May 27th 2016 Charming Apartment, Storybrooke, Maine, 12:00 P.M EDT

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Asked my…half-brother. It was weird to think that given how old he looked. Emma had been one thing, aside from have a very smackable ass she was also around my own age. Not the same age, obviously, but close enough to have a sibling vibe. Rumple was more of a grandpa than a brother, but blood would out and all that jazz.'

I reminded myself of this as I forced my hands to unclench and NOT to wrap around my half-brother's weaselly little throat. "Yes. Si. Da. Hai. Do I need to keep switching languages, or did you suddenly learn to speak goddamn English in the last thirty seconds? The fucking thread leads here. To this door. This door is where the thread leads. To the door. The one that's here."

Throwing up my hands I framed the faded green door like a magicians assistant showing off a glass tank full of water. He grimaced, nodding slowly. "Aye. My apologies. This is just…unsettling news. This is where the Charmings live. I can't imagine which of them it could be leading to."

"Look. I get it. Secret blood relative. It's unsettling, join the club." I shrugged dismissively. "But that little magic trinket you made isn't going to last forever, so if we're going to track down my nephew we need to get going while the going is good. And whatever connection you have means they have one too. That means three data points, which means triangulation."

My own thread connecting to the kid would be nearly impossible to find. I'd have to spend days sorting my connections to get it. THIS one though, I had a lock on, which meant we could use it, and bringing the source along would let us adjust our heading in real time.

Looking grim, Rumple raised his cane and rapped on the door three times. "Coming!" Shouted a cheerful voice. There was a bustle of steps before the door flew open and Snow White's face appeared, the smile slipping away into a mask of neutrality when she saw who was there. "Ah. Mr. Gold." She said tightly. "I don't believe we were expecting you."

"No one expects the spanish inquisition!" I cried, throwing up my hands in a faux menacing gesture. The two of them just looked at me as Zee buried her face in her hands. I shrugged. "I thought it was funny. Figured it would break the tension." I glanced back and forth between them. "I was wrong. I see that now."

Snow's lips quirked a bit. "It was a nice try. I'm not sure why you're here, but I advise you for Ruby's sake to pick your friends better. I suppose I can't just leave you in the hall, however. Come on in then."

She stepped back, opening the door and gesturing us inside. I walked in casually, looking around with a polite smile. "Nice digs. Very homey." I spotted a backpack hanging off a chair next to a red leather jacket and whistled. "You and Charming and Emma and the kid all live here? Must get cramped."

"Not at all." She said happily, some of the cheer bleeding back in. "Every day here together is a joy."

I raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Where I'm from people have to pay for joy like that. And it usually requires a waiver and a safeword." Well, not for ME, I had my girls for that kind of thing, but clarifying it would have killed the joke.

A snort of amusement echoed from upstairs as Emma descended, joining the conversation. " It can get a bit crowded, but we make it work. Now, what exactly are you here for? I don't think we have any outstanding debts of vengeance against us for the dark one to collect, but I might have forgotten something. Did I ding your car on the way into the supermarket Gold?"

Rumple bared his teeth at her in an expression Mother Theresa would have been uncomfortable calling a smile. "If only. We come in search of…something else." His eyes snapped to me. "It's neither of them?"

"Check and check plus." I said with a shrug. "Whoever it is they're upstairs at the moment. You guys hiding an exact biological clone of our favorite scottish imp up there? Because that would be useful."

Like I'd summoned him, Henry came racing down the stairs. "Mom?" He called excitedly. "Whose here? Oh, Nick, Zee, what are you guys doing at our place? And…" His enthusiasm waned. "Mr. Gold."

"Okay, first of all." I said, turning to my brother. "Does ANYONE like you? Seriously, take a class or something. Second of all, we have officially found who we're looking for. Can't exactly tell how, but the link is there. The kid is officially a blood relative."

Rumple just stared at me uncomprehendingly. "He's…what? But how?"

"Ok, I'll add listening to your already impressive list of skills." I said in annoyance. "Right up next to annoying everyone and that hardcore pimp walk you've got going on." Ok. I could have been nicer, but I was annoyed. He'd kept this shit from me, and while I didn't usually give a fuck about that stuff, this was relevant to my mission. I held up my hands as his eyes flared. "No. Shit. Sorry. I'm annoyed but I'm letting effect my work. That's petty."

He deflated a bit. "I can't say I blame you." He said with a sigh. "This hasn't been an easy day for either of us."

A hand shoved itself in between us, waving up and down in our faces. "Ok, this is sweet, but can you two tell me what's going on, and what the hell it has to do with MY kid. Blood relative of who? Because if this is more curse bullshit, I'm going to stab one or both of you." Emma's eyes were wild with protective fury as she stared us down, and I couldn't help but be impressed. With her nerve, not the threat, I could have chewed her up like a piece of stale popcorn without much trouble.

"I'll handle this part." I said quickly, glancing at Rumple. "No offense, but you seem to have a knack for pissing people off and like I said, we're short on time." I turned back to the angry blonde. "Ok, long story short, Rumple here knows the location of the object I'm looking for or can find it, and with that as payment hired me to help him find his kid. I can see connections between people if I know where to look, and when we tried tracking his son, one connection led us to Henry."

She frowned suspiciously. "Why would Henry be related to him and not the rest of us?"

"I'd assume it's on his dad's side." I shrugged. "Other than that I couldn't tell you. But I can confirm that Henry is related to Rumple, because now that I know what to look for, I was able to confirm he's related to me too. That's not something I'd get wrong."

It had only taken a second to find the karmic tether between me and the kid, since we were currently interacting and standing right next to each other. A bit of digging into the strand with my perception and it was easy to confirm we shared some blood. Emma's eyes were wide. "Wait…related to YOU?"

Rumple gave a bitter smile. "Aye, Mr. Lord and I share the same mother, and he's come here to try to find her current prison." At my glare, he shrugged. "They always find out the truth eventually anyway. It's best to get these things out of the way before they become an issue."

