"So, what happened last night?" was the first thing Ruby had asked her the morning after the death of the Queen of Hearts. Her stay at the B&B was uneventful and uncomfortable for someone who is used to sleeping in the most unlikely places like rooftop gardens and even a bench or two. In the morning she sat in Granny's in one of the booths with the insurance paperwork she had started to fill for her apartment as Ruby poured yet another mug of black coffee for the assassin.
"My apartment was trashed by a pirate" the redhead told the young woman without looking up.
"Damn, have you told Emma?" Ruby replied. That reminded her. She needed one of the two Sheriffs to sign against her claim, once she's written for them it that is. Gods know what other twist or turn was in store for the town that wouldn't allow either Sheriff to sit down and write one for her.
"She'll know, thanks" she told the woman. Ruby was just about to leave when something caught her eye, it was a piece of paper that had a sketch of a man on it, a very handsome man. It have been very carefully taped back together at the top and bottom luckily not disturbing the image that took center stage.
Ruby gently pulled the piece out of the piles that surrounded it "Who's that?".
Amelia's eye glanced at the picture that Ruby had asked her about "No one important" she quickly dismisses the woman's curiosity.
"It's obviously important you kept it. Did you draw it? It's good" she tells the redhead as she went to pick it up only for Amelia stop the werewolf by putting her flat hand on the paper stopping her.
Fierce green eyes met her brown as Amelia looked up at the woman "No one important to you" she stated sternly.
"Sorry" she mumbled to the former assassin as she carried on with serving the early crowd, leaving the woman alone. Amelia turned back to the boring paperwork when she heard the door to the diner range announcing an arrival before the gold handle of a cane, she knew very well whacked itself on top of the papers. Amelia looked up to see the owner of the can stood at her booth.
"We have problem" he simply stated taking a seat across from her.
Amelia lent forward on the table wither her elbows on the edge to address the old man in front of her "You mean, you have a problem. My debt to you is paid old man, no more targets, no more contracts, no more favor's" she tells the old man with a toothy smirk. Oh how she had looked forward to this day for years. To finally tell the Dark One to stick it with a favor.
"I think you'll be interested in this one. Her majesty has stated her intentions on settling a blood debt on Mary Margaret, for the murder of her mother" he informs the former Black Widow making her smirk drop from her face.
"Then why don't you warn them yourself" she says leaning back into her seat "Seems like it's you problem since you two share a grandson now".
"I was planning to, but I uh thought you'd be interested on account on your relationship with the former".
"There is no relationship" Ruby overheard Amelia tell the Dark One "Not anymore, so whatever it is, does not involve me".
"But you'd do it for the Princess, you've always had a soft spot for her" annoyed green eyes met the old mans before she let out a huff gathering her paperwork mixing it in with the sketches of John she had drawn in another life.
"Last one" she stated sliding out of the booth "And you're paying for breakfast, I usually tip twenty percent, but since it's you let's say thirty" she added patting the man on his shoulder twice before walking out of the diner, leaving the disgruntled man to take out his wallet and leave the money on the table to follow the assassin out of the diner.
Mary Margaret was wallowing in guilt on her bed over tricking Regina into killing Cora. Her family around her trying to get anything out of the wife and mother, plying her with food and words of comfort only to get nothing from the pixie haired woman. David was once again returning to the kitchen to re-join his grown daughter and grandson sat at the counter shaking his head at them.
"Anything?" Emma asked her father.
"She won't eat a bite" David informed them.
"What's wrong with her?" Henry asked his mother.
"Nothing. She's just a little sick" Emma tells her son.
"You guys are lying to me, aren't you?" he figured out looking between his grandfather and mother.
"No one's lying" Emma argued.
"You are, just like you did about my dad" he retorted.
"Henry, I" Emma went to touch his shoulder, but he flinched. She turned to David "He's right. No more lying".
"Emma.." David warned her.
"He deserves to know" she told her Father and turned back to Henry "Here's the thing, Henry. Cora's death... Mary Margaret was partially responsible for it, and that's why she's so upset".
He looked at his family in disbelief "No. No, no, she couldn't".
Someone knocks on the door making David walk over to the door.
"She was trying to protect us" Emma went on as David moved to answer the door.
"But she's Snow White. She wouldn't hurt anybody".
