Baser Instincts

Piper smirked inwardly as she gathered a few small belongings into a little pack, hearing the Dark One pacing behind her, commenting quite vocally about why he should be allowed to accompany her on this outing she was preparing to take. Barnem was a small town quite a distance away that had found themselves infested with toads and frogs. They'd originally been infested with flies, and she had offered her services to rid the town of the pests, but the people had refused, claiming they could take care of their own. And oh how they did. Their brilliant thought was to bring in animals that ate flies, the toads and frogs being the animals of choice, however they failed to consider that they should have some way to control the toads and frogs after they'd served their purpose. It was rather marshy, swampy of an area, the toads and frogs had thrived there and caused a worse infestation than the flies had been.

And she'd been summoned, or should she say word of mouth had spread in small whispers that her help would be accepted this time if she were to offer it.

She shouldn't, really. They had turned her down once before, if they could handle themselves then they should be able to handle themselves now as well. She should have sent a missive or message back to them that she refused to tend to them, let them suffer for their shortsightedness in turning her down at the start.

But she was in a rather good mood if she was honest. Only a few days ago she and the Dark One had reached something of an amendment to their original deal. He called her Pip, and now she was allowed to call him 'Rummy' in return. It had put her a smile on her face whenever she thought about how ridiculous it was that the great and powerful Dark One was called 'Rummy' of all things. It was enough to make her chuckle when she thought about it, it made her smile, made a sort of warmth spread through her to know that she was the only one that was or would be allowed to call him such a name. It pleased her to know that was a privilege to her and her alone. And it had made her feel quite a bit lighter about the world and her deals in general. She decided to show mercy this one time, show how…benevolent she could be to those that didn't deserve even a whistle from her lips, and assist the town with their problem.

She wished to do it alone, however, and that was one reason why Rumpelstiltskin himself was pacing behind her, trying to list every reason why he should assist her. The Queen's knights frequented the area near Barnem, it was true, but she planned to be there and leave quickly, the town wouldn't even know she'd be there and by the time word spread she would be long gone. The men could cheat her in the end, try to go back on their deal if one was made, but it had happened enough in the past and she had dealt with it easily enough. She actually hoped, on certain days, with certain people making the deals with her, that they would go back on their word just so she could have a bit of fun in the towns.

Who knew, perhaps one day she would take the children and keep them instead of returning them.

She couldn't let the towns grow soft and not fear that she wouldn't return the children one day.

"Rummy," she smiled, turning to face him, "All shall be well. It is a mere deal, a trifle, truly."

Rumpelstiltskin pursed his lips at that, "It is a league away," he reminded her, "And you wish to trek there?"

"I wish to journey there, yes."

"It will take you hours, Pip. Hours of walking and that is hours you aren't here with me," he blinked, seeming to realize what he'd said, "Cleaning my castle," he added quickly, "Attending your chores…"

"It WAS our agreement that I would still be permitted to see to my deals," she reminded him, knowing she'd had him trapped with that, knowing he couldn't use her duties in his castle over the agreed upon terms for her having those duties.

"You would be travelling through the woods where bandits dwell, animals, the Black Knights," he shook his head, seeing her about to argue that she could handle all of them, "It is too far away for the deal to be feasible," he continued, "Whatever they would pay you for riding them of their plague, it would not be worth the travel and time to get there."

He smirked as though he'd caught her with a reason not to go.

But she returned the smirk, stepping closer to him, "I was hoping I might beg a modicum of assistance from the Dark One."

His eyes narrowed, "You wish me to go in your place? Done."

She chuckled, reaching out to gently grab his wrist as he moved to bring his hand up, clearly about to make himself disappear in a swirl of red smoke as he so loved to do, to travel there and see to the frogs himself, "No," she shook her head, glancing at his wrist in her hands, tilting her head at how she felt his heartrate pick up just under her fingers, before focusing back on him, "I was speaking of the travel."

"I am not giving you a horse," he countered, it would still take too long.

"I was speaking of your magic," she clarified, finding it a little amusing how much he didn't seem to want her to go, "If you could, perhaps, transport me within distance of the town, and a way to return, I would be able to attend to them and be back within the hours it would take me just to travel there," she eyed him a moment at his silence, "Unless the Dark One is unable to create such magic…"

He lifted his other hand, a small compass appearing in his hand in a swirl of red smoke which he handed to her, "Point this in the direction of the town and speak its name, and this compass shall take you to its gates. Repeat the process with the Dark Castle and you shall be returned."

