Gold stepped nervously out of his rental car and onto the sidewalk. In front of his was a small white house, surrounded by a white picket fence. Yellow tulips decorated either side of a path leading from the white gate to the door to the house. The lawn was bright green and immaculately kept. He had never seen this house before, had only an address that had taken him months and thousands of dollars to find. 1523 Rosegarden Lane. Australia. The place where his estranged son Baley had carved himself a life. Gold had not seen the boy since he was twelve years old, though not from a lack of trying. His wife had taken his son to this country after their divorce and had moved around so much it had been impossible to ever see the boy. It had only been in the last year that Gold had begun his search again in earnest, travelling to the country to see the boy. He didn't have much hope that Baley would want to see him, or have anything to say to him, but Gold, the consummate coward, had to try.

He opened the gate and trod up the path, leaning heavily on his cane. When he reached the door he paused, suddenly too afraid to go through with this. This was a bad idea,idea; Baley wouldn't want to see him. He turned, preparing to leave when the door opened. A pretty woman with reddish brown hair stood there smiling.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her Australian accent making her voice even prettier.

"I-uh...I..." His heart was pounding violently in his chest. Her brown eyes were warm and inviting as she waited patiently. A small child, no older than three, came running behind her at full speed.

"Mamamamamamamamamamamamamama mamaaaaaaaaa!" The boy said rapidly. Gold's eyes slid from the pretty woman to the boy. He had a mop of curly brown hair and large brown eyes. The woman bent down and scooped him up in her arms.

"Nicholas!" She scolded. Gold's heart leapt into his mouth at the name. "What has mummy told you about interrupting when she's talking?"

"But look!" He said, holding out a finger for her to inspect. The woman looked down at his finger and then back up at Gold. "It's a booboo! Kiss it! Kiss it! Kissssssittttt!"

She kissed his finger and then looked back at Gold as the younger Nicholas squirmed out of his mother's arms and took off running the moment his feet hit the ground.

"I'm here looking for Baley," Gold finally said. He had no other choice but to ask to see him, now that he had been caught.

"Baley?" Her face went tight with pain. "Who are you?"

"His father...Nicholas Gold," Gold told her nervously. She put a hand to her mouth as she realized who he was. "I've been looking for him for a long time."

"Oh...did Lorne not tell you?" She asked. Gold's heart, once so full of hope, dropped sickly into his stomach.

"Tell me what?" His ex-wife hadn't spoken to him in years.

"Baley died six months ago. Baley is dead."

"Son of a bitch!" Jefferson shouted. Belle's eyes jerked opened to see Jefferson chasing a boar out of the fusel lodge.

"What happened?" David asked, jogging over.

"Boars are eating the bodies," Jefferson said angrily. "We can't leave them here anymore. Something more dangerous than Boars will be after them next."

"What do you suggest we do then?" David asked a little defensively.

"We need to burn it."

"We can't burn it!" Ashley cut in, her hand resting on her very pregnant stomach. "What about the families of the people in there?"

"No one has come in four days!" Jefferson told her, avoiding the important issue about how no one was coming at all. "We have to think about our own well-being right now."

"I agree with Jefferson," David said, cutting off whatever Ashley was going to say. "We'll do it when it gets dark tonight."

"Well, can we at least have a memorial for them?" Ashley asked a little timidly.

"A memorial?" Jefferson said blankly.

"You know...say something nice about the dead? I think it would be...nice."

"That's a great idea Ashley. I'll leave that in your capable hands," David told her. Ashley beamed and walked off, leaving Jefferson alone with David.

"There is another problem," Jefferson told him. "We have run out of food."

"That is a problem," David agreed.

"We could always kill one of those pesky boars," Gold had snuck up during their conversation, though it had not been intentional.

"What do you know about hunting?" Jefferson asked, his eyes narrowed.

"I'd wager a lot more than you do," Gold challenged, always the antagonist.

