"I need to ask a favor of you, Belle," Rumple said as he strode into the library and set himself up behind the circulation desk.

"Sure," Belle smiled and gave him a kiss. "Whatever you need, you can have it."

"Are you sure you don't want to hear what I need first before you agree to it?" Rumple asked. "Because it involves a certain level of risk and danger."

"All right," Bell nodded and continued playing with his hair, unfazed. "Just what is it that you want?"

"Well, you know about my wife and her lawyer," Rumple said. "It just so happens that my son might have found the way to keep them at bay, but we need a place to hide it. Can we do that here?"

"Of course," Belle nodded. "No problem. And you know, I signed up for a self-defense class that Granny is running. It starts tonight, so hopefully if Milah or Zelena show up, I can just give them a good kick and send them on their way."

"Thank you," Rumple told her, taking the bag off his arm and removing the towel-covered lamp. "Here it is. Where should we put it?"

Belle took Rumple into her office and shut the door. "Is that really a magic lamp?" She asked in a low voice as she looked at it with awe. "I thought those were just in books!"

"Apparently not," Rumple smiled. "Would you like to give it a try?"

"Do you think we should?" Belle asked. "What would your son say?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," Rumple told her. "I know more about these kinds of things than he does."

She got closer to him and gripped his arm, sucking in a breath as he slowly reached out to touch the lamp. "Do it," she whispered in his ear. "Do it!"

Rumple moved his finger slowly along the side of the lamp and then stopped. "No," he shook his head. "Not here. It's too public. But I promise that we'll find a private place and I'll show you, I promise."

There was a sharp knock at the door and with a start, Belle urged Rumple to quickly cover up the lamp again. "What do you want?" She called. "If you have a book I need to check out for you, I'll be there in a minute."

"Why not now?" Neal asked. "What are you doing in there?"

"Not what you think," Rumple said and opened the door. "Come on in here. We're talking about the lamp."

"Sure," Neal nodded. "Whatever euphemism you want to use to spare me finding out what was actually going on, thank you." He took the lamp in his arms and asked Belle, "So can we keep it here?"

"Yes," Belle nodded. "I'll keep it safe, I promise."

"Thank you," Neal told her. "It's a big help."

"It's my pleasure to help," Belle replied. "Honestly." They left the room and then Belle and Rumple said goodbye to Neal before going back to checking out books, except over the lunch hour, when Belle led Rumple back into the back room and put a hand on his chest so she could lean forward and kiss him. That made him pause in surprise for a second or two, but soon he was kissing her back, his fingers in her hair as her hands went up and cupped his face and played with his tie.

When they pulled apart, they were breathing heavily and grinning at each other. "That was nice," Belle told him. "We should do it again."

"I agree," Rumple nodded and removed his coat. He smiled as he took her in his arms and kissed her again, pulling her close to himself as he felt her throw her arms around his neck.

"Okay, okay," Belle giggled when they pulled apart again. "We have to stop for now. People will start wondering where we are soon."

"I suppose," Rumple sighed, but took Belle's hand as he led her out of the back room and tried to pointedly ignore the fact that everyone was staring at them and some were whispering amongst themselves.

"Don't you all have other things you should be doing right now?" He asked them all. "Surely I'm not the only one who's gotten affection in a public place?"

Everyone went back to their reading and copying after that and Belle smiled. "Don't worry about it," she told him. "I'm not embarrassed. Are you?"

"Oh, no," Rumple shook his head. "That little speech was for your sake, not mine."

They spent the rest of the day at the desk, holding each other's hands as they checked out books and dealt out library cards, and then she drove him back to his room at Granny's.

"Is this where I should have brought you?" She asked. "Or should I have taken you to Emma's to talk to them about the lamp?"

"No, here is fine," Rumple smiled. "Just let me leave a note for Neal on the door and then we can figure out what to do with ourselves for the rest of the night."

"All right," Belle smiled and bounced on her heels a bit. "Sounds good to me."

The next day was a Saturday. Rumple woke up to the sound of the phone in his room ringing. "Hello?" He asked tiredly. "Who is it?"

"It's Neal," Neal replied. "Thanks for leaving the note on the door last night so I didn't disturb you."

"Oh, it was nothing, son," Rumple told him and sat up. "Where did you spend the night?"

"With Emma," Neal told him. "Don't worry. I didn't end up sleeping on a park bench or anything like that."

"Good," Rumple replied. "Although I wasn't worried about that."

"Who is it?" Belle asked.

Rumple covered the bottom of the phone with his hand and said, "It's Neal."

"Ah," Belle nodded and pulled the blankets over her head again. "Keep talking. Don't mind me."

