Storybrooke, Maine
1983
Brown eye's snapped open in the Land of No Magic as the Queen woke up in the Land of No Magic, to find herself laying in soft bed and nicely decorates room Pushing back the cover the Queen found herself in strange bed clothes as she sat on the edge to explore more of what had changed as she threaded her hands through her hair to find it a lot shorter than she usually had it making her gasp in delight.
Bare feet met carpeted floor as she venture to the window, pushing back the drapes to find the fruits of her dark curse looking over her new Queendom of Storybrooke.
"I did it" she grinned to herself in awe "I won". Stepping away from the window the Mayor of Storybrooke turned to her walk-in closet. Running her hand through the dresses that hung from the rack, the woman picked a dark dress to take to the full length mirror in her room, holding it up against her, feeling it's material with her hand when she heard something loud coming from inside the house.
Elijah.
Dropping the dress on the bed the Queen rushed out of the room as her eye's instinctively sought out her brother's door down the hallway only to find it wide open.
"Elijah!" she called out with a grin, ready to celebrate their victory over the hero's as her feet carried her towards him room, reaching the open doorway, only to find the room empty of her younger brother's presence.
The wood panelled room stood in contrast with her's as dark colours favoured the unmade bedspread and pillows, while the varnished wooden floor was covered in stacks of book the same way his room from back home would often been found in. At least some things didn't change.
From her place at his door the Queen's sought out the items on his bedside table only to see an item he would not be without in the daytime. His daylight ring. The sound of the front door opening alerted the elder sibling to what he was doing "No" she shuddered to herself, as she turned towards the stairs.
Her feet barely met each step as a hand on the railing kept her on her feet as she ran down the stairs to turn to find the front door wide open and daylight entered the foyer.
"Elijah!" she exclaimed in panic as she stepped out onto her porch only to see a sight she thought she would never see again.
Stood in the middle of the pathway with nothing but a pair of cotton pyjamas bottoms and a vest top overing his torso, her younger brother stood, head held up, eye's closed, feeling the warmth of the sunlight on his skin without the fear of burning for the first time in years, taking in deep breaths of air that he needed to take to survive instead of imitating for the benefit of his family. He was human again.
"What the hell are you doing?" his sister's voice broke him out of his trance, making him open his eye's to see his sister stood there as a grin slowly pulls up on the corners of his lips.
The curse had worked. He wasn't that creature anymore. Rushing forward the former Queen was taken by surprise as he wrapped a strong arm around her waist to pick her off the ground and swing her around like he had back when they were younger celebrating the feat of curing his vampirism as she quickly had to grab onto his shoulders to steady herself as girlish screams and laughter left her lips at her brother's antics.
"Put me down!" she demanded between laughs "We look ridiculous" giving into her demands the man placed her back onto the porch, feeling the sudden burst of energy he felt dissipate from his body as he turned on the heel of his bare feet to take in his new surroundings, the new air, the new everything. This world wasn't like anywhere he had been before.
"We really did it" he breathes out almost in disbelief "We won".
"We did" she tells him making him turn back to her to see a smirk on her lips "Let's go explore our new Kingdom".
Venturing down Storybrooke Main Street side by side in the clothes they found in their respective closets, youngest Mill sibling felt comfortable in one of the many designer suit's he found in his closet that hung from left to right, light to dark, with clean and pressed dress shirts stacked in draws underneath with ties and cufflinks in another. This world seemed to have it all for a man to dress well.
With his brown leather case in his, with the intention of taking it to his place of employment as a school Principle, the Mill's siblings spotted the familiar faces of people back home as they saw Rumplestiltskin or Mr. Gold across the road from them with a cane in his hand as he limped past Geppetto, now Marco on a ladder fixing a sign on a store front.
"I cannot believe you put me on the early shift!" the shrill of a young woman's voice exclaim. The voice caught the siblings attention as they walked past the town's diner to see the owner's young granddaughter, dressed in red jacket, that left little to the imagination as the red shorts paired with the high heels showed off her long legs to the former vampire as he recognised as the she-wolf Red.
"Not my fault you stayed out all night" the Grandmother retorted to her granddaughter as she headed back to the small building "When I put 'over easy' on the menu, I was talking about the eggs!".
Ignoring her grandmother's words, Ruby caught sight of the handsome school Principle and younger brother to the Mayor looking her way.
"Morning Elijah" the waitress greeted him with a flirtatious grin on her lips that was mirrored on his as he caught sight of the younger woman.
"Good Morning.." he replied as her name came to his mind "Miss Lucas" he grinned at her before she turned making sure the man got a good view as she walked away from him.
"No" his sister's stern voice brought her out of his thoughts as they carried on down the sidewalk as they came across a man in glasses leading a Dalmatian on a leash.
"Good morning Madame Mayor" the man greeted the siblings "Principle Mills".
"Good Morning" Regina replied as his name came to both their minds "...Dr Hopper".
"Beautiful morning isn't it" Archibald Hopper added.
"Yes" Elijah agreed with the man with a grin on his face that was mirrored by his sister "It certainly is".
In a classroom at the local school, the timid fourth grade teacher Miss Mary-Margaret Blanchard was in the middle of her lesson on birdhouses that were currently being made by her students to place outside her window for all the feathered creatures to use as a shelter. As she carried around a small blue feathered bird gently in her hands the her class listened to her in curiosity.
"As we build our birdhouses, remember: what you're making is a home. Not a cage. A bird is free, and will do what it will. This is for them, not us" she reminds her students as she turns towards the open window to release the small bird from her hand and letting it fly up into a birdhouse, before turning to speak to her class "They're loyal creatures. If you love them and they love you, they will always find you".
As the bell rang out indicating morning recess, the children rose from their seats to leave eager to get to their play "We'll pick this up after recess" she call out to her class as they filed out of the room "No running!".
"You heard Miss Blanchard class" the autorotative but gentle voice of Elijah Mill's voice filtered into the room as he and his sister made their way through the crowd of small children "No running" he tells the small children as an involuntary smile grew on his lips at the sight.
"Yes sir" and "Yes Principle Mills'" replied to his request as the pair of adult siblings.
Looking to the doorway, Mary Margaret caught sight of her boss and friend in a pristine suit and tie ensemble accompanied along side his elder sister.
"Principle Mills. Miss Mills" the pixie haired woman greeted the pair with a sweet smile "What are you doing here?".
Taking point the man in the suit stepped forward to question the cursed woman "Refresh my memory Miss Blanchard" he addressed the former Princess "How long have you been a teacher here?".
"Um I - I'm not sure" the teacher answered him "As long as I can remember".
Turning around to meet his sister's gaze the corner of his lips twitched up to see that she was up to something.
"Come with us".
Taking the cursed pixie haired teacher to the hospital the Mill's siblings guided the nervous woman through the corridors to take her to where they knew Prince Charming was.
"Why are we in the hospital?" the teacher asked the pair as they reached the man's room, to see him as a coma patient. The image brought a smile tot he Principle's lips as he recalled the last time he had encountered the man, knowing he was the reason for the state he was in.
"Tell me Miss Blanchard" Elijah addressed his teacher "Do you know this man?".
Looking through the glass the teacher tried to remember him only to come up with nothing " No" she answered, shaking her head at him "Why? Who is he?" she ask's the man in the suit.
"He's a John Doe, coma patient" he informs her "No one's claimed him".
"Maybe someday he'll wake up. Maybe someone who loves him will find him".
"That would be nice for him" Regina spoke up from the teacher's other side "But I wouldn't count on it".
He couldn't recall the last time he had been hungry for food. Real food, and not blood. It was empowering as he sat beside his sister in the diner as he looked up from the Storybrooke Daily Mirror newspaper that reported on the U.S President's Ronald Reagan's remarks of Marines staying in Beirut in the conflict overseas.
This land was certainly fascinating. Instead of King's and Queen's, politician's held power over people and the small number of monarchs that did exist in the world were mostly symbolic that held little to no power at all. Elected Government was the
Glancing over to her brother next to her, she couldn't help but to marvel at the man that sat next to her, free of the creature he was turned into to save his life. She was happy for him that he got his second chance as much as she had.