"Can you track a boar?" David asked him seriously.

"Aye," Gold nodded.

"I can help," Belle stood up, joining their conversation. All three men stopped to stare at Belle.

"You? What help can you be?" Gold asked her, his tone more curious than condescending.

"My papa taught me how to track, hunt, that sort of thing," she shrugged. David exchanged a look with Jefferson and then shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Two are better than one."

"Okay, princess," Gold agreed after a moment.

"How do you plan on killing the boar, once you catch it?" Jefferson asked after a moment. Belle and David both looked at Gold, interested in the answer. Gold smirked and walked off to his little hut, coming back out with a suitcase Belle was certain did not belong to him. He unzipped it, revealing a multitude of large hunting knives.

"Looks like someone fashioned themselves a bit of a huntsman. We'll go in an hour."

Belle nodded, walking over to Jefferson.

"Going on a hunting expedition with the psycho Scot?" He asked, his tone light.

"Someone had to," she responded as he went over to his workshop.

"I want you to take this with you," he told her, handing her an antenna. "This will help triangulate the signal of the Irish man's signal."

"You want to know where it's coming from?" She asked, curious.

"Of course I do. If there are others out there, I want to know. Attach it to a tree, all right?"

She nodded, taking the antenna and the equipment she would need to attach it to the tree.

"What happened?" Gold asked brokenly, looking down at the cup of tea Morraine, Baley's widow, had given him.

Morraine looked down at her own cup, shaking her head. "I don't know. They never found his body, just his car."

Gold exhaled loudly. "Where?"

"At the bottom of the river. They...they think his body must have been thrown from the car, the windshield was shattered. But they never found his body."

"So...so he could still be alive?"

Morraine shook her head. "He...he wouldn't have just left, he loved our son more than anything."

Gold nodded, his cup rattling on the saucer due to his shaking hands. He set it down on a glass coffee table. "And the boy...?"

"He doesn't understand. He keeps asking where daddy is. He named him after you. He always spoke so fondly of you, he never said anything but kind things. He didn't know where to look for you, or he would have. Lorne would never tell him where you were."

Gold nodded. It was good to know, even if it was too late. His son was dead, lost to him forever, but here with his widow and son he could start to make things right.

"Morraine...I know...I mean, being a single parent must behard-" She put a hand up.

"Please. We are doing fine."

"Let me help you, and my grandson. Please."

Morraine nodded as Gold pulled out a checkbook and wrote out a large sum. "I don't have anyone else in my life," he explained as he handed her. Her eyes widened at the number and she tried to hand it back, but he refused. "I have no family. Just you, and little Nicholas. Please."

She nodded again, setting the check down on the table next to the sofa. "Family should stick together."

"Tell me princess, what did your father do that would prompt him to teach his daughter how to hunt and track?" Gold asked Belle as they trekked through the jungle. Emma Swan was also accompanying them for no other reason than she wanted to.

"He was a military man," Belle told him. "My mother died when I was young and he didn't know what else to do with me."

"I wouldn't either," Gold muttered, bending over to check the brush. Belle was letting him take the lead on this while surreptitiously making sure he wasn't leading them in circles.

"I've never done much hunting," Emma said, making conversation with Belle.

"Oh? It's not for everyone."

Emma shrugged and they lapsed back into silence. Gold was too focused on tracking the boar and Belle and Emma didn't know what to say to each other.

"Look!" Gold said after a while, pointing to a boar. It was small, a baby.

"We need to get out of here," Belle warned, but Gold and Emma ignored, approaching the boar. "Guys, that's a baby."

"So?" Emma asked.

"So, the mom is around here somewhere, and she'll be pissed when she sees us."

Gold and Emma had turned around to respond to Belle when, just as Belle had predicted, the mother came charging out the brush straight at Emma. The baby, several feet away from them, ran off as the mama hit Emma hard. Gold managed to clip the boar with his knife, but not wound it enough before it ran off. Emma was hurt, and Gold was obviously itching to go after the boar.

