AN: Don't forget to read Part 1 first!
He knew nothing good would come out when he told Amelia about what had happened in Neverland, he expected her to scream and shout but instead he was left with silence before the redhead ran out of the building. He had no choice but to go back to Henry in the diner leaving him to pick at the pancakes in front of him as his stomach twisted in worry over the redhead, hoping he hadn't messed up his relationship he had with her, over something he should've told her days' ago.
His thoughts were interrupted when he felt Regina's familiar presence walk past him with David and Mary Margaret close behind while Emma came over to speak to Henry. Quickly jumping out of his seat he ran out of the diner and bounded down the snow-covered steps to call after the older woman.
"Regina" the teen called after the former Queen making her stop and turn to face him as Emma came out of the diner.
"Tom? What's wrong?" she asked in concern as the charming couple waited on the street.
"It's-.." he started to explain only for Henry to he was interrupted when Henry came out of the diner to confront his mother.
"Where are you really going?" Henry asked his mother making the blonde stop and turn to face her son as they all watched.
"I told you. I'm following a lead" Emma tells him.
"What lead?".
"It's my job. It's complicated".
"Is this about the person who killed my dad?" he suddenly asks her to take her by surprise.
"Y…Yes" she reluctantly tells him.
"Then, tell me" he demands.
"It would just be easier once it's all solved, Henry" she says as the others stood silently to the growing argument.
"You've been lying to me ever since we got here" he accuses her "I deserve to know everything".
"No, you don't!" she snaps at him raising her voice "I'm your mother and I know best. So, you just gonna have to deal with this for now, okay? Understood?".
Henry nods his head in defeat "Yeah, I think I do" he says as his mother starts to walk away "Wait" he stops her "I need your keys. I left mine in the room and if I'm gonna be a prisoner I'd like to have my Game Boy" without thinking the blonde gives the twelve-year-old her keys before walking away.
With his conversation with the former Queen forgotten about, Tom follows Henry back into the diner where he follows him through the diner, past their 'babysitter' Leroy. Through the hallway the boy le him back out to his mother's yellow bug before stopping and turning around to face his cousin.
"Do you wanna come to New York with me?".
Without hesitation the teen agrees as a smile grows on the younger boys lips before turning around to unlock the diver's side to the car that would take them away from the town unaware of the leather clad pirate behind them as Henry struggled to unlock the car door.
"Where are you off to there, mates?" his voice makes the pair jump to look up and see the pirate leaning on a car opposite them.
"Uh, nowhere" Tom quickly tells the man, Amelia been all too ready to kill a few days ago.
"You're quite in the rush to go nowhere" he observes.
"Fine. I'm going home. Tom's coming with me" Henry tells the man that brought them to Storybrooke.
"Mm" Hook hummed as he pushed himself off the car to step towards the boys that had become close friends "You're running away".
"Whatever" Tom shrugs at the man.
"So, you're planning on driving all the way back to New York? One lesson each and you think you're ready for that?".
"No, just to the nearest bus station".
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that. It's too dangerous".
"We don't care what you think" the teen says as he opens the door only for Hook's to reach over the taller boy of the pair and push it back closed.
"Well, you should. Cause I've got a better way".
Deep within the Dark Forest The Charming couple, Amelia and Regina searched high and low for any clue of Glinda the Good Witch of the South. Pausing in his search David stopped and picked up a snowbell from the ground before turning around to his pregnant wife, offering it to her.
"For luck" he tells her with a comforting smile.
Smiling Snow takes the flower from her husband, then she turns to the Evil Queen and Black Widow with unimpressed looks on their faces with the latter with folded arms across her chest.
"What?" she asked the older women in front of her.
"We're at the edge of the Dark Forest, trying to find the one person who can stop our imminent doom and save your unborn child" Regina starts "And you two stop to smell the roses?".
"Snowbells" the Princess corrects her making Amelia let out a sigh as she rolled her eye's at the sentiment turning away from the younger woman to continue the trek to find their way to Glinda.
"We don't care if they are dancing daffodils" she snaps at them "I need to destroy my sister. And so do you" Regina reminds them as she walks forward away from the others "And if that babbling mad man sent us on a wild goose chase, I swear I'll-" she stops mid-sentence to see a door in the middle of the forest "What's that supposed to be?" she says making the others look up to see a door appear in the middle of forest.
"Well dear" the assassin speaks up as the four of them approach the magically appearing door "I'm no expert, but it appears to be a door" making the woman look towards her love with a glare.
Carefully the prince approaches the door only to see that He's able to see that the path continues beyond it.
"That leads nowhere…" David adds to the assassin's explanation.
"Through the doorstep inside" Snow suddenly spoke up "If pure of heart, then she won't hide" Snow repeats Rumple's riddle from earlier "It's Rumple's riddle. It's Glinda" rushing forward in excitement the Princess opens the door and lets herself through the doorway only to disappear.
"Snow!" Charming exclaims and runs after his wife disappearing through to the other side with his wife.
Regina scoffs and looks at Amelia with a proud smile "A portal with a cheap cloaking spell" she says as she confidently steps forward with the air of confidence as the redhead waited already knowing what was going to happen if she or Regina tried to step through the portal. The redhead's assumption was correct as the former Queen simply stepped through the door still in the Dark Forest.
With a face like thunder she turned around to see the assassin still stood in the same place where she left her with a knowing smile on her face. Rolling her eyes, she walked back through to slam the heavy door shut before coming to stand next to the assassin.
"If pure of heart...What could that possibly mean?" the assassin mused to herself making the woman next to her huff in annoyance.
