Victor put his head in his hands, and had a deep sight.
Then, he looked at the man in front of him, still locked up.
"You should have killed me when you realized what I have become, Gerhardt said to his brother, sad."
Victor just turned his head.
"No. Just no. Brother, it was already too hard for me to bring you back, I am not going to kill you again. You're not going to die because of me, not again, he said with both sadness and guilt."
"Victor... it was just an accident, and..."
He couldn't end his sentence, taking his head in his hands, grimacing at the terrible pain invading him again. When he saw his brother still suffering from the terrible pain that had been in him since he came back to life, since his brother brought him back, Victor again had an air of guilt on his face.
It was his fault.
His brother died because of him, because he was on his quest to bring back dead people from death, because he had been too much taken in his obsession.
Their father died in this situation, but at least, in had been just an accident, and Gerhardt had the excuse of being not entirely human or alive, or himself, a thing that Victor wasn't.
The doctor's hands began to tremble, and he stand up, not being able to handle it anymore. His own brother was suffering and almost dying in front of his eyes, and he could do absolutely nothing.
"I'm sorry brother, he finally whispered. I am going to find a way, I promise you."
The look his brother gave to him almost broke his heart.
He couldn't bare it anymore, and he left the room, almost running.
He needed air, right now.
§§§§
His researches were going nowhere, and he perfectly knew it. His brother was here, alive, but he never seemed so dead to him. He was breathing, he could think, talk, but he wasn't human. He was just a zombie, and the most Victor was trying to fix it, the most he was failing.
His brother just wanted to die, but the scientist just couldn't let it happen.
It wasn't about being famous, about celebrity, not even about his great goal to defeat death, no. He didn't care about it anymore, in fact, now, he wasn't trying to bring back dead people, but just trying to fix his brother.
To make it work, because now, his little brother was alive, but not fine, and it was his responsibility to save him.
He put his hands on a table, these one were still shaking, and he felt a few tears appear in his eyes, and, too moved by his own failure, he didn't even try to wipe them.
"Doctor ? Igor asked. There is a man, here, who wants to talk with you. It's the same man who came here before you brought your brother back."
Victor, a little tired, put his hand on his face, wiping his tears, and he nodded.
"You mean Rumplestiltskin, right ? Alright Igor, make him come here."
The other man then frowned, seeing how exhausted the doctor seemed to be.
"Victor ? Are you okay ? He asked him."
Since Gerhardt came back, things had been quite... harsh, for the two of them, but for Victor in particular.
And he was asking himself if his employer would be able to support it or not.
The doctor tried to give him a confident smile, which didn't really work.
"Yes, of course Igor, I'm fine."
He was lying.
Of course, he was lying.
Before Igor could say anything more, Rumplestiltskin then entered in the room.
Victor Frankenstein immediately frowned, not recognizing him the second he saw him, before shrugging, not really caring about the way his skin looked like.
"Doctor ! I am happy to meet you again. How are things for you ?"
"Not really good, he admitted, completely sincere. I brought back my brother, but it didn't work the way I wanted to. He is still terribly suffering from the side effects of being alive again."
Rumple raised an eyebrow, not really expecting it.
"Oh... so it did work, in the end, right ?"
"Yes, it did. And I still don't know if I have to thank you or not, in fact.
- Well, then, just congratulate yourself, after all, I did nothing important at all. I just gave you the opportunity to get a magic heart, which would make it work, you're the one who did all the work of researches, after all. You did a good job, doctor."
Victor just had an ironic laugh.
"You know what ? I am not even sure of that now. I succeeded, yes... but to what price ? My brother is not himself anymore, he is living without really living, he is in pain. And I can't heal him."
Rumplestiltskin thought about it for some seconds.
"So... he is still alive, right ?
- Yes.
- But he is not well...
- Oh hell, no !
- You see... I think I could help you...
- How ?
- My magic. It could make him feel better. I mean, you already brought him back, I wouldn't have so many things to do."
Hope appeared in the doctor's eyes, before he frowned, suspicious.
"Wait... you want to help me ? Why would you want to do this ? Aren't you the Dark One in your world ? You're not really known for your desire to help people."
After all, Jefferson told him some things about the wizard, after he came in the Enchanted Forest, as they began seeing each other after this first encounter.
Rumplestiltskin rolled his eyes.
"You've got a point, he admitted. But, I will tell you this, as I tell it to almost everyone, I changed. I am not the Dark One anymore, I make myself be called the Sorcerer, and yes, I do want to help people now. And as I can see it now, you need help.
- Oh, you think so ? He asked him, ironic, and almost cynical.
- Oh, sarcasm doctor ? Well, at least, you're still yourself, if you still can make jokes about yourself. First, you need to sleep."