"I'll take her back," Belle said before Gold could speak, irritated with them both. Gold was likely to get himself killed out there, and Belle couldn't bring herself to care. The man seemed like he had a death wish and she didn't want to stick around to let him hurt her as well.

Emma slung an arm over Belle's shoulder and the two women began to make their way towards the beach. Belle still had Jefferson's antenna that needed to be placed in a tree, but she wanted to put some distance between her and the boars before leaving Emma alone on the ground.

"So...you have a son?" Belle asked after the silence became too much. Everyone else was forming friendships on the island it seemed, except her. She had a tentative alliance with Gold, and might be friends with Jefferson, but outside of that she didn't really know anyone.

Emma looked at her like she was crazy. "Yeah. Henry."

"What a lovely name," Belle smiled. She was crashing and burning here, but she was going to keep trying. "How ever did you pick it?"

Emma froze for a fraction of a second, just long enough for Belle to know that she had stepped on a nerve. She sighed. Making friends was not one of her strong suits, she supposed. That was why she had always preferred books to people.

"I need to get in this tree," Belle said after more tense minutes of walking.

"I'll be fine," Emma said, slumping down the base of the tree. Belle pulled her hair into a messy pony tail,tail; made sure the equipment was tucked securely into her pants, and then began climbing up the tree.

"Of course you will," Belle muttered when she was high enough up she was sure Emma couldn't hear. She felt a little bad, but Belle was genuinely trying, and she felt like every time she did, she crashed and burned. She almost missed Garrett. If he were here he could get to know everyone for her, just as he had in their life before this island. Belle didn't have to do anything but stand there and look pretty.

"And I hated it," she reminded herself as she began attaching the antenna. It should have been routine. Attach the antenna and then climb down and let Jefferson know it was done, and it would have happened if it weren't for a familiar noise she had come to fear and dread. Clicking and roaring, the sound of the jungle monster. In her fear, Belle dropped the antenna. She watched, horrified, as it crashed on the ground next to Emma. It appeared and Belle froze, watching what appeared to be a pillar of smoke race past her like a freight train. She hoped Gold had the good sense to get out of it's way.

"What was that?" Emma asked when Belle jumped down to the ground.

"No idea," Belle said honestly. She picked up the broken pieces and with Emma, began to head back to the beach.

When they arrived, Belle left Emma in the capable hands of Dr. Whale, and then went to find Jefferson and deliver the bad news about his antenna. Before she got to him, David intercepted her.

"Where is Gold?"

"He went off on his own to find the boar," Belle told him. "Emma got hurt so I brought her back."

David wasn't listening to her anymore. He was staring over her shoulder at something. When she turned to look, she didn't see anything. "Did you see that?" He asked her.

"See what? David?" David began running off after something, something only he could see, and Belle didn't bother chasing him. Mary Margaret had that covered.

"David!" Mary Margaret shouted. David ignored her, trying to find where the man in the suit had gone. Not man-his brother. He had seen his twin brother James standing in a suit off to the side of the beach, watching him.

"David!" Mary Margaret had finally caught up to him. Someone was walking,walking; he could hear the crunching of feet approaching them. David held his breath,breath; sure he was going to see James. Instead Gold appeared, a boar slung over his back.

"Dinner," Gold said dryly at their stunned expressions. He dropped the boar at David's feet and continued walking the path to the beach. David looked back into the jungle, but he knew James was gone. He considered, as he lifted up the boar, seeing Dr. Whale about hallucinations, but quickly decided against it. He wouldn't worry about it unless it kept happening.

Gold had stayed for a week before something seemed off. He understood Morraine was young, and had an even younger son to look after, but she seemed entirely too cheerful for a girl who had lost her husband six months earlier. He didn't want to questions it, Lord knew he could attest that everyone grieved differently, but her son never asked about his dad, and rarely came when she called him by his name. He didn't come to Gold at all, and Gold assumed it was some kind of shyness he had yet to witness from the boy.

