Chapter Two
Stolen!

*8*8*

Sovann and Arien leapt out of bed and raced out into the hallway.

Belle was standing outside of Dusan's room, sobbing uncontrollably. Gold stood beside her, his arms wrapped protectively around her. His face was stricken.

This alone was enough to frighten Arien and Sovann. Their father almost never looked scared; let alone this devastated!

Baelfire was standing off to the side, running a shaky hand through his thick dark hair. Eira was just coming out of her room across from the boys', rubbing her bleary eyes with her hands.

"What's wrong?" Sovann asked, the question directed at no one in particular. "What's wrong with Mother?"

Gold tried to speak, but to the shock of his children, he was too choked up to do anything other than make a short, strangled sound.

In the end, it was Baelfire who turned. "It's Dusan. He's missing."

"Missing?" All three children spoke up in unison.

"Where did he go?" Sovann asked.

"He didn't go anywhere, 'Vann," Baelfire said softly. "His window was open, and he was gone. There was dirt on the floor and windowsill. He was...he was stolen." Cringing, he corrected himself with a better word. "Kidnapped."

An eerie silence fell across the family. Arien, feeling his sister shaking, put an arm around her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

Gold drew in a deep, shuddering breath, still holding his wife in his arms. "Baelfire, go g-get Sheriff Swan. Please." His voice trembled only a little.

Baelfire turned and ran in the direction of the stairs. Two minutes later, the family could hear his car pull out of the driveway and tear down the road.

"Da? Da, what are we going to do?" Arien asked timidly.

There was no answer for a while; Gold was staring off into the distance, a haunted look in his soulful eyes. But then he jerked himself back to reality.

"You are not going to do anything. You'll go to school in the morning, the same as always."

"Da!" Eira protested. "You can't mean that! Dusan is our brother-"

"Yes, he is, and you are all my children!" Gold snapped, his voice fierce. "I don't want to lose any of you! And that is why you are not leaving this house without an adult with you. Someone will pick you up from school tomorrow; I don't want you running off, do you understand me?"

The triplets stood there, speechless. This was quite possibly the first time Gold had ever sounded angry with them. But they nodded nonetheless.

Gold said nothing else. His shoulders sagged as though he was physically drained from the exchange, and he gently steered Belle back into their bedroom.

Shell-shocked, the children went into the boys' room. They were silent for a few minutes; the boys got into their beds.

"Can I stay in here?" Eira asked quietly.

"Of course, Eira," Sovann responded. He moved over on his bed to make room for her.

A few minutes later, Arien left his own bed and climbed onto the foot of Sovann's. Eira and Sovann shifted slightly so that he didn't fall off.

They were silent for nearly forty minutes. Then they heard a car screech back into their driveway, and saw flashing, blue-and-red lights from outside their window.

"Should we go out and see what Sheriff Swan finds?" Sovann inquired of his siblings.

"Yeah," Arien said. Eira nodded.

The three of them crept out into the hallway again. Sheriff Swan and Baelfire came up the stairs.

"What are you three doing out of bed?" Sheriff Swan asked.

"Well, you couldn't really expect us to just go back to sleep when our baby brother's been stolen!" Arien burst out, crossing his arms and scowling. "What is it with you adults, anyway?"

Sheriff Swan and Baelfire just stared at him, unmoving except for the occassional blink. Then Baelfire shook his head. "This way." He led the sheriff towards Dusan's room. The triplets trailed after them.

Dusan's room was a typical, four-year-old boy's room. Stuffed animals were all over the floor and the bed; most of these consisted of dinosaurs and dragons. Reptilian creatures were Dusan's favorite, especially the ones that could no longer be found in this world.

The sheriff moved around the room, picking things up, studying the floor, and examining the window.

"There's really no evidence here that points to who could have taken him," she said finally. "All I can tell is that he was kidnapped."

Baelfire sighed. "We had already figured that out."

"If you don't want my help, then why'd you drag me out of bed?" growled Sheriff Swan.

"We do want your help, Miss Swan." A familiar voice spoke from the doorway.

Eira, Arien, and Sovann spun around. Their father was right behind them; but he hardly seemed to notice they were there. He had his eyes on Emma Swan.

Sheriff Swan turned. "Well, well, well, if it isn't the town's troublemaker. It would figure this kind of thing happened to you, Gold. You've got the worst luck of anybody. Not that you don't deserve it. You probably do."

The triplets wouldn't let this sort of talk about their beloved father fly. Sovann, the tallest of the three (standing at 5'4), stepped forward and shoved Emma in the shoulders. Emma stumbled back, caught by surprise.

"Don't talk about our Da like that!" Eira snapped. She and Arien moved in behind Sovann, backing him up like good siblings are supposed to.

"If you don't keep your kids in line, Gold-" the sheriff began threateningly.

"It's all right, dearies," Gold said quietly, his face worn and tired. He ushered them out the door, his touch gentle, almost hesitant. "Go to your room. I promise I'll be in to check up on you after the sheriff leaves."

The children knew better than to protest. Not at a time like this; not when their father, normally very calm and collected, was so devastated. They returned to the boys' room.

About an hour later, Gold opened the door and peered in. The children were still awake; all three were huddled up on Sovann's bed, silent and clearly deep in thought.

"Dearies?" He kept his voice soft, not wanting to startle them.

All three of them turned to look at him. "Yes, Da?" Arien answered.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you, earlier in the hall before the sheriff came." He stood uncertainly by the entrance to their room. "I was...I was just..."

"It's all right, we understand," Eira replied, though she still felt rather stung at his harsh words. "You're upset."

"And you have every reason to be," Sovann finished. "We all are."

Gold sighed, lowering his head for a minute and dashing the back of his hand across his eyes. "I'm very fortunate to have such understanding children," he murmured, almost to himself. Then he looked up again, and made his way over to sit on the edge of Arien's bed, across from them.

"Is Mother okay?" Arien asked.

"I'm afraid she's very distraught, dearies," Gold replied. "I think it would be best if you all kept your distance from her for a while, save for the occasional hug."

The triplets nodded.

"I had better get back to her," Gold said. "Are you three going to be all right? Do you want me to send Bae to sit up with you?"

"No, we'll be fine," Eira answered.

"Very well." Gold got to his feet, and gave them each a quick hug before leaving. "Goodnight, loves."

"Goodnight, Da," they said together.

Though they were sure they would not be able to sleep, they eventually did drift off into slumber.

When Baelfire came to check on them early the next morning, he found them curled up together, Eira and Arien pressed up to Sovann on either side. Not having the heart to wake them up so that they could get ready for school, Baelfire gently shut the door and tiptoed down the stairs to make breakfast.

After all, Belle had enough on her mind without worrying about feeding her family.