Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC where they rip out your heart and you have to hope they'll put it back in March. I'm so sorry I haven't gotten back to your reviews yet, I've mentioned working in retail? Week before Christmas, so, yeah. Thanks again! Also, there's some season two overlap, but not like a full on rewrite. So, please let me know what you think and happy reading!


"What do you think this does?"

Gold looked up from the books at Beatrice as she held the necklace in front of him. She had been spending some of the afternoons in the shop with him. She had started out in her own corner of the workroom in the back, but was slowly exploring the front of the shop and spending more time conversing with him.

"You decided to wear it," he remarked.

"I thought maybe if I wore it I could figure out what it does."

"What made you think of that?"

"There was a Doctor Who."

"The show with the magical blue box?"

"It's a time machine."

Gold looked at her as if he didn't understand or care about the distinction.

"We'll get to that later," said Beatrice. "I am still asking about this necklace."

"It's women's magic."

"Is that supposed to be misogynistic or what?"

"It's simply a fact. I can't make that necklace do anything."

Beatrice held up the stone. "All it does is this," she said, putting her finger on it and the swirling colors disappeared and became bright white light. "See? That's it. What does that do?"

"I suppose it looks pretty."

"Okay, that's misogynistic."

"Some spells are meant for women, my girl. That's all."

"But Reinette, she wasn't a sorceress or something, right?"

Gold scoffed. "I don't think she would have married Sir Maurice if she was."

"Point taken," said Beatrice. "I barely know the guy and would want to turn him into a snail."

Gold stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "I mean, not really," said Beatrice, quickly afraid she had made a request.

"What makes you say that?"

"The one time I met the guy he called Mom...names," she finished, unwilling to repeat them. "It's not like when the Curse broke he ran over here to say he was sorry so..."

Gold nodded. "You think he must stand by them."

"Yeah."

"Well, as usual, your instincts do you credit," said Gold.

The door to the shop opened and the bell rang. A man wearing a coat carrying a cooler came in.

"Beatrice, have you met Doctor Whale?"

Whale didn't respond and put the cooler down on the counter. Gold opened it and Beatrice peered inside.

"When they say I charge an arm and a leg, it's meant as a figure of speech," said Gold.

"That's an arm," said Beatrice. "Why do you have an arm in a cooler?!"

"Put it back," said Whale.

"You want me to reattach your arm?"

"Can you do it?"

"Of course, but why?"

"Do people bring you limbs in coolers a lot? I'm the only one who seems to be bothered by this," said Beatrice.

"I want to use it again," said Whale.

"No, I meant why bring the stable boy back now," said Gold.

"I thought… I thought that if I helped her, she would return me to my world. I want to see my brother – to try to bring him back again."

"Are you crazy?," asked Beatrice. She looked at Gold. "Is he crazy?"

Gold shrugged. "Debatable."

"I need to try again," said Whale. "The last time ended badly."

"Yeah, so let's do it again," said Beatrice. "Because it's worked out so well with Regina's dead boyfriend running around town like Frankenstein's monster."

Gold laughed.

"What?," asked Beatrice.

"You told her," Whale accused.

"No, no, she's a bright girl."

"Sorry, what did I figure out?"

Whale chose to ignore her. "My arm, you said you can do it."

"There's a difference between can and will."

"Name your price."

"Say it."

"Say what?"

"You came here, not the hospital so say it."

Whale grimaced, like he was chewing on glass. "I need magic."

"That's all I needed to hear." Gold waved his hand and the arm appeared back on Whale. "Always a pleasure doing business with you, Victor."

Beatrice's jaw dropped as Whale walked out. "He's Frankenstein?!," she asked. "That's Frankenstein?"

"Yes."

"So, Frankenstein's from the Enchanted Forest?"

"No. He came from another realm. The Land Without Color."

"How do you have a whole land without color?"

"How?"

"Yeah, how?"

"You're very big on these words 'how' and 'why'."

"Colors happen because different substances react differently to the electromagnetic radiation that we would call light. I have to assume there was light in the Land Without Color or whatever, because light is a necessity for life and clearly he came from somewhere so that land must have substances that only react without color when they absorb and reflect light."

Gold always found himself with mixed emotions when she spoke like this. On the one hand, he was impressed with her reasoning ability and her intellect. On the other, her use of incessant logic got tiresome along with her insistence that "Magic" was not an actual answer. "I have no idea," said Gold.

"Did you go there?"

"Yes, I did."

"Were you in color or were you black and white?"

"I was in color."

"So there. We can conclude that the Land Without Color had matter that reacts without color when it absorbs and reflects light."

