Author's Note: Hey, sorry it's been a few days. I went on a LONG road trip and haven't been able to update. Now I'm back and I shall continue! Leggo!
Erwin chuckled darkly as he swiped the heads of his bullies clean off their bodies. Everyone surrounding the scene looked on in horror, some running away and some frozen in fear. It seemed Erwin finally had enough of those brutes and offed them with his fancy new sword. It wouldn't have been so bad if what Erwin did next didn't happen.
Erwin turned towards his audience and began laughing maniacally, holding the sword over his head. "Ha, ha, who DARES to challenge me now!?" Everyone gasped in fear. Men and women held onto their children in fear while Erwin became mad with the power of the dark-induced sword. "That's right, back away! No one is to challenge me!"
"Well, you've certainly let the power go to your head dearie"
Erwin and everyone turned to see the Dark One, Rumpelstiltskin, and his newest friend, Henry, looking at the scene unfolding. People didn't know who to be afraid of more. The Dark One or Erwin. Erwin just glared at Rumple and raised his sword to the imp's chest. "You, Dark One, you've foolishly given me the power to take you down!"
Rumple giggled impishly. "You think you can take me down with a flimsy sword?" The thought was so laughable that even Henry let out a small laugh. He realized later that he shouldn't have done that. In one swift movement, Henry was taken from his grandfather's side and into Erwin's tight grip, a sword thrusted against his neck.
Henry's eyes widened in fear and he stared at Rumple whose face was borderline shocked and confused. Erwin mistook his face for fear of him (Ha!) and laughed maniacally. "So, Dark One, you DO have a weakness! This boy!" He tightened his grip on the sword and moved it slightly, cutting Henry's skin. Henry gasped in fear and screwed his eyes shut. Why was he taken as leverage!? Why was he so weak!?
Before Henry knew it, the grip on his arm was gone and the weight of the sword on his neck was lifted off so suddenly that he didn't relax until a few seconds after. Henry opened his eyes to see Erwin on the ground, shaking and bleeding profusely from his chest and mouth. It was a gruesome sight and Rumple had no expression his face at all. He merely stared at the dying body for a few moments before taking the sword back and transporting himself and Henry back to the Dark Castle.
"W-why did you do that?"
Henry didn't really understand what happened. He knew Erwin tried to use him to get to Rumple but why? Henry wasn't valuable to Rumple, not even in the future. Henry frowned at that thought. 'He probably NEVER cared for me and probably NEVER will.' He refused to let the tears fall from his eyes, not wanting to appear weaker than he already did.
However, just as he was wiping his tears away, Rumple spoke up. "You intrigue me Henry." Henry looked up at the Dark One in confusion. "You are not afraid of me in the least and you even accompanied me on a deal that nearly cost you your life."
Henry shrugged at what Rumple told him. "I just think you are kind of lonely here by yourself."
Rumple stared at him for a minute before taking his gaze away from Henry's. "I am not lonely."
Henry chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah you are." Rumple looked back at the strange boy, trying desperately to figure things out. This boy, who bore a scary resemblance to Bae, just popped out of nowhere, wanting to be friends. Rumple could tell the boy had a pure heart, but something was off. There was something the boy was not telling him.
He needed to find out.
Rumple gave Henry a small smirk. "I presume you're going to accompany the Dark One for dinner?"
Henry smiled at the imp who would one day become his grandfather and nodded. "I would like that."
After dinner, the two were walking aimlessly through the halls, just talking. If any outsiders saw this scenario, they would not have trusted their own eyes. Why was the Dark One having a normal conversation with a young boy and not torturing or eating him!? It was unheard of! Rumple questioned his sanity as he hung around the strange boy. Why WAS he making a friend in this boy? He would not admit it, but he felt connected to this boy somehow. He felt something he could not explain.
Henry, on the other hand, was loving this! He NEVER got to spend any time with his grandfather and now he could! He loved just being around him and learning more about his time as the Dark One. He felt like they finally had a relationship of sorts. He was finally bonding with the one person who needed it from him most. Henry began staring at Rumple and after a minute, Rumple looked back at him.
Rumple stared back at him for a moment before remembering their first meeting. "Do I have something on my face dearie?" Henry realized the reenactment he was trying to do and smirked.
"Just glitter" remarked Henry, chuckling.
"Glitter!" Rumple exclaimed in mock outrage. He then developed a smirk, causing Henry's eyes to widen. "You're going to regret that dearie." Henry, not wasting any time, began laughing and ran down the hallway with Rumple chasing after him. Henry ran through the long hallway until he decided to make a turn into one of the many bedrooms. Unfortunately, it was a dead end and he backed away slowly into the room as Rumple advanced onto him. Rumple quickly picked the boy up and dropped him onto the bed, tickling his sides. Henry began sputtering and laughing hard, his face turning red.
"Apologize to the Dark One!" Rumple demanded playfully, still tickling the boy.
"O-okay, I-I'm sorry" sputtered Henry. "Please s-s-stop!" Rumple immediately stopped so the boy could catch his breath.
Henry took a few deep breaths, still giggling at what had just happened. Meanwhile, Rumple just looked at Henry fondly, remembering doing a similar thing with his long-lost son in the past. Rumple frowned at the thought of never doing that with his son again. He has already berated himself so many times for abandoning his son, but he knew that was not enough.
Henry seemed to know Rumple was lost in thought, probably about his son, and hugged him warmly. He never got to hug his grandfather back in Storybrooke in fear of being rejected. Here, however, he already hugged Rumple and the imp didn't push him away at all. Now he did it again and he still wasn't pushing him away. He was surprised when he felt a set of arms wrap around his thin body. Henry smiled up at Rumple and the imp managed a small smile back.
"Who are you?"
That question again. Except, this time, it wasn't to find out a name. Henry somehow knew this but decided to play it safe instead of giving away valuable information that could change the future. "I'm Henry, you know that."
Rumple shook his head in slight frustration. "I know your name boy, I meant what are you doing here?" He frantically grabbed his shoulders. "Where did you come from? Why did you fall out of the sky!? Why do you look like Bae!?" He began to get more panicked and confused. It was making him angry. "WHO ARE YOU!?"
Henry cringed at being yelled at but held his ground against Rumple. "I-I remind you of your son?"
Rumple immediately let go of Henry's shoulders and stepped back. "How did you know I was talking about my son?"
"I know your son…. or, actually, I will know your son" said Henry, sighing. "I'm from the future."
Rumple shook his head. "Impossible." He mauled it over in his head and realized that it did make sense in a way. A boy just randomly falling out of the sky had to be explained somehow. However, that didn't explain Henry's resemblance to Baelfire. Unless…...
Rumple carefully and slowly walked forward towards Henry and placed his hands on the boy's cheeks so tenderly it nearly made Henry tear up. Rumple NEVER touched him like that in Storybrooke. He never even LOOKED at him like how he was in this world!
"Who are you?" Rumple asked again, staring into Henry's dark brown eyes that were no doubt Bae's somehow. He just needed one more answer for all of it to make sense. "Please."
Henry nearly lost it and took a deep breath before answering. Here it was. The moment of truth. "I'm your grandson, Henry."
