Once Upon A Time: Deal With The Devil, Part Nine
By Rebekkalee Mouri-Hibiki
Mr. Gold sat at the deputy's desk, absently moving the chess pieces around on the board in front of him. He had brought it so he and Mary-Margret had something to do as they talked about how they were going to fix the mess she was in. He had given her what he felt was sufficient time to calm down and think straight. After losing several games to him, she was still uncertain what to do.
He glanced up, making sure she was still asleep. She was so exhausted mentally and physically, she couldn't help but rest. He still hadn't found out what had happened the night she had escaped. Too many other things had been going on and the chance had not presented itself for him to ask either her or Emma about it.
He thought about the hand print shaped marks he had seen on Emma's throat. He wanted to know how they had gotten there and who was responsible. The thought of someone harming her in such a way made him angry but he was also puzzled. He was mystified that he hadn't been able to see anything that happened that night.
It was vexing to say the least. He wanted to know so he could find the man who had done it. He had sense there was something more to the whole thing. He had picked up on the fact that Emma was still frightened by the ordeal and that made him think something more had happened than her almost getting strangled.
He wanted to hunt the man down and ask him what he had done but he didn't even have a name to go on. The only thing he could tell from the vision he had been able to get was the man wasn't the elusive stranger. No, the man that he had seen was built different, dressed different and had different hair. He could help but think the stranger had something to do with the man in the vision though and he wanted to know the connection.
He thought back to another vision, the one that prompted him to tell Emma to look over the clues again. He had vision while he was at his shop earlier that morning, shortly before going to the jail for the ill-fated meeting with the DA. In this vision, he saw Emma going back to where the heart was found and finding a piece of a shovel. She seemed to be talking to someone but the vision never showed who it was.
He was surprised that Emma hadn't come right to him after finding the shard. He was certain she would bring it to him but he had yet to see it. He looked out the window, frowning as he heard the sound of a motorcycle. He wanted to slap himself for not realizing it sooner.
It seemed the stranger was doing something to keep him from seeing everything he wanted to see. He felt his anger rise for now it seemed it was getting personal. He tired to think a reason why when he heard footsteps approaching the office. He rose from the chair as she came into the room, turning to face her.
" Is there something wrong? " Emma asked. " Why are you standing up? "
Mr. Gold shook his head, " Nothing is wrong, my dear. I was just rising to greet you. "
" Oh, " Emma nodded.
Mr. Gold gave her a half-grin. He found it so amusing how she wasn't used to the habits of a gentleman. It led him to believe she hadn't dealt with too many of them in her turbulent life. " How was your search for the prowler? "
" That guy seems to have vanished, " Emma said. " There hasn't been anything since Ruby was attacked and he left hardly any clues when he did show up. "
" Odd, " Mr. Gold said.
Emma sighed, " Yeah but I really can't do anything about him yet. I still have Mary-Margret to worry about. "
" Yes, you do, " Mr. Gold said. " Did you do what I asked you to do? "
Emma nodded, " I rechecked everything, including the hole by the toll bridge. "
" And? " Mr. Gold arched an eyebrow. He wanted to see if Emma was going to tell the truth or make something up. No matter what she said, he knew what was correct.
Emma sighed, " I found some trace evidence. "
Mr. Gold quirked his mouth, " Trace evidence? Like what? "
Emma sighed, " Some hairs. "
" Hairs? " Mr. Gold was amused by how quickly she was coming up with her tale. It was like they were playing a game, each move she made well thought out.
" Yeah, " Emma nodded.
