A/N:Really VERY Important Note!

I sincerely and deeply apologize for the chapters lacking the last week :( I had a note on my tumblr that the stories should have been updated Monday of last week but the week was just terrible and the last few days were equally as hectic with a family health scare in the middle of it all (everything ended up being ok). I really am so sorry to say this also but I've had to rework the stories I'll be posting this year and the ones that will feature next year. I've been posting 2 stories just about every day for the last 8 months but I've been forced to realize that I overestimated what I can handle and it's actually hurting me more than helping me.

On that note...this story will be postponed in updating until September 15th. I am so, so, so, so, So, So, So, So, SO, SO, SO, SO, SOOOOOOOO sorry to do this, I really am, it devastates me so much but I've realized now what I can handle doing in 1 day and it's not 2 stories at a time :( I feel I can handle temporary 2-story updates, like when I revise my Doctor Who stories per-series after it airs, and like how I will do this series for Season 4 after it finishes airing on top of whatever I'm posting at the time. But at the moment, I truly don't feel confident or capable of doing 2 stories at once :'( I am going to try though, to sort of do a 'as one story ends another picks up' thing. For the future, I'll be focusing on my DW story, then finish this one, then continue on to LotR, then Doctor Who (TL5), and finishing the year with Star Wars. This means (and I'm devastated to do it) Big Bang Theory will be posted at the start of 2015. I actually think, in the long run, it'll be better for that to happen because there's about 150 chapters of that so far and that would mean days of posting it 2x a day or even 3x a day to finish in 2014 and that makes me feel like it'll be rushed...and it might actually be better in the long run as we'd go right into Season 8 instead of waiting months till it finished airing. I really am sorry to do it but it takes about 3-4 hours to really edit a chapter to a point where I'm happy with it before I post it the next day and that meant spending about 6-8 hours just editing a chapter for tomorrow. With the changes in schedule and interruptions, this really killed me in posting at the right times :'(

I have this entire story written out, all the 26 next chapters, but I'm really particular about editing and I truly don't have the time in 1 day to edit 2 stories for the next day :'( This story WILL resume on the 15th and it will finish around October 2nd. It WILL resume, I swear this on my fanfiction charm bracelet. I just can't, at the moment, with my changing work schedule, handle doing 2 stories at the same time :'( It will be less than 2 weeks, before we get this story back, all I can ask is that you hold on till then and please don't hate me :'( (cos I really do hate myself for doing this already).

~8~

To Catch a Cold

It started with a tickle, a tickle of the throat that came with a small clearing of the same after a round of giggling made by the Dark One himself. It was the way he'd fallen silent immediately after clearing his throat that had made Piper look over from where she was cleaning and sharpening the knives he had wished to be ready. She was sitting at the end of the long table in the main hall, her feet up on it, a small handful of knives resting on her lap, the polish and whetstone on either armrest as she cleaned them, the small noise of her work melding with the sound of the spinning wheel going. She had noticed that the Dark One was often in the same room as her, whenever she was cleaning or doing chores, for some reason he always found himself there along with her even when she knew he likely had other more important things to do.

At first she had thought it was because he didn't trust her, nor did he really have a reason to do so. She had already proven that her magic could affect him, for all he knew her humming was meant to put him to sleep so she could rob him blind or something like that. But she had been with him nearly a month so far and she had more than proven he could trust her. She did her duties, she cleaned and cooked and took care of the castle. She took the bloodstains out of his clothing, she tidied up his torture chambers and dungeons, she made sure that he was well stocked with straw. She swayed his clients when he needed her to, and they had formed a sort of trust, she liked to think. She doubted it was because he didn't trust her that he kept an eye on her.

In the first few days he had looked at her warily, as though he were trying to work out who she was, why she was there, what she really wanted, as though she wanted anything other than what their deal entailed. He watched her carefully, but slowly she had noticed that he didn't seem to mind her presence much. But it still didn't explain why he was always there. Even if she wasn't in the same room for a long period of time, at some point while she was there, he always, at the very least, walked past and peeked in at her. She wasn't unnerved by it, nor bothered, it was his castle, he could go where he wished. She also didn't feel concerned or take it to mean he didn't trust her, she didn't find annoyance in it if he looked in on her. He had, after all, made a deal to keep her safe from Regina, it wouldn't do well if she randomly left the castle and got caught.

