August woke up with a start, bad dreams have been a problem lately, especially those involving whales. But at least he couldn't tumble off the bed because of them, a rather hollow consolation about turning into wood.

He manages to just barley hobble over to the phone. "Hey, you there? Good. This is taking too long. We need to accelerate the plan." He said, painfully.

Gold's shop

Henry wasn't sure if he should help August break into his dad's shop or not. On one hand his dad might not remember who he is and so anything in the shop that was useful would go to waste. But on the other hand, he was his dad.

"It's almost nine. You all set? You know what to do?"

"Operation Cobra is always ready. I just…"

"You just what?"

"I don't understand what this has to do with getting Emma to believe."

"Sometimes, other priorities assert themselves. Can you handle a little improvisation?"

"Yeah. Can you?" Henry asked before receiving a nod from August. "We're a go." Henry said running across the street to his dad's shop. "Hey, Dad."

"Good morning, Henry. I'll just be a moment." Gold then turned back toward Michal. "A coin toss it is then."

"Only fair way of deciding it I say."

"Yes, well." Gold then turned to Henry, holding out a coin. "Henry, could you do the toss."

"Sure." Henry then took the coin and tossed it up. "Heads." He said proudly, causing Michal to cheer and Gold to grunt.

"Well, I win old man, see you later."

"Goodbye you old fool." Gold said good-naturedly. He then turned back to Henry. "Keep the coin Henry. What can I do for you?"

"I want to get a gift for Miss Blanchard."

"Oh, I see."

"Since, she didn't kill that woman."

"Good thinking." Gold said laughing. "Just don't call it a "We're happy you didn't kill Mrs. Nolan gift."

"Who talked?" Henry said completely serious.

"Henry it's me, I know everything. Just like the card saying "We're so glad you didn't kill Misses Nolan" might be in poor taste."

Henry looked like he was thinking about this. He then looked at the different display cases. "Are these bells?" He then picked one up and rang it. "Cool."

"See anything you fancy? Or more importantly, that she fancies."

Henry decided he wanted to try and haggle the price. So for a minute they did, and he somehow ended up at paying double the original price. But then Mr. Gold went into the back room.

"May I help you?" Henry heard his father ask August.

"Yeah. I'm looking for some maps. I'm a bit of a collector." Really August, that's a lame excuse.

"Yes. Well, there are maps in the shop. This is my office."

"I thought this was the entrance." Oh now he was just killing Henry.

"It's not. The shop's through there." Gold then walked through the curtain and August followed. "Oh and, next time you want to corrupt the youth, choose someone that can lie better. And who can haggle better. You are paying for this bell, and he negotiated for paying four times its original price."

"I…" but one look from Gold cut Henry off, so August paid for the now rather expensive bell.

Storybrooke's General Hospital

At the hospital Kathryn woke up and was able to not murder Dr. Whale while the man was trying to help her. When Emma enters the room she had a hard time not being happy.

"Emma. Come on in. Look who's awake."

"Kathryn, hi. Listen, I don't want to take a lot of your time. But, do you remember what happened?" Emma asked.

"I don't know much. Um, I was in a car accident, and…I remember the airbag going off. And the next thing I knew, I was in the dark, in some basement. I didn't see anyone, but there was food and water. And then, I guess I was drugged." Kathryn said in a tired voice.

"Yeah. We're still trying to flush that out of your system."

"And then, I woke up in a field at the edge of town, and I started walking. That was it."

"You saw no one? You didn't hear a voice? Smell perfume? Cologne? Anything?"

"Nothing, no. I'm sorry. I wish I could help, especially since… While I was gone, you thought I was dead?"

"Your DNA matched the heart we found."

"They're grilling everybody down at the hospital lab to see who doctored the DNA results." Dr. Whale said.

"Why would anyone do this?"

"I think someone was trying to frame Mary Margaret."

"But why? I mean, who would do something like that?" Kathryn said looking very distressed. "I'm so sorry you have to go through that, jailing your friend and all. Couldn't have been easy with being pregnant and all."

"Yeah. Though it's weird this time I'm not feeling as terrible as I did last time. Even with all the added movement I'm doing as Sheriff as compared to prison, and there being two extra occupants." But then Emma suddenly had to grab her stomach when one of the kids decided now was a good time to kick her in the ribs. "I might've spoken too soon."

And for the first time since she could remember, Kathryn had a good laugh.

Gold's shop, Later.

And while Kathryn was asking why anyone would kidnap her, Regina stormed into Gold's shop, wandering why and how Kathryn could be asking that question.

"You broke our deal."

"I broke one deal in my life, dear. And it certainly wasn't this one."

"Kathryn was supposed to die, and Mary Margaret was to get the blame."

"Yeah, murder seems so much worse here, though, doesn't it?" Gold said looking upset. "You can't just turn someone into a snail and then step on them, can you?" He then smiled. "You didn't say 'kill her'. We agreed that something tragic should happen to her. Now, abduction is tragic."

"The intent was perfectly clear."

"Oh, let's not talk about intent. Intent is meaningless."

"Intent is everything."

"Please." He said, losing his patience.

"This is going to raise all kinds of questions about where she was and how the test results were faked."

"Oh, yes. And, um… And who put the key in her cell."

