The Possibility of a Happy Ending

by diddykongfan

Gremma and Cylice. Prompted by ArianaKristine: "Alice is trekking through Wonderland and finds a strange prisoner in the dungeon that she thought held Cyrus. In empathy, she will help this man find the one that he loves in Storybrooke with the grudging help of the Knave." The T rating is 'cause I'm paranoid. Updates Sundays.

13. Chapter 12

A/N: that's right, it's me, I'm back! This fic kind of got royally screwed over by my falling out with OUAT canon back when 3B caused me to rage quit. But I've been working on it, because I love this fic, I just have not been doing very well at said working on it. And, since it's been so long, a friendly reminder that while I like Ana, I started this story before I knew that, and wrote myself into a corner about the Red Queen – and she won't, therefore, be gaining further prominence in this fic (or the 3B sequel that I'm 95% sure is going to happen. eventually). Sorry. Scarlet Queen was never gonna happen anyway, 'cause I can't stand it, but while I would genuinely enjoy including an Ana redemption arc, it just isn't plausible with the decisions I made earlier in the fic-writing process.

He has his reasons for what he'd done, for bringing Alice back to Wonderland in a trap at the behest of the Red Queen and her vile ally.

Layers of reasons, really. To the eyes of those using him, it was about keeping his hostage family safe – and that is one of the most important of all the reasons, the one he will cite if Alice ever asks why he betrayed her. But through the girl's travels across Wonderland, as a child and as a young woman, he's come to care for her, that inquisitive adventurer. Alice is his friend, has been his friend for a long time, is practically a part of his family herself. He feels terrible enough that it was him that she followed to Wonderland in the first place, when her coming to the realm had only ever caused her trouble – her father's disbelief and her loss of Cyrus and now, well, being hunted down for the wishes she has not made. She may have followed freely but it was still his own fault, for letting himself be seen by the child.

And so there is another reason: he wants to help her, to see her happy. If anyone could possibly beat the odds and rescue Cyrus, it was, is, most certainly her, given the right help.

Using the Knave to bring her back to Wonderland wasn't technically his idea, but Will Scarlet's loyalty to her made him an ideal choice. The wanted thief may not have the strongest moral code, but he cares, about Alice and her happiness if nothing else. Acts like it's just gratitude for her retrieving his heart from Her Majesty – and no, that is no secret between the two of them, no matter what they might think; everyone knew that the Queen of Hearts had lost control of the Knave at a time when Alice was around – but he has always seen their bond as something deeper than that, more like family, a brother and sister to each other despite being from different realms and different times. It's the main reason he's ever put up with Will at all, that friendship.

Still, he knew they would need more help. More than just himself, especially given his double agent status. But who in Wonderland would? Lizard, probably, she was always sweet on the Knave – but that's assuming she can be found easily. The Cheshire Cat has changed, gone even madder than he ever was. The Hatter is disappeared to that Storybrooke place where the Knave was, and, with the curse that had kept the Rabbit out broken, most likely reunited with the daughter he'd been so desperate to get back to they all considered him Mad, so therefore probably unwilling to come back to Wonderland to help, no matter how friendly he'd once been with Alice. The Dormouse is halfway asleep at the best of times, and he hasn't seen the March Hare in years. And the Caterpillar? He wouldn't ask that gangster if it was the last option in all the realms, and even if he did, the Caterpillar would hardly be inclined to help the Knave – especially without getting anything out of it himself, and the Rabbit has nothing to pay him with.

So when he heard tell of what prison the Huntsman – no one knew how the man was in Wonderland instead of the curse-made town, particularly since no portals had yet been able to reach it when he arrives (they've tried, the Hatter and the Knave weren't the only ones taken, some of the missing are actually missed), but anyone well connected enough knew it was so, and though he might currently be a pawn there are few residents better connected than the White Rabbit – was placed in, he made a decision, and set his own plan into motion. Offered – even if by proxy – passage out of Wonderland to the imprisoned stranger, implied to Alice that there was a prisoner who might be Cyrus.

The plan had worked exceptionally well. The Huntsman— He might be rumored and feared, told of as ruthless and unfeeling, but given the familial connection of the witch he had worked for in the tales, the fact that it was Her Majesty's daughter, it had seemed rather probable that those stories were of a Heartless One, with no choice. If that's the case, well, Alice is the only person he's ever known that managed to befriend a Heartless One, so he wouldn't put it past her to do it again.

And what the rabbit sees of the man, as he keeps an eye on Alice's group from a distance in order to fulfill his role as a spy, only confirms his suspicions; the Huntsman protects Alice and Will, is kind to them both, is a good person. The fabled "monster" was clearly a creation of the Evil Queen, not the truth of who he is at all.

Of course the plan had certainly not been hindered by Cyrus escaping his own captivity.

As much as he wants to protect his family, Alice asks him to take the group of four to Storybrooke, and as much as he knows he will have to return and face the music, he does it – and then he stays, takes the group to Neverland when the Huntsman asks, stays further, helps even more people get from Neverland back to Storybrooke.

(It's the right thing to do, and he promised the Huntsman his services for helping Alice and the Knave, and it delays his going back to Wonderland and facing judgement while soothing the ache he feels from having betrayed his friend in the first place. Doesn't make it right, but makes it better, more bearable of a deed to have committed, at least. He could have explained to Alice what happened, but she would have insisted on finding his family and freeing them, prolonging her stay in Wonderland and putting herself in even more danger than she'd already been. He won't be responsible for that if he can help it.)

And then – and then… And then there is nothing more for him to do, no way to put off the inevitable further. Oh, he could see if the Hatter, a realm jumper like himself, would be willing to put him up for a while. But that would be running, and his family needs him. He at least has the somewhat plausible excuse that Alice had been holding him captive, stuffed him in a bag again, as a reason he would've helped the group when he is supposed to be a spy, though he does not think it will buy much mercy if any at all.

So he returns to Wonderland. He has to. He has a responsibility. He will go back and he will stand with his family and he will fall for them if he has to.

For too long upon his return, there is no sign of trouble. But then, as he is about to enter his home, to hide away and await judgement, he is lifted bodily from the ground, suspended in the air by magic, turned to face his captor-

Jafar.

"You are going to take me wherever it is you took Alice and her genie," the sorcerer commands.

He had known he was coming back to capture, had resigned himself to the fact that he would most likely die. Had forced himself to bring Alice into the trap, against his care for the girl, against his instinct to protect his friend.

But he isn't quite ready to lead this villain straight to Storybrooke. He thinks that under the reign of Snow and James, most of the town would fight. But it doesn't mean they should have to. And perhaps if he stalls, Alice and Cyrus, at least, might be able to get out of town, go someplace in that world where they cannot be followed as there will be no easy way to track them, no magic outside of that town.

So when he digs, he does not make a portal to Storybrooke.

He makes a portal to Neverland. It isn't a lie – he had taken Alice and Cyrus there. Just because they aren't there anymore does not change that fact. It won't work as a stall tactic for long, but maybe it will give him time to make an escape from the sorcerer and leave him to rot in the Dark Jungle? He's hardly the most optimistic creature in Wonderland – is rather in the running for most pessimistic – but even he can hope for the best. On occasion.

As soon as they arrive, they are surrounded by Lost Boys, Pan directly in front of them.

(This was a terrible idea, wasn't it?)

…

Finding the Darling brothers is meant to be the town's priority, for the moment. Most are still wary enough of outsiders that the two would be cause for concern even if they weren't under orders from Peter Pan. The fact that they are? All the more reason to find them. Emma knows this.

And yet, while her position as Sheriff is a reason that she should be out there searching, she isn't. Because… Not because she doesn't care, she cares, she does, not just about the fact that they are a danger to her son, but also cares that they're being used by an actual literal villain when they don't have to be, cares that it's the right thing to do to find them. No, the reason that she isn't searching is not that she doesn't care.

The reason that she isn't searching is that putting all their resources towards one goal is a good way to get blindsided. The search has volunteers, good volunteers. She's pragmatic enough to know that, especially in this curse-created town where it seems like every time they turn around, something has gone wrong. Better to have eyes on more than one situation at a time.

And so Emma's priority is something else entirely.

It's making sure that life goes on as normal as much as it can, it's actually running the Sheriff's Department, and it's… Bringing Graham back into the town after their time apart.

Which is how she finds herself in a position almost unfathomable, finds them both standing in the office that's hers but used to be his as she hands him the deputy badge he once handed her. The role reversal is offsetting, like déjà vu – which she doesn't even believe in, despite everything she's seen in the last few months, been forced to believe in the last few months – but not quite, a scene she knows but a different take, the same and different all at once.

"This… This feels weird," she admits, voice soft so as not to break the dreamlike quality of the moment, delicate as glass. His fingers brush hers as he takes the offered badge, sending heat through her nerves, sparking like lightning, that feeling more like magic than almost anything she's felt since she started to believe.

A huff of agreeing laughter is his response; what else is there to say? It is weird, standing like this, a mirror to that day so many months ago.

(The earth doesn't shake when he puts on the badge, not like it did when she took it; she wasn't expecting it to, no matter how familiar this feels. That quake was either coincidence or the curse starting to break, and neither is something likely to repeat anytime soon.)

"You forgot to offer dental, Sheriff Swan," he smiles and teases and she can't help but smile back. The time they lost hurts still, but at least they've found each other again. At least it's so easy to let things fall back into place between them, despite her walls and despite the experiences they've had apart from each other and despite the fact that it really shouldn't be, by any logic.

"Kind of figured you knew the benefits, Humbert." She shrugs, plays it off like she's teasing right back. Realizes that she can't call him Sheriff anymore, not technically, but calling him deputy sticks in her throat, doesn't quite feel right. He must notice, but he doesn't say anything to make her feel self-conscious. Instead, he walks to the boots kept behind the desk, his boots, picks them up and looks at them with an exaggeratedly critical eye.

"I seem to have lost a lace somewhere." She rubs at the item in question where it rests around her wrist, deciding how to answer.

"No, it's not lost." She hesitates, but holds out her wrist so the lace is visible. She hasn't exactly been hiding it, but he hasn't exactly asked, either. "I took it, to- To keep you close. To remind me. That someone could- Choose me." The emotional stuff isn't her strong suit, never has been, but she feels the need to tell him, to let him know how much he meant, how even though her every instinct had been to bury that hurt deep and refuse to think of him, she hadn't been able to do that, not completely. How she couldn't make herself forget, how she had made herself remember instead. "You were the first, you know. Even Henry only came and got me because of the curse. Because he believed I was the Savior." She knows there were other factors to Henry's decision, the fact that he felt unloved with Regina a major part of it, but the fact of the matter is, he knew nothing about her except her name and the fact that she'd given him up for adoption. Henry didn't choose her for herself, because he simply didn't know who that was, who she was – he chose her for the idea and hope that she could make things better, somehow. Mary Margaret had let her in because of Henry, not because of herself, not at first, anyway, even if they had bonded quickly. But Graham? He had seen who she was, been able to read her quicker than anyone she'd ever met, understood her so thoroughly, and still decided it would be a good idea to give her a job. And then they'd gotten to know each other even better, and he had- Chosen himself and her at the same time. Not because she was the Savior, not because it seemed like she was good for Henry, but because she was Emma.

He replaces the boots where they were, pulls her into his arms, and like always with him the contact is so right that it threatens to overwhelm.

"I'm not giving it back. You'll have to get a new one."

"I think that'll be acceptable," he murmurs, a hint of tears threatening in his voice, "You were the first to choose me, as well."

(She thinks back to the book, only days ago when she still believed that he was gone forever, reading his story as it was recorded within and realizing the similarities between them, the brokenness they've both carried with them. She thinks back to the letter, yesterday, the letter he wrote after the mines, after he gave her the badge that she's now given back to him; maybe fitting, that we'd get close to no one, except maybe each other. Yes, it is fitting, isn't it? The way they line up, impossible odds beaten just by their ever meeting, the unknowing princess and the man who sacrificed his freedom to save her mother's life.)

"As long as we're in agreement," she returns, burying her face in his shoulder to hide her smile.

They've chosen each other. That's what matters.

…

Alice isn't sure, yet, how she feels about Storybrooke. She's barely been in town a day, of course, and that's hardly enough time to form an opinion, especially considering her time has been consumed by worrying for John and Michael more than anything else, even when getting a tour, even when trying to enjoy the party thrown for everyone's safe return from Neverland. But, if she's honest with herself– her initial reaction is that it is unfathomable to her in a way that Wonderland never really was.

Fascinating things abound, from the little box with moving, talking pictures (telly, Will said, didn't he?), to the larger ice-containing box that she'd seen when they'd stopped at Will's apartment briefly, to the treat called a "s'more" that she had been made to try when the "welcome back" party had somehow moved from the diner to the coast by the light of the stars and a fire (look, Alice, I already told you, it's biscuits and chocolate and toasted marshmallow and you have to taste it to understand). And the people seem happy enough, despite the explanations she's been given about the town existing due to a curse meant to tear away everyone's happiness and families and love.

For all that the place is strange, far removed from the English countryside in which she grew up, she thinks that maybe it's the sort of place she can grow accustomed to, eventually. Others have, after all – Will had wanted to get back here, been vocal about it early in their quest, and she's told the Hatter has made a life here as well. Graham had seemed to miss the place, once he joined them, although he was probably, if she's honest with herself, missing Emma more than the realm itself, missing Emma the way that she had missed Cyrus so long.

(But the town's strangeness breeds a particular and peculiar brand of homesickness like she's never felt; this world she's suddenly been thrust into is more foreign to her than even Wonderland ever was. She'd gone there for the first time as a child, after all, and with a child's imagination it had been easy to accept that other world as real, easy as breathing. This place and time, for all that it's less fantastical, less magical, than Wonderland, is almost harder to believe in. But England has not truly been home in a long time – no, her home is side by side with Cyrus, wherever they might be, from their hiding place in the Outlands to any adventure they can think of, from Wonderland to Storybrooke and anywhere else life might take them. The homesickness will fade, she's certain. She'll miss her father, and even somewhat the sister she'd just been getting to know, but she has missed her father her whole life, even when she was in the same realm, the same home as him, and Storybrooke is a chance to be someplace new, with Cyrus, someplace where no one is outright hunting them, and someplace where they have friends who will help them – for Will is her best friend, and then there are newer friendships to consider, people like Graham and Emma who they haven't known long but who are already well on their way to being more than just acquaintances. And this is a place where no one will accuse them of being crazy, of making Wonderland up, and she can't say that she will miss being hurt like that, can't say that she will miss not being believed in.)

