Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC that loves comas. Thanks for the reads and reviews, I will get back to you. One personal request? I am at 663 reviews, there is a number between 665 and 667 that just makes me uneasy to look at so if you can help us get past that number, I would be extremely grateful. I know it's silly, but that hasn't stopped it from bothering me. So, please let me know what you think and happy reading!


Then

Belle leaned over the cradle, humming at Beatrice. The baby laid happily.

"Hello..." Belle cooed. "Did you have a good nap?"

"Watching her sleep?"

Belle looked up in surprise at Merlin.

"Apologies," he said quickly. "I'm intruding."

"Of course you're not, you just surprised me, that's all," said Belle. She lifted the baby from the cradle and held her. "And yes, you're right, I was watching her sleep."

Merlin took a seat.

"Rumple does the same thing, but he won't admit it." Belle gazed down at Beatrice. "I just have no idea how to deal with this much perfection..."

Merlin smiled and Belle looked up at him suddenly.

"Do you have children?," she asked.

He grimaced. "Once upon a time."

"I'm sorry. Was that too personal? I just thought you might..."

"No, no, it's not too personal. Why did you send for me?"

"My birthday is coming up."

"Yes."

"Since Mama died, I've gone to visit her grave every year and I know this could well be our last year in this realm so I would very much like to go again." She looked at the baby. "And I would like to bring Beatrice. I know she won't remember it, but it seems important to take her."

"What does sunshine say?"

Belle scowled. "He says no, but I think we ought to change his mind. I've written my uncle and he's agreed to bring a brigade to Avonlea."

Merlin nodded. "So if Sir Maurice made a move to attack..."

"He would be attacking Padua and Padua has too many allies to count. Between that, you, Lady Mary and Rumple, I would think even he would have to stand down. There's no question of trying to hurt Beatrice. If you agree..."

Merlin nodded.

"I know it's not much of a way to spend the day, standing around a graveyard."

"No, you're right. We ought to pay our respects."


Now

Belle awoke to see that her husband was already half-dressed, looking in the mirror as he put on his tie. He was definitely putting on the full show, creating the most menacing impression possible.

"You're not taking her running today," he said. "I meant every word I said. She is not leaving the house."

Belle's stomach turned. "I'm not sure I'm up to a run..."

Gold turned back to face her as she lay propped on her elbows.

"Your father may be distracted by his little rendezvous with Maleficent, but I'm certainly not. I am going to make certain that she and her two cronies leave Storybrooke for good and I don't much care about their condition when they do."

"Rumple, we're linked to Maleficent now. She's the mother of a sibling I didn't know existed before last night..."

"And that doesn't excuse her hurting Beatrice."

Belle sat up and leaned forward. "She gave her compassion. What are you saying? Do you want to find a way to force that out of her?"

"Of course not. I wouldn't change a hair on her head, but I can't let her owe Maleficent a debt. Then I deal with the Charmings."

"Rumple, they're family."

"Don't pretend you don't want their heads."

"I want-"

There was a quick knock at the door. A second later, the door opened.

"When are you people going to learn to lock the door?"

"Beatrice..." Belle sighed. "This really isn't the time-"

Beatrice turned to her father. "You can't lock me up."

"I'm not locking you up. I've cast a protection spell. You will be perfectly safe and free to do anything you like inside its boundaries."

"You're missing the point-"

"Am I?" He kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later."

"We're not done-"

That's when Gold disappeared.

"Oh, my God!" She turned to her mother. "Did he just magic himself out of here to avoid an argument?"

"Beatrice, your father wants what's best for you-"

"I can't believe this!," Beatrice shouted, stomping into the next room.


John awoke to find Joseph sitting with his hands steepled, facing the wall.

"When did you come in?," he exclaimed.

"I don't know. It was still dark out."

"Well, where the hell are Jenna and Louise? I sat around here, waiting for someone to come home, thinking we'd make dinner plans and nobody ever did."

"Jenna and Louise are gone."

"Right... Just like that?"

"They traveled back in time."

