Disclaimer: Lines and plot points taken from S4E15: Enter the Dragon, as transcribed on ForeverDreaming, and descriptions from images in S4E17: Best Laid Plans, taken from a clip on YouTube.
Chapter Thirteen: Life is a Flame
Dorothy had told Zelena quite a lot the previous night. Oh, she was certain the girl hadn't shared all she knew; she was quite stubborn that way. Still, Zelena had gleaned enough information to be concerned. She hadn't slept a wink the previous night, which was why, when David tried to sneak out of bed, she sat up. "Where are you going?"
"To drop off the kids," he said. "Then work. Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
"Work? Oh yes, your new project of fixing up the old theater and turning it into … what was it again?"
"A women's shelter."
"Yes, and was that your idea? Or my sister's?" Before he could answer, she asked, "Why didn't you tell me you had hired her?"
David stared at her, baffled. "I thought I had."
"Well, you didn't, and I can't help but wonder why. Are you hiding something from me?"
David cocked his head at her. "Like what?"
"Are you two conspiring against me?"
David laughed, and when Zelena didn't laugh as well, his eyes widened. "You're serious?"
"Well, what am I supposed to think, with you sneaking around with her behind my back?"
"Sneak? I gave her a job. I thought that was what you wanted. For me to help her, for us to get along."
"Oh, so you're getting along now, are you? And how well are you getting along, exactly?"
"You can't think … I did this for you. Everything I do is for you and our family. She's your sister, and you've asked me to help her and be kind to her, and I'm finally doing it, and you're mad?"
Zelena shook her head. "I just … I just don't know how I feel about you two being close. What if you decide you like her better than me?"
"That's ridiculous. Selena, I love you. I always have. I've done everything I could to make you happy, because you're amazing and I think you deserve everything."
"So, you don't suddenly think she's the fairest of them all?"
"I think her sister is the fairest, most beautiful, sexy, smart, engaging person I've ever known, and it is for her sister's sake that I'm being nice to her and trying to help her out."
"Well, what if I asked you to fire her? Would you?" When David looked at her strangely without answering, Zelena said, "I'm kidding, of course. It's good she has a job. It's not like I want her to be miserable," she added, pulling him in for a kiss. "Just so long as you don't forget that you are my Prince Charming, and nobody else's."
"How could I ever forget that?"
"There are a few dragons," Neal said to his father. "Snow White's husband and his twin brother take on a dragon when they're kids … but they also kill it, so I don't think it's the same one."
"Yes. Best limit our search to dragons who are still breathing, be it fire or oxygen."
"Well, you need one to make the other, you know?" Neal said, giving his father a cheeky smile. Then he let out a yawn.
"You've been up all night pouring over this book, haven't you?"
Neal nodded. "What else can I do? I don't think I should take it to work with me until we know more." He glanced at his watch. "Speaking of, I need to get going soon."
As Neal stood to leave, his father grabbed his shoulder. "I'm not sure you should be going into work when we still don't know who it is you're working for."
"Maybe not. But we need to eat, and if I don't go, I'll find myself without a job. Plus, given what we do know about her, alienating her might not be the best idea."
"Still, perhaps try not to be alone with her until we know more?"
"I can try. I'm mostly with her mother anyway. Of course, there's no telling if she's her actual mother or not."
"What is the woman's name?"
"Sierra. Why, does that mean anything to you?"
"Not as yet, but why don't I keep combing over the book while you're gone, and see if I have more luck than you did?"
"Sounds like a plan."
The magic had faded years ago. It was her own fault, of course, and Maleficent knew it. She had lost everything, and with nothing to go back to, she'd lost herself in the sleeping curse's sweet abyss.
Still, she wasn't so devoid of magic that she didn't know when someone was waltzing through her castle as though they owned the place.
"Maleficent?" a voice called to her. "My name is Zelena. I've been learning magic, and a magic mirror and a book led me to you. They said you could teach me."
Well, wasn't that something? Some child had come to her wanting a mentor. It was nothing new; people were always trying to force her into roles she hadn't chosen. She was hardly going to spend time handing out gold stars to some desperate little brat. Perhaps she could make use of the girl, though.
"Only some can do magic. Prove to me you have the potential by lighting that fireplace."
The girl did it without the slightest difficulty. Maleficent almost envied the raw power this Zelena had, or she would have, if she'd had the energy to care.
As it was, she was just glad to have a warm hearth. Since her dragon-fire had cooled, getting a fire started hadn't come easily to her, and she was hardly going to hire a servant to come do it for her. This girl had come to her seeking favors. She would take what she could before sending her on her way.
Maleficent stumbled out into the room in which Zelena stood and made herself comfortable in front of the newly lit hearth. "That feels nice. I haven't had a proper fire in years."
Her potions lay haphazardly on the table, as did one of her needles. She picked the needle up and dipped it in the sweet poison.
"What's that?" Zelena asked.
"You won't read about this in any spell book. A single drop of sleeping curse mixed with seawater and toadstool," she pricked herself and felt the poison begin to take effect, "takes the edge off." Zelena starred at her gob-smacked, and Maleficent laughed. "What's the matter, dear? I'm not everything you expected?"
The girl shook her head. "This isn't how it's supposed to be. You're meant to train me. You're meant to be a powerful sorceress who can teach me to become all I'm meant to be."
"I'm not meant to be anything, least of all for you. In fact, I'm not in the habit of being anything other than precisely what I want."
"And you want this? To be this pathetic mess?"
"I want silence. Peace. The numbness that comes with going to sleep and never waking up."
This girl did not understand. She had not lost all that Maleficent had lost.
"I need a teacher," Zelena said, petulantly.
"Then look elsewhere."
"I was told to look here."
"Yes, by magical objects. Careful with magic, dear. It doesn't always get you what you want."
"What did you want?"
"You don't know much, do you?" Maleficent said with a sigh. "I wanted revenge on a Rose, a Briar Rose."
"Revenge?" Zelena asked. "Surely magic can get you more than revenge. Power, love, all the things you want in life but never got. Why waste it all on revenge?"
