They had been checking on the damage to the studio for what felt like far too long. David took inventory of what was usable, what needed to be fixed. Leroy was down on the first floor with the city inspectors trying to find out if it had been a water main break or if something else had ultimately caused the flooding.

Leroy took one look at what the folks from the city were showing him and let out a low whistle. "That sure doesn't look like any water main break I've seen."

"I don't understand," came the voice from close behind him. Astrid. She was new, a sweet but clumsy camera woman that Belle had convinced to come on board behind Gold's back. Oh, he'd find out eventually, he was sure of it. And he understood she had met the beast at least once so far, but the chaos had made it unclear as to who she was and what was going on. Belle had assured had assured Astrid that Gold needed someone to replace David, who she was sure would be hired on to act in his new movie.

Astrid had been hesitant but once Leroy and the timid young woman's eyes had met, it just didn't matter. She was on board and Gold be damned.

Leroy turned as Astrid entered the room and his face lit up at the sight. "This was cut." He glanced back down at the pipe held by one of the inspectors. He had expected to find a burst pipe. He had experience with those, had seen the cracks in pipes, the way the metal bent outward. But this was sliced clean across. Nothing but a hacksaw could have made such a cut across it.

The inspector leaned closer to it, ran his finger across the sharp metal at the edges. "Whoever did this knew what they were doing."

"They did." Leroy was used to plumbing. He knew about electrical issues. The person who did this seemed to be equally as knowledgeable. Moreover they knew the studio. They knew where to cut the water, how and where to make the right cut in the pipes. They were able to do both and get in and out without being noticed.

"Any idea who might have done this?" the inspector asked and Leroy just kept staring. He felt Astrid behind him, felt her small hand come down on his shoulder.

"Not a clue," he finally managed to say.

This was not going to go over well with Gold and he dreaded having to tell him the news.

Belle really wasn't sure how to act around Gold the next day. The date had gone well, perhaps a little too well, if she were to count their moments spent on the floor of the studio. But it had been a disaster at the same time.

Under normal circumstances she wouldn't even set foot in the studio the next day. The weekends were hers. Hers to do as she wished, hers to enjoy, hers to forget what she did during the week. But this Saturday was different. She felt that she needed to swing by, make sure everything was ok. She had a feeling most of the actors and crew of the studio would be there and it simply wouldn't be right for her to stay home this day no matter how much she wanted to curl into bed with a good book and ignore the world.

She walked in the door and the place simply thrummed with activity. There were usually a few people around on the rare time she came in on a weekend, but the lights were kept low and everyone was quiet. She liked those moments of walking through the studio when no one else was around. It somehow felt relaxing, calming. There was no need to be in front of the camera, no directions shouted at her, no glaring lights fixed on her body. And so she enjoyed those rare moments of peace in the studio.

Today the lights were up, bright. She heard something about inspectors there to find out what went wrong and she suspected that Gold was there somewhere, overseeing it all. He had shown the night before exactly how much he cared for their little studio. She hadn't expected him to pitch in, had in fact expected him to crawl off to his office and only poke his head out if needed. But instead he had rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

She had seen a different side of him the night before, a side that was softer, with less edge than the one he generally showed. It had been too busy for her to really stop and admire him while everything was going on, but she had spent much of the night after thinking about everything that had occurred the night before.

And she was impressed.

She admitted it. His knowing her preferences without even having to ask, his finding out about her thoughts on flowers, his rushing off to the studio and helping to fix the problem. It was something she admired, something she just liked. Frankly, she hadn't expected to find the man quite so likeable. She thought it would take some time to peel back the layers to the good man she knew lurked beneath the surface, the good man she knew was there, hidden beneath the sarcasm and aloofness.

But she had seen it already. One layer gone. So many more to go.

There was a history there that she was more than curious to find out. And getting more and more curious about it all the time.

"Belle!" She heard the voice before her eyes managed to focus on the speaker.

Ruby, who had been the only person to know about her date.

Ruby, the person who had caught them nearly going at it on the floor like a couple of randy teenagers.

Ruby, who wanted all the details.

"Oh no," Belle muttered and tried to sneak away. But she was well and truly caught. Ruby wouldn't take that for answer, oh no, wouldn't let her get away with at least some dignity intact.

"You owe me, girl," she said, rushing forward and linking her arm with hers. "I want all the details."

"I think you got more than enough last night…"

"All what details?" Ariel asked as she walked past. Her ever curious bubbly nature wouldn't allow her to pass up such gossip. And she had not been there the night before. The hair stylist had apparently been unreachable, likely out on a date with her charming boyfriend Eric. They had been seeing each other for some time now and if the rumors Belle had heard were correct, they were getting quite serious.

