Teresa Holmes lay bathed in gold as the afternoon sun poured in through the drawn curtains of her hospital room. Her platinum hair lay splashed around her on the cotton pillow in matted waves, stained red from her blood, the ends curling up over her shoulders. The surrounding area of her closed eyelids were dark, appearing as if she hadn't slept right in weeks. Her skin was gray and plump lips displaying any color within them at all. In the movies, the guy always describes the girl to look as though she is sleeping and dreaming in peace, a soft smile curved on her lips, but Teresa didn't look like she was sleeping. She looked like she was dying. He'd overheard Dr. Whale telling his moms that her heart stopped before they began her operation, but they restored rhythm to her heart before jumping into action and fixing what was damaged during her brutal stabbing.

It was push and go now. A time for hope and not doubt, but Henry Mills found there was none of the former coursing through his veins, for as he sat beside her with his fingers curled around her hand, all he could feel was a numbing pain all over his body. The type of numbing pain that one feels when they're in mourning; like she has already died and was ripped from his life forever. Little did his family know that when her heart had stopped beating, he had felt it. It was like someone had dove their hand deep into his chest cavity and curled their fingers around his heart, squeezing so tight that he couldn't breathe. Since then, he hasn't spoken a word to anyone. He has done nothing but hold her hand and not let his eyes fall from her figure. Henry was scared to even blink his eyes, for if he did, she would vanish from existence and he would miss it entirely.

When her eyebrow twitched, something jumpstarted within his chest. It was like his heart resumed rhythm and the numbing pain vanished, replaced by adrenaline and hope which raced through his veins like a wild horse and brought a warm sensation to his heart. Everything felt brighter as he leaned forward to inspect her face, watching as her eyebrow twitched once more.

"Teresa, can you hear me?" These were the first words he had spoken since he felt her heart stop beating. Henry's grip on her hand tightened as he stared pleadingly toward her closed eyelids, willing them to open with his mind. He lifted his other hand and caressed platinum locks away from her forehead, hoping with his touch that she would stir awake and his favorite shade of blue would be visible to the world once more, for he missed staring into those frosty orbs that would fill with admiration and mischief daily. The sight of them always filled his heart with warmth and often goosebumps would rise on his skin when their eyes connected.

Henry wasn't sure how much time had passed as he sat staring at her while repeatedly whispering her name, but he knew it was pointless after a while. And all the hope that had built within his heart disintegrated when that twitch of her eyebrow remained just that, a twitch. He frowned and leaned back in his chair, knowing that he was foolish to think she would wake up. Teresa was likely dreaming, something his grandmother used to tell him that patients often do when they undergo an operation when he and his classmates would help her place flowers at their bedside to let them know they're not alone when they wake up.

Outside in the hallway, Regina Mills stood with her arms were folded over her chest. Her red painted lips displayed a worrisome frown, and red rimmed her chocolate eyes from crying. With a sigh, she turned away from the sliding door. Seeing her son in so much pain was breaking her heart. She wished that she could take it all away, but she couldn't. All she could do ─ all any of them could do ─ was to watch on as Henry Mills lived in torment for the orphaned girl that was his Soulmate and hope that she would make it out of this alive. Mary Margaret had said it not once, but twice already during her procedure... Teresa is a survivor. She can do this. But as more time passed, Regina feared that the life of the teenage girl lying feet away from her in a dull hospital room would slip through their fingers and there would be nothing they could do about it.

However, the more Regina thought about the devastating outcome that would leave them all in mourning, the more concerned she became. She remembered Mary Poppins saying something about how their souls are connected, and that if one soul is damaged, the other would follow in pursuit. It made her wonder... would Henry die as well if she her heart stops beating? Though she craved to know every detail of the prophecy that her son was part of, another part of her didn't want to know what would become of her son if Teresa died on this day.

Regina glanced to her left where Snow White sat in a chair with her head laid back against the wall. The obsidian-haired woman looked just as devastated as Henry, for she was the only one who has known Teresa Holmes the longest. For a long time, the two survived together, fought together, and now Snow felt as though she was losing the first person who opened their heart to the woman that had her face splashed across the Enchanted Forest on wanted posters.

Little Neal was near his mother, the toddler sound asleep in his stroller with traces of drool dripping down his chin. The sight of him brought a soft smile to Regina's face, for he reminded her of when Henry was a baby and when her son wasn't in so much pain and would giggle at the drop of a hat.

