Chapter Twenty-Four.
Zelena was gone, he noticed distantly, and so was his papa. Rumplestiltskin lay completely still in his son's arms and Baelfire wouldn't let go for all the world. Tears were streaming down his face and he hadn't known he could cry that much for the man that had once abandoned him only to rip the worlds apart to find him again. The tears were coming though and his chest was so tight he could barely breathe.
Others had gathered around him, even most hung back, not quite sure what to say or do. The battle was over now and there was nothing to distract them from the scene playing out. They murmured amongst themselves and Bae tried to tune them out. All except one voice that did actually cut through the rumble.
"Dad? What happened?"
Bae looked up, finding Henry standing just a few yards away with Belle. Her face was ashen as she looked on, but she was frozen in place. The clever kid had figured out how to reverse the teleportation spell. Well, his papa had said it was blood magic, so that wasn't too surprising.
"Your grandfather did the honorable thing and gave his life so that your father could live," a pious voice sounded from behind and Baelfire felt pure fury rise up inside of him as he turned, never releasing his father's limp form. The Blue Fairy stood with her chin tilted up and the for once hadn't been spoken in the sentence, but it certainly couldn't have been missed either.
"Shut up, Blue," Bae growled. "You're happy this happened."
The fairy looked offended. "Fairies are never pleased with death, Baelfire."
"Just his. Can you see now that he want working with them?"
"Neal..." David started in, but seemed to think better of it as the anger washed out and Rumplestiltskin's son felt only grief in its wake. He was still gripping his papa's limp hand in his own, desperate to feel it move and prove them all wrong. He was the king of loopholes and he was a survivor. He couldn't be dead. It seemed like a terrible nightmare he'd come out of. Maybe he'd wake up after having dozed off and find that's all it was.
"It should have been me," Bae whispered.
A hand rested on his shoulder and he startled, finding Emma kneeling next to him. She'd never been very good at comforting. Really, Henry was the only exception to that. It just didn't come naturally to her, but he could see how hard she was trying in that moment as she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "He wanted you to live," she whispered what he already knew.
"I just got him back."
"I'm so sorry, Neal..."
He pulled in a shaky breath, feeling eyes staring at him from every direction. His father wouldn't want that. Even in death, he wouldn't have wanted to be made a spectacle outside of his own terms. Slowly, painfully, he lifted his papa's hand to his lips and pressed a kiss against the back of it. "I love you, Papa," he whispered brokenly and Henry sank to the ground with them.
Bae was certainly no expert in magic, but since he'd come to live in the Dark Castle he thought he might be able to sense it a bit better than he had. He was sure he felt something pulse around them in that moment and Rumplestiltskin drew in a sudden, deep breath, brown eyes flying open as he stiffened in his son's arms. Those dark eyes turned to Bae, still pained but full of life. He looked up at him in wonder, reaching a trembling hand to the side of the younger man's face and smiled. "I love you too, Bae," he rasped.
"How?" came the startled response from Blue that sounded a bit too distraught at the fact that Rumplestiltskin had survived the attack.
"True Love's Kiss," Henry answered practically. "It doesn't have to be Belle. Emma woke me up from the Sleeping Curse. Dad woke Grandpa up because he loves him."
Belle had managed to convince her legs to carry her over to them and knelt hard against the ground at Rumplestiltskin's side, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Are you alright?" she asked shakily.
"I believe so." Dark eyes flickered back up to meet Bae's. "You saved my life, son."
"Well, you saved mine first," Bae murmured, even as he helped ease his father into sitting up, Belle steadying him from the other side. "I'm not complaining, but I'm not sure I get it. Sleeping Curse, yeah, but that wasn't a Sleeping Curse. Even I know that."
"It most certainly was not," Rumplestiltskin agreed, shifting and taking inventory of the damage left behind, if any. "Much nastier than that, but it was a curse, and all curses can be broken. Though if you'd waited much longer, I fear I might have been out of reach."
Bae felt a coldness spread through him, but focused instead on the fact that his papa was sitting up and talking. He'd been lost to him forever just moments before and somehow they'd been given yet another chance.
"Perhaps you really have come further than credit has been given," Blue said tightly and Bae glanced back. She still did not look overly happy that he was alive, but the murmurs around her seemed to encourage her words. He barely contained the smirk at the idea that those she had manipulated so readily were now pushing her into something she didn't want to admit. There was no denying the fact that his father was more than capable of love. First Belle's kiss had proven it and broken his curse and now Bae's had reversed a deadly curse to save his life. Rumplestiltskin would never be a saint by anyone's expectations, but he could and did love very deeply.