John nodded. "Right, yeah, of course. Why wouldn't they? Want a cuppa?"

"I think Beatrice is angry with me."

John rolled his eyes. "Why would anyone ever be angry with you? Seriously, did you stare at the wall all night to figure that out?"

"I did what she asked. Maleficent's back from the dead and she's angry at me for some reason."

"Oh, God help you..."

"You could be a bit more useful," Joseph snarled.

"I don't know what you did."

"I tried to protect her and she snapped at me."

John sighed. "Well, here's a thought, did you try asking why?"

"It doesn't make sense. Beatrice always makes sense."

"Or you could try asking her..." John pressed.

"There's some element I'm missing..."

"Why didn't you try asking her?," he finally shouted.

"I couldn't. It turned out her grandfather had fathered Maleficent's child and Snow White had plotted to kidnap her from the Dark Castle."

John stared. "Okay, now I don't know which part of that is the most extraordinary. That Merlin shagged Maleficent, that Beatrice used to live somewhere called 'The Dark Castle' or that you didn't bother to ask her why she's mad at you."

There was a knock at the door. John looked to Joseph who continued to stare at the wall.

"Right. I'll get it."

John opened the door and found Regina on the other side of it. She stormed past him and John sighed as he shut the door.

"Right, it's the woman who tried to kill you."

"I'm busy," Joseph informed Regina.

She scoffed. "Doing what, exactly?"

"I'm working."

"Well, while you're working I just wanted to make sure you were asking the right questions."

"Really? What might those be?"

"Belle said when she was pregnant with Beatrice those three hags kidnapped her because they wanted to be in control of the Dark Princess."

"And?"

"And why are Cruella and Ursula suddenly so charitable? Why did Cruella tell Beatrice about Maleficent's daughter?"

Joseph frowned. "Because they want to use her..."

"It's what I would do."

He tilted his head. "Because Cruella wants to get to the Author."

"Exactly."

"Just like you do."

Regina's face dropped.

"You're right. That is what I want, but I haven't gone after her like the Evil Queen would have-"

Joseph eyed her. "Does it help you to compartmentalize like that? Doctor Hopper ought to have a field day."

"Would you just shut up for once? I'm not going to use her and trying to kill you was a mistake, it's not my first. Whatever it is Cruella wants the Author for, I doubt it's good. I thought perhaps that might interest you."

"So, it would seem we're back to our uneasy alliance."

"So it would seem."


"You're just going to sip your tea?," asked Beatrice. "We're not going to talk about how it's ridiculous that I'm grounded? Or that I have a nanny?"

Pamela scoffed. "You can be free of me when you've proven you don't need me. I was out of your life for a month and you embroiled yourself in a conspiracy with Cruella DeVil and Ursula on behalf of Maleficent."

"Yeah, anybody want to tell me that story?"

"That's fair," said Pamela. "You were perhaps four months old? She appeared in your nursery to your mother. She gave you the gift of compassion."

"Compassion?," asked Beatrice. She shook her head. "Well, that's just dumb. It's not like I'm super compassionate or anything."

Pamela sipped her tea.

"What?"

"I didn't say anything," said Pamela.

Belle appeared in the kitchen.

"Would you like some breakfast?"

"Just tea, I think, thank you," Belle answered.

"Why aren't you talking him down?," Beatrice demanded.

"And how do you propose I do that?," Belle asked, sitting next to her at the counter.

"I don't know, you're supposed to be on Team Talk Down."

"Your father's more than reasonable in his concern," said Pamela.

"He is," Belle added. "Beatrice, you can't have this debt hanging over your head."

"When will someone believe that I'll know what I'm doing?," asked Beatrice.

"Of course you think that, but no one knows what they're doing at your age."

Beatrice stood up. Belle pointed at her plate.

"Eat your breakfast."

She sat down. "Oh, my God, when will it end?"


