Sorry for the delay in getting this up! Next two chapters will pretty much complete Gold's entire backstory - might use more of a narrative approach rather than flashbacks, haven't decided yet. That is what was slowing me down with this chapter, which is why I took the narrative approach at the end. Flashbacks were taking too long.
Anyhow . . . please see the end of this chapter for some important a/n's. Thank you as always for your feedback and support!
Chapter 19
Twenty one and a half years ago . . . . .
"So what did your boyfriend have to say for himself?" Gold asked when Regina entered his office.
"He said – he said he's trying to get out. He said he didn't know at first, and once he figured it out, he was stuck. I told him I'd help him." Regina said.
"Did you now?" Gold asked. "And how do you propose to do that?"
"He said he'll talk. If you offer him protection." Regina said. Gold stared at her for a moment.
"And how do you know that anything he tells us will be the truth?" Gold asked.
"Because I trust him. And because I love him." Regina said. Gold chuckled a bit.
"Ah yes – love. It makes even the smartest people do foolish things." Gold said.
"Who are we talking about here? Me or you?" Regina asked.
"Why on earth would we be talking about me, dearie?" Gold asked.
"Because you took off your wedding ring about four days ago, and you were supposed to leave yesterday with your son and yet – you're still here. And so is he." Regina said. "You think I'm stupid, and sloppy, and you probably think I'd be the worst agent ever. But I'm smart, and I notice things – things that matter. And I think you underestimate me."
"Never said that I did." Gold said, becoming a bit frustrated. "I just think you can do better. If I didn't think you had potential, I wouldn't even be bothering with you, I'd have simply dismissed you altogether from the start."
"And if I didn't trust Daniel – if I thought for one minute that he were lying to me – I would walk away and never look back." Regina said. "Will you at least give him a chance?" Gold thought about it for a moment.
"Tell you what, dearie. I have to leave shortly because I have some personal business to attend to in Maine. I'll be back in two weeks. That should give him enough time to gather plenty of evidence against his employer. Meet me with him in my office two weeks from today, at ten a.m. sharp. And if what he has interests me – then we'll talk about a deal." Gold said.
"And if it doesn't?" Regina asked.
"Then let's hope your little boyfriend looks good in the color orange. Because he'll be going to prison." Gold said.
Belle awakened and sat up – she had fallen asleep on the sofa in Gold's study, the book she was reading lying on her lap. Belle got up and walked toward Gold's bedroom. She peeked inside – it was empty; the bed hadn't even been slept in. "Ian?" Belle called out, but there was no response. Belle went back out into the hallway and headed toward the west wing of the house. The door to Bae's room was wide open; Belle made her way there and let out a loud scream as soon as she entered the doorway. Gold lay on the ground, unmoving, and Regina Mills - the woman that she had seen murder a man several months prior, was standing over his lifeless body and staring at her smugly . . . .
"Belle! Belle, wake up sweetheart!" Gold shouted as he sat next to Belle on the sofa in his study. Belle gasped as she was startled awake.
"Ian?" she whispered, trembling and trying to catch her breath.
"It was just a nightmare, love." Gold said. He reached for the blanket that had been covering Belle and wrapped it around her shoulders. "It's alright. It's alright." Gold wrapped his arms around her tightly. Belle quietly melted into him, trying to get as close to him as physically possible.
"What's going on?" Mrs. Potts asked as she entered the room, flipping on the light as she did.
"She had a nightmare. She's fine." Gold said, still holding Belle tightly.
"Regina. She was here. She was standing over you – I thought she had killed you." Belle said, pulling away from Gold a bit.
"Sweetheart, it was a bad dream, I'm right here." Gold said. Belle snuggled back into him, resting her head on his shoulder.
"What time is it?" Belle asked.
"About three thirty in the morning." Gold said, and he gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Gwen and I were working pretty late, I only got to bed about an hour ago. You had fallen asleep out here and I didn't want to wake you."
"Why don't we all head back to bed then? You sleep in as late as you need to dear, I won't disturb you." Mrs. Potts said.
"Actually I set my alarm for nine, I don't want to go too late – we're too close, if we don't move on her soon we could lose her." Gold said.
"Well I'll see you in the morning then." Mrs. Potts said, and she left the room.
"Come on, sweetheart – let's go to bed." Gold said. He put his arm around Belle and led her out of the study and into his bedroom. They climbed into bed together and Belle immediately snuggled back into Gold's arms.
"Lose who?" Belle asked.
