EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS, HAPPENS BY DESIGN. AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

Neal was still getting used to being back from the Underworld, the place he’d been stuck after being convinced to sacrifice himself to save his family from Zelena. Neal didn’t want to ever have to go back there, or lose his family again. And, hopefully he wouldn’t have to. His papa had promised him he wouldn’t have to, but, the fears and worry were still there deep down.

He had decided to take a walk around the town, since he didn’t really have anywhere else to be right now, and, he didn’t really feel like trying to spend time with his father. Neal placed on a jacket over his tank top, and, then slowly stood up, and, silently made his way out of his room at the Bed and Breakfast.

Neal kept his jacket around himself, as he started walking slowly through town. He hadn’t gotten very far when he recognised someone who he had hoped never to see again. Neal had seen some of what she’d done in this town, since she’d come here. And, even if he hadn’t, Neal had to show her that he couldn’t be kept down.

Placing his hood over his head, Neal walked slowly behind Zelena, before he saw her stop at the Forest, a place he’d actually gotten to know quite well since he had gotten to this town. It was one place he actually had a sense of belonging, since it reminded him of where he’d been for more of his life then anywhere else.

Staying under the shade of the tree, Neal smirked softly at her as he leant against it with his hood still up. “Well, I guess the witch isn’t dead after all” Neal said, keeping himself still as he waited for Zelena to stop or turn around.

TAGGED

Zelena

NOTES

N/A

template by Margie @ Adoxography 2.0

She was heading home, which at the moment meant a cabin isolated in the middle of the woods. She hadn't expected to get stopped by anyone, indeed she usually went around invisible these days because she didn't want to be stopped. Then there would be magic, killings, and inevitably someone would get pissed off and tell Rumple. His voice was hard to mistake and it rang in the quiet forest.

"You honestly expected me to be?"

Zelena stopped and turned around slowly, knowing that voice anywhere. The son of the man that had killed her, and here he was being glib about her death. Thankfully, she did not accept anything so trivial while she had other things to focus on. Nothing was ever so easy. She was not going to be killed by any of them, not until she was ready to remain dead. Any headway made in that arena was superficial and temporary. People that died in Storybrooke rarely stayed dead and she was proving to be no exception.  That was nice, of course, as she really would hate to die. Permanently, anyway.

Seeing Baelfire was a mixed feeling. On the one hand, he probably blamed her for his death but that was short - sighted. She didn't make him summon his father, even after he knew the cost. She had only provided him the pieces, she certainly hadn't forced his hand to put them together. Taking advantage of his poor choices was not the same as making those choices for him. Ultimately, his death was not her fault. On the other hand, hurting Bae meant hurting Rumple in exactly the right place. Oh, that was a very sweet anticipation, though she held off on anything for the moment.

"Being dead doesn't seem to stick around here, does it, Baelfire?"

Neal Cassidy

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS, HAPPENS BY DESIGN. AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

Neal shook his head softly with a small chuckle as Zelena asked that question. “Not really”

Neal knew that Zelena hadn’t been dead, he had seen that clearly through his visions in the Underworld. He had seen what she had done to everyone starting from the moment she became ‘Marian’. Neal had stayed dead to protect Emma and Henry, so that they could defeat Zelena. And, now that they were safe, there was no need for him to be dead anymore. He had no intentions of going back to that place, especially since it would mean dying once again. Neal also knew that dying would mean that the world probably wouldn’t be safe from his father if he was to leave.

There was a feeling inside himself that blamed Zelena for his death, and, that he wanted to extract revenge on her for it, but, he wasn’t going to. Because he also knew that the death had been his choice by the end, a sacrifice for the two people he’d loved most. Back in the Forest when he wanted to get back to his son in this world, Neal hadn’t been thinking of anything but seeing him again. But, he knew that Zelena had used that to her advantage by tricking him into resurrecting his father. Not telling him about the consequences. There was a part of him that blamed her, but, Neal also knew he hadn’t really been thinking rationally. And, none of it mattered now anyway. 

“I guess it doesn’t.”

TAGGED

Zelena

NOTES

N/A

template by Margie @ Adoxography 2.0

"There's a good boy."

Though, honestly, he was probably close to her age. She couldn't help but still think of him more as Rumple's son than his own separate entity. The one certainly had more significance than the other, Neal and Baelfire. She didn't move to attack him, only put her hands on her hips and paced back and forth in front of him, considering.

"I have to say I was surprised that you sacrificed your life for your father's return considering he's let you down so many times."

