~ Unlikely Allies ~
Jeanna had been concerned for Doctor Hopper and his grandson from the moment she left his office that afternoon. She'd spent most of that time running a background check on Robert Gold and the results she'd gotten back did little to ease her mind. The man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere six months earlier though he had quite an impressive record as a corporate attorney and was highly paranoid that someone from his past was trying to reach out to him. He kept assuring her that everything would be fine and she'd still had her doubts which was why she'd broken into Gold's apartment before he returned home from work and planted a recording device in the living room.
Her mother always told her that curiosity killed the cat and from the moment the three of them started talking in Gold's living room, she was starting to wonder just what the hell she'd gotten herself into.
Curses? Daggers, Soul Possessions? Abductions? The Knave of Hearts?! Rumplestiltskin?!
What in the HELL?! They're talking like this...like THEY are from some creepy fairy tale or one screwed up fantasy novel. And they want to bring ME into their craziness?
Even more horrifying she learned that her client had also been tortured...by a pirate!
Then she heard something that stunned her even more.
"Well...ummm...if something does happen between Jeanna and me...I'm going to have to tell her."
Did he want something to happen between them as much as she did...before all this?
Who are you, Archibald Hopper? she thought. Do I even want something to happen between us now?
She was shaking when she walked back to her truck to follow them to the restaurant. The greeter knew who she was immediately even through the disguise she was wearing since the parlor was one of her favorite haunts and sometimes one of her targets ate there.
"Where you want me to sit ya, O'Malley?" he whispered.
"Right behind the two men and the teenage kid," she mumbled and slid into her seat, ordering a beer and a dozen hot wings, her comfort food. As stressed out as she was, she felt like she could eat six dozen and drink a truck of Budweiser while she was at it.
She wasn't surprised when Gold's secretary joined them, already having an idea the woman had designs on her boss during their brief confrontation in Gold's office but she was surprised that Kat was taking all this madness a little too well. Jeanna didn't believe in magic, not anymore. It hadn't gotten her out of that trailer park in El Paso where her father spent most of his time on the couch eating them out of house and home, watching football, spending all their money on booze and using his wife for his punching bag when he lost one job after another because he couldn't stay sober long enough. She'd gotten herself out of that hole by working her way through high school and college while still earning a 4.0 GPA. Her first career choice was to be an interior designer but once she got a job working as a receptionist for a private investigator in New York, she changed her mind. Jimmy often talked with her about the cases he was working on and many times she helped him solve the case without actually working on it herself. When Jimmy's health started to fail him, he asked her if she would consider becoming an investigator herself and paid for her to take the exam.
Jimmy, this is one of those times when I could use your advice for a change, she thought as she took a long swig of her beer. You always told me: don't get personally involved because it's gonna bite ya in the ass sooner or later and boy has it!
"...Perhaps we should take this discussion back to my apartment." she heard Gold say.
"Yes . . .before someone calls the cops," Kat joked. "Crazies eating the pepperoni pie over there are talking about becoming Jedi and using the Force."
"You ain't just whistlin Dixie, honey," Jeanna muttered.
She barely remembered walking out of the parlor, getting into her truck and driving back to the apartment. It was even a miracle that she managed to get back up onto the fire escape without becoming a chalk line on the pavement. She turned on the receiver and continued to listen to the rest of their conversation and it did little to make her think she wasn't losing her mind.
Oh God...I'm in love with Jiminy Cricket...oh yeah...call the men in the white coats! I am done with this...I am done...
Seconds later she could hear the ringtone she'd assigned to Archie going off on her phone. Unfortunately; it was set to Garth Brooks singing To Make You Feel My Love, a song she always listened to when she thought about him...and she'd thought about him a lot in the last six months, even deliberately dragging out the investigation as long as she could so that she could see and talk to him.
"What do you want?" she moaned.
"Jeanna, are you...drunk?"
"Not drunk, just INSANE. What the hell have you gotten me into Doc? Who the hell are you?!"
"Jeanna, where are you? Are you all right?"
"I'm outside the window hearing every goddam thing you're saying and wondering whether I should check myself into Belleview or you should because you think you're some kinda fairy tale creatures come to life!"
