[March 16th] [Once Upon a Time] Finally On Their Way

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Title: Finally On Their Way
Day/Theme: March 16th - A book is like life, and anything can change
Series: Once Upon a Time
Character/Pairing: Rumpelstiltskin/Belle, Neal Cassidy
Rating: K/G

Continuing my post-season 3A series, which assumes everything from 3B on to not have taken place (although they find a book with the stories of those episodes). Mr. Gold, Belle, and Neal are off to New York to find the missing Emma and Henry.


By Lucky_Ladybug

“WHAT?!”

The entire car seemed to shake from the force of Neal’s shocked and horrified cry. It wasn’t even the first exclamation he had made in the past few minutes, as Rumpelstiltskin and Belle had tried to explain to him about the mysterious book they were bringing with them to New York. Rumpel had just got through explaining about the new pages being added since Saturday night.

“Oh, this is just sick!” Neal burst out. Immediately he opened the box on the seat next to him and lifted out the mysterious volume, leafing through the large pages. “I’m dead, you’re suddenly interested in world domination like some cartoon villain, and you and Belle can’t seem to stay together even when you’re at a good point in your relationship! Who would write something like this?!”

“That’s what we’d like to know,” Belle said. “Ruby is going to look around in Storybrooke for anyone who might have both the motive and opportunity to come up with these things.”

Rumpel watched Neal through the rear-view mirror. “Has anything else been added?” he asked with some urgency. If pages were multiplying in the book so quickly, there had certainly been time for more to be birthed before they had crossed over the town line and left magic behind them.

Neal flipped through the pages to the back. “A little bit,” he said. “Apparently the ghost me showed up to Emma and said I didn’t have any unfinished business. That’s a joke. I was trying to reconnect with you and also get to know the son I hadn’t even known about before! How could I not have unfinished business?! Was this other me really that okay with leaving everything the way it was?”

Rumpel’s eyes narrowed. “What bothers me the most about this whole business is that whoever is doing this seems to have an extreme grudge against you and Belle. If it were just myself I wouldn’t care so much. I already know I have a plethora of enemies, mostly deserved. But you and Belle haven’t done anything to warrant such treatment.”

“Unless this is someone’s way of getting back at you,” Belle said quietly, worriedly. “Someone might hate us just because we’re the people you care about.” Although she didn’t say it, she was remembering the reason why Regina had turned her into Lacey . . . and the reason why Hook had shot her.

Rumpel gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I’ve thought of that,” he admitted. “But that still leaves us with the problem of who could do this. It isn’t everyone who has a talent for writing. I keep coming back to August. If someone could get through to the August part of him, I’m certain Pinocchio could be made to write every one of those twisted stories.”

“And probably any one of your many enemies would be capable of that,” Neal sighed. “Only why now? Why not years ago?”

“. . . It could be someone who thought I was finally dead and was only pushed to the breaking point when I came back,” Rumpel mused.

“But that could still be anyone,” Belle said in dismay.

“I wonder how Hook might feel.” Rumpel glanced in the rear-view mirror to see if they were being followed yet. “He still hates me, as far as I know. And he’s capable of harming the people I love to get to me . . . even if they’ve actually tried to help him.” The anger and bitterness in his voice was impossible to miss.

“Did he give any indication that he could be behind this when you got the compass back from him?” Neal asked.

“Not really. But that was before we even found the book.” Rumpel stared at the road as the rising light gradually shined upon it. “And he was so upset over not being able to make the compass work that I doubt he would have taken the time to show any signs of plotting against us.”

“And if he really cares about Emma, would he do anything to harm Neal?” Belle frowned. “He knows Emma cares about him too.”

“I don’t know,” Rumpel said honestly.

“He could think he was eliminating the competition,” Neal said. “But writing a bunch of sick stuff in a book isn’t like actually doing anything to any of us.”

“As long as it doesn’t go beyond the book, it’s fine,” Rumpel said. “The question is whether it will. The book could just be the blueprint for what this person wants to do to us. Perhaps they have some kind of spell that will force us to experience everything in the book.”

“But they can’t do that as long as we’re not in Storybrooke, right?” Neal pounced.

“I hope not,” Rumpel said quietly, worriedly. He was also thinking about what Belle had said about why and how Emma and Henry could really be under an amnesiac spell when they weren’t living in Storybrooke. Magic shouldn’t apply to them out there, but it was to be assumed that it still did.

He already knew that he couldn’t use his own magic outside of Storybrooke. And now, when he wasn’t even The Dark One, there was so much less of it that he could draw upon at all. If their mysterious enemy could use magic in New York and Rumpel couldn’t, he hated to think what might happen. So for once, Rumpel really wished that magic wouldn’t have a presence in this outside world.
****
Since they were driving all the way to New York instead of flying, as Rumpel and Emma had done during the search for Neal, it was necessary to switch drivers every now and then. Belle watched as Neal took over after a while, wishing that she could also help. But she had only taken a couple of lessons from Rumpel in the driving basics. There had never seemed to be time for anything else, with all the chaos that filled their lives.

“How much longer do you think it will take?” she asked Neal after a while.

He glanced at the GPS. “We’re on schedule. It’s pretty much a six-hour drive, if everything keeps going well. We should be there not too long after noon.”

“I hope so,” Belle said quietly. But she still worried over what they would do when they got there. And if she was worried, Neal and Rumpel were likely much moreso.

Neal gripped the steering wheel. “I just hope it won’t be hard to find them when we get there.”

“It was easy to find you with the compass,” Rumpel said. “It led us right to your apartment.”

“That’s true,” Neal agreed. “I wasn’t thinking about that, since I’ve never used the thing before. I was thinking we’d have to use the phone book and we might not find them so easy if . . .” He hesitated. “If Emma doesn’t have the same last name anymore.”

