Gold had cursed a blue streak while waiting for the desserts to not only be boxed up but put in a container full of ice. He had paid quickly, not even glancing at the bill before handing his credit card over. They were rushing out the door as he signed the slip, Belle slightly ahead of him.

Flooded. Gold didn't even know how something like that could happen, though he had a damned good idea what might have gone on there. Dove had driven them back at top speed to the studio, running through a few lights that had just changed to red and making Gold cringe. He knew Dove was a careful driver but when told to "push it" by his boss, he knew to push it. They arrived at the studio within twenty minutes of Ruby's call to Belle.

And they arrived to find total and complete chaos.

"No no…this camera. Get it up! Out of the water. Grab the plug before the whole thing fries."

"Someone get to the lights. Over there!"

"My script is soaked!"

"Who cares about your stupid script? We need to secure the sound equipment."

"Ouch!"

"Did you get shocked?"

"I'm fine! Just get this out of the water."

Equipment was being hoisted every which way. David Nolan went running by with two cameras above his head, Leroy right behind him with various bits of gadgetry that Gold wouldn't even try to understand. "Upstairs, guys!" Leroy shouted over his shoulder. "There's a storage room that's not being used at the back. Get all the equipment there."

A few dismayed looks greeted him. David turned back briefly. "Just get it up there, everyone. We'll assess damage later."

For a little bit no one even seemed to notice Gold and Belle stepping into the midst of the chaotic atmosphere, so focused on their tasks that anything else was overlooked. In a way, he was proud of them for being so attentive.

A young woman flew at them. "I swear this is not my fault." Her hands fluttered strangely, wringing together for a moment before Belle shooed her away.

Gold cocked his head slightly to the side before turning to Belle. "Who the hell is that?"

Belle gave him a sheepish look. "Our new cameraman…well…woman. Astrid!" she called and the woman came running back, running into one of the cameras that had yet to be picked up and nearly knocking it into the water at their feet.

"What exactly did happen?"

"Ohhh." She wrung her hands again. "I don't know. We…well, Leroy and I…" Gold was surprised to see her cheeks flush a bit at that. "We were just talking when he noticed this trickle of water. And before we could even go find the source it became a torrent. And well…this." She waved her hand around her. "I really should go help." And with a small squeak she ran off again.

Belle turned to Gold. "Water main break?"

"I have no idea."

"Well don't just stand there!" Leroy suddenly shouted at them, rushing over with more equipment in hand. "If you're here you…" He paused, taking them in. "Are you two on a date?"

"We were," Belle admitted.

"Good job, sister!" Leroy said, his bearded face breaking out into a grin for a second before turning serious again. "Now get to work!"

Belle jumped and gave Gold a sideways look. "Well, you heard him. I guess we should pitch in."

"Of course." H watched as Belle shook her head, finally seeming to break free of the inertia shock had brought about. "I need to hit my dressing room first. If I'm going to help, high heels aren't going to cut it."

She turned to leave when she nearly ran into David Nolan. He glanced at her, glanced over at Gold, and Gold watched as he fought the smirk that threatened to break out on his face. "Are you guys on a date?"

"What the hell do you think, Nolan?" Gold snapped at him.

"I think you're on a date." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"We don't have time for this."

Belle turned back and put a hand on his arm. "Gold," she said softly and he felt his mood lighten just slightly. This might destroy the whole studio but this wouldn't destroy whatever it was he was starting here with her.

"I called 911," Nolan said, voice turning serious again. "The city's on its way to fix this."

Gold nodded. "Good. Now get back to work."

Belle rushed off to change and Gold shrugged off his suit jacket and tie, hanging both up on a high rack. They might still end up in the rising water at their feet, but at least for now they were safe.


She found Gold slumped against the wall when it was all over. Everything had been taken to the storage rooms, dried off. There was no telling what would work and what wouldn't, but Leroy thought most things were salvageable thanks to so many people pitching in so quickly. They had worked hard, removing water with buckets, mopping floors, getting equipment out to safety. It had been a true team effort and Belle had been so very proud of everyone for working so well together.