"Jeanna, I know it sounds crazy..."
"YOU KNOW IT SOUNDS CRAZY?! IT IS CRAZY! And you're a SHRINK for God's sake."
"Stay there! I'm coming out to get you."
"Well isn't this a twist on the ole fairy tale. The damsel in distress gettin rescued by Jiminy Cricket. You gonna sing and dance for me afterwards?"
Archie groaned. "Just stay there!" He hung up the phone and returned to the others. "Better brace yourselves. The Texas Tornado is on her way over."
And that was a major understatement.
"What did you tell her?" Robert quizzed.
"I didn't tell her anything! She heard it all! She's been out on the fire escape the whole time listening!"
"Oh my God!" Kat gasped. "She's probably shocked."
"Shocked doesn't even begin to describe it! I'd better go get her before she has an accident!"
They hurried into the living room. Robert raised the blinds and sure enough Jeanna O'Malley was curled up in the fetal position on the fire escape, a recording device in one hand, a six pack of Budweiser and half eaten chicken wings a few inches away from her. She was sobbing hysterically.
"Archie, be careful," Robert advised while he opened the window.
"I'll be all right but she isn't." He crawled out the window onto the metal structure and kneeled beside the stricken private investigator. "Jeanna? It's Doctor Hopper..."
"I know that dammit!" she sobbed. "Don't talk to me like I'm some crazy out on a ledge. M'not gonna jump off though I really wanna take my dad's route and drink maself into 'blivion right now!"
He draped her arm over his shoulders and picked her up in his arms. "You're in shock...I knew you would be...and I never wanted you to find out like this..."
"Ya...ya'll really think you're fairy tale characters?"
"We'll talk about it inside."
While Archie carried Jeanna over to the sofa, Henry grabbed the six pack and half eaten container of wings off the fire escape. Robert covered her with a blanket he'd had Kat fetch from the hall closet, one he'd woven in the little spare time he afforded himself. There was also a replica of Bae's old shawl. The original was locked in his safe back in Storybrooke and come hell or high water, he was going to find some way to get it back.
"Be straight with me...you don't really believe you're a gold spinning imp and he's Jiminy Cricket...do you?" she asked Robert.
"We're speaking the truth, Jeanna, though I do wish you hadn't found out this way. Kat, would you please come to the kitchen with me? I'm going to make you something to prevent the nasty little hangover you'd have in the morning...and put out that fire in your stomach from those wings."
A curious Kat followed him into the kitchen, eager to watch him work. Though his magic was inactive, she was certain he was still a skilled alchemist. He opened the cupboard where he stored the herbs he'd purchased though they were not as easy to come by as they had been in the Enchanted Forest. Back there he could simply summon them to him.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked softly.
"Just pour these into the pot in the orders and amounts I tell you to, dearie."
Robert was afraid to admit it to himself but he enjoyed having someone there watching him practice his skills without fear of being chided or accused of doing something evil. What Belle failed to understand was that not all of the magic he performed was evil and there were times when he became frustrated when he had to justify his actions to her and it brought a smile to his lips when his secretary asked him to explain what each ingredient was and why he was adding it to his concoction.
"Are ye sure you don't have just a wee bit of fae in you?" he inquired.
"Me? No...I'm just a New York gal," she giggled, finding it difficult to keep her composure when he switched to a slightly Scottish accent. For a moment she thought she was standing in a room with Robert Carlyle, one of her favorite actors. There were even a few resemblances in his facial features and their accents were similar. "But this...and I know I would get thrown out of the Catholic Church for saying this...is fascinating."
He handed her a wooden cooking spoon. "Would you stir this a few times for me, please? There are some other items I will need for the second potion she will need to take for her stomach. This one will just help clear her head after having all that rotgut in it and she needs to be clear headed while we have our chat."
"You want to send her into Storybrooke, don't you? To get the dagger?"
He nodded. "She has the experience needed, yes though only if she agrees to it. She won't be facing jealous spouses in that town. That's enough stirring, dearie." He removed the pan from the heat and dumped several ice cubes into it before pouring it into a coffee mug. He set it on a tray, rinsed out the pan in the sink and started putting the ingredients in for the second potion. "Would you take this in to her while I start the second potion?"
