Very, very, VERY sorry it's taken me so long to update! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope you're still reading. I will try my best to update more frequently.

I do not own 'Once Upon a Time.'

Chapter 29

Henry was sitting alone in the living room, staring at the key ring that held all of Emma's keys, when Gold entered the room.

"Hey Henry – what have you got there?" Gold asked, sitting down next to the boy.

"My mom's keys. My dad gave her this key ring." Henry said. Gold took the keys from him and looked it over – it was a key ring with a swan on it.

"Swan. Very clever of him." Gold said. He could tell it was nothing expensive; probably something picked up at a convenience store. Most likely stolen if anything Emma said about the man, which was limited information at best, was correct.

"She said it's the last thing he gave her before he – before he died." Henry said, a sad tone in his voice.

"Well I don't think that's true." Gold stated.

"You don't?" Henry asked.

"He gave her you. And you're a far more precious gift than some little key ring." Gold said. Henry smiled a bit.

"You think I might look like him?" Henry asked.

"Well I don't know, I didn't know the man." Gold replied.

"He probably had dark hair, right? I mean – my mom is blonde, and I'm not so – I probably get that from him." Henry said.

"Very probable." Gold agreed.

"I should probably go work on my homework. Do you think I'll ever be able to go back to a regular school someday? I miss having friends." Henry said.

"Well – if I have anything to say about it – you'll be back in school soon enough." Gold said.

"Thanks Grandpa – you know, I may not have a dad, but – at least I have you." Henry said, and he gave Gold a hug.

"Well, you're a good lad, Henry. I'm glad I have you, too. Now go on – go do your homework." Gold told him. Henry bounded out of the room, leaving the key ring behind on the coffee table. Gold picked it up and looked it over.

"Where's Henry?" Emma asked as she entered the room.

"Just went up to his room." Gold said, looking up at her. "You know – it's curious that you would hold onto some trinket given to you by a man that you claim you want nothing to do with." Gold commented, holding out the key chain in front of her.

"I never got around to buying another one." Emma said, grabbing it away from him.

"Right. Of course." Gold said. "You know, you can't lie to the lad forever. Henry is a smart boy. He's getting older, and he'll be asking more questions. And if he doesn't get the answers he likes – he does know how to use the Internet and other research resources and I assume, given that he's your son, he'll only grow more adept at that as he comes of age."

"I'll deal with that then. For now – what I've told him is all he needs to know." Emma said.

"Even if it's a lie?" Gold asked.

"He'll forgive me. Eventually. You and Gwen seem to be fine." Emma said.

"Gwen never lied to me. She just – withheld information that was not safe to be revealed." Gold stated.

"You weren't angry at her? Ever?" Emma asked.

"A bit. I got past it. Given our field of work and what it entails – she did what she had to do to protect me." Gold said.

"What do you think I'm doing with Henry?" Emma asked.

"Unless this man is some underground crime lord, which I seriously doubt given the quality of gifts he presented to you, all you're doing is postponing the inevitable for no good reason other than he broke your heart and you just don't want to see him again, your son's feelings on the matter be damned. And from the bare minimum of details that you've bothered to share with me, coupled with the events that followed your dalliance with him, he was a petty thief at most and if his life of crime had escalated beyond that it would have hit your radar somehow within your line of work." Gold said.

"How do you know it hasn't?" Emma asked.

"Because I know you. And I know how you react to things. And there would have been a reaction from you. Now granted, given what you've told me I'm not a fan of this young man, whoever he is. But Henry has a right – for better or worse – to know where he comes from."

"Henry's already been through enough. And I'm done with this conversation." Emma said, and she stomped out of the room. A few moments later, Belle entered. Her right arm was at her side, no longer in a sling.

"Hey, sweetheart – how was therapy?" Gold asked as Belle sat down next to him.

