A/N: Thank you for all the wonderful feedback on the last chapter! It is a great source of encouragement to us! :-)
Warning: this chapter contains detailed violence and character death. If you feel we should raise the overall rating of the fic, please let us know! :-)
Chapter XXIII
Aibreann had to smother a horrified cry with her tiny hand as she watched Neverland's devil twist his fingers in her friend's long, russet tresses. Moments ago the three fairies had arrived at the southeastern shore, concealing themselves behind the bountiful leaves of a shrub growing on the dunes and waiting for the opportune moment to intervene. Heart racing, Aibreann hovered closest to the outermost leaves of the plant, her wide eyes fixed intensely on the scene before her.
The protective pixies had woken that morning just before dawn to a land covered in a blanket of mist and Belle already gone. Panic had filled their hearts, and without further delay they had taken off for the southeastern shore. They had soared as swiftly as possible, but their colorful auras reflected off of the unexpected fog, making it nigh impossible to see. When they had finally alighted on the shore, Hook had already gained the upper hand in a duel the fairies had not even known was taking place.
The moment the silver hook touched her new friend's flesh, Aibreann signaled that it was time to strike.
Belle bit back a whimper as Hook's grip on her unraveling braids tightened. She was still reeling from the captain's earlier confession, her thoughts so jumbled and hazy with disbelief she barely registered his next words.
"The longer you resist," he snarled, pressing the tip of his silver hook down on the flesh just above her pulse, "The longer your true love suffers on my ship." Hook's face was so close to hers, his breath ghosted against her skin as he spoke. Belle remained silent, clenching her jaw and glaring straight ahead at the island in defiance.
What she saw nearly made her cry out in uncontained joy. Three spheres of light, one green, one orange, and one violet, soared out from behind the leaves of a flowering shrub. Before they could advance more than a meter, however, the harsh notes of a rooster's crow pierced the air, and this time Belle could not suppress her relief.
"Peter..." she breathed, a smile curving her lips despite the peril of her situation. From her position with her head bent back at a painful angle, she could just make out the dark silhouettes of two figures diving toward the weathered dock. She recognized the outlines of Peter's autumn leaves, but who was the man he held beside him donning a pirate's garb?
"What a pleasant surprise," Hook sneered as the boy and his companion alighted on the end of the pier. A sob escaped Belle's constricting throat as she gazed at the man: her true love, finally free of his prison, stood not more than two meters from her. He stared silently back at her, his features twisting in anguish as his eyes glimpsed the hook lying against her throat.
"I'm so sorry," she heard herself whisper, and an overwhelming surge of guilt at having led them both into danger swelled in her chest, pulling another soft sob from her lips.
"It's okay, Belle, we're here," Peter assured her softly, before turning his attention to the captain standing behind her. "Let her go," he demanded, curling his hand around the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Hook chortled darkly, tracing the curve of his lethal namesake along Belle's pale cheek. "Come to watch me kill her like I did your little friend?"
"Hook!" Rumplestiltskin snarled, finally recovering from the painful shock of seeing his beloved trapped within the pirate's clutches.
"You did nothing to stop me then," the captain taunted further, smirking widely as the boy flinched, "And you'll do nothing to stop me now."
"That's enough!" Rumplestiltskin shouted.
"Don't listen to him, Peter," Belle insisted firmly, wincing when she felt the hook press once more against her neck.
Peter swallowed thickly, meeting Hook's leering gaze with a glaring one of his own. "I said, 'let her go.'"
The boy's greatest enemy stared at him for a long moment, his thin lips curling into a sinister grin.
"You're not the one I want, love," he murmured in Belle's ear, his eyes still trained on the boy standing before him. "So, I will make you a deal. Tell me his name," he nodded in the direction of her true love, "And I will let you go, unharmed."
"Well, mostly," he added after a moment, twisting his grip on her hair and smirking when she inhaled sharply.
The aching pain in Belle's head and neck was overshadowed by the heavy weight of hopelessness settling in her chest. Her true love watched her, his eyes shining with confidence.
