Thanks to all of those who reviewed or read last chapter. I tried my best to keep it interesting, whilst sticking to the story as much as possible! (also: I'm sorry for the lame summary... Suggestions?)

Disclaimer: So, I'm actually poor and I suppose that If I owned this series I would live in a huge mansion and everything. But I don't. So I guess I don't own these characters. But I'm planning on calling either Edward or Adam to see if there's any chance he'll give me the rights. Ah, We'll see.

Fairy tale land: Past

"Well, dearie. I don't know what to tell you." The imb smirked as he crossed his fingers. He looked into her eyes with his own huge, playful orbs and gave her a look she recognized all too well by now. It meant he knew exactly what to tell her, because he always did, but he just wanted to see her struggle.

"Oh be quiet." She said. She leaned back into her seat and rubbed the bridge between her eyes. The ride to his castle had been anything but convenient. He could just poof himself there, as could she, but he had requested the ride. Perhaps he enjoyed a carriage-ride, the silence mixed with the subtle sounds of the forrest and every some miles the sounds of villages. Or maybe he was up to something. He was probably up to something. She knew she almost never used the carriage, explaining the dust, but whenever she used it, it was for either one of the following reasons: to show off a little to the peasants, it made her look important with many soldiers attending to her every need. Or it was because she needed to manipulate someone. And this someone had to be thinking they met on accident, instead of suspecting her of planning it all.

"Moody, are we?" He sat up a little to look out of the small window. He was definitely up to something.

She raised her hand of her face and held it a few inches away. She glanced at her nails before looking at him. "What are you up to?" When he leaned back again with his infuriating smirk on display she sat up entirely, momentarily disregarding the carriages movements. "Rumple, I'm not in the mood for your games today. What are you up to?"

He simply giggled. The next thing she knew the carriage came to an abrupt stop and she was ejected from her seat and thrown between his legs. A few strings of hair she had fashioned into her perfect hairdo had come loose and fell over her nose. He looked at her with the proudest smirk. "Dearie, this is neither the place nor time, but I'm open for discussion when we're back at my mansion."

"Shut up, you disgusting troll!" She yelled at him, he kept smirking. "What's going on out there?" She said, as if she expected her soldiers to understand her angry muttering. She placed both hands on his knees to help her up sit back into her seat before she replaced the hairs that had come loose into their proper place.

"What's going on, dearie, is the solution for your..." He stopped and happily pressed his lips together. "Problem!" She looked at him with confusion. Then she opened the carriage door and looked out.

She was surprised to find two children being dragged by their arms by her guards. She had not forgotten the humiliating moment she had faced not minutes before and it seemed these children were the cause of the sudden stop, so she looked at them with anger. "What are you doing in my forrest?" She demanded to know.

The blonde girl, the innocent blonde girl that reminded her a bit of herself at that age, started speaking. "Please forgive us." She said. "We didn't mean to bother you, we just... We just lost our father."

And suddenly, Rumplestiltskin's words made sense, just like that. Her angry expression changed into her sweet, manipulation one as she smiled. "Two helpless children. Lost and alone. A family torn asunder." And she knew what that meant. "Such a sad and moving story." She didn't really care for family anymore. "Guards. Seize them!"

"Hansel, run!" The girl yelled at the boy. She grabbed what could only be described as a string with a piece of leather attached to it. Regina wasn't sure if she'd seen it before, but she knew it were to be used as a weapon. However, when a small rock collided with the armor of one of her men she knew it wasn't strengthened with magic and therefor not dangerous. The guard, probably a bit angry for the rock, even though it hadn't harmed him at all, drew his sword. Ready to retrieve the children. She stopped him. Instead she poofed to where she thought the children would be by now, it was her forrest after all, and surprised them.

"Running from me is foolish." She said, as though it was a fact everyone should know. The petrified children tried to run in another directed and she cackled. She simply forced the roots to catch them. Why should she bother running? "Foolish." She said as she strode down to the captured children. "But also brave. And that bravery might just have saved you and your family's lives."

"You're letting us go?" The girl asked after The Evil Queen retrieved the roots so the children could stand again.

"Oh, I'm doing so much more than that. I'm going to find your father."

"You are?" The boy asked, naive and hopeful. "Why?" The girl demanded.

The queen bend down so she could reach their eye level. "Because you two are going to do something for me." She smiled and the young girl knew then it was probably a mission that could kill them. "And then... you'll take us home?" She said


Storybrook: Present

When Regina laid eyes upon those children, the ones that had gotten his son in trouble for attempted robbery, she knew she had to act fast. The mayor knew they were 'orphans' and soon the sheriff would know too. If Regina was a step ahead, and she could throw those children into the foster system, miss Swan had to lie down and take it. Those children were nothing but trouble anyway.


Fairy tale land: Past

"What is that?" She feigned interest as she kept walking through the thick forrest.

"My father's compass. He gave it to me so I could find him. But now it's broken." She said sadly. "When are you gonna tell us where we're going?" Just as the girl said that, Regina spotted the house. "This is close enough."

The girl immediately demanded to know to what. "Close enough to what?"

