Short chapter today, sorry! Working on writing more...enjoy. Again, suggestions are welcome when you review. My offer to anyone interested in co-writing this with me is still open.

Cursed 10

David took Mary-Margaret's hand and they walked into the front room. Gold waited patiently at the back counter.

"Did you have a nice reunion?" he inquired, his tone strangely polite.

"Yes, thank-you," Mary-Margaret answered while David snapped,

"Cut to the chase, how do you have your memories back?"

"David," Mary-Margaret tugged on his arm.

"Well, Prince Charming," Mr. Gold emphasized 'Charming'. "That's not important right now. What is important is breaking the curse."

"Our daughter can break the curse?" Mary-Margaret questioned.

"Indeed. And your daughter is Emma."

"But how do we know that for sure?" David asked. "How do we know that we have the right girl?"

"In this land, we have DNA tests to prove people are related, among other things. I took the liberty of collected DNA samples from the three of you and Emma matches you both."

"You took samples?!" David shouted. "How is that legal?"

"This is a matter of the curse, not legality. I will do what it takes to break this curse." Mr. Gold folded his hands and leaned across the counter. "Now, we need Miss Swan to realize Henry's ideas are not just ideas: they are reality."

"Wait a second," David held up his hand. "How do we know that you're really on our side? What do you get out of breaking the curse?"

Mr. Gold sighed. "I get everything back if I break the curse. Here, I am the sickly, weak man I used to be before magic. If I break the curse, I get my life back. I will have my health back."

"And your magic?" Mary-Margaret asked.

Mr. Gold hesitated. "Not exactly. The way the curse was cast, magic was eliminated and then the curse whisked us away to Storybrooke. Miss Swan is destined to break the curse that restores our memories and restores our old lives. For magic to be restored, a little more is needed. So we won't worry about that until after Miss Swan breaks the curse."

David folded his arms. "I don't see how we can trust you. How do we know what you're telling us is true? If you get your magic back, you could turn on us."

"That is a good point you make, however, I am your only option and ally right now. How else do you think you can beat Regina?"

Mary-Margaret drew her husband aside. Gold was right; he was their only option. He was the only other one who had his memories.

"We have to trust him, Charming."

David scowled, "This isn't good, Snow. We need some form of assurance that we can trust him."

"The dagger," Mary-Margaret whispered.

"Perfect." David turned to Mr. Gold. "We will work with you under one condition: you give us your dagger."

Mr. Gold looked visibly surprised at David's demand. He tugged at his suitcoat cuffs. "Unfortunately, I do not know the whereabouts of the dagger."

"Liar!" David took a threatening step forward.

"Do you really think the Evil Queen would send the dagger with me in this new land?" Mr. Gold countered.

Mary-Margaret looked him in the eye and held his gaze. He was telling the truth; she could feel it. "He doesn't have the dagger," she said at last.

"Are you sure?" David questioned, slipping an arm around her waist.

"I can tell when someone is lying or not. He is telling the truth. Regina probably has it locked away somewhere."

"Perhaps this will interest you?" Mr. Gold reached under the counter and pulled out a rectangular box. "As the Dark One, I didn't need to worry about this. Now as a mortal, I took the precaution." He opened the box to reveal a nearly black heart.

"Is that…?" David stared.

"My heart. Yes. If you possess my heart, you possess the power to crush it and kill me. Until I regain my previous life as the Dark One, I can die just like anyone else."

David reached inside the box and seized the heart. His fingers curled around the beating organ and he squeezed.

Mr. Gold grabbed at his chest and he fell onto the counter.

"David!" Mary-Margaret cried.

David released the heart. "Just testing it."

"Satisfied?" Mr. Gold grunted between clenched teeth.

"Yes. We'll take this and talk to you tomorrow." David took the heart box with one hand and with the other took Mary-Margaret's hand.

"Wait!" Gold shouted. "You can't walk around like that."

"Like what?"

"You aren't married to Mary-Margaret here; you're married to Abigail."

Mary-Margaret loosed her hand from David's. "He's right. Regina will know something is up if she sees us together."

"I don't want to be away from you," David protested. "I'll divorce Abigail!"

"I know, I want to be with you too, but for the sake of breaking the curse, we have to continue with our cursed lives." Mary-Margaret stroked his cheek. "We'll figure out ways to meet."

"I feel like we're always separated or our lives are in jeopardy."

"If True Love was easy, everyone would have it," Mary-Margaret responded with a gentle kiss on his lips. "How about we meet at Granny's in the morning? We could grab a quick breakfast and at least see each other?"

"I'll see you at 7:15," David nodded.

Mary-Margaret bid him goodnight and left the pawn shop and entered the dark night.