Chapter 41—"Learning You Were Wrong"
Rumplestiltskin. The name hit the edge of his consciousness, making Rumplestiltskin's head snap up. It wasn't the first call he'd heard since casting the magic to make the call still work, but he knew that voice, didn't he? Could it be?
"Rumple?" Belle touched his arm gently. "Are you all right?"
"Of course." His breath caught on the words, but no second call came. Rumplestiltskin couldn't determine a direction without a second call, even with his new powers. It had to be nothing, anyway. "I thought I heard something, but it was probably just my imagination."
Belle looked concerned. "Are you sure?"
Rumplestiltskin, RUMPLESTILTSKIN!
"Bae." The whisper was almost a prayer.
It was Bae. His son was calling for him. His son was alive! Rumplestiltskin rocketed to his feet, summoning magic as he did so. His fingers crackled with power. Bae was calling for him.
"I have to go."
Belle rose, kissing him quickly. "Be careful. I love you."
Not even pausing to take a deep breath, Rumplestiltskin followed his spell to the source of the call.
Following the coconut was boring. A bit of trial and error let him fly in this stupid realm, which was way better than walking or trying to convince the Shadow to help him, but the bloody Enchanted Forest was big. The Shadow was as impatient as Pan was, too, and kept wandering off. Pan really didn't care what it got up to, though. So what if it caused trouble? He had what he wanted from the Shadow, and that was that. Besides, he knew he was getting close.
Soon, he'd reach his obnoxiously clever grandchild and Bae would pay.
Very soon.
Fiona appeared by the well in her typical swirl of black magic and started. She'd expected Tiger Lily, but what was Blue doing there? With anyone else, Fiona would have expected a trap, but Tiger Lily looked too disgruntled to be up to any shenanigans on Blue's behalf. She knows me better than that, too. Doesn't she? Blue, on the other hand, looked positively livid. So, Fiona threw her head back and laughed.
"Well, isn't this a charming reunion of old friends?"
"Why would you dare call her?" Blue hissed, still glaring at Tiger Lily.
"It's so nice to see you, too." Fiona smiled sweetly, but the affect was lost on Blue. And Tiger Lily was too angry to appreciate her baiting of Blue.
But Tiger Lily wasn't angry at her, for once. That was a nice change.
"Because she offered to help," Tiger Lily snapped, glaring death back at Blue.
Fiona quite liked this development. "Unlike Blue, I take it?"
"Yes." Was that sound Tiger Lily's teeth grinding?
Fiona stepped up to her old friend and took her arm cheerfully. "Then why don't you tell me about the problem and we'll leave Blue to do whatever it is that she does? I'll help however I can, of course."
Red-faced, Blue looked ready to have kittens. "Tiger Lily, you can't possibly trust her. You know that dark magic comes at a price—"
"One you made sure I paid in spades, yes." Fiona cut her off with a glare. "I'd never make a friend pay the price for what I became."
"The boys I escaped Neverland with are gone," Tiger Lily told her, ignoring Blue entirely. "I'm afraid Pan has them."
Fiona couldn't stop her long-suffering sigh. "Oh, joy. It always leads back to that little shit, doesn't it?"
"Can you help?"
"Of course I can." She shot Blue another nasty look, just because she could. "Let's head to the Dark Castle so that I can get the ingredients I need for a locator spell."
Fiona teleported herself and Tiger Lily away without waiting for Blue to object. Much to her surprise, Blue didn't follow.
This would be no joyful reunion, despite what he'd dreamt. Rumplestiltskin appeared just in time to see Bae staggering away from Madam Faustina. The witch struggled to her feet as he landed, her face drawn and hungry, and her eyes fastened on Bae. Magic filled the air around them, dark and stifling, as Madam Faustina's hands came up. Rumplestiltskin knew that spell, knew what Madam Faustina did with young men and women, and rage turned his vision red.
He barely managed to throttle that back in time to cast his magic cleanly, focusing on his love for his son and his desire to protect him rather than a desire to hurt and destroy. One arm snapped up, through, throwing Madam Faustina out of the small cell he'd landed in. She yelped, but Rumplestiltskin didn't care. This two bit witch was trying to kill his son. Dark One or not, Rumplestiltskin would protect Bae until there was no breath left in his body. Striding forward, he started shaping magic between his palms, hammering her back into the ground when Madam Faustina tried to get up.
"Papa, no!"
