He had gone cold before she felt the ship land on water back in Storybrooke.
As the hero's departed the Jolly Roger in triumph, they were greeted by the citizens of Storybrooke as they walked down the ramp with smiles on their faces. However that triumph wasn't felt as Hook ventured into the bowels of the Jolly Roger to seek out the red head knowing the Captain hadn't made the journey home to Storybrooke
Slowly opening the only cabin door that was shut he found Romeo Montague motionless on the cot with his eye's closed with his daughter on her knee's beside his body still holding his hand in between hers as she stared at nothing in front of her with red eye's and tear streak's down her cheek over the healing cut that a mermaid had given her at the beginning of the journey.
His head fell for the fallen man and father as he felt for the Widow in her time of grief. They had both lost loved ones to the effects of dream shade. Something none of the heroes would ever feel with the Dark One's help in finding a cure for the poison that had take two great men in their prime.
"I'm sorry" he barely whispered to the redhead from the doorway. He didn't know even if she heard the words. With no more words that could comfort her in the moment all he could do was to leave her with her father as he made his back on deck
His eye's sought out the hero's as he descended the ramp onto dry land as he finally found Emma with her parents and Henry securely in front of her. Sensing something was wrong Emma found Hook as he walked up to the celebrating happy smiling family that didn't reflect the moment. The smile fell from her face seeing his troubled expression
"What's wrong?" the savior asked the pirate gaining her parent's attention as well as Pan still in Henry's body
Clenching his jaw tightly he paused trying to find the words that would sour the mood "Montague didn't make it" a gasp escaped Snow's lips ask she covered her mouth in shock at the news of her dear godfather's death.
"What?" Emma gasped and eye's widened in shock at the news
"I- I thought he took the water" David asked the pirate in slight panic that their plan would not work as is wife wrapped her arms around him
"Aye, he did" Hook told the Prince "He threw It overboard shorty before we left Neverland"
"Why?" the former Princess sobbed
"He didn't tell me until we were airborne"
"And Lia?" the savior asked about the redhead herself
"She's with him now on the ship" he tells them
They needed to find her. Telling Henry to stay with his grandparents as Mary Margaret sought out comfort in her husband' arm. Emma walked through the corwd without drawing too much attention to herself to find Regina who was stood to the side of the welcome home festivities with Tink. She gently grasped the former queen's arm making her look at the blonde.
"We need to go"
"What? Why?" she asked in confusion
Taking a dry gulp she simply tells her "Romeo didn't make it"
Eye's widening in surprise Regina lead the way back on board of the Jolly Roger as the blonde guided her to where she had seen the redhead going below deck earlier on the journey. Seeing the open door the pair let themselves into the small cabin to see Romeo completely still on the cot, his gauntlets on his forearms notebly missing and his hood over his head. There was no other sign of the younger assassin ever being in the room.
"Where did she go?" Emma asked Regina
"Somewhere she can't be found" Regina breathed out answering the blonde "Not by us anyway"
The chapel at the convent was the only place she thought of to escape the celebrations. She couldn't bring herself to join them. Not after having to say goodbye to Romeo for the second time.
She lost count of how long she had been sat alone with her father's gauntlets next to her thighs until she saw the last sunset's orange tinge coming through the stain glass windows. After hearing's Hook's whispered condolences she knew she didn't want anyone else to come to her side for comfort. She knew he would pass on the news to Swan first after that the whole town would know that the fearless Widow had an open wound for all to see.
So after wiping off the tears and pulling up her forest green hood she slipped out of the cabin and found the lost boys as they departed the Jolly Roger, she blended in with the older boy's to sneak past the others at get away from everything. Once she started to walk, it turned into a sprint until she came to stop outside the convent.
As quick as she had gotten her father back, fate or destiny had decided to take him away from her again even if it was his own will.
"Your family are looking for you" Mother's Superior's voice brought her out her thoughts as she continued to stare at nothing in the chapel. After a beat of silence from the former Widow the fairy silently sat herself next to the redhead.
"I don't know what that word mean's anymore" a cracked and heartbroken voice came from the once strong and fearless woman she had fought against in the Enchanted Forest
"Yes, you do" the fairy retorted "You just don't' want to see it right now"
"All they've ever done is lie for years" Amelia told the fairy seething through her teeth "Rumple lied for fifteen and my own father for eighteen, why should they be any different?" she seethed to the fairy. Blue had never seen the Black Widow like this, her eyes full of anger and sadness that would usually be devoid of nothing as she carried out the Queen's orders.
