She got out of the tavern, the thick air in there suffocating her.

The air, and him as well.

Amelia could still hear them arguing, despite the noise interfering and the distance she'd put between them. She decided to take a walk in the woods nearby, taking several steps to further distance herself from that place and the constant headache that was her brother.

That's when she saw him.

A small form, leaning on one of the trees, hunched over his self. His shoulders were shaking and Amelia didn't know if the boy was crying or if he was simply cold.

The hell is a kid doing here, she thought, looking around for the child's parents. But there was no one there except the two of them.

She approached him slowly, not wanting to scare him, but a small twig broke under her weight and the boy looked up, tears streaking his face and a nervous look on his eyes.

Amelia's heart broke.

Because it was then that she realized who he was; he had his father's eyes, after all.

"Do you plan on standing there all day, or do you want to come inside? I've got hot chocolate, if you want."

At the sound of his voice, Amy forced the memories back, blinking several times and trying to slow her erratic breathing.

She'd been standing across from what she assumed was his shop for the past twenty minutes, trying to tame the rage in her enough so as to not kill him on sight. Which probably worked, given he was still breathing, despite being so close to her. At some point he must've seen her and come over, and she hadn't even realized.

She really needed to keep those memory flashes and their consequent dissociations in check.

Keeping her eyes forward, she clenched her jaw so hard she thought it might break-but at least it grounded her-before saying to him, "We need to talk."

"I knew it wouldn't take you long to come and find me."

Amy could practically hear the smirk on his stupid face as he responded. And she hated that.

More accurately, she hated him.

Tear filled eyes from her memory stormed her mind when she dared to look at him, eyes identical to those that were currently looking at her, a curious glint on them as he looked at his apprentice, his partner in crime, his friend, after so long.

She tore her gaze away from him, focusing on the cars passing in front of them, taking deep breaths in a way to tame her fury.

A silence settled over them, neither one of them moving, as she kept watching her surroundings; people going on with their lives, completely unaware of what was truly going on. More than once, there were looks thrown her way, usually a mix of incredulity and a bit of fear. That was probably because of the man standing next to her, silently studying her.

Sadly, the silence didn't last long.

"You are having flashbacks, aren't you?"

There was no need to answer him. Gold-Rumpelstiltskin-knew her well enough, unfortunately, and was easily able to recognize the signs.

She took another deep breath, shaking her head. "That's not why I'm here."

He didn't respond.

Finally, she turned to look at him, barely managing not to flinch at the intensity in his eyes.

"I need your help," she said, hating the words but having no choice but to tell them, if her plan was to work.

Son of a bitch had the audacity to smirk and Amy repressed the very strong urge to punch him. He just started walking towards his shop, not even checking if she was following him.

And she was.

Because she needed him.

But not only because of that.

In the depths of her mind Amy could admit that even after everything that's transpired since the last time they saw each other, despite everything she's learned, she actually missed the bastard. Or, at the very least, she missed the security of knowing someone so deeply, that it only takes a look to understand what is going on their mind.

There are only four people she's had that connection with, albeit in different degrees.

Emma knows better than anyone else who Amy Cassidy is, she has had glimpses of Amelia, but she's never met the Knight.

Regina, on the other hand, only knew the Knight.

The constant headache she hadn't thought about in a while, well, he'd grown up with Amelia, only managing to see the early stages of her descent to darkness.

Rumpelstiltskin, she realized with a start as they entered his shop, is the only one who truly knew the person behind the crimson mask and all of her different aspects.

Well, almost all.

He'd yet to meet Amy Cassidy, who was bound to be his worst nightmare.

"So, old friend," he said to her, his eyes boring into hers. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

She didn't answer him, opting to look around instead. It was nice, small shop, filled to the brim with various objects, most of which she recognized from their time in the Enchanted Forest.

Her eyes fell on the baby mobile, decorated with unicorns.

Emma's.

She quickly tore her gaze away, her heart clenching painfully in her chest at the life her best friend could've had. Full of love and happiness, spent with her family and friends, in a place she could call home.

If it weren't for Regina...

Closing her eyes, she breathed in deep, counting to ten and picturing that house on the beach in her mind, making herself as calm as possible.

Opening her eyes, she set her gaze on Rumple, aware of everything that could go wrong. "Alright, let's cut to the chase. You want the curse broken, I want the curse broken, so how do we do that?"

Her oldest friend and biggest enemy smirked, and for the first time since they met again, she didn't hate the sight. "It won't be simple."

"It never is, with you. But we have to do this."

Rumple eyed her, looking downright delighted. "Well, then, let's get started."

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"Hey, where you've been?"

Amy looked up to see her friend crossing the road after exiting Archie's office, some sort of file in her hands. She caught up with her and fell in step beside her, debating what she should tell Emma.

"I, uh, was visiting an old friend."

It wasn't technically a lie.

Emma's eyebrows shot up, a questioning glint in her eyes. "The creepy mob guy from yesterday?"

"The creepy m-" she let out a startled laugh at her friend's characterization of Rumple. "Emma, he's not in the mob."

"Sure looked like it."

She took a deep breath, forcing the contents of her conversation with Gold to the back of her mind, and decided to change the subject. "Whatcha got there?"

"Nothing."

"The voice raised by an octave suggests otherwise," Amy narrowed her eyes, as they entered the inn.

Emma glanced at her and let out a small huff, "It's Henry's sessions' files. Archie gave them to me."

This isn't gonna end well...

They entered their room and Amy closed and locked the door before turning to her friend. "You do know that's illegal, right? More importantly, does Archie know it's illegal? Cause if not, we need to have a talk."

"I know, okay? I know," her friend sighed. "I just want to know him better, you know?"

Even though it was a morally-and legally-questionable action, Amy understood why she did it. But still, she remained far away from that file when Emma sprawled onto the bed and started reading through it.

Until, for the second that day, there was a knock on the door.

Amy had a bad feeling about whoever was on the other side of it.

And she was right.

The Sheriff was here to arrest Emma on some ridiculous claims from Archie about a fight between them that ended with her friend stealing that file.

No doubt, Regina had instructed Archie to lie in hopes that this would drive the two women out of town. Clearly, she wasn't aware of how much stubborn Emma can get, especially concerning her new found son.

The son that was currently running towards her friend, with Snow White, of all people, following him.

"Henry! Henry, what are you doing here?"

"His mother told him what happened," said his grandmother, even if no one but Amy knew who she actually was.

She let out a small laugh as the image in front of her unfolded; Snow White, her daughter, her grandson, the Huntsman that was tasked with killing her and the Knight that tried helping her, all in one room together, talking about how Mary Margaret was going to bail Emma out.

"Well. If you could uncuff me," she said, extending her arms towards Graham, "I have something to do."

The subsequent wink she sent Amy's way was enough to make her worry.

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HelenMand your present awaits, m'lady