Bae's cry made him stop cold, turning to face his son. Seeing Bae made Rumplestiltskin's breath catch in his chest. He's alive. He's really alive. Bae was real and breathing and here. How had he gotten back to the Enchanted Forest? It didn't matter. Bae looked older, but not as much as Rumplestiltskin had feared. He was here. Nothing else mattered.
Emotion welled up in Rumplestiltskin's throat so thickly that he couldn't speak. But Bae looked confused.
"Papa?"
Oh. He'd been in such a hurry to answer Bae's call that he'd forgotten to glamour himself as the Dark One. He hadn't even remembered his normal dragonhide coat; Rumpelstiltskin found himself clad merely in a silk shirt and vest over leather pants and boots. He felt odd without that hardened shell, but that didn't matter. Baelfire did. Rumplestiltskin could still barely believe his eyes, which drank in Bae's face with the fervor of a drowning man.
"Hello, Bae." He could barely believe he was saying the words. They were so inadequate.
Bae blinked, gesturing at Rumplestiltskin's human appearance. "You're—you're not…?"
"No, not anymore." Rumplestiltskin felt oddly vulnerable with an audience present; there was another boy in the cell struggling into a sitting position, and a very confused mercenary picking himself up off of the ground near Madam Faustina. But he would have walked through fire for Baelfire. A little discomfort was nothing. He swallowed. "I made you a promise once, son. That I would get rid of the curse if I could."
"You remembered that?"
"Of course I did." Rumplestiltskin took a tentative half step forward before stopping awkwardly. "Oh, Bae, I'm so sorry. I was a coward for letting you go. My power was never more important to me than you, and I've been looking for a way to the Land Without—"
Bae lunged forward to hug him, and Rumplestiltskin cut off with a gasp, wrapping his arms tightly around his son. He wasn't sure what he'd done to deserve this, but Rumplestiltskin was still too much of a coward to let go.
"I missed you, Papa," Bae whispered.
"Oh, Bae." Rumplestiltskin felt tears well up as his voice broke. "I've missed you, too, son. And I'm so sorry."
"Me, too."
"For what?" Rumplestiltskin pulled back a little to stare incredulously at his son. "What could you possibly have to be sorry for?"
"I've been in the Enchanted Forest for months." Bae's smile was lopsided. "I was afraid to find you. Everyone says you're still the Dark One."
"Ah." How to explain everything that had happened? Rumplestiltskin fought back the urge to fidget. "It's, ah, a recent development."
"You're really free? You're really you?"
"I am." He'd changed, though. Did that count? Rumplestiltskin decided that he should be honest. Bae deserved that. "I still—"
"My, this is a touching family reunion, isn't it?" The snide voice that interrupted them had haunted Rumplestiltskin's nightmares for years, and he spun to face his father, stepping protectively in front of Bae. Not again. Not him, not just when I got Bae back! Pan's smile was poisonous, contrasting oddly with the coconut floating in the air near him. He landed on the ground lightly, snickering. "I didn't quite intend for everyone to come together so quickly." A shrug. "Still, it does make things simpler."
Heart racing, Rumplestiltskin could only stare, remembering how Pan had abandoned him, how he'd tried to steal Bae, how—
"Who the hell are you?" Madam Faustina was finally on her feet, looking annoyed that yet another person had interrupted her ritual.
"Someone who doesn't have patience for silly girls like you." Magic lashed out and Madam Faustina went flying as Pan grinned.
"Leave her alone!" Bae surged up to Rumplestiltskin's side, glaring at Pan. That's twice he's defended her. What's going on?
"Hello, Baelfire." Pan's eyes glittered. "It's time to go home."
Home? Rumplestiltskin's heart twisted in his chest. Oh, no. Not that. No.
Bae snorted. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
"I was hoping you'd say that." Pan's satisfaction was ominous enough to jolt Rumplestiltskin out of his childhood-induced terror.
"You'll have to go through me to get to him," Rumplestiltskin ground out. He hated Pan, would always fear him, but Rumplestiltskin wasn't an abandoned boy any longer. He had power, too, power to protect his son right, to do so from a place of love.
"I have to admit that I love the way you're playing right into my hands," Pan gloated. "I'd already planned on letting you find your precious boy just in time to watch him die, Rumple, so I'm happy to accomplish all of my goals at the same time."
"Why do you hate us so much?" Bae glared back at Pan in confusion. "What's your problem?"
Pan laughed. "Not knowing burns, doesn't it?"
Here it was. The very last thing that Rumplestiltskin wanted Bae to know. Do the brave thing, Belle's voice said in his mind, and Rumplestiltskin took a deep breath.
