Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez and Ghost Shadow
--
Regina rounded the corner to find Henry behind bars, just as Robert had said. She found her head swiveling to look over at Robert's desk, but found it empty.

[i]Coffee run at Granny's[/i] Regina found herself thinking. Keeping her hands stuffed tightly into her coat pockets, Regina pushed forward and approached the cell, looking down at Henry.

The man in question sat on the metal frame that counted as a "bed", his back leaning against the wall. His coat had been strewn on the floor for some time now, leaving him in a simple dress-shirt and waistcoat. As he looked up to see Regina walk in, an almost devilish smile crept along his lips - almost as if he hadn't just been an emotional wreck a few hours ago.

"You know, if you were so intent on kissing someone, you could have always come back over." She jabbed at him a bit coldly.

"Well, I like to spice things up a bit, [i]Your Majesty[/i]." He replied simply. His words sounded taunting, but his tone was nothing but conversational, friendly even.

"That's not to say--" he began, standing up, "--that you were anything less than enjoyable." He finished, planting his hands in his trouser pockets. 

A muscle in Regina's lip twitched at the term 'your majesty.' She had only just gotten used to Mr. Gold using her correct title when they were alone, and it was just all the more...strange when someone she didn't even know the true identity of used it so freely.

"Who [i]are[/i] you? How did you get here?" Regina found herself asking him.

"And why would I tell you that?" Henry asked, feigning shock that she would even [i]dare[/i] ask such a thing. "To give you leverage? No...I think I'm fine. My name is Henry Carlyle, I took my car here from New York." He answered, pacing about the cell nonchalantly. 

"[i]He[/i] put you up to this didn't he? Somehow, the Imp got to you..." She observed outloud, her eyes narrowing at him between the bars. "I bet he told you to call yourself Henry too, in an effort to get close to me. Well it might have worked to begin with, but I'll tell you one thing right now Henry, is that you are looking at quite the sentence and you will be out of Storybrooke by morning...and I didn't even have to frame you to do it. Your own, stupid whims got you here, which makes this all the more satisfying."

Henry ignored her observation about Rumpelstiltskin, his face giving away no details as she spoke. "If you're so confident, then why feel the need to gloat to me?" He asked her, his face almost dark in expression. "You're [i]scared[/i]." He added on in a voice that was nothing less than venomous, truly unlike his character. 

"I just had one question." Regina said, her own expression mirroring his own but hers was more out of determination than anger. "Why her? Why [i]that[/i] patient?"

"I do believe my client is done answering questions for the evening."

Regina jumped, turning around to find Mr. Gold not ten feet away from her and leaning heavily on his cane with a stone-faced expression. His dark brown eyes looked past Regina to Henry and he nodded once in a slight greeting.

"Henry! How are you holding up?" He asked, almost sounding...jovial.

Regina's jaw nearly dropped, did she just hear him right?

"Client?" She asked, shaking her head in an effort to clear whatever it was that was blocking her ears.

"That's right, I'm taking over Mr. Carlyle's case Mayor Mills." Mr. Gold said with an affirmative nod, drawing his attention from Henry and back to Regina. "Isn't that right, Henry?" He then called out just a bit louder towards Henry.

"Quite right, indeed." Henry affirmed, smiling widely - though this smile didn't emanate cheer or friendliness, but malice and spitefulness. 

"Why?" Regina practically demanded. "Why on earth would you-" She cut herself off though, remembering their last conversation she had with him and her eyebrows furrowed, and Mr. Gold just smiled lightly. Regina stomped over to Mr. Gold, stopping only when they were just a breath's width away from one another. Her eyes glared intently into his, but neither said a word for a good, solid minute.

"Fine." Regina said at long last, as if finishing a thought that might have been a silent conversation between their minds. Mr. Gold then watched as Regina pushed past him, and called out behind her, "I won't make this easy for you Gold! You'd do well to remember who you're triffling with!" And then she was gone, leaving Mr. Gold and Henry alone in the quiet confines of the otherwise empty sheriff's department.

"What a charming woman." Mr. Gold said in the direction to where Regina had just stormed off, pleasantry still holding in his voice.