"Power, I'll grant you, but magic will not give you love. If anything, magic will take it away."
"I thought that too, once, but I've found someone to love me. If I can become a powerful sorceress, I can give him what he wants, and he will make me his queen." The naïve conviction of this child was giving Maleficent a headache.
"I put Briar Rose under a sleeping curse. Then King Stefan the square-jawed undid all my hard work with true love's kiss. All curses can be broken, after all, and that sort will always find a way. They will have the love we are denied, and if we try to fight them, we will lose. Oh, they would have us believe that love is the most powerful magic of all, that if we are simply kind and good, we can have it too, but that is a lie, and the love that breaks curses is not meant for girls like you and I."
"I'm not like you!" Zelena said. "What I mean is, I'm not like who you are now. You were powerful once, yes?"
"What I was, what I am … none of it matters. My advice to you is to give up, and find another hobby. Don't look for happiness in magic, or in love. And certainly, don't trust royals to love you; that sort doesn't take kindly to those with magic. I should know."
"He can love me. He does! And he loves that I have magic! I just have to -"
"It sounds as though his love is conditional. Then again, all love is."
"I didn't come here to learn about love. I came to learn magic."
"And I told you to find another teacher. I'll be of no help to you. Now get out."
"I will not! I came to learn, and if you want me to leave, you'll have to turn into a dragon and make me go."
Sighing, Maleficent admitted the terrible truth that might make this insipid girl leave. "I can't turn into a dragon anymore. I lost the fire some time ago." The story was, of course, more complicated than that, but she had shared enough of her past with this girl.
"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place? If the only problem is that you lost your fire, I'll just have to help you get it back."
"My curse can be broken," Zelena said angrily. She'd just barged into Mal's office without so much as a knock, but then she'd been that way, for as long as Mal had known her.
"Most, if not all curses, can be broken. I believe I told you that some time ago."
"But I didn't know this one could be. It was meant to be the curse to end all curses. That was the point!"
Zelena flopped on the settee in a way that was almost childlike in its petulance.
"Do have a seat," Mal said.
"I don't want a seat," Zelena said. "I want to know why you didn't tell me about this Savior who can apparently undo all my hard work."
"Well, that's news to me," Mal said. "So why don't you tell me what it is you've learned?"
"This new family that's come to town, one of them, the brash female of the lot, is the daughter of Snow White and her prince. She was sent to this world to stop me."
"I see. And how do you intend to stop her?"
"Well, I'd like to just kill her, but apparently if I do that, the curse breaks anyway. So, I have to get rid of her some other way."
"Well, from what I've gleaned of town events, it seems you're already working on that. I assume her husband being framed for attacking the Blue Fairy is just the beginning?"
"Possibly," Zelena said. "I'm working it out as I go. I didn't plan for this. You didn't warn me." She shot Mal a glare.
"As I said, I was unaware of the way in which this curse could be broken."
"How is that possible? You're the one who found it for me!"
"I was. And in the name of friendship, I will help you keep it intact. However, if I were you, I would start planning for a final battle, because if the curse does break, there are some people who are going to be very angry with you. Not that I know how you can do battle when magic is off the table."
Zelena smiled. "Well, perhaps I did keep some, for a rainy day."
"I suspected as much. And when this final battle does come, if it comes, will you share your bounty with those of us who have just as much to fear from those we've cursed?"
"I'm not afraid," Zelena said. "I'm not weak. And I will not lose. Unlike you, I don't give up."
David seemed to be giving Mary Margaret the cold shoulder. She wouldn't have thought anything of it even a week ago, as they had never much liked each other, but since they'd started working together, she'd thought she'd felt things shift.
"Is everything all right?" she asked, after Ashley stepped out to pick up lunch for the four of them. Hank was in the other room taking measurements.
"Did you and your sister have some sort of fight?" he asked.
"No. Well … we had a disagreement, but –"
"Was it about me?"
Her eyes widened. "What? Of course not. My relationship with my sister doesn't revolve around you, David."
"Because she seemed upset. She seemed to think that you and I were … I don't know, going behind her back or something."
"Behind her back?" Mary Margaret asked. Her jaw dropped slightly, and she started to stammer, "You-you don't mean she thought that you and I were … but that's ridiculous. I would never be interested in you."
"Hey," David said, looking more offended than she thought he had any right to.
"You know what I mean. You're married to my sister, and I would never cross that line. Besides which, you're not my type."
"Right. Your type is large men with small brains," David said under his breath. Mary Margaret decided not to rise to the bait and just waited for him to continue. "She was upset because I hadn't mentioned I hired you, but it's not like I purposefully omitted it. It just never came up."
"How does something like that not come up?" Mary Margaret asked.
"I … I don't … I'm not sure, really. I mean, I guess there must have been moments, but … I just never thought to tell her."
"Well, that aside, you'd think she'd be pleased. Weren't you only helping me out because of her?"
"That's exactly what I told her. It's not as though you and I are friends, or like each other."
"Exactly. You'd never do anything for me if it weren't for her." Mary Margaret sighed. "Maybe I should talk to her."
"I don't know if that's a good idea. She was pretty upset."
"She's my sister, David. It's important to me that things are okay between the two of us."
"You said you had a disagreement, but that it wasn't about me. What was it about?"
Mary Margaret shook her head. "That's personal. I … I took someone else's advice over hers, and she seemed … territorial."
"Something must be going on," David said. "Something is making her insecure, and it isn't me, and it isn't you. So, what is it?"
Mary Margaret's cell phone went off, and she checked the caller ID. "It's Emma," she said. "I better get this. To be continued?"
"People at school were talking about Dad," Henry said from the backseat. Emma had just picked him up from school, which was another distraction in a series of distractions she had given herself today, like helping Mary Margaret out with the shelter and the fundraiser. She knew she couldn't avoid dealing with Neal's situation forever, but she had hoped Henry would at least be spared.
"What are they saying?"