Regina then looked shocked and reached for her necklace. "It's all going to lead to me, isn't it?" She then got angry. "You bastard. This doesn't make any sense. You and I – we've been in this, together, from the start."

"Oh, have we?"

"You created the curse for me. The curse that brought us here, and built all this."

"Yes, it's about time you said thank you."

"Why did you do it? Why risk breaking a deal for your children's safety? What could you possibly gain from that?"

"Well, you're a smart woman, Your Majesty. Figure it out." Mr. Gold then went back to looking at his books. "Oh and one more thing, please remember that just because the deal didn't go your way, it would be very bad for your health to assume I still don't expect you to hold up your end."

Regina spent a few more moments in the shop, seeing if she could glare her old teacher to death. But when that proved to be a futile effort, she just stormed out of the shop.

Gold's Shop, Even Later.

It didn't take long for Emma to go to Gold's shop as well, with Mary Margret right behind her. "Oh Dearie me, so many people coming into the shop I might actually have to start thinking about putting price tags on some of these items." Gold said smiling at Emma. "I'm assuming since you brought my newest satisfied client along, is not a social visit to take place in the back room."

Emma simply ignores the fact that Mary Margaret turned the color of the tomato and let out a small peep when her husband said that. "No, it is not a social call. And there might very well never be another social call in the history of ever if I don't like the answer to this question."

"And what question would that be?"

"Did you kidnap Kathryn? Is that the magic you were planning on doing, because I swear if you did all that just to get Mary Margaret off, I will...?"

"Okay. First of all, am I working with Regina to frame Mary Margaret in this idea of yours, or against?"

"I don't know, maybe diagonally."

"Well no one ever accused hormonal pregnant woman of having a method to their madness." Gold said chuckling. "Now while you are busy trying to figure out that theory, I have a question for you. Did you or did you not say that when this was all finished if you thought I had used any, unscrupulous, methods to save Mary Margaret from the noose, you would give me the chance to explain them?"

"I said you would get a chance to explain."

"So let me start explaining. It is entirely possible that I somehow managed to find out that Regina was going to try and get you removed from the Sheriff position. I went to her and made a deal that in exchange for her never attempting to harm our children; I would help her frame Mary Margaret for a crime. I possibly went on to explain that if Kathryn were to have something tragic happen to her, it was entirely possible that Mary Margaret would be the most likely suspect, and you being faced with the possibility of having to send your best friend up the river would result in your quitting. It is likely possible that Regina thought Kathryn would be murdered. What Regina was more than likely unaware of was that being kidnapped is also considered tragic. And so in this entirely hypothetical scenario, I managed to get Regina to agree to leave our children alone, making sure no one was harmed in her attempt to remove you from the Sheriff position, and still keep you in said position."

By the time he had finished, Emma and Mary were both looking at him like he had sprouted another head, or even more extreme, left the house without a tie on. "Are you saying that you helped Regina frame Mary so you could make sure she didn't go to prison?"

"No. I'm saying that in a hypothetical situation like I described I might do that."

The two women took a moment to process. "Um, why not stay out of it?" Mary asked. "I mean, I know you got the protection for your kids, but you could have gotten it some other way."

"I could have possibly found out Regina was planning something. And if that did happen, I would know that subtlety is not her strong suit, she would go all out to get rid of Emma, murder being justifiable in her mind. So if this ever did happen, I would be able to stop any unwanted death, and give her enough rope to hang herself."

Emma just seemed to be absorbing the information. Or she was trying to glare a hole into the display case. "All right, that's all I needed."

Gold looked very shocked when she said that. "So, you have reached your decision about any "help" I might have given."

"Yes. See you at home dear." And then turned to leave. But she stopped as a thought occurred to her. "Why have me pray then, if you were just going to let her go, why have me do that?"

"I wanted you to have a moment of faith. A moment where you took a leap, and with absolutely no proof just believed in a higher power that could save you. I figured after so many years of relying on nothing but proof, it would be nice for one moment to see if you could rely on faith alone."

Emma said nothing, but simply smiled, nodded, and left.

But Mary Margret stayed long enough to watch Gold let out a breath he'd been holding and collapse against the counter. "You all right?"

"Fine. I just figured she'd tell me we were getting a divorce."

Mary was surprised to hear that. "Why?"

"No one has ever chosen me; I figured this was the moment when she realized I wasn't worth it."

Mary tried to smile at the man. "Oh, I'd say if you were hoping she'd leave you, you'd have to push her away yourself." She then went to the door. "Mr. Gold, if you thought she would leave you, why do it."

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No."

"I loved her too much to let her suffer losing you."

Mary then felt like she'd been slapped, but not in a bad way, like when she first heard that Kathryn was alive. "Even if you lost her?"

"Even then." He said before going into the back room. "Have a lovely day; see you at the welcome home party."

Mary just nodded. "See you then."

Mary Margret's Apartment.

"Hi!" Granny said as Mary Margaret was busy handling the party. The poor school teacher was actually rather shocked that so many people decide to show up, all things considered. "Hey. How are you? Would you like some help?" She said just trying to keep up with all the hands wanting to shake hers as she maneuvered around the now very crowded living room. Luckily she managed to find Emma who was being given a wide birth. "All of these people… Just to welcome me home?"

