Oh, how he wanted to rip her apart. He should have torn her heart out right then and there for making such an audacious and confident threat against his family. No one hurt his family. No one would ever have a chance to hurt his family again. They were his to protect, and he would do so with his life. After all, he had lost them once before. He wasn't about to let that happen again.

Regina should watch her step. She should guard her threats. Most importantly, she should not anger the Dark One. It would only bode evil for her if she did.

It greatly pained Rumpelstiltskin to know that he could do nothing against these threats. He could protect Belle and Rose and keep them safe, hide them away, but he could do nothing, personally, against the Evil Queen herself. For now she was untouchable. He had no magic here. He was just a man with a limp, and she knew that. She reveled in it. But she would do well to be cautious, because once this damned curse was broken and he had all of the dark forces of magic at his fingertips once again, he would be unstoppable. She wouldn't be protected by her position of Mayor anymore. And then and only then, he would make her suffer for threatening to take away his happiness. Only then would he rip out her heart and squeeze until it became dust beneath his fingertips.

He would make her pay for her menacing words. And if his family was harmed in the crossfires of their feud, she would pay with more than just her life. Everything she loved would be taken away, and then he would kill her.

This was a promise he made deep down in his heart of hearts, and it was a promise that Rumpelstiltskin had every intention of keeping.

0o0o0o0o0o

Jefferson watched as Belinda fed Rose her bottle and then changed her diaper. Despite everything, the child continued to cry. Belinda was slowly becoming more and more frazzled. Rose just wouldn't settle down.

"Can I do anything to help?" He asked after a few more minutes of constant screaming.

Belinda shrugged as she rocked Rose back and forth. "She never cries like this. I think she misses Robert."

"They seem to have gotten really close, huh?"

"Nearly inseparable. If he was here, he could calm her. He's always had that special touch. She just won't stop."

Jefferson took in Belinda's frantic expression. He could see how worn and tired she was from all of this and he frowned. Approaching her, he held out his arms. "Let me take a turn for awhile. You should rest, Belle."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded and Belinda handed Rose to him. She stretched her arms, and her shoulders popped pleasantly. She sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank you." But Rose continued to scream, so Belinda approached her baby and helped Jefferson to cradle her head. Jefferson tried to shush the child, and then he leaned down and whispered into the baby's ear. Her cries seemed to quiet just a bit. Belinda looked at him strangely.

"What did you say to her?"

He smiled. "I told her her daddy would be back soon to see her."

Belinda blushed. She had never really considered that Gold was more Rose's father than anyone or anything else. The thought startled her, but the more she considered it, the more she found she liked the sound of him being called 'daddy'. It sounded right. "I told you she missed him."

Jefferson nodded and the two went back to rocking Rose. It took several more minutes, but finally, the crying stopped, and Rose was thoroughly worn out from making such a fuss. She settled into Jefferson's arms and fell to sleep.

The two adults breathed heavy sighs of relief and then moved very slowly, and very carefully, towards Rose's crib. Once the baby was asleep in her bed, they practically tiptoed out the door.

Belinda leaned up against the wall and slid down until she was seated on the floor. Jefferson followed suit, and she laid her head on top of his shoulder and exhaled. "Gosh, I never thought that'd be over."

"You and me both," he agreed as he closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall.

"I guess strength really does come in numbers. Thank you."

Jefferson nodded, and then his eyes opened, and he nearly jumped up. "Belle, what did you just say?"

"I said thank you."

"No. Before that."

She lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him in confusion. "I said that strength comes in numbers."
The corners of his mouth lifted into a large, Cheshire-like grin, and then he pressed a kiss to her forehead and leaped up off the ground. "You're right, my dear Belle. Yes, you are."

"Is something wrong?" She looked concerned and he worked to steady her nerves.

"Not at all. You've just given me an idea." He walked down the hall, stopped once, turned back around, and whispered so as not to wake Rose. "I have to go out. I'll be back soon."
Belinda still looked confused, but she nodded her head anyway, and then he left.

0o0o0o0o0o

Emma Swan left the Sheriff's office and began to walk down the sidewalk. Jefferson watched her from the alleyway, taking a deep breath, and trying to calm himself. The last time he and Emma Swan had met things hadn't gone so well. She was probably still hell-bent on putting him behind bars. She was also probably still hell-bent on sending him off to Archie Hopper for a psych analysis. The thought made Jefferson's jaw clench. He was not crazy.

Steeling himself, refusing to stop and think whether this was a good idea or not, he stretched out a hand into the middle of the sidewalk, right in front of Emma. She furrowed her brows and turned her head to look at him. Shock crossed her face, before she hid it behind a mask and crossed her arms.

