Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez as Prince James, Red and Rumpelstiltskin, and GuardianAngelHaruki as Heather Jekyll and Evelyn Hyde

---

Evelyn's eyebrows rose, and her smirk widened into a malicious one when the two people landed between her and Rumpelstiltskin. She could tell that the woman was injured from the smell of blood, that was coming from her. Evelyn also couldn't help but also detect the faint smell of roses from the woman as well. She commented laughing "Well isn't THIS interesting! Finally! I was getting bored!"

She then heard Heather tell her not to kill the two, considering that Rumpelstiltskin may have wanted them for a reason. Evelyn sighed under her breath slightly irritated and mentally answered Heather "Ugh, Fine! I won't kill them..."

James was the first to react. Upon seeing Rumpelstiltskin straight away, he carefully positioned himself in front of Red, though still holding her up as he didn't trust her to be able to hold her own just yet.

"Well...that's one way of doing it I suppose..." Prince James said taking his eyes off of Rumpelstiltskin for just a moment to look around the large dining room, glancing quickly at Evelyn. A small chill rolled up his spine, something seemed very...off about her, but he shouldn't have been surprised considering where he was.

Evelyn easily recognized the look that Prince James had when he saw her. It was the same as well, everyone else's when they first met her back in London. It never got old. She waved to James when he glanced at her before he looked back at Rumpelstiltskin.

"I have your map..." Prince James freed one of his hands from holding Red up and reached for his shirt chest pocket and pulled it out, handing it out to Rumpelstiltskin for him to come and get. "Now, give me Snow's wedding ring..."

"So rude..." Rumpelstiltskin rolled his eyes, swapping out the map with the enchanted ring with a quick swipe of his wrist. Prince James looked at Snow's wedding ring that was now between his fingers, feeling the enchantment pulsing like a heartbeat.

"Why-why are you helping me? We both know that map is no use to you...what do you benifit by bringing Snow and I together?" Charming practically demanded. He knew there was something odd about this deal the moment it was made, though clouded by the fact that it would bring Snow and him together, he didn't give it much thought.

"Oh, I just want you and your twoooo wuv to be united once again, it does the heart good." Rumpelstiltskin said pocketing the map and putting both his hands over his heart. Charming raised an eyebrow, shuffling his feet as he placed the ring into his pocket and adjusted his hold on Red.

"What do you know of true love?" He asked the Imp.

"Well not so much as you perhaps, but not so little as you might think!"

"You? You love someone?" This time, James rose both his eyebrows, and even Red, who was practically blacking out from the pain had to shoot The Dark One a surprised glance.

"It was a...brief...flicker of light amongst a notion of darkness..." Rumpelstiltskin waved his hand, as if dismissing the conversation. This caused Red's and James' faces to fall.

"What happened?" Red couldn't help but to ask, bringing Rumpelstiltskin's eyes to her for the first time since they had arrived.

"She left...simple as that." Rumpelstiltskin replied bitterly. "That's the thing about true love dearie, it can slip through your fingers. It's the most powerful magic in the world; the only magic powerful enough to break any curse."

"True loves kiss...you're sure that will bring Snow back?" James asked, shifting topics to something less...awkward.

"Of course."

Red couldn't help it, her body had lost all willpower and despite Jame's hold on her, she collapsed quickly to the ground. James quickly knelt down beside her, for the first time really getting a good look at her injuries.

"My friend...she's hurt..." James said outloud, uncaring if he was stating the obvious. He had figured that Rumpelstiltskin would have picked up on what he was asking. "I'll give you anything you want. My Kingdom? It's your's. All I want is Snow, and for Red to be well again..."

Rumpelstiltskin rolled his eyes.

"I don't want your kingdom!" He said, feighning a laugh. "What good would that do me if it's under the rule of Regina anyway?" Rumpelstiltskin let out an amused giggle and turned his back to Prince James, walking away from him and in the general direction of Evelyn.

"Name your price." Prince James practically demanded, desperation starting up in his voice.

"How about..." Rumpelstiltskin paused in his step and swiftly spun around. "...your cloak?"

Prince James looked up at Rumpelstiltskin. If he had been confused before, he was even more so now.

"My cloak? Why would you want my cloak?"

"It's drafty in here." Rumpelstiltskin replied quickly, outurning his hands as if it were obvious, but Prince James didn't feel any draft.

Keeping an eye on Rumpelstiltskin, Prince James got up from off of the floor and approached the Imp, removing his cloak and then tossed it to him. Rumpelstiltskin caught it on the fly, a wide grin crossing his crooked teeth while his other hand absent-mindedly waved in Red's general direction. James looked back at his friend, watching as the cuts and abrasions began to heal themselves. With Red now unconsious, he could only hope that it was healing whatever had been damaged inside of her too.

"Don't you have a damsel to save? What are you still doing here? Go!" Rumpelstiltskin chided giddily and waved his free hand, covering Prince James in a purple fog and then...he was gone. Rumpelstiltskin let out a bit of a giggle and took James' cloak over to the cabinet.

Evelyn watched and listened to the entire conversation, her expression clearly showed that she was becoming bored...again. She was even disappointed that the seemingly easy to scare man was sent away. As Rumpelstiltskin sent Prince James away, Evelyn switched back to Heather. Heather went up to the woman, and saw that she seemed to be completely healed, just as Rumpelstiltskin promised. Still, as a doctor she knew she couldn't be too careful, the woman could have internal injuries, and there was the question of how she got hurt to begin with.

She grabbed hold of one of the woman's arms, and lifted her up with the arm slung over Heather's shoulders, and the woman slumped against her. She said to Rumpelstiltskin, preemptively answering the question that she figured would come her way, "I'm going to make sure she doesn't have any internal injuries, and I'm quite curious as to how she got hurt in the first place. Don't worry, I'll make sure she leaves when she wakes up,"

Rumpelstiltskin simply waved Heather away, indicating that he didn't care as he laid out the cloak on the table and then went back to the cabinet to retrieve another glass vial.

Heather then took the woman to one of the empty bedrooms, and laid her down on the bed in the room. She figured it would take a while for the woman to wake up.

Rumpelstiltskin began to busy himself, conjuring up a pair of small tweezers and a magnifying glass after setting the glass bottle down on the table next to the cloak. There was already a hair inside, however this one was different than the one he had plucked from Evelyn beforehand. Rumpelstiltskin used the magnifying glass, examining the cloak closely until he found exactly what he was looking for. Using the tweezers, he plucked a single, short, blonde hair from the cloak; that of belonging to James. Keeping the hair locked tightly between the two metal tongs, Rumpelstiltskin used his other hand to uncork the bottle, and then gently laid James' hair inside.

The long, black hair that had been in there before seemed to stand up straight the moment James' hair came into contact with it. Corking the bottle, Rumpelstiltskin watched as the two seperate hairs began to magically intertwine with one another, the one long black hair glowing a fiery magenta and James' hair glowing a radient gold.

With a smirk of satisfaction to himself, Rumpelstiltskin returned the vial back to the cupboard, placing it with all the other vials in a neat and orderly row, each of them a symbol branded into the wood just underneath them; and under this new vial, a solid heart-shape. He wasted no time in grabbing the vial he had placed Evelyn's hair into earlier and went back to the table, setting it next to the cloak.

"Hey! This table is filthy!" Rumpelstiltskin shouted out to Heather in a demanding tone.

Heather had just finished checking the woman for any signs of internal injuries, when Rumpelstiltskin called to her. She jumped a bit, before she headed down and closed the door behind her. She hurried down and grabbed everything she needed to clean the table.

She came to the same room where Rumpelstiltskin was, and she figured out which table he was talking about. She answered his shout calmly "My apologies, I'll get to it," She then nodded to the cloak and vial, and she politely asked "Do you mind? I can't exactly clean it thoroughly with anything on it, and I don't think you want me touching your things,"

"As much as you like me touching yours..." Rumpelstiltskin jested quickly, snapping his arm out to pluck one of Heather's hairs from the top of her head. Without missing a beat, he opened up the glass vial and placed that hair into it with the other. With his free hand, he grabbed the cloak, using magic to have it worn over his shoulders properly and walked back to the cabinet, watching the two separate hairs dance with one another in a glowing blue and purple spectacular. He placed the vial in it's proper place, shut the cabinet and sealed it with magic before turning back to Heather.

"The dishes too, dearie." He reminded her with a giggle.

Heather raised an eyebrow as she watched him place a hair in a vial with another and the two hairs glowed. After he put it away, she got to work on the table. When he reminded her of the dishes, she answered "Very well..."

After she finished cleaning the table and dishes, and finished any other necessary chores, she went back to check on the woman.

Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez as Rumpelstiltskin and Regina, Huntress as Belle

---

By the time Regina's carriage reached her castle, the sun had begun to sink below the horizon, however due to the various landscape of mountains and hills settling behind Regina's Castle, it caused the area to look much later in the evening than it really was.

Torches had already been lit as a welcoming beacon, lining the castle walls as far as the eye could see, casting an ambient orange glow in the darkness and causing even the most still of shadows to flicker eerily every so often.

Regina stepped gracefully out of her carriage, minding the small puddle of water to the right and headed directly to the carriage behind her to ensure that her 'guest' had arrived in one piece.

The Huntsman, who had exited Regina's carriage before she had, hurried over to the welcoming guards and took one of their torches as to light the way for his Queen, and bounded to her side so Regina could get a good look inside of the cage.

"Guards!" Regina called in a snappy tone, getting the immediate attention of all those around her, though the guards tending to the carriage and horses knew better than to stop their duties, as there were other guards that were available to assist their Queen.

"We have a guest." Her voice mellowed out once she had a handful of guards at her immediate side, all of which were garbed in their usual black armor that was trademarked throughout all The Enchanted Forest as 'The Queen's Men.' Two of these guards also witheld a torch, amplifying the given light so that Regina no longer had to squint to see Belle inside the cage.

"Put her down in the cells for now, I will deal with her once I've settled myself in."

The guards clambored to the cage as Regina raised her hand to unlock the seal of magic.

"Careful," Regina warned. "Rumpelstiltskin didn't create the curse for her. There's no telling what might happen..." A small smile split Regina's blood red lips, taking a minute to think on the chaos that would ensue if Belle somehow did manage to turn back into a beast. All the screaming and bloodshed of her men, fighting with their lives to protect their Queen...only for Regina to simply wave her wrist to subdue the creature with magic. There was a reason she was Queen; and oftentimes Regina liked to revel in the fact that she controlled absolutely everything in The Enchanted Forest.

It had all happened so quickly. She was standing with Red and the man then she was locked up in a cage, heading out of the village towards a place she had never been. One thing was for sure, the hair pin did stop Belle from loosing herself. She knew the distinct scent of every rose and although she held her breath and covered her nose when she passed by the cursed pink roses, once her favourite, nothing happened. There was a slight moment of discomfort but that was it. The hair pin, unlike the Queen’s facade was genuine. What her reasons were for giving it to Belle slipped the beauty’s mind. Perhaps she just needed to subdue Belle long enough to get what she wanted. That seemed about right for the Queen.

In her mind Belle was confused, several thoughts and emotions running through her head. Perhaps it was better for her to be locked up by the queen, it would be safer for others. On the other hand Belle was angry, the Queen had spewed lies, told her about how Gaston would’ve wanted this or that, just to convince Belle to go.

She didn’t fight the guards, she easily could have but she was lost in her thoughts and sea of emotions. They pushed and pulled her, roughly forcing her through the castle and eventually to her cell. Tossing her in the cell door was slammed shut and Belle was left alone in her thoughts. She still had the red cloak wrapped around her body. It saddened her to see it. Sitting against the wall Belle brought her knees up and lowered her head as she sighed.

Hours ticked by, and the only changes Belle would see from her cell were the occasional guard-post change. Until finally, Regina descended down the staircase, her black dress billowing behind her with each and every step, her heels clacking resounding off the empty, cold stone walls.

She pushed past the main guard stationed outside Belle's cell without even so much as looking at him, her dark eyes trained on her caged 'pet' with a white smile warm on her lips.

"Oh, don't tell me they didn't give you something appropriate to wear!" Regina said stopping in front of the cell bars, noticing the red cloak that she hugged to herself tightly to keep some sort of dignity in the situation. She raised her right hand a few inchest out in front of her, her fingers sticking between the bars ever so slightly, and moved her hand up and down. Her fingertips were tickled in a soft white, and then it was gone, and Belle would find a simple, dirty-white gown beneath the red cloak.

"There, now we can be friends." Regina said optimistically, keeping her smile all the while and dropping her hand back to her side.

Belle looked down at the dirt dress then up at the Queen. She held onto the cloak tightly as she ignored the voice of the other woman, bringing her gaze back down to the stone floor. She chose not to respond. She really had nothing to say, although she was curious as to why the Queen wanted her locked up but she would probably be told more lies. The beauty found it pointless to say anything.

Regina's smile faultered only slightly, disappointed that she wouldn't be given the opportunity to hear the whining and complaning she usually got when she abducted someone and threw them in her prison.

"I can guess that you're wondering why I brought you here; why I...took you away from your friends and home..." Regina started, figuring that the only way to get through to this girl was to be straight-forward. Not as fun, but she could still pull some strings with it and make her puppet dance.

"As chance would have it-" Regina let her smile fall completely, her voice dropping to that of seriousness as she pulled off her black gloves, one at a time, finger by finger. "-I need your help."

She scowled at the woman as she looked up at her. Of course she wanted to know why she was here, locked up like some sort of criminal or animal. “Why can’t you just leave me be? There’s not much help I can be to you.” She clenched her jaw and sighed. “Besides…I refuse to help you. You bring nothing but pain, anger and hatred to others. Things I do not stand for…unlike you.” She muttered the last part,

Regina let out a cruel laugh and shook her head no slightly.

"So, you really won't help me then?" She asked in a knowing tone. "Even if it involves the well-being of your Rumpelstiltskin?"

The name caught her attention and she looked up rather quickly. Her jaw was tightly clenched as she looked at the woman. She lied, she couldn’t harm Rumpelstiltskin, no one could. “You can’t bring any harm to Rumpelstiltskin.” Belle stated simply, knowing that he was the strongest…man in the enchanted forest.

Regina put her hands on the bars in front of her and brought her face closer to Belle, her wicked smile returning.

"Can't I?" She challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Belle lifted herself up rather quickly. The red cloak falling to the floor as she approached the bars and gripped them tightly just moments before Regina retracted herself from her position so close to the cell. Belle’s grip on the bars was tight, tight enough to make the thick metal groan as she glared at the woman. “Nobody can harm him and he certainly won’t let you even approach him. He’d kill you within a second.” Belle practically snarled at the woman.

Again, Regina shook her head but the smile returned on her lips, amused by the petite girl's reaction.

"I'm inflicting a curse upon all of the Enchanted Forest; it will effect everyone...send them all to a place where I can finally have my happy ending. Everything will be as I want it, exactly. That includes the monster you're so fond of. If I've learned anything from Rumpel, it's that all magic has it's price, and I paid it in full."

“He is not a monster. He has more honour and dignity than you do and you call yourself a queen.” Belle practically spat at Regina.

By the time Regina had finished speaking, her serious tone grew more and more vengeful, her face giving way to the fact that she had indeed undergone some amount of suffering but her eyes held that of hope. Clearing her throat, Regina flicked her wrist in Belle's general direction. A small amount of thick purple smoke formulated just behind Belle, growing taller and taller until suddenly, it was gone; and in it's wake was a full-length mirror, reflecting Belle and Regina's bodies back at them.

Belle followed the motion of Regina’s hand and watched the mirror appear. What was she trying to pull this time? The Queen’s voice brought Belle’s gaze back to her.

"Rumpel's known about my little curse, he gave it to me, helped me perfect it even, but the little imp is starting to put his business where it doesn't belong. He can't stop the curse; nothing can, and he knows that." Regina stopped to scoff. "He thinks that by reuiniting Snow and Charming; it will somehow ruin my happy ending. True, it does put a slight damper to my plan, but what he doesn't realize is just how much of his life I have in my hands with this curse, and it will all be for nothing once I seperate the two love-birds once again..."

Belle gritted her teeth as she listened to the queen unravel her plan. What did this curse entitle, what would it bring upon everyone? The evil people didn’t deserve happy endings, she chose her path, she shouldn’t be allowed to change it.

Again, Regina flicked her wrist and the glass of the mirror began to wobble and pulse, like a still lake that had been disturbed by a large object thrown into it. The image of Regina and Belle became more and more unclear, until a new image began to appear as the mirror's glass began to become still once more.

It was like looking through a window. The grand double doors of Rumpelstiltskin's dining room were straight ahead, at the angle as if Regina and Belle were right there in the room. The doors suddenly opened by magic and Rumpelstiltskin himself walked through them, shutting them with a wave of his hand behind him. He seemed completely unaware of the two pairs of eyes on him, and briskly walked to the large dining room table that stood completely empty aside from two place settings on the opposite side, being cleared away by another woman both Regina and Belle didn't recognize.

Belle watched, who was this woman? Why was she in Rumpel’s castle? She dropped her hands from the thick bars that had been slightly dented now. Why did her heart hurt? She wasn’t meant to be with him…Obviously she wasn’t he had met another, he had moved on just as she had. There was no reason for her to feel like this, but she did, it was a horrible feeling and she couldn’t shake it. Swallowing passed the lump in her throat she let out a shaky sigh. Regina's voice catching her attention once again, but she did not face her this time.

"I need him here, in my castle; trapped and-" Regina sighed, trying to make her words benifit her cause. "-safe while the curse hits. I have to ensure that he doesn't do anything stupid to try and stop me. You do want him safe, don't you?" Regina's eyes never left Belle, gauging her every breath, her every movement. It was clear that Belle still had feelings for her prior master; how far those feelings went, Regina didn't know. All she knew was that Belle's kind heart would be her undoing, all it would take would be just the slightest amount of empathy for Rumpelstiltskin, and Regina was determined to use that against her.

Belle sniffled slightly, wiping away the single tear that formed. It wasn’t fair for her to still feel like this. “He doesn’t need you to keep him safe. He’s more than capable of doing that himself.” Clenching her jaw she walked away from the front of the cell, and the window like magic mirror. Lifting the red cloak off the ground she sat down once again, her back against a corner as she draped the cloak over herself, keeping her head low, trying to ignore anything else that Regina would attempt to say or convince Belle to do.

