This is an idea that just came to me, and I just had to write it. Reviews are greatly appreciated, even if all you say is good job of bad job. I hope you like it.
Bae had forced them apart, and now he lay dying on the ground. All that just to warn Emma. Rumpelstiltskin can't let him die, he just can't. Everything he had ever done had been for Bae and he can't bear the thought of losing him. He bends over his boy and begins muttering the spell he had learned long ago. He knows it will mean going back there, but he also knows that if he doesn't do this Bae will go there. He can't bear that thought.
"What are you doing?" Emma questions him. She obviously heard him mutter his and Bae's names as he does the spell. If she was as good a wizard as he thought she was, she might even feel the power of this spell. He doesn't answer her though. He just completes the spell. Pain shoots through him, especially from his hand. He looks down to see the mark of the vault pressed into his hand like it once had for Bae.
"Papa!" Bae cries worriedly as he falls. They had now switched positions with Baelfire leaning over him. He sees his son wince slightly even as his magic tells him the price for this spell.
"I'm sorry, Bae," he says. He hadn't meant for Bae to get hurt like that when he had traded spots with him. This is now something Bae will have to live with for the rest of his life, but at least he will have a life. "I love you," he muttered.
"I love you, too," Bae says, tears streaming down his face as Emma watches on. He wants to reach up and wipe the tears from his son's eyes. He wants to tell him not to worry about him and to go on with his life. But it is too late, the darkness is already claiming him again. At least he has told his son he loves him. Those are pretty good last words, he thinks as the darkness takes him.
"Back so soon?" one of them asks. Rumpelstiltskin looks over at the man, trying to fight off the crippling fear that is running through him. "Good. We all missed our little toy." He feels someone touch the back of his neck, freezing him in place. They all start to surround him. He knows what's coming; what they are going to do. He only just stops himself from begging for mercy.
"Where's the person who let you out?" one of them questions, obviously curious.
"I traded spots with him," he informs them, knowing they would make him tell eventually anyways. "He didn't belong here; he was never a dark one."
"But you were," a dark one states. If he wasn't so terrified, he would probably think that the fact that there were several dark ones was humorous. "And yet, you refuse to be completely dark."
"We don't tolerate that," another one joins in. He knows what that means. They are going to start up again.
"Please," he begs, no longer able to stop himself. "Please don't." All that does is cause the others to laugh cruelly. He doesn't think it's fair that these people will spend all eternity punishing him for the good inside him. Not that he had ever expected any sort of afterlife to be pleasant for him. He is a creature of darkness, and he expected to be punished for it. But now he's being punished for not being dark enough, and it just doesn't seem right. Then again, nothing about his curse is right.
They start blasting him with darkness and he screams in agony. He knows he should have the power they do. He should be able to wield darkness against them. But his darkness won't respond, and he knows why. There is still good in him. The darkness won't listen to him until he is completely dark, devoid of even a flicker of light. And so he tries to push the light away, to snuff it out. He should be able to, it should be his choice. But somehow, he can't. He knows why. The only way to get rid of the light is to get rid of all his memories of the people who brought him light. He get can't bring himself to spend all eternity without even the memory of Belle and Bae. So instead, he will spend all eternity barely clinging to their memories as evil magic bombards him, trying to force him to give them up.
He sobs as the darkness cuts through him, causing him more pain than he's ever experienced. He wishes it would stop, but he knows he is the only one who can determine that. And unlike most of the fools he dealt with in life, he won't do anything to get what he wants. He knows it makes him weak, but no matter how hard he tries he just can't let Bae and Belle go. The darkness starts targeting his chest, or more specifically, his heart. When it bombards the tiny bit of light inside of him, it hurts so much he can't even scream. His whole body convulses, but he hardly notices. The darkness is pushing on the light, trying to destroy it. He wants it to, because once the light is gone, the pain will be gone too. No, wait. That's not right. Once the light is gone, the physical pain will cease, but it will be replaced by something much worse. He is already alone and unloved here in the vault, but if the light leaves so will his memories of once being loved. If the light leaves, he will have nothing. He had once said that without his son, he would truly be dust. That is what he is now, dust. But if the light leaves, he will be something worse; he will be nothing.
So he fights. Before, he had been trying to decide whether to keep the light or not. Now he knows he can't survive without it. Well, not survive exactly; he's already dead. He can't spend the rest of eternity without it. So now, instead of letting the darkness cut through him and surround the light, he fights back. He would fight back with the darkness itself, but he can't. It won't respond to him. So he uses what he has rarely ever used, what the darkness is most afraid of. He uses the light.
At first he thinks it's a mistake. The minute he starts trying to fight the pain intensifies. He didn't even think that was possible. The pain is paralyzing, and his body screams at him, telling him to just give in already. But the one thing he has always been is persistent. The man who spent three hundred years looking for his son is more than ready to spend all of eternity trying to keep memories of the boy. No, of the man. His brave Baelfire is all grown up now, and he is so proud of him. He would do anything for Bae, and somehow he knows his son would want him to fight back. His son has always wanted him to be good, and now he's trying. He's doing this for Bae. The darkness gives. It's very slight, so slight that he's not even sure if the others notice it. But it gives.
The other dark ones may not have noticed, but he can tell the darkness has. Even more pain comes over him, making him think he can't do this. He can't handle this pain. He has always been a coward, always searched for the easy way out. Giving in seems like the best idea he's ever had. That's when he sees her face. Belle has always been his strength. Here she is now, or at least, her memory is here. It's enough; it has to be. She would want this, too. She had always been able to see the good in him. She wouldn't want him to lose it. Thoughts of Belle and Bae swirl through his head and the darkness gives again. This time, the others can't help but notice. Now they are giving everything they have so they can destroy the light. He keeps fighting, thinking of all his friends, even the Charmings. This helps him push the darkness to the very edge of his being.
That's when his advances stopped. He can feel the smugness of the darkness, and he knows why it won't leave. He isn't letting it. He has lived so long with the darkness, with the power, that he can't bring himself to let it go. He fears that if he does, he will go back to being that cowardly spinner whom everyone picks on. But really, that doesn't matter. As long as he chooses light over darkness, he will be that here. They won't stop torturing him until he gives. Or, until he makes them stop. There are only two ways that he can spend the eternity without this crushing pain. He must either give up the light, or give up the darkness. He has already shown that he can't give up the light. Even as the dark one, one of the most evil creatures ever to live, he still managed to find light. So now, he must give up the darkness. Memories of Bae and Belle give him the extra incentive he needs, and he gives one last effort. Pain flares through his entire body before everything starts to go black. He isn't sure what happened. Did he win? Did the darkness consume him? Was the pain finally too much? Before he can find out, everything goes completely black.