Chapter Sixteen.

"Clara said to stay off of it, Pop."

Rumplestiltskin shot his only son a glare over one shoulder as he continued to ease himself off the bed. The spell he'd cast on his ankle to help knit it back together was slow working, but that was the way that it had to be. A quick fix spell was well within his power, but twice on the same bones would do more damage than it would good. The body simply wasn't made for that, magic or not.

They'd already wasted days in this place and he knew he just wanted to go home. Thomas' father had been more than eager to help once his faulty alliance with the former King George fell apart - death will do that to a partnership - and he he had scrambled to make himself look better. From what Rumple had heard, he'd made it clear the night of the attack that Thomas had free reign over their military for anything that David needed and David was certain that that would clear up any trouble from them. Granted, that would also bring Thomas back to the Dark Castle for a prolonged period of time, but in the grand scheme of everything that could go wrong, that was the least of his worries. Putting weight on his right leg, though, probably should have been a bit higher up.

His injured ankle buckled beneath him at the first step and Rumple grabbed for the bed, barely catching it before landing in a heap on the floor. Pain raced through him and he squeezed his eyes shut against it, fingers buried in the fabric of the bed covers and he didn't even hear Bae's approach. A hand settled against one shoulder, supporting him, and he was eased back so that he was sitting on the bed. "These told you so moments," he son teased softly.

"Don't get cheeky with me," Rumplestiltskin groused, though his voice was rough due more to the pain than actual irritation directed at the younger man. He tried to offer a smile to prove it, but he wasn't sure it quite made it as a pained moan left him and Bae eased him back down and against the pillows.

"That'll be the day. You know, when a doctor tells you to do something, usually it's not for their own health. It's for yours."

"I hate doctors."

"When have you ever actually been to see one? I mean, did they even have one at the front when you were in the war?"

Rumplestiltskin grimaced and hoped his son mistook it for the pain from his injury and not the memory. He'd never gone into detail over how his ankle had been broken the first time, and if it were up to him, he'd continue to let that event gather dust in the back of his memory. He'd done it for Bae, of course, and there was no question in his own mind about that. It wasn't the bravest thing he could have done, but Belle had spent many a conversation trying to convince him that it most certainly wasn't a cowardly act either. He almost believed her, but any prolonged time spent thinking on it would likely undo that.

"Papa?"

"Yes yes," his father answered, dragging himself back to the present. He couldn't let Bae grow too worried if he wanted to get home. If it were up to his boy he'd be lying around in bed until the injury was fully healed, and while his magic would certainly take care of that long before it would have healed naturally, that was still quite a ways away. He didn't dare think of how long. "I'm here. I just… We're leaving today, Bae. I can't stay another moment."

"You shouldn't be up-"

"I'd like to sleep in my own bed."

"Just a couple more days and…." Bae's plea died on his lips as his father turned a glare on him.

"No."

"Where's Belle when I need to her talk sense into you?"

"You can both fuss about it when we get home."

Baelfire snorted softly and shook his head. "I'll make you a deal, Papa." He grinned at the distrustful look he received and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Just hear me out. You let Clara take one last look and you promise to do anything that she advises once we get home. Deal?"

"That's rather open-ended, Bae…"

"Or I could just have her knock you out again."

It hadn't be Clara that had knocked him out, truth be told, but Bae. His son had a streak of trickster in him and he'd slipped a potion of the healer's own design into his father's tea when he refused to stay down. Rumplestiltskin hadn't tasted it - this was really becoming an issue - until he'd felt its effects and Bae had eased him back down into the bed. He'd been so angry, but the anger hadn't made its way to the surface to be verbalized before everything had simply slipped away into a painless, dreamless sleep that afternoon. That didn't mean that he'd forgiven him yet. "I'd like to see you try." He pushed a long breath out through his nose and relaxed back against the pillows just a little. "She can take a look, but I'm not promising to abide by just anything."

"Fair enough."

He'd had it planned, Rumple realized, because Clara seemed to be waiting at the door. She smiled at him as she entered and he refused to watch her work. She was a clever girl, sharp and bright, but that was the only way she could have reached the position that she had in this kind of a kingdom. She spoke to distract, but sometimes it seemed like chatter that he had to tune out to keep from snapping at her when she poked and prodded in all the most painful spots.

"Determined to go home?" she asked as her skilled hands undid the bindings around his leg. "You'll need to drop the spell for me to properly see the damage."

