Chapter Forty-Six—"Allegiances"
"Who's this?" Snow asked curiously as Regina strode into the castle, handing baby Graham over to Ruby. Why Snow had been with the child in the front hall Regina did not know, but at least it simplified her return a great deal. The rabbit had dropped her, Robin, and Jafar off right outside the Charmings' castle, after which he and Will headed back to wherever they wanted to be in Wonderland. Then Regina hauled the genie back towards the castle George had once owned, exchanging relieved smiles with her lover. Somehow or another, Snow and Charming's castle had become home…and Henry would be here.
Regina didn't even try to restrain her smile—even seeing her (once hated) stepdaughter did nothing to dim her happiness. She'd been gone for too long, and Regina missed Henry desperately. She couldn't wait to see her son and tell him all about their adventures in Wonderland, a place that Henry would have found absolutely fascinating. Of course, despite the fact that Will and Anastasia were in charge, Wonderland still wasn't the kind of place that she'd let her son visit. Not until he's a whole lot older, anyway! And certainly not without me along to keep him out of trouble. Or to keep Henry out of too much trouble, anyway. Regina still had problems accepting the fact that her little boy was grown up enough to want to find trouble, and intellectually, she knew that she couldn't protect him forever. Not that she wasn't going to try.
"This is Jafar," Robin replied when Regina was lost in thought, and the dark-haired sorcerer swept Snow a graceful bow.
"Greetings, my lady," he said with what he probably thought was a charming smile. Truth be told, it was a charming smile, but Regina knew that Snow would be proof against it. After all, True Love was the best kind of armor against foolish infatuations.
"This is Queen Snow," Robin put in before Jafar could start the seductive routine, rolling his eyes.
"You're the genie?" Snow asked curiously, exchanging a look with Ruby before glancing back at Regina, her eyes full of questions. Regina just shrugged and let Jafar answer.
"I am currently a genie, yes," he replied. "Though I would like to point out that it is through no choice of my own. Before that, I was a sorcerer…of no small talent."
"And no small ego, either," Regina interjected with a snort.
Jafar only smiled. "Modesty has little place in our profession…Your Majesty. "
Snow actually chuckled, and not for the first time, Regina wanted to strangle her stepdaughter—though at least she didn't want too badly to do so. Not these days, anyway. The young queen only gave Regina a crooked smile that seemed to say that it took one to know one, and that Regina's ego wasn't exactly lacking in its own strength.
"I imagine it isn't," the young queen said, glancing between the two of them. "So…I take it that our guest has decided to help us against our enemies?"
"Help you?" Jafar echoed, his eyebrows rising as he glanced Regina's way. "No one said anything about helping anyone when my lamp was taken."
"You didn't tell him?" Snow asked.
"We didn't have a lot of free time," Robin replied when Regina just shrugged.
"He didn't need to know," she pointed out. "I have his lamp. If he gets frisky, I'll just pop him back in it and keep him in cold storage until I need him again. Or until Rumplestiltskin wants him. Whichever comes first."
"It's not that simple, Regina," Snow said with a sigh. "Rumplestiltskin disappeared about a week ago. We…well, everything we know indicates that the Black Fairy has him. Emma, Henry, and Bae went back to the Dark Castle to try to figure out a way to get him back."
One part of that sentence stuck out to Regina before the rest sank in: Henry wasn't there. Again. She was going to wait to reunite with her son once more, all because Emma Swan felt the need to go haring off with her boyfriend because Rumplestiltskin had gotten himself in trouble. Of course he had. Damn him. How could he ruin everything quite so thoroughly without even being there? Or maybe it was Emma's fault. She'd never had a hard time blaming Emma before. But even those thoughts weren't serious. Regina didn't actually mean any of them, not even in the privacy of her own mind. She was just terribly annoyed.
"Rumplestiltskin was captured?" Robin said incredulously.
Snow nodded. "Unfortunately. We—"
"Wait a moment," Jafar interjected, his eyes suddenly intent and posture tense. "Did you say the Black Fairy? She was exiled over a thousand years ago!"
"Yes, and she broke out during the curse. Get with the program," Regina snapped, her mind still on Henry. And, well, perhaps a little bit on her friend, who had apparently gotten himself in a world full of trouble again.
