Henry was still looking at the now working clock, he knew that it would work once he brought—his birth mother—to Storybrooke, Main. The clock did a full circle, it was morning already, and people were up and getting their day started.
Mary Margaret was in her apartment, eating a bowl of cereal by her window, looking out it. Noticing the clock was working in the distance, her face was in pure shock when she saw it.
Emma was in bed, still sleeping—of course. Woke up slowly, looked around her room, got up walked toward the window, and looked out it.
The Sheriff's car rode down the street while Archie and Pongo walked down the sidewalk. Archie waved to Graham, walking across the street to the other side as he nodded to Mr. Gold who was passing by.
Ruby was in her work uniform, putting out a sign that said: Open. Granny's Diner. While Granny was carrying a bag of loaf bread as they both smiled at each other weakly, Sheriff Graham walked behind Granny as they both entered the diner.
Henry was sitting by his window again with it slightly open with a smile on his face. Regina was downstairs, reading the storybook that Miss Blanchard gave to Henry. She flipped through the pages like there was no other. Noticing that there were pages ripped out of the book, she was so invested in the book
Regina walked upstairs to her son's room and pushed the door open, walking into his room. Henry was getting ready for school when she walked in. Showed him the last few pages of the book that was ripped out. "The missing pages. Where are they?" she asked him
Henry turned around to face his mother. "It's an old book. Stuff's missing. What do you care?" he asked, knowing why she cared all of a sudden.
"I care because you think I'm some Evil Queen," Regina said as he walked past her to grab his book bag. "And that hurts me, Henry. I'm your mother."
"No, you're not," Henry said, pulling away from her and going to his bed.
"Well, then who is?" she asked, hurt by his words. "That woman you brought here?" I don't like what she or this book is doing to you. Thankfully, both are no longer an issue." Henry gave her a look that she didn't know, she narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"
Hearing the bell chiming, Regina turned around and out the window. That can't be, Regina thought, that bell shouldn't be working at all. Henry moved quickly out the door, so he wouldn't see or hear the raft of Regina Mills. She looked back at the retreating Henry.
Regina was standing in front of the clock, wearing a gray dress with a brown belt along with a gold bar attaching it to the belt, gray high heels with a cream jacket. Archie walked over to Regina with a surprised and happy look on his face. "Hey, how about that? Guess those rusty old innards finally straightened themselves out, huh?" he said out loud.
Regina turned to face him quickly, noticing Emma's yellow bug car. "Yes. How about that, indeed," she said to him, she was angry but she didn't show it to the power in town who was under the curse.
Someone knocked on Emma's door, she opened it to peek outside to see who it was and you'll never believe who it was. It was Regina with a basket of red apples and s smile on her face.
"Did you know the honey crisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all apple trees?" Regina asked.
Emma was confused about what she was trying to tell her, tilting her head to the side slightly with a coffee mug in her hand.
"It can survive temperatures as low as 40 below and keep growing," she chuckled breathlessly. "It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl." She looked down at the apples and picked up the red apples from the basket. "And to this day, I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers," she smiled at Emma and offered her the red apple in her hand.
Emma took the apple with a soft smile. "Thanks," she said softly.
"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home," she said, determined for Emma to leave.
"Actually, I'm gonna stay for a while."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Henry has enough issues. He doesn't need you confusing him."
"All due respect, Madame Mayor, the fact that you have now threatened me twice in the last twelve hours makes me want to stay more."
"Since when were apples a threat?"
"I can read between the lines. Sorry, I just want to make sure Henry's okay."
"He's fine, dear," Regina said. "Any problems he has are being taken care of."
"What does that mean?" Emma asked, concerned.
"It means I have him in therapy. It's all under control. Take my advice, Miss Swan, only one of us knows what's best for Henry."
"Yeah, I'm starting to think you're right about that."
"It's time for you to go," Regina said, in a threatening voice.
"Or what?" Emma challenged her.
Regina took a step closer to Emma. "Don't underestimate me, Miss Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of."
"I shall destroy your happiness," said the Evil Queen to Snow White. "If it is the last thing I do." She strutted away from Snow White and Prince Charming, her back toward them. She was going to get her revenge on her somehow. She didn't care what she did but she would find one and that's a promise that she would make.
"Hey!" Prince Charming yelled, scaring Snow White in the process. The Queen turned around to look at him and when she did, he threw his sword at her but she disappeared in a cloud of black smoke. He missed her by inches, the sword landed on the wall.
Regina was in her room in her own castle, it was all dark with many candles that were lit. Walking in further, her father asked, "Would you like something to drink?"
Regina stopped walking to look at him, she was annoyed. "Do I look like I need a drink?" she asked, harshly.
"I was only trying to help," Henry—Regina's father—replied, giving her a look. He handed her the drink that was on the tray anyway.
She stared at her father for a long moment before taking the drink from him. "Thank you," she said softly.
A mirror behind her came to life, and a man's face appeared and spoke: "Now that was an awfully big threat." Regina looked at the mirror with a playful smirk, walking toward the mirror. "Destroy everyone's happiness? How do you plan on accomplishing that?"
"The Dark Curse," she answered, taking a drink from the cup. The mirror looked at her in fear.
"Are you sure, Your Majesty?" asked Henry, approaching her.
"But you said you'd never use it," said the mirror.
"You made a deal when you gave away that curse," said Henry.
"You traded it away," said the mirror.
"She won't be happy to see you," said Henry.
"Since when do I care about anyone else's happiness but mine?" she asked, looking at the man. "Prepare the carriage," she ordered him. "We're going to the Forbidden Fortress," the Queen walked away with the drink in her hand.
It was freezing outside the castle where Maleficent was staying, the snow was a foot deep all around the Forbidden Fortress. "How are you, dear?" Maleficent asked the Evil Queen.
"I'm doing fine," the Queen answered, the roaring fire was bright. They were both sitting in high chairs.
"Are you?" Maleficent challenged. "If it were me, I'd be simply tortured," she said, pouring a cup of tea in her glass, "watching that flake of Snow so happy. Weren't you about the same age when you were to be married before she ruined it all?" Regina's face wasn't too thrilled when she brought that up. "Yes, you were."
"Yes, it was about the same age you were when Sleeping Beauty got the best of you, my dear Maleficent said, leaning in a bit. "Hopefully," she smiled wistfully at the Queen.
