The Dark Hereafter

by theoneafter

oh, the things and island can kill.

At first, there was rocking.

Gentle, calm, silent rocking.

Slowly, I eased open my eyes and repositioned my body, which seems to be carelessly sprawled across the ground of wherever I was, quietly ebbing and lit with the tiny light of portholes. Waking from the grasp of sleep, I flexed my fingers slightly, themselves feeling numb. As I clenched my teeth, fabric stopped them from touching. I pulled in my legs as my vision began to clear and adjust to a darkly lit room. With drowsy eyes, I looked up to my seemingly non-subsisting arms, which were looped around by thick, braided rope, hung from a lock on the wooden planks of the wall. With the uncertainty this caused, my body jerked itself fully awake. I was under the impression that I was on a ship of kinds, as the light swayed with the rocking. I looked up, seeing the small hatch of a door above me, hitched shut, mesh bags around me sat heavily atop one another. It seemed oddly familiar, the whole essence and feel, like I had been here before.

A male voice snapped me from my thoughts.

"You're back," It was far, the voice. Distant, I strained to hear it. "So, did you get what you wanted?" The man asked, the tone of his words flicking at my memory, I had heard it before.

"Yes," Another responded. Female, proper, indicative. "My daughter has lost everything now."

"Huh," The male continued. "Well aren't you 'mum of the year?'" The was something about the way this man formulated his words, the cynicism which he used to lighten them, too familiar to place.

"I did what was needed," The woman retorted against him.

"What about what I need?" The man led again, impatient. There was such a give to the way he spoke, even from the distance we were placed. "You promised me you'd help me to get my revenge on Rumpelstiltskin."

Rumpelstiltskin.

Hook.

I shifted in my position, clenching my hands in retort to the rope, trying to pry them off quietly enough to continue listening to the now familiar argument. To no avail, I would attest, as they didn't waver.

"And I've already started. Or, didn't you notice the little gift I left you in the hold of your ship?"

It was then when my struggling became more violent. I would not be subjected to another life of imprisonment. A caged bird is hardly a bird.

I grasped at the ends of the ropes with my finger, but they slipped through each time, I attempted to slide the cloth between my teeth off with my shoulder, again all to fail.

"A gift?" The man asked. My stomach clenched and prodded, myself becoming uneasy. "What is it?"

"Not 'what,'" The woman said gently, harder to hear. "Who."

There was a sudden, gut-wrenching pause that parted the words. My heart nearly stopped as the sound of footsteps clicked the wood above me. Adding to the strain, a door, seemingly very close, stripped open. Just another barrier between the person who had imprisoned me and I, broken and shattered. The footsteps ended, they were just above me.

I winced as the hitch of the locked door above me snapped and it lifted upward. The sudden flush of light stung my eyes as I looked away, not catching a good glimpse of the person holding the door up. My body seems to freeze, I couldn't get myself to look up at them. I stopped breathing, my heart as though to stop beating.

"Who's that?" I could feel my whole body shaking.

"Someone proficiently versed with the attributes of The Dark One," I slightly turned my face toward them, staying mostly hidden by my uncared-fore mane. "Someone who can help us determine his weaknesses here."

I hated being as vulnerable as I was, hated not being able to move despite fear.

"Can't you, Dark Han?"

This time, I finally looked up at the woman, scowling at her use of my monocle. Those days entitled to that establishment were long behind me. I looked at the man, Hook, our history flooding back.

"All these years she's been missing, you've had her? "

"Of course not," The woman stated simply, turning to face him. "I found her stumbling across town the other day and deemed fitting a little assistance."

"Finding the one being The Dark One had been stripped of for all these years. Marvelous work."

"Thank you."

The malice in the woman's voice was putrid, but in that of Killian's frightened me. He had never spoken to me in the way he did now, so darkly.

"Now you'll have all the information you'll need. It may take some time, but, look at her. She's already broken."

"Aye."

Killian smiled down at me. I exhaled and averted my gaze to the ground, unable to look at him as he did me. I heard him chuckle, as did the woman

"I'll leave you to it, then," She remarked with a smirk. I shifted my knees closer to my chest and flexed my elevated fingers as Hook climbed down the small opening. I backed away from him as he kneeled in front of me, my head screaming with the prodigious vulnerability. I couldn't seem to look up, no matter what I told myself, I just couldn't move.

