Gold stood outside on the empty street, trying to catch sight of Belle inside his closed shop. It had been too long since he'd seen her, and he knew just a glimpse of his wife would be able to keep him going. But, unfortunately, she wasn't straying near the window. Hopefully she would soon, before …
He heard something clatter, and whipped his head around, to see a flabbergasted Dr. Hopper staring at him, his umbrella lying on the ground next to him. Pongo wagged his tail next to the stunned psychiatrist, happy to see Mr. Gold again.
The pawnbroker sighed, waving his hand so Archie's expression became blank. Giving one last look at the dog, he teleported away, so he wouldn't be there when the psychiatrist regained consciousness.
Honestly, this was getting old. He'd been spotted by citizens of Storybrooke so many times it wasn't even funny. The psychiatrist alone had caught him about ten times, leading Gold to believe that Archie was secretly nocturnal. But he wasn't the only one to have spotted Gold. Ruby had caught him about three times, and countless others had seen him at least once. Even the Savior had run into him. Really, how many people ventured out of their homes so late at night? Of course, he supposed he could just stay out of town, but he really just wanted to see Belle; the one person who hadn't bumped into him. It was rather ironic, really.
Gold didn't see the need to stop his forays into town, however, for the simple reason that he could wipe everyone's memories. No one remembered ever seeing him. If only the spell worked past just a few minutes of memory; then he could make Belle forget all his mistakes, and start over, this time without betraying her. But alas, that wasn't how it worked, so Gold just had to content himself with gazing at her from afar, while wiping the minds of all the insomniacs in Storybrooke. Hopefully, he'd see his wife soon.