"And what does that tell you?"

She shrugged. "It tells me matter is different there."

"And does that matter?"

"Do the building blocks of the universe matter? Yeah."

Gold just stared at her blankly.

"You think I'm a nerd, don't you?," asked Beatrice. He saw the tiniest flicker of disappointment in her eyes, which she quickly tried to hide.

"No." Gold waited too long to answer and he knew it.

"No, I mean, I am a nerd about a lot of things..." she said with a shrug.

"You simply ask bigger questions than I'm capable of answering," said Gold. "Don't hold back so the rest of us don't feel stupid."


Merlin's vision led him to the Frontlands. The war with the ogres had raged there for generations.

The conscription age had just been lowered.

It was time. It was a critical moment. He had checked in on Rumplestiltskin before. That wreck of a mother. That poor excuse for a father. The spinsters who raised him had at least been kind and loving, but they had died, leaving him to marry that wife. When he first looked upon her, Merlin hadn't thought much of her, but over time, she had become callous and was mercurial in her way.

Then Rumplestiltskin had crippled himself. To be a father to his boy. That meant he was the kind of man who would stop at nothing to protect his child. That he didn't care what it made him. That he didn't care if he hobbled around the rest of his days or his wife ran off with a pirate.

"Zoso."

The Dark One turned to him. "Merlin. What are you doing here?"

"I was just wondering if you knew how to recognize a desperate soul."


Belle had begun the long process of reopening the town library. She started with cleaning and some help from Leroy for minor repairs. The next step was to organize the books and for that she had enlisted Beatrice's help and sometimes Gold's.

They were an easily distracted pair of helpers, though. Belle had ordered a new shipment of children's books. It seemed that Regina's initial idea of what a library should have in it had been lacking any fairy tales. Belle sought to rectify that and had taken the liberty of ordering anything she remembered Beatrice reading.

Which is why Gold had begun reading "Rumpelstiltskin's Daughter" and now debated it.

"This book is ridiculous," he concluded.

"I always thought it was a clever story," said Belle. "It shows your softer side."

"You know what?," said Beatrice, closing the book. "I'm going to have to object as well."

Belle sighed. "Now you as well?"

"I'm the title character, I get to object," said Beatrice.

"Speaking of the title, my name's not even spelled correctly," said Gold.

"Why do I have spiral curls?," asked Beatrice.

"You're complaining about that? Have you seen me? Why do I end up farming?," asked Gold. "Because farming is so much fun?"

"And sorry, if I get trapped in a tower and told to spin straw into gold or die, I'm calling him to come get me," said Beatrice motioning at Gold.

"Yes, someone would definitely die," said Gold.

"Who was the miller's daughter?," asked Beatrice.

"Someone I wouldn't marry and go farm with," said Gold.

"Do I get a hint?"

Gold looked at Beatrice. "A hint? She was Regina's mother."

That explained everything for Beatrice. "Well, she must have been messed up."

Suddenly, the door swung open and Regina herself entered.

"Speak of the devil..." said Gold. "Ah, Regina, it's been a while since you stormed in somewhere I was in a huff."

"Where is it, Gold?," she asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, dearie."

"You know damn well what I mean."

"No, I really don't."

Belle looked at Gold. "Should we leave?"

"No, you're fine where you are. Regina knows what will happen if she tries anything and worse what if Henry finds out she broke her promise not to use magic?"

"I just want it back."

"Still no idea what you're on about, dearie."

"The hat."

"The hat?" Gold smiled. "You mean Jefferson's hat? You think I have it?"

"Jefferson's hat?," asked Belle.

"Why would I even want it?," asked Gold.

Regina scoffed. "I don't pretend to know what goes on in that twisted imp's brain of yours."

"Well, seeing as how I'm feeling generous today, I'll make you a bargain. I'll help you find it if you help me find someone."

"Who?"

"Merlin."

Regina laughed. "Do you think I'm stupid enough to bring him over? He's dead."

"No, he's really not and if you think you can kill him, well, you're more short-sighted than I thought."

"And how do you know?"

"Because I saw him in my shop. He sold me a necklace."

"Then why don't you go put a poster up on the board in the town square?," asked Regina. "Now, where's the hat?"

"As I said, I don't have it and if you can't help me, I have no interest in helping you," said Gold.

Regina stalked off.

"Why are we talking about Merlin?," asked Beatrice. "He's real, too?"

Gold turned. "Merlin was a wizard in our land."

"Why do you need to see him now?"

"I have something to discuss with him. It's nothing for you to worry about," said Gold.

