Edited: 08/04/24
Sneaking in a small power nap on her couch in her apartment, the redhead assassin woke herself up an hour before she was meant to meet Gold, it didn't take her long to pack a bag for their trip to New York to find Rumple's son. She thought about swinging by the hospital to check up on Belle but decided against it, opting instead to head to the bar to drop off her key's to Luke, leaving him to look after the bar while she was away, before giving Le Beau and Le Fleur strict instructions to watch over the cursed librarian just in case Hook decided to make a reappearance. Shoot on sight, preferably in his face if he went anywhere near her.
The thieves were on edge since Puck sudden defection over to Cora, but with the boy tightly locked up in his cell, he wouldn't be causing anymore trouble for them or her while he lived out the rest of his life in a padded cell. She just so happened to slip the passcode to the Ward into one of their pockets before she left. So whatever happened to him while she was away, wasn't going to be her fault.
The Apple of Eden was a surprise for her though. She made sure it didn't come with them in the curse with Rumple's assurance. Little did the older sorceress know that the key to it was always on her person. She would have to pry it off her cold dead body before she would let them near it.
Finding the old man outside the Charming's apartment building five minutes from noon, he allowed her to throw her bag into the trunk of his car before they let themselves into the building to find the saviour inside.
"I left a thief keeping an eye on Belle while we're away" she informed him as they made their way up the short staircase "She won't know he's there".
"And you trust him?" he questions her "Might I remind of young Puck".
"No need to remind me, old man. I trust them to do their job as they trust me to keep them in a job, they have families to feed. Puck didn't. With Cora around I trust them".
"Then I'll take your word for it Miss Montague" he said as they reached the third apartment as Gold used the gold handle of his cane to knock on the door.
Not even a second later the door opened with a less than amused Emma on the other side with a red scarf wrapped around her neck and a thick coat. The choice of clothing made the assassin think twice of her own outfit for the trip as she thought of the shirt she wore underneath her tan jacket.
She went with comfort on the plane trip and the likelihood she would be running after someone more than anything. Shrugging the thought away, she didn't mind the cold. It never bothered her after Arendelle.
"Ready to go, Miss Swan?" the Dark One asks the blonde.
"Almost" she sighed letting him and Amelia step into the apartment to see Henry walked into the main room from the bedroom with his with his suitcase trailing behind him.
"Do you think we'll be cold where we're going, or warm?" Henry asked his mother.
"I think layers are always a good idea" she told him from the floor as she finished packing her bag. Gold looked surprised seeing Henry with his suitcase as he looked to the redhead next to him for an answer. She could only shrug at him. She knew nothing for once.
"I thought the terms of our agreement were quite clear" he speaks up as the blonde stood up pulling her bag over her shoulders "You owe me a favour. You alone" he reminded her.
"I'm not leaving Henry here with Cora lurking about, so either we both go, or we both stay" she told him straight.
"Then, we'll have to purchase another plane ticket, won't we?"" Gold conceded to the blonde's silent demand as the corner or the redheads lips quirked up impressed with the woman's boldness as Henry pulled on his coat.
"I knew I liked her for a reason" Amelia chuckled at the old man's expense earning a pointed glare from him.
"Wait. We're flying?" Emma asked changing the subject looking between the pair in front of her.
"Don't worry, I'm covering expenses. Even the new ones" he tells her referring to Henry as Mary Margret appears to help her grandson with his coat.
Overhearing the conversation as he come's down the stairs David made his view on the older man's attitude clear to him as he handed another back to his daughter.
"You're a real gentleman, aren't you?" David approached Gold to have a private conversation with the older man. Seeing she wasn't needed the assassin stepped away to give them some privacy to fidn Henry trying to button his coat.
Crouching in front of the young boy she offered her assistance to help. He let her as she listened to the conversation.
"Alright, Gold, you're going out there with my family. Just know, if anything happens to them…"
"Then you'll what?" Gold interrupted him "Cross the town line? And David Nolan will hunt me down in his animal rescue van?".
"I'll be devastated" David corrected him "This isn't a threat. It's a request. Take care of them".
"I promise no harm will come to your family. After all, we have a deal".
"You're coming with us Lia?" Henry asked the red head in excitement; he hadn't been able to hang out with the woman since she had been framed for hurting Archie.
