Chapter Nine.

Sometimes Bae thought about what his life had been like when it had been normal. It had, once or twice in his years of existence, he was sure. It was always a variation of normal, but it had been his. Normal had been those early mornings when his papa would wake him, voice patient as he had ushered him through getting ready for the day. Normal had been learning the trade that put food on their table and something that might be considered a roof over their heads. Then the Dark One's curse and the Ogres War had shattered his normal. Many years later he'd tried to find a new normal in Emma Swan, but that had been stolen away by her eventual place in breaking yet another curse. Finally there had been his engagement to Tamara, but looking back that had been twisted all the way through.

Okay, maybe his life had never been normal, Bae conceded to himself as he blocked a spear aimed at him.

He risked a glance back to Henry who was behind his mother. The boy was a quick study with a sword, but he was hardly ready to toss him a weapon and make him more of a target than he was already. Wanted alive by this Jafar guy or not, Rumplestiltskin would be the least of the crazy sorcerer's problems if Henry was hurt even a little on this horrible trip.

"Neal!" Emma shouted and he just barely missed the sword that one of the guards carried. He dodged and came around with his own, using the momentum behind the swing to take his attacker off balance and to the floor.

He grinned at the blonde. "No problem," he offered with a shrug.

A powerful gust of wind took guards off their feet as well as them, as if the attacker had little care for the safety of either party. Bae hit hard, gripping the hilt of his sword so that it didn't go sliding across the marble floor. He sat up, feeling a little dazed, and saw a man stalking directly towards them, robes flowing out with the power that seemed to radiate around him, anger fueling it.

Will let out a curse even as the man flicked his hand and ordered, "Genie, back to your bottle."

Bae watched as the man dissolved suddenly and without hopes of escaping, whisked off to a bottle in some other part of the palace. He'd been around magic long enough to recognize someone that used it with every breath as this man did, and he started to stand, ready to put himself between Jafar and Henry if need be.

"Don't bother," Jafar snapped and Bae was floored with barely any movement from the other man. He slammed hard into the marble floor and this time his grip did loosen around the hilt of his sword. It moved seemingly on its own and the blade pressed lightly against Bae's neck. "Now be a good boy and stay. Cyrus, if you'd be so kind as to return what you stole from me now."

"You'll have to kill me first, Jafar," Cyrus growled from his place.

"Well, if you insist."

"No so fast, dearie."

The sword at Bae's neck clattered to the ground and Jafar looked around wildly, seeing the source of his plan going awry. Baelfire's lips twitched up in a knowing smirk and he saw his papa, Belle, and Alice as he pulled himself to his feet.

"Rumplestiltskin," Jafar growled, the name coming out more as a curse than anything else. He raised his hand, ready to defend himself. "Impossible. You were dying."

"You saw what I wanted you to see, Jafar, just like you have since I stepped foot into Wonderland. You might be good in Agrabah, you might even be talented here in Wonderland, but you're nothing compared to the Dark One. You chose to play a game that you had no hopes of winning. Poor judgement on your part, dearie." Golden eyes met dark. "Bae?"

"I'm good, Papa," Bae answered him, straightening and looking back to where Emma had an arm wrapped around Henry protectively. "We all are."

"And for that," Rumplestiltskin said as he began forward, his steps steady and no sign of any injury on him, "I'll be generous today. I'm going to let you live, Jafar."

"Indeed how generous," the other sorcerer bit out. "What makes you think-"

"You see, dearie, I see the future, so I already know how this is going to end. You are the variable. I really have no stock in your little… endeavour here. We're leaving today and you may pick up where you left off before we came or I can put you into the ground now for your foolishness." He flashed out of existence and then back in, suddenly in the face of the taller man. "Your choice."

Jafar met Rumplestiltskin's eyes for only a moment or two before snorting. "I suppose you'll be taking the former genie and Alice as well?"

"Well I shouldn't think you'll have to wait long for them to come traipsing right back in after their dear friend Will," the Dark One answered lightly, his voice dancing as much as his hands as he spoke. "You wanted a deal, Jafar. I guarantee this is the best one you'll get from me."

"Deal," the younger sorcerer growled.

"We can't leave Will!" Alice protested from behind.

"Of course you can," Rumplestiltskin answered and then they were gone, pulled away from the palace and landing far outside the grounds.

