X Marks the Spot

Chapter Fifteen

After Regina vanished and she finished talking with her sister when Zelena left the room to take care of her daughter as she awoke from her nap, the Evil Queen left the farmhouse as well, then poofed into Gold's pawnshop. Upon her appearance, the sorceress found herself standing behind the Dark One, who was bending over one of the display cases towards the back of the room while he worked to carefully pull each piece of broken glass out from among his possessions.

He stopped what he was doing upon sensing the Queen's magic when she entered and slowly rose to stand upright, but he didn't turn around right away as he took a few moments to regain his composure. Inside he was seething in anger over the disruptions from first the heroes who were responsible for him losing his second son, and now from the sorceress responsible for him losing what little chance he had left to rekindle his relationship with his estranged wife.

The dark haired woman looked around the room and although he had cleaned up a vast majority of the mess he created, there was still plenty of evidence of his tantrum which is why she chortled and finally spoke first saying, "Well, I've seen you angry before. I just don't believe I've ever seen you angry enough to create this kind of damage to your own things. You've always taken great care of this dust heap you call a pawnshop because you know the true value these possessions hold that can be turned against this town's heroes. Tell me, did I cause you to do all this?"

He didn't move as he answered coldly, "Leave right now. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Why don't you just wave your hand and magically repair all the damage?" she asked without any concern as though she hadn't heard his warning, then bent down over one of the cases to pull out an old book from beneath the shattered glass covering it.

"Because some of these precious artifacts are dangerous and could create an even bigger mess that neither of us want should they come into contact with the darkness," Gold replied and suddenly propelled the Evil Queen across the room as she crashed heavily into a tall bookcase that kept her from going through the wall behind her, then thrust her once again into the ceiling a few feet further away from where she was standing before and simply let her fall to the floor. "I warned you to leave. In fact, I warned you not to return until I said it was all right for you to come back."

The Evil Queen glared up at him from where she fell, then attempted to get back onto her feet until she found that she couldn't. She began to struggle against the invisible hold on her as she looked around for the source until she spotted a magical symbol that began to burn in the ceiling directly above her.

She turned back to her old teacher as she questioned angrily, "What the hell is this? Some sort of portal? Do you really think you can banish me to another realm to get rid of me?"

"Unfortunately that is not how this symbol works," the Dark One responded and then slowly began to walk around her while she remained bound. "This is simply to keep you from going anywhere long enough for me to say my piece and then… then I will set you free. Once the fire burns out the symbol is useless."

"Go ahead… I'm listening," the sorceress grumbled angrily as she kept her eyes coldly on the villain striding around her.

Rumple finally stopped moving, then he stated, "You are now. I want you to hear my voice and understand my words. I do not ever want to see you come back into my shop so long as you remain here in Storybrooke to wreak your havoc amongst the heroes, unless I invite you in. You and I are no longer allies, nor will we ever be so again. You couldn't even kill Zelena like I asked you to. And if you can't do that, then you're of no use to me. Bother me here once more, and I will make good on my threat to end you. Good or evil, there is always a way. Have I made myself clear?"

She only nodded and finally Gold flicked his wrist to snuff out the flames, then she struggled to get back onto her feet as she said curtly, "I'll admit that I didn't expect such a greeting when I came here to see you tonight."

"And why did you come back here again?" he asked in frustration when the Evil Queen spoke again. "Wait, let me guess. You came here to find out exactly what it is I've done to help Black Beard get his vengeance on Hook. Jealous that you didn't think of it first? Of aligning yourself with that pirate I mean."

"I already know that you linked their minds somehow so that Hook is seeing Black Beard's memories," the Queen answered. "You used his hand that you've kept for all these years to do it. I told you that I have eyes everywhere in this town. Including right here in your shop. If you insist, I can remove them. I just wanted to know if you can recreate the curse, only with a few tweaks."

Rumpelstiltskin watched her as she waved her hand to summon the stones she had enchanted and then planted around the shop to spy on him with while he replied, "Of course I can recreate the curse, so long as you possess something strongly connected to your intended prey. But what makes you think I'll help you after what you've done to me?"

She sighed and responded, "You're right. I was foolish to think that you would. I only wanted to remove a few memories from my sister's mind, so that she won't be so cold towards me. Zelena tries to hide her anger and act like everything's normal between us, but I know I strained our newly formed relationship when I tried to kill her. She's the only true ally I will ever have so long I stay here. I never should have given in to you. You may be the darkest of Dark Ones, but you haven't been able to defeat even the Savior's pirate and he's been your enemy for over two hundred years. Together, Zelena and I could be unstoppable, even against Emma Swan."

"If you really believe such a foolish notion, figure out a way to recreate my magic for yourself," he answered coolly. "Now get the hell out. And don't forget my warning this time."

"Can I ask you one more question?" she asked. "It's about Black Beard."

He turned his back to her as he frustratingly replied, "What now?"

The Evil Queen smiled and then responded, "Does he know yet of the consequence that comes with making this deal with you? Because I know that you certainly never warned him."