AN: As promised, the next chapter! And Rumple, yay! I loved writing Rumple so much. He and Regina are my two favorites from the show, in no small part to the acting done by Lana Parrilla and Robert Carlyle. Hope y'all enjoy the chapter. =) Oh, and 10 brownie points to whoever figured out how I would veer events into canon. R&R!
Disclaimer: I don't own "Once Upon a Time" or the characters that are portrayed within the show. I'm merely borrowing them for a while without thought or intent for my own personal gain.
Chapter 7 - Revelation, Pain, and Promises
It appeared that hours had passed when Regina came to still lying on the forest floor. The sunlight filtering through the leaves had changed direction and was almost vertical, as if the sun were standing directly overhead. Her wounds ached terribly, her head pounded as if to the steady tune of a hammer on an anvil, and her vision was still hazy. Leaning up on one elbow, she touched her lip and found it still oozing tiny droplets of blood. Then she fingered the hole where her blouse was torn, finding it soaked. She dared not touch her side - it ached badly enough as it was. The ground beneath her where her wounded side had been was wet with blood.
Around her, three of the four bandits lay dead in pools of blood. The sight nearly made Regina sick again. For a moment, her had swam. She assumed the lack of the fourth body meant that the man she had knocked out had awakened, fleeing when he found his comrades dead. The realization that one of the scoundrels had survived did surprisingly little to comfort or to frighten her. She supposed she was in some sort of unfeeling state of shock.
A glance at Valgar broke her numbness. He lay on his back almost exactly as he had fallen, as if her sword had frozen him solid when it pierced his heart. Right arm extended over his head, his hand clutched the handle of his sword with the stiffness of death. His left arm was tucked at his side, it's hand clenched in a defiant fist. His legs were spread at odd angles that would pain those who lived. Resting on an enormous root, his head was elevated so that Regina could see his eyes. Haunted dead eyes open and unblinking, stared back at her as if in condemnation. Her stomach roiled and tears pricked at her eyes. She had to bite back a bitter sob.
Suddenly, a shrill, childishly malevolent laughter rang out from the empty space in front of her. Proceeding the maniacal cackling was a thunderous explosion of sound and smoke. A very human shape began to materialize out of the hazy swath of purple. "Now, now," a high-pitched, sing-song voice said from within the dissipating cloud. "There's no need to shed tears over such a brute. You and I both know he got what he deserved."
Regina sat up weakly with a grunt, regarding the figure that stood before her with bleary eyes. He was short for a man, with a thin, oval face framed by shoulder-length curly brown hair. He had prominently sharp features. A long, narrow nose stood out from his face, which flared dramatically at the tip. Large, almost blackened reptilian eyes peered at her through slightly hooded lids. He dressed rather flamboyantly in dark brown leather pants, with a sparkling black and gold shirt peeking out from beneath an accented leather coat laced up to just below his sternum. The strangest feature about him was his skin, which appeared almost scaly, glittering a dull golden color nearly identical to the shirt he wore. Wisps of faint purple smoke still circled around him from his magical appearance.
Regina was not frightened. "Who are you and what do you want?" she asked. She suspected, however, that she knew who he was from what few stories her mother told of her hated past.
Tales of the mischievous, evil imp circulated far and wide through the Ten Kingdoms. Most accounts Regina had heard mainly focused on the consequences of his horrifying deals. Few, however, provided details of his appearance.
"I think you know who I am, dearie," he answered merrily, still not answering her questions.
For whatever reason, he seemed to be playing with her. "Why don't you just tell me your name!" Regina cried. After the day's ordeal, she was in no mood for games. Unbidden tears of frustration, pain, and anguish pricked at her eyes.
Her emotional state did not seem to phase the stranger, however. "Because," he trilled, "I want to hear you say it."
Eyes clamped shut, a lone tear streaked down Regina's pale face. She whispered the dreaded name: "Rumplestiltskin."
Chiming laughter rang out as the impish Dark One clapped his hands and danced with delight. He skipped merrily over to where Regina sat, chin tucked close to her chest, clutching her side.
