Music Soothes the Savage Beast
Rumpelstiltskin had quite the conundrum set before him, one he truly wasn't sure how he'd even gotten himself into nor how to go about solving it. For something like this had never happened to him before. In truth, it so consumed him, this question and need to solve it, that he found himself pacing the length of the main room of his castle instead of spinning his straw into gold as a means to think. There was so much knowledge stuffed in his head from other Dark Ones, all that they had learned before he had gained their power, that sometimes it got hard to focus on just the one piece he needed and so the monotony of the spinning wheel would help him focus, help him concentrate on digging out just that once facet of information he needed.
This wasn't anything like that, it wasn't something from past Dark Ones he had to pry out, instead it was something current, unique to his situation, that the others had never before encountered.
It was…hard, to care about anything when the Dark One. Oh there were obsessions, there was power, there was the odd craving every now and again, needs for vengeance and so on. But so many of the 'lighter' emotions were muted, care, compassion, love, empathy, they were tainted, twisted, into a selfish version of itself. Few things could break through that dark edge and become true to a Dark One, it wasn't impossible, it was just unlikely. For they had no need of those emotions.
And then he happened, he and Bae, and he couldn't mute his love for his boy even if he wanted to, it was too powerful, too present in everything he did and every decision he made as the Dark One. When he lost his boy, so much of it came into guilt and a need to make things right with his son, to find him, to be reunited. That could not be tramped down…but that was all there was in his heart, his son. He hadn't needed anything else, he hadn't truly CARED about anything else. He had his power, his magic, he needed nothing else but his son.
And it made it so easy to just BE the Dark One. He didn't have to worry about hurt feelings or being suckered in by someone's tears, because he genuinely didn't and couldn't care. With effort he might care, if he put the time into it, if he really searched for those lighter emotions buried in him, but he hadn't felt the need to. Belle had piqued his interest, had made a sort of tingling feeling, like the smallest trickle of water falling down the outside of a goblet, trying to connect herself to his heart. It was squashed easily though, her or his power? He'd pick his power and that proved to him that he was still the Dark One and Belle was nothing more than a passing fancy. If he had to, he would have thrown her out a window and been done with it himself and not shed a tear.
It wasn't impossible to feel love though, he knew this. He just…he hadn't expected anything like it after Bae. He was so consumed with finding his son, he'd never really allowed himself to think anyone else could come along that would inspire any sort of love in him. Cora had been a momentary consideration, a dark woman, greedy, who wanted magic for vengeance and selfish purposes, and she was willing to bear him children. Not that his magic would allow for that but he would have been willing to look into it, find some way. More out of loneliness and that missing feeling that he should be a father and he wasn't. Cora made her choice and he'd walked away from it, and he hadn't felt much one way or the other. He had been more cross that he wasn't getting anything out of his assistance in her plight than that she rejected him. He had been more angry with himself for not iron cladding that deal he'd made with her to be HER children not theirs or his.
Still, a lesson learned and a not-love that passed by in the blink of an eye.
He hadn't really looked for love, not that there were many women throwing themselves at the Dark One or interested in such a villain. He hadn't gone in search of it, more keen to look for Bae than anything. So having the Pied Piper wander to his door and strike a deal with him so easily? To offer HIM that exquisitely unique power that she alone had?
He should have known he would be doomed upon their first interaction, she was so different than Cora or Belle had been. She wasn't outwardly desperate or angry like Cora had been, someone he was interested in because of her passionate reactions. She wasn't shy or timid or hesitant the way Belle was, where he could toy with her and see how far he could push her. She was unaffected by him in so far as she only wanted his magic to protect her and offered her own in a fair trade. She hadn't reacted to living in a dungeon, she hadn't blinked at the mention of skinning people, and she had attacked Belle, in defense of herself than him but to see her fight back, to torment someone so willingly and not bat an eye at it?
Truly he should have known she would be the one he'd come to love like no one else.