A muscle in Regina's jaw tightened to the point where her teeth began to grind together. This girl was proving to be much more of a pain in the ass than she had initially intended. Without hesitation, Regina swung her arm outwards, the magic she held mirroring her movements and crashing Belle's head against the stone wall she had been leaning against. It wasn't hard enough to cause any real damage, just enough to get the point across that Regina was going to get her way no matter what she said.

"CALL FOR HIM!" With her free hand, Regina waved it in the direction of the mirror. Nothing physically changed about the it, the only thing noticable was a slight echo in the sounds coming from The Dark Castle as Rumpelstiltskin set himself down at the table, scribbling on a piece of parchment with an ink quill with his back now to the mirror.

Belle grunted as she hit the wall hard enough to hurt. Slowly the brunette pushed herself up as she glared at the woman. The back of her head throbbed, her mid back aching slightly. The girl simply sat back down in her corner. Taking the red cloak in her hands once again and wrapping it around herself. She wasn’t going to give in to the Queen’s way. No matter what she did.

Regina stepped out of the immediate view of the mirror, smiling slightly as an idea formed in her mind. It was risky, she hadn't used this particular curse in a while and it could very well destroy Belle, but she was determined to get Rumpelstiltskin here by any means necissary, and then after that, Belle would be useless to her.

Regina held out both hands, each mirroring the other and created a small circle with her fingers, the center of it being Belle and let the magic flow, straight into Belle like a silent killer.

It came out of nowhere, a sudden explosion of pain starting from the beauty’s core. She clutched at her stomach tightly, the pain grew more evident with every passing second. She didn’t scream, she held back. Belle didn’t want to give Regina the satisfaction of her pain. Tossing the red cloak aside she winced. It felt like her insides were twisting as the pain slowly began to ripple outwards.

She was now on hands and knees, muscle’s taught as the first wince escaped the pained girl. Belle lowered herself slightly, eyes beginning to water, holding back the screams was starting to become more difficult, her body slowly starting to tremble. She shook her head to herself. She wouldn’t give in, she couldn’t give in. She groaned, it sounded more like an irritated growl. Lifting her head she glared at Regina, eyes beginning to glow, a loud sudden scream escaped her. She struggled to keep herself up.

Looking down at her hand she watched the veins protrude under her skin. Slowly it travelled up her arm, neck and the side of her face. Another scream escaped her as tears began to over flow and stream down her face. She clenched her hands into fists, a loud irritating squeal echoing through the dungeon. Looking down she saw the blood pooled around her finger nails, sleek black claws in their place. Her expression grew worried for a moment, but another wave of pain took over with another scream following. She quickly glanced at Regina, eyes still glowing before she looked back down at the stone floor.

Belle’s body was soon forced to the ground, on it’s side, back towards the evil Queen.

Rumpelstiltskin's body immediately stiffened, and he sat there like a statue for a good few moments until he heard another whimper of pain. This time, he knew he had heard it. Practically flying from his chair and knocking it over in the process, Rumpelstiltskin made a direct beeline towards the mirror that he had kept covered until that very day. His heart immediately stopped, and then fell into his stomach as he saw Belle before him, on the other side of the mirror, clawing and groaning out in pain on a cold stone floor.

"Belle?" His voice was soft, quiet even, though he wasn't addressing her directly. It was more of a question of what he was seeing. It wasn't until he heard Regina's cold laugh that his blood began to boil hot, and though he couldn't see her, he knew she had to have been the one causing this. Afterall, this was her mirror.

Regina, meanwhile, kept out of the view of the mirror, noticing Belle attempting to undergo her transformation. She laughed cruelly once more and brought one hand out of the spell, using it now to force another spell upon Belle to keep her body the way it was.

"Just tell him what we want dear, and it will all go away..." Regina cooed.

"You FILTHY BITCH!" Rumpelstiltskin screamed at the mirror, unable to tear his eyes away from Belle but hearing Regina as clear as if she were in the room standing next to him. "Let...her...go..."

Belle groaned again as she panted, veins still protruded and whatever changes had taken place stayed as they were. It wasn’t much, claws and fangs had lengthened, the slightest changes in her size as the dirty white dress seemed tighter. The sides of her head throbbed, blood trickling down from the horns that were intended to sprout out. Slowly she forced herself to hands and knees, a low growl escaping her, her teeth set, face red from holding in all the screams and pain. It wasn’t going to happen. She wouldn’t speak, she wouldn’t do what she was told by the evil Queen even if the pain killed her. Belle didn’t betray or ever wish to cause harm to anyone close to her, and Rumplestiltskin was dangerously close.

She reached for the wall and tried to bring herself up but the pain only got worse as she screamed in agony, dropping to her side she curled herself up, hopeful that it would ease the pain, even in the slightest.

"Oh come now, he really can't be worth all this trouble can he?" Regina taunted, using her magic to slam Belle back down onto the cold stone floor once again, making Belle's unfathomable effort all for naught. She forced the magic keeping Belle's body intact even more-so on her, adding to the pain as her muscles and joints were being forced down to their small size when every bit of Belle's body wanted the exact opposite.

"Regina!" Rumpelstiltskin wasn't shouting, he was beyond that. Instead, the cool, collected anger he held in his voice was five times more frightening then when he did shout, even causing goosebumps to crawl up Regina's arm.

The beauty couldn’t move, she was pinned and there was nothing she could do about it. Tears streamed down her face as she sniffled between the pained grunts and winces. What a horrible woman Regina truly was. Belle tightly shut her eyes and tried to breath through the pain. “Oh Rumpel…what I do for you…” The words were barely whispers, and broken apart by gasps and groans of pain.

Belle remained confused. She was supposed to love Gaston, not Rumpelstiltskin. True love was a mutual thing, it wasn’t something that only one could feel. Rumpel had told her that she loved Gaston, not him, which meant that he didn’t love her.

Although the pain still flowed through her body, her thoughts seemed to silence everything that surrounded her.

Rumpelstilstkin extended out his hand, as if trying to touch the image of Belle through the mirror but his fingers were blocked by the glass. His arm began to shake, and his green complexion became steadily pale.

"No...n-n-n-no..no no no! Stop!" He pleaded, getting down onto his knees on the floor before his mirror and getting on a level closer to Belle's.

Regina, able to see Rumpelstiltskin from where she was, laughed and stepped into view. Rumpeltstiltskins dark eyes immediately went to The Evil Queen. His whole body seemed to be trembling now, fully aware of what sort of trap Regina had Belle in, and what it could do. He shook his head no, lower lip quivering with fright shining in his eyes.

"We need to talk Rumpel. And since your a stubborn as she is-" Regina pushed forth another wave of excrutiating pain through Belle's body.

Still unable to move all Belle could do was tightly shut her eyes and whimper. It felt as if there was a ton of stone on her back, slowly pushing down against her bones, waiting to just give way and shatter.

"-I simply had no other choice..." Regina finished, smirking at the sight of her mentor in complete shambles, on his knees before her.

"Stop! Please, just stop!" Rumpelstiltskin pleaded with her once more. He could only rely on his own memories to remember what pain Belle was going through, and he supposed that the pressure building up in his own chest could be relatable; definitely much worse than the time he felt anything remotely this painful; when he had forced Belle away from his castle. "I'll come, I swear, just please, no more..."

Regina split into a wider grin and let lose the spell that had been taking control over Belle's body, however the spell keeping her from transforming lingered.

"You've got ten minutes Imp, or she dies." Regina spat, but before she could even get her last word out, Rumpelstiltskin was gone in a puff of blood red smoke.

"GUARDS!" Regina snapped, ignoring the fact that the mirror went completely rigid and back to reflecting their bodies back to them. The main guard who had been taking up post rushed to Regina quickly, and another one quickly in tow. If at all possible, Regina's grin grew wider as she looked back into the cage at Belle, glad that finally...all that effort had paid off.

Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and Ghost Shadow
--
Alexandre’s eyes shot open abruptly as the sound of the dungeon door opened. An assemblage of boot-clad feet clamored down the stairs. This was more than the usual regiment. This realization only meant one thing: The Queen was here…

Alexandre inconspicuously crawled towards one corner of the cell, hoping no one would pay him any attention – especially not Regina. Under normal circumstances, Alexandre would have most likely taunted the Evil Queen with a clever jape or two and then teleport on his merry way, but now he was vulnerable. As the clanking of footsteps grew quieter, Alexandre released a breath he didn’t realize he was holding: they hadn’t come for him.

Alexandre folded his legs, pressing one ear against the damp wall in hopes of hearing anything of interest. Besides, there was nothing else to do to pass the time, one has to make his own fun.

He first heard the sound of a cell door opening; strange. It wasn’t normal for Regina to release prisoners out of the goodness of her heart. He heard an exchange of voices, the unmistakable voice of the Queen’s being haughty and cruel. The other was young and determined, brave or stupid enough to take such a tone with Regina.

It wasn’t long before the simple conversation transformed from a conversation to something much darker. The voice of the brave-stupid woman turned into a bloodcurdling scream of utter agony as she was brought down by extreme pain, no doubt one of Regina’s dark spells.

Alexandre felt his eyebrows furrow as the insufferable screaming continued. Torture was one thing; that was expected by one as loathsome as Regina. But this was a complete lack of humanity as the torment seemed to go on for eternity. The screams echoing off the stone walls into Alexandre’s ears, enough to make him wince, as if he could feel the pain itself; this torture was too much for anyone to handle. He clasped his hands over his ears and hoped the noises would just go away.

There was a tap on Alexandre's shoulder, and as Alexandre turned to face what he was sure was his immagination playing tricks on him again, Rumpelstiltskin let up a somewhat forced, half-smile as if to say 'hello,' although the usual quip in his demeanor had completely vanished, the remains of the blood red smoke quickly dissapating behind him.

"You!?" Alexandre snarled in a mixture of surprise and anger, quickly jumping to his feet. Though the spite was clear in his voice, the look in his eyes was that of wariness and a small essence of fear.

"What could you possibly want from me now?" He hissed, staring daggers at the imp who had just not long ago ripped his heart out.

Rumpelstiltskin let out a short sigh and closed his eyes for a moment, letting the hairless cat babble on for a bit before raising his hand and pinching his thumb and pointerfinger together, thus creating a temporary charm that kept Alexandre's mouth shut.

"I came to apologize." Rumpelstiltskin began, tentatively poking his head between the bars as best as he could to see if he could spot Regina and then pulled himself back into the cell with the hairless cat. "It seems I sent you to the wrong imprisonment..." Rumpelstiltskin turned back to face Alexandre, a sly grin coming across his face as he grabbed onto Alexandre's upper arms with each hand, holding him tightly in place. "Do you remember our little deal?" He asked, his voice nearly sqeaking towards the end.

Alexandre's facial expressions performed the job his mouth would have, narrowing in confusion at Rumpel's apology, then glowering as he mentioned the deal. He tried somewhat to pull away as Rumpel grabbed his arms, but relinquished in just a few moments.

In response to the Imp's question, he nodded subtly, acknowledging the deal.

"Good." Rumpelstiltskin let one hand go from Alexandre's arm and extended his hand outwards, a folded up square piece of parchment materializing in his hand. Rumpelstiltskin took the folded up parchment and took it upon himself to tuck it into Alexandre's vest jacket pocket and patted the area for good measure, followed by another one of his short giggles. "I'm cashing in."

Then, without enough time for Alexandre to even blink, he was gone in a puff of thick purple smoke.

Taking a minute to adjust the black dragon-hide vest he was wearing, Rumpelstiltskin pushed his hand outward and blew the cell door off it's hinges with magic before stepping out into the isle, clear as day for Regina to see.

Regina immediately squared herself off in the direction the blast came from, a ball of flickering fire appearing in her hand by instinct, however when she saw Rumpelstiltskin walking with a purpose towards her, she let the flame diminish into nothing and crossed her arms over her arguably inappropriately exposed bosom.

"Belle...where is she? I swear to God I'll-" Rumpelstiltskin closed the distance between the two rather quickly, but Regina didn't budge and instead took a moment to examine her nails from the position they were folded on her.

"Relax Imp, she's still alive...for now. So long as you cooperate." Regina replied coolly.

Rumpelstiltskin took a side-step across Regina so that he was finally able to look into the cell where Belle was located, immediately feeling tears welling up in his eyes as he looked down upon her unconscious body on the stone floor, no doubt her body had given up on his way here. He took a minute to close his eyes and breathe in deeply. She was unconscious; yes, but still alive.

"What do you want?" He practically spat at Regina, never letting his eyes off of Belle. Regina simply nodded to the remaining guard. With a light huff, the guard opened up the cell door and stepped inside, pulling Belle to her feet. Rumpelstiltskin took an instinctive step forward when the Beauty let out a slight whimper in protest, but Regina held her arm out firm to keep him from getting any closer.

The guard walked Belle out of the cell, apparently she wasn't quite unconscious yet, but startlingly close. He made brief eye contact with Belle before Regina spoke again.

"Get in, Imp."

Rumpelstiltskin looked away from Belle and shot Regina a sideways glance.

"Get. In. We both know you have something planned. I know you helped Charming find Snow, but it never ends with you does it?" Regina continued.

"That? That's what this is all about?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, turning up his hands in question. Regina only glared at him coldly and Rumpelstiltskin took the initiative to put himself in the cell.

"Wait...not that one..." Regina suddenly said, causing Rumpelstiltskin to roll his eyes and followed the direction of Regina's glance towards a peculiar looking cell that seemed to be made out of pikes instead of iron bars.

"So you finally managed to build it..." Rumpelstiltskin walked from the current cell to the other, waiting for Regina to open it up before he stepped inside. Regina closed it up tight and smiled, finally content and feeling a huge amount of weight being lifted off of her shoulders.

"The curse, I have the final ingredient. Now what do I do?"

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes glanced over to Belle for a moment, his heart slightly fluttering as she began to stir a little more into alertness. Good, she was going to be okay. He placed his hands on the wooden pikes serving as bars, pressing his face in-between them to speak to Regina directly.

"There's a price..." He began, but Regina cut him off directly.

"What do you want?" She asked, initially expecting that.

"In this new life...I want comfort; I want a good life!"

"Fine!" Regina spat, her patience wearing thin again. "You'll have an estate; and you will be rich-"

"I wasn't finished!" Rumpelstiltskin interrupted, clear that his own patience was running thin with The Queen. "There's more!" Regina shook her head slightly.

"There always is with you..."

Rumpelstiltskin couldn't help but to crack a wide smile.

"In this new land, should I come to you for any reason...you must heed my every request!" He raised his arm up, pointing directly to the ceiling to accentuate his words, and then turned his hand so that his finger was pointing directly at Regina. "You must do whatever I say...so long as I say..." He paused, watching the anguish on Regina's face become more and more clear the longer he waited to finish his sentence. "...PLEASE!" He practically shouted, followed up by a breathy laugh. Regina didn't flinch.

"You do realize that should I succeed, you won't remember any of this..."

Rumpelstiltskin made the face of a child being caught in the larder in the middle of the night; guilty but not so ashamed of being caught.

"Oh, well then, what's the harm?" He asked Regina with a light shrug. Regina just snickered softly.

"Deal."

Rumpelstiltskin's grin widened, threatening to crack his dry lips as he let out a soft snicker of his own.

"Drop it in." He said at last. Regina blinked, unsure of what he was talking about at first, and then it clicked.

"That's all? No written spell? No...enchantment?"

"You already did the hard part dearie, just drop it in and watch it unfold."

Regina nodded twice and backed away from the cell a few feet.

"You did it." Rumpelstiltskin said, almost sounding surprised, catching Regina off guard as she was just about ready to leave.

"That's right. I did it." She replied with an edge of pride in her voice, even more-so than what she usually carried. "And I wanted you to know it, before you, like all the pathetic citizens of this wretched land forgets everything."

"How did it feel?" Rumpelstiltskin asked in reply, and watched Regina's face fall ever so slightly. "How did it feel to kill the thing that you love most?" He asked again. "R-r-r-r-r-ripping the heart out of your father?"

"It was the price of the curse!" Regina replied hotly, defending herself. "How it felt doesn't matter. You would have understood. I took my life back, I had to...I WON."

"And yet...here you are...feeling the need to gloat..." Rumpelstiltskin inhaled a deep breath, as if realizing something important. "Something's missing, isn't it dearie?"

"Not at all! I have everything I want! Nothing can stop me now..."

Rumpelstiltskin fell into a fit of laughter, causing Regina to step away from the cell pikes a step out of surprise. This...this was exactly why Regina wanted him here; where she could keep an eye on him in a cell where he was unable to use any of his magic.

"But now there's a hole...in your heart..." He said, coming out of his fit of laughter as if it never happened. "And someday...you'll come to me to fill it..."

Regina sternly shook her head no, smirking.

"You overestimate your powers of foresight." She snapped coldly.

"AND YOU UNDERESTIMATE THE PRICE OF WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

Regina glared at him coldly. Just what was he playing at now?

"You shall see you will come to me-" Rumpelstiltskin sang, wagging his finger along to the beat. "-there is more you need! Oh!" He popped off with an amused grin.

"Your taunts will get you nowhere!" Regina snapped once again, feeling her blood beginning to boil and her skin beginning to crawl. He was bluffing; he had to be, that's all he had left. "I know you too well...you wanna make another deal..." She observed, and then pressed her own face against the pike bars, causing Rumpelstiltskin to back up this time. "WELL I WON'T!"

"A deal?" He laughed, genuinely amused this time. "You already promised me a good life in this new land. What more could I want...from you?" He asked, pointing at her again.

"Oh..." Regina started. "...to be let out of this cage? To...be let out of our last deal? To escape the curse?" She tried, as if tantalizing him with the idea. Rumpelstiltskin tiled his head to the side slightly.

"But why would I desire that dearie? I'm exactly where I want to be..."

This took Regina totally by surprise. Just what the HELL did he mean by that? Furrowing her eyebrows, Regina backed away from the cell once more and walked over to her guard and Belle, and turned her head towards Rumpelstiltskin.

