Chapter Fifty-Five—"Brave Enough to Trust"
Needless to say, the battle between Rumplestiltskin and the Black Fairy ended the Grand Council for the day. Bae and Emma had helped Rumplestiltskin to the rooms he and Belle shared, and by the time he got there, he was barely on his feet. The price of using so much magic was rolling through him and making Rumplestiltskin dizzier by the moment; his injuries were being mitigated by his power, but that didn't make him feel much better. He felt like he'd been run over by an eighteen wheeler full of concrete, and the aches were only worsening as more minutes passed, and his son lowered him onto the bed. Belle wasn't there, and for a moment panic seized Rumplestiltskin. What if Belle had somehow gotten caught in the crossfire? What if she'd been hurt somehow, what if he'd hurt her?
"Take it easy, Papa," Bae said softly, reading his expression all too easily. Worry was starting to make Rumplestiltskin's breath short, and his head was pounding wildly—
"Belle…?" He couldn't finish the question.
"She's been helping Snow and David corral the various nobles and royals who'd insisted on watching the 'show'," his son replied, squeezing his arm gently. "Emma'll go get her."
"Oh, I will, will I?" his daughter in law countered, raising an eyebrow at her husband. It always took Emma a little while to come down off being hostile, Rumplestiltskin knew, but he still opened his mouth to object before Bae got in first.
"Please, Emma?"
The Savior rolled her eyes. "Sure. You've got it."
Emma headed out the door without further argument, leaving her husband and father in law alone. Rumplestiltskin found himself half doubled-over where he sat on the bed, and trying to straighten almost made him collapse onto his back. In fact, had Bae not caught him, he would have fallen; the wave of dizziness was just that strong.
"Easy there," Bae said with what Rumplestiltskin thought was a crooked smile; seeing straight was halfway to impossible. "You want to lie down?"
"No," Rumplestiltskin whispered raggedly as his son reached up with a cloth to wipe the blood off of his face. Rumplestiltskin felt as weak as a newborn, and just as useless. "I need…I need to heal myself."
If he didn't do it soon, his magic might do the job for him, and that never was as effective as healing himself the right way. Unfortunately, that meant summoning power, and Rumplestiltskin wasn't quite sure if his pounding head could manage that at the moment.
"Can't one of us do it for you?"
A strained laugh escaped before Rumplestiltskin could stop it, but it cut off in a strangled cough. The sound trapped itself in his chest and rattled around there, bouncing back and forth between his ribs like a ping-pong ball made of jagged steel. Of course, Bae was referring to the fact that he'd let Emma heal him before, but this time was different. After such a vicious battle, Rumplestiltskin was fairly certain that his magic would attack anyone who tried to do so. He didn't have much power to spare at the moment—exhaustion was pressing down on him, and he felt like he had sandpaper behind his eyelids—but what he had would probably savage him as badly as it did his would-be healer.
"Papa?" a hand landed on his shoulder, very gently, but it still made Rumplestiltskin jerk a bit. His body was ultra-sensitive, worn and confused.
"Yeah. Sorry," he managed to get out between coughs; a long moment passed before he could get control of his breathing enough to speak more than a word at a time. Even then, managing more than a handful was impossible. "Don't think. That would be. A good idea. Though."
"Why not?" his son asked worriedly. "I mean, you don't…feel normal. Magically. I don't know. This magic thing is still kind of, uh, weird for me. Is normal the right word?"
Rumplestiltskin managed a crooked smile, but had to take a moment to bite back what he was pretty sure was going to become a whimper. His head was still pounding in time with every rapid breath he took, but he was feeling a little better. Incrementally.
"Normal is…close enough," he coughed, but then Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath, tugging experimentally on his power. It answered, sluggish but effective, creeping into his bones and beginning to patch up the fractures and chips. "So much power does interesting things to the human body. And I am…still human." These days.
"Glad to hear it," Bae replied, still sounding concerned. "Can I help?"
"You do, Bae," Rumplestiltskin reassured him, his eyes still closed but highly conscious of the hand on his shoulder. Bae's very presence anchored him to the here and now, reminding Rumplestiltskin of all the reasons he had to fight and hold onto his humanity. Once, many years ago, he had viewed humanity as a weakness to be avoided at all costs. Rumplestiltskin had known himself to be worthless as a human and had wanted to distance himself from that as far as possible when he'd been the Dark One. But he had never been able to quite shake the love he felt for his boy, and it had anchored him to the humanity he had been so certain he had lost. "You do help."
"Got to admit that I don't feel so much like it at the moment. You look like hell, Papa."
