They made their way to the loft, but Peter had to wait outside until Belle and Rumple could make sure the waters wouldn't get too rocky. Knowing that the boy (or man) that once kidnap Henry was working with wouldn't settle well with the heroes.
"You might not like it, but if we're going to get anywhere, we need all the help we can get."
"And what makes you so sure he won't try something on Henry again? He might claim he changed, but how can we be sure?" Regina looked at Gold.
"Yes, how can we be sure?" Belle asked, anger lacing her words. "How can we make sure he won't rip out our hearts after we offered our help, and use it to hurt the ones we love because of a rather outrageous assumption?"
Regina fell silent, but everyone's attention fell on the queen.
"Regina, what did you do?" Robin asked. Surprised that she would do such a thing to his friend. He loved Regina, but it didn't mean he would allow her to hurt someone who had saved his life, or anyone. He owed his life to Belle, and if he had to protect her from even Regina he would.
"Zelena was going to hurt you, Robin. I couldn't let that happen."
"But it doesn't give you the right to assume Rumple would help that witch."
Everyone turned to the door, watching the new member of their rag-tag team enter. He looked a little ridiculous in that suit, like a miniature Gold.
"After everything your sister had done to him, and after killing his son, do you honestly believe my son would be stupid enough to work with her?"
No one spoke for a moment, letting that realization come into place. He was right, and they didn't think fear was a good excuse for what Regina did to Belle.
"We can deal with this later, right now-"
"No." Gold said firmly.
David looked like he was ready to argue with the imp, but the look in the sorcerer's eyes made him halt, forcing him to listen.
"If we are going to work together to get out of here, a few things need to be understood."
"Like what?" Hook spoke with venom. Everyone else could work with the crocodile all they wanted, he wasn't going to trust the man one bit. Or his teenage father.
"Belle has given you all more help than you could ask for, and has forgiven more than anyone deserves." He glanced at both the pirate and the queen. " And I believe you lot would have never realized Zelena's plan without her. Yet you have never thanked her, and still continue to ask for her assistance."
David and Snow looked more apologetic than the others as they remembered how they treated her when she asked for help to save Gold from their Dark One daughter, but it was Robin who spoke up first. Which Gold was thankful for. He would have turned right around and left the loft with Belle if no one said anything.
"Belle, I owe you my life. And my daughters. Whatever it is you need, I'll help. Never think otherwise."
"Thank you Robin." Belle smiled. Was it wrong of her to enjoy the confused look on Regina's face?
"So what exactly happened to make you work with him?"
Gold sighed. The Savior really did have a habit of asking rather ignorant and pointless questions. A trait she inherited from her father no doubt.
He shared a look with Belle, knowing it was time to tell them. He knew Robin would help, but he had the fear (and slight knowing assumption) that they wouldn't care; since they had two other babies to worry about.
"I'm pregnant." She didn't smile.
Of course Snow was excited, being the most royal of them all. She was accustomed to caring for others and sharing in their joy, as long as it wasn't Zelena. She wanted to think Belle was their friend, but she knew that their actions towards her, and the fact that they never did thank her for all her help, said otherwise.
"Belle, congratulations."
Robin even walked up and gave her hug, and Rumple could see it made his wife happy. Perhaps the thief wasn't that bad, but his associations could use some work.
"So why aren't you celebrating?" Regina asked.
Belle knew what she really meant. She was too busy with her sister to care about this and needed her and Rumple out of the way. To her, this was just another issue she had to deal with, and frankly, her sister trying to steal Robin's baby was more important. But Rumple was right. They couldn't all just do their own thing and expect everyone to leave alive. To defeat Hades, they had to join teams. It wouldn't be pretty, but it had to be done.
And since they were in the land of the dead, help from the dead was almost necessary.
"Laddie messed up."
Gold glared at his father but ignored him.
"Not a surprise."
"Killian."
At least the Savior knows how to handle her own monster, Gold thought.
"I made a deal long before Belle was even born. Baelfire was dying and after some events, the only way to say him was...let's just say, Hades thinks the baby is his."
"What?" Everyone nearly jumped.
"The baby is under contract which Hades now owns. So we need to make a plan that can save the baby and get us all back home alive."
"And you're okay with him being the Dark One?" David asked.
Everyone looked at Belle, waiting for her to answer.
"That's for me and Rumple to talk about later, and that's none of your business. We don't interfere in your marriage, you shouldn't in ours."
"What? Gold gets involved in everything." Emma tried to stand up for her parents.
"I might have helped them get together dearie, something I have yet to be thanked for, or you becoming the Savior, but I never bothered with their marriage. Whatever mistakes they made was their own doing. Sorry to disappoint you."
Emma closed her mouth for whatever retort she had lined up when David agreed.
"But we're not going to let you hurt Belle anymore."
"Enough!"
All eyes landed on Belle, who at the moment had the most logic and reason. Next to Gold perhaps.
"We're not going to get anywhere if we continue to bite at each other. So let's get a few things straight. We stay out of other people's marriage and we accept the past and move on. Alright? Because if this continues, Hades will win everything."
Silence covered their mouths. The heroes hated how Belle and Rumple were right. Or at least, how Gold was right.
"So you're thinking if we make one big force rather than a lot of tiny ones, we can break his power?" Snow asked.
"In a sense, yes. That's why my father is here. He knows more about this place and Hades powers than we do. And as I said, we need all the help we can get."
