Chapter Twenty-Six

When Killian had been very young, he'd wanted to be like his father. He couldn't understand the sad sort of look in his mother's eyes every time he said so, but his father would lift him up in his arms and put him up on his shoulders and somehow the world became a better place, no matter the troubles. They'd spend hours looking out into the ocean's waves and his papa would tell him about all the places that they would go, all the lands that they would see. They could be free and he could give his sons everything that they desired. His father had been his hero in those days.

Then his father let him down. They were going on an adventure, he'd told Killian, and then left him behind. He drank a lot in those days, and perhaps the hero worship should have died off a little sooner than it did, but letting go of a childhood hero is always hard, especially when it's a child realizing that his papa wasn't everything that he thought he was. He made it though, and when he finally understood the way things were he changed his aim. His father had been a scoundrel, a scallywag, but his big brother was a good man. Liam was a worthy recipient of his younger brother's affections, and though other boys might look to their fathers for their future, Killian looked to his brother as his new hero. He'd joined the King's Navy and he did what was right. "When you're old enough, I'll make sure you are put where you're needed," Liam had promised. "Someday, we'll sail the seas together."

He'd made good on that promise, unlike their father, and Killian had worked hard. He'd given everything up for it and they'd been happy until the day that his brother had died. It had been at that point that Killian had decided that the notion of heroism was severely overrated. They'd been used by their king and their blind trust in what was good had gotten the only person he had left killed. Not that being a rogue had saved him any heartache particularly. It would be ironic, he found himself thinking as he heard the heavy footsteps coming towards him, if he were killed by another Dark One, when Rumplestiltskin had been the one he thought would end him.

"Who would have thought that a pirate would have found a place with a group of self-proclaiming heroes?" Zoso murmured. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. They even take cowards. Not a very discerning lot, are they?"

Hook winced, trying to sit up and failing miserably. He hurt all over, but he supposed with the way he hit he should be grateful he could feel anything at all. "You'd be surprised… what a ragtag bunch can do," he managed and felt something pop painfully as he shifted.

"You've been watching over the boy for the last few days, hmm? Baelfire's son. I think it's time I meet him, don't you?"

"Stay away from him," Hook growled out and somewhere he found enough strength to pull himself up. He'd made it to his knees - the speed at which he was moving slow enough to prove Zoso wasn't in any particular hurry - and he felt the same invisible locks tighten around his battered body and lift. He hadn't gotten a view of the damage he'd done to the office before, but as he took in the shattered glass window he thought that he might have actually gotten off lucky. Not that that would hold in the position he was currently in.

"I don't think I will." Zoso barely moved his fingers, but Killian was slammed back with such speed and force that he felt everything pulse dangerously around him. The second blow, though, made him go limp and as darkness closed in he thought he could hear him walking away saying, "Come along, Snow White."

"Mama said stay 'way from the blinds."

"Mama?" Henry echoed, looking over at Roland who was seated on the couch with his legs folded neatly on the cushion like it was his own little raft. Little Leo was in the crib just next to the couch, snoozing happily and oblivious to the danger that surrounded them, or at least, the danger that was supposed to have surrounded them. Zoso had been locked up, but the adults had nearly lost it when Henry had suggested that they should be released from the house arrest that they felt like they were under for their own safety. Not until he was dealt with entirely, that was the consensus. Well, at least they'd found something they could all agree on.

"Regina."

Henry choked back a sound of surprise. Maybe his mom and Robin were closer than he thought. "When did you start calling her mama?" he asked carefully.

The little boy shrugged. "I haven't called her that yet, but I don't have a mama, and if I did, I'd want it to be her."

Regina's adopted son felt a warmness spread through his chest and he let the curtains fall back into place as he moved to take a seat next to Roland. "Guess that makes you my little brother, huh?"

Roland beamed. "Really?"

"Well, Regina is my mom."

"How'd you get two moms?"

"It's a long story," Henry murmured as the buzzing phone on the table caught his attention. He crossed the space, seeing his grandmother's name flash across the screen and slid his finger across the touch screen. "Hey, Grandma Snow! Anything new?"

"Everything's okay now, Henry," his grandma said from the other end, "but I need to talk to you. Can you come let me in? Your grandfather's wards won't let me onto the property."

"My…Okay. Be out in just a minute. We're changing Leo."