Belle’s stomach turned. “You mean Emma might be married?”

“It’s possible,” Neal said gruffly. “It’s been a long time. And she doesn’t remember anything of the truth. Probably not even her own reluctance to commit to a relationship after . . . after she was let down so much.”

“She might remember that,” Belle said. “I thought her memories were the same up to Henry’s birth.”

“Maybe. I don’t know. I’m not sure how much Regina changed,” Neal said, shaking his head. “Regina was talking about Emma not remembering me right before we left. Anyway, maybe Emma’s attitude would still be different from raising Henry all these years.”

Belle glanced at Rumpel in the backseat. He was awake, and frowning, pondering on this possible new problem. Finally he said quietly, “And what would you do if she was married, Bae?”

Neal sighed. “I don’t know that, either. I wanted Henry to have a father, but if Emma’s married, he has one. Maybe the best thing to do in that case would be to leave them alone.”

“They would still be living a lie,” Belle pointed out. “They deserve to have all the facts.”

Now Neal blew out his breath in frustration. “Papa, you know how conflicted Emma’s been ever since I ended up back in her life,” he entreated. “Just imagine how much worse those feelings would be if she just thought she had a stable existence and all of a sudden I show up in the middle of her marriage!”

“I know it wouldn’t go over well,” Rumpel said at last. “It won’t no matter what’s happening when we get there. We need to at least see how they’re getting along, if nothing else. But whether anything else is done should really be your decision.”

“I know. It was my choice to come after them in the first place. I just hope I make the right decision,” Neal said quietly.

Belle looked down. “. . . When I didn’t remember anything, there wasn’t anything I wanted more than that knowledge. Then I thought Regina gave that knowledge back to me when she arranged my false memories as Lacey. I couldn’t remember any of my real life. I didn’t want to; I was convinced that what I remembered was real.” She didn’t have to look at Rumpel again to know that he was pained. “It was only when I had my real memories back that everything became clear to me. Then I was horrified and I wished I could have known sooner.”

Guilt swept over Rumpel at that statement. “I should have given you the cure as soon as I had it,” he said. “I wondered if you would really want to stop being Lacey. She was so free, so unrestrained. . . .”

“. . . And she didn’t keep trying to change you when you weren’t ready,” Belle finished.

Neal looked like he felt uncomfortable to be in the middle of this personal discussion, yet at the same time, he was amazed and moved that he was allowed to share in it.

“Yes,” Rumpel admitted. “That was true.”

Belle sighed softly. This was definitely something they would need to continue later. For now she said, “Well, my point was that Emma and Henry need the truth just as much as I did.”

“Maybe,” said Neal. “But what about how some of the people were actually happier under the Curse? I’m sure it was a lot nicer for Ruby not to remember what she did to the guy she liked.”

“They were all still living a lie,” Belle said. “Since you dislike magic so much, Neal, I’d think you’d want to free them of any magical influences.”

“I want to,” Neal confirmed. “But I just want to make sure I’m doing what they’d want. At first I thought I was, but the more I’ve been thinking about it, the more I get worried. I’m usually not so unsure about things; most of the time I know exactly what I’m going to do. But when I really think about how I’m holding two special people’s futures in my hands, it’s sobering and overwhelming. I don’t want to do the wrong thing by them, thinking it’s for them when it might really be for me.”

“. . . I believe Henry, at least, would want the truth,” Rumpel said at last. “As for Emma . . . well, she might prefer living the lie so she wouldn’t have to deal with her conflicted feelings again.” From the tone of his voice, he had been thinking about that for a while but hadn’t wanted to say it.

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” said Neal. “At least, she might feel that way at first. I still think that in the end, she’d really rather know the truth even if she hated to leave the lie.”

“We’ll just have to deal with things when we get there,” Belle said. “Seeing them might give us more of an idea of what to do.”

Neal certainly hoped so. But he didn’t say more on the subject.
****
It was hours later when the Manhattan skyline at last loomed in the distance. Belle stared at the incredible buildings in amazement and awe. It wasn’t like the majestic castles of the Enchanted Forest, but the skyscrapers were fascinating in their own right. Belle wondered what was in each of them, but she didn’t ask. While it was a relief to see that their journey was almost at its end, it was also a concern to draw closer to a problem that had become even more confusing on the drive. It wasn’t a good time to express intrigue over modern architecture.

“Did you ever see whether we’ve been followed?” Belle asked instead. “Several times it looked like the same car behind us, but I couldn’t tell for sure. So many of them look similar.”

“I couldn’t tell either,” Neal said in frustration.

“Oh, you can bet we were followed,” Rumpel grunted. “I told David we were going to New York, but I didn’t tell Hook. Unless he told Hook, Hook wouldn’t have any way of knowing where we were going. He wouldn’t want to let us out of his sight.”

“But Hook doesn’t drive,” Belle pointed out.

“He barely knows what a car is, except that it can really pack a punch,” Neal muttered.

“So he would have to come in with someone,” Rumpel nodded. “We were assuming that would be David and Mary-Margaret. What if instead it’s whoever might be his partner in this scheme against us, assuming he’s involved?”

“That’s . . . really not a pleasant thought,” Neal frowned. “It’s hard enough thinking of how to talk to Emma and Henry when they don’t remember. We don’t need Hook being an obstacle because he’s out to get us.”

“Maybe he isn’t,” Rumpel said. “It’s only a possibility. He could have instead come out with Regina and they’re here to see about Emma and Henry, just like us.”

“Well,” Belle said softly, “we’ll know soon enough.”

The buildings of Manhattan stretched out before them, welcoming them to the big city. And, Rumpel thought, waiting to enclose them within it.