Mad Hatter [Jefferson Hatter || OUAT || Mad Red #2]

Chapter 31

Rose Red, Giselle, Neal, Henry, Emma and Mr Gold were sailing on the Jolly Roger towards Storybrooke. Henry and Neal were steering the ship, while Giselle and Emma were tending to Mr Gold below deck and Rose Red was walking around.

"You don't look comfortable," Rose Red said as she walked into the cabin.

"The poison racing towards my heart will have that effect," Mr Gold said.

"Right...Sorry," Rose Red said and Mr Gold waved it off then reached for her hand and she took it.

"Tell me about this, uh, knife of yours. Cora and Regina... If they do have it, they can make you two do anything?" Emma asked.

"More Rosie than me, but yes," Mr Gold said.

"Yep," Rose Red said.

"Like... Kill us all?" Emma asked.

"Yeah," Mr Gold looked at her, "You're hoping I bleed to death now, aren't you?" Mr Gold asked.

"You're Henry's grandfather and aunt. We're family. I'm going to save you," Emma said.

"Oh, I feel so reassured," Mr Gold said.

"Play nice, Papa," Rose Red said.

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In Storybrooke, Jefferson was talking to David, Mary Margaret on his cellphone and Regina and Cora were listening to the conversation, through a speaker of a phone tap.

"Hey. I just talked to Rose. It's a bad wound. She says it's poison. They can only cure it back here in Storybrooke. They're taking a ship home," Jefferson said.

"Well, let them know that they have the knife, okay? Who knows what that wicked woman would do, especially with both Gold and Rose to worry about?" Mary Margaret said.

Cora knocked the speaker off of the desk, cutting the connection, "Mother," Regina said as she got up to retrieve the speaker.

"I don't like what the enchanted box was saying. I'm not... I'm not wicked," Cora said.

"It's not an enchanted box. It's a phone tap," Regina said as she placed it back on her desk.

"I don't care. What matters is, they've been warned. Rumpelstiltskin is smart. And now, he has time to think," Cora said.

"But he's injured... I don't know how Rose will be an issue though," Regina said.

Cora looked at the dagger and noticed that Rumpelstiltskin's name was slowly disappearing from the blade, "More than injured, I'd say. He's dying. And when his name disappears, all of that power of his will just... Boil-off into the air and... Then there will be no new Dark One," Cora said

"Okay. So we have to use him to get Henry back before he dies," Regina said.

"Not in his condition. I don't want to kill him faster. No, there are no other options. I have to stab him with its knife and take his power as my own. I have to become the Dark One. And with his power, there's nothing I won't be able to do," Cora said.

"But Henry's never going to forgive that. And the whole point of this is..." Regina looked at her with a slight frown, "Wait. What is the point of all this?" Regina asked.

"To protect our family," Cora said.

"Or you gaining your power," Regina said.

"Whatever power I gain is for us, to protect you, to protect Henry," Cora said.

"And kill the person who helped me raise Henry," Regina said.

"If we lose this battle, we'll spend the rest of our short lives on our knees in front of them. And that, my love? Is something I'll never do," Cora said and she saw Rose Red's name flicker onto the blade and she looked shocked.