Chapter Sixty-Nine—"Suspicion and Secrets"
The Savior burst into the shop the morning after Tony Rose was killed, her green eyes narrowed and her very presence radiating power and suspicion. As the door slammed shut behind her, images flashed before Rumplestiltskin's eyes. This was his first vision of the future here in the Land Without Magic; he had started to think that his Seer powers would not work with the different way magic worked in this world. Obviously he was wrong. Emma's face flashed across his mind, and then her hands, full of power and white light. She was facing off with someone, but he couldn't tell who, and—
"Gold! Emma snapped and obviously not for the first time, bringing him back to the present. Blinking, Rumplestiltskin forced himself to push aside the future and focus. They would come back later—probably—but for now, he needed to focus on the present.
"Is there something I can do for you, dear?" he asked, bringing himself back on balance with an effort. Long years as Gold gave him the control to keep his expression impassive. The imp inside him would have been flamboyantly taunting the Savior by now, but his time under the curse had changed him as much as it had changed everyone else. Kill her, his curse goaded him. Kill her and break the curse. You are impatient, so why wait? She annoys you—kill her! With an effort, he shoved the voices away along with the visions; Rumplestiltskin did not have time for this.
"Yeah, where were you around four o'clock yesterday afternoon?" the sheriff asked right away, and there was something in her eyes that set his instincts to chirping as she strode up to the counter.
"I beg your pardon?" Rumplestiltskin said, half to buy himself time and half because he wasn't sure why she would ask him that question at all.
"I asked where the hell you were at four o'clock yesterday afternoon," Emma repeated hostilely, crossing her arms.
"I was at Storybrooke Park picking up my daughter, if you must know," he said as coolly as he could manage, disliking her tone but still choosing his phrasing very carefully. Emma knew he had adopted Gabrielle, of course—or Renee, as the Savior still thought of his daughter—but the time would come in which he needed all of the Savior's goodwill. Those days were rapidly approaching, and Rumplestiltskin would not ruin that now.
"You sure about that?" she demanded.
"Quite. You can ask Errol Forrester or one of the other half dozen parents who were present if you like."
Emma's eyes narrowed ominously. "Because that would be right about when someone was busy ripping the hearts out of Tony Rose and Moe French. I understand that's a magic thing, and you seem pretty damn magical to me. Not to mention the fact that you kind of have every reason to hate those two."
"Of course I do," Rumplestiltskin replied easily, feeling his curse encouraging his temper, feeling its familiar call for vengeance echoing deep within his soul. Finish the job. Whatever incompetent tried to kill them failed. But you will not. Do it! His curse howled, and a large part of Rumplestiltskin agreed with it. But he pushed those desires aside, knowing that he couldn't afford to indulge his darker nature right now. "But if motive alone makes one guilty, there are many people in this town."
"Not many of them have magic," Emma countered.
Rumplestiltskin snorted. "More than you might think."
"I'm gonna check on that alibi of yours, you know," she shot back. "And if it doesn't check out…"
"As well you should." He shrugged again. "But if you're only here to throw accusations around, I'm not sure how I can help you."
"Why should I believe a word you say? I don't even know who the hell you're supposed to be!"
"Is the Savior suddenly embracing the curse, now?" he chuckled, far more interested in Emma's sudden interest in his identity than the fact that she was accusing him of murder. Firstly, after so many centuries as the Dark One, murder held very little meaning for him. Lives were lost every day, and he did what needed to be done. Rumplestiltskin didn't kill without reason, but he was hardly the type to shrink away from the thought in fear, either.
"You keep mocking me like that, Gold, and I'm going to punch you in the face," she retorted.
"Once, not too many months ago, you promised me belief," Rumplestiltskin reminded the Savior quietly, reining in the imp's dark sense of humor. "I think I'm going to cash in on that promise now."
Emma looked ready to snarl. "Belief in what?"
"I could ask for belief in my innocence, but that might be a bridge too far, don't you think?" he asked lightly, and watching fury in her eyes war with doubt. Still, her response was immediate:
"You can say that again."
"Then, let's go with this," Rumplestiltskin replied as he heard the back door to the shop open. "The belief I want from you is you to understand that I am not your enemy. I didn't murder Tony Rose—had I wanted to, you wouldn't have found the job botched in broad daylight. If nothing else, believe that."
