#what if baelfire was willing to die then
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thecityofdoors · 8 months ago
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOLIDER!!!!!
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ellen729 · 2 years ago
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So, I was reading something where someone was saying David was SO MEAN to Hook in their earlier episodes even though he had NO REASON (what with not knowing Hook had sadistically murdered his dad).
Uhh. . . .
Some of the little, itty-bitty things David might hold against Hook at this point.
For starters, it seems safe to assume David had heard what Hook had been doing in the Enchanted Forest.
1. After earning their trust and living among them for two months, Hook helped murder a village full of innocent people.
2. One of those people was a friend of David’s, Lancelot.
3. Hook had been Cora’s willing minion for close to 30 years (whether that involved massacres and murders is unclear).
4. When given a chance to stop working with Cora after at least one massacre, Hook quickly signed on again.
5. Hook tore out Aurora’s heart and forced her to betray her friends (there is speculation that he sexually assaulted Aurora after taking her heart as well).
6. Left four women to die of hunger and thirst in a small, dark cave.
7. Made crude statements to David’s daughter.
8. Behaved like a sexist abuser. Hook makes it quite clear that he considered Emma finding a way to leave him behind without having to kill him to protect herself and her family and friends was a personal betrayal. Apparently, he felt she was supposed to have fallen for his charms, making her his, making her leaving him behind an unforgivable dumping by a woman he already treated as his property.
9. Made rape jokes while trying to kill David’s daughter.
Then, we get into things Hook did once he was in Storybrooke:
1. Murdered people.
2. Kidnapped and tortured a friend of David’s.
3. Having kidnapped and imprisoned the giant who spared his life, Hook convinced him David was really his brother James and set things up so a giant was going on a rampage in a small town with many noncombatants, including children.
4. Used crude language to sexually harass women, including David’s wife (which he did in front of David).
5. Shot a woman in the back and erased all her memories after she’d saved his life. Stated that he did this to get back at the man who loved her (because he sees women as things whose value exists only in terms of the men the “belong” to).
6.  Tried to murder Gold.
7. Helped get the failsafe that could kill everyone in Storybrooke and then gave it to people trying to kill everyone in Storybrooke.
8. Helped destroy nearly all the magic beans.
9. Worked with Regina when she was trying to kill everyone.
10. Worked with Greg and Tamara when they were trying to kill everyone.
11. Handed Regina over to Greg and Tamara and stood around watching while Regina was being tortured.
12. Helped Greg and Tamara kidnap Henry.
13. Stole the last magic bean and ran off with it, leaving everyone to die.
14. Apparently sat safely outside the town limits and only came back after the failsafe had been disarmed and everyone wasn’t going to die.
15. Assaulted David, knocking him out when making a jailbreak.
16. Made it clear that, despite David’s daughter showing no interest in him, he intended to get David’s daughter.
17. Considered letting David die as part of his plan to get David’s daughter.
18. Found out Hook had gotten large numbers of the men who worked for him killed in Neverland. It’s unclear if David knew that Hook made some kind of deal with Pan that let him leave and return, during which he apparently hired new crew, many of whom also got killed in Neverland.
19. Learned Hook had killed children in Neverland (given conditions in Neverland, some of that may have been self-defence. Again, it’s unclear if David knew Hook frequently left and returned, implying he didn’t have to keep going back to participate in Pan’s games and kill kids).
20. Trafficked children. It’s known that Hook sold Baelfire to Pan, though it’s unclear if anyone ever learns this. It’s also unclear if Hook, doing whatever he did for Pan, didn’t pick up new children for him as well as crew for himself.
And, yet, David was a bit chilly towards him. How unforgivable.
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ryik-the-writer · 3 years ago
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Sequel to Dinnertime Disaster ~ Belle confronts Snow on her behavior towards her family and finally gets some things off her chest.
[A03]
Age of the kids: Around 23
-.-.-.-.-
Belle angrily shelved a cart of returned books, stuffing them beside each other without care to their catalog numbers.
It had been three days since her disastrous dinner with the Charmings and her blood was still boiling after Snow White’s attack on her son. Three days since her son ran off and hadn’t told his parents where he was going or when he was coming back. Three days that her daughter revealed her secret ability and barley spoken a word since.
Even her husband was quieter than usual. Belle assumed he was keeping himself distracted to prevent himself from wreaking havoc on the princess-turned-bandit, and possibly keeping tabs on Gideon, but it still felt like she was dealing with the aftermath alone.
Snow White had destroyed the foundation of her family in a matter of seconds and Belle had yet to be able to piece it back together.
Belle remembered the last time she felt this hate-filled and lost: when she had sent Rumple over the town line after his attempt of murder on Killian. She regretted it the second Rumple was over the line, but she’d been too heart-broken to bring him back. She had tried to convince herself that she was doing what was best for the town and even herself, but deep in her bones she knew she was doing it because she was hurt, because the one person she thought she could always trust had just spat on their vows, and she needed space.
And she did get space…from her rejected husband as well as the very people she’d helped save. For three days she had sat in the home she and Rumple shared, sobbing and tearing apart the remains of the life they had begun to build. Not once did the Charmings or even Hook—whom she would find out through a loose-lipped Leroy had been black-mailing her husband mere days after their wedding—stop by to check on her well-being. In fact three days later, when she managed to pull herself together long enough to get an on-the-house bowl of soup at Granny’s, she found the Charming clan laughing and carrying on at a table in the back, only noticing her once she was leaving.
It was a minor sin, Belle thought at the time, but it wasn’t until a year later, when she and Rumple renewed their vows—when she became a mother and nearly lost her dear son to an unquestionable evil—when the heroes she fought for, and sacrificed over, were dead-set on killing him—that she was able to realize that the sins against her were too great to ignore any longer.
They had left left in the hospital to rot after Killian’s attack, scared and delirious with amnesia, drugging her over and over again to keep her tame.
Snow White had sold out her and her unborn child to save Killian’s skin—and none of them had bothered to warn her of the impending danger.
And they all made the decision to leave her to rot in the Underworld after she put herself in an ill-advised sleep to protect her baby—gods she would never forget the look on Emma’s face when she popped into Granny’s. They had completely forgotten about her.
And that was on top of the constant blackmail, of using her as an inanimate object to be tossed around and trampled on and crushed as long as it benefited them.
By the time her son had been restored to her, she was willing to let go of all the misdeeds done towards her, to begin anew just as Gideon’s life had been.
But then they started up all over again.
Inquiring her services to babysit Neal and Robyn at every drop of a hat—only to ignore her requests for assistance with Gideon whenever she needed it.
Sneering at Gideon from afar.
Leaving all of them out of ‘family’ events, like dinners or parties.
It hurt, but Belle had buried that pain for Neal and Robyn’s sakes. They were what mattered. They were her family.
And now half of that equation was gods knows where, angry and hurting from his own mother’s backwards thinking—and as his unofficially godmother, Belle couldn’t help him.
She knew where he was of course. A quick spell on Rumple’s end determined that he and Gideon were still in Storybrooke, though keeping their distance.
Giving them their space was the hardest part. As a mother all she wanted to comfort her son, but she needed to let him grieve and think on his own.
If the other night hadn’t happened, maybe he would be.
The thought was still on her mind when the door to her library opened despite the closed sign, and festered into hate when the one woman in the world she didn’t want to see stepped in.
“Belle, good morning,” Snow White greeted with her usual bright smile. Though there was more stress in her eyes.
“We’re closed,” Belle said, pushing the cart towards the children’s section, her anger boiling when she heard her follow.
“We need to talk about the other night,” Snow said, her tone indicating there was no room for argument. “More importantly, where our son’s go from here.”
Belle released the cart, letting it roll until it crashed into a shelf. “I have nothing to say to you, and what our sons do is their business.”
Snow rolled her eyes. “I knew you’d act this way.”
Belle slammed a book down on the cart. “Like what, Snow? Like a parent or like someone with common sense.”
“I wouldn’t call you that,” Snow muttered, and Belle twisted around.
“You know what, this has gone on long enough.” Belle said. For yours there seemed to be this balancing act between her and the ex-princess. There was this intense acidity between them, far from a rivalry, but constant enough that they subconsciously tried to outwit each other as mothers and as leaders in Storybrooke.
But there was something more personal there, a phenomenon that divided yet bounded them together for life: darkness.
Snow feared and hated it, convinced that it went against everything she was meant to represent as a hero.
Belle accepted it as part of her life, as a part of her husband and son’s very existence. She hated it as well, but she greeted it with respect, knowing light could not exist without it.
It was in her and her family, and Snow hated that. She hated that her own child didn’t seem to mind it.
But Snow was without reason when it came to darkness, or at least anything that was darker than her.
Maybe the former princess didn’t know it yet, but Belle was just that.
“You,” Belle snarled. “Are a pious bitch and I am so sick of you.”
Snow’s eyes widened but Belle didn’t back down.
“You need to drop your issues with me and my family right now,” Belle directed coldly. “We have done nothing but been civil to you for the past two decades, but all you’ve ever done is stick your noses up at us and the other night was the final straw!”
Belle didn’t back down. She stepped up to the ex-bandit and pointed a finger at her, aiming for her heart.
“You act like your better than us, than me, than everyone in this town, but you’re lower than everyone! People may love you, but they don’t respect you because you have done nothing to earn respect! You endanger them without warning, leave them in the grips of an enemy without a leader! And that’s just the town! What about your family?”
“How dare—”
“Didn’t you ever wonder why Neal came to our house so often?” Belle inquired—begged—Snow White. “He didn’t feel comfortable around you! He felt constricted, like he had to be the son of Snow White and Prince Charming, not the son of his parents.”
Snow shook her head, staring at Belle in disbelief.
“You’re lying. He never said any of this. He never—”
“Why do you think that is?” Belle spat.
Snow’s eyes searched Belle’s face, hunting desperately for the answer that she knew.
She gulped, nodding her head just slightly as her chin wobbled.
“Fine,” she admitted through clenched teeth, her pride settling. “Maybe I did push him too hard. But everything…” she looked at Belle squarely. “Everything I did was to protect him from the likes of you.”
Belle flinched at the way the last word came out, like the tension in the Charming home was somehow her fault.
“Likes of me? Are you referring to me particularly or my family? And I suggest you tread carefully on what you’re about to say.”
“The likes of filthy, dark-hearted cowards,” Snow answered unafraid. “You think I put too high standards? Well you’re right, I did. Because my son is better than you! All of you! You and your…your…”
Belle’s eyes narrowed. “Say it.”
“Your darkness!” Snow said, the word coming out as a gasp. “That darkness…Rumplestiltskin’s darkness…it keeps destroying my life no matter how many times we snuff it out! I wish it would just die already!”
Belle’s heart dropped. So this was how the great Snow White really felt. She rather see them all dead than coexist with them.
“And what about your daughter?” Belle snarked. It was a low blow, and if she wasn’t so mad the words would have never left her mouth. “What about Emma’s darkness? Do you hate that too or does that get a pass from the great Snow White.”
“My daughter’s the Savior,” Snow remarked. “She’s the exact opposite of you.”
“Really? Because if I recall correctly, her potential for darkness was so great you cursed an innocent baby and her mother to boot.”
Snow’s glare wavered. “That was—”
“Sick.” Belle answered. “And you know what? It didn’t change a damn thing? Emma still gave into darkness, still made all the wrong choices that came with it.”
“Emma accepted darkness to save us after your husband tried to destroy all of us!” Snow fought.
“I wasn’t referring to the Dark One’s curse,” Belle stated matter-of-factly. “I was referring to the darkness that has been brewing inside her all her life. The darkness she built to protect herself from everyone who ever hurt her. Baelfire, Rumple and you.”
“Everything I ever did was to protect her!” Snow yelled, her voice cracking. “And I did everything I could to be a good mother—a good friend—to her afterwards!”
“By letting her be with a man who lied to her? Who endangered her family, her son?” Belle retorted. “You led her down the aisle into his arms after finding out he killed David’s father, an event that left him scared. You made him push it aside so you could have your day. Emma didn’t need to get married, Snow, she needed to heal from everything that had happened to her. She needed her mother to listen!”
“I just…she needed…”
“And now she’s in some realm where her family can’t see her,” Belle continued, unable to stop. “Neal was right, you didn’t protect her the way you should have. You were so obsessed with making up for the moments you missed with her that you didn’t care that she was doing everything she did because she was traumatized! How could you not see that as her mother!”
That seemed to be the trigger, the anchor that had been weighing down Snow White’s grief. The woman’s chin began to shake and within a few seconds she was screaming in hysterics.
Belle actually had to jump back, the volume of her cries so loud they threatened to blow out her own hearing.
She watched in horror as the ex-princess crumpled in her library, the door still askew.
Belle stepped over her just enough to close it and allow them true privacy. She could only stare down at her for a moment, this once majestic leader who was nothing but a lump of sorrow at her feet.
Belle had been cruel, she knew that, she felt the lump of guilt began to rise in her throat.
Snow White, despite her faults, was still human, and still healing from her own trauma.
Giving up her child, living nearly 30 years in a lie away from the people she loved, and trying to put back the pieces of her shattered life when she awoke.
Her progress was notable, forgiving Regina, staying by her family’s side during all the various events in the town. Maybe she hadn’t always been the wisest, maybe she’d even been selfish at some points, but she had been doing the best she could.
Belle sighed, leaning down to scoop the sobbing woman into her arms.
“There, there,” she comforted fruitlessly. “Come on.”
She led Snow to a chair behind her circulatory desk, practically dropping her there while she went into the kitchenette for tissues and water.
She returned with a glass and a less-than-comfortable roll of paper towels, handing one to the ex-princess awkwardly.
“Here.”
Snow calmed some, taking the course towel and wiping her red face. She breathed in shakenly, focusing on composing herself.
After a moment Belle grabbed a second chair and sat across from her, hesitating on what to do or say next.
She wasn’t sorry and she wouldn’t apologize, but she hated that Snow had to come to terms with her misdeeds and guilt in such a confrontational setting, and with her at that. Her own home or even Archie’s office seemed more appropriate.
But it was all in the open now, and Belle felt she had a duty to close the door she had snatched open.
“You’re right,” Snow sniffed before Belle could say anything. “I destroyed my family.”
“No,” Belle sighed. “I didn’t mean for you to see it like that.”
“But it’s true,” Snow said with a tired shrug. “I pushed Emma into something she wasn’t ready for and now I’ve lost her. And now I’m about to lose Neal too.”
Belle shook her head, wishing more than anything that he and her son were with them at that moment.
Belle thought about them for a moment, about the last two decades and the time before and all of its obstacles.
“You haven’t lost him,” Belle reassured, her fingers clasped. “I’ve lost a son. I know what if feels like when you realize they’ll never come back.”
Snow tilted her head. “You got Gideon back. You even got to start over with him.”
Belle lifted her head, staring glassily at the woman across from her. “I wasn’t talking about him.”
The confusion faded instantly from Snow’s face as the memory of the fallen man who had impacted both of their lives settled between them.
Belle smiled sadly. “Do you remember that day? When you entered the shop and you told us Baelfire died? You held me, and…that was the last time I felt like I really knew you.”
Snow wiped a fresh tear from her eye. “I didn’t know what to do after he died. All I could do was hold Emma and tell her everything was going to be okay even though I didn’t know if it was or not.”
Belle nodded, remembering how she spent that night in the shop, sobbing into the cot in the backroom until she passed out.
“That…that was the last time I truly felt like her mother,”
Belle blinked, surprised by such a reveal.
It was ironic really. The second she learned of Baelfire’s death was the last time she felt like she had a true friend. Someone else who loved the Dark One, gone.
“I wanted so badly to see her happy again,” Snow continued. “And Hook…he was there…and he…he…”
Belle nodded. “He made appropriate modifications to earn her affection.”
“And eventually he became her only ally because of me,” Snow said with an air of disgust. “Now I don’t even know where she is, how she is.”
Belle sighed. If Gideon ever disappeared like that it would break her.
“Snow,” Belle began. “I know all that’s happened to you is still hurting you. And you’re hurting Neal because of it.” She reached out and gave the woman’s hand a squeeze. “You need to face it all. I had to do the same when Gideon was taken. I had accept my part in hurting Rumple and my son so that I could have hope that we could start over.”
Snow shook her head. “I don’t know if I can. Emma, she…she doesn’t need me anymore.”
“That’s not true,” Belle fought. “Our children will always need us. We can’t fix the past, but we can build a better future.”
Snow could only stare at the woman in front of her. Belle had always been braver than her because she had more to lose. Loving the Dark One was a dangerous game and somehow she won it. Now she had a community that loved and respected her, the same community that looked at Snow White with hesitancy.
Snow had lost the leader they needed at some point, hell, the leader her own family needed.
Somehow, someway, she was going to get her back.
She stood, wiping her eyes a final time.
“I…I need to leave. I need to speak with my husband.”
Belle nodded, standing as well.
Snow moved forward, as if she were going to hug Belle, but Belle took a step back.
Thankfully, Snow seemed to understand. She had a lot to make up for and it would take time.
But really, she realized that Belle was perhaps her truest friend. She had held her accountable today, and had lifted a curtain from her eyes that had been there far too long.
“Good luck,” Belle said. And she truly meant it.
Snow paused outside the library, one last thought weighing on her mind.
“If you see Neal or Gideon before I do,” she began, hesitating a bit. “Could you tell them…they have my blessing?”
Belle tilted her head. It wasn’t quite an apology, but it was good start for the high and mighty ex-princess of Mist Haven.
Belle nodded and sent Snow away with a comforting smile.
They would never be friends, but they knew now where they stood. Belle would hold her with the same contempt that she held with Zelena, Regina and even Emma, but that would be it. Maybe one day that would change, but it was solid relationship for the two of them to have for now.
As Belle locked up the library that night, she felt lighter than she had in years, all the anguish she had felt free from her now.
She smiled a bit as she walked to her car.
She couldn’t wait to get home and tell her husband all about it.
0-0-0-0-0-0
Snow entered the little farm house she and her husband had bought decades ago when the moved out of their little loft apartment.
The house was supposed to be a haven for a new life, a fresh start when their most recent evil had been defeated.
She had imagined raising her son in those safe walls, giving him everything she hadn’t been able to give Emma. She imagined family dinners and quiet nights on the front porch after long, loud days.
She’d gotten all of that, at first, before Emma began to spend less time at the house, before Henry had jumped on his motorcycle and disappeared into the unknown.
She had told herself then that it was just a part of life, her family moving on, but then when Neal began to stray, her acceptance became a panic. She was losing her family, and she looked wrongfully for a scapegoat. The Golds fit the mold. After all, she’d blamed Rumplestiltskin for everything under the sun that had happened in Storybrooke and her family.
But Belle’s talk had lifted that blinder. Rumplestiltskin had made his mistakes and had set to work to fix them. He’d been a good friend to her husband and son all these years, and she’d been too enthralled in her grief to join in on that friendship.
But that was over now.
David looked up when she entered, concerned.
He’d felt…something…in his chest earlier today. Like a piece of the heart he shared with his wife had broken off.
It was unnerving, and if he hadn’t been looking for Neal, he would have ran and found his wife immediately.
He was still angry at her for her outburst at the Golds’ but she was still his wife. His best friend. His everything.
“Snow,” he greeted, relieved.
“We need to pack, a lot. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone.” She instructed, that buried leader insider he creeping back up.
“What?” David said. “Pack for what? What are we doing?”
The ex-princess put her hands on her husband’s shoulders, smiling bravely at him despite the tears in her eyes. He was the one thing she hadn’t lost yet, but she’d come so close, shared heart or not.
She’d hurt him without even realizing it, and she had so much to make up for.
But there’d be time for that.
There’d be time for everything now.
“We’re going to find our daughter,” Snow answered, determined. “We’re going to bring her home.”
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treatian · 3 years ago
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The Chronicles of the Dark One:  Family Bonds
Chapter 38:  Magical Debt Collection
Fuck.
He'd gone to the tomb to meet with Regina, manage her as he knew no one else in town could. He expected that he'd speak with her, convince her to stand down, that it wasn't in her best interest to seek revenge but rather to take that final approval her mother had given her and hold it in her heart forever…or at least give her some kind of bull shit line like that.
He hadn't expected to find an Evil Queen so devastated and hell-bent on revenge that not even he could reach her. So yes, it was bad. Far worse than he'd ever anticipated. Regina was determined, even more so it seemed than she had been in the Enchanted Forest, to destroy Mary Margaret.
No…not destroy…kill.
