Step one was complete and he was ecstatic. He hadn't realized just how desperate he'd been to do something other than watch, until Snow was in his tower, but that little bit of control he'd regained had almost made him feel alive again. In a century and a half, he'd left so little up to fate that watching had been far more painful than he'd realized it could be. He hadn't even noticed that he'd been creating. As he'd watched them over these last few days and weeks, he'd spun enough gold to craft a large egg, roughly the size of his skull. He'd spent even more time adding gems to it as though it was some kind of child's craft. He'd enjoyed doing something other than crafting some kind of art just because he had nothing else to do, he'd enjoyed inserting himself into their stories; in more ways than he'd anticipated.

He'd fulfilled the requests of both the dwarf and the princess, though he was certain that one of them wouldn't see it that way at first. Snow White was fine. He'd sent her right to where she was supposed to be-on the road to the hiding spot that he'd told her about. He put a great deal of forest, a day of hiking, between her and the Queen…he'd had to; hiking meant time. Because the problem was that with David tracking her the way he was, suddenly disappearing and then reappearing elsewhere was bound to make him lose her completely. He needed him to catch up, not fall further behind. So while he'd sent Snow White off to kill her step-mother, he hadn't set Grumpy where he wanted to be, which was home. Instead, he'd dropped him onto another path, one that he was certain would put him in line with none other than Prince Charming's.

It was a risk, he knew it was, that was why as he planted himself yet again in front of his crystal ball to watch, he'd grabbed the golden egg and started fashioning an opening and a lock on it, just to keep his hands busy while he watched; watched and hoped. He needed their encounter to go just so. The dwarf still had a bit of his transportation potion on him, if Grumpy had been so desperate to save Snow that he'd used it, he was betting he might be able to have that same kind of desperation no matter how angry he obviously was with her. He was right.

Less than an hour later, he'd nearly concocted a lock and key for the egg, and David stumbled upon Grumpy. They'd had a…less than pleasant exchange, at least at first. He couldn't hear, but he was fine with it because both men were red in the face, there was lots of yelling and screaming before they finally calmed down and talked. And then Grumpy played right into his own hands.

He saw his own name on Grumpy's lips and then on David's, and after a few minutes of discussion and explanation on the dwarf's part, he saw Grumpy hand over the potion before he left. A moment later, he felt the False Prince on his grounds.

Time was of the essence. He wasn't about to meet the dear Prince Charming in his tower, not when there was nothing there to give him and no benefit to him. So when David slammed through his front doors calling out his name, he reappeared just inside his foyer, standing in the doorway separating David from his way out. There was a lovely cloak of red with a fur-lined collar over his back. He thought of the hair he'd taken from Snow when all this began, sitting up in his tower waiting for its match. Fur held onto hair quite well. Oh, that Seer was a tricky one. He'd been waiting for this moment longer than he could ever imagine.

"Show yourself!" the Prince demanded, looking around the foyer, knowingly expecting him to show.

"Still dressing like a prince, I see," he called, forcing the Prince to turn and face him. "Even though you ran away from the life I gave you. How's that for gratitude?"

"You gave me a prison sentence."

"Yeah…one that you've now skirted," he warned, keeping the table carefully between them as the Seer began whispering in his ear again. "Careful, dearie…King George is a vengeful man."

"I'm here about Snow," he stated without blinking an eye at his warning. "Rumor has it, she's after the Queen, and she came to you for help."

Rumor had it? Or a dwarf had told him when they'd met? The benefits abounded.

"Yes, indeed! Oh!" he cried as the Prince pulled his sword and pointed it at him. He laughed. It wasn't often someone startled him, not often in indeed, but the Prince had. A draw of the sword…he hadn't seen that coming. The Seer was too busy whispering about other things for him to notice that.

"What did you do to her?!"

"What did I do to her? You mean, what did you do to her," he growled. Guilt. He needed him to feel guilt! He needed him to want to fix this as much as possible! Guilt could be a great motivator. "You caused her pain. Without that pain, she would never have drank my potion to forget about you. That's what changed her!" And just to make a point, he puffed his chest out, forced the blade to touch against it, a dare for the shepherd before him who he was certain didn't have the spine to actually do what he'd threatened. He needed to remember who held all the cards in this game.

"Undo the potion," he insisted in a gentler tone. "All magic can be broken."

"Oh, yes. With twoo wuv."

"So, that's it then? True Love's Kiss will awaken her?"

"Most certainly. But it's going to be hard to kiss her when you don't know where she is," he said, reaching out to bat his sword away so he could walk away. Deal. He needed him to feel guilty and helpless, like he was her only hope. He needed him to make a deal so he could get what he wanted.

"Name your price."

He smiled. Even the Seer sounded happier. "How about…your cloak?" he suggested with a smile as he turned to point at him.

"My cloak? Why would you want my cloak?"

"It's drafty in here."

Skepticism was written all over his face, but with hardly any questioning, he removed the garment, turned, and placed it on the table behind him in surrender. Perfect.

"Where is she?"

"On her way to the Queen's Highway," he answered, magically producing a map he'd crafted himself, one that would take David from the place he'd dropped off dear Snow to the spot he'd told her to go. It was so much simpler when he was in control of things, when he could provide proper motivation. "This is the route she's taking, but you better be quick. Because, if she kills the Queen, she becomes as evil as the woman whose life she takes," he warned. It was partly a lie, partly the truth. The potion he'd given her shouldn't have that effect exactly, but after a hundred years, he knew people. He knew that all it took was for one act to set someone down a dark path.

"She could never become that evil," Charming sneered, but he knew better. Anyone could become that evil. It just took the right circumstances.

"Evil isn't born, dearie – it's made," he called as David turned to run from the room. "If Snow starts down that road, you'll never get her back!" As David turned the corner out of sight, he used his magic. Snow was two Kingdoms away, he'd never make it to her even on the fastest of horses, but with a small thought he was able to send David to the exact place he'd dropped Snow off earlier. Let no one ever say he never gave help. And as for the cloak, he looked down at it sitting there and smiled, gave a small laugh even. He had plans for this cloak, for what lay within it…so long as it was as he thought it would be…

He picked it up off the table and examined the fur around the collar, he gave it a smell, making sure it was one that smelled more like David than it did of James or George. He had a higher chance of success that way. He inhaled deeply. He smelled Prince Charming himself. Perfect.

Again, following in the footsteps of the previous chapters, this one is also pretty straight forward. Well...other than the fact that in his spare time, while he's watching his soaps, Rumple is building something instead of scrolling through twitter. Wonder what that could be?

Thank you Alarda, Grace5231973, and Jennifer Baratta for your reviews on these chapters. Good to know you are still out there reading! Peace and Happy Reading!