I know it's been a while, and in my defense I had this written but didn't have the time/nerve to post it before now. And yes, I do realize that because of recent episodes this is now AU, but (spoilers for the last two episodes ahead) I had a plan to explain the time discrepancy between the time Bae came through and the curse, but it seems the writers have decided he was in Neverland with Hook. (Anyone else think Bae is Peter Pan?) Again, I don't own OUAT and any mistakes are my own. Reviews are appreciated. Not only that, but they make my day. Without further adeiu, Chapter 2.
Chapter 2: A Semblance of Normalcy
As they walked, the man talked to fill the awkward silences. Bae learned that the stranger's name was Neal Donovan. He had trouble wrapping his head around that part; back home people didn't really use last names much, and if they did it was usually their father's name with -son or -daughter tacked on at the end. Bae had never used a last name himself, as Rumpelstiltskinsson was a bit of a mouthful for anyone. It's not like he ever needed one anyway, everyone in his village had always known him as the Village Coward's son or the Dark One's Son. Neal was fifty-three years old, and lived alone with Baxter near a place called Livingston in a place called Montana. He had no children but had always longed for them, and he had gotten married once, but she'd left him for an Irishman. Bae didn't know what an Irishman was, but he gathered that Neal didn't like them very much by his tone.
Neal wasn't lying, it was a fairly long hike through the woods, and realm-jumping had sapped Bae's energy. Regardless, he tried to keep up and pay attention to everything Neal said. This world was utterly foreign to Bae, and since this was his home now he wanted to learn about it. By the time they had reached Neal's house, it was dusk and Bae was stumbling every few feet, on the verge of collapse. Neal registered this, and decided calling Social Services could wait until tomorrow. He didn't know why, but he was developing a soft spot for the odd boy, even though he barely spoke a word. Normally, Neal would pause at the idea of letting a complete stranger sleep in his house, but the boy did not seem dangerous in the slightest.
Baelfire was so tired he barely registered any of the strange items in Neal's house, and gladly collapsed on the couch that Neal said would be his bed for the night. For a few minutes he simply lay there, letting the events of the day wash over him, taking it all in. Neal's voice droned on in the background, saying something about cooking and dinner but Bae was too tired to pay attention anymore. As he felt his eyes start to drift shut, the image of his father's face flashed before him. It was the last thing he saw before he was consumed by the pit; his father's frightened face looking down at him, and his hand desperately gripping Bae's. His hand, opening up and letting Bae go. Baelfire's dreams that night were plagued by the scene, repeating over and over again. When Neal came to see why the boy wasn't answering, he found him fast asleep, an unhappy frown upon his face.
Baelfire awoke the next morning to the smell of bacon frying, and realized he was ravenous. He timidly approached the kitchen, where Neal was working over the stove, something vaguely familiar to Bae, and singing out of tune to a song that was playing, which greatly confused Bae.
"Where's that noise coming from?" He asked softly, half hiding around the doorway. Neal started and swore as some hot bacon grease splattered on his hand and the floor, which Baxter eagerly lapped up.
"Hey, I didn't know you were up. What, the radio? Comes from right there." he gestured with the spatula to a small black box sitting on the counter with a thin metal rod attached to it, sticking straight up. Bae stared at it, bewildered, and Neal studied him suspiciously. "How can you not know what a radio is? Did you live in the woods or somethin'?"
Bae saw an opportunity and took it, replying "Yes. My father said the world wasn't safe. He raised me in the woods, for my entire life." Neal didn't know quite what to do with that, and turned back to the bacon with some relief as he realized it was starting to burn. Bae was rather proud of his lie, as he now had the perfect excuse for being completely clueless regarding everything in this world without arousing too much suspicion. Breakfast was awkward, to say the least, with Neal trying to engage Bae enough to learn more about his life in the woods, and Bae divulging little.
As Neal was clearing the table, a thought occurred to him. "Hey, if you were raised in the woods, where'd you get those clothes?" This was an easy one for Bae. "My father made them." He replied truthfully. "Oh." Neal said. "I guess that explains a lot." Bae bristled. His clothes weren't perfect, but his father made do the best he could. It wasn't much different from what the other village children wore, anyway. Neal backpedaled.
"No, no, I just meant it explains why they're different. There's nothing wrong with your clothes. They do look a bit muddy though—I could look in the attic, see if I have some old clothes that might halfway fit you?" Bae shrugged, and to his relief Neal went in search of them. He took the opportunity to investigate the objects in the kitchen, and Neal returned to find him captivated by the blinking numbers of the microwave clock. This gave him pause, and he tried to think of how he could help the boy. He wanted to talk to him, to explain things and ask him about what he knew but he feared it would just confuse him further.