She hadn't given him a specific plan while he'd been with her, but she'd certainly laid out her end goals for him. She wanted to kill Mary Margaret and claim Henry for herself. One month ago, he probably wouldn't have cared. Regina had always wanted Mary Margaret dead, even in the Enchanted Forest; it was him who had convinced her that suffering during the Curse could be a sweeter fate for her. In some way, he'd always anticipated her desire for Mary Margaret to die to return when the Curse broke, and he'd always thought that he wouldn't care because he'd be in the world that he belonged with his son. And as for Henry, well, a month ago, he wouldn't have cared if she took him. She wasn't the mothering type, no. But Henry was always well fed and cared for, so no…a month ago, if she'd laid out these goals, he wouldn't have blinked an eye at them.
Now things had changed. Now he knew that Henry was the son of his own son and Emma Swan. And if the Charmings were oh so willing to proclaim him family after the announcement, he was damn sure that they'd feel the same about Baelfire. Henry and Mary Margaret were two people that his son was bound to become involved with in a situation like this, which meant that he cared. He cared about what Regina planned to do, and he cared about how she planned to do it.
The trouble was that he didn't know what her plan was. He didn't even have an inkling of what she was thinking she could do. Regina had been crazed and frenzied in the Enchanted Forest but never a truly loose cannon because he'd always had some sort of power over her. Even when she did wrong, and he left her to make mistakes or chastised her for it, he'd had control over those situations or been able to take control to ultimately get what he wanted. Regina crazed and frenzied without him to guide her punches…that was a threat to everyone in Storybrooke. And right now, that included the woman he loved as well as his son and the people his son loved, whether or not he wanted to admit it.
This was a disaster. He'd gone to manage the situation, and from where he stood now, he wasn't entirely sure he hadn't just made the entire thing worse!
No. That wasn't true. Not precisely.
He hadn't gone to manage the situation. He'd gone to manage Regina. He'd gone to stop her before there was a "situation" to be managed.
That way of thinking changed things, although not in a way that he was particularly pleased with. He'd failed to manage Regina. The situation, on the other hand, could still be salvaged, and he knew just who he had to alert to in order to do the salvaging.
The newly formed Charming Clan.
He hated the idea because he knew who "The Charmings" were at the moment. It wasn't just warning David and Mary Margaret but also Emma. Undoubtedly, dealing with Emma would somehow bring Henry into the mix, and no matter what his current relationship with Emma was, he was positive that involving Henry would bring Baelfire running, the exact opposite of what he wanted him to do.
But…maybe there was a way around it. Perhaps he could figure out how to have the upper hand while he was still in control of things. Bae needed time. He hadn't told him that directly, but he hadn't sought him out after Cora's death because after the look he'd given once he realized he'd played a hand in Cora's death, he was trying to respect his privacy and boundaries. He knew that if Bae wanted to see him, then he would come to the building right on Main Street with his name attached to it in big, bold letters. But this wasn't a time to indulge childish fantasies of healing on one's own. This was a time to take care of the situation at hand, and then he could take as much time as he bloody well wanted. If he stayed away and Bae got himself killed defending Henry or Regina saw him as a threat and killed him…then he'd never have that time.
He could step in. He could warn the Charmings about Regina, and then, before there was time to involve him, he could call his son, come up with some way to keep him busy or keep him protected and away from Henry and Emma until the danger passed. And better yet, if he played his hand right, if he went to the Charmings and told them what was going on and managed to keep Bae busy appropriately so that he didn't see that he was trying to keep him from it, then it might even earn him so trust from his son. The news that he'd warned them and helped in some way to protect Henry might go a long way with his son. That was what he needed at the moment. That had been his thinking behind helping Ruby when Belle had left, and that seemed to have worked just fine. There was no reason in his mind why this should be any different.
Was it a smart idea? Not at all. Was it well planned? No. But he'd worked with less of a plan in a fraction of the time he had now. He could do this.
At least that was what he told himself to get his hand to finally rap on the door to Mary Margaret's apartment only moments after he'd finished dealing with the Evil Queen.
"Get out!" David roared when that door swung open to reveal the family still inside eating breakfast. Well, most of the family. Mary Margaret was in what apparently qualified as a bedroom, laid out on her bed, barely paying attention to him, unlike the others. If that was any indication, then it appeared that her mood from yesterday hadn't improved.
"I think you're gonna want to hear what I have to say, for her sake," he explained, pointing at Mary Margaret.
"Maybe I deserve…" she'd said at his shop. What she thought she deserved he never heard because she'd been whisked away but glancing at her now, he could tell that whatever she thought she deserved then, she probably still felt she deserved now. He'd wager that what she thought she deserved wouldn't put up much of a defense if Regina barged in. That was a problem.
"What are you talking about?" Emma asked over David's shoulder. Henry was closing in too, but Emma grabbed him before he could come any closer. He hadn't realized just how much he'd been hoping Henry would be with Baelfire until he saw him there.
"She's planning to strike back…against your mother."
"What is she gonna do to her?" Henry demanded, once again moving forward only to be held back again by his mother.
"Oh, she didn't say."
"No," David snarled. "You don't get to come in here and just drop a bomb like that. You're gonna figure this out. And you're gonna help us."
He felt his skin prickle with magic at his tone. He didn't like being told what to do. The Dark Ones didn't care for such presumption from the former Prince Charming. Who was he to tell him what he was going to do and not simply accept what he offered with gratitude?
"And why should I?"
"Because aside from us being family now, Mary Margaret saved your life. Now you owe her a debt, and you always pay your debts, don't you?"
Fuck. He looked through the apartment, back to where Mary Margaret was rolling around on the bed, looking incredibly uncomfortable simply to be there and breathing. Was he right? Was the prickling of magic he felt on his skin more than his own magic? And the sense of responsibility and ownership that he felt, in this case, was it more than just guilt? Could it be magic that bound them, that recognized the deal they'd made and was ensuring he followed through with it?
He'd barely had a moment to contemplate it before he recognized the feelings stirring inside of him. Yes, that was exactly it. He knew magic. He knew how it worked and how it felt. He knew how debts and deals worked. David was right. They'd never made a deal for that candle, he and Mary Margaret. But in taking it and doing what he wanted, he'd essentially owed her a favor for saving his own life instead of someone dying in the Storybrooke Hospital. He owed her a debt. The magic recognized it as a debt. And much to his disgust and the disgust of every Dark One in his head right now, yes, he always made sure his debts were paid.
"You're gonna help us stop Regina," David insisted again.
This was going to be a problem. How was he going to protect Baelfire when he was working with them?
By speeding things along. By paying his debt as quickly as he could and keeping the two people most likely to call upon his son far away from the trouble.
"Fine," he spat out. "But this time…this time it's you asking me for help. And this time…we do things my way," he whispered with a grin aimed at David. The last time they'd gone out looking for someone, Belle, he'd played by David's rules. Now they were going to play by the Dark One's rules. And for that to work, he needed one person and no one else. "You're coming with me," he growled at David before glancing over to Emma and Henry. "Not them."
"But-"
"She wants you too, Henry," he pointed out at the boy's whine. "Just as she wants to see your grandmother killed, she wants you back on her side. We have no idea how she plans on doing that and until we know how it's safer to keep you far away from where she might be."
"And where will that be?" David asked.
"The cemetery. She's burying her mother today in her family plot. If we hurry, we might still catch her."
"Great," David commented, grabbing for a gun. "Let's interrupt."
"I can come!" Henry shouted. "I can be helpful. I know I can!"
"No dice, kid," David argued for him as he fetched a black coat and shrugged it on. "Stay here with your mother," he said before looking over at Emma. "Both of you. I'll call you when we have her, and it's safe."
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intothewickedwood · 4 years ago
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Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 5x22 Only You
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Does that mean Storybrooke’s magic is gone now that Rumple has tethered it to the crystal?
Well, I guess he can’t have taken all of it or Regina wouldn’t have been able to teleport etc.
Henry’s relationship with magic is like a freaking rollercoaster. At first, he thinks it’s the best thing in the world, then he hates it so much he wants to destroy it, then it’s the best thing in the world, then he tries to destroy it, then it’s the best thing in the world! But that’s kids for you, I guess! I’m sure I was like that and still can be. Come to think of it, would putting dynamite in the well in season 2 have destroyed magic?
Is that needle that’s put dozens of people under a sleeping curse the same one Maleficent used on Aurora?
Henry’s literally so powerful. I wish he could use his author powers more.
How is taking the crystal out of SB gonna destroy magic in SB?
Oh, so Rumple tethered the magic but didn’t technically absorb it from the town, so they can still use it.
Why can’t Regina text Henry to say that destroying magic would destroy SB? 
Guess they can go over the town line now, for the first time in like forever. But I guess Emma & Regina & Henry could already cross the threshold, possibly Violet too as she didn’t come over with the first curse. And then the others are brought to New York by a portal. 
Oh! So that’s why they can use magic in the lwom? Because Henry brought the crystal aka all the magic of Storybrooke there.
Aww. Henry and Violet are cute. I just wouldn’t recommend reading the Henry and Violet book if you appreciate their relationship in the show.
Oh, thank God. Zelena does promise to bring baby Robin to visit her brother Roland! I need them to have known each other growing up! I bet they’re really close. And Roland is just as sweet as ever and has to stop his sister being reckless. The Hufflepuff to her Slytherin (+ Gryffindor tendencies), if you will. And I need fics where Roland doesn’t grow up to be vengeful and angry. Once a Hufflepuff cupcake, always a Hufflepuff cupcake.
Did Regina agree to Roland going back to Sherwood Forest? I’m surprised she didn’t adopt him. It must have been the Merry Men’s decision because no way would they take orders from Zelena. 
Aww! Roly kissing his baby sis!! I’m gonna miss you Roly!! Literally the most adorable kid! Aww and Granny kisses him on the head too! I die!!
Look at his little mittens!!
I’m guessing he doesn’t know she killed his mama but maybe he knows that she posed as her and in a strange way enjoyed his time with her? I mean, I guess you can say that as Marian Zelena did, at least, take care of Roland and bond with him. Maybe she always wanted to be a mother? Still doesn’t excuse her killing Marian and posing as her. Just trying to make sense of this hug. Maybe Roland is just super forgiving! And you can say it’s cause he’s a child but let me tell you, I was so much less willing to forgive really terrible things as a child than I am now. 
Omg. They all fell so hard through that portal! Ow!
Emma’s genuinely worried Regina’s gonna put a sleeping curse on her.
Baelfire was trying to destroy magic in New York?
Ron used sellotape to try to fix his wand, so why not?
Omg Davis Bloom, love of my life! Well, it’s Hyde but this guy loves to play literal monsters! Listen, before Once Upon a Time, Smallville was my hardcore special interest show. I rewatched it so many times since I was 9! Anyway, Chloe was my favourite character and I’d always been a Chloe x Clark shipper and then Davis came along and Chlavis became my otp. He loved her so much! He gave her the love and attention she deserved! Yes it was messed up but that’s what 12-year-old me was and is here for! My mum and I were so excited when we found out the actor was gonna be in Ouat! I loved Davis to bits and ngl, was highly attracted to him (as was my mama), so excuse me as I continue to be thirsty over Hyde.
Back to the rewatch!
Hyde strangling people is my jam lol.
Snow, my girl, you really can’t keep a secret. She darn told Hyde about the Dark One’s love being pregnant! Oh well, love her anyway. And also, she was 10.
I’ll never forget, I once cut my eye and it legit looked like one of Hyde’s but scarier. It was so frightening to look at and really uncomfortable, but it healed eventually. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it. But it looks cool and sexy on Hyde xD. 
Is that the same book Tilly finds at Henry’s place in 7x14?
Regina: “like with Hook, my first impulse was to rip his throat out.” Jesus Regina! You’re saying that to the woman who just went to the Underworld for Hook and thought she’d lost him forever. He’s someone she loves. That’s intense! As someone who’s been told by a loved one, threateningly, that they are (completely seriously) going to violently kill another loved one, several times, that is so not cool. Luckily no one was killed though, it’s okay. 
I recently read a really interesting meta about Regina’s motivation for redemption being intellectual. Like she says here, she doesn’t want to do good. She hates doing good but she knows that villainous acts won’t get her her happy ending and so she reasons that in order for things to go less awful for her, she must to good. She doesn’t do it because of empathy, guilt or regret, she does it because she figures it’s what the heroes are doing and things are going right for them and because if she goes back to her evil ways she knows she’ll lose Henry and her new and only support network. I think the same can be said for Zelena’s motivations to do good. No shade, just an analysis.
Well at least she’s using the word “I” to express that she did those things. But, she seems more concerned about those things hanging over her than for what she did to her victims and how they felt and suffered.  She even seems more upset at the fact that she has lost a love again than the fact that Robin lost his life and his kids have lost their father.
Hmm. Interesting. She seems to suggest here that before she didn’t know the difference between good and evil. You know what, that could be true because she didn’t really get why people called her the ‘Evil Queen’ and then there’s the fact she was raised by Cora and Henry Sr. Cora probably warped her perception of good and evil and her father positively reinforced a lot of the evil Regina did and didn’t explain to her why the things Cora did and the lessons she taught were wrong.
Why are all those stories in the library? That makes no sense. 
There’s a problem. If the grail is the origin of all magic and Merlin found it around 1500 years before the present (apparently Merlin was a runaway slave too. Of course he flipping was!), how comes Gothel and Seraphina had magic thousands of years ago? I mean, I suppose they were from another land (that Gothel killed almost all the inhabitants of), so I guess people just don’t know magic didn’t originate from the grail. I mean, since the God’s had magic before the grail, and nymphs possibly have relations to gods, I suppose it makes sense that Gothel had magic but then, what about Seraphina? How does she have magic and how did she live so long? Did Gothel cast a spell on her that made her practically immortal or was she already immortal?
Well, that was easy for Rumple lol.
Transforming looks really painful.
The thing is. They shouldn’t have separated Jekyll from Hyde. I think it would have been cooler if they hadn’t. Sure, they can make Jekyll the true villain but why not have the heroes try to save Jekyll as Hyde thwarts their plans at every turn to the point where they have to agonize over hurting Jekyll to defeat Hyde. The same can be said for Regina. Don’t split them up! Just have Regina transform into the Evil Queen so you can’t tell when she’s Regina and when she’s the EQ working on her evil plan. That would’ve been really fun to watch and to try to figure out which persona she was and when! Also, they should have just made Jekyll transform when emotionally compromised rather than when taking the potion because without an assistant Jekyll could have easily lived without Hyde ever returning. 
I hate the look of that wand.
Hydes theme sounds so awesome!
Also, it would have been really cool to explore the Land of Untold Stories. It looks so rad!
How can Hyde summon the portal? Don’t you have to have enough dark magic?! I guess maybe his strength and durability are enhanced by dark magic?
Rumple, I don’t think Belle can here you in that box.
Can I marry Hyde now? I want to marry Hyde. 
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thecursedson · 5 years ago
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Jacefire for the angsty ship meme.
S T R A W B E R R I E S  &  C I G A R E T T E S
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send me a ship and i’ll tell you:
who is more likely to get injured doing small tasks: Haha Baelfire. I’m not going to explain it because it’s obvious. 
who worries more about the other: They have always worried about each other equally as much since the day they met.  I think Bae worries about Jace just a little more because of what Jace’s life consists of. 
who is more afraid about the other leaving them: Neither of is really afraid of the other leaving. Because they won’t. I think Bae is more worried that Jace would die while on one of his missions.
who is more likely to leave (for any reason): Jace. Work makes him leave so he’s always gone to fight monsters.
who is more likely to drunkenly confess: Baelfire~. Imagine how cute that would be, though? 
who is more likely to push the other away (for any reason): Jace. He tends to shut down when he’s upset or sad and it takes a lot for Baelfire to get him to talk about what’s bothering him.
who picks fights more often: Neither. They… Almost never fight. They fought recently and it got aggressive but it was once in… Moooooooooooonths. 
who usually apologizes first: Equal. They both love each other a ton and it’s hard for them to stay upset with one another for long. 
who is more likely to withhold their feelings for the other: Oh goodness. I think Jace is more likely too. Even then, he tends to say how he feels… He would definitely hide if he was hurt, though. 
who is more likely to lash out at the other: Here’s the thing, I could see Baelfire lashing out when he is upset. However, I can see that angry, chest-hitting crying happening until Jace is able to just hold him while he cries.
who gets more jealous: JACE. MORGENSTERN.
who is more likely to support the other in a relationship with someone else “as long as they’re happy”: … This question hurts my feelings. I think they would equally be willing to support the other as long as they are happy.  They love each other so much that it would be nearly impossible not to. 
/ / @we-mcrningstars-three
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killian-whump · 6 years ago
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OUAT 3x05: Rewatch Liveblog
Hello, my friends! It is I, Killian-Whump, here with another Rewatch Liveblog.
This one's for episode 3x05, "Good Form" - and let me tell you right now, it might be awhile before you see another one, because it will probably take me 15 years to GIF all of the whump, angst and sexy faces that appear in this episode.
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BUT BEFORE THAT HAPPENS!!!
I gotta watch the episode. So let's settle in, click the link below... and do just that.
Looks like we’re starting off this episode with Neal getting thrown in a cage, for all of you who are into that kind of thing.
Normally, I would be one of those people, but I'm not really into Neal... and what the hell is up with these camera angles? Meh. Could be better.
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OH GUYS! GUYS! This is the Lost Boy whose face annoys me. I thought he was in S6, but here he is here. Is he maybe in both seasons? I'll have to keep an eye out for him when I get to S6 in my rewatch and spontaneously combust.
Aww, my baby’s having some unexpected feels over there while Emma's talking about her days in the foster system.
Aww, look at him trying to share his feels and connect with another human being on more than a superficial level. Bless him.
Look at him getting shot down because Emma assumes it's just an attempt to get in her pants.
Aaaaaand look at Dave telling him he's nothing but a pirate.
Like I said, I'll be GIFing this shit until sometime in the 2030s.
Oh, look! It's Navy men! What kind of flashback could this be?
Why, that looks like a Naval Officer, someone of good standing, with a jaunty little ponytail and a spry bounce in his step. Who could it-
OH MY GOD YOU GUYS, IT'S HOOK
"Perhaps you mean younger brother." 'I MEANT WHAT I SAID, BITCH'
Ummm.... So... 'Only YOU can navigate us on this hero's journey!' 'Where are we going?' 'BITCH, I CAN'T TELL YOU'
OH GOD, GUYS, THAT BRIGHT SHINING SMILE FULL OF HOPE AND PROMISE T_T It kills me every time I see it. Colin could literally light up a city block in a blackout with that smile of his. We rarely get to see Colin's smile on Hook's face, but he uses it to such great effect right here. Bless.
...and here we are back to angsty, lusty, almost downright creepy staring at Emma XD
WHY IS HE FUCKING LIKE THIS (that’s what she said)
Hahahahaha, Snow. "Thanks for the advice." Like, she literally could not sound less dismissive if she tried. She gives so few fucks about Hook's thoughts, she might as well have walked over there and taken all of his OWN fucks away, as well. 'Nope, sorry, now NO ONE has any fucks for you. Not even you.'
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My fucks... Now I have none T_T
I wish someone at the camp had answered WHY Hook had to go with David for more rope with, "You're freaking us all out, actually." XD
"What would you like to yell at me about now, Dave?" I love it when Hook calls him Dave, haha :D
Dave: "But if I do die-" Hook: "WHEN" Hahahahaha, you little shit <3
Aaaaaaaaand a swing and a miss. Dave, that was the absolute lamest attempt at whumping Hook that I have ever seen, AND I HAVE SEEN THEM ALL. Multiple times.
"Mate? Mate!" Umm, try his name? We know you know it. You used it thirty seconds ago.
LOL, I like to think Hook was, like, pouring Rum on Dave's mouth like a five year old trying to feed a sleeping parent or something.
Aww, he plays David so well. Hook: "No, it's too dangerous." Dave: 'Well, now I HAVE to do it.'
Liam, you ass. "Haha! That was close!"
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Liam: "Employ the Pegasus!" And all the sailors, who obviously know what the Pegasus is, all spring into action, repeating the order and following it. So they all KNOW what the Pegasus Sail is and how to use it, while Killian, the LIEUTENANT and second in command here, has no fucking clue what's going on, what the Pegasus is, that the ship can fly, or where they’re going.
Regina: "How do we know you're not lying?" Hook: "Oh, you don't." Aaaaaaaaand he is. Hook: "But I'm not." Yes, he is.
Dave's TOTALLY OBVIOUS "goodbye forever beloved family" goodbyes XD
Ah, Liam, you stubborn arse. Listen to the strange demon child. Listen to your brother. Spoiler Alert: He never listens.
Oh, look. It's time for "Conversations with Pan That Are Somehow the Most Homoerotic Thing Ever Put on Television That Aren't Overtly Gay OR Sexual at All."  FYI: If sexual innuendos about Captain Pan bother you, you’re gonna want to skip to the next line break. I’m just saying.