She knew it was likely not the case but…she was starting to feel that, perhaps, he did this because he was starting to enjoy her company. Perhaps he just wanted to actually be around her. That would be first. Growing up it was usually only her parents and her cousin that could handle being around her for long periods of time. Even her aunt and uncle were the tiniest bit uneasy around her if with her for copious amounts of time, especially when she was older. It was like her cousin was the only one that could look past it, her parents (of course) because of what her mother was and what her father had to feel to look past how her mother acted to love her. But this was new to her, to have someone genuinely wish to be around her, to find her interesting.

The Dark One giggled quite a bit when she was around. Some of her comments, she knew, impressed him with how little his teasing and taunting bothered her. Their very first meeting in this castle he'd asked her to tend to the flesh of the children he skinned. Without batting an eyelash she'd accepted that as a potential chore and asked if he wanted them stretched for parchment or sewn into purses. He had laughed, he'd been impressed that something others found so revolting and despicable she was being so unconcerned by. She knew that she impressed him very much with how her mind worked and how she reacted to things. She walked in on him torturing people and offered suggestions of how to make it hurt more. She found men tied up and released them merely because the hunt was more thrilling than a stationary target.

He appreciated her, she saw it in how he acted, he appreciated her personality and how she was. That…hadn't happened before. With her parents, she was always trying to be one way or the other, around her cousin she tried to be warmer and more caring, more…human. But in doing it she ignored another half of herself. The Dark One was truly the first to actually accept her just as she was.

And she appreciated him just as much for that.

So it was reasonable that she frowned and narrowed her eyes when he merely cleared his throat again and went back to his spinning, though this time more quiet than before, more intently focused on the wheel.

But she waited a moment longer before she went back to her tasks as well.

~8~

A cough was next and Piper was almost impressed with how he was trying to conceal it. Well, perhaps not impressed, more…amused. She would be the first to say that she didn't know the Dark One well, she doubted anyone did, the man having been alive for nearly 3 centuries already. But she liked to think she learned more about him every day, yet one thing she was sure of…was that he always wanted to be the victor. He wanted to be the strongest, the most clever, the one that benefited from deals and he loathed to appear weak to anyone. Given how irritated he had been when she had released Robin Hood and how determined he was to make a statement out of the man, he didn't want anyone to think him soft or weak.

He was one of the most powerful dark, magical beings in the Enchanted Forest, perhaps even THE most powerful…

And he was sick.

He, the great and powerful Dark One…had a cold.

She truly would have laughed out loud when she realized that the tickle in his throat the day before had been the first stirrings of a cough, that the cough today, accompanied sometimes by a little sniffle he quickly tried to hide behind a handkerchief, were the signs of a cold. But she knew that the man wouldn't appreciate her laughing at something like that. She understood, she hated being ill as well, it often made others think you at your weakest and he didn't want anyone to ever see him like that. He was doing his absolute best to try and hide it from her for a reason, he was going to very extreme lengths to keep it hidden.

But it was also rather obvious that he was getting more ill as they day went on. When he would cough, he would try to cover it by making some other noise with his spinning wheel, or going to some of the treasures he considered to be junk and making a ruckus of destroying them. He'd get up and briskly walk out of the room, and sound as though he were hacking up a lung in the next room, but she could still hear him. He had enchanted a teapot to have an endless supply of tea and set it right beside him, had drank copious amounts of it throughout the day, had sent her to the village to get as much honey as she could carry as well.

She could hear him trying to breathe deeply and slowly when he tried to hide a sniffle. He would flip through books, making crinkling noises with the pages, tear out notes of some other journals and crumple them up all to hide his sniffles. She'd seen him turn away, pretending to be looking at something but pull his handkerchief out to run under his nose as it began to run.

And by the end of the day, he hadn't had an appetite to eat the meal he'd insisted she make him instead of a soup she'd tried to subtly suggest for him. She'd heard his wheezing breathing last through the night before he deemed it time to retire to his rooms…an hour before his normal time. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt that he was ill, and yet he was doing his best to hide it. She ended up sitting in the main hall for a short while longer after he'd gone to bed, finishing up the last of her chores before making her way into the kitchens to check on their supplies….