"You've got a lot of friends."

"Didn't feel like that yesterday." Mary Margret said before looking at what Emma was eating.

"Pickles and onions dipped in chocolate. And marshmallow liverwurst." Emma said taking a bite of the chocolaty treats and marsh mellow delights, (OKAY, AUTHOR NOTE: EVEN I CAN'T LIE WELL ENOUGH, THAT IS A HORRIBLE WASTE OF MARSHMALLOW AND CHOCOLATE) at the same time.

"That is a horrible waste of chocolate and marshmallow."

"I know, but for some reason is just so darn good, even though I know it is just so darned wrong." Emma said before stuffing her face again. "Please, help me."

But Mary Margaret just left her to suffer, going over and getting a tray of drinks. "Here you go." She said offering a drink to some random person.

"Thank you." Well at least they were polite.

And off to the side, August and Henry where partaking in a rather dangerous sport. Well, as dangerous as one could find in Storybrooke, with Gold watching. "Did you at least manage to find whatever it was you were looking for?"

"He caught me before I could. At least I managed to play it cool."

"Sure. As cool as lava in the Sahara desert in the middle of February."

"Why February?"

"The Sahara is South of the equator. Our winter is their summer. But what were you even looking for?"

"Now Henry, we can't have the youngest agent knowing everything. But I wouldn't worry. I have a feeling it's going to find me." August said before pointing over the Mary Margaret. "There she is. Why don't you give her your present?"

Henry grabbed the card and his present before running over to give his favorite teacher a hug. "Hey. I have something for you."

"Well, thank you." Mary Margret said taking the card. When she opened it she had a hard time figuring out what emotion she should express before reading it aloud. "We're so glad you didn't kill Misses Nolan…"

"It's from the whole class, and I got you a bell. Dad said that us writing that might've been poor taste though. We thought it was clever." Henry said proudly.

"Thank you. Tell everyone I'll be back soon and that the card is, truly unique."

"Okay."

"Hey, Henry, we should get you home before your mom finds out. That won't be pretty."

Henry walked up to her before taking a breath and stepping back. "Um. I think I'll walk home, by myself."

"Henry. You can't walk home by yourself."

"Well then could you be on the other side of the street. Or stop by Clark's and buy all the breath mints." The look Henry got from Emma was screaming "we are not amused". "Look at the bright side, Regina won't want to talk with you for very long if I'm late."

Emma just made a very disapproving sound in the back of her throat but she managed to herd Henry towards the door. But when she opened the door she let out a gasp at seeing David, and the poor man stumbled backwards in wide-eyed shock. "In the name of." He stopped and cleared his throat when he saw Henry and Emma standing there. "Hey, Henry. Leaving already?" David asked, and Emma quickly looked over to see if Mary Margaret saw who was at the door. She did, and she did not want to talk to him. Either that or the look of disgust was from any lingering smell of liverwurst.

"Yeah. Got to get home and do homework."

"Oh. I was here to see Mary, can I…? "David suddenly felt a little awkward trying to talk to Emma.

"She's kind of tired. I think if you just give it some time…" Emma stopped when she noticed both Henry and David covering their noses with their shirt to breathe. "Oh come on, it's not that bad."

"I'm sorry. But it is." Henry said.

"I just wanted to…" David said before Emma interrupted.

"Hey, Henry. Why don't you head home with David? Seeing as you apparently don't want to be around me right now."

"Okay." Henry said quickly. Than he noticed how hesitant David looked with the poor puppy dog eyes. "Please, in the name of mercy and humanity."

"Fine, I'll take you."

"Yes!" Henry says excitedly before leaving.

Emma felt a little sad knowing Henry didn't want to be around her at the moment, although considering no one else did she can't exactly blame him. "Hard to let him go, isn't it? Your son." Emma turned to see Gold standing there with a sympathetic look.

"Yeah. Pretty much the hardest thing." Emma said looking down her stomach.

"Don't worry Emma." Gold said seeming to read her mind. "You'll never have to let any of them go." He said motioning towards the three lives currently growing inside of her. "I'll die before I let that happen."

"Yes. And if you do that I'll kill you for leaving me a widow." She said before trying to kiss him but as before when he got within 3 inches of her he suddenly jerked back. "Oh not you too."

"I'm sorry dear, but it is truly terrible." Gold said looking around the room. When his eyes found August he pointed towards the man. "Now here's a good question, what do you know about him?"

Emma found her husband's intended target easily. "Let's see. Goes by August. He's a writer. Typewriter wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in stubble. All with a terrible kisser on top. Why?"

"He was poking around my shop today, and he somehow managed to rope Henry into helping him. August Wayne Booth. Clearly a false name. There's one thing I know about, it's names."

"Writers go by pseudonyms. What does it matter?"

"You trust him?"

"Yeah. Not as much as I trust you. But if I count the Christmas kiss against him, considering that you and Henry did do a number on his shins I'm inclined not to. I'd say I trust him just enough to let him hold my purse."

"You don't have a purse."

"You know what I mean." Emma said chuckling.

"Hey, Sidney." Emma said having managed to find the sleaze of reporter.

"Emma, hey. So, things certainly did work out, didn't they? For… For your friend?"

