Chapter Four

Fairy Tale Land

Their footsteps echoed around them while Rumplestiltskin led them up the stairs and the light from the torches in the iron holders cast long shadows on the walls. Walking next to the Doctor, Tegan looked at the portraits and tapestries on the walls as the moonlight came from the thin windows and a light wind made the torches flicker. Tegan sighed as they went up another staircase when she looked at Rumplestiltskin and frowned, blinking her eyes a few times.

"What is going on with his shadow?" she thought while Rumplestiltskin's shadow appeared then disappeared on the walls when they walked down a long hallway and stopped at a door. Turning on his heels, Rumplestiltskin rubbed his hands together while looked at them and a small smile appeared on his face.

"Ladies," he said while opening the door and stood back a bit as Tegan and Nyssa slowly walked in the room. Suddenly the candles lit themselves as they looked around the elegantly decorated room while the door closed and Tegan sat on one of the large beds.

"Why do I feel like I'm in a fairy tale?" she asked while Nyssa looked in the wardrobe and removed one of the gowns.

"Who do you think these gowns belong to?" she asked as Tegan shrugged while Nyssa look around for a mirror then frowned, folding the gown over her arm. "Strange, there doesn't appear to be any mirrors in here."

"Yeah, I haven't seen any either," Tegan said as she got off the bed and walked to the wardrobe. She looked at the gowns when she removed a blue gown and held the gown in front of her body. "I have to admit. These gowns are beautiful."

Softly humming, Rumplestiltskin spun around on his heels when he stopped in front of the door and smiled at the Doctor and Adric. The Doctor wasn't sure what to make of their host as Rumplestiltskin unlocked the door and pointed toward the door with his hands.

"If you don't need anything else, I bid you goodnight!" Rumplestiltskin said with a bow when the door opened and the Doctor and Adric walked in the room. The candles lit as soon as they walked inside the room and Rumplestiltskin's giggling echoed down the hallway. The door closed behind them as the Doctor looked around the room and Adric sat on the bed, swinging his legs back and forth.

"Doctor, I'm a little confused. Who is he?" Adric asked while the Doctor used the sonic screwdriver to scan the room then sighed, placing the sonic screwdriver in his pocket.

"His name is Rumplestiltskin. He is the center of the German fairy tale that was collected by the Brothers Grimm. His name was originally Rumplestilzchen and the fairy tale was first published in eighteen twelve," the Doctor said as he sat down on the bed and placed his hands on his knees.

"What was the fairy tale about?"

"Well, according to the story, this miller lied to a king and said that his daughter could spin straw into gold."

"That's impossible!" Adric said with wide eyes.

"Well, for a human, yes, but Rumplestiltskin wasn't human. At least I don't think so. So, according to the story, the king had the daughter brought to the castle where she was placed in a tower room filled with straw and a spinning wheel and the king demanded she spin the straw into gold in three nights or spend the rest of her life in the tower. Wait, I think she was going to be killed if she didn't. Anyway, she was about to give up hope when this impish creature appeared and spun the straw into gold in return for her giving him her necklace. The second night he spun the straw into gold for her giving him her ring."

"What about the last night?"

"Seeing that she had nothing to give him, the girl promised her first born if he spun the straw into gold."

"And he agreed?"

"Yes, and the king, who was so impressed, married her. When she gave birth to her first child, Rumplestiltskin returned and demanded her baby. Frightened, she offered him everything she had if he would let her keep her baby."

"But he refused?"

"Yes, but the queen was smart. She offered Rumplestiltskin a deal. If she could guess his name in three days, she could keep the baby. The first two tries failed. Worried that she was about to lose her child, the queen sent a messenger to follow him. It was at his camp that the messenger heard Rumplestiltskin singing a song. Now it is not clear if Rumplestiltskin meant to include his name in the song or not, but he did and the messenger returned to the queen. On the third night, the queen spoke Rumplestiltskin's name and was able to keep her baby."

"What happened to Rumplestiltskin?"

"There are many different speculations on what happened to him. The Grimm Brothers originally just had him run away. But, in the revision, he split himself in two then vanished."

"Ah," Adric said when the Doctor got up and walked to the door. "Where are you going?"

"I'm just going for a walk," the Doctor said as he left the room and Adric shrugged then went to get ready for bed.

The spinning wheel moved while Rumplestiltskin held onto the straw then smiled as the door behind him opened and he half closed his eyes.

"You're not very good at sneaky up on people, Doctor," he said as the Doctor walked closer and stood behind him.

"I wasn't sneaking up on you," the Doctor said then walked around the spinning wheel and stood next to him.

"Is there something you want?" Rumplestiltskin asked while quickly glancing at him and the Doctor softly sighed, placing his hands behind his back.

"Yes, I want to know if I am right about something."