She knew all about their checkered past, the tumultuous father/son relationship. Knowing an enemy was almost a guarantee to defeat them, and she did not neglect her homework. Even if she hadn't she'd had to have been blind not to notice the tension or figure out the reason why. She also knew Rumple and his inevitable need to listen to the darkness inside him. She had tried so hard to be good, with Glinda, but inevitably it hadn't worked out. He was just the same as she.

"I wonder how long it'll be until he lets you down again..."

She was almost certain he would; it was only a matter of time. They were both not to be trusted.

"I do have a name, though, Bae. You're welcome to use it anytime you like. I may be a villain, but at least I keep my word."

Neal Cassidy

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS, HAPPENS BY DESIGN. AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

“You know I’m not that much younger then you.”

Neal was sure that Zelena only saw him as Rumple’s son, since she hated his father so much, and, probably saw to use him as a weakness or pawn. Like she once had. Neal was surprised that Zelena didn’t attack him, and, just walked back and forth in front of him.

“Well that’s where me and my father are different. It was what I thought was best to defeat you.”

It was probably obvious to Zelena about what happened between him and his father, to cause the riff in their relationship. Neal didn’t really like broadcasting it to the ones who didn’t already know, and, he was sure that his papa didn’t either. All people knew was that there was tension between him and his father, but, no-one had really questioned why. But, he was sure, if Zelena had been as obsessed with his father as she had seemed, then she probably would’ve figured it out.

“I’m not sure that he will. Or at least I hope not.”

Neal wasn’t sure he trusted his papa completely, but, it wasn’t like it would be unknown, since he had the dagger.

“I know you do, but, I’m not sure I’m ready to say it. I’ll figure out when exactly I want to say it.”

TAGGED

Zelena

NOTES

N/A

template by Margie @ Adoxography 2.0

"I know you are."

But that wasn't really the point. It was impossible to think of him as anything more or less than the son of her enemy. She knew he had good qualities and bad ones but they didn't rate because he was not extraordinary like his father. He didn't have Rumple's power and, short of converting him to the dark side, which she wasn't likely to do, he was only good for striking a blow.

"He always does."

Of that she was certain. They were incapable of catering to expectations contrary to their own. When she had impersonated Marian she had pretended to be kind and loving. She had done a good job of pretending to be exactly the kind of woman he thought his wife to be. But it wasn't to be. She couldn't hide her nature forever. It had only been masked for a while. In the end she was right back here with him in the forest and he was looking at her like she was a villain.

"What is hope doing for you, exactly?"

Had it made him happier? Was he proved right by his hope and faith in his father? She didn't know he had the dagger or suddenly she would have been much, much more interested.

"You might be on the wrong side, Neal. There are degrees of evil. I didn't kill anyone to cast my spell, did I? All I wanted to do was to take my rightful place with my mother, to be important to your father."

She looked down for a moment. Maybe there was a different card to play here, one that played on the things they had in common, not those things that made them different.

"My father was like yours. He constantly let me down. I was lost, Bae, rejected from my own family and forced to try to find a place in the world on my own."

Neal Cassidy

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS, HAPPENS BY DESIGN. AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

Neal was sure that it didn’t matter to Zelena, whether she was his age. In fact, he was sure that Zelena didn’t see him as anything more then The Dark One’s son. She wouldn’t take the time to learn about him, or figure out that the two of them had separate lives, and, he was completely separate to that man. But, like most people, they didn’t care about him because he didn’t have the same power or influence as his father did. He wasn’t extraordinary like that man, in fact he was the opposite of his father.

“I guess he does”

He didn’t know much about what happened after he’d sacrificed himself, well, the parts outside of Storybrooke of course. Neal knew that Zelena had threatened his son, and, from the looks of it his father had become a part of blackmail. But, he had known that they would defeat Zelena, all of them would. And now all of them were back here, like nothing had happened.

“I don’t know yet. It’s a bit early to tell.”

Neal wasn’t sure how he felt. He was happy to be back, but, Neal also wasn’t ready to have complete faith in his father. Whether the dagger was in his possession or not, the trust has to be re-built.

“Well, technically… But, I know how you feel. I wanted to be important to my father too.”

Neal kept his hands in his pockets, as he looked down at his feet.

“So, your father abandoned you? And forced you to grow up in a world you knew nothing about on your own too?” Neal asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. “Wait, why are you telling me this?”