"How are you feeling?" she pressed the question to her brother next to her.
"Hungry" he grinned at her as Granny placed two plates of Apple Pancakes in front of them, picking up his fork ready to eat his way into an a come himself he was rudely interrupted by the arrival of Storybrooke's very own sheriff, dressing in a well fitting uniform that the Mayor noticed straight away.
"Good morning, Mayor" he greets her, taking her attention away from her brother and their breakfast.
"That uniform suits you nicely, sheriff2 she compliments him as Elijah rolls his eye's behind her back as the man using his fork to but into the pancake in front of him "So well-fitted".
"Want me to come over later?" he heard the sheriff quietly ask his older sister as he was just about to take a bite of food as a human for the first time in years.
"And there goes my appetite" he muttered under his breath hearing this, throwing his fork onto the counter making the point of his displeasure of being witness to his sister's flirtations known to her.
"Go play elsewhere brother" she quietly tell him, the Queen was taken aback as her brother suddenly straightened up in some trance like state, placing the newspaper in his hand onto the counter next to his pancakes before wordlessly stood from his seat and moved across the diner before he became distracted and led out back by Ruby Lucas like a moth to a flame.
That was strange.
"Hey!" a small voice takes her attention away from her brother "You like apple pancakes, too?".
Where her brother once sat now stood a young boy that she didn't recognise.
"Who are you?" she exclaims at the child "Whose child is this?" she sends the question to the diner before looking at Marco sat at a nearby table "Is he yours?".
"Mine? No. I was never so lucky" the older man tell her.
"He's mine" a bearded man she didn't know claims the child, coming to the counter to speak to he "And you'll have to excuse him. His manners are a little rough around the edges. I'm, uh, Kurt Flynn" he introduces himself to the brunette holding his hand out for her to slip her hand into "Sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but we're, uh, looking to rent a hotel room for the night".
"Why would you need a hotel room?" Regina asks the man.
"The same reason that most people need one" he tells her chuckling at her strange question "We need a place to sleep".
"Would you excuse me for a moment?" she excuses herself from the stranger and his son, looking for the sheriff to follow her "Graham?".
"I got a room for you" Granny offer's the son and father pair as Regina and Graham duck into the back of the diner to speak privately only to quickly discover that weren't completely alone when she saw he brother at the end of the hallway with openly flirting with the former she-wolf with a wolfish grin as he quietly spoke to her with a hand leaning against the wall she was stood against the wall, enjoying the attention she received from him.
He really didn't wait long did he?.
Loudly clearing her throat the pair separated for the man to turn to see his sister and Graham at the other end, putting an end to his little tryst with the waitress. "If you don't mind".
At the voice, he slowly turns his head around to see his sister and the sheriff down the hallway with a look that told him he couldn't ignore her. Turning back to the woman in red a charming smile grew on lips.
"It appears my sister needs me. Would you excuse me?" he tells the former she-wolf only for the woman to stop him by taking hold of his tie to turn him back.
"Come over tonight?" she asks the man with a sultry grin on her lips. With a wink of his eye Elijah gave her is answer before pulling himself away from the woman to join his sister and Graham, straightening his suit as he went.
"We have a problem" the former Queen tells her little brother indicating to the two stranger's at the counter.
"Who the hell are those people?" she sends the question towards the uniformed man.
"Uh, I don't know. They just showed up" he tells the pair "They were camping in the woods near the toll bridge. I was just as surprised to see them as you are".
"I don't like surprises, sheriff. I find them threatening. And do you know what happens when I feel threatened? Bad things".
Present
Emma Swan didn't know what to expect when she made it to the Inn after the phone call she and David had gotten from Leroy that Elijah had suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of main street, but it wasn't this.
Literally dropping what she was doing, David had to chase after her as her feet took her out of the apartment and out into the street to climb into her yellow bug, putting her foot through the accelerator, barely giving David a chance to get comfortable in her passenger seat before she flew down the street.
Entering the Inn she was expecting more people around only to find a very concerned Ruby in the living room with her arms cross over her chest as she listened to Mother Superior only to be distracted by the door opening to visibly relax seeing the blonde arrive with David in tow.
"Emma, thank god" the she-wolf sighed out, excusing herself from the fairy to make her way towards the Saviour "He's upstairs, we had to be quick to make sure no one saw him ".
"How is he? Is he okay?" the blonde quickly asked the woman only to be answered in silence. She didn't like the silence.
"Come on up, I'll take you to him" That didn't sound good.
Leading the way up to a room the she-wolf quietly ushered her, David and Blue into a room where they found him sleeping in the bed, only he wasn't sleeping soundly as they found a nun sat by his side dapping a cloth against his damp brow and face to clean away the thin sheen of sweat, his muscles are tense under the comforter, twitching anxiously in his sleep as his breathing changes from erratic to calm in seconds.
Completely overwhelmed by fear.
While Ruby moved around the bed to stand by his side, the Sheriff and her father opted to stand at the foot of the bed giving Blue and her colleagues the space they needed to nurse him.
"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he awake? Is it some sort of sleeping curse?" the Saviour sent the question towards the fairy in quick succession needing to know why she was seeing him like this.
"It's not a curse I'm afraid" Blue tells the saviour, gently reaching out to stroke his forehead in an effort to comfort him. The gentle touch seemed to work as he took in a calming breath before going back to erratic.
"Elijah's mind has under a lot of stress of late" Blue went on "Whatever his Mother and the Queen have been doing to him has taken a toll on him. This, I'm afraid is the result of whatever he's been through these past few days".
"Is there anything you can do? Magic?".
"As I was telling Ruby before you arrived, Vampirism is Dark Magic" the blue fairy starts "The Darkest of Magic's. Made from an old spell that cheated our laws of magic, creating a creature that lives' on the blood of other's to survive as a price for their immortality. It's true origins have been lost through time, it's hard to pinpoint fact from fiction even in our world. There isn't much I can do I'm afraid. However we did find something".
Gently folding down the edge of the comforter the other watched on as Blue shows them a flower petal shaped wound on his neck.
"What is that?" Ruby asks the fairy.
"These petals of a rare merlock orchard that grew in the Dark Forest back home. They're used by healers to put someone to sleep to mend their patient's mind after an ordeal and then wake them with the roots of the same plant. If Cora or Regina has access to it here-".
"Then there's some in Storybrooke we can use to wake him up" Emma concluded.
"Correct" Blue nodded in agreement folding back the comforter to keep the sleeping vampire warm.
"What about his portrait?" Emma asked the woman the question making the other's look at her in confusion.
"I'm sorry. His portrait?" the fairy asks her.
"His portrait. The one of him. He looks really old. It's cursed or something".
"I'm sorry, I still don't understand what you're on about" Blue politely tells her.
"Oh come on! You guys really don't know?" the blonde replies looking at the people around her only to be met with blank expression. Was she speaking in anther language. Could they hear her?.
Sensing his daughter's growing frustrations the former Prince gently took hold of his daughter's shoulder to turn her towards him, hoping it would calm her down.
"Emma. Emma" he gently called out to her making her look at him "You need to calm down okay. We don't know what you're talking about".
"You really don't know?" she asks her father. Out of everyone he and Mary Margaret should know something about one of their enemies.
"Know what?" he ask's her before changing the subject "Look, your mother and I know you've been worried about him. But I know Elijah well enough to know that he would hate that he would want you to worry like this. He need's us to be strong for him while he's like this, not just for Henry but for ourselves. I promise we'll figure out how to help him. In the meantime take a breath and think clearly".
And then it struck her. They really didn't know. There were four people in the entire town that knew about his portrait and she was the only conscious one in the room that knew of the picture of the monster that was shown to her.
He really did trust her.
Once his daughter was calm enough the former Prince turned back towards the fairy looking after the vampire.
"Blue, is there anything we can do for him in the meantime, I can ask the dwarves to look out for the merlock but is there anything else we can try to wake him up".
"Be there for him" Blue tells the others in the room with a gentle voice "Talk to him. Comfort him. Whatever is going on inside his mind, he needs to know there are people waiting for him to come back to".
