Chapter Twenty-Four: Nasty Habits
Rumplestiltskin sat as if someone had frozen him to his seat. Terror kept him there and there was no good solution. Either he died or Henry did. What sort of man could choose himself over his own grandson?
You're not a man anymore. You're the Dark One, a small, familiar voice whispered within his mind. It had been there for the better part of three centuries twisting his thoughts and demanding darkness from him. Now, it would seem, his curse demanded Henry.
"I can't," he whispered softly, his voice broken against the emptiness of the shop.
You can. You will. Either he dies or you do.
"You do." Rumplestiltskin choked out a humourless laugh. "I think you mean we do, dearie," he murmured.
The sound of the front door crashing open caused him to jump and Bae came through the curtain into the back looking like he'd sprinted from wherever he'd come from. "Papa, Pan's in Storybrooke. He's after Henry!"
The Dark One's eyes watched his son steadily, even as his curse whispered, Baelfire doesn't know. If he did, he'd never have come to you. Use it. He can hardly blame you if Pan comes for the boy.
"Papa? Did you hear me?" Bae asked, his voice bordering on frightened, and why shouldn't it be? Pan was after his son. Rumplestiltskin remembered what that felt like.
His curse tried to push against the memories, but Belle's voice echoed in his mind as strongly as it ever could. You're better than your curse makes you. Her light helped him push back the darkness and he blinked, finding his son directly in front of him now, worry shining in his own dark eyes. "Bae," he breathed, almost like snapping out if a trance. His grandson was in danger, and Rumplestiltskin would make sure that he was safe. At all costs.
"Did you hear me?" Baelfire repeated.
"Yes. I'm sorry. Pan was here. Where's Henry?"
"Wait. He was here? Why?"
Rumplestiltskin pulled in a steadying breath. "There's no time. We have to get to Henry before Pan takes him away."
"He's been over at Regina's this afternoon. Emma's on her way now. Will your spell hold on him?"
The Dark One thought for a moment. That spell had been cast to protect Henry from any darkness, even his own, and the blood magic used by pushing the spell through Bae to lighten it would only serve to strengthen it against his paternal great-grandfather as well, but it had been cast weeks ago. Too much time had passed to be certain. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Bae demanded.
"Spells wear down, Bae. The spell we put on Henry will have been wearing down bit by bit since it was cast." He paused, pushing the grousing voice of his curse back. The boy was his blood. He was Bae's own son. There wasn't a question there, not for Rumplestiltskin. He'd taken the Dark One's curse on to save Bae, and if that curse had to bend to save Henry, then so be it. "We will protect Henry. I swear it to you, son. I'd give my life to keep the two of you safe."
Bae went a little pale at that. "Let's try to keep everyone alive, okay?"
Rumplestiltskin offered his son a tight smile and reached for his cane.
"I think they've been poisoning him against us," Cora said and Regina resisted the urge to throw the mug she was currently cleaning at her.
"No one's been poisoning him against us, Mother. Henry knows some of the things you've done."
"So it's me he doesn't trust?"
Regina's fingers tightened around the mug. She'd put in the time and the extreme effort to win her son back -apparently more than she even knew in Baelfire's time - and Cora thought that after everything she could just appear and be loved. Typical. "It takes time, Mother," she said tightly. "It would help if you didn't try to wheedle information about Rumple's little girlfriend out of him."
Cora looked offended. "I wasn't wheedling."
"Yes you were, and Henry knew it too. He's fond of Belle. Leave her alone."
"Is that how you live your life now, Regina? If Henry is fond of someone they are free and clear no matter what they've done?"
"Belle hasn't done anything to you," Regina countered testily.
Cora moved into the kitchen, graceful and unaffected by her daughter's sharp tone. "She's terrible for Rumple. Hardly worth his time. He'll see it and when he does, he'll do away with her. Henry shouldn't get too attached. I'm looking out for him, sweetheart."
Regina had no particular fondness for Belle, but she couldn't quite bring herself to agree with her mother either. She'd know Rumplestiltskin for many years and she'd never seen him the way he was with Belle. It was almost like his curse - nasty and terrible as it was - was subdued in her presence. It never quite broke, but it bent to her in no small way. She was hardly a passing fancy. "I think you're wrong," she said after a moment. "I think he really does love her, but that's beside the point. Gold can love or hate whoever he chooses. It's Henry that concerns me, so yes: that is how I choose to live my life. I will put my son first."
Cora laughed, the sound not as mocking as Regina was accustomed to. "If it means that much to you, dear - and to Henry - I'll leave the girl alone."
"Thank you." The phone rang on the counter and Regina dried her hands and picked it up. "Hello?"