"That the sheriff took him in for questioning the other day. That he thinks maybe he did something." Emma decided to keep quiet, so Henry kept going, "Don't worry. I know he didn't do anything."
"Do you even know what they think he did?"
Henry shook his head. "But it doesn't matter. I trust Dad. He wouldn't do anything wrong."
"How can you be so sure, though?" Emma asked. "I mean, he's always kept secrets and …" She stopped herself. Her kid was not an appropriate person to confide in right now.
"Do you remember that Doctor Who episode from last year, the one where Amy meets the Weeping Angels?" Henry asked.
Well, that came out of nowhere, Emma thought. Not that she wasn't grateful for the subject change, of course. "I remember," she said.
"There's this thing the Doctor says to Amy about how she needs to start trusting him, and she says that he doesn't always tell her the truth. Do you remember what he says back?"
"Can't say that I do, kid."
"He says, 'If I always told you the truth, I wouldn't need you to trust me."
Emma grimaced. "Right, the whole 'the Doctor lies,' narrative. But that's TV. Your dad isn't Doctor Who, kid."
"He doesn't have to be. He just needs to have a good enough reason to lie. I mean, you guys lie to me sometimes, don't you? All parents do that. But you love me, and I know that, and I know if you do lie, it's to protect me. Like with how Superman doesn't tell Lois Lane who he is."
"So, what, you think your father is going around in cape and tights now?"
Henry shook his head. "I think he has some secrets in his past, and I was mad about that. But I've been reading stories and … and I think life is more complicated sometimes. You guys are always telling me that. Well, maybe part of life being complicated is learning to trust someone who you know is lying to you, because you believe in them. And I believe in Dad. I think you should too."
"I want to," Emma said. "I mean, I do. Of course I do. I love your dad."
"This isn't about reassuring me, Mom. This is about making sure that you and Dad can trust each other. If this town wants to tear you apart –"
"I don't think it's that nefarious, Henry."
"You can't let them. I have a feeling that when the dust settles, you'll know more about Dad, and so will I, but we have to trust him to get there."
"When did you get so wise?"
"I have good genes."
Zelena had produced the mirror and demonstrated its use to Maleficent. It was a small trinket, but it could show Zelena whatever she wanted. The girl asked the mirror to show Maleficent a tree, and the mirror obliged.
Maleficent knew the tree well. Once, long ago, she had laid a land to waste with her dragon fire, and though years had passed, this tree still burned. "So, there's a tree I burned that's still on fire. Who cares? What does it matter?"
"That's your spark. That's what's going to reignite the Dragon inside you. Now, get dressed."
"You truly know nothing of my kind, do you? Do you really think reawakening the dragon in me is as easy is accessing some long-dead fire? If it were, I would have done it myself."
"Well, how did you lose your fire?"
"You are not the only one who scoffed at using magic for revenge. After I was defeated by Briar Rose's lover, the other dragons felt I had abused their teachings. They sucked the fire out of me."
Zelena cocked her head to one side. "I'm sorry, but are you a dragon, or a sorceress?"
"Yes."
"Which?"
"Why need it be one or the other? If your mind is that narrow, magic will never be within your reach."
Stung, the girl reddened. "Well, it's out of your reach as well." She stewed for a bit. "But if the fire was, as you say, 'sucked out of you,' it should seem to me that sucking magical fire in would do the trick. Oh, at the very least you could try, instead of lying about here, getting high, and feeling sorry for yourself."
"You're not going to leave unless I come with you, are you?" The infuriating girl shook her head, and Maleficent sighed. "Very well. I will, as you said, get dressed. Having a lowly witch such as you see me like this is embarrassing enough; no reason the whole kingdom should."
Rumpelstiltskin was making his way through Henry's book when he heard a knock on the door. "Just a moment," he said, putting the book in a drawer and getting his cane.
When he opened the door, he saw the mayor and her twins. "I've brought my children to be tutored by you, as you requested."
He stared at her for a moment, before regaining his composure. "Of course, though it is usually customary for one to make an appointment."
"What else would you be doing?" Mayor Mills said, as she came into the house, her children trailing closely behind. She looked around for a minute. "This is a very nice home you've managed to make in so short a time."
"I cannot take the credit. It was already furnished when we moved in."
Mayor Mills nodded. "Well, it's comfortable, at any rate." She took a seat on the couch. "How are you finding our little town? You and I have barely had a chance to talk since you got here, and I find myself starved for conversation of late."
"I'm happy to oblige then, though perhaps I should attend to your children first?"
"Oh, they won't be any trouble," she said. "Nicholas, Ava, begin on your homework." The children dutifully took out their schoolbooks and began working. "There, you see. Perfect angels. Now, you were going to tell me how you were liking Storybrooke?"
"It's quite different from any other town I've lived in."
"How so?"
Rumpelstiltskin took a minute to consider his answer. What was this woman playing at? She had seemed only partially interested in his advances before, and now she seemed to want to play nice. Or perhaps, simply pump him for information? "I'm not quite sure, to be honest. It's just a feeling."
"Well, there must be something appealing about it, since your family has decided to settle." There was a bitterness and derision in the way she said 'settle' that she couldn't quite mask.
"That was not my decision. I tend to go where my family goes."
"Well, certainly they take your opinions into consideration?"
"I imagine they might, but I don't mind staying." He eyed her sharply. "Do you not like having us here?"
"Don't be ridiculous. You're a welcome change."
"I'm glad you think so. Should I help the children with their homework now?"
Mayor Mills nodded. "Very well, then. I'll be by to pick them up in an hour or so." She didn't wait for him to see her out.
Neal had asked Sierra to tell him stories about her daughter, but so far, he couldn't figure out much. Dr. Drake—or Alana, as her mother called her—was independent and always had been. She'd kept her life as separate from her mother's as possible from an early age. Sierra knew what her daughter did for a living and where she went to school, but if Neal had been hoping for some tragic backstory, he didn't find one.
