AN: Please read the Authors Note at the end. Don't worry, it's nothing bad
As a new day was dawning in the Underworld's version of Storybrooke, one early bird in the form of Anastasia Romanova walked on the wooden pathway of the dock's in search for someone she had been trying to find since she set foot in the place. Dividing herself between the loft and keeping an eye on Robin and John in the woods, she stood by as she watched her sister tell the former Captain of her last-minute decision to send their son back to Storybrooke to watch over his younger sister while they remained behind.
He seemed to understand after a while of back of forth between the former couple at her rash decision, but it was the right one. Sooner or later Tom wasn't going to be able to keep his head down to evade Hades notice and Helen needed someone to look out for her while they were down in the Underworld.
But despite her sister's blessing for the pair of them, it didn't ease the knot in her stomach that she felt that was fawning over the man while she was losing a battle in her head for weeks. However, she had to remind herself that whatever remained of their marriage ended long before she rode into Storybrooke with Ursula and Cruella. She had her True Love now. She was happy before Emma struck her with Excalibur the final time.
As she continued toward her current search, fishermen around her paid her no mind as she found a seaman stood at a table aggressively relieving a catch of its head before dumping it into a bucket of other headless fish. The sight brought a chuckle to the blonde assassin's throat as she remembered how much he hated fish. It reminded him of his life as a peasant. His abusive father was a fisherman for their village before he left to start a new life.
That new life also coincided with her and Amelia being sent to find information about a sorcerer that turned out to be Rasputin, the man that butchered her family that bloody night.
"Dimitri" her voice made him freeze on the spot before her put done the bloody cleaver and turned round slowly pulling the knitted hat from his head to reveal his dark locks.
"Ana?" he replied in awe seeing his wife stood before him in the Underworld.
A shaky smile grew on her face as she nodded at her husband before she took the first steps forward, dropping his hat onto the wet floor he moved forwards until they met in the middle wrapping their arms around each other for a long-awaited reunion that would made the strongest man weep. Sobs left the woman as she held onto the man with dear life.
Parting Dimitri took his wife's head in his hands before crashing his lips against hers in a passion filled kiss before coming up for air their forehead rested together as Dimitri whispered to her "Moya lyubov', moya zhizn', moye vse, ty zdes'"("My love, my life, my everything, you are here").
"How are you here, are you- he started to panic.
Letting out a laugh the blonde grabbed his hand and clenched it in her's tightly to interupt him "No, no, no I'm here to save my sister Amelia, remember her?" she replied in English.
"Da, I remember" he answered her "I have heard the Black Widow walks among us now".
"That's her" she confirmed to her first love "But she is not the Widow anymore, she has changed".
"I heard that to. If you say she has changed then I will believe you" he said looking behind her nervously he held her close like he was waiting for something to happen.
"What's wrong?" she asks seeing her husband's strange behavior.
"I'm sorry they made me" he apoligetically told her.
"What? Who made you do what?" she quickly asked him in panic.
"They said they would throw me in the River of Souls if I didn't hand you over".
"Duchess Romanova" a voice called out to her making her spine shiver, turning around she saw Mentor Claudius behind her with his leaher guantlet on his forearms "It's been a while Anya, you've grown up lass"
To her left and right Iago and Tybalt emerged from their hidden places as did Richard from behind them, turning around she was surrounded by her old family, with no sign of Ophelia, but if she knew the female assassin well she wouldn't be far behind.
"Stay away from him" she warned them with gritted teeth clenching her fist so that her golden hidden blade jumped out of her gauntlet, doing her best to protect her husband.
"It's not him we want Duchess; we only want you. Come quietly and we might just allow you sister to find you in one piece" her old mentor warned her.
"What do you want with Amelia?" she demanded out of the man.
"It's not her, it's the objects she can find" Iago answered her.
"What are you talking about?".
"Naivety doesn't suit you girl" Richard spoke up with his sword in his hand "Surely you dear sister had told you about the Pieces of Eden".
"Of course I know about them" she spat at the man "One killed her, but it's gone now and the other is not here".
"She doesn't know Claudius" Ophelia said walking to the older man from her hiding spot "Amelia hasn't told her".
"Told me what?" she asked the Mistress of Stealth.
"Doesn't matter we still need her so Amelia will co-operate" Claudius argued to the brunette woman.
"In your dreams Svoloch'"(Bastard) Anastasia growled at him bending her knees ready to take on whatever they threw at her.
"So be it" he stated as she heard a whooshing sound before she felt something sharp go into her thigh. Looking down her vision started to blur as she saw a sleeping dart sticking out of her leg, she tried to pull it out only to miss as her world started to spin and her knee's gave up sending her onto the boardwalk. She fought against the drowsiness for as long as she could, but it would be in vain as her eyelids drew heavy.
"Pick her up, we have another stop" was the last thing she heard before her world went dark.
Elsewhere, another couple in the Underworld were making the most of the early morning as one half of a pair of true loves practicably dragged her highly strung Queen toward the docks to watch the sunrise from the Main Deck of the Jackdaw.
Something she has only been able to dream about doing with her Queen since she had met her, to show her something she's been able to witness again and again when she was younger finding no two sunrises the same. Since finding the Jackdaw was in the Underworld, she wasn't going to waste the chance she had to show her love something she loved.
"Right foot first" she reminded her love as they came to the ramp that led up to her father's ship "Left is bad luck" she adds.
"We're in the Underworld" the former Evil Queen reminds the redhead "I think we've used up all the bad luck for while Melia".
"We are, but we need all the luck we can get especially if we need to find a Piece of Eden down in the Underworld".
Scoffing and rolling her eye's the former Queen make sure she lead with her right foot on the plank of wood that would take them onto the Jackdaw.
"Happy?" she asked her love with a sarcastic smile on her lips.
"He's back in Storybrooke isn't he?" she replied "Unless the dwarfs wanted to hitch-hike on an adventure down to the Underworld".
"You're not funny" Regina deadpanned her love as she made her way up. Lingering behind the assassin watched the former Queen step onto the deck of the brig before she quickly joined her.
Clutching her gloved hand tight in hers the redhead took her to the east side of the ship to find the best seats in the house to watch the Underbrooke's version of the sunrise from.
"I know it's not gonna be the same as if we were back home, but one of things I've always wanted to do since meeting you was for you to witness at least one sunrise from the deck of the Jackdaw".
"Isn't there a better view from a ship?" the former Queen asks her love.
"There is, but I didn't think you'd fancy the climb up there" the redhead retorts pointing to the highest point of the ship that would allow them a bter view of the horizon, making the dark brunette look up to small circular structure that sat at the top of the main mast up high above them.
"Up there?" she asked the assassin.
"Uh huh" Amelia replied knowing what her love was planning already.
"I could do it" the former Queen tells her love in confidence as the redhead saw the small .
"Do it then Queenie" Amelia grinned at her.
With a wide smile that mirrored her and a wave of her hand, the pair of soulmates were engulfed in thick purple smoke as they were taken from the deck of the Jackdaw to the highest point of the ship that allowed the pair to see the horizon without any obstacles in the way to ruin the view.
As their feet met the wooden surface the former Queen practicably fell into her love's arms having felt how much the crows nest swayed harder than the rest of the ship as the assassin wrapped two strong arms around her love's waist to stop her from falling any further as the Queen found her face and nose in her loves as the assassin kept herself upright with the wooden railing digging into the small of her back.
"Hey there" the redhead greeted the former Queen as she kept her close against her as she stood her back on her feet, their breaths mixing in the tight space they had found themselves in, happily trapped in the the other's loving gaze as the assassin slowly closed the remaining distance between them, softly planting her lips upon her loves in a gentle, loving kiss that the former Queen mirrored as a hand reached up to brush a lock of long dark hair behind her ear as the kiss deepened only for the former Queen to stiffen as she took a hold of the front of her love's jacket to pull her off her.
"You planned this didn't you?" Regina quires with the redhead with a suspicious brow.
Amelia blinked at her partner as she came out of the lust-filled daze for second or two before listening to what her love had just asked her "Are you complaining?".
A challenging brow grew on her face before the former Queen thought of her answer "No" she drawled out with a shrug "But why now after yesterday?".
"Honestly" Amelia sighed out "If the plan doesn't work. I wanted to make the most of having you here"
"It will work" her love tell her taking her face between her gloved hands "You have to stop thinking like that Melia. You're part our plan to get Hook back as well, and now we have a way of getting you out of here for good, thanks to your Mother".
