SMOKE AND ASHES

Understanding the Fae Plan for dealing with the Dark One, Belle reluctantly told Gold that their relationship was over and that she wanted to stay with the Fae, rather than him. Gold, distraught, agrees to the separation, but Belle relents and reveals that this was yet another Test of the Fae to ensure themselves that Rumple (Gold) has genuinely changed. Irritated, but mollified, Gold listens to Ruel (Miranda) share that the Fae have been convinced that he is The Dark One, the one foretold who would exterminate their kind. She tells him that the Fae decided to create the Light One to combat him in the belief that the Light One would kill him. It was not anticipated that the two would fall in love.

Meanwhile The House is attacked and Milah, Ashley and Archie rescue Jefferson and Emma who have been incapacitated by the attackers.

Ruel is about to tell Rumple more of the Fae plan when they are interrupted by the arrival of Belle's father, Maurice. Ruel-Miranda and Maurice have their reunion while Gold is surprised by a frantic manifestation of Lovecraft the Cat. He leaves with Lovecraft. Belle and her parents decide to follow Gold and they arrive at The House to find that it is on fire and under attack by the fierce Bocans. Ruel-Miranda and Belle assist Gold in fighting off three of the creatures. Gold finds Emma sitting in an ambulance outside of The House and is assured that everyone is accounted for.

Gold then asks, "Where's Elspeth?"

Chapter 40

Healing

+ + + + Aftermath

Standing on the street with its scattered meager trees, standing in the open parking lot that was across the street from the House, standing amid the myriad of emergency vehicles, including three fire trucks, two police cars and an ambulance, Gold asked Emma, "Where's Elspeth?"

Emma looked bewildered for a moment. "Eh . . . she was with Zelena," she finally said.

"Where are they now?" Gold asked, steel coming into his voice, his eyes narrowing.

Emma had seen Gold in rages before, which were frightening enough, but this type of quiet, calculated response was somehow even more terrifying. Gold was furious. "I've been unconscious," she gave by way of explanation. "I . . . I . . . guess . . . she's still with Zelena?" Emma timidly suggested.

"Shall we find out for sure?"

Emma's training, her experience, her focus came into play. "Sure," she answered. "They had gone for their morning walk. I think Zelena took Jefferson's cell," Emma pulled out her cell and began dialing.

"Who is Elspeth?" Ruel asked. She was standing behind Gold alongside Maurice.

"Gold's daughter," Belle answered her mother.

"What? Rumplestiltskin has a daughter?!" Ruel was astonished.

"Glad there are still some things you don't know about me," Gold muttered.

"How . . . How . . . Where . . . How?" Ruel sputtered.

"We found her. She had no parents. Gold adopted her. This all happened recently," Belle explained. "She's adorable. Just a perfect little lady. So sweet. So polite," she added.

"Don't oversell her," Gold interjected. "She's demanding and rather high maintenance."

"Sounds perfect for you," Ruel said smiling.

Gold pulled a face, scowling at the Fairy Queen. Just then Emma rejoined the group. "I've been making some calls. Zelena's not answering. I've called a couple of places where they go and I may have found Zelena. She's might be at Malaprops," Emma mentioned the book store on Haywood. "I've called David and he's going there personally." Emma paused and added quietly, "They didn't remember seeing Elspeth."

Gold closed his eyes. "They've taken her," he said somberly.

"You can't know that . . . can you?" Emma asked.

"It's not a strong connection, but I feel that she's . . . still. It's not normal for her to be still," he turned to Belle. "Can you try to reach her?"

Belle nodded and thought Little Elspeth thoughts. What came to her was the child sitting still . . . watching. There was at least one of the Bocans near her, maybe more. Belle didn't sense fear, more like mild curiosity. Belle sent the child some comforting thoughts, then turned her attention back to Gold.

"I'm sensing at least one of the Bocans with her," she told Gold. "She seems to be all right . . . well, she's not scared."

Gold spoke slowly, "They're going to use her against me . . . to get something they want. We have to find her and rescue her."

+ + + + + Elspeth and the Bocan

She was sitting on the floor cuddling her teddy bear. They were in the grey-green stairwell of one of the larger parking garages. The Bocan's mere presence deterred anyone from using the stairs – people would approach but get creepy feelings and opt for the elevator. The tile floor was cold and dirty. The small area was minimally lit with a dim flickering florescent light, and even that was often obscured by the Bocan.