"Sure."
Things were not going so well in the living room. Jeanna was sitting up on the couch cradling her head in her hands while Archie sat beside her. He'd been trying to speak to her with little success.
"I don't believe in this crap and you all think it's REAL? What loony boat do you think I got off of? What one did you get off of?"
"Jeanna, if we could prove it to you, we would!" Henry cried. She looked up at him through bloodshot eyes. "But none of us have magic here. We..."
Suddenly the photograph of him and his father slid off the table and onto the floor. The three of them glanced down at it, their mouths agape. Then Archie's eyes met those of his adopted son. Henry's eyes widened with fear and seconds later the photograph was back in its place on the coffee table.
"That...that picture...it moved...by itself!" Jeanna exclaimed. "Doc, tell me you saw that!" she pleaded.
"Henry, did you do that?" Archie asked gently.
"I...I don't know...I was standing here thinking about how we could prove to Jeanna we're not crazy...then that happened...and I got scared..."
The teenager stood there trembling. Suddenly the empty Budweiser bottles on the coffee table started clinking together and the box of chicken wings slid off the table and onto the floor, the sauce staining the plush white carpet.
"He...he's like that girl in Carrie..." Jeanna gasped.
Archie jumped off the sofa and hugged his adopted son. "Henry, Henry! It's all right. Rumple, can you come in here for a second, please!" he called out.
Robert limped into the living room. "What happened? What's wrong with Henry?" he inquired worriedly when he saw the terrified expression on his grandson's face.
"I don't know...he was upset...and..."
"He made that stuff fly off the table!" Jeanna cried.
"Rumple, does this mean he has...?"
The former sorcerer smiled. "Indeed it does, Archie, though I don't know why it has taken this long for his powers to manifest themselves. Take a deep breath, lad, and count to ten. Your powers are reacting to your emotions and we need to get those under control."
"You mean...I'm doing all this?"
Robert nodded. He led his grandson over to the recliner, talking him through the relaxation techniques he often used to calm himself down when he was angry or upset. After several minutes Henry seemed much more relaxed but still confused.
"Why do I have magic, Grandpa? Is it because of you...or Mom?"
"Both, Henry. I wasn't born a magician but I was one when you were born. Also you were the product of true love, just as your mother was. Many true love children are born with magic but aren't always aware of it. Now that we know you are, you will need to learn how to use it, more importantly how to control it." He handed the warm coffee mug to Jeanna. "And you'll need to drink this down, dearie, to clear your head a bit."
"Oh, I think my head's clear now," she groaned and took a sip, expecting the remedy to taste awful as most of her common hangover cures did but to her surprise it had a bit of mint flavor to it and the drums stopped pounding in her head just before she finished drinking all of it. She carefully set the mug down on the coffee table. "But I'm just...trying to wrap my head around the fact that something I stopped believing in years ago is possible."
"I take it you had an unfortunate upbringing," Rumple said gently.
"Oh yeah. I'm the poster child for trailer park trash...that's what they called me in El Paso anyway. Wife beating alcoholic father and a mom who worked herself to the bone to try to make do with the little money he didn't spend on the booze and the only way I had anything decent was through the five finger discount or a smash and grab once in a while...but that was when I was running around with the Stetsons." She scowled. "I bet you all lived in palaces, eh?"
Archie sighed. "You're talking to someone raised by con artists and was taught to pick pockets before I was ten."
"And I wasn't always wealthy either, dearie. I was a poor spinner and weaver until I took this curse so you needn't worry about any of us looking down on you. We've been there," Robert added.
Kat came into the room then carrying the second cordial. "This should help your stomach too," she said softly and handed it to the detective. "Are you all right?"
"I'm gonna be. No sense trying to chalk up seeing that stuff move to the booze because the Doc saw it and...well...I wanted proof...I got it." She started drinking the second cordial that tasted like almonds and it helped settle her upset stomach. "From what I heard...you want to break this soul curse you've got and the only way you can do that is getting back the dagger that, as Kat refers it 'that bitch wife of yours' has along with some kind of contract."