Opening the door the Prince was greeted with Gold and Amelia on the other side. This was becoming an all too common occurrence for all involved.
"Get out!" he directed to the older man.
"I think you're gonna wanna hear what he has to say" the red head glanced towards the forlorn Mary Margaret on her bed "for her sake" she added as Emma and Henry joined David at the door.
"What are you talking about?" Emma asks the pair.
"Regina. She's planning to strike back - against your mother" Gold informs the family.
"What is she gonna do to her?" Henry asked his grandfather.
"Oh, she didn't say".
"No. You don't get to come in here and just drop a bomb like that" David tells the pair "You're gonna figure this out. And you're gonna help us".
"And why should I?".
"Because aside from us being family now, Mary Margaret saved your life. Now you owe her a debt. And you always pay your debts, don't you? You're gonna help us stop Regina".
While David and Gold left the loft to investigate what the former Queen was planning by visiting her vault in the graveyard. The redhead agreed to stay behind, choosing to lean against the threshold of the downstairs bedroom with her arms folded around her chest as she watched the forlorn the guilt-ridden Mary Margaret wallowing in self-pity. It was pathetic really. The Widow in her that told her to pick the former Princess up and slap her silly until she took responsibility for her actions and move on.
But the other side, the side she hadn't felt for the past thirty plus years, that refused to feel anything as she killed brother after brother in the name of vengeance, that side of her wanted to do the same thing the teacher was doing that very moment, stay in bed until the world around her faded away.
She was taken out of her dark thoughts when a porcelain mug full off coffee was handed to her by the savior. Gratefully taking the mug with a 'thanks' she cupped the mug allowing its heat warm up her hands.
"Have any idea how to get her out of bed?" Emma asked the woman she had quickly seeing her as a friend after their time in New York.
"She's never been good with guilt" Amelia tells the blonde letting out a sigh "and I take by force isn't an option?".
Emma let out a little snort of laughter as the pair moved to the breakfast bar "What about you? No offence but you look like hell" the sheriff saw the dark bags under eyes.
"I'll admit I've had better nights in your parents dungeons" she told the blonde rubbing her eye's as they stung from the lack of sleep, she hadn't gotten the previous night "I've had to move into the Inn temporarily" she admitted to the blonde.
"What? Why?".
"Hook had a free for all in my place while we were in New York looking for my key, everything's either broken or cut open. I need either you or David to sign off the break in for insurance".
"Done" Emma said straight away placing her mug on the counter as she broached the elephant in the room "Has uh Regina talked to you at all?" the blonde gently asked the question. Maybe the redhead would have some insight in what she was up to.
"She came to my apartment last night…where I ended things with her" the red head tells her "Professionally and...personally".
"Oh" Emma simply replied. Her eyes widening with surprise.
"Yeah oh" Amelia repeated the blonde's response taking a sip of the strong coffee.
"It's just" Emma paused briefly to pick the right words "you two seemed…close".
"A lifetime ago maybe, but now its…".
"Complicated" the blonde supplied for the redhead.
"It's for the best".
"For you or for her?".
"For both of us" Amelia answered the blonde "It's been coming since the curse broke, if I'm being honest. What happened with Cora was just the last straw" the blonde looked at the redhead in sympathy, she looked heartbroken.
"I'm sorry" was all Emma could say to the redhead.
"Me too Swan. I just wish I had done it sooner".
"What the hell does that do?" Emma asked Gold. The old man and David had returned to the apartment from their search Regina's mausoleum. They had found several ingredients that were missing for a curse. Once specific curse.
The Curse of the Empty-Hearted.
"In theory, it has the power to make someone love you" Mr. Gold informs the group.
"Doesn't that break magic laws?" Emma asked "You can't bring back to life, you can't force someone to love you."
"Magic has loopholes around those rule's" Amelia supplied next to Emma pinching her nose in frustration "...someone just has to be determined enough to find them".
The lack of sleep was starting to take it's toll on her, or at least that's what she hoped it was. She couldn't stop thinking about what she had said to the former Queen. Did she regret it? No. But it did hurt.
"Miss Montague is right" Gold tells them "This particular spell can make someone think they love you. And if you're as desperate for love as Regina appears to be, you just might believe it." they all looked up to see Henry coming down the stairs.
