"It's nice of you to try to help them... Mary Margaret mentioned that you are a really great tracker." Neal smiled, extending his hand to Arthur, who had waited outside with Dream.
"I'm great at knowing the hiking track... Hardly a hero, unlike these guys." Arthur chuckled, shaking Neal's hand. "I'm Arthur." He smiled as Neal nodded.
"Neal."
"I know... The Dark One's son. Kind of a legend in my world. You know, along with your sister." He chuckled, looking head as they were following Emma and the Charmings.
"A legend?" Neal asked, furrowing his brows.
"Back in the Enchanted Forest... My daughter, Olivia, and I would travel around the realm after her mother's passing. We heard of so many stories about the immortal Dark One. Magic just became fascinating to me." Arthur explained, looking at Neal.
"You have a kid?" Neal asked, since this man was a stranger to him.
"Yeah. Olivia... Well, she was Jane in our world... But her mother's name was Olivia, so we like the change." Arthur smiled, looking toward the ground.
"Emma and I have a son, too. Does Olivia go to school with Henry?" Neal asked, smiling a bit.
"She does. Dream used to babysit her, so she had plenty of playdates with Henry. He's a good kid." Arthur smiled at Neal.
"Yeah. Yeah, he is." Neal smiled, looking forward at Emma.
"So, are you and Emma still together?" Arthur asked, bluntly, making Neal whip his head back in his direction.
"Uh... Yeah. Yeah, we are. You know, trying to make it work." Neal smiled, awkwardly, scratching just above his upper lip.
"Oh... That's great." Arthur nodded with a smile, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
"Yeah... Yeah, it is..." Neal nodded, looking back at Emma who was talking to her parents.
"What's that-- more kindling?" August asked Regina, who was unfolding the picture of her and Robin Hood kissing that appeared to Robin Hood before he left Storybrooke.
"This page appeared to someone very important to me..." Regina began to say as August glanced at the photo.
"Robin Hood?" He asked, looking at Regina.
"How do you know about Robin Hood?" Regina asked him with a slight scoff.
"Just 'cause the boy doesn't remember being me doesn't mean I don't remember being the boy." August sighed as Regina looked back down at the photo.
"Well, you're right. Robin did find it. But this page... it depicts something that didn't happen. And I think you know more than you're saying." Regina sighed as Ursula, who was looking out of the window, like Cruella, but on the opposite wall, stood up.
"What is it, Darling? Is there something out there?" Cruella asked Ursula as Regina stood up to cover August's mouth again.
"It's nothing. Just gonna go stretch my tentacles." Ursula sighed, walking out of the cabin.
Meanwhile, Hook walked to the middle of the forest as Dream sat on a nearby log, rocking the stroller back and forth.
"Are you sure you're fine that I came along?" Dream asked as Hook looked down at the shell he got from one of his trunks.
"I would have told you if I didn't want you to come along, love... I wanna prove that I am serious by showing I have changed." Hook sighed, when Dream, who was tired, just nodded.
"You're scared that I'm dying faster... And with that monster back--"
"Can we discuss this later, love?" He sighed, looking at her as she nodded.
"Of course..." She sighed, before going to get the pacifiers from the diaper bag as the babies began to grunt and cry in the stroller. "Mommy's getting them, sweeties." Dream sighed, but stopped as she saw a piece of paper, similar to the paper in Henry's book, folded up inside the diaper bag.
Hook blew the shell as he looked around where they were, while Dream pulled out the paper and unfolded it.
It was a picture of three teenagers. Two boys and one girl. The boy on the left looked identical to Hook, even had his piercing eyes. The girl in the middle looked like Dream was looking into a mirror, but she also looked like the boy. Then the boy on the right was Liam. The version of Liam that Dream could already see. This was them. The twins and Liam.
She smiled to herself, placing it back into the diaper bag as she grabbed the pacifiers for her upset babies.
"Where is that infernal creature?" Hook asked with a scoff, looking around as nothing happened when he blew into the shell.
But suddenly, a tentacle wrapped around him as he gasped and grunted in pain as it began to crush him.
"Hook!" Dream exclaimed, standing up as she pushed the stroller behind her, keeping a hand on the handle.
"Right here, Captain." Ursula said as she turned Hook to look at her. "Relax. I don't wanna deal with Regina for harming her pregnant daughter." She scoffed, glaring at Dream.
"Wait. I want to offer you a deal." Hook grunted out as she continued to squeeze him with her tentacle.
"After what you did to me? I don't think so." She spat, looking back at Hook.
"Let him go..." Dream pleaded, watching her husband wince in pain.
"Gold was wrong..." Hook barely managed to get out. "You don't have to find the author to get what you want..."
Ursula tilted her head in confusion, before releasing him. Hook gasped in relief as Dream pushed the stroller over to him as she hugged him in relief. She felt helpless since using her magic would kill her.
"And why should I believe a word you say?" Ursula scoffed, watching Hook hug his wife back.
"Because I know what it is you desire. And I know exactly where to get it." Hook continued to sigh as he just felt his bones crushing.
"You still have it?" Ursula asked, tilting her head again.
"The Dark One-- He's here for more than just the author. If I return your happy ending, you're gonna tell me and my wife exactly what he's doing in Storybrooke." Hook said as Ursula smirked, glancing back to the direction of the cabin.
"You learned well from your father-in-law..." She smirked, glancing at Hook, then at Dream, who kept one arm around her husband's waist, then her other hand on the stroller. "You got yourself a deal."
~season 4, episode 16: "Poor Unfortunate Soul"~
~1037 words~
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Villain or Hero? Part 2: Dark or Light:
Fanfiction***Fifth book in the Dream series*** ****Part 2 to Villain or Hero?**** Mr. Gold has been banished from Storybrooke by his precious wife, Belle. The last time we saw him, he was threatening the life of his daughter, Dream, and Captain Hook. He had H...