She nodded at that, "And you do not fear I shall not return?"

He giggled at that, "Besides the fact we have a deal that you would not flee from my service," his gaze flickered to her hand and back, "You've yet to release my arm," he smirked as she quickly did that, not seeming to have realized she'd still been holding onto him all that time, "If you are that keen to hold onto me, Pip, I doubt you'd run from me later."

She shook her head at that and turned, moving to the window to check the direction of the sun for clarification on which way to turn. She smiled finding the right direction, "I shall not be long," she remarked.

"You had better not be," he warned, glancing out the window, it was just after noon from the sun, "I give you to sundown, Piper."

"Then I had best not be late," she smirked, "I know you get rather cranky without dinner."

He opened his mouth to retort to that but she had already spoken the town's name and disappeared in a flash of red light. He let out a huff at that, turning to stalk out towards his dungeon, thinking if there was anyone that had a debt outstanding. He needed to torture someone, he needed something to distract him. This was the first deal Piper was taking since he'd…since he'd called her Pip. And it just felt like there was something…more…between them since he'd given her that nickname. He didn't know what it was, but the thought of her going off, so far away, without him…

He needed to torture someone.

~8~

The Dark One was on a war path as he appeared in a swirl of red magic and stormed towards the town of Barnem. The half-moon was high in the sky, and Piper wasn't with him. Of course she wouldn't be with him, Piper hadn't returned to the castle. Not a few hours after she left, not by dusk, not well into nightfall. At first he thought she was teasing him, waiting till she knew he'd fret over her and then she'd appear and they'd have dinner or discuss her deal or, at the worst, he would heal her wounds. His mind had begun to run wild as the hours went by after the allotted time, what could have happened to her to keep her from coming back. He could feel it, their deal was still in place, she hadn't just decided to flee or stay away, something was keeping her from returning.

And he was going to find out what it was and tear its throat out.

He threw out his hand as he reached the gates of the town, sending the wood splintering, the make-shift gates flying into the town, causing those of the town that had stayed to celebrate, it appeared, to scream and scramble back from the entrance. Oh he could have appeared in the middle of the festivities, which were clearly due to the fact that there was not a frog or toad in sight…which meant Piper HAD been there and seen through her end of the bargain. He could have just appeared there, startled a few, but he was in no mood for pleasantries or small displays, he was in no mood for conversation, not now. Right now he wanted answers and he needed a show of power to do it. He needed them to see how powerful the Dark One was, how great was his magic, so that they would be too frightened to lie to him or try to plead with him. He wanted them terrified and wanting him to leave, he wanted them desperate to do anything to get him to go…and all he wanted was answers.

"Who governs this town!?" he demanded, striding right to the middle of the villagers, "WHO!?"

An old man was pushed forward by someone in the crowd, a weak looking man, hunched over, with bushy eyebrows, quickly pulling his cap off his head to fiddle with in his hands as he was made to face the Dark One, "Gunther, sir," the man introduced.

"Oh I don't care," Rumpelstiltskin sneered, disappearing and reappearing in front of the man, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air before anyone could gasp, "I DO care about the one you had deals with. The Pied Piper. Where. IS. She?"

"I…I don't…" Gunther tried to speak, his hands clawing at the Dark One's, trying to breathe.

"Do NOT lie to me," Rumpelstiltskin lowered the man, bringing him closer till they were face to face, "I know she was here, I see the evidence of her visit. Now tell me, where did she go?" his lip curled into a sneer, "Or I shall burn this town to the ground."

"I don't know," Gunther managed to grunt out, "She came, she played, we paid her, she LEFT."

Rumpelstiltskin threw him to the ground, "You're lying," he spat, "I can smell a liar. And it would not be wise, dearie, to lie to ME," he looked at the people gathered around him, all of them cowering, "Now tell me, what have you done to my…" he cut himself off, honestly not sure what he was about to say though he doubted it was going to be caretaker or partner, "What have you done to the Piper?" the people glanced at each other in fear, "TELL ME!" he roared.