"STOP!" SHouted Henry, cutting off Rumple and silencing the rest of us. "Just…stop. My dad can't be related to any of you. He's not magic or anything. He was just a firefighter who died in the line of duty." He shot Emma a pleading look. "Right mom?"

The blonde woman wilted like ice cream under a heat lamp, shrinking in on herself as she avoided his gaze. "I didn't…you weren't supposed to find out the truth about him. He wasn't there for us Henry. He left before he knew I was pregnant, abandoned me and left me holding the bag for a crime he committed. He's the reason I had you in jail."

The kid's face was a mask of betrayal, and he turned and bolted out the door. I shot Zee a look and jerked my head after him. My archon nodded and slipped out of the room while the rest of us tensed up. Emma tried to follow, but Snow got in her way. "Emma, sweetie. He needs time. Just let him calm down."

"He'll be fine." I assured her. "I sent Zee after him. She's tough enough to take anything in this town if it messes with him, and teenage guys are more likely to listen to beautiful women that aren't related to them."

That seemed like it almost got a smile, but she forced herself to refocus. "Henry is right though. His dad and I met in Boston. He's not from the Enchanted Forest."

"How do you know?" I asked with a shrug. "It's not like you could have known to ask. I'm never wrong though, there's a connection. Not sure if it's father and son but it's enough. We need the kid to track down Baelfire. You can come too if you want, I don't really care, but I need to do this job to find my mom, and I need her help with something."

I may or may not have tweaked my phrasing to sound like this was more of a family oriented thing than it was. She seemed like the type to sympathize with that mushy shit.

Snow took her hand. "Emma…it sounds like this is something you need to do. If Baelfire is Henry's father…maybe it's time for you to face him. Besides, helping someone find their mother is exactly the kind of thing the savior should do."

She buried her face in her hands, groaning in frustrated anger. "Why does this shit always HAPPEN to me?" After a minute, she sighed and nodded. "I'll help you. But I'm running things. You tell me where we're going and I'll make it happen. No offense but I don't know or trust you, even if you are related to my kid."

"I'll do you one better." I said with a shrug. "I'll bring Ruby. Rumple may need special magic to keep his mojo and memories outside town, but Ruby is connected to me now, she can use me as a battery."

She opened her mouth to respond, but was cut off by a loud boom as the ground shook beneath us. My head snapped up as I sensed a massive explosion of familiar power riding the heels of the shockwave. My lips peeled back from my teeth in anger. "Zee is fighting someone." My eyes snapped to Rumple. "Who the hell is in town with enough juice to give her a problem? I thought you were the strongest magic user here?"

Without even waiting to hear what happened, we all bolted from the apartment, heading for the street where the other two had gone. When we got there, we found a perfectly unscathed Zee standing next to an equally unharmed Henry. Lying at their feet was a dark haired guy in a lot of leather with a hook for a hand.

Zee brushed her coat off with a sniff. "Some old bat in a frumpy gown tried to jump me from behind. Didn't go well for her, so she threw this guy at me and vanished in a puff of smoke." She stepped over the unconscious man casually as she strolled up to us and stared down Emma and Snow. "So…anyone mind telling us what the hell is going on?"

May 27th 2016 Charming Apartment, Storybrooke, Maine, 1:00 P.M EDT

We all headed back inside, Henry being fussed over by his mom and grandma, and too panicked from being attacked to be an edgy little shit about his mom lying about daddy. Emma called a number and there was a puff of smoke, and Regina was there, fussing over him alongside them.

"They don't mess around with the kid's safety huh?" I asked my brother and the amused looking Charming. "It's kind of sweet, but I'm betting it gets a little suffocating."

Charming, or David as he preferred, barked out a laugh. "They mean well. I try to get him some time to himself when I can." He shot me a look. "So you're Henry's…what? Uncle? I'm not sure if I should welcome you to the family or tell you stay away from my grandson."

"The second one probably." I said with a shrug. "But he has nothing to worry about with me around. Nephew or not, he's one of my people now, and messing with one of gets you a draconic foot in the ass. Hence Zee, protecting him out there. My big question is protecting him from what?"

Emma, who had finished checking on him, turned to me with a grimace. "Cora. She's Regina's mother. We have no idea how she got here, but she was with Hook last time we saw her, and the description Zee gave fits her to a tee." She looked at my archon. "Thank you, by the way. Cora is dangerous and powerful. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

I gestured to the bound and gagged pirate (I'd appraised him, H rank wasn't bad for a vanilla human) on the couch. "So, is she going to come back for him? Like are they just partners of convenience or is this a sugar baby situation?"

Henry burst out laughing, while Regina and Emma both grimaced. The blond looked like she might puke. "I…no, not that. They're business partners. Hook is obsessed with killing Gold, for reasons I'm not totally clear on but assume are entirely valid. I think it had something to do with killing his girlfriend."

"Making friends wherever you go, huh Rumple?" I said wryly. "Well, obviously I'm not letting that happen for multiple reasons." I walked over and shook him awake. "Yo, Jack Sparrow, up and at em'."

He groaned, eyes springing open as he started to struggle against his bindings. "Ok, I'm going to remove this gag, and if you start screaming, I'll remove the tongue underneath it." At the gals from everyone else I just shrugged. "What? A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend."

I popped a talon, using it to cut the cloth neatly and making sure 'captain guyliner' as Regina had called him, got a good look at my sharp ass claw. Once the thing fell away, he glared up at me but didn't scream. Taking a deep breath, he said. "Do your worst, beast. No matter what torments you inflict on me I'll find a way to destroy the crocodile once and for all."

"Really?" I said skeptically. "Because the last guy who tried to murder a member of my family I turned into sentient footwear. He's still on my feet, and I step on him daily. To be fair, he actually DID help kill my dad, plus he was a lunatic, so it felt justified. But still, I don't see how you would manage your revenge as a pair of oven mitts or something."

