He coddled Neal as Belle disappeared into the back room to prepare for her day. When Belle had shown amazement at his parenting muscle memory, he'd shrugged it off, but once she was in the shower, even he found himself surprised by it. When Neal fussed, he used the pattern of "sh" that he once had for his own son, two short ones and one long drawn-out one. His body remembered how to pull one shoulder up over the other to compensate for weight distribution. And when the child finally fell asleep, moving about the apartment to finish his preparations one-handed, well…it had been far more challenging when he'd had to have a cane in his free hand. With this Neal, it was almost too easy.
Until…
He was working on getting the coffee maker out when the water to Belle's shower turned off, and he felt it. A magical alarm began blaring somewhere in the back of his head. The shop. Someone was in the shop. Someone with magic that his own recognized all too well. Emma.
As Belle dressed, he moved quietly to the living room window that faced the Pawn Shop and looked out.
Nothing.
The lights weren't on, the shades weren't raised, the sign wasn't flipped. It looked no different than it had when he'd left it yesterday. Emma's bug wasn't in sight, but in his mind, he knew that she was in his shop. For what reason? He couldn't tell. But there were more than a few reasons he didn't particularly care for her to be snooping around there.
He set Neal into his crib to hopefully sleep until David or Mary Margaret returned to collect him, put the coffee maker away, and grabbed his coat just as Belle came out of the room, freshly showered and dressed. She peered into the crib to check on Neal as he patted one of his pockets, searching for the keys to the shop.
"Do you really have to go?" she whispered sadly. Her eyes darted into the crib, betraying her desires before her words could. "What do I do without you when he wakes up?"
She wasn't asking him to stay because she wanted him around for herself. She was asking him to stay because she was under the impression he was the superior babysitter. He'd learned that during the night. She was wrong, of course. He was just the more experienced babysitter. More time alone with Neal would fix that.
"Belle…" he sighed as he moved to her and squeezed her arms reassuringly. "Babies sleep through much greater things than people talking."
And to demonstrate that, he made sure not to whisper his words. That was an instinct most parents had: to whisper when their baby was asleep and tip-toe around the house. That instinct was also quick to go by the wayside when parents realized how limiting that behavior was. Besides, as Margery had once told him, that behavior made light sleepers, which wasn't always a good thing.
"And when he wakes up, you'll know what to do. Trust your instincts." He squeezed her arms again before letting go and heading to the door. "Before I go, I'm going to put a stronger protection spell around the library, just in case Emma-"
"No! No, if Emma comes back or anyone needs me, they need to be able to get me without a problem," she argued. "Besides, after yesterday…I don't think Emma will come here for me or her brother."
But she'd go to his store and linger? Something wasn't right. And when things weren't right, he would much rather leave Belle with the strongest protection possible. But then again, this was Emma, not the Evil Queen, not Zelena, not Ingrid. She wasn't hiding or resisting him, she seemed to be just waiting for him in the shop. Just this once, he supposed he could control the situation.
"Well, if that is your wish, I won't bother." But if Emma made a move with her chaotic magic in the direction of the library, he wouldn't be held responsible for his actions. "At least promise me you'll stay here for the day, where it's safe."
She smiled as she nodded in agreement. The deal was struck. And without further discussion, he left the apartment for the day. He didn't look back. He couldn't.
Emma's presence in his shop was still there, still overwhelming his senses. He would have figured she'd be in and out of that shop in a heartbeat. But it was going on ten minutes at least now. And as he approached the shop, he could feel the place electrified with magic in discord. Hell, he could practically see it! The whole building was sparking and sizzling with the sensation of power left undirected. Like electricity sparking for a broken wire, ungrounded. What was she doing?
Cautiously, he opened the front door. His eyes followed the odd sound of clicking to a sewing machine that he kept out for sale. It was frantic. It's needle piercing an invisible fabric over and over again despite no one being there to run the petal. And the way the lights were flickering, toys were spinning...
Such power! The hair on his arms raised and-
A click behind him had him turning to look into a film projector that had just flickered on.
Emma was nowhere in sight, though the evidence of her presence was obvious. It was like the scene of a horror movie in the shop. This was chaos. Power without grounding. Not even Cora had been capable of this.
"If you're trying to hide from me, Ms. Swan, you're doing a poor job!" he called out.
"I'm not hiding from you. I'm hiding from everyone else."
The girl crept quietly out from the back room. Her silence was a miracle in and of itself, given how tense she was. Her shoulders were hunched, every footfall started on tiptoe, and her hands were curled inward as she shifted her gaze around. The Savior was on edge. More than she'd ever been before. Aware of every single movement of her body and terrified at what the wrong one might do. That was a new look on Emma Swan.
"Ah. So, Belle tells me. She was watching Neal all night."
"While my family was searching for me, I know. My magic is hurting people, Gold…people I love. I need you to help me control it."
"What makes you think I'm your best option?"
"Because I…hurt Henry."
Something inside of his gut flipped without permission, and his heart leaped into his throat. The extra magic in the air made his arms tingle at the pronouncement.
"What?" he questioned, sauntering around the counter, getting closer to her; the beast within began to claw. Roused by anger and fear and potential devastation, he prepared to attack, to hurt, to kill over his flesh and blood. All the while, the Dark Ones inside him discouraged that course of action. There's another way! They agreed. But he…
Emma hurt Henry…perhaps he should have acted sooner, done more to protect his family than just making sure Henry go to the Charmings first.