If I have to save his ass a second time, Rumple is so going to owe me, she thought to herself.
"Get with the program?" Jafar echoed, throwing her a look like she had gone absolutely insane. "Are you mad? Don't you understand how much danger we're all in? Legend says that the Black Fairy can control the Dark One. That she created the Dark One. No one can stand against the pair of them. No one."
Despite herself, Regina was rather impressed by the depth of Jafar's knowledge. It had taken Rumplestiltskin quite some to figure that information out, and yet Jafar had it at his fingertips. Apparently her new genie was a lot smarter than the last one. Except Regina still knew some things that Jafar didn't, so she smirked as if she'd always known more than him.
"Well, then it's a good thing that Rumplestiltskin isn't the Dark One any longer," she retorted. "His curse is broken."
"Is that why he wants me?" Jafar asked shrewdly. "Because he has no power of his own now?"
Robin snorted. "That's rich," the outlaw put in. "Do you think either of us are that gullible that we'd go trekking across bloody Wonderland if that were the case?"
"The thought had crossed my mind." Jafar shot him a droll look.
Regina just let her smile grow. "Tell you what. I'll let you meet Rumplestiltskin, and then you can decide for yourself. Until then, you're going to do exactly what I tell you to, or back in the lamp you go."
Jafar glared mutinously, but what else could he do? Now Regina just had to figure out a way to rescue Rumplestiltskin from the evil fairy that had almost killed her—because there was no way in hell she was going to let the imp skip out of dealing with the Black Fairy—and hand off Jafar before she killed him. Or wished him into shutting up. Permanently.
The Indigo Fairy was an old friend of Tink's, going all the way back to the days when they were both novices, all thumbs and dust accidents. In fact, the two of them had been responsible for the now infamous incident with a dozen other novices, two bags of fairy dust, and a very unfortunate Lime Fairy being turned into a unicorn. The senior fairies had been furious at them for pulling that stunt, though both had somehow managed to graduate into full fairy status despite that—and despite several other practical jokes their elders did not approve of. Those days were long in the past, but Tink and Indigo remained friends…even if Blue was unaware of it. Blue probably wouldn't be happy to know that Indigo had called on Tink for help, but Indigo was no fool and Tink would never leave a friend in trouble.
"I got the news from a pirate, actually," Indigo told her when they met on a cliff overlooking the main part of Prince Eric's hereditary kingdom. "And I think he was telling the truth, though you know how pirates are…" She blushed.
Tink knew that look. "It wasn't Captain Hook, was it?"
"How did you know?"
"Hook has that effect on women," she replied drily, rolling her eyes. Did Hook have a thing for fairies now that Emma had turned him down, or was it just that he'd flirt with anyone remotely female? Indigo was rather sheltered, as most fairies were, which meant Hook hadn't even had to be actually propositioning her. Just flirtatious.
"I'm not a woman. I'm a—" Indigo frowned.
"Fairy. Yeah, I know. But I don't think the two are as far apart as Blue wants us to believe, either." Still, now wasn't exactly the time to fight that battle, so Tink squared her shoulders and returned to the subject at hand. "What did Hook tell you?"
"The merchants' ships from this kingdom keep getting attacked by sea monsters," Indigo replied. They think it's Blue's doing."
"What?"
Arrogant and overbearing though Blue could be, Tink could not see her sending sea monsters after an entire kingdom, even if Eric's father had allied with the Black Fairy (under duress though that choice had been). But Blue was not guilty, who was? Controlling sea monsters took a great deal of magic, and now that Tink actually looked, she could see a dozen or so of the creatures lurking outside the harbor. There was no way that so many monsters had converged on that one area of ocean by accident, which meant that someone had caused this. But who would dare?
"That's what I thought. But Blue said she was too busy to deal with the problem, and that time would reveal that we fairies are not at fault."
"Typical," Tink snorted. "She has been a little single-minded lately."
"The Black Fairy does have to be stopped," Indigo replied loyally, and Tink tried not to scowl. Her friend had always been more prone to buying into the company line, although Tink probably would have been just as loyal if Blue ha d not exiled her to Neverland and made Tink open her eyes to the big picture.
"Of course she does. But we can't abandon our responsibilities in the meantime, either," she pointed out.
