The sun rose and shone through a gap of a parted curtain in the living room. The light woke Gold up from an exhaustive slumber and his eyes shot open, realizing that he was lying on the couch and not the floor. Gold wondered how long he had been asleep, but concluded that it had been long enough for the sun to have risen again. Another day lost to sleep when they could be out there searching for their daughter.
He looked about him and felt some pressure on his chest. Belle's head was resting against his abdomen facing away from him. She was kneeling on the ground beside the couch where he laid and waited for him to wake. He lifted his hand and began petting her hair.
"Belle…" he said gently rousing her. "What happened?"
"Rumple?" she replied worriedly, sitting up and facing him more clearly. "Are you ok? All you said before passing out was 'Henry' and then something about your 'heart' and then apologizing."
"I tried to fight off the dagger's command. I thought I was able to overcome it, but then I felt a sudden pain in my chest and was compelled to obey. I think that trauma mixed with my already exhausted self was what rendered me unconscious."
Belle shook her head. "Why did you go off to the shop by yourself? I know that's where you went. When I felt the dagger's command I knew exactly where you were." She sighed heavily, "Rumple… We agreed we were going to go there together in the morning."
In a soft voice he answered, "I didn't want to endanger you."
"As long as I'm with you I'm not in danger." He was throwing up walls. She continued, "Why did you really go?"
He sighed and admitted, "You were going to stop me. I couldn't rest until I found her. It didn't feel right to be here resting knowing that Lily was out there by herself."
After hearing his response, she realized she couldn't blame him for wanting to find their daughter and so she paused to reflect on her next reply. "But… this isn't New York. Arthur is not only a criminal, but our enemy. We don't know his weakness or his power. We can't just brashly confront a beast we know nothing about."
"The only beast anybody should be afraid of," Gold said while sitting up slowly and pointing to himself, "is me."
"But we're in a place with magic now and… we're moving blindly into unknown forces. The result of our hasty actions could bring about a terrible whiplash harming you, me and Lily."
"That's not all true," Gold stated.
"What's not true?"
"I know who Arthur is."
"Who is he?"
"Henry."
"How do you know?"
"I know because Henry has the dagger."
"You think Henry has the dagger?" Rumple nodded as Belle got up and sat down on the couch next to him. Without breaking eye-contact Belle asked, "How?"
Rumple shook his head in shame, "I should have known when we first got here that it was Henry. When we arrived here at the house, I had the place protected under blood magic, just like I did with the dagger back at the castle. And… I'm afraid with Cogsworth, the only other person besides myself to have access to it was Henry."
"I suppose that could explain why the dagger's commands haven't been too horrible or demanding, but why would he go to these lengths to kidnap Lily?"
"To bring us back into Storybrooke, of course."
"Yes, but why? What would make Henry think that kidnapping was his only way of bringing us back?"
"Perhaps Henry has changed more than we realized."
"…and perhaps… he knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows that we would have never left New York unless it involved our family. But… this doesn't sound like Henry at all. How did he get this way?"
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Next time we see him we'll just have to confront him about it," Rumple said as he got up from off the couch to answer the door. Belle followed after him thinking they were confronting Henry, but was surprised to discover Emma, Regina, Mary-Margaret, David, Robin and Killian when Rumple opened the door.
"Gold," said Emma standing directly in front of the door with the tone of surprise. Emma's parents stood behind her along with Killian who stood only just a few feet away from them.
"So it is true, then. Henry wasn't lying," said Regina who was standing beside Emma, and just behind Regina stood Robin.
"Where is Henry?" asked Belle from behind Rumplestiltskin, suddenly realizing how crowded their front porch was.
"He's with Neal," chimed in David.
"Henry usually watches Neal in the mornings before seeing him off to school," added Mary-Margaret.
"His life may be in danger," said Belle.
"Why?" asked Mary-Margaret with concern.
"Has Henry seemed differently lately?" Gold asked.
The question gave everyone in the party pause. Everyone shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders except for Emma who responded, "I… think he has." Everyone turned to look at her. She looked stunned to have everyone suddenly staring at her, "I… only noticed about a day ago. I couldn't shake this feeling. There was something off about how he spoke… like, he was using words that aren't part of his usual vocabulary and… when I questioned his plans for the day he seemed… almost affronted that I had even asked. It was very strange and I couldn't put my finger on it until now."
"When did Henry tell you we were in town?" inquired Belle to the party.
"Just this morning over the phone," answered David, "right after we dropped off Neal at the diner to wait for him."
"He did mention that he was going to be a little late picking Neal up," noted Mary-Margaret whose brows furrowed with concern.
