I was born amidst the purple waterfalls
I was weak, yet not unblessed
Dead to the world
Alive for the journey
One night I dreamt a white rose withering
A newborn drowning a lifetime loneliness
I dreamt all my future, relived my past
I witnessed the beauty of the beast
Nightwish - Bless The Child
Author's Notes: The characters Dr. Natalie Durant, Miles McCabe and Stephen Connor originally appeared in NBC's short-lived series, Medical Investigation.
Storybrooke, Maine
One month after the Final Eclipse
Rumple and Belle were stunned to find a large crowd gathered outside the newly remodeled antique shop and bookstore. There was a long, red ceremonial ribbon tied across the front door and a wide red velvet carpet leading from the door to the passenger doors of the limousine and a large banner reading: GRAND OPENING TODAY!
"Bae...did you do all this?" Rumple inquired of his son. He merely smiled and got out of the car, turning to address the crowd.
"Thank you all for coming! Today is a very special day, not only for this town but for my parents because it is the beginning of a new chapter in their life as they open their first business together. I give you Rumplestiltskin and Belle Strogoff Gold, the proud owners of Rumplestiltskin Strogoff's Collectibles and Belle's Boutique!" Bae announced and opened the door, reaching for Belle's hand and helping her out of the car first, followed by his father. The crowd cheered loudly, their family members and closest friends the loudest.
"All right Grandpa and Belle!" Henry yelled.
Regina made her way through the crowd, a frame in her hands. She stood before them. "On behalf of the town of Storybrooke, I present this lifetime business license to Mr. and Mrs Strogoff Gold. Congratulations and may your shop be a great success!" she declared as she handed the frame to Rumple. He tucked it under his arm and shook her hand, Belle following suit.
"Thank you, Mayor Mills," he said with a grin. "Were you expecting me to say Your Majesty, dearie?" he teased.
"I'll admit, I'm a bit disappointed but I'll take what victories I can get." she said.
Belle laughed. "Thank you."
Bae led the couple over to the front door of the shop. Wendy opened a bottle of champagne and poured two glasses, handing one to Rumple and the other to Belle that she quickly changed to juice while Jonathan and Michael went through the crowd, handing the rest of the adult guests glasses. "A toast...to my parents: Rumple and Belle, whom we love dearly and wish them every happiness. To Rumple and Belle!" he called out raising his glass in the air.
"To Rumple and Belle!" the crowd echoed.
"To us, my sweetheart," Rumple said softly, clinking his glass against hers.
"To us," Belle whispered, linking her arm through his so that they drank from each other's glasses while the crowd cheered.
Rumple put his arm around his wife. "Although this shop only bears Belle's and my names, none of this would've been possible without all the hard work by our son Bae and our stepchildren, Wendy, Jonathan and Michael. Let's give them all a round of applause, shall we?"
"Papa!" Bae cried as the crowd clapped enthusiastically while the Darlings smiled nervously.
"Oh come on, you all deserve it!" Belle teased.
Regina stepped up to her son and whispered in his ear. "It's time to show your grandfather your surprise, honey."
Henry stepped forward, waving his hand and producing a large pair of gold scissors.
"Good job, lad!" Rumple said proudly as he took the scissors from the boy's hand. Holding them together, he and Belle slid the blades between the red silk ribbon tied around the door and cut it in two. "Rumplestilskin Gold's Collectibles and Belle's Boutique is now open for business!" he announced and they walked into the shop. Belle kissed him softly.
"Have a good day, darling."
"You too, sweetheart." he said, taking his place behind his counter with Jonathan at his side while Wendy and Belle went over to their half of the shop and Michael retreated to his office to work on the accounts. it was not long before the store started filling up with customers and several reporters from The Mirror wanting to interview the owners. Out of the corner of his eye Rumple could see Sidney Glass admiring a display of objects from Turkey. He'd been released from the asylum not long after Pan's defeat and resumed his job at The Mirror but he no longer acted as a spy for Regina. There were still too many bitter feelings between them.
"I once had a carpet like this," he murmured as he studied a Turkish carpet then the price listed for it. "I'd like to purchase it."