"Your Father was a good man, Amelia. He lied to keep you safe, something no father should ever have to do to their child. Something he hoped you would never have to do to your own"
"No" she scoffed a laugh "I just let mine be taken and lost to me forever" she retorted bitterly turning back to stare at the alter "I never tried to find him, what kind of mother doesn't look for their child"
"The kind of mother that knows best for their child" the fairy retorted "You have had a hard life and you still come out with your head held up high no matter the odds against you. You have never denied the darkness, yet you refuse to acknowledge the light that still exists-"
"Years ago, I came to you after your family, to warn you about the path your were about to go down. I said you would never be able to go back, but I am glad I was wrong. You've come a long way from the Black Widow and your family can see that as well. Romeo saw that before he died, that's why he decided to go, because you had the family you'd been searching for your whole life, you just don't want to see it"
Once Blue finished, she stood up and looked back to the exit to see a Lost Boy that had returned to Storybrooke with curled brown hair looking at the back of Amelia's head sighing in relief of finding the woman.
"There's a young man waiting for you" she told the former Widow before leaving the pair alone. Looking behind her she saw Tom, the young boy her father had taken under his wing in Neverland. He looked completely broken having heard of his Master's death. They had both lost a father today. She needed to be strong for him otherwise theis would destroy them both in the end.
Pain makes you stronger.
Seeing him like that, was all she needed to push herself from the pew and approach the teen engulfing him a tight embrace as he the events of the return finally made the boy break down and sob in the redheads arms for the loss of his mentor and friend. He needed a mother. Someone that would be able to guide him through the pain and comfort of losing someone like Romeo. She could never be her father, she would never be able to fill shoe's that big. But she was willing to try for him.
She was ready to be that if he was willing to be patient with her.
She soon joined him in his grief as tears escaped her, weeping into the teen's shoulder as he clung to her. Romeo saw something in him, and she was going to find out what it was.
The redhead spent the rest of the night sat up on her perch in her newly cleaned up and furnished apartment (Thanks to Lance and Ruby). The only interaction she had with anyone outside was to ask her loyal mercenary and friend to bring over some clothes that used to belong to Puck. He and Tom were similar height they would have to do until she got a chance to find some better clothes for him. After making sure the former lost boy was comfortable in her guest bedroom with the promise of helping him adapt in this new land.
She had to admit the place seemed less empty with him there.
It was by lunch time the next day she had ventured to the hospital morgue to pick up her father's personal items. Along with the gauntlets that she had taken on the ship she kept included the leather cord necklace that held a thin sliver wedding ring close to his heart. Her mother's. He kept it. Along with her mother's ring also sat his Brotherhood ring. The ring was the twin to the one that sat on a chair around her neck, the only difference was the skull engraving that sat inside the Brotherhood insignia.
After leaving the morgue she headed to the diner hoping she would find her cousin. She couldn't let her father's greatest regret let him think he was abandoned. The previous night had given her a chance to read through the rest of Romeo's journal and found a heartfelt entry that outlined what happened on his last day on Neverland
The bell above the door announced her entrance as she was met by several curious eyes of the patron's inside. The news of her father's death must have spread quickly as she got a sad smile from the Princess sat alone in one of the booth's. Ignoring the other's, she looked for the man she was looking for who was in one of the booth's alone with a cup in his hands staring out the window for something or someone.
"This seat taken?" her voice made her cousin jump in his seat and look up to her.
"Uh hi, no go ahead" he told her almost disappoint to seeing her
Taking a seat opposite him she set the journal she had with her "By the look on your face, I can guess that I'm not the person you were hoping to meet"
"Uh, no, not exactly" he told her "I'm sorry, about your father, do you know what you're going to do?"
"No idea, there's no funeral so to speak when we die. If we die while on a mission, we can only hope someone bother's to bury us or our death gets brushed aside as a sacrifice for the greater cause and move on"
"I'm sorry" he repeated
Amelia shrugged at her cousin "That's the Brotherhood for you, but I'm not here to talk funeral arrangements, I wanted to give you something" she told her cousin sliding one of Romeo's journals to him across the table
"What is it?" Neal asked, taking the leather-bound journal in his hands
"One of Romeo's journals he kept during his life, this one recorded his first trip to Neverland where he met my mother and you. I know you didn't like him, and I understand why, but you need to know the whole truth of what happened to him"
"Amelia I..." he trailed off
"All I ask is that you read it in his own words, like I did last night" hearing the break I her usual calm voice is what made him look up at his younger cousin with tears filling her eye's as she was struggling to control her overwhelming emotions "He wanted to take you with him Neal. Pan gave him an ultimatum when the time came for him to return to the Enchanted Forest. He could have taken a lost boy he had come to care for or the woman he loved and his unborn child, never both. I think you can understand his position given that last few days"
Neal paused thinking over Amelia's words before looking back up and her and nodding "Okay. I'll read it"
"Thank you" without saying anymore the red head stood from the booth and hurried out back with Mary Margaret calling after the former Assassin only to hear the door to the bathroom be shut closed and locked.
It took her longer to compose herself than she liked to, after wiping the last of the tears away she let herself out of the women's bathroom of Granny's only to bump into Hook himself with a bottle of rum in his hand.