Indeed, it was clear that the doctor hadn't sleep since days, since there were dark rings under his eyes, and it was really difficult for him to stand up and to listen carefully to his interlocutor.
"If you accept to trust me, then, I will make you come in my world, where you would try to rest, and where I would try to cure your brother from... well, from what he is suffering of. Are you okay about it ?"
Apart his brother and Igor, Victor Frankenstein had nothing and no one in the land without color.
He was known here at the mad man who tried to do the impossible, to do what no one could do, he was both seen as monster and a great scientist. But he had to admit he didn't feel like he belonged to his world.
And, if in exchange he could get his brother back, as it used to be, then, well, why not.
Victor nodded his head.
"I agree with this."
And Rumplestiltskin smiled.
So, that was done.
§§§§
He was going to leave Wonderland.
He was really going to leave Wonderland, and he couldn't believe it.
Just as he couldn't believe that it was Regina, the Evil Queen, the one who trapped him here, who was going to help him to do this.
Oh, her and this woman he knew nothing about.
They were waiting for Regina to come back, after this one left them in order to talk to her mother, they were just the two of them, as Will and Anastasia came back before to say him their goodbyes, knowing the Hatter was going to leave soon.
Jefferson looked at Belle, intrigued by her.
She was the one who made him come back from the vicious circle he which he was throwing himself in since he began to do these hats, but he knew nothing about her.
He was really grateful for what she did, but he was asking himself why she was doing this.
"Tell me Belle, who are you ?
- Just a woman who loves books, going on adventures, and who decided to help an Evil Queen to do her redemption.
- Did she tell me the truth ? Is she changing ? What happened exactly ?
- Oh, something very simple, something which helped her opening her eyes. She lost."
Jefferson chuckled, and Belle smiled, because now, he seemed to be more calm and sane than before.
"Yes, I guess it does help, he whispered with mischief.
- She lost against Snow White and David, they put her into prison, and my husband helped her remembering that once upon a time, she was a good person.
- Who is your husband ? He asked, curious.
- Rumplestiltskin, she announced."
He frowned, astonished.
"You married Rumplestiltskin ? The imp ? The Dark One ? How did it happen ?
- Yes, I did. I saw the man behind the Beast, and I helped him see the good in himself. And he is not the Dark One anymore, he get rid of darkness."
Jefferson blinked, before smiling again.
"Whoa... Now I see it, there are many, many things which changed while I wasn't there."
Then he regained his serious, being more stressed.
"Do you think... do you think my daughter is going to forgive me for abandoning her ?"
She could see it easily, Jefferson was afraid.
And she smiled, trying to reassure him.
"Jefferson, you're a good man. You made mistakes in your past, my husband told me about it. But, when you had Grace, you changed totally. You became a father, and a good one, if what Regina told me is true. You left her alone, because you were trapped. You wanted her to have a good life, and you knew perfectly that it wouldn't work if she got a miserable life. A life you were going to have. Regina manipulated and trapped you. And Grace loves you, she will forgive you. By the way, my husband will go to tell her that her father is coming back soon. You don't have to worry."
And Jefferson had a hesitant smile.
"Thanks Belle.
- You're welcome."
When Regina came back, they immediately left the realm.
§§§§
When Rumplestiltskin, Victor, Gerhardt and Igor arrived in the Enchanted Forest, two of them (well, the only one who never went in this world, or even in a world where there was colors.) blinked, facing things they never saw, facing colors they didn't even know they existed.
"Well, welcome into my world ! Rumplestiltskin announced them in a very theatrical way (well, as he himself almost always was in the past, when he was still the imp). And welcome into my house too, he added, showing them the "Light Castle"."
The three men looked at it, impressed, before Victor asked him :
"Are you sure you're okay with the fact of letting us here ? I mean... it's your home, it's your castle."
Rumplestiltskin just shrugged, as if the question pointed something not important.
"As you can notice it by yourself, it's a very big and great castle. And no, you won't bother me or my wife, we already let people live in there before, and it will be just temporary. If you want to stay in this world, then, you can search for a house, if you want to get a place where you can feel like home."
Gerhardt smiled to the wizard.
"Well, sorcerer, then, thank you. I do hope you will succeed in your project, you would literally change my life, if you succeeded to cure me.
- I will try as much as I can, he said as they were entering. Well, first..."
Then he cast a temporary sleeping spell on Gerhardt who didn't sleep since he came back, not needing it and being too taken by the terrible pain he was enduring every time during every days to be able to. Before Victor had time to say anything, the wizard transported his brother in a bed, and he said :
"I made him sleep, so, at least for the next hours, he will not suffer, and you won't have to worry about him, and you can sleep if you want."
Victor just nodded and accepted.
When he went to sleep, it was the moment where Regina and Belle were trying to reason Jefferson.