His faith in her made her throat constrict once more as she sifted frantically through her thoughts, searching for the one name she felt she should have never forgotten.
"Come now, Belle, surely you haven't forgotten," Hook drawled sarcastically, his leer broadening as her true love's gaze momentarily flashed with hurt. Her bottom lip quivering slightly, Belle opened her mouth to guess.
"Tick-tock, tick-tock," Hook hissed in her ear, and she snapped her lips shut, blinking furiously against the tears that threatened to fall.
"Leave her alone!" Peter shouted angrily, scowling as Hook only laughed in response.
"Belle, look at me," her love's calm voice reached her through her mounting panic. She slowly brought her eyes to his, shame and fear battling for dominance in her gaze.
"It's all right, Belle," Rumplestiltskin said gently, his lips stretching in a tentative smile. Swallowing thickly, Belle closed her eyes, willing herself to find something, anything, in her thoughts that might tell her his name. A memory slowly materialized, and Belle knew it to be one that had taken placed toward the end of her stay at the Dark Castle.
Belle sat in a plush, high-backed armchair, her legs curled comfortably beneath her. A fire blazed in the hearth, casting shadows and flickering shapes on the tapestry-strewn walls. Sitting before a large spinning wheel in the adjacent corner was a wiry, impish man. His eyes shone like amber and his grayish skin glinted strangely in the firelight. Belle found her gaze drifting to him occasionally, a small smile curving her lips. In her hands she held a tattered leather tome, the words of which she read aloud in a soft voice.
"The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only."
Her eyes drifted from the page to the man seated in the corner, and she started at finding him watching her, his features furrowed in utmost puzzlement. His hands lay still on the spokes and spindle of the spinning wheel.
"Is...is something the matter?" Belle asked hesitantly, his attention making her feel all at once giddy and shy.
Her words seemed to jolt him from his trance, and he cleared his throat awkwardly, fluttering his fingers anxiously. The sheer humanity of it all made Belle's breath hitch.
"Ah...yes, yes. Just...just listening," he stumbled, turning to face his wheel again with what Belle could have sworn was a blush on his cheeks. A sudden, unexpected desire to have his eyes upon her again welled within her. She wanted him to look at her; she wanted to look at him.
"It's a lovely story," Belle prompted softly, her voice breathier than usual.
"Yes," he responded quietly, glancing at her over his shoulder and meeting her gaze with his own, "Beautiful."
They held each other's gaze for a long moment, propriety telling them to look away, but something much lighter and sweeter telling them never to do so. Belle wondered what his lips would feel like, and flushed slightly when she saw his eyes dart to her lips as well. Their gazes met again and she was floating and falling at the same time. At last, with a slight cough, the impish man returned his attention to the spinning wheel. The movement filled Belle with an inexplicably powerful sadness, and before she could restrain herself, she opened her mouth to speak again.
"Wait," she breathed, her heart pounding in her chest, "I...I want to tell you..."
"I love you," Belle murmured, echoing the words she had been so near to uttering in the memory. She opened her eyes, staring confidently at the face of her true love. "Rumplestiltskin."
An unbidden chuckle escaped Peter at her guess, and he pressed a hand to his mouth to stifle it.
"I love you," Rumplestiltskin responded with a sound somewhere between a gasp and a laugh. Belle beamed at him, before crying out as Hook tautened his clutch on her hair. A chilling jolt of terror that the pirate would not follow through on his end of the deal raced down her spine.
But a moment later the captain withdrew his hook from Belle's throat, shoving her forcefully away from himself. Belle stumbled forward, losing her balance and screwing her eyes shut as she prepared to hit the hard planks of the dock.
But that moment never came as a pair of strong, wiry arms caught her around her waist. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw Rumplestiltskin's warm gaze inches from her own. Her lips parted in a brilliant smile as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, staring into the warm mahogany eyes she feared she would never see again. She thought her heart might sing as he pressed his warm lips to her forehead.
