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allzelemonz · 2 years

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Comfort: Rumplestiltskin X Male Reader

Fictober Prompt: Day 11, Cockwarming Pronouns: None mentioned; Reader referred to as ‘Da’ by Baelfire Physical Sex: AMAB Rating: E/Smut Warnings: pre-Dark One Rumple, wholesome father with anxiety, Reader is a Stepdad to Baelfire, mentions/depiction of minor injury, fluff in the beginning, smut is brief and fluffy, top Reader, bottom Rumple, cockwarming, anal fingering Summary: A domestic life with Rumplestiltskin before his time as the Dark One. You are the comfort he needs, especially on cold nights.

The sun setting over the horizon only brings another day closer to Baelfire’s birthday. A day you dread as you meet him near the trail that leads into town. He has come back from selling everything he could at the market in an attempt to get enough money to flee. Of course, he doesn’t know that. He just knows that your small little family desperately needs money and his father is already working himself to the bone. You walk with him back to the hut, here you know you’ll find Rumple spinning away. Be it from nerves or the need to make something worth selling, he’ll be at the wheel.

Bae enters first, excited to show his father the money he earned from selling what little could be scrapped together. You follow him inside just in time to see Rumple smile and praise his son for a job well done despite the sadness behind his eyes.

“That’s enough work, Bae. Why don’t you go out and play?” Rumple suggests, wanting to see his son’s bright smile while he still can.

“Really, Papa? I could stay and help with the wheel.”

“Oh, no, Bae. You’ve done enough for today.” Rumple seems to be on the verge of tears, realizing how fast his son is growing up. “Your Da and I can handle it, you go play.”

Baelfire started calling you ‘Da’ just a few weeks ago. Rumple was all too happy to lean into it. The hope he has for Bae to live a normal life may be stunted by his calling to the Ogre War, but having you here with them gives them both hope.

“Okay, Papa.” Bae gives Rumple a small smile and quickly runs outside to play with his friends.

Rumple’s hands cradle the pouch of money Bae brought back as if it’s the only thing of his in the world. You find him doing that alot lately, gripping onto things of Bae’s. The man is so terrified of losing his son and he knows there’s only so much he can do to keep him.

“Do you want to keep spinning?” You ask.

Rumple looks up at you, that steady sadness in his eyes as he nods. “I-I’d like that.”

You join him by the wheel, feeding him the straw as he spins. A simple but silent act that made the two of you fall in love. His attentiveness to the spinning is only ever rivaled by the attention he shows his family. He would drop everything at the wheel if you or Bae asked him to. But this little activity isn’t just his primary source of income, it is also his peace and comfort. The two of you could sit like this forever.

“Papa!” A voice, unmistakingly Baelfire’s, calls out.

Rumple freezes in place, hands hover over the wheel and straw. Both of you look to the window, confused by the cry.

A beat passes before another cry, “Da!”

At that you both jump up and run to the door. You manage to get Rumple’s walking stick in his hand before he hurts himself trying to walk without it. Outside there is a group of children, Bae’s friends, and Bae is on the ground.

“Bae!” Rumple mutters the exclamation before he hurries over to him.

Baelfire is holding his leg, clearly in pain. Rumple reaches him and drops to the ground, already fussing over every inch of his son. You push past the children and look over the scene.

“Everyone home, alright?” You shoo them away.

The children turn and leave at their own slow pace while Rumple tries to ease the pain in Bae’s ankle. You kneel down with them and get Bae’s shoe off to look at the injury. It doesn’t seem terrible, he likely just stepped on it the wrong way.

“Let’s go inside and get dinner started.” You suggest, both to get Bae’s mind on something else and to get Rumple to fuss over making his son’s favorite meal rather than worrying over the hurt ankle.

“Yes, I… I’ll get it started.” Rumple fusses, his hands shaking when they move away from his son.

Before he can say more you put a hand over his shaking hand. “I’ll get Bae inside and comfortable, you just focus on dinner.”

His eyes flicker between his hands and your face as he slowly becomes less worried. He leans over and gives Bae a kiss on his head before giving your hand a squeeze and pulling himself upright with the help of his walking stick. You follow close behind, getting Bae up without putting weight on his bad ankle and walking him inside. Rumple works away, getting everything together while you get Baelfire in bed with his leg up.

It doesn’t take Rumple long to make Bealfire’s favorite dinner. He makes it whenever he can, he has a habit of doting on his little boy when money permits. Bae thanks his father and eats before promptly falling asleep. You help Rumple clean despite his protest that he can do it and you should rest. When the sun is fully gone from the sky you and Rumple get into bed with smiles on your faces as you reminisce over Bae’s many injuries sustained while playing with his friends.

“It’s not the worst he’s gotten.” You insist.

“He can’t walk!” Rumple argues.

“Neither can you, but I love you.”

Your hand moves to rest on Rumple’s cheek as you both lay facing each other. His hand rests on top of yours as his eyes well with, not quite tears, but more just love. He blushes quite often when you say you love him, but it’s always in his eyes that you see just how much he loves you back. The way he smiles a thin line and can’t quite find the motive to speak tells you all you need to know.

“I do love you, Rumple.” You lean forward to kiss him.

He rests his head against yours as you separate. His hand squeezes yours lightly before he moves it to wrap around you, pulling you closer. Your hand moves to brush his hair from his face as you smile at him.

“You were scared when he got hurt this time.” You note as your hand fiddles with his hair. “More than usual, I mean.”

He sighs. “He’s nearly fourteen!”

“The age is still sixteen, we have time.” You try to reassure him as his eyes trail down from the nerves.

“They’ll lower it.”

You lift his chin so he looks at you again. “He’s not going anywhere, neither am I.”

You press your foreheads together, closing your eyes to simply savor the moment. Rumple is always the type to worry about his family and it is his family that calms him down. In moments like this, where you hold each other close, you worry about your family too.

Rumple wakes you up while it’s still dark out. He speaks softly and you feel his hand fidgeting with your tunic. You open your eyes to see Rumple clinging to the thin blanket and furs, shivering as if it’s well into a winter blizzard. You feel the shiver come over you now that you’re awake. Early last winter you and Rumple had decided to give most of the blankets to Baelfire, now the two of you are left shivering.

In most times like this you could simply snuggle closer, but Rumple is already clinging to you like a man starved for touch. You get your arms around him as he buries his head into your chest. Even through your tunic you can feel how cold his nose is. After a few minutes of shivering an idea comes to mind.

You angle your head down to press a kiss to the top of Rumple’s head. Your hand moves down to mess with the waist of Rumple’s pants, hinting at your intentions. Rumple curls into you and his hands make fists as they grip onto the fabric of your tunic. Your leg against him allows you to feel the growing agreement to your idea. His hand joins yours and together you lower his pants just enough to free his now half-hard dick. He grips your hand, moving it up to his mouth to suck on your fingers. After a soft kiss to each fingertip, he licks them and takes them fully in his mouth. You watch happily as he pays them eager attention, his eyes fixed up at you just as doe-like as always.

When he finishes the coating, he turns himself around and you rub down his back gently. You take the time to massage the pale skin of his cheeks before carefully running your slick fingers around his rim. Rumple whines, muffled by his hand, and arches his back to feel more. You steady him with a hand on his hip as you press your fingers inside. With slow movements, you stretch him open, a process all too familiar by now.

When he begins to shiver again, you pull yourself away enough to lower your own pants. You line yourself up and slowly begin to push in as your arm goes around Rumple to hold him still. He lets out a breathy moan swiftly followed by putting his hand back over his mouth. He’s usually quiet about this, but it has been awhile since you’ve had the opportunity. He drops his hand once you're buried completely in him and you press a kiss into his shoulder. When you start to move he reaches a hand back to stop you.

It’s nothing you haven’t done before on colder nights. Just laying beside one another, using what you have to keep warm. Rumple snuggles back into you and you find it hard not to move inside him. But you manage when you hear his light snore, a sign of his comfort thanks to your efforts. You feel your own eyelids get heavy too and you make sure your arms are wrapped around him as tightly as you can before you drift off to sleep.

#rumplestiltskin #rumplestiltskin x reader #rumplestiltskin x male reader #mr gold #mr gold x reader #mr gold x male reader #once upon a time #once upon a time x reader #once upon a time x male reader #x reader #x male reader #kinktober #kinktober 2022 #smut

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a-happy-beginning · 5 months

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Papa… if I find a way for you to get rid of the power, a way that doesn’t kill you or hurt me, would you do it?

—Baelfire to Rumplestiltskin, Once Upon a Time, “The Return”

#Once Upon a Time #Every Once Upon a Time Episode #1.19 The Return

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andromedavwrites · 7 months

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Sorry if I’m yapping I’m just obsessed - sorry what ok continuing

Idk if you’re waiting reveal it or something but can you please say you’re fancasts (is it considered a fancast if you’re literally the creator? Or the half creator since it’s a reboot?) for your reboot?

I love eah fancasts / just fancasts in general and the way you’ve mentioned some of them in other posts makes me so curious

!!!!!

i never talk about my cast but here’s the list!!(i probably fucked up names on this, i have like five times)

these aren’t set in stone obv, and one of them is a joke bc i thought it would be funny if a certain someone played Rumplestiltskin-

Raven Queen played by Callie Haverda

Apple White played by Mckenna Grace

Madeline Hatter played by Momona Tamada

Briar Beauty played by Kyleigh Curran

Cedar Wood played by Maliah Baker

Ashlynn Ella played by Trinity Likins

C. A. Cupid played by Sarah Dorothy Little

Blondie Lockes played by Ava Kolker

Ginger Breadhouse played by Iman Vellani

Duchess Swan played by Rina Johnson

Darling Charming played by Clementine Lea Spieser

Farah Goodfairy played by Cheyenne Hinojosa

Cerise Hood played by Ashley Sarmentio

Daring Charming played by Tait Blum

Dexter Charming played by Jacob Tremblay

Sparrow Hood played by Dallas Young

Hunter Huntsman played by Mateo Gallegos

Humphrey Dumpty played by Issiah Russel-Bailey

Kitty Cheshire played by Miya Cech

Lizzie Hearts played by Sofia Chicorelli Serna

Alastair Wonderland played by Walker Bryant

Bunny Blanc played by Xochtil Gomez

Chase Redford played by Parker Bates

Courtly Jester played by Trixie Hyde

Meeshell Mermaid played by Sophie Grace

Jillian Beanstalk played by Brianni Walker

Hopper Croakington II played by Jentzen Ramirez

Melody Piper played by Oona O’Brian

Ramona Badwolf played by Symonne Harrison

She played by Izabella Rose

Poppy O’Hair played by Anais Lee

Holly O’Hair played by Mirabelle Lee

Brooke Page played by Pixie Davies

Gus Crumb played by Jace Chapman

Helga Crumb played by Camron Seely

Travis Thumb played by Amari O’Neil

Prudence Step played by Lilo Baier

Charlotte Step played by Ava Ro

Lily Bo-Peep played by Lotus Blossom

Zypherus Wynd played by Camren Conerly

Aquilona Wynd played by Trinitee Stokes

Charity Charming played by Kaylin Hayman

Clara Lear played by Scarlet Spencer

Mahlee Black played by Daria Johns

Coral Witch played by Michela Luci

Nathan Nutcracker played by Finn Little

Justine Dancer played by Priah Ferguson

Witchy Brew played by Pilot Saraceno

Nina Thumbell played by Ella Noel

Felix Princely played by Jackson Dollinger

Tucker Merry played by Miguel Cazarez Mora

Marsha King played by Alexa Nisenson

Jackie Frost played by Anya Taylor-Joy

Northwind Frost played by Logan Lerman

Milton Grimm played by Frank Whaley

Giles Grimm played by Kieran Mulroney

Baba Yaga played by Olga Kurylenko

Rumplestiltskin played by Danny DeVito

Pied Piper played by Collin Donell

Mad Hatter played by Paul Wesley or Alex Hefner

The White Queen played by Kate Winslet

Mr. Badwolf played by Con O’Neil

Momma Bear played by Nathalie Boltt

Papa Bear played by William Baldwin

Coach Gingerbread played by Hill Harper

Snowelle White played by Alison Brie

Elvira Queen played by Clemence Poesy

Good King played by Matt Lanter

Snow Queen played by Lisa Kudro

Snow King played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Lance Charming played by Dan Stevens

Bryce Frost played by Shailene Woodley

Pie played by ?