"You cannot catch me Regina!" he playfully called out to his older sister as he ran through the forest that neighboured their his family's home at night with his older sister chasing him. With the dagger his gifted him for a recent birthday securely held at his waist as thunder and lighting rolled and flashed above them.
"You're getting faster, Lijah, but you are not yet fast enough" she called back as the young children continued to chase the other as the younger of the pair came to a sudden stop not hearing his sister behind him as he came into a small clearing.
"Regina?" he called out for his big sister "Regina!" he called out looking around him for any sign of her, only to hear someone else.
"There you are" the adult Elijah stated to his teenage self from across the small clearing hearing his heart quicken in fear at the sight of him, with blood trailing down his face and jaw onto the collar of pristine white dress shirt.
Stood across him was a strange man he seemed to recognise stood in strange clothing covered in blood, his jaw covered him blood as lighting flashed above them.
His younger self stood frozen as Elijah stalked towards him "Do you understand?" he says placing his hand on the back of his younger self's head as "One day, only a monster shall remain".
Frightened by the monster, young Elijah grabs his dagger from his waist, to push the monster's hand off him to plunge the weapon in his shoulder, taking his opportunity to run away from the monster, leaving Elijah to pull the weapon out to watch his younger self run away from him.
As Regina prepared to mourn the passing of her mother alone, the former Queen stood in solitary over her mother's casket in her vault, running her hand over the plaque that read out:
CORA MILLS.
BELOVED MOTHER.
Placing a single stemmed red rose on top as she continued to cry over her mother's sudden passing with the knowledge that she did love her and Elijah, and they would have been enough for her, other than her ambition's for them.
"Black always was your colour" Gold remarked to his former student as he limped into the room
"I'm here to bury my mother" she hissed at the man "So if you've come to gloat..
"I came to pay my respects" he interrupted her, holding up his own red rose to place on his former love's casket "We had our differences, but Cora will always have a place in my heart".
"You killed her to save your own life" she retorted.
"Sadly, desperate times call for desperate measures".
"Like getting Mary Margaret to trick me into killing my own mother?" she asked the older man "You may be able to hide behind your dagger, but she can't. She's going to die for what she did".
"Oh, come on. We both know killing her will cost you the thing you want most - Henry. Why don't you just give up this obsession with vengeance? You know it can never make you happy".
"Yes, it will" Regina argued.
"Is that why your baby brother is currently bed bound in the Inn then under a sleeping spell".
At the mention of her brother, his former student visibly tensed, fixing her eye's on her mother's casket as her anger simmered to her surface.
"Merlock Orchid" he went on "Nasty in the wrong hands. Your mother had taken a rather keen interest in alternative methods. Her interest only grew once she discovered that nature, could serve her in addition to her own talents".
"I guess I have you to thank for that" she scoffed with a bitter smile.
"As mush as I wish I could take credit. I wasn't her only teacher" he tells her "You had a whole curse worth of vengeance, and what did it get you? A gaping hole in your heart".
"That was your curse" she retorted.
"Which you cast" he countered "Still haven't learned your lesson, have you?".
"What lesson?".
"The same one your mother learned a long time ago. You can't have everything. She wanted power, ripped out her own heart to get it. You want vengeance? Henry's the price you'll pay. Time to cut your losses".
"Never" she replied "I will have my son, and I will have my vengeance.
I will find a way to have everything".
The morning after the death of the Queen of Hearts and the return of Elijah, normal life resumed for the rest of Storybrooke in the wake of the events as the Charming Family sat in the kitchen for breakfast as Emma sat with her son watching her father attempt and fail to get her mother to eat as she anguished in guilt over her part in Cora's death.
"Anything?" she quietly asked David as he returned from the bedroom.
"She won't eat a bite" he answered her making his grandson look towards his Grandmother.
"What's wrong with her?" Henry asks them, curious to know what had happened for the hero to be like this.
"Nothing. She's just a little sick" she tells him only for the eleven year old to catch the look between his mother and grandfather over the counter.
"You guys are lying to me, aren't you?".
The eleven year old knew something was wrong when they picked him from being looked after by Ruby at the diner. And then that phone call last night that made her and David leave the apartment and not a word had been said since they came back.
"No one's lying" she tells her son.
"You are" he argued "Just like you did about my dad".
"Henry, I -" she went to say reached out to comfort him only for him to pull away from her going noticed by David, before meeting his daughter's gaze "He's right. No more lying".
"Emma.." David spoke up to stop her.
"He deserves to know" she tells him, before turning towards her son. She decided to start with the better news first "Here's the thing, Henry. We found your Uncle Elijah".
"You have?" his eye's lit up at this piece of news "That's good, isn't it?" he says looking between the adults in front of him.
"It is kid" a smile flashes on her face before disappearing "Its just..whatever Cora put him through has made him a little...sick" she didn't know how else to describe "We don't know how we can wake him up, but we're going to help him".
"And..Cora's death... she carried on "Mary Margaret was partially responsible for it, and that's why she's so upset.
"No. No, no, she couldn't" he replies in disbelief as someone knocks on the door.
"She was trying to protect us" Emma defended her actions.
"But she's Snow White. She wouldn't hurt anybody" he argued as David went over to answer the door only to find Gold on the other side.
"Get out!" the former Prince firmly tells the man gaining Emma and Henry's attention.
"I think you're gonna wanna hear what I have to say" Gold replies looking towards the bedridden Snow White as Emma and Henry join David at the door "For her sake" he adds.
"What are you talking about?" the blonde saviour asks the man.
"Regina. She's planning to strike back - against your mother" he informs the pair.
"What is she gonna do to her?" Henry asks his grandfather.
"Oh, she didn't say" he replied.
"No" David spoke up "You don't get to come in here and just drop a bomb like that. You're gonna figure this out. And you're gonna help us".
"And why should I?".
"Because aside from us being family now, Mary Margaret saved your life. Now you owe her a debt. And you always pay your debts, don't you? You're gonna help us stop Regina".
Returning to the diner later that evening after enjoying their first full day in the Land of No Magic, the pair of siblings looked forward to the evening meal after spending their day's apart in their respective new role, as Principle of the local school and Mayor of Storybrooke.
Stepping into the establishment the pair sought out their usual places at the counter only to see them already occupied by the father and son duo that was at the centre of his sister's worries.
"Thank you" Kurt tells the owner as the grandmother look his empty plate "That was really good".
"Sister.." Elijah quietly tries to stop his sister from making a scene this late in the evening only to be quickly hushed as she stand behind them while Elijah takes a place at the end of the bar, placing his bag on the counter.
"You're in our seats" the Mayor tells the strangers in her's and Elijah's seat.
"Sorry, miss...?".
"Mills" she answers him.
"Mills.." he trails off.
"Mayor Mills" she corrects him before looking towards the young boy "I always sit in that seat".
"But I'm already sitting here" the boy shrugged at her making Elijah smirk at the boy's response. With some reluctance the Mayor took a seat next to Owen and Elijah's standing form.
"I-I just spoke with our mechanic" she address "He assured me that your car will be repaired by the end of the week".
"Really?" he questioned her "He told me it would take at least two weeks just to get the parts".
"Well, things tend to get done quickly when the Mayor asks for them.
And I'd hate to keep you from getting home to...?" she trailed off.
"New Jersey" he tells her "Home of the boss" he added holding his thumb up at her Elijah furrow their brows in confusion as his sister remained silent not understanding the reference before carrying on "Anyway, thank you, your Mayor-ness. Mayor. Whatever. We really appreciate it. Let's go".
Taking their leave , the Mayor slides into her seat as the father and son duo head for the door only for Owen to stop at the door to take a lanyard keychain from his pocket before turning back to give it to Regina.
"What's this?" she asks the young boy.
"It's a gift for letting me sit in your seat" he replies as Elijah and Kurt watched the interaction between the pair.
"For me?" she says taking the keychain from the boy, her brother saw the smile that appeared on her face as the boy turned to follow his father out of the diner.