"Was that a name or a sneeze?" Peter asked suddenly, grinning puckishly as he hovered a few feet above the dock. Belle smothered her laugh with her hand, leaning her head against her love's shoulder.
"Well I didn't pick it," Rumplestiltskin defended in mock-seriousness, glancing up at the lad with his arms still around Belle.
Hook rolled his eyes, before the sight of Peter's dangling foot suddenly caught his attention. Smirking widely with a wicked glint entering his black gaze, he swung his namesake toward the limb. The curve of the silver hook snagged the boy's ankle, and with a sharp tug the captain pulled the boy to himself, withdrawing the cursed dagger from within his scarlet coat.
Peter cried out, whirling about and withdrawing his own sword just in time to deflect Hook's blow. The sword and dagger clashed with a shower of sparks as the infamous enemies glared at one another.
"Peter, no!" Belle shrieked, detaching herself from her love's embrace.
"Don't you touch him!" Rumplestiltskin growled, his face flushing as he advanced on the dueling pair.
"Stay back!" Hook snarled, and the magical chains Rumplestiltskin prayed he would never feel again paralyzed his movements. With a quick glance in Rumplestiltskin's direction, Belle moved to sprint forward, her eyes flashing dangerously as Hook threatened the child she had come to care for as her own.
"Keep her back as well!" The pirate commanded harshly, pointing the dagger in Belle's direction as he swiped at Peter with his hook. Rumplestiltskin obediently sprung into motion, his hands roughly clasping Belle's arms and pinning them to her sides. She kicked out her legs, her need to protect Peter compelling her to struggle against him, despite how futile the attempt was.
Another loud clang of sword against dagger drew Belle and Rumplestiltskin's attention to the fighting enemies. They watched helplessly as the boy dodged a simultaneous swipe of both the dagger and hook.
"Rum, the magic," Belle whispered imploringly, titling her head to look up at her true love. "Use it; it's the only way-"
"I can't," Rumplestiltskin interrupted, glancing down at her with anguished eyes, "He's my so-"
"Rum, you must!" She begged, glancing over at the man whose crimson coat shone like fresh blood in the morning sunlight, "It's the only way to stop them."
Rumplestiltskin started at her words, glancing down at her briefly, before training his gaze once more on the duel. The sound of Belle's frustrated cry and the renewal of her struggling pierced Rumplestiltskin, but he did not relent.
With a grunt Peter slashed his sword through the air, and Hook withdrew his hand just in time to only have his knuckles grazed by the blade.
"Trying to cut off my other hand, boy?" He sneered, glancing at the blood trickling from the joints of his fingers. "Oh, you really are no better than I."
Hook suddenly struck out with the dagger, the blade coming so close to the boy that it sliced several leaves from the side of his tunic.
"Peter, watch out!" Belle cried from where she stood, immobilized by Rumplestiltskin's unrelenting grip.
"I am nothing like you," Peter shouted obstinately, launching himself into the air until he was out of Hook's reach. The captain chuckled darkly, anger flaring in his eyes as the boy hovered farther away.
"You're more like me than you think," Hook leered, glaring unblinkingly at the boy. Peter propelled himself forward, swinging his sword straight for the pirate's face.
"I hate you," he declared hotly as Hook deflected the attempt with his silver namesake.
"Believe me, the feeling is mutual. I've hated and hunted you all these years. And I never truly knew why," the captain remarked pensively as he lashed out with his hook once more, "Until now."
"What do you mean?" Peter asked, his brow furrowing as he alighted on the end of the dock, sword at the ready.
"My suspicions about you have been correct," Hook responded vaguely, smirking at the boy's continued confusion. Their weapons clashed once more, and Peter's distraction allowed Hook to knock his sword from his grip.
"What are you talking about?" Peter demanded, slipping beneath Hook's arm so that he was only a meter from where Belle and Rumplestiltskin stood.