"About her date," Ruby whispered, all bright eyes and conspiratorial smirk.

Ariel let out a little squeal. "You had a date? Why didn't you tell me? I'm always left in the dark." She finished the last words on a slight pout.

"Yes…well..." Belle wasn't sure where to go with that. All she wanted to do was duck out, find Gold, maybe talk about the night before. Or that second date he had promised her.

"She probably doesn't want anyone to know." Ruby gave her a knowing look.

"Oh is this a secret?" Ariel's eyes lit up a little. "I can keep a secret. Come on, let's dish."

She looped her arm through Belle's other arm and started to tug the women off toward Belle's dressing room.

"Can we just not?" Belle asked suddenly, stopping both women in their tracks.

"What?" Ariel responded with.

"This. I just don't want to talk about it." She tried to give Ruby a look, but it didn't work on the other woman. It never did, really.

"But why?" Ariel asked, all light and innocence.

"Because her date was with Gold," Ruby said, voice matter of fact but a certain sparkle in her eyes.

Ariel's screech nearly pierced Belle's eardrums. "Gold? Really?"

"Yes, really," came the voice behind them. Smooth, sardonic. Belle wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Ariel let out a little squeak. "Oops! Gotta go!" She gave Belle one last look, one Belle was sure was telling her she'd get to the bottom of it all later, grabbed Ruby's arm and hauled the taller woman off with her. Ruby laughed all the way down the hallway and Belle was absolutely sure that she would be telling all she knew to Ariel soon enough.

With a sigh she turned back to the man in question. "Gold."

He looked wary for a moment, eyes slightly narrowed. The after date awkward meeting at work. She had, quite honestly, hoped to avoid this. Not avoid him, really, but she had been aiming for getting to his office unseen by the rest of the cast and crew. "Belle," he responded with and the way he said her name caused a shiver to go up her spine.

They stood for a moment, tension high. Belle wasn't sure what to say to him after the night before. She wasn't sure where they stood, what was going on, who they were to each other after last night.

Finally he managed a ghost of a smile. "Would you care to join me for tea?"

She let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding and nodded. "How very quaint," she finally managed to say and could not help the way the amusement entered her voice.

He gave a low chuckle. "I am Scottish, after all. Tea is what we do."

"I suppose that it would be." She held her arm out. "Lead the way."

They crossed paths with no one on the way to his office and for that she was remarkably thankful. Most of the studio probably knew they had been on a date by now. Those who hadn't seen them arrive together still all dressed up from their date had no doubt been informed by those who had seen them that something was going on there. Gossip. There had been enough when she and Gaston had broken up. There had been more than enough after he had been fired.

She was, really, a little tired of being the subject of wagging tongues. But it seemed she would manage to get herself into these situations one way or another. And it wasn't like she could have seen Gold and this whole thing they had coming anyway.

They entered his office, the door closing behind them and she felt even more awkward in that moment. They had left things rather up in the air, the promise of another date but little else. But certainly their mutual attraction had been acknowledged. And Belle could only imagine where things might have gone had they been alone in the studio. She wasn't sure if she wanted to thank Ruby and David or strangle them both.

"Please, have a seat," Gold said and pulled one of the chairs closer to his at the desk.

"You already have the tea ready?"

He gave her a small smile. "Well, I had hoped you'd come in today."

"Thank you," she said as she accepted the cup he passed her. They sipped in silence for a moment before she managed to get out the one question that was actually really bothering her. It had been for awhile really, but she wasn't sure how to address it and wasn't honestly sure how it hadn't come up the night before. She supposed she had been a little enthralled, a little intimidated, half in lust and infatuation and so hadn't managed to get it out. "So it seems I'm still at a bit of a disadvantage with you," she began with.

"Oh?" He set his cup down on the table and she liked that he gave her his full attention in that moment. "How so?"

"I don't know your name."

"It's Gold."

"Mister Gold," she pointed out. "That leaves out one important bit of the picture."

"Does it?" He picked up his cup again, took a sip. The look he gave her over the rim was one part amusement and one part entirely unreadable.

"Your first name. I really don't think I should be dating someone whose first name I don't even know."

He gave a small huff of laughter. "It's Scottish and entirely unpronounceable."

"It can't be that bad."

"Oh it can."

"Come on, MacGyver always hated his and it turned out to be Angus. Not exactly a difficult name to pronounce."

"You're comparing me to some character on a TV show?" He sounded incredulous and frankly, Belle was waiting for him to launch off into something else in the hopes of changing the subject. But she was adamant.

"I just want to know it. I can keep calling you Gold." She smirked. "At least in public."