Butternut played by ?

Cheshire Cat played by Stephanie Hsu

Queen of Hearts played by Meghan Ory

White Rabbit played by Joe Arquette

Cook played by Olivia Hack

i have spent… so long thinking about my cast for this i would DIE if i got even half of these actors to play the characters in the reboot!!

#ever after high #eah #eah reboot #ever after high reboot #ever after webtoon

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takadasaiko · 3 months

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Burn the Worlds Chapter Twenty-Four

Story Summary: Rumplestiltskin had everything set up just as it needed to be for his curse and to find Bae, but when an enemy bent on destroying him makes his way through to Storybrooke as well, he may find that his cursed persona isn't a match for the cleric. Pre-S1. AU. Rumbelle. Swanfire. Eventual OutlawQueen.

Chapter Summary: Magnus makes a dangerous discovery, Regina finds herself saddled with the Charmings, and Emma and Bae have a talk.

FFN II AO3

---

Bae had lived through more terrible experiences than he liked to look back on. Falling through the portal, starving on the streets of London, Neverland, his father becoming the Dark One… The strange thing about it was that almost every terrifyingly terrible event in his life had followed on the shirttails of some kind of happiness, or at least hope for happiness. His childhood had been happy despite the poverty and the fear, and it had certainly been a bright light he could look back on after his fourteenth birthday. He'd thought he'd get his papa back before the portal and he thought he'd found a new family that loved him before Neverland. Now, despite everything life had taught him, he'd let his guard down. He'd fallen in love and he'd let his father back into his life. Much like his childhood, danger was lurking in every shadow, but they could fight it. They could fight everything except for the darkness that his papa let in.

And with magic came the Curse. Papa hadn't said it, but Bae knew. With magic came the end of all the bright lights in his life.

Rumplestiltskin had always liked to keep his hands busy, and that was even more true when he was uncomfortable. Bae had watched him tame that after taking on the Dark One's curse, but he'd seen hints of it around Mr Gold. Now, as his father explained that magic had come to Storybrooke, he moved around the little cabin, rummaging and looking for who knew what as he spoke.

Yes, he'd felt it as soon as they crossed the town line.

No, he was not responsible for bringing it.

No, he wasn't sure how Magnus had managed it, but if there was one thing he knew about the old cleric, it was that he was equal parts resourceful and determined.

Baelfire pushed down his own creeping fears for just a moment to risk a look over at his father's True Love. Belle had taken a seat on a sofa, her clear blue eyes watching as he moved, and she was very, very quiet for her curious nature. Her silent observation only seemed to make Rumplestiltskin more nervous. His dark eyes darted between Belle and Bae, finally taking a breath.

It was Emma who piped up though. "Okay, so isn't magic just magic? You can use it, right?"

He pursed his lips together thoughtfully before taking a careful knee next to a low set of drawers to work his way through them. "There's light magic and dark magic," he began, his tone surprisingly patient on the subject. "This is… something else."

"Grey?" she offered, looking at Bae for confirmation. He shrugged and his father opened another drawer.

"There's certainly magic that doesn't lend to either extreme, but this is not that."

There was an inflection at the end of the sentence that caught both Bae's and apparently Belle's attention, but if Rumplestiltskin realised it, he didn't acknowledge it.

"Light magic has many more rules to follow for its use, and while the clerics claim to only use light magic, Magnus has been known to bend those rules to the point of breaking."

"How?" Emma asked, moving to plop down into the chair that Bae had propped himself up against.

"Like using light magic for torture," Belle murmured softly, drawing all eyes - even Rumplestiltskin's - to her.

Brown eyes flickered immediately back to the drawer. "Indeed."

"I'm gonna guess you have a theory on how he dragged magic into a world that's known for not having any?" Bae asked quietly. He was certain he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Likely that he attempted to manipulate the curse."

"Wouldn't he need something to do that? Whatever scroll or…." Person that cast it. Oh. That's what his father wasn't saying. What he was avoiding.

"Or what?" Emma pressed.

"How he did it doesn't matter nearly as much as how to use it myself. That's goin' take time."

Bae quirked an eyebrow at his papa. "You opened the door just fine."

"That's small. Something I could do in my sleep. Simple movements, teleportation… that's nothing, but if I'm going up against Mangus, we better be sure that I know the threads to pull together for the spell."

"And there's no way to defeat him without magic?" Belle asked softly, even if she sounded like she knew the answer. Someone had to ask, though.

"No."

Bae shifted his weight, trying to find the best way to ask the question that he knew he needed an answer to, but didn't want. His father closed the drawer he'd been looking through. "I need some items from the shop." He turned, meeting his son's gaze as if he were waiting for him to ask. "So if you've got a question, now's the time."

Baelfire swallowed hard. "Can you hear it?"

Whatever his papa was expecting, that hadn't been it. He started and stopped a couple of times, fidgeting and looking away. "Of course I can hear it, son."

"Can you fight it?"

"It - it's not so much fightin' it," he answered softly, the discomfort rolling off him in waves. He had hated discussing anything regarding the curse in front of anyone else when Bae had been young. Apparently that quirk still stood. "It's about striking a deal with it. The Dark One's curse, as the name would imply, feeds off darkness. That comes in many a form. When this is over, it'll come in Magnus' destruction and that… well, that's something I imagine you and I can agree on needin' to happen."

"And everyone else?"

"Are safe from me as long as they don't get in my way."

"What about that dagger?" Emma asked. "You said that someone holding onto it could control you. Is it -?"

"Safe. Soon as I felt magic, I put it away where only I can reach it."

Bae's eyes narrowed a little as he could practically see the wheels turning in Emma's head. That was the look that had produced the very best and the very worst ideas she came up with. There didn't seem to be any middle ground there.

"So what if Neal holds onto it?"

Rumplestiltskin turned sharply to look at her. "And why would he need to do that?"

"Well he seems kinda freaked out by whatever you get your power from and just because you believe you can control it doesn't mean you can." She held up her hands, palms outward almost immediately. "Doesn't mean you can't. I'm the last person to know that, but I do know your son. He's a good guy and he loves you. Seems like the best person to trust with it."

And apparently those rare moments when it was both the best and the worst idea at the exact same moment. Bae felt like he couldn't breathe as he watched his papa turn the idea over in his mind, Belle sitting quietly just out of reach. She didn't move, didn't try to sway him, but watched and waited. When he glanced her way, she offered him a reassuring smile.

Rumplestiltskin loosed a breath in the form of a sigh, flicked his fingers, and the Kris Dagger appeared in his hand. Bae did his best not to recoil at the sight of the evil thing that had done its damndest to destroy his father. It hadn't won, though, at least not yet, and his papa flipped the dagger over to hand it to him hilt-first.

"Are you sure?" Bae found himself asking.

"I chose it once," he answered, his voice trembling ever so slightly. "Now I choose you. I trust you, Bae. I love you."

Baelfire reached out and his fingers skimmed along the handle and, as they closed around the hilt, his eyes met his papa's. Without warning he reached his free hand up and around his neck, pulling him into a tight hug that the older man readily returned, burying his face in the crook of Bae's neck. "I love you too, Papa. I'll guard it with my life."

"Don't you dare. Any sign of trouble, you call. You call me and I'm right here to protect you." He reached up to make sure Bae met his eyes. "Not it. You."

He shook his head, not willing to trust his own voice and Belle cleared her throat from where she'd stood. "Well then. We should get over to the shop, Rumple."

"We?"

She tipped up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his scruffy cheek. "We. Let's give the kids some time alone while it's still something like quiet."

His father nodded and Bae felt a small smile tug into place as he adjusted his grip on the Dark One's dagger. Belle had been good for him, that much was clear. And maybe, when this was all said and done, they could find a way to free his father from the curse for good. Until then, they'd make the Dark One's curse work for them.

----

There was a shift in the air, and for a moment Magnus mistook it for Reul Ghorm's death. The fairy lay dead at his feet, her dark eyes wide and hollow, her sacrifice in vain even as her precious Snow White grabbed her cursed prince by the wrist and ran. There was no escape, not from Storybrooke. He was even willing to give them a head start - to play the game fairly, of course - but a fraction of a moment later his mind registered that it had not been the death of an Original Power in the Land Without Magic that had rattled the fabric of the curse. No, she had nothing to do with its casting or even bringing magic to this place. Her death - tragic as its necessity had been - made little difference to the fabric of this world. The author of the Dark Curse had returned, and not just that. He had already begun experimenting with the magic he found here. Magnus could feel the power radiate out, and if given just a moment, he could pinpoint where…

And then he was floating, disengaged from his own physical form with a view few would ever know. Rumplestiltskin had not stolen every form of sight from him. He could see the woods, the dirt, and tracks through it where a vehicle had driven. He moved through the space in search for the epicentre of the magic used until he came across a cabin. There. That's where he was, at least for now.

"... going?" a voice cut through, ripping Magnus from the vision and he blinked sightless eyes, sweeping magic over the physical landscape to find Snow and her prince still trying to make their escape. The second flush of power froze everything in place. The birds silenced mid-air and the fish in the pond stilled as they swam. On the banks, desperate to get around and away, were the savior's parents.

Magnus moved unhurriedly towards them, his footsteps powerful and his sightless gaze fixed on them. He could feel Snow squirm against his spell that had locked her in place. "I won't let you touch her!" she growled, every inch the fighter that he'd heard of from the edge of his battle with the Dark One.

"I have no wish to hurt her," Magnus said and the emotion flooding through the strings of magic he had in place gave him a visual of her wide, green eyes and jaw that had gone a little slack in surprise.

Then, all at once, surprise was replaced with fortified determination. "You killed Blue for standing in the way of getting to Emma. Why do you think I'd believe a word that comes out of your mouth?"

"Mary Margaret," her prince managed, "I can't move."

"You are not alone," Magnus said as he stepped aside, pulling his phone from his pocket, the only number that he kept on speed dial ringing as he set it up against his ear. "He has returned to Storybrooke. Gather the twins and the thief up. We will not leave this to chance." Caiden confirmed from his end and Magnus ended the call, turning back towards the royal couple.

"I have no wish to hurt Emma," he repeated. "I also have no choice. Once the Dark One is dead, she is our only way home. I know it comes as no condolence for a mother whose child was stolen away from her by a madman with only his own endeavours in mind, but her sacrifice is her destiny. I will save us from this evil and she will take us home."

"Rumplestiltskin isn't the one threatening my daughter," Snow snarled. "I won't let you touch one hair on her head!"

"The decision is not yours to make." And with that, magic swirled around them as Magnus transported them to the only place deep enough below ground that the curious and cursed townspeople steered clear of.

-----

Her ears were ringing and somehow she found herself on the floor. She didn't know how she'd gotten there or even where there was. The ground was hard under her and when she finally managed to curl her fingers under her she could feel the rocky flooring. Slowly, painfully, she pried her dark eyes open to find the space washed in green light and a pair of small boots appeared, running directly at her. Their owner dropped and one little hand shook and shook her. "Gina. Gina!"

Regina groaned and shifted. Her head was killing her. What the hell was this kid - "Roland?" she managed, finally putting a name with the little voice that hadn't called her by name until that very moment. Or maybe a handful of moments before. She wasn't sure. Something told her she wouldn't have known if he had.

"Well isn't that interesting?" a familiar voice hummed as heeled boots sounded against the hard ground. That's right. Maleficent. She'd thrown a curse at her hard enough to pick her fully up off the ground and slam her against the wall. If Regina had had her magic, it would have been easy enough to deflect, but as it stood…

The Mistress of Evil squatted down, her jacket's long train that was much more suited to the Enchanted Forest pooling on the ground as she got a closer look at the downed, powerless Evil Queen. "Laugh it up," Regina growled, forcing herself to her knees. Everything screamed at her to stay down in painful jabs and sharp pricks of pain, but she ignored them. At the very least she could start healing her pride by getting to her feet and taking a physical swing at the sorceress.

