Ah, Dracomom, always good for a chuckle. Not to mention the fact that a grammar Nazi like yourself is too enthralled by my story to remember my errors really brings a smile to my face. Put down the notepad and just enjoy the ride, haha xD And THANK YOU for hitting the nail on the head! Yes, Regina most definitely would have shared Gryphon with Snow, but that's the tragedy of this woman: so many little things could have altered the course of her life drastically. And yes, my personal issues are resolved, though my eyes are still giving me some trouble. Thanks to minorshan for helping me with that ;)
Chapter 44
Taking you back to before Snow and Regina's reminiscing. Next chapter will be the present day conversation that accompanies the flashback. In the meantime, get ready for it RumBelle fans ;)
"You can all stop worrying," Henry said, sliding onto the kitchen stool again.
Regina glanced down at him, brow furrowed. She was annoyed with herself for not having noticed his absence. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
"I know how we can get Sidney back," he said, carefully avoiding Regina's gaze.
"Henry," Regina grabbed his shoulders, turning him to face her. She bent down slightly so they're eyes met. "What did you do?"
Henry couldn't bring himself to look his mother in the eye. He knew what was coming and he couldn't help cringing at the thought. "I…told him about Belle."
Regina's breath hitched and her mouth fell open slightly. She looked like Henry had just stabbed her in the gut. She shook her head, eyes wide. "Gods…Henry, how could you?" There was pain in her voice and Henry at last looked up to see her eyes shining. He hadn't anticipated this particular reaction.
"It's okay," he said. "I made him promise not to hurt you. Or anyone else. And I made him promise to free Sidney and convince him to help us."
"Regina, what's he talking about?" Emma asked.
But Regina just shook her head, unable to speak. She turned her back on everyone, arms wrapped around herself. Henry looked up at Emma, a hint of pleading in his voice as he explained. "Rumplestiltskin's in love with Belle. She was locked up in the Enchanted Forest but…"
"I told him she died," Regina finished. She didn't need to turn around – she could feel everyone's eyes on her back.
Henry sighed. "When I realized Rumple wasn't with Belle after the curse broke I figured Belle was still locked up somewhere. I knew…"
"You knew I was lying. About Sidney," Regina muttered.
This time everyone's gaze swung to Emma. "She was telling the truth about him not helping us," Emma protested.
At this Regina turned, her eyes on Emma. No one noticed. "How could you not tell us she was lying!" Snow yelled.
"It doesn't matter!" Henry shouted, and everyone fell silent again. He let out a quick huff, shaking his head. "The point is, I figured she would put Sidney in the same place she put Belle. She didn't want us looking for Sidney because she didn't want to risk Rumple stumbling across Belle and getting mad. Well, now the problem's fixed. He's not going to hurt anyone and he's going to set Sidney free."
"Spill," August said to Regina, looking annoyed.
She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed with his tone. Emma tilted her head, prompting her to speak, and she sighed. "The prison must be some sort of duplicate of the one I had in the Enchanted Forest. There was an enchantment placed over it to block magic inside the cells. If the enchantment was brought over, which it most likely was, Sidney would have been unaffected by the magic that entered Storybrooke. Once he's let out of his cell he'll return to his genie form and, at least I suspect, be trapped as the magic mirror again."
Snow shook her head. "Unbelievable. You expect us all to trust you and yet, here you are with a way to help us and you've been hiding it all this time because you don't want to risk your own skin. Nothing's changed."
"Well you're not helping right now. You two are being stupid."
"Henry!" Emma, Snow and Regina said simultaneously.
"Well, you are!" he said fiercely, glancing around at all of them. "You're all on the same team now. You're the good guys, the heroes. You can't be fighting all the time, or you're never gonna get anything done!"
"Anyone else think it's sad that the kid had to point that out?" August said quietly when no one else spoke. Snow and Regina hung their heads, both feeling deeply embarrassed and ashamed.
