Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine!
Zelena heard someone enter the sheriff's station and sighed to herself. "I knew you'd come back, Regina," she said. "I expected it."
"But I bet you weren't expecting me, dearie," came the voice of Rumplestiltskin. This caused Zelena to turn and face him with a slight chuckle as she leaned toward the bars a little bit. "What are you doing here?" She asked him.
"What do you think?" Rumple replied.
Zelena shook her head. "I know you can't kill me, Rumple," she said. "I saw Regina take your dagger."
"She gave it to Belle," Rumple replied.
"She wants me dead," Zelena pointed out.
"No, of course not!" Rumple shook his head.
"Well, then," Zelena replied. "You'll have to do what she wishes, won't you?" She paused. "If she has the dagger, you have no choice."
"Yes, if she has the dagger," Rumple agreed, and produced said dagger out of thin air. "But she doesn't."
Zelena stood up quickly, fear in her eyes as she watched Rumple handle the dagger almost tenderly. "She doesn't have the dagger," he repeated. "She only thinks she does." He took a few steps toward Zelena's cell. "You see," he said, dagger still in hand. "My father taught me something, the only useful thing he passed on, a bit of sleight-of-hand called 'Follow the lady'. Belle has a fake dagger. This, however," he said, holding it up and causing Zelena to flinch a little as she backed up against the cell wall. "This is quite real." He disappeared, and reappeared in Zelena's cell, close enough that Zelena had no chance of getting away.
"Wait, wait!" Zelena cried. "I'm powerless now. Regina's got my pendant! My magic's gone!" But try as she might, her pleading fell on deaf ears and Rumple, holding the dagger aloft with a determined look on his face, advanced on her. "I can't hurt anyone!" Zelena cried, her back up against the red brick wall of the cell. "I can't!" She chuckled nervously. "Why?"
"Cause I promised my son that you hurting him would not go unpunished," Rumple whispered, panting hard. "And Rumplestiltskin never breaks a deal! You can consider yourself immensely lucky that that stunt of yours didn't get him killed. Cause then you'd suffer a fate worse than death!" He then thrust the dagger forward into Zelena, and as she died, she said, "You're gonna regret killing me. I'll make you regret it. You'll see."
"I doubt it," Rumple replied and pushed the dagger in deeper, causing Zelena to shatter into several pieces.
Looking upon the mess with satisfaction, Rumple, dagger in hand, left the jail cell. But then, the pieces of Zelena shifted and changed, turning into green dust that snaked its way out of the jail and into the outdoors, assembling into a portal that formed into the center of town. What Rumple didn't know was that Zelena was about to have her revenge. Not just on him, but on other people as well, and there was nothing Rumple could do about it.
Meanwhile, three hundred years away, the Dark One was facing a personal demon. "You left him!" He growled at his wife, Milah, shaking her. "He's your son, and you left him!"
"No, no, Rumple, please!" Milah pleaded. "You-you can't do it! Don't kill me, please!"
He chuckled. "Oh, how I knew I'd enjoy the day that I'd have you right where I wanted you and you'd be pleading for me to show mercy like you never have!" He then gave her lover, the pirate known as Killian Jones, a wicked grin as he started to pull Milah's heart out. But just as he did that, she disappeared, leaving both Rumple and Killian staring at one another in shocked silence.
"Where'd she go?" Killian finally yelled and ran at Rumple. "What have you done with Milah?" But he got no answer, only a lost hand for his trouble. "Goodbye, dearie," the Dark One replied with a wicked giggle and disappeared from the ship, leaving the one handed pirate along with his crew.
Milah let out a grunt as she fell hard face first on the pavement. It was raining, and she lay there on the ground for several seconds, stunned, before she got her bearings and stood up, trying to wring the water from her dress while she looked around this strange place for somewhere to rest her head.
It was then that she saw someone coming toward her. She walked closer and saw that it was a young man who was as soaked as she. "Boy!" She called. "Boy, come here!"
"Yes?" He asked when he approached her. "Who are you? Do you need help?"
"Yes!" Milah replied. "I need you to tell me what sort of awful place I've landed in and tell where I can find a room for the night."
"Well, okay," the young man replied and opened an umbrella to put over them. "First off, my name is Neal, you're in a town called Storybrooke, and I'm sure Granny's has a room for you."
"Tell me..." Milah began as she and Neal walked toward Granny's. "What sort of place are you taking me to? Is it a nice place? A clean place? The sort of place only the best people would go to?"
"I would say, so, yes," Neal replied.
Milah grinned and rubbed her hands. "Excellent, she replied.
"And have you had anything to eat recently?" Neal asked. "Because Granny, she's got a diner, to. You could get a good meal there, if you wanted."
Milah considered. "I suppose it has been awhile since I've eaten," she said at last. "And anything to get me out of this wretched storm!"
"All right," Neal nodded with a grin. "Let's go. And by the way, what's your name, if I can ask?"