Then

Merlin smiled across the carriage. Belle held Beatrice close in her lap as Rumplestiltskin brooded next to them. Mary was next to him on the other side. The carriage had arrived in Avonlea and Belle took great joy in letting Beatrice see out the window and pointing out the features of her homeland. The flowers, a tree she used to read under.

"Don't let her be so close to the window," said Rumplestiltskin. He was still perturbed by the whole enterprise and made no secret of his dismay. He tried to gently nudge his daughter away from the window.

"Rumple, it's a carriage. She's inches from the windows wherever she is."

"Come, Beatrice. Sit with Papa..."

"Rumple..." Belle protested but didn't start a fight when he plucked the infant from her and brought her to crush against his chest.

"There, little one. Isn't that better?"

"She-"

Belle stopped mid-sentence, staring at something just over Rumplestiltskin's shoulder.

"Belle?"

Merlin turned to see and recognized it as the rose gardens, one of Reinette's projects.

"Those gardens. My mother designed them and supervised their planting... They were nearly destroyed by the ogres."

"It was her favorite place..." Merlin added softly.

"Yes," Belle said in quiet astonishment. "How did you know?"

"What's that?," asked Mary.

Belle looked out the window. "My uncles."


Now

Merlin wondered why today of all days he was eating with his mother at Granny's.

"Don't look at me like that," said Merlin.

"Was I looking at you like anything?," asked Venus.

"Yes, I slept with Maleficent. Yes, it was a horrible mistake."

Venus shook her head. "You won't hear that kind of judgment from me."

"Of course you wouldn't. You never admitted to making any mistakes in who you slept with."

"Right, you've never lobbed that accusation at me before."

"Gods above..."

Merlin rolled his eyes and Venus turned to see as Maleficent approached them.

"Are we going to discuss this?," asked Maleficent.

"Do we have something to discuss?"

Venus looked up at the sorceress. "I'm his mother. Venus."

"Venus, might we join you?," a cheerful voice rang out. It was Alec approaching with Catherine. They looked at Maleficent. "Or are we interrupting something?"

"You're not interrupting," said Merlin.

"I get the feeling that's not the case," said Catherine, eyeing Maleficent.

"Alec, Catherine, Maleficent," Venus introduced them.

"Oh, right..." said Catherine.

"Merlin and I were discussing what to do about Snow White and the Prince," said Maleficent.

"Right..." said Alec.

Ruby approached. "Um, did anyone want to order?"

"We're busy," said Maleficent.

"It's a restaurant!," Merlin shouted. "Do you ever eat while you're in human form?"

Ruby nodded. "I'll come back."

The waitress stepped away.

"I feel as if I've missed something critical," said Catherine. "I hate that feeling."

Venus turned to Catherine. "Merlin fathered Maleficent's child."

"Oh, so Belle has a sibling who's half dragon..." mused Alec. Maleficent shot him a look. "Lovely."

"So, can we talk about revenge now?," asked Maleficent.

"What? You want me to kill the Charmings?"

She shrugged. "I'll help."

"Sorry, I can't."

"And what's stopping you?"

"Belle, obviously."

Maleficent glared.

"You see, Belle is married to Rumplestiltskin, who is the father of Baelfire who is Henry's father. Henry is also the Savior's son and her parents are the Charmings. If I go to kill them, Emma asks Baelfire who asks Rumplestiltskin who asks Belle who asks me to stop and I say yes. So, why don't we just save ourselves all those steps?"

"Or you could say no."

Merlin shifted in the booth and narrowed his eyes at the woman. "You seem to be missing the bit where Belle asks."

"Oh, I see. Belle means more to you than our child."

"Are you referring to the one I've known about for nine hours? Yes. Belle means significantly more to me than that."

"That's so reassuring coming from the man who cares only about his prophecy."

"You know that's quite rich coming from a woman who abused and twisted the goodness of the objective of said prophecy. You know, you never had to gift her with anything. She was always good. She would have helped you if you had just asked."

"That's more than I can say for some people."

Maleficent stormed out.

Catherine sighed. "How are we supposed to tell Olaf about this?"


