Chapter Ninety-Seven—"Friends and Allies"

"You still don't look that good," Belle fretted, brushing hair out of his face after she finished settling Gabi into her car seat the next day. "Do you want me to drive?"

He loved her madly, trusted her implicitly, but there were times Rumplestiltskin thought his wife might truly drive him insane. "I'm perfectly functional," he said, refusing to allude to the fact that he'd spent most of the night sobbing out nightmares in her arms and really hadn't wanted to get out of bed at all that morning. "I won't look much better for a few days yet."

"I wish they'd waited," she grumbled.

"I'm just surprised they invited me," Rumplestiltskin snorted.

"They don't hate you as much as you think," his wife retorted. "Some of them even like you. No one thinks that you were working with Cora by choice."

"No one?" he repeated skeptically. "Sweetheart, we both know that's not true."

"All right, very few people," she relented, never losing her optimistic expression.

Belle leaned in to kiss him gently, and as always, her kiss helped calm his raging insecurities. His curse still hated her, all the more so because Rumplestiltskin had actually wanted to let his wife free him from the Dark One not many days before. However, if there was one thing Cora torturing him had accomplished, it was bringing the man under the Dark One to the surface. Had more time passed, Rumplestiltskin would have developed problems keeping his curse in check, but ten days had not been enough to let the darkness get a firm grip on his heart. The blackness would grow, yes, but he still had the ability to keep the darkness from consuming him.

"Rumple?" Belle asked gently, making him jump. "You still with me?"

Her hand was on his cheek again, and Rumplestiltskin allowed himself to lean into Belle's touch for a moment before answering: "I can't afford to show weaknesses. Even if they aren't against us, I prefer their fear to their pity."

"It doesn't have to be one or the other, you know," she frowned. "We're going to a war council with people you have helped, with our allies. Some of them are even family, now. If you trust them, they'll trust you."

Family. The Charmings were related to him via their mutual grandson. Yes, that would take a lot of getting used to. He grimaced.

"I don't want them to know how bad it was," Rumplestiltskin admitted heavily. Then a horrible thought occurred to him, and fear made the next words sharp: "You didn't—"

"Of course not," Belle soothed him. "Bae knows a little more, but I didn't tell him much. Though I think he's guessed some; he's as clever as you are."

"All right," he whispered. The idea of his son knowing what had happened to him was unsettling, but Bae was a man now, and…and maybe anything that humanized Rumplestiltskin in his son's eyes was a good thing. His inner manipulator recognized that immediately, much though the spinner behind that cringed. His son might have forgiven him, but they still had a long way to go before their relationship even began to resemble the closeness they had once shared. Fear rose again. It can't help. He'll only see me for what I really am. Bae knowing how badly broken he was, knowing how helpless and how afraid he'd been, could only make that worse, couldn't it? Bae had seen him utterly unable to fight Cora, had seen—

"He's not ashamed of you," his wife cut into his thoughts. "He doesn't think less of you."

"Why wouldn't he?" Rumplestiltskin whispered before he could stop himself. He could only stare at her. Belle didn't understand, did she? "No one wants a coward for a—"

"Don't you dare call yourself that," Belle cut him off fiercely. "You are not a coward, Rumplestiltskin. Do you have any idea how brave you have been?"

"…I'm not brave," Rumplestiltskin told his little wife as Cora watched in amusement, having used a vial of her pet's blood to create an airtight—and untraceable—seeing spell. Now she could watch them in comfort for as long as the spell lasted, watching the images play across her favorite mirror. Rumplestiltskin looked like he thought the girl was crazy. Was there trouble in paradise already?

"Of course you are," the maid replied. "You knew exactly what Cora would do to you, and yet you gave your freedom up to her, anyway."

"She had Bae."

"Don't you see? That's bravery, and the fact that you're here, that you're willing to meet with everyone else and fight against someone who hurt you so badly tells me just how strong you are."

"I've never been strong," he whispered, and Cora wanted to slap him. Of course he had been strong. Power made him strong. It was love that made Rumplestiltskin weak. Belle, however, took a different—and far more foolish—approach.

"I believe in you," the young woman said passionately. "Will you trust me? I know you can do this."

Does she have the dagger? Cora wondered as Rumplestiltskin muttered something ridiculous about love and trust. Of course, anyone who possessed the Dark One's dagger should not stoop to pleading and asking for anything, but that slip of an idiot girl might have been that foolish. Did she think he would hate her less if she gave him the illusion of choice? But no, Rumple was looking at his 'wife' with moon-eyed love, melting into the all-too-gentle kiss she gave him. No, that was not a man who felt controlled by this woman. Cora knew him well enough to know he wouldn't look at Belle like that if she had the dagger.

If not Belle, then who? She had tried to summon the actual dagger, using more of Rumplestiltskin's blood, but the effort had failed. So had all of her efforts to discover who had stolen it; there were no traces of magic on the room, and she had barely turned her back on the dagger long enough for it to have been taken. Still, someone must have done so, because Cora knew full and damned well that she hadn't broken the contract she had so foolishly signed. Well, now when I take it back, the contract will not bind me at all, she realized, smiling slightly. Her spell was beginning to fade as Rumplestiltskin and his little maid climbed into his Cadillac, but that didn't matter. Spying on them had answered two questions for her, and she would discover who had the dagger in time.