"Hook" she greeted the pirate "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine luv" taking his answers Amelia nods and begins to walk away only for the sharp point of his hook on his shoulder digging into the leather of her jacket to stop her "The question is, are you?" he asks her stepping in front to her with his hook still on her shoulder
"Why wouldn't I be?" she retorted gently pushing his hook off her shoulder
"Well, I know that losing someone at the hands of their enemies can be a painful time. Perhaps, a drink to help forget your sorrows?" he blatantly flirted with her holding out the bottle to her
"We both know you want more than a drink" Amelia spoke softly taking a step close to his so that her face came close to him as she could smell the rum on his breath "And you're not exactly my type, pirate"
"And what's that? Devilishly handsome?" his eyebrow cocked up at the fierce redhead with a teasing smile
"Desperate. It's not as attractive as you might think it is. Beside's you only want me to help take your mind off Emma"
"Emma? Who's Emma?" I only see you" he tried again
"I may have just lost my father again, but I haven't lost my dignity, that's never going to happ-" Amelia was interrupted as a woman's scream emitted outside. Forgetting about Hook Amelia turned to run back outside with Hook behind her into the street where they continued to her a woman's scream in terror to be met with David's truck screeching to a halt in the street with the man himself and his daughter.
Rushing out her father's truck she was met with Hook and Amelia together, it was the first time she had seen the Assassin since finding Romeo on the ship. Tink had also run out of Granny's hearing the screams herself.
"The hell was that?" the blonde asks the pair
"I have the same question" Hook retorts
Emma looks from Hook to Amelia to see for the first time that they came out of Granny's together, she knew the red head was no longer with Regina and possibly in her grief of losing her father she may have ending up in Hook's arms, stranger things happen when in vulnerable state "Wait, were you two...?" she questions the pair
"No" Amelia quickly denies, disgust etching her face
As Hook answered "Perhaps"
"Well hell freezes over" Amelia spits out as her eye's flicker gold to her sixth sense searching for the source of the sources of the screams as the continued louder, she saw where the screams were coming from down the street towards the convent "There" Amelia announces to the groups towards as she towards the sound with David, Emma, Hook and Tink following after.
The screams led them to the convent as they saw Mother Superior fleeing from Pan's shadow. Turning her vision back to normal she sprinted up the steps of the convent to try and reach the fairy in time only for the shadow get to Blue first ripping away her shadow. The former Assassin only got here in time to catch the woman's body in her arms slowly lowered her to the ground.
The redhead desperately searched for a pulse or any sign of life from the fairy as the others catch up to her only to find nothing "She's gone" she tells them gently placing the dead Mother Superior onto the ground
"Why would the Shadow kill her?" Tink asks the group
"No idea, love" Hook answers her "But I do know the Shadow only takes orders from one person"
"Pan" Emma shuddered the name out. Maybe they weren't quite done with him as they thought they were.
Amelia watched with her arms folded over her chest as Blue was covered over with a blanket by the time Regina had finally arrived, with Henry at her side. Mary Margaret had joined the group with the reprise of the old threat with Neal who still held the journal she had given to him earlier
She felt like she was barely holding it together as it just reminded her of her own grief that slowly pushed back into front of her mind. She hadn't even felt the gentle hand on her shoulder as Mary Margaret saw the sadness in the redhead's eyes. She'd been around death so much her whole life and yet she couldn't stand the sight of the dead fairy at their feet.
"Lia" her gentle voice coaxed her out of her thoughts, forcing her eye's to look anywhere but down so she focused on the pixie haired teacher next to her "Are you okay?" the former Princess asked her only for Regina's voice to disturb the moment
"What the hell happened?" Regina asked them as she and Henry climbed the steps up to Blue's body.
"The Shadow. It killed her" David told the former Queen
"Pan's shadow?" she questioned the other's "I trapped it on the sail" she argued
"Yeah, well, it got free" Emma told her before looking at Amelia "Do you think you could find it?" the savior asked the redhead hping she wasn't too mixed up in her own emotions to fog her mind right when the needed her.
Amelia paused, thinking through Emma's question before shaking her head "It's a shadow, technically it doesn't exist, not even my sight will be able to see it in time" she tells them feeling completely useless
"Look, let's go back to the ship and get the candle" her cousin spoke up "If it strikes again, we need to be able to capture it" Neal descends the steps to the convent with Hook and Tinker Bell following him to the Jolly Roger
"Pan's behind this, I know it" Emma testified to the others
"He's trapped in a box under the floor of Gold's shop" Regina argued
"Who else would be doing this?" Emma retorted
"So, Pan can still hurt me" 'Henry' fretted to his family interrupting the calm power struggle between the mothers.
"We don't know that" his adopted Mother tried to reassure her son
"We have to assume he's still a threat" Amelia tells the group of remaining hero's
"And that he's after Henry" Emma concluded the Assassin's train of thought
"Then what am I doing here?" the eleven year out continued to fret in fright
"He's right" his grandfather spoke up "He's not safe out in the open"
Henry turned to his adoptive mother "You'll protect me, right?"
