"Papa! You're alright!" Neal exclaimed as he entered the Pawnshop with Reese in his arms. "Aunt Rae isn't okay, papa. How are you going to help her?"
Rumpelstiltskin slowly walked over to Neal and took his sister in his arms. He walked to the back of his shop, and laid her down on the cot that was there.
"Papa?" Neal questioned his father. "Is she going to be okay?"
"How did you find her?" Rumple whispered, still in shock from seeing his sister like this. He knew that she was upset about his injuries, but he never thought that she would put herself under the sleeping curse.
"She was just laying on the grass unconscious." Neal responded. "I don't think that anyone else can see her. I'm guessing that she used some sort of blood magic, so that no one outside of our bloodline can see her."
"How did Emma see her?"
"I don't know. Maybe it was just a flaw in her magic."
"A flaw?" Rumple laughed. "Son, Rae doesn't have a flaw when it comes to magic. She must have opened up to Emma as well, which is weird because she hates Emma."
"Why does she hate her so much?"
"Because she left her with Captain Hook at the top of a beanstalk." Rumple responded. "She has a past with the pirate, and I actually think that she likes him."
"She likes someone?" Neal, surprised, looked at his aunt in sadness. "I thought that after Cade," he paused, "that she would never open her heart up again."
"I don't think she would purposely open up her heart again. I just think that she has a hard time expressing her feelings.."
"She killed one of my friends because he hurt my feelings." Neal responded. "She expresses her feelings in a very aggressive way."
"Look, Bae, your aunt has had a horrible life, and I know that doesn't excuse her behavior, but you have to-"
"I'm not blaming Aunt Rae. I know that Cade truly hurt her and I hated seeing bruises, cuts, scars all over her body all the time, but that doesn't mean that she has the right to be cruel."
"Alright." Rumple surrendered.
~
Back in Reese's head
"Fuck." Reese stated as she slowly started regaining consciousness. She rubbed her head and looked up to see the Shadow standing there. "Was there a reason for you to throw a piece of stone at me?"
"You were getting me annoyed." The shadow responded. "And I needed some time to think things through."
She started to get off of the floor as she asked, "What did you need to think through? You're in my head, and you wanted to be here."
"I came here to try and gain back your memory."
"I didn't realize that I was ever memory wiped." Reese responded. "How can I remember something that has been wiped?"
"It wasn't exactly wiped...." The shadow started, "It was more of a forgetting spell, so that you can access the memory when you were older."
"Why do I need to access this memory? What will this help me with later in life?" Reese questioned. "Does this have something to do with the thing that will make my life fall apart?"
"It might. Look, this has something to do with the time that you were with your father."
"My father? Why in the world would I want to remember the time I had with him?" Reese responded. "With the little time I had with him, how would I forget something."
"It was small and you have to remember it. The world is counting on it."
"The world? Now you're involving the world? Damn." Reese replied. "Look, I can't help you. I have repressed so many memories in my life, and I don't know if I could get this memory back. I'm sorry. Looks like the world will have to find someone else to save it."
"You have to dig deep, Reese."
Reese closed her eyes, "Oh, I'm digging deep and so far I have found nothing that has to do with my father. Are you sure that he has to do with him? Maybe you confused him with Cade."
"Cade?"
"My ex." Reese responded. "You've been in my head for hours now and you haven't heard of Cade? He was my kidnapper.." She got the vibes that the shadow was looking at her weirdly, so she just stopped talking.
"I didn't get your ex and your father mixed up, Reese. Can you just think about your time with your father?"
"I have been thinking about nothing but that! What more do you want? I don't know what you want me to do anymore. I have no other memories of my time with him. The only thing that comes to mind is when he left me and Rumple."
"You need to think of the positive times with your father."
"What positive things?" Reese questioned. "He was a coward and all he wanted to do is go to fucking NEVERLAND! He didn't care about his children. If he did then he would have never left."
"He did mention that you were his favorite. Now I know why." The shadow laughed. "You remind me of him."
"Thanks for the insult." Reese responded. "Can we go back to you throwing pieces of the castle at me?"
"Why would you want to go back to that?" When she didn't answer him. He sighed, "Talking about your father hurts you, doesn't it? You can't get over the pain of him leaving you."
Reese started getting angry and the shadow looked down, and saw magic coming out of her hands. She screamed and put her arms out in the direction of the shadow. Black magic came towards the shadow, and that made him disappear.
Reese started crying and ran to the one place that doesn't get hit by the pieces of the castle.
~
Back to the real world
Neal and Rumpelstiltskin were talking when Reese's body started shaking, and glowing. Rumple looked down and held down her shoulders.
"Papa! What's happening to Aunt Rae?" Neal questioned.
"Her body is going into shock." Rumple responded. He tried to use his magic to calm down hers, but it didn't work.
"Where is her dagger? Maybe commanding her to calm down will help."
"She never told me where her dagger was." Rumple responded. They both started looking in all over her to see if they could see the dagger.