"Yeah, well…so does Danns," he breathed, half concentrating on spells he'd put into motion and half paying attention to Baelfire.
"Danns? You two are on a first name basis now?" Even with the way he felt, with the cotton Rumplestiltskin felt like was wrapped around his brain, he could hear the alarm in his son's voice.
"Probably comes from almost killing one another."
Bae snorted. "Do you have any idea how odd that sounds?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I do." But did he? Blinking, Rumplestiltskin thought about what his son had said, reflecting on the twisted relationship he had with the Black Fairy. She was an enemy, yes, but also an equal. She had hurt him horribly, probably scarred him forever, but she also understood what he was like no one else did.
"Are you going to—" The door opened, cutting Bae off, and then a new voice interjected before Rumplestiltskin had managed to turn his head far enough to see who it was.
"Rumple!"
Suddenly, Belle was next to him on the bed, sitting on his other side and slipping her right hand into his. Belle sat so close that her leg brushed against his, her mere presence a balm for his wounds. Her touch was like electricity, and even without a kiss, power shot through him of a type that Rumplestiltskin had once acknowledged as existing but had never thought to feel himself. Slowly, he let the breath out that he'd been holding, letting his eyes slide shut again as a quiet feeling of peace stole through him. That feeling slowly combined with his magic, slipping into Rumplestiltskin's bloodstream and helping him relax for the first time since the battle had begun.
A soft touch on the back of his head made Rumplestiltskin jump slightly, but Belle knew him too well to touch the back of his neck, particularly after so much time spent around Danns. Belle's other hand slipped into his hair, and Rumplestiltskin wasn't sure if she pulled him down or if he let himself collapse into her lap. Soon enough, he found himself curled up on the bed with Belle cradling his head in her lap and stroking his forehead lightly. He was bent over awkwardly but couldn't really care; then his feet were suddenly elevating and moving on their own, and he realized that Bae had lifted his feet and was pulling his boots off. Between the two of them, they got him settled, and Rumplestiltskin let his eyes slide shut once more.
"You rest," Belle said softly. "We'll be here."
"I'm—" he tried to object.
"Rest," his True Love cut him off. "No arguments."
His son's hand landed on his shoulder again, and his head's wild spinning finally seemed to slow. A little.
"We'll be right here, Papa," Bae echoed. "You heal yourself. Let us worry about the rest for now."
"That was so cool," Henry told both of his mothers, and was rewarded with a crooked smile from Regina and a cross look from Emma.
The different reactions his two mothers had to Henry going anywhere near anything dangerous were often befuddling; while Regina had been oppressively overprotective when Henry was younger, nowadays she was a lot more accepting of his desire to get involved. Emma, on the other hand, seemed determined to cocoon him in bubble wrap and save him from absolutely anything that came their way. Perhaps that came from her having missed so much of his life—like when he was really younger and needed coddling—or maybe it came from the fact that she was the Savior. Or maybe she remembers me being little and is confused because it didn't happen, Henry thought to himself, smiling at the absurdity of it all. Having two sets of memories really did complicate things, and he wouldn't be surprised if his birth mom had problems balancing the two. Emma had always been more straightforward than she was creative, after all, and if that meant she felt the need to cosset him, Henry figured he could deal.
Even if Emma did drive him crazy sometimes.
"That wasn't supposed to be cool," she told him sternly. "And you weren't supposed to be watching. You were supposed to be safely tucked away in the castle."
Henry gave her his best smile. "Oops?"
"That's when you're supposed to apologize, Henry," Regina put in, but Henry thought he saw a smile lurking in his adopted mother's eyes.
"I'm sorry," he said as sincerely as he could manage, since he was sorry that he had disobeyed all three of his parents. Robin had tried to pull Henry away from the battle, but Henry had given his (hopefully) future stepfather the slip, creeping up to watch his grandfather do battle against the most dangerous fairy in history. To be honest, Henry wasn't really sorry that he'd come back; he'd had to know what was going to happen. It wasn't only his future at stake; it was the fate of the world.
Henry wasn't ten any longer, and he knew what both the Blue Fairy and Black Fairy wanted from him. He didn't like admitting that he was still a little bit scared—or had been, anyway, before he'd watched Grandpa Gold go blow for blow with the Black Fairy and come out of it as well as she had—but he was. And that fear was why he'd had to see what was happening. Henry was descended from sorcerers and heroes, and he wasn't someone who could sit back while others fought for him. Yeah, he might have only been thirteen (almost fourteen), but Henry wasn't a little kid any more. He was ready to start fighting for himself, and—
"I bet you are," Emma grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"Is Grandpa Gold going to be okay?" Henry asked, mostly because he wanted to, but also because he knew that changing the subject would make Emma less cranky with him.
