Little Ears

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Summary: Gold, his daughter, and Regina on the sidewalk. Some words are not meant for little ears.

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AN: I'm supposed to be cleaning, doing taxes, or watching SGU. I'm actually typing this up. I have other prompts I'm working on, but I feel like this needs to get posted now. Based on the Prompt fic "All Good Things Start With Ice Cream" and inspired by a review asking what would happen when Regina heard the gossip of Gold drawn as a Princess.

See? Your REVIEWS are making me write. I love it. :D I hope you guys love this. As cuddly as I seem to think God would be, I also think that he would still continue to be ruthless and dark deep down.

"Mr. Gold," Regina purrs out in greeting, stopping on the sidewalk in front of his store. His hand is still on the key, locking up. Next to him a small, bouncy head of curls sways as she hums, her hand sitting atop her Papa's on his cane. "Miss Gold," Regina says, smiling at the child. It makes Claire giggle to be addressed as such, but her father sees the way the woman's smile does not quite reach her eyes, sees the malice slithering in between her teeth, and his face remains stony as he twists the key out of the lock and drops it in his pocket.

"Mayor Mills," he says, infusing his voice with false cheer as he turns to her. "How are you this fine day?"

"Oh, very good." She flashes another too-perfect smile his way. "You know, I heard the funniest story the other day. I heard that a certain Pawn Shop owner was dressed as a princess taking tea."

If he didn't know her so well, it would have sounded like a funny anecdote designed to elicit the laugh from the little girl by his side. But he knows her all too well and grits his teeth. Claire steps forward, but keeps her hand on his just like he taught her. She smiles up at the mayor, a woman she has not yet learned to fear. "That's silly! It was just a drawing!"

Gold smiles down at his little girl, a real smile, and uses his cane to guide her to stand in front of him. He rests his cane against his leg and very deliberately begins to play with the pigtails in her hair as Regina twitters politely. "Silly, yes," he says, working hard to keep his voice even. "I'm afraid that rumor is only true in the realm of childhood art and imagination." He lets his fingers drift down closer to the sides of his daughter's head. "Such a funny thing, gossip."

Regina chuckles another well crafted laugh. Her voice drips from her lips like venom. "True. I was going to say, though, a man willing to take tea as a princess.. well, he must love his little girl very much."

Claire's laugh is like bells chiming lightly in the wind as Gold struggles to keep a straight face. "My Papa loves me most!" she proudly declares.

Regina stares right into Gold's eyes. "Loves you most? I'm not surprised. He always was... sentimental." Her lips take on a twisted smirk, but Claire doesn't notice, having taken hold of her father's cane to trace the engraving on the handle. Regina's words drift from simply suggestive to dark and threatening. "We need to be very careful with the things we love the most."

Gold's hands still on his daughter's head, his jaw tight and his eyes blazing. "What are you implying?"

She smiles across the street, keeping a polite and relaxed stance as show for the few residents that are within sight, before catching Gold's gaze again. "Oh, just making an observation. You should take care of the thing you love the most." Her next words snag in the contempt in her voice. "Wouldn't want them to get chipped."

Gold's fingers slide down, covering his daughter's ears. Claire looks up in confusion but he flashes her a quick smile and she goes back to her exploration of his cane, momentarily deaf. His words come out biting and dark without little ears to hear. "Is that a threat?"

The woman who was once the Evil Queen smiles. "Of course not." She leans close and whispers, the smile never leaving her lips. "But whatever would you do if it was?"

A sneer fills his face, a call back to a man who long ago delighted in these games of thinly veiled threats. "I'd tear you limb from limb."

Regina's breath catches in surprise, but she presses her lips together and laughs as his cane bounces up between them, Gold's daughter still focused on the decoration of it. "With your leg? I'd like to see you try."

He snarls, nothing but darkness in his eyes. "With. My. Teeth."

Neither moves. A wind blows past but the adversaries stand poised. The war for the salvation of this town has barely even begun, but the line has very firmly been drawn right here and right now. If there was ever a question before, there is no question now. A wicked smile slowly spreads across his face, more imp than man. She is the first to break from their stare, licking suddenly dry lips and brushing past him.

When the sound of her heels on the pavement finally starts to fade Gold breathes again, releasing his hold on his daughter's ears and wiggling his fingers under her chin to tickle her neck.

Her laugh soothes away the last tendrils of darkness that have crept over his soul, his cheeks relaxing into a smaller, true smile. "Why did you cover my ears, Papa?" she asks as she hands him his cane.

He takes her hand in is free one and starts to walk them away from the Pawn Shop. "Sometimes, my love, adult discussion is not for children."

She stares at him for a second as they walk, then shrugs and resumes humming some song that only she knows. He thinks she may not fully comprehend, but finds that he is more than alright with that being the case. Half a block away, Belle turns the corner and waves at them. "Mama!" Claire cries, letting go when he releases her hand and running down the sidewalk. Gold can't help but grin as he watches his daughter jump into his wife's arms for a hug.

Regina is right: he must protect the two things that he loves the most. They are most assuredly not allowed to ever be chipped. Gods help him if Regina ever touches a hair on either one of their heads. Unlike her, he does not make idle threats.