Her mother didn't even seem to know who Dr. Drake trusted. Any childhood friends' names were long forgotten, there was nobody romantic in the picture (to her knowledge) and, since Sierra never left the house or interacted with anyone else, she couldn't observe who her daughter spent time with. Even phone calls were often taken in another room. Sierra didn't seem to find any of this strange, but Neal supposed that was the curse.
"I'm home," Dr. Drake called, which Neal took as his cue to start packing up and making himself scarce.
"The boy asked a lot of questions about you today," Sierra said slyly. Neal shot her and accusatory look, but she just shrugged. "You didn't say it was a secret."
"And what sorts of questions were you asking? Or perhaps I should say, what is it you truly want to know?"
"Just who you are," Neal said, "and if I can trust you."
"Well, my name is Alana Drake. I am your employer, and you can trust me. More than others, at any rate."
"Yeah. I'm not just taking your word for that."
"Well, we can have a frank conversation at some point, if you'd like. Privately, of course."
"Oh, I hope this isn't the beginning of an affair. He is married, you know, dear?" Sierra said.
"I'm hardly the affair type, Mother," Dr. Drake said.
"Well, do you think anyone thinks she will be before she is?"
"The man simply wants to know who he is working for, and I'm happy to oblige."
"I'd rather do my own research, thanks."
"Well, I wouldn't advise asking about town about me. The walls have ears, as the cliché has it, and certain people knowing we're acquainted won't help either of us in the long run."
"There are other ways," Neal said.
"Such as?"
"How about, you keep your secrets, and I'll keep mine." He grabbed his coat. "I should get home. See you tomorrow."
Maleficent hated relying on Zelena, or on anyone else really, to teleport her to the wasteland where the tree still burned. It had, however, been necessary. That wasteland, which had been a forest before Maleficent had burned it to the ground, was quite a trek from her castle, and without the flight of a dragon, it would have been too much for her. She hated to admit how much she had let herself go.
Once they arrived, the two women stood before the still-burning tree. Maleficent could feel its fire warming her. The question was, how to take it back in?
Magic was about more than knowing the proper spells, of course. At its core, magic was about emotion and belief. You had to feel your way around, and you had to believe you were capable of doing so. Perhaps, if Maleficent believed in it enough, wanted it enough, she could take the fire back into herself.
She stared at the flame, focusing on it, taking in the smell of the burning wood, and remembered what it felt like to have fire filling her lungs. Then, she took a great breath, and breathed in the fire. To her surprise, it seemed to come to her, traveling from the tree, across the ground, and into her lungs. It was like a drug, sweeter than any sleeping curse, to feel the fire fill her up again and consume her.
She let out a great yell and stumbled, as the last of the fire entered her.
"Did it work?" Zelena asked, moving to steady Maleficent.
"I'm not sure."
As she tried to catch her bearings, she heard the unmistakable clip-clop and whinnying of horses. Turning, she saw that Briar Rose had sent her husband and his knights out to this field.
I almost feel sorry for the girl, Maleficent thought. Still so paranoid after all these years. After all, how could Briar Rose have known she was out here, if she didn't constantly check up on the place?
"Hello, Stefan," she greeted Briar Rose's true love, the disdain clear in her voice.
"Maleficent," he said, staring her down. "I promise, if you intend to take away Aurora's happiness, you will fail. Just as you failed with Briar Rose."
The gall of this man! "You made sure of that, didn't you?"
"Men, seize them!"
She tried to draw her magic to herself so that she might become a ferocious creature once more. She felt it working as the smoke swirled around her … but it was still too new, and she was still too weak. Years of not turning into a dragon, years of letting herself waste away and ruining her body with sleeping curse potion after sleeping curse potion…
Zelena was right. She was pathetic, and it was with that thought that any magic she seemed to have mustered sputtered out, leaving both girls painfully human.
Stefan's men held swords to their throats. "It would appear that you've made a fool of yourself once again, Maleficent," he said triumphantly as she stared at him with pure, unadulterated loathing.
The men approached with ropes, clearly intended to tie the two of them up.
"If you believe two magical girls can be so easily disarmed, you are foolish indeed," Zelena said. With a wave of her hand, she turned the ropes into snakes, which turned on their owners. Each knight chopped his rope with his sword.
"Well, we're still in trouble, but that was an impressive bit of magic for a beginner," Maleficent said.
"That was a trick I picked up in Agrabah. My teacher there had a fondness for snakes."
"If you had a teacher already, why come to me?"
Zelena shook her head, "Because you are powerful, and you are meant to teach me. Do you still not understand how fate works?"
"I don't believe in fate, and clearly, I am not the teacher you need. These men will make quick work of me, so what could I possibly teach you?"
"Only if you let them. You were powerful once, and it's still inside you."
"I tried –"
"You're a bit rusty, but I know there's a fire in you. A dragon could send these men running. You just need to remember who you are."
The girl's faith in her shone in her eyes, and Maleficent remembered another girl who had believed in her so wholeheartedly. That dreaded girl, who'd caused all her suffering because she refused to grow up and let go. Briar Rose had been there the first time Maleficent became a dragon, and then, as now, an arrogant royal had pointed a sword at her, believing he could scare her into submission.
But she wasn't that novice girl anymore, who didn't know how to transform; she was Maleficent.
Once again, smoke swirled around her, and her rage and her fire roared within her. She watched as those bothersome knights became as small as their minds, and then she laid waste to the men, who scattered and ran like rats, including Briar Rose's insufferable husband.
She soared through the sky, enjoying the feeling of it for a bit.
Eventually, she landed to find Zelena standing near the corpses. "Looks like you found your spark."
"It never would have happened if it weren't for you. You reminded me who I am. Thank you."
"Does this mean you'll teach me?"
"It seems you've already made a good start of it."
"I have, but there's still so much to learn. Power is easy, it's the control that's hard. And one can only learn so much from a book."
"I suppose I owe you this. Very well. Tomorrow, I'll show you how to make a sleeping curse, and then I'll pay a certain princess a visit. It's high time I got my revenge."
"I see your prince hasn't come to visit you today," Maleficent said to the comatose girl that the doctors believed to be her daughter. "Perhaps I finally scared him off."
