Chapter 13: Mr. Gold—Barrister, Businessman, and Asshole Extraordinaire
Rumpelstiltskin was having a bad day.
He had forgot how infuriating his eldest could be.
Seriously, saying Harry should go to that god-forsaken school. He hadn't bothered finishing the argument because things between him and Bae were weird enough as it, but there was no way in hell that Harry would be going back to that death trap. It also didn't help that Bae kept mentioning those kidnappers. As far as Rumple was concerned, Harry had only one father—him.
And yes, if Harry had been born and raised by him he probably would've appointed Bae—or Sirius as he liked to be called in this world (a stupid name, if there ever was one)—as godfather. But he hated the fact that another man had claimed his son as his son, it made his blood boil.
Much as the whole situation with Bae. He had been doing a ridiculous amount of research about Bae's unjust incarceration and was more determined than ever to get retribution for his son. He had already sent a writ of habeas corpus to the non-magical and magical courts.
Yes, he had appointed himself as his son's barrister. Well, he had consulted with some other English barristers and…well, he was sure his skills were up to pare. So, he ended up editing the writ. And now it was iron clad. Add the media networks he had begun to inquire and the magical government would have no choice but to officially release Bae. Not that they could lock in Gold's future Dark One home since he owned it and its prisoners. Technically, he could do whatever he wanted with his boy. Which meant releasing him from the facilities. So the reports that his son had escaped were actually speculation. That was something he added to the writ, to avoid Bae getting charged with escaping from jail.
And his son didn't thank him. Instead, he wanted Harry to go to that death trap and view James Potter as his father.
He needed someone to turn into a snail. Or a massage from Belle, but that was doubtful since she was more than likely taking Harry out. He had felt that Bae needed his space for the day, as much as Gold needed his. Which was why he was at his temporary office in Gringotts checking the status of his investments.
The place looked radically different than it had when he had first bought the bank. It actually looked like a bank now, not a demented looking dungeon. He had even begun modernizing it. Although, it did take some adjustments to get modern day technology to work with magic—nothing the Dark One couldn't handle.
He had also made progress on finding a decent secretary as well. Though, he had still made no progress on the new branch managers. He was thinking he might have to outsource where that pesky convention wouldn't effect his operations. Or maybe hire some non-magic folks.
Maybe he could have Belle research it for him….she always looked extremely nice when she researched things.
Speak of the devil, his phone buzzed at that moment. Except instead of being a sweet text from Belle. It was from Regina.
Gold was actually sort of curious. She hadn't contacted them in days, and he was starting to wonder if another catastrophe had hit Storybrooke.
It was about time, after all. Seriously, when that town wasn't in a constant time loop it was like something bad happened without a doubt every six weeks ago.
Regina's message was brief: In London. Need to talk in private.
Rumple quickly wrote back: You, in London? What the hell is going on?
She typed an address and left it at that.
He sighed. He really wanted to get through with the foreclosure on that god-forsaken school. The sooner he did that, the easier his argument with Bae would be about Harry going back to that God forsaken place. You couldn't really go back to a school that was now a place for extraordinary gastropods.
Okay, that usage was only tentative. Personally, Gold was looking at several avenues for turning the property into something of value.
Castles were just poor investments in general.
No wonder the world was economically depressed during the middle ages.
Sighing, he logged off of his computer and after writing a quick message to his secretary to text him if anything big came up, he poofed to the address Regina had left him. Except he didn't see the Evil Queen anywhere.
He did recognize one face though: Snow White. And then he focused on Snow White and saw that….Regina had been a very busy girl.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
She sighed heavily. "Well, at least I don't have to explain anything to you."
Her voice even sounded like Charming's true love.
"Well, dearie, in another time and place I would've congratulated you about finally brewing a decent identity changing potion. It's spot on. If I wasn't the Dark One…"
"I know," Regina said. "I want it that way."
"The question is why." He said, "And surely everyone in Storybrooke is going to notice there are two fairest of them all."
"She's not the fairest of them all," Regina smarted off. "She has terrible taste in hair and clothes."
"Yet, a sweet disposition which you do not have. And you are deflecting the question."
"Henry is dead." Regina said quite bluntly as she stared at Gold.
Gold looked at her and couldn't help but instantly feel pity. He and Regina often snarked and threw curses at each other. But he did know she loved that boy, and he had experienced losing a child himself. But at least Bae, he was alive.
And Gold had a hard time picturing Henry Mills being dead.
"Regina…" He said.
She shook her head.. "Please. Don't. The last thing I need is your sympathy."
He nodded. He didn't know what else to say, because he could understand that. He was the Dark One after all. "So, I'm taking the Charmings had something to do with their death."