"Was that Belle?" Neal asked. "So you did spend the night with her!"

"Why does everyone react that way when they realize that?" Rumple asked, exasperation in his voice. "I can have feelings for other people, just like anyone."

"No, it's not that!" Neal told him quickly. "I'm happy for you. Really, I am. But here's what I really called about: can you bring the lamp to Emma's so Henry can have a look at it?"

"Just so I know, is he just looking, or are you going to let him be the one to contact the genie?" Rumple asked. "I want to know your plan before we release it."

"You're probably going to be exasperated with me when I say this, but honestly, I think you should be the one to decide what to do," Neal told him. "You were the one that was victimized. I mean, I thought that we could make a few wishes, set the genie free, and then trap Mother in there instead. How's that for a plan?"

Rumple burst into laughter and Neal said, "All right, so you don't like my idea. What would you rather do?"

"No, I think your plan is a good one," Rumple told her. "But the thought of your mother being in service to someone else for all of time just makes me laugh. You have no idea how much. It will make her completely miserable."

"That's the point, isn't it?" Neal asked.

"Oh, yes," Rumple nodded and grinned. "Of course it is."

Emma was a bit surprised when Rumple stopped by with the lamp and she saw that he had Belle on his arm.

"It's all right that I brought her with me, isn't it?" He asked Emma. "Now that she's keeping the lamp safe, naturally she's been brought into our little circle."

"Oh, of course," Emma nodded. "Naturally." She sat down and said to Belle, "Are there any books at all in the library about genies? I mean, real ones that aren't 1001 Arabian Nights?"

"I've never actually looked," Belle told her. "But I certainly will now." She paused. "And even if I don't find anything, I'm sure that Rumple could tell you whatever you need to know."

It was then that Henry came into the living room, an eager look on his face. "Do you have the lamp?" He asked. "I want a better look at it." He paused and blushed. "Please?"

"Go ahead," Rumple replied. "You can even give it a rub if you want and we'll see what this genie is like."

Henry gently took the lamp in his hands, surprised by the weight of it. Emma held up the other end so it wouldn't fall and then Henry gave it a rub. Purple smoke came out of it and formed into an innocuous-looking dark-skinned man with gray hair wearing a suit.

"Oh, damn!" Rumple swore as Belle held tight to his arm and tried to calm him. "Of all the genies in all the lamps in all the world…we had to get yours. I thought you were gone by now!"

The genie sighed. "I admit that that's exactly what I expected when the queen had me put back in this lamp and sent away, but…here I am! I have to thank you, by the way." He breathed expansively. "It's nice to be out in the open air again."

"What's going on here?" Neal asked. "What don't I know?"

"This man used to be in cahoots with the evil queen, son," Rumple told him. "He caused all sorts of trouble in her name."

"In my defense, I didn't," Sydney Glass protested. "Not really. What my queen asked of me, I did. But she did much worse on her own."

"That's not important now," Emma said. "Can we trust you to just work with us and not tell Regina a thing about what we're doing? I know she's much better than she used to be, but we have enough trouble on our hands without adding her into the mix."

"What do I get in return for my silence?" Sydney asked.

"I didn't know genies could make demands," Neal replied.

"Of course not," Sydney smirked. "You probably just think I'm supposed to meekly sit back and obey my master's commands."

"Is that wrong?" Emma wanted to know. "You seem pretty happy to do Regina's bidding."

"Is what you'll want of me going to hurt her?" Sydney asked.

"No," Emma shook her head. "In fact, this has nothing to do with her at all."

"Good," Sydney nodded. "Then you'll have my cooperation. What's going on?"

"My wife and her lawyer have taken my magic," Rumple told him. "And most everything else that I hold dear. We want your help getting it back. And then, after all of this, you'll be free and someone else will take your place in the lamp. Is that fair?"

"Freedom?" Sydney asked, looking amazed. "Really? You aren't just leading me on, are you?"

"No," Neal said earnestly. "It's the truth."

"All right," Sydney said after taking several minutes to try and determine whether or not he believed them. "Where do we start? Is there a wish I can grant to begin this whole revenge plot?"

"Not at the moment," Emma said. "But when we come up with something, we'll let you know."

"Would it be pushing my luck to wish for a mini bike?" Henry asked.

"When this is all over, we'll talk about it," Neal told him. "I promise. But until then, we have to focus on this and only this."

"All right," Henry nodded. "Will I actually be able to take part in this plan, or do I just have to sit back and do nothing cause I'm a kid?"

"No, we'll find some way to make you feel involved," Emma told him. "I promise. Cause if we don't, you'll find a way on your own. Am I wrong?"

"No," Henry shook his head and smiled. "You're correct."