I ignored the probably appalled stares from the peanut gallery and waited for his response. To my surprise he didn't seem…afraid. But I could almost see some respect on his face. "A worthy fate for such a heinous crime." He finally said with a nod. "Who is the crocodile to you, to be under such protection."

"My half brother." I said bluntly. "We don't know each other well, but I've got uses for him at the moment. I told him I'd help find my nephew in exchange for him helping me figure out where our mom is locked up."

His eyes widened. "Bae? He's here?" At my raised eyebrow he glared at Rumple. "The woman he killed was Milah, Bae's mother. He was a member of my crew for a time, though we parted under unfortunate terms. If your quest is to recover him…" He closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "My vengeance can be delayed. Once your task is done, would you continue to stand in my way?"

I blew out a breath. " I can't see this going well for you. Seriously, he's way stronger than you are. But I'm not in the business of protecting people from their own stupidity. So here's my line. Don't fuck with any of these people and you can go nuts. You're literally incapable of killing Rumple, so as long as you don't mess with them, or with Ruby, I'll stay out of it, AFTER we find my nephew and my mom. Also obviously if you mess with Henry I'll tear out your lungs and wear them as a festive hat."

That got another laugh from my…possible grand nephew? I approved. Hook's face hardened as he looked at Rumple, but he eventually nodded. "Aye. I swear on my honor that my attacks will be aimed at the dark one alone." At my raised eyebrow he puffed up his chest. "I'll have you know I'm considered a very honorable man." His eyes cut to Emma. "I don't go back on my deals."

The blonde shrunk back from his accusing gaze a bit, and I wondered what the story was, before realizing I didn't even slightly care and then moving on.

"Right, so with that said." I snapped my fingers, his bindings vanishing. "You're free to go, under the assumption that you're smart enough not to try anything with me here. Go back to your ship or whatever."

He stood,grimacing as he stretched to try to work out the kinks in his muscles. "I want to help. Bae was a member of my crew, and I owe him my aid, for Milah's sake if nothing else. Finding him is a worthy cause, and one I wish to be a part of."

"Absolutely not." Said Emma. "My son is going on that trip, and even with me there I don't trust you not to get some stupid harebrained idea and try to kill Gold without thinking it through."

I snorted at the idea that he could do anything with me around. I wasn't a pure magic user like Rumple and Zee. I was a motherfucking dragon. I could bang it out with kryptonians and gods. No punk ass pirate was doing anything under my nose. Still, it didn't really need to come to that.

"I can help with that." I said with a shrug. Holding out my hand to the pirate, I said. "Take it, and give the same oath."

He did, repeating himself, and as he did, I grabbed several of the karmic threads around us and tied them in a makeshift knot, throwing together a relatively weak but still plenty effective conditional curse. Hook sucked in a breath as a golden version of my Brand appeared on his forehead.

It wasn't a Brand in the sense of Zee or Barbie or the others, just a mark to show the existence of the curse. I didn't own hook, my power just needed a symbol to manifest through and picked one I was familiar with.

"There." I said cheerfully. "If he tries anything before we find Baelfire the karma I used to seal the bargain will backlash and he'll suffer a horrifying curse. For a relatively honorable guy you've got shit tons of bad karma, the shitstorm that curse will drop on you will be DEEPLY unpleasant, so I would avoid invoking it."

He nodded. "I will endeavor to do so. Once the bargain is complete, however, I WILL return to my vengeance."

"Dude, you can retire to death valley and open a hooters for all I care." I said with a shrug. As long as he left the civvies alone. I wasn't attached to any of them really, but letting people pick fights with my blood relatives was a hot button issue for me. Rumple's shit was his own business, but Henry seemed like an ok kid, and as MY blood he was to be protected.

Regina cleared her throat. "This is all well and good, but my mother is loose in this town right now, and I for one am absolutely terrified of what she might do. I'm shocked she even tried for Henry. I'd have expected some sort of ruthless scheme to tear apart my life so I'd come crawling back to her or something. She'd have killed me afterwards, of course, but still, she does like her petty victories."

Hook shook his head. "She said it was too dangerous. Apparently the crocodile mentioned this one to her." He jerked his thumb at me. "Though he neglected to mention THIS ravishing creature when he told of your assets." His gaze raked over Zee, which to be fair was a totally rational reaction to my girl. Still, that shit wasn't going to fly.

"I will gouge out your eyes." I said coldly. He cleared his throat and averted his gaze, which was enough for the beast in my chest to settle down. "Anyway, Zee is exactly the answer to this mess. We'll leave her here while I take Rumple, Hook, Henry, and Emma to New York to find Baelfire. She should be more than capable of tracking down Cora and curb stomping her."

She nodded. "Easily. She got the drop on me this time, since I was talking to Henry. Plus I didn't expect her to throw a pirate at me. Who does that?"

It was hard not to chuckle at that. I turned to Henry. "Last thing. If we're doing this I don't want any teenage snit bullshit ruining my op. You gonna be cool? Because you were throwing a monster fit earlier, and understandable or no, that ain't gonna fly when I'm running things."

My eyes didn't flare golden, and I didn't leak draconic power, I just made it perfectly clear that I was going to put up with zero bullshit. I had a job to do, and I would do it, but nobody, grand nephew or not, was going to get in my way or slow me down. He met my eyes for a few seconds, then averted his gaze, and I gave a pleased nod. Smart kid.

"Alright nerds." I said with a clap of my hands. "Seems like we have a plan. Everybody go get packed, somebody get us tickets to New York, and make sure to book an extra one for Ruby, I'm bringing her along." I didn't want to abandon my new puppy so soon after finding her, plus I needed someone to do if we got stuck there overnight.

Everyone scattered, Henry apparently deciding to get his bitchiness out before we left as he headed upstairs without a word to his mothers. Not my problem. I considered trying to fuck Emma on the trip, but I already had an Emma, and that would probably get confusing, plus it seemed like a bad first impression on my nephew to be deep dicking his baby mama.

