Emma and Regina finally discover the cause of their recent behaviour. Henry takes the risk of seeing Rumple, and a new visitor to Storybrooke seeks to fix a damaged heart.

Miami Beach, Florida

"You can't be serious?" Regina couldn't believe her ears. "You're suggesting we were poisoned by a potion left behind over five years ago?"

"Not suggesting, I saw it with my own eyes! And yes ma, Ingrid's definitely dead."

He could tell by their faces on the screen they weren't convinced.

"I wasn't there at the time, but you remember that day you all went off searching for The Black Fairy, two weeks ago? When I had my induction weekend at Harvard? You two went off deeper into the forest and found that hidden ruined cottage, didn't you?" Emma remembered, nodding. "And inside, you found a broken jar full of green sludge in the sink?"

"How did you-?" But he interrupted her.

"Grandma and Ruby were in that same cottage a few hours before you! Ruby opened the cupboard door above the sink, and the jar fell out. It had the same effect on them, as it did on you two. We saw everything in the dreamcatcher."

"Dreamcatcher? What dreamcatcher?"

"I asked for Grandpa Gold's help, because you two were acting weird and just plain horrible! I was sure you'd been cursed and asked for his help. So he got locks of hair from both of you, made up some weird dark goo, then used it to make the big dreamcatcher from ma's hall come to life? To find out everything you two had been up to, over the last few weeks? Where you'd been, what you've been doing when it was just the pair of you?"

Regina's expression, initially intrigued, slowly morphed into one of horror as it finally dawned on her what he might have seen. A look matched by Emma, clearly thinking much the same thing.

"When you say you saw...everything?" Dear god, please not that?

"Yeah," he looked grim, nodding. "Afraid so. But at least he fast-forwarded through most of that! I had to look away. Let's face it, no one, even my age, wants to see their mums doing that sort of thing, do they? But we needed to keep playing it so we could hear what you were saying in between? So we could figure out what'd happened. That's how we found out about you keeping Sidney Glass hostage for all that time, mum? And how you planned to evict the Merry Men from the village they'd made for themselves. Getting Glass to imply Robin had abused him? And the rats? Not nice."

Regina already felt sick. He'd probably also seen her having sex with Emma, and just the thought of Gold also there, watching them, made her feel completely violated. "So, you and the imp? Anyone else?"

The way he turned away confirmed her worst fears. "Henry?"

"Robin was there, too. He helped us find the cottage. And Belle was in for some of it."

That was enough! At the mention of her husband seeing her betray him in the worst possible way, Regina immediately dropped her phone into Emma's lap, as though she'd been burnt, before getting up from the bed and racing to the bathroom, where she dropped to her knees and promptly vomited violently into the lavatory pan.

"REGINA?"

Emma, just as distressed, could hear Regina heaving her guts up, and would've gone to her, but she needed to know more.

"What about Killian? Was he there, watching too?"

"No. We haven't seen him or Hope since the day after you tried to strangle him! You sent him a message apparently, demanding he bring Hope over to mum's? The Jolly hasn't been in port since."

This was getting worse by the minute! The man she loved had taken their daughter and sailed away. Where? She didn't even know where to begin to search? But after everything she'd put him through, she could hardly blame him, could she? And what about Hope? Their three-year-old could be with him anywhere, in any realm, by now. Would she ever see her again? She remembered the last time she saw her, the terrified look on her face, as she throttled her daddy. Emma felt like vomiting herself.

"Did he say where he was going?"

"No. I'm sorry ma."

"It's not your fault, it's all mine. I'm the one who caused this. I'm just so sorry for everything that's happened; and for hitting you." She shook her head, the sound of Regina's loud heaving still coming from the bathroom. "And belting Roland like that was just unforgiveable."

"Yeah, it was. Chucking his dad into a wall with your magic was even worse though. It looked pretty bad at the time but you kinda deserved that thump you got from from Robin."

"I know. Still, at least now I know what caused it? If we can prove to everyone we were poisoned, hopefully some of them can at least forgive us and move on? So we'll come home and you can take these bloody cuffs off!" She raised her wrist to the screen so he could see the patterns. "They turned into these 'tattoo' things the moment we crossed the line? Take these off and I can go find your sister and make some sort of grovelling apology to Killian. If I can even find him!"

"Good luck with that! And sorry, but I kinda swore I wouldn't take those off you till both the guys agreed. But before all that, I need to go speak to Hank Morgan. Since you left, there's a warrant been issued for your arrest when you return. And mum's."

"Regina as well? Why her? I'm the one who hit people!"

