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Disclaimer: I do not own Ouat or it's characters.

The day started out so normally. He had gotten out of bed, kissed sleeping Cora on the cheek before getting dressed. The suit he put on was one of the many he had bought after he had fulfilled his first contract. Designing weapons wasn't a glorious job, and Bae hated him doing it, but it put food on the table and extra money in their pockets. Up until this point he had only designed small arms for a few mid-brand companies. Today that was going to change. Yesterday he had received a call about a possible contract designing and developing transcontinental missiles and new weapons for the Army. If this contract got pushed through it would mean big changes for him and Bae and maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to get that ring he'd be eyeing for Cora. They'd been together for almost a year now, it was about time they made things more permanent.

Downstairs Bae was already up and watching some cartoon about little blue people while eating a bowl of that crazy sugar filled cereal he loved so much. His boy looked up with a small smile when Rum ruffled his curly hair. "What are you doing up already Bae?" During the summer it was near impossible to get Bae up before noon, and it was barely nine so there had to be a reason he was up.

"Couldn't sleep. I just had this feeling something bad was going to happen."

"Did you have a nightmare Baelfire?"

"No Papa, just a bad feeling. I probably just are some bad food last night at Morraine's."

"Alright if you're sure."

Bae's attention went back to his cartoon and Gold continued with his morning ritual. He made himself some tea and put the coffee pot on for Cora so that it was ready when she woke, when his tea was ready he started going through the morning paper. Splattered across the front page was a picture of some scruffy looking guy, the article underneath explaining how local bartender Keith Nottingham had been arrested for alleged communist ties. Shaking his head Gold flipped past the article with a shake of his head, he really wished all the tension between the two nations would end already. Each one wanted to prove that they were the ultimate super power and were better than the other. It was pointless, but then again this childish display of aggression was what prompted the Army to overlook his past and offer him this opportunity. He'd be a fool to turn them down.

Gold was just finishing off his second cup of tea and folding up the newspaper when Cora made her way downstairs. She gave Bae a pat on the head that his boy cringed away from and kissed him on the cheek as she passed by to the coffee maker. "What are you doing today Rummy?" From the corner of his eye Rum saw Bae pretend to gag at Cora's choice of nickname. Truthfully he wasn't fond of it either but Cora thought it suited him so he dealt with it.

"I have to put together a portfolio for my meeting with the Army."

Cora looked up quickly, almost spilling coffee on herself. "What meeting?"

"The Army asked Dad to make bombs for them." Bae piped in from the next room.

"What?!"

"That's not what happening Bae and you know it."

"Then what is happening Rummy?"

"I have an appointment with some Army contractors to show them my work. If they like my work then there is a very good chance that they will offer me a contract to design and create missiles and other weapons."

Cora gave a small hum and smile before turning her attention to the paper he had abandoned. It pained him a little that she showed so little interest but then again Cora had never been much of a morning person. He was sure once she woke up more she'd be more excited about what this could lead to for them.

"Papa can I go over to Morraine's today? She mentioned that they were going to go to the pool today!"

Gold looked at Bae's hopeful face and couldn't tell him now, then again he'd never been able to tell his boy no. "Sure Bae."

"Oh but Rummy, Regina had wanted us all to go to lunch together! She wanted to get to know the two of you better."

Regina was Cora's twenty-two year old daughter from a previous marriage. When he and Cora had first gotten together she had been in college and they had never seen much of her. Now she had graduated and moved back home. It seemed that they got together once a week for lunch and 'bonding time'. This time usually consisted of the adults talking about politics while Bae doodled on his napkin. He knew Bae didn't really enjoy these lunches but if he planned on taking the next step with Cora then Bae should really get used to time spent with what would be his step sister. "Well I suppose I could always drop you off at the pool after lunch Bae. How does that sound?"

Bae gave a shrug and a half-hearted "yeah" which was about the best Gold could expect. A glance at the clock showed he really needed to get going if he wanted to have his portfolio put together before lunch. He gave Cora, who promised to call him with details about lunch, a quick kiss and ruffled Bae's floofy hair, he really need to get the boy in for a trim, before leaving.

The rest of the morning was rather uneventful. He spent most of his time in his downtown office going through files of all his old designs trying to find his best work. He even managed to draft out some rough ideas for long-range missiles. He got so absorbed in his work that he lost track of time and he was quite surprised when Cora called with the details about lunch. Apparently they had decided on a picnic in the woods. It definitely wouldn't have been a place he would have thought either Cora or Regina would have chosen, but he wasn't going to complain. Packing up his portfolio was a work of a moment and soon he was on his way to the address Cora had given him.

It didn't take long for Gold to get from his office to what turned out to be a small cabin in the woods. He wondered briefly how Cora or Regina had come across the place since neither of them were very nature driven but figured it wasn't important. Inside the cabin it was rather bare, similar to a camping lodge after the season was over, and a quick look around don't' find him Bae, Cora or Regina. Perhaps he had gotten the address wrong? "Bae? Cora? Regina? Anyone here?"

"Rummy?"

Cora's voice came from another room but try as he might he couldn't find her. "Cora? Where are you at?"

"In the basement! The power wouldn't work. Something's wrong with the generator. Can you help us?"

Chuckling slightly at the thought of Cora or Regina trying to fix a generator Gold followed her voice to a door that lead down to the basement. He really was curious now how a barren cabin in the woods had beat out a diner or café for their lunch spot. At the bottom of the stairs was another door, this one slightly ajar. Pushing the door open allowed a small beam of light into the otherwise pitch black room. "Bae? Cora? You guys okay?"