"I'm hungry," Elspeth announced.

The large Bocan assigned to babysit her was confused. "Hungrree?" he asked

"I want sometin' to eat. It lunchtime," Elspeth explained to him. When the big creature just blinked, the eyes growing dim and bright several times, Elspeth offered a suggestion, "Daddy took me to Soda Fountain. I got peanut butter and jelly and pineapple dee-light and celery and carrots. I want dat."

Now, the Bocan's red eyes sparkled and flickered. He nodded and drifted off to the door of the stairwell and called over one of the smaller Bocan guards. He said something in the hissing language of his people. He returned to Elspeth.

"Ssssoooon," he told her. He knew the guard would drift out into the shadows of the day, find a likely lone person to possess and have the person make the purchase of food and bring it back.

"What you name?" Elspeth asked him.

The Bocan considered. Only the Important Ones among his kind had names. He wasn't important.

"Nooo naaame," he told the child effectively shaking his head.

"You have to have a name. Everybody have a name," she persisted.

"Nooo name," he repeated.

Elspeth sighed. "Tell me stor-eee," Elspeth asked the huge dark shadow creature.

Again the red eyes flickered. Why was this child not terrified? He knew his immediate commander, Rashnack, had raised this very question before and pissed off the Commander – which is why he, as one of Rashnack's people, was now on babysitting duty with the brat, denied the opportunity to raise himself in battle against the New Master. Humans, he knew well, would freeze in terror at the mere presence of Bocans, one of his kind, whether they could see them or not. Bocans carried about themselves an aura that triggered fear. It was their primary weapon.

"I'm bored. Tell me stor-ee," Elspeth persisted.

"I knoooow nooo stooor-eeee," the Bocan replied.

Elspeth clearly didn't believe him. "Yes you do. Tell me 'bout when you was little," she suggested.

The Bocan considered. When had he been little? Bocans were born of the air, in places where there had been much death, battlegrounds and epicenters of disease were common breeding grounds. They grew over time, feeding on grief and fear and desperation. He thought back, his mind moving slowly. He remembered his first moments.

"Theee seeea raann reeeed," it began. He remembered and in his hissing tones he told her about The Invasion. He told her how some of the landing boats had been taken down before the men had a chance to come ashore. Other men had jumped from their boats to flounder toward the shore, some of these killed by machine gun fire in the water, others drowning - taken down by their own heavy packs. The very few who managed to shed their packs and weapons and make it to the beach were promptly cut down by the machine gun fire that sprayed the shore. The shore - there the wounded lay dying, too weak to move, and they drowned in the incoming tide. A very few were able to take refuge in the in-rushing tide, casting away their packs, their weapons and their helmets, and using the tide as cover, they made their way toward the shore, keeping only their noses above the water as they walked inland – the tidewalkers they were called. Half the force had died in the first seven minutes, two-thirds dead after the first half hour. Then the second wave of boats came in.

Over two thousand, some said over three thousand died on that small five mile stretch of beach before it was all over. He was born during those first seven minutes.

"Dat's sad," the little girl told him. "Where it was?"

He thought. Buried deep, not thought of in many years, was the name of the beach – no, not the name of the beach. It was what The Invasion had called that small stretch of beach. It came slowly into his head, seeping up into his consciousness, "Omaaahaaa," he told her.

"Then I call you Omaha," she told him. "Now, my turn," little Elspeth interrupted the morose meanderings of the Bocan. She reached out and if the creature had been more solid, she would have patted him. "Once upon a time, there was a wittle girl, dat's me."

The Bocan listened to the soft voice. She had given him a name. He was Important now. He was 'Omaha.'

Little Elspeth prattled on, telling of simple things, like how her Unca Jeff would let her and Teddy sit in his lap while they watched cartoons together, how Miss Belle would tuck her in and read her a funny story, how she and Miss Zelena had a fun time baking cookies together, how Miss Emma had held her at night when she had woke up scared and how her daddy, oh her daddy came up often. . . . how her daddy would listen to her, take her places, ask her questions, answer her questions.

It began to become very uncomfortable for the large Bocan and he was relieved when the guard returned with the child's lunch. When she turned to him with her sandwich and offered to share, the Bocan backed away from her.

