#and my poor unsuspecting friends who are getting roped in the future.

[astramachina]

the driving force behind this project is in part my need to constantly outdo myself but also the realization that i can literally do the things i've always wanted to do. "if i'd made this movie/series, i would've done it like this" THEN BITCH DO IT!!!! the learning curve is so steep it's practically a vertical line but i have strapped on cleats and i'm going for it, baby.

nick nocturn said "all these programs are free, youtube is free, you have no excuse" and i took that personally.

[chrisrainicorn]

Fair Game Week Day 4: Birds/Soulmates

A classic tattoo AU. Qrow realizes almost immediately Clover could be his soulmate because it’s obvious af, Clover isn’t sure right away because people named after birds are relatively common in Remnant so he needs more proof than that. 

One day he rescues a bird from the snow thinking the poor thing is probably lost and freezing after flying so high to Atlas and Qrow is freaking out internally after seeing his mark because it’s totally him!

So... my original plan was to try to write a fic for this. Tho I knew I wouldn’t be able to complete it on time, and I would need more time to just stop and figure how the story was going to go exactly cuz I’m the kind of person that likes to plan a lot before putting stuff on paper.

I still have a little prologue tho, but I decided not to go further until I’m more sure about the plot so it doesn’t end up forced. Hopefully, I can one day I can go back to it and complete it!! Still, you can take a peek at what would probs be the first 2k under the cut:

Qrow was born with a bond mark.

He was still a rascal of a kid, who ran barefoot and chewed with his mouth open, tripped on the ropes that held up the tents of their current campsite, and liked to try to peek at the new shiny items the tribe people had stolen from their most recent raid only to be caught at the same second - though he still didn’t know they were stolen, or understand what a raid was - when someone finally explained to him the weirdly shaped spot on his abdomen he kept scratching wasn’t just a normal birthmark.

They explained to his sister too. He actually was intrigued enough by the story to settle down on the tent’s floor to hear about it, though she brushed all of that talk off with a “yeah, whatever”, rolling her eyes at the existence of magic symbols that would appear on your skin, connecting you to a person who, at some point of you life, you would realize they mean a lot to you.

“It’s like a guaranteed best friend!” He had grinned with a mouth that missed a few teeth as the explanation was concluded. 

The explainer only smiled at him, letting out a pensive hum before shrugging and deciding on “Yeah, you could say that kid.”

He didn’t understand why his sister was so grumpy after that. How the premise of a friend didn’t get her excited - they barely had kids their age to hang with on the camp, the younger ones were annoying and the older boring, he could get behind the idea of some company besides his moody twin. And when he had asked, “Hey, what does your bond mark look like anyway?” She flicked at his direction one of the pebbles they had been throwing at the river to see them skip, and stormed off without a word.

He was still a restless kid, yet now one that had learned to avoid the ropes before he could get his foot caught on them, when he found out a bit more about the marks. How they could appear at any time of your life, or not at all, how you could get a new tattoo before actually meeting the person, or after years of knowing them. How his sister didn’t have one yet, how she didn’t like the idea of her lame brother having something she didn’t. 

How some people would consider lucky he was born with one, how many would give everything to have a mark appear that early.

That would be the last time someone thought of him that way - lucky. Because soon he was tripping over the ropes again and taking tents down with him, and that was just one of the minor consequences of what they later would classify as his semblance.

The people of their tribe had thought it had been a funny inside joke naming the kid born with a mark shaped like that after a bird that was popularly known as a bad omen. Now it was just rightfully fitting. And not even the permanent tattoo on his skin of a four-leafed clover could serve as a good luck charm against the misfortune that now followed him wherever he went.

***

As he grew up as an outcast teen, the novelty of the marks went away together with the childhood wonder. Maybe because at his tribe, there weren’t many bonded people - they also weren’t really open about talking about this mushy stuff, so maybe he never knew about them. Or the ones who talked about it, did that because it came together with an almost-always tragic tale about how they were betrayed, backstabbed or straight-up stabbed by their match, or how they perished in some gruesome way, so he didn’t have a lot of positive examples to work with - perks of growing up around bandits. 

Guaranteed best friend was now just some naive though he scoffed at. He was so stupid as a kid, maybe his sister was wise to just go “whatever” since the beginning - he would never admit that to her in his lifetime, of course. (In the future though, there would be a point his sister wouldn't make a face to the mention of bond marks anymore, and then a good while later he would stop to really think about how her semblance worked. And he would connect the two dots - he still never saw the marks, but they had to be there, right?)

Who decided those things were a good idea? They could pop up on you any second, without a warning, with just a random shape to tell you about this random person you were supposed to meet one random day. People would talk about letting fate run its course until you would meet them, and how there would be a moment when you would just know. It sounded so unreliable, and too much for him to bother worrying about when he needed to survive frequenting - or infiltrating as his people would have put - a Huntsman Academy.

Yeah, they would have some impact on your life. But that could mean anything apparently. You could be bonded to your parents, to your siblings, to any relative, you could be bonded to someone you looked up to or who would look up to you, you could be bonded to someone who you would only interact for a few months, days, minutes, or less. Or, the most coveted of all, you could be bonded to someone you would fall in love with. Those cases even had a specific name - soulmates. How special.

You could even have more than one. If you thought having to worry about a single unknown individual could make someone paranoid, just imagine having multiple marks! Thankfully, he just had one.

That was good. Because it would be just one person that would have to put up with him. He wasn't exactly the person someone would dream to meet, much less be bonded with. Who would want a bad luck magnet connected to them anyway? Just unfortunate, how the unsuspected match would have to deal with it. At least it was no one from the tribe, that would only hinder them down - those were the kind of things people talked about him at the camp, on the rare times they dared to make the cursed kid a conversation topic anyway, and he was just unlucky enough to eavesdrop it.

He also didn’t want more because he despised the one he already had - he would say he had never liked it, but it was just his sour mindset clouding the childhood memories about him happily imagining how his friend would be like. It had to be a sick joke. A small symbol that represented everything he couldn’t have. Years and years went by with it just there, mocking him constantly.

He had met many people he would have said they had influenced his life, yet apparently none of them were the one. Unlikely his sister, he wasn't bonded with anyone from his team - he assumed her semblance only worked on him because they were related. He wasn't bonded to the man who mentored him and gave a purpose in life - though after finding out the truth, he supposed that was a good thing. He wasn't bonded to his nieces, who were more family to him than his own blood, girls he had watched grow up from hyperactive, sweet-toothed brats to strong, independent young warriors - they were still a bit of a brat though.

So, at his age, he assumed that his semblance affected him in such a way he would never have the luck of finding the person. Fine by him. He stopped caring about that long ago anyway.

And that meant that, at his age, at this place, in the middle of what he could only call the beginning of a war, he should have not been thinking about any of this.

