Author's note: Thanks for your excitement about the last chapter, particularly the comments concerning my decision to name Belle "Claire" and their son "Charlie". I didn't expect that many people to be excited about it. (I was gonna go with Aaron, which would've made much more sense as a LOST reference, but I just had to do Charlie. I hope you understand XD)

"'And the girl turned to her grandmother and said, "My, what big eyes you have." And the wolf replied, "All the better to see you with."'

Claire looked up over her book; Charlie was already fast asleep. She lightly brushed his hair back and pulled the blankets up to cover his shoulders. "Good night, baby," she kissed him gently on the forehead before quietly closing his bedroom door.

The happiness that had momentarily filled her faded away immediately. Now it was just her and Gold. Claire hated this time of day; it was only eight o' clock, but she went to bed anyway. Anything to avoid him.

Unfortunately, he was already there, looking at the door and waiting for her to enter through it. "Can I - ask you a question?" she asked hopefully.

"That depends, dearie." God, she hated when he called her that.

"I want to put Charlie in school." Claire sat at the edge of the bed.

"That's not a question," Gold brushed her off.

"Can I put Charlie in school?" Charlie sighed impatiently.

"I've been thinking about that myself." Her hope began to rise. "I thought you could teach him."

"Me? But - "

"All you do is read," he scoffed. "I'm sure you'll be an excellent teacher."

"I don't want to teach him."

"Either you teach Charlie or the deal's off."

Claire gaped at him. "Please," she begged. "He's so smart; I just want to give him his best chance, and it's not with me. He needs a proper teacher."

"You know how I feel about you and Charlie leaving the house."

"Of course I do. We're prisoners here. Charlie has never gone anywhere before today."

"And for good reason! I know these people, Claire. They cannot be trusted."

"Ruby seems nice," she smiled helplessly.

"Ruby is the worst of them," spat Gold. "Enough of this, Claire. You're being ridiculous."

"I'm being ridiculous?! All I want is for my son to have a life, a life outside of this prison! All I want is for Charlie to have a chance!" she pleaded.

"No, Claire, Charlie is perfectly fine here."

"I don't - I don't - " Claire gathered up her bravery. "I don't need your approval," she stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going, Claire?"

"I'm leaving, and I'm taking Charlie with me," she said as Gold's icy hand wrapped around her waist.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Yes, I am. He's my son, and I'm not going to let him suffer through this anymore. ... Now let go," she commanded through gritty teeth.

But he grabbed her other wrist. "We had a deal, Claire. No one breaks deals with me. You're going to stay right here."

Claire could see the power-hungry look in his eyes that normally terrified her, but her love for Charlie pushed the fear aside.

"Let go of me right now," she insisted. When he did nothing, Claire made a very stupid decision and kicked his bad knee as hard as she could. He crumpled instantly, and she sprinted to Charlie's room.

Claire's fingers were wrapped around the doorknob when she felt cold steel press against her neck, and every muscle in her body froze.

"Let go of the door, Claire," he said softly.

Her fingers slowly fell to her side, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Back to the bedroom," Claire felt the gun slowly travel down to her back, and she trudged, defeated, down the hall.

Gold closed the door behind her; she was shaking like mad, fighting the tears that were threatening to spill over her eyes. Very slowly, she was spun around and Gold lifted her chin with his pistol.

His eyes were livid. "Don't do that again, Claire." His voice lowered to a level that was barely audible. "I will kill him."

Claire looked deep into his gray eyes and whispered with as much force as she could muster, "I hate you."

That was when he swung the butt of the gun across her face. Claire's hand rose instantly to her cheek, which felt numb and swollen; it hurt so bad that the tears finally fell from her eyes helplessly.

Immediately, Gold drew a sharp breath. His hand took Claire's gently and held it; she wished he would leave her alone. "You know you deserved that, Claire," he whispered. "Does it hurt?"

"No," she mumbled, trying to cringe away from his hands.

He was wrapping his arms around her, and she was trapped. "I love you, Claire."

So this was what hopelessness felt like. She wanted to die or at least not be aware that she existed. She was so tired of being alone. The only thing that kept her going was Charlie. She had to do this for Charlie; she had to keep living this life for her son. Nothing else mattered in the end.

But if nothing else mattered, then why did she feel so broken?


Ruby could not get the woman out of her head. Hours had passed since their brief encounter, and every minute had been spent contemplating Claire. Ruby wanted to help her; she seemed so unhappy, and if she really was the girl Ashley had described, then she needed to be rescued.

Ruby rolled her eyes, hardly believing herself. It was three in the morning, and she was exhausted. She had to be up in three hours, but every time she closed her eyes, she was overtaken by the smell of Claire and had to open them again.

