A/N: Thanks for all the favorable reviews! I'm glad that you like my story and enjoy reading it. I had a fun time writing this chapter too; Flynn is pretty fun to write (as is Rapunzel!) and this scene is one of my favorites in the entire movie.

Nexus- Here comes the smolder!

Disclaimer: I don't own Tangled

Chapter 4-The Deal

"I don't have the fire in the belly right now. It's one of those been there, done that deals."
-Steve Largent

"Good things happen when you meet strangers."
Yo-Yo Ma

After I hit Flynn Rider on the head for the third time, I quickly looked around the room frantically for a new place to hide the satchel. Pascal, the genius that he was, scampered to me, and pointed to the stairs. "That's perfect, Pascal…and brilliant! There's no way he would be able to find it there. Only you and I know of the secret compartment," I said, enthused.

I removed the satchel from the pot and walked to the stairs. Carefully, I pushed the last stair up to reveal the hollow spot inside. I peered closely at it. Would it be big enough to fit Flynn's satchel? I cautiously lowered it into the hole, praying that it would fit.

It did, barely. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. One problem solved. I glanced quickly at Flynn, who was my other problem of the moment. I needed to find out why he was here, and I needed to do it now. "Okay, Pascal. Can you wake him up again for me?" I asked, as I walked back over to Flynn's chair. He nodded and quickly scurried over to where my captive was tied up. He jumped up onto his shoulder, seemingly enjoying his task. He shot me a happy look before he stuck his tongue back in Flynn's ear.

"AHH!" he screeched, immediately awake. He soon noticed Pascal's tongue in his ear, and a look of disgust crossed his face. "Will you stop that?" he said, aggravated.

I cleared my throat. "Ahem". He looked at me, looking very irritated. I smothered my own annoyed feelings. Like I'm enjoying this, mister. You could be here to steal my hair!

I took a deep breath. Time to pick up where we left off. "Now I've hidden it where you'll never find it," I told him in my most smug tone. He continued to look at me, and I found it very unnerving. I knew that I had to continue in my questioning, though, no matter how much I hated it. "So," I began, circling around his chair like a hawk, "what do you want with my hair? To cut it?"

He appeared to be completely nonplussed. "What?"

You're not fooling me one bit. "Sell it?" I continued, staring him down.

He still looked confused. Great acting there, mister, you should be on the stage. "What?" Suddenly he seemed to realize what I had asked him. "No, listen, the only thing I want with your hair is to get out of it! Literally!" he declared.

I was prepared to interrogate him some more, but something about his tone seemed very honest to me. Maybe he didn't really want my hair after all. "Wait," I asked him hesitantly. "You don't want my hair?"

He stared at me, in utter disbelief. "Why on earth would I want your hair?" Why wouldn't you if you knew what it could do? Perhaps he knows nothing about my hair. That thought was confirmed by the next words out of his mouth. "Look," he went on to say. "I was being chased, I saw a tower, I climbed it. End of story."

I wanted to believe him, (why would I want to be stuck in a tower with a thief who wanted to steal my hair?) but I had to make sure. Pascal jumped onto my shoulder and looked at me, and his look suggested that I continue questioning him. I nodded slightly to him, to let him know I received his message. "You're telling the truth?" I asked him slowly, with my frying pan outstretched.

"Yes!" he insisted firmly. Pascal, who was a great judge of character, jumped off my shoulder, ran down my arm, and landed on the frying pan. He stared into Flynn's eyes, searching to see if there was truth there. He gave me a slight nod. I knew that meant that he thought the man was telling the truth. Time for a consultation. I carefully walked with Pascal out of the man's earshot, ignoring his questioning looks.

I took Pascal carefully into my hands so he could see my eyes. So, Rapunzel, Pascal said with his eyes. You know you need someone to take you to see the floating lights. "Yes, I know I need someone to take me," I told him quietly. I think this man seems to be telling the truth about not wanting your hair. "I think he's telling the truth too," I agreed. Are you afraid of him? "No," I said, and was surprised to find that it was true. But I was not afraid now that I knew he didn't want my hair. Plus…. "He doesn't have fangs." Not only did he not have fangs, but he also had lovely eyes the color of my favorite…. You're thinking of asking him to take you to see the lights aren't you? It could be dangerous and backfire on you, you know. Of course I realized that, but I really wanted to go see the floating lights. The only problem was how to convince him to take me. Hmmm. Soon, a brilliant plan entered into my head. If Flynn took me to see the lights, I would let him have his satchel back. It was simple and completely foolproof. Pascal, who read my mind half the time, knew exactly what I was thinking. Are you sure, Rapunzel? "Yes," I informed him. "What other choice do I have?" No other choice, but I just want to make sure your mind is made up. I smiled at Pascal and placed him on my shoulder. I began to walk back over to Flynn's chair, and picked up some of my hair that was dragging on the floor on my way.

"All right, Flynn Rider," I said confidently. "I'm prepared to offer you a deal."