"See, was that so hard?" he said. Producing a hankerchief from his vest, he snapped his fingers causing the fabric to instantly moisten with a foreign concoction that smelled like amplified liquor. Using his index finger, he gently tipped her face up and wiped at the blood that was still pooling on her chin from her cut lip. Regina could sense the immense power that Rumplestiltskin possessed wafting out from him in waves. She remained cautiously still, not wanting to provoke the fiendish creature in any way.
In a move that slightly startled her, he pressed his thumb to the wound and closed his eyes. Heat radiated from the tip of his finger, spreading through her injured lip and then down through the rest of her body like caustic fire. Regina's back stiffened. She sat rigidly transfixed by the mixture of agony and warmth that enveloped her. When it faded, she slumped back in a daze.
For a moment she sat motionless, breathing heavily, allowing her head to clear. Then she met his eyes. Now wide open, his large brown irises examined her with an extreme focus that filled her with dread. It was as if she could feel herself being drawn inexorably into the void of his widening black pupils.
Heart pounding, she cried out, skittering away from him. Separation began to immediately return Regina's senses to her. Amazingly, she found the pain of her wounds was gone and her head no longer ached, though she remained on the brink of exhaustion from stress and blood loss. Pressing her hand to her mouth, she found to her shock that the wound had been closed. Ever so gingerly, she traced her upper lip where the cut had been. There was no pain, not even any soreness. Her lip had been completely healed save a thin, indented vertical scar.
Regina fixed wary yet grateful eyes up to Rumplestiltskin, who stood a few paces away, now watching her passively. "Thank you. I don't know why you're here or why you're helping me, but thank you."
"It's of no consequence," he replied with his lilting brogue. "A simple enough wound to heal. I think you'll find your side to be mended as well."
Regina clutched at her side, discovering him to be correct. Her side was healed and free from pain. The imp's eyes crinkled in mirth at her slack-jawed expression. "Why?" she whispered, not know what else to say.
Rumplestiltskin grinned, revealing rows of withered, decaying teeth. "Let's just say I'm invested in your future."
"But why?" Regina pressed. "Is it because of what you did for my mother? She told me the story of how she came to be married to my father. I suspect it was in order to warn me away from dealing with you."
"Ah, but there are two sides to every story, are there not?" was his cryptic answer.
With a concerted effort, Regina rose to her feet, clutching the tree behind her for support. She leaned back against it and regarded the Dark One with wary eyes. "So why don't you tell me your side of the story?"
Rumplestiltskin stood silently, once again studying Regina for quite some time. One of his arms was crossed over his chest, the other resting against it while propping up his chin. His brow furrowed, eyes fierce as he contemplated whether or not to answer her query.
"Very well," he said suddenly, waving the hand that was under his chin without moving the arm. "Most of what the Lady Cora told you is true. She was the daughter of the miller in your father's fiefdom. Her father did lie to Lord Henry to increase his status. I did indeed spin straw into gold for her."
"In promise for me," Regina cut in. "You wanted her first-born child as payment for your services."
"I did at first," the imp retorted, then tisked, scolding her for interrupting him. "But your mother is a talented bargainer herself. She offered me a better deal than the one I originally struck with her."
Confusion descended over Regina's face. "So she never offered all her wealth? She never convinced you to agree to rescind your claim if she could correctly guess your name?"
"Indeed not," he scoffed as if the idea were abhorrent. "I would never make so foolish an amendment."
The crease between Regina's brows deepened. "Then what was the deal she offered?"
In a dash, Rumplestiltskin advanced until he stood nose to nose with Regina. He smiled eerily. "A favor."
The imp's breath brushed over her face as he spoke. It was cloying smell as she had anticipated, but rather dull and almost odorless. Perhaps he uses some sort of spell to disguise the odor, she mused. In any case, the view of his decrepit teeth up close was not one she wished to repeat any time soon.
"What kind of a favor?" Regina asked.
