He was in the back polishing some silver when the bell over his door rang. He smiled. Regina, no doubt.

With the charges dropped and Mary Margaret released from jail late last night, he figured she'd be on a rampage. He'd avoided her yesterday, today he doubted he'd be so lucky, and frankly, he was fine with that. He wanted her to come in angry and leave scared. He wanted her to begin to figure out who she could reach out to in order to clear her name and come to the conclusion it was Sidney Glass. After freeing Mary Margaret, she'd no doubt be upset and worried that he took Sidney's case, but after everything went her way again, he expected she'd be much more…compliant.

So, he gathered his cane in his hand, squared his shoulders to prepare for the firestorm about to hit him-

And found the wrong Mills staring him down in the shop.

"Hey, Mr. Gold," Henry chirped in his innocent voice. Given what he was expecting, this was a far more pleasant surprise.

"Good morning, Henry. What can I do for you?" he asked with a smile, wondering why the boy wasn't in school. Probably Regina had been too distracted to notice that her son had skipped for the day. But of course, he wanted to know "why" he'd suddenly decide to do something like that. The boy had been a lot more rebellious since Emma arrived; perhaps skipping was becoming normal for him?

"I want to get a gift for Miss Blanchard."

"Oh, I see," he nodded.

"Since she didn't kill that woman."

He had to fight back a genuine laugh at that comment. Children…precious. "Good thinking." He watched as Henry walked up to a wind chime that was hanging from the ceiling. It was more of an artistic piece, pretty but not worth much.

"Are these bells?" he asked, touching them so that they let out a song of their own. "Cool," Henry smiled. Indeed. To be quite honest, those chimes did remind him of Mary Margaret. They'd probably be perfect.

"See anything you fancy?"

"It should be something special, like…thoughtful. Am I right?"

He laughed a little. He hadn't gotten a gift for a woman since Belle. Henry might believe and know who he was, he shuddered at the thought that Henry might even know his history, but he didn't want Henry to know that. So he answered as Mr. Gold would have, with a small laugh and shake of the head, ever the salesman. "You're asking the wrong man."

"How much?" Henry asked, looking up at the chimes.

Ordinarily sixty. But he liked Henry. He'd even admit that he was charmed a little bit by his innocence in being here looking for a gift for his teacher, so he answered "Forty" instead.

"Wow, that's a lot," he pulled a handful of crinkled, disorganized cash out of his front pocket and counted. "I have seventeen dollars and… sixty-three cents."

He nodded. He'd be willing to give the boy a discount, but not that much of one. "I have some cheaper ones in the back you might like." But when he pulled back the curtain to the backroom, he was shocked to find that he wasn't alone as he had been when he left. There was a man there. Looking through his shelves. Who on earth?!

"May I help you?"

The man turned. His grip on his can tightened as he took a breath. No, this was not just an ordinary man. He knew who it was. It was the stranger. The man that had arrived in Storybrooke. The man that he'd all but forgotten to care about since Valentine's Day; August W. Booth. But that wasn't how he knew him. This was the first time he'd actually seen the man close up, not from a distance. And now that he was here and he was looking at him, he was beginning to think it was a mistake to have ignored him for so long.

He knew him. Not personally, but he knew him from the Enchanted Forest, from a vision he'd had long ago when Jiminy had been turned into a cricket and stuck so close with Gepetto. He'd seen in his head a flash of this man-The Dark Haired Man. The Dark Haired Man who knew Baelfire. It was him. He was the stranger in town. And now he was here. In his shop! His mouth had gone dry, his palms sweaty, and he felt like he couldn't breathe, but…

What was he doing in the shop? Better yet, what was he doing in the back of his shop.

And most important of all, what was his connection to Baelfire?!

"Yeah," he drawled, standing up straight and looking over at him. "I'm looking for some maps. I'm a bit of a collector," he smiled.

"Yes…" Odd. He sounded calm, but he looked startled as if he'd just been caught. That suggested he knew he was somewhere he shouldn't be. Which meant he hadn't wanted to be found. Why had the Dark-Haired Stranger come to snoop around in his shop? What would he give to have a little chat with that Seer right now? "Well, there's maps through in the shop. This is my office."

He raised his eyebrows robotically as if shocked…but the look never quite made it to his eyes. "I thought this was the entrance."

A door that came in from the back alley surrounded by trash cans was the entrance?

"It's not," he snapped. "The shop's through there."

He nodded. "My apologies."

He watched as the boy moved around the table then finally through the curtains to the front of the shop. "Hey August!" he heard Henry greet happily.

"Henry! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for a gift for Miss. Blanchard. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for maps of far-off places. Apparently, I was looking in the wrong place."