Bae swayed. He hated the feeling of leaving half himself behind when he had no warning. He turned to tell his father just that and saw him stumble dangerous, the glamour he'd worn washed off somewhere between the palace and where they'd landed. His entire front was covered in dried blood and the expensive dragonhide leather that made up his vest was ripped like he'd been run all the way through. "Papa!" he shouted even as his knees gave out and he landed hard on the grass.

"It's fine. I'm fine," he protested as his son knelt in front of him, hands steadying either shoulder. "It's mostly healed… partially healed."

Baelfire's eyes flickered over to where Belle stood and she frowned, stepping up behind his father and Rumplestiltskin leaned back into her touch as soon as she was near. "Someday you'll remember that you're only human."

"Three-hundred years of habit is hard to break," Rumple answered tiredly.

"How is this going to end?" Alice asked, her voice quiet but gaining attention from all those around.

Rumplestiltskin looked at her seriously. "That depends on you and your friends, dearie."

"But you see the future. You said-"

"I do, but not here. I lied to Jafar. It's called a bluff." He pulled in a deep breath, forcing himself unsteadily to his feet and leaned heavily to the left, Belle keeping him balanced that way to stay off what looked like a very sore ankle after traipsing all over the land. "Even so, I wouldn't bet against you. Especially since you got away with your friend."

Cyrus' eyes narrowed. "The Knave was-"

"Not that friend, dearie. The one trapped inside that staff you've been toting around. A very powerful being, isn't she? You'll need her to defeat Jafar, that much I can offer you."

"Can you free her?" Alice asked.

"I would be able to, yes."

The girl smiled, probably the first real one that they'd seen from her yet. "Would a healer and a way home be a sufficient trade?"

Rumplestiltskin's expression softened and he stretched out one hand. "I'd say we have a deal," he acknowledged as they shook on it.

It was everything Henry could do not to beg his parents and the others to go back in immediately to rescue Will. They didn't leave people behind, but he also knew - as he would have liked to think that he was a little older and a little wiser these days - that sometimes you had to take a step back and regroup. His grandpa was pale and drawn by the time they reached where they were going, though most certainly still stubbornly on his feet. Belle had stopped asking him if he was okay and had grown quiet now. The silence between them all made Henry's heart sink a little.

Alice and Cyrus took them to the White Rabbit's home and while they were immediately welcomed in by a pretty female rabbit in lipstick, the White Rabbit himself seemed a bit put out by the company, complaining the whole way about blood stains and the carpet while his wife rolled her eyes.

Rumplestiltskin took a seat, dark eyes watching carefully and Henry took a seat next to him. "You okay?"

"Why does everyone keep asking?" he groused back and his grandson offered him a lopsided smile.

"Could be that you're covered in blood."

Rumple snorted, but still shot an amused look in the teen's direction. "So I am. Yes, Henry, I'll be fine. Hopefully I won't sleep through your birthday though."

"I forgot," Henry managed in a shocked tone. "I've never forgotten my own birthday.. Who forgets their own birthday?"

"Lads that have been wandering around Wonderland."

"I'm not even entirely sure what day it is."

His grandfather offered a shrug, leaning back against the cushions behind him but never risking a chance to let his eyes slip shut. "Nor I," he admitted softly. "Wonderland does that to you. We'll see where we pop back out."

"We're not staying to save Will, are we?"

"I'm afraid not."

"We should," Henry said, knowing the argument was futile even as he gave it. "He helped me get out. He's-"

"This is not our fight, Henry," Rumplestiltskin said softly. "But you're right. He did help you and that's why I'm going to give them their best chance at winning against Jafar."

"What if he does it?"

"Does what?"

"Breaks the laws of magic."

The Dark One fell silent on that question and he pursed his lips together.

"That bad, huh?"

"Well, it's most certainly not good."

"Good thing we have Alice and Cyrus on the job," the White Rabbit's wife said as she pushed a cup of steaming liquid into Rumple's hands. "I don't want to hear an argument from you, Dark One or not. They brought you here and no one leaves my home injured. House rules."

"What is it?"

"You're a sorcerer. You tell me."