Elijah's deep drown eye's opened to find himself looking up at the ceiling of the Inn room in the early hours of the morning after spending the night in alongside the waitress Ruby Lucas who was deeply asleep on her stomach with her bare back exposed to the slight chill in the room, a grin growing on his face at the sight before him as he recalls the events of the previous night.
Leaving the woman to sleep, the former vampire jumped from the bed in nothing but in underwear to gather his clothes to sneak back home before he was due to get to work.
Returning home to shower and change his suit, the Principle joined his sister walking down Mian Street once again to see a repeat of the event of the first day in the Land of No Magic with Marco on a ladder across the street fixing a sign
"Maybe this time, you won't fall" the handyman tells the sign before climbing down as Mr. Gold limps past with a cane, before a voice the Principle recognised
"This is the last time I'm working the early shift" Ruby berets her grandmother outside the diner, the older woman throwing her arms up in surrender as she heads back into the restaurant while her granddaughter catches' sight of the handsome Principle that had spent the previous night.
"Hey Elijah" she smiled at him.
"Morning Miss Lucas" he replies to the woman with a sly grin that went missed by his older sister as they continued down the street encountering another resident with his dog.
"Good morning, Madame Mayor. Principle Mills" Archie greets the pair "Beautiful day, isn't it?".
The pair smile at the man as the Mayor bumps into the timid Mary Margaret "Oh!" she exclaims in surprise
"Oh, Madame Mayor. Principle Mill's, I'm so sorry" the teacher panics.
"You should be! Watch where you're going next time" nodding, the teacher quickly moves around the siblings to hurry down the street making the older woman smile at herself watch the former hero scurry away with her head down.
"Was that really necessary sister?" her brother scolds from next to her with a look of judgement on his face.
"Shush you and get to work" she tells him. A beat later the look on her brother's face relaxed before he turning down the street to follow Mary Margaret towards the school as a brow raises on the former Queen's face. What the hell was that?.
Escaping his office, the Principle ventured down the busy hallways filled with children and teachers as his feet took him to the forth-grade classroom to see into the timid teacher to find her in deep thought looking out of the window that made look like the loneliest person in the entire world. That wasn't an image he could smile to, no matter how much it should.
Making his leave without so much of a word to the woman the Principle headed back to his office hoping his work there would distract him from the hole that seemed to have opened in his chest.
Waking up to be greeted with the ceiling of the Inn once again, Elijah turns his head to find Ruby once again in the bed next to him, turned towards him this time, resting peacefully on the pillow under her head and the comforter tucked comfortably around her only not to feel the same sense of satisfaction he felt the previous morning.
Pushing himself to sit against the head board the former vampire tried to think what was missing. The curse had worked, he was human again, but why wasn't he happy?
The question burned into his mind as he felt the bed shift next to him as he say Ruby starting to wake up having noticed his own movements.
"Mmmh,'Lijah?" the young woman mumbled in her semi-state of sleep, reaching out the man instinctively wanted to touch her, only to stop when he realised when she had fallen back asleep. Blinking to himself, he realized what he was about to do.
No.
He couldn't do that.
Snapping his hand back to push the covers off his legs and find his clothes in the semi-darkness, in his haste to leave the Inn to return home, he left behind the light blue dress shirt knowing he could replace it.
Walking down Main Street once again with his sister everything once again played out like it had the previous two days as the bored pair of siblings once again saw Marco on a ladder across the street before Mr. Gold limped past with his cane, only for a familiar voice to bring Elijah to look in front of him to hear Ruby arguing with her grandmother once again for the the elder disappeared up the path, leaving the younger woman to lean against the green fencing to find Elijah once again.
"Morning Elijah" Ruby greeted the Principle with a flirtatious grin on her lips.
No words came to his mind this time as his eye's avoided eye contact with the woman, as he ignored her completely as he continued his way down the street only to come across Archie Hopper once again.
"Beautiful day" he tells the pair as he went on his way.
"Save it" his sister replies to the man as Elijah felt something solid hit him in the chest, taking him by surprise as he came to a sudden halt. Looking down he found Mary Margaret the culprit
"Oh! Principle Mill's" she exclaims looking up to her boss and his sister "Mayor Mill's. I am so sorry" she quickly apologizes to the pair.
"We ran into you" he tells her "Why are you apologizing?".
"No, I should have been looking where I was going".
This reply perplexed the pair as they stared at her in disbelief that she so easily folded in front of them, when it was their fault.
"You're not even going to fight back?!" the Mayor questions her.
"Fight back? Why would I do that?" at that the timid woman once against moved around them to scurry down the street as the younger sibling looked towards his older sister knowing that they needed to get to the bottom of what was happening.
"It's your curse" he remind his sister "You go talk to him" at that the Principle followed the teacher to school.
Letting herself into the pawnshop the former Queen found her old tutor and the maker of the curse that brough them all there behind a glass counter minding his own business, meeting her gaze, closing the door behind her.
"We're not happy" she states to the man, referring to herself and her brother. She could see it in his eye's that he wasn't happy despite not being the monster anymore
"I believe Dr. Hopper's office is down the street" the older man reply's pointing out of his establishment "Perhaps he'll be willing to make a two for one deal".
"Oh, I don't wanna talk to him. I wanna talk to you" she tells him ignoring his poor attempt at humouring her.
"Very well, Madame Mayor" he says to the woman humouring her, picking up a silver teapot to limp around the counters as she follows him "What is it you wanna talk about?".
"This town. This isn't the deal we made" .
"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about".
Sighing in frustration the former Queen realised that he really didn't know what she was talking about. He was cursed alongside everyone else. Maybe even her own brother.
"You don't, do you? I was supposed to be happy here".
"Forgive me, but, um, you're the Mayor" he reminds her "You're the most powerful woman in the town. Along with your brother. What is there to be unhappy about?".
"Everyone in this town does exactly what I want them to!" she snaps at him "Including Elijah" she exasperates.
That was the most frustrating out of everything, every time she asked him to do something, he would do it. Not like him at all. He would defy her, argue with her. He was too...agreeable with her. There was no push back, no fight, just like the others. This wasn't the Elijah she knew before he turned, before he killed Basil Hallward, before he met Lestat. It was someone completely different.
"And that's a problem?" he smirks at her amused with the woman's complaints.
"Well, they do it because they have to, not because they want to.
It's not real" she tells her.
"I'm sorry, what exactly is it you want?".
"Nothing you can give me".
There were many pieces of technology that the former vampire marvelled about this new world from the horseless carriages and to a piece of plastic that allowed a person to purchase goods and services that fitted into you pocket.
But the most admirable one was the telephone, allowing communication between two people from a distance, that piece of technology that the principle now held up to his ear as he signed paper after paper his secretary ,Miss Honey, put under his nose as he listened to what his sister had just told him, making him pause midway through his signature as he tried to make sense of what she had done without consulting him.
"Forgive me, I think I misheard you. You invited them to dinner?".
She must be either mad or stupid to do this. They were strangers, they didn't belong. What they didn't need is someone from the outside finding how strange this town was.
"I did" she answers hearing the grin on her face "And I expect you to be there. No excuses".
A beat of silence drew out between the siblings on either end of the phone call before the former Queen spoke up again.
"Elijah?".
"Of course" he found himself telling his sister.
Stood at the phone box on Main Street, the Mayor couldn't help but feel guilty for her honest mistake for cursing him, it seemed like she had him under her own version of the mind compulsion he was once under with Lestat for years before it broke when he turned. Forcing him to be someone he wasn't, for what, her amusement, her happiness?.
"I'm sorry" she gulped out to him.
"Sorry for what?" he replied.
"Nothing" she makes herself say shaking her head to herself. "See you tonight".
"See you then. Bye".
"What the hell does that do?" the blonde saviour asked Gold as she stood with David and the older man after they returned to the apartment after searching Regina's vault, looking for any clue at what the former Queen would do to get her vengeance on Mary Margaret for murdering her mother.
The sorcerer had found several ingredient's missing for a curse. One specific curse:
The Curse of the Empty-Hearted.