"I agreed she stay safe while you did as you were told, but now that I no longer have things to tell you to do, that deal is up." She said sternly, and looked back at Belle, plunging her hand into Belle's chest wrist deep.

Even in her weakened state, Belle let out a sharp gasp of breath and collapsed to her hands and knees as soon as Regina removed her hand, Belle's heart beating wildly inside of it. Rumpelstiltskin's eyes snapped wide open and instinctively moved his arms to put a magic hold on Regina, however The Evil Queen simply laughed as she spotted this and squeezed down hard on Belle's heart, causing Belle to gasp out for breath once again.

"Did you forget already? You are MINE Rumpel, at now at least I can have the satisfaction of the look on your face when I have finally beaten you at your own game.

"NO!"

Regina gave the heart one last squeeze, clenching the heart in her palm and fingertips as hard as she possibly could until little beads of what looked like a mixture of sand and dirt began to trickle from her hands, rendering the helpless Belle completely motionless.

"BELLE! BELLE! Rumpelstiltskin grabbed at the pike bars, willing to break them apart with his own strength but the bars refused to submit. Regina tossed her head back and laughed, letting what was left of Belle's crushed heart fall to the ground at Rumpelstiltskin's feet.

"I would love to stay and chat Rumpel, but I've got a curse to put into motion." With a white, flashy smile, Regina disappeared into a sudden appearance of thin, black mist, her laugh continuing to echo through the dungeon.

--5 Years Later--

Faye groaned as she woke up, not in the bedroom, but instead in the basement prison she had in her house just for her counterpart. Faye could immediately tell that she went through a violent episode while her other persona was in control. The once neat and tidied room was a wreck. Thankfully, the computer and the cameras in the house were still in tact. Of course, that was thanks to the rules Faye and her other persona imposed upon each other.

She got out of the room via typing in a password only she knew into a keypad that allowed the door to open. After that, she had her usual breakfast, switched into a different pencil skirt and blouse with a white coat over it. She wore comfortable shoes that would allow her to move about the hospital quickly. She even made sure to pocket a voice recorder, just in case her other persona decided to take over.

She soon left the house, and walked to the hospital. On her way there, she was greeted by others. The people who were her patients were the most friendly to her since they recalled her kindness. However in the hospital, it was cold and professional as usual.

When the doctors came up to her to talk about the patients, she easily recalled their conditions and what would be the best solution and she told them in a quick pace so they could help the patient without further delay. After Faye tended to some patients herself, she headed for Mary Margaret's room to check on her condition.

Mid-afternoon strolled by, and Regina made it a point to visit the hospital; something she did once a week every Saturday at exactly 4:00 p.m. to ensure that 'Jane Doe' stayed a Jane Doe. Sure it was a bit paranoid; the curse had proven time and time again to hold up strong and without any gaping holes that Regina had to fill, but the conversation she and Rumpelstiltskin had just before she initiated the curse never left her thoughts; always making her wonder.

Walking into the hospital room, Regina didn't even so much as glance at the other patients; her eyes set dead on the glass room that held Snow White and allowed herself in. It was the same as last week, and every week before that. Snow hadn't moved; not a single hair out of place and Regina couldn't help but to smile, fully well knowing that her back was to the cameras...just in case...

The Head Doctor soon entered the room, and she greeted the mayor politely once again, unfazed by her presence, "Hello, Madam Mayor,"

"Dr. Stevenson." Regina acknowledged with a slight nod. "And how's our patient doing today? Anyone to see her lately?"

Faye answered as she checked on the machines that kept her breathing, "Jane seems to be the same as ever...Her condition is stable, but no one, except you, has come to see her as of yet. No infections either,"

"Good, good." Regina said more to herself, then catching her potential mistake of making it seem that Jane Doe being in the hospital still was a good thing, she added on, "At least her condition hasn't taken a turn for the worse."

Regina quickly cleared her throat and looked over the comatose Snow once more, feeling that sense of pride welling up in her that she had done this; she had taken away Snow's happiness. It was a good feeling, knowing that she had won; another reason she kept coming back every week.

Faye looked up from her notes on Jane Doe's medical condition when Regina made her comment, and she looked at the mayor. When she ammended her statement, Dr. Stevenson commented "True..."

"As her emergency contact, you'll let me know straight away if there is any change?" Regina asked, though her tone made it sound more like a demand than a question.

When the mayor asked her question, Faye answered as she wrote every detail of Jane Doe's condition down, calmly but not in a meek and fearful way, like almost everyone else would answer if she used that tone, "Of course, Madam Mayor. There's no change when it comes to emergency contacts,"

Regina wasn't put off by the Dr.'s tone one bit, she was far too emersed in swimming in this happy feeling to even really notice.

"Thank you Doctor, but I really must be going now." She said looking to Faye and let up a small smile. "You do good work here doctor; just...keep doing what it is that you've always done." Regina added on, her smile widening a bit more at the double implication before leaving the room to exit the hospital and return back home.

A few weeks before the curse hit The Enchanted Forest...

Rumpelstiltskin reached for a cup of tea Belle had just laid out on the dining room table and brought it up, holding the underside of the teacup with his opposite hand, using it to test the temperature of the tea while he watched Belle walk around the end of the table to join him on the same side he was on. Ignoring it, however, Rumpelstiltskin took a few steps in the other direction, keeping a distance between the two of them, and then noticed that Belle took another few steps of equal distance to get closer to him. Once more, he reached his foot out and took a larger step, watching Belle behind him out of the corner of his eye to see that she was still following him. He turned around quickly to face her, to ask why she was following him, but Belle swiftly sat down on the edge of the table, swinging her feet back and forth and looking up at him with her head turned just slightly.

"Why did you want me here?" Belle asked after a few moments of silence between the two of them. Rumpelstiltskin raised the teacup and shrugged.

"The place was filthy." He replied and took a drink of the soothing warm liquid. Belle turned her head a bit more sideways, giving him a doubtful look, not believing him for a second.

"I think you were lonely." She voiced out boldly. Rumpelstiltskin lowered his teacup, watching Belle's face carefully. "I mean ANY man would be lonely." Rumpelstiltskin just wobbled his head back and forth as if to say 'if that's what you want to think,' and then sat down on the table next to her, though managing to keep a comfortable distance between them.

"I'm not a man." He said, resting the teacup on his knee and looked down at it; anything to keep himself from looking at her. Belle was silent for a moment, unsure of what to say, and looked down at the wrinkles on her blue dress in her lap.

"So I've had uh, a couple of months to look around, you know...and uh...upstairs? There's uh, a blanket; small...as if...for a child?" Belle chanced to turn her head to look at her master, wondering for a moment if this would set him off in any way, but all she could see from him was a couple of quick blinks in succession, and a slight increase in his breathing. "Was it yours? Or...or was there a son?"

Rumpelstiltskin continued to stare down at his tea, attempting to steady his heart before answering and turned his head just slightly to face her.

"There was...a daughter..." He corrected her, and then turned his face away from her once again. "I lost her, as I did her mother."
Belle's face immediately fell at the news, feelings of empathy tugging at her heart and caused her to shake her head, almost regretting that she had asked.

"I'm...I'm sorry..." She said turning her head as well so that she was looking back down into her lap again. Silence began to build, and Belle bit her lip as she found more questions starting to rise in her head, but knew she had to treat the situation delicately. "So...so you WERE a-a man once...an ordinary man..." She stated, though her tone opened it up to be a sort of question; or rather a statement looking for confirmation.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't budge, and kept staring down at his tea, causing Belle to bend at the waist slightly in an effort to try to catch his eye by looking up at him, but still he did nothing. Belle straightened up her back and let out a quick sigh. "If I'm never going to know another person in my WHOLE life...can't I at least know you?"

Finally, Rumpelstiltskin moved, smiling just a bit as he moved to stand and face her slowly.

"Perhaps..." He said softly, drawing the word out and set his tea cup on the table where he had just been sitting and then raised a finger at Belle. "Perhaps you just want to learn the monster's weaknesses!" He chided, wiggling his fingers a bit between them. Belle tried giving him a 'really?' look, but Rumpelstiltskin made a quick sound to keep her from saying anything, and then twice more to drive in his point. Belle waited patiently for him to stop, and then gave him a soft smile.

"You're not a monster." She said indefinitely, her tone causing Rumpelstiltskin to bring his pointed finger at her back to a relaxed hand position, and then brought his hand away from her and more towards his torso. "You think you're uglier than you are! That's why you cover all the mirrors up isn't it?" Belle gestured towards the one large mirror in the room, covered in a thick square of canvas just as she had said. When Rumpelstiltskin said nothing, Belle gave him a knowing look and a quick, "Hmm?" to drive her own point.

There was a sudden rap at the door, causing Rumpelstiltskin to look in the general direction, and went to answer it, leaving Belle in the dining room for a moment. Once Rumpelstiltskin was in the main hall, he waved his hand in a horizontal circular motion above his head and the double doors sprung open, revealing a man on the doorstep with a torch in one hand, and a pitchfork in the other. He looked nervous as hell to be there, but Rumpelstiltskin waited for him to speak first.

"I-I am Sir Christopher of Halla, and you beast have destroyed my village-"

Rumpelstiltskin had heard enough. He had enough of these kind of visitors to know just where this was heading, and saved the man the trouble. Snapping his fingers, Rumpelstiltskin watched as the man was covered in a thin mist of purple smoke, quickly disappearing to reveal a single rose lying on the ground where the man had once been. With a slight smirk, Rumpelstiltskin swooped down to collect the rose, and went back into the dining room.

He kept the rose hidden behind his back with one hand, while using his other hand to shut the dining room doors with magic.
"Who was that?" Belle asked curiously, getting off of the table to walk towards him.

"Just an old woman selling flowers." Rumpelstiltskin lied, and then proceeded to pull the rose from behind his back and offered it to her as she neared him still. "Here...if you'll have it?"

Belle kept back a smile by biting her lower lip, but made a small noise of appreciation as she extended her arm to accept the flower, taking it from him carefully.

"Why thank you." She said civilly, and curtsied, and Rumpelstiltskin took a bow in response, leaving Belle to laugh a bit at the sudden turn to mimic the 'higher-class' before bringing the rose to her nose. As she turned to walk away, Rumpelstiltskin clapped his hands together and watched Belle walk to find a pair a shears and a vase in which to put the flower in.

"You had a life Belle..." Rumpelstiltskin said watching her retrieve the pair of shears from a small toolbox. "...before...all this..." He used his fingers to make small circles, gesturing towards the entire situation she had been put in, and not just the moments that had just been created that day. "Friends...family..." Belle moved from the toolbox to walk to the glass cupboard on the far side of the room, but Rumpelstiltskin kept talking. "...what made you chose to stay here with me?"

Belle turned to face him as she reached the cupboard, and gave a small smile.

"Heroism...sacrifice..." She quickly turned to open up the glass cupboard and withdrew a glass vase while Rumpelstiltskin took a seat in his chair at the head of the table. "You know, there aren't a lot of opportunities for women in this land, to show what they can do. To see the world, to be heroes!" Belle shut the cupboard, and began to walk back to the table. "So when I came for my father, that was my chance. I always wanted to be brave, I figured, do the brave thing and...bravery would follow..." She paused to snip the end of the stem as Rumpelstiltskin looked on upon her thoughtfully, starting to see his new servant in a slightly, brighter light.

"And is it everything you hoped?" He asked, adding a bit of his childish voice in towards the end of his question and turning out his hand in question at the same time. Belle took the pitcher of water setting on the tea-set tray she had laid out earlier and filled the vase and stuck the rose inside, placing the vase in the very center of the table. She let out a half-breath, half laugh before answering.

"Well...uh..." She let out another small laugh, taking a few steps towards him and sat back down on the table at an angle this time to be able to face him at the head of the table. "I did want to see the world...that part didn't really work out." She pursed her lips together, looking down at Rumpelstiltskin. "But uh, I did save my father."

Rumpelstiltskin put his hands together once more, making a slight triangle with them, tapping the tips of his fingers together.
"And what of your, uh, betrothed?"

"It was an arranged marriage. Honestly, I didn't really care much for Gaston." Belle paused, unable to keep a bright smile from coming as she then began to speak truly from her heart. "To me, love...love is layered, a...mystery to be uncovered...I could never truly give my heart to someone as superficial as he."

It was strange just how much her words stuck with Rumpelstiltskin, looking up at her and hanging onto every word as she spoke. Belle looked back at him, letting the silence in the room hang onto her words in a way that didn't just seem like silence anymore. Belle then quickly shook her head, pulling herself from her thoughts. "But um...you were going to tell me about your daughter..." She quickly reminded him.

"I'll tell you what..." Rumpelstiltskin pressed his hands flat together and turned them so that they were, in a way, pointing at her. "I'll make you a deal..." Belle straightened up, curious of his proposal. "Go to town...and fetch me some straw. When you return...I'll share my tale."

"W-wh-why-I-wh-w-yo-, w-what? Town?" Belle stammered, unsure if she heard him right. "Y-you trust me to come back?"

"Oh no...I expect I'll never see you again..." He openly admitted.

Hours slowly ticked by, and the sun that had once been so high up in the sky hand sunk below the horizon long ago, and Rumpelstiltskin hadn't taken his eyes away from looking out the window in the tallest tower of The Dark Castle. He could only hope that Belle would come back; even though she had no reason to. The promise of an insignificant story couldn't have been enough to keep her wondering, but he still had to hope.

Finally, in the dead of night, Rumpelstiltskin spotted the young woman returning back from town, a basket of fresh straw on her hip as she took the path back to the castle. His heart jumped up into his throat, keeping him from being able to breathe for a few moments as he rushed down from the tower to take up his post in the Dining Room at the spinning wheel. He didn't want Belle to know that he had been waiting for her return like a stupid, lonely animal.

When Belle finally arrived at the castle, she went straight into the Dining Room where she had last left Rumpelstiltskin. He had managed to calm his heart in the time it took her to reach the castle; spinning at the wheel always helped with his nerves.

"Oh, your back already!" Rumpelstiltskin said to her without much care nor surprise in his voice. "Good, good thing. I'm uh, I'm nearly out of straw." He beckoned her over to him with his hand and turned back to the wheel in front of him, getting back to spinning what he had left. Belle quickly made her way over to him, keeping her eyes trained on him with a small, knowing smirk on her lips.

"Hmm..." Belle reached the spinning wheel and set down the basket of straw of the floor. "Oh c'mon, you're happy I'm back!"

Rumpelstiltskin looked up at her through the spinning wheel, and tried to keep a smile off his face.

"I'm not unhappy." He admitted, earning a small chuckle from Belle.

Belle walked from the opposite side of the spinning wheel, walking behind Rumpelstiltskin and placed her hands delicately on his shoulders.

"And uh, you promised me a story." Belle reminded him, leaning over his shoulder to get a good look at his face. Rumpelstiltskin stopped his spinning, looking up and over at her with a look of confusion on his face.

"Did I?" He asked.

"Mhhm!" Belle hummed, and moved once again so that she was standing by his side, emptying the grinder of the straw he had left to spin so he wouldn't be distracted into spinning more while he told her his tale and sat on the built-in seat of the spinning wheel, looking at Rumpelstiltskin expectantly and placed a hand on his knee. "Tell me about your daughter."

"Uh..." Rumpelstiltskin struggled to find his words. "I lost her. Nothing more to tell really" He finally said.

"And since then..you've loved no one? And no one has loved you?"

Rumpelstiltskin narrowed his eyes just a bit, stemming from confusion. He leaned forward in his stool towards Belle, keeping his dark eyes on hers entirely, trying to search her face for answers.

"Why did you come back?" He partially whispered.

"I-I wasn't going to..." Belle admitted quietly. "...but then, something changed my mind..."

She stared back at Rumpelstiltskin, feeling her own heart beginning to hammer against her ribcage as she slowly leaned in, inch by inch all the while keeping her eyes on him in case he moved to stop her. He didn't. Their lips met in a soft, delicate kiss that lingered for a few moments, both sets of eyelids fluttering closed as they lived only for that moment. Eventually, Belle eased back just a few inches, looking at him once more with a soft expression, as if waiting for something.

Rumpelstiltskin's skin began to grow warm, it wasn't anything painful, only a slight irritation that brought him out of the ecstasy of passion to slowly realize that something was happening.

"W-whats happening?" He asked out loud, small patches of skin on his face beginning to return to a clear, pale color and ridding itself from the 'scaly' green. Belle beamed and placed her hands gently on the sides of his head, running her hands over his hair a few times.

"Kiss me again! It's working!" Belle exclaimed.

"What is?" Rumpelstiltskin demanded, his mind coming back quickly from the foggy state it had been in just seconds before. Belle held his face in her hands, unable to keep the bright smile off her face and moved her hands down to his shoulders, rubbing them gently.

"Any curse can be broken!" She whispered out excitedly. Rumpelstiltskin used his own hands and pushed Belle's off of him as he jumped up, the stool on which he stood on flying back a few feet and falling over with a loud 'thunk.'

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT?" He demanded, taking a few steps away from her and pointed a finger at her accusingly. "WHO KNOWS THAT?"
The initial shock of Rumpelstiltskin's reaction caught Belle off-guard, having her stammering and searching for her words as she looked down to her hands in her lap, embarrassed.

"I-I don't know, sh-she uh, she...she..."

Rumpelstiltskin looked away from Belle, taking a look at his hands to see a few more patches of his skin returning to normal.

"She..." He hissed, turning his back to Belle and stormed across the room to the mirror that had been covered up, causing Belle to get up from the built-in spinning wheel stool to watch him.

"You...evil...bitch..." Rumpelstiltskin reached the mirror and tore off the canvas that had been covering it. "THIS WAS YOU!" He yelled, pointing a finger at what looked like his reflection. "YOU TURNED HER AGAINST ME!" He moved his hand so that instead of his pointer finger pointing at the mirror, his thumb was out and pointing backwards to Belle. "You think you can make me weak? YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT ME?"
Belle tentatively crossed the room, watching him shouting at the mirror in confusion.

"W-who are you talking to?"

"THE QUEEN!" Rumpelstiltskin spun around on his heel to face Belle and pointed at her. "Your friend, The Queen. How did she get to you?" He asked in what sounded like genuine surprise. Belle shook her head.