"It was you who freed that man from the brig, was it not?" Hook asked, gesturing to Rumplestiltskin with the crooked dagger.
Peter glanced at the man he had helped, nodding slowly. "Yes, but-"
"Let's just test my theory now, shall we?" Hook interrupted, a malicious grin stretching his lips. His black gaze slid to Rumplestiltskin. "Kill Peter Pan."
The icy chains slithered and constricted around Rumplestiltskin's willpower, forcing him to withdraw his hands from Belle's arms. Crushing fear unlike any he had ever known filled him as his eyes traveled to the boy's sword lying on the dock. He heard Belle gasp from somewhere far away as he bent to retrieve it.
"With magic," Hook commanded, his voice laced with malignant relish.
Rumplestiltskin obediently straightened, turning his gaze to the bewildered face of the boy. Had his muscles not been cursed into submission, he was certain he would be trembling.
"No! Rum, please," Belle cried, gripping her love's shoulders and trying to haul him away from his murderous path. Rumplestiltskin whipped around suddenly, and for one wildly hopeful moment Belle thought he had listened. Her hopes were dashed when he shoved her back with so much force she fell to the dock, the collision knocking the wind from her lungs.
Rumplestiltskin's shame and crippling misery at what he had just done to his true love did not encumber his compelled movements. He stalked toward the boy, raising his hand as he summoned the limited magic he possessed. His eyes silently begged the boy to flee, but he seemed too stunned to move.
"You see, I control him," Hook declared haughtily, his eyes glinting madly as a violet glow appeared around his prisoner's fingertips. Belle stared up at her love from where she lay, unmoving but for the tears beginning to cloud her vision.
"I'm so sorry," Rumplestiltskin murmured through the despair constricting his throat. He closed his eyes, forcing another surge of the magic into his palm. Aiming for his son's heart, he knew it would be a direct kill. His lightly glowing right hand grazed the sewn leaves covering the boy's chest.
"Don't listen to him," Peter whispered, his brown eyes gazing at the tormented man before him. "Your son wouldn't want this."
A strangled sob escaped Rumplestiltskin's throat as his magical bonds suddenly loosened their hold. The violet glow vanished from his fingers as his arm dropped to his side.
"Thank you," he gasped, unimaginable relief swelling within him as he hurriedly stepped away from the son he had been seconds away from murdering.
"And so, apparently, do you," Hook growled, lashing out and snagging the boy's tunic with the point of his hook. The dagger slipped from his fingers as he clutched the boy's shoulder, yanking him closer. His boot-clad feet brutally kicked the backs of the boy's legs, forcing him to kneel while he yanked his head back, bearing his throat. Both Belle and Rumplestiltskin cried out as the silver hook sliced a quarter of the boy's flesh, spilling several drops of his blood.
"Any last words before I bleed you to your grave?" Hook asked in an unnervingly cordial tone, smirking darkly.
"Yes," Peter rasped, smiling confidently up at his greatest adversary, whose lips twisted into a wry grin. "To die, will be an awfully big adventure."
Hook visibly started at the words, his forehead creasing as he stared down at Peter, who gazed unflinchingly back at him. Through all of his fear, Rumplestiltskin felt a surge of pride at his boy's courage. The two nemeses continued to stare silently at each other, unmoving but for their labored breathing. Rumplestiltskin felt Belle slip her hand into his, squeezing tightly.
All at once Captain Hook seemed to mentally shake himself, the murderous glint once more returning to his black eyes. "Allow me to do the honors, then."
He raised his namesake, its curved shadow falling on Peter's face as the boy calmly closed his eyes.
Before the captain could swing his hook down, Rumplestiltskin launched himself across the dock. His fingers closed around the pirate's left wrist, forcing the hook away from the boy's throat as he bowled the man over.
The two men fell to the dock with a thud, their hands simultaneously grasping for the other's throat. Rumplestiltskin landed a blow to Hook's stomach, using his consequent distraction to snatch the dagger from where it lay unguarded.
