I apologize for the long wait. I had a lot of figuring and rewriting on this one. I tried to answer all of the questions that I could think to answer to sum things up, but I'm sure that you as readers will have more. Let me know what they are so that I can write the answers in the next chapter or chapters; I try to answer the asked questions in the next chapter, because as readers with different points of view you think about things that I may not think about and it is such a help to making a complete story. You're questions help more than you may know. I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be, the story is coming to a close, but I am trying hard to not leave any loose ends. As always, thank you to my loyal readers and reviewers, you guys are great. Please forgive any typos, I wanted to get this up, so I will have to proof and correct it later.

Chapter 26 – The truth shall set you free

"Well, well, well…look who came back for a visit." Gold looked up from his desk with an impish grin on his face. He threw a pen on his desk as he leaned back in his chair and propped his elbows on the arms of the chair pressing his fingers of each hand together in a triangle that made it look as if he were praying. "At least it's not in the middle of an all night grocery at four in the morning this time," he added.

"What?" David looked over to me wanting an explanation to that comment.

I tilted my head away from my father trying to hide my wince. I had conveniently omitted that little detail when I told my parents of my last trip to Augusta. "Nothing…" was my only response, to David. I quickly turned the attention back to Mr. Gold, "We need to talk."

"We…don't need to talk about anything; I believe I told you everything that night in the potato chip aisle." The way he said the words 'potato chip' was very chastising especially since he looked to my father when he said it and not to me. Almost like I was a teenager and he was trying to get me into trouble with my parents.

"You didn't tell me anything that night," I raised my voice in defense. "Other than to look to my family…"

"And did you?" the imp interrupted.

"My family is just as perplexed about this as I am." Gold was quickly working my last nerve. Why couldn't this man ever talk in straight forward sentences? Everything always had to be a riddle or he would just talk in circles. I swear that a person could have a twenty minute conversation with the man then walk out knowing less than when the conversation started.

"Really? And what about your dear cousin, JC is it?"

"What about him?" My voice was cold and monotone. I wasn't surprised that Gold knew about JC, since it was he who orchestrated the entire curse. But judging by Mr. Gold's tone, I had to wonder if JC knew more about all of this than he was telling.

"That's enough…" My father cut in as he moved closer to the desk that hid most of Gold's body. "JC doesn't know any more about this than we do." I watched as my father reached his hand into the pocket of his jeans and pulled something out. He quickly slammed the palm of his hand down on the desk in front of the older man, releasing the object. "What can you tell me about this?" I recognized the object right away. It was the medallion that Mr. Cooper was given by King George to get into Storybrooke; the very medal that was the counterpart to the crystal swan that I had given to my mother.

"Ah Charming, I see that you've had a little chat with your father," Mr. Gold wore a sly smile on his face. He knew that he was getting under my father's skin and no doubt that was his plan.

"My father is dead and if you don't start answering some questions, you will be soon, too." Yeah, David wasn't bothering to hide his frustration.

"And why should I answer your questions, David?" This time, it was my turn to interrupt to keep things on track and stop the antagonizing that Gold was so easily accomplishing.

"Because we're going to make a deal," and that caught his attention. He cocked his head and looked at me with skepticism. I could tell that his interest was piqued; he enjoyed making deals and bargaining especially when it benefited him more than the other wagering party. But I also knew that he was going to try to play it cool.

"Oh really, Dearie? What makes you think that you have anything that I want?" And there it was, I let go of a little laugh, I probably even could have predicted his wording. He didn't have magic outside of Storybrooke, so that made him vulnerable. Over the centuries he had learned to rely on the use of magic. I knew what his weakness would be. For him magic was like a drug that he couldn't get enough of and he had be detoxing for months now.

"Oh I don't think, I know." I push my lips into a thin line as I glared at him. We both knew that I had the upper hand. "So, here's what is going to happen. You are going to answer all of our questions truthfully…no riddles…no talking in circles. Straight forward answers."

"And what do I get in return? A mug that says, 'I've been saved by the savior'?" His sarcasm or attempt thereof, was laughable.

"Cute…It's simple, you have what we want…answers. And we have what you want…a way back into Storybrooke." I watched him intently as he pushed his chair back from his desk and spun around so that his back was toward us and he was looking out of the window that was behind his desk. He was silent for a long beat. My father, who had finally taken a seat in the chair next to me, looked over to me before he reached for my hand, gently squeezing it in his.

"What do you want to know?" Gold finally asked, though he still did not turn around to face us. I squeezed my father's hand in return and smiled knowing that we had won that battle.

