A/N: In celebration of finishing the fiction, I bring you chapter three. I am still planning on updating regularly, but I am thinking it is going to be twice weekly. It will give you guys your reading fix and it will give me my reviews fix. Thank you for those who have reviewed, it really brightens my day. Enjoy, dearies!

Chapter Three: Gaining Allies

"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,

while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

~Lao Tzu

"Rum?" Belle called from the front of the pawn shop. She brushed her hair from her face as she looked for the next set of scrolls that were supposedly somewhere in the shop, "What about the tomes under the far counter?"

Rumplestiltskin came from the back room with one large book under one arm. He took a look at where she was and shook his head, "Already looked through those. I don't think he ever took any trips toward that side of our world. Much too bright for his liking. He has a thing for darkness."

"Hm, I don't doubt that," Belle mumbled as she pushed herself from the floor and took the book from him. She swiped at the cover of the book and then up at him, "Any luck?"

"Nothing useful," he sighed with a shake of his head.

She nodded and put the large book with others on a far shelf, "Maybe we should look through some of the books at the library. I mean, we are going to have to think of something else. It almost feels as if he erased himself from history. Are you really sure he is as old as you think he is?"

"I know it," he nodded, "There is nothing older than evil."

"I just don't like the prospect of still being in the dark about him," she sighed and hopped up on the counter next to him, "Or the fact that we still haven't found a weakness."

"We have found something, but not from any book," held up a finger and pointed it at her, "He knows that I am the only one in this world with his power. I am his foothold, and therefore some kind of weakness. If I don't do his bidding, he can't go too far without another vessel. Something tells me he doesn't have enough power to do that right now. If he was able to collect without my consent and without a new vessel, he would have done so."

"But that also makes you a target of his, and I don't like that idea," she grabbed his hand from her face and pushed it down, "Even if he can't take what he wants now. I am sure he is the kind of… thing that will find a way."

"He can't control me. He gave me power, but only a mortal can handle the blade. I have the blade hidden quite well from mortal hands."

She tried to smile as he did nearly victoriously at his claim, but something still worried her. Something still set her on edge, "Just be careful. Evil doesn't play by the rules. You should know that better than anyone."

"There are always loopholes," he nodded.

He looked away momentarily and picked up a bit of peasant armor that made its way out from the back. It was his from a time long ago; before the Dark One, before Belle and even before Baelfire. It was a piece from his armor that did little to help against the ogres that threatened his land. It was the same piece that he fled in to get back to his wife and new born son. He remembered the hot pain shooting from his crushed knee, the scalding water they threw at him and the empty, cold looks from his wife as she left their home for the last time.

Rumplestiltskin could barely register Belle's hand on his shoulder and it wasn't until he heard her voice that the visions of his wife's disgusted face disappear. He took a deep breath and began to push the item to the side.

"Brings back memories of great times, doesn't it?"

Both Belle and Rumplestiltskin turned their heads to the front door where the man from yesterday stood. The bell didn't ring or alert them to his presence. He had used another way to get into the shop.

"Never were the one to use the natural entrance," Rumplestiltskin said with a sigh and leaned on his cane in a pose of defiance more than a need to balance himself. He turned his head toward Belle, but kept his eyes on the stranger, "Belle, would you mind getting something from Granny's? I feel a bit peckish. We have been in here all morning without a breakfast."

"Okay," Belle started to walk from him hesitantly and walked toward the back door to avoid the devil at the front, "I will be back soon."

The man smiled when he heard the door close in the back. He circled around Rumplestiltskin once again and looked at more of the scrolls and books that they hadn't had a chance to put away yet. He chuckled and held up one of the oldest books, "Trying to find my weakness, are you?"

"Just trying to find out how much was me and how much was you," Rumplestiltskin began his own turn in circling around the now stationary devil, "I killed a lot of people when I gained your power. That wasn't me."

"Wasn't it?" the man put down the book when Rumplestiltskin came close enough, "Just protecting your son? Don't tell me it didn't feel good."

"I was a good man. A good father," Rumplestiltskin growled.

"You were a weak and desperate man," he corrected with a frown before he stalked around the pawn shop in interest of the little trinkets around him, "That's how Zoso knew he could escape me and my power. At least that's what he believed. He thought death was his escape. You foolish mortals, always think death is your escape."