"What did he do to you?"

Dark eyes blinked rapidly, trying to clear the blurriness that her movement was causing, and she looked up to find a strangely concerned look on Maleficent's features. Would wonders never cease?

A small hand took hold of her sleeve and she looked over to see a very worried little boy next to her. For some reason, her irritation and embarrassment took a backseat and she tried for a smile. "I'm alright."

Roland's dark brows drew together and he turned a glare on Maleficent as he moved between the former fairy and the downed queen. There was a beat of silence as the little boy thought he was protecting Regina from the powerful sorceress that had attacked her, but it didn't take long for both women to crack and their laughter echoed through the tunnels. Regina could feel it through her bruised ribs and in every strained muscle, but she couldn't stop herself, and as the laughter continued - the little boy getting more and more frustrated by the second - it was the first truly familiar thing that she had known in nearly two decades.

"What did you do to garner such loyalty?" Maleficent chuckled as she sidestepped the child to reach a hand down to her old friend.

In the moment, despite what had just unfolded, Regina took it, her quip drowned out by the child in question. "She's my friend. Don't hurt her."

"No, I think you've protected her quite well," Maleficent murmured, real amusement finally in her voice. She turned her pale gaze back to Regina. "It's clear what happened, but I do confess to being curious as to how."

"Magnus. The Blind Cleric."

"I presumed as much. His little acolytes have been scurrying these mines like rats for years now. There wasn't much to do about it other than give them reason to avoid me…. Until magic came."

"As brief as that was for me."

"Might have saved your life. I was very put out with you."

"Why?" Roland asked and Maleficent smiled toothily at him.

"Aren't you precious? See, Regina? I told you pets are comforting." She turned that curious expression she wore back on Roland. "Because your friend Gina locked me away. And not just that, she locked me away as a dragon."

Roland's dark eyes went wide. "Why?"

"Because I dared to tell her no. She doesn't like that very much."

"Like you're any better," Regina groused as she finished her personal inventory. She was relatively sure nothing was broken. She turned back to her - former? - friend. "But magic's back, even if Magnus has cut me off from it. Why haven't you left?"

"He had everything set up for the day he'd bring it here, I suppose. All the right wards in place that activated the moment magic came sweeping through. Imagine it. The best I get is this form, but if I try to leave? I'm thrown right back to where I started. He was ready for this, not that anyone would expect any less from him. The man does know how to plan."

"Not like Rumple."

"Ooh. Now there's the battle of the millenia. How long's it been since those two actually went head-to-head? Was it before your time?"

"I don't know. Rumple didn't like to talk about him."

"Rumplestiltskin playing things close to the vest? Shocking."

The corner of Regina's lip tugged up at that, only broadening as an idea stuck her. "You could piggy back out of here. The moment you feel that shift, you can use the brief rupture in the containment spell to teleport out."

"Only if I took the person coming in with me. No. I have no interest in landing on the Blind Cleric's map."

"How're you gonna get out then?" Roland asked sincerely.

"Oh, sweet child. When you've been alive as long as I have you understand that curses don't last forever. Not even ones Regina here casts. Sooner or later it'll be broken and we'll all go catapulting back to our own world… or what's left of it. This isn't forever."

The jab struck deeper than Regina cared to admit. Her curse was as airtight as any curse could be. "Isn't it?"

"I'm in no rush, dear. I don't have a cleric breathing down my neck."

"So send us out. You don't want to fight him, fine. Rumple and I will wage our war, and when we win -"

"Bold assumption."

"- I'll free you."

That dangerous smile returned. "You'll still owe me that fight."

Regina matched it. "I wouldn't miss it for either world."

The smile faded and Maleficent tilted her head. She felt something moving. Something Regina could only hope she'd feel again someday. "He's coming?"

"Maybe. They don't always join."

"Send us."

"Both of you?"

"I promised the kid I'd help him find his father if he helped me get out. He led me to you who may just get us out."

"Look at you becoming a woman of your word." The mirth washed away. "It may not be Magnus coming, but it may well be. I have no way to know for sure."

"I understand." Regina looked down at Roland. "If I tell you to run, you run. Don't look back. Don't stop. Do you hear me?"

"But -"

"Do you hear me?"

He nodded and Regina turned to Maleficent. The older sorceress gave her a crooked smile. "Tell Rumple I said good luck. He's going to need every ounce of it."

"We all will."

Without warning, they were pulled away, Maleficent's magic shoving them through the crack in the containment spell and hurtling towards the unknown.

----

He had thought the world he had woken up to was crazy enough. He couldn't remember his name or his life or what had happened that had put him into a coma for… no one seemed to be able to tell him how long. Storybrooke was a strange place, but he'd done his best to convince himself that it was because he was limited to the hospital grounds. The few people that he saw regularly from the outside seemed normal enough.

Mary Margaret had seemed normal enough. At least until that morning. Now he didn't know what the hell was happening. Some towering blind man had killed a woman - a nun - by ripping her heart out of her chest and was talking about hurting someone else. Mary Margaret's daughter? None of it made sense. Not the shift in the woman he was beginning to fall for or the unexplainable events that looked like something out of one of the movies he'd watched while passing the time in the hospital. Part of him knew he didn't remember enough to know it wasn't real, but another part of his mind screamed at him that it couldn't be. This was a dream. Maybe he was still asleep and none of this had really happened.

He was jolted out of his desperate attempt to piece something that made sense together as they were ripped from where they were standing. He thought he saw some sort of smoke swirl around them and his grip tightened on Mary Margaret's hand as he felt like he was being dragged through the air. His feet were under him when he landed though, catching only the briefest of glimpses of what looked like a cave before the smoke turned green and he was right back where he'd started: standing by the lake with Mary Margaret's hand clutched tightly in his and the dead nun a few yards away.

He blinked hard, feeling like he'd gotten whiplash from the sudden movements, and found that they weren't alone. A woman stood with them, dressed in a torn pantsuit with short dark hair, and at her side was a little boy that couldn't have been older than four. His face was set in a determined sort of way like he was desperate to hide just how scared he was and he looked up at the woman whose dark gaze swept the terrain to settle on Mary Margaret. Her mouth dropped open as if she were looking for something to say, but Mary Margaret beat her to it, loosening her grip on his hand to step in front of him. "Regina. Of course you're behind all of this!"

Somehow the woman - Regina - managed to look even more startled than before. "Snow?"

"This doesn't make any sense. Why would you be aligned with Magnus? I thought you and Rumplestiltskin were -"

Regina's expression darkened immediately. "I would never align with that cleric." She paused, glancing down at the boy who was watching with wide, dark eyes, and she let her hand drop so that he could take hold of it. He did without hesitation. "Magnus had us trapped in the mines."

"The lady with the green smoke got us out," the boy piped up.

Mary Margaret's dark brows drew together. "Who?"

Regina bristled irritably. "Doesn't matter. Hello there, David. You look… confused."

The man that finally realized she was referring to as David blinked. "I don't…. What the hell is going on?" He looked to Mary Margaret. "Who's David?"

Mary Margaret turned back to him. "You are. It's okay. It'll make sense. We just have to find a way to help you remember." Slowly, an idea seemed to dawn on her and her pretty green gaze slid back to the other woman. "And Regina can help with that."

Regina snorted. "Oh. And why would I do that? This -" she motioned between them - "is better than I could have dreamt. You remember everything and he remembers nothing. Your prince is gone, Snow, and you have to look at the empty shell wearing his face every day." A smile broadened, but it was anything but pleasant. "I won. And now you'll live through the hell that you put me through for so long."

Frustration bubbled up at her vicious expression and the way her words seemed to slice through Mary Margaret. David took a step around the petite woman. He wasn't sure what to say or what to do, but he felt the sudden urge to do something. To protect her. Somehow.

Mary Margaret reached a hand out and it touched David's arm gently, but when he glanced back she was looking at Regina. There was something in her eyes that said she had a plan. She knew exactly what she needed to do. "You're going to help us because our goals are aligned. Because we can help you take down Magnus."

Regina snorted. "How did that work out for you just now?"

The little boy gave a tug on her hand. "Papa says we help friends."

"They are not our friends," she countered.

"But they wanna help!"

"We do," Mary Margaret pressed, turning her one-hundred watt smile on the little boy. "And we can. If Regina will let us."

He turned those big brown eyes up to the woman whose hand he was still clutching and David could have sworn he saw her hardened expression ease a little bit. "Please, Gina! Please can the nice lady help?"

Regina bristled at that and shot Mary Margaret a look that was one part distrust and the other loathing. "We don't have time for this. If you just can't stop yourself from tagging along, I won't stop you, but we can't just keep standing here in the open," she grumbled after a long moment.

"Are we gonna go find Papa?"

This time David was sure it was the little boy that softened her. "We're going to go find a way to find him."

He lit up at that and David looked over to Mary Margaret. There was a strange, distant look in her eyes, like she was caught up in an old memory. So caught up that she didn't start moving even as Regina and the boy did. "C'mon," he coaxed, taking her hand. "Otherwise I'm pretty sure she'll leave us behind."

She nodded and offered him a smile as she tightened her grip on him. "Don't worry. We'll get your memories back. I promise."

There was something in her tone that made him think only a fool would bet against her.

-----

Emma wasn't sure how long Belle and Gold had been gone, but the deafening silence that had settled in as Neal turned the weirdly shaped knife that was somehow linked to his father's magic powers - okay, that was all still so weird, even after she'd seen him toss around small flickers of magic as casually as he breathed - was about to drive her insane. There was so much at stake right now with so many unknowns. Not just the people she'd come to care about and the ones she thought she might want to care about a little more, but the question that she'd pushed to the back of her mind since the hotel. She was young, but she wasn't stupid. That's why Belle had wanted to give them time. She thought Emma should talk to Neal about it. Sure, talk to him and blow everything up. If he even thought there was a possibility that she was pregnant he'd grab her by the wrist, throw her into the car, and they'd be gone before they ever helped anybody. And Gold wasn't there to help with that beaten-puppy look that he'd given his son the last time that had helped to keep him there.

So she'd let him brood and Emma scoured every inch of the small cabin. Every bookshelf and nicknack. Every coat closet and quilt rack. She'd even gotten desperate enough to act like she was interested in the mantle over the fireplace. It was a small cabin.

The longer time stretched on, the more stir crazy she was becoming. They hadn't come all the way back to Storybrooke just to sit on their asses, and while it might be smart to wait until the one guy who could actually use magic came back to risk running across Magnus, eventually Neal might ask what Belle had been referring to.

With a huff, she turned towards the door. That, apparently, was enough to catch her boyfriend's attention. "Hey? Where're you going?"

He hadn't moved from where he'd curled himself into a chair, knees bent and knife in hand, but those dark eyes of his were fixed on her in a way that always made her feel like he could read her mind. When she'd first met him, it had left her feeling exposed, but the longer she knew him - the more she fell for him - those eyes had become home. A focused look like he had on her would, in most circumstances, calm any nerves. This was definitely not most circumstances.

"We came back to help Regina and apparently my parents are still out there. We don't know what's going on or what Magnus and his creeps know. I can -"

Then he was on his feet, his expressive features pulled in worry. "Emma, no. He knows you're with us. He -"

"Might come after me? Yeah. I got that part. Does it have something to do with the curse? Does he think I can help him or -"

"Pop thinks he might try to kill you to send everyone back home," Neal blurted she finally stilled.

"What?"

Neal dragged in a breath that didn't seem to calm the fear at all. "Papa doesn't think you can break the curse now, but he said he put a failsafe in to keep… anyone from going after you before you had a chance to come back and break it. If you die, everyone that's here and that's from the Enchanted Forest goes back."

"Does that mean you too?"

"I don't know. Maybe, but I think you're missing the point." He stepped forward, reaching his free hand out to her and she took it, letting him pull her closer. "I'm not going to lose you. I get that you couldn't just run from this, but we have to play it smart. Promise?"

