Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The wretched heroes came in the night. His family was sleeping peacefully in the Dark Castle, when Rumplestiltskin got a call from King David. He didn’t want to answer, but it was never wise to ignore a summoning from a king; kings were rich and powerful, and there was always something interesting to be gained from dealing with royals. Plus the man was outside. It must be important for King David to come to him, rather than just request his presence.

Oh, if only Rumplestiltskin had listened to his instinct.

Once he allowed the king entrance into his castle, David told him about a prophecy, according to which his daughter, Princess Emma, would be killed by a hooded figure in a few years. Fate and prophecies were tricky business, and Rumplestiltskin told the king as much. He explained how even seers could be wrong, how magic could muddle the visions, and how the future could unwind in unexpected ways. Rumplestiltskin knew that better than most, since the prophecy on how he was supposed to find Baelfire hadn’t played out; the circumstances that had led to their reunion had been completely different from what had been predicted. Of course, he didn’t tell the king about his personal experience, but he tired to make his point clear.

Suddenly, David grabbed his arm and slapped an anti-magic cuff on his wrist. The pain of having all of his magic suddenly constricted was almost unbearable, and Rumplestiltskin doubled over in pain. The king took advantage of that, and tied his arms behind his back. 

“What is this all about?” Rumplestiltskin asked, trying to keep the panic from his voice. 

He knew that, with his magic restricted, most of the protections he’d put on his home were gone, and all of his worst fears came to life as he saw David’s soldiers enter the castle, and hordes of fairies approach the windows. 

“The prophecy. We know who the hooded figure is: your son. Your son is destined to kill my daughter, and I won’t let that happen,” David said.

“No, my son… you CAN’T!” Rumplestiltskin screamed, hopelessly fighting against his bonds.

He didn’t even care of which of his sons David was speaking; he simply couldn’t let him hurt them. The once meek shepherd looked down at Rumplestiltskin without an ounce of mercy.

“I can, and I will. My daughter won’t die because of your cursed offspring.”

Rumplestiltskin felt his blood turn cold as he heard screams coming from upstairs. He started shouting as well, calling for his wife and sons, not daring to ask what was being done to them. He tried to run upstairs, but the king’s soldiers stopped him, tying him up even tighter. He fought harder than he’d ever done, but without magic he had no chance against them. He broke down in tears, and he would have crashed to the ground if the soldiers keeping him still hadn’t had such a firm hold on him.

Eventually, the fairies and the guards that had gone upstairs came back, carrying the rest of his family. Rumplestiltskin thanked every deity he’d ever heard of for the fact that they were still alive, but rage roared in his chest at the sight of his wife’s bloodied face. She must have fought even harder than he did, and had had been beaten because of it. He’d make them pay for this, he’d make them all pay for this.

“King David. When I saw the crests on your soldiers’ armor I couldn’t believe it, but it’s really you. You used to be known as the merciful king, but I suppose you can’t truly know what’s in a person’s heart until they come to kidnap you,” Belle said, her voice dripping with disgust.

“Lady Belle, believe me, this doesn’t make me happy, but I have to protect my daughter, and your family is too much of a danger to her,” he replied.

“At least let our children go. They’ve never hurt anyone, you can’t really consider them a threat,” Belle pleaded, setting her pride and rage aside to try and protect her sons. 

“No, Belle, I won’t abandon you!” Bae shouted, and the guard holding him pulled hard on his hair to keep him in place. The boy whimpered in pain, and both Belle and Rumplestiltskin screamed his name.

“I’m afraid I can’t. You see, your son Gideon is fated to kill my daughter, and I’m not willing to take any risks,” David explained.

“Gideon? But he’s only seven, he’s nothing but a child, you can’t hurt him, please,” Belle begged again, terror overcoming her rage.

Gideon was probably crying too hard to hear what they were saying, the anti-magic cuff hurting him like it had hurt Rumple at first, and his parents’ hearts ached with the need to console him, to protect him, to hold him in their arms and never let go.

“If you all follow our orders, no one will get hurt. You will be brought to your prisons, and you’ll stay there for as long as we deem necessary,” the king told them.

Then he turned around, to face the Blue Fairy. 

“Blue, go ahead,” he instructed. 

The damned gnat waved her wand, and Rumplestiltskin felt his eyelids begin to close against his will. He tried to fight her spell, but to no avail. After a few seconds, everything went dark, and he fell into unconsciousness. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed since they’d been captured. Once he’d woken up in his cell, he’d spent every waking moment trying to find a way out. It wasn’t an easy task: he still had the anti-magic cuff on his wrist, the bars of his prison were imbued with fairy magic, and the corridors leading to the damp cave where his cell was located were always patrolled by guards. 

The worst part, however, was the effect the Dark One’s magic was having on his psyche. Unable to be let out, all of the Darkness he bore had been trapped in his brain, gradually muddling it with the memories of the dozens of Dark Ones before him. Slowly but inevitably, he was losing his sanity. 

Gideon, Bae, Belle. I must save them. I need to find a way out and save them. Queen Snow and King David will pay. I’ll gut them in front of their court and put their heads on my castle walls. NO. Belle wouldn’t like it. Putting their heads on spikes would be giving into darkness, and my family doesn’t like darkness. My family is light. But there’s only darkness here, no light, no light… Gideon, Bae, Belle. I must save them. They’re trapped because of me. They’re suffering because of me. They could be already dead, and it would be because of me. Stupid, weak Rumple. Belle wanted to break the curse, but you didn’t let her. No, I just wanted to wait until the boys were older and the castle safer. Stupid, cowardly Rumple. You have lost everything once again, and there will be no coming back from this. I know, I know. It’s all your fault. All you have left now is darkness, sweet darkness, turning your heart to coal so that it won’t be able to feel, so that the pain will fade. Darkness never leaves you alone.

I know, I know. 

I like the darkness.

Rumplestiltskin giggled in his dungeon, a sound as unsettling as nails on a blackboard, sending shivers down his captors’ spines.

Belle knew exactly how much time had passed. She’d make a tally mark on her cell’s wall for every day, and the count had just reached seventy. Seventy days without her family. Seventy days since her sons had been ripped from her arms and sent who knows where, assuming that they were still alive. She had to believe they were still alive. She would have let herself die if she didn’t have at least the hope of being able to save them one day.

Seventy days. Seventy days all identical to one other, all spent trying to find a way out and finding none. 

She knew immediately when something wasn’t as it should have been, when the door to her cell opened at an unusual time. 

“Who the hell are you?” she shouted immediately, before the visitor stepped into the light and was revealed to be… “Gaston?”

“Yes, Belle, it’s really me,” he said, flashing her a bright smile.

The years had changed him, but his ability to make her feel ill at ease with his mere presence had remained unaltered. She could see in his eyes that he was still the same self-centered man she’d once known; he wasn’t here for her, he was here to accomplish another task he could pride himself for, to make himself look better in front of his fellow lords.

“And I brought you a little present,” he added, as if they were at a ball and he was offering her some expensive trinket. 

He gestured to a servant that was waiting outside the cell, and the man came forward with a tray loaded with food. Not the tasteless gruel and stale bread they’d been feeding her; actual food, that filled her prison with a wonderful scent and made her mouth water. She got to her feet to take the tray from the servant’s hands, but she couldn't take more than a few steps before the chains locked around her wrists and ankles stopped her. All things considered, it was better that way: the tray was so heavy that she wouldn’t have managed to carry it across the whole cell. 

“What are you here for, Gaston?” she asked, once the tray was resting securely on her cot. 

The sight of food had only managed to distract her for a moment, and she wanted to understand what was going on before she even touched it. 

“To help you, of course,” he replied.

“How did you know I was here? Why did the guards let you in?” she asked. 

“Well, because I’m a lord at the service of Their Royal Highnesses King David and Queen Snow White,” he said proudly.

“What? Your lands aren’t part of their kingdom,” she blurted out in confusion.

“They weren’t but, Belle, many things have changed since you left the civilized world to live with your…” he waved his hand, obviously trying to find the right term to express his disgust for Rumplestiltskin without upsetting her too much.

“With my husband, Gaston. He’s my husband,” she completed for him, regretting his arrival even more with every second that passed.

“Yes, I guess he is. As I was saying, my lands have been part of their kingdom for years now, I have married a girl from one of their most trusted noble families, and I’m one of their most loyal knights. That’s why I thought I could use my influence to help you,” he explained.

Despite his show about wanting to help her, he wasn’t convincing in the slightest, and Belle eyed him like a venomous snake.

“Then get me out of here, bring me to my family, and tell your precious royals to end this madness once and for all,” she dared him. 

He snorted at her naivety. “I’m afraid I can’t do that. Your son is fated to kill the princess, and it’s my sworn duty to protect her. You, however, are a different matter. You were a noblewoman once, Belle. You have no magic, you are not directly related to the prophecy, you are not a real danger. If you show the intention to change your ways, if you’re willing to cooperate, I could probably convince their highnesses to send you into confinement in your father’s castle.”

A caustic response was already on the tip of Belle’s tongue, but when Maurice was nominated her worry for him became more important. “My father? How is he? Does he know what’s happened to his daughter and grandson?” she inquired anxiously.

“He’s fine, tired by the years and the events, but fine. I informed him of your current predicament, and under my suggestion he has already sent a plea to have you transferred to his castle.”

“They’ll never listen to it. They know that once in my father’s castle, I’d have many more chances to escape,” she replied, trying to hide the hurt she felt at the idea that her own father wasn’t ready to do anything more than send requests of mercy to try and save his family.

“No, you wouldn’t. Soldiers from this kingdom would be sent to guard you, and if you ran away you father’s duchy would be wiped out by our army,” Gaston replied, apparently indifferent to the horrors he was suggesting.

Belle’s mouth gaped open in shock. “Your precious royals are blackmailing him, that’s what they’re doing. They’re threatening to kill thousands of innocent people if my father so much as tries to help his family. And you, you of all people are helping them do that.”

That’s why her father wasn’t trying anything bolder than a plea for mercy. She felt sick.

“Well, don’t act so surprised, you knew what you were getting yourself into when you left a life of luxury and balls to marry the Dark One. You brought this on yourself. None of this would have happened if you’d stayed amongst the normal people, rather than bed that monster and bear his demonic spawn!”

If Gaston had any more hateful words to spat at her, he wasn’t able to utter them, because Belle threw the boiling stew he’d brought her at his face.

“GET OUT!” she screamed as Gaston spluttered and swore. “Get out of here, you with your hypocrisies and your lies. I’d rather rot here than submit to your blackmail; my honor is worth more than the gilded cage you’re offering me.”

She kept throwing at him every single piece of food she had received from him. Then, after tossing the empty tray to the ground, she got up, standing as tall as her minute stature allowed her, walking as close to him as she could with the chains still locked. “You think yourself better than me, better than my family, but one hair on my son’s head is worth more than you. You disgust me, and if you ever talk like that about my family ever again, I’ll show you how dangerous I can become,” she said, with fire in her eyes. 

He didn’t answer, but there was something cruel and wild in his gaze, and without any warning he raised his hand, slapping her so hard that she fell to the floor. By the time her pain had faded enough to think clearly again, Gaston had already spat on her and left the room.

Belle crawled back to her cot, fighting to hold back her tears until she could be sure that Gaston was really gone. The room was still filled with the scent of the food she hadn’t wanted to taste, and her stomach grumbled, making Belle feel even more clearly her disappointment and despair.

Seventy days. Seventy days since the last time she’d felt happiness. 

“Haven’t you heard what Blue said? He’s so powerful that from time to time the cuff is not enough to hold back his magic. The same enchantments are enough to contain the Dark One, yet can’t quite stop a seven year old child. No-one understands how that can possibly be. The fairies have to reinforce the spells on his cage every week. David, we need to do something,” Snow White whispered hastily.

