A/N: THANK YOU so much for your feedback - so glad that I still have my readers with me! Please be kind when you get to the end of this chapter - all will be explained in time!

I do not own 'Once Upon a Time.'

Chapter 30

While forcibly holding Regina down on her back, Gold gripped his gun and held it directly against her temple. "You have exactly five minutes to explain yourself and give me a reason NOT to simply blow your brains out right here and now." he grunted angrily.

"You expect a story that spans twenty years to be explained in five minutes?" Regina asked, not once flinching at his threat.

"Talk fast. Tick. Tock. Dearie." Gold said angrily.

"Milah found out what you had planned all those years ago. And she came to me, of all people, for help. Those bodies in the car – they weren't Milah and Bailey." Regina said. Gold just stared at her in disbelief. "She had been siphoning off money from her accounts for years, Gold. She was planning all along to take Bae and run off with Jones. And when she found out about what you had been cooking up with Smee – and seriously, I was actually disappointed in you that you went to that fool for assistance, do you really think he couldn't be paid off with more money? Not that it did him any good, I got rid of him right after everything happened."

"Get to the part about my SON." Gold demanded, pushing the gun into her skin for emphasis.

"Milah told him that they were in danger because of your work, and that they had to go into hiding. And that if he wanted to remain safe – he could never see you again." Regina said. "He knew what line of work you were in – it wasn't that hard to convince him to go along, he was a very impressionable young boy, after all."

"Well, this is all a very interesting tale, dearie, but – if Bailey were still alive, he'd be a man by now. Why wouldn't he come to find me, he certainly wouldn't be that fearful once he came of age." Gold stated.

"He wouldn't if he thought you were dead." Regina said. "That's what he thought. As far as I know – that's what he still thinks. And given that you've basically been a hermit for the past two decades – what reason would he have to think otherwise?"

"No – no, my boy would have come to find me. He'd have made sure it was true when he got older." Gold said.

"You had no idea who your wife really was, did you? You still don't. I'm disappointed, to be honest – I thought you were smarter than that. Who do you think I've been working for all these years?" Regina asked. "You knew her family history, you knew they weren't exactly known for their legitimate business dealings. And I mean really, Gold – what better cover for her operation than to be married to a super spy? She had everything planned all along. You were an easy target. An intelligent but VERY insecure little man. Why do you think she pushed you into this line of work? Why you think she deliberately seduced you and allowed you to get her pregnant? She knew you'd be the type to do the 'honorable thing' and marry her. The rest was a piece of cake for her from there." Gold's hand began to tremble. "She never loved you, Gold. You were nothing to her but a sperm donor, a bed warmer, and a cover for her entire operation. She started working with her father when she was fifteen years old – she was already very well trained by the time you met her. And when he died – she took over." Gold pulled the gun away and sat up, and allowed Regina to do so as well. "You believe me, don't you?"

"It doesn't sound implausible, I'll give you that." Gold said. "But I want proof."

"I thought you might. There's something in my purse – a photo. Go ahead and look." Regina said. Still pointing the gun at Regina, he reached into her purse with his other hand and pulled out the photo she spoke of. He gasped when he saw it. It was a picture of Bae – he looked to be in his early teens, fourteen or fifteen at most. But it was clearly him. "She didn't allow photos of him to be taken, but – I snuck this one. Just in case I'd need it someday. Good thing, too. It's the most recent one I have, sorry."

"Bae." Gold whispered, fighting back tears. "My boy." He then turned to Regina and gritted his teeth. "Where is he? Where is my son?!" he shouted angrily as he grabbed her blouse roughly.

"You haven't agreed to my deal yet." Regina said. "Agree to that – and I'll tell you exactly how to find your son."

Emma was awakened by the sound of her phone beeping an alert. She groggily reached for the phone and looked at it. "What the hell?" she whispered to herself. Emma sat up and looked over at Henry's bed – he was sleeping soundly. They had been sharing a room ever since Emma got him back, for his own safety and for Emma's peace of mind. Emma got out of bed and walked into the hallway, her phone in hand. She was surprised to see the door to Gold's bedroom ajar, and a small light still on. Emma peeked inside the room – Belle was asleep on the bed, but there was no sign of Gold. Starting to become suspicious, Emma went back into her room, took her gun out of the nightstand, and proceeded to head down the stairs. As she furthered down the stairs, she noticed that a light was on. She cautiously made her way around the corner once she hit the bottom of the stairs.

"Hello, Emma." Regina said, smirking at her. Emma immediately lifted up her gun and pointed it at Regina.