"Yes, of course" she tells him taking him into her arms to comfort him with Emma and Amelia watching the exchange closely. Ever since the curse broke, she had seen Henry be affectionate with his adoptive mother but never like this.
"Go" Emma tells them "We'll take care of the Shadow"
With that Regina take her son's hand and guides him down the steps only for the boy to stop "Wait" he suddenly tells his mother making her stop "Can Amelia come with us, I'd feel safer if she was there" Henry look back up to look straight at Amelia feeling a little uncomfortable under his gaze, she'd never felt like this when he looked at her and in all their time together, he never called her by her full name. It was always Lia.
"Henry I'm sure-"Regina went to say in slight irritation of her son wanting the redhead to come with them but Amelia interrupted her
"I'll go" she tells the boy "Don't worry kid" she gives the boy a wink that seems to confuse the eleven-year-old more than anything. She usually got a smile from him no matter what situation they were in. He quickly turned to head down the steps with Regina.
Leaving the savior, she went to leave with the former Queen and her son only to be called back by Emma "Regina, Lia wait"
Henry continued without the Queen and Assassin only for Regina to stay "What?"
"Keep a close eye on him" Emma told the pair quietly
"I already said I would" the Queen retorted
"I know. He just doesn't seem quite himself"
"Really? You mean because he asked for me?"
"No, I didn't... I didn't mean—"
"That's exactly what you meant" Regina cut her off short "You can't face the fact that I am his mother too. And maybe, just maybe, he wants me when he's frightened. You forget—I have ten years of soothing his nightmares under my belt. He's fine" Regina insisted
"It's not about you, Regina. I just have a gut feeling"
"Well, maybe you can use that gut feeling to find the Shadow instead of obsessing over who's going to comfort our son" She goes to leave with Henry leaving Amelia with the saviour
"Look if you want an extra pair of eyes get Tom from my place, he has our sight, he'll be able to hear the shadow it if not see it"
"You really think he can help?" the blonde questioned the redhead
"My father trained him for a reason on Neverland, see how much he's learnt" Amelia pauses to step up so that she could speak to Emma without Regina hearing her "And keep that gut feeling Swan, you're not wrong" at that she turned and followed Regina and Henry
"So where are you taking me?" 'Henry' asks his mother as Amelia catches up to the pair
"One place in Storybrooke the Shadow can never get to" Regina tells him "The place where I keep my magic"
That place was Regina's vault that was located underneath Henry Sr.'s stone tomb. As Regina unlocked the heavy doors to the mausoleum Amelia's eye's gazes their surroundings as they let themselves in as she heard Regina pushed her father's tomb aside to reveal a set of stairs that led down to her vault.
Small glass bottle's lined the walls in small alcoves covered in dust and spider webs as Regina and Henry stepped into the first room on the left of the stairs were the majority of her belongings stayed
"Promise you won't touch anything?" Regina tells her son knowing
"I promise" he tells his mother with a smile as his eye met Amelia's at the entrance to the small room
With full freedom of Regina's vault Pan in Henry's body ventured further down the hallway of the vault that was completely dedicated to the Black Widow. Through the archway was he was greeted with a tall glass cabinet taking center stage to the room was a black and red accented robe that struck fear into anyone who saw it from a mile away flanked by a worn lilac set and the black and purple version of the same set of robe's.
His granddaughter had certainly made her mark as a villain in the Enchanted Forest. The simple notion made his feel a welt of pride swells in his chest knowing she cause so much death and destruction in so little time. She embraced her darkness to the fullest, something even his son the Dark One had failed to do.
His eye's wondered to the edges of the long room that were full of weapon big and small lied out on display on red satin tables and attached the walls. Sword's, axe's, knives and more lined the walls as he slowly took each of them in all different sizes and shapes. She had a full armoury at her disposal. It might come in handy one day once his plans go through or should they derail suddenly.
Then his eye's strayed again to a pair of twin blades that were sat by themselves on a plinth in the middle of the room. His feet had a mind of their own as he approached the twin daggers crossed across one another with the sharp tip resting on the red satin. His eye fixated on the blades like moth to a flame his right hand reached out to take one of the blades from its place, like they were meant to be his and his alone.
"Your promise extended to my part of the vault as well young man" his granddaughter's voice made his arm snap back away from the twins as she ventured into the room with a book in her hand walking to a cabinet opening it and depositing the book before closing it again "Your mothers would kill me if you returned to them with one less finger"
"Sorry Amelia" he quickly apologized to the woman keeping up the pretense of being Henry "Aren't you worried that magic won't be enough to stop him" he asked the red head
"Not really" she answered him looking at the 'boy' in the reflection of the glass book cabinet, she could see he was still fixated on 'the twins' as she called them. They used to belong to Iago, her old weapon's master before she killed him "I'm sure between your mother and your grandparents they'll be able to cope with him and whatever he conjures" she continued taking a long silver dagger that sat next the cabinet tucking into her jacket, before turning to face the eleven-year-old to see one of 'the twins' was now missing.