Emma's eyes cut right, looking at Belle as she slipped out of the back room. "You believe that?" she asked bluntly. "You married this man—twice, if this curse is real—and you should know him better than anyone."
"I do," Belle replied immediately, stepping up to his side. Her presence alone was soothing, helped push back the darkness coiling in his mind and soul. Some days were easier than others, but Belle always made it better. Learning to trust her to help push the darkness aside had been so hard, but even the steady darkening of his heart had slowed once he'd decided to truly let her love in. "My husband is many things, but I know he did not murder Tony, or hurt my father. Whoever did that is still out there."
Emma studied Belle for a long moment, but apparently Belle passed her much-vaunted 'lie-detector', and the Savior nodded slowly.
"I'm not going to trust you blindly," she said bluntly. "But I'll look elsewhere for my suspects. For now."
"Thank you, Sheriff," Rumplestiltskin said as cordially as he could, and felt Belle take his hand as Emma turned and left the shop. Fortunately, she forgot to repeat her original question—and he successfully escaped allowing the Savior to find out he was the Dark One.
She would find out eventually, of course, but Rumplestiltskin needed every day he could get to earn her trust before she realized what he was. Once that happened, of course the heroes would suspect him of everything, but he needed all the time he could get. His wife and daughter were so vulnerable in this world, and he could not afford to have too many enemies targeting them. Particularly when I have to find Bae. Somehow.
David didn't show up until the next morning, and Regina half-wondered if her mother had forgotten about him. He looked disheveled and confused by the time he walked in the house, and part of Regina—the part that had been married to David while cursed—just wanted to reach out and hug him and soothe the bewilderment away. The rest of her, however, was far too aware of what was happening.
So, she stepped forward to meet him in the front hall, waving a hand over his chest quickly and not caring when he flinched away.
"Regina? What are you doing?" David asked as her fingers glowed blue.
"You might want to sit down," she replied, the spell feeding her all the information she needed. Regina felt cold.
"Why? What's happened? Is Henry all right?"
"Henry is fine," Regina said shortly, leading her brother-in-law to the living room and shoving him gently onto the couch. "Do you remember Henry's book, how magic existed in the Enchanted Forest?"
David frowned. "Yeah…"
"Well, there's magic here now, too, and my mother's used it to control you," she told him bluntly, not bothering to tell David that his heart had been ripped out to accomplish that. That little tidbit would only confuse him more, poor cursed man that he was, and it was more important that David understand what was happening than the details.
"How?" he asked immediately, his brow crinkling in confusion. "I mean, I haven't—oh, God. Mary Margaret."
"Yeah. You've been cheating on her, and now you stood by and let Kathryn Cole attack her while you did nothing," Regina confirmed.
"How—how could I do that?"
"Mother," she said simply, sitting down across from him. "You can't stop her until the curse is broken, and even then, it'll be hard. But you need to know," she whispered. "Even if Mother makes you forget."
"Why would she do that?" David asked, sounding like he felt helpless.
Regina definitely understood that feeling . "Because she hates Snow, and she hates you," she answered honestly. "Mother…well, she holds a grudge like no one else I've ever met. And she wants to hurt you both."
There was nothing else she could say, really, no way to make things better. All Regina could do was weather the storm and try to help David do the same. But while Cora held his heart, anything could happen. She might even decide to kill David if things didn't go her way, particularly as they came closer to breaking the curse…
I have to get it back, Regina decided. It's the only way to make sure Snow and Charming get their happy ending. She had hurt her sister enough times at her mother's command . Perhaps this time she could give them something back.
4 Months Before the Curse
"Charming!" Snow called his name even as he strode into what used to be Leopold's castle, and David stopped cold. King George was back in his own realm, leaving David and Snow to rule Snow's kingdom, but he had not expected to find his wife so near the entryway to the castle. Snow, however, rushed up before he could say a word.
"Hey," he finally managed, even as her arms wrapped around his neck. Snow kissed him, and David eagerly kissed her back. He had been gone for less than a month, and yet he'd missed her so very much. Being away from Snow as like a missing limb, and coming home to her was always utterly magical.