"Oh? Are you telling me it isn't?"

"All magic comes at a price," he reminded him with a tone of irony ringing in his voice, "You know this. He knew this. Whenever a soul is pierced with that dagger and the magic is transferred… that soul now belongs to me. I aim to collect."

"My soul will never belong to you," Rumplestiltskin bit out, "You are not powerful enough to take my will, you will never touch my soul."

"We will see."

"Why do you collect the souls, I wonder?" Rumplestiltskin pondered out loud, "To keep you physical? To keep you empowered to spread your influence? Are they the ones keeping you afloat? Running out of power with me at the helm?"

He just stood in silence and stared down Rumplestiltskin.

"Just who are you, really?" Rumplestiltskin asked, slightly amused by his stare.

"You have done the research," he leaned back against a case line and lifted an eyebrow, "You tell me."

"Oh, I've heard your name many a time," Rumplestiltskin got real close, "Chernabog. Or is that a bit old? What name are you going by these days?"

"Bravo," Chernabog smirked, "Say what you will about your courage, but you were always a sharp one for a spinner, I will give you that. I go by Donovan Deus in this world."

"I want you to leave Belle and I alone. I will not give you what you want no matter how many times you shadow my doorway."

"You don't have to worry about me," he shrugged, "I found another to do that."

"Give them a bit of your power as well?" he asked.

"Oh no," Chernabog chuckled deeply, "One dagger per world, I'm afraid. But they know about you. Once they get here, I am sure there is nothing that will stop them from getting that dagger. Then nothing you love will be safe. Not even your precious Belle."

"No one, and I mean NO ONE, will ever hurt her again," Rumplestiltskin's voice deepened and even Chernabog saw the murderous intent in his eyes.

"Except you, correct?" Chernabog laughed under his breath, "How many secrets do you keep from her, I wonder? How many dark tales you tend to forget to mention so that she could stand to be around you?"

"They are few and dwindling," he muttered.

"Have you told her about Milah, yet?" he asked and chuckled when Rumplestiltskin became quiet, "They will find it, Rumplestiltskin. When they do, my demands will be met and I will take that beauty as my own. For your head will be on a pike as I take her."

"You won't touch her."

"Be careful, Dark One… your weakness is showing," with that Chernabog turned from the fuming man and left out the front door. Rumplestiltskin stayed in the middle of his shop, eyes closed, willing the vision of Belle's destruction from his mind.

Belle ran all the way to Granny's Diner. She did not want him to face that evil man alone. Not again with an unknown price to be paid. As she entered the diner she looked from table to table and hoped that he was here. Rumplestiltskin told her to look for him should they need help. Belle never understood how he knew that this man would help them. The time he did agree, it was for her sake, not his. In response Rumplestiltskin always told her that he was a Charming and that's what Charmings do. They help those in need.

There in the back corner she saw the flash of the sheriff badge.

Belle carefully walked up to the table and kept her hands as fists at her sides, "Sheriff…"

James frowned and pinched his nose, "What has Gold done now?"

"It wasn't something that he did now…" Belle tried to explain and cupped her hands together as she took a deep breath, "I think it's about how he got his power… there is a new person in town. I think he wants something from Rum- I mean, Gold."

"Look, I promised I wouldn't interfere," James laid out his hand on the table, itching to reach for his sword, "I know about the new visitor."

"I know you made a deal with Rum- Gold… uh."

"You can call him by his real name, I know who he is," James said with a nod.

"Look, a deal is a deal, I get it," Belle leaned on their table to look the once prince in the eye, "But did you promise not to help, too?"

"What would he need my help with?" James asked a bit interested.

"That stranger," she paused and closed her eyes, "He is the reason that there ever was a Dark One. Rum can handle a lot, but he can't find his weakness. I get a feeling that time is running out."

"Allies?" James offered.

"If you would like to think of it that way, yes," Belle pleaded, "Rum is alone with him right now at the shop and as powerful as I know him to be… this man, has more evil and darkness in him than I have ever known."

James paused and looked at his coffee, "I thought that you didn't want to see him again."

