He'd watched her run from the library, alone, as if the hounds of hell were upon her heels. So the curse was still upon her. He transformed into his eagle self, the easier to follow her as she ran blindly, her sobs tearing the air around her. She collapsed to the ground when she could run no more, and he alighted in a tree above her, watching her.

Her beauty hadn't dimmed with the passing of time, but her weariness weighed upon her. stooping her shoulders and making her appear older than her years. He felt a twinge of something...the humans might call it sympathy. He'd had many humans, but only a few could be called special in anyway. She was one of the few. He ruffled his wings, preparing to fly down to her, when the sound of approaching footsteps arrested his actions.

The women with the dark hair approached, followed by the man with the bow, and -

He let out a screech, drawing their eyes, and a moment later, he alighted in front of them, morphing into human form as they all stood frozen. All except the one he faced now, with a look of utter contempt narrowing his eyes.

"Rumplestiltskin." He said the name like an epithet.

"I told them you'd be arriving," Gold said. He waved a hand carelessly at the others. "That isn't permanent, is it?"

"They are but paused."

Gold shrugged. "You never know with you. Your temper tends to get the better of you."

"So this is where you've been hiding."

"I don't need to hide from the likes of you," Gold replied coldly. "You and I have no business with each other. Now, if you'll unfreeze them, we'll collect the stumbling menace -" he gestured to Dora - "And we'll be on our way."

"They cannot contain her. It will only make things worse. This we learned as she lay in Tartarus."

"So the Gods aren't immune?" Gold looked surprised. "I thought these were the troubles of mankind we were discussing."

"Mankind and their troubles are directly tied to Olympus, as we are their guardians. The unleashing of this curse splintered the realms, sheered them further apart, and led to disbelief, discord, and the spread of dark magic - as you know."

"Don't blame your problems on us, dearie," Gold said quietly. "You Gods play at discord like world is made of harp strings. The question is: what are you going to do about it? You and I both know that this particular curse cannot be brought back once it has been unleashed."

"Yes. Just as you and I both know that the idea to open the box didn't come from the mind of a mere human. The Dark One had his own reason to unleash more dark power upon mankind."

Gold raised a protective hand. "You may want to hear what I have to say, before you take this conversation further."

"Enough!" Regina stepped forward, breaking out of the confinement spell. She looked at their visitor. "Whoever you are, you're good. I haven't been caught in a confinement spell that strong in decades."

He looked at her with admiration - that was of more than a professional kind. "And you are a surprise, as well," he said, his lips curving upward. "But a welcome one."

Regina rolled her eyes. "You might look like a Greek God, but the lines won't work on me," she said tightly. "I heard every word of this conversation. What the hell is going on? And who are you, exactly?"

"I grow tired of this conversation." He looked at Gold. "You and I are not finished."

A moment later, he was airborne, spreading his wings on the wind as he vanished in the sky. Snow, Robin and Dora sagged to the ground, gasping.

"Who the hell was that?" Robin demanded, helping Snow to her feet. Dora answered him, her voice muffled by the hands she pressed to her face.

"Zeus," she said. "That was Zeus."

"That was Zeus?" Snow's jaw fell. "King of the Gods?"

"They're not our gods," Regina reminded her. "And right now, I'm feeling more interested than threatened." She looked over at Gold. "You've got some history with him."

"We made a deal once. He needed a powerful piece of dark magic, and only I had enough dark magic to create one. In return, I asked for the bow of Paris - a magical instrument that was known to never miss a target." Gold looked over at Robin. "Unfortunately, that didn't make it impervious to thieves."

"Was the magical instrument the box?" Regina asked. "Did you create the box?"

He gave her an annoyed look. "No. The box predates us all. I gave him something near and dear to your heart: an apple."

Snow's mouth parted. "The apple of discord. We studied it in our mythology unit. Eris tossed the golden apple of discord onto the table during a wedding feast at Olympus. It was inscribed with the words "To the fairest one," and three goddesses claimed it. A mortal who was thought to be fair was brought in to pick the one most worthy of the apple."

"And just as Zeus had hoped, Aphrodite employed all her charms," Gold said. "And won the apple by offering the mortal - a man named Paris - the most beautiful human woman in the world."

"Helen," Snow replied. "Her abduction started the Trojan war, which continued for ten years and claimed thousands of lives."

"And sent hundreds of thousands of offerings and prayers, and years of service to Zeus and the other gods of Olympus, just as he'd hoped for," Gold explained. "Men were growing weary, and their need for deities was growing scarce. A war brought it all back around."

"But that was thousands of years ago," Snow said, confused. "Even you aren't that old. Are you?"