"Why don't you go change, and I'll find something that might help you understand all this stuff. Bathroom's down the hall and to the left" When Bae returned, holding up the pants similar to Neal's blue ones and wearing the t-shirt that practically dwarfed him, Neal was talking into a white contraption that he held to his ear.
"Yes, thank you officer. I understand. Goodbye." He turned to Bae, his face apologetic. "That was the police. Them and Social Services are coming out here, but they'll be awhile as we're so isolated." He hesitated. "I'm sorry. I had to call them, or we'd both be in big trouble when they found out." Bae shrugged again, furious at himself for secretly entertaining the idea that he could just stay with Neal for a while and not have to worry too much about the rest of the world. Neal chuckled at his appearance. "Darn, I thought those clothes might fit you better. They're mine, from years ago. Before I got the middle-aged paunch here." he punctuated this with a slap to his belly.
"Anyway, I hunted out this book—it's called Inventions of the 20th Century. One of those impersonal gift books, you know? Oh, I guess not. Anyway, I never had much use for it before, but I thought you might be interested."
"Thanks but I... I can't read" Bae muttered, his face pink with shame. His father had started to teach him once, years ago, but he always had to work or spin wool to put food on the table, and learning to read was put on the back burner.
"Oh. Well that's alright, there are plenty of pictures" Neal replied, clearly shocked but trying to hide it. For the next hour and a half they pored over the pictures together, with Baelfire in awe of the extraordinary contraptions it showed while Neal explained their various uses and chuckled at his reactions. His favorite were the airplanes, which he was incredulous could even work until Neal pulled him to the window and they waited until one passed over, Bae watching slack-jawed. Neal laughed when he exclaimed it must be magic, but for Bae this was the only possible explanation. If Bae hadn't still felt so terrible about the previous day's events, he might have even said that they had fun together.
When a knock came at the door they were pulled out of their reverie and Bae started to panic. Despite learning about some things in Neal's book, he was still relatively clueless about this world. He didn't know how to act, how to use machines, how to do anything. Neal went to answer the door and came back with a man and a woman. The man was wearing a blue uniform with a metal badge on his chest, and the woman some kind of suit jacket and trousers, which Bae was somewhat unfamiliar with. Women wore trousers in his world, but it was rare and usually only if they were going to work in the fields or some other type of hard labor. He supposed it was just one of the many things he would have to get used to here. They introduced themselves and The man made the pretense of trying to be engaging with Bae, asking him how he was, his age, etc. but Bae remained tight-lipped. The man frightened him—he eerily reminded Bae of the soldiers who pretended to enforce order in the kingdom but were really just bullies. Baelfire withdrew even further when he started getting more aggressive in his questioning, asking where his mother was, where he and his father had lived, why he had never attempted to go into the outside world before. And the worst, why his father had abandoned him in the woods.
At this Neal intervened, saying "I think he's had enough." Throughout this the woman appeared troubled, and tried to interrupt the man when he went too far, but she was brushed off. Finally she got her chance when the police officer decided Bae wasn't going to tell him anything useful and gave up.
"Baelfire, we just want to help you. I think it's important that you know that. But until we can find your father, you're going to have to go into foster care. Do you know what that is?" Bae shook his head. "It's where children who don't have families or aren't safe at home go to another person's house to stay. They are taken care of and some are even adopted after a while. Do you have any questions, anything you want to say before we leave?"
Bae raised his gaze from the table where he'd been staring intently to meet her gaze. "You won't find him." The woman blinked. "Sorry?" Bae looked back at the table. "My father. You won't find him." All three adults in the room looked fairly disconcerted, and the man conveniently declared it was time they go since they had a long drive ahead of them to Bozeman, where the nearest Social Services department was located.
Bae was led to the door, clutching his dirty clothes under his arm. Neal followed. "Here, uh, you can have this" he said, holding out the book to Bae. "I don't read it anyway. Good luck." Bae nodded and tried to say something, but his throat felt tight. The first friend he made in this land was being taken away. He settled for attempting to smile at Neal, who got the message and smiled back. When Bae saw the two cars parked in front of the house, he felt his stomach drop. Seeing pictures of cars was one matter, but actually riding in one was a terrifying notion.
Thoughts, suggestions, or criticisms are all appreciated.