"Sweetheart, go back to sleep, there's nothing for you to worry about." Gold said, giving Belle a quick kiss and running his hand up and down her back. "All of this is going to be over soon."
"You found Regina Mills, didn't you?" Belle asked. Gold sighed.
"Yes." Gold said. "She's been on the run for the past year; closest we ever got to her was through Agent Humbert and – well, you saw what happened there. She's very smart and she's always two steps ahead of us. Mrs. Potts got some information while she was in England and it's helped us track her down."
"So why can't you just – you know – go get her?" Belle asked.
"There's a complication." Gold said. "I really shouldn't be telling you all of this, the less you know right now the better. And I have to get up tomorrow to make sure this goes smoothly so I really need to get some sleep."
"I'm sorry." Belle said. "I just – the dream I had, it was so real and -"
"Belle, it was just a dream, alright? I promise – we're very close. Once we have Regina, we can start the trial proceedings. With any luck, she'll reveal who she's working for in order to get a lesser sentence. Then you can testify and you won't have to hide any longer." Gold said.
"Nor will you." Belle replied. "I'm sorry to keep you awake. Goodnight, Ian." Belle whispered, and she sighed and closed her eyes. Gold thought about her words to him – she was right. Once this was over, he would have to choose – either walk away from the past that had haunted him for the past two decades – or walk away from Belle.
Twenty one and a half years ago . . . . .
Milah stormed out of the courtroom, glaring at Gold the entire time. After she was gone, Mrs. Potts entered the courtroom with Bae, and Bae went running to Gold.
"Where's mama?" Bae asked.
"She left." Gold replied.
"But she didn't say goodbye." Bae replied sadly.
"I know." Gold said. "Listen – we're going to stay at the Storybrooke Hotel for a few days, and then we're going back to Virginia. Mrs. Potts is going to go to the house tomorrow and get some of your things, so tonight we'll make a list of what you want to take with you, and what you want to leave here."
"We won't live with mama anymore?" Bae asked.
"No." Gold replied. "I'm sorry, Bae. I know I said you could finish out the school year here, but – well, I think it would be best if I have a tutor for you in Virginia to finish the remainder of the school year, and then you'll start at a new school in the fall."
"Doesn't mama love us anymore?" Bae asked. Gold sighed.
"Your mother still loves you, very much. You'll go see her before we leave to say goodbye – and you'll visit with her over the summer, we just have to figure out all of the details." Gold said.
"What are details?" Bae asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about. How about we go to Granny's for a burger, would you like that?" Gold asked.
"Okay." Bae said, not appearing all that excited.
Several days later . . . . .
Milah greeted Bae and Gold at the door. Bae ran up to Milah and hugged her, and she smiled half-heartedly. "Bae – go up to your room and get the rest of your things." Gold said. "Then you can say goodbye to your mum." Bae slowly made his way upstairs. Milah glared at Gold.
"You're quite proud of yourself, aren't you?" Milah asked.
"Proud that I'm tearing my son's life apart? No Milah – I'm not proud of that at all. But I'm not going to stand by and let you hurt the lad any longer. You barely spend time with him because you're too busy carrying on with that Irish prat, and when you do find a moment for him all you do is hound him over his grades when you know damn well that he truly does the best he can, he's not a top student but he's not failing, either, he's never brought home a failing grade in his life. And the one thing he's good at, his drawing – which, by the way, is a talent he gets from you, you'd think you would support that – you put him down at every turn."
"That's not a career, that's a hobby, even I knew that, do you think I was serious about that when I went to Europe to study?" Milah asked.
"Milah, he's a child, I hardly think he's planning his career path at this point in his life. And of course you were never serious about your artistic career, the only thing you were serious about was getting a free trip to Europe courtesy of your indulgent father. Unfortunately you didn't expect to come back with a husband and baby in tow. So think of it this way – you can now go back to doing whatever it was you were doing before Bae and I so rudely disrupted your life." Gold said.
"You really think I don't love my son?" Milah asked.
"I don't doubt that you love him, Milah. But I do think you resent him. Maybe when he's older you'll find more in common with him. But for now – he's better off with me, and obviously the court agrees." Gold said. "You can call him any time you like – my attorney will be in touch with yours to work out the visitation." Bae came running down the stairs carrying a backpack. "You ready to go, son?" Gold asked. Bae walked over to Milah.
"Bye, mama." Bae said, and he hugged her once again. Milah knelt down in front of him.
"Goodbye, Bailey. I love you, you know that, right?" Milah asked. Bae nodded.
"I'll miss you." Bae said.