What she really needed was a distraction. Ruby reached across the bed to grab her phone. She dialed the number on instinct and hit talk.

"Ruby?" came an exhausted voice on the other end. "Why are you calling me now? What time is it?"

"Can I come over?" she asked, biting her lip nervously.

"Now?"

"Please," Ruby whispered.

"Yeah, I'll leave the door unlocked." There was a click on the other end. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

She didn't even bother getting dressed but left on her pajamas, grabbed her keys and drove to Victor's house.

As he had promised, the door was unlocked. She knew her way around his home even in the dark, especially in the dark, as that was the only time she was ever there.

Ruby crawled into bed beside him fearlessly. "What time is it?" he mumbled.

"Three-fifteen," she sighed.

"And you're - what - feeling lonely?" yawned Whale.

"I thought that part of this arrangement was we weren't allowed to talk to each other," Ruby turned to him.

"So you're using me?"

"And you're using me. Let's come to terms with that," and Ruby kissed him roughly. His hands slid down to her thighs right away. They always moved so fast; nothing ever lasted longer than five minutes, but it was enough. At least enough to survive on.

But not enough to truly live on. And definitely not enough to be happy.


Charlie woke with a terrified scream. Thunder shook the house, and rain pounded on the windows, which didn't help him at all.

In a matter of seconds, his door opened. "Charlie? What's the matter, sweetheart?"

"I had a nightmare," he cried as his mum lay down on the bed beside him and brought his head to her chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Claire asked softly as she began to play with his hair.

Charlie shook his head quickly. "I'm scared, mummy."

"Well, there's nothing to be afraid of, Charlie. I'm here; I'll keep you safe." Her warm, loving voice was more than enough to relax him.

"Can you read me a story?" he asked. "Please?"

"Of course I can," she smiled and held him closer.

Charlie's eyes rose to her cheek, and she winced when his fingers brushed lightly against her bruise. "Mummy, you're hurt," he said softly.

Claire didn't say anything, but a tear fell from her eye. Charlie wiped it away with a tiny finger and gave her a hug. "Don't be sad, mummy."

"No, I'm not sad, Charlie."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I just love you so much," she whispered, kissing him lightly on the forehead.

Charlie was only four, but that did not make him clueless. He recognized the pain in his mother's eyes, and it hurt him. He didn't like that his mother was sad, but he didn't know how to make her feel better. "I love you too, mummy. You're my favorite person in the whole wide world."

"Thank you, Charlie. You're my favorite person too."

Charlie nuzzled further into his mother as he fiddled with the ruby red ring on her finger.

"You still look sad," he observed wisely. "Did - did he give you that owie?"

Claire stayed perfectly still, and Charlie's fear was confirmed. He felt anger inside of him, and he knew that he had to protect his mother from that man. Her eyes were so tired and puffy. "Mummy, go to sleep."

"Charlie, I think you're getting our roles reversed," she laughed softly.

"I'm not scared anymore. ... But you are. You stay up with me when I get scared, so I'm going to stay up and keep you safe too."

Claire kissed her son on the forehead again. "Thank you, little man. Just don't grow up on me too fast."

"I won't. I promise. I'm only four, remember?" he smiled when his mum closed her eyes. He felt proud of himself. But as much as he tried to stay awake, Charlie fell asleep in a matter of minutes.


Ruby woke up at nine in the morning, tangled in Victor's sheets. She quickly separated from him and called Granny to tell her she was "sick."

Victor was up a few minutes later, starting up a pot of coffee. He and Ruby leaned against the island in the middle of the kitchen for a long time, neither saying a word to the other.

Finally, Ruby broke the silence. "I should go," she said.

Victor nodded. "Ruby, can I ask you something?" She waited expectantly. "Did you mean what you said last night? About our agreement?"

"Of course I did; you're the one who came up with it in the first place."

"Right," he stuttered nervously, and Ruby realized with a jolt what was happening. "It's just that - recently, I've been having these feelings, and I know what we said but - "

"Victor - "

" - just give me a chance, Ruby. One date - that's all I'm asking."

"Well ... I suppose ... if it's only one date."

Victor's lips split into a smile. "Look, I really have to go."

"Of course," he led her to the door and opened it. "I'll call you."

Great, Ruby thought sarcastically as she hurried from Whale's apartment. She felt awful taking advantage of him, but there was this unexplainable emptiness inside of her. It was always there, and the only time she had ever been able to ignore it was the first time she and Victor had hooked up.

All the meetings since had been Ruby's attempt to feel that again, but she had no such luck until yesterday - when Claire had looked into her eyes.