"Did I say Troy was part of this realm?" he replied. "Time runs differently in other realms. The gods roamed between them easily enough back then, before men started delving into science and logic to explain the universe around them. And like most myths and magical legends, the stories traveled across realms with those who could do so, at the time."

"Zeus orchestrated it all?" Robin said, dismayed. "Why not just start the war himself?"

"Because it's always better to pull the strings than get your hands dirty," Regina said mirthlessly. "Right?" She gave Gold a pointed look, which he returned with a cold stare.

Snow squatted down, reaching out to gently touch Dora's arm.

"Dora? Why is he here? Do you know?"

Dora shook her head. "I don't know. Perhaps he hopes as I do - to find the box."

"Then we'd better beat him to it," Snow said, turning to Gold. "Where is it?"

"I'm not going to answer that, out here in the open," he said. "In case you haven't noticed, the man has an agenda. And if it involves the box, it can't be good."

"So we need to know his game plan," Regina said.

"Which can be easily accomplished," Gold said. "Zeus's downfall has always been a pretty face. You need only use your wiles to draw it from him."

"If he chooses you," Dora said quietly, drawing their attention again. "It will work, but only if he chooses you. Zeus doesn't like to be pursued. He likes the hunt. It's all a game to him, and he likes to pick his prey."

"So how do you pique the notice of a god?" Regina asked dryly.

Dora's face was a blank mask. "You pray that you don't."

###

"Henry! Archie!" Emma called out again. David shook his head, crouching down next to Pongo.

"I'm gonna take him off his leash," he said. "Maybe he'll catch the scent faster if we let him wander."

"Good idea," Emma agreed. "And I think we should split up. These mines are a lot larger than they look. Take Pongo that way," she gestured, "Towards the spot they were in before - just in case. I'll head down this corridor, and Killian, you head toward the side that goes toward the beach."

"Aye." Killian leaned in, giving her a quick peck. "Be careful."

"Will do," she promised, clicking on her flashlight and making her way down the tunnel ahead of her. It was easy to get turned around in the near pitch-blackness, so she gathered rocks every so often, laying them out into arrow formations at every cross-corridor, to remind herself of the way she'd come. After nearly half an hour with no luck, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her.

Killian's hand came up, shielding his eyes as she shone the flashlight on him.

"Sorry," she apologized, lowering the beam to shine on the ground. "What's going on?"

"The boy has been found," he said, smiling.

"And Archie?"

"Yes. Both of them."

"And...?" She raised her brows.

"They're fine. Headed for the surface, even as we speak. I came to collect you." He stepped closer. "But there's no hurry to get back."

"Killian," she smiled, as he leaned in and kissed her. "Come on, this place gives me the creeps."

He put his hand on her waist. "Ah, but we're quite alone down here," he murmured, nuzzling her neck. "And I do love the way the sounds echo in a cavern..."

"Sounds intriguing," she said, pushing against him. "Some other time, maybe."

He moved quickly, backing her into the rock wall behind her, pinning her there as his mouth pulled at her neck and throat, and his hand moved from her waist upward, cupping and squeezing her breast.

"Killian!" Her tone was sharp now. "I mean it! What the hell - get off me!" She pushed him hard, but he was immovable, insistent, and he was a lot stronger than she was. Emma was just starting to feel panic when a voice echoed down the corridor.

"Swan?"

She froze, and so did he. Her eyes met his and a second later, a flash of light pushed him backward. His eyes widened, and then he whirled, transforming in mid-air and flying off down the tunnel, dodging past Killian as he flew. Emma ran after him, coming up short in front of the real Killian.

"What the devil was that?" he asked. "How did a bird get down here?"

"That wasn't a bird," she panted, staring down the tunnel. "I think he was one of Dora's friends."

"Why was he here?"

"He could change his shape. He tried to make me think he was you." She wrapped her arms around herself. "He tried to -" she bit her lip, shaking her head, unable to say the words.

Killian's eyes flashed and he reached out for her cautiously. "Emma? Did he hurt you?"

She took two steps forward, all but throwing herself into his arms. "No," she said. "He didn't have time. I managed to use my magic to throw him off me, but he was really powerful." She pressed her face into his chest, and he could feel the slight tremble run down her spine. His forced his fist to uncurl as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

"Bloody bastard," he bit out. He managed to get a grip on his temper...just. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I've got you, love. I've got you," he said.

"Wait," she said, pulling back. "Did you find Henry?"

"No, and my tunnel was a dead-end, so I doubled back to team up with you."

She nodded, taking in a deep breath and pulling herself together. "We've got a few cross-sections to cover here," she said.

He reached down, taking her hand. "This time, we stay together."

"Together," she nodded.

She lifted her flashlight, shining it down the tunnel as she started forward, and Killian moved with her, his eyes narrowing as he stared into the darkness behind them.