WARNING: References to non-con/rape in this chapter.

Chapter Four—"No More Happy Endings"

"Lacey." Gold answered the phone in surprise, knowing that number the moment he saw it. He'd avoided thinking about her, particularly last night, but now every memory Gold had of Belle's Storybrooke self bubbled to the surface. He hadn't expected Gold to know Belle here. He hadn't wanted Gold to know Lacey. The entire idea had been for them to stay apart, and then Gold had gone and fallen in love with her! He had known that letting Cora cast the curse had risks—particularly for himself and Belle—but Rumplestiltskin had taken precautions to keep his True Love safe…the first of which had keeping his alter ego away from hers.

"Hey," his beloved's voice said warmly. "Are we still on for tonight?"

Damn. Gold had plans with Lacey, didn't he? He often did, much though the pair of them hid that from, well, everyone. The only person who knew they were together was Renee—

Shock, need, and sheer terror almost tore Rumplestiltskin's legs out from under him, and he staggered over to the stool at his worktable, barely managing to sit down before he collapsed. His cane clattered uselessly to the floor, but he didn't notice where. For a long moment, he couldn't manage to say a word; too many emotions were rolling through his mind, too many memories. His memories. Gold's memories. Belle and Lacey merging together, the same beautiful face dancing through his mind over and over again. Gold and Lacey finding one another, falling for one another, hiding their love because something told them both it was dangerous to let others know. No. It had been dangerous to let Cora know, because Gold had been stuck in the same horrid trap Rumplestiltskin was; he just didn't know why he was trapped. And then there was the beautiful little girl who was caught in the middle of this terrible mess.

"I, uh, well…I think I'm going to have to cancel," Rumplestiltskin said, finally finding his voice. But just saying the words made his heart clench.

"Why? Is she…?" Lacey was used to that, Gold had known. Their plans almost never panned out because Cora's presence was a constant shadow marring their happiness.

"I suspect she may, yes," he replied as honestly as he dared. Perhaps Cora would not call him tonight. But perhaps she would. Or, as things began to change, Cora would notice his relationship with Lacey…and that would endanger Belle. And her daughter.

What if she already knew? Rumplestiltskin felt cold. The possibility certainly existed, but the thought alone was enough to make his hands shake. Cora might already know, or she would find out. Either way, that meant he had to stay away from both Lacey and Renee. Cora's revenge would be as vindictive as it would be swift, and Rumplestiltskin would not risk those he loved.

"Then…when do you want to meet? Lunch tomorrow, maybe? You haven't come to the library in a long time, and no one will think twice if you do."

The hopeful note in her voice was enough to break his heart. Rumplestiltskin had never been strong—Belle had always had the strength in their relationship—but he had to do this. For her sake. Closing his eyes, Rumplestiltskin scraped up the courage to say:

"I don't think that's a good idea, sweetheart." Don't call her that! If he did, he'd never do this. "I think…I think we should be careful for a while. Not see one another."

Lacey took a long moment to answer, her confusion painfully plain. "But why? We've always been careful, Gold. Why now? Did I do something? Did she?"

"I just…I just think it's what we need to do." With an effort, he turned his voice hard, banishing the tightness in his chest to the back of his mind. "Goodbye, Lacey. Don't call again."

He barely managed to hang up the phone before he could catch her response, but not before Rumplestiltskin heard the pain in her voice. Lacey was not Belle, but she was—and that meant she was the center of his very dark world. And he had just hurt her. Willfully. Purposefully. Coldly. He wanted nothing more than to cross the street, go to the library, and wrap his arms around her, saying over and over again how sorry he was…but he couldn't. Wouldn't. Above all else, Rumplestiltskin had to keep her safe, and if that meant staying away from her, that was what he would do. Even if he broke his own heart in the process. Even if he needed her so badly that it burned.