"If you're so confident, why don't you try?" she invited the redhead with a forced smirk.
"Oh no, no. That's not a question I need answered "she tells her "Anyway I'd rather stay with you" the redhead says to her love in a sickly-sweet tone, placing a sweet kiss on the Queen's cheek.
"Shut up" Regina grumbles slapping the redheads arm before the pair fall in comfortable silence.
"You know…" the redhead trailed off breaking the silence between them "We could just leave them here, find a…nice…quiet spot about thirty metre's back the way we came" the redhead suggested to the woman next to her making the Queen's brow twitch up at the suggestion "And..if they don't come back out, well that's just too bad.." she says.
"No, besides. You wouldn't be quick enough" the former Queen tells her, disappointing the redhead.
"Never heard you complain about that before" the assassin sighed out.
This was going to be a long wait.
After what seemed like forever to the assassin. Snow and David re-emerged from the door to inform them what Glinda had told them what they needed to do to defeat Zelena. They needed Emma and her light magic. Only problem, she was in another realm, with the Dark Curse the only answer they had to get to her. With the news Amelia sat on a bolder with Snow hunched over with her head resting on a closed fist as she thought the idea through.
"Are you out of your minds?" Regina started hearing Snow and David plans to reunite with their daughter "Even, if I believe this Glinda, which I don't, to cast the Dark Curse I'd have to destroy the heart of the thing I love most, which - for me - is Henry" she points out to them.
"There has to be another way to enact it" Snow asks the older woman.
"If there were, do you think I would have killed my own father?" Regina argued as she glanced over to the redhead knowing it was a sore subject for the woman.
"What about a magic bean?" Charming spoke up "If we had one, we could open a portal. Or Jefferson's hat?".
"There are no more portals" Amelia tells the Prince making the others look towards her making her straighten up "Not for us anyway. Not for anyone the curse brought back. When Regina undid the first curse to escape Pan to bring us here, it divided our realms. It placed a wall between them".
"The Dark Curse is the only way" David sighed out.
"Haven't you been listening? I can't cast it" Regina reminded the man as an idea came to the Prince.
"But someone else can" the man pointed out looking at his wife.
"Who?" Snow asked her husband.
"You" he answered before crouching down besides his wife "It's the only way. You can use my heart to cast the curse. We have to think of our child".
"Our child needs you…I need you" Snow pleads with her husband "We'll find another way. We always find another way".
She couldn't stand for this. There had to be another way as she dug in deep to what Rumple had told her. He would've had said what he said to her for no reason. But then it came to her as she remembered what Rumple had told her.
"The valiant never taste of death but once" the other's heard Amelia whisper Rumple's earlier words to her making them look at her.
Regina was going to hate her for this.
"We don't have to use David" she announces to the others before standing up to look her love straight in her eyes "You can use mine".
"No!" the former Queen protested in horror at what her partner had just told her, trying to see If the redhead was being serious. She was always serious "Absolutely not!".
"Rumple gave you two options for the first curse" she reminded the Queen "It's time".
"Are you out of your mind?!" Regina seethed at the assassin as angry tears started to gather in her eye's "How can you even suggest I do that?" she said turning her back on the woman she loved as the tears fell from her eyes.
"Remember the night I came back?" she asked her Queen "I told you I was done running from my problems, that I was going to do whatever it took to make sure Zelena got nowhere near Snow's baby. This is it. I've seen too many people die because of her already" she gulped "Neal. Lance" she listed off "Only one more person needs to die if we have any chance of beating your sister, we need Emma, now. This is what I want Regina. Death pay's all debts".
Once the assassin was finished speaking the Queen slowly turned around and nodded in agreement knowing she wasn't going to change her mind.
"Lia-" Snow spoke up as she held onto her husband having listened to her impassioned speech with tears in her eyes knowing this was possibly the last time she was going to see her childhood hero alive.
"Don't, this is what I want Snow. But there's something I need all three of you to do once you get to Storybrooke".
"What is it?" David spoke up holding his head up "Whatever it is we'll do it" he says as Snow nods along.
"I need you all to look after my son".
Taking Tom and Henry to the docks they stood with a portly man with a red knitted hat on his head. He needed to get the twelve-year old out of Storybrooke before Zelena could make good on his threat even if he had to drag the teen that followed the former Widow around like a lone pup. He would be willing to endure the beating he would suffer from the temperamental woman if it meant the boy was safe.
"Lads, this is a friend of mine. Mr. Smee" Hook introduced them to his first mate to the pair.
"Like from Peter Pan?" Henry asked him, making the former lost boy look at him in worry.
"You remember?" Smee asks him in concern.
"I've seen the movie a million times" the boy says.
"It's quite a common name in the seafaring world" Hook tells him before changing the subject "As luck would have it he's making sail to New York and would be happy for the company".
"I am?" he asks quickly exchanging glances with him Captain "I mean, I am" he says nodding at the pair of cousins.
"Really?" a degree of doubt is heard in Henry's voice "Where is your ship?" he asks the man.
"Uh" he turns around looking for said ship to find a small one moored behind him "there she is".
"You're stealing it, right?" Tom speaks up.
"You wanna go to New York or not?" Hook asks the pair in annoyance trying to hurry their exit along.
"Why are you helping us?" Henry asks the man as Tom feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up on end as his eyes' seek out the source of the danger to see a flying monkey in the distance through the heavy snow shower that is coming straight for them.
"Captain?" Smee sees it next as he calls out to his Captain uneasily.
"Mr. Smee, we need to get the lads to the boat house" he calmly tells his first mate as the monkey get closer.