"In theory, it has the power to make someone love you" he informs the woman gathered at the bottom of the metal stairs, outside the bottom bedroom where Mary Margaret was still held up in bed.
"Doesn't that break magic laws?" she asks him "You can't bring back to life, you can't force someone to love you".
"This particular spell can make someone think they love you" he tells her "And if you're as desperate for love as Regina appears to be, you just might believe it".
Waking Elijah up was their only hope then. Maybe he would be able to talk her down from using it. They just needed to wake him up. Simple enough right?.
"What about the Merlock? Did you find any?" Emma ask's looking between David and Gold, as Henry quietly made his way down the stairs having overheard what the adults had said about the curse Regina was planning on using.
"None, I'm afraid" Gold tells her knowing why she needed it "Missing alongside the other ingredients".
"She's using it on me, isn't she" Henry made his presence known to his family, making his grandpa move from his spot leaning against the beam.
"Hey buddy, why don't you go back upstairs, let us handle this" he suggested to the young boy only for the eleven-year old to refuse.
"No!" he yells pushing past David to run over to Emma "Emma! You said you were going to be honest with me. Now, why is Regina using this curse?".
"Because it's the only way she can get everything she wants" Gold tells him "That she can get you".
"But if all she wants is me...".
"Your mother is a complicated woman. She wants your love of course, but she also wants vengeance. On Mary Margaret".
"How does the curse give her both?" David asks the man.
"Because the last ingredient she needs to enact the curse is the heart of the person she hates the most"
"You have to stop her" Emma tells the man hearing this.
"Oh, I don't have to do anything" he retorts "On the contrary, I believe warning you fulfils my debt".
"Not even close! This is my wife's life we're talking about!" the former Prince yells at him.
"Not to mention your grandson's!" Emma adds.
"Well wars have costs" the older man nonchalantly tells them, unbothered of the cost that would befall the Charming family.
"Nice" the blonde comments.
"Well this is a blood feud, dearie" he tells them "One that goes back a long time. And the only way you can end a blood feud, is by the spilling of more blood.
"If Master Elijah were awake, he would telling you the same thing Miss Swan. He knows better than anyone in this room how war's are won, especially since he once ended the one he was dragged into when he was turned".
The revelation seemed to silence the blonde at the mention of the vampire who was completely unaware of everything that had happened since the death of his mother.
"That is the only way I know to eliminate your Regina problem" Gold reiterates to the room.
"By what? Killing her?" David asks him.
"Is there no other option?" Emma asks the question. There had to be another way.
"I'm afraid not".
"Stop!" Henry yells over the adults "Listen to yourselves. You're talking about killing my mom!" he continues looking at his mother "You used to be heroes. What happened to you?".
Shaking his head in disbelief at them the young boy ran out of the apartment leaving his birth mother to run after him.
"Henry!" the blonde called out to her following him to the front door only to pause to look back as David and Gold "No matter how this plays out, we need to keep him as far away from it as possible" at that the blonde leaves the apartment.
"She's right" Gold tells the former Prince "Cora is more dangerous because she didn't have a heart. Regina is even more dangerous because she does".
Dinner with the Flynn's at their home was a quiet affair as they all politely at the lasagne Regina had put together for the four of them as she looked up from her plate to look across the table to find Elijah eating her pasta dish with the lingering question on whether he felt there was something missing, or he was just going through the motions of the curse that he had somehow succumbed to.
He still held all his memories of their previous life in the Enchanted Forest, or was it just the parts she wanted him to remember. She needed to find a way to test him, without making it obvious to him there was something wrong. If he ever found out he had been cursed, he would never forgive her.
"This is delicious lasagne, isn't it Owen?" Kurt asks his son seeing him pick at the plate of food in front of him from across him, just as Elijah picked up his glass of wine to take a sip in an attempt to mask the bland flavour of his sister's cooking.
"Not really" Owen truthfully tells his father making the former vampire snort in his glass at the boys bluntness, trying to hide his mistake, snatching up his white napkin to cover his smirking lips.
"Owen" Kurt scolds him for his bluntness.
"It's okay. I know I'm not the greatest cook" she admits to the young boy with a smile "Unless it involves apples" she chuckles and turns to look at Owen "Speaking of which. How would you like to help me make turnovers for dessert? There's a bunch of apples sitting in the sink. Why don't you go pick out some red ones?".
Leaving the table to pick out the apples for the turnovers, his father couldn't help but to laugh at his son's behaviour "Owen is a bit of a free spirit. Like his mom".
"Is she back in New Jersey?" Regina asks Kurt "With the boss".
"With the...She uh... she passed away six months ago" he tells her.
"I'm sorry".
"That's why I brought him here actually. I thought that camping, new surroundings, that might help him take his mind off of things, but...".
"We came here looking to start over too" Regina tells him looking over to her brother "It hasn't turned out quite the way we'd hoped".
"And why's that?" Kurt asks her, looking between the siblings.
"What good's a new life if you don't have anyone to share it with?".
"Hey!" they heard Owen yell from the kitchen "I thought we were making desert!" the table erupted in laughter as Elijah watched his sister's eye's light up with something he hadn't seen before as she left the table to head to the kitchen. She enjoyed the boy's company. She was happy.
"You certainly have your hand's full with him" the Principle tells the man to his right.
"I do, don't I?" he chuckles along with Elijah the Mayor's younger brother which he only found out when he and Owen arrived for dinner.
"You'll have to forgive my sister" Elijah suddenly tells him gaining his attention "We recently lost our father. It's been..difficult, adjusting to everything this town has to offer".
"Were you close?".
"Very" he tells him "Practically raised us alone. Our happiness was his life" he says recalling what he said to them the first time they tried to enact the Dark Curse.
"Sound's like a good man".
"He was. Although we didn't make it easy for him at times" he admits to the man. There were many things he wished he could change for the sake of his father. The way he behaved after banishing their mother to Wonderland, to the way he became after being turned. He took the brunt of his son's frustrations of the world.
"Really? You two don't seem the type. Seems like you have it all figured out. Good jobs. A home, and from what I see you and your sister seem close".
"Not always" he answers the man.
"Do you have anyone? Wife? Girlfriend?" Kurt asks him.
"I did" he answers "Her name was Hayley. She passed away a very long time ago. Seems like it happened yesterday sometimes".
"I hear you. Has there been anyone since?".
"No one that come's close. I came to the conclusion a while ago that I've always been better off alone. Besides, I made a promise to our father before he died. And I intend to keep it to make up for all the grief I caused. Anyone would just be a distraction".
"I have a vintage bourbon that pairs great with my sister's turnover" Elijah quickly changed the subject feeling the sombre mood of the room, forcing a friendly smile on his face "Would you like a glass?".
"Sure" Kurt accepts.
"Good. The bottle's in the kitchen".
With Owen beside her Regina slid the baking tray with four turnover into the hot oven, shutting the door closed as she and Owen stand from the ground.
"Voila" the Mayor flourished as she un-tied the knot of her apron.
"So, how come neither your not a Mom? Or Elijah a Dad" Kurt bluntly asked the woman making her go still for a moment as she thought of an answer.
"It just didn't work out for us that way I guess" she tells him taking the apron off to move around the middle counter.
"It's too bad. You'd be a really good mom" Owen tells her "And Elijah would make a good Dad".
"Thank you. I'm sure my brother would appreciate the sentiment too".
She was sure he would appreciate it anyway. Whenever anyone brought up children he seemed to panic, especially if it was with Snow.
"So how much longer?" Owen quickly changes the subject like he could sense how uncomfortable she was about the piece of sentiment, making her chuckle.
"Patience. They're almost done." she tells him joining him on the island "How are you liking Storybrooke so far?".
"It's better than New Jersey".
"You don't miss your home? Your friends?".
"I hate it there! All the kids at my school treat me weird now".
"Because of what happened to your mother?" she easily figured out.
He nods "Nobody gets it. It's like-".
"There's a piece of your heart missing" she finished reaching out to comfort him only for Elijah and Kurt to interrupt the moment when the former vampire enters the room to find the bottle of wine that he paired with his sister's turnovers.
