I have dreamt of a place for you and I
No one knows who we are there
All I want is to give my life only to you
I've dreamt so long I cannot dream anymore
Let's run away, I'll take you there
Evanescence – Anywhere (Bae and Emma's Love Theme )
Portland, Oregon
Eleven years earlier
Bae had been driving for hours but pulled over when he'd started falling asleep at the wheel, wanting to get as far away from Phoenix as he could, at least until the heat from his latest heist died down. Twenty grand worth of watches had been his biggest score yet and one that would at least get him on his feet when he finally decided to lay down his roots somewhere. If the police couldn't find him, he was hoping his bastard of a father couldn't either. He shrugged off his coat and crawled into the backseat to get a few hours' sleep before he went on the road again. A short time later he heard something banging and looked up to see a young blond girl pounding at the ignition and inserting a screwdriver into the switch. That was a new one. He'd been able to steal the car because the owner made the mistake of leaving the keys in the ignition while he went into a convenience store for a pack of smokes. He could also see a slim jim in her bag. A girl after his own heart. He smiled and lay back down while she started the engine and pulled out.
"Impressive. But really, you could've just asked me for the keys." he said when he rose up from behind the seat, terrifying her.
"Holy shit! I just stole your car. Your life could be in danger now that you've sacred the shit out of me!"
"Neal Cassidy."
"Yeah, I'm not telling you my name," Emma said, trying to concentrate on the road but her hands were shaking and she could barely hold the wheel straight.
"No, I don't need it to have you arrested when the robbery's in progress."
"Emma. Swan."
"Good name."
"So, do you just live in here, or are you just waiting for the car to be stolen?" Probably lived in it, judging by the smell of dirty laundry and rotting food coming from the backseat.
"Why don't I tell you over drinks?"
"Excuse me?" The nerve of the guy!
"Hey. Eyes on the road and quit screwing with the wheel!" Neal scolded when she ran a stop sign. "You even know how to drive?"
"Yeah I know how to drive and I am not having drinks with you. You might be a pervert."
"I might be a pervert, but you're definitely a car thief."
"I said I was sorry."
"You didn't, actually."
"Whatever."
Bae could see the flashing lights of a squad car in the rearview mirror followed by the siren as it creeped up behind them.
"Shit!"
"Damn it," Emma groaned.
"That's why I said 'eyes on the road'! Pull it over I got this. Screwdriver." He pulled it out and replaced it with the keys. "Now be quiet and let me do the talkin', okay?"
She glared at him.
"License and registration," the cop ordered when he approached the car.
"Hi," Emma said with a nervous smile. Okay Cassidy, let's see how good you try to talk us outta this one!
"Terribly sorry officer, but this is actually my car. I'm… I'm trying to, uh, teach my girlfriend how to drive stick." Neal lied swiftly.
Thanks a lot Cassidy! Emma thought angrily. Jerk!
"She's got a lot to learn."
"I know. But, you know… Women."
Emma shook her head.
"Alright, I hear you. It's a warning…this time."
"Yeah. Thank you so much."
"What are you, some sort of a misogynist?" she demanded after the cop left and Neal climbed into the passenger seat.
"You're welcome. Go. We got lucky."
Emma raised an eyebrow.
"We? This isn't your car either, is it? I stole a stolen car?"
"Yeah. Now, how about that drink?"
"Get me a fake ID and I'll think about it," she proposed.
He reached into his bag and took out a stack of licenses. "Take your pick and we'll fix it up."
She snatched the first one. "Okay, you pick the place."
From that day on they were almost inseparable. Emma had been living in and out motel rooms since her eighteenth birthday, stealing items from the occupied ones while she slept in the vacant ones. She'd almost gotten caught by housekeeping a few times, but luck seemed to be on her side and realized jobs were much easier now that she had a partner. They split everything they took equally, and Emma was quick to learn that Neal Cassidy was an okay guy for a thief. They would always sleep in separate beds once they found a room for the night and he would sleep in front seat and let her use the backseat when they were forced to sleep in the car. When they needed food and supplies convenience stores were always their favorite targets and they'd developed a routine. Bae would distract the clerk by asking for directions while Emma browsed the aisles and stashed whatever she could. Bae would also try to swipe a thing or two, but it was not so easy at the counter.