She had a feeling that, come morning, she would need a rather large quantity of juice and soup.

~8~

"You are very stubborn," Piper mused as she stood in the doorway of Rumpelstiltskin's personal chambers. The man hadn't come down for the first meal of the day, not that she thought he would as her prior guess that he truly was very ill was correct and she doubted he'd actually make it out of bed that day. He usually rose with the sun, something about his magic not needing him to sleep as much as others, and when he hadn't appeared for the meal that she hadn't actually prepared in anticipation of this reaction, she'd known.

So she had gotten together a small bit of toast and a goblet of juice that she'd squeezed out of oranges before she made her way up the stairs to his chambers. She'd been standing there for quite a while, not wanting to really enter without his permission, knowing what privacy meant to him. It was one thing to enter when he wasn't in the room, when she was tidying up, but with him actually in it was another thing. So she'd stood there, not really wanting to wake him either. He had been sleeping fitfully, from what she could see, his breath shallow and quick. She could tell just from the few sunrays peeking through the curtains and shining on his golden skin that it held even more of a sheen to it, it was sparkling even more, he was sweating in his sleep. His face was scrunched in pain that only an illness or nightmare could bring and his hair was starting to mat from it. But even so she could see him shaking, all the blankets on his bed pulled over him.

She hadn't dared speak till she heard him groan and saw him raise a hand to his forehead, waking, pulling his attention over to her.

"Yes, dearie, I suppose I am," he grumbled.

"It was not a question," she countered, stepping into the room, taking his speaking and not ordering her away as an invitation to enter, or at least as a hint that he might not chastise her for doing so, "I have brought you sustenance," she told him, setting down the plate with the toast on it and the goblet beside it.

"I'm not hungry," he muttered.

"That does not mean you should not eat," she reminded him, "I must fetch something," she told him, "When I return I shall expect to see you have eaten at least half the bread and drank most of the juice."

"I don't take orders from you dearie," he tried to glare at her, but the effect was rather lost when he winced and closed his eyes quickly, rolling on his side as though he were about to be ill.

"You shall today," she stated as she headed for the door.

But then it slammed magically closed before her, "I don't take orders from anyone," he hissed at her.

She merely turned around and made her way back to the bed, crouching down so she was more on eye level with him, "And you do not scare me Rumpelstiltskin," she spoke, her voice low with just a hint of a threat in it. She knew this was risky, very, very risky to speak to him so, but she also knew, from when her cousin was ill (and lord was she the most immature, childish, whining girl when she felt even the littlest bit queasy) that a firm tone was needed, to show them that you would not take no for an answer, that you were the one in charge of making sure they were well, "And, need I remind you, I have the power of song on my side."

He scoffed at that, bearing his teeth at her, "The power of music can't heal the sick Pied Piper."

She smirked, as though she were expecting such a remark, "No," she agreed, "But it can be so shrill that it keeps one awake no matter how tired they are," she tilted her head, her smirk turning dangerous, "And I will take great pleasure in forcing you to remain awake for the entirety of this illness, leaving you to agonize in your misery should you refuse to listen to me and do as you are told," she eyed him a moment, holding his gaze with hers, daring him to defy her, "Or, you can listen to me and I will ensure that you are able to sleep through most of it, that your dreams are not plagued by nightmares, and that it is truly a restive and restorative sleep," and, with that, she pushed herself up and turned to head towards the door once more, a silent, and quite truly partially stunned, Dark One watching her go.

"I never said we had a deal, dearie," he called as she opened the door.

She looked back at him, "I was not proposing one," she told him nonchalantly as she left.

Rumpelstiltskin stared at the door a moment longer, his expression growing more contemplative before a small smirk started to form on his face. He was sure, was quite certain, that he simply hadn't fought back, hadn't used his magic to force her to leave him be, because he was just tired at the moment. He was tired and ill and he didn't feel like wasting the energy on that infuriating woman that was ordering him about as though she were mistress of his castle.

It was that, yes, entirely that.

It had nothing at all to do with the notion that, perhaps, being cared for by someone was even slightly, in the most miniscule way…a little bit…comforting.