He glared at her, but let it drop. Along with casting the healing spell that was slowly pulling the bones back into place and putting them back together he had cast one that was for the pain. It didn't do away with it entirely, but it glamoured over it so that he couldn't feel it completely and others wouldn't see the extent of the damage. To do away with the pain entirely would have been foolish and a good way to have caused permanent damage, but letting the suppressing spell go did bring a fresh wave that threatened to pull him under. Bae's hand squeezed his and he realized he didn't know when his son had taken it.

Rumplestiltskin focused on speaking through clenched teeth. "David is done with his bit and they're ready to leave. I won't be the one stopping us."

She made a small sound of acknowledgement and Rumple closed his eyes against the pain. "Well, I don't advise it, particularly, but as you're set on it I can't imagine there's much that would stop you. I'd suggest you use a walking stick until you can walk without pain."

"I can manage that much," he acknowledged.

Clara offered him a smile. "I met you once, when I was little, did you know that?"

Rumple blinked at her, trying to decide if she should have stood out in his mind or not.

"I'm not surprised you don't remember. Our village was caught up in the Ogre Wars - well, one of many, I suppose - and my father and elder brother had both been killed. They'd come into the village and one had just ripped the door off of our home like it was nothing. It was going after my little brother who was crying, but just before it got to him it just turned to dust. When the dust cleared you were there. You looked different then, but I know it was you. You saved us."

A tightness made its way into his chest and he barely waited for her to finish the wrapping on his ankle before sitting up, pulling a cane through magic into his hand to brace himself on as he stood. "I wouldn't say that, dear," he murmured as he risked a step forward, the cane and the spell that had fallen back into place working together to take his weight. "I was always paid rather well for ending those spats. If whoever called for my help hadn't been able to pay, I would have left you to rot."

Clara, to his surprised, laughed at him. "Perhaps, but life isn't made up of what-ifs, it's made up of things that happened. You did save us and you saved my family. I'm trying to say thank you."

"He doesn't take that very well," Bae offered to the side.

"I can tell." Her patient didn't meet the young healer's eyes as she shook her head. "Take care of yourself, Rumplestiltskin."

He waited until she was gone to fix a half hearted glare on his son. "You shouldn't encourage people to think I'm something I'm not."

Bae gave him a smile smile that tilted one direction rather than the other. "I didn't. You're more than you give yourself credit for, Papa."

Rumple felt a sudden rush of warmth from the words and he reached out, his son instantly taking his hand and Bae chuckled as his papa pulled him into a hug. The younger man wrapped an arm around his shoulders and held on. He couldn't have known what the words meant, not really, and Rumple tried to push back the emotions and found that he couldn't quite do it, so he just hung on for a few moments more, father and son in a tight embrace. "Thank you, Bae," he managed, voice rough.

"Anytime, Papa. Just here to remind you." He flashed his father a smile and motioned to the door. "So are we leaving or what?"

A laugh bubbled in the sorcerer's throat and he tightened his grip on the cane that looked much like the one he'd carried in Storybrooke. "Let's go home."

While Belle seemed to grow more anxious with each day that passed, Regina remained surprisingly calm. Quick notes in Rumplestiltskin's hand had appeared not long after they arrived back at the Dark Castle. She wasn't sure what Belle's said, but she had received one that had merely said Delayed. Henry is well. in small, neat writing in her personal chambers that she'd chosen for herself. The parchment felt faintly of Rumple's magic from the delivery method and for some reason that was still lost to her, she believed him. Her son was safe, likely having the time of his life out playing prince - though he wasn't quite playing any longer - and he'd be back shortly. She could handle that.

Maleficent had made herself at home at the Dark Castle almost immediately upon arrival. She had poked around nooks and crannies until she'd suddenly become bored - or found what she was looking for, Regina couldn't be sure - and had decided to make it her new life goal to figure Belle out. That had been on the second day, though, and just because Maleficent was her friend didn't mean that she was her responsibility.

That was until Robin found her in the library late one afternoon, looking around like he was worried he was being followed. Regina quirked an eyebrow at him and watched him carefully, not entirely sure if he was looking for her or just a place to hide. "Hide and seek with Roland?" she asked after a moment.

Robin startled. "No. Sadly." He looked around again, and when he found no one beyond Regina he let out a sigh.

A knowing smile crossed her lips. She'd seen that look before. "Hide and seek from Maleficent."

"That's the one," the archer acknowledged. "Would you mind terribly?"