Perhaps Regina had finally summoned up the necessary steel to do what had to be done. If her daughter was controlling their mutual mentor, Cora thought she might actually applaud—provided Regina didn't do something foolish like send Rumplestiltskin after her own mother. Zelena? she wondered. Her elder daughter had both access and opportunity, but Cora did not believe Zelena would have done the deed. No, Zelena was too hungry for approval, and Cora had allowed Zelena to 'play' with her pet more than once, giving Zelena the dagger so that she might command Rumplestiltskin to do whatever she wanted. Zelena was satisfied with her lot in life, which meant someone else had done it.

The pirate, perhaps? Hook was an actual possibility; he was skilled at breaking and entering, and Cora was all too aware of his annoying obsession. But she didn't think that Hook was foolish enough to betray her, even if he was bedding that fairy on the side. Besides, if he had the dagger, Hook would be the Dark One, now. No. Another unlikely thief. The pirate didn't have the patience to wait.

Her magic sputtered and then flickered out; Cora glanced at the mirror and sighed in annoyance. For a moment, she contemplated refreshing the spell, but using blood magic—particularly someone else's—to spy was terribly inefficient. You could generally only hear what the individual whose blood was used said; had Belle not been standing so close to Rumplestiltskin, Cora never would have heard her end of the conversation.

"I shall simply have to gather more hearts," she told her reflection, rising and squaring her shoulders. Having lost her collection was particularly annoying, now; she knew the heroes were gathering for a war council, but she did not know where they were going and would have no way to observe what was said.

Still, that was not the end of the world. While her enemies' leadership was distracted, Cora could take advantage of the situation to prove her power to Storybrooke.

They were the last ones to arrive. Rumplestiltskin never would have admitted to anyone—even Belle—that his stomach was a mess of butterflies and it took all of his self-control just to walk into that room with so many people. Intellectually, he knew that he needn't fear any of them, that he could turn the lot of heroes into snails without breaking a sweat. But emotion and intellect did not always align, and he'd spent the last ten days trapped in a cage and utterly unable to defend himself. The coward inside him burned to break and run, and Rumplestiltskin wanted nothing more than to go home and hide himself away from the world. Then he could just retreat into Belle's arms and stay away from everyone else until he felt vaguely confident again.

"Sorry we're late," Belle said before he could speak, and Rumplestiltskin cursed his lingering fears and jumpiness for letting her get in ahead of him.

Not really projecting power today, are we, dearie? his curse mocked him. His damn demon should have been happy to be free, but instead it was cranky; had Cora controlled him longer, the spread of blackness and darkness in his heart would have become irreversible, and Rumplestiltskin knew that his curse sought to gain control of its host. His wife, however, continued to speak, all the while looking at the heroes with slightly narrowed eyes:

"We didn't receive word of this meeting until a few minutes ago," Belle continued, clearly unhappy that no one had bothered to invite them until the last minute—and that they were coming at all when Rumplestiltskin was still unsteady on his feet.

Not that he was going to show these people that. But Belle knew.

"We're just glad you could come," Snow said smoothly, and Rumplestiltskin thought he saw Regina smirk slightly.

Leave it to Regina to find this funny, he thought wryly. The group the Charmings had gathered seemed to be the same as the one from the war council he'd interrupted last time, except Regina and Henry were here now and the Blue Fairy, interestingly enough, was not. Did they think I might try to take another shot at her? Rumplestiltskin almost snorted aloud. He didn't like Reul Ghorm, but he wasn't going to try to kill her of his own volition. Not today, anyway.

His eyes scanned across the group quickly, assessing strengths and weaknesses and filing things away. Granny, Ruby, and Grumpy were there, of course, even if none of the three really belonged in a meeting like this. Archie probably didn't, either, but at least the cricket was always a voice of reason. Robin Hood was undoubtedly there because of Regina, but he was a clever sort and Rumplestiltskin couldn't object to the outlaw's presence—the fact that Robin had saved his wife and child under the curse was not something he'd ever forget, anyway. Henry looked excited to be included, even if the adults probably should have left him behind. Then again, he and Belle should have left Gabrielle at home, too, but without the contract to protect her, there was no way that they were going to let their daughter out of their sight. Belle had already settled her into a corner with a coloring book, and Rumplestiltskin waited for her to be finished.

"Did you seriously invite him?" Grumpy demanded before anyone else could speak, and then threw a guilty glance at Rumplestiltskin's wife. "No offense, Belle."

"What?" Belle turned to face the dwarf, who Rumplestiltskin seriously began to think about turning into a toad. "I can't believe you'd say that, Grumpy. Rumplestiltskin is here to help."

"He took my heart!"

"Not by choice!" Belle snapped back immediately, and Rumplestiltskin felt like such a coward for letting his wife defend him like this. He'd told her this would happen. None of them would ever see him as human; hate and fear were much easier emotions, and why had he agreed to try to help these people?