"I'll miss you, too." Milah told him. "You behave for your papa."
"Come on, Bae." Gold said. Bae took Gold's left hand and they left. Milah's eyes began to well up with tears. Killian Jones, who had been hiding in the kitchen, came out into the foyer.
"It'll be alright, Milah. We'll get him back." Jones said. "It may take some time, but – I'll figure something out."
Belle stayed in the study again the next day as Gold, Mrs. Potts, and Emma worked diligently in the hidden room. She wished there was something she could do to help, she hated feeling useless, but Gold assured her that the best thing for her to do was to just be patient and wait. About halfway through the day, Belle could hear Emma shouting loudly at Gold. Moments after she began shouting, the hidden door opened and Emma stormed out into the study. "Emma, stop!" Gold shouted, limping behind her as quickly as he was able.
"Two weeks? She's been this close for TWO WEEKS and you couldn't even bother to tell me?" Emma screamed.
"Emma – we had to make sure." Mrs. Potts said, now entering the room. "We don't want to make another mistake."
"You mean you don't want ME to make another mistake! I'm sorry, alright! I got a little anxious last time but dammit, that's my kid that she's got!" Emma shouted. Belle looked up at Gold, a look of surprise on her face.
"You – you have a child?" Belle asked, surprised, as she turned to Emma. Emma nodded, trying not to cry.
"Emma – I'll be leaving tomorrow, let me handle this." Mrs. Potts said, putting her arm around Emma. "We will get your son back. I promise. Now I'm going to go make dinner for everyone, we can all sit down and eat together for once." Mrs. Potts left the room.
"I have to make a few more quick calls – make sure everything is set." Gold said, and he went back into the hidden room. Emma paced nervously as Belle watched her.
"You um – you can have a seat." Belle said. Emma turned and looked at her, then sat down. "So – how old is your son?"
"He just turned ten." Emma said.
"What's his name?" Belle asked.
"Henry." Emma replied.
"And Regina Mills has him?" Belle asked. Emma nodded her head yes. "I'm sorry." Belle said, putting her hand on Emma's arm. "Do you have any pictures of him?"
"Yeah." Emma replied. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small billfold. "I'm sorry, I can usually keep it together pretty well, but – he's been gone for a year now and -"
"It's okay." Belle said as Emma handed her a small photo. Belle looked at the picture and smiled. "Oh, he's handsome. You know what, he – he kind of looks like Ian, don't you think?"
"That's not possible." Emma said.
"Well, look at him, his nose and his chin, they're very similar. I mean, Ian hasn't shown me any pictures of himself as a child, but – there is a resemblance there." Belle stated.
"Well, it's just a coincidence." Emma said, taking the photo back. "I'm not related to Gold, and Henry's father is – well, not in the picture. Never has been."
"I'm sorry." Belle said. "He didn't want children?"
"He didn't know. Took off before I even knew, and – well, I just never bothered to find him." Emma said.
"You could, you know. I mean with what you do for a living, you could probably find him quite easily." Belle said.
"Not interested." Emma said. "Henry's MY kid – nobody else's." Gold came back out into the study.
"Everything's set. Gwen has things under control – try to restrain from disrupting everything this time." Gold said. Emma glared at him.
"Yes sir." Emma spat at him, and she stomped out of the room. Gold sat down next to Belle.
"She tell you about Henry, then?" Gold asked.
"Yes. She showed me a picture. He looks a bit like you." Belle said. A look of surprise came over Gold's face.
"You think so? I never noticed." Gold said.
"His nose and his chin – very prominent, just like you." Belle said.
"Well, let's hope the lad fares better than I did once puberty sets in." Gold said.
"Stop it. You're a very handsome man, Ian, I wish you could see that." Belle said.
"Never felt handsome. At least no one ever made me feel that way. Not until you." Gold said. Belle kissed him.
"You are very handsome. I thought so from the first day I came here." Belle said.
"You said you thought I was a beast. Oh, and an arrogant, overbearing ass." Gold said.
"Well, yes, but – you were still handsome." Belle said, smiling at him. "And that was just a first impression and those don't always count. You can't tell what's in a person heart until you truly know them."
"Well, I'm glad I got to know you." Gold said, and he kissed her once again. "After dinner, maybe we can take another one of those walks. I'd like to try and go a bit further this time."
"Really?" Belle asked.