A sharp pain on her scalp caused Regina to cry out. She hadn't seen, nor heard him move, but when she looked at Rumplestiltskin again, she found him grinning madly, holding on to a single black strand of her hair. He held it between his index finger and thumb, then deposited it carefully as if it were a red diamond mined from the deepest dwarf mine into a small vial. Placing a stopper over it, he said: "That for one!"
Regina could not imagine what the Dark One would want with her hair. Whatever it was, she was sure it wasn't good. "My hair? Do I even want to know what you want with my hair?"
"No, I imagine you do not," he answered primly. "Even so, I wouldn't tell you."
"Why in the world not?" she scoffed. Her head began to pound again. "It's my hair, after all!"
"Is that all you do, dearie? Ask questions?" Rumplestiltskin sighed, half-agitated, half-amused by her inquisitiveness. He backed away from Regina slightly, allowing her to breathe normally again. But his eyes retained a dangerous glint. "I'm not going to tell you what I'll do with the hair. It was promised to me and I've collected." Rumplestiltskin had to restrain a chuckle at the growing fury in the beautiful young woman's brown eyes. "No one is privy to my plans and no amount of glaring is going to change that, dearie." Regina deflated. "As to your other inquiries, if you must know, besides the hair, I was promised a favor from you at an indeterminate time in the future for anything I wished...save your life."
"I'm afraid I don't have anything you would desire," Regina answered stiffly. "And you're not getting any more of my hair! I'm no longer welcome in my home. I ran away; if you truly know my mother, you full well realize the implications of such an act of defiance. My future husband is a stable boy. I don't say it to demean him. He and his family do well but are not rich as my father is. What can I possibly have, now or in the future, of value to you?"
The imp smirked. "That's for me to know and you to find out."
Such a mysterious answer elicited a terrible series of possibilities that ran rampant though Regina's mind. The worst of them was the possibility that he would ask what he had of her mother. Becoming emboldened to the point of rage at that thought, she unleashed her anger with a threatening voice. "If you think you'll get your hands on one of my children, you're mistaken. I'd sooner die! And do not make the error of underestimating me - I'd die fighting!"
Rumplestiltskin raised his hands innocently in a mollifying gesture. "Now, now," he said. "No need to jump to such conclusions. I've seen your handiwork." He gestured to the bodies of the bandits. "I have something else in mind from you entirely, but it is something that lies far in the future. You need not concern yourself about it at the moment. Not all favors I ask are diabolical, though all are self-serving. After all, what good would bargaining be if I didn't benefit from the transaction, eh?" Childish giggles erupted from the imp.
Regina growled in frustration, the vein in her forehead beginning to throb. "So, we're back to the original question. Why are you here and what do you want?" Infuriated with the ability of this creature to talk in circles, her voice rose. "No more dodging the question and no more deflecting. I want an answer!"
"Such impatience and imprudence," Rumplestiltskin chuckled. "You are a fiery one, aren't you?" Smile fading from his lips, he nodded in acquiescence after a moment of thought. "Very well, dearie, I'll get to the point. I've been watching you, my dear Regina. As I said, I'm invested in your future. After all, the day you were born, I was there. It was part of the revised deal with Lady Cora. I held you in my arms not two hours after your birth."
Regina began to protest his assertion, but the Dark One held a hand up to silence her. "Whether you want to believe me or not is up to you. I assure you that I am not lying."
His tone convinced her of his veracity, so she nodded then gestured for him to continue.
"There was a reason I requested to be there," he began again. "When I hold a child in it's very first hours of life, I can see the paths of chance written in their eyes. It's a primal magic native to our world, much older even than that of the Dark One. When I read your eyes that day, I saw two roads set before you. One was very clear. It lead to a life in which you followed the course your mother carved out for you, descending into evil more heinous than even she could fathom. The other path, much less clear, followed the way your father fashioned.