Mr. Gold cocked his head to the side, " Hmm. Do you believe they belong to the killer? Perhaps they fell into the hole while they were digging. "
Emma shrugged, " We won't know for sure until the results come back from the lab. That's not too fetched of a theory though. "
" Thank you, my dear, " Mr. Gold replied. " May I take a look? "
Emma furrowed her brow, " Why would you need to? "
" Just curious, " Mr. Gold replied. " Do you have it? "
Emma frowned, " No. I took them straight to the lab. "
" Oh. I see, " Mr. Gold was certain she knew he was on to her. She had a kind of scared rabbit look in her eyes, the same one she always got when he was too inquisitive. " I wish I could have taken a look. "
Emma narrowed her eyes, " I'm the only one who could have touched it so you couldn't have. "
" I could have still looked. I am her defense lawyer after all, " Mr. Gold said sharply. " Did you find anything else? "
Emma frowned, " No. That's why I rushed to get that to the lab. It may be what we need and I didn't want to wait. "
" I see, " Mr. Gold sensed she was starting to get a bit hostile. He wondered if perhaps the vision had been premature and she had not found the shard yet. He decided to back off, " I understand. "
" Good, " Emma said quietly.
He noticed she seemed a bit ill at ease. She had been giving him strange looks ever since she had come in the door. " Are you alright my dear? "
" I'm fine, " Emma said. " I'm just thinking. "
" About the case? " Mr. Gold asked. " Or something else? "
Emma took a sharp breath then looked at him, " A lot of things. "
" Oh? " He walked over to her slowly, not missing the wary look she was giving him. It was like she was trying to see inside of him but not sure she wanted to see what was there. " Would you like to talk about it? "
Emma stiffened as he stopped in front of her, " I don't know. "
" You don't know if you want to talk about it? " Mr. Gold asked quietly.
" Yeah, " Emma nodded.
" Perhaps you should, " He said. " Is it about the other night? "
Emma furrowed her brow, " What? "
" When you were chasing Mary-Margret through the woods all night, " Mr. Gold reached out and brushed her hair aside from her throat. The marks had faded with the exception of a small, fingertip shaped bruise just below her jaw on the right side of her throat. " Tell me, did you fight with her? "
Emma brought her right hand up, gently pushing his hand away. " Look, Gold. I really don't want to talk about it. "
He arched an eyebrow, " Am I to assume much more happened than a simple chase through the woods then? "
Emma looked away then sighed, " It was nothing. "
" You don't get bruises from nothing, " He said. He looked into her eyes, " Please tell me. "
" I can't, " Emma said. " I just can't. "
He gave her a tenderly pleading look as he moved closer. He knew his breath was tickling her lips as he said, " Why not, my dear? "
" Because I can't, " Emma said. She lifted her left hand up and pushed him back gently, " We can't do this here. Not with Mary-Margret right there. "
" Do you want to take it to the office then? " Mr. Gold arched an eyebrow.
" No. I don't want to take it anywhere, " Emma said. She sighed, " You need to go. I need some time to think about... things. "
" Things? " Mr. Gold furrowed his brow. " What kind of things? "
Emma shook her head and shut her eyes, " The case... and us. "
" Us? " Mr. Gold asked. He didn't like the way she had whispered the last part as if it were some horrible secret that needed to be kept.
Emma sighed and looked away, " You know what I mean. I need some time to process everything that's been going on with the case and between us. "
Mr. Gold took a step back, " I see. Have I made you uncomfortable? "
" A little, " Emma nodded. " I feel like... I feel like things are getting out of hand. We need to back off and try to figure out what's going on before anything else happens. Anything we might regret. "
" Do you regret what has already occurred? " Mr. Gold asked.
Emma frowned, " I'm not sure. I just think we take some time and figure out what's going on before we move forward. "
Mr. Gold opened his mouth to speak then frowned. He didn't know where her words were coming from. Things had been progressing slowly and she made it sound like they were rushing into something. " I see, " He finally found some words to say.
Emma sighed, " It's been a long day. I really need to get some sleep. "
Mr. Gold nodded, " Right. I need to rest as well. I will come check on Miss Blanchard in the morning. "
" Alright, " Emma nodded. " Goodnight. "
" Goodnight, Miss Swan, " Mr. Gold said and walked out of the office...
Robin walked through the festival among the other peasants and commoners. A great platform surrounded the fairgrounds, the more well off using it to stay above the rabble. Rumplestiltskin had kept to his word, changing Robin's appearance so no one could recognize him. With his magic, Rumplestiltskin changed him from a tall strapping fellow with dark hair to a one eyed dirty blonde with a bit of a limp.
