The library was quiet. More quiet than Belle was used to it being. Normally there would be a flurry of people, mostly the Charmings, running in and trying to research the new threat and a way to defeat it. Since the last threat had been Belle's son, Gideon, which they had managed stop by soothing his torment and had talked some sense into him, there had not been much going on in Storybrooke for anyone to fear about. So things had returned to a somewhat normality for Storybrooke. A normality that was a ghostly reminder of when the Evil Queen, aka Regina, had originally cursed the residents of Storybrooke.

One thing had not returned to normal though. Rumple and Belle. They had managed to agree to deal with things one day at a time. One day at a time had turned into 'we just won't talk, it'll be easier'. She huffed at the book in front of her, the built up frustration of not being able to talk to her husband was getting the better of her. Belle saw him every day as he went about his business in the shop and around town. Pining for any sort of contact with him, even if he shouted at her again, she would be happy with that.

Since their confrontation at his house, Rumpel had returned to keeping himself to himself. He was not involved with people around town. He did not come to the social events. The only things he had timed for was his shop and their son, Gideon. The two had sat down and managed to get some equal ground between them. Rumpel had been so easy on Gideon, forgiving Gideon after he had trapped Rumpel in his own body with an immobilising spell. Unable to speak or move, just lie there and listen. Belle wished in the darkest part of her that he were still immobilised so she could actually speak to him.

Belle glanced up at the clock and noticed it was nearly five pm. Time to lock up and go home. She still was not have used to the fact her baby boy, who to her was merely six months old, was a twenty eight year old man. Belle had to do a double take on him in the morning, as this stranger walked out of her second bedroom into the bathroom.

The doors to the library rattled as the door shut against the other. Belle locked the doors and crossed the road over to Grannies, where Gideon would be meeting her for dinner. Her eyes instantly went to Rumpel's shop. The lights were still on and his car parked at the side. With a deep sigh, Belle dragged her eyes away from the shop and focused on Grannies. She walked purposefully up the steps to Grannies and reached for the door to open it. The door suddenly came towards Belle. Instinctively Belle stepped to one side to miss the door.

As the door opened wider, his aftershave greeted her. The smell of oak invaded her senses and caused her to squeeze her eyes shut, trying to hold onto the memory of his smell.

"Oh," Rumpel was surprised. "Hey Belle."

"Hello…" She whispered to him. Lost in his smell. Belle did not know how long they had stood there, but she did not care. It was as if he was all around her at once and they were back in his bedroom. He was fresh from shower, a shower she had interrupted and dreamt about every night. His lean figure leaning into the water, soaping his hair. Belle had nearly ran in fully clothed just to be near him, but had held herself back.

"Belle…?"

Then in his basement, they had been so close it pained her. His strong arms had held her, holding her steady when she fell off the stool. His hair a mess and wet. Belle missed his long hair, but she really liked his short hair. Yes, she admitted, there was not enough to get her fingers lost in, but there was definitely enough to get a fistful of and tug on it.

"Hello…?"

Oh, he had left her so mad in the basement. Telling her to 'Never mind' her apology and 'Now go'. She had nearly left that morning. The front door had stood open in front of her, the light playing through the multi-coloured glass. Her rage had built to breaking point. 'How dare you not forgive me!', she had fumed going up the stairs after slamming his front door. If the glass had broken, she did not care in that moment. He had pushed her button.

"Belle!" Rumpel's voice betrayed how worried he was.

Belle had planned to beat him to a pulp with her words. Give him a dressing down he had never received before. However, as he stood there in his underwear, his hair flattened and straight, the strong smell of his body wash… Belle had lost it. She had to devour him. It felt as though he felt the same, sweeping her off her feet and shoved her onto the chest of draws that moments ago she had pinned him against. Oh, she had been so lost to him.

Her fantasy was interrupted by the squeeze to her shoulder. Belle's eyes flew open, looked to the hand on her shoulder, and then to the owner who stood in front of her. His eyes were dark and mysterious. She adored them.

"Belle, are you alright?" Rumpel asked concern was thick in his voice.

"I… Erm… Yeah, I'm just dandy." She giggled. Not at him. At her memories.

"Are you sure?" Rumpel said, his eyes scanning her from top to bottom for a reason in her lapse of response.

Belle straightened her coat. "Yep. I'm fine, thanks. You?"

"I'm okay." He went to take a step and paused. "Can we sort out some time to talk?"

"Sure, any time, Rumpel. Just give me a call when it's good for you." She swallowed hard.

He gave her a wry smile and then left, taking his bag of takeout food with him. Belle followed him with her eyes until he was out of sight. The deep sigh she released startled her for a second, thinking that he may have heard it. When she was sure he was not about the reappear, Belle pulled at Grannie's entrance door and made her way inside. The smell of burgers and lasagne assaulted her. She would rather smell Rumpel any day.

Gideon sat in one of the booths, studying the menu for something new to try. He was slowly working his way through the entire menu, sampling the different dishes he had missed growing up. Soon they were going to have to try one of the other restaurants in town. If Granny found out, they would be dead.

"Hey!" Belle greeted as she slid into the seat opposite Gideon.

"Hey!" Her sudden presence surprised Gideon. "Father was just in here."

"Yeah, I bumped into him as he was leaving." She grabbed a menu from the stand and started fanning herself with it. It seemed unusually hot for Grannies.

Gideon looked puzzled at her before returning to the menu. "He suggested that I try the pastrami sandwich with gherkins."

"That is one of his favs." Belle replied as she began looking at the menu instead of using it as a fan.

Placing his menu back in the stand, Gideon leaned forward onto the table. "Are you two going to be alright? I mean, are you going to get back together?"

