Disclaimer: If I honestly owned Tangled, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction about it. Still waiting for that DVD to come out. Oh, and I think my brother's plotting to get me a Rapunzel Barbie for my birthday.

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Chapter Eight

Eugene was grateful that Rapunzel hadn't asked for more details about his relationship with Meira. If she had, he would've stopped telling the story right then and there, because there wasn't a chance in hell that he was going to just start telling Rapunzel the sordid details of his love life before meeting her. Still, there was more to the story and Eugene wasn't about to hope that Rapunzel was really asleep and would forget all about it by the time she woke up.

"When did you meet the Stabbingtons?"

Eugene hated it when he was right. Groaning a little as he thought about that particularly unpleasant meeting, his expression soon changed as he chuckled darkly. "Not long after that. I was eighteen and Meira was seventeen when we met them…"

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Meira had truly become a spectacular beauty as she grew older. Gone was the gaunt and scrawny girl that Eugene had first met. Now, her body had filled out nicely and her mouth was the perfect size for her face. She'd let her hair grow out again after that first rather horrific attempt at cutting it, and Eugene had to admit that he preferred her with her hair in that familiar long braid. Her eyes still held that delightfully devious light in them, and there was no way that anyone could mistake Meira for a fine Lady with how strong she was built and how calloused her hands were.

Eugene had also truly become a handsome young man. His facial hair could now be termed such, and not even Meira could argue that point anymore. In the past two years, Eugene had stopped growing and now towered above Meira. He had also become much more comfortable in his Flynn Rider persona, which Meira teased him about even now. Not that the teasing bothered him anymore. Such things didn't trouble anyone like Flynn Rider, and he gave just as good as he got these days. Not to mention how easily he had slipped into the flirtatious aspect of his persona. It was rather fulfilling to finally fit the name that he had given himself all those years ago.

"Where to next, oh great and handsome Flynn Rider?" Meira asked, smirking a little at him.

Honestly. Nine years and she still couldn't take him seriously for calling himself Flynn Rider. Rolling his eyes a little at her, Eugene shrugged before answering.

"I hear there's some work in a town not too far from the capitol. Maybe we can finally get enough money to retire," he suggested with a slight quirk of his eyebrows.

Meira knew that look well after two years of sharing her companion's bed. Snorting loudly, she shook her head and elbowed him playfully. "In your dreams, Rider," she said with a chuckle. "There isn't any such thing as a retired thief who can maintain a good lifestyle honestly. You and me…we've got no chance at ever seeing that island you want so bad."

Eugene shrugged a little and buried his hands in his pockets, his long strides forcing Meira to take three smaller steps to keep up with him. "It's a nice thought," he said vaguely.

And at the moment, he knew that was all it was; a pretty dream, a pleasant thought. Still, there was something about it that kept him going. Perhaps it was the idea of seeing Edith again and taking her away from all the suffering she'd had to put up with in her life. He'd been back to the village where he grew up once or twice, just to see how she was doing, and she seemed to be fine, but Eugene knew what it was like to live that life and always act like nothing was wrong. For all he knew, Edith could be abused by the older children every day, and never show any sign of it. That was why he wanted to get her away from that life. The other part of why he clung to the dream of retiring to some island that he owned was because he enjoyed the idea of keeping Meira around. He didn't try to convince himself that he was in love with his partner, but he did like having her around. Maybe he was a little in love with her, but nothing too serious, and that way they could keep their relationship the way it had been for the last two years without too many complications.

Still…at this point, it was only a dream. A nice dream, but nothing more. Maybe in about twenty more years it would be possible, but by then Edith would probably be married and that would leave Eugene all alone with Meira, provided they were still partners at that point. Oh well. If Eugene had learned anything, it was to just let the future play itself out.

"So this town we're going to," Meira's voice broke through his thoughts. "How big is it?"

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"So that was why your dream was to have an island," Rapunzel commented with a slight yawn. "I thought it was just because you didn't like people."

"Well, that too," Eugene admitted, smiling a little at the way the Princess was yawning. "You getting tired, Blondie? Maybe we should pause for the night…"

"No…" Rapunzel protested as she curled up against Eugene. "I want to hear how you met the Stabbingtons before I go to sleep."

Talk about stubborn, Eugene thought with a slight smile. "Okay, okay," he muttered. "Well…we got into the town and started looking for a job, but what we didn't know was that someone else was already doing the same thing as us…"

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Eugene didn't notice the two hulking figures at first. He was too busy leaning close to the window of the small shop that seemed to contain the only items of any value in this town. Not much to speak of, really, but not too shabby considering the size of the town. There'd been better stuff to steal at his father's manor house, but Eugene wasn't about to set foot inside of that place if he could help it, so for now this pitiful show of jewelry and a little extra gold would have to do.