"But what if they can't" he continued to fret
"Then he'll have to get through me. He may have magic, but he can still bleed"
Pan had to reign in his temper at the woman's insolence towards him. Just like her father, her never knew how to walk away from a fight he couldn't win.
Gulping up his building rage he continued "Thanks, I'm lucky to have you protecting me" he forced the smile on his face his had palm gripped the blade behind his back as the redhead gave him a tight- lipped smirk "After all this could you train me to be like you, an Assassin like Romeo was teaching Tom?"
That was all she needed to confirm her hypothesis. He knew about what the lost boy was doing with his father after all.
"And here I thought you wanted to be a knight?" she teased him as she walked across the room to something behind him.
Feeling the tip of a blade against the back of his neck was all he needed to feel that the jig was up with trying to play Henry with his granddaughter "Where. Is. Henry?" she growled lowly to him
"Clever girl" he drawled to his granddaughter before turning around not perturbed about the sharp tip under his chin "I knew you'd figure it out before the other's and for Henry he's safe, trapped but safe"
"Pandora's box" she quickly deduced "You switched before in the cabin before, so Rumple put Henry in there"
"Just like your mother" he replied with a fond smile "My Julie was rarely outwitted, even by myself. The Capulet's certainly raised her well. It only when it can to your father was when she became naïve"
"Shut your mouth grandpa" she warned Pan pushing the tip into his neck further
"or what? you'll kill this body?" he retorted "Just think what your family would think if they found their poor wittle Henry hurt by your hand, or better yet" he grabbed Amelia's forearm making her eye's widen in shot as he pushed his neck into the blade "Just a little harder" he groan as the blade broke the skin
"Stop!" Amelia exclaimed dropping the dagger from the hand letting Pan catch it from falling onto the ground as he smiles wickedly up at her knowing he got her.
"That was your father's downfall in the end. Sentiment" at the last word he shoved both blades in his hand into her gut taking the woman by surprise. It felt like her stomach was on fire as Pan pulled the dagger's back out covered in her blood as the world around her spun.
She felt her whole body come out in chills as she quickly tried to cover the wounds with her hands in a desperate attempt stop the sticky blood drenched her shirt as her knees filling gave out from underneath her, as she collapsed on the floor onto her side biting down a scream that was trying to escape.
Forcing her eye's open she saw Pan knelt on one knee in front of her with his head tilted to the side looking straight at her. "It's a shame about your father, I would've liked him to have stuck around for what I have planned"
"They'll stop you if I don't" she gritted out through the pain
"I had big things planned for you, you would've been happy in the new Neverland, you and your Queen, call it a gift for bringing a part of my Juliet back to me. I'll miss you Amelia, our family won't remember you once I've finished" with that Amelia could no longer fight off the darkness that surrounded her sight as she lost consciousness.
Pan stood up and watched the woman bleeding out for a second before simply stepping over her to the Queen down the hall.
With the Widow out of the way, he could go for the Queen.
She didn't know how long she had been out when she forced her eyes back open her find herself on the floor of her part of Regina's vault. Regina. Pan needed to get through her first before whatever plan he had could be made.
But she was tired, she just wanted to close her eyes and finally give into the darkness. Pan knew what he was doing when he stabbed her in the gut, it would ensure a slow painful death for her, not the quick one she could only have hoped for years ago. No he was happy to let her suffer just a little bit for his entertainment.
"Get up" a voice she swore she heard in the room tells her only to see no one with her. She was completely alone. Maybe she was hallucinating from the blood loss or that something in her head had finally snapped as her stomach screamed out in pain making her groan into the floor
"Get up" her father's voice repeated himself like he had a thousand times before when she struggled to get up after being floored in the training yard back home
"I can't" she tells him with tears in her eye's "It hurts too much"
"Yes, you can" he affirmed "This is nothing" he tells her "Your family needs you to be strong, stronger than I could ever be" she could only stay silent as the voice continued to berate her "Rumple told you he needed the Black Widow by his side when the time came, this is that time Amelia. The Widow wouldn't give up just as her family needs her the most, embrace her strength to carry on and finish the job you started"
"I'm scared" she admitted in a whisper as she started to feel the chill in the room. She was always scared, she just never admitted it, she was scared of the future, of death, of falling in love. But what she was most scared of was people relying on her to be good, to stand up for what was right after her leap of faith into the darkness.
She wasn't going to die today, she wasn't ready to go just yet. Her family needed her and she wasn't to let someone like Peter Pan to stop, not when she had come this far.
