Rumple ran towards the convent, hating this plan more and more with each passing second. His feet slowed to walk, while he thought things over. When he'd been his younger self in mind and body, the Blue Fairy had been kind to him, but he doubted the same would be true when he had his adult memories. But he didn't see any other options at this point, and continued on.
The Blue Fairy opened the door for him before he had a chance to knock. He gave her a distrustful glare, which she chose to ignore.
"Come inside quickly, we've got work to do," she said.
He walked in, and followed the Blue Fairy to the kitchen, where several of the nuns were busy getting ingredients together. "What's all this?"
"We're making you a potion," Astrid said as she walked past him.
"A potion that should prevent Cora from getting to your heart," the Blue Fairy said while looking over what the other Fairies had done so far.
Rumple couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. He'd been horrible to these women as Mr. Gold, and he hadn't been much better to them as the Dark One. "You're… helping me? But… why?"
The Blue Fairy stopped what she was doing, and bent down slightly to be at Rumple's eye level. With a serious expression on her face, she said, "I saw the good in you Rumplestiltskin. There's no going back now that I've seen who you once were." She touched the tip of her finger to his chest, "You're heart was once pure, and with time and effort, it will be again."
He slapped her hand away and hissed, "Any good there may have been in me was snuffed out years ago the day I lost Bae. A day you played a significant roll in."
She shook her head and said, "Have you learned nothing from Regina? It's time to let go of revenge for the past. You've found your son after all these years, and he's turned into a man with a good heart. You should focus your energy on building a new relationship with him, instead of dwelling on the time you lost."
"It's ready for you," Astrid said.
The Blue Fairy went to look at the things they had laid out, and waved Rumple over. "Come look at this, and tell me if you think it will work."
Still feeling angry, Rumple went to see. He immediately understood what they were trying to do when he saw their ingredients, and slowly nodded. He looked up at the Blue Fairy with a little more respect than usual and said, "It won't work for very long, but it will distract Cora long enough for Regina to put her heart back if she hasn't been able to do it yet."
The Blue Fairy smiled. "Good."
# # #
A minute after Rumple escaped, Cora turned around to taunt him, and saw nothing against the wall but empty shackles. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to find him. When she realized he was truly gone, she glared at her daughter. "You!"
"Please Mother, just listen to me for a…"
"I don't want to hear it," Cora snapped. She shoved Neal's heart back into his chest, and looked around the room, for something to tie them up with. She waved a hand at some rope on the far side of the room, and within seconds Regina, Neal, and David were all tied up and lying on the floor.
Cora leaned down to check her daughter's bindings, to make sure her hands were completely immobile. She patted Regina's shoulder and said, "No more magic for you until I return."
Cora walked out to the sound of her daughter pleading with her to stop.
A few seconds after Cora left, Snow came out from her hiding spot behind in the adjacent room, and quietly rushed to David's side. "Neal, are you okay?" Snow asked as she stuck her hand into the front pocket of her husband's jeans to find the pocketknife he always kept there.
"I'm fine," Neal said, "A little worn out, but the pain went away as soon as she put my heart back."
Once she had David's knife in her hand, Snow went to Regina and started carefully cutting the ropes away from her bound hands. As she was working on getting the older woman free, she said, "I have Cora's heart in my pocket."
"What?" Regina asked, tilting her head back to look at Snow.
"Rumple says the only way to stop Cora, is to put her heart back, and you're the only one who has the magic to do that."
"Her heart…" Regina said, thinking that over, and wondering why it had never occurred to her before. She'd always thought of her mother as cold, but she'd never considered the possibility that the woman was cold because her heart was missing. Probably because she'd never seen her mother with her heart in her body. While she was growing up, she hadn't even known that Cora's heart was in a box. Rumple didn't tell her that until Regina had learned to take a heart out on her own, and by that time Cora was long gone.
Snow finished cutting through the first rope, and unwound it from Regina's right hand. "There. Can you get the rest off?" Snow asked.
Regina moved her hand, and all of the ropes around her body fell to the floor. She sat up, rubbed her wrists once, and then waved her hand towards Neal and David, causing their ropes to fall off as well. Regina looked at Snow with suspicion. "You untied me."
Snow pulled Cora's heart out of her pocket, and held it out for Regina. "I don't trust you when it comes to most things, but I trust you to do everything in your power to get this heart back in your mother, both for Henry, and for yourself. I know I'd give anything to keep my child safe, and to have my mother back again. You may have a black in your heart, but at least you've always had one."
Without a word, Regina took the offered heart, and stood up. She looked at David who was already standing, along with Neal and said, "As soon as I do this, you'll call Emma, and have her bring Henry home, right?"
"I give you my word," David said.
Snow went to David's side, handed him the pocketknife, and gave him a quick hug.
Neal looked at Snow and said, "Did Rumple agree to go to the Blue Fairy?"
"Yes, but he wasn't very happy about it, so I don't know if he actually went."
"Would your mom be able to track him?" David asked Regina.
"Yes," she said. "I saw her take a strand of his hair before we woke him up."
David pulled the cell phone out of his pocket, and dialed the Blue Fairy. He put the phone to his ear, and said, "Let's head that way while I confirm he's there."
"Agreed," Regina said, and led the rest of them up out of the tomb and down the street at a quick pace.
