+ + + + + + Truth
"OK, now this is interesting," Emma was on her computer in Gold's dining room.
He glanced up from his reading waiting for her to finish.
"You got out of jail when the assault charges on Mr. French were dropped after you agreed to pay his medical bills and wipe out the loan. I know you have this intense, never-forget-a-wrong kind of personality, but I'd never seen it so bad before. You seem to have some kind of personal vendetta against the man; I was afraid you'd kill the man. I wanted to check things out, see what I could find out. See if I could find out what set you off."
"I'd prefer not to talk about this." He warned her.
Emma waved him off, not one to back down from him. "Yeah, which is why I've had to go online and do my own investigation. Looks like his financial problems started when his daughter was placed in a mental institution. They had a webpage on her for awhile."
"His daughter is dead."
"Not unless he has more than one. The cost of her medical care has drained the family which is why he couldn't pay his bills to you."
Gold was up and stood by her at the computer. "Are you saying the daughter is alive?"
"Yeah, but is locked away some place."
"That can't be right. The daughter ran into some problems but the family abandoned her and she killed herself."
Emma pointed to the computer screen. "Where did you get that information from? That is different from everything that is detailed here."
"I got it from. . . "Gold closed his eyes. He thought he had learned. "an accomplished, lying bitch." He began pacing. "She made me think Belle was dead, but she's alive here. In a mental institution, you say."
"Who's Belle? This is about Marjorie French. But this is what it looks like. I'm running into confidentiality HIPAA regs and can't get any more information."
"The father would know where she was and could get us in, right?"
"Yeah, but he won't want to have anything to do with you."
"Which is why you are coming with me." Gold grabbed his outer coat and motioned for Emma to precede him out the front door.
It was one of the most difficult interviews Emma had ever sat through. Mr. French detailed his daughter's descent into disturbed behavior, how the family didn't have enough for the expensive treatment, how they had to go into debt, how the Mayor had finally found a place for her. Gold listened quietly, a pained expression on his face. He said something Emma would have never expected him to say.
"I may have made a mistake. Margie's situation reminded me so much of another girl who's family had abandoned her and eventually she killed herself that I thought the same thing had happened with Margie. I can't make things up to the other girl, but I can help with Margie. I want her in the best facility. I will pay all her bills."
Mr. French was near tears. "I can't repay you. You know that."
Gold hesitated. "I took comfort visiting with the other girl, she was kind to me and I would like to be able to visit with Margie. Just to talk with her from time to time, perhaps take her on the occasional outing. Please understand Mr. French, I do not have ulterior motives toward your daughter. I just want to make her life better as a way of making it up to the other girl in my past."
"This is more than generous," agreed Mr. French. "I'll sign whatever you need me to." He added. "The Mayor will probably need to know about this. She has been picking up on the tab so far."
"I will talk to the Mayor," promised Mr. Gold.
He drove Emma back to his house in silence. He parked and led her back into the house.
He was hesitant, "I appreciate what you did this evening. You righted a wrong."
"Well, that had to be hard for you. I'm still not sure exactly what I did besides finding out the family had medical problems and bills to pay."
"And the girl in question wasn't dead."
"Yeah, I'm so confused. I know we're talking about two different girls."
He swung Emma around to face him. "What if your son Henry is right, Ms. Swan?"
"What do you mean?"
"That everyone here are characters from fairytales and the Evil Queen has bespelled them all to make their lives miserable. That each person here has a parallel in Fairyland. Regina is the Evil Queen, Mary Margaret is Snow White, David Nolen is Prince Charming, Dr. Hopper is Jiminy Cricket. And that Margie French is Belle."
"So who are you?"
"In Belle's story, I was the Beast. It didn't turn our well between us. She was going to break the curse I'm under, but I didn't want the curse broken. I would lose my special powers and I didn't want to lose my powers. I made a choice and she was the one who got hurt."
"You know you aren't making sense?" Emma said to him. He was ranting and unsettling. He was kinda scary when he got like this.
"No probably not," he admitted. He turned toward her and roughly pulled her to him. "Ms. Swan, sleep in my bed tonight. Please, please, I need you." He didn't wait for her to respond but began kissing her and guiding her upstairs to his room.
Oh, I am such a slut, thought Emma. She let him have his way with her, dragging her upstairs, stripping off her clothes on the way, barely making it onto the bed before entering her and rocking her into ecstasy. Afterwards, he kept her very close and held on to her. And then woke her up very early in the morning to begin again.
+ + + + + Warning
"James, you fuckwit! Do you not realize how dangerous this woman is? Next to myself and the Snow White's stepmother, she is probably the most dangerous creature you will ever meet! Don't you know what she is?" Rumplestiltskin was furious with him. "She steals children, human children! She freezes their hearts and keeps them for company. They soon die, humans are not meant to live without love. Are you sure that you want her at your wedding?"
James had asked Rumplestiltskin to take the Snow Queen to the wedding and then return her to her palace. He had explained that people were going to want the opportunity to thank her. "You're coming, aren't you?" asked James with the implication that if his people could tolerate one, they could tolerate the other. "People will want to thank her, regardless of what she is, what she's done."
Rumplestiltskin laughed. "What she's done? She didn't do anything. If I hadn't been here, she would have killed all of you and left your people to die. If she wasn't in terror of what I might do to her, she would never have cooperated. Come with me," he directed James and led him around the castle. They eventually came to a downward spiraling staircase. It led to a cave under the castle. "Come, come," Rumplestiltskin continued to encourage James. "Look," he directed. "See."
"I just see a lot of white rocks."
"They aren't rocks, dear prince. They are bones, ground bones. From the hundreds of children she has brought here over many, many, many years. When they die, she takes them down here and the lake does the rest."
"She's a monster," said James, appalled now that he recognized what he was looking at.
"Not at all, James. She has long searched for the one child who will live once the heart is frozen. She just wants to find that one child who will stay with her for eternity. She didn't want any of these children to die."
Rumplestiltskin stood silently a moment while James digested this information.
"How dangerous is she?"
The creature looked at him for a long moment, "Well, she can't kill you with a single wave of her hand, or strip your sanity from you, or take away everything you hold dear or see the future." Again Rumplestiltskin gave his high pitched laugh. "But she can kill most people with three kisses. She may try to take someone's child. Prince James, she is very dangerous for she has no conscience, no empathy, no real feelings. But, if you want her at your wedding, I will bring her and return her here afterwards."
"Is there a price?"
"You will not hold me responsible for her behavior. You will provide a room for us to share," the imp's request was simple enough. He shrugged. "We enjoy each other's company. We have things in common."
"People will want to thank her. . . and you. So, yes, please bring her and return her and you will have one room for one night." James agreed. What had he agreed to?