"I think so, yeah," Emma replied slowly. "He looked pretty beat down when we got him to his rooms, but he's tough."
"Rumplestiltskin won't die until he's good and ready, no matter how much people might want him to," Regina put in dryly, and Henry had to smile.
"You used to want him to, didn't you?" he asked curiously.
Regina shrugged, and Henry was glad to see that she looked more amused than uncomfortable. "Not usually. Rumple…well, he was the only friend I had for a long time. It was a complicated friendship, but, well, it worked."
Henry grinned. "So, does that mean—"
He felt it at the same time both of his mothers did, and Henry felt Emma grab for him even as Regina's magic swept him backwards, away from the incoming danger. All three of them turned together, wheeling to face the fae who had teleported into the room behind them. Emma had joined Henry and Regina in the Charmings' private family dining room a few minutes earlier—Henry was always hungry these days; Regina said it was because he was growing like a weed and Emma claimed it was his father's fault—but now the choice of location seemed very fortuitous. At least there was no one else there.
"Stay behind us, Henry," Emma ordered, and he obeyed…mostly. He did stand far enough off to one side to get a look at the enemy who had somehow breached the defenses Regina had put up around his grandparents' castle months earlier.
This fae was a woman, like most of them were, although Henry knew he'd seen this one before. This was the one with white blond hair and a vicious expression, who had threatened both his mothers and almost continued the battle after the Black Fairy and Grandpa Gold went down. She was nasty all around, Henry suspected, and looked more than ready to pick another fight.
"Oh, yes," the fae snickered. "Stay behind them, Henry. For all the good it will do you."
"Come back for more, have you?" Regina snarled, and Henry could feel the magic that the Evil Queen was already calling to herself. His mom was a match for anything any fae could throw at her, and both of them together were just about unbeatable.
"I've come for the boy," the fae snapped, her angular face twisting up in a snarl. "Stand aside or die."
"The hell we're letting you take our son," Emma interjected, and her hands were starting to glow, and Henry pushed back a smile. Emma had come so far in the past four years, from the lonely bail bondswoman who had refused to believe in the curse now to a sorceress who had married Henry's dad. She was amazing, and Henry hoped she never forgot that.
And his moms were even more amazing together.
"So unless you've got a lot more fae hiding in your back pocket, Jhudora, you might want to leave now," Regina continued for Emma. "Because otherwise, the only way we're letting you go is in a body bag."
"Regina, I do believe you were corrupted by your time in the Land Without Magic," Emma put in with a grin. "I didn't think you people used body bags here."
Regina rolled her eyes. "The sentiment is the same, Swan."
It was all Henry could do not to laugh, but he could feel his mothers' magic starting to combine even as they threw verbal barbs at one another. He could almost see it, if he squinted just right, and that realization made his heart race. Henry knew that none of the various sorcerers in his family were ready to teach him magic—they all seemed to be adopting Grandpa Gold's line that he had to wait a few years—but for now it was enough to know that he would be able to learn it someday.
"My sentiment is that I'll simply have to kill you both. Unless the boy is brave enough to do the right thing and save your lives by coming with me," Jhudora retorted arrogantly.
Henry snorted. "I'm brave enough to trust in my family, actually. So you're the one who should run away. Really."
"Not a chance!"
Jhudora didn't say another word; she only attacked with a dark cloud of fairy dust and what almost looked like sharp metal shards. It roared in on Emma and Regina so quickly that Henry could barely follow it, but Emma deflected it while Regina's own attack honed in on the fae. Jhudora blocked that—she was powerful—but Henry's two mothers easily defeated her second attack and then each landed one of their own. Jhudora snarled in incoherent fury, firing magic of ever-increasing power at each sorceress, but so long as they stood together, Emma and Regina's defenses never cracked. Watching his mothers work together so well was absolutely unbelievable, and although Henry knew he should be worried—after all, the fae wanted his heart—he couldn't help grinning as he watched.
The battle was short and nasty. Within five minutes, the fae crumbled to the ground, her heart crumbling to dust between Regina's fingers. Emma had distracted her while Regina got in close, and it had been the Savior's magic that froze Jhudora in place when she tried to run. Henry supposed that a normal teenager would be horrified to watch his mothers work together to kill someone, he really was just relieved. This was a war, after all, and they had to win. There really wasn't another choice.
"Are you all right, Henry?" Emma turned to him worriedly even as Regina finished killing Jhudora.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You two were awesome."
"Yeah, well, I wish you didn't have to see that."
Henry sighed. Would Emma ever stop worrying about him? "Mom, I'm not three."