"Glass? Keeping a man hostage for years as her pet slave, even after the Villain's Amnesty? Trapping him in a mirror to do whatever she wants? It was long after she'd stopped being the Evil Queen, and way before you both smelt Ingrid's potion, so she can't use that as an excuse. Plus, there's the little matter of coercion to falsify evidence against Robin and the rest of the guys to get them all evicted? It's all left a big mess back there. And you should also know there's now mayor and sheriff elections been called for next month. It's going to be strictly every four years after that! Philip Briar's Acting Mayor right now but there's a lot of people pushing him to stand permanently. So if you want your old jobs back, you're going to have to fight for them without magic."

She didn't even know she had music when she last won the sheriff election, but she wasn't going to argue about it now. "Alright, alright Hen! I get it! Regina was going to go back anyway, but I was going to wait in a hotel we booked in Portland."

"Portland? That's where I dropped off Belle and Ruby. I'm on my way home from there right now. I only pulled in to make the call."

"They're in Portland? Why, what the hell's going on?"

"Grandpa threw them over the town line. It seems those two had been having some sort of secret affair, though they both swear it wasn't anything like that, for the last few years? Grandpa found out, and almost killed Ruby; but luckily for them, he threw them both over the line instead. I caught up with them leaving town and took them to Portland. I checked them into a hotel owned by Percy Green's parents while we figure out what to do."

"Belle's been cheating on Gold? With Ruby?" Henry nodded. "Is she insane? Did she smell the potion?"

"Nope. I already told you, they've been carrying on for three years! I asked her why she did it. She clammed up at first, but as she still needs my help if there's any hope of her getting back to Gideon, she finally told me. Well, at least she told me a little. She wouldn't explain how it happened, but claims she still loves my grandpa. Some kind of love, eh? Her and Ruby swear they don't love each other like that, but who knows? Maybe she just needed to scratch an itch? After all, married women committing adultery with other women does seem to be becoming more popular in Storybrooke these days, doesn't it ma?"

Emma flinched at his sarcastic dig, looking at Regina, who'd also heard him, and was now coming back in, wiping her mouth with a tissue. "That's a really cheap shot, Henry!"

"You're right it is, but I don't care. Cos I'm still pissed off with all you guys! With all you guys. Belle cheated on grandpa, but unlike you she can't even use a potion as an excuse."

"Henry, I'm confused?" Regina stepped back on the bed, in view of the camera, looking even more washed out than before. "One of the first things I learnt about magic was that you can't make someone fall in love with you. We can control people using the heart, but that's different. What were Ingrid's intentions with this potion, do you know?"

"Grandpa thinks when she was here she was trying to make some sort of bond between herself, ma and Elsa. Like sisters? But she screwed up the mixture. He's even got the original potion book she used in the cottage. And you're right mum, you can't make someone fall in love with you using magic. But you can massively increase the feelings that already exist between two people. Like Snow and Ruby? And you two."

"Henry, as I've told you already, your mother and I are NOT in love!"

"But that's not strictly true, is it? You may love Robin and Killian more, but it's fairly obvious to some of us that you two already had feelings for each other for quite a while. And please don't insult my intelligence by denying it, mum?" He arched a brow, defying her to try. "Even Robin noticed. As for Ruby and grandma, well they were a thing long before she even met grandpa, weren't they? So Ingrid's screwed-up potion just increased those feelings, to the detriment of everyone else. So much so that Ruby even threatened to kill grandpa, right in front of her, when he caught the two of them in his own bed at the farm! So he put a gun to Ruby's throat, to make her get out and never come back."

"God, what a bloody mess!" Emma put a hand over her brow, shaking her head in sheer disbelief. Everything was so screwed up now.

Regina turned the screen to her. "Henry, if the imp really threw Ruby Lucas over the town line, where's Snow?" Regina pondered. "If she became bonded to Ruby anything like as badly as we were, shouldn't she be with her?"

"Yeah, you'd think?" This was the bit Henry was dreading, not looking at Emma, unsure how to explain without her panicking. "Ingrid's potion only worked temporarily on them, too, as I just found out this morning. I've left them in Portland, with Ruby bawling her eyes out about what she's done to Dorothy. And I happen to know Dot suspected something was going on with Belle before all this stuff! Ruby's now just a pathetic mess, to be honest. They both are."

"And Snow? Has she come to her senses and gone back to your grandfather?"

"Erm...no. Yesterday, Ruby found her lying on the kitchen floor back at the loft, where they'd moved in together. She'd taken sleeping pills. She's in hospital."