"It was good. Mary Margaret wants me to stop wearing the sling, she said I need to stop babying my arm and start using it more. She said I only need it in a sling if I go out, for safety, but – well, I'm not going anywhere so – I guess I don't need it." Belle told him. "I've got my next check-up in a month, and she said if I keep on as I have been, the doctor will probably only want another few weeks of therapy after, if that."

"Belle, that's fantastic. I knew you'd come through this like a trooper." Gold said, and he reached over and kissed her on the lips.

"I'm glad you thought so, I wasn't so sure at first. I don't think I would have done so well without you." Belle said.

"Of course you would have. You're one of the bravest people I know." Gold told her. Belle blushed a bit.

"So, um – what are you doing today?" Belle asked.

"Gwen flew out to DC for a meeting, she's going to be sending me some files to look over in a couple of hours. Until then – not a thing." Gold replied.

"Well then – how about we – use those couple of hours and – find something to do? " Belle asked playfully, then scooted herself onto his lap. She kissed him on the lips and began to play with his hair. "We still need to have that talk. About the next level."

"Belle – Henry and Emma are home." Gold said, carefully pushing her away.

"I just saw Emma in the hallway, she and Henry are upstairs doing school work. I don't think they'll be down here any time soon." Belle said. "In fact – it would probably be less likely that they notice anything we're doing if we stay down here."

"We're not doing anything, Belle. Not here – not today." Gold said adamantly, and he moved her off of his lap, reached for his cane, and stood up.

"When then, Ian?" Belle asked, standing up as well. "Every time I try to talk to you, you're either too busy, or too tired, or too whatever it is you come up with. Ian, if this relationship is going to work then we have to talk about these things." Gold was quiet, and he walked over to the fireplace and stood with his back to her. Belle put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you nervous?" Gold still didn't reply. "Ian – it's not like this is my first time, I'm not some innocent virgin." Belle said.

"I don't really need to hear about your past encounters, Belle." Gold said quietly, still not turning around.

"Well, there weren't that many, and I mean – it's been awhile for me, too. A couple of years, anyway." Belle admitted. Gold chuckled a bit.

"It's been more than a couple of years for me, Belle." Gold said, and he finally turned around.

"Ian, I think everything works the same now as it did then." Belle teased. Gold reached his left hand up and ran his fingers through her hair.

"You are so lovely. You deserve everything to be perfect when it comes to that. And I am far from perfect." Gold said.

"I might as well give up and become and old maid with fifteen cats if I think I'm going to find perfect. I don't want perfect. I just want you." Belle said. Gold fought back tears.

"I'm not ready, Belle. I want to – I want to wait until I get out of rehab. This isn't something I want to happen while I – I just want to be better. Emotionally, I mean. I've been known to – get a bit intense in the past and – I don't want any of my personal baggage to ruin something that should be beautiful. And I promise Belle – it will be beautiful. But not now." Belle moved closer to him and kissed him on the lips.

"Okay." Belle said quietly.

"Okay? You don't mind waiting then?" Gold asked.

"Of course not. I don't want to do anything you're not ready for. Honestly, Ian, why is it so hard for you to tell me these things?"

"Full disclosure is, um – not one of my strong suits. I'm sorry." Gold said. "Plus, you um – you seem pretty eager to – get things going in that arena."

"Well, can you blame me, I mean look at you – always wearing those handsome suits with that long hair and that incredibly sexy voice of yours – you're lucky I didn't simply jump you the minute I entered the house." Belle teased, and Gold laughed a bit.

"You hated me when you first met me." Gold said.

"Not hate, just – aggravation is a better word. I didn't know you well enough to hate you." Belle said. "You didn't like me at first, did you?" Gold sighed.

"You were an inconvenient but necessary interruption. And then a distraction. And then – well, then I just started to make a damn fool of myself instead of actually telling you my feelings and you had to pull them out of me and make me realize that it was alright. And here we are again."

"Yes. Here we are again." Belle said. "At least you're sober this time."