"Yes."
"And you want to send me in because you can't go back there and neither can Archie because of some other curse?"
"Yes. Jeanna, what he's asking you to do isn't going to be easy...and it's your choice whether you want to or not." Archie reminded her.
Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Oh I want to all right. I want to skin me a pirate."
"I'd love to go with you and give that Dumbbelle a piece of my mind but I think she'd be more afraid of you than me," Kat chuckled.
Henry glanced back and forth at the two women, a wide grin on his young face. For months he'd suspected Jeanna's interest in his adoptive father was more than professional even if they did seem like they were complete opposites. Now that he knew they had similar backgrounds, he felt she would make a good wife or girlfriend for Archie but he wanted to settle down. He already knew Kat would make a better wife for his grandfather than Belle did but would take it slow, not wanting to be a rebound relationship like Belle and Will Scarlet obviously were.
"Oh yeah because I'd ride into town dressed in camo ready to do some hunting...not that I do hunt, mind ya but that pirate's head would look real good mounted on my wall."
Robert giggled impishly. "Oh I would look forward to seeing that."
"Jeanna, I don't want you anywhere near that man. He's dangerous, especially if Emma is protecting him." Archie said firmly.
"And Mom will," spoke up Henry.
"So both of your moms are witches?"
"Regina is more dangerous of the two, Jeanna." Robert said. "She will kill, without hesitation, anyone she sees as a threat to her interests."
"When Henry first told her he was coming to New York with me Rumple...she took my heart and was about to crush it...until Henry stopped her."
"You're taking my son over YOUR dead body cricket!" Regina snarled, squeezing his heart tightly. Archie sank to the floor in pain.
"Y...You will never change..." he gasped. "Should have...executed you...years ago!"
"MOM! Let him go!"
"Regina, stop!" Emma pleaded.
"He's not taking you away from me!"
"I'm going...and if you hurt him anymore or try to stop me YOU are dead to me!" Henry snarled. "Put his heart back...NOW!"
Pained, Regina kneeled down and slammed Archie's heart back into his chest. "You bastard!"
"I warned you to leave me alone before Regina or you would find yourself in a custody battle but this time I will NOT side with either one of you." He glared at Emma. "Neither of you has been providing a healthy environment for him...you threatening to kill anyone who gets in your way of a happy ending," he said to Regina. "And you...consorting with the man who held me captive...who TORTURED me...and gods knows HOW many others," he tossed at Emma.
"He's not like that anymore...he's changed."
"He's only allowing you to see what he wants you to see...just like her. You'll never be free of your darkness, Regina, not as long as you see everyone on the outside as a threat to your happy ending and Emma...sooner or later your blinders will have to come off and you'll realize Hook is and always will be a pirate!"
"Henry, please..." Regina begged through her tears.
"I can't do it anymore Mom. I can't go on believing you're going to change because you've just proven to me that you can't. And Emma...you can go back to pretending I never existed...JUST LIKE MY DAD!"
"I don't..." Emma recoiled in shock.
"You do. He wasn't even cold in the ground when you took up with Hook!"
"Henry!" both women sobbed.
"Maybe someday I'll come back...but for now...I don't want to see either of you again!" He helped Archie to his feet and together the two of them walked out of the mayor's mansion...for the last time.
The mug Jeanna was holding crashed to the floor. Kat gasped in horror.
"She...literally...took your heart out!" Kat exclaimed.
Robert sighed. "A skill, unfortunately, she learned from me...and her mother. When you remove a person's heart magically, you have the ability to kill them...or control them."
Kat's face was pale. "I'm...going to be sick..."
Robert limped into the kitchen and poured the rest of the cordial into a second mug and brought it back into the living room. "Drink this down, dearie," he said gently.
The nausea began to subside. "Thank you, Robert," she murmured and set the mug down on the coffee table. "The idea that someone can literally take my heart out...is horrifying..."
"It's right out of a goddam horror movie," Jeanna growled. "Now I want to have myself a witch burning. Sorry, Henry. I know she's your mama and all but she had no right to do what she did to Archie. He was just looking after you."
"I know."