"Quite astonishingly, you chose the latter path. I admit, when I see visions of the future regarding an individual, I never see one set possibility. There is always more than one road a person may take; there is always more than one choice to every decision one has to make. Almost always, a person favors one way or another. That is the way most clearly seen. I use this information to aid in my deal making."
Regina was confounded. "Why are you telling me all of this?"
"Because, I want you to trust me!" Rumplestiltskin snapped. "Things have changed now! You're going to need my help some day, just as I shall need yours. The choice you have made has changed the course of the future for everyone. Everyone! You were the fulcrum upon which two futures hung: one certainly terrible and one uncertainly hopeful. You have tipped the scales in the unexpected direction. Possibilities now exist that wouldn't have otherwise."
"What kind of possibilities?" she asked, now genuinely curious.
"There you go with the questions again," he said, sighing then straightening. His eyes took on an intense, secretive quality. "With the choice of the first path, we would have become the greatest of enemies. Our war with each other might have even spread beyond the boundaries of our world. An opportunity now exists in which we might become allies. Beyond that, however, is the greatest possibility: redemption."
Regina was baffled. What power do I have that would make such a powerful being want me as an ally? she thought. It's my mother who is powerful, not I. Then she grasped Rumplestiltskin's last statement, which absolutely stunned her. "You desire to attain redemption? That's absurd. You've done things for which there can be no redemption, much as you may strive for it."
"Not everything is as it appears, dearie," he replied, taking no offense to her comment referring to his deal-making. "I take nothing that is not willing to be given and give only that which is desired. But once, I was a man. Once, I had a son. Everything I've done, I did for him, so that he can be returned to me."
Rumplestiltskin paused for a moment to search Regina's eyes. He found now no condemnation in them, but the beginning of understanding. He latched onto it like a viper does his prey. "I know you're wondering why I'm telling you this. It's simple, really. I know you understand how far someone will go for the one they love."
Regina's heart sank into the depths of her chest. It appalled her that Rumplestiltskin seemed to know the depths of her heart, even more so that he found a common thread between them. She felt as if she had been punched in the gut.
Many times while holding onto Daniel as they fled through the Lonely Forest, she had envisioned her most feared scenario in her mind. Her imagination had run especially rampant after her nightmare in which Daniel's death was played out in such vivid detail. What Rumplestiltskin had said was true. She had discovered, to her horror, that there was really no end to the depths she would have descended into if Daniel had died. The discovery of the capability for evil in her heart had shaken Regina to the core.
Regina felt all the fight drain out of her. She could no longer condemn the Dark One for his actions when she knew that the same propensities resided in her own heart. "I do understand," she said with sympathetic eyes.
"Then there is the beginning of what I will ask," the imp replied, eyes hopeful for the first time. It was a strange look on such a malevolent being. "Remember this understanding. There will come a day in the future when you will meet a young man named Jefferson. Help him in any way you can and ask nothing of him in return. He will be necessary to fulfill your requirement to me. In return for your promise of this, I will give you news of great import, though you will be loathe to hear it. Will you do this?"
"I promise," she answered, nodding vigorously. "What is the news you have? Is it of my father?"
The Dark One nodded, his mouth stretching out in a grim line. He cast his head down, but he was otherwise silent.
"Is he well?" Regina prodded with alarm. "What's happened? Tell me!"
Rumplestiltskin's eyes met hers and she gasped at the dark emotion she saw there. He didn't have to speak in order to break her heart, for she knew what he was going to say. Tears pooled in her eyes and slid down her face. She began to shiver violently, not knowing if she could withstand the impact of what was about to be revealed. "No! Please!"
"I'm truly sorry, dearie," Rumplestiltskin answered sadly. "Two weeks after you left, Lord Henry was killed in a mysterious riding accident, though we both know it was no accident."
Regina cried out in desperation, crumbling to the ground against the tree behind her. She felt as if the grief she now felt and that which she had experienced the day she had read her father's letter had compounded into one giant ball of misery. She curled up in a ball at the bole and sobbed.