"Tell us about that medal. What does it do? And what does it have to do with Emma and JC resetting an event in time that will change things as we know it." My father breathed out a breath that seemed to be labored.

"Is that what you think?" It was then that he turned around and stared at us with a look that could only be described as disbelief. I had to admit, that his reaction had really taken me by surprise. "Where did you get that preposterous idea?"

"I'm sorry, what?" Was he really sitting there telling me that everything that I had learned up to now was incorrect? I looked over to my father who was just as confused as me, before I turned back to Gold. "Mr. Cooper, he was working for Pan. He was supposed to kill me so that JC and I couldn't reset the event in time. You wanted me to break the curse and Pan didn't because ultimately he knew that breaking the curse meant death for him." I had rattled that off as if it was all a question. Because truthfully; in a blink of eye, it had turned into a question rather than a fact.

The older man rose from his chair and crossed the room toward a book shelf. He pulled one thick book from the shelf and hobbled my direction to throw the book into my lap. The words 'English Dictionary' were scrolled across the spine of the hard bound book. I don't think that the look on my face could have gotten any more sardonic if I tried. "Again, I ask," he started while he moved back behind his desk. "Where did you learn of this mission that you and JC were tasked to complete?"

"From Mr. Cooper," I answered. I thought that I had made that obvious, but I guess not.

"King George confirmed Cooper's story…" my father interjected, almost as if he was finally catching up to the conversation. I looked over to him; he looked uncomfortable in his chair.

"Dad? Are you ok?" He was squirming in his chair, while reaching a fist up pound lightly on his own chest.

"Heart palpitations…" Gold offered with no sympathy whatsoever. "He'll be fine."

"Oh, and you're a doctor now?" I threw the dictionary to the floor and I got up to move closer to my father; concern for my father was building up in my chest. "Dad?"

My father smiled at me, "He's right, heart palpitations."

"What the hell? You have no idea that he is right, come on we're taking you to a hospital." I reached my hand around my father's arm to guide him up from the chair.

"Sit down, Miss Swan." Oh no, this imp was not going to tell me what to do for my own father.

"No, I'm taking him to the hospital. He needs help." I began to argue but Gold cut me off.

"All he needs is for your mother to stay in one place. Text your mother and tell her to go back to the loft."

I was about to let loose on the older man, when my father grabbed my wrist, "do has he says text your mother. I can't go to the hospital, not here. They won't understand."

"Won't understand? Won't understand what Dad?" The concerned question came out of my mouth but it was followed by an instant realization. My father only had half of a heart; half of my mother's heart. I quickly pulled out my phone and sent her the text.

"As long as your mother is alive and in Storybrooke, Miss Swan, your father will be fine. She has to stay where there is magic, but as she moves around the town and goes closer to the border of the town your father will begin to feel the discomfort while he is out of confines of Storybrooke. He won't die unless she leaves town. At all times one of them must stay within the borders of the town, where there is magic. If they both leave the town at the same time…"

"They will both die…" I finished. Now I understood. I hadn't even thought about my father's heart when we left for Augusta. I could have unknowingly killed my father. I quickly followed up my panicked text to my mother with a more calm explanation. In her response, she confirmed that she was going back to the loft. She had simply gone for a hike in the woods. But since I had just scared the shit of her, she promised that while we were gone she would stay near the center of town. It was amazing to watch my father's symptoms subside as my mother moved closer to the center of Storybrooke. "I guess we'll always know where to find Mom…that makes the whole family mantra a little more manageable," I mumbled more to myself than to my father or Gold. "Now back to you and the medal" I said turning back to Mr. Gold, "and what's with the dictionary?"

"That, my dear, is for you to look up the word reset." Oh so now he was patronizing me.

"I know what the word reset means," I picked the book up from the floor and tossed it onto the top of the desk.

"No, I don't think that you do," he pushed the book back in my direction. I looked over to my father who nodded silently telling me to do as the older man was instructing. I reluctantly reached for the book and pulled it back in to my lap. It didn't take me long to find the word among the pages. "Read the definition aloud, Miss Swan."

I rolled my eyes, but did as he said, "to move something back to an original place or position." I looked up at him to try to gauge his reaction. "Ok. So what? I already knew that."

"Does that definition say anything about changing anything?" he asked still obviously patronizing me.

"The prophecy said that the event reset would change everything as we know it to be." I tried to defend myself, but he just laughed at me. I looked to my father who was now holding my hand a little tighter. It was his way of giving me support to continue without snapping Gold's neck.

"Inference, Dearie, inference."

"Inference?" My father's loud tone startled me. "Are you saying that the prophecy was misinterpreted?"