Grumpy rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. No one knows if that dagger thing is real or not—"

"Don't be ridiculous. Or any stupider than you have to be," Regina cut him off with a snort.

"I'm only saying what everyone is thinking," Grumpy insisted. "It sounds to me like that dagger was a convenient excuse to play bad guy whenever he wanted to, but now that it looks like we might win, he's jumping ship and crying about how some piece of metal can control him."

Say something or let them all know you're a coward. He wasn't sure if the thoughts were his own or the voice of his curse, but either way, he was right. So, Rumplestiltskin turned to Grumpy as calmly as he could, acting like their opinions didn't matter to him—because they didn't—and trying an amused smile on for size.

"Did you have any choice when Cora held your heart?" he asked coolly.

"Of course not." Grumpy looked at him like he was an idiot, and it was all Rumplestiltskin could do not to roll his eyes. Instead, he pulled one of the two empty chairs out for Belle, letting her sit next to Ruby before he took the seat next to Archie.

At least the cricket didn't hate him. I think.

"Well, then we can compare notes on how being used as a puppet feels all day if you wish, but I, for one, would prefer to discuss Cora's demise." Sitting back in his chair casually—and ignoring how his body screamed in protest—Rumplestiltskin looked at Snow and Charming. "I should probably begin by saying that she's not going to live through this. I hope that's not a problem."

The young monarchs exchanged looks, but it was Regina who spoke up. "I think we all know that's coming," she said, giving her stepsister a hard look. "Since Mother apparently knows about the original plan to drop her into another world, I think that option is off the table."

Curious, Rumplestiltskin glanced at Belle, who gave him a little shrug. "Jefferson and I were planning on dumping her in Neverland."

"Neverland?" His heart skipped a beat. Keeping his voice level was hard with the lump in his throat. "Be glad that didn't work."

Don't think about that now.

"Do you have any better ideas?" Snow asked, looking a little pained.

"You can't possibly have pity for the woman," Emma put in. "She's killed—or had killed—over twenty people in the last eleven days! Sure, a trial by jury would be nice if we could lock her up long enough, but I'm getting the impression that she'd just break out."

"Speaking of killing, what are we going to do with the person who did most of that killing?" Granny asked bluntly, and Rumplestiltskin felt fear shoot up his spine, making his entire body tense. They'll try to lock me up, he worried. They'll do it again, and Cora will get away, and she'll never stop looking for the dagger. Then she'll find it, and—

With an effort, he pulled his thoughts away from that runaway train of terror, forcing himself to roll his eyes. "I'll tell you what, dear," Rumplestiltskin snapped, turning a glare on the old woman. "I'll make a deal with you. I'll kill Cora, and you stop whining about things outside your control."

"Rumple," Belle breathed, but he was too angry—too frightened—to back down. Fortunately, he could hide his fears underneath darkness and anger as well as he'd always been able to, even if that meant ignoring the worried looks his son was throwing his way.

But he had no way to pretend that the hand Belle laid on his forearm wasn't a gigantic relief, that it didn't help him center himself and fight back his fear.

"Like we can trust you to do her in," Granny scoffed before anyone else could speak.

"Well, you don't have a lot of choice, now, do you?" Rumplestiltskin snorted. "Who else is going to do the deed? You and your trusty crossbow? I think not." He turned to his old student after sneering at the old woman. "Regina, do you feel up to killing your dear mother?"

She winced. "I'm—she's always beaten me before. I can take Zelena down, sure, but Mother…she knows all my tricks." Squaring her shoulders, Regina turned a glare on Grumpy. "So you need to stop antagonizing the one person who can take her down. Got it?"

The dwarf glared back, but Archie got in before anyone else could start an argument. "We're all allies here," the prince said firmly. "We can't afford to start fighting amongst ourselves."

"That depends upon who is calling who an ally," Granny interjected pointedly, and Rumplestiltskin thought Regina's fury might literally make her blow up—or at least her magic. Despite his discomfort, he was starting to find the arguments amusing—though hardly useful.

"The door's right there if you don't like the company," Regina snapped, and seemed ready to go on before Snow laid a hand on her arm. Ruby likewise seemed to be trying to calm Granny down, but the tension in the room was thick and oppressive.

"I've got a question," Bae cut in before the cranky old bat could respond. "Didn't you guys pass some sort of law or another that pardoned everyone for anything they did under the curse?"

Immediately, Rumplestiltskin saw where his son was going with that line of questioning, and he had to hold back a bittersweet smile. He's brilliant, Rumplestiltskin thought. I missed so much of his life, but he's still utterly brilliant. Pride helped displace his discomfort for a few moments, and when he glanced Belle's way, she flashed him a smile.

"We did," David said slowly, studying Baelfire curiously.

"What are you getting at?" Snow asked, looking intrigued. It was always nice to know that his pet prince and princess weren't idiots, but it was even more interesting when their daughter picked up where his son left off.

"You say that someone using that dagger removes your free will, right?" Emma asked, looking Rumplestiltskin's way. "Just like the curse did for everyone else, or like anyone whose hearts Cora has now."