There was such a kindred spirit to her, while he was giddy and dramatic, she was darkly tempted and poised in her enjoyment of others suffering. She was selfish in the same way he was, not caring for anyone else outside what she considered family, much like he was with Bae. She had no qualms getting her hands dirty, either in dust or dirt or blood even, just like him. She upheld her end of a bargain, as he did, and she exacted vengeance when others denied their end. She…accepted him, all of him, the man he was, the monster he was, and he could do no less but to learn the woman she was and the Siren she was in return.
He had spent 300 years caring about no one else but his son that now…now he didn't know what to do with the care he felt for Piper.
Well, that wasn't fully true, he knew exactly what to do with it and had shown her his care in many, many ways. He had been shown her own care in return, in many, many ways, in an entire spectrum from light love to dark vengeance and he thrilled at each instance of it. He loved her, it was pure and simple, something that had pierced straight through to his blackened heart without him realizing it had drawn out such a light emotion. She loved him, which only served to make that connection stronger.
And now...now he cursed it.
Never seriously, he would never forsake the gift that was true love, but he found himself in a moment of indecision because of it.
He had a deal on the table, or, perhaps not quite a deal, an open ended one. The man he had been speaking to about the item he desired was foolish and greedy and egotistical, he thought he had power where he didn't, not when it came to haggling with the Dark One. In fact, his entire manner, the entitled air about him, grated the nerves so much that he found himself looking for any loophole he could to put the man in his place and take him down a peg or two. And he'd found it.
The man had been so arrogant in forming the deal, so sure he'd get what he wanted, that he'd never actually put into words that the item he wanted should be GIVEN to him in the end.
He'd said, exactly, 'once you obtain the Broken Heart I will compensate you with 500 gold coins.'
Oh he had giggled quite loudly when he realized that. The man clearly intended that once he was given the amulet he searched for that he'd give the money over, but he'd only said 'obtained' not 'turn over' or another like word.
That would certainly cut the man down, he'd be forced to pay the price for his services while not obtaining the thing he'd actually used those services for. He was trilled about it.
He even knew exactly where the amulet was and how to get it, so it wasn't anything that required much planning or research.
The part that held him up was the thing guarding the amulet and how to get past that one.
Which was where Piper would come in, if he could only bring himself to ask for her assistance.
He paused in his pacing for a moment, realizing he had used the word 'ask' instead of 'demand,' as their deal was still in play and she had to use her magic at his command in return for his protection. Somewhere down the line it had morphed from that to genuinely asking her to come with him and giving her the chance to say no, not that she ever did. She loved using her magic too much to turn down an opportunity, even if it was for something simple he could have done with his own magic.
That was the problem. If he asked, she would say yes. If he didn't ask, he'd have a hell of a time trying to get past the beast and he didn't want to exert any more time, effort, or magic on this quest than he had to. He really loathed the client.
Any other Dark One in his mind would say just take Piper along, have her play, charm the beast, get past it, get the amulet, and leave. It was simple, and it WAS simple, he could do that easily.
Something in him kept him back though.
The beast was, arguably, one of the most powerful magical creatures in the realm. A creature yes, an animal, one Piper should be able to charm but…magical too. What if her magic didn't work against such a creature? What if he set her to face it and she got hurt? What if the additional magic imbued into it protected it from her music?
He had used others in the past, set them up to be hurt so long as he got what he wanted. Like the Queens of Darkness as they'd called themselves, he hadn't cared if they were trapped with a beast or hurt or killed so long as he succeeded. He had used others as pawns and bait and sacrifices before, this shouldn't be different…except it was, because this time he actually cared about the person he might be putting in danger.
And that was why he almost cursed that love he felt, almost, because if he hadn't loved Piper as much as he did he would have been there and back with the amulet already and he hated dragging things out when he had a chance for speed. Oh he was a patient man, 300 years of waiting so he could be reunited with his son would do that but…he was only patient when it was important to him, and Piper was very important to him.
He sighed, rubbing his head, his mind going back and forth between asking her or trying to work out a different way to deal with the beast and…
"Shall I be fetching a new rug when next I traverse to the market?" Piper's voice cut into his warring thoughts.