"Don't sound too disappointed, Reul Ghorm. People might suspect your true nature," Rumplestiltskin said evenly, shifting to stand.
Bae moved with him, as did Belle, and they managed to keep him on his feet. He was leaning dangerously to the left, hardly putting any weight on the newly healed ankle and his son realized that anything he'd been putting towards bracing the injury after the quick fix was now going to fixing the damage that the curse had inflicted on him. He looked better, certainly - alive versus dead would do that - but he was still pale and a little shaky.
David stepped forward, his face holding the expression of a man that knew he'd made the wrong choice. "Rumplestiltskin-"
"Henry's safe," the former Dark One said, his voice low and very controlled. "Thanks to Bae."
"And he's safe thanks to you," David acknowledged, glancing back to the crowd that seemed perfectly content to let him speak for them. He let a long breath out and straightened his shoulders out. "I know when I've made a mistake. We'll probably never see eye to eye on how to get to the end, but we both want our family safe."
"Is this something like an apology, David?"
David offered him a thin smile. "No, of course not."
Bae was a little surprised at the chuckle that came from his father at what must have been a shared joke. "Of course not."
"Yes, it's an apology," David answered. "I was wrong."
Rumplestiltskin nodded. "Fair enough."
"Seriously?" Emma managed and Bae shot her a look. She shrugged. "It's your dad. Everything comes with a price. Forgiveness is no exception."
"Actually, Miss Swan, that's life," he corrected. "And your father did pay the price."
"Will you still help us?" a noble that Bae didn't recognize asked.
"Not you," Rumplestiltskin sneered, "though you're likely to reap the benefit all the same. No, I'll help my family."
David nodded, accepting the reasoning and Bae put an arm around his father, both supporting him and pulling him into a hug. He'd changed, there was no doubt, and he wouldn't give him up for anything. "Welcome back, Papa."
Regina was quickly coming to the conclusion that it would do both her son and her nerves far more good if she simply didn't let Henry out of her sight again. He was less inclined to agree with that assessment and even Robin said that it might be a tad too much, but the last two times she'd let him travel without her Zelena had made a go for him. The first time it had been Henry himself - she now knew - that had beaten Zelena back, but that had likely been surprise on both sides. The second time it had been Neal that had saved him and it had nearly gotten Rumplestiltskin killed.
"Deep breath," Robin chuckled as they stood watching Henry take off down the long hallway, Roland at his heels. The boy had already been there, snatched from the Dark Castle by Regina's magic, and he'd missed the boy he was now calling his big brother and would let him out of sight.
Emma wrapped an arm around him, pulling him into a sideways hug as they moved towards Regina. She was finally starting to look more at home in the tougher fabrics and leathers of the Enchanted Forest than she had when they'd first arrived back. Granted, Snow had more sense than to put her in those absurd dressed to traipse around the kingdoms in. She was starting to look like the woman she might have grown into without the Dark Curse ripping her family apart, and for the first time Regina thought she might be truly happy for that. She'd never regret it - that curse had brought her her son - but she could see some of the damage she'd caused slowly knitting back together into something stronger than ever before.
"Are we about done screwing around?" the former Evil Queen asked with a smirk.
"Finally," Emma breathed and flashed a grin of her own. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but one of Mary Margaret's birds -" she glared at the quirked eyebrow she received in return for the statement - "just delivered a message that Zelena was killed by Pan."
"We're down to one then," Robin said thoughtfully, scooping his son up in his arms.
"The worst one," Henry added with a look that made Regina want to kill the little imp for what he'd done.
Instead she reached out and touched the side of her adopted son's face. "Don't worry, sweetie. With David coming to his senses, we'll have Pan taken care of in no time." She turned her attention to Emma. "Is Rumple on his feet?"
"Belle's guilted him into bed. He's not happy about being here to begin with, but from what Neal said he magicked everything he needed from the Dark Castle and has been working on the last bits of the spell."
"Like he hasn't had the time to do that," Regina huffed. They'd arrived the night before, many of them looking like they'd been through hell. Rumple had especially and when he'd told her exactly what curse Zelena had been using, she questioned his sanity in having traveled with them the rest of the way to the castle. He'd looked ready to fall over when they'd made it there, leaning so heavily on his son that they both would have gone tumbling if he'd actually fallen.
"Apparently it's pretty intense," Emma answered with a shrug.
"You're going to help him, right, Mom?" Henry asked and Regina felt a warmth spread through her.
"Of course."
He beamed and Regina returned the smile. She'd spent so many years sinking deeper and deeper into her hate and her pain that she'd forgotten what love felt like. If this was it, even amidst the chaos, she was happy to let it back in.