"Regina, has Henry left yet?" Emma Swan's voice fill her ear in a rush.
"Just a few moments ago. He said he was going over to the library. Why?" There was an urgency in her son's other mother's voice that didn't set well at all.
"Tamara's dead. Neal says that the guy who killed her is after Henry."
"Regina, what is it?" her mother whispered, but the Evil Queen only gripped the phone tighter and turned.
"Who killed her?"
"Neal said it was Pan. I guess like Peter Pan. Does that mean anything to you?"
"Other than Henry having watched the movie until the disk gave in? No, not from our world. I'll meet you at the library."
"Yeah... And Regina? Neal says this kid is pretty nasty."
"I appreciate your concern, Miss Swan, but let's focus on protecting Henry, shall we?" She hung up the phone, tossing it onto the counter and starting towards the door. "Mother, we're leaving."
"We?" Cora echoed. She'd spent more time in Regina's home than not since receiving her heart back since the entire town seemed on edge with her there.
"We. You need to tell me what you know about Peter Pan."
Her mother froze. "Pan is here?"
"Yes, and he's after my son," Regina growled.
Henry rounded the corner onto the Main Street, his sights set on the library. Belle had been so excited the last few days over it that he wanted to see what she'd done with the place while he'd been at school. That, and he wanted to give her a heads up about Cora's snooping. He didn't want to go straight to his grandpa with it. Even at eleven-years-old Henry was well aware that his paternal grandfather had a tendency to overreact when it came to the people he loved. If he found out that Cora was trying to go through his grandson to get information of about his True Love, things could get very nasty very quickly. Belle, on the other hand, was much more level headed about such things, and she would know if it was something they should go to Grandpa Gold with or not.
He hadn't quite made it to the front door when he heard his name. He turned, finding a boy not too much older than himself standing in the street with a friendly smile plastered on his face. "Hello there."
"Hi," Henry said hesitantly. He'd never met the teen before and new faces in Storybrooke were rare and usually cause for concern.
The teen stepped forward and Henry could almost feel the electricity in the air. The kid could use magic. Henry had never met anyone near his age that could do magic. "Who are you?"
"My name is Peter Pan, and I need your help," the teen answered in a compelling voice. If Henry hadn't known better, if his dad hadn't warned him, he would have jumped on it, but instead he took a step back.
"I know who you are," Henry said carefully. "You know my dad. Baelfire. He warned me about you."
Pan frowned. "Baelfire and I parted on...a misunderstanding," he said, choosing his words carefully.
"Pretty sure there's no misunderstanding when you kidnap someone and hold them hostage for three hundred years."
"So will you not help me, Henry?"
"No. I'm not doing anything for you," the boy answered and turned. If he could make it to the pawn shop, just past library, Grandpa Gold would protect him. He took off in a sprint, shoes slapping against the pavement for several steps before they lifted entirely off the ground. He have a startled yelp and looked up, finding a shadow that wasn't attached to a body holding him aloft. He struggled, even as he was lifted higher, but the shadow wouldn't let go.
"Henry!"
He looked down, seeing his dad and Grandpa Gold below. He struggled harder. "Dad! Help!"
Baelfire wore a terrified expression as his son was dragged higher and higher, and soon Henry couldn't see him at all. "Where are we going?" he asked the shadow and received an answer that he really hadn't been expecting.
"Neverland."
"That's my son, you bastard," Bae growled and he'd taken Pan to the ground before he could get away.
Pan just laughed. "Good to see you too, Baelfire. Showed up just in time to say goodbye, didn't you?"
"Bring him back or I'll-"
"You'll what?" Pan asked and a rush of magic slammed Baelfire back.
He caught it before he was thrown entirely to the ground, though, and his mind worked through everything his papa had been teaching him. Magic was about emotion. Control the emotions, harness them, and them use them. He focused on Henry's face and his son's voice and laugh. He remembered how he felt the first time he'd fought Pan for him - at time that Pan couldn't possibly know about - and how afraid he'd been when Henry shoved his heart into Pan's chest. All of those memories and emotions bubbled together and he pushed back with them, sending sparks of magic in all directions.
"Well look at that," Pan cheered. "Rumple's been teaching you magic. Too bad it won't help you save Henry. He's on his way to Neverland now, and you know what that means, don't you, Baelfire?"
Bae let out a frustrated sound, but felt a hand in his arm. "We'll get him, Bae," his papa promised in his ear.
"Oh? Trusting you father so much these days, are we? I'd be careful with that. Rumple's always had his own agenda."
"You know nothing about me," Rumplestiltskin growled dangerously.