He sighed. "You're really serious."

"I am." One eyebrow rose as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Fine." The knock at the door that came a mere second after that made his shoulders drop and Belle knew it was complete relief to him.

She leaned down close to him, lips ever so close to his ear. "We'll continue this discussion later."

He shivered and she pulled away just seconds before Leroy burst through the door, David hot on his heels. "You're not gonna like this," the gruff man started off with and she could see Gold tense up.

"I imagine I'm not going to." The words were smooth. Too smooth, really. Belle studied him as he carefully schooled his face into a rather bland smile.

Belle watched as Leroy took a deep breath. "It was done on purpose."

"The flood?" she suddenly interjected.

Leroy glanced at her. "Yeah. Someone cut the pipes, turned up the water. Someone messed with it." His voice was a low growl on the last line. He looked more than annoyed. He looked downright angry. Leroy had always had a soft spot for the studio, taking care of things not just in a timely manner but with a sort of gruff affection that he would deny if asked.

"I see," Gold replied with. "Well, thank you for that information. I'm sure you can see yourself out."

"That's it?" David finally managed to get out. He stepped out in front of Leroy, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Unless there's any other information you'd care to share…" Gold said, waving one hand in the air.

"I don't know anything else," David responded with and looked to Leroy, who shook his head.

"Well, then there's the door." As Leroy and David shuffled backward it, Gold added a soft thank you and then they were gone.

The door shut behind them and Belle was instantly in action. "We need to call the cops." She was reaching for her cell phone when his next word froze her.

"No."

"What?" The word came out quick, forceful.

"No. We're not calling the cops." He stated it so simply, as if he were talking about the weather or what he had for breakfast.

"But…"

"No." His voice had gone cold and he turned away from her to study the papers on his desk.

"So the studio was sabotaged, God knows how much equipment damaged, and we're just going to let the person get away with it?" She felt the outrage bubbling up from somewhere deep inside her. She knew he was infuriating, but who knew he could be so ridiculously obtuse?

"Of course not," he said with a small huff of laughter.

Belle leaned forward in her chair. "Perhaps you could let me in on this little joke? Because last time I checked you were dating me…"

"Is that what you call it?"

Belle stood then, rounded on him. She wanted to hurt him then, smack some sense into him, grab his long hair and climb onto his lap and kiss the bastard until he saw some sort of reason.

"Don't act like that," she chided and was amazed when he suddenly sat back, hands raised in a position of surrender.

His eyes briefly closed. "I'm sorry. Truly."

She took a deep breath. "Are you? Are you really?"

He met her eyes briefly. "Of course." The response was quick, natural. She let out the breath she was still holding and relaxed just slightly.

"So will you tell me what the hell is going on then?" She didn't mean the words to come out so harsh, but this whole thing was ridiculous. He knew something. She knew he knew something.

"No."

"No? Just like that?" He stared at her, eyes wide. Shaking her head slightly, she finally stood and took a step toward the door. "You're never going to let me in, are you?" He didn't respond and she could see a small twitch in his cheek. "When you have the courage to let me in, you know where to find me." She got all the way to the door, hand on the knob, before she heard him clear his throat and speak.

"Regina," was all he managed to say.

Belle turned back toward him. "What?"

"The one who sabotaged things. Her name is Regina."

She arched one of her eyebrows and smirked in amusement. "Old girlfriend?"

He let out an indelicate snort. "Hardly."

"Then?"

He sighed and waved her back into the room. She stepped a couple feet closer. "More like a former rival."

"Another director?"

"She'd like to think so." He gave her a tight smile.

"And so we're not reporting her, why?" This was making less sense all the time. He knew who did it. He could pin the blame on her and get her arrested. When he didn't answer her she narrowed her eyes on him. "There's more to the story than just that isn't there?"

"Likely."

"Likely? That's your answer? There's likely something more to it than that." She couldn't even get up the energy to be angry about it. She had thought, for just a moment, that he was letting her inside his mind a little bit. He had shown a bit of openness in confessing who the saboteur was, but he had closed up quickly. Parts of his past would always be off limits, she feared. And what did that say about their budding relationship? If he couldn't be open with her, did that mean they could ever actually be together?

"I'm not going to let her get away with it." His voice was quiet and steadfast.

"Of course not," Belle answered. "But you're still not letting me in." She opened the door.

"Belle, wait." He held up a hand, reached out like he was trying to physically stop her but still he didn't get up, follow her.

"No, not right now." She gave him a sad smile and disappeared out the door. When he was ready, he'd come for her. And if he didn't, if he wanted to stay closed up forever, then she just didn't know what she was going to do.