Pressing an arm against Hook's chest to keep him down, Rumplestiltskin's threw the dagger behind him. He glanced back in time to see Belle catch it and then proceed to help Peter to his feet.
"Take it and run!" Rumplestiltskin shouted, ducking a swipe of the pirate's silver hook and landing a fist in the man's jaw. Hook thrust an elbow into his stomach, forcing him to double over with a grunt. Through the haze of his pain, Rumplestiltskin glimpsed Belle and Peter trying to approach.
"Go!" He yelled through gritted teeth, and even as Hook landed another blow, he managed to feel a twinge of relief as he saw Peter close his arms around Belle and launch them into the air. Two glowing orbs soared after them from behind the bushes, their orange and purple hues nearly invisible in the morning sunlight. A green one followed, but then faltered, pausing a moment in midair before darting back down into the bushes. Rumplestiltskin stared a moment longer at the leaves behind which it disappeared; there was something almost familiar about the tiny emerald sphere, like a glimpse of a half-forgotten dream.
Rumplestiltskin shook away the odd sense of déjà vu, hauling himself off of the bruised pirate and grunting as his ribs throbbed. Hook rose to his feet, wiping a trickle of blood from his mouth.
"I don't want to fight you," Rumplestiltskin panted, stepping to the side as they started to circle each other.
"I'm afraid you have no choice," Hook scoffed, staring unblinkingly at him as he wiped the bloody tip of his namesake on his coat. The sole of one of his boots landed upon a metal object lying on the dock, creating a dull grinding sound. Raising an eyebrow, the pirate glanced down and raised his foot. His black eyes flashed in interest as he bent and retrieved the knife he had wrenched from Belle's grip earlier.
"Please, son," Rumplestiltskin murmured as the captain straightened and inspected the knife, "Don't make me do this." Hook released a loud, mirthless laugh at his words, sliding his newly acquired blade along the curve of his namesake.
"I've been wanting this for hundreds of years, father. There is no other way it will end."
Without another word the pirate lunged forward, slicing the air with both his hook and the borrowed knife. Rumplestiltskin leapt back, snatching up Peter's sword to repel the hook while the knife narrowly missed his cheek. Hook scowled at his passive response, poising his weapons for another strike.
"What do you intend to do then, coward, if not fight me?"
"I let you go once…" Rumplestiltskin said quietly, deflecting another simultaneous swipe of the knife and hook, "I can't do that again."
"So..." Hook drawled, "You want to save me?" He shook his head, laughing incredulously when Rumplestiltskin did not answer. His gaze returned to his father's, his smirk abruptly vanishing as he hissed, "Well, you're centuries too late."
The silver hook and blade suddenly cut through the air, once more missing their target as Rumplestiltskin twisted sharply and deflected them both with his borrowed sword.
"You could have broken the deal you made with Belle," Rumplestiltskin panted as Hook poised to strike once more with his weapons, "You could have killed her."
"Just because you break your deals, doesn't mean I will." Hook snarled, his teeth bared and eyes narrowed in fury.
The captain lashed out with his lethal namesake once more, aiming for the older man's stomach while he wildly swung the hand clutching Belle's knife. Rumplestiltskin threw himself to the side, dodging both weapons, but remaining otherwise passive toward his attacker. Hook's eyes flashed dangerously, his right hand curling into a tight fist. He seemed to collect himself then, his demeanor transforming into one of ease and aloofness, but for the black fury whirling in the depths of his eyes.
"Besides, she's such a pretty thing..." the pirate sneered, languidly stepping closer as he inspected both knife and hook in the waning sunlight, "She'd look much better nailed to the front of my ship than spilled all over this dock."
White-hot rage swelled within Rumplestiltskin at the horrid image the captain's words conjured. Without another thought he thrust the point of his blade forward, narrowly missing Hook's chest when the man hurled himself aside.
Leaning back against the side of pier, Hook lifted his gaze to Rumplestiltskin's, shaking his head slowly and tut-tutting condescendingly.