Beatrice had been at this plan for a while, raiding the library, unlocking every magically locked door. Her father loved to keep little pieces of magic hidden away, waiting for the moment they would become useful. She had just about found a combination that would work when Martha began scratching at the door, wanting to be let in.

From there it was a matter of time.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Beatrice groaned. She turned to look at her mother standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. Martha happily padded in and obliviously laid on the dog bed by the shelves.

"Put it down."

Grudgingly, Beatrice put down the bottle.

"You know you wouldn't have tolerated this, being locked up. No one decides my fate but me. I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, I want it more than I can stand-"

"This is not the same."

"Yes, it is."

Belle approached closer. "I never brought anyone back from the dead."

"It was all part of a larger plan."

"And what would that be? Hmm? You've been lying since we were in London apparently-"

"I have not been lying since-"

"Do not mince words with me, Beatrice. I have played this game with your father and frankly, I have never cared for it."

"Fine. You have been telling my whole life that if I was a good person, people would recognize that and no one ever has!"

"Beatrice, that's just not true-"

"It is! It so is! Why won't you just admit it?"

"Enough..."

They both turned to see Merlin. He had his palm pressed against his forehead.

"Enough already. Beatrice, you're nineteen, you are too old for teenage rebellion. You missed your chance."

"You don't agree with her."

"Of course I don't." Merlin shrugged. "I do agree that you're not sneaking out of this house if I have to put you under a immobilization spell."

"Father..." Belle warned.

"Oh, that's too far, but imprisoning her in the house isn't? We're splitting hairs here."

Beatrice pushed past them and stormed upstairs. They heard her door slam.

Belle shook her head. "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"It's Maleficent's spell. She'll be fine once your husband has dealt with it." He eyed her. "You don't look well."

She shrugged. "I couldn't sleep."

"No, of course you couldn't sleep, but it's more than that. What?"


Gold stood behind the counter as the bell rang and Maleficent stalked in.

"I want to make a deal."

"Well, I'm afraid I don't deal for Beatrice."

"Worried are we?"

Gold leaned over the case. "You were out of line when you cast that so-called blessing. You had no right. You were just using her and you can guess what I do to people who just use my daughter."

"I was talking about your friends, Snow White and Prince Charming."

"We're hardly friends."

"Well, I hear you share a grandson with them."

Gold grimaced.

"Look, Rumplestiltskin, what I want to know is, if I go after them, are we going to have a problem?"

He shook his head. "Why should we?"

Maleficent smiled. "It's nice to see some people haven't gone soft."

"Don't think we're done on the other matter."

"I would be disappointed if we were."

Maleficent walked out of the shop. Gold went into an oak box and got out a botle of his own dragon potion, the reason he had possessed so much dragon scale clothing in the Enchanted Forest.

It seemed wasteful that dragon wasn't in style in Storybrooke.


Then

Rumplestiltskin was the first out of the carriage. Belle's uncle, Ian, approached.

"You must be Rumplestiltskin."

He grimaced. "Well, I'm not the tooth fairy, dearie."

"No, I suppose not."

Rumplestiltskin helped Belle out of the carriage.

"Uncle!"

"Hello, my dear." They exchanged kisses as Belle's other uncles approached.

"Mother didn't come?," asked Jack.

"No, she said it was too painful."

"Of course," remarked Ian. "Your mother and then my father in so short a time. It's been one tragedy to the next, but I believe you have a bit of a bright spot for us."

Belle as Mary descended the carriage holding Beatrice.

"Oh and this must be our little great niece. Finally," said Jack, eagerly bounding over.

"We didn't miss a fairy blessing, did we?," asked Ian.

"No," said Belle.

Jack leaned towards the baby, his hands outstretched. "Hello, princess."

"What are you doing?," demanded Rumplestiltskin.

Jack looked at him. "Does she not like to be held?"

"Not by you!," he snapped.

Jack raised an eyebrow at the darkest sorcerer in the realm. Belle shot him a look and took the baby from Mary. "She doesn't get to meet strangers a lot."

