Historical AU: After suffering a horrific violation, Lady Belle finds herself alone and traumatized with a ruined reputation. Her father's neighbor and creditor Mr. Gold says he'll forgive his debt in exchange for her hand in marriage. Despite her reservations, she accepts. But is he really the man she thought he was? Trigger warning for rape aftermath & PTSD

What happens if Belle doesn't return to the Dark Castle after saving Philip? The answer to that question throws Storybrooke's much maligned "town whore" Lacey French into an unlikely friendship with the hated landlord Mr. Gold, but can their relationship survive the machinations of the mayor, the disapproval of her live-in ex-boyfriend, and the arrival of Emma Swan? Golden Lace

Red. Before he met her, that word used to make him think of fire, of blood and hatred and rage – all the things he saw on a daily basis, all the things he was used to and were familiar to him. Now, it makes him think of heat, passion and desire... Galex.