"Ah…did I hit a spot?" He asked incisively, the corners of his lips lifting in a wry smirk. Rumplestiltskin's arm fell to his side, his sword brushing against his breeches as he stared beseechingly at his son.
"Why are you doing this?" Rumplestiltskin asked in a voice that was both a hiss and a whisper.
"This is the monster you've created," the pirate growled, stretching his arms out at his sides. In the next moment he launched himself toward Rumplestiltskin, shoving him against one of the pier's supports and pinning him there with the hand that clutched the knife. He placed his hook beneath the older man's chin, lifting upward and forcing him to meet his dark gaze. "It's time you faced it."
A smirk twisted Hook's lips when Rumplestiltskin visibly flinched at his words. The older man pushed against the pirate's hold, but the latter merely forced him back, his smirk vanishing as his eyes glinted with scorching rage.
"You know," Hook spoke quietly, leaning forward until his face was a mere breath from Rumplestiltskin's. "You were never really a father to me. Only a disappointment."
The words pierced Rumplestiltskin more painfully than his son's hook ever had, settling in his heart like the shards of a shattered looking glass. His body jerked forward, whether in hopes of fleeing or fighting Rumplestiltskin did not know, but Hook maintained the upper hand.
"You want your second chance?" Hook whispered tauntingly, his voice gruff with barely-contained ire. He traced his hook along the side of Rumplestiltskin's face, pausing when the silver point rested at the center of the man's cheek. "Kill me."
Rumplestiltskin visibly started at the captain's words, his mouth dropping open slightly in disbelief.
"Hook-" he started pleadingly, but the pirate interrupted him sharply.
"Because if you don't," Hook grated maliciously, pointing the knife in the direction of Neverland's lush forest, "I will kill him."
Hook's outstretched arm slashed through the air, the point of his blade aiming for his father's face. Rumplestiltskin reflexively thrust his blade before him, stilling Hook's knife mere centimeters from his clammy forehead. The pirate summoned all of his strength to the arm holding Belle's knife, pressing down so forcefully Rumplestiltskin required both arms to keep the blade at bay. With an animalistic snarl the captain hurled his hook toward Rumplestiltskin's forearm, slicing through the flesh so severely he was able to glimpse yellowish subcutaneous tissue before the wound filled with blood. A gruff cry sounded in Rumplestiltskin's throat at the searing pain.
"I will never stop," Hook snarled through clenched teeth, his black eyes staring unblinkingly into Rumplestiltskin's as blood oozed from the gaping wound. "Until he is dead."
The pirate's words from his earlier confrontation with the young boy suddenly echoed in Rumplestiltskin's mind.
"I have hated and hunted you all these years. And I never truly knew why...until now."
The sheer loathing laced in those words turned Rumplestiltskin's blood to ice. He screwed his eyes shut, the horror of his realization nearly knocking the breath from him. Hook and Pan were one, and so long as they both lived, their deadly feud would never cease. This monstrous shadow of his son had pursued his lighter counterpoint for centuries, and until his hatred was finally extinguished, he would continue his murderous hunt.
Rumplestiltskin opened his eyes, glaring into the face of the pirate pinning him to the pier's side.
"I won't let you." Without a second thought, Rumplestiltskin slashed his weapon through the air, the wind whistling around the blade as it soared toward Hook's throat. The pirate captain swiftly ducked his head, jabbing the point of his knife at Rumplestiltskin's stomach. Rumplestiltskin jumped back to avoid the stab, before lunging once more toward the pirate, grabbing his shoulders and forcing him upright against the wooden supports of the dock. The silver hook sliced toward him again, snagging and tearing the shoulder of his shirt but leaving his flesh unharmed.
"I will destroy everything you love," Hook vowed with sinister fervor, raising the fist that clutched Belle's knife. "Until all you have left is your misery and guilt."