"Hey yourself," his pregnant white smiled back, but then her happy expression faltered. "Thomas is here."
"Thomas? Ella's Thomas?" David echoed, blinking and pulling back a bit to stare at his wife.
"Yes," Snow said quietly, taking his hands. "He said that Ella kept a secret from him. In order to go to the ball where they met, she made a deal with Rumplestiltskin…and now Rumplestiltskin has called that in."
A pit of coldness settled in David's gut, and he asked warily: "What did she promise him?"
"Her first born child, it turns out. And now she's pregnant, too."
"She promised him her child?" he stuttered, thinking back to the deal his own parents had made, the way he and his brother had been separated at birth. Now that he was about to be a father himself, David couldn't imagine the agony his parents had gone through when they chose to give James up—even though they knew their other son was becoming a prince. When Snow nodded, he couldn't help adding: "Did Rumplestiltskin say where the child would go?"
"No," his wife shook her head, one hand hovering protectively over her stomach. "Not that Ella mentioned, anyway."
David felt like the room had turned freezing, and he shivered. How can he make a deal with me to protect our child on one hand, and on the other, bargain for another child? he wondered. David had thought he understood Rumplestiltskin, had thought they were honest with one another. But this… this was not what he had expected. Not when he'd just risked life and limb to fulfill his end of a deal with the Dark One, the results of said deal being right there around his True Love's neck. He had expected better out of Rumplestiltskin.
"Thomas wants our help imprisoning him so that he can't take their child," Snow said when David remained silent. "The fairies have already agreed to help."
"Thomas wants to imprison Rumplestiltskin?" He couldn't help it; his mouth dropped open. "Snow, even if the fairies help, if this goes wrong—"
"Ella didn't know what she was agreeing to, David," Snow cut him off, using his true name as she did so very rarely. "She told him that she'd give anything, and never expected him to demand her child. We have to help her. You know he'll never alter a deal once it's made."
"Yeah, that's not very likely," he had to agree, but doubt was already gnawing at his insides. Rumplestiltskin had dealt with them openly enough; they'd made deals with him and had always known the risk of breaking their end. Saying that Ella should not have been so foolish as to promise anything was on the tip of his tongue, but the new princess was their friend. She was a good person, if somewhat naive, and Ella didn't deserve to lose her child because she had made a mistake. Neither did Thomas, all because of a deal Ella had made.
"I can't imagine losing another child," Snow whispered. "We need to help them."
Breaking a deal with Rumplestiltskin was more than foolish; it was downright dangerous. But Snow was right. What choice did they have? A child was at stake, and David would do anything to keep his own unborn child safe. He couldn't blame Thomas or Ella for wanting to do the same. So, David nodded.
"You're right," he said slowly, swallowing back his concerns. "We should help."
The morning after Henry had shown him that strange storybook, Errol still wasn't sure what to think. He'd kissed Regina goodbye and gone home to his son, having only read what Henry claimed was his story. That story was of an outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor, the story of Robin Hood. That was who he was supposed to be, according to Henry. But he was supposedly cursed, along with Jamie and everyone else in this town. The entire idea was ludicrous, but unless Regina had had that entire book typed up after learning the name he had almost called his son, how could she have known? Errol vividly recalled almost calling Jamie Roland, more than once, and there the name was in print.
And the picture of 'Marian' looks like Olivia, he thought to himself, pacing across his bedroom again and again. It made no sense, and yet it made perfect sense. It couldn't be true, and yet he felt like it was.
Perhaps he was going mad.
All he knew was that he needed a little space, a little time to think. The fact that Regina's ten-year-old believed in this curse wasn't all that abnormal, but Regina seemed to buy into it, too. And that was more than a little weird. Regina was a grown woman. She was incredibly intelligent, a woman of the world, and she believed this. That was enough to make Errol's head spin, and he hadn't even had the guts to ask her who she was supposed to be in the book. If he was Robin, and Olivia had been Marian, how did Regina fit into his so-called story? Errol wasn't a particularly big fan of Robin Hood—he'd always felt there were better ways to make oneself a hero than by breaking the law—but he couldn't remember the name of any second love. Maybe he'd look that up online and see what he could find.