"Yeah, funny thing about that. You told me you could help me with Mary Margaret, and I wanted to believe you, but, eventually, there are things that even a blind Sheriff cannot ignore."

"Is that a bug?" Sidney asks trying to seem shocked. And right now Emma is actually feeling rather stupid because of just how bad an actor the man was. How he managed to fool her for a second she'd never know.

"Oh, for God sakes, Sidney. Drop it. You fooled me, you spied on me, and you reported it all back to that sick, crazy woman. And this is after my husband helped you get your job back. I can't even imagine what she has on you, but it must be something huge."

"She's a good Mayor."

"She tried to get Mary Margaret convicted of a murder that didn't even happen. You're in a lot of trouble. There is a DNA trail in a basement of some house out there, and I'm going to find it. And she's going to go away."

"Maybe. But, I wouldn't bet against her. She's an amazing woman."

When he said that, Emma felt like hitting herself. 'I know it's in poor taste, but I told you so.' Her Gold voice said. "Do you… Are you in love with her? …Fine. Whatever. Here's the thing – before you know it, I will have that evidence. And you need to think long and hard. You can both help me, and help yourself, or you're going to go down with her, too."

Emma then walked away without even glancing back. 'I am sorry, but it is in my nature.' And she could feel the Gold voice getting a smug look on his face.

"Oh shut up."

Gold's Study. The Morning of the Next Day.

Gold was busy in his study when Michael came in. "What do you need old sport?"

"Something extremely unpleasant. I need you to go and talk with mother superior."

"I don't suppose there is any chance you could be joking?"

"No. That annoying writer August, he was snooping around my shop yesterday, looking for something. And I have it on good authority that he went to talk to mother superior shortly afterwards. I've the feeling she might be a little more forthcoming with information if you were to ask than me."

"I'll do it, but just remember inside of my head right now I am cursing you and every single one of your dead relatives, even the ones that aren't feeling too good right about now."

"Well if any of them were still alive, I'm sure that be quite terrible."

The Convent.

"Mother Superior. Good afternoon." Michael says trying to be nice.

"Good afternoon Mr. Myrddin. It is a lovely day isn't it."

"Yes it is." He said looking out over the garden. "I can see my little black bear is quite the centerpiece."

"Yes. Everyone who's come here has commented on how it just seems to, pull the garden together."

"Well that is good." He said looking at the nuns hands. "And I see there are no more strange injuries going about."

Mother superior looked at her hand and gave a chuckle. "Yes. That truly is relief. Some of the sisters were beginning to worry we had a sleepwalking madman on our hands or something."

"Nothing a little prayer can't fix I hope."

"Well nothing is beyond God's help." Mother superior said smiling.

"Yes." Michal said trying to stomach all of the small talk. "I'm curious. I hope it's not out of line, but the young man, the stranger in town, August Booth, have you talked to him?"

"Yes. Just yesterday in fact, why'd you ask?"

"Well, I found him snooping around my house. I'm ever so slightly worried you see, I know Madelyn could take care of herself if the boy has any, undesirable intentions, but one can't be too careful in this day and age. What did you talk about?"

"Nothing about girls if that's what you're wondering. He was seeking advice and counsel. He came to town looking for his father after a long separation, and he recently found him."

Michael believed he deserved an award; not stumbling the moment she said that was truly a feat of self-control. "Ah. And a happy reunion has already taken place?

"No. He hasn't spoken to him yet."

"Oh and why not?"

"Mm, it was a difficult parting. There are many issues to be resolved between them. He's waiting to see if his father even still wants to see him."

"I see. Well, I wish him all the luck in the world." And Michal quickly left.

Gold's Home.

"What have you to report?" Gold asks as Michal came into his home.

"First, please sit down." Michal said in a voice of absolute seriousness.

"Well that can't be a good sign." But Gold sat down anyway. "Is it really that bad?"

"Well depends. Were you planning on having Bae come to town or not?"

Gold was now very grateful his friend had told him to sit, because he could feel every muscle in his body relax. The air rushed out of his body and for a full minute he forgot how to suck it back in. "Bae?" Was all he said when he started breathing again.

Michal waved his hand in front of Gold's face. But there was no response. "Ok, maybe you should go see Archie."

"Maybe." Gold then stood up like a zombie and slowly moved toward the door.

"Me and my big mouth." Michal said, hitting his head. He decided he had to follow the man, or the paper tomorrow would talk about all of the car crashes that happened because Gold was to brain dead to react normally to traffic.

Archie's Office.

Gold knocked on Archie's door without thinking. When Archie answers, he is surprised to see Gold just walk in and sit down. "Mr. Gold?" Archie said scrambling for a reason for him to be here. "Are you here for the rent?"

"Why does everyone ask that?" Gold said not really thinking still. But the vacant look was starting to leave his eyes.

"Well, because you, uh… Never mind. Would… Would you like to talk?"

"I don't know."

"Well, um… If you'd like to get something off your chest..." He just let the words hang in the air for a moment. The doctor knew something was wrong, so he got out his only bottle of scotch and poured Gold a small amount. "Here, drink this."

Gold did so without looking like he even knew he was drinking. Archie began to wonder if he would have drunk sewer water right now.