+ + + + + Finding Elspeth

"How can I help?" This came from Maurice. The group turned to him. "There's obviously a little girl that's in trouble. I want to help." He looked at Gold, "I know what it's like to have a young daughter who's in trouble."

"So do I," Ruel told Gold.

Gold looked away from the group for a moment. Belle could tell the offers of assistance touched him. "We need to locate her. I suspect that we may get a message from . . . those creatures that have taken her. They'll be wanting to make some kind of a deal." He ran his hands through his hair. "All my scrying stuff was in The House," he glanced over at the building, the top floors no longer spewing flames, just smoke coming from blackened bricks. The firemen were still spritzing water on The House, as well as the buildings that were adjoined.

"I should be able to come up with something we can use. Where can we go that's not so . . . public?" Ruel asked him.

Gold considered. They would certainly need privacy for what they were about to do. "Come on," he said and he led them half a block down to Carolina Lane to door Number 9, the one that led to Undertown. "There's a small chamber before you descend," he explained. "It's like a storage room. It should be sufficient." He knocked on the door and a slot opened. The door promptly opened and the rat-creature genuflected.

"Master honors us," it managed to grunt out. "And to bring your concubine. We are doubly honored."

"Not so much tonight," Gold waved him off. "I have need of this room for a private ceremony. You," he spoke to the rat-creature, "why don't you take a thirty minute break."

The creature rose and scurried off, furtively looking back at the four that had entered, pulling back from Ruel, nearly hissing at her before he disappeared through the door that went down to Undertown.

The place did indeed look like a large storage unit inside with boxes, cast-offs, broken and discarded furniture and miscellaneous junk. The place was quite dark and smelled as if it had been closed off for decades. It was not so much dirty as dusty with a generous spattering of tiny spiders and their webs.

Ruel was clearly uncomfortable standing in this little cluttered antechamber of the Underworld but she bit her lower lip and stood firm. She thought that Rumple likely knew damn well how uncomfortable this place would be for her. Well, she'd show him and she would just manage.

Maurice stood to the side, but did lean over to Belle, "Concubine?" he asked.

"Oh daddy, we need to have a long talk," Belle told him.

Maurice obviously did not understand all of what was going on, but, coming from Avonleigh, he probably had better appreciation of the hidden worlds than most. Additionally, he was trying to be supportive of his wife and daughter as well as this powerful stranger who seemed connected with both women. Maurice was surfing a speed learning course of the occult.

"You'll need a flat surface," Ruel told him and Gold began to clear off several boxes to expose an old school desk.

"This part may be harder. We have to mark the compass points," Ruel said.

This time Maurice stepped up. He took out his phone and pulled up a little Compass Application. Gold procured a pen and marked the points around the little desk. Once he had marked the compass points, Gold drew squares to mark different parts of downtown Asheville.

"Now, you'll need something like a pendant to scry with," Ruel told him.

Belle pulled off her mother's necklace and handed it to him. He had to smile at her, "Perfect."

"You can handle my necklace?" Ruel asked.

"Without too much discomfort," Gold admitted. "Let's do this."

He put himself at the southern point for Fire, Belle at the eastern point for Air, Ruel at the western point for Water and Maurice in the north for Earth. He announced for the benefit of Maurice and Ruel, "My daughter is a lot like Belle, if you think of how Belle looked when she was younger, it will help me find her," he told everyone.

And he held up the necklace. Initially it was still, but slowly it began to swing, first back and forth, then around and around, whirling and then moving erratically.

Then it dropped.

"Where?" Belle immediately asked.

"The big city parking lot," he said after a moment of studying the makeshift map.

"The creepy one?" Belle asked.

"Well, I didn't think these creatures would set up in the children's museum at Pack Place or the Library – too much positive energy," Gold said. "Well, thank you everyone. I'm going to go and get her." And he turned to leave.

Belle put a hand on his arm stopping him. "You aren't planning on going by yourself, are you?"

"Well . . . yeah," he said.

"I don't think so," Belle told him.

"I'm quite capable of reeling in these miscreants."

"They're holding your daughter as hostage," she reminded him.

"Belle is right, Rumple," Ruel told him. "Belle and I should go with you."

"OK, now listen," he was quite determined to do the right thing. "I appreciate you two helping me out in The House but this is different. This is going to be a lot more dangerous," he tried to dissuade the two women from coming with him.