Either way, he needed time to swallow this before he could face Regina again. Because he either had to believe her or think she was crazy, and Errol wasn't ready to go down either of those roads. Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
Cora had wormed the story out of him, or at least most of it, but the worst part was that she already knew who Baelfire was. The Blue Fairy had assured August that no one else knew that name other than her, Neal, August, and the Dark One himself, but apparently the Evil Queen was way ahead of them on that front. She knew exactly who Baelfire was, and now, as a consequence, she knew he was on his way to Storybrooke.
There went August's precious hole card. Cora knew, which meant he couldn't risk going to Gold. If he did, and Rumplestiltskin intervened, Cora would know exactly who had spilled the beans, and his papa would die. August had hoped to use bringing Neal to Storybrooke to convince the Dark One to help him turn back from wood, but now he would have to hope that Cora would help him after Neal arrived. She'd implied that she was willing, and able, but August had never wanted to trust in her goodwill. Now, however, he had no choice.
"Hey, August!" a voice called his name as he stalked out of Granny's Bed and Breakfast. He'd thought of eating breakfast but had not been hungry; now he desperately needed to drop by Marco's shop and make sure his father was all right. But it was Emma, so August stopped cold.
I can't tell her that the Evil Queen is about to use her ex-boyfriend as a bargaining chip, he thought desperately. I can't tell her that Henry's father is coming and will be in danger when he does!
"Yeah?" he snapped, not caring if he sounded short and tense.
"What's crawled up your behind?" the Savior asked curiously, strolling up. She looked so damn confident, Emma did. How could she look like that when everything was going straight to hell, his left leg was dragging painfully, and the curse was still strong?
"I'm tired of waiting for things to happen," August replied honestly, his voice a growl.
"Whoa there, slugger. What'd I do to you?"
"You didn't break the curse!" The words tore out of him before he could stop them, but August caught himself with an effort. "You know what? Never mind. Yelling at you isn't going to help. I'm sorry."
Emma's pretty face twisted up in concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I'm turning to wood, but you won't believe that, now, will you? August wanted to say, but didn't. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere to be."
"Sure," she said dubiously. "I'll see you around, yeah?"
"Yeah. I'm sure you will."
Desperately needing to make sure Geppetto was all right, August made a beeline for his shop, not caring who saw him. Unfortunately for him, Zelena did.
Rumplestiltskin's second visitor that day was at least slightly more polite than the first.
"Your little wife here today?" Regina demanded by way of greeting, and Rumplestiltskin felt himself smile slightly despite the derogatory phrasing. Regina was often abrasive, after all, and he knew she didn't mean that in a bad way. Belle was rather tiny, after all.
"No, we do have a daughter to take care of," he replied wryly. Much though he wished Belle could spend all day, every day, with him, Rumplestiltskin knew Cora would certainly notice if she did. Cora hadn't seemed to have realized they were married in Storybrooke—or she hadn't commented on it, yet, anyway—and he'd removed her ability to spy on him through the mirror in the shop, but one could never be too careful.
"The thought of you as a parent still nauseates me."
You have no idea, dearie, he thought behind a mildly bored expression. Before he could open his mouth to respond, however, the door opened again and young Henry charged into the shop, a particular book held tightly against his chest.
"Sorry I'm late, Mom. I got caught up talking to Grace," the boy said with a smile. "Hi, Mr. Gold."
"Hello, Henry." Despite himself, Rumplestiltskin found himself smiling at the lad. There were times when Regina's boy reminded him very strongly of Bae, and even Mr. Gold had had a weak spot for children. Much though he'd tried to hide it. Still, he managed to get his impassive expression back as he turned to Regina. "Do you want something, dear, or are you just here for good conversation now that dear Charming's heart is missing?"
"You knew?" his old student demanded.
"His antics with Ms. Cole—and his inability to defend his True Love—made it rather glaringly obvious," Rumplestiltskin replied dryly. He wasn't surprised, of course; Cora's passion for ripping out hearts was rather legendary. Not to mention something he'd learned from painful personal experience.
"Wait, Dad's heart is gone? For sure?" Henry cut in, and Rumplestiltskin threw Regina a look.
"You really want your boy here for this?"