I strolled over to Zee. "Keep an eye on shit here please. Last thing we need is queen bitch mommy blowing up the town or something before we get the mirror. And if she needs putting down, do it. No holding back to spare Regina's feelings."

"As if I would." She snickered. "I'm a hero, not an idiot. Attacking kids is a one way ticket to my shitlist, especially ones who are apparently me…grand nephew in law? Or whatever. He's family, I'm pissed." I laughed and pulled her in for a kiss before letting her go. I needed to go pick up Ruby. Plus I wanted to make sure she packed those tight little shorts.

May 28th 2016 Times Square, New York City, 1:00 P.M EDT

"So, have you ever been to New York?" Asked my nephew (basically) as he trailed behind me. The kid was still steamed at his mom, and while I'd told him not to start shit, I didn't care enough to make him make up with her. As such, I'd been designated the "cool uncle".

Emma was NOT pleased about that, since she'd heard me threaten to turn the pirate into shoes, but Henry gave zero fucks about her opinion now, and Ruby was trying to smoothe things over between me and the "savior" because they were friends and my puppy was something of a peacemaker.

Glancing around, I had to admit it was still a bit impressive, even to me. Brightedge was cooler and probably bigger, but it wasn't as bustling, since people were still getting used to the place and weren't as comfortable moving when they didn't have to. "Not this New York, but yeah. I met one of my girlfriends there."

I remembered bumping into Raven at Papa Midnite's, and wondered if that place had an analogue here. Probably not, since the witch-doctor himself probably wasn't as big a legend in this world.

"So it's true then?" Henry asked with excitement. "You're from another earth? That thing you said about Justice League…are from THEIR earth?" He sound like he was about to have a stroke at the concept, and when I nodded, he practically jumped into the air in excitement. "That's amazing! I mean, fairy tales being real is neat, but superheroes? Then Zee is the real Zatanna isn't she?"

I chuckled. "The one and only. Do they have any comics about me? I'm curious what kind of stories they might tell."

He furrowed his brow. "No, nothing about Nick Lord. I've read about a Max Lord a few times though. He's supposed to be kind of a bad guy, though he joins the government later or something. Are you related to him?"

"He's my dad." I said nonchalantly. "One of the richest men in the world and former arch-criminal. He's mellowed with age though. Checkmate, his organization, mostly does counter espionage." He still wasn't a shining example of heroism, but the kid seemed to want to hear good things about his extended family, so I didn't mind cushioning the blow a bit.

Emma cut in. "What about you then? Are you a criminal or a superhero?" She'd been eavesdropping, not that I blamed her

"I'm just me." I shrugged. "I do what I do. Spent a decent chunk of the last year in a medieval dimension, became a king there, built a castle back home, defeated a fifty thousand year old sorcerer with a little help, and just generally live my life. I don't really ascribe to the moral spectrum. Hero, villain, it's all so neat and tidy. I'm more of a shades of grey kind of guy. I just go where the wind takes me. I actually helped save the world before we came here. Alien invasion."

That last bit shut her up, and she lapsed into silence. Henry started peppering me with questions about The Reach, clearly amazed by what he'd heard, and I tossed him scraps of information as I tried to pinpoint a direction using the karmic threads from Rumple and the kid.

My brother, for his part, was having a tough time walking on his leg without magic. I absolutely wasn't willing to keep him plugged in like I was doing for Ruby, Rumple was way too tricksy for that to be safe, so he was wearing the magic scarf, which looked ridiculous against his expensive suit.

Finally, I reached a corner and stopped. Narrowing my eyes, I followed the lines toward a building. "There." I said, pointing it out. "He's inside." They started to move toward the building, but I stopped them, holding up a hand. "Wait. Something else was here recently. Something nasty. I can't tell what it was but bad karma is splashed all over this place."

Rumple pushed past me. "I don't care. I want to see my boy. We had a deal, so you can protect me until we reach him. Unless you think you can't handle whatever it is?"

"Oh no, reverse psychology, my one weakness." I said blandly. "Oh wait, no, I'm not five. I keep my deals Rumple. I'll take you to your kid. If there's a problem I'll handle it, but unless you have a rogue god king running around here I doubt it'll be an issue."

He settled a bit, and Ruby stepped up next to me, taking my hand. "It's a good thing you're doing here." She said. "I'm not the dark one's biggest fan, but finding his son for him is the right thing to do. I don't think you give yourself enough credit. There might be a good guy deep down in there."

I pulled her to a stop, letting the others pull ahead a bit. "As much as I'd love for you to believe that, I feel like I should be up front. I want you to come back to our world with me, and I don't want to bullshit you to get you there. I am not a good person. I don't particularly want to BE a good person. I take care of me and mine and that's it. There's not more to it, I don't have a hidden noble streak. I'm a greedy, prideful, horny bastard who doesn't share his toys. That's all."

She shrugged. "We all have problems. Loyalty being high on your list isn't a bad thing. I ate my first boyfriend. Nobody's perfect."

I burst out laughing, pulling her into a heated kiss until Emma the buzzkill cleared her throat and interrupted us. Sighing, I let her go. "Guess we're on a clock." Winking at the leggy werewolf, I said. "We can pick this up later. For now, let's go find my nephew."

As we reached the lobby and Emma started lecturing Rumple on how to find people who didn't want to be found, I scanned the room around us. This place was…wrong. Something had influenced the area. Magic wasn't just missing, it was being actively leached from the air. It was hard to tell because I was the only magical being here aside from Ruby, but it seemed like all that magic was being pulled towards a central location.

I wasn't sure this whole null magic thing was natural to this earth. Land without magic or not, there was some kind of force behind this, and it was still active. I didn't think it was a threat to me, it didn't seem to be able to pull enough magic to be a major problem, but it showed me that things here were more complex than presented.