"Enough games," the Queen said, annoyed. "You know why I'm here. I need my curse back."
"It's not yours anymore," Maleficent, "a deal's a deal. I traded you my sleeping curse."
"Which failed. Undone by a simple kiss. Now please, return what's mine," demanded the Evil Queen.
"The Dark Curse? Really? You must know that not even its unholy power can bring your loved one from the dead," the Queen looked at Maleficent intensely. "Have you considered a pet? They can be quite comforting," Maleficent said while petting her horse with a smile.
"The only comfort for me is Snow White's suffering," the Queen said nastily.
"Well, it's her wedding night, I doubt she's suffering right now," Maleficent said.
The Queen leaned in. "I need that curse. I know you keep it hidden in the orb above your staff."
"Hidden for the good of all, old friend," Maleficent said, calmly. "Whoever created that monstrosity makes the two of us look positively," taking a pause at the fire then back at the Queen, "moral. Who did give it to you?"
The Queen leaned back against the chair then pushed herself off it and stood up, facing Maleficent. "Where I got it is none of your concern," her voice hard. The fire started to rumble as Maleficent got worried and the Queen went closer to the fire. "Hand it back," the Queen demanded, a powerful wind came out of nowhere.
"Must we do this?" Maleficent asked.
"Alas, we must," the Queen threatened. Thunder crashing, the fire was bigger and it was turning toward Maleficent, she was now standing up as she ran to hide from the Evil Queen. A fire was now in the Evil Queen's hand, firing it at Maleficent jumped over the chair and blocked the fire with her staff.
The Queen wiggled her fingers making all of the sharp objects come together in one big pile in the center of the room in midair, pointing them in the direction of the horse. An evil smirk came to her lips, knowing that Maleficent couldn't escape all of them. The horse whined, sensing the danger. "No!" screamed Maleficent and in time to saved her horse from death by blocking them with an invisible shield.
Maleficent's candle chandelier came down and wrapped around her, struggling to get free and the grip on her staff fell to the ground. The Queen pushed her to the wall with her powers, walking to where she was, she picked up the staff that had the curse on it. "Love is weakness, Maleficent. I thought you knew that."
"If you're going to kill me, kill me," Maleficent's eyes narrowed at the Queen, her voice calm.
"Why would I do that?" the Queen asked, looking at the staff in her hand and then looking at Maleficent. "You're my only friend."
"Don't do this," she begged. "This curse. There are lines even we shouldn't cross." The Queen turned the staff upside down and smashed the crystal ball on the floor, breaking the ball into a million pieces. "All power comes with a price." The Queen picked up the small bottle from the ground. "Enacting it will take a terrible toll." Then she unraveled it, revealing the curse's ingredients. "It will leave an emptiness inside you. Avoid you will never be able to fill."
The Queen looked up when Maleficent was talking. "So be it," Regina said her face blank. She walked away with The Dark Curse in her hand.
The Queen was in the middle of the woods, a fire pit in the middle, and her guards were there with others who wanted revenge.
"Who among us is tired of losing?" Regina asked her hands on her hips. She looked around, waiting for an answer. "That's why I called you here. To put an end to our misery," the Queen started putting the ingredients into the fire, and her father that was in her room had a sack in his hands and a guard had a small box in his hands. "Today we claim victory," she said while the man gave her another ingredient. "And move to a new, better realm. A place where we can finally win."
"And we'll be happy?" asked a woman with her eyes sewed shut.
"I guarantee it," Regina answered. "But first, I need something from you. A lock of hair from those with the darkest souls," she looked around slowly at everyone. "You must trust me. Because if you don't, there are other ways." She looked up at the night sky, tree branches started growing all around them, and was trapped by them.
The woman with the sewed eyes brought out a knife from her waist and then started cutting off her hair.
"A wise decision," said Regina.
The giant pulled out some of his hair and a gnome thought about it for a moment before taking a few hairs from himself. The Queen looked around, pleased with herself that everyone had followed her orders, grabbing a bucket from one of the guards; she walked around the circle collecting the hairs from her followers, and they all dropped them in the bucket.
The branches retreated and went back to normal trees, handing the bucket to one of the guards. "All that remains is the final ingredient," she said. Henry—Regina's father—who has the sack now has the silver box, opening it to reveal the final ingredient. "A prized heart," she grabbed it out of the box. "From my childhood steed. The glorious beast who passes will fuel our victory." She smiled, evilly at them then looked at the fire. "Let my wrath be unleashed."
Throwing the heart into the fire, it went up into flames as Regina looked up at the fire. A cloud appeared and thunder was crashing around the small circle, it grew taller and taller.
The gnome feared away from the purple smoke, he was shivering in his boots. The woman with the sewed eyes opened her arms wide and tilted her head up to the sky—welcoming the curse.
The Queen's eyes were closed and her arms were wide open as well—taking everything in. Taking the magic in. Her curse was working, actually working. Maybe she would get her happily ever after—after all.
Then all of a sudden, the purple smoke disappeared—it vanished. The Queen's eyes were wide with shock and disappointment. She was wondering why the curse didn't work. She read the ingredients, it must have been right. It was silent for the longest time.
The gnome started at Regina. "Yeah, you totally unleashed something there," he said, jumping onto a rock as he kept laughing and pointing at her.
The Queen used her power on him to make him a stone, she was angry that the curse didn't work. It should have worked. Turning away from the group with a hint of anger in her eyes.
Regina was in her garden, her garden was absolutely perfect. Her lawn was perfectly cut, there were flower beds yards apart from each other and had a gnome in every other one, and tons of red apple trees in her back garden. She has an empty basket in her hand, picking red apple after red apple.
"The Mirror strikes again," said Sidney—he was Regina's right-hand man, her go-to person—holding up a newspaper to face Regina. It has a picture of Emma Swan in a mug shot.
"You're late," Regina said without turning around.
"Sorry. I wanted to bring you the latest edition," he said, proudly. He wanted to impress Regina. "I assure you, it's one of my better hatchet jobs."
Regina looked at him then at the newspaper, snatching it out of his hands. "That's not what I asked for," she said, looking down at the paper again, and scanning it. "What did you find out about her?" she asked.