Some hours later, he woke up and stand up, not completely awake enough, but after what he went through, it was like he had slept for days.
He went to see Rumplestiltskin, who was going to leave his castle very soon.
"Where are you going ? He asked him.
- The former Queen gave me a mission, to go to see a little girl named Grace, in order to tell her that her father is coming back in some hours."
Victor frowned, not knowing if he heard it well.
"Grace ? Do you mean Jefferson's daughter ?
- Yes, indeed. I won't ask you if you know him, the sorcerer told him with a smirk, knowing about the fact Victor and Jefferson had been together for a time before Jefferson had his daughter, after all, I am the one who made you meet each other.
- Where was he exactly ? The doctor asked, not taking into account the joke Rumplestiltskin tried to make (which was not really a good one, indeed). What happened to him ? He asked, kind of afraid.
- Regina, the Evil Queen, she learned about what we did to her, the fake try of resurrection with Daniel. And... she decided to punish him, and she trapped him in Wonderland, some years ago. Then, she decided to free him, she is right now in Wonderland with my wife to do it."
The doctor then frowned.
"Wait... What ? Wonderland ? Really ? Doesn't he hate this place ?
- Oh, yes, he does ! And you can trust me, it surely wasn't a good experience, not with Cora leading the realm, he added. Seeing Victor's puzzled look, he smiled, and added : The only thing you have to know about it, is that she is a terrible woman. She is the one who killed Daniel.
- Oh... I see... Well, I guess, Victor said, who didn't really do it.
- You don't have to worry about this place, he will be out of it in some hours.
- So... you have to go to see Grace.
- Yes. If you want to come with me, you can, I guess she will talk more easily to you than to me... She doesn't know me, while she knows you. Well, her father does mostly, but you see what I mean.
- Yes, I do."
§§§§
Other hours passed, during which Grace talked with Victor and Rumplestiltskin, and where she learned that she had been right all along : her father was going to come back for her, as he promised ! Well, he would be late for their tea party, the one they were supposed to get the day he disappeared, yes, but she didn't care.
They would have time for other tea parties, in fact, they would a new guest, in the person of Victor, as Grace invited him, a thing he accepted.
After all, he thought, it would be good to be reunited with them, as it used to be, in the old good time, and the thing is that he missed the two of them.
He missed what they used to have.
The portal opened, and three people got out of it : Belle, who ran directly into Rumplestiltskin's arms, Regina, who decided it was better if she left immediately (as Jefferson surely didn't want to see her again. As she herself did with him), and Jefferson, who stopped moving.
So, here he was, in the Enchanted Forest.
On his way back home.
The hat made them arrive just in front of the place where Grace lived now, and the Hatter just smiled weakly when he saw his little girl in front of him, feeling like he was going to fall on the ground, too moved to see her again.
She was here, she was safe, and she was looking at him like nothing changed, like he never made that mistake of listening to the queen, like he was just coming back from the woods where he would have been hiding.
Time seemed to stop, and in fact, at first, no one said anything or did anything, not even Belle, who stop moving after she rejoined Rumplestiltskin.
Jefferson didn't notice Victor was here at first, too focused on his daughter, but, when he saw him, his breath stopped briefly, as he was seeing his past lover here too.
They were waiting for him, and a great joy and a great happiness began to invade him, and it was like nothing ever changed.
Then, Grace broke it, running immediately in her father's arms.
Jefferson took her in his arms, embracing her in a deep and great hug which lasted like forever for them.
"Hello daddy, she whispered to him, and he began to cry.
- Hey Grace, I am happy to see you again. I missed you so much.
- And I missed you too.
- I'm sorry I gave you up... I never wanted this to happen, I swear to you.
- It's okay pap, Rumplestiltskin and Victor already explained me everything. I know it wasn't your fault."
Jefferson had a sad and joyous smile, still crying, and he nodded.
"No, it wasn't, he approved."
And then, he looked at Victor, just there, and something woke up in him, something he thought disappeared some years ago, the other man approached him, and he smiled.
He felt better than ever, better than the way he felt when he was in Wonderland.
He felt like he was at home.
He was with his family.
He didn't want anything else, right now.
"I guess we should leave right now, Rumplestiltskin whispered to his wife."
Belle had a tender smile toward the little family which was finally reunited, and she nodded her head.
"I totally approve, she whispered to him."
And they left to their castle, to their own home.
§§§§
Some days passed, and things changed too.
Rumplestiltskin, being the great sorcerer he still was, didn't need many time to cure Gerhardt from the pain he felt since he came back.
But he wasn't the only one who still had things to do.
Regina did so.
She helped Jefferson getting back to who he lost during some years because of her.
Good.
But not enough.