She wasn't going to fail this family as long as she had breath in her body. Not again
Pushing the pain that flared up in her stomach she rolled over onto her hands and knee's and forced herself up onto her feet. Using the archway to steady herself she pulled herself onto the balls of her feet a strangled sob left her mouth as she forced her feet to move to the front of the vault using the wall on her right to keep her upright leaving streaks of blood on the stone from her blood covered hand and drops of blood leaving a trail from her armory to the place she knew Regina was.
Once she saw the Queen on the floor all the energy, she had to get to her evaporated as she fell forward. Her eye's swam in her head as she felt she was about to plunge into darkness again, she pulled herself forward with what little strength she had to try and reach out and touch the motionless Queen, only for her world to go dark once again.
This time she wasn't so sure she'd wake up again
With Henry, the real Henry out of Pandora's box but still stuck in Pan's body, Emma, her parents, Gold and Belle walked through the dark cemetery find Regina and Amelia in the former vault where they were hiding with Pan all along.
A feeling of dread crept up on the savior as she tried to reach either one of them to tell them about the latest development before it was too late, specially towards the redhead as she suspected something odd with 'Henry' at the convent telling her not to let go of her gut feeling towards the whole time, she knew something was worng, but her argument with Regina overshadowed any advise she had given her.
"Regina's still not answering, neither is Lia" Emma trailed off with Henry in Pan's body walking beside with Gold next to him
"When we find Pan, remember he's still in my body" Henry told his grandfather "So if you have to throw fire or something, at least avoid the face"
"I'll do my best" he answers the boy as the approach the mausoleum that held the vault with Neal, Hook, Tink and the Lost Boy Tom, Amelia had taken in from Neverland with golden irises. The same whenever Amelia used her sixth sense to help them out.
Hearing footsteps on the ground Neal looked back from the door he was trying to open to see the other's with Henry in Pan's lean body "Is it really you?
"Dad!" Henry exclaimed in happiness of seeing his father running forward to meet him halfway
David looked past the reunion to Hook and Tink "Did you find the Shadow?"
"Not yet" Tink tells the Prince
"Well, we'll be ready for him when we do" Hook announces taking out the coconut that trapped the shadow on Neverland, giving it to Neal.
"I think it's Pan we should be concerned about now" Gold changed the subject approaching the strong wooden door's "Why are we still up here?"
"It's locked up tight" his son answered him "Not even Tom can see anything past the door"
"Really?" he questions his son looking straight at the former Lost Boy "And uh…who's idea was it to bring the novice Assassin in training" he looked straight at the teen "No offence dearie, but you are not my niece"
"It was the Widow herself crocodile" Hook jumped in to defend the boy "She has confidence in the boy so did Montague"
"Well, we'll find out soon enough" the Dark One said raiding his right hand to the door. The Dark One uses his magic to force his way into the building only for it to fail
"Told you" his son told him
"Fair enough" he sighed in frustration "This is going to take some time" he tells the other's as he begins working to break open the vault with magic.
At the news Tink glanced to the pirate to see concern and worry etched on his face at the delay of getting into the vault "Hook?" the fairy prodded the distressed pirate with Neal and his father listening into the conversation
"What if she figured it out before everyone else did" Hook said outload "The widow is always a step ahead of everything"
"You care about her?" the fairy asked the pirate
Hook simply shook his head at the fairy insinuation "Montague asked me to keep an eye on her after his demise, if Pan did something, I've already failed his dying wish"
"Hey" Neal gently called out to the pirate hearing his words "She'll be okay, if anything Pan should be more scared of her"
Despite his son's words Rumple could not be comforted in their faith that Amelia was left unharmed by his father as she did resemble Juliet so much
Meanwhile as Gold worked on opening the vault door Emma walks off to the side while deep in thought leaning her arm against a nearby tree with her parents, as usual, following her, seeing how troubled she looked
"It's going to be okay" He mother tried to reassure her as they waited "Everything's going to be okay"
"No, it's not" she tells them "Even if Pan's down there, I can't use my gun. He's in Henry's body"
"Then we'll get him out. We'll save him" David tells her
"Will we?" she questioned her father
"Yes" he tells her "And because of you, you were right about Pan just like your mother was about Regina all those years ago. We'll stop him and then-"
"Live my moments even though there's still terrible things out there?" she interrupts him
"Exactly" her parents tell her at the same time
"You're great parents, but you're wrong" Emma tells them feeling the pressure she was constantly under "I'm the... savior. I don't have the luxury of having moments. It's just not my life. Every time I think I'm going to sit back and enjoy myself, I can't because it's never going to stop"
"I used to think the same way" Mary Margaret tried to tell her daughter
"It's different. My magic has a price. The price of being the savior is... I don't get a day off" Her parents remain silent and contemplative just as Mr. Gold manages to force the vault door open with magic. Their heads snapped round to hear the wooden door's open to the vault.
"Shall we?"
It was the blood they saw first in the dim light of the vault as Gold led them down the narrow staircase to the vault, with the Charming family following him close behind. It was smeared on the wall on in the hallway, there was too much of it to be sure either his niece or the Queen were safe.