"Why? What's going on?" Henry asks as Tom grabs him by his arm to guide him towards the boat house as the flying monkey circles above them "Killian, what is that?".
"Now!" Hook orders the boys as they run to the boathouse and locking the door behind them as Hook takes out his gun to fight off the flying monkeys.
"What now, Captain?" the first mate asks as Tom runs to the edge of the boathouse his eye's shining bright as his training seemingly kicks in to find the imminent threat.
"Take the boys there. Far exit. Find a new boat. I'll stay here to deal with our winged friends" he orders his first mate.
"I'm staying" Tom says looking back at the pirate forgetting to turn his vision back off so that Henry see's them.
"Lad" the pirate trails off not wanting the wannabe assassin to stay behind.
"No!" he yells at the pirate standing his ground "I can fight, let me stay" nodding at the teen he turns to Henry.
"Henry, go with Smee. Don't stop, no matter what you hear" Smee follows the captain's orders with Henry briefly following him before the flying monkey's make their final descent.
"Henry, go!" Tom yells back as he pushes the younger boy forward before turning around to face his first flying monkey as Hook fire's his pistol. Once close enough the teen flicked out his hidden blades and quickly bringing the sharp edge across its fur stomach, watching it vaporize in front of him, as a second tries to grab his arm with his claw's only for the teen to quickly stab it in the gut.
Hearing a heavy thump behind him Tom whirls around to see Henry on the floor having tripped over a coiled rope as a monkey head straight for him. Forgetting about the monkey's the teen rushes over to aid the boy only to get there in time to protectively crouch over the boy as a gun is fired from the other send of the boat house hitting the third monkey directly in the chest.
Looking up from their spot Tom and Henry see Emma, David and Regina running in with Mary Margaret trailing behind as the prince throws his sword over the boy's head to hit another winged creature.
"I never liked pets" Regina seethed at the monkey's as she throws a ball of fire at the creatures as the last remaining monkeys are taken by the blonde savior and former Queen.
Helping the former lost boy off the ground the former Queen quickly tries to hide his face from Henry "Tom your eye's" she whispers to him reminding him that he still had his sixth sense on.
Realizing his mistake, the teen squeezes his eye's closed as he tries to concentrate through the adrenaline that pumped through his veins. Opening his eye's Regina see's the familiar pair of brown eyes looking straight back at her as she takes her hands away.
"Henry, are you okay?" the blonde asks her son as she helps him off the ground.
"Y… Yeah. What were those things?" he asks his mother before he sees David sheathing his sword "Why does he have a sword?" then he looks towards Tom who had the Mayor's arm around his shoulder "What happened to his eye's?" he says making the older boy frown.
"It's all gonna make sense in a minute, I promise" she tells him only for him to look up at her in confusion.
"What are you talking about?".
"I'm sorry I was keeping things from you. You were right. You deserve to know the truth" she says showing Henry his storybook.
"About fairy tales? I don't understand".
"Do you trust me?".
"Yes, of course, I do" Henry replies in a heartbeat.
"Then I need you to believe".
"Believe in what?".
"Believe in magic" Emma tells him.
"From a book?" he asks with doubt in his voice.
"It's more than just a book" she tells him "Do you believe in me?".
"Yes".
"Then take it" she says, handing him the book. As soon as he takes it Henry remembers visiting Emma in Boston, both of them sitting together at his castle, breaking the curse, using pixie dust to fly in Neverland, practice sword fighting with his father, the evening he had spent with with Amelia in the loft as she recounted stories about her life before falling asleep on her shoulder to finally leaving Storybrooke with the rest of his family in the rear view mirror.
Coming out of the brief trance he look up to his birth mother "Mom?" he asks making the blonde smile down seeing that it had worked, he remembered, before he looked toward his adopted mother "Mom!" he exclaims in happiness as the pair close the distance between them, the mother engulfing her son in a tight embrace.
"I remember" he tells her before breaking the hug to face his blonde mother "I remember!" he repeats in excitement.
"Do it, Emma. Break the curse" Regina instructs the younger woman. Leaning forward to kiss his forehead only to suddenly disappear making them gasp in surprise.
"So, sorry to interrupt" Zelena announces her presences making the others look down he boathouse to see the Wicked Witch stood there with Henry in her arms"Now, who wants to say good-bye first?" the witch offers.
"Who are you?" asked the strange woman who had a hand around his neck.
"You can call me Auntie Zelena" she sneered into his ear as he continued to struggle in her arms.
"Enough of this" the former Queen announced as she steps forwards to put an end to her sister only for the latter to wave her advancement off, magically pushing her onto the ground as her son calls out for his mother in concern.
"Let him go" Emma demands out of the witch "He had nothing to do with this"
"Don't blame me. The captain failed me" Zelena informs the blonde making the other look at the pirate.
"Damn you, Zelena" he growls at the witch for exposing him to the others.
"Hook, what's she talking about?" Emma asks the man the man contiues to stare the witch down.
"He knew what the price of that failure was: Your son's life".
Seeing his friend in clear distress was to much for the teen as a hidden blade flicked out his gauntlet and take a determined step towards the Witch ready to end the stand off between them and the Wicked Witch.
"Tom no!" David yelled out as he pulls the teen shoulder back to stop him from taking the witch on himself a dangerous look comes across his eyes as he zero's in on his target at the other end of the boat house.
"I'd listen to him young Thomas" she tells the teen with a wide smile "I don't thing your Mommy would be too happy if you tried to take me on by yourself" she says only making the teen.
"Mom" Henry calls out for his mother again as his voice stained as she starts to choke him. Closing her eye's in concentration the savior focuses on using her magic to get Henry out of the Zelena's hand, a white light appears above the witch as it starts to burn her until she finally lets the twelve year old go.