"Pip!" he spun in place, honestly startled to see her behind him, sitting at the table with her feet up on it as always, her pipe in hand as she cleaned it with a small bit of cloth. He frowned, his brow furrowing as he took in the sight of her, "...how long have you been there?"
How had he not seen her sitting there during his continuous pacing?
She smirked at him, shrugging somewhat, "I am nearly finished," she said by way of answer, holding up her pipe.
He would have winced if he was a lesser man, it usually took her near a half hour to clean the lump of wood, she was very particular about her method and took a great deal of care with it. So she had been sitting there for at least the half hour to clean it, possibly longer if she had taken to watching him pace and then gotten bored and decided to clean it, which was likely.
"I ask again," she repeated, "Shall I procure a new rug when next I am in the town?"
"No, no, that won't be necessary, Pip," he sighed, running a hand down his face, grateful that his gold speckled skin kept his flush of embarrassment from being too noticeable.
Piper nodded…and turned back to her pipe, leaving him staring at her, still, watching as she took the next few minutes to finish her process, before laying the rag down on the table, kicking up her legs and twisting in her familiar fashion to rise, sliding the pipe into her boot at the same time. She walked over to him and reached out without a word to take one of his hands, her other coming half to his cheek, half to the side of his head to guide him down to her where she kissed him.
"Better?" she asked after a moment, pulling away to look at him.
"What?" he blinked, dazed.
She shrugged, "I have been told kisses make everything better," she offered, a playful smirk on her face.
He huffed out a laugh, a smile already on his face as he shook his head at her. The Pied Piper bestowing kisses to make someone 'feel better' was just too ridiculous a thing to take seriously and not something he would ever share with another. Firstly because she had quite the reputation to uphold, and secondly because he wanted no one else to think they could steal a kiss from her. Only he was allowed the pleasure.
"Now," she continued, growing more serious as she took his other hand in her own, "What is the matter?"
"It's nothing, Pip."
"Nothing would not have you wearing a hole in the rug," she pointed out, "It is something," her face scrunched slightly as she observed him, her eyes searching his face, "It is not to do with Baelfire," she began, and he nearly startled at the mention of his son, "You would be in the dungeon torturing the two prisoners still chained up if it were. It is not a deal broken, you would be gloating after having dealt with the client. It is not a threat to you, your Dagger is safe with me," she hummed, "It is a threat to me then."
"What?" he blinked, almost startled at how she'd gotten it so close so quickly, was he truly that easy to read?
"But not a large one," she added, "Not immediate. You would be in a fouler mood and would have warned me. It is not the Queen, you delight in taunting her. Nor is it one of my deals, you are more vocal when you are concerned about them. So it is one of yours," she reasoned, "One you require my assistance for but are reluctant to actually admit."
"How…" he shook his head, really was he THAT easy to read?
She let go of one hand and touched his cheek, "I have spent much time around you, Rummy, I know your face, I know how you move, and I know when something bothers you," her eyes searched his again, "I know you and I know when something is wrong."
"Do you?" he breathed, his heart swelling in his chest at the thought that no, he wasn't that easy to read, she just knew him that well and…the warmth spreading through him for that, that she did, he couldn't describe it.
"I like that I do," she murmured.
He reached up with his free hand to take hers, pressing a kiss to her knuckles, "As do I," he replied, both that he liked it and that he could do the same to her, had done the same, he knew her as well as himself by now.
"So what is this deal that keeps the great Dark One on edge?" she teased with a gentle smile, "You know you do not even need ask for my assistance, Rummy, I would deny you nothing."
His heart thumped in his chest, knowing she wasn't talking just about this deal but about everything, she loved him so much and he knew it was the same for him, "There is an amulet of great power," he began, "That a client wished me to procure for them."
"What does it do?"
"It is called the Broken Heart and it possesses the ability to steal the love a person might feel for one and either destroy it or transplant it to another."
"I have never heard of such a thing," she remarked, though it wasn't odd to her, she had only ever known her own magic for many years, "I can replicate love," she considered, "Make someone think they are in love using my music, feel hatred against a person they do love, but nothing like that."