"I know more than you think," Pan answered with a laugh. "I'd be careful, Baelfire. Even if you rescued Henry from me, who'd rescues him from your dear papa?"
Then he was gone, just as Emma, Mary Margaret, and David came around the corner, Regina and Cora following not far behind them. Bae felt his chest constrict. They'd lost him. He'd let his son be swept away to Neverland - again - by his demonic grandfather. In that moment he felt like his knees might give way and he felt his father shift uncomfortably behind him. Pan's words echoed in his mind and he wondered if his papa had put it together yet.
"Bae, I need to tell you something. I need you to listen, son, I would never hurt Henry-"
"I know, Papa," Bae answered in a choked voice. His son was gone.
"I just need you to know that. I... Henry is-"
"I know," Bae said a little more forcefully and he turned, pulling his papa into a right hug so that he could speak into his ear. Emma knew, but he wasn't willing to risk anyone else knowing. Not even Regina. Especially not Cora. "I know about the prophecy, Pop, and you forget. I've already seen you sacrifice yourself for him."
Rumplestiltskin stiffened in his arms. "Oh Bae," he breathed, and his son could hear the conflict in his voice. He trusted him, though. He might not always trust him to do the right thing - and certainly if it didn't match his own motivations - but he trusted him to protect his family. "We'll save him. I swear."
"I know," Bae said again, finally releasing him as the others approached. "I'm not losing either of you."
"Neal? Where's Henry?" Emma asked, out of breath.
"Pan took him. We didn't get here in time. We just... Emma we just missed him."
"Where would he take him?" Regina asked.
"And why?" David added in.
"Pan needs Henry's heart," Bae answered tightly. "He's dying and Henry's heart can keep him alive."
"You knew about this?" Emma demanded and her fury was only matched by Regina's.
"I thought we'd avoided it!" he argued. "Tamara and Greg took him in my time. I didn't think Pan would come looking for him like this!"
"Why didn't he take his heart here?" Cora murmured thoughtfully. "Why take him to Neverland?"
"I'd wager it needs to be offered willingly," Rumplestiltskin answered.
"That gives us time to save him then," Mary Margaret said.
"And how do you plan to cross worlds, dearie?"
"The beans, of course," she answered without missing a beat and Bae saw his papa go a little pale before the mask fell into place.
"Yes, of course."
"Is there a problem with that, Rumple?" Regina snapped.
"No, of course not," he answered hastily.
"Then what are we waiting for? We'll get the beans and go," Emma said.
"And you expect we can simply waltz right into Neverland without any sort of a plan?" Cora demanded and all eyes turned to her, but it was Bae's papa that spoke.
"There is no we that includes you, dearie," he said nastily, all uncertainty washed out of his voice now.
"And why shouldn't it?"
"Because Neverland makes a person forget," Rumplestiltskin answered, squaring his shoulders. "He'll need his family to pull him out of that place."
"And I'm not his family?" Cora demanded. "I'm his grandmother."
"That would imply you ever played the part of mother to Regina."
Cora went silent, staring at him in return. Mary Margaret took the break to clear her throat. "We don't have time to argue this. Emma, will you come with me to get the beans?"
"Yeah."
Bae's lips thinned and he glanced over to Regina who looked more than a little uncomfortable. She was speaking lowly with her mother and Cora looked even less happy than before. Baelfire sighed and turned back to his own papa. "Bring Belle."
"What?"
"You should bring Belle."
"Why on earth or in any of the worlds would I purposefully put her within the same vicinity as Pan? If it weren't Henry, I'd be begging you to stay."
"I know, and I know who he is to you - to us - but I know who Belle is too." He pulled in a deep breath, steeling himself. "The day that you died," he said slowly, "you said Belle was your strength. I think you're going to need her for this, Papa, because of who Pan is."
Rumplestiltskin sighed, but Bae could see that the words had resonated with him. "Not that she'd stay if I asked her to," he sighed and his son tried for a smile.
"Thanks, Pop."
He turned, but paused before he took more than a step forward. "I need you too, son, to remind me," he confessed softly.
"I'm right here," Bae promised and watched his father hobble away. Once he'd thought that his father would risk Henry's safety for a chance to be with Belle, but he knew better now. He knew that she enabled him to choose to do what needed to be done. She gave him strength. Belle made him better than his curse, even when he couldn't find it in himself to be.
So Bae would trust his papa. This time, he would choose to trust him.
Belle listened to everything as only she could. He didn't have time to tell her everything, but he hit the highlights of his first traumatic trip to Neverland as a child as she shoved a few things quickly into a bag. "Why is your father after Henry?" she asked, those clear blue eyes cutting through to his stained soul.