Slamming the phone down on his workbench, Rumplestiltskin dropped his head into his shaking hands. He couldn't do this. He could—No! He wouldn't even think of that option, no matter how carefully he had prepared for it. Cora in power had turned out far worse for him than Rumplestiltskin had ever dreamed she might be, and he had to keep them safe.

The phone rang again, making his head snap up, eyes wide and hopeful. If it was Lacey, he wouldn't be able to stop himself from apologizing, from heading to the library and—

It was Cora.

"What do you want?" he snapped. Gold knew better than to ignore her.

"My, you sound out of sorts. Is everything all right?" she replied with false concern.

"Everything is quite all right, dear. It's so kind of you to ask," he growled, forcing himself back on balance and ignoring the chill that ran down his spine upon hearing Cora's voice. It really was quite pathetic that she could affect him like that, but Rumplestiltskin had never handled feeling powerless well.

"Oh, lovely. Then you're free tonight?"

The words made him tense, but she had not phrased it properly. Cora was offering Rumplestiltskin—or Gold, as she thought—the chance to come to her willingly, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. Particularly not after talking to Belle. "I'm afraid I have other plans."

"What, sitting at home by yourself? Don't be ridiculous." Rumplestiltskin could hear her laugh, and knew what the next words would be before Cora said them. "Do say you'll join me tonight, dear."

The magic was instantaneous; he might not want to, but now he had to. The feeling was much like falling. There was only one place to land, and he had no choice. Still, he could infuse a good bit of sarcasm in his response.

"I'd be absolutely delighted to."

Rumplestiltskin slammed the phone back down on the workbench before Cora could gloat, hoping that it broke with the impact. Unfortunately, the offending piece of electronics remained stubbornly intact, leaving him to stare at it in helpless rage and despair. If he closed his eyes, images of the previous night would start dancing before his eyes—crying out in pain, struggling against the bonds holding him, a gag stuffed in his mouth and Cora laughing—so Rumplestiltskin did not let himself. He just stared, feeling his temper building as the voice of his curse whispered darkly in his mind. It didn't like being helpless, either. Not at all.

4 Years, 2 months Before the Curse

"Rumplestiltskin!"

The voice that called his name was hauntingly familiar, and startled him out of the spell he'd been concentrating on. A quick wave of one hand quelled the potion as it started to boil, killing the magical reaction before it could get out of control. He'd probably pay for that later, but his loss of concentration had already ruined the potion, so discarding it the quick and easy way was just smarter than doing it the hard way. Besides which—

"Rumplestiltskin?" her voice called again, and he wasn't imagining things. She sounded so uncertain that his emotions got the better of his common sense, and next the Dark One knew, he was standing in the entrance hall.

Belle looked real enough, but he knew that she couldn't be. Belle would never be in the Dark Castle again; like a fool, he'd let her go, told her to go to town. He hadn't wanted to, but he loved her, and he couldn't stand to keep her prisoner any more. She wasn't stupid enough to feel the same for a lonely old monster; ergo, she would not have come back. Even if Belle had taken leave of her senses and returned, she certainly wouldn't be wearing such a form fitting warrior-like outfit. Still, the pants and tunic she was wearing did compliment her quite nicely, and it took Rumplestiltskin a moment to tear his eyes away from this not-Belle apparition. He'd dreamed of her impossible return too many times in the two months since she left; clearly, his subconscious desires were getting the better of him. Still, he'd never hallucinated before, and Rumplestiltskin knew better than anyone how some people really did have identical doppelgangers out there. Just look at his two Prince Jameses! So he cleared his throat.

"You called, dearie?" he asked as casually as he could, as if he stared stupidly at Belle-like women every day of the week.

"I came back," the woman said, and Rumplestiltskin blinked. The words did not process.

"Uh, come again?"

"Exactly. I came back." And there was that smile, a little hesitant, but it was Belle's smile, and he looked at her even more stupidly.

"Err…I let you go," he said rather foolishly.