"He figured out the curse on his own," she retorted. "I think he's earned a little trust."
Henry beamed, Rumplestiltskin resisted the urge to sigh. The boy was smart; there was no doubt about that. But he was ten, and Rumplestiltskin knew from very recent experience that children did say the damnedest things. "Thanks, Mom!"
Regina waved away Rumplestiltskin's doubting look. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about where we're going from here. If Mother took David's heart, she's probably done it to more than just him, and that means we're going to need allies. Assuming you're still on our side when the curse breaks."
It was all he could do to not roll his eyes. "I think I made my position remarkably clear last time we spoke of this."
"I just had to be sure."
"Do stop wasting my time and let's get down to business, then," Rumplestiltskin replied. "You are correct. Building an alliance of those who will oppose your mother is wise, though we will have to choose carefully."
"Obviously. There are some easy ones. Snow, Charming, and Emma will undoubtedly be with us. So will the other repulsively-good royals," Regina said. "Graham will want to help us, too, particularly if we can heal his—"
And she had been doing so well.
"Your mother has the Huntsman's heart as well," Rumplestiltskin reminded her. "She owns him as surely as she owns the pirate who pays her fealty—probably more, since she doesn't seem to have Hook's heart. The Huntsman is out, unless you can steal his heart back. As is anyone else your mother can control."
Regina scowled, but didn't argue. "How about Maleficent and her friends, then? Mal is going to be furious with Mother when she wakes up, between being 'given' the Basement and losing her daughter."
"Maleficent has a daughter?" Henry broke in, and Rumplestiltskin sighed.
"She did. No one has seen the baby since the curse was cast, though," Regina answered, and Rumplestiltskin got in before the lad could ask another question.
"Yes, Maleficent should be simple, provided your mother doesn't steal her heart while she's cursed. Ursula may come over with her, but Cruella was flirting with Cora in the old world, and where one goes, the other will follow," he mused, running through the list of sorcerers in Storybrooke in his mind. "Jafar seems tentatively allied with your mother as well, and Zelena is obviously on her side. Ingrid—"
"Who?" Regina and Henry asked together.
"Any Given Sundae," he supplied, remembering how very surprised he had been to find the former heir to Arendelle in Storybrooke. Rumplestiltskin hadn't seen her since he'd offered her the urn containing her niece in exchange for the Sorcerer's Hat (a device he knew his wife would hate, but he'd not so much as met Belle when he'd been searching for that), and Gold's memories indicated that Ingrid had wandered into Storybrooke mid-curse. How she'd done that, he still didn't know, but that hardly mattered now. "The owner."
"Right. What in the world can she do? I don't know her," Regina wondered.
"Ice magic. She's rather potent, though more in search of family and peace than power," Rumplestiltskin remembered. I told her she had everything she needed with her sisters, he thought, remembering how he'd marveled at the love between them. But Ingrid's own insecurities had led her to want the urn she'd eventually been trapped inside, and hadn't that become a self-fulfilling prophecy? "Definitely a wildcard. I'm not sure what she'll want. She may merely want to be left alone."
"Well, left alone is better than on Mother's side. What about the Hatter?"
"If we can keep his daughter safe, he'll help. Otherwise, consider him a non-player," Rumplestiltskin answered immediately, knowing that to be the truth.
Regina shrugged. "She's friends with Henry here. That shouldn't be a problem."
"Then it appears we have a small but distinctive list," he replied, committing it to memory. Of those who'd chosen to be Cora's allies, Jafar would likely be the easiest to pry away; he would choose the winning side, regardless, and that would bring the power of two sorcerers (Jafar's staff being the inanimate form and power of his former teacher) to their cause. And who would have thought that the Dark One would be conspiring to prop the heroes up? Rumplestiltskin thought behind a slight smile. Not I.
But needs must, and I must keep my family safe.
"This is going to be ugly," Regina commented, and he couldn't help nodding. Henry, of course, piped up immediately:
"It's gonna be okay, Mom. Things always look darkest before they get better. That's how these things work."