But when Gold took a sip, it instantly snapped him out of his stopper. "PHHH, whaa, BLu, BlUU." He then licked his lips and looked around, his eyes finally settling on the doctor. "Hopper, remind me to buy you something better than this, it was no doubt made in a bath tub by a homeless person."

"Well, now that you're back in your right mind, why did you come here?"

"I..." Gold got a thoughtful look. "I don't know. I was talking with Michal, and then I was here."

"Well, something Michal said must have shocked you; do you remember what you were discussing?"

"He mentioned my son had come to town." After he said it, Gold's head snapped up as if just realizing what he had said.

And Archie was looking at him with wide-eyed amassment. "A son? Wow, I-I didn't know you had a son. How… How old is he?"

"Let's start with something easier."

"O-Okay. Um, what do you mean to say that he came to town, how can you be sure?"

"Let's just say, there's someone acting the way I would expect them to act."

"So, you… So, you recognize him?"

"Maybe. Or, perhaps, I'm just seeing what I want to see. I don't know."

"Okay, well, I mean, wouldn't he recognize you?"

"There was conflict. I'm not sure he's ready for a tear soaked reunion."

"So, he sought you out and he's hanging back? Maybe, he's watching to see if he's welcome. Looking for a sign that all is forgiven."

"No, no, no. He's not the one that needs to be… I think he might still be very angry."

"Anger between a parent and a child is the most natural thing in the world."

"I think he might be here to try to kill me."

"Ah. Right. That's… That's not."

"I let him go. I've spent my entire life since trying to fix it, and now, he's finally here. And I just don't know what to do. This wasn't even how it was supposed to happen. I was going to find him, try and talk with him, let him know I was sorry. Then maybe introduce him to Emma, and the kids, let him see that he has a family that wants to know him, but now, now all my plans are flipped on their head."

"Be honest. Just tell him what you told me, and ask him for forgiveness. And when you're face-to-face, you'll know what to do."

"Honesty's never been the best color on me."

"There's no other way. If he has seen you with Emma, then maybe you loving her has shown him you've changed."

Gold's Home.

Gold was not a man known for taking naps. But then considering the fact that he also wasn't known for having a son, I suppose today was a day for exceptions.

And since the day had been so trying emotionally, Gold knew that if you wanted to face his son and be able to make amends, he was going to need to not be in a state of sleep deprived panic.

The only problem was that since getting his memories back, Gold had a penchant for nightmares. It was a worthless little fact that the third or fourth Dark One had placed a spell over the dagger to allow him and any of his future incarnation's complete control over their dreams. This allowed them to not only sleep without nightmares, and be able to do complex theoretical spell work without the worry of having something go horribly wrong and actually matter.

But after 300 and some odd years of being able to sleep dream free, the first few months of the curse had seemed like his subconscious was making up for lost time. The only thing that had stopped the nightmares was sleeping next to Emma.

But it appears that the events of the day, and the fact that he was sleeping without Emma, had caused him not only to have nightmares that were truly terrifying, but new and creative ones.

"Gold! Gold! Gold! GOLD!" Emma yelled shaking her husband awake.

When the man finally did wake up, he was talking incoherently and seems to not know where he was. He finally managed to look at Emma with the question in his eyes. "You are having a nightmare; you were crying in your sleep and shaking." Emma said taking his hand, which was surprisingly cold. "I don't suppose you want to talk about it?" She said, trying to convey the message by just looking at him that it was a request, not a command, and that all she wanted to do was help him.

It took Gold another moment to gather his thoughts. "I was dreaming about my son."

The moment he said it, Emma got up onto the bed pulling his head closer so he was resting on her chest and holding both his hands. Emma knew from what little Gold had told her about his past that his son was a touchy subject at best, something that tore out his heart whenever he thought about it at worst. "I was dreaming I'd found him. And then every single scenario possible that would make me lose him again."

"Don't worry." Emma said stroking his head. "Go find him again, I know you will."

"I might've already." Gold said mumbling quietly, so quietly he wasn't even sure that Emma had heard him, but she had.

There is about a million ways she could have handled that statement, but she chose to go for the calm and reassuring approach. "What do you mean?" She said softly, still stroking his head. "Do you, do you think you found him?"

He didn't answer for a minute, and when he did his body was slowly wracked with sobs. "Maybe… Or maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see. If it is him, is he holding back because he wants to see if I'm a changed man, is it because he wants to see if we can have a relationship possibly as friends or acquaintances instead of father and son, is he is just passing through with no real intention, is he here to kill me? Could he be here to ruin my life, drive me mad, or to reconcile?" Gold said just shaking his head. "I have no idea what to do."

"Would it help to tell you that you don't need to worry? You'll always have me, and you'll always have Henry, and you shall always have these three kids." She said patting her stomach. "So the worst thing that can happen right now is for you to go and see if it really is him, see if you can make things right. And if he doesn't want to be a part of this family, and all I can say is it's his loss. Because despite what you or he might think, you're a wonderful father, and a great husband."

"But if he doesn't want to be a part of this family, if he does reject me..."

"Then it's his loss. Just keep telling yourself that, it will be his loss, because no matter what he may think you are a wonderful father."

The Cabin in the Woods.