She couldn't help but squeeze his fingers between hers and she risked a look up into those dark eyes. Damn the man. Yeah. There was no way she was telling him about a kid until this was all over. "Yeah," she said quietly and saw at least a little of his tension ease. A corner of his lips twitched upward and he leaned in. Emma felt her eyes close as he pressed his lips against hers and she reached her own free hand up to the side of his face, guiding him a little deeper into the kiss.

"I love you," he whispered softly.

Hazel eyes fluttered open. "You too."

His expression turned a little more mischievous. "You know, they could be gone for a while."

Blonde eyebrows danced upward. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I mean -" He stopped abruptly, his gaze sliding towards the back door.

Emma snorted a laugh. "You were saying?"

"Did you hear that?"

"No…."

The door blew open like it'd been kicked in and revealed a lanky man with sandy hair and a dangerous smile curling his lips. A startled sound escaped Emma as Neal dragged her around, putting himself between her and the clearly unfriendly new guest. His opposite hand settled behind him, presumably to keep her from darting the other direction, but Emma saw the knife clutched carefully between his fingers.

"We don't want to hurt the girl or you," another voice said from the back door and both Emma and Neal's attentions jerked around to see a blond man in some kind of costume. With him was another man that looked identical to the one that had barged in the front door.

The second twin sneered. "Give up the dagger, boy."

Neal squared his shoulders, backing Emma up a couple of steps to reposition himself to jump in either direction. "Like hell I'm gonna -"

And then he was being thrown like someone had tugged hard on invisible strings. Neal crashed hard into the wall, but didn't let go of the dagger. Instead he grit his teeth, anger rolling off of him in waves, and he turned that determined gaze on his enemy at the front door. "Rum -"

There was a flick of the man's wrist, much like Gold had done to open doors and cabinets and the like while searching through the cabin. This didn't open doors, but instead sent out a strong gust of something powerful enough that Emma thought she saw it glisten through the air. The streak of power sliced through her boyfriend like knives that had been thrown, tossing him back harder than the first time and dragging a cry of pain from him.

A hush fell over the cabin as he crumbled to the ground, the fight over before it had really begun and Emma wondered if that's what magic really was. No wonder Neal didn't like it. She didn't think she liked it either.

And then all eyes fell on the dagger that had been driven loose from the groaning young man and as quickly as everyone had frozen in their place, they sprang into action again.

-----

"I'm very proud of you."

Belle's voice drew Rumple's attention from where he'd been carefully mixing a potion that he'd prefer to take whole rather than in its more combustive individual parts back to the cabin. "What for, dear?"

Her smile was soft and kind, and Rumplestiltskin felt the fluttering in his chest that it always elicited. "For trusting Bae with the dagger."

His curse stirred dangerously at the reminder that it wasn't in control and Rumplestiltskin pushed hard against it as he turned back to his potion-making, his skilled fingers tipping one ingredient into the waiting beaker to see it darken and begin to bubble angrily until he pinched the root he'd ground down into dust and sprinkled it in. The mixture gave to that, the colour shifting again and smoking wafting upward. "Of course I trust Bae," he murmured, risking a quick glance in her direction to find her smile hadn't faded. If anything, it had grown.

"Is it ready?"

"Just about," he answered, relieved to shift the topic away from his own vulnerabilities. "Another minute or so and it'll be stable enough to go back with us."

"Do we not need to protect the shop?"

"Oh no. There're enough wards in this place to keep even Magnus out now that they've got magic to pull from."

As if in response to the statement, the bell above the front door gave a sharp, abrupt jingle like someone had rattled the door without getting it opened. He met Belle's sharp look and motioned for her to stay where she was, grateful that she didn't argue the point. If Magnus' people were trying to come in through less-than-magical means, she wouldn't be in the direct line of fire.

Rumplestiltskin pushed through the curtain and towards the front door where he could hear muffled voices and the sound of someone trying to jimmy the lock.

"I thought you were supposed to be good at this!" the familiar and irritable voice of Regina Mills growled from the other side of the door.

"It's been a while," the more surprising voice of Snow - Mary Margaret in this world - answered in what she likely thought was a hushed tone. "And why can't you just magic it open?" Interesting. Somehow Snow had woken up.

Rumple flicked his fingers, the lock flipped, and the door swung open to reveal three surprised faces. "Because Regina, for all her talent, never could break my wards." He flashed them a sharp grin.

Snow White gaped a little as she stared at him. "Rumple…stiltskin? Is that you?"

He heard the light sound of footsteps and the curtain opening behind him as Belle joined the more or less friendly crowd. "Indeed it is," he answered without bothering to curb the amusement in his voice. "And my my…. There must be quite a story here. Tell me, Regina, how did you come by your step-daughter and her charming husband in all of this?"

The prince in question gave him a strange look at the statement while the Evil Queen's lips tugged downward. "What do you think? Magnus."

"It's good to see you're alright," Belle offered.

"Of course I am," she answered briskly and movement caught Rumple's attention. Hiding behind her torn pant legs and utterly unnoticed up until that point, a little boy with a mop of dark hair peeked around.

Rumplestiltskin may have finally noticed him, but it was Belle who greeted him. "Hello there. Who might you be?"

The little boy moved just a bit more out into the open. "Roland," he answered, never straying far from Regina. Rumple didn't miss how she reached down and the boy instantly grabbed her hand. "Are you gonna help us find my papa?"

The Dark One snorted, ready to wave the child off and tell him they had bigger issues to worry about, but Belle shot him a look like she just knew what was going through his mind. "We'd love to help," she said firmly.

Rumple snorted as he turned to limp back into the shop a bit further. "Well c'mon now. Don't just stand there in the doorway. Wards work best on sealed walls. We'll need to -"

And then he felt it. The jarring pull of his curse as the summoning slammed into him by way of his name being called and his own magic snapped him out of the shop.

----

They stood there, the pawn shop suddenly short one obnoxious sorcerer, and Regina's gaze snapped to Belle. "Where the hell did he go?"

To the side, the amnesiatic David looked like he'd finally hit his quota of unexplainable events. His eyes went wide as he turned to Snow. "What just happened? Did he… disappear? What -"

"Magic, David," Snow said quietly, her expression strained as she reached out in a comforting manner.

Belle's blue gaze remained fixated on the spot where her lover had just been standing, but instead of that irritatingly determined look that seemed to be a steady fixture on her features, the younger woman looked… worried. Afraid. She swallowed hard and seemed to try to steal herself. "Baelfire has Rumple's dagger."

"Who's Baelfire?" Snow demanded.

"Rumple's son," Regina answered dismissively.

"Neal?!"

The fear in Belle's eyes shifted and there was that damnable look. "Regina, we need to go. If Bae summoned Rumple, then he and Emma will be -"

"Regina, she's right. We have to go," Snow said, her voice strangely unsteady and when Regina turned she found those large green eyes fixed on her and pleading. "I know you said you couldn't teleport us because Magnus would know, but he already knows. We can't waste any more time!"

Dark eyes remained fixed on the younger queen. "Why do you care what happens to Rumple's son and his little girlfriend?"

Snow's jaw dropped like she was going to answer, then snapped shut. Again and again she tilted between whatever two options she thought she had and David finally slowed his own spiral into panic long enough to step forward, uncertain but desperately trying to return the comfort he'd just received. "I'm sure she'll be alright."

And then it clicked. It all made sense. "Emma. Your daughter."

"Regina please…"

"She can't help you."

Everyone in the room spun to see that the open doorway had been filled by none other than Magnus' right-hand cleric. Caiden stood with his usual sombre expression, blocking their exit. Regina grabbed Roland and pulled him behind her while Snow took a protective step in front of Charming. It was the only movement they could make before magic washed over them and every muscle froze in place.

---

TBC

Notes: Every time I have a long delay on a chapter I just have to think "well, at least it hasn't been a decade :') " As has become my habit, I need to apologize for the delay on the chapter, but at least it's a long one and a TON happens. Between wrapping Snow and Charming into the group, Regina finding out Emma is the savior, Rumple choosing to trust Bae with his dagger... it's a wild chapter. On that latter one, I was so freakin' pleased to be able to weave in a piece of Rumple's original speech to who he thought was Bae. It always broke my heart that he was so open and honest when August was fooling him and how closed off he was when he really did find his son. I think that thinking he'd found Bae and, in a way, losing him again when it turned out to be a scam broke him all over again. So yeah... very pleased with that :)

Next time: Rumple finds himself in uncharted territory, Caiden finds himself facing a difficult question, and the meeting of OutlawQueen.

#OUAT #Once Upon a Time #Rumplestiltskin #Belle French #Baelfire #Neal Cassidy #Emma Swan #Regina Mills #Snow White #mary margaret blanchard #David Nolan #Prince Charming

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georgiapeach30513 · 2 years

Text

Rumplestiltskin, Part 10

Summary: the conclusion and end of the King and Queen of Palmona

Pairings: Andy Barber X Ransom, Lance Tucker X Reader, Chase Collins X Andy Barber

Rating: mild

Warnings: language, kidnapping(?), 18+ ONLY

Word Count: 2.7K

Series Masterlist

*dividers by @firefly-graphics

“Oh, come here, my little princess,” you pick up your daughter who looks back at her window. Her hand outstretched to the opening and she whines looking at you, and then back to the window. “Is that where he comes in at?”

Her chubby little hands curl to the outside. Gurgling out nonsensical words, and you step back, “Not today sweetheart. Any day but today,” your arms wrap around her tightly when you give her a soft kiss to the top of her head. You had a pit in your stomach that should Lance come to call, he would try something drastic.

“Come on, let’s go into mama and daddy’s room. Later, we’re going to take Marshall to visit your papa,” looking back out the window, you take a deep calming breath before walking into your room. You were uneasy, and felt as if you should hold Branwen all day. Would the contract allow Lance to take your precious daughter? Would there be a hold on him to where he could not remove her from you? It was things that you didn’t want to think about, but things that you should ponder greatly.

Andy marches up the steps of the castle his brother was erecting. It wasn’t as grand as the one that they had grown up in, but this one was being fashioned with gold everywhere. Andy’s cloak billows behind him as he searches for his absentee brother. No word from him in months.

He spots the greedy man, and stomps over to him. Ransom spins on his heels looking at him, and Andy stops, and flinches away at the sight of him, “Why are you here?” Ransom demands. “Why have you set foot in my castle?”

“I have come to tell you that you can no longer marry Aurelia.”

“Why? Because you already have?” With a nod of his head, Ransom shrugs. “Andy, I did that to have something you didn’t have. But even that cunny in between her legs is not greater than this,” his hand lifts up as he motions around his grand castle. “You think too small. Pussy is pussy. But gold is forever. You take your wife and your bastard daughter, while I’ll let my women age out. Go after a newer, younger model when I tire of the heat in between her thighs. It’s just sex.”

“What has happened to you brother?”

“What do you mean?” Andy takes a step back as Ransom’s voice turns into more of a growl. The bright blue of his eyes start to darken, turning a burnished gold. “I am fine! I am happy and have all the riches in the world. You have a used up piece of ass and a disgusting brat. Take them. I can fill every room in my castle with different pussy. Have a new one for every night of the week. Have ten fulfill my every filthy desire at once if I choose. Stack them on top of each other and use them just as the flesh that they are. You see? I don’t fucking care about your precious princess Aurelia. I have more power than you because I have no weakness. You are but a slug on the earth. Should they be taken away from you,” his eyes darken more, turning a deep shade of black, and a flash within them makes Andy jump back.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Does he come to you at night and grant you your wishes?” Ransom’s neck twists at an awkward angle, and the veins surrounding his eyes turn gold. It was grotesque watching his brother become the beast that was always residing deep within him. “He told me he won’t be granting your wish. Better run home Andrew. Time’s up.”

Andy looks behind his brother, sitting in a gnarly and crooked tree was a man with grand black feathers, “Tick tock. How long will it take you to ride back to Palmona? Left them all alone,” he sneers as a mix between a grunt and a cackle ripples through his body, and Andy runs back from whence he came.

“Walter!” He shouts, jumping onto the horse who grunts at his weight. “They’re in trouble. You need to run at the speed of lightning,” Walter rares back on his hind legs, before charging back towards the kingdom. Snorting at how stupid Andy had been to leave you and Branwen alone, and traveling so far.