"No, but you're still our son," Regina cut in. "That means we wish you didn't have to see such things."
"By the laws here, I'm almost a man," Henry argued.
"The old laws, kid," Emma replied. "Your grandparents are changing that law to sixteen, not fourteen. Don't get too far ahead of yourself."
That made him grimace. Henry loved his family, but he really hated being treated like he was still a ten year old. Yeah, he understood that all three of his parents, along with his grandparents and the rest of his extended family (or almost family) worried about him, but he could take the harsh realities of the Enchanted Forest. He hadn't even blinked when Jhudora died, except with relief. Maybe that said something bad about him, but Henry was ready to stay in this world and accept it for what it was. They had a war to win, and he wanted to help.
Light intruded slowly, and Rumplestiltskin woke up with his head still in Belle's lap. He was curled up on his side, somehow without the dragonskin coat he'd been wearing when Belle and Bae had convinced him to lie down, and he had no memory of anyone taking it off of him. The way he was curled up was a little awkward and every bone in his body still ached, but now at least it was a dull pain, nothing like the fiery burn of magical exhaustion. His right hand was still held loosely in Belle's, and her other hand lay gently on his head, playing absently with his hair.
Blinking his eyes open, Rumplestiltskin licked his lips and searched for his voice. Belle beat him to it.
"Hey, you," she said with a smile.
"Hi," he croaked hoarsely. I've got to quit doing this to her. How many times have I woken with Belle caring for me after something horrible? This is at least three—but at least this time I was no one's victim. Their fight might have been a draw, but at least it taught Danns that he'd never be her victim again, nor her slave.
"How are you feeling?" Belle asked, her fingers slipping into his hair again and stroking gently. Groggily, Rumplestiltskin leaned into her touch, feeling the tension in his muscles relax slowly. Belle had always been able to reach him in even the darkest moments; she was the light in his life, the strength he had never had on his own. But then he realized that they were alone, and his heart hammered against his ribcage in panic.
"Where's Bae?"
Sitting up quickly enough to make himself dizzy again, Rumplestiltskin looked wildly around the room, his eyes searching desperately for his son. But the room looked like a whirlwind, mahogany furniture blurring together into one rich brown streak, and a long moment passed before Rumplestiltskin could focus well enough to confirm that his son indeed was not there. The dizziness wasn't as bad as it had been before he'd lain down, but there were still obviously some lingering injuries from his battle with the Black Fairy. Healed though he was, some issues would haunt him for days or weeks to come. But Bae had been there when he'd fallen asleep, had promised he'd still be there when he woke up. Rumplestiltskin had been wary of allowing himself to fall asleep precisely because he'd been certain something would happen, that the fae would—
"He's fine," Belle reassured him quickly. "He just went to check on Henry. A fae showed up a few hours ago, trying to kidnap him while you were asleep. Emma and Regina killed her."
There were times that being so good at predicting people was its own curse. His chest tightened with fear, and the words almost didn't come out at all. "Is Henry all right?"
"Everyone's fine." Belle's hand shifted to his chin, gently turning his head so that Rumplestiltskin faced her. His vision was slowly clearing now, and the wave of dizziness passed, allowing him a clear look at Belle's beautiful but worried face. "You did it, Rumple. You stopped her, and everyone is safe."
She leaned in to brush her lips against his, and Rumplestiltskin let his eyes slide shut, relief coursing through him. His family was safe. That was all he really cared about; if he had to battle Danns a thousand times more to make sure they stayed safe, he would. Rumplestiltskin was a selfish man, after all, and always had been. His family was safe, all of them. For once in his ill-begotten life, he had done the right thing. So, when Belle shifted to rest her forehead against his, Rumplestiltskin let himself revel in the closeness between them. He needed her so badly, and Belle had never once let him down.
"Without you, I am nothing," he murmured, finally reaching out to wrap his arms around her. And if he clung to her a little too much, well, Rumplestiltskin had never been strong. He had gone three rounds with their world's equivalent of the devil and lived to tell the tale. Rumplestiltskin would probably always hate and fear Danns in equal measure, and he needed someone to center him now that the battle was done.
"Don't say that," she chided him, leaning back to look Rumplestiltskin in the eyes, her hand still on his cheek. Belle's blue eyes shone with compassion, but also a little bit of fond exasperation. "I know you, Rumplestiltskin. And I know that you've never thought very highly of yourself. But you're wrong. I've always seen you for what you are, and you are a good man who did the right thing for all of us. And I love you."
"I'm not a good man, Belle. Just a selfish one," he said softly.