"Well, the truth be told, there wasn't much," Sidney said, walking quickly in front of her. "She spent a lot of time in foster homes." Regina scoffed and turned around, disgusted that was all he found out about Emma. "She got into some trouble when she was a kid," he quickly raced around to be in front of her again. "But the details are locked up pretty tight, Since then, she's clean. Bounced around all over. The only thing I really learned was that she doesn't like to sit still."
Regina picked an apple from the tree and looked to her left. "That appears to have changed," turning around yet again, Sidney sighed softly.
"Did you know that she had Henry while she was in Phoenix?" he asked, standing in front of Regina, once again. "How'd he wind up here in Maine?" he asked, curiously.
"So, if I'm understanding you correctly," the newspaper was still in her hands, shaking it in his face. "You found nothing of value. Which means you have no value, Sidney. Do you know what I do with things that hold no value to me?" she asked, taking a step closer to Sidney. "I throw them away."
"I'll keep looking," Sidney stammered, walking off Regina's lawn. Regina held the newspaper up and looked at the picture of Emma again.
"Emma was sitting at Granny's Diner, holding the newspaper in one hand and a red apple in another hand. The headline says Stranger Destroys Historic Sign, Alcohol Involved. She was about to take a bite of the red apple when Ruby handed her a mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon on top. "Here you go," she said, setting the mug in front of her.
"Thank you, but I did not order that," Emma said, looking at it with suspicion in her eyes.
"Yeah, I know. You have an admirer," Ruby said with a smile.
Emma turned around to find Sheriff Graham at one of the booths by the window, she got up from the stand as she took the mug, and walked over to him with a nervous smile. Sheriff Graham looked up from his blueberry muffin, seeing Emma.
"Ah, so you decided to stay?" he asked her.
"Observant. Important for a cop," Emma replied.
"It's good news for our tourist business," he said jokingly, shaking his head. "It's bad for our local signage." They both looked at one another for a moment then looked back down at the table. "It's a joke," Emma gave him a strange look but she didn't laugh. "Because you ran over our sign."
"Look. The cocoa was a nice gesture. And I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon on my chocolate 'cause most people don't, but I'm not here to flirt. So thank you but no thank you," Emma said, sternly, setting the hot cocoa on the table in front of him.
Shaking his head, and looked at Emma, "I didn't send it."
Henry was two booths down—hearing the entire conversation—he turned around, and said, "I did." Emma looked at Henry with shock. "I like cinnamon, too." He got up from the booth, Emma and the Sheriff looked at him as he walked over to the two.
"Don't you have school?" Emma asked, changing the subject.
"Duh, I'm ten," said Henry, "Walk me." Henry and Emma walked out of Granny's Diner and were walking down the sidewalk to Henry's school.
"So, what's the deal with you and your mom?" Emma asked curiously, tossing the apple from one hand to the other.
"It's not about us, it's about her curse," Henry said. "We have to break it. Luckily, I have a plan. Step one is identification. I call it Operation Cobra."
"Cobra?" Emma asked taken aback. "That has nothing to do with fairy takes."
"Exactly. It's a code name. To throw the Queen off the trail." Henry said she was supposed to know this.
"So everyone here is a fairy tale character, they just don't know it?" Emma asked, playing along with his fairy tale game.
"That's the curse," Henry said, getting a bit frustrated. "Time's been frozen. Until you got here." Emma was about to take a bite of the apple that Regina gave her this morning. "Hey! Where'd you get that?" he demanded.
"Your mom," she answered, confused as to why he would ask that question.
"Don't eat that," he said, throwing it behind him.
"Okay," she said, wide-eyed. Shocked that he would throw the apple onto the sidewalk. "Uh, all right. What about their pasts?"
"They don't know. It's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything and you'll see."
"So, for decades people have been walking around in a haze," Emma taking a deep breath, "not aging, with screwed-up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious?"
"I knew you'd get it," he said, happily. Emma was smiling at Henry when she saw how happy and excited he was. "That's why we need you. You're the only one who can stop her curse."
"Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?" she asked, stopping in her tracks to look at Henry.
"Yes. And right now we have the advantage. My mom doesn't know that." Henry explained, taking off his book bag and unzipping it. "I took out the end. The part with you in it." He said, taking out the last few pages of the book and handing it to her. "See? Your mom is Snow White."
Emma looked at the page for a moment then back at Henry. "Oh, kid," she said softly, she didn't want to break his heart.
"I know the hero never believes at first. If they did, it wouldn't be a very good story." Henry told her. Emma sighed as they started walking again. "If you need proof, take them. Read them. But whatever you do, don't let her see these pages. They're dangerous. If she finds out who you are...," he paused for a moment, Emma looking at him as her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "It would be bad."
Emma's eyes went wide for a moment, taking in everything Henry had said to her in the past five minutes.
They were at the school, Henry walking a little faster. "I gotta go. But I'll find you later and we can get started." Turned around, walking backward. "I knew you'd believe me," he yelled out to her.
"I never said I did," Emma yelled back, trying to hide the smile.
"Why else would you be here?" he asked, turning around and running toward the school.
Ms. Blanchard turned to look at Emma, she was in the front of the school. She slowly walked over to Emma while she was chuckling to herself.
"It's good to see his smile back," Ms. Blanchard said to Emma.
"I didn't do anything," she said.
"You stayed," Ms. Blanchard said. "So, does the Mayor know you're still here?"
"Oh, she knows," her voice squeaked. "What is her deal? She is not a great people person. How did she get elected?"
"She's been Mayor as long as I can remember." Ms. Blanchard said. "No one's ever been brave enough to run against her. She inspires quite a bit of," she looked out of the corner of her eye, trying to find the right word. "Well, fear. I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book. Now he thinks she's the Evil Queen."
"Who does he think you are?" Emma asked her.
"Oh," she smiled slightly and breathed out a laugh. "It's silly."
"I just got five minutes of silly. Lay it on me."
"Snow White," she finally said.
Emma's face was in shock at the words that came out of Ms. Blanchard's mouth. The bell rang, and school started in a few minutes.
"Who does he think you are?" Ms. Blanchard asked, unaware of what Emma was thinking.
"I'm not in the book," she lied, shaking her head. "Can I ask you a favor? Regina mentioned the kids in therapy. So you know where I could find the doctor?"