You watch your happy baby shake her rattle on the floor. Thinking to yourself you had enough time to pour some water into a cup. Taking your eyes off her a few seconds, to turn to the basin when you hear a thump, and a squealing giggle from Branwen. Spinning around, you gasp. She was reaching towards Lance with a smile.

He looked different. Closer to when you first met him, “Lance,” you go towards him, but he tsks you. Shaking his finger, and he lifts her up in your arms. “Give her to me.”

“Why?’

“She’s mine.”

“Did you forget?” You shake your head no, getting right beside him, and reaching your arms to grab her. “She’s no longer yours, Queen Aurelia. She belongs with me now.”

“No!” He tries to launch himself off the ground, but his feet won’t allow him to move. “Give her to me!”

He tries again, only to grunt in frustration. Branwen looks up at him with a pout, and then back at you. Her golden amber eyes start to fill with tears, “Don’t cry, little one. I’m trying to get us home.”

“You can’t take her.”

“We had a deal. She now belongs to me, so whatever power you have over me, let it fall. Our deal was a legal binding contract between faerie and mortal. Aurelia, I won’t be so kind when I ask the second time.”

“Please, you’re scaring her,” he looks down at the baby whose lip was puckered out. Her mouth opens as a silent cry escapes. Her eyes close as crocodile tears drift down her face. “My darling, mommy’s right here.”

“What have you done?”

“She’s not Ransom’s,” Lance puffs up his chest, confused as to why you would say that. “Our contract was for mine and Ransom’s first child. She’s Andy’s. You can’t leave with her. Our contract was binding and legal. You have no claim over that baby. She is mine and Andy’s. Now give her to me.”

Lance’s nose flairs, and his head tilts back. Letting out a piercing scream when you run to gather your baby. Holding her tight against your chest. Wiping the tears off her beautiful skin, and peppering kisses over her silky black hair. Trying to hold her ears as Lance’s cry makes your ears feel as if they're bleeding. Walking the two of you back into a corner, when the noise suddenly stops.

Your chest heaves with your tears, and you lift your baby up to look at her. Her little hand reaches back towards the window, and she starts to cry. Almost as if she realized that her friend was truly gone. Holding onto her tightly, rocking her until her tears stop. Yourself falling into a deep sleep.

“Aurelia,” Andy was calling. Your eyes blink openly heavily, your daughter still sleeping soundly in your arms, “Aurelia,” his voice sounded off, but you follow it into Branwen’s room that had a golden glow to it. “Aurelia.”

One foot in front of the other. Your steps were heavy as you try to get out of your hazy feeling. That horrendous machinery in the middle of your daughter’s room, and you cuss Andy. “Aurelia, just touch it. It’ll get rid of it for good, princess.”

Branwen’s eyes blink open, and yips as you get closer to the spinning wheel. Your hand out in front of you, and Branwen cries. “Aurelia, you’re almost there, darling. Just touch it.”

You press your finger down on the spindle, and you're transported to a garden with Andy and Branwen. It was beautiful. So green, and open with your husband and child. Your golden crown on top of your head, and even Andy looks regal with his own crown. Branwen tries to walk towards you, her own little tiara already crooked on her jet black hair.

“You could have hurt her!” Lance bends over to pick your crying baby up off the floor, and she buries her face into his chest. “What did you do?”

“Well, we had a deal. She touched the spindle. Take her, and the child can go with you,” Lance looks between you and the baby in his arms that he was trying to soothe and shakes his head. “Fine,” Chase answers quickly. “Let Andy arrive. He kisses your queen, and he gets her and the child. And you are nothing but a blackened soul.”

“He can’t…he can’t do that.”

“Oh, he can. True love’s kiss, you see. The debt will be paid. She touched it, she’s asleep, and only Andy’s lips can wake her.”

Branwen reaches towards your body, and pouts up at Lance, “Mama.”

“Oh, Andy will be here soon. Figure it out,” Chase bends at his knees, before flying out the window, leaving Lance alone to think.

“Mama!” Branwen reaches towards your sleeping body, her lip trembling at him, “Mama. Dada!”

“No!”

“Ehh!” She smacks at Lance’s nose, “Mama! Dada!”

“No, you won’t be seeing your father. You are mine to raise. He lets your mother do everything. She needs a break,” Lance takes a deep breath, realizing he’s going to have to do more than fly you out of here. The beating of the hooves of Walter in the distance as Andy gets closer to the palace. “I’m going to be out of magic for awhile with this one,” he crouches down by your body, making sure to touch you and the baby, before you’re gone with nothing left but his golden sparkles.

Andy races into your room, and watches as the final sparkles drift down to the floor, “Aurelia! Branwen! No!” His face distorts in anger, and he kicks at the spinning wheel.

“I was wondering when you would show up,” Andy looks into the shadows to see Chase, and he stands up at full height, but Andy stays unflinching. Grabbing up one of the baby’s toys, he throws it at Chase, who laughs at Andy’s misery. “Missing something?”

“What did you do?”

“Ah, I made a deal with my brother. He made a deal with your wife,” he shrugs, still laughing at Andy. “Want them back?”

“They’re all I want. Take this cursed crown off my head and bring me my family back!”

“I like your passion, Andrew. But you see, we’re at an impasse here. I don’t know for certain where my brother has taken them.”

“She’s not Ransom’s. That child is born of my blood and love. Bring her back!”

“Yes, I’m aware of your wife’s forked tongue. Tricking a faerie isn’t easy to do, but when a faerie is in love with a woman who loves another, words are missed. But I offer you something,” Andy breathes deeply as Chase walks around his body. Sniffing at the man, and he retches. “You smell of them.”

“Shut up you beast!”

“That’s your brother. How did he look today? His transformation is well under way. I wonder if anyone will ever love him when he resembles the beast that dwells inside his dark soul? No matter, I have a gift for you. Your wife isn’t dead. Merely asleep, and the touch of your lips is just the remedy. Find her and kiss her. Of course, she’s in an ageless sleep. You and your daughter are not. Faeries move quickly, they hide in plain sight, so what if you die before she ever wakes.”

“No!” Andy swings his fist at the faerie, but Chase lowers his gaze at him. “I’ll do anything. I can’t lose them.”

“Good, I knew you’d see things in my way. But, I am fae, so this goes with a contract. I can put the whole woods in an ageless…”

“Not sleep!”

“No, an ageless bubble. With conditions. Once our young reaches the age of your wife, they stop,” Andy looks at him in fear, realizing that he didn’t mean the whole woods. “That’s right. Your daughter could be grown by the time you see her again. You won’t age past today. But that beautiful little raven can grow into a beautiful woman. Being raised by faeries, she could learn to magic. Her mother is born of magic. You haven’t noticed she possessed some herself? You see, there are stipulations.”

“Of course there is. The devil always has stipulations,” Andy grabs Chase’s arms from circling him, “Look me in the eye when you’re making your offer.”

“We have a problem. And I love chaos. How will we ever get fresh meat in the forest? I will construct an apple tree. Partake of the apple, and you’re stuck in these dark woods for as long as your wife is asleep. It is hard to get out of tall, dark trees anyways, but this would make it impossible.”

“You’re trapping people in here?”

“For your benefit, Andrew. Do you know what resides in these woods? Men that transform into animals. Even swans that wait for the moon to shine on them. A wolf that desires virgins. And your brother a greedy beast who lusts after gold. He’s not finished, by the way. What of your father, and his own greed? How did you become so noble? Andy, I think we can both agree you will take my offer. You’ll search for a hundred years and never find her. Become penniless and weak searching for a ghost and a raven. I only offer you this once. When I leave, you’re alone. You’ll die of old age before you ever find your precious Aurelia, and your daughter will never even know you exist,” he moves to strike Andy, but a powerful force stops him.

“What have you,” Chase pulls down Andy’s shirt, and sees his brother’s medallion hanging on his chest, “Your wife is clever. Protecting you from faeries. I guess that’s why she touched the spinning wheel the same day that the protection was away from her. She should have kept it on. You could have had longer with your daughter.”

“Or,” Lance cackles, watching Andy’s face go through so many emotions. He did in fact love you beyond words, “I offer you an alternative. Say my brother’s name, and everything becomes just a blink of time. Your family will be sleeping in your bed,” Andy looks at him, shaking his head. You never once uttered the faerie’s name. Never told him of his name. Never spoke much about him. Keeping the life you had with Lance a secret. “She failed that time.”

Chase turns to leave, and Andy slowly closes his eyes. The visions he had of you and him ruling together now crushed, and gone. His daughter that he had wanted was now taken from him. “Stop! You have your deal.”

Chase’s lips turn up into a snarl, and he snaps his fingers. Launching out the window to plant his magical apple seed. Should Andy ever try to chop it down, another would sprout, and that one would be deadly. Andy collapses on the floor as he mourns the loss of you and his daughter. You were not dead, but he couldn’t feel your warmth. He no longer heard his beautiful daughter laughing because Andy was truly alone. Destined to wander these woods in search of his family. A family that he would never forget, but a daughter that would never remember him.

With his body shaking in anger and turmoil, he stands. Casting his crown to the side and slowly walks out of the castle, jumping on his trusty steed Walter, “You really screwed up this time.”

“You can talk?”

“Chase likes chaos,” Walter snorts. “I thought my spell would be broken when you kissed her.”

“Who are you,” Andy leans to look at the horse.

“Her uncle. Now I’m stuck in life with the likes of you. And if you meet her again, and kiss her, and I’m still a fucking horse, I’m going to hoof that stupid faerie to death,” Walter whinnies as he trots out into the forest. An impossible journey with a man he only halfway liked. This was going to be a long lifetime saddled with the former King of Palmona. And an eternity searching for Andy’s lost family as he becomes the guardian of the woods. The woodcutter that protected all that resided here, until he found his true love. And with his kiss, the spell on the woods would be broken. Until then he is but a nomad.

THE END FRIEND

Epilogue

Masterlist

Journey Back Into the Woods

up next...

Taglist: @tis-thedamn-season @marveloustaylortot @pono-pura-vida @sstan-hoe @peaches1958 @whimsyplaty92 @xcaptain-winterx @bambamwolf87 @lavender-annd-lilac @thedarkplume @duuhrayliegh @rebekahdawkins @johndeaconshands @whiskeytangofoxtrot555 @feyfantome @athena-penrose @smile1318 @royalwritersoftheuniverses @andydrysdalerogers

#rumplestiltskin #andy barber #prince!andy barber #andy barber x reader #prince!Andy barber x reader #andy barber x fem!reader #prince!andy barber x fem!reader #andy barber x y/n #prince!andy barber x y/n #andy barber x you #prince!andy barber x you #lance tucker #fae!lance tucker #fae!lance tucker x reader #modern day fairy tale AU #modern day fairytale

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saltyunordinaryprincess · 8 months

Text

》》That's the feeling. Not mattering to anyone. That's the coming-untied-from-the-world feeling.《

⋆｡˚𖦹 ☆🂲♡🃍◇🂶♧🂲♤🃍☆🃍♤🂲♧🂶◇🃍♡🂲☆ 𖦹˚｡⋆

An independent Once Upon A Time Alice Jones/Tilly Rogers RP

Mun 10+ years RP experience; Tumblr & Discord

OUAT canon, canon-divergent, and AU friendly

Main ship is CuriousArcher/MadArcher (Alice x Robyn Hood II). Discuss any potential other ships beforehand.

Friendships/familiarity always accepted. Alice loves to make friends. And her Papa is very special. Rumplestiltskin is also not only mentor and dear friend but like a sudo second papa.

Mun and Muse 21+

Open, Semi-selective, and accepting starters

Prompts, memes, and plotting available

Seriously, just send me a message and we can talk something out. Mun is probably just as awkward and shy.

If you are interested in roleplaying on Discord; have an active server or 1-on-1, send a message.

🐰 Send something to get started 🍄

#ouat rp #indie ouat rp #ouat roleplay #once upon a time roleplay #once upon a time rp #alice jones roleplay #muse: alice #self promo #tilly rogers roleplay

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depressedstressedlemonzest · 9 months

Text

Just the shocked heartbreak on rumple's face.