"She's using it on me, isn't she" he told the adults.
"Hey buddy, why don't you go back upstairs, let us handle this" David suggested to the young boy.
"No!" Henry refused. He pushed past David and runs over to Emma. "Emma! You said you were going to be honest with me. Now, why is Regina using this curse?".
"Because it's the only way she can get everything she wants. That she can get you".
"But if all she wants is me..." Henry started but the redhead stopped him.
"It's not that simple now Henry" Amelia tells the boy softly.
"Your mother is a complicated woman. She wants your love of course, but she also wants vengeance. On Mary Margaret" Gold continued for the red head, going the direct root that what the softened assassin would have gone.
"How does the curse give her both?" David asks him.
"Because the last ingredient she needs to enact the curse is the heart of the person she hates the most" he pointed to Mary Margaret who was still in bed behind them.
The Assassin was surprised the former Queen wasn't after her won heart after the previous night's conversation.
"You have to stop her" Emma told Gold.
"Oh, I don't have to do anything. On the contrary, I believe warning you fulfills my debt" he told the dismissively.
"Not even close!" David angrily yells to the older man "This is my wife's life we're talking about".
"Not to mention your grandson's!" Emma added.
"Well wars have costs" Gold mused off handily.
"Nice" the redhead commented.
"Well this is a blood feud, dearie" the older man told them "One that goes back a long time. And the only way you can end a blood feud, is by the spilling of more blood. That is the only way I know to eliminate your Regina problem. Just ask Miss Montague here, her very bloodline has a feud that goes back for centuries" he said glancing at the redhead who just looked at the man.
"How, by killing her?" David asked.
"Is there no other option?" Amelia asked the old man calmly ignoring his previous comment about her lineage, simmering the tension in the apartment, hoping he could come up with something for Henry if not anyone in the room.
"I'm afraid not" Mr. Gold voiced to the Assassin.
"Stop!" Henry yelled at the adults "Listen to yourselves. You're talking about killing my mom!" he looked to the redhead as his last hope of stopping them. Surely she would stop them from killing his mother "Lia you need to stop them" she could only let out a long sigh not knowing what else to say to the boy. She was at a loss as well.
"You used to be heroes. What happened to you?" He shook his head and ran out of the apartment.
"Henry" Emma called out to her son trying to run after him only to stop to speak to the others "No matter how this plays out, we need to keep him as far away from it as possible" at that she runs after him.
"She's right. Cora is more dangerous because she didn't have a heart. Regina is even more dangerous because she does" Gold tells them.
Amelia stayed at the loft with David and Rumple while Emma ran after Henry discussing what their next move should be. With the men distracted, Amelia crept to the bedroom to find Mary Margaret with her eye's shut tight and crouched on her heels next to her head. She knew the woman wasn't sleeping from her uneven breaths.
"Don't pretend you weren't listening to what we were talking about Snow White" Amelia called out the former Princess as she took a seat on the floor next to the bed Mary Margaret's eyes slowly opened to met Amelia's green staring back at her "You can never fool me. Have you been listening?" she nodded slowly at the Assassin.
Out of the Prince's eye he could see Amelia sat next to his wife as he and Gold going quiet seeing if Amelia had manged to get through to the woman.
"So you do know what's going to happen if you stay here and do nothing" She got no response from the Princess as she simple closed her eyes at the red head hoping she'd give up like David had numerous times that morning "After everything I've done for you to get you this far you really think I'll just leave you to-" Amelia stopped herself as she herself become more and more frustrated with the situation, she clenched her jaw trying to control the words that left her mouth.
"-This isn't going away if you stay here stewing. The Evil Queen is coming after you. And if you are not careful, she will go through this whole town to get what she wants. You knew what we're doing when you used that candle, and you knew the consequences. You can't play the innocent card with me" Amelia watched as the teacher squeezed her eyes shut as the assassins harsh words made fresh tears fall from her eyes. The red head had to push down the wave of guilt she felt for the Princess at her hard words clenching her fists in frustration and anger towards the Princess.
With nothing else working. She had to be cruel to be kind.
