It took a bit, but Mr. Gold finally got his head back onto his shoulders when it came to everyhing that had happened to Belle. She told him everything that had happened after he had told her to leave his castle. He flinched a few times at the mention of the wedding and the tragedy that Gaston had undergone, but said nothing to the fact that he had been involved with Gaston's death, or even that he was there at the wedding to begin with. The only thing that kept his poker face from breaking entirely was that her (now late) husband was no longer around to pose a threat; to take her away from him. He really had to try hard to keep from smiling as he savored those thoughts, knowing it wouldn't look right for him to smile as she explained Gaston's death. That would all be a discussion for never. He was just happy to see that she still wore the golden rose hair pin that he had made for her (without her knowledge of course). It wouldn't do her any good here in Storybrooke, as there was no magic, but it at least eased his mind that it had gotten to her safely despite Mushu's death.
He learned about her time in the woods, and about her transformation into the beast in her very own village. He learned about a shadow man and a werewolf in a red cloak who had saved her from destroying everything, and helping her in the barn after she had changed back. He also learned of the old woman that pretended to be a relative of Gaston and gained her trust only to find out that it was Regina, and enslaved Belle to take to her tower. And then he learned about the switch Regina had made in order to really get under his skin.
That malicious bitch.
With Rumpelstiltskin brought up to speed, he realized just how much he had been keeping from Belle. His turning a man keen on avenging his kingdom into a rose and presenting her with it in his castle, his real reasoning behind forcing her to leave The Dark Castle, his jealousy at their wedding, his hand in Gaston's death, his fault that she now held the curse of the beast, his watching over her until he found a practical solution that didn't mean losing his own powers in the process of the enchanted rose and many, many other smaller things that would never be discussed if he could help it. Why should they be discussed? It would only be taking a multitude of steps backwards when they were now striving to step forward.
Instead, he in turn told her all he could about Storybrooke; about Regina's curse and how life here was a bit different. He didn't go into as much detail as Belle did when she recounted her story, as he felt that those details weren't at all necessary...and frankly not needed because in the next half hour, he estimated that things would be changing very drastically. Not to mention, he wasn't nearly as good of a storyteller as Belle was.
With the other caught up to speed, Mr. Gold planted a delicate kiss on Belle's temple after taking her hands in his, letting his thumb run over her delicate knuckles timidly.
"There's some old clothes on the rack just there." He said leading her to look where his eyes were towards the back of the room. They still hadn't moved from the back of the shop, and Mr. Gold led her over to it. "Pick out what you like, it's nothing worthy of your beauty, but it's about time you get out of those rags. We'll worry about more serious clothes shopping later, just let me know when you've finished changing."
After Belle explained what had happened to her, she listened to Rumpelstiltskin's explanation about Storybrooke and how life was different here. She noticed that he didn't go into as much detail as she did when she recounted her experiences. But she didn't ask more about it. She could always ask later. After he told her to pick out clothes, she nodded and spoke softly, "Alright. Thank you, Rumpelstiltskin," She then headed to the back room, quietly looking for something that she could wear.
The older man left Belle's side with obvious reluctance, and returned to his forgotten cane only remembering it now since his leg was screaming at him in white hot pain. He coughed violently into his fist as he walked through the curtain, glad at least Belle couldn't see him as he felt another shooting pain course through his back, making the pain in his protesting leg feel like a mere splinter in comparison. He groaned out, unable to hold it in and stumbled over to his desk where he feverishly grasped around the contents stored underneath the counter until he found a paper and pen. He placed the paper down onto the counter, and scribbled out a quick message, then taking the paper and folding it up into his suit jacked pocket, safe from prying eyes.
He was just about to refill his glass of scotch in a hopeless attempt to numb the pain when a second coughing fit came over him violently. He held onto the counter with both hands until his knuckles turned white, trying to keep himself from both passing out from the pain and from falling over. If the little bell in his shop had rang when the door opened, he certainly didn't hear it, but he could feel the looming presense of Sheriff Leland enter into his shop and Rumpelstiltskin was forced to look up at the man with bloodshot eyes and sweat trickling off his brow. He knew exactly why the Sheriff of Storybrooke had paid him a visit.
"Sheriff..." Mr. Gold greeted civilly, althrough in pain through his tightly locked teeth. He tried to keep his voice normal and calm, but it cracked immediately under the pain he was still experiencing but he still somehow managed a sideways smile before sucking in a deep, painful breath and his body gave out on him completely, collapsing down onto the floor behind the counter and taking down a multitude of small objects on and underneath the counter in a loud commotion as he desperately tried to clutch onto something to keep him upright and proceeded with a third coughing attack as he hit the floor.
