Edited: 22/03/2023

Walking down main street of Storybrooke, the resident assassin couldn't help the nerves getting the better of her as she rung out her hands after ending her first appointment with Dr. Archibald Hopper, the towns one and only psychiatrist, or as he was more commonly known as Archie.

He advised her to delve deep into her past as she sought to seek out the source of her 'issues'. He believed she could change. But his assurance's didn't ease help the feeling in her chest. Her hands were itchy, she needed to hit something. Sooner rather than later.

Reaching the diner she found David sat at one of the tables as Dr. Whale or as she knew him as Dr. Frankenstein, leaving the town's new sheriff in a huff, bumping his shoulder into her's without apologizing as he continued down whatever warpath he had found himself on that morning, making her stop and glare at him as he left.

She'd have to deal with him later.

Turning her attention back to the new sheriff, he called her that morning wanting an update on how her mercenaries and thieves were doing on their patrol of the border, but she had to put him off until after her appointment with Archie. Giving the former Prince a once over she noticed the way he uncomfortably flexed his hand, like he just hit something. Hard.

She couldn't help the bubble of laughter that escaped her lips as she put the slightly bruised knuckles and Whale's dark mood. Her laughter made the former Prince forget what he was doing to see the redhead making herself comfortable in a chair opposite him.

"I see you got some business settled with Whale before I got here" she said across a jean covered leg over her knee "Let me guess.." she said with a knowing smirk "Snow".

It took the man a second or two to realism what she knew "You know?" he almost whispered over the table at her.

"I may have been cursed, but I was blessed with a network of people who would find out anything about anyone in town, including a certain teachers night with a doctor" she tells him "That and Whale didn't exactly keep it to himself after a few drinks at the bar".

A loathsome man cursed or not, he boasted in his drunken stupor how he had slept with her friend. In the end after a few choice words from her and Lance, the man kept his mouth shut for the rest of the night in fear of a good beating.

"I mean he had it coming to him" she continued "But I don't think the punch was necessary?".

"He slept with my wife" he quietly argued to the redhead.

"And you slept with Kathyn" she dryly retorted "You were both cursed. Or do I need to remind how you ended up on my living room couch after a few too many at the Hidden One's during your wife's small stay in the station" she asked with a raised knowing brow, knowing she had the former Prince.

Clearing his throat he quickly changed the subject for the real reason being his meeting with the assassin in front of him "I called to see how your people were doing with patrolling the boarder" he asked her.

"By your people, I hope your're talking about my thieves and mercenaries, because that's what they are".

"Amelia-".

"They're doing what they're being paid to do for now" she reports to the man "I've had a few disband from the group after the dwarf's were taken away".

Her thieves and mercenaries weren't happy to hear that the dwarf's loyal to Snow and David had suddenly been pulled from border patrol. But after some rallying words from her, Lance and Le Beau to keep them in line, they were satisfied to go back to their job.

"Will they be a problem?" he asked her.

"For you? No" he answers with a shake of her head "As long I keep their hands and bellies full of drink they'll behave" Amelia tells him "but they have families as well, some have had to pull a double after leaving their job in town to keep the numbers up".

"We need to keep people from crossing the line" the sheriff argued.

"Then bring the dwarf's back" she retorted "Not enough of my men came with the curse to keep a patrol round the clock like you want, and not all of them are happy taking orders from a Prince".

A frustrated sigh left the man's nose hearing this "I'm doing everything I can" he argued.

"The only reason there're out there is because I asked them to, they're not loyal to you, your highness. They want to know why they're putting in more time into something you want, and I can't give them the answers, soon they won't be loyal to anyone, then we'll both have a problem".

"You need to trust me" the Prince implored to her lighter side.

"Trust breeds trust" she tells the Prince "I've been dealing with these people my whole life, even known some of them since I was a child. I know how they work. You need to trust me on how to handle them, they don't work on hope and hero speeches, these are real people, with real problems, problems they came to me for help, no prince's or princesses to come save the day-".

"I'll keep them quiet for the time being, but you need to agree to fewer numbers per patrol if you don't bring the dwarf's back".

After a moment or two the Prince relented knowing this was the lesser of the two options in front of him. One confess what the dwarf's were really doing in the mine's or agree to Amelia's demands of fewer men. Out of the two, option two would leave him with more finger's on his hand than the first.

