Chapter 29—"Nothing Like the Rest of Us"


"You want to come with me?" Tink asked Mulan after they'd been in the Dark Castle for a few days. Tink didn't particularly dislike the place, even if watching Rumplestiltskin and Belle moon over one another was getting old, but she could tell that Mulan felt like a fish out of water. "I think you'd like my friends. They're a bit rough around the edges, but—"

"No, I think I need to stay here." Mulan looked distant again, and Tink couldn't escape the feeling that there was something wrong.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am." Mulan's smile looked a little empty, though.

Tink studied her closely. "You sure?"

"I said I'm fine." Without warning, Mulan turned to stalk out of the great hall. Tink made to follow her, only to stop cold when the doors suddenly opened, revealing a gaudily-dressed young woman.

She smelled like magic, dark magic, but Tink supposed that shouldn't be a surprise here in the Dark Castle. Really, she was surprised that there wasn't more of the horrible stuff in this place, but this woman more than made up for it. There was something off about her, too, something that made Tink's fairy instincts want to run away. It wasn't dark fairy dust—Fiona had shown her some of that—but there was something abnormal about this deceptively beautiful young woman. On the surface, she had long blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes; Tink had known more than a few men who would swoon at the sight of her. Underneath that, however, seemed to be something much nastier.

"Who are you?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"I am Madam Faustina." A glare. "And you are not the Dark One."

Tink snorted. "I'm most definitely not, thank you very much."

"Then where is he?" Faustina snapped, looking at her imperiously. Tink barely managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"I'm not his keeper. I can introduce you to the Black Fairy if you want, though. I know where she is." She smiled sweetly when Faustina scowled.

People were as afraid of Fiona as they were of Rumplestiltskin, but this 'Madam' Faustina seemed to be more annoyed and impatient than frightened. Too bad. I wouldn't have minded siccing Fiona on her, and Fiona would probably have enjoyed it. Immediately, Tink felt guilty for the thought; a good fairy and a nice person didn't fantasize about using the Black Fairy to frighten people. Yet Faustina was hardly some innocent young woman. She stank of dark magic and there was something about her that made Tink's skin crawl.

"Then stand aside and I will find him myself." Faustina's answer was almost a snarl, but Tink got to see her confidence waver when a new voice cut in:

"There's no need for that, dearie. I'm right here."

Rumplestiltskin stood in the doorway to Tink's right, his expression frightfully eager. He does love his deals, Tink thought with a silent sigh. She supposed there was nothing that would change that, not while he was the Dark One. But if his mother has her way…well, everything will change. Tink couldn't blame Fiona for wanting to save her son; in fact, it was something she could definitely get behind. Ridding the world of the Dark One was a noble goal, particularly if you could actually save the person who was the current Dark One in the process. Thinking of him as the victim of a curse made Tink fear him a lot less, too, so she just shrugged Rumplestiltskin's way.

"You've got a visitor."

"Yes, thank you, I can see that." He scowled at her before shooing her out of the room, but Tink thought there was little bite in that scowl.

Yeah, Belle was right. There was someone very human beneath the mask of the monster, and his bark was a lot worse than his bite.


"I thought you were going to Avonlea to act against the Dark One, not to mildly annoy him." Killian snarled the words before he could think the better of it, and then added a belated "Your Majesty," to soothe Zelena's ego.

Not that it worked; she sniffed, clearly offended. "My plans are my own, Captain. I don't need you second guessing me."

He glared. "I allied with you for revenge on Rumplestiltskin. Not to play little war games against Snow White and her friends."

"If you think you can do better without my help, by all means, go ahead and leave." Zelena laughed. "But I assure you that your fantasies of waltzing into the Dark Castle and stealing the dagger are just that: fantasies. You'll die if you try."

"Better than dying of boredom while waiting for you to act."

"Tsk, tsk, Captain, do you really think I'm doing nothing?"

"From where I'm standing, it doesn't seem like much." Killian had seen Zelena curse men for saying less to her, but he'd also noticed that she enjoyed it when people stood up to her. Unless they knuckle under, like Gaston did. Then she never respects them again. He would not be such a fool.

"Then you're not paying attention. It's a good thing that I'm the one with a plan, unlike you." She smiled mysteriously, but Killian had had it with mystery. He'd had it with waiting. He wanted his revenge, not to sit around and play lapdog for a notoriously envious queen.