The dark karma I'd been picking up was also all over this place, though it was admittedly a bit faded. Like it was transferred through an intermediary. Whatever evil son of a bitch had been lurking here was working for an even eviler son of a bitch, and I didn't want to deal with that shit.

We got in the elevator, taking it up to one of the higher floors, and as we stepped off, I saw the threads begin to move. Rolling my eyes, I stepped past the parting doors and just kind of stopped holding back.

In a blur and an explosion of splintering wood I was down the hall and in the room the strands were coming from, my hand hooked around the jacket of a scruffy looking dark haired guy with a thin goatee. His face was panicked, and he was trying desperately to slip out the window and onto the fire escape.

"Baelfire I presume." I said in a bored tone. My nephew wasn't exactly a punk ass, though, he spun on his heel and cold cocked my right in the fucking jaw, and he put some serious force behind it too.

Which was a shame. Because it meant his fist pretty much shattered like sugar glass under a drop hammer. His eyes went wide as he dropped to his knees, howling in pain. I heard a bunch of commotion and Rumple came into the room, eyes blazing with rage as he hobbled toward me, wielding his cane like a baseball bat.

"Calm down." I said, plucking it from his grip before he could shatter it. "He's fine. Just got the memo that squishy humans shouldn't punch dragon jaws. I'll fix the hand."

Slipping a hand in my pouch, I pulled out a rose quartz with minor healing properties and a bottle of whiskey. A quick flick of my fingers and I wove the threads together, not even needing the system to merge something this low level. I'd practiced on lower level stuff, so creating a healing potion wasn't too tough. The flash of golden light seemed to take everyone by surprise as the two items combined.

Holding out the now glowing red bottle I popped the cap off with my thumb. "Drink this." I told the dragon punching idiot my brother had spawned.

He looked suspicious, but his hand must have been in agony. He took a long pull and the damaged hand emitted a long, loud, cracking noise as the bones reset and knitted themselves together. I'll give him credit, he didn't scream, though his face turned pretty red.

"Now, are we finished with the punching? Can we use our words like adults?" I said condescendingly to my somehow older than me nephew.

He walked over to the cap, putting it back on and eyeing the bottle. At his questioning glance I just shrugged, and he set it on a shelf before slumping onto the couch. "I don't want to talk to you." He said to Rumple, glaring at him. "And your dragonoon over there can't make me."

"That's not what that word means." I said informatively. "But it's a neat use of a portmanteau. I'm not his goon though. I'm his brother. That." I said pointing into the hall to where Henry was peaking in. "Is your kid. I assume you recognize the blonde. Eyes off the brunette, she's mine."

Ruby blushed as Emma stepped into the room, radiating about as much 'fuck everyone I'll kill you all' energy as I'd even seen from another human being.

"Emma?" Bealfire stammered, his eyes flicking from the girl to the kid who I'd just told him was his. Sure, I probably could have softened the blow, but fuck him, he'd punched me in the face. Even if it hadn't hurt, I wasn't gonna let that shit slide. Now he had baby mama drama to deal with.

She didn't seem pleased with me either, but eventually she slumped, the fight draining away as she said tiredly. "Hello Neal." She turned to Henry, who looked kind of overwhelmed. "Come here kid, come meet your dad. Neal, this is Henry."

"Our son." He muttered, almost to quiet to hear. "We have a son. I never knew that."

Her eyes narrowed. "Funny how you lose track of people when you let them go to prison for a crime you committed and never bother checking on them. The only reason he's even here is because he wanted to meet you, and I don't have the right to keep that from him. Not when I wasn't there either."

I saw a slight flicker in the air outside and turned to look out the window. If I hadn't been a dragon I wouldn't have caught it at all, but as it was I was able to catch a slight flicker of horrendous karma that let me spot the quickly fleeing shape. I grimaced, stepping closer to try to see more.

"Ok." I said loudly. "Weird question. Do any of you know why a discorporated human shadow with creepy yellow eyes would have been lurking outside the window?" Judging by the paling faces of two of my three relatives, I was guessing the answer was yes. Huh, maybe this trip wouldn't be so boring after all.

May 28th 2016 Baelfire's apartment, New York City, 2:00 P.M EDT

Everyone around me was frozen, either in confusion or horror. I just sighed. "That wasn't rhetorical people, I have no idea who that shadow belonged to. I can tell at least three of you are connected to it." I frowned, turning to the kid. "Actually four, though that connection is…weird. Seems to be older than you are, Henry."

Neal's eyes went wide in horror as he stared at Henry. "No." He breathed. "You can't be. That's not possible."

I glared around the room. "The next person who makes a cryptic or open ended statement that raises more questions than it answers is getting punched in the dick." I glanced at Emma. "Or the throat, sorry ladies."

Hook snickered at that. "I'll be happy to shed some light on the subject mate. The shadow belongs to Peter Pan."

"Ok…" I said slowly. "Not cryptic or open ended, so thanks for that, but I'm going to need more information. I get the whole fairy tales are real thing, so Peter Pan isn't a huge surprise, and you not liking him makes sense. Captain Hook and Peter Pan hate each other, but why do the rest of you look terrified. Is Peter Pan a bad guy here?"

My brother nodded grimly. "The worst. Peter Pan is an unholy terror that stalks the land, kidnapping children and bringing them back to Neverland to serve him for eternity. He's a being of supreme magical power, whose abilities surpass even mine."

Neal cut in. "He's also looking for a specific child. It's why he kidnaps so many of them. He got me as a boy, though I eventually escaped. But while I was there, I saw a sketch of the child Pan wants." His eyes turned to Henry. "A sketch that looks just like you."

"Ok, your discomfort suddenly makes more sense." I said wryly. "Can Pan come here? Like he sent his shadow can he come in person?"

Rumple shook his head. "He can't. But we have bigger problems. There's a severe weakening of the borders of reality around Storybrooke. He can't get here, but he could most likely get there. If he comes through inside the town, he'd have access to his full powers."