His eye's followed the blood trial as it ended in the room to the right to see the source of the red substance lying on the floor. There on the floor of the vault was Amelia's body laying motionless on the floor next to Regina's, her shirt soaked in her own blood.
"Oh god Lia!" Mary Margaret gasped rushing past the older man to get to the motionless redhead covered in blood next to Regina who hadn't got any blood on her, all of it was Amelia's. The former Princess knelt beside her childhood friend as Gold simply stared at the scene in front of him as Mary Margaret gently shook the Assassin to get her wake up, only to get nothing.
"Pan's gone" David summarised seeing no sign of the 'boy' "He must've done this"
"Is she?" Emma gulped from the archway to the room hovering behind the Dark One. Jolting himself into action he moved quickly to kneel next to his niece hovering a hand over her head looking for any sign she hadn't quite left this world for good. Then he felt it, the small spark of life withing the young woman that told him that all was not lost. Only just though .She was holding on as long as she could.
"Not quite Miss Swan" Gold answered her he looked up to David "Your Highness in the next room along is there should be a cabinet full of the same elixir Miss Montague gave to you, fetch a few bottles of it, she will need it"
"On it" he nodded rushing out of the room he disappeared down the hall
David easily found Amelia's part of the vault as he followed the trail of blood on the floor and wall from were the Assassin had forced herself out of sure will to get somewhere she would be found by her family. Upon entering the Assassin's armoury, it was not the hundreds of weapons that lined the wall of the room or the Black Widow's robes that he had fought against before the curse that made him gulp in fear for the woman.
It was the puddle of fresh blood just at the entrance that made him stop and stare as his body ran cold. He could see there was no fight between her and Pan as the blood had gathered where she fell as two blood covered daggers were left discarded on the stone floor.
The Prince made himself moved around the puddle of blood as he saw a glass cabinet full of small bottle he recognized that contained the elixir that healed him before he got Emma to the wardrobe and in Neverland to helped him get up to Dead Man's Peak.
He went to open the cabinet only to make it rattle as the door's stuck together. It was locked "Damn it" he cursed out load as his eyes darted to any sign of a key that opened it only to find nothing.
Then he remembered where he was.
"Sorry Lia" he breathed out as he grabbed one of the tomahawks that was sat on red satin display, using the butt of the handle to break the glass barrier between himself and the medicine that Amelia needed now.
Reaching in he grabbed a handful of small clear bottle's of the medicine hoping it would be enough to bring the Assassin back from the brink of death only to freeze as he heard something open behind him.
Slowly turning around his eye's sought out the perpetrator of the noise since everyone that came down to the vault first were with Amelia and Regina.
"Who's there?" he asked outload gripping the small axe in his hand just in case Pan was still there. At no reply he relaxed to see where the sound came from. In the middle of the room was Amelia's Black Widow robe in a tall glass display cabinet. But now it was open.
Slowly approaching he grabbed the door to close it only for the same squeak of the door to deafen the room. It was the cabinet, but what made it open?
He didn't get the answer as the dark robe inside sudden fell from it's mannequin to the floor taking the Prince by surprise as the robe fell to his feet
"Take it to her" Romeo hissed from behind the Prince, but his words went unheard as the Prince continued to stare at the robe ready for it to move again "Take it!" Romeo screamed in frustration at the man his Snow had married "She needs it"
With a huff David picked the robe up and draped it over his arm before he resumed his task of getting the medicine to the Assassin turning to hurry back down, the hall avoiding the blood on the floor.
"Thank you" the captain breathed out as he waited for his brother-in-law to save his daughter
"Get her on her back" Gold instructed the teacher as he sought to help his niece back to full health, she was no good to him dead after all that happened on Neverland "I'll need to heal her as much as I can before he returns"
"I-I don't understand" Mary Margaret almost blubbered as she and Emma gently moved the Assassin onto her back seeing the source of the blood come from her stomach placing the Assassin's head onto her lap "she survived the Apple of Eden and walked it straight off, but this, she's almost –" she swallowed a choke seeing how dead Amelia looked, she was cold to touch and she was barely breathing if at all.
Gold held out his had above his niece's bloodied stomach concentrating on healing the wound had inflicted on his granddaughter "I've found over the years, that my niece is a very hard woman to kill, today will be no different" he gritted through his teeth he focused on his task "This won't be her end if I have anything to do about it" he replied as David returned with a few small glass bottles in his hand and a dark cloak over his arm
"Here, I got a few" Mary Margaret looked up to see David hand Gold small clear bottles of the medicine Amelia used as the older man gave them straight to Emma.
"Mom!?" they heard Henry call out hearing footsteps coming down.
David rushed to the entrance and stopped Henry from descending the stairs to see Amelia the way she was "Hey stay there a minute okay. Lia's hurt but we're going to get her better" Henry nodded in understanding at his grandfather.