"What I am saying," the man began to explain, "is that people drew the conclusion that resetting an event in time would change everything. And that was true."

"But you just said…"

"It would do you a bit of good to keep quiet and listen, Miss Swan." I closed my eyes and gave him a frustrated smile that made it obvious that I was biting my tongue, willing him to continue. "It is true that resetting an event in time has the ability to change events as we know them. But resetting the event was just as the definition states, putting something back to original position. You reset the event to its original place; it was up to the people involved in the event to make the same decisions or different ones. Different decisions from the original ones would have changed the outcome as we know it."

"Whoa…hold on a minute here. Back up…" I closed my eyes and clenched my fists as I tried to wrap my brain around the words that just came out of the imp's mouth. "Did you just say we already reset the event?" I couldn't believe it, when the hell did JC and I reset this event and why didn't we know that we did it? "You're talking in circles again" I hollered at the man, as I got up and began to pace the room.

"I most certainly am not, talking in circles, as you say. Did you not take the time to process the words of the prophecy? You and JC were meant to bring back the bond of the twin brothers, since each of you were their eldest child. When you brought back that bond, the event would be reset."

I let out a breath that I didn't even know that I was holding when the realization hit me, "we did it as kids. We were foster siblings, but we became so close, he took all of the beatings for me, he protected me. Essentially, he became my brother…and we brought back the bond."

"How? We were not in Storybrooke and there was definitely no magic in this land," I asked. My mind was reeling, none of this was making any sense to me.

"You are very powerful, Miss Swan. You are the only person that I know who had magic in this land before I brought it to Storybrooke."

"I did not, that is definitely something that I would have noticed growing up," if the man hadn't proven himself to be correct about things on so many occasions I would have argued that he was making all of this up.

"When you were a kid, how many times did you walk into a room and the light bulb blew? How many times did you touch something electronic it would seem to 'malfunction'?" His questions made me think of the time that I was with Ingrid at the carnival and the crane game seemed to have the electricity go through it like it was shorting out and suddenly it occurred to me, that I seemed to go through a tone of light bulbs in every house that I lived it. I never paid any attention to it as a kid; I just thought that the company made lousy light bulbs. He continued to talk "Do you remember the night that you came to Storybrooke?"

"I was angry with Henry and slammed the car door. The transformer on the overhead power line blew…" I said with realization. I had always had magic.

The room was silent for a long minute. It was my father who finally broke that silence with one simple question, "what event did they reset?"

Mr. Gold picked up the medallion and tossed it back to my father, "drop this on the swan and find out."

I was suddenly full of so many questions, I didn't know where to begin, and I started throwing them at Gold in a rapid fire. "So what was the point in all of this now? What does any of this have to do with King George getting his son back? If we already reset time, why did pan have Mr. Cooper attack me and try to kill me? Were different decisions made? What does this mean for King George lying in that hospital on the respirator?" I noticed that during my barrage of questions he looked away causing me to have one additional question. "What did you get out of all of this?"

"Not telling."

"No! You don't get to get out of this that easily. You have manipulated my daughter's life since the minute she was conceived and you're not even going to have the decency to tell her why?" I tried to catch my father's arm to stop him, but he was too quick. He moved behind Mr. Gold's desk and pulled him from his chair. He had the older man pinned against the wall.

"Dad…stop! Let him go," I hurried behind my father. I put my hands on his upper arms trying to pull him off Gold. "Dad, he's not worth it. Just let him go."

"She's right," Gold squeaked out between labored breaths. "I'm not worth it. I have made your lives miserable for my own gain. And what do I have to show for it? I don't have Bae, I don't have Belle. I have nothing. So why don't you just do me a favor and just kill me? It's what you want to do anyway, so just go through with it."

My father loosened his grip letting the man fall from the wall that he was pinned against. "That would give you too much satisfaction. Wouldn't it?" It was clear that my father's statement was not a question. "Let's go, Emma." My father said as he turned my shoulders and pointed me toward the door. "We need to get JC to Storybrooke."

I turned and gave one last look to Mr. Gold he was standing with is back toward us staring out of his window. "Are you coming?" I asked. He turned just enough for me to see the profile of his face.

"It's not time, yet," he responded.

"I made a deal with you to take you back Storybrooke, and I always uphold my end of a deal. I'm going now. This is your chance, take it or leave it." We had been in this position before, but this time I was holding the ace.

"When the time is right, I will be in touch, Miss Swan." With that he turned back to the window.

"Suit yourself…" I said as I followed my father out of the office.

As we stood and waited for the elevator, my father turned to me, "you alright?" he asked.

I linked my arm in his, "yeah, I think I am. Let's get JC and go home."