I shrugged. "Zee can take him. She's stronger than you are too. I wouldn't be surprised if we come back and find him already locked up somewhere."

"She is powerful." Admitted Ruple. "But magic is complex. There are many objects in Storybrooke that can subdue even the most powerful of magical creatures. At least temporarily. More than that, Pan might not have to do it alone. There's something else about him you need to know." He swallowed hard, glancing away. "He's my father."

I grimaced. "Isn't Peter Pan like, permanently a preteen? Gross, mom." Even I had standards, that was just inappropriate.

"He wasn't always." Said Rumple with a shake of his head. "The magic made him a child so he could take control of Neverland. My point is, our mother is known to him, and has a history of working with him. If he finds her before we return…"

I imagined Zee trying to fight off my mom AND some possibly A rank dark lord punk ass in a town full of crazy bullshit magic she wasn't familiar with, and my blood ran cold. I didn't know if they could do anything to her, but I also didn't know they couldn't. Mom could also just up and vanish and I'd never find her.

Not getting lessons from her would be annoying, but Rumple could sub, that was fine. Letting her LOOSE to plot her return to our dimension and enslavement of the fae that she could use to wage war on me (she'd been pretty pissed when I destroyed that fragment) was not. I was as vulnerable to a sucker punch as anyone, and I couldn't have mommy dearest taking pot shots while I was fighting the other system users, or worse, dealing with Ophidian.

"So we go back to Storybrooke." I said firmly. "We have to stop him from letting her loose. Or taking that mirror. Between Zee and I, Henry won't be in any danger. Also, why does Pan want him again?"

Neal grimaced. "He was vague about it, but I remember hearing a term thrown about. The Heart of the Truest Believer."

"We have bigger problems than even that." Said Rumple worriedly. "You told multiple people in Storybrooke about what you sought. Or at least, many found out when we all spoke. He might release her, or he might bring the mirror back to Neverland and hold it hostage. He may try to force you to exchange it for Henry."

I nodded in acknowledgement. "That is a solid plan. I'd probably do that. But how would he even find out? It's not like Snow or Charming would announce it."

My brother grimaced. "Perhaps not knowingly, but the shadow saw you here, it saw you use your powers. He'll dig into you, try to find answers, and he always gets what he wants. He also isn't above working with others. Cora is still loose, and those two, even without our mother involved, would be a handful for anyone."

Emma cut in. "If he's looking for Henry, we shouldn't bring him with us. I…" She trailed off, her eyes filling with confusion. She didn't want her son anywhere but with her, where she could keep him safe, but her parents were back in Storybrooke.

I clapped her on the shoulder. "Don't sweat it. Any combination of people will be nothing to Zee and I. I could take most anything we run into by myself. We just need to get back quick. If he gets that mirror and takes it to Neverland, this becomes way more complicated."

She didn't look totally convinced, but she looked like she wanted to be. She didn't want to abandon her kid. Finally, she nodded. "Alright. I'll trust you. Or rather, I'll trust Ruby. She's one of the smartest, strongest people I know. If she believes in you, I can give you the benefit of the doubt."

My puppy smiled brightly at the blonde. "I do. If Nick says he can protect Henry he can. Henry will be safer with us than anywhere else."

Nodding, the savior sighed. "Alright. Then we do this. Not the first time I've had to take down a big bad. Might as well have a dragon on my side this time. Can you do some magic or something to get us home fast?"

I grimaced. "No. There's something here in this city. It eats magic, even mine. I think it might be the reason for this whole 'land without magic' thing. It's BIG and powerful if it's affecting me. At this distance it isn't doing much, just chipping away at my aura a bit, but the longer we stay the more it takes."

Not that I was too worried. I was pretty sure this thing wasn't actually stronger than me. In a straight up confrontation I was betting I could overwhelm it. But there was no reason to HAVE a confrontation with something around my level of power. Not when I could just fucking leave.

The others looked unsettled, but mostly unworried. We headed down to the street, then to a corner, catching a bus out of the city. Once we were clear I pop my wings and fly us there. It would be much faster than a plane ride, and clear of the magic drain I could offset attention to a scale simulacrum. It was one of the few spells I had figured out on my own.

As we drove, I decided to check on the kid. "So…some creepy old dude who turned into a preteen wants to rip out your heart. That sucks."

He chuckled a bit, my humor getting through the cloud of worry that had been coalescing around him. "Yeah." He agreed. "This is almost as scary as that time I got cursed. Not sure what I should do." He eyed me critically. "If you're a dragon, does that mean I'm a dragon? Like at least a little bit?"

"Nope." I said bluntly. "I was born…well, not human. Half-fae, but my magic was mostly drained. I have other abilities. I made myself a dragon."

His eyes went wide. "Could you make me one?" Ruby, who had come along with us (partially to spend time with me and partially to appease Emma, seemed curious about that as well. Her eyebrow raised questioningly from behind him.

I shook my head. "Nope. There are conditions that need to be met for my abilities to affect a person. You don't meet them. Ruby does, actually, but you don't."

"You could make Ruby a dragon?" He said with wide eyes? "That would be so cool!"

With a laugh, I rolled my eyes. "I make things other than dragons, kid. Ruby is already special. I doubt she'd want to give that up, nor would she be particularly interested in becoming some weird dragonwolf mix if I don't miss my guess. I COULD make her stronger though, if she wanted it."

Now it was my time to raise an eyebrow. Ruby looked pensive as Henry turned to stare at her. "I don't know." She said with a frown. "I've enjoyed my peaceful life. If there's one thing I know it's that strength invites challenge. The power I have now would, even if it would happen infrequently, but if I get stronger…the more you have, the more there is to take."

My eyes flashed draconic gold and I growled, the rumble in my chest vibrating the whole cab like an earthquake until I realized and pulled back. "You are MINE." I rumbled menacingly. "You are under MY power, and any challenges will be to me. No one takes what's mine. Not ever."