"So there you are," she said and he glanced up at her. He had long since abandoned his suit jacket, his tie was off, the buttons undone at the top of his shirt. The bottom of his pants were soaked and his shirt clung to him in several wet spots. She had no doubt that his expensive leather shoes were probably ruined. His hair was in complete disarray. The well put together Gold that she knew had disappeared and was replaced with someone who looked utterly drained.

"Here I am," he responded with, exhaustion evident in the quietness of his voice. He shut his eyes for a moment, leaned his head back against the wall.

"Dessert?" She held up the plastic box containing the Gelato the restaurant had quickly scraped into it.

"Ah yes, our date. Perhaps you'd care to join me on this very wonderful and comfortable floor?"

Belle found herself laughing at the self-deprecating humor and joined him, sitting close at this side and spreading her legs out in front of her. It definitely wasn't comfortable, but collapsing onto the ground after the night they'd had seemed to be best. She handed him the Gelato and a plastic spoon she had pilfered from the lunch room. "Well, it was a memorable one at least?"

"It was that, wasn't it?" He finally glanced at her. "Are you wearing a bathrobe?"

She felt herself blush and muttered her response. "My clothes were soaked."

His eyebrows shot up. "I see."

She knew damned well what he was wondering. Just what was under the bathrobe? She had contemplated changing back into her dress after the whole disaster was over, but she just couldn't bring herself to get back into it when she was such a mess. Instead, she had taken a shower, thrown the wet clothes into the dryer, and put on the bathrobe. It covered all the pertinent parts after all.

"You really should change," she pointed out as a way to change the subject.

"I am rather wet, aren't I?"

"Rather." She smirked as she eyed him up and down. It wasn't that she minded really. The way the shirt clung to him and the undone buttons was not something she could overlook. But she did worry that he would take a chill as they cooled off from the all the activity.

They fell into silence for a moment, both content to sit side by side and eat their desserts. This wasn't quite the ending of the date Belle saw. Perhaps a walk outside, a nice drive home, maybe even a kiss on parting, though she couldn't honestly say she'd be able to stop with just the kiss. But at the same time, there had been something…well, she couldn't quite explain it…something just plain nice to see the immaculate Mr. Gold chip in to help mop up floors and save the equipment of a studio she wasn't even sure he really had cared about.

"You care," she finally said out loud.

He turned to look at her. "About?"

"About this studio." She waved an arm around her. "About the people in it. About their livelihoods."

"I…"

"You do. I can see it." There was a layer there, one that had peeled off just a slight bit. He had been part of the team instead of separate. Equal instead of above them.

"I think I'll go change," he managed to get out, pulling his cane to himself and using the wall to create the leverage to get to his feet.

"There are a bunch of robes in the guys' dressing room," she pointed out. He gave her a slight grimace as he moved away. "They're cleaned every night."

He just shook his head and went on his way and Belle set to finishing her Tiramisu. It was delicious, even dumped into a plastic container and eaten with a plastic spoon. Creamy, perfectly balanced. It would have been a lovely end to their date. It still was, she supposed, despite her sitting on the ground in the main room of the studio, surrounded by drying floors and devoid of almost all equipment.

Gold returned twenty minutes later, wearing a robe that was ridiculously large on him, yet still managing to look rather dignified despite the wet hair and robe. "My clothes are drying." He sunk back to the ground at her side. "Probably ruined," he added.

"Sorry."

"It's not your fault," he pointed out.

"I know, but still. I'm sorry anyway. They looked good on you." She felt herself blush as the last words came out. She hadn't quite meant to say them, though the thought had been there since he had first picked her up. That felt like a hundred years ago and she realized the aches were starting to settle into her body from all the work of the past few hours.

"Thank you," he said and she knew he was sincere. "I'm sorry our date was such a disaster. This wasn't quite how I planned for this to go."