"Yeah I am" she confirms "Mr. Gold asked me to help. Is that okay?".
"That's great!" exclaimed in excitement "I mean your great at finding people like my Grandpa always finding Grandma" David and Mary Margaret listened to the conversation between their grandson and Amelia.
"Not quite the same, but something like that" she tells him "I have a little trick up my sleeve that makes it easier" she adds with a cheeky wink of her eye that makes him smile down at her.
"Now, go say goodbye to your grandparents. We need to get going" at the order the young boy leaves her company to turn and give his grandparents a warm hug each before the couple as she stand back up straight.
After hugging her grandson the pixie haired woman didn't give Amelia a chance to evade her before she wrapped her arms around the assassin and hugged the red head making the latter stiffen up at the woman's sudden actions, before making her self relax to hug her back "I may have never told anyone but I'm not very comfortable with hugging" she tells the woman.
"Why not?" David chuckled out from behind his wife.
"Hazards of the job" she tells them making Mary Margaret giggle as she pulled away from the red head.
""Please. Keep them safe for me" she asked her old friend.
"Well, if I let anyone hurt your daughter now. What was the point of saving her and getting cursed for my troubles" she joked with the pair "Don't worry I'll keep them safe. You have my word" she looked at David who held out his hand to the woman. Amelia grabbed his elbow as he did.
"Stay safe Amelia" he wished her, she nodded at the Prince. Much more comfortable.
Sat in the back of Gold's car with Henry as they drove towards the edge of town as they got closer to the border Amelia twisted the ring around her middle finger in trepidation of going over the line. She kept to her seat as Henry scooted himself into the middle of the back seat to speak to his mother and Gold in the front.
"So… Where are we going?" the young boy asked the adults in the front.
"Logan International Airport" Gold answered the boy from the driver seat.
"I think he meant after that" Emma told the older man.
"Let's just take things one step at a time, shall we?" Gold offered.
Looking over to the man next to her, the blonde eyed the shall around his neck before looking in the rear view mirror to see Amelia staring out of her window, in her own thoughts, twisting the same ring she begged the blonde to get back from across the town line around her finger the other night.
"You really think that shawl's going to work?" the blonde voiced to the man.
"Well, if it doesn't, and I and Miss Montague will revert to my cursed self's, we're all going to have some problems. It'll work" he told the blonde as they drove past the 'Leaving Storybrooke' sign and a wave of magic passes over Mr. Gold and Amelia. With is a brief pause as Amelia felt the familiar rush pass her body.
"So?" Emma queried with the older man.
"My name is Rumpelstiltskin" he states to the saviour "And we're going find my son" he answered coherently
Emma looked into the rear-view mirror at to see Amelia in the reflection "Lia? All good?".
"All good here" she sighed as Henry sat back down next to her giving her a sweet smile.
"So….You got any cool stories for us about the Assassins?.
One came to her mind straight away but it was a bit too gruesome for the young boy just yet "Maybe when you're a bit older".
An hour or so after their daughter and grandson left with Gold and Amelia to find the sorcerer's son, David and Mary-Margaret had been left the task to find Regina and explain the last twenty-eight hours to the former Queen and find out what her mother was up to in Storybrooke.
Stood behind the breakfast bar making a tea for herself the former Princes caught a glimpse of her husband getting ready to leave with a gun holster wrapped around his shoulders continuing on as the town's acting Sheriff while his daughter was away.
"You like the holster, huh?" she teased her husband with an impish smile on her lips.
"I miss carrying a sword" he simply replied to his wife.
"Well, it looks good on you" Mary Margaret complimented her trueloves appearance.
"Come on" he prompts her heading to the coat rack as his wife follows him "Leroy has the dwarfs on Cora watch. They've got eyes everywhere" he informs his truelove "Amelia's thieves have their ears to the ground for any rumours Cora might be looking for anymore supporters. But they could use our help" he tells her as he helps his wife put on her coat to shield her from the chilled Maine air.
"Really?" she questioned him H2ow hard can it be to find a powerful sorceress in a small town?" Mary Margaret asked rhetorically as they opened the door to leave only to come face to face with Regina, who was about to knock on the other side.