Jeanna's eyes shifted to Robert. "You didn't have much control over yourself when you went dark side, did you...because either that bitch wife of yours gave you orders, the green-skinned broom-riding whorehound did or that demon you've got in you did."
He burst into laughter. "You certainly have a way with words, dearie."
"I told you...she's a Texas Tornado." Archie chuckled.
"Oh, is that what you call me?" Jeanna turned to Archie and glowered at him, her hand on her hip.
"Well...you are a bit...feisty when you're upset..." He blushed.
"Oh wait til I get started. I can curse them out a million ways in Italian," Kat said with a grin.
"Had I access to my magic I would create a protection spell that would prevent any of us from having our hearts taken," Robert said.
"Can't I do it, Grandpa?" Henry asked. His grandfather shook his head.
"Not when you're just learning, Henry. And also you must remember that all magic extracts a price from the caster. For simple spells it is often the loss of energy temporarily but for more complex spells the price can be much higher."
"Like the Snow Queen dying when she cast the Curse of Shattered Sight and Mom giving up her father's heart for the Dark Curse?"
"Your mother sacrificed her own father to cast the curse that brought you all here?" Kat demanded of Henry.
"Yeah."
"Now I didn't like my daddy when he was drinking and beating up my mother but I couldn't bring myself to do that..." Jeanna cringed.
"Robert, I've been thinking...what if you don't need the dagger to have your magic?" Kat said.
"Dearie, I've been outside Storybrooke before and I am powerless here."
"Maybe not."
"What are you thinking, Kat?" Archie asked.
"You're cursed, yes but even though your curse is tied to dark magic, you can also perform white magic when you need to because the man you were before the curse is still there. You can heal and that's white magic. Creating and mending always is. Also, you've spent so many centuries learning it that it probably became as much a part of you as the curse is, only you've never actually thought about it."
"Grandpa! What if she's right?" Henry cried excitedly.
"I don't know..."
Kat stood up and approached him, taking his hand in hers. "Try," she said gently.
"Come on, Grandpa. You can do it. I know you can."
It was refreshing to hear someone encouraging him to use his magic, rather than ask him to deny something that had become as much a part of him as breathing and unlike the others, this group did not fear him...or at least they didn't anymore as was the case with Archie and Henry. The sorcerer closed his eyes and concentrated, deciding to try a wardrobe change as a start. He'd been able to do them with little effort back in the Enchanted Forest and Storybrooke. He believed outside the barrier that divided the worlds, magic would not be so easy to perform anymore. Belief in magic was not as strong in this world as it was in his.
Before the astonished eyes of two women, the Armani suited corporate lawyer disappeared and in his place stood the man that faced his father in Neverland wearing a black and grey suit with a dragonhide coat and boots with leather pants.
Be...still...my heart...Kat thought. She always thought Robert was handsome as the New York attorney but the sorcerer was an even more eye-catching sight in his leathers. "Is...this...how you...looked in...your world?" she murmured, unable to stop herself from staring and feeling like she was going to have to spend a longer time in confession that week for the naughty thoughts in her head.
"One of them, yes." Robert was stunned, unable to understand why he could suddenly use his magic in New York now when he hadn't before. It certainly would have come in handy when that damned pirate had given him the lethal dose of dreamshade.
"Well...that outfit's libel to stop traffic...gal traffic that is," Jeanna joked, admiring the view a bit herself.
"If you wore that down in Key West it'd stop gay traffic too," Kat laughed.
Archie was feeling a bit jealous, wondering why women never looked at him that way no matter how hard he tried not to pass himself off as that former drifter and con artist. He was about to leave the room to brood in private when Jeanna caught his arm. "Doc, I may be looking but we're still going on that date on Saturday, y'hear?"
"Okay."
"Gay traffic?" Robert's eyes widened. "Ummm...aren't I a little too old..."
"Grandpa, guys older than you are still having kids." Henry reminded him.
"And...wasn't there some movie where a bunch of older guys danced naked?" Jeanna asked Kat.
She nodded enthusiastically. "The Full Monty! I loved that movie. It was a comedy and funny as hell, about a man who would do anything to get custody of his kid-as an unemployed steel worker and he gets his friends to help him do a one night strip tease at a bar, where they bare it all."