He had given Morraine a lot of money. It had felt good, at first, to help family. He had not been lying when he said he had no family. He had spent his entire life looking for his son, and in the end had been too late. He wanted to take care of Morraine and his grandson, make sure they never wanted for anything. He didn't want Morraine to struggle as a single mother, the way his had when he was young. He had urged her to quit and just that morning Morraine finally had, coming home with a smile on her face and a bottle of wine in her hand. She was sending Nicholas off to stay with her mother, and Gold was planning a visit to Lorne. Morraine would get some much needed alone time, perhaps even some time to grieve.

As he drove to Lorne's home, an address that had been surprisingly easy to look up, he considered that Morraine was one of those women who could always put on a bright face, despite her inside sorrow. He could respect that. He had never been good at putting on a brave face, instead lashing out in order to make others feel his pain. Time with Morraine and Nicholas might do some good, help heal old wounds. He had enough money, between his law practice and antique business, to retire now and live out his days here. Australia was beautiful, and it was close to this new family.

He had almost decided on it when he pulled up to Lorne's house. It was a far cry from the quaint home Baley and Morraine had, and nothing compared to the lonely mansion he himself resided in, but respectable in a dilapidated sort of way.

He knocked sharply and then waited. Lorne answered, looking surprised to see him. Time had not been kind to her. Her hair was lank and streaked with grey in an unattractive way, her roots entirely silver. Her once pretty brown eyes were lack luster and surrounded by dark circles, and when she frowned he noticed deep lines. She had been such a pretty woman, what had happened?

"Nicholas. What are you doing here?" She didn't seem surprised to see him.

"Why didn't you tell me Baley died?" He demanded angrily, shifting his weight slightly. Lorne looked at him in disbelief for a moment and then began laughing;, a cackling, raspy sound.

"Why don't you come in?"

He was torn between striking her and having her committed. She thought the death of their only son was funny? He followed her in but refused to sit on any of her furniture. Her home reeked of cats and cigarette smoke, an altogether unappealing smell when mixed together.

"Who told you Baley was dead?" Lorne asked, lighting a cigarette.

"Morraine told me. How could you not tell me? I know things ended badly, but he was my son too."

She nodded for a moment and then pulled the cigarette out of her mouth. "Baley isn't dead, Nick."

He stood there for a moment, stunned. "What?"

"He's not dead."

"Of course he is, she told me-"

"Morraine lied. I can prove it." She walked over to her purse and fished out a cell phone. He watched as she flipped it open and then handed it to him. "From today."

There were text messages from a number labeled "Bay", asking if she needed anything from the store, dated that day.

"Why...why would she tell me he was dead?" He sunk down on the disgusting smelling sofa, not caring about his suit.

Lorne watched, unconcerned for his pain. "You never were very smart, for a smart man. What's she telling you that boy's name is?"

"Nicholas."

Lorne burst out laughing again. "Nicholas. Ain't that cute? No, his name is Cameron. Amazed he hasn't told you so himself, that boy loves telling anyone who will listen what his name is. Nicholas. Look. Morraine and Baley...he married her young... They got themselves into some kind of finacinalfinancial trouble and the only way out is money. Lots of it. You spent your whole life looking for the boy, and suddenly there he is? You think that was coincidence?"

"He could have just asked. I would have given it to him," Gold said, feeling much older than his forty years.

"Well, I don't think Baley likes you very much."

"Because you kept him from me," Gold hissed, venom in his voice. Lorne put her hand up.

"I know. I had to run with him. Do you think, with all the money you had, that a court would ever have given me custody? No, you would have walked in with one of your lawyer buddies and had that boy taken from me and I know I have not done many good things with my life, but he is one of those good things."

"I wouldn't have kept him from you!" Gold was close to shouting. Lorne looked defeated herself now.