"You're right, Belle - I have to be ready to move forward with my life. And if all goes the way that I'm confident it will – that will be sooner rather than later. I was up for a bit last night after we went back to bed, and I was thinking – I've put off planning for the future for twenty years, because I didn't believe I had one. But now I do believe that I can have one. The thing is – there's only one future that I'm interested in." Gold said.
"And – what's that?" Belle asked.
"The one where you and I are together." Gold replied. Belle smiled at him and he pulled her into a deep kiss.
Twenty one years ago . . . . . .
It had been nearly six months since Gold obtained full physical custody of his son. He and Bae were adjusting quite well to their new life, and Bae was even improving in school, maintaining a B average overall. Gold signed him up for various children's activities at the Smithsonian, which Bae thoroughly enjoyed. Bae visited Milah for two weeks during the summer, and was scheduled to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with her.
Gold's divorce proceedings went along much smoother and quicker than he expected. He thoroughly anticipated a fight from Milah for custody, among other things, but she surprisingly indicated that she was satisfied with their current arrangement. Gold was suspicious that she was up to something, but he had Bae so he put those thoughts aside – for the moment. Since Milah was the one with all of the money when they entered into their marriage, Gold had signed a pre-nup, and per its requirements, he only retained that which he brought into the marriage, which was fine with him. He wanted nothing more from Milah and remained civil with her for Bae's sake. Milah provided an amount of child support for Bae that the courts ordered, but Gold was capable of providing for the boy on his own, so he set up the money in a college trust for Bae. The two of them were extremely content in their new life.
In addition, Gold decided to take Regina Mills under his wing and mentor her as she entered her first year of training in the CIA. Her boyfriend Daniel had given enough evidence to arrest his boss, a mob kingpin named Albert Spencer that the feds had been trying to put behind bars for years. Gold was able to arrange a deal of clemency for the young man in exchange for his testimony.
Regina Mills proved to be an excellent student. Gold knew she had potential and the more he worked with her, he could see the makings of a fantastic agent. She was quite shrewd, and smart, and he was certainly glad that she was on his side because he realized quickly that she would be a formidable opponent to anyone who crossed her.
One autumn afternoon, Regina strolled into Gold's office, beaming happily. "Good morning." she said with a happy lilt in her voice.
"Well – what has you so chipper today?" Gold asked. Regina held out her left hand.
"Only this." Regina said excitedly. "Daniel asked me to marry him last night." Gold just nodded, but didn't say a word. "Well aren't you going to congratulate me?"
"Congratulations." Gold said. "Get a pre-nup – it saves a lot of hassle when the divorce proceedings begin."
"Just because your marriage tanked doesn't mean mine will." Regina said.
"I was the same age as you when I married my now ex-wife. Trust me – in ten years, you'll feel very differently about marriage." Gold insisted.
"You just didn't marry the right person. She wasn't your true love." Regina said.
"And Daniel is yours?" Gold asked.
"Of course he is. I wouldn't marry him if he wasn't." Regina said. "I knew he was my true love within the first week I knew him." Gold chuckled a bit.
"Really, dearie? That quickly? How on earth could you know it that soon?" Gold asked, curious.
"Well I didn't KNOW that I knew it, but – looking back, it's pretty clear. He's really anxious for the trial to start, he wants to go back to school." Regina said.
"It'll be soon enough. And you want my advice? Give it another year before you marry him, and for god's sake, don't get pregnant." Gold said.
"We're not that stupid." Regina spat at him.
"Yes, and I suppose I was then?" Gold asked.
"Yeah, you were. Like I said – you didn't wait for your true love, you just jumped into bed with the first pretty girl that looked twice at you and knocked her up." Regina sniped. Gold sighed in disgust. "Did I hit a nerve?"
"You're getting on my last one. Keep in mind that you're just a trainee and I am your superior when you make judgments about my life as if you have any right to." Gold said.
"You've still got time, you know." Regina said.
"For what?" Gold asked.
"To find your true love." Regina said. "I bet she's out there somewhere."
"I think not. Even if I believed there were such a thing – which I don't – I seriously doubt that is in the cards for me." Gold said. "Now are we going to get some work done or are we going to debate about the existence of this myth of true love that you're so fond of?"
"It's not a myth. It's real. You'll know it when you find it. It'll be like they – like the part of you that always seemed to be missing was suddenly there and – well, you just know that you can't live without it. If anything ever happened to Daniel, I think – I honestly think I'd just lose my mind."
"You doing alright?" Belle asked as she and Gold walked hand in hand along the driveway.
"Yeah." Gold replied quietly. They had walked a bit further than the day before. Gold appeared nervous but a bit less nervous this time, and less pale, Belle observed.
