Author's Note: I just wanted to say thank you so much to the people that took the time to read and review the first chapter of this story. It meant so much to me that y'all liked it. In fact it inspired me to churn out Chapter 2 in about an hour and a half. Again, thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2: A Deal is Struck

Belle did get some sleep thankfully, but it was plagued by nightmares of hellish beatings and trips to the hospital. No one believed her when she said her husband was a monster. No one. The hazards of living in a small town and being married to a well liked man. She woke up feeling worn down and encouraged all at the same time. It was odd, but Belle chose to cling to the encouragement and got herself and Adam up so they could go to Regina's office. Breakfast consisted of eggs and bacon from Granny's diner and chatting with Ruby. Adam really took a shine to the woman with hair as red as her name so Belle was more than happy to become friends with her.

After they got directions to the mayor's office, Belle and Adam made their way down the sidewalk holding hands. Naturally Belle had to shorten her strides so the five year old could keep up, but it was something that Belle never minded doing. The day was calm and the town looked prettier in the day time. It was a cleaner version of home. Colder too, but Belle would learn to get over that. Cold was better than going back home. Anything was better than that place.

"Mommy, that man is limping." Adam said, pointing to an older man that appeared to be coming towards them. "Does his leg hurt?"

Belle tugged lightly at Adam's hand and gave him a scolding look. "Adam Nathaniel." She said exasperatedly, her southern drawl getting a little thicker. "You know better than to point."

Adam's face went red and his hand quickly dropped. He looked up and paled a little when he saw the man looking towards them. Quickly he moved closer to his mother and held her hand tighter. He didn't want to get in trouble. The man kind of looked mean.

Mr. Gold of course heard what the child said despite being over thirty feet away. Five year olds aren't known for being quiet nor are they known for their tact. His eyes flashed in mild irritation, but it passed after the boy's mother scolded him. Good. At least some people in America taught their kids manners still. Gold fought back a smirk. After all these years he still considered himself to be a Scottish national. Never mind the fact that he had been an American citizen for over ten years now. It was interesting though. They appeared to be heading for the same place. No matter. He had an appointment with the Mayor and they would just have to wait.

Belle and Adam reached the door to city hall the same time as Mr. Gold did and Belle reached for the door first. Gold, however, made it to the handle faster. "Allow me." He said in his deep Scottish brogue. The young woman blinked and then smiled some. "Well thank you very much, sir." She said, walking through the opened door. Adam made sure to follow his mother, but he kept his eyes down and away from the man with the cane. He was trying to stay as far away from him as possible.

Mr. Gold just smiled politely and followed them in. "You must be new in town. I pride myself on knowing everyone and yet I don't know you."

Belle turned to the man and kept her son at her side. "You're right. My son and I only got into town last night. My name is Belle Hayes. It's a pleasure, Mr…?" Her voice trailed off, since she didn't know his name.

"Gold." The Scotsman responded briskly. "Mr. Gold. It's a pleasure."

Recognition flashed in Belle's eyes and she smiled a little more. "Oh! You're the man that owns the library. Mayor Mills was telling me about you last night."

Mr. Gold smirked, and something between amusement and irritation passed through his eyes. The Mayor and he had a love/hate relationship. They worked together well enough, but when it came right down to it Regina hated that Gold was the one man in town that was not afraid of her. "Is that right? And what did our illustrious Mayor have to say about a humble lawyer?"

Belle laughed softly and shrugged. "Just that you owned the majority of the buildings in town and that I would have to pay you the rent for the apartment above the library."

"Ah. So you're my new tenant. Wonderful." Mr. Gold said with as much sincerity as he ever gave. "And I take it your young man will be staying with you?" His eyes turned to the boy and he couldn't help but feel a little badly as the kid moved closer to his mother, putting his face against her side. There was no sport for him in scaring small children, though he did like to make grown men quake.

"Yes he will. This is Adam. I'm afraid he's come down with a case of the shy since we've been here." Belle said, moving her fingers through her son's thick brown hair as she looked down at him. "Adam, don't be rude. Say hello." The woman always insisted on her son being polite and speaking to people even when he felt nervous. As long as she was with him then nothing bad was going to happen.

Adam peeked out at the man from behind his arm before his face went a little red and he put his head back in his mother's side. Eventually a muffled "Hello." was heard.

Gold just chuckled some and nodded to the woman and her child. "Well we should probably be going up there then. From the sounds of it, we are both supposed to be her two o'clock appointment." With that, Mr. Gold turned and led the way towards the stairs. God he hated stairs. His leg hated them most of all. It always took him forever to make it up them, but he was not going to give Regina the satisfaction of hearing him complain about it.

Belle and her son followed Mr. Gold and since the older man was moving about as fast as the five year old up the stairs, it was hardly a problem for Belle to slow her stride down. She actually ended up in the middle of them so Adam could hold onto the railing on one side of the stairs while Gold held onto the railing on the other. Belle could see that the stairs were causing him pain, but she knew better than to point that out and hurt the man's pride. Adam, however, did not.

"Are you okay, Mr. Gold? Does your leg hurt?" Adam asked, looking over at the man.

"Adam." Belle admonished before turning to Mr. Gold. "I'm sorry." She was about to say more but Mr. Gold just shook his head and chuckled some.

"Nothing to worry about Miss Hayes." Gold said easily enough. "I am fine though, Adam. Thank you for asking." The boy reminded him so much of his own son that it hurt. Quickly Gold banished those thoughts from his mind. His son was gone. There was nothing he could do about it. Eventually they made it to the Mayor's door and as Belle was about to knock, Gold just opened the door in one smooth motion.