"Something like that," She said before she added. "And my mother. Which is why I'm here."
Gold raised an eyebrow. "Cora…she's here in London? How?"
Regina shook her head. "Yes, she's in London but…she's been contained via Nyquail, she though it was an energy potion can you believe that."
"You cannot contain Cora." Gold said. "She'd blow up Big Ben if she thought it was going to get her a bed in Buckingham Palace. And God knows what she tried to do to your brother."
Regina sighed. "I know, but she's been neutralized right now where she's not Harry's biggest issue."
He looked at her. "Biggest issue?"
"My mother made a deal with someone," Regina said.
"A deal?"
"Yes, a deal." Regina said. "It actually sounded like something that you would do honestly."
Gold groaned. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
"You're going to hate it. My mother traded my son's heart to kill Harry."
Gold was speechless.
This was not good. He was never speechless, but he just didn't know what to say. He didn't even know it was possible to transplant someone's heart. He had tricked Regina with her boy Daniel about that after all.
Not his best moment, he'd admit.
Okay, he had lots of moments that weren't great. But how this was perfected…
"You looked shocked," Regina said eying him. "I'm guessing you thought it wouldn't work."
"Well, it didn't work before." He said. He didn't want to even go into the details. He knew a grief stricken Regina was an impulsive Regina.
Her disguise said as much.
And he was still trying to figure that out.
The potion Regina had used to do such an impressive job on her disguise had some nasty side effects. Like making her powerless. She was in essence Snow White right now. And she couldn't defend herself (at least with magic). There were other less thorough spells and potions she could use. But she had chosen this one—why?
He didn't ask. It was a little awkward, and he figured it would be more interesting to figure it out himself. Plus, Regina seemed very unhinged.
She frowned. "Oh, trust me, I know it didn't work before. My son had the heart of the truest believer though. Apparently, that makes it different."
Rumple felt himself go rigid. Truest believer.
He had heard that phrase before. Instantly, he was brought back to one of the most painful memories of his childhood.
When his father abandoned him. It wasn't possible.
"Gold." Regina barked.
Somehow it did not have the same effect when she was Snow White. Even though she was still wearing that garish red lipstick she wore as the evil queen. He found himself saying. "You need to lose the lipstick if people are going to buy you as Snow White. Probably some of the hair gel too. And the pantsuit. I didn't even know she had a pantsuit."
"It was in the back of her closet." Regina said. "And her daughter seemed oblivious."
"Still though…if you don't want to be noticed you should stick to the cardigans."
Regina glared at him. "We're not talking about my wardrobe, Gold. You are changing the subject."
He was.
But he didn't want to talk about Pan. It wasn't a good time.
There was never a good time to talk about his father.
He remembered the last time he had seen the man. It was shortly after Bae had left.
Only his father wasn't a man anymore. But a boy. He looked to be about Bae's age. Maybe even a bit younger.
He wasn't though. While he physically might appear younger, he was still deep down inside grown up. However, magic did powerful things. It couldn't last forever though…it needed something to power it.
Like the heart of the truest believer.
Damn it!
Honestly, he had never been close to Henry Mills. The boy had been polite to him, but other than taking an occasional peak at his shop the two of them had never really talked; but he couldn't help but feel sorry that the boy had lost his heart to a creature like Pan.
Yes, creature. Because someone like that could never be a man.
"Pan?" He finally asked Regina.
She nodded. "Yes, Pan. Apparently, well, apparently, he's some little demon brat and my mother believes he could really hurt Harry. Which is the only reason she's out of a jail cell right now and in London with Swan and I."
He wasn't even listening to Regina at this point. "I have to go get him!"
Regina looked at him. "You really believe this nonsense?"
"It's not nonsense." Gold said as he pulled out his phone, "If Cora really did send Pan after Harry…"
Belle picked up the phone.
Thank God.
"Rumple?" She said sounding surprised that he called her.
Today, he was supposed to be in meetings all day. He had told her not to expect his call. She was going to take Harry on a day of sight seeing so that Bae could have the place to himself and rest.
Of course, Bae wanted to bond with his brother or as he called Harry godson. But honestly, there was a part of Gold that didn't want them to bond. Because Bae kept talking about James Potter. Like he was some sort of hero, when all Gold could see was a baby stealer. But of course, at this point, he didn't feel like he could argue with his son. Hence, why he told Belle to take Harry out.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" He asked frantically.
"I'm fine. We're fine." She said, "What is going on?"
He sighed, "Go back to the penthouse. Please. And don't let Harry out of your sight."
He then hung up before she could say anything else.