"How'd you get in here?" Emma asked. Regina just smirked again but didn't say a word. Emma then looked over at Gold, who was visibly pale and trembling. He held a photo in his right hand while pointing his gun at Regina with his left. "Are you alright?" Emma asked Gold.

"Get her out of here before I kill her with my bare hands." Gold said. "Take her downstairs. I'm going to go wake Belle and have her go to your room and stay with Henry. I'll call Gwen." Emma grabbed Regina and shoved her in front of herself.

"Move." Emma said, pushing Regina forward, surprised at Regina's immediate compliance. Gold glanced at the photo he was holding one last time, then slipped it into his jacket pocket and headed toward the stairs.

Gold entered the bedroom and sat down next to Belle on the edge of the bed. He ran his hand gently across Belle's cheek. "Sweetheart – wake up." Gold whispered. Belle moaned and her eyes fluttered open.

"What's wrong?" Belle asked in a whisper, still half asleep.

"I need you to go into Emma's room and stay with Henry." Gold said. "You can sleep in Emma's bed." Belle rubbed her eyes and sat up.

"What's happening?" Belle asked.

"I can't tell you right now. But there has been an – incident that Emma and I need to deal with immediately. We'll probably be up all night. Henry shouldn't be alone in his room right now, so I want you to stay with him." Belle sat up in the bed and looked at Gold.

"Are you alright, Ian? You look pale." Belle commented.

"I'm fine." Gold replied. Belle could tell immediately that he was lying.

"Can you handle an all-nighter? I know you don't manage well if you don't get enough rest, and won't the lack of sleep throw off your medication schedule?" Belle asked.

"Belle, I don't need you to be a girlfriend right now, I just need you to do as I ask!" Gold snapped. A hurt look came across Belle's face. Without saying a word, she stood up and headed for the door, then turned around, grabbed her book off of the nightstand, and headed back to the door, still not saying a word. Gold quietly followed her. When they reached the door to Emma's room, Gold reached into his pocket, took out his gun, and handed it to her.

"Take this. Keep it in a drawer just in case." Gold said.

"Ian, I don't want this." Belle said.

"Take the gun." Gold demanded. "Lock the door. Do NOT leave the room, do NOT come downstairs, I will see that meals are brought to you and Henry in the morning."

"Mary Margaret is supposed to come for therapy in the morning." Belle said.

"It's canceled. You can do your exercises on your own this time." Gold said.

"You're not going to tell me what's going on, are you?" Belle asked.

"When there's something you need to know, I'll tell you." Gold said. "Are you going to cooperate or do I need to get an armed guard to stand outside the door?" Belle glared at him angrily.

"I get that there are things about your job that you can't tell me, Ian, but is it so bloody hard to NOT be an ass in the process?" Belle asked in a furious tone. She stepped into the bedroom, slammed the door, and locked it.

"That's not necessary, I promise." Regina said as Emma handcuffed her to a chair. Emma ignored her. "How is Henry?" Regina asked.

"Shut up." Emma replied tersely.

"Is he keeping up with his studies? He really is a smart young man." Regina commented. Emma grabbed Regina's neck with her right hand.

"If you mention my son one more time I WILL kill you and I won't so much as blink when I do it." Emma said, her tone filled with anger and fury.

"Miss Swan!" Gold shouted as he entered the room. "If anyone is going to do that, it's going to be me – but not until our visitor answers some questions." Emma let go of her grip on Regina.

"This is too easy. She is PLAYING us, Gold, don't you get that?" Emma asked.

"I don't believe she is. At least not in the way that you think she is." Gold commented. He grabbed a chair, slid it in front of Regina with the back of the chair facing her, and sat down, straddling his legs around the back of the chair. He lifted up his cane and pointed it at now. "Now . . . let's have a chat, shall we?"

"You never answered my question. Do we have a deal?" Regina asked.

"How about you give us a plausible explanation as to how we got here . . . . then I'll decide if you're worth dealing with." Gold said. Emma pulled up another chair and sat down next to Gold. "Pick up right where you left off, dearie. I'll fill Miss Swan in on the particulars that she missed later."

"How about this particular? The reason I came looking for you in the first place is that I got an alert on my phone that Ruby's cell phone was out of range. She was under direct orders not to leave the Boston vicinity without informing us." Emma said.

"Well, I'm sure she would have informed you if she could have." Regina commented.

"You know where she is, don't you?" Emma asked.

"I assure you . . . . . Ruby is safe. For now. By the way . . . . . I need to make an important phone call by six a.m. in order for her to remain that way." Regina said.

