A/N: And it's back! I'm not overly crazy about this chapter but I had to connect the dots to the later story. Since I'm still working out where I want to take this story the next update may be several days away, sorry! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. As always if you like what I do (or even if you don't) let me know in the reviews. See you guys in the next chapter!

The Dark One managed to coax the boy out of the dungeons and into leading the way to the kitchen. Rumpelstiltskin used magic to light the torches along their path as they walked in silence. He gathered his thoughts about this newest discovery. It would take a fair amount of work to get the boy to trust him – to get rid of the boy, his curse howled. He'll only betray you in the end, the voices continued, kill him now and be done.

With a great amount of effort Rumple pushed away the imp's voice. He may never earn the kid's trust, he wasn't even sure why a part of him wanted that trust, but he wasn't killing this boy. He may be a monster but even with his curse demanding more violence, Rumpelstiltskin drew the line at harming children. The perplexing question now was what to do with Cheshire – the boy, he though correcting himself. In the end, the old spinner decided that the least he could do was get the child cleaned up and provide him with warmer clothes before allowing him to leave the castle.

Cheshire suddenly stopped beside a worn door. Taking this as a sign that he should go first, the Dark One pushed it open and stepped through. The kitchen was larger than any he'd seen before. Cabinets lined the walls and two huge sinks adorned the far side. A large stove top and oven sat in the center of the spacious room. Locating an immaculate fireplace at the back of the room, the imp threw a fireball into the hearth. Warmth suddenly accosted the two silent companions, driving out the cold. Light filled the room and Rumpelstiltskin realized that the kitchen, like everything else in the castle, was filthy and seemed to be hardly used. Oh, it had far less dust and grime than any other room he'd seen so far, but it would assuredly need some work.

He shook his head just thinking about how much cleaning he would have to do to get the place in order. He could use magic in many areas, the cost for dusting wouldn't be high but he didn't want to build up too high a price just yet, especially not for something as insignificant as cleaning. The curse inside of him gained just a little more leverage any time he didn't carefully balance out the cost of his magic. While he'd almost perfected his methods of dealing with that, it wasn't something he was prepared to deal with the price of such a whim. Once the place was clean he could use magic to keep it that way and dole out that cost with ease, but until then manual labor would do.

The boy followed him into the room, immediately moving to the pantry and began removing pans. "Sit down boy," Cheshire -no the boy, don't get attached- flinched at the older man's sudden assertion and Rumpelstiltskin cursed himself quietly. "Let me take care of this," he said in a softer tone as the boy moved to the rickety table by the stove.

He grabbed a pan from the boy's hand and moved to look in the pantry. To his relief it was well stocked. He saw a few eggs and a loaf of bread and inspiration struck. "It's been a few years, but I think I remember how to cook an egg," the imp smirked giving the boy a wink. To his delight something close to a smile pulled at the boy's lips.

He set to work lighting a fire under the stove with magic. Silence reigned once again broken only by the sizzle of the pan. He looked up from his work to observe the child in the now well-lit room. The boy's dark hair was a mess and his light grey eyes had a haunted look about them. The father in Rumpelstiltskin couldn't stand the frightened manner in which the child sat perched on the edge of his seat. As if he was unsure of what would happen to him next. "When I was young eggs in a basket was always my favorite. Have you ever had that?" Rumpelstiltskin inquired in the most human voice he could muster.

Cheshire shook his head at the imp. "Well you're in for a treat, then," Rumpelstiltskin replied with a chuckle. "My boy's always been fond of it as well." Had he really just mentioned Baelfire to this child? The Dark One shook his head in exasperation then focused on the task at hand. Both Rumpelstiltskin and his curse agreed that he could not get attached to Chesh- the boy.

The imp silently berated himself, he'd come to this castle to liberate it from its owner not to take on a charity case. As he sat a plate in front of the boy, the child eyed it hungrily but made no move to eat. Instead he shot a glance at the now thoroughly confused Dark One. Rumpelstiltskin had never met a hungry boy who didn't immediately tuck into food placed in front of him. "Eat up then," the imp insisted. The boy needed no further persuading, quickly wolfing down his helping. Rumpelstiltskin found himself staring at Cheshire, pity stirring in his heart once more. When the boy's plate was clean, the imp pushed over his own. He received a distrustful glance from the child. "It's alright, I can always make more," Rumpelstiltskin encouraged and the boy seemed to take him at his word.

Several plates later Cheshire had apparently had his fill much to the imp's amusement. "Always nice to see a young man with a healthy appetite," he chuckled lightly before donning a more serious tone. "How long have you been here boy?" The boy simply shrugged in reply refusing to look at the Dark One. "You don't know then?" That got him a short nod. Had the boy not spoken his name earlier Rumpelstiltskin might have believed the child was mute. This was going to be more challenging than he originally believed.

"If it helps," the older man attempted, "the Ogre wars in the Frontlands and surrounding areas ended five years ago. The northern territories became a single kingdom seven years ago. About three years ago the Duke of Arrendelle was overthrown by his nephew. Does any of this help?"

Cheshire grimaced and finally looked up at the imp as he replied, "I'm fifteen."

Rumpelstiltskin cheered internally at this small progression. "How old were you when you became an apprentice here?" he encouraged.

Cheshire thought for a moment before answering, "Ten. I was ten."