"A reconciliation of sorts has been made," she said with a shrug as she slid into the booth across from him, "He has made a lot of mistakes, and he is finally learning from some. It will take a while, but I will forgive him completely. But until trust and truth is assured, I can't be with him completely as I once was. That doesn't mean that I don't love him anymore. I will always love him, because that's what true love is, isn't it? Forever?"

James narrowed his eyes at the woman in front of him in a bit of confusion.

Belle couldn't wait, "How about a deal?"

"A deal? I already have one going for me."

"What do you want more than anything else in the world?"

"You can't give that to me."

"But he… he has his magic back," she offered.

"And has told me that it is useless in getting my family back," James bit back.

"My magic, yes," Rumplestiltskin said as he approached the table, "Other magic… well, there's always loopholes to discover."

"There's a way?" James said, hope in his voice.

Rumplestiltskin held out a hand for Belle and she took it as she stood, "Found him, did you?"

"A little stubborn," she shrugged and squeezed his hand, "Are you okay?"

A heavy sigh escaped him, but he nodded, "For the time being."

"What is all this about you needing my help?" James asked.

"There is a walking plague among your people, Charming," Rumplestiltskin said quietly, "If you don't want to help me, it's understandable. But what of those you swore to protect?"

James paused at this and then sighed as he stood up, "What do you know?"

"How about we move this to a more private and may I say more comfortable environment?" Rumplestiltskin offered and walked with Belle beside him out the Diner door and toward his car.

James looked down and thought to himself, "If he asks for help… well, he never asks for help. Which means that this is bigger than him. Right?"

James nodded to himself. He hated to think that there could be a bigger villain out there than Rumplestiltskin, but he didn't want to wait too late to find out.

It was the strangest sensation to be in the living room of the infamous Mister Gold- or Rumplestiltskin- drinking tea, talking how to beat a villain that possibly is the root of all evil. James didn't think that he was in his right mind. It had to be an illusion.

"Thank you, Belle," Rumplestiltskin said as Belle gave him his favorite chipped cup before she grabbed her own and settled on the arm of his chair.

James watched the interaction between the two of them. A handful of days ago he was there when she told him she didn't want to see him or her father ever again. Here, it felt like she was his partner, his wife even, with how domestic it all seemed. He noticed that he had stopped using endearments for her and kept a controlled type of distance, but Red also told him about their little date that they had over hamburgers of all things. He knew that there was love there, from both of them. Maybe this was their way of trying to repair what was broken. Snow and he had their own share of repairs that took too long in his opinion.

"Shall we begin?" Rumplestiltskin asked over the rim of his tea cup.

"Please," James nodded after the first sip of his own.

"He is calling himself Donovan Deus in this form," Rumplestiltskin explained.

"This form?" James asked with a hand out as if to slow down the conversation, "He has more than one."

"As many as there are worlds," Rumplestiltskin nodded, "His true name is Chernabog. He is the root of evil, Charming. Don't be fooled by his human mask. He spreads his influence by curses and enchantments."

"How did you come across it?"

"I took a blade that controlled the Dark One," he paused a moment, unsure if he should continue.

"If you expect us to be allies, you need to trust me," James stated. He saw Rumplestiltskin holding back, but physically relaxed a degree when Belle put a hand on his shoulder. Once James saw the reaction, he asked, "How?"

"I called the Dark One to me, killed him with the blade and took his powers," Rumplestiltskin stood from his chair and walked over to the window at the side of the room, "That's the way the powers are transferred."

"You killed someone for them."

"I took his powers so I could protect that which I loved the most," he growled.

"Family?" James asked.

"My son," he answered under his breath and walked back to the chair to compose himself again, "You see, the way in which this devil entraps you is to feed on your most desperate of emotions. Your darkest desires, your deepest regrets and the things you fear the most. He placates them, promises them solved. Feeds you lies through the guise of magic and power. I have killed many during my time as the Dark One. I just am now trying to consider how many I killed and how many he killed by my hand."

"Why did you take the blade if you knew this?"

"I didn't," he sneered at the memory of the night, "I only thought that it was magic. Black magic, oh yes, but magic that was going to save my son."

"So we know who it is, or at least a little of what it is," James sighed deeply and looked at the Dark One, "I am still in wonder of why you need my help."

"It's quite simple," he answered and put the cup on the side table and steeple his fingers in front of his mouth, "He is coming to collect my soul."

