"You told him that you remembered?"

Dagian rolled her eyes and looked at Baelfire. She was exhausted and didn't have the patience for her son's needling questions, "He knew it anyway."

"You exposed yourself needlessly."

"He won't hurt me," she snapped. She had not slept well. Despite the many rows they'd had over the 28 years of false memories, neither one had ever had ever taken the guest room. They'd rather share the bed and be miserable than give up the comfort of their bed and take that horrible lumpy mattress.

And even if she had gotten the bed, she wouldn't have been able to sleep. The dreams had come full force now that she had her memories back. She was terrified that when she closed her eyes that nightmares would accompany them.

The last thing she wanted to do was give Rumpelstiltskin a reason to get close to her when he had to wake her up.

He'd been gone that morning when she finally pulled herself out of bed. It was planned that way; she just laid there and waited. She knew that he had checked on her when he got up, but she didn't turn from her place with her back to the door.

"You don't know that he won't," Baelfire…or August as he was calling himself now told her.

"If he wanted to hurt me then he would've done it by now," she said

"I'm not going to sit around and let you stay there and wait around for that to happen," he snapped, "You're my mother and that's my sister and the more that he holds you under his thumb and controls you then the more danger you're in. I think you should come to the inn with me."

"I'm not leaving and exposing the fact that I remember to Regina," she argued.

"Do you really think that you'll be safer with him?" Baelfire spat, "He's used you. He brought you home to play house when you left him and then…however you survived all those centuries afterwards he gave you false memories so that he could have comfort while you lived your life in ignorance. Conceiving a baby that you weren't conscious to have-."

She looked up sharply. Contrary to what he thought, she did want this baby. It may not have been made when she was aware but if there was anything that WOULD be the highlight of this farce of a marriage then it would be their daughter.

"I know what he did," she hissed, angry with him, "And I know enough about Regina to know how vicious she is and I know that I'd be taking my life in my hands if I walked out that door and never turned back like I wanted to do. But I have more than my life to think about, I have to keep your sister safe. Rumpelstiltskin is my best bet to do that."

"And the more you stay with him the more chances you have of returning."

"Oh trust me son," she shook her head, "There's no chance of that happening."


From a distance, Gold watched his wife and the writer interacting.

He didn't like the idea of this man being so close to his wife. Something was off about him. Something had happened when they were talking together that made her get her memories, and after that they were a lot closer than they were letting him know about and he really didn't trust that.

A thought occurred to him that he dismissed. No. He couldn't be Bae. Dagian would've told him immediately if it was their son.

And besides, he thought as he started dusting the counter, he wasn't supposed to come until after the curse was broken. It wouldn't make sense if this boy…who did bear a resemblance to his child, was here yet.

If he wasn't Bae then who was he? Someone trying to move in on his wife before the divorce papers had even been printed off? No. He didn't think so. Dagian always had problems with trust and she wasn't about to put her faith in someone that she hardly knew.

And she wasn't exactly the kind of woman that would break her vows within a day of revealing who she was to him.

What if he was Bae? That would certainly explain why she gained her memories after interacting with him.

He threw the dust rag against the counter in frustration. This was all wrong. It wasn't supposed to be happening yet. Bae wasn't supposed to be here.

Maybe he wasn't Bae. Perhaps he was someone else.

But who?

He needed to get control of this situation quickly before it spiraled out of control.


Dagian stacked plates and put them in the cabinet when her husband walked in, "Dinner's on the table."

He stopped at her curt response and tilted his head, "Are you not even going to eat with me?"

"We're playing house," she said, "That's all you get."

"How long are you going to be angry at me? I'm not your enemy Dagian."

"Could've fooled me," she hissed.

"I think that if you truly believed that I was your enemy then you would've left."

She scoffed, "Oh, is that what you think?"

"Yes, since that's what you do best."

She slammed the plates down and nearly came after him like she was going to slap him.

"Give me a reason why I should stay with you," she hissed, "After everything you've done."

"Because this is our chance to be happy. Don't you understand-."

"No," she shook her head, "Don't pull that. The only time you're happy is if you have me under your full control and I don't have a choice to leave in our relationship. I'm not putting myself in that again. IT was bad enough when you were the dark one and I had hopes that we could try again and things would change and to say that I was disappointed would be an understatement. I'm not going to let you put me through that again because I know what kind of a person that you are."

"So you're going to run away again?" he challenged, "Wait until the coast is clear before you rush out. You see I know what kind of person you are too. I can only hope that this time you actually be a mother to our child and not abandon us when things get too hard."

That time he got a slap and he couldn't deny that he deserved it.

"You always said that you wanted it to be the way it was. Now here we have a chance. I'm not consumed by evil anymore Dagian, I'm the human, not the dark one."

"And how much of the Dark One is left?" she challenged, "The Rumpelstiltskin that I knew? He'd never do the things you've done in Storybrooke. Now I know that that Rumpelstiltskin is dead. And I've accepted that but don't you dare to pretend otherwise. Don't give me hope that things could be better."

"But it can be. We can find Bae. And we can get back on track-."

"Every time we try to be a family it fails," she told him, "Maybe we just weren't meant to be."

"Maybe not," he said and touched her face. She didn't respond to the gesture. Instead she just watched him with her eyes cold and full of defiance. He didn't mind the defiance part. At least he knew that she was still in there and wasn't near as cold toward him as she was when they lost Bae.

At least not yet.

"Dagian," he whispered, stepping closer, "WE may not be each other's true love but we can be content. Thousands have married over the years after their true loves were gone, we could do the same. I mean it makes sense. You and I know each other better than anyone here, we're the oldest ones here, we're practically cut from the same cloth, we have the same history, heading for the same goal. I know you care for me. I know deep down that you would like nothing more than to stay…"

He rested his forehead on hers and continued, "I do love you."

He saw a flicker of desire in her eyes, along with fear. Which was the exact opposite of what he wanted. He'd hardly slept last night because he was alone in the bed. When was the last time that had happened that didn't involve her being at work?

"You love Dawn," she said as his lips hovered close to her, "You love a girl who supports you no matter how low you stoop. And I'm not Dawn anymore."