Jeanna smirked and cast her eyes in Archie's direction. "Think you'd move pretty good on a stage, Doc."
"Oh get your mind out of the gutter!"
"Well I would never do that...I'd be laughed out of the bar," Robert muttered.
But if it had been for his Bae, he would have done it, even crawled around on that damned stage if that was what it took.
"I wouldn't be laughing," Kat muttered dreamily.
"Ummmm...okay...maybe you guys should all get a room..." Henry teased.
Kat blushed, embarrassed at having spoken that out loud, and in front of a teenager too.
"Henry Gold!" Robert and Archie exclaimed.
"Okay...Grandpa...try something else...vanish into smoke like you used to do."
"You could teleport?" Kat exclaimed. "Like Nightcrawler on the X-Men?"
"Oh certainly, dearie. Let me see." He concentrated again and vanished in a puff of magenta smoke.
"Oh! That is so cool!" the secretary sighed. "No waiting in traffic, or on the subway, or whatever."
He reappeared in the kitchen. "Yes, but I won't be doing that or I'd certainly have the men in the white coats coming to look for me," he called out.
He walked back into the living room, not needing to use his cane any longer since his limp had been cured once his magic returned to him.
"What does it feel like?" Kat asked. "Does it feel weird, like make you dizzy or nauseous or something? Or disoriented?"
"When I first started to learn how to do it I was disoriented for several minutes but now it only lasts a second or two."
She felt eaten alive with curiosity. "Do you need to visualize where you want to go first? Like in Dragonriders of Pern-the riders need to visualize where they want to go before the dragon go Between places? Can you take another person with you? How far can you teleport?"
Robert started laughing. "One question at a time dearie!" He held out his hand to her. "Think of a place you want to be...conspicuous if you please and I'll show you."
He was able to teleport from one part of their world to the other without even breaking a sweat. He doubted he would be able to do so in this one but it didn't hurt to try.
Even as curious as she was about Robert's abilities, she didn't want him to overexert himself to impress her. After all, it had probably been a long time since he was last able to use his magic.
Probably when that bitch wife of his kicked him out, she thought bitterly.
"Do you have to be careful when you do so?" she asked. "Is it dangerous? Like you can port yourself into a wall? And what does it cost you to do this? I don't want you exhausting yourself."
"As long as I know where I'm going, I'm fine and I've been doing it for so long that it never tires me. However...since I am outside the barrier between my world and yours...I should keep it simple for the time being."
He was touched by her concern.
"We could go to the office. There's no one there now," she suggested. It was at least twenty minutes away from Robert's apartment.
"The office it is then." He took her hand in his as magenta smoke surrounded them she could see them travelling across the sky almost as if they were flying. She couldn't help looking down and seeing the bright lights and skyscrapers of the city beneath her feet. The sight made her dizzy and even a bit nauseated. The entire trip lasted several seconds but to her it felt like minutes. They reappeared at her desk.
"T...That...was...amazing..." she gasped.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine...I..." She took a step forward and her legs gave out from under her.
He picked her up in his arms and carried her in the direction of his office, the double doors opening for him with a thought. Kat smiled.
"That can definitely come in handy on package delivery days," she quipped.
"You need to rest a bit after that...until you get used to it."
"I felt almost like I was flying. Can you fly, Rob?"
"No, I'm not Superman, dearie," he giggled.
"Or Harry Potter," she returned. Then she burst out laughing.
"Though I do identify a wee bit with Snape," he confessed.
"Me too. He was another who got shafted by the woman he loved," she snorted. "Why do all these authors feel that it's only the pretty and handsome people that deserve happy endings? So stupid!" She rolled her eyes. Then she asked, "Are there certain spells all mages know how to cast? Or are there some spells that only you can do, and no one else?"
"Yes there are certain spells all mages can cast but there are also spells only I can do and no one else. Those were related to the contracts I made with those who sought my assistance with their problems."
His brow furrowed. "And there are spells that should be forbidden because they violate the laws of magic such as the time travel spell Zelena cast."