There was someone else she needed to help and save, if she really wanted to be someone good again, someone she punished because she helped Snow White, one day.
Ariel.
Coming close to the ocean, where she knew the mermaid was, she called her, and this one then immediately appeared in front of her. An air of anger and maybe fear too took place on her face, and she looked like she was ready to leave, before Regina began to talk to her :
"Stop ! Ariel, I'm not here to hurt you again, I promise !"
The mute woman gave her a look which surely meant : Are you kidding me ?
Regina rolled her eyes.
Well, it wasn't as if she was not used to it, it was not as if she didn't deserve this.
"Listen, I know I am the one who put you in this situation first, and I know that what I did to you was awful, but I am here to apologize, and to make amend. I want to fix my mistakes... my crimes, in fact, as it's a more appropriate word."
Ariel snorted, seeming to approve the choice of word of the former queen.
First, give me my voice back, she screamed, not being heard because of the spell the witch cast on her.
But Regina easily understood what she wanted to say.
So, she did as the mermaid asked her to.
Ariel felt it immediately, and she then had a sight of relief when she realized her voice was indeed back in her. But then, she frowned, knowing it couldn't be that easy.
It never was.
And she perfectly knew who was just in front of her, she knew how monstrous and dangerous the Evil Queen could be.
"What do you want from me ?
- Why do you think I have bad intentions ? What does make you think I want you to do something for me ?
- Because you're the Evil Queen ! Ariel answered, as if it was an evidence, which was, in fact. This is what you are, who you are. Why would I trust you ?
- Because... I don't know... I helped you ?
- What do you want from me ? She repeated, still not convinced.
- Nothing, I swear ! I am just trying not to be the Evil Queen anymore, and I want to be a better person. A thing I can do just by helping people I hurt in the past. And the thing is that you're one of the people of this... long, long list.
- And then what ? Are you going to give me legs ? Or will I be forced to stay here, far from the man I love and who think I abandoned him, and who may already forgot me ?
- No, you won't ! And of course I am going to give you what you want, I told you, I don't want to be evil anymore, and yes, you don't deserve what I did to you. I am sorry Ariel, and I am here to fix it, as I should have done it before. I don't want to trick you, and if you still don't believe me, you can ask Snow White. We are not enemies anymore, and now, we fight on the same side."
The mermaid desperately wanted to believe in the words the woman in front of her was now saying, but... she was already manipulated by her in the past, and her friend had been almost caught by the queen because of this.
But... the thing is that she asked for nothing, so, maybe that this time, things wouldn't turn as bad as they did before.
Before she had time to add anything, Regina made a gesture, and put on the woman's arm the same bracelet she used in the past (except that its effects would be permanent now), the one which gave Ariel a pair of legs and which made her get rid of her tail.
"So now, you can go and find your prince. And you don't have to thank me, I was just cleaning my own mess, so... Goodbye."
In a last gesture, Regina also sent Ariel (after also giving her human outfits) in the castle where she knew prince Eric was (as there was going to have a ball here), and she herself left the place too.
Ariel started, feeling the change of environment, looked at herself, and she then looked at what was in front of her.
And she smiled, more happy than she ever was since a long, long time.
"Eric ? She asked, looking at the prince she didn't see since the queen took her voice from her.
The prince turned back, and he smiled at her too when he saw her.
- Ariel ?"
It looked like he was really happy she was here, and even if at first the young woman feared that he would not want to see her again after what happened, she quickly realized she had been wrong.
There was no great exclamation of joy, no kiss, no embrace, well, not at this moment, indeed.
They just looked at each other, smiling, as if there was no one around them to see their reunion.
§§§§
It had been since some weeks that Jefferson came back in the Enchanted Forest, and Rumplestiltskin was really satisfied of how things were going.
The Hatter was reconnecting with Grace and Victor, and even if it was still hard for him to be okay with what happened to him (as it was the case for Graham too), he was healing.
And he met Gerhardt Frankenstein too, and this last one was perfectly approving the growing relationship between his brother and the other man.
And well, he was healed too, and he was how he used to be before he died and before he was brought back, thanks to Rumplestiltskin's magic.
So, yes, things were good for everyone.
It didn't mean that everything was good.
Rumplestiltskin still missed his son, really badly, and he knew he had to wait for his return in this world, but it still hurt, even though Belle's presence helped him cope with this.
It was during a day where Belle was not at the castle (she told him something about going to see a huntsman who needed help) and he had to admit that he was feeling lonely.
But it didn't last a too long time, and the sorcerer started when he saw a young man with a young woman, wearing a gauntlet on her left hand, who were coming in his castle.
"Oh, I see !" He whispered for himself, understanding who were these people and the reason why they were here, as he remembered how things happened in the other version of the story that he lived.
It was something he had to deal with, right now.