But here he was. Halfway through undressing to take a much needed shower to relax and warm him up after the mission at the dust mines. Feet planted in front of the bathroom mirror. The mark still just there, right at the end of the scar he got from a scorpion tail as if, by some stroke of luck, it had barely avoided being slashed in half. He instinctively grimaced at the sight.

Even if he strongly didn’t want to think about it, it felt as if there was a force preventing him from shoving the thoughts to the back of his mind, not allowing him to ignore the signs.

He had seen the pin when they were captured on the first day. Heck, he even did a double-take at the shape that was unfortunately too familiar. But there were other more important things on his mind at the moment - like how they were being arrested.

Later he found out that was literally that guy’s name! And he didn't like how the information made a cold settle on the bottom of his stomach.

And then James partnered them up. He didn't like the idea, it had been too long since he had worked with other huntsmen on the field - and that happened for a reason. The company made him feel weirdly numb. Or that was him not being used to the cold of Atlas anymore, being in a mine with ice-covered walls certainly didn't help - how he just strutted along without sleeves?

Yet, he did his best to focus on the mission. Ignoring how Clover made sure to match his pace and walk by his side as they scanned the tunnels for any sign of the Grimm that had been wrecking the place. The silence would only be broken from time to time with inputs coming from his earpiece, and it had been just a step away from being uncomfortable. So he decided to not make this situation more unbearable for himself, taking a breath, he took a risk at the grueling task that was small talk.

“Gotta say, I’m still not really used to working with other huntsmen in the field.” He was surprised with how casual he made himself sound.

“But you were on a team before, weren’t you?” How Clover seamlessly encouraged the conversation with a question also surprised him for some reason.

“Long time ago.” He sighed, gaze dropping to the floor. “I just found working alone tends to be for the best.” Great. With just a second into their talk, he had managed to bring its mood down. Not an unusual occurrence for any kind of interaction he was involved though. So why this time did he feel so… bothered?

It was just this entire situation bothering him - he rationalized with himself.

"Well, I think that’s a shame." Of course you would.

He didn't know how to respond, yet he didn't even have the chance. One misstep, and his foot left the ground with a slip. What prevented him from making more of a fool of himself by crashing his face on the icy floor was a quick strong grip on his arm, catching him mid-fall and pulling him back up without seemingly any effort whatsoever.

Clover patted his shoulder as he regained his balance and he didn't hold back the frown on his face. He just walked forward as he responded to the voice coming from his communicator, and it took him a second to realize he was glaring at his confident walk on the grounds he had just proved to be extremely slippery. 

Who does this guy think he is?

Of course, they found the Grimm first, of course, it made himself stronger right in front of their eyes, of course, it ran away, and of course, there was now a gigantic hole on their path. One his partner there could have been at the bottom of it if he wasn't used to his semblance playing tricks just at the right time. 

And when he dismissed his thanks for the head ups with a brief explanation about his semblance, his reaction was like no other he experienced before. No weird glances, no steps back, no awkward ‘that sucks’, just a nonchalant "that so?" 

"Well, hey, don’t beat yourself up about it." He continued, and with a swing of his weapon, he made a new path for them to continue down the tunnel. "My Semblance is good fortune. Lucky you, huh?"

He punctuated his sentence with a wink before walking forward, completely unaware of how that revelation had shaken him to his core. He was still frozen on his tracks as if the ice from the floor had risen to his shoes and stuck him in place. 

Good fortune. That guy was a walking luck charm! 

Everything he couldn’t have… 

His eyes were downcast, flickering everywhere as his mind processed the events. Yet now he wasn’t staring down at the icy ground, but the smooth tiles of the bathroom of his room provided by the Atlas academy. Though his expression was the same from when the words had just reached his ears hours ago.

Looking up by a fraction, the ink of his mark seemed more lively than ever against his skin. He hadn’t truly looked at it for a good while, avoiding it like he avoided the eyes of strangers, and doing so now, he found out he was unable to divert his gaze off it as quickly as he used to do before.

A pin. A name. My semblance is good fortune. A wink.

You would just know.

He let out a dry chuckle, the sound devoid of any emotion. That couldn’t be right. He barely knew the guy. And he didn’t need any of that cluttering his mind right now.

Lucky you, huh?

[distant-rose]

A Once and Future Thing (5/7)

Notes: Sorry this took so long! I know I haven’t updated since October but shit has been going on and this took a back burner. I’m hoping to finish this story up by the end of March. This chapter is a complete angst fest. Apologies for the typos and grammar mistakes in this. I was editing this slightly drunk and stoned because I’m on holiday and couldn’t wait for this to be updated. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it. Special thanks to be my favorite ladies @welllpthisishappening​  and @katie-dub​.  Summary: Beth’s quest for vengeance against her boyfriend’s killer goes a bit haywire when she and her former best friend Jim Hawkins are sent into thirty years into the past. Now, they must figure out how to find a way back to the future without wrecking the first meeting between Beth’s parents, Emma Swan and Killian Jones. Rating: T+ Chapters: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Epilogue | Coda I  Word Count: 9,100+

Beth Jones felt like she had been through the night from hell; an invisible person had put a jack hammer to her skull and there was a distinct cottony taste in her mouth. It seemed like she had been put through the wringer and her wrists felt like tenderized burger meat. From what she could tell she was still outside due to scratchiness against her cheek and the pungent smell of grass.

She groaned and tried to push herself up; only she couldn’t because her wrists were once again bound with thick rope. She gritted her teeth, anger coiling in her stomach.

It was dark and well into the night considering the chill and the dew forming on her clothes. She was laying on the outskirts of a makeshift camp, judging by the small fire burning and the vague shapes of sleeping bodies not too far from it. A familiar heavy leather coat had been placed over her and she knew just from the smell that it was Jim’s. She immediately scanned her surroundings, looking for him. She didn’t have to look very far.

“Glad you could join us in the world of the living…”

He wasn’t looking at her. He was sitting on a log with his sword resting against his thigh. He was cleaning what appeared to be some sort of decaying matter off of it. His brow was furrowed in mock concentration as he rubbed at the steel with a dirty rag. She knew from experience that he could do it in his sleep. He had been waiting for her.

“You fucking asshole.”

“No need to be nasty.”

“You roofied me, you whoreson.”

“My mother kept inns, but she certainly wasn’t a whore. Kindly keep her out of your insults,” he replied in a light tone.

“Alright. Fine. You still roofied me, you lowlife lying sack of shit warmed over.”

“Much more creative. And I like to think of it more as saving your life rather than, what was it? Roofying you?”

“Saving my life?” she repeated dubiously, pushing her knees for forward and pulling herself into a kneeling position. It was an awkward feat considering her tied hands.

“Aye. You were getting emotional and nearly compromised the en-everything. Knocking you out was the best course of action.”

“Oh my god!” she let out a humorless laugh. “Fuck you.”

“You can swear at me all you like, but you know I’m right.”

“Suck a dick.”