"If she's saying is true" the redhead rebutted "Which is a big IF" Amelia goes on with a huff, taking her head out of the Queen's loving hands to look out to the horizon were the first sign of the sunrise was peaking up from the water's edge "Can we just stop talking about my Mother for the next few minutes and just enjoy the moment while we still can".
Gently nodding the former Queen took her loves hand in her own as she turned to watch in peaceful silence between them as the sun rose on another day in the underworld for those stuck in the realm
"It's peaceful up here" the former Queen comments as she looks towards her love to see her with her eye's closed as felt the gentle breeze moved around her, the light hit
"Mmmh" Amelia hummed "It is".
"Thank you" Regina suddenly tells her making the assassin look over to her "For bringing be up here. It really is beautiful".
"Thank you for being here" Amelia gently retorted to the woman she loved
"How would you like a partial tour of the Captains Cabin?".
"Only partial?" Regina questions her.
"I'm hoping we don't make it too far from the bed" she meekly admits to the woman.
"And what makes you think we won't make it too far from the bed?" the former Queen asks with raised brow.
"You can find out if you can get us back on deck" Amelia tells her love.
Taking the challenge the Queen close the distance between them once again pulling the assassin into a heated kiss as a cloud of purple smoke engulfed the pair taking them back onto the main deck just in front of the glass-pane doors.
Stumbling inside the cabin in a tornado of heated kissing and clothes pulling, the assassin expertly mapped the cabin in her head to lead her love towards the cot that sat towards the back of the cabin as their coats and jackets were discarded off thier torso's, the pair had made it to the large desk that her father used to sit at and the chair that always broke, the assassin hadn't quite remembered the exact dimensions of the desk as the former Queen accidentally pushed her against the back of her thigh too hard making the redhead break the heated kiss to complain about the pain.
"Ow!" she exclaimed out-load, perching herself on the edge as the spot smarted in pain "Fucking desk" she hissed to herself as her love chuckled at her soulmates expense
"Sorry" the former Queen chuckled out as she reached out to continue their heated tryst to remove the dark button up shirt from her love only for the redhead to stop her.
"Uh, wait. Wait" the assassin tells her gently taking hold do her forearms to push her away slightly.
"What is it? Are you still in pain?" the older woman inquired with her in concern.
"No, it's just-" she gulped in fear.
"Just what?" the former Queen as she tried to think through the haze why the redhead would be stopping her "Melia, you know I don't care about those scars on your back" she tells her love cupping her face in her gentle hands.
"It's not just those scar's anymore" she tries to tell her partner as she slowly reaches up to the top button of her blouse to slowly un-fasten each button enough for the first word that had been carved on to her chest to be revealed to the former Queen.
The former Queen's eye's widened seeing the word 'Traitor' cut into her pale skin above the low neckline of the undershirt she was wearing as the assassin waited to see how the woman reacted to seeing the fresh scars on her body. But she couldn't let her love see how this hurt her. Taking in a deep breath the former Queen grounded herself as she fought back the tears that threatened to fall in front of the redhead.
The assassins. They had done this to her. Given her permanent reminder of what she was to them. A traitor.
"There are more?" the former Queen asks her making her brown eye's look in other pain filled emerald ones she had fallen in love with.
"Two more" the redhead admitted to her love, making the former Queen's strong exterior break as a tear fell from her eye at how much she had been keeping from her.
Pulling herself together for the redheads sake, the former Queen cupped her face and jaw with her un-gloved hand to tilt her love head up to catch her lips in a loving kiss of her own that the redhead mirror as the anxieties of showing her love the scars melted away as the shirt was pushed off her shoulders unperturbed by the new scars she would find as she explore her love's body once again in the confinement of the cabin.
In the afterglow of their tryst. It was the former Queen that had woken up first to find the redhead resting her head on her shoulder as she soundly slept deeply for the first time she had been in the Underworld with her.
The former Queen was finally allowed time to take in her soulmates appearance after watching her die in Storybrooke. The tiredness now showed under the redheads eye's as faint bag's started to appear under her eye's. Her age was finally catching up with her as faint worry lines grew on her forehead and evidence of crow feet in the corner of her eye's.
She never seemed to age during their time as the Evil Queen and Black Widow in the Enchanted Forest. She never let it show that she was feeling weary. Probably something she was taught when she was training, never letting the enemy know just how tired you truly were, as aches and pains started to plague the woman particularly at night when they were getting ready to sleep after training with Tom earlier that day.
She wasn't the same twenty-two year old that found her again. Growing old with her did not scare her so much if she could do it with her. That was a big IF nowadays.
Running the pad of her thumb to trace out her maturing features on her face, the assassin was gently roused from her peaceful rest
"You're staring Queenie" she sighed as her eye's fluttered open to see her love next to her.
A small chuckle left the dark brunette's lips as Amelia gently took her hand that was stroking her face leaving a kiss in the palm of her hand as a question suddenly came to former Queen's mind.
"Why do you call me that?" she asks the woman beside her making her look up at her.
"Call you what?" she asks in confusion.
"Queen" she answered her love "If you hadn't noticed, I'm not a Queen anymore".
"True" she stated "It's something I've always called you, why is it so important now?".
"I don't know, it just seems odd for you to keep calling me that after everything we've been through since the first curse".
"I call you Queenie, because that's what you are to me. A Queen. No matter what curse comes along that turns you into a mayor or a lowly bar owner. That's what you'll always be to me. You were when we first met and you still are one now, the only things that's changed is your heart".
"I love you" the brunette almost whispered to the woman on her shoulder.
"I love you too" the redhead replied leaning up to find the Queen's lips with her own as they caught up in another passionate embrace.
"We're supposed to be meeting the other's remember" the former Queen mumbled out between kisses trying to dissuade the assassin from moving her hands any further than they were on her hips.
"Five more minutes?" the redhead suggested moving to straddle the former Queens body to give her the perfect angle to give her long exposed neck some needed attention.
"If you insist" she sighed at the assassin's lips reached her neck, getting lost in the the assassin made her feel at that moment in time.
"Where the bloody hell are they?" Hook cursed from the booth he peered between the blinds in the widow as David, Emma and Henry continued to drink their coffee and coco ready for another day in the Underworld.
After the previous night's revelation that there was a way for Amelia to leave the Underworld without requiring half of Regina's heart the group of hero's and former villains had decided to jump on the opportunity before anyone else caught wind of a Piece of Eden being in the Underworld. More importantly Hades.
"I'm sure they're on their way" David tells the pirate nursing his coffee opposite him with his Grandson next to him.
"We've waiting for nearly an hour" Hook replied as the bell ran out announcing the late arrival of said couple "Speak of the devils" he grumbled as Regina and Amelia approached the booth as Henry stood up to greet his mother's. After greeting her surrogate son Amelia looked at Emma and Hook to see the latter's sour face.
"What's got your breeches in a knot, pirate?" Amelia teased the man as sat herself down next to David before Henry sat down next to her, while he was forced to scoot up to let Regina perch on the edge of the seat next to Emma.
"He's just anxious about what you told us last night" Emma answered for her boyfriend as a waitress seemed to appear out of nowhere to give the newcomers a cup of fresh coffee. The former Queen picking her's up after the brown liquid was poured in.
"We were a little tied up" the redhead retorted before Regina was heard to choke on her coffee allowing the waitress to leave them as a look of confusion etched the teenager's face as the other's looked towards the assassin sourly at the piece of information.
"Okay" Emma drawled getting their attention back at hand "What can you tell us about this Shroud, or would you rather move this somewhere a little more private" the blonde suggested as her eye's scanned the other patrons that could easily tell Hades what they were doing.
"Trust me, if they say a word, they'll prefer Hades wrath to mine" she drawled taking a sip from her mug "During Juno's joyride in my head, she had an all-access pass to all my memories of my whole life, but I also had an all-access pass to her's as well" she said with a smug tight-lipped smirk.
"So, how does that help us exactly?" David asked the redhead.
"It means I have information about the Pieces that even any the Dark One doesn't have" she answered the prince "So where do you wanna start?".
"The beginning would be a good place to start" Hook snarked earning a glare from the three women around him, one is disbelief, one of annoyance and a challenging brow from across him.
"What Juno told you about why they were created was partly true. They were mainly used against their human slaves. Once their world was dying, they tried to use them to save themselves. But while their backs were turned, a woman named Eve, a leader in the rebellion stole an Apple to run away with Juno's husband with their unborn child".
"Yeah, Adam and Eve" Emma supplied for the group "I know".