"Milah," Milah replied immediately. It was then that Neal's eyes widened and he paled. He dropped her off at the front door of the diner, instructing her to tell Granny she needed a room, and took off for his father's shop.
"Papa!" He yelled as he threw the door open, praying his father wasn't busy. "Papa, are you here?"
"What is it, Bae?" Rumple emerged from the back of the store with Belle following him. "What's happened?
Neal was still panting. "What was my mother's name?" He asked. "It was Milah, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Rumple nodded after a few seconds of silence. "But you...you don't need to be worrying about her."
"I think we do," Neal replied. "I think...I think she's come to Storybrooke. I left her outside of Granny's."
"You left your mother alone?" Rumple replied, his eyes wide. "That was a foolish decision! Who knows what sort of trouble she could be causing now? Let's go before things go horribly wrong!"
"Do you want me to come?" Belle asked. "Or is this a thing that should be handled by you two boys?"
"No," Rumple shook his head. "If you want to, you should come, Belle. Please."
Despite the fact that she'd only been left alone for a few minutes, Milah caused a sensation the second she entered Granny's. Despite her soaking clothes, she walked through the diner with her chin up and her back straight, smirking at all the commonfolk who were patronizing this place and staring at her. It was not unlike the tavern where she shed blood, sweat, and tears to at least make a semblance of a living for her lazy husband. It was after she took a seat at one of the booths that she decided she had no further desire to be here, and noticed a man in a dark leather coat with his back to her, nursing a drink. He hadn't turned to stare like the rest of them, and it irritated her.
"You," she said, coming up behind him and shaking a bag of coins so that the clinking was audible. "I don't know how I got here, but I know I don't want to stay. If I give you some money, will you take me away?"
"I'm not really in that business anymore, lass," the man replied, turning. "But if there's any way that I can..." His eyes widened and he spit out his drink when Killian Jones realized who he was talking to. The beer went all over her dress and she frowned deeper.
"Still a pirate, are you?" She asked. "Or at least, still a drinker?"
"Milah," Killian repeated in a shocked, hushed voice. "How...how?"
"I don't know," Milah snapped. "I just know I want to go home!" She then grinned and stepped forward, rubbing his shoulders. "Unless," she amended. "Unless you'd be willing to make my time here more tolerable? For old times' sake?" She leaned forward and kissed him, deeply. He hesitated a moment before giving into her kiss, which only ended when he heard a sharp voice cry out, "What in the world, Hook?"
"Swan!" Killian cried with a nervous chuckle. "I was just..I was just...meeting an old friend, you know? Saying 'Hello', and all that."
Emma rolled her eyes as Milah stepped away and frowned, her gaze locked on the blonde. "Captain?" She asked Killian. "Who's she?"
"Emma Swan," Emma replied before Killian could answer. "I'm the sheriff of this town. Who the hell are you?"
Killian cleared his throat after a few minutes of awkward silence. "Swan, do you remember when we were in that cave in Neverland, telling secrets and I mentioned Milah? Well, this is her."
"But you said she was dead!" Emma shouted, her eyes wide.
"Aye, and that she was," Killian nodded. "Killed by Rumplestiltskin, hence the years of revenge I had against him. But now, here she is again! And incidentally, she's Neal's mother as well."
"You are?" Emma asked, giving Milah a keen, penetrating glance.
"Who are you talking about, Captain?" Milah asked.
"Baelfire," Killian finally got out. "Milah, Baelfire is here."
Just then, the door to the diner opened, with Neal entering first, and Belle and Rumple following behind him.
"Speak of the devil," Killian replied.
"I think I'm gonna go now," Emma told him. "You're busy and I don't want to intrude."
She headed out, leaving Killian to growl to himself. "Is that the person you replaced me with?" Milah asked. "What a dull creature!" Then, she spotted Rumple and strode over to him. "Well, well, well," she said, eying his well tailored suit and gold tipped cane. "And just who in the world are you, sir?"
"That's her, isn't it, Papa?" Neal asked.
Milah's face changed. "Papa?" She mouthed. "R-Rumple?" She finally got out, looking stunned.
"Yes, Milah," Rumple replied with a chuckle. "The man you never loved. But I don't look so bad to you now, do I?"
"No, not really," Milah replied. "And all I ever wanted was for you to make a better name for yourself. That's not so bad, is it? And now that you have, you, me, and Baelfire can start all over again!"
"And what about me?" Killian asked.
"Captain, what kind of horrible wife would I be if I abandoned my husband and my son?" Milah asked. 'You understand, don't you?"
"I wouldn't get your hopes up!" Belle cried. "Rumple's already got someone, and I love him. More than you ever did. You're no one but the horrible woman who broke his heart, and made him feel like no one could ever love him."
Milah got that same smirk on her face as she approached Belle. "Is that what he's told you about me all these years?" She asked. "And did he happen to mention that he, oh, I don't know, ripped my heart out of my chest in a fit of anger and left me crumpled dead on the deck of the Captain's pirate ship?" She got up real close to Rumple as Belle's jaw dropped. "That's what was happening to me right as I was sent here, and don't you think I'll be able to figure out the rest?"