"I know." Now she was the one who swallowed nervously. "But I ran into a dwarf, and we had a good talk about not letting go of what you love. So I came back."

She'd said three sentences. He heard three words of it. Rumplestiltskin stuttered: "What you…love?"

"Why did you let me go?" Belle countered, her voice barely above a whisper. Finally, she moved towards him, stopping barely an arm's reach away and staring at him with big blue eyes.

He would drown in those blue eyes if he wasn't careful.

"Because I, uh…I…" He had no idea what he was going to say.

"I know there's a darkness that's taken root in you, but can you love? I know that you loved the son you lost—that you still do. Is there room for anyone else in your heart?" Belle asked softly, and Rumplestiltskin could see the bravery shining out in her eyes as she put her heart on the line. "If I love you, can you love me?"

This was it. He could lie and send her away, could try to avoid answering and effectively do the same, or he could risk his own battered and blackened heart by being honest. His last attempt at love had burned him so badly that Rumplestiltskin had sworn to himself that he'd never love again…until Belle walked into his life and changed everything. Rumplestiltskin swallowed hard. Don't make yourself vulnerable, the voice of his curse whispered in his mind. She'll end up just like Cora. She only wants your power. They all do. She doesn't want you.No one would want you. Pushing the voice aside was impossible. No one will ever love you! No one but Bae, the precious boy who he had abandoned for power.

He had the same choice again, didn't he?

"I, uh… Why else would I have let you go?" Rumplestiltskin finally managed to say, feeling vulnerable and helpless and hopeful for the first time in ages.

"You love me?" she gasped, her beautiful eyes going wide.

There was nothing suave about his nod, nothing controlled or certain, but suddenly Belle was in his arms, and if that wasn't the best feeling in the world, kissing her was. Because she was kissing him, hesitantly and wonderfully, and this was Belle. Belle had said she loved him, and his heart was absolutely singing with joy. Power surged through his bones, and for a moment it was absolutely wonderful, until something began to shift.

Rumplestiltskin stumbled back a step, letting Belle go in his haste and reaching a hand—a pale, unscaled, normal hand—up to touch his face. It was changing. "What?" he stuttered. "What's happening?"

"Rumple?" Belle sounded as confused as he felt.

But he wasn't confused. There was only one explanation. True Love can break any curse. The thought itself was overwhelming—Belle was his True Love?—but it was also terrifying. He needed his power, needed it to make sure the curse happened, to find Baelfire, to protect himself from his many enemies. Don't let her do it! Stop her! Kill her! the curse screamed in his mind, but its voice was fading rapidly. Even as Rumplestiltskin stared at his hands, the scales continued to disappear and his black claws slowly became human fingernails—No! He had to stop this.

Baelfire. I need the curse to find Bae. He never even examined the irony of using his love for his precious boy to hold onto the darkest curse in all of creation; Rumplestiltskin just focused on that, focused on his rage over having lost his son, and pulled the curse back to himself. Wide-eyed, he watched as his hands slowly returned to their accustomed form, sharp black claws replacing those fragile nails and scales replacing skin. Reaching up to touch his face, Rumplestiltskin felt the lines of it changing back, felt the ugly darkness returning and power flooding back into him. The breath he hadn't known he was holding tore out of him in an explosive gasp of relief and regret, and he felt the curse of the Dark One return to full residence within his mind and body.

Kill her! it screamed again, knowing that the woman who stood in front of him was the most dangerous foe the curse of the Dark One could ever face.

"Rumple?" Belle asked again, interrupting his thoughts. "What just happened?"

