Love is Layered
Chapter 3
Hey its been awhile since I updated, sincerest apologies. Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. I have a few twists and turns I'd like to explore on this journey and can not wait to share them with you! Just finished up Spring Break so hopefully I'll be updating a little more frequently now that the dreaded midterms are complete.
I would love to thank my awesome beta EarthGuardian. I can only promise that this is going to be a bumpy ride for our favorite couple.
Still don't own anything as far as the characters from OUAT (although I wouldn't mind a piece of Mr. Gold) Please read and review and enjoy!
Regina sat back in her office chair, the lights dim and the curtains behind her drawn shut; not that they needed to be no one in Storybrooke would be out at this hour. Glancing at the clock she noticed it was already 1:05 in the morning. Sleep wouldn't be coming for her this night, it barely ever did anymore. Not much could disturb Regina anymore, she had seen and done it all; from ripping out her father's heart to enacting the most horrible curse any world had ever seen, and yet, there was one thing that she did regret, what she did to her sister. Regina closed her eyes, the visit to the hospital had been necessary if not long overdue. She had gone right after meeting with that trickster; she had needed reassurance that her ace in the hole was still there, even though she would have known the second something went amiss with Belle, her guards made sure she was updated on her condition twice a day.
She was still fuming over being duped by Rumpelstilskin, it was her fault really, but right now she wanted to exert all her loathing and hatred at him for tricking her into enacting the curse with a clause that gave him too much power over her. Regina sighed at that moment remembering his descent into madness as he sat in the cell deep in the dwarf mines, all alone. It had been slow at first, but she had given him a little extra push to seal the deal.
It had been a month since he had been captured, since he had walked out of his castle and into the trap that had been laid before him. She had sent her spies down into the caverns to keep an eye on the imp, watched him as his sanity slowly chipped away. She had visited him quite early on into his capture; he had only talked of Belle and their child, asking for her to bring them down to see him. She had abruptly stopped his babbling by spinning a horrid tale about the death of his beloved Belle and their son at the hands of Snow White and Prince Charming. She had to hold back a smirk as she saw his sanity slip away, she left him there as he straddled the bars and screamed obscenities at her, swearing revenge, swearing the death of those responsible. As she transported back to her palace and made her way to the tower she felt a twinge of regret. Peering in through the grate she saw her sister lying in the bed deep in sleep, a simple sleeping spell keeping her unaware. The queen closed her eyes for a moment and pushed aside the regret walking down to the elaborate nursery set up for Damon.
Regina contemplated her next move, knowing it would have to be made quickly and efficiently if her plan was going to go off without a hitch. No doubt Mr. Gold was out of jail and in his own home stewing with his memories and his chipped cup. Regina stood, grabbing her coat and purse and heading to the door; she knew what she had to do and she would do it in the morning. Right now all she wanted to do was go home and check up on Henry to make sure he was in bed sleeping and not up reading that bothersome book.
The next morning Mr. Gold went into his shop at the usual time, parking his car in the side alley and going through the back door. For all the money and power he had in this world, it was never necessary for him to go to shop; however, he had many peculiar things in there, things that allowed him to remember details of the past world, a world he didn't care if he went back to or not. Either way he was in a prison, either a cell below the ground or in this town, unable to leave and see the world, unable to control his magic. He walked to his desk; it was right behind the counter that faced the door, that way he could keep an eye on everything and everyone in the store as well as those passing by on the street. He let his cane rest against the edge of the desk and set to work on some contracts, no matter which world he found himself in, people were always looking to make a deal, not caring or thinking about the price.
However, Mr. Gold would never expect the next person to enter his shop would ever want to make a deal with him again, or ever be within twenty feet of him again. Not twenty minutes after he opened up the shop, Mr. Moe French walked in, looking a little nervous as he opened the door and moved into the shop slowly. "Mr… Mr. Gold?" Rumpelstilskin looked up at the man a sort of maniacal glee in his eyes, suppressing the imp was easier now, but Mr. Gold almost had the urge to let the maniac out and finish what he started. "Mr. French, to what do I owe this unexpected….pleasure?" Mr. Gold picked up his cane and walked around from behind the counter, standing up as straight as he could. "Well, you, uh, you see Mr. Gold, I am having some financial problems and I need a loan, I didn't know who else I could turn to, I need five thousand dollars Mr. Gold." By this time Mr. Gold had thought this was a joke or a set up; perhaps the Sheriff was setting him up to see if he would beat the man again. Moe did look awful, his neck was in a soft collar, his arm in a sling, and his face had a large bruise on the right cheek. "Now Mr. French, I don't think we have any more business to attend to. I gave you your truck back and you dropped the charges, I believe we are both paid in full." Mr. Gold raised his right eyebrow and leaned back on one of the display cases as Mr. French fidgeted with his hat which had found its way from his head to his hands.