"Okay I can do that" he relented to the redhead's demands.

"Glad we can come to an agreement" the woman says standing up her seat "Is there anything else?" she asks the man before heading to her bar for the rest of her day.

"Yeah" he trailed off as an idea came to him "How are you with horses?".

Monteriggioni,

Many years ago.

The sun had only just begun to peak over the horizon of the forest that surrounded the hidden away city of Monteriggioni as Master Romeo Montague walked through the stone paved street of the city he called home with his Apprentice Amelia next to him.

The young girl yawned for what seemed like the tenth time as they passed through vendor's opening up their stalls up the main street of the city, ready for their day selling their various wares. The early start was needed for the next part of her training she was about to start. She excelled free-running around the city and in the tree's, but she couldn't run everywhere forever especially when they moved her training outside the wall that surrounded the city.

Walking through the large gates of the town the Master Assassin let out an amused chuckle as the young girl next to him yawn again, still wasn't used to the early mornings.

"If Mentor Claudius heard you yawning, he'd swipe ya" he teased her as he took a hold of her shoulder "An Assassin must never show his or her enemy of any weakness. They won't let you take a nap before they try to kill you".

"But you're not going to kill me" she told her master.

"What makes you think that?" Master Montague looking at his apprentice with a raised brow.

"I just do Master" Amelia gave her master a tight-lipped grin making the older man shake his head with a chuckle as they walked up the dirt track towards the stables.

Once inside, Amelia's energy seemed to perk up seeing the large animals in their pens, waiting to be let out to stretch their strong legs by the stable hands that worked the stable. She eagerly awaited the day she would get to work with the horses since she started her training with Master Romeo, she would watch the stable hands for hours as they tried to break horse after horse as the Master's used whatever free time they had to train with their own.

"After some convincing, Claudius has finally agreed to purchase you, your very own steed to start your training on" Master Montague announced to her as they came to an empty looking stall.

Going up on her toes, the young girl looked over the the stable door to see a young grey foul galloping around in it's stall as the assassin tried to look for something for the young girl to stand on so she could get a clear view of her colt.

"Here" the man said kicking over a stool for his apprentice to stand on. Stepping onto the wooden stool her height almost doubled as she was able to comfortably see the horse she would be raising and riding when she was older.

Side by side the pair lent on the door on their elbows as the girl took in it's features. The master assassin had picked out himself grey coat that would grow darker in time had a black mane and tail as it approached the pair at the door seeing the human.

The horse had to fit it's rider and vise versa, when he got a good look at this one, he saw his daughter in the young foal. His previous owner had told him it's mother had died only a week earlier, it was alone in the world, as was Amelia.

"Every morning and evening you'll come down here before breakfast and bedtime to clean out the stall, feed him, brush him until you're ready to ride him".

"When will that be?" his apprentice asked him.

"When he tells you" he tells her much to her disappointment "But in the meantime, he'll need a name. One that's unique to him".

"It's a colt right?" she asked her master.

"Right".

"Achilles. Like the hero from my books" Romeo knew the book's well. They were the book's her mother had collected over the years from vendors that passed through over the years. Tales of hero's and monsters that he had never heard of before were written on pages. Amelia had found them and hadn't put them down as she read tales of Minotaur's and gods that walked the earth.

"Achilles?".

"Because everything but his right rear foot is grey" Romeo had to take another look at what the young girl was talking about. Looking at the colt's rear right leg the horse had a white hove. She was right "He looks like his mother dipped him into the River Styx to make him immortal".

The master assassin couldn't help but smile at his daughter's imagination.

"Come, I'll introduce you to a brush" the Master Assassin prompted his young Apprentice opening the latch of the stall to let Amelia meet her young foul.

As per David's request, early the next morning the assassin found herself in the towns stables waiting for the man to arrive with Henry on tow. After hearing his plan on teaching his young grandson on horse riding, she had eagerly agreed to helping seeing that David would still be needed in town for the day.

She had to admit, she enjoyed spending time in the young boy's company and wished she could spend more time with him, but hearing he wanted to get to know her more made the time spent together worth the aggravation she would get from the boy's mother.