"His name was actually Aita" Amelia corrected the blonde savior "They were the original pair of Star-Crossed Lovers that Juno 'cursed' that started the line of hybrid decedents that I'm tied to. For centuries their doppelgangers have been fated to find each other and fall in love over and over again until one of them had a child for Juno to posses and reek havoc on the world before she finally offed herself with Excalibur" she finished.
"Hold on, so how did Merlin and the Dark One come into all this?" David asks her in confusion.
"Juno gave Merlin powers using a grail, another Piece of Eden to ensure the Star-crossed lover's met, but it didn't go to plan because of his good heart, so she used Nimue and her darkened, vengeful heart to create the Dark One she would be able to control to do the job instead, every Dark One would've had that one goal in mind whenever they became it, it was their ultimate goal" she tells the table.
"Find the product of Star Crossed Lovers and Free Juno" she states to the table looking towards Emma and Hook knowing they knew this. The pair remained silent
"How many Pieces are there?" the Emma asked the assassin moving the conversation forward.
"A few crystal skull's, a couple of grail's, Apple's, a few staves and the shroud" she listed to the others off the top of her head.
"So where does that leave us?" Emma asked the question.
"My mother is adamant that the Shroud is down here, so we start with the Templar's, my adopted grandfather had more information about how to find it".
"Is there a plan where we don't go and visit the same people that hunted down people like me for sport" Regina drawled to her partner opposite her
"What if there any way we can track it, like a spell" Henry suggested to his family.
"Magic won't do us any good if we wish to say under the radar" the redhead dismissed the idea from the teen "The Pieces are one of the same, they run on the same power. When Juno was out she wanted Excalibur and the Apple together".
"Because they made her more powerful" Emma added.
"They might be able to track one another" Regina came to the realization, looking to her partner "They use the same magic, if we found the smallest sample of it, I would be able to track it to another without blowing up the whole place".
"That could work" Amelia mused to the group "Juno called it Precursor energy, its what powers the Pieces, gives them their magic and what allows me to control them, my blood is full of it. It what gives me my sixth sense" she tells them as the bell above the diner door rang out alerting the patrons inside of a new customer.
The atmosphere instantly tensed to whoever just walked through the door. Thinking it was Hades the redheaded assassin turned in her seat to see Ophelia stood at the door with a menacing look on her face looking straight back at her that told her former student that she wasn't there for a social call.
The whole diner went silent for a whole second before the female assassin took long steps towards the hero's table dropping folding envelope on the table in front of the redhead all the while the former kept her eye's on the woman in front of them. This was defiantly not a social call.
"We have your sister" Ophelia stated to the group.
"I beg your pardon?" the redheaded assassin asked the woman that trained her.
"Let me rephrase. Claudius wants the Shroud of Eden, and in return we won't throw your little sister to a fiery death" she tells them with a sarcastic smile on her lips.
"Why don't I believe you?" Amelia challenged the older woman with a confident smile while the other's watched.
Her smugness was matched as Ophelia threw down a necklace onto the table. It's silver slender chain with its small canary pendant made the Assassin's face fall into one of dread seeing the necklace Romeo had gifted to her. one that never left her neck, even when she found what little remained of her family.
"I see I have your attention now. You all have until sundown to meet Claudius's demands, or she doesn't get to meet another day in the Underworld" without another word the assassin turned and left the group of hero's to contemplate their next move.
Unnerved by the news Lady Ophelia gave to the group of hero's led by the Assassin down to the docks. Anya had told her she had found out Dimitri was there and was planning on finding her dead husband.
While Amelia conversed with the man they knew as Dimitri with Hook, Henry and David. Emma and Regina waited patiently as the redhead fluently spoke with the man that hardly spoke a word of English, with the look of distress on his features from what he telling his old friend.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Emma asked the former Queen as they overheard the man retell the moment the Brotherhood had come and take his wife, shortly after being reunited with her.
"I honestly don't know; she becomes difficult to read in situations like this" she tells the blonde as Amelia tried to comfort the man.
"Is that something we need to be worried about?".
Regina didn't get to answer the blonde's concern as they other's return one they got close enough Emma ask the assassin "What did he say?".
"Apparently, they threatened to drop him into the River of Souls if he didn't lead Anastasia out here, he doesn't even work at the dock's. He just want's to move on like the rest of them, he has no idea where they went".
"So, what do we do?" the savior asks the assassin, knowing she would be the only one who knew how to fight them.
"All out offence on them is suicide even in the Underworld. They'll have had enough time for contingencies and escape routes. We won't be able to get in stealthy either. I struggled to get past Ophelia in my best day".
"How did they find out anyway?" Henry spoke up "You only told us last night".
"I don't know Henry" Amelia told her son "It just means' things have gotten a little more complicated for the time being" she tried to reassure the teen, but she couldn't believe the words that were coming from her mouth at that moment.
"The note says we had until sundown to find it and take it to them, we have a little under, 10 hours' to find it and take it to them"
"Should we split up?" Emma suggested to the redhead.
"No" the redhead quickly tells the savior "If the Brotherhood are looking to take more incentives to find the Shroud faster, we need to stay together in case they try and pick us of one by one. We stand a better chance of facing one of them together than apart".
Nodding the former Prince and pirate silently agreed with the assassin's train of thought, they'd have a better chance of stopping an assassin from thinking they could take the vulnerable teenage boy
"Then where do we start?" the Prince stated to the group as the redhead looked to the former Queen.
"If we're planning on tracking down a piece then you'll need my blood. It's full of the same power the pieces are made of and if I remember right my Uncle and Anya left a few needles in my part of the vault. Do you think you'll have the ingredients to do a tracking spell in your part?"
"There's only one way to find out" she tells her partner before the group headed to their next destination.
With eyes peeled on the street around them the group moved as quickly as they could to make their way to the cemetery and the vault, every lost soul that walked past them was met by hard gazes from the former villain daring them to try and stop them.
With Hook and David leading the group with Henry just behind them the three women made up the rear as a car came to a slow snails pace beside them on the road making the adult look to see Prince James in his Sheriff's car as his passenger winder rolled down, the Sheriff peered through the open window to see his twin brother leading the group of hero's and villains.
"Lovely day for walk" he called out through the window with a smug smile on his face.
"What do you want James?" Amelia spoke for the group.
"We need to talk Amelia. Now" he tells the redhead from the driver seat as he came to a complete stop.
"What does my brother want with you" David quickly asks her "How do you know him?".
"Long story" she answers him looking to the other's "Go ahead without me. I'll catch up soon".
"Lia" the man tried to protest weary of his brother inside the car.
"Go. I'll find you" with a reluctant nod David took his grandson and daughter with him with Hook following them leaving a concerned Regina to stare her down as they heard a car door slamming shut "Go. I'll be fine" she urged her love to leave her with the Underworld's Sheriff.
Reluctantly the former Queen left the assassin to speak to the man alone as the Prince rounded his Sheriff's car to approach the assassin on the sidewalk.
"Lovely day for a stroll with the family. I guess they don't know about us?".
"There was never an 'us' in the first place" she corrects the man "What do you want?" she demanded out of the man again.
"Well as sheriff, I have a responsibility when it comes to the local Templar's declaring an all-out war against your little Brotherhood".
"I have no idea what you're talking about, or care" Amelia tells the man as attempted to walk past him to catch up with her family only to feel his hard grip take her by her arm and throw her against the side of car.
Wrapping a strong hand around her neck as he pushed her body up against the side of the car as she felt the world spin for a second or two before it righted itself only to find she could move as her arms had found themselves trapped between her and the car. Using his bigger body, he pinned the woman against his car as she felt his hot breath on the shell of her ear making her skin crawl from disgust.
"Now isn't this familiar" he breathed into her ear feeling his warm breath uncomfortably waft over her neck as she tried to breath through the panic she felt at his closeness.
Bile started to rise in the back of her throat as she reached down into the pit of fire in her stomach to reach the part of herself that wanted this man off her. Meeting that fire the assassin managed to free an arm trapped behind her to push his hand down off her neck before reaching around his shoulders to take a handful of his jacket in her hand pull him away for long enough to step back onto the street to put much needed distance between her and him. Her chest rose and fell for much needed breath.
"What do you want from me?" she demanded out of him her throat slightly horse from the grip of his hand.
The Prince chuckled as he relaxed against the side of the car nonchalantly as he smiled at how much he had manged to rattle her.
"I don't know what you're doing, or care, but if Hades finds the Templar's ruffling old feathers, then your family old or new won't survive his anger".