Emma sighed. "Henry's right. You two need to figure out a way to work together. We have serious problems to deal with and you two bickering isn't getting us anywhere." She spoke gently, knowing that this was not an easy task for either woman, but even Emma's patience was wearing thin.
"I guess now we're back to waiting. I imagine Rumple's gonna be a while," August said.
"I need a drink," Emma muttered, and left the group to track down whatever whisky Regina hadn't already polished off.
"I'm sorry, you can't…" the nurse froze as her eyes took in Rumplestiltskin. She recognized him immediately and felt her blood run cold.
"Afternoon, dearie. I believe you have something of which I am in need. Care to make a deal?" The nurse opened her mouth to speak, but before any noise could escape her lips Rumple waved his hand and the woman vanished in a puff of smoke. Rumple watched with a satisfied smirk as a tiny spider scurried across the desk, and just as it was about to vanish from sight he swung his hand down and felt the insect squish under the weight of his palm. "Terribly sorry, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. You understand." He flicked a finger of his clean and a heavy set of keys zoomed towards him. He grabbed hold of them with a satisfying clash.
He walked down the long, dingy, hospital white hallway, past countless names he didn't care to read, seeing countless faces. Some he vaguely recognized, some he knew well, a few he had never met, but none of them were of any significance. He came to a halt beside a door that read 'Jane Doe', this one with the viewing window closed, and felt his heart begin to race. He grabbed hold of the tiny handle and for a long moment simply stood frozen. It occurred to him then that he had no idea what to expect on the other side of the door.
Belle, he knew, would have regained all of her memories from the Enchanted Forest when the curse broke. She would recognize him instantly. But would she still love him? Could she ever love him again after what he'd done to her? And perhaps even more important was the question of what exactly she had endured in her prison, and how the last 28 years might have affected her. It occurred to Rumple that he didn't know whether Belle had kept her memories of her true identity or not. And if she hadn't, what new memories had been set in their place?
'I'll explain it to her,' Rumple silently vowed. 'I'll explain Bae, Reul Ghorm, the Dark One, everything. She'll forgive me. She'll understand what I had to do, why I couldn't give up the power, and she'll forgive me.' He tensed his hand, ready to ease open the tiny window, when another voice inside him said, 'But can she forgive you for bringing that power back? After all, you don't need magic here to find Bae.'
"Yes, I do," Rumple growled quietly. With that conviction he pulled the window open and peered inside the cell…only to see an unfamiliar woman facing him, sound asleep of her tiny bed. He slammed the window shut and felt cold disappointment settling in.
'She's here. Just keep looking.' So he set off again, stopping twice more at cells with closed windows holding female prisoners, each time with the same sense of hesitation. With each failure his frustration grew, until at last he came to another cell that read 'Jane Doe' and this time simply yanked the door off its hinges with all of his magical strength.
There was a loud gasp, barely audible over the crash of the door as Rumple threw it aside. Before he had time to even look inside the cell he felt arms clinging to his neck with surprising strength. He was stunned, and for a moment his mind reeled as he imagined an old enemy trying to choke the life out of him. And then he inhaled, and he was filled with the familiar scent of lilacs and a hint of citrus that somehow, impossibly, lingered in her skin even after all these years. Rumple grabbed his 'attacker's' shoulders and held her at arms length.
There was no mistaking her. Even in her white hospital gown, her long hair falling in dull tangles, there was no mistaking her beauty. "Belle," Rumple said breathlessly.
"Is it really you? I… I thought you'd never come for me." She struggled to look him in the eye, ashamed of her doubt.
"Oh, Belle," he said, pulling her back into a tight hug. Her tension drained away instantly. "I'm so sorry," he said heavily. He struggled to rein in his anger as he said, "I thought you were dead."
"You did?" She asked, pulling back slightly to look into his eyes.
"Yes. But that doesn't matter right now. All that matters is you're alive, and we have all the time in the world to be together now. There's nothing standing in our way anymore." He smiled, a little hesitantly.
