The Job

"A fair trade. A crown for the girl with the magic hair."

A hand chillingly stroked my hair.

"How much do you think someone would pay to stay young and healthy forever?"

"No. Please no!"

My bare feet slapped the ground as I attempted to escape the burlap bag that this new and frightening stranger pulled out. However, my attempt was thwarted as this damn hair of mine got tangled in a fallen log as I jumped over. I tugged endlessly but, they caught up. Pascal leaped up from my shoulder and attacked one of the men. He screamed for a moment and flipped him off.

"Pascal!"

"Come here!"

The brother with the scar managed to wrap his arms around me, pinning my arms and lifted me up to take me over to his brother. I wasn't going down without a fight as I managed to still kick and flail around.

"NO! EUGENE! HEL-"

A hand reached up to muffle my cries. I managed to kick hard enough in his gut that he started to let go. However, as he loosened his grip, I managed to fall. Blackness overtook me as we both tumbled to the ground and my head met the log I attempted to free my hair from….

3 years later….

"Come on Goldie, you have another customer."

"No."

I locked my jaw as my green eyes began to bore into Riley's own orbs. They would never give me their names, so I named them my self. And if I listened in on their conversation, they'd always refer to one another as brother. Well, Riley did all the talking. The one with the eye patch, James as I've come to call him, never talked. At all.

"Would you care to go through this again on why you can't say no? All the people we let you heal for free? The sickly children who only have a few months left? Oh, that would be a shame if there was a cure but they couldn't get to it."

That plucked my heartstrings and he knew it. Venomously, I pushed myself up and past him, only for the sadistic man to stomp on the chain around my foot, stopping me. A hand caught my chin and lifted my face up to his. Dark eyes studied me.

"It could be a lot worse and you know it. You have no where else to go. The old hag and Rider betrayed and abandoned you. Remember?"

Mother… Apparently, she had a tumble into the lake when she was going to betray Riley and James. Tumble being the key word. None the less, she used them as her tools and me to stay young forever. I should have known sooner. Tears threatened my eyes but with pride, I swatted his hand away and entered into the small room with my customer. Riley and James filed in behind me. They were my captures and protectors, in case any one decided to cut my hair. Which came close, a few times. The small room consisted of stone walls, two small chairs, a hairbrush, and a large mirror. Already seated in a chair, I examined my "customer". The blue jackets laced in gold told me he was a noble man and his size screamed his wealth and gluttony. His bald head and graying beard told me what he truly desired and that was of youth. Sitting down across from him, I sighed heavily and placed a section of my long golden hair into his hands. Brown beady eyes looked at me questionably as I handed him a brush. If he's too dense to figure out what to do, not my fault.

"Flower, gleam and glow. Let your power shine."

Light filled the room.

"Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine."

His mouth was so wide it could have caught flies.

"Heal what has been hurt. Change the Fate's design."

Finally, he caught on and began to brush my hair. It wasn't the kindest tension on my hair either.

"Save what has been lost. Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine."

Done. Quickly, I stood up, gathered all of my hair together and proceeded to leave. However, he stopped me before I could fully leave.

"How much?"

Riley stepped in and named the price.

"No, how much do I have to pay for her to live with me?"

Riley grimaced.

"Sorry, that's not negotiable. Just pay for the session."

"That's not negotiable. I want her. I'll pay you for her. Instant youth is a peculiar thing to come across and if you refuse, I'll call the guards."

Please do, sir. Do it. Get me away from this.

However, Riley was surprisingly a cunning man.

"We'll think about it. If you come back tomorrow, we'll give you our answer and a free session. Now sir, if you could please pay us?"

A chubby but young hand dropped a bag of coins into Riley's outstretched hand.

"Thank you sir. Have a good day."

A sneaky smile stretched across his face as the man left. As soon as the door closed, he turned on me.

"Pack your bags. Now. We're leaving this town."

A/N Hello guys! I thought I should try a Tangled fan fiction this time around. Sorry if it's a bit scratchy! Any who, this is what I think could have happened if Mother Gothel didn't save Rapunzel in time. For the record, I don't know the Stabbington Brother's names. It wasn't in there and only one brother spoke the entire time. Therefore, I created their names! So, enjoy and gimme feed back!