She felt like crap by the time she had made it to the vault, whether it was the adrenaline that pumped through her veins quickly disappearing by the second or at being so close to Jame again or the news that the Templar's were preparing for an all out war against the Brotherhood, but by the time she reached the last step down to the vault she struggled to control her breathing as Juno used her fear to fight her way back to the front of her mind. But she couldn't let her out. Not now. Not Ever.
But he was right, if the Templar's were looking for a way while the Assassin's played their games with them for the Piece of Eden, the God of the Underworld would have a field day with them, especially if it got in the way of any of his own plans.
"Amelia!" her name reached her ears as she saw her family in the small alcove in Regina part of the vault "What happened?" she asks seeing how quickly she was breathing, like she was in the middle of a panic attack.
"I'm fine" she tried to brush the concern off as she focused on her end of the vault to put an end to Juno's attempts and put her back in her place as Regina, Emma and David followed the woman down to her small armory.
"Are you okay? What happened?" David asked the assassin in concern.
"Turns out the side of your sheriff's car is very hard" she blinked as tried to focus on what she needed to do to push Juno away for the time being, looking for the goblet that lived down in the vault.
"Do you have the ingredients for the spell?" Amelia asks her partner as she found the bronze goblet
"I do" Regina confirmed to her partner "But you don't look well dear" she tried to tell the redhead only for the concern to be ignored.
"Wait, my brother did this to you?" he continued is interrogation of why his brother wanted to speak to her.
"Either him or there's a triplet we don't know about" she dryly retorted "Which would really suck" she told him as she found a dagger that would do the job of getting to her blood a lot easier than using a needle.
"What did he want?" David asked the woman who had her back to them.
"Apparently, there's some trouble with the local Templar's, they're taking up arms against the Brotherhood, he was warning me that their actions wouldn't go unnoticed by Hades. Which means we need to hurry up with the spell" she says dragging a knife across the palm of her hand to make blood welt up in the middle of her hand.
The pain made the woman wince as she felt Juno's presence fade away allowing her to breath easily for the first time in a while, squeezing her hand into a tight fist making as much of her blood to collect into the goblet. Quickly rapping her cut hand with a clean rag the assassin picked up the goblet to deliver it to the former Queen.
"Is that enough?".
"More than" the former Queen answered her.
"Do you think they know about the Piece?" Emma asked the woman.
"I wouldn't put it past them" she answered their concerns "They've always been a step or two behind us especially now my adopted Grandfather is in charge, I need to speak to my mother see what she knows, it could narrow our search down"
"We'll go with you" Regina offered to her partner only to quickly get shot down. She wasn't going anywhere near Templar's with war on their mind.
"No" she quickly shut her down shaking her head "You need to stick to the plan. I'll take Hook with me" she says as the former pirate nodded in agreement
"Someone needs to find Robin, John and Anastasia in the forest with the baby. It won't be safe in the woods if there is fighting. It'll be the first place they'll meet with plenty of coverage and hiding spots they could get caught up in".
"We'll bring them back here" David tells the woman as Henry nods along with his grandfather
"And if there is a fight?" Hook spoke up "No offence love but I'll be wanting more than my hook and my dashing looks to fight off trained killers and fanatics".
"Take some weapons from my part of the vault, you might not be able to hurt them but you'll be able to defend ourselves. I'll get my gauntlets, if we can't stop the war we'll need to delay it until we get my sister back".
She just hoped Hades didn't intervene until she got a chance to.
Her brown leather gauntlet's felt heavier on her arms somehow as she and Hook approached the bookstore the Templar's had commandeered as their base of operations. It was abuzz with activity as Templar's swarmed around the front of the building as they found anything they could use as a weapon. Swords. Knifes and the occasional broomstick were found in their hands as they prepared for the upcoming war.
She knows from experience that there was no love was lost between the two orders when it came to their lives over the other.
Ignoring the dirty look they both received as they made their way into the store, they were met by the infamous Grandmaster of the Templar Order Tywin Capulet presiding over his small army hanging onto his every word only to his adopted granddaughter in the crowd with the one-handed pirate he once knew as a Navy Lieutenant in charge of his daughter's well-being during her trip to Neverland.
"Ah! Amelia you're here" the senior Templar greeted his daughter's offspring "And you brought company" he observed he two figure behind her.
"What is all this, grandpa?" the redhead asks him.
"Has it really been that long since you've waged war against your enemies" he grumbled at her.
"A few decade's give or take a few curses, but I understand the basics" she retorted "What's yours about?".
"Come with me" he ordered headed to the narrow corridor that led to his 'office' her stopped looking back at them "And leave the pirate behind, I have no time for his kind today" he turned and left the group.
Sending Hook an apologetic look she followed the older man into the back room where she found him at the mantle of the fireplace with a piece of paper
"I was sent this letter, this afternoon. It appears that it's not really for me" with long strides towards her, he handed the redheaded assassin the letter that came from Claudius's hand that listed out a set of the same demands with a new incentive and the new demand that made her heart drop into her stomach as he took a seat on his red velvet armchair.
"They have Juliet" she breathed as she took a seat down opposite him, the one her mother took when they first came here.
"Yes. It seems your little hunt for the Piece of Eden has raised a few too many eyebrows' granddaughter".
"I'm not your granddaughter" she argued with him.
"But you are, you have the same fire that I saw in your mother when she was younger, the same one that live's in you. You may be named Montague but you're a Capulet at heart".
"Is there a point to all this? If you haven't noticed I'm a little busy".
"By taking my daughter to use against you, the Brotherhood has waged war against us once again" he tells her "No one take's a Capulet and lives another day, even if we are already dead" he grumbled out the last part "I assume you got a letter similar to the one I received".
"Anastasia" she gulped "By sundown".
"Ah. The sister" he states to the woman "Tell me what else would you have me do? Sit back and allow them to capture the only child I've been proud to call one of my own".
"Not start a war" she retorted "There are lives here looking for a way to move on".
"That so called family of yours has done a number on you. Where's the ruthless Black Widow when I need her".
"Gone" she stated firmly to the man only for the man to stare her out.
"Do you really still tell that to yourself, when in reality she's edging closer and closer to the surface every day".
"What I have without her, vastly outweighs what I don't with her".
"A lion doesn't concern himself the opinions of the sheep" he firmly tells her "If you have any chance of getting either your sister or your mother out alive, you need to cut the dead weight".
"They're not dead weight; they are the only reason I'm trying to find the damn piece in the first place, it's the only chance of getting out of here without moving on".
"The only chance?" he asked her "You need to become the woman you were born to be. Not Tomorrow, not next year. Now".
"And what is that exactly?".
"You have until sundown to find the shroud and hand it over to the Brotherhood, otherwise the street will flow with the blood of our enemy's for taking my daughter".
With the development of Juliet being taken as leverage against them was not something they saw happening. It sent a curve ball into play as Hook became more uneasy about how they was affecting the redheaded assassin who hadn't said a word since leaving the bookstore with the new piece of information.
Ever since he had known the assassin, she would put her wall up so high when something like this happened. It was her defense mechanism. Something she still did to this day. The assassin's had take two of the most important figures in her life, both alive and dead. One she had known her whole life and the other she barely got a chance to know again.
They were starting to run out of time as the sun had started to dip into the horizon.
"We'll get them back" Hook called out the redhead "And we'll get the Shroud for you".
The man's words made her scoff "The Charming's tendency of optimism in the bleakest of moments is starting to rub-off on you Jones" she observed out-load to the man.
"Then why aren't you?" he questions her.
"Out of everyone here, I'm the only one who truly know what they are capable of. Altair's Brotherhood became far from what he in envisioned. It became corrupt and greedy. Their sense from right and wrong had been warped do much, I don't even recognize them anymore, not as the family I loved and would do anything for".
"Well, like you said many times now. Your new family" reminding her she still had a family to fight for in the vault underground just a few feet away.
"But family all the same" she pointed out as they reached the building, they knew their family would be in waiting for them.
The pair paused at the entrance as they looked at the setting sun in the Underworld sky. It was took late. She would have to do something drastic to make sure.
"The sun's getting real low" she trailed off out load to the pirate.
"Aye, all the more reason to hurry" he said heading to the staircase only to stop again with concern etching his face for the woman above him "Luv?".
"They want something else" she admits to the pirate "Someone and they'll let them both go for them".
"Who?".
"Me" she gulps out meeting his gaze.
"Amelia no!" he protested "Don't you dare think about handing yourself over to those monsters" he continued his objections of her handing herself back over to the assassin's.
"I've done it before" she tells the man "Only this time if my plan works, all three of us will escape".
"Amelia, I can't let you do this" he tried to stop her again
"You won't have a choice in the matter".
"What do you mean?" he asks the redhead in confusion.
