A/N: Ok so this is my 2nd RumBelle FanFic, and I've decided to try my hand at a chapter story instead of a One Shot. I don't know how, but this idea came to me while waiting in line at a fast-food place and I sped home to start working on it before the idea left my brain. Plenty of fluff and adventure to follow. Hope you enjoy! Please Review!

Disclaimer: I am not Eddie Kitsis or Adam Horowitz. I am merely a humble fan of their work. I own nothing.

Chapter 1

The day was grey and rainy as it always had been for the past twenty-eight years. Grey clouds of gloom that were so befitting for Storybrooke. The cold rain that pitter-pattered against the windowpane created a rhythmic sad song. Mr. Gold had opened shop a couple of hours ago, but as usual, people rarely came in. And this rain wasn't going to encourage them to venture out to this corner of town. Gold reveled in the solemn quiet. Especially, following this interesting week. After believing that his son was somehow still alive only to find out it was none other than that little troublemaking puppet Pinocchio, Gold had not been in the best of moods. Not that he was normal in any chipper mood, but he was bitterer and more sour that usual. Sitting in the back room he contemplated all the things that might happen if that little puppet and Henry, the little princeling, could convince the sheriff into believing the curse. What would he do once everyone remembered and the Queen was vanquished? He didn't hinder himself with worry; he always had a back door to every deal, curse, and contract.

He ran various scenarios through his head while he polished a three-pronged golden candelabra. He was just about to finish, when the bell to his shop rang. Gold looked up to see the dark figure of August W. Booth walking to the back of the shop. He could see the disappointment in his eyes.

"I take it the Sheriff Swan did not believe you." Gold smirked as he continued his work.

"How do I make her see?" August demanded. "You made this curse, tell me how to show her the truth."

"So the truth is it?" Gold asked as he placed the candelabra down, after replacing the three white candlesticks. "For someone who's so keen on revealing the truth, you've been doing an awful lot of lying."

"I tried to tell her! I even tried to show her, but she refuses to believe to the point that she can't see what's right in front of her!" August shouted.

"That's not my problem, Dearie." Gold rose to his feet, ignoring the pain in his leg.

"Sooner or later, it will be." August glared. "Good will win, and where will that leave you?"

"That's the advantage of being an opportunist, either way suits me fine." He said with a dark voice. "Now, if you will, get out of my shop." Gold walked August to the door and locked it behind him, turning the sign to closed. Despite the fact that he had only been open for a few hours, it was his shop and he could close whenever he bloody well pleased.

Once back in his workroom, Gold began polishing other knickknacks. A silver hand mirror, the brass rims on an old clock, and other assorted souvenirs he had brought here from his world. As he was putting the finishing touches on one such object, the phone rang.

His leg protested to his movement as he stood and made his way to the counter, where the phone rested. This was a rarity in itself. No one ever called him.

"This is Gold," he said into the receiver. But upon hearing the voice of the caller, his mouth twitched. "Ah, Regina, I didn't expect to be hearing from you again for a while." He grinned into the receiver.

"Indeed," she said. He could hear the distain in her voice.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

"I want to make another deal." She said sternly. "And no loopholes this time."

"Ah, but every contract has a loophole, Dearie." He scoffed. "That's just kind of how it goes."

"Oh, you'll find a way to see to it that there aren't any." She hissed.

"And what makes you think that?"

"Oh, you'll see," came Regina's voice from the phone. Gold did not like the sound of her boldness.

"What kind of deal is this?"

"It seems that a certain sheriff keeps coming to you for help." She said in her regal voice.

"If you are referring to Sheriff Swan asking for my legal help regarding the custody battle for Henry, I've already told her 'no'." Gold said, becoming slightly agitated.

"I know, I want you to tell her that you changed your mind."

"Why would I do that?" Gold raised his brow.

"Because you're going to see to it that she loses. And well, there's more, but we'll discuss that later."

"I'm not one to agree to blind deals."

"I think you'll agree that my price is fair. I have something you want." She said simply.

"And what, Madame Mayor, could you possibly have that I would want?" There was a beat of silence and then the sound of the phone being handed off to someone else. Regina's voice came again, but further away.

"Go ahead, dear, say 'hello'." She instructed almost too nicely. Gold could hear a woman's shallow breathing on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" Came a voice. His heart stopped. Gold felt the blood drain from his face and a cold sweat breakout on the back of his neck.

"Belle?" There was silence. "Belle?" He cried again into the phone, but the Queen had already taken it away from her.

"Not what you were expecting?" She relished in the pain she knew he was feeling. And of course, the one woman he ever cared for, loved, thought to be dead had just spoken to him on the phone. His thoughts were swirling together as he began to comprehend what was going on. "So now that I have your attention…"

"Let her go you filthy, wicked, evil hag!" Rumplestiltskin spat into the phone.

"Now, now, no need for name calling, Rumple. I'll let her go, if you do what I asked." Regina laughed. The knuckles of the pawnbroker were beginning to turn white as he gripped his cane.

"Let me see her." He demanded.

"I'm looking for one little word, and I let you pick her up yourself. Alive and well." She told him. Gold thought about the price and the consequences of entering a blind deal with the Evil Queen. There was no way of knowing what she was going to ask him to do in addition to causing Emma to lose Henry. But this was Belle hanging in the balance, and he was not about to lose her again.

"Deal."

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So... what did you think? Let me know! I'm dying for feedback!