He excused himself to the front of the shop to make their tea and she could hear the clanking and clattering of china. She didn't know where he was going to get the water, or the heat to make the tea, but he'd said he could and that was enough for her. The sounds of him working out there were comforting. It was proof of another friendly body somewhere and the fact that it was him made her feel safer than she'd felt in a long time. Jefferson had been right, he would protect her.

He had left her in the back again and as he worked she returned to looking around at the strange objects surrounding her. A tan one caught her eye this time, sitting on the desk. She walked over to it and reached out to touch the strangely smooth and cool but unfamiliar material it had been made from. It had numbers on it, written in a strange circular pattern. She picked the handle of the thing up to examine it closer and found that the handle hadn't been attached properly, it popped off the part sitting on the desk and she heard an unnatural noise she hadn't expected come from it. In her surprise, she dropped the object. It's strange rope didn't keep it from smacking the ground with enough force to bring Rumpelstiltskin back into the room in a hurry.

"I, I didn't mean to break it!" she said pointing at it, helping him to quickly identify the noise. She stepped far away from it, she didn't want to damage it any more than she already had or for it to do anything else. And what did that terrible noise mean?

"You didn't," he muttered stepping forward and picking the fallen handle off the floor. He held it to his ear then set it back on top of the other half, just like it had been before. The strange noise stopped, she continued to shake. "It's a telephone," he explained, facing her again with a gentle smile, all trace of panic gone from his face. How did he do that so quick. "It's quite a remarkable device really. They help you communicate with people over long distances." She looked back at the object, the telephone, she still didn't know how it worked but the concept sounded inspired. Still it looked rather simple for the job it had been created to do. And frankly...it was funny looking...too funny looking to panic over.

"It, it uh...it looks like a, uh..." she swallowed, trying to find the right words that wouldn't make her sound as ignorant as she felt, "silly upside-down hat," she smirked, the strange rope swaying against the side of the table catching her eye, "with a curly tail," she added, knowing she probably sounded foolish any way. But she couldn't think of any other way to describe the object. It looked like nothing she'd ever seen before.

He looked at it, his head cocked to one side "Yes, I suppose it does," he said softly with a returning smile. It was enough to make her blush and not just with foolish embarrassment. She knew so little about this world, it didn't seem possible to learn it all. He seemed to sense her thoughts and glanced down at the object. "Everyone in town has a number of seven digits, simply pick up the receiver, tell the phone which number you want, place this part to your ear, the other to your mouth, and you can talk to anyone at any time," he explained. It was a remarkable concept, she wanted to know more about how it worked, but instead he opened his mouth and informed her, "I'm afraid I need one more moment," before striding back out the curtain.

"Take your time!" she replied. "I'll uh...I'll be careful," she muttered to herself, with a glance at the telephone. Not wanting to have another incident like before, she turned her attention back to something she knew: the globe with unfamiliar lands that she'd been examining before he'd returned. She spun it around on its strangely tilted axis, watching the colors blur together into a green shade before she stopped it with the tip of her finger. "Bern." Could they be in Bern?

With a flap of the curtain he stepped back into the room with her, offering another gentle, but surprised, smile. It was an acknowledgement of the strange predicament they found themselves in. Having him in the room felt right, it made her feel complete, but at the same time she felt nervous. She didn't know how to act around him now. Habit told her to keep her distance, but her body seemed to want the opposite. Where was the line now? She wasn't his caretaker. He wasn't her master. She wasn't lower than him anymore, they were equals in a different kind of relationship and neither seemed to know how to act within that relationship. Then again, it wasn't just him, it was this entire land. It was all new to her and she didn't know how to act here either. She sighed and placed her hand along the curve of the globe. She just wanted to know something with certainty again. Just one thing, anything, so that she didn't feel completely incompetent here.

"Ah, where are we?" she asked gesturing towards the globe. "On here, I mean."

