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    GRIEF WAS UNFAMILIAR to Kaelyn. She had mourned a few times before in her centuries of life, but so many years had passed since she had last tasted the salt of tears on the plump of her cheek that she found it to be a new feeling altogether. Distancing herself long ago had prevented her from ever being weakened by the fate of others or their actions, but that wasn't possible with Baelfire.

    She slept uneasily, drifting in and out, her dreams haunted by times the pair had spent together on the wild island of Neverland, when he was just a boy and her smile still lit up her face rather than darkened it. She replayed their final conversation in her mind, the silence that had engulfed them, as if they were strangers again. That was the end of their decades of knowing each other.

    In the moments that Kaelyn had failed to act and Mary Margaret had sucked her back and wasted her time, Baelfire was being killed and she had been idle. There was so much more that could have been done before his time was up. As always, morality was a concept Kaelyn often forgot about, so easy to keep herself alive no matter the circumstances. She found she had all the time in the world, it was hard to forget others were living on borrowed years. But her friend's time was up and that was it– gone.

    The finality grounded Kaelyn, as she woke with more energy than she had expected, but knowing in the heaviest part of her chest that it was not a dream and she would never see Baelfire again; not in the Diner having breakfast, not strolling with Emma, not in Mary Margaret's house reading stories with Henry. His time was up, his story ended. For his faults and moral high ground he had developed in recent times, he had been her friend, a piece of her past that she could never quite let go. He had known her, so she had kept him close.

    Her hand stung under the water as she wiped down her face, tracing the dark circles under her eyes. She could've healed the wound on her hand easily, but didn't, as she watched the water run red under the sink until it turned clear. She wouldn't waste energy on closing the wound– not when she could save it for something far more important.

    The anger had not disappeared, if anything it was stronger. A deadly force simmering just under the surface that Kaelyn was prepared and willing to wield with lethal precision. And she knew full well who she wanted to use it against. The specifications of Neal's death were never clear, but she knew Tamara had at least shot him, and Greg had tortured Regina, and the pair cared for each other. Kaelyn had long ago learnt the best revenge didn't necessarily have to involve harming the target.

    She headed downstairs minutes later with her hand bandaged and in a worse mood than ever before. She knew where she was going, and her pride would not stand in her way of, for once, seeking out the Saviour. Revenge had always been something she prioritised.

    People shot the brunette wary looks as she stormed through the Diner, and Ruby briefly looked at her, but seemed to think better of stopping her for a chat. Kaelyn wondered if people knew yet what had happened, that there were two people amongst them prepared to kill. And that Neal had paid the price first. She wondered, quickly, if someone had yet to tell Henry, or even Gold. She figured not, since Gold would've been at her doorstep in a second blaming her for it.

    Despite this, eyes still followed her, but they swiftly looked away as someone stepped directly in front of her, forcing the brunette to stop dead in her tracks. Kaelyn clenched her jaw and looked up to meet the person's face. It was the infamous drink-thrower.

    "What?" she snapped, and the man swallowed thickly, as Kaelyn's patience ticked by.

    "I... wanted to say sorry for–"

    On literally any other day Kaelyn would've enjoyed the effort it took for him to apologise to her, or been more smug, or pushed it to see how much she could scare him. But not today, and she was surprised her face hadn't conveyed that the second he'd blocked her path for a useless apology she had never wanted.

    "I'm not working today," she told him, "and you're in my way," she hissed, before shoving past him roughly, not even glancing back as she left the Diner and headed for Emma and co's house.

    She knocked roughly, multiple times, tossing her head back impatiently. She knew the grand Saviour would have a plan, and that she loved Neal enough to want to seek revenge. Yes, Emma may have been an excellent liar and lie detector, but Kaelyn was far from clueless, and had seen the way Emma acted with Neal. And if Kaelyn knew anything to be stronger than anger, it was love, as sick as that sounded in her head.

    This time, however, Kaelyn just wasn't sitting around and waiting for Emma to come to her for help. Kaelyn wanted her revenge, and she knew Emma could help her get it.