She glanced at the Dark One’s son, the one destined to kill her daughter, who screamed and cried in his cage at the other end of the corridor.

“What do you want me to do, Snow? He’s just a child,” the king replied, not liking the implication behind his wife’s words.

“He won’t be a child forever, and this situation isn’t going to improve with time. Growing up he’ll only get stronger and angrier,” she insisted.

“Well, maybe he will be because he’ll grow up in a prison, separated from his family, knowing that we are responsible for it,” David hissed, growing more exasperated with every passing second.

True, he’d been the one to physically capture the Dark One’s family. Back then he’d done it with the firm belief that he was doing the right thing, that he was freeing the world from some of its worst monsters. Now, however, he wasn’t so sure of that anymore. He hadn’t seen Lady Belle, Rumplestiltskin or his other son since the day of their capture, but he had checked on the child of the prophecy with Snow once before. 

He didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but what he’d found that day had broken his heart. The boy had been huddled in a corner of his damp, cold prison, sleeping restlessly and calling out for his family in his sleep. With his clothes torn and his hair dirty and ruffled, he hadn’t looked at all like a threat, just like a small child who had the right to be with his parents. Since then, David hadn’t been able to feel proud of what he’d done anymore. 

“That’s why I say we should consider taking care of the matter now, before it’s too late. I don’t feel safe knowing that he’s here in our kingdom. I hoped that Blue would take him to the Fairy realm, but unlike us she was clever enough to realize that it’s not wise to have your worst and most powerful enemies trapped close to your home. That’s why she only took the other boy, and only after much insistence on our side,” his wife insisted.

“Snow, please, let’s just go,” he begged, giving up any hope of making her see his reasons. “This story has already caused too much tension within our family. I don’t want to have any more burdens on my conscience,” he sighed.

At the other end of the corridor, Gideon was screaming at the top of his tiny lungs. 

“Where is my mama? Where is my papa?” he shouted, grabbing furiously at the bars of his prison. “What did you do to them? What did you do to Bae?” he screamed again, but the two hooded figures at the end of the corridor didn’t answer.

He knew who they were. They’d already come to see him once, wearing the same cloaks, and back then he’d seen a glimpse of their faces. The taller one was the man that had taken him, King David, and if he was King David the other one had to be Snow White. He’d heard his parents talk about them, but he’d never seen them before. He knew that his papa once made deals with them, but they must have stopped dealing with him many years ago.

He screamed again, trying to gain their attention, trying to get an answer, any answer. Why were they keeping him prisoner? Why did they hate his family? He missed his papa’s funny faces, he missed the way his brother ruffled his hair when they played, and most of all he missed his mom’s warm arms. He was never warm here. Here it was dark and cold and damp, and the soggy things they gave him to eat tasted horrible. He wanted his mom’s teacakes, he wanted to sit with his papa at the spinning wheel in the warmth of the great hall, watching fascinated as his father turned straw into gold and promised that, one day, he’d teach him how to do just that.

He started crying, both in anger and sadness. He had always tried to be brave, to show his family that he wasn’t afraid of anything, not even of papa’s spider-infested dungeons, where he’d once gone to show his brother that he wasn’t a scared little kid. Now, however, he was more scared than he’d ever been. He just wanted his parents to come and take him away, to wrap him up in his favorite blanket and let him sleep in their bed, just like they did when he had bad dreams. He wanted his family. 

Snow White looked at the crying boy across the corridor, and sighed heavily. “Fine, let’s go. I only hope you won’t have your daughter’s life on your conscience because of this,” she said, turning around.

David followed her without another word, haunted by the sound of the boy’s sobs echoing through the cave.

They were leaving, Gideon realized. They hadn’t even looked at him, and now they were leaving. He wouldn’t get any answers, not even today. No one had talked to him since he’d been brought here. He screamed and cried, but it was like no one could hear him. He was alone.

Suddenly his fear, his sadness, his loneliness, all turned into rage, rage directed at the two hooded figures that had just left. They were evil, eviler than any of the villains his papa had warned him about, and they’d hurt his family. He remembered the pain on his mom’s face when the soldiers had hit her, he remembered his brother’s screams, he remembered the tears in his papa’s eyes. The were evil, and for every villain like them there had to be a hero, he knew that much from his mama’s stories. He wanted to be that hero; he had magic, and if only he’d been able to use it he would have escaped this place, defeated the villains and saved his family. 

He tried to focus, as he’d already tried doing so many times, attempting to use his magic to turn the bars into jelly. Changing an object’s consistence was always simpler than making it disappear, his papa had taught him that much. His papa had said that he was very powerful, and that he needed to start learning soon if he wanted to control his powers. He wanted to find his papa and go on with their lessons.

He could feel the well-known tingling in his hands, his palms growing hotter against the bars, and for a moment he almost believed he would make it. Then his left wrist started hurting like it had been set on fire, blocking his spell, and he fell to the floor, screaming in pain. 

He started crying again. He would never get out of here, he wasn’t good enough. His papa would have known how to break free; his papa was strong and clever, and he knew more things than anyone. 

But his papa wasn’t there with him. 

Baelfire was beside himself with worry; not for himself, but for his family. Since he’d been captured, the fairies that guarded him hadn’t been particularly nasty to him. Sure, the Blue Fairy eyed him with a disgust he didn’t comprehend, but the others pretty much ignored him, and that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing: it left him time to think. His cage wasn’t too bad either; it was mostly made of enchanted reeds, giving him plenty of holes from which he could observe the world around him. 

He knew he was in the fairy realm; he’d already seen it while he was on the run from Neverland with Tinkerbell, and there was no mistaking it. Speaking of Tinkerbell, he kept hoping to see her one day. Having her help would give him his best chance to escape, but so far none of the fairies saddled with guarding or feeding duty had glowed with her trade-mark emerald green. 

With or without Tinkerbell, he wouldn’t give up. It might take him more time, but he would find a way to escape anyway. His brother had done nothing to deserve all of this, and it was almost shocking when, one night, Baelfire realized that now he probably knew how his father had felt all those years ago, when he was afraid his son would be drafted at any given moment. Now Baelfire knew what it felt like when someone who was more powerful than you decided to put someone you cared about in danger, someone who was young and helpless and in need of protection. He’d escape and go and find his brother, if it was the last thing he did.

He was a restless sleeper. He’d lost the ability to sleep peacefully on Neverland, where sleeping too heavily could mean waking up in Pan’s camp. The past three years spent at the Dark Castle had helped him regain a regular sleep schedule, but since the soldiers had come to take them in the night he’d been unable to get more than a few hours of troubled sleep at a time. 

That night, however, it wasn’t a nightmare that woke him up: there was something floating in front of his closed eyes, something that was small, glowing, and maybe… green? He bolted awake in a instant, blinking his eyes furiously to focus on the tiny fairy that was flying a few inches away from his face.

Tinkerbell gestured at him to stay silent, then waved her tiny wand, and Baelfire felt his cage click open. He wordlessly followed his old friend out of the clearing where his cage had been located, his mind buzzing with questions he hoped she could answer. 

Tinkerbell stopped as soon as they were well-hidden amongst the trees. She waved her wand again, and a portal started forming on the ground in front of them. The bright rainbow vortex wasn’t exactly sneaky, and Baelfire could hear the fairies scream in alarm, but it was already too late. He barely had the time to feel Tink’s now full-size hand wrap around his arm, before she pulled him into the portal along with her. In a moment, they were gone.

He landed gracelessly on the forest’s floor, and briefly thought that portals were definitely his least favorite thing ever. Before he could even get back on his feet, Tink was already pulling him into a bone-crushing hug.

“I’m so sorry it took me so long. Blue still doesn’t trust me, so I wasn’t given any guarding duty. I had to study the situation from afar and plan everything in detail, or I would have only made things worse,” she explained in a rush.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s already a miracle that you managed to break me out, you really don’t have to worry about the timing,” he reassured her.

He was almost surprised by the relief he felt hugging her. For over two months he’d been completely isolated, and now Tink, one of his oldest friends, was finally making him feel protected and cherished. 

“Well, you’ve surely grown a lot since the last time I saw you, haven’t you?” she said when she pulled back from the hug.

She was right. Mentally, Baelfire had been forced to grow up a lot to survive on Neverland, but even though he had technically been born over two hundred years before, this was the first time Tink could see him more as an adult than as a boy. Physically he was almost eighteen now, and while his father insisted that he still pouted like a child whenever Gideon stole food from his plate, Baelfire knew that he already looked like a man. 

“I’m no longer a lost boy, am I? Even though I have to admit I have no idea where we are,” he quipped, smiling despite everything. 

“We’re at the edge of the Enchanted Forest, and we should start moving. I could only open a portal to this realm, but we can’t stay here. They’ll be searching for us like crazy, and I really don’t want to know what would happen if they caught us,” Tink explained, reminding them of the dangerous predicament they were in.

She bolted past him, determined to put as much distance between them and their chasers as possible, but Baelfire stopped her immediately, grabbing her by the arm. 

“What do you mean? I’m not leaving! My family is still trapped somewhere, and I will go and rescue them!” he vowed, more determined than Tink had ever seen him.

She sighed, trying to find the right words to make him see reason.

“Baelfire, it was already a miracle that I managed to save you, and you were probably the least guarded of your family. Blue told Snow and David that you were born before your father became the Dark One, hence you have no powers. Not to mention the fact that you’ve only been in the Dark Castle for a few years; nobody really associates you with the Dark One, in their eyes you’re not a real threat. The same can’t be said for the rest of your family. You know Belle caused quite a scandal a few years ago, when she was freed from Regina’s tower and chose to go back to Rumplestiltskin. You might not know this, but since then most people have been calling her the Dark Lady. She’s frowned upon, looked at with mistrust and contempt, and I’m sure that Snow and David saw her as a bigger threat than you could possibly be. Your father is the Dark One himself, they’re probably guarding him with the most powerful magic available. As for your brother, he is both the son of the Dark One and the product of True Love, not to mention the boy from the prophecy: every fairy and soldier of the realm is probably guarding him, assuming that he’s even still alive-”

“Don’t you even suggest that. Please, don’t,” Baelfire interrupted her.

Tinkerbell had the decency to look ashamed. “Right, I’m sorry. I mean that getting to him would basically be a suicide mission. That’s not even considering the fact that, now that you’ve escaped, they’re probably expecting you to try to save them, so they’ll be more careful. If you go, you’ll be playing right into their hands; you’ll just get caught again, and all of this will have been for naught. Please, Baelfire, don’t be foolish,” Tinkerbell begged him, but she could see that he’d already made up his mind.

“I’m sorry, Tink. If you if you want to go, then go. I won’t be dragging you along on a suicide mission, but I have to try,” he vowed. His eyes were resolute but his tone was calm; he wasn’t going to be dissuaded.

Tinkerbell sighed in acquiescence. “Fine. I’m sure we’re both going to regret this, but I won’t leave you to face it alone. I’m with you, no matter what.”

Bae hugged her, overjoyed. “Wonderful! So, what do you think we should do first?” he asked. 

Tink already knew what they’d have to do, but that didn’t mean she liked it. 

“Now we go find the only person who has reason to hate Snow and David as much as you do, and less inclination than most to want your father trapped,” she suggested reluctantly

“And who is that?” Baelfire inquired.

“An old friend of mine. Her name is Regina.”

Chapter Text

“Tell me again why you think this is a good idea,” Bae sighed as he and Tink got ready to spend yet another night hidden in the woods. 

“I don’t,” Tink sighed. “I think this is our only idea. There’s a big difference.” 

