cell.

"I saw it on you and your husband to be when you walked in. You two stink of his magic".

"You can see magic?" David wondered out loud.

Ignoring the Prince, the assassin looked to the Princess with her next question "So, what now Princess. It's your move".

---

After leaving the Hidden One's after a frosty reception the Charming's moved onto Archie's office the scene of the crime. David was looking through Archie's patient files as Emma and Mary Margaret sat across the room going through more paperwork as they tried to ignore the blood stain that had set into the carpet.

"Huh" the Prince scoffed gaining his wife's and daughters attention, he pulled out a couple of files to show them "Regina's and Amelia's files – both empty".

"So, they did it" Mary Margaret deduced "They killed the kindest soul in this town. A man who only cared about helping".

"I promise we'll find whoever really did this" Emma said from the sofa still not convinced it was either women.

"Isn't it time you admit we already have?" David queried with his daughter "Regina had a fight with Archie, you saw Amelia storm into his office building after she got upset. Ruby saw both outside last night, and now, their files are empty. That's… That's a lot of evidence".

"Maybe that's the point" she replied.

"What do you mean?" David asked.

"Well, I don't know how it is in fairy tale land, but in the real world, it's usually hard to find evidence. But this has been way too easy. Unless, someone wants us to find evidence".

"What? So, you think they're being framed?" Mary Margaret queried.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time that happened in this town" Emma pointed out to her mother, seeing as she was the victim of a frame job not to long ago.

"Who would want to frame them?" David asked his daughter.

"That's a long list, present company included" Mary Margaret admitted.

"Yeah. But there's only one name on that list that would resort to killing to get what they want" the blonde finished.

They had to see Rumplestilskin.

---

Rain pour down from the dark sky by the time Amelia was being escorted out of the royal palace by guards. Limping heavily on her injured thigh she saw her first sign of freedom not too far away in the form of Henry.

Snow White and Prince Charming where now untouchable to The Evil Queen and her Black Widow for the foreseeable future. The royal wedding had been set for two weeks' time. Giving the assassin time to lick her wounds and come back fighting against the royal's when the time came.

With her bloodied robe over her shoulder and her weapons returned to her, including her gauntlets. Seeing the assassin alive and somewhat well, the elder man approached the redhead with a heavy cloak held above his head to keep the rain off, taking her arm around his shoulder to help her walk to the carriage that was waiting for her at the end of the bridge.

"Good to see you alive child" he said over the rain having witnesses her attempt to save his daughter.

"Good to see you too Henry" she replied with a genuine smile"I missed you".

"I missed you too" he told her as they reached the carriage "But I think she's missed you more" Amelia smiled at the thought of seeing Regina for the first time in what felt like months. Henry stopped by the carriage door "I'll let you two have a minute" he told her as he opened the door for the red head.

"Thank you" Amelia placed a chaste kiss to Henry's cheek before he helped, her hop into the carriage and shut the door behind her as she took a heavy seat next to the woman she had tried to save just day's ago.

"I see you survived your injuries" Regina greeted her assassin dryly.

"Lovely to see you too" she dryly greeted the Queen back. Suddenly Regina jerked Amelia's tunic by the front until their lips met in a fierce kiss that made the Assassin forget about the pain the sudden movement had made her shoulder.

Groaning into the kiss out of pain instead of pleasure which the Queen pull away from the redhead resting her foreheads against Amelia's to tell her something she been needing to say to her ever since she left her to find Snow White herself.

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you" the Queen whispered to the woman.

"I'm sorry you didn't listen too" Amelia replied only to have a finger poked into her injured shoulder at the comment she made, making her groan in pain through clenched teeth.

"Good. That hurt. Maybe that'll teach you not to be the knight in shining armor".

"Lesson learnt" she said through gritted teeth as she leaning back into the seat of the seat just as Henry let himself back in and sit on the opposite seat.

"Where to now, Your Majesty" Regina looked over to Amelia in concern after the women closed her eyes resting her head on the wall of the carriage letting her fatigue take over once again.

"Monteriggioni first" Regina tells her father "I need her back in prime condition. Then we find a way to get to them".

---

The assassin sat in silence with the former Queen as they tried to figure out who would be behind being framed for Dr. Hopper's murder. There were only three people in town that would have obvious motive. Her, Regina and Rumple. But seeing as neither of them did it, that left Rumpelstiltskin he obvious answer.

But then the assassin reminded the former Queen that if the man wanted them in a cell, he wouldn't risk himself being a suspect himself, and he wouldn't' do anything risking his relationship with Belle either. Especially if he needed the assassin to find her son for him.

She was taken out of her thoguhts when the front door to the mansion was knocked on. Amelia jumped up from her seat and blinked on her sixth sense to see three figures in red at the door.

"It's them" she tells the brunette who nods at the red head before heading for front door. Checking her the pockets of her jacket and switching the safety of her gauntlets off, the redhead pulled the sleeve of her tan jacket over her weapons as she hovered behind the former Queen as she opened the front to a very angry savior with her parents behind her.

"Miss Swan. I assume you're here to apologize" the former Evil Queen greeted the saviour.