There were at least a dozen ways in which that parallel didn't add up, but Rumplestiltskin didn't have the energy to quibble over details. Besides, he could see where Bae was going—and that the Savior was actually trying to help him, too. It wouldn't do to sabotage that because he preferred specifics to generalities. They're your allies, said a voice inside him, one that sounded rather like Belle. You have to play this smart. Don't alienate them.

"More or less," he allowed, feeling a tightness across his shoulders and fighting down the desire to cover up his vulnerabilities with hostility. Rumplestiltskin's voice dropped to a whisper before he could stop it. "Rather more."

Don't, he told himself firmly. Just don't. Being willing to not work with these people didn't mean he had to let them in. They'll only take advantage of your weaknesses to trap you, dearie, his curse taunted him. You let them know how damaged you are, and they'll use that against you.

They'd try to lock him up. They'd try to take the dagger and they would—

"Well, then I'd think this would apply," Emma said pointedly, and after a moment, her parents nodded.

They popped out of Jefferson's hat in the park.

"Well, that's done," Jafar snorted, brushing himself off as the Hatter watched in amusement. The sorcerer hadn't believed him, had he? That was the way of powerful magic users, though. They always had to see things for themselves. Even the reasonable ones were idiots about portal jumping.

"I told you Wonderland was utterly mad," he reminded his companion, and then shrugged. "Though I do have to admit that was a little…worse than usual."

Jafar barked out a laugh. "So you did! Still, I think that little world might have its uses."

"If by uses you mean 'is a place where Cora isn't', it does have that going for it," Jefferson replied. "If only that."

"That, my friend, might be more than enough." Jafar looked thoughtful, glancing around Storybrooke Park. "Is it just me, or are things…quieter than usual?"

"Looks pretty normal to me," Jefferson shrugged again, his mind already on how he would apologize to Grace for having been away for so long. The few hours they'd meant to spend in Wonderland had turned into an overnight dash to get away from the damn Caterpillar and his goons, which Jafar had enjoyed a lot more than Jefferson had.

Still, the sorcerer had saved his life when he hadn't had to—getting a second person to come through the hat would have been easy enough so that Jafar could make it back—so that made him all right in Jefferson's books. Even if Jafar seemed to like Jefferson's least favorite realm. Or maybe it's my second least favorite realm. I swore I'd never go back to Neverland, after all; that crazy manchild is more than anyone can handle. And Narnia wasn't exactly a blast, either…

"It isn't," Jafar interrupted his thoughts, gesturing towards an empty swingset with his staff. "It's a beautiful Saturday morning. Why aren't there children playing in the park?"

"Because there's a psychopathic Evil Queen trying to take over the town?"

"Point." Dark eyes narrowed. "Still, something just feels…wrong."

"If you say so. Personally, I think it might just be people running scared from that battle two days ago," he reasoned. "You know, the one you conveniently managed to arrange for us to be in Agrabah during."

A hint of a smile touched Jafar's face. "Are you objecting?"

"Not in the slightest. Anyway, I'm going home to hug my daughter. If you need—"

Ring! Jafar's ringtone wasn't a bit of music—though Jefferson had tried suggesting to him that he use 'A Whole New World', which hadn't gone over well—but it still cut into their conversation easily enough. A scowl replacing his amused expression, Jafar took one look at his phone and then put it back in his pocket.

"If anyone asks you, we were in Wonderland right now," the sorcerer said.

"Cora?" Jefferson guessed.

"Of course not." It was a lie, but one designed to protect Jefferson, so the Hatter let it slide. "I would never ignore my dear friend the Queen."

He snorted. "Oh, never."

"I do, however, want to get the lay of the land before doing anything…precipitous. So, I propose you lay low and prepare to make another journey. Just in case."

"I'm not leaving Grace here, no matter how bad it gets."

Jafar blinked. "Of course you won't. I wouldn't ask you to."

David had known that the meeting would be a little tense, but they'd needed to get everyone together in one room and figure out where they were going. Regina had been able to vet everyone beforehand and guarantee they still had their hearts (with the exception of the Golds, but David felt they could be certain those three hearts remained where they belonged), which at least gave him confidence that no one could eavesdrop on this war council. Still, he'd known that inviting Rumplestiltskin would make everything…interesting, much though he and Snow both acknowledged that it had to be done.

He liked to think they would have invited the Dark One—now Henry's other grandfather—even if Regina hadn't pointed out to both of them that Rumplestiltskin was the only one who could take Cora down. She'd said the same thing in the meeting, too, though that didn't keep Grumpy and Granny from staring at Rumplestiltskin suspiciously. You mean hostilely, David corrected himself, letting out the breath he'd been holding. Emma and Baelfire had at least come up with a reasonable way to avoid trying to arrest Rumplestiltskin for his part in Cora's recent bloodbaths, but the meeting had still turned nasty far quicker than he'd expected.

"I think that's an excellent idea," Snow said in response to Emma's proposal. "No one who has been controlled by Cora, regardless of her method of control, will be held responsible for their actions. Cora is to blame. Everyone else will receive a full pardon for-"

"I didn't ask for some pardon, dearie," Rumplestiltskin cut in, his drawn face unreadable again except for the sneer he wore.