Rumple was up in the upper part of her body, and Neal was down in the lower half. He started to feel down her legs, which felt very wrong, and once he got to her boots, he felt something stab him in the finger. He quickly moved his hands on top of the boot, and he felt the who dagger next to her leg. He turned to Rumple- who was trying to find the least weird way to feel for it on the top part body- and tapped him on the shoulder.
"It's in her boot, but I can only feel it. We can't see it." Neal responded. Rumple moved over to her boot, and moved his hand over her boot, and the dagger was able to be seen hanging out of her boot. Rumple took it out of the boot, and held it in his hands. "How did you do that?"
"Blood magic, but way more powerful." Rumple stated. "She wanted to make sure that her dagger was protected at all costs."
"Which makes sense."
The dark one nodded his head, and moved her dagger up and down her body, and all of a sudden the body stopped moving around. It was like she was suddenly dead.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Neal screamed. He tried finding her pulse but there was nothing there. "YOU KILLED HER!"
"I-" Rumple felt a lump in his throat, and started tearing up. He sat down at the edge of the bed and moved up to kiss Reese on the forehead. "I'm sorry Rae."
Rumple put his head on her chest and continued crying. He didn't even feel the magic that had released when he kissed her.
He felt a hand on his head, and he just assumed that it was his son, but quickly picked his head up when he heard:
"Why in the world are you crying? Did someone die or something?"
"Rae?" Rumple questioned. "How-"
"True love kiss." Neal was just as surprised as his father. "You finally love something more than your magic. That's new."
"You know I was ready to just die.." Reese whispered. "But then I heard you crying and I just couldn't leave you here alone." She looked up at Neal, "No offense Bae, but I just thought you would just leave your father."
"And you were correct."
"I am right here, you know?" Rumple responded. "Just so you know.. Cora has died."
"You used the candle?" Reese questioned. Rumple nodded and she sighed. "So who was the lucky person who killed Cora?"
"Snow White."
"That goody-goody decided to kill Cora, or did she have some encouragement from you?" Reese asked. Rumple looked up at his son- who looked heartbroken by what he was hearing- and just nodded.
"Of course you would do that." Neal stated. He threw his hands up in the air, and just walked out. "I'm glad you're okay, Aunt Rae." He screamed as he left the store.
"He sounds like he was happy that you killed someone else." Reese said. She slowly started getting up. "And I am sorry that I ever thought it was a good idea to go under the sleeping curse. It definitely wasn't a good idea..."
"Why? What happened in there? You went into shock. How did that even happen?"
"The shadow."
"As in..."
"Yes, Rumple. Somehow he got in my dreams and decided it was a good idea to taunt me." Reese rolled up her sleeves and put her hand on the back of her head. With the help of her brother, she was able to heal all of her wounds. "The place I was in..."
"This doesn't seem like the same place that Snow, David and Henry were all under." Rumple responded.
"That's because I was in a whole other place. I have been there once before but it was never that bad, and the shadow never had that much power over me."
"Well, it will never have that much power over you again." Rumple responded.
"But it will." Reese stated. "It said that I needed to remember something that I had repressed before. I don't think it will ever stop torturing me until I remember."
Rumple put his arm around Reese and hugged her until she stopped crying. He hated seeing her this way, and he wasn't the only person....
~
Killian has been feeling some sort of way this whole time he's been in New York. He doesn't know why, but he knows it has something to do with Reese. He knows that she's in some type of trouble, and it hurts him not knowing what.
All he knows is that he has to go back to Storybrooke to help Reese through the pain of losing her brother: At least that's what he thinks is wrong, but he couldn't be farther from the truth.
~
After a while of hugging, Rumple let go, which made Reese ask, "Why in the world did you stop?"
"Because I need to go finish up something, but I will be back in a little bit. Will you be okay alone for a little bit?"
"Of course." Reese responded. "Just be quick, please."
~
Reese has been alone in the shop for a while now, and she doesn't know what to do. She has already swept and cleaned the entire store, and now she just has to wait for her brother to return, which she doesn't know when that will occur.
She heard the bell ding and she sighed, "Doesn't the sign that says 'close' mean nothing to you?"
"Sorry," David said, "I was told to come and get you. Mr. Gold wants you to come help me and him go through Regina's vault."
"And why would I want to go through a vault?" Reese questioned.
"Because we need help figuring out what Regina wants to do to Mary Margaret." David responded.
"I don't like Mary Margaret though."
"Just come and help out your brother. You don't need to go there for her.." David replied. "He just wants to make sure that you're safe, and apparently being glued to his side will do that."
"Fine." Reese huffed, she grabbed a coat and walked out the door with him. "Why didn't Rumple come and get me himself? Why did it have to be you? No offense to you Charming."
"Because I didn't trust him to just come and get you." David stated. "We have a deal and I have to make sure that my wife is safe."
"You're very annoying when it comes to your wife."
"Wouldn't you be that way to your husband?"
