Something strange was going on in Storybrooke. Night had fallen long ago, the sky already studded with stars. It was the sort of time that the town would usually be resting and yet the lights in one particular building (Mr Gold's Pawn Shop) shone out like beacons into the night colouring the fog which was slowly settling bright yellow.
This sort of thing was common years ago, during the first and second curses when it was necessary to be ready at any moment to conjure up a potion or spell to smite a particularly nasty villain but not now. Now potions were relics of the past. Now even Rumple should have been in bed with his love, holding her tight and kissing her sleepily just like any other man. This didn't mean that he was.
He instead stood in a room at the back of the shop, wisps of smoke from a brass pot curling around him. Just as he was bending down to sniff at the concoction the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end then a shadow fell over him and the room suddenly turned cold.

Hearing the thud down the street Killian sat up in bed, sweat beading on his forehead. Beside him Emma was squirming. "Love" He whispered, nudging his wife. "Love."

Emma gave a sleepy groan and turned to face him. Her eyes still heavy with sleep. "Huh?" she grunted.

"I'm going to go and see what the hell's going on outside"

"okay" she said sleepily. "Be careful" the protective instinct of a wife for her husband, especially in a town like this one not entirely evaporated yet.
"I will love" Killian heaved a heavy sigh then got up from the bed, slipping into his boots and quickly throwing his jacket around his shoulders.

*

By the time he had arrived at the scene the lights were all out again, shrouding Mr Gold's in darkness. He pushed the door open and felt his breath catch all over again. Something had gone terribly wrong. Inside was a crime scene.

"Bloody Hell" gasped the pirate. His mind was all of a sudden filled with conflicted feelings, seeing the crocodile sprawled face down on his own floor in a pool of drying blood. It was something he'd fantasied about seeing for years, the only thoughts which accompanied him for so long on lonely nights as he nursed his flask of rum were of his hook buried in the crusty bastard's chest. Back in the Enchanted Forest he often only slept with the wenches he did to ground his hot, lustful rage in something.
This picture was all wrong. He'd imagined a glorious battle, a biblical meeting, where he would slay the beast with honor. This was not a slaying, this seemed to have been a massacre. The signs of struggle obvious, various objects Gold had meticulously collected from many realms, clocks, jewellery and other miscellany strewn across the floor. There was even a little pile of porcelain beside the body, the smallest chips like snow against the wood.

After gawping at the scene for a few breathless moments he stepped into the interior of the shop, holding his hands out in front of him as if to defend himself. A few steps in he jumped as his foot met a particularly creaky board, his heart beginning to hammer in his chest but there was no resultant sound, nobody asking who was there as he had expected. Instead the noise echoed off into the bowels of the building, but then... what was that? A sniff? Killian clutched the flashlight at his hip, and walked a little further.

"Hello?" he said flicking the flashlight into his hand, his heart buoyed a little by the beam of light he had now "Belle? Do you need help love?"

In response another snuffle, followed by a familiar Australian voice. "Go away"

"What's happened in here?" Killian said undeterred, even if his words came out a little shaky. "Did someone break in?"

"I said, go" was the firm reply

then it hit him, like a pan over the head… there had been no sign of break in at all other than the antiques
"Did-di-did you do this?"

"Leave me alone Killian! Phone the police if you want, or go get Emma to do it but don't come any closer!" Belle was beginning to yell, then her voice sank into a cold hiss "you wouldn't understand."

"I'm coming to talk to you properly. Shouting non-sequiturs over a dead man isn't helping anybody" he said looking once again at his old enemy. Stepping over Gold Killian disappeared further almost tripping over a leg sticking out from behind the counter. "Bloody Hell" he swore under his breath as he tried to regain his balance while flapping his arms.

The woman was silently sobbing. Crunched up hugging one knee, clutching the sickeningly familiar dagger and dripping in blood. It coated the blade and her hands, she even had patches of red smeared down her face. She looked up at Killian with bloodshot eyes and sniffed again, a look of disgust coloring her now pasty skin "didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Aye. I did." he stated with a nod.

"then why didn't you listen to me?"

"because the man that I've long wished dead is lying in a pool of blood, in his own shop and I had nothing to do with it." this came out a little more aggressively than he had wanted. So much so that Belle flinched.
"Sorry Belle." Killian said attempting to soften, consciously slouching a little "I just want an explanation"