"It is a rare object," he agreed, "Not easy to come by, not easily found. It was placed in its vault by the Dark One before the last. He was the only one to know where it went or how to retrieve it and so it is not commonly known by others. It has faded into myth by now."
"Then why do you hesitate to obtain it, if you know how to get it?"
"There is a beast guarding it," he told her, "Preserved and enhanced by a spell, only awakened and released when someone dares approach the vault. It was placed there by that Dark One, and cursed in a way that no other Dark One might break it. Apparently the one who cursed it did so as part of a deal."
"And you require my magic to soothe the beast to submission," she realized, "That should not be a problem. I have charmed a number of beasts so far."
"It's a dragon," he stated.
"And, again, it should not be a problem."
"It's a dragon, Pip," he repeated, "They are more imperious to magic than most."
"But they are also animals," she pointed out, "They have ears, they are not so immune to my song than others."
"You can't know that," he argued, squeezing her hands slightly, "There are not enough dragons in the realm for you to have quelled them."
"I controlled Maleficent," she reminded him.
"And she has spent many years in her human form," he countered, "Zorro has been dragon for centuries. And has been enhanced by dark magic."
"Zorro?" she nearly scoffed at the name, "Perhaps I should kill him and put him out of his misery than merely lull him to sleep."
"Piper, this isn't funny," he stated with a small huff, "This is going to be dangerous and I won't be able to protect you from him."
"If you recall, Rummy, the only protection I require of you is from the Queen, not a dragon," she leaned in and pressed a kiss to his lips to stop him speaking, "Now, let us go to this 'Zorro' and retrieve this amulet and put this argument to bed."
Rumpelstiltskin merely sighed, and they disappeared in a flash of magical smoke.
~8~
The moment the smoke cleared, Piper could almost feel the magic guarding this place spring to life, even before the roar of the dragon echoed into the sky. Rumpelstiltskin had brought them to the edge of a forest, a good distance away from a cave cut into the side of a cliff, the exact shape of the entrance fitting what, she assumed, would be a Dragon's outline. The beast itself was in an attack position, or as near as one as she could tell, roaring and spitting fire, ready to keep all from getting near the cave it guarded. It was black in color, with red scales dispersed throughout it, yellow eyes glaring at anything and everything.
She took a single step towards the beast, ready to get to work, when Rumpelstiltskin reached out to lightly grab her forearm, "Wait…" he began and she could tell by the firm hold he had on her that he was reluctant to let her go at all.
"It shall be fine, Rummy," she assured him, not in arrogance but a surety of her abilities. So long as a thing had ears it could be affected by her music. As far as she could tell, only another Siren would be able to cast off such effects and that dragon was not a Siren.
"Don't get too close," he asked of her, "I can't protect you from it. The curse…"
"You can pull me away," she reminded him, "You can conjure me to you if I am in danger and we can depart," she reached up to touch his cheek, "It shall not come to that, I do not think."
He let out a long breath and nodded, stepping back and releasing his hold on her arm so she might pull her pipe out of her boot, forcing himself to stand back and watch as she slowly approached the dragon. To her credit, she did stop a fair distance away and she had some reasonable cover from behind a large boulder. The dragon hadn't seen her yet but he knew the beast was aware someone was there.
He watched as Piper lifted her pipe to her lips and began to play a light melody and cursed himself for being there at all. She was playing quietly, softer than she would normally, because he was near and he might be caught in the song she was using on the dragon. She knew he wouldn't risk covering his ears and wasting time having to move them to use his magic in doing so. She was making sure he felt he could still help her while she tried to lull the dragon. But he couldn't just not be there nor be farther away without fearing for her.
It took longer than it would, he knew, having seen her charm beasts before, for the dragon to fall under her sway, but the manner in which it had told him that, had she been closer or louder, it would have happened easily enough. The beast's roars began to quiet and…perhaps she had played softly on purpose then. The roars grew quit, as though it were straining to hear where its target was, thinking the music only noise it was making, and it ensnared him. Listening for the song, meant it heard it, meant it wrapped around the beast and snagged hold.
