AN: Trigger Warning: Mentions of sexual assault.
With the events of the day, the last place the former Evil Queen wanted to be was sat in her older half-sister's farmhouse kitchen, while her soulmate was across town quietly grieving for the loss of her mother yet again with a one-handed pirate that had finally woken up from his temporary possession of a god like being.
Returning to the apartment from wherever she had gone to tie up some loose ends, the redheaded assassin made a beeline for the man in leather sat next to his love looking for forgiveness for trapping the deity that had created the Dark One.
Brushing off her apology from the assassin knowing why she was doing it, the former Queen left the woman she loved sat on the small bed with the man in quiet conversation over their now shared torment of having Juno in their minds.
She and Emma had noticed how close the pair had become since their deaths. Everyone had seen how much they were relying on the other as well as their significant others to get through the Underworld and the many curve balls it sent them.
They died together trying to save the people they loved from two of the most powerful beings in the entire realms. If that didn't bring you together, nothing would.
Her thoughts about her love were interrupted as she heard the sound of her Wicked sister returned from her evening with the God of the Underworld.
"Someone's home late" Regina greeted her older sister as she walked into the kitchen making her stop and turn to find the dark brunette sat at her kitchen table with mug of coffee next to her.
"Now is not the time, Regina" Zelena told her sister with an annoyed sigh.
"Really? I think I'll be the judge of that".
"What do you want?".
"What?" Regina lightly chuckles in indifference "Can't a sister show she cares? I thought I'd find you still sulking over your favourite pair of shoes" she mused bringing the porcelain mug to her lips "Where were you?".
"Well, I was..." the redhead begun to explain as her sister gave her a knowing look placing the mug back onto the table "You know where I was, don't you? That's why you're here. You've been spying on me. How?".
To answer her question Regina showed her sister the small handheld mirror that held an image of herself with Hades, during their date before turning it around to fix her hair "Next time, tell your boyfriend to pick you up in something with a little less chrome" she informs her sister placing the mirror back onto the table.
"He's not my boyfriend" Zelena argued "And maybe show a little respect for privacy" she complained to her younger half-sister. I stopped looking in what you were doing with your assassin a long time ago" she added giving her a flash of a knowing smirk.
"Oh, no. We're not teenagers sharing a bedroom, sis. You lost the right to privacy after... Well, pretty much everything you've done to me. Not to mention what Hades wants to do to me and everyone I care about".
"And I suppose I don't get any points for not saying yes?".
"Well, you also didn't say no" Regina pointed out "But you're not going to get the chance to do anything because you're not going to see him again".
"So first you pretend to be a caring sister, and now you're gonna try and be my mother" Zelena scoffs at her "Don't bother. I already have someone who failed at that job. She abandoned me in the woods. Remember?".
"I know you don't believe me, Zelena, but I am trying to do what's best for you".
"And how do you know that isn't being with Hades?" Zelena loudly argues.
"Because he's a villain" Regina states to her.
"Yeah, but he doesn't always have to be. Like with you and Amelia. Oh, you two helped each other. She was a bloody assassin!" she yelled at her sister's hypocrisy "She's possibly killed more people than both of us combined!".
"Yes!" Regina suddenly exclaimed jumping from her seat to face her siter "Who has literally gone through hell and back to change! And look where it got her Zelena" the former Queen quickly came to her love's defence as Zelena saw her younger sister's lips quiver as she pushed back the pain she felt everyday since finding her again.
"This place, is her reward for being better than the Black Widow, this is his reward for her for taking so many poor souls. She may never be able to move on, no matter how much I try to help her, she will never leave this place that has already taken so much from her. You want to redeem the God of Death".
Taking a deep breath the former Queen gathered herself again tugging her jacket around her body, pushing down the feeling of hopelessness she felt whenever another a twist or turn came along that would threaten the chance of her love either coming home or moving on from the Underworld.
"I can help him" Zelena tried to tell her.
"And what if you're wrong, hmm? What happens to all of us then?".
"Stop pretending that you care about me or that you ever wanted a sister, because we both know you don't" with that the Wicked Witch turned her back on her sister leaving her to think over what to do next.
She had hoped for a day were she could wallow in her own self-pity after the last 24 hours in the Underworld, but she was sadly mistaken as she stood listening to her truelove telling what little of remained of their family in the underworld what her sister and Hades had been up to and planning while they had been dealing with.
She just wanted to sleep after spending half the night trying not to fall asleep on Hook's shoulder as they sat next to each other talking over what had happened while he was under Juno's possession. But, he didn't seem to mind her using his shoulder to rest her eyes on as she tried to fight off the image of her mother falling into the fire.
But her short power naps on Hook's shoulder were interrupted in the early morning when Regina returned from the farmhouse with the news that the Wicked Witch of the West had fallen in love with the God of the Underworld.
She really shouldn't be surprised at this point. But she was.
"Zelena is in love?" Emma questioned the former Queen as former Assassin sat at the breakfast bar behind the saviour having listened to everything the former Queen had told them.
"We really must be in hell" Anastasia commented from the metal stairs earning a glare from her older sister. The blonde assassin had returned to town with a list of supplies Robin needed for his infant daughter, that David and Emma were going to sort out for the thief hiding in the woods with her boyfriend.
"And not thinking rationally" Regina continued, ignoring the blonde assassin's comment "Which for her is a big problem" she tells them with her hands on her hips.
"We have to stop her" Hook spoke up from the counter stepping forward to speak "And if you can't because she's your blood, then allow me to" he offered his services to the former Queen.
"What? Kill her?" she questions him.
"Well, it's a step in the right direction" Hook offered th former Queen.
"Taking action against Zelena in any form will get messy" Amelia spoke up from her stool in-between Emma and David "I would know more than anyone here. But we don't need to kill her, there's always another way" the redhead acts as the voice of reason in the argument.
Surprised at the redhead's words the other's looked to her seeing that she meant every word despite being one of the first people that would gladly kill the Witch given the opportunity.
"Okay" David agreed with the assassin "So we find a way to keep them apart without killing anyone".
"I'm waiting for the better option" Hook reiterated again.
"We're not killing her" Amelia firmly repeated herself to the pirate making the man himself and everyone else take a second look at her "What? We're not" she told the pirate before looking to her love "As much as I've wanted to delete the woman from exitance before. She's still family" she reminded her true love with a sigh, who seemed to listen to what she was saying.
"Take it from someone's who's lost her mother for the second time in her life only yesterday, or have we already forgotten about that already" she snipes at those around her giving the pirate an extra look making him clenching his jaw as he made himself look at the Queen and not at the assassin.
"We haven't forgotten sister" Anastasia gently tells the redhead from her place.
"So, what's the plan?" Emma asked the woman in front of them.
