20|zelena

"So now that we know who we're dealing with." Charming addressed the room as the small group stood around the kitchen. "How do we find this Wicked Witch?"

"Might I suggest we start by asking if anyone has seen a woman with green skin running around?" Hook chuckled at his humour.

"We're cursed, in Storybrooke. She'll look like any one of us." Regina reminded him of how the curse worked.

"Then we start somewhere we know she's been." Emma suggested as Celeste stayed quiet, sipping her tea. "Regina's office."

"I went over it with a fine-toothed comb. She left no trace." The Evil Queen revealed.

"But you were combing for magic." Celeste stated, humming at how tasty her tea was. "Maybe there's physical evidence that you missed that Emma can find."

"Good idea. We'll track her." Charming nodded to her.

"If you want to waste your time playing Nancy Drew, be my guest, but we can't let Henry wander around alone with that witch and her flying monkeys out there." Regina snapped at them, worried for the safety of her son.

"No. Especially since one of those flying monkeys could turn out to be his father." Hook added turning the rooms mood dark.

"Still no sign of Neal?" Snow asked her daughter gently.

"No."

"Point being, someone needs to protect Henry." Regina reminded them all. "He doesn't even know what's going on."

"I'm guessing you're volunteering?" Emma questioned the woman, already knowing the answer.

"If you find anything, call me." She shrugged before trying to leave.

"Just remember, he thinks we're here because I'm on a case." The saviour reminded the woman of the situation.

"Well, look who's gotten good at lying."

"I just don't want anyone to slip up." Emma sighed. "As far as Henry knows, you're just Madam Mayor, and that's it."

"I'm well aware of how Henry sees me." Regina crossed her arms, starting to grow annoyed with knowing her son doesn't know who she is.

"Times wasting." Hook announced after she had left the apartment. "There's something wicked in your town. What do you say we go and find it?"

"I'm going to head to Mr. Gold's Pawnshop and attempt to make the memory potion." Celeste informed them, finishing off her tea and grabbing her coat. "I have books and notes and I know he will have ingredients."

"Good luck." Emma nodded her off before figuring out a plan with her parents and Hook.

~•~

Celeste sat in the back room, her potion brewing away. With a book in her arm, she wandered back into the front of the shop, looking for anything useful.

"Oh, you startled me." She laughed, noticing an unfamiliar woman in the store looking in the glass cabinets. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"Oh, you must be Mrs. Gold." The woman smiled at her, something seeming fake about her expression.

"It's Doctor Gold." Celeste corrected her.

"Is Mr. Gold around?"

"No, he isn't." She informed the woman, curious as to why she was here. "He died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry for your loss." The woman said with fake sympathy, Celeste almost falling for it.

"Celeste." Celeste introduced herself properly.

"Celeste. That's such a pretty name." She continued with her fake friendliness, reaching over and grabbing her hand. "Look, I'm so sorry to bother you, but I was hoping to buy a baby gift for a lovely woman I met at Granny's Diner. Maybe you know her. She goes by Mary Margaret here. See, I'm helping her with her pregnancy, and today is my first day in the job, you know. Curse or no curse, a girl's gotta work."

"Mary Margaret is my roommate." The doctor informed her, confused as to why Snow never mentioned it. "I think I may have just the thing. Just a second."

She turned her back for a moment, feeling as if something has washed over her. But it was gone as she reached for a small rattle and gave it to the woman.

"I never caught your name."

"Zelena." Zelena quickly paid for the gift and left the store, leaving the paranoid doctor to her thoughts.

Celeste wandered back to the backroom, noticing her potion was complete. She sipped the potent liquid and fell back as memories of Rumpel rushed into her mind. Everything but the last year.