"These grounds were beautiful at one time, weren't they? Why didn't you keep them up?" Belle asked.
"What was the point?" Gold replied. "Besides – this look keeps people away." Gold looked up and saw the gates to the estate ahead of him, and he stopped. "I think that's far enough for today."
"We're almost at the gate." Belle said.
"I know. I'm just – not ready to go there yet." Gold said. "Maybe next time."
"I can't wait until this is all over and we can go into town and show those horrible people how wrong they were about you." Belle said.
"Belle – there are still things I haven't told you. Things I've been afraid to tell you because – because I might lose you if I tell you these things, and I don't think I could bear that." Gold said.
"Ian, I already told you, you can tell me anything. It can't be that bad." Belle said. Gold just sighed and didn't respond as they made their way back into the house. "Here – let me take your coat." Belle said as she helped Gold take his coat off. She then took off her own jacket, then turned to him and smiled.
"Do you want to sit down and talk?" Belle asked. Gold nodded. He took her hand and led her upstairs and into Bae's room. Gold motioned for Belle to sit down on the bed. He walked toward the closet, opened it, and rummaged through it until he found a framed photo. He brought it over to Belle and showed it to her. It was posed holiday portrait of himself with Bae.
"This was the last Christmas photo I took with Bae. Actually – it was the last photo I took with him. Haven't looked at it in years." Gold said, his eyes welling up with tears.
"You both look very happy." Belle commented, taking his hand and squeezing it tightly.
"We were. Everything was going so well. He had just visited his mother, had a really nice visit with her. We had a lovely Christmas together, just Bae and I, and Gwen was there too. And then – I made one mistake. One mistake that caused my entire world to spiral out of control. And as a result – well, then I spiraled out of control." Gold told her, his voice trembling. "Regina Mills – she was studying with me at the agency. I was – I was her mentor. I saw quite a bit of potential in her – but she had this boyfriend. A young man that she was seeing named Daniel. He was a courier for a notorious organized crime outfit that the feds had been trying to bring down for decades. She convinced him to turn states evidence against the band's ringleader. Unfortunately – the man who ran the syndicate, Albert Spencer, he – he had quite a few more judges in his pocket than I had anticipated. I made a bad call, and - they let him off on a technicality. The feds didn't feel that the young man was in any imminent danger. They refused to offer him protection. Regina begged me to help, but – there wasn't much I could offer, aside from a bit of money, and I had to be careful at that. I wasn't on active duty any longer but I still worked for the CIA, and going up against a tyrant like Spencer – well, I had my boy to consider as well, I certainly wasn't going to put Bae at risk."
"Several weeks after Spencer was released – Daniel disappeared. His body was found a month later. It was clearly a mob hit, I've seen enough of them, but, not surprisingly, there was not enough evidence to prove it. Regina – blamed me."
"But it wasn't your fault. How could she blame you?" Belle asked.
"Regina had an extremely naïve outlook on the world when I first encountered her. I did my best to make her see things in a more practical manner, but – it took this sort of tragedy to make her really understand the reality of all that I had been teaching her. I guess she just – snapped somehow. So here was this young girl, with training courtesy of me, knowledge of the inner workings of the CIA, courtesy of me, now full of hate and anger and vengeance. Not a combination that goes well with anything. She was impulsive, reckless – she went after Spencer first. Took him out personally." Gold said.
"She killed him?" Belle asked, shocked.
"Oh, yes. She didn't think about the ramifications of what would happen to her because I really don't think she cared – she was on a suicide mission. But once she got away with something that the feds couldn't accomplish in decades – it gave her a taste of power. Several of Spencer's former lackeys, they – went to work for her. She took over his territory, and several others. It was surreal – this young girl becoming one of the most powerful leaders in organized crime. And thanks to my training – she was very good at covering her tracks. Still is."
"Then there was her vendetta against me." Gold said. "She still blamed me for what happened to Daniel. I was her main target. And she knew exactly how to get to me – through my son."
A/N: I really can't thank all of my readers enough for their support! If you are reading this or any of my other fics, and you're on Tumblr, I'd really appreciate your support for the Espenson Awards. I have details on my blog - you can find me as charmedrumbelle on Tumblr. I know I'm a fairly new Rumbelle fic writer but if you like my stories and would be willing to nominate any of them for the Espeson Awards on Tumblr (nominations begin on January 10) I'd greatly appreciate it! I'd also appreciate any fic recs on Tumblr as well to get my stories out there to more people. Thank you so very much! :)