"PILLS?" Emma's jaw dropped, horrified. " SHE TRIED TO KILL HERSELF? Please say you're kidding me?"

"Sorry ma, I'm not. She's still in a coma. We almost lost her yesterday, but she rallied. Grandpa went over before he had to go find Neal. Yeah, and that reminds me? With all the stress and everything he's been through, Neal's magic came in, he panicked and disapparated. Robin found him, fortunately."

Emma's face went white. In the space of two weeks her marriage was over, her husband and daughter were god-knows where. Her parents had split up. Her mother tried to commit suicide, possibly grieving over what she'd done. And now her brother's magic's out of control?

"Regina, we have to get back! Even if I have to get arrested and locked up, I need to get home!"

The Gold Mansion – Two hours later

Henry had hesitated before deciding to go back. Especially after what his grandfather had done earlier that day. David and Belle had both insisted that the man who threw his wife over the town line, wasn't Rumple, but The Dark One. His dark side had taken control.

But apart from Belle, Henry knew him better than anyone. Since becoming a father for the second time, with his beloved Gideon, it seemed to Henry that the love of his son, and his wife, had made it much easier to suppress his darker urges. He was a complicated man, but he'd managed to open up to his grandson as the boy had matured. So much so, that the two of them had become closer, much to his mothers' consternation. Rumple had even travelled with him to Cambridge, to Harvard, to look at accommodation. The man permanently tortured by his darker side was starting to see a better life ahead. In fact, when he was outside the magical town, he even started to brighten noticeably, like a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. And now? Henry was guessing that the betrayal of the woman he loved and trusted, over several years, had been too heavy a blow. A blow that allowed The Dark One to take advantage. Would it be permanent?

He deliberately made his entrance a little louder than normal, calling out for him. He usually found him working in his study, the workshop, or at the kitchen table. When he'd first turned on the light in the study, the second place to look, he almost missed him as, instead of sitting by his desk, he was now sitting on the floor, his back to the wall, curled into a tight ball, clutching his knees to his chest.

"Grandpa?" He spoke softly, not wanting to surprise him. "Why are you in the dark?" The older man didn't answer, remaining motionless.

"Leave me be Henry, there's a good lad?" It came out as barely a whisper, and he kept his head down.

But Henry dropped down to his knees beside him. "Sorry grandpa, I can't do that."

"I'm not good company tonight. It's for the best."

"Let me be the judge of that?" He rested a hand on his grandfather's knee. "You don't need to say anything. Just let me be here?" He turned, dropping down to rest on his backside against the wall, right beside him, shoulders almost touching. Without asking, he reached his right arm around Rumple's shoulder, pulling him closer. The older man didn't resist, but continued staring down at the floor. Henry guessed he'd already been crying, and pulled himself in tighter. "I think I know what happened. I'm sorry."

They stayed like that, still, for several minutes, neither saying a word. Then the sobs finally came. But Henry stayed silent, letting him get it out of his system, as they held together. It was a good ten minutes later that he finally spoke, his voice croaky.

"Did you manage to find her?"

Henry should have guessed he knew what'd happened. He always did.

"Yeah. I caught up with her about ten miles over the town line."

"Where is she?"

"Portland. In a hotel owned by parents of a friend of mine."

"And how is she?"

He's asking after her? Clearly, the Dark One hadn't taken him over completely. "Broken. She knows what she did was wrong. That she betrayed you."

"I'm more than familiar with that feeling."

Another few minutes passed by silently, until Henry broke it again. "I also spoke to both my mums on the phone on the way back. It seems you were right; Ingrid's potion was temporary for them, too. They're awake, and now they'redevastated after what they've done."

He shrugged, but stayed resting against him. "No doubt they want to come back and get you to take the cuffs off?"

"Isn't gonna happen. They can try all they want, but I promised Robin and Killian that I'd leave them on until both of them were satisfied and agreed. Although the Jolly hasn't been seen for over a week."

He nodded, but still refused to look up.

Storybrooke Town Line – The following morning

As the black saloon crossed the magical boundary, it slowed to a stop, next to the fairies who'd been waiting, expecting him. The driver's window slid down.

"Thank heaven you were able to get here! Hopefully, you're in time."

"Hello Reul, it's nice to see you again." He looked across at the green fairy. "You too. Tinker Bell, isn't it?"

"Yes, my lord. It's wonderful to see you again, too."