"The...The Queen? I don't-"

"I knew this was a trick..." Rumpelstiltskin said, keeping his finger pointed at her as he took a few slow steps towards Belle, and gestured both hands towards his torso. "I knew that you could never care for me! Oh yeah, you're working for her!" He gestured with his thumb again, pointing back behind him at the mirror before using both hands to point at Belle again. "Or is this all you? Is this you being the hero? And killing the beast..." He made a tight fist with his hands, his teeth gnashed together in a frightening expression matching the hatred in his eyes. Belle reached out for Rumpelstiltskin's hands, trying to take them in her own.

"This means it's worki-"

"SHUT UP!" Rumpelstiltskin pushed her hands away harshly.

"THIS MEANS IT'S TRUE LOVE!" Belle tried again.

"SHUT THE HELL UP!"

"WHY WON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?"

Rumpelstiltskin's hands shot forward, grabbing Belle by the upper arms in a strong grip and shook her a few times.

"BECAUSE NO ONE...NO ONE...CAN EVER, EVER LOVE ME!"

He grabbed her wrist harshly, and pulled her out of the Dining Room and took the spiral stone staircase down into the dungeon. He opened up one of the doors with his free hand by using magic, and then forcefully shoved her inside, causing Belle to lose her balance and fall to the stone floor. Rumpelstiltskin looked down at her, a scowl embedded into his features before turning to leave, shutting and sealing the door with magic behind him.
He returned to the dining room where he picked up a broom and snapped off the bristle's part, leaving him with just a long, wooden stick and crossed the room to the glass cabinet that held most of his trinkets. He wailed down on the cabinet, causing the glass to shatter and the wooden frames to crack and splinter until he was unable to keep swinging. He dropped the stick down, placing the palms of his hands on the cabinet shelf at his waist and hunched himself over, sobbing quietly to himself.

Bringing himself out of that, he went to the table where their tea had been laid out for them from earlier and picked up one of the teacups. He looked at it with a frown and chucked it across the room, watching it shatter to a thousand tiny pieces against the wall. He picked up another teacup, throwing this one as well and then another, and another. With one teacup left, he grabbed it and moved to throw it, however the chip in the side of the cup caught his eye. He was drawn to it, holding it out for him to examine a bit more and remembering the time when Belle had dropped the teacup when she had first arrived at The Dark Castle. Shaking his head, he set the teacup back down on the tray and walked away.

Morning came; but Belle would have never known that until Rumpelstiltskin opened up her cell door, letting the light shine in.

"So...what are you going to do to me?" Belle asked with a dejected look as Rumpelstiltskin walked into her cell, standing over her as she remained sitting. Rumpelstiltskin raised his arm, his finger pointing to the door.

"Go." He sneered, the anger still holding harshly in his eyes. Unable to continue looking at her, he turned around so that his back was to Belle, waiting for her to get up and leave.

"Go?" Belle asked in confusion.

"I don't want you anymore dearie." Rumpelstiltskin said plainly, keeping from looking at her. "You have a fiance' to get back home to, and I no longer need you."

Belle pushed herself up to stand, looking at her master's back for a moment before walking past him to leave out the door, however her steps failed her once she reached that point, and turned to go back to him.

"You were freeing yourself!" She said hotly to him, like a mother scolding a child. "You could have had happiness if you just believed that someone could want you!"

Rumpelstiltskin looked at her plainly, allowing no emotion to break through his tough exterior.

"But you couldn't take the chance." Belle finished.

"That's a lie!" He hissed through his teeth, but managed to keep his voice down. Belle took a dangerous step closer to him, but she didn't care, she had to get her say in.

"You're a coward, Rumpelstiltskin. And no matter how thick you make your skin, that doesn't change." Belle shook her head lightly.

"I'm not a coward, dearie." He replied almost immediately. "It's quite simple, really. My power means more to me...than you.."

"No...no it doesn't. You just don't think that I can love you." Belle corrected him, getting a cold stare from him in return. "Now you've made your choice...and you're going to regret it...forever..." Belle choked on her words a bit as she felt the tears coming to her eyes. "All you'll have is an empty heart; an empty heart and a chipped cup."

Rumpelstiltskin's face remained unmoved, and said nothing. Belle shook her head again and turned to leave, this time for good. It was time for her to put her life back in order. Only when she was completely gone did Rumpelstiltskin breath a heavy sigh through his nose, and let his eyes close.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Present Day, In Storybrooke

Mr. Gold lurched upright in his bed, a cold bead of sweat trickling down his neck as he took a moment to catch his breath. Putting his hand on top of the dark blue silk fabric of his buttoned-up night shirt over his heart, he felt the organ pulsing hard and fast against his ribcage, but as he steadily regained his breath, the beating eventually slowed to normal.

Blinking into the darkness of his bedroom, Mr. Gold tossed aside the heavy, down, silk comforter off of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed, taking extra care with his right leg. Once his bare feet touched the cool, hardwood surface of his floor, he reached out for his cane, knowing it's location by sheer memory and used it to help himself up.

Despite catching his breath and being able to calm his heart down, he continued to sweat, but ignored this as he heavily limped a few paces in the darkness of his bedroom to a dresser that was pushed against the wall, facing his bed. Once in front of it, he ran his hand slowly over the top of the dresser, knocking a few small things over in his pursuit but he did not stop until his hand found the glass bottle. His nimble fingers clasped the top of the bottle tightly and rose it off of the dresser.

Using the back sleeve of his night shirt, he quickly wiped away the accumulating sweat from his forehead, at the same time using his teeth to pull out the cork from the bottle and spat it out, hearing it hit the wooden floor and roll away. He raised the bottle to his lips, and took a good, long drink from the bottle, feeling the alcohol immediately beginning to burn at his throat; however it also managed to calm his nerves.

What had he been dreaming about anyway? He honestly could not remember, all he knew was that these dreams were becoming more and more frequent, robbing him of his sleep on an almost normal occurrence and practically giving him a heart-attack each time.

Satisfied, Mr. Gold set the bottle back down on the dresser and walked to the corner of the room to finally turn on the light. He took a quick look at the analog clock sitting on the dresser next to the bottle, reading 4:13 in the morning. It was still a little early, but there was no sense in going back to bed now.

It only took but a few moments before Mr. Gold was showered and dressed in one of his favorite suits, a dark grey, thin pinstripe jacket with matching pants and a deep ruby red button up-shirt underneath, complete with a matching red in color tie with embroided swirls around it with a matching pocket square. He stood before a full-length mirror in his bedroom, pressing the corners of the collar of his suit jacket down and adjusted his tie. After quickly insuring that his black dress shoes were shining spotlessly, he took hold of his cane and began the short walk down the way to his Pawnshop where he would open for the day.

He wasn't sure what it was, but something hung in the air that morning, something that put Mr. Gold in high spirits; something more than it being the day he went around town to collect his rent...

Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and Ghost Shadow
--
Stopping at the front door of his shop, Mr. Gold leaned his cane on the door while he fished through his suit jacket for the keys to unlock it, however the sound of a car engine he had not heard before slowed him down, causing Mr. Gold to stop with his hand on the key in the lock to look over his shoulder to find the source of the noise.

The car, an old Nissan Leopard pulled in by the sidewalk just next to the pawn shop; ricketing slightly before dying. There was a slight rustling sound from the inside before the door swung open rather unceremoniously.

A man stepped out of the car, closing the car door before looking around the area. He looked rather impeccably dressed for someone who, apparantly, wasn't used to wealth.

His blue eyes landed on Mr. Gold, a flash of recognition followed by veiled anger seemed to dash across them before fading into neutrality.

"So, this must be Storybrooke." The man said in an intrigued tone, hands in his coat pockets.

"I suppose that depends..." Mr. Gold said turning away from the man to take the key out of the lock, keeping the door locked and placed the ring of keys back into his suit pocket. He reached for his cane and turned to face the stranger once more, resting both hands on the golden handle and looking the man up and down a few times. "...on who you are..." His Scottish accent was thick, yet able to hold a clear tone of authority, and although there wasn't but a street lamp twenty or so feet away to give any amount of light on this dark morning, a small glint in Mr. Gold's eye could easily be caught.

"Oh, excuse me, where are my manners?" The man walked forward until he was in reaching distance of Mr. Gold, holding out a single hand to shake. "Henry Carlyle." He greeted warmly enough, flashing a grin that seemed to exude total friendliness. "And you must be..." his eyes quickly flashed up to the tall sign by the building, "Mr. Gold?" He said, phrasing it both as a statement and a question.

Mr. Gold's dark brown eyes looked down to the hand offered to him. His fingers twitched a bit ontop of his cane, but he made no other movement, showing no interest whatsoever in shaking the man's hand.

"Ah, so you can read." Mr. Gold began, looking back up to the stranger; Henry. "Forgive my observation Mr. Carlyle, I had only assumed you couldn't since you had to stop and ask where you are, even though you clearly passed a sign welcoming you to into Storybrooke just down the road a ways on your way here." He gave no pause to let Henry respond in his defense, clearly taking control over the conversation.

"Just passing through then? It's not very often we get visitors here. Void the point; you need a place to stay. Granny's Bed and Breakfast is just down the way a bit-" Mr. Gold raised his cane to use the end to point down the road. "-I'd be happy to walk you there, I have business with the tennant as it happens." Again, Mr. Gold left open no gaps, no chance for reaction from the stranger before he began walking off in the direction he had been pointing at with his cane, seeming uncaring if Henry did chose to follow him or not.

Henry waited until the older man had walked away a bit before muttering to himself, "I'm starting to miss the giggle." Without skipping a beat, he followed Mr. Gold down the road, his coat flowing behind him in the cool breeze; the sun just beginning to shed its light across the horizon.

He pushed his glasses up on his nose as he saw the modest, yet comfortable looking diner in the near distance. "What a charming little place." He commented with a hint of giddiness to his voice, trying the best he could to make conversation with the businessman. Mr. Gold, however, stayed silent and stopped at the door, allowing Henry to be the first to walk inside.

Despite it being just after five in the morning, the moment Henry opened the door, voices could be heard, and they didn't sound too friendly.

"You were out all night! And now you're going out again!" An elderly woman's voice echoed down the old, warped wooden stairs that led to the upstairs bedrooms.

"I should have moved to Boston!" Came a heated reply from a younger female, now emerging down the stairs with the older woman following just behind her.

"Well I'm sorry my heart-attack interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the eastern seaboard!"

The young woman walked right past Henry with annoyance in her step, not even noticing the strange man in the room and went through a separate, open doorway that looked as if it might hold the portion of the building where Granny lived in when she wasn't running the Bed and Breakfast.

Henry couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at the small altercation before the attractive, if not severely underdressed woman stormed by. "Well, this place is full of surprises." He commented in a tone that held slight amusement.

His eyes turned to the small bell that rested on the vintage front desk. He quickly dinged it, awaiting for the proprietor to arrive.

Granny, who had stopped in the middle of the room to put her hands on her hips and watch her grandaughter leave in the middle of their argument, heard the bell and quickly turned around to see Henry standing there not ten feet away from her. Ruby, having heard the bell ding from the other room, even poked her head around the corner to look into the room to see him, both wearing utterly confused faces as they looked on him.

"Can I help you?" Granny asked after a brief, awkward silence, though the agitation in her voice from arguing with her grandaughter was still there.

"Yes, hello. I would like a room to stay in please." His face seemed to contort to one of deep thought for a moment, mumbling silently to himself before speaking again. "About two weeks, if you would." He decided, flashing that same grin he tried to use on Mr. Gold just minutes before.

Ruby tentatively walked out from the seperate part of the room and up to Henry.

"Really?" She asked, sounding confused. Granny, however, didn't hesitate. Her face lit up immediately and she bustled herself to behind the counter in great eagerness.

"Would you like a forest view? Or a square view?" She asked, busying herself around behind the desk to try to locate the booking book that had long since been forgotten. Finally finding it, she blew away the dust that had collected on the jacket and opened it up onto the counter. "Normally there's an upgrade fee for the square, but, since you're new here I can waive it..." Granny offered.

"Well then, I'll take the square view, please." Henry replied, reaching into his coat as if to find something. His eyes narrowed again and he seemed to bob his head in waiting. He eventually pulled his hand back out, a wad of slightly crumpled bills in his hand.

He counted out 40 dollars and placed them on the counter, where they seemed to try and naturally fold themselves again; no doubt from their awkward placement in his pocket.

"This is such a quaint little building - I like quaint." He complimented, smirking with a warm look in his eyes.

"It's not." Ruby directly said behind him with an air of bitterness, wrapping a thin silk scarf around her head to keep warm from the slight chill in the room.

"You hush your tramp mouth!" Granny snapped as she looked around for a pen. Finally finding one, she made sure it worked by scribbling in the book a few times before looking back up to the stranger wearing a smile. "Now, what's the name?" She asked cheerily.

"Uh, Henry Carlyle." He replied, seeming as if he came out of a quick reverie. In truth simply seeing all these people from the Enchanted Forest in a small little town with their own fake lives discombobulated him. But he kept his front well.

The door to Granny’s Bed and Breakfast opened, and Mr. Gold finally decided to walk inside. Granny peered up from her glasses, and every ounce of her previous happiness seemed to have been sucked away from her as soon as she realized who it was that had entered the room. Abandoning her book to put Henry in, she immediately reached into a small pocket in her apron and pulled out a rolled up wad of cash and handed it over the counter to Mr. Gold with an angry, firm look on her face.

“It’s all here.” She said quickly as Mr. Gold reached over to take the wad of cash.

“Yes, of course it is dearie, thank you.” Mr. Gold replied politely and put the wad of cash into his suit jacket pocket. The silence in the room seemed to hang like a death omen as the exchange was made, even Ruby who had stayed more to the back kept quiet. Mr. Gold finally turned to Henry and gave a sideways smile. “You enjoy your stay here…Mr. Carlyle…” He said politely before turning to leave the room, meeting Ruby’s eyes in a silent stare before leaving the building completely.

Ruby opened up the curtain that kept the window covered just a hair to see him limping away, back to his shop, the look of total loathing for the man now clear on her face.

“Mr. Gold.” Granny explained, attempting to fill Henry in on what had just transpired. “He owns the place.”

"Oh yes, quite a peachy fellow." Henry replied with an ironic tone, hands in his coat pockets once again. "He owns the inn, you said?" Henry asked, turning towards Granny, his voice now inquisitive and serious; but not unfriendly.

“No, the town.” Ruby corrected him. Granny shook her head, and attempted to pull herself out of the downward spiral her gut had taken the moment Mr. Gold entered the shop and attempted to clear the ominous air in the room. She reached for a single, steel key and handed it over to Henry.

“So glad you’ll be staying with us Mr. Carlyle. And welcome to Storybrooke.” She said before looking over his shoulder at Ruby. “Would you show our guest to his room? Or am I going to have to wish for it on my deathbed?”

Ruby rolled her eyes, unfolding her arms from across her chest and walked up to Henry and towards the staircase.

“This way.” She instructed unenthusiastically and went ahead of him up the stairs.

Henry took the key with a small smile and appreciative nod, turning hastily to follow Ruby upstairs.

The room was moderately sized, the decor and wallpaper reminiscent of the 19th Century. The walls were colored a deep red with white floral pattern. The floor was a dark ivory colored carpet layering, but the creaks of the wooden foundation showed the building's age. As for furnishings, the room was outfitted with a double bed, rotary dial phone, a desk, a dresser, and a small radio on the bedside table.

"Huh, I could get used to this." Henry commented, turning to Ruby as he spoke after quickly investigating his residence.

Ruby had leaned herself against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest making the white, half t-shirt ride up on her stomach even more than it was intended to. She popped a bubble with her gum as Henry turned to look at her, and with a sigh said,

"Please, let me know if you need anything. Granny and I want your stay here at Granny's Bed and Breakfast to be as comfortable as possible." She sounded more like she was just relating something she was forced to memorize, but when she spoke again, her voice changed into something that she would have personally said. "But seriously..." She let her eyes look Henry up and down in appreciation a few times, not even bothering to be subtle and popped a bubble again. "...if you need anything" She heavily implied the last word, and let her ruby red lips curve up into a mischevious smile before letting herself up and off of the door frame to head back downstairs.

Henry's expression during Ruby's obvious attempt at flirting could only be described as a mixture of shock and confusion. "Um...ok!" He finally exclaimed once she had left his room, and he quickly shut the door behind her.

Once he felt he was completely alone, he made his way over to the desk, procuring a slightly tattered map from his pocket and spreading it fully across the desk's surface. "Well now Rumpel, I've found you." He commented to himself; his voice now dark and cruel. But for the moment, he couldn't harm the Imp...not until the Deal was fulfilled. He would bide his time and wait - and strike once the iron was hot.

---

As soon as Mr. Gold stepped outside from Granny's Bed and Breakfast, he headed out into the street just a ways so that he could get a clear look at the clock tower that was the center of Storybrooke. The hands showed 8:15, and they had shown 8:15 for as long as anyone could remember. However, as Mr. Gold seemed to stare the clock down, the minute hand suddenly jumped, now showing the time of 8:16, and Mr. Gold couldn’t help but to smile before heading off to his shop once more.

Henry studied the Map for a few moments more before meticulously flipping it over, reading the clear, direct instructions left by Rumpelstiltskin before the Curse hit:

1). Find me
2). Restore the memories lost
3). Break the Curse

Henry reached once more into his pocket (which seemed to hold everything he needed), procuring a small vial of slightly luminescent blue liquid, which would, upon ingestion; restore the memories of whomever drank it.

He looked at the vial with disgust, conflicted as to what to *do* with it. He could give the pawnbroker the vial and restore his memories as Rumpelstiltskin...or he could wait and relish in the fact that the most powerful being in the Enchanted Forest was little more than a prickly, crippled old man.

A small smirk seemed to creep across Henry's lips as he was suddenly appreciative of the current situation. Letting his emotions take control of better judgement, Henry quickly moved from the desk towards the small, modest restroom connected to the bedroom; dumping the contents of the vial into the sink before dropping the now-empty container into the trash can.

His step seemed heavier as he left the bathroom, removing his coat and hoisting it over his shoulder. As good as it felt - was getting rid of a potentially useful asset necessary? Henry quickly buried these thoughts within himself, knowing that the Imp was getting exactly what he deserved.

