I am sorry for the lack of update last night.

I am a dog walker Monday – Friday and by the time Friday night comes I have walked in excess of 50 miles for the week so you will have to excuse me, I was a bit tired but as you can see I typed this up this morning for you so I hope you can all forgive me.

As always please review

Enjoy

David pulled up outside Gold's shop just as Belle was opening the door to enter, she gave him a little smile and paused to hold the door for him obviously guessing that he was coming for their statements. He was about to jump out of the cab when a sudden thought him, should he really take the gem stone into the Dragon's Lair? Deciding against it he pretended that his cell had rang giving a shake of his head and a sigh before looking at Belle through the windshield and giving a slight shrug. She just motioned that she would go inside and the minute she was out of sight David stuck the cell back in his pocket taking out the stone instead. He rolled it in his fingers looking at it carefully, had it changed color? It has been dark both times he had seen it before so he wasn't really sure but he thought that it had been a deep red color not blue!

He just gave a sigh, what did he know about magic gem stones?

He then opened the glove compartment and carefully hid the thing under the junk before finally heading inside.

"Morning David" Belle said in a somber tone "I just came from Regina's. How is Killian really doing? He wouldn't give me a straight answer but he looks terrible"

"Yeah he's good at that, avoiding the subject" David replied raising a brow but then he just gave her a smile "He'll be up and about in a few days. He got a concussion and a whole load of new bruises but apart from that nothing major, he'll be fine Belle, don't worry"

Belle's face fell "David, I saw the rope marks around his neck. Why would anyone do that to him after what he went through the last time?"

"I think that's EXACTLY why they did it" David said with a sigh "Look I'm here for your statement anyway, I need to investigate this properly, try and find out why Tootles went crazy. Where's Gold?"

David looked towards the back shop expecting the man in question to show up but Belle gave a little shrug "I'm not sure, he said he would be here by now, he must have got held up. Would you like some tea? I'll just put the closed sign up while we do this"

She walked quickly to the door locking it before turning the sign over, she briefly peeked through the blinds but obviously couldn't see her husband because she just turned back and headed for the back room. David followed pulling out his little note book.

Half an hour later they both looked up when they heard the bell ring but David actually stood up and walked through to the front shop when he heard Henry's voice.

"So I thought that if anyone could help it would be you Grandpa..." he trailed off when he suddenly saw David "Grandpa! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing Kid, you are supposed to be with Grandma and Junior!"

Gold chimed in "I did try to tell him Sheriff but he was being quite stubborn"

"I only wanted Grandpa Gold's help, I was trying to find an old ship lamp, you know like the ones on the Jolly. I noticed that the laundry room only has really bright LED lighting and Junior gets scared of the dark"

His Grandson really was a wonder but still, David didn't want him anywhere near Gold without anyone else there.

"That's a great idea Kid but you should have stayed with Grandma. You could have called me, I would have asked for you"

David dug his cell out of his pocket and called Mary-Margaret who sighed in relief when he told her where Henry was, she promised to come and get him right away so he could carry on working but by the time David had hung up all thoughts of statements were lost as Belle floated around the shop trying to find what Henry was after.

"Here..."she cried bringing a very nice ornate lamp out from below the counter "What about this one?"

"That is amazing" Henry said with his eyes going wide "How much is it? I want to buy it. Sort of like a welcome to the family gift but I'll need to owe you the money, maybe I can do some chores, you know help out to pay it off"

"That sounds like a fine idea" Belle answered straightening herself up and looking at him proudly "You are a good big Brother Henry, Junior is lucky to have you. I will get this in a box before he gets here shall I?"

"Awesome" Henry said turning to David with a wide grin that faltered sightly when David just raised an eyebrow "What? Did I do something wrong?"

"Grandma was freaking out Henry"

"But I do this all the time!" he said tipping his head in confusion "Why is she freaking out now? I would have gone back in a minute"

"Because she didn't know where you were and Junior was getting antsy Kid, it's not just about you anymore" he replied, it sounded a bit wishy washy but he couldn't really say that she was freaking out because Devin was on the lose, not when Gold was standing there.

"Sorry" Henry said letting his head fall in shame

"It's OK Kid" David said dropping his hand onto Henry's shoulder "Just let Grandma know where you're going in future and I'm sure Junior is gonna love that lamp"

Gold mumbled under his breath as he moved behind the counter "A Pirate that is frightened of the dark! What next?"

David rounded on him in a second "Junior is not a Pirate, he is NOT Hook. He is five years old Gold and he's just been pulled away from everything he has ever known so why don't you just give the Kid a break"

"My apologies" He said bowing his head "You are right, he is very lucky to have found a "family" that care for him so deeply"

Something in the way Gold spoke got David's back up "And what do you mean by that?"

"Nothing, nothing at all. I was just thinking that families come in all kinds of forms and that he is lucky that he found all of you. I mean could you imagine if instead of coming here he had perhaps found himself appearing somewhere that our Dear Captain had once frequented... perhaps, say... a ship at sea... the Enchanted Forrest... or Neverland!"

David seethed inside gritting his teeth. What was Gold talking about? He drew in a breath and held it trying his hardest not to let his face show any emotion then he gave a casual smile

"Yeah, that would not have been good but it didn't happen. He's here and this family sticks together, right Kid?" David said tugging a grinning Henry into his side "and we won't let ANYTHING happen to him. He has his whole future to look forward to here and NOTHING is going to stop him from having that"

Gold gave him a smirk, what was he up to?

The door behind them chimed and Mary-Margaret suddenly bustled in tugging a reluctant Junior behind her.