"Do you really want to add one more to your lengthy body count?" Emma asked.

"No, I don't. Why do you think I'm here?" Regina asked.

"Miss Swan, please just shut up and let her continue, you're letting your emotions get the better of you." Gold said, and Regina began to snicker a bit.

"Isn't that kind of the pot calling the kettle black, Gold?" Regina taunted.

"Just get on with it." Gold said angrily, and he shoved his cane at Regina again for emphasis.

"Milah needed to get back in the house. There was something there that she needed. But the only way to get there was to drive you out." Regina said.

"Milah? What are you talking about, she's dead, has been for years." Emma said.

"According to our friend here – my ex-wife is very much alive. And apparently, so is my son. Now – either she is creating an entire fictional story in order to toy with me, or . . . she is telling the truth and my boy has been alive and kept from me for twenty years. Neither option pleases me . . . but I do want to hear the rest of her tale before I decide what action to take." Gold explained.

"I worked with Milah for all of these years because I thought you losing your son would be the best way for me to pay you back for what happened to Daniel." Regina said. "I thought you being as miserable as I was would – make everything better. But you know what? It didn't. It took meeting Henry for me to realize how wrong I was."

"Right. That's why you tried to have me killed – because you cared about Henry SO MUCH that you figured offing his mother would win him over." Emma remarked.

"I realized my mistake as soon as it happened." Regina said. "That night, Henry he – he started crying. He was talking about how much he missed you and was scared he would never see you again. And I realized that – I actually loved him. I wanted him to be mine because he was the first person since Daniel to care about me. I guess I just didn't expect to care about him as well."

"You wanted me to kill Belle. That's how much you cared about Henry? So much that you were willing to trade him in exchange for me offing Gold's girlfriend?" Emma asked.

"I knew you wouldn't do it. Not the type. Why do you think it was so easy for you to get him back? I made it that way. Trust me – if I'd have wanted to keep Henry I would have. Henry – made me want to be better. I wanted out. For Henry." Regina said.

"There is no way in hell that I'm letting you anywhere near my son, so if that's what you think you're going to get out of this, you really screwed up." Emma told her.

"I just want to be able to talk to Henry one more time. And I want protection. I don't care if I'm locked up, I expect that much – I just want to be kept safe from Milah's organization. So – do we have a deal?" Regina asked.

"No way in hell." Emma said.

"Emma -" Gold began.

"No. She's lying. Henry has already had it hard enough, do you really want to put him through having to confront her after what she did? All so that you can chase after your son that you're NOT going to find because she is lying her ass off!" Emma screamed.

"She has a photo, Emma. Of Bae – taken several years after he -" Gold said.

"Photos can be doctored, you know that." Emma said.

"There are also ways to find out if a photo is authentic. Which I'm assuming you'll do." Regina said.

"Count on it." Gold said. "Now . . . continue with your little tale. Please." Gold snarled at her.

The next morning, Emma approached her bedroom door and tried to open it, only to find it locked. Emma knocked on the door. "It's Emma." she called out. Henry opened the door and bounded back into the room. "Brought you guys some breakfast." Emma said.

"Thank you." Belle said as Emma set the tray down on a small table.

"Belle was helping me with my spelling words. She's really smart." Henry said as he sat down and started to eat.

"Thanks for staying with him last night. Hope he wasn't a problem." Emma said.

"Of course not, Henry is wonderful. So what's happening? Or – can you not tell me?" Belle asked.

"Let me guess – Gold came upstairs last night, woke you up, was all cryptic, ordered you around, and behaved like a jackass." Emma said, and Belle frowned a bit. "Yeah, he gets that way when everything hits the fan, I'm sure you've noticed. I wouldn't take it personally – it's just how he is." Belle simply nodded in agreement. "Hey, kid – I need to get a little bit of sleep, so you're gonna go down to the study for a few hours with Leroy, how does that sound?"

"Okay." Henry said as he finished his breakfast. A soft knock was heard at the door.

"He ready?" Leroy asked, peeking his head inside.

"Yeah. I'll call you when I get up. Leroy will get you lunch, Henry – behave yourself." Emma said.

"I will." Henry said, and he gave Emma a hug. "Sorry you had to work all night."

"Part of the job sometimes, you know that." Emma said.

"You any good at Blackjack, kiddo?" Leroy asked as they headed out of the room.

"Nope." Henry replied.

"Good. I mean – well, I'll teach you then." Leroy said as they walked down the hall. Emma smiled as she watched them.

