Conversations

Victor lay Gerhardt on the couch and leaned against the windowsill, staring out at the body in the yard. Finally he walked out and checked the man's pulse and breathing. He was certainly dead. Victor had played a part in a murder, though he honestly had no idea how big that part might be. He fished out his phone and did the only sensible thing he could: he called the Sheriff. He started to figure out how to put words to what he'd long considered impossible, and he waited for the authorities to arrive.

OUAT

"Tell me exactly what happened, Doctor Whale," Emma said. She was leaning on the table and trying to appear as compassionate as possible. Whale looked like he was falling apart at the seams.

He leaned forward, rubbed his eyes, and said, "My brother plunged a knife into the stranger's eye, but that didn't kill him. Instead, he continued advancing on Gerhardt and...and I think they were his new friends. He seemed to know them. They weren't here for me, at least. I didn't recognize them, and they didn't seem to recognize me. My brother and one of them were in close contact-he said he could feel magic, I don't know what that has to do with anything-they enchanted the sword the young woman was holding. It was covered in purple mist. I grabbed a gun I kept in my bedroom. I didn't know what else to do. Another of them called to arms. I decided to wait until he called to fire. The boy directed the young woman as to where to aim her weapon, and shortly thereafter came the call to fire. I shot. So did three others. The woman plunged the blade deep into the man's torso. There were three arrows, one in the head, two in the neck. My bullet wound in the back of his head was there, also. Five of us killed him, at least one used the ability to feel magic to help. That's all I know."

Emma nodded. "Thank you. That's all for right now." Whale stood and walked out of the interrogation room. Emma followed out to the waiting area, glanced at a notepad, and said, "Mr. Gerhardt Frankenstein," almost as if she were trying the name in her mouth.

A man with numerous sets of stitches and an extremely unhealthy complexion stood and approached her. Whale stopped him and gave a few encouraging words in Dutch. Gerhardt nodded and walked into the interrogation room. Emma closed the door behind them. "Please, have a seat," she said. Gerhardt sat and folded his hands on the table. His eyes were fixed on Emma as she walked over to the table and sat across from him. "Can you tell me about the man that died?"

"His name was Gisborne. He followed Baelfire and his friends from Sherwood Forest," Gerhardt said simply. Emma was struck by his slur but somehow not surprised "He felt like the devil. I wanted as little to do with him as possible from the moment I met him."

"Your brother said you could feel magic. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"So what you mean by 'he felt like the devil' is that he used black magic?"

"Yes, but it was more like that he was made of it."

"And he followed you from Sherwood Forest through your world to here."

"Yes."

"How...exactly...did you come to be involved with Baelfire?"

"He came to my world with his companions, the young woman and the three men. He said he wanted to get here, to Storybrooke, and when I first met him, he was angry because he had apparently failed yet again to attain his goal. I offered my services as a guide since he and his companions were new to the area, and he made the offer to come with him when he came here. Before that, though, Gisborne had found his way into the realm in which we were staying."

"Oh."

"I don't know very much, but Baelfire told me I'd prefer the legend of Robin Hood to the truth. I think he was right."

"Robin Hood?"

"The man himself came with Gisborne. They were working together."

"I think he was right too. Thank you, Mr. Frankenstein." Gerhardt stood and walked out of the room. Emma followed, but only to the point of her office, where she wrote down everything the brothers Frankenstein had told her. She remembered D's fears of something in the trods, and she chewed the cap of her pen. She wanted to hope that Gisborne was the last of their problems, but both cognitively and in her heart of hearts, she knew that wasn't true. She began the preliminary report.

OUAT

Bae walked into the pawn shop and eased the door behind him. The bell rang nonetheless, and Rumpelstiltskin looked up at him. "Hello, Bae," he said.

"Hello," Bae replied. He glanced at the ball on the counter and then looked back up at his father. "You kept that?"

Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "If you need it, I have a room ready for you."

Bae nodded and glacned around. "Is there somewhere where we can talk?"

"This way." Rumpelstiltskin led Bae into his back office and turned to face him. "Where do you want to start?"

Bae glanced at Rumpelstiltskin's hand. "Why didn't you use magic to heal that?"

Rumpelstiltskin turned his hand up to glance at the scratches for a moment, and then he said, "The thought didn't cross my mind. For once," he added with a smirk.

"Good first step," Bae said. His eyes were smiling, though the rest of his face betrayed no emotion. "You still destroyed the lives of everyone in this town, probably more than once. You still killed my mother and I have no idea how many others, not counting the people in the village whose deaths I saw. The power still changed you. You looked different, you acted different..." He sighed; he'd finally run out of words.

Rumpelstiltskin opened his mouth and then sighed and shook his head. He wanted to say that he was trying, but he had no idea how Bae would take it, so he simply said, "I'm so sorry." Bae nodded and extended his hand. Rumpelstiltskin shook it with the hand that Bae had injured. "Do you think you can forgive me?" he asked.

Bae smiled. "I think I'll get there."

"Thank you." Bae turned to leave. "I heard about the fiend." The boy stopped and looked over his shoulder. "That's a piece of work, as they say in this world."

"I can't take all the credit."

"It's impressive nonetheless."

Bae nodded. "Thanks."

Rumpelstiltskin smiled and watched his son leave. It could have been worse, but it was a lot better than he expected, especially considering their reunion. He decided to take it, and he went back to work.

OUAT

"Must've been a rough night," Red said as she approached Victor's table and set down his cup of coffee. "This is your fifth double in half an hour."

"Will you sit with me?" Victor asked.

"Sure." Red sat across the booth from him and folded her hands on the table. "What's up?"

"My brother and his new friends fought off some random evil dude with magic." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "It's never gonna leave me alone."

"Maybe that's a good thing." He looked up at her. "You said you needed a magic heart to bring your brother back to life?"

"Yes."

She leaned forward. "Magic and science don't have to disagree with each other." He leaned back, and his hands fell into his lap. She smirked. "Looks like I blew your mind, and I didn't need to use my body to do it."

He laughed, but only briefly before looking down at his coffee. "I'm sorry for how I acted to you while we were cursed."

"We were cursed. Don't worry about it."

He looked up at her again. "It's not exactly the greatest first impression."

"Like I said, Regina gave us a chance to start over."

"Red," Granny called.

"Sorry. Gotta go. Enjoy your coffee." She fled the booth like she was shot from a gun, and Victor couldn't help but stare after her and ponder her words.