The light suddenly switched on, momentarily blinding him. When his eyes finally adjusted he had to do a double take because there was no way what he was seeing was real. Bae was sitting in a chair with his hands and legs tied to it. Behind him Cora, Regina, and some guy Rum had never seen before were standing, each holding a gun to his son's head. It was like a scene out of a horror movie or his worst nightmare. This had to be a dream, a terrible, terrible, dream. There was just no way his girlfriend was holding a gun to his son's head. It just wasn't possible. "What's going on here? Cora what are you doing?"

"Papa run! Just get out of here!"

"Now, now Baelfire, don't be rude. I don't believe he was talking to you."

Gold's gaze bounced from Bae's eyes, so wide and filled with terror, to the three guns mussing his curly hair, then up to Cora's blank face. She was holding a gun to his to his son's head and she was completely devoid of emotion. This couldn't be the same woman he loved, the same woman he had thought of proposing to. "Cora what the hell is going on? Let Bae go!"

"You know Rumford, I thought it was quite obvious. Regina, Killian, and I are going to shoot your precious little Baelfire unless you do exactly what I want you to do."

"Papa don't listen to them! Just run!"

The man Rum didn't know, Killian according to Cora, tapped the muzzle of his gun against Bae's head causing him to cry out. "Shut it boy!"

Gold started forward but stopped short when Regina cocked her gun and pressed it harder against Bae's head. "Not a step closer Gold."

"Someone tell me what the hell is going on here!"

Cora smiled but it was cold and cruel. "Of course Dear Rummy. It's very simple, you are going to be working for me now."

"Work for you? What do you mean work for you?"

"I suppose I should be a little more clear. You know me as Cora Mills, but it's actually Cora Milykov. I head a Soviet funded organization called The Heart, and you are going to provide us with the weapons to end the dispute between the Union and this stupid country."

Milykov. Soviet Union. Weapons. The words bounced through his mind, not quite sinking in. The woman he had loved was now pressing a gun to his son's head and saying she was a communist. She was a communist who expected him to make weapons of war for her. This truly was a scene out of some bad fifties movie.

"You want me to make weapons for you, and you think kidnapping my son and threatening him is the way to convince me?"

"Oh sweet Rummy. This isn't a matter of wanting, you will do this or we will kill your precious boy. It's really quite simple."

"And you think no one is going to notice we're missing? Bae has friends, I'm supposed to be meeting with the army in two hours. They are going to realize something is wrong when we just disappear."

"No they wont. Word will get out that Bae's mother sued for custody and won, and as for you...Well the army is just going to think you were just too cowardly to accept the offer. What else would they expect from the man who got himself injured just to come home from war. Once a coward, always a coward."

Shame filled him at her callous truth. He swore his ankle throbbed in pain at just the memory of the event. He had been stationed in Vietnam, after being drafted, and had just received word that Milah was pregnant. He wanted nothing more than to go home and live to see his son be born but his unit was scheduled to be sent on a raid the next day. He could so easily remember his gun sitting right there, and he just couldn't leave his son fatherless...

"Cora this isn't necessary! Just let Bae go and I'll do whatever you want. You don't have to involve him."

"And I'm just supposed to take your word and trust young Baelfire to keep his mouth shut? I'm supposed to believe that if I let him go the first place he's going to run off to isn't going to be the police? I didn't get this far by being stupid Rumford. Bae is our little insurance policy. If you want him to stay alive and well you will do exactly as we say."

He tried to find a flaw in their plan, anything that would allow his boy to go home safely, but any argument he could come up with, any plan he could formulate all ended with Bae getting hurt...or worse. With his heart breaking he have a defeated nod. "Fine. I'll do whatever you want as long as Bae doesn't get hurt."

"We won't harm a hair on his fluffy little head, so long as you do your job."

"Deal."

"Good. Now take them away. I'm bored of this."

Killian came over to him, forcing his hands behind his back and tying them up. Only after he was secure Regina cut Bae free and hoisted him up by the collar of his shirt. Bae tried to rush over to him but Regina held fast and hauled him back towards the stairs. When Gold tried to fight over to him Killian dug his gun into the back of his head. "Stay still!"

"You have to let me say goodbye!"

"Regina get him out of here."

Gold thrashed against his bonds trying to break free but couldn't. Bae was struggling too, kicking and hitting Regina the best he could. "Papa! Don't let them take me! Papa please!"

"Bae! I love you! It's going to be okay Bae! It's all going to be okay! I love you!"

"Don't let me go! Papa!"

"Bae!"

"Papa help me! Paaaapaaa!"

Gold jerked awake from the nightmare shouting Bae's name. Cold sweat poured down him as he gasped for breath. It had been three years since that nightmare had taken place and not a week where he wasn't plagued by the dream. It always ended with Bae screaming for his help and him being unable to do anything. That was last memory he had of his boy, screaming for his papa to save him and being powerless to do anything. He hadn't been strong enough, smart enough, or brave enough to save him. He had failed his son then and every day since.

Heaving a sigh Gold settled back down and clutched the sole sheet they permitted him around his thin frame. He needed sleep if he was going to work. He needed work if he was ever going to please Cora. He needed to please Cora if he ever wanted to get out of this hell hole. If he was lucky maybe today would be his last day. If he was lucky today would be the he'd get to see his son. If he was lucky maybe today he could go home. If he was lucky.

Then again he had never been very lucky...

And that's chapter 4! Hope you enjoyed it, tell me what you think!