Within minutes the roars had died down and the Dragon was drooping its head as though fighting to stay awake. Sleep was always the easiest thing to make another do, Piper had told him once, when the body relaxed it was more pliant, but it took extra work to inspire the desire to do something else. Sleep was the natural progression from relaxation, it took next to nothing to fall so.
There wasn't a thump when the beast went down, it stretched out, curled up, drifted softly, a true testament to how long the song had gone on for that it wasn't instantaneous.
He did not move though, waiting till Piper gave him a signal that the song had taken the beast completely for even in the first winks of sleep something could rouse it or set it off and he would not risk Piper's work being undo nor her being in danger out of impatience.
She turned soon enough, stepping out from behind the bolder and slowly approaching the dragon, making it so her song was louder to it and softer to him. He took that as a sign she was ensuring it would stand down and hurried from the forest, this time with his hands over his ears as he passed her so as not to be caught in her spell. He made it to the cavern easily, stepped foot through it and to a pedestal where a small ornate box was resting.
Truly, that Dark One had been a fool to leave such a treasure here with only a dragon to protect it when the Dark One's vault would have been more fitting. It was a continuous lesson to be careful with words and deals.
He reached out and snatched the box, knowing there were little other enchantments or protections set up. That Dark One may have spelled the area so that a Dark One couldn't use magic to obtain the gem, but it said noting about the Dark One himself walking in and taking it with his bare hands. Loopholes.
He made fast work of getting out of the cave with the box tucked under one arm, moving straight to Piper who stopped playing when she saw him approach and magicked them away before the dragon could even begin to blink his eyes open, now free to leave as the treasure was gone.
~8~
"Shall I say it first?" Piper wondered as they reappeared in the hall of the Dark Castle, "Or shall you admit it?"
He rolled his eyes even as he huffed out a laugh, "You were right," he offered, "Your magic was enough."
"As I said," she agreed, reaching out to take the box from him and set it on the table beside them.
It was a testament to how much he trusted her that he allowed her to take it from his possession. Anyone else and he would assume they were going to try and steal it from him or double-cross him, but he trusted her with all the treasures he brought back to the castle.
"As you ignored," she added, crossing her arms as she straightened once more to face him, "I have only one question to ask you, Rumpelstiltskin," she began, for she knew he had never doubted her abilities this much before, "Did you regret making such a deal and, therefore, wished to delay completing it, or did you truly think my abilities that lacking?"
He sighed, "Neither," he reached out to tug on her arms, taking her hands instead, "I…" he let out another breath, searching for the words he knew he had to say. He never wanted her to think he'd doubted her, especially when it was so far from the truth, "The dragon was cursed so that my magic wouldn't affect it," he reminded her, "I wouldn't be able to protect you from it if things went wrong."
"There are ways around that," she pointed out.
"I know," he nodded, "I know there are, but, that wasn't occurring to me then. All I could think about was what would happen if something went wrong and I couldn't save you," he let go of one hand to touch her cheek, his eyes roving over her face before locking on her eyes, "I can't lose you, Pip," he told her, his voice quiet and grave.
"You will never lose me, Rummy," she reached up, circling his wrist with her hand, her thumb brushing along his pulse point.
"I will though," he spoke, "One day. One day I'll do something that you can't accept or you can't forgive and you'll walk away from me."
There was another option, far, far more devastating to him that he couldn't bring himself to voice though he felt he didn't have to, not given the look in Piper's eyes, that understanding look she gave when she'd figured out something he hadn't meant to reveal.
She could die, she could die and leave him alone and it was so much worse than those two options. If she died, it wasn't her choice to leave, she would have been taken from him, and if she died it would be before her time, their time together would be cut far too short.
He had done a lot of digging about Sirens and how their immortality worked, for he knew it was tied to the sea and Piper had never been fully-Siren. As best he could work out, there were too many possibilities. She may just age slower than other humans, perhaps live a century or two, or she may age normally. She may be more like a Siren and reach a certain age and then stop aging entirely. There had never been a half-Siren before and the more he looked into it the more he feared loosing her too soon.
"What do you think you could do where I would leave you?" she asked.