    No one had yet answered the door, and after a few seconds of considering, Kaelyn mentally unlocked the door and let herself in, the door swinging inward on its hinges. Kaelyn closed it behind her and glanced around, not seeing anyone, which was unusual for the house. She had only been in it a few times. She was rarely invited to their little meetings – as expected – and had never been particularly close with Mary Margaret before all their memories had been returned.

    "Kaelyn?" came a voice. The brunette turned to see Regina coming from the back side of the house. She still looked pale and drained from yesterday's ordeal, but Kaelyn's unsolicited entry seemed to have perked her right up. "What're you doing here?" she asked, suspiciously.

    "Looking for the saviour," Kaelyn answered. "For once," she added.

    "And your revenge, I assume?" Regina said. Kaelyn expected an accusatory tone, but it came out as more of a statement.

    "Oh, yeah," Kaelyn smirked. "Absolutely." There were some moments she had imagined being friends with the former Evil Queen, in a world where their similarities helped them get along rather than clash. They weren't necessarily enemies, but Kaelyn had been a thorn in her side back in the Enchanted Forest, she knew that. She also knew she'd babysat Henry and spent nights over at their mansion for a decade when Regina knew full who she was, so she digressed.

    Where is she?" Kaelyn finally asked, looking around at the empty house.

    Regina looked hesitant, the kind of hesitant when handling something dangerous. "They went to tell Henry and Gold what happened," she answered, cautiously, obviously gauging Kaelyn's reaction.

    She gave almost none, but she knew her eyes had hardened at the mention. If anyone could sense revenge and anger in a person without visible cues, it would be Regina. Knowing this, Kaelyn simply took a seat at the countertop.

    "Well, then you won't mind if I wait until they get back." It wasn't a question.

    A few beats of silence passed, Kaelyn's eyes drifting to nowhere in particular and Regina still standing awkwardly, before she spoke up. "I suppose it's worth telling you we're all dying anyway."

    That got a reaction out of Kaelyn, who tilted her head ever so slightly so she was looking at Regina. "What?"

    "Tamara and Greg took a trigger," Regina vaguely explained.

    Kaelyn tried not to show how much those two names boiled her blood, and instead asked, "A what?"

    Regina looked annoyed, as if she didn't want to repeat it. "If it's activated magic disappears from this world and we all die."

    Kaelyn paused. That was bad. Almost as bad as letting Tamara and Greg escape. Death had never been much of an option to Kaelyn, who had effortlessly lived for centuries and recovered from many wounds. But this didn't sound like an option, or something you could survive and endure. And, deep down, that scared Kaelyn. It disturbed the bubble of stability she had built over decades, where sickness and injury could not harm her, and that she would never die from her age. Now, she had a guaranteed death.

    Regina was looking at Kaelyn unsurely, for her face had gone slack, while her eyes burnt. The need to find and punish Tamara and Greg only increased. They had killed Neal already, and deserved what was coming for that. But she refused to let them kill her as well.

    Suddenly the door opened, and Henry, Emma, Mary Margaret and David all entered at once. For a boy who'd just lost his father, Henry looked incredibly calm, especially compared to Kaelyn's poised and ready to strike attitude.

    "Oh, Henry!" Regina exclaimed, rushing forward to embrace her son, while the others looked warily at the immortal teenager in the room, who had definitely not been invited.

    "Kaelyn," Mary Margaret said, simply acknowledging her.

    "Hi," Kaelyn managed, straightening up in the barstool at the kitchen counter.

    "How'd you get in?" Mary Margaret asked, sounding wary.

    "The evil queen let me in," Kaelyn responded, and she was not blind to Regina's glare.

    "Did you need–?" Mary Margaret's question was cut off by a sudden earthquake that shook the apartment. It was short, but powerful, knocking over plates and shaking the decorations on the wall. Kaelyn had leapt from her seat, as if that would help her feel more stable. Everyone, it seemed, had gone tense, holding onto something or someone for support.