"The home of the Blind Witch." The queen said as she turned to face them. "She has something of mine." She continued as the brother and sister looked at each other with fear in their eyes. "And I need you to get it back."

"What is it?"

"Something I need to defeat a very wicked and powerful enemy. It's kept in a black leather satchel, inside her house."

"How come you need us? Why can't you go get it yourself."

These impudent children, oh how she hated children. Sure, she could reason that they need somesort of an explanation but the queen wasn't feeling very patient today so they were quite irritating. Didn't they know she could kill them with a flick of the wrist and just don't care? "Because the house is protected my magic. I can't enter." She lowered herself once again. "But luckily the spell doesn't work on children. You'll have to wait here until nightfall. And then, once the witch is asleep, you can sneak in."

The girl had understood, she was quite clever. The same couldn't be said about her brother though. "And if we do this, you promise to find our father?" She said. Yes, quite clever indeed. The queen could grow to like this girl, so much like herself and yet completely different.

"Indeed I will." She said. "But there's one more thing... The witches house is..." How to put this. "Unique. And because of this you have to take special precaution once you're inside. No matter what you do, no mater how you're tempted. Don't. Eat. Anything."


Storybrook: Present.

"Gold!" She yelled as she entered his shop.

The man joined the room and stood behind his counter. "No need to fuss, your majesty. What can I do for you?"

"Time." She said as she walked to the counter and threw her purse onto it.

"For you, all in the world."

"Shut up." She barked. "It started again. Lives are changing. The lumberjack's children got into trouble and I..."

The former imb smirked. "Let me guess. You wanted to be one step ahead and as usual you acted without thinking. I suppose I'm safe to presume you wanted to get them into the fostersystem and in your hasted mindset you forgot they couldn't leave town."

"Do you have a bug in my office or something?"

He shrugged. "You're just predictable. Now what is it that you need me to do?"

"Miss Swan will probably be in soon, carrying that unusual compass of the lumberjack. I want you to tell her who it's from." She said as she crossed her arms. "Because I know you do."

"And why do you want me to tell her?" He asked. "Isn't it much more fruitful for you to find the man himself, get him and his kids back together to have their happy ending so you can be the hero?"

"Perhaps. But I don't want miss Swan to think I'm up to something."

He nodded. "You're right. Being nice just isn't in your nature."

"Shut up." She said again. "So will you..."

She was interrupted by him halfway her sentence. "Quick, I see Emma approaching. Get behind the counter." As if he read her mind he continued. "She'll think we're planning something." So Regina, the former queen, present mayor of Storybrook, kneeled down behind the counter. Which was nearly impossible because of her heels. Gold walked over to where she was kneeling and pressed himself against her. He smirked as she huffed and tried to push him away. He didn't budge. Goddamnit.

"Emma." She heard him say. "How lovely to see you. I'm flattered you take time off your busy schedule for me. What can I do for you Sheriff?"

"I'm looking for information on this old compass. Any idea where it could've come from?" As she asked this, Regina felt Gold press his knee against her cheek. He was really trying to aggravate her. She would've hit his bad leg, but he couldn't seem suspicious right now. If Emma were to look behind the counter and see the mayor on her knees with her skirt slightly hitched up because of the position she was sure she'd never hear the end of it.

"Well, well." He said. "Look at the detail, you know this is crystal." He could talk crap like a lawyer. "Jeweled setting, and despite the rather unfortunate state it's in, this is actually a very unusual piece. The person who owned this obviously had great taste." She almost gagged at his narcism. He was so full of himself.

"And where would someone like that buy it?"

He tapped the counter. "Right here of course." He could almost hear Regina's eye-rolls.

"You know it?"

"I did." He said as he looked down at the compass again. "A piece like this is difficult to forget."

"Do you happen to remember who bought it?" The sheriff's tact wasn't very... tactful.

Finally Gold got his crotch out of her face and started walking a bit. "Well, I'm good with names, Miss Swan, but maybe not that good. However, as luck would have it, I do keep quite extensive records. And... Yes... Here we are."

"What's your price?"

"Forgiveness." Like he ever cared about that.

A short silence. "How about tolerance?"

"Well, that's a start. The compass was purchased by a mister Michael Turbin."

"Anything else?"

"Just a name. But I generally find that's all one needs." As she heard Miss Swan leave, Gold decided to add something. "Good luck with your investigation."

After she heard the door close she waited a second or four more before she raised. She quickly stretched her legs before walking to him. "You're just so full of bull." She smirked. "Let me see that paper." And before he could object she took the card in her hands and saw it was, as she suspected, empty. "Well, thank you." She said and started to walk to the exit.

"Not so fast, madam mayor." He called. "Everything comes with a price."

"I have to pay Emma's?" She huffed. "Fine. Fair enough. What do you want?"

He smiled, he knew she was thinking of a million and one things he could desire. "How about a drink and a nice conversation?"

She nodded. "Alright. But I have to get to Henry in an hour."

"An hour is long enough."


Fairy tale land: Past.