"Run!" Emma calls out seeing him free of Zelena as he quickly rushes into his mother's arms as a yell of frustration escapes Zelena's throat.
"Enjoy this moment together because you don't have many left!" the witch exclaims before vanishing in a cloud of green smoke.
"Henry, are you okay?" Emma asks her son in concern as she look's over him.
"Yeah. Yeah" he reassures his mother before he kneels down to his adopted mother who hadn't moved since Zelena had sent her to the ground gently shaking her he tries to wake her up "Mom! Mom! Mom!".
After the initial surprise the it didn't take much convincing for Snow, David or Regina to agree to look out for Tom once they got back to Storybrooke.
It came as a welcome relief being able to tell them the secret she had been keeping ever since the wooden Jackdaw had found him under the apple tree. She leave it up to them to eventually tell him the truth about who she was to him. For once in the eye's of her son she would be remembered as the hero and not the villain he and so many other's had come to fear over the years.
But now she would have to say goodbye to the teen that had been able to worm himself into her heart since leaving Neverland. He waited for her while she tried to find her son going from orphanage to orphanage and stood by her training as he developed the skills that had started to show with Romeo.
She found Tom sat in her chambers with Doc one one of the ornate sofa's that sat around her fireplace as the dwarf patched out some of the bruises and scrapes the teen escaped the flying monkeys with.
"Lia, you're back!" Tom exclaimed from his seat as he saw the senior assassin at the doorway as Doc was finishing up. The smile that grew on his face mirrored his father's.
"All good Doc? Or do I need to find another lost boy to train" she teases from the door as the dwarf approaches her to leave.
"He's fine Amelia, just a few scrapes" Doc assures her as he goes to leave "Nothing to worry about"
"Thanks Doc" at that the pair are left alone.
"Did the plan work?" he asks his teacher as she enters the room, but instead of joining him she crosses the room to a small chest that in the corner of the room.
"It did" she tells him "Regina's working on something as we speak" she tells him as she opens the small chest to reveal the pair of gauntlets that once belonged to her father sat in them.
"What is it?" he asks the woman as she picks takes the old gauntlets into hands before silently joining the teen as the latter grew confused why she she had them.
"Do you know whose these once belonged to?" she says gently stroking the soft leather that encompassed the deadly weapon inside.
"Yeah..they were Romeo's" he says as his brown eyes meet her's.
"The hidden blade had been a constant companion of assassins for over three centuries. Some would say it defines us- and they would not be entirely wrong. Many of our successes would not have been possible without it" she tells him as he watches her struggled to keep the tears at bay "Many of my own failures over the years have been possible because of them".
"Every apprentice of the Creed once they achieve the rank of novice is given his or her's own pair by their teacher, I was lucky enough to be given my gauntlets by my father. They have been apart of my life longer than any enemy or friend I've ever made. And now it's time you have a pair of your own" she says handing Romeo's gauntlets to the teen "You were his apprentice first, it's seems right they should be your's".
"Lia-" he trialed off as his eye's flickered between her and the weapons. As Amelia took his arm and slipped the dark leather gauntlets onto his right forearm before doing the same on on the other. Once the weapon securely on his arms, she watched as her son held his arms out in front of himself as turning his arms back in awe of having them on his arms for the first time.
"See" she breaks the silence between them as heard herself choke on word "They suit you".
Quickly closing the distance between them Tom throw's his arms around her shoulders "Thank you".
"Your Welcome" she tells him "Besides, you're going to need them where you'll going".
Pulling out of the embrace he looked at her in confusion as he tried to understand what she was talking about "W-Where I'm going?".
"Back to Storybrooke" she tells him "We found out that in order to stop Zelena we need light magic. Emma's light magic" she clarifies.
"But she's in the Land of No Magic".
"That's right, we need to find her which means that Regina needs to cast the dark curse that took all of us there in the first place, that''s why I won't be going with you".
Snow flurries fell around her as she knelt on the hard frozen ground underneath her in front of the tombstone that read her father's name over again as she tried to wrap her head around what Tom had told her in the corridor between the Inn and Diner.
Romeo Montague
Beloved Father
Master Assassin
Requiesce in pace
He had been banished to a place called Neverland where he was poisoned with something called Dreamshade before being cured with the waters, only to be trapped there not ever being able to escape until they did. Only for the old man to literally throw away his lifeline on the journey back to meet a peaceful death knowing his daughter would be okay with a family around her.
"My lady you're frozen" Robin fretted for his friend who was knelt in the snow-covered ground. After finding her after hours of searching for the redhead after her over night stay with the Queen.
"I'm fine" she said trying to brush off her friends concern not ready to deal with his interfering with Tom.
"Amelia-".
"I said I'm fine Robin" she said as she pushed herself off the ground to walk away from the thief.
"My lady, I must speak to you-"
"Why does Tom think I'm his mother?" Amelia suddenly asks the thief rounding on the man "I just had the most interesting conversation with him where he thinks the reason my memories were taken was because of him.
"Because you are my lady" he tells her.
"My son is gone, Robin. I have no idea where Angelo could've taken him".
"And you're right, but I think I'm right in thinking this, why do you think the Wicked Witch offered a second chance with him, she know's who he is".
"Well it's a good thing I told him I wasn't" she snaps at him "Have you have any idea how dangerous making him think that is? It was never your job to find out why she took my memories, so just stop" she says before turning around to walk away from the man.