So instead of thinking about her sudden and new situation, this world she finds herself in with the people she cares about most at her side, instead of letting that strange homesickness weigh her down, she throws herself into the search for her cousins. John and Michael need to know that Pan no longer holds Wendy, and it's doubtful that he would tell them such a thing himself, when they are in Storybrooke and not Neverland, where they could theoretically escape his influence if he no longer has his leverage.

(The fairy known as Tinker Bell is pessimistic about Wendy's loyalties, with her brothers still under Pan's sway, but Alice trusts her – she hadn't needed to tell them about the trap with the thinking tree, after all, and she had anyway, even though there was no guarantee that they would be able to escape Neverland with the boy they came for, no guarantee that they would succeed in any way, going up against the ruler of that place. And unlike with the man who used to be, claims to be Baelfire, she can still see the girl she knew shining brightly inside the Wendy that she sees now – spirit dimmed from being in that hopeless, dark place, but still perseverant enough to fight against the shadows.)

She helps Wendy and the woman known as Granny to coordinate the search; Wendy knows her brothers best, and Granny knows the town. She feels useless sitting with them and the map and using the so-called "walkie-talkie" (yet another of the new and fascinating things of this time that seems like magic but apparently is not) to relay locations they've narrowed down to the volunteers like Will and Cyrus and Baelfire who are out there actually doing something, but Wendy had asked her to stay, said that she'd feel more comfortable with someone she knew, and of course she'd given in. How could she not, knowing that the poor girl has been a prisoner, kept separate from her loved ones, for interminable time on that horrid island? Even only having been there a few days she still feels an enduring miasma of darkness, lingering just beyond the edge of the happiness and excitement that has prevailed amongst most everyone they've met since coming back from that place. The dark side of Wonderland is nothing compared to that perpetual night, that jungle.

She does not voice the fear she feels. That there will always be one more quest standing between her and Cyrus finally living happily ever after; first it was finding him, after believing him dead and giving up hope. Then it was helping Graham to find the taken child, because he helped her find Cyrus and because it would help reunite him with the one he loves, with his family that thought him dead the way she had thought her genie was, because she had decided to help him however she could when she found him in that cage, her heart aching at the parallel in their stories. Now, it's to help find John and Michael, her cousins.

But what happens then? They hadn't defeated any of their enemies. Not truly. Taking Cyrus out of Wonderland would slow Jafar down, but ultimately he would be on their trail again, though the Red Queen was unlikely to leave her realm just for whatever it was that Jafar promised her in partnership, leave Wonderland without someone on the throne, allow someone else to take her kingdom in her absence. And taking Henry out of Neverland would slow Pan down, but those words that the boy with the club had said to them,Peter Pan never fails, they ring through her head and while Cyrus is probably right that they were a mind game, there is a certain sense of foreboding. Of something dark on the horizon.

"What about this place, this- Troll bridge?" she points to the location on the map; it's in the woods, secluded enough. A good place to hide, as long as it's not heavily trafficked. And the R is scribbled onto the map, the word had been Toll, at some point, but the change doesn't indicate that whoever made it thought too positively on the location. Might be unpopular, particularly as she doubts there are actual trolls in Storybrooke. How could they have blended in during the curse that they've been told of, the time when no one remembered there was anything magical to speak of?

"Maybe," Wendy nods, "Though I doubt they'd want to stay in the woods after having spent so long in the Neverland jungle- Peter was harder on them than me. The cage you found me in was- A more recent development."

"It's not the most private location in town," Granny shakes her head, and for a moment Alice is discouraged by the reaction, "But if anyone's likely to be out there it's Snow and Charming, and the two of them were in Neverland when those boys you're looking for would've had to get here to escape notice."

Well, then. Maybe it does hold promise.

…

It's the library where Belle finds herself, rather than on the search for Wendy's brothers.

If she's honest with herself, she hadn't felt she could be useful in that endeavor. For the time they were all cursed she was locked away in the hospital's secret asylum, and since then she has done very little to make herself a part of the town, made a few friends but mostly stuck close to Red and to Rumplestiltskin. And some of that is Lacey, she knows, that new persona whose actions taste like bile in her throat when she thinks of them – but even though Lacey has a personality that is distinctly different from her own, memories of a life in Storybrooke, Lacey's so-called memories aren't as concrete as anything else in her head, more like an outline to form the personality around than actual false memories. A rough sketch, not a portrait. Not a whole other life, like she's heard some of the others call theirs.

So, feeling useless on that project, she had undertaken on a different one: researching the two villains they are most likely to face in the coming days, Pan and Jafar.

The stories in this world are… Less than accurate. Almost as soon as they'd become friends Red had sat her down and made her watch that… Cartoon that claimed to be her own story. Terribly incorrect, that, about the only thing it got right was her love of reading.

But not every book in her library is from this world. She's found quite a few tomes and spellbooks tucked away, and there must be some sort of record that they can use to their advantage, so they might know their enemy.

Pan is the easier to find mention of, in the books from home. Peter Pan, the Piper, the Shadow; by any name, by any guise, Neverland was stealing children for centuries. But that is something they knew, as is the fact unmentioned by the books that he was looking for the Truest Believer – and they know who that is, don't they? Henry, the boy they've just rescued from that realm, he is Peter Pan's goal. Because – Neverland's magic, fueled by belief, is running out?

And none of that helps. There are stories of children stolen in the night, children lured by music that only those that felt lost could hear, children of any age disappearing and it being blamed on that demonic bogeyman.

But nothing on how to fight him, what his weaknesses might be.

Jafar, on the other hand, takes all morning for her to find even one reference to.

And that one reference is a bit more promising, for all that it took her longer to gather – the knowledge that the serpent staff he carries is the source of at least half of his power; though no mention is made as to the why or how of it, the book in question, a listing of powerful users of magic dating back more than a century, is in Rumplestiltskin's own handwriting, and if anyone would know it would be him – but all the book says, in cryptic notation, are the words "I told her he was a poor choice of an apprentice." It may not be a clue to what Jafar wanted with Graham, what he wanted with Cyrus (and if the newcomer to town knows what Jafar wanted with him, so far he is not so forthcoming on that count), but it is a clue as to a way to make him more manageable of a threat – get the staff away from him. How that might be accomplished isn't clear, but they still have opportunity to prepare, no matter how much time feels like it's ticking out.

…

"Why didn't you ever put it back?" Cyrus asks, the question stopping Will in his tracks; he should have known that the genie would figure it out sooner or later, that he'd wasted the generosity Alice had shown in getting him his heart back.

He'd been hoping for later. Much later. Potentially never, later.

"Is now the time to be discussing this?" he knows he's deflecting instead of answering, but he doesn't think that Cyrus is likely to understand his reasons. Alice might, if he framed the heartbreak he never wanted to feel as something similar to what she went through believing that Cyrus was dead. But even that is… Somewhat doubtful. The pair of them are bloody hopeless romantics, always looking for the best in everything and everyone. "Alice and Wendy will be telling us the next place to look any minute now."

They've been roaming a housing district that Granny said was partially abandoned for the last hour or so; Hansel and Gretel had apparently snuck around without being noticed almost the entire curse, until Emma showed up and it started to splinter and the two kids got reunited with their father with the newly-elected Sheriff's help. Will hadn't even known that this part of town existed. As good a place to start as any, even if it has turned up nothing.

"From what I saw, you and Graham seemed to have developed a respect for each other rather quickly, a bond. And the only ways I can see you're similar are that you were cursed to this world… Or you both lost your hearts. But he has his back now, and you…"

"Never told him I had mine back in my chest. That I lost it, sure, even that Alice got it back from Cora. But I didn't lie to make him think we had something in common, if that's what you're saying." Because it feels like an accusation, and, okay, maybe it's a little merited, all things considered, but – he hadn't lied. He may be a thief, he may be a less-than-stellar person, he may have referred to himself as a bad guy when he was apologizing to Silvermist, trying to get her to let him go so he could still help Alice find her genie – but he wasn't about to lie to the man who arrested him for trying to steal a damn Funshine Bear for 28 years straight. After all, the Sheriff had seen him plead his false innocence enough times to know when he's full of it.

(Not to mention the fact that some-bloody-how he'd found he respected the man, some of it left over from the curse and actually being treated with dignity and kindness despite being a petty crook, and some of it new, from learning of their similarity, how they'd both been forced into doing terrible things because someone else literally held their hearts, could command them or kill them on a whim and they'd be helpless not to follow the orders no matter how much they tried to fight it. So, really, it'd been a combination of the factors that Cyrus is talking about having created that new friendship that's almost unsettling to him, the thief and the Sheriff.)

(And not to mention, if there's one thing he's boasted for a long time, he may be a thief – but he's not a liar.)

"So answer the question. Why didn't you ever put it back?"

"I knew what I'd feel if I did. Didn't want to feel it. Kept putting it off. Got used to the empty, after a while. It was easier, feeling nothing." And then along had come the curse and he hadn't remembered that there was anything missing, and barely a day after it was broken the White Rabbit had come and dragged him off to Alice to help her get Cyrus back. And she'd promised him a wish for helping in her quest, acted like she thought a bribe was the only way to get him to help.

(And, to be honest, it probably was the best way. He hadn't wanted to be back in Wonderland, at all, ever again. Storybrooke is downright luxury compared to that place, curse to rip away happy endings included. But Alice is his best mate and he might have given in and helped even if the wish hadn't been in it for him. It just would have taken a lot more of yelling at himself not to leave her alone in that damn place. He did owe her for stealing his heart back from Cora, after all, even if – no, especially since he hasn't used it properly. She'd held that over his head too, said it was his turn to help get her heart back, and he might not have liked the tone she took but he still knew she was right. Thing is, he wouldn't have followed the Rabbit at all for anyone other than her. He hated Wonderland too much to get dragged back for anyone else. But for her, for Alice? He'd go to the ends of all the realms.)

The walkie at his hip statics before Cyrus can respond, Alice's voice coming through, sending one of the other groups to the Troll Bridge – Hook and Ruby are Team Three, if he recalls correctly – he and Cyrus are Team One, and he continues to listen as those two acknowledge their new assignment, until finally-

"Team One? Granny thinks the cannery might be a good place for the boys to hide."

"On our way," he confirms, before indicating the direction they'll be going to Cyrus with a tilt of his head. There will be time to discuss his lack of a heart later, since he can't imagine that it's been dropped this quickly, but for now – for now there's more important things to do. Like finding John and Michael, so that Alice will be satisfied enough to take a break from the sudden constant questing she's doing – must find Cyrus, must help find Henry, must find John and Michael, the non-stop searching can't be good for her stress levels, especially after having been in that damn asylum with her spirit broken (he'd seen her there, heard her call him not real, watched her willing not to fight, and he'd hated it, hated that place, just for doing that to her – hadn't needed his heart for that). She needs to let herself breathe, and the sooner they find these missing cousins of hers the sooner she'll be able to do just that – even if he has to get Belle or Ruby or somebody that infectiously cheery to force her to. Even if he has to ask them nicely.

…

Henry knows he's supposed to stay with his grandparents, after lunch. Emma and Graham are busy at the station, and his dad is helping with the search for John and Michael Darling, and his other mom has a research project she's working on with Gold at his shop, something they won't talk about, or at least won't talk to him about. They'd probably told someone what they were doing, though, because otherwise an angry mob might have formed at the suggestion of them working together on something. He's not oblivious enough to think that most of the town trusts either one of them alone, let alone both of them together.

So, he's with his grandparents. But as much as he loves Mary Margaret and David, he doesn't like feeling babysat.

He knows what's going on. No one says it, but he'd have to be dumb not to realize they're worried about Peter Pan coming after him again. He gets it. He'd had nightmares about that island last night, about being back there, and it had felt so real, real like the burning room after the sleeping curse.

He's scared too. Pan had tricked him into ripping out his own heart. That's- Pretty terrifying to look back on, and it was only days ago.

But just because he's scared, doesn't mean he's stopped wanting to be a hero. Bravery doesn't mean fearlessness. And there's got to be something he can do, even while being watched, right?

So, he might sneak out the back of Granny's diner and into the library. The wolf follows him, like it has been all day, and he's okay with that. It helps him feel safe and Loup's presence isn't as smothering as staying under the constant eye of his grandparents. He's used to the library being abandoned, because it has been his whole life, but Belle is there, sitting on the floor with books spread out around her as she flips through them and takes notes in a little notebook she's holding.

She's the librarian, now, he's known that vaguely but it hasn't been long. Only since the curse was broken, and not including the time she didn't have her memories.

"Hi," he sits down just outside her ring of books, and she looks up to him with a smile and curiosity in her eyes. "What're you doing?"

"I'm looking for information about Pan or Jafar. Some of the books around here are from the Enchanted Forest, and I thought they might help, but so far I haven't found much."

He nods, because he understands. Belle's doing the same thing as he is, trying to help somehow. And he appreciates that she's actually willing to tell him what she's doing, instead of treating him like a kid who won't understand.

"Can I help?"

He loves to read. Even before he got the book that told him about the curse, reading was always the best escape from the pain he felt, from believing his mom didn't love him and from wondering if he was going crazy because it seemed like he was the only thing in town that ever changed at all, the only one of his classmates ever getting older, the only person that could see what was right in front of them all – that nothing was right with Storybrooke.

This might not be reading for fun, more like reading for a school project, but if it will help – he can do it. He will do it, if he's allowed.

"Does anyone know you're here, Henry?" Belle answers his question with her own instead of actually saying whether or not he can help. Of course she would. Belle's perceptive, and he hasn't been out of anyone's sight since they got back, except to sleep. But he'd walked in here on his own.

"I may have snuck away," he admits, sighing. He could have tried to lie, might have any other day, but right now he doesn't have the energy. She's probably gonna call someone now, and they'll come get him and pick him up, and he'll be back being babysat instead of potentially helping.