That was when he noticed the two large figures. They were kind of hard to miss when their faces were mirrored in the window Eugene was looking at. Blinking a little as he took in this sight, Eugene swallowed hard and forced himself to remain calm.

They were clearly brothers—possibly twins, but Eugene wasn't going to assume anything—as they had the same blunt features, red hair and blue eyes. One had a patch over his left eye and the other had a scar along his chin, which were the only two ways to tell them apart from one another. They were enormous, too, towering over Flynn, who was by no means a short man. Swallowing again, Eugene slowly turned to look up—way up—at his two new acquaintances.

"Can I help you gentlemen with anything?" he asked as nonchalantly as possible, which was surprisingly rather convincing, even to Eugene's ears.

"We hear you've been looking for work here," the man with two eyes said, his voice gravelly and deep. "And not of the legal kind either."

…Okay. So who were these clowns? For a brief moment, Eugene wished Meira was there for him to talk to about what to do, but then he remembered that he was supposed to be Flynn Rider. Eugene Fitzherbert might feel intimidated by these gorillas, but Flynn Rider laughed in their faces.

…Figuratively speaking, Eugene thought as he once more took in just how…large these two were.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not," he said flippantly, which he was rather impressed he could pull off at this point, since he really was fairly intimidated by these two. "What does that matter to two such…" he paused and eyed the two men with a frown. "…Er…fine gentlemen as yourselves?"

Apparently his choice of words had confused the two brutish men, as they exchanged nonplussed glances. Eugene mentally smiled to himself at this and fought down the urge to chuckle out loud. He liked being in one piece, after all, and Meira would tear him apart for getting into any sort of trouble without her. So, Eugene kept his lips sealed shut and gave the two redheaded men his most charmingly innocent look.

"It matters to us," the two-eyed brother said with a sneer, looking very much like he wanted to throttle Eugene, "'cause we got here first. We're the ones who're working this town."

"Clearly," Eugene said dryly, his lips quirking up in a sarcastic smile. "Well, I don't see why we can't share. This isn't a very small town, after all, and if we both just go our own way, then I don't see why we need to have any arguments about territory in the future—"

Eugene was cut off by the brother with the eyepatch grabbing hold of his vest and tugging him forward until he was staring into three very frightening blue eyes. But he didn't let them see how nervous he was, simply arching an eyebrow, even though he was shaking with fear on the inside.

"You wanna watch your mouth, kid," the brother with the scar snarled. "Or we're gonna have to shut it for you."

"Sure you are," Meira's voice said from somewhere behind Eugene.

Relief flooded through Eugene as the one-eyed brother released him out of surprise. Stepping back hastily, Eugene dusted himself off and flashed Meira a grateful look before turning his attention back to the two brothers.

"Right…we'll be seeing you two around," he said cheerily, guiding Meira away from the redheaded men.

"Who were those two clowns?" Meira asked in an undertone as they walked off.

"The welcoming committee," Eugene replied sarcastically. "Come on…let's just work out our next job."

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"Did you see the Stabbingtons again while you were in that town?"

Rapunzel was so clearly tired, but she refused to go to sleep like any sane person would have by now, Eugene noted with a smile that was half-exasperated and half-amused.

"Yeah…sadly, we did," he muttered. "But that can wait until tomorrow. You're starting to nod off, Blondie," he pointed out when Rapunzel opened her mouth to protest. "Come on…I promise I'll finish the story tomorrow."

She was too tired to argue, so Rapunzel simply nodded her agreement and closed her eyes, letting sleep finally claim her. Sighing in relief, Eugene chuckled a little to himself before he joined her, closing his eyes with a slight yawn.

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Author's Note: Quick filler chapter is quick!

Good God are the Stabbingtons hard for me to get a grasp of. Unlike Rapunzel, Flynn, and even Gothel, I don't know enough about the Stabbingtons—or want to, for that matter—to write them well. That dialogue between them and Eugene was almost painful for me to write, I was so afraid of screwing up. Oh, well, it's done and I am going back to my latest AU fic to get the Stabbingtons out of my brain for a while!

Reviews are love! Do remember that. Oh, and the conflict will really start up in the next chapter. Meira won't be with us much longer, but I leave it to you to guess how she will leave us. That should keep all your minds a-spinning with ideas. Mwahaha. Good night all!