"Han," He seemed to demand, his tone harsh, cold. Between his words, he tucked the edge of his hook under the cloth intertwined with my teeth and slide it down, the knot residing around my neck like a broch. "Look at me."

I couldn't. I just, couldn't. This man in front of me, he was linked to my other life. The life in which I was nothing but a prisoner to everyone around me, looking at him was like facing that all again, and I… I just couldn't do it. I wanted too, though. I wanted to prove to him the fire that he saw when he first met me was still there, that power I had, but the deeper I looked, the harder it was to uncover.

"Han," His firm tone softened, his patience in me thickening. "She's gone. You can look at me."

I shook my head slowly, the tears welling in my eyes gathering themselves. "What do you want?"

Killian lifted his hook to my chin, tilting my head at an angle impossible to escape the pull of his eyes. They were dark, sullen. I winced at his touch but willingly complied. "As the Dark One's apprentice," He spoke to me as if he didn't know me. This man in front of me was tied to a life cursed of unforgettability, he looked at me as if a stranger. "He must have told you all manner of secrets."

I furrowed my brows. "What?"

"Where is his dagger?"

I pulled away from his grip, keeping my eyes locked on his. Truthfully, I knew all about Rumple's dagger. I knew of its capabilities. But where it was- I didn't even know where Rumple was.

I decided to fabricate. "What the hell are you talking about?" I gritted my teeth, making the words sound painful as a way of adding fire to the deception. "I don't know anything about a dagger."

Killian looked at me very intently, flashing his eyes as he studied my own. After careful recollection, he backed off, recreating his crouch and took his chin in his hands. "No, you don't, do you?" He thought aloud, mainly to himself. "It's his weakness. Now, tell me; does he have any others?"

Belle.

I knew I was supposed to say Belle, but Rumple would never forgive me, even if I never saw him again. I stayed uncommunicative.

"How the bloody hell did you get like this?" Killian asked, confusion nicking his tongue.

I looked up at him, "I was so close," I all but whispered. I swallowed thickly, recovering from my gradually-intensifying tone. "I don't want to do this anymore."

Killian licked his lips. "Don't want to do what anymore, love? You've been gone all this time and yet; don't look a day over sixteen."

"Exactly, Killian. I don't want to be used like this anymore…"

Killian shook his head with a watered-down chuckle. "Then a little assistance, love? The sooner you reveal the location of his weakness," He wrapped his aged fingers around my bound hands, one of his metal rings cooling the skin of my rope-burned wrists. "The sooner these can come off."

I bit the inside of my cheek at his tone. It was as if he was bargaining with a child.

"If you won't help me, sweet Han," He began, the ease of his voice thinning. "Then you can stay down here and watch as I destroy whatever it is you're keeping from me."

With a smirk, he used his hook to reposition the ring of cloth around my neck to between my teeth. I winced at the taste and looked at him, my eyes widening as his smoldered. Killian rested the lips that encircled his devilish smile on my forehead in a chilling kiss, sending uninvited chills down the small of my back. I bit back tears at the feeling of my body shaking in fear like a lost dog.

"Until then, love."

29 years earlier, The Streets of Hamelin

I looked up at Rumple as he placed the dark shawl over my head. I grabbed the hems of the hood and adjusted the folds to my own. It covered the whole of my body, concealing my face in a grey shadow.

"You know what to do, correct?"

I nodded my head as footsteps echoed on the stone walls of the alleyway. Rumple disembodied himself in a cloud of dark smoke. As the cheers of men and the clank of leather boots neared. I retained my position he had directed. With the crowd anything but feet in front of me, I walked forward in a hunched pace. The men, unnoticedly, continued their path until one, clad in leather and smelling fond of rum, collided into me. I just brushed the man off and continued walking.

"You, stop!" The man called out in a thick tone. "Even gutter rats have more manners that you just displayed."

I stopped my footing and turned around, the darkness of the night covering my appearance. "Oh, I'm so sorry, sir," I mumbled.

