Chapter 4: The price of gold
Rumplestiltskin was looking at his newest contract with a grin. How easy it had been to convince poor, desperate Cinderella. She didn't even ask what would be the price. He liked easy contracts, but this one had to be the easiest one yet.
"You shouldn't take advantage of the desperate, Sparkles." Rumple narrowed his eyes and turned around to see the adventurous princess.
"Oh, your highness. I wasn't expecting your visit this soon." He recovered quickly from his surprise. It wouldn't do for the girl to know that she was able to catch him by surprise. "Got more information for me?" The woman smiled and raised an eyebrow.
"Why would I pay you a visit if not for that reason? Oh, mighty Dark One!" She said with a deep mocking bow. "I went to the castle, but you weren't there. It took me a while to find you. You shouldn't hide from me." Rose explained and a pout appeared on her face at the last part.
"Oh, come on darling. You know I only cover my sound to you when I'm making a deal. And this was an important one." He approached her and took her face in his hands. "Otherwise, you know I always let you know where I am. So don't make that face." He kissed her forehead and smiled tenderly at her. "Let's go home." And they disappeared in a puff of smoke.
They reappeared at the Dark Castle, and Rumple decided to see what Rose had found out in her last journey.
"So, will you tell me now what you discovered? This was a rather short journey. Did something happen?" He knew the princess could take care of herself, but he always worried that something would happen, and he wouldn't be able to help her.
Rose smiled and shook her head. She always found it funny that everyone had this image of the Dark One as cold, cruel, evil and every negative adjective you could think of. But he always showed a softer side around her, mind you he still had his temper, and they've gotten in their fair share of fights. After all, Rose Red wasn't someone that backed down when she was right, and as Rumplestiltskin found out very fast since their partnership, she tended to be always right.
"Nah. Nothing happened. I'm back earlier because there was nothing useful there." She sighed and a frown appeared on her face. "I think that I won't be able to find anything new until I find someone like me. And seeing as I can't find any records of one anywhere for the last thousand years, I think it will be hard to find one." She plopped herself on a chair and rested her head on the back of it, letting out another sigh.
"Anyway, what was the deal with Ella?" She asked, giving Rumple a side glance. "She is a good girl, but too hasty in her decisions. She needs to learn to think things through."
The Dark One knew Rose was changing the subject just so she could forget about her own problems. But he wasn't going to mention it. After all, he would do anything for his little fire bird.
Rose was at Granny's again working on her paper, when Emma entered and sat beside her. Ruby brought her the usual coco with cinnamon.
"So, anything interesting happened in this beautiful day?" Asked Rose without taking her eyes off the computer.
"Well… After leaving Henry, the sheriff offered me a job as his deputy." Emma said like it was no big deal. Rose looked at her friend and raised an eyebrow.
"Care to tell me what your reason to say no was? Mary-Margaret is letting us stay at her place, and I can live off my savings for a while. But, can you?" Rose didn't want to put Emma on the spot, but if she wanted to stay in Storybrooke for much longer, she needed to start making long term arrangements. A job would be a great start.
"Okay, moneybags. I may not be super rich like you, but I can support myself." Emma scoffed. She knew her friend meant well, but planning for a future farther away than next week was something she wasn't used to.
At that moment Regina entered and sat opposite Emma.
"Good morning, Rose. Would you mind if I speak with Emma for a while?" She asked with a kind smile. Rose nodded and put her earphones on with the music loud enough to block the tense conversation that was sure to unfold.
Once Regina left, Emma sighed, stood up and spilled her coco all over herself. Rose jumped and tried to move her computer, journal and various notes out of the way. Emma stormed off to the laundry room to wash her shirt, while Rose looked at her with an amused smile.
Emma and Rose were opening the boxes with their belongings, that had finally arrived. Mary-Margaret looked at them with a curious look.
"Is that all of your stuff? Or do you have more in storage?" She asked them setting their plates with the lunch on the table.
"Yeah, this is all. Stuff with no sentimental value." Said Emma.
"Well, this is all the stuff I have here in the States. The rest of my stuff is back at the manor in England." Said Rose while looking at a box full of books.
Mary-Margaret was very surprised at the last statement and looked at Emma with wide eyes. She nodded her head and smiled. Her best friend was not only rich, she was filthy rich. But you would never know by looking and talking with her. She preferred to have a normal lifestyle, than the posh, boring, judging, condescending, infuriating and fake life of the elite. Those were her exact words.
A knock was heard on the door and Mary-Margaret went to answer. There was Mr. Gold asking for Emma. She approached the door and listened to what he had to say. While Emma was debating on helping him or not, Rose stood up from the floor with two old travel journals in her hands. Without looking up, she approached the two women at the door.
"Mary-Margaret, would you be open to the possibility of adding a couple more shelves for books? I think I have too many for your bookshelf." Then she looked up and saw Mr. Gold.
He was looking at her the same way he did on their first, unfortunate, encounter, with total disbelieve and tenderness. Emma saw the look and decided she didn't like it, but before she could say anything about it, Mr. Gold raised his hand to Rose. She took it.