"I think this little guy is hungry. Go ahead and get whatever you want, sweetie. I'm going to get directions," Bae said when they walked into one of those stores, her shirt stuffed with padding to make her appear pregnant. It was one of their best scams and the one that got them the biggest hauls. No one would dare suspect a pregnant girl of thievery.
"I will," she said and headed for the cooler, grabbing several bottles of soda and shoving them into her purse while Bae walked up to the counter to distract the cashier.
"Hey, man."
"How are you?"
He grabbed a map and opened it, placing himself in front of the clerk while Emma went down the snack aisle and started stuffing some cakes, small bags of chips and candy bars in the pouch under her shirt.
"I've been better. Listen, my wife and I are really lost. I'm trying to get to Eugene, and I think we've been going the wrong way. Can you show me what's going on here? Where are we, first of all?"
"Okay, wait. Do I look like a tour guide? Why don't you buy the map, then I can help you!" the cashier snapped impatiently.
"Okay." He tossed some money onto the counter.
"Okay. Now, your problem is…"
Bae spotted a keychain with the image of a swan on it. He smiled, thinking it would be perfect for Emma and tucked it into the pocket of his jeans while the cashier was pointing to something on the map.
"Is you're way up here. You see that?"
"Oh my God. That is a problem."
"Yeah. Now what you have to do, is you have to take five all the way south towards Salem. That's right down there. You see that?"
Bae snatched a candy bar off one of the displays and put it in his pocket unaware that another customer had just walked in and seen him do it.
"Hey!"
"That's where you're going. You got it?"
"Hey, mister, that guy's stealing that-"
Neal, you freakin idiot! This time I got this. Emma doubled over clutching her pouch now filled with enough food to keep them going for a day or two.
"Oh God! Oh God…"
"Honey?"
"I think… I think it's time."
"He's ready?"
"Oh, yeah."
"You didn't see him take the-" the customer began.
"Oh, it hurts really bad!"
"Do you guys need help?" the cashier asked.
"No, no I got this!" Bae said.
"Mister, you didn't see him take-"
"It hurts really bad!" Emma cried, wishing that meddling customer would shut up!
"Okay, okay."
Move your ass Cassidy!
"You want me to call an ambulance?"
"No, it's fine! My car's out front. I know, I know. Breathe, baby."
"Oh God."
"Breathe! Let's go! Come on."
"Oh! Oh!"
Emma waddled out of the store, clutching her pouch and leaning on Bae for support.
"You know they were stealing."
"The little guy saved us," Bae said once they were in the car.
"He sure did. The miracle of birth!" She tossed him the pouch.
"Wow. Good haul," he praised.
"Thanks."
"I got you a key chain. Do you like it?" he asked and held up the swan keychain.
"Yeah," she said softly and kissed him.
"Okay. We got to go." He started the car and sped away back to the motel where they'd been hiding out for the last week, seeing a family checking out of one of the rooms and waited until they left before they went inside.
"Twenty minutes till housekeeping. You want to shower first?"
"Oh, look. The granola family left this." Emma held up a dreamcatcher.
"What is that?"
"It's a Native American dream catcher. It's supposed to keep all the nightmares out, and only let the good dreams in to protect your home."
"It's flypaper for nightmares?"
"Mm hmm."
"Let's keep it."
"Yeah, hang it where? The car?" Emma inquired.
"It's not much of a home. Maybe it's time we get a real place."
"Are you saying…" it was what she'd been hoping to hear for weeks, that they would finally stop running, settle down.
"Why not? We've been on the road long enough, baby. It's time we retire the Bonnie and Clyde act. So, I think… I think it's time."
"Together?"
"Don't you want to?"
"Like where? Neverland?"
Bae winced. He never wanted to see that hellhole and its demented master if he could help it. "I'm serious. We could do this."
"Where?"
He grabbed a map of the other locations of the motel they were staying at and laid it on the bed. "Where? I'll tell you where. Close your eyes and point. Whatever spot you pick, that's our home." She closed her eyes and pointed then opened them.
"Tallahassee," she announced.
"We got a winner."
"Is it near a beach?"