"I'm so sorry. I can't risk them getting to her" she tells him before taking a fistful of the front of his leather jacket to bring his lips own onto her's as she allowed Juno to finally take over her mind and body only for the golden hue of the deity to pass into the pirate.
Pushing the man off her lips, she saw his eye's flashed a bright yellow gold as Juno took over the pirate's mind and body.
"Hello Juno" the redhead greeted the deity that had taken over her mind to cause so much of her family's strife.
"What have you done?" the deity demanded from the assassin.
"Keep them in the vault for the next hour and I'll let you out to play for a little while when this is all over".
"And what makes you think I'll do as you say, vessel" Juno in Hook's body growled in her face.
"Hook's not a hybrid" she points out to the deity "After a few hours his body will start to burn out along with you. You'll have no choice but to leave and go into to the nearest thing you can live in which is this" the redhead says holding up the small yellow jewel in-between her finger and thumb she had spent two centuries in pocketing in one of the pockets that covered the leather jacket "Call it my insurance of your cooperation".
"Damn you" she snarled at her as Hook's cheeks started to flush underneath his stubble.
"Get to work Juno, you're starting to look a little flushed".
At that the assassin headed in the opposite direction of the vault leaving Juno to slowly make her way down the others in the vault.
Inside the vault unbeknownst to what had just happened on the surface, Juno in Hook's body descended the stairs with a stoic look on his face as she found the assassin's extended family in the vault.
"Your back" Regina addressed the pirate seeing him from indie her small alcove with Emma stood opposite her, and Robin Hood holing his infant daughter in his arms.
"Amelia was right about the weapon's" David announced as he, Henry and John emerged from the redhead's part of the vault with weapons in their hands. The former Captain carried a two heavy broadswords in his hands as the pair made it through the vault to join the other's as the Prince brought a saber to the waiting pirate.
"There's plenty in there for a small army and more. How'd the Templar's go?" he asked the former pirate only for a sickly grin to slowly grow on his face as the man in leather ignored the man's question as Emma noticed the odd look on his face.
"Killian? Wha-" she didn't get a chance to finish her sentence as the pirate suddenly snapped his fingers making as the occupants of the vault hear the sound of the vault door start to scrape against the stone flooring. "What the hell?" Emma stated in confusion seeing what her boyfriend had just done.
"The door!" Regina announced as panic struck the former Queen to what was happening. Dropping the swords on the floor the former Captain ran to join the former Prince push against the closing tomb.
Turning on her heel the deity watching in almost glee as the men tried and failed to stop the door from closing them in the vault.
"Hook! Help!" the Prince tried to get the pirates attention only to be met with silence as Robin tried to help the Prince having given his daughter to Regina. Even John's extra strength wouldn't do anything. The door slid shut as it was encased in a golden hue making the men step back into the vault.
"What the hell just happened?" Emma exclaimed wide eyed, she looked towards Regina, who looked just as shocked "Are we stuck?".
"Not if I have anything to do about it" Regina threatened handing the infant back to its father. Two fireballs' grew in her hands ready to fire towards the seal only for the pirate's voice to stop her.
"Don't" Hook told her it was the first word he had said to anyone since coming down "That won't work" the fire extinguished in her hands as she took a step back as she looked to the one-handed pirate
"Killian?" Emma called out to her boyfriends once again as a bad feeling came over her mind
"She's doing you all a favor" 'Hook' tells them all "You all have a better chance of survival down here with me than up there if a war breaks out".
"Hook what the hell are you talking about?" the former Queen asked the pirate as Emma
"That's not Hook anymore guys" she says taking hold of Henry by his arm pulling between herself and Regina as
A relaxed smirk appeared on the pirates lips as he looked straight at the Dark One that continued to defy her time and time again before her love took matter's into his one hand
"I knew you'd recognize me Swan. I knew we really connected when you put Excalibur straight through Amelia's heart".
"Juno".
Seeing her mother and sister is soon as she stepped into the cavern made the Assassin's threat all too real as they sat on the ground their hands and ankles tied together with rope as Anastasia sat with a rope between her teeth to stop her endless chatter that her old family had to endure since she had woken up. Something she was good at. At least some things don't change.
She was greeted by the entirety of her former family stood before her, an image she hadn't seen for decades. She was barely an Assassin back then. But now, they had no idea the monster they had created they had just invited to the party.
"Amelia, how nice of you to join us" Iago was the one to greet the redhead that went ignored.
"Let them go" she demanded out of them meeting Claudius's cold gaze.
"Not without the Shroud" Iago supplied to the red head he trained for fifteen years
"There's no Piece of Eden down here"she admitted to the assassin's "There never was".
"Then you're here to hand yourself over to us. Again".
"What's better than good old fashioned payback?" she retorts "In exchange for freeing them. I'll jump. No moving on from this place for me".
Muffled protests came from Anastasia as the proposition interested the Mentor of the Enchanted Forest's branch of the Brotherhood as her mother remained silent. Ophelia looked to Claudius to see he was considering her deal.
"Claudius you can't be serious" she said to him. She was the only one that could stop him making a stupid for something a petty as his pride. He couldn't let the only leverage they had over her, go for nothing.
But the man didn't listen letting his pride and dignity took center stage as he made his final decision like the redhead knew it would , his pride was his downfall in the end.
"We have a deal. Let them go" he ordered his Assassins.
Protests erupted from his subordinates as they surrounded him voicing their opinions on is decision as Ophelia simply glared at him before letting of a huff of annoyance before stomping over to their prisoners cutting their binds off their wrists before pulling them both onto their feet.
Amelia made herself not look at them as Ophelia pushed them towards the exit and she took as step towards her former Brother's.
Keeping their distance from the deity that inhabited Hook's body, the group of hero's and villains allowed her the freedom of the vault as he/she took the're time looking over their new appearance in the mirror that sat on the far wall in the Queen's part of the vault as Emma and Regina kept a close eye on the god like deity that was possessing the pirate.
With Henry close by as David and John continued to try and force the door back open all the while Robin stood in the quiet end of the vault with his infant daughter not wanting her anywhere near the deity.
"Can't say this is an improvement from Amelia's body but it'll do for now I suppose" Hook/Juno mused to themselves as they eyed the adults in the reflection "But he is a good kisser, I'll give him that something all my Dark One's have lacked over the last three centuries" they winked in the mirror towards the blonde.
"What do you want Juno?" Emma demanded out of the deity taking a step towards the god making Juno turn to face her former Dark One.
"From you?" he started "Nothing. I'm simply here to give Amelia the time she need's" Juno tells them before looking towards the former Queen "I'm surprised actually how you hadn't realized there was something your love wasn't telling you. That you didn't feel her new found powers coursing through her veins, although she was clever in her methods to keep me at bay".
"Powers?" the dark brunette questioned the deity.
"Yes. You see I wasn't bargaining on her ending up in the Underworld with her when the lovely Emma here killed us in your Storybrooke. So instead I wound up trapped inside her head, I tried my best to take control again only for her discover she could use my version of magic. But the more she used them, the more control I took back".
"Then how did she stop you?".
"The scars" Emma gulped "She went to the assassin herself Regina. She let them hurt her" she tells the former Queen.
"Pain" Juno leered at the pair "Real gut wrenching, scream educing pain that would make any man cower. But not Amelia, she faced her old family fearlessly as they tore her to shreds inside and out" the deity went on making the Queen wince as her gut churned at the thought of the type of pain
"How do you know about them?" the Queen sent the question to the blonde.
"She saw them by accident" Juno answered for the blonde "She saw them in panic Amelia used her power to stop her from telling you, Your Majesty. She told the savior about me, she had to. Made her swear not to tell anyone".
"How does possessing Hook come into this exactly?".
"Simple" Juno shrugged "She was stopping you from stopped her handing herself over to them".
"She's handing herself over for Anastasia" Emma concluded for the group.
"Close, but its not just Anastasia anymore Savior" the deity tells the former Queen as Hook/Juno approached the pair taking out the note Lord Capulet had received not so long after Amelia received the news that her sister had been taken "Read for yourself. I think you'll find even you'd do the same to save your mother"."
Slowly Emma took it from the deity and unfolded it to see the new demand the assassin's wanted for Anastasia, with the new incentive.
"Emma?" the former Queen called out to the blonde only to take the note for herself to read.
"The Brotherhood have Juliet" Emma says out-load as the Queen read the words "They want her for Anastasia and Juliet".