The man scoffed. "I was wrong," He chuckled. "Not a rat at all, more like a kitten." He laughed at the men behind him, I hardly wavered at the blow. The man approached me and hit the bushel in my hands to the paved ground. With a hidden smirked, I sat numbly on my knees to retrieve it. As I grabbed the strap, his leather boot pushed me over. "What's your name, kitten?"

I didn't speak, but I recoiled myself as the laugh of the Dark One echoed through my ears.

"I would keep your hands off my apprentice, dearie," He laughed, materializing in front of me. The man winced back.

"You," The leather-clad man began with a pointed finger. "I remember you."

Rumple smiled and turned to me, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. "Well," He led. I removed the hood of my cloaked and smiled. "It's always nice to make an impression."

The man furrowed his brows in recollection.

"Well, where are my manners We haven't been properly introduced. Rumpelstiltskin," He said with a bow. "Or as others know me, The Dark One."

Rumple strut around the men, scaring them as if a child. They all took dignified steps back in subtle fear. I held in a laugh. "Oh?" Rumple chuckled. "I see my reputation precedes me."

The man, Killian, I believed, looked up at me from where I stood to watch the mess, then back to Rumple. "It does."

"Good," I nodded soberly. "That's gonna save us a bit of time."

"What is it you want to know?" Killian asked after looking at me for a second, turning his jaw to face Rumple beside him.

Rumple sneered and leaned into his exposed ear. "How's Milah, of course?"

Killian stifled a laugh as he turned to face him. "Who?"

"Well," I remarked, stepping forward to their hunch. "Only too happy to have, dug out the memory. But, it gets really… messy."

"She's dead."

Rumple froze, a thick swallow ebbing his throat. I could feel the weight of his tension through my fingertips, themselves withholding little flicks of magic. I clenched my fists and stepped forward to comfort him, but a strict wave of his hand stopped me.

"She died a long time ago. What is it you want?" Killian seemed genuinely upset, uncharacteristic for the man Rumple had told me of. His eyes shifted to the ground as Rumple regained his pride.

"We didn't get a chance to finish our duel."

Killian reached for my sword, I stepped forward with an outstretched hand, ready to deflect any swipes at Rumple. I knew he was a little shaken, and even though I knew very well he could defend himself, love always obtained a way to cloud his mind. He simply rose his hand as a signal to step down. "Not now. Tomorrow at dawn. I am not a cruel man, get your affairs in order. Also, you can spend tonight knowing, it'll be your last. Maybe I am cruel, and don't think about trying to escape; because I will find you, and I will gut your entire crew like a dervish."

Killian stared intently as he spoke.

"Come along now dearie," Rumple all but sang, referring to me behind him. I nodded and waited for him to turn and lead the way home. As he walked past me and through the alleyways of the street, I turned to Killian.

"Don't- don't test him on this one. I've never seen him get so- angry- at another man in all the people I have watched him kill."

Killian nodded. "I think you've antagonized the wrong people, love."

My eyes widened in offense, but before I could react, Rumple yelled from behind me.

"Don't keep me waiting, Han!"

I swallowed. "Just be careful," with that, I waved my hand, a dark sage smoke enveloping my body and dematerializing me from the alley.

I didn't know how long it had been.

Hours, hours seemed right.

I counted the waves of the ship, the number of times the boat shifted left and right. I thought about how long it took for the ship to recoil itself after ebbing to one side. It took longer for the ship to sway left than right. My eyes hung heavily underneath my lids and the skin of my arms fell completely numb, hanging from a hook above me.

Heavy footsteps jerked me to consciousness.

I clenched my numb fingers, praying for Killian to have not returned. The clanking of shoes above me grew louder until the creaking sound of a wooden door edged open. I knew immediately it wasn't Hook, the steps were too timid and knowing; that of his would have seemed confident and aimed. I whimpered out a small cry through the band of cloth around my mouth.

"Hello?" A female voice stumbled. I knew the voice- it was faintly familiar but too far off for me to place. Relieved, I tried to yell out something indistinguishable.

The woman's feet timidly stepped closer and a dainty hand raised above the portholes od the hatch. It opened with a quiet screech and her face was revealed.

Belle.

"Han?" She stuttered, a face of horror looking down at me. I hadn't seen her in forever, she probably thought I was dead. Everyone I knew just knew I went missing, but after the time I was gone, people's minds of hope were probably replaced with an image of a dead or far more aged girl. With her face still in a position of shock, she eased herself into the hold. Removing the cloth from my mouth hurriedly, she moved her fingers to the rope.