"It weren't us!" a boy called, "We didn't…they just…they came and…"

Rumpelstiltskin appeared before him, "What?"

The boy swallowed, "They came and took her."

"Who did?" his hands curled into fists at that, at the knowledge that someone had taken her, "The Black Knights?"

"N-no," the boy stuttered, "The…the collectors."

"The what?" he nearly sneered, never having heard of them.

"They're…they're travelers," the boy tried to explain, "They take people," he winced, "They call them…freaks," he stumbled back as a fire appeared in the Dark One's hand, "They took her away."

"And let me guess," he stepped back, walking in a wide circle around the middle of the gathering, "NONE of you dared help her? After she so graciously attended to your town?!"

"We couldn't," the old man scrambled to his knees but didn't get up, looking at the Dark One pleadingly, "They…they have others," he whispered as though imparting a dark secret, "They're...they're feral, bloodthirsty. They threatened to release them if we tried!"

Rumpelstiltskin curled his hand into a fist, extinguishing the fireball, "You…" he pointed to the boy, "Come here."

The boy looked at the men and women standing on either side of him, hesitating.

"NOW!"

The boy winced and quickly shuffled forward, "You are going to tell me everything you know about these 'collectors.'"

"What are you gonna do?" the boy asked, before clapping his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide as he realized who he had just questioned.

Rumpelstiltskin just smirked, "I'm going to kill them."

~8~

The Collectors, even the words in his mind carried a tone of venom as Rumpelstiltskin ventured through their camp only an hour later. According to the boy they were a group of vile men that made it their business to travel through the Enchanted Forest and 'collect' magical beings, magical animals really, creatures. They were trying to make a complete collection of the mythical and magical creatures that roamed the forests, flew through the skies, and hunted in the seas.

And Piper fell into that category.

The men had a charm, an object that alerted them when they were near a magical creature and what sort of creature it was. These men, from what the boy had said, had been travelling through Barnem when it went off. It did not take much, listening to Piper, to know she possessed magic. But, looking at her, she passed as human, no one would think she was part-siren unless they had something that told them she was not fully as human as she appeared. It had been enough for them to attempt to seize her as she was leaving the town. It was a trap worth remembering so he might take precautions with Piper in the future. Piper could hear songs, yes, it made sneaking up on her infinitely more difficult. But the men had waited as a part of the town so she wouldn't notice their songs and grabbed her as she was leaving, they had warned the town not to follow, revealed some of their other 'treasures' to keep them from attempting to help get her out of their clutches.

He would have been intrigued, he knew, about the various creatures the boy had described, how truly feral and vicious they had seemed to be, had it not been for the fact that Piper had been taken in among them.

No, right now he was the farthest thing from intrigued, he was furious.

NO ONE took what was his, no one even attempted and lived to tell the tale without some sort of consequence to it.

And these men? He was going to enjoy slaughtering them all.

Once they woke up, at least. He had cast a small sleeping curse over them, not wanting to risk any sort of confrontation till he had gotten Piper to safety, and then he was going to find them a good view, high above, and watch the slaughter that would follow. And he was sure there would be quite the slaughter to follow. He was walking past the cages.

There were cages filled with creatures all trapped within. All were kept separate but in one long chain, animal after animal, creature after creature. And they truly were feral, they were snarling and growling at him as he passed, swiping through the bars to try and get to him, others beating themselves against the bars to try and get out and attack. They were vicious beyond a doubt, almost senseless, it was as though their baser instincts, their deepest, most animalistic traits were being brought to the surface. That was not something one would think to see of a tree nymph he'd passed, nor the unicorn, both were so pure and kind and gentle…now they were nearly deranged in their captivity, twisted and tormented beyond recognition.

It made him walk faster, his mind racing at what it could mean for Piper. Surely it couldn't be so bad as she had only been taken recently, just hours ago. The Collectors could not have done something to her that would leave her in such a state so quickly. But still, just the thought of it unsettled him enough to hurry. If the men possessed magic enough to track and capture the creatures he'd seen, he could only imagine what they might have to use against them.

And then he heard it.

A screech.

A painful, agonized, bloodthirsty screech.

But it wasn't just the fact that it was something that could make such a noise, such a human noise, no…it was that he recognized the tone and quality of the voice. It was Piper! He magically transported himself forward, down the line of creatures and to the first cage, his heart stopping, his breath leaving him at the sight before him.