Okay but neal

LOOK AND SEE IF HE HAS A FUCKING SHADOW IF YOU THINK HE'S LYING!

Pulled the ol switcheroo

She's just SO FUCKING PRETTY.

More like stfu self.

I just love david and hooks tete a tete.

Oh.

Had a face.

Ariel!

Watching this: how the fuck would peter dickbag pan know rumple's favorite breakfast?

Now: FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FUCK!!

Also the breakfast of choice of V from V for Vendetta.

Fitting comparison.

Don't believe her! Right?

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psychohazardous · 7 months

Text

Rumplestiltskin by Anne Sexton

From Transformations, published 1971

Inside many of us

is a small old man

who wants to get out.

No bigger than a two-year-old

whom you'd call lamb chop

yet this one is old and malformed.

His head is okay

but the rest of him wasn't Sanforized?

He is a monster of despair.

He is all decay.

He speaks up as tiny as an earphone

with Truman's asexual voice:

I am your dwarf.

I am the enemy within.

I am the boss of your dreams.

No. I am not the law in your mind,

the grandfather of watchfulness.

I am the law of your members,

the kindred of blackness and impulse.

See. Your hand shakes.

It is not palsy or booze.

It is your Doppelganger

trying to get out.

Beware . . . Beware . . .

There once was a miller

with a daughter as lovely as a grape.

He told the king that she could

spin gold out of common straw.

The king summoned the girl

and locked her in a room full of straw

and told her to spin it into gold

or she would die like a criminal.

Poor grape with no one to pick.

Luscious and round and sleek.

Poor thing.

To die and never see Brooklyn.

She wept,

of course, huge aquamarine tears.

The door opened and in popped a dwarf.

He was as ugly as a wart.

Little thing, what are you? she cried.

With his tiny no-sex voice he replied:

I am a dwarf.

I have been exhibited on Bond Street

and no child will ever call me Papa.

I have no private life.

If I'm in my cups the whole town knows by breakfast

and no child will ever call me Papa

I am eighteen inches high.

I am no bigger than a partridge.

I am your evil eye

and no child will ever call me Papa.

Stop this Papa foolishness,

she cried. Can you perhaps

spin straw into gold?

Yes indeed, he said,

that I can do.

He spun the straw into gold

and she gave him her necklace

as a small reward.

When the king saw what she had done

he put her in a bigger room of straw

and threatened death once more.

Again she cried.

Again the dwarf came.

Again he spun the straw into gold.

She gave him her ring

as a small reward.

The king put her in an even bigger room

but this time he promised

to marry her if she succeeded.

Again she cried.

Again the dwarf came.

But she had nothing to give him.

Without a reward the dwarf would not spin.

He was on the scent of something bigger.

He was a regular bird dog.

Give me your first-born

and I will spin.

She thought: Piffle!

He is a silly little man.

And so she agreed.

So he did the trick.

Gold as good as Fort Knox.

The king married her

and within a year

a son was born.

He was like most new babies,

as ugly as an artichoke

but the queen thought him in pearl.

She gave him her dumb lactation,

delicate, trembling, hidden,

warm, etc.

And then the dwarf appeared

to claim his prize.

Indeed! I have become a papa!

cried the little man.

She offered him all the kingdom

but he wanted only this -

a living thing

to call his own.

And being mortal

who can blame him?

The queen cried two pails of sea water.

She was as persistent

as a Jehovah's Witness.

And the dwarf took pity.

He said: I will give you

three days to guess my name

and if you cannot do it

I will collect your child.

The queen sent messengers

throughout the land to find names

of the most unusual sort.

When he appeared the next day

she asked: Melchior?

Balthazar?

But each time the dwarf replied:

No! No! That's not my name.

The next day she asked:

Spindleshanks? Spiderlegs?

But it was still no-no.

On the third day the messenger

came back with a strange story.

He told her:

As I came around the corner of the wood

where the fox says good night to the hare

I saw a little house with a fire

burning in front of it.

Around that fire a ridiculous little man

was leaping on one leg and singing:

Today I bake.

Tomorrow I brew my beer.

The next day the queen's only child will be mine.

Not even the census taker knows

that Rumpelstiltskin is my name . . .

The queen was delighted.

She had the name!

Her breath blew bubbles.

When the dwarf returned

she called out:

Is your name by any chance Rumpelstiltskin?

He cried: The devil told you that!

He stamped his right foot into the ground

and sank in up to his waist.

Then he tore himself in two.

Somewhat like a split broiler.

He laid his two sides down on the floor,

one part soft as a woman,

one part a barbed hook,

one part papa,

one part Doppelganger

#poetry #anne sexton #personal faves #fairy tales #rumplestiltskin

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peacehopeandrats · 2 years

Text

The Tea Shop

Fandom: Once Upon a Time (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Belle/Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold Characters: Belle (Once Upon a Time), Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Gideon (Once Upon a Time) Additional Tags: Family, Fluff, Fluffapalooza, Travel, Missing Years Summary:

While traveling in another realm, Belle pines for the little tea shops of Europe and Gideon works to make her dream come true.

The Tea Shop

Gideon watched as the outer shell of the sand wall he was building crumbled beneath his hands. "It's no use, Papa. My side won't stay together like yours." He wanted his part of their joint creation to be as perfect and straight as his father's, instead it was a sloppy mess of uneven lumps. His fists shot down into the river’s sandy shoreline, hitting harder than he intended and jarring his shoulders.

"It's all right, Gideon." The rumble of his father's soft assurances immediately soothed the ache in both his body and his heart. "I bet we can find out what the trouble is."

Keeping on his knees, his father shifted position in an awkward kind of dance around the castle, studying it from all angles as he moved. Gideon watched, intrigued by the examination, and found himself mimicking his papa's earnest expression. Sometimes just doing that helped him see the problem.

Read more on AO3

#Family #fluff #fluffapalooza #travel #missing years

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rumbelleshowdown · 5 months

Text

Author: Avalanumbres

Group: C

Prompts: A new hobby. Lady Belle, Peasant!Rumple. Another kid.

Stone Seekers: Waters of Avonlea

Something wet dripped down Gideon’s face as he ran through the streets of his seaport home. When the moisture hit his lips he licked them and tasted salt. Not blood then, that relieved him. His father would kill him if he injured himself. Assuming the angry pirates chasing after him didn't do it first.

“Street rat!” One shouted. “Stop, thief!”

Gideon had one advantage over the larger men. He knew these roads. Fast as lightning, he darted through a crowd, turned left into a narrow alley, and came out in the market. There he resumed a normal gait, pretended to study a few random items on vendors’ carts, and listened as the angry sailors passed him by.

“Hot day today,” he told the costermonger while wiping his brow.

The woman humphed.

“Papa would like two of these, please.”

The seller glanced at the small golden pears in Gideon's hand. “One copper.”

Gideon handed over the coin and strode off toward his home.

Rumplestiltskin and his son lived in a single-room shack with a sagging roof and a packed dirt floor. The space was filled by three objects: a bed, a small washtub for dying wool, and a spinning wheel. Everything else existed in their lives by either coincidence or through the process of creating items to sell. They had little, yet their lives were filled with love and joy.

It was lonely at times, moreso for Gideon’s father, who pined endlessly for the woman he’d fallen in love with more than ten years ago. Belle was Gideon's mother, but wasn't a part of their lives. She lived in the castle beyond the walled part of the city. On occasion, she left her father’s protection to wander the markets. On those rare days she always sought out the spinner’s stall. The family’s reunions were brief and both parents clung to the hope that they would see each other again soon. Gideon, on the other hand, felt little for his mother beyond the knowledge that she made his father’s heart sing. Rumplestiltskin’s happiness meant everything to his son and so he’d adopted his father’s dream of a permanent reunion. In fact, that was the very reason he was in this mess right now.

“Hello, Papa,” Gideon shoved the door back into its frame and held out the pears. “I got us something sweet to end our dinner.”

At the wheel, Rumplestiltskin took his foot from the treadle and looked up, eyes skimming past the fruit to a small bag Gideon clutched to his chest. “My favorite. Thank you. They look delicious.”

The boy sighed as he squeezed his slender frame between the wheel and the wash basin, then dropped to the bed. “You only like them because they are yellow and mother always wears a golden dress to come see you.”

The assumption brought an image of Belle to Rumplestiltskin’s mind, one of warm light caressing a satin gown. From where they had hidden for their lovemaking, a ray from the sun reached out to touch Belle’s tousled hair and made the blue in her eyes sparkle. She told him about the baby that day and their lives had changed forever.

“The fact that they remind me of your mum has little to do with why I like them.” Rumplestiltskin returned to spinning for a moment, then stopped the wheel to turn a knowing frown toward his son. “And what else did you acquire while you were meant to be at your lessons?”

“I went to my lessons, “ Gideon protested.

“For how much of the day?”

Now that his father's full attention was on him, Gideon felt compelled to tell the truth. “Half,’ he grumbled.

“Son, the money I make from dying and spinning pays for that education.” Rumplestiltskin reached for his walking stick and used it to pull himself to his feet. “I wish you wouldn't throw it away so easily.”

“I’m not throwing it away, Papa. Not this time.” Gideon’s eyes lit up as they tracked his father’s movements. “I met another kid on the way to classes today and I learned of a way we can leave this life behind us!”

“By starting a new hobby of thievery?” Rumplestiltskin leaned heavily on his walking stick. He could only blame himself for his son’s behavior, though it’s origin baffled him. He eyed the bag again. “Magical endings always come at a great price.”

“This isn't like your story,” his son insisted, oblivious to the price his parents paid for the magic that kept him a secret. “This is different. If we can help gather these stones we can save the land from a horrible evil. You can be a hero and earn the right to ask for Mother’s hand! No more pining for her at your wheel or daydreaming while you dye the wool. No more secret meetings in the market! You could be married! We could all be together. Forever.”

“And just what do we have to do to earn this great gift?”

Gideon rose from the bed and stepped into the light by the window. With hesitation he began to untie the strings of his leather satchel. “We need to find the rest of these before-”

A terrible crashing erupted from the world beyond, followed by blood-curdling shrieks that grew closer with great rapidity. The noise triggered Gideon’s reflexes, making him draw the string taut and clutch the treasure back against his chest.

“Something’s happening.” Rumplestiltskin rushed to the door and flung it open, took two stumbling steps and then froze. There, directly in front of him, was Belle, golden skirts hiked up as high as she could manage and eyes wide with terror.

“Belle!” The fear that struck him wasn’t for himself, but for the woman he could never live without. “Belle!”

She ran to his side and reached out to help him find balance. “Giant Calixclaws have entered the city from the sea,” she told him. “They’re headed this way.”

“You have to get behind the walls,” Rumple insisted.

Belle shook her head, then turned her gaze to some point down the road. “There’s no time.”

Gideon drew a dagger from his belt and strode forward. “You run, I’ll stay and protect our home.”

“You can’t do that, son. Better to find safety.”

Gideon shook his head. “I can do this. It’s me they want anyway.”

“You?” Belle whimpered. “Gideon… Why?”

He turned, gave her his most triumphant smile, and adjusted his grip on the bag he’d carried from the sea. “I have the Water Stone.”

“Magic,” Rumplestiltskin spat. “Leave that behind and run. Now. Please, son.”

Their boy was about to protest again, but instead he fell silent and tipped his head to one side. The ruckus from down the lane was changing. The sounds of splitting wood and shattering glass had been replaced with something more akin to the crunch of a breaking seashell. “Do you hear that?”

Both parents nodded, but neither could speak. Their attention was on the giant claw reaching up from behind the milner’s home. It rose into the air, then slammed down, splintering the tiny structure into bits that covered the street. The empty space was then replaced by their enemy.

“Giant crabs,” Gideon whispered, swallowing hard. After taking a deep breath he squared his shoulders and stretched himself to his full height. “I’ll have them for dinner.”

“Gideon!” Both parents reached for him, but he slipped away. After just two strides he stood under the creature’s belly and stabbed upward, using all of his strength. He heard a crack and stared up at the orange-pink carapace. The tip of his blade was wedged in the belly of the beast but would go no further. It would also not come out.

