Magnus had deposited her deep within the mines that ran under Storybrooke, but thankfully not so deep that she had a dragon for a cell mate. Regina had spent her first hour down there raging. The first thing she had tried to do was to reach out to the magic that she knew was available in this land now, but she found herself cut off from it. It was like a wet blanket had been draped across her. She could feel her natural abilities stirring inside, but she couldn't quite reach them. They lurked beneath the surface, but whatever Magnus had done to her made it impossible for her to actually use her skills.

Her second hour in her prison had been spent exploring and trying to find a way out. She hit a magical barrier at one end that threw her back to the ground and she didn't dare go too far the other way for fear of running into the sorceress that had once been her dear friend and now would likely rip her limb from limb.

By the third hour, she was cursing Rumplestiltskin. It was all that damn imp's fault anyway. She never should have helped him. Now he was gone and she was going to rot in his place. She wasn't sure what could have possibly possessed her to go through with the ill-conceived plan to begin with. If nothing else, she should have gone too.

"Having trouble reaching your magic, Your Majesty?"

Regina whirled around, a snarl on her lips. "You," she hissed, desperately trying to fling a fireball at the condescending cleric. Instead, it just fizzled, as if there were a barrier around her that wouldn't allow her magic out. Her dark eyes flashed dangerously.

"You'll want to remember to breathe, Regina," Magnus murmured as if nothing were wrong.

"What have you done to me?" she hissed in return.

"Your magic is trapped within you. Precautions needed to be taken, of course."

"So what? You'll just keep me down here? How long?"

"Indefinitely, if you continue to howl like that. My ears are rather sensitive."

She was going to kill him. She could almost see the blood leaking from him, his heart in her hand, and the expression of pain mixed with shock as she crushed his heart between her fingers.

"Of course, I'm sure you could work your way to our good graces. Perhaps I would be more inclined to provide you with a bit of comfort then."

"What do you want?" the Evil Queen demanded.

A slow, calculating smile shifted his expression. "The portal jumper. Where is he in this quaint little town of yours?"

Regina blinked. He wanted to go through to the Enchanted Forest, and he was after Jefferson to do it. He obviously knew nothing about portal hopping. Magnus thought he had won and was planning to just pick up and leave.

"Is something amusing, your majesty?"

"For a scholar of magic you really don't know much," the queen scoffed, tilting her head up. "Jefferson might be able to get you over there, but you'd have to come back. One person through, one person back. Hat's rules." Her smile broadened and she felt a surge of delight. If she had to suffer, at least he wouldn't get what he wanted.

Magnus smirked. "Jefferson," he said, as if tasting the name. "Thank you."

"Didn't you hear me, you idiot? He can't help you."

"You're assuming I want to go back. Why would I when my enemy is still at large?"

Regina blinked at him and he reached forward, taking hold of her. She tried to pull back, but his grip was vice-like, holding her steadily in place. "You're such a proud thing with all of your less than a handful of decades of life and knowledge. Rumplestiltskin as well, with his only little more. I have lived for a millennia. Do you think you know more?" He leaned in, much closer than the sorceress was comfortable with and she could feel magic radiating off of him. It was bitter and stung, leaving her feeling sick.

Pushing down the feeling, Regina let a sly smile tilt her lips. "I do," she acknowledged. "I know that when I take my town back, your heart is the first one I'll crush."

That pulled a chuckle out of the cleric. "Your threats lack bite, your majesty. Enjoy your cage."

"My what?" Regina snarled. "You can't keep me down here!"

"Don't fret. I'm sure you won't be alone for long. I don't have quite as lax an approach to dissidents as you do."

Then he was gone and Regina was left alone. She sank back against the rough wall of the mine and cursed the cleric viciously. He didn't hear her, and if he did he didn't care. For all her power and all her rage, she wasn't his focus, and the longer that she let herself think on that, the more she thought that might work in her favour. Let him focus on a man he couldn't reach. She would make sure he regretted it.

He was coming to slowly, his head aching and his entire body feeling like he'd been run over. It was unpleasant all the way around, and was a feeling that he was becoming frighteningly used to.

Rumplestiltskin worked through the fog as best as he could, reaching back for the answers that he needed. He had gone out to dinner with Belle, that much he was certain of. They had had a pleasant time without the usual mishap that seemed to plague him as of late, gone home, and… He and Belle had fallen asleep together. It was more than someone like him could have hoped for.

But then there had been the fire and the pain, like his entire body was burning from the inside out. He had choked against it and drowned beneath it, unable to surface even when he heard those he loved calling his name. He could hear them, but he couldn't reach them, like being locked in a cage that was his own mind. It was terrifying.