"Well, there's only one person we can trust to destroy the love blooming between Hades and my sister" Regina tells them making them wait to say who would be able to stop Zelena only for the assassin to see the look on her face.
"Cora" Amelia finished for the former Queen. This was going to be fun.
Enchanted Forest
Many Years Ago
Romeo Montague should be used to surprises in his life, but somehow he couldn't quite seem to comprehend what he was doing and for who after a decade or so after first meeting the Miller's daughter that had spun god from straw to win herself a Prince to marry.
Now that same woman was asking urgently for his help year after she refused it when her life was at risk. Knowing her, it wasn't simply to catch up with old friends. She wasted something and he had a bad feeling about this.
Arriving on the large estate fit for a son of a King, the large home was surrounded by vast field of grass any Stable Master or Boy dreamed about. It was perfect for horse riding. It made him want to bring Amelia here when she was old enough to ride a horse, she would love it here. But she was safe inside Monteriggioni for the time being, in Paola's safe hands now that Juliet had left.
Just thinking that his daughter was alone without her mother made his heart clench in his chest as it took him back to the moment when he returned home for Paola to tell him what Juliet had done. He wanted to turn back around to find the Jackdaw again to sail every inch of the Enchanted Forest to bring her back, but he stopped only when he heard his daughter crying. She was the reason he stayed, the reason he would always stay in Monteriggioni for
Arriving at the spot where he was told to meet the sorceress, tying the reins of his horse to the lone tree on top of the hill where he was still able to see the large estate in the distance. The hairs on the back of neck stood up on point as he felt a dark presence behind him as the woman herself made her appearance on a ploom of purple smoke behind the assassin that had tried to help her all those years ago, only to send him away.
"I didn't think you'd come" the woman greeted the older assassin making him turn to face her. Gone the youthfulness she had seen in him in King Xavier's castle escorting the beautiful Princess Eva during her visit as her's and then Prince Henry's marriage was being arranged. He had been replace by the bearded man before her that held himself higher than in his youth, his bright innocent eye's that had been full of love for the Princess had been dulled and been replaced by something darker as the weight of the world seemed to sit on his shoulders.
The simple set of robes had been replaces by a heavy armed ensemble with sabres either side of his hips along with the dark leather gauntlets on his forearms with the addition of a silver dagger with a very recognisable eagle shaped pommel and reign guards that strapped to his body by a leather sheath.
"I didn't either" he told her, greeting her with a polite smile as she approached him stopping an arms length away "What do you need Cora?".
"I need your help" she states to the assassin.
Her request seemed to take the man aback for a second or two before he let out a light chuckle, the laugh took a her aback this time as she looked at the man that was so eager to help in the past.
"I tried to help you one if I remember correctly" he reminded her "I recall you insinuating that I didn't live in your world. Which is right, I don't, but I live in mine where I have seen people killed before they could even attempt what you claimed to do in that tower".
"Well I did do as I said" she proudly tell the man.
"No you didn't Cora" he tells her "That was Rumplestiltskin, we both know that. I saw him when you 'won' your Prince" he tells her shaking his head to himself "This is a waste of my time. Goodbye Cora" Romeo said turning his back on the woman to find his horse.
"Please" she suddenly heard herself calling out to the man in desperation "It's my daughter".
The admission is what made the man turn back around to the woman, narrowing his eye's at the woman who could easily do whatever she needed to do by herself, the magic she possessed told him alone, but the determination she held would be more than enough to get her where she needed to be.
"She found of my wand and hurt herself using it" she went on to explain "I need to find someone that can help her, but they're not in this realm".
"Who are they to you?" he simply asked her seeing through the woman in front of him.
"No-one" she quickly tells him. But he heard the lie. It was the lie he would tell whenever someone mistook his care for his apprentice was more than what it seemed.
"Where?" he finally asked.
"A land called OZ. I take it you've been there?".
"I have" he confirms with a nod "But why do you need me? You're more than capable taking yourself with a magic bean or something".
"I 'am" she states to the man "But there's something else I need for you to procure for me afterwards. A failsafe, if you will".
"Why do think I can find it?" he questions her.
"Because you want to find it as well. You want to forget about your broken heart, what I need will help you".
"What makes you think I have a broken heart?".
"The dagger on your belt" she points out to him as he simply stared at the woman not giving the satisfaction of the woman being right "It's cleaner than any of your other weapons on you, sharp too. You haven't used it, because it's not really yours. Not originally at least. A gift perhaps to a loved one? Or are you keeping it safe for another".
In a flash his gloved hand wrapped itself around her throat to stop her from talking further as he didn't bother to keep his emotions on his face as a deep angry frown appeared on his calm and composed face.
"Say another word, and I'll end your quest to save your daughter here and now" he lowly threatened the Miller's daughter.
"All the more reason to help me save my daughter. To keep yours's safe" she said through his grip on her neck before her words were finally heard by the father. Letting go of her neck the woman took in deep breath she hadn't realised she needed as he took a step away from her.
"I'll help you find what you need, but threaten my daughter again. It won't be only me you'll have to worry about coming after you".
She couldn't help but chuckle at the man's claim. The Brotherhood of Assassins couldn't beat her even if they used every weapon in their arsenal.
"You really think your little Brotherhood would be able to harm me?" she questions him with a toothy grin on her face.
"I wasn't talking about them" he tells her "So, how are we getting to the Land of OZ?".
Deep within her own personal hell, Cora trudged back and forth to the wooden mill with heavy sacks of flour into a rickety wheelbarrow back in brown rags, covered in grime and dirt, with the addition of the magic dampener on her wrist, with no hope of any escape of the reminder of where she came from. Using what little strength she had from the ret she had gotten the older woman picked the wheelbarrow up pushing it down the small path only for it to come to abrupt stop as the wheel hit a rock, making her drop the heavy barrow.
Pausing her work, the former Queen of Hearts stood up straight as she was caught out for stopping by her watchers.
"No time for rest now" one of her guards chastised her for stopping "There's more flour to mill" the older woman simply stated at the man wishing she could simply be rid of the pests if she had her magic still "There's always more. Now get back to work" he ordered her pointing to the piles of wheat that awaited grinding.
Doing as she was told, the Mill's woman turned to find a pile of neatly tied of wheat, with a grunt she picked the pile up to see a flash of silver in her vision as she placed it on a nearby wheelbarrow to see the objects that had been left for her to find in the wheat.
Turning her back on her guards she found the Captain's silver hook along with another object she hadn't seen in years. It was a silver dagger with a beak shaped pommel and a Rain guard that looked like outstretched wings. This could've only come one person and one person only.
Smiling to herself to took hold of the hook and dragged the cuff off her wrist before taking the dagger out of the wheat, turning towards her guards with hook and weapon in her hands as she confidently approaching her watchers.