    Emma looked stunned. "Regina, was that...?"

    "Yes, the diamond was activated." Kaelyn had never thought a sentence as ridiculous as that could sound so serious, and cause her to actually feel some sort of dread.

    "So, we're all gonna die," Henry said, sounding panicked. Kaelyn felt a spark of familiarity in her, as she looked at the boy she had practically half-raised with Regina and grown annoyingly attached to, whom reminded her so much of Neal when she looked into his face. Oh, god, he looked like Neal.

    "You were born here, so you'll live," Regina immediately reassured him, unknowingly partly reassuring Kaelyn, too.

    Henry looked between all the people standing around him, eyes even lingering on Kaelyn. "But... I'll be alone," he finally said, his voice sounding heavy for someone so young.

    "I'm so sorry Henry," Regina murmured. Kaelyn briefly wondered why she was sorry, or if that was just something mothers felt obligated to say when something went wrong. She wouldn't know.

    "Don't worry, kid, it's not gonna happen," Kaelyn told him, and eyes snapped to her in suspicion. She felt herself flush slightly with anger at the way they looked at her, like she was going to hurt them or just lash out. True, just not at them. But they seemed to believe they had done something to warrant her violence, and if they continued to treat her as such they just might.

    Either way, Henry's eyes lit up at Kaelyn's reassurance, and Emma gave Kaelyn perhaps the first relieved look ever. "Kaelyn's right, we won't let it happen," Emma told her son, before rounding on Regina. "You did this now make it stop," she instructed, voice harsh now.

    "I can't, there's no way," Regina told her, quickly.

    "Well, figure it out. It's your fault," Emma retorted, raising her voice.

    Kaelyn rolled her eyes. "And we're back here," she drawled, flashing back to the time when Emma had first rolled into town and clashed with Regina.

    "Stop!" Henry interrupted, literally coming between his two mothers. Everyone looked to him, surprised. Henry hardly ever raised his voice like that, and it demanded attention. "I already lost my dad. I don't wanna lose anybody else," he said, softer now he had gained their attention. Kaelyn's eyes fell. "We have to work together," Henry concluded.

    Eyes immediately turned to Kaelyn, and she pursed her lips, in a rare moment of looking like an everyday disgruntled teenager. "Well, from where I'm standing you need my help," she said, innocently.

    "You just want to get to Tamara," Emma said, defensively. Ah, so their little moment had passed and they were back to square one. Kaelyn could play that.

    "So?" Kaelyn shrugged her shoulders. "Stopping them stops the trigger. Isn't that what you want?"

    "We want them alive," Emma told her, tightly. Kaelyn detected the lie, however. Emma wanted her revenge, Kaelyn knew she would, but she also knew wouldn't do it.

    "So now that everyone's life is at stake you don't want my help? After all those times you bothered me at the Diner?" Kaelyn retaliated, as usual hardly caring for the filter between her head and her mouth. "They killed Neal. How can you be okay with that?" She delivered the killing blow. The reactions were instant, the others clearly surprised by Kaelyn mentioning Neal, and Emma's eyes had burned with a new ferocity.

    "I'm not," Emma ground out. "I'm also not okay with killing them," she added, quickly. Kaelyn didn't miss the way her eyes had darted to Henry. Of course, Kaelyn realised, she'd never spoil her image by killing people in Henry's presence. Or her parents', for that matter, and Kaelyn knew first-hand how uptight Mary Margaret got about people's lives, whether they were innocent or not.

    Kaelyn, however, had no such qualms. "It's a little something called revenge," she said, smoothly.

    "Revenge isn't justice," Mary Margaret emphasised, taking a step forward. Kaelyn arched an eyebrow at the surprising strength in her voice.

