A/N: A special upload for the birthday of a good friend of mine. I hope you all enjoy this story.
He had hoped that the comfort and riches from this new world would make him forget the love he had lost in the previous world. At first it did, he was happy that he remained as powerful in this life as in his former one but sadly that feeling didn't last. And dealing with her father, the man responsible for her death, was becoming increasingly hard on him. Now he was on his way to convince the man he had severely beaten withdraw his testimony against him.
He stopped walking when he arrived at the home of Moe French. He knocked three times on the door with his cane and waited for the door to open. He heard a stumbling noise inside and the door slowly opened.
"Mr. Gold?" Moe French asked, fear clearly resonating in his voice. "What do you want?"
"Just a little chat." Mr. Gold answered as he pushed the door further open and entered the house.
He walked straight to the living room and turned around to watch Moe French stumble behind him and enter the room.
"What do you want?" He repeated.
"I want a fresh start, so to speak." Mr. Gold said.
"I don't understand." Moe French replied.
"Let me be a little bit more specific. I want you to withdraw your testimony, without that there is no case against me."
"Why would I do that." Moe French asked.
"Because we still have that little disagreement over collateral, Mr. French." Mr. Gold said.
"You mean my van?" Moe French asked confused.
"Yes, your van and in addition to that, your rent. Let's say the day you return to work the van will be there, all ready to deliver your fresh stock of roses to the good people of Storybrooke. And when the first day of the month comes up your rent will be half of what it used to be, from now on. All you have to do is withdraw your testimony against me." Mr. Gold said.
"You would really do that?" Moe French asked in disbelief.
"I never break a deal." Mr. Gold answered.
"Well fine, I don't want any more trouble anyway." Moe French said.
"It's a deal then and if I may offer you a wee bit of advice, the Mayor isn't the best company to keep, if you don't like trouble that is."
"Oh, I know that now. You know when she came to the hospital I thought she was there for me but when she saw me she hardly stayed for five minutes. She said something about a psychiatric ward and went straight for some locked door and disappeared."
"Oh did she now." Mr. Gold said as he stared at him blankly.
"Uhm yes, well I should see you out." Moe French said as he gestured to the open door.
"Yes and I will see you next month." Mr. Gold said as he left the house.
Mr. Gold walked down the street with a grim look on his face. Moe French had talked about a psychiatric ward and a locked door. He knew everything there was to know about Storybrooke and by that knowledge there was no psychiatric ward in the hospital. And the fact that the Mayor kept this from him and visited this ward was all very suspicious in his opinion.
After a while he arrived at his home. The thought of the mayor and this secret ward was bothering him. It was bothering him so much that he took his car and drove to the hospital. He parked his car in front of the entrance and entered the building.
He walked around the first floor until he saw a door with a little code box next to it. "That must be it." He thought and he positioned himself across the door. There was no way he could open the door without the code and he wasn't about to fiddle around with the box so he decided to just wait until someone would enter or exit.
A few doctors and nurses passed him but they knew better than to interfere in his business so they didn't say anything to him and kept on walking.
After a long wait the door finally opened and a stern looking nurse walked through the door. He looked at a clock and saw it was around lunch time. She was probably coming back soon so he decided to wait a little bit longer and he positioned himself so he could see the code box.
After a good thirty minutes the nurse came back and opened the locked door. She made no attempt to conceal the code so he could easily read it and he quickly followed her in. He entered a little office and found the nurse sitting behind a desk.
"What are you doing here?" She asked startled as she got up from her chair.
"I am just visiting. No need for you to get up." He answered as he glared angry at her.
That look scared her as she sat back down and said nothing more. He looked around, found a long hallway and decided to enter the hallway to investigate further. The long hallway led to a single door. He walked up to the door and slowly lifted the small hatch on the door. He peered inside and saw a woman sitting on a bench in the corner. She was dressed in a white gown and had her knees pulled up to her chest while she looked out a small window near the ceiling. Her long auburn hair hang loose and tangled beside her face. That familiar face.
"That can't be." He thought. "The Queen had told him she was dead." He continued to look at her, confused and in shock.
"Belle.." He whispered.
Her head shot up and she looked him right in the eyes.
"Rumplestiltskin?" She asked in disbelief.
His heart started to race as he watched her slowly get up and make her way to the door.
"She remembered". He thought and he stared into her blue eyes, now only a few inches away from him. Overcome by emotions he stepped back and averted his eyes..
"Don't leave me in here." She begged. This snapped him out of his confusion and he looked back at her.
"Never again." He muttered and he turned to walk away, back to the little office at the beginning of the hallway.
"Wait, come back!" She pleaded but he had already reached the nurse , still sitting behind her desk.
"Get her out." He demanded.
"I… I can't do that." She said unconvincingly while fear spread across her face.
"You get her out now!" He hissed as he slammed his cane on the desk. She trembled with fear now and reached in her desk draw for the keys.
He snatched the keys from her hand and walked right back down the hallway to the door.
The keys fit the lock perfectly and he opened the door to find Belle waiting in the middle of the room.
"You have finally found me." She said.
"Can you forgive me." He asked, blinking away the tears.
"I already have." She answered and smiled.
He walked in the room towards her and they embraced each other with a passion and love they had both kept in their hearts for so long.
Suddenly they heard the door slam shut.
"Now you can be together forever." A cold voice sounded.
They turned to look at the door and the saw the Mayor's evil eyes watching them triumphantly through the hole in the door. She closed the hatch and walked away, leaving the shocked pair behind in their cell.
To be continued...