In another set of chairs, Killian Jones sat next alone. His face was expressionless, and his eyes were red. They stripped the former pirate of his clothing while Teresa had been in surgery, his bloodied and black leather replaced with blue hospital scrubs. The pirate would protest to wear such attire, but he didn't put up a fight and stayed silent when the kind nurse offered them to him. And not one of them mentioned how odd he looked wearing them when that black leather jacket of his had become a regular occurrence in their lives.

Quick footsteps echoed in the hallway and for a moment they all perked up, wondering if it was Emma and David returning from their investigation, but they found it was Violet. The young brunette glanced at each other before stepping near Regina and peering into Teresa's room. A gasp fell from her mouth, and a hand shot up to cover her quivering lips. Tears flooded her vision, and she shut her eyes to rid herself of the image of her sickly pale best friend.

Violet looked toward Snow White after a moment and asked, "How is she?"

Snow White met the girl's concerned gaze. "She's stable. All there is to be done now is to watch and wait for her to wake up."

"She has yet to awaken?" Violet frowned. She walked over and sat beside Snow, who offered the teenager girl a tissue for her tears. The brunette gave a silent thank you and wiped her eyes.

Snow White blinked away her fresh tears that glistened in her blue eyes like stars on a clear night. "Not yet," she replied, "but there is always hope."

A smile curved onto Violet's lips. "There is," she agreed. Her brown eyes fell on Teresa once more and her heart broke as she looked at the expression on Henry's face. "She won't give up without a fight."

Snow White shook her head. "No... she won't."

Once more, footsteps echoed in the hallway and everyone turned their heads. It was David and Emma Swan. The sight of them lifted their hearts as they wondered if they had found any evidence aboout who could have done this to Teresa.

Snow White jumped to her feet, desperation in her eyes. "Did you find anything?"

"We found the weapon," Emma informed as she lifted an evidence bag. It was an arrow, but not just any arrow. It was one that belonged to Robin Hood.

Regina perked up at the sight of it, her lips parting in surprise. "That's Robin's," she gasped. But how did someone get ahold of Robin's arrow when his bow and quiver had been passed down to Roland who went back to the Enchanted Forest with the Merry Men?

"No." Snow White shook her head. She walked forward and grasped the evidence bag. The woman felt uneasy as the weapon that could take the life of her best friend weighed heavy in her palms. She swallowed back the vomit rising in her throat and looked toward Regina. "It's Teresa's," she corrected. "Robin gifted her with arrows when she was a girl... this is of them." Snow White stroked the engraved initials. "She always engraves her initials into her arrows."

Killian's brows furrowed. "Someone attempted to kill her with one of her own arrows?" It seemed a cruel thing to do... to kill someone with their own weapon. He can relate, for the Crocodile had once turned his own hook against his heart and would have torn it from his chest if it had not been for Belle.

"Appears that way, yeah." Emma nodded. "We found it not too far from where you found Teresa. We dusted it for fingerprints, but unfortunately the prints aren't in the database."

"What does that mean?" asked Violet.

David glanced toward the small brunette. He hadn't even noticed she was sitting there until she spoke. He sighed and placed his hands on hips. "It means that whoever attempted to kill Teresa never came here from the curses... or from Camelot. They came here because Hyde brought them here."

Snow's eyes widened. "You don't mean... do you think Hyde put someone up to this?"

"It's possible," David responded. "But... there is also the Evil Queen to consider."

"No, I don't think this was her. She made it clear that she wasn't going to be the one who brought on the end of our happy endings. According to her, I will."

Violet's eye grew as stared at Regina. "You?"

Snow White placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry, Regina didn't do this. She would never do anything to hurt Henry... or Teresa. The Evil Queen only told her that because I believe she wanted to get under her skin."

"But what if she's right?" Regina voiced. Her back was turned to them, brown eyes focusing on her son.

"Regina, we've been over this... you will notdestroy anybody's happy ending."

The former mayor turned on her heel, meeting each of the gazes. "I may not have stabbed her, but what if I caused this? What if, whoever did this, had reason to kill her because of me?"

David approached her. "Can you remember anyone that would have a reason to kill her for you?"

Regina thought for a moment, but nothing came to mind. At least nothing that she could remember. "No," she frowned.

Violet gasped when a sudden realization hit her. They all turned to look at her. "Is it possible they are targeting Teresa not because of you, Regina, but for her prophecy? And if they are, what if they come for Henry next?"