Baelfire groaned as he sat on his makeshift bed, once again reminded of how absurd their current situation was. It had taken them ten days to reach Regina’s old palace, that was now used as a prison, and they’d been spying on the movements around it since then. They had not been able to magic themselves there since they could not know the exact point where they would land, and that posed the slim but very real threat that they would materialize in front of someone, which wasn’t a good idea while the entire kingdom was on alert and searching for them. Not that roaming the woods without getting caught had been easy either. 

Unfortunately, the information they’d gathered in the two weeks since their arrival was rather scarce. They knew at what times there was the changing of the guards, at least where the men patrolling the walls were concerned, and Tink had even managed to fly close enough to some windows to get a little peek of the interior. However, despite all of their efforts, they had no actual knowledge of the castle’s internal structure. Even if, by some miracle, they managed to sneak inside without being noticed, there was no way they’d be able to find Regina and free her before their presence was noticed. Not to mention that, as Tink never failed to point out, they had absolutely no escape plan. That left them with only one crazy plan. To be honest, Baelfire wouldn’t have been so bothered by all of this if only they could be sure they were doing the right thing.

“So, just to confirm, this woman was once known as the Evil Queen? And she is remembered as one of the most vicious monarchs ever, a woman who killed her own guards whenever she felt like it, and slaughtered entire villages just because people dared to hide Snow White?” he asked sarcastically, still not quite believing what they were trying to do.

“Yes. I was already on Neverland during the worst part of it, but yes. She was cruel,” Tink confirmed. 

“And how can we be sure that, once we set her free, she won’t just ignore us and go on a killing spree? I’ve already dealt with my share of crazy villains, I really don’t need any more of them,” Baelfire remarked bitterly.

He’d tried so hard to put his past behind, to forget about Pan and, most importantly, to forgive the things his father had done as the Dark One, and he didn’t want to help this woman wreak the same kind of havoc. 

“Well, she isn’t as fond of deals as your father, but she generally keeps her word, and we’ll only let her out if she agrees to our conditions. Also, she’ll owe us one for letting her escape, and she’ll be aware that, should she try anything weird, we’ll be the first ones to deliver her right back to her prison,” Tink reasoned, sounding more sure of her plan than she actually felt. 

“Not exactly reassuring, but I suppose it’s something,” Baelfire conceded. “Are we really doing this tomorrow then?” he checked after a moment of silence, his tone turning more serious and tense.

“There’s really no point in waiting.” Tink shrugged. “We could spend a lifetime hiding in these woods, and we wouldn’t gather anymore information than we already have. If we don’t have the means to help Regina escape now, then we never will have, and our rescue mission is doomed. If we do have the means, then every minute we wait is a minute we waste.”

“A minute more that my family has to spend behind bars,” Baelfire completed gloomily.

Tink’s heart broke a little at how miserable her friend was. She hugged him encouragingly, knowing all too well that she could do nothing to ease his worry. “We’ll save them. I promise,” she vowed as she held him close.

Despite all he’d been through in the last few months, Tink had never seen him cry, not even once. He was trying to be strong, but she was afraid of the effect that bottling up his feelings would have on him. She would have to talk with him about it, but not tonight. Tonight, they needed to rest.

“Who’s there? Identify yourself!” the guard shouted from the embrasure.

“Don’t you recognize me?” Tink shrieked, her eyes flashing with pretend fury. “I’m the Blue Fairy, counselor of their Royal Highnesses King David and Queen Snow White. I’m here to deliver a prisoner to you. The son of the Dark One, the one the entire kingdom has been searching for, for weeks!” 

The moment the words left her mouth, a great commotion erupted behind the walls, as all the guards practically tripped over themselves to let in the most wanted boy in the realm. Baelfire had his hands tied up, his head hanging down in the very picture of defeat. To all appearances Blue Fairy had a firm hold on his arm, roughly dragging him along as she strode past the heavy doors.

“Why did you bring him here? He wasn’t detained here before,” the commander asked uneasily he guided the Blue Fairy and the boy down to the dungeons, towards their most secure area. 

“He escaped his previous prison and endangered my realm, hence I suggested to their Royal Highnesses that they changed his location, for everyone’s sake,” Tink explained, unperturbed.

“Well, he sure as hell won’t escape from here. No one has ever managed that, not under my supervision,” the commander told her proudly. 

“Then it’s a good thing he isn’t your prisoner yet,” Tink remarked sarcastically.

Before the soldier even had time to understand her words, she had already knocked him down with magic. Even through the glamour spell, Baelfire could recognize Tink’s smile on the Blue Fairy’s face.

He got his hands free from the fake ropes, and smiled back. “Almost too easy.”

“Well, this was the easy part. Didn’t you notice that throughout the dungeons there are only a few guards here and there, but there was one corridor with three soldiers at its entrance? I ‘d wager that’s exactly where we’re supposed to go,” Tink whispered hastily.

“Okay. How do we get past them?” Baelfire asked, adrenaline coursing through his veins. 

Tink sighed, not liking at all how much danger she was putting Baelfire into. “Would you mind being the bait?”

A couple of minutes later, Baelfire was sprinting down the dungeons, past the three guards at the beginning of the corridor they needed to enter. 

“He’s running away, stop him!” Tink shouted, this time glamoured as the commander.

The soldiers left their position to follow him, and as soon as they were facing away from Tink, she knocked them down with magic. She probably wouldn’t have been able to face three soldiers at once if they hadn’t been distracted, and she could only hope they wouldn’t meet more of them down the corridor.

Baelfire ran back towards her, almost tripping on the soldiers’ bodies in his haste. 

“Quick, we don’t have much time, someone will notice that something is wrong pretty soon,” Tink whispered as she grabbed his hand and started running down the corridor.

They sprinted past dozens of cells, peeking inside every one of them, and finding most of them empty. Their hearts were beating furiously in their chests, and Tink’s hopes of finding the way clear were dashed when they ran into two more soldiers, hitting them at full speed and almost sending them crashing to the ground. The men’s surprise at seeing their commander running (since Tink hadn't yet lifted the glamour spell) was the only thing that allowed the fairy to react quicker then them, knocking them out. Baelfire sighed in relief, aware that they’d made it by the skin of their teeth, and that their luck was probably due to end at some point. He only hoped that they’d find Regina and leave before they reached that point. 

“Found her!” Tink finally exclaimed. There was a triumphant smile on her face, that was now her own again. “Are you ready for this?” she asked Baelfire before she magicked the door open.

“No, but this is not the time to second guess ourselves. Let’s go,” he urged bravely, pushing the door open the moment Tink waved her wand.

Baelfire didn’t know exactly what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what he found in that room. The woman in front of him wore a simple, worn out dress, that was as grey as her long hair, and nothing about her appearance, about the way she was leaning on her cot, made her look like a threat. 

She startled and turned quickly towards them when they opened the door. Her brow furrowed in confusion when she saw Baelfire, but her eyes lit up in recognition when Tink entered the cell, slamming the door shut behind her and locking it with magic.

“Well, look who’s there, my old fairy friend. You’ve come here to check on the progress of my happy ending? As you can see, I’m doing perfectly fine,” Regina spat out.

“Listen, Regina, we don’t have time for your sarcasm. We’ve come to free you,” Tink told her hastily.

Regina’s eyes lit up in hope and suspicion. “Why would you do that? Why let me out, and why after all these years?”

“We need your help,” Baelfire chimed in. “My family has been imprisoned by Snow White and David, and we can’t save them on our own. We’re offering you your freedom in exchange for your help.”

Regina eyed him skeptically. “You can free me from prison, but you need help rescuing your family? What could your parents possibly have done to be guarded more strictly than the Evil Queen herself?”

“There’s a prophecy that says my brother will kill the princess. My whole family has been imprisoned because of that,” Baelfire explained quickly. Every minute they wasted with explanations was a minute more that the soldiers had to understand that something was terribly wrong. 

“You really expect me to believe that Snow White and her useless husband are scared of some filthy peasant boy? You’ll have to come up with something more credible than that.”

“My brother isn’t a boy like any other,” Baelfire growled in frustration, leaving aside his irritation at Regina’s snobbery. “He’s got magic, and he’s the son of the Dark One.”

Regina’s eyes widened in surprise. She was about to reply, when they heard someone scream in the corridor. “Intruders! In the Evil Queen’s corridor!”

Their time was up. Tink immediately flew to the door, reinforcing the spells she’d put on it. They needed to go now. Regina, however, didn’t seem in a hurry; if anything, she looked more relaxed than before. 

“So, you’re telling me you’re the son of dear old Rumple? I bet your mother is that pretty maid of his, isn’t she? Judging from your age, my old teacher must have had a lot of fun right after I was captured…”

“Could we discuss this later?” Baelfire pressed on. “Do we have a deal or not?” 

Regina tutted, waving her finger at him like she was scolding a child. “Just like your father, always anxious to strike a deal. Where are your manners? I’m a lady and I’ve been out of circulation for years, I need time to be filled in on all the latest news.”

Baelfire grunted in frustration as he heard soldiers running down the corridor. A moment later, their bodies crashed against the cell’s door. Tink’s spells were holding, but who knew for how long they would? There was no way the men who guarded the Evil Queen didn’t have some fairy dust or other forms of magic for emergencies. 

“So, you’re asking me to join you on a suicide mission to save the brat of my old mentor? The one who never came to my rescue when I was taken? The monster who put me on this path of vengeance in the first place?” Regina laid out bluntly, her eyes as cold as ice.

This wasn’t going well. This wasn’t going well at all. They couldn’t magic themselves out of this prison, there were spells on the walls that prevented them from doing that much, and there was no way that Tink could face all the soldiers outside the door alone. 

“I should let the guards get you, and watch as they drag you away and destroy all of your silly hopes. It would serve Rumplestiltskin right, and it would give me a taste of revenge, something I haven’t felt in a while,” Regina went on.

There was something unsettling in her eyes, something that Bealfire remembered seeing in his father’s gaze when he was most lost in the darkness, something way too close to madness. It sent shivers down his spine.

“On the other hand, I do like the idea of messing with Snow’s carefully crafted plans, and there’s nothing I would enjoy more than to see Rumple’s face when he realizes he owes me, so I suppose we can come to an agreement after all. My help for my freedom, starting with this,” Regina conceded, nodding to the anti-magic cuff wrapped around her wrist. 

“If I take the time to undo your cuff, the soldiers will get past my defenses,” Tink said, her voice strained with the effort of keeping the door locked. “I hope the years without magic haven’t made you lose your touch, because we don’t have time for you to practice, and it’s pretty crowded out there.”

“Eighteen years of prison was extremely boring, but It would take much more than that to make me unable to take care of a few morons in armor,” Regina said dismissively. “Let’s get this over with.”

“But no killings!” Baelfire screamed before Tink could proceed. “You won’t kill anyone unless it’s absolutely the only way to save our skins. That, or no deal,” he stated, knowing far too well that he was playing with fire.

Regina cast him a curious glance. “Are you really sure you’re the imp’s son?” Then, after a long moment of silence, she added: “Deal.”

Tink let out a breath of relief, and waved her wand to undo Regina’s cuff. It was mostly made of fairy magic and pixie dust, hence it posed no real threat to those who wielded light magic.

Regina didn’t even have the time to magic her chains open before the soldiers burst into the room. Even with her wrists and ankles chained to the wall, however, it wasn’t hard for her to send at least six soldiers crashing to the ground with a single wave of her hand. Tink’s magic was light, born out of the desire to defend and protect, but Regina’s was as dark as they come, and much more suitable for a fight. Regina had years of resentment to let out, and this wasn’t the time for Rumple’s detailed lessons on how to channel feelings into refined magic; now was time to let her emotion burst, to let her rage run wild and destroy everything it touched. 

