"It seems so," Gold replied. He glanced at his son. "I know you're skeptical, Bae, and I can't blame you for that. I have no right to tell you what to believe, so all I can do is try to show you I've changed."

Bae nodded. That was a good answer, and one he hadn't expected. So far Gold seemed changed, but then again, he was also fairly relaxed.

Tina yawned briefly as she shuffled into the kitchen, glancing between the two and wondering if she'd interrupted.

Gold smiled at Tina a bit and handed her a plate of eggs and sausage.

"Good enough?" he asked her.

"This is just fine," Tina said with a smile, taking the plate and sitting down to eat. Bae got up to get his own plate, nodding briefly to Gold.

Gold nodded back and filled his own plate once the other two had theirs.

Breakfast was quiet, and once they were done Tina got up to wash dishes and put them away.

"Well, I think I should go check on my plants. You two talk." She smiled a bit and headed for the door.

Gold smiled a bit at her and let her go. Then he turned back to Bae.

Bae raised his eyebrows. "I don't think I've ever seen someone boss you around so easily," he commented, half because it was true and half to see if he'd get a reaction.

"She suggested nothing I hadn't already planned on already," Gold said, glancing at Bae. "That is, of course, if you agree."

Bae nodded slowly. "Alright," he agreed. "We'll see how it goes."

Gold nodded as well. He wasn't expecting miracles, after all. He seemed to have already used his quota of miracles, anyways.

Bae settled down at the table, tilting his head and letting Gold figure out where he wanted to start.

Gold was quiet for a moment.

"May I ask where you've been all this time?" he finally spoke up, glancing at Bae hopefully.

"I traveled some." Bae shrugged. "Mostly the north-eastern US, but I was in Canada for a while. Did odd jobs." And other things.

Gold nodded.

"After the curse was cast, I was in Maine," he said. "It kept us all there, in Storybrooke."

Bae blinked at that, but only once. "So you were in Maine for the past twenty-eight years." He snorted suddenly and shook his head. "For all my running doesn't look like I got very far away."

"You were as good as worlds away," Gold said quietly. "The curse kept the outside world from finding the town, and kept us from leaving at all."

Bae was quiet for a few moments, not quite looking at his father.

"So what do you plan to do now?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Gold admitted after a moment. "For now, resettle here and observe for a while. Things will be different for quite a while as everyone previously cursed tries to make a new life in place of their old ones."

Things settled down for a little while after that, and Bae ended up staying longer than he'd expected to. Tina spent plenty of time in her greenhouse, although she did make dinner every night. She didn't think much of it when Gold went out in the afternoons.

At least, not until he got attacked.

Gold had been out surveying the surrounding area when he got attacked. He managed to fend off his attackers fairly easily, which made him suspicious, but he didn't get away unscathed. The long cut along his arm had stopped bleeding, but he could feel the hot ache of poison in his veins. He barely managed to get himself back to the castle before he collapsed.

Fortunately Tina was around, so she got to him quickly. "Gold?" She knelt next to him, looking him over worriedly. "What happened? What can I do?"

"Poison," Gold gasped out, shaking and sweating. His cane fell out of his grasp.

"Poison?" Tina managed to get him over to the couch, helping him sit and hovering uselessly for a few moments. Then she pulled herself together (a little bit). "What type? What do you need?"

"M-mineral water," Gold managed to say through the tremors. "Blue vi-ial fr-rom the shelf over-r my work table. Three c-crushed l-leaves from the crystal r-roses."