The minutes crawled to a snail's pace after discovering that Juliet had been taken along with Anastasia to lure Amelia away from the rest of her family as they found seats for themselves around the vault seeing no end to their temporary confinement. Some on top of chests or on the ground as they waited for the deity to decide they had waited long enough.
While the human's waited the deity took it upon herself to use the time to look at everything out on display in the Queen's part of the vault including the various glass vials of ingredients the former Queen had used to make the tracking spell with Amelia's blood to find the Shroud of Eden.
"What about the Piece of Eden?" the former Queen suddenly questioned the deity "Can't Amelia still exchange it for Juliet and Anastasia?".
"She could, if it were here" the deity shrugged at the Queen's question.
"What do you mean? It's not here?" the savior spoke up from her place sat on one of the chests that crowded the small alcove with Henry sat next to her.
"It mean exactly that Saviour. It's not in the Underworld. It's not like it could help anyway. It's not even worth the name it holds".
"What can it do then?" the teenage boy, Henry, Juno recognized asked her.
"It's capable of restorations and healing. From stab wounds to birth 'd be able to regenerate from wounds that would be considered fatal and enhance one's strength when worn" she tells the group as they all seemed to get the same idea.
That's why Juliet needed Amelia to find it. It could bring her back without taking half of her loves heart.
"But before you ask"Juno interrupted their train of thoughts "It can't being back the dead" Juno tells the family around her "It would only be able to reanimate your precious Amelia and Hook for a short amount of time before they would die anyway. Even with our technology, we couldn't beat death itself".
"How do you know so much about it?" Henry went on, curios to know more about the deity that had taken possession of his third mother and not his birth mother's boyfriend.
"I was a scientist before everything happened. Before my home was destroyed, before my Aita was taken from me by that Eve" Juno said through gritted teeth "We created the realm you know as the Enchanted Forest to replace the one we lost".
"We?" Regina questioned the deity. with a raised brow. There were more?
"My colleagues. Minerva and Jupiter" the deity drawled out thier names "They stripped me of status within our old world for my little experiments in your home after it became common knowledge of my disdain of humans. After I created someone to find my Star-Crossed Lovers, they left me to roam the world we created alone".
"You mean Merlin" Emma's statement made the deity scoff at the woman's words.
"Merlin wasn't worth the loss of a grail he gained his powers from" Juno tells the blonde seeing the woman react to her words as eye's clouded over with anger at the mention of her friend "He was a pathetic waste of time and effort. The Dark One however, is my proudest achievement".
"Take that back" the blonde warned the deity as she jumped from the wooden chest ready to take on the deity herself in need be.
"Sit back down Swan" Juno leered at the blonde "You're hardly a threat anymore" at that the blonde slowly sat back down on the wooden chest as her son continued the line of questioning.
"Why would Juliet tell her it would help her though?".
"To give her a slither of hope she needed to change her mind about moving on. Blah, blah blah" the deity trailed off in disinterest.
"So, what exactly are you getting out of this by keeping us down here, like you said there's no Piece to bring you or Amelia back, what kind of deal can she make with you?"
The question made the deity pause and think. There was literally nothing her vessel could do for her in return for keeping her family down here. Maybe an our or two of having her freedom back but the assassin would alway push her back int he deepest pit of her mind and keep her there, trapped like she was in the jewel that currently sat in the pocket of the leather jacket the pirate was wearing. The second she was moved into this body she felt it starting to uncomfortably warm-up. She needed to get back to her vessel. And soon.
"Your right" she admits to the family breaking the silence as they waited for her to think "There is nothing my vessel could give me in return and by the way this body is starting to feel. I don't have much time left until I need to be back where I belong".
Less than a second later Juno once again snapped her fingers together as the family trapped inside heard the sound of stone scraping against itself, alerting them that their exit was finally open.
""If I were you, I'd hurry. It's nearly sunset and Amelia should've found the Assassins by now".
"I think I know where they are" Emma announced as she headed for the exit followed by the others grabbing the weapons they had found in the other end of the vault, hoping they would be able to reach their assassin in time.
Juno went to follow behind only to be sent backwards down the corridor by a hue of purple with a venomous looking Regina at the other end stood at the bottom of the stone steps as the deity struggled to get her bearing again from the ground.
"If you thought we'd let you anywhere near her again" the former Queen spat at the deity "Then you're stupider than I thought".
"Your magic won't keep me down here forever, Witch!" the deity yelled at her in anger as Juno pulled her fatigued body from the ground to face the Evil Queen "I have a feeling my version of magic is stronger than yours, even in this body!".
"Maybe not. But it'll keep you down here long enough" with those parting words the former Evil Queen climbed out of the vault sealing it behind her leaving Juno to scream's to be cut off by the stone coffin cutting the deity off from the rest of the Underworld.
The groups of hero's and former villains couldn't make their legs move faster as they ran towards the cavern. They couldn't risk taking the Brotherhood by surprise by suddenly appearing with either Emma or Regina's magic, so the old-fashioned way was the only option they had.
Sending Robin away with his daughter and Henry back at the loft, the others hurried to the cavern only to make it to main street when they found Anastasia and Juliet fighting each other in middle of the street. The heated exchange between the blonde assassin and the redheaded Templar continued as screams of frustration echoed down the street and the pair easily blocked the other's attack in the evenly matched fight as they struggled to get one over the other.
"You have got to be kidding me" Regina glowered to herself as she used her magic to forcefully pull apart the fighting women sending them opposite sides of the streets allowing the group to catch up to the newly freed prisoner's.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" she chastised the pair s they got themselves off the ground to face the rest of the extended family "Your daughter and sister is about to sacrifice herself for the both of you and all you can do if fight"
"You don't understand" Juliet huffed out wiping the drip of blood from the corner of the mouth "Claudius never wanted the Shroud, he knows they're not here. He only ever wanted her" she said looking between them.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked the woman in confusion.
"Claudius and Tywin have been working together ever since Amelia came down here" Juliet informed the group "That's why I kept my distance from her, that's why she needed to stay down here. Because at the end of everything, she is everything that they fear the most".
"Then we stop them" David tells them "Once and for all" with an agreeing nod the hero's and villains continued their journey to save their friend.
A Leap of Faith.
She never though it would ever come to this. A simple leap of faith would end it all. The intense heat of the flames below made the top of her lip start to sweat as hesitant feet scuffed the edge of the cliff. She wasn't ready to go. Not yet. She would never be ready with the family she had found, the one she had fought so hard to make.
The toes of her boots edged over the rock cliff as she slowly raised her arms ready to make her final fall into nothingness when a choked sob left her throat when she heard voices behind her calling out her name.
Turning around to face her family with weapon's and magic in hand she couldn't get a good look at them as the Brotherhood took a protective formation in front of her, putting them and their decades of experience in-between their final act of vengeance on the girl that killed them all and the family she had found without them.
"Leave now, and we'll allow you to leave with your heads attached to your necks" Claudius warned the group of heroes in front of them, which included her own mother and Anastasia who had returned to stop Amelia from taking that final jump.
"Like hell we are" Emma stood forward to face the band of assassins "Let our friend go, now".
"Or what savior?" Iago questioned the blonde spitting out the last word "I don't think you have the guts to kill all of us".
Pushing past the blonde the former Queen took over against the people who had hurt her love for over a decade, letting the anger she felt every time the redhead spoke of her former family come to the forefront of her mind to show the assassins that the Evil Queen was not afraid of a group of cowards with swords scare her away from saving her soulmate from a fate worse than death as a ball of fire grew in her hand.
"She may not" the former Queen stated to the assassins "But I have no problem putting you in your place again" she seethed with gritted teeth as she threw the ball towards the assassin's only for them all to simply step back allowing the fireball to hit Amelia square in the back with such force she lost her balance on the edge of the cliff and fell forward into the fiery inferno.
Word's were lost to her as she stood in stunned silence as she watched the woman she loved disappear from sight, only for that action to kick start a fight between the creed of trained killers and her family to ensue in front of her as steel met steel in the cavern where her love had finally met her end. Unaware that Juno had made her escape from the vault.
Feeling the full force of the ball of fire on her back, her body lurched too far forward, unable to stop herself from falling towards the fiery inferno below her. Quickly turning herself in the air the assassin flicked out her right hand for the hook she had attached to her gauntlet, replacing the hidden blade, shot out as she reached out t
Once the fireball hit her back her body lurched forward into the air unable to stop herself from falling. Flicking her right wrist out the hook to had attached to her gauntlets shot out as she tried to find something to stop herself from falling much further.
She was in luck as the curve of her hook found a strong enough jutting out piece of rock that would save her from a fate worse than death making her jerk violently as pieces of broken off rock fell onto her face, shutting her eyes tightly trying to evade the falling debris she heard all hell break loose above her as she heard the clashing of swords above her.