The first wave of soldiers was dealt with in seconds, and Regina even had the time to unshackle herself before more men burst into her cell. The Evil Queen, still dressed in rags, was facing the soldiers almost on her own, since Tink was still catching her breath from the effort of holding the door. Bealfire was feeling extremely useless. He’d picked up a sword from one of the defeated soldiers, but he barely had the time to cross swords with someone before Regina took care of his enemy.

Slowly but inevitably, they crept out of the cell, even though that put them at much greater risk. It was fairly easy to protect a small entrance, while in the corridors they’d be exposed from all sides. Risky or not, they had no choice: they needed to reach ground level before they could find a way out. Baelfire had tried to memorize the route they’d taken to get here, and he could only hope they were headed in the right direction.

When he thought they were more or less midway to ground level, however, he started fearing they wouldn’t make it. Tink was panting heavily, worn out by the amount of magic she was forcing herself to use, and even Regina was starting to show the signs of fatigue. By now, Baelfire’s efforts with the sword were becoming necessary, and on more than one occasion he saved Tink from a blow she hadn’t seen coming.

The first time that one of the soldiers’ swords cut through his skin, Baelfire was so surprised that he let his guard down, and his opponent would have easily finished him off, had Regina not knocked him down. Luckily, it was a rather superficial cut, and Baelfire was running so high on adrenaline that he could almost ignore it, but the thin crimson trail of blood on his leg reminded him of how badly all this could end. He redoubled his efforts, more determined than ever; he hadn’t come so far only to die a few steps away from safety, he wouldn’t be responsible for Tink’s death, and he wouldn’t let his family spend the rest of their lives trapped. Somehow, he had to get them out of here.

Belle heard the footsteps getting closer to her door. She knew it was time for her meal, but she didn’t look forward to it. More often than not, the guards who brought her food took any chance to torment her, calling her names, insulting her family, putting the tray just out of her reach and making her beg for it. She’d tried to come up with retorts at first, but she’d soon had to accept that it was pointless at best, and dangerous at worst. 

The door clicked open, and a soldier came in; she remembered his face, and she was glad to notice that he wasn't one of the vicious ones. He was generally happy with looking at her in disgust, but hardly ever did anything more than that.

Belle stood up to take the tray, and she’d just gotten her hands on it when she heard screams coming from the corridor. “ALARM! IN THE DUNGEONS! THE EVIL QUEEN IS ESCAPING!” 

Time seemed to accelerate. The soldier turned around, startled by the news, and Belle took a quick and rash decision. Grabbing the tray, with all of her strength, she slammed it on the soldier’s temple taking him by surprise. He fell to the floor in a heap, and Belle immediately crouched at his side, hoping that the keys to her chains were amongst the bundle he had strapped to his belt. The man lay unmoving as she tried key after key with trembling hands, and she really didn’t want to stop and think that she might have just killed a person. Not now, she told herself, I can worry about my conscience later.

She let out a little squeal of triumph when she finally found the right key, and immediately regretted it; Evil Queen or not, there was always the risk that someone would hear her and stop her. Once she was free from her restraints, she grabbed the soldier’s cloak, well aware that she’d need something warmer than her rags if she wanted to survive the upcoming nights on the run. She took his dagger as well, not liking the idea of going away without a weapon, but knowing that with her small frame she’d never be able to wield his sword comfortably. She wished she could take his shoes as well, since going barefoot in the forest wasn’t exactly appealing to her, but it would take too much time to undo all the laces, and they’d be enormous on her anyway. She’d find a solution to that problem later.

She slipped the cloak on herself and dragged the hood over her face, hoping that she’d go unnoticed in the chaos. She took a peek outside her cell and found the corridor empty. She knew, from what little she could see from her cell’s window, that she was well above ground level, so she started running in search of a set of stairs. The one she found wasn’t narrow per se, but it would leave her little to no space to run away in case she met a soldier. She had no time to look for a better option, so she tried to be as quiet as possible, and to keep her ears open for any sign of human presence.

As she tiptoed down the stairs, the meaning of all that had happened in the past few minutes started to sink in. She was escaping. She was escaping because the Evil Queen had unknowingly given her that chance. Belle didn’t know how to feel about the other woman; sure, she’d trapped her and turned one year of her life into a living hell, but at the same time Belle knew how horrible a life in chains was, and she wouldn’t wish all those years of imprisonment on anyone, not even the Evil Queen. Only now did Belle realize that this was Regina’s old castle, and how ironic it was that it was now used by Snow and Charming as a prison for Regina herself. Belle also realized, with a pang of bitterness, that the same King and Queen who’d once freed her from this very castle, were now trying to keep her trapped inside of it.

Once Belle reached ground level, she could clearly hear the sounds of the nearby fight, and she hid behind the corner of a corridor just in time to avoid being seen by a group of running soldiers. She was hoping to find a window and crawl out unnoticed, but there were bars on every one of them. She had no other choice but to tiptoe around, hoping to find another way out. Eventually, she reached the entrance hall, and she let out a sigh of relief when she realized that the heavy doors that led outside had been left slightly open, probably by some soldiers that had rushed inside once they heard the alarm. The noises from the battle with the Evil Queen were now closer than ever; Belle could even see the flashes of magic coming from the end of the corridor opposite from her. Running through the spacious hall would leave her exposed and clearly visible, but this was her only chance. In a few minutes, the battle would rage right where she was.

Belle took a deep breath, and sprinted down the hall, hoping that no one would see her, that she wouldn't be stopped right now that she was so close to her freedom. Time seemed to slow down, and Belle felt as though the distance between herself and the door never changed, no matter how much she ran. Finally, she reached the door, and slipped out of it without making a noise. The bright light of the day forced her to close her eyes for a moment, while the cool breeze mussed her hair.

She was free.

Baelfire had lost count of the number of his wounds; he only knew that the exit was close, so close, and that he wouldn’t give up now. He was all but dragging Tink along with him, all of her energies focused on her spells rather than on walking upright. Regina was doing slightly better, but her blows had lost precision, and many of them missed their target. 

“We’re almost there!” Baelfire shouted, trying to give courage to their little group.

By some miracle, they kept inching closer and closer to the door, helped by the fact that the number of soldiers around them was increasingly diminishing. When they were only a few feet away from their target, however, Tink stopped fighting altogether, and for a moment Baelfire thought she was going to pass out: her eyes closed, her breath was labored, and her brow furrowed as if she were in pain. 

Baelfire didn’t have time to investigate Tink’s condition; with one last, inhuman effort, they tumbled past the the heavy doors, and it was in that moment that Tink opened her eyes again. Her wand glowed with magic, her face contorted in pain, and a moment later they were being teleported away from the castle, back into the woods, in what Baelfire recognized as one of the shelters they’d found during their journey through the forest. Now he understood what Tink had been doing in the last few seconds of the fight: she’d been gathering up the last of her strength to take them all away. 

The effort, however, seemed to be the last straw for her; her legs gave out from under her and she lost consciousness. Baelfire somehow found the strength to hold her so that she wouldn’t hit her head. He lowered her to the ground, and once he was sitting beside her he realized that he didn’t even have the energy to get up again. He should have tried because he needed to take care of his wounds, but he didn’t have any of the necessary herbs, or anything that he could use for bandages. The best thing to do was to rest and ask Tink to heal him later; after all, he didn’t think any of those cuts were particularly bad. Before he allowed himself to sleep, however, there was something he needed to explain to Regina.

“There’s a spell you need to cast,” he said, only now realizing that Regina was still standing outside of the cave, her back to him. “One that will prevent anyone from finding you with a tracking spell. I don’t know the details, I just know that Tink used it on herself and me,” he went on, trying to figure out what was going through Regina’s mind. Why was she still outside? Didn’t she realize that they needed to hide, and that they weren’t in any condition to fight even a single soldier?

“Fine. I’ll do it,” she said drily.

Regina’s voice was still labored, and she was leaning heavily on the cave’s entrance to support herself, but it was clear that she was doing far better than her two improvised rescuers.

“The sooner you do it, the better. We can’t take any risks. It would also be wise for you to hide inside the cave with us,” Baelfire insisted, unsettled by Regina’s strange behavior. 

“I said I’ll do it, just give me a damn minute,” she snapped, finally turning around to look at him. 

“Ok, fine, do as you wish, just try not to get us killed, okay?” Baelfire bit back, raising his hands in exasperation.

He was too worn out to pick another fight, so he leaned down beside Tink, and tried to get as comfortable as possible on the hard ground. He was already half asleep a few seconds later, so much that he almost missed Regina’s next words.

“It’s the first time in years that I can see the light of day.”

Belle was out of breath long before she would have liked. She hadn’t been able to move for more than a few steps for three months, and the effects of her inactivity were showing. Her whole body was hurting, but nothing as bad as her feet, that were already covered in cuts and scrapes. There was no way she could go far like this, but she would never give up, not until she exhaled her last breath. Today she’d gotten the miracle she’d been praying for, and she wouldn’t waste it. She allowed herself one minute to catch her breath, leaning her back against a tree trunk and inhaling deeply. The forest was quiet around her; there weren’t any noises from possible chasers, no thundering of hooves against the ground, no screams of angry soldiers. 

Even though she was far from well rested, Belle soon moved from the tree, not feeling safe staying for too long in the same spot. She had just started walking again when she heard a strange noise nearby, like something big moving in the trees not far from her. It could easily be a deer, but she couldn’t take any risks. She looked around, finding a possible hiding spot amongst some bushes. It wouldn’t be comfortable and it was far from perfect, but it was all she had. She slipped amongst the shrubs, and waited. 

The noise got closer and closer, and Belle held her breath once it became clear that this wasn’t some kind of animal; there was a person a few feet away from her, and this couldn’t be a good thing.

“Belle? Is that you? Come out of those bushes, I’m not here to hurt you,” came a male voice she didn’t know. Belle gasped in surprise. What was going on?

“Belle, please, I know you’re in there, part of your cloak is sticking out. You can trust me, I’m here to help you,” the man repeated. 

Belle grunted in disappointment, furious at her own incompetence. Fine, she’d been discovered, but that didn’t mean she was going to give up easily. She still had her dagger, and the mysterious man likely didn’t know about that. She stepped out of her hiding place, holding the dagger firmly in one hand and covering it with her cloak, trying to compose her expression and look less scared than she actually felt, but she couldn’t hold back a whimper when a branch cut sharply into her wrist. Her skin there was already sore and red from her chains, and any minimal scrape was torment. Once she was back on her feet, the stranger tried to get closer to her, and that’s when she revealed the dagger she was holding, pointing it straight at him.

“Who are you? How do you know my name?” she asked, glad that her voice at least sounded firm. 

The boy - because now Belle realized he was barely more than a boy - immediately held his hands up, trying to look as unthreatening as possible.

“I know this probably seems absolutely crazy, but I swear I can explain,” he started off, eyeing her dagger warily, even though he didn’t look scared at all. “As I said, I’m here to help you. My name is Roland, and I’m Robin Hood’s son.”

Chapter Text

“Robin’s son?” Belle asked, bewildered. “How did you know where to find me? How did you know about me in the first place?”

Belle wanted so badly to believe him, but it was too good a coincidence to be true. Could she possibly be so lucky as to meet the son of a man she’d saved twenty years earlier?

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it’s the truth. My father told me about you, ever since I was a kid, so that I would always remember the woman who had saved his life and, as a consequence, mine and my mother’s as well. We run a tavern not far from here, and drunk soldiers always talk much more than they should. That’s how we found out that you were imprisoned here,” Roland explained.

“You knew I was out in the woods; how?” Belle inquired, still keeping the dagger raised in front of herself. 

“We’ve been keeping an eye on the castle for weeks. We were trying to find a way to free you, but I have to admit that my father had bet you’d find your way out long before we accomplished anything. Apparently, he does know you well! Anyway, I was on guard duty with Judy today and we saw the turmoil at the castle, then you running away from it.”