"Yeah. At least there is that." Gold agreed. "I heard from the center in DC that I'll be at – it shouldn't be much longer until they can take me. Few weeks – a month at most. I really want to get this whole case wrapped up by then – get Regina, find out who she's working for and get them behind bars as well, so that – so that I can leave you for that time and not have to worry about you."

"You'll still worry about me even if all that happens." Belle said.

"Yeah. I know." Gold agreed, and he pulled her into a hug. He grabbed her right shoulder a bit too tightly and Belle whimpered a bit. "Oh, I'm so sorry sweetheart – are you alright?" Gold asked as he let her go and stepped back.

"Yeah, just – forgot about that for a minute." Belle said. "Its okay – I'm fine." Gold moved behind her and kissed her softly on the shoulder. "Maybe waiting isn't going to be such a bad thing, I mean – I should be a bit more – agile by then."

"I hope you're not expecting much from me in that vein – my days of acrobatics in the boudoir are long gone." Gold commented.

"Well – you'll just have to leave all of that to me, then. All I'll need is your – above average self." Belle teased, and she turned to face him.

"Now that – I can manage." Gold said, leaning in to kiss her once again.

Killian Jones approached Ruby that afternoon as she was leaving the restaurant; he had been tailing her and watching her the entire day. He waited in his car for the just the right moment, to time their meeting to look as if he was entering as she was exiting. "Well . . . . look who it is. Miss . . . Smith, right?" Jones said in a flirtatious tone. "Called that number you gave me – must be something wrong with your phone."

"Guess so." Ruby said, trying to dodge him.

"Hey." Jones said, putting his hand on her shoulder and stopping her. "I'm not a bad guy, you know. Give me a chance."

"I have a boyfriend." Ruby said.

"No you don't." Jones retorted.

"Excuse me?" Ruby asked, offended.

"Well, it's very simple, really. That last time I saw you – you know, the time when you gave me a fake phone number – I took a gander in your shopping cart. You see – there's a particular way that single girls shop versus girls with – well, someone to go home to." Jones told her.

"It's supposed to impress me that you're snooping through my groceries?" Ruby asked.

"Well, probably not, I suppose, when you put it that way. Look – we keep meeting up by chance like this, don't you think that maybe – there's a reason for that?" Killian asked. Ruby sighed and moved toward her car.

"Look – I appreciate your efforts, but – I just don't have time for any of – this right now, okay?" Ruby said.

"Well – that's quite unfortunate." Jones said, looking around to make sure no one was nearby. He grabbed Ruby roughly and put his hand over her mouth. "This could have been much easier love, if you had just cooperated." Ruby wiggled and tried to scream, but Jones overpowered her, taking her car keys out of her hand. He opened her car door and shoved her in the back seat. He took out a piece of cloth from his pocket and covered her mouth with it, then took out a small rope that was hidden in his other pocket and tied her arms behind her. "Always good to come prepared, right?" Jones taunted, as Ruby started to cry. Jones then pushed her onto the floor of the back of the car so that she would be unable to sit up. With Ruby secured in the back of the car, Jones got in the driver's seat and sped away.

Unknown to him, he was being watched. Sidney Glass, one of Regina's henchmen, sat in a car with tinted windows. He turned the key in his ignition and made a phone call.

"He has her." Sidney said into the phone.

"Good. Call me when it's done." Regina said.

"Yes, madam." Sidney said, then he hung up the phone and drove off. Regina smiled smugly as she hung up the phone on her end.

"You think you can outsmart me, Milah? We'll see about that." Regina said to herself proudly.

Jones sped down a quiet, deserted road, the entire time noticing that there was a car not too far behind him. He knew a tail when he saw one – the question was, whose tail was it? He stepped on the accelerator, and the other car did so as well. Jones looked down at the accelerator – he was doing well above ninety and the car kept coming. Panicked, Jones tried to turn onto another side road, but ended up spinning out, sending the car off the road and into a ditch. Sidney Glass pulled up next to the wrecked car and got out. He looked into the car – Jones was slumped unconscious against the steering wheel. He managed to open the back seat, and found Ruby lying on the floor, dazed but seemingly alright. Sidney lifted her up, untied her arms and took out the gag that prevented her from speaking.