"I don't have a problem with you helping me," she starts, and she looks serious but her words make him smile a little anyway. "But before we start, we are going to call Emma and get her permission, and then we are going to call whoever is supposed to be watching you and let them know where you are so they aren't worried. Fair?"

He thinks it over. It probably was pretty terrible of him to sneak off like he did, this soon after getting kidnapped. He hadn't paused to consider the consequences, he'd just done it, and he didn't mean to hurt his grandparents but- Yeah, he can't imagine he didn't at least scare them. Which makes him feel terrible, to realize. And what if they called someone else when they realized he wasn't in the diner anymore? He doesn't want to draw people away from their important stuff just by being selfish. That's not what a hero does.

"Yeah," he agrees, "Fair."

…

After nearly the entire day, it's Tinkerbell and Baelfire that find John and Michael, in the end. Trying to sneak into the mines, for reasons unknown. The boys attempt to hold a gun to the two who find them, but Alice quickly places the walkie-talkie they'd both been taught how to use for this search in Wendy's hands, and when her cousin calls out to the brothers – they hear.

The reunion takes place in the town square, Wendy reintroducing her brothers to Baelfire, the four siblings joining in a hug, a moment, and Alice thinks she should bow out, even if she is family, technically, it all feels like she's an intruder, where she doesn't belong, but before she can-

"And, John, Michael, you'll never believe who rescued me from that cage! It was Alice, our cousin Alice! And she had that White Rabbit with her, the one she always spoke of in her stories!" the fourteen-year-old tugs on her hand, pulls her forward, and oh, it's odd, to see the boys older than their sister, older than her. Younger than Baelfire, still, but it only serves to highlight the way things have changed for them, for all of them. Herself included.

"Hello, boys," she forces herself to smile, "It's been longer for you than for me, I should think." Before she was placed in Bethlem, before she even went to Wonderland on the search for proof that lead her to Will and to Cyrus. But to her, that's only a few years, if that. They have been in and out of Neverland for at least a century, didn't bypass that time the way that she did. Have so many years behind their eyes that she will never truly understand.

(Wendy's captivity must have started either before or not long after her return to Wonderland, judging by the fact that she's the same age as when last Alice saw her, and when she came back having lost Cyrus her father was remarried and Millie was- the age she'd been when she first went to Wonderland, or thereabouts. She never did ask for the specifics. Time works differently between realms, she'd learned that, it was how the Rabbit could open his portals to her time or to Storybrooke or to whenever he wanted, really. He didn't always have the best aim, since he never returned her to shortly after she left before. Months, the first time. Years, the second. But John and Michael's captivity? When had that started? Had they known Millie, known about her return and her stay in Bethlem? Or had they already been gone as well?)

"What were you doing in Neverland, Alice?" the glasses he wears are the only way she knows it's John that's asked the question; so bizarre. To look at these men, and know who they are, and yet see strangers.

"I was helping a friend, one who helped me in Wonderland," the simple explanation is all she's willing to part with, for now. It would take ages to catch them up on everything that's happened that lead her to be there in that dark realm. "Pan had kidnapped-"

"The Truest Believer?" Michael interrupts, and he sounds halfway like he's about to panic; but why? The two of them are out of Pan's clutches now, surely? They can run, if they really fear the battle that she's fairly convinced is to come, all things considered, "There's only been the one kidnapping, recently, and we know- We know it's the right kid, the one he's been looking for all this time. You were there to help the Truest Believer?"

"To help a friend rescue him," she corrects; she hadn't known Henry personally, yet. It hadn't mattered. Her nature is to help people, if she can. She knows that. She'd learned to be a warrior and protect herself, and she's good at it, but it's helping she's always done best. Helping Will get his heart back, helping Cyrus experience adventures outside the bottle, helping Graham out of that cage and back to his home and family, helping Wendy find her brothers again. Helping.

"Alice," John groans, and it almost sounds like an admonishment. Does he really believe that it's his right to scold her? No matter the years he has seen that she had not, she is a grown woman, makes her own decisions. Even Bethlem had been her choice, in the end. "Why would you get involved? Wendy told you about Peter in her letter, didn't she? You would have been safe, but now you'll be on his list-"

"I got involved because it was the right thing to do, John," she stands strong, stands her ground, her spine steel, like her blade; she will not break from being chided like a child. Only losing Cyrus had ever broken her, and this- This is nothing, compared to that. "Because I could help. I am not afraid of villains, I have been standing up to them since the first time I stepped foot in Wonderland." And though she may not have done much, as a child, there had been a reason the Queen of Hearts hated her enough to tell her men that she was a thief and a murderer, there was a reason that she had been branded the most dangerous criminal in Wonderland, a death sentence upon her head, when all she had done was pick a flower, when she had been a lone traveler only seeking to take back proof that the other world existed. "I will continue to stand up to them as long as I am able."

(And now, all this time later? She's even more likely to charge headfirst into a battle, if she believes in it. She cannot force others to suffer so she can be safe, cannot stand aside and allow people be hurt if she can do something about it. It goes against everything within her.)

"I will not be safe at the cost of anyone else. That's who I am. Someone who fights."

John looks horrified at the telling off. Michael still looks like he's trying to not panic about her being involved in the rescue of the Truest Believer. Baelfire- Baelfire is hiding his face, like there is something in her words that reminds him of something of which he's ashamed. Wendy… Wendy looks on her in admiration – and if she can inspire someone to be selfless and brave, then that is an accomplishment she will be quite proud of.

"Alice," Cyrus lets out her name soft, almost a warning, "They've been prisoners a long time. It's only natural they might still be afraid."

(Cyrus is the one who speaks to calm her, but it's the Knave's hand on her arm that pulls her away from the confrontation, forcing her to take a step back, the brother she'd found in Wonderland, her partner in crime because the best thieves never work alone – he's the one that actually manages to calm her. As much sense as Cyrus' words make, as much as he too has recently been prisoner for a long time and would understand them in that way, John's words and tone make it hard for her to look at the situation with such rational eyes.)

"You think Pan is still coming?" she is quiet, now, forcing herself to be serene in the face of the anger she still feels at the way her cousins have reacted to the situation as it stands, "Fine. I don't doubt you've reason to believe that. I think- I think I may believe it as well." Does believe it. Doesn't want to worry any of the others that she's being paranoid. "If you're afraid, why don't you just run? Take Wendy and get out of this town. Into that world, where there is no magic, where he won't be able to find you as easily. But if he is, I am going to stay and fight. Because it's right, so I have to."

(She hates to walk away from her family, but staying and fighting further will only be worse in the long run, damage any bond that might still be there. She doesn't have to look to know that Cyrus and Will are behind her. Whether her cousins stay or not is up to them. She cannot force it, would not dream to. They must come to their own decision, and she must stay out of it until then.)

…

Somehow, despite the problem of the missing Darling brothers being resolved, Storybrooke's tensions run even higher.

Graham may not excel at reading people, but it hangs heavy in the atmosphere of the town after the fallout, Alice walking away because her cousins disapproved of her choice to fight Pan. Most of the town might not know or care who she is – she's barely been in town two days, after all – but it had been very public and worse; it had been about someone they all know to worry about. Neverland was the most feared of all the realms for a reason.

In the twilight, sitting next to Emma in the privacy of the cruiser, the worries of the town are palpable, but in a far more personal and terrifying way. Henry is the target, if the demon comes back, comes to Storybrooke in person to try and achieve his twisted ends. John and Michael had confirmed it as they told everything they knew of what Pan wanted.

(Immortality. He intended to use the Heart of the Truest Believer to gain some sort of immortality, to fuel Neverland's magic for the rest of time. John and Michael had nearly gotten to Henry at the adoption agency when he was a baby, and if they had Pan would have raised the child like a lamb to the slaughter, to believe in him and be willing to die for him. The idea of the boy he loves so much living that life terrifies him more than he'd like to admit, even knowing how unfit a mother Regina was, how Storybrooke was never a place that a child should call home.)

And then the boys had talked their sister into packing a bag and leaving town, because they could, they could run from the demon that had controlled their life for so many years, and as much as Wendy had argued for them to stand by Alice and fight – the whole town had witnessed that, after Alice walked away, Wendy had argued that Henry was family and they should fight for him, had argued that Pan had kept them all afraid long enough, but her arguments had fallen on deaf ears – he could not fault them for that. More hands on their side would be good, but those three have been prisoners for so long that begrudging them their chance to escape would be impossible.

Even if the stakes had been different, in his prison, in his service, he absolutely knows that they're lucky to so much as get that chance. He would have taken it, if he'd had a similar opportunity.

"I'm surprised he didn't come today," Emma voices, breaking him out of his thoughts, of cages and chances that never came. "While we were distracted. While he knew he still had agents on the inside."

"There's something brewing," he agrees. Everyone had known it even before the results of the search confirmed it.

She reaches over, finding his hand. In the gesture, he feels what she cannot voice right now; whatever happens, in the coming days, they will weather the tempest together. All the crises and quests they've handled apart from each other – those have been hard. This? No matter what it is, no matter how drawn-out and difficult the fight, it will be the easier for having each other, for bearing the weight side-by-side.

"We should set up patrols, for overnight, get volunteers." Belle and Henry had managed to find that when Pan left Neverland to steal away children, it was always in the night, without exception. Henry had been abducted during the day, but by proxy, by people whose goals were directly aligned against Pan's, the destruction of magic. How he had convinced them that he was on their side was something they would never know, but it accounted for the discrepancy in the kidnapping.

"I think most of the willing volunteers have been working all day at the search," he reminds, gently. Beyond the royal family's inner circle, most of the town seems to carry on as though nothing has changed, in the breaking of the curse. As though Storybrooke is still… Storybrooke.

Though, the royal family's inner circle is larger here than it ever was in the old world, even Doctor Whale seemingly on the periphery. Upon their return the man had stared at him unsettlingly, but said nothing – and he only seemed to be on the fringe at all because of Red, Ruby, who he lingered near at last night's party.

"After the curse was broken, Michael Tillman said I could ask him for help, if I needed, since I helped him get his kids back," she says. He remembers Tillman – the woodsman, the one that Regina held to get his children to go into the home of the Blind Witch and retrieve the cursed apple she had used on Snow. Banished to the Endless Forest, along with the children, after the deed was done. "I think he'd be concerned enough about Pan getting to them too. Jefferson – he was always watching the whole town anyway, during the curse, and Henry is friends with his daughter. If we can get Alice to talk to him, she said they were friends…" Alice had mentioned that, in passing, but Emma had told him about the man's kidnapping of herself and Snow, and he doesn't like the idea of asking for help like all is forgiven. Further suggestions are made slowly, a pause between them each, and he recognizes her hesitance for what it is – trying to decide who in town has the most reason and ability to help, who they know well enough. "Leroy and the other dwarves, maybe? Archie? I think David said Sean wanted to do more around town to help, but he might be making up for lost time with Ashley and Alexandra."

"Let's get started asking, then," he agrees once she's quiet long enough that she's probably run out of names.

…

Will had known the Hatter was taken by the curse; before, however, the moment that Charming drops him and Alice and Cyrus off to see the man, directions to the house on the hill given to him by Sheriff Swan, he hadn't known that there had been a bloody mansion involved.

(He'd volunteered to tag along on Alice's trip to see if the Hatter could keep an eye out for Pan overnight so as not to be stuck back in the conversation with Cyrus about why he still doesn't have his heart in his chest. Then Cyrus had volunteered too, because, well, the Hatter was considered Mad for a reason. Letting Alice go in alone? There wasn't a chance in the world, no matter how close she'd thought them, no matter how good she was at defending herself, no matter how stubborn she'd always proved to be.)

A little girl answers the door – well, not little, definitely at an age that would protest being called little. Young. Not quite a teenager, probably around the age of the kid they just rescued in Neverland – and he thinks back to all the Hatter's frenzied mutterings about getting it to work for Grace and thinks that maybe Jefferson will be better, now, if he'd got back to what he was trying to find.

"Hi," the girl smiles up at their trio, a little wary, but mostly kind. Something in her eyes actually reminds him of Alice, a little. He hadn't met her on her first trip to Wonderland; is this what she would have been like?

"Hello," Alice greets, "We're looking for- Jefferson. The Hatter, I hear that Jefferson is what he goes by here. And we were told this was where he's been living?"

The girl smiles, nodding quickly. "I can get him," she's enthusiastic, even in the face of total strangers. More trusting than he would have been at that age, so soon after he'd run away feeling the guilt of Penny's death. "Papa!" she turns back inside, leaving the door open as she calls and starts walking, "You have guests, Papa!"

Despite being uninvited, Alice steps across the threshold of the mansion; she'd done the same when she thought Cyrus was at the Hatter's place when they first got to Wonderland looking for him, he remembers, but this is a very different circumstance and he wonders at the action. Is she really so comfortable with the Hatter?

Still, he exchanges a look with Cyrus and follows her. They're all here for the same reason, after all, and waiting on the porch while she just walks straight in will get nothing done. It especially won't protect her, if she needs it – although even he will admit that she's more likely to protect them than the other way around. The Hatter and the Knave had never gotten along well, during that time when the Knave was the only identity Will really had in Wonderland.

He almost doesn't recognize the man that appears at the girl's summons. His clothes are darker, less flamboyant, his hair trimmed and neat, nothing out of place; only the high cravat to hide the beheading scar looks even remotely similar to how the man was in Wonderland, when he was making hats upon hats and rambling near-incoherently.

His eyes are far more lucid than they ever were there, though, and they flick between all three of his visitors before settling on Will himself.

"What are you doing here, Knave?"

"I'm her back-up," he inclines his head in Alice's direction. "She don't rightly need it, much better with a blade than I'll ever be, but they always say it's the thought that counts."

"Or safety in numbers," Cyrus adds. "With your reputation for not being completely sane to account for."

"That too," Will agrees, though he wouldn't have outright said it himself. Mad Hatter was more of a whisper behind the man's back. To his face, it was just Hatter. Not that anyone would have briefed the genie on that piece of Wonderland etiquette, if they'd never met in that world.

"Hatter?" Alice speaks, and the man's brow knits in confusion. "I know we haven't spoken since I was a child, but I did believe we were friends, and Emma thought, if I asked, you might be willing to help keep an eye out for- For Peter Pan."