"Oh my God, Belle," I spoke, surprised myself.

"Are you- what happened?"

"I can explain later, just get the knot undone."

She nodded quickly and tugged at the rope- it loosened and slipped off my hands. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for Baelfire's cloak, Rumple needs it," Her words were quick, each one layered on top of the next.

Both of us snapped our head up at the sound of more footsteps. "You need to leave."

"Wait- no. Han-"

"Just go, trust me. I'll get the cloak. Just find Rumple, tell him I'm here. I'll be fine."

Belle nodded and shoved something metal into my hands. I looked down at a small gun wrapped around my fingers. "Okay, Belle. Go."

She nodded and ran up the stairs. I immediately took to the cabinets, searching for Baelfire's old cloak.

"Looking for this?"

I turned around slowly, twisting my pointer finger around the trigger of the shotgun at my side. Killian leaned lazily against the wooden frame of the door, fiddling with a piece of brown cloth in his grip.

"That doesn't belong to you," I retorted quietly, looking at him with a regained fire.

"Oh, it does now," He smiled, looking up at me. I went to raise the shotgun at him in an attempted threat, but he caught on and lunged. Encasing both of my wrists in the hold of his strong fingers, the gun fell to the ground. I stumbled to crouch and pick it up, but he shoved me back and imprisoned the trigger between his own fingertips. "Uh, uh, uh," He tutted, turning around at me with a smirk. "Oh, my dear Han," He examined the small gun at eye level, messing with the handle and turning it around in his hand. "You should have stayed in Neverland," I winced at the name. "Real life can get so… messy."

Killian pointed the gun at my forehead, I stood my ground. "I'm not afraid of you, and I'm not leaving without that."

"Well, I admire your loyalty. But helping Rumpelstiltskin? I'm afraid you're fighting a lost cause," he remarked calmly, placing the cloak on the shelf.

"He needs that to get his son back."

"And what makes you think his son wants to be found, hm?" He all but interrupted me, his eyes widening in his own finishing's. "I'm doing that boy a favor."

"Don't pretend like you know Baelfire, okay? He wants to be found. Haven't you done enough already?"

"Enough?" Killian scoffed.

"You stole his wife, Baelfire's mother."

"Tell me something, love," He began darkly, his soft tone reaching my ears as slowly as he crowded me. His words fell blankly just above my ear as he leaned into a terrifying crawl. "If a woman comes to you, and begs you to take her away… is that theft?" He finished with a cool breath on my cheek, I shivered as the memory was dug up and at how uncomfortably close he was. If anyone, even people I trusted, had ever gotten that close, I would have shoved them away from me. It was one thing I couldn't handle; being so close to another person, with everything that happened on Neverland. But, he had a gun.

"Back off," I whispered helplessly at him, not able to meet his hard gaze.

He chuckled and remained still.

"Killian, I swear to God-"

He tilted his head away from me in realization, I could almost see the story I told him all those years ago flash in his mind. He stepped back slightly, giving me enough room to breathe. "Apologies, love," He gritted darkly. He was still a man of honor, it was refreshing to see that. He went to the cloak on the shelf and tossed it around with his hook. "I should have burned this the moment I acquired it."

I believe myself to be a lady of few weaknesses but being too close to an older boy was one I just couldn't seem to shake, even after all these years.

I licked my lips. "Why didn't you?"

"Because she made it."

"Look, I'm sorry he killed her."

"Sorry?" He repeated, eyes widening. "Said as if you didn't stand there and watch him rip her heart out."

"But vengeance, Killian? Vengeance won't bring her back."

He looked at me intently and tossed the gun from finger to finger. "And here you are, love, ready to die for a murderer," He gently grazed the gun over my chest, lingering over the skin shielding a blackening heart. "He would do anything," His words forming into chilling whispers, the gun had moved to underneath my chin. Killian tilted my head up slowly, leaning in until the cool breath under his words fell onto my cheek. "Anything, to hold onto his power. Why do you think anyone who has ever gotten close to him has either run away…"

He cocked the shotgun and aimed it at me, standing back. "…Or been killed? Now, what makes you think you're any different? Tell me, darling, why would you ever want to fight for a man like that?"