"Apparently, not very hard" David answering his wife's question.
"Regina" Mary Margaret stated in surprise "You're back".
"I know you think I'm responsible for poor Dr. Hopper's death..." Regina starts only to get interrupted by the former Prince.
"He's… Alive" David corrected her "Amelia found him".
"What?" she exclaimed as her brows furrowed in confusion. She hadn't seen or heard from the redhead since she left the confides of vault to find someone that would be willing to help them prove their innocence. She couldn't just wait, she never could.
"You were framed" her former stepdaughter told her "Both of you".
"Who would do that?".
"Your mother. She's here" Mary Margaret informs her.
"But… But that's… not possible" Regina stuttered out in disbelief.
"When we found a way back, so did she. We were wrong. And we're so sorry" Mary Margaret apologized to her.
"I know" she accepts the woman's apology "But, if Cora's here, then we're all in danger. Please, you have to let me see my son. I can protect him" she told the Charming couple
"He's not here" the pixie haired woman slowly tells her.
"What?".
"Mr. Gold asked Emma to help him find his son. They left town about an hour ago with Henry".
"And no one told me?".
"We didn't know where you were. And, to be honest, Regina, I don't think Emma has to run anything by you" Mary Margaret tells her
"No, I suppose she doesn't" Regina replied shaking her head "What about Amelia? I can't find her anywhere"
"She went with them" Mary Margaret slowly told the former Queen "She and Gold seem to have some sort of deal. We didn't even know until she showed up here with him".
"Well, looks like I'm the last to know everything" she replied before quickly turning to leave the Charming couple to shut the door closed as they let out a sigh knowing that conversation with her could've gone much smoother.
"That went well" Mary-Margaret comments to her husband.
"With her, it doesn't get much better" he reminds her much to his wife's frustration "Come on, let's go find Cora".
"Where?"
"No idea" he tells her handing her her bow and quiver full of arrows "But I know who to ask" he adds opening the door for her to leave the apartment as he follows her, taking his jacket with him
"Should we let Lia know that Regina knows she's out of town?".
"Oh I'm sure Regina will be letting her know any second now". .
She'd never been in an airport before, even in her cursed memories she had always stayed in Storybrooke. Certainly never flown on a plane before. Closest thing she came to flying was she was leaping off the palace, and that was only ever going to be in one direction only.
In the unfamiliar setting, the redhead stuck near the blonde saviour as they picked up their tickets from the desk before being led through security before they got anywhere near their plane.
Henry was the one to lead the small party as they waited in line for their bags to be checked as the assassin kept a weary eye on the people around her, not enjoying being in a crowd like this without knowing all the exit points for a quick escape. This was unknown territory for the assassin and she didn't like it one bit.
Worse she wasn't allowed to have ANY weapon either on her, or in her bag for the trip. The old man would happily leave her in custody to explain the various blades and weapons she reminded herself to leave back home. He would go on with or without her. He'd done it before, he would do it again.
"Have you ever been outside Storybrooke before, Mr. Gold?" Henry question aimed at the sorcerer brought the assassin out of her thoughts as she absentmindedly twisted her ring on her finger.
"No" Gold simply answered.
"Are you nervous?".
"No" Gold repeated.
A curious brow rose on the assassin's face as she heard the man's anger starting to bubble as she felt Emma overlooking the coversation between the man and her young son.
"Are you worried about meeting your son?" Henry continued his line of questioning as they moved along in the line.
"No!" Gold snapped at the young boy Henry "I'm fine".
"How about we talk about this later, kid? We're next" Emma moved her son on as they reached a checkpoint in security.
"He gets that from you right. Being prickly?" Amelia whispered to Emma as she grabbed a bin and depositing her carry on.
"I know" she sighs in agreement.
"It must be really hard not to use magic, being like everyone else" Henry said continued his onslaught of questioning to the man Emma took off her jacket
He did this to her the night she stayed over at the loft with him while David was under the sleeping curse. Question after question about her life and the assassins tumbled out his mouth one after the other, never happy with the answer she did give him. She had bribe him with the hot cocoa with extra whip cream at Granny's to get him to finally go to bed.
As they reached the small convener belt next Emma leant over to Gold and Amelia to whisper instruction to them.