"I had a plan. I allied with you because our interests were in concert, not to be your lackey."

"Oh, don't let me stop you if you want to run off and play the avenging lover." Zelena waved a hand. "I won't get in your way. In fact, I'll even give you a little bit of help: ask dear Gaston about his former fiancé—and about how Rumplestiltskin has stolen her away."

That got Killian's attention. "He what?"

"You heard me. Do have fun. Come back when it fails, if you want. I never mind having another pretty face around."

"Love, you can't handle a face as pretty as mine."

Her delighted laughter echoed in his ears as Killian left the queen's presence. He did have the feeling that there were worlds of information Zelena wasn't sharing—she was certainly the type to send him off on a suicide mission just for her amusement, or to keep Rumplestiltskin distracted while she worked on her own plans—but that wasn't the point. Rumplestiltskin had stolen Gaston's fiancé? The irony was staggering. He never would have thought that the coward-turned-Dark One would have the gumption to steal a woman, not in a million years.

Aye, and I bet she'll be properly grateful when I rescue her, too. Killian smiled to himself, heading towards the measly rooms Gaston had been given now that he was out of favor. This could be an interesting adventure.


He'd heard of this little witch. Rumplestiltskin folded his hands, watching "Madam Faustina" closely. He knew that wasn't her name, but for all of his efforts, he'd never been able to find out this Madam Faustina's name. He knew that the first one had been named Dacey Clearwater, and she'd been the fifth daughter of some merchant around his own birth, but that woman had been replaced by this one at some point since then. She seemed fairly confident, despite his antics, and that was interesting. There could be a good deal here, and it had been weeks since he'd had one of those. Every deal he'd made in Avonlea had been a piddling little thing, barely worth his time. But staying made Belle happy, so it was worth it.

Oh, please. Do you realize how stupidly lovestruck you sound? Zoso's voice was a whine, and Rumplestiltskin slapped him aside easily.

Shut up.

"Well, dearie, now you've met the famous Dark One," he trilled, wiggling his hands eagerly. "Do you like what you see?"

"It is more a matter of if you like what I can do for you." She straightened, looking him right in the eye. "I understand that you have an inconvenient young maid here at your castle."

"Do I?" Rumplestiltskin cocked his head curiously, not allowing any of his sudden alarm to touch his face. How many people knew about Belle? What did they know about her? How had this so-called Faustina shown up within a week of Belle's return to the Dark Castle?

Zelena. It has to be her. He'd deal with the witch later, and she wouldn't enjoy it.

"I hear she is young. If she is under twenty-five, I can relieve you of the problem." An eloquent shrug. "I imagine you are quite tired of her by now."

Rumplestiltskin let his eyes narrow. "And what exactly would you do to 'relieve' me of that 'problem', hmmm?"

"I shall take her off your hands. I have uses for someone young and beautiful."

"Do you now?" This was sounding more ominous by the moment; Rumplestiltskin considered incinerating the obnoxious little witch, but worry was starting to gnaw at his gut. What kind of use could someone like Faustina have for Belle? He knew little of what she'd done to keep herself young and beautiful over the years, but no one managed to do that for two centuries without the use of dark magic.

Dark it must be indeed if it lets her continue to look like this, Nimue whispered in his mind. Usually, we wear our curses in our complexion. Not a curse, then. This was something else.

"I do." Faustina folded her hands, looking supremely confident. "I can acquire a magic bean for you in exchange for your maid, if that is something that you desire."

A bean. Rumplestiltskin's heart dropped. He had been looking, searching, scouring the world for—

"There are none left," he spat, trying desperately to mask his fury. Failing.

"I know of someone who has one. Say the word, and I will get it. Provided you will give me your young and beautiful maid in exchange, of course."

Oh, he was going to kill Zelena. Slowly and painfully. After he found out where Faustina was going to get the bean from. Assuming she has one. The very thought made him short of breath, though. To get a magic bean, to not need the curse, to find Bae… The thought was so tempting, and the chorus of voices egging him on did not help. Forget the girl, Nimue whispered, all logic. You can always find another. Your boy is another matter, isn't he?

You know you want to, Zoso added. Just agree. It's so easy. Then you'll have everything you wanted, your boy back, your mother, your family intact

Except he wouldn't have Belle, and that thought left him cold, no matter how fiercely the darkness coiled around his heart.