"You would have. Neither of us should ever had been parents, we were never meant to be. Too selfish. I tried my best with Baley, and he was good for a while, but then he got some girl pregnant and landed her in jail, and now he's stealing money from his own father. I wasn't a good mother. I tried to be, but I wasn't."

"I wanted to be a father. It was the only thing I ever wanted."

"Well, go find yourself some tart and get her pregnant. Try again. Let me know if it turns out any better for you, but I doubt it will. You can't raise kids and work eighty hours a week, and spend the hours you're not working tinkering with your antiques."

Gold just looked at her, and for a moment he could see the girl he had fallen in love with. Time had made Lorne hard, but hadn't it done the same to him? Was he really any better?

"Where is he?" He asked. Lorne shrugged.

"I don't see him much, only when he needs something or he thinks I haven't eaten in a while. I'll tell him you came by, and that he should go home. Morraine is probably missing him."

Gold stood and nodded. "I'd like to see him at least once, even if he hates me." He went to the door to leave. She opened her mouth, and he hesitated, but then she closed it and he left. There was nothing they could say to each other, it had been too long. Too much had happened between them. He would always love that girl he had fallen in love with, but time had made him bitter. His son had conned him.

In a way, it felt fitting.

"You actually killed the boar." Belle French pulled the flap back on his hut and walked in, plopping down next to him.

"Can I help you with something, princess?"

"I can't make friends," she said, looking up at him with wide blue eyes.

"And you thought you'd come ask the master?" He replied sarcastically. He took stock of the girl sitting on the sandy tarp in his hut. She was small, petite really, no more than five feet, with thick brown curls and blue eyes that made him want to be nice to her. Almost.

"No...I thought I'd try and make friends with the dragon. No one likes you, you know," she told him honestly.

"They don't like you either," he retorted, stung a little by her words. She shook her head.

"That's not true. They don't trust me, there is a difference."

"Well, hanging around me isn't going to endear you to the masses. Why don't you go run along with the mad scientist?"

She hung her head. "I think he's upset with me. I broke his antenna."

Gold chuckled at her obvious shame. She was too easy, this little lamb. "Well, you don't have to go home, as they say. But you can't stay here."

She looked up at him. "Don't you want a friend? You helped me out of the water, remember? When I fell?"

"Is that the basis for friendship in Australia?"

"Never mind," she sighed, starting to get up. She looked so dejected that as she passed him he caught her wrist lightly in his hand, stopping her. She looked down at his hand and he immediately dropped her wrist, waiting until her eyes met his.

"All right princess. I'll make you a deal. You can stay if you do something for me."

"What?" She asked warily.

"Read to me."

"Read to you?" She repeated uncertainly.

"Do you have difficulty hearing? Yes, read to me. I lost my glasses when we crashed, and when I read it gives me a head ache. Read to me and I'll let you stay and hide away from the mad scientist."

"And I can stay?"

"Forever, if you want."

She settled back down as he handed her a book. "Forever. Okay. 'Once Upon A Time..'"...'"

Gold relaxed into the make shift chair he had made and closed his eyes. It had been a while since he had been alone with a woman, even longer since he had just enjoyed their company. He knew, had he met Belle out in the real world he would not have given her the time of day. She was too quiet, too timid, too worried about everyone else around her to ever have been of any use to him. Here though, there was something comforting about her. She didn't seem like she was hiding some kind of major secret like the rest of them did, himself included. She was, as he had been told, a librarian. She liked to be around books, to read. Her presence was soothing, and if things got any worse she would be a good ally. Maybe here, on this island, this was his fresh start. Wasn't he walking without the help of cane for the first time in years? That was nothing short of miraculous. Tonight, when David burned the bodies in the fusel lodge they would burn with it his cane. The cane that represented his old life, his failures and weaknesses. He could stay here, make ana new life, have allies, even friends if he wanted them. He could redeem himself.