"Is anyone else real that I need to know about? So far we seem to have all the fairy tales, some Greek myths, oh, yeah, Frankenstein and that whole freak show and now, Arthurian legend, which is odd as I thought there was something of a historical basis for that..."

"Merlin was a world hopper," said Gold. "He could summon the power to transport himself between realms. No portal."

"So he came here?"

"Among other places," said Gold.


Mary Margaret and David had asked Belle to meet them at Granny's. She was grateful for the distraction from the library. Gold and Beatrice's help could be not as helpful as she envisioned. After the iced tea, they revealed their ulterior benevolent motives: Moe wanted to talk to her.

Belle shook her head. "No, I can't."

"Moe seems sincere," said David.

"If he's sincere at all, it's because he's frightened of Rumple," said Belle. "I can't forgive him for what he did to me."

Belle looked at Mary Margaret. She had that look. A look that said she didn't approve and a look that said she knew Belle was not being entirely honest. She was furious at Moe, but he was her father. If she truly didn't care, she would have just let Rumple end him, but she still held onto the same hope that all wronged children had, that he would come to her and say he was sorry and they could be a family again.

"Let me guess," said Belle. "You think I should."

She shrugged. "I don't know. He is your father. Maybe what you said at the shop affected him. You could at the least hear what he has to say."

"Rumple would be furious and I can't blame him," said Belle. "I couldn't meet him alone."

"I'll go with you," said David. "The dwarves if you want. And Granny and a crossbow."

Belle looked at Mary Margaret. "When?"

She smiled. "Tomorrow at three."

"I'll meet him in the park. I'll need someone to look out for Beatrice until Rumple gets her from school."

"Emma and I will," said Mary Margaret. "This will work out. You'll see."


Merlin watched from the horizon as the new Dark One walked onto the field of battle. A truce with the ogres. Leading the children home.

"You've done this." He would recognize that accusatory self-righteous voice anywhere.

Merlin grimaced. "How are you, you insufferable blue trollop?" He turned to see the Blue fairy floating behind him.

"He's the one. He's part of your vision."

"He is."

"What do you think you're going to do with him? The Dark Curse will eat at his soul. His life will become a burden. He will lose everything."

"Oh, well, maybe you ought to go stop him from creating this truce in the Ogre War and you, Blue, can lead all the little children out to get slaughtered."

Blue glared. "One good act changes nothing. He killed."

"He killed for his son. He's laid down his soul for the boy. Whatever happens, whatever he becomes, you can be certain it was because of love."

"What help is this monster to your vision?," Blue demanded.

Merlin smiled knowingly. "Do you know the best guard for something precious?"

Blue remained silent.

"A monster who loves it. Game. Set. Match."


There was a park near the inn that they had agreed to meet at. Belle watched Moe for a spell from Leroy's truck.

"I'm getting out," said Belle.

"I've got your back, sister," said Leroy.

Belle smiled. As she got out, David got out of his truck and the other dwarves joined them. Granny was the last on the scene holding her crossbow.

"Belle..." Moe said, sounding stricken. "Is this all really necessary? Don't you trust me?"

"Why? Because you haven't tried to hurt me before?," asked Belle.

"I never wanted to hurt you, Belle. I just wanted to rid you of that demon."

"That demon," said Belle, "is my daughter. She is me. You were hurting me."

"Does he know you came?," asked Moe.

"I wouldn't be here if he did."

"Does he really control you that much?"

"He wants to protect me. Can you blame him? After everything that's happened?"

Moe checked his watch.

"Papa, what is it you wanted to say to me?"

"Sorry?," Moe asked, seeming distracted.

Belle cast a worried glance back at David. This wasn't right. Did he have an apology? If he didn't have an apology, what was this for?

"Papa, please," she said, "did you have something you wanted to say to me?"

"It has to be done, Belle."

Belle turned back and ran. "David! Leroy! We have to go!"

"Belle, don't!," Moe called after her futilely.


The clock until the final bell was the slowest clock of all.

Her last class of the day was art. Incidentally, it was her least favorite class. Other students chatted happily while they worked on their projects. Beatrice wasn't very good at art and as usual, she sat alone and struggled with whatever the stupid assignment of the day was. She waited for the clock to move and ignored it when she knew people were talking about her. There were two chatty girls in particular who she could hear on the other side of the room.

"Why does she wear those stupid glasses? Can't he just magic her eyes right?"

"Her parents drive her. I'd sooner shoot myself."

"How do you think her mom ever..."

"Ever what?"

"You know. With him."