"Is it the Queen's job then?" he suddenly asks her making her stop again as he continues "You may not remember my lady but I remember you each time you struck down each of your brothers. I saw what it did to your heart and yet you carried on until they were all gone. You darkened your heart for that woman and she did nothing to repay the love you showed her".
Slowly turning around her eye met his "Why are you telling me this?".
"Because I refuse to sit back and allow you to go down the same path as you once did" he says taking a step forward to close the distance between them as his face hover's over hers "I have cared you ever since I met you Amelia, that amazing woman I wished I had met instead of my best friend" he says reaching up to softly stroke her cheek with a soft smile gracing his lips.
She was not expecting this. She had never seen this side to the thief since waking up in this strange land, there had been moment she would catch him looking at her before he would give her a smile that would make any other woman blush, but not her. Her mind had been too pre-occupied to think anything more behind the looks.
"You don't mean that" she almost whispers.
"But I do" he gulps "As I know you once did. You nearly gave up your need for vengeance for me".
"Then what happened?" she asks the man in front of her with furrowed brows "Why weren't we together?".
"Because I did something that ruined the chance of a life together" he admits to the redhead "I just need a chance to show you how much I truly care for you" he says before he slowly closes the distance between him until his lips met hers, just as a rush of light magic rushed past them making the pair quickly pull away from the kiss as quickly as it happened.
"W-why?" Tom stammered out as he realized what would have to happen to get them to Storybrooke. She saw the heartbreak that etched his face as he tried to understand why she wouldn't be going to Storybrooke without her.
"The curse requires a sacrifice, the heart of thing you love the most. My heart was once an option for Regina to use for the first curse a long time ago-".
"And now?" he gulped not wanting her to answer his question.
"It's an option now. Rumple confirmed it when I spoke to him. I'll be able to send you back to Storybrooke and Emma will be able to stop Zelena once and for all".
"No" he started to shake his head at the redhead as making her take both his hands in hers "No,no,no,no" he repeated as she saw the ft tears that fell down his cheeks "You can't".
"If there were any other option's we would've done it. I want to do this".
"Well I don't!" he snapped snatching his hand out of her's he jumped to his feet and started to pace in front of the fireplace. She knew this wouldn't be easy for him to understand but she knew he would in time once Zelena had been defeated.
Pushing herself off the sofa she stopped him from pacing cupping his face in her hands as angry tears continued to fall down his face "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think you'd be okay".
"How do you know that?".
"Because you're a fighter, just like me" she stressed to him as her eye's glistened in her eye's "The future won't be easy, but as long as you wake up everyday with that fight that lives in your heart, nothing will ever faze you. I know you haven't grown up with a family around you but I'm giving you your best chance to have one even if I'm not there to be apart of it, but you have to promise me that you'll fight for that right every day, because there is nothing worse in the world than thinking you're completely alone in this world, as much as it's gonna hurt to lose me there are much worse things in the world".
"I promise" Tom sniffs at her with a firm nod before leaning his head down to rest it against the assassin's shoulder only to disappear in a flash of green making the assassin jump back in surprise.
"Forget about me darling?" her voice echoed through the room as she appeared to the right of the Master Assassin with a wide grin on her green skin as she held the assassin's son in her arms with a sharp blade dangerously near the exposed throat holding the teen tightly against her chest "Now, how open would you be to a negotiation?".
As their lips parted from one another a burst of light magic swept through the camp making the pair step apart from each other as they regained their memories of the last year.
However, for the redhead the last fourteen years came back. From being reunited with Regina as the Evil Queen, to hunting down her former brothers, to fighting Snow and Charming before helping them when the curse was coming. And finally, to her time in Storybrooke, Neverland, to the year she had spent in the Enchanted Forest.
It all came back to the redheads mind as she stood in front of the thief in a trance like state as she tried to make sense of what had just happened.
"Lia?" Robin called out to the red head after the woman had stayed quiet. She looked back up at him having what had just transpired between them. The conversation. The kiss.
"Robin" she whispered as fresh recognition flashed through her green eye's as tears threatened to fall.
"You remember" he simply stated to the redhead a wide smile grow's on his face.
"Everything" Robin closed the distance between the and engulfed her in a tight embrace wrapping his arms around her chest holding her close to him as close as he could as, her arms slowly mirrored his action perching her chin on his shoulder as tears left her eyes in a mix of heartbreak and relief to her memories back.
"I'm so sorry Robin. I can't" without looking at him she pulled away from the thief and turned her back to him. She had to find her son and the woman she loved as tears left her eyes as she left her heartbroken friend behind her.
This couldn't be happening, not now, not when they were so close.
"Let him go" she shakily demands out of the Wicked Witch as she see's her son in the woman's arms. the assassin stood rigidly in front of the fireplace as her feet found themselves stuck in their place as white hot anger washed through her body at the witches boldness.
"What's that dear?" she mocked the assassin with a wide smirk "We couldn't quite hear you" she says as she tightens his hold on him. Her heart clenches in her chest as he struggles to pull the witch off of him.
"Let him go!" she demands louder this time "He has nothing to do with this".
"Oh on the contrary I think that little speech of yours show's me he's much more than just a little orphan you've picked up off the street. You care for him" she observes as she see's the way she had reacted.
"What do you want?".
"It's something I can help you with actually" she says "You see I've come to see young Thomas and I here as kindred spirits, we we both know how it feels to be abandoned by our mothers" she said as Amelia met Tom's eye's "To be unwanted, alone in a cruel world".
"That's not true" the redhead says to the witch shaking her head at her. She never abandoned him, he was taken. There was a difference.
"Ah, but all those years you spent with my sister, darkening your heart as you killed brother after brother. And yet you never once tried to find him until now".