"You okay?" Sidney asked. Ruby nodded.

"Is he -" she began.

"Do it really matter? I work for Gold – been keeping track of you, just in case." Sidney said.

"What was he going to do to me?" Ruby asked.

"Well, fortunately, you won't have to find out. Come on – let's get you out of here and to somewhere that's safe." Sidney said. Ruby followed him into his car.

"I thought you were taking me to Gold's place." Ruby said as they continued to drive outside of the Massachusetts border.

"Somewhere safer. Just following orders." Sidney said as they pulled into a deeply secluded driveway. A garage door opened and Sidney drove inside. He opened the door for Ruby and led her into the building. She followed him into a large living room with barely any décor.

"What is this place?" Ruby asked.

"Sorry about the lack of ambiance – haven't had much time to decorate." Regina said as she entered the room.

"Who are you? Are you a friend of Gold's?" Ruby asked. Regina laughed.

"I haven't been friends with Ian Gold in a long time." Regina said. Panicked, Ruby stood up, but gasped when Sidney pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. "Sit down, dear. I won't hurt you as long as you cooperate."

"Who are you?" Ruby asked.

"Well, you could say I'm your rescuer – I just saved you from being kidnapped, don't I get a thank you?" Regina asked as she moved toward Ruby. Regina sat down on the sofa and invited Ruby to do the same. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Why would I take something you offered me to drink? It'd probably be poisoned." Ruby stated angrily.

"Well, I'll gladly have Sidney taste it first if that makes you feel any better." Regina said.

"No thank you." Ruby said.

"Now please – have a seat so that we can chat." Regina said. "Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to introduce myself – my name is Regina. And you're Ruby. Not exactly the type that Ian Gold has working for him, but – well, he's been off his game for some time now."

"Do you work for him, then? That creepy guy who kidnapped me?" Ruby asked. Regina chuckled.

"Hardly." Regina said. "I told you – I just rescued you."

"You don't rescue someone by holding a gun to them." Ruby said.

"Yes, well sometimes that becomes necessary. Now . . . . here's what I need from you. I know that you work for Ian Gold, and I know that you have access to his property. If that's the case, you must have directions and an access code to get past security – and that's what I need from you. If you give me that – and if all goes as I think it will – I'll let you go. Eventually." Regina stated.

"I'm not helping you." Ruby said.

"Yes, I thought you might say that. So . . . . let's watch a little television, shall we?" Regina asked. She picked up a remote that was lying on the end table, pointed it toward the large screen TV that hung on the wall, and turned it on. Ruby gasped at the sight.

"That's my granny. Is that live?" Ruby asked.

"Oh, it is. Seems she needed some help in the diner since her granddaughter decided to up and move without so much as a goodbye. I was happy to send it to her and they – gave me some help in return. Now . . . . my assistants have set up an explosive system that they will set off with one phone call from me. Making sure that your dear grandmother is there at the time, of course. Give me the access code to Gold's property, and I will make sure that doesn't happen. Don't give me the code . . . or give me the wrong one – and you'll watch your precious granny die the same way your parents did." Regina said.

"Please don't hurt her." Ruby said, crying.

"Oh, I don't want to – that's entirely up to you, dear. So . . . what will it be? Who do you want to protect more – Ian Gold, or your grandmother?" Regina asked.