"Blue says she'll help after the Black Fairy is exiled once more."
The senior "good" fairy undoubtedly meant that, too. Tink, however, was not prepared to wait that long before solving this problem. People were dying needlessly, and part of being a fairy was preventing things like that. Blue might have forgotten that, but Tink hadn't.
"Is Hook still around?" she asked instead of saying what she thought of Blue's dogged focus on her evil sister.
"He is. He and his crew killed one of the monsters, but he's staying out of the harbor."
"Good." Tink nodded briskly. "Then let's pay the Jolly Roger a visit."
Indigo paled. "You want to go out on a ship?" she squeaked.
Why were some fairies so afraid of water? Tink only grinned, having no such fear. She lifted off the ground, and headed out to sea, confident that her friend would follow her. Indigo had always been willing to follow Tink, even when it got her into trouble.
"Of course we are!" she answered, shouting to be heard over the wind. "You can't exactly summon a sea witch from the shore!"
"Wait a minute!" Her old friend grabbed her arm, stopping both fairies in mid-flight. "Please tell me you don't want to summon Ursula."
"Who else would I go to? Either she's responsible or she knows who is," Tink pointed out reasonably.
Besides, Tink had faced off with Pan. Compared to him, Ursula was just a cranky old woman who liked to snack on mermaids. Tink and Indigo would hardly been on her menu, although a good-looking pirate might draw her in for other reasons. Legend said that Ursula was half-mermaid, half-fae herself, Tink remembered, and that brought up an extremely interesting question. How did the Black Fairy feel about half-breeds? If she was half as snobbish as her sister, the Black Fairy probably hated people like Ursula. And Ursula had promised Rumplestiltskin that she wouldn't move against their alliance; perhaps she would be willing to help them instead of just staying out of things.
If she played her cards right, maybe Tink could also get Ursula to rescue a certain mermaid-turned-princess, and they could free Eric's father from the Black Fairy's grasp. Rumor said that the fae had created an underwater prison for Ariel, one that none of her would-be rescuers could reach but Ursula certainly could. Laughing to herself, Tink led Indigo towards the Jolly Roger. They had sea monsters to banish, an ally to make, and a princess to save.
Despite Emma's surprisingly expert healing, Rumplestiltskin slept for almost two days straight. His family, even Emma, took turns sitting with him while he did, even when Rumplestiltskin grumbled and groused that he didn't need babysitting and he certainly didn't need anyone to hold his hand. Complaining was of no use, though. Belle just smiled and kissed his forehead. Bae just laughed and told him that he deserved that and worse. Henry only looked at him with curious brown eyes and distracted his grandfather with questions until Rumplestiltskin drifted back off. And of course, Emma just told him to shut up and go back to sleep.
This time, however, the savior listened when Rumplestiltskin told her that he was awake for good, and Emma left him to get dressed. This was the afternoon of the second day since his escape, and Rumplestiltskin would go crazy if he tried to stay in bed any longer. But he did wait for her to leave before he got up, carefully testing his body and his balance, and moving far more slowly than he wanted to. Random aches and pains still travelled up his limbs at odd moments, and he was far weaker than he wanted to be. It was only a week, Rumplestiltskin tried to tell his body, but unfortunately, his body wasn't paying attention to logic. It still hurt, although nothing like before. At least his equilibrium was back on center now that he could feel his magic again. Rumplestiltskin felt like himself, not like some defenseless prisoner locked in the dark.
After a bath that made him feel vaguely human again, Rumplestiltskin headed down towards the great hall, only to run into Belle on the stairs. He smiled. "Hey."
"Emma told me you were up. Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm hungry," he replied with a smile.
"We could have—"
"A quip. I'm sick of being in bed," Rumplestiltskin cut her off, and then reached for her, needing to hold her close, needing Belle to be real. It had only been a week, but... "Come here?"
Belle slipped into his arms without argument, seeming to sense Rumplestiltskin's need and matching it with her own. For a long moment, they just held one another, treasuring the fact that they could be together when life seemed to be conspiring to keep them apart. Time and time again, they had faced challenges to their love, but here they were, together. Yet again, thinking of Belle had been enough to keep Rumplestiltskin sane, to give him the strength to face the pain and continue to resist.