I bit my bottom lip. "Because I owe him my life."

"Yet, he let you rot away in Neverland."

He didn't.

I knew that, I did. He couldn't have saved me, I had never blamed him for me being stuck on that island. Anger festered in my fingertips, I raised my hands to a pole above me, slamming it into Killian's head.

"Pick it up, dearie!"

Looking down at the old sword Rumple had thrown at his feet, Killian straightened himself. "There's no need."

Reaching for his own sword at his sheath, Rumple laughed. "Sorry," The man's own metal clad sword appeared in Rumple's hand. "But killing a man with his own sword was just too delicious to pass up."

I looked at the two men, stanched in front of each other; swords ushered, and hands clenched. I didn't want to watch Rumple kill him. I thought he was a good man, Killian. Just a man who let love blind him. But, then pirates had hurt me before. Hurt me in the streets, chased after me when I would reject their calls, so maybe I didn't feel so bad.

No. I did. No one deserves to die.

But this wasn't my decision to make. I owed Rumple my life, he saved me from a fate I couldn't escape, and therefore if he wants to kill a man; I will endure. They had been fighting for a while, each one deflecting each other's blows. It went on seemingly endlessly until I sensed someone approaching.

Stimulating the magic at my fingertips, I clenched my hands. I hadn't even noticed that in the vastness of their duel, Rumple had pinner Killian to the ground- his hand encircled by a glowing aura inside the man's chest.

"Stop!" A woman yelled.

I whipped myself around and sent a wave of magic through my shoulders to corner the woman, she stumbled back.

"Han," I looked over at Rumple, who's tension floated around him. His eyes told me to stand down, I did. "Milah?"

Milah.

I turned around to face the woman we were all told was dead. Baelfire's mother. The only woman Rumple ever loved. The woman he would have done anything for. Rumple removed his glowing hand form the man's chest and faced Milah. "How?"

"Milah, you have to run," Killian gritted, a hand latched at his side in pain.

"No, I'm not leaving without you-"

"Oh, how sweet!" Rumple sneered pretentiously, sending off little sparks of magic only I could sense. "It appears there's more to this tale I know, tell it to me Milah!"

"Please don't hurt him; I can explain…"

"Tick, tock dearie. Tick, tock!"

He was furious. I had seen him mad before, mad enough to kill… but this was a new kind of rage, there was actual emotion behind it.

"That- that first night, when Killian and his crew came into the tavern, he told stories about the places he'd been. And I fell in love with him," Rumple kicked Killian in the side, resulting in a stifled cry of pain. "I didn't mean for it to turn out this way… I didn't know how to tell you the truth, I'm sorry!"

Rumple glared at her. "And so, here we are. You've come to save the life of your true love, the pirate. I didn't realize the power of true love before. It is impressive, I'd hate to break it up. No, I'd love to."

"Wait," Milah interrupted solemnly, her eyes on Killian. "I have something you want."

"I'd find that difficult to believe," I retorted, slicing the tension between the two. Milah slipped a piece of red cloth out of her corset, holding it out to Rumple.

"Now where did you get that?" Rumple peaked, interested.

"You know who I took it from. Now, I may not know what The Dark One wants with a magic bean, but I have it."

I stiffened. A magic bean was our only chance to find Baelfire.

"I feel a proposal coming on."

"The magic bean in exchange for our lives, deal?"

"I want to see it first."

With Baelfire's shawl twisted between my fingers, I ran to the deck of the ship. The sky outside was dark and gray, the sun hidden behind layers of thick clouds ready to cry their tears of fulfillment. As if the skies had predicted the frightening essence of the night, Killian jumped from seemingly nowhere in front of me. Startled, I stepped back. "How did you-"

"Oh, well I know this ship better than the back of my- well, you know," He gestured to the silver hook lingering off his arm. "Now, I'd suggest you give that back now."

"Or what?" A deep, powerful voice sounded from behind him.

Rumple.

Two hands went to my mouth as I gasped, a hole in my heart slowly clenching itself in painful ebbs. Rumple, this man who raised me as if his own; saved me from an execution because of the danger of my differences and instead taught me how to extenuate them in the beauty of magic. This man who I was torn from to save his son, the man who I was locked away from on an island for almost thirty years.

