Rumplestiltskin had thought he would need to wait till Monday to get himself out of jail. It wasn't like he couldn't afford it. So, color him shocked when the morning following his visit from Regina, Sheriff Swan unlocked the cell door.

"Letting me escape? How daring." he said. Emma scoffed.

"Please, I'd happily let you sit behind bars for a good while longer. The look suits you. Unfortunately, someone paid your bail. Looks like you have friends after all."

"Who?" he asked standing up.

"Anonymous. The only thing they said was to pass this on." Emma held out a piece of paper to him and he saw to his surprise that it was a passage from Alice in Wonderland with a print of the Mad Hatter at the bottom. Well, that answered that.

"That clear thing up?" asked Emma.

"Crystal. Though I'm afraid that's my business." he replied. "Might I have my cane now?"

"If you promise not to go around beating up any more innocent citizens," said Emma though she did return it.

"Moe French is far from innocent. But I'll do my best to contain myself." he said dryly. Emma rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. You're free to go." He began to limp away when her voice stopped him.

"That cup you were holding. That's what he stole isn't it?" Rumple turned back.

"Indeed."

"And you got it back right after your little talk with the mayor."

"I think we both know who orchestrated the robbery, Miss Swan." he said.

"But why?" Emma's eyebrow was raised.

"I told you I'm a difficult man to love," he replied.

"No, I get that I mean why beat a man nearly to death over a CUP? I get you being pissed about getting robbed but you aren't the type to just lose it. Not without reason. What's so special about that cup you'd go to jail over it?" Rumple regarded the Savior. Weighing his options.

He was under no obligation to tell her anything and quite frankly he didn't want to. But at the same time a voice. A voice sounding suspiciously like Belle pointed out that perhaps opening up could be a good chance to gain a little genuine trust with the Savior. Something that could come in handy.

He leaned on his cane.

"I'll make you a deal."

"Oh no! I don't want answers that much. I already owe you one favor." said Emma immediately and Rumple chuckled.

"Actually, I think you'll like this one. I'll tell you the story of this cup and afterwards. If you decide that it's been worth it. You tell me the story of that Swan pendant of yours." he watched as her hand flitted to the pendant which he recognized as having once clearly been a key chain. He could see her trying to look for loopholes in his wording. Well, she was smarter than most people then.

"OK fine." Rumple limped over and leaned against the desk next to the Savior.

"Would you believe me if I told you that I was once in love and even stranger loved in return?"

"Oh, so there was a her," said Emma referring to his earlier dismissal of her overhearing him yelling at French. Rumple snorted.

"Yes there was. She was the most wonderful woman I ever met. Funny, beautiful, clever far too good for me as I told her many a time. She was one of the few people who was completely fearless of me and I loved her for it. When we first met I made a...well rather morbid joke and she dropped the cup chipping it. After that I found myself only using that cup. Later she would say that it was a representation of our love. Imperfect but beautiful."

"Sounds like you had something good. What happened?" asked Emma. Rumple smiled softly as he thought of his love.

"We did. Unfortunately, I lost her. Which is all I'm willing to say on the matter. But this cup is all I have of her. To lose it, would be to lose her again." He glanced over and saw Emma looking at him shrewdly, evidently trying to search for any deception.

OUAT

Emma couldn't deny being curious about what the hell had made Gold snap. I mean for Christ's sake she'd threatened him and he'd barely twitched an eyebrow. So when he'd offered her the deal. One in which she in fact had an out, well she took it. Curiosity killed the cat be damned.

She listened as the pawnbroker poured his heart out staring at the chipped cup with a fondness and love she remembered from when she was in love with Neal. Emma tried to see if he was having her on but she didn't detect a hint of falsity in his story.

Bloody hell. The poor man was grieving. It didn't justify nearly beating Moe to a pulp but it certainly made a little more sense. She also wondered if by any chance Moe might have had something to do with Gold "losing" this lady love. Either way she never imagined she'd feel sympathy for the man. Yet here she was.

"I'm sorry you lost her." she said at last. Gold nodded.

"As am I. A forced separation is never easy." Tell me about it thought Emma. Technically Neal had dumped her but she hadn't left him willingly and had been quite torn up originally. She toyed with the pendant.

"I don't tell your story and you don't tell mine?" she said firmly. Gold's lips twitched slightly.

"Of course."

"This necklace was a gift from Henry's father. I keep it as a reminder never to trust anyone again." She did wonder if giving this information to Gold was smart. But she did know that if nothing else he honored his agreements. He wouldn't spread it.

"Strange how keepsakes affect us. Remind us of those we care for in different ways." said Gold thoughtfully before standing up properly. "Well, I'll let you get back to work sheriff. It's been an enlightening morning. I'll try to ensure you needn't bring out the handcuffs again."

"How considerate," scoffed Emma before turning back to her paperwork. Wait. Was she bantering, with Gold? Oh GOD! It was too early for this. She needed coffee NOW. That ought to shock her back to reality where Gold was the town monster and she certainly didn't find his dark quips even slightly amusing.

OUAT

Rumple was cleaning a watch in his shop a week after his release. He was preparing to orchestrate the temporary disappearance of Kathryn Nolan, also known as Princess Abigail per the request of the mayor. Though little did Regina know this would all backfire not long after she tried to frame Snow White known as Mary Margaret.

The bell to his shop tinkled and in walked Jefferson and Pip. Pip walked more towards the back of the shop while Jefferson approached closer to the counter.

"Can I help you today?" asked Rumple. Jefferson raised an eyebrow.

"Oh we're just browsing though I appreciate your help from last time." This of course, referred to the one other visit the Hatter had made to the shop looking for a gift to woo Fae. Rumple had suggested a wooden pipe which had indeed belonged to Pip back in their realm.