I think a lot of women (not my women, but other new ones) would have taken offense to that. But Ruby…I could feel her desires. Not just the sexual ones, but what she wanted. And honestly, one of those things was to feel safe. She'd been a monster to herself for so long, even after she started helping others. She wanted to be safe from threats, but also to BE safe. Safe to be around others. I gave her both.

The karmic ties between us were thick, and trying to read them, I got a lot of emotions from her that frankly should have freaked me out. Karma did weird things here, especially to relationships. Ruby…Ruby loved me. Which was weird. But kind of nice. I knew it wasn't something that a sane person would feel that quickly under normal circumstances, but in a world where love at first sight was a legit thing, normal wasn't the watchword.

Her bright smile as she looked at me was sweet. Kind of like the one Barbie or Cherry or Dinah would give me.

We didn't speak for the rest of the trip. Even Henry noticed how pensive I'd gotten. When we arrived in a small field I'd looked up on my phone, meeting the others, I stepped away from my werewolf and my grand nephew.

"Alright." I said as everyone gathered. "You'll be taking air dragon back to Storybrooke. Please keep you hands and feet INSIDE the radius of my wings, and don't lean over to try to see the countryside, because you WILL fall and I won't be able to catch you."

I could catch them, but I didn't feel like it, so knowing I was gonna let them die would be a good way to make everyone behave.

Stepping out into the field, I fished out a scale figure from my pouch. I'd carved it on the plane, I was getting really good at them. Weaving the karmic threads to offset attention to the item, I stripped off my pouch and handed it to Ruby along with the figure.

Then I gave myself some room and shifted into my dragon form (the smallest one, obviously, only a hundred feet tall. Any bigger would have required a lot more magic. Then I got down, and all of them climbed on between my wings where it was mostly flat. I waited a minute for them to confirm they were steady, and then I took off, headed for Maine. I couldn't shake the feeling that despite Zee's power, something bad would happen if I didn't get back in time.

May 28th 2016 Storybrooke, Maine, 3:00 P.M EDT

I hit the ground and shifted back to human, barely pausing to make sure the others got to the dirt without breaking something. It wasn't tough, I just shifted a bit slower than normal, a hundred feet tall didn't mean a hundred feet wide, my chest at that size was only like twenty feet from sternum to back.

Normally, I wouldn't have bothered hurrying. I was confident Zee could handle anything she ran up against, but for some reason, about ten minutes ago, the link between us had become stagnant and overly solid.

I blurred into the town, faster than a car would have moved, leaving the others behind at the border as I headed to where I could sense my archon. She wasn't hurt. Or dead. She just…wasn't. She was gone, and something about that terrified me. Our bond existed but she wasn't on the other end of it.

Appearing in the door of Rumple's shop, I basically atomized the thing as I went through, bursting into the room furiously with a snarl on my lips.

What I found was…odd. Zee was there, in her archon form, but she wasn't moving. She was surrounded by a blue shimmering field, arcing up from a dozen symbols burned into the wood. Regina was pouring magic into the field, obviously trying to break through and just as obviously doing nothing.

I strode forward, reaching for the strands of the spell and tearing them apart like tissue paper, freezing Zee easily and catching her as she toppled forward.

Berthing a sigh of relief, I turned on the others, furious. "What the FUCK happened? How did they catch her? What was that?" I felt jittery and panicky. Zee was supposed to be safe here, she was so strong, what had affected her? I wanted to fucking murder something. Which was much more comforting to focus on than the knot of worry in my gut, so I leaned into that feeling.

Seeing my homicidal expression, Regina threw her hands up. "It was my mother, her and some…kid. They used squid ink. It paralyzes magic. Once it hit her she was frozen more thoroughly than anyone I've ever seen. The kid erected that…shield thing, to keep it going, and we were just trying to take it down."

I appraised Zee, confirming she was fine. She groaned and stirred in my arms. "Ow." She moaned. "That was terrible. Like all the ice cream headaches I've ever had going off at once."

"You're ok?" I said, not letting my voice show how relieved I was. I didn't know these people, and letting weakness like that show was a good way to get got. "What happened? If you have some kind of weakness I'll make something to fix it." I could make her a defensive item to offset whatever the fuck had done this.

She shook her head. "I'm fine. I was never in any danger. They couldn't have hurt me. That stuff they use…it's basically concentrated antimagic, but in really small amounts. They got lucky, because I'm MADE of magic and that shit shut me down quick. They still couldn't have killed me though. Can't kill magic." She sounded shaken, though I could tell she was trying to be nonchalant. "But the kid…he took a mirror from a hidden nook in the floor. I think it was the one we needed."

"It was." Came the rough voice of my brother as he stepped gingerly over the remains of his door. "I kept it close by, just in case."

I was barely surprised. Keeping it on hand was the smart move, and having it didn't mean he wasn't planning to cough it up when I finished. Normally, I'd have been annoyed, but now…I just sneered. "Fuck the mirror. I'll take it off his charred fucking corpse if it's still intact, and if not I'll find another tutor. Nobody touches my girls."

Smoke wafted from my mouth as I spoke, the flame inside me kindling to life as my chest rumbled with the literal fires of my rage.

And then…a pair of lips were pressed to mine, and a body crushed itself against my front. The fire receded as I pulled Zee against me, magic spilling between our lips as she siphoned out the power igniting my wrath. I could have stopped her, I was a karmic devourer, and my own power more than qualified, but I didn't. I let her drain away the anger and the fire it caused as I got a nice handful of cosmic booty.

A throat cleared loudly, and I blinked for a second, pulling back reluctantly as I let my mind clear. "Sorry." I said roughly. "I was just…"

Surprisingly, it was Snow, who had been in the back of the shop I guessed (because she hadn't been there pre-makeout session) who offered me a kind smile and waved me off. "You were angry because something happened to someone you love. We all understand." Blushing slightly she looked away. "Perhaps not quite as…explicitly. But still, the instinct to protect isn't one we're going to blame you for."