"And the doctors here are so kind, all reassuring me you'll awaken someday." She placed a motherly hand on Aurora's face and caressed it. "They are wrong of course. Poor cursed things. You won't awaken until I wish it, and I do not."
Then, Maleficent stood and turned as if to leave, before leaning down to whisper to the girl, "At least, not yet. It may interest you to know that the day is coming when your fate will no longer concern me, and when that day comes, I may have mercy on you.
"But for now, I bid you sweet dreams." She kissed the girl's forehead and exited the hospital room.
"I just don't understand what's taking so long," Mayor Mills lamented.
She had come into Graham's office a short time ago, seemingly out of sorts, and demanded to know why it was that Neal Stiltskin was still walking free.
"I still don't have any proof; it's all just conjecture," Graham said.
"But what about the bloody hoodie?"
"It's at the lab, but the tests will take a day or so to come back. And we don't know what they'll find; he could be innocent."
"Of course he's not innocent!" Mayor Mills snapped. "I need this taken care of, and you are taking far too long to do it."
"I'm doing what the law allows me to do," he said. "And I'm spying on them, which the law doesn't allow me to do. Isn't that more than enough?"
"Maybe you could cozy up to Emma," Mayor Mills said with a salacious smile. "Get her to open up to you?"
"Much as I personally think she deserves better, she seems very loyal to her husband."
"Oh, you're useless!"
"I'm doing all I can!"
"Well, do more! This is what I get for expecting someone else to get a job done. It's high time I took matters into my own hands."
She stormed out of his office before he could ask what she meant.
Neal's father had already called it a night by the time he got home. So had Henry. Emma, however, was sitting up in their bedroom. Neal wasn't sure if he was welcome of not, so he hovered by the doorway.
"I can feel you standing there," Emma said. "You might as well come in."
"I didn't know I could," Neal said as he entered the room. He took a seat next to her, and she let him, which seemed like a good sign.
"Any word from the sheriff?" she asked.
Neal shook his head. "He said it might take a couple of days for them to analyze the hoodie, so it's waiting game."
"I hate waiting," Emma said. "I left a message with Lily. I think she's busy with a case right now, so I don't know when we'll hear back. I left a message with the local lawyer Graham recommended too."
"Emma, I … I don't want to lie to you. I don't want to keep things. I've never wanted that, but there's stuff about my past that it would be hard for you to wrap your head around."
"What does your past have to do with what's going on right now?"
"Maybe nothing. But maybe something. Someone wants to see me go down for something I didn't do, and I need to figure out exactly who and exactly why. And it's hard, because I don't know who I can trust."
"I know the feeling," Emma said.
Neal took her hands in his, and she let him, which was also a good sign. "I trust you, you and Henry, more than anyone or anything else. I trust the both of you."
"And your father?"
"I … I want to trust him, but there are things, before we met you that … I know he'll do what he can to help me now, but there may come a day when he becomes… dangerous."
"Okay. Now you're really scaring me."
"I think my past is coming back in a big way. This town, it's connected. There are people here who are connected to where I come from, to stuff my dad and I left behind when we came to this …. country."
"So, is this about immigration status, because I thought you guys – "
"I wish it were that simple, Em. I really do. Stuff is going to get really bad before it gets better, and I'm doing my best to keep my head above water through all this, but I need you to trust me just a little bit longer. I'll tell you what I can, but there's some stuff that I can't tell you. Soon, but not yet. If you can bear with me, if you can trust me." Neal looked into Emma's eyes and noted they were wet. He put his hand to the side of her face, and he could hear the desperation in his voice as he pleaded with her. "I swear I didn't hurt anyone, Em. I swear to you. Do you believe me?"
Emma nodded and wiped at her eyes. "I wish you told me things. Now. Ages ago. I wish … but I know you're a good person. I know you wouldn't hurt someone. I'll stand by you through this, just … just don't let me be wrong about you. I can't … I think it would break me."
Neal nodded and kissed her forehead. "All I want is to be the person you deserve, the person Henry deserves. Someday, I hope I will be."
"You always were. It was never a question of that. I just needed you to trust me to love you, no matter what," she said, taking his face in her hands. "There's nothing you could tell me that would make me stop loving you."
Not knowing what to say, Neal kissed her. He meant it to be gentle, but she deepened the kiss, and before he knew it, he was undoing her blouse, and she was pulling his shirt up over his head. There was a desperate and frantic need between them that hadn't been there for a long time.
Neal tried to put everything he couldn't tell Emma into the way he kissed and touched her. He needed her to know she was loved, that he was here, that he would be here. Because he knew he was right: things were going to get worse before they got better.
He just needed to believe in her. He needed to believe that she would save them all, himself included, and that she would stay with him when the dust settled, and she knew everything.
"Is that what I think it is?" Mary Margaret asked. She had just arrived at work, bringing coffees with her. Ashley and Hank didn't appear to be there yet, but David was, and he was standing in front of what appeared to be a karaoke machine. "How did you get it so fast?"
"I know how to work the system," David said with a shrug.
"Is it hooked up? Can I try it?"
David nodded, chuckling. "Who knew it was so easy to make you happy?"
"I love to sing. There's no shame in that, is there?"
"I guess not," David said. "So, what are you going to sing?"
With a shrug, Mary Margaret looked through the songs that the machine had available. One popped out to her, as she recalled her conversation with David the other day.
After setting up the machine, she took the microphone and got up on the stage. "This one goes out to all the closet musical fans out there."
David chuckled again and shook his head.
Mary Margaret began to sing:
Love me tender
Love me sweet
Never let me go
You have made my life complete
And I love you so.
Love me tender,
Love me true
All my dreams fulfill.
For my darlin' I love you
And I always will.
Her eyes met David's. He was staring at her, his eyes wide, and she felt a lurch in her heart. A voice in her head that sounded quite a bit like her sister's told her to stop singing, but she couldn't bring herself to.
Love me tender
Love me long
Take me to your heart.
For it's there that I belong
And we'll never part.