Looking between the villains beofre her, the image of the assassin plunging her blade into Archie's neck replayed in her mind as Regina choked out what little life he had left.

"I saw you do it" she said in a low voice.

"What?" the former Queen asked as Amelia's brow raised in curiosity.

"I saw it" she looked to Amelia "You slit his throat" she choked through the anger that she felt pumping through her veins before turning to Regina "While you choked the life out of him".

"What are you talking about?" Regina continued to deny "How is that even possible?".

"Magic" David answered the woman.

"You-" Regina went to continued only for Emma to interrupt the older woman.

"I saw what happened, and it was both of you".

"Gold" Amelia spoke up from behind Regina "He helped you. You're going to trust him, of all people, when he's probably the one behind this?".

"We didn't trust him" Mary Margaret voiced "That's why Emma used magic instead".

Regina looked at Emma in disbelief "You can use magic… The saviour. Of course" a smug smile graced the blondes face "Well, I can only assume he warned you, then".

"About what?" Emma questioned.

"That magic always comes with a price" Amelia told the blonde plainly "I may not wield it myself by I know even true love's magic doesn't come without one".

"Yeah? Well, that's a price we're all going to pay".

"How's that?" Regina spoke up.

"Henry. He believed in you. Both of you. His heart's going to break. That's our prices".

"No. I will not let you poison Henry against me" Regina protested with tears in her eyes.

"It's an interesting word choice, since you already did" The three of them start to leave and Regina follows them down the walkway while Amelia unfold her arms ready to fight the heroes as she hung back a the porch.

"I want to see him. He deserves to hear my side of the story! He's my son!".

Emma double backed on the mayor "He's not! He's mine! And, after this, you're not getting anywhere near him! Do it!" Amelia looked at her left to see Mother Superior appears from behind and tree and fires a blast of blue magic at Regina.

"Over here!" David yelled at the Assassin making the red head snap her head the other way to see Mary Margaret pull fairy dust out of her pocket to throw it towards Amelia's head only for to take out one of her throwing knives and throw it towards the teacher.

The teacher yelped in pain as the blade went through the layers of clothing to leave a cut making the Princess to drop the fairy dust at to the ground as Regina sent the fairy dust back towards the couple.

"Did you really think that would work again?" Amelia sneered through gritted teeth at the royal couple as they cowered together from the Evil Queen and Black Widow.

"You… You will not keep my son from me" Regina threw out her hand and magically throws Emma backwards down the walkway. Amelia threw out her hands unsheathing her hidden blades as David and the blue fairy came out behind them in warning as Mary Margaret helped Emma stand up "So much for fairy dust. Maybe some of your newfound magic can save you now".

"I don't need it" Emma retorted as she approached the dark brunette "I already won. There is no way Henry will swallow your lies about Archie now. You can pretend all you want, but we know how you are, and who you will always be" Emma spat out.

Defeated and outnumbered Regina waved her arms as purple smoke engulfed herself and Amelia and disappear into thin air.

---

Two weeks later

The last two weeks in Monteriggioni had done wonders for Amelia she was able to heal her wounds and gain some strength back from her injuries', but the small getaway did nothing to brighten the Queens downcast mood over Snow White getting one over on her and her Assassin. Amelia watched from the fireplace as Regina brooded in the reflection in a mirror.

They were at a standstill. Regina nor Amelia could physically harm them she had suggested using other assassins she was training but quickly dismissed the idea. Henry entered the room.

"You have a visitor" he announced to his daughter and her assassin.

"Who?" Regina asked but she was answered from a voice sat on the chair behind the women.

"You need to ask?" Rumpelstiltskin sarcastically retorted "What other friends do you have, dearie other that your little Widow".

"You're no friend" she tells him "Have you come to relish my suffering?".

"I thought you'd want someone to help raise your spirits. Especially on a day like today".

"What's so special about today old man?" Amelia questioned from the fireplace.

Rumpelstiltskin looked between the two deadly women with a sickly smile "Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding, of course" he answered the assassins question "Didn't you get an invitation? Me neither. Still, nice to be able to see them declare their tru love in front of their entire kingdom. A happy ending after all".

"And, because of you, there's nothing we can do to stop it. No way to harm them in this land ever again" Amelia pointed out.

"Yes. Yes, I suppose that's true… In this land" he trailed off.

"What?" The Evil Queen questioned.

"The deal I made was explicit. You two can never harm them in 'this' land. Now, were you to bring them to another land… Well…" Regina smiles at the realization as Amelia did the same. Her father often talked out other lands that existed beyond the Enchanted Forest. In their prime the Brotherhood had ambitions to have a foothold in all the realms, but they were always beaten back by Templar's or their own greed.

"Told you I was your friend" Rumpelstiltskin magically disappears in a puff of red smoke leaving the two women with the new information.

"Father? Bring my carriage" she looked to her Black Widow with a sly smile "We have a wedding to get to".

---

AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Quick shout-out to mara41496, neilhall4890 and standing on the hellmouth16 (Awesome ID btw) for following and the story.

Remember to:

Follow/Favorite/Review/ Comment

x