In Storybrooke, Mr. Gold strives to be the man Bae used to love--until Belle is kidnapped to Neverland. If he resumes his Dark One powers to save her, can he control them? In the Enchanted Forest, Emma battles ogres, zombies and her ex to get back h...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Regina/The Evil Queen to Belle: Besides, if he loves you, he would've let you go (Skin Deep).
Late that afternoon, sitting at his back-office desk, Mr. Gold correlated the last rightful owner claim with his newly completed inventory. Why the former firebird wanted his gilded cage was a mystery. But whatever the reason, Mr. Gold now knew its exact location.
Mr. Gold looked across the room. According to the grandfather clock that Jaq Franklin would reclaim on Monday, the time was 5:03 p.m. The pregnant EMT—Myrtle something—was three minutes late. Well, he had no time to wait around—not with so much to get ready for tonight.
Just as he was reaching for his cane, Mr. Gold heard his shop bell jingle. Finally. "I'm at the back," he called out. He drummed his fingers on his desk as rubber-soled shoes scuffed across his showroom floor. When the old woman poked her head through the curtains cloaking the entrance to his office, Mr. Gold arranged his face into a pleasant smile. "I have what you came for." He nodded toward a vial of emerald green liquid standing on the corner of his desk.
The sight appeared to mesmerize Myrtle. "You're sure? I took the fertility draft in the Enchanted Forest. Will taking another potion here in Storybrooke work?"
Mr. Gold tipped his head. "I told you the child you're carrying shall forever be known as the baby of the family. Am I not a man of my word?"
Myrtle pushed through the curtains—her gray ponytail swinging, her stomach bobbing under a turquoise t-shirt that read, "Does This Baby Make Me Look Fat?" Behind her lagged a tall balding man—the husband who'd rather starve than abstain. Mr. Gold remembered him from the old world as a talented shoemaker. There, the Dark One's price to fulfill the couple's most desperate heart's desire had been a pair of basilisk skin boots.
As the old woman reached for the bottle, her husband grasped her shoulder. "I don't know about this."
Sighing, Mr. Gold shook his head. "You're wondering whether I'm up to some trickery. Perhaps I mean this will be the last baby Fertile Myrtle will ever carry. If she drinks my potion, next time she may become pregnant with something else."
The old woman jerked her hand back and clapped it to her mouth.
Mr. Gold chuckled. "But what advantage would that be to me? On that basis you can trust I brewed this potion to do what you want it to do: cancel the previous potion. Nothing more, nothing less."
Cautiously, Myrtle picked up the bottle. When the contents fizzed, she wavered.
"Carbonated to be gentle on the stomach," Mr. Gold said. "Flavored with lemon and lime and a touch of rosewater."
He watched her pull out the stopper and sniff it. Finally, she tilted the bottle and drank. Her husband's hand stayed on her shoulder. After shaking the last drop onto her tongue, she set the empty bottle on the desk. "I don't feel any different."