I missed him.

My hands began to shake as I tried to stumble words out of my mouth. "Rumple?" I felt like I was going to fall over from the overwhelming feeling. He was back, I was back.

He looked at me and smiled with consoling eyes. I barely recognized him, his skin which had once been laced over in scales and textured with rough grain was now smooth and wrinkled with age. Rumple's once piercing eyes, eyes that could have blinded a man with a single stroke, were faded to a soft brown, lined with crow's-feet and a real lash line. A cane fell between his fingers and walked along with his left foot, I remembered the cane from our old tavern.

"Ah, you look different in this world, crocodile," Killian boomed, strutting toward him. "Like the coward, I met so long ago; limp and old."

Rumple smirked. "And yet, you still can't kill me."

"Let's have it, Dark One. What magic are you going to hide behind today?"

He laughed. "Oh no, not magic."

I flinched as Rumple raised his cane and smashed it into the side of the pirate's head, sending him down onto the hardwood of the deck. Seeing Killian defenseless, I ran to Rumple's side. I was about to hug him, but he snatched himself away from me and began beating the man.

"Rumple!" I cried, my voice shaky, still weighted by shock. "Let's go! Let's go."

"Not yet, Han," He gritted, his words weaving themselves between Killian's stifled grunts.

"This is what you came for," I held out the shawl to him, trying to dig up Baelfire's memory in his mind. "This is what's going to get you back to Bae."

Rumple paused and looked at me, Killian took it as a sign of dismissal. "You're wasting your breath, love. He can't resist. He has to prove that he's not a coward."

Rumple smirked. "You might want to turn away, Han. This isn't gonna be pretty."

I watched in silent horror as blood spilled out of the pirate's nose, how the skin under his eyes grew blue and bruised. I looked at the pain on his face and bit my lip. Rumple couldn't kill him. He was an awful man, I knew that from experience, but he was a man of honor. "Do it!" Killian yelled. "Kill me! He has to show you how powerful he is."

"Rumple, stop," I demanded soberly, looking at his face as he clenched the cane. "You can't kill him."

"Look at what you've become, Dark One," Killian all but smirked. "About to kill a man right in front of a child… just like you made her watch you kill Milah."

"He has to die, Han."

"No, Rumple don't. You can't…"

"Why getting so choked up over a pirate, Han?" Rumple gritted. "After everything he has done to you."

"Because he saved me."

I felt the tension around the two of us thicken as Rumple looked at me with eyes I had only ever seen him make at Baelfire after he'd yell, begging for an explanation. "When Killian found me after I had jumped off the side of a cliff into the ocean trying to get away from Pan, he could have turned me in and said I tried to run away, but he didn't, he saved me from a brutal punishment from Pan and I owe him that," I stifled quickly, trying to preserve the time left in Killian's breath.

The silence grew nauseatingly crowded.

"Rumple, let's just go," I whispered.

He tensed and turned back to the pirate. "You take this little ship and sail it until you fall off the edge of the world. I never want to see you again."

With an ending slap, Rumple eased off the man and turned to me. "Let's go."

Rumple and I were led onto a darkly painted ship off the decks of town. Our ears were filled with the sounds of howling pirates, Milah began spitting off helpless demands to the men. "Fetch some water and bring me the prisoner below deck along with the booty he carried, now."

Rumple strutted along the creaking wood of the ship, myself following closely behind him. "Well, it seems you've finally found the family you could never have with me."

I tensed at his devilish tone but was distracted when three men shoved another onto the deck, a thick rope binding his hands and a cream-colored cloth between his teeth. One man handed Milah something too small to see, but she held it up to Rumple's eyes. He raised a hand to take it, but Milah smirked and tossed it to Killian. "You asked to see it, now you have," Killian said directly.

"Do we have a deal?" Milah raised. "Can we go our separate ways?"

"Do you mean, do I forgive you? Can I… move on? Perhaps, perhaps. I can see you are, truly, in love."

"Thank you."

"Just one question!" Rumple interrupted.

"What do you want to know?"

"How could you leave Bae?"

I stiffened. Milah stiffened, the entire crew stiffened.

