Chapter Seven.
"Is that really all you have?" Zelena asked with a wide smile, her tone leaving her younger sister with the inclination to scrub the floors with her face. They'd been exchanging blows back and forth for a while now, though the older woman hardly seemed troubled by the magical output. She obviously had no care for the price of magic - as that particular truth was so clearly displayed on her face and anywhere else her skin showed - and didn't bother to regulate herself the way that Rumple had always taught Regina to do. Find your darkest moment, use it, and then reel yourself back in. Funny, Zelena seemed to do very little reeling back in and she wasn't breaking a sweat. Regina wasn't either, of course, but she could still tell the difference deep inside that most certainly hadn't been there even just a year before. She'd done a lot of changing, but that didn't meant that she couldn't pull from the same darkness that her sister did.
Regina had taken quite a few blows in her life, both physically and emotionally. She'd learned to smile through them, to fight back through them with everything that she had. She'd been innocent, once, and that innocent had begun to die when she lost Daniel. As her mother had pushed her further and further - and she'd eventually pushed her through the Looking Glass - what was left of it was chipped away. She'd blamed Cora, loved her, and hated her again only to lose her when she thought she'd truly found her. Now, as she looked at the blue eyed, green skinned woman that stood in her dress and had been living in her castle, she understood that there had been things that she could never have understood about Cora and that she'd never truly know her. She could see their mother in her eyes if the light caught her just right. There was something very familiar even behind the marred skin and she let the understanding of what that truly meant fill her up and fuel her. "So much more," she promised and slammed the dark magic into the elder woman.
It was powerful and it was potent, slicing and tearing and Rumple would have fussed over the rawness of it. It didn't matter. He wasn't her teacher any more and by the looks of the sparks flying on the other side of the courtyard he had his own family feud to deal with. She'd had more than her share of Peter Pan. Let him deal with the crazy man-child.
Zelena cried out as it hit and Regina pulled the image of their mother forward. Every time that she'd betrayed her and every time that she'd lied. Each and every time built the darkness, empowered it, and Zelena was thrown off her feet. But then, all at once and unbidden, a face came to mind and the light that that face brought with it shattered through the darkness and the ball of fire Regina was holding remained in her palm. She'd promised Henry she'd be better and no matter how angry and hurt she was - or hadn't even realized that she was - that her mother hadn't told her about a sister, that everyone had hid it from her so very well, she'd made a promise to her son and reaching forward and ripping Zelena's heart from her chest out of a fit of anger wouldn't be doing better.
"Well?" Zelena asked and she stood, brushing her dress off. She hardly looked worse for wear. "Maybe that is all you have. I've yet to see any reason why he should have chosen you over me. You're weak, Regina. You think they'll love you. You think-"
"I don't care what they think. I care what Henry thinks."
"Love is weakness, Sis."
"Says the woman whose mother abandoned her."
The attacks met head on and Regina slid back. Her eyes widened as Zelena came through the dust and the flames, hand outstretched and she slammed back into the wall that surrounded the courtyard, the back of her head hitting hard against the concrete. She blinked rapidly against the pain and grit her teeth together, speaking through them. "What the hell do you want?"
"I'm going to take everything from you," Zelena said and she reached forward, hand poised to tear her younger sister's heart from her chest. A triumphant smile pulled her lips, but then suddenly it faltered and she froze, emotions flashing wildly through her eyes before her entire body glossed over with the sure signs of squid ink. Regina watched it happen with wide eyes before sidestepping to see an arrow buried in her back. It would do nothing in the end. Her raw power would heal it as soon as the squid ink's effects wore off, but the fact was that the arrow had likely saved her life.
The dark haired queen moving around her newly found sister and locked eyes with her own personal savior. "You."
"A simply thank you is usually appropriate," Robin Hood answered. He managed to keep his face straight, but he couldn't hide the glint of amusement from those blue eyes of his. "Your Majesty."
"Oh enough. Now you're just patronizing me."
"I wouldn't dream of it, Your Majesty."
Regina let out a growl of frustration, fully intent on barreling past him and heading back into the battle. She needed to destroy something. That always made her feel better. These sorts of life changes did take time, after all. She could be a better person tomorrow.
Something stopped her though and she turned, brown eyes meeting blue. There was a sort of intelligence there, not the usual sort of leer one would expect from an outlaw and a thug. The smile and finally made it down to his lips and damn it all, he was teasing her. How dare he tease a queen? Who the hell did he think he was?