"That's the price?" Belle whispered and her hand flew to his arm.

Rumplestiltskin nodded without looking at her and continued, "If he succeeds, he will have another vessel take over for me. Take his power. At that point, you all will be under his mercy. Believe me, Charming, he is not as understanding or merciful as I am. Not to mention the poor, desperate soul that will rot under his guidance."

"He will destroy this town, won't he?" James asked with a wrinkle to his forehead.

"Just to see it burn," he nodded.

"So you are asking for my help to make sure that he doesn't kill you and take over the power again," James nodded.

"Not necessarily," he shook his head.

Both James and Belle looked at him confused.

"I want you to make sure this town is safe, and you need to know what is coming," he took a deep breath and made sure he didn't turn toward Belle, "I want you to make sure that Belle stays safe should anything happen to me."

"Rum-" Belle began, but he put his hand up and shook his head.

After a breath he finally turned toward her, "I know that I can't say that I was the best man. I know I have no right to you, though I love you. This thing, he will come after you. If I am no longer able to protect you, I want to know that you will be protected by capable hands. Please."

She frowned and closed her eyes before they drifted to the chipped cup to his side. She shook her head and got off the arm of his chair to go into the kitchen before she knew she would say something they both might regret.

"She doesn't look happy," James nodded to the kitchen after a few tense moments.

"She isn't," Rumplestiltskin nodded in confirmation, "She doesn't like the fact that I am planning on her safety over my own. That means that there is a chance that I might not get out of this."

"Won't you?"

"If I can," he shrugged and looked pained in the direction of his kitchen.

"You are doing the right thing."

"Never thought you'd say that to me, did you?" Rumplestiltskin muttered with an ironic twist to his lips. He looked back up at James and furrowed his brows, "I can't call her mine anymore. I can't kiss her, I can't hold her against me before I go to sleep and I can't tell her how much I love her as much as I want to. It's an impasse of sorts, an agreement to take it slow and build up a solid foundation that we didn't have before. It's a way for us to learn one another in a completely different way. It's a blessing in some ways; in others… it tears me apart."

"Believe me, I know how that can be," James looked at his cupped hands.

"I do believe that you do," Rumplestiltskin agreed and then paused, "How do you go on?"

James chuckled and laughed at the question, "Knowing that it is true love. In the end that's all that matters. That no matter what happens, and for whatever reason we are separated, I will find her. I will always find her. Because there is no way that I can live without her."

"Even if you are the one that hurts her the most?" Rumplestiltskin looked toward the kitchen again where he heard her short heels click against the floor.

"Maybe," James shrugged, "But you are also the only one that can heal her."

Rumplestiltskin sighed and looked at the royal, "How did the son of a herder learn all of this?"

"It's amazing what you learn from women," he offered and shifted his hands, "Especially your own."

"It is."

"You talked of other magic that may be able to bring them back," James mentioned and pushed on, "Snow and Emma. What magic is that?"

"There are so many magics to consider, now that they are being reinstated in this word," Rumplestiltskin waved his hand in the air and produced a few books which he laid out on the table, "Magic beans, enchanted wardrobes… we just have to find the exit point here. Maybe be able to retrace the steps back."

"These books may tell us?" James asked and eyed them warily.

"They may tell you, they haven't told me bloody anything," he tapped on one of the covers and leaned over to whisper to him, "Light magic doesn't mix well with what I am."

"Maybe Mother Superior could help," James said and reached for the books, but stopped himself, "What do you want?"

Rumplestiltskin smirked and chuckled warmly, "Just as I said…. Keep her safe."

"You have my word," James stood with the books in his arm as Rumplestiltskin followed suit. James held out his free hand, "I will help you. Help protect the town, my people, your Belle… and I will do everything in my power that you are intact at the end of this. If not for you; than for her."

Rumplestiltskin looked at the hand in front of him and placed his own in it to seal the bargain, "The deal is struck."

James smiled at the once impressive man that owned the town and was the infamous Dark One.

"What is it Charming?"

"I am just glad to see that there is a human inside of you somewhere," he nodded and turned to the front door, "I need to go pick up Henry from school. We will talk over this more later."

The door closed and Rumplestiltskin turned to the kitchen to face the music.