"I…"

He should throw her out. Lock her in a dungeon. Kill her. Be rid of her forever, so that she wasn't a threat to him—

No. Somehow, his love for Belle overrode the curse's desire to be rid of her, at least for the moment. She looked confused, not disappointed, completely mystified by what had just happened. She didn't know what she was doing, Rumplestiltskin realized. Neither of us did. And she'd almost broken his curse without trying. That could only mean one thing, one terrifying and beautiful and amazing thing. This wasn't just love. This was True Love, the most powerful magic in the world. That sudden realization, and his acceptance of it—for why else could the overpowering warmth within him silence even the most insistent cries of his curse for blood and destruction?—tore a high pitched giggle out of Rumplestiltskin. He didn't need the bandit princess and her shepherd prince to make a True Love potion. He could make his own!

"Are you all right?" Brave girl that she was, Belle stepped forward again, placing a hand on his arm. His head snapped around to look at her, and Rumplestiltskin somehow stepped on the desire to start laughing manically.

"Oh, yes. Aside from the fact that you just nearly broke my curse"—another laugh ripped out of him, uneven and uncertain—"I'm perfectly fine. Are you?"

"Of course I am!" Now she was looking at him like he was a little bit mad, but that didn't surprise Belle any longer, so her glare was rather piercing. "Your curse? What curse? And how would I break it?"

"This curse," Rumplestiltskin replied, making a sweeping gesture at his own grotesque appearance. "The curse of the Dark One. You didn't think I was born this way, did you?"

"You keep telling me that you're not a man," she pointed out reasonably.

"Ah. Well, I'm not, but I was." A warning prickled in his mind; the last time Rumplestiltskin had told a woman he was in love with too much about his curse, it had not ended well for him. Clearly Belle needed some explanation, but that didn't mean that he had to tell her the gory details, or about the dagger. Definitely not about the dagger. "What you see is the result of the curse. That darkness you spoke of…that's the curse. And your kiss, a kiss born of True Love…well, True Love's kiss can break any curse."

That almost seemed to stun her into silence, and for a moment, terror made Rumplestiltskin's heart hammer in his throat. She loved a monster. Could she love a man cursed into a monster? After a very quiet moment, Belle whispered: "We're True Love?"

Relief made his eyes go a little wide, and he nodded. Every child in the Enchanted Forest had grown up on stories of True Love, but so few of them ever actually found it. And yet he had. True Love for Rumplestiltskin. How…unlikely. "It would appear so," he answered nervously.

"So I could free you?" Belle caught on fast, and her expression was eager as she moved forward as if to kiss him again. Rumplestiltskin skittered back, tearing his arm free of her grasp.

"No!" he shouted before he could stop himself, the word coming out far more forcefully than he intended. Belle blinked, looking hurt.

"Why not?"

"I need the curse," he answered, driven to honesty by the confused pain on her face. "Without it, I'll have no magic, and I need the curse to find my son."

"Oh."

Another long moment of silence passed; Rumplestiltskin did not know what to say. He wanted to kiss her again, but there was no way he could dare. He might have been able to push back the effects of their kiss once, but there was no guarantee that he could do so a second time. A second kiss might very well undo him, and he needed the magic to find Bae. The world could not be so cruel as to make him choose between the two of them, could it? Against all odds, he had found a woman he loved and who loved him; would she leave him because he was cursed? Belle had been able to fall in love with the monster, but…

Of course the world could be that cruel. It always had been to him. Rumplestiltskin braced himself.

"Do you want me to leave?" Belle whispered unexpectedly. He'd just expected her to say that she was.

"No," he admitted just as softly.

Belle stepped forward to take his hands as Rumplestiltskin's heart hammered in his throat. "Then I won't," she promised. "And I won't kiss you, either, if you don't want me to."

"You won't?" Rumplestiltskin echoed stupidly.

"I believe we made a deal before I left, about what you would do when I came back," Belle replied with a smile. "That means you owe me a story, Rumple."

Although he knew exactly what story she meant, Rumplestiltskin was tempted to pretend he didn't. The last thing he wanted was to admit to his own cowardice, to tell her how he had lost the one person who he loved more than life itself. But she was looking at him so trustingly, and Rumplestiltskin could feel Belle opening her heart to him. Could he do any less than trust her a little? He wasn't going to give up his curse—he couldn't!—but maybe he could give her this. She had come back, after all, even though the beast had let her go. Beauty had returned.