"What are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too, Miss Swan." He gave his most charming smile and leaned up against the wall.

She shook her head and then stepped further into the alleyway. He saw her place one hand on her gun, and her shoulders were tense. He smirked at her and she shook her head again. "I didn't think you would be stupid enough to come back here, Jefferson. You're a wanted man."

"Wanted? For what exactly?"

"As if you don't know," she scoffed. "Kidnapping. Assault and battery, to name a few. Not to mention your mental instability. I should lock you up right now."

He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Then why don't you, Miss Swan?"

"Oh, I fully intend to. I just want to know what you want first."

"What I want?"

She shrugged her shoulders. He noticed that, little by little, she was slowly coming closer to him. "You escaped by being kicked out a window. You could've run. No one would've gone after you. But instead you came back here. Why not leave?"

He chuckled. "I can't. You know that."

"Because of Paige?"

He grit his teeth. "Her name is Grace. And yes. But not only that, Emma. If I try to leave Storybrooke, terrible things will happen to me. I can't leave."
Her eyes lit up with recognition. "Ahhh," she began. "That's right. You think the town is cursed." She smirked. "I'm half-tempted to drag you across the town line myself and show you that you're insane."

"Go ahead. If that's what it takes to make you believe, then I'll let you."

"Why on earth would you do that?"

"Because we need your help."

She furrowed her brows. "We?"

"The whole town. You're the only one who can break this curse, who can save us, Emma. What's it going to take to make you believe?"

"A bash to the head," came her witty reply. "Cause that's the only way I'm gonna become crazy enough to believe this story."

Jefferson shook his head in frustration, pushed off the wall, and walked so that he was closer to her, but far enough away that she wouldn't pull anything on him. "First, your son believes this. Then, you find me. I believe the same thing. The Evil Queen – the Mayor – is obviously keeping secrets from this town. You've noticed that too. Your best friend is Mary Margaret, Snow White, who had an affair with a married man because in the real world, they are together. What do you call of this?"

She floundered for an instant, and Jefferson felt a small glimpse of success, but then she squared her shoulders. "Coincidence. A crazy coincidence, but that's all it is. Can't you see that, Jefferson? It's all just one big coincidence. Fairytales can't really exist, and I am not a Savior. My mother is not Snow White, and my son's other mom may be a witch, but that doesn't mean she's the Evil Queen." Then, Emma sighed. "But it doesn't matter. You're clearly hell-bent on believing this crap, and nothing I say is going to help you."

Steeling whatever courage Jefferson had left, and praying that Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't be too terribly angry with him, he used the last card he held in his hand. "Gold knows."

That seemed to stop Emma dead in her tracks. "What?"

"Gold believes all of this."

"No, he doesn't."

Jefferson grinned in a manic-sort of way. "Yes, he does. He believes everything that I've told you. He is Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One. And he knows it."

Emma looked at him with clear disbelief written across her face. "Gold may be many things, but he's not crazy. Not at all. He wouldn't fall for something like this."

He shrugged. "Think what you like, but he does. And if Gold believes, then this theory really can't be as crazy as you think it is, can it?"

"Prove it, Jefferson."

"It would be my deepest pleasure, Miss Swan."

0o0o0o0o0o

"Gold, you have a minute?" To say that Rumpelstiltskin was shocked to see Jefferson standing there, a few feet away, in his shop, when he had made it very clear that he was supposed to stay with Belle, would be an understatement. The look of downright anger on his face was enough to make even Jefferson inwardly wince. Then, the anger dissipated, and was replaced with concern.

"Is everything alright, Jefferson?"

The man nodded and his eyes expressed absolute calmness. He saw Rumpelstiltskin outwardly relax. "Everything's fine."

"Emma? What brings you here with our dear Jefferson?"

The woman crossed her arms and didn't try to hide the fact that she would rather be doing anything but standing there at that moment. "Gold, trust me. You really don't want to know. But I couldn't talk him out of it."

"Talk him out of what?" He asked as he cocked his head. He glanced at Jefferson and could see desperation and apology written all over his face. He instantly disliked that expression, and his grip tightened just slightly on his cane. Whatever the Hatter had planned could not mean well for any of them.

"He says that-"

Jefferson interrupted her. "The gigs up. I'm sorry, Dark One, but telling her was the only way."

Mr. Gold's eyes widened just slightly and then he plastered on a confused look. "Dark One? I don't understand."

Jefferson slanted his eyebrows, and Emma gave a sigh of relief. "I knew you didn't believe in that stupid theory about fairy tales and curses."