"Sounds like you need our help even more," Ruel told him.

"We are coming with you," Belle announced.

Gold heard Maurice chuckling behind him. He turned to glare at the man.

"I don't know that I would want to try to argue with either one of these women," Maurice told him. "Outside, they're all sugar and sweetness, but inside . . . " Maurice shrugged. "Stubborn, determined, insistent. Gold, they will win. The only thing you have control over is how graciously you give in."

Gold realized that Maurice was likely correct but he didn't have to like it.

"All right, let's all go," and he led the way out to Carolina Lane. He turned right and walked out to Walnut, going up the steep street, past Lexington and turned right onto Rankin toward the large city garage that was attached to the Library. It was by far the largest of the city garages, the lowest level opening onto Rankin and a second entrance off Haywood, then rising up above nearby buildings. They entered onto the ground floor at the Rankin entrance.

"This place is huge," Belle told him. "Where do we begin?"

"We should be able to sense them. We'll feel a heaviness, a sensation of being uneasy, unhappy. We may feel frightened, it's their most common tool," Gold explained.

"Do we split up?" Ruel asked.

Gold definitely didn't want his Belle to come up on a Bocan alone. She was much, much stronger than she had been when she had first encountered one of the slimy creatures, but he didn't like the idea of her having to deal with one by herself. They could be vicious and, he knew, they had no qualms about killing.

"Why don't I let you and Maurice start at the top and work your way down. Take the elevator and then start walking down. Belle and I will start here at the lowest level and work our way up. We have each others cell numbers?" he asked.

Maurice nodded and he and Ruel walked over to the elevator. Once they had caught the lift and gone on up, Belle turned to Gold. "You know they're down here on the lower levels, don't you?"

As he began walking around the garage he answered her, "Yeah, and I don't know if Ruel can handle more than one of the Bocans by herself."

"Really, I would think being a Fairy that she would be very strong against one of those creatures," Belle was confused.

They were up to the second level.

"Against one, perhaps, but I think there are several of them gathered here."

"You want to take them on by yourself?" she asked perceptively.

"I don't want both of my girls to be in danger," he admitted. "I suspect they will try to make a deal."

He stopped. "They're here," he whispered. They were standing deep inside the garage, on a side with no windows. The roof, concrete like the floors and walls, hung down low over them. It was a dark corner, cold and desperate.

Belle nodded, coming up behind him.

"Commander," Gold called out. "Show yourself. You know we have managed to drive off or defeat those that attacked The House. What's your next move?"

Belle watched and one of the shadows began to pull together, growing larger and blacker. Gradually the form coalesced into the shape of a tall, very thin man, with long arms, floating and fluctuating. The first time Belle saw the glittering red eyes, she could not stop herself from gasping.

"Masssterrr," the thing greeted Gold.

"I think not," Gold began. "You have led a rebellion against me."

The creature bowed but then raised his head up and moved closer to Gold and Belle. Belle shivered, the temperature having dropped at least ten degrees.

"Weee haave aa hossstage," the Commander began.

Belle could see a second shape come together to stand behind the Commander. This shape was smaller and somehow had a blue tinge.

"Rashnack?" Gold questioned the second figure who slowly nodded. "So you are supporting the Commander?"

This time Rashnack did not nod but did draw closer to his Commander.

"What is it you want?" Gold turned his attention back to the Commander.

"Auutooonooomee," the Commander replied.

"Autonomy? You want your own kingdom, your own place?"

"Yesss," the Commander hissed back.

Gold stood a moment. "And you think you can get what you want by threatening me? Threatening a member of my family?" His voice was quiet and hard.

Belle standing slightly behind Gold gently reached out to feel out the Bocans. It wasn't easy for her. The creatures were so full of venom and malice. The Commander - Belle thought she recognized the particular aura. The Commander may very well have been the slithering malevolence that had come into the shop wrapped around Cora not so long ago the first time she had made herself invisible. It was a particularly nasty creature.

The other one, the one that Gold had called Rashnack. This one felt different. It was intelligent and more sad than angry. Belle could tell that Rashnack did not approve of the Commander's actions.

Belle leaned in toward Gold and when she was sure the Bocans could not see her mouth moving, she whispered or did she think it? sending the thought to him, "Rashnack does not support his Commander."

Gold gave her an almost imperceptible nod.