"Call it what you will." She kissed him again, just as gently as before, but this time Rumplestiltskin felt the soft edges of power working their way into him. "I don't expect to be perfect, you know. Just yourself."
Warmth stole through him, and for a beautifully painful moment, Rumplestiltskin didn't know what to say. He could only smile at her in wonder, marveling at the fact that this amazing woman had never lost faith in him, despite all he had put her through. Answering his smile with one of her own, Belle reached up and brushed hair out of his face, and Rumplestiltskin let himself lean into her touch. "I suppose that's good, since I'm what you get, flaws and all."
"You were amazing today," Belle replied, and he could see pride shining in her eyes. Rumplestiltskin had so rarely made someone proud of him like this; it was a new feeling and one that actually made him a little uneasy.
"Was that still today?" he asked to cover up his whirlwind of emotions, much though he was certain Belle saw right through him.
"Not really." She smiled. "It's dark out, and you missed dinner."
Ugh. The thought of eating made his stomach fold in on itself, and Rumplestiltskin scowled as he asked: "How long was I asleep?"
"Five hours or so. It was almost sunset when Bae and Emma got you up here, and I think you spent an hour healing yourself. It's past midnight now."
"Oh." Rumplestiltskin hadn't even been certain how long his battle with Danns had lasted, but it had started sometime shortly after noon, hadn't it? That meant that they'd fought with one another for over six hours, maybe as long as seven or eight. Rumplestiltskin had heard of long magical battles happening in the old days, but nothing like that had happened in the last thousand years. No wonder why he felt awful.
"Are you hungry?"
"Maybe in the morning." Another grimace made its way past his fragmented self-control, and Belle stroked his face while Rumplestiltskin smiled wanly. "I don't think I could keep anything down right now," he explained after a moment. "Too much magic running through my system."
"I didn't know magic could do that," she replied, and he could see the questions in her eyes. Belle knew more about magical theory than almost anyone Rumplestiltskin had ever met; she'd read nearly every book on it that he owned, and Belle's grasp on the subject surpassed most sorcerers Rumplestiltskin had known.
He shrugged. "The amount of power I channeled today…well, the human body wasn't really meant to handle that."
"It's not going to…?"
"Kill me? Of course not. Nothing that bad, sweetheart."
Belle chuckled softly. "I was just asking if it was going to keep causing your problems."
"Oh." Thankfully, she didn't ask him if he would have told her had the magic been killing him. Rumplestiltskin was sure he would have told Belle eventually had that been the case, but would he have said so now? He didn't know. "I may be a little under the weather. Not quite myself."
"I think you're doing all right for the man who just went toe to toe with the Black Fairy," his fiancée told him with another smile. "You should hear how people are talking about you now. It's almost as if they never feared or doubted you. They're calling you a hero."
Rumplestiltskin snorted. "Then they don't know me very well."
"I think you might have some latent heroic tendencies, after all. Much though you deny it," Belle replied, grinning at the way he scowled. Leaning forward, she kissed him on the nose, and the sudden playfulness to her actions made Rumplestiltskin smile despite himself.
"I think you're dreaming," he countered lightly.
"No, if I were dreaming, I wouldn't be this tired." Belle's giggle was a little strained, and Rumplestiltskin suddenly noticed the dark circles under her eyes. Now it was his turn to touch her face.
"You stayed up while I slept, didn't you?"
"Maybe." Her eyes flicked downwards, just like they always did when Belle was trying to be evasive. She really was a terrible liar, Rumplestiltskin knew, but he'd not have her any other way.
"Then why don't we both rest now?" he suggested. "We can argue about heroics, my utter lack of heroic tendencies, and your optimistic delusions in the morning."
"You know I'll fight to the death on that," she grinned back.
"I bet you will." Rumplestiltskin leaned in to kiss his love gently, and then pulled her close. They would always have their differences, he and Belle, but their love held them together even when the world tried to tear them apart.
So, Belle exchanged her now-wrinkled dress for a nightgown and then helped Rumplestiltskin to sluggishly swap out his leather pants and silk shirt for night clothes. His body was still prone to randomly disobeying his commands, and he knew that he'd be good for nothing more than sleep that night, but that didn't matter. Belle was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, and for the few moments past that he lasted, Rumplestiltskin just allowed himself to listen to her steady breathing. Her head was nestled against his chest and one of her hands tangled in his nightshirt, and Rumplestiltskin fell asleep with a smile on his face. This was what he was fighting for. Belle gave him the strength to face anything.
A/N:Next up, Chapter 56: "With Friends Like These", where Maleficent and Regina chat, Emma spends time with Charming, and our heroes try to figure out how to keep Henry's heart safe. In the meantime, please let me know what you think!