# # #
Rumple kept involuntarily rubbing the dangling silver charm resting on his chest under his shirt, and over his heart. He knew it would only protect him for a short time, but hopefully that would be enough. The fairies were currently busy making a magical barrier across the front doors of the convent, while Rumple stood by and watched helplessly.
Once they were done spreading the fairy dust, the nuns all came inside before the Blue Fairy herself took out her wand, pointed it at the dust, and whispered a few words. The dust glowed for an instant, and then went back to normal.
She turned to Rumple and said, "That's all I can think of to do. Can you think of anything else?"
Before Rumple had a chance to answer her, Astrid whispered with fear, "She's here."
All of them looked through the open doors, and saw a dark figure down the street headed their way at a fast pace. Within seconds, Rumple could make out Cora's facial features. Her eyes were focused only on him, and her maniacal grin caused a small shudder to go through Rumple's body.
The phone started to ring, and Astrid went to answer it, while the Blue Fairy put a hand on Rumple's shoulder and whispered, "Stay on this side of the door for as long as the barrier holds. We'll protect you as long as we can."
He nodded, feeling both grateful and annoyed at the same time. He hated knowing that he would owe them, but he couldn't deny that it was reassuring to have someone magical on his side.
A few seconds later Astrid whispered to Rumple, "Regina is on her way with Cora's heart. Stall her as long as you can." That gave Rumple the boost of confidence he needed to face Cora.
Everyone silently watched as Cora got closer and closer. She stopped about six feet from the convent door, and flung her hand out towards Rumple. When the man in the child's body didn't immediately float towards her, her smile faltered. Her hand lowered to her side, and she took a moment to look at the fairies. "This isn't your fight. Do you really want to make an enemy of me?"
The Blue Fairy shook her head. "The day you have the Dark One's power, is the day we're all as good as dead, Cora."
Glaring hatefully at them, Cora stormed up to the door, and tried to walk through, only to feel as though she'd walked into a pane of glass. She stumbled back a step, and took a closer look at the doorway. Seeing the fairy dust, she said, "That won't keep me out for long."
She took a step back, held both her hands up, and aimed a loud bolt of magic towards the barrier. A couple of minutes later, after several bolts of magic had been aimed at it, the barrier started to weaken and crack.
Rumple's eyes kept darting down the street, hoping to see Regina, and just as the barrier broke, he saw movement in the distance. The quiet noises of the night filled the silence after the last bolt of magic had finished off the barrier. Cora looked down at the fairy dust with disdain and wiped the line of it away with her foot.
The fairies all clustered together in front of Rumple, holding their wands.
Cora smiled, showing them her perfectly white teeth, and took a step towards them.
"No," Rumple said, walking around to stand in front of them. "No one else is getting hurt because of this. I'm the one you want, leave them out of it."
Astrid turned shocked eyes to the Blue Fairy, not believing that Rumplestiltskin would stand up for them, but the Blue Fairy didn't appear surprised at all. In fact she had a satisfied smile on her face, and lowered her wand. Confused, Astrid and the rest of the fairies lowered their wands as well.
Cora turned her attention to him. "Tell me where it is, or I'll kill them all, along with every other person you love."
"You start killing people, and I'll never give you the dagger. Don't play that game with me, Dearie, unless you want us both to lose." Rumple took a cautious step over the threshold, and out of the convent, being careful to stay on the side away from Cora's quickly approaching daughter. He was also careful to keep his eyes firmly focused on Cora's face. "Speaking of which, is my son alive, or should we give up on this game before it's started?"
"He's perfectly fine, though I did take measures to prevent him from continuing to interfere."
"Good," Rumple said. "It's just you and me then."
"Yes. So Tell. Me. Where. It. IS!"
Rumple put a finger to his lips, and looked up in to the sky as if pondering that order. "Hmm… And what exactly do I get out of the deal?"
"Your life, and the lives of your friends and family."
Rumple shook his head. "No, you'll kill us all the instant you have the dagger. Try again."
"You don't trust me to keep my word?" Cora said with a smile.
Rumple raised an eyebrow and said nothing.
Laughing, Cora said, "Once I have it, I'm going to do a spell to rebuild the Enchanted Forrest. I have no interest in killing anyone here. I want the power to get my homeland back."
Rumple shook his head sadly. "There is no spell to bring it back, Cora. I wish there was, but there isn't."
Losing her patients, Cora said, "We'll see about that," and tried to shove her hand into his chest. Her hand bounced off his chest, and she yelled in frustration. He smiled at her and said, "It wouldn't be fair if I made it easy for you."
She glared at him, grabbed his arm to keep him in place, and searched his body for whatever was keeping her hand from claiming his heart for her own. Just as her fingers felt the piece of silver around Rumple's neck, she saw him looking over her shoulder and smiling.
Cora dropped Rumple, and spun around just in time to see her daughter slam her heart back into her chest. Cora gasped, and took a couple of steps back with a hand over her own heart. The heart she hadn't felt for decades. A rush of intense emotions filled her entire body, and it was all she could do to keep herself upright. She looked into her daughter's eyes for the first time ever with her heart in place, and felt tears in her eyes. "Regina," she said softly, truly seeing her daughter.
"Mother?" Regina asked, worried about how this was going to play out. Cora pulled Regina into a crushing hug.