"By all means," Regina answered, shifting so that her feet were no longer resting up on the couch. She watched the blond carefully as he loosed another long breath, this time allowing the strain of whatever he was hiding from roll off with it. The Evil queen closed her book on magical theory and her lips pulled into a guarded smile. "I have to ask…"

"Your friend - the sorceress - has taken quite a fancy to me."

A small laugh stirred deep in her throat, but she bit it off, the smile growing a bit despite that. "She has a habit of doing that from time to time."

"I don't think that it helped that I broke into her castle once."

"Fortress," Regina corrected automatically.

"Yes, she did say it was." He turned, his blue eyes sharp. "I'm afraid I don't know how to politely decline in a way that she will understand."

"Leave off the polite part and you'll do just fine," Regina said, the laugh making it a little further up her throat this time. "What's the matter? Not your type?"

"I'm afraid she's not," he answered slowly, rolling the sleeves of his jacket up in a nervous sort of fashion. He looked like a boy that was entirely lost. Surely this wasn't his first encounter with a woman that he wasn't interested in. He was handsome, in a rugged sort of way that Regina was most certainly not interested in, but plenty of women liked that sort of thing. Maleficent was obviously one of them, though her taste tended to vary from moment to moment. There was one constant, from what the queen had been able to gather, and it was that her friend prefered the chase rather than the prize.

"Pretending that she is might get her to go away faster."

"That seems rather ill-advised."

"It may be the only way you break her interest," Regina finally laughed and it brought a surprising smile from him.

"You have a very pleasant laugh, Regina."

The laugh ceased immediately and she felt her usual indifferent mask fall firmly into place. She didn't have to command it there anymore. Muscle memory did wonders.

"I'm sorry… It was meant as a compliment," Robin murmured as if he were trying to think of a reason it would be taken otherwise. "Has no one ever told you that before?"

"Not in a very long time," Regina answered stiffly and memories better left in the past began to surface. She stood, starting for the door. "I'll make sure Maleficent doesn't come this way looking for you."

Robin reached out and his hand closed around her wrist, stopping her. She turned back, ready to rip into him about the propriety of a common thief laying a hand on a queen in such a way, allies or not, but the words never made it past her lips. She stopped, eyes fixated on the tattoo on his forearm.

"I've said something to offend you, my lady," he was saying and there wasn't a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Please let me make amends."

He released her then and Regina couldn't stop her whirling mind long enough to put together words, muchless command her tongue to form them into something he could understand. She just watched him as he moved over to a decanter on the far table of the room and grabbed for the two glasses there. "I've found," he said as he brought them back, "that this castle tends to place things exactly where you need them exactly when you need them, though I do believe it chooses who it likes. Is that possible?"

"Knowing Rumple, yes," Regina managed automatically. Her dark eyes were still watching his arm carefully, and she wasn't sure when she'd sat back down, but she was most certainly sitting when he handed her the glass. She took it numbly and he held his up, the two clinking together and he offered her a smile that she couldn't explain.

He smiled. "Apparently it likes us well enough." He raised his glass to her and took a sip, expression evening out. "I apologize if I misread the situation, Regina," he said after a moment. He was still standing, moved just a step away from her, but giving her room as he spoke. "I know that our time spent together is often for the sake of our sons, but I thought, perhaps, it was something more as well."

You didn't just ruin your life. You ruined his.

Tinker Bell's words bounced around her mind, and by the way the pressure felt like it was building there she thought they might have been ricocheting against her skull. She couldn't find the words - to confirm his suspicions or utterly deny them - and so she sat there, glass held in her hands and eyes fixed on him.

"I see I was mistaken," he murmured awkwardly, taking a long swallow of his drink.

"You weren't," she whispered, never giving herself permission to. What was she saying? He might be Maleficent's type - smitten with another was definitely Maleficent's type - but this rogue was most certainly not hers. He was rugged and rough, just as at home sleeping on the ground as in a bed, and up until they'd returned and he'd offered to help he had been a thief for a living. A thief. What sort of queen falls for a thief?

"I wasn't?" he echoed, unsure in the silence that followed.

"I…" But he was also kind and brave and when he looked at her there was a sort of teasing there, but no judgement over the things she'd done. She could ruin this. She would very likely ruin this. She'd already done it once, after all, and that only heightened the odds that she would do it again. Everything she touched turned to ash or turned away, with the exception of Henry. "I'm not very good at this," she murmured at last.