Love me tender
Love me dear
Tell me you are mine
I'll be yours through all the years
Till the end of time.
When at last my dreams come true
Darling this I know
Happiness will follow you
Everywhere you go...
He didn't clap when she was done. He didn't move. His eyes were glued to her, and seemed to burn her. "It can't have been that terrible," she said, her voice shaking.
"No, it … it was you."
"What was me?"
"I've heard singing around town, and I thought … It was you the whole time. I didn't know."
Mary Margaret blushed. "I think there was a compliment in there somewhere," she said as she made to get off the stage. She slipped, and David ran to catch her.
"Are you okay?" he asked, as he held her in his arms as though she were some damsel in distress. She wanted to be mad at him, but she couldn't be. He was still looking at her in that way, that strange way that was both foreign and familiar at the same time.
"I'm … yeah. I'm fine," she said, feeling how uneven her breathing was. "You can put me down now."
David set her on her feet, but he didn't step back from her. "I – " Just then, his phone beeped, and his whole face changed. He seemed to shake himself before answering. "Hi, Honey," he said.
Mary Margaret decided to give him his space.
Maybe she should track down Hank. She suddenly had the sort of itch she felt only he could scratch. He was good for that, and that was all Mary Margaret wanted. She wasn't looking for true love.
Months had passed since Maleficent had last seen Zelena, her protégé. They had parted on good terms, however, so she welcomed the girl with open arms.
"You seem out of sorts," Maleficent said by way of greeting.
"I should have listened to you," Zelena said bitterly. "About love, royals, revenge, all of it!"
"Oh dear. Has someone broken your heart?"
"Edward wasn't what he seemed, and he chose her." Zelena began to pace. "Everyone chooses that insufferable girl, and she has the life I should have had! She got everything! The man who should have been my father dotes on her, while I was chucked away to a family that was cruel to me."
"Well, I can certainly sympathize with having cruel adoptive parents," Maleficent said, thinking of her own sad tale.
"She got it all: the family, Edward, true love with some nameless peasant, and what do I have?"
"That is a good question. What do you have? I assume you didn't let the two of them get away with it, this thing they did to you?"
Zelena smiled then, "No, certainly not. I've turned Edward into a winged beast who must follow my will."
"And the girl?"
"Oh, I have plans for her. Edward thinks she can free him with true love's kiss, but the chit loves someone else, and when he learns that … Let's just say I believe I can turn it to my advantage."
"I see. Well, if it's all settled, then why are you here?"
"The sleeping curse that I saw you brew once, long ago. I need it."
Maleficent nodded. "We can brew a batch together. I'll even let you borrow my needle."
Zelena shook her head. "I've been thinking about that, and well, wouldn't it be better, more efficient, if it were taken orally? You could offer someone something simple, an orange or an apple, and they would take the curse being none the wiser. Easier than getting someone to prick their finger, certainly."
"It needs to be taken willingly, dear."
"Of course, but they don't need to know there's a curse in it, do they? And if they don't know, well, it just seems that –"
"Feel free to fiddle with the recipe," Maleficent said.
"I suppose I have time. I haven't even let Edward 'escape,' yet, and after he wreaks his havoc, it'll be some time before I dose the girl."
"I have to say, I'm impressed by your thirst for revenge. You are not the girl who came to me seeking instruction."
"That girl still believed she could find someone to love her. This girl knows she never will, and she'll burn the world for it."
It was a good thing that Zelena had thought to spy on David and Mary Margaret earlier. What she had seen made her blood boil. He wasn't supped to love the Snowflake, not in this reality, at least. In this reality, he was meant to be hers. He had promised her as much just the other day. Oh, she didn't care for him; he was far from her type, but the Snowflake had taken enough from her, and this was meant to even the scales.
Maleficent had told her she'd need a contingency plan, for if the curse did, in fact, break. If everyone remembered who they were, she would need a way to still make them miserable, still make sure they couldn't destroy her. She needed to still win. She thought back on everything that had happened since Emma Stiltskin had arrived in Storybrooke, every conversation she'd had, and idea sparked in her mind. Snow White, in her cursed state, had handed Zelena the very key to her demise. All it would take was a simple potion that Maleficent had taught her long ago.
Gathering the ingredients took no time at all. The potion took an hour and a half to cook, and then it was ready. It would taste disgusting, she was sure, but all that mattered is it did the trick.
Zelena drank every last drop.
"Dad had a good point," Henry said. "Most of the dragons get slayed."
"I'd gathered as much, yes," Rumple said.
"But not all of them. There's one who's still alive when the curse is cast; in fact, she plays a role in casting it." Henry opened the book to a page that showed a picture of two women brewing a potion. "Maleficent. She helped the Evil Queen cast the curse, and she's a dragon."
"Well, if she's an ally of the queen, she's no ally of ours," Rumple said, disappointed.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Henry said. "Read her story. There's more to it than her helping the Evil Queen, and she has her own agenda. It's possible … she could be someone we could trust."
"And why exactly is that?"
"Well, she wanted the curse cast … but she also wants it broken."
"Selena," Mary Margaret said, greeting her sister. "What are you doing here?"
"Just visiting my husband at work," Selena said. "Is that a problem?"
"Of course not," Mary Margaret said hastily. "We just weren't expecting you. Did you want to join us for lunch?" she asked, pointing to the picnic basket her sister was carrying.
"No, I think it should be just myself and David," she said, just as David came out to greet her and give her a chaste kiss. "Is there anywhere we can go for privacy?"
David nodded. "There's a back room. Mary Margaret, can you and Ashley take care of things out here for a bit?" Mary Margaret started to reply, but David cut her off with a, "Great, thanks," as he followed his wife to the back room.
When had she started to think of Selena as David's wife? Selena was her sister. That was the only relationship that mattered. She'd never liked seeing them together, being nauseatingly romantic, but that was because she hated David and thought that Selena could do better.
Now that she and David were becoming something approaching friends, shouldn't it make it easier for her to cheer on her sister's relationship? Why had there been that brief, unpleasant feeling in her stomach when they had kissed?