"How's desert coming?" Kurt asked the cooks.
"Great!" Regina answers Kurt's question moving around the counter to stand next to the young boy "Owen and I were just talking, and I know this might sound crazy, but how would you too feel about sticking around town a little longer?".
"Sister we-" Elijah hoped her could interject only for Owen's father to speak up for himself.
"Uh, 'stick around'? As in...?" Kurt trailed off.
"Move here! I could get you a job at the city, and there's a great school for Owen that I know has a great Principle" she says gesturing to her younger brother as she takes hold of Owen's shoulder, pulling him towards her.
A bad feeling can over the former vampire as he saw what his sister wanted to do. She couldn't do that. Try and take someone else's child and make him, her own. It wasn't right, especially if they didn't belong there. They belonged in New Jersey, in the Land of No Magic, not in a town that came out of nowhere from another realm.
"Regina-" Elijah tried to speak up again only for Owen's voice to go over his
"Please Dad, can we?" Owen spoke up with enthusiasm.
"It could be a chance for a new start" Regina preached to the man at the doorway
"Look, I appreciate everything you've done for us, but out life is in New Jersey. It's not here" he tells her much to Elijah's relief.
"Of course".
Seeing the Fynn's out of the house after dessert, the younger Mills paused on the front porch trying his best to put as much time as he could between leaving the front porch and confronting his sister.
But there was no time like the present to stop his siter from doing something stupid.
Venturing back into the house, the Principle found his sister in the kitchen cleaning up from dinner, the younger brother picked up a dry rag to join her at the sink to help her dry while she washed.
"Regina you can't" he started off the cuff.
"I can't what, brother?" she asks him.
"The Fynn's have a home in New Jersey with this...boss. Owen has a home" he reminds her.
"I don't know what you're talking about".
"He's not yours".
"Don't play dumb sister. I saw the way you were with him. I understand-".
"I doubt it" she scoffs at him.
"I do. There's something...missing" he tells her "and I see the way you were with that young boy. He makes you happy. Happier than I've seen you in years".
"Then what's the problem?" she accuses him.
"You're not his mother" he tells her straight "That boy has already gone through so much heartbreak already. His father needs to do what's best for him and if that's in New Jersey then you need to accept that. Do I make myself clear here?".
Biting her tongue, the former Queen paused to think though her brother's 'request' before giving him the answer he wanted from her.
"Yes" she bit out giving a her the sweetest smile she could muster.
"Good talk" he replies pacing the dry rag back onto the counter to leave his sister to think through their conversation.
Taking Henry to Granny's seemed the best place Emma could take her son with the turn of events going on around them. Getting him out of Storybrooke while his adoptive mother was hell bent on revenge against his grandmother with no sign of his adoptive Uncle resurfacing from whatever his mother and sister had put him through over the last few days. It also give her a chance to check up on Elijah's ongoing condition.
"Why are you bringing me here?" Henry questions her as she forces him through the diner door "I don't want to talk to you" he adds as she guides him towards the marron booths.
"You don't have to" she tells him taking him to the booth where Neal was already seated
"Hey, buddy!" Neal greeted his son "I saved you a seat!".
"I'm going to go get a coffee" the blonde excuses herself from the pair as Ruby come over with a tray, while Henry took a seat opposite his Father.
"Here you go. One large sundae, extra everything" Ruby says a sundae on the table between Henry and his father.
"Thanks, Ruby!" Neal thanks the waitress before she leaves him and Henry to speak. He pushes the sundae across the table to put in front of his son.
"Extra everything?" the eleven year old questions the adult opposite him
"What?" Neal feigns ignorance
"You think I don't know a bribe when I see one?" his son tells him pushing the sundae.
"That obvious, huh?".
"So what do you want?" the young boy gets to the point of the reason he was there.
"Your mom told me about everything that's been going on and we thought that Storybrooke might not be the safest place for you right now. So I was thinking, why don't we go to New York?".
"New York?".
"Well, Regina can't cast that curse if you're in New York. There's no magic there" he reasons with the young boy.
"So we should find a way to get rid of magic. My mom wouldn't want to cast the curse, my family wouldn't want to kill her, and Elijah wouldn't be sick anymore, it would solve everything!".
"Yeah. You know what, you're right!" Neal agrees with him "But until then, why don't you come with me".
While Neal spoke to Henry, Emma sat herself at the counter waiting for the coffee she ordered, and accomplish the second reason she was here.
"Thanks, Ruby" the blonde tells the waitress accepting the coffee from her across the counter to meet her gaze "Any change?" Emma quietly asked the younger woman hoping that something had changed in Elijah's condition since the last time she had seen him
Ruby gently shook her head at her "None" she barely answered the blonde.
"Sorry" she sighed out seeing the pain she was in from not being able to do anything for the guy she clearly liked only for the quiet conversation to be interrupted by the stranger that had crashed into town Greg Mendel handing Ruby his unfinished lunch.
"Can I get this sandwich wrapped up to go? I was thinking about going on a hike"
A hike, huh?" the Sheriff asks the man from her seat.
"Well Dr. Whale said it would be good for me to get on my feet. Plus I'm kind of a nature photography nerd"/
"He said you'd be back in Pennsylvania by now" she added.
"This town's starting to grow on me" Greg tells her handing Ruby money for the food "Thank you very much" at that the man turned and left the diner, leaving Emma to walk back over to the booth to see Henry gone.
"How did it go?" she asks her ex.
"Went good, he said yes".
"Seriously?".
"Yeah, he's in the bathroom right now. I'm just gonna go home and pack. Not bad for day three as a dad if I do say so myself" he boasted to his ex only to notice how quiet she was "Any news on your friend?" he asked referring to the man that was possibly fighting for his life upstairs.
The infamous Uncle Elijah was what Henry spoke about his life in Storybrooke the most about. It came with a pinch of salt for newly discovered father as he heard all about the man who was his son's father figure in his life. About helping with his homework, reading him a bedtime story, teaching him to ride a bike and all that came with the prospect of fatherhood.
But as he learnt what had befallen him since Emma came to New York, having to abandon searching for the man herself to keep her deal with his father, he could see how much this man had meant to both his son and his ex
"None" she tells him not wanting to go much further than that as she noticed something wrong with the picture in front of her "Wait, where's his backpack?".
"I don't know, he took it with him" Neal told her making her look at him in disbelief.
"To the bathroom? Did you really fall for that? He's your son" she reminds him as it dawned on the man on what his son was doing.
"He's running".
With the Flynn's leaving Storybrooke that day. Elijah Mill's thought he'd be in for a calm day sat behind his desk in his office at the school filling out paperwork before he roamed the halls to see his faculty and pupils hard at work only for phone on his sectary's desk to ring out only for Miss Honey to answer it.
As he carried on with his work he couldn't help but to overhear his sectary's voice from the other room.
"Yes. Yes. Of course Madam Mayor. I'll get him now".
"Principle Mill's" Miss Honey's urgent voice came from his door making him look up from his paperwork "The Mayor's on line one. She say's it's urgent".
Picking up the receiver, he brough it up to his ear "Regina-".
"It's Kurt" she cut him off as he noticed Miss Honey leave him to the private conversation "He saw me use magic in my office, I need your help" her panic stricken voice told him.
As soon as Kurt had left the room with the Sheriff clutching his chest, she instinctively reached out for the phone to call her brother needing his help.
"What? How?".
"The Huntsman's heart, he saw me using it".
"Why?".
"Because he's leaving with Owen!" .
"Then let them!" he yelled down the receiver as he left to his feet, he should've known his 'talk' with his sister didn't work, but some part of him wanted to believe that she would actually listen to him this time "Let them leave!".
A beat of silence echoed between them before she answered him;
"No".
"No?" he questioned her "What do you mean no?".
"Elijah I'm sorry" she started hearing a hint of remorse in her voice "This is the last time, I promise".
"Last time?" he questioned his sister "What are you talking about?".
"I need you to meet the Sheriff and I at the town line and stop Kurt from leaving".