The Hatter is studying Alice, looking at her closely, and Will can practically feel how uncomfortable it's making Cyrus. But a few moments after she says Pan's name, he seems to compose himself.

"Alice?" he asks, as though he can't quite believe his eyes.

"Yes," she agrees, "It's me."

"Papa, I thought you said Alice was a girl. Like me," the child that must be Grace questions.

"I was, when I first went to Wonderland," Alice is bright as she turns her attention from the father to the child, bright in a way that he hasn't quite seen her be since getting her out of the asylum. Closer to the best friend he knew. "Younger than you, even. Then I went home, and grew up a bit, and went back. But I didn't get to see your father on that second trip."

"What's this about Pan?" the Hatter interrupts, drawing Alice's attention back. But Will still watches her, because he's still sure she needs a break, is looking to make sure she doesn't… Start to shatter. He'd seen her broken, in a way Cyrus doesn't know to even look out for. She'd been holding herself together with sheer stubborn will ever since they arrived in Wonderland. He won't let her run herself into the ground. After they're done here, he may just bodily drag her and Cyrus to Tony's and lift an unsuspecting wallet to pay for the two them to have a night out. He is seriously considering it.

"He's after Emma's son. We're looking for volunteers to keep watch during the night, since that's when Pan usually strikes. A lot of the people who would look have been out searching all day for my cousins, and it didn't seem fair to ask them to give up their night as well. Emma said you watch the town anyway, so maybe if a friend asked, you might help. That's why I'm here."

"Peter Pan is after Henry? Papa, you have to help," the girl turns wide eyes to her father, looks like a puppy in the way that she begs.

"I think I do owe you for keeping a madman company so often," Jefferson's agreement is soft, barely heard. A hand pets through his daughter's hair absently, "And for helping him keep sight on what he was trying to get back to. If I see anything, I'll call it in. And perhaps, sometime, you can come and explain to me why exactly you would return to Wonderland after getting out successfully. I always warned you never to look back if you got the chance to leave."

"And it was, perhaps, the best advice about Wonderland I ever ignored, but if I hadn't returned I never would have met Cyrus." Her hand reaches for her genie's and he clasps it tightly, a reminder Will doesn't need that he'd done the right thing in following the Rabbit for the two of them. He couldn't stand the decision he'd made at first, when there was no proof that Cyrus really was alive and it seemed like they were on a wild goose chase, when he felt like he'd dragged her back to feel that pain of losing her True Love all over again – except at the same time, he knew he couldn't have just left Alice in bloody Bethlem, either. Would've brought her back to Storybrooke instead of letting her go back there, if the whole thing really had been fruitless.

But now? He knows that it's one of the few decisions he's ever made that he should be proud over. Would be proud over, if he could.

"You'll have to tell me all about it."

…

There is no news from any of the overnight volunteers; the calm worries Emma more than anything.

It doesn't feel right, hasn't felt right, and while Pan might have told her that he always kept his promises and she could have Henry back if she managed to rescue him, she doesn't actually believe it. Her lie detector had stayed quiet, like it was true, but the fact is? With his other favorite saying being that Peter Pan never fails, she's fairly convinced there's a backup plan.

And that's what makes her feel like whatever it is that's building, it's somehow going to be… Disastrous. Possibly more so than anything else that she's faced since coming to town. And that's including the fact that she fought a dragon when there wasn't supposed to be any magic in Storybrooke at all.

But it's noon. It's the third full day back. And so far… Nothing.

Until the station door opens, and instead of Ruby with the lunch delivery they're expecting, it's Ashley, Alexandra in her arms, looking scared as hell.

Which is probably not a good sign, all things considered.

"Ashley?" She's quick to adopt her most soothing tone – they won't get anything useful if the teenager is in a panic. "What happened, what's wrong?"

"We saw them," she lets out, and Emma can tell that she's on the verge of tears; this isn't good, is it? "Thomas- Sean and I were taking Alexandra and going on a picnic in the woods. There were voices, when we got near the well. And through the trees- I didn't recognize the teenager, but it had to be Pan, it had to-"

"You said them," Graham prompts, gently, and Ashley looks between them both. "Who was with him?"

"Thomas, his kingdom used to trade with Agrabah, and I wasn't in the royal family long before the curse, but, there were times when it came up. And— Jafar was with Pan. And they were talking about- A way for both of them to get everything they wanted."

Oh, hell no.

"Did you hear any of their plans?"

Ashley nods, looks like she's about to burst into tears, "Thomas went to tell Snow and James, we heard- Pan wants to cast the Dark Curse again, they were talking about- About Jafar stealing it from Regina's vault, and Pan casting it."

(And if they couldn't be stopped – then what would happen? If the town fights until the curse is cast and then they don't get the chance to escape… Then it can't be broken, can it? They're going to have to hurry, to have any hope of fighting this threat, aren't they?)

She looks at Graham, finds his eyes on her. They need to decide what to do with this information. Quickly. Not a moment to waste.

"You said Sean went to tell my parents?" she asks. If that's true, it's at least one thing sped up.

Ashley nods, holding her daughter a little closer. Emma thinks about what the curse was for the young princess, stuck without her True Love for 28 years, believing that she was going to have to give her baby up to Gold as soon as the kid was born. She's sure it's on Ashley's mind too, those memories, that loneliness and hopelessness.

And if it's really the Dark Curse they have to fear, then the title of Savior weighs heavily upon her shoulders once again. She's the one who can stop it, her DNA written into the Curse itself. She just has to make sure she does a better job this time than last time.

"Okay. If Jafar's part of this, Alice and Cyrus need to know – you said he was targeting them, right Graham?"

"He was," Graham agrees, "I'll call Jack. He'll either be with them or know where they are."

That's one concern taken care of, at least, but there's more to be done, and it absolutely does not help that her phone is ringing- But the caller ID says it's Mary Margaret, so unless it's like yesterday and Henry has given her and David the slip again, which it shouldn't be, since he was supposed to be at the library with Belle – it had kept him out of trouble and feeling helpful yesterday, so it hadn't seemed like too bad of an idea to let it happen again today – it's at least a possibility to delegate more tasks.

"Emma?" Mary Margaret doesn't even let her get in a word before she's speaking, "Thomas said Ella went to tell you, he said that they saw-"

"Yeah, Ashley's here," she interrupts, quickly, they don't need to rehash this fact. "Graham and I are trying to figure out what to do. In the meantime, I think you should call Regina and get her to make sure her vault is secure." However much she might not want to work with the Evil Queen, necessity demands it; she's the best one to try and keep Jafar away from the Curse, simply because she knows where it is. And having Mary Margaret call her at least delays having an actual interaction with the woman.

"Yes, of course!" her friend-turned-mother sounds almost frantic as she hangs up; of course, she has every right to be. This is not some sort of drill, it's an actual emergency. Storybrooke seems to run emergency to emergency since the curse was broken, but that's not the point.

She picks up the keys to the cruiser from the desk, knowing that staying in the station will not help at all, but not knowing where to head. There are villains in the woods. Okay. Well, driving out there and confronting them – assuming they can still be found at the well, and haven't hidden away somewhere – is probably a bad idea. She's still untrained in her magic, and Jafar at least is a sorcerer who must know what he's doing.

Gold probably needs to know about this, since he's the most powerful ally they've got, and she's about to dial his store when she recalls the words he spoke only two days ago - the two of you will be able to take Henry and leave town should Pan become a threat again and, possibly more importantly, keep my grandson away from Pan no matter what – and she knows that it might just come down to that, to getting out of Storybrooke with Graham and Henry.

"Get your jacket on, Graham," she orders, because that's the only way he can cross the town line, and then she's dialing the library instead of the pawn shop.

"Storybrooke Library," Belle answers the phone, "How may I help you?"

"Belle, it's Emma. I need to talk to Henry for a minute, and then I need you to take him back to the loft."

"Of course, I'll give him the phone right now."

There's a pause, and she can feel herself holding her breath. Every second that they waste is their window of opportunity growing shorter. "Mom?"

"Henry, Belle's going to take you back to the loft. I need you to pack a bag. Just in case- They've spotted Pan, and Jafar, and getting out of town might end up being our only option." She won't lie to him, not about this. And they need to be ready, if the last resort ends up being necessary.

"We can't leave Graham, mom," Henry pleads, and if she wasn't in action mode, she might almost be in tears from it, from Henry being so afraid to lose the man they just got back- It brings to mind how terrified he had been when Graham died, how he'd wanted to give up on breaking the curse just so no one else would get hurt, and she doesn't need to be in that frame of mind right now, can't afford to think about everything they've missed.

"We won't have to, Gold thought ahead about that, Graham just has to wear his jacket and he can cross the town line, I just told him to put in on, he's coming with us. And hopefully we won't have to leave at all, but if we do, I need you to be ready."

"Okay," Henry agrees, "But we're gonna try and stop them first, right?"

"Of course we are, Henry. That's what we do."

…

"So. That was Graham," Will says as he closes the handheld device he claimed to be a telephone. "Jafar has been spotted out in the woods. With Pan. Since you two are known targets…"

He doesn't need to fill in the rest of his sentence. Alice understands immediately. Since they're known targets, Graham had thought they should be warned. It makes sense. More sense than the fact that Jafar is apparently with Pan. How would the two have even met? Unless by coincidence as they arrived in this realm, maybe? The idea doesn't feel right, but it's the only one she can think of that settles at all.

"We have to help," she says. "It's our battle to fight." Jafar has been targeting them, not the rest of the town. They can't just run away from that. He'll be here because he thinks it's where they've escaped to from Wonderland. She doesn't know how he would have figured that out, when there are so many realms that it could have been, Agrabah and Oz and the Enchanted Forest that Will comes from and even her own time, and probably so many more that she's never heard tell of. But it doesn't matter, not really. He's in town. The fight has arrived.

(Unless he's here for Graham? He'd said that Jafar had been there when he awoke in the prison they'd found him in. But they have much less of an idea what his intent was, there, and how would he know that Graham had found his way home?)

"I was afraid you were gonna say that," Will mutters, and she glares at the Knave for a moment; he knows her well enough to know that it's no choice. But after a pause, he speaks again- "And you, Cyrus? You feel the same way?"

She looks to him, the man she loves, the one who has been in a cell under that man's thumb for so long. He had expressed an understanding for why her cousins might run from Pan, and she realizes now that he might have been speaking for himself, as well. Worries, that maybe things have changed, that they aren't as in tune as they once were. He isn't a coward, but being imprisoned is worse than death to him, and that is what Jafar had done, locked him in a cage no better than a bottle. She understands that he might well be wary. She just – doesn't know for sure.

"I do feel the same," he agrees, and a knot of her tension washes away. "I'm just not sure what we can do to help foil him except remove ourselves from the situation. Alice, he can still attempt to force you to wish, here. Storybrooke has magic, within the town line. If we crossed it, then even your wishes wouldn't work, because I wouldn't be connected to the magic to grant them."

His argument makes sense, it does. She doesn't believe that there's anything that can be done to her that would force her to wish, though, no amount of pain she wouldn't suffer, for Cyrus. And at least if Jafar's attention is on her, then it might buy time for others to come up with a plan, to stop him.

But she can see the fear in Cyrus' eyes, knows how hard he has always worked to keep her safe, what he'd given up for their haven in the Outlands, the little home that it's now looking like they'll never see again.

And she doesn't know how to reassure him.

"He needs my wishes. He can't steal them, and he can't kill me. Anything else, I can put up with." They don't feel like the right words, not at all. But no matter how she searches her mind to solve this particular riddle, she can't find the right words. These, inadequate though they are, are all she has, and will have to make do.

"It's your decision to make, Alice, I will always support your decision. But I would like to point out that just because you can deal with whatever he throws at you, doesn't mean you should have to. And that I would hate to see you hurt because of me, because of someone after my power, again."

"He wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for us. We brought him on this town. I can't run, not when there are people we care about that are stuck here. Will can't cross the town line, and Jafar wanted him dead for helping me find you." This isn't a fight, she knows, because he already said that he would follow her lead. There's no need to argue with him. But she needs to know that he understands why she's decided the way she has, decided to stay and help when they are perfectly capable of following his suggestion and taking the wishes out of Jafar's grasp, just by stepping across the town line, and that would be a way of fighting, of protecting others from the sorcerer getting his hands on the power of having three wishes.

"Don't make this about me, Alice," Will's tone is warning, and she looks back to him. Don't make it about him? It already is, whether he wants to hear it or not.

"You're my best friend. You saved me from Bethlem, gave me hope again. I wouldn't have found Cyrus without you." Wouldn't even have known to return to Wonderland and look, would have let herself forget them both in order to live without that pain. "How can I leave you behind?"

Not just her best friend. Her brother, someone that believes in her. And that makes it all the more important she protect him. She can't lose either of them, Will or Cyrus. Not now that she has them back.

"You don't bloody owe me. More like the other way around, still. So If I'm what's keeping you here- Don't let me."

How can he say that? How can he accuse that this is all about the repayment of debts, to her? How can he speak like he's worthless, when he's one of the few people in the world that she trusts?

"You may believe that Alice does not owe you, Will," Cyrus speaks before she can, before she can protest his putting things into such apathetic terms, "But I'm afraid I do, for making it possible that we could find each other again. She's right. We can't leave you behind to face Jafar when he wouldn't care about you at all if we- If I hadn't been involved."

…

Logically, David knows at least some of the reasons that Emma asked Snow to be the one to get Regina to secure her vault. It needs to be done, and the only person possibly better equipped to do it would be Gold, and the Dark One's energies are probably best devoted elsewhere – they've got a powerful sorcerer and a demented immortal teenager on their hands, after all. Their own most powerful magic-user is going to be necessary, more than likely. Regina will be on their side, however reluctantly, because Pan is after Henry, and Snow will still be the one most prone to patience with her stepmother, as she always has been.

But, he's less sure about the reasons why he's the one approaching Blue. It had been Snow's idea, for him to head to the convent and talk to the leader of the fairies. But Blue has always shown a clear preference towards the side of the family that's actually royal, towards Snow herself.