He sat down at the edge of the bed with a deep sigh, letting the coat lay aimlessly next to him. He let a single hand grip around the cool metal of his signature key, the totem which followed him from one realm to the next. He pulled the key up and over his head, letting his nimble fingers dart across its surface

He remembered Wonderland, though the memories now seem like little more than a dream. Within minutes of being sent to Wonderland by Rumpelstiltskin, he was detained by the Queen's guards and brought to her for sentencing. The cunning and quick-thinking that allowed him to escape her cluthes the first time had run out, as he had no more magic to use, and his punishment was finally waiting in the same cell that held him years ago.

Five Years Ago...

Alexandre struggled very little as two of the Red Queen's guards held firmly onto each arm. He knew that any form of resistance would only grant him injury - but that didn't stop his tongue.

"So, is the cell as nice as it was before? Damp stone walls and the smell of death and feces grows on you." He added snarkily, though the guards were either too disciplined, or indoctrinated to respond to a verbal jape.

They stopped abruptly in front of an empty cell, opening the door and unceremoniously throwing Alexandre in, leaving just as quickly as they arrived.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire." He grumbled miserably, sure that his execution - or toture - would come soon. But neither did.

Instead, after days of sitting alone in his cell; he was brought to the Queen herself, who took the liberty of changing Alexandre's entire outlook on the situation of his little sister's death and then in part, granted Alexandre his freedom in Wonderland so long as he stayed out of trouble.

It was then that Alexandre used the Map that Rumpel gave him to send himself to the Land Without Magic - though now for different reasons...

Henry kept his fist clenched tightly around the key that rested in his palm, his knuckles turning white with the exertion. "We will be together again soon...I promise you this." He said quietly before returning the totem to its signature place around his neck.

Quickly throwing his coat on, he left his room, believing it high time to explore his new surroundings, now that the sun was finally up.

(Collaboration Post Featuring Major Ursa as Knox, YoshiSkittlez as Ruby and Ghost Shadow as Henry)

He couldn’t remember when he had finally gotten used to waking up early like this. To fall into routine, to follow a routine. To wake up early...even on a day off. Wake up at 5AM or earlier, jog for almost an hour around town, take a shower, put on clean clothing, pick up the newspaper…

Knox stepped into the diner took a look around, newspaper in hand. The usual occupancy here or there, nothing to get excited about…taking only a second more, letting his eyes adjust to the change in lighting, the man let out a tired sigh before taking his usual seat at the booth by the window. Setting the newspaper onto the table before him, he skimmed the contents of one page, and turned the page to skim the other. From his window seat…sun up, and brighter still.

How Ruby got talked into taking the morning shift...again, was beyond her, though she supposed she could have blamed the stranger that rolled into town earlier that morning for breaking her head-strong thought process of going out with Gus, the town's tow-truck man. So here she was, wiping down the table that had just been used by an early-morning couple, practically bending over the entire table to reach the other side rather than just walking around the table, feeling the looks of appreciation from the handful of men in the diner that were getting quite the view as she attempted to wipe up a 'really tough stain' which caused her to linger just a bit longer.

The door to Granny's Diner opened once again, and Ruby looked up to see an early-morning regular walk through the door to take his usual seat in a booth. Wiping up whatever was left of that 'stubborn stain' on the table she tossed the dirty rag over the bar counter and into the sink before making her way over to the coffee maker. She filled up a mug with the black liquid and called to the cook in the kitchen to get going on some cheesy fries before heading over to Knox with the cup of hot coffee in her hand.

She placed it on the table in front of him and greeted him with her usual, perky smile.

"Black coffee, just the way you like it!" She said bouncing on the balls of her feet twice and folded her hands together to rest against the tiny little apron that might as well have not been there, as it was obviously more for looks than practicality since it was tied at her waist and only went down to the bottoms of her shorts, which really didn't leave much to the imagination. "Your fries are on their way, anything else I can get you Knox?"

Feeling the weak material of the newspaper between his index finger and his thumb, he turned the page and almost just groaned to himself when he saw the next page covered in ads. Right, life, it had a funny way of breaking you out of your morning trance of reading and boredom just in time for coffee. His coffee was placed on the table before him, and without missing a beat; he plucked it up and drank it down the very next moment. Whilst doing so, he appreciated the combination of rich (meh, enough) bitterness of the hot liquid, and simultaneously cast the waitress a quick glance.

From what her name tag displayed, her name was Ruby, the grand daughter of the diner’s owner. From what her uniform revealed, not the most practical girl, unless fishing for hefty tips was her main aim in the waitressing game. The more attractive the waitress, the better the tips. But no, Knox was no stranger to her…but, they’d never spoken much. He wasn’t sure how he felt about her using his name so casually.

Setting his now empty coffee cup onto the table, he drummed his fingers over the surface of the table, his eyes staring straight into Ruby’s, “My fries and a refill on my coffee is all I’ll need, thank you.”

"Coming right up!" Ruby chirped, and took hold of the empty coffee cup in her hand and walked back over to the coffee pot still brewing hot on the machine, making sure to sway her hips side to side in an almost exagerated manner as she did. By the time she had returned with his refill, the cook from the kitchen called his order ready and Ruby went to the window to go and pick it up.

She returned to his booth and set the fries down on the table in front of him, getting a good whiff of the greasy basket of cholesterol and trans fats almost making Ruby turn her head away to keep from smelling it. How anyone could eat something like this so early in the morning was beyond her. Coffee, she could understand, but a heart-attack on a platter...that one she would scratch her head over later.

His head snapped up when he caught the whiff of his cheesy fries, and he watched Ruby as she brought it on over. With it being set before him, the number of potato sticks arranged on the plate covered in the cheese (sometimes cheese sauce, sometimes melted cheese), the whole thing practically wore a halo and little wings as he stared down at it. Heavenly.

Taking the fork into his hand, Knox got two particularly good looking, cheese covered fries and brought them into his mouth. Crunchy fries and smooth cheesy goodness, the anticipation of such a breakfast was what made it earlier to rise in the morning. Even a guarded sort of man like him could enjoy a simple treat like this.

A thoughtful expression crossed her face for a moment as she looked down at him, the gears in her head obviously turning as if debating on doing or saying something, however just after a few moments, Ruby took the initiative and slid into the booth seat across from him and folded her hands together, letting them rest on the table.

"You don't work today right?" She asked, the only way she knew this of course was by routine. She had been serving Knox's 'regular' almost every day for as long as she could remember, and some days he stayed longer than others, in no rush or need to get to work on time.

Forking up some more of the cheesy fries, though carefully, Knox chewed quietly and slowed just a bit when he realised that Ruby hadn’t just turned and left. No, instead, she was seated across from him. Listening to her question, he wiped his mouth with a napkin and drank down more black coffee, before giving her his answer, “On paper, today is my day off…”

"Good." Ruby adjusted herself in her seat to make herself more comfortable. The diner was still practically empty; the morning breakfast rush wouldn't start for at least another ten minutes, so she had time. It was strange though, for as long as she could remember, Ruby had wanted to do this very thing, but something always seemed to get in the way, preventing her from doing so. Somehow, for some reason, today was different.

She took a good look at his face; he was older than her...not considerably, but enough to sit on the boarderline of the type of men she usually liked to hang out with. She couldn't count how many times she had looked at him in the past, at least once a day when he came in for his coffee and cheesy fries, but this time, when Ruby opened her mouth to speak, her words caught in her throat as she seemed to notice for the very first time...his eyes.

They had made eye contact before, countless times, but this time...this time was different. They held a sense of...knowing in them, something that struck Ruby...familiar? It was like having a word on the tip of your tongue, but instead it was more like a thought on the tip of her brain.

She quickly cleared her throat, and continued to talk, dismissing the strange...interruption in her mind.

"So, you've been coming in here every day for as long as I can remember. You order the same thing, and you get here the same time. I'm starting to think that you don't know to really live; your life is so predictable! Why don't you meet me at the Rabbit Hole later, after my shift; we can share a few drinks and I can try to chip away at that rough exterior you put up. I even bet that I can get you to smile by the time the night's through."

At that, Knox just gave her the blanket look, before continuing on to quietly eat his fries and drink his black coffee. This woman was easily a number of years younger than him, and yet she seemed certain that she had a better understanding of him than he himself did. Unfortunately, he wasn’t one to take the obvious bait, besides… “I already have prior arrangements for this evening.” An all-important date with hospital sign-in logs, watching surveillance cameras for any anomalies…no better way to spend the day off…

…

…

…

“…Only a few drinks.”

Ruby's lipstick red lips turned up into a white smile. She would have called him out on having 'prior engagements' if he hadn't accepted, but his 'few drinks' rule kept her from doing so. The front door of the diner opened, and by instinct Ruby looked up to see who it was and noticed the newly familiar face of the stranger who had rolled into town just a few hours ago.

Henry stepped through the door, his face expressing a curious interest. A pair of Walkman headphones over his ears. He reached into the folds of his coat, pushing what could only be assumed as the 'stop' button on his tape player before removing the headphones.

He took in the atmosphere of the restaurant: it had a cozy, almost retro feel to it. The floors were a simple tile and the walls decorated with obscure images and scenes, giving the building a feel of mystery to it.

He took his coat off, hanging it on the rack just next to the front door, wearing a simple dark gray Henley shirt underneath.

He gave a simple nod of greeting and a smile to Ruby who was making conversation (most likely flirting) with a rather melancholy-looking man who was eating...a mess of cheese and french fries on a plate.

Henry raised his eyebrows but said nothing, instead stepping up to the counter, where he took a seat. He began whistling to himself, tapping his fingers on the counter surface in a slight beat; his behavior peculiar, but not abnormal.

Ruby looked back to Knox and nodded, sealing the 'date' she had set up with him and non-verbally excused herself, getting out of the booth and headed to Henry. She walked behind the counter and folded her arms, resting them on the bar inbetween herself and the new visitor and bending at the waist slightly, just enough so that her half t-shirt was dropping down, giving a clear view of her chest.

"I wondered when you'd find this place." Ruby said to him with a smile. "Anything specific I can do for you Henry? Pancakes? Crepes?"

Henry let his eyes dart down for a split second when Ruby bent over, but otherwise didn't react except for the smile that seemed plastered onto his face. "I think I'll just have some eggs and bacon with toast, please. Coke to drink." He ordered, his fingers still rapping against the countertop as he spoke.

"Coming up handsome." Ruby nodded and got up off of the bar to relay the order to the cook while getting an empty glass to fill with the soda. Ruby had to wrinkle her nose again as the filled the cup; just like cheesy fries, who could drink soda this early in the morning? She returned to the bar and set the soda down in front of him, her smile returning.

"Should be about ten minutes on those eggs." She informed him. "So, how are you liking Storybrooke so far?"

"Oh, it's a nice little town so far. People are a bit aloof, but-" he leaned in a bit, "I've always been a charmer." He finished with a smirk, quite confident in his ability to make friends.

Ruby gave a sideways smile and raised her eyebrow, as if to say 'really now?'

"Town seems a bit off the grid, though. It was only by chance I managed to find it." He added in a more conversational tone.

Ruby just shrugged. Storybrooke had always been that way; it was a little town, and little towns were hard to find, right?

"Hey..." She said leaning over the bar again to get closer to him. "Knox and I are headed down to the Rabbit Hole after my shift later for a couple drinks." She said, vaguely gesturing towards Knox since Henry couldn't possibly know who he was just yet. "You should join us, get to know some of us 'aloof' folk."

Henry's eyes leered over to the melancholy man with the heart-attack-on-a-plate, adding the name 'Knox' to memory. 'I'll have to find out who he is later...' He thought to himself before speaking again.

"Oh, that sounds lovely. You know where I live." He responded with a wink.

"Even if I didn't, I could follow that good smelling cologne of yours anywhere." Ruby replied with a wink back and then once again pushed herself off of the bar to go to the register where she printed up Knox's ticket for his cheesy fries and coffee.

After finishing breakfast, Henry left the diner almost as swiftly as he came in; not forgetting to grab his coat on the way out.
Feeling the wind hit him as he left the threshold of the door, he put his headphones back on as he walked down the street; making a mental note to pick up his car before anything else.

The journey back to the pawn shop was a simple one, as the town was small and easily navigable, though he still received odd stares from the other citizens and could hear the occasional whisper, though nothing other than that.

He stopped just before the entrance to Mr. Gold's shop, wondering what his next move should be. Making a quick, internal decision; he let curiosity get the better of him and headed towards the door, pushing it open with a single hand.

The old bell connected to the door chimed, alerting Mr. Gold that someone had entered his shop. He wasn't too hard to find, even amongst the somewhat cluttered shop. The floor had but just a single pathway between the door and the main desk in which Mr. Gold was standing behind, if someone wanted to take a closer look at something in the far corner, they had to find or make their own path in between the stacks of books and glass cabinets holding an assortment of jewelry, all pushed together tightly like an elaborate puzzle.

The walls were covered as well with all sorts of paintings, tapestries, dream catchers and mounted weapons. Even the ceiling had things hanging from it to make most of the space such as bikes, a couple kites and even a small child's glass unicorn mobile that seemed to be the center point of the entire shop.

Upon the main counter where Mr. Gold stood behind was a collection of old, dusty books. In one hand, Mr. Gold held a dust rag and in the other one of the books off of the cabinet. He finished dusting off the jacket and set it to the side with the few other books he had been busy cleaning that morning and set the rag down on the counter, resting his palms on the edge of the wood and giving his attention fully to Henry.

"Looking for furniture already are we?" He asked, keeping his one hand busy by taking up the rag again and started to wipe down the parts of the counter that weren't covered by books.

Henry took the first few moments of his entrance to survey his surroundings, bobbing his head subtly as he seemed to almost critique the shop within his own head. He removed his headphones once again as he (carefully) made his way to the front of the counter.

"Nah, not yet anyways. Just figured I'd pop in and have a peek." He answered cheerily, placing emphasis on the 'p' in "pop", almost as if making the sound himself.

"Also, I decided it would be nothing short of rude if I didn't thank you for directing me to the inn." He added friendlily.

"Ah, yeah..." He agreed, keeping his focus on the rag in his hand as he finished wiping up the counter before looking up, tossing his head to the side a bit to keep his long greying hair out of his face on the one side.

Immediately, his dark brown eyes happened upon the tiny key that Henry kept on a chain around his neck, and Mr. Gold let up a crooked smile.
"How charming." He commented, keeping his eyes on the key. "Now that's something you don't see every day. Forgive my impertinence Mr. Carlyle, but as an antique salesman, I keep an eye out for the un-ordinary. Might I have a look?" He asked, his Scottish accent having become thick in his speech. He abandoned the rag in his hand, leaving it on top of the counter and held out the palm of his hand, expecting to be handed the key.

Henry's warm expression quite instantly fell into that of defensive wariness, making no effort to disguise it. His hands twitched at his side as he slowly reached up to his neck, lifting the key up and over his head.

He held it in his hand for just longer than a moment, contemplating as to whether to hand it to the enemy or not...finally, with a deep sigh, he hovered his closed hand over Mr. Gold's, releasing the key into his open palm.

Mr. Gold clasped the key tightly, pinching it between his fingers and holding it up to the dusty yellow light that the lamps in the shop gave off. He admired the key for a few moments, twisting it around in his fingertips and muttering a couple things under his breath.

"And how is it you come by this key, Mr. Carlyle? Judging from your...automobile...outside, you don't quite strike me as the collector type." He set the key on the counter between himself and Henry and then started to go through the stacks of books on his counter, as if looking for something.

Henry took a few moments to respond, trying to formulate a good answer in his head. "Family heirloom." He settled on, letting confidence bloom in his tone once again. "It was given to me before I left home. Keep it with me ever since." He lied, his face not showing any sign of slipping; though the cold expression was still frozen on it.

"And having been passed on from family member to family member, the item of which that key belongs to has long since been lost." Mr. Gold guessed, walking to the opposite side of the counter where the books that had been dusted were separated. "As it so happens, I have a book that has been missing it's key for quite some time..." He fingered through the spines of the books until he found what he was looking for and pulled out a small, very old book out from the bottom of one of the stacks and put it on the counter next to where he had set the key down.

The book was smaller than most, just large enough to fit fully in one's hand. It was leather bound, the material having become old and tattered throughout the years, whilst still showing signs of expert craftsmanship. The pages, however, were crookedly placed and almost translucently thin. On the front cover were decorative square-shaped engravings on all four corners, two larger, more elaborate engravings seemed to shoot across the front from the spine of the book. And on the edge of the front cover was a simple, small lock that held a leather clasp in place.

Henry's mouth was agape, his eyes rife with a mixture of remembrance and disbelief. The diary was destroyed - the key all he had left of Alice in this life. This was not possible.

"Perhaps..." Mr. Gold said interrupting Henry's thoughts. "...there was something more than just luck that brought you here to Storybrooke..."

Mr. Gold reached out for the key once more, and held the book gently by the spine while he eased the key into the lock. It slipped it easily, and with the turn of his wrist, there was a distinct 'click' sound. Mr. Gold stopped there, keeping the book unopened and now holding his dark eyes on Henry.

"After all this time." Henry commented in a hushed, almost reverent manner. "How did you find it?" He asked, looking Gold straight in the face. He could have it - her last words, the last essence of his sister that remained here...all he had to do was reach out: and take it. Unfortunately, he didn't think the pawnbroker would be so kind as to simply give the diary to him. Mr. Gold shrugged nonchalantly.

"There are a great number of items here in my shop, it's hard to say what came from where really." Clearing his throat, Mr. Gold twisted his wrist once more, locking the book back up tight and set the key back down in front of Henry, giving it back to him, though keeping a hold on the spine of the book, holding it close to his person as if protecting it. He ran his tongue over his bottom lip, and then smiled. "How much is this little old book worth to you anyway? I'd be willing to part with it of course...for a price..."

"The question isn't what it's worth..." Henry began, swiping the key off the counter and into his pocket with an almost cat-like swiftness. "The real question is why you're so keen on keeping an old diary - without a key." He finished in a cold, business-like manner. He had taken enough risks with Rumpelstiltskin. It was time for the game to change.