Creepy silhouettes. Darkness. Pan: "Come back and work for me." Work? Is that what we're calling it now? Pan: "Like the old days." TELL US MORE ABOUT THE OLD DAYS. Hook: "I don't miss the old days." Great, but TELL US ABOUT THEM ANYWAY.
BLIP! Sudden Closeness Alert.
"We've known each other a very long time, Killian. We've done business before." TELL US ABOUT IT IN GREAT DETAIL OR ISTG
Pan: "You know me." Pan: *whoooosh* Pan: *appears directly behind Killian* Pan: "I like action." Hook: *closes his eyes* Hook: *licks his lips* Hook: *hangs his head* HE LIKES ACTION BACK THERE. BEHIND YOU. BUTT ACTION. I FUCKING SAID IT. I ain’t taking it back.
Hook: *turns to face Pan* Pan: *moves around to be behind him again* That's... I mean... I don't even have to make the innuendos myself here, do I? IT'S BUTT STUFF. I'M THINKING ABOUT BUTT STUFF.
Pan: "I want to see your hook inside his body." WHY DOES HE FUCKING SAY IT LIKE THAT?!?! Like he's a fucking expert at things he wants to see inside people's bodies.
Get a little closer there, Pan. If you even can.
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Oh, sorry. There is literally no way you could possibly get any closer to him without putting your SELF inside his BODY.
AND THEY'RE ALONE. THIS ISN'T NECESSARY. THIS CLOSE TALKING ISN'T NEEDED. NO ONE NEEDS TO WHISPER. IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE HUSH HUSH.
THIS DOESN'T NEED TO BE WHATEVER THE FUCK IT IS.
BUT IT IS.
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JFC even though I've seen this scene a frankly very embarrassing number of times, EVERY time Pan grabs Killian's flask, I always think he's grabbing something else with that sudden jerking motion. And then he pulls the flask up into the shot and I'm like. "Oh. Oh, that's right."
Pan: "Have a drink." Hook's reaction. GODS ABOVE... Pan: "You know it always helps you think."
AHHHHHHHH and then we see why Pan was whispering, and why he put the flask in Killian's hand just then, because Pan knew Dave was approaching and he wanted Hook to look bad in front of him.
...and for butt reasons. FIGHT ME, BITCHES. You know I’m right.
Yeah.
Yeah, sure.
That fucking plant dripping black shit ominously looks like medicine.
Suuuuuuuuuuuure.
EVEN KILLIAN SAYS IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE MEDICINE.
"You choose to believe that boy over our King?" Well, to be fair, that boy fucking LIVES there.
Oh, Liam. Liam, listen to your brother. Liam, don't. Liam...
*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh*
Every. Fucking. Time. I. Watch. This. Episode. He never listens.
Annoying face time again. I wish Regina would just rip his fucking hear-
Oh, there we go. Thanks, boo.
Snow: "The cost can't be this family." Emma: "It won't be." As long as you stop being a judgmental stick in the mud, MOM.
Aww... My baby, giving as wide a berth to the Dreamshade as he can. I love how afraid of it he is. He's so precious.
Ooooh... Swordpoint. This is a much better attempt at whumping our pirate, Dave. I commend you for not giving up after the first try went so poorly.
AHHHHHH and Dave backs him up against the Dreamshade he's so afraid of. LOVE IT.
Oooh, suckerpunch. And Dave's out for the count.
Pan: "Maybe you shouldn't have goaded him into it." LISTEN, YOU JUMPED UP LITTLE SHIT... And Killian just falls right into the trap, just accepting that he's to blame and trying to explain why he did such an awful thing... Oh, my pretty pirate baby T_T
Pan: "Don't leave the island unless you're willing to pay it." Ahhhh, you tricky little devil. You TOLD him, but you didn’t tell him.
Also, remember how Pan said to Baelfire last episode that all the pieces were where he wanted them... I wonder what his purpose was for bringing Killian to the island and setting all this up. He likely knew the resulting cascade of dominoes would bring Killian back... and back again. But why?
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?
(Hint: It's butt stuff.)
Awwww!!! They got the message to Henry!!! :D Yay!!! Success!!!
And they only had to rip a young annoying-faced kid's heart out to do it :)
And now the show would like to rip all of OUR hearts out with a touching scene of brotherly love and agonizing death and beautiful crying faces.
"I will follow you... to the ends of the earth, brother." T_T STOP IT
T_T
T_T
T_T
Damn show.
AWWWWWWWW. He's so cute, suiting up and "bloody hell"ing and pulling a bandana over his face for the task ahead.
Sweet peanut, facing his fears and hacking away at the Dreamshade.
Awww, the way he looks himself over afterwards, and looks soooo relieved that he's emerged unscathed. Such a fraidy cat. I fucking love it <3
"I didn't do it for you, mate." <3
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Regina's so sorry she turned to see what was going on back there, lol.
Snow: "I'm not complaining, but what was that-" Snowing: *more kissing* Emma: "Okay, I'M complaining." :D Regina: "What I wouldn't give for another sleeping curse." HAHAHAHA <3
Awwww, Dave giving his future bro and maybe kinda sorta mate some credit. ...and Hook looking so shy and embarrassed by the attention. Bless <3
Oh. Ohhh. Ohoh!!
CS Kiss Time. As kisses go, this is a damn good one, because it has Colin O'Donoghue in it and Hook in it and Killian Jones in it and... it also has Emma grabbing him by his lapels and yanking him to her forcefully and keeping him there until she's damn good and ready to let him go and that speaks to me on a deep, primal level and did I mention that Colin's in this scene?
...and the way he looks so fucking BLOWN AWAY afterwards. Like, that boy's brain is SAUCE right now and I love every second of it. THAT... That is a man who has been kissed within an inch of his life and that is how a man should always look when a Domme lady is done with him :)
"A one-handed pirate with a drinking problem." LISTEN, YOU WALKING COAT HANGER...
By the way, this "Neal's alive and in Neverland!" cliff hanger here goes down in history as one of the lamest ones ever, seeing as Hook ends up telling the secret, like, literally 30 seconds later in show-time.
More Neal in a cage.
Pan: "Hang him up, over there. Next to the other one." Oh, how ominous...
WHO COULD BE IN THE OTHER CAGE?!??! We'll have to wait to find out!!!
Although, thankfully, you all already know... considering it'll be over a decade before I finish GIFing this episode and actually watch the next one... T_T
Pew Pew Pew Peeeeeeeeeeeew
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keeloves · 6 years ago
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Top 10 Characters that deserved better.
10 Alexis Glenn from Famous in Love
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Despite my problems with this character I wasn’t very pleased with her treatment on the show Famous in Love. Yes I know she was a snob and behaved like a jealous bitch but I felt she had some redeeming qualities about her. For one thing I would have her accept the fact she was bisexual and not have those run of the mill lame excuses as in “I don’t like labels” bisexual isn’t a bad word. I also would have her apologize to Paige for how she treated her and maybe they can get along but they don’t have to be besties. Another thing I didn’t like was her being used by Jake and then being dropped like a hat just because things didn’t work out in his favor. No one deserves that. I also felt she deserved better than to be used by Ida. I would love to give Lexi a redemption arc.
9. Milah from Once Upon a Time.
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Even though I didn’t really care for Milah, I felt she deserved better than to be killed by Rumple twice. The first time having her heart ripped out and crushed literally and then being thrown into the lake of lost souls. I felt she had remorse for leaving Baelfire/Neal behind. I honestly felt she could have given Belle advice on how to leave Rumple and they could have become friends or something. Anyways she deserved to move on from the under world not be thrown in a lake of lost souls.
  8.Belle French Once Upon a Time
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I am convinced that Adam and Eddie hated Belle. First off why did they keep her in a relationship with a man who lies to her, manipulates her and has told her multiple times he won’t change. Yet here she is going back to this man again and again. She kept going back to Rumple and even enabled him. She was once so scared of him that she felt that her child would be better off away from the father. Not only does she get lied to and manipulated she gets mind raped, raped if Belle and Rumple had sex in the fantasy world where Rumple was the Bright One. He even went so far as to stalk her and put a tracking bracelet on her to know where she was at all times. Belle always looked scared of Rumple and was always backing away from him. That relationship should have ended when Belle banned Rumple from Storybrooke. Nope she gets forced back in a toxic relationship and even Emilie De Raven said that she wouldn’t give Rumple as many chances. I know I have said this before but I am going to say it again. Belle should have been bisexual and go be happy with Ruby or OUAT should have introduced Prince Adam. Any one of those relationships would have been better than Rumbelle.
7 Logan Huntzberger
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I thought Logan was one of the most well developed characters on Gilmore Girls as in the original series. When we first meet him he was promiscuous and slept around. However, he was fully willing to commit to Rory and become the boyfriend she needed and wanted. He was allowed to grow and develop. All was going great with his character until the revival. He and Rory are both cheating with each other on their significant others and Amy seem to make Logan resort to his fuck boy ways. I am sorry to Matt Czuchry who had to play a digressed character and props to you for making Logan likable despite the way he was written.
6. Angela Moore Boy/Girl Meets World (Using the Collage because I loved the Versatility Angela had on Boy Meets World I did not make this Collage BTW) 
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I know I keep bringing her up but I can’t help it. I am so bitter that Girl Meets World committed defamation of a black female character. They bent and twisted the narrative to make Angela look like a villain and they also made her look like one more person that mindlessly abandon Shawn when that is not the case. She left to Europe with her father and she was going to come back and be with Shawn. Now in Girl Meets World she was just another person who abandon Shawn? No that is so disrespectful and this completely racist how she got treated. Also I don’t want anyone to come at me and tell me the treatment she got wasn’t racially related. Seriously look how  the other characters got treated as in the white characters got treated then look at how Michael Jacobs treated his only black female character from Boy Meets World. She was the only main black character period and all she got was paid dust. So yeah her treatment whether or not it was unintended was absolutely racist.
5. Hazel Alden Degrassi
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Degrassi literally had no idea what to do with this character. She was on the show for six seasons and only got one single story line about her Muslim back ground and we didn’t get that story line until season 2. She was there as a “main character” so Degrassi could pat themselves on the back for diversity brownie points. Andrea Lewis (Actress for Hazel) did the best with what she had tow work with but it wasn’t much. She was there to be Paige’s side kick and to help aid white character’s story lines. She honestly felt like the Christie to Paige’s Barbie. In fact here is a a link to an article on what Andrea had to say about her time on Degrassi read and enjoy. https://missandrealewis.com/2013/03/28/new-post-a-real-conversation-about-degrassi-tbt/
4. Audery from Descendants
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  I know she is a classist snob and I know she wasn’t the nicest but she didn’t deserve to have her boyfriend stolen from her be dumped in front of the entire school. She deserved to be a more fleshed out character. I mean I wouldn’t really like someone who put a love drug on my boyfriend stole him from me and then he broke up with me in front of the entire school. Anyways Audery deserved better and didn’t deserve to be humiliated.
3. Graham from Once Upon a Time
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I am so bitter how Once Upon a Time treated him. He was used abused and then killed off. Adam and Eddie still this day deny that he was raped by Regina.He had his heart ripped out literally as punishment for not killing Snow White. Regina’s ultimatum was basically “Do what I say or you die” and he literally has no choice because his heart in is Regina’s possession and now he is under a curse without his heart so he really has to do what Regina says without even being aware of the “Why” of the situation. This all changes when Emma comes to town and when he kisses Emma he starts to remember he is actually the Huntsmen. The moment he starts to take back control from Regina she kills him by crushing his heart. To me that is not even the worst thing about this situation its the fact that this issue is never addressed and Regina is never called out for raping Graham.
2 Mulan From Once Upon a Time
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I used this picture because my heart breaks for this gorgeous character. Mulan a bisexual Asian woman is paid dust and yes it is confirmed she is bisexual by the writers and it honestly feels like Adam and Eddie want to pat themselves on the back for the so called “representation.” Mulan arguably the biggest bad ass of the Disney Princesses was reduced to being an aid for white character story lines. She wasn’t allowed to have a love interest despite everyone around her got to have a love interest and she just kept getting screwed over. I am forever bitter about Sleeping Warrior. That ship had the best chemistry the best build up only for the writers to go the hetro normative route with Aurora. Then we had have been with Ruby and we could have gotten Mulan Rouge. That didn’t happen either. She deserved much better than to be a token character of color to only aid in white character story lines. The treatment of Mulan on Once Upon a Time and the treatment of Angela on Girl Meets World will forever leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
Finally Number 1 Dinah Laurel Lance’/ Black Canary/Black Siren
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I am forever bitter on how Arrow treated their most iconic female super hero character. In the comics Dinah Lance was her own hero, was a member of the Justice League and she helped co-find her own hero team called Birds of Prey. She helped people like Sin Lance (Asian character later white washed by Arrow) Helped Roy Harper through his drug addiction and morally centered and is one of the best hand to hand combat fighters. She is up on Batman’s level of hand to hand fighting. However in Arrow she is treated like shit, had a boyfriend who serial cheated on her with her sister, and now he is a dad a child where the baby momma is another woman he cheated with while he was with Laurel. The show had people gas light her and when she finally exploded all of a sudden it was her fault because god forbid she responds like a normal human to being treated like shit for no reason. Sara never apologized to Laurel she just went back to fucking Oliver again despite the fact that is why the Lance family fell apart. Laurel was told she was never good enough to be the Black Canary despite she is the damn Black Canary in the comics. She has helped out Sara and Oliver multiple times despite the fact they are the reason she had to deal with her family falling a part. The people on the show continued to miss treat her. Not once did she get an apology by Oliver or Sara she had to call them out first. Then after the horrible treatment, the gas lighting and mental abuse they show runners decide to kill her off for Olicity. Her dying words are about how Olicity and propping up Oliver and his relationship with Felicity. First off “HOW FUCKING DARE YOU GUYS DO THAT TO LAUREL’ 2 You damn well know how Oliver treated Laurel so you have some damn nerve to do that! Then you have Black Siren get knocked out by Felicity despite the fact she could get up after getting hit by a car on the Flash. Then you weaken her Canary cry when on the Flash it took out a whole building but on Arrow it barely makes the room shake. Then on the Flash great hand to hand combat skills only for her to be easily taken down by team Arrow. The thing that makes me most angry and bitter about this is that I know Katie Cassidy Rodgers actually did her homework on the character she was playing, I know KCR worked out for this role and she was so excited to be in this role. She even had costume design ideas for her Black Canary Suit and you kill her character off for shock value and you wait two episodes before to tell her that Laurel will be the one in the grave. This absolutely disrespectful to the actress and this proves how lazy these writers are.
Anyways this was my rant on characters who deserved better. I would love to know your thoughts.
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lilacmoon83 · 6 years ago
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Dreaming Out Loud
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Also on Fanfiction.net and A03
Chapter 52: Manhattan
“Red...we don’t know that it was you,” Snow pleaded.
“She’s right...we know you didn’t do this,” David agreed.
“I appreciate your confidence, but we all know that I did!” she insisted, as she stood in the cell.
“His body was ripped in half. What else could cause that kind of carnage?” she questioned.
“Plenty of things...you’re not a killer,” David admonished.
“I am David...I’ve killed dozens, including my own boyfriend,” Red retorted.
“But that was before you learned to control it,” Snow reminded.
“But I haven’t turned in twenty-eight years and I have no memory of last night. That tells me that I don’t have control! Now close the cell door!” Red pleaded. David sighed.
“Okay…” he agreed.
“David!” Snow admonished.
“No...maybe this good, because after I conduct my investigation today, I’ll find out who the real killer is and then release you in the morning,” he said. Snow smiled at him, as George stormed into the station.
“Get out…” David growled.
“Well...I see you’ve actually done your job and locked that thing up,” the former King spat.
“She is not a thing!” Snow replied hotly. But she was ignored.
“Whatever issues you have with me...they don’t extend to her. We have no proof that Red had anything to do with what happened,” David stated. George shook his head.
“As usual, Shepherd, you’re allowing your emotions to cloud your judgement,” George hissed.
“Leave him alone,” Snow snapped.
“You two are really something...protecting your friend at the peril of everyone else. I shouldn’t be surprised. I am talking to the pair that spared the Evil Queen from execution and then got us all cursed,” he spat.
“Why the hell are you here? What do you want?” David demanded to know.
“Justice. Hand that over to me and let the town decide her fate,” George answered.
“Like hell...never, because I know exactly what kind of justice you have in mind,” David refused.
“This town is bigger than you think. I start telling people that you’re putting their lives in danger to protect your own interests? You’ll have a mutiny on your hands,” George warned.
“Yeah, we’ll see. You want her, you have to go through us,” David hissed back. George smirked.
“I look forward to that,” he replied, as he stormed out. Snow put her hand on her husband’s arm.
“David...what are we going to do? If he rallies enough people, they might try to kill her,” Snow feared. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked at them both.
“I’m not going to let that happen,” he promised, as he unlocked the cell.
“What are you doing?” Red exclaimed.
“The station isn’t safe, but Belle left me the keys to the library while she’s gone. We can hide you there until we figure this out,” David suggested. Snow smiled and kissed his cheek.
~*~
That morning, after breakfast, they pulled up to the third apartment building in the SoHo district. At the last two buildings, they turned up empty, but they pressed on, even as impatient as Gold was getting. So when he hesitated to enter the building, again for the third time, Emma called him on it.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing,” he lied.
“This could be the place, you know,” she reminded. He nodded curtly.
“Yes…” he agreed.
“He’s not expecting you I’m guessing,” she stated. He remained silent and Belle squeezed his hand.
“All right...well, who doesn’t like a surprise?” Emma said, as she entered the building with Henry. Belle and Gold followed hesitantly.
~*~
Outside the Sheriff’s station that afternoon was quite a scene, as George rallied an angry mob.
“We won’t cower in fear to this creature any long! We know who she is...we know where she’s hiding! So why is she still alive?!” he shouted, as the mob cheered. It was sickening, as Persephone watched the former King manipulate these people and she had words for ever single one of them that was willing to follow this evil man and so quick condemn a possibly innocent woman for something she couldn’t control.
“She’s being harbored by two people. Snow White and Prince David. How many more people have to die, before our Prince and Princess decide to act?” he called. Persephone glared daggers at him and was ready to zap him to dust. But she refrained from that, while they waited to hear from Bashful on the forensics from the crime scene. She was worried though. She wondered how long it would be before they found out where Red really was and she didn’t like this unruly mob. She was afraid that they wouldn’t let anyone stand in their way and would be more apt to go through her daughter and son-in-law to get to Red rather than around them.  
“If they won’t protect you...then I will!” George claimed. She had heard enough and disappeared in a puff of lavender smoke.
~*~
“These should work,” Red stated, as she held up a set of iron shackles.
“I hate this,” Snow protested.
“I know...but you have to chain me up,” she insisted.
“Thanks for letting us hide her here, Belle. The station isn’t safe,” David said into his phone.
“Of course...keep us informed of the situation,” she said from the other end.
“We will,” David agreed, as he hung up the phone.
“Okay...let’s get you settled for the night. Bashful should have forensics back on the scene soon and then I’m going to find the real killer,” David said. Red was about to protest, but then just sighed in defeat.
“You two really have to start thinking about what happens if I am the real killer,” Red warned.
“You’re not,” Snow insisted.
“The crowd is about six blocks from here,” Granny informed them with her wolf hearing, just as Persephone appeared.
“George has rallied a huge mob,” Persephone warned.
“The only way we’re going to get the mob to stand down, is if we prove Red had nothing to do with Billy’s death. Can you stay with her? Because we need to go out there and find the real killer,” David asked. Persephone nodded.
“They aren’t getting in here,” she agreed. David took Snow’s hand and led her out the back way, with Granny trailing them, as they set off, determined to prove Red’s innocence. As they rounded the corner, David’s phone rang.
“What you have, Bashful?” he asked, as he answered.
“There’s a hair on the body that doesn’t belong to Red or Billy. But I need a little more time to run it against everyone in town,” he reported.
“Okay...that’s something anyway. Let me know when you have an ID,” David said, as he hung up the phone.
“There was a hair on Billy’s body that doesn’t belong to him or Red. He needs more time to get an identification though,” David explained, as Granny stopped for a moment.
“What is it?” Snow asked.
“I...I think I’ve got a scent on something...blood,” she said. Snow and David turned and followed Granny.
~*~
Emma looked around the small lobby and approached the switchboard. Henry stood next to her, as they tried to decipher which apartment might be a good bet.
“No Baelfire again,” Henry chimed in.
“Yeah, that wouldn’t fly as an alias,” Emma replied.
“Do any of these names mean anything to you?” Henry asked Mr. Gold.
“Well, names are what I traffic in, but sadly, no,” Gold responded. Emma pointed to apartment 407 and it was the only apartment with no name.