Robert looked at Mr. Gold and apporached slowly, noticing how he looked so frail right now. His new memories gave him reason to be cautious, he did not know how much magic The Dark One still had. This was a situation where being calm and empathic was much more important than being agressive and unyielding. He said "Are you alright sir? Do you need any help?"
Belle hastily picked out what to wear as soon as she heard Mr. Gold's voice crack with obvious pain. After throwing on the jeans, shirt, and sandals, she left the back room and saw Rumpelstiltskin talking to the man who let her out of that...prison. When he fell into another coughing fit, Belle hurried to his side calling his name in concern,
"Rumpelstiltskin?!" As soon as she was by his side, she helped him up off of the floor. She looked to Sheriff Leland in a silent plea to help him.
Blind with pain, all Mr. Gold could do was to reach out and hold fast to Belle's arm, feeling her trying to help him back up to his feet. He complied to the best of his ability, but with a great amount of effort on both of their parts he was finally in a (somewhat) stable position. He snatched his cane back up from the floor with a pained snarl, for the first time taking note of how much of Regina's blood had remained behind on the golden handle. Even with his full weight back on the cane and his good leg, the pawnbroker still looked as if he would collapse back down onto the floor at the drop of a hat. He kept one hand loosly on Belle's shoulder, more of assurance that she was still there than actual support.
"It's alright Belle, I'm fine." He lied, taking great effort to push the words out coherantly however the pain he was in remained in his ragged breathing. "Now Sheriff, what-what can I-do for you?"
Robert noticed that Mr. Gold looked hurt, perhaps the lack of magic had been causing his body to deteoriate. He did notice a few signs of violence in the store, and what appeared to be a red stain on the handle of Mr. Gold's cane. He didn't want to be confrontational to a man in pain, so he asked a few basic questions.
"You look hurt, do you want me to take you to the hospital? I could take a look at your wounds, I know a bit of first aid. I was just coming here to investigate a rumor, I didn't know this had happened."
Mr. Gold couldn't help but to let out a soft chuckle at the Sheriff's offer to help him. They both knew that wasn't why he was here. He let his hand fall from Belle's shoulder softly to grip onto the handle of his cane, somehow having both hands firmly resting on it making his seem just a tad more stable.
"No one enters my shop without wanting something, so tell me Sheriff-" He paused to cough, "-what is it that you want?"
Robert kept calm, but lost some of the compassion in his voice. "I want to help the people of Storybrooke, if you need medical attention I will get it for you. I had reason to suspect that there was a violent incident at this store, and I would like to get to the bottom of it."
A small snort came from the pawnbroker, his dark brown eyes rolling a bit as he adjusted his grip on his cane.
"And I'll tell you the same thing I told Dr. Stevenson...best leave it alone." He said in a threatening snarl. Even if he wanted help there couldn't be anything done about it, he'd be dead the moment he reached the operating room. "However..." He paused, looking over at his side to Belle for a moment before looking back to Robert. "I suppose I should be thanking you...Count Roland..." His brown eyes never left Robert's, his expression melting from that of pain to knowing. Reading people had always come easy to Rumpelstiltskin, and from the moment that Robert walked into his shop, he knew that he remembered.
"As far as the incident with Mayor Mills goes..." He continued on, not needing Robert to elaborate on what kind of violent incident he was referring to. "...that bitch had it coming." As if to put emphasis on his words, he tossed his cane over to Robert, hearing the wood clink down on the hard floor of his shop at Robert's feet. He had to lean himself over against the counter to keep from putting any weight on his bad leg, but his knowing smirk remained as he kept his eyes on the Sheriff. "Run all the tests you like Sheriff, but I can assure you that is her blood, and I'm sure the next time you return to Her Majesty with your tail tucked between your legs for an evening with 'wine' you'll find some very distinct markings across her body that match my cane without reasonable doubt."
Robert had suspected that Gold might remember the past, but it surprised him that he chose now to bring it up. He picked up the cane with a gloved hand before speaking "I do not serve Regina, I serve the laws of this society. In due time, I will deal with her, but I am trying to deal with the most urgent matters first. If either of you would like to give your account of what happened here, now would be a good time." Gold's reaction had made it absolutely clear to him that he had been responsible for Regina's injuries, but he still hesitated to make the arrest. He did not know enough to conclude it was an assault, for all he knew it could have been done out of self defense.
