Disclaimer: I only own this plot, though I would love to own Tangled.

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Chapter Ten

Eugene found Rapunzel waiting for him in their room and arched an eyebrow. On the bright side, she wasn't tackling him and demanding that he finish the story. On the flip side…she wasn't tackling him and demanding that he finish the story. Why wasn't she doing that? Walking over to stand beside her, Eugene bent down and softly kissed her cheek.

"Hello, beautiful," he murmured softly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she replied, though Eugene wasn't buying it for a moment. "I was just…thinking about your story." Looking up at him with those beautiful big green eyes, she smiled a little and took his hand in hers. "If you don't want to tell me the rest, I don't mind. I know enough about your childhood. And you did keep your promise to tell me about when you were little."

A part of Eugene was relieved at this, but he wasn't about to let her know that. She'd been so eager to hear his story that he couldn't help feeling a little like a heel for not telling her the entire story. Smiling down at her, he brought her hand up to his lips and knelt down beside her.

"Hey…if you want to hear more, then I won't say no."

Smiling brightly at that, Rapunzel threw her arms around his neck and kissed him firmly. "Then…I'd at least like to know how you began working with the Stabbingtons. Then you don't have to tell me anymore."

Thank God, Eugene thought to himself. He wasn't about to go into any details about his thieving with the Stabbingtons. Those were times he would rather forget, personally. He was a changed man now, after all.

"Well…" he said slowly.

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Eugene had never been this angry before. Meira was dead, and he'd just let it happen. Sure, he'd talked tough, but he hadn't tried to save her. Now those two brothers were out there somewhere, and he had to make them pay for what they'd done.

Of course, he was still just eighteen and still a little scrawny. Compared to the two brothers, he was just a little shrimp who they could probably break in half without trying. So he'd have to be smart about it. Maybe wait a couple years before tracking them down. Though…since he had no idea where they were at this point, it would probably take that long to track them down anyway. That was probably more than likely anyway, so he would have to plan for that.

In the end, he was just a few years off. Instead of two years to track them down, it took him four. And even then, he couldn't be sure that it was them at first. He heard rumors of a pair of brothers who were doing various thieving jobs in various cities of the kingdom, but Eugene never saw them himself. He was starting to lose hope that he would ever find them when it finally happened.

It had been four years, and so Eugene had filled out quite nicely—"If I may say so myself."—but he was probably still no match for the two brothers. That being the case, he decided to go about this in a more stealthy way than anything else. The last thing that he wanted, for one thing, was for them to realize who he was until it was too late for them to do anything about it. He wanted to get into their group and then make them pay for what they did to Meira. The pain and anger at her death had died down somewhat, but Eugene still felt far too responsible to just let it lie. Those two were going to get what was coming to them, one way or another.

When he did finally find them, it was in an old tavern in one of the larger cities of Corona. They were still as large and hulking as Eugene remembered, and for a moment or two he debated just turning around and never coming back again. At least then he would still be in one piece, and not spread all over the kingdom. Then he thought of that night, four years ago, when the younger of the two brothers had sliced Meira's throat, and while the anger was not as great as it had once been, Eugene found himself making his way towards the two redheads. Before he could come to his senses, he had already pulled up a chair at their table and was grinning in his typical "Flynn Rider" manner.

Naturally, both of the brothers were looking at him as though he'd lost his mind, but they didn't seem to recognize him just yet. For that, Eugene was grateful. He'd changed a bit in the last four years, and clearly that was enough to prevent these brothers from recognizing him. And they had never learned his name before, which would also be a point in his favor. The one thing that wouldn't be helpful to him would be the fact that he didn't know these brothers' names.

"Hi, there," he said, as though he were simply asking for the time.

They still looked at him like he was insane, and a part of Eugene had to agree with them. What was he doing, anyway? Sitting here and chatting with two murderers as though this were something he did every day. Still, he kept his smile intact and waited for the brothers to make the next move.

"…What're you doing over here?" the older brother finally asked.

"Figured that the two of you looked like my kind of folks," Eugene replied lightly. "Catch my drift? I'm looking for a pair of men to take on as partners in crime, so to speak."

Eugene couldn't believe what he was saying. And yet, it seemed to interest at least the younger of the two brothers. That might be a good thing, if it got them to agree to this insane plan that Eugene had just come up with on the spot. Keeping his expression bland, he waited.

"Not interested," the older brother said firmly.

"Now, is that any way to treat a potential partner?" Eugene asked with an arch of his eyebrow. "I don't even know your names."

"Stabbington."

Eugene waited for the two-eyed brother to provide first names, but he didn't. Shrugging a little at this, he nodded. "Stabbington. Got it. My name's Rider." He held out a hand to the two of them. "Flynn Rider."

Not book fans, Eugene decided when neither brother reacted to his name. Another thing to be relieved about, he supposed. Still, neither brother had made a move to accept his outstretched hand. Not something to be pleased about. Waiting with baited breath, Eugene almost sighed in relief when the older brother accepted his hand.

"Guess we're open to doing business with you, Rider."

"Good," Eugene said honestly. "That will be just fine with me."

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"So you kept working with them?" Rapunzel asked quietly.

"All the time looking for the perfect opportunity to betray them, yeah," Eugene said quietly. "And then I met you and got rid of them for good."

A soft smile crossed Rapunzel's face as she looked up at Eugene. They were both silent for a long moment before she spoke again, carefully lacing her fingers through his.

"I'm glad you met them," she said firmly. "If you hadn't, then we wouldn't have met and I'd still be in that tower with Mo—with Gothel."

Eugene wrapped his arms tightly around her at that thought and held her close. He couldn't stand the idea of never having met this beautiful girl and never knowing what it was like to love her. Kissing the top of her head tenderly, he smiled down at her.

"When you put it that way…I guess I'm glad I met them, too."

Rapunzel laughed quietly and snuggled closer to him. "How does the story end?"

Chuckling to himself, Eugene lightly rubbed her back. "Well…I met this beautiful Princess, and she said that she would marry me, and we're living happily ever after."

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Author's Note: *flop* It's DONE! *twitches for a few minutes* Is it a lame chapter? Most likely. Do I care at this point? *long pause* Nope. Not at all. I mean, I love this story to death, but my muse for it was being such a dork. Well! At last it's done, and I can turn my full attention to my other Tangled stories! Does this mean that new AU will be coming soon?

…Probably, yes. But I won't give you any details! Reviews are love, and thanks for sticking with this one!