As night fell, Gold found August wandering around outside of the cabin. Considering one of the voices in the back of his head was telling him it was entirely possible that his son wanted to kill him, he wasn't entirely sure this was the best choice of meeting place. Of course that would imply that he had had a choice, which he did considering this was a surprise confrontation. But he still thought this could go better if he wasn't doing it at a location where if his son did want to kill him, there wouldn't be any witnesses to his untimely demise, or anyone to save him.

But now is not a time to think like that, no matter how much the voices inside his head wanted him to. So before he could talk himself out of that he stepped out and faced August Booth. "I know who you are. And I know what you're looking for."

"Well, then… I guess all the lying can stop… Papa." The man, his son, his Baelfire, said smiling.

Gold stood there in shock for a moment or two. He would never admit it, but the confrontation was as far as his plan got, that is before spiraling in a billion directions that were all negative, so he decided to listen to Archie and just go for the truth. "You were right, Bae. You were always right. I was a coward, and I never should've let you go. I know its little consolation, but… I just want you to know, that ever since you left, ever since you crossed the barriers of time and space, in every waking moment… I've been looking for you, and now that I've finally found you… I know I can't make up for the past, for the lost time. All I can do is to ask you to do what you've always done, and that's to be the bigger man… And forgive me. I'm so sorry, son. I'm so sorry, Bae."

Augusts stood back looking at the man in front of him. "You know, whenever I picture the scenario in my head, and believe me I've pictured it enough times to know what it is I would do; I always pictured it with my hands around your throat." He said shocking Gold. "Or with me being cool and aloof, watching you beg and plead before rejecting you. Or perhaps laughing at you in your pitiful attempts to say I'm sorry. I never pictured myself forgiving you, or wanting to, but I do now."

Gold couldn't imagine that when Bae started this speech it would end well, so he wasn't entirely sure he had heard the ending right. "Oh, my boy. My beautiful boy. Can you truly, truly forgive me?"

"I forgive you, Papa." August said coming over to embrace his father.

"You were looking for the knife."

"I thought that if you still had it, it would mean that you hadn't changed."

"Well, let's go and find it and see."

"I buried it here shortly after Emma came to town. Things were changing. I didn't want to take the chance of Regina finding it. And after I got married I thought it was best that Emma or Henry not find it so I never got it back."

"Of course. There are certain things that should only be discussed over a bottle of alcohol; I think marrying a fairy tale with a tongue twister for a name would qualify in the top 10 of that list." August said chuckling.

"You approve right, I mean, Emma and I, together."

"I don't disapprove. She's nice; you're both good for one another. And considering her current physical state, I can assume you will care for one another. Now it is a little awkward to have a stepmother that's younger than me, but all things considered I think that's kind of low on the list of odd things about this town."

"You're right; you kissing your stepmother at Christmas would be much higher on that list." Gold said, eyeing his son with mock disapproval. In truth he was actually rather disapproving of that Christmas kiss, but now wasn't exactly good time to mention it.

"What can I say; if nothing else you have good taste in women. And she is a good kisser. Besides, knowing how violent you used to be when it came to someone even looking at me sideways, I figured it was a good way to test if you had developed some restraints."

"I suppose it could've been worse. But just remember that there is a difference between a lack of restraint and stepping in to protect my wife's honor. Just like the difference between testing a man's restraint and putting a sign over your head saying "please kill me, violently"."

"I suppose you're right." August said driving a shovel into the dirt again, only this time there was a clunk. "That sounds promising."

Gold quickly bent down and moved some of the dirt out of the way with his hand before picking up an object wrapped in cloth. "Here. Look, look." He said, as he unwrapped the dagger. He then handed it to August. "I want you to take it. Destroy it, the way I know you always wanted to. I found you, and I don't need it anymore. I chose it once. Now, I choose you."

August stands there, and Gold couldn't help but notice a gleam in his eye that could be mistaken for longing, but he was certain it was just the fact that after so many years he was seeing the darned thing again. "It's remarkable." And Gold had to agree; even though he hated the thing, it was remarkable. "By the power of the darkness, I command thee… Dark One."

The moment August had said it the entire world seemed to just shatter around him. It was surprising to learn that when someone said that they weren't joking, Gold would forever say that that is exactly what happened. The moment the man he thought was his son tried to use the dagger to control him, he could see the pieces of the world around him, everything he saw looked just like glass shattering, falling all around him. Everything but the image of the dagger and the man holding it, standing in a great big black nothingness. "You're trying to control me?" He said. As if he didn't even believe it.

"I command thee, Dark One!"

"You're not my son. You're not Baelfire."

"Papa, why would you say that? I'm just trying to use your power to help us."

But that was a mistake. Rumpelstiltskin might've been many things, but a complete idiot wasn't one of them. "Enough! It's over, Booth, or whoever you are. My son would never try to use me. And he would know that this knife cannot harness any magic in this world, because there is no magic in this world. That's why he chose this place. He didn't want me…" Gold quickly threw his cane up and caught it just above the rubber tip, and quickly brought down hitting August's hand. He then quickly grabbed the knife from off the ground. "Dabbling."

"So, why bury a useless knife?"

"Oh, I wouldn't say it was useless. It still cuts through flesh rather nicely." He then launched at August and pinned him against a tree with the knife against his throat. "It's about time you start answering some questions, sunshine. Why the theatrics? Why didn't you just come to me?"