“Here’s you boy,” she said.
“Or it could be vacant like in the last building where there was an apartment with no name,” Gold refuted.
“Except those buildings were advertising apartments for rent. This one isn’t, which means it’s full,” Emma reasoned. He looked at her skeptically.
“You may traffic in names and magic, but I traffic in finding people that don’t want to be found. And those sort of people don’t advertise their whereabouts,” she added, as she pressed the button.
“UPS package for 407,” she stated. The line disconnected immediately.
“Maybe you should have said FedEx,” Henry quipped, as they heard a crash from somewhere above.
“He’s running,” Emma said, as the four of them hurried out into the streets. A man in a gray hoodie was climbing down the fire escape and took off running the moment his feet hit the ground.
“That favor you owe me. This is it. Get him to talk to me...I can’t run,” he pleaded.
“Stay with Belle and Mr. Gold,” she told her son, as she began chasing the man trying to evade them through the streets. Thanks to years of running, though her boots didn’t help, Emma was fast and quickly gained on him. Finally after running almost six blocks, she caught up and tackled him near an alleyway. They crashed to the ground and both started to get up. For the first time, she finally got a look at his face and her heart dropped into her stomach.
“No...Neal?” she asked in disbelief. He smiled.
“Emma?” he asked in surprise. Her mouth still hung ajar and she repeated his name.
“Neal?” she asked again, as they got to their feet.
“I don’t understand...what are you doing here?” he asked.
“What am I doing here?” she asked in return.
“Yeah,” he said.
“I’m not answering anything until you tell me the truth. Are you Gold’s son?” she questioned.
“What are you talking about? Who’s Gold?” he asked.
“You played me...you’re from there…” she realized.
“Whoa Emma, slow down! What are you talking about? Who’s Gold?” he repeated.
“Your father! Rumpelstiltskin!” she cried.
“He’s here?” Neal asked wearily.
“Why else would I be in New York?” she shouted.
“You brought him to me? Why the hell would you do that?!” he cried.
“Hey! I am the only one allowed to be angry here! Did you know who I was? Where I was from the whole time? August said you didn’t know until he told you, but why the hell should I believe that?” she screamed.
“Emma…” he started to say.
“Tell me the truth! Because Gods knows August is really bad at it!” she snapped.
“Fine! We...we just need to get off the street. We can’t talk about this stuff in the open. There’s a bar down the street,” he suggested.
“I’m not getting a drink with you! Tell me now!” she demanded.
“The bar is better...we can’t talk about there in the open. Don’t worry, you can keep yelling at me when we get there,” Neal replied. Reluctantly, Emma followed him. As much as she hated it, he was right. The street was no place for this discussion.
~*~
“You need to leave. The moon’s going to be up soon,” Red warned.
“I’ll be fine, Red. You forget I have magic. I’m the best person you could be around right now,” Persephone replied. But Red’s expression was forlorn.
“What’s wrong?” Persephone asked.
“I know Snow and David want to believe the best in me, but I’ve killed before and I’ll do it again. Everyone in this town is right to be afraid of me,” she replied.
“Well, I’m not...and I’m as convinced as they are that you didn’t do anything. Trust me, George is up to something,” Persephone refuted.
“You should be afraid,” Red warned.
“The past does not define us if we do not let it. Snow and David see the good in you and that tells me one thing,” Persephone said.
“What?” Red asked.
“That it’s in there. So if we can see it, why can’t you?” Persephone questioned.
“You really think so?” Red asked.
“Trust me...I’m the Queen of the Underworld. I know good and I know bad when I see it. And you Red...are good,” Persephone answered.
“Maybe. Maybe you’re right. But the town’s right too. I am a monster. And that’s why I need to make sure I don’t ever hurt anyone again,” Red replied, as she surprised the other woman and put the chains on her.
“What?” Persephone asked, as she tried to magic her way out of them, but found she couldn’t.
“They’re magic proof...I’m sorry, but I have to do this,” Red told her, as she started toward the door.
“Red...don’t do this!” Persephone cried.
“I can’t let you stop me. The mob wants a wolf and I’m going to give them one. I need to pay for all I’ve done,” Red responded.
“And they’ll kill you!” Persephone cried.
“Isn’t that what I deserve?” Red asked, as she ran out, leaving Persephone chained up.
~*~
“This way,” Granny called, as they approached a parked car.
“The trunk,” Granny instructed, as she followed the scent. David popped the trunk and they looked inside, finding an ax and Red’s cloak.
“The wolf didn’t kill Billy,” David stated.
“Red’s hood,” Granny said, as she picked it up.
“If someone had her cloak, then she’d be forced to change into a wolf,” Snow realized.
“So whoever killed Billy could pin the murder on her,” David finished.
“Who would want to hurt my Red?” Granny asked.
“This isn’t about Red...it’s about me. It’s George,” David said, as he went to the front of the car and searched the glove box. He pulled out the registration.
“This car is registered to Albert Spencer,” he confirmed.
“I bet he’s the hair Bashful found on Billy,” Snow deduced.
“He needed a reason to wrestle power away from us, so he created one,” David said, as they heard a howling in the distance.
“The mob…” Snow fretted.
“They’re going to kill her,” David said, as he took her hand and they started running.
~*~
Belle smiled, as she watched Rumple interact with Henry and buy him a hot dog.
“Don’t worry, Emma’s really good at catching people. I think she gets it from Gramps...cause he found and caught Grams a bunch of times,” Henry chattered.
“Yes...but my son has been running away for a very long time now, much longer than your grandmother was running. And I have a feeling he is very adept at it,” Rumple replied, as Belle put a gentle hand on his arm.
“But we did find him. That’s something, right?” the boy asked. Belle smiled.
“That is definitely something,” she agreed.
“Oh and uh, thanks for the hot dog. I forgot to say that,” Henry replied.
“You are quite welcome and thank you, my boy,” Gold replied, as they strolled away from the stand and found a bench.
“For what?” Henry chirped.
“Well, if it wasn’t for you finding Emma and bringing her to Storybrooke, none of this would have come to pass. You...are a remarkable young man,” he said.
“You know...I forgave her. Emma...for giving me up. She thought it was best for me then. That’s why she did it. I’m sure your son will get it too,” Henry said innocently.
“Alas, the circumstances surrounding our separation weren’t quite so noble,” Gold replied.
“But you’re here now and you want him back, right?” Henry asked.
“More than anything,” Gold confirmed.
“Then that’s all that matters,” Henry said. Gold didn’t look so sure, but Belle squeezed the boy’s shoulder.
“You are quite the miniature Charming, aren’t you?” she teased. He beamed.
“Gramps says that love is all that matters and family is really important. Maybe I can tell your son all the stuff Gramps tells me about love and family,” Henry suggested. Belle smiled.
“It definitely couldn’t hurt,” she said, glancing warmly at Rumple.
“Love is definitely special, especially when it comes to family and who better to teach that than a little boy that comes from such a loving family,” she agreed. She could tell he wanted to believe it too, but couldn’t quite. She hoped with all her heart that things would work out in their favor.  
~*~
“She’s close!” George called, as he and the mob entered an alley. The wolf growled from behind a dumpster.
“There you are,” George growled, as he drew his gun and prepared to fire. But suddenly, the weapon was shot out of his hand by an arrow from Granny’s crossbow.
“The next one goes between your eyes!” the old woman threatened.
“Red!” Snow called, as the mob grew angrier.
“Why are you protecting her?”
“You’re supposed to be our Mayor!”
“We’re not sheep, David. We don’t need to led by a Shepherd and a runaway Princess!”
The people shouted angrily at them.
“Listen to me! Red did not kill Billy and I can prove it!” David shouted, as he pointed to George.
“He did. He stole Red’s cloak and killed Billy in cold blood to make it look like the wolf; to get you to think we weren’t leading his town as we should,” David revealed. The wolf growled and the mob started to move toward her, even as his wife still cautiously approached her.
“Hold on! Someone already died because of what this man did. Let’s not spill more blood. She won’t hurt anyone. She’s just scared,” David said, as he followed his wife with Red’s cloak.
“Red? I know you’re in there, so listen to me. George did it...not you,” Snow pleaded.
“She’s right, so don’t let him trick you into thinking you’re a monster,” David added and she growled at that. Snow gave him a look. Honestly, she loved him more than her own life, but he really needed some tact sometimes.
“All right, all right, poor choice of words,” he admonished.
“Please Red, we know you...the real you. We know you can control the wolf,” Snow whispered.
“Red...it’s us…Snow and David,” he added. She stopped growling and sat back on her haunches, allowing David to throw her cloak over her. Red transformed back into her human form and looked at them in grateful awe.
“You saved me,” she uttered.
“No...you saved yourself. We just reminded you of what you already knew,” David replied. Snow nodded and hugged her friend fiercely then. David turned and didn’t see George anywhere.
“Where is he?” he asked.
“He’s gone. Go…” Granny urged, as David took off running after the cold blooded killer.
“David! Be careful!” she called, fearing what George might do to her husband.
“Let’s go...I don’t trust George,” Red called. Snow nodded, as they took off after him.
~*~
The bar was quiet, being that it was the middle of the day and Emma sat across from him, glaring daggers.
“Well, what do you want to know, Emma? You want the truth? Ask away,” Neal said.
“Did you know who I was when we met? August said no, but he’s a liar,” Emma replied. He took a breath.
“So...you’ve met August. No, I didn’t know, Emma. He was telling the truth about that. Wonders never cease, right?” Neal joked, but her glare remained and he looked down at his hands again.
“If I had, I wouldn’t have gone near you,” he offered.
“Really?” she asked skeptically.
“Yeah really...I was in hiding. I came here to get away from...all that crap!” he spat.
“So if you didn’t know...then you were just using me? You just needed someone to take the fall for all the watches you stole,” she deduced.
“I wasn’t using you! When we met, that was all real. I didn’t know…” he implored.
“Then August found you and told you,” she deduced. He nodded.
“He said that I was going to keep you from getting home,” Neal replied. Emma’s anger nearly boiled over at that.
“So you left me...let me go to prison, because Pinocchio told you to!” she hissed.
“Emma…” he started to say.
“I loved you,” she confessed and his heart nearly broke at that.
“I love you too...you have to believe that. I loved you enough to let you go,” he pleaded.
“That’s crap! If you had been honest with me about who you really were, then things would have been so different!” she cried.
“How? Are you really going to sit there and tell me that you would have believed me if I told you I was the son of Rumpelstiltskin and was from a magical Enchanted Forest?” he hissed quietly. She looked him straight in the eye and he was shocked to see absolute belief behind them.
“Yes…” she responded.
“I...I don’t understand,” he stammered. She took a stifled breath.
“What August didn’t know was that I already knew everything...I’ve known my whole life,” she confessed. His eyes widened slightly.
“You mean...you knew you were from there too?” he asked in disbelief.
“I knew my parents too…” she murmured.
“How is that possible? August told me they were cursed with everyone else,” he stated in disbelief.
“They were...but what he nor anyone else, including your father, didn’t know was that every night when I went to sleep, I visited a dreamscape where my parents joined me. My mother appeared there at night too and my father was there all the time, since he spent most of the curse in a coma,” she revealed. His mouth was ajar in shock.
“My mother’s biological mother is Persephone. She gave her daughter up to keep Hades from killing her. That’s why my mother was raised by King Leopold and Queen Eva, though my mother’s biological father was mortal,” Emma continued.
“Your grandmother is the Queen of the Underworld?” he hissed. She nodded.
“Persephone couldn’t stop the curse, so she asked Morpheus to create the dreamscape for us. She wanted me to know my parents, even if it was only in my dreams. And it made all the difference in my life,” she explained.
“But when you met me you...you were just as angry as I was. Hell, that’s how we bonded! Over our crappy childhoods and parents that weren’t there!” he exclaimed.
“I know!” she snapped.
“I was angry at them in my teens years! They were there...but not there. It wasn’t their fault, but at that point in my life, I didn’t give a damn. For like two years, I did nothing but scream at them and tell them that I hated them!” she said, still ashamed of her behavior during that time.
“Wow…” he mumbled.
“When I met you, I told them that I didn’t need them anymore and that I didn’t care if I ever found them. I decided that the curse wasn’t my problem and wanted nothing to do with them. They tried to remain strong in front of me, but I’ll never forget the sound of my mom crying. Dad never let me see or hear him cry, but I know he did,” she confessed. Neal swallowed thickly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. She scoffed.
“For the same reason you didn’t tell me!” she countered.
“When I was a little girl, I use to tell people that every night, I visited a magical dream world where my real parents were. And that they were Snow White and Prince Charming,” she drawled and he nodded.
“They thought it was cute when I was five...but not so cute when I was eight. And then by the time I was twelve, they thought I was downright delusional. If I hadn’t started keeping it to myself, I probably would have ended up institutionalized,” she added.
“Damn...I guess me letting you go was for the best though,” he said. She looked at him sharply.
“Sending me to prison was for the best?” she growled.
“No!” he cried.
“Not that part...but you obviously found your parents and things are better between you, right?” he asked. She softened.
“Yeah...really good actually. But still doesn’t change the fact that what you and August did to me sucked,” she spat. He nodded.
“I know...I’m sorry, really I am. He said it was the only way to get you to break the curse and if I stayed with you...then I’d have to face my father. I wasn’t ready for that...still not,” he replied.
“Do you really think us meeting was coincidence? That this wasn’t somehow part of your father’s plan?” she asked.
“As many sucky things as he’s done, actually no,” Neal replied. She looked at him skeptically.
“Really?” she questioned.
“Think about it...he wanted the curse broken. Us meeting and staying together could have jeopardized that,” he reasoned and she realized he was right. If Gold really didn’t know, then he was in for one hell of a surprise. And then there was Henry...God, she had to tell him about Henry. There was the option of not telling him, but she could already hear her mother in her head. Not telling him would be a mistake if the secret came out later.
“Yeah...you know I’d like to give a big fuck you to fate right about now,” she mentioned and he chuckled.
“Yeah...it can be a bitch,” he agreed, as he noticed her wearing the swan key chain he had gotten her years ago.
“You still have it…” he mentioned. She glared at him
“To remind myself to never trust anyone again...outside my parents,” she retorted. He frowned, as she stood up.
“So, I promised your father that I’d get you to talk to him, so let’s go. I made a deal with him,” she urged. His eyes widened.
“You made a deal with him?” Neal hissed.
“Yeah and I’m upholding my end. Let’s go,” she insisted.
“No...you don’t have to. Just tell him you lost me,” Neal replied.
“Yeah...except there’s one more thing you need to know and I think seeing it is the only way to do it justice,” she said.
“Emma…” he protested, but she slapped her hand down on the table.
“You sent me to jail…” she hissed.
“You owe me this much...now let’s go. Trust me...you won’t regret it, at least, I don’t think you will,” she added. He looked at her curiously, wondering what she could possibly mean by that. But he realized suddenly that he had to know, so with great reluctance...he followed her.  
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thiswomanshouldbewriting · 7 years ago
Text
Caged Love - Chapter 4 (Family Business)
In which the Stiltskin family gets the help of more than one unexpected ally. As always, thanks to my amazing beta @galactic-pirates.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Ao3 link
Baelfire was woken up by a strange, warm tingle on his arm. His eyelids felt incredibly heavy, and he was tempted to just mumble at Gideon to leave him alone and let him sleep, but something at the back of his mind told him that he really should wake up. It was only when he opened his eyes and saw Tink’s apologetic smile that he remembered where he was, and his mood immediately plummeted.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up, but your wounds really needed healing,” she told him as the gleam of her magic vanished. She looked incredibly tired, and there were dark circles under her eyes, but her face had regained some of its color.
“For how long did I sleep?” Baelfire asked groggily.
“Four or five hours,” Regina said from the entrance of their shelter, her eyes still fixed on the woods outside. Her hair was no longer grey but black, and she had magicked herself some new clothes. “I guarded the place while you both slept, then I cast the anti-tracking spell you told me about and healed Tinkerbell. You’re welcome,” she added bitterly.
“Well… thank you,” Baelfire muttered, still not quite sure how to behave around Regina. Mere hours before they had fought side by side and saved each other’s life multiple times, but that didn’t change the fact that she was an unrepentant mass-murderer. Yet she hadn’t looked all that threatening in her cell and even now, after he’d seen her in action and she had changed her hair and dress, Baelfire didn’t find her so terrifying. Determined and strong for sure, intimidating even, but not scary.
“Could I ask you to magic some new clothes for me as well? I don’t need anything fancy, just something that isn’t falling apart like these,” Baelfire said, gesturing at his own tattered clothes.
Regina raised an eyebrow, as if she were ready to scold him for being such an annoyance, but waved her hand, engulfing him in smoke. When the air around him was clear again, Baelfire was relieved to find out that she had listened about the ‘not fancy’ part, giving him much plainer clothes than the ones she was wearing. Regina’s own style was a bit over the top for him: with all that black and red leather, she seemed to share his father’s flare for the dramatics. She had been his student after all.
Finding and cooking food was easier with two magic wielders in their little group, and Baelfire was feeling unbearably useless by the time Tink set a bowl of warm stew in front of him.
“So, what do we do next?” he said, hoping that bringing up a serious matter would make him feel less like a pampered child.
“We find your family, I suppose. A locator spell would generally need an object that belonged to the person you want to find, but with both mine and Tink’s magic, and the blood of a relative, I think we should be able to find them,” Regina said.
“What about Belle then?” Baelfire asked.
“What’s the matter with her? We’ll find her the same way,” Regina replied, her tone rising in irritation.
“I don’t think we can. You mentioned the blood of a relative, and we’re not related. She’s not my mother; not my natural one, anyway,” Baelfire explained somewhat awkwardly. His relationship with Belle had never quite been defined. She surely behaved like his mother, and she had talked about him and Gideon as ‘her sons’ more than once, but he still didn’t feel like calling her mom, nor had she ever asked him to. She had simply… loved him from the start, just because he was Rumple’s son, without expecting anything in return. The thought made him incredibly homesick, so he tried to focus once again on his present. Regina was currently staring at him in confusion.
“How can she not be your mother? You can’t be more than nineteen years old, and Rumplestiltskin has been smitten with his maid since the very first day,” Regina said. Plus (but she didn’t dare say it in front of Baelfire), she thought it absurd enough that Rumplestiltskin had found one woman willing to sleep with him, but two of them? That was downright crazy.
“Actually, I am something over one-hundred-and-fifty years old. I don’t know the exact number, I’ve lost count at some point. My father remembers though, you could ask him when we free him. Long story short, I was born before he became the Dark One, ended up spending over a century in Neverland, and only made my way back here a few years ago,” he explained quickly. He really didn’t feel like sharing details about his troubled past, so he was happy when Regina didn’t ask any other questions.
“So, back to the problem at hand… what do we do about Belle?” Tink said after a few moments.
“I suppose you don’t have anything of hers?” Regina asked Baelfire.
“No, all of her stuff is at the Dark Castle,” he confirmed.
“Going there would be a risk. If I were Snow, I’d place at least a few guards there to raise the alarm in case you decided to come home. Plus there’s a lot of valuable magic in there, so there might very well be fairies scavenging the place for anything useful,” Tink reasoned.
“They’ll hardly find anything, papa hides all the powerful stuff with blood magic,” Baelfire said, glad that at least his father’s spells wouldn’t be used against them. The thought of Snow and David’s soldiers rummaging through their stuff, however, still made his blood boil.
“Isn’t there any other place where Belle might have left something of hers, like a summer palace?” Regina suggested.
“We don’t have a summer palace. Sometimes we visit Mulan and Merida in Dunbroch, but it’s been a while since our last visit, if she had left something they would have probably sent it to her already…”
“Wait, isn’t Belle a noblewoman?” Tink asked suddenly. When Baelfire nodded in response, her face lit up. “Then is it possible that there’s still something of hers at her old palace?”
Baelfire’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Well, all I know is that her father is the Duke of Avonlea. They exchange letters from time to time, but I’ve never seen him. As far as I understand, he barely tolerates the fact that she chose to be with my dad,” he explained.
“Asking for his help still sounds like a better idea than going to the Dark Castle; as much as he might loathe Rumplestiltskin, I doubt he’d want to see his daughter imprisoned,” Regina reasoned.
They all agreed on that, but Baelfire still didn’t feel quite at ease at the idea of asking for Maurice’s help. His step-grandfather could hardly stomach the life that Belle had chosen for herself, to the point that he’d only seen his grandson once. What if he decided that he’d rather see Belle imprisoned than at the Dark One’s side? Baelfire tried not to think about it, but whatever was left of his optimism died out as the spell to locate his father and his brother failed.
“There must be some powerful spells hiding them. There’s nothing we can do against those, not from here,” Tink said, sagging to the ground in defeat.