Then he smiled. "Neither am I. Perhaps we can wade through these rather troubled waters together?"

She should tell him no, but even as she gave herself that order she was nodding and smiling. Regina had once asked Tink what she would be without the anger that helped to weigh her down, that kept her from floating away. Tinker Bell had told her she would be happy, and in that moment as Robin reached forward and took one of hands, pressing a kiss to the back of it, she thought that the fairy might have just been right.

Delayed. I'll explain when I get home. That was all the letter had said. It had been waiting for her on the pillow of their bed and she could have killed him in that moment. Belle wasn't prone to violent outbursts, but that man, as much as she loved him, could be absolutely infuriating at times. When he gave her the vaguest answers was when she should be the most worried. He had caught on that she'd caught on to that yet. Infuriating.

Then there'd been Maleficent. She'd thought Rumple and the others would be right behind them in coming home, dealing with the eccentric sorceress so that Belle didn't have to. He could have warned her what she was getting herself into. She would have still gone, of course, but she would have had liked to have had just a little warning. Perhaps of what had gone on between them as well, because with the way the woman went on and on about him, it was obvious they had a past of… Well of some wasn't sure she really wanted to know, but Rumple should have told her. Not that he would have volunteered any information that she didn't actively seek after. Yes. He was most certainly infuriating, she decided with a huff.

Belle had become strangely accustomed to reading the wards in the Dark Castle. When Rumple wasn't there, they defaulted to her, and a slight change in the pressure of the room caught her attention and she moved to the large double doors that opened up to the balcony. She'd had trouble opening the doors the first time she'd tried, and an old familiar quip about nailing things down in the castle had passed between them. The doors weren't nailed now and she pushed them open, moving towards the railing on the balcony and the gates were opening below. Through them came familiar faces and she barely registered that she was turning before she was running down the stairs. "They're home!" she announced to anyone that cared to hear and a few heads poked out of various rooms. All irritation washed away and she was just happy that he was home and safe and whole….

She came to a complete stop halfway down the front stairs. Snow nearly toppled into her in her haste to run for David, Aurora right behind her and heading straight for Philip. Emma offered a small smile as she passed, nearly pulling Henry off his feet when she met him and pressing a kiss to his hair before speaking with Bae, her expression almost shy, which might have caught Belle's attention if not for the cane that Rumplestiltskin was leaning so heavily on.

Her love looked worn and tired, that old limp back and he winced with every step he took. He'd made it halfway through the courtyard before Baelfire moved to his side, Emma close behind him, and tried to offer him help only to be waved off by curt gestures and a snapped word. Belle ghosted down to meet him, feeling an ache spread through her chest. "Rumple, what happened?"

He turned to her, his dark eyes softening and he tried for a smile. "It's nothing, dear."

"It doesn't look like nothing," she argued and the smile faded entirely into a frown.

"Do you need the whole story before you'll let me in or can it wait until we're inside?"

Belle stiffened at the words and he must have seen it. There was an expression that Rumplestiltskin wore when he knew he'd said something wrong to her, something that he should have known better than to say, and he wore that now in the way his lips thinned out and his brows drew together. He reached his free hand to her and she took it instantly. "I'm sorry, my dear," he offered in a rough voice. "I'm very tired and should probably get some rest. I didn't mean to snap at you."

She smiled tightly, her gaze drifting back to Bae. "Of course," she murmured, knowing she could get the story from him. Right now her mission was to get him upstairs and get him to bed before he collapsed in a heap on the floor of his home.

"Rumplestiltskin. My, what have you done to yourself?"

Rumple looked up, but Belle knew the voice. It had followed her around the castle for days without end. Maleficent was smiling toothily as she strode forward, her loose garments floating around her in a wind that just wasn't there before she arrived.

"Maleficent, what are you doing in my home?" Rumple demanded.

A few yards away Aurora buried herself in Philip's embrace and the prince glared furiously at the visiting sorceress. She, in turn, continued smiling, but her gaze only flickered to them briefly before returning to to the owner of the castle she'd made herself at home at the last few days.

"Your little pet let me in," the blonde answered silkily, glancing over to Belle.

Before Belle could offer her reasoning, Rumplestiltskin's expression darkened. "She's not my pet, dearie," he growled, his temper setting up on the edge and ready to be pushed at even the smallest of provocation.