Glancing to her right she was David hovering at the door closely listening to the assassins words that made his wife upset ready to kick her childhood hero out if need be "If you really think this is being harsh Snow then you don't know the half of it" her voice grew harsher "You need to show your family that they can't just give up when life gets too hard, especially to your daughter. If she has any chance of finding everyone's happy ending, she can't make the easy choice all the time, then you would've sent her through the wardrobe and missed her life for nothing".
"She killed my mother" she argued weakly to the Assassin. The first words she had uttered in hours.
"And my father was murdered by those who called him brother" Amelia retorted in seething anger she hadn't felt in years. Taking a pause she took in a calming breath before continuing. She hadn't felt that rage in years. It was addicting. But getting angry wouldn't do her any good now "They stabbed him in the back for falling in love, for having me. Now tell me how fair that is".
"They were my family once. The only family I knew. Yet each time I cut one down I didn't stay in bed. I found the next one and the next one after that, until none of them were left" inwardly chastising herself as her voice broke "I had no one to make me breakfast in bed and sooth away nightmares, feed me words of comfort. I simply got on with it. I found my vengeance and I live with the consequences every day and I have to accept that otherwise it would've been for nothing".
"How do you do it?" Mary Margaret's soft voice asked her suddenly "The lives you've taken, how do you live with that guilt?".
"Then I guess I'm just that good at hiding it now" the Princess looked up her with more tears threatening to fall. Amelia wiped away the tear that had escaped from her own eye angry that she'd allow the sign of weakness be shown in front of the Princess.
Mary Margaret had never seen Amelia like this. She had seen The Black Widow angry before, but this was Amelia. For the first time in years, she saw the woman under the hood, the woman that saved her and risked her life for her father.
"You haven't given me much of a choice, if you aren't willing to fight, then I'm not going to for you. Not when your family are risking everything for you. I just hope for your sake you don't leave it too late to do something" Amelia stood from the floor looking down at the defeated Princess she had watched and fought against for so long "Goodbye Snow".
Walking past the Prince in the doorway she headed for the front door with a hand on the handle before looking back at David and Gold "Let me know what happens Shepard".
"Wait, your not helping?" David asked the former Assassin with hands on his hips as she opened the door.
"I don't help people who have given up, she knows that already" she tells the Prince, walking out of the apartment slamming the door shut making the Princess wince, fresh tears leaving her eyes, hearing the disappointment in the redhead's voice.
David turned to Gold who hadn't done anything to stop the assassin "You're not gonna stop her".
"No" he answered the former Prince "She learnt long before she became the Widow that people who have already given up aren't worth trying to save, not even her fondness for Snow White will make her go out of her way to help this time".
Later that night Emma had called her and told her about the events that transpired in the woods. Henry had convinced Regina to end her blood debt with Mary Margaret and her plans to take Henry away from his family.
The town of Storybrooke could sleep easy for another night.
Amelia sat in the diner as the evening crowd started to thin out for the night as she sat at the bar going over the insurance papers over again before she gave them to Emma to sign the next day.
"Coffee?" Ruby's voice came from ahead of her making her jump slightly "Sorry" she quickly adds.
"It's fine" she reassured the werewolf "these insurance papers make me miss home" Ruby let out a small laugh setting the pot down before turning back to the red head.
"You should have a swing at Granny's book's, you'll want the forms back" Ruby quipped before heading back down the bar with the assassin watching her retreat thinking back to their conversation that morning. She shouldn't have snapped at the girl. She just didn't like anyone touching the drawing. I was all she had left.
"His name was John" she suddenly tells the waitress who turns to look back at her "He died a long time ago".
The younger woman saunters back to the redhead seeing the woman finally willing to open up to someone that wasn't the Queen.
"Who was he?" Ruby gently asked the woman.
Amelia paused thinking of the right words to describe her first love "Everything" she choked slightly.
The waitress gave the red head a sad smile of sympathy "I'm sorry you lost him".
"Me too" she replied before putting her head back down to complete her paperwork. For a split-second Ruby saw the human side of Amelia Montague that no one saw, maybe this was turning point for the former Black Widow to change.
AN: Shorter chapter today, not much action. Found it hard to fit Amelia in with the episode without taking lines from other characters, so I kept it short and sweet.
Next couple are a little short until we get to the end of the season (Which are longer. Woohoo!) then onto Neverland! Yay!
Thanks for reading so far!
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