He hung up the phone and met Roland's confused expression. "No we're not."

"I know, but something's wrong with Grandma Snow. She never calls my grandpa my grandpa. She calls him Rumplestiltskin. I don't think she really likes to admit that I'm related to him unless it's convenient." He glanced back at the window and picked Leo up from his crib. "Remember how I told you to hold him?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, take him upstairs and don't go near any windows. My dad's room is the furthest one to the right down the hall on the second floor. Close the door, don't come out until someone's in the house, got it? Only people on our side can come in, Grandpa made sure of it."

"Where are you going?"

"To see if everything's okay."

Henry watched the little boy that was quickly becoming his younger brother take his baby uncle around into the hall and he could hear him trudging up the stairs with his load. He didn't know what was wrong with his Grandma Snow, but if something terrible had happened he needed to find out. He sucked in a deep breath and opened the door, taking the stairs down the porch two at a time and flashing her his biggest grin while he waved.

She didn't wave back and a cold chill settled in. Good thing he'd closed the door behind him. His grandpa had told him that would seal the protection spell back up. As he got closer he could see tears streaming down her face and a tortured sort of expression plastered there. "Henry," she breathed.

"So you're the boy," a new voice said from behind him and Henry whirled to see Zoso looming over him. He'd seen him on Main Street when he'd brought everyone to be his audience. He'd left his grandpa bleeding in the street, but Rumplestiltskin had gotten the last blow in on that fight. He'd proved that love was stronger than hate when his protection spell that he'd cast over Belle had sent Zoso flying back. Henry had heard the discussion between the adults and the conclusion had come that the spells that rested over the house would be enough to keep him safe. There was no need for an individual spell that would only pull from Rumplestiltskin's much depleted magical reserves. He'd left the house now, though, and he was staring up at a man that radiated evil like his grandpa never had. His grandpa was dark, sure, but there was nothing like this attached to him.

"What'd you do to Grandma Snow?" Henry demanded, forcing his voice to remain steady.

"She helped me a bit, just as you will now."

"I'm not going to help you do anything," the teen answered, taking a step back.

"I think you are. See, your grandmother here has lost her heart, and she needs someone like you to get it back for her. You wouldn't want her to go without a heart, would you, Henry?"

Dark eyes stared wildly at the beating half-heart in the demon's hand. It was so pure looking and Henry couldn't help but feel a bit of fear creep in - okay, more than a bit - and he tried desperately to push it down. "Okay. I'll go with you. Just.. Don't hurt her."

A smile stretched Zoso's lips. "That's a deal I'll make with you boy," he said before reaching out and taking him by the arm. "Once we're done, I'll return this to her. For now, I think we need some insurance, don't you?"

"Grandma!" Henry tried to cry out, but they were gone, pulled through magic that he couldn't break free from.

Rumplestiltskin turned the weapon over in his hands, expert fingers running along each crevice in exploration. The wound that the dagger had opened in him burned was he handled it, almost as if the poisonous blow it had dealt him was trying to work its way back through his system. This was most certainly the duplicated dagger. Nothing else would have caused that sort of reaction in him.

"There were only so many places he could hide it," David said, looking over Rumple's shoulder at it.

"Now comes the truly tricky part: deciding what to do with it." All eyes turned to Robin Hood - he and Regina had been the ones to actually find it and call the others over - and the weight that his words carried brought a very small smile to Rumplestiltskin's lips. The rogue seemed to know that this was no easy decision. With that blade they'd be deciding the fate of the one whose name it bore. Likely that would include the heroes of their little group proclaiming it was right and just to keep the man a slave. Oh, they wouldn't call it that, of course. They'd come up with some lofty words to make themselves feel better when in the end tough decisions would need to be made. It appeared Robin understood that. Perhaps Regina had chosen more wisely than he had thought.

"Not sure there is much of a choice," Emma said tightly, and it sounded like she may have understood as well. She'd spent a fair amount of time the past week or more with Bae. If anyone would understand, it was Rumple's son.

Bae reached over and his father relinquished the weapon carefully, the pain easing immediately once his fingers left the cursed blade. "There's no way to funnel the curse into an inanimate object, is there? I mean, it does transfer through the blade, right?"