Dark brown eyes blinked slowly open and he felt a hand against his face. "Rumple? Rumple, can you hear me? Bae, I think it's working. Regina was right."

"Took it long enough. Papa, how are you feeling?"

Belle came slowly into focus and Rumplestiltskin felt relief flush through him as her name fell from his lips, his throat raw and scratchy. Her smile brightened his dark soul.

"Here," Emma said and Rumplestiltskin's dark eyes caught sight of a water bottle being passed back. Belle took it from the blonde teen and the ill sorcerer slowly pieced together that he was stretched out in the back seat of his Cadillac, his head resting in Belle's lap.

"Thank you," his love said as she took the offered bottle and carefully undid the top. "You think you can drink any of it, Rumple?"

He gave a brief nod, not entirely sure if he could or not, but preferring to try rather than lying there in agony. He was able to choke down two or three sips before Belle took it away, smoothing back his hair from his face. "Where are we?" he rasped after a moment.

"Heading down towards Boston," Bae said from the driver's seat and his papa struggled to sit up, finding the car surrounded by scenery he'd never seen before. They were well over the town line and nothing had stopped them. The car wasn't wrecked and no added catastrophe had fallen in their heads.

"Regina said that she thought it would be okay since you wrote the curse," Belle explained and dark eyes immediately flickered to Emma. Regina still didn't suspect the girl, but she would have been the only way that Belle made it across. He might have gotten lucky, but she wouldn't have without the savior.

"It sounds like I owe Regina for our escape," Rumplestiltskin managed. He wasn't sure he felt a great deal better, but he was conscious. That was a step in the right direction. His arms trembled, trying to support his propped weight, and he finally laid back down against Belle's lap. She didn't fuss at him for the movement, but instead returned to the smoothing back of his hair in a gentle way that seemed to push back the pain.

"She wanted us to remind you of that," Bae said, and it sounded like an attempt at humour. His voice was tight, though.

Emma turned, and for a moment she looked just like her parents. "Regina stayed so we could get out. We have to go back for her as soon as we can."

Rumplestiltskin nodded, feeling drained as he tried to relax, Belle's continual touch helping. "Yes."

"She thought the poison's effects might be contained to Storybrooke," Belle explained. "If we can let you get better we can go back and rescue Regina."

The car turned and Rumplestiltskin found himself on the sidelines of a plan he didn't know. Everyone else seemed to, though, and after he got the car parked Baelfire stepped out without a word. The questions bubbled up in Rumplestiltskin's mind, but his throat had gone dry again and he couldn't seem to force the words out, so he waited, eyes lulling and sleep struggling to pull him back below the surface.

"So what's this guy's deal?" Emma asked, turning completely in her seat and the Dark One found hazel eyes studying him. "I mean, I've seen grudges, but this is intense."

Rumplestiltskin cleared his throat painfully. "Help me sit up?" he whispered, and Belle didn't argue, though if her expression was any indication that was taking some effort on her part. She eased him up and he took another couple of sips from the water bottle before continuing, leaning heavily against the back of the leather seat. "My magic comes from a curse, and Magnus has dedicated his entire existence to eradicating this curse. That includes the man under it." He watched the blonde watching him. Honest, open truth was not something he came by easily, but this girl was at the center of all of this along with him. She was the one that could, eventually, break the curse, and Magnus knew that.

"Okay, so where do I tie in?"

There was the question. It was one he had been expecting since Bae had nearly dragged her out of Storybrooke. The amount of information he gave her would dictate how things went from here on out.

"That is a very complicated question, my dear," he breathed out at last.

"But I do tie in?"

"Yes."

"Did... Neal know that when he met me?"

"No. He wouldn't have had a way to."

She relaxed, her shoulders slumping some. "Okay, so tell me how I'm involved."

"In time," Rumplestiltskin promised as his son opened the door and slipped in.

"Got a couple of rooms. Glad cursed credit cards seem to work outside of Storybrooke."

His papa chuckled. "Yes, well, I did expect to have to travel to find you."

Bae grinned. "Never thought I'd come to you, huh?"

A slow, tired smile perked Rumplestiltskin's lips. "No, I did not."

"Let's get inside and see where we stand," Belle offered. "We can't leave Regina to fight this alone."

Rumplestiltskin nodded in agreement. He hoped Regina's theory proved true. It was one that he would have leaned towards if he had been conscious enough to do so. They would regroup outside of Magnus' reach, and when they returned the cleric wouldn't know what hit him.