TAGGED

Zelena

NOTES

N/A

template by Margie @ Adoxography 2.0

"Technically counts."

She actually smiled and found that it was a genuine response.

His skepticism could be understood, but Zelena knew she could use her honest experiences to connect with him. If he thought he could save her he might trust her and then she'd have him. Having Rumple's son in her back pocket would be an amazing weapon that she knew absolutely how to wield.

Though, honestly? She wasn't sure. She didn't have to be this candid to get her point across. Maybe because he was the only one that would truly understand how alone she felt and what she had been through at the hands of her father. Of anyone in Storybrooke, it was Baelfire that had that tie in common with her. In fact, he was probably the one she had the most in common with, aside from a lack of magic. Her father had abandoned her for fear of it and his for fear of the unknown.

"I won't say it was worse, but to me it was. My father didn't force me from my home but he was distant and cruel. He forced me to hide all of my disappointment and pain behind a mask. I always had to put my best face forward, no matter how I was feeling. He called me a monster."

The first to do so, but not the last.

Though his lesson was now a mixed blessing. It allowed her to hide her emotions no matter the situation she found herself in. She had learned to bluff with the best of them and couldn't turn off the skills ingrained in her anymore. When she left their home in pursuit of the Wizard it was because she thought that somewhere there would be a clue about her past or someone that she could call her own. A family, friends. And she had them, but it wasn't to be.

So here they were.

"We're not that far apart, Bae, if you think about it."

Neal Cassidy

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS, HAPPENS BY DESIGN. AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

“Yes it does."

Neal was skeptic, not just because it was Zelena, but, because it was just the way he’d grown up. He had never really connected with anyone, since Emma. And even before that, there had only been a select few. Neal couldn’t tell if Zelena was being legit, or if she was just trying to have the son of her most hated person at her disposal.

He wasn’t even sure why Zelena was telling him what she was. It seemed like she was one of the only ones that actually knew what he was going through, no mother around, and, a father who scared you, or made you feel like an outsider. Neal didn’t have the magic that Zelena did though, which he was actually glad about. Magic had been what ruined his life in the first place. His father had abandoned him because of fear of what he’d be like in a world without it.

“My father used to keep me on lockdown in the house pretty much all the time. I used to plaster a look on my face telling him that I was ok with it, but, I was really quite lonely. Not just because of the lock-down, but, on the off chance I was out of the cottage. People pretty much isolated me anyway.”

The ability to grow those walls up had been something that had happened over time, and, had started the moment his father let go of his hand. It had become a part of the thing that had helped him hide his true emotions, rather then having them out in the open. The walls had been something to stop him getting his hopes up as he was bounced from one place to another trying to find where he belonged in this world. He’d had it a few times, but, nothing had stuck.

And now here he was in Storybrooke.

“Maybe we aren’t.”

TAGGED

Zelena

NOTES

N/A

template by Margie @ Adoxography 2.0

"So you know what it means to be alone."

She was right, they were very close together. That fact was strange and she wasn't sure how she felt about it.

"And you know what its like to wear a mask to cover up anything you feel."

It was also strange for her to think of Rumple as not the Dark One, but the protective father of an impressionable son. She didn't want to know anything that might jeopardize her view of the villain, the man that set her on this path of destruction when she needed something else far more. He took a vulnerable young woman and crushed her for his own selfish needs. To hear that he was ever anything other than a monster did not compute with current image of him and anything that did not add up needed to be discarded. She just wasn't able to process it.

"All I wanted was to have someone understand me. My father called me a monster for what I could do, a gift I had never asked for. My mother gave me up and was not there to tell me how to use my power. My new mother died when I was so young...no one wanted me."

And for a time she thought she had found that, in Rumple. He wanted her to complete his curse. He accepted her gift and encouraged it. He made her feel, for such a short time, special. And then he didn't.

In spite of her better sense she was telling him the absolute truth. She wasn't sure why, still, but had not thought to censor herself. Maybe it was nice to purge herself of these thoughts. Maybe if she finally said them out loud she wouldn't carry them anymore and could find some way to be free. It was too late anyway, since the words were already spoken.

"If there had been anyone else that would have resurrected Rumple, I would have used them."

It wasn't much of an apology but she was still new at feeling compelled to make one.

Neal Cassidy

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS, HAPPENS BY DESIGN. AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

“Yeah I do.”

The truth was he knew exactly how Zelena felt when it came to being alone. Which scared him, to know that he had something in common with Zelena.