Not that that fact prevents Nova from chattering away at him, as she leads him towards the Mother Superior's office, but he can't quite find it in him to respond beyond making a few sounds of acknowledgment where they seem appropriate.

There's something wrong, in the convent, something dark, he can feel the chill on his neck, and—

The office door is ajar. Nova's voice trails off when she sees it, and her cheery countenance turns to concern. Not fear, not yet, but she hasn't seemed to pick up on whatever it is that's stalking these halls yet. And a door ajar doesn't necessarily indicate that there's something to fear. It could be nothing worse than an ill-fitting doorframe.

(It's not, though, is it?)

He puts himself in front, between Nova and whatever it is that awaits them, pushes open the door further, and-

Blue is in the office, but she's not- She won't be talking, anytime soon. She's turned to stone, a statue looking towards the open door in what appears to have been abject horror. And that means it was either Pan or Jafar, their newest foes, which means they had a reason to target the Blue Fairy. She must have presented a threat to them, somehow.

"Oh, no," Nova reaches out, almost touching her mentor's stone form. She looks absolutely terrified, now. "I know this spell, it's dark magic, considered by many a fate worse than death. If we had pixie dust, we could reverse it. But pixie dust is different than the fairy dust we can get out of the mines, stronger, and I don't know where there is any. Neverland used to have it, but not since Pan got there. He took it all, dried up the supply. Once the realm went dark, it couldn't produce any more."

Add it to the growing list of things to be dealt with, then. Protect the town and defeat the villains and find a way to bring the Blue Fairy back from being turned to stone.

"I'm going to see Gold," he tells the fairy. If anyone has a way to help, it's him, and though the Dark One and fairies historically do not get along, maybe he'll be willing to put aside the feud for now, like he did with Hook when they went to Neverland.

(He wants to tell her to call Emma and tell her about this development. But what's the point, really? They know who they're fighting, who had to have done this. There's nothing to investigate, and doing so will only waste time they don't have.)

He makes his way back out of the convent on his own, makes his way to his truck and to the pawn shop faster than the speed limit might technically allow. Emma and Graham and Graham's friends from Wonderland are already there, and the atmosphere is… Tense, really.

"The best way to stop Pan would be to get the Black Fairy's wand – I would be able to use it to summon our enemies to us. Unfortunately, that's in the hands of the Mother Superior," Gold is explaining when he steps up to the group. "However, the Blue Fairy is highly unlikely to give up such a powerful item just because I said it was necessary."

"She's not in any position to give anything up anyway," David shakes his head. "Snow sent me to ask for her help. Blue has been turned to stone. Nova says pixie dust will reverse it, but she doesn't know where to get any."

"Tinkerbell has a vial," Alice says, "Wendy gave it to her before she and the boys left."

"Okay," Emma says, "So that's how you can help. Get Tink and get that pixie dust to the Mother Superior. See if she'll give you the Black Fairy's wand in return." Alice is nodding and turning to go practically before Emma has finished speaking – does she even know where she's headed, her two constant companions on her heels? Well, at least they're all willing to help, in this. He doesn't have any trouble believing that there are those in town who would rather just ignore the fight that's been brought to them, unfortunately. "Gold- Is that really the best information you've got?"

"It's the most relevant information, dearie. We don't yet know how desperate the situation truly is. We'll have to wait until we know if Regina is capable of securing her vault before we determine anything else to do."

…

Cyrus has been a genie for more than a century, has been in too many realms and seen too much magic – both since his transformation, and taught to him by his mother as a boy – to be anything less than wary in situations where he's facing magic he's never seen before.

The Dark Curse that created Storybrooke and permeates every inch of the town is the single most foreign magic he's ever seen, and he's been on edge since they first arrived in this place, before their brief stop in Neverland. Returning had only caused the anxiety to increase.

Oh, the curse is broken, that cannot be denied, but it still lingers on every person that it affected, every object in the town, every place they venture. He'd barely been around Will and Graham moments before they'd come through the portal, or he would have felt it on them even in Wonderland – he'd felt it on them in Neverland, but by then he'd been in the town, if only for a few minutes, to know that it was an effect of that place.

It's the main reason he had advocated for crossing the town line and removing themselves from the situation. The only reason, even – he hates being imprisoned, cage or bottle matters not, and that he recently was is enough reason for him to desire nothing more than to fight back. That his captor had been intending to force Alice to use her wishes, had dragged her to Wonderland and put her in danger, is all the more reason that he aches to see the sorcerer defeated.

So, no, he doesn't argue too hard against Alice's decision to protect her friend, and to protect the town, the people who are only in danger because of the two of them. Pan may have happened regardless of their influence, but Jafar – Jafar is and has been after both himself and Alice's wishes. His coming to the cursed town would have been unlikely, if they had not escaped his grasp in Wonderland.

Getting to Tinkerbell to ask for the fairy dust is easy – she's found just outside of Granny's, and that takes only a few minutes.

But instead of giving the dust to Alice, she insists on coming with them, as does the woman called Ruby – though, there is strength in numbers, as he told the Hatter last night, so he doesn't think it's too hardly inconvenient for them to join.

Besides, Ruby knows where the convent is, which is more than he can say for himself or Alice – and probably Will, since it hadn't been included on the tour of the town he took them on only two days ago.

As soon as he steps into the building, he senses something else, though, something far less foreign than the Dark Curse – and yet, still something that makes him worry even more than he already was. The sharp inhalation of breath from Tinkerbell indicates that the fairy has sensed the same thing that he has-

"Pan's Shadow. It's here," Tinkerbell says, breaking the silence their group has been in since they left the diner. Yes – that's exactly what he felt. He closes his eyes, listens to the magic in the air around the building. The Dark Curse's signature statics louder than anything else, makes it hard to concentrate, but he blocks it out because he has to.

"It's hiding." He can't quite tell where in the building it is – not yet. But he can tell what its purpose is, "Pan left it behind to guard the Blue Fairy, stop anyone from actually saving her. I suspect it will be lingering close to where she is."

"So what do we do?" Ruby asks, and it's a valid question. Getting one's shadow forcibly ripped out is allegedly a very painful way to die – according to the magic he's felt in the aftermath, anyway, since no one who has had it happen has lived to tell the tale.

"The Shadow's weakness is light," Tinkerbell says, "There's- Baelfire had a way to trap it, it's how he got off of Neverland the first time. I don't think we have the time to wait for him to get here and tell us what that was, though."

No, they don't, but if it's been done before, and it's magic, maybe if he gets close enough to where the Shadow hides he'll be able to hear it over the Dark Curse? But if it isn't magic, if it's something physical, then he won't, which – the odds are more towards the solution being magical, but there are still odds. It's not certain.

And he doesn't like the idea of risking Alice to his being unable to determine how Baelfire trapped the Shadow and if it's something they can replicate. It may not be, even if it was a magical trap. It may have required a specific instrument they do not have, or-

(But she will never agree to walk away until he's certain they have a way, will she? Unless he can somehow secretly convince Will to distract her and drag her away – the Knave would protect her, just as much as he would. But that would require finding a way to speak to him without her knowledge, and seems rather unlikely to happen.)

"We need to get closer," he says, finally, "If whatever Baelfire did was magic, I should be able to sense it, as long as I get close enough. That will give us a starting place, at least."

"Getting closer may well be suicide, you realize," Tinkerbell eyes the binds around his wrists, and he knows that the fairy – wingless though she may currently be – knows exactly what they signify. Fine. They may not have said it outright, since their arrival in the town, and at least in his case it's not entirely because the subject hasn't come up (he's been pursued for what he is far too long) – but it's not as though the fairy can use that information. She, at least, will understand by his being out of the bottle that he has a Master – or Mistress, as the case happens to be – and beyond that, fairies and genie magic do not mix well. "Wishing it far from here would be more likely to work, with less chance of backfiring," she adds, her tone pointed.

"And what good is wishing gonna do us?" Ruby rolls her eyes, "We should split up. Keep the pixie dust away from Blue for now. It didn't attack Nova and David when they got close, maybe if a smaller group of us goes in without the one thing that will help, we can get close enough for you to do… Whatever it is you're gonna do to determine how Neal trapped it before."

But the woman touched by wolf magic doesn't share the knowledge that the rest of them do, and Alice and Will look worriedly at him, not speaking.

They still don't know what the consequence is for Alice wishing for the knowledge of what realm the boy was taken to, though he knows there must have been one, is certain of that much. Tinkerbell may be a fairy, may know how magic works quite intimately, but her assertion that wishing the Shadow away would be less likely to bear consequence than attempting to trap it somehow sounds too good to be true.

"This one's your decision, Cyrus," Alice says, finally, and they don't have time for this, don't have time for anything. Every second wasted can never be recovered.

It isn't the first time since he became a genie that he's longed for his mother's guidance, her firm strength of conviction and her ability to see what path was necessary to accomplish what she wanted. None in Agrabah could rival Amara in her cunning and will, her clarity of sight.

But his Lost-and-Found stopped pointing years ago, and so he's fairly convinced that she is gone, forever.

When he had stolen the water from the Well, and convinced his brothers to do the same, for her sake, he had been convinced that the end of saving her justified any manner of action on his part – it had been his actions that brought her to death's door. And he had come to that conclusion in attempt to follow her example, as foolish as that attempt may have been, as much as his mother had been terrified when she learned what her sons had done to bring her back.

Another foolish attempt now will only lead to heartbreak, he's sure.

He pauses, listens to the magic further, because he has to, he has to come to a decision quickly and if his mother can't help him do that then maybe the magic in the air can. There's a softer layer of something, bubbling under the static of the Dark Curse, and he swears it almost sounds familiar, almost sounds like his mother's voice, even though it is impossible.

Whatever it is, it wasn't left by an active spell. More like a relic of power, one with some measure of sentience. It's the softness and familiarity that forces him to listen, to shove the wrongness of the Dark Curse aside and push away the signature of the Shadow and hear.

It's a protection spell, he realizes, one specifically targeted at repelling the Shadow – and, more strangely, repelling it from him, in particular. Away from the genie, away from the genie, it murmurs, over and over. Jafar needs him alive for whatever his plan was, unless helping Pan in the re-casting of the Dark Curse has become the sorcerer's intent in replacement of having lost him. But the spell – it isn't Jafar's magic. He's felt that, heard that; Jafar's magic is darker and louder, intent on harm. It feels almost more like the staff he carries, though Cyrus has not seen it show any measure of sentience before, let alone enough to try and protect him without its Master willing it.

"No wishing," he says, suddenly certain. "We split up." The Shadow is more likely to lash out when they get close to Blue with the pixie dust, Ruby is right about that, so he knows that to keep Alice out of harm's way he has to keep her separate from the dust. "Alice, Will, Ruby. Get the rest of the fairies out of the building. Whatever it takes. Tinkerbell and I will get close enough to try and use the dust."

It can't go after him with the spell, and unless he misses his guess, it won't go after the fairy, because Pan is fond of her, somehow, had allowed her freedom to roam wherever on Neverland she wanted without fear of reprisal. In helping the group to save Henry, she had crossed him, that much is obvious, and he does not believe that would be without consequence… But not that consequence. Not a death sentence. Not her. Too much history there.

"Mate-" Will starts to say something, but he shakes his head.

"It will work. But innocents cannot be where the Shadow might go after them." Else it probably will, at least as some sort of hostage scenario. "We only have so much time. Get going."

…

Snow has seen her step-mother burning with anger and rage many times. She has. A consequence of being at war with the woman for as long as she was, a consequence of her failing to keep that secret and not tell Cora about Daniel.

She still blames herself for it all, and likely always will.

But she hasn't seen Regina like this before – angry, yes, but fearful, too. Regina never would have shown fear in their old lives, before the curse. Not to her. She'd been afraid for Henry in Neverland, but that had not combined with this sort of consuming rage, where she looks ready to burn down the entire world, friend and foe alike. There, at least, she had focused her anger on Pan.

"I sealed it off!" her stepmother says, half-rant, half-frantic. The mausoleum door had been closed when they arrived, but when Regina had opened it up, her father's coffin had been pushed aside and the vault below looked a little like a whirlwind had gone through it – though even that had looked carefully constructed, to give them a mess to sort through to find out what was missing.

Thanks to Ella and Thomas' warning, they already know what's missing, don't have to waste the time on an inventory. The Curse.

"After you used the candle on mother's heart," Regina looks at her, anger in her eyes, and, yes, Snow knows that's her fault too. She had tricked Regina into killing Cora. She had made that decision. "After you did that, I made sure no one else would get in. It would have taken multiple sorcerers to get past those wards."

"Maybe so, Regina, but it's done. We need to focus on the next step." Everything about this is her fault, really. If she'd never told that secret there'd have been no curse and they would all be home and safe. "For Henry."

The mention of her grandson seems to pull Regina together some; just as she hoped it would. Henry being in danger had gotten her to work with the group on Neverland, and he's still in danger now. Greater than ever, perhaps, with the Curse potentially being recast.

She's taken by surprise when Regina teleports them to Gold's pawn shop – where most everyone is gathered outside. Gold and David and Emma and Graham and Belle and Henry (Henry has a bag that he's loading into Emma's car. Why does Henry have a bag?) and the wolf; she doesn't know who else is on their side, but she'd sent David to get the Blue Fairy, so she's not sure why…

"It's gone. I had enough wards on that vault to crush a sorcerer, even one of his strength. Someone else must be working with the two of them-" Regina says, and Rumplestiltskin looks fairly frustrated – which is quite an accomplishment, from all she's seen of the imp since they first met back in the forest – but he says nothing to that effect, only shakes his head before starting to lay out a plan of action.

"If we can get the scroll back, Regina, you can undo the curse by destroying it."

"And what will that do?" Snow is the one to ask the question; she has a feeling that Regina has some idea, and she has another, distinctly terrible, feeling that she's not going to like the answer, but the words need to be said.

"It will take everyone in town back to the Enchanted Forest. Unless they were born here. If someone was able to cross the town line they might be able to escape into this world, but they would still forget Storybrooke had ever existed," Regina is the one to answer her, and-

The bag.

Emma knew it might come down to crossing the town line and had Henry pack a bag.