"It would seem to me that our friend should go and see Mr. Hopper."

"I plan on taking him there directly." Emma put a hand on Jefferson's arm but he shrugged away.

"Rumpelstiltskin, I need to speak with you. Privately."

Mr. Gold shook his head. "I don't think I feel comfortable with that suggestion, Jefferson. You should let Miss Swan take you downtown. I can assure you she'll take fine care of you." He turned away as if the conversation was finished, but Jefferson insisted. The look in his eyes pricked Gold's attention, and he found himself changing his mind. He told Emma to wait there, to which she calmly responded that she wasn't going anywhere, and then he escorted Jefferson into the back room.

"Is Belle alright?" He asked immediately.

Jefferson held up his hands to appease the worried man and he nodded. "Belle's fine. She's at the house."

"I told you not to leave her and Rose alone, Hatter," Gold said through gritted teeth.

"I know. But Belle gave me an idea, and I thought I knew how to get Emma Swan to believe."

Rumpelstiltskin sighed and rubbed at his temples. "It couldn't wait?"

"Nothing can wait now, and you know that."

"Fine. What made you think blowing my cover in front of Miss Swan would make her believe?"

"Belle told me that there is strength in numbers, and that got me thinking that so far Emma didn't believe because it was only her son and I who believe in this curse. Her son is a young boy with a ripe imagination, and I can easily be misinterpreted as insane." At that, Gold rolled his eyes. "Anyways," Jefferson continued with an eye-roll of his own, "I was thinking that if she knew that you remembered, she wouldn't be able to discredit the theory entirely. Two instances are coincidence, but three times...three times just can't be ignored. And you hold more weight in this town than anyone else. She's not going to think you're crazy."

Mr. Gold was silent for several minutes. His hand wrapped and re-wrapped around the handle of his cane, and then he looked up at Jefferson and slowly nodded his head. "I can't deny it's a good idea, and it's the only one we've got right now. But it's risky. If this can't convince her then we risk my cover being blown."

"Your cover's already been blown," Jefferson pointed out. "Regina already knows you remember who you are. Who else are you hiding from?"

"I guess you're right," he conceded. "Alright, we do this your way."

Jefferson nodded his head and then both men re-entered the front of the pawn shop. Emma was still waiting with her arms crossed, and when she saw them emerge, her eyebrows rose.

"I told you he was crazy, Gold."

But he shook his head. "Miss Swan, I'm afraid I have some explaining to do. Starting with the fact that my name isn't really Mr. Gold. I'm Rumpelstiltskin, otherwise known as the Dark One, and I come from the Enchanted Forest, as does everyone else in this town."

They both watched as her eyes widened.

0o0o0o0o0o

"Oh, come on, Rumple. It wasn't that bad."

He stopped just before he came to the door of Jefferson's mansion and gave the man a hard stare. "That bad, Jefferson? She still doesn't believe. And she was as white as snow when she left."

"She just needs time to think about it. At least she didn't call you crazy. Because, for your information, that actually hurts."

Gold grit his teeth and waved his hand at Jefferson before unlocking the door and pushing it open. "I just don't know what it's going to take to get her to believe."

"Give it some time. This isn't something that's easy to believe in this world. But now that she knows three of us remember – including you – she's not going to be able to continue to say it's not possible. She's just not. Give it time."

"Wasn't it you who said that we don't have time to give?" He responded but he was distracted. The mansion felt cold and something made his skin crawl uncomfortably. He held up a hand and motioned for Jefferson to stop.

The man did and looked around him. "Is it just me, or does something feel wrong, Dark One?"

Gold turned to him and then both of their eyes widened. "Belle," they said at the exact same time before they both raced up the stairs. Gold went as fast as he could with his limp, but Jefferson quickly overtook him and ran on ahead. Rumpelstiltskin heard Jefferson shout her name, and it only spurred him to go faster.

When he finally reached the baby's room, he felt nothing. His entire body felt numb. Jefferson had Belle in his arms. She was on the floor. He could faintly make out the sight of blood over her right temple. Jefferson was saying her name over and over, trying to get her to wake up.

Rumpelstiltskin limped right passed them and over to Rose's crib. There was no sound, no motion, as he approached it, and when he finally looked in, the numbness turned into a white-hot feeling of terror. He picked up the one lonely blanket in the crib and then whirled around to face Jefferson.

The truth of what he knew was confirmed in the look that Jefferson gave him, but Rumpelstiltskin said it anyway.

"They took the baby." His voice trembled. "Rose is gone."