One dark brow quirked upward and he sniffed at the drink. After a moment and a thoroughly expectant look from his grandson that just wouldn't end, he must have decided that it couldn't do any more harm than good and tilted the glass back, taking the whole solution in two large gulps. He pitched forward suddenly, choking and gagging on it and shot a vicious glare at the lady rabbit smiled sweetly at him.

"You'll thank me later, dear," she told him with a shrug.

"Much later, I'm sure," Rumplestiltskin answered, but there must have been something worthwhile in the solution because he stood, looking more steady on his feet than he had when he'd halfway collapsed to the seat, and motioned to the snake staff that Cyrus was holding. "Let's get on with this, shall we?"

Henry's view of magic had grown and changed over his experience with it. When he was younger and magic was first brought to Storybrooke, all he'd seen it used for was evil. It had corrupted his mom and made her the Evil Queen, it had brought down a curse on a group of people that had never done anything wrong, and had destroyed countless lives. As he grew up and he watched how people used it and sometimes even how they grew, he decided it wasn't so much magic, but the person and how they used it. A good person could be driven to evil just as easily as a so-called evil person could start the long trek back to good. The one thing that was most certainly true was just what he'd always heard his grandfather say - even before they'd known the relationship was there - in that all magic came with a price. Looking at his parents, at Belle, and at his grandpa, he was never more certain of it.

Rumplestiltskin took hold of the hesitantly given staff and his dark eyes studied it. "Quaint," he muttered after a moment and set it down. He took one step back, releasing the staff and it stood straight up as if held by string. He never seemed to need words to work his magic, and Henry was halfway sure that the way he flourished his hand was more for sure than anything else. It's emotion, he always said and the teen knew that they'd run high on this particular trip.

Magic swirled through the little rabbit hole and dark red and grey smoke enveloped the staff. When it faded back away, a woman stood there instead. She was tall and utterly lovely and she stared at him with a guarded curiosity.

"Maman?"

The woman turned. "Cyrus," she breathed and she threw her arms around his neck. "My boy. My sweet son."

"Ah," Rumplestiltskin breathed his understanding. "There's a twist to the story."

Cyrus broke free of his mother. "How can I ever repay you?"

"You hold up your end of the bargain," the Dark One said, motioning to the White Rabbit that looked very nervous to have someone pointing in his directly, "and you provide us with a path home."

"Rabbit?" Alice called. "Will you do it?"

"Where's home?"

"The Enchanted Forest, preferably the Dark Castle deep in the Forbidden Mountains if you can manage it."

"My… You people really do know how to name places, don't you?"

Emma snorted, the first sound that she'd made since walking into the little hole. "I can't believe that a talking rabbit is the one that finally gets that. Irony."

"You'll save Will, won't you?" Henry asked as he saw all the signs that they were leaving. He had to know. He couldn't leave without knowing.

"We'll save Will," Alice promised even as the White Rabbit had begun to dig his hole.

"One last thing," Rumplestiltskin said, his voice somehow standing over the rush of the portal opening. "The Nyx will help you. That's the only piece of the puzzle I have left to offer you for your part in helping to save my grandson."

"Thank you."

Henry grinned and offered a wave. He wasn't used to leaving people behind at the end of an adventure. They all seemed to come back around sooner rather than later. Even the majority of the Lost Boys had stayed with them upon return. Even so, he hardly thought that he'd be returning to Wonderland any time soon.

The rabbit hole was an easier ride than the Looking Glass, but the Dark Castle's polished marble floors took a hit as the marble was thrown in all directions by the opening hole. They had landed in the Great Hall and were greeted by two sorceresses staring owlishly at them. "Mom!" Henry greeted, rushing forward to hug Regina. "What are you doing here?"

"You think I'd miss your birthday?" she asked, returning her adopted son's embrace and shooting a glare over his shoulder. "Rabbit."

The White Rabbit looked ready to faint and Belle offered him a smile. "Thank you so much for the trip home. We wish you all the best in defeating Jafar."

"I went to Wonderland!" Henry announced excitedly as the rabbit made his hasty escape from the Enchanted Forest.

"Did you now?" Regina asked sweetly and looked directly at Rumple. "Why would he do a thing like that?"

Rumplestiltskin turned wide, dark eyes on her. "Never mind that. Why is Maleficent in my castle?"

The blonde sorceress waved, her expression so over-the-top that it was almost predatory. "Hello Rumple dear. Regina mentioned that she was coming here for Henry's birthday and I thought that even though our castles reside in the same mountain I just never drop by for tea."