“So our only plan is going to Maurice?” Baelfire asked, already knowing the answer. “Hurray for our second plan in a row that involves getting into a castle to speak to someone I don’t trust,” he added after Tink’s nod, throwing his arms in the air in fake enthusiasm.
“Thanks for the trust. I should have let you die in that dungeon,” Regina muttered, pretending to be offended.
“If I had been fool enough to trust you, you would have been wise to let me die,” Baelfire replied, smiling.
He hoped Regina’s sarcasm would last; their banter took his mind off of his worries, and it reminded him of his dad’s antics. If she kept up behaving like this, he might even start to like her.
They waited in their shelter until nightfall, then Regina teleported them to Avonlea. She had visited the place during her years as a queen, and while she didn’t remember the exact geography of the place she was fairly certain she could take them to the forest around the castle. Even if they happened to stumble upon someone as they materialized, after a few hours of rest they felt prepared for a little fight.
The forest was eerily silent when they arrived. As the smoke cleared around them, Baelfire strained to catch any signs of human presence, but it was hard to do so in almost complete darkness; it was a cloudy night, and hardly any light filtered through the leaves. He would have asked Tink for a globe of light or something like that, but he didn’t dare give such a blatant sign of their presence when he wasn’t even sure of where they were, or if there was anyone nearby. That’s why he almost had an heart attack when he saw something flashing at the corner of his eye. He turned around to find Regina holding a fireball in the palm of her hand without a care in the world.
“What the hell? Turn that thing off now!” he hissed angrily.
“I can’t feel any magic presence around here; if we’re not alone in this forest, then it’s nothing we can’t handle,” said Regina drily. As if to prove her point, she made the fireball in her hand burn even bigger and brighter.
What is she, five years old? Baelfire thought as he turned his back on Regina to look at Tink.
“She’s right, we should be safe for now,” Tink confirmed, and Bae didn’t know if he was more relieved because they weren’t going to die, or annoyed because Regina was right. “I do think it would be wiser if we used a normal torch rather than a fireball, you know, just to keep up a normal appearance should we stumble upon someone,” she added, looking at Regina, who immediately turned the fireball into a torch.
Tink nodded in approval, then shrunk down to her small fairy form.
“Wait, weren’t we trying to keep up a normal appearance?” Regina protested immediately.
“I need to see beyond the trees, to check where the castle is. It will only take me a second,” Tink explained, then vanished amidst the trees.
It turned out that Regina had done a really great job with her teleport: the castle was less than half an hour away. The problem was that they still had no clear plan on how to get in, or what to do once they got past the doors.
“Why don’t we just ask for Maurice’s help? If he wants to help us, there’s no point in sneaking in. If he doesn’t want to, it will be easier to run away if we’re not inside his castle,” Baelfire suggested. He didn’t trust the Duke, but he didn’t want to jump into a fight if there was a way to avoid it. He had always hated violence, and his decades on Neverland had cemented that feeling. Pan loved to start fights amidst his Lost Boys for the silliest reasons, and the more people get hurt, the funnier he seemed to find it.
“Even if I thought this a good idea - which I don’t - how could we get in contact with Maurice without getting into the castle in the first place?” Regina asked him.
“It’s easier than you think,” Baelfire replied, smiling. Finally a problem he knew how to solve. “Watch this,” he said, then put two fingers in his mouth and let out a long whistle.
“Are you insane? Or is your plan just to alert the entire kingdom of your presence?” Regina said aggressively, but Baelfire didn’t mind her. His gaze was fixed on the sky, and soon enough a white dove emerged from the leaves and came to rest on his outstretched arm.
“What kind of princess trick is that? Did you take lessons on bird language from Snow White?” Regina asked, looking at him as if he had just grown a second head.
“Nothing of the sort. It’s a long story, but let’s just say that messenger doves consider me their friend. They’re magical creatures, and they always find the recipient of the letter. Getting in contact with Maurice won’t be a problem,” Baelfire explained, caressing the dove’s head.
“That’s incredible. Messenger doves are a symbol of goodness and purity, and not many people manage to get their trust. Fairies often have to ask for their help, and I can’t help but imagine how shocked Blue would be if she knew that they willingly offer it to you,” Tink commented, both awed and amused.
“If you really want to laugh, you should see my papa around them; he always tries to pretend he’s annoyed by their presence around the castle, but he’s the one who leaves food for them whenever he thinks no one is watching,” Baelfire added.
“Sorry to interrupt your hilarity, but we have more pressing issues at hand. Are you really sure you want to put our missions in the claws of a pigeon?” Regina asked.
“It’s not a pigeon and you know it. As for your question yes, I think it’s a good idea. In case you don’t remember, the last time we tried to get out of a castle with violence we almost all got killed. This time, we are going to try diplomacy first,” Baelfire rebutted. Evil Queen or not, he wouldn’t back down from his plan.
Regina argued for a little while more, but eventually capitulated, even though she refused to help them write the letter. It took Baelfire and Tink several attempts to find the phrasing that looked most convincing without sounding desperate, but after almost an hour the dove was flying again, headed towards the castle.
Baelfire sighed as the bird disappeared beyond the trees; the idea of waiting for a response that might never come was incredibly frustrating, but there was nothing he could do about that. So he busied himself building a camp that Tink and Regina then hid with their magic. Tink seemed to appreciate the distraction as well, because she helped him gather wood and prepare the bedding, but soon enough there was nothing left for them to do. Even if he was still incredibly tense, eventually Baelfire couldn’t help but doze off.
He was woken up at the first light of dawn by a gentle pecking on his hand. He blinked his eyes open and saw the dove he’d sent the night earlier staring down at him. There was a new message tied to her leg: Maurice had written back.
*******************************
“Your Grace, I don’t think you should go into the forest alone. Please, allow me to escort you,” Lord Legume insisted, but Maurice wasn’t listening to him. He had let other people’s fears and prejudices guide him for too long, and he had already lost so much because of it. Today he finally had a chance to fix at least something of what he had broken, and he wouldn’t miss it.
“As I’ve already told you, I don’t need anyone’s help. I’m not a child, and I’m most definitely able to take care of myself. I said I need some time alone to think and, by the gods, I will have it,” he replied as a stable boy helped him mount his horse.
The other man kept protesting even as Maurice spurred his horse and left the stables, and the Duke was incredibly relieved when he finally left that annoyance behind. Left alone with his thoughts, Maurice started to feel a little anxious. What if the boy - Baelfire, that was his name - couldn’t find the meeting place he had suggested? What if the mission to rescue his daughter failed? What if Lord Legume was right to worry, and he was riding straight into a trap? He told himself that there was really no point in worrying when all the answers he needed were so close, but by the time he reached the clearing he had described in his letter his heart was hammering in his chest.
The place looked empty, but as soon as he dismounted his horse someone stepped out from behind the trees.
“Good morning, Your Grace,” said the fairy flying next to Baelfire. “We’re sorry for hiding until now, but nowhere is truly safe for us,” she explained. She seemed accustomed to the etiquette, and even bowed a little in greeting. Baelfire, on the other hand, was eyeing Maurice with curiosity and a bit of suspicion, and was apparently so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t even greet him. His letter had also mentioned a third member in their little group, but this other person was nowhere to be seen.
“If there’s someone who needs to apologize, that’s me,” Maurice said, not really knowing how to go on. “That’s why I’m here today, to start being a better man - and a better father - than I’ve been so far.”
“So you don’t mind if we drop all formalities? Because I’m really bad with those,” Baelfire said somewhat bitterly.
“Hardly any of this meeting is following the rules anyway,” Maurice said, feeling more awkward with every passing second. “Look, I know what you must think of me, that I’m an idiot and that I don’t deserve a daughter like Belle, because I couldn’t appreciate her. I know. I just want her to be safe. I want her whole family to be safe.”
It had taken him a long time to realize what really mattered in his life, but hearing that his daughter had been taken prisoner had opened his eyes. Nothing was more important than Belle’s happiness, and if she had found it in the life she had chosen then no one - not even him - had the right to judge her for that.
“That’s why I brought you this,” he added, taking a blue ribbon out of his pocket. “Do you think it will work, even if she hasn’t touched it in over twenty years?”
“Definitely. What matter is that it’s hers, not how much she uses it,” Tink reassured him.
Baelfire took the ribbon from Maurice’s outstretched hand. He could simply thank the man and leave, and Maurice probably wouldn’t judge him for it. After all, they had a complicated spell to prepare and no time to lose. A part of him wanted to do just that, to get out of this awkward situation and forget about it, but deep down he knew that wouldn’t be right. He had to say something.
“Look, I’m not going to tell you that what you did wasn’t horrible, because it was. I know better than anyone how my father can be, but Belle is your daughter, and you shut her out,” he started. Maurice was looking extremely uncomfortable, but there was no point in sugar-coating the issue. “However, there’s another thing I know a lot about, and it’s how complicated father-child relationships can be. Just because you screwed up, it doesn’t mean you can’t fix things. Belle loves you, and you’ve already showed that you want to change. If you go on like this, I’m sure everything will be fine.”
If he and his father had managed to salvage their relationship, then surely Belle and her father could do the same. Maurice looked incredibly moved by his words; he was blinking furiously to hold back the tears, and suddenly pulled Baelfire in for a hug which felt only a tiny bit awkward.
After pulling back from the hug, Maurice assured them once again of his support, even though he couldn’t publicly take their side because of Snow and David’s threats, and begged them to keep him as informed as possible. As he rode away from the clearing, Maurice prayed to all the gods that his family would be safe.
*******************************
After a day of rest, with new, warm clothes on and bandages on her cuts, Belle felt like a new person. The sun was setting, and she was almost giddy with expectation. She was finally doing it, she was going to save her family, or die trying.
“I pity the people who stand in your way; they don’t have a chance against you,” Roland told her as he hugged her goodbye.
He was so affectionate with her, and Belle was already incredibly fond of him. She couldn’t help but think that Baelfire and he could be great friends; hopefully, in a not so distant future she would be able to make them meet.
Robin kept making recommendations to his son as they waited for the sky to go dark, and Roland’s pretend annoyance at his father’s worry managed to distract them both from the uncertainty that loomed over their separation.
At last, it was finally time to leave; there was a long way ahead of them, and no more time to lose. They had only taken a few steps outside of the cabin, however, when a cloud of green and red smoke appeared in front of them, giving them just a second to prepare for the materialization of someone.
“Belle!”
She had wanted so much to hear that voice, and for so long, that she almost didn’t believe it. As the smoke cleared, however, there was no denying the reality: Baelfire was right in front of her, calling her name like his life depended on it, and Belle was so relieved that it took her a while to notice the woman at his side.
“Bae, get behind me, NOW!” she ordered, dragging him by the elbow so that she could put herself between him and their enemy.
“Wait, it’s all a misunderstanding, she’s with us,” Baelfire protested, as Tinkerbell moved to stand between Regina and Robin’s bent bow.
“She is tricking you. Do you know who this woman is? What she has done?” Belle asked him, taking her dagger out without taking her eyes off of the Evil Queen.
“As shocking as it is, yes, they know, and they still asked for my help because they know that without me your rescue mission is doomed to fail. So please put your weapon down, before you hurt yourself,” Regina said, not impressed at all by their show of hostility. If anything, their reaction proved that she had been right in not wanting to meet Maurice; showing up with a fearsome criminal in tow was hardly going to gain his sympathy.
“Why should I believe you, after all you’ve done to Rumple and me? Why would you ever want to help us now?” Belle asked, every nerve of her body on edge. No matter how much time passed, she remembered the Evil Queen’s laughter as she was dragged into her dungeons as if it were yesterday. She had spent a whole year of her life rotting inside her prison, waiting for the moment the Queen would either try to use her against Rumple or kill her after deeming her useless. She wasn’t just going to let that slide.
“Because, as absurd as it sounds, right now our interests are aligned. I wanted my freedom and to ruin Snow’s plans, and your step-son needed my help. He still does, in fact, and so do you,” Regina explained.
Belle didn’t know what to say, and after several seconds of tense silence she turned around to look Baelfire in the eyes.
“Do you really think this isn’t going to backfire?” she asked him. Even if the idea of working with the Evil Queen scared her out of her wits, she trusted Baelfire’s judgment. He wasn’t a fool, and he had survived on Neverland for decades all on his own: if he truly thought Regina’s presence was necessary, then she’d listen to him.
“If she wanted to try something, she would have done it already. Tink and I were unconscious for several hours after freeing her, and she didn’t run away or hurt us. She has been nothing but helpful so far,” Baelfire answered honestly. Belle would never truly trust Regina, and he wasn’t asking her to, but he needed them to work together for them to have a chance to succeed.
“Fine,” Belle conceded eventually. “But give me just one reason to suspect you, and you’ll regret having ever escaped your prison,” she added, looking at Regina. As the tension left her body, Belle felt tears prickle her eyes as she finally pulled Baelfire into a long-desired hug.
Baelfire wrapped his arms around her in return, feeling like he ought to say something, but not knowing what. He wanted to reassure her, to tell her that he was okay, that they would all be okay, but he knew that would be a lie. More than anything, he felt the need to call her mom like he had never felt before. He was too young when his mother ran away to have a lot of memories of her, and he couldn’t recall a single time when Milah had hugged him like this, like she was at the same time protecting him and taking strength from his mere presence. He ended up not saying anything at all, but he hoped that Belle could sense some of his feelings from the way he clung to her. She was incredibly perceptive after all.
Even though time was of the essence, they took a few minutes to exchange information, and they were all shocked to find out just how close they had been to meeting the day before. Belle didn’t seem able to stop thanking Tink, while Robin looked extremely wary of Regina, who in turn made a snarky remark about him smelling like forest. They were probably the strangest, craziest rescue party that the Enchanted Forest had ever seen, but Baelfire had to believe that they would make it, that their determination would be enough.
They were about to finally leave when they heard the unmistakable sound of someone running towards them. They all immediately turned towards the sound, weapons drawn, but the relief of seeing that it was Judy only lasted a second. From the look on her face, it was clear that something really bad had happened. She was so worried that she didn’t even question the presence of Bae, Regina and Tink, merely exchanging a look with Roland to know if it was safe to talk in front of them. When he nodded his approval, she handed Belle a piece of parchment.
“I ran here to warn you as soon as these were put in the village; I was afraid I wouldn’t make it in time,” she explained as she tried to catch her breath.
Belle opened the sheet with trembling hands, and when she saw its contents she felt her blood run cold.
“It’s Gideon,” she told everyone else, her voice so tiny it was hard to hear, even in the silence of the woods. “They’re putting him to death. He’s scheduled for execution in ten days time.”
*******************************
After hearing that the Evil Queen had been freed by someone who was posing as the Blue Fairy, the guards of Gideon’s prison were extremely wary of letting Blue in. They asked her all sorts of question to check her real identity, but she answered them all without batting an eye; if anything, she only looked annoyed at them. They were elated when she informed them that she’d be taking the boy away, so much that they didn’t question her when she asked to be left alone with him before taking him away. Gideon’s presence made them a huge target for the Evil Queen, and many men were deeply unsettled by the sight of the miserable, lonely kid.
Gideon’s head shot up at he heard someone approaching his cell, and he snuck closer to the bars, trying to get a glimpse of the visitor while he was still hidden in the shadows. Rage filled his veins when he recognized the fairy who had imprisoned him, and he could feel the magic coursing through him, fighting and burning against the cuff that kept him trapped and powerless.
“GO AWAY!” he screamed at Blue as she got closer. He didn’t want to see her, he didn’t want to hear what she wanted to say, he just wanted his parents.
“There’s no need to scream. I’m here to take you away,” she explained, crouching down so that she was eye level with him.
Gideon was taken aback by her response and stopped to think for a moment.
“I don’t trust you,” he said eventually. “And I don’t want to go with you.”
“I knew you’d say that, but I’m really trying to help you. If you come with me,” she paused for a moment, then spoke again, her voice so low that Gideon almost didn’t hear it. “I can take you to your parents.”
“You’re lying,” he replied immediately. “Why would you want to help me?”
“Because I’m not who you think I am,” she said. One moment later, she let part of her glamour spell vanish, just enough to show Gideon her real face.
Gideon gasped in surprise. By the time he had recovered from the shock, the glamour spell was back in place, and he already missed the long blonde hair that his savior was hiding under the spell. He loved to touch people’s hair, even though his mom had told him it was rude.
“Will you come with me now?” she asked him again, and this time Gideon could do nothing but nod enthusiastically. He’d do anything to get back to his family.
Before opening the cage, she reminded him again that he would have to pretend she was the Blue Fairy until they were far away from the guards. Gideon nodded in understanding, then started screaming at her again. For the first time since he had been captured, however, he was truly happy about making a fuss. This time he wasn’t screaming for naught, he was actually making fun of his guards, turning his escape into a joke at their expense.
Not-Blue teleported him away once they were out of his prison, reappearing in a forest he didn’t recognize. It was only then that he asked her her name.
“Call me Odette,” Emma said.
She didn’t know how much Gideon knew about the reason why he had been imprisoned, but it was far better if, for now, he didn’t know about her identity. She wasn’t sure of what he would do otherwise, and the last thing she needed was for him to turn against her.
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finding-my-imagination · 7 years ago
Text
Family Ties (Pt. 5)
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Part Five
Pan x Reader
Part Four
Word Count: 1.8 k
I stood next to Pan as he taunted Hook.
"What, you think that kiss actually meant something?" He chuckled. Hooks eyes flash towards me then back towards pan as he said, " I do. I think it means she's finally starting to see me for the man I am." I let out a laugh as I look away from him and towards Pan.
Pan smiles back at me before saying, "What? A one-handed pirate with a drinking problem? I'm no grown up, but I'm pretty sure that's less than appealing."
Hook shoots Pan and I a nasty glare before questioning, "Why are you here? What do you want?"
"So," I say as I take a step closer to Hook, "What would a man like you do with a big, fat secret?"
Hook gives me a confused before saying. "Um... Well, that would depend on what the secret is."
Pan walks up to me and wraps his arm around my shoulders then said, " Baelfire. Neal. Whatever name he goes by nowadays, Your daughter's long-lost brother, the guy Emma loves, the father of her child, the one who got away... "
Slowly hook said, "What of him? He's dead."
"No. I'm afraid not. He's alive." I say as a smirk spread across my face.
"That's not even the best part. He's here. On Neverland. Waiting to be reunited with the love of his life. So they can be a big happy family again." Pan said with a sly smile.
Hooks face turned a ghastly shade of white when he looked at me waiting for a confirmation.
"Oh, yes. Can you believe it?"  I replied.
"I'm sure Emma will be so excited to see him again. To know that Henry's father is still alive, almost like a miracle sent from God himself. But I'd hate for that to get in the way of a budding romance. So I'll leave it up to you, to tell her or not. Let's see what kind of man you really are." Pan looks down towards me and whispered. "Ready to head back to camp, Love?" As his hand shifts from my shoulder to my lower back. I lean in, softly caress his face, and lightly press my lips against his.
After a short moment, I pull away and said, "I'll be there in a minute me and daddy dearest need to have a  little chit-chat about some of the recent events." Pan nods his head and placed a swift kiss on the center of my forehead before turning and walking towards the camp.
Once Pan was out of eyeshot I rushed towards Hook and gave him a swift push. A look of bewilderment covers his face as he tried to catch his balance. I jab a finger into his chest with each sentence as I spoke, "You will tell Emma. You will find Baelfire." I said firmly. "He has been in the echo cave since midnight and he better be out of the cave by six today, understood?!"
Hook tilted his head slightly while looking at me and said, "Watch who you're talking to. We might night be close but I'm still your father. And what happened to it being my choice anyway?"
I quickly lifted my hand and made a fist, cutting off Hooks oxygen supply. "Pan said it was your choice. I didn't! And if you think, us not being close is the worst thing to happen to us in the past twenty years, your gravely mistaken. And if I find out that you even thought about hesitating I will tear you limb from limb as slowly as humanly possible. But not before I remove all of your teeth, both of your eyes, your toes, and what you have left for fingers. Am I understood?!" I say through gritted teeth giving my fist a slight squeeze. As his hand grasped at his throat he rapidly nods his head. I release my hold and start to explain the way the cave worked. "The only way to get him out of the cave is to reveal a secret. In fact, your gonna have to reveal several secrets. I don't have a lot of patients, so you better figure out what your gonna say and fast."
I turn and walk away, and the moment I was out of hooks view I released a huge breathe of air that I hadn't realized that I was holding. I leaned against the nearest tree as the thought of the past few days finally caught up with me. The image of Henry's smiling face, as he laughed at a joke, flashed through my mind. That kid was my family, my nephew.
