Title: The Mysterious Island

Rating: T

Pairing: RumpelstiltskinxClaire

Fandoms: Once Upon a Time/Lost

A/N: Sorry I have not updated in forever! I have been so busy with other things! Thanks to everyone who is still with me!

"How do you know how to get back to the beach?" Claire asks.

He laughs. "I have been paying attention to where we've been going."

She wants to be angry and yell about having no idea what is going on, but she chooses not to. "Sure," she mutters, "Okay."

They walk in silence for a moment before Claire says, "Why did you have me come with you."

It is a fair question. She had not really done anything besides stand and be scared to death.

"I needed you because you are not a candidate. Had I brought someone else along things may have gone...differently."

Well that definitely explained nothing.

"Um. Okay. Why did you need to bring anyone?"

Claire asks, "Shouldn't you have just done it alone?"

"That wasn't an option either."

Claire gives him a strange look. This, all of this, is impossible. She should be terrified and losing her mind, but she is not. She does not worry about what will happen, and instead only wonders about the strange man beside her. He is different, unlike anyone she has ever met in her life. It is almost as if...as if he is not even from this world.

His eyes never meet hers, though she does feel them lingering on her stomach which instantly makes her feel the need to wrap her arms around it protectively. It is silly since obviously he cannot do anything to her baby, but the way he looked there almost makes her think otherwise.

The second Claire steps out of the trees and onto the beach, the doctor runs toward her.

"Are you alright!?" He demands, sounding completely panicked, "Are you hurt? Where did you go? Who the hell is this?"

"I-" Claire starts to say, though she has no idea what she plans on saying since her and the doctor are sort of on the same page with the 'who the hell is this?' question.

However, she does not have time to think about it because the man beside her interjects saying, "I was calling for help in the jungle, having crashed alone I was unsure if there were other survivors of the crash. Miss Littleton came and found me."

He sounds honest, which terrifies Claire purely because she knows he is anything but. Still, she feels as though going against his lies will not help her at all. With this logic, she says, "Um, yeah. I'm fine."

The doctor looks incredibly suspicious, which is insane because when the other man had spoken he seemed to believe it. But thankfully, he does not press the issue. "You should come lie down, maybe get some water, Miss...Littleton."

"Claire," she offers, "And thank you."

"I'm Jack," the doctor tells her, and not in a very kind way. He seems irked that Claire got in the way of his fixing everything by disappearing, "We should move down to the beach and wait for rescue. They should be coming soon, you were gone for a long time," Jack turns to the man beside Claire and says, "You're welcome to come too, Mr..."

"Gold," he says, and Claire wonders if he is lying.

~xx~

"Kate!" Jack yells across the beach to a pretty brunette standing under a tree. She has bright eyes and her face is splattered with freckles. She looks calmer than everyone else around, which Claire hopes will be helpful for Jack and his apparent craziness.

The girl, Kate, runs over to the trio. "Jack," she says, "You found her!"

He nods. "Any sign of the rescue?"

Kate shakes her head. "Not yet." And noticing Jack's expression she says, "But they're coming, Jack."

Claire looks to her right at Mr. Gold. His expression is blank and unreadable. But even so, Claire can tell he knows something. Perhaps something no one else knows.

"So...what do we do now?" Claire asks. This entire thing is crazy. She is trapped on a seemingly deserted island with a man whose motives are completely confusing and ridiculous to her. It does not get much worse than that.

"I don't know..." Kate says, "Jack?"

Jack looks over at her quickly before turning his gaze back to Claire. "We wait." He tells her.

Everyone stands in silence. After all, this tactic of simply waiting could prove to be completely ineffective. Claire knows that better than anyone here (besides Mr. Gold) having been told that there is no rescue coming at all.

But this information had come from the same man who took magic light from a cave not even an hour ago. Obviously, taking him seriously is something to be done in moderation.

Still, he had been so serious, and Claire is not one to be fooled easily. He wants something with this island, and it is easy to see that no one will be leaving until he gets it.

~xx~

She had woken up screaming.

At least, that is what Jack is saying. Claire knows that she was awake the entire time. Someone had tried to take her away. They had been trying to hurt her baby.

"Claire, please," Jack had told her, "We can look for whoever did this to you, but for now you really need to take these. They're just sleeping pills, you'll be fine."

"You think I'm making this up!?" Claire had demanded, "Why would I do that?"

"Look, I'm sorry. And I know that we're still waiting for rescue, but while that's the way it is, you really need to sleep. All this excitement isn't good for your baby." Jack had been trying to comfort her, but she was angry.

She tosses the pills back at him. "I know what's good for my baby, Jack!" she spat, storming off in the other direction.

She is so angry now, pacing down the beach. Everyone thinks she is crazy because of Jack. Even Kate is questioning her sanity. It is exhausting to be the pregnant girl on the mysterious island. Everyone is always assuming that she is losing her mind.

She is walking so fast that it takes her a moment to register to the fact that she has bumped right into someone. "Oh!" She gasps, taking a step back and nearly falling into the sand, but someone steadies her.

"Claire," a voice says, "are you alright?"

She looks up. It's Gold, looking at her with such concern. "Yes," she breathes, trying not to let her anger show too much, "Yeah, I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You were racing like you had the devil chasing you."

"Was I?" She questions, "I was just angry. But, really, I'm fine."

"Ah," Gold says, "Because of what happened last night." He looks off into the distance, as if remembering something.

"Jack thinks I'm just making all this up," she says, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, "You don't think that, do you?"

"No. I trust you judgment. And I believe ypu are capable of telling the difference between fantasy and reality."

She laughs, "I don't really know about that anymore. Most everything on this island is insane. I just want the rescue to come."

"Hm" Gold muses, "Well I wouldn't count on that of I were you."

He had said that once before, that the rescue is not coming. She had chosen not to believe him, and wants to choose it again. However, her curiosity gets the better of her. "How long arw we going to be on this island, Mr. Gold?" She asks.

"For as long as the island needs you. All of you."

Claire sighs, running her hand through her hair. "You don't make any sense to me," she informs him, "but you can always choose to trust me, you know."

"Perhaps I will one day."

There is a silence between them before someone comes running down the beach. "She's over there!" They scream, "I'll get her!"

Claire turns around. It's Charlie, running toward her and flailing his arms like a madman.

"Claire!" He yells, catching up to her, "Claire," he catches her shoulder and beams, apparently proud of himself for wrecking her moment with Mr. Gold, "What are you doing over here? Jack wants to talk to you again."

Gold straightens up, "Oh, I'll take her," he offers.

Charlie gives him a rude look. "No, it's fine. Jack sent me to get her. I think I can manage taking her back."

Gold waves his hand in the air and Claire swears that he rolls his eyes, which makes her giggle. Much as she likes Charlie, Gold is intriguing to her, and she does wish to spend as much time around him as possible. "As you wish," he tells Charlie, who latches onto Claire and drags her down the beach.

She does not take her eyes away from Mr. Gold for as long as possible, and he returns the gesture. He is an odd man, but one who never failed to grab her attention.

Charlie taps on her shoulder. "Who is that?" he asks, "Creepy fellow, don't you think?"

Claire shrugs. "I don't know who he is, really," she admits, "But if there is anyone on this island I trust, it's him."