"Thank you," he whispered into her hair.
"For what?" Belle asked curiously, but he sensed that she wasn't ready to let go, either. In fact, she snuggled closer to him and held on tight.
"You make me stronger," Rumplestiltskin told her for the second time. "I kept thinking of what you said to me once, about why you came to the Dark Castle when I made that deal for you, and it helped me face…everything."
Belle leaned back enough to look at him. "What did I say?"
The words had echoed in his mind for so many years. Was it possible that Belle had forgotten?
"Do the brave thing and bravery will follow," he quoted, and was answered by a brilliant smile and a slight blush.
"Oh. That. Did it help?"
"You always help," Rumplestiltskin said honestly, bending his head to kiss her. Belle met his lips eagerly, and he felt True Love surging through him. Through both of them. It was a tangible, magical reminder of this amazing love he had somehow found, of this extraordinary woman Rumplestiltskin knew he would never deserve. He'd spent the few moments the fae had left him alone thinking of Belle, promising himself that he wouldn't hesitate again when he got back. In fact—
"I'm sorry," Belle blurted out before Rumplestiltskin could start to speak, her words coming out in a rush. When he looked at her, her blue eyes were wide and full of regret. "If I hadn't called you, you wouldn't have been captured and the Black Fairy wouldn't have been able to hurt you again. This is all my fault."
"Belle—" he started, only to have her shake her head stubbornly.
"I shouldn't have called you. I—"
"Belle!" Rumplestiltskin finally managed to make her stop, cupping her face gently in his hands. "If you hadn't called me, Norco would have killed you. Speaking for myself, I'll face a week of Danns' hospitality if it saves your life. It's not a choice, sweetheart. That's a price worth paying."
"But…"
Rumplestiltskin kissed her forehead, wondering if he should tell her that he'd wondered if he could have escaped the magic that had stolen him away. No, he decided. While he'd thought he was allowing himself to be taken at the time, Rumplestiltskin didn't know for certain. Danns might have been able to capture him, anyway, despite his efforts to the contrary. If Belle didn't bring it up, he wouldn't; there was no need. Besides, he had other things he wanted to talk to her about, far more important ones.
"Would you have done the same for me?" he asked his love, already knowing what the answer would be.
"Of course." Belle didn't even hesitate.
"Then why do you wonder why I would do the same?" Rumplestiltskin smiled at her. "I love you, Belle. I would do anything to save you."
Belle kissed him again. "I love you, too."
Closing his eyes, Rumplestiltskin let his forehead lean in to rest against hers, gathering his courage—what little he'd ever had—and telling himself that he knew what her answer was. Henry had been right, all those months ago. There was no reason to wait, and every reason not to. He loved her, and Rumplestiltskin would shout that fact to the world if it made Belle happy.
"Belle, I—"
"There you are, Grandpa!" Henry's voice interrupted without warning, and Rumplestiltskin turned to see his grandson bounding up the stairs towards them. "Dad says come quick. Someone's at the gates, and it looks like there's trouble."
Of course there was. Wasn't that the story of his life?
David glanced at Snow as their unexpected guest made herself comfortable. At Blue's request, the king and queen had met with the senior fairy in private, leaving even Regina out. That didn't mean that they wouldn't tell Regina what had transpired afterwards—although David wasn't sure if Blue really appreciated that fact or not—but the fairy did have a point. Excluding Regina from this little discussion certainly did insure that there would be a lot less arguments. Regina didn't like Blue, probably just on principle, and they all knew that Blue would never forget that Regina had been the Evil Queen. These days, David found himself sympathizing with Regina a lot more than he did the fairy, but of Blue was here to offer help, it was probably better to let her do so without someone present who would heckle her.
Still, why couldn't he escape the feeling that Blue had expressly waited until Emma and Baelfire were gone? There would have been no logical reason to exclude Emma from these discussions, and if Blue didn't want to talk to Snow and David's heir, that meant she felt Emma might have some choice (and blunt, knowing Emma) words to say about whatever it was Blue was proposing. Unlike most people who had grown up in the Enchanted Forest, Emma hadn't always believed that the Blue Fairy was the epitome of all that was right and good in the world. She was quick to question and didn't hesitate to doubt Blue's motives, which David had to admit wasn't exactly as much of a problem as it used to be. Lately, particularly with Blue's refusal to back down from 'needing' Henry's heart, David found himself often sharing Emma's opinion on Blue than he did Snow's.