    "Maybe not to you," Kaelyn said, laughing a little. Mary Margaret looked unnerved. "At least this time around." That was a low blow, Kaelyn knew it, but she refused to be lectured about something Mary Margaret pretended she had and would never do. "Either way, I'm gonna get involved. It's up to you how easy it is," Kaelyn concluded. The others clearly considered it, weighing up the chances of Kaelyn being of genuine help and the potential for her to go on a rampage.

    "What made you this way?" Mary Margaret asked, voice fragile. Apparently, Kaelyn's reference to Cora had hit her harder than expected.

    "I didn't come for a moral lecture, Snow White," Kaelyn said, bitterly. She had been vulnerable in front of her once, and never again, she told herself. "Do you want my help or not?" Kaelyn asked, not bothering to hide the edge from her voice. Henry looked a little shocked by the conversation and the words that had left his babysitter's mouth, but she pretended not to care.

    "As... interesting as this conversation is, I'd say the lad has a point," a male voice suddenly interrupted. Kaelyn rolled her eyes overdramatically and turned to see another unwelcome guest, who had apparently managed to sneak in without any realising as Kaelyn went on about revenge.

    "Oh. It's you," Kaelyn sneered.

    Hook had only taken a single step forward, and David didn't waste a moment and punched him in the face. "That was for the last time we met." Kaelyn couldn't help the grin that graced her features.

    "Bloody hell," Hook moaned, lancing back and briefly holding his nose.

    David then drew his gun to the surprise of Kaelyn. She didn't think he had it in him. "Tell us why you're here before I use something other than my fist," he threatened, sounding dead serious. Kaelyn still had the feeling, however, that he was too much like his wife and daughter to actually commit to it.

    "I think threatening to kill me seems a bit redundant when we're all about to die anyway," Hook sighed, hardly phased by the weapon pointed at him. So, apparently, he hadn't changed much since Kaelyn had last seen him.

    "No thanks to you." Kaelyn looked at Emma curiously at her words. "Regina told us you were working with Tamara and Greg to get your revenge."

    "Well, that's before they told me I had to die to get it."

    Kaelyn's reaction was instant and the next second Hook was pinned to the wall by an invisible force, the immortal teenager's outstretched hand shaking as she held him there, barely even paying heed to the words he'd spoken. Hook let out a hiss, and Kaelyn felt the power ripple under her skin. She hadn't known her former annoyance had had something to do with Neal, Tamara or Greg, and he was as good as them in her eyes.

    "Kaelyn, wait!" Mary Margaret cried as Emma turned Henry away. Kaelyn did not wait, and Mary Margaret, despite her cry, did not move closer to try and stop her.

    "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't squeeze the life out of you right now," Kaelyn snarled. Hook looked down at her, and he was smirking, as expected. It frustrated her that she had him in a death grip and he hardly seemed afraid, though she supposed she would be the same in his position.

    "You want revenge, eh?" he asked, as casually as one asking about the weather. The air in the house had gone very tense, the others watching on apprehensively, no one quite sure how the confrontation between the two would go.

    "Shamelessly, I admit," Kaelyn said, just as casually now.

    "Well, will you die to get it?" Hook asked. Kaelyn hated how she faltered. She knew why he'd gone to all the trouble in the last few weeks to mess with them. He wanted revenge on Rumpelstiltskin for killing someone close to him, based off what she'd heard. But he wasn't willing to die for it. The drunk, one-handed pirate who had actively been a villain to them was admitting he wouldn't die for revenge, which made Kaelyn look worse, as she held him – someone probably not directly involved in Neal's murder – up by his throat.

    He'd hit her pride, whether he meant to or not, and she hated that.

    Kaelyn very, very slowly let Hook down, looking at him warily. The others around them had similar reactions, clearly not expecting that outcome. "You're still on thin ice, pirate," Kaelyn bit out, not wanting her reputation to completely lose its credibility.

    "Of course." He smirked, which infuriated Kaelyn even more.

    "We don't have time for this," Emma hissed, coming to stand between Kaelyn and Hook, the brunette still looking ready to kill if the man gave her the tiniest reason to. "We have a real problem."

