Collaboration between Ghost Shadow, YoshiSkittlez, and GuardianAngelHaruki
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Alexandre swept through the halls of the castle with a slight swagger to his step, obviously used to, and pleased with his new human form. As he walked, he was singing a song under his breath, though he phrased it more like telling a story than actually singing. 

"The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts,
All on a summer day:
The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts,
And took them quite away!"

Heather smiled a bit at Alexandre, ignoring his seemingly arrogant walk, and listened as he recited another poem under his breath. As if coming back to reality from his reverie, Alexandre stopped to look back at Dr. Jekyll. 

"Well, I dare say we've looked through every room, nook, and cranny of the castle, yes? Or have I missed anything? If there was one thing useful about being a cat, it was the ability to see far better than a human could." He informed in an almost lecturing fashion.

"I believe we have looked around in every place we could access," Heather answered Alexandre. She was somewhat slightly distracted by the baby blanket she found in one of the bedrooms. The baby blanket was old and ratty, something the poorest of the poor would use to wrap their child in and the name Baelfire was crudely stitched into that blanket with red thread. Why would Rumpel have this particular baby blanket?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she looked out of the window and saw Rumpel standing at the front doors. She backed away from the window, and noticed that the sun was setting. She said to Alexandre, clearly nervous and unsettled, but trying to remain calm, "He's back!" 

Alexandre, too, looked at the blanket with keen interest; jumping in surprise at Heather's sudden outburst of Rumpel's return. 
"Thrice-damned wretch. I'm not afraid of him." He declared, though it was an obvious lie. There was no one in the Enchanted Forest who wasn't afraid of Rumpelstiltskin - well, no one alive, that is. Heather quickly put the baby blanket back down where she had found it and hurried off to the kitchens. Alexandre silently followed Heather, albeint at a more casual pace, a heavy stride to his steps as opposed to the smooth, prideful posture he had earlier. 

"Keep calm, my dear. What's the worst he'll do?" Alexandre asked, as if trying to comfort her before abruptly stopping himself. Heather gave him a skeptical look that silently asked him if he was being serious right now. 
"No, wait, bad metaphor. Everything will be fine." He reassured, flashing a comforting, if not hollow grin. After he amended himself, Heather sighed.
"Thanks. But you saw how childish he acted. If he turns out to be a picky eater, then I'm either going to switch with Hyde, or going to be dead! If I didn't have Hyde's sense of smell, I would still call you a liar," 

She tested the soup by lifting up the lid, and saw that it was still hot indicative by the steam that rose into the air. Thank Heavens! She placed the lid back onto the pot and she mumbled, 
"OK. Where the heck does he keep the dishes and silverware...? Does he even have those things...?" She never felt so nervous before. It was very much like the times right before the meetings with the Board of Science in London. 

"Do I [i]really[/i] look like I know?" Alexandre asked her, exasperated. He strolled about the kitchens nonchalantly, as if trying to force the illusion upon himself that everything was alright. His hands were in his coat pockets and he was whistling a tune to himself. 

"No. No, you don't. Sorry," Heather quickly apologized as she looked around. She honestly felt like she was going to start hyperventilating, and tried to slow her breathing down as she continued her search. 

"I'm sure he could [i]conjure[/i] a bowl or two if need be. And even if he did get mad, he wouldn't kill you, because you're still worth something to him, and two: if you do turn to Hyde, will you give me a heads-up? I'd like to 'chat'." He said with a flashy grin. 

She stopped momentarily to look at Alexandre.
"You do realize there's a chance that she could kill you while you're chatting with her, right?"

She soon found the bowl, utensils, and the ladel. As she served up the soup in the bowl, she asked Cheshire "Are you going to talk to Rumpelstiltskin?" She was curious if he was still intent on going through with that plan, or if he was just going to leave, considering he had his human body back. 

"I like to be spontaneous - we'll see what happens." Alexandre replied cryptically, running a stray hand through his hair. "You [i]really[/i] think Hyde would try and kill me? I know she wanted to get 'closer'." He said with a chuckle, but otherwise was neutral as he spoke. 

His answer about being spontaneous worried Heather even more. She answered him, "I wouldn't put it past her. She may do it after you two got...'closer'," 

She kept her ears open for the two front doors to open. Considering that she saw Rumpel at the doors from the second story, she calculated that he would be in this castle by now. So...why wasn't he?

