❃
|Emma's House, A Week Later|
❃

Cleo jumped when someone knocked on the door. She had been on edge all day, as if she was expecting something bad to happen, and any sudden movements or sounds made her panicking worse.

Emma opened the door. "Who are you?" She had meant to say, 'Hello,' but she didn't recognize the man at the door and her question just sort of slipped out. "Sorry, hello. But, uh, who are you?"

"My name is Hercules. I was sent here on a mission."

Emma almost told him to go back to Olympus or wherever he had come from the moment she heard the word, 'Hercules'. Meg had told Robin and Regina all about what happened with Hercules and, unfortunately, it was not the happy story Disney wrote it as. But Emma decided that she had a better form of punishment for Hercules than her shouting at him.

"Hercules from the myths?"

Hercules nodded. "That's me. Listen, Hades told me he had left a bird here or something and he wanted me to come get it because Megara was here. Do you have any idea where I could find Meg?"

Emma smiled an evil smile she had perfected while being the Dark One, "I do. But before you talk to Meg, I think you should have a little chat with her parents."

The color drained from Hercules's face.

❃
|Regina's House|
❃

"YOU LEFT HER FOR IMMORTALITY!"

"WHAT KIND OF BOYFRIEND LEAVES SOMEONE FOR IMMORTALITY IF THEY TRULY LOVE THEM?!"

"THERE IS NO WAY YOU ARE GETTING CLOSE TO MEG EVER AGAIN!"

Regina and Zelena were cut off by Emma entering the room. "Alright, I think Wonder Boy gets the point."

Hercules nodded frantically, not daring to speak. He could tell that angering Regina and Zelena was not something he wanted to do ever again, even if he hadn't actually meant to do it the first time. Before Regina or Zelena could argue, Emma had drug them out of the room and a much calmer looking Robin replaced them.

"Hercules."

Hercules nodded. "You must be Meg's dad? Robin?"

"Indeed I am." Robin noticed that Hercules was still tense from being screamed at by two very overprotective mothers, "Relax, I'm not going to yell." Robin took a seat across from him and somehow, his calm approach to things was more terrifying than the shouting.

❃

Hercules followed Robin out of the room, hanging his head. Meg, who had no idea Hercules was in Storybrooke because a silencing spell had been placed around the room he was in, rounded the corner in search of Regina. "Regina, Henry and I--" she stopped talking when she saw Hercules. "You."

"Uh...hey, Meg..."

"What are you doing here?"

"Someone told me you still--"

"YOU TRADED ME OFF FOR POWER!" Meg shouted. "You chose immortality over me! I became a fury when I was sixteen, all thanks to you. And if you haven't noticed, I have a family who actually cares about me now."

"Meg, let me explain--"

"NO! What is there to explain?!"

"I thought you would hate me," Hercules said quietly. "I thought you would be better off with someone who didn't kill you. After Hera made me kill you, I thought you didn't want me. I...I thought you were better off without me. You had the other furies and a high up position in the Underworld."

"I didn't want any of that!" Meg's voice cracked, "I wanted you."

"I'm sorry," Hercules said quietly. "But I can't go back to Olympus until I complete twelve labors because Hera got mad at me."

"And is returning the Firebird to the Underworld one of them?" Regina raised an eyebrow. "Emma told me you said something about returning it."

"No," Hercules shook his head. "Hades told me that if I returned it, I could win Meg back. I assumed it was wreaking havoc, but if not, I don't need to return it."

"Good, because Cleo is not going back to the Underworld," Meg spat.

"Woah, I was just going to help," Hercules backed up and put his hands up in defense.

"Just go do your twelve labors."

"I don't know where the monsters I have to defeat are," Hercules explained. "I don't think the Nemean Lion is strolling down the streets of Washington DC..."

"If you write your labors down for us, we might be able to help," Regina said. She reached for Robin's hand and took it in her own. "I'm going to go find something something to eat."

Robin rolled his eyes but followed Regina to the kitchen anyways. Meg took one final look at Hercules before heading to the living room where everyone else was.

❃

"The twelve labors?" Emma asked, looking at the list Hercules had handed her. "You're just now being sent to do these?"

Hercules nodded. "Hera gave me these twelve tasks so I could redeem myself to Meg. But Hades told me that Meg was here and that I didn't need to complete this to prove myself, I just needed to return the Firebird to the Underworld. I should have known better than to trust him."

Meg rolled her eyes. "You think?"

Regina took the list from Emma and held it so she and Robin could both look at it. "There's only one place you'll be able to do all of these things," she mused. "You'll have to get back to the Enchanted Forest."

"How's he supposed to get there?" Emma asked. "We don't have any magic beans--" Emma's eyes widened, "Regina, no."

"I can do it!" Regina protested. "You don't have any dark magic left and Gold and Zelena don't have any light magic. Zelena's already used to much magic recently anyways."

"Are you sure?" Robin asked. "Hercules can wait until after the baby is born."

"No, because he's going to take Cleo with him."

"I'm what?" Hercules asked, taking a step back.

"No, no, no," Cleo protested. "Hades is coming for me, and you can keep me safe. You promised."

"We are keeping you safe," Regina explained. "Hades might come for you, yes, but when he does, he'll think that you're here in Storybrooke. But by that point, you'll be gone with Hercules into the Enchanted Forest."

"And it gives him a chance to prove himself to us as well as Hera," Meg added, immediately liking Regina's idea. "If Hercules keeps Cleo safe, we know he truly wants to prove himself. Because this request comes from me. Hercules, will you take Cleo with you and keep her safe?"

Hercules nodded. "I will. But how will you know when I've completed my labors?"

"We'll come check on you after Regina's baby is born and she can create another portal," Emma answered. "If you aren't done by then, we'll wait. If you are, and Cleo is still safe, you get to come back to Storybrooke."

Hercules nodded. "Deal."

"You leave tomorrow at noon, along with anyone else who wants to go back," Regina said. "I think it's time for Merida and everyone from Camelot to go home and restore their kingdom, under the rule of Guinevere."

"Are you sure you can hold the portal open for that long?" Robin asked, concerned for the well being of his wife.

"I'll be fine," Regina waved the question aside without actually answering it. "Tomorrow at noon, let everyone know. We'll make sure those form Camelot have enough supplies to last until they get home and even after that because their kingdom will have been destroyed by the curse. Merida can go back to her kingdom and Ruby and Mulan and anyone else who wants to leave can go too. If there are some people who want to go back to the Enchanted Forest to rebuild it, that's fine."

Emma nodded. "I'll get my parents and we'll start spreading the word. I might be able to convince Killian to lend his ship to someone who can drive it since he's living with me now. If we can load everyone on that, it'll be much easier." She stood up and shot a final look at Regina. "If the magic is too much, you don't have to do this."

"It'll be fine."