    "Which is why I'm here, 'cause staring death in the face has made me realise if there's one thing I want more than my revenge, it's my life," Hook spoke up, still sounding as confident as he always did, even in the face of imminent death. "So, should we start this thing now, and then resume bickering?"

    "There is no stopping it," Regina said, sullenly. "And the best thing I can do is slow it down, but that will only delay the inevitable."

    "It'll give us the time we need," David interjected.

    "The time for what, exactly?" Kaelyn asked, cynically.

    "Steal back the beans. Use them to get everyone into the Enchanted Forest before Storybrooke is gone," David explained. Kaelyn would never admit she liked the plan, agreed with it, even.

    "How?" Emma questioned. "We don't even know where Greg and Tamara are." Kaelyn teetered on the edge of offering up her tracking magic from the day before, but quickly realised she'd have no personal belongings to track them with.

    "Well, I do. I can help," Hook offered, and Kaelyn sent him a look.

    "Look at you being useful," she said in a saturated voice.

    "Help yourself," Emma told the pirate immediately. "You'll take them and leave us all behind. Why should we trust you?"

    "No, we won't have to. I'll go with him, and if he tries anything, I'll shoot him in the face." David gave Hook a very pointed look, but the pirate didn't seem phased in the slightest.

    "Quite hostile, aren't we?" he mused.

    "Just being clear," David said, sternly.

    "I'm coming with you," Kaelyn spoke up.

    "Kaelyn," David said in a chastising tone which made Kaelyn scowl. Being talked to like a child was high on her very long list of pet peeves.

    "Unless you want a hook in your back," she said, putting on an exasperated tone that must've been convincing. David looked thoughtful, and Hook sent her an irritated glare. "Look, I know the plan was to keep me out of the bean loophole and leave me here, but things have changed," Kaelyn continued, voice lower now. She had no reason to believe these people would come back for her with the beans, she hardly trusted them to. And she refused to be left here to die.

    David mulled it over for a few moments. "If you help us, you can come with us," he finally said, in a tone that suggested the offer was very generous.

    Kaelyn just shook her head. "I wasn't asking."

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    EMMA AND REGINA had resolved to slow down the diamond – which still sounded ridiculous to Kaelyn – while Mary Margaret and Henry went around town to gather everyone for when Kaelyn's group got the beans. At least, that was the idea. They took David's car, and Kaelyn was surprised when Hook led them straight back to the cannery from the previous day.

    As they arrived on the scene, an open van was visible with a burning pile of junk just outside it. "Over there," Hook said as the car stopped, gesturing towards it.

    "Let's go," David agreed. Kaelyn sprung out of the car, just as there was another tremor, even more severe than before, forcing her to lean against the car alongside the two men to avoid meeting the concrete.

    "Time's running out," Hook stated once the tremor faded.

    "Oh, is that what that means?" David snarked, beating Kaelyn to the smart remark for once in his life. After a few steps towards the cannery, however, Kaelyn froze up. Not even twenty-four hours ago Neal had died here. And she had not expected her body to react the way it did. "Kaelyn?" David's voice broke her stupor and she refocused, finding Hook and David a few steps ahead of her and looking confused. "You alright?"

    "I'm fine," Kaelyn spat with as much force as she could, trying to convince herself as much as David. Without so much as another falter in her step, she headed forward, and the two men followed. The cannery was wide open now and easier to access without Kaelyn's magic. But, it seemed, it was empty. Kaelyn glanced warily at Hook, not putting it past him to lead them into a trap.

    "Stop," Hook sighed, not looking at her.

    "What?" Kaelyn said, indignantly, knowing full well what.

    "I can feel you glaring," Hook grumbled.

    "Good," Kaelyn snipped, the pirate rolling his eyes. Kaelyn looked to her right where David was walking, semi-hidden in the darkness of the building. "So, you told Gold?" she asked, casually.

    "Yes," David responded.

    "How did he take it?" Kaelyn asked, trying to hide her curiosity behind mocking for a man she was known for hating.