"Where'd you get those?" her guard asked her.
"I have my suspicions. Shall we see if I'm correct?" using her magic she sent her two guards on their backs allowing her to escape her own personal hell only to be stopped by two familiar figures ahead of her in the tunnel.
"Hello, love" Hook greeted the older woman as she saw her saviours stood alongside the other
"Hook. Amelia" she greeted the pair in turn as they closed the distance between them.
"So I was right" she said handing the Hook back to Killian "You are my Fairy Godmothers" she states as the pirate takes his Hook back to put it back were it belongs on the end of his handless left arm.
"Well, no one's ever called me that before, but I suppose I am" he replied before the Mill's woman looked towards the assassin.
"I think this belongs to you" Cora says handing the weapon back to Amelia, who gratefully took it back.
"Actually I'm only borrowing it" she corrects the woman "Its belongs to your daughter, has for some time now" the statement made the latter raise a curious brow at the redhead, knowing it's significance. Assassin's of the Brotherhood don't just give their weapon's to anyone "Now let's get out of here. Your daughter need you".
Turning the trio headed the way the pirate and assassin came in leading the Mill's woman out of the cave back to Regina.
Land of OZ
The Land of Oz wasn't his favourite realm nor was it was his least favourite, but at least he got there in one piece with the Miller's daughter as they followed a yellow bricked road to a small cottage well outside the main city. Stood well away from the small home, the pair hid in some foliage with hood's over their heads as they saw a young redheaded girl gathering logs in her arms to store only to drop them onto the ground.
He couldn't help but think of the way Amelia would look at that ago, he couldn't wait, her red hair was already as bright as her mothers, with her mother's personality already coming through her shy at first demeanour.
"You know her" Romeo stated to the woman beside him as they continued to watch the girl.
"I do" she admits to the man as they continued to observe from afar how the young girl reached into herself to use her magic to make the logs of wood fly in the air and put themselves into the store at the side of the small cottage only for an angry looking man to stomp around the corner to confront the young redhead.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" the girls father demanded to know from her.
"Father, I'm sorry" she quickly tried to apologize for using the magic, Romeo could of only think she would have inherited from her parents.
"Sorry?!" he questioned her angrily "I warned you about giving in to your wickedness. You want someone to see you? What would happen then?" he continued to chastise her as Romeo clenched his fist at his side. No father should reprimand their child like that.
It won't happen again. I promise".
That's right" the man said picking up a thin stick, holding it in a threatening manner at the young girl. He'd done it before at the way the girl flinched.
That was it, he wasn't going to watch this happen "Excuse me" Romeo quickly excuse himself from the Mill's woman to make his way over to the angry father while he was distracted by his daughter.
'Cause I'm gonna teach you the lesson you've always deserved".
"Excuse me" the assassin excuses himself from the woman to make his way over to the man about to harm his daughter.
"Your mother's not here to protect you anymore" he tells his daughter as the cane is quickly raised and brought down as Zelena waited for the pain to come, only for a strong hand to hold her father's arm from moving as the bewildered man looked towards the assassin.
"Think better" Romeo tells him, before cracking his head against his making the angry father stumble back as he was headed for the ground only for a hue of purple magic to encase the man still on his feet but dazed.
"I don't understand. W-Who are you?" she asks the man in the hood who had stopped her father from hurting her.
"You don't need to worry, child" a voice behind her tells her making her whip around to see a brunette woman in a purple hood and cloak stood behind her "You didn't do anything. I did" she tells the young girl "My friend here doesn't like seeing young girl being hurt".
"You have magic?" Zelena asks her.
"Yes" Cora confirms.
"Are you a good witch or...?" Zelena asks her in trepidation making Cora chuckle.
"Don't worry, sweetheart. I'm a good witch" Cora tells her making the assassin keep his mouth shut.
"She's right" Romeo confirmed making the girl look back at him "Your father's wrong to make you feel badly for being who you are".
"What you have is a gift" the Mill's woman adds "Would you like the chance to show him that your magic isn't wicked?".
"How?" the girl asks them.
"By helping someone very dear to me" the Mill's woman tells her, after a second Zelena nods trusting the woman in front of her making a bright smile grow on her face "Oh, good. Come, then" turning to leave she notices Zelena not following, making her turn back.
"Come along" she encourages her holding out a hand towards the daughter she gave up to get the life she wanted. Taking the older woman's hand Zelena allows the woman to take her away from her father.
Escorting the matriarch Miller to the vault was a silent affair. Neither women knew what to say to the other as the walked closer to the vault in the cemetery with every step they took with Hook nearby. This was the first time they seemed to be on the same side since meeting. They had only briefly met in Storybrooke for the first and last time when the matriarch Mill's woman was trying to get her hands on the Dark One's Dagger and the Apple of Eden, before the sorceresses untimely death down to Snow White herself.
The one thing that untied to two was their affection for their daughter and true love which the older woman tried her best to destroy in order to turn her daughter against the hero's to get what she wanted. Getting Amelia away from the Assassins that hid in the bar was they only thing she could think of doing to try to convince her daughter to turn and leave the Underworld know her love was as okay as she could be.
Luckily, she still held her influence over the assassin Ophelia who had known the redheaded assassin since she was a child, to find her and take her away from the men that wanted to punish her for killing them all one-by-one.
"I wanted to thank you" she started gaining Cora's attention breaking the comfortable silence between herself and her trueloves mother "For having Ophelia save me from the others".
"You're welcome dear" she replied with a tight smile "I only wanted my daughter to leave this place. i thought that if she knew the woman, she loved was out of harms way, she would leave. But I was wrong".
"Trust me, I know. Once she cares about something, its hard to get her change her mind£ she voices to the older sorceress "It's really annoying" she grumbled out making a light chuckle reverberate from the older woman beside her. The older woman saw her father influence shining through her words.
"I met a young man once" Cora started "Many years ago, very handsome and kind. He was once in love with someone he could never have, but that didn't stop him from loving her. He had the same dagger you now have. We met again once again years later he told once he gave it to the woman he loved and after she left him, he gave it their daughter".
"You knew Romeo?" she questioned the woman.
"I asked for his help once, years ago. He was reluctant at first, but when he heard the reason why I sought him out, he changed his mind" she admitted to the assassin "I repaid his kindness by threatening to expose his secret to the Assassins".
"How did you know?".
"He didn't have to tell me" she told her seeing the dagger that looked the same as it did the day she had first seen it "Ophelia once told me, that for an assassin to give up their weapon to someone else, they must love that person very much to do so. It's like giving them a part of their soul. You have given so much for my daughter and yet you ask for so little in return".
