"Hook and I worked too hard to keep things the way they were, but I'm sorry, I can't save your son, as much as I loved him and wanted to. He died a hero! Don't take that away from him!" the blonde woman cried through her tears as she held tightly to his hand, the portal attempting to pull her in.
Rumpelstiltskin frowned and let her go, watching as the portal took her away. Back to the future, back to the Land Without Magic. To the place he himself would be going to in just over two years now.
He held the potion in his hand and looked at it with a frown. They had already restored things to how it should have been (in their own words of course). Apparently Snow White and Prince Charming had an interesting first meeting, which amused him greatly, but he couldn't get his mind off the words the woman said.
Baelfire died. Despite his best efforts, despite the vision Rumplestiltskin had had of his son enjoying a married life with a woman he couldn't make out clearly, Baelfire ended up dead. The woman hadn't said anything about Baelfire ever getting married, so something got screwed up along the way.
That woman was supposed to love Baelfire, and yet she let him die, begging him not to save his son. While apparently, his son had a son of his own. If there was a child involved, he needed his father. Baelfire needed to be there for his son, like Rumplestiltskin had not been there for him.
What harm would it cause to allow Baelfire to live?
What sort of parent would he be if he allowed Baelfire to die?
Rumplestiltskin needed to figure out a way out of this mess. Saving his son's life would help him repent for what he'd done to his son in the past. But how could he do it? How could he save his son?
Rumplestiltskin thought back to who he'd met in the past that might have had something against him. The list was long – longer than he would really like to admit – but there was really only one person that stuck out in his mind.
Zelena. The Wicked Witch of the West. Now that was a woman who would be prevented from doing what she wished. But he knew Regina would have to cast the curse… but he could find a way to stop Zelena from falling to the point of killing his son. He would be sure of it.
So Rumplestiltskin did the exact opposite of what "the Savior" asked him to do.
The potion shattered as he threw it to the ground, the liquid pooling around his feet as he breathed heavily, staring down at it.
Baelfire would live. He would be sure of it.
He just needed to find a way to contact Zelena to ah – encourage her to be on his side. Or at least, to get her to not kill his son.
He knew, of course, that it would be difficult. Zelena wasn't exactly the most stable person. But Rumplestiltskin was nothing if not a fighter when it came to Balefire.
"What do you want, Rumplestiltskin?" the green woman asked when he managed to get a hold of her through a magic mirror.
"A deal, dearie."
"Deal? What sort of deal and why should I make something with you after what you did to me?" Zelena asked, glaring into the glass.
"Because if you accept… I promise to make you powerful once your sister casts the curse," he said. "I can adjust the curse to make you beloved, to make you even more loved than your sister thinks she can be. I can give you everything you desire."
"Why should I help you?"
He could only smirk as he gazed into the mirror."You know I have visions, dearie. And I saw a vision of you."
Zelena's eyes narrowed slightly, but he could tell she was very interested in what he had to say. "Go on."
"And it seems that… in the future, you die. A very painful and brutal death, all because you harm someone that I love very much," he explained. "So, unless you wish to die a terrible death before you can get your revenge on those that wronged you, I suggest you take that deal."
"Can I ask you something?" Zelena suddenly said, breaking him from his thoughts. "Why did you choose Regina over me to cast this curse of yours?"
"It's like I told you, dearie. Regina has someone she loves. Her father. She doesn't know it yet, of course, but her father will be sacrificed to cast the curse. You, on the other hand…"
"I don't have a person I love most besides myself."
"Exactly, and I doubt you'd want to cast a curse which requires you to die before you can see your handy work done."
Her face remained stoic, but Rumplestiltskin could see the fear and anger in her eyes no matter how hard she tried to fight. "What deal is it you want to make?" she finally asked.
"You leave my friends and family alone, and you won't die. And I'll make sure you have the glory you desire when your sister casts the curse."
Zelena pondered this for a moment. "Really? You will? What sort of power will I have if she's the one in charge of the curse?"
"Leave that to me. Now… do we have a deal?"
"Very well, Rumplestiltskin. You have a deal."
The imp giggled. "Good. That way, we both get what we want."
"Ah. Can I add something to this deal?" Zelena asked.
He frowned and looked at her with a tilt of his head. "I believe I am the one who makes these deals, Zelena. I already gave you a way to survive. What more do you need?"