Roland was smiling reassuringly at her, while Belle was scrambling her brain for any other question she could ask to test his real identity and intentions. 

“Be more specific; when and how did I save Robin’s life?”

“He snuck into the Dark Castle to steal a wand, one that he could use to heal my mother. She was pregnant with me at the time, and without that magic we would have both died. The Dark One caught my father and started torturing him, ready to skin him alive for daring to try stealing from him. You were a prisoner of Rumplestiltskin as well, but you weren’t scared of him. You freed my father, uncaring of what would happen to you because of it, and you even refused his offer to run away with him, since you wanted to keep your end of the deal with the Dark One, to protect your family.”

As Roland spoke, Belle could see that his eyes were gleaming with something that might have been admiration. She hadn’t thought about her actions of that day in years, and coming from Roland’s mouth they sounded way more heroic than she remembered them to be. Still, Roland’s words sealed the deal for her; for better or for worse, there was nothing else she could ask to make sure about his real intentions, and so far he’d given her no reasons not to trust him. 

“Fine,” she said, lowering the dagger. “I’ll go with you. What exactly is your plan?”

“There’s a shack in the woods, less than an hour away from here. It’s ours, but we only use it as storage for food in winter. Judy is waiting there and once we arrive she’ll go get my father.”

Belle could see many things wrong with Roland’s idea. 

“Wait, don’t you think that a solitary house in the woods is probably the first place where the soldiers will go looking? If they get into the house, I’ll have no way out. And who is Judy anyway?” she asked, refusing to move until Roland came up with a sensible plan.

“You see, this isn’t a shack like any other. There’s a hidden trapdoor in the ground, and I swear that it’s basically impossible to see it unless you know it’s there. Where do you think we keep our stock? Certainly not on ground level, where anybody could get in and steal it,” Roland explained.

“That’s clever,” Belle commented, a smile forming on her lips despite the lingering tension. “I guess no one knows how to stop a thief better than another thief.”

“Exactly. About Judy, well, she’s a friend. We can trust her,” Roland assured her, his cheeks turning slightly red as he spoke about the girl.

Despite her first impression, Belle had to admit that Roland knew what he was doing, and they had already stayed in the same spot for too long; they needed to move, and quickly.

“Okay,” Belle conceded eventually. “I trust you. Make way.”

“I don’t have any food with me, but would you like some water? You’ve been on the run for hours, you must be thirsty,” Roland said, taking a small flask from his belt and offering it to her.

It was only when he mentioned it, now that her nerves weren’t so terribly on edge anymore, that Belle realized how thirsty she was indeed. She’d been so focused on getting away from the castle that she hadn’t taken the time to find a creek or any other source of water, and even though she’d always moved in the shadow of the trees the heat of the late spring had taken its toll on her. She took the flask with trembling hands, murmuring a heartfelt thank you.

“Do you think you can make it to the shack?” Roland asked her once she was finished drinking.

Belle took a deep breath, then nodded. She wished she could have drank more, but she hadn’t wanted to drain Roland’s supply. He had been kind enough to share, she would be respectful enough not to finish his water. She had been without water almost all day, she could endure another hour. 

They walked in silence, and Belle felt a little awkward at first, feeling she ought to say something to the boy who was very likely saving her life. Soon enough, however, she was too focused on her surroundings to think about anything else. She looked nervously around, trying to listen to every little noise, hoping and praying that nobody would find them. She had to bite her tongue to keep from asking Roland if they were nearly there yet every five minutes. She was so nervous and tense that she almost started crying in relief when the shack came into sight. Roland knocked a peculiar rhythm on the door, and someone from the inside knocked another rhythm in answer. Only then did the door open, and Roland ushered Belle inside. 

“I knew you’d find her,” said the girl inside of the cabin, lowering her sword to hug Roland. “I’m Judy, by the way,” she said to Belle, pulling back from Roland’s hug. 

“I’m Belle, but I think you already knew that. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Judy, and thanks for all you’re doing for me,” Belle said gratefully. 

“I’m just glad that you’re fine. Now, I don’t want to be rude, but I’m afraid we don’t have time to exchange any more pleasantries. I’ll go fetch Robin, while you two should get into the basement. The woods are not safe for you, Belle, and we can’t take any more risks,” Judy pointed out, putting on her cloak.

Belle nodded, agreeing with her completely. Judy exchanged a few more words with Roland, then left the cabin. Belle decided that she really liked her: someone else might have considered her rude, but in Belle’s opinion she was just very pragmatic, and her resoluteness made her feel safe. Judy reminded her of her friend Mulan; she had the same fierce gait, the same confidence with her weapon, and they even looked somewhat alike. Had Belle not known better, she would have wondered if Mulan had a daughter or a niece. Thinking of Mulan filled her with wistfulness; it was unlikely that the news of her imprisonment had reached DunBroch. Mulan was probably wondering why Belle wasn’t answering her letters anymore, without the faintest idea of what her friend was actually going through. Belle decided that, once all of this was over, she would go to Dunbroch to tell her in person, and she’d bring Rumplestiltskin and the kids as well; they’d probably all need a vacation to relax and forget about this nightmare.

As Belle dreamed of a happier future, Roland opened the trapdoor and they quickly descended into the dark basement. 

“We’ll only stay here until nightfall,” Roland said, lighting up a candle before closing the trapdoor again. “Once it’s dark outside, the soldiers will need torches to move in the forest, and we can see them arriving from upstairs. That will give us time to hide or flee should the need arise.”

“Good,” murmured Belle, sitting on the floor with a sigh of relief.

Roland’s candle was the only source of light, and Belle struggled to distinguish the room she was in as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The basement was probably a bit smaller than the visible part of the shack, and there really wasn’t much inside of it. There certainly weren’t any chairs or beds where she could rest, but after hours of fear and fatigue Belle wasn’t going to be picky; she sat heavily on the floor, and she was so exhausted that she was tempted to curl up and sleep until Robin’s arrival.

Unfortunately, sleep was a luxury she wouldn’t allow herself for now. She didn’t want to lower her guard yet, not when the woods could be brimming with soldiers and the shack was still clearly visible in the light of day.

“How long do you think we’ll have to wait?” she asked Roland, barely stifling a yawn.

“I’m not really sure, but I guess a little less than two hours,” Roland answered.

Belle nodded in understanding, even though the very idea of spending two hours waiting was psychologically exhausting. Since she had nothing better to do and her eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, she took some time to check on the wounds she had earned during her trek in the woods; the current state of her body made her mood sink even further. She was thirsty, tired and hungry. Her ankles and wrists were battered and bruised because of the chains she’d been put in, and she was covered in cuts and scrapes, a few of which were still bleeding. There was a thin trickle of blood running down her right foot, dripping on the floor, and suddenly she was brought back to that morning, to the blood she’d spilled to get free. The image of the soldier she’d hit flashed before her eyes and she froze, trying to take in what she’d done, that she might have killed a man. The worse part was that, given another chance, she knew she would do the exact same thing. She was almost scared by the lenghts she’d go to for her family. 

“Belle, are you okay? Did you even hear what I was saying?” Roland said, bringing her back to the present.

Belle shook her head, wracking her brain to try and remember what Roland had been saying, but she had to admit that she had honestly no idea.

“I’m sorry, I zoned out for a moment. What were you talking about?” she asked, embarrassed.

“I asked you what exactly happened today at the castle. There was a lot of turmoil, but no one followed you outside, so there must have been something else going on,” Roland repeated patiently.

“The Evil Queen escaped,” Belle explained. “Everyone was too busy trying to stop her to pay attention to me. With any luck, they didn’t even realize that I was gone until hours later.”

Roland giggled. “A great day for you, a really bad day for the Queen and King. I pity the man in charge of the prison; I bet it won’t be easy to explain the breakout.”

“No,” Belle conceded, a smile finally forming on her lips. “I bet it won’t.”

“How can they have both escaped?” Snow White hollered. 

The man in front of her seemed to shrink in fear. “They tricked us, your majesty. The boy and the fairy got into the prison with a trick and freed the Queen. As we fought to keep her in, Lady Belle killed one of our men and fled,” he stammered, gazing anxiously at the Queen and King, who gaped at him.

“You’re telling us that Lady Belle, who is probably half the size of any of your men and who has never hurt a fly in her entire life, managed to kill one of our soldiers? How could that possibly happen?” David asked, dumbfounded.

“We don’t know for sure. As I said, we were busy trying to keep the Queen in, and we didn’t realize that Lady Belle was gone until hours later, after taking care of the wounded. If only the fairies had arrived sooner, all of this could have been avoided,” the commander accused, glaring at the Blue Fairy. “We called for their help, but they didn’t show up until it was too late to be really useful.”

The Blue Fairy glanced at him with disdain. “We did all we could, and we saved many men’s lives. I don’t demand gratitude, but I think the least we deserve is not to have pointless accusations thrown at us,” she said.

“Is it true, Blue? They called and you didn’t come to their help? Why?” Snow White asked, ignoring Blue’s retort.

“It’s true indeed, but I’m afraid I have to remind you that the fairies are not soldiers at your service. I offered you my assistance because, just like you, I want to prevent the harm that the Dark One and his offspring might cause. My fairies helped you imprison them, their spells help keep them trapped, and half of them are out in the woods searching for Baelfire and the traitor who helped him escape. Fairies have many other things to attend to and we can’t always be at your beck and call. Ever since this whole thing started you’ve been calling upon us every five minutes. My fairies are tired,” Blue explained, her nostrils flaring in anger. “None of this would have happened if you’d listened to my advice,” she went on. “I didn’t want any prisoners in my realm, but you insisted. You have incompetent men guarding your prisons, and when prisoners escape it’s my fault for not arriving earlier. I got to the castle as soon as I could, I healed the wounded and immediately brought the commander here to report on what had happened. I’ve more than done my share.”

“Okay, Blue, we understand,” David said, trying to appease the fairy and avoid an argument. “The most important thing now is not who’s to blame, but how to fix this. A fairy and a runaway boy didn’t seem like such a big threat, but with the Evil Queen on the loose things might get much worse. And since Baelfire and Belle are now together, it’s only a matter of time before they’ll try to free Rumplestiltskin and Gideon,” David reasoned. 

“If I may, your majesty, I don’t think the boy and Lady Belle are working together at all,” the commander interrupted. “My men fought against the Evil Queen and her rescuers until the very last moment, and they are all ready to swear that Lady Belle was never with them.”

“This doesn’t make any sense,” David replied, confused. 

“It does if they didn’t know that Belle was imprisoned in that castle,” Snow White said. She was pacing back and forth, her mind whirling as she tried to put together all the pieces of the puzzle.

“Had they known that Belle was kept in there, they would have rescued her first, then tried to get the Queen’s help. However, they had no way to know she was there; the location of each member of her family was kept a secret. So Baelfire and the fairy got into the castle, freed the Queen, and Belle simply took advantage of the resulting chaos to escape,” Snow mused, a small smile forming on her lips.

“I apologize once again for letting it happen. No prisoner had ever escaped under my command,” the soldier said, hoping that the Queen’s newfound good mood would result in a merciful judgment.

“Nor will it happen again,” Snow White said. “You are dismissed from your duties at the prison. Go talk to Sir Roderick; he always appreciates some help training recruits, I’m sure he’ll find you something to do.”

The humiliated soldier could do nothing but express gratitude through clenched teeth, then left the room, inwardly cursing the Dark One and the royals alike.

“This is great news,” Snow White said once the man had left. “This proves that they are not organized, that they don’t have a plan or any useful information; they’re desperate and they’re just shooting in the dark. This puts us one step ahead. As long as they are separated they’re weaker and more vulnerable, and we have to take advantage of this,” Snow announced with determination.