So he told her.

"You can't possibly believe a word of this," Emma snapped at Regina the moment Henry skipped out of the room, heading off to find the Book (it was definitely capitalized, given the way Henry talked about it). David was off doing whatever it was he did at the animal shelter, and that left the two women alone in the living room of the Nolans' extremely large house. Emma, however, was done being intimidated by her birth son's rather rich family after two nights under their roof, and she had had quite enough of listening to Henry go on about the supposed fairy tales behind the town of Storybrooke.

"Henry does," Regina answered. Rather evasively, Emma felt.

"So? I'm not asking what Henry believes. I'm asking if you buy into this fairy tale crap."

Henry's adopted mother sighed. "Look, Emma, this probably isn't something we should talk about right now. If Henry hears you saying that you think he's crazy for believing this—"

"I didn't say that," Emma objected.

"You didn't have to," the other woman retorted. "It's written all over your face. Look, Henry's in counseling—my mother insisted on it after the first time he tried to run away two years ago. He's not crazy, but this is important to him. Doctor Hopper believes that he uses those stories to express complex emotions, and that if we crush Henry's belief system, it will do more harm than good. So don't you dare say that to him!"

"Take it easy, Regina. I'm not going to go tell Henry he's crazy or anything. I'm just…worried about him, I guess," Emma admitted. "I mean, it looks like he's got a great life here and great parents. But he's obsessed with fairy tales, and he thinks they're real. Can't you do anything about that?"

Regina's smile went very crooked. "Believe me, I've tried."

"That doesn't sound very promising."

"Oh, it isn't." Henry's mother laughed briefly, and Emma got the feeling that there was something she wasn't saying. Regina wasn't lying, not exactly, anyway, but she was definitely leaving things out. Then again, who would be willing to spill out all of their childrearing secrets to a woman they'd met all of two and a half days ago, even if she did happen to be the birth mother of her son? Frankly, Emma was more surprised that Regina hadn't tried to run her out of town right away. She never would have expected the other woman to let her get to know Henry for Henry's sake. Regina really didn't seem like the type of person who was terribly good at sharing, and Emma had a feeling she'd already gotten on Regina's last nerve.

"I've got an idea!" Henry's voice interjected before Emma could call Regina on the omission, and their son—Regina's son. I just gave birth to him. Nothing more!—barreled into the room with the book in his arms. He was all smiles and laughter, and Emma had to admit that the kid was really engaged in this fairy tale stuff.

She just wished it was something normal, like computer games or sports.

"And what idea is that, Henry?" Regina asked, turning to him with a smile.

"We need to give this operation a code name, so Grandmother doesn't figure it out," Henry replied seriously. "I mean, she's the Evil Queen. She's going to try to stop us from breaking the curse."

"Henry, that's not a very nice thing to say about your grandmother," Emma chided him when Regina said nothing.

Much to her surprise, the dark haired woman rolled her eyes, and muttered: "But not always far from the truth."

"Yikes. Do I want to meet her?" Emma asked, feeling her eyebrows go up.

"No!" mother and son answered together.

"Okay, so I can see that's not a great idea…" She took a deep breath, and looked back at Henry. "Kid, I think a code name might be going a little too far. And besides, I'm heading back to Boston in five days. Shouldn't you talk to your parents about this one?"

"I can't talk to Dad about this. I already tried. He'll just think I'm crazy, like Mom used to," Henry replied immediately.

Emma looked at Regina, narrowing her eyes. "What made you change your mind?"

"Many things," the other woman answered evasively, but luckily for her, Henry was too excited to dwell on that right now. He steamrolled right over Emma's question and Regina's response as if they didn't matter, grinning.