"Dorothy. I want her cursed. If Regina gets to take revenge on Snow White, I should be able to take revenge on Dorothy after everything she's put me through here in Oz. Can you do that?" There was desperation in her voice. The exact sort of tone Rumplestiltskin absolutely loved to deal with.
He smirked in the mirror. What harm would it cause to himself to allow Dorothy to come with them to the Land Without Magic? Besides, it might make Zelena even more unwilling to have his son be killed. "Very well, dearie. If you can somehow get her to the Enchanted Forest when your sister casts the curse, she will be swept away in it with the rest of us."
"Thank you. Very well, Rumplestiltskin, you have a deal."
Emma screamed as she was ripped through the portal back to what she hoped was the Storybrooke she remembered. She hoped she wouldn't have lost anything or anyone she loved. As much as she wanted to have been raised by her family, she knew screwing up the timeline would be worse. Especially because she and Hook would have been the only two who knew what the truth was, in a town, or maybe a world, filled with people who thought something different.
She grunted as she landed hard on the barn floor. Why could traveling through portals never come with an airbag? Or a mattress?
"Swan, are you alright?" Hook asked as he helped her stand up. Marian was standing fearfully in the corner. Clearly shocked at where she was.
"I – yeah I'm fine. God I'm so glad to be home," she said, her eyes widening as the word settled. "Home. I'm home. This is where I belong – where Henry and I belong. God… I have to go make sure everyone's okay!"
Her heart pounded in her chest as she raced off to Granny's, ignoring Hook and Marian as she ran.
Storybrooke, to her relief, looked exactly the same. The shops and restaurants were familiar and looked as they should. The people were the same – from what she could see, and she burst into Granny's, relief flooding her as everyone that had been at the party before she went back in time was there. The 'Welcome Baby Boy' sign was hanging above it as it had when she left. Good. Good.
"Emma, did you have enough time to yourself?" her mother asked, holding her baby brother close. Her father was standing up, talking to Red, and Henry was rushing over to her. Everything looked normal. Thank goodness.
"Oh – yeah of course. I'm fine. I'm sorry I ever thought I needed to go back to New York. Being back in time… well, it made me realize where home really is. It's here, with you."
"We're not going back to New York?" Henry asked, smiling with relief.
"No kid – or, not forever because I'm sure there's some stuff you want to bring back here. We're staying here. We're home. Mom… Dad… I'm sorry, I missed you," she said with a relieved sigh as she fell into her parents, her little brother in between them. Hook and Marian slipped into the diner, and she heard the shocked cry from Robin Hood, but ignored it as Snow spoke.
"Oh sweetheart, we missed you too," Snow replied with a smile. "Now come on, sit down so your father and I can announce your brother's name."
Emma did so quickly, eagerly as she looked up at her parents.
Her father tapped a spoon against his glass to get everyone's attention, with a smile. "Snow and I wanted to thank all of you for supporting us through the pregnancy and for joining us tonight. It means the world to us."
"Ladies and gentlemen of Storybrooke. We would like to introduce you to our son… Prince Leo."
The diner erupted into applause.
Emma smiled and reached over, stroking the back of Leo's hand. "Welcome to the world, Leo…" she said softly, smiling up at her parents. "You seemed… more happy to see me than normal."
"Well, the Dark One is still out there. We were worried he might have hurt you."
Emma looked over at Rumplestiltskin, sitting with Belle, Will Scarlet, and Anastasia Tremaine, and frowned. "He's right there and we haven't done anything against him. Why would he hurt me?"
Henry and her parents balked, then frowned in concern.
"Emma… Rumplestiltskin isn't the Dark One. He hasn't been since he sacrificed himself for us during Pan's curse," her mother said with a look of alarm. "You know that."
Emma paled. Something had been changed. But how?
She looked over at Rumplestiltskin again, who was now stepping over to her, leaning heavily on the cane she hadn't seen since the curse broke. "You. You didn't drink that potion to make you forget about Hook and I."
"Quite right, Miss Swan," he said, looking like he had no regrets.
"Why?"
"Because what sort of parent would I be if I let my son die? What would you have done in my position? Although it didn't exactly go the way I'd thought…"
The door opened, and Emma looked up, an unmistakable sign of darkness in the man at the door, a dagger attached to his hip.
Her heart stopped.
"Neal?!"
He looked over at her, a dark grin on his face. "Sorry I'm late."