Without warning he reached forward, took her hand, and pressed his lips to her knuckles that had somehow become bloodied and scraped by the fight. She lost all resolve to be angry, despite herself, and he bowed. As he walked away, she found her voice with some effort. "Regina," she said as steadily as she could.
He paused, head tilted slightly to the side in confusion. "I'm sorry?"
"I think you've earned it."
Robin Hood grinned widely at her and she couldn't even imagine what that strange sensation stirring in her chest might be.
"Well aren't the two of you simply precious?" Zelena growled out and suddenly she was gone in a whirl of green smoke, leaving her a handful of monkeys and Peter Pan behind.
Rumplestiltskin had always known his father was clever, even if he didn't like to admit as much. He was usually very fond of clever people, but it had been many, many years since he'd had any kind feelings to direct at his father. The man was manipulative, conniving, and twisted on levels that Rumple wouldn't have touched on his darkest of days, or, at least, he hoped he never did. Pan had told him that while he'd left his son for the youth, Rumple had left Bae for the power of a dagger. The words still haunted him because he knew they were true. He'd clung to the dagger with one hand and Bae with the other, and he had known he couldn't hold both, so he'd let go, wrapping both hands firmly around the hilt. It didn't matter that a breath of a moment after the portal closed that he'd tried to claw the earth back open just to get to his child. Every action had consequences. He'd let go of Bae's hand because he'd been afraid. Malcolm had tossed him away and never looked back. Not really.
How old are you now? A couple hundred? Can't I be free of you?
He might have relinquished his powers as the Dark One, but that didn't mean that Rumplestiltskin didn't have a vast depth of knowledge when it came to dark magic, and dark magic was always fueled by the most painful of emotions. Rage. Hate. Anger. Abandonment. He knew them well and welcomed his old friends as he wound them together, threading them into a dense ball that slammed directly into Pan's chest, sending the boy flying backwards and tumbling once he landed.
Rumple was surprisingly whole for the amount of raw magic that Pan was wielding. Malcolm had never studied magic. It was a foreign concept to most peasants in the Frontlands. Likely even the spinsters that had raised him hadn't understood entirely what that bean could or would do. No, Rumple had never even seen Malcolm touch a book in study as a child and he couldn't picture Pan sitting in his tree tops creating his own education as his son had done in his lonely years as the Dark One. Neverland had taught him to pull the magic from the land, much like a parasite might live off of a creature that it had attached itself to. He'd brought that knowledge with him first into Storybrooke and now back into the Enchanted Forest. Rumple could feel his father pulling the magic from the ground, from the air, and from everything that would give way to him. It would take many, many years until he sucked it dry, but there was no doubt in the former Dark One's mind that he would drain it, killing them all in the process.
That smirk hadn't left his lips until the last blow hit and Pan sat up snarling and cursing. "You little-"
A second blast hit just as powerful as the first, and toppled the blond head over heels several times and laid him flat. "You were saying?" Rumplestiltskin asked, standing over him. Magic leapt to his command and Pan was pinned. He'd pay for it later, he was sure, and the price would be plenty steep, but it would be worth it.
Pan chuckled from his place and his eyes met his son's. "I knew you didn't really break it," he said. "I knew you couldn't give it up. You're nothing without the Dark One's curse."
"You're wrong," Rumple growled out. "I did give it up. I'm just not quite as easy to beat as you might have thought. Not quite so weak."
"This isn't your magic," Pan hissed. "You don't have it in you. I know you, Rumple. I've known you since the day you were born."
The blast hit him hard, tearing through his leather vest and biting at skin. It was the first real blow that had connected since they'd begun and it ate through hastily made shields and sent him stumbling back. Pan was on him in an instant and it was his game again as he took hold of Rumple by the shoulders and suddenly they were in the air. His boots left the ground and the realization that Pan had somehow pulled enough magical energy into himself - likely straight from his own castle - to take flight became evident as he was dragged him along with him.
Rumple had never been a fan of heights. They'd frightened him terribly as a child and made him uneasy as an adult, no matter how many years he'd lived. As they climbed higher and higher he felt his chest tighten and he looked up, finding the demon that had taken the place of his father laughing at him. "I know you, Rumple," Pan repeated, "and I know that deep down, you'll never be any better than what you are. All you had was your curse, and if you gave that up… well, I suppose you were willing to make a lot of sacrifices, weren't you? None of you will get out of this alive."
