Chapter 2

2.2

Warnings: None
Characters: Emma, Mr Gold, Ruby

"We shall go and see the doctor now."

Mr Gold shifted uncomfortably on the bench. His hand rested in his hair and his eyes were glued to the floor as he waited for Emma to come and get him. Apparently Dr Whale was too darn busy to come to 'prison' and so they had to go to the hospital. Then again it might have been the blonde's doing as she didn't seem to be scared about him trying to escape. He'd noticed how she never even locked his cell.

He just couldn't get his head round it. There was no way he would have assaulted a teenager during his time in Storybrooke. There just wasn't. As he counted back the months he knew that if this wasn't all some trick by the Evil Queen the girl would have conceived before the spell had been cast. Pregnant for 28 years, a horrible thought. He swallowed as he remembered Cinderella and her baby. The girl had been sick and tired each day for the past 28 years. If that couldn't be called a curse he didn't know what could.

Running his hand past his face he thought of all the girls he had and became nervous. Regina was toying with him, he was certain now. Unless she'd erased part of his memories there was just no possibility that this child was his, and he calmed down at the thought of it.

"I know you must, Emma, but can't I just please see him? Please?"

Mr Gold turned his head slightly. He couldn't see them but knew that Ruby was doing her best to enter the sheriff's office despite the blonde's complains. Finally she gave in though, and he could hear her annoyed sigh and defeated voice. "Fine, I'll give you 5 minutes while I get the car."

"Make it ten?" He could hear Ruby say.

Emma grumbled. "Fine, fifteen. I'm going to get some lunch and fill my time."

Ruby appeared in front of him with a big smile on her face and her eyes twinkling. "She gave us a quarter of an hour." She happily said, touching the bars. "Imagine what we could do in it."

Mr Gold looked up at her and admired her red woolen hat and fingerless gloves. As he hadn't been outside for the past day he had forgotten the weather had been cold and dreary. "A lot." He huskily replied. "But I'm afraid my libido has suffered under all of this." He gestured with his hands as he apologized.

Ruby laughed. "I'm still surprised by the things you can do at your age." At which he grumbled and she snickered. "I know, you're not that old." Her hand reached through the prison bars and ruffled his hair which made him give her a sheepish smile.

"This must have been a blow to you. "

"More to you." Ruby said, gripping the bars again as she licked her lips and studied him. "You're the one behind bars."

"From my point of view you are." He retorted with a grin.

She winked at him and hummed.

"Anyway, I don't know what's going on yet. As far as I know this could be one of Regina's evil little schemes to get even with me. She might have hired some girl or, I don't know, bribed her to get me into trouble." He looked aside as he rasped. His accent very much present. "If it is true I should say I'm sorry."

Ruby stilled him by placing her fingers against his lips. "Don't. I've gotten used to the idea of you having another."

This all startled Mr Gold who, once her fingers had left his lips, looked at her with confused eyes. "How do you mean?"

"Ever since you told me you had a child I started to get used to the idea of having to share you."

Mr Gold bit his cheek and gave her a stony glare. "That son's dead."

"Yes, and so is your wife. But I figured… there might be another one. I know how you glance at other women. Take Emma, for instance."

Mr Gold glared coldly at her and she felt the need to explain while making her retreat. Apparently she'd gone too far, taken too much liberty in the way she'd been addressing him. After all he was being accused of something he might not even have done. Though Ruby clearly wasn't certain what to believe.

"Well, remember that time you came to me to tell me about that girl that went missing." Ruby frowned deeply, trying her hardest to recall the exact memory. All she could see were vague fragments of a man similar to Gold, with his voice, telling her that she'd gone and the pain she'd felt at hearing he cared so much about another. Ever since that moment she'd acquainted herself with the idea of Mr Gold loving another. If only she could recall properly, but the memory remained a blur and she shook it off.

"You might not but I do. I hardened myself after that. I fantasized what life would be like if you had another wife again and another child. I think, I wouldn't even mind, so long as you'd be treating me the way you do now."

She cocked her head, resting it against one of the cool bars.

"Couldn't this be that girl?"

Her suggestion was like a sharp arrow to his heart and his jaw set as he looked away. "Perhaps." Belle was dead. He bit on his thumb while he pondered what to say next, but opted not to reveal this bit of information to the waitress who held him company.

"I hope she is." Ruby said, a small smile tugging her lips. "If so I'd like to meet her. I wouldn't mind a threesome once."

Mr Gold coughed and gripped the bars, rising from his bench, but Ruby was already hopping away. She only stopped short to glance at him from over her shoulder and wink. "You know I like to experiment."

The man cursed her and accidently opened the door to his cell as he tried to support his own weight. It seemed Emma had never locked it. The result was he cursed again and quickly closed the cell door just in time to hear Emma's mocking remark.

"Eager to lock yourself up, Mr Gold?" She opened the door again and waited for him to step out. Once he had his cane in his hand he strolled past her, tall and dignified, and could clearly hear a snicker escape her lips.

"I knew you wouldn't run." She commented.

"Seems to me like a hard thing to do for a man with a gimp."