Sorry about the wait on this one. It's unbated. I sent it off but didn't hear any thing for like three days so figured i'd post it anyways and will repost once I get the revised copy. Also, i did something i never wanted to do...the last section isn't from Neal's POV but the interaction between those two was just too juicy to pass up.

Enjoy.

It was Emma's idea to walk over to Merlin's house. They had tried to call but he wouldn't answer—that wasn't exactly unusual though. From what he guessed, the wizard was the kind of guy to take the damn thing off the hook just to enjoy the silence.

But maybe it was better this way. Emma wasn't going to drop this until she got what she wanted and, as much as it hurt him, she wanted to be free of him. Maybe hearing again how they were going to have to just grit and bear it would keep Emma satisfied this time. Probably not though.

They walked. Merlin's house was just a few blocks away and, secretly, Neal suspected that Emma enjoyed dragging him around as he halfheartedly tried to pull in the opposite direction just to mess with her. It was all fun and games, at least until they ran into someone.

"Bae," Gold said, clearly glad to see him.

Neal stopped a few feet away from his father to say hi. Things were still really rocky between them, but he was trying to make it work, and ignoring him on the sidewalk would be a little counterproductive. It didn't help though that Emma was hell bent on beating the answers out of Merlin if that's what it took. She kept going after he stopped and, as she moved, the curse tried to pull him with it like a puppet.

Neal sighed. Would it have been too much to hope his father hadn't noticed?

"What's—?" Gold asked motioning to the space between them.

Guess so.

"It looks like some sort of curse or spell or something." Neal muttered. He didn't want to get into this with him. Magic was still a very sore subject between them and Neal didn't want him trying to fix this with Dark Magic or trying to seek revenge on whomever the hell did it. Neal feared that Gold knowing about this curse was just popping the top on a can of trouble they really didn't need to deal with right now.

"Any idea who did it?"

Neal and Emma shared a look. Neal had made it clear that he didn't want the old man to know Henry was learning Magic. Gold would want to be the one to teach him and, although things were getting better between Neal and the old man, he still didn't trust him. Magic had destroyed him so quickly and thoroughly before and Neal wasn't going to risk that with Henry. Maybe it was the kind of magic the old man had or the way he used it, but either way he wasn't going to let that happen to Henry. It was bad enough that the kid wanted to learn it at all but the blue fairy had recommended Merlin to them and that had been enough to assuage Neal's fears...at least as much as they could be.

That didn't mean that Neal wanted Gold to know.

He wanted his father to stop using magic but he hadn't brought the issue up. Even now when he could no longer use finding him as an excuse, Neal knew he wouldn't give it up. He would find some other excuse to parrot back ("But without magic, how am I going to protect you and Belle?") so he hadn't mentioned it.

Their relationship was as fragile as butterfly wings at the moment and he didn't want to introduce the neighborhood bully to the mix right now. But it was like a fat kid at the mention of free ice-cream. There was no stopping it now.

Neal sighed. Henry's extracurricular were going to come out into the open and perhaps it was better the old man heard it from him rather than the town gossip.

"We think its Henry, but Merlin swears it couldn't be him."

Rumple didn't even try to hide the confusion on his face. "What does Merlin have to do with this?"

The part of Neal that was still that little boy—the one who had tried to so hard to keep his father from knowing how the other kids made fun of him for being the son of a coward…the boy that always tried to spare his father's feelings—had to struggle to keep from fidgeting in apology as he answered his father's question.

"He's the one who had been teaching Henry magic," he said, his voice deceptively calm.

"I see."

Neal couldn't tell if he sounded disappointed or if it was something else entirely in his voice, but whatever it was, it caused Neal's gut to twist in quilt. It was stupid really. After all Gold had done, after what he had become, there was no reason Neal should feel this way. Neal had every right to be angry with him, to hate him, and a part of him did. Even with as far as they had come, Neal knew that without Emma and Henry tying him to Storybrooke, and he would never have come here in the first place, let alone stayed.

He should not feel this guilty for hurting him…but he did.

"And Merlin hasn't offered to fix this?" Gold asked a dangerous note in his voice and Neal knew where this was going.