"I'm not a stranger, I'm Uncle Jack," he said cheerfully. Beatrice looked at him with chubby-cheeked skepticism.

"She comes by that rather naturally," Merlin offered.

"Yes, well, we have refreshments this way," offered Ian. "Edith is playing hostess today."

"Could anyone else come?," asked Belle as they walked.

"We had to leave Rory behind in Padua and I'm afraid Jamie's sons have gotten into a spot of bother."

"Oh, that's too bad."

"There's more of them?," Rumplestiltskin muttered.

"Alec and Catherine had four sons and Reinette. Three of the sons are married, they all have children..." said Merlin.

"Will it never stop?"

"She has people that love her and care for her, sunshine. Would you begrudge her that?"

Rumplestiltskin grunted as they were left with no option but to join the family picnic.


Now

John and Joseph joined Regina at the Author's mansion and they holed up in the library. In amazement, John looked at the storybooks.

He looked to Regina. "So, all of these are just stories about Beatrice?"

"Rough drafts as far as I can tell," said Regina.

"That's amazing." He nudged Joseph. "Have a look at this one."

"The Avengers featuring the Dark Princess," Joseph read.

"You've found Henry's favorite," Regina commented.

"Yeah, I can see why. Beatrice is fighting aliens with Black Widow and Peggy Carter." John smiled. "And you're just the love interest."

"I'm what?"

"You, Sherlock Holmes, are the love interest."

Joseph stole the book back. "That can't be right."

"I hate to burst the bubble on your narcissism..." He looked up at Regina. "Got any more like that?"

"No and trust me, Henry's looked."

Joseph looked where her gaze had flicked and picked up the book.

"What's in this one?"

"It's not important."

"Oh, really, then why don't you want me to see it?"

"It's just a rough draft," Regina snapped.

As Joseph looked at the book, he realized it was no draft. It was a life that had been lived. Beatrice had been tortured since the womb, maimed and had grown up away from her father. No, this world had been real until he changed it.

"What is that?," Regina snapped.

"Nothing," he lied.

"No, you know something. What?"

Somewhere in the house, there was a clatter.

"Let me check," said Regina.

She stalked off. John pointed.

"Should we go with her?"

"She'll be fine."

"What have you found, though? You look as if you've seen a ghost."

"I have."

John looked around. "What the hell? They have those here, too?!"

"No," he said disdainfully. "Actually, I'm not sure. This book. Regina's wrong, it's not a rough draft. It was a full world until I changed it."

"What? What are you saying?"

"We travelled back in time and I changed the course of history. This is not the record of a world that never was, it's the record of a world that no longer exists and if it existed, the rest of these do."

"So, somewhere your girlfriend is a comic book heroine?"

"What the hell are you two doing here?!," Regina shouted.

The two rushed out to the entryway where Regina had found Ursula and Cruella. Regina had a fireball in her hand and Ursula's tentancles were out.

"Make one move and I will char some calamari," Regina seethed.

"Where are the tentacles coming from?," John whispered.

"Who's he?," Ursula demanded.

"Now, ladies," began Joseph, "there's no need to be so adversarial. I invited Ursula and Cruella here."

"You did what?," Regina snarled.

"I invited them because in her great rush to aid Maleficent, Beatrice let her generous heart get in the way of her head, a mistake I never make. She overlooked the one question we all ought to have been asking. How did you know about Maleficent's child?"

Cruella rolled her eyes. "We're her friends."

"I sincerely doubt that you're able to keep any friends, but that's not what's at issue here. You say that with the help of some old wizard, Snow White and the Prince put the egg through a portal to an unknown realm."

"Yes," said Ursula.

"And you've never been in Storybrooke, you obviously didn't come over with the curse, so how did you get here?"

"Magic bean."

"Oh, so wrong yet again. No, I think you fell through that portal, that's why David and Mary Margaret were so shocked to see you."

"Fine, but we don't know where the egg went."