    "Said he's okay to die," David replied, and Kaelyn furrowed her brows.

    "That makes one of us," she said after a few moments, unnerved by Rumpelstiltskin – the man who sacrificed literally everything for power and immorality – just sitting around accepting death.

    The unlikely trio continued through the building, which only proved to be silent and empty. The possibility of this being a trap or some part of a large plan became even more likely in Kaelyn's mind, but she didn't voice it. If something happened she'd be the first to get out. And, if they did find Tamara and Greg as was their goal, she'd both get her revenge and the beans to get home. It would be a win-win.

    "So, tell me, Hook," David spoke up amidst the silence, "all this time it's been about revenge for you. Why is it suddenly so important to you that you survive? I know what I'm fighting for– my family. What are you fighting for?"

    "Myself. That's plenty of motivation, I can assure you," Hook replied, and Kaelyn had expected no less of an answer, and wondered why David had even bothered asking.

    David, however, turned his attention to her. "Kaelyn?" he inquired, expectantly.

    "What do you think?" Kaelyn hissed. "I'm not Rumpelstiltskin, I'm not okay with throwing away centuries of living. I'm here for myself." She was suddenly glad Emma wasn't around. She would've detected the lie in an instant. Even David regarded her, carefully, before turning away.

    There was a sudden noise ahead, and David whispered, "quiet", before taking out his gun as they neared the source of the sound. Kaelyn flexed her fingers. Up ahead, Greg materialised out of the dark, carrying a bag in his hand. He slowly lowered it to the ground, holding his hands up submissively as she saw the firearms aimed at him.

    Kaelyn could kill him there, but she restrained herself. If he was going to die, too, she'd only let it be in front of Tamara.

    "The beans," David growled. "Give them to me."

    Greg held up a tiny jar, which Kaelyn could see contained a single, sparkling bean. "You mean these?"

    Kaelyn held out a hand but froze when she realised she couldn't feel the magic pulsing under her skin, as if it had been sucked out of the air itself. The trigger. Powerlessness flushed her system, just as Tamara appeared. She shot the gun out of David's hand, grazing his arm in a spray of blood, before sprinting away. David retrieved his gun off the floor and gave chase.

    The immortal teenager attempted to pursue him just as Greg slammed into her, the both of them hitting the cold, hard floor. Kaelyn distantly heard shattering glass. The brunette girl struggled beneath Greg's weight, his hands around her throat as she fought for breath and clawed at his face, hopelessly.

    "Get the fuck off!" Kaelyn screamed, bringing her leg up and slamming it into Greg with all her strength. But he was simply too strong opposed to her drained-of-magic state and small stature. For the first time, panic flooded Kaelyn, just as Greg was suddenly pulled off her.

    Kaelyn coughed and gasped for breath as she scrambled to her hands and knees and saw Hook wrestling Greg. To the side lay the broken jar, a single bean resting there. Kaelyn swallowed thickly as her breath returned, and glanced once at Hook – who had just very well saved her life – and Greg, before the direction Tamara and David had disappeared. She followed shortly after, leaving Hook to his own devices.

    She caught up in moments, to find Tamara seemingly cornered by David, both with guns raised. She had barely come into view when there was a gunshot and a searing pain in Kaelyn's left side. She let out a hiss and fell to the side, leaning against a shelf for support, a hand going to the side of her stomach.

    "You missed," David mused, sounding smug.

    Tamara arched an eyebrow. "Did I?"

    "I'll kill you," Kaelyn snarled, and David wheeled around to see her there, blood leaking through her hand. Tamara quirked her lip. "You hear me? I'm gonna kill you!" Kaelyn raised her voice, which reverberated around the confined cannery.

    "You'll already be dead," Tamara told her.

    Kaelyn ground her teeth, focusing on whatever magic she could still feel in the air, still latch onto. She felt her nose begin to bleed with the effort and knew her eyes were shining a vibrant shade of purple, before letting out a yell just as Tamara was blasted backwards. She only stumbled slightly, but she had dropped her gun.

