Crocodile's Daughter - Back to Their True Selves

14 - The Tower

The door flew open and she came down to the basement, turning on the light to see him spinning gold at his wheel. "Enjoying your little toy?" She asked. "The spinning clears the mind, soothes the soul. It cleans the mind, it soothes the soul. Cleans the mind, soothes the soul," He said, spinning, and she chuckled. "You look as awful as you sound. What? You're not enjoying your cage, hmm? Not appreciating your jailer? Oh, no. You look like you want to hurt me. Go on, then. Give it a go. I'd love to see you try, especially when we both know you can't, not when I have this," She said, unlocking the cage, going in, and pulling out the Dark One Dagger when he lunged for her. "You're a slave to it. And to me. Frustration can be so intoxicating...on others. The only one who can do the hurting here is me. So why don't you be a good boy and sit back down?" She sneered, and he sat.

"You know, I noticed the little bird hasn't chirped," She smirked. I gestured to my throat, opening my mouth, and making a grunting noise. "Oh, that's right. You can't. Ugh, you look worse than him. But you can't come out to play. Not in your state. You might hurt my ingredient," She sneered, looking at me. With a sigh, I sat down, crossing my legs. I rested my hand on my stomach, feeling a soft kick.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Don't let us stop you. All the voices in my head...will be quiet when I'm...dead," He said, and she chuckled. "I'm not here to kill you, Rumple. But you really need to keep up appearances," She said. "Appearances? Appearances? For what? For why? Let me spin...spin the madness away. Spin away the madness..." He said, spinning. "No," She said, and he stopped. "I think the spinning is bringing the madness. Here. Come closer. Now, hold still...lest you want me to nick that pretty face. You're probably wondering how I know how to do this. Did I ever tell you about my father? His hands used to shake from drink or...worse. I didn't ask. He didn't tell me. But he couldn't abide going a day without a shave, so...I had to learn how to shave him. He used to say that no matter what we were feeling on the inside, we had to put on our best face. In our land, you and I never had that choice, did we? No matter what we did, our outsides showed exactly...what was rotting on the inside. But...we're in a new land now, aren't we? A land filled with opportunity, not the least of which is to look our best. Oh. I'm so sorry. Did that sting? There. Handsome as ever," She said, shaving his face, nicking him in the process.

"Appearances. You don't care about appearances. If you cared about appearances, you'd change my shirt. Just exactly what is it you want?" He asked. "What I'm after, Rumple is something you've spent a lifetime seeking, something that goes against your very nature, something that I can't afford to wait that long for. Luckily, one of my ingredients is cooking in your daughter's belly. It should be ready any day now," She said and turned off the light.

3rd Peron's POV

"That lock--it wasn't busted before. Ready?" Emma asked, cocking her gun. David opened the cellar, but nothing happened. "So far, so good," Hook said. "Everyone stay alert. Come on," Emma said, going down the stairs while David, Hook, and Regina watched. "There's definitely dark magic here," Regina said as they went down the stairs.

"Can you feel it?" She asked as they looked around. "I don't know. Whatever I feel, it's not good. What would the Wicked Witch keep in a cage--monkeys?" Emma asked, looking at the busted lock on one of the cages. "No, not monkeys," David said, turning on the light. The group stared at the spinning wheel and David crouched down, picking up some golden straw. "Now, how many people do we know...who can spin straw into gold?" David asked.

"Rumplestiltskin," Emma said, then went over to the other busted open cage. "If Gold was in there, who was in here?" Emma asked, looking around the cage. In the corner, she found a pile of sawdust and a carving knife. "I think I know," She said, picking up the knife and showing it to the others. "Is that...?" Regina asked.

"Rempalenski,"