"You're sure, Sidney?"
He nodded. Rumple motioned for Jonathan to join them. The young man unlocked the display case and carefully removed the carpet.
"We can have this delivered to your house this afternoon, Mr. Glass."
"Thank you."
Rumple escorted him over to the counter so that they could complete the sale while Jonathan made arrangements to have the carpet delivered to Sidney's house that afternoon as promised. No sooner did he have that transaction completed, another customer was approaching him to inquire about another set of items he had for sale. He smiled. He did have his busy days when it was still a pawnshop but a busy day to him back then was only a customer or two.
Over on their side of the shop, Wendy was ringing up the customers in the checkout line while Belle was helping the ones browsing find what they were looking for. Her suspense and romance shelves were emptying fast forcing Michael to keep coming out of the office to help restock the shelves with more copies of the books that were selling. An added bonus was that the business cards they kept on their counters with Bae's number on it were being taken by almost every customer. He called his father around lunchtime to tell him that he was being flooded with calls from people wanting him to decorate their homes and businesses. The people of Storybrooke we doing exactly as they'd promised, adjusting well to their life in the new world.
"You're doing well Rumple," Adora praised when she approached the register with a book in her hand. "So well that it's time for me to move on."
"Move on? I don't understand dearie."
"My work here is done. The circle is complete and this town is safe under your protection."
"What about your son?"
She glanced over to where Jeb stood with Ambrose and Xenia. "He'll be fine. He has Xenia now and soon they'll be giving me a grandson. I'll stop and visit them. The Balance is not restored yet. There are still other blades out there."
"We'll find them."
"You will, the time the realms unite."
"What does that mean?"
"You'll find out…when it happens."
"Before you go there's something I've always wanted to ask you. In the Realm of the Forgotten….Hope….that was you, wasn't it?"
She shook her head. "What did she tell you the last time she saw you."
"That I'd see her again if I continued the path I'm on."
"Then you will." She smiled.
"I'm still getting used to your changed appearance. What name are you going by these days?"
"Doctor Natalie Durant," she replied and handed him a business card. "I work at the National Institutes of Health. It's a good fit for me…trying to save lives in this land. But I can't always save them all…"
"You do you best dearie. It's all you can do."
Seconds later she heard her phone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the screen, frowning.
"Go dearie. Your patients need you."
Your mother needs me, she thought.
Portland, Maine
"Natalie, where the hell have you been?" Doctor Stephen Connor demanded angrily when she reappeared at the hospital a short time later. He looked like Wyatt, talked like Wyatt and sometimes acted like Wyatt but Stephen was his own man with his own set of inner demons that didn't come from being a fairy tale character trying to adjust in a new land. They came from being a dedicated doctor that gave his all to his patients but couldn't save them all.
"I was in the lab," she lied. "What's wrong?"
"We need to find the source. Three more patients have been brought in with the same symptoms."
"And Dr. Bergmann?"
"She's still not showing any symptoms. Talk to her again and see if you can find out anything her daughter had in common with these other patients."
"I'll call you when I find out."
They were both startled when his phone rang. "Connor? I'll be right down. Six more patients are being admitted. This thing's spreading. Go!"
She found Lilly in the waiting room her eyes filled with tears.
"Dr. Bergmann?"
"She lost the baby," she croaked. "Please…I can't…I can't lose her too…"
"We're doing everything we can. Dr. Bergmann, I know this isn't a good time but there are some questions I need to ask you that might help us find out what's wrong with Cassie."
"What do you need to know?"
"Cassie is one of many patients who've been admitted in the last twenty-four hours with toxic levels of mercury in her system. We were hoping you could help us find out how she could've been exposed to it."
"I've been here all night thinking about it and I can't figure it out!" she cried.
"Try," she pleaded.
Lilly thought for a moment. "Cassie's always been a very healthy girl. In our real…." She stopped herself. "She's rarely been sick so when she started getting sick I thought it was from the pregnancy but it got worse…you're saying it was mercury?"
"Yes. Her blood tests indicate she was exposed in a short amount of time."
"She did tell me she thought something she ate at Benito's didn't taste right to her."
