Silver and Gold (Once Upon A Time FanFiction)

Five

The day started out like any other. I got up and dusted the Dark One's castle. I cleaned. I washed laundry. I did everything I normally do. Rumpelstiltskin had left the castle early that morning. Night was already setting and he was not back yet. I was not worried though. Just curious.

The doors slammed open, Rumpelstiltskin striding in. "It went well." I stated from my spot in a chair that was in the far corner. It wasn't a question at all. I had been the caretaker long enough to know. He sent a smirk my way and sat in the chair beside me, his elbows on his knees, leaning forward.

We sat in silence for quite a while. "I will be out again tomorrow." I saw him look at me out of the corner of his eye, as if to judge my reaction. I merely nodded, sipping tea. I frowned, staring at the tea. I had never been a fan of it.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

A few weeks had past since his last deal. I was on my way back from fetching him straw when I heard groaning from the side of the road. It appeared to be a man, his legs cut off. With a sigh, I approached him. Nothing good could come of this. As I reached the dirt in front of the man, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head and crumpled.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

I woke with a hiss, my head aching. I reached up to touch the sore spot, only to realize my hands were bound. With a cuss under my breath I looked around. I seemed to be in a shed in the woods.

"Would not have thought it would be this easy." A man in front of me stated, leaning on a mallet of sorts. I only blinked at him. I knew nothing of this man. I could though. If only I decided to pierce the veil. "I'm sure he will come to retrieve you." The man told me. I could only guess he was talking about Rumpelstiltskin.

With a snort, I rolled my eyes. The action earned me a slap across the face it seemed, my head jerking to the side. I straightened out and eyed the man. With an irritated sigh I bowed my head.

Thrusting my chin upwards, the man flew back into a tree. A small amount of twisting and I was free from the man's shoddy rope work that was intended to keep me restrained. Without so much as a backwards glance at the man, I started my trek to the Dark One's castle.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"You've been gone quite a while." Rumpelstiltskin stated, stopping in his tracks though as soon as he turned to see the bruise marring my face. He slowly came towards me, gently touching my cheek. "Explain." He demanded as he healed me. I told him everything, him standing there the entire time with his hand on my cheek.

"Did you happen to find out the man's name?" Rumpelstiltskin asked, a dangerous fire in his eyes. With a nod I told him what I learned from piercing the veil. With the man's name, he was gone.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

"It's been taken care of." Rumpelstiltskin stated, waltzing through the doors once more as I dusted. "Why?" I asked, tilting my head at him, continuing to dust. "Well I had made a previous deal with him. He believed taking you, my caretaker, hostage would lure me out so he could kill me. Wouldn't work either way." He waved it off. He wasn't telling the whole truth, I knew. I accepted his answer though.

I nodded and continued cleaning, feeling his eyes on me. It should unnerve me. It would anyone else. I'm not like most though. It only comforted me to know he was watching. What was becoming of me?