Gold entered the bedroom quietly; Belle was lying asleep on the bed, her book still open and lying on her chest. He smiled as he carefully took the book from her, marked the page that was open, and set it on the nightstand. Gold then sat down on the edge of the bed and gently ran his fingers through her hair. Belle moaned a bit and rolled over onto her side. As he sat and watched her sleep, Gold pondered what the future had in store for them once all of the drama in their lives had ended. What would a normal life with Belle be like, he wondered. What would a normal life at all be like? His life was anything but normal for over thirty years, and twenty of them were spent in isolation. He knew that the time he was to spend at the recovery center would help him with any anxiety he had, but beyond that – what was he supposed to do? Leave the agency? And do what? He knew too much to do most jobs in his line of expertise and not enough to do anything else. Of course Belle would probably want to return to work, too. He didn't see her as the type to play the role of dutiful housewife.

Gold stopped himself in his train of thought. Wife. He hadn't thought about that until now. Belle would likely want to get married to him at some point. He never imagined marrying again after his disaster of a marriage to Milah. And he certainly didn't imagine marrying someone as young and beautiful as Belle. She was young – young enough to want children, he presumed. He wasn't sure if he wanted that himself – part of him felt like another child might try to replace Bae in his heart, and he could never do that. But if this was something Belle wanted – Gold realized that they had many things to discuss moving forward. Their intimate relations were the least of their problems.

After he had given Belle a soft kiss on her cheek, he stood up and moved toward the attached bathroom to get ready for bed, but was stopped when he heard a noise in the hallway. He presumed it was either Emma or Henry, but moved toward the bedroom door and stepped out in the hall to be sure, his instinct telling him to be suspicious at the very least.

The hallway was dark, and the door to Emma and Henry's room was closed. He heard another noise, this time coming from the stairwell. Gold reached into his vest and pulled out his gun, and pointed it forward. Whoever was in the house – they didn't belong there. Now his job was to figure out who was there, what he was going to do with them, and who he needed to fire for allowing an intruder to enter the premises.

Gold carefully made his way down the stairs, and then turned the corner into the main living area of the house. Just as he did that, a light went on in the living room.

"Hello, Gold." Regina said smugly as she sat on the sofa looking up at him. "You can put that away, I'm not carrying."

"Right. You really expect me to believe that?" Gold asked, pointing the gun at her.

"Well, I figured you wouldn't but – I am telling the truth." Regina said.

"You don't know the meaning of the word." Gold replied. "How did you get in here?"

"You really should make better choices about the people you trust. I mean, that stupid little tart of a waitress, really? You allowed HER to have an access code to your property?" Regina asked.

"What did you do her?" Gold asked.

"Nothing – yet. Right now she's – leverage. I want to make a deal." Regina said.

"I'm not interested in any deal you have to offer me, dearie." Gold said, moving closer to Regina.

"Go ahead. Shoot me." Regina said. "Then you'll never know."

"Know what? Where to find the girl? I think I can manage to figure that out." Gold said.

"If anything happens to me – you won't find her alive." Regina said smugly. "Are you willing to let her be collateral damage in this personal vendetta you have?"

"I think you have that backwards, dearie. I have no vendetta against you. Aside from what you ordered that Irish scum to do to Emma, and then ended up hurting Belle in the process."

"Yes, what is that about, anyway? How on earth did the stoic, closed-off Ian Gold become smitten with some little girl that he was supposed to be protecting?" Regina asked.

"That's my business, not yours. Now . . . . put your hands up where I can see them." Gold said, and was stunned when Regina complied without argument.

"I told you, Gold – I want to make a deal." Regina said.

"You can discuss that once you're in the interrogation room." Gold said, and he grabbed her hands roughly, shoved her forward, and pinned her onto the sofa.

"You really think I'd make it this easy for you to take me in if I didn't have something to negotiate with?" Regina asked.

"I told you – I will handle finding the girl." Gold said.

"Oh, it's not about her – it's about your son." Regina said. Gold angrily and roughly flipped Regina onto her back, grabbed his cane, and shoved it under her throat.

"If you want to take another breath, I suggest you tread carefully, dearie." Gold said as Regina gasped and struggled to breathe.

"He's alive." Regina managed to gasp softly. Stunned, Gold pulled his cane away. "Your son is alive – and I know where you can find him. Now – about that deal."