“Bit inexperienced with that, but I’m sure you could give me pointers.”

“I hate you.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” he replied, tone changing as he regarded her seriously. “I’m probably the only person you haven’t actively tried to push out of your life…”

She flopped backwards, kicking out her legs and staring up at the sky. She was silent for a moment before she lifted up her bound wrists and shaking them.

“And what do you call this? Saving my life still?”

“Nope. It’s saving mine.”

“Right,” she laughed. The sound was bitter and angry. “You realize that this isn’t going to hold me for very long, right?”

“Oh no. This isn’t designed to detain you, love. I wouldn’t be so stupid as to believe that would hold you indefinitely. Just trying to keep you occupied while you cool your heels a bit.”

“Cool my heels? Do you think I’m a child that you can just put in time out?” she spat.

“Do you really want me to answer that honestly?”

His nonchalant demeanor made her blood boil. Her jaw worked silently as she tried not to lunge at him. It was best not to strike him out in her anger. Waiting and jumping him when he least expected it would be the best course of action. Her revenge would be swift and just.

She let out a heavy breath through her nose as she took a moment to collect herself.

“How long was I out?” Beth asked after a moment.

“Two days. You missed a lot. Walking corpses. Kidnapped princesses. Mulan going crazy. I’m pretty sure she fancies Aurora. A new quest.”

She grunted in response; still pissed at him. The mention of zombies did pique her interest though. Jim watched her, obviously waiting for her to comment. She huffed and made an impatient gesture for him to continue with her bound hands.

“We learned that Aurora and somehow Snow are capable of talking to some bloke in another realm named Henry while they’re sleeping? I’m afraid I’m not entirely versed on how that works, I’m afraid…That level of magic is beyond me…. Anyway, there is apparently something in the Dark One’s cell that they need and somehow they think it’s how they’re going to beat a witch named Cora…”

“You’re going to have to rewind a bit on the Wikipedia summary because I’m totally lost. Because of you,” Beth replied in annoyance, fingers twitching. She really wanted to use her hands. It wasn’t until now that she realized just how much she used her hands while talking. The situation was beginning to try on the last of her patience. “All I got was something about zombies, Sleeping Beauty nonsense and a lesbian showdown.”

He gave her an incredulous look. “A lesbian showdown? How the hell did you get that from what I just said?” 
 “I don’t know. You’re the one who brought up people fancying people. I’m just the poor girl who got roofied like she was at her first rush party.”

“Sometimes I think you insist on using such inane language with the purpose of deliberately making me cross. I have no bloody idea what ‘roofied’ means.”

“Yeah, if you’re just catching on to that then I can’t help you,” she snorted. “And, roofied is a term used to describe the act of drugging poor unsuspecting bystanders who trust you and end up with shit memory because you’re a dickbag.”

“That’s definitely not what happened!” he shouted, affronted.

“It is.” Her tone brokered no argument. “Now give me the Sparknotes again.”

“Sparknotes?”

“Jesus Christ, just give me the play-by-play.”

“I swear it’s like you’re speaking Greek every time you talk.”

“And sometimes I think I’m in a Shakespeare in the Park production when you speak but we won’t talk about that.”

“Greek, love. Bloody Greek.”

“Not your love,” she spat. “Especially not right now. Just tell me everything I missed.”

“You really are quite furious with me, aren’t you?”
 Beth grunted as she pulled herself back into a sitting position. Her lips were twisted into a permanent scowl.

“Did you expect me to just move on in five seconds? Fuck no. I’m pissed and I’m going to stay pissed at you for the next…well, not the next anything. Probably forever. Because you’re a shithead who did shitty things.”

“Well, if you’re just gonna stew like a child, I’m not gonna tell you anything. I may have knocked you out, but don’t forget who got us into this mess.”
 “Yeah, Circe.”

“You can’t blame everything on Circe, love.”

“Watch me.”

Jim sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “This isn’t getting us anywhere…”

“I’m fully aware of that. Just tell me what happened already,” she snapped.

“Okay, okay. Well, I’m sure you’ll be happy to know that your little tantrum was over nothing. Daddy dearest is alive and well. And apparently, helped rescue Aurora.”

“What?”

“Well, your mom…who is like you except a thousand times more closed off…I wanna didn’t even think was possible, but it is. Apparently, she told some giant to keep him up there for ten hours to give us a head start. So, no. She didn’t leave him to die.” He was using that tone again. The one a schoolteacher used when disciplining an unruly child. It was one of the few condescending things he liked to do that made her rage. She had the strongest urge to deck him.

“There’s an ‘us’ now?” She couldn’t keep the bitterness out of her tone.

“Well, of course. I mean, these ladies are our best bet to get home. They seem like an honorable bunch.”

“They practically hogtied us!”

“Well, considering two of them share genetics with you, it was kinda a given. You lot seem to have that habit,” he replied, raising his eyebrows at her significantly.

She couldn’t stop the blush that rose to her cheeks at the comment, thinking back on the night she met him. He had been gracious; helping her out a tight spot with some rather nasty men and even offering to help her get home for a small fee. She had returned his generosity with suspicion and when he had fallen asleep that night in his chair after giving her his bed, she had tied him to it and interrogated him. He had been calm and collected during her intense line of questioning and she had been secretly impressed by it. He earned her trust and admiration after answering her questions fully and truthfully without once yelling for help.

“Whatever,” she said, banishing the memories from her mind. “What else?”
 “So, after I knocked you out. I had to do some explaining for your freak out. As you can understand they were quite suspicious of your reaction, considering how we denied knowing Hook….”

“Oh Jesus Christ, what did you tell them? You’re the worst liar I know. There’s no way my mom didn’t sniff you out! I barely pass her inspection.”

“You know most people prize honesty? Being a pathological liar isn’t a good thing, Elizabeth.”

“It is in our line of work. Now, what did you tell her?”

“Well, I said that Hook knew your father and he was your last link to him. And that you were separated from him and trying to one day get back to him.”

“Huh. That’s shockingly not terrible as I thought it was gonna be.”

“Still not sure she bought it.”

“Oh, I don’t believe she did for a second. It’s still a shit lie.”

“I thought it was pretty decent, Elizabeth Swann,” he replied, emphasizing the mock surname. She narrowed her eyes.

“Do you want forgiveness or not? Because that’s not how you’re gonna did it,” she said flatly.

“I’m going to be the adult here and not rehash that argument. Anyway, they made me carried you. For two days. And you’re disturbing light. I’ve carried rum barrels heavier than you.”

“Seriously, save the dad lecture for another time.”

“Don’t think I’m going to forget it,” he said seriously. “But yeah, we found out about the trump item in the Dark One’s cell from this Henry bloke. And that apparently everyone seems to trust his information.”

“Of course, they do. That’s my oldest brother.”

“Sorry, love, you have more brothers than I can count. Forgive me if I don’t remember all of their names,” he replied sarcastically.

