Thursday afternoon was stormy and dark, rain smacking against the window pane and thunder cracking overhead. Mr. Gold was in the back of his shop, reframing a painting he had recently acquired when the bell to his shop rang furiously as the door was flung open and quickly slammed shut. He glanced up from his work, waiting momentarily for whoever it was to call out. He sifted through the list in his head at who would be angry with him, but found too many names to pinpoint just one. Perhaps it was just some poor soul flushed inside by the rain.

"Get out here and face me, you coward!" Belle shouted, dripping wet in the door way of his shop. She had come this far to find him but she was not going to seek him out. It was long past time for him to come to her and he'd better have a damn good explanation for why this morning he was in his shop and not at the docks.

Upon hearing her voice he immediately grabbed his cane and went as fast as he could to the main room, so many thoughts whirling through his mind. Why was she upset? Had someone told her something? Was it his fault? Did she… did she remember? He paused in front of the curtain, bracing himself for the storm to come, then pushed through, his heart wrenching at her facial expression. He thought she was mad at the diner? That was nothing compared to this. He froze, speechless and terrified.

"Where were you?" her jaw was clenched and her fists were shaking, the thunder rolling in the distance. Had the fire in her eyes gone unnoticed by him, seeing her standing there dripping wet in jeans and a t-shirt may have been humorous. But he did see eyes, and he was not amused. He was crushed.

It took him a moment to respond, "What?" he forced out.

"I went past this morning on my way to the docks, and I saw a light on in the shop. I kept going and waited and waited, but you never showed up." She breathed, her voice taking on a threatening tone, "When I came back by, the light was off. You were up and you had been here, but you never went there. Care to explain?" she dared him.

"I… I…" he stuttered. He was completely confused. What on earth was she talking about?

"That's what I thought," Belle whispered grimly, turning towards the door. She rested her hand on the knob, turning over her shoulder, "I didn't want to believe her, but you left me no choice. She was right. And I am a fool." She flung the door open and rushed out into the pouring rain, the door slamming shut on its own behind her, making him jump.

He paused a moment, weighing his options. His coat was in the back. Too far away. He would have to deal with getting soaked. The shop keys were in his coat. Too far away and locking up would waste time. He needed answers, and so did she. He wasn't really sure how they could help each other, but he was hell bent on finding out. He blasted out the door to his shop, not able to see anything in the rain. "Belle?" he called out. No answer, no movement. "Belle!" he was yelling now. It didn't matter. No one would be out here in this weather to see him act like this and frankly, he didn't care if there was.

As if the gods themselves had heard his call, the rain let up enough for him to see her, hunched over and sloshing down the flooded sidewalk. "Belle," he called out again, heading towards her. She was moving very slowly, and acting like she didn't hear him. It was possible, considering the rain, but it was also possible she was ignoring him, wishing he would leave her be. He got closed to her, noticed she had the hood of her coat pulled up. He put a hand on her shoulder and she spun around.

"Mr. Gold. What brings you out in such horrible weather," Regina smiled at him. Then he realized, Belle hadn't been wearing a coat. He looked around for Belle, knowing she had to be nearby. Something she had suddenly clicked, 'I didn't want to believe her… She was right'. All common sense flew out the window.

"What the hell did you say to her?" He didn't think, he just acted, swinging out and nailing her in the jaw, hoping he seriously injured her. She put a hand to where he hit her, gaping at him.

"I told her the truth," she shoved at him, and he dropped his cane.

"Oh yeah? Just like you told me 'the truth'?" he mocked her and struck out at her face again, knowing her eye would blacken later.

"Is this about that girl I met on the road?" she fake pouted, "I thought you were better than that, Rumple. Turns out you're just as weak as the rest of those love sick fools." He grabbed her shoulders and pushed her into the decorative bushes. She grabbed at his neck and tie, pulling him down with her. They didn't speak again, just rolled in the rain and mud, each fighting for dominance, him throwing punches whenever and wherever he could and her scratching at him with sharp, blood-red (literally now) nails.

This is it. This is for Belle, and it will be worth it, he thought as he pinned her beneath him and readied his fist, "I'm going to kill you," he whispered. But before he could deliver the final punch he was thrown off and pinned. Water and pain blinded him as his head cracked against cement. He was rolled onto his stomach, rushing water running into his face. His hands were pulled behind his back. Now she was going to kill him. Drown him, no less.

