"He's taking a stand!" Theseus squawked when he reappeared in his Tower hours later. And what a two hours they had been. For not five minutes before Theseus had appeared back in his tower, warning bells began to go off in his own mind. Not because someone was on his property, but because someone had broken a protection barrier he had established. He'd promised not to remove the urn or free Ingrid from the urn her sister had placed her in, but the very day after she'd told him where it was, he'd gone to place protection spells over it so he would know when the day came that someone did remove the urn he could fetch it back. And so it seemed someone finally had found it. Was it a coincidence that it had happened while Anna of Arendelle had just appeared in David's life? He doubted that.

He used the crystal ball to watch the scene play out. He saw two people at the place that he'd found the urn. One, the man, was dressed for cold weather and climbing, the other, a woman was the opposite, dressed in light blue. Her face was familiar, but only just. He'd never met the woman, but he'd seen it in a vision when her mother had come seeking help, and he'd learned the location of that urn. He watched as they removed it from its place, an action that meant he could take it again. His promise was not to remove it, that's why he'd set the enchantments about it, so that he could keep track of it without touching it. His deal was done. He could go back! But two Princesses from Arendelle, arriving at his home at the same time…what were the chances? Unfortunately, Theseus barged in before he could see much more.

"He?" he questioned as if he didn't know. "He who?"

"The man, David, he's preparing to challenge Bo Peep; take a stand!"

"Ah-h-h-h!" he snarled in his direction. If there was one thing he hated it was an overexcited bird who didn't know how to deliver news. He'd been doing his best to watch David and Anna of Arendelle before the urn had been stolen, but they'd gone very few places that had mirrors, staying mostly outside during their conversations, and with a barn made of wood offering few reflections for him to use, and without the sound of the crystal ball, he was in the dark. He needed information. David's brother was possibly the most important piece in the puzzle of getting back to his son. He had to know everything about his family because one day, anything could serve as a chess piece. With Theseus out keeping an eye on the situation, and James safely tucked away, he'd gone about his business, keeping an eye on his crystal ball when he thought to. He'd watched as Anna and David had parted hours ago, just before sunset. What had taken Theseus so long to return with news?

"From what I gather, Bo Peep, the warlord came by to extract payment from the family, they couldn't pay so she branded them, gave them until tomorrow at noon to pay the debt."

Debt. It wasn't a debt that Bo Peep would demand. It was extortion money. That crazy bitch was admirable in a way but not one that he particularly cared for. They both profited from deals with others, but the difference was that his customers benefited from his deals. Bo Peep's deals only profited herself. She didn't own the land Ruth and David lived on, only collected payments from the tenants as if it was rent for "protection". She had started innocently enough. Her mother, and her mother before her, and her mother before her had all been shepherdesses but also clever and smart women. Her great grandmother had been initially given the staff she owned by a fairy as a way to brand and track her flock should a sheep go astray. But during the Ogre Wars, what felt like a lifetime ago, it was her grandmother who had given birth to twelve strong, smart, and hardy boys. She had begun the tradition, during the war when the King couldn't be bothered to care to protect the lowest of his citizens, of hiring out her boys for a small fee. They killed ogres, protected the people, she even branded a few people that had refused to fight, that the King called traitor and sought to destroy, so that if they were ever captured, they could be found and rescued. But the war had ended, one thing led to another during her mother's reign and now they were left with Bo Peep, who still offered protection to the people who paid her, but now it was protection from herself. Refuse to pay for the protection, and her cousins, boys that took after their fathers, came to burn homes down and slaughter animals, taking all the valuables for themselves. And as for the people that couldn't pay, they were branded, captured, and then sold into slavery only to be stolen back when she felt the time was right and sold again for more money. With no home, no source of revenue, and no escape, most went quite willingly.

With no rent to pay the King anymore, Ruth and David had always been able to make the payments, even if it was just barely. But now it seemed they'd finally hit a place where they couldn't afford it. Farming in King George's land was certainly not the prosperous venture it had once been.

"So the family can't pay their debt…and David thinks he's going to extract some kind of vengeance on her, is that it?"

"Not exactly. There is a woman staying with the family, sleeping in their barn, calls herself Joan."

"Joan?" he questioned, wondering if he'd heard right. Joan was a far cry from Anna.

"Joan," he confirmed.

