AN: So…I've been officially hooked on this series for a long time, but haven't considered writing something for it until now…partially because until now, I hadn't had an idea worth exploring. While I realize it may not appeal to many of you, it's an idea that simply won't leave me be.

This story technically begins at the end of "Ariel." Just be warned, this will negate some of the storyline in "Second Star to the Right."

~Isle of Thorns~

Chapter One – Revenge (and its many forms)

Rumpelstiltskin watched impassively as the mermaid disappeared beneath the water, with her the queen's instructions. He glanced over at Regina, shaking his head imperceptibly at the satisfied smirk she wore.

"Pleased with yourself, are you?" She turned to him.

"Oh yes. Now we can concentrate on our next move," she said with a hand on her hip. The gesture brought him back to an even darker time in memory. Of someone quite similar in appearance within the gesture, but…altogether different. It gave him only slight pause, but Regina didn't miss it.

"What?" she asked. Rumpelstiltskin smiled thinly.

"Our next move," he repeated. "What, perchance, did you have in mind?"

It really was a marvel at their likeness, coloring aside; the stubborn tilt of the chin, large expressive eyes and a penchant for diving into ambitious pursuits head on, if somewhat recklessly.

He refrained from voicing the observation. On a better day he might've, but he very well knew it would only serve to anger Regina. While he didn't particularly care if she was ruffled (and if he happened to cause it, all the more amusing for him), it would only hinder their pursuit.

"I thought you already had the plan worked out on your own."

"Really? How so?"

"Well, you know this…object better than I do. I assumed you'd have it all figured out by now," she said tersely. He raised a brow, but shifted his gaze behind her, into the depths of the forest.

"It would be best if we kept moving to higher ground after the mermaid returns," he said. "There we can plan in a more private setting."

"So I suppose we'll just have to sit here…and wait," Regina said with pursed lips.

"Patience isn't your strong suit, I know," Rumple smirked. She scoffed and waved a hand over a nearby fallen log. A leather couch appeared in its place with cushions on either side. She sat down on the right, a satisfied smirk coloring her features.

"I might as well be comfortable," she said, and motioned to the other side. "Take a seat."

"How gracious," he said dryly.

They were forced to wait for over an hour, and their mutual boredom forced them to occasionally strike up idle conversation. A sarcastic comment about the view, a general musing on what Emma and the others were up to, what Henry might be doing…

It was dark already and growing more so by the minute. Regina was beginning to grow past the constant state of annoyance she'd found herself in since landing on this godforsaken island. What's taking that ditsy mermaid so long?

"Do you really believe Belle can succeed?" Regina asked. Rumple looked over at her.

"Yes, I really do," he replied.

"Are you sure that's not just your feelings blinding you?"

"Or perhaps it's my feelings illuminating me," he countered.

"You really do love her." Her tone was full of a sort of dubious resignation, tugging a smirk on the man's lips.

"Is that jealousy?"

"Of Belle?" Regina laughed before leveling him with a flat look. "I think not—"

"No, no," he interrupted. "Of having someone."

She looked up at him in surprise, a bit of hurt flashing in her eyes. But their conversation was disrupted by Ariel's arrival. They got up and Regina dismissed the enchantment of the couch, transforming it back into the fallen log.

Ariel gave them the item they sought. It was small and square and made of stone; ancient by the look of it, etched in lettering and symbols that Regina didn't recognize, along with an encrusted jewel, onyx in color, in the center of the top side. It was Pandora's Box, and as Rumpelstiltskin explained to her, it held the world's most terrible evils under perpetual lock and key.

Ariel also gave them Belle's message of a girl named Wendy.

"Wendy?" Rumpelstiltskin repeated incredulously. "That's impossible…"

"Her brothers said that Pan captured her long ago. They were forced to do his bidding if they wanted her kept alive," said Ariel.

"How can that be?" he asked stubbornly. "She's dead."

He glanced at Regina, who looked at him with pressed lips and slightly wide eyes.

"Or so you said." Rumpelstiltskin's lips pursed as well. He asked knowingly, "What did you do?"