Neal shook his head, trying to head the old man off. He was a grown man and had been on his own for a very long time. He could take care of himself and Rumple had no business going bat shit crazy every time someone gave Neal the slightest insult. Besides, Gold had a very bad habit of putting the 'kill' in overkill.

"He says the spell will wear off and that unless we can find who did it and have them reverse it, it's best just to let it run its course." Although Neal didn't say anything outright, his voice made it more than clear that Rumple needed to back off.

Gold pressed his lips, and for a moment Neal was afraid that he was going to ignore the warning in his voice and insist on intervening, but thankfully, his father said noting on the matter. Instead, he tried a little tact.

"Well perhaps I can help you there."

Neal was impressed at his father. Perhaps he was changing.

"How?" Emma asked, speaking up for the first time since this little get together began.

Rumpled turned to look at her and smiled, "Well Miss Swan, each kind of magic has its own signature. If I can isolate what kind of magic was used, then maybe i can at least give you a general list of suspects."

Neal looked at Emma, he really didn't want his father doing magic, but she had made it clear that she wanted the curse broken.

Neal swallowed and nodded at his father. "Thanks."

Gold had them stand as far apart as the curse would let them. Neal thought it was an odd request but they did as he asked. Emma however, wasn't content with silence.

"What's this for, exactly," Emma asked as they both struggled against the bindings of the tension in their shoulders as if a giant rubber band held them together.

"It forces the magic to work harder, making the signature stronger," Gold said almost absentmindedly as he summoned a glass vile and waved it in the air between them. After a few seconds he put the cap on it and healed it, pouring a little bit of magic into it. The vapor solidified and turned into a kind of liquid substance. The sunlight shown through the vial showing the liquid to be a sickly and regal purple.

Gold summoned a piece of old looking parchment and Neal had to wonder if that was necessary or for show as he poured the liquid onto it. The liquid danced across the parchment before settling like ink. Its motions forming a hand full of symbols Neal had never seen before had no clue how to read. But Gold could.

"How interesting," he muttered, both surprised and amused.

"What?" Emma asked, impatient.

"I know who your mysterious magician is."

"And?" Neal asked, looking at his father.

"Mark Malory."

"What I don't get," Emma said, pacing back and forth in front of the bleachers, "is why."

They had dragged the kid out of training the moment they had gotten to the school's track field. Neal had to admit he did not see this one coming. Henry doing this, he understood. The kid had made it clear that he wanted his parents back together despite whatever happened in the past. Honestly, Neal didn't think Henry was the only one to see it, Mary-Margret and David weren't blind either.

But Mark? What difference did all this make to him?

Mark just looked at her, his face a little too calculatingly natural, and shrugged. "I guess the real question is why not."

Neal gave him a look. Sometimes trying to figure out what was going on in this kids head was about as hard as trying to get a read on Merlin himself. "I thought Merlin wasn't going to teach you magic."

Mark snorted. "He isn't but he had been letting me look in on his and Henry's lessons. That way I don't have to sneak onto the roof again. Between that and the books mom has around the house, it's not exactly difficult."

"So you just decided to use us to practice on?" Neal asked, not really as mad as he should be…or at least not as mad as Emma looked.

"You were kind of easy targets and I thought it would be funny."

Emma studied him for a moment but wasn't buying it; the kid was trying far too hard to keep his tone even for that to be the truth…or at least all of it. He was hiding something, letting it simmer and just under the surface.

Emma kneeled down in front of him until they were at eye level. "I thought I told you about my superpower..." she began softly.

Mark rolled his eyes and let out a laughing breath. "You can tell when someone's lying. I got that. Good thing I'm not lying."

Neal snorted. The kid was good but he and Emma had spent a great deal of time mastering the art of bullshit. He wasn't that good.

"A lie by omission is still a lie." Neal said.

Mark looked down, thought it wasn't exactly in guilt. "It was Henry's idea."

"What?" Emma asked, clearly furious. He had been known to do some mischievous shit but there was a line he should never have crossed. That was one of the reasons Neal and she hadn't pressed Merlin when he swore it wasn't the kid. Even though he was the only one with an obvious motive, he was smarter than that.

