A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short, and that it took so long! The foster puppy took up far more time than we estimated which seriously cut into my writing time. But he has a new home now (yay!), I have time to write, and I have a direction for the next few chapters. I'm working through the kinks of the plot, but a new chapter should be up sometime next week. As always if you like what I do, feel the need to make a point, see some kind of grammar mistake, or just need to have a good rant about it all; leave me a comment over in the reviews.

A full moon hung high above the Dark Castle, casting an eerie light across the large estate. Winter finally arrived in full force and the castle was covered in a deep blanket of snow. The added aesthetic only enhanced the overwhelming sense of isolation and foreboding of the Dark One's home. Rumpelstiltskin collapsed across his bed and stared up at the ornate ceilings of his room. Normally he spent very little time sleeping or in a bed, but recently he found himself spending more nights in the room. That probably had more to do with his new apprentice than his any exhaustion on his part.

While Ches spent a few nights in his own room each week, nightmares sent him into his master's room more often than not. Even when the room's inhabitant was not there, Rumpelstiltskin noted to himself. For some incomprehensible reason the boy felt safe around the impish man. A fact the former spinner reveled in and his curse detested.

A week had passed since their discussion about the Blue Fairy's offer and the two inhabitants of the Dark Castle had easily fallen back into their usual routine. While Rumpelstiltskin knew that one day the boy would discover the monster and leave, he couldn't deny that he'd immensely enjoyed teaching Cheshire. Before being drafted into the Ogre's war he'd contemplated brining on an apprentice to help him spin and weave. At the time he and Milah had been doing well enough and an extra hand might have helped. Of course, after the disaster of his conscription, hardly anyone would buy from him let alone apprentice their child to him. But he'd always harbored the notion of teaching someone.

Bae had been a quick learner when it came to weaving, but the boy simply didn't have the temperament for it. He'd rather be out tending to the house or playing with the other children. Sitting still wasn't in his nature. Yet some of Rumpelstiltskin's fondest memories were of teaching Baelfire all that he knew. It was nice to be teaching someone bright and precocious once again.

With great effort, he pulled himself from such depressing thoughts as his life prior to being the Dark One. Your life before was pathetic,the curse whispered, why dwell on such things. Despite his dislike of the darker nature of the curse, Rumpelstiltskin couldn't help but agree on this. His life before the curse hadn't been anything to be proud of. He'd been a powerless cripple with no friends and no hope at becoming anything more. Being branded the town coward and having your wife leave you didn't tend to help your prospects of upward mobility. No, the only good thing from his previous life was his son and he'd managed to screw that up too.

The boy would only have brought you down anyway, the curse began, you're better off without him. He- Rumpelstiltskin cut off those thoughts. Baelfire was the only good thing that had ever happened to him and he could never be better off without him, he reminded himself. He'd bargained with the curse soon after taking it on and loosing Bae. He managed to keep a small sliver of his soul light long enough to find Bae and apologize to him. The love for his son kept him from allowing the darkness free reign. In exchange for that little piece of his soul he promised the darkness anything to get back to his son. Oh, he had certain lines he'd never cross, but the darkness had quite a bit of sway over his actions. It delighted in blood and revenge and the imp had been to happy to comply in so many instances.

However, now he had a new reason to keep the darkness at bay. Another young man had entered his life and snuck a little bit of light in with him. Rumpelstiltskin was certain that Cheshire would at some point leave, but until then he was rather enjoying the boy. Cheshire picked up on lessons in magic as quickly as Rumpelstiltskin had. The boy took every challenge head on and proved himself to be a quick thinker with a knack for subtly and manipulation. Yet there was still something about the boy that left the imp with a few misgivings. Something dark and –

A loud moan pulled Rumpelstiltskin from his thoughts. The boy was once again tossing under his blankets on the cot the imp had conjured so many weeks ago. The nightmares were a regular occurrence. Vestiges of Ches's time with his previous master.

Rumpelstiltskin had attempted to comfort the boy in a variety of ways. From allowing the child to sleep in his room without griping to sharing his own dealings with nightmares, the imp had tried every non-magical remedy he could think of. Yet the boy continued with his horrors almost every night.

He walked over the Cheshire's cot and sat gently beside the boy on the bed. The child's face was taut with distress, his dark hair a sweaty mess framing his face in a macabre grimace. Sighing Rumpelstiltskin placed a cautious hand on the boy's shoulder. "Ches," he whispered, "Ches wake up. It's just a nightmare."

However, the boy did not wake. His movements only grew wilder at the contact and the moaning grew louder. Before Rumpelstiltskin knew what was happening the boy began screaming. "Ches," he cried in a panicked voice, "Ches wake up!" He grabbed both of the boy's shoulders and gave him a gentle shake. "Ches."

The boy became more animated at the continued attempts to wake him. Not knowing what else to do, Rumpelstiltskin moved to the head of the bed and pulled the boy back into his chest as leaned against the bed frame. The boy struggled wildly, but if the imp allowed him to continue flailing he was going to hurt himself. He held the boy restricting his movements ever so slightly and started rocking gently. "Shhh," he whispered in what he hoped was a calming voice, "I'm right here Ches. You're okay. You're okay." After a minute or so the boy began to slowly calm down. "That's right Ches, it's okay. I've got you."

The boy's body lost its tension as Cheshire's eyes fluttered open. "Hey," the boy muttered weakly.

"Hey yourself," the imp replied softly. Cheshire leaned back against his master not seeming to realize what he was doing. "You okay kid? You… you scared me."