“I have four,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. “You’ve memorized hundreds of constellations, but you can’t remember four names? Unbelievable.”

“It’s not like they’re my family, Elizabeth.”

“Yeah, but they’re mine and I’m basically your best friend.”

“You are definitely not my best friend. Maybe I’m yours but you’re certainly not mine.”

“Oh yeah? That who is?”

There was a long pause on Jim’s end.

“Felkin?” She didn’t miss how it came out like a question.

“You mean your first mate? Ummmm, no. Crew doesn’t count. They’re crew.”

“Why does crew not count?”

“Because they’re kissing your ass for favors.”

“They do not kiss my ass. My crew has tried to replace me as captain eight times. Three of them were your fault!”

“That’s because you’re a big softie. I’ve only been challenged once. Never heard a peep of rebellion since.”

“Well, that’s because your crew thinks you’re batshit fucking crazy. And they aren’t wrong.”

“Are you calling me crazy?”

“No, I’m calling you batshit fucking crazy. Huge difference.”

She pursed her lips. Normally she would have tossed a witty remark back at him by now, but she had nothing. There was a part of her that agreed with him. She wasn’t sure how long ago she and her sanity parted ways but all she knew was its absence. She was a mad dog chasing a poison bone and worse, she was aware of it.

“You’re not disputing it….interesting.”

“I just don’t see the point,” she replied with a heavy sigh. “This conversation changes nothing.”

He studied her for a long moment. She couldn’t help but squirm under his gaze. Jim Hawkins had the most intense pair of eyes that she had ever encounter; deep grey and piercing. Sometimes it seemed like they were capable of examining her soul.

“You’re cold,” he said after a moment.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re a liar.”

“I’m not lying,” she hissed.

“You’re always lying, Elizabeth.” His statement was followed by a tired sigh.

She turned away from him, hiding her flinching reaction to his words. It hurt more than she had imagined; a small invisible knife twisted into her gut.

There was movement on his end, but she did her best to ignore it. She didn’t want to talk anymore. However, that option became impossible as he settled right next to her, the hairs on her neck prickling at his closeness.

“What are you doing?”

“Keeping you warm,” he replied, taking his coat off her shoulders and pulling her against him. He rearranged the coat so that it was draped over both of them. Even as his warmth enveloped her, she stiffened at the contact.

“I didn’t ask you to do this,” she hissed between clenched teeth.

“I would never expect you to. You enjoy making yourself miserable.”

“Fuck you, Jim.” It didn’t hold the same heat that it normally did.

“You’re most welcome, Elizabeth.” He placed a faint whisper of a kiss against her crown. “Try and get some sleep.”

“Sleep? I just woke up from a two-day impromptu nap. All thanks to you.”

“We have a long day of trekking to some super-secret Dark One dungeon tomorrow. You’re gonna need all the rest you can get,” he replied, tracing the length of her basilic vein on her right arm.

“Do you have any idea what they’re supposed to be procuring?” She asked, hating how sleepy her voice sounded. Between the warmth radiating off his body, the soothing of the soft patterns he was etching in her skin and the darkness that surrounded them, she was fighting to keep her eyes open.

“I believe a vial of squid ink.”

Beth snorted.

“I have like two vials on me. If you hadn’t knocked me out, I would have been able to tell you that.”

Jim paused in his ministrations.

“It’s probably for the best that you keep your squid ink to yourself, love. There’s no telling what ramifications it will have on the past.”

“You’re not gonna knock me out again, are you?”

“As long as you don’t endanger the future and yourself again. I don’t take any joy from it.”

“Sure, you don’t,” she snarked back half-heartedly. “You realize allowing me to use you as a portable heater doesn’t save you from my wrath, right?”

He chuckled. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

“Good. Because I’m going to punch you in your stupidly perfect jaw.”

“Stupidly perfect?”

“It is. Absurdly stupid.”

“I will take your word for it.”

“As you should,” she replied with a small yawn.

“You always try to take the last word, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

That was the last bit of conversation she remembered before shutting her eyes and snuggling into his warmth. The next thing she knew, she was being kicked awake by Mulan.

“Ouch.” Beth glared up at the warrior blearily. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re a people person?”

“No.”

“Good. Because you really aren’t. You know, most people go for the gentle shake before using the boot.”

“Had to make sure the pirate wasn’t lying about you just being knocked out. Didn’t want us carrying around a corpse. They tend to get ripe after a few days.”

“I’m aware. And as you can see, I’m alive and well, thank you very much.”

“Pity. I was hoping we were finally going to get rid of some dead weight,” Mulan replied with a small grunt before turning on her heel and heading back to talk to Snow.

“Well, if that isn’t the rudest fucking thing I’ve ever heard,” she muttered under her breath.

Beth glanced down at her bound hands again. In the light of day, it was now obvious how raw and blistered her skin was from being constantly tied up for the last few days. She twisted her wrists experimentally to gage the damage, hissing as one of her sore reopened and blood trickled down her forearm.

She turned to Jim, who was currently occupying himself with rearranging the items in the pockets of his giant brown leather coat.

“Hey, J. Mind doing me a solid and, you know, getting these off me?”

He didn’t look up from his work, but the length of his shoulders stiffened.

“Not sure that’s a good idea, love.”

“What do you mean it’s not a good idea?” she hissed at him.

“They may have some fleeting sense of trust towards me, but that doesn’t necessarily extend to you.”

“Well, then put in a good word for me.”

“And risk the progress I’ve made so far?”

“Jim…” There was a sense of warning in her tone. He finally looked up from the coat on his lap and fixed her with a cool look, entirely unfazed by the silent threat.

“Elizabeth.”

“Ask them to untie me.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s painful. And annoying. And is entirely pointless since I’m on their side.”

“I’m not sure I should.”

She gritted her teeth at his response. In her head, she silently counted down from ten to keep from screaming. “And why is that?”
 “There’s no telling what you’ll do when you’re free.”

“I already told you. I’m gonna punch you in your stupid jaw and we’re gonna figure out how the fuck we’re going to get back home.”

“That’s not giving me a lot of incentive to help you.”

This time she didn’t hold back her frustration, letting out a loud angry noise from the back of her throat and slamming her fists against her thigh. When he merely raised his eyebrows in response, she narrowed her eyes at him before deciding to pull out the big gun.

“James Leland Hawkins.”

A look of shock flittered across his face at the sound of his given name. It was gone as quickly as it appeared, but she caught it nonetheless. There wasn’t a person alive who called him that. The one person who did was long gone, buried in a pauper’s grave back in Montressor. Beth watched as his hand immediately went into the base of his throat, fingering the heavy pendant that lay there.

“Elizabeth…”

“James. Ask them. Now.”

He was silent for a moment, fingers tracing the design etched across the silver absently.

“A please would go along way. Manners do maketh man.”

“In the words of Eowyn, I’m no man,” she retorted.