Piper was on her knees in the cage, her hair half falling in front of her face, her hands and knuckles bruised and bloody, blood on her clothing, her eyes so dark there wasn't any white to them at all, they were completely and utterly black. Her face was pinched into such a deadly expression he found himself stepping back at it. She was hunched over, gripping the bars of the cage and screeching, whatever magic was affecting her, for clearly it had to be magic, had driven her so deep into her instincts, so deep into her mind that she didn't even seem to have control of her magic, had no way to use it to escape. She was snarling at him, half-growling as she tried to reach through the bars and swipe at him, panting and huffing through her nose, her jaw clenched so tightly it had to be painful before she slammed herself against the bars trying to get out, screeching the entire time.

"Pip…" he breathed.

"Exquisite, isn't she?" a voice said beside him. He immediately turned, a fireball in his hands, as he saw a man, dark skinned, a scar over his eye blinding him in it, step out of the shadows, his hands behind his back, bald but with a white goatee, a black cloak draped over him, hiding his clothing, "Oh there's no need for that Dark One."

Rumpelstiltskin glared at him, "What have you done to her?"

"Nothing," the man smiled, "All we do to our creatures is….release them."

"They are caged."

"You misunderstood," the man chuckled, "We release their inner-selves," he gestured at Piper, "Your little half-siren is a…rare thing," he eyed her as she tried to pry the bars, "Truly, I have not encountered one till now," he observed her before smirking at the Dark One, as though thinking he were imparting a dark secret of hers in being half-siren, not knowing she'd revealed that she had some Siren in her to him ages ago when they discussed how they came to possess their magic, "It was a true joy to free her of her humanity."

Rumpelstiltskin paused at that phrase, his gaze flickering back to the cage…and then he saw it, a small gem that was stuck into the metal in the center of the cage's rim, an orange gem that seemed to flicker as though there were fire in it, glowing faintly. The fire died in his hand as he realized what the gem was. It was an absorption stone, it was meant to absorb something from one person, to pull it out of them. Normally it was meant for emotions, happiness, sadness, love…but it could also be used for deeper ones, empathy, compassion, forgiveness…humanity as well. The gem was pulling the humanity out of Piper and keeping it from her.

It explained what was happening to the other creatures as well. He had seen similar gems in their cages too. While few of them had a sense of humanity, it could absorb other things, leaving those in the cages with just their most basic, darkest instincts.

He stepped forward, towards the cage, towards Piper.

"I would be careful," the man laughed, "She's feisty."

Rumpelstiltskin ignored him, though kept the man's words in mind for later, knowing he would very much enjoy seeing the man torn apart, but right now he needed to focus, "Pip…" he began, but she just snarled and screeched at him, not a trace of recognition in her eyes. He closed his own at that, at seeing her reduced to this…before a smirk lit his face, hearing the man move right behind him…perfect.

And, with that thought, he snapped his finger, unlocking Piper's cage and disappearing in a swirl of red smoke, reappearing on top of the cage in time to watch Piper lunge out of the cage and launch herself at the startled man who had not been expecting this to happen at all. He felt a grim smile appear on his face, knowing Piper was getting her revenge on the man, literally tearing him apart with her bare hands, strengthened in the loss of her humanity and barriers holding her magic back, but knowing she was being manipulated by the gem to do this. He crouched down, ignoring the man's screams, as he pulled the gem out of the metal with a bit of magic, and standing again.

He waited till Piper had snapped the man's neck, before calling out, "Piper!"

She turned, snarling at him and ran for him, ready to attack him as well.

He crushed the gem in his hands and let it drift down towards her, the gems circling her, surrounding her, and be sucked into her in a deep breath.

Piper fell to her knees, panting and coughing, gasping for air as he jumped down beside her, gathering her into his arms as she shook, the effects of the magic causing her to tremble from the trauma of it all. He doubted she would remember what she had done if she didn't see the body, once the humanity settled in her once more, he would tell her of course. She deserved to know what happened, but it would be a blessing not to remember how truly…gruesome a death she had dealt the man that had captured her.