Rumplestiltskin neither said nor did anything, not knowing how to comfort Regina and not wanting to show weakness in front of such a potentially vital ally. He watched forlornly as the young woman grieved for a father she had loved so dearly, understanding her pain empathetically. He had felt an overwhelming, crushing grief when Baelfire had disappeared through the magical portal in the forest floor and into the land with no magic. He knew, however, that Regina would make it through her despair. She had a support system which he did not. Her fiance and his family would love her through her time of loss, just as she had his.
He hated to be callous, but his time with her was growing short and he had other news to impart. "I'm sorry dearie," he said forcefully, "but I need you to listen to me now. Are you listening?"
Regina looked up at him through bloodshot, hopeless eyes, but nodded.
"Good," he continued, "you know the plans your mother had for you and King Leopold?" She nodded again. "Her plans were her ticket to the power of the throne, a power for which Cora has long lusted. Your departure with Daniel destroyed those plans. But your mother is nothing if not resourceful. King Leopold still needed a wife and a mother for young Snow. Luckily for him, she knew just the candidate."
When Rumplestiltskin's words finally registered in Regina's grief-stricken mind, she let out another broken wail. "No! Not my mother. Snow!"
"Yes," he confirmed almost sadly. "Now you know why your father had to be removed from the picture. Your mother allowed the King to console her during her supposed grief. That opened a door she was quick to barge through. She ingratiated herself to him in every way she could, eventually making herself invaluable to Leopold. She even consoled Snow White over your absence. They were married two days ago."
Unbridled rage began to overtake Regina's sadness when she thought of her father's demise and of sweet, innocent Snow under her mother's wicked influence. Without giving Rumplestiltskin a second glance, she stood and began to stomp angrily back toward Sebastian. Her progress was abruptly halted when the Dark One's hand staid her.
"You mustn't act rashly," he said. "My time here is up. I have other things to attend to." He put both of his hands on Regina's shoulders and fixed her with a strangely steady gaze. The urgency in his voice convinced her to heed him, some of her anger fading. "You must return home and live your life. The time to face your mother lies far in the future. Snow White has a path of her own laid before her that not even your mother can bend or break. And she will need you by her side if she is to fulfill her destiny."
Regina took a deep breath, allowing most of the anger she had felt at her mother to melt away as she exhaled. An ember of hatred still flickered, however, and her sadness remained heavy. "Very well," she answered. "I will remember what you've said and do as you requested."
"That is all I ask," said Rumplestiltskin, straightening himself. "Until we meet again. Remember your promise!"
With a snap of his fingers, the Dark One disappeared, much the same way as he had arrived. Regina watched the purple cloud of smoke dissipate into the air, then began her trek back to where Sebastian was picketed. She reached the hedges within minutes, fighting her way back through them until she emerged in the alcove. After untying the reins from the tree branch, Regina mounted Sebastian with a great deal of difficulty. After such a torrent of emotions and the stress on her body, she was exhausted.
They traveled the road back to the southeast in uneventful silence. As time passed, Regina noted with alarm that she began to sway in the saddle and could barely hold her eyes open. All the adrenaline from her fight and the surging emotions from her conversation with Rumplestiltskin were now gone. She felt as though she were an empty husk.
Stubborn as she was, though, she would not surrender to weakness. Urging Sebastian onward, she drove them at a relentless pace. Within half an hour, they emerged from Amistrenel. The sun was past it's apex, beginning to descend to the west where it would sink behind the rolling horizon within hours. Regina took a deep breath, gathering what reserves of energy she had remaining, once again urging Sebastian forward.
He took off in a full gallop, beginning the trek back to the Benphray farm. Sensing his rider's condition, Sebastian pushed himself as hard as he was able, straining his muscles to the limit. His efforts were rewarded when they came in sight of the farm just as Regina begin to sway again.
Having seen and recognized Sebastian in the distance, Daniel ran out to meet them as they neared the training pen. As he drew close, he saw to his absolute terror that blood stained much of Regina's blouse on the left side and was splattered all over her collar and shoulder. Approaching Sebastian's side, he saw her sway heavily and he rushed to catch her as she slid out of the saddle and into his arms.