"I…he's okay, but it was just luck. You're probably the only person who's safe around me right now. I need you to help before I hurt anybody else."
Safe. His fear eased as logic regained control of his body. Of course, Henry was safe. Magic, even out-of-control magic, required intent. Even if her magic had put the boy in a life-threatening position, her instinctual magic would have been to save him from that magic somehow. He might be hurt, but he'd still be alive. This time, at least.
This kind of uncontrollable magic was dangerous and powerful. And while he could think of a dozen ways to rid the world of it, dozens of spells and potions, hell, even lessons he could teach, there was still one very specific way to rid the world of it for good that was coming to his mind. One way the Dark Ones were practically shouting at him, one way that advanced his own plans in a way that wouldn't cast doubt onto him with Emma in her current state.
But to do that to the woman that Neal loved, the mother of his grandchild-
It's for the child, is it not? Zoso hissed. Neal may have loved this girl once, but he loved the child even more. He'd want you to take care of him. This is how to ensure his safety!
Besides, another chimed in, she's a Savior, they never live long anyway. At least this way it's not letting the magic go to waste.
"There's only one way to help with this affliction."
"Well, just fine. Do it."
"You haven't heard what I have to say."
"I don't care," Emma breathed desperately, foolishly showing her hand. "My son is in pain because of me. Just fix it."
Well…if whatever she'd done left Henry in pain and she was begging...the monster within roared to life once more, and he grabbed at one of the spell books he'd unknowingly put his hand on.
She'd said he could do what he needed to do, and indeed, in this flash of anger, it was tempting to get the hat and give her exactly what she asked for. But he couldn't.
Not here. Not now.
It was too messy. He hadn't survived all these years being messy in his schemes.
He didn't know if anyone had seen Emma come into this shop, didn't know if she'd told anyone of her plan, didn't know if any lose strings would connect him to all of this later. Loose strings absolutely could not be tolerated. He needed a better plan. And he had one. He always had been a quick thinker.
From within the book, he picked out a piece of loose paper that had been folded into quarters. It was a tonic for hair loss, not that Emma would know that unless she happened to have learned to read Trollish in the last year.
"This…this is an ancient spell," he lied, showing her the paper with unreadable markings. "It's designed to take away Light magic from those who choose to part with it, but the effect would be permanent."
"So, I'd lose all my magic. I'd be…"
"Ordinary."
A shadow of fear danced in her eyes at the pronouncement, but still…she leaned in closer to the piece of paper, looking it over as if she was capable of reading it. Without warning, a smell, like something was burning, began to fill the air.
Her magic.
"But…your magic would no longer hurt the ones you love, and you would be able to embrace your son…"
Suddenly, Emma let out a gasp as her nostrils flared, and she pulled her hand off the book it had been resting on to find that it was her skin smoking. She examined her hand, looking for the burn, only for her eyes to fall on the book itself and the new, freshly burned imprint of her hand. That couldn't have been more perfectly timed if he'd planned it himself.
"Do it," she snarled angrily.
"Well, unfortunately, Savior magic doesn't go quietly. Though the spell won't hurt you, it will destroy almost everything else within a city block. That would make for quite a macabre sight at Granny's, don't you think?"
"So let's find somewhere else out in the woods."
For as smart as she loved boasting she was, Emma Swan did have a terrible habit of playing perfectly into his hands when he needed her to. He would love to know exactly what curse Ingrid had planted on Emma to affect her magic and make her ignore reason as she was, but given the fact that it was working in his favor at the moment, he opted to forgo the knowledge. A decision that pained him more than he expected.
"As you wish," he muttered. "I think I know…just the spot."
A spot that would get her out of his shop, drive her out of the city, onto a property that he had nothing to do with as far as anyone could tell, and hours from now so she could make a few more appearances to the townspeople. It would be perfect. For him, anyway.
He pulled a map of Storybrooke from the counter and flattened it out before taking a pen and circling the spot for her. "Here…it's an abandoned manor. Right here. You meet me here at sundown. And I'll have everything prepared."
"Thanks, Gold," Emma sighed with perhaps the smallest iota of relief in her tone. "Please don't tell anyone I was here."
He struggled not to laugh impishly at her foolishness. Of course, he wouldn't tell anyone. It would benefit him greatly not to.
"Don't worry about me, dearie. It'll be our little secret," he assured the girl before she turned and left out the side door. Still, despite the laughter of the Dark Ones in his head, he couldn't bring himself to smile as he took the paper with the hair tonic on it, crumbled it into a ball, and threw it in the trash.
And just like that we are into 4x08 where the numbering for the episodes starts to go a little wonky. Sorry, I'm a little bitter because it had a tendency to throw off my notes throughout the writing process. It made my job twice as hard.
Thank you, Grace5231973 and Rsbeall 12, for your reviews on the latest chapters. I know this one is mostly something we have seen before, with a little bit of an extra kick thrown in at the beginning, but there are a few things I hope you'll find enjoyable. I enjoyed writing the bit about him tricking Emma with the book. It's such a silly little detail, but it's so Rumpelstiltskin. Let me know what you enjoyed! Peace and Happy Reading!