"Yeah, it's Florida. Everything's near a beach."
"Okay then, Tallahassee it is."
"Tallahassee it is."
"Are you sure? Is this… What you really want?"
"What I really want, is you."
It all seemed too good to be true and it was. They finally managed to scrape up enough money to live in another motel for at least a week before they would begin the drive to Tallahassee. They weren't sure whether the Bug would make it, but they were willing to try, and Emma had grown attached to the car along with the thief she'd picked up in it. Bae was out shopping for their trip and went to the post office to pick up a package when he spotted a poster on the wall that chilled his blood. That theft was in Phoenix, he never thought it would catch up to him there. If it followed him there it would follow him to Tallahassee too. As much as he loved Emma, it was no life for her, always on the run. He folded the poster up and tucked it into his pocket when he walked back to the park where she was waiting with their lunch from the doughnut shop.
"I got doughnuts. I got jelly. What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"No, no. Hey. What's wrong?"
Bae took the poster out of his pocket and handed it to her. "This was on the wall at the post office. I didn't even know they did that still."
"When did this happen?"
"I was a janitor in Phoenix – this high-end jewelry place. The manager was a drunk. He would forget to lock the case to the expensive watches."
"Neal…"
"I resisted – twice! The third time, this guy's just asking to get took. So I… I grabbed a couple cases of watches, and I hopped on a train to Portland. The store's got insurance. Anyway, I stashed 'em in a locker at the train station. They're still there. It's not… It's hardly stealing."
"So, you got away clean."
"I didn't get away clean. The manager may have been a drunk, but the security cameras are stone sober. I thought this heat had died down, but it hasn't. I'm sorry. Tallahassee's out. I got to go to Canada."
"That's fine. I like maple syrup."
"I got to go to Canada alone."
"Why?"
"If I get caught and you're with me, you're in trouble with me and I can't do that to you."
"You're not going to get caught."
"How can you say that? You think crossing the border's easy?"
"We get fake IDs and passports."
"Those cost money. We have a stolen car," he reminded her.
"We make it legit. We take a VIN number off of another car."
"Emma, I'm not going to have you in the seat next to me with twenty thousand…"
"Wait, wait! Seriously. Wait, wait, wait. What if I go and get the watches out of the locker? No one's looking for me. We can… We can fence them, and then we have the money. We can do whatever we want. We can go wherever we want, right? We could change our identities and go to Tallahassee," she said hopefully.
"So you… You want to steal the watches, to help me with get away with stealing the watches?"
"Yes. That is exactly what I want to do."
"I can't let you risk everything, not for me. I'm not worth throwing your life away."
"I love you and you ARE worth it to me. We're not throwing our lives away. We're making an investment on a better one. In Tallahassee."
"I love you, too. You think you can do it?"
"I know I can. Just tell me where they are."
He grabbed a pen out of her purse and scribbled the locker's number on the doughnut shop bag she was holding. "I'm ready. Let's go!" she cried excitedly. They reached the station a few minutes later. Emma went inside alone while Bae waited in the car listening to a CD on the new player he'd installed.
"Everybody said that you'd better watch out
Man, she's gonna turn you in
And me, you know that I thought that I looked out
Now look at the trouble that I'm in
You know, you'd better
Watch out for Charley's Girl…" Lou Reed sang.
He kept glancing over at the front entrance praying he wouldn't see Emma being escorted out by police officers. Instead he saw her running to the car with the bag in her hand.
"Oh, thank God!" he cried and kissed her when she handed him the bag.
"Let's see 'em."
Bae opened the case.
"That's not as many as I thought."
"Yeah, but they're super pricey. This is twenty thousand dollars, easy."
"Twenty thousand?! Tallahassee…"
"Listen, I'm going to go meet the fence. I'll meet you with the money. Remember where? The parking structure by the tracks."
"Yes."
"Nine o'clock, sharp. This is so there's no mix-ups…" He took one of the watches out of the box and put around her wrist.
"So, I guess we're keeping this one?"
"How can we not? Look how good it looks on you," he said and kissed her again. "Tallahassee, baby. We're almost home."
"Home…" Emma said dreamily.