And she's going to lose her daughter, again, and her grandson too, and the two of them will lose Graham, and Ella and Thomas will lose Alexandra, won't they? The little princess was born here. Just like Henry. They worked so hard to be a family, to help cage Rumplestiltskin so that Ella could keep her child, and they're just going to lose her because of where she was born.

"Of course, getting the scroll back now hinges on Alice's getting the Black Fairy's wand from the Mother Superior," Gold says, confusing Snow further. Surely, the Blue Fairy is on their side, "And if she can't, anyone who can cross the town line still should. The curse cannot affect where there is no magic."

Either way, her family is lost to her.

Your fault, Snow, she reminds herself, you couldn't keep a secret. You got Daniel killed. You are the reason Regina turned into the Evil Queen. And then you didn't even have the strength to do anything permanent about her when you had the chance.

The pronouncement leaves a lingering silence, and Snow takes a moment to pull her husband aside. "Why didn't Blue agree to help you?" she asks, and David hesitates. He rarely hesitates with her.

"Pan and Jafar got to her first," he says, "Turned her to stone. Pixie dust will help, Alice said Tink had some, so she and her friends went to try and get it."

"It's not fair," she asserts, looking to her daughter and the Huntsman. Emma and Graham don't seem to be saying goodbyes, yet, but if things are as bleak as they seem, no alternative that does not end in separation, she can't see how that can last, "All of us fought so hard to find each other. And now- No matter what happens, Emma can cross the town line with Henry, and we- Can't."

And Graham, Graham fought harder than any of them can know, didn't he? Died and crossed realms to get back to Emma and Henry. And he's had days with them again. At least she and David have had a few months with them, though it will never be enough to make up for the years apart.

(Have any of them ever had a chance at a happy ending? The possibility of one? As Mary Margaret she had believed that even the hope of possibility was such a powerful thing, and she knows that letting go of hope is the worst thing she could possibly do, but that doesn't stop her from wondering if happiness just isn't in the cards for them, not for more than a finite amount of time, anyway.)

(At least Emma and Henry will have each other. That has to count for something, doesn't it?)

…

Will has an inkling of what Cyrus was doing in splitting everyone up – getting Alice out of harm's way, and trusting him to keep her there.

As though he could shift that stubborn girl if she set her mind on going back in once they got all the nun-fairies out.

And he would bet his entire Care Bear collection that Alice knows what Cyrus is doing too. And that she's at least marginally offended by it (she is more than capable against a lot of enemies, after all). But he would also bet said Care Bear collection that she's letting Cyrus put her out of harm's way.

Which doesn't exactly check with the girl he knows.

"You're not doing what he specifically told you not to do and wasting one of those wishes, are you?" he asks, quiet so that Ruby doesn't hear, even as they watch the convent from across the street. The Shadow shouldn't be able to leave it during the daytime, Tink had said once Cyrus laid out his plan, because of it being weak to light. Doesn't mean he's not gonna keep an eye on those doors and make sure that Cyrus bloody does. He didn't cross realms to help Alice find the genie just for him to sacrifice himself in short order.

"No," she sounds halfway offended as she gives her answer. Fine. Just as long as she's telling the truth. "I was just trying to figure out why he thinks that taking the dust close enough to be used when that thing is in there is a good idea. He said he wanted to try and sense how Baelfire trapped the Shadow before, but it'll attack if they get too close with the dust and- I don't understand it. There's no logic."

"Wasn't a lot of logic to busting Graham out of his cell, either, but it worked out for us, didn't it?" He's still not sure what went through Alice's head when she decided putting another wanted man on their team would be a good idea. He's not sure he wouldn't have left him there, no matter how much he might've sort of liked the bloke under the curse.

"I had to," Alice says, softly, "He was like- Like me and Cyrus. Separated from his True Love. She thought he was dead. I couldn't just… It wouldn't have been right."

As good a reason as any, he supposes, lapsing back into silence. Still not a logical reason, but if he's honest, he's worried about Cyrus' decision too. Not that it's entirely illogical to him, because he knows full well just how much those two care about each other. He's seen it every time he sees them together and even when they're apart.

Cyrus decided to protect her. He suspects that was all the reason the genie needed to go through with whatever scheme he was planning in there.

It isn't actually all that long before the genie comes out with both Tinkerbell and the Mother Superior. Which, that it doesn't take forever is a good thing, considering they're probably on a time limit they don't even know the full extent of, but Will finds it awfully suspicious that, at least in this, the day appears to have been saved with relative ease.

(Okay, the thought sounds paranoid even in his own head. But no wishing and still no hassle, even when Pan left his magical guard dog to stop specifically what just happened? Will isn't stupid, no matter how many questionable choices he's made in his life. There must have been some magic loophole that Cyrus figured out how to exploit with his genie-sense or whatever he wants to call it. But why not just tell them that going in? Did he think Alice was more likely to stay outside if she thought he was just magically casing the joint than if she knew he had a way past the shadow?)

"Cyrus has explained to me what you ask," the Mother Superior addresses Alice once the group of three is with them, across the street. "That our resident Dark One needs the most powerful and dangerous wand any fairy has ever had. I have seen the threat we face with our own eyes, and I admit it is one to be reckoned with."

The fairy looks Alice up and down, pausing in her speech. Will doesn't interrupt, because the whole moment screams like it's halfway ceremonial, but they don't really have time for ceremonial, do they?

"You have at your fingertips the power to do almost anything, with those wishes you keep. And yet you've used them only for sharp edges and helping a friend in need. You're a very wise young lady, when it comes to magic. Responsible," with a motion of her hands, a wand appears, and is held out to Alice, "I would not trust the Dark One with this, would not hand it to him, even if it were my last option as I lay dying. Our history is too long and we have been at odds for all of it. He's killed some of my brightest fairies, because it would hurt me to lose them. But you? I think I can entrust it to you, Alice, and you will be able to do the right thing."

"Thank you," Alice says as she takes the wand from the woman's hands.

Now they just have to hope it's not too late.

…

Graham is used to waiting.

Waiting, observation, patience – skills of a hunter, all of them. And despite all the pain that his past contained, he had those skills then and he still has them now. It's not the sort of thing that can be unlearned, especially given his time in that cell in Wonderland, the endless months alone to sort through both personalities and both sets of memories and figure out who he is with all of it in his head.

He's used to waiting.

But the wait for Alice and the others to return with word on if the Blue Fairy had been saved and, perhaps more importantly, if she had given them the wand that Gold needs in order to have a chance at doing anything about the threat they face – the wait he's currently facing is harder than he ever believed any waiting could be.

(But the options for what will happen when they know that aren't even real options, are they? Let Alice and Cyrus know that they have to leave town or they will be caught up in the Dark Curse. Find Ashley and tell her that if it comes down to undoing the curse Alexandra will be left behind, offer to take the child with them, because he knows that's what Emma is planning to do – it's the right thing to do, and beyond that, to not do so would be to leave a baby in the Maine woods, alone, forgotten, which he knows he could not stomach. Say goodbye. Get out of town, and be thankful that Gold enchanted his jacket so that he could while they still remember that there's something to be thankful for, best case scenario.)

(Worst case scenario, they're unable to get the scroll back, the only thing that's different is that they might not necessarily forget Storybrooke after they leave. But would they be able to get back once the New Dark Curse was completed, once Pan and Jafar used magic to get their own happy endings, which will doubtless involve misery for everyone else? Would Emma be able to break it as she did before? That's less than clear, and he dares not be the one to suggest such a potentially futile hope. Keep Henry safe. That's their priority, no matter how all else plays out.)

The waiting itches under his skin, this time. Every second they wait is a second longer that Henry is in danger. His instincts scream out to protect his pack, his family, and the worst thing might be that even if they do get out, his brother isn't as likely to be able to cross the town line. Even the best way this all plays out, the pack is fractured.

(But his brother goes home, to the forest they grew up in, and at least there's that as a small comfort.)

But he's used to waiting, despite discomfort, and so he does just that – he waits, an arm around Emma's waist as his brother stands by Henry's side. Emma's head rests on his shoulder, and she's silent – and he is silent, too, because that's what she needs.

Finally, finally, the others arrive, and Alice pulls a wand from where it's been stuck down her boot.

"She said she trusted me to do the right thing with it," the girl explains, handing it over to Gold. "I don't know how to use it, so I'm sure that the right thing to do is handing it over to someone who does."

Gold turns the wand in his fingers, looks to be weighing it, before giving a sharp and satisfied nod.

"Those who can leave should get on their way out of town, now," he warns, "And everyone else should be ready to say their goodbyes."

Emma leaves his side, whispers something to Snow – most likely something about getting Ashley to the town line so they can make their offer to take in Alexandra – and Henry climbs into the Bug.

He should, too, but first he waits for his brother to trot over to his side. The wolf is intelligent, might not be able to converse in the human tongue but would understand the atmosphere.

Would know that they're to be separated.

His brother whines, low and mournful, pressing his head into Graham's hand. Yes, he can hear the goodbye in the tone. The regret that their pack had been broken apart so long, that he'd tried to help him get his heart back only to fail, that they finally found each other again and when they did the pack was larger, Emma and Henry a part of it and with them Emma's parents – and that only lasted for three days.

Half the pack will stay in this world, and half will return to their home.

He stands that way, with his brother, until most of the others have scattered, starting towards the town line, and when it's just him and his brother and Emma and Henry inside the car, he swallows back the lump forming in his throat and whispers, "goodbye, brother," and the wolf heads back to the Storybrooke forest.

…

Though she hands over the wand, she doesn't like the idea of splitting up – that Gold, powerful as he is, will take Pan and Jafar on, alone, even briefly, even if only to give those of them that are leaving – because it may be the only thing they can do – more time to get out.

Maybe it's just… Maybe the hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach is only that she doesn't want to leave Will behind. If the curse is destroyed – even if it isn't, he can't cross the town line. It's why she had argued that they should stay and fight, only an hour or two ago, when they found out the villains had arrived. He had rescued her from Bethlam, from the forgetting that she would have sentenced herself to. So maybe it's just about the fact that she has done everything that she can – and it isn't enough. If she and Cyrus don't cross the town line, before the Curse is undone, then… Well, who knows? Her being his Mistress, and holding the bottle, should prevent them from being separated.

Should. There's no guarantee. Not when it will apparently snap everyone within the town line back to the Realm they were born in.

Will saved her, and she can't save him – though if they succeed he'll be safe in another world, it would be the world that he had gone to Wonderland to escape in the first place, and she'll never see him again; won't even remember him. He saved her from the forgetting in Bethlem only for this to be the outcome: she and Cyrus will be left with false memories of this world, this time, if any memories at all – that had been less than clear.

And she tells herself that the gnawing hollow, scraping at her, is about that and only that. About Will.

But she doesn't believe herself. Not really. In her heart – in her heart she knows what the worry is.

That even with the wand, the Dark One will not be a match for the combined powers of Pan and Jafar. That somehow, they will get the advantage over the sorcerer that her friends and allies claim is the most powerful in all the Realms. That he should be enough to win them the day – as much as undoing the Dark Curse before Pan's repeat casting of it is winning the day.

Should. Such an innocuous word. Should. Assuming everything goes right.

You could wish, says a little voice in her head, as she ponders. She's never- Never really been tempted before. Not like this. Ever since she became the Mistress of the bottle there have been moments, intrusive little thoughts that break in from time to time – a side effect, she thinks, of her decision not to use a power that wants to be used, wants to create havoc via unintended consequences.

You could wish, the voice repeats, you could wish the threat gone. Could wish for Will's safety – in this world, the one he actually wanted to be in. You could wish.

She ignores the voice; wishes are not free. Magic comes with a cost. Wishing the threat away would just bring something else, something worse. Wishing for Will's safety would only endanger someone else.

Wishing is not the answer.

She will not wish. Not for this. Not ever again.

She doesn't like the idea of splitting up, but she does not protest Gold going off on his own, despite that. She's too concerned with shutting out the idea of using a wish – too concerned with clinging to both Will and Cyrus as much as she can, as long as she can, too concerned with the fact that, if Gold doesn't succeed it's even more imperative that she and Cyrus cross the town line.

So, her best friend on one side and the man she loves on the other, she follows the main group back towards the center of town and the town line beyond it—

And isn't surprised, not really, when their way is barred by their enemies, Gold at Pan's feet. Is more surprised by the sight of the White Rabbit, suspended in the air at Jafar's shoulder, just as much a prisoner as the man titled Dark One.

The Rabbit. He must be how Jafar and Pan found each other – must have taken Jafar to Neverland to throw him off the trail, and- and oh, she really did lead the sorcerer right to Storybrooke, didn't she? She'd put her friend in the position that he even could be forced to lead Jafar right to them – not that she knew another way out of Wonderland, that they could have used, so that no one would know where they went. Not that they would have been able to get to Neverland and help Henry without him.

But, she thinks, this must be the consequence she knew would come, for using that first wish. The wish to know where Henry had been taken – of course the consequence would be to have Pan and Jafar able to form a team and terrorize the rest of them even more effectively.

And the rabbit is still a prisoner so that he couldn't run off and warn them all earlier than they'd found out, most likely – still her fault.

A glance around reveals Emma has gotten out from her car, at the back of the procession, is stepping forward as though to try and do something. Her hands, balled into fists, are glowing, though considering she'd claimed not to have control over her magic, Alice would bet that she's not doing that on purpose. She might not even realize.

(Graham and Henry, too, have gotten out of the car, but Graham is holding the boy back, away from the villains, doing his best to keep him from following his mother towards the danger. As though it will help. As though they can, any of them, be safe now.)

You could wish, the voice in her head repeats, more insistent now. Still, she shuts it out. Too late for that. The course is set; how it will turn out, she might fear, but at least she will know that she stayed true to her convictions. For however long that knowledge lasts – it is small consolation, but it is something. It is something.

"Did you all really think it would be that easy?" Pan asks, breaking the silence that has lasted what feels forever but is, really, only a moment. Easy? He thought that easy? Well, maybe it was. Maybe she still wonders what Cyrus had sensed in that convent, how he had managed to save the Blue Fairy so quickly, with so little fuss.

Maybe that's what the hollow in her stomach had been – that it was all too easy. So, she resists the laugh that bubbles up inside her, the bitter laughter of loss. It will only serve to provoke.