"Do you know what it was like, walking home that night, knowing I had to tell our son, that is his mother was dead?"

"I was wrong to lie to you, I was the coward."

"You left him!" I yelled, slicing the rigidity with only the memories of Baelfire crying to me about how he missed his mother, the number of times I had to hang my clothes outside to dry after he would soak them in his own tears.

"And there's not a day that goes by where I don't feel sorry for that-"

"Sorry is enough! You let him go…" Rumple all but screamed.

"I let my misery could my judgment…"

"Why were you so miserable?" Rumple asked angrily, his voice slowing to a nauseating crawl.

"Because I never loved you!"

As if a knife through butter, Rumple sliced his hand through Milah's chest, itself surrounding in a purple aura. Killian tried to call to her, but Rumple restricted his movements with a wave of his hand. After an agonizing pause, Rumple retracted his hand to reveal a glowing, beating heart.

"No!" Killian cried. Within his anger, he fought against the ropes binding him until they snapped. He cradled Milah in his arms, looking down at her failing eyes.

"I love you," She whispered, adding to the fire.

Rumple crushed her heart, the once shimmering ashes flying away with the pull of the wind. There was a moment of silence among the crew, until Killian bit the bullet. "You may be more powerful now demon but you're no less a coward!" His voice was pained, I almost felt sorry.

"We'll have what we came for now," I inquired professionally, trying to speed this up and go home.

"You'll have to kill me first!-"

"Uh, uh, uh," Rumple tufted. I'm afraid that's not in the card for you, Sunny Boy."

In one swift motion, Rumple unsheathed his sword at his waist and sliced off the man's fist, his entire hand falling to the ground. I winced as the blood began spilling from the clenched knuckled before me. Killian fell to the ground with a painful cry and clenched his severed hand under his arm. rumple crouched down to pick up the fallen hand. Satisfied, he raised the sword to the man's neck. "I want you alive, because I want you to suffer, just as I did."

Rumple turned to leave, and I followed. As if simultaneously, Killian rose within his anger and stabbed Rumple in the chest with a silver hook. He laughed. "It's going to take a lot more than that to kill me."

"Even demons can be killed. I will find a way."

"Well, good luck living long enough."

I looked up at Rumple, Killian disappearing from my desired viewpoint.

I just let go.

Sobbing, I fell into his arms. He clutched me tightly.

"It's okay Han, I'm here now."

I just cried, twisting the collar of his jacket between my fingers. I hadn't cried like this for so long. In Neverland, tears were used against you. There was no pity or sympathy; crying just slowed you down. He stroked my head with trembling hands, smoothing my hair under his aged fingers. "Come on, let's go."

I stifled a nod, and he surrounded us in a burgundy cloud as we materialized into a room filled, overflowing with objects and gold trinkets. I eased off him and stood, shaking and weak. I hated feeling like this, I hated feeling weak, but what I needed to realize, was that I was not on Neverland anymore. I needed to see that I was being looked at by no one by a man I considered my father, not by prying and judgmental Lost Boys. There was no judgment here.

"You're shaking, dearie," Rumple said gently, waving his hand at me. An oversized gray blazer fell onto my shoulders, I hesitantly adjusted it around myself. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah," I nodded quietly, still a little shaken.

He smiled. "Okay, come along, dearie."

This was different, Rumple. His voice was so soft, his words didn't have an angered fire behind them like they once did. I never cried like this in front of him, in front of anyone, but- thirty years… it really throws things into perspective. We walked outside of the building and onto a normal looking street. I didn't know where we were, but Rumple seemed knowledgeable of it; I trusted that.

"I'm sorry I…" I tried to finish, not sure how to end the sentence. I hated this. I hated feeling vulnerable and incapable, I hated it so much. Now, excuses aside, I just didn't know what to do.

"With the day you've had, I don't blame you," He knew me. He knew what I wanted to say.

We turned around a corner, an entirely new set of buildings becoming visible. It's not like I had never been in the modern world, I have for the past two years. I didn't know if he knew that yet, I didn't know what he knew about any of this. We walked in silence, the crisp air of this March afternoon skimming behind us, to a building. It had a bright blue roof that put the grey sky to shame and a red sign. It read "Granny's," in big letters plastered with a white finish. Nearing the building Rumple held out his hand and pushed a large glass door open. A silver bell sounded quickly as it moved, the air conditioning of the restaurant hissing off the walls. A woman behind the counter twisted her lips into a tight smile, watching us walk in. I fiddled with the jacket over my shoulders shyly. "Good morning, Gold," She greeted, almost confused. "Who's this?"