She shook herself and tried to focus on her lunch, but it soon became nearly impossible. Shortly after Selena and David headed to the back room, noises started coming from it: loud grunts, louder moans, and her sister screaming out David's name. Mary Margaret put down her sandwich; she was suddenly nauseous. Was it really appropriate for them to do this in the middle of the day where everyone could hear?
"Well, it sounds like someone's having a fun lunch break," Hank said. He was scarfing down his own sandwich, seemingly unbothered by the noises coming from the back. "I didn't know the boss had it in him; he always seemed so vanilla."
"Well, you know what they say," Ashley said. "A prince in the streets, a beast in the sheets. Mary Margaret, are you okay? You look kind of green."
Hank put a sympathetic hand on her arm. "I don't have a sister, but if I did, I probably wouldn't want to hear that sort of thing either."
She gave him a weak smile. "Why don't you and I head out to your truck and take our own lunchbreak?"
"Yeah. I'm down for that," Hank said, throwing the wrapper from his sandwich in the trash.
"So, I'm going to be the only one who isn't hooking up during lunch?" Ashley asked.
"Well, someone has to be the sensible one," Hank said. "Might as well be you."
Mary Margaret grabbed his hand and dragged him out to the truck as fast as she could.
She needed this right now. She needed to not be thinking about her sister and David. The annoying and ironic part was that while she and Hank were hooking up, there was a traitorous part of her that, for whatever reason, was still thinking about David.
Aurora had been under a sleeping curse for years now. Her fiancé and true love, Prince Philip, had been missing for just as long. King Stefan had never recovered from his terrible burns; he had lost himself to anger and despair. After all this time, it seemed Maleficent had finally won. She had left Briar Rose as nothing.
That was probably why Briar Rose desperately clamped on to the first ray of hope she'd had in years and refused to let go.
It was just a whisper, really. There was something precious to Maleficent, something the dragon would lay down her life for, something that she'd hidden away in a cave.
Surely, if she would lay down her life for this object, she would trade for it. If Briar Rose could get it, she could make a deal with Maleficent, barter for her daughter to be awakened from her long slumber.
And if she died in the attempt, well, what had she really lost?
It was with this newfound determination that Briar Rose rode up to Maleficent's cave. It seemed that Maleficent had burned the surrounding land to waste, leaving it deserted and barren. Such was her way. It was also nearly below freezing, but Briar Rose had accounted for that, bundling up in the warmest furs she could find.
Stefan's army had been too afraid to face Maleficent again, and Briar Rose knew she was no warrior. She knew she would need help. So, she had commissioned a troupe of pirates to aid her, run by the fearsome Captain Hook. Captain Hook had scoffed at helping her at first, but when she had explained it was the only way to rescue her daughter, the pirate queen had softened. She was still charging Briar Rose handsomely, of course, but Briar Rose would happily bankrupt her kingdom if it meant Aurora would awaken.
"We'll handle the guards," Captain Hook said. "And I can send a few men into the cave with you to help you obtain the treasure."
"I think it should be me," Briar Rose said, with more bravery than she felt. "Just me."
"You want to face a dragon alone?"
"This dragon and I have a history. If someone can get through to her, barter with her on her level, then it needs to be me."
"If you insist."
Captain Hook was true to her word; she got Briar Rose through guards and barriers, until the queen stood inside the cave.
Like any dragon, Maleficent had collected many items. Briar Rose wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she assumed it would be the most heavily guarded.
There were jewels, of course, and gold pieces. There were jars of magical objects, which Briar Rose felt she'd be wise to stay away from. As she looked through the cave, she stepped on something that, if she hadn't know any better, she would have said was a baby's rattle.
Could that mean the object was …?
Briar Rose's eyes landed on a dragon egg, nestled safely in a nest of rocks. She ran to the nest, and no sooner had she grabbed it up than what she thought were rocks surrounding the egg uncurled into a tail.
Maleficent blew fire at her, and she hid behind a pillar. Then she stepped forward, holding up the egg. "If you burn me, this will burn as well."
The dragon changed at once into her human form. "You would take her from me, after all you've already taken? After all I've already lost because of you?"
"It is no more than you've taken from me," Briar Rose said. "You took my daughter, cursed her."
"So, this is your vengeance, then?"
"No. I don't want vengeance. I want the same thing you wan: my child returned to me. I know you can awaken Aurora, and if you do, I will return your egg unharmed. Please. Haven't we hurt each other enough?" She reached a hand out to Maleficent, and the two edged nearer each other.
"Impending motherhood has softened me," Maleficent said. "I will awaken your daughter by returning her prince to her. But first, you will give me back my child."
Briar Rose nodded, making her way towards Maleficent with the egg. She stumbled on a rock, and caught herself on a cabinet, knocking over a jar, which held a tiny green glowing bean inside of it. When the bean hit the ground, a large portal began to open, and Briar Rose scrambled back, trying not to fall through. The egg rolled out of her gasp and into the portal.
"No!" both women cried, but it was too late. The egg was gone.
Briar Rose turned to Maleficent, her eyes wide with horror, as the other woman once again transformed into a large beast and burned her to a crisp.
Emma smiled when she saw the name on her caller ID. "How's my favorite public defender?"
"Better than you, from the sound of your voicemail," Lily said. "Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you. I've got this case that, well, I can't talk about it, but it's kind of kicking my ass."
"You'll figure it out. You're good at what you do," Emma said, confidently.
Lily and she had been friends when they were kids. They'd met after Emma had run away from a foster home, and they'd bonded over bad home situations. It had ended kind of badly, but later Lily had caught up with Emma while she was living with the Stiltskins. That had almost ended badly too, but Neal and Jack had done what they always did: seen the good in someone and helped them get on their feet, convincing Lily to testify against her boyfriend and get a plea deal with some community service.
Over a decade later, Lily was working as a public defender in Minnesota. She and Emma didn't see much of each other, but they kept in touch, and Emma knew Lily had her back if she needed anything.
"So, Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes has gotten into some legal trouble, has he?"