"Deal?" he repeated, incredulous. Somehow I got the feeling that he usually was the one who made deals, not the one who had to agree to them. I also got the feeling that he had seen it all. I continued to walk over to my painting of the floating lights, pulling on my hair to turn his chair to face it. I dragged the curtain so that he could see my painting.

"Do you know what these are?" I asked him. Unfortunately, I realized that I had pulled too hard on my hair and his face was now flat on the floor.

However, he still seemed to be able to see the painting. He glanced at it for a few brief seconds before responding. "You mean the lantern thing they do for the princess?"

He knew what they were! I was completely excited and overjoyed, partly because if he knew what they were that also meant that he knew where they were and partly because he said lanterns. Mother was wrong, just like I thought. The lights were not stars, after all, but lanterns. I felt completely vindicated.

"Lanterns!" I repeated softly to myself, in complete awe. "I knew they weren't stars!" I beamed a smile at Pascal, thrilled. Remember the plan, Rapunzel. Right, the plan.

"Well," I began, facing Flynn and I watched as he tried to push himself back up. "Tomorrow evening they will light the night the night sky with these lanterns."I glanced back at him to make sure he was listening to me. He was. Good.

"You will act as my guide," I told him, "and take me to see the lanterns and return me home safely." I looked back at him, to gauge his reaction. He appeared to be slightly annoyed again. He probably has made tons of deals, I thought, and perhaps broken them all too. He also seemed like he was only listening to see when he could get back his satchel. Well. "Then and only then will I return you satchel to you. That is my deal," I finished.

He set his jaw firmly before he replied. "Yeah, no can do", he said curtly. "Unfortunately the kingdom and I aren't (here he made quotation marks in the air to emphasize his point) 'simpatico' at the moment so I won't be taking you anywhere."

I hadn't counted on that. I darted a glance at Pascal. What should I do now? He looked back at me and made a fist with his 'hands'. The message was unmistakable- Hit him. Hard. I shook my head slightly. No, that won't work. Even though Flynn said he couldn't take me, I couldn't help but feeling that there was something that had brought him here, and he would end up taking me to see the lanterns. And I also felt that, even though he was being very unpleasant to me, I could trust him. I took hold of that thought and fueled into energy. I would convince him to take me!

I pulled on my hair again to set his chair aright. "Something brought you here, Flynn Rider," I informed him. "Call it what you will. Fate. Destiny…"

He interrupted me. "A horse?" he retorted, dryly.

I continued, ignoring his remark. "…So I have made the decision to trust you." I walked close to him and held his chair up by my hair and my hand. I peered closely into his eyes.

He cut in again, before I could say anything else. "A horrible decision, really."

Maybe so, but even if I couldn't take him at his word, he could take me at mine. There was no way I would give him his satchel if he didn't take me to the lanterns. I brought my face up even closer to his. "But trust me when I tell you this," I stated sternly. "You can tear this tower apart brick by brick, but without my help you will never find your precious satchel."

He raised one eyebrow at me, like he didn't believe me, but I could tell that he was starting to actually think about my deal. "Let me get this straight," he finally said. "I take you to see the lanterns…bring you back home…and you'll give me back my satchel?"

By jove, I think he's got it! "I promise", I told him. He raised an eyebrow at me, and still looked like he didn't believe me at all. He might think he knows me, I thought, but he doesn't at all. I couldn't think of one promise in my entire life that I had broken. "And when I promise something," I informed him. "I never, ever break that promise."

He continued to stare at me, with one eyebrow raised in disbelief. "Ever!" I repeated firmly. He still gazed intently at me, like he could not decide what he was going to do. Finally, he seemed to reach some conclusion. Maybe he's going to agree, I thought hopefully.

He wasn't. "All right, I didn't want to have to do this," he began. "But you leave me no choice." He seemed to gather all of his wits. "Here comes the smolder", he finished with a suave wink. The…what? He immediately dipped his chin to his chest, and then brought it back up with the strangest face I had ever seen in my entire life. Even now, I still don't know how to describe it- It was like a cross between a frown, a scowl, and a sulky face, with a raised eyebrow and pouty lips thrown in for good measure. I had no idea what his face was supposed to be saying to me, and so I continued to stare him down, (It wasn't until Eugene and I had been married for some time that he told me that the "Smolder" was his seducing face. We both had a good laugh that day).

He seemed completely surprised by my reaction. "This is kind of an off day for me," he said, astonished. "This doesn't normally happen." Since I did not know what this was, or what normally happened when he made that face, I stared him down, unrelenting. You will agree to take me.

He seemed to have had enough of my stares. "All right, fine," he finally agreed. "I'll take you to see the lanterns."

Overcome with joy, I let go of both my hair and the chair. "Really?" I asked, excitedly. As a result of my removing my hand, he crashed to the floor once more, face first.

"You broke my smolder!" he said, weakly.

I barely heard him in my complete and utter excitement. After all those years of hoping and wishing, I was finally going to live my dream of seeing the floating lights!