Chapter Six.
Regina had never know the Dark Castle to be so busy before, and much like Storybrooke it seemed that word traveled fast within those walls. She had no patience for the Blue Fairy that had taken off at the first sign of danger only to return when she thought she might best be able to worm her way in and create friction in a very fragile alliance that had formed between the Charmings and Rumplestiltskin with their mutual grandson as the glue to hold it together. Rumple was a lot of things - many of those things ground at the Evil Queen's very last nerve - but he'd proven to them that he was willing to risk his life for Henry. If it came down to her son's life or some spy's, Regina knew there was no contest. Though she might have waited until Henry had been out of sight before she'd snapped the man's spine.
Henry had been quiet since everything had happened. She knew he was processing it slowly. The man that had both saved him and frightened him - even if he wouldn't admit it, a mother knows when her son is frightened - that morning was one that he'd only thought he'd known. As Mr Gold, Rumple had always been polite to him, surprisingly gentle for his personality both under the Dark Curse and otherwise. He'd always been fond of Henry and, if she knew him - and Regina did know him well, no matter how much he protested it - the blood ties had only strengthened that fondness. It was still a lot for a twelve-year-old to process, no matter how clever he was. Henry had a good heart and hated to see any living creature in pain.
Regina had managed to tear herself away from her son for just a few minutes to grab food from the kitchen for a late lunch, leaving him in the heavily warded Great Hall that was strangely empty, likely due to the nervousness that most felt about wandering into Rumplestiltskin's rooms uninvited. That same nervousness hadn't seemed to affect a few other townspeople from Storybrooke that were poking around the kitchens, though, possibly looking for the source of the food that seemed to appear without a servant in sight. Rumple would be irritated beyond belief if he saw the way they were opening cabinets and looking through everything. Regina only shook her head. Not her kitchen, not her castle, not her problem. She'd promised herself to lay low for a bit until they had a firmer grip on everything that was happening. She and Snow had an understanding, as did several others in the Charmings' core group, but there would be many that would see the Evil Queen when they looked at her, and in the end that could cause more trouble for them all than it could help.
Henry was not alone when Regina returned. There was a little boy sitting on the table and he and Henry were looking intently at something sprawled out across the long piece of furniture. Henry had seated himself in his grandfather's chair and very well might have been the only soul that could have gotten away with it.
The former mayor of Storybrooke rounded the table and set the plates down, offering a smile to the little boy that looked up at her with big, dark eyes. "Hello there," she greeted and he watched her carefully. "Who's this, Henry?"
"This is Roland," her adopted son said as he reached for his own plate. "Thanks, Mom."
"Where are your parents, Roland? You're not lost, are you?"
He shook his head, eyes still wide with fear.
"It's okay," Henry offered. "She's not going to hurt you."
"She's the Evil Queen," Roland said hesitantly.
"She's not evil. She's my mom," the elder boy said as if it were all that black and white and he took a bite of his sandwich. "She won't hurt you."
Roland seemed to consider it a moment before nodding. "My dad went to find a better map."
"Did he? What is it that you're looking for?" Regina asked with a genuine smile. She conjured a chair to sit in almost without thinking. Henry glanced at it, but Roland pointed, eyes wider than they should have been able to open.
"Magic!"
"Yes it is," Regina answered. "I don't recognize you, sweetie. You weren't in Storybrooke were you?"
"No, we were left behind when your curse claimed the others," a new voice said and the queen spun around to see Robin Hood standing in the doorway with a collection of maps in his hand. "Your Majesty," he murmured as if in afterthought.
Henry looked a bit sheepish, as if he'd snuck the visit in and hoped his mom wouldn't notice, but she couldn't bring herself to be cross with him. The smile he was wearing did away with that at any rate.
Regina found herself looking back to the rogue and he lifted an eyebrow, the beginnings of a smirk playing on his lips. The queen almost forgot to glare. "Planning a siege?" she asked instead, nodding towards the maps. She hadn't stood from her chair, but instead crossed her legs at the knees and leaned back, watching him carefully. They had no reason to trust this man - outlaw - even if he had made it past all of Rumple's security. Until her former teacher did a full sweep of the castle, they had no way to know for sure that all the wards were really in place as they should be.
"Eventually I should think, though not today. Your boy seemed to indicate he didn't know where your castle was."