"No," Mark said, pulling his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on his folded hands, "He didn't even know, but he was the one who gave me the idea. He just told me how he kind of thinks it sucks that you two obviously still love each other but are trying so hard not to. He thought if you two would just hang out a bit then you could be friends again."

Neal had been thinking the same thing. But it was a little creepy coming from this kid. He had taken quite the likening to Henry's family and it was a little obsessive. Almost. Or it was cute, Neal couldn't quite tell which.

"Why do you care?" Emma asked, echoing Neal's thoughts.

Mark looked up. "Because Henry's my friend and I want the best for him..."

Emma didn't say anything. Although Mark's stalker-ish explanation may have been the truth, it wasn't the whole truth and she wasn't going to stop until she got more information.

Mark sighed and tilted his head towards the clouds, his voice taking on a depressed and defeated tone. "My life at home sucks, so is it so wrong for me to live vicariously through him? I mean it would be different if you guys were like the whore and incapable of feeling anything for anyone else, but you're not. You two obviously really care for each other. Even I can see that and I'm an eleven year old with about as much relationship experience as a one of those African orphans that never got held."

"Kid." Emma said reaching out to put a comforting hand on his shoulder but the kid jerked away.

"I'll let the curse go." He muttered.

Mark got up out of his seat and started to walk away but after a few steps he stopped and looked back at him, something unreadable in his dark eyes. "Look you guys have a shot at a real happy ending and I just figured it would be stupid to let something like this get in the way of that. I had to try and I'm sorry if it just made things worse. I was trying to help."

Rumpelstiltskin waited until night had fallen to make this particular errand. This didn't need to become common knowledge, and he didn't want to have to fend off Bae's questions if word of this ever got back to him. There were just some things Bae didn't need to know…not if Rumple could take care of the problem himself.

And that was exactly what he intended to do. With a firm, assured hand, he knocked three times on the dark blue door, sure that despite the late hour, the renter of this particular property would still be awake.

He wasn't disappointed as Merlin answered the door.

"Rumplestiltskin, to what do I owe the pleasure?" The apparently younger man said when he saw who was at the door. Only the centuries of acquaintance between the two men allowed Rumple to detect the slight not of sarcasm in Merlin's voice.

Rumple didn't answer. He just stared and watched as the silence made the corner of Merlin's lips tug upwards in the barest hint of a smile. He wouldn't deny that the other man's arrogance was beginning to grate at him the wrong way, but Rumple said nothing, challenging the other man in his silence.

Merlin chuckled and stepped away from the door, not verbally inviting Rumple inside and yet not slamming the door in his face. It didn't matter either way. It wouldn't have stopped Rumple and Merlin knew that. Besides, this was a conversation best had in privet.

Merlin in effect ignored his guest and Rumple stood wordless, waiting for the moment when his next words would do the most damage.

The other man turned and walked back to the workbench full of magical ingredients and potion bottles set up in the living room. Rumple waited until he had just resumed working on whatever project he had been before coming to the door.

"It's rather funny isn't it, that young Mark can do magic."

Merlin stilled and turned, slowly facing him like something out of a horror movie.

"Do not insult my intelligence or yours by pretending either of us didn't know it was a possibility. In truth, you would have known about it long before I did." His voice had a note of anger that was uncharacteristic for him. Rumple smiled. He had hit a nerve. Good.

"What do you want?" Merlin asked again.

Rumple smiled, a vicious little smile, and dug his cane into the carpet, enjoying having the upper hand in the situation.

"I want you to stay away from my grandson."

Merlin gave a little laugh and leaned against his workbench as if he were struggling not to fall to the ground, clutching his sides.

"Henry's your grandson? When did this happen?" he asked in mock surprise, his voice taking on a bitter tone. Rumple shouldn't have been surprised that Merlin was going to make him pay for hitting that nerve earlier, but seeing as how someone getting the upper hand on him was so rare, rumple couldn't help but feel a little off kilter at this turn in events.

"Was it before or after you handed him over to Regina—you know, the woman you turned into such a monster she would kill her own father just to enable her revenge."

Rumple's eyes widened in anger and not just at Merlin. He would never admit it out loud but the wizard had hit a sore subject, one that Rumple tried desperately to ignore. It wasn't his fault that things turned out the way they had. If he had known who Henry was…

"Now who's being insulting?" Rumple spat and Merlin's lips twitched in amusement, knowing he had gotten under his skin.