"It's not a disaster. We're still here, right?" He nodded. "So how did you plan it to go, anyway?"

He let out a small laugh at that and she found the sound of it warmed her heart. "Well, I expected to sweep you off your feet with a lovely little Italian restaurant…"

"Which you did," she pointed out and was rewarded with a crooked smile.

"At least part of my plan was a success."

She inched a little closer to him. "And so what else?"

"We might have taken a nice walk in the moonlight on the beach?"

She leaned over, put her head on his shoulder. "Devastatingly romantic."

"Indeed. That was the goal after all."

"It would have worked."

"It would have, would it?"

She liked the teasing note in his voice and nodded against his shoulder. "And what about after our moonlight walk?"

She turned to look up at him then as he turned to look at her. This close she could see the flecks of gold in his brown eyes, see the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled at her. He brought one hand up and lightly touched her cheek. "Well, then I suppose I'd have taken you home and if you were so inclined, give you a goodnight kiss and a promise of another date soon."

She made a slight humming noise in the back of her throat, moved a little closer to him, hips touching, and reached out to put a hand on his thigh. The muscles beneath her hand tensed almost immediately. "Perhaps we could just skip the walk on the beach part?"

The hand touching her cheek suddenly came to cup it. "I've never heard a better idea in my life." And then he was pulling her toward him at the same time he was moving toward her and his lips just lightly touched hers. The fire was almost instant. It raced from her lips straight down to her groin and when she gasped, he took complete advantage. He slanted his mouth over hers, deepening the kiss as his tongue sought out all the sensitive places on the inside of her mouth.

She couldn't remember the last time she had been kissed like this, wasn't even sure if she had ever been kissed like this, as if she was simply being consumed by someone. She moaned deep in her throat, the sound pulled from her without thinking and Gold tugged at her, pulled her closer.

She moved suddenly then, not even quite aware of what her body was doing. But she found herself straddling his lap, hands on either side of his face, feeling the heat and hardness of him pressing into her. She couldn't say she was one who generally liked to be in control, but somehow she felt powerful being on top of him, hearing him gasp when she came into contact with him, knowing there was little that separated the two of them.

His lips left hers then, finding her earlobe and sucking it into his mouth, laving it with his tongue. He traced kisses down her neck, pushing her hair back and nibbling at the delicate skin he found there. Belle threw her head back, allowing him more access. Her hands found their way into the opening of his robe, running along the smooth planes of his chest.

She liked the feel of him, slight and wiry, a perfect complement to her really. And she really liked the soft sigh he made when her hand came into contact with his warm flesh.

"Ok I think we got all of this…" The voice trailed off as the speaker came around the corner. "Oh God." Belle jumped up and back, wrapping the robe tight around herself and looking down to where Gold sat, slightly dazed. She stepped in front of him, blocking the newcomer's view of Gold. She felt protective for some reason, didn't want anyone to see him as anything less than perfectly put together.

She certainly didn't want anyone to see the tent that had formed in his robe, evidence of what they had been doing when he arrived.

She finally met the eyes of the person who had come to disturb them. "David," she murmured and hated the way her voice sounded so breathless.

"I'm so sorry," he said, holding his hands up in front of him, face red with his embarrassment.

Belle shrugged. It wasn't like David hadn't seen her doing such things before and though this felt different, though this was real, it still didn't faze her as much as it probably should. She almost let out a small laugh at that, realizing that getting naked and having sex in front of people was her thing. She never could have imagined herself being so comfortable in such a way.

"What can I do for your Mr. Nolan?" Gold asked. He had managed to grab onto his cane and leverage himself to his feet with the help of the wall. He didn't exactly look dignified standing there in a fluffy white robe, cane held in front of him as if that would hide his shrinking erection.

David, thankfully, was smart enough to do nothing more than look Gold in the eye. His eyes didn't stray down any further. They didn't stray to Belle. "We were just checking on some of the equipment…sir."