"I was curious," Henry piped up. "Robin said he could show me on the map."
"Did he?" Regina asked, her gaze never leaving the blond. He met it evenly, the hint of a smile still there and it made it damn hard to dislike him entirely. Not that she'd admit that. Especially with the way Henry was just about beaming at her. The story of Robin Hood had always been one of his favourites. She had had pictures tucked away in her many albums back in their home in Storybrooke of his homemade costumes that he would come up with. He'd convinced her to let him go trick or treating only once when he was still too young to realize that nothing around them was changing, and he'd made something like a cloak from her green bedsheets and had tied a string to a long, bent stick, pretending it was a bow and chasing the invisible Prince John and Sheriff of Nottingham around the house all afternoon until the sun was low enough to go out for the candy. Those had been the days before she could remember just why she'd been so worried about someone coming to take him away from her, when she could ignore the fact that she'd made herself nearly as miserable as everyone else with her curse and there had been a flicker of light in her life that burned away at the darkness. That flicker of light really had burst forth and he was grinning wholeheartedly at her now.
"If I may?" Robin Hood asked politely and she motioned for him to go head. He laid the maps out on the table and opened them up, showing bits and pieces of her homeland to her son that had never seen it. "This is where we are," the archer explained, his finger pressed against the mountain range that Rumple shared with Maleficent and any other number of dark sorcerers that hid away in its shadows. "And here is Sherwood Forest, where Roland and I are from. Follow this path up this direction and you'll see the castle that belonged to Snow White and Prince James - David, I suppose - and here is your mother's up here."
"Technically I guess that one's my mom's too, because Emma's my birth mom," Henry said pointing at the castle the Charmings had won from King George.
"Twice over the prince then," Robin said with a smile.
Regina laughed at the way her son's eyes grew wide he looked at her. "Guess I am, huh?"
"You always have been," she promised softly and he ducked his head, embarrassed.
"Hey, Roland, what'd you say about the hidden door?" he asked and the little boy nodded before hopping off the table and making a run for it, followed closely by Henry.
"Thank you," Regina breathed before she'd really given herself permission to.
"For what?"
"You helped take his mind off this morning."
"Not such a terrible outlaw, hmm?"
"Now don't go getting ahead of yourself. I didn't say that," Regina answered with a smirk of her own.
It had been many years since he'd bothered to step foot in the Enchanted Forest and as far as he could see he hadn't missed much. Kings and queen still idled about, curse or no curse, like they had anything to do with the world around them. Adults slaved away while their children sucked them dry, ripping at their time, their money, and their very happiness. It was dull and it bored him quickly.
The witch was an interesting pebble in an otherwise calm pond though. He'd liked her the moment he'd laid eyes on her. That was something that the Enchanted Forest provided: a window into the soul. Zelena was almost comical in her envy and he'd had to swallow a laugh more than once already. It wouldn't do to insult his new toy. Not yet. She might have her uses and he wouldn't want to miss out on those. It hadn't taken long to discover what had turned her such an interesting shade and when he had it figured out he'd been ready to use it.
What you should be asking is what do you get out of it.
She'd grabbed hold of that. She had a natural gift for magic, something deep within her soul that called it to herself with little or no effort. He'd be able to use her, certainly, and when she'd divulged that Rumple's little band of pet heroes were on their way to his castle it had nearly made Pan giddy with excitement. He'd toned it down, of course, tucked it away. To prove himself more powerful than his son in Rumple's own home would be icing on the cake. Henry's heart would still be useful, but not entirely necessary in this place. Not yet. At this point, he just needed to make them suffer for what they'd done. Baelfire, Belle, and even Henry. He'd dangle them out one by one in front of his son until Rumple shattered in front of him.
Zelena let out a howl of frustration that dragged Pan from his thoughts. He blinked, the smoldering remains causing his eyes to water a bit. She was building up to a rage. It would be a right tantrum, if he was reading her correctly. Magic slammed into a small home or store that was still half standing and it toppled, stones tumbling to the ground and monkeys scattered out of the way, bowing to their angry mistress.
"I told you to keep them here," she growled, flinging a bit of magic at the nearest feathery primate.