Grabbing her right arm with her free hand she used all her strength to give herself a lifeline only to feel the very edge of the hook shift closer to end of the narrow piece of rock that stopped her fall only for the deep cut in her palm to scream out in pain.
She was struggling to hold on as she felt the hook shift on the edge of the rock that had saved her life making her heart beat faster in her chest as if she felt like her end was coming.
She needed help.
She needed it now.
"Give me your hand" a voice demanded above her making her look up to see Juno above her in Hook's body reaching down a helping hand down to her as she felt her arm ache from it holding up her entire weight "Trust me" Juno goes on pressing the assassin to make her decision. Trust her or Die.
With a nod she found a nook for her foot to give herself more leverage as she pushed her free hand into Juno's awaiting one gripping Hook's forearm as she was pulled her up and over the cliff edge until she was safe once again on the hard ground.
"Thanks. I guess" the assassin tells the deity.
"Don't be" Juno tells her vessel "I need you somewhat alive. I'm getting tired of this body" Juno tells her jerking Hook's head towards her family, struggling to fight off her old family.
Emma and Regina stood back to back as they fended off the onslaught of attacks from Iago and Richard with their weapon's of choice. Ophelia and Tybalt were being kept busy by the join effort of Anastasia and Juliet Capulet, evading the former thief quick moves and the woman's technique of sneaking in attacks while they were distracted by the thief.
Away from them the toughest battle was being fought as David faced Claudius alone while John sat on the ground with tending to a wound that the Mentor of the Brotherhood of Assassins had inflicted on him. It wasn't fatal but it made the scion unable to fight alongside the Prince.
As the Master Assassin brought his sword down heavily on the Prince's, making him wince everything steel met steel , she could see that he was struggling keeping the sword in his hand as the former Prince took up a deference stance against the assassin. She knew what he doing. It was the same thing he had done for the decades he was alive.
Sprinting forward, the redheaded assassin evaded stray blades and off-target fireballs as she headed straight for the Master Assassin with his back to her, leaping into the air, she took the larger built man by surprise as she trapped his head and neck around her thighs and legs, using her weight to drag the man to the ground making him yell out in protest, as the small skirmishes around him came to abrupt end hearing the man yell out and see him on the ground with Amelia stood over him kicking his sword further away from him as her friends and family saw her alive
"This. Ends. Now" she tells her former Master with a steady and firm voice as the other's listened to her commanding voice.
The man wheezed and coughed loudly as he pulling himself up onto his knees to look up at the woman he had a hand into making who she was today. A smile pulling on lips as he saw the woman that had brought his Brotherhood to its knees
"It will never end Amelia, your father ensured your future".
"All he did was to fall in love" she tells the man "Something I don't think you've ever experienced".
"That's not true. We loved you" he told her gesturing to the other's who were looking at her "We all loved you as our own. An Assassin. A sister. A daughter. And you repaid our training, our care, our love, by hunting us down and killing us all".
"That wasn't love" she retorts to the older man "I know what is love. It might've taken me a while to realize what it was but it wasn't that. You could've just left me alone when I ran".
"We couldn't. Because the blood that runs through your veins is our greatest weapon against the Templar's and any magic user".
"I am not anyone's weapon. I'm my own woman first, last and always, its about time about time you finally listened Master. To prove to you I'm not the weapon you wanted me to be, I'm going to do the one thing I should've done years ago".
"And what that?" he challenged her.
"Show you mercy. Something even you should understand, Master" she tells the man "We're leaving".
Turning her back on the man, she headed for the exit as her family followed the redhead's lead, turning their backs on the assassin who just stood there dumbfounded as Anastasia and David helped John off the ground to make their way out of the cavern only for the Mentor of the Brotherhood of Assassin's to use the last trick up his sleeve to defy his students efforts.
"Seize her!" Claudius suddenly ordered, making the her whirled around with her family ready to face whatever the man was throwing at them only to see the Assassin grab her mother as she trailed behind the others. Her eye's met her daughters in panic as Richard and Iago dragged her towards Juno who was waiting with open arms and a sickening grin still at the edge of the cliff where the deity had saved her only moments ago.
"What are you doing!" she yelled at her Master as her mother struggled in the assassin's hold.
"Call it our parting gift Amelia" Claudius announced with a smile on his face as his assassins dropped Juliet in front of Juno. Taking her head in-between Hook's one hand and hook as the she looked at the face that had ruined her life centuries ago.
"Juno" Juliet shuddered out in fear recognizing the look she had only seen once as she liad dying next to her unconscious love. It may not have been her daughter's face looking down at her this time, but the eye's were the same. Full of hate and vengeance.
"It's a shame we have to part like this again Eve" Juno tells the woman as she began to sob as her fear got the better of her. She was going to die. She knew that as soon as her daughter stepped into the Underworld. She would never meet Romeo again in the afterlife, this was it.
"Sh, sh, sh" Juno 'comforted' the woman pushing back a part of red hair that had fallen into her face "For the last three centuries I have enjoyed seeing all of Adam and Eve's doppelganger's die. Each time I saw the light be snuffed out in your eyes. I never imagined I'd be able to do it myself one day. So, I won't wast anymore time than I already have" Juno says before shoving the woman towards the edge of the cliff to fall into the fire.
A step away from the safety of her family turned into many as she sprinted towards the cliff edge before sliding across the ground before disappearing over the edge once again as she ignored plea's of protests from her family behidn her.
Just reaching her mother's hand in time the hook snapped out of her gauntlet found an edge again, stopping thier fall into the inferno below,the redheaded assassin tried her best to muffle the scream that left her lips as she felt her mouth feeling her back and shoulders being stretched to their limits from the extra weight she was carrying, tears sprung from her eyes as she tried to pull her mother up with all the strength she held only for her efforts to come to nothing as she could barely more her any further away from the intense heat.
A sob escaped her throat, she wasn't strong enough as her hand started to scream out in pain yet again and fresh blood leaked out of the makeshift bandage making her lose her grip on her mother's hand.
"Let me go" she heard from her mother below her making her stop to look down.
"No, Don't say that. Please No" she begged her mother "I still need you" she admitted to her. There was still so much she didn't know about her. The story book only told her so much, she needed to know if it really her she saw on the Jackdaw all those years ago.
"No, you don't" Juliet tells her "You never needed me. It's okay" she gently whispered to her as coils of flames started to reach up to take its next lost soul into it's embrace.
"Please" her plea's went unheard as Juliet let go of her daughter's hand finally slipped right through her fingers and into the fiery inferno below them as she felt hands on her shoulders pulling her back on the surface passing by a knocked out Juno on the cliff edge before she landed in a heap covered, her clothes covered in dirt as she looked back to the edge.
"Melia?" Regina held onto the red head tightly in fear she would be lost to them once again as David and Emma looked over the edge their face's turning crest fallen as they looked to the assassin on the ground with tear streaks on her cheeks with fresh tears still falling.
"She let go".
Pushing her grief to the side, the hero's and villains returned to the loft with the unconscious deity in their possession as they were greeted by Robin and Henry only to ignore their question about what had happened when they saw the returning group including Amelia and Anastasia get the
"Get him on the bed!" Amelia's commanding voice ordered the family to take the unconscious figure into the small downstairs bedroom
"Do you really think it'll work?" the blonde inquired with the redhead as she and Regina stood at the foot of the bed ready to do what they needed to do to be rid of the deity once and for all.
"You two have got to hit her with everything you've got. Once she feel's Hook body starting to heat up, she'll be wanting to leave and without me to go back into, she's only got one place to go to" Amelia says digging into the pocket she left the jewel in, placing it "She'll have no choice but to go back into her prison".
Emma looked towards Regina sharing a looking of determination with the former Queen
"Lets do this then, quickly" Emma headed into the small bedroom followed by everyone else as they gathered around the bed were the unconscious possessed Hook slept soundly, Amelia placed the jewel on his chest, above his heart
Stepping away from the bed Henry taking her hand into his to keep him away from the sleeping god as the other's did the same in the small bedroom.
"Ready?" Emma looked to the older sorceress beside her who gave her a determined nod. Taking their stance they both held out their hands towards the sleeping deity using their magic on the yellow stone as Amelia flinched as their magic struck the jewel making Hook's body jerk up almost knocking the jewel off his chest.
Letting go of Henry's hand she jumped forward and held his shoulder down as Hook's body continued to wildly convulse form the magic that was pushing his body to it limits.