"Benito's? When did she eat there? What did she eat?"
"Fish. I can't stand it myself but she and my husband Otto loved it…"
"Excuse me Doctor." Adora grabbed her phone and dialed a number. "Connor? Can you get Miles to find out if anyone else ate at Benito's? Thanks?" She hung up and smiled at Lilly. "This might be the answer we're looking for Doctor. I think your daughter ingested seafood with toxic levels of mercury but we'll need to run more tests to be sure."
"Run all the tests you need just save my daughter!" she cried.
A visitor was waiting for Adora when she returned to the lab.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed at Loki.
"Making certain that you keep your word and protect Lilliana," he informed her coldly. "She cannot lose her daughter."
"She's not going to and her grandchild will be returned to her."
"Still interfering in the Balance."
"I'm doing what you want me to and you know it. Cassie's child must stand at the North and Zorinda's Regina at the South in the fifth realm. The dagger there has been found and neutralized but the Home Office and the Sons and Daughters are still a threat to all the realms. You need to go before someone catches you."
"You forget I'm a master of disguises," Loki said and glamoured himself as of Adora's teammates, Doctor Miles McCabe. "I will see Lilliana myself."
"Don't let Miles see you."
"He won't…and no one will remember I've been here, even Lilliana."
The god walked down the hall and found Lilly still in the waiting room asleep. He touched her shoulder gently to rouse her from her slumber.
"Doctor McCabe?" she asked sleepily.
"Your daughter's going to be fine Doctor Bergmann," he assured her. "But she has a long road of recovery ahead of her."
"Thank you," she murmured, "May I see her now?"
"She's sleeping now but you can go in."
He followed her down the hall but the moment he entered her daughter's room he felt a strong dark presence that chilled him to the bone. He waved his hand, freezing everything in the hospital.
"Come out, come out wherever you are, darling or are you too afraid to tango with me?" he challenged.
Silence.
"You want to do this the hard way? Fine!"
He approached the bed recoiling with shock when he realized the source of the darkness was the young woman asleep in the bed.
"What have you done you bitch?' he hissed.
He heard laughter and looked up to see Alemedia waving at him from the TV screen. "You're too late Loki. I've already darkened her heart and when she bears the child she lost its heart will be as dark as hers!"
"You're going to use her to divide the Guardians again! Over my dead body! I WARNED you I would not allow you to keep interfering in the Balance bitch!" He teleported himself into Ephesis.
Ephesis
The Ozian Hell Realm
Alemedia laughed from behind the glass of the sphere she was still trapped in.
"You're too late Loki. You can't reverse my spell."
"Maybe not bitch but don't think you can keep infecting innocent souls with your darkness without my knowing about it." He glared at her. "I will unite the Guardians in all six realms and the next time we won't just trap you…we'll destroy you!"
He pressed his hands against the dome and began chanting in Norse.
"You bastard son of a Jotun whore!" she yelled.
"Find some way to amuse yourself darling," he sneered. "Because your time is running out."
Portland, Maine
When he returned to the hospital everything was still frozen. He waved his hands over Cassie's sleeping form and chanted softly. He couldn't reverse Alemedia's spell but he could attempt to lessen its effects.
"I'm so sorry Lilly," he said softly. "I've done all I can….all we can hope is that she has enough of your light in her to overcome the darkness she's been tainted with." He kissed her frozen cheek.
He would watch over them as best he could in the meantime.
"I will not let your daughter die a second time Glinda. I swear on my life I will not!" he vowed.
"You're certain there's no way we can reverse her spell?" Adora queried.
Loki shook his head sadly. "I've lessened its effects as much as I can." He slumped against the wall.
"And drained yourself in the process," she scolded.
"We all have our weaknesses."
"You need to return to Asgard to recover your strength."
"I cannot...open the Bifrost...you...will...have to...or summon my brother..."
Adora rolled her eyes. "And listen to him hitting on me the whole time? I'd rather ask for Odin or Frigga than Thunderass!"
He laughed weakly.
Adora summoned a horn and blew into it.
"Who summons me?" demanded the Bifrost Bridge Guardian. "By the Norns! What in the Hel has he done now?"