~8~

Rumpelstiltskin awoke slowly, hearing a soft humming filling the room, a soothing voice making the noise. He almost allowed himself a smile at the sound of it all before he remembered himself and what had happened. He inwardly cursed himself, how had he fallen ill?! He had been alive more than 300 years and he could count on one hand the amount of times he'd fallen into sickness, three of them were before he'd become the Dark One. He didn't get ill often, hardly at all since he'd gotten his powers, but he did know that it was possible. It had happened once before but he'd been alone, had beheaded his caretaker at that time, a few weeks prior to his illness, for trying to sell out the secrets of the tunnels and other passages of his home to another. He'd been alone then and utterly miserable and wretched in his illness.

But this…he actually would have preferred he die than for this to have happened. Falling ill in front of another person was completely unacceptable. Falling ill and finding himself being taken care of by some woman he'd only known a few short weeks was even more so. It made him feel vulnerable, it made him feel weak, it made him feel embarrassed that Piper was seeing him like this, so…small instead of the true and powerful Dark One!

He let out a weak cough, his thoughts disturbed, and opened his eyes.

"You slept nearly 9 hours," Piper was there, right beside him, right at the edge of his bed, actually sitting ON his bed.

No one sat on his bed.

But there she was, sitting on his bed, without his permission and…he groaned, rubbing his temple, his head was pounding and his stomach was churning and he was quite sure that the room was spinning even though he was just lying there.

"I take it that was your doing?" he grumbled, though he had to admit he did feel a little more rested, a little more energized than he had when he had eaten the entire toast and most of the juice that morning.

"Indeed," she nodded.

He hissed, feeling something icy cold land on his head and opened his eyes (when had he closed them?) to see that Piper had a small bowl on the dresser beside the bed, a bowl upon it, with a white cloth soaking in it, another white cloth in her hand as she rested it on his head. A cold compress, likely due to his fever. A fever, he was sure, that would have taken a lesser man out. His magic did afford him to survive worse illnesses than most, but when he was sick, it was truly terrible.

"Your fever spiked and broke not 2 hours ago," she added, updating him on his status, "You feel cooler than you did then, however I am not willing to take chances, hence the compress."

His face scrunched a moment at that, hearing something else in her words than what she was physically saying, "You have been here 9 hours straight?"

"I have not left this room since I returned during breakfast," she hummed, dabbing at his forehead.

"You were here…all this time?" he stared at her now, openly stared at her.

He…hadn't been expecting that.

He was quite certain that a majority of people that were saddled with the task of taking care of him would have been more than happy to lock him in the room, go about their business, and pray that he succumbed to the disease and died. But here Piper was, actually…tending to him. She was actually there, taking care of him, watching over him. She said she hadn't left the room and…he believed her, he believed her when she said that she had been there the entire time. What point was there to lie?

She nodded, "I did leave for a moment or two, to fetch you soup," she nodded to behind the bowl of water, where he could vaguely smell the scent of chicken broth, "And a bit more toast. But other than that, yes…I have been here the whole time."

He opened his mouth to say something, though he wasn't quite sure what that something was, when he suddenly turned on his side, his head over the side of the bed and wretched into a small bucket on the floor at Piper's feet, the bucket that she had retrieved that morning as he ate the toast for just such an occasion. He didn't even register the feel of Piper's hand on his back nor that her other hand was holding his hair back from his face till he had finished emptying the contents of his stomach into the bucket. Well, it wasn't quite his stomach that had been emptied into the bucket.

His magic did let him fight off illness, burn through it quicker, but for the most part his magic acted like an extra line of defense in making him better faster. It would gather the illness in his body, collect it all up, and then…well, expel it, much like it just had. The substance in the bucket was near pitch black and smelled utterly rancid. He knew, had he not just thrown up, he would have again at the stench.

"One moment," Piper murmured, handing him a goblet of water as she gathered the bucket and quickly left the room as he sat back on his bed a bit more, trying to sit against the headboard long enough to sip some water before he felt his head starting to pound and ended up lying down once again just as she reentered, "It has been disposed of," she told him, taking her place beside the bed once more.

He tried to speak but cleared his throat instead, waiting a moment longer, truly unsure of just what he could say to that. He hadn't...no one had…he didn't…

"Rest," she told him, seeing him struggling to make sense of this, and, before he could even argue that he had something to say and not to tell him what to do, she began to hum the same lullaby he'd woken to, sending him back to the world of soothing dreams.

