Hello again fellow Dearies! May I just say that you guys rock! And yes, the Weaver Brothers were indeed form the story The Emperor's New Clothes! Sorry it this chapter took so long to post, LIFE decided to interrupt me this week. But I finally found some spare time to write the next installment of this story. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 10

What to do? What to do? Gold thought calmly to himself as he tried to forced sleep to take him. He looked over at the clock, which mocked him by saying 1:02 AM. Only two minutes had passed since the last time he looked. So she did know how to bring a little magic over to this world. Gold stared at the ceiling of his bedroom and ran all of what had happened through his mind.

"Disappear?" Gold repeated into the phone. "You do remember what happens if you kill Ms. Swan?"

"Yeah, yeah ,yeah, it breaks the curse, but I didn't say 'kill her'. I said 'make her disappear'."

"Next I suppose you want me to pull a rabbit out of my hat." He scoffed.

"No, not quite, but speaking of hats," she said slyly.

"Jefferson," he acknowledged. "I should've guessed. But how do you expect him to…"

"Let me worry about that." She snapped. There was a beat of silence.

"Ah, so you did manage to bring over some magic from the old world." He said calmly. "Sadly, I doubt it's enough to send her to another dimension."

"Who said anything about sending anything," she cackled. "Retrieval is a more accurate term. And I have all the magic I need for that little task, thank you."

"All magic comes at a price, Dearie" he retorted.

"We can worry about that later. First, I need you to make sure Emma loses the custody battle." Regina said, ignoring Rumplestiltskin's favorite motto.

"Why go through the trouble of a custody battle if you plan on making her 'disappear' in the end?"

"This way Henry has some closure. Once she loses Henry and goes missing, it won't be that hard to convince everyone she just skipped town." She told him plainly. "I think that little cellar where you hid Kathryn Nolan would work nicely, assuming Emma doesn't end up resurfacing."

"Indeed, I suppose that would put a dent in your little plan." He smirked. "Another question is, why you think Emma would come to me after I refused her?"

"Don't all desperate souls turn to you, Rumple?" she inquired. "Plus, she believes that you're the only one who can take me on."

"Well, she hit the nail on the head with that, didn't she?" He sneered. "Even in this world, you'll never be more powerful than me."

"Don't fool yourself in thinking you have the power here. Emma's not the only one I can make disappear." Regina hissed. Gold was silent for a moment. "I can take little Belle away just as easily."

"You will do no such thing," he said confidently.

"Wh…" Regina began before Gold cut her off.

"Please," he smirked. Next thing he heard was the dial tone as Regina hung up the phone. Gold placed his own back onto the receiver as he leaned against the kitchen counter.

"Mr. Gold?" came Belle's gentle voice from somewhere on the first floor.

"In the kitchen, Belle," he called as he stood up straight just as she rounded the corner. Her bright eyes lit up as she caught sight of him.

"Is everything alright?" She asked timidly. Gold gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yes, yes, everything's fine." He told her, hiding his true frustration. "Why?"

"It's just, you said you were going to get the bags, but you never brought them up," she said curiously.

"Oh, yes, well, I got a little side tracked," he told her. "My apologies."

"I guess I can forgive you," she tried to hide a smirk, "this once."

"Can I get you anything?" he asked after a brief silence. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"No, I'm still full from lunch," she smiled. "If you don't mind, I was going to wash up and go to bed."

"Of course," he said automatically. He followed her out of the kitchen as she walked back down the hall to grab the shopping bags. "Here, let me help you."

He picked up two of the three bags along with his suit and followed her up the stairs. Once back in her room, he set the bag on her newly made bed and she began emptying them. The clothes were scattered upon the crème colored comforter. While she did such, he took his new suit to his own room on the other end of the corridor. He took this time to process the current situation with Regina.

So Regina obviously isn't going to kill Emma or send her to another dimension. But what did she mean retrieving something? Well, as long as Emma's still around, it may prove advantageous that she believe and break the curse, before she disappears. And it's going to take more than the little princeling to convince her.

The same thoughts ran through his mind now as he lay in his bed. He looked at the clock again. 1:05 AM. Grumbling quietly, he threw the covers off of him and got out of bed. He obviously was not going to get much sleep tonight. Perhaps a hot cup of tea would help him easy into a drowsy state. And if that didn't work, he had a nice bottle of bourbon in the cupboard.

He silently descended the stairs into the kitchen. Opening the pantry, he quickly scanned the various shelves until he found the box of tea. He took one bag out and put the kettle on. It didn't occur to him that he was making too much noise until the kettle began loudly whistling on the stove. He quickly removed it from the stove and listened to hear if Belle was stirring. After a few moments of silence, he let the tea steep while he retrieved a cup from the cabinet.

"What're you doing?" The sound of Belle's inquisitive voice in the silence made him jump and drop the cup in his hand. He looked up to see her bright eyes grow wide and her brow wrinkle. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Here let me help." She knelt down next to him where the shards of the cup lay scattered on the floor. Her face shown the shy guilt it had when she had chipped the cup in Dark Castle. "I'm so sorry."

"It's just a cup," he said. She looked up and their eyes met. Once again, he saw the slightest hint of recognition on her face. Their gaze was broken by the slightest touch of their fingers trying to pick up the same fragment of the cup. Belle was not sure why, but she could not help but blush. Gold cleared his throat nervously and retracted his hand. "Would you like a cup of tea, Belle?"

"That sounds lovely." She smiled as they both rose to their feet. "I couldn't sleep. It's been sort of an exciting day."

"That it has," Gold smirked grabbing two new teacups. "But I fear it is only the beginning."