Next, I couldn't help but recall the first time I laid eyes on him. Pan was playing him and telling him all about the 'faulty' pixie dust. He was so full of hope and belief. Not to mention trust, in this random guy he just met. The more I thought about him, the more I questioned myself. Why did I just do that? Why did I care so much? Why was I willing to risk everything I had with Pan, for some kid I met less than forty-eight hours ago. Yes, he is my family, but technically Pan was my family too. And he certainly has done a lot more for me then anyone else has. But maybe that was the reason I was so desperate for Hook to tell Emma that Bae was here. He was so close to getting Henry off this island earlier, and if Emma got him safely out of the cave then maybe Henry actually had a shot at surviving this whole ordeal.
And that's when it hit me. I wanted the storybrook group to win.
"Shit!" I yelled as my hands slid into my hair giving it a slight tug. God, if Pan found out about this he would end up resenting me for the rest of our lives. After I finally came to terms with my thoughts, I pushed myself off of the tree and began to make my way back towards the camp. The entire way back all I could think was that, Hook better pull through.
After making the long trip back to the camp I stood in the center looking for Pan. After an unsuccessful search, my eyes landed on our shared tent and I began to make my way over. The closer I came to the tent the more nervous I got. My palms began to sweat and my heart started to race and all I could think was what if he could tell? What if he wouldn't forgive me? What if I lost him forever over this? I took in a deep breath before walking inside of the tent. Upon entering I saw Pan sitting on the cot slightly hunched over with his arms rested on his legs and fingers pressed together. The moment his eyes met mine, I knew that he knew.
"You never went back to the camp, did you?" I whispered as I averted my eyes to look towards the ground.
"I would never leave you alone with that man. Not again. Not after what happened last time." Pan replied in a low voice. "Why? Why would you tell Hook where Baelfire is? How to get him out?"
"I can't  keep playing this game anymore." I said slowly.
"What do you mean you can't play anymore, Y/N? We created this game together. It has been years in the making." My eyes dart to his face hearing the emotion in his voice. "Every rule. Every reward. Every twist and turn. And what? You just want to back out? Call it quits?!" Pan yelled.
I can feel my eyes start to fill with tears as I looked away from Pan unable to watch the anger, hurt, and betrayal that I had created cross his face. Pan grabbed my hands and pulled me closer to him.
"Tell me why...Or how we can fix this."
"We can't fix this Peter. Nothing is broken. Bae was my best friend. He was what made Neverland feel like home when he first got here. There were weeks where I wouldn't see you for days cause you were so busy running this place. And I may have spent my life surrounded by men, but that didn't make me feel any more comfortable here. You were all I had and you weren't always there. Bae was the family I always wanted, but never really had. And to find out, years later, that he actually is that family that I had craved. My brother. Means so much more than I ever thought it could. And that also means that Henry is my nephew and seeing him and being around him makes me want to know him more. It makes me want to give him that bond that I never had. And because of that, I can't be apart of the reason that I'll lose him or Bae all over again. Because if I stand next to you when you take the heart of the truest believer, that's exactly where I'll be."
"So that's it?" Pan questioned coldly, his grip on my hands weakening. "You find out that your Daddy screwed his Mommy and everything changes? Your best friend who ABANDONED you, just like everyone else is family, and he knocked up some chick from the system, and the games just over? And your just gonna turn your back on me? ME? The only person who actually stayed? Who loved you unconditionally? Who saved you even when your father left you to suffer?" I chocked back a sob as Pan spoke the harsh truth at me while dropping my hands completely.
"I'm not turning my back on you, Peter! I love you more than anything. I've always been on your side and I'll always be on your side... Even when you're wrong." I said while I reached up to grab his face and force him to look me in the eyes. "But this time. Just this one time. I'm asking you to be on my side.Don't do it. Don't take Henry's heart. We will find another way." I begged.
Pan remained silent as he stared at me as if he was trying to take in every detail on my face. My eyes dashed across his, trying to read his emotions. Pan slowly reached his hands up and pulled my hands away.
"I love you, Y/N. But I'm not gonna wait another hundred years to find a solution when the original is ten feet away." I sucked in a breath and pulled away.
"Where's Henry?" I whispered.
*AN HOUR LATER*
"Well, how do you know it'll work?" David questioned, as he turned to look at Hook.
As Hook went to speak, I spoke up and said,"Because I told him."
The group's eyes flashed towards me.
"What are you doing here?" Regina sneered.
"Look long story short, I told Pan I was backing out of the plan and he wasn't so happy about that. He's taking Henry to skull rock. So we got to put a move on the secrets or Henry's gonna die...tonight."
Tag: @bellasett
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imgilmoregirl · 7 years ago
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His Cursed Soul
AO3 Link
Notes: So yeah, people asked me to fix this One-Shot, so I got this next flicket, which is still angsty, but I hope it's enjoyable anyway.
Her Kind Heart
A quiet ghost, he had asked her to be and a quiet ghost, Belle made sure that she was. The same couldn't be told about the child, though, as his wailings he could hear all night long, although they were always very weak. She never spoke to him. He never spoke to her. Rumplestiltskin avoided looking at his own child, the baby she held in her arms with such care. A part of him, didn't want the curse to be broken now, because he didn't want to have to look at her eyes, knowing that she was his Belle again, with all the memories of their time together. She already hated him now and it would hurt even more to know that this hate would grow once she had access to their past.
Some nights he would lay in bed remembering about how pure, good and innocent she once had been. Belle wasn't any of it anymore. The expression on her face was always bitter, reminding him of how Milah acted after he came back from battle as a coward. Belle at least, didn't seem to be willing to leave the child she had at any point in her life. She lived for him, as she once promised that she would.
Rumple regretted the things he had done, he hated himself for them, but he couldn't change anything. He very often caught himself about to make an approximation, but then, he pulled away, held himself in place and turned back to being the cold bastard he had always been with his lovely Belle. He bought everything the child needed, but he never touched it. He gave Belle a comfortable bedroom, a few new clothes and provided food for her meals, but he never crossed paths with her. When he was home, she would stay in her room and in the times she needed something from the kitchen and appeared to get it, he observed her from distance.
She was getting more miserable by the day. There were dark bags under her eyes, her skin looked too pale, her lips were white and dry most of the time and she always looked in pain. His poor Belle, who deserved the whole wide world, locked in that house, tied up to that baby forever. All his fault. He growled to himself as he turned around in the bed, thinking that he needed to focus on finding Baelfire instead of keep thinking about something he had already lost forever. Once the curse was broken, Belle would leave him forever and she would take the boy with her.
A few hours of uninterrupted sleep were something he wasn't expecting to get, though. Rumplestiltskin always woke up with Gideon's screams, but that night what woke him was a rude and insistent knock on his door. The Dark One sat up on the bed, rubbing at his eyes and reaching for his cane as the knocking persisted. He was ready to be cold with Belle all over again when he opened the door to find her crying with a limp baby in her arms.
"He is not breathing," she sobbed. "Please, you need to help me. My son is not breathing."
Rumplestiltskin's whole world seemed to have stopped. He looked down at the baby and his breath got caught on his throat. The tiny body Belle held was flaccid, lips getting purple and eyelids closed, he knew he had to do something, but he didn't seem to able to move. Tears fell down Belle's face as she sobbed and clutched the child close to her chest.
"Please," she begged him. "He is the only thing I have. Please do something."
He didn't know what she expected him to do, but Rumplestiltskin picked the baby up from her arms and sat back on the bed, laying him on his legs and with the little knowledge he had, the Dark One tapped his back three times with the needed strength to clean the passage of air again. For a second nothing happened and Belle started to cry harder, but then they heard the smallest of the sounds as if someone was choking and the baby moved slightly, giving Rumple enough hope to repeat the proceeding second time until the child was wailing again, squirming in his legs.
Pulling him up to his arms, Rumple watched as the baby spilled some milk, which was probably suffocating him and Belle immediately reached to clean his little mouth before he could ruin his clothes. She picked him up from the Dark One, nestling him in her arms again and he watched as she soothed the baby, who was slowly regaining his natural pinkish colour.
"Thank you," she murmured between her sobs. "You saved my son."
Although he would have liked to answer, Rumplestiltskin couldn't find the right words to do so. He was in awe, because for the briefest of the moments he had held his son on his arms and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. A part of him wanted to break down in tears, because he had been ignoring that little boy's existence for the past few weeks and he had almost lost him without even holding him. It hit him hard and all he did was to keep staring at Belle as she nuzzled her nose against the baby's forehead.
"Go to your room," Rumplestiltskin commanded her. "Call me if you need anything and remember to tap his back gently after he is fed."
"I did it," Belle answered. "I don't know why this happened. He was sleeping, then he made a weird sound and stopped breathing."
"Be more careful next time, then."
It was awful that she felt like she needed to explain herself to him, but he only nodded, opening up the door for her and shutting Belle away once more before he fell to the bed again, hiding his face on his hands.
He had envied that baby. He had regretted his existence, but he hadn't realised that he was just another innocent whose life he had ruined too. That poor child deserved better. He was so precious, so little and so sweet! He was pure like Belle and he was a part of both of them. Gods, they had made that child, that little boy Belle claimed to be the only light in her life.
Rumplestiltskin had another son that he so wished to care for, but he couldn't, because he had done everything wrong again.
She woke up in a hospital room, feeling a bit dizzy. Her vision was blurry and her body felt sore as if she had been hit by a truck. Lacey could remember perfectly about what had happened before she finally fainted, so she wasn't exactly expecting to wake up there, or wake up at all. She lifted her own arms with a bit of an effort to see that both her wrists here wrapped in bandage.
Weak as Lacey was at the moment, she could only manage to lay her hands down again, both above her belly that for her surprise wasn't swollen anymore. She would feel a tick fat layer under her hospital gown, but there was no life in there, no baby to kick her and make her feel even for the slightest moments that her life was still worth it. Tears came to her eyes as she desperately looked around to find a nurse injecting something in the bag to which she was connected.
"Where is my baby?" Lacey asked her.
"Ms. French, good that you're awake," the nurse smiled.
Grunting, she pulled herself up to a sitting position, feeling a sharp pain come from her lower belly.
"Where is my baby?" She repeated.
"Just a minute."
A relieved sigh left her when the nurse disappeared through the opened door, because "just a minute" certainly couldn't mean "I'm sorry, but there is no baby anymore". She sat there impatiently waiting until he woman came back holding a little bundle in her arms and her heart attempted to stop at the sight.
"Congratulations, you have a son," the nurse said, handing the baby to her. "I'll give you a moment with him and then I'll come back so we can have a little talk and maybe try breastfeeding. He is very small and fragile, his lungs weren't ready yet, so you might notice he is making a weird noise, but he is just trying to breath."
Lacey nodded, barely understanding what her words meant as she cradled the most perfect thing she had ever held in her arms. He was tiny, very tiny and was sucking at his own little fist, blinking his dark brown eyes at her. He was perfect. She didn't care that he had Gold's damned eyes, she wouldn't care even if he turned out to be his mirrored image, that baby was hers, he represented the love she had felt for that man and she would take care of him until her very last breath.
"Hey little boy," Lacey murmured. "I can't believe I almost lost the chance of holding you. You are going to be loved, alright? I will love you every day of my life and you'll never doubt of that."
He released his fist, a trail of saliva falling on his chin, but she only thought that it was adorable. He was in fact doing some strange noises that had nothing to do with little cries or a small complaining and Lacey became immediately worried about his healthy. Earlier that day she had wished to die and she hadn't cared much if she was dragging him with her or not, but now that she was holding him everything had changed. She wanted her child to live and she would do anything to keep him safe.
Sleep didn't come for Rumple after that little incident in the middle of the night. All he could do was to keep obsessively thinking about Belle and the child. Gideon. His son. He thought about Baelfire too, about everything that meant failing with both of them. It kept him up until it was time to get ready for the day and he headed to the kitchen already wearing one of his usual suits. He stopped in the middle of way though because he found Belle in the living room, crying again, curled up on his couch with the baby sleeping in her arms.
"What are you doing?" He couldn't help himself but to ask.
"Watching him sleep," she shrugged. "I will need to take him to the hospital. His breathing is still hard."
Even from where he was, he could see that the way the child's chest rose and fall wasn't exactly normal, it was slowly and hard as if breathing caused him some kind of pain. He held his cane tighter, taking a few steps towards them and taking a seat beside Belle.
"May I hold him?"
"Why?"
"Because I want to," he said, simply. "He is my son."
Belle furrowed and he relished in the way she still looked beautiful and pure even when she was in fact bitter and scared. There was anger in her eyes, of course, anger for what he had done to her cursed self - the adventurous Lacey - and there was mistrust too. Everything he deserved, of course.
"You never wanted him," she whispered.
"I'm sorry, Lacey, I really am," Rumple answered. “I've made a lot of mistakes, but he is not one of them and I want to fix this."
She glanced down at the baby and with some hesitance, she handed him to the Dark One. A smile appeared in his lips as he watched his son fuss a bit before getting used to his warmth and lean his small cheek against his chest. Belle smiled fondly at the scene for a second, but then that smile faded and she shook her head.
"I'm not sure if I can forgive you."
"I'm not asking for forgiveness," he assured her. "Just let me take care of him too."
More hesitance. She worried at her lip and reached out too touch the baby’s brow, which allowed him to see her bare wrists for the first time in long. With the bandages gone he could see the deep wound that was still healing but would soon become a scar in her perfect body. He released a sharp breath, wanting to take her hands and kiss each scar, saying he would do anything so she would never feel like she wanted to end her life again, however he didn’t do it.
“Okay,” Belle – no, Lacey, he reminded himself – said. “But you need to promise me that you will never, ever hurt him like you hurt me.”
Tears pooled in his eyes as he nodded, looking deeply in her sad blue ones before bending down to press a kiss to Gideon’s forehead, who made a whiny sound at the gesture.
“I would never hurt him,” he answered. “And I’m sorry for what I did to you.”
“If…” Lacey tried to start but needed to swallow hard before continuing. “If you really want to get my trust back, you can start by pulling Gideon to his crib and perhaps making me some tea.”
She was being imprudent by asking this of him and he could see in her eyes that she was afraid of his reaction, but he only smiled at her and carefully leaned to kiss her cheek tenderly before getting his cane and pulling himself up to his feet with Gideon safely nestled in one arm. He couldn’t fix his mistakes, but if Belle, with her kind heart was willing to give him a second chance, he could try and do his best to make it worth it.
“I’ll be back in a few moments, then we can talk.”
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swanqueeneverafter · 7 years ago
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28. Shadows of the Past, Pt.4
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Neverland. Present. Neal's Hideout. (Everyone is still looking for clues.) Hook: “Anything important?” Emma: “I can't tell yet. I didn't know he liked drawing.” Hook: “He got it from his mother.” Emma: “I'm hoping Neal left something useful in the details of one of these. Maybe a map? Some kind of clue. Hand me that candle. (David lights a candle which sits inside half of an old coconut shell and hands it to Emma:) What about you? Any luck?” Hook: “No potted bean plant or swirling vortex under the rug, if that's what you mean. There may be no rug at all. There are other drawings on the far wall, but as far as I can tell, that's all they are. Probably just a way to pass the time and keep occupied.” Emma: “You knew him pretty well, didn't you?” Hook: “We spent some time together." Emma: (Sighs:) “Looks like you're right. They're just a bunch of pictures. (Moves over to Mary Margaret:) What's all this?” Mary Margaret: “Uh, just some cups and bowls he fashioned from things he found here.” David: “Don't know how great a cup this coconut could make. It's filled with holes.” Mary Margaret: “Uh, maybe it's a tiny colander.” Regina: “Yes, because preteen Baelfire probably made lots of pasta.” (Mary Margaret gives Regina an exasperated look.) Emma: “Hold on. (Takes the half of the coconut with holes in and places it on top of the other half:) Hook, snuff out that torch.” Regina: “Am I supposed to be impressed that he made a night-light?” Emma: “Look up.” Mary Margaret: “Stars.” Hook: “It's a map.” David: “To where?” Emma: “Home.”
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Neverland. Pan's Camp. (The lost boys are still dancing by the fire when a gust of wind blows through the camp, sending everyone, save Pan, fast asleep.) Pan: “We have a guest! No doubt someone who knows how much I like guessing games. Who could it be? I guess... (Pan re-ignites the fire with a wave of his hand to reveal Rumplestiltskin:) The Dark One. Come to save Henry, have you, laddie? (Whispers:) How exciting. The Dark One ready to sacrifice his life for his family. Speaking of family... (Pan lights a torch behind Rumplestiltskin:) You can come out now, Baelfire.” Neal: (Steps out from behind a tree, crossbow drawn:) “Name's Neal now.” Pan: “New name, but the same old tricks. It's heartwarming to see father and son working together, especially after you abandoned him, Rumple. This is a real family reunion.” Mr. Gold: “What are you waiting for?” Neal: “I got this.” (Neal shoots the arrow but Pan catches it.) Pan: “Clever. But we've been through this before, Baelfire. Have you remembered nothing?” Neal: “I remember plenty.” (Pan throws the arrow down.) Neal: “That's why I didn't coat the tip.” (Pan is now immobilised by the squid ink.) Mr. Gold: “Grab Henry.” Pan: “Well, how about that? I'm impressed. But are you sure you're really saving him, Bae?” Neal: (Picking up an unconscious Henry and placing him over his shoulder:) “What could be worse than leaving him here with you?” Pan: “Why don't you ask your father? Sometimes the people we should fear the most are the ones closest to us.” Neal: “W... what's he talking about?” Mr. Gold: “Don't listen to him.” Pan: “You mean you haven't told him?” Neal: “Told me what?” Pan: “Why, about the prophecy, of course.” Neal: “What prophecy? What's he mean?” Pan: “The prophecy that says you've been tricked. Your father isn't here to rescue your son. He's here to murder him.” 
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Neverland. Rumplestiltskin’s Camp. (Rumplestiltskin and Neal have escaped with Henry to their camp.) Neal: (Laying Henry down on the ground:) “What the hell was he talking about?” Mr. Gold: “Oh, don't mind him.” Neal: “He said you were gonna murder Henry!” Mr. Gold: “He plays games. Mind games. The important thing is we got the boy and we got away.” Neal: “Where are we?” Mr. Gold: “The other side of the island. We're safe here for the time being.” Neal: (Tries to wake Henry:) “Hey. Hey, Henry. It's me. Hey, it's your dad.” Mr. Gold: “No, he... he can't hear you.” Neal: “Then wake him up.” Mr. Gold: “Pulling him out of the spell could be dangerous. He'll wake naturally in a few hours. He'll be fine.” Neal: “All right. (Walking toward his father:) Then you can explain to me what the hell Pan meant. This prophecy that he's talking about, why would he say that you'd kill Henry?” Mr. Gold: “Oh, I don't know, to create a wedge between us.” Neal: “That's not a denial. No, this has to do with what happened when I found you. You thought I was a hallucination. You said that you had to do the right thing and save Henry! What did that really mean?” Mr. Gold: “Baelfire...” Neal: “It's Neal! Now stop dodging and tell me what's going on!” Mr. Gold: “There was a seer, and she told me of a prophecy... that a boy would help reunite me with you. And that boy... Would be my undoing.” Neal: “Henry.” Mr. Gold: “I didn't know it was gonna be my own grandson, till I found you in New York and discovered you were his father.” Neal: “You were planning on getting rid of him, whoever he was, weren't you? To try and cheat fate? To get around the prophecy? You cold-blooded son of a bitch. You were gonna kill him.” Mr. Gold: “Yes.” Neal: “Get back. You stay away from him!” Mr. Gold: “That was then. Things have changed. I... I didn't come here to Neverland to hurt Henry. I came here to save him.” Neal: “After what you just told me, I'm supposed to believe you?!” Mr. Gold: “I won't lie to you, Bae. Self-preservation has been a nasty habit I've had my whole life, but I came here to break it, to do the right thing and to save your son. Even if that meant sacrificing my own life. (Whispers:) You have to trust me.” Neal: “How can I?” The Enchanted Forest. Past. (With drums playing, boys whooping and dancing, The Dark One stands by the fire still trying to find his son.) Pan: “You don't even recognize him, do you, Rumple?” Rumplestiltskin: “Well, how could I when he's wearing a mask?” Pan: “Well, he might be wearing a mask, but that's not the reason. Look at him... Playing with other boys, out in the world. He's happy, Rumple. That's why you don't recognize him.” Rumplestiltskin: (Grabs Baelfire:) “Bae. Baelfire. Are you all right?” Baelfire: “I'm fine. Why are you here?” Rumplestiltskin: “I know you think I don't care about you, son, but I do. And I'm here to prove it.” Baelfire: “How?” Pan: “Go ahead, Rumple.” Baelfire: “Papa! What are you doing?!” Rumplestiltskin: “I'm protecting you.” (Rumplestiltskin transports he and Baelfire home.) Pan: “You're gonna regret not taking my deal, Rumple!” Rumplestiltskin’s Hovel. Baelfire: “Don't touch me! Get away!” Rumplestiltskin: “It's all right now, Bae. You're safe.” Baelfire: “Safe? I was never in danger. The Piper was my friend!” Rumplestiltskin: “He may have wanted you to think that. But you have to believe me. He would've hurt you.” Baelfire: “Why? Who is he? Another person that you abused with your power?” Rumplestiltskin: “His name is Peter Pan. I've known him since I was a boy. Growing up, we were incredibly close.” Baelfire: “So you're saying he's immortal, too.” Rumplestiltskin: “He wasn't always. He went to a place called Neverland. He betrayed me, Bae. He can't be trusted.” Baelfire: “What happened?” Rumplestiltskin: “All that matters is that he fooled me for a long time before I'd finally seen his true nature, and it is darker and more repulsive than you should ever be exposed to!” Baelfire: “He can't be any worse than you.” Rumplestiltskin: “I had to protect you, Bae. I didn't have a choice.” Baelfire: “Stop lying because I know that you did! I know about the deal Pan offered you. He said all you had to do was ask me if I wanted to come home.” Rumplestiltskin: (Whispers:) “He told you?” Baelfire: “He said that way I'd know if you really trusted me, if you really cared.” Rumplestiltskin: “Oh, please, Bae.” Baelfire: “You didn't need to. I would've chosen to come home. I would've chosen you! If only you asked. Maybe we could've found a way to be a family again.” Rumplestiltskin: “We can be. Bae. (Baelfire leaves the house:) Bae!”