"I'm a collector." Mr. Gold replied coolly, and with another, uncaring shrug. "Tell you what...I'd be willing to part with this old book in exchange for some of your volunteer work." Mr. Gold began to explain, and then set the book back down on the counter between the two of them, picking up the book he had been in the middle of dusting earlier when Henry had come in.

"You'd be helping me, actually, by solving a little problem Mayor Mills has come to me about recently..."

"A problem, you say?" Henry repeated, his eyes darting down to the book for a split second. "I might be interested." He added with a short nod, and a small smile - though this one lacked the usual cheeky happiness. Instead this smile seemed more fit for a plotting villain.

"How would you say you are with children?" Mr. Gold asked, pausing in his effort to dust the large book jacket. "We've seem to have fallen short of English teachers recently, you'd be doing me a kind service of filling that spot...temporarily of course...and getting the Mayor to stop talking my ear off about it." He split a sideways smile, flashing his golden capped teeth. "You put in whatever time you can during your short stay here, Mr. Carlyle, and the old book is yours."

Henry sat on the offer for a minute or two, his expression lighting up somewhat. "Sure, I can teach. Consider it a deal." He accepted, quite hastily at that, and held out his hand for the older man to shake.

"Better than gallivanting through realms to rescue disassociated doctors from London." He thought to himself with a small smirk tugging at the edge of his lips.

Mr. Gold released one of his hands from the book and shook Henry's hand across the counter, matching the travelers' smirk.

"Then I assume we are done here...unless there is something more I can help you with?" He said, briefly looking down at the book between them, a small sign that Henry was free to take it, as he retracted his hand to finish dusting off the book jacket in his hand.

"Nah, I think we're good here." Henry answered with a nod of gratitude, gently grabbing the book and tucking it under his right arm. However, before he could turn to leave, he let his eyes slowly move down to the book in Mr. Gold's hand: 'Once Upon A Time'. Though he hadn't recalled seeing the book before, he felt a certain yearning to read it; inexplicable, but there.

"Actually - do you mind if I take a look at that?" He asked Gold, stepping up to the counter once more. "I can pay you for this one."

"Oh what? This?" Mr. Gold turned the book around in his hands to take a look at the title and then tilted his head to the side just slightly, and then looked back to Henry. "I'm afraid I can't...actually..." He then replied and wiped off the last bit of remaining dust in the corner of the book. "I was actually cleaning this off for one of our hospital volunteers...there's a coma patient...been in there for years. One of the volunteers finds that reading to her to be easier than striking up a conversation, and I couldn't argue with that since no one knows who she really is..."

Henry nodded slowly as Mr. Gold explained why he couldn't hand over the book.

"Well..." Henry began, letting his hands fall into his coat pockets once again. "I might be able to go to the hospital, maybe I could read to this 'mystery patient', eh?" He offered, flashing his warm grin once again.

Mr. Gold looked at Henry with a thoughtful expression for a moment, a slight glint in his eye that vanished just as quickly as it came.

"Now what sort of man would I be if I kept a man from wanting to volunteer his time?" He asked with a rather coy, twisted grin. He set the book down on the counter and pushed it towards Henry. "Seek out Dr. Stevenson once you get there; she'll get you to where you need to go."

Henry nodded in acknowledgement, taking the second book from its place on the counter. "I thank you for your help, Mr. Gold. I owe you one." He finished.

"As if I didn't bloody owe him enough..." He thought to himself bitterly before turning and heading towards the front door.

"Oh no..." Mr. Gold said quietly to himself as he watched Henry leave his shop. "...thank you."

Collaboration between GhostShadow as Henry Carlyle and GuardianAngelHaruki as Dr. Faye Stevenson

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Henry left the pawnshop feeling quite pleased with himself. One visit landed him his sister's diary, a new job, and now some kind of storybook. He reached into his pocket for his key, letting it go to its normal spot around his neck. The feel of the item against his neck gave him comfort, like a lifeline. He let his eyes close and let out a deep sigh before continuing on his journey - now to Storybrooke general hospital.

The drive wasn't too far, as it seemed all the important locations were conveniently placed not too far from each other.

He was whistling some ancient song from about 80 years ago when he stepped through the automatic door, keeping both books tucked securely under his arm.

He stepped up to the receptionist's counter, offering a friendly smile of greeting before speaking. "Hello, I'm looking for a...Dr. Stevenson." He requested, rocking back and forth slightly as he looked about the sterilized environment that was the hospital.

The receptionist who had been staring and writing on the papers at her desk, looked up grumpily at Henry as she chewed her gum loudly. She sneered with a nasily voice, "Dr. Stevenson is a busy woman. If you don't have an appointment or there's no emergency, then I suggest you wait," When it seemed that Henry wasn't making a move towards the chairs, she narrowed her gaze at him and warned "I'm watching you Mister...Watching,"

As soon as Henry was far enough away, the receptionist paged Dr. Stevenson.

Meanwhile, Dr. Stevenson walked down the halls speaking irritably to Dr. Whale, "Dr. Whale, You're supposed to check Leroy's throat before you prescribe him with medication! Now cancel that prescription!"

She sighed as Dr. Whale walked off to do as Dr. Stevenson ordered. She received the paging from the receptionist counter, and she headed over. She reached the receptionist and she asked politely and in a friendly manner, "What seems to be the problem, Ms. Lezowski?"

The receptionist pointed and answered, with more respect towards Dr. Stevenson than she showed to Henry, "That man wishes to see you, Dr. Stevenson," Faye looked to where the receptionist was pointing. She blinked at the sight of the stranger. She was curious about the new stranger that walked into the hospital, but she shook off the slight shock and she walked up to the stranger. She greeted, "Hello, I'm Dr. Faye Stevenson. You wanted to see me?"

Henry almost couldn't believe his eyes when the doctor finally entered the waiting room - it was Dr. Jekyll...and yet, it wasn't. An echo, a ripple in the water, maybe. But not the "real" Jekyll.

"Oh, uh, hello." He greeted somewhat awkwardly, quickly regaining his composure. "Henry Carlyle, pleasure to meet you. I came here to find out information about reading to a coma patient...something along those lines?" He inquired, still getting over the strange feeling of seeing someone who could be considered a 'friend' now as a complete stranger in front of him.

Faye noticed his shock and his awkward greeting and quick recovery of composure. She didn't point it out though as she listened to him state why he was here. After he did, she smiled happily and said "Oh! You're here to volunteer. I'm sure Ms. Jane Doe would be happy to have someone read to her,"

Of course Faye was making a mental note to keep an eye on the stranger and have his background checked. It was better to be safe than sorry and lose a patient's life. She said to him, her smile still on her face, "Please follow me. I'll show you to Ms. Jane Doe," She then turned to lead him to the back room where Jane Doe was.

As she walked down the halls with the stranger, she told him in a friendly tone, "The rules for volunteering are quite simple. Just come in during visiting hours, and read to her during that time. We'll have your volunteer badge ready for you the next time you come. If she wakes up, hit the Call Nurse button on her bed,"

She then started a bit of small talk as they continued walking, "So, Mr. Carlyle, was it? What brings you to our quaint little town?"

Henry nodded in understanding as she went over the rules, his face taking on the expression of slight discomfort when she asked why he came to Storybrooke in the first place.

"Oh, I dunno, wanted a slight change of pace to something smaller - more peaceful." He answered with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "New York was too busy for me, but I feel I could love this town." He finished hopefully with a small smile as they both walked down the hall.

Faye smiled at his answer and said "I see. I do hope you enjoy your stay in Storybrooke," She then reached the door that led into Ms Doe's room, and she stated "Ah, here we are," She lifted the badge to the scanner and unlocked the door. She opened it and let Henry and herself in. She stated "Here she is,"

Henry stepped through after Faye did, stepping into the main body of the room; only to be hit by another shock. The woman on the bed was no Jane Doe - at least not to him. The same black hair (albeit much shorter), the pale skin, even the color of her lips which still carried a hint of red.

He slowly approached the bed, no other sounds around him except for the steady beeping of the heart monitor. "Snow..." He said in a hushed tone, just barely above a whisper as he looked down upon the only person who he ever let come close to him since Alice...and she was a husk.

Faye blinked in surprise when Henry had a look of shock cross his face and she watched as he slowly approached the bed. After he stated that one word in a whisper, and she asked "Snow....Is that her name?"

After she caught his attention, she said to him, "Mr. Carlyle, if you know anything about her, please let me know. It is important that we contact her family and friends, they may be very worried about her,"

Henry was silent, still as a statue as his eyes were plastered on the woman who was his friend - his only friend.

Hearing Faye's voice, he turned his head slowly, his face grim and serious. "No...no, I don't know her. She just, reminded me of someone I knew once..." He looked back at Snow for a moment.

"I have no idea who this person is." He said as a final word, his voice quiet and shaky.

Faye raised an eyebrow at his answer. From his tone of voice, she could guess that Henry was remembering something tramautic, but she couldn't shake off the gut feeling that he was lying. She sighed through her nose and she said sadly "I see. That's unfortunate,"

"Yes. Quite." Henry responded in a curt manner, letting his fists clench and unclench to release some of the shock. "Is there anything else you needed to cover with me for volunteering, doctor?" He asked in a neutral tone, trying to switch the subject.

Faye answered Henry, "No, no. I believe I have told you all that you need to know. I will be in here as you read to Jane Doe though, as a precaution," She shrugged and said optimistically, "Who knows? Maybe she'll wake up as you read to her,"

"Maybe...maybe." Henry repeated, forcing a small smile of hollow optimism. He sauntered to the corner of the room, grabbing one of the chairs by the armrest and pulling it closer to the bed.

He sat down, making sure to obscurely hide the diary in his coat pocket before opening the larger book. "Well, let's begin, shall we?" He asked, knowing full well there would be no response.

"Let's start with a personal favorite of mine: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." He proclaimed with a genuine smile before beginning to read aloud from the book.

"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'
So she was considering in her own mind (as well as she could, for the hot day made her feel very sleepy and stupid), whether the pleasure of making a daisy-chain would be worth the trouble of getting up and picking the daisies, when suddenly a White Rabbit with pink eyes ran close by her....."

The little bell connected to the entry door of Mr. Gold's shop 'dinged,' however this time Mr. Gold didn't even bother looking up as he was busy wiping down the very last book of it's grime and dust, not to mention that he already knew who it was that was coming to see him.

"Madam Mayor." Mr. Gold said civilly, setting the final book down on top of one of the stacks of clean books lying on the counter top. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Regina made her way to the back of the shop and rested her elbow on the counter top, turning sideways though so she could still keep a close eye on him.

"Rumor has it, a stranger rolled into town this morning. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Regina asked, her voice still calm and collected.

"As a matter of fact, I do." Mr. Gold flashed Regina a wry smile and used the dust rag to start wiping down his counter. "I showed him to Granny's Bed and Breakfast early this morning-"

"You did what?" Regina asked flatly, though there was an undertone of anger hidden just beneath it.

"He was looking for a place to stay, and I showed him one." Mr. Gold answered in a slow, easy to understand sentence, as if talking to a child. Regina narrowed her light brown eyes, clearly not appreciating the latter comment.

"Well?" She then asked, causing Mr. Gold to look up from the counter he had been wiping down.

"Well what?" He asked innocently.

"What did you learn about him? Where did he come from? What's he doing here?"

Mr. Gold just let out a small, airy laugh, his lips turning up at the corners of his mouth.

"You're the Mayor...you find out." Mr. Gold jabbed at her. "All I managed to get was his name...what was it again?" He snapped his fingers, remembering. "Ah, yeah, Henry!"

Regina's narrowed eyes snapped open and her mouth hung open just a bit, but Mr. Gold kept going as if he hadn't noticed.

"Not a very common name around here, is it? Henry..." He said again. "Wasn't that the name of your dearly departed father? The one you go visit every Wednesday with an arm-full of flowers?" There was a slight hint of mockery in Mr. Gold's voice, and Regina caught onto it straight away, causing her eyes to narrow once more.

"Yes..." She said plainly, letting the word draw out, making it clear that she was thinking on something.

"Well, if that's all you've come to me for, I'm afraid I have no other information to give you. Now if you'll excuse me..." Mr. Gold quickly dismissed Regina from his shop, but the Mayor had no intention of leaving. With this...stranger walking about...she only had more questions. She slammed her hands down on the edge of the counter, making it clear to Mr. Gold that she was indeed, not finished, however just as she opened her mouth to protest, Mr. Gold finished his sentence with a simple, "...please..."

Regina looked shocked as she found herself straightening up, and her feet starting to carry her out the door. Upon her exit, the small bell rang again, and Mr. Gold stopped to watch the door close with a golden grin on his face.

It was late afternoon by the time Henry entered his room at the inn, storybook tucked securely under his arm. Reading to Snow left a calm, almost surreal feel to his heart at the thought that he could wake her back up - possibly...

The music that sounded through his headphones let him put the present troubles at ease as he closed the door behind him with a distinct click. He cut the music from his tape player, procuring it from its place at his belt, letting it rest on the bedside table.

He removed Alice's diary from his coat pocket; staring at it deeply before gently placing it atop his dresser, deciding that now was not the time to read Alice's last thoughts. He held the storybook with both hands now as he walked over to the desk at the far side of the room, opening it up slowly to examine it closer.

He pulled out one of the desk drawers, lifting out a magnifying glass to closely examine the book. He had read a bit of 'Alice in Wonderland' to Snow, but hadn't given the rest of the book any thought. Before beginning, he put on his glasses with a quiet clacking noise, pushing the lens up to his eyes.

He flipped through the pages with deft, nimble fingers; showing extreme care to avoid tearing any of the pages. The book seemed to contain most every fairy tale ever written, decorated with detailed, artistic illustrations portraying the scenes being played at the time. The story of Snow White, Beauty & the Beast, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Little Red Riding hood - any story imaginable.

Henry spent a great deal of time simply reading the stories that, where he came from, was a history; a timeline. He let himself become engrossed, not paying attention to the slowly setting sun until he had studied every page of the book, closing the back cover.

He stood up from the desk, and realized now the importance of his mission. He was the Curse-breaker, the savior of the Enchanted Forest. Jane Doe, Faye, even Mr. Gold were only echoes of their former selves. A poor, insulting mockery of their source. He had to save them - had to save all of them. Because he knew it was what Alice would have wanted. He clutched at his key in remembrance, and could almost hear her feisty voice goading him on:

"Well, what are you waiting for? The Curse isn't going to break itself, you know! You get to be the hero now, Henry. For me..."

Henry shuddered for a moment, blinking rapidly until he could regain his composure back into reality. If there was one thing he knew now, though - it was that he needed a drink.

Collaboration between Ghost Shadow, Major Ursa, YoshiSkittlez, and GuardianAngelHaruki
--
The sky was starting to turn a deep purple color as the last beams of sunlight were hiding behind them. Henry found a parking space and exited the car hastily, adjusting his glasses as he examined the sign confirming he had reached the right location.

"Clever title, that. Though I doubt Rabbit would appreciate a bar being named after him." He commented to himself with a half-smile as he thought of the outburst the creature would throw, were he here to witness this.

With a shrug, Henry entered the building; the smell of cigarette smoke and booze hitting him like a freight train. The lighting, at best, was dim; with only a few lamps and candles to light up the place. There were a few tables spread across the interior and a number of pool tables for entertainment. A long wooden bar stood at the back end with all sorts of beverages lined up to purchase.

Henry found himself a random table prepared to seat 4, checking his cell phone for the time as he awaited his companions.

Not too far away from the table, Ruby was already at play; hunched over the green fabric of one of the dozen pool tables with a pool stick placed carefully between her knuckles on one hand and using the other to control the power of her shot. With a quick overview of the position of the stripes and solids, Ruby tapped the white ball cue and watched as the green striped ball sink into the far corner. There was an audible groan of a few men standing at the table next to her, and soon they were pulling out crumpled up dollar bills, throwing them onto the pool table center and taking their leave.

"Sorry boys, maybe tomorrow night." Smiling, Ruby collected the green and stuffed them into her bra underneath The transluscent white half t-shirt she was wearing, the same shirt she had been wearing at the diner only now...away from the work place, there was only a single button keeping the shirt together, having no shame whatsoever about the fact that her red lace bra covered up more of her than her shirt did; at least the bra matched the red streaks in her hair.

Henry put his phone back in his pocket, noticing Ruby quite efficiently defeat a multitude of opponents in pool. After this initial observation, he took in her outfit,or lack thereof; raising his eyebrows in mischievious curiosity.

He walked over to where she still stood by the pool table, reaching into his coat and pulling out a pack of cigarettes, grabbing one before putting the rest of the pack away. "Got a light?" He asked with a feisty grin.

Ruby took a minute to set the pool stick down, leaning it against the pool table before approaching Henry with an equally mischevious grin, pressing out her chest to him just slightly.

"If you can find it..." she purred.

The clock on the wall ticked to the exact hour right before she came into the Rabbit Hole. The men in the bar turned their attention to her once again. In came the mysterious woman of the rumors. She wore a nice short black dress that flattered her body greatly, and yet had a classy air, unlike Ruby's attire.

Her hips swayed as she walked, and she flipped her hair out of the way when it fell into her eyes, and a smile played on her face. She caught sight of Henry, who was with Red, and her grin grew wider. She sent a coy wink his way, as her heels clicked as she went to sit at the bar. At the bar she ordered the bartender in a smooth voice, "Scotch on the rocks, sweetheart," The bartender hurredly got what she asked for.

Ruby's attention quickly moved from Henry to the woman just entering the Rabbit Hole and her red lips fell from their smirk, clearly unhappy to see the woman.

"Oh God...her..." she said with an obvious air of disdain just loud enough for only Henry to hear.

Henry looked quite confused at the new woman who just entered the bar. "Who's that, then?" He asked in a voice matching the volume of Ruby's. "I take it she has a bit of a...reputation around here?" He added, intrigued.

Ruby turned around to face Henry directly, putting her back to the woman and blocking his view of her, her face once playful and bright now firm and serious.

"There arent many people here in Storybrooke...it's easy to know everything about everyone. I can tell you the names of everyone here in this bar; where they live...even their favorite color..." Ruby turned just slightly to look over her shoulder at the woman. "...except her...no one knows who she is, where she came from or where she lives." She turned back to face Henry. "its...its just weird..."

