Chapter 2
Neal banged on the black bars while yelling at the top of his lungs for someone to let him out of his prison. His knuckles were bleeding but he could care less. He needed to escape. He couldn't handle being in another prison.
"Would you stop banging against the bars? You're giving me a bloody headache," he heard a female's voice say. He looked across the room to see a small, blonde-haired woman with red lips and blue eyes appearing quite agitated.
"Listen lady, I'm being held against my will and I'm going to get out of here one way or another," Neal shot back.
The woman rolled her eyes. "Can you think of an escape plan in the morning? Some of us need to sleep."
Neal growled a bit. "You may like it behind bars but I don't. I have a family I need to get to. My son needs me. I have a love who is waiting for me."
He saw her blink and her eyes soften. "Then you're lucky. My love is no longer around and I'm stuck here for eternity."
Neal felt some guilt for yelling at her. "I'm sorry. What was his name?"
"Will Scarlett," she responded proudly. "The White King of Wonderland," she added.
Neal repeated the name over in his mind wondering if the Will he knew in Storybrooke could be the same person. "Tell me more about him."
"Why?" she questioned.
"I want to get to know my cellmate," he replied cheekily.
"He's a sarcastic troublemaker. He was a thief but I guess even he had a code when it came to people he cherished. He was the first person to see me as a person and not some pretty face without a brain. He didn't try to control me. He loved me dearly. Yet, he could be the most stubborn when he wanted to get his way. He even joined a group of merry men. He-
"He's alive," Neal interrupted. "He's in the place where I came from. A town called Storybrooke."
Her eyes narrowed. "You're lying."
"Why would I lie to you? Will has been looking for a way to get back to you ever since he landed in our world," Neal answered.
She banged her fists against the walls. "I saw blood on the clothes. I saw his broken body."
"Someone played a huge mind game on you. Will is very much alive. If you help me, I promise you I will get you to Storybrooke."
She remained quiet for some time and it worried Neal that she still thought he was lying.
"Anastasia," she said. "My name is Anastasia."
"It's nice to meet you Anastasia. Are we going to get out of this together?"
Anastasia nodded her head yes. "First, you need to know why Jafar is really after you and your father."
"Why is that?"
"Cora," she replied simply.
"Excuse me," he said incredulously. "What does she have to do with this?" he questioned not bothering to hide his disgust.
Anastasia sighed. "Cora was my mentor…and Jafar's lover. He heard of her death and he went mad. He heard about the Dark One and vowed to destroy those who helped in her demise. A life for a life."
Neal staggered back against the wall. He rubbed his face with his hands. "This just keeps getting better," he mumbled.
Storybrooke
Rumple sat in the back of his shop holding the scarf he gave Neal as a child. He smiled as he recalled the gleeful expression on Bae's face when he presented the gift to him. It seemed like his son was on top of the world.
"Rumplestilskin," he heard. He looked up to see Tinkerbell open the curtains. She looked frail and tired.
"Tinkerbell, what brings you by at this late hour?" he asked already knowing the answer.
"I wanted to check on you," she answered. "I know you're not handling this well either."
A faint smile graced his features. "No. I suppose I'm not." He held up the scarf to Tinkerbell. "I gave this to Bae as a birthday present. He treated this with so much care. He didn't want anything to happen to it. He used to cry when I would take it and wash it."
Tinkerbell chuckled as she pictured Neal as a boy. "May I touch it?"
Rumple handed her the scarf. She subconsciously sniffed it. It smelled of him and she could feel her eyes about to fill with tears.
"I can see that you love him dearly. He needed someone who could love him unconditionally and fight for him and with him. I believe that what you two have is true love."
Tinkerbell wiped her eyes. "You think so, huh?"
"I do," he said getting up from his chair. He walked over to her. "I can see it in your eyes and I can see it in his."
He wasn't expecting the hug that she bombarded him with and he didn't know how to react at first. He eventually put his arms around her.
"We're going to bring him home. I promise you."
It was 3 in the morning when Regina magicked her way into Tink's apartment. "Tink! Wake up!"
Tink shot out of bed. She hurried out of her bedroom. "Regina, did you-
"Yes, we have a way to Wonderland."