"I think its safe to say she's making up for that by coming down here" she tells the woman "All I know is that I want to make it back to her and our daughter back in Storybrooke. Whatever it takes".
"Daughter?" she questioned the redhead in curiosity. She knew about Henry and Thomas, but a daughter, that was new.
Pausing in their walk the redheaded assassin reached into the inside of her leather jacket to pull out the folded piece of story book pages that Henry had let her keep. One of Tom safely back in Storybrooke with MJ, and the second being the picture of her daughter listening to her mother singing her asleep, wrapped up in the cot while the fairies took care of the small infants in the hero's absence.
Handing the page to older woman, the latter took in the image of a small baby girl in yellow hat wrapped up tightly in a blanket "Helen Juliet Smith" Amelia stated to the former Queen of Hearts "Or Montague, whatever she prefers when she's older, of course. I had her before I died".
The woman looked up at her with a curious brow "How?" it was her turn to ask.
"That is a very long story involving your eldest daughter's time travel spell and two idiots called Hook and Emma bringing back my dead husband from the past. She was the result of trying us to find the life we once before the Black Widow" she tells her as a involuntary smile pull on the corner of her lips as she thought of the girl back home, safe and sound with her brother "She was and still is, a very happy surprise. Even if I wasn't completely honest with Regina at first".
"Or anyone for that matter!" Hook spoke up behind them making the pair look at the man.
"Let me guess, she wasn't happy" she states to the redhead handing her the picture to put back with the other one that sat inside her jacket.
"She was not" Amelia confirms to the Mill's woman making her chuckle to herself as they took a step to continue their now short journey to the vault "I think she's come round to the idea of being a mother again, since I was brutally murdered by a King, to free a powerful sorceress that created the Dark One by a broken Excalibur." the redhead continues to herself much to the Mill's woman's shock as she looked towards the pirate to confirm the story only for him to give her a nod in confirmation before following the redhead the rest of the way to the vault.
Escorting Emma and David down the paved road with thick Underbrooke forest either side of them, the blonde assassin lead the pair with a brown paper bag int he Prince's arm with the supplies she came into town to find and bring back to the new father and her 'boyfriend?'.
She wasn't really sure what she and John were at the moment, they hadn't had much of a chance to put a real label on what relationship they had, but she would have to put a pin that conversation with the former Captain until they got back home. Right now she had concentrate where she agreed to meet the former thief.
"How much further?" Storybrooke second Sheriff asked the blonde in front of them as he and his brother's daughter continued to follow her down an empty road. Since returning from getting the supplies the assassin couldn't quite put a finger on what was different about the man when he seemed to forget what he and his true life were celebrating in the picture their daughter had been looking at as they waited for the man to return.
"You getting tired Shepperd?" Anastasia teased the man behind her, not seeing the slight grimace that flashed on his face that didn't go unnoticed by the blonde saviour next to him "Or have all those hours sat behind that desk in Sheriff's Station stuffing those bear claws, started to slow you down".
"Course not" he tells Amelia's younger adopted sister keeping a weary eye on the golden gauntlets that sat on either of her forearms "I'd rather just know if we're about to get jumped on by some angry assassins looking to kidnap you again".
"No further" Emma tells her father hoping to sooth out the tension between him and the assassin "This is where Robin and John would meet us" she tells him as they continued to follow Anastasia.
"Great. So what do we do now? Rob from the rich and hope they show up?".
"Robin will just find us" Anastasia answers the man as the blonde saviour gives her father an odd-look at his persistent questioning.
He was being more annoying than usual today, and it couldn't be down to just missing his wife and son there was something wrong with the man, and she didn't want to wait too long to find out what if she could help it.
"In the middle of the woods?" he retorted as they heard a voice behind them making all three of them stop and turn to see the men they had been looking for step out of the foliage to greet them.
"Hello" the voice made the trio jump, turning around to see the man himself emerge from the forest with his daughter in her car-seat in one and a bow in the other and John not too far behind him with a crossbow in his strong hands, looking left and right, checking for any signs that anyone had decided to follow them "Not everyone needs magic or be an assassin to be stealthy" the thief tell them seeing that he had managed startle all them.
"Yes but the assassin gave you better lessons" Anastasia retorted to the thief walking between the father and daughter to greet the former Captain, standing up her toes to place a gentle kiss to his cheek which was readily mirrored by the taller blonde man
The Prince couldn't keep the smirk from his face as he got a good look at the men in front of him. one that had married Amelia and the other that had wrapped around her pinkie finger, both of whom she had left to be with the Evil Queen.
"Right" Robin chuckled out in agreement as the Captain takes the brown paper bag from David to place the groceries onto the ground as Anastasia wrapped her hand and arm around John's as she reached up on her tiptoes to place a gentle kiss on his cheek in greeting as he whispered his own greeting to the blonde woman he had seemed to fallen for in the short time they had known each other.
But he couldn't help but notice someone's notable absence who had said would be here to check up on them as soon as she could after the previous night
"Where's Amy?" the demi-god asked the pair not seeing his ex-wife with them, taking the brown paper bag full of supplies from the Prince to place it on the ground again.
"Uh, condensed version?" Emma started "Zelena and Hades are on the verge of being the world's worst power couple. Regina's taking care of it, but Lia should be on her way here by now".
Looking towards his friend in concern, the Captains eyebrows furrowed in concern hearing the woman is out alone before turning back to the visitors. It hadn't been long since the assassins had been looking for her head and now she was in the middle of the woods by herself with only her gauntlets to defend herself with.
"Maybe we should go and find her, she might've gotten lost" John suggested. Robin got ready to find their missing redhead only for blonde saviour to stop them.
"No, no. It's okay" Emma quickly told the pair making them stop "Make sure your daughter is safe. Regina can handle her sister and I'm sure Amelia knows this place like the back of her hand by now, she'll be here soon".
Distracted by the former Captain and thief, Prince James used it to his advantage to quickly snap the anti-magic leather cuff on her wrist before pulling the gun from under his jacket to point at the living people taking them all by surprise by the man's actions.
"Siblings. They can be a real pain, can't they?" Prince James comments pointing a gun straight at Robin's head making the thief, Captain and Assassin to move to stand next to Emma as the man waved his gun between them.
"Dad, what the hell?" Emma asked the man pointing a gun at them.
"Cruella gave me some advice. Never face the Saviour without one of those" he says gesturing to the leather cuff on her wrist.
"James" John almost growled as he realized who was really in front of them as he lifted the heavy crossbow to his shoulder aiming the bolt that was ready to let fly into the man's skull.
Hearing his name for the first time in years the blonde assassin looked towards the man that was David exact replica stood in front of them The man that had raped her sister. The one that had made the Brotherhood take drastic actions before they were old enough to make sure their 'chosen one' didn't face the consequences if it ever happened again, something that would make her choose differently when killing a target.
