He turned to unlock the shop only to feel no tension in the key and remember that he'd left in such a hurry he hadn't locked it. Given the fact that he'd been gone for no more than five minutes, he would have shrugged it off. But the second he stepped into his shop, he felt dread sink down deep into the pit of his stomach as the blood drained from his body. He felt weightless standing there, looking at it. He was conscious of Belle following him in, of Belle shutting the door and standing behind him. But he was helpless to do anything more than stare at the devastation around him.

Five minutes…it looked like a tornado had come through.

All his precious items, carefully restored, cleaned, and cataloged, had been thrown about the room. Many had been broken and left to lie on the floor. The display cases were all broken, the glass shattered and in shards glittering around the jewelry, all of which still seemed to be in place. But the thing that had caused his heart to stop, that made him feel cold and then numb in the same breath was at the other side of the room. The painting that hid his safe…it wasn't securely on the wall. It was slight, but he could see that it was open. His mouth went dry as his thoughts spun about in his mind as an uncontrollable blur…Baelfire's shawl…

"What happened here?" Belle asked as he realized that he'd never know it was there or not if he stood from here to look at it. He needed to investigate and be sure that the shawl was still where it was supposed to be. And if it wasn't…he knew the first person he was going to find and question about it.

"Hook," he growled. "This is why he attacked you!"

"To get you out of the store."

Yes, but he had a feeling it wasn't to commit an act of vandalism. Hook wanted to hurt him. He wanted revenge for Milah…there was more than just Belle he could take from him.

"What did he want?"

He didn't answer her, just hobbled over to the safe, finished swinging the picture forward.

The safe door was open.

It was empty.

Bae's shawl was gone.

The world stopped. He felt his hand go to his mouth in a silent gasp as his heart dropped and every plan he'd ever made fell to pieces. He saw red. The same rage he'd felt when Belle had first kissed him and the realization he'd need to lose her overtook him. His breath deepened, and he didn't bother to correct himself as he let it pour through him.

"Rumple. We can get the shawl back! Rumple…"

Belle was talking, but he wasn't hearing; he wasn't perceiving whatever words were coming out of her mouth. His vision tunneled, narrowing on a fucking wooden sailboat. It was a mockery of this. From somewhere on that boat, he could hear Hook laughing at him as he sailed away, far away with Milah smiling at his side and Baelfire's shawl in hand before he took a match to it and it-

He turned his cane on that ship, one of the few things left whole in his shop, no doubt something done on purpose. And then he smashed it to smithereens beneath his cane! It didn't make him feel any better.

"Rumple, stop it! Stop! Please!"

He calmed only at her touch, though calmed was merely a physical manifestation. She looked him over, tried to use her touch to assure him. But his mind was still racing, the Dark Ones whispering. He knew what he needed to do; he knew what would make him feel better. And he needed to get it done!

"You're right…" he muttered, looking at Belle before stepping out of her grasp. "I have to retrieve what is mine."

And he also had to protect what he still had. Without magic, Belle was damn near defenseless against the pirate-human! But there was something he'd carried with him when he'd been human that might help her defend herself, give her the upper hand on the off chance the menace came sniffing around again. His gun…

But before he could get to it, he found his hand snagged by her own, her body pulling him away from what he needed and back to her.

"Let me, let me help you!"

"This is my fight!"

"And this is my fault" she yelled back! "If Hook had never attacked me, you would never have left the shop."

He didn't blame her for that or this. He didn't find her guilty of any of it. But he did find her guilty of not thinking things through now, of holding him back when he needed to be out finding his shawl before Hook could destroy it and everything he'd worked for!

"How do you propose that we get the shawl back?" he asked of her a bit too angrily. "Have you dueled with a pirate before?! How exactly are you going to help me?!"

"Well, I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing!"

"No! You're going to go back to the library, lock the door, and wait for me to dispense with this problem!"

"And if I don't?" she challenged predictably. She sneered at him, reeling from his comments as her gaze narrowed dangerously as his own anger flared. "You'll-you'll cast some spell that gives me no choice?!"

"No! I trust you'll do as I wish. Just as you trust me to be a better man!"

Her arms crossed angrily over her chest, and he saw her heels dig in, unhappy with the excuse he'd given. He knew that look, and he didn't have time for it. He didn't care if he'd offended her; he'd correct it later. He didn't have time for kindness right now, only to get this done and ask questions later! "Belle, please!" he begged. "Hook has maybe cost me the chance of finding my son! I don't want to lose you too!"

That did the trick. She didn't like orders in any form but begging…that she seemed vulnerable to. She was still angry and didn't like the idea of staying behind, that much was clear on her face, but he saw the fight go out of her. Her stance softened, and her head tilted in that way that suggested she knew she'd been defeated. Good. It was what was best.

"Here, look…" he swallowed hard and went to the place he'd kept the gun since getting his magic back. Miraculously it was still there in one piece, and Hook hadn't stolen it. Small favors. "I want you to take this, just in case Hook is stupid enough to come after you again. Point this, pull the trigger, and the gun will do the rest for, all right? All right?!" he stressed when she didn't answer or take it as he wanted.

"Y-yes-yes!" she finally stuttered out, fitting it into her small hand. He purposefully had left out what "do the rest" meant, but that was for her own safety. If she knew, she might hesitate if she saw Hook again. He didn't want her to do that. If he did come after her, if she did have to pull that trigger, at least it would be him who had to carry the guilt. Not her.

"Rumple, wait!" she called out, catching him by the arm before he could get to the door. His heart felt like it was beating out of control, his temper was unchecked, but he managed to bite his tongue before he could snap at her that he needed to go. "Promise me that you going after Hook is just about getting the shawl back."

His instinct was to lie. No. Not to lie, his instinct was to tell her what she wanted to hear. That was how they had done things these past few weeks. He told her what she wanted to hear, and then he did it; anything to be on his best behavior and keep her close to him because he wasn't willing to waste another chance. But this time, things were different. This wasn't a chance with her he was potentially wasting; it was a chance with Baelfire. And he wanted to be a better man for her; he wanted to be the person she thought he was. But in this case…

He didn't lie to her, tempting as it was. But he couldn't bring himself to tell her that it was just about getting the shawl back either. He had a history with Hook that went back centuries before she'd been born. He couldn't promise her what she wanted to hear, so he didn't promise her anything. He merely shook his head and left.

This is a difficult chapter to capture. Robert Carlyle kills this role by wreaking havoc on set pieces in a way that lets the audience see blinding rage. It's brilliant because that kind of rage is tough to put into words. Still, I tried. Even if I'm not convinced that this translates well from screen to page, I did my best. I hope you'll at least track well with the logic, or lack thereof, in this chapter.

Thank you, Grace5231973, as always, for your very faithful reviews. We're in the endgame now! Down to the last handful of chapters and it still seems strange that this entire episode will be wrapped up that quickly. Belle's version just seemed to go on and on and on, but Rumple's is pretty clean. That fits, seeing as how 2x11 was really a Belle-centric episode, but Rumple played his role in it, and I hope you'll appreciate where the gaps get filled in! Not to mention, there's a surprise cameo coming for you that I'm super excited to present. Peace and Happy Reading!