Baley was waiting for him when he finally showed back up the next day. Morraine and her son, Cameron, were conspicuously absent. He didn't want to face his son, try and explain why he had been missing, or listen to Baley tell him that he respected Gold so little that he was willing to let his wife steal from him.

"Dad," Baley said when Gold walked in.

"Baley." Despite everything, it was a relief to know his son wasn't dead. "You're alive."

"Do you want your money back?" Baley asked, brushing a dark strand of hair out of his face. Gold shook his head.

"No, you keep it. I...I would have given it to you, if you had asked. I would have given you anything."

"It's a little late for that, don't you think?" Baley's tone was bitter, his face angry. "I'm sorry I lied, but only because I got caught. This is not an invitation into my life, or my son's life. We don't want you here."

It would have been a lie to say he didn't expect the words, but it didn't make them hurt any less. "Yes. Yes, I'll go."

Baley didn't move to see him out, so Gold let himself back out and into his car. He couldn't help the tears that slipped out of his eyes as he replayed Baley's words again. He had been so close to the family he had always wanted only to have it cruelly snatched away from him. His son wanted nothing to do with him, his daughter- in- law had lied to him;, manipulated him, used his grandson as a pawn to get what she wanted. Gold wanted to be angry with them, but he could only be angry with himself.

After a long moment he brushed away the tears and pulled out his phone, making a quick call to the airport, booking the next flight home to Los Angeles. He had a voicemail from his assistant about a girl who wanted to come in and see him to have a book appraised. It took his mind off of his heart break. Work always did. He didn't have anything else in his life, just his work. He would see the girl and her book, and all the girls after her and their books as well, until the work eventually killed him. He pictured his funeral, him lying in a casket, surrounded by empty chairs. For the first time in his life he realized he was absolutely, completely alone in this life. No amount of money would ever change that.

Ashley had managed to collect something from each body in the fusel lodge, mostly driver's licenses, but it was still enough to say something respectful about the dead, even if it was just that they were an organ donor, or had brown eyes. Belle and Gold had come to pay their respects, mostly at Belle's insistence.

"Wouldn't you want everyone to do the same for you?" She had asked, her blue eyes so innocent. He would, he decided, and so he went. It was a dark, cool night, made bright by the large fire burning. Everyone was there, listening to Ashley, all contemplative. Jefferson stood nearby, his eyes darting over to Belle every so often. Gold knew he wasn't angry with the girl as it was an impossibility. She wasn't the kind that people stayed mad at long, and her intentions had been good, from what she had told him. They would be back to being tent buddies in no time, her friendship with Gold all but forgotten. It pained him a little to think about so he shoved the thought aside. He could be nice to her, only her, if she would continue to read to him. She could sleep in his tent tonight,tonight; he would make her a little pallet and give her one of the blankets he had taken, and a pillow. He had seen her sleeping up against a log near their fire pit, which could not be comfortable. He would make her comfortable and maybe she would stay around, or at least keep coming back.

As Ashley wrapped up, Belle slid her hand into his and squeezed. He looked down at their joined hands and then at her before she released his hand. "I know this is a little crazy," she told him as they walked slowly back to his tent, "But out here, we're sort of a little family. Don't you think?"

His first reaction was to snap at her, to tell her no, but she was earnest in her words. She really believed they could and would all band together and survive together, as a family. That a group of total strangers, none of whom would ever have crossed paths, could become friends, could fall in love, could become family. He looked around and he saw it, David, Emma, Henry, and Mary Margaret all laughing with each other. Ruby and Archie stepping carefully around the attraction they felt for each other. Ashley sitting next to Sean, her hand resting on her swollen belly. Him and Belle sitting in his tent, the flap flipped up as he listened to her read to him. It hadn't been a week and yet people were happy. He knew if they were rescued tomorrow he would want to see Belle again, even if he would never admit it out loud.

"Family. I suppose so."

For the first time, he felt hopeful.