"He's drained himself trying to protect one of my kin and needs to rest Heimdall."
"He'll be resting for weeks by looks of him." Heimdall conjured a litter and floated the unconscious god onto it. "I haven't seen him this way since Narvi's death. Fret not little angel. We'll take care of him."
She watched her friend disappear onto the Bifrost, biting back tears. Once again an innocent had paid a high price for her family's sins.
She waved her hand and released Loki's freezing spell.
I'll watch over her Loki. Rest, old friend.
Don't disappointment me, Ozmalita.
Cassie's recovery from the mercury poison was a long and painful one but out of the tragedy Lilly found a dear friend in Doctor Natalie Durant. Though Natalie lived in Bathesda she and Lilly spoke on the phone several times a week and Natalie would fly to Maine to visit her and Cassie.
Asgard
Sigyn's hands tightened on her stick as she watched Odin at Frigga at her husband's bedside, their hands in his.
If I had that bitch goddess here I would beat her into the ugliest thing in the realms.
The King and Queen of Asgard had been horrified at their son's condition the moment he arrived at the palace. Not only had he used a great deal of magic, they suspected he'd also surrendered part of his life force to a member of the Ozian Greek pantheon but they were not certain whom.
"The goddess Ozmalita was unable to tell you anything?"
"She's been questioned at length Frigga. She doesn't know who Loki gave part of his life force to. We can only hope that person was worthy of it," Odin mumbled, feeling the Odinsleep begin to overtake him but he didn't dare let it claim him until his son's energy was restored otherwise his recovery would take months instead of weeks.
"She is worth it Father," they heard him murmur.
"Loki!" Sigyn cried, kissing him softly. His eyes fluttered open.
"I'm so sorry darling…I had to….she will be a child…."
"You've done this for a child?" Odin inquired gently.
"A child not yet born Father but whose soul has been tainted by darkness as has her mother's. Alemedia intends to use them to carry on Demeter's vengeance. I intend to stop it!"
"You may not be able to, son."
"I know Mother, but I had to try."
Moments later he was asleep again. His parents released his hands.
"We've done all we can. He will need to rest a few days more," Frigga informed her daughter-in-law. As she was walking out of the room a vision flashed before her eyes of her son glamoured as a tree cradling two sleeping children in his arms.
The time for the realms to unite is coming Mother. The child I've saved is one of keys to it. She is the great-granddaughter of Glinda Strogoff.
Whom you've now made a demigoddess by surrendering part of your life force to.
She needs to know what she's up against and be able to survive it.
She will. Now sleep, son.
Storybrooke, Maine
Nine months after the Final Eclipse
Rumple nearly jumped out of his Armani suit when he heard his cellphone ringing in his pocket, the ringtone still set to the Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil.
"Pleased to meet you
Hope you guess my name
But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game..."
"W...What the hell was that?!" Blue gasped.
"Hope," Rumple and Belle answered in unison as they gazed down at their newborn daughter and damned if they didn't see her father's impish grin on her lips. "So that was what she meant when she said you'd see her again and only if you continued the path you were on. How is that possible, Rumple? How can our daughter be the spirit Hope from Pandora's Box?"
"You know that in our world we believe our hearts and souls are born before our physical bodies. Most of them remain in limbo until they merge with their bodies. Others are created by lovers who need them to serve either as a guardian or a guide in difficult times until they are born into their physical bodies and more often than not, the guardian they've created later becomes the child they raise if they follow the right paths. That day you were in a situation where you felt all was lost but what may have seemed like an act of desperation on your part was the invocation of the most powerful form of true love's magic Rumple," Blue explained.
Rumple gazed down at his infant daughter again, an unfamiliar memory flashing before his eyes. He saw himself and Belle in Neverland sleeping when the spirit he saw in Pandora's Box appeared before them. He was about to awaken when she cast a spell over him sending him back to sleep and brushing a lock of hair from his eyes, something Belle often did and smiling at him as she spoke.