“How?” asked David. 

“We know what their next move is going to be. They’ll try to break Gideon and Rumplestiltskin out. Belle might learn that Baelfire is on the run, but they’ll need time to find each other while they’re both hiding from us. If we force them to attack now, and to do so separately, we can set a perfect trap.”

There were moments when David was almost scared by his wife. Snow had always been fierce and determined, but since this whole ordeal of the prophecy had started she had become colder and calculating. She didn’t smile as often as she used to, and there were moments when David was tempted to tell her to let it go, to forget all about the prophecy and its threat, because their family was strong enough to face whatever danger was lucking in dark corners. After all, they’d defeated the Evil Queen when nobody thought it possible, and that had to mean something, right? Then he saw Emma, his beautiful and brave daughter, who was always so ready to put herself in harm’s way to protect others, and he realized he wasn’t willing to take any risks when it came to her. No matter how hard it was, no matter if he had to do things he would come to regret, he wouldn’t let his daughter face this threat if he could help it.

“Do you have anything in mind?” David asked. Looking at his wife’s face, he could already tell what her answer would be.

“Yes,” Snow confirmed. “The only way to know whether they’ll try to save Rumplestiltskin or Gideon first is to put one of them in clear danger. I don’t want them anywhere near Rumplestiltskin; he is too clever and too powerful, and if they managed to set him free we’d have no chance against them. So it has to be Gideon. We have to make them believe they must rescue him as soon as possible.”

David felt a shiver run down his spine. 

“How?” he asked.

“By staging an execution. Let the whole kingdom think that we’ll put him to death in a few days, and his family will rush to his side without a thought. Or a plan.”

“You better be kidding,” came a furious voice from the edge of the room.

Princess Emma strode towards them with unabashed fury in her eyes, hoping against all hope that there was a sensible explanation to what she’d just heard.

“Please, tell me you aren’t really considering executing a child. Please,” the princess insisted. 

“Emma, what are you doing here? Were you eavesdropping?” Snow White said, ignoring her questions.

“What I was doing doesn’t matter. What I want to know is why you are ready to execute a child just because of some stupid prophecy,” Emma replied. She was just as stubborn as her mother, and she wouldn’t leave without answers. 

“How do you know about the prophecy?” her father asked. 

“Do you really think I’m that dumb? You’ve never been good at keeping secrets. I noticed how you suddenly stopped talking whenever I came into a room, and with the whole kingdom on alert did you really think I wouldn’t find out what is going on?” Emma shouted, almost beside herself with rage.

“Emma, please, we are doing this for you, for your safety…” David pleaded, trying to calm her down.

“If you wanted me to be safe, you should have told me I was in danger. You could have given me an escort, not torn the kingdom apart in fear of a seven year old child!” Emma screamed, unmoved by her parents’ apparent concern.

“We’re not tearing the kingdom apart. You’re the princess; it’s everyone’s duty in this kingdom to protect you,” Snow replied.

“That’s exactly where you’re wrong. It’s not everyone’s duty to protect us, it’s our duty to protect everyone,” Emma stated solemnly.

“And we’ll be able to focus on that once we’re no longer worried about your safety,” her father insisted. “Emma, the Dark One has powerful magic, and his son is even more dangerous. We are scared.”

“His son is seven, and I’ve got magic as well. Aren’t you the ones who taught me that True Love is the most powerful magic of all? I’ve got that kind of magic, and you have proven you have the magic to stop the Dark One and his son should the need arise. So please, stop this madness and show me that you really believe in all the beautiful things you told me about kindness and compassion,” Emma pleaded.

When she’d first found out about her parent’s treatment of the Dark One and his family, Emma had been heartbroken. She’d grown up seeing her parents as the perfect example of morality, two true heroes she longed to be like, and all of a sudden her belief had been shattered, her certainties turned to dust. Despite everything she had heard, however, she had kept hoping that the rumors were wrong, that she had misunderstood the situation, and that her parents hadn’t truly betrayed everything they had ever taught her. What she’d just heard, however, was immune to misinterpretation, and the tears that were prickling her eyes were due to disappointment just as much as rage. 

Snow White and David glanced awkwardly at one another. 

“Why don’t you go back to your chambers and we can talk about this later, when we have all calmed down?” Snow suggested, sporting her sweetest and fakest smile. 

“No. We’re talking about this now. I don’t want to spend another second knowing that a kid is suffering because of me,” Emma insisted, growing more annoyed at her parents with every passing second. 

“Well, you’ll have to, because I’m not setting him free. You don’t know what we’re dealing with,” Snow rebutted drily, her appeasing tone completely gone. 

Emma tried to object, but Snow immediately interrupted her. 

“Maybe I wasn’t clear before: you don’t have a say in the matter. The Dark One is dangerous and so is his family, and I won’t put you and our kingdom at risk just because you were feeling stupidly heroic!” she hollered. 

Emma was taken aback. Her mother had never raised her voice like that with her, nor had she ever refused to at least discuss a problem with her. She felt a tear run down her cheek before she found the voice to answer. 

“I miss the times when you were stupidly heroic as well,” she said, her voice cracking.

Then she turned around and left the room before her parents could say anything else. She had lost her battle, but her fight was far from over. One way or the other, she’d make her parents see reason. 

When Robin Hood saw Belle again, he hugged her as a long lost friend. She felt almost awkward at how grateful he still was towards her after all those years, and his genuine happiness made her feel lighter than she had felt in months. It was finally dark outside, so they left the basement and sat down at the table upstairs to talk and eat the food Robin had brought. Roland and Judy guarded the cabin, ready to alert them in case any soldiers came near them.

Belle wasn’t surprised to find out that the rumors of the Dark One’s imprisonment had been suppressed, even if not as much as Snow and David would have liked. They certainly didn’t want the whole realm to know just how low they were willing to step out of prejudice and fear, but it was absurd to think that all their guards would have kept their mouths shut. She filled Robin in on the details, and once her tale was over a heavy silence fell upon them.

“I’m coming with you,” he said eventually. 

Belle eyed him with confusion. 

“I don’t truly know a lot about you, but I doubt that you’re going to run away and leave your family in trouble: you’re going to try and free them, and I’m coming with you,” he repeated.

“No!” Belle screamed, then hastily covered her mouth as she recalled that the whole kingdom was probably looking for her in that exact moment. “I can’t let you do this, it’s way too dangerous,” she added in a lower tone. 

“Belle, please, I’m indebted to you. You once saved my family and me, let me do the same for you,” he insisted. 

“Exactly, you have a family that needs you, and I can’t drag you with me in this suicide mission!” Belle replied. 

Robin sighed at that. “Roland will always be a little kid for me, but he’s almost a man now. If I die helping you, he’ll be able to move on knowing that I died doing the right thing. As for Marian, my wife, she died a long time ago. She’s hardly going to miss me.”

Belle’s exasperation immediately faded, and she took Robin’s hand in hers in what she hoped was a comforting gesture. 

“I’m so so sorry. After all you’d been through to save her… it wasn’t fair,” she whispered, not even daring to imagine what it would feel like to lose the love of her life. 

“Thank you,” Robin said, then his brow furrowed in confusion. “Wait a minute, how do you know what I went through to save her?”

“Oh, I… After I set you free, Rumplestiltskin insisted on following you into Sherwood Forest, so that he could kill you and make you pay for your theft,” Belle explained, feeling suddenly awkward at reminding Robin of how her husband had tried to kill him. “He wanted to use your own enchanted bow to kill you, and all my attempts to stop him were useless. Until he saw your wife.”

“An arrow almost hit us. Was it him?” Robin asked, his expression still puzzled. 

“Yes. As you know, the bow was enchanted to never miss its target. He missed you on purpose, because he didn’t want to leave your unborn child fatherless,” Belle said. She remembered all too well how shocked and confused Rumplestiltskin had looked in that moment, as if he couldn’t even comprehend what he’d just done. “That was the moment I realized there was more to him than just a beast, that there was goodness in his heart.”

“To think that I was worried the Dark One was going to kill you for helping me. I’m glad that my theft could help bring you two together,” Robin said. 

“He even gifted me with a library after that. It’s honestly ridiculous how long it took me to realize he loved me, when he was being so obvious from day one,” Belle added, smiling at the memory.

“We will free him and your sons, Belle, I promise. There’s nothing you can say to change my mind about this,” Robin vowed, and Belle didn’t fight him anymore. As much as she didn’t want to drag him into this, she was in desperate need of help.

“Where do you think we should start?” she asked him. The whole extent of her plan had been to run away without being captured or killed, and now she was too tired to come up with any sensible ideas. 

“Well, first of all you should tell me something,” Robin said, rummaging in his satchel. He came up with two pieces of parchment that Belle immediately recognized as Wanted posters. “Do you know them?”

It was hard to distinguish the features of the drawings in the dim light, but Belle would have recognized that unruly mop of curls everywhere.

“That’s Baelfire, Rumple’s son!” she gasped, putting her hands over her mouth. There was a list of false accusations under his name and a reward for whomever brought him to the guards alive or dead, but none of that mattered. If Snow and David were looking for him, it meant that he was free and, most importantly, still alive. 

“These were put up in the village around three weeks ago, and I don’t have any reason to believe they’ve been caught since. This means that our first aim is to find Baelfire and this fairy who is said to be traveling with him. Do you have any idea who she is?” Robin asked her, and Belle wiped away her tears of joy to focus on the second poster. 

“I’ve never seen her, but I recognize that name: she’s the fairy that once helped Baelfire escape Neverland,” Belle said. They’d wanted to thank her years ago, but she had been trying to regain her place as a fairy by Blue’s side, and Baelfire had suggested that getting a visit from the Dark One was hardly going to help her. Now she was saving him again, and Belle thought that not even Rumplestiltskin, with all of his power, would ever be able to repay her in full for this. 

“Then here’s what we’ll do,” Robin said, taking Belle out of her musings. “It’s too late and you’re too tired to start moving now, and we can’t risk traveling in the light of day. Take a day to rest and tomorrow we’ll leave at sunset. We’ll go to Sherwood Forest first: I still have a lot of friends there, and many of them are really good at catching rumors and secrets. If there’s someone who might have an idea of where two runaways are, it’s them.”

Robin got up, ready to leave her alone so that she could get some much needed rest, but Belle stopped him. She wanted to tell him how much this meant to her, how he’d not just saved her life but given her hope, how she felt she owed him, no matter what she’d done for him years before.

“Thank you.”

It was all she managed to say, but from Robin’s smile she thought he understood. 

“Emma, I’ve followed you without asking any questions, but now you really have to tell me what this is all about,” August said, as Emma slowed down to let their horses rest. She had dragged her friend along for a ride outside the castle, but August had known from the first moment that there was something wrong, and that Emma just wanted to talk somewhere where she was sure nobody could hear them.

“Fine, but I can’t tell you a lot. The less you know, the less you can tell my parents,” she said enigmatically.

“Okay, now I’m seriously worried,” August replied. He’d never seen Emma so angry and determined.

“I need to go away. There’s something I must do and I can’t let my parents know, or they’d stop me. I need you to cover for me, and tell them that I’m gone as late as possible,” Emma explained. 

“No,” August said, almost before she had finished talking. “Whatever you’re talking about, there must be a reason if Snow and David don’t want you to do it. Plus you know how I feel about lying.”

“Yes, I know, and the fact that I’m asking you to lie nonetheless should make you understand how important this is. It’s not even a big lie, I just need you to wait before you go back to the castle and say that I’ve run away. Give me a few hours headstart, then tell them that I made you fall asleep with a spell and that I was gone when you woke up,” Emma insisted. 

“Not until you tell me what this is all about,” August said stubbornly. 