Archie was in his office, he had all types of things on the walls and his desk was full of papers and little knickknacks everywhere. He was at his desk, writing down something when Emma knocked on the door. He looked up to see who it was, Emma opened the door and popped her head in, letting herself in.
"Hey," she said, smiling at the doctor.
"Emma Swan," Archie said, standing up quickly, shocked that she was here. "I was just reading about you." He said, grabbing the newspaper, and showing her the front page as he smiled shyly. "Let me guess. You're here for help with a little post-traumatic stress?" he asked. "That diagnosis was free, by the way."
Emma chuckled at his little joke. "No, I'm here about Henry," she admitted.
Archie took a deep breath, looking away for a moment and then back at Emma. "I'm sorry, I really shouldn't..." he started saying.
"I know. I'm sorry, I just..." Emma interrupted. "Just tell me something," she started, sitting down on the couch's arm. "This fairy tale obsession. What is causing it? I mean, he thinks everyone is a character in his book. That's...," she was trying not to sound too harsh, "crazy."
He smiled wide, it was a nervous one. "I hope you don't talk that way in front of him. The word 'crazy' is quite damaging. These stories." He looked to the side and taking a deep breath, looked at Emma. "They're his language. He has no idea how to express complex emotions so he's translating as best he can. This is how he communicates. He's using this book to deal with his problems," he explained to her.
Emma listened to Archie intently, but she was still confused about why. "But he got the book a month ago," she said softly, her eyes softening as she looked at Archie. "Has he been seeing you longer than that?"
"Um, yes, he has," he admitted.
"So it's Regina, isn't it?" she asked, she was getting something.
Archie looked down as he smiled briefly to himself. "Uh, his mother is a very complicated woman. And, uh, over the years, her attempts to try and bring Henry closer have only backfired."
They were both very quiet when Archie told her this. It was heartbreaking to see her son pulling away from Regina. Yes, Regina can be very complicated and very aggressive at times but deep down she wanted to be a good mother to Henry.
He walked back to his small desk, opened up a drawer, and took out a folder for Emma to see. "Why don't you take a look at the file," he said, over his shoulder. "Um, you'll see what I mean." He said, handing over Henry's file.
"Why are you doing this?" Emma asked, looking at the file and then up at Archie.
"He talks about you a lot," he said. "You're very important to him."
"Thank you," her voice soft, looking off to the side.
"Just see that I get it back. Okay?" he said, trusting her that she would give it back to him. He walked to the door and opened it, Emma got off the arm of the couch with the file in her hand. "Miss. Swan?" he stopped her from going any further. "For the sake of the boy, be careful how you handle his belief system. Destroying his imagination would be devastating."
Emma nodded, holding the files to her chest. She walked out of the building and down the sidewalk. She needed to see what was on these papers, she was starting to care more and more about Henry every day.
Archie closed the door, walked over to his desk picked up his phone, and started dialing a number. He put the phone up to his ear, waiting for the other person to pick it up. Two rings later, that person picked up and answered.
"You were right. She was just here." Archie said into the phone.
It was Regina Mills, the mayor.
"Did she take the file?" Regina asked him.
"Yes," he answered. "How did you know she was gonna come here?"
"Because I'm the one who gave her the idea," she said, smiling through the phone.
Emma was lying on her bed, Henry's files were all over the bed, and she had a pile of papers against her knee while looking at them. Upon reading it, someone knocked on the door. Setting the papers down as she got up to go open it, opened it wide, and, there he was.
Sheriff Graham. He was standing there with a look that said that he didn't want to be there.
"Hey there," she said. "If you're concerned about the 'do not disturb' signs, don't worry, I've left them alone."
"Actually, I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper," he explained. "He mentioned you got into a bit of a row with him earlier."
"No," she said, her brows furrowed in confusion.
"I was shocked, too. Given your shy, delicate sensibilities." Graham said, sarcastically. "He says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused you came back and stole them."
Emma's face was in pure shock, she didn't know why he was lying to the Sheriff. "He gave them to me," she stated.
"Alas, he's telling a different tale. May I check your room or must I get a search warrant?"
Emma looked at him for a minute before opening the door wider and stepping out of his way, a sigh left her lips. "Is this what you're looking for?" she asked, gesturing to the scattered papers over her bed.
Sheriff Graham picked up some of the papers and looked at them. "Well, you're very accommodating. I'm afraid, Miss Swan, you're under arrest," he said, taking his handcuffs from his belt, and tilting his head. "Again," he whispered the last word to her.
"You know I'm being set up, don't you?" she asked, as he put the cuffs on her wrist.
"And who, may I ask, is setting you up?" he asked in return.
Regina was walking down the sidewalk, the leaves were scattered everywhere on the ground, and her walk was determined and fierce. She was approaching Henry's class, the kids were sitting on the grass while Ms. Blanchard was teaching.
"...carbon dioxide and water synthesize." Ms. Blanchard told the class, and Regina cleared her throat to get her attention. She stopped teaching, the kids looked at the mayor as she stood up quickly and closed a book, walking towards to meet Regina.
"May I speak with my son?" Regina asked.
"We're in the middle of a lesson. Is it important?" Ms. Blanchard said.
Regina gave Ms. Blanchard a mean look. "Do you think I'd be here if it wasn't?" she asked harshly, she walked over to get Henry leaving Ms. Blanchard baffled at her spot.
Regina took Henry to a spot where they could talk alone so no one could hear them. "Henry. Sweetie, I have some bad news. The woman who you brought here, she's been arrested." She said she wanted him to know that she was a bad person and also to let him know before anyone else told him. "She broke into Dr. Hopper's office and stole his files. She's a con woman. She's trying to learn about us in order to take advantage of us. That's why she's sticking around. I'm sorry."
"No, you're not," Henry said plainly, knowing that she wasn't sorry at all and knowing that his real mother wouldn't do that to them.
Regina looked at him, hurt that he didn't believe her. "I know you think otherwise, but all I'm doing is trying to protect you. This is gonna be good for us. You'll see." She placed a hand on his and squeezed it gently, trying to make him understand. "Things will be better."
The school bell started ringing, and all the kids from Ms. Blanchard's class still stayed on the grass. "I gotta get back to class," Henry said to his mother.