"Maleficent is your neighbor?" Baelfire asked, choking back his own laugh at the sight of the woman he'd heard Emma had fought below the clock tower in Storybrooke sitting in his father's castle and raising her tea cup daintily as if she were cheering something.

"I prefer not to talk about it," Rumple groused. "Or think about it. Ever."

"Hey… Sorry about the sword to the chest," Emma managed and the other woman shrugged.

"It was his fault anyway. It usually is."

Emma nodded and turned.

"Mom, where're you going?" Henry called.

"I've finally hit my quota. Too much weird in one day. Or days. Or whatever the hell this was. Remember our new rule."

"Don't touch anything if I don't know what it does. Got it." He watched her nod and then sort of drift out of the room, shaking her head the whole way and he turned to fix a very serious look on his father. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"You're just going to stand there?"

Regina snorted and retook her seat in Rumplestiltskin's spot at the long table, crossing her legs and leaning back in the high-backed chair.

"She's never going to say yes until you wear her down," Henry pressed when his dad continued to give him a blank stare.

"Henry, that's not-"

"It's what I did to get her to believe in magic. I never gave up and now look at us! We just got back from a trip to Wonderland and we're in Grandpa's castle and everything's great!"

"I really don't want to hear the name Wonderland for at least a century," Rumplestiltskin groused.

"Okay, maybe not great, but we're all alive," Henry corrected, never losing his grin.

"Okay, kid. I'll go talk to her."

The large doors closed behind him, washing the room in a silence that Regina broke. "So, Henry, tell me all about how you managed to get to Wonderland from your Grandpa Gold's castle. This should be an excellent story."

To her side, Maleficent giggled and somehow Rumplestiltskin had vanished entirely, taking Belle along with him. Apparently he wanted the blonde sorceress gone less than he wanted to face Regina on that particular subject.

Bae couldn't believe he'd just been talked into chasing Emma down by their fourteen year old son… who was happily not there for the fallout that was sure to come. Emma had made it pretty clear before all hell had broken loose that she wanted nothing to do with a marriage proposal or anything quite as permanent as he would have hoped for. Part of him fell back on a fear that was born out of what he knew from his childhood: she was a princess and spinner's kids didn't marry princesses. No, Emma hadn't been raised here so he'd finally been able to talk himself out of that one. It was something much more… Emma, he was sure. She didn't trust him after he'd left or she thought that things were moving too fast. It could be any number of reasons, but as he rounded a corner and the hallway suddenly got him where he needed to go he felt his heart break just a little.

Emma hadn't taken well to the dresses and the finery that were supposed to accompany her rank. Granted, she put up with them for certain events, but thankfully her mother understood practicality over social norms. While she looked stunning in some of the Enchanted Forest's finest, Bae couldn't help but think that the soft leather breeches and the jacket that resembled the red one she was so fond of from back home suited her better than a dresses and tiaras ever would. It was the look on her face, though, that tugged at him and he knew that she had run so she wouldn't have to face him over this. And there he was, throwing it in her face, expecting her to bend her wants to him. He kicked himself for it and turned, ready to wait until she was ready.

"You don't have to go," her voice followed him and he froze. "I don't mind if you stay."

"You sure?"

"No, but that's okay."

Bae nodded slowly, his boots making only a little noise against the floor as he approached and took the offered seat next to her on the couch. He hadn't been in this room yet and likely neither had she. For all either of them knew, it hadn't even existed until they needed it for whatever conversation they were about to have. "Crazy kid we have, huh?"

This brought a smile to Emma's face. It was small, but she glanced at him oh-so briefly as it perked. "Yeah. Imagine two people that met stealing the same car having a kid that gets himself into all kinds of trouble."

"Well, if you'd told me that when I met you, I'd have believed you. If you'd told me that that trouble would have been in Wonderland, I probably would have thought you were crazy."

Now she was laughing, that gust of a chuckle that made it hard to breathe.

"Your dad okay?"

"Oh yeah. He's tougher than he looks. We may not see him for a couple of days, but Belle's got him handled."

"I kind of got the impression she had the Jabberwocky handled too. Not sure how. Maybe it's just a hunch."

"Your hunches were always good."

"Superpower. Fear it."