"Bae believes he's after his heart. Neverland was never meant to sustain the people Pan brought to it. Not like he's done it, anyway."
"I always thought Henry had a very special heart," Belle murmured as she tugged a pair of boots that were much more practical for traipsing around than her usual heels were. "What does he have to do with this prophecy?"
Rumplestiltskin cringed. "The prophecy says that a boy would lead me to Bae and the boy would be my undoing."
Belle's fingers paused for half a best as she was tying the laces of her boots. "That's vague."
"Indeed," he breathed as she stood and crossed the space between them. Belle didn't wait, didn't speak at first, but she tipped up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his lips. Rumplestiltskin felt a warmth flush through him, True Love pushing back the darkness and forcing it to subside at least for that moment.
When they broke, Belle wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her cheek against his chest. "You're not bound to it, Rumple," she whispered. "It's not you or Henry. I refuse to believe that, just because Pan said it."
He sighed and kissed the top of her head. "Perhaps," he said noncommittally and it pulled a small laugh from her.
"You don't have to believe it now, but you will." She pulled back to look him in the eye and Rumplestiltskin's breath caught in his throat. "Let's change fate, Rumple."
"You are amazing, do you realize that?"
"Yep," she answered cheerfully and took his hand, pulling him towards the door that would lead them out of her little apartment and down the street. "Let's go save Henry."
Rumplestiltskin found himself smiling despite the circumstances. If anyone could change his fate, it was his Belle. The woman had more strength in her than anyone else could have dreamed of, especially him. She had the will to make things happen. Perhaps taking her to Neverland was the right choice afterall.
The others were waiting for them on the Main Street outside of the library. Snow had a small bag in hand and there was no question as to what was contained in it. He'd tried to put those nasty beans out of his mind even when Henry had told him that they were being grown, but there was no use in doing that now. Those terrible things - so small and inconspicuous, yet powerful enough to rip his family apart every time he'd used one - were the only way that they'd reach Henry in time to save him. Pan might have a head start, but Henry was a clever boy. He could hold out against his lies and trickery and he'd know beyond a shadow of a doubt that his family would come for him.
"Papa, you okay?"
Rumplestiltskin offered his son a tight smile. He didn't know what he'd done to deserve his trust Bae was choosing to put in him, but he was determined to keep it.
"I think you're making a mistake, dear," Cora directed at Regina, her daughter looking as if she'd been going at her since Rumple had gone to fetch Belle.
"I know that you do, Mother, but we'll go and get Henry and be back before you know it."
"That you believe it will be that easy only means you'll need my help more. Rumple, I know that you don't want me along, but please stress to Regina the dangers of Neverland."
Rumplestiltskin bristled. "There are many," he agreed, "and that's why you should stay here, Cora. There's no need to be looking over our shoulders when we should be on the lookout for Pan."
"It's been decided. You're staying, we're going," Emma said firmly. "Everyone ready?"
Heads were nodded and Rumplestiltskin looked around. They were armed and ready for this rescue mission, Charming with his sword and Snow White with her bow. Belle offered him a reassuring smile as Emma plucked one of the beans from her mother's pouch and looked back around. "Just throw it?"
"Throw it and everyone focus on Henry," Regina agreed.
"Right." The savior tossed the bean forward and the ground opened up into a swirling pit. Snow White took her daughter's hand and they jumped through together, Charming behind and Regina stepping in after them.
Bae started forward to follow, but noticed his father hadn't moved yet. "Papa?"
Fear rooted him in place, dark brown eyes fixated on the swirl of chaos that had never brought anything good in his life. It had been a magic bean that had taken him to Neverland in the first place and had ripped his little family apart as a child. Then the Blue Fairy had handed Baelfire a bean and told him it would save his father. Rumplestiltskin had known better, of course. He knew what it really meant. He knew what those beans were capable of.
It'll tear us apart!
He'd told Bae. He'd warned him, and now… Now they were going through again. He felt his chest tighten and his breath came in short gasps, even as Belle looped her arm through his. "Rumple?"
Bae was looking at him with a desperation shining in his eyes. "It won't stay open forever, Papa. We've got to go." He reached forward to him, palm outward and waiting for him to take his hand. "I won't let go of you if you won't let go of me."
Rumplestiltskin risked a look at Belle who offered an encouraging smile. It was what he needed and he forced himself to take his son's hand. Bae didn't wait as he pulled him forward and the three of them tumbled through the portal together before it snapped shut, falling through the fabric of the worlds and towards Neverland.
TBC
Next time - Chapter Twenty-five: Welcome to Neverland, in which too much has changed and nothing happens as Bae once lived it.