"And yet I think you're lying. Again. From my experience of portals, they bend to the will of the person who used them. That's how I ended up here, that's how Emma, Beatrice, a ridiculous pirate and I travelled to the Enchanted Forest, that's how we all ended up in the Dark Forest, you get the pattern. There are no drop-offs, no connecting flights. You all went to the same place. This realm."

Regina turned to Joseph. "You know, you're not an idiot."

"Then Maleficent's child is in this realm?," asked John.

"Yes." Joseph turned his gaze back to the two sorceresses across the foyer. "Now, perhaps you would care to tell us what happened next?"

"Fine," said Cruella. "We took the egg- used it to keep ourselves young- and left the child in the forest where we landed."

"You left a baby in the wood?," John asked in disgust.

Ursula sighed. "I went back."

"You what?," Cruella asked with betrayal.

"I left her at the first place I found. A ranger's station." Ursula turned to Cruella. "Child murder may be in your wheelhouse, but it's not in mine."

Cruella shook her head. "I can't believe you. I thought I knew you!"

Regina turned to Joseph. "We've got to tell the others. This might be enough to talk Maleficent out of making a dessert of Charmings en flambe."


Beatrice was furious. Time was, she might have just made some popcorn and watch Doctor Who, but she was trying to do something here.

So she called Gold again to reason with him.

"I am not a child!," Beatrice shouted into the phone.

Her father scoffed. "You might have started with hello, sweetheart."

"Hello. I am not a child."

"Hello. I beg to differ. You don't know these people the way I do. You have your mother's good heart and I intend to protect you from it and them."

"You can't keep me locked up here."

"It's not forever. It's an hour more at the most."

Beatrice frowned. "Why?"

"I must be going, sweetheart."

"Dad-"

Gold hung up. Beatrice glared, putting on her jacket and opening the window. She tapped lightly to find the protection spell in place.

She had to think of something to get past the spell and she only had one thing in her arsenal that had half a chance.

Downstairs, Merlin took in Belle's news.

"Well, that is a surprise..." mused Merlin. "And that's why you-"

Belle nodded.

"What did sunshine say?"

"I haven't told him yet."

"Were you not planning on mentioning it? It seems as if he'll eventually find out."

Martha rushed towards them, howling. Lady barked from the other room.

"Girl, what's the matter?," Belle cooed, patting her head.

"Beatrice," Merlin said quickly.

Belle frowned. "She's fine, she's just blasting her angry music..."

"I don't care, what they're going to say!," Idina Menzel as Elsa belted out.

That's when they heard a clatter and rushed to the window. They were just in time to see Beatrice strolling down her ice staircase as the song finished.

"The cold never bothered me anyway..."

"Beatrice!," Belle shouted.

Beatrice looked up in surprise to see her mother and grandfather.

"Um, I'm just running to Starbucks..."

Beatrice hurriedly ran to her car.


Joseph's phone rang.

"Beatrice."

"If you were my dad, how would you kill the Charmings and Maleficent?"

"Right, straight to murder..."

"Murder?," John demanded from the backseat.

"Murder?," said Regina.

"Well, if I were as clever as he is- and I am- I would quickly realize there's no need to kill David and Mary Margaret myself. There's already someone out there who wants to do that and it saves me all the problematic implications of murdering my de facto in-laws. I would get Maleficent to do it for me. Then killing her would just be an unavoidable complication, unfortunate as it was."

"Damn it..." Regina muttered. "That does sound like him."

"Okay," Beatrice said, "that doesn't help me figure out quite how he's planning to do it, but logistics..."

"I'm a detective, not a mind reader."

John snorted from the backseat.

"Shut up," Joseph snapped. "Oh, by the way, Maleficent's daughter didn't die."

"What? When did you find that out?"

"When we interrogated Cruella."

"Who's we?"

A split second later, she looked up to see Leroy running through the street. She slammed on her brakes to just avoid hitting him. He smacked the hood of the car.

"Watch where you're going, sister!"

"You're running in the middle of the street!"

"You're on your phone!"

"Maybe if people didn't run in the street I could talk on my phone!"