“Sex-wise, you are not but I highly doubt you were raised without manners.”

“Do you realize my father was a pirate, right?”

“So you keep reminding us all,” he responded with a sarcastic smile. “A please won’t kill you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’m getting quite tired of this game. You want my help, you will ask me properly instead of demanding it of me like a spoiled child.”

She nearly flinched at his tone, but schooled her expression. She wanted to argue against his “spoiled child” comment but it wouldn’t get her anywhere. Her fingers twitched as sh felt another compulsion to run them through her hair.

“Would you ask them to untie me…please?”

“That wasn’t hard, was it?”

She merely gave him a sardonic smile in response. He chuckled humorlessly before standing and placing his coat on her lap, dusting dirt off his trousers.

“I’ll go talk to your mother,” he said. Despite his words, he didn’t move from his spot. He stared at her, waiting for something. It took her a moment to realize what exactly he wanted from her.

She let out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes. “Thank you.”

“Manners, Elizabeth, go long way.”

“Seriously, the dad routine is getting old.”

“Not your father but growing up would do you a world of good,” he replied calmly before turning on his heel and walking back towards where Emma and Snow were packing up.

“I am grown up,” she muttered petulantly under her breath as she watched him talk to her not-yet-mother and grandmother.

Jim had a gift for diplomacy that Beth lacked. Where she was skilled at inciting riots and taking things by deception, Jim could assuage even the most heated of debates. He knew what to say and had saved her ass from the fire more times than she could count.

With that being said, Emma and Snow did not look impressed by his arguments. Beth had long since become an excellent study in her mother’s expressions and the one she currently was wearing did not bode well. It was generally the look she got whenever Wes had made something explode and was trying to talk his way out of trouble. On top of that, Snow had taken her “I’m not buying this bullshit” stance, arms crossed in front of her chest and left foot tapping impatiently.

Beth caught Emma’s eye over his shoulder and a sense of panic she hadn’t felt since she was a teenager took hold of her. She wanted to look away but she froze. Emma pushed Jim out of her way even as he continued talking, heading straight towards her with a determined set to her jaw. She stopped a few feet in front of her.

“You’ve been telling me half-truths since the beginning,” Emma said shortly. “Tell me one thing that isn’t bullshit.”

“I have no intention in harming you,” she replied. “Ever.”

“You want us to let you go. Why should we?”

“I can help.”

Emma narrowed her eyes at her like she didn’t believe her. She crouched down on her knees so that she could look Beth straight in the eye. She pulled out her sword and laid it across her palm. If she was trying to intimidate her, she was failing miserably. If Beth lunged forward for her weapon, Emma wouldn’t have time to hold it correctly.

“I’m going to ask you a series of questions. If you lie, I’m not just gonna keep you tied up, I’m going to tie you to a tree and leave you behind. Understood?”

“Crystal.”

“What is your name? Your real name this time.”

“Elizabeth. That wasn’t a lie. Though some know me by my more colorful moniker. Black Beth.”

“That’s original,” Emma replied sarcastically. “Pirate nicknames don’t seem creative. Captain Hook. Black Beth. Let me guess, your buddy back there is Grey Eyed Jack. Now, what do you want?”

“For you to set me loose.”

“Not what I asked.” Emma narrowed her eyes at her.

“Pardon me but that is what you asked and I answered honestly.”

“Don’t be a smart ass. What do you want most in the world?”

“To kill the bitch who murdered the man I loved. But right now, I would settle to getting back to where I belong.”

“And where is that?”

“My ship.”

“Where is your ship?”

“Far, far, far away from here.”

“And how do you plan on getting to your ship?” Emma responded, gripping her sword now.

“I have absolutely no fucking idea.”

“Do you plan to steal the compass to get back to it?”

Beth blinked. Using the compass hadn’t even crossed her mind. Would it work for time travel as well as it would for inter-dimensional travel? She had absolutely no idea but she refused to follow that line of thought. Her parents needed that compass to go back to Storybrooke. If she took it for her own, there was no telling if they would be able to get back to where they were needed and who knew what effects that would have on the future.

“No. I’m not sure it would work for my purposes.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because you took us prisoner. I’m not sure if you remember but you’ve kinda been dragging us over God’s green earth against our will. I was perfectly content to part ways without bloodshed.”

“Final question. Are you in league with Cora?”

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar with her.”

“The Queen of Hearts? The Evil Queen’s mother? Witch bitch extraordinaire? That ringing any bells?”

“Vaguely but no. I have never met the woman in my life.”

Emma studied her a moment before yanking Beth’s waists forward. She took the sword and began a rough sawing motion with it that made Beth’s arms shake.

“If you pull anything, we will end you.”

“Duly noted.”

Beth grinned as the rope loosened and she took a moment to touch each wrist gingerly. There was an impressive amount of damage on both wrists, but nothing that a little rum and cloth couldn’t patch up. Immediately her eyes cut over to Jim who had been watching mother and future daughter interact. She pushed his jacket off her lap.

“Excuse me for a moment,” she said briskly to Emma as she got up. “I have some unfinished business.”

Rising to her feet, she made an immediate beeline over to Jim. A knowing look crossed his face but he didn’t move, not even an inch, as Beth rolled up her sleeve and hit him with a closed fist. He didn’t stumble as much as take a step back, giving her an annoyed look as he gingerly touched his jaw to assess the damage. Mulan immediately turned her sword on her and Snow strung her bow but Beth paid them no mind.

“That was a warning,” she said to him a low tone. “Do that to me ever again and I will cut off your balls.”

He scoffed quietly but nodded nonetheless, eyes cutting to where two women had drawn their weapons.

“Relax ladies,” he said, tracing his fingers over the growing bruise. “I knew that was coming. Everything is good. And now that we have that settled, I suggest we move while we still have daylight to burn.”

“He’s right,” Mulan said gruffly, only letting down her guard slightly. “We don’t have time for this.”

“Well then, I suggest we make our way to the Cave of Wonders,” Beth snorted. She mentally kicked herself as Emma and Snow stared at her funnily. She was going to have to watch herself when it came to the pop culture references. She was on thin ice as it was.

She reached for her sword belt to make sure her weapon was secure only to remember she didn’t have it. A heavy sigh escaped her lips as she turned to Mulan.

“My effects, please.”

Mulan snorted in response. “Emma might have freed you, but that doesn’t mean we’re stupid enough to arm you. Be glad you’re not getting dragged.”

Jim chuckled and placed a warm hand on her shoulder. There was a warm amusement in his eyes that Beth couldn’t find it in herself to appreciate.

“Don’t worry, love, I’ll save you for any danger about.”

“My hero,” she replied sarcastically.

The trek to Rumpelstiltskin’s former cell wasn’t nearly as long as Beth had expected. When Jim had told her to rest for a long journey, she had been expecting it to last for days. They made it to the inconspicuous dark dungeon in a matter of hours. The entrance to it was well hidden in the barely noticeable fissure within a cave and Beth had to give her grandparents props - without some prior knowledge of its existence, she wouldn’t have ever guessed where to find it.