She also got to find Achilles again safely stored away for her to find him again, she hadn't seen him since she left the palace on the armored horse. She still remembered the day her father first introduced her to him as a young colt, his grey coat had darkened slightly over the years but the one white sock on his back right leg remained the same as she brushed out his long dark mane.

"Now, just think how happy Emma and Snow will be when they come home to find that you've become a proper knight" she heard the Sheriff tell his grandson as they made their way into the stables.

"And here I thought you wanted to be an Assassin" Amelia said stepping out of Achilles pen to find David's arms wrapped around the young boy's neck playfully, closing the pen behind her as she confronted the young boy.

"Amelia!" Henry's eyes lit up seeing the redhead, pushing himself away from his grandfather, he ran straight at her like he hadn't seen her for weeks, wrapping his arms around her waist, holding her tight as her head pressed into stomach. She couldn't help the chuckle that left her throat as she ruffled the top of his head. Looking up at the woman he pulled himself off her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his curiosity getting the better of him as she looked at the man for guidance, giving her a simple to nod allowing her to answer his grandson's curiosity.

"Well" she starts crouching down to speak to Henry "Your grandfather told me he wanted to do today, so I called in a favor with one of the stable hands I knew from my home".

His eye's seemed to light up further at this. It was mentioned a few times in the story book "You mean Monter- Montergi-" he struggled with its pronunciation, making the redhead and the former Prince laugh to themselves.

"Monteriggioni" she kindly corrected him seeing him stumble through the name of her childhood home "Yes there. We trained the best horses in the entire Forest, and luckily, one was available for you".

"Say hello to your steed" David announced to his grandson as the young boy saw a grey one that had it's head poked out of the stall.

"Is he mine?" he asked looking back to his grandfather and Amelia.

"Achilles is actually my horse" Amelia told him with a chuckle as she stood back up straight to approach her own horse happily accepting her hand on his nose "I've known him since he was a young foal and trained along side him. He know's me better than I know myself someday's, especially when I worked for your mother".

Henry smile to himself as he saw how close she was with the animal in the stall, and other way around. Achilles loved the attention she got from her as she stroked his long mane.

"This one's yours" David corrected his grandson as a white horse trotted to the front of its stall nickering happily as David stroked him.

"Really? So… How do I get on him?" Henry asked his Grandpa.

"Oh, you're not riding today" David tells him as he glances up to Amelia to see an amused smirk on her face.

"I'm not?".

"No. There's much to learn before you hop in the saddle".

"Like what?".

"Well, every morning, you'll have to muck out his stall. Then, you'll brush him and feed him. After school, you'll do it again. Every day, twice a day".

"That's not riding, that's babysitting" Henry argued.

"Horse-sitting" Amelia corrected the young boy making him look back at her "It builds an essential bond. The trust between knight and steed, or in my case between Assassin and steed. I need to trust him to find me and take me to safety if I get hurt and he I" she gave Henry a small wink making the young boy laugh.

"Okay. But, when will I ride him?" Henry persisted with the adults with him.

"When the horse tells you" David tells him "I'm going to go check in on the dwarf's. I'll pick you up later. Be good for Amelia" David nodded at the red head and left her with Henry.

He did trust her when it came to Henry, but anything else she was as dangerous as Regina.

"So… Anything you want to tell me?" Henry asks the horse.

A snort of laughter came from the redhead hearing the boy's words as "Come on. I'll introduce you to a brush".

From her place next to Henry stood on a stool to reach the horse's back the redhead watched the boy repeating the brush stroke she had perfected over the years, that same way Romeo had taught her when she was just a girl.

"Gramps says that you'll tell me when I'm ready to ride you. So… Anytime. Like, soon?" Henry asked the horse

"You do know they can't talk back right?" Amelia reminded the boy from her place next to him.

"I do" he gave her a cheeky grin and went back to brushed "So how long did it take you to ride a horse?".

"Three years" she stated.

"Three years?" he whined.

"Uh-huh" she affirmed with a nod "Except I had to learn how to fight on one as well and I was a lot younger than you are when Romeo first introduced me to the stables".

"Did your Dad ride horses then?" the young boy inquired with the woman. He wanted to get to know her more, more than what the story book had told him about.

"We all did. But his main way of travelling around the Enchanted Forest was by sea".

"Cool" his eye's seemed to light up at the mention "Did he have a ship?".