The woman turned her eyes to me, her smile almost enlarging in sympathy. It was then when I became self-conscious of my appearance; I probably looked horrible.

"Han, why don't you go take a seat over there and look at the menu. I'll be right there," Rumple said curtly, gesturing at a booth on the far wall. I nodded and walked over, sitting down and positioning a small menu between my fingers. Rumple stayed at the counter, I tried to listen to what they were saying.

"She's from the Enchanted Forest, my apprentice, you remember?"

There was a pause. "Han? The little girl?"

"She went missing just before the curse, she just came back now."

"Oh," The woman breathed loudly. "Should I call David, he can-"

"No, that won't be necessary," Rumple cut her off. "Thank you."

I pretended to not have been listening and scrolled my eyes through the paper in my hand. Rumple walked over and sat down in front of me, picking up his own menu. "Is this, the world without magic, from the curse?"

Rumple smiled and nodded. For a while, there was an understanding silence. "Do you want to talk about it?" Rumple asked unemotionally, not looking up at me. "Where were you?"

I swallowed and placed my menu back on the table, crossing my hands nervously. "Um, well, I was on Neverland for a while, then I got out, and was in this world for about a year. I tried to go looking for you, but I couldn't find any record of a 'Rumpelstiltskin,'"

He chuckled and placed his menu down as well.

"I was living alone for, maybe two years, until this woman came to my door and brought me to Hook's ship, and-"

"Did Cora take your magic?"

I looked up at Rumple. "Uh… no. Pan did. Who's Cora?"

He shook his head with a sly smile, "Never mind." His words were cut off shortly by the door of the diner slamming loudly. Two people, a man, and a woman came barging in. Rumple didn't seem startled by them as I was, he turned his head to look up at them briefly before returning to his menu. I turned around in my booth, carefully watching the two. They seemed vaguely familiar, the woman had short black hair and was dressed in a mahogany raincoat and the man, who strode in a grey overcoat and jeans, had bright blue eyes and cut brown hair. Their eyes skimmed the diner until they placed on Rumple and me, in which they hurried over.

The man looked at me in confusion, "Sorry to interrupt," He began, placing both hands on the table.

"Certainly don't remember inviting you two, if you'll please-"

"Hannah?" The woman butted, looking at me. I licked my lips and nodded slowly, not knowing if I knew this woman. I looked at Rumple who simply inhaled and turned back to the couple, brushing the woman's comment aside.

"What do you want?"

"We need your help," The woman answered, tearing her glance away from me. "Regina's missing, and we think she might be in danger."

Regina.

I remembered Regina, the Evil Queen, as she was called. She and I were acquainted well, she was another student of Rumple's, not to say I particularly liked her but she was indeed an ally.

Rumple cut her off. "Just the way I like her. Know, if you'll excuse me…"

"I don't think so," The man tutted. "Whatever your feelings are about Regina, you still owe me a favor."

"Wait a second," I breathed, causing their glances to turn to me. "Snow?" I asked, confusion dripping off the name. This could not be her, she looked so different. "And," I took a second to think. "Prince David."

Snow opened her mouth as if to say something but retorted her own actions in confusion. The looked up at David, who just furrowed his brows at her.

"Oh yes, of course," Rumple chuckled, faking an amused glance. "Mary Margaret, David, you remember Han?" His tone was bored, unsurprised by the couple's obliviousness.

The woman, Snow, swallowed. "Uh, yes, but-"

"She's been missing, she's not anymore. Continue, please."

This was the old Rumple, sly and cunning. Unfazed by the idiocy of two heroes, not afraid of cutting them off if he needed too.

Snow licked her lips. "Will you help us?"

Rumple paused. "If you wouldn't mind, Hannah," He asked, turning his chin toward me. I shook my head. "I'm sure I could whip up something to find Regina, but tell me, why do the Charming's want to help the Evil Queen?"

"Because I owe her."