"We will meet soon Rumplestiltskin, but not yet. You've only just begun to follow the path you must take for your redemption but the road is long and there are many dangers still ahead but now that you have back one of your strongest sources to light your way you will succeed. You, Belle, are his strongest light, the first to see the man behind the beast and to retain your faith in your love even when he gave you cause to doubt him. You've bound yourself to him heart, body and soul and in doing so, you have begun the process of banishing the darkness from his heart but it cannot fully be banished unless he agrees to surrender it. To do so he must defeat its source as a mortal."
The next memory he saw was after his father was defeated. He lay on the street in Belle's arms with Bae, Henry and Emma standing near them as the spirit reappeared. When he asked her how she escaped the box he was confused by her answer. Now it made perfect sense.
"I was never a prisoner there. I merely appeared because your heart called to me. And now that have you have destroyed the Dark One's essence, you have been given a second chance to be the man you always wanted to be and you will retain your magic, in a limited form. Be aware, using it will extract a price from you physically and you can only be healed through the strength of those who are bound to you by love and blood so wield it with caution."
"Will we meet again?"
"Perhaps...but in a different form and only if you continue on the path you're now on."
"Do you Seers ever give a straight answer? It would save us all a lot of trouble, now wouldn't it?"
"You can't always get what you want." the spirit sang.
"Ummm...am I hearing things or did she just start singing a Rolling Stones song?" Bae had asked.
"She did. What's up with that anyway?" Emma inquired.
"Well, are you going to answer me, Hope?"
"I've given you enough clues that will eventually lead you to the answer. Follow the path you're on and you'll have the answer in time. I must be going now."
Hope made his cellphone ring to play Sympathy For The Devil. He'd assumed then she was just mocking his musical tastes but in reality, she'd given him the strongest clue to her identity.
The next memory he saw wasn't his. He could see the spirit from Pandora's Box walking down the street changing into the beautiful little girl their child would look like when he discovered his wife was pregnant holding an Ipod and browsing through the songs until she found Sympathy For The Devil. She was singing along to it before she vanished.
"If what you've done before this is any indication, I'm going to have my hands full with you, aren't I, little imp?" he murmured as he took the baby from Belle's arms and cradled her against his chest and kissed her forehead then kissed his wife.
They heard a knock on the door and turned to see Archie in the doorway pushing Az in a wheelchair while she cradled her own precious bundles in her arms. Three hours earlier she'd given birth to twins they'd named Ambrosia Azkadellia Ozopov Hopper and Andrew Tyler Ozopov Hopper. Andrew's birth had been a pleasant surprise for them, every test they'd been given hadn't shown the second child.
"Oh Belle, she's beautiful!" Az cried. "What's her name?"
"Hope Marie Strogoff-Gold," the new mother replied. "How is DG?"
They heard screaming down the hall.
"Does that answer your question?" Archie chuckled. Rumple rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Belle dinna carry on like that. Ye'd think DG dinna give birth before."
"She hasn't in centuries Rumple," Az reminded him.
"I dinna envy Wyatt. He's got his hands full with that sister o' yers."
"….Dottie, for Lurline's sake will you lay back down!" Wyatt shouted at his wife.
"You shut up! You did this to me!" she yelled. "Oh God will someone give me some goddam drugs!"
"Mrs. Cain, we've already given you…"
"GIVE ME SOME MORE!"
"I've already given you enough drugs to knock out a damn elephant," Whale yelled back. "Can't you do something with her Sheriff?"
"I'm trying!" he cried.
"Dorothia Ozopov Cain ye lay your arse back down in that bed or I'll be having ye tied down!" Rumple threatened when he limped into the room. "I cannae believe I hae to leave my wife who hae just given birth to deal with yer tantrums! And YE need to get this hellcat under control!" he snapped at Wyatt.
He threw up his hands. "What do you think I've been tryin to do?"
"Och, never mind." Rumple gestured and DG was back in bed. "Now ye do what ye need to and quit fussing."
She glared up at him. "I'd love to see YOU give birth!"
"But men don't, dearie."
"That needs to be rectified," she grunted. "Oooh."
"I'll come back when she's given birth," he giggled and vanished.
"Smartass!" she growled.
When he returned to his wife's room she was holding Hope and Ambrosia in her arms, the babies' hands glowing.
