The morning after Jefferson and his daughter arrived, they left. Just as the sun was coming up, he heard them stir from their rooms, pack the little they'd brought with them, and leave without saying good-bye to him and, apparently, to Belle as well. For when he sat down to breakfast that morning, and Belle brought their food, he noted four plates instead of her usual two.

"My, my, my…are we eating for two?" he questioned.

"I figured our guests would be hungry and might be joining us."

"They won't be," he informed her as she set his plate down in front of him. "They left early this morning, long before you rose. I'm afraid it's just the two of us again."

He watched carefully as she let out a breath that almost looked relieved. Not exactly what he would have expected to see on her face, especially now that she wasn't permitted to go back to the village to meet new strangers. But then she smiled and shrugged.

"It's not the worst thing in the world…" she muttered before taking her seat.

No, it wasn't, and that was exactly why he was leaving. He informed her then that he was planning on being out of town for a couple of days and would be back when his business concluded. She'd asked where he was going, he was helpless to joke with her about how she'd have to wait to find out with her next book. He couldn't leave soon enough. Because the truth was that he'd spent the night thinking about it, thinking about her, and he'd come to a conclusion. He had to do something. The way he saw it, he had two options. The first nearly brought him to tears. He could send her away. How many times had he been back to that option? How many times had he considered it? And how many times had it always fallen through because he didn't want to do it? Because he couldn't imagine his life in this castle now without her? He was losing count. And now he could add another tick to that tally. He couldn't do it. The idea of separating from her, of sending her away, never checking in on her…it was too painful to ever allow him to follow through, at least never completely.

And so there was one last option-Jefferson's idea. No, he hadn't named it in so many words, but he knew the man well enough to understand what he'd been hinting at the night they'd talked. Go to this place called "England", find the man, Dr. Jekyll, see if he'd perfected his serum. If he had, he'd use it. Control over his inner beast, that was what he needed. He needed to bring the Dark One closer to the surface. He felt strongly that whatever he felt for her was a human reaction, but the Dark One, if he could be given more control, wouldn't let himself be drawn to her as he was. The Dark One wouldn't feel such weakness as the human did. That was, of course, only a theory, one he hoped he'd get the opportunity to discuss with the doctor. So, after telling Belle he was leaving, he let a small amount of the liquid Jefferson had poured out for him hit the floor. A portal opened, and he jumped into a world that was quiet unlike what he was used to; streets lined with stone instead of dirt, black efficient carriages, men with tall hats and strange jackets and pants. At least the women wore clothes that looked familiar…more or less. Their dresses-

To his right, a woman screamed. He whipped around, trying to figure out what she might have been looking at, but when he turned, he found that it was him. He was the reason. Her eyes bulging as she stared at him, pointed, and then drew her hands back and let loose another ear-piercing scream like she'd just seen a ghost or a dragon or some monster from the depths of an ocean. He disappeared. It wasn't as easy as it always was, an indication that though magic existed in this realm it was weak, similar to what he'd encountered in the Land Without Color. He'd have to use what he had sparingly. Of course, the irony of it was that in order to do his hunting for Jekyll, he was about to use a great deal of it to hide his appearance and himself from the citizens of this world, at least until he found the doctor.

It took him two days. Two solid days of exploration, hiding, wandering, sneaking in and out of places to get his answers. In the end, he'd found him because someone he'd passed on the street muttered his name, the name Doctor Jekyll. If he'd heard him right, the man was working with him. He promptly followed the man to a place called "hospital," where he found people wandering the halls without clothes. Men were tied to beds in one wing with thick leather straps. Some of them were lost in a stupor; others thrashed about screaming obscenities as women and men dressed in white ignored them as if it happened every day! That was where the man on the street worked. It was also, apparently, where Doctor Jekyll worked. He wasn't what he expected.

After two days of searching only finding him with a little luck, he'd already put together that he wasn't well known, something that didn't bode well for the potion-serum. Jekyll was a doctor, it seemed, but not a paid one. He volunteered at the asylum. Following him around all day told him that he was no more or less talented than the other doctors around him. A scrawny thing, standing just a bit taller than he was, he was pale in a sickly way with a stench that made him think the only thing he excelled at was perspiration. If he were to touch him, he imagined his skin would be quite clammy. He had straight sandy hair too long to be short and too short to be long. He wore thin round glasses, had a face only a mother would love, and noted that the clothes he wore were hardly what the rich of this world were wearing.

He followed him home that night, sneaking in through the door behind him. He intended to sneak up on him in his home, but when he arrived he saw that "home" was more laboratory than dwelling. There was a small cot off to one side, and a rack of clothing mostly copies of what he wore now just in different shades, though he noted that when he arrived home, he pulled off a few of his "finer" things and began to dress, allowing him to explore his "home" a bit more. There was a fire in the grate and a couch on the far side, but those were the most "homey" accommodations he saw. It reminded him of his tower. Aside from those few comforts he was surrounded by flasks and baubles and beakers, holding liquids of various colors in numerous quantities. He'd meant to speak to him, talk to him about what Jefferson had told him about, but before he could, the door to his apartments opened. A woman strode in as if she was at home, and Jekyll barely blinked an eye. A wife? He saw no ring on her finger, though perhaps this was a world that didn't follow that tradition.