Emma raised a hand. "I mean, I kind of do. Maybe don't grope your girlfriend in front of my kid. Otherwise I say bygones."

I laughed, letting my stress drain away. That had been…that was bad. About as bad as when I saw Barbie get attacked by the beetle. My draconic nature had its downsides, and going full on destroyer was definitely not the smart move here. I turned to Rumple. "Ok, discussing the whole 'you had the mirror ten feet from me' thing later, how bad is our current situation."

Henry was here, which was good, because it meant he was safe as houses, but the mirror was gone. That was bad not just because I didn't have it, but because Pan apparently had the juice to spring mommy dearest from her prison. The two of them and Cora together would be a nasty combo.

Admittedly, not nasty enough for me to worry before, but the fact that some random bottle of bullshit could no-sell my strongest spellcaster was…unsettling. Ranks weren't absolute, and just like some things were only strong in one aspect and weak in others despite being high rank, it made sense that an absolutely perfect counter would be able to effect higher rank shit.

Looking around with a frown, he grimaced. "Best to speak elsewhere, I'd think. My shop isn't up for visitors as it stands. Plus I don't trust my father not to have left spells to spy on what we say. He's a tricky bastard."

After conferring for a minute, we decided to head over to Snow and Charmings place again. Weirdly, once we arrived, the shockingly motherly dark haired woman made everyone hot cocoa, and made a point to bring Zee and I ours first. Ruby, for her part, was sticking close, her hackles up and looking for all the world like she was guarding us. It was kind of cute.

This trip had quickly spiraled out of control. It was supposed to be a quick jaunt to grab mom's mirror and then some lessons before heading home. Now I was embroiled in some family bullshit, a fight with Peter fucking Pan (and it WAS going to be a fight, because calm or not I was ripping him a new asshole for touching my girl), and what was appearing to be quickly approaching a trip to fucking Neverland.

"So." I said slowly as I sipped my cocoa (which was weirdly good, apparently snow had added cinnamon for some reason). "Now that I'm calm. Why don't you all tell me what happened after I left?"

Zee took another sip, then set hers down, once more in human form. "Once you headed out, we started our search for Cora. She's not…she's not as strong as me, but she's got a knack for magic. The power here is temperamental, I have to clamp down hard when I cast, and I don't have the trick of it yet. Plus, she's actually kind of a genius."

Regina grimaced. "Mother always was a powerful sorceress. We were searching for her magical signature, but unfortunately, she seems to have spent the last few days coating every inch of the town in it. It wasn't that we couldn't locate her, it was that we couldn't STOP locating her.

"It was annoying." Said Zee with frustration. "But I was working on it. Until my detection spells picked up a burst of power from the docks. We were using Rumple's shop as a base of operations, hoping some of the trinkets there might help, and assuming Cora would be looking for something there. Since we didn't want to leave it unguarded, I stayed back while Regina headed for the harbor."

From there it wasn't hard to figure out. Pan had teamed up with Cora and assaulted the shop, used the squid ink there to immobilize Zee and then stolen the mirror. I was waiting for him to make contact still, because I was sure he would, but we were mostly up to date.

"So." I said after the story finished. "That leaves us with just one question." I turned to Rumple. "I held up my end of the deal. You got Baelfire back." I gestured to Neal, who was standing protectively behind Henry. "But you still haven't paid up. Our bargain was that you would help me locate the mirror and obtain it. Granted, you had it to begin with, but that doesn't change the deal."

His face looked conflicted, scanning his son, grandson, and other people in the room…finally landing on someone I hadn't really met yet. A pretty brown haired girl with an australian accent who had been with Snow back in the shop.

"Aye." He said finally. "A deal is a deal. There are dangers in this world that you aren't equipped to deal with. I'll come with you to get the mirror." He didn't mention the revenge thing, but from the gleam in his eye, he was definitely thinking in a similar direction.

Nodding, I turned to Zee. "Can you reopen his portal with that ritual of yours?"

At her nod, I was surprised to see Hook step forward. "I'll volunteer the Jolly Roger as transport. I'm not letting the Crocodile out of my sight until I get my revenge. If that means facing Pan again, so be it." I was about to cut him off, but he held up a hook. "I'm also the person who knows that island best in all the realms. You won't last a day without me."

"I think I can handle a magic island." I said dryly. "But if you want to sign up, I'm not going to stop you. I don't love the ocean, and jumping into a sea portal seems like it would suck." Some of the others looked uncomfortable, but I waved them off before they even spoke. "No reason to risk the kld. Stay here and guard Henry, I'll take care of Pan." I shot them a wink. "Think of it as a late birthday gift from the cool grand uncle."

I didn't need heroes coming along anyway. I was going to chew Pan up and spit out his mangled corpse. My brother and the pirate wouldn't bother to stop me, but the others would. Best to leave the complications behind.

Stepped up beside me, Ruby took my hand. "Well I'm going either way. I know you two are heading home after you get your mirror back, and I refuse to be left behind." She gave me a bright, trusting smile, and I couldn't help but nod. The girls were going to be pretty annoyed that I'd brought someone home without asking again, but that was a them problem.

"Alright, well we need to prep before we go." I said with a sigh. "Zee, raid Rumple's shop for ingredients if you need to, we leave tomorrow morning. Ruby, say your goodbyes." I flicked my eyes to Hook. "Actually anyone with goodbyes to say should say them. We can send you back with Rumple once this is done, but you might die before you see anyone here again so… do with that as you will."

As everyone headed back, I surreptitiously slipped a piece of paper into Zee's pocket. It was a not I'd written out in New York while the magic sucking vortex was effecting me. It wasn't relevant right now, but it contained the next steps in my plan once we got back. I needed the element of surprise if I was going to beat Ophidian. That was a future step though, for now, I needed to focus on finding my mom. I was overdue for a training montage.

As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent hope everyone enjoys. This arc has been getting a ton of positive feedback so im excited to see what everyone thinks.