Bless the boy's heart, he really was the product of a line of heroes, wasn't he? And he thinks I'm nothing but the Beast, Rumplestiltskin realized. Otherwise, he'd probably be asking Regina why she's even talking to me. He exchanged another short look with Regina, and gave her a slight nod when she shrugged. Yes, they were in this together, and they'd do the heavy lifting and the dirty work when the ' true' heroes balked. Neither was perfect, but that was who they were.
She was in his chair again, and that drove Killian mad. It was one thing to serve a cold-blooded and demanding mayor. Loyalty to a sorceress who teleported herself into his private office was another annoyance entirely. Just be glad she's not showing up in your bedroom, mate, he told himself. Fortunately, she has the hearts of several men to accomplish that, so you've not been called upon to provide that service. Lately, anyway.
Cora was a handsome enough older woman, and Killian would go to her bed if he had to—and had done so, in the past—but she really wasn't his type. Oh, there were advantages to using his wiles on her, because even Cora wasn't immune, but those advantages tended to shrink with time. He'd been far happier to watch her abuse Gold than bed her himself, particularly since it made the (cursed) Crocodile so damn miserable. Unfortunately, now that Cora lacked that outlet, she was probably in the market for a new boy-toy, and he found himself devoutly wishing that she hadn't broken the former sheriff's body so thoroughly.
"Your Majesty," he greeted her a bit stiffly. "What can I do for you this afternoon?"
"You can take Emma Swan and leave Storybrooke," Cora said bluntly, rising from his leather desk chair. "And take the boy, too, if you want. She'll probably insist."
Blinking, Killian turned that over in his head a few times. "Why would I do that?"
"Because you care about her," the Evil Queen replied. "You might not have bedded her yet, but you like her well enough, and you want her to stay alive."
"Aye, I do, but—"
"And if you don't, both she and the boy might die. I grow sick of their meddling, but the boy is my adopted grandson, so I would like to give him a chance at survival."
You're about as maternal as a tiger shark who eats her young, he thought, but was too wise to say it. Instead, Killian forced a casual smile.
"There's a small matter of your curse keeping me inside the borders, love," he pointed out. Not to mention the fact that he really didn't want to leave Storybrooke. Not with Mirabella here.
Mentioning that, however, would probably be a death sentence for Mirabella, so Killian kept his mouth shut. Again.
Cora waved a hand. "Already fixed. You can leave, so long as you take the Savior with you."
"That's a, uh, generous offer."
"It is, Captain." Stepping forward, Cora stopped in front of him, and Killian hated feeling dwarfed by this older woman. But her power was undeniable. "And it's one you should take. You care about Emma, and you've tried to play hero to keep her safe. Now here's your chance. I've made you a rich man, and now you can go play house with the Savior and her brat. And, by doing so, you can save their lives. Understood?"
"What if she doesn't want to go?" he had to ask.
"Well, then, I suppose you aren't to be held responsible for whatever tragedies befall Emma and her son, now, are you?"
The cold reply sent a chill down Killian's spine, and despite his feelings for Mirabella, he knew that he had to try his best to convince Emma to leave with him. Because Killian did care for her—at the very least, he liked her, and her boy—and he couldn't let them die while he could stop it.
Regina started dialing for the fourth time, and then slammed the phone down before she could finish, staring dejectedly at it and trying to figure out why she was bothering. I should have known it was too good to be true, she thought brokenly. Even when she tried to do things right, tried to tell the truth, it backfired on her, and wasn't that just the story of her life? Errol obviously didn't want to talk to her; he'd said he'd call after he had a chance to swallow everything, and yet he'd walked out of the house yesterday without a word since. Now over thirty hours had passed, and he clearly didn't want anything to do with the crazy woman.
"Regina?" David's voice drifted into the home office she'd used as Cora's assistant and now served as her refuge away from the world. "Everything all right?"
"Everything's fine, David," she snapped without meaning to, and watched his face fall. But there was enough honest emotion in his features that she immediately knew her mother wasn't controlling him, and Regina felt bad for greeting him so hostilely. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "It's just…been a hell of a day."
"Can I help?" he asked, coming into the room slowly. Save for his hesitance, he reminded Regina so very strongly of Charming right now; for a moment, she could almost remember being back in the Enchanted Forest, when her sister and her brother-in-law were the only things keeping her from going mad while her mother dangled Daniel's life over her head.