Later that night Bae was walking to their meeting place after meeting the fence who was able to offer them the twenty thousand he'd asked for when he realized he was being shadowed. He kept walking for a few blocks until he broke into a run, the man in pursuit. He turned down the alley and started to climb the fence when hands seized him and pulled him down.
"You got the wrong guy, officer! I wasn't even jaywalking!"
"It's not like that. You want to protect Emma? Come with me."
"What?"
"Get up."
"How do you know Emma?"
"Name's August. And it's a long story, but trust me – you want to hear it."
"Alright, August. If you're not a cop, who are you? You got two minutes."
"Think of me as Emma's guardian angel."
"Guardian angel? I'd say you've been doing a pretty crap job and don't count on getting your wings from me Clarence."
"Very funny. I've been looking for her for the past two years. Now I finally find her, and she's robbing convenience stores with some deadbeat. Tell me again who's doing the crap job."
"Let me tell you something. I'm the best thing that's ever happened to her. Two years? Where were you the rest of her life?" Bae asked angrily. The nerve of this little shit, he thought.
"I'm not perfect. This world? Full of temptations. Turns out I'm not that great at saying no. I'm not built that way. But, I'm here now." Jiminy would kick my ass if he knew how I turned out, August thought. The cricket was mild mannered but had quite a temper on him when something upset him.
"So who are you?"
"We were in the same home as kids, and I thought she'd be safe inside the system. But now that she's out? Back then, I promised I would take care of her."
"Well, we promised to take care of each other. Unlike you, I am going to take care of her."
"You love her. Good. That means you have to do right by her."
"That's all I'm trying to do."
"Then leave her."
"Never," he said firmly. "Hell would have to freeze over first."
"She has a destiny. And you? This life? You're going to keep her from it. Okay? You believe in magic?"
"I take it you do." This had to be a trick of his bastard father's. Well, the old man wasn't going to get him this time.
"So will you. Trust me. I'm going to show you something… Something that's going to make you look at everything differently. And, when you see what I have in here, you're going to listen. You're going to believe every word I say."
"Yeah, right." Bae said skeptically as they walked back to August's box. There was a box on the back of it. August opened the lid. Bae gazed into the box to see a typewriter with the words I KNOW YOU'RE BAELFIRE written on the sheet inserted in it.
"Okay, I'm listening."
"There's a curse… And it needs to be broken. Emma, is the key. I was tasked with keeping her on track and you, my friend, just got caught in the crossfire. Now, I'm going to tell you a story. And, at the end of it, you're going to have to make a decision. Will you do the right thing, or not? So… Are you ready?"
"Not really but I don't have a choice, do I?" Bae asked bitterly and took out his phone, feeling his heart breaking into a million pieces.
"Portland PD," an officer answered.
"I'd like to report a burglary," he said, his voice shaking and the bile rising in his throat. Oh God Emma, I am so sorry!
Emma glanced down at her watch. Neal was late. Worried he might have gotten into trouble with the fence she called him on his cell phone but all she kept getting was an out of service error.
"Damn right it's an error," she muttered.
"Unless he set you up. Hands above your head please, miss," an officer asked, his gun pointed at her.
"Wait. Why?" Emma asked, shaking.
"Possession of stolen goods. Left you holding."
"I have nothing."
Cop: Sorry to tell you, but your boy took off. Probably in Canada by now. He called in a tip…told us to take a look at the surveillance footage at the train station. Give me the watch. Now!"
She unfastened the band,, tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. Neal, you son of a bitch! You lied to me. You USED me! I loved you goddammit, I loved you!
"You know your rights?"
"Yeah." She handed him the watch.
"Good girl. Turn around. Where's the rest of the watches?" the officer demanded as he handcuffed her.
"They're gone. They're not coming back."
"Let's go."
Vancouver, Canada
Two months later
For years his father abandoning him in that pit in the Enchanted Forest had been the scene of his nightmares but now it had been replaced with another one; a terrified Emma being led away by a police officer while he snuck away like a coward. He'd abandoned her just like his father abandoned him. He'd promised himself that he would never turn out like the bastard that spawned him, but it seemed that he'd done just that by letting the woman he loved take the rap for him. One day when he got home from work a postcard was waiting for him in his mailbox with an address written on it. He snorted. It had to be from August.