The tall, lean man, now wearing light summer slacks and a white cotton shirt under a leather jacket, looked very different to his traditional magical robes, as he stepped out of the car and hugged the blue fairy. Even from feet away, Tink could feel the warmth of the magical aurora that emanated from him. To a fairy, pure white magic had an almost aphrodisiac quality.

"I came as soon as I got word. How's Snow? Has there been any improvement?"

"Not good. I'll take you to the hospital directly." Blue looked past him, to the car. "Though my magic may not stretch to taking that along with us?"

He grinned. "I can oblige, though perhaps it's best if we just drive, don't you think? That should give us time for you to explain everything that's happened?"

Storybrooke Hospital

"So, she's just in a really deep sleep? Like that sleeping curse you broke in Henry's story book when you kissed her, dad?"

Neal Nolan stood by the edge of his mother's bed, studying her face under the oxygen mask. There were also tubes going into her arm, and white sticky patches with wires on her head and going under her hospital gown. And a machine nearby making some sort of beeping noises, with some sort of computer with green lines going up and down. Charming sat on the opposite side, but didn't answer him, his mind clearly elsewhere. The senior nurse checking the monitor readings noticed and answered for him.

"She's unconscious, Neal, not sleeping." She spoke softly, trying to assure him. "It's a lot deeper than sleeping, and it means her body, and her mind, is trying to heal itself." She rested a hand on his arm. "But I'm quite sure she'll wake up, given time."

"When?"

"That we just don't know yet. But you know, if you try talking to her, even though she can't answer, she might be able to hear you? And that might just help her come around a little bit sooner. Why don't you try?"

"Okay," Neal nodded, looking across at David, who was still clearly distracted. "Dad, could I talk to mum alone?" Still no answer. "Please?"

"Um, what?" His father finally looked up. "Sorry Neal, I was miles away. What did you say?"

Despite the fact his wife (or ex-wife, as he'd signed her divorce papers) was lying beside him in a coma, David's mind was elsewhere, thinking about how this morning he'd woken up in another bed. With another woman. Should he be feeling guilty?

"Nurse Penny said I can talk to her. I'd like to do it on my own, if that's all right?"

"Yes, yes of course!" He stood. "I'll go get a coffee and call Henry. Come out if you need me?"

~oOo~

Neal waited till his father and Penny had left the room, before climbing onto the opposite side of the bed from the drips, wires and machines. He took the warm but lifeless hand in his, as she had done so often to him when she used to settle him in bed with a story.

"Penny said if I talk to you, you might be able to hear me?" He studied the closed eyelids, praying to himself that somehow they might open. "Mum…I just want you to know that I forgive you. Dad told me about that weird potion that made you go bad, and run away with Ruby? And he said it made you do things you wouldn't normally do. I know you wouldn't treat me the way you did in front of my friends, or miss my birthday, on purpose. So, I forgive you." He leant closer to look at Snow's face, and the tube going into her mouth. "I hope you get better soon, I really do, cos despite everything you did, I do still love you."

Although her face remained unchanged, Neal missed the tiny movements under her eyelids. Or the dramatic change in the patterns on the EEG machine. Or the sound of the heart monitor going faster.

"Dad said that after all this, he just wants you to be happy; even if it's with Ruby from now on. So, I guess I should want the same? But I'm still feeling angry about what you did, so I don't want to live at that loft again. Like ever? I'll stay at the farm with dad, because he needs me now, even if he pretends he doesn't!"

The brain monitor readings continued to fluctuate erratically. "And there's something else you need to know, mum. Dad said Merlin once told you two that I have magic inside me, like Emma? And it would come out one day, but he didn't know when. But you asked dad not to tell me until I was older, didn't you?" He looked at his left hand, feeling it start to tingle, so he let go of his mother's. "Because you hate magic, don't you? Because it killed your own mum and dad and some of your friends? But, I can't help it mum, it's inside me!" As he started to feel more upset at the thought, it seemed to make his fingers tingle even more. So much so, he pulled both hands back, looking at them. They were even starting to…sparkle? "I was going to ask Emma to help me. Or Regina. But they're gone, so I don't know what to do. Maybe see Mr. Gold?"

At that, the green spikes on the monitor peaked even more, arching and swooping; and the heart monitor started beeping louder, as did the oxygen machine, triggering another buzzing noise!

"What's happened?" Victor Whale burst through the door, followed by two other men, causing Neal to jump back violently off the bed, holding his hands up in front of his face.

"I NEVER TOUCHED HER!" Both Neal's hands were firing off…sparks? "HONEST!"

"It's okay, Neal!" Charming appeared, coffee in hand, moving closer to his son who, clearly frightened, had backed himself into a corner. "It's going to be alright, my boy, just-"

"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" he begged. "Don't touch me? I can't stop it!"