    David closed in, Tamara getting to her feet, unarmed, slowly. Kaelyn slumped back, sliding down to the floor, wiping at her nose and wincing at her aching and tired body. She looked down at her side, which could've been worse. Kaelyn glanced up just in time to see Greg arriving.

    "Charming, behind–!" But Greg had already sprinted in and knocked David aside, slamming him to the floor. Tamara reached for the run but Greg stopped her.

    "No! Come on, we got what we need," he insisted, dragging her away, before the two were gone.

    Hook ran in and stopped David from trying to follow. "What're you doing? They've got the beans!" David snarled.

    "Not all of 'em!" Hook exclaimed. "I snagged one," he said, quieter, showing the single magic bean. This seemed to satisfy David, who stopped struggling and holstered his gun.

    He then finally turned to Kaelyn, who was trying to stem the bleeding of her bullet wound using her jacket. "Oh, my god," he breathed as he and Hook jogged over. "Are you alright?" David asked. Kaelyn sent him a look. "Right. Sorry."

    "Where are the rest of the beans?" Kaelyn asked, trying not to visibly wince as David applied more pressure to her side, crouching down beside her.

    "Doesn't matter, all we need is one," Hook told her dismissively. "Why aren't you healing?" Hook asked, looking at the blood that refused to let up.

    "Don't you think if I could I would've by now?" Kaelyn snarled, shrugging David's help away. She pulled herself to her feet, gripping the shelves. "It's that fucking trigger. It's sucking all the magic out of Storybrooke, including mine."

    "That's a lot of blood," David said, not being able to hide the concern in his voice.

    "No, shit," Kaelyn snapped as she tied her jacket tightly around her middle, hoping to stem the blood as she moved. "I've had worse," she added.

    "Without magic to save you?"

    David had a point, and Kaelyn knew it. Now, either way, she'd probably die unless they got back home. "Look, we get back to the Enchanted Forest, I can heal," Kaelyn finally said, trying and succeeding to keep her voice steady.

    "Finally choosing life over revenge, eh?" Hook looked amused.

    "I can't kill Tamara if I'm already dead," Kaelyn admonished, far from giving up on that ambition.

    "So, live to fight another day, mate?" Hook agreed, turning to David for his input.

    The blonde just pulled the single magic bean from Hook's pocket. "I'm not your mate." He glanced down at Kaelyn. "Help her to the car." And then Prince Charming was heading off.

    Hook looked at Kaelyn but she just sent him a poisonous look. "Help me, and you'll be in more pain than I am." Hook just held up his hand and his hook and let Kaelyn – admittedly – stumble past him and after David.

    The ride to the Diner was a test of endurance, as blood loss and shock began to take over Kaelyn. The pain had resorted to a dull ache, but she figured that was from becoming numb to all her surroundings, before they got out of the car and headed into the Diner.

    The Diner was packed with people who appeared overjoyed to see they had retrieved a bean, or, David. Hook and Kaelyn stayed behind, no one asking about her injury or the look on the pirate's face. The revelation that Regina was sacrificing herself to let them all go did, admittedly, surprise Kaelyn. She could never imagine going to a guaranteed death for anyone.

    While the Diner argued over what to do – Kaelyn easily preferring to just leave Regina – another tremor shook the place. Kaelyn winced as she tried to steady herself on a table. She tried to ignore how Henry looked at the thought of Regina dying, when just yesterday Kaelyn had rescued her for Henry's sake. She was not doing that today. She was going home.

    And then came Kaelyn's favourite part; David tossing Emma the bean to save Regina after all, but Hook intercepted it. "You're all mad," he exclaimed, moving back to stand with Kaelyn, who had apparently become his fellow outcast. "I can live with myself."

    David and Emma moved to grab it. "Give it back," Emma said, desperately.

    "If she wants to die for us, I say let her," Hook said, in a way that probably sounded heartless to the others, but just sounded smart to Kaelyn.