"Been a while. Where'd you go?" August asked him when he arrived at the meeting place.
"Tried to lose myself. It didn't work. I want to talk to you about Emma."
"I hope you're not trying to reach out."
"I just… I feel like… If… If I knew that she was okay, then I could move on. Is she?"
"She will be. She got eleven months."
"That should be me! I should be doing that time."
"No. We went over this. It's good."
"How's it good?"
"It's a minimum security place in Phoenix. And no, I am not going to tell you which one. She'll get out of there, and she'll be fine. You keep your promise and steer clear, and she can have a good life. She can do what she's supposed to do."
"And if I can't be there for her, man, you got to promise me that you will be."
"I promise."
"Then you should do something for me. I was able to fence the watches. Don't judge me. I'm giving it all to her. And the car – I got a clean VIN number for it, so it's legit. I just… It'll feel like I'm there with her, you know?"
"Money is not what she needs. Not for what's ahead."
"Can you just see that she gets it?"
"Sure."
"And one more thing – if anything changes, and she does her job, this insanity ends, and she's free…"
"I'll send you a postcard…from a place called Storybrooke and it will only have one word on it…broken."
New York City
Eleven years later
"….Neal…..Neal! Haven't you heard a bloody word I've said?'" Zelena demanded impatiently. They were in a penthouse that they were in the process of redecorating, but Neal seemed to be having trouble focusing and kept looking at a postcard he held in his hand. He'd been having a lot of trouble with it for the past few days. "We're taking a break!"
She turned off the music they'd been listening to and sat down on the sofa.
"Now, what's troubling you. You've been distracted for the last two days. Is it something with Tamara? You haven't had a fight, have you?"
"No, she's on her way home from San Francisco." Bae sighed deeply while he paced the floor. "I'm calling off the wedding."
"Why would you do that, caro? Have you met someone else?"
"It's kind of hard to explain."
"Try," Zelena urged.
"I don't know where to start."
They heard the sound of a car backfiring. Zelena gasped, a green energy bolt shooting out of her fingertips and shattering the glass coffee table. Bae jumped up his eyes wide with shock and fear.
"You have magic!" he cried. "Who are you? Did my father send you!?"
"Bloody hell! You weren't supposed to see that!" Zelena moaned. "Wait….how did you know it was magic?"
"Because I've seen enough of it in my life and I never wanted to see it again! Now who are you!"
"You know who I am Neal. My name is Zelena Strogoff Sabitini. I'm an interior designer."
"And a witch," Bae sneered. "You're from the Enchanted Forest, now who are you?"
"No, I am from Russia and Italy…but if you know of the Enchanted Forest then I believe you may have the answer I've been looking for."
Bae backed away from her. "You'll take me back to my father over my dead body."
"Neal, calm down, caro. All I want is for you to answer a question for me. What is your real name?"
"Baelfire. Why?"
"And your father's name?"
"Rumplestiltskin," he spat.
Zelena smiled. "Your father's real name is Rumplestiltskin Strogoff and you caro, are my cousin on my father's side."
"W…What?" He stared at her.
Zelena reached into her purse and brought out an old leather-bound book. "Our ancestor's name was Ivan Strogoff," she began.
Ivan was a powerful sorcerer in the court of Ivan the Terrible along with his apprentice and lover, Irina Fedorova. Ivan was a kindhearted man who only wanted to use his gift to help others while Irina only wanted to learn how to use magic to help herself. The two had a falling out and Irina was accused of using her powers to murder her rivals in the Russian court. She was to be burned at the stake only she escaped and vowed revenge against her lover and his family. He, his sister Ekaterina and her daughter Mischa were all that was left of his family. He sent his precious sister to Italy to hide her among friends there, bound their magic and cast a protection spell over them so that his former apprentice could not locate them and began to learn more about light and dark magic so that he could find a way to defeat her. Through his studies he learned how to create a talisman that would remove the magic of another sorcerer temporarily or permanently if placed over the victim's heart and the talisman could only be used by those of his bloodline.