He made his way over and stopped beside her, though she wasn't looking she could feel him there, her subconscious hyper sensitive to his every move. He hung the cane on the small shelf space by its handle and she felt one of his hands rest gently on the small of her back. She hoped he couldn't see the red she felt rising in her cheeks, or the way he made her smile just by being close, it made her feel like she was twelve again instead of a grown woman. "We are in the town of Storybrooke," he said softly spinning the globe and pointing to a place on it. "In the state of Maine, in the country of the United States of America, the continent of North America, on the planet Earth," he had pointed out, or outlined each place as he mentioned them one by one, finally spinning the globe around and blurring the colors on the last one.

Storybrooke, Maine, United States of America, North America, Earth. She could remember that, and knowing it made her feel better already. But she didn't want to leave from this spot, didn't want his hand to move from that place on her back. She liked how gentle and reassuring his touch was. "Is it a big Kingdom?" she asked.

"Country," he corrected, stopping the globe and turning it back to the place he was talking about.

"Country," she repeated. "Is it a big country?"

"Bigger than some, smaller than others," he said mysteriously. "But this is a different world. Size does not decide power here," she glanced over her shoulder at him, remembering what he had said about magic and power at that well.

"What does, then?" she asked curiously, but at that moment a loud whistle sounded from the outer room growing steadily louder by the second. The kettle. Tea was done and he excused himself quickly again to get it for her.

She hadn't thought about it until this moment, she'd done her best to put that earlier comment about magic and power out of her head, not wanting to believe it. He was different now, the Rumpelstiltskin she knew hadn't wanted her, hadn't kissed her like he had at the well, hadn't gently touched her, or used words that tenderly. He was different now, he had to be. In the room she could hear the fumbling of china again. She'd ask him again when he came back in. He'd tell her this time, because now they had more time, now they were equals, now they could tell each other everything.

The bell that automatically sent shivers up and down her body chimed. She didn't panic like she had last time, but she did hold her breath and strain her ears, listening for anything that might tell her there was danger, and wondering what she would do if there was. There was a loud click on the floor, like the kind that her shoes had produced but with much more force. Someone else was here with them. Another woman?

"What can I do for you?" she heard him ask, with irritation in his voice. She couldn't see who was in the room, but something about their presence made him uncomfortable. What else would cause him to use that voice.

"What you can do is tell us what you did," a woman whispered harshly. It was so quiet she could barely make out the words, but she felt relief race through her body, she didn't recognize the voice and that meant that it wasn't the Evil Queen. She moved closer to the curtain, curious about what was happening, feeling braver knowing that she wasn't in immediate danger.

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to be more specific," he clarified.

"You know damn well what we're talking about," a man shouted, his voice also unfamiliar.

"You double crossed Emma," another woman's voice added, "you, uh, took you're, ah, potion from her," she said struggling to find the words.

"And did who knows what to this town," the man chimed in again.

"Worst of all you risked Henry's life," the first woman muttered in a furious whisper. Who were these people? Why were they making these accusations against him? Because that's what they were. Accusations. They weren't true, they couldn't be, he was different now. Wasn't he?

"Well that is quite a litany of grievances, now isn't it?" he spoke up, sending chills down her spine. She knew that voice. It was the voice he used when he felt threatened, when he felt like he needed to return a threat for a threat.

"Maybe I don't need answers, maybe I just need to punch you in the face!" the first woman responded. She was still quiet, but she heard her angry voice morph into fury as she said the words. She felt her stomach turn. Was she going to do it? Would she hurt him? Should she go out there or just stay put? She almost stepped through the curtain when his words from earlier rang clear in her head. "Keep to the shadows," he'd said. He was right. They might not know she was here, they were making threats against him, clearly they weren't friends. The last thing she needed was for them to work for the Queen, spot her, and tell her she was free. She should stay hidden, let him handle this.

"Oh!" he laughed at the threat, "Really dearie!" It sounded odd, that voice, those words, listening to him do business in another room. If she didn't know any better she would have thought it was years ago, and she was right back to where she had started with him. "Allow me to answer your questions with some of my own. Alright? Did your dear boy Henry survive?"

"Yeah," she heard the woman whisper.

