"Magic? Rumpel, if you bring magic back – "
"We have a chance to save David if he's been kidnapped. Without magic I'm useless, and we won't have any way to get to Neverland. Providing it comes to that, of course," Rumpelstiltskin replied as they nearly ran through the woods, Belle noticing that he wasn't using his cane.
"Do you think we can do it?" she asked. "Save David? That man seems to be a little crazy over the loss of his father."
"Yes, but like the woman said, we might be able to save David from getting kidnapped if the man gets his father back – which we can give him. The magic is just a precaution – I swear, Belle."
"So if this works, and we save David, you won't use your magic to say, go after Regina for locking me away?" she asked, testing him.
He paused just as they made it to the beach, looking at her. "I promise."
"GREG! STOP!"
Belle looked over, staring as there seemed to be a standoff between Emma, her parents (that was so strange to think), Greg's father, Tamara, and Greg, with David in the middle of it, and a green portal hanging in the water below. Carefully, she and Rumpel slowly began making their way to the others.
"Tamara, what the hell? I thought you hated magic too?" Greg shouted.
"I do Greg! But he's just a kid! We can't allow a kid to be hurt! And look! Your father is alive!"
"They need to pay for taking him away to begin with! Tell me where Regina is and I'll consider letting the boy go."
Belle's eyes widened, and she looked at Rumpel, who's hands clenched into fists.
"We don't know where she is. She's been in hiding for days now!" Emma replied. "Please, just give Neal and I our son!"
Greg seemed hysterical at this point. "No! Our leader needs him!"
"Owen, please don't do this," his father finally said. "You're better than this. Please. Look, your lady friend here is right. I'm fine."
Belle gulped. This man seemed crazier than the father that had been locked up in the hospital for years – and she knew that wasn't good, having been locked up there herself. Then again, she wondered how she would react if something like that happened to her, how sane she would be herself.
Not very, but certainly not crazy enough to kidnap someone's child.
A bright light appeared from the water below all of a sudden, making the people on the docks stumble back from the force. Belle clutched Rumpelstiltskin's arm as a ship appeared out of the portal.
"Rumpel, who is that?" she asked, staring. It looked like a pirate ship – she'd seen one once when Regina had been taking her back to her palace.
"That, my dear, is the bane of Neverland's existence," he said. "Hook."
Belle's eyes widened. She'd heard of him – how could she not? He terrorized the children of Neverland, but no one could ever get there because it wasn't a place for adults, until, it seemed, Rapunzel and Eugene were given permission to.
She and Rumpelstiltskin took careful steps to the dock again, moving slowly as the light from the portal faded and the ship was fully in the harbor.
"Ah, Greg, Tamara, so you've finally got him, have you?" the thick accent said with a wide smirk. "And with some lovely company I see."
Emma glared at the man. "Give us our son!"
Hook's eyes flicked to Emma. "I'm afraid I can't do that, darling. You see, this boy will help me finally defeat Peter Pan and his band of brats."
"They are not brats!" Rapunzel said. "Honestly Hook, if a pirate was chasing me around for centuries I'm sure I wouldn't be an angel either. Especially to the man trying to kill me."
"Yeah, Hook. I know you made my time in Neverland a living hell while I was there," Neal said, stepping forward, and looking angrier than Belle had ever seen in the short time she had known him.
Hook looked confused as he gazed at Neal. "I'm sorry, have we ever met?"
"What, you don't recognize Milah's son?" Neal shot back.
That got Hook's attention, and he took a couple steps back, still holding David tight in his grip. "Ah, if it isn't Baelfire. Look at how big you've gotten. Your mother would be proud."
"Don't you dare talk about what would make my mother proud."
Hook suddenly thrust David at Greg, who shoved him onto the boat. "If you want to be stubborn, Baelfire, so be it! But your son will be quite useful to me!" he shouted as he followed his crew on-board the boat, throwing another bean into the water, Emma screaming as the boat vanished into the portal in the water.
Rapunzel acted quickly, pulling out some sort of mirror. "Tinker Bell! We need a portal, quickly! Hook has The Heart of the Truest Believer!"
"He what?!" Belle could hear the fairy screech from the other end of the connection.
"This is all my fault. I'm so, so sorry, everyone. I thought what we were doing was a good thing. That maybe I could avenge my grandmother and grandfather's names by getting rid of magic," Tamara said, shaking, as Rapunzel and Eugene spoke to Tinker Bell. "If I had known that he planned on killing your son I never would have agreed."
"It'll be okay Tamara. As long as we can get to Neverland and stop him before he hurts David, it'll be fine," Belle said. "You'll be a big help to us, actually."
"How? I've never been to Neverland. I – I didn't even know all of this was real," the dark-haired woman replied.
"You come with us to Neverland. If you help us, even though you've never been, that will show us you really are sorry," Belle told her, and Snow nodded next to her. "We all have skills that will be useful, surely you do too."
Tamara nodded slowly. "Okay. I'll try."
Greg's father bit his lip. "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to stay here. I've had enough of magic for one day."
"I understand. When you get back to town, Red will be at Granny's Diner. She should also be able to get you to a room at the bed and breakfast for you to stay at. You must need some sleep," Snow told him with a smile.
"Okay, stand back then Kurt. We need to get David back as soon as possible and Tink's sending the portal in fifteen seconds," Rapunzel said. "Everyone stand in a circle. She's going to open it right under us. And I recommend holding onto someone." She took Eugene's hand at that.
Belle's eyes widened a little as she took Rumpelstiltskin's hand, watching Snow and Charming grab each other. Neal took Emma's hand, and Belle smiled a little as Emma seemed receptive to it. He also took Tamara's hand, but Belle could see there was no love between them.
Then, in a flash, the bright green portal opened up underneath them, and Storybrooke was gone in an instant.