Her face was blank with anger, she couldn't believe that Henry didn't believe her at all. All she wanted was to have her son all to himself again, without Emma Swan being in the way.
Back at the police station, Sheriff Graham was setting up the camera while Emma stood in front of the camera. "You know the shrink is lying, right?" she asked him. Graham took the picture of Emma as she blinked from the flash.
"To the right, please. Why would he lie?" he asked.
Emma turned to the right as instructed. "The Mayor put him up to this," she said, trying to make him see that she was a total bitch. Another flash went off. "She's got to have something on him. He's terrified of her. Like everyone else in this town."
"To the left," he pointed, directing her. Emma just looked at him with disbelief but she turned to the left just as he told her to do. "Regina may be a touch intimidating," another flash went off, "but I don't think she'd go as far as a frame job."
"How far would she go? What does she have her hands in?" she asked, looking at Graham.
"Well, she's the Mayor. She has her hands in everything," he said simply.
"Including the police force?" she challenged.
The Sheriff was about to answer but Henry came in along with Mary Margaret Blanchard. "Hey!" he said, walking around the desk.
"Henry?" he asked, his eyebrows wrinkled. "Henry, what are you doing here?"
"His mother told him what happened," Mary Margret answered.
"Of course she did," Emma said while looking at Graham, her face knowing she was right all along. "Henry, I don't know what she said..." she started out saying.
"You're a genius," Henry exclaimed.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"I know what you were up to." Emma tilted her head, still confused. "You were gathering intel. For Operation Cobra." Henry gave her the look.
"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost," Graham said, taken aback by this whole exchange and the whole Operation Cobra thing.
"It's need to know, Sheriff," Henry said, turning to him. "And all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard is gonna bail her out."
Emma looked over at Henry's teacher with shock on her face. "You are?" she asked. "Why?"
"I trust you," Miss Blanchard admitted.
Henry looked at Miss. Blanchard then back at Emma. Emma looked at the Sheriff, holding out her wrists for him to uncuff her. "Well, if you could uncuff me, I have something to do."
Regina was sitting in her black-and-white office, sitting at her white marble desk, writing something on a piece of paper. Everything was perfectly quiet, nothing would ruin the Mayor's day.
Then she heard a chainsaw in her backyard, her head snapping up quickly. She got up from her chair to look out the window that she was sitting behind. Her face was in shock then it went to rage to see who had the chainsaw in hand.
It was Emma Swan.
And she was cutting down Regina's apple tree.
The tree fell over just when Regina came storming out, her face full of rage. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded.
"Picking apples," Emma said simply, the apples were all around them. Tossing the chainsaw onto the ground.
"You're out of your mind," Regina said angrily.
"No. You are if you think a shoddy frame job is enough to scare me off. You're gonna have to do better than that. You come after me one more time, I'm coming back for the rest of this tree," Emma said, threatening Regina. "Because, sister, you have no idea what I am capable of." She started walking off her lawn. "Your move," she muttered to the Mayor.
Regina was angered by what Emma had done to her apple tree. It was special to her. She has no idea what to do right now, she has to think of a way to get back at Emma for what she has done to her.
The Evil Queen and Henry were the only ones left in the forest now. She was disappointed that the Dark Curse didn't work. She felt hurt that the person who gave it to her had lied to her about it.
"Maybe it's for the best," said Henry. "The forces you're summoning are darker than we can conceive."
Regina looked at him, her face darkening. "Oh, now you're trying to protect me?" she asked, snarling at him.
"It's what I do," he responded.
"I know," she stated. "You're the only one who does."
"Helping you is my life," he said softly, not trying to make her mad.
"Then help me understand why this curse isn't working," she said in frustration.
"If you want to know that, then you need to go back to the person who gave it to you in the first place," he responded. Regina looked disgusted by the thought of going to the person, but it seemed like she had no choice in that manner. "Revenge is a dark and lonely road. Once you go down it, there's no heading back."
Regina looked back at him with a smile on her face. "What is, therefore, me to head back to?" she asked, sadly.
A mouse was on the dirt path, eating away at a red apple. "It's just us, dearie," Rumplestiltskin said to the person who entered. "You can show yourself," he said, getting out of the darkest corner of the cage himself.
A cloud of black smoke appeared in the metal bars where Rumplestiltskin is staying, it was the Evil Queen. Cracking her neck and signing in relief, once she popped her bones, she looked over at him with a satisfied smile.
"Ah!" Rumplestiltskin mused.
"That curse you gave me," Regina started saying. "It's not working."
"Oh, so worried. So, so worried. Like Snow and her lovely new husband."
"What?" she asked, flatly.
"They paid me a visit as well," he explained, pressing up against the bars. "They were very anxious about you and the curse."
Regina came closer to him, putting her face close to his. "What did you tell them?" she demanded.
"The truth," he hissed back at her. "That nothing can stop the Darkness." Regina smiled at the words. "Except, of course, their unborn child. You see, no matter how powerful, all curses can be broken." He smiled at her, satisfyingly. "Their child is the key. Of course, the curse has to be enacted first."
"Tell me what I did wrong," Regina demanded.
"For that, there's a price."
"What do you want?" she asked, blandly.
"Simple." He paused for a moment. "In this new land, I want comfort. I want a good life."
"Fine. You'll have an estate. Be rich," Regina interrupted.
"I wasn't finished. There's more."
"There always is with you," she retailed.
Rumplestiltskin laughed, and then he got serious. "In this new land, should I ever come to you for any reason, you must heed my every request. You must do whatever I say. So long as I say, please."
"You do realize that should I succeed, you won't remember any of this?"
"Oh, well, then, what's the harm?" he asked, knowing something she didn't.
"Deal," she said, thinking she one-up him. Rumplestiltskin backed up slowly, laughing maniacally. She looked at him with a blank face. "What must I do to enact this curse?"
"You need to sacrifice a heart," he stated, pointing at her.
"I sacrificed my prized steed," she said.
Rumplestiltskin jumped onto the bars and wrapped his hand around Regina's throat, she grunted unexpectedly. "A horse?" he asked in disbelief. "This is the curse to end all curses. Do you think a horse is gonna do? Great power requires great sacrifice. The heart you need must come from something far more precious." He said, his nose pressed against her own.
"Tell me what will suffice."