He didn't know what came over him at that moment as he put the receiver down and found himself leaving his desk to pick-up his coat from the rack before leaving his office with his car keys in his hands with one thing on his mind.
Stop Kurt Flynn from leaving Storybrooke.
His tyres screeched across the school car park as he made his way to catch up with Kurt and the Sheriff's car as he stopped the orange 4x4 being chased by Graham's Sheriff's car.
Pushing his foot harder against the accelerator, the school Principle sped up as he flew down main street to join the chase.
Hearing a car engine behind him, the former Queen looked behind her from the passenger seat of the Sheriff's car to see her brother's own Porsche racing behind them, making a smirk grow on her lips, before turning back around at the task at hand.
On a hard corner both the Sheriff's car and the Porsche behind him drifted on the asphalt to keep up with the Flynn's orange 4x4 avoiding oncoming traffic as the Flynn's got onto the home stretch to leave Storybrooke.
While Grahams turned his car left to take a shortcut, the former vampire continued his pursuit in his own car pushing to its limits as the 4x4 inched closer to the edge of town only to be cut off by the Sheriff's car, blocking them from leaving as the car behind him comes to a screeching halt behind them. They were trapped.
"Alright listen to me" Kurt turns to his son in the passenger seat, unbuckling his seatbelt "Run away into the woods. Get away as far as you can. You call your uncle. Go.
No. Not without you" Owen argues gripping the lanyard key chain his father gave him.
Glancing out of the windshield he saw the Sheriff emerging from his car before looking into his side mirror Kurt saw Elijah emerge from the driver seat behind him, straightening out his suit and coat as he look dead straight ahead with no emotion on his face.
Looking back towards his son and seeing the lanyard in his hand he knew what he had to do.
"There's a reason I gave you that. Because as long as you have it, I'll always be with you. You can do this. So do it. Run! Go! Go! Run!".
The driver's door suddenly open's for a hand wearing a silver ring on it's middle finger with a small blue gem in the middle to reach in to grip the top Kurt's shoulder to drag him out of the door making Owen jump into action and open his door to start running towards the town line, only for his father to send a flying fist towards Elijah's face, hitting him squarely in the jaw to make him lose grip on his shoulder and send him sprawling onto the wet ground holding his face before turning his attention towards the Sheriff.
The man manages to get the upper hand on the Sheriff as he pushes him back onto the hood of his own truck spotting the Mayor emerge from the cruiser "You may have this whole town wrapped around your finger. But not my son. You can't force him to stay with you!" he yells at the woman as Elijah pulls him off the Sheriff and push him front first against the cruiser to allow Graham to put handcuffs on him.
"Dad!" Owen yelled back from the town line seeing the Mayor's brother hurt him.
"Don't stop! Run! Run!" Kurt continues to yell as Elijah and Graham work together to force the man into the back of the cruiser.
"Owen" Regina calls out to the young boy as she calmly approaches him "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you".
"Why are you doing this?" he asks her.
"I just want you to stay with me" she tells him placing her hand on his shoulders making him sob harder "You said you liked it here. You want to stay here, don't you?".
"Not like this" he tells her, taking her aback.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted us to be happy" taking her hands off him, she holds out her hands out allowing him to run out of Storybrooke forever.
With the plan to destroy magic to stop his mother from casting her curse on him and to help wake up Elijah, Henry went to the one place were it came from; The Well.
With the dynamite from the mines in his backpack, Henry didn't stop running until he made it to the well in the middle of the woods with the small delay of running into the stranger Greg Mendel. but once he was back on his feet, the eleven year old carried on with his mission as he now stood with the stick's of dynamite sat on the lip of the well and a match box and match in his hands.
Striking the match against the box, the match lit only for the flame to quickly extinguish.
"Henry?" Regina's voice took him by surprise as he whirled around to see her slowly approaching him with her hands held out in front of her "What are you doing?" she calmly asks him.
"I'm getting rid of magic" he declares to her picking up the stack of dynamite "It's ruining everything. And you can't stop me" he tells her placing the stack back down to find a new match to light.
"All that's going to do is get you killed" she argues to her son.
"You just say that because you need magic. So you can cast that curse on me" striking a new match against the box he moves the open flame to the intertwined fuses only for Regina to use her magic to make the dynamite disappear in a cloud of purple smoke, making him drop the match on the wet ground.
"I can't lose you Henry. You mean too much to me" she tells her son, joining him on the well.
"Then don't cast the curse. Don't kill Mary Margaret" he pleads.
"Henry, she has to pay".
"The curse. It won't make me love you for real. It'll be fake" he argues as she takes the scroll containing the curse from her jacket pocket.
"But it will be something. I know it's hard for you to understand right now but you'll see. We can be happy. We can have everything" she promises him taking his chin in her fingers.
"Not like this" he tells her stepping out of her hold.
"Hey Regina! Get away from my son!" Emma yelled gaining the former Queen's attention.
"He's not yours. He's mine. And after I cast this, you'll never see him again".
"That's never going to happen" David tells her.
"If you want to kill Mary Margaret you're going to have to go through us.
"Okay" she states summoning a ball of fire into her hand, only to provoke David into taking out his gun to step in front of Neal and Emma with the weapons aimed straight at the Evil Queen.
"Stop!" Henry yells at the fighting adults putting himself between the gun and the ball of fire.
"Henry, get out of the way!" his father calls out to him.
"Not until someone helps me destroy magic!" he yells back at the adults.
"There's no way to get rid of it" Regina tells him "You can't just blow it up!".
"Magic isn't the problem, kid. It's her" Emma throws towards the witch.
"It's not just her. It's everyone" Henry corrects the adults around him "Look what magic did to Mary Margaret" he tells his grandfather before looking towards Ema "What it's doing to 'Lijah!" the reminder of what it was doing to his Uncle only made the blonde send a hard glare towards the former Queen knowing it was her and Cora's fault for him being like he is right now.
Turning back to Regina Henry continued "Look what it did to you! It's ruining everything. It makes good people do terrible things".
"And bad people" Emma adds trying to get Henry to take her hand only for the eleven year old to turn his back on her to face his adoptive mother.
"Please. It's going to destroy my family. Help me get rid of it" he pleads to mother.
"I can't do that Henry" she tells him honestly "But there is something I can do" the other's watched as Regina drop the scroll that held the curse into the ball of fire before extinguishing it, destroying it.
"Thank you" he tells her before going to Emma to walk away from her together, leaving her alone once again.
She could do one better than destroying a curse.
With determined steps, the former Queen med her way up the stone path towards the Inn where she knew her baby brother was held up in, under their mother's spell. Letting herself into the building the former Queen went unnoticed as she headed up the stairs and found the closed door she knew her brother would be behind.
Letting herself into the room she was met by a fairy who had stood from a chair next to her sleeping brother.
"You. Out!" she states to the woman waving her hand, a cloud of purple smoke engulfs the fairy taking her out of the room, leaving her alone with the dreaming, covered in a than layer of sweat, his head twitching anxiously to the side. He was having a nightmare.
Firmly closing the door behind her and locking it, knowing it wouldn't be long until one of the hero's would be alerted to her presence, it would give her the time she needed to help bring her brother out of the nightmare that he was currently stuck in, the former Queen pulled her gloves off her hands to take the folded white hand handkerchief from her pocket as she slowly approached his sleeping form.
Unfolding the handkerchief in her hand, the former Queen starts smearing the poultice that would counteract the spell their mother had placed on him and wake him up from never ending nightmare.
"We were innocent once, Elijah" Regina starts.
In his dream, Elijah's younger self is still running from the monster in the forest, falling onto his knee's in the clearing, exhausted from the chase as lighting continued to lit up the dark sky above him.
"Your bloodlust was forced upon you in an attempt to save you from yourself" she carried on, continuing to smear the poultice onto the Merlock leaves on his neck "Turning you from prey to predator. The monster in me, forced this upon you trying to save you from yourself".
The monster had found him, still splattered in blood, he stares at his exhausted younger self taking his time to pounce, only for a figure to kneel in front of him with a comforting hand on his shoulder, thinking it was the monster ready to kill him, his younger self looked up to his sister knelt there, giving him a warm smile dressed the way she was in the Land of No Magic with shorter hair and strange clothes that made him relax knowing he was safe with her. He was always safe with her.