“Well, this is certainly macabre,” she commented lowly to Jim as they made their way through the dark.

“Did you expect them to keep the Dark One in a regular cell?”

“No, but this…” She couldn’t find the words.

“Well, what did you expect? Them to keep an evil and highly dangerous wizard in a banquet hall with printed wallpaper and frilly window curtains?” He replied, raising an eyebrow at her.

“No, but this is…less humane than I was expecting.”

“Dungeons are dungeons, no matter who owns them. I thought that’s something you would have known by now. Considering how familiar you are with them.”

“Cute,” she snorted.

They stopped at the end of a long crooked hallway. Snow lit the lamps hanging against the cavern walls, revealing a large open cell. Mulan and Aurora immediately entered it, fanatically searching for the squid ink.

“Huh. Rumpelstiltskin’s cell. I haven’t been here since before Regina’s curse. This is where he told us you were going to be the Savior,” Snow said with a small sigh.

“How charming,” Beth remarked sarcastically without thinking.

Both women turned to glare at her. She held up her hands in her surrender.

“Apologies. Go back to your delightful reminiscing.”

“He knew?” Emma asked Snow, turning her attention away from Beth.

“Oh, it was prophesized,” Snow replied with a smile before stepping forward. “Come on.”

Both women stepped forward to join the other two women into the cell. Beth remained behind, watching them. Jim stood behind her, close enough that the lapels of his coat brushed against her back.

“You okay?” He asked quietly.

“This is where it all begun…” she said after a moment. “The whole fucking crazy shebang started here. Imagine what would have happened if the Crocodile hadn’t told them that my mother was the Savior?”

“Best not to dwell on what ifs, love. I find it rarely leads to happiness.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “We should help them.”

“I thought you were advocating non-interference.”

“I hardly think our assistance here would do much damage.”

“If you say so, time travel expert,” she replied, turning her head to give him a humorless grin.

Jim rolled his eyes at her, removing his hand from her shoulder and pushing past her to join the others in their search of Rumpelstiltskin’s cell. Beth watched them warily. It didn’t seem like their efforts were making much progress. She fingered the bottle of squid ink in her pocket that she had kept on hand for Circe.

“The squid ink…it’s not here,” Aurora shouted fanatically.

“Gold said we would find it here,” Snow said. Beth could hear the underlying panic and anger in her voice.

“Well, was there anyone else in here with him? Could they have taken the ink?” Mulan asked, a pinch of worry in her brow.

“No. He was kept alone. Visitors were forbidden,” Snow replied. “He was too dangerous to allow any human contact.”

“How’d he keep from going crazy?” Emma asked absently as she began her search of the walls.

Beth nearly snorted at the question. As long as she had known God, there had always been a twinge of madness to him lingering underneath the cold polite facade. She didn’t have much interaction with him, her father had vehemently warned her from interacting with the Dark One but sometimes it couldn’t be helped. She and her brothers had grown up with Gideon and that had meant some occasional interaction. He had always looked at her oddly, as if he was trying to examine her insides. So Beth had heeded her father’s words and avoided him as much as possible.

“He didn’t,” Aurora said grimly as she pulled something from the wall. It was a roll of old weather parchment. Almost immediately everyone crowded around her as she unrolled.

“What is it?” Snow asked.

“Is that a message?” Emma frowned.

“Yes,” Aurora answered, smoothing out the scroll so that they could all read it. “I think it’s for you…”

A shiver went down Beth’s spine as she read its contents. She had never been so disturbed in her entire life. It was her mother’s name written over and over again.

“That is the fucking creepiest thing I’ve ever seen,” she commented, taking a step back.

Jim placed a hand on her back in an attempt to soothe her but she remained tense, her eyes never leaving the parchment. An uncomfortable heavy feeling settled in her gut.

Emma snatched the parchment out of Aurora’s hands. She looked just as shook up as Beth felt. She collapsed on the floor, clutching it with white knuckles. Beth honestly couldn’t blame her for her reaction. She was silent as she regarded it and everyone backed away, trying to give her some space. Mulan and Aurora went back to their searching.

“What does this even mean?” Emma asked distractedly.

“You mean aside from the fact he’s obviously psychotic?” Beth said.

“He was obsessed with you,” Snow replied. “You were the key to breaking the curse.”

“And yet you told him your daughter’s name? What did you think would happen? He would get you something monogrammed for the Christening?” Beth asked her future grandmother incredulously.

Snow merely glared at her in response but Beth didn’t pay her much mind. The hand on her back tensed.

“Beth…I don’t think your commentary is going to be appreciated in this situation,” Jim said lowly.

Before she could make a reply, Aurora cut her off with a huff. She tugged on her cloak and turned to face the rest of them with a sour expression.

“We’ve looked everywhere. There’s no ink in this cell,” she declared, frustration evident on her face.

“Well, it has to be. He told David…” Snow responded, looking more frantically around the cell.

“You were in a netherworld,” Emma responded. “Maybe something got lost in translation?”

“No,” Mulan said, picking up something out of a small crevice in the cave world. “She heard right.”

“You found it?” Snow asked, sounding excited.

Mulan gave them a grim look as she outstretched her hand. In her palm was an empty ink bottom. Every one of them let out a disappointed sigh. Beth privately slipped her hand back in her pocket, once more fingering the bottle of squid ink she had.

“Son of a bitch!” Emma exclaimed, shoulders sagging.

Aurora turned violently. She let out a loud grunt as she tossed a rock towards the switch, which operated the cell door. Beth was mildly impressed with the princess’s aim. She wasn’t even sure that her younger brother could make such an accurate throw and he was much more athletic than Aurora.

“What are you doing?” Emma exclaimed, rushing forward to try and stop the cell gate from going down.

“Helping me.”

An older woman sauntered out from the shadows and into the light. She smirked at them, flicking her wrist with an air of nonchalance. The compass in Emma’s grasp vanished and reappeared in the woman’s hand. Beth had no doubt in her mind who this woman was. She could see some of Regina and Zelena’s features on the woman’s face.

Cora.

“No!” Emma shouted, shaking the bars.

“Don’t waste your energy, dear,” Cora said with a condescending smile. “Rumpelstiltskin himself couldn’t escape from this cell. It’s enchanted. Thank you, Aurora. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

Beth immediately turned to study the princess, shocked that the other woman could pull off such a double cross. Aurora stood stiffly with a blank expression on her face. It was an expression Beth knew well.

“How could you?” Snow asked, looking betrayed.

“She couldn’t help it,” Beth commented, shaking her head. “She doesn’t have her heart.”

Emma whipped her head to look at her.

“What do you mean?”

“Well spotted,” Cora complimented, eyes glittering coldly. “She was only doing what she was told.”

