A/N:Thanks to all who read the stories from this series. I hope you'll continue to enjoy them. Reviews are always appreciated. :)

Also, as of now I can be found of Tumblr:
revever tumblr com

A/N2: With guest appearance of another Disney character, Sir Victor, The White Knight. ;))) Sort of. ;)

'Papa, look! Can I have one?'

Gold frowned looking at the shopping window. Five white and brown hamsters were sitting there in the cage.

'Bae...'

'They surely look in need of a home.'

Not even one hamster was as much as looking at them. They seemed perfectly content to chew on the grains or, in one case, slowly explore the plastic toy house.

'Perhaps some other time. Hurry up, Bae, we're almost late.'

'Pete has a hamster, you know? And Andrew has guinea pig.'

Apparently his son inherited all his and Millie's stubbornness and then added some of his own.

'We'll talk when we're done with the dentist, Bae.'

Bae cringed but allowed Gold to pull him from pet shop window to the next building and into dentist's office. He was holding his papa's hand tighter now and Gold would truly prefer to be the one with an appointment. They sat down in the waiting room and he didn't miss the way his son sat much closer to him than usual.

'It's gonna be okay, Bae...'

'I know.'

'Though it's perfectly okay to be nervous. Most people are.'

'Do you?'

'You know I am.'

'But not now. When you go to the dentist yourself.'

'Both, to be honest, Bae. But no dentist ever actually hurt me or you. It's just something that must be done sometimes.'

Well, that was sort of smoothed down version of the truth. He certainly could remember a few truly horrible encounters with dentists, but there was no point in telling Bae that. And still he would gladly endure all appointments in Bae's place.

'Bailey Gold?' the receptionist asked and in no time they were in doctor's office.

'Papa...'

'I'm here, son.'

Bae slowly sat in the armchair. He was calm and brave through the initial examination, but when the dentist told them that there is one tooth to be repaired, his composure started to crumble.

'Papa, I know I'm big, but maybe...'

'Can I sit and hold him in my lap?' Gold asked the dentist immediately.

'Sure,' the doctor smiled. They quickly arranged themselves just as every other time when Bae had to have his teeth repaired. Thankfully this didn't happen often, as even like this Bae's pain and fright was hard to witness for Gold. Had Bae asked for a new toy or book, Gold would have already promised him to buy it, but hamsters were another matter entirely.

The tooth fixing was promising to be taxing and Gold was furiously searching his mind for something useful.

'Would you like me to tell you a story, Bae?'

'Uh-hu,' Bae confirmed having his mouth already opened wide to administer an injection with analgesia. Gold looked sideways on the pictures on the wall to not see the reflection of what will be going on in the lamp's frame or in the doctor's glasses. One picture was showing a beautiful, dark forest.

'Alright, Bae. So, once upon a time, far, far away, in a magical land lived a knight. He was wearing an armor almost as white as snow and people were calling him The White Knight or The Light One.'

Bae sort of gurgled, which sounded approvingly.

'One day he was informed that a terrible, monstrous...' he faltered for a moment, looking around for inspiration and he spotted a small teddy bear with a heart on its tummy sitting on the shelf. 'That a monstrous bear took a residence in the Dark Forest and is threatening the nearby villages. People asked The White Knight to kill the beast.'

Bae made a hopeful sound, despite having his tooth drilled at the very moment. Gold knew what his son hoped for and he launched into mandatory, detailed description of the knight's armor and equipment. The core of it was meticulously researched by them both, but details were up to him and in the good form was to make them different each time.

'So, thoroughly prepared, The White Knight went on his quest. Soon he found himself in a very unappealing place, dark, damp, with trees so dense that barely a ray of sunlight could reach the ground. He wandered for about an hour when he spotted the bear at last. But it wasn't what he expected, not at all.'

Gold paused dramatically and Bae made protesting noise, urging him to continue. Even the doctor was throwing him curious glances.

'The bear was not alone. The White Knight spotted a small bear cub sitting next to it and cuddling happily. And suddenly the mission of killing the monster was nonexistent. But what could he do to help the people?'

This was the moment when Bae would usually shower him with his ideas, but as it was, he could only gurgle and moan.

'The White Knight approached slowly, with his hands up, to show he's not the threat. Well, there was the possibility that the bear wouldn't understand and attack anyway, but happily it didn't seem very aggressive. It got up, well, perhaps I should say 'she' now. So she got up and took a step towards the White Knight, shielding her cub. She started to scratch the ground, then took a step back. The White Knight, puzzled, took a risk and came closer, looking at the place. He almost exclaimed 'impossible!' aloud, because it seemed that the bear just wrote the word 'help'. Everything somehow fell into place. No one in those small villages knew how to read, so they were understandably scared of the bear that came too close. It was a miracle that the bear didn't get hurt.'