The queen looked through her mirror as she saw the children escaped. She smirked before throwing a fireball into it, causing the over which contained the blind witch to alight and set her to flames. Finally killing the blind witch. Then she waited until one of her men brought the children back. It wasn't long though. "My dear children." She said as she walked towards them, her black dress sweeping over the stone floor. "Were you successful in your task?" As if she didn't know.

"Yes your majesty. But we were almost made into dinner." The girl said.

"Oh how barbaric." She said without emotion, after all: she didn't really care. With a simple raise of the hand she discarded the soldier. Then she walked towards the girl, with a look that was a bit threatening. "Now if I could have my satchel." The girl reluctantly handed it over. The shape felt right, so did the weight of the satchel. "I've waited a very long time for this. Let's hope you didn't let me down." She reached into the satchel, just to be sure, and retrieved the apple she needed. The children, quite curious to see what they risked their lives for, were almost disappointed to see the shiny red apple. "You did it."

"Yah, we did." The girl said, a bit of anger mixed into her tone.

"You've got a strong heart girl." The queen said as she placed her hand on her chest. "You remind me of myself at your age." She said as she touched the girls cheek.

"We did all that... for an apple?" The boy interrupted.

She looked at him. "Oh trust me, dear boy, this isn't just an apple." She bend down and showed it to him. "It's a weapon." She walked away. "A weapon for a very particular and devious enemy. One who's still under the illusion that she's safe."

"Whatever your plan is, we did as you asked. Now you need to keep your promise and find our father."

The queen found herself annoyed again. "Of course. To reunite your family." She spit out the words. "So you can live happily ever after." It was almost a sneer. "You were left alone in the woods. You deserve better than a father who would abandon you."

"But he's all we have..." The girl cried silently.

"Perhaps he doesn't have to be." Regina said as she looked at the girl with an honest smile. "You and your brother have impressed me. You aren't the first boy or girl I've send into that sticky sweet house. But you are the first to emerge." And the last. "And as a reward I've decided to invite the two of you to live with me." She turned around and smiled widely. "Here!"

"You mean... We get to live in a castle?" The boy asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.

"Yes." She smiled. "You would have your own rooms of course. Personal carriages, vales to attend to you. All of your dreams could come true."

The girl responded quickly. "No." She said harshly. "We want our father back. He would never abandon us. And even if he did, we would never want to live with someone as terrible as you."

All happiness disappeared from the queen's face. "Is that so?"

"Yes." She said sternly. "We're going to find him. With or without your help. And when we do, we're going to prove you wrong."

"We'll see about that." Regina said before she unleashed the purple cloud that would bring them back to their father.


Regina looked through her mirror at Snow-white. "Now she's converting with dwarfs. When did that happen?" She was interrupted from her thoughts by one of the soldiers who informed her that the prisoner she'd requested had arrived. She knew the prisoner as the father of the children. And of course the man was as naive as her step daughter.

"I demand to be released. My children are in that forrest that you took me from, alone, they could be in great danger." He said, pride and fear in his eyes.

"Yes." She sneered. "I know all about your children. That compass you gave sweet little Gretel didn't help her to find you, now did it?"

The fear grew bigger. "What have you done to them?" He almost jumped to her, bound but still with hope he could harm her. "You tell me where they are!"

"Gone! I told them you abandoned them. Leaving nothing but a compass to find their way. But I didn't bring you here to answer your questions. You're here to answer mine." She walked to him until she was mere inches away. "I offered your children everything." She whispered. "Whatever their hearts desired. But they still chose uncertainty of their blind fate in you." She cocked her head. "Tell me why. Why did your children refuse me?"

The sadness in her eyes did not go unnoticed by him. "Because we're a family. And family always find one another."

"Release him." Her voice not quite broken.

"You're letting me go?" He was surprised.

"You can all be together. As a family. As soon as you all find one another." She flashed him her evil grin.


She sat on her couch, looking into the fire with empty eyes. She didn't notice her teacher, enemy and ally appearing in the room. He walked to the box where she kept her weapon and opened it. "I see the children were successful."

"They were." She muttered.

He walked to her and sat next to her, showing her the apple as though she hadn't seen it yet. She took it from his hands and looked at it. She felt him press his nose against her neck. His strange skin slightly touching her smooth one. "Poor Regina. Desperate for love. She had it once but she'll never have it again." She remained quiet. He placed his hand on her right knee as he kept his nose against her, but he moved it up, so it was a little above her ear. His lips touched her ear as he whispered: "The lonely queen, powerful but so desperately alone. So much money but so little happiness." His hand moved up her leg until it reached her upper thigh. "I can't give you love, dearie, but I can give you comfort." His hand started gathering the material of her dress. "Would you like that?" After she nodded he placed a kiss on her jaw and he felt a tear touching his lips. He decided to ignore it.

So I hoped you liked it. I'm thinking maybe I should keep this a two-shot. Or maybe just one more, I'm not sure. Anyway I added some scenes from the fairy tale land, I hope you liked those. By the way, like a lot of the story I just took from the episode and then just added some things and of course some extra scenes.

Anyway: I'd love to hear what you think. Idea's for which episode to do next will be appreciated, I sort of just went with the next one. Please Review!