Together [Neal Cassidy || OUAT || Double Swan #6]

8 - Strange Case

Dr Jekyll was getting up from the ground when Regina and Mr Gold walked inside, they saw the lab destroyed.

"What the hell happened here?" Regina asked.

"They came for the serum, smashed everything," Dr Jekyll said.

"Can't say I'm surprised that your, uh, stronger half got the better of you once again. Pretty much how it goes with your two," Mr Gold said.

"You didn't care about me or my work, did you? Or even what you unleashed?" Dr Jekyll said.

"I didn't unleash anything. You did. That man out there? He's not some monster from the deep. It's you... Except stronger and smarter," Mr Gold said.

"No. He isn't, not this time, 'cause I had a feeling Hyde would find us, so I hid... A little extra, just in case," Dr Jekyll said as he pulled out a vial with a little bit of serum inside.

"Oh, great!" Regina grabbed the serum, "Let's do this..." Regina noticed that Mr Gold hadn't moved, "Gold?" Regina said.

"Hand it over. It'll only take a moment," Mr Gold said as he went to take it.

Regina pulled the serum away from him, "I don't think I'll be... handing over our only weapon. You can work your magic from right there," Regina said.

"Very well," Mr Gold said and suddenly he lunged forward and ripped out Dr Jekyll's heart.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked in shock.

"The Evil Queen may not care about innocent bloodshed, but we both know that you do," Mr Gold said.

"You did make a deal with her," Regina said.

"She promised to leave Neal, Calla, Belle and my unborn child alone and now I need to protect the two unborn grandchildren of mine, which means the only person the serum is gonna be used on... Is Hyde. Now, if you wouldn't mind," Mr Gold said as he held out his dagger.

Regina glared at him and poured the serum onto the dagger.

"You'll thank me for this, Regina. One day, you'll finally realise you can no more rid yourself of your darkness than I can. Catch," Mr Gold said as he tossed Dr Jekyll's heart to heart. Dr Jekyll gasped before Regina caught the heart and Mr Gold disappeared in smoke.

At school, Mary Margaret was with Shirin as she was going over her student's test and saw that none of them had a passing grade, they looked up when they heard a knock on the door.

"Snow... Can I... Can I sit in here?" Calla asked.

"Of course, sweetheart," Mary Margaret said.

Calla walked inside and walked to a desk, she sat down and started eating her lunch silently.

Mary Margaret looked back at the tests, "They don't remember anything I taught them. This doesn't make sense. I'm doing everything exactly the way I used to," Mary Margaret said.

"Perhaps that's the problem. From what you told me, you're not the same person anymore," Shirin sighed, "How do I explain? Many years ago, the kingdom I come from came under attack by a powerful menace. The only one in any position who could save us was the princess, but she never fully embraced who she was, what a hero could be. And as a result, our kingdom was lost," Shirin said.

"That's terrible. I'm so sorry. What kingdom was it?" Mary Margaret asked.

"It's in the past, and it's no longer important, except for what can be learned from it. If you want these children to reach their potential, you need to lead by example. That means asserting your strength and embracing who you really are... Snow White," Shirin said and Mary Margaret smiled at her.