Regina was sitting at her desk with Henry in her lap. He was coloring something, but they couldn't tell what it was. The mayor looked slightly irritated by the intrusion, but she put on her happy face when she saw it was Belle and Adam. Gold was hardly a blip on her radar anymore. "Ah, Belle, it's good to see you again." She said like she was greeting an old friend. "And look, Henry, it's Adam."

Henry immediately scrambled off his mother's lap and went to see his new friend. "I have a play room here. Do you want to see it?" He asked Adam excitedly.

Adam looked up at his mother to see if it was okay. He really did like Henry and he wanted to play some.

Belle just smiled and ruffled her son's hair. "Go on. Just try not to make too big of a mess okay?"

"Okay, Mama." Adam said lightly before he ran off with Henry to play with dinosaurs and trucks.

Both Regina and Belle gave indulgent mother chuckles before Regina motioned for her guests to sit down in the plush leather chairs in front of her desk. "Would you like anything to drink? Water, something stronger perhaps?"

"I'll have a water if it's no trouble." Belle said as she sat down. She was starting to get a little nervous about this whole thing. The only time she ever signed a contract was when she got married and that had ended rather disastrously for her.

Gold waved off the offer as he typically did and started to dig around in his briefcase for the papers he was looking for. There were only three contracts that needed to be signed. One for the apartment rent, one for the library maintenance, and one saying that the city would give Belle a stipend for the library's rent.

Regina set the water down for Belle and took her seat. "I hope you were able to get a good night's rest in the bed and breakfast." She said to Belle while Mr. Gold did whatever he was doing. If Regina had her way he wouldn't be here at all, but the man always insisted on being present at these meetings so he could know exactly what was going on. Paranoid fool.

Belle just smiled some and shrugged. "As good as can be expected. Being on the road for a week makes it hard to sleep at times." So does nightmares, but she was hardly going to mention those to this woman. Regina seemed nice enough, but Belle had a feeling that if she crossed the mayor that she would have a very powerful enemy.

"Oh I am sure of that." Regina said before she sipped her water. "And traveling with a five year old. He is five right?"

Belle nodded. "Just turned five last September."

"Well I just don't know how you did it. Henry barely sits still for five minutes." Regina smiled some and shook her head.

Belle giggled softly. "Well it was easy considering car ride put him right to sleep."

Mr. Gold interrupted the "mommy talk" by softly clearing his throat and putting the contracts on the table. "Here is everything you'll need in order to work and live in the library Miss Hayes. This is the rent, this is the time it is collected. This is a list of your responsibilities and of mine as well as the mayor's." He went on and Belle did her best to keep up. She was not a stupid girl by any means, but she was also no lawyer and had to ask Gold a few times to repeat or explain himself. It honestly irritated him, but at least she was trying to understand her side of the bargain unlike most of the other bumbling fools he dealt with in this town.

They were just about to sign the papers when Adam and Henry came in. Adam went straight to his mom and before she could really ask what was wrong, he pulled down the sleeve of his arm to reveal an angry pink mark the size of the boy's own hand on the upper part of his forearm. "Mommy it itches." he complained. It looked like it was starting to become one large blister.

Regina and Gold both looked a little shocked when Adam showed his injury. Both of them knew what burn marks looked like and the fact that Adam had one so bad was enough to cause Gold to clench his hand around the corner of the mayor's desk rather tightly.

Agony played over Belle's face, but it was gone in a second. Now she was the concerned mother taking care of her child. She dug into her purse and got his ointment before putting it gently on his arm. "Better?" she asked softly, looking at her son. Regina could see the pain hidden in Belle's eyes. The guilt. Now why on Earth would she feel guilty for her son getting hurt?

Adam nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Mama. Can I go back and play?" he asked.

Belle forced a smile and kissed her son's forehead before she nodded. "Sure, baby, but we are going to be leaving soon so try to clean up okay?"

Adam nodded again and once again dashed out of the room with Henry like nothing had happened at all.

Belle's jaw clenched for a moment before she sipped her water and took a breath to steady her nerves. "Where were we?" she asked quietly.

"What happened to his arm?" Regina asked before she could really stop herself. "That looked pretty bad."

"You should have seen it a week ago." Belle said rather numbly. She shrugged and looked at her left finger where her wedding ring should have been. "Let's just say that there is a reason I left Georgia and leave it at that, alright?" She did not want these people in her business. The less they knew, the better. "Now I need to sign where?" Belle looked to Mr. Gold, a silent plea in her eyes. She did not want to talk about this.

Mr. Gold just showed her again and waited for her to sign. Of course he was curious too, but there was a part of him that was raging. What kind of sick bastard would burn a child? There was no way that was an accident. It didn't look like a light enough burn for it to be accidental and he knew all about burns from his time in the British Royal Army. "Very good then. A deal is struck." Gold said after she signed.

Once all of the formalities were over with, Mr. Gold shook hands with Belle and Belle shook hands with Regina. "Thank you both so much. I promise I won't let you down." Belle said.

"I am sure of that, dearie. I am sure of that." Mr. Gold said. "Now I'll be on my way. Ladies." He nodded and stood up before Belle did the same and smiled over at Regina. "I'll let Henry know that we're done here."

Belle walked out with Gold, but before she could leave, he put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Miss Hayes." He held out a business card with "Gold's Pawnshop and Antiquities" embossed in gold on the front of it. "My card. In case you ever need anything." He turned to leave before she could say a word to thank him. Gold found himself liking Belle Hayes. She was a good mother and she left behind her whole life to protect her son. That was the only conclusion he could come up with. That above all else made her more honorable than anyone in this God Forsaken town. Though he was still curious. What did happen to Belle and her boy to make them come here?