Gold gave a slight grin at that. "Don't sir me, Nolan. I'm standing here half naked in a bathrobe. There's no dignity to be saved."

Belle laughed and looped her arm through his. "Did the Gelato go to your head?" she whispered, leaning close to him as she did so.

"Is that what this pounding headache is?" he responded with. "Worst ice cream headache I've ever had, I'm afraid."

"I…um…"

Ruby came flying around the corner, all high heels and tight dress. "All set, David?" She stopped and stared at the scene she had disrupted for a moment before erupting in laughter. "I told you, Belle!"

"Miss Lucas?" Gold nearly growled the words at her but she seemed to not be fazed at all, giving Belle a ridiculous smile and a thumbs up before turning to Gold. Her face turned more serious.

"Most of the cameras seem to be fine from what we can tell. There was one that was dropped…"

"Dropped?" Belle didn't like the dangerous note to Gold's voice.

"It was slippery," Ruby said in answer and Belle watched a muscle twitch in Gold's jaw. "It was an accident."

"Just who did this anyway?"

"It's not important," Belle started to say.

"Of course it is," he snapped back and immediately shut his eyes, a look of consternation across his face. "No. It's not. This was a disaster from start to finish."

Belle turned to the other two and they nodded, turned, and left. It was perhaps easier that way. Gold was out of sorts, exhausted, and obviously was starting to lose the tight control he had over his anger. "Do you want to talk about it?" she finally managed to ask.

He gave a sigh, opened his eyes. "No. I just…we'll talk later, maybe?" He reached out a hand and touched her cheek, just a light caress.

"Ok." For a moment they simple said nothing, just stood close together in the rather disconcerting light of the studio. "I should get dressed."

"As should I."

Belle nodded at him and departed to her dressing room. She glanced at her dress once more, considered putting it back on, at least ending the date on a high note. But no…the date was where it was. They had come damned near close to having sex right there on the floor of the studio. She felt her cheeks warm at the thought and her body well remembered the sensations. Too well, really. She could still feel his hands cupping her face, could still feel him beneath her.

She wasn't ready for that dammit, not for that kind of emotional entanglement. A date had felt safe, a way to work up toward more intimacy if and when she was ready. Probably if and when Gold was ready for that matter, she realized as he had stumbled off to get dressed, leaning awkwardly on his cane and looking a little dazed about it all.

The ride home from the studio was a quiet affair. They had walked out to his car, only a few words spoken between them. This was supposed to be the end to a date that was meant to be a nice outing. Instead they had ended up half drowned, exhausted, and nearly screwing like a couple randy teenagers. She was wearing sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt for God's sake. Gold was back in his suit, but it had not weathered the dirty water and subsequent drying very well.

They both smelled of the water their clothes had been soaked in.

When he pulled back up in front of her apartment, she turned to him, uncertain what to say after the events of the evening. "I'd invite you in, but…"

He nodded, a slightly pained look about his face. "I'm sorry for that."

"For what?"

"For…what happened back there." He gave her a rather weak smile with the words.

"If you mean the flood situation, that was certainly not your fault. If you mean what happened after…" She couldn't help the self-deprecating smile that briefly crossed her face. "I believe I was the one who crawled into your lap, not the other way around."

He made a non-committal humming noise. "I suppose that is true."

"Indeed."

"Well, then I suppose you'll just have to owe me something." The words were said with humor and just a touch of flirtation.

"And what, pray tell, should I owe you?"

"A second date would suffice." And his face was serious in that moment, the smile gone, eyes wide.

"I'd like that," she said softly.

He leaned toward her and cupped her face, his lips touching hers for just a moment. It was soft, sweet, nothing like the kisses they had shared at the studio. It was how Belle had imagine this night might end, if the date had gone the way she had expected it to.

"Good," he whispered and she opened the door and stepped out, giving him a small wave before heading inside. As she turned to close the door she saw him nod once, lean back in the car, and then they were gone, driving off into the night.