"Of course." he answered. Jefferson turned to look at a model spinning wheel.

"You know I feel like there are a lot of fairytales involving these things. Sleeping Beauty of course."

"Paige has always preferred the tale of Rumplestiltskin," chimed in Pip. The Hatter nodded.

"Yes, it features in that one too! With that woman having to guess his name. I wonder if he had any other titles. I suppose given the tale talked about him stealing children one could say he was rather dark."

Rumple's eyes narrowed the Hatter was clearly doing an impression of being subtle in an attempt to see if Rumple was awake perhaps without alerting Pip. Well he might as well take pity on his old friend.

"Yes, he was a Dark One." he replied and watched Jefferson's face split into a grin. Then Pip's voice rang out.

"Really I expected you to drag that out for longer Rum." he turned and to his surprise saw real recognition in the eyes of his old friend.

"Well, well, well. Welcome back Pip." he said a smile twisting the corners of his mouth.

"Told you I'd see you on the other side," said the blonde bypassing the counter to embrace him. Rumple returned the hug before turning to Jefferson who clapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry I know I'm not scary or cute enough to get away with hugging you." Rumple snorted before limping over to close the blinds and lock the pawn shop door flipping the sign to closed.

"I must say I find myself a bit confused as to how the pair of you regained your memories. My trigger was woven into the curse." Jefferson smirked.

"Well, it was really the old Evil Queen's arrogance that did it. See she decided that the best way to make me suffer would be to make sure I was the only other person in town who knew what was going on. Forced to watch my daughter and wife live their life away from me not knowing who I was and if I got near them Alice here wouldn't be receptive in the slightest."

"Until the Savior came and the curse began to weaken. It allowed me to be open minded to seeing Jefferson who as you know has been trying to woo me."

"Successfully it seems," said Rumple. "Do continue."

"Well as you know a good old fashioned TLK requires knowledge and intent to break a curse as well as for both parties to have feelings for one another." said Jefferson.

"I know how true love's kiss works Hatter." Rumple drawled. Pip jumped in swiftly,

"Yes, the point is, since Jefferson knew I was cursed and was able to stir up the feelings of love between us even without my memories, his kiss was able to override the curse on ME."

"Sadly since you made the Savior the only safety valve our kiss didn't do much for the wider town but...I got my wife back," said Jefferson with a grin.

"Fascinating," muttered Rumple. So individual true love if it met the right conditions could override a single person's curse.

"So the gang is back together it seems, the Hatter, the Piper, and the Dark One," said Pip with a smirk.

"My, my, now that is something Regina was not expecting," chuckled Rumple. Jefferson clapped his hands together.

"Right, now how do we go about getting this curse removed? Because I would like my daughter to remember me."

"She already knows you are her father," said Rumple conversationally. Jefferson raised an eyebrow.

"Really?"

"You two didn't realize that's why she's been so eager for the pair of you to go out?" said Rumple and Pip clapped a hand to her forehead.

"Clever girl! She believes Henry's book remember!?"

"Well, that's actually rather brilliant but I'd still rather she get her proper memories back and this curse get broken."

"The curse will only be broken by the Savior. Ideally, she needs to become a believer." said Rumple.

"Which won't be easy since she's one of the biggest skeptics I've ever met," said Pip with a sigh.

"I've already got a plan involving the Savior going. No what I want you to do is to help me locate Belle. Jefferson, you don't know where she is do you?" he asked. The Hatter shook his head.

"Sorry, I've seen just about everyone, including Victor Frankenstein of all people, but Belle is a no show. She can't be dead right?"

"No Regina couldn't kill anyone in the curse. I actually have a false memory of someone like Belle but she supposedly died."

"Wait Lacey French?" said Pip suddenly.

"Precisely. I remember Mr. Gold knowing and supposedly losing Lacey French but I don't think she's actually dead."

"You're right, you know Regina was rather unoriginal when you think about it. A lot of what goes on here mirrors the Enchanted Forest," said Pip. "In which case just as when she said Belle was dead in the Enchanted Forest and was lying she's faking it here."

"I've searched through the town hall records but there's nothing. However, I thought that Regina herself might have some records of the people in town..." began Rumple.

"So you need your two favorite thieves to go do a snatch and grab." Finished Jefferson with relish.

"Precisely," said Rumple.

"That won't be easy, she's got the house all wired up. I saw once when I picked Grace up for a playdate. We wouldn't have time to search for anything before Emma was alerted." said Pip.

"So we need a way in without actually breaking in in traditional fashion," said the Hatter. The three fell silent and then Rumple had an idea.

"Pip, you've interacted with Henry the most do you think he inherited his grandmother's inability to keep a secret?" Pip shook her head.

"No the kid's actually quite sneaky. He was able to get to Boston because he and Grace ran an operation to nick Snow White's credit card." at this the three shared a snicker. Like parent like daughter curse or no. Then realization dawned on the Hatter's face.

"You want to let the kids in on the fact we're awake..."

"To get Henry's help breaking in!" finished Pip. Rumple pursed his lips. "It's a gamble. The boy might let something slip. But I'm willing to take that risk to find Belle."

"Well, it's your plan so your call boss," said the Hatter and Pip tilted her head in agreement. Rumplestiltskin nodded.

"I think it's time young Henry got some validation on his theory."

Author's Note: So our favorite trio are back in fine form! (Scenes like Pip waking up, and the break in at Regina's will be in the Pip/Jefferson story I'm tentatively planning) I also am swapping the placement of the events of Fruits of a Poisonous tree to AFTER Skin Deep as opposed to right before (Which is relevant for the next chapter). Lastly I'm quite looking forward to writing some Emma and Gold scenes I loved their early dynamic and I felt it got lost in later seasons. If you like the story please leave your thoughts in the comments! Until next week!