Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters and dialogue.

"She has to pay, Evie! She killed my mother - your grandmother!"

Evie stared hard at her mother, refusing to back down even when her mother's voice cracked on the last word. Though she understood her mother's anguish - she'd always known her mother held terribly conflicted feelings about Cora - Evie wouldn't let her lay a finger on Mary Margaret's head.

"When is this going to end, mother?" Evie demanded lowly, hands clenched into fists. "When will our families stop hurting one another? Because we both know that it's not going to end if you kill Mary Margaret. David and Emma will come after you, and if they kill you, what then? Am I supposed to kill them?!"

"Evie-"

"And what about Henry? Is he just supposed to pick a side and watch his family kill each other over a stupid blood feud that none of us started?!" Eyes narrowed into slits, Evie stared her mother down. "Or would you rather he join in, try to kill me in vengeance. Is that what you want, mother? For your children to tear each other apart? Because I will never allow that to happen to him."

With one last glare, Evie vanished in a swirl of blue smoke.

Regina's mouth quivered, her eyes wide and horrified at what Evie was saying. In her grief, it wasn't enough to stop her from pursuing vengeance against Mary Margaret. But it did make her rethink the methods she was considering for her revenge. Clearly, she would need to do something about her children before she did anything too drastic. Suddenly shaking, she lunged at the nearest table, throwing things and tearing fabric as a scream tore its way from her throat.

Clutching one of her mother's dresses, Regina pressed the fabric to her face. Tears scorched down her cheeks, and she bit back the sobs that welled within her. Lost in her misery, she didn't notice the small scroll that fell from the inside of the dress in her grasp. When she did catch sight of it, she picked it up gingerly, well aware of the kind of spells her mother favored.

By the time she'd finished reading the spell, her tears had dried and a wide smile began to grow across her painted lips. "Thank you, mommy." She whispered, pressing a gentle kiss to the scroll before she got to work.

She would have her revenge, and she would be able to have her children with her too.

Though relieved when her mother made the dynamite in Henry's hands vanish, Evie wasted little time in taking her brother into her arms. Twisting so he was behind her, peeking around her arm, she turned to face their frowning mother. It had been a long time since she'd truly felt afraid of her mother, of what she was capable of doing.

"Mother-"

"I can't lose you. Either of you." Regina told them, approaching slowly with her hands up in surrender. "You mean too much to me."

Henry scowled at her from behind Evie. "Then leave Mary Margaret alone!"

"She has to pay!"

Eyes fixed on the small scroll in her mothers hands, Evie began to slowly retreat from the well. The more distance she could put between them and their mother, the better. "It won't be real, mother. If you cast that curse on us, it'll be fake."

"But it will be something." Henry she understood; he was so young, so naïve to the world and the way things worked. But Evie... Regina knew her eldest understood very well what compelled her to seek out her vengeance. It was the same thing that had driven her daughter to rip out her own heart. "We'll be together and we can be happy. We can have everything."

Emma's timely arrival stopped Evie from responding to her mother's alarming declaration. Chilled to the bone at how far her mother had fallen in grief, Evie didn't resist when Harry raced to her side, his arms wrapping protectively around both her and Henry. Tugging them farther away from the brewing confrontation, Harry pressed his face into Evie's hair and inhaled deeply.

Their collective relief was short lived when Henry darted from their grip and into the middle of the conflict. "Henry!"

"Get out of the way!"

"Not until someone helps me destroy magic!" Henry shouted, looking close to tears. "We have to get rid of it - it's destroying everything!"

Preparing to whisk her son away, preferably somewhere Emma and her family couldn't find him, Regina gazed at him sternly. "You can't just blow it up, Henry. It doesn't work like that."

"Magic isn't the problem, kid." Emma's grip tightened on her gun, eyes never leaving Regina. "It's her."

"It's not just her, it's everyone! Look what it did to Mary Margaret." He swung around to stare at his mother. Pain spasmed across her face at the clear terror in his voice. "Look what it did to you! It's ruining everything. It's making good people do terrible things. Please," his eyes sought out Evie and Harry. "Please. Help me destroy it."

"I... I can't do that, Henry." It was Regina who answered. She watched as her son recoiled from her voice, and it was like looking at a stranger. "But, there is something I can do."

Holding up the scroll, she pressed it between her palms and summoned fire. Opening her hands, she let the smoldering ash fall onto the forest floor. Though the tension in the around them didn't dissipate, it lightened enough that Evie could comfortably draw air into her lungs. Staring at their mother, Evie tugged Harry toward Emma and the others.

As they walked away, Evie pressed her face into Harry's chest, her mother's utterly broken expression burned into her mind.

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