Chapter Sixty-Six: A Face You Can Trust

London – 19th Century

Baelfire could not remember when he last ate a delicious meal and did not feel guilty about it. Many of the recent meals that he had in his old world were all prepared from servants that his father, Rumplestiltskin, had forced into labor under his rule as "The Dark One." The meal that Jenny had made him in the home she and Strax lived in on Paternoster Row was beyond gratifying. Jenny had called it "corned beef hash," a dish that was new to Baelfire; it was the best thing that he had ever tasted, and it was made willingly by Jenny. That was the beauty of eating in their home – there were no servants, no one living in fear of each other, and (best of all) there was no magic. Baelfire had yet to figure out if Strax was a being made from magic or something else entirely. Jenny tried best to explain that Strax was an "alien," a word that Baelfire never heard before. When he asked what "alien" meant, Jenny defined it as a "creature from another world."

"Am I...alien?" Baelfire asked her during his meal – the topic being engaging enough to stop him from eating momentarily.

Jenny shrugged on reply. "I would think so...maybe."

"I came to this world through a portal," said Baelfire, revealing this information to Jenny and Strax for the first time. "The Blue Fairy gave me a magic bean to open it, and she told me that it would take me to anyplace where there wasn't magic." He glanced over at Strax, who sat near them, polishing his Sontaran rifle. "And he isn't magic?"

"Of course I'm not, foolish girl!" Strax grumbled at Bae. "I'm neither an illusion nor a figment of your pathetic imagination! I'm as real as you!"

Jenny disapprovingly sighed over the Sontaran's harsh way of addressing the subject. "What Strax means is that he's not a being of magic – more like...science."

Baelfire nodded, seeming to understand what they were explaining to him. It was then he heard ringing from out of nowhere. Alarmed, he asked, "What's that?"

"It's the door. Don't worry." Jenny said. "The Madame's arrived."

"She will not be pleased that we brought this child into her home without her consent." Strax warned.

"She'll understand when I tell her how we found him." Jenny argued, before she got up from the dinner table and went to the front door, leaving Baelfire alone with Strax.

Hearing the name that Jenny mentioned, Baelfire curiously turned to Strax and questioned, "Who's the 'Madame'?"

"What?"

"I heard the both of you mentioned her earlier. Who is she? Is she your queen?"

"Vastra is NOT my queen!" Strax angrily snapped, slightly frightening Baelfire. "She is a woman I just happen to take orders from...but only when necessary!"

Baelfire saw Jenny return to the dining room with a woman in a black dress, wearing a hat with a black veil that obscured her face. Although Baelfire was unable to make out any details of Vastra's face, he detected hints of green beyond the veil, making him curious.

"Hello, Bae," she said to him upon her entrance. "My name is Madame Vastra, but you may call me just Vastra. Jenny tells me that you were discovered in Kensington Gardens after emerging from a portal to another world – a world with magic."

"Yes," said the boy.

"And, in this world you come from, you have a father by the name of Rumplestiltskin?"

"Yes!" Bae exclaimed with much surprise over Vastra's knowledge of his home. "How is it that you know him?"

"There are stories I've heard of your world from the Doctor." Vastra stated. "Do you know him?"

Baelfire shook his head. "I've only heard legends about him. My father met him once, not too long ago. He says that he travels in a blue box that can disappear and reappear – like magic. Most called him a wizard, others claimed he was a demon of some kind. Papa was always obsessed over finding him and seeing where his blue box would take anyone who enters it. Sometimes I've wanted to find it myself, so I wouldn't have to live in my world anymore. I wouldn't have imagined being out of it now and without Papa or anyone else here to help me. I'm alone now."

Vastra and Jenny shared pitiful glances, feeling for the poor child that they have taken into their home. "You are not alone, Bae. We will take care of you – myself, Jenny...and even Strax." She heard the Sontaran mumble a complaint. "We will. Won't we, Strax?"

Strax was very hesitant at first but eventually acknowledged Vastra's promise to Bae. "Yes. We will." His words were forced. There was much about Bae he did not like, mostly his referring to him as a "troll" upon their first meeting. "The child is puny and very dim-witted, but we shall turn him into a fighting warrior in due time!"

Baelfire looked to each of them, especially Jenny, who was the first real friendly face he had come across in this new world. "Thank you," he told the three strangers. "There's only one thing I have to request."

"Of course," Vastra agreed.

"Can I see your face?" He specifically asked of her.

Vastra was not too surprised from the request. If she was to earn Balefire's full trust in them, she would have to show him what brought fear into so many in London who had the unfortunate pleasure in seeing at random times. Swiftly and without hesitation, she pulled back the veil and exposed her face. Upon seeing it, Baelfire jumped, shocked from the fact that Vastra was part lizard – her face entirely scaly and green, yet she was beautiful, which was why Baelfire was not in much fear of seeing it. It helped not only to have been a boy of much bravery, but being used to seeing such wondrous things in the world he came from. It also helped to see Vastra smiling as him as her humanoid, lizard-like face was exposed.

"Now that you have seen me as I really am, Bae, do you still trust me?" She inquired.

"Yes, of course," he said with a smile. "Thank you." He looked to Jenny and Strax as well. "Thank you all for taking me in."