“August, please, if I tell you they’ll find a way to make you talk. Please, we’ve known each other since we were kids, you have to trust me,” Emma pleaded him.

August looked at her in silence for a few moments. “Fine,” he conceded eventually. “But if this ends badly, I’m going to stick to the tale that you put a spell on me and put all the blame on you.”

Chapter Text

Baelfire was woken up by a strange, warm tingle on his arm. His eyelids felt incredibly heavy, and he was tempted to just mumble at Gideon to leave him alone and let him sleep, but something at the back of his mind told him that he really should wake up. It was only when he opened his eyes and saw Tink’s apologetic smile that he remembered where he was, and his mood immediately plummeted. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to wake you up, but your wounds really needed healing,” she told him as the gleam of her magic vanished. She looked incredibly tired, and there were dark circles under her eyes, but her face had regained some of its color.

“For how long did I sleep?” Baelfire asked groggily.

“Four or five hours,” Regina said from the entrance of their shelter, her eyes still fixed on the woods outside. Her hair was no longer grey but black, and she had magicked herself some new clothes. “I guarded the place while you both slept, then I cast the anti-tracking spell you told me about and healed Tinkerbell. You’re welcome,” she added bitterly.

“Well… thank you,” Baelfire muttered, still not quite sure how to behave around Regina. Mere hours before they had fought side by side and saved each other’s life multiple times, but that didn’t change the fact that she was an unrepentant mass-murderer. Yet she hadn’t looked all that threatening in her cell and even now, after he’d seen her in action and she had changed her hair and dress, Baelfire didn’t find her so terrifying. Determined and strong for sure, intimidating even, but not scary. 

“Could I ask you to magic some new clothes for me as well? I don’t need anything fancy, just something that isn’t falling apart like these,” Baelfire said, gesturing at his own tattered clothes.

Regina raised an eyebrow, as if she were ready to scold him for being such an annoyance, but waved her hand, engulfing him in smoke. When the air around him was clear again, Baelfire was relieved to find out that she had listened about the ‘not fancy’ part, giving him much plainer clothes than the ones she was wearing. Regina’s own style was a bit over the top for him: with all that black and red leather, she seemed to share his father’s flare for the dramatics. She had been his student after all. 

Finding and cooking food was easier with two magic wielders in their little group, and Baelfire was feeling unbearably useless by the time Tink set a bowl of warm stew in front of him. 

“So, what do we do next?” he said, hoping that bringing up a serious matter would make him feel less like a pampered child. 

“We find your family, I suppose. A locator spell would generally need an object that belonged to the person you want to find, but with both mine and Tink’s magic, and the blood of a relative, I think we should be able to find them,” Regina said.

“What about Belle then?” Baelfire asked. 

“What’s the matter with her? We’ll find her the same way,” Regina replied, her tone rising in irritation. 

“I don’t think we can. You mentioned the blood of a relative, and we’re not related. She’s not my mother; not my natural one, anyway,” Baelfire explained somewhat awkwardly. His relationship with Belle had never quite been defined. She surely behaved like his mother, and she had talked about him and Gideon as ‘her sons’ more than once, but he still didn’t feel like calling her mom, nor had she ever asked him to. She had simply… loved him from the start, just because he was Rumple’s son, without expecting anything in return. The thought made him incredibly homesick, so he tried to focus once again on his present. Regina was currently staring at him in confusion. 

“How can she not be your mother? You can’t be more than nineteen years old, and Rumplestiltskin has been smitten with his maid since the very first day,” Regina said. Plus (but she didn’t dare say it in front of Baelfire), she thought it absurd enough that Rumplestiltskin had found one woman willing to sleep with him, but two of them? That was downright crazy. 

“Actually, I am something over one-hundred-and-fifty years old. I don’t know the exact number, I’ve lost count at some point. My father remembers though, you could ask him when we free him. Long story short, I was born before he became the Dark One, ended up spending over a century in Neverland, and only made my way back here a few years ago,” he explained quickly. He really didn’t feel like sharing details about his troubled past, so he was happy when Regina didn’t ask any other questions.

“So, back to the problem at hand… what do we do about Belle?” Tink said after a few moments.

“I suppose you don’t have anything of hers?” Regina asked Baelfire.

“No, all of her stuff is at the Dark Castle,” he confirmed. 

“Going there would be a risk. If I were Snow, I’d place at least a few guards there to raise the alarm in case you decided to come home. Plus there’s a lot of valuable magic in there, so there might very well be fairies scavenging the place for anything useful,” Tink reasoned. 

“They’ll hardly find anything, papa hides all the powerful stuff with blood magic,” Baelfire said, glad that at least his father’s spells wouldn’t be used against them. The thought of Snow and David’s soldiers rummaging through their stuff, however, still made his blood boil. 

“Isn’t there any other place where Belle might have left something of hers, like a summer palace?” Regina suggested.

“We don’t have a summer palace. Sometimes we visit Mulan and Merida in Dunbroch, but it’s been a while since our last visit, if she had left something they would have probably sent it to her already…”

“Wait, isn’t Belle a noblewoman?” Tink asked suddenly. When Baelfire nodded in response, her face lit up. “Then is it possible that there’s still something of hers at her old palace?”

Baelfire’s brow furrowed in concentration. “Well, all I know is that her father is the Duke of Avonlea. They exchange letters from time to time, but I’ve never seen him. As far as I understand, he barely tolerates the fact that she chose to be with my dad,” he explained.

“Asking for his help still sounds like a better idea than going to the Dark Castle; as much as he might loathe Rumplestiltskin, I doubt he’d want to see his daughter imprisoned,” Regina reasoned.

They all agreed on that, but Baelfire still didn’t feel quite at ease at the idea of asking for Maurice’s help. His step-grandfather could hardly stomach the life that Belle had chosen for herself, to the point that he’d only seen his grandson once. What if he decided that he’d rather see Belle imprisoned than at the Dark One’s side? Baelfire tried not to think about it, but whatever was left of his optimism died out as the spell to locate his father and his brother failed. 

“There must be some powerful spells hiding them. There’s nothing we can do against those, not from here,” Tink said, sagging to the ground in defeat. 

“So our only plan is going to Maurice?” Baelfire asked, already knowing the answer. “Hurray for our second plan in a row that involves getting into a castle to speak to someone I don’t trust,” he added after Tink’s nod, throwing his arms in the air in fake enthusiasm. 

“Thanks for the trust. I should have let you die in that dungeon,” Regina muttered, pretending to be offended. 

“If I had been fool enough to trust you, you would have been wise to let me die,” Baelfire replied, smiling. 

He hoped Regina’s sarcasm would last; their banter took his mind off of his worries, and it reminded him of his dad’s antics. If she kept up behaving like this, he might even start to like her.

They waited in their shelter until nightfall, then Regina teleported them to Avonlea. She had visited the place during her years as a queen, and while she didn’t remember the exact geography of the place she was fairly certain she could take them to the forest around the castle. Even if they happened to stumble upon someone as they materialized, after a few hours of rest they felt prepared for a little fight.

The forest was eerily silent when they arrived. As the smoke cleared around them, Baelfire strained to catch any signs of human presence, but it was hard to do so in almost complete darkness; it was a cloudy night, and hardly any light filtered through the leaves. He would have asked Tink for a globe of light or something like that, but he didn’t dare give such a blatant sign of their presence when he wasn’t even sure of where they were, or if there was anyone nearby. That’s why he almost had an heart attack when he saw something flashing at the corner of his eye. He turned around to find Regina holding a fireball in the palm of her hand without a care in the world. 

“What the hell? Turn that thing off now!” he hissed angrily. 

“I can’t feel any magic presence around here; if we’re not alone in this forest, then it’s nothing we can’t handle,” said Regina drily. As if to prove her point, she made the fireball in her hand burn even bigger and brighter. 

What is she, five years old? Baelfire thought as he turned his back on Regina to look at Tink. 

“She’s right, we should be safe for now,” Tink confirmed, and Bae didn’t know if he was more relieved because they weren’t going to die, or annoyed because Regina was right. “I do think it would be wiser if we used a normal torch rather than a fireball, you know, just to keep up a normal appearance should we stumble upon someone,” she added, looking at Regina, who immediately turned the fireball into a torch. 

Tink nodded in approval, then shrunk down to her small fairy form.

“Wait, weren’t we trying to keep up a normal appearance?” Regina protested immediately.

“I need to see beyond the trees, to check where the castle is. It will only take me a second,” Tink explained, then vanished amidst the trees. 

It turned out that Regina had done a really great job with her teleport: the castle was less than half an hour away. The problem was that they still had no clear plan on how to get in, or what to do once they got past the doors. 

“Why don’t we just ask for Maurice’s help? If he wants to help us, there’s no point in sneaking in. If he doesn’t want to, it will be easier to run away if we’re not inside his castle,” Baelfire suggested. He didn’t trust the Duke, but he didn’t want to jump into a fight if there was a way to avoid it. He had always hated violence, and his decades on Neverland had cemented that feeling. Pan loved to start fights amidst his Lost Boys for the silliest reasons, and the more people get hurt, the funnier he seemed to find it.

“Even if I thought this a good idea - which I don’t - how could we get in contact with Maurice without getting into the castle in the first place?” Regina asked him. 

“It’s easier than you think,” Baelfire replied, smiling. Finally a problem he knew how to solve. “Watch this,” he said, then put two fingers in his mouth and let out a long whistle. 

“Are you insane? Or is your plan just to alert the entire kingdom of your presence?” Regina said aggressively, but Baelfire didn’t mind her. His gaze was fixed on the sky, and soon enough a white dove emerged from the leaves and came to rest on his outstretched arm. 

“What kind of princess trick is that? Did you take lessons on bird language from Snow White?” Regina asked, looking at him as if he had just grown a second head. 

“Nothing of the sort. It’s a long story, but let’s just say that messenger doves consider me their friend. They’re magical creatures, and they always find the recipient of the letter. Getting in contact with Maurice won’t be a problem,” Baelfire explained, caressing the dove’s head. 

“That’s incredible. Messenger doves are a symbol of goodness and purity, and not many people manage to get their trust. Fairies often have to ask for their help, and I can’t help but imagine how shocked Blue would be if she knew that they willingly offer it to you,” Tink commented, both awed and amused. 

“If you really want to laugh, you should see my papa around them; he always tries to pretend he’s annoyed by their presence around the castle, but he’s the one who leaves food for them whenever he thinks no one is watching,” Baelfire added. 

“Sorry to interrupt your hilarity, but we have more pressing issues at hand. Are you really sure you want to put our missions in the claws of a pigeon?” Regina asked.

“It’s not a pigeon and you know it. As for your question yes, I think it’s a good idea. In case you don’t remember, the last time we tried to get out of a castle with violence we almost all got killed. This time, we are going to try diplomacy first,” Baelfire rebutted. Evil Queen or not, he wouldn’t back down from his plan. 

Regina argued for a little while more, but eventually capitulated, even though she refused to help them write the letter. It took Baelfire and Tink several attempts to find the phrasing that looked most convincing without sounding desperate, but after almost an hour the dove was flying again, headed towards the castle. 

Baelfire sighed as the bird disappeared beyond the trees; the idea of waiting for a response that might never come was incredibly frustrating, but there was nothing he could do about that. So he busied himself building a camp that Tink and Regina then hid with their magic. Tink seemed to appreciate the distraction as well, because she helped him gather wood and prepare the bedding, but soon enough there was nothing left for them to do. Even if he was still incredibly tense, eventually Baelfire couldn’t help but doze off.

He was woken up at the first light of dawn by a gentle pecking on his hand. He blinked his eyes open and saw the dove he’d sent the night earlier staring down at him. There was a new message tied to her leg: Maurice had written back. 