"Honestly, I can't believe you fell for that aga—" she started, but he cut her off with a sharp glare.

"Regina," he spat. "I'm growing quite tired of your petty antics. Is the girl useful to Pan?"

"Useful? I doubt it," she said with a slightly guilty frown. "The little brat was in love with him. I thought it appropriate to…reunite them."

Now he really did roll his eyes.

"With the most altruistic of intentions, I'm sure."

"She tried to kill me! It was only fair," Regina said defensively before addressing the mermaid. "Besides, right now Henry is all that matters."

"I'm sure the heroes will find her," said Rumpelstiltskin.

Ariel frowned a bit nervously, but nodded. She was about to sink below the surface, but his voice stopped her.

"Look, eh…when you return. Tell Belle I love her…and that she was right," he said with a slight smile. "I will see her again."

Ariel returned his smile and nodded once more before diving beneath the water.

The two were silent while Rumpelstiltskin planned their next move. Eventually, he pointed up ahead to the right.

"The closest mountainside intercepts the river. It's not too far, perhaps two miles," he said. "There we'll find shelter and a more protective spot." With her nod of approval, he walked ahead. He didn't know long this tentative alliance would last, but so far, it seemed they would be making little progress if surprises such as these greeted him at every turn.

"Wait," he said, and halted right in front of Regina. She cursed under her breath at his abrupt stop.

"What the—Gold!" He rolled his eyes in exasperation.

What a temperamental child.

"Pan seems to have left us either a gift, or a trap." In front of them were four Lost Boys, each brandishing spears or a bow. Before one could let an arrow fly, Rumpelstiltskin waved a hand, bringing all four down into a harmless, but potent spell with it. As he and Regina walked through the clearing, she peered down at them with a little contempt.

"They're asleep," she said flatly.

"Did you expect something more cruel?" he asked in a deadpan. He didn't bother looking back at her as he passed her. With the aid of his magic, he no longer needed the support of that blasted cane. He was grateful for small favors, at least, as he trudged up the slight incline. Those boys must have been here grouped together for some reason. At the very least, nothing good.

But that didn't mean he couldn't reap the benefits.

"If he's kept her this long it's because he find some value in her, at the very least amusement," Rumple said, a dark edge to his humor. "Perhaps she can offer us some insight."

Regina feigned ignorance when she glanced over at him. "Who?"

Rumple nearly chuckled.

It can't be this easy.

He had his answer sooner than he would have thought as he stopped in front of the large, wooden casket of bamboo. It was entwined with vines and the odd magic native to this land and its self-proclaimed ruler.

"Is someone there?" a small voice cried, but grew stronger and steadier with every plea. "Please, let me out!"

He peered into the box between the cracks in the stalks of entwined bamboo sticks, but something in his stomach fell at the sight of her.

The Enchanted Forest

Some Time Ago

It had been a month, but it might as well have been a hundred years. Or minutes. It would have all felt the same. Every day was as torturous as the last. He sat on his chair at the table, trying to eat a meal not prepared by her. What was the point of sleep and sustenance when his magic was all that was needed?

…It was all he had left, at least. And every time he merely glanced in the damned pedestal's direction, there it sat. Mocking him. Silent and indifferent to his pain. He couldn't bring it in himself to hate it, smash it like all the others. He couldn't bear it.

It's what you deserve.

But it wasn't just the damn teacup. It was everything she had touched. The drapes, the tea tray, the clothes, the furniture, his spoils of war (finished deals), the books…

Not even his wheel was safe.

It only served to remind him even more of his failure. His failure to forget the images seared into memory, the final words she spoke that still rung in his ears, and everything that was so…her.

And it was all…for nothing.

But his thoughts were disturbed by a knock at the door. The bowl of soup left finally forgotten, he reluctantly got to his feet and opened the door, ignoring the treacherous prick of curiosity. Upon opening the door, however, his frown deepened.

A girl.

Though a dark hood covered the top of her head, she was young and dressed finely. Nothing court-worthy, but respectable enough.

"Who are you, and what do you want?" he asked, maintaining the normal, maddening lilt to his voice that he was so renowned for.