Gently guiding her to the ground, he cradled her neck with his elbow, smoothing a hand over her mussed hair and forehead. Her breathing was regular and her heartbeat strong when he checked her pulse. But her clammy, pale appearance frightened him. "What happened?" he asked.
Her brown eyes struggled to focus on him through narrow slits in her lids. "Mmm," she hummed, weakly raising her hand to draw her fingers across his cheek. "Bandits." She managed a faint grin. "I won." Darkness tugged at Regina, her eyes beginning to slide shut.
"Stay with me," Daniel whispered, tears in his eyes. "Stay with me, Regina."
"Always," she replied faintly, then slid into unconsciousness.
Daniel gathered her up in his arms and carried her all the way into the house, ignoring his uncle's offer of help and his aunt's horrified cry. Making his way carefully into his room, he gingerly deposited Regina into the bed, standing aside as his Aunt Vera came in and moved to the bedside to check her wounds. She shooed him out tactfully, explaining she would need to undress Regina to properly assess her side.
It seemed to Daniel like time halted as he stood outside the room waiting for Vera to finish examining Regina. He chewed nervously on his fingertips. To his great relief, Travis leaned quietly against the opposite wall, providing a silent strength and assurance that everything would be all right.
Vera emerged from the room some ten minutes later with a look of bewilderment and joy on her face. "She's fine," the pale-haired woman declared. "Exhausted, but fine. She's resting."
"Her wounds?" Travis asked when Daniel remained speechless.
"I've never seen anything like it," Vera confessed. "She was wounded twice: a cut on her lip and a deep slash on her left side. Deep enough to have nicked a vessel, I suspect. But the wounds are closed and healed as if months of healing had passed. There was magic at work - I'm sure of it - though I'm not about to question it."
Absorbing this information steadied Daniel's nerves. "Can I see her?" he asked quietly, blue eyes swimming.
"Of course," replied Vera. "She'll sleep for a while, probably the rest of the day and through the night."
He only nodded mutely, eyes clenching shut. I almost lost her today, he thought. A solitary tear escaped, running a jagged path down his cheek.
Vera reached out and cupped Daniel's face, stroking it tenderly as she had done many times before. It was a gesture that had always soothed him as a boy; it worked just as well now. "It's all right, my boy," she cooed. "Everything's going to be all right." Grabbing Travis' hand, Vera turned to escort her husband back down the hall, but turned and spoke to Daniel one last time: "Go and sit by her and hold her hand. She needs to know you're with her. Uncle and I will take care of everything. Go on, now." Then she turned and with a smile and a nod from his uncle, they departed.
Daniel crept back inside the room. Regina lay underneath the covers, her black hair unbraided and splayed across the pillows, setting a stark contrast from her pale face. Wan though she was, his fiance had never looked more beautiful and alive to him. Every time her chest rose, lifting the blankets with the gentle motion of breathing, it comforted him, reassuring him that she was still there with him.
For a dreadful moment as he had seen her blooded blouse, he thought he was going to lose her. That was a feeling Daniel never wished to repeat as long as he lived. It felt like his heart had ceased beating and all color in the world around him had faded into a lifeless gray. But by some miracle of magic, she had survived. Daniel was grateful.
As he sat down in the rocking chair next to the bed, he noticed that Vera had somehow managed to undress Regina and get her into one of her sleeping gowns by herself. His aunt was a kind, tenacious woman. He loved her for her thoughtfulness.
Taking Regina's slender hand between his own, Daniel studied her face. She was not so clammy as she had been. A faint pink hue was returning to her skin. With a sigh, he leaned back in the rocking chair, contenting himself to gaze lovingly at her. Her brush with death made him determined to commit her features to memory in order that he might never forget what she looked like.
Rocking lightly back and forth, Daniel began to speak of his day. He never for a moment relinquished her hand as he talked, passing the afternoon and into the night by her side.