"That I didn't have a plan?" Pan continues, unabated by the lack of answer to his first question. "I never fail," and though he's speaking, still, Jafar's grip on his staff tightens and she can only watch as he brings it around to point at Cyrus in a motion she's seen before; she knew to be wary of Jafar on principle more than she had seen him in action, but he was hardly the only magic-user in Wonderland.

She knows what it looks like when one of them uses a focus to blast someone else with a spell.

But she has no magic herself, no way to protect Cyrus from whatever the man who held him captive for so long is attempting, and her heart freezes at the thought of losing him so soon, after having just gotten him back. No, she thinks, wants to scream, wants to curse at herself for that earlier thought of holding to her convictions and not using a wish; if she could have prevented this then she is at fault here too-

Except-

Nothing happens.

The staff is leveled directly at Cyrus' chest, but no magic shoves him around, hurts him – no magic seems to happen at all.

Is it possible that The Land Without Magic has affected him, somehow, stripped him of his power? It seems unlikely, since Storybrooke is distinctly more magical than the rest of the world, from what she's been told. But the only other possibility that she can think of is that Emma has somehow, unconsciously, accidentally, used her power to from a shield between those on their side and those against them. Could that be it?

No- No, Jafar is staring at his staff like something's wrong, like he gave it a command and it didn't obey. She's just starting to wonder if that could be what happened, if the serpent staff could have just… Refused to cast… When Gold, on the ground, starts to giggle, cutting off whatever Pan is still saying about how he's defeated them all soundly. He sounds half-mad, like some of those in Bethlem that she could hear from her own cell.

"She can still think for herself in there, you know," the man says, sing-song. "Your interests were aligned before, and she deigned to let you use her power. But now they aren't, and that staff was never anything more than a glorified prison cell."

She? In there? A prison cell? Someone is—

The Dark One pushes himself to his feet, weak and leaning too heavily on his good leg – but obviously planning something. She sees, when his sleeves ride up, the magic-inhibiting cuff he'd mentioned intending to put on Pan while retrieving the Curse.

"Dearie," he says, staring straight at the staff, "A little help, if you please?"

The serpent's eyes glow in response, and the cuff falls to the ground. Gold snaps his fingers and Jafar is blasted back, losing his grip on the staff—which flies straight into Emma's hands; the woman known in this town as Savior looks at it in something like confusion, weighing the golden serpent in her grip; the glow surrounding her fingers becoming more and more intensely white as she takes it, and, acting on what must be instinct, smashes the face of the staff against the ground.

The light around Emma's hands flashes, and purple smoke pours from the caved-in serpent's head; the smoke coalesces and solidifies before evaporating away, leaving behind a woman, standing tall and proud, anger burning in her eyes. She's familiar somehow, Alice thinks, something in the set of her expression tickling and nagging, but it doesn't quite click until Cyrus sucks in a breath next to her, and a single word passes from his lips, little more than a whisper – Maman.

His- Cyrus' mother was somehow—

He must be so stunned. She remembers the way he's always talked about the woman; usually he was silent on the matter of his life before the bottle, but she's gotten glimpses all along. He had told her of the Lost-and-Found, the magic artifact that would always lead him back to the woman who apparently stands before them; how when it had stopped pointing he had assumed the worst. How in his childhood she had taught him small and simple magics, the kind anyone could learn.

He had so looked up to her. So truly and earnestly. Alice had known that just from the tone in his voice during those rare moments that something came up. And there she is- There she stands.

…

To be free of her prison is not what she expected.

She had taught her apprentice too much of her plans, had misjudged how she could mold him into the second sorcerer she needed to break the Laws of Magic, to change the past and save her sons from their fate – to make it so her boys never went to that damn well, much less stole its waters. Jafar had been an angry and desperate and neglected boy, ready to latch on to anything that Agrabah's most feared sorceress could teach; she hadn't noticed when he'd taken her lessons and example too far to heart – decided that while the spell they meant to attempt was too much for one of them alone, he didn't need her, only her power. She would have been proud if she hadn't been horrified.

Still, he hadn't fully known what he was doing. Had he performed the curse to turn her into a staff correctly, she wouldn't have had nearly as much awareness as she did. He had become cocky in his certainty that he was ready to leave her behind – hadn't even realized that she was regaining control over her own power the longer he kept her and used her.

But, while staying by his side was not by choice, while she couldn't break the spell on herself, she hadn't minded doing his dirty work – which was lazy of him, using mostly her power instead of his own – because she still needed him to gather her boys back. Cyrus was the last, and when they did find him, someone else held power over him.

And while she understood from what she saw that Cyrus had feelings for the girl, Alice, it didn't matter; she still had enough of a grip on her own power that once the spell was cast she would be able to break the Laws.

Change the past. Stop her sons from becoming genies. She wouldn't be able to change teaching Jafar magic – because he would be able to break the Laws as well, and would almost certainly notice if she tried to strip that power from him – but she might be able to find a way to help Cyrus and his lady meet despite her most important change; she could watch, after all, and she has been consistently impressed by the girl, who had come to Wonderland and fought for him, ready to take on the whole of the world if it would get Cyrus back at her side.

But then Jafar turned away from her plan with a few well-turned words by Pan about how casting a Dark Curse would give both of them everything they wanted while making everyone else suffer.

And she would not lend her power to that endeavor, not with her Cyrus to be affected and miserable while his brothers languish in their bottles a world away in Wonderland. Casting such a Curse might gain Jafar the revenge he wanted over the Sultan, but it would certainly not save her boys.

And she would not lend her power to him with the intent of hurting her son. She would not. The Dark One was an opening – to help him was to do all that she could to give Cyrus a fighting chance to escape this thing, and to expect more for herself was foolishness.

But the woman the Dark One sends her prison to – she radiates power. Even the least sensitive must be able to feel that warmth, and it's all Amara can do to identify that the power, pure and raw, and angry, and afraid; that power is the Truest power there is. Any sorcerer or sorceress worth their salt knows what the magic of True Love feels like.

And she barely manages to realize what it is – because when has it ever been driven by anger and fear before? – before she realizes what it's doing.

Realizes that it's doing what it's best at – breaking a curse. The curse on her, the curse that trapped her as an inanimate object for so many years.

Freeing her.

So she will stand with her son and his allies against the apprentice she never should have taken on – for as long as they have left. The so-called Dark Curse isn't acting fast, but… Pan already completed the spell work, from what she understands. It will gain momentum, soon.

"Is there a plan?" she asks, looking to the woman. She knows only a few people in the crowd on sight; Cyrus and Alice and the Knave and the Huntsman, she had seen all of them in Wonderland. The Dark One, too, she has knowledge of – he had lurked around all the realms, told her there was no point in pursuing her plans because he didn't believe the spell would work, at least not the way that she wanted it to. Told her, though she hadn't listened, that Jafar was a poor choice for an apprentice.

(The Huntsman had been of interest to Jafar because he had escaped this very Curse, this very town – Jafar had always worried about the casters of the Forest. Felt threatened by the Dark One the moment she told him the legend. He would be interested to know if they were as trapped as they ought to be, before he gained his world-breaking powers, as he had planned.)

(Just in case. And, perhaps, as a next target to conquer, once he had what he wanted from breaking the Laws? She had never quite puzzled all of his reasons out, and he had grown frustrated when the answer to how the Huntsman had arrived in Wonderland had been by dying. It hadn't made sense to him – it still doesn't make sense to her, but that's neither here nor there.)

"Get the Curse back and Regina can undo having cast it," the woman with short dark hair says, and Amara weighs her options. Pan has the Curse on him; Jafar had used their combined powers to steal it, and she had let him because she hadn't seen a choice, but then he had handed it over. Were it still on her apprentice, she could easily summon it to herself – knows he still hasn't warded himself against having things taken from him. That lesson he ignored, and if he hadn't then she might still be a staff because the Dark One couldn't have sent her to the woman.

But she doesn't know if Pan has similarly failed to take such simple precautions. So – what other options are left to her? Attempt it anyway, not knowing if it will work. Perhaps… The Shadow responds only to Pan, but it can be influenced and confused. She might be able to work with that, if it's nearby rather than still lurking about the convent. Get it to pick its master's pocket for her.

Something else, might be possible – if any of these others have even half a plan. She could, quite simply, be a distraction. Flash and lightshow are not her specialty or her preference, but she is not incapable.

Then, the one answer that has been given, thus far, is hardly one. More of a goal than a plan, really. Certainly evidence that the "plan," if there is one, is poor.

"And who are you?" asks the man at the side of the woman who'd answered her question – he's blond and handsome, a knight if she had to guess.

"Amara of Agrabah," her smile is the vicious one she'd perfected over the years doing whatever was necessary to achieve her goals, though he likely can't see it at this angle, "Not that this is the time for introductions."

And then, since there's nothing to lose, she reaches out her hand, as though she's grasping for something, and speaks the old Elvish spell of summoning. Elvish isn't her favorite school of magic, but it is the hardest to ward against, and her most likely chance to get the Curse off of Pan.

Nothing to lose – whatever advantage, however slight, it might be possible to gain. She likes those odds, is betting on those odds— and it pays off. The tiny scroll stolen from Queen Regina's vault flies to her outstretched hand, marking Pan as more of an amateur than she expected from his reputation. Elvish is harder to ward against, not impossible. He hadn't bothered.

That cannot be the last of things. They are still in a standoff – even if she holds the Curse that is key. Jafar has yet to recover from being tossed aside like a ragdoll when the Dark One stole her from him, but Pan- Pan is still formidable enough.

…

When a Shadow appears, moments after the woman who appeared from Jafar's staff summons the Curse away from Pan, Belle feels her heart leap to her throat. They have come this far and now—

But the Shadow that appears is not the one that she fears. It is not Pan's Shadow, come to kill them all. It's Rumplestiltskin's Shadow, Dark One's dagger in hand, delivered to its master.

But knowing that doesn't ease her worry; no. No. She knows what he means to do in the moments before he does it. She can see it coming – and she can do nothing. She cannot stop as he embraces Pan and runs the both of them through, together. With the only weapon that can kill him.

The boy will be my undoing, he had said. Told her that saving Henry would be the last thing he did – and here his words come to pass. Not in the way that he expected, she doesn't think, because he had seemed so certain that he would fail to return from Neverland at all. Still – there will be no coming back from this, will there? She cannot see a way.

She cannot stop it, and worse, she cannot say goodbye, the both of them dissolving into dust before her eyes in only moments.

And she cannot stop the sob that is wrenched from her, the one horrid, keening cry as she falls to her knees. They have to go, she knows, continue on to the town line where Regina is waiting, preparing to undo the spell, where those that can leave are going to leave. There is no time for her grief over what could have been, over a man who wasn't good yet but had the potential to change for the better.

She had wanted so very much to see him live to be a better man. Instead she has watched him die, any chance to improve thrown away.

What kind of trade is that? The boy is only marginally safer now; what good the undoing?

Shouldn't it have meant more than this?

Slowly a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders, squeezing, trying to be some comfort. As though there can be any comfort when she's not even fully sure what it is she grieves; a man she could have loved? The person that he could have been? A relationship that will never be what it might have?

Once, she might have hoped that- That she could change him. That she could save him. That she could be enough.

That had changed, in Storybrooke. She hadn't wanted to be his salvation any more – hadn't wanted to be the only thing responsible for him being a decent human being. But she had wanted to believe he could, had been willing to cheer on a change in him. Isn't that the thing you do, when you want to believe in someone? You hold out hope?

"Belle," it's Graham that's next to her, her friend, trying to be there, even though she knows it cannot be easy for him to be so close to someone other than Emma or Henry. She might not know everything about him – but time spent in their shared prison, in Regina's castle, where an outsider wouldn't see him as a fellow prisoner the way that she did? That time means that she knows him well enough. Knows that connection with other humans is hard for him. That he's trying, for her sake, should, perhaps, mean more to her than it does in this desolate moment. "Come on. Before Jafar recovers."

It's ridiculous; she doesn't care if Jafar recovers. There's nothing that he can do – not really. The dark cloud of the Curse is already on the horizon. They'll all be trapped – or they'll all be sent home. Him included. No third option, no other door for any of them to go through.

Still, she nods, letting Graham help her to her feet. Henry is waiting nearby, and wraps his arms around her waist the moment she's up. It's a sweet gesture, really, and she only wishes she could appreciate it more.

She shouldn't be this devastated over something that was barely anything at all, but she is.

But— The attention shown her in this moment, snaps her back from whatever edge she was letting herself dangle from. Whatever's left to be done – it's not about her or her feelings, now. She's stuck with either outcome. Curse or Home. It doesn't matter; what's done is done.

"What are you waiting for? All I can say is goodbye. Go. Quickly. Every second counts."

…

Anyone who has the ability to cross the town line can do that leave to escape the undoing of the curse.

It is, in theory, how Emma will be able to stay in this world and take care of Henry. Because she was never cursed in the first place, something that, generally, he would assume is the only way anyone is going to be getting out of this mess. Which is… It's good. He knows it is. After all, if Henry can't come to the forest with the rest of them, it will be far better for him not to be left alone.

Just as much as he knows that his dad did something to let that Graham guy cross the town line with them; he knows how his dad thinks. It has been really, really, painfully obvious that the way that Emma and Graham care about each other is–

Well.

True.

Even if Emma hasn't said as much, because she wouldn't have, anyway. Not to him, even if she was willing to admit it to anyone else.

He wants to be happy for her. That she could find that – after everything that he knows she lost out on in her life. But he looks at the two of them, and Henry, and how they all click as a family, how Henry ran to that guy first when they got to Skull Rock, and he feels…

Hollow.

That could have been him, he thinks. If he hadn't been a coward. If he hadn't listened to Pinocchio. If he had stayed.

Except, of course, that he's not sure he would have stayed. If he'd known she was pregnant, absolutely. But even he can admit he'd had one foot out the door before Pinocchio had shown up and told him Emma was from the Enchanted Forest.

He can admit he might've ditched out on her before she figured out she was pregnant even if he never got that push.

And then…

Nothing would be different. Not for him. He would still be standing here, in Storybrooke, the father he never wanted to see again dead, Emma and his son family with another man.