Belle could hear the Bocan Commander's raspy response, "It isss betterrrr tooo operrrrate frommm aa posssition offf ssstrennngth."

"Is that where you think you are?" Gold asked him disdainfully. "In a position of strength?" He approached the Bocan, "You are standing on a knife's edge. You tilt too much to either side and you're dead." He was very nearly hissing, "Listen to me, you piece of filth. I want my daughter back safe and sound and I want her back now! You do that and we will discuss your concerns. You fail to deliver my daughter and I promise I will hunt down each and every one of your kind and I will exterminate them." Gold was standing nearly nose to, well, what might have been a nose for the Bocan.

The creature pulled itself up to its full height and towered over Gold. It leaned over him.

Belle shivered. How was Gold managing to stand there and not blanch away from the creature? Then she realized that Gold was generating his own energy field, pushing against the morass of misery that the Bocan projected.

"Rashnack?" Gold called to the smaller Bocan. "Is my daughter nearby?"

"Doon't aaanssswer hiiimmm," the Commander ordered.

"Rashnack?" Gold repeated.

The smaller Bocan was clearly hesitating. Belle had read him correctly. He wasn't entirely on board with his Commander's plan. Privately she thought it likely that Rashnack was by far the more intelligent of the two.

"Heee will kiilll usss, Commmanderrr," Rashnack hissed at his leader. "Leeetsss neeegotiiiate withthth hiimmm."

"Noooo! Weee arrrre strrrrongerrr. Gooo geet theee chiiillld. Weee wiiilll brrrriinng thiiisss maaatterrrr tooo a heeeead."

Rashnack was clearly torn. He owed allegiance to his commander and likely had some fear of the larger brawnier creature. Rashnack bowed and floated away.

Gold saw a sliver of an advantage and called after the retreating figure. "Rashnack! I would negotiate with you. Together we can make the changes that you might want for your people. But . . . you know . . . you hurt my child and there is no hope for you."

Rashnack paused and appeared to be looking back, the red eyes steady as they locked first on Gold then on Belle.

The Commander was blowing himself up, growing bigger and darker, sending out oily tendrils, poisonous branches, clearly testing his powers against Gold's. Belle was feeling the intensity of the creature's attack, the stench of death and putrification that oozed out of the creature reaching her nostrils. Oh gosh, what if he had already hurt Elspeth? What if he had terrorized the little girl and damaged her mentally? What if. . . what if?

Belle shook herself. This was how the Bocan attacked. Frightening people. This creature was a soul sucker.

Belle could tell that Gold was angry, angrier that she had ever seen him. Belle realized that the anger was part of Gold's way of protecting himself. She began to tap into his anger and saw, for perhaps the first time, how anger could offer strength. Somehow she had always thought of anger as a negative emotion, a bad way to feel, but now she was realizing that there were some things that warranted anger – certainly having your innocent child kidnapped was one of these. How dare they? To wage war on an innocent!

"You won't defeat me that way," Gold told creature patiently as it raged and tried to smash against Gold's shield, the mephitic, foul, lethal fingers trying to find some crack, some way to venture closer to the sorcerer. In turn, Gold was mounting a counter attack, a dark, purple-black mist rising up from the concrete floor and seeping up and around the vaporous monster.

She watched almost mesmerized by the slow motion combat. It took her a moment to become aware that Rashnack had returned. He was slowly pulling himself together behind his Commander. Behind him was a very large Bocan who appeared to be holding Elspeth's hand. Elspeth clutched her Teddy to her chest with her other hand. When she saw Gold, she called out, "Daddy!"

"Masssterrr," Rashnack had turned to Gold. "Hellllp us."

Gold nodded and Belle watched him slowly raise his hand. She had seen him work small magics and shoot out fireballs but what he was doing now astonished her.

"This is your last chance," he said quietly to the Commander and while he spoke a wind came up, blowing, surging against the shadow creature whose resemblance of a body was being stretched out, thinned across the roof of the grey concrete parking garage.

"Noooo!" the Commander was screeching and lashed out vainly at Gold. The Commander became increasingly frustrated that his efforts against Gold were fruitless and abruptly he turned his energies against the child.

The Commander turned and rushed upon Elspeth like a giant dark wave. Surely he would take Elspeth and in his rage likely tear the child apart.