"Well..." Henry began with an offbeat nod of his head, taking off his glasses as he did so. "It doesn't look like she's doing any harm right now. You don't know much about me either, do you?" He asked Ruby with an almost seductive smirk, just the right amount to show interest without being overbearing.

Stepping into the bar, Knox took note of the strong scent of smoke and alcohol…but he paid this no actual mind. Walking on over to a table in the back, Knox checked his cellphone for texts, but shut it off and took his seat when he saw none. The table didn’t look clean enough, and he ate breakfast at a certain diner where a certain waitress didn’t know how to clean tables correctly. Speaking of a certain waitress, he couldn’t help but notice her on the other side of the room, hanging off of newcomer. That was no business of his.

Knox came here to do one thing and one thing alone…and that was to have his few drinks, company or no company. Then…he can get home and check those damn hospital sign-in logs, watched those hours long security footage for his damn anomalies. Waiting a minute for the server to come over, he asked for the strongest drink they had. With strong alcohol tolerance, if not the closest thing to immunity to it, he’d need it strong.

The mysterious woman noticed that Ruby was distracting Henry, but she only smirked. Two could play at this game. She scanned the bar, and soon landed eyes on the man in the back. He was quite attractive and her smile grew wider. She stood up from the bar, taking her scotch with her, and as she sat at his table, she greeted smoothly, her black irised eyes staring at him, "Hey there. Mind if I joined you?"

Snapping out of a near boredom stupor, he gazed at the woman…all Knox could say was that she had a similar level of attractiveness to Ruby, though to a different style, she was strongly confident in herself, and she already had some to drink. The woman also had predator eyes, and she didn’t seem to have drunk enough, as she seemed solidly sober. Meeting her eyes, Knox tilted his head ever so slightly opened his mouth to speak to her, the corners curling down to and obvious half frown matched to his slightly furrowed eyebrows (blah blah blah), “Yes, I do mind.”

The woman sniffed in mock hurt, "Ouch. Giving me the cold shoulder are we? How cruel!" She crossed her legs, not to appeal to Knox, but to Henry. She commented, "You're quite the heartbreaker aren't you? Strong, tall, and quite handsome. How many hearts did you break?" She leaned towards his ear, and her bone chilling breath tickled at his ear as she whispered in his ear, "It's a good way of getting yourself hurt,"

She leaned away from him and smiled at him, and she drank some of scotch, her eyes still directly on Knox, and her peripheral vision on Henry.

Ruby watched the entire spectacle from her standpoint beside Henry, her eyes narrowed as she realized that this...girl found Knox before she had. "You want a light?" Ruby asked Henry. "You got one." She left Henry's side and stormed over to Knox and the girl, her red heels clicking loudly on the lenolium and didnt stop until she had reached the table. "Actually...he's with me." Ruby told her hotly before glancing over at Henry. "They both are, so I suggest you do your fishing elsewhere."

Henry could do little from his spot except watch the altercation unfold quite suddenly. He found his feet moving towards Ruby's position near Knox's table, but more relaxed and easygoing than her obviously angry storm.

He let his tongue roll about in his mouth for a bit while waiting for this to be over, looking quite curiously at the unknown girl. She was attractive, no doubt. But something was off, the way she looked at people - as if they were prey to be chased and slaughtered, naturally giving off a sense of caution and wariness. Henry made a mental note to keep a safe distance from this one.

The woman's gaze moved from Knox to Ruby when she stood over her and spoke angrily. It amused the woman that Ruby was so angry, but she didn't show amusement. Instead she remained calm, the smile still on her face as she retorted to Ruby, "Now now, there's no need to project your actions onto me. I'm just making conversation. Besides, falsely accusing people is no way to behave in front of our guest," She nodded pointedly to Henry when she said guest. She stood up and walked past Ruby, and as she did, she whispered into Ruby's ear, "You know, green really isn't your color,"

She then walked closer to Henry and she said to him in a friendly and still smooth and seductive manner, "Well, I've never seen you before. Welcome to Storybrooke,"

Pursing his lips in a very peeve manner, Knox stood up from his seat and dismissed the server with his beer…he wasn’t in the mood for drinks anymore; he could feel a migraine coming on. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out his wallet and pulled a twenty from it. Pushing past Ruby, without a word, he went over to the lady who he really couldn’t care to know the name of, tapping her on the shoulder…before rather audaciously sticking the rolled up twenty right into the top of her dress, in the cleavage. This whole time, Knox had a rather annoyed expression as he turned and left out the front; the bar just about fell silent at this spectacle.

Knox…he wasn’t the easiest to read, but at this moment, it seemed quite evident that he thought the woman nothing more than a lowly hooker. The polite thing to him was to at least pay her for her damn time wasted, even if she only served to annoy the hell out of him.

The woman looked to Knox when he went up to her and after he stuck a twenty in her cleavage. She had an offended gaze as she glared at Knox. After he was gone, she commented "Well, that was most certainly rude and uncalled for!"

She took out the twenty and she handed it to Ruby saying, "Here, you can have it,"

Ruby eyed the twenty and then narrowed her eyes at the woman. she snatched the money away from her and shot a quick, apologetic look to Henry before quickly following Knox outside.

The woman shrugged and commented out loud, "I guess that's what I get for trying to make friends, huh,"

Collaboration between GuardianAngelHaruki and Ghost Shadow

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Henry could do little as the events unfolded around him. Before he knew it, he found himself alone with the predatory woman who seemed strangely...enticing.

Letting out a deep sigh of exasperation, he hailed the bartender, ordering himself a glass of red wine to drink. Might as well enjoy what shambles of the evening were left.

The woman ordered another glass of scotch, and once she had it, she downed it quickly. She was silent and pensive, and as she remained pensive, the woman felt the familiar sharp pang in her heart.

She shook her head and tried to ignore whatever it was she felt. She looked to Henry, and she said to him, "So. Do you go to bars very often?"

Henry jumped slightly as the woman spoke to him, obviously not expecting such an occurrence. "Nah, not often." He began, taking a sip of his drink before speaking again. "But that's not to say occasionally. I can safely say that this is the most interesting one, though." He added with an amused expression that veiled that still-present caution.

The woman chuckled amusedly, and she commented, "Yeah. Makes the name fit the bar huh? We all are mad here, or so they say,"
She then asked "So, what do you like to do?" She looked over him and she commented "You seem like a very intelligent person,"

Henry smirked at her first comment, noting the phrase commonly applied to the story - to his world. His expression, however, turned to one of confusion at her inquery. Not many people had specifically asked him what he liked to do...and now that he'd thought on it, there wasn't much that came to mind. "Well..." He began, clearing his throat before speaking again. "I like to read, fun little hobby. I'm not too shabby at the piano...and...I'm not so sure." He finally said, wondering if the lack of hobbies was a bad thing or not.

The woman smiled a bit and said "I see," She winced as she felt pain in her heart, and she said "As much as I would love to stay and get to know you more. But I must go," She then paid the bartender and she stood up to leave.

"Be seein' you around." He said in a neutral tone, finishing his own drink as he watched her walk out. Paying the bartender, he waited a sufficient amount of time before deciding to find out who this 'mystery woman' was.

He left the bar quietly and started at a cautious, slow pace, hoping to find at least something about this infamous stranger.

The woman kept on walking and she walked from the bar and headed towards the park. When she reached the park, she stopped, and she turned to see Henry nearby. She called to him, "You know, if you wanted to spend more time with me, you could've asked,"

"Seemed rather important, figured I'd watch from a distance, so to speak." He replied, approaching her at a rather slow pace, but with a certain swagger to his step.

"You've piqued my interest, that much is certain." He commented with a smirk.

The woman smiled and she answered, "Glad I caught your interest. But, it's nothing important, I'm just heading home,". She thought of something and she asked, "I don't suppose you would want to meet again some other night?"

"Sure, we'll call it a date - well...not a date, more like a...gathering of sorts." After stuttering a few more times he finally cleared his throat and spoke simply, "I'm staying at Granny's, more likely than not, I'll be there." He grinned in an almost wild fashion before turning on his heel to leave.

The woman chuckled at his stuttering, and she said "I'll look for you there then. It's a date," She then waved to him and calmly called "Ciao~!" as she turned and left as well.

She entered Faye's house through the back door, and while she was at home, the woman physically changed into, none other, Faye Stevenson. She shook her head and mumbled in confusion, "What...happened?"

(Collaboration Post Featuring Major Ursa as Knox and YoshiSkittlez as Ruby)

Ruby rushed outside to catch up with Knox; it was a bit difficult though as it seemed every man in the bar between her and the door had something to say to the scantily clothed woman, but for the first time in what seemed like forever, Ruby wasn't interested. Still holding fast to the twenty dollar bill in her hand, she pushed herself outside just in time to see Knox round the corner.

"Knox! Knox wait!" Ruby pleaded, doing her best to try to keep track of him in her heels and tight shorts, preventing her from being able to walk too quickly.

Hearing the combination of calling for him, the click-clacking of heels behind him…Knox simply just wanted to keep walking at a steady pace, just have her naturally fall behind in the distance. That’d be irresponsible, of course. The man had a feeling she wouldn’t just give up, and either she was going to try something stupid like running, and break her heels and hurt herself, or she was going to end up losing him and walk through the dark alone. A thing of chivalry would say that he’d need to escort the lady back home after dark, and in the back of his mind called it a small sexist assumption that she needed a man to protect herself.

Taking two steps forward, Knox let out a small frustrated sigh, before turning around to address Ruby, “Pardon me, I didn’t mean to ruin your game. You can go back to Henry, now.”

Ruby faced Knox dead on, her face rigid and ungiving.

"I didn't go to The Rabbit Hole because of him. I went there because of you." What was supposed to come out as a compliment instead came out sounding rather hot and annoyed as she reached out to take his hand harshly and stuffed the twenty-dollar bill inside of it.

"It was a stupid idea for inviting him along in the first place." Her eyes glanced down quickly to the money that she had just placed in his hand. "And as much as I think that harlot deserved what you did to her...I couldn't live with myself knowing she took your money; you could have used that to buy me a couple drinks instead you know." Her tone calmed down some, returning to her normal speech. It was clear she was still annoyed about what had happened, but she was at least trying to make an effort to make light of the situation.

Giving Ruby a rather pointed look, that drinks comment made him want to stick the twenty into her dress now, but Knox strangled the impulse in its crib. Pocketing the twenty, with no further comments on the issue, “Thank you. Now, you can go back.”

A hand pointed back to the bar, “I had a great time. Enjoyed the sweet air and atmosphere to the place, had a couple of drinks, a conversation with a beautiful woman…yes, you really showed me a good time. Put that big smile you wanted on my face.” Saying that, he was anything but smiling…but, internally, calmed enough to say what he wanted to say. Having a hard time looking at her eyes now after what he had said, though, “You can go back to Henry now, I understand that it’s not often that we have the new and interesting type for you to meet at a bar.”

His eyes softened a little bit when he looked at her, but he turned away in what could only be described as a rather grumpy manner, “Besides, you can always find me at the diner at the same time and place.”

"Screw Henry!" Ruby found herself shouting, and then immediately bit down on her lower lip. "No, no I didn't mean-" She sighed and threw up her hands in the air before crossing them over her chest. "I meant...forget him..." She aptly corrected herself and managing to keep her voice down. "I'm not going back, not until I've had my drink with you and learn at least-" She mumbled a few numbers under her breath. "-five interesting things about you."

She paused for a moment, just to look at him; taking in his rugged features and noticing the soft expression he was giving her as he looked back. It was strange...less than twenty-four hours ago, Ruby hadn't even given Knox a second glance...but suddenly...back at Granny's Diner, she had this overwhelming sense to...talk with him at least. It almost felt like whatever Gods that were up there were using their hands, trying to push her towards him; whether or not he felt the same way was yet to be seen, but it was a feeling she couldn't ignore.

"Let's go to Granny's, it's quiet this time of night, and it just so happens I know a waitress there that would be willing to add double shots at a discounted price." She winked, not in a flirty manner, but one that indicated that she was of course talking about herself. "No Henry, no no-one, just you and me until you crack that smile, and when you do...well...then you can get rid of me, but I'm not going anywhere until I see it. Oh! And the five interesting things...that part too..."

Knox didn’t seem entirely pleased by this development…he didn’t smile? Knox smiled all the time…! Well, he swore he did. If by now Ruby hadn’t seen it, he felt her requirement for a smile was far out of reach for anyone. As well, he didn’t know how he felt about the whole ‘five interesting things’ part, it made him sound like a baseball card…a collectable. Still, something about her whole disposition in this told him to go with her, even if the greater part of his logical mind just said to leave.

“Don’t tell me, you intend to serve me cheesy fries?”

"Well I was hoping to keep that part a secret." Ruby was unable to help but smile and then nodded her head in the direction of Granny's. "C'mon, if we go now I can still probably get you a fresh batch."

"...I'll have you know, I actually eat a healthier dinner to compensate for an unhealthy breakfast." Saying this, the man was now actively dragging Ruby behind him on his way to Granny's. Ruby couldn't help but to smile up at the man that towered over her, a knowing look in her eye.

"See? That's one interesting thing! Just four more to go!" She chided cheerily and did her best to keep up with his long strides in her heels and tight red shorts.

Collaboration between Ghost Shadow and YoshiSkittlez
--
By the time Henry had walked back to his car and drove back to Granny's, it was late in the evening, the sky completely dark with only the moon and stars to light the way aside from the occasional street lamp.

He parked right by the bed & breakfast, tapping something akin to a beat on the steering wheel as the car rumbled to a stop.

He rubbed his eyes as he got out of the car, humming something to himself as he closed the car door, locking it in the process. Turning on his heel, he started to make his way towards the front door, oblivious to the woman leaning against the hood of a black 560 LS Mercedes Benz with her arms crossed over her chest.

"So you must be the new guy." Regina's voice called out to Henry from behind him. She opted not to move from her relaxed position leaning against her car, and instead kept her arms folded over her chest, her eyes looking Henry's vehicle up and down with a look on her face as if a cat had just vomited on her heels.

Henry stopped mid-stride as he heard the cutting voice ask him a question. "Popular today, aren't I?" He mumbled under his breath before turning, managing a smile even when looking into the face of the Evil Queen.

"You would be correct, madam. Henry Carlyle, pleasure to meet you." He greeted, holding out his hand to shake and praying to whatever God there was that she wasn't offended by such an action.

Regina took one look at his hand, and didn't even so much as budge her own arms.

"Such a civil, formal greeting..." She said with what almost sounded like a sneer. "...and yet you have no idea who I am..." Regina removed herself from leaning against her car and walked a small semi-circle around Henry, stopping only when her back was to his car, now leaning her back against the rear passenger side door; mostly because she just didn't want to look at it. Finally, Regina stuck out her hand to shake his, plastering on what didn't even look like a half-assed attempt of a smile.

"Regina Mills, Mayor. I simply stopped by to introduce myself. We don't get many visitors here in Storybrooke, so as you can imagine, word of your arrival reached me pretty quickly. As mayor, I take it upon myself to...get to know our guests, make sure they have everything they need to make their stay here more...comfortable..."

Henry shook her hand with a bow of his head and a smile, attempting to diffuse any suspicion or hostility at this time. "Well, a fine pleasure to meet you, Madam Mayor. I believe this meeting is more than mere coincidence. I heard you were having an issue with employment in the school...English, I think. So I have taken it upon myself to offer my services as a substitute until a more suitable replacement can be found - not to sully my own ability, mind you." He finished, placing both hands in his coat pockets.

Immediately, Regina's black eyebrow raised as she folded her hands back into her arms across her chest.

"You've talked to Mr. Gold..." Regina observed, rolling her eyes and breathing out quickly through her nose in annoyance; not directed towards Henry though, as she looked away from him while doing so, and then looked back to him.

"I'm afraid I am in no need of your services, Mr. Carlyle. I simply can not hire a complete stranger into our school district where the safety of our children is most concerned." Her tone was flat, with just a tinge of belittling on the underside, though there was no effort on her part to hide it; almost as if it were on purpose. "Besides..." She went on, speaking normally once again. "...you're just passing through." It wasn't said as an assumption, but more of a demand, and Regina split her lips to a soft, white smile.

"That's fair enough, I suppose. But if you happen to change your mind, I'll be here a couple weeks." He informed, still keeping a friendly composure even though all instincts said to turn and run.

"So, uh...nice town you got here! It's got a quaint, sort of rustic feel to it. What's the word I'm looking for; ah, yes, charm. Good work!" He complimented whilst subtly rocking back and forth on his feet.

"A few weeks?" Regina repeated with a soft laugh in her throat, apparently this amused her. She skipped right over the part he played into about how 'charming' the town was and cut straight to the chase. "And just what is your business here in Storybrooke that would warrant such an elaborate vacation?"

"I wanted to go somewhere more quiet, peaceful. New York is a terrible place to live if you want peace and quiet-"

"Try a library." Regina interjected quickly.

"...So a couple week's stay felt best for a reprieve before I head back. I already paid at the inn...is there a problem?" He asked, though not in an accusing manner, but instead playing on the ignorant tourist trope.

Regina's eyes closed for a moment as she let out another soft exhale, contradicting her next words.

"No." She said looking back upon Henry turning her lips into a sweet smile. "No problem at all. In fact...why don't you stop by my place tomorrow evening for dinner? At least that way I can welcome you properly for your prolonged stay..."

"Well..." Henry began, as if thinking on the offer whilst letting his eyes wander down to the mayor's rather ample bosom (to which he subtly seemed pleased about) before eventually responding.

"That sounds lovely! Should be a nice evening." He said cheerily, not letting that grin fade from his face.

Regina adjusted her arms a bit that had remained folded across her chest as a clear indication of her catching him looking at her and non-verbally saying 'yeah, I got boobs...'

"Then I'll see you tomorrow." She said tilting her head to the side thoughtfully at him, keeping her same, sweet smile on her lips. "Shall we say...6:30?" She let up her smile to smirk just a bit and began to walk back to her car, not even giving the chance for Henry to respond. She was in control here, not him.

She pulled open her car door and began to slide herself in when her eyes happened upon the clock tower for the first time that day, losing all control of her poker face when she realized that it was working.