And then he let go and Rumplestiltskin felt himself drop, the ground rushing up to meet him.
He was going to kill him. If Pan hadn't killed him yet, Baelfire was going to do it. Bae considered himself a fairly level headed man - it was the only way a person could survive everything that he'd survived - but hitting repeat on childhood traumas that his father had put him through within twenty-four hours was more than he was willing to deal with. As he climbed yet another flight of bottomless, toppless, endless stairs that went to absolutely nowhere, he was about convinced that everything Rumplestiltskin had done to prove he was trying up until this point had been a ruse. Some elaborate manipulation to bring his son back home so that he could whisk him away at his will - his, not Bae's - and dictate every bit of his life. Likely he wanted to do it to Henry too, but he'd be damned if he would let him.
Bae let out a howl of frustration as he found yet another door that only opened to a brick wall. Somewhere deep beneath everything, he knew he was just flinging accusations that he didn't really believe, but he really was angry, that much he knew, and even more importantly, his papa should have known after everything they'd been through. They'd had a long talk on the flight back to Storybrooke from Neverland as Henry - well, they'd thought it was Henry - rested below deck. It had been one of the few adult discussions that he'd had with his father since he'd shown up in the lobby of his Manhattan apartment. Bae had thought they were being honest and Rumplestiltskin had said he'd give anything to prove he'd change. His son had believed him. His son still wanted to believe him, but he was making it so damn difficult.
He stopped, pulling in a deep breath and running his hands over his face. This was pointless. He was trapped in his father's castle and if Rumplestiltskin didn't want him to find a way out, he wasn't finding a way out. Curse or no curse, this castle listened to what its master said.
The idea struck him as hard as any physical blow and Bae nearly tripped down a step. "Damn blood magic," he grumbled. He'd watched his father use it enough when he was a kid that he knew the basics. Hell, Rumple had even coaxed him into learning how to open a couple things that he'd locked through it in their home. That's how Bae had known to use the walking stick to find the hidden compartments in the castle when he was looking for a way to get to Neverland. He had to think. He had to will it.
Bae closed his eyes. He wasn't entirely sure he was doing it right. He didn't have anything to hold or use like his father had instructed him with as a child. He just has his mind, his memories, and his heritage. And he had a secret, one that he didn't want to admit through the rest of the raging emotions: he needed to make sure Pan hadn't hurt his father.
Dark eyes opened and to his immediate left was a door. It hadn't been there before and Bae pulled in a deep breath as he pushed against it. It opened inward, not bumping against a wall until it was all the way open. It led to a hallway and another set of stairs, but this one looked like a secret passageway. It was dark and quiet, filled with cobwebs at every turn. He followed the stairs upward instead of down, feeling a strange sort of tug that led him, until he turned through a door half opened and he saw a hall that was familiar. He'd been there just that afternoon when he and his papa had discussed Henry. It was Rumplestiltskin's work tower and it should give him a perfect view of the courtyard.
The setting sun cast long shadows along the open space below, mixed with tints of orange and dark gold. Monkeys were strewn out and as Bae's dark eyes found Emma with her parents. He would have thought that she would have been entirely out of place here, but the Enchanted Forest was in her blood if she wanted to admit it or not. She wielded a sword almost like her father had been teaching her instead of Henry and she and her mother were back to back, facing off against the last few monkeys left over. Regina was to the far left with Robin of all people, Zelena fleeing the scene even as Bae glanced in her direction. Well, it looked like one sister had come out the clear winner. He continued to search the grounds for his father and when he couldn't catch sight of him, his chest began to tighten and he pushed on the window to find it would open for him. Apparently even the blood magic had limits set. His papa had always been a careful sort.
Then he saw him, but he wasn't on the ground. Pan had him dangling in the air and for just a moment Bae saw his papa visibly terrified. Rumplestiltskin had never liked heights to the best of his son's memory, and to be dangled higher than one of the tallest towers reached would have made anyone uncomfortable. When had Pan found his ability to fly in this world?
If his chest was tight before, Bae was certain he stopped breathing when Peter Pan simply let go. "Papa!" he screamed, fists beating on the glass as his father fell.