"Rumple," Belle said quietly, and David watched the Dark One turn to face his wife as she put a hand on his arm. The silent byplay between them was fascinating to watch; Rumplestiltskin was so very different here than he had been in the Enchanted Forest, quieter and far less flamboyant, but the same power radiated from him. Yet Belle seemed impervious to that danger, and Rumplestiltskin's sneer faded away as she gave him a small smile.

"I think what Rumplestiltskin means to say is that he's never been your subject," Belle turned to Snow to say, but David didn't miss the way that her hand slid down Rumplestiltskin's arm to squeeze his fingers gently. "But we're grateful for your consideration, and it is very nice to know that no one is going to target him for actions taken outside of his control."

Wow. That was diplomatic. To David's left, Snow blinked and nodded, clearly deciding to ignore the prickly Dark One and take the compromise Belle had offered. For his part, David just kept watching Rumplestiltskin, noting how tired and pale the older man looked. He looked awful the day Emma shot him, too, so it's not that, he realized. What did Cora do to him?

"Then we should discuss how best to handle this situation," Snow continued briskly. "After all, Cora isn't the only threat—from what we understand, she's gathered an impressive collection of allies."

"Not all of which are entirely happy with her," Regina put in. "Maleficent, Cruella, and Ursula are happy to be neutral if Cora goes down."

"Neutral in what direction?" Ruby spoke up for the first time. "Sorry for asking, but those three aren't exactly known for behaving well in public."

"Though I don't think anyone will argue if Maleficent wants to turn Cora into Barbequed Evil Queen du Jour," Grumpy put in. Several people snorted approvingly, but Regina shook her head.

"Sorry, but that's not on the menu. Maleficent won't move against Mother, and even if the other two won't fight against us, neither Cruella or Ursula is going to fight with us out of the 'goodness' of their hearts."

"What's Maleficent's problem?" Grumpy asked. "She still miffed that no one wanted to ally with her before the curse, or did she make some sort of deal with Cora?"

"Don't be an idiot. Mother took her daughter, and Mal promised not to go after her so she could get Lily back," Regina retorted, eying the Dark One speculatively. Rumplestiltskin didn't seem to notice, so Regina continued: "Though it's worth mentioning that she didn't promise not to act against any of Mother's other allies."

"Well, that's something, at least," Snow nodded. "What about the others? Jafar and Ingrid are both powerful, right? And there's also Zelena."

"Ingrid's heart went missing," Emma spoke before Regina could reply.

"Cora has it." Surprisingly, it was Rumplestiltskin who spoke up in a flat voice, and he shrugged when every eye turned to him.

Realization seemed to hit Emma hard. "You took it from my car by the docks."

"Be glad you didn't notice, of I would have had to kill you," the Dark One replied simply, and David watched several people bristle. Emma, notably, wasn't one of them, but David still spoke quickly to forestall another argument.

"Right. So, Ingrid is with Cora whether she wants to be or not, and Zelena is probably happy to stick with Cora, too. Jafar is probably a wildcard. Anyone else?"

"Jafar is the one who told Jefferson about how Cora knew about our original plan for her," Belle spoke up for the first time. "I don't think he wants to work with her much longer."

"Wow, you mean someone on Team Evil is sane?" Baelfire joked, and a nervous laugh rounded the room. But an undercurrent of relief came along with that laugh; the odds were somewhere around even, now, and they actually stood a chance. Better than a chance if Rumplestiltskin can deal with Cora as easily as he seems to think he can, David thought, squeezing Snow's hand.

"What about the Jabberwocky?" Regina asked. "I think it goes without saying that no one in this room wants to meet up with her."

"Again," Emma muttered darkly, and David didn't miss the way Baelfire lightly bumped his shoulder against hers.

"I don't think she'll be a problem," Snow said slowly, glancing his way. David shrugged, and his wife continued: "The Jabberwocky doesn't seem to want to work for Cora, either. If someone can get the Vorpal Blade away from Cora, I think she'll just leave."

"Yeah, but does anyone want to trust that…whatever she is?" Grumpy asked, and David was starting to wonder if the dwarf was just being difficult because he could.

"I expect a crossbow bolt between the eyes will kill her quickly enough if she's lying," Granny said with a shrug, all too obviously not looking at Rumplestiltskin.

That comment caused an uneasy silence; no one seemed willing to start another argument, and Rumplestiltskin ignored the bait Granny had offered, staring blankly at the wall. David was starting to wonder if the Dark One was even listening to them bicker, or if he was so bored by the meeting that he'd simply tuned out. Or there's something wrong with him, David thought, studying the drawn face and noticing the dark circles underneath Rumplestiltskin's eyes. Belle still had a hand on his arm, though now the gesture seemed more protective than anything else.

Finally, Archie cleared his throat, looking at Regina. "Do you think that Zelena might be willing to listen to reason? I understand the two of you didn't grow up together, but she is your sister."

"Half-sister," Regina corrected the former cricket, and David saw Snow give her a sad smile. "Crazy half-sister."