Bae was looking up at him captivated and Gold smiled contently. He managed to really help his son endure the procedure. Now it was almost done.

'The White Knight promised the bear to find a way to help her. They went on an adventure together. She couldn't speak and she smelled, well, like a bear, but she was a charming companion as it was. Her cub was the sweetest child in the whole world.' Gold unconsciously hugged Bae closer, but the boy didn't mind.

'They fell in love!' Bae exclaimed because finally he was allowed to spit out everything and wash his mouth.

'They did. And the curse was lifted, not during the kiss, but slowly, bit by bit, she and her son were becoming more and more human. And she married the White Knight while still having razor sharp claws and bear hair on her face and arms. And they lived happily ever after,' he added hastily, because it was time to get up and pay for the visit. The doctor was looking at Gold appreciatively, but didn't comment at the story.

When they went out on the street, they were welcomed by howling wind and heavy, dark blue clouds. First big droplets of rain were already falling and dry leaves were swirling and dancing many inches above the pavement.

'Quick, Bae, to the car,' Gold pulled his son's hand. The boy was transfixed by the admittably impressive sight, but Gold preferred him to be transfixed from the interior of warm and dry car. And with his bloody leg they might not escape the rain.

'Take the keys and run to the car, Bae,' he said. 'I'll come as quickly as I can.'

'No way, papa! A knight doesn't leave his companions!'

'Bae!'

'No!'

'It's raining, Bae!'

'That's okay!'

Gold just hurried up as much as his ankle could take it without buckling beneath the strain. He was proud and touched because of Bae's sense of solidarity, but also unbelievably frustrated. Thank heavens, the car wasn't parked that far away. When they managed to get in, Bae taking the place up front next to Gold, the rain become truly heavy.

'Wow, papa, look!' The shiny lightening tore up the sky. Gold was always amazed how his son managed to be so awed by storms, when he was his age, the thunders were making him want to duck under the bed or table, whatever was closer.

The storm went away just as quickly as it came. Normally, they would both be looking for a rainbow now, but it was dusk already, the sun low over the horizon. Gold started the engine.

'Can we go through the forest, papa?' Bae asked suddenly.

'But it's almost dark now...' Gold knew how his son loved the longer, but much scenic route to their house on the outskirts of Storybrooke, even at night, but the day was long and tiring.

'Please, papa?'

'Oh, alright,' Gold relented, not really being able to refuse his son anything after the dentist. And it wasn't as if Bae was asking for too much.

In the forest it was almost completely dark already, but the road was empty, just the way Bae liked it most.

'We can pretend that we're knights, papa,' he said looking intently through the window. 'Threading through the Dark Forest.'

Gold smiled. Bae had a new story in mind each time they were driving here.

Suddenly a big, dark, shape appeared on the road, Gold swerving to the left to avoid collision, the car skidding on the wet pavement. When Gold managed to stop it they were about three feet from the big oak at the opposite side of the road.

'Oh God... Bae!'

'I'm fine, papa!' Bae assured him quickly. 'I'm fine!'

Gold was looking at his apparently intact son and at the tree alternatively, not quite able to catch his breath. His hands, holding the wheel in death grip, were trembling.

'Papa? Papa are you alright?'

Gold managed to nod weakly, gasping for air in shallow breaths.

'Just scared.'

'You're not going to have a heart attack or something?'

'No. Oh, Bae!' Gold finally let go of the wheel and turned to Bae, hugging him hard, not bothering to undo their seat belts, and trying to not think at all. The horrible images of what could have been were threatening to overflow him and he was determined to avoid them at all. No point in imagining what didn't happen.

'Papa, I'm sorry,' Bae murmured.

'What?'

'For making you drive through the forest at dark...'

'Bae, no need to be sorry! It's not your fault. Absolutely not your fault. We've been driving here at dark million times!'

'Okay. Does that mean that we still will be?'

Oh. Gold swallowed hard.

'Yes, Bae. Of course. Just a bit more carefully.'

'Sure.'

Gold was still hugging Bae, but finally looked upward, at the road.

He almost screamed, but managed to reduce it to the muffled gasp. But he jerked violently back, and tugged Bae with him.

'Papa, what...?!' Bae wriggled in his grasp to look himself. 'Papa!'

Sitting on the pavement, with its nose pressed to the window at the passenger side, was the real bear. The same one that almost made them crash it seemed. But in the dark and so up close, it was looking like the most infernal monster.