"May I come in?" she asked pleasantly with a grin. His eyes narrowed marginally.

"I'm in a rather bad mood, dearie." His grin was shark-like as he leaned forward, allowing her to see the darkness in his reptilian eyes.

"It's not a good day for making deals."

"But mine is an exceptionally good one, Rumpelstiltskin," she replied with a teasing upturn to her cherry red lips—a maddening color to his sight. But she continued on as if she weren't already annoying him with her presence.

"And the desired outcome is…" she tapped her chin, "Shall I say, mutually beneficial."

"In what respect?" he asked tartly.

"If you don't let me in, you'll never find out, will you?"

It was against his better judgment, but he led her into the main room of his home, where he negotiated over most of his…work.

"This better be good," he called over his shoulder. "You've disturbed my lunch, and wasting my time…well." He turned and flashed her another playful grin that still contained a certain edge to it.

"There's a price for that too."

The girl slid the brown hood behind her to reveal a head of loose, dark curls that framed a pale face. They were let loose in a way that brought forth an image of a different girl sitting lazily upon the couch in his library. Late at night when she couldn't sleep, hair mused and clothing a bit disheveled from the failed attempt, and reading by the light of a single candle that he made sure lit up a good portion of the room without stinging her eyes.

Though this woman's eyes were not her calming blue, but a soft green. The difference snapped Rumpelstiltskin out of his reverie. He realized that she had been watching him with a strange expression on her face that, for once, he found he had trouble reading. He'd always prided himself on his skills of discernment, especially with those who owed him something or tried to haggle with a bargain.

You couldn't cheat the cheater.

"I wouldn't worry. There's a reason we needed to be in a more…reserved setting to discuss what I have to offer. And I know it will be to your liking," she said with a grin, but instead of joining him in the center of the room, she looked around, marveling at the knickknacks and things he had collected over the past couple hundred years. It was slightly infuriating, except he had a feeling she was both genuinely curious and playing a game at the same time. At least with her, he always could tell what she was thinking. Subtly had not been her strong point.

"You see, the two of us happen to be in the same occupation." At his raise of brow, she smiled a bit more. She set her hand on her hips as she used the other to count off the points she'd mentally listed. "Well, the business of bargaining. A favor for a trinket, a trinket for a trinket, a favor for a favor, little things like that. I'll wager we have a great deal in common."

"What is it you're offering?" He was getting impatient, and really didn't want to have to bother with this little tart and whatever mind games she thought she was playing. He'd rather not give himself an excuse to just kill her and have to change his carpets again.

"Something powerful to use at both of our advantages, to achieve a common goal," she said, pausing to admire an oddly carved gargoyle. Then her voice grew a bit softer. "Rumor at the mill is you've lost someone, who mattered a great deal to you."

In less than a heartbeat after she looked up, she found herself looking up straight into the Dark One's reptilian gaze.

"Who told you that, dearie?" He knew he had tipped her off to his touchiness on the matter, but the grief was too close to the surface, to fresh to be mocked by anyone other than the one who had caused it. It was her triumph, and so her right to mock him. A stranger, on the other hand, had no place. He would teach her the lesson of crossing the Dark One.

To his mild astonishment, the woman disappeared in a coil of red smoke, only to reappear yards behind him.

"I'm well connected enough through the Queen's grapevine to give me valuable information," she said.

Instantly his fury returned to him.

"And why would you need such…information?" He raised a hand in tandem with his question, his tone and expression menacing and dangerous.

"To help me enact revenge on my one and only cousin," she replied. Her demeanor was finally serious, and Rumpelstiltskin tilted his head to the side in question. His anger still simmered under the surface, but he still wanted answers from this peculiar intrusion of his home.

"You know more than anyone of her skill in murdering happiness. I have some skill in magic, but not enough on my own to inflict what she has done to me, and to countless others. But the help of the one who trained her? Now that's priceless."

Rumpelstiltskin watched as the mysterious young woman traversed his hall once more, taking in with her eyes all that she saw hanging upon walls, sitting in plain view on shelves, and finally, stopping at the pedestal.