It was all in slow motion. Belle saw the large Bocan, the one who was holding Elspeth's hand, position himself in front of Elspeth, bearing the full weight of the Commander's attack. Rashnack was on one side and Gold on the other.

"Now!" Gold called out and both he and the Rashnack released strings of sparkling energies. Belle, not sure of her own abilities, but concerned for the child, added her own silver-white energy to the mix.

And then behind her came a blue-hot wave of energy sweeping the other forces along with it, all of them slamming into the furious outraged Commander. The Commander began to scream as he decomposed, holes showing in his shadow body, holes that bright light shone through.

There was a shattering and a near explosion of dark matter, as if the Commander had splintered into small malevolent pieces.

The large Bocan that had positioned himself between the Commander and Elspeth collapsed into a murky heap of swirling energies.

Elspeth dove towards him, "Omaha!" she called. "Please come back Omaha!" she cried. She looked at her father. "Daddy, help him! He my friend!"

Gold bent down his hand glowing with a purple light but it had no effect on the disintegrating Bocan.

"Daddy!" Elspeth had run to her father's arms and Gold had wrapped his free arm around the child. She had tears running down her face.

Belle saw Miranda stepping towards the threesome. "Maybe I could help," and Belle realized that the blue-hot wave of energies had come from her. Miranda and her father must have made their way down to Level Two right as the Bocan Commander had rushed Elspeth.

Gold shook his head at Miranda's offer. "He's one of my people, dark-aligned. Your magic may be poisonous to him."

Belle stood by feeling helpless while the Bocan that had saved Elspeth continued to crumble and decay.

Then she had an idea. "Maybe, maybe I can channel the healing energies from both of you like I've done before with attack energies. I could try to . . . filter the Light and Dark energies and feed him just healing energies," she hesitantly suggested.

Gold, still kneeling by the remnants of the Bocan, glanced over at the Fairy Queen.

"We have nothing to lose," Miranda told him.

He stood, setting Elspeth down by his side, and nodded at Belle. Gold and Miranda stood behind Belle as she knelt by the dwindling dark cloud that had been the big Bocan. They each put a hand on her shoulder and Belle felt the energies pouring into her. Elspeth was standing by her father, leaning up against his leg, his free hand on his little daughter's head.

Belle looked at Elspeth. "Why don't you put your hand on top of mine," she suggested to the child. Elspeth nodded and complied and everyone watched as silver lights came bleeding out of Belle, pouring into the Bocan who by now looked more like a pile of dark laundry. After a moment, Rashnack approached Belle and he too, knelt or deflated himself down so that he was also kneeling by Belle. After a moment he offered his hand too on top of Elspeth's. It was slow going, almost as if they were pumping air into the creature.

Gold was curious from a professional standpoint. The Bocan seemed to be coalescing, gaining corporeal mass, the figure growing and solidifying. Features began to appear, a young man's face. There seemed to be a body with five fingers on each hand and hair, a dirty, sandy color, began to grow from his head. Eventually the creature was the size of an adult male. The creature . . . young man . . . blinked his eyes opened. He seemed confused and unsure.

"Omaha!" Elspeth broke contact with everyone and leaned over to give him a hug. The young man hugged her back.

"I know you," he said, his voice hoarse and breaking. "You're . . . you're Elspeth. You offered to share a sandwich with me." He spoke English with a mid-western accent. He struggled and receiving assistance from Rashnack and Gold, he managed to sit up.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Asheville, North Carolina," Belle told him.

"Really? How'd I get here?" he asked.

Belle smiled at him. "It's a long story."

Many thanks, as always, to my wonderful reviewers: thedoctorsgirl42, RaFire, MyraValhallah, orthankg1, deweymay, jewel415, AnneElliotsCat, Grace5231973, cynicsquest, Erik'sTrueAngel, Aletta-Feather, Robin4, crazykat77, Chauchi, OUATWhoLock

Anne Andrews (Guest) there will be more family bonding to come (trust me)

And special thanks to Druid Kitty who graciously send reviews for 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 & 39!

NEXT: Alright so I didn't get to Ruel-Miranda's Important Business in this chapter (and I may not in the next chapter.) I thought rescuing Elspeth was most important (and I got involved with creating the Omaha character which took longer to develop than I anticipated). Coming up, Gold will have to deal with Omaha and Rashnack and tidy up some odds and ends.