"Really shouldn't have taken so long to make our way down," Pan offered, not really caring if wasn't any help at this point. She whirled on him and he shrugged. "We know where they're going. I don't see what all the fuss is about."
"If they've made it into Rumple's castle then there's no getting to them, Dark One or not!"
She'd mentioned it before that Rumple looked to have broken his curse, but Pan knew better. His boy didn't have the guts to fight without magic. He'd had to call the dagger to free himself from the magic-binding cuff to have a chance to save his precious little family. He would never purposefully do away with it. That would leave him open, vulnerable. He was too much of a coward to do that. He always had been.
"You seem to have quite a bit of faith in your former teacher, Zelena."
She snorted. "His wards that he keeps around his castle are unmatched."
"Are they?" Pan bent down, picking up a piece of rubble and examining it patiently, waiting for her temper to spill over the edges. People were so much easier to manipulate when they were blubbering.
"You say you know him well, but you haven't given me a damn bit of proof."
He tossed the rock up, caught it, and turned, head cocked to the side. "Tell me, Zelena, why are Rumple's wards so powerful? You've got quite a bit of magic at your fingertips. Why can't you just bust through them?"
"He uses blood magic. Not even the most powerful of sorcerers can get through-"
"I can."
"You can unravel blood magic?"
"His I can."
"You'd have to be related to him by blood," Zelena argued and when his smile broadened her eyes narrowed. "How?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, lass. As for now, just know that I can be very useful to you, but there'll come a time when you're useful to me too. This is the moment when you're honest with yourself. How dedicated are you to your goal? What are you willing to give?"
"I'm willing to do whatever it takes."
Pan laughed, the sound childish, but his grin was something fierce. "Sounds like you know how to play the game."
Early on, his visions rarely came to him in dream form. That was mostly because he so seldomly slept, but he didn't have that luxury any more. With the curse breaking, the sudden and immediate need for an intricate system of control over his visions to be put into place, and then the burst of power that had been fueled by such emotions to protect his grandson… Well, Rumplestiltskin shouldn't have been overly surprised that he'd drifted off when he'd promised himself that he was just going to close his eyes for a few moments.
He found himself with the sensation that he was floating, weightless and timeless. Blips of images flickered in and out around him, but it was the presence that was odd. Odd and new. He turned, eyes narrowed in distrust directed at the someone who would dare to intrude on this. He found a familiar form standing in the darkness, though, and she did not look overly happy to be there.
Rumplestiltskin took a step towards her. The seer he'd gained his powers from had never made an appearance in any of his visions or his dreams. He'd left her where she wished to be left: at peace. She didn't seem to share in his confusion, though, and she lifted the palms of her hands upward, blue eyes blinking as the stared at him. "I'm not really here," she told him, as if she knew his thoughts. Perhaps she did, if she were telling him the truth. If she weren't really there, that meant that this was his mind trying to process his visions without his bottomless well of magic to corral them. "I'm just the form you choose to see."
"Why you?"
"Why not?" she returned and he felt like she might be looking through him rather than at him. "You always did believe I kept the important secrets from you in the end."
He snorted, but it was true. He'd been certain of it at various points in his life.
You will have a son and your actions will leave him fatherless.
A young boy will lead you to him… The boy will be your undoing.
"So what? Now you're my clarity?"
"Perhaps, if you'll let me."
Rumplestiltskin circled her and she didn't move. This was just his mind sorting it, he knew. He could trust his own mind - couldn't he? - even if he didn't trust the face. It could have been worse, he supposed.
"Then tell me something. Prove to me that this is real."
"What do you seek, Rumplestiltskin?"
"A way to defeat Pan and Zelena."
"Hmm," the seer hummed softly. "Perhaps you do seek that, but that is not what weighs heavy on your battered soul. You wish to know if your price is paid."
"Of course it is. My curse was shattered, my powers all but gone. Not only have I learned about sacrifice, but it fulfills the prophecy of being undone by Henry as well. The boy undid the Dark One. There will be no more, and if I was anything, I was the Dark One."
She snorted. She actually snorted at him, the laugh tumbling from her lips after it. "Your powers are hardly gone."
"Diminished."
"For now. You will find them when you need them most."
"Well then? Has my price been paid?"
The seer smiled sadly. "You must learn the meaning of sacrifice, this is your price, Rumplestiltskin. It must be of equal value."