He was lying. The question was, why was he lying. What had he been searching for? But above all, how did he know his son?! How could he get him to tell him without revealing too much? Especially in front of Henry? Was there any way?

He bit his tongue as he let himself back into the front room. He hadn't even looked for the other chimes as he'd told Henry he would. He didn't want the Stranger alone in his shop. He may know Baelfire, but something about how he'd found him had him feeling nothing but distrust. An interesting reaction.

"Find anything else you like, Henry?" he asked of the boy.

"Um…no, I don't think I have enough money. I'm gonna go home and see if I can find some more."

"Oh! Hey, here I'll spot the kid," the Stranger, August, stated.

"You don't have to do that!" Henry blushed.

"Oh, I'd be honored!" he stated, looking at the chimes Henry had been looking at. He reached up and plucked it down for the boy. "Fine quality, beautiful sound, freshly cleaned…can't be more than…what, fifty dollars?" he asked, glancing over at him.

Impressive.

"It's sixty," he bartered. As long as it was August buying it, there was no need for a discount.

"I only have seventeen-"

"Tell you what, we'll go fifty-fifty on it, and you can pay me back later," August smiled before pulling three twenties out of his wallet and setting them on the counter.

"Thanks, August. Thanks, Mr. Gold!" Henry called as he took his chimes and rushed for the door. But just then, the clock chimed, reminding him of what time it was, and he remembered, perhaps a bit too late, that something else was wrong with this picture.

"Shouldn't you be in school, Henry?"

The boy froze at the door and looked back at him with wide, scared eyes like it was him who had just been caught in the back of his shop. "Yyyyes," he answered, drawing his answer out. "Yes, I should. Oh, look at the time! Don't want to be late!" He let out a forced chuckle as his gaze slid to August. The boy needed an acting lesson.

"Oh, I can take you," August volunteered kindly, maybe a little too kindly. "My bike's right outside."

Perhaps they both needed an acting lesson.

"How very accommodating," he snapped in his direction suspiciously. It wasn't possible that a ten-year-old had just successfully acted as a distraction, had he?

"Thanks, but…I'll ask Emma," Henry said, suddenly looking genuinely sorry and guilty. Perhaps he hadn't then. Either that or he was a better actor than he was giving him credit for. "My mom wouldn't like it." Or perhaps there were some lines with Regina that he still didn't dare to cross.

"I'll walk you to the station then."

But this August…he was rather eager to make a quick exit until…something made him pause. Before he could turn to leave, something on the opposite wall made him stop. He watched in horror as he let himself stride behind the glass cases and pluck a ball from the shelf. It was Baelfire's ball.

"What can you tell me about this?"

"It's not a map," he snapped, working his way over toward him, wishing he could move faster.

"Obviously. But it's a…unique piece."

"Unique indeed. And here by accident. It's not for sale."

"Odd place to put it if it's not for sale."

Finally, by his side, he reached over and yanked the ball out of his hand and into his own arms. No one touched Baelfire's things!

"Like I said…accident."

"You don't seem to make mistakes," he commented, looking the ball over. "I'll give you two hundred for it."

"No. No sale."

"Three hundred."

He huffed. "It's a child's toy. There's nothing special about it. I couldn't accept that offer."

"One hundred then."

"This item is priceless. It's not for sale," he growled, only to become frustrated at the smile that curved over August's face.

"Too unimportant for a high offer but too priceless for a low offer…strange."

"I don't need to explain my business to you, Mr. Booth."

August smiled. "You've heard of me."

"Small town," he explained before August looked over his shoulder at Henry.

"I know how that goes. I'll be in touch, for the map…of course."

"Of course."

He sneered as the Booth finally stepped away and ushered Henry out the door. August Wayne Booth…if it weren't for the fact that the Seer had told him he knew his son, he probably would have killed him.

This was a fun chapter to write. I really enjoyed getting to add to the conversations that are going on in this meeting because we know that what we saw on the show couldn't be the end of it, especially since this is the first time that Gold is seeing August up close and personal. We set up this story of "The Dark-Haired Man" in the Enchanted Forest, and it was fun to have that finally come to fruition.

Thank you so much, Grace5231973 and Alarda, for your reviews on the last chapter. I hope that you like this one. I hope that you like the added conversation and think everything is really in character. It was fun having them sort of barter over the ball, especially because Gold is seen holding it in another scene after this one. The dialogue in the shop with Henry, in the beginning, is only slightly made up; you have no idea how many times I listened to this scene, full volume, with headphones, and closed caption to figure out what they were saying while August was snooping around the back. I think I got most of it right. If not, well...you know what to do! Welcome to 1x19. We're here a while so get comfortable. Peace and Happy Reading!