"I was giving him his best chance, something I don't you could ever understand" she replies through gritted teeth.
"You can lie to yourself all you want, but I came here to offer you a deal".
"Whatever it is I'm not taking it".
"Even if it harms the one person in this dreadful castle that could make you turn your blade against my sister and those pesky royals".
"Even then".
"If that's true then you wouldn't mind if I told him the truth about his mother" she offered.
"Your bluffing" Amelia calls the green skinned with out.
"I don't bluff dearie, you should know that by now" she says as she pushes the blade against his neck.
"Stop!" she exclaims making Zelena lift the pressure off reveal a small cut appear on his neck.
"Tell young Thomas here the little secret you've been keeping from him these last few months".
"Amelia" Tom calls out to her making her heart twist as his voice strained from the pressure the witch was putting on his neck.
"Shut up" she growls in his ear beofre looking back up at her "Tell him".
"Let him go first" Amelia rebuts.
"Why should I?".
"Because he's my son" she blurts out as she feels the weight lift off her shoulders as short pants left her mouth as she looked upon her son "You're my son Tom, the one that was taken away from me all those years ago" she confesses to the teen as he stops struggling in Zelena's arms as he looks at her in confusion at the revelation.
He didn't believe her, she needed him believe her.
"The scar you have on the side of your head was from the night you were taken away from me. I am so sorry I haven't tried looking for you before now, there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't think about you. Nothing I can say will be able to take back the last few years, but I can try my best to make it up to you, even if it takes the rest of my life to prove it to you".
"There doesn't that feel better dear" she says as satisfied smirk graced her lips as she takes the blade away from the teen's throat. a ploom of smoke engulfs the teen making him disappear for a split second before he reappeared right next to her, the assassin didn't waste a second before she takes her son into a tight embrace that he mirrors wrapping his arms around her waist as he buried his face into her shoulder.
She had the assassin where she wanted her. Weak and vulnerable. This was her plan with her all along, she didn't know how she had found out about Tom but she didn't need to do much to get a confession out of her all she had to do is push the right buttons.
Puling out of the embrace the redhead turns to face the witch "What do you want?" the redhead gulps out.
"Well now that I've got your full attention , there is something you can do for me and I think we can strike a deal"
With the last year of his memories back the teen waited in the boathouse for his mother to find him again. He hadn't seem her since earlier that day when he had to explain to her why he had Romeo's gauntlets.
"She'll be here Tom" Mary Margaret tries to reassure the teen with a supportive hand on his back.
"What if it didn't break for her?" the teen pondered out loud as she stared at the entrance the other adult had come from. After regaining their memories the teen had to stand back and listen to how Snow had to use David's heart in the end to cast the curse to bring them to Storybrooke and how the former Princess had split her heart so her Prince Charming could continue living.
Regina had taken Henry on a walk so they could catch up leaving the teen to impatiently wait for the redhead to reappear. Maybe she was scared her true love's kiss on Henry hadn't broken her curse.
He wanted to tell them why she wasn't there as promised but he thought it was best coming from his mother, not him.
"If we know Lia as well as we do she'll be doing everything to try and find you" David tried to reassure him as he came to stand behind him as Emma and Hook stood back to watch as the couple stepped away to give the teen the space he needed at that moment.
"Guy's what's going on?" Emma asked her parents "Should we be worried?" she asked the pair seeing the worry in their faces.
"We don't know" David sighed out glancing at the teen he had agreed to loo out for once Regina had crushed her heart "The original plan was for Regina to use Lia's heart to cast the curse, but when we were ready for it, she never showed up".
"What?" Emma gasped as the Captain clenched his jaw.
"She couldn't stand by and watch Neal and her friends to die anymore" Mary Margaret informed their daughter "She convinced Regina to use it, but something must've happened to stop her she-" the former Princess was interrupted when as a new footsteps thudded the wooden floor.
Looking up the group of hero's and villain saw Amelia walking into the boathouse her eye's firmly on the teen stood meter's away from her as he tried to see if she recognized him the way she did before the curse had taken her memories.
"Mom?" Tom called her taking a hesitant step towards her, testing the waters a light chuckle left the assassin's lips.
"Yeah" she breathed out with a watery smile "I remember Tom" she tells him. Before she knew what had happened the teen engulfed his mother in a tight embrace that the redhead mirrored as she reached up to thread her fingers through his brown curled hair like she did when he was small enough to carry as he shoved his face and nose into her shoulder holding onto her for dear life.
"Not to interrupt the moment luv" Hook spoke up for himself and the blonde making the mother and son duo pull away from embrace "But why does it feel like we're missing something still".
"Killian" Emma scolds the man for ruining the moment in front of them. She had to admit she felt like she was missing something but she wasn't going to say anything.
A chuckle leaves her lips as she guides the teen to the others keeping his hand firmly in hers as she looked "And here I thought you'd be happy for me Jones. Seeing as at least one of us found what we were looking for" she cryptically tells the pirate as a smile slowly pulls on his face as he looks at the teen for a second time, seeing the resemblance between as it dawned on him what she was talking about.
"Bloody hell" he drawled in "You bloody did it".
"Technically it was Tink with a locator spell" she tells the man.
"Uh, would someone like to fill me in here?" Emma spoke up.
"Swan" the assassin started "Meet Thomas Smith. My son".
On the other side of the boathouse Regina walked along side her son back under her arm as she catching up with the last year of his life in New York. "New York was awesome" he starts "The pizza. The Yankees. My school" he lists off.
A chuckle escapes the former Queen's lips seeing the excitement coing from her son after so long apart "Slow down" she tells him stopping their walk "I wanna hear it all. The entire year".