Belle smiled and raised a hand to Rumple's cheek. "Behind your beastly mask beats the heart of a boy, Rumplestiltskin. Someday…" But she let her voice trail off. Rumple thought he knew what she wanted to say. There was a sadness that clouded her smile now and he longed to erase it.
"I owe you an explanation," he said.
"You don't owe me anything," she assured him, shaking her head.
"Yes, I do. You deserve to know everything. I… I don't deserve your love after what I've done..."
"Don't say that-"
"No, no, it's okay. I treated you terribly; I sent you away, I…" Rumple gave his head a sharp shake. "It wasn't cowardice that made me turn away from you, and I need you to understand that. You will know everything very soon, I promise."
"After we get some new clothes and a good meal?" Belle asked with a hopeful smile.
Rumple chuckled. "Of course, dear. But first I have a deal to uphold."
He took Belle's hand and led her back down the hallway, thankful that this time he knew exactly what name he was looking for. Before long he stopped in front of a cell that read S. Glass. "Who's in there?" Belle asked.
"A very important ally." He turned to look at Belle, another realization striking him; she didn't know about the Blue Fairy's betrayal, or Rumple's alliance with the Queen, or even Emma and her role in the town. Did she know about the curse? He shook his head. There would be time to explore her memory later. "Stand aside here. I don't want him seeing you while I speak to him."
Belle did as she was told, curiosity burning now. Rumple opened the cell door and grinned. "Mr. Glass, lovely to see you again. Or is it Genie of Agrabah?"
Sidney stood, eyes darting around as though looking for some escape. "I know who you are," he said, breathing slightly heavily.
"Wonderful, that will save us time. Now, if you'll kindly come with me…?" He held out his hand, careful not to actually put his hand in the cell.
Sydney looked long and hard at Rumple's outstretched hand, wheels turning in his brain. Then, at last, he took several slow steps forward and reached out his own hand. But just as his fingers closed around Rumple's, he gave a sharp and incredibly strong pull and Rumple stumbled into the cell. As he passed over the threshold he felt a terrible weakness pass over him and knew that his power was gone. 'It's only temporary. You'll have them back as soon as you leave. Keep your head!'
"Very clever, Genie," Rumple said, not quite able to mask his anger even if he could hide his panic.
"I knew it," he hissed. "When the curse broke I should have returned to her. This cell is the only thing preventing that."
Rumple sighed, straightening up to his full height again. The pain in his leg was no worse than it had ever been as Gold, but having it return so suddenly and unexpectedly was making it difficult to ignore. Deciding that perhaps his usual methods weren't the best approach in this situation anyway, Rumple gave into his pain and sat down on the threadbare mattress behind him. He explained the curse being broken, his bringing magic using the power of Lake Nostos, the Blue Fairy's betrayal, Regina's sacrifice and subsequent loss of power – of course he glossed over the details, knowing how important it was to paint Regina as a changed woman – and finally their helplessness and their need for his help as a spy.
When at last Rumple had finished, wishing her could see Belle's face as she too digested all of this information, Sidney scoffed and rolled his eyes. "You expect me to give up my freedom to help Regina?"
"You call being trapped in this cell free?" Rumple asked, incredulous. At least as a mirror he could travel anywhere he liked. Well, with Regina's permission.
"I'm free from her. That woman may have enchanted me once, but I'm done letting her ruin my life."
"We're not asking you to help Regina," a voice said, and both men looked at the door to see Belle standing there. She gave Sidney a faint smile. "We're asking you to help everyone."
"All I want is my freedom. And I know he can offer it," Sidney said, pointing at Rumple.
Rumple clapped his hands together. "It's settled, then. You help us find and capture the Blue Fairy, and I shall grant you your freedom."
Sydney shook his head. "It's not that simple. Regina has to release me."
A slow grin spread over Rumple's face. "And she will."
"How do you know she won't refuse?" Sidney asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, I'm quite persuasive. All I have to do is say the magic word." He giggled.