"I needed you to work for it. I needed you to want it so bad; you would ignore what your eyes were seeing. Do I even look like him at all?"

"Don't ask questions. I'm the one asking questions now. And a piece of advice, don't goad the man with the knife against his throat." He said and pressed the blade a little harder to emphasize the points. "And speaking of knives. How do you know about this knife?"

"I hear things."

"No one here knows about this knife."

"No one here remembers."

"And, yet, you do. You're from there, aren't you? From my world."

"The fact that you're asking the question means you know the answer."

"Well, now that that's settled…" Gold then punches him in the stomach, then grabbing his hair, pulls him back up and slams the back of his head against the tree. "What did I say about goading the man with the knife? And how about my other question? Who told you about me and the knife?"

"A little fairy told me."

"Well you've just given me another reason to want them all dead. But why did you want it? If you know who I am, then you know who I am. The chances of you surviving this little encounter are pretty slim. So, why take the risk?"

"Because I'll die anyway."

The moment he said it, the joy of killing him was severely diminished. Which ironically just made Gold want to kill him all the more, after all how dare he remove some of the fun. "What?"

"I'm sick. I'm sick, and I need magic. I was going to get the savior to believe. But that woman… I don't think I'm going to make it long enough to see that happen."

Gold was conflicted. He really wanted to kill this annoying insect. But his opportunistic nature and good sense somehow managed to fight their way to the surface. "She trusts you – it might be enough. Try again."

"You're going to let me live?"

"You're going to die either way. This way, at least I might get something out of it."

Gold's home

Emma had waited for him to come home. Sitting in their bedroom in one of the very comfy chairs. And when she finally heard the door open and close, she would have been jumping up and down with excitement if not for the triplets. A thousand things went through her mind, was this the moment she met her step-son, would she meet him tomorrow; was he tall, handsome, did he have kids of his own, were they here with him, or waiting for a phone call to give the all clear?

Did he have a wife, what was she like, did she even know about Gold and her?

To put it mildly Emma was happy, she had never noticed it before really, or if she did it was only for a moment, but her husband always had a look about him, a kind of weight around his shoulders that she thought stopped him from truly expressing his joy, but if he had his son back, then who knows how happy that would make him. What a relief it would be to him.

She then heard noise coming up the stairs, but she couldn't tell if it was one set of footsteps or two. They were moving slowly, but Emma could clearly hear the sound of a cane being used.

But then the door opened, and all the joy Emma had had, the cloud she had been on the past few hours just disappeared.

Her husband was in the doorway, clearly alone, with a bottle of Jack Daniels in hand, and he had been crying.

Emma could see that he took a moment to notice her, but eventually he did. "Emmmaa." He said sluggishly. "You're still awake. Good." He then stumbled in.

"Gold, you okay?" A stupid question she knew, but it was all she had.

"Oh, fine darling, fine. He's not my son, just some sick twisted son of a *hick*, a low down worthless f-*hick*."

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Booth." Gold said waving his hand with the bottle around. "The no good jack-*hick*. He knew about my son, and so he pre-*hick*, pretended to be my son. All for some stupid reason."

"And what reason was that." Emma said, believing that she should get an award for self-control while pregnant. Inside she was cursing August and his ancestors, in way that would be inappropriate for family (or adult) reading.

"I didn't ask that rat *hick* why, I was too busy trying not to tear his *hick* off, and stuff it up his *hick*, and then beat his *hick* *hick* to *hick* *hick*, and then *hick* him to *hick* *hick*." Gold then stumbled over and put his head in her lap. "But it let me see one thing clearly. My son is dead, even if I could find him, he'd never want me back, I don't deserve happiness." He then looked up at her. "You might as well leave now, everybody else leaves; no one stays with me in the end. You go, find somebody perfect to go with perfect you, leave me here to rot like I should."

"No, I'll stay. Why don't we get you into bed?"

"Why, my *hick* father never did that, he never loved me, he abandoned me, I abandoned Bae." Gold then gave a drunken laugh. "I'm just like him, I'm no good to anybody, and I'm not worth your time Emma. You should leave, and take the kids before I hurt them to." By now Emma had managed to get him in bed, and got the bottle away from him.

"I'll just go and get you some tea." She said turning to leave, but then Gold reached out and got her in a death grip.

When she looked at him, into his eyes, the despair she saw almost killed her. "No, don't go, don't leave me yet." It took her a moment to realize he was talking about her leaving permanently. "Let, me sleep first, let me believe you'll be there in the morning, no one ever let me go to sleep with them still here, they all left me, and then I slept. Let me have a few more hours, please, ple…"

And he was out like a light, no doubt he would have a headache later.

And now she suddenly felt like going to the inn.

Granny's Inn.

Emma walked in calmly. She asked Granny if August was up stairs and then made small talk for a minute, talking about Granny's godchild. She walked up the stair looking happy, smiling as she passed Ruby.

She got to the door and calmly picked the lock. She then went in and shut the door.

She calmly walked around the room, looking it over and seeing all the items August had, which weren't many. Her eyes settled on the typewriter.

She typed up a quick note, pulled out the paper and laid it neatly on the desk. She then picked the typewriter up, opened a window, and threw it out the window.