"The Jackdaw, the fastest ship in all the realms" she boasted with a wide fond smile.

"Doesn't everyone say that about their ship" he queried the woman.

"They do, but they didn't handle the Jackdaw" she rebutted.

"Could you teach me how to sail, it looks fun"

"Knights don't belong on a ship" she teased him as the horse became skittish under Henry's brush. Looking around her she could hear the other horses in the stable doing the same as hooves started to stomp on the ground, including Achilles in the next stall. And they weren't calming down.

"Henry let go of him" Amelia told him in with alert in her voice as she saw he was trying to keep the horse down with his small hands. Darting forward, she wrapped her arms around Henry's torso and wrenched him away from the horse as it reared up on his back legs before bolting out of the stall. Her feet twisted on the hay making her lose balance as she kept the eleven year old in her arms as she felt back onto the concrete floor, taking the brunt of their combined weight on her shoulders and back.

She heard her phone rang out in her jacket pocket hung up on Achilles's stable door as a still figure still the entrance of the stall, trapping it's occupants within. Opening her eye's the redhead looked up to see the thing that had spooked the horses. Dressed the same way as he would have back home.

"Daniel?".

Getting herself and Henry to their feet the redhead stood in-between Regina's fiance and her adopted son, clenching a fist full of the boys uniform in her fist to hold him firmly behind her as the other horses continued to whinny in fright.

She didn't know how he could be alive. The first time she had seen him in years after he had left Monteriggioni was when she accidentally stumbled upon his glass casket while she explored the palace during her early days working for the Evil Queen. She's been silently mortified as Regina explained who he was to her and what had happened to him. And now he was here, alive as she day she watched him and his father leave the stables for the last time.

But this was anything but the boy she found childhood companionship in while she was being trained into the killer she was today.

"Daniel" she called out his name as his eye's found her recognizing the name "Yeah look at me, it's me Danny, its Lela" she continued as he tried to place her in his head, only to step towards them. Pushing Henry further behind her his back hitting the back of the stall as she lifted up her free hand in a stop signal.

"Stop!" the redhead demanded out of the man. He seemed to take the command and he stopped as he continued to stare at her and Henry.

"Henry, I need you to run" she said not taking her eye's off the man in front of them.

"What if he's hurt? His hands" the boy pointed out to her as her green eyes flickered down to his hand and saw blood dripping off his fingers. He wasn't hurt that's for sure.

"Henry run" she repeats herself Daniel stared at the hand she held in front of her self "Do you understand?".

"Lia" her head snapped back to look at the young boy that was under her protection.

"Run. Do not look back" she ordered the boy as Daniel lunged for the redhead, only the woman was quicker as she let go of Henry, dodging his swinging hand by ducking under it to ram a hard shoulder into his stomach. It wouldn't knock him off his feet, but it would give Henry the time needed to leave. Wrapping her arms around his torso she used all her strength in her legs she pushed the man into the side of the stall, making more than enough room for Henry to escape.

"Now!" Amelia shouted and Henry listened as he did what he told and ran out of the stall only for Daniel to easily push her off him to send the back of his hand into her face sending her onto the floor before heading straight for the stall door to chase Henry down "Oh no you don't!" the redhead growled out, wiping the blood from her lip.

Leaping back up she grabbed the man by his shoulder, using the momentum to vault her legs up around him until his head sat between his head, as she sat on his shoulders quickly pulling his hair to direct him back into the stall with one hand, while using her elbow to repeatably hit him in the head, attempted to knock him out, but he was too strong for as he hit her up against the concrete wall until she lost her grip on his making her fall down, but her feet failed to reach the ground as he wrapped a hand around her and started to squeeze.

His eye's bore into her's for the first time, as she saw the monster that overtaken her friend, devoid of anything that remotely resembled her old friend.

"What the hell are you?" she choked out as he gripped her neck tighter as he kept her ans arms length giving her ample room to lift her knee's up and push him off her with the sole of her boots. Letting go of her neck the assassin let in a breath of cool fresh air as she fell into the ground gasping for the deprived air as he got back up to lunge for her again.

Reacting quickly the assassin stood back up to send a powerful high kick with her left leg only to get blocked by his opposite elbow allowing her to try again with her other leg. Blocked again.