This was going to hurt. There was no way around that. Even with his magic able to transport him from the middle of the air to the ground, he was still falling far too fast and when he reappeared he hit hard. Granted, not as hard as he would have had he simply let himself go. There was something for it, in the end.
Rumplestiltskin felt the wind rush out of him and he tried to cough, finding he didn't have the breath to do so. His vision swam, but he didn't have a chance to pull together a mental inventory to figure out if he was just bruised or worse before Pan hit the ground where he'd been lying just a moment before. Rumple rolled to his left, pulling his feet under him as he did and stumbled up. Pan was funneling a large amount of energy at once and the flight would have taken a good deal of that. If he could avoid taking a direct blow from it, he thought he could use one of his old traps set to teleport him at least two kingdoms over. It was the same trick he'd used to stop Maleficent from "dropping by" for tea when he'd first created the castle. The woman had never been good at taking no for an answer.
The sorcerer felt his magic flicker dangerously, the amount of power he'd already used leaving him drained as his emotions evened out into steady thought and planning. He just had to pull the trap around him. The spell itself had been laid out for his use centuries before, and now it took less energy to make use of it, but more to do so silently. Though with the way Pan seemed to be barging around, Rumple thought subtlety might not be quite as necessary to avoid suspicion. He tugged on the string attached to his own magic and his father's blue eyes widened in momentary surprise. "You don't know me at all," Rumplestiltskin growled and the Pan was gone, flung across the lands through magic.
The battle was over, but he had no doubt in his mind that there would be more. Zelena had whisked herself away a short time before and the monkeys that were left behind were nearly dealt with. Those that had fought looked exhausted. They were covered with dirt and grime and some of them in blood. Even Regina was not her normal put together self as she came storming across the courtyard, looking ready to turn her wrath on him of all people. "You and your damn blood magic," she growled, not stopping her approach until she was directly in his face.
Rumple didn't pull back. "It's very useful at most points. I seem to recall you being fond of it as well. How is Zelena liking your castle?"
"You've had time to correct the issue."
"What are you getting at, dearie? That I let him in? You know better than-"
"Blood magic is supposed to be impossible to break, right?"
Dark eyes flickered over to see Ruby standing close to her granny. Her voice hadn't been accusatory, per se, but it was steady and unafraid of the man she was pushing to question towards. Rumple nodded. "It is."
"So how'd he break through?" Grumpy demanded, and his voice was most certainly accusing.
"Peter Pan is Rumplestiltskin's father," Snow White said plainly and Rumple might have had his hands around her neck if he thought he could cross the distance between them without finding himself face down on the ground. He wasn't fond of anyone knowing that bit of information, and now everyone within earshot knew.
"The child? How is that even possible?" Prince Thomas asked, eyes narrowed suspiciously. Rumple was surprised to see him there. He hadn't run across the arrogant little royal yet and he half wondered if he'd been booted out by the protection spell the same way Hook had been. While he was probably more afraid of the former Dark One than vengeful, the wards certainly would have found some negativity there.
"Well he -" Snow started, but Rumplestiltskin held up a hand to cut her off.
"Magic," he said simply, "is capable of hiding one's true form if their will is strong enough."
"Makes me wonder about you," Grumpy groused, but it was Charming that shot him a look, surprisingly enough.
"We have no reason to question Rumplestiltskin on either the breaking of his curse or his allegiances. He's proven them well enough recently."
Rumple found himself staring at the shepherd-turned-prince whose life he'd helped turn upside down more than once. Something akin to gratitude filled him, but the cynic in him kept it well contained and he simply nodded his thanks.
Charming turned to Regina. "And I'm sure now that we know those wards are a problem that they can be fixed."
"Already done," Rumple answered, even as he glanced back. Belle was coming out of the castle and giving directions to several closer to the door, but she spoke loudly enough that anyone across the courtyard could hear.
"We have the Great Hall set up to handle anyone that was injured. Tinker Belle and Astrid are in there now along with Ella and Aurora. If anyone needs help getting inside, grab one of us and we'll help you in."
"What about those of us that the castle isn't fond of, love?" Hook asked. He looked like he'd taken a hard blow to the head and he was cradling his left arm carefully, his jacket torn and bloodied.
"I'm sure we can make an acception, can't we, Rumple?" Belle asked pointedly.