She opened her cloak and pulled out Aurora’s heart, holding it up mockingly. The action reminded Beth of Circe’s taunting. Her hands curled into tight fists.

“How did you know?” Emma asked, looking at Beth accusingly.

“I’m very familiar with the mannerisms of someone operating without a heart and when their heart is being held by someone else,” she replied in an almost hollow tone. “Only experience though. I had nothing to do with this.”

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Emma returned her attention back to Cora.

“Why would you take her heart?”

“Actually,” a familiar voice called. “I did. It was a gift.”

Beth could feel her blood pressure spike as her father made his presence known. She hadn’t noticed him before, the black of his clothing blending well into the shadows. He was looking at his future wife with a look of disdain. All the color drained from Emma’s face. Beth sympathized. Her insides felt cold. This man wasn’t her father. He wore his face, he had his voice but it couldn’t be him. Beth’s father was warm, gentle and caring. This man was callous. Evil. She squeezed her eyes shut, clutching at the hook necklace around her neck and wishing upon all the stars knew that this nightmare would end.

The wicked smile on Cora’s face and she squeezed the pulsing heart in her grasp. Aurora let out a cry of pain, crumbling to the floor. Mulan and Snow immediately rushed to her side.

“Forgive us,” she said lightly, not sounding apologetic at all. “We’d love to stay but Storybrooke awaits.”

Cora then turned on her heel and walked away. The man that was supposed to be Beth’s father peeled off the wall and turned as well. It felt like a thousand knives to watch him follow the witch like a loyal lap dog.

“Hook…Wait…” Emma’s voice was pleading.

The man using her father’s moniker stopped. He looked impatient as he waited for Emma to continue. It didn’t seem to bother him that he was leaving her behind in a cell. The man Beth knew loved Emma Swan more than anything. She had grown up on stories of the countless times her parents had sacrificing everything and anything to be with each other.

“Please don’t do this. My son is in Storybrooke. He needs me.”

Emma’s pleas seemed to only irritate him more. He glared at her, stepping towards her and stabbing a finger in her direction.

“Perhaps you should’ve considered that before you abandoned me on that beanstalk!” With each word that left his mouth, he seemed to get angrier and angrier.

“You would’ve done the same,” Emma replied.

Beth visibly flinched at her reply. No. She wanted to scream at them. Killian Jones would never leave Emma Swan behind. And Emma would never leave Killian. He was supposed to follow her until the end of time and she was supposed to go to hell and back for him. They weren’t supposed to abandon each other. They weren’t supposed to hate each other. They were supposed to be True Loves. That was all wrong.

She was going to be sick.

Hook stepped closer to the cell, jaw clenched. He leaned forward and spoke in a voice that was so angry that it was soft. Beth had only heard him use that tone once before and that was after Wes got something arrested.

“Actually, no.” He regarded her coldly before pulling something from his pocket. Beth had to squint to see it properly. It looked like a black bean attached to a chain. “Do you know what this is, Emma?”

“The bean that the giant kept,” she answered numbly before reaching for it desperately.

Hook pulled it away from her, tsking at her like he was scolding a naughty child.

“Yes, indeed,” he replied with a cold smile that looked so wrong on his face. “A pirate always keeps a souvenir of his conquest, but this…well, this is much more than a mere ticket. This is a symbol…something that was once magical, full of hope, possibility. Mm…Now look at it. Dried up, dead, useless. Much like you.”

Beth shook her head trying to shake the words out of her skull. This was wrong. All wrong. Hot tears leaked fro the corners of her eyes. Her parents loved each other. Her father would never be so cruel as to say this to her mother.

“The time for making deals is done, just as I’m done with you,” he concluded. A cheerless smile contorted on his face as he stepped away from the cell.

This was wrong. This was not how the story was supposed to go. Beth pushed away from Jim’s hold, rushing towards the bars of the cell with a sense of desperation. Emma looked startled by her actions but Beth wasn’t paying attention to her; she was focused on the man who was supposed to be her hero. 
“KILLIAN JONES!” she shouted. “YOU ARE BETTER THAN THIS!”

His eyes widened at the use of his name, looking stunned. His shock was quickly replaced with a look of a fury that surpassed his previous anger. He squared his shoulders, stalking towards her. Though there was bars between them, she felt the urge to step back. She refrained however, bristling and meeting his gaze.

“I don’t know who you are and frankly, I don’t give a damn,” he said in a calm, almost conversational tone. “But, little girl, make no mistake, there is only one thing I despise more than cowards and that is hypocrites like you.”

“What?”

“Wearing a flashy coat and wielding a sword doesn’t make you a pirate, love,” he continued. “You know nothing and you are nothing - nothing more than a spoiled welp chasing her father’s coattails. A word of advice, love, go home. Go back to your dresses, your jewels and your pretty things. Forget your revenge. You’re obviously not cut out for it. You don’t have what it takes.”

“You’re so wrong,” she replied. “You have no idea who I am.”

“I don’t need to.” He tilted his head to the side as he regarded her, an unpleasant smile on his lips. “From what I see, you’re just a silly little girl playing pretend. Wake up, love, while you still can because the next time we meet…I won’t be so generous.”

He gave her a slow deliberate mocking bow before finally turning to follow Cora out of the dungeon.

Beth staggered back, feeling like he had physically slapped her. She closed her eyes, turning to hold back her tears.

“Beth…” Jim stepped forward.

“Don’t,” she said sharply. “Just don’t.”

She let out a heavy breath, trying to regain composure but failing miserably. There were very few people who were capable of wounding her so deeply and her father was on the top of that list. She kept telling herself that the man who had cut her down so soundly wasn’t actually her father but his words kept replaying in her head.

“Elizabeth…”

“Just drop it!” She snapped. “I’m fine!”

“You obviously aren’t.”

Her hands curled into tight fists, nails digging into the skin of her palms. She knew that he was pestering her out of concern but it wasn’t her style to accept pity while licking her wounds. She didn’t want platitudes. She wanted to hit something and scream.

“If you have any true affection for me at all, you will leave me alone right now.”

“What the hell just happened?” Mulan snapped.

“None of your fucking business.”

“It is our business if you’re involved with Hook. He took Aurora’s heart!”

“Is that literally the only thing you care about? Because I’m telling you right now, sister, we have bigger problems to worry about than your girlfriend!” Beth snapped.

Mulan pulled out her sword, drawing it on her. Beth sneered at her in response, fingers twitching and knees bending so she could reach for the small knife in her boot. It wasn’t good odds but she had faced worst. Jim placed a hand on her shoulder again.

“Elizabeth, think about this…”

“Don’t touch me.”

“EVERYONE STOP!” Snow stood between Mulan and Beth with a furious expression on her face. It was very clear that she was beyond done with their arguing. “FIGHTING AMONGST OURSELVES SOLVES NOTHING.”

“No but it will make me feel better,” Beth muttered under her breath.