"The heart of the thing you love most."
Regina pulled away and slapped his hand away from her. "What I loved most died because of Snow White."
"Is there no one else you truly love?" he asked in a baby voice, his fingertips caressing her jawline lightly.
Regina looked at him, knowing what he meant. She didn't want to do that, he was the only other person who was by her side and who truly believed in her.
"This course isn't gonna be easy," he said in his normal voice. "Vengeance never is, dearie. You have to ask yourself a simple question. How far are you willing to go?"
Regina leaned in, her eyes blank. "As far as it takes," she said quietly.
"Then please stop wasting everyone's time and just do it. You know what you love. Now go kill it." He said, taunting her to kill the most precious thing that she has ever loved.
By that, the Queen turned away with a smirk on her face. She was going to do what she was told by Rumplestiltskin. She was going to kill it and enact the Dark Curse.
Emma Swan just came back to Regina's house, her key in hand, and unlocked the door. As she was about to get into her room, Granny stopped and Emma turned around with a soft smile.
"Miss Swan?" Granny said softly. "Oh, my, this is terribly awkward. I need to ask you to leave." She didn't want to ask her that but she had to, she was so nice and kind. Emma looked at her, eyebrows raised. "I'm afraid we have a 'no felons' rule," she explained. "It turns out it's a city ordinance."
"Let me guess. The Mayor's office just called to remind you," Emma guessed. She was so fed up by this point but she wasn't giving up that easy.
Granny nodded slightly, she hated that the Mayor had asked her to do this but she was the Mayor and nobody went against her wishes. "You can gather your things, but I need to have your room key back."
Emma looked at the key in her hand and then held it out for Granny to take the key. Taking a few steps toward Emma, she took the key from her hand.
Regina was down on her knees on the lawn, picking up the red apples that Emma caused, and into a basket that she brought down. She was muttering to herself while picking them up.
Sheriff Graham came and walked behind her, Regina sighed and looked back as she saw him. "She destroyed city property. I want her arrested," she complained to the Sheriff.
"Again?" he said in disbelief.
She looked at him like she was crazy or something. "What are you waiting for?" she demanded.
"I'm just not convinced arresting her is the right plan." He said, Regina, stood up and she grabbed the basket full of red apples. "And I'm not talking about your tree. We both know she didn't steal those files."
"Oh, do we?" she asked, her voice hard.
"I mean, she looked pretty shocked when I leveled the charges against her."
"It's because she doesn't like being caught," she said, getting back down on her knees as she picked the apples once again.
"Or because she was set up," he stated. "And if she was, that means Dr. Hopper was lying." He continued. Regina didn't show her face toward him when he said that. She knew the truth. She wanted Emma gone and out of her and Henry's life. For good. "And if he's lying that means someone asked him to. Are we really confident that the man's conscience won't eventually get the best of him?"
She stood up once again and brushed off the grass and dirt from her hands. "I think your schoolboy crush is clouding your judgment. Remember, I made you sheriff and I can take it away just as easily."
"You want me to arrest her again? I will."
"Good."
"But she's gonna keep coming at you. And I know you, you're going to keep coming at her. And you will do whatever it takes to get her out of here, and you may succeed." Graham said while Regina went back to picking up her apples.
"No. I will succeed." Regina yelled at him, turning to look at him as she stopped picking up her apples. "He's my son. It's what's best for him."
"I know that's what you believe, but if this escalates, it seems to be the only one who will get hurt is Henry." Graham gently said to Regina.
Regina seems to realize that, breathing out of her nose.
Emma put on a white see-through shirt over her white tank top, she was walking on the sidewalk with her red leather jacket along with some papers in her hands. She glanced over across the road where her yellow bug was, noticing a red clank on her front tire.
Her cell phone rang and pulled it out of her back pocket walked across the road and she answered it on the third or fourth ring. "Yeah?" she spoke through the phone.
"Miss Swam I'd be happy to continue demonstrating my power, but am I right in guessing your resolve to stay is only growing?" Regina asked.
"You have no idea," Emma's voice, was steady. She opened the door of her car and threw her stuff into the passenger side.
"Well, then, I think it's time we made peace. Why don't you drive over to my office?" she asked, Emma, slamming the door. "Or walk. Whatever suits you."
Emma hung upon her, looking down the street as she considered going to Regina's house.
"I'd like to start by apologizing," Regina said, sitting down in one of her black single chairs while Emma sat on the couch, "Miss Swan."
"What?" she asked, shocked.
Regina set her drink down on the coffee table, pushed her hair back, and looked at the other. "I just have to accept the reality that you want to be here."
"That's right, I do," she said fiercely.
"And that you're here to take my son from me."
"Okay. Let's be clear. I have no intention of taking him from anyone."
"Well, then, what are you doing here?" Regina asked, leaning in slightly.
"I know I'm not a mother. I think that's pretty self-evident. But I did have him. And I can't help it, he got in my head, and I want to make sure he's okay. And the more you try to push me out, the more I want to be here, especially after seeing how troubled he is," Emma explained.
"You think he's troubled?" the mayor asked.
"Well, he's in therapy. And I only got through a couple of pages of his shrink's notes, before you had me arrested. But putting all that aside," she took a deep breath, "he thinks everyone in this town is a fairy tale character."
"And you don't?" she questioned, intrigued.
"How can I? That poor kid can't tell the difference between fantasy and reality and it's only getting worse. It's crazy."
"You think I'm crazy?" Henry asked, his voice filled with sadness.
Emma turned to see Henry at the door, getting up off the couch, standing up, and taking a few steps before Henry ran out. "Henry..." she said softly, putting her hands on her hips. "How long was he there?" she asked, anger in her voice.
"Long enough," Regina said with a smirk on her lips. She knew that Henry would be here to listen to their entire conversation.
"You knew he would be here." She said, turning around to face Regina with an angry face.
"Did I know that my son comes to my office every Thursday at precisely five o'clock, so I can take him for dinner before his therapy session?" she asked, knowing the answer already. "Of course I did. I'm his mother." Emma looked at her with scorn in his eyes as Regina placed her arms on the armrests of her chair, saying, "Your move."
"You have no soul," Emma said, taking a step at her. "How in the hell did you get like this?" she asked, the mayor still had a smirk on her lips while Emma walked out of her office.