He was pulled back up and onto his knees by the neck of his shirt, his tie choking him. He went to catch himself as he tipped forward slightly, finding himself unable to pull his wrists apart. He swallowed as his vision cleared and head started to throb less and looked to his right, seeing the mayor in a similar position to his own, subdued by one of the mechanics from the shop across the street. "What is with you lately?" The sheriff shook her head, pulling him to his feet.

He wasn't placed in a holding cell, rather, locked in one of the makeshift interrogation rooms. The sheriff didn't trust him or Regina to leave the other alone. A washcloth wrapped icepack sat unused on the table as he paced, right leg screaming. Now that his mind was clearer than before, he regretted what he did. Slightly. She deserved every pinprick of pain he had caused. He only regretted what would happen to him. The door opened and Emma stepped into the room, shutting it behind her.

"So," she shrugged, "what happened?"

He didn't look at her, stopping in front of the frosted glass window and looking at the faint outline of raindrops on the outside. It was his turn to shrug, still not turning towards her.

"You're not talking either, eh?" Emma sighed. He slightly turned his head towards her, her implications catching him off guard. So the devil's whore was refusing to speak as well? Interesting… But this could be Emma's attempt at tricking him into talking. Either was it was best if he remained silent, so he looked back toward the window.

"If I don't have a story, I can't hold you for more than twenty four hours. But that also means I can only hold Regina that long. Rain washed away all the evidence and there were no eyewitnesses of the beginning so, for all anyone knows you were acting in self-defense." She paused, waiting for him to respond, "Still nothing to say?"

He shrugged again. The sheriff would be able to tell he was lying the second he told her it was all in self-defense, and even if she couldn't prove it Emma was an enemy he couldn't afford to have. As it stood the only thing she had was speculation on what happened, and considering he was fairly certain she disliked the queen more than the trickster, Emma would instinctually lean towards Regina being the initiator. Things would be tense between the mayor and the broker for some time, but then again, how was that any different than before?

If anything this show of a power struggle was beneficial to him. She knew not to take him on physically. If Emma hadn't shown up, Regina would have died. And like the sheriff said: the rain washed away the evidence. Then his mind wandered. He could have tossed her in the road. It would have been an accident. She had lost her footing on the flooded sidewalk, tripping into the road right in the path of an oncoming car which conveniently noticed nothing but a bump amidst the sheets of rain. The real culprit would just have to lay low until the swelling in the break went down and his bloodied knuckles healed over. Why did that damn sheriff have to show up?

After confronting him, Belle had gone to Granny's for a hot chocolate to go. She sat for a while, sipping and watching the rain as Granny coddled her, lecturing her about catching a cold and finding an umbrella for next time. "What was so urgent that it couldn't wait until the storm passed?" Granny's hand on her arm snapped Belle out of her trance.

"Oh I dunno," Belle's gaze fell to the ground, "I just… somebody led me on and I believed him… so when he stood me up… I should have expected it. I was a fool."

"Mr. Gold?" Ruby asked.

"Keep it down!" Belle snapped at her.

Ruby put a finger to her own lips and pointed to the phone in her hand. Belle's face fell at her mistake. Ruby didn't catch it, busy talking on the phone with Billy about what just happened outside the shop between Mayor Mills and Mr. Gold. But Granny noticed, grabbing Belle by the arm and pulling her into the hallway to the inn.

"What is that supposed to mean? What have you gotten yourself into?" Granny looked both shocked and worried.

Belle blushed, "I thought I was attracted to him… and that the feelings were reciprocated. But he led me on. When I asked him to meet me at the docks for a sunrise, he never showed up. Last night the mayor told me he was only concerned about himself and didn't care about me." Belle's voice died to a whisper as she held back tears, "She was right…"

"Now, now dear. The mayor will say anything to tear you down. Don't take her words to heart. Ever. As for Mr. Gold… I'm not going to tell you Madame Mayor was wrong. He's extremely selfish and won't give anyone the time of day without something in it for him." Belle's heart sunk as Granny spoke, and her gaze met the floor once again, "But around you," Belle looked at Granny skeptically, "the way he looks at you and acts around you. I don't think he led you on. I think you took away his control and he wasn't sure how to react."

As Granny finished her speech Belle was thankful the drips on her face from her soaking hair blended well with her hopeful tears. What Granny said made sense. He had always been the one to ask and act. He directed their conversations and even that night at dinner he had planned everything ahead of time. When Belle had taken action and invited him, he had lost the upper hand, lost his control. Belle smiled, "Thank you. Do you really think that?"