"Violet has a point," David acknowledged. "Both Merlin and The Apprentice said they have not yet come into their full power. I was unsure about what that meant, but with Teresa's magic spiraling... I think her magic is growing in strength."

All of them processed what David said, and after a moment, it made sense. Before Hyde and the Evil Queen, Teresa was fine with her magic. She could conjure snowflakes and ice daggers, yet now it seemed she was capable of so much more when the temperature of the entire dropped and she froze autumn by bringing on an early winter.

"It would make sense," Snow White agreed. "Elsa said when she was around Teresa's age, she didn't have much control over her power. That's why she offered to train Teresa."

"So as she nears adulthood, her powers will grow in strength?" Killian wondered with furrowed brows.

"Why wouldn't her magic be the same strength as her mother's or Elsa's?" Emma asked.

"When magic like Teresa's runs in a family, it could grow in strength with each generation," Regina explained. "And seeing as Teresa is the most recent in her bloodline, it'd made sense why her powers are still growing while Elsa has reached full potential."

David shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "It could have something to do with the prophecy. We haven't seen it with our own eyes, but maybe it states that her powers need to be stronger than her family's. But still... why. For what purpose?"

"It doesn't matter," Emma said, her jaw setting. "What matters is that no one will touch them. Not if I have anything to do with."

Regina bit her lip as she turned away from the conversation, her mind processing all they had said. While Teresa's growing power was an intriguing topic, that isn't what consumed her thoughts. No, she was thinking of how it was possible that her evil half or Hyde could have put someone up to this... but who? So many people had come to Storybrooke aboard the dirigible and all of them strangers to this land and to them. Her eyes widened slightly when Mary Poppins crossed her mind. The woman was Hyde's potions slave once... who's to say she hasn't been obeying his command all along? Tricking them to believe that she was on their side? Guilt filled her heart as she glanced toward Teresa and her son, wondering if this was her fault, for she had been the one to release Mary Poppins from her vault after they imprisoned Hyde.

Emma seemed to noticed the look of guilt on her face. "Regina... what do you know?"

Regina sighed and thought now's a better time than any for them to know. She turned away and hesitantly met Emma's penetrating gaze. "I... might know who could have done this."

David's brows furrowed. "You just said you didn't know."

"Who?" Killian asked. He ran his hand over his stubbled jaw. "Who do you think could have done this, Regina?"

"Mary Poppins."

"Mary Poppins?" Emma echoed.

"No, that can't be," Snow denied immediately. "I met her and she was so kind. Besides, didn't you and Teresa find her together? You both questioned her at the time and knew she wasn't dangerous. It couldn't have been her."

Regina bit her lip. "Well, what we told you isn't exactly how it happened."

"What do you mean?"

"She means that her and Teresa lied to us." Emma could sense it in her bones.

Snow White frowned. "Why would you both lie?"

"What really happened?" David interrogated.

"We didn't run into Mary Poppins... Teresa did. She called me and told me to meet her at my vault, but told me not to tell anyone where I was going and who I was meeting. When I showed up, Teresa was alone. She made me promise not to tell anyone what Mary Poppins had told her... especially Henry." Regina glanced toward her son and Teresa for a moment before looking back toward their questioning faces once more.

"What did Mary say to her?" Snow questioned.

"She told Teresa that Hyde brought her to Storybrooke to brew him a potion."

It clicked in their minds in that moment. In the park, they remembered Hyde saying how he had a 'dear friend Mary Poppins' who was brewing him a potion, but his dear friend was nowhere to be found, which is why he likely brought the refugees to Storybrooke.

Emma's eyes narrowed. "What kind of potion?"

Regina sucked in a sharp breath. "The kind that could sever any form of bond... even one of a prophecy."

Snow White gasped.

"If they were to both drink it," Regina continued, "their prophecy would be destroyed and Hyde could diminish their power in their weakened state. He'd be able to... kill them."

Their eyes widened.

"And you didn't think to tell me that my son could die?" Emma shouted, her temper flaring.

Regina glanced toward Henry and was relieved to find he hadn't heard their shouting. "Would you keep your voice done?" She seethed, eyes blazing. "I wasn't the one to suggest that we keep it a secret. Teresa thought if everyone knew, it would only cause a panic and we already had Hyde to worry about. Besides, he apparently couldn't brew the potion himself if he needed Mary Poppins to do the dirty work for him, so we hid her and keep it a secret together."