“Your Grace, I don’t think you should go into the forest alone. Please, allow me to escort you,” Lord Legume insisted, but Maurice wasn’t listening to him. He had let other people’s fears and prejudices guide him for too long, and he had already lost so much because of it. Today he finally had a chance to fix at least something of what he had broken, and he wouldn’t miss it.

“As I’ve already told you, I don’t need anyone’s help. I’m not a child, and I’m most definitely able to take care of myself. I said I need some time alone to think and, by the gods, I will have it,” he replied as a stable boy helped him mount his horse. 

The other man kept protesting even as Maurice spurred his horse and left the stables, and the Duke was incredibly relieved when he finally left that annoyance behind. Left alone with his thoughts, Maurice started to feel a little anxious. What if the boy - Baelfire, that was his name - couldn’t find the meeting place he had suggested? What if the mission to rescue his daughter failed? What if Lord Legume was right to worry, and he was riding straight into a trap? He told himself that there was really no point in worrying when all the answers he needed were so close, but by the time he reached the clearing he had described in his letter his heart was hammering in his chest.

The place looked empty, but as soon as he dismounted his horse someone stepped out from behind the trees. 

“Good morning, Your Grace,” said the fairy flying next to Baelfire. “We’re sorry for hiding until now, but nowhere is truly safe for us,” she explained. She seemed accustomed to the etiquette, and even bowed a little in greeting. Baelfire, on the other hand, was eyeing Maurice with curiosity and a bit of suspicion, and was apparently so lost in his own thoughts that he didn’t even greet him. His letter had also mentioned a third member in their little group, but this other person was nowhere to be seen.

“If there’s someone who needs to apologize, that’s me,” Maurice said, not really knowing how to go on. “That’s why I’m here today, to start being a better man - and a better father - than I’ve been so far.”

“So you don’t mind if we drop all formalities? Because I’m really bad with those,” Baelfire said somewhat bitterly.

“Hardly any of this meeting is following the rules anyway,” Maurice said, feeling more awkward with every passing second. “Look, I know what you must think of me, that I’m an idiot and that I don’t deserve a daughter like Belle, because I couldn’t appreciate her. I know. I just want her to be safe. I want her whole family to be safe.”

It had taken him a long time to realize what really mattered in his life, but hearing that his daughter had been taken prisoner had opened his eyes. Nothing was more important than Belle’s happiness, and if she had found it in the life she had chosen then no one - not even him - had the right to judge her for that. 

“That’s why I brought you this,” he added, taking a blue ribbon out of his pocket. “Do you think it will work, even if she hasn’t touched it in over twenty years?”

“Definitely. What matter is that it’s hers, not how much she uses it,” Tink reassured him. 

Baelfire took the ribbon from Maurice’s outstretched hand. He could simply thank the man and leave, and Maurice probably wouldn’t judge him for it. After all, they had a complicated spell to prepare and no time to lose. A part of him wanted to do just that, to get out of this awkward situation and forget about it, but deep down he knew that wouldn’t be right. He had to say something. 

“Look, I’m not going to tell you that what you did wasn’t horrible, because it was. I know better than anyone how my father can be, but Belle is your daughter, and you shut her out,” he started. Maurice was looking extremely uncomfortable, but there was no point in sugar-coating the issue. “However, there’s another thing I know a lot about, and it’s how complicated father-child relationships can be. Just because you screwed up, it doesn’t mean you can’t fix things. Belle loves you, and you’ve already showed that you want to change. If you go on like this, I’m sure everything will be fine.”

If he and his father had managed to salvage their relationship, then surely Belle and her father could do the same. Maurice looked incredibly moved by his words; he was blinking furiously to hold back the tears, and suddenly pulled Baelfire in for a hug which felt only a tiny bit awkward.

After pulling back from the hug, Maurice assured them once again of his support, even though he couldn’t publicly take their side because of Snow and David’s threats, and begged them to keep him as informed as possible. As he rode away from the clearing, Maurice prayed to all the gods that his family would be safe. 

After a day of rest, with new, warm clothes on and bandages on her cuts, Belle felt like a new person. The sun was setting, and she was almost giddy with expectation. She was finally doing it, she was going to save her family, or die trying. 

“I pity the people who stand in your way; they don’t have a chance against you,” Roland told her as he hugged her goodbye.

He was so affectionate with her, and Belle was already incredibly fond of him. She couldn’t help but think that Baelfire and he could be great friends; hopefully, in a not so distant future she would be able to make them meet. 

Robin kept making recommendations to his son as they waited for the sky to go dark, and Roland’s pretend annoyance at his father’s worry managed to distract them both from the uncertainty that loomed over their separation.

At last, it was finally time to leave; there was a long way ahead of them, and no more time to lose. They had only taken a few steps outside of the cabin, however, when a cloud of green and red smoke appeared in front of them, giving them just a second to prepare for the materialization of someone. 

“Belle!” 

She had wanted so much to hear that voice, and for so long, that she almost didn’t believe it. As the smoke cleared, however, there was no denying the reality: Baelfire was right in front of her, calling her name like his life depended on it, and Belle was so relieved that it took her a while to notice the woman at his side. 

“Bae, get behind me, NOW!” she ordered, dragging him by the elbow so that she could put herself between him and their enemy.

“Wait, it’s all a misunderstanding, she’s with us,” Baelfire protested, as Tinkerbell moved to stand between Regina and Robin’s bent bow. 

“She is tricking you. Do you know who this woman is? What she has done?” Belle asked him, taking her dagger out without taking her eyes off of the Evil Queen.

“As shocking as it is, yes, they know, and they still asked for my help because they know that without me your rescue mission is doomed to fail. So please put your weapon down, before you hurt yourself,” Regina said, not impressed at all by their show of hostility. If anything, their reaction proved that she had been right in not wanting to meet Maurice; showing up with a fearsome criminal in tow was hardly going to gain his sympathy.

“Why should I believe you, after all you’ve done to Rumple and me? Why would you ever want to help us now?” Belle asked, every nerve of her body on edge. No matter how much time passed, she remembered the Evil Queen’s laughter as she was dragged into her dungeons as if it were yesterday. She had spent a whole year of her life rotting inside her prison, waiting for the moment the Queen would either try to use her against Rumple or kill her after deeming her useless. She wasn’t just going to let that slide.

“Because, as absurd as it sounds, right now our interests are aligned. I wanted my freedom and to ruin Snow’s plans, and your step-son needed my help. He still does, in fact, and so do you,” Regina explained.

Belle didn’t know what to say, and after several seconds of tense silence she turned around to look Baelfire in the eyes. 

“Do you really think this isn’t going to backfire?” she asked him. Even if the idea of working with the Evil Queen scared her out of her wits, she trusted Baelfire’s judgment. He wasn’t a fool, and he had survived on Neverland for decades all on his own: if he truly thought Regina’s presence was necessary, then she’d listen to him.

“If she wanted to try something, she would have done it already. Tink and I were unconscious for several hours after freeing her, and she didn’t run away or hurt us. She has been nothing but helpful so far,” Baelfire answered honestly. Belle would never truly trust Regina, and he wasn’t asking her to, but he needed them to work together for them to have a chance to succeed. 

“Fine,” Belle conceded eventually. “But give me just one reason to suspect you, and you’ll regret having ever escaped your prison,” she added, looking at Regina. As the tension left her body, Belle felt tears prickle her eyes as she finally pulled Baelfire into a long-desired hug.

Baelfire wrapped his arms around her in return, feeling like he ought to say something, but not knowing what. He wanted to reassure her, to tell her that he was okay, that they would all be okay, but he knew that would be a lie. More than anything, he felt the need to call her mom like he had never felt before. He was too young when his mother ran away to have a lot of memories of her, and he couldn’t recall a single time when Milah had hugged him like this, like she was at the same time protecting him and taking strength from his mere presence. He ended up not saying anything at all, but he hoped that Belle could sense some of his feelings from the way he clung to her. She was incredibly perceptive after all. 

Even though time was of the essence, they took a few minutes to exchange information, and they were all shocked to find out just how close they had been to meeting the day before. Belle didn’t seem able to stop thanking Tink, while Robin looked extremely wary of Regina, who in turn made a snarky remark about him smelling like forest. They were probably the strangest, craziest rescue party that the Enchanted Forest had ever seen, but Baelfire had to believe that they would make it, that their determination would be enough.

They were about to finally leave when they heard the unmistakable sound of someone running towards them. They all immediately turned towards the sound, weapons drawn, but the relief of seeing that it was Judy only lasted a second. From the look on her face, it was clear that something really bad had happened. She was so worried that she didn’t even question the presence of Bae, Regina and Tink, merely exchanging a look with Roland to know if it was safe to talk in front of them. When he nodded his approval, she handed Belle a piece of parchment. 

“I ran here to warn you as soon as these were put in the village; I was afraid I wouldn’t make it in time,” she explained as she tried to catch her breath. 

Belle opened the sheet with trembling hands, and when she saw its contents she felt her blood run cold. 

“It’s Gideon,” she told everyone else, her voice so tiny it was hard to hear, even in the silence of the woods. “They’re putting him to death. He’s scheduled for execution in ten days time.”

After hearing that the Evil Queen had been freed by someone who was posing as the Blue Fairy, the guards of Gideon’s prison were extremely wary of letting Blue in. They asked her all sorts of question to check her real identity, but she answered them all without batting an eye; if anything, she only looked annoyed at them. They were elated when she informed them that she’d be taking the boy away, so much that they didn’t question her when she asked to be left alone with him before taking him away. Gideon’s presence made them a huge target for the Evil Queen, and many men were deeply unsettled by the sight of the miserable, lonely kid. 

Gideon’s head shot up at he heard someone approaching his cell, and he snuck closer to the bars, trying to get a glimpse of the visitor while he was still hidden in the shadows. Rage filled his veins when he recognized the fairy who had imprisoned him, and he could feel the magic coursing through him, fighting and burning against the cuff that kept him trapped and powerless. 

“GO AWAY!” he screamed at Blue as she got closer. He didn’t want to see her, he didn’t want to hear what she wanted to say, he just wanted his parents. 

“There’s no need to scream. I’m here to take you away,” she explained, crouching down so that she was eye level with him. 

Gideon was taken aback by her response and stopped to think for a moment.

“I don’t trust you,” he said eventually. “And I don’t want to go with you.”

“I knew you’d say that, but I’m really trying to help you. If you come with me,” she paused for a moment, then spoke again, her voice so low that Gideon almost didn’t hear it. “I can take you to your parents.”

“You’re lying,” he replied immediately. “Why would you want to help me?”

“Because I’m not who you think I am,” she said. One moment later, she let part of her glamour spell vanish, just enough to show Gideon her real face. 

Gideon gasped in surprise. By the time he had recovered from the shock, the glamour spell was back in place, and he already missed the long blonde hair that his savior was hiding under the spell. He loved to touch people’s hair, even though his mom had told him it was rude. 

“Will you come with me now?” she asked him again, and this time Gideon could do nothing but nod enthusiastically. He’d do anything to get back to his family. 

Before opening the cage, she reminded him again that he would have to pretend she was the Blue Fairy until they were far away from the guards. Gideon nodded in understanding, then started screaming at her again. For the first time since he had been captured, however, he was truly happy about making a fuss. This time he wasn’t screaming for naught, he was actually making fun of his guards, turning his escape into a joke at their expense. 

Not-Blue teleported him away once they were out of his prison, reappearing in a forest he didn’t recognize. It was only then that he asked her her name. 

“Call me Odette,” Emma said.

She didn’t know how much Gideon knew about the reason why he had been imprisoned, but it was far better if, for now, he didn’t know about her identity. She wasn’t sure of what he would do otherwise, and the last thing she needed was for him to turn against her.