There were many things that Caiden was willing to do for Magnus, but this toed a dangerous line for him. He had been balanced on that same line more than he was comfortable with as Magnus' conflict with the Dark One escalated, and part of him wondered if it would come to the same stalemate as it always did. He wouldn't voice it, but he could feel the long partnership between the lead cleric and the Blue Fairy growing shaky. If they split, his own loyalties would be greatly divided.

Granted, going through with this might break his own ties with the fairies that he had had as long as he had been tied to the clerics. He stopped, pale blue eyes scanning the collection of children in the schoolyard. "Grace?"

One little girl stopped, turning to look at him, her expression confused. She approached slowly and spoke in a quiet voice. "Most people call me Paige here. Only Papa calls me Grace."

Caiden smiled, the movement stiff. "I have some business with your papa. Why don't I go ahead and take you home?"

Grace looked uncertain, even as the blond man reached a hand out to her and he hoped she would come willingly. Kidnapping was not something he was comfortable with. Magnus should have chosen someone else for this particular meeting.

Slowly, though, the little girl reached out and took his hand. With a glance in either direction to make sure that they were not being watched, Caiden allowed magic to swirl around them. He felt her hand tighten in his own, surprised, and when they reappeared outside of a large home she looked nervous. "I'm not going to hurt you," the cleric promised and motioned for her to follow up to the door. She reached around in her school bag and pulled a key out, the lock clicking as she turned it, and the door swung open to reveal a beautiful home that the curse had provided the Mad Hatter with.

"Papa?" Grace called out and started to walk forward, but Caiden didn't release her. Instead he shifted his grip to her shoulder and held her steadily and gently there. Jefferson was a practical man from everything the clerics had heard. It was in his interest to help them and his daughter wouldn't be harmed. The threat was hollow. It had to be.

The Hatter appeared at the top of the stairs. "Grace, what are you…" He stopped, eyes fixed on Caiden. The rumours appeared true, the young cleric realized, as his own pale gaze focused on the scar across the other man's neck. "Who are you? Grace, come here."

Caiden offered a smile and released the girl. "Jefferson, my name is Caiden."

"You're a cleric," Jefferson acknowledged, pulling his daughter behind him. "I can't do anything for you. I don't-"

"You can, and I think you will. Surely you felt the change."

Everything in his expression said that he did. "What do you want?"

"We're in need of your skill set. Magnus wishes you to go back to the Enchanted Forest and bring two people back through for him."

"There's nothing left. The queen destroyed it all."

"You know that isn't true."

Jefferson looked nervously at him. "And who will I be leaving behind to bring these two?"

"Magnus has arranged to send two people home. Don't worry. We are not like the queen. We will not separate you from your daughter any longer than necessary, and she will be well looked after while you're away."

The Hatter glanced around, his hand going to the top of his daughter's head and he pulled her close. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Everyone has a choice," Caiden said quietly, "though not all outcomes of each choice are equal."

Jefferson nodded, reading between the lines. "I swear to you, if you hurt her-"

"You have my word that no harm will come to your daughter," the young cleric said quickly. "On my life."

"Then I guess we better go see your boss," he agreed, his expression utterly miserable. Caiden didn't wait to allow his magic to sweep all three of them away so that Magnus could put his plan into motion.

It had hit like a tidal wave crashing over her and Emma couldn't get the key into the door fast enough. It was a fairly nice hotel - nicer than anything she and Neal had ever been able to afford - and losing her lunch in the hall was not an option. She slammed the door behind her, bent over the toilet and choked.

This was not normal, and she knew it. Somewhere in her mind she had filed the couple times it had happened before under stress as the cause, but as she continued to choke and sputter over the toilet, a small and suddenly persistent thought caught hold, and all Emma could think of was the terrible timing of it was true. It couldn't be true, though. She and Neal might be young, but they weren't stupid. They were careful.

The door to the room opened and she sat there for a long moment, not bothering to look up. A glass of water appeared in front of her and she looked to see Belle smiling down at her. "Bae is helping Rumple in. You okay?"

"Yeah, I don't know what's going on. I've never gotten carsick like that."

Belle hummed softly to herself, pulling a washcloth from the wrack and running cool water against it. When it was soaked, she wrung it out and handed it over. "Perhaps it wasn't the car," she said softly, but there was something in her voice that made Emma stop short.

The blonde ducked her head, feeling her stomach roll again. "That's not it."

"Are you certain?"

"That can't be it."