"A pleasure to see you again Miss Kingsley." And again, he brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I hope this time your instincts don't tell you to punch me again." He said with a small smirk.
Rose blushed, at the kiss and at the comment. She went to apologize again, but he raised his hand to silence her.
"Don't worry darling. There is nothing to forgive. After all, we can't fight our instincts." He said while looking at her deeply, as if trying to convey a message. The three women had the same astounded look, but Emma also had annoyance on it. She always felt protective of her best friend, especially in the matters of the heart.
Mary-Margaret, taking notice of Emma's look, decided to break the silence, excusing herself and Rose, saying that they should discuss where the shelves for her books could go.
Emma decided to help Mr. Gold find Ashley, mostly because she didn't want the young woman to end like her. At that moment, Henry entered and was uncomfortable with Mr. Gold's presence in the apartment. As he still hadn't figured out whom he was on his book.
Emma told Henry she had a job to do and couldn't spend time with him at the moment.
"Rose! I have a job. Want to help?" She yelled so her friend could hear her on the top floor. The redhead made her way down the stairs and smiled.
"Sure! I was going a little stir crazy."
Both women exited the apartment with Henry following them begging to help them find the maid. When they reached the car, Emma was trying to convince Henry to go home, but he wasn't having it. Rose knew that mother and son had to spend time together, so she decided to intervene.
"Better give up, Emma. Let him come, it may be educational." Emma threw her a glare. "I mean, it is a perfect way to show him that teenage pregnancy is not the way to go."
At that, Emma sighed, and Henry looked horrified. Rose laughed and said ʽjokingʼ.
Everyone was present at Cinderella's wedding. Snow White and Prince Charming where the first to approach the happy couple to congratulate them on their happy day.
During the dance, Snow started dancing with Ella until she felt a tap on her shoulder. The two women turned to see Rose Red with her typical leather outfit.
"May I cut in?" She said while grabbing Ella's hands. They started to dance and the young bride looked at the redheaded princess with a curious look. "I know I'm not dressed for the occasion, sorry. I just got back from a small trip and didn't have the time to change." She said with a sheepish smile.
Ella smiled and shook her head. She knew Rose was a free spirit, and that she didn't mean any offense with her attire. In fact, she would have been suspicious if she had appeared all dolled up like in Snow's wedding.
"Don't worry. I'm just happy you made it."
They were going to keep dancing, but Snow decided to cut in, so she could spend some time with her sister. After all, she hadn't seen her in almost a month.
After the celebrations, Rose made her way back the Dark Castle. There she found Rumplestiltskin quite happy, humming to himself.
"What's got you in such a good mood?" She asked with a smile and a raised eyebrow. He turned to her with a smile and started dancing around the room with her.
"Well, my little fire bird. I finally decided what I want from dear Cinderella, and just notified her during the wedding." He said, twirling her.
"What is that?" She asked. Rose knew that the prices for his deals could be random, from something extremely valuable, to the most trivial thing.
"Why, her firstborn of course." He said with a laugh.
Rose stopped dancing with him at once, making Rumple look at her with a questioning look. She looked at him with rage filled eyes, and the Dark One knew that his darling was not the least bit amused by the price.
"Her baby? Her baby?" She yelled at him furious. "I know you ask for all kind of things from your deals, but a baby? Are you insane?" She started her ranting while pushing him backwards with a finger to his chest.
"That is not only cruel, it's inhuman! I thought that even you had lines that you wouldn't cross. But this? Asking a woman for her baby?" She continued not letting him get a word in edgewise. "I know everything comes with a price. You know I know that better than anybody. But asking a woman to give up her child is monstrous. I would agree if the mother wanted to give the baby a better life, and you were to give the baby to someone that could take care of them. But taking a baby from a mother that can provide them with a good life and wants to keep them…"
Rumple looked at her and a flicker of anger passed through his eyes. He had never let anyone talk to him like that, and he wasn't going to start now.
"She knew that there would be a price to pay, darling. The price would be anything I wanted, and I want her firstborn. If she wasn't ready to pay it, she shouldn't have signed the contract. It is none of your business what I will do with the baby." He said grabbing her hands to stop her from pushing him further, and avoid a punch that he was sure would have come soon enough. It had happened before. "And if it took you so long to realize that I'm evil, insane, cruel and monstrous, then maybe you are not as smart as I thought you were."
The sound of a slap filled the room, and Rumple looked at Rose with mild surprise.
"I know you are evil. I know you have done horrible things. But I also know that you are capable of good, I have seen it. I saw you help Snow and David find each other time and time again in exchange for practically nothing." She looked at him with tear reamed eyes. "But, above all, I never thought that after Baelfire, you would subject someone else to the suffering of losing their child." With that she turned around and disappeared upstairs.
Rumplestiltskin looked at the spot where Rose had been with wonder. This was one of the reasons he kept her around, she could give him a run for his money when it came to arguing. And she had been the only one to leave him speechless, and make him truly think about his actions.
Once again, the Dark One realized how right he was with his nickname for the princess. She was free like a bird, but had a fire inside her that would burn anything and anyone that stood in her way. She was the perfect embodiment of the color red. Red is the color of passion and she sure had it.