"I gave up my curse. How is that not-"
"You were meant to die to save them. Nothing that has happened should have happened. You have changed your destiny, but that does not mean that others' fates will certainly be changed." There were flashes of images, terrible images that had Bae lying in someone's lap with the most pained look on his face and instinctively Rumple knew he was losing him. He could feel him slipping away and those eyes stared up, lifeless and empty of the soul that should have been behind them. "Baelfire's fate was written since his birth. The Witch will kill him and your price will be paid for what you have done. Not just for bringing the boy, but for changing it all."
Rumplestiltskin startled awake and he was half sat up before he realized he'd come out of the dream. He could barely catch his breath and his heart was slamming painfully against the inside of his ribs. Bae would die. That was the price… for what? It had been more than bringing Henry. The seer had said he'd changed the future, but wasn't destiny set? If it wasn't meant to be changed, shouldn't he - even with all of his power - be unable to stop it?
"Rumple?" Belle cried out, the door flying open and she looked like she'd raced up the stairs to the top floor of the western tower. "He's broken through the outer wards."
"Who has?"
"Pan. He's in the courtyard with Zelena."
Rumplestiltskin was on his feet instantly, rushing past her so quickly that she could barely keep up with him as he all but flew down the stairs. He hadn't felt the warnings - he'd been too deep into the visions - but now that he was awake they flooded his mind like a bucket of ice water being dumped on him. It was hard to breathe, but he pushed through it, racing down and nearly running straight into his son at the bottom.
"Papa, we've got a problem," Bae said, but he barely got the words out before his father's hands were gripping his shoulders, moving him away from the path to the door.
"Yes, yes. I'm aware that we do. Stay inside, Bae."
"Are you crazy? We're going to need all the help we can get. I'm a dead aim with a crossbow."
"No. Absolutely not. Stay inside."
The younger man stared at him for a moment, disbelief scrawled across his face like it had been painted there. "You've got to be kidding me. Listen, Pop, I can't just-"
"Yes, you can. And you will. Damn it, Bae, for once-"
"I'm a grown man. If I say I'm going out there then I'm-"
Rumple didn't let him finish. In a swirl of magic he probably should have saved for the fight ahead, his son was transported to one of the most innermost rooms of the castle. It would likely take him hours to find his way out on a good day, but with the spell his papa wove into it as he sent him, he wouldn't be able to cross the threshold of the castle even if he did find the right path.
"He's not going to be happy with you," Belle managed from her place.
"Very well then," Rumpelstiltskin answered as he strode towards the door. He'd been a fool. He'd left the blood magic wards littered all across his outer defences. They would have kept Zelena out, but not Pan. Damn his shortsightedness. One thing after another and not enough time to think were all excuses. He was a manipulator, a planner by trade. He knew what was happening three or four steps - at minimum - before everyone else. This was his fault and he wouldn't lose his son because of his stupidity.
"Rumple." Belle had hold of his sleeve, refusing to let go until he turned to look at her. "What did you See?"
She knew him too well. He tried to offer her a smile and leaned forward, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "I'll tell you with it's done. There's no time now."
Belle didn't release him. "When it's done," she repeated and he knew what she wanted. A promise. She needed a promise that he was coming back from this.
"When this is done," he swore and kissed her again. She let him go this time and he moved towards the front door of his castle. It opened without a single physical touch to it and the courtyard was in chaos. Flying monkeys screeched and dove for people. The Charmings were already out to do battle, David with his sword, Snow White with her bow. Emma may not have had a gun, but she apparently could handle a sword well enough as she split one in two. Regina was off to the side and looked to be facing off with her sister for the first time… but not the last, Rumple knew suddenly. Even Hook appeared to be pulling his weight in the battle, though he'd spent the night out with the other potential traitors.
It was the lone figure in the center that caught his attention though, perfectly posed and with his hands on his hips, a smirk playing across his features. He tilted his head, the laugh in his eyes as he focused on the man that had once been the child he'd left behind. "Hello, laddie. Come to play?" he asked and Rumplestiltskin felt the rush of power coming at him.
TBC
Notes:
Happy Memorial Day everyone! Many, many thanks to those that have served in our military, both on this day and every day.
In the next chapter - Regina finds out just what her newly found sister wants from her and Rumple faces off against Pan.