"Well?" Faustina demanded impatiently when his internal war kept Rumplestiltskin distracted. "Do we have an agreement?"

Rumplestiltskin forced himself back on balance. "Now what makes you think I'm interested in a magic bean, hmm, dearie? Did a certain queen tell you that?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." But Faustina flinched, ever so slightly.

"That's what I thought," Rumplestiltskin purred, and then bounded forward, closing the distance between himself and Faustina faster than she could move away. She twitched slightly, but held her ground. She was nothing if not brave, this two centuries' old merchant's daughter. Still, he leaned in close, whispering: "So, the next time you see our dear queen, do tell her to stop trying to manipulate me. And tell her to do her own dirty work."

Faustina swallowed audibly. "I will."

"Good!" Bouncing back, Rumplestiltskin gave her a wide smile. "But do come back and see me after you have the bean, dearie. Then we'll talk. There may be another deal in the making here."

He wasn't going to discount any opportunity to find a magic bean, after all. Rumplestiltskin had no intention of betraying Belle like that, but he wasn't going to ignore the opportunity to get a magic bean, either. Belle probably wouldn't let him find some useless young beauty to foist off on Faustina, but he knew magic users like Faustina. They always wanted something, and this would give Rumplestiltskin time to discover Faustina's weak points.

He watched her leave, wearing a satisfied smile. The curse was on track—even if his curse caster was a little distracted by her silly little time travel spell—Belle loved him, and his mother was being typically annoying. Life was all right.


"Can I ask you some advice?" Regina waited until she and Robin had a moment in private. She didn't know who else to turn to. Snow was too biased where Zelena was concerned—not to mention spending every waking moment with Charming—and Tink had run off to do who knew what. Her father would be against the idea of her mother coming back, too, but even Regina knew that Henry wasn't entirely logical where Cora was concerned. Robin, however, was a good friend, with no preconceived notions about her mother. And…she trusted him.

Zelena killed Marian. I can't forget that. Still, she knew Robin well enough to know that he'd try to put that aside for her sake.

"Of course you can." His smile warmed her to her soul, and Regina lowered herself to sit on the log next to him. Even now that they'd conquered more than half of George's kingdom, Robin seemed to crave the wilderness. He wandered off periodically to find a quiet spot in the woods, and today she'd gone with him.

"My…sister came to see me. She needs my help with something."

Robin's eyebrows shot up. "Your help? I dread to think with what."

"She wants to travel back in time and save my mother from what killed her. Our mother." Regina took a deep breath. "But she needs my help to do it."

"Can that be done?" His frown was thoughtful. "I don't know too much about magic, but I thought time travel was impossible."

"Apparently not." She sighed. "Zelena says she can do it."

"Do you believe her?"

Regina shrugged helplessly, picking at a leaf. "I think so. Otherwise, why would she come to me? It's not like we like each other, but I'm the only other one who might want Mother back."

"I guess then the question becomes what she wants you to do. And if you can trust her at all." Robin didn't have to list all the reasons why none of them trusted Zelena; they hung heavily in the air between them.

"I know she's done terrible things. She's tried to kill me almost as many times as she's tried to kill Snow, and she has killed countless others. Innocents." Regina saw the pain flicker through his eyes, despite the way Robin tried to bury it. "I can't condone that, but I can't ignore this opportunity, either. I never really knew my mother…"

"And you want to."

"Yeah. Is that so wrong?"

Robin's smile was gentle. "Of course it isn't. If I had the chance to bring my mother back, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"Zelena wants my magic for it," Regina admitted after a moment. The very thought left her uneasy, even though Zelena's explanation had seemed to make perfect sense.

"You have magic?" Robin blinked in surprise, staring at Regina like he'd never seen her before.

"I guess. I've never learned to use it. It never seemed important." Academically, Regina knew that she'd inherited magic from her mother, but she'd never needed it. Even on the run with Snow and the others, she'd found ways to get things done without the magic that had corrupted her sister's soul. But that same magic might save my—our—mother. Didn't she want that?

Robin's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Wait a minute here. What exactly does Zelena want from you?"

"She wants me to put my magic into some gem so that she can use it for the spell. She says it'll take too long to teach me how to help with the spell myself." Regina thought that sounded logical; her father had made sure she'd never learned much about magic, but she knew enough to know that it was hard.