Beatrice wanted to vomit. Or walk across the room and smack the both of their skulls together. It was hard to tell.

The bell finally, mercifully rang. Beatrice breathed a sigh of relief. All she had to do was go to her locker, get her books and walk out to where Gold was waiting, which she admitted was pathetic, but there was no arguing with the guy.

She walked to her locker and opened it. She rested her messenger bag on the inside and went about getting her things ready. She was looking for an errant study guide for her English class when she overheard the next comments.

"Do you think she has magic?"

Another girl laughed. "Do you think if she had magic she would walk around so pathetic all the time? It's not like she has any friends."

"Well, who's going to be her friend? I don't want to get turned into a snail."

"If I were her, I'd just kill myself."

Beatrice buried her head further in the locker and tried not to feel anything. She tried not to think because if she thought... Well, she didn't need anyone to tell her that her life was pathetic. So she just tried not to think and stood frozen until the hall cleared and she took a deep breath. She stepped back to pick up her bag and go when someone grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth. She struggled to fight him off and someone else blindfolded her.

Not the blindfold.

One fear. One stupid fear that everybody else got over.

Beatrice found herself tossed in somewhere and heard the distinct slamming of a trunk. She pulled the blindfold off as the engine started.

It was still dark, but the thing she had going for her at the moment was that her kidnappers were stupid.

Her iPhone was in her pocket.


When Gold pulled up outside the high school, he found that most of the cars had left the parking lot. Although he wouldn't need the lot to be empty to notice Miss Swan's newly refurbished vintage yellow VW Bug as he had paid for it.

He walked up to the window.

"I don't understand, Mary Margaret," said Emma. "What was it that Moe was so scared of that-"

Gold tapped his cane on the roof of the Bug. "Miss Swan. Your Highness."

"Uh, hi," said Mary Margaret. "We were just-"

"You were just what?," asked Gold.

"Belle's talking to Moe," said Emma.

"She's completely safe," said Mary Margaret. "She just wanted someone to look out for Beatrice and since school only just let out-"

Gold's phone rang.

He picked it up. "Beatrice? I'm outside-"

She interrupted him. "Yeah, remember we were talking about the book and I said if I was being held hostage, go ahead and come rescue me?"

"Yes?"

"Go ahead and come rescue me."

"Gold, what is it?." asked Emma.

"Where are you?," Gold asked urgently.

"I would say it's pretty much a car trunk."

"Gold," Emma repeated.

"Is that Emma? Put her on. She's going to need my Apple ID."


Merlin hadn't seen it coming and that surprised him. He was confronted by the boy and his innocent wide eyes as he passed down the Duke's- well, the late Duke's- Road.

"You're Merlin, aren't you?"

Merlin turned to look upon Baelfire. The boy was shaking.

He smiled. "There's no need to be frightened. Yes, I am Merlin."

"I heard you were a wizard. The most powerful wizard in the land."

"Well, if I said it, it would be bragging."

"Are you more powerful than the Dark One?"

That was an odd question. "I have no intention of hurting your papa."

He looked astonished. "How did you-"

"I'm Merlin, remember?"

Baelfire nodded. "That's not why I asked."

"Why did you ask?"

"I miss my papa."

Merlin nodded in understanding. Rumplestiltskin the spinner had been a weak man. Just because Rumplestiltskin the Dark One had power, it didn't make him strong. That would take time and help from a very particular source. "The magic is overwhelming him."

"I need a way to rid him of his powers. He promised if I found one, he would do it."

Merlin looked down. That would be disastrous. "Baelfire, leave this alone."

"What?"

"You need to leave this alone."

"Why?"

"There are reasons for everything. This must come to pass. Any attempt at ridding your father of his powers will end badly."

"I want my father back!"

"Baelfire-"

The boy stormed off.

"Leave it alone, Baelfire!," Merlin called after him.


Beatrice stayed on the phone as long as she could, but the car was stopped. Emma had logged in to the iCloud and was using the "Find My iPhone" app. They promised they were on their way. She grabbed the blindfold back and tied it on loosely since her captors seemed to think she was stupid. They opened the trunk and grabbed her again.

"I'm sorry, can I just mention my dad is going to show up and kill you all? Like seriously."

"Shut up."

She was shoved in somewhere and she heard a door slam. The blindfold came off.

"So, it's just you two?," she asked Gary and Percy.

She looked next to her to see a top hat.

She had the sneaking suspicion that this was the hat Regina had been talking about.

The men were standing next to her.

"Spin the hat."

"Spin the hat?," she asked incredulously.

"Spin it," Gary insisted.