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Hook asked in frustration from outside the vault. Tink took a hold of the pirates arm to try and reassure him that he would be able to keep Romeo's dying wish.
"Lia's hurt" Henry told the other's with a sad look on his face "they're just helping her now" he told his father
"Hey" Neal quickly took his son's shoulder making him look up at him "She'll be okay, I know it"
"I know. I have faith in her"
Back in the vault they waited in bated breath as the wound on her stomach healed through his magic bringing back a little color to the Assassin's face and the blood disappeared from her clothes with only a couple of hole's where she was stabbed in her shirt.
Gold removed his hand from its place above Amelia's wound with a gritted smile at the amount of magic he had to use to help his niece almost tiring him out "Quickly the medicine"
At the man's instruction Emma uncorked one of the bottle's and gently poured the liquid into the woman's mouth with her mother help to get Amelia to swallow the liquid. Emma couldn't stop her hand from shaking as the last few drops entering the Assassin's mouth with no sign of life coming from the woman
"It's not working" Emma said as her hope for the woman faltered as she wasn't showing signs of waking up. But then something behind the redhead's eye's started to move behind her eyelids. Slowly but surely her eye's opened revealing her emerald eye's to the group of hero's and villain.
Her eye's shifted as she realised where she was. Her head was in Mary Margaret's lap as she saw Emma, Gold and David above her
"Please tell me nobody kissed me" she groaned out as the other's laughed in relief
"I'm afraid true love kiss doesn't heal stab wounds dearie" the old man told her as she pushed herself up into a sitting position with Mary Margaret and Emma's help
They saved her. She didn't know how "Thank you" as Emma left her side to run to the narrow staircase
"We're all clear down here!" she yelled up. Henry was the first down to be met with his mother
"Is Lia?" he whispered in fear for what his mother might say about his friend
"She's okay kid, see?" Emma pointed to the woman still on the floor taking something from David
"Don't thank us yet we've still got the Queen to wake up" Gold told her as he stood from the floor and walked over the Regina. At the mention of Regina, the Assassin went to find her on the ground next to her only for her stiff body to protest from the sudden movement making her groan out in pain.
"Easy Lia" Mary Margaret eased her back into her original position "She'll be okay"
"Here, I think you might want this" David stepped forward to give her a dark cloak as Gold lifts the enchanted from Regina, waking her up.
Amelia took the cloak from the Prince only to see it was the hood and robe to her Black Widow outfit. Why would he choose to bring her this out of all of them on display in her vault? Ignoring the burning question, she gave the Prince an appreciative nod in thanks before he helped her off the ground and a strong tug getting the woman on her feet.
"What? What happened?" she heard Regina asked the other's, seeing looking a little worse for wear as David helped her off the ground
"It's Henry" Emma told the former Queen "Somehow Pan switched bodies with him, he hurt Lia"
Hearing the last part her eye's snapped to the redhead to see her a little worse for wear as she held onto David for support. It was her fault the assassin had got hurt. She fell for Pan's tricks
"And I fell for it" Regina huffed getting herself up and brushing the dirt from her coat
"We all did" Mary Margaret tried to reassure the woman
"I wanted to believe what he was saying so badly I missed all the signs" she tells the others "I just wanted to believe he still needed me to be his mother"
"I still do" a voice said from the entrance of the vault room making Regina and Amelia look up to see Pan right there
"Henry?" she gasped as 'Pan' rushed forward gathering his mother in a loving embrace which she quickly mirrored. After a beat the pair separated as Henry threw himself in Amelia's arms forgetting how big he was in Pan's body. She held onto the boy as tight as she could in her weakened state clenching her eye's shut seeing that he was okay.
"Are you okay Lia?" Henry said into her shoulder
"Just a scratch, nothing bad" she told him before letting him go, but he held onto the Assassin like she would disappear wrapping his arm around her back as if he was keeping her in place as her eye's gazed up to meet the Queen's concerned brown eyes watching her son clutch to the redhead "I'm fine" she reiterated to Henry while she looked at the woman
"So, what exactly did Pan come down here to get?" David sent the question towards Gold who held up a hand while using magic to sense anything missing from the vault. His hand stops at an open box
Gold then looks towards the former Queen with annoyance on his face "Please tell me you didn't keep it down here"
"Where else would I keep it?" the Queen snapped back at him
"What is it? What did Pan take?
Amelia knew exactly what was kept in that box, and it was nothing good "He took the Dark Curse" she told the other's with a hard look on her face
"Why would Pan even want the curse?" The Queen asked the man "I already cast it"
"And I broke it" Emma quickly added
"Well, that doesn't mean you can't cast it again" the old man told them before looking at Emma "And this time, without your parents' true love woven in, even you would be powerless to break it.
"I don't understand" David spoke up "We're already in this land" he argued
"What exactly would casting the curse in Storybrooke do now?"
"Nothing good" the Assassin summed up to the others. Nothing good at all
AN:
Nearly there..
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