Granny returned the smile and nodded, leading them back into the restaurant. "You will never guess what just happened," Ruby squealed as Belle sat back down. Granny picked up glassware and continued to polish. The rain kept everyone indoors and as a result the diner was fairly dead.

"What just happened?" Belle prompted, her spirits lifting as Granny's words continued to sink in.

"Okay," Ruby leaned in, lowering her voice, all dramatics because with Ruby, nothing was really a secret, "Billy and some of the other mechanics heard fighting, so they thought it was Sean and August. See, August was flirting with Ashley the other day and Sean didn't really like that, said he was gonna teach him not to do it again. Anyway," Ruby took a deep breath, "It wasn't Sean." She stopped.

"Well, spit it out girl," Granny was listening in, "Who was it?"

"One of them was Mayor Mills and the other," Ruby stopped, trying to build the anticipation of her listeners.

"Sheriff Swan again?" Granny sniffed, "Girl should know better. She'll get herself fired acting like that,"

"Oh no, not Emma," Ruby waved Granny off. Belle's stomach tanked before Ruby said who it was, remembering the snippet she heard while Ruby was on the phone, "It was Mr. Gold."

"I think I have to go…" Belle started to get up but Ruby grabbed her shoulders from across the counter and pushed her back down.

"I didn't even tell you what happened," Ruby whined.

"If she needs to go she needs to go," Granny butted in, guessing why Belle suddenly didn't care about waiting for the rain to stop.

"I'll be quick I promise!" Ruby pleaded, Belle nodded for her to continue, "They don't know who started it but when all the boys got there, Mr. Gold was being pulled to the ground by the mayor and they kept attacking each other. They said she already had a huge red mark on her face and he had blood streaming down his. Somebody called Sheriff Swan and she broke them up otherwise they think Mr. Gold was going to kill Mayor Mills." Ruby didn't understand why as she told the story Belle's expression got more and more horrified, "Billy said the mayor looked pretty beat up, but Mr. Gold's nose was broken. They had to be driven to the station in separate cars. I know they never liked each other but I really want to know what made them attack each other like that."

"I really have to go now," Belle whispered, her eyes glassy and distant, "Thank you for sharing,"

Belle practically ran through the rain to the station, passing back by Mr. Gold's shop, passing the scene of the crime, and barely catching herself when she tripped on the sidewalk, still pretending to be a small river even though the rain had slowed down considerably. Belle was mumbling about shitty drainage and dangerous cracks as she got up, but stopped when she noticed what exactly she had tripped on. She picked up Mr. Gold's cane off the path, now elated that she had fallen, and resumed running to the police station.

Emma was at her desk, tipping back in the chair, trying to figure out what had just taken place. Somehow for some reason, Storybrooke's most iconic characters had just duked it out in the rain. Everyone knew they didn't get along. But an all-out brawl? She didn't think anyone saw that coming. Belle stumbled through the door of the station, holding Mr. Gold's cane. Emma briefly wondered if Belle had something to do with it: she was, after all, the reason Mr. Gold had bludgeoned Moe French.

Belle looked from Emma to the empty cells and back to Emma. "Is he home?" Belle was breathing heavily.

"No, he's in isolation of sorts. Did you run? Sit down, talk to me," Emma gestured to a chair in her office.

Belle shook her head, holding her free hand to her side, "Can I see him?" she panted.

Emma hesitated, "I don't know if-"

"Please," Belle interrupted, "I just want to give this back to him." She gestured with the cane.

"This isn't the first person he's assaulted. He's dangerous,"

Belle was trying very hard to ignore a whisper that tugged the back of her mind. He's a lot less dangerous than before. Before? Before what? "But you don't know that he wasn't just protecting himself," She argued.

Emma rolled the notion over in her mind. She had broken protocol to leave him completely alone with Regina, and he wasn't really in isolation, just isolated from Regina. "I don't see what it could hurt," Emma complied. Belle whispered a thank you as Emma got up and led the way to the door, unlocking it. Before opening it she looked at Belle, "I'm going to stand outside here so the door can be closed but unlocked. If at any point you need help, yell for me." Emma finally opened the door up and Belle took a few steps inside, wringing her hands around the cane, hearing the door click closed behind her.

So, what do we think so far? Keep going? Give it up? Too cheesy to be believable?