"I don't know." Reese responded. "I haven't had a boyfriend in a while, and I don't plan on ever getting one, but thank you for thinking I will."
~
"Reese, are you okay?" Rumple asked when they arrived at Regina's vault. He quickly held onto Reese's arm as they walked into Regina's mausoleum to discover the mess she had left in her wake.
"Well, it appears we just missed our dear Queen." Rumple stated.
"Looks like we missed a melt down." Reese responded as she let go of Rumple to go through the stuff all over the ground.
"What is this?" David questioned.
"These are Cora's belongings." Reese quickly dropped the stuff in her hands. She didn't know it was Cora's. Rumple laughed at Reese and continued talking to David, "Looks like Regina's planning to use one of her spells on Mary Margaret."
Rumple sees that two ingredients are missing from a potion case. He looked through what was missing and said, "Something's missing. Chimera blood. And viper's eye."
"What kind of curse do you need those for?"
Reese gasped and asked, "Isn't that for the curse of the empty-hearted?" Rumple nodded and Reese huffed, "Well, shit."
"What does that mean?" David asked.
"We'll just explain it when we get back to your family." Rumple stated. He moved his hand up and used his magic to teleport them back to the apartment.
~
Reese and Rumple told the rest of the Charming's what they had discovered at Regina's vault.
"What the hell does that do?" Emma questioned.
"In theory, it has the power to make someone love you." Rumple responded.
"Doesn't that break magic laws? You can't bring back to life, you can't force someone to love you."
Reese sighed as she continued for her brother, "This particular spell can make someone think they love you. And if you're as desperate for love as Regina appears to be, you just might believe it."
They all looked up to see that Henry was running down the stairs, "She's using it on me, isn't she."
"Hey buddy, why don't you go back upstairs, let us handle this." David stated to the boy, who seemed to be very emotional at the moment.
"You shouldn't baby the boy." Reese whispered.
"No!" Henry pushes past David and runs over to Emma. "Emma! You said you were going to be honest with me. Now, why is Regina using this curse?"
"Because it's the only way she can get everything she wants. That she can get you." Rumple stated to the boy.
"But if all she wants is me..." Henry started saying but he had lost his words.
"Your mother is a complicated woman. She wants your love of course, but she also wants vengeance," he looked over at the woman curled up in a ball, "On Mary Margaret."
"How does the curse give her both?" David asked.
Rumple looked over at Reese and she glared at him. She looked at the Charming's and said, "Because the last ingredient she needs to enact the curse is the heart of the person she hates the most."
"You guys have to stop her." Emma said.
"Oh, we don't have to do anything. On the contrary, I believe warning you fulfills my debt." Rumpelstiltskin stated.
David walked up to Rumple and said, "Not even close! This is my wife's life we're talking about."
"Not to mention your grandson's, and your great nephew's!" Emma exclaimed.
"Well wars have costs."
"Nice."
"Well this is a blood feud, dearie. One that goes back a long time. And the only way you can end a blood feud, is by the spilling of more blood. That is the only way I know to eliminate your Regina problem."
"How, by killing her?" David asked.
"Is there no other option?" Emma questioned.
"I'm afraid not." Rumple responded.
"Stop! Listen to yourselves. You're talking about killing my mom! You used to be heroes. What happened to you?" Henry shakes his head and runs out of the apartment.
"On the contrary I have never been a hero." Reese stating, raising her hand. Rumple lifted his arm and slowly pushed down her arm. She looked over at him and glared.
Emma looks at the dark ones and says, "No matter how this plays out, we need to keep him as far away from it as possible." She then runs after her son.
Rumple sighed as he watched Emma leave the room, "She's right. Cora is more dangerous because she didn't have a heart. Regina is even more dangerous because she does."
~
Reese and Rumple are left guarding Mary Margaret, and that made Reese annoyed. She looked at her brother and asked:
"How in the world did we get roped into guarding Snow White? I mean doesn't she know how to fight?"
"She's in a little bit of a fragile state, right now." Rumple responded. They both looked over at Mary Margaret curled up in a ball.
"I hate being nice." Reese huffed. "Why can't we help them from afar?"
"Because I have a debt to repay to the Charming's and I have to cash it in now." Rumple responded. "And you didn't have to stay here with me."
"Yeah, but I have nothing to do at your Pawnshop. Literally no one really goes in there. I've noticed that only people who need something from you come in."
"I think we've all realized that." Rumple laughed. "How about we talk about what the shadow told you that made you so angry."
"Why in the world would you want me to talk about that?"
"Because you almost died using your magic in that world." Rumple stated. "I almost lost you, and I need to know what you were up against."
"But you already know who I was up against."
"Yeah, and need to know the details. I will find out eventually, so just tell me now. Please?"
***
AN: Hey, guys! I am so sorry for not updating for a month, and I am going to be getting better at updating. I'm excited for what's going to be happening in the next few chapters, so if you still want to read this story then look forward to that!
Hopefully I will be updating again in the next few days!
Also I hope that the collages I made make you excited for the future! I know it does for me :)