"She is empty and cruel. Isn't it time she drowned in the misery of that which she made herself?" she asked, gazing at the little teacup in wonder.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't know what to make of this woman, but there was hidden depth behind the seemingly innocent gaze she wore on first glance, while at the same time, he'd seen the scheming coils of her mind working. If she was truly the Evil Queen's cousin, he could see the resemblance.

He giggled a bit and leaned against a statue he was sure was too heavy to move under his weight.

"What offence has the Queen made against you, dearie?" he asked, and while his tone was as playful and aloof as it'd always been, he knew she'd be able to sense the severity of his question. Her smile was strange—sad perhaps, humorless definitely.

"The greatest short of killing me."

"Why would you risk coming to me?" he asked with a teasing grin. "I could always…you know, kill ya."

"Hmm, you want to know why?" Her smirk was just as teasing, and though he could see the underlying fear in her gaze, there was determination deeply rooted. It seemed she had a sense of self-preservation, nonetheless. Only one person had never been afraid of him.

"We don't choose those who love us, not even the love of our family. And life guarantees us nothing but to one day lose them." Her voice trailed as her gaze grew distant, but she didn't wander too far into her thoughts before continuing, "But they should not be lost in vain."

Rumpelstiltskin stilled, her words washing over him as a wave over stone. Whatever his reply would have been died on his lips.

She paused, looking down at the ground.

"I know you were once a man…maybe you and I are kindred spirits, Rumpelstiltskin."

Both wary and calculating, his gaze was honed on her as she moved across the room. It didn't escape him that in that moment, a rather large chip of her cleverly painted mask fell away, revealing to him a glimpse of pain that was, to him, familiar. Although her mouth curved upward, her aura screamed to the contrary.

"I doubt it," he smirked.

She stilled, and the imp shrugged before pushing off the statue he had been leaning on.

"Well, if I am to do business with you, I must first know your name. No exceptions!"

A small, but genuine smile touched her lips, and she met his waiting gaze.

"Wendy."

Neverland

Now

"R-Rumpelstiltskin?" The woman's voice trembled, but even as her eyes were wide and fearful and her face was pale and gaunt and smudged with grime, he could easily recognize her. She then looked up at Regina, rage thinly veiled under the surface, but she kept his attention on him.

"Wait a moment," he said, but hadn't expected the rebuttal from behind him.

"We shouldn't," Regina said. "If you're right, then Pan might come after us."

"Can't say I'm surprised," Wendy spat. "It's your fault I'm here in the first place."

Rumpelstiltskin smirked in Regina's face before waving a hand over the side of the casket. It fell over easily enough, but the young woman's wrists were bound to the roof of it with shackles. He peered closely at them, and realized what they really were.

"She bound my magic with these, way back when. Pan took advantage of a reliable product," she said, tossing a furious glare toward the former queen. Regina simply frowned in disdain and looked away. Rumpelstiltskin knew his former apprentice better than anyone, and knew under the surface Regina did feel the least bit guilty, otherwise she would have tried harder to stop him.

"This might sting a bit," he said, nearing her shackled wrists. Magic surged from the palm of his hands and reacted with the magic already infused in the metal, and it took mere moments for the block to be removed. Removing the shackles themselves took little effort, but the sight of her chaffed wrists, skin worn red and raw, parts caked with dried blood, evoked pity for the girl. He helped Wendy out of the crate and though she was shaky on her feet, he steadied her.

"We have to go now," said Regina. "It won't be long before Pan knows we have her."

"He'll be angry," Wendy said. Her voice was strong, but her eyes said otherwise.

"Let's move," he said, and began leading them further into the forest.

"Oh, really?" Pan mused to himself as he viewed the empty casket. The truly hilarious part was that they thought they had an advantage just because they had her now. Well, maybe they did.

Or maybe they'd just made him angry.

While I know this is a very different Wendy than what was portrayed on the show, I felt as if her character could have been expanded and used in a more interesting setting, and of course much different from the traditional story. While it alters what happened in "Second Star to the Right," I'll simply say that Baelfire could have very well have been taken in by any English family and have chosen to protect them by sacrificing himself. It didn't need to be the Darling family (I'll address it in a later chapter).