"Not really," she sighed. "I'm just contemplating the ironies of life, and how everything seems to work out the same way every time, no matter how hard I try to change things."
"Henry said that you told Errol about the curse. Did he take it badly?"
Regina smiled wryly. "That's one way to describe it. He said he'd call, and he hasn't."
"You know, it is an awful lot to swallow," David pointed out reasonably. "It took me quite a while to wrap my mind around it, and I live here."
"I shouldn't be surprised," she replied sadly. "My life always works out like this."
"Don't say that," he said immediately, and surprised Regina by putting a hand on her arm. "Have you called him?"
"No."
"Then talk to him. Give it a chance. Don't just admit defeat without fighting." She opened her mouth to argue, but David asked briskly: "Is he worth fighting for?"
The answer was automatic. "Of course!"
"Then call him," he advised, and Regina found herself looking helplessly to a man she both knew very well and knew not at all.
"Do you think he'll even want to talk to me?"
"I think that he loves you enough that a little crazy isn't going to get in the way," David smiled, and then headed out of the room, adding over his shoulder: "So, go on. Give him the chance to tell you what he wants."
"Thanks," Regina whispered, and David just gave her another smile before closing the door behind himself. Steeling herself, she lifted the phone for a fifth time, and finally managed to dial Errol's entire number before chickening out. He answered on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Hi," Regina said awkwardly, almost wishing she hadn't called. What if he hung up? What if he—
"Regina," Errol breathed on the other end, and he didn't sound angry. "Hi. I meant to call you earlier, I just—"
"It's all right," she cut in, not wanting to listen to him say that he didn't want to talk to her yet.
"No, it isn't. I did want to call, Regina. It's just that Jamie has been acting strange all day, claiming he's not Jamie and instead he's this Roland out of Henry's book. He's talking about magic and living in the forest, and all kinds of things we've never done. Do you think Henry might have told him about it?"
That made her blink. "Not that I know of."
"I didn't want to believe you, you know," Errol admitted, but there was something in his voice that made Regina pause before trying to reply. "But it all makes too much sense."
"You…you believe me?" she asked incredulously.
"Well, the alternative is thinking you're utterly insane, and I'd rather not go there."
Relief made Regina slump in her chair, her heart on fire with love and the sudden—and unexpected—influx of hope. She almost didn't notice when Errol continued:
"There is one thing, though, Regina," he said quietly, sounding regretful. "If this is real, I'm not really me, am I? And you're not really you?"
"That is how it works," she said slowly, not sure how to tell him that she had been awake for months now. But perhaps she should ask Rumplestiltskin how he'd woken Belle up so early. Maybe that would work for Errol—and she did want that, didn't she? Even if a desperate and terrified corner of Regina's mind was so very afraid that Robin wouldn't want her when he realized who Regina truly was.
"Right." A heartbeat passed in silence. "Then, well, I was thinking that we should maybe take this thing slow. You and me, I mean. If I'm not who I'm going to be when this thing ends, well, I don't want to make promises the later me—the real me?—won't keep."
"Errol, I…" She didn't know what to say.
"I'm not saying that I don't want to see you, because that would be a lie," he cut in. "But we should be careful, right. I mean, what if there's someone out there the other you loves? Or the other me? I don't think there was anyone, but I wouldn't know, would I?"
"No, you wouldn't," Regina whispered. She knew that Daniel was dead, of course, but what if Robin had some other lover? Could she deal with losing him again?
For one absolutely selfish moment, Regina started to wonder if she wanted the curse broken at all.
A/N: Thank you to everyone for the awesome reviews! I am so grateful for them that there are not words to express. Cora's last ditch effort to protect the curse is about to kick off—do you think it will work?
One note for everyone who wonders if Rumple's "please" will protect Neal, remember that he specified 'Lacey' and her daughter in that. He didn't specify his family because he didn't want Cora to know they were his family, so his son-who he thinks is safely outside Storybrooke-isn't included in that.
Next up: Chapter Seventy—"Breakout", in which Regina asks Belle for help, Killian tries to get Emma to leave with him, Rumplestiltskin turns the tables on Cora, and the breakout from the Basement finally gets underway. Back in the past, Cora plans for the future.