"I found an apple tree in Central Park that looked exactly like the one by your office" he tells her "Of course, I didn't know back then, but now I do. And guess what…".
"What?".
"I got pretty good at math" Henry tells in her pride.
"No" she exclaimed in disbelief.
"Pretty good" he repeats "Not Stephen-Hawking-good, but good" he says before changing the subject line "What did I miss here?".
"Nothing much" Regina quickly tells him taking his face into her gloved hands "Nothing that matters now".
"Not even Lia kissing you?" Henry asked his mother with a knowing smile as her hands fell from his face.
She almost forgot about the redhead after the events in the boat house "Let's stay focused on New York. Tell me about the pizza" she tried to change the subject away from Amelia as she had no idea until she saw her again if she remembered their time together.
"Come on, mom. Does that mean you're back together?".
Clearing her throat, she answered "It's complicated".
"How? I thought you all got your memories back".
"Before we cast the cast to bring us here, we think Zelena gave Amelia a stronger memory potion than the one she put in the curse".
"What does that mean?".
"She lost a lot more than the year the rest of us did. From when she lost her first love and her son. I'm not sure if she got all of them back when the curse broke".
"Why don't you just ask Queenie?" a voice they both recognized suddenly said behind them. Whirling around the former Queen was greeted with a welcome sight of her partner in crime and life and Tom behind her as a giant smile grew on the twelve year old face seeing the resident assassin back with all her memories intact from the nickname she had given his mother.
"Lia!" Henry exclaimed as he closed the distance between them as the boy practically jumped into the red heads arms. Amelia gathered her little cousin in her arms after a year of not seeing him. She held him as tight as she could as Regina watched her love reunite with the boy that had given her the second chance she needed to change. Like he had done with her.
"I've missed you little cousin" she mumbled into his head "Your Mother's been impossible to live with for the past year" she adds making him laugh before crouching down in front of him "So I have a bit of news to share with you, it's about Tom" the twelve-year old looked at her in confusion before he looked up to see the older boy behind her seeing the gauntlets that sat on the teen's arms.
"I knew it!" he suddenly exclaims as he figured out what she was about to tell him "You found him! You found Thomas!" he says.
"Yeah I did" she says before he throws his arms around her neck in a loving hug before letting go of the redhead before rushing behind her to hug his older cousin. Leaving the boys to themselves Amelia stood up to approach her Queen. So looked as beautiful as ever with her softened hair and modern clothes.
"I owe you an explanation" she says to the former Queen as she figths the urge to grab her and kiss her into oblivion as they did last night.
"Yes" Regina simply states "You do".
"You know I wouldn't just abandon our plan. I was serious about you using my heart".
"I do" she says "and I think I can guess what happened" she says glancing back to see Tom and Henry speaking excitedly about the year they had spent apart from one another "He knows about you".
"I-" before the assassin could reply the Queen had grabbed her by the front of her jacket and closed the distance between them planting her lips upon the redheads in a searing kiss that made the assassin grip the Queen's coat to keep her on the earth before the former Queen pulled away resting her forehead against the assassin's as she breathed the woman in.
"Don't ever tell me to use your heart again" her Queen tells her.
"I promise" the assassin breathes out before they pull away only for a hand and arm to snake around the former Queen's waist as couple left the boathouse with both their son's trailing behind them ready to take on whatever the Wicked Witch had up her sleeve next.
The assassin and her newly reunited son waited in trepidation for what kind of deal the Wicked Witch wanted to strike with her. The witch now had the leverage over the redhead to get her to do whatever she wanted, even if it meant striking down her own soulmate. But she knew they would forgive her. The circumstances called for it after all. They would do for their own children if it came to it.
"No, not until you tell me what's in it for me" Amelia demanded to know out of the woman. There was no way she was going to let this woman take advantage.
"Tell me what I want to know first, or find your son without his tongue" hearing the threat the redhead took an angry step forward as a hidden blade to slip out of her gauntlet as she felt her being pulled back by Tom.
"No don't" he warns her in fear.
"I'd listen to young Thomas behind you Amelia. Now tell me, what are you planning" Zelena asks the assassin knowing she had the woman in the palm of her hand.
"A curse to take us to the Land of No Magic" the assassin tells the woman making the woman eye crook up in curiosity as she paced in front of the pair "Rumple's Dark Curse".
"And what's in this new land of yours"
"To someone that can stop you" she almost growled out at the witch.
"Mmm" she hummed to herself as she quickly thought through her next "And what does my sister need to cast it".
"The heart of the thing you love the most. My heart".
"Well I can't let that happen now" she says "I need you alive, I think I'll use this opportunity to teach my sister on how to take away someone's happy ending" a devious smile grew on her face at the idea.
She meant Snow and Charming. They were the only option left if she didn't get down to the others. She was going to let Snow crush her true love's heart.
"You bitch" she seethes at the woman.
"Yes you can call me all the names you want but it won't save you or your boy" he warns the assassin "I need to make sure my plans go interrupted in this new land, that means I can't have you recognizing me"
"A forgetting potion?" the redhead realized as a smile grew on her smile knowing she had the witch "I'd hate to step on your moment dearie but taking the last year of my memorizes won't help you. I knew you from before the first curse. I can tell them who you are, even if I have to prove it them"
A dark chuckle escapes the Wicked Witch as she laughs off the assassin's threat "You really think I don't have a plan for little old you" as she waves her hand making a vial of green liquid appear in the assassin's hand.
"This is my deal, you drink that extra strong potion and I won't harm a precious hair on your son's head. You'll forget about ever becoming the Black Widow and meeting Regina again" she tells the assassin.