"He's my father." He got in before Pan could continue, forcing himself to meet Bae's eyes. "Or at least he was, before he turned himself into this."
"What?" Bae's whisper sounded as horrified as Rumplestiltskin felt. Pan, on the other hand, hooted with laughter.
"Oh, bravo! Bravery becomes you, Rumple." His voice grew hard. "But now that you're not the Dark One, it won't do you any good. Stand aside, and I'll let you live. We both know that you're too much of a coward to do anything else, no matter what façade you put on."
Once, that tone would have sent chills down Rumplestiltskin's spine. Now, he just snorted. I am not the man I was. "I may not be the Dark One, Father, but I don't lack power."
"We'll see about that."
Green magic raced up to meet gold, and the world between them seemed to explode.
A few ingredients from the Dark Castle and a shirt belonging to one of the boys later, Fiona had cobbled together a quick locator spell to take them to Tiger Lily's lost apprentices. That brought them to a strange little clearing, which featured a large wooden-barred cell and nothing else.
Nothing else save her son and her ex-husband locked in battle, anyway, which admittedly did jerk Fiona up short.
"Who is that?" Tiger Lily sounded a little breathless, but then, she had lived with the little shit for years and years. She was entitled to be glad that someone was fighting him.
Rumplestiltskin was winning, so Fiona smiled broadly. "My dear Tiger Lily, are you saying that you don't recognize your own fairy godson?"
"But he—but he's not—"
"Oh, I forgot to mention that your grand idea worked. Well done to me—and to his True Love, of course."
Tiger Lily took a moment to swallow that. "But what's he doing here?"
"As to that, I have no idea."
Sighing, Fiona glanced around. It seemed that Rumple and Pan were not alone, after all. A brown-haired boy, presumably one of Tiger Lily's wayward apprentices, raced forward to drag Madam Faustina—Fiona remembered that thirsty little chit—away from the battle, but his eyes never left the fight. He was familiar, too, strangely so. Had he been one of her boys in the Dark Realm? No, Fiona would have remembered him better, then. Oh! With a jolt, she realized that he was the cheeky child who'd befriended Tiger Lily back in Neverland. That made sense. The other boy, one she didn't recognize at all, sat dizzily in the cell, not far from a pompous-looking swordsman who looked like he didn't know where to go. No magic there. He wasn't a threat. Madam Faustina could have been a nuisance, but she looked woozy enough to indicate that someone had knocked her out of the fight already.
That thought made Fiona's eyes go back to her son, just as Rumplestiltskin scored a blow that sent Pan spiraling through the air. The cocky little bastard could fly, however, so the attack wasn't as effective as it might have been. Fiona scowled.
Pan was laughing. "You know you can't beat me, Rumple! Even if you could, you'd never kill your beloved Papa."
"You stopped being that the moment you abandoned me to make yourself a boy again." Rumplestiltskin glared, but Fiona could see the pain in his eyes as he avoided Pan's attempt to freeze him in place.
Can he beat him? Fiona wondered. Rumplestiltskin's power was different now, but he was still Malcolm's son. Dark magic always had a price, and Malcolm's transformation had cost more than most. He gave up his son's future to become Pan, she realized, feeling sick. Why had she not connected the dots before? Rumplestiltskin would have to give that up to beat Pan, wouldn't he?
"Bloody hell." She was not letting that happen. Fiona glanced at Tiger Lily, who was still watching the fight with rapt fascination. "I'll be right back."
She vanished before her friend could respond. Tiger Lily would be fine, and Fiona knew what she had to do. She just needed to borrow something, first.
His papa was fighting Pan and winning.
Bae had pulled Morraine out of the way, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from how his father was pushing Pan back. My grandfather, he thought, swallowing heavily. That news hadn't been welcome, but it explained why Papa had rarely talked about his own father. He left me, Rumplestiltskin had always said, changing the subject to the spinsters who had raised him. But Bae wouldn't have wanted to talk about Pan, either, so he supposed it made sense. Still, he wished he could have known. Everything would have made more sense.
"Who's that?" Morraine's voice sounded thick, and Bae followed her gaze.
"It's Tiger Lily," he said with surprise, blinking as the woman to Tiger Lily's right vanished. "And…that was the Black Fairy?"
"Her I know." Morraine scowled.
"What was she doing here, then? Is she your friend?" The idea of Morraine being friends with the Black Fairy was weird, but no weirder than her cursing people with eternal youth and then stealing it. Bae still didn't like that, but Pan was a much bigger problem.
Morraine threw him an arch look. "Definitely not."