"You're going to stay away from Henry." Rumple was done with this verbal sparring. It was time to get down to business.

"Or?" Merlin said, challenging him with every nuance of his voice. Rumple's brow furrowed. If Merlin was going to play hardball, he was about to learn just how fast Rumple could pitch. He stepped forward until he was mere inches from the other man's face, making sure Merlin understood every word of his threat.

"You did try so hard to keep her from finding out about our deal; it would be a pity if the truth were to come out. Dare we say her reaction would be quite unpredictable?"

Merlin leaned back, half sitting and half standing against the table and a trickle of unease shot down Rumple's spine. That amount of comfort was not the attitude one showed if they were worried about a threat of that magnitude.

"Yes it would. The truth has a bad habit of ripping one's heart out. I'm sure you'd understand, after all, I'm not the only one in here with sins to their name and when those sins come to light…well that's rarely pleasant for anyone."

Rumple's eyes widened at the innuendo. If he was threatening what Rumple thought he was…

"If you so much as breathe a word—"

"About what?" Merlin asked, playing dumb. Rumple knew his game. He wanted Rumple to say it out loud, but he wasn't going to. He couldn't risk it on the off chance that the wizard didn't already know what had happened to Milah. If this was just some sort of ploy, Rumple didn't want to give him a weakness to exploit.

He took a deep breath and changed the subject. It couldn't stay in this minefield for long without something dark and bloody blowing up in his face.

"I know what you are and you are in no position to be teaching that boy magic."

Merlin snorted in laughter.

"And you're any better? Speaking of which, I really must thank you for bringing magic back" he said motioning to his workbench "I truly have missed it, even if I didn't quite know what I was missing. Let's just be thankful you didn't have to pay too high a price for it, especially considering if you had allowed even a drop of that potion to heal henry instead of counting on miss swan's kiss to waken him, then there surely wouldn't have been enough to bring magic here." Sarcasm was dripping from every word and Merlin was enjoying this far too much.

He had hit another sore spot and Rumple could not let it stand. With all the fury he could muster (and after centuries of being the Dark One, he could muster quite a bit) he summoned a fireball in his hand, content in turning this worthless maggot into a grease spot on the opposite wall. Merlin held out his hand, palm up, and gently blew. A burst of frigid air hit Rumple in the face and, before he could completely register what had happened, the fireball turned into a dense, heavy chunk of ice.

Rumple let the ice fall and swung out with his cane, intending to hit the other man across the face, but Merlin was faster. He grabbed it with one hand and used it as leverage to push Rumple against the far wall, the ornate gold cane handle digging sharply into the underside of his chin.

"A word of advice," Merlin muttered, this time it was his turn to invade Rumple's personal space. "Don't get into a pissing contest with me. I think you'll find I'm better equipped to win."

He let go of the cane and went back to his workstation, continuing with his project sas his voice and demeanor suddenly returned to a neutral tone.

"We've been acquaintances for a long while now Rumplestiltskin, and unfortunately for you, you have failed to grasp the one major attribute that separates us. Unlike you, I take great care to make sure innocents aren't caught in the middle of what I do. I have no reason to tell your son about the true motivations behind Hook's quest for revenge. It is simply not my business and I think it will do more harm than good."

Rumple stood there fuming, wanting to hurt him, but wanting to hear his words more. Now that Rumple knew that Merlin had that one piece of information to hold over his head, he couldn't afford to act rashly now. Bae wouldn't understand and the last thing he wanted was for a single mistake to upset the small bit of fragile footing he had in his son's life right now.

"And you can rest assured," Merlin continued as if he didn't really care if Rumple found solace in his words at all, "I have no interest in harming the boy. I don't treat my apprentices quite as callously as you do yours. The fact remains that he is very powerful and needs to be trained. Someone with that much power and an interest in accessing it, who doesn't have a guide, is just asking for trouble."

Merlin turned to face Rumple, his next words both an honest truth and sincere warning.

"I don't want to hurt Henry or his father, by revealing the truth. We've had a rather neutral acquaintance as of yet. Don't give me reason to want and change that."