She was passionate about her freedom; even he couldn't keep her in one place for more than two weeks. She was passionate about the truth; she had spent the last decade looking for the truth about herself, about who she was. She was passionate about her beliefs; just as their argument could testify, she defended what she believed fiercely, and she had a way to make other see her point, even make them question if what they believed was right. But most of all, she was passionate about the ones she loved; she would give and do anything for those she deemed family. That was why every time he had made a deal with Snow White, the price had been so small. He couldn't have stood her wrath if he had asked something too valuable of her dear sister.
He had seen her attack some of the Queen's knights that were too close for comfort to Snow White's hideout. She had taken them out by herself, with her twin daggers and a touch of her magic. After all of them had died, she cleaned up the place and left it like nothing had happened. Rumple doubted that Snow knew about that particular incident even now.
The search for Ashley brought the three of them to Granny's, there they questioned Ruby about Ashley, her situation, her possible whereabouts and for her boyfriend.
The next stop was Sean's house, Ashley's boyfriend. There they learned from his father that she had sold her baby. Both women were appalled at the new information. They went back to the diner to get more information from Ruby. There, they learned that Ashley was headed to Boston.
They made their way to the town exit and found Ruby's car on the side of the road. They heard a whimper and saw Ashley on the ground breathing heavily, clearly she was in labor. Emma drove her bug as fast as she could to get Ashley to the hospital, while lecturing her about the responsibilities of keeping the baby.
Rumplestiltskin was about to head out to meet Cinderella again, when he was stopped by Rose.
"You know this has trap written all over it, right?" She told him with a frown on her face.
"Don't worry, darling. If I'm not back by morning, you can spend the rest of our lives telling me ʽI told you soʼ." He said with a grin. She looked at him with an annoyed look and huffed.
"Take this seriously. I have a bad feeling about this meeting." He looked at her, smiled and kissed her tenderly.
"I know you have been angry at me since I set a price for the deal with Cinderella, and I'm touched that you care so much for my wellbeing." He looked directly at her eyes with as much sincerity as he could muster. "This will not be the last time we see each other. That, I can guarantee."
Rose looked at him with worry still in her eyes, grabbed his hands and squeezed them.
"Care to make a deal?" He looked at her surprised and laughed.
"Of course, my fire bird. In exchange for me coming back to you, the price will be…" He put a finger to his chin in thought. What could he ask of her that he didn't have already?
"What about a child?" She said suddenly. Rumple looked at her with wide eyes and after he recovered from the surprise, he grinned.
"Deal! Once I'm back from this meeting with Cinderella, we will have a child of our own." He kissed her again and left to the meeting that would make him break his deal. At least for a long time.
They made it in time to the hospital, and while waiting, Henry told Emma how she was the only one that could escape from Storybrooke.
"Rose can leave too. How do you explain that?" Emma told Henry. And Rose nodded, she was curious about what explanation the kid would give. He thought hard about it.
"I don't know. For some reason, the curse brought you outside of Storybrooke. There is a page in the book where it says that the Evil Queen put a special condition for you, but I don't know which one. Maybe, that is what made you spend the last 28 years outside of Storybrooke."
Emma and Rose looked at each other. And finally Rose decided to speak.
"That's great Henry, but… I'm 26 not 28." Henry looked at her surprised. "If I was truly part of your book, I would be 28 or I would have been in Storybrooke this whole time."
Henry was about to ask some questions about this new information, but a nurse came to tell them that Ashley had had the baby, a healthy baby girl.
Mr. Gold made his appearance known at that moment asking about his merchandise. Both women glared at him. Emma decided to have a chat with Mr. Gold about that matter. Finally, she was able to break the deal between him and Ashley, in exchange for a non-specified favor.
While Emma and Henry went to see Ashley and her baby, Rose stayed behind and called out to Mr. Gold.
"You know, Mr. Gold. I heard a lot about you in town." He turned to look at her and his smile fell at the angry look in her eyes. "I know that you make deals that greatly benefit you. But I would have never guessed that you would be willing to take a child from her mother." She looked at him with a hard glare. "I wouldn't think that you would stoop that low. Good day Mr. Gold."
With those last words she turned and went to meet Emma, Henry, Ashley and baby Alexandra. What she didn't see was Mr. Gold's smile. He turned to leave the hospital whispering under his breath.
"You still are my passionate fire bird."
That night, Emma, Mary-Margaret and Rose were at the dinner table talking about everything that happened with Ashley. Mary-Margaret was glad that the day ended in a happy note, and that the young mother was able to keep her child.
"By the way." Said Emma. "I accepted the job as deputy. I'm going to stay here for a while, so I better start pulling my weight around here."
Rose grinned, happy that her friend was finally thinking further ahead. Mary-Margaret smiled, she too could see that this was a step forward for Emma, and it reminded her of something.
"You just reminded me! Rose, there is a spot as a history teacher at the school." She said with a smile to the younger woman. "With your credentials, I'm sure you will have it with no problem"
Rose smiled and thanked Mary-Margaret. It seemed that the two friends were in Storybrooke to stay.