He'd done right by Regina, hiding the boy. Belle was watching him, hidden safely away from anywhere that Cora was likely to check. But life went on, and his absence would be too easily noticed if he kept the shop closed for more than a day or two, so he reopened it on Monday and spent most of his time mixing potions, looking for just the right combination. There was a stranger in town, and if he could get in, there had to be a way for Rumple to get out.
The goal was always to find Bae as soon as the curse was broken, but one of the dwarves had proven that it wasn't that simple. When was it ever? So he had to come up with a way to ensure he kept his memories when he left. Keeping his magic as well would certainly be useful, but that was probably a bit greedy.
The bells at the door chimed, and he called out, "I'll be right with you!" without looking up. One last ingredient… He added a pinch of dried chimera blood, but the resultant cloud of green mist was not what he was looking for. Setting it aside, he acknowledged his customer. "What can I do for you, Jefferson?"
"I think the real question is, what can I do for you?" The hatter approached him, placing his hand gently on top of his own hand, which was resting on the counter. This was… unusual behavior, though not completely unprecedented in their long history.
"I don't know, dearie. What do you have that I might want?" They'd made enough deals over the years, pilfered magical items for enough gold to keep little Grace cared for, so he expected it to be more of the same.
"Something that might help you find your son." He snatched his hand back.
"Cora." He and Jefferson had known each other well, but not that well. The man—woman in front of him laughed, and that certainly was her laugh. Nobody else put that much disdain into it.
"Hello, Rumple." Her tone out of the milder man's mouth was certainly bizarre, but something he'd grown familiar enough with when he'd trained her in glamour work. Whatever she looked like, this was definitely Cora.
"I'm afraid there's nothing here for you, dear. Best find someone else to toy with."
"That's not very nice. Especially when I brought you a gift." She flicked her wrist, and a box appeared between them on the counter.
"Yeah, did you bring the antidote too?" He eyed it with suspicion; wary of the self-satisfied look she wore.
"I didn't come here to hurt you." She opened the box, revealing a white globe with a pointed tip. "I came to offer you everything you've been working toward for the last three centuries."
"I'm supposed to believe that you were able to find this yourself?" It was a rare artifact. He knew that better than most, given that he'd been searching for it himself for the better part of the last century. Capable of tracking down anybody, so long as you had the blood of a relative. Whatever world, however well hidden… If it was the genuine artifact, then it would tell him precisely where Bae was, down to the street address.
"It's remarkable what you can find in Wonderland. We got relatively few visitors, so treasures were easily kept hidden." That was possible. Nobody stayed in Wonderland long, not if they wanted to keep their sanity. With how long she'd been there, he wondered if she had anything truly sane left, or if everything of the ambitious miller's daughter had been lost to madness.
"What do you want for it?" Whatever it was, he doubted it could be anything good for him. Even so, it would be difficult for him to turn down, with all that the globe offered.
"I want my chance at Storybrooke. When you find your son, you can stay with him. Or, if you'd rather, we can find a way to reanimate this." She pulled a bean out of her pocket. Shriveled and dry, yes, but certainly a magic bean. "And then you and your son can go anywhere you like."
It was certainly a tempting offer. He would return, of course. Despite everything, magic was a crutch he was not yet ready to be rid of. But to be able to take Belle and Bae away, to start fresh… What was Storybrooke, after all, but a means to an end? A rather satisfying end, if she was making a genuine offer.
"Do you… Would you happen to know how to preserve memories? It seems we have a bit of a problem with keeping them when crossing the town line." She smiled, knowing she had won, and again he found it bizarre how different that smile looked on Jefferson's face, particularly with how quickly it seemed normal to speak with her as him.
"I'm afraid I don't have a real answer for you there. You are, after all, the mastermind behind this particular curse. I would need to know the details. But, I would imagine, you might find something useful if you look into talismans." Talismans. That idea certainly had potential. The potion alone wasn't enough, but perhaps if it was connected to the memories themselves… He pushed the thoughts aside for the moment. It would work, he was sure, but it would also wait until the devil herself was on her way.
"What will that bit of advice cost me?" She walked around the counter, brushing his cheek with her fingers. Jefferson's fingers.
"I suppose we could call that an apology between old friends." He cursed himself for the effect she still had on him. Belle was waiting for him. Belle, who believed the best in him, who hadn't hurt him. But Cora would always have a sway over him. She challenged him in a way that few, if any, had since. "Do we have a deal?"
He hesitated, just for a second. It was the perfect deal, one he couldn't see going wrong for him. But with Cora, one could never be too sure. "Indeed we do." He went to offer her his hand, but hers was still on his cheek.
"Let's seal it like we used to." A million little deals fluttered through his mind, teaching her this or that bit of magic, exchanged for a kiss or for something more. All leading up to their final deal, the one that stung. But she had already leaned in, and he found he didn't want to tell her no. So he kissed her. It was somewhere between the cautious, uncertain kisses he had shared with Jefferson and the fierce ones he had shared with her all those years before.
All too soon, it was over, and she was walking back toward the door.
"I truly hope you find what you're looking for."
"I hope the same for you." He shocked himself with the sincerity in that statement. And then she was gone, on to scheme and to play the games she needed to play to fulfill that wish she'd told him when she was younger. Soon enough, all of Storybrooke would bow to her.