Gold looked over at both Emma and Regina, and in an accusatory tone asked, "Why didn't either of you answer your phones when we called yesterday?"
"We didn't get any such phone call!" Regina retorted.
"Yeah, we only just learned of your arrival literally fifteen minutes ago," said Emma defensively as she looked down at her phone to double-check.
"Henry never told us why you were back in town," David stated.
"Yes. What brings you back into town?" asked Robin.
"Our daughter was kidnapped and we were told on a ransom letter to come to Storybrooke," said Belle worriedly as her lip trembled.
"And we believe that Henry kidnapped her," said Gold.
"What?!" cried everyone in disbelief. "Henry wouldn't!"
"He would never!"
Without so much as blinking an eye, Gold continued, "It's Henry. Only this time, he's going by another pseudonym, calling himself Arthur."
"Arthur… as in Camelot? Merlin? Knights of the round table?" Emma asked out loud to which Gold nodded. The family had a bunch of questions and mixed feelings towards the accusation. Finally, Killian shouted above the uproar, "What makes you so sure that it was Henry who kidnapped her?"
"We tried to gain access to my shop to complete a tracking spell, but couldn't and the only reason why is because we were commanded not to," Belle said. She looked over at Gold who admitted, "Henry has my dagger."
"Henry has your dagger?" exclaimed Emma. "How?"
"His pocket-watch," answered Gold, "has the ability to travel to different realms. I had the dagger cloaked under blood magic at my castle. He's the only other person with the means and my bloodline to have retrieved it."
Emma backed away from the crowded porch and moved over towards Killian to dial out on her cell phone for Henry. Mary-Margaret then turned to her daughter and reached for her arm, "Emma… if what you, Belle and Gold are saying is true, then we need to go find Neal." It felt as if Emma's parents were asking permission to go off and leave.
Emma nodded, recognizing and understanding their need to depart abruptly and replied, "Go, go! I'll call you if something turns up."
Immediately, both David and Mary-Margaret took off in David's truck, excusing themselves from the rest of the group.
"Cogsworth," said Regina with the tone of shock and disappointment. "He promised he would…" Regina began to say, but then realized that he hadn't promised to tell them. She continued, "He actually found it and never told any of us."
"Not only has he found it, he's used it and has somehow found my dagger," said Gold.
"He's been controlling us with the dagger since the moment we got here," added Belle, "We still share a half of each other's hearts, so he's been manipulating both of us."
Regina was still stunned by the news she was learning and questioned their accusation skeptically, "But have you seen him use it?" Belle and Gold answered Regina by shaking their heads. Neither one could actually admit to seeing Henry use the dagger. Regina continued defensively, "Then you can't be sure that it's Henry!"
"Well then who else could have gotten the dagger if it was being protected by magic of his blood?" questioned Belle back to Regina.
Regina argued, "Why hasn't your master revealed himself then, or herself for that matter? This doesn't sound like Henry at all. He knew of your happiness when you both moved away from here. This also doesn't make any sense. Up until now this town has been peaceful if not prosperous."
"So no one's been cursed?" asked Belle.
"No," replied Regina indignantly.
"Henry lied to us then," stated Gold boldly.
"Yeah," agreed Belle, "That's not what he said to us on the phone while we were on our way here from New York."
"I can't get a hold of Henry," shouted Emma from Gold's lawn. Everyone turned to look at her. "He's not answering his phone."
With Gold's patience wearing thin he spoke with irritation, "We don't have time to argue this." He stepped back into his home and began walking over to the dining room to grab his daughter's jacket. Along the way he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the last ingredient to the tracking spell, "our daughter is out there somewhere and her life may be in danger."
"Wait! Rumple! What if Henry's been cursed?" Belle called after him.
MAIN STREET. EDGE OF TOWN. FOREST.
Rumple paused suddenly and then looked over at Belle. Noticing the couple's sudden halt, Emma responded, "What? What is it?"
Belle replied, "The dagger is calling us. We've got to go."
"Where?" asked Robin.
"The end of Main street," Belle stammered as if unsure she was interpreting the dagger's command correctly, "towards the edge of town by the forest."
With his daughter's jacket still in hand he pocketed the missing ingredient and took Belle's hand. In a giant cloud of dark purple smoke the couple vanished, leaving the familial entourage with mouths agape.
Another short chapter. Will edit and post again soon. Like probably Tuesday.
Imusicluver23, Montreat11, Grace5231973, NatalieMosherRumbelle, ladybugsmomma, and CrypticCobra thank you so much for reading and reviewing chapter 5. I'm terribly sorry I wasn't able to thank you individually. I've been a bit distracted, but I wanted to let all of you know that I have read your incredible comments, reviews and theories. You guys are way too cool. See you next chapter!