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Neverland. Present. Rumplestiltskin’s Camp. Mr. Gold: “Tell me what I have to do to gain your trust, and I will.” Neal: “Give me The Dark One dagger. I know you. I know you wouldn't come all the way to Neverland without it. It's the only thing that can control you. It's the only thing that could stop you. You wouldn't take any chances with it.” Mr. Gold: “I don't have it.” Neal: “Why are you lying?” Mr. Gold: “I'm not lying to you, Bae. I hid it so Pan couldn't get it, so he couldn't stop me.” Neal: “So un-hide it!” Mr. Gold: “My shadow took it.” Neal: (Laughs:) “Your shadow? Man, you got an answer for everything, don't you?” Mr. Gold: “I'm telling you the truth, I swear.” Neal: “You know, maybe you did hide it. Maybe you do want to do the right thing. But that's today. What about tomorrow?” Mr. Gold: “I've changed.” Neal: “Have you?” Mr. Gold: “Yes.” Neal: “The prophecy still stands. You save him, he's still your undoing.” Mr. Gold: “I'm still willing to die for him.” Neal: “What happens if we get back, and you're reunited with Belle, and you realize that the only thing standing between you and your happy ending is my son? And suddenly, ‘undoing’ doesn't sound so great.” Mr. Gold: “You're my happy ending. This is, because it's my redemption. I can be strong, son, if you have faith in me.” Neal: (Takes his father’s hand and clasps it to his chest:) “You know, when I was living here and sleeping in a cave, I used to dream of you coming to rescue me. But then I'd wake up and remember how you left me behind. You left your own son behind for the power of that dagger. How can I think that things would ever be any different?” (Neal steps back, releasing Gold’s hand to reveal the squid ink he placed there.) Mr. Gold: (Imobilised:) “Neal. What are you doing?” Neal: (Picking up Henry:) “I'm gonna find Emma and the others and get the hell off this island. Then I'm gonna get my family back home.” Mr. Gold: “You can't go into the jungle alone. Without my power to protect you, Pan will capture you both!” Neal: “I'm sorry, I got no choice. We're safer without you. Goodbye, papa.” Neverland. Present. Neal’s Hideout. Mary Margaret: “How can you be so sure it's a map?” Hook: “There was a short time in Neverland when Baelfire was aboard my ship. I taught him to navigate using the stars. What you're looking at is the fruit of my labors.” Regina: “Then you can read it.”
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Hook: “Sadly, no.” David: “I thought you just said you taught him how.” Hook: “Yes, but I also taught Neal something else. The key to being a pirate... secrecy. The best captains conceal their maps in a code. He was an apt pupil.” Mary Margaret: “So you're saying the only person who can read this map is Neal?” Emma: “Which means the only person who can read it is dead.” (Emma leaves the hideout as Mary Margaret & David follow.) Outside The Hideout. David: “Emma, wait!” Emma: “Now is not the time.” Mary Margaret: (Blocking her path:) “I can't even imagine the sadness you must be feeling.” Emma: “I'm not sad. I'm pissed. Yes, Neal just died, but I lost him years ago. (Voice breaking:) He left me years ago. Pregnant and alone and in jail. He abandoned me despite everything I... Despite knowing how I grew up. Now, when I actually need something from him, to find a way off this damned island and save Henry, he’s dead.” (Emma walks away.) David: “She'll be okay.” Mary Margaret: “Really?” David: “We have done everything we can.” Mary Margaret: “But that's the problem. I have no idea how to help or comfort my own daughter. It is the first thing a mother learns, and I don't know how.” David: “I know. I feel the same way.” Mary Margaret: “How can we even blame her? The way she’s had to grow up, alone? She’s tougher than I am. I mean, if you died, I would not be able to move on.” David: “You must. (Stammers:) I'm just saying. Every day we're here, something bad could happen. And if it did to me, I'd want you to move on, to continue, to be happy.” Mary Margaret: “That's really sweet, but nothing is going to happen to you, not while I'm here.” (They hug.)
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Neverland. Present. (Neal is walking through the forest with Henry over his shoulder when he hears rustling in the trees.) Neal: “Emma.” (Pan and the lost boys appear, surrounding Neal.) Pan: “You were so close to finding her. You disappoint me. I thought I taught you better. Never break in somewhere unless you know the way out.” Neal: “I'll remember that for next time.” Pan: “Well, there isn't going to be a next time. (Felix takes Henry from Neal’s shoulder:) But don't blame yourself. Your father could have protected you out here, sure. But then who would've protected Henry from him? Talk about a rock and a hard place.” Neal: “I will get my son back, no matter what it takes.” Pan: “You're not getting it. That's not the problem. You got him. I got him back. It's the game. No, my boy, the real problem for you is that there is no escaping Neverland. No one gets off this island without my permission.” Neal: “I've done it before.” Pan: “Did you? Look where you are now. It's like you never left.” Neal: “You saying you let me go?” Pan: “I'm saying everyone's where I want them. (Henry groans:) Something to chew on. (To the lost boys:) You know where to take him.” Neal: “No! Henry!” Pan: “Oh, don't worry. It won't be for very long.” Neal: “I'm alive!” Pan: “Just until I reset the board. See, the game is about to change.” Neal: “Don't give up hope, Henry! I will come for you! I promise!” Neverland. Rumplestiltskin’s Camp. (The squid ink wears off and Mr. Gold is released. He turns around to find Belle waiting for him, sitting on a fallen tree.) Belle: (Sighs deeply:) “I'm so sorry, Rumple. Neal should have trusted you.” Mr. Gold: “How could he? After everything I've done?” Belle: (As Gold sits and joins her:) “Well... He may not know what was in your heart, but I do. You would've protected Henry. You would've even given your own life to show Neal that you've changed.” Mr. Gold: “Are you asking me, or do you truly believe that?” Belle: “I know it with all my heart. What I don't know is why you look so upset now. I mean, Rumple, he's alive. Baelfire. You have something to live for.” Mr. Gold: “But the prophecy remains. (Stands:) Henry's still my undoing.” Belle: “That's why you're upset. You were so determined to die for the boy, but now? Having something to live for has brought back that nasty habit of self-preservation, hasn't it? Rumple... Habits can be broken, can't they?” Mr. Gold: “Go away, Belle. I don't want to talk right now.” Neverland. Pan's Camp. (Drums continue playing, Lost boys whooping.) Henry: (Groans, waking up:) “What happened?” Pan: “Oh, you fell asleep.” Henry: “I did?” Pan: “No, don't worry. It was just a little catnap. The night's still young.” Henry: “Wait. I... I remember something. My dad... When I was asleep, I... I could've sworn I heard him calling for me.” Pan: “Really?” Henry: “It must've been a dream.” Pan: “Well, how can you be sure?” Henry: “Because... 'Cause my dad's dead.” Pan: “I'm sorry, Henry. It makes sense for us to dream about the things we've lost and the things we hoped for, like your father being alive or your mother coming to find you. But eventually, you'll find new things to dream about. And when you do, they'll start to come true.” Henry: “How do you know?” Pan: “Because that's what I did. And now you're here. Neverland used to be a place where new dreams were born. You can bring that magic back, Henry. And we can be your family. (To the group at large:) I'd like to play a song, a song for our guest of honor... Henry. (Playing melody, after a moment or two, Henry begins dancing and joins in with the other boys. Voice echoes:) You can hear the music now, can't you, Henry?” Henry: (Voice echoes:) “Yeah!”
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Neverland. Neal’s Hideout. (The group are still searching for clues as to how Neal escaped the island. Emma notices some markings on the wall and looks closer.) Mary Margaret: “What is it?” Hook: (Looking at the markings:) “It appears Neal marked his days trapped on this island.” Mary Margaret: (As Emma jumps up to touch the wall:) “What's wrong?” Emma: “Look here. Neal stopped counting.” Mary Margaret: “Because he got off the island.” Emma: “No, he was here longer.” David: “Then why would he...” Emma: “Because he lost hope.” Regina: “You got that from scribbles?” Emma: (Jumps down to face them:) “I got that because it's what I did every time I went to a new foster home. I counted days until counting seemed pointless.” David: “You think the same thing's happening to Henry?” Emma: “Pan said that it would.” David: “Hey. We're gonna rescue him.” Emma: “Yeah, I know that and you know that, but Henry doesn't know that. Pan wants him to lose faith.” Regina: “So what, you want to send him a message? Because I haven't seen a Neverland post office. What are you suggesting?” Emma: “We take a page from Pan and we start being clever. We need to send a simple sign, a sign that we're coming.” Regina: “What, with lost boys running around, trying to kill us all?” Mary Margaret: “Yeah, maybe it's time we used that to our advantage.” Regina: “How?” Mary Margaret: “Follow me. I'll show you.” (David and Regina follow Mary Margaret out of the cave. Emma is about to follow when Hook stops her.) Hook: “Swan.” Emma: “What? We're wasting time.” Hook: “I, uh... I just wanted to let you know that I do know what it feels like, to lose hope.” Emma: “I know what this is. This... you... you know, trying to... bond with me. Save your breath. I'm not in the mood.” (Emma walks away. Hook turns to follow but is stopped by David.) David: “Let me give you a bit of advice, Hook. Stop trying to get close to my daughter. She's never gonna like you.” Hook: “Is that so?” David: “Well, how could she? (Whispers:) You're nothing but a pirate.” Hook: “This, coming from a shepherd? (Smirks:) I’m not the one you need to worry about, mate.” David: “And what does that mean?” Hook: “Well, the last person I saw your daughter ‘get close’ to, was the Queen.” (Hook turns and walks out of the cave.)
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This episode made me cry like five times, and I hold you both accountable for that. Eddy Kitsis: We intended to make you cry, so the fact that we did — we're going to take satisfaction in it. Sorry... We all cried in the editing room repeatedly every time we saw it.
How did you guys come to the conclusion that Belle's life and eventual death was the direction you wanted to take this story? Kitsis: We wanted to show them have this great life, and for us one of the things that we always talked about during the first six seasons was that the Dark One is immortal. It was always a benefit to him in that he couldn't die if he would be stabbed. But we started to think about the end of last year and we knew they were going to get their happy ending, and then all of the sudden it's a Benjamin Button situation in a weird sort of way, right? Not that he's reversing in age, but he's not going to get older. He's the vampire, who can't age. We loved the idea that Belle, though, is always pure of heart and understood that what made their lives special was the fact they only got one of them. And if Rumple keeps aging her down or they both live immortally, then one day isn't as special as any other because you have so many in an infinite number, it doesn't matter. She understood that, and watching Rumple come to that conclusion and being willing to give up everything to be with her and live that life, to us, was the greatest gesture he could make. This was a man we watched for six seasons always choosing power over love.
Was that sacrifice the last building block of his redemption? Kitsis: For us it was the last step. We saw last year that he chose his son over power or getting infinite power, but I think this sacrifice for Belle really was genuine in the fact that that's what mattered to him now, his family. The montage was less about finding a way to get rid of the dagger and more of them just enjoying their lives. I think he understood that. For us, that was the great last romantic gesture for her. And that is truly what he wants.
Fans pointed out that their house kind of looked like the house from Up. It's even on a cliff side. Was that intentional? Adam Horowitz: It was certainly an inspiration. We loved Up, and the emotionality of that felt very right for what we were doing here. Kitsis: It is our shout out to Up. It was definitely inspired by that, and it just felt right for those two.
Should we expect to see more of Gideon in Season 7, since he's still alive at the end of that montage? Horowitz: We may. Never say never. We love Giles [Matthey], and we love the character, and he is out there.
Is there a possibility for Belle to reappear in some way, shape or form one day? Kitsis: Absolutely. On this show, even the dead people seem to come back all the time, so I wouldn't count it out.
Another heartbreaking moment was when Gideon offered to take the curse from Rumple so he could reunite with Belle. Why did you guys decide to have him make that offer? Kitsis: Rumple was always haunted by what he did to Baelfire, and here we see, yes, he made up with Baelfire, but we see again with Gideon that he wasn't ever going to make that mistake again. He was a good father. And there is a Guardian, someone who can take on the burden of this. Honestly, it was kind of like the gangster mentality. He didn't want his son to follow him into a life of crime, he wanted him to be a professor, you know? His son seemed much more like Belle and interested in learning. He didn't want his son to be the Dark One. He didn't want him to be the Guardian. He wanted him to follow his own path.
We got to see so much of Belle and Rumple's life together in this episode. Did you guys feel like you owed it to fans to really show the whole span of their life together in this farewell episode? Kitsis: I would say we felt like we owed it to us. It was something we wanted to see. We spent six years keeping them apart, bringing them together, having the drama, and so we just wanted to see the love story now. We feel like we earned it, so let's see it. I think that's really what it came down to, and obviously we knew that was something the fans wanted. One of the fears that the fans had when they realized we were doing this new reboot was we would be taking away the happy endings... the legacy of the first six years is very important to us. We're not taking away anything, hopefully, we're adding on a new story. Horowitz: For us, it was very important that Rumple and Belle have a happy ending. These characters deserved it, and that was part of the reason for doing this episode; to show how they did have this ultimate happiness together.
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treatian · 4 years ago
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The Chronicles of the Dark One:  The Dark Curse
Chapter 205:  A Father’s Love
Regina was a tricky little devil. He was partly to blame for that, but he wasn't willing to excuse the fact that Cora was her mother or that she'd been brought up as a spoiled little girl by her father either. When he'd first met her, she'd been innocent and naïve. Now that she knew what the world around her was capable of, he knew there were times to excuse himself from her presence. After the fiasco with Count Edmund, for example, he found himself purposefully staying away from her to the extent that when she'd come to his castle one night, screaming his name, demanding to know what he'd done, he'd made himself invisible and stood in a corner, tolerating her destruction of his things, knowing full well that the important things were safe from her. It wasn't that he was scared of her, not by a long shot; no, he had more power than Regina ever would. But he recognized that from now on, he had a tricky role to play in her life. After what happened with the Count and Charlotte, he had appeared before her as an enemy, but he was ever aware that there was time she would need him to be her mentor, still, and other times that she'd need him to be her friend. He'd hidden from her that day because he knew that if she found him, that might be the end of it. When the Count hadn't shown up, and Snow and David continued to live, it hadn't taken her much to put two and two together, and she was so furious that if she got her hands on him, she would have severed their bond so that he would never have been able to appear before her as a friend again. By hiding and letting her take out her anger on his objects, he allowed her to vent her rage towards him at having failed, then go home to wallow in her despair, a place that he would still be able to reach her.
Soon enough, he'd sensed, probably from the Seer, she would let him into her world again. This time when he explained the loophole to the protection spell he'd placed on the Charmings, she would be receptive. She would listen. And the divide would be crossed once more. So he kept up his watching, kept himself fully tuned into the future in his head, and waited to be called to go to her. But he didn't expect it would happen as it had.
In the early morning on the day Snow and David were to be married, he received a summons, one he probably would have answered out of boredom even if the Seer hadn't pressed him to go, but it hadn't led him to Regina, at least not directly. Instead, it took him out into the courtyard where the former queen kept her apple tree, to a man he'd seen several times in his life, who practically had haunted him, and yet he'd never had a conversation with.
Henry.
Cora's husband.
Regina's father.
He wasn't ashamed of his past. He simply preferred not to acknowledge it. Everything he'd ever done, good or bad, was to get back to Baelfire. If he let himself wander too far from that truth, his past sins might kill him. But Henry…
Henry always made him uncomfortable. The idea of talking with him now, standing before him as he was, made his heart race, and he struggled to keep the mask of the Dark One in place before him. Sometimes he thought it might have been the old man's age. He'd already been well over one hundred by the time he'd pursued Cora, and he hardly ever felt his age or even felt like all those years had gone by as they had, but when he looked at Henry, he felt like he could feel every last year he'd ever lived. He was white-haired and wrinkled, a far cry from the handsome young Prince he'd once been in so many ways. When he looked at Henry, he felt like he should have been food for the worms, old and buried by now with his son next to him as his grandchildren brought them flowers for their graves. He'd tried, ever since his indiscretion with Cora, never to pay Henry much attention for that reason. Why he'd summoned him for a face to face meeting now, after all these years…it was a mystery to him.
"You?" he laughed, trying to pretend like he didn't care. "Well, there must be a mistake. Surely you wouldn't summon me. Your daughter could give you all you want!"
"It's not about what I want; it's about what she wants. What can you do for her?"
"I'm sorry, who?"
"Regina!" he stressed, stepping closer to him. There was an old weathered piece of paper in his hands. He kept running his fingers over it, pinching and releasing it, changing his grip on it over and over, nervously. What was it? "I know I don't look like much, but I'm smarter than I appear. I know about you and Cora, just as I know you've taught Regina to be as her mother," he admitted extending his hand so that he might take the paper.
Damn it. It was a letter, one that he'd written to Cora long ago. It had started with "My Love." He regretted those words now. Looking at them made him sick, especially when he thought of what he still felt for Belle. How could he ever have confused what he felt for Cora as love?
"I don't care who you've taught her to be. All I want is my daughter's happiness, for her to live in peace. If you can do something to help her, I'll gladly pay the price."
He believed that. Truly he did. But this wasn't something that involved him. At least not until it came time to cast the Curse.
"I've already done something to help her," he explained, folding the paper and sticking it into his pocket. "She wouldn't take my help."
"Then convince her!" Henry begged. "I fear for her if she doesn't find help. Cora belonged to you, no matter what she said-"
"-Cora belonged to her magic-"
"-but Regina is all I've ever had in this world," he stated, ignoring his correction. "She's all I ever wanted and all I've ever had to be proud of. I can't stand to see her in this state."
He smiled and took a step closer to dear Henry. It was ironic. He couldn't stand to see his daughter in this state. He didn't have much of a choice. If his vision of the future was right, his sacrifice was going to be what it took to get her out of this state.
"And…you would be willing to…die for her...if that were the cost of her happiness?"
Henry's eyes went wide as dinner plates, and he flinched, considering his words and what he'd just said. If he truly was smarter than he appeared, he would know what those words meant. But would he be willing?
Henry nodded. "If that is the cost," he vowed.
Poor old man.
He laughed and tapped his fingers together. "Well then…let's go see, Regina!" he declared.
With another nod, Henry turned to lead him to wherever Regina was.
Oh, he could see what he meant. When Henry walked into her chamber and proclaimed, "You have a visitor," he made quick work of the situation and appeared behind her so that by the time Regina snapped "who?" and her father turned to usher him in, he was already there, watching Regina stare into her mirror.
"You need to ask?" he questioned, drawing her attention away from the mirror. His appearance didn't change her mood, not that he'd really expected it to. It was a perfectly lovely day for a wedding. He doubted that she'd see it that way. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea. There was, after all, one little thing in his plan he didn't always account for. Whats and whos and whys were important, of course, but when manipulating a situation, when trying to force the hand of someone who didn't want to be forced, whens could also have their own power. "What other friends do you have, dearie?"
"You're no friend," Regina snarled as her father made his way out of the room. "Have you come to relish my suffering?"
"I thought you'd want someone to help raise your spirits. Especially on a day like today!"