"And what would that be?" Rumplestiltskin asked with an impish grin and the Doctor locked eyes with him.

"Are you Rumplestiltskin?" he asked as Rumplestiltskin softly smiled and titled his head to one side.

"Oh, you are clever," he said then giggled and the Doctor took a step back. "Yes, I am."

"But you can't be. Rumplestiltskin is a storybook character."

"Aren't some stories based on fact?"

"Yes."

"Well, who is to say that Rumplestiltskin isn't real?"

"But you're human."

"No, I'm afraid you're mistaken. I'm not human."

"You were at one point," the Doctor said and Rumplestiltskin gave him a slightly blank look.

"Are you sure?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Oh yes. I have met monsters in my time and YOU are not monster!"

"And you base this on?" he asked with a look on his face like he wanted the Doctor to go on.

"It's in your eyes. I don't know what happened to you, but you are human."

"I AM NOT HUMAN!" Rumplestiltskin shouted then coughed and looked at the spinning wheel. The Doctor wasn't sure who he was trying to convince while watching the spinning wheel going round and round, but neither of them said another word. "If you have nothing else ask me, I bid you goodnight."

Nodding his head, the Doctor left the room as the door closed behind him and Rumplestiltskin sighed, blinking the tears out of his eyes.

Storybrooke

"Sorry about before," Emma said as she slid onto the seat next to Donna and the Doctor nodded, sipping on the coffee.

"That's alright," Donna said as Emma sighed and lowered her eyes.

"So, Sheriff, mind showing us where the hospital is?" the Doctor asked.

"Sure," Emma said while they got up and the Doctor placed the money on the table. Walking outside, they headed down the pavement when an odd feeling came over the Doctor and he turned around, heading back up the pavement.

"Doctor, the hospital's this way," Emma said, but the Doctor kept walking and they half ran to catch up with him. The Doctor walked down the pavement when he stood in front of Mister Gold's pawnshop while Donna and Emma walked closer and he looked down at the scuff marks on the cement. "What are you looking at?"

"Looks like there's been a fight," the Doctor said as Emma knelt down on her haunches and looked at the scuff marks.

"You're right."

"Well, it couldn't have just happened or someone would have come and told you," Donna said and Emma nodded her head, looking at the scuff marks.

"I don't see any blood," Emma said then stood up and noticed the door to the pawnshop was open. She slowly walked closer as she removed the gun from the holster and looked inside. "Mister Gold?"

"Um, Sheriff?" the Doctor said when she walked to him and the Doctor pointed to the cane lying in the gutter. Emma placed the gun back in the holster when she removed a handkerchief from her pocket and picked the cane off the ground.

"This is Mister Gold's cane," she said as they looked at the cane then she turned and walked back inside the pawnshop. Placing the cane on the counter, she walked by the counters as she looked for any sign of Mister Gold and tried to open the door to the back room. Sighing, she walked back outside when she used the handkerchief to close the door and the Doctor and Donna looked at her. "He's not in there."

"But his cane is lying in the gutter," the Doctor said, looking at the pavement.

"And the key is in the lock," Emma said as she removed the key and placed the key in her pocket.

"Would he do something like that?" Donna asked and Emma shook her head.

"So, if he's not in there, where is he?" the Doctor asked as he frowned and tapped his index finger against his lips.

Moaning, Mister Gold opened his eyes as he watched the shadows moving on the ceiling then slowly lifted his head. It took a few moments for his eyes to focus as he rubbed his face with his hands then sighed, looking around the room. The only light came from a tiny, barred window as he carefully sat up and tried to figure out where he was. He slowly got to his feet while holding onto the side of the cot he had been lying on and, his right leg dragging slight behind, headed toward the wall, breathing hard and fast through his nose. Holding onto the wall with one hand, he scanned the room with his eyes as he tried to figure out what to do next when he sighed, seeing only the cot, a wooden chair and table, but nothing else, and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

"Well, isn't this nice," he sighed when he looked at the metal door and let go of the wall. Balancing himself, Mister Gold looked down at his feet when the door opened and he looked up, seeing two, large figures standing in the doorway. The light behind them shadowed their faces as he watched them coming closer and his eyes widened at the sight of the syringe in one of the figures' hand.

"You really don't want to do that," Mister Gold said and was amazed how fast the men moved as they crossed the room then grabbed him and one of the men pulled his head back. Mister Gold could feel the man's breath on his cheek as he felt the needle pierce his neck and something cold sailed through his veins. Gasping, Mister Gold fell to the floor as his body started numbing over and one of the men knelt down on his haunches, lifting Mister Gold's chin with his thumb.

"Let's make a deal. You promise not to scream and we'll make sure you die quickly. You scream, it'll take a lot longer," the man said as the other man walked closer and Mister Gold closed his eyes.