"He's right, don't touch him yet, David!" The third man, now appearing from behind him, spoke calmly. A lean, darker-skinned man with close cropped black hair, probably in his late forties, wearing a white t-shirt under a black leather jacket. "Young man, I'm Merlin. Allow me to help you?"

Neal vaguely recognised him from his visit over three years ago. He was the one who helped bring Robin Hood back? The one who told his parents he had magic.

"But I'll hurt you! I don't think-" But the tall man had already placed a hand on his, which had the effect of immediately snuffing out whatever was happening to his hands. "I couldn't stop it!"

"Of course you couldn't. It's all new to you, isn't it?" He had warm, kindly, dark brown eyes that reminded him of Regina. "But don't you worry. Now your magic's arrived, I can help you to master it safely. You see Neal, It's all about emotions and how you feel? Good or bad? That's how you learn to control it."

"Listen to what he's saying, Neal?" His father nodded. "Emma was like this when her magic came in, and she needed someone else with magic to help. In her case, it was Elsa. But Elsa wasn't even ready herself either." He looked back at Merlin, who was now holding both Neal's hands in his own as he calmed. "Emma once said this man is the greatest sorcerer who ever lived. So I think we can trust him, don't you?"

"Guys?" As they spoke, Whale had pulled out a ream of paper from the beeping machine. "Sorry to interrupt but…I'm not sure what the lad did, but there's been a change."

Now all eyes were on him, David hopeful. "She's waking up?"

"Not exactly. I just checked her eyes and she's still deep, but part of her brain's responding, which wasn't happening before. And her heart's racing like never before."

Merlin nodded. "What's the current condition of her heart, Doctor Whale?"

"Not great. She needed a defibrillator when she first came in. It's better, but still weak. And after that sudden jump just now, it's dropped down well below safe levels. To be honest, I'm not sure how much more she can take."

David noticed the looks exchanged between Whale and Merlin. Did Whale have to be so damn blunt in front of his son? "Neal, do you think you could wait outside a minute?"

"But…but dad?" He started to protest as someone else joined them.

"It's probably for the best, Neal." Blue rested her hands on his shoulders. As one of his mother's most trusted advisors he knew she was always looking out for her. "They need to give her a proper examination, and I don't think you should be here for that."

~oOo~

The moment the boy left, Whale gave them his blunt prognosis.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news Charming, but it's not looking good. You already know about her liver and kidneys, but…bearing in mind she only has half a shared heart, her chances of recovery are seriously reduced, so…" he looked across at the Sorcerer. "I spoke to Blue, and she called Merlin. To see if we can at least reduce the chances of a second death."

"Second death? You mean me?" David looked stunned. "Because if she dies, I die?"

"Knowing how your true-love heart works right now? Yes. Merlin, can you put together a heart that's been split?"

"Technically, yes…" he exhaled, loudly. "But it may not come to that. I think-"

"Wait…no! No!" Charming interrupted him. "You can't be serious? The moment you reconnect the heart, you'll be killing her!"

"I'm merely trying to stop the boy losing his father as well as his mother!" Whale defended himself. "Nobody wants to do this, Charming. Least of all me!"

"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" Merlin raised his hands in the air, trying to stop it getting too heated. "Please be calm? May I remind you both, that the boy is within listening distance?" He said it to calm them, but he'd already thrown a soundproofing spell over the room without them knowing. "David, I'm afraid you interrupted what I was about to say. There may be another way, without losing at least one of you. Now I haven't done this for a long time, by which in my case, I mean over a millennium ago? But I can replicate the hearts."

"Replicate? You mean…make two of them?"

"Something like that. I can fuse the two sides together after using magic to freeze you both temporarily. Your healthier side with her weakened half, to form a single, less-weakened heart. Then I use further magic to duplicate it. Then we have two complete, functioning hearts."

"Sounds brilliant - let's do that then?"

"Very well. However, as always, there's a downside."

"Which is?"

"The true-love relationship that exists between you and Snow is a form of magic divided between the mind, the heart, and the soul. I can't replicate that, so it may likely be gone as a result."

"Meaning?"

"Your true-love soulmate connection may be gone forever."

"But there's more chance of her going on to live a healthy life if we do it, than do nothing?"

"Indeed. While I'm here I can help restore her liver and kidney functions. Although as for the heart, this is a decision you have to take yourself."

David paced the room, considering his options.

"If it's going to save her life? Just do it."

~oOo~