Belle tried rushing to Gideon’s side, but Rumplestiltskin held her back, begging her not to leave him. While he pleaded, a cloaked form appeared behind the legs of the Calixclaw. Small and powerful, this newcomer yielded a sword with such precision that each swing sliced a leg of the crab. The beast shrieked again and again, then finally stumbled.

The warrior waved Gideon back, screaming. “Get out of the way!”

He did as he was told, scrambling through his retreat with just enough time to spare. Following one more swing from the sword, their maritime foe thrashed mightily, then collapsed to the ground, dead.

“Gotta aim for the weak points,” the newcomer told him, lowering her cloak’s hood to reveal her wavy, golden hair. She turned to Rumplestiltskin and gave him a wide grin. “A staff fighter, huh? Good. We’ll need all the help we can get. Come on.” With that she took off, expecting the others to follow.

“Who was that?” Belle squinted after the girl, even as her son urged her along.

“Alice,” Gideon said. “And she’ll help me explain everything once you are safe.”

#rumbelle showdown #round one fic #author: Avalanumbres

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anmylica · 2 years

Text

Chapter 8: The Price We Pay

Tagging the Usual Crew: @kmomof4 @xarandomdreamx @zaharadessert @sotangledupinit @snowbellewells @tiganasummertree

Want to be added? Ask me!

Read on AO3

Catch Up Here: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07

Rumple slunk into the library just before 7 o’clock and glanced warily at the shadows in the stacks. He didn’t see the boyish figure of his father anywhere, so he looked around him as he waited. Everything in the library was covered in a fine layer of dust, as if no one had been around to take care of anything. He supposed that the only librarian Storybrooke had ever had would have been the only one worthy enough of being the librarian here. He really missed Belle.

Rumple perused the titles as he waited, but nothing of interest caught his eye. He was beginning to think that this was a waste of his time. Just as he was debating the merits of leaving and still managing to screw over his father, the door opened. In walked Peter Pan in his dark, charcoal gray three piece suit, looking as youthful as ever. Rumple saw through the lie of the facade, that underneath the outward appearance of devil-may-care self-confidence, there was a coward who didn’t want to face what his unfinished business was.

“Ah, Rumple! I’m glad to see you’ve taken my deal.” Pan smiled a cold, unfeeling smile.

“Well how could I pass up information on the whereabouts of my son? You drive a hard bargain, Papa,” Rumple replied, his voice dripping with thinly disguised oil.

“Indeed I do. I hope you won’t be too offended that I’ll need some assurance that you won’t engage in any unsavory business.” Pan shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t trust you son.”

Rumple nodded once. He had expected this when Pan approached him to offer a deal. He had written this “contract” as carefully as he could.

“Of course.” Rumple pulled out a rolled-up parchment that had a red ribbon tied around it. “I trust it will be to your liking?”

Pan rolled out the parchment, reading over it for a moment before smiling widely. Rumple let no outward emotion show on his face, but inside Rumple was relieved. If Pan fell for this ruse, then it would solve several of his problems.

“I do believe we have an accord.” Pan signed the parchment and once the signature was complete, the scroll disappeared.

Rumple waited. Pan shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose you want my part of the bargain now?”

“Indeed. Where is my son?”

Pan shrugged again and shook his head. “I haven’t seen him.”

Rumple sneered. “You lie.”

“Oh, I’m telling you the truth. I haven’t seen him. But word on the street is that Hades has him working some dead-end job that he absolutely hates. I’m sure you’ll see him around if you stay in the Underworld long enough.”

Rumple pointed his finger at Pan. “Our deal was that you would tell me exactly where he is.”

“And I don’t exactly know. I only know what I’ve heard, and that’s that he’s here sentenced to working a dead-end job.”

Rumple scowled. “What dead-end job?”

Pan shrugged. “Who knows? I certainly don’t. I’m not the one in charge of this place, Rumple.” Pan smirked and raised his eyebrows suggestively. “This isn’t Neverland. I can say that I’ve heard he was sentenced to providing help and support to newly departed mothers who have left behind a child. Or multiple children, as the case may be,” Pan added as an afterthought after considering his statement.

Rumple narrowed his eyes as he considered just what his father was up to. Whatever it was, he knew that it only seemed to be nothing more than a game. This time, Rumple was determined that he wouldn't be the one playing.

“And there’s nothing else?” Rumple asked shrewdly.

“There’s nothing else I know.”

Rumple slowly nodded, seeing what Pan wouldn’t reveal outright. “Then I will see you when the next part of our deal comes about.

Pan grinned broadly. “See you around, laddie.” Pan turned and left the library, leaving Rumplestiltskin by himself, with only his thoughts for company.

Peter Pan never failed at getting what he wanted, and what he wanted was to be restored to life. Hades was no fun, always all work and no play. Malcom had given up all that adult nonsense when he became Peter Pan, and he loathed even the thought that this upstart of a God would keep him from being who he wanted to be. He’d show Hades what he thought of the audacity of making him work an adult’s toil. To make sure that he would get what he wanted, he just had to make sure that his son didn’t find Baelfire.

He hadn’t lied when he had told Rumple that he didn’t know where Bae was, exactly. Before this moment, he had only heard a rumor of who the new counselor was to bereaved mothers. He had deliberately waited until this moment to come and see his grandson and lay the foundation to getting what he most desired, and if he had to manipulate Rumple to do it, well, hadn’t he been doing that for all of Rumple’s life? So really, he wasn’t doing anything that he hadn’t already done. None of this was wrong.

He opened the door softly to Bae’s office and peeked inside. Bae was sitting at a desk, writing something in what looked like a file. His appearance was disheveled, his shirt untucked and his hair having that certain kind of greasy wildness it had had for as long as Pan had known the adult version of his grandson. He had a frustrated visage as he wrote and flipped through pages in the file.

“It looks like you could use a break,” Pan said, taking a small sort of twisted pleasure at the jump Bae did. Upon seeing who it was, Bae scowled and turned back to his work.

“Just what are you doing here?” Bae asked, not bothering to acknowledge Pan’s words.

“Can’t I come see my favorite grandson?” Pan countered, not answering the question on purpose. Just because this wasn’t Neverland didn’t mean they couldn’t all play a game, right?

Bae sighed. “You’ve never particularly cared about me before. Why start now?” Pan didn’t acknowledge the truth in this statement.

“Do you ever think about him?” Pan asked. When Bae didn’t answer, he continued. “Henry, I mean,” Pan clarified.

Bae looked confused. “What?”

“I mean what with you abandoning him and his mum. Then dying. It seems to me you would miss him.” Pan shrugged and sauntered over to a bookshelf, picking up a random knick-knack and weighing it in his hand.

Bae glared at Pan as he retorted, “That isn’t yours. And besides, I’ll see Henry again.”

Pan cocked his head to the side. “How do you know?”

Bae shrugged. “Faith.”

Pan was silent for a moment. “What if I told you there was another way?”

Bae looked up through his lashes at Pan. “A way for what?” he asked.

“To see him again. This is the Underworld version of Storybrooke. Everything there is here.”

Bae sighed and put his pen on the desk. “Can’t you ever give a straight answer about anything?”

Pan smirked. “What would be the fun in that?” Bae had no idea, but everything was falling into place. He was doing exactly what Pan wanted. Rumple was going to be in for a treat when he learned of what his father had done to his beloved son.

Bae ignored the question. “Either tell what you know or get out.”

“You’ve grown up to be rather boring.” Pan scowled for a moment. “All work and no play,” he observed. After a moment when Bae didn't respond, Pan sighed. “Have you ever heard of the Wishing Well?” he asked. At Bae’s slight head shake, he explained, “It’s a dormant portal. It’s one of the links between this world and the living, the same as it’s the link between Storybrooke and the Enchanted Forest in the Living Realms. You can communicate with the other side using it.”

Pan paused for a moment, waiting on Bae to catch on to what he was implying. Bae was silent as he took in the information.

Then Pan continued. “You can send him a message. Just drop it into the well and it’ll make its way to him.” Pan turned to leave, but turned back as if he had forgotten something. “And when you do, give this to him from me.” Pan tossed Bae a bottle with a rolled up message inside. Bae only just caught it in his hands, surprised by the action the pseudo-boy had taken. “And tell him I said ‘No hard feelings,‘ will you?”

Pan left the office, closing the door behind him and smirking as he thought about the trap he had just laid for his grandson. Let Rumple double cross him now.

“Answer me, now! Where is he?! How did you come to find him?” Emma demanded, not allowing herself to pause for even a breath.

Meg nodded, a little frightened by how forceful Emma was being. “He’s down in Hades’ dungeon. I’m afraid he’s getting the ‘welcoming treatment.’”

“‘Welcoming treatment’?” David echoed. “What does that mean?”

Milah cleared her throat. “It’s what happens to all newly arrived souls. He prepares them for life down here. Usually through some sort of mental or emotional torture for the wrongs you committed while living, as a bit of a preview for what awaits you if you try to move on without resolving your unfinished business. And then he assigns you a job to do while you wait in a sort of purgatory state.”

Meg nodded in agreement. “The thing is, though, that you can never resolve your unfinished business. Most people don’t even know what theirs is. It would take a special kind of magic to be able to point the people of the Underworld towards knowing it.”

Emma blinked for a moment as the oddity of those words struck her, but she had a more pressing question. “Can you come here without unfinished business?”

Milah shrugged. “I’ve never known anyone to be here without unfinished business. I think those people just usually move straight on to Elysiam.”

Emma blinked and then turned to Meg, trying to put aside the niggle of doubt in her mind at what could possibly be Killian’s unfinished business. She very carefully tried not to look at the brunette who had been Killian’s first love and the woman whose death he had cheated time in order to avenge. “So he’s roughing him up a bit or what?”

“I’m afraid what he’s doing to him is worse than that. It’s not safe for you out in the open,” Meg grimaced in apology.

Although it felt as if her heart was being crushed anew at Meg’s words, Emma knew she had to put it to the side for the moment and take care of the immediate needs, which was finding someplace safe for them to regroup and come up with a different plan. She nodded in agreement and looked at everyone. “How safe is the loft?” she finally addressed her parents.

Snow’s face fell and David took her into his arms. He shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We encountered something, we don’t know what, and it…” David trailed off. “I just don’t think the loft is safe for us to use right now.”

Emma’s brow furrowed at the vibe she was picking up off her parents, but she decided to let it slide for the moment. “Alright. Regina?”

Regina shook her head. “I don’t trust that my home is open for us. It’s technically the mayor’s residence, and I don’t know who the mayor is down here.”

Emma nodded her head again. “Then I guess there’s only one true option for us.” With a wave of her hand, the group all disappeared in a haze of thick gray smoke, reappearing just outside of the Underworld replica of her Storybrooke Victorian. Milah and Meg gaped at her, shaken by their sudden relocation by magic. The rest of the group didn’t look as if they had noticed.

They all stared up at the front door, no one moving or saying anything.

“Do you reckon it’s safe?” Robin ventured to ask, hesitating like all the others after everything that had happened in the Land of the Dead thus far.

Emma took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “Only one way to find out, I suppose.” She climbed the steps slowly, the rest following her lead, and she opened the door and stepped slowly inside, observing the front rooms for anything dangerous.

Her living room was in disarray. Her old crib from the castle in the Enchanted Forest and the unicorn mobile took up a large portion of the room, and every inch of the floor was covered in the toys that she had seen from visiting her parent’s castle in her first visit to their kingdom. Emma heaved a sigh. She knew what this was about. She moved to the center of the room and folded her arms, glancing around sadly as the others filed in, staring at the scene before them as well.

“What’s all of this?” Milah asked, a confused look on her face.

“This stuff was in my room in the castle in the Enchanted Forest. It was part of the life I was supposed to have had before the Dark Curse was cast.” Emma picked up a stuffed pirate toy and gave a soft, pained smile.

“Castle? Dark Curse?” Milah echoed.

Emma nodded, but said no more.

“I can fill you in later, Grandma,” Henry added easily, taking the changing situation in stride as only Henry could. Milah looked at him wide-eyed. “You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?” Milah shook her head in amazement.

Regina cast a detection spell over the house, waiting for the red light to reveal any other people that might be there, too. Nothing happened; the house was empty.