"Hold him down!" she yelled to the other on the opposite side of the bed before looking towards the "Keep going!" she urged the pair to continue suing their magic behind her.
David, Anastasia, and Henry followed the redhead's instructions as they took a hold of the man's shoulders and legs struggling to him still enough for long enough to extract Juno out of him once and for all when Emma and Regina suddenly stopped.
Silence enveloped the room as all eye trained on the piece of jewel that was once part of Excalibur shine brightly. It worked. Juno was trapped. It was over.
Letting out an overdue sigh of relief, the assassin felt Hook relax as he took back his mind and body, leaving him to sleep off his possession.
"Did it work?" Henry asked her third mother as she picked up the yellow stone from the man's chest, to feel Juno's presence make her sixth sense pick up.
"It did, she's trapped" a relieved smile grew on her face as her body sagged onto the edge of the bed out of a mix of fatigue and grief finally caught up to her as she clutched the source of her troubles for some time in her hand holding it as tight as she could to make her believe that she was finally free of her forever.
"She's gone" they heard her whisper as a hand quickly as her mind had caught up to the events of the day.
Beckoning her son over to her with a sad smile, the blonde led her father, Anastasia and Henry out of the room to leave her alone with her truelove to comfort her as the former Queen took a seat next to the redhead to wrap her around her back holding her headstrong and stubborn assassin tight as she let everything she had been feeling that day out.
"I'm sorry" she tells her love ""I should've told you what was going on. Why I couldn't come back with you all. Maybe if I had-".
"It wouldn't have changed a thing" her love tells her "If you had told us, told me what was really going on, than maybe we wouldn't have tried so hard to find Juliet in the first place".
The mention of her mother made the assassin wince as she replayed the moment her mother let go of her hand again and again. She wasn't' even sure who let go first in the end
"I don't think it would've made much of a difference in the end. Both my parents were destined to die. It didn't matter by who or how. They had a death marked love".
Reaching up the Queen placed her lips against her temple to leave a loving kiss that allowing the assassin to close her eye's to allow herself to be comforted in that moment, imaging herself back in the crows nest of the Jackdaw that very morning. She was her home, no matter where they were in the world
"The day's not over" Amelia tells her love once she I've got to take care of something. I need to end this tonight" she tells her love stand from the bed to tie up some loose ends left from the events of the day.
"And after that?" the brunette inquired with her. She wanted to know if she still intended on staying and moving on or try and get home back to Storybrooke.
"Then we figure out how we get home" she tells the former Queen before planting a loving kiss on her forehead "All of us" she adds before leaving the loft without another word said to her family. She needed to make a quick stop at the pawn shop before heading to her true destination.
It was time Tywin Capulet learned that no-one messed with a Stilskin.
Today had been a long day for the former Grand Master of the Templar Order. The call to fight the Assassin had been called off after they had seen them retreating back to their hovel, they called a bar. At the news of his granddaughter's temporary triumph over the Brotherhood, the Grand Master sent his subordinates home for the night as he remained behind in the bookstore alone.
With the light's off, the older man followed the faint glow the fire in fireplace gave off to illuminate his way back to his study, only to come to a complete stop in the threshold when he saw a familiar figure sat in his chair staring into the fire in the world of her own.
"It's rare enough thing you know" Amelia said from the chair placed next to the crackling fire as she looked towards him
"What is?" he quires with the woman as he took the seat opposite her, her watching his every move.
"A man who lives up to his reputation of course" she tells him.
"And what reputation would that be?" he hesitantly asks her.
"To get everything he ever wanted, even if it costed him the thing, he loved the most".
"Juliet?" he stated.
"Gone" she finished for him "You handed your daughter over to the Assassin's to get me to separate myself from Juno, and in return not only would get rid of your half-breed granddaughter, but the woman that gave birth to her. Her final punishment".
An impressed smile grew on his face seeing the intelligence she held. Just like her mother "You seemed to have figured it all out already".
"With some help" she said as two pairs of footsteps joined them in the back room "I'd like to re-introduce you to a few family members of mine. We may not see eye to eye often, but when we d have a common cause. We're the most dangerous people in any realm".
Looking over his shoulder he saw a tall slender teenage boy stood behind him with an older man stood next him with swept back ash hair, both stood in matching suits before turning back round to face the woman opposite him.
"Believe or not, the blonde is Malcolm but he goes by his more colorful name nowadays Peter Pan. The man you bought my mother off all those years ago, and the man next to him is her younger brother Rumpelstiltskin, also known as the Dark One. I informed them of the plan you had for us, and let me tell you, they were more than happy to come and find you and say hello again".
An hand suddenly gripped his shoulder making him jump in his seat only to see who the hand belonged to as he looked up to see the Dark One looking back down at him with a snarl on his face as he saw a gold tooth glimmer in the light of the fire.
"Hello dearie" Rumpelstiltskin greeted the man through gritted teeth "Remember me?".
Gulping the Templar looked for the Assassin for some assistance only to get no reaction from the redhead that watched her Uncle meet the man that took his sister away when he was a boy.
"Amelia" Tywin called out for the woman in fear "W-We-".
"You said you wanted the Black Widow, not tomorrow, not next year. But today. Well here she is doing what she did best. Walk away".
Standing up from her chair she headed straight to the door passing by both Pan and Rumple, leaving Tywin to whatever they both had planned for the man that took their daughter and sister.
It was dark by the time she made it to the docks, to the place were the Jackdaw had been rigged that morning, only now to see nothing but the water it had been sitting on. She was glad it had disappeared along with her mother, it hadn't been her home for a very long time nor did she want to be still.
"This better be worth my time" the sound of the god of the Underworld joining her brought her out of her thought of the Jackdaw as she turned to face the God that had agreed to meet her
"And here I thought you'd be a little more grateful that I stopped a war on your own streets" she replied to his short demeanor
"Oh please" he scoffed "Those Templar's are all bark with no bite, no wonder they all ended up here" he said "Now what was so urgent you're interrupting my busy schedule".
"I'll keep this short then" she stated taking out Juno in her jewel prison showing the God of the Underworld "A simple trade. Juno for Hook and the names on the headstones".
A dark chuckle escaped the God as he took the jewel from the palm of her hand to holding it in-between his thumb and finger in front of him
"Oh this is something special" he comments to himself with a wide smile on his face "Did you know Juno and her colleagues once tried to pose as my siblings. Juno tried to have herself seen as Hera, while Jupiter tried to be my little brother. Oh, but he put them in their place quickly. Made spectacle of it. I just wish I had a front row seat to it
"But for the Captain?" he questioned "Is this love Miss Montague".
"Love is for children. I owe him a debt".
"Tell me" he asked sounded interested in her story despite already knowing it.
"Years ago, when he brought Angelo to The Godspeed, he was paid to board us and kill everyone on board, he made a different call as soon as he realized my son was involved. He saved me, he tried to save my family".
"And what will you do if I vow to spare him and your little family?".
"I remain here. Alone. No resurrection, no do-overs".
He laughs at her again "Ah, no" he denies her request "But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man".
"Regimes fall everyday" she told him shrugging her shoulders "I tended not to weep over that. I'm an Assassin".
"What is it you want?".
"It's not really that complicated. I've got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out".
"Can you?" he scoffs in disbelief "Can you wipe out that much red? Your ledger is dripping, its gushing red, and you think saving a man no less virtuous than yourself will change anything?".
"It's a start" she retorts.
Holding the jewel in the middle of his hand, the assassin jumped as the top of his head was engulfed in a blue flame as another appeared int he hand holding the jewel that held Juno in her prison, engulfing it in flame until it turned into ash that slipped through his fingers and onto the boardwalk they were stood.
"Request denied" he firmly tells the assassin as he brushes the remnants of the ash in his hand away "But 'A' for effort. You'll have to try harder next time" at that red smoke enveloped the God as he disappeared leaving the redhead to herself.
The God reappeared in his car in the drivers seat making the occupier on the passenger seat look over to him return.
"Everything alright?" Zelena asks him from the passenger seat.
"Perfect" he answered his love with a relaxed smile "Now where were we?" turning the engine on her sped down the road to enjoy their date.
AN: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! A bit long winded but I hope its worth some of the wait.
Anyway, I wanted to warn you once again as we approached the holiday season that I won't be able to update as often as I would hope to in the next few weeks. But as always I will try and edit older chapters. While trying to update my other OUAT story.
Thank you for all understanding, my job is very seasonal and you can only imagine what it's like around this time of year.
To those celebrating Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving and to those who aren't, just have a great few weeks.
In the meantime, remember to:
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