Drake's Final Hope

Disclaimer: Please take note that I do not own anything regarding Once Upon a Time. This honor belongs to ABC Studio, Edward Kitsis, and Adam Horowitz. I am only playing around in their sandbox for a bit. My story does not form part of the official story in any way possible. I do not have connections with ABC Studio, Edward Kitsis, and Adam Horowitz even if I wish I had at times. No copyright infringement intended.

She was going to kill Mary Margaret Blanchard.

'It might not be tonight, but she will kill her soon enough. Why did this woman force her out of her warm and cozy house only to meet one another in a dark, deserted park just for a downpour of biting chilly rain to start?' Regina Mills, Mayor of Storybrooke thought bitterly.

"So, what's with all the cloak and dagger?" Regina asked when Mary Margaret, also known as Snow White, stepped out of her car and into the pouring rain.

"Maleficent's back," Mary Margaret stated.

"I should have known that Fish Sticks and Pound Puppy were here for more than a second chance," Regina sighed exhaustively. Although annoyed and angry at the duo's antics, Regina was secretly happy that Maleficent was back in the land of the living. The mayor missed her old friend quite a bit.

"They want to destroy our happy endings. All of them." Mary Margaret warned her former stepmother.

"How do they hope to do that?" Regina wondered, mystified at what the three wished to accomplish.

"That's where you come in," Mary Margaret explained. "We need to find out what they're planning. We need to get someone close to them. Someone they believe to be a villain."

Regina looked on in shock and disbelief at what this woman began to hint at. What they wanted Regina to do. Doesn't this woman know how much it took her to suppress the darker part of herself? She needed to change for her son and Emma. However, it would seem that her former stepdaughter wants to be selfish once again and force Regina to give in to her dark desires just because they are afraid of her former friends and allies.

"We want you to go undercover with them and help us stop their plans," Mary Margaret concluded, unaware of the thoughts running through Regina's mind.

"And you think they're just going to welcome me into their coven with, what, open arms?" Regina inquired, finally understanding why this woman had come to her instead of going to her daughter. Emma would have never requested something like this from her, unlike Mary Margaret.

"Regina, you used to be one of them," Mary Margaret stated, not fully understanding why Regina was reluctant to assist them.

"They think I'm a hero now. They'll never believe I want in." Regina scoffed, once again the naivety of this woman shown through.

"So, find a way to make them believe." Mary Margaret persisted with the idea of Regina going undercover.

Gazing at Mary Margaret intently, Regina decides to ask what bothered her from the start of this conversation. "What makes you so sure they're dead-set on destroying us?"

"Because of something David and I did a long time ago," Mary Margaret, started to explain the dark secret that they kept hidden for all these years.

Regina stood silently, wondering once more what this woman had done to harm her or one of her former friends.

"Regina, you once asked me to…" Mary Margaret began, before closing her eyes while looking pained, before continuing. "Regina, you once asked me to keep a secret. And I couldn't… But I'm going to ask you to keep one for me. One Emma can never learn."

She stepped forward, closer to Mary Margaret. Regina asked with some concern, "What is it?"

"Emma was born with the potential for great darkness." Mary Margaret whispered ashamed.

"But she's a Savior, a Hero. Her magic's as light as it gets." Regina exclaimed, shocked.

Mary Margaret nodded before explaining with a weary sigh. "That's because David and I went to extraordinary lengths to ensure it was."

"If you ensured her goodness, why can't you tell her?" Regina wondered. However, Regina panicked internally at hiding something as big and important as Mary Margaret's suggestion from the Savior and her friend.

"The same reason you don't want to hear about all the terrible things you did in your past." Mary Margaret said, looking pointedly at the concerned mayor. "You want to protect him. So he doesn't lose faith in the person you've become. The person he always believed you could be. Emma can never find out what I'm about to tell you. She's finally started to open up her heart. And if she learns the truth, if we let her down, she'll lose faith in us. And it could send her tumbling down a dark path. Because when you betray the people you love, when you make them see the worst parts of you, what you've done changes everything. There's no going back. You've shattered the bonds you worked so hard to forge. And the stronger those bonds once were, the more difficult they are to put back together. If they can be repaired at all."

"I don't understand," Regina said, confused yet concerned. The mayor wondered once again what truly happened between this woman before her and her former friends, and also why she should keep anything from Emma, the woman she came to appreciate and adore.

"What exactly did you do to Maleficent?"

"Because of us," Mary Margaret murmured slightly ashamed. "Maleficent lost her child."

"Wait, what?" Regina asked, shocked and confused. "No, wait, don't tell me. I cannot keep a secret as big as this from Emma. I will not break my tentative relationship with her over some awful thing you did to Maleficent in the past."

"Regina, please." Mary Margaret begged. "We only did what we did to protect Emma."

"I understand that," Regina sighed, frustrated. "However, I will not lie to Emma. I will, however, go undercover and see what the three Queens of Darkness are up to. But know this that is how far I will go regarding my old friends."

"Thank you, Regina." Mary Margaret murmured, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "But you have to promise not to tell Emma anything of what we have spoken about tonight."

"I cannot promise you that," Regina stated. "I will not lie to her, however, I will also not bring it up either. I will if she directly asks me, but you will have to tell her what you did before she finds out from someone else. If you wish to keep the bonds you have built with her, then you will need to tell her the truth. Your behavior these last few days has her on edge, and she is well aware that you are lying to her."

"David and I will speak to Emma," Mary Margaret sighed. "We are just not sure when or how to tell her. I would have preferred not to, but David disagreed. So, please try to keep quiet about what we have discussed tonight."

As the rain continued to pour, Regina stood there watching Mary Margaret drive off, her mind was racing. She knew she couldn't turn back to her old ways, but she also couldn't ignore the danger posed by Maleficent and the others. She had to find a way to balance her loyalty to her friends with her desire to protect her son and Emma. A bitter smile crept across her lips. It seemed that her life was once again filled with impossible choices.