"You became the demon lurking in shadow. The savage villain in fairy tales taught to children. But, not for my child. Not for Henry" she firmly tells him "In his stories, you're a knight in shining armour. Without you by my side, I don't think I can survive my own love for my son. I need you even if I can't forgive you yet. I need you, baby brother. The monster in me can only be challenged by the monster in you. Only together can we fight our demons and save our family".
Handing her little brother a wooden stake, the boy looks at the weapon in his hand before looking back to face his sister only to see an empty space in front of him only to see the monster standing nearby in the distance instead of his sister, staring at him.
Lunging for his younger self, his younger self yells at the top of his lungs as he send the wooden stake through the chest and into the heart-.
"Ahhh!" he yells himself awake as he jumps awake to find himself in an unfamiliar place all by himself hears yelling from the other side of a wooden door, he realises he's in a room at the Inn and not the vault, and to his relief, he was awake.
He was awake.
Getting dressed seemed like the only thing he could do since waking up. With his feet on solid ground for the first time that seemed like weeks, the vampire stood in front of the full length mirror with thick dark stubble covering his face and jaw as he felt it scratch against the white shirt collar as he pulled the knot of his tie into place as tight as he could bare it, putting the last touches of the dark coloured suit together.
As he buttons up his jacket, he pauses noticing the way his hands were shaking, taking a deep breath to steady himself, he leans against the dresser next to the mirror as his other hand lands on his brow as a flashback of heading towards the red door of the dressing room before being puled back and striking Sibyl in the head, making her fall into the dressing table and mirror as the sickening crack echo's through his mind once again.
A knock on his door brings him out of the flashback making him straighten back up and take his hands away from his head and the dresser as he endeavoured to gain control of his mind.
"Come in" he curtly calls out to whoever was on the other side.
"Hey" Ruby gently greets him as their eye's met in the reflection as she took note of the fresh suit he was wearing "Black suits you" she adds getting no response from the man "How do you feel?".
"The worst has past" he tells her through the mirror "Though I suspect the nightmare are far from over".
"Take your time. I called Emma and David to let them know you're awake. I told her to come see you tomorrow, give you the night to find your strength".
"That's fine" he replied.
"I came to tell you that Whale's going to give us some blood bags to serve for you in the diner. Although I can't guarantee Granny will sell them cheap" she tried to jest with him only for the attempt to fall short.
"No. Of course not" he sighed.
"More bags of your clothes appeared at the front desk".
Something that had been happening ever since he had woken up. Boxes and bags of belonging's had appeared at the Inn, it seems he was no longer welcome in the house he had called home for the past twenty-eight years. Not that he could blame his sister for doing so. He had lied to her for almost twice that long.
"Let your Grandmother I plan on finding a more permanent place to live in the morning. I'll make arrangements for the boxes to be taken then".
"Elijah-" she went to argue why he was being like this, so distant.
"Thank you" he suddenly tells her, turning to face her "Thank you for finding me. Keeping me safe while I was..." he didn't know what to call it, a curse, a spell. All he knew is that he didn't ever want to talk about the nightmare.
"Your welcome".
"Tell me" he trailed off taking a stand in front "How did my mother die?".
"Elijah...".
"Miss Lucas" he cut her off taking her aback at the formal use of her name "Ruby" he corrected himself "Please. All I know is that she's dead".
The she-wolf paused for a few seconds contemplating whether she should indulge in his request or choose another time to tell him how Cora Mill's died. But he had a right to know, it was his mother after all.
"Mary Margaret killed her" the revelation made him go still "She cursed her heart using a candle Mr. Gold gave her. And when Regina when put it back, she died instead of him".
For once in his life the man was left speechless as he fell onto the arm on the couch and his hands on his knees trying to comprehend what Ruby had told him. Through his comatose state in the vault he swore he heard his friend call out to him as he dreamt of Basil Hallward, that's why she was there despite her promises on freeing him.
"Elijah" Ruby gently called out to him slowly making her way to him to placing her hands on his arm trying to comfort him "I'm so sorry".
Her gentle touch made him look up and meet her gaze to see at person that showed genuine care for him as she took hold of his stubbled jaw and chin to hold him in place to place a loving kiss upon his lips in the hope it would comfort him more than anything else would only to feel no reaction from him, making her pull away from him for the man to see pained look on her face.
Turning his head away from her in shame knowing he had hurt her without intending to, he just didn't think he deserved the love a good woman knowing what he had done to those closest to him.
"I need to go say goodbye" he suddenly tells her standing from the arm of the couch, the she-wolf allows the man to stand to slide on find his coat that was sat on a pile of boxes that had already been brought into his room, looking back to the woman that hadn't moved from her place "I'll be back soon".
At that the vampire sped out of the room to leave Ruby alone as she allowed the tears that threatened to fall, slide down her face as she quickly covered her mouth to muffle the sob that threatened to fill the room as the man she had fallen for left her alone after spending so long wondering if he would ever wake up from the sleeping spell knowing he hadn't been left unscathed from whatever his mother and sister had done to him.
He shouldn't be scared of the mausoleum, but as he stood outside it's doors with a single red rose in his hand the vampire couldn't help but feel the apprehension build in his chest at the thought of behind stuck those wooden doors again. But he was stronger than that, he would see the light of day again even if it killed him
Placing his calm on the cool surface of the door the vampire pushed through his fear and made himself move forward until he found himself stood in front of a marble casket sat in the middle of the small room with two roses already sat upon the lid.
Slowly approaching the casket, the vampire placed his long stemmed white rose upon his mother's final resting place, running his free had across the plaque that read;' Cora Mill's. Beloved Mother' as he made his way around the casket to stand before the coffin.
"I'm sorry" he tells his mother "I'm sorry I couldn't be there to hear that your children would've been enough for you for myself, but you see, even if we had been , you still wouldn't have understood the pillars in which I have stood upon since the day I pushed you into the looking glass and the promise I made my father before coming here. The same words that will continue to drive me even in my fragile state of mind".
"Goodbye Mother".
Finding himself outside of Dr. Hopper's office door at this late hour wasn't what he had planned, but he needed to speak to the man if he had any chance of taking control of the memories that sought to cripple his mind. reaching out to knock on the good doctor's door as his mind once again flashed with memories of his past, this time it was of him repeatedly stabbing Basil in his stomach before finally stopping when the painter had finally stopped moving, he felt that blind rage that clouded his mind as the knife went in time and time again.
He just wanted him to stop talking. He was calling him the devil, the face of a satyr. And the blood, it was everywhere, it was on his hands, his face, it spilled out onto the rug and the couch.
"Elijah!" his voice brought him out of the painful memory only to realize that he was looking straight at Dr. Archibald Hopper "Are you okay?".
"Dr. Hopper" he brushed off the man's question "I hope my visit here isn't too late".
"Oh uh, no, not at all. Please come in" moving aside the former cricket opened the doorway for the vampire to step into his office only to see the clear hesitation in the man's eyes before a polished shoe took a step into the office allowing Archie to close the door behind him.
"Not that it's not good to see you back on your feet" Archie went on as the he flittered around the vampire to walk back to his desk to clean up some paperwork before focusing back on the man in his office "Was there a reason for coming here?".
"I..." he trailed off "I need your help".
"Why do you need my help Elijah?".
"Because I won't be able to control the monster" he admitted to the man.
"Okay" Archie nodded satisfied with the man's answer as he took a seat in his chair at his desk picking up and notepad and pen "You came to right place. Please, take a seat. We can begin right away". .
AN: An update! Finally!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter as mush as I enjoyed writing this one.
So if your not already familiar with my other work (EQBW) then you know that my schedule around this time of year get's a bit hectic.
But if your not, this is your warning that chapter's aren't going to be coming out as often as they had been because of the holiday season. Just to be clear the story isn't going anywhere, it just means I can't write as often as I would like to because of my job and real life.
In the meantime:
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