Ivan began a long and perilous journey into the Ural Mountains to defeat Irina but before he could reach the castle the dark sorceress made her home, his talisman opened a portal and he fell through it into a world known as Oz and met and fell in love with its goddess, Lurline. She gave him the name Aramon, which in her language meant 'wise man'.
Irina's devotion to the dark arts began to take its toll on her physical appearance. She was no longer a great beauty and required the souls of the young to maintain the glamour she used to keep herself as young and beautiful as she once was. Over the centuries many wandered into her lair, but none survived. Soon word spread throughout the country about an old witch named Baba Yaga who captured and killed the young, devouring their flesh to restore her lost youth and people dared not venture into the part of the Ural Mountains where she made her home in fear of being captured by her and eaten. By taking the life forces of the innocent, Baba Yaga had discovered the key to immortality but her ultimate goal was to find and exterminate the surviving members of the Strogoff family and destroy the talisman that could destroy her. Centuries she waited impatiently for one of them to return to the motherland.
Baba Yaga traced the current Strogoff descendant to Moscow, a young woman named Zelena Strogoff Sabitini, descended from Ivan's sister Ekaterina. The girl was in Moscow researching her family's history along with her husband Angelo. She could have killed the girl outright but decided to make her suffer first by taking the thing she loved most; her husband. She would use the husband as a bargaining chip. Unless the girl found the talisman and brought it to her, she would never her precious Angelo again.
"How did you get Angelo back?" Bae asked her once she was finished.
"By studying the texts my family had hidden and learning the magic of Ivan's new land," Zelena explained. "I went back to Siberia to face Baba Yaga alone knowing I would probably die in the process, but I didn't care. All I cared about was getting Angelo back but before I left, this suddenly appeared in my hotel room in Russia." She gestured, and Artemis's Bow appeared in her hands.
"I've seen that before!" Bae exclaimed. "My father had it. It's the bow used by the Greek goddess Artemis! Any arrow fired from it always hits its target."
"By the time I reached Baba Yaga's fortress she'd already consumed enough of Angelo's soul that he was blinded. And she transferred all the souls she'd taken into him." Zelena's eyes filled with tears. "I had to release all the souls to defeat her and I was given a choice…. shoot her or shoot my husband."
"Oh God….Zee….I'm so sorry."
"I had to shoot my husband to release all the souls. It killed her and saved his life, but I couldn't restore his eyesight," she sobbed. "Twenty-eight years I've been searching for Ivan's descendants hoping one of them could help me make Angelo see again and…. my family is gone…. your half and Angelo are all I have left."
"I don't know if my father can help you or not Zee…he and I…we're estranged."
Zelena reached out and took his hand in hers. "Then it's time to try to mend the wounds. La famiglia è per sempre, Baelfire. Not just because your father may be able to help me. Do it for yourself too. You've been alone too long, caro. Now tell me. Why are you calling off your wedding?"
"Tamara's having an affair."
"What?! With whom?"
"Greg Mendell."
"Greg? She's been sleeping with her boss? Putana! So, THAT's why they've been spending so much time in San Francisco, is it? Well I think a wicked curse is in order." She rubbed her hands together.
"No, Zee. No magic. I got this."
"How did you find out?"
"One of her coworkers emailed me all their office chats and a few pictures. And I saw them together at the airport when I went to pick her up. I was gonna surprise her. Then she called me and told me her flight was delayed. It was all crap. And I was fooling myself. The only woman I've ever really loved is Emma Swan and now that she's done what tore us apart in the first place I'm gonna go back to her…and this time I'm staying. I don't know if she'll forgive me or not but I gotta try."
"I'm coming with you. We're coming with you."
"Zee, you don't have to."
"Ah but I am caro. Try and stop me."
"Fat chance I have of doing that. You'll just come after me anyway."
"You're right, I would. But I still want to curse that putana that broke your heart."
"Forget her, Zee. She's not worth it."
"We can go this weekend after we finish the dining room," she said.
"Thanks Zee."
And if Rumplestiltskin didn't do right by his son, Zelena was determined to show him just how wicked she could be and lay a curse on him he would never be able to break, cousin or not. Her battle with Baba Yaga in Siberia had destroyed her chances of bearing a child of her own and though they were actually close in age, she loved Bae like a son and would protect him with everything she had.