"I think we should call it Operation Scorpion," he announced. "And you can't leave, Emma. You're the Savior! You're the one who has to break the curse and bring back the happy endings."

"Y'know, for a town that you say has no happy endings, your parents seem to be doing pretty well," she countered, and was surprised when Regina grimaced.

"But they aren't," Henry replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They're not even supposed to be married. "Dad is actually my grandfather—he's your dad. And Mom is your aunt. Or step-aunt. She's your mother's older stepsister."

"What?"

Emma looked at Regina for support, but the other woman just shrugged. "I could have told you that it gets weirder," she said drolly.

"You do believe me, don't you, Mom?" Henry asked quietly as Regina tucked him into bed. David and Emma were still downstairs talking, but Regina had taken this moment to spend alone with her son, knowing that Henry needed someone to talk to and unwilling to let that be Emma. Oh, Emma seemed nice enough, but she really didn't know how to deal with an insecure ten year old, which left Regina to soothe Henry's fears.

"Of course I do, sweetie," she reassured him, sitting down next to him on the bed.

"Why? You didn't before."

"Emma showed up," Regina admitted slowly. She had to be careful what she said—much though she loved and trusted her son, he was only ten. If Regina told him that she remembered everything, he'd get terribly excited, ask a thousand questions, and then possibly say something in front of her mother that would give the entire thing away. She knew Henry wouldn't intentionally betray her, but Regina also knew firsthand how manipulative Cora could be. Henry not knowing everything would only protect them both.

"There's more, isn't there?" he asked perceptively, and Regina smiled despite herself. Henry really was such a clever boy, absolutely amazingly so. There were times that he utterly astounded her, both with his compassion and his smarts.

"I know my mother, and it all makes sense." She didn't like telling Henry half-truths—and she knew that Henry would like it even less—but what else could Regina do? You can tell the truth, a voice inside her head that sounded awfully like her sister said. There were so many reasons she shouldn't tell Henry…but Henry also deserved to know the truth. "I actually…I actually might remember the Enchanted Forest, and life there."

"Really? Are you just humoring me?"

"No, sweetie, I'm not. Though I do think you're right in that your father won't understand. Not yet. I didn't, before I remembered."

"Do you really remember being Princess Regina?" Henry asked, staring at her inquisitively.

"Yes, I do. I'll tell you about it someday—but not at bedtime. I promise." The spontaneous hug warmed Regina's heart, and as much as she had once been against the idea of letting the Dark Curse happen, now she firmly believed that it had been worth it, if only for Henry's sake. The thought made her feel a little guilty, but not too terribly much when her son was in her arms.

"Okay!"

"But no talking to your dad about this. He doesn't remember, and he probably will think you're crazy."

Henry shrugged philosophically. "He's really my grandfather, not my dad."

"He's your dad, too, you know. Even if it's not in your book, it counts," Regina pointed out. "Am I less your mom because I didn't give birth to you?"

"Of course not."

"Then how's it different with your dad?"

"It just is. I guess." Another shrug. "Doesn't mean I don't love you both, though. Even if I could do without Grandma."

That startled a laugh out of Regina. "I probably shouldn't say this," she said with a conspiratorial smile, "but there are times I agree with you."

More than a few of them.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate hearing from you. Next up, Chapter Five: "Never Again", where Rumplestiltskin and Cora square off in the present. In the past, Regina tries to escape her mother's plans, Snow tries to help, and Rumplestiltskin and Belle continue to build their relationship.

Here's a few notes for anyone who might be confused:

1. Belle never ran into anyone on the road when she was leaving Rumplestiltskin, so she made the decision to come back after talking to Dreamy.

2. Cora's curse created Lacey French as Storybrooke's librarian and a single mom. No heavily drinking barfly here.

3. Regina and David are not actually a couple. They got cursed together by Cora, but back in the Enchanted Forest, David and Snow are married. Emma is still their daughter.