Gideon Gold

“There it is, there it is!” Peter exclaimed as he nearly fell over, “I thought we lost hope for good. Pardon my pun, I’m tired as hell.”

Gideon seemed rather amused by Peter’s outburst. “I’m happy to hear that she’s back too, Peter, but perhaps try not to get hurt?” he remarked with a laugh. “Sleeping is good for when one’s tired.”

“Truthfully, I cannot argue with that,” Q’ori sighs as she perches herself up on the barstool beside him, “This is why I don’t visit Center City all that often… there’s always some twisted relative of a family trying to kill the rest. Do they ever tire of handing out public threats…”

Gideon grinned. “You’d be surprised how long we’d gone without a drama of this kind,” he pointed out, glancing at his new companion. “And what brings you to the Center City now?” he asked curiously. He tried to remember whether he knew her, but couldn’t be sure.

“Uhh,” Lily thought for a moment, scooting the now full glass closer to her and looking at it fondly. “The big ones. World peace, social justice, etc. I’m feeling ambitious,” she shrugged. It was more accurate for her to say she had come here as a way to get away from the endless search for answers and explanations, but she couldn’t resist giving the cheekier reply.  “Probably can’t find the answer at the bottom of one of these, but it can’t hurt to check, ay?”

Gideon chuckled, shaking his head. “Good luck with that,” he commented. “Just don’t try too hard, it could mean losing any other answers.” Taking a sip of his drink, he waved at the waiter to order another one for himself and her as well. “Either way I’m sure you’ll be fine trying.”

Neal’s fury showed through in his eyes, they burned with rage as he stepped closer to Gideon - in a show to try and intimidate him. “I don’t care what she thinks. As long as she’s home in her own bed safe.” He scoffed, “Maybe if you’d turned to the dagger when you were caught in a difficult situation, The Darkness wouldn’t have been so easy to bring back from wherever your Dad put it when he thought he destroyed it.” He spat with a vindictive smirk.

He didn’t move or wince, just licked his lips as he watched Neal’s show. “I guess father didn’t think anyone in Storybrooke would be so stupid as to go look for it. Especially one of the Charmings.” Seriously, did his parents teach him nothing? “Be careful, Neal, magic always comes with a price, and the Dark one especially. What are you planning to do once you find Hope? Keep destroying what your family built here? Or do you think it will let you put it back in the vault? Because it won’t.”

Anna didn’t know how to answer. She was shaking, even if she wanted to deny it and say she was shivering due to the sudden cold, but she couldn’t. Well, she could try. “I’m f-fine.” she responded, the ice growing outwards slowly, betraying her. “Just a little scared, is all. Lost it for a second.”

Gideon took off his jacket and carefully threw it around her shoulders. “Did you get frightened of anything?” He could guess why she was scared, but wanted to make sure nevertheless. “How about some hot chocolate at Granny’s to warm you up?” He offered an encouraging smile; while many might be scared of random magic outbursts, he’s seen much worse things in his life and she needed help, not fear.