"I'll forget about meeting you on OZ" the assassin comprehends as it dawned on her how much time she would lose if she took the deal. It would take her right back to when she lost John and Thomas.
"You catch on quickly" she says with an impressed smirk "So what will it be assassin?".
She had no choice. She didn't want to think what her other option was. This was the lesser of the two evils in front of her as she looks up from the bottle in her hand to the Wicked Witch.
"If you touch him. Our deal is over, and I'll be coming straight for you" she tells her straight.
"Deal" she trailed off as she watches the redhead pull the small cork out of vial about to lift the potion to her lips only for a voice next to her to stop her.
"Lia don't" Tom' whimpers from beside her.
"I'll find you. I will always find you" she tells the teen beofre shooting the potion down her neck. She didn't know what to expect as the empty vial slipped through her fingers as she felt her world spin around her until her eye's rolled into the back of head. With quick reflexes the teen managed to catch his mother in time as he guided her limp body onto the sofa, gently placing her onto the soft cushions before he say that her eye's were firmly closed as she looked dead to the world.
"I'll be seeing you very soon" the Wicked Witch said as she summoned her broom and flew out of the window to find the others to add her extra ingredient to the dark curse that would take them all to the new land Amelia had told her about.
"Amelia! Lia wake up! Wake up! Mom!" the teen continued to call out to his newly found mother as he tried to shake her awake as green and purple clouds swirled above them. The teen held onto the woman he had come to see as a mother as the clouds engulfed him taking them both to the Land of No Magic.
Standing over her cousins grave felt surreal the next morning, as it felt like only yesterday she was making plans with him and Belle to free her Uncle, now she was reading the headstone that marking his a large eagle feather in hand, she knelt down at the foot of the grave and used her hands to swipe away some on the disturbed ground that buried his coffin.
"I know you didn't like the Brotherhood and I understand why, but be patient with me" she starts placing the feather in the small hole she had made.
"When my mother died, Romeo encouraged me to place a feather on her grave. He said it would ward off any evil spirit that would try and come for her and guide her to her Valhalla so she would find peace. So I buried it as far down as I could dif down. I didn't want anything to hurt her, not that I think it made any difference now, but it was enough to give me peace of mind when I was only six years old" she continued covered the feather with the excess ground as she let out a shaky breath as tears gathered in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, it wasn't meant to end like this I promised you and Belle I would get Rumple back, but I lost you instead".
Hearing an engine behind her she looked around to see David's red truck pulling up to a stop with the whole family inside. She watched as Henry jump out with his mother close behind him. He took a step forward only for Emma to gently pull him back silently telling him to give his cousin some more time with her cousin. Giving the blonde a thankful smile she turned back to the grave.
"I'll keep our family safe, even if it takes my life in the end" she promised the man "I'll see you again in Valhalla. Requiescat in pace cousin" she said as a sad smile grew on her face as she stood up from the grave.
With that she turned and walked towards the Charming's. Letting her son go Henry walked forward and approached the red head engulfing her in a tight embrace she easily mirrored, with his head buried in her chest and bent her head down to nuzzle the top of his head "I'm so sorry" she almost balled out into the twelve year olds head, he pulled back from the hug and looked up to his second cousin.
She had to tell the family what had rally happened. Even if they hated her for not fighting hard enough.
"It's okay" he tells her "I know you would've done your best to help him". The redhead gives the boy another hug before heading back to Mary Margaret and David. The younger woman threaded her arm through the red head's arm.
"He really was a hero" Henry says as his mother joins him at his father's grave.
"He was, Henry" Emma tell his son "He didn't give a second thought to sacrificing himself for you. For all of us" Henry places a red rose on the tomb stone before turning to face his mother.
"Yeah. Was it hard? Coming back to Storybrooke, when you knew it'd be dangerous? I mean, life in New York was pretty good".
"It was better than good. But I had this voice stuck in my head that I couldn't shake".
"Whose?".
"Yours. I knew how you would have voted on this".
Henry nodded "Yeah. And you know what this means? Operation Cobra is back on".
"I'm not sure it ever ended". she said as the assassin suddenly felt the former Princess suddenly pull her arms away from her before her hand jumped to her rounded stomach as she screamed out in pain.
She knew what that scream was. The baby was coming. Now.
"Swan!" Amelia called out to the blonde in panic as she tried to sooth the younger woman "Hey look at me, look at me" the younger woman followed the redhead's orders as she looked up as she panted through the sudden onslaught of pain "Everything's going to be okay"
The former princess gripped onto the assassin arms as she nodded in understanding.
"SWAN!" the redhead yelled even louder as the younger woman's grip tightened on her arm making the assassin wince in pain as she looked around to see the savior and Henry running back to the truck. That was going to leave a bruise.
Now she know how John felt when she was in labor with Tom.
"Mary Margaret!" she called out in concern for her Mother as they reached them.
"Hey. Hey. Deep breaths" David tells his wife "Take deep breaths. I'll get the truck" David runs back leaving Mary Margaret to hold onto the assassin as the redhead tried to guide her through the next painful contraction.
"Mary Margaret, you're okay?" the blonde asked.
"It's the baby" Mary Margaret started "It's coming"
And so was Zelena.
AN: Aaaaand we made it!
That was a long chapter. Well done for getting through it. I did say I would need to split the chapter. I'm glad I did now.
We're nearly at the end of the first part of Season 3. Yay!
Hello to everyone who has recently Followed and Favorited the story. Your support means a lot. And a quick shout out to all those who have followed early on.
I can't wait until the Snow Drift and There's No Place Like Home chapters!
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