"Oh." As he watched, Tiger Lily made her way over to Beans, glaring at Flynnigan Rider as she passed. He backed up a few steps, looking confused.
"This is not how I imagined this day going." Morraine's grumble was surprisingly petulant, and she sounded so much like her old self that Bae almost grinned.
Then he remembered what Morraine had set out to do and he scowled. "What happened to you, anyway?"
"It's a long story." Morraine looked away.
Bae opened his mouth to reply, but ended up gasping when his father narrowly avoided the Shadow's attempt to yank him into the air. Where did the Shadow come from? It wasn't here earlier! Pan just laughed, clearly appreciating the fact that the odds had just tipped in his favor.
"You can't kill me, Rumple!" He floated in the air above Bae's father, and Bae burned to smash that gloating face into the ground. "You'd have to die to do it, and you're not ready to sacrifice yourself, are you? Not when you're finally reunited with Baelfire, hmm?"
Rumplestiltskin glared, but before he could respond, the Black Fairy appeared in a cloud of smoke, brandishing a dagger Bae knew all too well. The Black Fairy grinned maliciously. "He may not be able to kill you, but I can."
"What?" Pan spun in midair, but it was too late. "Fiona, you can't—"
Fiona caught the shadow in one hand, smiling nastily. "Goodbye, Peter Pan."
The Dark One's dagger flashed out, burying in the left side of the Shadow's chest. The Shadow screeched a high-pitched and inhuman sound that made Bae clap his hands over his ears. It writhed for a moment, and then collapsed to the ground. Crack! Magic lashed out, black and white and green—
Suddenly, Pan plunged out of the sky. He collapsed into a heap surrounded by a white and black flash of light that made everyone shield their eyes. Bae stared disbelievingly as the Shadow dissipated, vanishing into the smoke surrounding Pan. Then that smoke cleared, revealing not a blond-haired teen but a middle-aged man with brown hair and a lined face. Not-Pan stared at his hands in distress, pulling at his clothes—now a peasant's outfit rather than Pan's green garb—and muttering "No no no no" almost too quietly for Bae to hear.
Meanwhile, the Black Fairy walked up to Rumplestiltskin and held out the dagger. "I didn't think you'd mind me borrowing this."
"I suppose not." Rumplestiltskin took the hilt, sliding the blank Dark One's dagger into his boot. His voice was quiet. "Thank you."
"I created him more than you did." She shrugged, looking at the man who had been Pan like he was beneath her notice.
"Fiona?" Not-Pan croaked. "Rumple? Please don't leave me. I can be better. I can love you both again. We can start over…"
"No." Fiona's voice was hard. "You don't get to be the pitiful one, not now. You made your choices, just as I made mine. Malcolm."
"Then don't I deserve a second chance, too?" Malcolm wheedled, and Bae watched his father scowl in disgust.
"You had one." Rumplestiltskin's eyes were hard. "With your grandson. And instead of helping him, you wanted to kill him. I'm done with you."
"You gave her a second chance, and she abandoned me when you were a worthless little—"
"I was exiled, you nasty little man," Fiona cut in angrily. "And if you'd ever loved me, you would have loved our child instead of hating him."
Bae froze. Listening to those words, it would imply that—
"You know the difference between her and you, Papa?" Rumplestiltskin cut in coldly. "She started with an apology. You start by blaming everyone but yourself."
"You can't kill me! I'm your father!"
"Who said anything about killing?" Fiona laughed. "No, there's a far worse fate for you, isn't there? We won't kill you. We'll just leave you."
Malcolm scrambled to his feet. "You wouldn't—"
"Leave you alone in the world as you left Rumplestiltskin?" She smiled sweetly. "It seems poetic, doesn't it?"
"Fiona! I have nothing, no magic, no power. You can't leave me!"
"Our son had nothing. At least you're old enough to get a job." Fiona turned to Rumplestiltskin, whose expression looked torn between anger and heartbreak. "Shall we go, son?"
Oh, gods, she is my grandmother. Bae had been hoping there was some other explanation, but that was as plain as day. To his left, Morraine squeaked a little, whether from surprise or something else, he wasn't sure. Beans still looked dazed, but somehow unsurprised, and Tiger Lily just looked grim. This is getting weirder by the moment.
"Indeed." Rumplestiltskin looked away from Malcolm and didn't look back. "Although there are some other introductions in order, I think."
"Not here." Fiona glanced around. "Perhaps we ought to all relocate elsewhere?"
She raised a hand, and suddenly magic pulled them away.