Flexing her forearms the golden clades that slid out over her fisted hands didn't go unnoticed by the twin as he swung the gun straight at her head when she stepped forward to
"Ah, ah, ah" he stops her from going any further "I have a feeling a bullet is faster than one of your little blades assassins".
"You know him?" Emma asked the former Captain and the assassin continued to glare at the man that held them at gun point.
"I knew their ex-wife and big sister actually" James supplied to the saviour not supressing the smirk on his face "I take she told you both about me" he almost laughed .
Anastasia jumped forward to attack the man only for a strong arm to pull her back, making her back hit a firm warm chest knowing it was John that had to stop her from doing something stupid "Motherfu-" she cursed at the man in front her only for Emma to speak over the rest of the curse.
"Where's my dad?" Emma asked her father's twin brother.
"Oh, he's locked up in the Sheriff's station" he answered her as a panther came crawling towards them honking its horn before tires screeched to a halt "I've been trailing him for some time" he said as the panther screeched to a halt "Figured when Snow and Amelia's little brat could blow this joint, well, that was my chance". he said with a toothy grin.
"Fucking old bat" Emma heard Anastasia mumble to herself as Cruella herself stumbled out of her car "Gets fucking everywhere".
"Why is everything in the woods with you people?" the heiress complains as she approaches the Prince "Hello, darling" she greets James "Fabulous job. Mummy's very proud of you. And I will show you how much later on" she coos to the man flirtatiously as Anastasia audibly retch at sight before her.
"That- That is disguising" the blonde said between fake retches.
"Shut up!" James snapped at the assassin pointing his gun yet again at her head to get her to shut up.
"First I need to do something" Cruella announces quickly stepping towards Emma sending her fist into her face.
"Ooh!" James chorused in support for the older woman.
"That's for killing me, darling" she goes to punch the saviour again only for a small arrow to shoot out of the foliage and impale her arm stopping her from touching the blonde again.
A breath they hadn't realized they had been holding was let out when Amelia stepped out of the forest into the road with her hidden blades unsheathed as she stood between the others and James, keeping her eye aurally on the older woman as the latter snatched the arrow out of her arm.
"Touch her again and I'll skin you alive, boil your bones, find a way to bring Cerberus back to feed your bones to all three of his heads" the former Black Widow warned the heiress turned villain with a sneer "And if you're lucky, I won't even do it in that order".
Emma felt a nervous shiver run up her spine hearing the woman speak like this, it wasn't something she still wasn't used to hearing from the woman despite all this time since first meeting her. Moreover, she preferred not being on the end of her threats
"Ah Amelia!" Cruella greeted the redhead with a relaxed smile despite her vivid threat "How are you enjoying the afterlife so far darling?".
Ignoring the woman's question the redhead turned to the Prince "I told you to stay away from them" she tells the Prince.
"What can I say?" he shrugged at the redhead "I wanted to meet my niece".
"What do you want?" Amelia demanded out the pair, she was starting to sound like a broken record at this point.
"What I want is out of this dreadful place" Cruella answered her "And if the author won't do it for us, I have to think of another way. And there is only one man who can do that for us. " she informs them.
"Hades. Why would Hades help you?" Emma asks her.
"Oh, he wouldn't, unless I had the right leverage. Say, like the child of the woman he loves" she trails off looking at the infant that hadn't made a noise, wrapped up in her pink blanket that "Though God knows why. They're terrible things. Now. Hand her over".
"Not gonna happen, mate" Robin quickly loaded his quiver and sent it towards the Prince only for the man to trap the Assassin in his arms her back against his chest as the arrow went into her chest. She didn't feel it at all as James pulled the arrow back out, herself unharmed by the thing that would've killed her if she were still a living person just visiting the Underworld.
"Arrows... they can't hurt us" he says levelling the barrel of the gun to Robins head once again "But one pull of this trigger, well, you're not just a visitor in the Underworld".
The Lethe.
Also known as the river of forgetfulness. This is what Cora had requested for him to get for her in case her plan bringing the young redhead, whose name was Zelena to her home to heal her youngest daughter.
It was one of the Five River's that ran through the Underworld that also ran through the Enchanted Forest. One drop from it's waters would make you forget, everything that troubled you. And it just so happened to have be a string of its waters near the estate where Cora and her family lived. He never believed in coincidence, never will.
Nothing is True. Everything is Permitted.
But this was too close to the mark that would make him rethink everything he had been taught since he was a young boy. Being as careful as he could he didn't want to risk the waters touching his skin, he dipped two empty glass vials one by one into the spring to fill each vial with gloved had before quickly corking each and drying the bottle off with a rag he discarded there and then to minimise the risk. This was magic he didn't want to get involved in, but if it stopped Cora from exposing his darkest secrets to the Brotherhood then so be it.
Entering the house and hearing the sound of happy girls running around sounded like music to his ears, knowing Cora's plan had worked, all he wanted to do now is find he woman herself and be done with the deal they had made when a familiar face entered the room hearing him.
"Romeo" Henry greeted the assassin with an easy smile as he approached the now older man that had been escorting the then Princess Eva around his father's castle "It's been too long since I've seen you my friend".
"You as well Henry" the Assassin replied bowing deeply to the royal Duke from his waist.
"Not that it isn't good to see you my friend. But why are you here?" Henry questioned the man as Regina and Zelena came running into the foyer deeply embroiled in their game as they ran from to room with laughter on their lips.
"Sweetheart, come. There is someone I wish for you to meet" the Duke beckoned his daughter to join him, which she obeying her father's request, standing in front her father as he placed gentle hands on her shoulders as she met Romeo's gaze as Zelena joined her to stand by her side "Regina meet Romeo Montague. He is a dear friend of mine and your mothers".
"It's a pleasure to meet you sir" the young dark haired girl greeted the man with a small curtsy she had practiced a thousand time to perfect.
"My lady Regina" Romeo greeted her bowing at his waist to with a deep nod, extending his arms out wide to exaggerate his greeting. His exaggerating seemed to do the trick making the young girl to giggle to herself before standing back up straight to look at the young redhead stood beside her.
"Lady Zelena" he gives the young redheaded girl a deep nod of his head.
"It's nice to see you again, sir" she replied to the man that had stopped her father from hurting her back home.
"You as well. I see you've settled in already" he observes seeing the makeup on hers and Regina's faces from the games they had been playing.
"Yes sir" she replies with a gentle smile.
"Please, call me Romeo, girls. I'm here to speak to your mother. Would you two be kind enough to take me to her?".