"Thank you for arranging this, Mary," he stuttered out as she fixed the odd-looking stock around his neck.

Bow tie. The Seer whispered.

What an odd thing to wear…and "bow tie"…he supposed he could see where the "bow" part came from, but the "tie" bit was a mystery.

"I-I can't tell you how much this means to me."

How had he been able to guess he'd be one to stutter? Still, their interaction at least gave him something useable. She wasn't a wife. His tone was too strained. He was more comfortable with Belle in the room than Jekyll was with…Mary, was it? However, the way Jekyll's heart raced as she touched him certainly suggested that she meant more than friend. But hers didn't. Her pulse was even and calm, there wasn't a hit of desire in her smell which suggested to him that she didn't feel the same way about him that he did about her. Unrequited love. It made this interesting, no matter how much it was threatening to ruin his own life.

"There's no need to be nervous," she responded to his pathetic stuttering. "Father's going to love your work!"

As if on cue, the door opened again and this time a man a few inches shorter than Jekyll entered.

He recognized him. He'd been lurking around this strange place for days, and he'd seen this man before. Very few individuals in this place stood out, but he did because of what he'd caught him doing. He'd seen him with a woman late last night in an ally outside of the Science Academy. He'd been with that woman in such a way that even he thought it was dirty. Fortunately, he'd arrived on the tail end of their dalliances and when they were done, they'd talked about going to a ball tonight. They'd joked about passing each other in the night and having another little tryst before it all began, when her husband got in and she could easily wander away from him and he could wander away from his wife. "There's another lovely little alleyway outside the Science Academy that should keep us in shadow. All the world shall see, and none shall know." As much as it had made him gag, the woman seemed interested. Exhibitionists…what a terrible little fetish and yet…it was something to keep in mind.

He watched as pleasantries were exchanged between Mary, Jekyll, and her father who was called Dr. Lyndgate before he questioned "Now, what's so important I had to be pulled away from scotch and cards at the Academy?"

He snickered...it wasn't just scotch and cards he was missing, he was certain.

"Ah! Allow me to show you, right over here," Jekyll motioned. "This serum, once perfected, will be capable of separating a man's personality in two and dividing the higher, more noble aspects of his nature from the primitive beast of which every man is born."

"Intriguing."

Intriguing, indeed. It was perfect. A more perfect night to spy he could not have chosen. For now, he had no need to interrogate the man before him, just listen to his presentation on a serum, which, he noted, was still not done. Jefferson said it was missing something. He rather agreed. He was certain that he could provide that "little something" just as he'd given a "little something" to his other doctor-friend, the question was, what would he do if the serum worked?

"Imagine if man were in control of the beast within, rather than slave to it!"

"How can you be certain your serum wouldn't make things worse?"

"It can't get any worse for Henry's patients," Mary explained. "They have no hope at all."

"Dr. Lyndgate, if I had the Scientific Academy behind my work-"

"So that's what this is about, you want me to grant you membership to the academy!"

"Well-"

"I'm afraid I can't offer it. Your work is dangerous! Good evening, Dr. Jekyll! Come, Mary!"

Well…that had escalated quickly.

The girl looked back and forth between the doctor and her father before crying, "I'm sorry" and chasing after her father. And then…something interesting.

Jekyll's heart began to race, he watched as he began to huff and puff so hard he wondered if he might blow the fire out, but instead he picked up one of his beakers and threw it into the fire so that it exploded. It was then that he strode over to the window and peered out at it. Oh, that was very interesting. What had Jefferson said? He was a man at war with himself. Oh, he may say he wanted that serum for his patients, but he wondered if there wasn't someone else he wanted it for.

So we've finally made it to Jekyll and Hyde, which might come as a surprise to some of you. I think a lot of people tend to want to put this earlier, but here is my reasoning for putting it so close to the end of the Beauty and the Beast Section. There really isn't a point of reference for this section other than what Rumple tells Belle in Storybrooke. He went to Jekyll when she became the maid because he'd begun to have feelings for her. So, yes, when you hear it like that, it certainly sounds like it belongs in the beginning of the section, but here's the thing. The key here is his comment about beginning to have feelings for her. In order to do this, he has to recognize that he's having those feelings. And it's true, we've been here in the comments elbowing each other and giggling because we could see how far gone he was practically from the beginning. However...just because he's been having those feelings doesn't mean he's recognized them. I would argue it's only in these last 10-15 chapters that he's really started to recognize and accept that what he's feeling for her isn't male hormones gone wild, but real feelings. He's denied what he's been feeling for long enough that I think putting this bit here, is totally acceptable given that fact. In fact, I think that when you consider it that way, putting it anywhere else would seem wrong.

Thank you, Ysabel, Grace5231973, Jennifer Baratta, and Alarda for your very kind and supportive reviews. I'm so glad you liked the last of the Jefferson Chapters. I really enjoyed listening to your theories on who Jefferson talked to first. It seems like Belle first and then Rumple has consensus. Is that the way it was? Who knows? It's just fun to consider it. Peace and Happy Reading!