"You've gotta put your shoes in" the blonde tells, making the redhead roll her eye's, balancing herself to pull the zip before depositing her heeled boots into plastic box one after the other making her a couple of inches shorter. She didn't need this today.
"How terribly uncivilized" Gold drawls as he follows her instructions. Henry goes through first with no problem she stood in the middle of the airport in her socks.
Next was Gold himself as the redhead kept a close eye on the man as he went to walk through only to be halted by a security guard.
"Uh, scarf and the cane go in the basket" the guard instructs the older man.
"What?" he questions him.
"Scarf and cane go in the basket" the guard repeats as Gold turns to face Emma for help.
"I can't" Gold tell's Emma knowing what would happen if he took the scarf off
"You have to" she softly replies to him knowing there wasn't anything she could do.
"It ain't rocket science buddy!" someone jeered at them from behind making the redhead turn to see a man in a suit behind the being the source of the jeer "You ever been on a plane before?" a man questions them.
"Have you ever been impaled upon a cane before" Gold angrily retorted holding the cane up threateningly.
"Here" Amelia spat snatching the older man's cane out from his hand "I'll demonstrate" taking a step towards the man who backed away from the angry redhead only for Emma to quickly pull her back by the back of her jacket. The man looked visibly frightened at the threat as the blonde took hold of the cane in her hand and guide her back to them.
"My father and sister are a little nervous" Emma excused their behaviour "We're headed to a family reunion. Sorry".
"Father?" "Sister?" Gold and Amelia questioned Emma's excuse to the stranger.
"Just put your shawl in the bin. I'll help you get through" she tried to reassure the pair in a lowered voice as Amelia gave Gold his cane back.
"If I let this go. I could forget who I am" he cautioned the pair in fear of their trip ending in failure.
"Hey" Amelia gently caught the man's attention as he turned to face her "We're not gonna let that happen old man" she spoke up calmly spoke to him as she held his gaze "I'll go through first" she offers him, taking hold of his hand with her's to give it a reassuring squeeze.
The saviour watched the interaction between the pair closely, surprised to see how quickly the sorcerer calmed down with just a few words said by Amelia.
"I'll show you we're going to be fine. Okay?" the redhead continues.
Pausing the older man contemplated the deal the assassin was offering him. She was willing risking losing her memories just to prove that taking away the totem that anchored her true self in the Land of No Magic. But after a second or two the man let out a calming breath as he believed her words.
"Okay" he whispered giving her a sharp nod in agreement.
Emma stood in bewilderment at the way the redhead had managed to simmer the panic stricken man down so quickly and the way he allowed her to calm him down. Secretly they did care for the other.
Turing to go through the detector next she was stopped short by a Security Guard. Again. This was getting annoying.
"Sorry Ma'am the jacket and ring too" he pointed out to the redhead
"Do you want the shirt off my back as well?" she snipes at the security guard as she yanks jacket off to revel her low-cut tank top that showed off her cleavage a bit more.
"Ma'am" the guard stated keeping his eye's firmly on her face.
"Lia" Emma scolded her lowly. Letting out a huff as she slung her jacket in a bin. Her left hand hovered over the ring on her right middle finger.
Here went nothing.
Ripping the ring off her hand and the assassin more or less threw it into her bin, before the world around her blurred and teetered. Seeing the stable assassin stumble as she took a step towards the metal detector, the blonde gave the woman a helping hand, gently pushing her into the right direction without setting it off. She was through.
Once on the other side the redhead looked around her in confusion wondering where she was. She had a shift at the bar. She needed to help Luke manage the bar, it was payday.
Shaking her cursed thoughts out her mind, she reminded herself that she wasn't in Storybrooke, she was in an airport on the way to look for Rumpelstiltskin's son. She needed to find her ring.
Staggering towards her bin that had been pushed through to the other side the assassin quickly felt for the cool silver ring she had worn since she was eighteen. Feeling the cool metal that woman quickly slid it onto her ring finger instead of her middle as the world around her corrected itself.
Standing up straight the assassin quickly found the old man and Emma watching her closely for any sign of the assassin they knew reverting back to her cursed self.
"See old man. I'm fine"" the words came out in deep pants told them everything the needed to know. She remembered who they were "I'm here" she tells him holding out her hand towards him.
