The Author

Accusation and Speculation

The sun rose and shone through a gap of a parted curtain in the living room. The light woke Gold up from an exhaustive slumber and his eyes shot open, realizing that he was lying on the couch and not the floor. Gold wondered how long he had been asleep, but concluded that it had been long enough for the sun to have risen again. Another day lost to sleep when they could be out there searching for their daughter.

He looked about him and felt some pressure on his chest. Belle's head was resting against his abdomen facing away from him. She was kneeling on the ground beside the couch where he laid and waited for him to wake. He lifted his hand and began petting her hair.

"Belle..." he said gently rousing her. "What happened?"

"Rumple?" she replied worriedly, sitting up and facing him more clearly. "Are you ok? All you said before passing out was 'Henry' and then something about your 'heart' and then apologizing."

"I tried to fight off the dagger's command. I thought I was able to overcome it, but then I felt a sudden pain in my chest and was compelled to obey. I think that trauma mixed with my already exhausted self was what rendered me unconscious."

Belle shook her head. "Why did you go off to the shop by yourself? I know that's where you went. When I felt the dagger's command I knew exactly where you were." She sighed heavily, "Rumple... We agreed we were going to go there together in the morning."

In a soft voice he answered, "I didn't want to endanger you."

"As long as I'm with you I'm not in danger." He was throwing up walls. She continued, "Why did you really go?"

He sighed and admitted, "You were going to stop me. I couldn't rest until I found her. It didn't feel right to be here resting knowing that Lily was out there by herself."

After hearing his response, she realized she couldn't blame him for wanting to find their daughter and so she paused to reflect on her next reply. "But... this isn't New York. Arthur is not only a criminal, but our enemy. We don't know his weakness or his power. We can't just brashly confront a beast we know nothing about."

"The only beast anybody should be afraid of," Gold said while sitting up slowly and pointing to himself, "is me."

"But we're in a place with magic now and... we're moving blindly into unknown forces. The result of our hasty actions could bring about a terrible whiplash harming you, me and Lily."

"That's not all true," Gold stated.

"What's not true?"

"I know who Arthur is."

"Who is he?"

"Henry."

"How do you know?"

"I know because Henry has the dagger."

"You think Henry has the dagger?" Rumple nodded as Belle got up and sat down on the couch next to him. Without breaking eye-contact Belle asked, "How?"

Rumple shook his head in shame, "I should have known when we first got here that it was Henry. When we arrived here at the house, I had the place protected under blood magic, just like I did with the dagger back at the castle. And... I'm afraid with Cogsworth, the only other person besides myself to have access to it was Henry."

"I suppose that could explain why the dagger's commands haven't been too horrible or demanding, but why would he go to these lengths to kidnap Lily?"

"To bring us back into Storybrooke, of course."

"Yes, but why? What would make Henry think that kidnapping was his only way of bringing us back?"

"Perhaps Henry has changed more than we realized."