The intensity of Hook's hatred momentarily stunned Rumplestiltskin, and it was by pure survival instinct alone that he managed to block the blade that soared toward his chest. He hurled the flat side of his sword against the joint of Hook's wrist, forcing the pirate to drop Belle's knife with a pained grunt. Rumplestiltskin took advantage of the man's momentary distraction, twisting the boy's sword so that it caught the curve of the silver hook, and then lunging forward so that both Hook and his namesake were pinned against the ledge of the pier.
"You were right about me, Bae," Rumplestiltskin panted, noticing with a pang the way Hook flinched when called by his given name, "Back on the ship." He dodged a sharp kick of the pirate's boot to his shins, pushing his arm against the man's chest so that the edge of his blade rested against his throat.
"You can steal the lives of innocents," Rumplestiltskin grated, wincing as the point of Hook's boot successfully collided with his knee. The captain pushed back against him, forcing them both away from the ledge so that they now struggled in the center of the pier. Silver hook clanged against sword once more, and both men summoned their full might in attempts to thwart the other.
"Threaten my precious Belle before my eyes…" The older man continued breathily, a renewed strength suddenly entering his muscles and enabling him to gradually force the pirate back toward the dock supports. Though Hook's teeth gritted with the effort, he could not stay Rumplestiltskin's steps.
"Control me, lock me away, force me to destroy whomever you wish..." Rumplestiltskin forced through clenched teeth as Hook's back thudded against the wooden supports of the pier.
"You can break my he-art," he continued, his voice breaking on the last word. His eyes met those of his wretched son, tears prickling at the corners.
"And I will still love you."
For a moment father and son stared at one another, something like surprise flickering in the younger man's eyes.
"I'm so sorry," Rumplestiltskin choked around the grief welling in his throat.
Hook leaned forward at the same time that Rumplestiltskin plunged the blade into his chest, their simultaneous gasps mingling in the air between them. A half-sob escaped Rumplestiltskin a moment later as he withdrew the glistening sword from his son's flesh. Blood immediately pooled around the wound, and Rumplestiltskin caught his son as his knees collapsed beneath him. They both slowly slid to the base of the dock, gazing down at the blood as it trickled down the pirate's shirt and coat. Rumplestiltskin wrapped his arms around his son's shoulders, cradling him as his face paled and his breathing grew ragged.
"Th-thank you," Hook gasped, his chest heaving with every rasping breath he took. Tears began to blur Rumplestiltskin's vision as he stared down at his dying son, his heart aching as he thought of how much he had suffered. The man had committed the most unforgivable of crimes, had sewn hatred and cruelty throughout the land, and not once during his tyranny had he enjoyed a moment of reprieve from his own painful bitterness.
"You don't deserve this," Rumplestiltskin murmured, his voice quivering as he placed a hand on the man's forehead, brushing back his unruly hair. A hot tear slid down his own cheek as he stared down into the glassy black eyes.
The pirate's slender frame shook as a wracking cough sent a trickle of blood through the corner of his lips. He inhaled sharply, his lungs rattling, and looked up at the man crouched over him.
"No, Papa," Hook rasped, gazing up at the older man and raising a trembling hand to his face, tracing the watery path the tear had left behind. Rumplestiltskin covered his son's hand with his own, pressing the cold palm closer to his face as another tear fell. The unfocused, pained look in Hook's eyes suddenly hardened, and a flash of unrestrained hate once more surfaced in the ebony depths. His bloodstained lips drew back over his teeth in a weak, but no less malicious, leer. "But you do."
The pirate went limp in Rumplestiltskin's arms, the last of his breath softly hissing past his parted lips. Rumplestiltskin stared down in horror at the body, his eyes wide as he watched his son's chest slowly deflate, never to rise again.
The hand Rumplestiltskin held pressed to his cheek slowly slid from beneath his fingers, landing with a soft thud above the place where his son's heart no longer beat.
"Bae…"
A crushing wave of grief overtook Rumplestiltskin as he tightened his arms around his son, cradling him just as he had when he was only a babe, before magic and darkness had torn them apart.