Snow White frowned. Teresa has never lied to her before. They always agreed to tell each other the truth, yet lately it seemed Teresa was distant. She was easily scarce after her nightmare and now it all made sense. She had so much weight pressing down on her shoulders that it quite literally kept her up at night. The obsidian-haired woman stepped toward the window and a tear fell down her cheek as she watched Teresa's chest silently rise and fall.

Emma's nostrils flared. "That wasn't either of your choices to make."

Regina scoffed. "Excuse me? Henry is my son just as much as he is yours. Or have you forgotten who took care of him for over a decade of his life alone while the other rotted away in a women's correctional facility?"

Emma stepped forward, bitter words tasting foul on her tongue, but before she could speak them, her mother stepped between them.

"Stop," Snow insisted. "Fighting isn't going to solve anything. What's important right now is Henry and Teresa. We need to be here for them."

David wrapped an arm around his wife and pulled her into his arms. "She's right," he said, kissing the top of her obsidian head. "We need to stop arguing and find out who did this."

"Aye," Killian agreed. He rose to his feet and approached them, coming to Emma's side.

Emma cleared her throat, swallowing the bitter words. She tore her gaze away from Regina and calmed down as Killian placed his hand on the small of her back. "We should question the refugees," she suggested. "If we press hard enough for information, one of them is bound to crack."

"I'll go with you," David volunteered.

Killian nodded and took Emma's hand, silently telling the love of his life that he wasn't going to leave her side. He would help her find whoever did this because he knew if he sat in that chair any longer, he would lose his mind. He needed to leave, to breathe in the fresh air.

"I'll go to Hyde," Regina said. "Someone needs to question him, see if he knows anything about who could have done this."

"I'll stay with Henry," Snow White informed. "Make sure both he and Teresa are alright."

With a series of silent nods and longing glances toward Teresa Holmes, they parted ways. David, Emma and Killian headed toward Granny's to round up the refugees and speak with them while Regina used her magic to teleport to Hyde's cell. Snow White released a sigh and turned away from their retreating figures. She glanced toward Violet and then Neal, before entering Teresa's hospital room as Violet offered to watch the sleeping toddler so she could speak with her grandson.

As she stepped into the room, Snow White noticed the look on her grandson's face. It seemed between the beeping of Teresa's heart monitor and the saline drip hanging from the metal hook above his head, Henry couldn't think straight. He appeared irritated by all the noise that filled the silence of the room. She frowned and approached him, laying her hand against her shoulder. He didn't flinch away, which she supposed was a good thing.

"How is she?" Snow asked, hoping to get a few words out of him. She hasn't heard him speak since he first arrived at the Emergency Room, and those were loud sobs and screams that caught the attention of everyone in the room and pulled at their heartstrings.

It was silent for the longest moment, but then Henry spoke, his voice like a whisper. "She isn't going to wake up."

The woman couldn't believe her ears. The boy with the heart of the truest believer held not one ounce of hope for the girl he was in love with. He thought her dead already, and that brought tears to her eyes.

"Henry..." Snow knelt down at his side and caressed his dark hair back from his pained face. He wouldn't look at her, keeping his eyes only on Teresa. "Teresa is one of the strongest people I know. I know that she won't go down without a fight."

"I felt it," he replied monotonously. Finally, his eyes met her own, and Snow White furrowed her brows.

"Felt what, Henry?"

"I felt her die."

"Oh, Henry..." Snow White wrapped her grandson in her arms, but he didn't hug back. She could still feel his arm extended toward Teresa as he held the platinum-blonde's hand. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I couldn't."

She drew back and kissed his forehead. "I am so sorry you had to feel that, Henry. No one should have to suffer through that... but I believe she'll be okay. Teresa has survived through so much. I ─ "

Her heart monitor was going off, just like it had gone off in the Emergency Room when her heart stopped beating. And in that moment, Henry Mills felt that familiar pain once more for the third time that day. Someone had driven their hand deep within his chest and ripped out his heart, crushing the shimmering red organ in their palm and allowing the fragments of what remained to drift off into the wind, lost forever in the same fate as the love of his young life.

"No," he whispered. Henry jumped to his feet and what came next was a blur of rushed movements.