"I…"
"Murder? Pillage? Burn?" she offered, "Manipulate? Lie? Cheat? Steal?" she shook her head, knowing he would understand that by 'cheat' she meant cheat others and not cheat on her, "I am just as guilty and if you will not condemn me I could not condemn you."
"I could hurt your family," he answered.
"I would not leave you for that," she said.
He stared at her a moment, "You…wouldn't?"
"No," she said simply, "I would kill you for it," she elaborated, "YOU would be the one to leave ME. Not the other way around."
He almost smiled at that.
"Rummy," she shifted her hand to press his more firmly to her cheek, "I love you. You are my mate. You are in my heart, and nothing short of death will pry me from your side."
"That's what I'm afraid of," he admitted, "I don't want to lose you."
"Nor I you," she told him, "I keep your Dagger with me always, so you are safe. You…"
"What?" he smiled a bit, "I should keep you with me always, so you'd be safe?"
"I would not object to that," she gave him a look, "What say you?"
He smiled more now, nodding, "I promised I would keep you safe from the Queen. But I can do better than that," he agreed, "I will never let anything hurt you, Pip, not ever."
And if anything ever tried? If anything or anyone tried to separate him from his true love?
There would be nothing left of them, he'd make sure of it.
A/N: A little bit of a hint to Zorro's backstory here ;)
I wanted a sort of parallel to how Rumple knew something was bothering Piper a few chapters ago and he wanted to help cheer her up, with Piper knowing something was wrong here and working out what based on how well she knows him :) In business-mode, I feel like Piper would be a sort of no-nonsense, let's get this done sort of view of it, so when she finds out there's a job that needs doing and it's causing her love stress, she's like 'let's end this' asap :) Lol, she's dead serious about killing him though, and he loves her for it, they're so weird but I love them both :)
And it was just a fun little look into Rumple's mind as well, an exploration of how he's genuinely so new to the idea of romantic, true love that he's making a bigger thing out of it than it actually is. He's not used to worrying for anyone but Bae and now he's at a point of questioning making a deal out of concern for Piper. It sort of blindsided him how such a simple use of her magic, coupled with the fact that HE can't protect her, sets him on edge like that :)
Some notes on reviews...
I'm glad you all are looking forward to the AU :D I really can't wait to wrap this series up so I can get to it ;)
Henry in the AU is a bit complicated. Any child Emma has Piper would very much be against giving up for adoption, but if Emma is 18 then she has the legal right (along with the father) to choose adoption regardless of what Piper would want, she wouldn't be able to stop them (not that she wouldn't try every trick and method under the sun to try and get them to keep the baby). But it wouldn't be her decision to make :(
In the AU Red would not disappear, or if she does it would not be for as big of chunks as in the show and it would be explained and talked about before it happens and she would be referenced far more than in the show ;)
THANK YOU SO MUCH! :) This series and all OUAT stories I write will only go through to the end of season 6, they will not include season 7 ;) Oh we've still got plenty of OUAT to come for...probably many years lol :) There's Piper's AU, so 6 more stories of that, Lyssa and her 4 more main-stories AND an AU of what would have happened if both she and Hook came over with the first curse so probably 6 more stories of that, then a Graham/OC story...so plenty of OUAT to go around ;) And thank you :) I'm doing much better at pacing myself and not trying to push for too much at one time so I'll hopefully be able to keep up the consistent postings ;)
Awww thank you :') I'm so glad you like the series and I completely understand about not reading everything, not every fandom is to everyone's interest, I'm just glad there's even one that caught your eye ;) And thank you, that means a lot to me to hear. I really try to learn as I go and take all the constructive criticism and suggestions I receive to heart to improve so I'm really glad there's a noticeable change from my first stories to now :) I'm hoping that, by the time this series is finished, I'll be back to posting a little more frequently and I might just be able to squeeze in Piper's AU around that time so you never know we might get it a little early ;)
Lily and Ingrid...oh I have some plans for them }:) Just to tease a bit, we'll see a little more of Lily than in the show and as for Ingrid...let's just say Piper will probably be out for blood much more than in the show when she comes around for a reason I won't say just yet ;)