She decided not to question this out loud, and just take it as good luck on her part. 

"I do hope that my dinner is ready." Rumpelstiltskin said cheerily, parading himself into the main entrance of the castle calling out to the only person he believed to be in his home. With a twist of his wrist, the doors that had been previously locked that led into the grand hall in which Rumpelstiltskin spent most of his time, opened up and the Imp walked through the threshold, his eyes immediately going to the table in the center of the room. Noticing that the table looked just the same as he had left it; dusty and empty, he furrowed his brows but went to the head of the table and took a seat, folding his hands together and resting them on the wooden table and called for Heather Jekyll once more.
"Come on out dearie, no need to be shy!"

Heather jumped when his voice called for her, hoping that dinner was ready. She quickly served the soup into the bowl and hurried as fast as she could to the table where he was sitting, without spilling a drop. She made a mental note that if she ever saw Poole or any of her maids, she would thank them. She said to Rumpel politely as she arrived to the table, 

"I apologize for the wait," She placed the soup in front of him, neatly with the silverware and backed away. She remained calm and composed despite his latest call. 

Rumpelstiltskin looked at the bowl of soup laid out before him and eyed it skeptically before turning to look at her, as if expecting her to do something.
"Well?" He asked after a few silent moments. "Are you going to eat with me or not?"

Heather thought that she was going to be treated like the maids and servants in her world: that she would have to just wait for him to be done before she could eat. She was caught by surprise when he asked his question, her eyebrows raised and she answered awkwardly, "O-Oh. Yes. I'll be right back," 

She then walked off to get her own bowl, getting over her surprise. However, she couldn't help but feel even more nervous for a reason she could not explain. She tried to calm herself down by telling herself that if she was eating at the same time he was, then it would show him that the soup wasn't poisoned or something like that. Could he even be poisoned? She'd rather not test that.

She got back to the kitchen and she got out two more bowls. She said to Alexandre, "If you want a bowl of soup, help yourself,"

She served a bowl for herself, and then headed back out to that table, with a silent sigh to calm herself.

Rumpelstiltskin was practically finished with his bowl of soup by the time Heather came back, while she was gone he ran a simple incantation over it to ensure that she hadn't tried to poison him. He wasn't sure whether or not to be happy that she hadn't. He let his eyes look up at Heather once she entered the room once more and issued out his hand in a gesture for her to sit at the other end of the table so that she would be facing him, his attention now long-gone from his own soup and watching her carefully eating hers in the ominious silence.

When Heather came back, she was surprised to see that he was already finished, and she felt slightly embarrassed. When he gestured to the other end of the table, she nodded and sat there. She retained the good table manners that were taught to her when she was very young (even if the teaching then was very strict). 

"Well, this is quite dreary." Alexandre announced as he stepped into the dining room, hands in his coat pockets once again. His sudden arrival kept Heather from eating for the moment. "I'm satisfied, Imp. For once you've actually come through on your end of the deal." He said coldly, acting much like he did [i]before[/i] he was human. 

"And stop staring at the doctor like that." He added on, "I know who you [i]really[/i] have eyes for." He said with another smile, though this one was menacing and grim, like a calm before a storm. He knew he was pushing the Imp, and made a mental note not to snap the line of his patience; but he wasn't going to show fear, show weakness. 

Heather listened to him speak, worried that he may be pushing his luck when it came to this imp. Rumpelstiltskin already seemed angry enough. She was a bit grateful when he asked the imp to stop staring at her, but she couldn't help but be a bit curious as to who the imp had eyes for. 

Rumpelstiltskin set down the spoon he still held in his gnarled hand and tilted his head to the side thoughtfully as his eyes moved up from Heather to the man now making himself known in the room.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" The Imp asked him eerily calmly, especially for someone who just realized there was a potential stranger in his home.

Alexandre did not answer, instead strolling over to an empty chair at the table, removing his coat, placing it around the back, and sitting down. 

"You know who I am." He finally said, his face as solid as stone; and just as cold. "I figured I'd stay here for awhile before going back [i]home[/i]...is there a home? I never liked getting involved in politics." He said, almost as if speaking aloud to himself than to anyone else in the room. However, unannounced, almost abruptly; Alexandre stood from his spot and swept his coat back on. 

"Oh, Imp...before I go," he began nonchalantly, as if talking to an old friend, "I've...seen [i]Her[/i] around." He started, his mouth twitching at the corner. He was without a doubt that Rumpel knew who he was talking about.