Belle offered a small smile, but didn't say anything as Emma leaned her forehead against the cool porcelain. "I can't be pregnant," she whispered. "We don't have time for this. We've got... Regina's in trouble and there's a crazy man trying to take over Storybrooke. What about Mary Margaret and Ruby and-" she stopped, trying to still the panic. "We abandoned them."

"No, we didn't abandon them," the older woman said gently. "We're going to go back for them. We're going to save them."

Emma wasn't sure when the tears gathered. She wasn't prone to crying. She'd learned to live with too much loss already to break down weeping at any new turn, but there she was, her emotions bubbling so close to the surface that they might overflow. Belle must have seen it, because she sank to the floor and wrapped her arms around her. "Promise?" the teen whispered.

"Promise. Have you told Bae?"

"I don't want to tell him until I know for sure. He... Neal will be excited."

"So will you," Belle promised and Emma hoped she was right. She had decided long ago that she never wanted to be a mother. All she had really known about mothers was that her own left her on the side of the road, and what sort of role model could that be?

Belle nudged her gently and when she spoke, Emma thought she might have read her thoughts. "You're not alone in this. We will all be here for you."

With effort the blonde smiled. She did seem to have a family now. That was something, at least.

The young cleric might have said that no harm would come to Grace, but his master was an entirely different beast. Jefferson had heard of Magnus before, but the tales of terror didn't begin to do him justice. He hadn't wasted time in telling the Hatter in no uncertain terms what he must do if he wanted to receive his daughter back when he came back through the portal. He was provided with instructions, name and details of the man he was to return with, and two terrified, cursed Storybrooke citizens that didn't have the faintest idea what was happening around them. When he reiterated that he needed to leave and return with the exact number of people, the old cleric had just smiled cruelly and told him that his guest might take some convincing.

Magic was indeed stirring in Storybrooke and Jefferson's hat was ready to spin at his expert touch. He had kissed his daughter goodbye and his two unwilling companions and he jumped through the portal. He explained as much as he could to them, but the curse lingered even in the land in which they had been born. Storybrooke would stay with them, driving them mad until the savior came to break the curse, but Jefferson couldn't dwell on that. His only priority was Grace.

The Hatter found his thief at the edge of a forest, his Merry Men well into a night of feasting after they'd made a haul from some abandoned castle and some royal that was likely deep into a curse in another realm. The blond thief showed no signs of merriment though. Instead he lingered on the far edges of the celebration, a small boy with him.

Convincing. Right. These assholes had no problem using his daughter to coerce him, so why shouldn't they expect him to use this man's son in the same way?

And he would. He hated that he would.

Leaves crunched under his Italian leather shoe and the thief looked up. "Hello," he greeted uncertainly, hand going immediately to the bow and quiver leaned against the fallen tree that he'd been seated on.

Jefferson tried for a smile that he couldn't possibly feel, showing his empty hands as if he weren't a threat. "You must be Robin of Locksley. I need your help."

"And what can I and my Merry Men do for you, sir?" Robin Hood asked the Hatter with a smile that was just as thin and strained as his own. His son came to stop next to him, small hand clutching at his cloak.

Jefferson's eyes fell on the boy. "I have a daughter just… a few years older than your son. We were separated for a long time and I just got her back. Now someone is threatening to take her again."

Locksley's fair brows drew together and he took a step towards Jefferson. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what we can do to help, but if it's in our power —"

"It's in yours," Jefferson answered, covering the remaining distance between them in two short strides. He took hold of Locksley's wrist and the boy rushed to his father's aid the moment he picked up on the shift, a cry on his lips. Three through, three back. And he hated himself for it.

"I'm sorry," the Mad Hatter said honestly as he pulled his hat from his head, tossed it, and he and the father and son were pulled through the portal towards Storybrooke.

TBC

Notes: First off, I think I owe everyone an apology. I used to be very regular on updates and now... yeah. There are several reasons why, but the important thing is I am going to finish this, and I don't plan to just speed it along to it's ending. There's a lot of plot left in this story (plot that I've already got down in my notes and likely some that will crop up without warning), so it will continue. Hopefully my muse will pick up speed a little on it.

I do appreciate everyone that's sticking with it though! hugs You guys are the best!

updated notes 2024: Please note that the ending of this chapter has been updated due to picking this story up nearly a decade later :') Sorry about that. Full notes on that will be at the end of Ch21.

Next time - The Blue Fairy makes a decision, Robin and Roland arrive in Storybrooke, and Magnus makes a move to try to lure Emma back to Storybrooke.