The Evil Queen walked down the dark hall, the windows were covered in vines that looked like spiderwebs. There were mirrors on the wall, scattered.
"What happened?" Genie in the mirror asked Regina. "Did you get your answer? What's going on? Your Majesty." he tried to get her attention but she was determined to get to the thing that she loved the most. "Your Majesty!"
Henry who was with her was in a room, lighting up candles when the Queen entered the room. "Did Rumplestiltskin tell you what you needed to know?" he asked.
She walked past him, not even looking at him. "Yes," she simply said.
"And?" He walked behind her, looking at her.
She stopped in her tracks, she was debating what he told her. "I'm not sure I should say," she paused. "I'm conflicted." She turned around, walking away from him, so she wouldn't have to look at him.
"How bad is it?" he asked. "Maybe I can help."
Regina didn't want him to help her because she knew if she told him he would do it. Just for her. So she could be happy. But she couldn't make that decision. She loved him more than anything in this world.
"I have to cut out the heart of the thing I love most."
There was a long silence, hearing her say them. He knew what she meant. "Me," he said.
The Queen closed her eyes, trying not to cry. She had loved him dearly, mostly because he was her father. She had already lost one parent and she couldn't lose another one. She turned to look at him, her face filled with sorrow.
"Daddy, I don't know what to do," she admits.
"My dear," he said softly. "Please," taking a few steps closer to his daughter. "You don't have to do this."
"I have to do something," she said, walking past him.
"Then move past this," he said, trying to make her not do this curse. "I know this may sound self-serving, but you don't need to enact the curse."
"But I can't keep living like this," she said, turning to face him. "What Snow did to me, what she took from me...," taking a deep breath. "It's eating me alive, Daddy. Her very existence mocks me. She must be punished." She walked away from him once again.
"If the price is a hole that will never be filled," he started saying, following behind her. "Why do it?" Stopping in her tracks once again in the middle of the room. "Stop worrying about Snow White and start over. We can have a new life."
"But what kind of life?" she asked, turning around. She didn't want to have a new life, she wanted Snow White to pay for what she had done to her and what she took from her. "All I've worked for, all I've built will be gone. My power will disappear. They already think I'm nothing."
"Power is seductive," the Queen's father said gently. "But so is love. You can have that again."
She looked at her father for a minute, considering his words. She went in and hugged him gently, wrapping his arms around his daughter.
Tears came out of her eyes. "I just want to be happy," her voice broke.
"You can be," he whispered into her hair. "Of this I'm sure. I believe if given the chance, we can find happiness together. But the choice is yours."
Regina closed her eyes, inhaling her father's scent one last time. "I think you're right," she said, sniffling. She pulled away from her father and looked at him with a smile. "I can be happy."
Her father looked at her with a smile, he was proud that she made the right decision for herself, exhaling a breath that he didn't know he had.
"Just not here," she said, flatly.
She quickly shoved her hand into her father's chest, gripping his heart and pulling it out fast. Her father gasps at the pain, his eyes widen with betrayal. His body dropped to the ground and her eyes were instantly filled with tears again.
"I'm sorry," she said to him, even though he couldn't hear her. A single tear came out of her eye.
Someone was knocking on Mary Margaret Blanchard's door, she was sitting at her tiny desk, eating grapes while she was grading papers. Setting her pen down, she got up from her seat and walked cautiously to the door. Opening it up, she reveals Emma at the door.
"Hey," she said, they both looked at each other for a second. "I just wanted to say thank you and pay you back the bail money." She handed her the money in a little envelope.
Mary Margret took it with surprise, she looked at Emma. Pondering a few seconds on why all of sudden she was really doing here, Emma looked down at the floor, awkwardly.
"You look like you need to talk," Mary Margret said to Emma.
Emma definitely wanted to talk to someone and she was the only person she trusted to talk to. She knew that she would never talk to Regina. Deep down, she thinks she feels the same way about her as Emma does.
Emma was in the apartment, she sat down at the small table. Mary Margret made Emma and herself, hot cocoa with whipped cream and cinnamon on top of it. She took a sip of the drink, and a soft smile came to her lips as Mary Margret came into the kitchen with a plate of chocolate chips.
"Cinnamon?" she questioned, looking in that direction.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I should've asked," she said, apologizing. "It's a little quirk of mine. Do you mind?" She said, offering her the chocolate chip cookies as she sat down.
"Not at all. No, thanks." Her face softened a bit, and she looked down at her cup. "When you bailed me out, you said that you trusted me."
Mary Margret laughed at herself then looked down at her own cup then back at Emma.
"Why?" Emma asked.
"It's strange. Ever since you arrived here, I've had the oddest feeling since we met before. And I know it's crazy," she said, picking up her mug and taking a sip.
"I'm starting to reevaluate my definition of crazy."
"For what it's worth, I think you're innocent."
Emma couldn't believe that this woman whom she met just a couple of days ago, believed her. Nobody in this town believed her before, except for Henry, of course. "Of breaking and entering or just in general?" she asked.
"Whichever makes you feel better." Emma chuckled while Mary Margret took another sip of her hot cocoa.
"It doesn't really matter what anyone thinks I did or didn't do. I'm leaving. Thank you for everything, but I think it's for the best. If I stay, Henry's only gonna keep getting hurt," she explained.
"What happens if you go?" she asked, looking at Emma. "I think the very fact that you want to leave is why you have to stay. You care about him. Who will protect Henry if you won't?"
Emma looked away from her, thinking about her words. She did care about Henry but she knew that if she stayed, she would only keep hurting him and she didn't want to do that to her son. She only wants to protect him and give him his best life.
Henry was sitting on the couch of Dr. Archie Hopper's, he had his umbrella. Anybody who could tell that Henry was feeling down. Nobody or anything could cheer him up. Ever since he heard his two moms talking about his fairy tales being crazy, he had no hope left.
"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Dr. Hopper asked Henry, he was sitting in his chair near the brown leather couch. "You know, that umbrella is kind of my good luck charm. Is that why you think I'm Jiminy Cricket?" he asked Henry, trying to get him to talk.
Henry shrugged, not interested in talking about it. "I don't think you're anyone," he said, putting the umbrella on the coffee table.