Rushing forward she sent her knee into him making stumbled back, creating room between them for her to send another high kick towards him meeting his face she spun with the momentum and used her other leg to hit him again but he caught her crook of her knee with his shoulder and flipped her up and over making her head hit the edge of the stool that Henry was using earlier and her world went black for a second or two.

As she came to, she felt herself being lifted into the air by her neck as her eyes fluttered open to see Daniel, with her heavy arms she lifted them up until her hands gripped his hand around her neck.

"You could at least recognize me Danny" she choked out and she fruitlessly tried to fight him, her eyes started to droop as she heard a voice from the stall entrance.

"Daniel Stop!" Regina yelled at him seeing him with Amelia in his hand. He listened as he looked behind the red head to see the woman he was looking for.

Dropping the woman on the ground in front of Regina, David dived onto the floor and dragged Amelia out of the stall by her shoulders ignoring her cry of pain as he took her out of danger. "It's true. You're really here" she whispered in awe in seeing her first love alive for the first time in decades.

Seeing Regina the stable boy paused for a second or two before he went for the former Queen, seeing this the former Prince quickly pushes her out of the way to shut the stall door, locking the man inside as David tried to keep the door shut as Daniel tried to free himself from locked stall. All while the redhead remained on the floor, continuing to gasp for air as she felt her neck throb out in pain trying her best to get up from the ground.

"It won't hold for long. Can you cast a spell to subdue him?" David asked the former Queen.

"No, I won't use magic on him" she refused outright.

Seeing no end to this the Prince turned himself so that he could take out the gun that was safety holstered under his jacket as the former Queen watched.

"What do think you're doing?!" she yelled at him.

"He's a monster, Regina, he tried to kill Amelia! He would've hurt Henry if she hadn't made him run!" he pointed out to her, making her glance down at the hurt redhead on the ground holding her neck in clear pain.

Once he and Regina had sped to the stables from the hospital after finding out what Dr. Whale had did and figured out where Daniel was going, the pair let out a collective sigh of relief as they saw their son and grandson running out of the stables unharmed, only for him to tell them he had to leave Amelia behind.

"-If you won't out him down, I will!" he yelled back at her,

"David, please!" she pleaded with him as she tried to pull him away "Just let me talk to him" she tried to reason with the man.

"It's too big of a risk. There's no telling what he'll do" he argued. If he could fight someone like Black Widow and win, there was no one that could hurt him.

"You have to at least give me a chance!".

"Out of the way, Regina, now!" he yells pushing her aside, but the relentless Queen fought back will all she has as she clawed at the mans jacket in desperation for a chance to speak to her first love again.

"No!" she refused "I won't let you hurt him! He'll listen to me! Please!" she sobbed out "Let me talk to my fiancé".

Giving into the former Queen, David had left her to speak to her first love, the assassin waited around the corner from the stall her friend was currently trapped within as she listened to Regina slowly opening the latch of the stall door.

She needed to know how her friend ended up like this, but more importantly, he packed a punch, there was no way she was leaving Regina alone with whatever the hell he was now.

Inside, Daniel had seemingly calmed down. Slowly he approaches Regina and brings his hand up to cup her face, but, instead, he grabs her by the neck. He slams her against the wall just outside the stall.

"Daniel…" she choke out as he continues to grip her neck "Stop. It's me" she tried again "I love you" she whispers. Those three words worked as he came out of his homicide daze, recognizing her voice, lets her go, taking a few steps away from her as she re-gains her breath.

As if he could see again he looks' upon the woman he love "Regina…" he whispers in recognition.

"Daniel…" the former Queen closes the distance between the throwing her arms around her fiancé for the first time in years, holding him as tight as she could.

"I can't believe it's really you" Regina said to Daniel, her eyes streaming with tears. only to cry out I pain, stumbling out of her loving arms, clutching his head in his hands "Daniel?".

"Stop. Just stop the pain" he begged her.

"How?" Regina asked his desperately, stumbling towards his love, he gently cups his hands around her neck

"Let me go" he whispered to her.

Hearing this, the assassin finally let the first tears leave her eye's as she felt her heart break for the woman she loved, knowing there was nothing she could fo to ease it. But there was one thing she could do, to help her Queen, she just had to hope she could be forgiven for doing it.