    "You and I– we understand each other. Look out for yourself, and you'll never get hurt, right?" Emma said, quickly.

    Hook just smirked. "Worked quite well for me."

    "Yeah, till the day that it doesn't." Kaelyn rolled her eyes at the desperate lengths Emma was going to. "We're gonna do this. It might be stupid, it might be crazy, but we're doing it. So... you can join us and be apart of something, or you can do what you do best and be alone," Emma said this all very quickly. The moments following her little speech were tense as Hook clearly weighed his options, before slowly handing her the pouch with the bean.

    People instantly relaxed and began mulling about, and Kaelyn let herself deflate. Most likely Emma had just killed them all.

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    KAELYN GUESSED she shouldn't have been surprised when the tremors increased, and vines began to entangle the town, trees even shooting up from the ground. Disappointed, but not surprised, she stepped out of the Diner and looked around at the destruction, as Emma and her group had gone to try and save the day again. Her side was still injured but the bleeding had, for the most part, stopped. But what good was that, when they were all about to die anyway?

    She had never given death much thought, she realised, as she calmly walked through Storybrooke, inhabitants running and screaming around her as death inevitably approached. The plan mustn't have worked. Emma had doomed them all with her morality. Kaelyn couldn't even find it in herself to be angry as she reached the cannery, the last place Neal had been alive.

    Was there some kind of afterlife? If so, would she see Neal there? Or, most likely, would her centuries of bad deeds land her someplace else? Or was it just empty? After centuries spent never accepting death as a possibility to herself, these questions swam around Kaelyn's head as she looked at the place where Neal had met his end.

    And then, as if by some cruel miracle, another tremor shook the town, and Kaelyn stumbled to her knees, just as the vines and trees around her began to disappear. Within seconds, it looked like nothing had ever been awry with the place. Kaelyn let her shoulders go slack, and her thoughts about what death would be like after two centuries of living disappeared in a blur.

    And then, as if by another miracle, she heard familiar voices only a few paces from where she was.

    The returned magic in the air only fuelled Kaelyn as she recognised Tamara and Greg, followed by Henry. They came into sight moments later, heading for the Storybrooke docks. Greg had Henry cuffed and was gripping him roughly as Tamara led them. Henry's head swivelled around, before his eyes landed on Kaelyn, who was alone and slowly standing up from the ground.

    "Kaelyn!" he cried, and the immortal teenager cursed under her breath. She really did like the kid but that was a bad move. Greg and Tamara noticed her, too, and Kaelyn was satisfied with the looks on their faces. They knew her magic was not restricted anymore.

    They began running, sprinting, even, towards the docks. It was only a few paces and Kaelyn was bolting after them, her side screaming in pain. She ignored it. But even as she approached, she knew she was too late, as Tamara held the last bean in her hand and opened a portal in the ocean below the dock they were standing on.

    "Henry!" Kaelyn heard from far behind her. The others had apparently caught up, but she didn't dare look behind as she truly pushed herself, eyes locked onto Henry as his kidnappers bent their knees and made to jump.

    Looking back on this moment, Kaelyn would wonder how she had made it so quickly with a bullet hole in the side of her stomach and drained magic, and how easily she had brushed aside the fact she had no idea where the portal led. She would wonder why, this time, she hadn't kissed her moral compass goodbye like she almost always did.

    But all those wonders and thoughts were mute as Kaelyn's feet left the dock and she plummeted through the portal after Neal's murderers and the last person Kaelyn gave a shit about.

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so we're just gonna ignore how late this chapter is, 'kay? good. but yeah it's going downnnnnn,, finally

anyway, it honestly was kinda rushed towards the end, but mainly for unnecessary dialogue purposes + kaelyn really isn't inner circle.

but also kaelyn screaming at tamara and greg is a mood

anyway the next chapter probably isn't what y'all expect but i hope you enjoyed this one and let me know what you thought! thank you for reading and i'll see you in the next one!