Robin wore a khaki and scarlet outfit, something he wouldn't have ever worn as himself. He would have been turned into a donkey though if it meant getting Marion back and giving Rothwell what he deserved. He looked around the crowd, his eyes setting on the rest of the band of men as they mingled and flowed with the crowd. All of them were disguised, blending quite well with the townspeople.
He glanced at the platform again, his heart aching to be with the people he once thought of as his friends. He wondered just how many would still look him in the eye after everything he had done and been accused of doing. As he scanned the upper deck, his eyes went to where Rothwell sat. He frowned, finding Marion sitting to his right.
Rothwell held her left hand but Marion was obviously not holding his, her hand laying limp in his grip. She looked so sad and beaten down it caused Robin to wonder just what she had been subjected to during her captivity. He had heard Rothwell was a cruel and perverted man, the thought of the things he was capable of making Robin's blood boil.
He looked across the crowd to where they were setting up for the shooting contest. As soon as everything was set, it would begin...
Emma sat at her desk, looking out the window as she thought. She felt kind of bad about keeping so many things away from Mr. Gold and lying about the 'evidence' she had found. She didn't want to mention the shovel bit until she had went to Regina's in an official capacity. She had a feeling that the shard needed to be kept a secret between August, Mary-Margret and her for as long as possible.
Once the shovel was brought to light, she would just let the lab find out what she already knew. It was a dangerous plan but she felt it was necessary to keep it quiet. Although she hadn't talked at length to Mr. Gold about August, she could tell he was highly suspicious of the stranger. She didn't really trust him that much either at first but he was slowly gaining it with his actions that seemed to help her.
Regardless, she didn't want Mr. Gold to know she was working with August. Her mind went to the conversation in the car. It had forced her to think about it and where it was possibly going to go. She realized she needed to speak up though and regain some control of the situation.
She couldn't help but think of the confused and hurt look on Mr. Gold's face when she pushed him away. She felt a bit bad she had done it because he really had been nothing but a gentleman to her since the incident with Harold Durbin. In fact, he had treated her better than any man in her life ever had. Tears threatened her eyes as she put her head down on the desk, feeling like she could do nothing but screw everything up...
Mr. Gold sat in the den of his home, staring at the glass of whiskey in his hand. Emma's behavior towards him had been perplexing to say the least. Another thing that was leaving him unsettled was the fact it seemed he had an erroneous vision. He was quite certain she would find a shard off of a broken shovel when he suggested that she look over everything again.
He had never had problems seeing the future and he began to think perhaps his powers were starting to fade. Had he been in this land so long, the lack of magic was finally starting to affect him? If so, why hadn't it affected him sooner? ~No... that can't be it. My psychic abilities don't rely THAT heavily on magic. ~
He stood up, setting the glass down before going to the fire that blazed in the fireplace. He stared deep into the flames, concentrating on the things that were bothering him. An image began to take form in the flames, and he saw Emma sitting on the pier by the waterfront.
She was pondering Henry's book when someone in a leather jacket and dark blue jeans approached her. He frowned when he recognized the stranger's clothes, his eyes narrowing. He watched as they spoke, the vision clear enough he could read their lips. They were speaking of the case, something to the effect that she needed to go over everything again.
Mr. Gold clenched his jaw, his anger coming up a bit. He had told her the same thing but she seemed to take it more to heart from the stranger than she did from him. He watched as they left the scene, not surprised that Emma had lied about the hair but still felt a bit of a sting from the betrayal. After working so hard to gain her trust, it seemed he didn't have as much of it as he once thought.
He concentrated harder, trying to see what Emma had done with the shard. An image of her driving somewhere became clear in the flames. As she drove, she was talking and he was fairly certain it was to the stranger. He could make out what she was saying and it seemed she was talking about him.
He tried to get the vision to show the stranger but it wasn't working. Suddenly, the flames flared and he had to jump back because they came out of the fireplace, leaving scorch marks on the facade. The fright was enough to break his concentration, the flames dying back down to their normal size. He sighed, going back to his whiskey and downing it before heading off to bed.