“That I do. I had to do it all the time”

It brought a strange feeling to his heart to know that his papa wasn’t always the power hungry Dark One. And that he had once loved him more then anything. The man was just his father, and, not the villain he had become. All the hatred that had slowly grown over time had certainly changed things between him and his father. Neal had wanted and needed something that his papa hadn’t been able to give him. Instead he had been tossed aside for the simple fact that his father didn’t want to be powerless. Neal knew that these memories showed that he was once a different man then all of this town knew, but, there was probably no turning back or changing everyone’s opinions of him. And it was also hard for him to see that man again right now.

“I needed that too. I didn’t exactly have the power, but, people isolated me because of something I couldn’t change no matter how much I wanted to. As for my mother she left when I was 5, for a life with a pirate. So, I had lost everyone I’d ever cared about, and, no—one else ever really wanted me either”

Well for a short time he’d found that in Ingrid, she had seemed to really care about him, as more then just some waste of space foster kid. Neal had felt important when he was with her. But, even though, she’d offered to adopt him. Neal had still left.

Neal was still unsure why Zelena was telling him all that she was, it was strange that he was starting to feel close to one of the people that had caused harm to someone he loved, on some deep level, and, threatened the lives of others he cared about. But, there was no pressing rewind or reset on this conversation, so, what was being said was said, and, nothing could really change that.

“Thanks I guess. But, I get it, blood magic was needed. And I was the only family left.”

TAGGED

Zelena

NOTES

N/A

template by Margie @ Adoxography 2.0

Zelena laughed. She didn't meant to but she did, loud and long.

"We've both spent a lifetime trying to get the attention of one man."

The same man. It was a sort of cruel irony. She couldn't help but laugh at how similar they were right down to their motivations. At least Neal had his own son to try to help shape; she had no such ties to anyone. And though Rumple had changed his tune the few times she ran into him, that she didn't trust, it hardly took away the crushing feeling of his rejection. Since then she'd been trying to strengthen herself up to catch his attention and prove she was worthy of it.

"That's not funny, I know it's not." But it had still made her laugh anyway. "I just find it very ironic."

They could have been cut from the same cloth, her and Baelfire.

"I did need to use your blood, and your love. I needed you to hate me so much you would sacrifice yourself for him. You were the only one that would. Belle wouldn't have been strong enough. He's lucky for that. And, if you don't mind me saying, he doesn't deserve it."

He didn't have anything to fear from her, not unless he moved to directly thwart her plans. She had no interest in destroying someone so like her in her past and future motivations. She gestured, drawing her hand up and froze Bae in place, putting a kiss on his forehead. It would protect him from magic, bad magic, and with what was to come it would go a long way in protecting him. The mark glowed softly for a few moments and then faded, becoming invisible to anyone without magic.

As soon as it was done she let him go, knowing he wasn't going to accept it any other way than that.

"I'll see you soon, Baelfire."

Neal Cassidy

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS, HAPPENS BY DESIGN. AND THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT.

Neal looked at Zelena, as she just started laughing. For a reason he wasn’t sure of.

“Yeah, I guess we were.”

Neal had spent his whole life trying to get his father back to a man who only really loved him, and, had nothing else in the way. Yes, that hadn’t worked out too well. But, at least he had Henry to be a better example to. Zelena had been trying to get the love of his father just as much as he was, but, their endings were a bit different. Neal had sensed that things between Zelena and his father probably still hadn’t changed, heck, even things between him and his father were still kind of rocky. But, on some level he felt his father’s love for him was in there. But, it still didn’t take away the small feelings inside of being abandoned for the power of a dagger. And all the rejection that followed.

“It isn’t actually.” Neal said, a serious look on his face. “I guess in a way it is.”

Maybe they were kindred spirits without knowing it.

“Well you succeeded I did hate you. I wanted to see you gone, which I thought my papa would be better at then me. Maybe he doesn’t, but, he’s still my father. That’s something I couldn’t change. But, I do appreciate you saying that. I just always felt like I didn’t deserve love from anybody.”

Neal wasn’t exactly scared of Zelena, he would act of course, if she went after Henry again. He let his thoughts escape him before feeling himself being frozen in place. Neal had no clue why he’d been frozen or what had happened as a result of it.

But, he soon saw everything coming back, as he felt himself being unfrozen. Neal would’ve asked what just happened, but, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Since magic and him didn’t always get along well.

“Yeah, see ya.”

TAGGED

Zelena

NOTES

I think this is completed

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