Rumplestiltskin felt those blue eyes reaching through him to what was left of his soul. He really could deny her nothing. "Yes," he said slowly, shifting his gaze to the pirate, "but know that if you bring any harm to my family in any way, I'll rip you limb from limb and keep you alive long enough to watch."
There hadn't been quite as many wounded as Belle had feared. She'd refused to cower in the castle while the others fought, even if she had no specific training in weaponry. She'd change that, she decided, and if Rumple wouldn't teach her she'd find someone that would. Mulan had been amongst Robin Hood's Merry Men and if anyone would be willing to give her instructions on swordplay, she was willing to bet she would. For this time, though, she'd made herself as useful as she could by rounding up those that were willing to cower and a few others with a great deal of healing knowledge to prepare for the worst.
Belle stepped out of the Great Hall and let loose a long breath. After getting everyone situated in their rooms - and the proposal that she was certain that Rumple didn't remember making - she'd barely gotten any sleep the night before. She didn't want to know how late it was by the time she'd slipped away. A bit dazed and certainly ready for some sleep, she started for stairs that led to hers and Rumple's room when a door that she wasn't quite sure had been there before burst open and Bae all but stumbled out of it. He looked a bit embarrassed at first, but his expression darkened over almost immediately. "Where is he?"
"Rumple?" she managed. Had Baelfire been wondering the halls since his father had magicked him away so suddenly?
"Yeah. He's about to get an earful," her love's son growled.
"You've been trying to find your way out this whole time, haven't you?"
"And the sad part is that I think this crazy castle listens to me more or less."
Bae always seemed to keep himself collected from what Belle knew of him, but now he appeared to be reaching his boiling point. Not that she blamed him, particularly, but if he and Rumple were to have the talk he seemed so keen on having at that moment, nothing about it would end well. "Last I heard he's tied up with David, Snow, and Regina discussing the wards and how he's rearranged them. Emma took Henry upstairs to bed. You might want to find her. She was worried about you."
"Did you tell her that my dad decided that he'd make me a prisoner for the duration of the fight?"
Belle pressed her lips together, choosing her response carefully. "I mentioned that you'd been... tied up with something. It really wasn't my place to say what." She watched him carefully. It was interesting, though she didn't know Baelfire well, she could see flickers of his father in him, especially now. He was torn between hurt and angry, worried and... frightened. She knew that look stirring behind dark eyes that were so very like his father's. Something was frightening him and she wasn't sure if he'd admitted it to himself yet or was just pushing it aside. She reached out, gaining his attention by a light touch to his arm and she offered him a tired smile. "He was only trying to do what he thought would keep you safe."
Well, that had obviously been the wrong thing to say. She knew it as soon as the fear and the worry was pushed so far below the hurt and the anger that it was as if they weren't there at all. His voice was strained and tight when he spoke. "He was just keeping me safe? Is that what you think he was doing?"
Baelfire squared his shoulders and Belle could read a very old strain working its way there. He and his father had come far since Rumple had found him, but she knew enough to understand that deeply ingrained issues as theirs were could not simply be glossed over. They took time. "Let me tell you something about my dad. He talks in half truths on a good day. He never gives you a straight answer if it doesn't benefit him in one way or another. He's incapable of trusting anyone to make decisions when he's damn certain he's got the only answer out there, and today made it clear enough that he not only can't change, but he doesn't want to change."
Belle watched him, expression calm and she let him get it off his chest, even though he was yelling at her by the end of it. She'd seen enough of Rumple's own explosion to recognize the agonizing pain beneath. She would have let him keep going with it until he was finished, but movement caught her eye.
Rumplestiltskin might have been trying to slip by unnoticed. He looked utterly exhausted and certainly not ready to be on the receiving end of the emotional outpouring, but he'd heard it. He appeared to be frozen in place until she caught his eye, and he murmured an excuse so quietly that neither could make it out as he moved past them and up the stairs, never meeting his son's gaze.
Bae, to his credit, seemed to know the damage he'd inadvertently caused. He looked to Belle. "Are you...?"
"No," she answered firmly. "This is between the two of you. Those aren't pieces he'll let me pick up."
Her love's son nodded slowly and started after his father, leaving Belle alone at the base of the stairs. Well, there'd be no sleep tonight after all.
TBC
Notes:
In the next chapter - Bae and Rumple work through centuries old emotions, Pan manipulates Zelena, and Snow tries to figure out what's happening to those wounded in the battle when they start disappearing.