AN: I hate writing fight scenes, so forgive me if I yada yada yada over some of the details of events.
Chapter 23
The Blue Fairy was not one to feel regretful, mostly because she found the things she did to be right and just. But as she stood over the prone figure of the woman who she had once stolen, Regina's eyes locked on her with an intensity rarely seen, she did feel some regret.
At the time, the news that the Dark One and the Evil Queen had created an heir had sent terror through the hearts of many, so it had only seemed right that the child be taken and deposited somewhere where she could do no harm. Few people knew that that decision was the reason for the Curse, as two heartbroken parents sought to be reunited with their child. Of course, she couldn't have known that the child would actually manage to break the mind enchantments placed on her, and find her parents before they could find her.
The Blue Fairy finished her diagnosis of the girl quickly, aware that more than one set of eyes were on her. "Now that the cuff is off, she's gonna be okay," she said, avoiding the glare that Regina was leveling at her. "given time and rest. Her magic will return." David and Mary-Margaret's brows furrowed.
"Magic?" Mary-Margaret began, cutting herself off when the door to the loft opened, and a tussled Emma and a bleeding Tanith walked in, Emma helping the other woman to the couch. David rushed over to the two, the Blue Fairy moving to help the other blonde woman.
"What happened?" He cried out, concerned eyes sweeping over the pair. Fletcher moved over to Tanith, placing a hand on her shoulder as she grimaced in pain, blood staining the fingers that she held tightly against a stomach wound. "What is it?"
"Where's Neal?" Mary-Margaret asked, dreading the answer. Emma's gaze landed on Valkyrie's prone body, tears welling up in her eyes.
"He's gone." She whispered, the dark haired man's head shooting up at her voice. His eyes cut towards Valkyrie, pain filling his gaze. "She killed him."
A terrible silence filled what little air there had been in the room, and after a moment of stewing in it, people began moving. Emma collapsed onto the stairs that lead up to the second floor, David following close behind, the Blue Fairy pulled out a needle and sutures, and the tall dark haired man followed Mary-Margaret as she trailed back into the bedroom, a cold compress in her hands. She started towards Valkyrie, but stopped when Regina stepped in her way, her hand held out for the compress.
Once in her grip, Regina turned and perched herself on the edge of the bed, wiping away the sweat that had gathered on her daughters face. She pretended like she couldn't feel the cold eyes of the tall man burning into her as she did so.
Mary-Margaret glanced down at the two, beginning to leave when she was brought to a halt by Regina's voice. "You saved her." It wasn't a question, though there was a surprised tone to the statement. Mary-Margaret's eyebrows raised, glancing towards the tall man in question. He offered no answers.
"Yes." She said quietly, relaxing slightly as David joined her, speaking from over her shoulder.
"You really think we'd let her or you die?" Regina turned towards the pair, tears of gratitude gathering in her eyes. "Despite our differences, we're family." He gestured towards Valkyrie. "All of us are." Regina breathed out harshly at that, glancing away to contain her emotions.
"Where are they?" When no answer was forthcoming, she sent a firm look their way. "Where are Greg and Tamara?"
"I'd quite like to know myself." The tall man spoke up from where he'd been leaning against a far wall, sharp eyes moving between the couple. David inhaled deeply.
"They got away." Regina cursed mentally.
"So they still have it." A frown appeared on Mary-Margaret's face.
"Still have what?" She asked, fear building at the look on Regina's face.
"The trigger that can destroy this entire town." David blanched, confused at her words.
"A trigger?!"
"That will destroy Storybrooke. I had a fail-safe built into the curse." Regina confessed, her eyes drifting back to her daughter as she spoke.
"Then why exactly were you carrying it around?" Mary-Margaret asked, a tinge of accusation coloring her tone. David scoffed.
"She was going to destroy us, Mary-Margaret." Regina shook her head.
"I was going to use the beans to take Henry and Valkyrie back to the Enchanted Forest. I-"
"And in the process, kill all of us." Mary-Margaret cried, glaring down at the woman. Regina stood, still a little weak but angry enough to ignore the feeling.
"You wanna discuss justification?" Regina spat the word out, glaring at the self-righteous pair. "You were going to abandon me. Or shall we discuss the more pressing issue? Which is that I no longer control the trigger."
A faint groan filled the air, and the occupants of David and Mary-Margaret's loft froze, watching in trepidation as Valkyrie began to wake up.
Following the godawful trend I set in my first few days in Storybrooke, I woke up in a bed that I didn't recognize, this time with entirely too many pillows propping me up. A cold towel pressed into my forehead, half covering my eyes from where it had slipped down. I shifted, trying to sit up but only managing to stress the multitude of injuries I now had. A groan slipped out, and I felt a familiar hand on my back, easing me back into the pillow fort.