"Sorry, bad dream," the child replied sleepily.

"Want to talk about it?" Rumpelstiltskin asked. He couldn't let Cheshire go back to sleep just yet or the nightmare was sure to continue. The boy only nodded in reply, so the imp shifted and sat the boy up, turning his body until they sat across from one another. "Ches, you can't go back to sleep just yet." He looked into the boy's face hoping to see some form of recognition. "Talk to me okay."

"Okay," Ches answered rubbing his eyes with his now free hands.

When the boy hesitated for a long while, Rumpelstiltskin reached out and put a steadying hand on his shoulder. "You're okay Ches,"

"I know. It was just –" the boy shuddered before continuing. "I dreamed that I was in this red… red room. And everything around me was, it was like it was all on fire. I couldn't get out and… I… the smoke was so strong. It –" Cheshire's breathing got heavy and he couldn't continue.

Rumpelstiltskin gave the boy a long calculating look. His curse was already supplying him with information about certain dream magic – something one of his predecessors was interested in – but he was fairly certain he knew what caused such dreams. "Have you had this dream before Ches?" The boy dipped his head in affirmation. "How often?"

"I've had…" the boy's hesitation at the word dream confirmed more of the Dark One's theory, "dreams like this for a while now."

"I've never heard you have one this bad before?"

"You're not always in here," the boy confessed looking down at his hands which he folded in his lap, "and, um, I've- I've had them for longer than I've known you."

The imp nodded again. "Ches have you ever been given a sleeping curse?" Cheshire went very still, which certainly answered that question. "How did you come across such a thing?"

Cheshire sat for several long minutes without making a sound or even moving. Just when Rumpelstiltskin didn't think he was going to answer the boy began speaking softly. "Silas… liked to experiment sometimes. He was trying to create one… sometime back," Ches took a deep breath for continuing to stammer, "Needed to test it out. That's what apprentices are for."

For the first time in five years the silver tounged imp was speechless. Anger made his chest tight, but pity for the child in front of him was winning out. Even his curse raged in defense of the boy, though that was more likely due to the possibility of bloodshed than any care for Ches. Yet something more important caught Rumpelstiltskin's attention, "Experiment sometimes?" he asked. "Ches how often is sometimes?"

The boy shrugged sadly "Often enough," he confided.

The imp saw red and it took every bit of his self-control to reign that rage in for the moment. Struggling to keep his voice calm Rumpelstiltskin began, "If he gave you a sleeping curse, how did he wake you? Sleeping curses can only be broken by specific means." Though he was reluctant to admit it, the Dark One was beginning to understand the power and weaknesses inherent in true love. In this case however, the thought was sickening.

"He could never get it right. They never lasted for more than a few hours or one time a couple of days," the boy admitted shrinking in on himself.

"So, he was incompetent as well as –," Rumpelstiltskin changed his thought mid-sentence, "how many times did he give you a sleeping curse?" Ches only shrugged in response. "Ches how many times?"

"I don't really remember," the boy evaded.

Rumpelstiltskin moved his hand back to the boy's shoulder, "Kid," he said in a soothing tone, "it's important that I know this. The effects of that curse are what's causing these dreams and if you've been under one multiple times…" he allowed the sentence to hang in the air.

"At least four that I can remember," Ches stated nonchalantly, still Rumpelstiltskin could hear the underlying terror in the child's tone.

The human remnants of his heart ached for the young man sitting in front of him. The boy looked so very young and frightened at the moment. The demon and the man both agreed that he should have made Silas suffer before killing him. Had he known everything at the time Rumpelstiltskin knew that he would have allowed the demon free reign in killing Silas slowly. But vengeance wasn't important right then, his apprentice was in desperate need for comfort. Despite his continued reservations concerning getting too close to Cheshire, he couldn't allow the boy to face this alone anymore. Cautiously he patted the boy's shoulder causing Ches to look back up at him. "I think I know a way to stop these dreams of yours," the imp offered.

"Really?" Ches asked hopefully.

Rumpelstiltskin nodded before continuing, "There's a certain fairy I know who likes to dabble in dream magic. And she owes me a favor."

"A fairy? I thought we didn't like them?"

"You're learning well," the imp snorted. "Usually we don't, but this one is… well different." Different being quite the understatement. "Besides, this is for you. I' believe we can take on one nasty fairy for your peace of mind."

Before the imp knew what was happening, Cheshire launched himself into Rumpelstiltskin's arms. "Thank you," the boy jabbered repeating the words several times before going quiet.

"Well a sleep deprived apprentice is of no use to me," the older man assured. However, his words fooled neither his apprentice nor himself. Despite the many reasons he shouldn't, Rumpelstiltskin cared for the boy. He might not be able to help or watch over his own boy at the moment, but he'd be damned if he was going to let another child in his care suffer. Assuredly, the boy deserved better than what he could provide, but for now Rumpelstiltskin would do all in his power to protect and help the child in his custody.

A/N: Sorry to leave it ambiguous, but if you can guess which fairy I'm talking about (it should be super easy) then you get a digital high five! See you guys (hopefully soon) in the next chapter.

Also, I feel like I should mention my reasoning for how Rumple handled the night terror. Whenever my little bro used to have night terrors my sister or I could calm him down by holding onto him and talking softly. I found out many years after they stopped, that doctors advise you not to do this with individuals who experience night terrors. But it varies from person to person. What helped my kid brother might not have worked on someone else. In the case of Ches and Rumple, it's a sleeping curse side effect so I took some liberties.