“It looks like we’re safe here for now,” Regina announced. Everyone began shuffling the toys and baby furniture around, making room for them all to sit. The couches were draped in canvas cloths to keep the dust off, and they removed those as well.

Emma moved deeper into the living room to grab a sheet off the back of a chair, but she stopped short of reaching it, a strange look on her face. She felt a tugging pull at her navel, heard a strange tinkling sound, and she cocked her head to try and detect it better. Everyone else stopped what they were doing to stare at her worriedly, for no one else knew what was happening, but she didn’t notice. She listened harder. Not a sound could be heard except for the tinkling. It almost reminded her of bells or possibly even wind chimes.

Emma took a step forward, instinct propelling her to move, though she didn’t know where she was going. She couldn’t explain this sensation. It felt like her heart was being pulled out of her chest by some invisible hand, but it didn’t hurt. It didn’t feel like when Cora had tried to take it; that had felt as if she were in the throes of experiencing a heart attack, the horrible feeling stopping only when her magic had rebuffed Cora’s attempts. No, she felt as if her heart was trying to return to a place… a place almost like home…

Lost in her trance as she was, she didn’t realize where she was going until she stopped just in front of her basement door, her hand outstretched to open it. She hesitated, some sixth sense ringing her alarm bells in her head as she beheld the door, and she stood indecisively in front of it. What was down there that was pulling at her so?

“Emma?” Snow called, worried for her daughter. Emma has just gotten rid of the Darkness, and she feared that her daughter was possibly experiencing some lingering effect that the Darkness might have left on her soul.

Emma visibly jumped at hearing her mother’s voice, blinking rapidly. She stared at the door a moment more, but the tugging sensation had ceased and the pealing bells had subsided. She shook her head as if to rid it of her thoughts and turned away from the basement door.

“Yeah, let’s do this. Let’s figure out what we’re going to do next!” Emma moved to sit in the chair she had just uncovered, looking at everyone else nervously. She hoped no one asked her about what had just happened; she didn’t know if it even made any sense to herself.

“Are you sure you want us to help? I don’t want to get in your way or make you feel like I don’t want to help you,” Snow responded softly, a concerned look on her face.

Emma looked at her mom confusedly. “What do you mean?”

Snow swallowed and David grasped his wife’s hand as he realized what Snow’s concern was about. “When we were at the loft, you came to me and told me you were better off without us, that we were holding you back, to put it mildly. I just don’t want you to feel that way,” Snow assured her. Everyone just looked at her in even more concern.

“Oh, Mom, of course I don’t feel that way!” Emma exclaimed, her face falling in misery and sympathy.

Snow sniffed and smiled a watery smile. “Well, I just wanted to be sure.”

Henry piped up, “Wait, you said she came to you at the loft? That’s impossible. Mom and I were together the whole time!”

“I think it might have been whatever magic is at play here,” David replied. He proceeded to tell him what Mary Margaret had experienced. Once David was finished, Emma crossed the room to where her parents were.

“Mom, I promise, I don’t feel that way at all.” Emma hugged her mother tightly, and Snow returned it with equal fervor. “And I promise that my little brother doesn’t feel that way either. He has no reason to.” Snow nodded her head, the tears that had gathered in her eyes falling down her cheeks in relief. Emma and Snow shared smiles, and Emma stood and faced Regina and Robin. “So what happened with you guys? Did you find anything important?”

“I saw my parents in a magical fire in my office. They looked like they were being tortured by Hades,” Regina sniffed. “But we’ll get back to that in a moment. We saw Roland die.”

Emma whipped her head to stare at Regina. “You saw Roland die? How? When?”

Snow and David started, and then they exchanged looks of disbelief and horror. Milah’s brow furrowed, but she didn’t say anything otherwise. She crossed her arms and waited; Meg looked between them all, confused.

“It was Hades,” Robin said. “He came to us after Roland ran into a fire. Said that was my punishment for coming here.”

Emma frowned. “Did he say how Roland got here?”

“No, just that his death was our price,” Regina answered.

“He did say something about wanting us to lose hope,” Robin added.

Emma furrowed her brow and bit her lip. Something didn’t feel right about this situation. There was too much magic in the air around them; she could feel it tingling and prickling her skin. It felt eerily similar to how the Darkness felt when she had been the Dark One, only more primordial and unearthly. And more unyielding.

Meg visibly hesitated. “Well, that’s exactly what he wants.”

Everyone’s eyes turned to stare at her.

“Come again?” Emma asked. “What does who want?”

Meg swallowed. “Hades. He wants everyone to be hopeless. That’s why he’s going after all of you like this.”

David’s brows furrowed in concern. “Do you have any idea why?”

Meg shrugged. “I don’t know why he would want that now. The last time I faced him, it was with my True Love. We barely defeated him the last time, but we died in the process.”

“Was he as horrible then as he is now?” David asked sardonically as he crossed his arms.

Meg smiled a little. “He’s actually gotten worse.”

“Well, then we try to lay low,” Emma said after a moment. “We need to have somewhere safe established. Did you guys get to actually check the loft out, or did Hades keep you from it?” she asked her parents.

David nodded. “I went in there and retrieved Mary Margaret’s bow and quiver. I got my sword too. There was no sign of Hook.”

Emma nodded, half in acknowledgement and half in disappointment. “We just keep looking. For now,” she continued, facing Robin and Regina as Snow, David, and Henry moved to take off the sheets of canvas that were draped all over the furniture in the living space of her house. “Are you sure that Roland is dead?”

Robin sneered, “I saw my son burn with my own eyes! Just what are you trying to insinuate here?”

“Nothing!” Emma exclaimed, holding up her hands. “I’m just trying to figure out what we’re dealing with!”

“Well, there wasn’t anything I could do! I couldn’t get to him fast enough to stop it! He was everything to me, and now he’s gone!” Robin fell silent as heavy, bereaved sobs wracked his body. Regina hugged him, trying to offer any bit of comfort she could.

Emma grimaced in sympathy, but she wasn’t deterred from thinking that something was amiss in this whole scenario. She wondered if she could use the mirror magic and maybe check in on how things were back in Storybrooke. Perhaps she could check just to make sure Roland really was gone? She wandered over to an elaborately carved full-length mirror that was shrouded by the sheet. She pulled it off, concentrated, and waved her hand. Storybrooke appeared within the glass.

By now, she had the attention of everyone. She ignored them and used her magic to try and locate Roland. She finally found him through a mirror in the original Granny’s, and everyone gasped. Robin stood from where he had collapsed to the floor and moved to the mirror, standing so close his nose nearly touched the glass. Roland was there with Little John and a couple of others within the band of Merry Men, slurping a milkshake and smiling as Little John spoke to him. He looked happy and healthy (and very much alive).

“How is this possible?” breathed Robin. “I watched him die; I saw his ashes!”

Emma stepped back a bit from the mirror, making sure to keep the connection stable for the father to look his fill. She said grimly, “I think we need to be wary of how things seem down here. And we should be on our guard in regards to Hades and what he wants to present as real to us.”

Meg stood suddenly. “I should be going. I’m not sure how much longer it will be before the demons down here sense that I’m out of the Labyrinth. I don’t want to put you in any more danger.”

Emma frowned. “Are you sure we can’t do anything more to help you?”

Meg smiled. “It’s fine. I’ve been down here for eons; what’s a few more, anyway? Just… Can you do something for me?”

“Anything,” Emma responded.

“If you happen to find Hercules, tell him I love him? And that I miss him terribly?” Meg smiled a sad smile.

Mary Margaret gasped when she heard the name, but the only one who paid her any attention was David, who sent her a questioning look. Mary Margaret shook her head slightly, and David accepted it. He knew his wife would tell him later.

“Of course,” Emma replied. “But how do you know he’s still here, that he hasn’t moved on?”

Meg shook her head. “The Underworld doesn’t work that way. You can only move on once you’ve completed your unfinished business. Reuniting is our unfinished business. He can’t move on without me, and I can’t move on without him. That’s what it means to be True Love down here.”

Emma nodded understandingly. “Then don’t let us keep you. Good luck getting back.”

Meg reached out to take Emma’s hand into her own, though Emma hadn’t offered it, and clasped it firmly. “Thanks.” With that, Meg walked out of the apartment, intent on heading back to the Labyrinth and her cell within the dungeons. For the first time in a long time, Meg had a funny feeling in her chest. It felt an awful lot like hope.

Killian’s voice cracked as he cried out once more, the pain of the lash he was at the end of becoming almost repetitive. His wounds were bleeding freely, the blood turning that brownish black that it always did in the places where it was beginning to dry to his clothing and skin. Hades had been at this for so long that Killian had lost count of the time that had passed since he was dragged back to Hades’ throne room. His only thought now was about whether or not Meg had overcome her fear and reluctance at leaving her cell to try and deliver his message. He hoped that Emma got it.

He lay trembling against the pillar he had been chained to, his body threatening to give out at any moment. He lapsed in and out of consciousness and was unable to track what Hades was doing. Hades had his hook, and he had used it on Killian in between lashes, carving lines of shallow cuts in a cross-cross pattern that went perpendicular to the lash marks. Killian’s jacket was nearly torn to shreds in parts, offering no protection against Hades’ sadistic cruelty.

“You just have to resist me, don’t you?” Hades drawled as he took a break, looking at the hook, the surface marred by the blood stains covering nearly every part of the metal. “You’ve brought all of this onto yourself. I hope you’re satisfied.”

Killian’s head swayed slightly as he tried to focus on Hades, fighting against losing consciousness once more. He was determined to stay awake as long as he could. “I’ll be satisfied when it’s you on the receiving end of my hook,” Killian grunted out, the effort of retaliating against the god costing him what little bit of energy he had. He slid further down the brick pillar an inch or two, nearly lying prone on the floor.

Hades laughed. “Considering I have your hook, I think it’ll be you on the other end of it. But I have better uses for your handy appendage.” Hades held the hook in the palm of his hand and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. “I do hope your Savior loves gifts.” Hades smiled a sadistic, twisted grin and his hair erupted into blue flames, twisting his expression even further.

Rumplestiltskin didn’t like making any sort of deal with his father, but he knew that he had to in order to make sure Pan’s plans didn’t come to fruition. It vexed him that his father twisted the information of Bae’s whereabouts, but he didn’t need Peter Pan to find Baelfire. Not when he knew where Emma Swan was in this hellhole.

Resolved to coercing her to help him find his son, he poofed out of the library and back into his shop with a wave of his hand. Before he enlisted her help, he had to have something of value to offer her. He needed to nail down the whereabouts of the pirate (or at least determine the most likely location Killian Jones was being kept). It wasn’t good to go into a situation without any sort of leverage, and if there was anything Rumplestiltskin was good at, it was acquiring leverage.

Many of the magical objects he had in his possession were back in the Land of the Living, and thus useless, but he might still be able to find something to help him get a hold of Jones’ location. If only he had something of the pirate’s that he could use for a locator spell…

Rumple shuffled through some of the books that were there on the magical arts, varying shades of darkness inscribed within their pages. He finally pulled one off the shelf that he hadn’t seen before. He opened it to find it was written mostly in Greek. While he had made it a point to study all the most common languages in which spells were written during his centuries of life, Greek was one of those that he had spent very little time on. He didn’t know how to read most of it.

Feeling a small sense of frustration, he flipped through a few pages, peering disinterestedly at some of the illustrations that appeared. It seemed like this was nothing but another dead end. He flipped to one last page and moved to close the book when an illustration caught his eye. It was of a long woven tapestry hanging in a hall. Smirking, he realized just what he was looking at. Though it wasn’t going to provide him with leverage, he might be able to use it to convince Emma to help him anyway. After all, they had to get out of this hell hole once they had the pirate back. This bit of information would help them be able to do that. Waving his hand again, he disappeared in a puff of smoke to try and convince Emma Swan that they each had something to offer the other.

#The Fields of Asphodel #once upon a time #captain swan #captain hook #killian jones #emma swan #ouat #anmylica writes #Csff #season 5 fix it #whumptober 2022 #no 1 #A little out of the ordinary #Adverse effects

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