Nodding to himself the man took off his jacket and shawl with Emma's help as the assassin closely watched as he staggered through the machine as he under it to guide himself through before a hand took hold of his, gently encouraging him forward as Emma quickly followed in behind him as Amelia grabbed the shawl from the bin to wrap around his neck as the blonde gave him his cane.
"Come on. Don't disappoint me now Rumple" Amelia whispered to him in concern as she waited for him to come to.
Meeting the woman's gaze, she couldn't help but be taken back to the same pair that looked at him the same way years ago as a boy. Meekly nodding his head, the older man reached up to clasp the back of Amelia's hand that held his shawl in place, givin it a reassuring squeeze that told her he way okay.
"Guy's there's a Cinnabon's here!" Henry exclaimed to the adults unaware of what had transpired before.
"Let's keep going old man" the redhead encouraged the man letting go of the shawl as she was handed back her jacket and shoes to put back on.
That was close. Too close
Waiting seemed to the the game of the day for the assassin and the other's as they sat in a lounge, waiting to be called forward to board the airplane to New York. Sat next to Emma with Henry on her other side the assassin took the time to look at the piece of paper that would allow her onto the aircraft with her name printed clear as day on it.
Amelia Montague
It had been such a long time since she had been called Montague. She only been given that last name when she was eighteen when she had been named after the man that had, in the view of the Brotherhood, betrayed them and fathered a child with their greatest adversaries.
She had been known as Amelia Smith during the curse for twenty-eight years, her married name. Used as a cruel reminder of the Queen's revenge for betraying her.
Gold had remained on edge since leaving the security checkpoint. Having his shawl taken from him for all of ten seconds had reminded him how vulnerable he was in the Land of No Magic. He was truly powerless out here like she was and that had riled the man up as he paced back and forth in front of the other's.
"Do you want something to eat?" Emma asked the older man trying to defuse the tension.
"No" he replied.
"Something wrong?" she pressed further.
"Stop asking me that!" he snaps at the blonde taking her and Henry by surprise as Amelia sat in perturbed by the man's sudden outburst. She was used it. "I'll be right back" he says excusing himself as he headed for the men's restroom.
Standing to follow the man, the blonde was stopped by a hand on her arm, making her sit back down in her seat making her look at the redhead that had stopped her.
"Trust me when I say you don't want to be on the end of one of his temper tantrums. Leave him be Swan. He'll get over himself" nodding in understanding the blonde relaxed back in her seat as she saw the assassin staring at her place ticket, seeing her full name printed on it.
Montague. That brought back memories of High School. The thought made the blonde snort audibly gaining the redhead's attention.
"Something funny Miss Swan?" Amelia drawled out.
"Sorry" she quickly tells the redhead "It's just your name. Montague" she states "Reminds me of Romeo and Juliet".
"You wouldn't be completely wrong" she tells the blonde "Those were my parents' names" she informs her. It was better she knew sooner rather than later that she wasn't the only offspring of a famous story couple in town.
Hearing this from the woman sat next to her, the blonde took a second look at her is disbelief at what she had just discovered. Romeo and Juliet were real and sat next to her was their daughter.
"Wait. You're kidding, right?" the blonde blinked in surprise "Your parents are Romeo and Juliet?" she whispers to the redhead as Henry overheard the conversation "Like the Romeo and Juliet".
"And yours are Snow White and Prince Charming" the redhead quickly retorted to the blonde with a sarcastic smirk making the blonde roll her eye's at her.
"They were" the redhead went on "But they certainly weren't fourteen" she quickly tells the woman. She remembers her cursed life having read the famous tragedy, it was her favourite out of all of Shakespeare's work "There's a few correlations between Shakespeare's story and theirs. My father was an Assassin while my mother was a Templar. Enemies for centuries and possibly more".
"Why did you fight?" Henry asked from his seat having become curious at the conversation between his mother and the resident assassin.
"Different idea's over magic" she answers the boy as simply as she could. There was so much bloodshed between them over the centuries, she didn't think anyone knew who started the fight in the first place. Even if there was a side to blame, it would have to be bad enough to keep fighting over it for so long.