"My brother knew how to defeat Hades as well, and look how that turned out."
"My father is not your brother."
Pan stepped forward quickly before anyone could argue again.
"As I told Belle, not everyone gets the privilege of knowing what happens after you move on. Unless you have the right tools. Some people, like Cora, think that the more power you have the better. But thankfully laddie inherited my skills for trickery and subtlety. And we're the only ones here who really have the power of finesse. The rest of you seem to want to barge the door down with your guns blazing, so to speak. That won't work here."
"So what tool do you have that allows you to know what happens in the living?"
"Hades has a vault of his most magical objects. I found a way in shortly after I got here, but that's not what matters here."
Peter knew exactly why Snow was asking. She wanted a way to look after her newborn son from down here, but he knew better. They made the choice, utterly foolish, to leave their son behind and travel to the Underworld to save a man that wasn't worth saving. They got to live with that choice. As he did his.
"It's clear that saving souls is weakening Hades. But that's also causing a lot of trouble."
"If we can help others move on, we will."
Peter snorted at the princess turned queen. "You're not getting this, are you?"
"What father means is that we have to play this safe. You also have to understand is that there are over thousands of souls here. You can't save them all. And it's their unfinished business, not yours. After what you've been through with your first child, I would think you'd be more concerned on getting home to your second, rather than focus on souls you've never met."
"And if we destroy Hades, we can save all the souls trapped down here as well. So why don't we kill two birds with one stone rather than play two different games."
"This isn't a game." Regina looked at the boy.
"Perhaps not to you lassie, but it is to Hades. And like with me, the only way to stop him is to play the game. I'm sure you've heard that saying before, right?"
"So what exactly did you have in mind? Forgive me, but you two have done nothing to prove yourself as changed men."
"Neither have you, yet here we are."
"Alright!" Belle threw her arms as if to push both 'boys' back before they got into a fight. "The best thing to do is to try and understand Hades' power. We can't defeat him if we don't know what he can do."
"We know he can put names on gravestones so no one leaves." Regina told her for the second time.
"We do know that although he can leave anytime he wants and go where he wishes, he can't stay for long."
"So his powers are limited?"
"Yes." Rumple answered the shepherd.
"I doubt the Lord of the Dead is just going to tell us what makes him weak, or how to stop him."
Gold sighed. He really couldn't handle these ignorant questions and statements. For once, why couldn't the Savior be like her mother?
"No Miss Swan, he's not." He spoke in an exasperated tone. "This is where the subtly and fineness comes in."
"Any great powerful 'magician' has some sort of vault that holds their power."
"So Hades would have one as well." Belle said, finishing her father-in-law's thought pattern.
Pan smiled. Rumple wasn't sure if them getting along was a good thing. He was sure it was, because at least it showed Pan was trying to change, but he also hated how 'buddy' they were becoming. He remembered a time like that. Long ago.
"So we find this vault and just hope he has some sort of power we can use against him? Or at least some information."
"Yes." Pan said. "Or...
We could ask your sister."
The temperature in the room dropped, almost making them forget they were in Underworld, because it kept looking like Hell.
"What?!" Regina stood up straighter.
"Regina-"
"You really think I'm going to let my sister help with any of this. Do you not remember who she's working for?"
"Well we don't actually know she's working for Hades." Snow tried to calm her step-mother down.
"And this is where leverage comes in."
Now everyone was looking at Pan again.
"What? You really thought Hades would just give us what we wanted without holding something over his head? Besides, I didn't think you were above using leverage. I hear you've used it, what? Three? Four times? Or did I hear wrong that you used Belle against my son?"
And the temperature dropped lower. Now everyone was thinking this was a bad idea. But Regina didn't move. She really hated when the Stiltskins were right.
"And what exactly did you have in mind?"
"You're not talking about...hurting her, are you?" Robin asked gingerly.
"Care for the witch?"
"Father." Rumple muttered to his side.
"No! But she's still my daughter's mother. No matter how we all feel about her."
"Exactly." Gold answered, holding his hands together in front of him. "Which is why despite how we all feel about her, she has as much of the right to at least see and hold your child as you do."
Robin had to pull Regina by the hand to prevent her from stepping up and slapping the Imps.
"Regina!"
"If your wife doesn't trust Zelena with the baby, why should you?"
"You have a point Regina." Belle spoke up on her behalf. "But at least I made sure the baby was safe."
"Yeah, and look how that helped."
Belle bit the urge to tell the mayor that she had told them not to trust Zelena, but it would only cause more trouble.
"REGINA!"
The queen stepped back, shocked that Robin would ever yell at her.
Robin and everyone else took deep breaths, hoping the calm down all the tension. "They're right."
"Robin-"
"Regina, I know you hate her-"
"I don't hate her."
"But that baby is her. And she did trust us to watch over the baby and protect her from Hades. We can trust her to not leave with her again. You know that she won't be able to change if we don't give her a chance. Remember, this isn't just about us or the baby. This is about everyone getting home. Alive."
It took a few moments before Regina finally calmed down, hating how she always agreed with his reasoning.
"Fine." She snapped. She looked back at the trio. "So what exactly is your plan?"
I will leave you there for now. And don't worry. This started out as Belle and Pan bonding, and a little hope of Pan redemption. It is still headed that way. You can expect more Belle and Pan bonding in the next chapter :) and less of the 'heroes'. They always take me a long time to write.
