The Foolish Coward
Disclaimer: I wish, but no, I don't own the characters/show.
Author's Note: Had some thoughts spinning about my head lately about our dear Mr. Gold, and this came out. Hope you enjoy!
He knows, the second he took that dagger, he lost sight of why he'd wanted it in the first place.
But then, curses did have a way of clouding things, and a coward with a curse only doubly so.
Because no matter how much power he obtained, that truth remained. In the back of his twisted mind it waited, showing itself in the worst way at the worst possible time.
And it did. Every time.
So he sat there, in his shop, no, his corner, but really the same thing, holding that precious piece.
Even cowards get scraps, and he had to be the biggest coward of them all with all the scraps he'd collected. And this scrap, a cup, he'd scoffed once, that façade of power and prestige so firmly in place, he now clung to with all his worthless might.
Because he was a fool as much as a coward, the power he'd gained to protect had turned everything to dust, including himself.
He could only see to it now that from those ashes rose the prophesied phoenix. That the foulest of creatures ever to walk both worlds went down with him in its wake. Two beasts with one stone, so to speak.
He owed Bae; he owed Belle, that much.
And Mr. Gold always paid his debts.