Rumpelstiltskin stood from his own chair, though his demeanor was more out of respect since a guest at his own table was standing. He only snickered a bit, closing the gap between himself and the man he knew better as a grinning cat in a leasurly manner.
Jekyll stood as well, sensing that something very bad was going to happen. It was obvious just from how Alexandre started speaking after he had stood up.

Alexandre leaned in close, "She *despises* you. Monster, Liar, Cheater, the names go on and on. I would recommend finding some other poor girl to stalk." He straightened his posture before turning to head towards the door. Heather widened her eyes and started warily. 

"Alexandre...you should stop...[i]now[/i],"

Rumpelstiltskin tilted his head to the side once again, thoughtfully wearing a twisted smile hiding the boiling rage consuming his thoughts. Though without warning, his arm struck in the blink of an eye and the Imp's hand was burried deep inside of Alexandre's chest. His fingers found the small organ inside of his ribs and enclosed around it, squeezing tightly before ripping the heart out of Alexandre's chest and holding it delicately in his own hand. Alexandre could do little but croak out a deep groan of pain as the Imp's hand penetrated his chest and pulled out his heart. This was it. He had crossed the line. His face was a mixture of absolute pain, shock, and terror as to what was going to happen next.

"You aren't fit to speak of her. Not to me...not to [i]anyone[/i]." Rumpelstiltskin whispered calmly, leaning in to speak into Alexandre's ear, all the while his fingers squeezing hard on the still beating heart in his hand, watching Alexandre squirm around in pain with sheer amusement.

Heather couldn't believe what she saw. She gasped and her hands were covering her mouth as she witnessed Rumpelstiltskin rip Alexandre's heart out. She expected that Alexandre would collapse dead from that, but instead he was still standing and was squirming in pain, defying the medical laws Heather knew well. She wanted to tell Rumpelstiltskin to stop, but she couldn't find her own voice, and Hyde was commenting on how interesting this was, preventing Heather from doing anything except watching.

Alexandre's face was practically drenched with sweat, all feeling replaced by sharp pain and a dull, horrible ringing in his ears. "Then...finish...it." He practically coughed out, still managing to find some sort of defiance. 

"I....I have...nothing...nothing to l-lose. Not ev-even you can hold m-me." He spat, feeling his legs start to buckle before collapsing onto the floor. His knees took the hit hard and would have caused quite a bit of pain - had he not been suffering excruciating amounts of it currently. 

Rumpelstiltskin's hand let up on the organ, just enough to ease the pain he was giving Alexandre, though only slightly. The Imp's grin widened and let out an unsettling giggle.
"Oh yes yes yes yes, but you see, that's what makes it even more important that you [i]live[/i]." He mused. With his free hand, Rumpelstiltskin pulled Alexandre to his feet and jammed the heart back into his chest with a little bit more force than was actually needed before pushing Alexandre's body away from his own.

Right after Rumpelstiltskin shoved Alexandre, Heather snapped out of her shocked stupor and hurried over to Alexandre, checking on him to make sure that he was ok, and didn't have any wounds. Imagine her surprise to find that there was no wound in his chest, where his heart had just been ripped out. 

"Oh! Didn't you mention something about returning home? Well...the least I can do is help you along with that..." Rumpelstilskin went on, his voice now no longer a whisper but that of his usual child-like tone.

Heather looked to Rumpelstiltskin when he spoke, worried that he would do something else that was just as terrible when he mentioned the cat's home. Alexandre had little time to react after having his heart forcefully shoved back into his chest. 
"No...no, you wouldn't." He pleaded, completely defeated. Any shred of rebellious or defiant thoughts were quelled, leaving him fully out in the open: a coward. 

Heather asked Rumpelstiltskin, controlling herself so as to not show fear or the anger she felt, "Haven't you done enough?!"

A smirk only came across Rumpelstiltskin's face as he looked at the two, their pitiful pleas music to his ears. He shook his head no in answering Heather's question and raised his hand, bringing two of his fingers together now concentrating his dead eyes on Alexandre.
"There will never be enough that I can do to him that the coward hasn't already done to himself dearie." He answered darkly.
"Give the Queen my best then?" He asked Alexandre cheerily and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a swirl of purple smoke encased Alexandre, snaking around Heather as if she weren't there and with the blink of an eye, Alexandre and the smoke had vanished from The Dark Castle.