Mulan sheaved her sword but gave her a hard look before turning to attend to Aurora. Snow’s shoulders relaxed as Mulan walked off but she turned to look at Beth with a hard look.

“With that being said, I don’t trust you. She’s right. I don’t know who you are but whatever…thing…you have with that pirate? It’s bad news.”

“Is this the part where I’m supposed to be insulted? Tell you my sob story? Beg for your trust? Braid hair and play bonding games while we slowly starve to death? I’ll pass.”

Snow made a disgusted noise in response, throwing her hands up in frustration and turning her attention to Emma who had been ignoring all of them in favor of trying to pry the bars of the cell open.

“We aren’t going to break it down, Emma. It was enchanted to hold Rumpelstiltskin. We don’t have a chance.”

“This is my fault,” Aurora said miserably, burying her head in her hands.

“No, it’s mine,” Mulan replied, shaking her head. “Cora stole your heart because I failed to protect you.”

She placed a hand on her back and began rubbing soothing circles. For all of her hardness with Beth, Mulan was soft with Aurora. If Beth was the sentimental type she would have found the display touching.

Emma seemed to have a similar line of thought with her because she turned to look at them grimly.

“That’s very sweet but it’s my fault,” she said, plopping down on the ground and leaning against one of the cave walls. “I’m the Savior and I’m not doing much saving, am I?”

“A bit of a martyr complex there,” Jim muttered under his breath.

Beth didn’t respond. She stared at Emma, heart in her throat. She had never seen her look so unsure of herself. For all long as she could remember, her mother had been a strong, powerful and self-assured presence. She held authority as easy as breathing and Beth had always admired her for it. It was so strange to see her so dejected.

Snow sat down next to Emma with a small encouraging smile on her face. At least some things didn’t change.

“We’re going to win this fight, you know,” she said confidently. “Good always defeats evil.”

Beth couldn’t help it. She snorted loudly. Snow whipped her head in her direction, eyes narrowing in anger.

“Oh go ahead,” she said sourly. “Get it out of your system. Come on, give us that oh so witty comment you’re just dying to say.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily call it witty as much as truthful,” Beth replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest and meeting Snow’s angry gaze. “It’s just…that sentence is so naive.”

“Beth…” Jim’s voice held some warning to it. “Come on now…”

“No,” she said violently, shaking her head. “She needs to hear this. I’m just so tired of it. It’s just bullshit. It’s all bullshit. I grew up on that shit, that hope-y change-y nonsense and that good always wins and that True Love literally can solve world hunger and bring world peace and if you want something hard enough you can have it. It’s just shit. It’s all shit.”

“It is not!” Snow snapped back.

“It is!” Beth spat, stepping forward and glaring at her. “Not all fairy stories end in happily ever after. Sometimes evil wins. Sometimes the hero doesn’t get the girl…or the boy…or even the fucking dog. Sometimes there isn’t a white wedding and cake and unicorns with rainbows and a big bouncy baby in a carriage.” Her voice cracked. “Sometimes there isn’t even a goodbye. And sometimes there isn’t even a body to burry….”

“Sometimes you’re alone in prison pregnant and penniless at seventeen,” Emma said softly. “And sometimes you wait two years in Tallahassee for someone who was never gonna come…”

Beth and Emma made eye contact across the cell. For the first time since this whole fiasco started, Beth felt a connection with her mother; not a familial bond but one between two broken and hardened women who had become disillusioned by the world.

“You’re wrong! You’re both wrong!” Snow shook her head, looking at Emma pleadingly. “You should know better than anybody, Emma. You broke the curse.”

“And what have I done since then? I got us stranded here, burned down the wardrobe, let Cora get the ash and now, the compass. The only reason I ever broke the curse was because it was exactly what Gold wanted me to do. I had nothing to do with it.”

“What are you talking about?” Snow looked somewhere between confused and distressed.

“He told you I was the Savior…it was his plan. Once I fulfilled that role, maybe that’s all I was ever meant to do. Everything I’ve ever done…He had it all mapped out before I was even born…I’m not powerful…”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Beth said, shaking her head. “I mean, you might be trapped here but you pack quite the punch.”

“You’ve been unconscious for two days,” Emma replied flatly.

“Yeah. But I call them like I see them.”

“Look, it’s weirdly nice of you to say that but I’m nothing. You’re all about being real and talking about life sucking, but this stupid paper here proves that I’m nothing more than a name. I’m a pawn in a sick game!”

“Even pawns can become queens.”

“I thought that was checkers, not chess,” Jim remarked lightly.

“You’re thinking of kinging but it is possible to make a pawn act like a queen in chess. Trust me, I know my shit. I used to play chess all the time when I was a kid. Wasn’t very good but I played a lot.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Jim chuckled. “Chess involves strategy and you can’t make a proper plan to save your life.”

“I’m an improviser, not a planner. That’s your job.”

“We can’t just sit around here and do nothing!” Aurora said. “There has to be another way out of here!”

“As much as I would like to agree with you, I’m not sure there is,” Mulan said. “There’s only two ways to open this door - the lever that you hit with the rock and the squid ink that dried up ages ago…”

Beth’s eyes lit up and she reached into her pocket, slowly pulling out one of the vials of squid ink she had. She hid the vial in the inner fold of her cuff. She was positive there wasn’t another vial fo squid ink laying around but that didn’t mean

that she couldn’t pretend there was.

“Aurora’s right. We’re going to find a way to get out of here,” Snow said firmly.

“How? By staring at that creepy scroll?” Emma asked, raising her eyebrows sarcastically. “It’s not like its going to magically open a door for us.”

Snow opened her mouth to respond, but Beth cut her off.

“I think I see something!” She shouted, pointing at a small crack in the wall.

She immediately ran towards it, not giving them enough time to investigate. She pressed her hand into the crack, pretending to feel around. She pulled the vial out of her cuff, standing up and presenting it to the others.

“Aurora was right…there was another vial…”

Emma stood up, staring at her in disbelief. Snow and Mulan exchanged confused glances.

“You just pulled that from the wall?”

“Yes,” Beth lied.

“The wall we searched several times and didn’t find anything before?”

“We must have overlooked it.”

“Can I see it?” Emma asked, still frowning.

Beth handed her the vial. She examined it for a moment before handing it off to Snow.

“Is that the real stuff?”

“It appears to be,” Snow replied, uncorking it and giving it a sniff. She immediately blanched and held it away from her body. “It smells like it too.”

She tossed the bottle at the cell door and Beth watched in fascination as the ink transformed into a black mist and the bars began to disintegrate.

“That’s wicked,” she exclaimed.

“Told you,” Snow said, smiling over her shoulder. “Good always wins.”

Beth moved forward, ready to leave the cell when a sword was pressed against her back. She paused, turning to face Emma who wasn’t smiling. She held her weapon to Beth’s throat with a stern expression.

“Where do you think you’re going?”