"It's alright Pip," he murmured, winding his arms around her, holding her tight, unconsciously rocking her back and forth as she gripped at his shirt, still in shock, "It's alright, I'm here. You're safe," he didn't even realize that he'd pressed a kiss to her forehead before adding, "Just as I promised. You're safe now."

~8~

Piper walked slowly beside Rumpelstiltskin, her arm around his waist as he had his around her shoulder, knowing that hers was for stability as she trembled still as she walked, feeling so weak and feeble that she was sure if she wasn't leaning on him she would fall over. For him though, she could tell in how he was rubbing her arm, how his other hand was holding her free one, that it was both for comfort and stability as well. It had taken an hour, from what the man had told her, for her to come back to herself completely, to be aware of what was going on around her, to be strong enough to stand.

She had seen a man behind them, lying on the ground, his expression one of true terror and fear, frozen mid-scream, looking very much like he'd been torn apart by a rabid animal…and knew there was blood on her clothing and staining her hands. She had merely asked if she had done that, to which Rumpelstiltskin had told her yes. She'd just said 'good' and turned to try and walk away, stumbling till he'd moved to her side to help her. She recognized the man, from before her mind had gone blank, he had been in the town, he had been the one that was ordering the others to take her, to hold her down, to throw her in that cage where here world had whited out. Whatever she had done to him, however she had killed him had probably been too gentle a death.

She saw it, the animals, the creatures, how they were acting as Rumpelstiltskin led her back down the line of cages. They were all acting the same, out of their minds with rage and wild in nature, she could guess as she'd been in a cage that she had been the same. For that man to force that on her, to turn her into one of those creatures? He deserved a more painful death.

"Why are we walking?" she murmured to him as they went, knowing full well he could magically transport them away from there and she wanted to leave, she wanted to get as far away from the freak show the man had been trying to make as possible.

"There's something I think you shall want to be witness to," he answered, leading her to the very end of the line of cages, the last one empty of an animal but filled with supplies. In a puff of smoke they were standing on top of it, staring out at the camp slumbering behind it. He could guess that the man Piper had killed hadn't been affected as he'd only cast the sleeping spell on the camp and not the animals or the front of the caravan, but the rest of his men…they were sitting ducks.

"What are you going to do?" Piper squeezed his hand, not letting him release the one he was holding, wanting to know what would be coming first, before she decided if she wanted to see it or not. He merely turned to her, giving her a look before glancing back at the animals, and then to the camp, and back. She blinked, understanding what he was saying without words and nodded, letting go of his hand, "Do it."

He nodded slowly at the crack in her voice and snapped his fingers.

The camp began to wake…just as the locks on all the cages came undone.

It was a slaughter. A true and verifiable slaughter.

The animals, instead of running into the woods to terrorize other villages, went right for the camp and attacked. It was a testament to just how badly the creatures truly reacted to the gems that their first instincts weren't to flee but to take revenge. It seemed the camp had underestimated what instincts would remain in the creatures they'd captured. Somewhere inside them they all knew that the camp was responsible for their capture, for their treatment, for what they'd become, and they targeted them first.

It was a sight to behold, watching the creatures attack, Piper never thought she'd see the day where a unicorn, of all creatures, the pure and gentle beings that they were, would impale someone on its horn…nor had she thought it possible, but there it was. The camp stood not a chance as the creatures went wild, and those that tried to flee were quickly dragged back.

"What do you think Pip?" Rumpelstiltskin asked her as the carnage drew to an end.

"Release them," she murmured, looking up at him from where he held her, "Free them from the gems."

He looked at her a long moment, understanding why she requested that. Most others would assume that the Dark One and the Pied Piper, being so dark themselves, would want to release the creatures into the woods, allow them to cause terror to every man, woman, and child around. But that was too savage a fate to inflict on the innocent. The camp had deserved to meet its end by the ones it held imprisoned, others, especially children, did not.

Most people would think they'd want the creatures loose in the world, being dark, but there was a difference between being dark and being evil, and neither of them were quite on that end of the spectrum yet. They both still had their hearts, they both still had their humanity, whether it was tainted by the dark or not it was still there.

He raised his hand and waved it back towards the cages, the gems shattering within all of them, the small dustings of them lifting into the hair and floating back towards the creatures it belonged to, drifting into them on an inhale. Most of them collapsed in exhaustion of the trauma, others managed to crawl into the woods, but they were all restored to their original selves once more.