"And what happens to you?"

"I won't have magic anymore, but it's not like I use it, anyway." Regina shrugged. "I can't miss what I don't know, right?"

Robin nodded thoughtfully. "But can you trust Zelena not to turn it against you once she has your magic?"

"This is going to sound kind of ridiculous, given the kind of person that she is…but I think she's telling the truth." Regina wished she knew, but she hadn't met Zelena until they'd already become enemies. "I think she really does want to save our mother."

"And you want that as well." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Understandably."

"Yes." Regina was almost afraid to whisper the word. "I don't think Daddy would approve, though."

"Why not?"

"It was…an arranged marriage. Daddy tried more than she did, I think. He told me once that Mother had a lover before him that she never really got over." Regina had always felt sorry for her father on that front. Who wanted to marry someone when they loved a different person? But she couldn't imagine her grandfather having accepted anything less; once King Xavier had decided on the marriage, that was that. And both her parents had been stuck.

"Ah. The old curse of royalty."

"Yeah." Regina surprised herself by laughing. "I guess it's a good thing that I ran away from that, huh?"

Robin's eyes met hers with an intensity that took her breath away. "Yes. Yes, I do believe it is."

Several long moments passed as they stared at one another, the feelings they'd been dancing around almost out in the open. Months had passed, and Robin had become one of the best friends Regina had ever had, but she'd never spoken of her growing attraction to him. Even when she played with Roland, she was careful to do so as Robin's friend. She hadn't wanted to push him, not while he was still grieving for Marian, but now…

Figure this out first, Regina. Then the rest will follow. She sucked in a deep breath. "Do you think I should do it? Give her my magic?"

"I think you should do what you feel is right."


"I think you owe me another story, Rumple."

The words made him jump. He and Belle were sitting by the fire in the great hall, comfortably side by side. She'd been reading to him—he loved that, even if just to hear the sound of her voice and the way she was so excited by a new book—but Belle had closed the book firmly at the end of the chapter. Racking his mind, Rumplestiltskin tried to think of what Belle wanted him to share; he'd told her about Baelfire, and that was the only story he'd promised, wasn't it? He'd even told her a little bit about Cora, although he had no intention of sharing the details of that disgusting tale unless forced to. Could she have overheard his conversation with Madam Faustina? That thought made his heart beat fast in terror, but no, Belle wouldn't have cuddled up next to him if she thought he might trade her away.

"A…a story?" He swallowed noisily.

Belle turned to meet his eyes. "Zelena mentioned a curse that you need her for."

"Oh." That was better than Belle thinking he'd ever trade her away, but only by a little. What would Belle think about the curse? A strange knot of guilt bubbled up within him; Rumplestiltskin had never focused on the consequences of the curse, of the families he would tear apart to find his son. It had never mattered to him.

So why did it matter now?

"Rumple?" Now it was her turn to swallow uncertainly. "It's something terrible, isn't it?"

She'll leave you if you tell her, Zoso warned him. You know she'll hate you for it. She's too good to want something like this. The feeling of guilt quickly turned to a feeling of terror; Rumplestiltskin couldn't lose her, not now when he'd just gotten her back! Lie, Spinner. Use your clever little tongue to get out of this one.

I was meant to be more than this. The inner voice almost sounded like Belle, but Rumplestiltskin knew that it was his own, long-dormant conscience.

"Yes," he said after a long moment. "Yes, it is."

Belle seemed to steel herself. "Tell me about it?"

"It, uh…it's the only way to get to my son." The words came out in a rush, and much to Rumplestiltskin's surprise, Belle squeezed his arm. But he still felt like breaking. "He's in the Land Without Magic, and there's no other way to get there."

It was all wrong. Even as the Dark One, he knew that facilitating the casting of the curse was wrong, but what else could he do? He would not give up. He could not leave his son alone in the Land Without Magic. Not after everything. He had sworn to get back to him, and Rumplestiltskin would keep that promise, no matter what it took.

Belle let out a breath, her eyes steely. "You had best tell me everything."

Against his better judgment, Rumplestiltskin did. For the second time, he told Belle everything, even the fact that his mother did not want the curse cast—but had offered to cast it herself if everything did not work out according to plan. Belle was not happy, and demanded many promises that he ensure the curse do as little damage as possible, that he see that families were not separated, and that no one was harmed unavoidably…and then she still wasn't satisfied. She had walked out. To think, she said.