"While the Templar's sought to control magic users' such as Rumple and your mother to take what they wanted. The Assassins sought out to defend innocents from magic users, somehow over the years the lines blurred for some".
"But, if you hated each other so much, how were you born?" he asks the woman in confusion.
"I don't know Henry" she honestly tells the young boy "All I know was that my mother loved my father that's all that mattered" she said to the saviour as an announcement come over the speaker, calling their flight to be boarded.
"Hey kid why don't you get Mr. Gold and we can get going" Emma prompts her son wanting to question the redhead further. Nodding the eleven year old heads towards the men's restroom leaving their pair alone.
"How did that work exactly?" Emma asks the woman now they were out of earshot of her young son, making a curious brow rise on the redhead's face, asking her to be specific "With your parents I mean".
"It didn't" she tells the blonde straight as the pair picked up their carry-on's over their shoulders to go to the gate only for the red head to catch the blonde's gaze to put her straight "It's no secret of my existence. Ask the right people and they'll call me an abomination or half-breed. Some of them even came through with us in the curse".
"That's not right" she voiced to the older woman.
Looking at the blonde Infront of her the redhead couldn't help but hear the naivety of someone who had never lived in the realm, despite being born there. The only good things could happen in a place called the Enchanted Forest. Of stories or True Love and Triumph over Villains.
"Nothing's right in the Enchanted Forest Miss Swan. There's even those who say my father forced himself on my mother. I know different. He risked everything to be with my mother and to keep me safe from those who believed that. In the end. It took them both. Something I have promised not to happen to me" she finished as Henry and Gold had returned.
Once in their seats on the plane, the assassin found that she would be spending the journey next to the Dark One, sat behind the saviour and her son. Fortunately, she had the window seat, she could at least lose herself with what little view she would get in the dark skyline.
As flight attendants wandered up and down the aisle as they settled everyone onboard down for take-off, the redhead glanced over to her left to see the nervous man sat beside her, gripping his knee with a bandaged hand. At least he took out his anger on whatever caused him to bleed. He rarely let his emotions show, let alone to her. Finding his son was a big deal to him. As big as a deal as it would be for her if she had the opportunity to find Tom again.
He always showed his sympathy to her own loss. At least she knew why now. He knew how it felt to lose a child.
"You good, kid?" Amelia heard Emma asks Henry as he ate his food from Cinnabon in front of her.
"You kidding? A trip with you, first plane ride, and we're going on a quest like in the book. The only thing that could make this day better…is more frosting" the boy tells his mother excitedly.
Looking behind her, she found the assassin's cool, unaverred look about her despite it being her first time flying on a plane. Fully focused on the mission ahead of her as she turned to watch the world go by her from out of the small window, while the man next to her looking apprehensive, jumping at the new noises around him.
"Its going to be all right" Emma tells the man, from between the seats "We're gonna find your son".
"I know" he stiffly replies as she turns back to face forward.
"Welcome folks, to Ajira Airlines regional flight 53, with nonstop service to New York City. Our flight time tonight is 42 minutes. Please sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride"
In the pocket of her jacket, she felt her phone vibrate on and off indicating an incoming phone call. Taking it out the devise she saw the screen light up Regina's name. She had already missed 2 calls from her. Shit.
"I'm sorry Ma'am" she suddenly heard from the aisle, looking up she saw a pretty flight attendant hovering in front of Gold seat looking straight at her "All phones must be turned off for the duration of the flight".
"Right. Sorry" she whispered as she ignored the call and turned it off in front of the flight attendant before the latter moved on.
"I take you haven't told Her Majesty of your current whereabouts" Gold asked from her left as Emma turned her head so that she could hear the pair behind her. While Henry remained pre-occupied with his treat next to her.
"Nope" she answered tucking her phone back into her pocket.
"And?" he prompted her to continue.
"She doesn't need to know" she tells the older man "At least, not yet".
"Good" he states "Your love for the woman is what is going to get you killed one day. You need to put as much distance as you can. Remember your last encounter with the Queen of Hearts?".
All Amelia could do was silently nod at the man beside her. He knew best after all. Love is weakness.
AN: Hello there!
This chapter finally gives us a look into Amelia's background a little bit. If you haven't already guessed from the Prologue but this story is partly inspired by Shakespeare's' Romeo and Juliet.
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