That's when she saw dragon Maleficent flying through. She put the car in park and got out.

"You can't leave your car in the middle of the road!"

"Why not? It's stationary, maybe you can avoid hitting it!"

"You know it's easy to tell you're Gold's daughter!"

Beatrice rolled her eyes and rushed towards the dragon, fighting against the crowd of people running in the opposite direction. She could see Mary Margaret and David running for cover in the distance. Maleficent paced, footsteps shaking the ground.


Gold was actually fairly happy with his plan at the moment. No more Mary Margaret and David, who truly had the nerve to be self-righteous after all this time and soon no more Maleficent, to the relief of everyone. Beatrice would be safe from everyone.

The phone rang. It was Belle, he considered not answering it in case her views against homicide had returned, but figured he had time to stall.

"Hey."

"She got out of the house."

"She what?"

"She used her ice magic and got out of the house. We need to find her."

That's when Gold's shop began to rattle. A quick glance out the window saw Marshmallow walking down the street.

"I found her."

Beatrice turned to see her father walking after her. She quickly turned back to Marshmallow, focusing on having him try to catch the dragon, providing time for David and Mary Margaret to escape. Maleficent roared fire back at the creature and Beatrice concentrated on freezing the damage back up.

"Beatrice!," Gold called. "Beatrice, stop!"

He rushed up and grabbed her wrist.

"I don't need protection! You can stop, okay?"

He shook his head and it was difficult to tell if he was defiant or wounded or perhaps both. "Never."

Beatrice tore her wrist away.

"You can't owe her anything!"

"And when I am done, I won't."

Marshmallow smacked Maleficent to the ground, transforming her as she fell. Beatrice ran towards the crash site intersecting with David and Mary Margaret.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?," Maleficent shouted at Beatrice.

"Oh, just you try..." Gold snarled.

"She's alive," said Beatrice.

"Who's alive?," asked Mary Margaret.

Beatrice looked up at them. "The daughter you threw in a portal? She didn't die even though Cruella wanted to leave her in the woods or something, anyway, I'll go find her, I'll bring her back here and then we're done. My debt or whatever, it's paid."

"And why would you do that?," demanded Maleficent.

"Because I kind of want to and he's right." She motioned at her father. "I can't owe you anything because I thought you had just kind of gotten screwed over and you did get screwed over in this case, but that doesn't change the fact that you don't seem to be a really nice person."

Maleficent shrugged as she pushed herself off the ground. "I can't argue that."

"Beatrice does this and that's it," said Gold. "Her debt is paid. No more favors, no cursing her firstborn or her second born, you will keep to yourself."

Beatrice frowned. "What are you-"

"It's a deal," said Maleficent. She turned her head towards Beatrice. "Assuming you can deliver."


"What the hell happened?," asked Regina the second Beatrice and Gold came back in the shop. Joseph and John were behind the counter.

"Always lovely to see you, dearie," Gold muttered.

Regina got in his face. "If you try to hurt Mary Margaret and David-"

"Why? Because you want the chance?"

The door opened again with Belle, Merlin and Pamela rushing in. Belle wordlessly rushed in and squeezed Beatrice.

"Okay, Mom, seriously I can't breathe and why are you drooling on me?"

Belle released her. "Sorry."

"Don't do that again," Merlin warned.

"What? Stop people from getting killed?"

"Don't get smart."

"She's made a deal," said Gold.

"What sort of deal?," asked Pamela.

"I'm going to find Maleficent's daughter." She looked up at Merlin. "Your daughter. My aunt and can I just mention that I thought we were done with surprise relatives?"

"She's alive?," asked Belle. "And you know she's a she?"

Regina nodded. "Cruella and Ursula told us everything. They went through the portal with her, Cruella wanted to abandon her and Ursula took dropped her off somewhere."

"So, we've got something around here that can find her, right?," asked Beatrice. "The blood globe thing or whatever you used to find Neal? Like what did you use to find Neal?"

Gold tried to hide his furtive glance at Joseph. "I'm afraid that was a one-time proposition."