"You deserve it, you snake," Rumple whispered. "I make no apologies."
"You might want to," Milah replied, tilting her head in Belle's direction. "Someone does not look happy."
Rumple went to embrace her, "Belle, I-"
"You lied to me, Rumplestiltskin!" She cried and backed away from him. "I thought you trusted me enough to tell me the truth about your past, but you were apparently still too cowardly to tell me everything!"
"Well, you've seen her!" Rumple cried, gesticulating at Milah. "You can't say I didn't have good reason to do what I did!"
"But you didn't have to!" Belle cried. "You had a chance to make the right choice, regardless of how horrible a woman she was, and you picked wrong. You gave in to vengeance. And I don't know...I don't know if I can forgive that!" She slammed the diner door. All the patrons at their tables had forgotten their meals and were staring openly now.
"Well, my goodness!" Milah grinned. "Look at the little girl go! I had no idea everyone around here was so sensitive!"
Rumple met Neal's eyes. "I think, son, that we should continue this at my shop, don't you?"
"Yeah," Neal replied. "Let's." So they left the diner and brought Milah back to the shop. Neal and Killian watched Milah while Rumple went to check on Belle, who still wasn't speaking to him.
"Now, where were we?" He said when he came back?
"I proposed that you, me, and our son live in peace here," Milah replied.
"Not a chance in hell," Rumple shook his head. "I'm not just gonna let you stride in here after what you did and try and make nice with my son. You abandoned him. You have no right to him at all." He cocked his head at Killian. "I would let Bae be parented by him before I let you anywhere near him, Milah."
"Which is an interesting sentiment," Killian replied. "Cause he did spend some time with me on my pirate ship."
"Until you threw me to the Lost Boys," Neal replied.
"You sacrificed my son?" Milah asked.
"Yes, I did," Killian nodded. "I was sorry for it afterward."
"Oh, no need to be sorry," Milah replied as Rumple and Killian both tensed. "I'm sure you had your reasons."
Neal was shaking his head now, looking directly at his mother. "You never loved me, did you?" He asked, his voice shaking. "I was empty for so many years because I thought you'd been kidnapped and killed by pirates. But you just left, didn't you? And let Papa and me think you were dead."
"Yes!" Milah replied. "You were better off without me anyway!"
"Oh, I have no doubt about that," Neal replied. Then, he went and gave Rumple a hug. "Thank you," he told his father. "Thank you for everything you did for me. And for realizing that letting me go was a mistake, and working so hard to find me again, even if your way of doing it was wrong."
"You're welcome, son," Rumple replied, trying not to cry himself. "I love you."
"Oh, well isn't this nice?" Milah spat. "All this love and sentimentality! It makes me sick! But I didn't expect much else from you, Rumplestiltskin. You're a fool, and always will be."
"I may be a fool in your eyes," Rumple told her. "But I don't care. You don't matter to me anymore. Belle does, and Bae does, but not you. Your power over me is no more."
"And you," Milah continued, facing Killian. "What sort of a pirate are you? Allowing yourself to get tangled up with some common woman!"
"Oh, Swan is not just a common woman," Killian told her. "She is the woman, and she means more to me than I ever deluded myself into believing you did!" He looked at Rumple. "I tell you what," he said. "I guess I owe you one for killing her. You saw the bad parts of her that I didn't. And we're both better off without her, aren't we?"
"Yes," Rumple nodded. "We are."
"And me," Neal finished.
"Well, now that you've all had the chance to say you hate me," Milah replied, her voice testy, "Why don't you send me home? I don't want to be here anymore!"
"Oh, it would be my pleasure, dearie," Rumple replied. He zapped up a portal, and Milah let out a yell as Rumple and Hook pushed her in it together, and then she disappeared. Then, they both turned to look at Neal, who was sitting in a chair by the counter, his head bowed.
"Are you all right, Baelfire?" Killian asked, coming to sit beside him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I guess," Neal nodded, looking up. "I can't believe my mother was such a horrible person."
"Well, you're not the only one she fooled," Killian replied as Rumple came to sit on Neal's other side. "She fooled all of us."
"Yes," Rumple replied. "She fooled all of us, made a mess of our lives, and now we have to pick up the pieces."
Killian scoffed. "That's not gonna be easy."
"No," Rumple shook his head. "It will take time, perhaps. But I don't want to give up on Belle. She means too much to me."
"And you better not give up on Emma," Neal told Killian. "I did. Biggest mistake of my life."
"I'll remember that," Killian nodded. "Not that I was planning on giving up on her, of course." They stood in silence for a few seconds, then Rumple headed off to talk to Belle, Killian went off to talk to Emma, and Neal...he went to rip up the picture of his mother that he'd taken from Killian's ship, rip it up, and throw it in the fire, where it belonged.