"Don't be a fool Valkyrie." Skulduggery's voice said cheerfully, though there was a strained tone to his speech. "Fletcher's already claimed the title of village idiot and he'll get fussy if you try to take that from him." I grinned wearily, pulling the cloth from my face and glancing up at Skulduggery's false visage. He watched me carefully. "Ah good, I wasn't sure if that was going to be a permanent part of your outfit, rather impractical if so-"
I launched myself at him, arms clenched tightly around his bony frame, and muscles protesting against the sudden movement. Skulduggery, for his part, hugged me back just as tightly, the dark hair of his disguise tickling my nose. My eyes popped open as I fully registered what he had said, and I pulled back with a look of faux horror.
"You actually brought Fletcher?" I cried out, unable to keep a grin off my face. "I thought that was a horrible joke!" Skulduggery didn't react, his face tightening slightly as he looked off to the side towards my mother, who I noted with relief looked no worse for wear. Regina stepped towards me with a heartbroken expression, her hand coming up to cup my cheek.
"Darling," she breathed out, my gut tightening at her expression. "Neal, he…He didn't make it." She might have said something else, but all I could hear was a high pitched buzzing, my gaze falling to the blanket covering my knees, made fuzzy in my view by the tears that gather quickly in my eyes. I closed my eyes against an onslaught of emotions, light crackling across the clenched fists that I kept hidden under my blanket, and I let Regina pull me into her warm arms, her frame shaking slightly against mine.
A terrible darkness grew within me, somewhere in the space that Darquesse had left behind, and I knew that there would be no peace for me until I had destroyed the two fools who had dared to harm my brother.
Gold watched his grandson from a distance, swinging back and forth on a rope swing. Pain lanced through the man as he twisted his cane, pulling apart the strands of the rope. He knew that this would hurt Bae, knew intimately the pain of losing a child, but Gold wasn't willing to risk the damage his grandson would do to him, not when Gold still had a chance to patch up his relationship with his only living child. Valkyrie may be gone, but Bae wasn't.
A slamming car door stopped him abruptly, and Gold turned to see Emma and the Charmings approaching him.
"Gold." David said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, my son made it clear I'm to stay away from him," Gold said, watching Emma break away from the group and usher her son onto a nearby bench. "so…I'm spending some time with my grandson instead."
"Mr. Gold, we have some news we need to share with you, and it's not good." Gold's heart sunk at Mary-Margaret's words, and he turned away from them, certain they were about to confirm his daughter's death. He shook his head, stepping away from the couple.
"Not interested." He hissed out.
"It's about your son." Gold's heart lurched at David's words.
"Yeah." He managed to say in a disinterested tone. "What about him?"
"Tamara shot him."
"What?" Gold gasped out. "He's dead?" No, no, not both of his children.
"They used a bean to open a portal." David continued, as if he hadn't ripped Gold's world apart. "Neal was hurt so badly, he fell through. He's gone." Gold staggered back, the boulder he fell against the only thing holding him up. Distantly, he could hear Henry cry out as he learned the fate of his father.
"Bae wasn't supposed to die." Gold whispered out, heart cracking in two. "Neither was Valkyrie." He missed the confused looks that passed between David and Mary-Margaret, but took note as the young woman took a step towards him, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder.
"Valkyrie is alive." She said gently, meeting his hope filled eyes as they shot up towards her. "We found her and Regina, she's going to be ok."
"Greg and Tamara—they took something from Regina." David cut in, watching tears drip down Gold's face, unsure of whether they were happy for Valkyrie's safety or mournful for Neal's death. "A magical trigger. A fail-safe in the curse that can destroy Storybrooke."
"If they activated it, it's a self-destruct." Mary-Margaret continued. "Everyone not born in this world will die."
"I know this is hard, but we need your help." David pleaded, watching as Gold steeled himself.
"No." He finally whispered, decision made and ready to leave. Plans spun into shape in his mind, and he knew that he'd have to move quickly to get them in place. David grabbed his arm.
"They killed your son in cold blood, tortured your daughter, and you don't wanna stop them?" He exclaimed, stunned at Gold's reaction. Gold shook off his hand.
"They didn't kill my son." Gold whispered, his face crumbling. "I did. I brought magic to this world to find Bae and Valkyrie. And now he's dead, and she's been hurt. Magic always has a price, and this-this is it." He clenched his hands against the tremor that ran through them. "But I'm prepared to pay it." He stepped away, barely pausing at Mary-Margaret's voice.
"But…we'll die. You'll die. Your daughter will die." Gold didn't look back at the couple.
"My daughter… has survived for years in this world with me, without the help of the curse. I'll send her home, far from here and me. She'll be safe." He sighed. "I've made my peace with the rest."
Gold walked off, ignoring the horrified gazes that followed him. Valkyrie would be safe in Ireland, with her friends. She'd be safe once she was far, far away from him and his magic. Then he could rest.