It was Bae's turn to chuckle and he sucked in a deep breath. "Superpower of calling out lies. Let's put it to the test."

"Seriously? Now we're doing this?"

"Yeah. Now. Out of all the places I've been, Wonderland was the worst."

"Lie. It was Neverland."

"Yeah, but only by a little. My favourite colour is blue."

"True."

"Kickball was my favourite game as a kid."

"True."

"I love you."

Emma froze, eyes wide and staring at him. "What?"

"Use your superpower. I love you. Do you believe me?"

"Neal…."

"Do you believe me? If you tell me no - and you mean it - I'll walk away right now. We can do that friends thing that we tried back in Storybrooke. I just…"

"No, you have a right to know," Emma murmured. "I think, after talking to Belle and after… Well, that's part of why I just didn't want to talk after the first round with the Jabberwocky. It wasn't just my parents that abandoned me. It was you too."

"You're still afraid I'll leave?"

"No… Yes… I don't know. It freaks me out. What if we get further into this and Henry gets even more excited and then we have to split? What then?"

"Aren't you going at it with kind of a negative perspective?"

"Everything falls down around our heads all the time, Neal, why wouldn't this?"

He stopped, hearing her fears in every word she spoke and it killed him. "I just want you to be happy, Emma."

"I know."

"And more than anything, I want to help you to be happy."

"But how do we know it's right?"

Bae offered her a lopsided grin and before either of them knew it they'd leaned in, his hands tangled in her hair and hers wrapped around his neck. Neither of them missed the powerful rush of energy that flowed from the kiss and after a few moments they broke, blinking at each other. "Because we love each other," he whispered his response.

Tears stood in hazel eyes and she kissed him again. "Yeah we do. I love you, Neal."

"Forever?"

"Yeah. Forever."

Rumplestiltskin felt terrible. The herbs that the rabbit's wife had given him had provided the boost he needed to get home, but then it'd drained him, leaving him ready to crawl beneath the covers of his oversized bed and sleep for a week. Belle hadn't let him, insisting that she saw to his wound, got him a change of clothes, ushered him into the bath, and pretty much anything she could manage to do so that she didn't stand still for more than half a moment. When he finally emerged from the washroom, she was putting fresh sheets on the bed, her gaze entirely focused on the task and she didn't even give notice of his approach until he wrapped his arms around her from behind. "Relax," he murmured directly into her ear.

"I just thought fresh sheets would be nice."

"We'd only slept one night in them, sweetheart."

"It's just-"

"Belle."

She turned to look at him and he could see the heartache in her clear eyes. She was trying to keep it from etching too deeply into her features, but was quickly losing that battle and within a few moments tears had built and he gathered her into his arms, feeling her bury her face in the crook of his shoulder. "I'm a terrible person," she sobbed.

He knew chuckling was the wrong response even as it escaped him. "My dear, I'm not making light of it," he assured her. "It's just… to hear you of all beings in all the worlds say that you are a terrible person…"

She sniffed, running the back of her hand across her face to wipe at the tears. He reached up and pulled it away, the opposite hand moving to take over the motion in a gentler fashion. "You didn't kill her."

"But she'll suffer."

"She caused us to suffer."

"That doesn't make it right, Rumple."

"Perhaps not, but it does make it justified. You saved my life, Belle."

"You would have figured something out."

"I was fading, regardless of the boost Jafar had provided. I never would have overpowered her in that state."

She sniffed again. "You beat Jafar."

"I outwitted Jafar."

"I still stabbed a woman."

Rumple leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "That you did, my love," he whispered. "But you can't dwell on it. Not everything is so black and white as some would have you believe. You did what you had to to help me."

"You have so many nightmares."

"You'll have a few too, for a while, and for once I will help you through them. Just this once I can be your strength, Belle."

This brought a small smile to her face and she kissed him. "I love you."

"And I you." He paused, tilting his head to the side as magic tingled that was not born of their own kiss.

"What is it?"

A smile stretched his lips. "I think I'm going to have a daughter-in-law."

It wasn't long before exhaustion got the better of Rumplestiltskin and he and Belle climbed into the bed. He knew she'd have the nightmares she so feared. There was really no way around that, but he'd be there for her just as she had been for him. This time he had a chance to return her love in the same manner that she showed hers to him.

End.