The crash it made was divine, but it didn't wake August up. "Only the guilty sleep well." She then notices an ink bottle. "But there'll be no rest for the wicked."

She then got the ink bottle, went over to the bath room, and gave every page of work August had a thorough rubdown of ink. She then went, and collecting all of his clothing, used them as a towel to wipe the ink of her hands and put the rest in the tub with the ink smeared papers.

And then, seeing that her work was done, went and decided now was a good time to wake the man. So she took out three sticks she had that were designed to attach to one another, and after putting it together. Calmly went and began beating the sleeping man.

She lost count after the 20th smack, and because of the kids she couldn't develop her swings as much as she wanted, but she was sure the fruits of her labors would be very satisfying in the morning.

She wasn't entirely sure if he woke up or not, one or two of her hits were to his head, but the end of the stick had a heavy but bouncy rubber tip, about a foot long, so there would be no blood on the bed.

It wasn't because she didn't want him to bleed; it was because she didn't want to make more work for Granny.

After she finished, she bid him good night and left.

When she got to the lobby Granny stopped her. "Emma, should I be worried that a typewriter failed its flying class?"

Emma was calm and smiling when she answered. "No, but if he's not up in the morning, do check on him sometime after 10."

"Alright." Granny said going back to look over her books. "Did he deserve it?"

"Let's just say that no matter how much you think you should fear my husband, you should fear me more if you hurt him. Goodnight."

"Goodnight dear, take it easy."

Emma got to the station bright and early the next morning. And Regina was waiting for her. "Congratulations, Sheriff Swan. There's about to be a big break in your case. You just got yourself a confession. But, I want you to listen to the whole explanation, so you understand why this happened."

Emma almost felt worried, thinking Regina could have been referring to Gold's explanation. But figured there was no need because, knowing Gold he'd never confess, and if she was talking about his explanation, even if she had gotten it on tape, it was all worded to be hypothetical. So she just smiled and said. "Oh, I'll hang on every word you say."

"Sidney. You can come in now." This shocked Emma, and the Sidney came in. "Tell her what you told me."

"It was me. I confess. I abducted Kathryn, and I held her in the basement of an abandoned summer home by the lake. I bribed a lab tech to get me the heart from the hospital, and I used that same person to doctor the lab results."

"And the other thing."

"I…borrowed some skeleton keys from Regina."

"Since when dose the mayor have skeleton keys of houses in her town?"

"Just an old perception, the mayor office was given the keys by the landlord when the buildings were made, but most don't work anymore. You'll find it somewhere in the lease agreement." Regina said smiling. "Go on Sidney."

"I planted the knife in her apartment."

"Using my keys. I can't help but feel personally violated about that part."

"I am supposed to believe this when exactly, and why?"

"I was going to find her after the conviction, be a hero. Then, get the inside track on the biggest story to ever hit this town. I'd never need to worry about losing my job again. Plus, a novel, and a movie, and… I don't know. It sounds crazy now."

"I don't know about crazy. But false, yes. False as hell."

"I have maps to where the house is. You'll find chains in the basement. Lots of fingerprints, I'm sure – hers and mine. But, I didn't hurt her."

"The man has obviously suffered some kind of mental break upon suddenly losing his job months ago."

"And he got it back."

"I'm sure Dr. Hopper will tell you how fickle the mind can be. He clearly hasn't been himself for a while."

"Yeah. It's like his words aren't his at all." Emma said letting the sarcasm drip from her words.

"Wow. You are so sold on your own rush to judgment that you can't even see the truth anymore."

"A word in the hallway, please." Emma said. She was very satisfied when Regina stiffened a bit and followed her. She knew using please would un-nerve her, she just wished she knew why it worked so well for Gold. "Well, that's the biggest load of crap I've ever heard."

"I'm pretty sure that's not true. You believe Gold every time he says he loves you."

Emma could feel liquid fire rise up in her at that comment. "Ok, I'll bite. Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you have a history of believing in what you want to believe in, even with evidence to the contrary and people telling you your wrong. Like the whole town with Gold. Everyone knows that man can't really love anyone."

Emma felt the need for handcuffs to restrain herself from beating the Mayor. "Well, that shows how much you know my husband." Emma said angrily. "And Sidney, that poor man. I know you are behind all this. I understand that you own the game, and that you've set the board so that no one else can win. But I am about to start playing an entirely different game. I don't care about what happens to you. I don't care about what happens to me. All I care about is what happens to my kid. And you are going to leave him alone."

"Am I?"

"Uh-uh. I'm talking. You're a sociopath, lady. You tried to take away someone that I love. And now… I'm going to take away someone you love. I am taking back my son."

Regina was stunned for a moment but recovered quickly. "You really think you can do that."

"I know I can, Gold handled the adoption, so he can handle you losing Henry easily." Emma said smiling.

And while Regina would never admit it, for more than a moment she was afraid of what Emma said.

Dear heavens, what is with me and long chaps lately.

Thanks to the lovely Grace5231973, lozzy035, Twyla Mercedes. And don't worry; I constantly remember the alternatives to not having a birthday.

Things are getting close to the end of season one. And just as a reminder, I will not be doing a sequel but continuing this story into season 2 and beyond.

Next Time: KIDS!