Romeo watched as the pair looked between them, like they were deciding whether they should take him or not, allowing him the second or two he needed to take in a reading of them both as his eye's flashed gold to see the magical hue that surrounded Zelena, only to see one that surrounded the younger girl. It wasn't active, but she had the potential to be a powerful sorceress one day. Just as powerful as her mother. They both were.
Confirming what he had suspected his eye's turned back to normal as the pair of half-sister's looked back at him.
"We can Romeo" Regina tells him with a girlish giggle "Follow us".
"Lead the way girls. I will find you" he prompts them as they turned to head down the hall to the room where the sorceress was leaving him alone with her worried looking husband.
"Do not fret Henry" Romeo tells the man placing a hand on his shoulder to reassure him further "Everything will be fine. You have my word" at that the assassin left the Duke to watch his friend be lead straight to his wife to whatever deal they had made to make him come here.
Squeezing into Panther together, Amelia was the unfortunate one to end up in back squeezed in the back seat of the Panther while James sat in the front with Robin's daughter in his lap as the sister's were tightly packed in like sardines. She was just glad she hadn't been put in the trunk again. That would've sucked more that this already did.
"My god, being held hostage is so overrated!" Anastasia complained from her place sat on John's lap as they rode to wherever they were going.
"Be quiet will you foetus" Cruella snaps at her noisy passenger in the back.
"But it is sooooo annoying" she whined out to the whole care "In my time being back with my sister, I've been kidnapped three times. Once by a fucking god taking a ride in my sisters head, the second by assassins only yesterday and by you too idiote today!".
"Is it your time of the month or something?" James chuckles at the blonde assassin from the front seat.
"I don't get my period dipshit" the blonde assassin snipe at the man from her place in the back of the car "I don't have a uterus" she tells the man with a straight face.
"Or ovaries" Amelia added from her side of the car watching the Underworld go by them.
"Yeah, that's what happens in the Brotherhood gives you an involuntary hysterectomy" the blonde goes on much to the look of shock and horror on the other's faces as she continued to describe the Brotherhoods Graduation for it's female assassins including various hand gestures of what she was describing tot he pair in the front seats "They kind of go in, and they rip out all of your reproductive organs. They just get right in there, and they chop them all away, everything goes...".
"O-kay, okay!" the Prince tried to get the woman to stop as she continued her story.
"So you don't have babies.."
"Alright!" Cruella jumped into the conversation silencing the younger woman through the rear view mirror "We get it. You paint quite the picture darling".
"Oh well, I was about to talk about fallopian tubes, but okay" the blonde assassin shrugged turning her attention back to Prince "But I have you to thank about that don't I Prince James. For what you did to my sister all those years ago".
"Statia-" John was the one to speak up this time, trying to get the woman to stop while she was ahead. He knew Amelia didn't want her past brought to light. Only his warnings went ignored as the blonde continued.
"They moved my graduation forward as well because you thought the only way you could get her to sleep with you was to force her".
"Anya stop!" Amelia snapped at her sister in horror that she had revealed a weakness in her armour.
"Oh my god" she heard Emma gasp as she looked at the redhead to see that what her adopted sister way saying was true.
"Well its true isn't it!?" she exclaimed to her sister "It's why you've been so scared of him since we've come down here. You're not sixteen anymore Amy, you're a fucking badass, boss, bitch assassin. You ate Prince's like him for breakfast and dinner during your Widow days".
"Anya please" the redhead desperately tried to get her sister to stop.
"You could've had him if Rumple hadn't gotten to him first" the blonde assassin argued.
"Yeah, and for a good reason!" her sister's booming voice made the blonde sit back in John's chest seeing the pain in her sister's eyes. The same pain she saw when she first came back from staying those few nights at King George's castle to wait out a passing storm "I would've become something worse than the Widow if I ever got my hands on him, but I didn't. It's too late. So let it go like I had to".
The statement left a sour taste in the former Widow's tongue as she sat back in her seat for the rest of the drive to wherever they were going as she kept the dagger that the Prince hadn't found on her person hidden from view.
Reaching their destination of the, James and Cruella escorted the group of adults to the edge of the docks at gunpoint as the foursome held their hand out in surrender, knowing they weren't too far away from being pushed into the River of Souls behind them knowing one slip on the wet ground they would be trapped for eternity that no Piece of Eden of magic could ever save them if they ever touched the surface, leaving the pair to freely take the infant to Hades and Zelena.
"You know, killing us is not gonna help you get out of here, Cruella." Amelia told the woman with her eyes trained on the gun that was pointed to Emma's chest.
"Oh, you're right" she replied with a smile "But sending you to eternal torment... That's just a juicy bonus" the heiress tell the assassin as the blonde saviour took a cautionary look behind her at the water.
"I really I wish I could say this was gonna be quick and painless, but..." James started as he grabbed Amelia by her wrist like he did all those years ago to make her turn back away from the door to make her escape from him all those years ago, only this time inside of striking her hard in the face she was turned and held by the back of her jacket as the other's looked on helpless as she fought against his strength to keep her on dry land that she was quickly losing feeling her boot covered feet slip on the wet ground underneath them.
Her saving grace came in time as the Prince was pulled off her, turning him around and a swinging fist was sent into his face, hitting its mark hard enough for the Prince to fall onto the ground.
"No. How's that for quick?" David asked his brother as his twin laid on the ground clutching his jaw in pain, the gun now free for any one to pick up allowing the foursome to run from the edge of the dock.
As Robin headed straight for his daughter. John quickly took Anastasia and Amelia from end of the dock towards the car as Emma found her boyfriend picking up the gun from the ground, stopping Cruella from picking it up herself.
"I'll take that, love" the pirate told her "It's not like you can use it, anyway" he told her tucking it away as the heiress ran from the scene to hide behind a crane.
"Killian" Emma called for her love as she reached him.
"Looks like we're just in time" he told his love as James exclaimed from the ground with David stood over him.
"Whoo!" Everyone heard the Prince exclaimed as he stood himself back onto his feet to circle his brother who stood against him "That was quite an escape, David. Quite frankly, I didn't think you had it in you".
"The cell at the station was the last place you should've left me. You don't think I know how to break out of my own jail?" David tells him.
"So what? Now you can swoop in and play hero?" the Prince questions him as Amelai remained by the water's edge.
"That's up to you, James" David tells him "Neither one of us wanted to go through what we did. I was angry about it, too. But it doesn't mean it has to end this way. We're family" he tried to reason with his twin only for James to laugh at him "I can help you move on. And I can help you find some peace".
"Yes" James agrees pointing his finger towards his twin "Yes, you can. Because killing you is my unfinished business".
Lunging towards him, James swung a wild fist towards his brother only for David to grab him by his shoulders to stop him allowing the Prince to send his knee into David gut before throwing him painfully into a stack of crates onto his knees.