"No…. No, I can't" she said shaking her head at him in refusal "I won't lose you again. Without you, I'm lost" she tells him as he griminess in pain, calling out his name she tried to get him back "Daniel, Daniel come back to me" she pleased to him as she saw him slowly slipping away from her.

"Can't..I can't" he weakly pants out.

"But I love you" she whispered.

"Then love again" he tells her before stumbling away from her as he finally succumbed to the monster that had been created as he stood rigidly in front of the former Queen.

Stepping out from the corner she put herself in between her old friend and her friend holding a long silver dagger tightly against her forearm as she tightly gripped the pommel of the weapon in hand so he wouldn't see it, but more importantly so Regina didn't see her to stop her as her eye were focused on the man in front of them and not the redhead.

He stared at the redhead he had beaten earlier. Rushing forward her reached out to attack her only for Amelia's blade to quickly find it's way into his chest, stopping him in stunned silence. Amelia's green eye's met his as she watched his slowly change back to the boy she once knew.

"Leela" he whispered recognizing her for the first time since seeing her again.

She felt fresh tears leave her eye's as her heart broke, hearing the nickname he held for her ever since they had met in stables.

"I'm so sorry. Requiescat in pace Danny"." Amelia whispered to her childhood friend as he choked on his own blood as she watched her friend fade away once again "I can't let you hurt her".

Reaching up to gt to her neck a magical hue covered him, freezing him place as she tore her eye's away from his not wanting the last thing she remembered of him being the monster that he wasn't.

A strangled sob reached her ears as the former Queen slowly waved her hand over her fiance as he faded way turning into dust, leaving the blade to drop onto the floor of the stables.

The years went by as Romeo watched his thirteen year old daughter expertly riding a fully grown Achilles around and around in the circular paddock. Her long red hair flew in the air behind her as she galloped Achilles as her laughed floated through the air of her enjoyment of being on her horse.

She had taken quickly to her lessons which was helped by her and Achilles close bond over the last few years. His instincts about the foul were right. The bond would only benefit her in the long run and her skills in the saddle was coming along as she practiced day and night.

His only concern came in the form of the stable master's own son. A boy a little older than his daughter. Daniel. They had become close friends during her training as she would often run into the boy whenever she went to care for Achilles.

It was innocent, but Claudius was getting jittery with the situation. It wouldn't be long she would become a woman and a beautiful one if she were anything like her mother by looks or nature.

There were already young boy's noticing her around the city, but she hadn't quite noticed them. It wouldn't be long until she would want to take more notice of them and she did live in a Bordello after all. Luckily, Daniel took most of her attention for the time being and it wasn't developing into anything more than friendship.

In a short few years she would have to go through what every female assassin went through when they reached adulthood. Claudius wouldn't take any chances on her, she was excelling too well, to let her slip through the Brotherhood's fingers. He already had spoken on letting the stable master go, just for that reason.

Luckily he knew of a Duke in need of a new Stable Master, he would be able to pen a glowing reference for the man if Claudius didn't. He had met the Duke when he was still a Prince when his father was looking to marry off his youngest of many sons to inherit a dowry for an ongoing war he needed to fund.

He and his son would be safe there, even if Amelia was sad to see one of her only friend in this world leave her. It would save the boy's life in the end, where he would be able to fall in love and lead a normal life even if his own daughter couldn't.

It was late when Amelia found herself in front of Archie's office door, rapping the glass with her knuckles. He's probably not there. She thought to herself. It was gone nine. He's gone home. Amelia shook her head and headed towards the stairs when she heard the door open and Archie making her freeze in place

"Amelia" he called for her, she turned around to face him.

"I know its late-" she started.

"What is it?".

"I killed someone" she admits the man.

Opening door Archie opened the door and held out his arm toward his office welcoming her in. "Come on in".

Hesitantly the redhead entered the office taking a seat on the sofa next to Pongo, who was sat on the floor in front of the piece of furniture. Closing the door behind the assassin Archie followed her, taking a seat in his chair, picking up a notebook and pad as he saw the redhead gently interacting with Pongo gently stoking the Dalmatian's head, almost like she was afraid she was going to hurt him.

"Now, tell me what happened" he opened the conversation with the woman in front of him who wasn't willing to open up to him about her past.

"His name was Daniel" the woman started "He was my friend".

AN:

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