"So you were a lawyer even then," she surmised. "I'm sorry, am I annoying you with all my questions? I don't mean to, but I have always wondered what it's like to have magic. I'm like a cat, I'm afraid. I always want to know why and how."
"No, no, dearie...I am just not accustomed to someone who is so accepting of my abilities and interested to learn about them."
"Then your first wife,Belle . . .she never asked you questions about magic? She was afraid of you?"
"When I think back on it now, aye...she was...until my magic was useful to her." He sighed. "Belle was my second wife. My first wife...I was not a mage when we were married."
Kat frowned. "Rob, that's terrible! You were cursed, and that can be scary but . . .I would have been fascinated to learn about magic, I AM fascinated, and you'd have had to tape my mouth shut to stop me from asking questions, and even then I'd write them down." She nodded. "Right. I sometimes forget that. Your first wife was the one who ran off with the pirate. And was your son's mother."
"Ask away, dearie. I don't mind. And magic...can also be taught. Regina was not born with the gift. She had to learn it."
"Are people who are born with it stronger than those who aren't? Can . . .anyone learn how? If so, why doesn't everyone in your world have magic?"
"Some who are born with it can be but that is not the case with Emma. And yes, anyone can learn how, even the simple miller's daughter Regina's mother was. Magic is not for everyone to learn because of the physical and mental demands it requires."
"So it's a difficult skill to learn. One that requires time and dedication and determination," she said. "Even if you are born with it."
"It does indeed but, you, who already possess some knowledge of magic could learn it though it would take a bit of time for you to master it."
She gasped. "Me? I could learn magic? You would teach me?"
"If you can tolerate my being a hard taskmaster at times."
She laughed. "Some of the best professors I ever had were hard taskmasters. And with the forces you wield . . .if you weren't that way I'd be afraid I'd kill myself or something. Magic to defend and protect and heal. What would you charge to do so?"
"Charge? Hmmm...dinner perhaps?"
"You'd consider dinner with me a fair bargain? How about if I make you dinner? That seems a fair exchange. My time and talent for yours."
He held out his hand. "You have a deal, dearie."
She shook firmly. "You have yourself a student, Mr. Gold."
"We should be getting back before Archie and Henry send out a search party."
"Yes. I can see them doing that," she laughed.
She put out a hand trustingly.
He shook it eagerly, confident that she would be a far better student than any of the Mills women.
Seconds later they were back in Robert's apartment.
Kat looked around. "Well, did you miss us?" she joked, feeling her head spin slightly. She went and sat down on the couch.
"How was it?" Jeanna demanded.
"We knew you were in good hands," Henry said.
"Very good hands," she assured. "And it was incredible."
"Did you fly like Superman?" Jeanna pressed.
"No . . .but it was still wonderful."
Robert summoned a cup of her tea and floated it over to her. "This is one of the first things I plan on teaching you..." he murmured, "Simple...but useful."
The others looked at each other. "You're going to teach her magic?" Archie asked.
"I have two students to teach," Robert answered, smiling at his grandson and Kat. "But I would prefer to wait until my curse is broken."
He approached Jeanna and Archie and waved a hand over each of their chests. "Now no one will be able to take your hearts." Then he waved his head over Kat on the sofa. "Nor yours, dearie."
"All right...now I think we should talk 'bout how the hell we're gonna get me into Storybrooke to do some stealing...and snooping." Jeanna reminded him.
"And make a certain bitch wife lose her shirt...literally," mumbled Kat.
But most importantly, they were going to give Robert back his free will.
A/N: Some of you may not agree with the sentiments we express in this story, you are free to do so. However, know that this story is pro-Rumple and a story about consequences which he paid that others on the show did not and never will, yet in this story others also pay consequences for their wrong choices, because it isn't just Rumple who makes them. We actually don't care what the show has done so please don't expect us to justify anything on it or agree with it. This is AU and how we feel about what went down since "Kansas" an episode we both loathe and above all this is the story we felt Rumple deserved. We also wish to express our sorrow for those Rumple fans who have been attacked and bullied on the web for defending him. We feel your pain. This story is for you. Again thank you all for reading!