Lily liked to tease Neal about how earnest he was. Given her and Lily's criminal habits in their youth, Emma got where Lily was coming from.
"He thinks he's being framed. And I can say with certainty that he didn't commit the first crime, but I can't prove it."
"I'd love to help, Emma, you know that, but I'm not licensed to practice in Maine."
"I know, but I thought maybe you would know someone?"
"Nobody comes to mind, but I can look through my old law-school contacts on Facebook, see if anyone turns up."
"Thanks. Good luck with your case."
"Good luck with your husband's case. I'm going to put down my lawyer hat and put on my friend hat now; how are you?"
"In general, or with this?"
"Both, but mostly that."
"I just … I'm scared. I can't lose him, and I wish it weren't so hard for me to defend him."
"You don't trust easily, Emma, which I get, but I know you know that you can trust him. He's good people, and you married him for a reason."
"Because I was knocked up?"
"I don't believe that. You would have married him anyway, eventually. The whole time I knew you, you were only ever moony for one guy."
"I was not moony."
Lily snorted, "Sure, okay." There was some noise in the background. "Listen, Emma, I've gotta go, but I'll be in touch, okay? And hey, breathe. It'll all work out."
"When did you become an optimist?"
"Right around the time your perfect little family took a chance on me."
"So," Dr. Drake asked as she took off her gloves, "how did she fair today?"
Neal gaped at her. "That's it? After how we left things yesterday?"
"I assumed that if you had questions, you would ask them, and if you had any information, you would share it. Unless, of course, you wanted to keep it from me, but I'm hardly going to torture you to learn what you know. It's rather frowned upon in this land."
"So, what, if we were in some other country, you'd be the kind of person who'd torture someone for information?"
"Perhaps."
"And you want me to trust you?"
"Does one need to be pure and good to gain your trust? I would think that a suitable ally would be judged more by their ability to help you, and their need of your help; mutual goals and the means to achieve them, if we work together. Is that not what matters?"
"Let's just say I've seen my fair share of sheep in wolves' clothing. If I'm going to get in bed with someone, I need to know who they are."
"You said as much yesterday."
Before Neal could respond, his phone rang. "Papa?"
On the other line, Rumpelstiltskin told him quite a tale, abbreviated as it might have been, despite Henry chiming in from the background.
"I see," Neal said when his father finished. "Thank you. I'll be home soon."
After he hung up, Dr. Drake asked, "Interesting conversation?"
"I know who you are, Maleficent."
This time, it was Maleficent who had followed a rumor. She would have followed her daughter's egg anywhere, but she had no more magic beans, and no way of knowing what land her unborn daughter had landed in. She had, however, heard of one who could determine such thing.
"Maleficent," the older woman said to her. "I've been expecting you."
Maleficent tried not to shudder at the eyes that protruded from the hands of this woman. She would have had other eyes once, eyes set in her face where they ought to have been, but these had been sewn shut. She did her best to show no sign of revulsion in her voice, however. After all, who was she to cast stones? "I imagine you often expect people before they come to you, being a seer."
"True," the seer said. "Though few I've waited for as long as I have you."
"Then you must also know what I've come seeking. Can you help me find her?"
"Yes," the woman said, smiling. "You will find her, if you follow my instructions to the letter."
"And then my baby will be returned to me?"
"Not as such, but you will see her again someday. That is how the story goes, after all."
"The story?"
"We're all stories. I learned that long ago. It was also long ago that the story was changed, fate forever altered. But you see, some stories must stay the same. A Queen most Evil must cast a curse that will bring all to a land without magic, and she must be manipulated to do so by one of great magical power who wants nothing more than to get back the child stolen from them. This is how the story always goes, no matter how it is changed."
"Am I to assume that Zelena is the Evil Queen you speak of?"
The woman offered a brisk nod. "In this version of the tale, yes. You must use and betray her. Are you willing to do this to your friend?"
"For my daughter, I would make my enemies rich, and my friends dance on hot coals for eternity. What must I do?"
"You helped her cast a curse to find your daughter. And you want it broken for the same reason."
"Quite true."
"And you don't think there's anything wrong with that? Cursing millions to find one person?"
"Would you not do the same for your son?"
Neal shook his head, but didn't say anything.
"It's easy to take the moral high ground when it didn't happen to you. You can't fathom what I've suffered, what I've risked, what I've sacrificed, and in the end, if I find her, none of it will matter, because she is mine."
"My father … he thinks that we can trust you. I'm not so sure," Neal said.
"You will come to trust me, Mr. Stiltskin, or we will both lose everything."
Neal was still shaking his head as he made for the door.
Maleficent called after him, "Oh, and Mr. Stiltskin, this father of yours who trusts me, don't think I haven't determined who he is. You see, I do my homework too."
Maleficent had followed the instructions the Seer had given her to the letter. She had enlisted the help of a woman named Cruella De Ville and a mermaid to procure the curse. Then she'd headed to Wonderland, where she'd found an exiled Zelena, utterly defeated by Snow White, her prince, and Dorothy of Oz. It was a good thing that, for her purposes, she needed Zelena hopeless and desperate.
"So, this is Wonderland?" she asked as she entered the Queen of Hearts' royal chamber. "I don't care for it."
"What are you doing here?" Zelena sneered.
"Is that anyway to treat old friends? Especially ones who come bearing gifts?"
"Gifts? What could you possibly give me? I've lost everything, or haven't you heard? My magic is depleted, I can't leave this realm, and those who ruined my happiness thrive in Misthaven, laughing at my defeat."
"When you came to me, I had also lost most of my magic, but you believed in me. You were certain I still had it in me to use my magic, and to get what I wanted. Now, I've brought you something that can help you get your revenge. It won't take more than the magic you have left, plus mine, and of course, your rage."
"And what is this perfect magical item?"
"It's called the Dark Curse…"
"Dr. Plum," Zelena said into her cell phone, "I'd like to make an appointment with an obstetrician for tomorrow." She smiled down at the four positive tests in front of her. "You see, I think I may be pregnant.