Of course, his wife had many reasons to love and trust the Blue Fairy. And Blue had helped them many times, back when they'd been desperately fighting Regina and trying to stay alive. But that hadn't been the case during the last few years, when Regina (and even Rumplestiltskin) had helped them far more than the fairies had. David knew that Snow wanted to still trust Blue, and he even understood why, but he was feeling a lot less charitable toward the fairy these days, and tried not to grimace when Blue gave Snow a maternal smile.
Don't you go trying to manipulate my wife, he thought irritably. Snow's not stupid, and she's already told you that you can't have Henry's heart. Still, that line of thinking brought up a question. If Blue understood that neither of them was about to sacrifice Henry's heart, what did she want?
"Thank you for seeing me," the fairy said with a gentle smile that was directed at both of them.
"You know our door is always open to friends," David replied, squeezing Snow's hand and hoping she didn't mind the slight edge he put behind those words. But he could tell from the look on her face when she glanced his way that she didn't; Snow was wary, too.
"I'm glad. But I'm afraid that I come bearing terrible news."
"What kind of terrible news?" Snow spoke up, and David could feel the tension in her. Had something happened to—
"As you already know, Rumplestiltskin has…fallen into the Black Fairy's hands. If that was not bad enough, my spies within the fae ranks have indicated to me that he has chosen to submit to her."
"What?" The word came out before David could stop it.
"Rumplestiltskin has allied with her," Blue clarified, her eyes on Snow's face. "He may even now be the Dark One once more."
"Why would he do that?" Snow asked, glancing at David in confusion. After all, they both remembered the explanation Rumplestiltskin had (perhaps not too happily) offered months back, when most of the Alliance was still at the Dark Castle. "He told us that he was more powerful without his curse. And he's clearly happier that way."
"Rumplestiltskin has always trafficked in lies, child." Blue sounded sad, but David wasn't sure he was buying that one. Yes, Rumplestiltskin had misled them our outright lied to them a half a hundred times, but David had a pretty good read on the other man by now. Manipulation and misdirection were in his nature, but he wasn't someone who would choose to ally himself with the Black Fairy simply to get a curse back. Particularly not when he clearly had plenty of power without it.
"Maybe so, but he's been fighting at our side for months," he pointed out, all too clearly not adding that Blue hadn't been. "Why would he betray us now?"
"I don't know," the fairy replied. "For all I know, he might have been in her service the entire time, and his curse might never have actually been broken. It might have all been a ruse to draw us all in. Or his curse might actually be broken and he has chosen to ally with the Black Fairy anyway. There is no way to know for sure."
"You said his curse was broken," Snow said.
"And I may have been mistaken. There are great powers at work here, Snow, and I am not infallible," was the immediate answer. The admission sounded contrite, but David's hackles came up, anyway, even if he didn't know why. "But we have time, now, just enough of it to gather our forces. I am here to help, as I should have before. We must stop Rumplestiltskin before we can even hope to stop my sister. She will send him after all of us, and after Henry."
Snow's hand went cold inside David's own. "Henry's at the Dark Castle."
"I know, and that is why we have no time to waste. I cannot enter the castle, not now, and that means it is up to you to rescue him."
"Wait a minute," David cut in. "This doesn't make any sense. Rumplestiltskin might be a lot of things, but Henry's his grandson, too. He's not going to hurt him."
"He might not have a choice," Snow pointed out grimly. "Not if he's the Dark One once more."
"I'm not buying that for a moment."
"If you hesitate, it will be too late. Rumplestiltskin and my sister will be unbeatable if we do not stop him first," Blue replied earnestly. "We must stop him in order to save Henry. And if what I previously suspected is correct and his curse is broken—and he is with the Black Fairy by choice—you have the means to do that, David."
That made him blink. "What?"
"You have Excalibur," the Blue Fairy pointed out. "And Excalibur can kill him."
A/N: Next up – Chapter 47: "Into the Storm", in which David and Snow respond to Blue, Rumplestiltskin deals with his unexpected visitors, and Maleficent pulls a fast one.