Ruby turned the keys in the ignition, and as an absolute whim, drove to Gold's house.

She stopped the car a few blocks away and walked to Gold's, for-lack-of-a-better-word, mansion. There was no movement behind the windows, and Ruby bravely approached the door. She decided against knocking and snuck around the side, a strange hunch telling her not to get caught.

"Mummy, I want to go to town again." Ruby heard the voices getting closer, and she practically dove into a nearby bush.

"So do I, but we can't." Ruby recognized Claire's voice as she rubbed her head.

"Why not?"

"Mr. Gold thinks you're special, Charlie. He thinks people will use you."

Ruby peeked out of her pitiful hiding place to watch them pass, their voices slowly fading away.

She jumped out of the bush and practically ran back to her car, knowing she should stay away from here - from Claire - but also knowing that she was going to come back. Something shady was going on, and Ruby felt a strange need to make sure everything was all right.

So Ruby went back the next morning, and the next night, and all of Saturday and Sunday, and every day of the next week. She never noticed anything odd, and eventually, she started going just to see Claire.

Ruby told herself it was normal; she'd always been protective. But she knew it was creepy. Yet, she couldn't stop. She had to know more about Claire; Ruby had to know why she never left the house and why she stayed with Mr. Gold of all people.

And what was worse - Ruby could think of nothing else. When she woke up, when she was at work, when she went to bed, and even when she dreamt. She could not get Claire out of her head.

People were beginning to get suspicious. Most of them thought she was sleeping around, and Ruby was finding it difficult to keep the truth quiet despite the embarrassment of the lies.

When Ashley thrust open the doors dramatically and engulfed her best friend in a bone-crushing hug, Ruby knew she couldn't hold it in any longer.

"I finally have a free night," she exclaimed with a large smile.

"What about Sean?" Ruby asked.

"He's taking care of Alex tonight, said I deserved a girl's night."

"Well, my shift's over in five minutes, and then we can get plastered. I have got the story for you."


"Hold on. Gold has a wife?!" Ashley gaped at Ruby from across the table as she sipped her martini.

"Yeah - and she's pretty too. At least ten years younger." Ashley let out a roar of drunken laughter. "Oh and that's not even the kicker."

"What is it?! What is it?! What is it?!"

"They have a four-year old son," Ruby smiled and laughed, her voice slurred.

"So how do you know all this?"

"He ran away, and I found him."

"Mr. Gold?"

"No! Charlie," Ruby grinned her big toothy grin. They were both drunk beyond words, so Ruby had even less of a filter than normal, and Ashley was even less smart than normal.

"So tell me more about Mr. Gold's mystery woman," Ashley said, practically bouncing on her chair.

"Well, she's about half a foot shorter than me, she's got pretty brown hair, she's Australian, she smells like new books, and she's so beautiful."

"Ooh, somebody has a crush," teased Ashley.

"What? I do not."

"You know what she smells like! You so have a lady-crush on her!"

"Shut up, Ashley!" Ruby whacked her lightly on the arm with her purse.

"Ruby likes Claire!" she shouted, but luckily, the bar was almost deserted and nobody here knew who Claire was. "So why don't you go for it?"

"Ashley! First of all, I don't like her," Ruby lied. "But even if I did, she's living with Gold; she's probably straight; I have a date with Victor tomorrow; and she doesn't know I've been watching her for the past week."

That stupid drunken slip erupted Ashley in a fit of giggles, and just because Ruby was that wasted, she started laughing too. "So not - not only - do you like her - you creep on her?"

"I don't creep on her!" Ruby denied again. "There's something suspicious going on, and I want to make sure Claire's okay. I mean, Charlie! I want to make sure that Charlie's okay! They live with Gold. There has to be something about that sentence alone that alerts you."

"Well, if you're so worried, talk to Mrs. Brown."

Of course! Ruby didn't know why the thought had never occurred to her to contact the town's social worker. Finally, a solution that would hopefully get her away from Claire. She really had no idea what this woman was doing to her.


The next morning, although she felt so hungover she could barely stand, the first thing Ruby did was to stop by Mrs. Brown's office. Thankfully, it was across from Granny's. Otherwise, Ruby doubted she would have made it to work. She didn't even remember how she had gotten home last night.

"How can I help you, Miss Lucas?" The friendly woman said as soon as her door opened. She was sitting at a simple desk in a small office, her eyes peeking up over her glasses.

"Yes, I'm here to report something - or ask about something - or just inform you of something," she said feebly, rubbing her hand against her forehead as it ached.

"Very well, Miss Lucas. I am at your service. Would you like to sit down?"