Part of him was certain that he would never see her again.


Port Mystic's annual fair turned out to be a good time to learn more about his father. Flynnigan wasn't the only one there who knew things about the Dark One, and Bae was able to talk to several other people. The general consensus was not what he had been expecting, even after talking to Flynnigan: Rumplestiltskin made deals, and he never broke them. There were no stories about him hunting down people and hurting them, no tales of great and terrible deeds. People even said that he had helped the rebels fighting against Queen Zelena in the kingdom to the north—for a price, of course, but Bae had learned the hard way that almost nothing in life was free. He hadn't even heard of anyone being turned into a snail for offending his father, and that was odd. Surely people would talk about that if it was happening?

Tiger Lily was waiting when he returned home—was the healers' house home? Bae wasn't sure. Home had always been a peasant hovel plainer nice than this. Even in Neverland, that had been the place he dreamed of, sometimes with the wealth and trappings his papa had added to it after becoming the Dark One, sometimes without. This place was nice, and he liked Tiger Lily and Beans both, but they weren't really family.

I guess that's how you know you've really got a home: When you leave it, there's that feeling that you can't shake. You just miss it.

"Hey, you." Tiger Lily gave him a smile, but there was something behind it that made Bae's hair stand on edge.

"Hi."

"Everything all right?"

There it was. The leading question that said she expected him to spill his soul out to her. Yep, no thanks on that front. "Yeah. Everything's good. I was just at the fair."

"I heard." There was a finality in her voice that reminded Bae painfully of the way his papa used to be. Papa had always sounded like that when he knew Bae was keeping something from him.

You're not my parent, he wanted to snap at her, but didn't. Tiger Lily was his friend, and she wasn't trying to be his mother. Even if she had been, she would have done a better job than his real mother had, anyway. And he was willing to bet that Tiger Lily wouldn't have run off with a pirate, either. So, Bae took a deep breath and just got it over with. "You gonna say what else you heard, or are you gonna make me guess?"

"Clank told me you were asking people about the Dark One." Tiger Lily looked like she was trying a little too hard not to frown.

"So?" Bae made himself shrug as casually as he could. "I was just curious."

"And there's nothing wrong with curiosity. I just…I just want to make sure that you're not looking to make some sort of deal to get to the Land Without Magic." Her crooked smile was worried. "Or something else."

"Oh." A surprised laugh wormed out of Bae, even as cold misery welled up in the pit of his stomach. "Don't worry. I don't want to make a deal with the Dark One. Not for anything." Last time didn't work out so well.

Tiger Lily studied him closely. "You don't want to go back to the Land Without Magic?"

"Nah. Everyone I liked there is dead by now, and it wasn't really everything I thought it was gonna be." He missed the Darlings, but they'd lived a couple of hundred years ago. What was he going to do, find their descendants? That would be creepy.

"Oh, good." Now her smile was more open. "I'm not against you leaving if you want to…I just want you to be safe, all right?"

"Yeah. I get it." And he did, really. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go, anyway.

"Were you really asking about the Dark One out of curiosity?"

"Course I was. Why else would I ask?"

Tiger Lily didn't look like she quite believed him, but she stopped asking questions. Bae almost asked her why she cared, or why she got that extra-cautious look in her eyes when she talked about the Dark One, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know. Bae wasn't exactly certain how old Tiger Lily was or how a fairy became an ex-fairy, and he really didn't want to find out that his father had somehow been involved in that. He didn't like Pan, though, so he probably never had anything to do with Neverland.

His papa had been right about Pan, hadn't he? He went to a place called Neverland. He betrayed me, Bae. He can't be trusted. That sounded about right. His papa had talked about Pan's dark soul, and Bae hadn't believed him until he'd seen it for himself. Yet Rumplestiltskin had been the Dark One when he'd said that…and that meant at least a little of his soul had survived. Could it still?

Bae just didn't know, and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.


A/N: Thank you to everyone who is still reading! Hearing from you makes my day.

Stay tuned for Chapter 30—"Ever Just the Same", in which Zelena conspires with an ally, Belle tries to understand Rumplestiltskin's plans for the Dark Curse, Tiger Lily comes to the Dark Castle demanding answers, and Rumplestiltskin encounters an old enemy—and threatens Zelena for good measure.