~8~

Rumpelstiltskin was quite sure, somewhere in his mind, he was swearing revenge against Piper for doing this to him…for forcing him to remain in his bed for another day after he insisted he was perfectly fine and healthy again. She had merely given him an unaffected look when he threatened to magic himself out of the room and dared him to do so, stared him down, told him to go right ahead and do just that…

And he'd found himself still in his bed.

He told himself it was because, if he left, she would constantly be watching him and asking how he was and asking if he needed more rest and asking if he wanted soup and asking if he was dizzy or hungry or tired or a multitude of other things he knew she wouldn't actually do. He knew, if he left that bed, left that room when he threatened to, she wouldn't say a word about it, he was a grown man, he knew what he could handle, and if he wanted to leave then he could and she'd accept it. He KNEW she'd leave him be…

But he told himself she'd bother him so he stayed in the room instead. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that she had been tending to him for the last two days, nonstop, a constant companion, actually…caring about him. It had nothing to do with that, at all, not a thing. He didn't think he'd miss spending time with her like that, or talking as they had the last few hours now that he was allowed to be conscious for most of it. He wouldn't miss it at all, he wouldn't miss being taken care of, he certainly would not. He wouldn't miss appearing that weak.

Not at all.

And yet…he was still in that bed, having just finished a small sandwich that Piper had made for him, with just a little meat and some chicken broth and tea.

He watched her now, as she gathered up the last of his meal, always his meal, he didn't think he'd actually seen HER eat anything since he fell ill but he was sure that she had eaten while he'd slept or after she left him for the night (she had to have, hadn't she?). But he couldn't help but gaze at her as she puttered around and put everything on the tray she was going to bring down to the kitchens to wash before she returned to him again. This was…new to him, to see someone take care of him like she had. And it was truly starting to bother him to think of that.

"Why did you stay?" he asked her and she paused in her work.

"I assume you mean, why I stayed and cared for you?" she resumed her collecting of the plates and bowls and utensils.

"Yes."

She let out a soft breath, "Well, if you died the deal would be off," she stated.

His lips pursed at that, a…small pain striking his heart at the thought that one of her reasons for caring for him was so that he could keep protecting her. He knew it was unfair and irrational to feel…pain…because she saw him as a tool for that, he knew he had used others far more and in worse ways, treated them like a means to an end instead of a human being, so…

"And I know how much you are loath to break your deals," she continued.

He blinked at that and stared even more. So…she hadn't been thinking of the deal in terms of herself? Well, he was sure it was a thought, it had to be, but there was something about how that wasn't her first reason to help him that spoke to him. She had been concerned about the deal breaking for HIM? She had wanted to keep him alive so that he could continue to make and keep deals, because she knew that was an important part of his life. Well of course she knew, they had made a deal when they'd first met.

"Is…that all?" he inquired.

She glanced at him, pausing again, "You are also my partner," she added, "I do believe we have only just started to work together, we have yet to see where our skills may take each other."

He nearly smiled at that, she…DID care. She did care about him. There was just…there was something more there, he knew it. She had brought up their deal, her protection, she had brought up their agreement to be partners, their magic, they were both logical things to care about him for. But…it was as though her actions didn't match her words. She had gone above and beyond what he would expect of someone who only cared about him for his protection and business. She had sat at his side for days, tending to him, feeding him, cooling him down, dealing with his sickness, and she hadn't strayed from his side either. She did more for him than a mere business partner or protectee would have done.

He didn't know why that thought made him feel…warm in his gut.

Perhaps he was still just a little ill, it was a good thing he'd decided to stay in bed a little longer.

"And it is my duty," she nodded to herself, "As your caretaker, to take care of the things in your castle, YOU are in your castle are you not?"

"Clever girl," he mused, eyeing her, that would have been one way to defend what she had done should he have gotten angry with her. He HAD taken her on to 'take care' of things, and she had certainly taken care of him.

"Might I ask a question of my own?" she inquired and he nodded, "Why did you not merely heal yourself with magic? Surely a man of your power and skill could easily make so simple an illness disappear."