From what she understood, that hat went to another realm. She really didn't want to go to another realm. They all sounded horrible. Wonderland, acid trip. Neverland, what the hell kind of Lord of the Flies nightmare was that? Oz? Outside of Wicked, she had no use for it.

"What if I don't?," she asked.

Percy took out a gun.

"If you're going to shoot me, why should I spin the hat?"

"Because Sir Maurice is with your mother," said Gary. "All I have to do is call him."

"He's her father," Beatrice said incredulously.

They didn't answer.

"Tell me why," said Beatrice. "Do I at least get to know why?"

Her iPhone started ringing.

"Don't answer it," Percy said pointedly.

"Spin the hat."

Beatrice turned towards it, hoping whatever magic she had wouldn't work on the hat.

Of course, she hadn't been that lucky in the past.

She halfheartedly tried to spin to hat, hoping to God it wouldn't and was let down when the object took on a life of its own. The air in the room seemed to swirl around and she looked down the hat at something that seemed to look like the Time Vortex from Doctor Who.

"Jump."

The Time Vortex in a hat was not something she really wanted to jump in.

"No."

"Jump or your mother dies."

Beatrice looked back from the hat to the men.

"Beatrice!," she heard Emma shouting.

The door opened. The men turned back and Percy shot at the door as Gary tried to shove her in the portal. She grabbed onto the edge.

"Beatrice, hang on!," Mary Margaret shouted.

"Well, that's easier said than done!," she screeched back.

Emma shot at the men and they fell. She clamored towards Beatrice as she fell and grabbed her hand.

"Beatrice!"

Beatrice tried to hang on. She really did, but she only seemed to be dragging Emma in with her.

They fell. It felt like falling forever.

Then Beatrice didn't remember anything for a while.

Gold finally made it to the room- damn his leg- just in time to see Mary Margaret jumping in a portal. A quick glance to the knights bleeding on the floor told him what had happened.

Of course it would be that. It could only be that.

"Where are you sending her?," Gold demanded.

"Somewhere she can't hurt anyone."

Gold saw the portal begin to flicker.

He knew what that meant.


The Dark One was shattered. Merlin hadn't expected to care for his machinations so much, but he did. He cared for the line of True Love he was building on the other side of his vision and he found that he cared for the monster he needed on the other side.

Even if he was a difficult man to like.

The loss of his boy had him going between mania and depression. Merlin had to admit, he hadn't thought the Blue Fairy capable of this level of callousness, but then he had made that mistake once before.

"Reul Ghorm, oh, Reul Ghorm."

The Blue Fairy appeared above Merlin's head. "What?"

Merlin put on mock dismay. "Is that any way to talk to me? After all we've shared, you devious little tart?"

"What?," she repeated.

"You do know you have doomed this entire realm. Well done."

"I've done nothing."

"No, you see, Rumplestiltskin, he'll find the Curse to take him to the Land Without Magic."

She looked at him as if he were bluffing. "His powers will never be that great."

"You're counting on a lot."

"I gave him a choice. I gave him a path."

"You gave a fourteen year old boy a magic bean because you thought if you could get Rumplestiltskin out of this realm, you could put a stop to my plans. If it wasn't for that reason, it was at the least very negligent of you."

The Blue Fairy hovered closer. "In this plan, you need him to love, don't you? You just saw he can't."

"I just saw a man confronted by the nightmare of his boyhood. I just saw a man who is heartbroken and full of regret."

"You know what he needs to cast the curse. The heart of the thing he loves the most."

Merlin smiled. "And do you think he has to cast it himself?"

The Blue Fairy's face dropped.

"Oh, didn't think of that, did you? Some original power you are." Merlin paused. "You know what else I saw? I saw a man who won't make the same mistake again which actually works out well for me. So, game. Set. Match."


Belle and David ran in the room to see Jefferson's hat set alight.

"No!," Belle shouted.

David ran for the fire extinguisher and put out the flames. Belle turned to Gary and Percy.

"Where did you send her?!," Belle shouted.

"Somewhere she can't hurt anyone."

"And Emma and Mary Margaret?," asked David.

"I'm sorry," said Gary.

"Maybe Gold can do something when he gets here. Get them back," said David.

Belle looked down. Next to the remains of the hat, she noticed a gold-topped cane. As she picked it up, she couldn't help but smile.

"He followed her," said Belle. She turned to Gary and Percy. "Do you know what that means?"

"That we're rid of the Dark One?," asked Percy.

Belle shook her head. "That wherever she is, whatever you think you've done to her, her papa is with her and she's going to be fine. And she is coming back."