"She still might listen to you," Archie pressed. "I say it's worth a chance."

"And I might have a chance of convincing Mother to shove her own heart in, too, but I'm still not going to try," was the snapped reply, and Snow got in quickly before Archie could try anything else.

"I think that what we're all getting at is that we should remove Cora's allies before…anyone goes after Cora herself," she said briskly. "The fewer allies she has, the weaker she becomes."

The next twenty minutes were spent covering details, and eventually it was decided that David, Baelfire, and Robin would go after Bo Peep, while Emma and Snow arrested Fagin. Belle volunteered to call Jefferson to see if he might serve as a go-between with Jafar, and Regina said that she'd go check her mother's vault to make sure there were no other hearts there. Unsurprisingly, Rumplestiltskin didn't volunteer to do anything, but David could read him well enough to know that there was no way he wasn't going to go after Cora. He seemed willing to wait to let the others do their legwork first, though, and that was probably the best they would get from him, so David didn't argue.

No one answered when he knocked on the door. Maurice waited several minutes, knocking again and then trying Lacey's old cell phone number, but there was no response.

I suppose that tells me what Belle thinks of me, he thought, turning away from the door with his shoulders slumped. I should have listened to the prince. David had told him to talk to Belle, to believe her when she said that she was where she wanted to be. Yet he'd dithered—a terrible habit he'd always had—trying to find some way to convince everyone that his daughter was still a prisoner of the Dark One. Rumplestiltskin had taken her away in a deal, for crying out loud! That wasn't a way to build any kind of relationship, let alone the kind of marriage that Belle claimed they had.

But his daughter had never lied to him. Eventually, Maurice had managed to shove aside enough of Moe's distrust of what his daughter said and think about the situation. Belle had said the same thing back in the Enchanted Forest, and his girl had never been one to give in easily. If she was a prisoner, she would have said so—or at least she would have said so here, where people had more freedoms and a monster demanding a young lady become his maid would not be allowed. That meant that Belle had to be telling the truth. She loved Rumplestiltskin, no matter what that Beast saw her as. She'd made her choice…and that meant Maurice had been an utter fool.

However, Belle had apparently decided that she'd waited long enough, so he trundled back down the walk, staring at his feet as he went. He'd keep trying, because Belle deserved a father who would listen to her. But he would have to try another day. If Belle was home, she clearly wasn't receiving visitors.

He almost bumped into the jauntily dressed young man who was heading up the walk, and did a double take when he realized that this wasn't the Dark One's son. He'd only met Baelfire (?) once, but aside from sharing dark hair, this man didn't look much like him at all.

"Excuse me," Maurice said absent-mindedly, sidestepping around the other man.

"No one home?"

He blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"I asked if anyone was home. I'm looking for Belle," was the easy response.

"Why would you be looking for her?" The words were out, sharp and hostile, before Maurice could stop himself.

"Who are you, her father?" the other man shot back with a laugh. "It's none of your business."

"As a matter of fact, I am." Instinct told Maurice not to like the sound of that response—but maybe… Maybe he's more than a friend? Maybe Belle is better off than I thought? Only a horrible father would hope his daughter was having an affair, but surely that was safer than claiming to love the Dark One.

"Ah." The young man's face transitioned from shock to a blinding smile as he held out a hand. "I'm Jefferson. I'm a friend of Belle's from back home."

"A…friend?"

"What, you think she doesn't have them?" Jefferson snorted. "And no, nothing else, before you get all crazy on me. If there's anyone in any realm foolish enough to cuckold the Dark One, it's not me—and it wouldn't be with Belle. She'd slap me silly. Anyway, I'm a portal jumper. I used to do a lot of work for Rumplestiltskin."

"Then why are you looking for her?" he couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Honestly? I was hoping she could tell me why the town is so eerily quiet. I've been away since yesterday, and it feels like there's a giant anvil just waiting to fall on everyone's heads. I'd like to know what's happening."

"I can't help you there," Maurice admitted, glancing back at the house with its darkened windows. "No one answered when I knocked."

"Pity." Jefferson shrugged, and turned away. "Ah, well. It was nice meeting you."

Maurice watched him go, struggling to piece together what he knew of his daughter's life. She had friends he had never met. She had a daughter who he had not known about back home, and a stepson who looked older than her. Belle had built a life without him, a life to replace the one she had bravely turned away from—and the one he had denied her with his rejection when she had come to make peace. He had missed so much.

Would she even want him back, now?

The meeting had broken up into small knots of people, everyone discussing what they'd do next. It was a really weird group of people when you got down to it, even if you hadn't learned most of their stories through Land Without Magic fairytales. Unfortunately for Bae, he had learned about them that way, and although he knew that most everyone was different from the way the outside world looked at them, he still found his head spinning from time to time.

Like now, when Robin Hood turned to one of the seven dwarves and asked about a fairy's health.

"How's Astrid doing?" the outlaw asked Grumpy. "I heard she barely managed to escape the convent. Ana was worried about her—she and Will were by last night."

"She's all right," Grumpy said in a voice that could be charitably considered a growl. "No thanks to some people, though. Did you know that six fairies died in that attack?"