"He must succeed, or your soul will return to Ozmalita and other families will be chosen for both of us."
"NO! He WILL succeed Amber! He HAS TO!"
"He'd better! I've waited too long to be reunited with MY parents and I'm still in danger while Alemedia walks the mortal realm in her vessels. Now you're in danger too, not just from her but from the 'Father From Neverhell' as your sister-in-law calls him."
"My father's not the only one she's holding. She has your aunt and uncle too!"
"And driving her out of them will be much harder. That's why we need Rumple's curse broken now! The Balance will shift in our favor. You know what you have to."
"I'm going be a chip off the old block, dearie. And gods help him when I am. I'm not going easy on him."
"I almost feel sorry for him….almost."
"You will succeed, Papa. You will."
"Now you're both where you belong dearies," he murmured, kissing their cheeks before he handed Amber back to her mother and kissed Andrew who was still asleep in his father's arms.
An hour later an exhausted but ecstatic Wyatt came into the room.
"I have a son!" he announced. "Wyatt Nicholas Cain Junior!"
"That's wonderful Wyatt! How is Deege? Is she alright?"
"Tired….but she wants to see you Az."
Archie hugged his brother-in-law. "Congratulations."
"And to you! Two babies!"
"Well twins do run in my family. Come on. Let's go see my new nephew. Are you coming Rumple?"
"In a bit."
"Rumple, go and see the baby. We'll be just fine here, won't we sweetie?" Belle asked their daughter. He kissed them then picked up his cane and started walking down the hall.
"Next time you might want to use this," he heard a voice say.
"Dammit mon, are ye tryin' to scare the centuries off me?"
Loki chuckled.
"You're a demigod so it would be hard to do but as I said, use my little labor spell."
Rumple giggled. "Ye all know all about giving birth, dinna ye?"
"Don't remind me," the god groaned.
"Won't be shiftin into a mare in heat again any time soon, will ye?"
"Hel no but now that I know what childbirth is like I've made it my mission to make it as painless as possible!"
"Women all over this realm would be falling at your feet for it."
Loki smirked. "They already do and my wife would beat them all with her ugly stick if she caught them."
"Would you like to see my new cousins?"
"Of course I would…and your beautiful daughter. But glamoured. I don't want you beating me with your cane." He gestured.
"Who is that supposed to be?"
"A doctor that works with Ozmalita," Loki explained. "Just call me Miles."
"What're ye gonna do if he shows up?"
"Oh we don't have to worry about that. He and Ozmalita are out of the country. An outbreak in some place called Colima."
Loki smiled when he walked into the room, his memories taking him back centuries when he'd visited DG in her first life as Queen Dorothy Ozopov after the birth of her daughter, Ozma. He discreetly gestured and cast his spell ensuring that all the women would have easier births the next time around.
"This son of mine is gonna have a bit of the dragon in him like his daddy," DG murmured, cradling her son against her chest. "I don't remember seeing you here before but there's something familiar…."
Loki released his glamour spell. "It's been a long time….Dorothy."
"Loki! Wyatt, I know you remember him."
Wyatt laughed. "He probably remembers me as a rust covered wreck."
"But here you are as you were meant to be Wyatt. The circle is complete and now you've given birth to a new generation of Guardians."
"We just want to enjoy a few years of peace with our families. Is that too much to ask?"
"Peace is never too much to ask for Archie but the time the realms will unite is coming and we all need to be ready for it."
"You'll join us?"
"How could I not Rumple? I want the Balance restored as much as you for our children."
"And our grandchildren," Rumple added.
He gazed down at the babies asleep in their mothers' arms, longing to be holding one of his own again. It had been years since he'd last held an infant of his own and there were times when he thought those times were too many centuries behind him.
While Rumple watched him, an image passed before his eyes of the Norse god holding a baby girl with a litter of cats flying around her. He giggled.
"What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing dearie."
I'll just let him find out on his own, the sorcerer thought wickedly.
The time the realms unite, he heard Aramon's voice echo in his mind.
But he wouldn't think about it. All he wanted now was a few years of peace with his family, he didn't care how many there would be.