𝑶𝑪𝑬𝑨𝑵 𝑬𝒀𝑬𝑺 - Rumplestiltskin [1]

FIFTY FIVE

55|THE THREAT

"I am so hungry!" Celeste whined, drooling as she watched walked Granny over with their burgers. Luckily, Rumpel had stopped the older woman before she entered the library and spotted Celeste half naked and chained to a wall. "They smell delicious, Granny."

"They are delicious." Granny smiled at the woman before turning to face the man with a grim look. "Didn't take any dark magic, either. Oh, and I charge extra for the pickles."

"I have a complicated relationship with her." Rumpel grumbled after Granny had walked away. "As I do with most people."

"I know." Celeste grinned as she threw a chip into her mouth. "But don't worry, you still have me and that's enough."

"Gold. We need to talk." Regina sped over to the couple as they began to dig into their lunch.

"Do we?" Rumpelstiltskin said darkly, just wanting to spend the afternoon with his wife.

"Folks, I think I may need to close early, everybody out." Granny ordered when she spotted to two most powerful people in Storybrooke in her diner.

"No, it's okay. We're civil." Regina stopped the woman with a calm voice.

"Yeah, for now."

"Regina, sit. Rumpel, stay civil." Celeste wanted them both, shuffling over to let the woman sit down. "I'm going to stay and enjoy my lunch while making sure you both don't destroy this place, I like the coffee too much."

"Whatever she wants, she won't get."

"I'm actually coming about the one thing that might unite us." Regina explained to him.

"And what on Earth could that be?" Rumpel said sarcastically, glancing up at her to see her answer.

"Cora." His face dropped at Regina's words. "She's coming from our land. I need your help to stop her."

"But she was dead. You told me you saw the body." Rumpelstiltskin growled at her, his hand fisting up the napkin on the table. Celeste reached across and grabbed his hand, loosening it before holding it.

"Well, apparently you taught her well." Regina sighed. "She's not. And she's on her way. And I don't think I need to remind you how most unpleasant that would be for both of us."

"For you. I can handle Cora." He corrected her.

"That's not how she tells the story."

"I won in the end."

"Maybe. But there's a big difference this time." Regina glanced at Celeste who sat innocently eating her burger. "This time you have someone you care about. This time you have a weakness."

"I'm sorry. Who is this woman?" Celeste dropped her chip and looked up with a raised brow.

"Someone you will never meet." Rumpel avoided her question. "So you say she's coming. Where is she now?"

"With them."

~•~

"You're lucky I cleaned the sheet." Celeste mumbled to Rumpel as they stayed in the main part of the store, watching Regina tuck Henry in on the small makeshift bed. "Poor boy."

"That's all you can think about." Rumpel chuckled down at her, stroking the stray hairs our of her ocean blue eyes.

"So Cora, she's pretty powerful." Henry asked as they entered the room with Charming.

"Yes. But, uh, not as powerful as I am." Rumpelstiltskin reassured the young boy causing Regina to scoff and mumble a "debatable". "Actually, no, it's not."

"You sure you're okay to do this, kid?" Charming sighed as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I was born to do this." Henry replied with determination. "I'm done reading about heroes. I wanna be one."

"Well, sometimes being one is knowing when not to run into the fire." He reminded the boy.

"I'll be okay."

"Look, whatever he face in there will be far less dangerous than what he will face if we fail." Rumpel informed Charming, trying to stop the man from keeping Henry awake.

"I can do this."

"Get on with it. Fast." Charming sighed as he stood up from the bed and walked to the back of the room.

"All right, Henry." Rumpelstiltskin sat down on the chair beside Henry, Celeste over his shoulder biting her nails. "Just relax and soon you're gonna drift off."

"What do I tell them?" Henry questioned, sounding slightly worried.

"Just listen to my bedtime story and all will be clear." He said sounding like a father as he placed his hand on the boys head. "Once upon a time, Snow White and Prince Charming needed to stun a very powerful magician long enough to lock him up in a dark dungeon."

"That was you." Henry remembered the story from his story book. "They used Cinderella to trap you with a magic quill."

"Yes, indeed. A quill." Rumpel waved his hand slowly over the boys face. "And yet, it wasn't the quill itself but the ink that captured the Dark One. Harvested from the rarest species of squid from the bottom of a bottomless ocean, impossible to find unless you're a mermaid. Or me. I happen to have a private supply. In my jail cell, that is where they will find it."

"You dick." Celeste whisper yelled at Charming once she knew Henry was asleep. "It's understandable for her to lock me up as she is a heartbroken wreck trying to get revenge. But you and Snow? You two are just assholes! I spent years trying to find my husband only for him to be locked up in your fucking dungeon!"

"Celeste." Rumpelstiltskin warned her before she started a fight in the store. "Not now."

"Dick." She grumbled before walking out the main room to rummage through the bits and bobs of the Pawn Shop.