He returned to the shop with books galore, books he'd have to hide before Belle got to the store tomorrow. When he arrived, he looked out over his work, over the clocks on the table and the books he'd pulled, over the hat that sat there in its container. The work was piling up but Ingrid…

Belle was none the wiser to the fact he had the hat because he was managing to keep her busy. The Apprentice was the next greatest threat to him concerning the hat, but now that he had a name and a location, he had no intention of allowing that man to be a concern much longer. The next greatest threat was Regina, but he hadn't seen her since his wedding night and given the drama with Robin Hood and Marian and even Henry, she appeared to be occupied at the moment. Then there was the Charming Clan, of course. If something looked even the slightest bit amiss with him, then they'd be on his doorstep, especially given the fact that Hook was looking more and more like one of them every day. This appearance of Elsa was good for him. Ingrid was keeping them distracted, but if her plan wasn't going the way she wanted and it fell through…fuck that family could ruin everything.

The work was piling up. But if Ingrid failed to keep Emma running around, then the work would be a lot more difficult than he needed it to be. Fuck…

After making sure the proper spells were set on the shop, he reappeared in the ice cream shop. Ingrid wasn't there, of course. He hadn't expected her to be, but he'd gotten a whiff of her magic when he'd been in earlier, and that was all he needed to be able to track her. It was remarkable…no wonder no magic user in town had managed to pin down who she was or her abilities. The front room was clean of her magic for the most part, but in the back room, he nearly slipped on the floor. Frost clung to the walls, icicles hung from the ceiling, and the floor was almost pure ice; he would have needed rubber boots to walk on it. He'd have to hand it to the Ice Queen, she was likely saving thousands every year in her electric bill.

He didn't feel the need to stay long, simply took in the feel and scent of her magic, let himself identify it and familiarize himself with it, then let his magic guide him to what he'd hoped would be Ingrid herself.

But instead of finding Ingrid, when he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in front of a great wall of ice, one that smelled of her magic and stretched out endlessly in either direction. A quick glance around the street in the middle of nowhere told him what had happened.

He'd assumed that if he wanted to find her he had to go to the largest source of her magic there was. But, right now, that wasn't Ingrid, but the ice wall that she'd constructed around the town. It was impressive. Thirty feet high, at least. He figured he'd need about five minutes to bring it down. So long as he had the right tool, he could maybe do it faster. Her magic was nothing next to his own. But for his own sake, he wasn't going to bring that wall down. He wanted it up. He wanted to let Ingrid keep the others running around. He hoped that she was keeping them running around, but he couldn't confirm that until he found her!

He reached out with his senses once more. He tried to tune himself back into her magic, not the largest bits but something smaller. Once more, he allowed his magic to carry him away, and this time, he found himself standing in the middle of a muddy mess.

He resisted the urge to cry out in disgust at the mud puddle he'd landed in as he sidestepped to get out of it and found himself slipping on harder, frostier ground. Once he had his footing, he realized where he was. He was in the middle of the forest. It was dark but the trees were so thick he couldn't see stars through the canopy. The only sound was that of the bugs and other wildlife scampering about, running from the frosty path that lay ahead of him.

It was blotchy and inconsistent; it went a few yards ahead, then ceased, then another few steps of frozen footprints, bare footprints, and then ceased again. Blotchy and inconsistent, he followed it with his eyes until he saw a flash of white up ahead, exuding the magic that he'd felt in the back of that ice cream shop.

Ingrid.

It was no wonder he'd found her, she wasn't even trying to shield her magic, or herself for that matter. When he'd seen her earlier that day, she'd looked utterly normal, every bit a citizen of Storybrooke, shirt and pants, white apron fitting for her job. But now she'd traded her clothes for the pure magic wrapped around her. It was a white gown, something that he might have seen her wearing that last day he'd met her in Arendelle. The collar was high, and the train extended feet behind her, threatening to snag on a branch or rock, but instead, it only left behind a trail of glistening moisture where each catch would have been.

She kept walking, moving ahead without taking notice of him. And so, he decided to move himself. He took note of her passage and where she was heading and then moved himself into the path ahead of her, where he sat on a log and waited. The Ice Queen of Arendelle was a tricky one; he wanted to be every bit the villain she'd likely grown up hearing stories about around her. That was how he was going to keep her in check. When she passed by, he let out a burst of his own magic, something that wasn't easy to ignore, something that was just enough to make her do…that.

She paused. Her head moving back and forth as he imagined she was looking for him, knowing she wasn't alone. Finally, she turned and her eyes landed on him.

"Don't worry, dearie. It's only me."

To his surprise, she remained cool and collected. She offered no greeting in response, just staring at him as her heart beat betrayed the internal shock she felt.

"Sorry things didn't work out the way you wanted," he stated, choosing his words as carefully as he could. He wanted to provide bait that she talked, but he didn't want to question her. He wanted to leave her with the impression that he knew all too well.

She looked him up and down quickly, one smooth flick of her eyes as if assessing the threat that he might be. He was without a doubt a threat, but his hope was that he wasn't going to come off as one, at least not in this moment.

"They will," she answered calmly.

He held back the smile that wanted to push its way onto his mouth. So, she was going to continue in her efforts. Delightful. But would her efforts be enough to act as the distraction he was going to need?

"We shall see," he mused, rising to his feet. Perhaps with just the right amount of pressure, she'd fold. "And uh…did Miss Swan remember you?"

She paused for a heartbeat as he approached but didn't allow him to startle her as he did when she was a child. That, on its own, spoke far more than her single word of "no" ever could.

"Well, that's good for you," he smiled. "Because it could happen. And you wouldn't want that, now, would you?"

There it was. A small hitch in her heartbeat. It was subtle, easily missed for someone who hadn't studied magic as long as he did. But it told him enough. Whatever their interaction was that made her wipe Emma's memories of her away wasn't a good one. Was she sure she had as much control over the situation as he needed her to have?

"Are you sure you don't want my help?"

"When I'm ready to make a deal, I'll come to you," she answered quickly without missing a beat.

He felt the corner of his mouth rise in happy amusement. "A moment I eagerly await," he beamed.

Oh no, she most certainly was not done with this. Which meant that he was free to keep exploring the hat and all he could use it for. But only so long as she kept busy. With any luck that was why she'd come out into these woods in the first place. Every good villain needed a secret lair. Where better could she be than the woods?

"Now you should find some shelter," he encouraged, watching her face go white in fear for a moment. A lair was most certainly where she was heading to. "It's getting quite frosty," he excused before stepping away from her.

This was going to be fun.

I know that this scene is one that we've seen before, and it's a short one, but hopefully, with the inclusion of that previous interaction Rumple had with Ingrid, this interaction now makes sense. Without that previous encounter, it looks good on TV but doesn't really come together right.

Thank you, Rsbeall12, for your continued reviews and welcome back Grace5231973! It's always nice to know that there are still people out there reading! Up next we start the 4x04 chapters. There will be some filler there as well. It's funny how, in approaching this fiction, I thought it would be so easy to write because Rumple was either on screen or could be tracked in the in-between time through Moments, and then it turned out there was plenty to invent. Not nearly as much to invent for 4B, but that's another fiction. Peace and Happy Reading!