Her eyes shot from the clock tower to Henry, and then back to the clock with a mixture of shock and confusion written across her face, though said nothing as she pulled herself into the driver's seat and slammed the car door shut, starting up the engine with more force than what was necissary.

Henry did little but offer a short wave before heading towards the door to the inn once again. "Why are all the evil ones attractive?" He asked himself before heading inside.

Trying to be as quiet as possible as he walked up the old, creaky steps to his room, he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding once he stepped into his room. Dinner with the Evil Queen - he had no idea how he managed to rope himself into that one. "It's alright, Chesh, just gotta go to dinner, make small talk, and leave with hopefully no injury. What could go wrong?" He asked himself bitterly.

He removed his coat, letting it fall messily to the floor - he would worry about cleanliness another day. His eyes wandered over to Alice's diary that remained at its same spot on the bedside table.

Overcome with curiosity, Henry figured now would be the best time to see what exactly his sister had left for him. No doubt, if she were alive, she would be more than furious at him pilfering through her personals, but he believed he was now exempt from that rule.

He lifted the key from its place around his neck and easily inserted it into the keyhole (which had not seemed to rust or degrade over time). With a twist of his wrist, a small click signaled that the key had worked and Henry let the leather clasp open, leaving only the cover to hide what was within.

"This is it." He said in a hushed voice, letting a single hand glide across the leather of the cover, grasping it with a firm, but gentle hand. He swept the cover open, face bright with anticipation before falling suddenly.

A multitude of emotions seemed to rush across his visage in a single moment: confusion, worry, fear, then anger.

"No..." He finally said, voice just barely above a hoarse whisper - the page in front of him was completely empty. Devoid of any drawings or writing, the paper fresh as a new day.

"No, no, no, no." He continued muttering in disbelief as he rushed through the rest of the pages, all of them completely blank.

Feeling hot tears of pain and rage sting at the edge of his eyes, Henry knocked the entire bedside table to the floor with a single swipe of his arm; not caring at the loud, resounding *crash* it made upon impact, the lamp sputtering before dying.

Henry paced about the room furiously, ignoring the sharp pain rushing through his hand from knocking the table over; running them messily through his hair, as if trying to comprehend what had just occurred. Suddenly, realization hit him like a slap to the face and, with as much venom and hatred as he could conjure in his voice, he uttered a single word - "Gold." Even in this new land, with no magic, no memories, and no identity, Rumpelstiltskin still managed to toy with him - like a plaything, a pawn in some giant game to be tortured for the Dark One's own amusement.

But now he had crossed the line, Henry no longer cared about breaking the Curse, or returning everyone back to normal. Now it was about revenge. He let his mind search back to his visit to the pawn shop, trying desperately to think of anything he could use against the Imp. Then he remembered...

"The snowglobe!" He cried out, no longer willing or able to hide his outburst before continuing his thought. If tales would have it, Rumpelstiltskin hid a powerful entity inside a snowglobe as a way to preserve his own life from her wrath. If Henry could break into the shop and release the woman from her imprisonment, not only could he have his revenge - but his magic too.

Upon reaching this conclusion, Henry grinned manically, his eyes wild with flame and fury. Without another word, he scooped up his coat and headed for the door with great haste.

Robert had spent most of his day diligently patrolling the towns few streets, doing what he could to make sure the laws were followed. For now, he sat in his patrol car, finishing his notes for the day. He typed into a laptop that he in his car for recordkeeping "Crimes witnessed: no incidents. Reports of crime: Old lady complained of trash being rifled through last night, evidence points to raccoons. See attached for further details. Other: Littering is down, no incidents. Hospital reports all normal, usual guard took day off. New person in town, name is Henry, car was seen parked outside of Mr. Golds and Granny's at different times today. Will inquire further, can tail if you want." After adding a few more details, he emailed a copy to Regina, because he knew that she always liked to know what was going on around town.

Before heading home, Robert wanted to get a drink or two, not enough to seriously impede his driving abilities. He drove towards Granny's, because it was on the way to his house. He didn't care much about the atmosphere or have any particularly strong bonds with the regular patrons, but it was a cheap place to grab snack and a beer. After a short drive, he parked his car outside, noticing that the place was more busy than one would expect for this time of night. He also noticed the visitor's car was parked here, confirming that he was staying here.

After getting out of his car, Robert looked for a seat at the bar, and order a pint of a french beer that he liked, along with a plate of fries. While he waited for his food and sipped his beer, he looked around the room, seeing a few familiar faces. He wasn't friendly with these people or anyone in town regularly, but he didn't harbor any special dislike for them.

Turning the key to the right, Mr. Gold took careful measures to make sure that his pawn shop was locked up tight before depositing the key ring into his suit jacket pocket and began the short walk back home. The stone stairs leading up to his porch seemed just a bit more difficult to climb that night, having to rely heavily on his cane to do most of the work his right leg was unable to do, but eventually made it to the colorful stain-glass double doors of his estate, unlocked them, and walked inside.

Once in the comfort of his home, he limped heavily past the entryway and into the living room where he leaned his cane up against one of the end tables and shrugged himself out of his suit jacket, placing it neatly on the arm of the couch before taking a seat in an old, victorian-styled chair. The decor of his home was not all that different in style as he had a couch and tables to match, each table filled with what one could call 'useless junk' ranging from things between standing globes and maps to antique china and an old, radio collecting dust in the corner.

Pulling the tie loose from the collar of his deep red shirt, Mr. Gold bent forward to reach for the glass bottle of scotch on the coffee table in front of him, managing to keep a steady hand as he poured the liquid into a crystal glass held in his other hand. He filled the glass to the brim, and carefully brought it to his lips and slammed the drink back, taking it all down with no more than two gulps. Setting down the now empty glass on the table in front of him, he grit his teeth as a shooting pain crossed his back for the fourth time that day, causing him to grit his teeth in pain but refusing to utter a sound.

He bent forward once more to refill his glass, however this time he left the glass on the table as his now free hand moved over to pluck a double-wide cigarette from a pack lying just to the right of the glass cullender that held the scotch. Putting the cigarette between his lips, he lit it before finally reaching for his second glass, and eased into resting his back against the chair. He took a few drags of the stick a few times before taking a drink from the crystal glass, though this time being more conservative about his intake.

He lulled in the silence for a few moments, ignoring the pain that was now crossing into his chest and took another drink each time he felt his airway starting to constrict. Although he was alone in his home, there was that feeling of something staring at him that he was unable to shake, although he knew exactly what it was. Finally succumbing to it, Mr. Gold turned his head to look at the small display of china on the end table next to the couch not seven feet away from him, and stared back at the chipped teacup.

With a progressively, unexplainable up-rise in anger, the crystal glass in his hand suddenly shattered under the pressure of his firm grip, however the glass was practically empty and therefore only a few droplets of the liquid splashed down onto his shirt. His attention was quickly pulled from the teacup and to his hand where the half-broken glass still remained, a small drizzle of crimson running down his palm and dripping off of his wrist. With a more tired than agitated sigh, Mr. Gold set the bloodied glass back down on the coffee table and got up from his chair, keeping the still lit cigarette clenched tightly between his teeth and grabbed his cane.

He couldn't be here...not right now, it was a mistake to close the shop early and come home. Leaving his suit jacket on the arm of the couch and his tie hanging loosely around his neck; even ignoring the fact that his hand was still bleeding, Mr. Gold headed back to the front doors and made his way outside, heavily breathing in the cool night air of Storybrooke. Hopefully, a walk was all he needed; to clear his head and think of only why he was here.

---

Many, many years ago...

The front door of the small cottage opened wide and Rumpelstiltskin limped in, aided by his walking stick in his right hand while carrying a basket of fresh fruits and vegetables in the other.

"Milah? Bae?" He called out, alerting his family to his arrival back home from the market. "I'm home." He quickly shut the door behind him and walked to the center of the small room, finding his four year old daughter sitting alone in a wooden chair beside the table.

"Papa?" She called out quietly. Rumpelstiltskin made his way over to her, albeit slowly.

"Where's mum?" He asked the child. She said nothing however, and instead sniffed back a tiny, frightened tear. Rumpelstiltskin frowned and swallowed hard, she had done it again; she had left their child home alone so that she could be free to have fun and shun her responsibilities.

"Well, she probably just uh, lost track of time." Rumpelstiltskin said to his daughter, keeping his voice full of hope not for his behalf, but for Bae's. "Grab your cloak."

The small child got up from the wooden chair and did as she was instructed, walking over to her papa so that he could help put the cloak on her while they walked out of the cottage together.

"We'll find her." Rumpelstiltskin promised.

Upon reaching a bar, Rumpelstiltskin instructed Baelfire to wait outside while he checked for her mother. The moment he walked in, his ears were greeted harshly by the sound of laughing men and tankards being slammed down on the wooden tables. Rumpelstiltskin made his way through the thrall of people, pushing past until he spotted a table in the far corner that was surrounded by pirates, and among them, rolling dice and taking shots was his wife, Milah.

"Milah!" Rumpelstiltskin called out to her, drawing the attention of the pirates surrounding the table as well as his wife's. "Milah...it's time to go."

"Good." Milah said picking up a pitcher of ale and poured herself another drink. "So go."

"Who's this?" One of the pirates asked, causing Rumpelstiltskin to divert his attention to him. He was a young pirate, no older than he or Milah with a thick head of black hair and matching black eyeliner that really brought out the intensity of his eyes.

"Ah it's no one." Milah responded to the pirate. "It's just my husband."

"Oh!" The pirate said thoughtfully. "Well he's a tad taller than you described." The surrounding pirates uproared in laughter, all taking a second look at Rumpelstiltskin.

"Please..." Rumpelstiltskin said doing his best to keep his skin tough, not wanting these men to get to him. "...you have responsibilities..."

"You mean like being a man?" Milah challenged. "Fighting in the Ogre wars? Other wives became honored widows while I became lashed to the village coward. I need a break. Run home Rumpel! It's what you're good at."

Rumpelstiltskin gripped his walking stick tightly, doing his best to keep a straight face as he became utterly humiliated in front of these men, but it wasn't he who spoke next.

"Mamma?" Baelfire poked her head from behind Rumpelstiltskin, causing Rumpelstiltskin to turn to face his daughter in surprise.

"Bae! You're supposed to be outside girl..." Rumpelstiltskin said softly. Milah sighed heavily and got up from the bench, setting her drink down and approached her husband and child. She took hold of Bae and walked her out of the pub, not even bothering to see if Rumpelstiltskin followed them out or not.

"You don't...really wish I'd died...during the Ogre Wars...do you?" Rumpelstiltskin found himself asking. They three had made it home from the pub, and Milah rested herself in their bed while Rumpelstiltskin boiled up some tea to help with her growing headache. Milah remained silent for a while, keeping her gaze off of her husband while she thought over her words.

"I wish you would have fought." She admitted. "Don't you?"

"I-w-well I'm-I'm alive..." Rumpelstiltskin stammered. Using his walking stick, he pushed himself up from the wooden stool and carried over the small cup of tea to his wife. "And I'm here with you...with Bae..." Upon reaching the bedside, he sat down by Milah's feet and offered her the cup. Milah just shook her head.

"This isn't a life." She said quietly. "Not for me. Why can't we just leave?"

"We talked about that-"

"You don't have to be the village coward! We can start again!" Milah pleaded. "Go somewhere no one knows us; see the whole world beyond this village!"

Rumpelstiltskin stood up from the bed and walked away from Milah a few feet, placing the rejected cup of tea on the wooden table in the center of the room.

"I know this isn't the life you wanted." He said shaking his head lightly. "But we can be happy...here..." He took a seat in the wooden chair once more between the table and the fire place. "At least try...if not for me...then for Bae..."

Milah sighed irritably and held her head.

"Okay..." She gave in. "I'll try..."

"Papa?"

Rumpelstiltskin turned to see Baelfire whom had crept out of bed and holding fast to a tattered stuffed bear. Rumpelstiltskin turned his head to the side, giving his daughter a very soft, yet scolding look.

"I couldn't sleep...will you sing to me?" Baelfire asked. The once firm look on Rumpelstiltskin's face immediately melted as he pushed himself up and led Baelfire back to her bed. He tucked her in gently, making sure that she would be warm throughout the night with what poor blankets they had and bent over to kiss her softly on the forehead.

"Please papa, I want you to sing, the song you made for me when I was a baby..."

Rumpelstiltskin smiled softly and put his hand over his daughter's forehead, using it to sweep away her beautiful long, brown locks of hair.

Sleep my Baby,
Rest my loved one
Softly slumber
Now with me

Clasped in Papa's
Arms so tender
Warm in Papa's
Love for thee

Naught shall ever
Come to harm thee
While my loving
Watch I'll keep,

Thou my pretty
One shall slumber
While I sing thy
Lullaby

Sleep my baby
Rest my loved one
While the evening
Shadows creep

Why, my Baelfire
Art thou smiling,
Smiling sweetly
In thy sleep?

Can it be
That baby angels
In God's Heaven
Smile on thee?

Rest my darling
Smile and slumber
While I sing thy
Lullaby

---

Presently...

Mr. Gold spent the next hour or so walking a carefully mapped out route that kept him in alleys and dark places through the small city; a course he had created long ago to keep himself away from the citizens of Storybrooke so that he might enjoy his walks in peace.

His cigarette had burned out long ago, and on more than one occasion he nearly stopped his walk to return directly home to grab another one. Each time, however, he pressed on and was nearing the end of his walk when suddenly, another wave of pain overtook him, loosing all control over his right arm causing his cane to drop with an echoing 'clink' on the black pavement below him.

Mr. Gold was soon to follow; with the pain came the shortness of breath and the tight knots forming in his chest. There was an irritating ringing in his ears followed immediately by his vision beginning to blacken where as the small window of his surroundings that he was still able to see had his head spinning in circles.

---

There was an urgent knock on Rumpelstiltskin's cottage door, and he soon answered it to find a village woman with a rather distressed look on her face.

"Rumpelstiltskin, you need to get to the docks now!" She informed him hastily.

"The docks? Why-"

"The men who came into port last week...they've taken Milah! They're setting sail, you must hurry!"

It took a great amount of effort on Rumpelstiltskin's part to reach the docks; it was a fair distance away and the hinderence of his right leg slowed him down greatly but he finally found the ship belonging to the pirates he had met in the pub a week ago and stepped aboard. Upon stepping on the deck itself, Rumpelstiltskin's right leg gave out completely, causing him to tumble over and to fall onto his chest. He picked himself up quickly though, reaching the point of being on his knees when he saw a pair of boots level with his eyesight, the man of which the boots belonged to standing on top of the ledge just above where he was.

"On your feet for the Captain!" A sailor shouted out to Rumpelstiltskin, and suddenly he found himself being hoisted hostily to his feet by two other sailors, one of them harshly shoving his walking stick into his chest to ensure he stayed on his feet. The man to which the sailor was referring to as the Captain was the very same man that had been talking with Milah in the bar, the man with the black hair and matching eyeliner.

"I-I-I remember you..." Rumpelstiltskin observed, pointing at him. "F-from the bar..."

"It's always nice to make an impression." The Captain said with a smirk, causing the nearby pirates to laugh out loud. "Where are my manners? We haven't been formally introduced..." The Captain uncrossed his arms from his chest and walked closer to Rumpelstiltskin. "Killian Jones. Now...what are you doing aboard my ship?"

Rumpelstiltskin looked around, seeing the multitude of eyes preying upon him like a flock of buzzards waiting for an injured animal to die. He was certainly out of his element here; and he was more than eager to just get this over and done with and return to the safety of his home.

"Oh, well, uh, I, uh...y-you have my wife..." He stammered.

"I've had many a man's wife." Killian replied, again getting a good laugh out of his comrades.

"D-do-uh, you see...we have a daughter..." Rumpelstiltskin tried explaining, hoping that this pirate had an shred of morality in him...somewhere..."...and she needs her mother..."

"You see, I have a ship full of men who need...companionship..." Was Killian's reply, earning hoots and hollers from the other pirates.

"I-I'm begging you...please let her go..."

"I'm not much for bargaining. That said...I do consider myself an honorable man; a man with a code...so if you truly want your wife back-" Killian took the sword of on one of the nearby pirates and dropped it in front of Rumpelstiltskin at his feet and then withdrew his own sword. "-all you have to do is take her."

Killian pointed the end of his sword towards Rumpelstiltskin's chest, causing his breathing to increase rapidly and his body to shake.

"Never been in a duel before I take it?" Killian observed, pressing the tip of the sword into Rumpelstiltskin's chest; not hard enough to impale...not just yet. "Well it's quite simple really, the pointy end goes in the other guy."

Rumpelstiltskin looked down at the sword by his feet, his body trembling so bad that it was difficult to even keep hold of his walking stick.

"Go on, pick it up." Killian goaded him, but Rumpelstiltskin couldn't budge; frozen with fear. Humiliation came over him quickly and he could feel hot tears beginning to well up in his eyes as he quickly began to realize that there was no fight to be won here, and that he would be lucky to escape with his own life.

"A man unwilling to fight for what he wants...deserves what he gets..." Killian said simply and withdrew his sword, sheathing it and turning his back to Rumpelstiltskin, harshly indicating that he wasn't worth his time.

"Please sir..." Rumpelstiltskin dared to try once more. "At least let me speak with my girl, she was with Milah this morning...I have to see her..."

"And why would she want to see you?" Killian asked, turning only just slightly to face Rumpelstiltskin. "Her father's a coward."

---

Mr. Gold stumbled forward, refusing to go down altogether and finding a brick wall to brace his hands against to keep from succumbing to his blackouts. Sweat practically rolled off his forehead and down his neck, his teeth grinding and gnashing together in his best attempt to push his will forward and fight back. It was a battle he was quickly losing as his legs outright gave up on him, forcing him down onto his knees and still clutching desperately at the brick wall for some sort of anchor.

Unable to control his tolerance for pain any longer, a quiet cry came from his throat, echoing into the still night, seeming to mock him; screaming his weaknesses back at him in a cruel taunt that caused him to cry out once more in anger rather than pain before finally giving in and resting his sweat-soaked forehead against the cool brick wall and sobbed silently to himself, whimpering repeatedly and in between strenuous coughing fits,

"I'm sorry Bae! I'm so sorry!"