"What's so special about today?" she questioned as he got to his feet. He beamed…as if she had no idea.
"Snow White and Prince Charming's wedding, of course. Didn't you get an invitation? Me neither." Which was sorely unfair considering how much of a hand he'd had in their union. He'd go so far as to say that without him, none of this would be happening. Such gratitude… "Still, nice to be able to see them declare their twoo love in front of their entire kingdom. A happy ending after all."
"And, because of you, there's nothing I can do to stop it," she spat back at him before heading to her vanity. "'No way to harm them in this land ever again!'"
He fought an urge to roll his eyes. She thought she was so brilliant, and yet she hadn't figured out the biggest loophole of all, the only chance that she had for revenge. She just had to be humble enough to follow the plot that he'd laid for her.
"Yes. Yes, I suppose that's true…in this land," he said carefully, emphasizing the last bit so that she would hear a hint of hope in his voice. He'd told her this before, he'd told her about taking them elsewhere…but she'd been stubborn then, filled with hope that the Count could do what she could not. He hoped she just needed reminding.
It worked. The Evil Queen stopped where she was and turned. "What?"
"The deal I made was explicit. You can never harm them in 'this' land. Now, were you to bring them to another land…well…" he smiled at her and watched as understanding finally perked her up. Her chin raised, she smiled, and a spark of light lit up the black behind her eyes. Amazing what the brain could forget when revenge ran wild, amazing how just one little reminder could bring it all back.
"Told you I was your friend," he muttered before disappearing. He had a wedding to watch after all…and Regina had a curse to usher in.
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captain-swan-coffee · 7 years ago
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When in Neverland: The Choice
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As promised here is he first one shot of my Neverland One Shot series! There will be some angst, lots of fluff and most importantly smut! Hope you enjoy!
When Pan captures Neal and Killian how will Emma get them back? And how will that change things?
Rated M
Read more of my work on ao3 and FF!
“No, David, you read the note. It said come alone, I’m not risking their lives any further by not following his instructions,” Emma reasoned with her father. “I’ve got this. You guys just keep focusing on Henry.”
“Why is he even doing this? What could he possibly want with them? What is he doing, creating his own island version of the bachelorette featuring the one and only savior and her two school girl crushes?” Regina snarked crossing her arms. Everyone scowled in her direction.
“Seriously, Regina not now,” Snow pleaded rolling her eyes while stepping forward, completing the circle in the center of their camp.
“I shouldn't be gone more than an hour or so. Pan wants us to shift our focus away from Henry. Don’t give him that. Keep searching for him, I’ll be back soon, hopefully with two more members of our team,” Emma added before taking off into the forest, following the map Pan provided. Whatever he wanted, whatever game he was about to play, she was gonna be ready. Even though Emma had mentally prepared for the rescue mission she was still physically exhausted. Every fiber of her being ached. Even though they had been in Neverland for two weeks now, Emma was far from used to the terrain and constant stress that came with living on the island. The only thing that had been occupying her mind was Henry, up until last night when the jack ass flying man child kidnapped the other two men in her life. Why does this always happen to her? Would she ever get a break? She pondered the mess that was her life as she peered through some branches. There hanging before her was her first love, Neal and the man who had volunteered his heart, ship and services all to save her son. Killian and Bae were hanging in wooden crates several feet in the air. They looked rough. Sleep weighed heavy on their eyelids as they both leaned against the bamboo bars. She couldn't help but worry about them. Did they sleep at all? Have they eaten? Had anything to drink in the last twelve hours? She swore if there was one scratch on either of their heads she would end this evil piece of shit. Speaking of that crazy man child, he was nowhere to be found. Surely he wouldn't leave his hostages unattended like this.
“Took you long enough, Savior,” Pan smiled deviously just feet behind her. Emma jumped slightly when she heard his prepubescent voice cut through the humid air. He circled around her with his arms crossed, slowly inching towards her. Emma’s presence must have awakened Killian who was sleeping in the cage.
“Emma! Get out of here! Don’t listen to him. Save your boy, take the Jolly and go home!” Hook shouted quickly from his pen. His yelling stirred Neal while Pan let out a devish cackle.
“Emma!” Neal hollered grasping tightly to the wooden bars.
“Let them go!” She demanded firmly. She was surprised when Pan didn't say anything. His motives were not always apparent but what he wanted in the moment was almost always clear. “What do you want, Pan?”
“Choose one,” He so simply state, his beady little eyes staring into her very soul.
“Choose one what?” She implored her arms bulging through her shirt as she crossed them again. Pan shifted his eyes from her to his two prisoners. He stared,  watching her mind work as his words finally clicked. Pan wanted her to choose Neal or Hook.
“Choose one? I’m not gonna choose one, you sick twisted son of a bitch! What are you going to do kill the other?!” Emma yelled at Pan now standing just yards away from her. Her heart was breaking. She caught a glimpse of Killian through the bars. There was something in his eyes that she couldn't identify. It was worry with a hint love, and that scared her. Neal on the other hand just looked scared.
“Oh, please have a little faith, Emma. I’m not that devious,” He chuckled inching towards them. “Choose the one you love and I’ll let them go.”
“Who says I love either of them?” She remarked, lifting a single eyebrow.
“Well I know that's not true. It has to be Neal, right? He was your first love, the father of your child, not the pirate who pines for you hell set on revenge. But then again, you kissed him and not your baby daddy, right?” The 300 hundred year old teenager taunted looking for a reaction. Emma sighed hard now understanding Pan’s plan. He always had his reasons and she was starting to figure out that this time was no different. He wanted to create a wedge and it was working. A fire set in Neal’s eyes, shaking the bars.
“You kissed him? After telling me you wished I was dead?! How could you do this to me? To us? To Henry?!” Neal screamed at her.
“Don’t speak to her that way!” Killian defended, snapping at him.
“Don’t bring Henry into this!” She pleaded, still standing strong.
“Stay out of this pirate this is family matters!” Bae snarked rudely, quickly turning his head in disgust.
“Hey, he doesn't have to be here! He’s risking his life for our son!” Emma reminded him.
“Oh please, Emma he’s not risking his life for Henry, he is risking his life for you!”
“And that supposed to make him look bad? He's willing to die for me and our son, you wouldn't even go to jail for me! He's done more for me in two weeks then you have your whole life so stop acting all heroic,” She yelled.
“Come on, Emma can’t you see what everyone else can see? He’s just trying to get into your pants! He’s a pirate!” Neal barked gesturing towards Hook.
“Bae, please. Can’t you see what he's trying to do? He’s just trying to pit us against one another to distract us from Henry. Let's stay focused on what matters,” Killian pleaded with him.
“Don’t tell me what’s important!” Neal rudely replied.
“Tick tock, Savior. Admit the one you love. Fail to do so and I’ll kill them both,” Pan smiled.
“God, you disgusting piece of shit I'm not thinking about my love life I'm here for Henry!”
“Oh come on Emma don't pretend you haven't been drooling over him whenever this forest gets just a little too hot. I see everything. Even you seem to get a little too hot and bothered when Hook strips down to just his leather pants.  I don’t remember you having that reaction to Baelfire,” Pan stirred the pot looking for a reaction.
“Emma don’t listen to him just go! Go find your boy and leave!” Hook tried to convince her.
“Killian!” Emma shouted loudly at the top of her voice. So loud that she was sure her family on the other side of the island could have heard her. Hook lifted an eyebrow in confusion while Pan smirked.
“Love?” He questioned timidly.
“I chose, Killian,” Emma finished, her gaze still locked with the one handed man whose jaw was currently dropped to the ground. And like clock work both the wooden cages flew open and Pan disappear completely without a trace.
The walk back to camp was completely silent. Not a single word was spoken between them but you could feel the uncomfortable tension in the air. When her family asked she just made up some bull shit story about having to pass a test to get them back. Which wasn't all a lie. She just had no desire to go into to detail about what had just transpired between the three of them. Her parents seemed to buy the story which was nice but Regina on the other hand didn't seem to believe her, but she seemed too tired to pick a fight.
“Shit, I think we are almost out of firewood. Neal would you mind going out a getting some?” The Prince asked from across the steadily dying fire while cooking a few fish they had caught earlier.
“Sure, no problem,” He replied, grunting a little as he stood up.
“Actually, take Hook with you. No one should be alone in these woods. Especially now that it’s getting dark,” He added completely oblivious to the awkward glances and his mortified daughter.
“No worries, mate. Back in a jiff,” Killian smiled at Emma and she tried to hide the grin she flashed back. Neal watched her blush as they both disappeared into the forest. They uncomfortably walked side by side until Killian broke the silence.
“Look, mate, about what happened today I don’t want things to be awkward between us. I know you and Emma have a lot of history and I,” Hook began but was quickly cut off by Neal.
“Why would it be awkward?” Neal questioned picking up some wood from the ground.
“Well because of what Emma said today. The answer to the Pan’s proposition,” Killian answered.
“Wait you don’t know?” He asked as a matter of fact.
“Know what?” Hook worried.
“Emma didn't tell you?” Neal finished with a small yet satisfied smile.
“No I guess not.”
“Look, Killian Emma only said what she said to throw Pan off and get inside his head,” He told.
“What are you talking about, Bae?” Killian cocked his head to the side.
“Emma and I have actually rekindled our old flame so to speak. Ever since you all rescued me from Echo Caves we’ve kind of picked up where we left off. Neither one of us have been able to keep our hands off of one another since,” Neal smiled watching Hook’s face drop.
“Oh, I’m sorry I just thought… I guess I don’t know what I thought. But I’m happy for you guys. It will be nice for Henry to have his parents together when we find him. You all deserve to be happy, to be a family,” He gave a fake smile before clearing his throat.
“Thanks, man I appreciate it,” Neal smirked before bending down to pick up the last piece of firewood.
“We should get back. They are probably almost out of wood.” Killian’s heart went from overwhelming with joy to crushed in a million pieces in just a matter of seconds. He was foolish to think that a woman like Emma actually had any real interest in him. Of course it was all a ploy to distract that little demon. After all she was the bloody Savior and he was just a no good pirate. When they returned with arms full of wood she could see the misery in his face. She kept trying to get him to make eye contact across the fire but had no such luck. Moments later he complained of fatigue from the stressful day and mopped to his tent before he could even eat dinner. Emma wondered what could have changed so drastically in the twenty minutes he was gone?
That night Emma barley got an hour of sleep which she was used to, but tonight it was for a different reason. Usually she tossed and turned worrying about her son, but now both Henry and Killian flooded her mind. What could have Neal said to him to make him so cold and distant? She practically admitted that she had feelings for him and he hasn't even said a word! Emma had tried to summon the courage for the last few hours but just never felt like it was the right time. Maybe it will all be fine tomorrow she thought.
CS
“David and I are going to head West to hunt. Regina, Rumple, and Neal head East to gather supplies. We are gonna need everything we can get for our mission tomorrow. Emma and Killian stay here and break down camp. We leave at dusk. Hopefully by the time we get back Tink will have held up her end of the bargain and we can get Henry and get off this damn island,” Snow ordered. Emma hoped that this alone time between them would give them a chance to talk without the watchful eyes of her family. Everyone broke away heading in different direction as Killian walked over to one of the tents. His eyes never left the ground as he began to break apart the makeshift shelter. Why hasn't he said anything or initiated any sort of contact? She went round and round trying to come up with a killer conversation starter or anything that would get him to open up. After a couple minutes she finally found the courage to make the first move.
“You know, when we get back home there's a place on 14th and Main that has the best lobster on the eastern seaboard. Maybe we could go there sometime?” Emma mentioned, trying desperately to get anything out of him. He looked so empty and lost. It shattered her very soul seeing him this way. Was it something she said yesterday? Or something she did? Killian dropped what he was doing and slowly walked over to her. The anticipation nearly killed her as he strode across the camp.
“Don't patronize me, love. I know when this is all over you're going to go back to Neal and I don't blame you. He's the father of your son, your first love. You don't have to sugarcoat it. You owe me nothing. You don't have to let me down easy. I'm sure once you get back home you'll be thankful to have me out of your hair,” Hook muttered, finally looking her in the eyes.
“Killian, what…,” She tried to interject.
“It’s okay, Swan. A pirate is not necessarily the best role model for a 12 year old boy. I understand, you don’t have to explain yourself or your choices to me or to anyone,” He sighed, the sadness weighing heavy on his heart. Emma leaned in close covering his lips with hers. It was nothing like their first kiss. This one wasn't rushed or lost in passion. It was slow and tender. The feel of his lips on hers and the smooth texture of his leather collar was intoxicating. She could feel his love for her on his lips as she slid his fingers through his hair resting on the nape of his neck. Her heart soared, but as soon as the kiss deepend Hook pulled away.
“I would rather never have your heart, then have to share it with another man,” Killian uttered against her lips. She was so confused. What more could she do to show this man how she truly felt about him?
“Killian, I chose you,” Emma smiled up at him her hands still on his muscular chest. She could physically see some of the stress and worry melt from his face but confusion still was present in his eyes.
“But I thought… Neal said you two rekindled your old flame. He said you've been together since we rescued him in the Echo Caves,” Hook admitted.
“What? That son of a bitch! That's why you've been acting so distant lately? But when Pan asked who I would choose I said you!” She fumed, so angry at the lies that Neal had spread.
“He convinced me that you only picked me to throw off Pan,” Killian finished staring at the ground.
Oh, Killian I’m so sorry. What a fucking prick! I can’t believe he said that to you!” Emma ranted. As soon as Neal got back to camp she was gonna let him have it.
“So you didn't sleep with him? He implored, not sure if he was going to like the answer.
“Sleep with him? Killian, the last time Neal and I had sex was when I was 17 years old. Nothing, absolutely nothing has been going on between Neal and I, nor will there ever,” She reassured him while she comfortingly caressed him arms as Killian sighed a breath of relief.
“I'm sorry you were put through that. I would never play with your heart like that. Come here,” Emma apologized, pulling him in close. Her arms reached around his neck as she felt his hook and hand slid across her low back. After all this time he was finally holding her. His Swan was in his arms where she belonged. And it only took nearly three centuries to get there! Hook could feel her begin to pull back. But Emma’s hand stayed firmly on the back of his neck, dragging him into another kiss. They both melted into the other and felt their hearts beat as one. He buried his hand in her golden tresses, anchoring himself to her curly locks.
“Ever since our first kiss all I could think about was doing that again,” Hook mumbled between pecks. He let his hand wonder from the smooth skin of her back to the top of her ass as he smiled against her lips.
“Then let's not waste anymore time,” She smiled, nipping at his bottom lip. Emma set a fire in him like no woman before could. She was everything he wanted and more. She was strong, kind, passionate, loyal. And she wanted him. From the first moment he set his eyes on her he knew that she was the one. Emma made him want to be more than just a pirate. She made him want to be a better man. Like maybe he still could be redeemed after decades of villainous activities. Her hands traveled from the back of his neck down to his muscular pecs. His coarse chest hair was peeking out from his leather vest as she smoothed her hands over the curls. Emma moved to push his jacket off his shoulders and listened to it fall to the ground. Her hands then dropped to to his laces sitting in the front of his leather pants. She pressed herself against him and immediately felt what her ministrations were doing to him. Without warning Killian pulled away. She looked into his eyes with worry, wondering if she said or did something wrong.
“Emma, love, I made myself a promise that if I ever got the chance to touch you think this I would do it right,” Hook confessed smoothing his thumb over the apple of her cheek. “You Emma Swan deserve everything. A bed, dinner, candle light, and proper courting. Not fucking in a hot humid forest surrounded by bugs and lost boys. I want to give you everything. You deserve everything,” Killian vowed as she smiled up at him through her long thick lashes. She chewed her bottom lip as she listened to all the sweet things he had to say. Emma knew that under that hard leather exterior he was just a big soft romantic. Even though he had a past, Killian treated her better than any man she had ever been with. He made her feel safe and cared for and defended her at all cost. That’s why it was crazy to her that he couldn't see how truly wonderful he was.
“How about you let me decide what I deserve because to me what I deserve is standing In front of me. Did you ever stop and think that you're enough, Killian Jones? Were you ever told that? There will be so much time for dinner and beds and dates later. Right now I just want you,” Emma promised, locking her eyes with his. Making sure he knew every word was true. With gusto Hook attacked her lips. Their tongues dueled for dominance as he pressed her up against a nearby tree. Emma’s hands went right back to his laces, frantically undoing his trousers. Killian moaned into her mouth when he felt her small soft hand grasp his length.
Feverishly she moved her hand up and down his shaft, up and down, up and down, driving him crazy with want.
“Emma, love, you have to stop,” Killian growled into the crook of her neck. Hook kissed down the column of her throat leading down to the tops of her bosoms. He traced his hook and hand to the seam of her tank top before dragging it up her long torso. It soon joined his leather jacket a few feet away from them as they went back to their passionate makeout. Then without warning he dropped to his knees in front of her. At first she didn't understand where it was headed but as soon as Killian began unbuttoning her jeans she started to connect the dots.
“Killian, you don’t have to,” Emma pleaded with the dark haired scoundrel kneeling before her. She wasn't used to people offering something like this. And usually she never asked, it being such an intimate act. But she had a feeling about Killian and thought maybe she should try something new.
“Shhh,” He cut her off smiling up at her as he kissed down her stomach. Killian slowly leg by leg peeled her jeans off so she was just left in her bra and panties. He could smell her feminine scent just inches away from him. Her panties were dripping, practically soaked with her arousal and it was driving Killian mad with need.
“Fuck, Emma, you’re intoxicating,” He moaned nipping at insides of her thighs. She let out a little giggle between her labored breaths.
“That’s not quite the reaction I was hoping for. Did I do something wrong?” Hook cocked his head to the side.
“God no, I’m just ticklish. Your beard is… Fuck!” Emma moaned. She was cut off by the feeling Killian’s mouth on her lace covered folds. Even though the sensation was muted it still felt absolutely amazing. Emma knew she was in for the ride of a lifetime. Using his teeth and hook he dragged her black panties down her legs. She could feel his breath inches away from center as he guided her left leg over his shoulder. He pressed the flat of his tongue to her already soaking folds, licking a long stripe up to the bundle of nerves between her legs, before sucking her clit into his mouth. Emma loved the way she could feel his teeth scrape over the sensitive skin while she arched her back against the rough bark of the tree. He moaned into her satin core. The vibrations sent shivers all throughout her body. She had never felt so used and yet so satisfied, and she hadn't even come yet. She threaded her fingers through his dark locks keeping him exactly where she needed him. Emma could feel her climax quickly approaching. Never had any man gotten her there that fast. Greedily he lapped at her sweet essence, gorging himself on her as if it were his last meal while he drew lazy circles over her clit. Her first release slammed into her without warning.
“Killian!” She cried as she came down from her high. Hook kissed back up her body stopping back at her lips. Emma could taste herself on his tongue. Usually something like that would repulse her but for some reason it just fueled the fire deep in her belly. She reached for his laces once again, ripping them without a care. Soon the rest of their clothes joined the pile just feet from them. Without pause Killian lifted her up, pinning her against the tree. Emma locked her legs just over the small of his back. She could feel every ripple of his muscles as he tangled his fingers in her golden tresses. He dug his hook into the bark just above her head for leverage as she kissed his well defined jawline. He looked into her gorgeous green eyes almost as if he was asking for permission.
“Emma, love, are you sure?” Hook checked with love in his eyes. His gaze scared her. It was so honest and sincere. She wasn't used to such raw emotions. Her first instinct was to run but her heart made her stay. She wasn't gonna let herself ruin another moment between them.
“Yes. Killian Jones, Captain Hook, I want you,” She smiled. That was all the permission he needed. His arm wrapped around her while pressing his weight against her, igniting a kiss that mimicked the first one they’d recently shared. Emma’s pulse pounded erratically as her mouth followed his in a pattern she hoped she wouldn’t forget. The world around them melted away as he slid effortlessly into her welcoming heat. Their moans danced and mingled with each other just under the tree line. He set a punishing pace as they toed the line between fucking and making love. Her hands clawed anxiously at his biceps as he thrusted deeper into her. She knew the scratches on her back would be difficult to explain but she couldn't bring herself to care.
“I'll never grow tired of this, your skin, your smell, your moan,” He growled into her ear. She could hear the strain in his voice. Emma knew they both had to be close. He fucked her with abandon until she saw stars. And with one final thrust she found her realse that sent shivers down her spine. Hook wasn't far behind, spilling his seed into her as his hips began to still. Neither of them moved for several moments. They just stared into each other's eyes until they caught their breaths.
“I guess Pan was right about one thing,” Emma buried her head smiling in the crook of his neck.
“And what was that?” Killian asked nervously.
“You do look damn good in those leather pants.”
Hope you enjoyed and sorry it took so long!
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