Bae didn't need to follow Grumpy's gaze to know who the dwarf was glaring at; everyone knew that Cora had sent Rumplestiltskin to do her dirty work on that front. He hadn't asked about that incident yet (or any other; his father had been so quiet after dinner the night before that he hadn't wanted to pry), but he knew enough to know that no fairies would have escaped if Rumplestiltskin had truly wanted to kill them all. Grumpy, however, was glaring at Rumplestiltskin like he was the devil incarnate, even though the man in question was doing nothing more dangerous than looking over Gabi's shoulder at the moment.

His little sister really was crazy when it came to coloring; Bae could see her showing off her masterpiece to their father, but for the life of him, he couldn't tell what the picture had started life as. Now it looked like a rainbow colored hippopotamus with an eagle's wings, but he didn't think coloring books included animals like that.

A voice broke through his thoughts as an elbow landed solidly in his side. "I said that went better than I expected. Not that you were listening," Emma said pointedly.

"Sorry. Guess I got distracted."

"Tell me about it," his ex-girlfriend (was she an ex? Or was she his fiancé?) grunted. They still hadn't talked about whether or not they were going to get together now that the contract wasn't there to protect anyone, and Bae had been too chicken to ask.

Guess that apple fell closer to the tree than I'd like to admit, huh? he thought, trying not to sigh. But now wasn't the time. They had work to do, and a town to save.

"So, we'll start after lunch?" he asked, looking back over at Emma as Snow and Charming headed for the door, deep in conversation with Granny. She never got a chance to answer, but Bae hadn't been watching to see Grumpy stalk across the room and grab Rumplestiltskin by the shoulder, roughly spinning the sorcerer around as he snarled:

"You tried to kill Astrid, you son of a bitch!" the dwarf snarled. "Everyone else might give you a free pass, but I'm not gonna forget that you stole my heart, either. You're every bit as bad as the Evil Queen, and just as rotten!"

Everyone in the room froze, just waiting for Grumpy to turn into a snail—or something worse. Even Bae didn't move, because there was no way he could get there in time to make a difference. Grumpy had poked a hornet's nest—but Rumplestiltskin hadn't moved.

Instead, he'd stumbled back a step, wide-eyed and frozen, cringing away from the hand on his left shoulder. Terror flashed through his brown eyes, and his face was more drawn and pale than ever. He's wearing the expression of someone just waiting to be hurt, Bae realized. Neal Cassidy had traveled in a lot of questionable circles in the Land Without Magic, particularly when he'd been a fifteen-year-old trying to pretend to be older. He knew about all kinds of nasty things that people from the Enchanted Forest had never even dreamt of, and he'd definitely learned to recognize the classic signs of an abuse victim early on. He'd just never expected to see his father exhibit them.

"Grumpy!" Belle's voice cut through the sudden silence even as Bae lurched into motion. He was closer than Belle, and bigger too. Someone had to intervene, and no one else seemed willing. Belle wasn't giving up, either, shouting: "Stop it!"

The dwarf didn't seem to hear her; his eyes were still on Rumplestiltskin as he yanked the Dark One back towards him. "You think playing house with Belle and a little kid is going to get you any sympathy?" he demanded. "Everyone knows what you are. Everyone—"

Magic lashed out, slamming into Grumpy and forcibly shoving him back. The dwarf bounced off the nearby wall, intact but clearly winded.

"Don't touch me," Rumplestiltskin snapped, but Bae could hear the panic in the words before his father reined it in. Suddenly, he was all Dark One again, standing straighter and his eyes flashing dangerously enough to almost hide the fear in them. "If you ever try it again, dearie, you'll be spending the rest of your days as something small and slimy. Understood?"

"Yeah, threaten me, 'Stiltskin," Grumpy jeered, lurching forward. "That'll—"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Bae cut in, reaching the dwarf and shoving him back so that he could get between Rumplestiltskin and the dwarf—and hopefully forestall any small-and-slimy-making spells. Once he did, however, he noticed what Grumpy hadn't yet: Grumpy's right hand was stained red with blood.

Wheeling around, Bae snapped his gaze up to his father's left shoulder. Rumplestiltskin was wearing a black suit jacket, but the shoulder seemed wet and shiny.

"Papa?" he asked, staring at the blood. "You're hurt?"

His father had left behind a potion so that his wounds could be healed that first day, and he'd seen Rumplestiltskin make giant gashes disappear with a flick of his fingers. Bae had even seen someone shoot his father with an arrow right between the eyes as a child, and that hadn't been a problem. How could Rumplestiltskin be hurt now? Grumpy didn't seem to have a weapon, although Emma was now next to him and glaring the dwarf down, so why was there a new kind of panic in his father's face?

"It's fine," Rumplestiltskin tried to say, but Bae was already moving forward.

"Let me look," he said, a knot of worry making his stomach hurt. Bae didn't wait for permission; he stepped forward and started unbuttoning his father's shirt. He met no resistance, and it didn't even occur to him that his father was shaking slightly until Belle reached them and grabbed Bae's wrists.

"Bae," she said softly, pulling his hands away. Somehow that made him look up at his father's face, pinched and drawn and so very uncomfortable.