"Sitting would be the best thing in the world right now, and please call me Ruby," she gave her best attempt at a smile as she sunk into the comfortable arm chair across from Mrs. Brown.

"So, Ruby, what can I help you with?"

"Last week, I was outside Granny's during lunch, and this little boy was lost across the street, so I helped him out, but Mr. Gold showed up claiming that the boy, Charlie, was his son. I wanted to be sure, and when his mother showed up, I let Charlie go with her. But ... my issue is that I've never seen Gold with anybody before. I've never seen this woman in my life, and I've seen everyone." Ruby debated on keeping this next part to herself but decided against it. "So I kind of spied on them for a little bit just to be sure, and it looked fine, but I overheard the woman telling her son that they weren't allowed to leave the house because Mr. Gold said Charlie was special. And she had a huge bruise on her cheek the morning after our meeting."

"You do know that you need a warrant if you intend to spy on them," Mrs. Brown scolded kindly.

"Well ... no," Ruby mumbled.

"I understand your concerns; I will definitely look into it, but I can't guarantee that there will be anything to find, Ruby."

"But you'll try?"

"Of course I'll try; it's not every day you find out Mr. Gold has a family."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Brown."

"Please, call me Jennifer. Mrs. Brown makes me feel old." Ruby laughed.

"You're not old; you can't be older than forty."

"I'm forty-two actually, but I feel fifty. ... I remember when I used to look like you."

"What? Hungover?"

Jennifer rolled her eyes. "Young, Ruby, I meant young."

"Right," Ruby stood up slowly. "I should go. Granny probably has aspirin or at least a bat to hit me with so I won't be conscious."

"Good luck with that. I have a vase if you're desperate."

"Thanks, and thanks for taking care of this too. I really appreciate it."


Claire wasn't used to people knocking on the door; none of them were. Gold was the first one up, limping his way from the kitchen to the hall. Charlie was upstairs taking a nap, and Claire was busy making dinner. She stopped everything though and peeked around the corner.

A friendly-looking woman who appeared to be around forty was standing at the door with a clipboard. "Hi, I'm Jennifer Brown from Social Services. Do you mind if I come in and ask a couple of questions?"

"Absolutely not - get off my property. You have no right to be here."

"I have every right." Claire held her breath as the woman reached into her pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "This warrant, I believe, gives me the right to investigate your home."

"On what grounds?!" Mr. Gold already sounded furious, and Claire rushed back into the kitchen as the two made their way down the hall.

"Domestic disturbance," replied Jennifer. "I received a complaint."

"From whom? I live in the middle of the woods!"

"Well, it must have been quite the disturbance then." Claire stifled a laugh as she continued dicing the onions.

The woman left after about an hour, her clipboard filled with tiny scribbles and notes. Only when the door closed did Claire realize just how angry Gold was, and she was grateful Charlie was in the middle of his nap as she heard his cane thumping mercilessly down the hall.

"So ... what did she want?" Claire asked, trying to sound light-hearted.

"She's a social worker, Claire. What the hell do you think she wanted?!"

"I don't know; she was just doing her job."

"Just doing her job?! Did you call her, Claire?!" He was coming closer now, and Claire backed away from him.

"I didn't call anybody!"

"Really?! Because lately all you want to do is leave! Mind you I gave you and Charlie a home! Do you know where you would be without me?! On the damn street!"

"I didn't call anybody! I swear!" She was trapped now - stuck between Gold and the counter. He was pressing her against it painfully.

"You had better hope that's true!" By some miracle, he was backing away now, grabbing his jacket from the table and throwing it over his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" she asked, torn between relief and alarm.

"I'm going into town to find out who told her to come here. And so help me, if she says it was you, or if she doesn't give me an answer, I swear to you, Claire: I'm going to kill him."


Ruby checked her appearance in the mirror. Not too bad. She had definitely cleaned up from this morning.

Her traditional, low-cut, no-back, strapless red dress clung tightly to her skin underneath her favorite black leather jacket. She had slightly curled her hair, and it fell a few inches past her neck, her red streaks exaggerated for tonight.

Try as she had to deny it, Ruby was excited. She had never been on a date before; it was always one-night stands, or in Victor's case, multiple one-night stands. Hopefully, she would finally be able to sort out her feelings towards Claire and develop a steady relationship for the first time in her life. She might be able to do better than Victor, but she also knew she could do far worse.

So when the door bell rang, Ruby ran eagerly to get it and pulled it open vigorously. "Hey," the handsome doctor smiled. "Care to join me for a walk?"

"Why not?" She grabbed her keys and locked the door. "Where are we headed?"

"Oh, it's a surprise."

"Really? I love surprises," Ruby grinned.