"Many thanks," Piper whispered, gripping his shirt tighter as she swayed.

He quickly caught her, picking her up into his arms as she herself collapsed, the events of the night catching up to her, leaving her utterly spent. He nodded, tightening his arms around her, "Let's get you home, Pip," he spoke quietly, giving the camp one more glance before they disappeared in a swirl of red, back to the Dark Castle where Piper would be able to rest and recover her strength.

And if a few areas of the castle got dusty during that time? So be it.

A/N: That little circus was...not very wise to do that to Piper, were they? :/ They had no idea at all what they were really dealing with in stripping every bit of humanity from a Siren :( I sort of wanted Gold to be able to play hero but also demonstrate that, even in the Enchanted Forest, even as the Dark One and Pied Piper, they both still had a limit and distance they would let their darkness take them. They both tried not to cross the line from dark to evil in a permanent way :)

And I'm very happy this chapter is up, I was trying to update another story yesterday night and I kept getting an error message after I'd log on :( So I'm very happy that it's working now and I could get this one up :)

Some notes on reviews...

I'm more on the Swanfire side too, I feel like if we'd been able to see more of Neal and really get inside his head more some of his actions would make a little more sense though I feel like a few of his choices were more 'heroic' than some of Hook's, like he gave Emma up so she could go free an entire town and her family and get them back, he was concerned with what she needed in her life and what was the right thing to do even if he knew it would make him seem like a traitor to Emma in the end. I can't really see Hook making that same choice if he knew it would make Emma hate him in the end, we've seen him try and cover up things to avoid that too many times, but that's just my opinion :)

Yup, the Charmings could see him. What Regina said through Mary Margaret in talking about Gold being back was more because Emma was standing right there and she didn't know how much they might have told her as the girl didn't seem to know Piper or Gold were back before she went undercover, so it was her attempt to keep Snow and Charming's secret knowledge a secret in front of Emma ;) I have seen the sneak peek yup :) I feel like everyone else would be horrified Emma did what she did, but Piper would be more like 'tsk tsk, you could have used that to get OUT of the prison, waste of a heart there' lol :) Hook will definitely face a bit of suffering before the story's out, mostly from Emma and her thoughts on their relationship...and a bit of Piper helping her niece out at times ;) Ursula did know something, but whether or not what she knew (and told Hook) was everything that Gold was planning...or even what he's REALLY planning, remains to be seen ;) Hook will bring up what Ursula told him and that she told him something in the next chapter ;)

I think Snow's at the point of she NEEDS Piper to be a villain to make her feel justified in what she did to Gold, but when she finds out the entire truth about why her cousin is seeking revenge, the consequences of her actions and what happened in New York, I think she'll finally realize that SHE was more the villain in this situation ;)

Emma's reaction to what Snowing did, and their reasons for doing it (in the story), was one of my favorite scenes to write }:)

Snow will definitely be made aware that Piper's only targeting her yup, that's a little part of why she was unsure if August was safe. She's remembering Piper's remark about 'Snow's people' and assuming August is among them since he's not blood-family, which is a mistake on her part }:) I'm glad that part made you angry, it made Emma angry too ;) I felt like it paralleled Snow in the show with how, after they told Emma the truth about what they did, they sort of expected her to have forgiven them only an episode or two later :( And thanks! I fixed it :) That will be a question Piper will be asking herself (and Snow) quite a bit }:) Emma was mostly in shock that Piper was back and that her parents lied to her so she sort of defaulted to the 'mission' till she could process it :) Henry will be honest with one hero about what he did with the dagger, but he'll also make it very clear that he doesn't care if they tell the others or how the others take it because he feels HE knows what the right thing to do was and he did it, and how can the heroes chastise him for something THEY do all the time even if it ends up causing consequences later? :) I think the heroes saw it more as August needing to be rescued from the others, if Piper was ganged up on or left August alone (though she wouldn't do that), she wouldn't be able to stop Cruella or Ursula or Maleficent hurting August. And Piper sort of agrees, August would be safer out of the reach of the other villains that WERE going to torture him for information before she stopped them :) I feel like that's something the heroes do a lot, expect people to follow and help them just because they're heroes and then get all frustrated when they're ignored lol :) And no worries ;) I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!