Maleficent chuckled, even as Belle reached a steadying hand out to him. "Look at you. Humanity is an interesting look on you, I must say, though time will tell if it's a good one or not."

"Your point?"

"Short tempered today, are we, Rumple?"

"Very, so I'd suggest unless you want me to release all the guards set up over the years on you that you get to your point and quickly."

Maleficent covered the remaining space between them in a flash, but Rumplestiltskin didn't budge. In fact, he didn't even flinch as she leaned in close, her heels making putting her at several inches taller than him. She was bent so that she was looking directly into his eyes, that smile never fading as she studied him closely. He met her gaze without blinking, and Belle could almost feel the shift around them as those dark eyes turned cold. "I do seem to remember owing you a favour from quite a while back. Care to use it here?"

Rumple's smile was thin, but not quite strained. "Depends how useful you're willing to be. I'm not willing to have my time wasted."

The two magic users watched each other, a silent power struggle between them. "Good to see not too much has changed," Maleficent said slowly. "I wouldn't dream of wasting your time."

"Good. Then let's get that favour off the books, shall we? I'll fill you in tomorrow with the rest."

Belle still had a hand on his arm as they moved in, slowly and painfully from the way every muscle in his body seemed to be tensed, and she heard Bae call after her that he'd be right up.

Rumplestiltskin didn't speak as his magic had gathered them up and redistributed them in their room, but he did almost melt into her arms as Belle wrapped them around his middle and pulled him into an embrace. They stood like that for a long moment, her cheek rested against his chest and he kissed the top if her head. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

She'd forgotten that she'd been angry the moment she saw him. "What happened, Rumple?"

"We were sabotaged."

"Thomas' father?"

"No, George."

Belle made a face. "David's brother's father?"

"One in the same," he answered tiredly and released her to take a seat on the bed. His movements were slow and stiff, leading Belle to believe that it had been several days since whatever had happened had happened. He eased himself down and stretched out.

"Are those all the details you're going to give me?" she asked after he went silent for several moments and he smiled.

"I'm sorry, my dear. A roof came crashing in on us. I caught to bad end of it."

"Was there a good end?"

He snorted a laugh. "Fair point."

She smiled, realizing that he wasn't being forthcoming out of secrecy, but out of exhaustion. She leaned over and kissed his forehead. "I love you," she whispered softly, receiving only the smallest of responses from her already sleeping fiancé. "Welcome home."

He knew his surroundings well, but it didn't mean he had to like it. His visions had been coming this way in part - at least when he slept - with the seer acting as his less than helpful guide. These sorts of visions nullified any rest he might have as he slept, and often left Rumplestiltskin feeling more drained than he had been when he fell asleep. He'd managed to filter out the visions for the most part because of that. Once he'd fully gotten his barriers into place it had been fairly easy. Now, though, his exhaustion provided the crack it needed to seep through.

"You are denying fate it's price," the seer said, her tone bland.

Rumplestiltskin snorted. "If fate is fate, it cannot be changed. Sacrifice doesn't mean my son has to die."

She frowned at him. "You really have learned nothing, have you?"

"I've learned not to be a victim of my circumstances," he snapped. "I won't let him go."

"And yet you aren't willing to die for him."

"That can't be the only loophole."

"Not everything has a loophole, Rumplestiltskin."

He smiled at her, the expression anything but friendly. "Everything has a loophole in it, you just have to be willing to look. He survived the attack a few days ago, didn't he?"

"You cannot protect him forever."

"Oh-ho. That's where you're wrong, dearie. I can and I will protect him."

"But you have not changed anything."

Images, scattered and painful and none of them fitting together just right, flittered across his mind's eye and the sorcerer frowned. "I'm wondering if you're a vision at all," he mused softly. "Perhaps you're just my fears working into my dreams. You're just the shape they take."

"Believe what you will. It will come to pass."

He straightened, eyes fixed on her. "I won't let him go this time."

She offered him a sad sort of smile. "We shall see."

TBC

Notes: I can't believe I got this chapter up today. I was worried it wouldn't make it. I've been rather waylaid by X-Men First Class (which I finally saw) and the new Days of Future Past that I managed to go see just after buying First Class. I'm a little in love with the bromance of that series and a short that I've been wiring on kind of took over my life the last couple, three days. Thankfully, I was able to write enough on this one today to feel confident to post this.

Next time - Baelfire learns the true story about how his father first broke his ankle, Snow decides it's time to leave the Dark Castle, and Henry tells his father about his ability to use magic.