And knowing, as he does, his father's penchant for protecting power and the potential of it? A relationship like that? No- His dad knew that something like this might be coming. He would have prepared something, to make sure they couldn't be separated.

Graham isn't going back to the Enchanted Forest. That guy gets to stay with Emma and Henry. Whatever else there is to it, that happy ending is assured. True Love. The most powerful magic of them all, powerful enough to transcend realms- He knows what the Dark One had valued above all. Power, and the potential for it to be used in his own favor. Maybe that's impossible now, but he still would've thought ahead about this, would have realized Pan was still coming.

That's just how his father's mind had worked, since he got all that power of his in the first place.

And he…

He wasn't cursed. He doesn't have to go back either. Doesn't want to – he left for a reason. The thing is, that reason was his father, and that reason is gone now. No reason to go back and what reason does he have to stay? Henry will still be here, but if he understands it right, what's about to happen, then it will be as though there was never a Storybrooke to begin with. And if there was never a Storybrooke, then he might never have— would never have even known it Henry existed in the first place.

He's going to lose no matter what he does; he can feel it, in his head and in his heart.

If he stays in this world, he forgets. If he goes back – he might never see his son again, but at least he'll remember.

(In this world – without his memories – what is there for him? A life with no one in it, no friends and no family, doing whatever he can to get by… Which works for him, but isn't exactly a great life. In the Enchanted Forest – with his memories… Well, the people in this town actually mostly seem to like him. He can probably work that fact in his own favor, if he goes back, as well as whatever sympathy any of them are willing to give over his never being able to see the kid he just found out about again.)

(Well.)

(Thought of in those terms, he supposes the choice is obvious. Go back, and play the sympathy card for all that it's worth.)

…

Ella doesn't hesitate when Snow calls her, asks her to meet at the town line. It must be important– with the day being what it is.

She doesn't hesitate. Loads Alexandra into her car seat in the truck and gets Thomas and goes. If there's anything they can do in this situation, they have to try.

But they arrive before Snow does – though not Regina, who seems far more agitated than her usual.

"Snow asked us to come and meet her here?"

The woman known as the Evil Queen – with good reason, to Ella's mind, her various crimes against her own people well-known and documented, discussed as a matter of course throughout even other kingdoms for fear that she might try to conquer them as well, and no matter how forgiving Snow has been, it's all still true – flicks her gaze over them when Ella speaks. She says nothing, for a long moment, before letting out a huff of breath sounds resigned… Though what to, Ella isn't sure she wants to know.

"Yes, I'm sure she did." There is a touch of the woman's ever-present haughtiness in the words, but only that. Only a touch. "If it's any consolation, there isn't another way."

"Another way to what?" Thomas asks, arm coming around her instinctively. But Ella's mind is already working out the puzzle of the words– and there's only one thing she can see that would cause Regina to try and console them.

If they have to be separated from Alexandra.

Because she wouldn't be consoling them, not really, no matter the fact that she's said the words; just trying to talk herself into believing that being separated from Henry is the only option.

"Another way to not be cursed again," the woman answers, rolling her eyes and looking away, past them, back towards the town.

She wants to play dumb, to ask why they would need to be consoled. To pretend, even for a moment longer, that she doesn't understand. But she can't—

She can't bring herself to do that. To act the fool, and hear her worst fears confirmed. For so long, she had fought, fought to be able to keep Alexandra, to be a mother. Fought Rumplestiltskin in their home world and then in this one, lost Thomas and been so afraid it would be forever, had the memory of Sean abandoning her just because his father said that he should – even if that was all the Curse. With Emma's help, she had managed to keep her baby and get her husband back. Their happy ending, being a family together.

And now it's being ripped out of her grasp again. Ripped away from all of them, those happy endings that Emma restored. Though, going back to the Forest might at least mean that most of the people here will be able to build their happy endings back, it won't be that way for them. Not if her suspicions hold true.

She holds her daughter closer; it isn't fair. And of course, that was the whole point of the Curse in the first place, wasn't it? To drag them all to this horrid place, this Land Without Magic, where they would be without everything they held dear. And now it adds this one final slight, one last attack on their happiness, an attack they can apparently do nothing about.

She stays silent, stays still. She may not be able to cherish however much longer they have before things are done, but she'll see to it that those moments aren't wasted by arguing pointlessly with the witch before them. Nor by pleading pitifully for another way.

If this is it—

If this is the last time that she'll hold Alexandra in her arms—

She may hate it. But she also knows, if it is the case, exactly why Snow called her here. Alexandra may not be in her hands, after today, but she will very likely be in Emma's, and at least that's something. Some small reassurance in this all that her little girl will at least grow up loved and happy.

And that will have to be enough.

…

"When the Curse is undone– even if you do escape, you'll forget."

"You mentioned that." Emma tries to be casual, but this is… It's all quite a bit. She has to say goodbye to the family that she's just found, except Graham and Henry, and worry about getting six people across the town line – her Bug will not hold everyone, it just won't, and Alice and Cyrus can't exactly drive to get out themselves. Ashley and Sean have volunteered their truck, which already has Alexandra's car seat ready to go, but isn't it possible that will be erased with the town? All those concerns considered, she's not sure why Regina is repeating something they already know.

"I think I can– Create new memories to replace what you'll lose. Like everyone had under the Curse–"

"Everyone was miserable under the Curse." As worried as she is about what losing all memory of Storybrooke will entail, she isn't going to let Regina just mess with their heads unchecked. She doesn't trust the mayor. Not that much. Not with Henry or Graham.

"They didn't have to be. That was my design. I could have made their memories good, if I'd wanted to. But it would have defeated my purpose in casting the Curse at all. Please, hear me out. This will be the last thing that I can do for Henry. Let me do what I can give you a good life."

"It won't work." Cyrus and the woman she had accidentally freed from Jafar's staff – Amara, she thinks she had called herself? – speak at same time; there hasn't been time for any sort of explanations since then, but it's fairly obvious in their reactions to each other that there's some sort of connection there.

"And why shouldn't it?" Regina asks, not even bothering to mask her annoyance at the interruption. Honestly, Emma is grateful for it; she doesn't know that there is any sort of polite way to say "Thanks for the offer, but stay the hell out of our heads."

The two of them share a Look, one that eloquently states, even without words, do you want to explain it or shall I?

"There is no magic across the town line," Cyrus states, his tone slow and deliberate; still, if Regina has caught onto this point she makes no indication. He only lets the pause rest long enough to illustrate that whatever he's saying should be obvious before he continues, "You would be trying to project your magic into a place that it can't affect, while you were being forcibly torn out of this world and sent back to where you came from. There isn't any sorcerer powerful enough to do something like that. And that's before taking into consideration that in undoing the Curse, you're relinquishing control over any aspect of it."

"That said," Amara turns her gaze on Emma, something calculating behind her eyes, "with a little help, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to create those new memories for yourself."

"What does that mean?"

"You said yourself that you're made of magic," Cyrus reminds. "You don't need an outside source of it to make things happen."

"Magic is simple enough, once you know what you need. Power source, focus, intent. Price. If you can provide the power and the focus, I can help you guide the intent to create new memories for those of us who are leaving. The price is already covered by what we're leaving behind."

"You're coming?"

"From what I understand, my choices are to be separated from all of my children again, stuck back in Agrabah without a way to get to any of them, my entire plan for finding them again rendered impossible, or to at least have one of them back. Neither is ideal, but I am not a fool."

There's a story there, she's sure, and a long one from the sound of it. But it's one that she'll never get to know. And one that makes it clear what Amara means about the price being covered by what those leaving are leaving behind – the chance for their families to be whole again. She loses her parents. Graham loses his wolf brother. Henry loves Regina and Neal, even with all their faults he still sees them as parents, and she didn't fail to notice that Neal is saying goodbye to the kid now. Alexandra loses both of her parents – will never even remember them. Alice had already left behind her father, but Emma has seen that Jack's like a brother to her. Cyrus- Well. If her reading of that long story is right, Amara might be his mother, but he has siblings somewhere out there in the world too, and they'll be lost to him.

"What would I have to do? How would it even… If we leave, and we forget, how would I even remember to keep the magic going long enough?"

"Well, that's actually one of the benefits of using your power to create them. A spell cast by True Love… That's unbreakable. Even if Regina somehow managed to make her version of your false memories stick, there would be the chance that you and Graham could accidentally break them, since they'd be a result of the Curse—" and the look that Regina shoots in Cyrus' direction, so startled by his even mentioning that Graham is coming, makes Emma realize that she hadn't known that Gold had done something to make that possible, had thought she would only have to give Emma and Henry new memories— "and True Love's Kiss is, as you know, more powerful than that. And if you did remember at that point – what would it do but make you miserable? Remembering everything that you lost when the Curse was undone, and all the ways that what you thought was true was a lie? But if your power created the new memories… Then it would also reinforce them, every time that your emotions were enough that your magic might react to them."

That's… A lot. And she doesn't know that she likes the idea of her own magic mucking about in their heads and better than the alternative, even if it is somehow more likely to turn out well for them.

But time is running out and so are their options. As much a she doesn't like using her magic in the first place, as much as she has no desire to even try it…

Well, when has what she wants ever really been a factor in how her life has turned out? Oh, Graham may have come back to her, somehow, but it hadn't happened until well after she'd given up hope – if her unvoiced wishes at the well could even be considered "hope" at all.

She shouldn't have to make this decision. Not ever, and certainly not in such a short amount time. That she does need to make it is only further proof of how much whatever powers-that-be in the universe decided to make her Savior must actively hate her guts.

But…

It's an uncomfortable decision. Not an impossible one. There is a difference, no matter how very slight.

If they're all going to lose their memories anyway, she'd rather have some influence over what they get instead than leave it all up to chance.

"What would I have to do?" she repeats, because – well. That question had gone ignored in all of Cyrus' explanations as to why using her magic would be a far better alternative to letting Regina try. Not that she disagrees, but the selective answering does have her almost as wary as the idea of using her magic itself.

"She already told you, Miss Swan," Regina answers, "You just need to focus your emotions and your power on the life you always wanted."

-One Year Later-

The Land Without Magic is different, outside of Storybrooke. Louder and faster and bigger; the fact that this is New York City counts for something, probably, but even the London of Alice's time wasn't like this. And that had been something, in and of itself.

Will isn't sure, exactly, what is going on in the Forest or how much time he has, but he knows these facts: 1) Jafar is still a threat, working with the woman everyone has been whispering about, the witch that's been turning people into flying monkeys; 2) the royals are running towards desperation in how to deal with said villains; 3) something happened at the Dark Castle that Belle, who had found him and asked for his help finding Graham and Emma, refuses to talk about.

Not that he expects her to trust him enough to talk about it – even if she did have some lecture for Robin about being a hypocrite when she found out the reason Robin didn't like him, since everyone had pretty much stuck together when it came to rebuilding the forest, including him even to his own surprise – but it would be nice to know more, since he had to take her to Wonderland to find the Rabbit to even try to get here. His knowing the Rabbit is very likely the only reason she even asked for help, but he had to agree anyway; no matter how safe Alice and Cyrus should be, in the Land Without Magic, with altered memories so they don't know about magic, he thinks Jafar will try and get revenge for their thwarting whatever his old plan was, anyway.

He knows what he's willing to fight for. No matter what is coming, he can hold onto that, onto the fact that he's doing this for the right reasons.

For his best friends, his family.

(Maybe Belle didn't say anything about finding Alice and Cyrus. But he would lay money on the false memories keeping them close to the sheriffs, considering they'd all left town together.)

So here he is. Outside the door to an apartment that should be home to Swan and Humbert, with no idea how he's going to get through to a group of people who are going to see him as a complete stranger. Including the best friends he's doing this for, if he's right.

This is not, he thinks, going to go half as smoothly as getting Alice out of Bethlam did. And he thinks such with full knowledge that "rescue" was nearly a train wreck, and Alice mostly rescued herself. He just… Showed up, gave her a reason to fight.

He hopes Belle has ideas for getting them to remember – or at least to listen – because he really doesn't. This sort of thing is not his usual activities, no matter that he did go get Alice and bring her back to Wonderland. Ask him to plan a heist? Sure. He can do that. Ask him to make people trust him and believe him about something that not only does he not have all the details about, but would sound insane to someone who doesn't know magic is real even if he did have all of said details? He's not a miracle worker. He's just… Will Scarlet. Thief.

"You sure you shouldn't do the talking?" he asks one last time before he knocks; stalling, yes, but he knows that they're more likely to find Belle trustworthy than him. She has a sincerity about her that he knows he lacks. "You know more about what's going on."

"You have a better chance to get through," Belle says, shaking her head. "I was close to Graham when we were both prisoners, and if any of their old memories and feelings linger it might help… But you were close to him more recently, in Wonderland, and Emma knew you better, of only because of the Curse. And if Alice and Cyrus are still anywhere near them? You're the one they're more likely to find familiar and not discount."

Weak reasoning, to his mind. But he doesn't have a better argument against it, does he?

Bloody hell.

He doesn't know what he's doing! He is- She should've gotten someone else. Anyone else. He has no idea what he's going to say, how he can possibly do what needs to be done here. Convince them that everyone who went back to the Forest needs their help? That they've been talking about bringing Storybrooke back, despite the misery it caused the first time?

(He's not supposed to know that part, maybe. Unlike Robin, no matter how close the royals seem to want to keep him and everyone else, he's not on the war council. He hadn't known enough about Jafar's old plan to be any use in figuring out how to deal with the new one. But it's not his fault if there's all sorts of secret passages in the castle that he's been asked to catalog for defense purposes – to stop people from getting in that shouldn't be, because who better for that job than a thief? – and one of them happens to let out in the council room behind a tapestry that does not muffle the voices of people in the council room at all. Nor is it his fault if the people in said council room are discussing the stupidest idea that he's ever heard.)

He'll be lucky if they don't call the cops before he can get a full sentence out. And then where will everything be? In the same position they are now, if not a worse one. But he can't put it off forever. Eventually either he knocks, or someone leaves and sees him and Belle waiting around like creeps. Neither option is particularly appealing, but he knows which he'd rather.

So he knocks. Three sharp raps on the door.

And he waits.