"Leave it," Rumpelstiltskin said softly, finally seeming to find his voice, and Bae wanted to kick himself. Hard.

Ten days with that woman really messed him up, he realized too late. He'd meant far better than Grumpy had, but that didn't matter. Bae had still done the same thing, invading his father's personal space and not giving him a choice in the matter. Just like Cora didn't, he knew. Cora—and probably her crazy daughter who had seemed willing to rape Bae while he'd been their prisoner—had clearly not been one to take no for an answer, and she'd had the dagger.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, reaching out a tentative hand to touch his father's right arm. He hadn't meant to frighten him, hadn't realized Rumplestiltskin could be so frightened, and Bae felt like a fool. He'd known, intellectually realized, at least, that Cora had treated his father horribly, but he'd never understood how bad it was.

"It's all right," his father smiled, and it was that broken smile that came straight out of Bae's childhood, from when Rumplestiltskin was struggling to be strong for his son.

A quick flick of fingers righted Rumplestiltskin's suit, and erased the bloodstain, too. Bae burned to know where that bloodstain had come from, but he wasn't going to ask since he'd already made enough of a mess of things. Unfortunately, Emma didn't share the same hesitation.

"You okay, Gold?" she asked, not unkindly. "You can make the blood disappear, but it was still there in the first place."

"I'm quite fine, Sheriff, thank you." Oh, the walls were up, now. Rumplestiltskin hadn't had them when Bae was a kid, but he could see them now, high and strong to protect a fragile heart most people in this room probably didn't think Rumplestiltskin had.

"Bullshit." That was Regina, striding forward. The gesture she sent Grumpy's way was anything but friendly. "Did this idiot do that to you?"

Bae watched as Belle silently slipped right hand into his father's left, her other hand sliding around to rest on the small of his back. Her touch seemed to calm the hostility he could feel radiating from Rumplestiltskin, but that still didn't answer the question. A word from Rumplestiltskin—even if it was a lie—could make this entire war council go up in flames, tearing their alliance apart before they managed to defeat Cora. Bae could see the lines being drawn, could see Snow and Charming wanting to side with the dwarf, while Regina automatically seemed to take his father's side. Emma seemed inclined to do so as well, though she was more doubtful—but she probably saw the same signs of abuse that Bae did, given the lives they'd both lived.

"No," Rumplestiltskin said after a moment, his voice hoarse. "That wound predates our friendly dwarf."

"What, did you forget how to heal yourself?" Regina gave him a look that said she wasn't buying it. But her next words sounded surprisingly worried. "Sell me another one, Rumple."

Rumplestiltskin flinched; everyone saw it, but Bae would have bet his father's fortune that none of them were ballsy enough to mention it. He looked at Belle, who smiled encouragingly, and then glanced away before meeting Regina's eyes squarely.

"Wounds made with the dagger aren't something I can heal," he admitted quietly. "You can thank your darling mother for that one."

"I'd rather just hold your coat as you kill her," Regina replied, and that seemed to be the right thing to say.

Rumplestiltskin's smile was crooked. "I may take you up on that one, dear."

"Any time."

She would have to start over. Jafar was still off with the Hatter—or he was ignoring her calls, which was not a wise course of action—but the rest of her allies were more or less reliable. Zelena, of course, would back her regardless of what had happened, although Cora was not going to count on that. Still, a strong element of Cora's power base had always rested on the fact that her enemies never knew exactly whose hearts she possessed, so she would have to begin her collection anew.

Sitting behind her rebuilt desk, Cora put pen to paper once more, drawing up a list of those she would seek out first. Hearts, she wrote. Regina's outlaw. Charming. Prince Thomas. The wolf girl. The Cricket. Grumpy. The last one would be a repeat, but no one would expect her to take the brash dwarf's heart twice. As for Snow's asinine prince, well, Cora planned on killing him very nearly afterwards, because she'd been thwarted enough on that front and burned for revenge. The others were close to Snow, save for the outlaw who dared love a princess. Cora would punish him, too. The fact that Regina had—yet again—chosen an entirely unsuitable man was not lost on her mother, but she would simply have to re-teach the lesson she had thought Regina already learned.

But Regina was not the first person who required punishment. Not even Snow fit that bill now. No, Rumplestiltskin took priority. Whomever had stolen his dagger away had invalidated her contract with him, and now Cora was free to make him pay. A judicious amount of mirror magic had failed to show her who had it in their possession. That left her with one inescapable conclusion, of course; whomever had previously had the dagger had been foolish enough to give it back to Rumplestiltskin. Fortunately, she knew his weaknesses, and she knew exactly how to exploit them, too.

Belle.

She wrote the name with relish, putting it under a new category. No, she wouldn't take the little maid's heart. She had better plans for her.

A/N: Oh, dear. Cora has a new plan—but what do you think she's going to do? Stay tuned for the answer in Chapter Ninety-Eight—"Ashes and Alliances", in which Zelena seeks revenge, the heroes go after Cora's accomplices, Regina and Rumplestiltskin have a heart to heart, and Cora makes her move.