James sent a hard into David's before throwing him into some crates sending him onto his back.
"Dad!" Emma tore herself from Hook ready to use her magic, only for her father to stop her from his place on the ground.
"Emma!" David stopped his daughter from the ground "I've got this" at that David jumped from the ground to meet his brother again.
Amelia watched with clenched fists as David easily dodged his brothers blows before getting in a few himself to gain the upper hand as he sent a hard knee into his brother face sending him backwards on the wet ground near the edge of the dock where the Prince and Cruella once held the others at gunpoint.
"Jimmy! Jimmy!" Cruella shouted after the man from her hiding spot. Panic rose in her chest as James pulled up his trouser leg and took out a knife. The redhead didn't know how fast she moved until she thought she heard her name being called out by those behind her as her hand found the eagle shaped pommel in the inside of her jacket as, feet and mind taking her towards the fighting brothers as the dagger slid effortlessly out of her jacket ready to take the life it was crafted to take.
"James, wait" David tried to reason with his twin before he jumped from the ground wielding the weapon. Stepping to the side the former Prince managed to evade the sharp edge of the blade to take a hold of his brother's shoulders and back to push behind him only for his brother to meet the end of a blade poised ready to slide into his chest where his heart would be.
On the end of dagger now embedded in his chest stood the woman that girl had grown into, with that night burned into her mind to use as fuel to a spark that had been ignited int he weeks and years following it. Her eye's devoid of any remorse as they bored back into his, using her advantage over him to push him backwards with ease until his feet met the edge of the dock, showing every bit strength she had gained since that night.
The others watched numbly as the Black Widow made her unwelcome return to finish the man that had taken the a piece of innocence from her the Brotherhood hadn't already taken for themselves.
"It should've been me" she tells the Prince without missing a beat "Do you understand that?" nodding silently at her statement in understanding the Prince waited for what the woman had been planned for him for so long.
He would admit he kept looking over his shoulder in the weeks after they had met, looking for someone to come out of nowhere and catch him off-guard, but they never did. The irony of how he died in the end came to mind as the woman held his undead life in the balance, but as he looked for any hint that she would change he mind, she only had one thing in mind
"I would've made your suffering last so long, that even Hades himself would've wept for you. Requiesce in pace James" she whispered before pulling the dagger out and taking a step backwards. The others could do nothing as the sole of her boot met his chest. Not even David could catch him before he crashed into the water.
Blinking out of her daze the blade in her hand clattered to the ground stumbling backwards as as she watched Prince James be torn apart by the souls that lived in the water's. What has she done?.
Feeling a hand on her shoulder made her jump as she whirled around to see her sister stood behind her with an unreadable look on her face as the blonde assassin tried to see who stood in front of her in that moment. Her sister or the Widow.
"I wasn't strong enough" Amelia gulped out to her little sister as she let out the guilt she had felt for years weigh heavy on her mind that had been left unsaid for all this time "I couldn't stop him, it's my fault-I'm so sorry".
It was her fault they were forced to go through Graduation early. All because she couldn't fight off a Prince.
"Don't" Anastasia sternly told her big sister interrupting her. Taking her by her face as she felt her own eye's sting from the tears that threatened to fall "Don't ever be sorry for they did to us. You are my sister. You have always protected me and always have".
"No, no.." Amelia tried to argue with her, she wanted Anastasia to hate her for taking her chance to children with her true love only for her to have two herself. She wanted her to yell at her, to blame her for everything that happened to them in the years after.
"Yes you are!" Anastasia tells her pulling her right hand off her face to show her the scar that sat in her palm "This scar proves that, the same one that's sits in your hand and the ones on your back from all the times I screwed up.
From the water's edge, David stood with his daughter, Hook and Robin who held his infant daughter as his brother disappeared in the water having heard his friend.
"Is the baby okay?" the former Prince asks the former thief.
"Yeah. Yes, she's fine" Robin confirms.
"You okay?" it was Emma's turn to ask her father.
"Yeah" he sighed glancing behind him as Anastasia held her older sister in her arms as she wept.
"She did what she had to" Emma voiced to him knowing the history between them. It wasn't her place to tell him what had happened, what Anastasia had told everyone in the car "You have know that".
"No, there had... There had to be another way" David voiced from the edge.
"There wasn't" she tells him "Dad, sometimes people just cannot ever move on. She just made sure it wasn't you that did it in the end. If you were his unfinished business, he was hers".
Despite her own need for vengeance on the man that had hurt her, she had made sure it wasn't David who had sentenced him to a fate worse than the Underworld only to burden herself with the guilt of taking another life after changing from the woman she was before the first curse to the one that now stood in her sisters arms, grieving for the girl that she was before she had met Prince James. The one that had so much hope in heart for herself and her sister for the future.
"I know" David states "It's...despite everything, he was my brother".
It didn't take long for the girls to find her. Following the pair of girls through the halls and rooms of the grand estate the assassin was taken to a room that was used as a study finding the Mill's woman herself stood over her desk with an open ledger laid out in front of her, concentrating on the numbers written down she was taken out of her focus as she heard small footsteps enter the large room.
"Mother" Regina called out to the older woman "You have a visitor" she informs the woman making her look up from the book on the desk to see Romeo Montague stood int he doorway.
"Milady" Romeo greeted her with bow of his head with his hands respectfully clasped behind his back. The man gave her a friendly smile as one was forced on her own in front of her daughters.
"Thank you girls" she tells Regina and Zelena "Why don't you go back to your games while I speak to my visitor in private".
"Yes mother" Regina chimed him turning to leave with Zelena behind her only to pause in front of the assassin "Goodbye Mr. Romeo"
"Goodbye Regina. Zelena. I hope we meet again" he honestly tells the pair, not out of malice for their mother but he was curios to see what kind of children the hardened woman had raised.
"Close the doors please" Cora instructs the girls as Romeo stepped into the room further to look back to see the young Regina close the door to the room with a sweet smile on her face earning a playful wink from the man, making her giggle.
Once the doors were firmly shut behind him and he heard footsteps making their way away from the door, Romeo Montague turned to the mission at hand as he approached the woman at the other end of the room, reaching into his robe to pull out two thumb-sixed glass vial full of clear water onto her desk.
"Two vials of the river of forgetfulness as requested" he states to the woman as they gently 'thunked' on the wooden desk.
"Excellent work" she chimes in snatching one from table to store in a small box.
"And the other one?" Romeo asks her eyeing the vial still on the table..
"Oh, The other one is for you" she tells him turning back to the man.
"For me?".
