Ten Years- Once Upon A Time- ON HOLD

I Don't Believe You

Mr. Gold ran in to Granny's diner to find Ruby standing behind the counter.

"Ruby!" He called.

"Mr. Gold!" Ruby replied, shocked and scared at his sudden arrival, "What are you doing here? We paid the rent last week!"

"Yes, I know. I'm not here for that," Gold said, impatiently, "I'm looking for someone. Neal Cassidy?"

"Neal? He was just taken to hospital." Ruby said.

"What?" Gold choked.

"Yeah, he collapsed up in his room." Ruby explained.

"Right, thank you, Ruby." Gold said, turning and rushing out of the diner.

Ruby watched him, confused. Had Mr. Gold actually just thanked her for something? And why was he taking an interest in Neal?

~~~~

Emma sat by Neal's hospital bed as he slept, holding Henry in her arms as she waited for Neal to wake up. The doctors had decided to keep him in for a couple of days, just in case he collapsed again.

Emma couldn't get her head around it. She had known Neal for, what, a year now and this had never happened before, and Emma couldn't think of a reason why it should happen now.

She heard the door open behind her and turned, expecting a doctor to check on Neal. But instead she saw Mr. Gold.

"Mr. Gold? What are you doing here?" She asked, standing up and turning to him.

"I came to see how Mr. Cassidy was. He came to see me just before he collapsed, and I needed to talk to him." Gold said.

"Well, I don't think now is a good time for him to talk to anyone." Emma said, looking back at Neal over her shoulder, "Wait, did you say he came to see you?"

"Yes."

"Hm, he told me he was going to see his dad." Emma said, distractedly.

Gold said nothing. If Emma didn't know, then he was going to let Bae tell her.

"If you want, I can stay with him for a bit. You could get yourself a coffee." Gold suggested.

Emma looked back at Mr. Gold. If Neal went to see him, to Emma that meant he trusted him. And if Neal trusted him, so did she.

"Thank you." She said.

Still holding Henry, Emma walked out the door, unknowingly leaving Gold alone with his son.

Gold found this somewhat strange. He wasn't used to anyone trusting him enough to leave their loved ones with him. Everyone, except Regina and Bae, was scared of him, but not Emma. She was exactly what the town needed in a saviour.

Gold sat in Emma's empty seat, next to Neal's bed. He hoped he would wake up before Emma got back; Gold needed to talk to him. To explain.

It had only been a couple of minutes when Neal did wake up.

"Papa? What are you doing here?" He asked, sitting up.

"Listen, Bae, I don't know when Emma's going to get back so I haven't got a lot of time." Gold said in a hurry.

"What's wrong?" Neal asked.

"You were poisoned, that's why you collapsed. Regina wanted you out of the way because you could be Emma's true love, you could help her break the curse. I convinced her to reverse it before it was too late."

"Wait, how long have you known about this?" Neal asked as he sat up.

"I found out her exact plan a couple of days ago, but I've known for months." Gold admitted, "I stopped her as soon as I found out who you were!"