"Papa come on!"
"Bae I don't know if-"
"Papa please, you promised, remember?"
He did remember. He would do anything for Bae. But now, looking down into the swirling light of the portal, he was scared. He would lose his powers, stop being the Dark One. What was he without his powers? He had used them to end the Ogre's War and rebuild his village. For the first time in years he lived without the fear of not being able to put food on the table and keep a roof over his son's head. He was no longer an old cripple, he had a reputation that proceeded him. But most importantly, he could protect Bae.
He didn't know where the portal would take them, the Blue Fairy hadn't said. Rumplestiltskin had heard of other lands, some peaceful and quiet, others terrible places he never wanted to set foot in. He thought of Neverland, how his father had abandoned him there.
The more he thought about these things, the more he convinced himself it would be best to stay here.
"Please Papa," Bae yelled over the noise of the wind, "We'll be together, that's all that matters."
The look he gave his father made Rumple tear up. His boy just wanted to be with him. He felt himself being pulled forward, into the light.
Suddenly Bae's feet got sucked into the portal and he fell. Rumple caught his hand and tried to pull him out, but he could feel his son resisting.
"Papa come with me, please," he pleaded, pulling on Rumple's arm. "We'll be together, it'll all be okay, come on."
"Bae, I can't-" Just then Bae's hand was ripped from his grasp.
"Papa!" his son's terrified scream echoed through the forest as the portal closed and Bae was gone.
"Bae?"
Frantically, Rumple searched the ground for anything, the magical bean, any trace of his son or the portal, but there was no trace of them. Just leaves and dirt.
"No no no no no," he was crying, he realized, tears dripping from his face, "I want to go with you Bae, I'll go with you son," he cried out, but there was no answer.
He broke down on the cold forest floor, sobbing. He could still see Bae's face, his big brown eyes so terrified and disappointed as he was sucked into oblivion.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I-" Rumple gasped. "Please come back."
Suddenly his son appeared in front of him. His clothes were torn, his face and hands covered in dirt, his hair was disheveled. He was bleeding from a cut on his forehead.
"Bae? What-"
"You did this to me," his son's voice was flat and cold. "It's all your fault, because you are such a coward!" He yelled and Rumple had to cover his ears. "How could you abandon your own son? What kind of a father does that?!"
The figure moved towards Rumple, pulling out a knife from his waistband. "It's nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you." He raised the knife.
"Bae please, son…" But Rumple couldn't find it in him to fight, to use his powers. He deserved this.
The knife came down and he screamed.
"Rumple! Rumple! Wake up!" Belle was shaking him.
He was panting like he'd run a marathon, cold sweat covering his whole body and the sheets beneath his were soaked. He realized he had a hand over his heart, where Bae had plunged the knife. The scene kept playing back behind his eyes. He looked up at Belle, taking in her worried expression.
"I'm sorry if I woke you," he said quietly, sitting up and leaning heavily against the headboard.
"Hey, it was just a dream," she said, taking his hand in hers, rubbing small circles over it with her thumb. "Wanna talk about it?"
"I'd rather not."
"Was it about Bae?" she asked quietly, squeezing his hand.
"How did you-"
"You were saying his name."
"Oh." He looked down, slightly embarrassed.
"Well how about I go make us some tea," Belle said, leaning up to kiss him.
When she pulled away he was staring into her eyes. He brought his still-shaking hand up and combed through her long hair, pulling a strand out of her face and tucking it behind her ear.
"Oh Belle."