"Call it your payment for your services. You'll be able to forget about the woman that broke your heart and concentrate on that little apprentice of yours. Amelia. Wasn't it?" the man stayed silent at the woman's knowledge of his daughter's name seeing "In my experience, hearts are much ore trouble than they're worth"
"You might be right about that" he replies admitting to his heartbreak as she saw the stoic look on his face fall into one of pain "Everyday, I wake up thinking, she might've changed her mind, remembered how much she loves me. I look out into the horizon to see if there is ship coming back every sunrise and sunset, hoping it's her. But there's no ship there. Never is. I go to sleep thinking that I could've done something differently to stop her from leaving as my heart breaks all over again.
"When the sun comes up the next day, I remember...I remember why I have to get up again and again despite how much it hurts to".
Reaching out with his finger, the tip met the top of the vial to push it over onto the floor for the glass to shatter, the water pooling onto the floor as the sorceress simply stared at the mans gall to refuse her reward.
"Keep the water. I'd rather feel everything than nothing at all. My apprentice needs to understand she can't solve everything through magic. That in the end, will make her a better person than I will be".
"Don't ever ask for my help again won't get it". at that the man turned his back on the sorceress to leave her alone in her study to let his words echo in her mind.
She never thought it would feel like if this day ever came. It just reminded her of how different she was to the hateful woman that wanted nothing more than be the one to end his life. But she just felt sick to her stomach to how it had to happen.
Stood alone with her thoughts at the edge where she had kicked James into the water and the dagger in her hand, the assassin ran her thumb over the silver beak of the pommel as she replayed the moment in her head again and again.
It was like she was on auto-pilot. The same thing would happen during her Widow days, she would just switch off everything and let her take control and come back after it was over, so that whatever happened wasn't on her hands. It was the Widow, not her, she would tell herself.
But she couldn't say that this time, this time Amelia was on full control and she was the one to kick James into the water. Maybe she hadn't changed at all. Just evolved somehow.
Retreating back into the forest Anastasia reluctantly left her sister's side when Robin and John wanted to return to the woods to carry on hiding the thief's infant daughter from Hades and anyone else who wanted to get to her to her mother's True Love .
With Cruella in the wind, Hook and Emma left her father to speak to the redhead alone, joining her at the water's edge looking down at the body of water that had swallowed his brother not even ten minutes ago.
"What happened?".
"You know, One thing about the Brotherhood is their ability to hold a grudge for decades and not be able to do anything about it, because we couldn't interfere with the natural flow, only to intervene when needed".
"Like saving Snow and Regina from those those mercenaries" David stated to the redhead.
"Not even then" she scoffed out a laugh taking the man by surprise. What did she mean?.
"Truth be told, I wasn't even there for them" she admits to the former Prince "I was given a mission to warn King Leopold of the threat. Instead was going to go against orders and head towards King Georges castle to find James, and use this dagger to kill him wherever he stood. I just happened to stop at the same village for supplies just as a young Princess was visiting with her stepmother. Ain't' fate a bitch huh?" she choked out.
Instead of ending his life, fate had taken her to two of the most important people in her life. He was the reason she was ever in that damn village, that she saw the way those guards were acting. She wanted to turn her back on them, forget about them and carry on with her personal vendetta, but the pull was too strong to simply walk away, she had to see why they were so nervous.
"What did he do to hate him so much?".
"Two years before, Romeo and I came upon King George's castle seeking shelter from a storm that was passing through before heading back home. Only it stayed for the next two days, when a sixteen year old girl met this handsome, charming Prince, with the bluest eye's she had ever seen" a shaky smile appeared on her lips as she recalled the moment she met the boy she had met only for it to quickly turn the other way.
"Ignoring her master's and his fathers warnings, their sneaking looks quickly turned into secret notes being passed between them, arranging secret meetings, into hidden first kisses in the palace library, until he came to her room the night before she would leave wanting something more".
"Even after saying no, her Prince Charming became un-charming and took what he wanted, leaving her to pick up whatever shattered pieces of herself that still existed to pick back up".
"The Bordello's Madam, Paola, was the first to figure out what had happened after I refused to leave my room, she knew what it looked like after all. Anya told me she stormed into Claudius's study demanding justice for me. But he couldn't do anything but cripple King George financially, desperate enough to marry his son to the daughter to a King who could literally turn anything into solid gold".
"Wait, that's the reason Spencer made the engagement? Because of you?".
"Didn't I already tell you fate's a bitch?" was all she replied as he accepted the answer with a shrug of his shoulders .
"Anyway, what he could also do also was to move up mine and Anastasia's Graduation".
"What is that?".
"A procedure to make sure there were no consequences if it happened again. One less thing to worry about. The only thing that might matter more than a mission. It makes everything easier. Even killing. I thought it had worked until I found out I was pregnant with Tom".
"When I came back to the Enchanted Forest and made a deal to work for the Dark One, my one demand was that it was me that got to kill him. And when he took that away from me, I remember being so angry, I couldn't think straight for days until I found myself sat in one of Rumple's cells to cool off".
"What did you do?".
"Kicked over his spinning wheel" she tells the man, she doesn't remember much from that day except from having his hand wrapped around her heart, but that she did.
"No I meant after that, after finding out he was dead".
"I honestly don't know" she shrugged "I was so wrapped up in my own crap I forget about him until I saw with you with Snow. For a split second, I thought he was you when I first saw you and I was so scared, but then I had to tell myself it wasn't really him. Instead I watched you fall in love with Snow" a half smile grew on his lips hearing his from his friend.
"Don't get me wrong I couldn't trust you as far as I could throw you, but you were different from him. I kept an eye on you though, just in case, scared Happy and Dopey within an inch of their lives to spy on you for me".
"Did they get anything good?" he asks her.
"Nope" she reports to the man as he turned serious.
"I'm so sorry that happened to you Amelia. And for what he did to you, but today-" he trailed off not sure how to word it.
"Should've ended differently" she tells him "I know, because despite everything, he was your brother. I'm sorry".
Accepting the apology the former Prince looked at the former villain next to him, seeing the guilt on her face on how today ended. He understood why she did it now. James was unfinished business she had been holding on to since she was sixteen. He hoped now that the girl could rest now seeing some sort of justice take place.
"Are we still friends?" he suddenly asks her. The question reminded him if they were okay for not telling about the fairy dust. It seemed years ago since he asked her, but it was only over a year ago.
"Friends is a strong word Charming" she drawled out turning to look him in the eye "I can still count on one hand how many times I've actually come close to killing you".
"Only one? Really?" he teased her as the pair of friends turned to walk away from the water's edge. Their friendship, solidified through the twists and turns they had found themselves working together since the first curse had broken, one the other had relied on to get their family thought the toughest moments.
AN: Hello! Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
So this chapter sort of closes one of Amelia's storyline's as we finally get to the last few chapter's of Season 5 as a whole. Who's excited?!
Anyway in the meantime;
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