That very night in pitch blackness, everything was set. Mr Gold was standing at the town line. His eyes gazed across it, peering into the unknown. With him were the Professor and Belle. They were all ready for what they were hoping to do. Hopefully, they had lured Hook out here too.
The Professor was the one who crossed the town line first. When he did, he turned around and faced Belle and Mr Gold. "Alright," he began.
"Here we go," Mr Gold said as he approached the town line. His cane went first, then his right leg. Then his left leg. Once he was entirely over the town line, faint blue-like electricity hovered over his body before his ring glowed.
The Professor watched intently before Mr Gold turned around. He looked over at Belle and was silent before he smiled. "Belle," he whispered.
Belle let out a small laugh. "It worked," she said joyously. She took hold of Mr Gold's arm.
"When have either my father or myself ever been wrong?" the Professor said, then thought about it. "In fact, don't answer that."
"Now, we can find your son," Belle said. She was about to take her first steps over the town line for herself when there was a gunshot from behind them. It startled everyone and caused Belle to stumble across the town line. Mr Gold caught her. His arms wrapped around her body as he helped her against the ground.
The Professor looked past where Belle was. Right behind them was Hook, holding a gun. It wasn't what he was hoping for, but at least they had drawn him right into the open. He then looked down at Belle and knelt. He waved a hand over her face, making her fall asleep, before taking out his phone and dialling a number and walking away for a moment.
While the Professor was on the phone, Mr Gold kept his gaze on Belle. His poor, sweet Belle. "Belle?" he whispered, his voice shaky, before realising what had happened. Her memories gone. All of them. Even the ones of him. "Oh, no. No no. No, no."
Hook approached the town line for himself. "Oh, fear not," he said. "She'll live. She'll have no idea who you are."
Mr Gold slowly stood up and turned to face his greatest enemy. "What you've done cannot be undone." His voice was shaky and showed great emotion.
"Well, now you finally know how it feels! Well, go ahead, Crocodile. Do your worst!"
Mr Gold moved Belle's body across the town line before facing Hook again. "I intend to," he said through gritted teeth. He rose his hand, a small fireball growing in his palm. It crackled, and Mr Gold intended for it to be thrown at Hook. But he never got the chance to.
Behind him, he heard a car approach the town line. He looked behind him before moving out of the way, dragging Belle with him. But Hook wasn't so lucky. The car rolled right into him – causing his body to fly over and land in the roadside ditch.
Honking, the car lost control, and it skidded across the road, on the other side where Hook lay.
After finishing his phone call, the Professor looked around and raced to where Mr Gold was. He didn't know what had happened, as he was just as dumbfounded as Mr Gold. Their gaze shifted towards the car, then at its license plate number. A Pennsylvania license plate. "Ooh no," he muttered, his hearts heavy, for he knew what had happened.
The TARDIS soon appeared, and the Doctor exited. He looked around the scene before approaching where Rumple was with Belle. "What happened?"
"Belle … she crossed over the town line," Mr Gold answered.
The Doctor knelt. "Rumple. I'm so sorry," he said, then looked down at Belle for himself and noticed the ring on her finger. He pointed down at it. "The ring. She had the ring on. Belle's alright, isn't she?"
The Professor walked over to where they were and knelt as well. "She should be alright. She's sleeping. Just enough to fool Hook. Make him think he's won. And I think he does think he has won."
The sheriff's car soon showed up, and Emma, David and Mary Margaret exited. Emma looked around, taking the scene in before noting everything on her recording device.
"I'm at the town line. Two people down," she noted, then looked at the car from Pennsylvania. "Maybe three. There's a car pretty banged up with Pennsylvania plates."
While Emma was inspecting the car, her parents walked over to where Mr Gold was. "What's going on?" David asked.
"Belle. She fell over the town line," the Professor answered, getting up before filling the others in on his plan.
Elsewhere, Emma moved to where Hook lay. "Hey, beautiful," Hook said, just as Emma bent down, scrutinising his body. She pressed against his chest, and he winced in pain. Here, I didn't think you noticed. Ah!"
"Your ribs are broken," Emma noted.
"Well, that must be why it hurts when I laugh," Hook replied. "Did you see his face? His one true love gone in an instant. Just like Milah, Crocodile! When you took her from me."
Hook had been saying this loud enough for Mr Gold to hear, and he was in no mood to put up with it. He walked over to where Hook lay as he began to get up. "But you took her first," Mr Gold stated, kicking Hook back down against the ground.
Emma tried to restrain him. "Gold! Are you insane?"
"Yes, I am!" Mr Gold said, pressing his cane against Hook's throat.
The Doctor ran over to him, helping Emma get him off the pirate. "Hey, hey, hey, hey hey. What would Belle want? Would she want to see you do this? You're better than this. I should know. I raised you," the Doctor said to Mr Gold.
Mr Gold relaxed and sighed. He let his oldest friend help him up. "You have been through so much," the Doctor continued. "Don't let that all be for nothing."
Mr Gold got up, and more sirens were approaching the scene. Everyone looked up, watching as an
ambulance approached them. It parked up behind the sheriff's car.
"Over here!" David called out, directing the paramedics to where Hook lay.
But Emma approached the foreign car. She peered inside and saw the body of an unconscious male. "No! Him! Take care of him!" she instructed, then pointed to Hook. "He can wait!"
"What?" Mary Margaret said as she walked over to Emma. David followed. "There's someone in there. Do you know this guy?"
"Never seen him before."
"That's because he drove into town," the Professor said as he walked up behind. "From the outside?" Mary Margaret asked.
The Professor nodded. "Looks like the world just came to Storybrooke."