Dr. Hopper looked at his umbrella for a moment then looked up when he saw Emma charging in without knocking, looking at Henry.
"Miss Swan, I can explain. The Mayor forced me to...," Dr. Hopper started saying, getting up from the chair and toward Emma.
"I know. Don't worry about it. I get it," Emma interrupted, walking past Archie and toward Henry. "Henry, I'm sorry."
Henry didn't even look up or move from his spot, that's how down he was when the only person he trusted didn't believe him. "I don't want to talk to you," he said.
"Miss Swan, if she knew you were here...," Archie tried again.
Emma looked at him, her brows furrowing and her eyes blazing. "To hell with her," she said, sitting down in the chair where Dr. Hopper was sitting as she looked at her son. "Henry, there is one simple reason I stayed here. You. I wanted to get to know you."
"You think I'm crazy," Henry said.
"No, I think the curse is crazy," Emma said back. "And it is," looking down at the carpet and then back at Henry, sighing loudly as she looked up at Archie. "But that doesn't mean that it isn't true." Henry looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "It is a lot to ask anyone to believe in. but there are a lot of crazy things in this world. So what do I know? Maybe it is true."
"But you told my mom...," Henry started.
"What she needed to hear," Emma interrupted. "What I do know is that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking that we are nonbelievers." Henry looked at her fully now, listening more. "'Cause that way, she's not on to us. Isn't that what Operation Cobra was all about?" He started to smile at her words now. "Throwing her off the trail?"
Henry leaned up and smiled even wider. "Brilliant!" he said, he didn't know why he thought of that before.
"I read the pages," she said, holding the papers in her hands. "And Henry, you were right. They are dangerous. And there's only one way to make sure that she never sees them."
Emma looked up at Archie once again, got up from the chair, and walked toward the lit fireplace. Kneeling down near the fireplace and placing the last pages of the book into the fire. Watching them burn and turn into ash.
Standing up and turned to look at Henry with a smile on her face. "Now we have the advantage," Emma said.
Henry got up from the couch and half ran to her and hugged her waist tightly as she hugged him back. "I knew you were here to help me," he said, his heart and soul feeling up his body again.
"That's right, kid. I am." Emma said, softly. They pulled away from the hug and looked at each other. "And nothing, not even a curse, is gonna stop that."
Henry looked up at her with a smile of hope, hugging her once again.
Regina was back in the forest, the fire was roaring with life, and she was holding that silver box with her hands with her father's heart. She was staring into the fire with a blank expression on it, looking down at the box she opened the lid. She kneeled down next to the fire, taking out her father's heart and gently tossing it into the fire.
The fire grew more and the purple cloud came to life, it started getting higher and higher into the sky, the thunder booming loudly. Regina looked up with a satisfied smile on her lips.
She couldn't believe that it was working. Her own Dark Curse is working. Her father should be proud of her.
The cloud was growing larger and was moving fast too, nobody could stop this curse now. Once she enacted it, there was nothing nobody could do.
The Evil Queen was in a cemetery, she walked up to one gravestone, kneeling down with a red rose in her hand and setting it down on the ground.
"I love you, Daddy," Regina said.
Henry and Emma walked out of Dr. Hopper's office and into the town, they started walking on the sidewalk. They both smiled at each other, happy to be there with each other again.
Regina was still in her backyard with her red apple tree, dusting off the part of the tree that saw off.
Mr. Gold came walking into Regina's backyard, taking a look around her garden and then back at her as he walked closer. "What a mess," he stated.
Regina looked at him with a blank expression and her lips puckered slightly. "Not for long," she stated. "What can I do for you, Mr. Gold?" she asked, looking at him.
"I was just in the neighborhood, thought I'd pop by. Lovely to see you in such high spirits."
Regina laughed at that. "It's been a good day," she said, smiling. "I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance." She said, rubbing her hands together as she looked up at the sky.
"Emma Swan?" he asked, who was circling the tree. "Really?"
"Yes," she answered, turning around to look at him. "I imagine she's halfway to Boston by now."
Mr. Gold picked an apple and laughed at her words, shaking his head. "I wouldn't bet on that. Regina wiped that smile off her face, hearing those words didn't make her feel comfortable. "I've just seen her strolling down the main street with your boy," he explained, walking closer to him. "Thick as thieves they looked."
"What?" she asked, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. What he was saying couldn't be true.
"Perhaps you should've come to me," he said, standing in front of her. "If Miss Swan is a problem you can't fix, I'm only too happy to help. For a price, of course."
She chuckled at the thought of her going to him for any type of help, she was the type to do things on her own. "I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore," she said, turning her back on him as she went to her apple tree.
Mr. Gold sighed. "To which deal are you referring?" he asked, tossing the apple in his hand into the air.
Regina lifted her head up a bit, he remembers everything, just like she does. She looked over at him. "You know what deal," she said, not trying to say it out loud.
"Oh, right, yeah," he laughed out loud at that. "The boy I procured for you." Regina looked away and at the tree again. "Henry. Did I ever tell you what a lovely name that was?" he challenged. "However did you pick it?"
Her eyes went wide for a moment, he knew that she knew why she picked Henry for her son's name. It was because that was her father's name as well.
Turning around quickly, she realized that something was going on. "Did you want her to come to town?" she asked. "You wanted all this to happen, didn't you? Your finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it?" she was catching on to his little plan.
"Whatever do you mean?" he asked, playing dumb.
"Where did you get him?" they both looked at each other for a long moment. "Do you know something?"
"I have no idea what you're implying."
"I think you do." Mr. Gold smiled. "Who is this woman? His mother. This Emma Swan."
"I would say you think you know exactly who she is," Mr. Gold said, they both know who she is and what power she could hold. "Now, I really must be going." He started to turn away but Regina stopped him.
"Tell me what you know about her," she demanded.
"I'm not gonna answer you, dear. So I suggest you excuse me." They both stared at each other, challengingly. "Please."
Regina looked at him in disbelief, she couldn't believe that he would bring her here. He was ruining her plans, she needed to get rid of her but she was at a loss. Mr. Gold took a bite out of the apple while waiting for her to move out of his way.
But she stayed in that one spot, looking shocked. He walked around her as he continued eating the apple. She turned around to look at the retreating Mr. Gold, as he tossed the bitten apple back into her lawn.