It was easier to leave her than he would have thought it would have been. He thought he would have had to restrain her perhaps or, at the very least, endure lots of yelling and screaming and maybe even a bit of flailing. Instead, she remained relatively quiet and calm until he was out of the chamber. It was only after he shut the door and locked her in that he heard something big slam against the door and knew that she'd attempted to follow him.

"No!" he heard her shout from behind the door, but banging and wailing wasn't going to help. He doubted she'd ever know or understand, but this was for her, it was the best way to keep her safe. And as for Gideon…

He was going to do his best to keep him safe. He was bait, but he had no intention of actually letting his mother take the boy. The sooner this was over, the sooner he could get him back to his family. But he still had some time to wait. Night had to fall. That much was always clear. Before he left, he stashed the scroll somewhere safe, then turned back to the paper she'd written, made sure he could read it and understand it, then finally took the baby and went deep into the woods.

His destination was one that he'd picked out well ahead of time and was fairly surprising even for him. There was a clearing not far from the Apprentice's House and that was what he'd intended to use. He never thought for one second in his life that he would ever see that Apprentice as anything but a nuisance, but today he was betting on the Apprentice as back up. If he was really as impressive as Merlin had intended, then it was his hope he'd feel the Fairy's darkness when she entered this world. It was his hope that if something went terribly wrong and the child was at risk, then he might turn up and assist in a rescue and never be wiser to his plan to use him.

That was his hope, but there was no assurance it would work that way.

All he could really do was hold his breath, summon his mother, ask the questions he needed to ask, and then hope he could send the child away before she got her claws on him and was forced to retreat back to her realm. In his pocket he had a vial of something valuable that he was hoping would help with that.

Hope...he'd never used that word so much in his life. It was unnerving.

The sun was nearly down. He sat on a nearby log with the baby at his side, just waiting for darkness to come to the point where he could summon the Fairy. It would have to be dark enough that he could see the stars. As it was right now, he was only just beginning to see a wink of-

Suddenly something made him sick, a terrible feeling in the back of his head that he recognized right away. A summons to return home. The castle was calling out to him. There was an intruder on his property. Great magic. Familiar magic. Fairy magic. But not a fairy of darkness as he so desired now, but rather a fairy of light. Strong Light Magic.

The Blue Fairy was back...she'd come for the child!

And he was up and moving, just a step away from leaving his spot on the log when a cry from behind summoned his mind away from what he felt nearing his castle.

"Ah!" he cried, looking at it, then back at the sky, then back in the direction of his castle. His fingers twitched as he roared again. The Blue Fairy was in his territory. Now? Of all times! Oh, and he was already in a mood, he had been since her last visit. He'd been in a worse mood since he'd confronted her and he'd taken the child. It was brave of her to go back after that, but not completely unexpected. She always was a persistent little bitch, hellbent on bringing unhappiness everywhere she went. It figured that she'd arrive in some way right as his plan began to fall into place perfectly! If he saw her now, he'd squash her. He'd take a fireball and aim it at her with ease for what she'd done to him! If he had it his way, he'd go back right now and fix the problem! He'd destroy her once and for all!

But the baby cooed by the log an ever-present reminder. He was in the middle of something a great plan that he was orchestrating, and going back was certainly not on his list of things to do. What would the Blue Fairy do when she arrived at his tower and found not him but Belle? Would she free the girl? Would she leave? Would she seek him out here? And what could he do if he went back? Banish her again? Risk Belle taking the child or sneaking her translation away. He'd read it through so many times he had the thing nearly memorized, but that didn't mean he was willing to bet on that. And if she took it, he had very little doubt she'd ever give it back to him. If he went back there was no certainty he could return tonight, that meant another day of Belle looking after the child, trying to hide him, trying to save him. If she ran away, he'd be forced to spend his day hunting them down.

Not to mention, it was another day that his parents would go without him.

There were benefits to staying. But the problem of not going-

All at once, the feeling that there was an intruder left. It was difficult to believe, but unless the Fairy had somehow cloaked herself form his spells, that meant that she was gone. Gone? So quickly? Just like that? It should have brought him relief…but there was no relief at all. How could he feel relief when his greatest enemy had been in his home, in the place he worked, even if only for a few minutes? The things she'd have had access to…the things she could steal.

At the moment, there were only two things truly of value that the Fairy could steal: Belle and the Curse.

Silently he reached back through the connections and the ties he'd placed over the barriers to the Curse. They were undisturbed. That was a good thing. He never wanted to say anything with complete confidence, but his experience taught him that more than likely the Curse was safe.

As for Belle…if she was gone, he'd track her down, figure out what the Fairy had done to her. If she'd gone back home, he'd reassert his claim and take her away from her father. If she'd gone anywhere else…with the events of today, she might think she was better off. He might agree.

Across the clearing, the baby made more noise, and he finally made up his mind. He'd stay and wait a few more minutes. If the Blue Fairy went back to his castle, he'd go after her. If not, then he'd get this over with and then hurry home to see if Belle was where he'd left her. From there, he'd make a plan.

He leaned against a tree, placed his forehead there as he growled and finally screamed before hitting the thing. His mother was an awful being, potentially even worse than his father. If she'd cost him the Curse or Belle or anything else that was irreplaceable, then he'd kill her himself.

Finally, he took a deep breath and turned so he could rest his back against the tree. He stared up at the stars and focused on the cries of the infant. These next few minutes were about to be the longest of his life.

I'm so sorry, this chapter is so short and stupid, but totally necessary. It's my own fault. I've had to add things to make the rest of the story work and that meant adding this little chapter so that I could keep continuity. Rumple's cast protective spells around his property. He knows when people come and go, including the Blue Fairy. That meant I couldn't just let him ignore the fact that the Blue Fairy visits Belle in this episode. In the end it worked, I suppose. I really did want to showcase the fact that time was passing and he was getting a little bit crazier over this whole thing. Make no mistake, if this were an ordinary deal, with a normal stranger, I haven't any doubt that he would have been back to his castle in a heartbeat to find out what she wants. But this isn't ordinary. To quote the great Dr. House, "All parents screw up all children." Rumple just doesn't seem to know that yet. But he will in the next chapter.

Big thank you to Spunkymouse, Grace5231973, and Jennifer Baratta for your reviews. All problems aside, I did give you a nice little Easter Egg in this chapter. We do get to see just how much he cares for Belle. In these moments of inner turmoil and stress the walls come down, we can see how he feels when he's not so guarded. She's a priority. Really? Only two things in the castle of value? One gets you to your son and the other is your future wife. But yeah, no, I'm sure it's nothing. That's a totally normal reaction. Right. Peace and Happy Reading!