His son was clever, and he wondered how many ideas he'd revisited in the past weeks on how to do away with the curse entirely. Rumplestiltskin remembered countless drawings and ideas in the earliest days of his curse, his son determine to free him of it. If he'd simply knelt down and let the boy press a kiss to his forehead, would that have been enough? "If the dagger itself were the holder of the power, perhaps, but it's transferred through both the dagger and the act. They must be in equal parts."

Bae frowned thoughtfully, still inspecting it.

"Regardless, we're pushing our luck," Regina murmured. "Those spells won't hold forever."

Several people jumped as Emma cell phone rang out, the loud tune cut off as she answered. Her eyes immediately narrowed. "Hook? Hook, I can't understand... Killian?" She shot a worried look over to Bae. "I think we need to get over there."

Regina and Rumple exchanged looks before he nodded and all seven of them were instantly transported to the town hall in a swirl of red and purple smoke. The office was in shambles with the cell door hanging wide open.

Killian Jones was slumped against one of the spare desks, the phone dangling by its chord against the floor and he appeared to be unconscious. Though, if he had been the one to do the damage to the back office, it was a wonder he'd been able to drag himself out at all. Even his heavy leathers had not saved him entirely from the glass biting through his skin and one arm was bent at an awkward angle. From the looks of it, he'd dragged himself into the main room, determined to get ahold of someone.

Emma was knelt down in front of him. "Killian? Hey, open your eyes. Come on," she urged, one hand going to check his pulse and blue eyes slid open.

He stared at her a moment, likely trying to bring her into focus, and the smile that he tried for split his lip for all his efforts. "Hey beautiful," he slurred.

Belle grabbed Rumple's hand as they stood back with Regina and Robin, giving Bae room to take a seat in the floor, Zoso's dagger still carefully clutched in his hand. "Killian. You okay?"

"Remains to be seen," the pirate managed, coming a bit closer to coherency and finding pain waiting for him. "What happened?"

"Looks like Zoso broke free," Regina murmured from her place.

That seemed to bring Hook around and it took both Emma's and Bae's hands to keep him from flailing.

"Hook, what happened to Mary Margaret?" David asked hesitantly, the evenness of his tone sounding forced.

"He took her," the pirate said through a wince. "I'm sorry, David. I tried..."

"I know," the prince answered.

"What did he want with Mary Margaret?" Belle asked carefully. She and the doe-eyed princess had become closer during Rumplestiltskin's time in Zelena's cage. Her expression showed nothing of the fear Rumple could feel in the way her hand tightened around his.

"Henry," Hook answered, his gaze going to each of the teen's parents in turn. "He wants Henry."

"Like hell he's getting him," Emma snapped. "How is he using Mary Margaret to-"

"He took my heart."

Everyone on their feet spun nearly in unison at the soft voice. Snow White stood in the doorway, tears streaking down her face and the most tortured look in her eyes that any of them had ever seen.

"He forced me to call Henry… I'm so sorry. Emma, Zoso has him. I couldn't…."

David was at her side in an instant, holding her up and wrapping his arms around her neck.

"Zoso has Henry?" Regina managed, her voice as strained as the expression she wore now. She whirled on Baelfire. "Call him. Now. We're ending this."

"We most certainly are," Rumplestiltskin answered before his son could say anything, "but not by calling him here."

"Papa-"

"No, Bae. I've let this go on long enough." He reached a hand out, palm outward. "The dagger, son."

Bae's expression said that he knew it wasn't a request, but he didn't hand it directly to him either. "What are you going to do, Papa?"

"End this," the Dark One bit out. "I'm going to end this and I'm going to end him before he can hurt my grandson."

The protests were only half out as the duplicated dagger vanished from Bae's hand and into Rumplestiltskin's, the elder man disappearing as soon as his fingers gripped it. They'd be angry, certainly, but it didn't matter. None of it did. If he didn't kill Zoso now the older Dark One would go after everyone he loved and it was only a matter of time. They didn't understand what he was capable of, what the curse would drive him to do and he didn't care to stop it. His heart needed to cease beating for any of the others to live, and as much as he loathed to admit it, Rumple was the only one that had a chance of coming out on top of the Dark One Curse, though the pragmatist in him knew that the likelihood of retaining even a sliver of his humanity against two raging curses was beyond reasonable hope. For his family, though, he was willing to sell what was left of his soul to keep them safe.

TBC

Notes: In the next chapter - Rumplestiltskin confront Zoso with the dagger.