"Belle wasn't here." Mr. Gold said all too quickly. The last thing he wanted was for Belle to get dragged in through all of this, and even though things would be changing...drastically and very soon, Robert was right; there were still laws to be upheld but that didn't mean he couldn't use his knowledge as an attorney to keep her name clean. "Regina came into my shop and tried to steal from me, and so I took back what was mine." He shrugged casually, though his tone left the implication that the situation was darker than he was letting on. He stole a glance back over at Belle, realizing then that she didn't even know why he had attacked Regina in the first place, that he had brutally attacked The Evil Queen for stealing a chipped teacup...
their teacup. It seemed silly now, but thirty minutes ago, Belle was still dead, and the teacup the only thing keeping her memory bound to him.
Gold didn't have to say anything more if he didn't want to, Robert had no power to force him to answer his questions. "So, she stole from you and became violent when you tried to take it back?"
"Oh no," Mr. Gold began, the corner of his lips twisted into a sort of smile, "she had no idea what was coming."
Robert didn't like that answer, and he probed further "You used force to stop her from stealing? Did she fight back or attempt to run away?"
His questions caused a soft laugh to come from the Pawnbroker, his eyes lighting up a bit as he wet his lower lip as he deduced the best way to answer the Sheriff.
"You're looking for a confession...always been by the book haven't you Roland?" This gave him cause to chuckle once more. "Fair enough. I'll save you the details in light of present company, but I can provide you the survailance tapes if you so wish." He said, letting his eyes lead Robert to look at the lone security camera hanging in the corner of the room. It hadn't been that particular securty camera that would have caught the fight since that camera was in the back room, but it at least let Robert know that there was indeed footage. "I assure you though, Sheriff, you'll find exactly what it is you're looking for."
"I'm sorry, but I'll have to take you in to the station. I would appreciate it greatly if you would cooperate. If you are worried about Belle's safety, I assure you I can help protect her while we deal with this." Robert was scared that he might anger The Dark One, but knew that he had a duty to fulfill.
"Of course." Mr. Gold agreed and graced the Sheriff with a slight nod. He then turned to Belle, giving her his full attention once more and put one hand on her shoulder softly and letting the back of his other hand caress the side of her face.
Belle listened to the conversation, between Rumpelstiltskin and...Count Roland. She once opened her mouth to speak up about what happened, but Rumpelstiltskin spoke up quickly saying that she wasn't in the shop when the incident occurred. When Sheriff Leland said that he had to take Rumpelstiltskin to the station, Belle couldn't help but feel worried for him. What if Rumpelstiltskin died in that station? He's clearly in pain, why wouldn't he go to this 'hospital' if it would help him?
She snapped out of her thoughts when Rumpelstiltskin placed his hands gently on her shoulder and face. Worry for him was clear in her eyes as she looked at him.
"It's going to be alright Belle." He said softly, attemptint to soothe the clear worry in her facial features. "This is just something I have to do." Oh, she didn't even know the half of it. "But there is something I need
you to do while I clean this mess up..." He removed his hands from her shoulder and face and opened up his suit jacket, reaching a shaky hand inside and procuring a small, folded up piece of paper.
"This..." He said showing it to her with an affirmative nod, his expression now grim and serious. "...this will help me. As I told you, this realm is different and Regina's curse has turned my own against me. You do what I've written on here, and you can save me." He handed the paper over to Belle finally.
"Once you leave my shop, look to your right. You'll see a building with a large clock. Go there, you will find a man named Henry Carlyle. He has what you'll need. It will be difficult for him to part with it, but you have to convince him that his best interest remains at the hospital. There is a woman there who he is trying to help, you
have to tell him that he needs to be with her. He'll understand."
Belle took the letter and after she listened to his instructions, she nodded and she answered "Alright. I'll do it,"
A flicker of a genuine smile spread across his lips, but was gone in an instant as he felt the eyes of the Sheriff boring down on the back of his head. He nodded once more, though it was more to assure himself that everything was going to be alright and pulled from Belle reluctantly.
"All yours Sheriff. If we are to do this without the restraints, then I'll kindly ask for my cane back."
Robert was glad that Mr. Gold was cooperating. "No need for restraints, but that cane is evidence in a crime. I will return it to you as soon as I can, but for now I must hold onto it. I could stop by a pharmacy and buy another one if you need."
A tired sigh escaped Mr. Gold's lips and the man just shook his head no. That would be going through far too much trouble for an in-and-out visit. Ideally, the only reason he was going along with this in the first place was so that he could be sure he wouldn't go after Regina with Belle no longer at his side to stop him. He needed the iron bars to contain him, at least until...
"No matter." He replied sounding a bit peeved, but went along with Robert regardless. His bad leg pained him with each step, but he was able to make it the short distance to the police cruiser without much difficulty. As he was guided to sit in the back, he looked out of the car window to Belle who had followed him outside, and nodded to her once more before the cruiser pulled out and away from Gold's Shop and to the Sheriff's station a few blocks away.
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