After being banished from Storybrooke by Belle, Rumplestilskin, crippled and helpless, was left on his knees on the cold, wet ground, in the chilly and quiet night just outside of Storybrooke's town line. "Belle, Belle please-" he cried, choked up by his tears. He finally gave up after about an hour, and hobbled along the side of the road, with a limp, fallen branch as a makeshift cane. He continued to find a low boulder as a resting spot. At that moment he felt humiliated, to be the hopeless one, begging for help. He also thought of Baelfire, his deceased son, whose death he let go in vain by giving in to the darkness.

Hours later, a yellow and black-and-white checkered taxi pulled over to the peculiar, elderly man on the rock. "Need a ride?" the voice called. Rumplestilskin raised his head to see the face of a simple, unshaved man watching him, with no regard in his stare. He figured that he may as well leave this lowly life before it became permanent, so he only nodded with no regard back to the stranger, and entered the taxi.

"Where ya headed to?" the man asked, with a thick, "new-yorker" accent. "Nearest gas-station.", was the reply. The bored stranger began driving and continued. "What brought ya here, you know, just outside of Storybrooke's town line? I mean, there's nothin' there. It's like, abandoned or something, right?" Rumple sighed. "It is none of your concern", he murmured. "Hey man, sorry. So, you got any money? You know, since I just picked you up, doin' my job." Rumple, annoyed, rolled his eyes and pulled out his wallet (which he luckily had in his pocket before being banished) and handed the taxi-driver five dollars. "So, you need a place to stay? Since you were sittin' on a rock, I assumed…" Rumple glared at the stranger. He scoffed, "Of course not." which was actually a lie, but he was embarrassed to look any more hopeless. At this point, Rumple began to become angry, as he was not used to being looked down upon.

As Rumplestiltskin exited the cab, the driver stopped him. "Hey. Good luck." Rumple paused. Anger began to build in him. "You're the one you should be worried about, dearie." He then turned and walked into the diner at the gas station. From that moment on, he left his guilt behind and pursued his plan for return.