The Dark One examined the young man in front of him thoughtfully. The boy refused to make eye contact of any sort and rarely looked up past the imp's mouth. The child's years in the castle had obviously not been happy and fury at the now dead sorcerer bloomed within the Dark One once more. With some effort Rumpelstiltskin pushed the anger down. "So, you know the castle fairly well then?" the boy only nodded to the question this time. It seemed that the discovery of how long he'd been in the castle was overwhelming the boy. Rumpelstiltskin made a quick decision about how to handle the situation before continuing, "Look Cheshire was it?" The boy nodded once again in reply, "Quite the mouthful isn't it," the imp quipped.

Surprisingly the boy snorted, "No more so than Rumpelstiltskin."

Terror crossed Cheshire's face as he realized the impertinence behind his comment, but the imp in question let out a small laugh, "Fair enough." Rumpelstiltskin noted that some tension left his companions shoulders when he didn't rebuke the snarky response. "To the point though," the older man continued, "I'm not going to hold you to Silas's apprenticeship. You're free to go home to your parents. I'll arrange for your travel and every-"

"They're dead," Cheshire mumbled cutting him off.

"What?"

"My parents are dead," the child repeated.

Rumpelstiltskin didn't know how to reply to the newest development. The father in him wanted to pull the boy into his arms and comfort him, but the Dark One saw the child as a danger and wanted him dead. Unfortunately, it was taking the majority of Rumpelstiltskin's will power to keep the Dark One caged, so he settled for turning a softer gaze on the boy.

"How can you be sure?" the older man asked lost for words. Cheshire merely shook his head and sat quietly. Apparently, those were memories the child didn't wish to share. The boy looked so very lost and scared leading Rumpelstiltskin to decide that such questions could wait for the next evening. With a flick of his wrist he cleared the table, cleaning the dishes and returning everything to its proper place.

"We'll talk more in the morning, it's getting a bit late," he advised standing from his chair indicating that Cheshire should do the same. "Can you show me where the rooms are?" The boy led the way out of the kitchen which the imp took to mean yes. He could easily locate the rooms himself, but some remaining parental instinct told him to give the boy a job, something practical for the child to do. Such a task would allow Cheshire to occupy his mind with something other than thoughts of his apparently dead parents.

"Surely, we can find ourselves a couple of livable rooms," Rumpelstiltskin commented as they walked up the stairs he'd spied earlier from the entrance hall. Cheshire stopped walking and turned a questioning gaze back at Rumpelstiltskin. "You can have any room you like Cheshire. I won't have you spending the evening in that dingy cell you called a room."

A slight spring appeared in the child's step as he continued leading his companion. "Silas slept in the East Wing," Cheshire divulged quietly as they reached the landing.

"West Wing it is," the imp replied.

Cheshire led Rumpelstiltskin up the stairs and down several long corridors until they reached a hallway full of large doors. The boy pointed the imp into a lavish and luxurious room covered in dust. A huge canopy bed sat in the center and an equally fine fireplace adorned the far eastern wall. "Now this will do," the imp chuckled. "Where will you stay?"

The boy answered by stepping back out the door and pointing to a room across the hall. Rumpelstiltskin nodded and walked across the corridor. He found a slightly smaller room that was no less sumptuous. Calculating the slight cost, he waved his hand and the copious amounts of dirt and grime disappeared even as a fire lept to life in the fireplace. "Sleep well," the Dark One said dismissing the boy.

Rumpelstiltskin did the same for his new room and began pacing once he was alone. As the Dark One, he didn't require sleep which proved beneficial for this evening. Thoughts swirled around him as he stalked from one end of the room to the other. This boy could become a large problem for him a voice which the imp believed to be Nimue insisted. Cheshire was a liability, just another person who would eventually betray and leave the weak spinner. Rumpelstiltskin had trouble quieting that line of thinking.

Of course the boy would leave, Rumpelstiltskin insisted to himself. Cheshire had been neglected and abused by his previous master only to be rescued by a monster. Once the child realized that the Dark One was even worse than Silas, he would run as fast as his legs could carry him. No, growing attached wasn't an option. And yet... Rumpelstiltskin couldn't help himself.

No matter how hard he tried to see the boy's future it alluded the still learning Seer and that in itself was disturbing. It meant that he was walking into this blind and the Dark One hated not knowing ahead of time. However, knowing that it was a mistake to allow the boy to stay and abiding by that knowledge were two very different things. After seeing the boy and realizing all that he'd been through, the old spinner wanted to make sure Cheshire was okay. If that meant allowing the young man to stay for a few days until Rumpelstiltskin could find him a place to go, then he could provide that. After a few hours of pushing aside his curse's assertions to kill the boy and working through his own uncertainty, the fire had died low and the imp decided that perhaps he could use a few moments of rest.

As he laid across the thick blankets of his bed he heard the door to his room open ever so slightly. Tensing, he lay as still as possible waiting to see what the intruder would do. To his surprise the intruder in question had a familiar quaking gait and recognizable messy hair. Cheshire snuck into the room and made his way to the plush armchair that sat in front of the fire place on the opposite side of the room. Rumpelstiltskin watched as the boy wrapped a blanket he'd brought along around his shoulders and settled into the chair. In that moment that Rumpelstiltskin decided the boy would stay. At least until he could find a safe place for the child.

For the first time in five years, the Dark One curse was completely silent, and Rumpelstiltskin felt something close to contentment.