A Tangled Web

Chapter Three: Recruitment and Surprises.

A/N: I apologize for the wildly fluctuating length of the chapters. This one is proving tough to write, since I knew I was going to bring Belle into it at some point.

By the time Gold arrived at his shop, the gold sheen had crept up to his elbows, his nails were as sharp as they had been before the Curse, and he could feel his teeth starting to change as well. For the first time, he found himself glad of the dim lighting in the pawn shop. He wasn't quite ready for certain people to see him in his current form.

The sound of the bell ringing made him look up from his books. "Ahh, Sheriff. To what do I owe a visit at this time of the day?"

Emma glared at him, and he frowned to himself at the black shadows under her eyes. "I'm not in the mood, Gold. I'm mainly here to make sure you have Mary Margaret's best interests in mind."

Gold nodded. "Oh, of course I do, dearie. After all, since Kathryn is actually alive, there's no murder charge, is there?"

Emma nodded slowly. "Yeah…are you okay?" Gold frowned at her in slight confusion, and she sighed. "It's just that your voice sounds different."

Gold's eyes widened in surprise. "Does it?" He heard it that time-his normal Scots brogue was being replaced by the high pitched, insane voice he had had as Rumplestiltskin. He took a breath, and with an effort, spoke in his 'Gold' voice. "It's nothing for you to be worried about, Sheriff. I merely have a slight cold."

"Does this cold also turn your skin gold?"

Gold cursed to himself. He had taken his gloves off in the shop, not expecting that Emma would notice in the dim light. "I suppose that wasn't a very good argument, was it?" Emma laughed and shook her head, and Gold sighed, running his nails through his hair. "Emma, did you dream last night?"

Emma gave him an odd look. "That's kind of a personal question, don't you think?"

Gold rolled his eyes. "Just answer me."

"Yeah, I did. It was really vivid, too. The most vivid dream I've ever had."

Gold laughed humorlessly. "Let me guess, you were on a battlefield, with Mary Margaret and David, right?"

Emma gawped at him in shock. "How the hell did you know that?"

"Because both Ruby and I had the exact same dream. Your dream, did it end with me being stabbed?" Emma nodded, still shocked, and Gold grimaced. "So did ours."

"How the hell are we having the same dream all of a sudden?"

Gold chuckled, waving his finger back and forth. "Oh no dearie, the question you should be asking yourself is why we're dreaming at all. That was part of the Curse-nobody could dream, because if you can dream, there's the possibility of finding a happy ending in dreams. But now that the Curse is weakening, everyone is going to start dreaming again."

Emma frowned. "Including Regina?"

Gold laughed. "Regina hasn't ever dreamed. She won't allow herself the luxury of hope. But she will know that something is going on, I promise. Which is why I think it may soon be time for me to cash in that favor you owe me."

Emma nodded. "I think it may be too. I came here for another reason. A few weeks ago, I received an anonymous tip about a secret mental facility under the hospital. I checked it out, and there were about fifteen patients there. Most of them seem to be fine, except for this one young woman that seems to have received the brunt of Regina's fury."

Gold felt himself shaking. "Do you have a picture of this young woman?" Emma reached into her pocket and pulled out a photograph, spreading it out onto the counter. Gold gawped at the photo for so long that Emma became concerned.

"Gold, is everything alright?" She shivered when he looked up at her, his eyes cold.

"Sheriff, I do not appreciate being tricked. Now, would you be so good as to show me the real photo?"

"That is the real photo. I took it myself. Why, do you know that girl?"

Gold couldn't answer for a moment, but finally found his voice. "I…did, a long time ago."

"Who is she?"

Gold looked at Emma, a sad smile on his face. "Belle. That's Belle."