Rumplestiltskin had been a little put out with the fact that he hadn't been able to return home after nearly dying, but in the end the point remained - as it had before everyone had up and left - that they needed to be in the same location. He and Regina had spoken briefly on their arrival, but Belle had been ready to strangle him at that point and he'd been ushered off to a room provided with the intention of pushing things into motion the next day. He was tired of playing his father's absurd game and it was time to end it.
"You hear the news?"
He glanced up, finding his son standing in the door to the room he and Belle had been given for their (temporary) stay. "I've been ordered under no uncertain circumstances to leave this room," he answered flippantly and Bae rolled his eyes.
"Belle's just worried, Pop. I don't blame her. You were dead."
"Not quite gone yet."
"Too close for either of us," Bae answered tightly and Rumplestiltskin looked up from his project. His son was still worried.
"I'm fine now, Bae," he said softly. "Thanks to you." He reached out a hand and when the younger man crossed the room to take it Rumple was amazed, not for the first time, how far they'd come. If this had happened months before, Bae may have been saddened by his death, but he never would have been able to save him as he had now. There had been too much between them. It had been on both sides, Rumple with his walls and Bae with his, but somewhere in there they'd reached a point where they could remember - truly remember - just how much they loved each other. "So what haven't I heard?" Rumple asked, trying to keep his voice steady.
"Zelena's dead. David just got word. Apparently Pan killed her."
That was interesting. Rumplestiltskin shifted and stood. Everything was still stiff and achy, but it was nothing he couldn't push past. "Are you sure?"
"When Emma's parents say a little birdy told them something, they're usually serious."
The elder man snorted a laugh, starting forward and finding that even though he'd been seated for several hours that morning he was relatively steady on his feet. "It's time to move then."
"Did you See something, Papa?"
"Nothing clearly, but I certainly do know Pan. He's impatient and that's winning out if he killed his only ally." He held up the scroll he'd been going over again and again, the squid ink he'd pulled from his castle carefully set back on the desk so that it wouldn't fall and splatter everywhere.
"You finished it."
"Indeed I did. Shall we?"
Bae quirked an eyebrow. "Belle's going to kill you when she finds you up."
"Good thing we'll meet her on the way," Rumplestiltskin said with a grin.
Emma was a long way from being a practiced sorceress, but at least she was getting a feel for the world she should have grown up in. While there were plenty of things that still threw her, she thought she was taking it in stride. After all, she was sitting at a roundtable discussion with her mother (Snow White), her father (Prince Charming), along with Captain Hook, Little Red Riding Hood, Grumpy the Dwarf, Tinker Bell, Robin Hood, Mulan, Belle, and Phillip from Sleeping Beauty. Oh, and Jiminy Cricket. Who could forget him? She wasn't even batting an eye. Not even when the conversation was being led by Rumplestiltskin and the Evil Queen on how they were going to hold and strip Peter Pan of his powers. It was frightening how well she was taking it. Funny, though, the Blue Fairy was surprisingly absent.
"Crazy, huh?" Neal whispered with a grin and Emma wondered sometimes if he could read her mind. She resisted the urge to punch him in the arm.
"You're one to talk. It's your grandfather we're trying to beat. Is that why your dad's not calling for his head?"
Neal frowned thoughtfully. "Pop's got some serious childhood trauma with Pan, but I'm not sure he'd be able to okay himself with murdering him outright unless it was the only way to save us. Especially not now."
"The Dark One's curse changes that much?"
"You'd be surprised."
"You're good for that, right, Miss Swan?" Regina called over and her tone was so sweet that Emma knew she'd been caught.
"I... Uh..."
"If you're done flirting, some of us are trying to fight a war and keep our loved ones safe," the queen snapped.
"I didn't think Emma'd gotten to that level," Neal answered. Of course he knew what was going on, even if he'd been whispering too. He always did. Someday she'd have to get him to teach her that trick.
"All she'll need to do is act as a backup to Regina," his father answered. "Emma is quite powerful and Regina has the training to be able to use it. Pan has been syphoning off the magic of this world since he arrived. If we corner him, we're likely to see more than we have yet."
"So what? I'm the backup battery in case Pan's sucked up too much magic?"
Gold's lips tugged out into a thin smile that reminded her of all the times that he sat back and watched Storybrooke play out before any of the others had their memories back. It was an amused smile, one that made her want to repeat her actions from the last battle they'd all actively been in and see if she could get another good swing in at him. "You're being straight with us this time?" she asked carefully.
"Very," he assured her in returned, not at all offended by the insinuation. "You'll be the backup battery, Miss Swan."
Emma snorted. "I think I can manage that."
"Good. We just might need you."