"Yeah, he's not good, he's a freaking pro. Taught him to play when he was five, he kicks my butt two out of every three games. I hope Leroy's not planning on playing for money, Henry will bleed him dry." Emma commented.

"Is Ian alright?" Belle asked.

"Probably a little less alright than usual. It's complicated." Emma said. "We kind of need you to hang out up here today – unless you want to go down to the study and get taken for everything you've got in poker by my kid along with Leroy. You can go get lunch in the kitchen if you want but please make it quick and don't be wandering downstairs. Gold is in the bedroom – Mrs. Potts just got back, she ordered him to go get some rest, but – I'm not sure if he's doing that."

"It's alright, I'll – I'll stay with him. I'll just read one of my books while he gets some rest." Belle said.

"I remember him." Emma said.

"Who?" Belle asked.

"Gold. I mean, it's not a very vivid memory, but – I was really young, and I had a nightmare – I don't know what it was about but I know I woke up crying and really scared. And this man came in my room. He sat down on the bed with me, and he pulled me into a hug. 'It's alright, Emma. I won't let anyone hurt you.' I remember him saying that to me. He had such a calm, soothing voice and – I just fell back to sleep in his arms. That was one of the few times in my life that I really felt – safe." Emma admitted.

"Have you told him?" Belle asked.

"What's the point? Doesn't change anything." Emma said. "Don't be too mad at him. It's been one hell of a night. Thanks for keeping an eye on Henry for me."

"Any time." Belle said, and she left the room.

Gold sat on the edge of the bed dressed in his pajamas and staring at a drawing that he held in his hand when Belle entered the room. She quietly moved toward the bed and sat down next to him.

"What's that?" Belle asked.

"Bae drew this for me on my twenty-eighth birthday." Gold said. "It's hard to believe that Emma is the same age now that I was then. Seems like a lifetime ago."

"It's very good. Better than anything I could do, even now. He was a very talented boy." Belle said. Gold nodded his head and set the drawing down on the nightstand.

"I'm sorry about last night. I didn't need to be such an ass." Gold whispered, not looking up at her.

"Apology accepted." Belle replied, and she took his hand. "You're exhausted." Gold nodded his head in agreement.

"Not sure I can sleep though." Gold admitted.

"Did you eat anything this morning?" Belle asked. Gold nodded his head yes. "Take your meds?"

"Yes." Gold said quietly. "Belle?"

"What is it, love?" Belle asked.

"Do you think you could just hold me for a bit? I – I think I might be able to get some sleep if you could do that."

"Of course I can." Belle replied. They both climbed into the bed, which was still unmade from the night before, and Gold melted into Belle's arms, resting his head on her uninjured shoulder.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?" Gold asked.

"It's fine. I'll do my exercises after you fall asleep." Belle told him. She gently ran her fingers through his hair.

"I wouldn't be able to get through this if you weren't here." Gold said quietly.

"I wish you could talk to me about whatever is going on, but – I understand that you can't." Belle said in reply.

"I have to find him, Belle. If he's out there, I have to find him." Gold mumbled, then let out a loud sigh.

"Find who? Ian?" Belle whispered, but Gold was already asleep. Belle held him in her arms for about half an hour, until she was sure that he was sleeping soundly. She carefully eased his head onto the pillow as she pulled away from him. She covered him a bit with the blanket, then went to the other side of the bed. She picked up the drawing that Gold was looking at and stared at it for several minutes. "No, it couldn't be. Could it?" Belle whispered to herself.

Mrs. Potts entered the basement carrying a tray of food. Regina had fallen asleep in the chair that she was still handcuffed to. Mrs. Potts slapped Regina's arm to awaken her. "Time for lunch." Mrs. Potts said in a gruff tone of voice. Regina blinked her eyes and looked up at her. "Don't want you to starve – you are, after all – our guest. Uninvited as you may be."

"How am I supposed to eat that?" Regina asked.

"Well, I suppose I can unbind one of your hands, would that help?" Mrs. Potts asked. "Keep in mind that if you try anything, I will shoot you."

"I figure as much." Regina said. Mrs. Potts removed the restraint from Regina's left hand. "I'm right-handed – how am I supposed to do this?"

"Well, I don't know, why don't you ask Belle? She's managed for the past couple of months, no thanks to you." Mrs. Potts said.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Regina asked as she struggled to maneuver her hand to eat.

"Maybe just a wee bit." Mrs. Potts replied. "You know, you wouldn't be in this mess if you had just been a bit more patient and hadn't gone off. I told you I was taking care of everything. You were supposed to let me tell him. We had a deal."