"Mr. Gold, I have no one else, the funds for my daughter's care were cut this morning and she will be thrown out of the facility if I don't come up with five thousand dollars." He sputtered, talking almost too fast to be understood, but Mr. Gold heard him, but surely he heard him wrong. "Your daughter? Your daughter is dead Mr. French and so is this conversation." His words were more hissed than spoken and he had shot up from his relaxed position, moving surprisingly fast to stand almost toe to toe with Moe French. To Moe's credit he did look confused, more so than usual. "My daughter was a juvenile delinquent Mr. Gold, bonafide crazy, Dr. Whale calls it deranged, she's been in the system since she was young, and Ms. Mills was kind enough to set her up in a facility to help her through her problems. Her generosity ran out, however, and I need the money to keep her there, I don't know what to do with her if they let her out." Moe looked almost desperate as he talked and Mr. Gold's anger was rising minute by minute.
His mind spun and he felt as if he had been punched in the stomach so hard he didn't know if he would ever breathe again. But, breathe he must, he must to get Belle out of whatever hell hole Regina felt fit to put her in, whatever place Moe had left her in. The desire to pummel Moe was only outweighed by that of strangling Regina. Grabbing Moe by the collar of his shirt the older man startled forward gasping at the quickness of Mr. Gold's movements. "Where is she Moe, I'll only ask once and I want the right answer." "She, she is in the hospital, Regina said she's in the special wing I….I don't know where though." Mr. Gold pushed Moe back and started for the door, "She is no longer your concern as of this moment Mr. French, don't you ever darken my doorstep again or I will finish what I started."
He limped to his car his mind going a million miles a minute, the insanity banging to get out, to be let free to destroy Regina, Charming, Snow, and anyone else that had a hand in this atrocity committed against him and his family. He hesitated for just a minute thinking that if Belle was locked up all this time, then his son, their son must be somewhere. Where would Regina have put their son, perhaps an orphanage? He would look after he made sure Bell was safe and in his care. He sped off towards the hospital, being the chairman of the board had its privileges and he planned to use each and every one of them. Whatever they did to Belle had better not be irreversible. Regina sat behind the steering wheel of her vintage Mercedes her lips pursed in satisfaction as she watched Mr. Gold's Jaguar speed off to the hospital. "Check mate Rumple." Her eyebrow raised and she took off towards the elementary school, there was a twinge of satisfaction knowing her sister would get to see the light of day again, and she knew that above all else she was safe with Mr. Gold. Regina thought this might be a good opportunity to take Henry out for a lunch, there would be an explosion in Storybrooke later that she didn't want Henry anywhere around.
Mr. Gold pulled up in front of the hospital parking in the loading zone and making his way as fast as he could into the hospital, immediately calling for Dr. Whale to be brought to him. His Bell was alive, his wife, the mother of his child, she was alive and he hadn't protected her from whatever atrocity was being committed on her in this facility. Dr. Whale wasn't a man that was usually intimidated, but in the face of an angry and demanding Mr. Gold, he was definitely more likely to cooperate with whatever this man wanted, and if he wanted into the secret facility underground, then he would be more than happy to show him down there. Mr. Gold was silent on the way down to the basement, past the nurse's station and down the hallway. "You will get a private room upstairs ready for her and then call in Dr. Hopper to evaluate her, after this you have some explaining to do to me, do you understand Dr. Whale?" Dr. Whale looked back at him and nodded as the door swung open and light flooded into the usually dark room. There she was, hidden in the shadows, curled up on the poor excuse for a bed; Mr. Gold stepped in and gazed at her for the first time in almost thirty years.