"Henry!" she called out pulling him into a hug "Don't you do that to me again, one minute you were there, the next you weren't"

"I told Junior to tell you I'd be back in a minute" Henry whispered

"Yes which made me think that you'd gone to the washroom. What do you think I thought when you didn't come back?"

"Sorry Grandma... I just... I needed to come here without..." his eyes floated towards

Junior who had come across to David and was now hiding his face against his legs, this Kid really didn't like Gold.

"OK, no harm done" David said stooping down and hoisting Junior up into his arms "Let's say we get back to the house? Regina was planning on baking cookies"

He expected Junior to at least ask what cookies were but he just stayed quiet looking around the shop with a look of fear on his face and when David looked too he could probably see why, the place was quite dark and there certainly were quite a lot of scary things about.

"You OK Kid?" he asked giving Junior a little bounce to get his attention.

He just turned and looked David in the eye and gave a little nod before his eyes were moving again but after a few seconds Junior's head dropped onto David's shoulder with a sigh as his arms snaked around his neck to cling on tightly

Mary-Margaret rubbed his back gently "It's been a big day already, I think we should get back, someone needs a nap"

"I'll come back tomorrow Gold, I still need to get your statement" David said turning to look at the man who was staring at Junior with an expression David didn't like.

As if it would help protect him David brought his hand up onto Junior's back and turned him away from the Dark One's gaze, he made to follow Mary-Margaret and Henry who were making their way out the door but the man behind him suddenly spoke stopping David in his tracks.

"It would seem that fear of me runs in the "family", both old and young cannot seem to bear being in the same room as me"

Junior suddenly sat up and turned to look at Gold with some defiance "We are not scared of you Crocodile, we just see you for who you are when others do not"

Gold just gave a smirk and twirled his hand giving a little bow before raising a brow at David "Not Hook you say? I beg to differ"

With that he strode through the bead curtain and out of sight, David gave an apologetic look to Belle but she didn't seem to care as she walked from behind the counter.

"We'll see you tomorrow David."

He gave a quick nod and headed out the door holding his mini Captain Hook in his arms. David gave a wide grin the minute they were outside bringing his hand up to tickle the kid.

"You called him Crocodile Kid, Killian is gonna be so proud" he laughed then got serious "But be careful, don't push him. Killian shows him respect for a reason so next time you call him Mr Gold OK."

"Aye Sir" Junior said letting his smile fall for a second before he frowned again lifting his hand to his head "But he is a bad man. I see it in here... he killed Milah"

"I know Kid but sometimes we just have to show respect even if it is not deserved..."

"And because he his Henry's Grandfather and he loves him" Junior said sincerely looking at Henry who was gripping onto his box like it was something precious.

"Right" David said with a smile

"What are you two chatting about?" Mary-Margaret suddenly asked steering Henry back from the curb

"Man stuff" David said putting Junior down with a chuckle "But we were done so let's get back and get those cookies baked"

Right on cue Junior gave a little bounce "What are cookies Grandpa?"

"Delicious kid..." David said ruffling his hair "Now come on, the truck's just over here, let's go"

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Rumple took his pocket square out and rubbed it over the handle of his cane removing the last of the copper colored stains from it before leaning it against the table and dropping down into the chair. Devin seemed to have learned his lesson well, it had only taken a few strikes to have the Lost One begging him to stop.

They had been lucky that no one had realized that "Tootles" was in fact Devin but Rumple was still livid at the fact that Devin had used a rope on the Pirate, it had been one step too far that may raise questions but after the Lost One had received a bit of his own medicine it seemed that he had finally got the message... no more prodding the Pirate until Rumple said so and only then with explicit instructions on how to proceed.

Rumple brought a hand up to his pursed lips and thought of the young Jones boy. He had seemed so defiant while under the protection of the pretend Prince just like his older self... full of bravado when he had others with him but Rumple had seen a different side to the Pirate while in that cave. He had seen his oldest enemy crumble before his eyes just from the image of one boy.

He smirked to himself... Captain Hook, what a joke.

Deciding that he should perhaps try to pretend to carry on with his "research" he turned to the pile of books that he had placed to one side. He had hidden a book in there when Belle had surprised him earlier, he had come across it in the bottom of an old trunk in the back shop that morning and it actually held some pertinent information regarding the gem and Blackbeard that he wanted to hide it before Belle came through.

He froze when he suddenly realized that the stack of books was gone.

"Belle!" he called out

She stuck her head through the doorway with a questioning look "Uh-huh?"

"The books that were here" he pointed trying not to look too concerned "Where did they go?"

"Oh, I sorted through them earlier" she said walking to his side "What one were you after? They went to a few different places"

"I... wasn't looking for a particular one" he said quickly "I just hadn't had a chance to look through them yet"

"Phew..." she said with a sigh "I thought I'd done something wrong. I had a quick look and took a few over for Henry, there are couple in the front but the rest are back at the library, do you want me to bring them back?"

"No no no" he said trying to stay calm "No need for that"

She smiled and made her way back to the front shop and he got up to follow grabbing hold of the first thing that came to his hand from the pile of brick-a-brac on the floor needing to be sorted so that he had something to "study" as he tried to figure out where that damned book went.

"And how is Henry's research going?" he asked lightly

"Good, we made a bit of headway yesterday" she replied looking up at him "but one of the books I took to him today looked promising."

Rumple's stomach dropped but he gave her a smile and carried on like they were just having a normal conversation "Oh yes and why's that?"

"It seemed to have a lot of information about Blackbeard in it." she replied then frowned deeply "Did you know that there was a Blackbeard in this realm too? He also went by the name Edward Teach."

"Really? How strange" Rumple tried to sound surprised but of course he knew that there had been a Blackbeard in this realm...

He had after all been the one to send him here!