So much for the fairy tales.

'Bae, don't look at it.' Gold fumbled with the ignition. 'We'll go slowly... Just like that...'

Carefully he drove forward, glad that the bear wasn't glued to the window anymore. It tried to follow them, apparently curious, but Gold, once on the road, speed up initially to put a good distance from it. Only then he slowed down, especially as he felt his focus utterly shattered.

'I hope the bear will stay out of the road...' Bae said. 'It can get hurt. Aw, papa, it was almost like in the tale!'

'No, Bae. It was not.' Gold told sternly. 'This wasn't fairy tale bear. It was very real black bear. If you ever encounter it again, you stay away from it. They can be dangerous. They will not be domesticated. It's not a fairy tale.'

'Papa, I know...' Bae said quietly. 'But we were in the car. It couldn't really hurt us, except at first, when we almost crashed...' Then he added with mouths trembling: 'Papa, I wasn't that scared before, but now I am...'

'It's alright now, son. It's alright. See, we're home already...' Gold stopped the car in front of their house and pulled Bae into the hug again. 'It's alright.'

This evening they were inseparable. But finally Bae fell asleep, clutching his toy dragon named Baelfire, and Gold, after another ten minutes of simply looking at his son, went on to prepare to sleep himself. But once in the bed, in dark, he found out that he can't keep the scary thoughts at bay. He tossed and turned, trying to calm himself but nothing worked. A quick glance at his watch told him it was eleven o'clock. Still early, perhaps sleep will come later. He felt tired, but at the same time unable to stay still. No position was comfortable, and he felt every muscle in his body tensed. He got up, paced some, trying to get rid of this painful energy, but to no avail. He felt like going mad.

Finally, on impulse, he picked up his cellphone and dialed Belle.

Not how he imagined his first call to her, certainly.

'Hello?' she picked up the phone quickly. She sounded awake, thanks heaven. She mentioned once that she's often staying late, reading.

'Belle...' he managed, in a pitiful voice. Again, he turned to her for help with his fears, and part of his mind was telling him to be ashamed, but mostly he was so happy and relieved just to have Belle.

'Mr. Gold? What happened? Is everything alright?'

'I almost killed Bae...' he whispered, sinking on the floor next to bed.

'You...? Mr. Gold, can you tell me what exactly happened?'

He related her succinctly the accident with the bear.'

'I see. Now, Mr. Gold, I need you to listen to me very carefully. Okay?'

'Okay...' he managed with trembling voice.

'You saved Bae's life today. You managed to avoid the collision first with the bear and then with the tree. You're a hero. And you have nothing to blame yourself for. Sometimes bears wander out on the road, it happens.'

'I agreed to drive there in dark, after rain...'

'And you were driving responsibly and carefully. If not, you wouldn't be able to avoid the crash. And, Mr. Gold, I am very happy that you're both okay.'

Gold took a deep breath.

'Thank you, Belle... Thank you. Oh Belle, I almost lost him today!' he exclaimed on the verge of tears.

'I know. It's scary. Do you need me to come? You sound like you can use the company?'

'Oh, no, no, no need, I couldn't...'

'It's no problem, you know?'

'No, thank you. I'm already trying to sleep...'

Belle apparently sensed that it would be too much for him now.

'Just remember you can always ask. For anything.'

'He wants a hamster!' Gold heard himself saying. 'But hamsters live so shortly! I don't want him to lose his pet so quickly.'

'Oh. Does it have to be a hamster?'

'I don't think that we'd be able to care for the dog between two of us. And neither of us like cats. And it has to be a mammal, a furry thing, that I'm sure...'

'A rabbit then? They can live very long, even over ten years.'

'Really?'

'Yes. You can ask him tomorrow what he thinks of it.'

'I will.' He sort of almost went on and woke up Bae right now to ask, as silly as it would be.

'Do you want me to read to you?'

'What?'

'You can lie down and try to sleep and I will be reading. I think I have a good book for the occasion. I will disconnect eventually, when you'll be asleep.'

'Oh. Oh Belle, thank you...' He quickly got under the covers, with the phone on the pillow, next to his ear. 'I'm ready, Belle.'

'So am I. Akhem. They didn't say anything about it in the books, I thought, as the snow blew in through the gaping doorway...'

Next day after school Gold took Bae shopping.

'This is Thumper!' Bae announced happily, pointing at the silverish rabbit in the pet shop. 'Papa, he's the one!'

A/N: Thumper is starring also in my other story No Greater Power (and one-shot That Rabbit), where he is Gold's birthday present for Belle and the cutest menace seen in Storybrooke.