Joseph cleared his throat. "Perhaps I could be of assistance."

They turned to him.

"You might remember I'm a detective. I'm quite certain I can find one abandoned baby."


Then

Merlin watched as Belle stared down the row at Reinette's gravestone. The day was nearly up, Belle had laughed as her uncles told stories of her mother. Rumplestiltskin had tolerated it. Now was the time, though, they had to do what they came for.

Rumplestiltskin placed a hand on her arm.

"Sweetheart?"

"I have to do this, Rumple. It's what we came here for."

"I can take the baby-"

"No, I'll take her. She won't remember, but..." she trailed off.

"I could come along," Merlin found himself suggesting. Belle and Rumplestiltskin looked up in surprise. "I could stand a few feet away. I did know her after all."

"If you wish," Belle acquiesced. Rumplestiltskin adjusted Beatrice's white blanket with gold thread around her and Belle made her way down the row.

The marker had been more ostentatious when it was put in, but it had not fared well during the ogre invasion and Sir Maurice only cared so much about the memorial of a wife he never loved. Belle knelt down, resting Beatrice on her lap.

"Hello, Mama." She smiled down, eyes welling up already. "This is Beatrice. Your granddaughter. She's why I couldn't come last year. I'm sorry. I..."

Merlin looked away as she began to sob.

"Why did you never tell me? You could have told me! How could you do this to me?"

He glanced back. Her tears were mixed with anger as Beatrice looked up at her mama in concern.

"Maurice was never my father! I'm not sure he ever loved me at all and now, I have to leave this realm. We all have to and I may never know who my father is! I wouldn't even be angry if you had only just told me! Who was I going to tell? Did he know about me? Did he love me? Did he want to love me?"

"Belle, this isn't worth-"

Her eyes shot up at him. "You said he wanted to keep me safe, were you lying?"

"No, never."

"Then who is he? Does he live? You could tell me!"

"He loves you..." he offered weakly.

"Then why won't he show his face?!"

"Because he knows you're better off without him."

"How dare he," Belle shot back. "How dare he abandon me and say it's for my own good!"

"You were never abandoned. He always looked after you."

"You said you have no children, but I am a mother now and I don't know how anyone could ever be so cruel!" She hugged Beatrice closer. "I don't see how he could have behaved the way he did and have loved me."

"You were born of True Love."

"Not enough, apparently."

"The mistake he made..." Merlin found himself stammering. He hadn't done that since he was a boy which was an awfully long time ago. "He thought she understood."

"Understood what?"

"The plan. He thought she understood and then she didn't or she changed her mind and he couldn't change his. He had been working too long, there was too much at stake, the future to think about-"

"The future?," Belle asked in confusion.

"Your future. Her future. He always looked in on you, he always checked up on you, you nearly got yourself killed a dozen times, like when you were six and you had to climb that tree because you thought a baby bird had been abandoned..."

"And I wanted to put it back in its nest..." Belle said softly.

"Yes, but it was a fledgling songbird so it just hopped back down anyway and you thought it was falling so you tried to catch it and-"

"I woke up in the garden..." Belle said slowly. "I don't remember how I got there. I never even told anyone because I didn't want to get in trouble..."

"Yes, well, he-"

"There was no one there." She shook her head. "Please. I don't need protecting. Whatever it is, I can take it."

"She never wanted to see me again, Belle."

Belle let out a small gasp. "You..."

"I tried to watch out for you, the best that I could but..." He shook his head. "I'm terrible at this, Belle. Anyone I've ever loved ends up hating me in the end, so why even try? My mother might be the only exception but she has a certain advantage in that area."

"And your father?"

"Incubus."

"Oh."

Now, Rumplestiltskin made his way down the path.

"I've seen enough," he snapped at Merlin. "What have you done to her? Sweetheart, what is it?"

They stood there for a moment in silence.

"Rumple, I'd like you to meet my father."

Rumplestiltskin slowly turned to the elder wizard.

"No..." he said. "Please. Anyone else."