His grandmother wrapped him in her arms as they slid the door open and Dr. Whale and a few nurses rushed into the room with a series of supplies. They lowered her bed so Teresa was level and began CPR, pushing down on her chest and opening the front of her hospital gown to apply the defibrillators to her chest. They injected some sore of medication into her IV and shouted the status of her vitals on the monitor which had dropped. The teenage boy cringed each time her body jolted up from the bed with the electrifying shock they all hoped would restore her life. Tears spilled down Snow and Henry's cheeks and Violet's, who had risen from her chair to watch with her hand covering her quivering lips.

And after the longest time, everything became still.

Dr. Whale and his staff stopped working, lowering the syringe and defibrillators back onto their cart of supplies with sorrowful expressions. They quieted the blaring heart monitor and removed the latex gloves from their hands. Then came those words none of them ever wished to hear.

"Time of death... 4:17 PM."

And Henry Mills saw nothing but darkness as he collapsed in his grandmother's arms.

　
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Teresa Holmes gasped awake. She sat up and touched her stomach, but nothing was there. No wound. No pain. Only unscathed skin as there had been before when she was back in the Underworld again. She was right where she had last been with Alice... in Hades cave. They had been searching through his belongings for a way out of the Underworld so Alice could complete her task when Teresa had vanished once more when her heart started beating. In her absence, Alice had continued to search while waiting for her to return. Now the wait was over, for the platinum-blonde had returned.

Alice glanced toward her. "You were gone for quite a while," she said. "Did you see anyone this time?"

"I saw them all. Regina, Emma, Killian, David, Snow... Henry." Saying his name made her eyes sting with unshed tears. The image of his face flashed in her memory and she closed her eyes, willing herself not to fall apart again. The quicker she helped Alice complete her task, the quicker she could go home. "And then nothing," she continued. "Just... darkness. Why do I feel so strange this time?"

Alice smirked." You're in hell... define strange?"

Teresa rose to her feet. "Like everything is... cold. Like there's something hollow inside of me that can never be mended."

The smirk vanished from Alice's face as the realization dawned on her. She sighed and turned away from Hades desk, dropping the few papers she was skimming through. "I feel the same way."

"What does it mean?"

"You're dead," the blonde informed. "Officially. You are no longer trapped between the veil. If you feel for a pulse, you'll find there won't be one anymore."

Teresa hesitantly lifted her hand to her neck. She sucked in a sharp breath, and her eyes widened. There was no thump of a heartbeat like there was before. She truly had no pulse. She was dead. "Oh, my god..."

"Teresa, remember, stay calm." Alice grasped her shoulders, and Teresa's eyes lifted to meet hers. "You aren't staying here forever, remember? I will help you get out of this hellhole."

"Right," she shakily responded. "Let's ─ uh ─ let's keep looking."

With a nod from Alice, both blondes jumped into action. They split up, Alice returning to search Hades desk while Teresa searched his book shelves of documents. Both knew it would take time to complete their search, but they were both dead. Being dead meant they didn't have to sleep or stop to take a break. They could go on forever. And that is what they were both willing to do to find this mysterious escape hatch Merlin knew about.

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a/n: YOU GUYS HAVE NO IDEA HOW HARD THIS CHAPTER WAS TO WRITE 🤧 RIP Teresa Holmes and thank you Inman for ripping our hearts out. Do you honestly think this is what your dear daughter Lavender would want you to become? Hmm?

Now, for those of you asking why this isn't staying in line with season six, I'd just like to remind you that this is a season six AU, which means it will NOT follow the events to the exact. I am changing many things about what happens in the show. Lets face it...... season six was entirely too busy and probably would have been a lot better if the writers didn't jam it all into one season. Hence why I'm writing only Hyde and the Evil Queen for this portion of the story. All of the Savior stuff, Aladdin and Jasmine, Emma's tremors/visions, Gideion and the Black Fairy will come into play in the third book, Providence, which is another season six AU following those events. Why, you ask? Because I have plans for the entire Savior plot. Let's just say that Emma and Aladdin aren't the only Saviors in town........ 👀

Also, I woke up yesterday morning and noticed that Arrow hit 300k reads and 10k votes. I cried for a good twenty minutes and I was going to post something, but then my kiddos woke up and I clocked in as a mommy for the day. But now that they're sleeping, I wanted to take some time to published this chapter as well as say thank you to each and every one of you all the love and support you guys through my way. You have no idea how much it means to me. I love you so much and hope that, despite what ArchBeliever is currently going through, that you enjoy guys what is to come