"Is the curse broken? And let's see here, Miss Swan, how long have you been searching for your parents? Looks like you're reunited," the iron fist that had been clenching her stomach loosened slightly. He was innocent, it really had been just accusations after all. "Seems like rather a punch in the face, I deserve a thank you."

"Twist my words all you want," the woman, Miss Swan, said a little more powerfully this time, but the anger was still clear in her voice. "What was the purple haze you brought?"

"You know. Magic!" he said a hint of the voice he used to hide his old self shinning through.

"Why," the second woman breathed. She held her breath, wanting the answer as much as they did.

"Not telling," he spat back at her. Suddenly a terrible crash rocked the shop and for a moment she thought she might stumble through the curtain and be revealed, but she was able to grab the door frame before she fell. Was this a normal occurrence in this town? In Storybrooke? On Earth? She'd never felt anything like this in the asylum but then again she'd never been able to see much in that basement prison. There were strange sounds, like bells and whistles only more mechanical coming from the world outside the walls of the shop. What was happening?

"What the hell was that?" Miss Swan asked, she heard a scuffling of feet and she prayed they weren't coming for the curtain. There was a loud frightening cry outside. It sounded human, but it also sounded like a wounded animal, full of anguish, and hate. What was that? What kind of creatures and animals haunted this land when the sun went down?

"That," Rumpelstiltskin said calmly, "is my gift to you." His voice scared her, it was menacing, angry, it was the voice he had used when talking about Robin Hood. It was the voice of revenge. "That is going to take care of Regina," she felt her jaw drop and another tremor rocked the shop again.

Take care of Regina? As in the Evil Queen? Hadn't he promised he wouldn't do anything to Regina? Hadn't he promised to stay with her? Suddenly she understood everything that happened since she'd gotten her memory back, since he'd left her in the shop to run "errands". He'd chosen wrong again. Instead of staying and just being with her, he had left her side and sent someone, something, after the Evil Queen. She felt tears gather in her eyes as her chin began to tremble. He couldn't keep his promise, couldn't stay with her, hadn't been able to resist the pull of magic and revenge. He'd fallen back into his old habits without a second thought instead of jumping into the new life that he had promised her they would have.

He'd lied.

"Emma!" she second woman yelled over the noise outside. "Come on!"

"We need to go take care of this," the man insisted. Take care of it. They were going to stop it. She didn't know who the man and woman were, but this other woman, Emma Swan, the three of them were going to pick up his mess. They would try to make good from the bad that he'd created. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair. Not to them and certainly not to her! How could this happen?

"We're not done," she heard Emma whisper to him after a moment.

"Oh, I know," he answered. "You still owe me a favor," he whispered back to her harshly. Her stomach turned, Emma had made a deal with him. His deal making hadn't changed either, instead of just being restricted to his business, as he'd explained earlier, he had continued making deals for his own profit. Whether he called them favors or not made no difference to her. She saw it for what it was. In fact, she suddenly felt like she could see everything clearer and brighter.

She clutched her hand to her mouth. She felt betrayed, alone, even abused. How could she have fallen for this again? She'd always been able to tell when he was lying to her, so how had she missed this? He had to have been planning it from the very beginning. Had she lost her ability to read him like she used to? Where did this leave them now? He'd lied! And suddenly she didn't feel like the shop was big enough to contain everything that she was feeling. She had to leave, she had to get out of here, away from him, before he could break her heart anymore than he already had.


As much as he end of this chapter will always make me sad I can't help but deny that I love the beginning of it. I honestly don't know where the idea for the globe came from, but I loved the idea instantly and the mental image of the two of them standing side by side with his hand on her back...I love the little touches like that. Don't get me wrong, I love the kisses too but the little touches have such an awesome and different kind of intimacy that I couldn't not include something like that. Besides, I really wanted them some time to just kind of be together for a bit.

Thank you thank you thank you OfMockingjaysAndPrimroses and Skitzoeinhoven for your amazing reviews! Reading them makes me so happy! On my terrible days at work they are what make me smile again! Peace and Happy Reading!