He would have grinned at that, she was sharp to realize that. But the question…it was tricky and there were many answers, truths and lies and half-truths, but…she HAD taken care of him, so he supposed, just this once, she did deserve the truth from him, "I wished to see how far you would take your duty."

She blinked and gave him a nod, before she turned back to the tray, focusing on getting all the items together, her back to him as the smallest of smiles actually starting to make its way across her face. He'd wanted to see if she would take care of him. She was quite sure that, had his fever been less than it was, had the illness been easier on him and had he felt stronger than he made show of feeling, that he would not have told her that bit of truth but merely said some sort of excuse like he couldn't magic away an illness for some reason or another. She knew that all magic came with a price and, to stop an illness, would probably only end up being something like suppressing it for a time only for it to come back stronger and more deadly later, as compensation for the 'healthy' time. She…appreciated that he had told her that. She was sure he likely couldn't magic away the illness, but the fact that he had allowed her to be in his room and to care for him when he clearly possessed the strength of magic to kick her out and forbid her entrance spoke volumes.

She schooled her expression, lessened her smile to a smaller one and turned, the tray in her hands, "I am glad you are well once more."

He nodded, reaching out quickly as she turned to go, his hand wrapped around her elbow for a moment, the two of them just looking at each other a long moment.

She gave him a small nod, the smile growing on her face again as she read something in his eyes, something he didn't want to say out loud.

'Thank you.'

He slowly let go of her arm, allowing her to turn and go to the door, watching her go intently…a small smirk starting to grow on his face when, just before the door closed with her on the other side, he heard her give a small cough, the same cough he had had.

It seemed like he would be able to repay this favor sooner rather than later.

He did hate being indebted to others.

A/N: (bit of spoilers for the Season 3 finale to come) I put in my own little thoughts about the illness there. I have many theories for OUAT, especially after implications in the finale. One of my theories for Marian involves the illness that Robin used magic to save her from. One theory could be as in this chapter, what if he only bought her time and the illness comes back stronger and more deadly later on? :( I think it's semi-obvious by a 9k word post (practically an essay) that I wrote on tumblr about all the many (MANY) plot holes surrounding Maid Marian that I do not believe Regina actually killed her. This was just one of many possible (and, to me, more realistic than Regina actually having killed her) theories :) (end of spoilers)

As for this chapter...I hope you liked a little bit of Piper taking care of Rumpelstiltskin here :) I wanted something sort of sweet to try and make up for the delay and sort of show a little bit of an awkward/hopeful start for their relationship :)

Again, I am SO sorry to postpone this story, but it WILL be back and it WILL be finished. I just wanted to apologize again about it :'( I'll be putting a tiny surprise on tumblr very soon to try and make up for it (though it's probably a very small, miniscule, not-compensating enough)

Some notes on reviews...

Hmm...I'm not sure what their secrets would be either, I feel like they sort of already know each other's secrets so it would probably end up being secrets they kept from others instead of each other and there are plenty ;) I feel like that would be awkward for Emma, definitely, even more so that her baby brother is named after her dead ex-boyfriend/father of her child. I actually was hoping that Snow would name the baby 'Daniel' as a true way to put the past behind her and Regina :) And it always struck me as more princely than Neal (though I do like the name Neal). There's no actual incest true, (thank god)...but it could be stretched though because Hook was Emma's boyfriend's mother's lover...so sort of like Emma's boyfriend's stepfather. Or, looking at it from Henry's POV, Hook, who was his step-grandfather, is now dating his mother...it's weird lol :)

I can say Captain Swan will be minimized due to Piper's dislike of Hook even if she might come to slightly be easier on him ;) I'm not 100 percent a fan of Captain Swan, so my Hook/OC will be the next OUAT story to come :) I think Piper would definitely have a trick up her sleeve for getting Gold back...but what she has planned and what others have planned (or what others do in reaction to her plan) might not be the same thing }:)

I can say that, since this story focuses mostly on Piper/Gold, we'll only see the Outlaw Queen that others do, perhaps a tiny bit more (let's just say...some specific soul-songs 'harmonize' when Piper hears them ;)) but, my next OUAT story (the Hook/OC) will heavily feature Outlaw Queen along with Hook's relationship too ;)

That's cool with me ;) Agree to disagree for me too ;)