Forget Me Not
Chapter 1
He dreamed of her every night after she walked out of that dungeon room and out of his life. Even after the Evil Queen came for her little visit, that didn't stop the dreams. It only made them worse; more vivid. The curse was supposed to help him. This life was supposed to be a clean slate. He was hoping that he wouldn't remember her anymore. However, even cursed to live in this land of no magic, he still dreamed of her…every night. Her eyes, her smile, and those beautiful, soft, brown curls that always fell around her face perfectly, and then she was gone. She haunted him. He came here to find his son. He had a goal. He had a plan….and yet, all he could think about was her. Was it true love? Or was he just slowly going insane? He wasn't sure. The one thing he was sure of is that no matter how hard he tried, he was never going to be able to forget her.
The days passed slowly for Mr. Gold. Each day he would go about business as usual and each night he would pour all of himself into looking for his son, but never with any success. It seemed that he was doomed to be alone in this life too. Storybrooke was a boring place. There were days he actually missed the land of fairy tales. This world had no magic. It bored him. It seemed the only real entertainment he enjoyed these days was the battle between Regina and Sheriff Swan. Despite his loneliness and lack of success in finding his son, Mr. Gold took pleasure from watching those two. Had he helped both sides? Of course. It was his curse that put everyone here in the first place, and it was his dirty politics that had kept Emma Swan in town as the Sheriff. He had his reason. Plus he was curious to see what would happen with the new sheriff in town. Emma may not trust him, but she wasn't scared of him either. Which is why it came as no surprise to him that she just popped into his shop that morning.
"Mr. Gold", she said. "Ahh, good morning Sheriff. What brings you to my shop this early? Looking for something in particular are we?" said Mr. Gold, a slight smirk on his face. "No. I came to talk. I've been doing some digging and I'm pretty sure I've found something Regina wouldn't want me, or anyone else for that matter to see." Mr. Gold raised one eyebrow as he stared at her. He was intrigued, she could tell. "As interesting as that is Sheriff, I hardly see why you would need to discuss this with me", said Mr. Gold as he turned to go to the back of his shop. "Did you know that Storybrooke hospital had a psychiatric ward?" Mr. Gold stopped and turned, "No, I can't say that I did Sheriff, but I can't say that I'm surprised either. Most hospitals have those these days." "Yes, that's true, but what is so strange about ours, is that it only has one patient. An entire town of people, a large, nationally recognized hospital, and it only has one, single psychiatric patient?" she said. As much as he hated to admit it, she had intrigued him. Mr. Gold turned around and sat back down behind the counter. "Huh, ok. I'm listening", he said. His smirk was gone and replaced by a look of pure curiosity. Who could have possible pissed off that evil hag so much that they were stuck in the psychiatric ward? And how on Earth did he not know about it?
Emma sat down on the other side of the counter, across from Mr. Gold. She held up a medical file and set it on the counter between them. "I'll make you a deal Mr. Gold", said Emma. Mr. Gold chuckled, "Now as interested as I am dearie, what makes you think I am going to make you a deal over this?" "Because, Mr. Gold, as you so often say, when two people have something the other wants, a deal can always be made…and trust me when I say, you REALLY want to know what I know." Mr. Gold stopped chuckling and looked at Sheriff Swan with an intense look. He was confused and curious at the same time. What information could she possibly have that had anything to do with him that he didn't already know? After a few minutes of the two staring each other down, trying to decipher the other's poker face, Mr. Gold sighed, and smirked. "Ok, Sheriff, you have yourself a deal. Now tell me, what is it you want?" "I have a plan. An idea, as it were, but I need your help to make it work. You have a lot of power in this town, a lot of influence over these people, and that is useful to me. Besides, helping me benefits us both." "Alright Sheriff…I'm listening." She passed him the folder, "Take a look." The first thing Mr. Gold noticed about the medical folder is that it was unlabeled and was quite thin. Mr. Gold opened the folder and as soon as he saw the picture paper clipped to the top his blood began to boil with pure rage. It was her. His Belle. She was here. In Storybrooke. In the psychiatric ward. "Do you know who that is Mr. Gold?" He could tell by her tone that she already knew that he would recognize her. After all, she did arrest him for assaulting her sorry excuse for a father. She clearly figured out that his anger at the man was over more than just a robbery. Mr. Gold realized that he must have had many different emotions openly flashing across his face because when he finally met Emma Swan's eyes she was staring at him with patience and what looked like sympathy. She was clearly waiting for him to make the next move. He quickly skimmed down the file, his Belle was accused of having extreme psychosis and violent outbursts, but when he looked at the section labeled treatment, it simply read, "The patient is restricted to solitary confinement." Mr. Gold shut the folder with his shaking hands. Were they shaking due to shock or rage, he couldn't figure out. As he stood up he looked at Emma who still sat, waiting patiently. "Well sheriff, you have held up your end of the deal, now it is time for me to hold up my end. What is it you need from me?" Emma smiled at him, she may not trust Mr. Gold, but she knew in this instance, he would be a powerful ally. "Well, to put it simply, I want to break this girl out of the psych ward. She clearly doesn't belong there. She isn't even being treated. I think she is there because she knows something Regina doesn't want her to know, or just because she knows it would hurt you, or knowing Regina, probably both." Mr. Gold stood there and nodded, You have no idea dearie. "Anyways, I want to get her out, unfortunately for me there is no legal way for me to do so, and since you are so comfortable with working outside the law, I figured you would be helpful in coming up with a way to get her out and into my protective custody." Emma sat there while Mr. Gold just stared at her, waiting for his answer. After a few moments Mr. Gold smiled, "I knew there was a reason I liked you Sheriff Swan, let me make a few calls and I'll get back to you tonight."
Emma nodded her head and smiled. She grabbed the folder still sitting on the counter and turned to walk out. Before she reached the door she turned back and set a small piece of paper on the counter, "Why don't you keep that," and she walked out the door. Mr. Gold looked down at what she had placed on the counter, it was her picture. It was a picture of his beautiful Belle, and she was smiling.
The minute Emma Swan walked out his shop door Mr. Gold hung up the closed sign and headed towards the back office. He would not be doing any business or making any deals today, not with this news. His Belle was alive. Trapped. A prisoner of the Queen's, but alive. How could he have believed that evil bitch that day she showed up at his home! How could he have been so easily fooled! Mr. Gold shook those thoughts from his head, it didn't matter. All that mattered now was getting her out of that hospital and somewhere safe. Luckily, Emma was correct in her assumptions. Yes, he was powerful in this town. Yes, he did have a lot of useful connections. And yes, he was most certainly willing do whatever it took to get his Belle. It was time to call in a few favors. Mr. Gold went to his work table and sat down. He placed the picture of Belle directly in front of him and took a deep breath. Do the brave thing, and bravery will follow, then he picked up the phone and started dialing.