Victor and Ruby walked all the way to the toll bridge, the time passing easily, which was enough of a surprise for Ruby. Their new-found companionship also made Ruby feel even guiltier for taking advantage of the kind doctor.

They stopped halfway over the bridge, and Victor took her hands gently. "Ruby, I really like you," he whispered, his cheeks flushing pink.

"I like you too, Victor, but I've never really done this before."

"I understand. Do you mind if I try something?"

"Um - o - okay," she stuttered, suddenly feeling nervous as his hands slid up to her cheeks; he was leaning in. Everything was different for some reason. She had kissed him plenty of times. Why did this seem so foreign?

His lips were millimeters away when Ruby heard something. It was a scream - so loud, it pierced at her heart. "Did you - did you hear that?" she whispered.

"What? Hear what?"

Ruby started to shake as she continued to hear shouts. "Can't you hear them? ... It's Gold."

"Ruby, I can't hear a thing. Are you feeling all right?" But she had taken off at a run. "Ruby! Ruby, wait!"


"Mummy? Where are we going?" Charlie asked as he held tightly to his mother's hand. They were running through the woods so fast, it was hard for him to keep going.

"We have to get out of here, baby. We're leaving Storybrooke; we're leaving Mr. Gold; and we're never coming back."

"You mean ... we're free?"

"Yes, Charlie. We're free." Claire would have smiled had she not been terrified. They were running along the road that led to the town line like their lives depended on it, and they did.

Claire had not packed suit cases - nothing to slow them down. They would figure everything out once they were safe.

They were half a mile from the border when Claire heard it - squealing tires, and her heart actually stopped for a moment, aching with fear as she knelt beside her son and took his tiny little hands. "Charlie, go hide in the woods."

"But - "

"Not now, Charlie. Go hide, and no matter what happens, don't come out. Wait until he's gone, and then run that way until you're safe."

"But mummy - " He was crying now, and Claire started to cry too. She couldn't help it.

"Mummy's gonna be fine, okay, baby?" She hugged him tightly. "Promise me you won't come out."

"Mummy - "

"Charlie, promise me."

"Mummy, I don't want to promise you!" He screamed.

"Charlie, please," she pleaded. "I need you to promise me you'll stay hidden."

"I - I promise."

"There's my good boy," Claire kissed him. "Mummy loves you so much."

"I love you too."

She pushed him gently towards the woods, and he sprinted away as Claire's heart gave up and broke. She saw Charlie crawl into a hiding place just as head lights blinded her.

Gold was out of the car in seconds, moving faster than she had ever seen him, even with his cane. "Where is he?!" He roared.

"He's not here. I sent him away," Claire's body shook silently as rain began to fall from the sky, plastering her hair to her face and her clothes to her skin. She was grateful for it. Now he wouldn't be able to tell that she was crying.

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Claire?! I'm going to give you one more chance: where is Charlie?!"

"He's gone," she said, even giving him a smile.

Gold threw her an unconvinced smirk as he brought his cane down on her knee. Claire fell immediately with a scream. He brought it down again and again and again. She couldn't tell if he was asking her something. All she could think was: Stay there. Don't you dare come out. Please. Stay there.

"WHERE IS HE?!" Gold's fist came down across her face now; she was lying in a puddle of water, and that water started to turn red. Claire spat blood in his face.

He stepped on her already broken leg, and Claire screamed so loudly, she nearly deafened herself. Everything in front of her became suddenly blurry, and life seemed brighter for a moment.

"Stop it!" cried a small voice. "Don't hurt her!" Charlie! NO! Claire wanted to shout out to him, but she had no voice. Her throat was filled with blood; blood trickled from scrapes on her hands, from her nose, from a large gash across her forehead.

Claire couldn't see what had happened, but she heard someone hit the ground. She pushed herself up onto her elbows with the tiniest amount of strength left to see Charlie stand and raise his fists. His knees were cut up, and he was crying hard as Gold easily pushed him back onto the road.

Claire tried to stand, but Gold brought his cane down onto her stomach, and she crumpled instantly. He took a knife from his pocket, and pressed the blade against her throat. Lights were popping up; Gold's face was floating like a messy blur in front of her, dancing across her eyes.

And then he was knocked off of her, tackled to the ground, and she let out a breath. There was somebody else here. Voices she didn't recognize. Voices she couldn't recognize. Someone was leaning over her head. She could see her face, the red streaks in her hair. Ruby's lips were moving; her hands were holding her head gently. Her words sounded like echoes in her mind.

Claire tried to reach for her, but she was falling, falling, falling. ... Everything was turning black, and the last thing she heard was a clear whisper, "Hold on."