"Figured she'd be a bit more compromising after our interaction. Guess not." Henry replied nonchalantly, picking his coat up off the ground and moving it onto the bed. "Dare I say, Rumpelstiltskin - I'm quite pleased to see you." He said in a tone that hinted disbelief at his own words. 

Mr. Gold looked back to Henry, palming both hands on the handle of his cane as he looked upon Henry with a slightly confused expression.

"Usually I just have that effect on women..." He replied without even so much as a hint to whether he was joking or not. He took the next moment to lift his cane and began walking towards Henry's cell so as to have a proper conversation. It was remarkable really, how easy it was for him to sneak into a room without the loud clanking of his cane hitting the floor as it now was doing.

"Don't let Regina scare you with her words. She's a powerful woman, yes, but you've got a powerful attourney. I heard about what happened, and offer my services if you'll have them."

"Gladly." Henry replied simply, completely confident. "The hospital incident was a...slip-up. I let my emotions cloud my judgement." He admitted guiltily. The pain of not having Snow White for himself caused him great distress, but the emotional torment now seemed to harden him; callous up as the real mission became more and more apparant. "I may not be her true love-"

Mr. Gold made a quiet scoff, mumbling under his breath "That much is clear..."

"-but I owe it to her nonetheless to break the Curse, and that's precisely what I'm going to do." He finished, ignoring Gold's sarcasm, pretending to have not heard it. 

"Her? No my dear boy...you owe [i]me[/i]." Mr. Gold responded, using his thumb to gesture towards his chest, his voice a growled snarl that would remind Henry that he was both Mr. Gold [i]and[/i] Rumpelstiltskin. He then took in a deep breath, letting his eyes close for a moment to keep back the sudden anger that suddenly became evident in him, and clutched his cane a bit tighter.

At this outburst, Henry's face tightened severely, like a deer looking in the face of a wolf. 

"I'll be leaving you here for a few days, but your case has already been resolved. Who's to press charges anyway? As her emergency contact, Mayor Mills is the only one within a position to do so, but I have yet to make a deal with that woman that she's been able to refuse." He stopped to smile, as if thinking back on something. 

"If you think you can deter her, I'll let you work your magic." He said, then winced visibly at the unintentional pun he just made.

"The people of Storybrooke need time. No doubt Regina's ferret of a reporter will be filling the morning paper with your over-exaggerated and highly inappropriate actions at the hospital. You'd be safer [i]behind[/i] bars then out in front of them. Once things have calmed down, I'll sign for your release."

"Sounds well and good. Last thing I need to do is run into that bloody security guard. That man can stare daggers." Henry said as a respectfully fearful compliment. Mr Gold then made a point to match the very expression that Henry was describing. "I can't believe I'm saying this, Dark One...but thank you." He said with a curt, but gracious nod. 

"Here, it's just Mr. Gold." He corrected Henry. He wasn't The Dark One, not without magic; a painful reminder that he was still so far from reaching his ultimate goal. A thousand years of planning, and waiting, and to this day still so far. His body seemed to deflate, just slightly as Mr. Gold turned to leave the Sheriff's office, having no more business to discuss with Henry, though a particular file on the sheriff's desk caught his eye. He limped over to the desk, picked up the file and read it over. His face remained completely vigil, though he immediately crumpled up the paper and stuffed it into his suit jacket pocket before once more taking his leave.

"Mr. Gold?" Henry signaled, raising his voice just slightly as he saw the older man turn to leave. "I just have one question for you - my name..my [i]real[/i] name. Why can't I remember it?"

Mr. Gold stopped abruptly, his back seeming to stiffen as he thought his answer over.

"Because you have no desire to remember anything of what has passed." He answered simply, a small tug of guilt coming down on him, glad to at least still have his back to Henry. He left it at that though, and Henry was then rewarded only by the sound of Mr. Gold's cane clinking down the hallway and eventually out of the building.

Henry could do little but watch as Mr. Gold left the Sheriff's office, the [i]clang[/i] of the door closing only amplifying his solitary confinemnt. 

"But I want to remember everything." He said to himself in a hushed whisper, as if saying it any louder would give away the words. And in that very moment, he could almost imagine his sister next to him, keeping him company.