Rumpelstiltskin smiled. A false name. Why was she giving a false name? The mystery grew. "That's not her name."

"No, I've met her before, with my wife. She's Princess Anna of Arendelle, she's engaged to be married, what she's doing out here is a complete mystery. She's not the best at staying tight-lipped, has had a few slip-ups but usually catches herself before she reveals anything too…well…"

"Revealing," he finished.

"Yes," he nodded. "I know she's here to see someone, but I don't know who. She was staying in the family's barn and convinced David to fight Bo Peep. They spent most of their day training with the sword, but…David grew tired, they parted under bad terms and now…Bo Peep has her! She's branded her! Snuck up on her in the barn, took her as prisoner, and confessed that David was training to fight her, that if she took her, then his desire to beat her would only grow. It didn't matter. She took her anyway."

Of course, she had. That woman never could think long term or complex thoughts. She probably hadn't believed what Anna had said but just saw it as some kind of entertaining challenge. He couldn't entirely fault her, the entire thing was very entertaining even to him, and he couldn't watch it for himself first hand. But it was also important. James was safe, but David and Ruth could still prove to be useful to him. They could be useful on the farm or as Bo Peeps slaves as far as he was concerned, she didn't scare him in the least, he could kill her with a snap of his fingers. But he did want to see how it would end. And now, perhaps far more than he cared about what happened to David and Ruth, he wanted to see what became of Anna of Arendelle as well. Why was she here?

"Return," he dismissed, of the bird. "Watch the situation carefully. Tell me how it ends."

"Sir, my family-"

"Can spare you, surely until, what was it, noon tomorrow?!"

"It's our son's birthday."

"And there are plenty more birthday's where that one will come from! You owe me a debt Theseus, for everything you have and everything you are. Your days are growing shorter, and soon I'll come for your son to do the work that you can no longer do."

"No!" he cried! "No! That wasn't part of the deal!"

"Loyalty, was our deal, sir!" he roared back, forcing the man to take a step back. "Loyalty is not a trait that is easily extinguished but passed down throughout families. Just as simply as I crafted you such a good life, I can take it away. Do your job! Go back and be my eyes and ears, and when you return home, make your absence up to your son and explain to him exactly why he's in the situation he now finds himself in! The time has come!"

And with that, he tossed him another clear potion, flicked his wrist once more, and dismissed his servant.

So, let's have a nice little reminder because we talked about this in the very first chapter, but I'm suddenly reminded that the first chapter was eighty-some chapters ago and we need a little refresher, especially with this chapter. What Rumple does with Theseus and now his son...it's mean. There's no two ways about it. It's a mean thing to do. But it's necessary. 1) Because I made a mistake. I initially had plans for Theseus in Storybrooke, but I messed up. The character I initially had him play was young, probably about David and Snow's age. And around this point was when I realized that Theseus has been around since Cora and simply wouldn't be that young anymore. I had to bring his son into the mix to explain that away. But most importantly 2) I don't subscribe to the theory of Villains and Heroes in this series (that characters are either wholly bad or wholly good). Rather, I believe that everyone has at least a little of each in them (except Peter Pan...I hate that guy). So, if you support that theory with me then it means that Rumple is going to do mean things for no reason every once in a while. I may not believe he is 100% an evil character like some people, but I also understand that he'd not 100% good either. He's still the Dark One, Hades says he sent him more souls than anyone, that means that he is going to do bad/mean things sometimes-like he does here. Like it or not, that means something like this is in-character, and if you want to really analyze it, really it's not even being mean for no reason. Most of what Rumple does is for his son. He needs boots on the ground and sometimes he can't be those boots ergo he needs Theseus and his family to get back to his son. Besides, putting it here worked, I felt it egged him on for the chapters to come.

Thank you MissAmande, Jennifer Baratta, and Grace5231973 for your reviews. Apologies, this chapter and the next seven are the meat of the "frozen arc", and truthfully, I don't like how most of these chapters were divided up. 4x02 and 4x04 had some really awkward scenes, and I did my best with them all, I promise I did, but aside from being...you know...The Frozen Chapters, they all just turned out really short or really long. But, I promise, if you can work with me through these next few chapters, there is a really big, really important surprise waiting at the end for you. The answer to a really BIG question we never saw on the show. Guesses? Peace and Happy Reading!