"I agree with the urgency after Zelena's death," David said from his place, "but he's disappeared again. We have no way to find him."
"Lure him out," Emma suggested.
"Then who plays bait?" Hook asked.
"I don't know. Gold?"
"That'd be too obvious."
"I could do it." The entire table swiveled around and Emma tried not to sigh at the fact that her son had somehow managed to get into the meeting. Weren't there guards at the door? Gold had probably taught him some absurd trick to sneak past them. Or maybe Neal had.
"Absolutely not," Regina voiced the general consensus. "We are not using you as bait, Henry. It's far too dangerous."
"But he'll come after me, and you guys will be right there to get him. I want to help."
"Your mother's right," Gold said before Emma could. "Pan is much too dangerous to use you."
"Then me," Neal offered and Emma thought Gold might have a fit.
"No."
"Well it has to be someone, Papa," Neal argued.
The argument went on as it always did and Emma glanced back at Henry. He heaved a sigh and turned, muttering something about being useful at least in watching after Roland. She couldn't help being just as proud of him as she was worried. Someday the kid was going to be a hell of a force to reckon with, but for now he needed to enjoy his childhood. Once they finished with this mess he could really start in on what he'd always wanted: learning to live as a prince in a castle in a place full of magic and excitement. They just had to take out Peter Pan first.
They didn't give him enough credit. He might be a kid, but he was a kid that had already proven his worth many times over. He wasn't afraid of Pan anymore. He'd already faced that demon. Anyway, the worst part about Neverland had been not knowing if his family was coming for him. Now, he knew.
He also knew they wouldn't be happy with his decision, but this was urgent. Gramps had said they all agreed on that. Regina would be able to tell as soon as Henry left the castle and they'd all rush out to find him. That's when they could snag Pan. Of course, he would have preferred them to be actively in on the plan, not just reactively.
Henry took a deep breath as he stood at the large, ornate door that would lead him out into the courtyard, past his mom's apple tree, and then outside of her wards. He could do this. One step at a time managed it nicely.
As he'd begun to study magic, he'd also begun to feel the differences in it. His grandpa's magic reminded him of his shop in Storybrooke and hadn't changed since he started noticing. Regina's magic, though, seemed to be in flux. The power of it wasn't diminished, but while it had frightened him with its cold, sharp edges that she had lashed out with in Storybrooke, now it brought back warmer memories of those times when she really had been the mother he loved dearly. The memory it pulled on this time was an early fall day when the apples had just begun to ripen and Regina and he had spent that Saturday morning baking apple sweets of every different kind. They'd laughed and she'd hugged him close, none of the bitterness making its way through yet.
Henry stepped through the ward and the protective warmth dissipated around him, leaving him opened and exposed. He hadn't come without a backup plan, of course, and he clutched the charmed necklace his father had used to keep him safe in the last attack.
He didn't know quite where he was going, but he tried to. Henry focused in the path as he moved into the trees and reached out like Grandpa Gold had been teaching him. He could feel his mom's wards behind him and even the magic that stirred from the land itself. Then there was just a void and it was moving. Henry looked up, following the path that he thought he could almost see and a familiar face came into view as Pan floated in the air. "You really are quite impressive, Henry," he said, landing in the soft dirt. "Coming out here all alone and everything. I'd almost think it was a trap if you didn't look so nervous."
Henry steeled himself. "I'm not going to let you hurt anyone else."
"Zelena has done most of the harm, but she's been dealt with. She couldn't deliver what she promised."
"You're not getting my heart."
"Let's see about that," Pan answered cheerfully as he lunged, but was cut short by a cloud of dark red smoke enveloped him, picking him up and putting him back down several yards away.
Henry looked up when a hand came to rest on his shoulder and his Grandpa Gold leveled a terrible glare in his father's direction. Pan, for all that it was worth, looked like his world had been tipped over on its side. "Rumple?"
Rumplestiltskin's hand tightened on Henry's shoulder and he moved the boy back behind him. "Hello, Papa," he all but snarled.
"But... Zelena killed you. The curse..."
"Good thing my son loves me," he answered and Henry felt the slightest of shifts as his adopted mother's magic raced through the air, pinning Pan into place.
Notes: My typical posting schedule is Monday, Wednesday, Friday, but with the terrible cliffhanger I left you with and the fact that work will likely be insanely busy tomorrow, I thought I'd drop this in tonight. It's the next to last chapter and Whatever it Takes will be wrapping up with the final chapter on Wednesday. Likely I'll go ahead and post the first chapter of my next story (Courage of the Stars) on Wednesday as well and get that started.
Next time - In conclusion, Rumple tries to put at least one of his demons to rest and Snow finds out about a certain engagement.