Belle let a heavy sigh out and dropped the menu onto the table. "To be honest, son, I have no clue at the moment. All I can say is that I'm glad we're not arguing. But then, I would welcome an argument with him, if it meant we started talking."

"Is it… because of me?" Gideon questioned. A hint of guilt was in his eyes.

"No." She weakly smiled at him and reached across to touch his face reassuringly. "We were already heading here on our own. Nothing to do with you, sweetheart."

A small smile crept across Gideon's lips. Belle knew he felt guilty for everything that happened when he arrived. Yes, he had caused quite a stir when he came to Storybrooke. First threatening to kill Emma and then imprisoned his father, Rumpel, in his own body. Nevertheless, Gideon had been very troubled. Troubled because his parents could not put aside all the heartache and work together to protect their son. They both had known best.

Her thoughts were broke by the sound of a car crashing into a shop window outside. Everyone in Grannies fell silent and then slowly made their way outside. As Belle came down the steps of Grannies, they could see a car had crashed into the shop front opposite. Steam was coming up from the front of the car. The driver's door opened and a resident of Storybrooke crawled out of the car.

Belle stopped at the pavement and watched some of the others from Grannies run over to the unknown person. She was so enthralled with the scene in front of her. Belle did not notice the strong hand squeeze at her arm until she felt his warmth through her coat. His smell assaulted her again.

"Are you okay?" Rumpel's voice was deep and he was slightly out of breath. She nodded at him. "Gideon, are you okay?"

"Yes, father. What about him?" Gideon said to Rumpel.

"I'll be right back." Rumpel headed over to the group that were standing around the man, who had crawled out of the car. Someone gasped to Belle's right. She looked to see who it was and what had caused it.

In the middle of the street, stood a woman dressed all in black. She was striding down the road towards where the car had crashed. It did not look as though she was coming to help. It was as if she had some other plan on her mind. Baffled by the woman's behaviour, Belle frowned at her when the woman began to smile. A smile that looked eviler than the Evil Queen's.

"Mother!" Gideon grabbed hold of Belle's upper arms. "It's her!"

"It's who, Gideon?" Belle looked over her shoulder at her son. His face was white. He watched the woman as his grip on Belle got tighter. So tight, it was starting to hurt Belle.

"Oh, Rumpel!" The woman called. Everyone that was helping the man stopped and looked over to the woman, who had come to a stop a couple of feet away. Belle could see Rumpel kneeling on the ground and was healing the man's injuries. The people surrounding Rumpel and the man began to split, revealing the unsuspecting Rumpel and his patient.

"Rumpel, darling." She chided again. This time, Rumpel's attention drew away from the man. His face straightened. He showed no emotion.

Belle frantically looked between her son and Rumpel, and then looked at the woman that was very familiar with her husband. The more she looked at the woman, the more she felt she knew her. It began to dawn. The night she had followed Rumpel and had wanted to make sure the baby he had stolen was all right. The night Belle had watched her husband call his mother, the Black Fairy.

"Hello" Rumpel stood. "Mother." Belle could not help the gasp and clasped her hand over her mouth.

"You look well, son." The Black Fairy said, allowing her gaze to trace over the crowd until she came to rest on Gideon. The smile that tugged at the woman's lips, Belle had wanted to slap it right off her face. Slowly, the Black Fairy ambled over to where Belle and Gideon were standing.

"It's so nice to see you, Gideon." The Black Fairy reached out her hand to Gideon about to touch his face. Without any thought, Belle slapped the Black Fairy's hand away from him and pulled him closer behind her.

Belle's action amused the Black Fairy. "So, you're the one my son had a child with. Aren't you delightful?"

In a flash, Rumpel was in front of Belle, restraining one the Black Fairy's arms in front of her. Shocked Belle stood back into her son, pushing both of them backwards. She had not seen it coming. The Black Fairy was about to slap Belle around the face and Rumpel had stopped it. Always her saviour.

"Don't touch her!" Rumpel's growl was deep and animal like. The innocent people that stood around them quickly moved away. After a second, the Black Fairy broke out into a hysterical laugh before she disappeared from Rumpel's hold. He shocked for a second that she was gone from his grip before the Black Fairy reappeared several feet away from him.

The Black Fairy shook her head at Rumpel, as she spoke. "Did your father never teach you not to touch a woman?"

"Well, you see, mother that was a bit hard as he abandoned me too." Rumpel stepped towards his mother, putting some space between Belle and him. "So, I didn't learn things like that, dearie."

The Black Fairy was unaffected by her son's words. Belle squeezed her eyes shut feeling sorry for Rumpel. Both his parents had failed him. She was lucky he had become at least a half-decent man. The other half had a habit of killing people.

"Seemed your father wasn't as stupid as I had thought he was. Wasting our time on you was pointless." His mother spat the comment at him, absently waving her hand in the air.

"Yes, a lot of things about me are pointless." His shoulders were so tensed, Belle badly wanted to soothe him. "What do you want? You are not having Gideon, if that's what you think." Rumpel was stern.

The Black Fairy laughed. "Gideon? Want him?" She laughed again. "Don't be silly. I thought, at least, you being the Dark One, you would have gained some intelligence. Seems not. I only needed him to get me here." The Black Fairy closed the gap between her and Rumpel. They stood face to face. "No, I'm here to take your power."

Before anyone had a chance of doing anything, the Black Fairy waved her hand and Rumpel flew down the street, sliding to a halt in the intersection of the road. Belle went to run to him, but Gideon held her still. She fought against her son but stopped, watching Rumpel clamber up to his feet. The Black Fairy strode over to him. Her hands were coming up to perform another attack on him.

It happened so quick that Belle missed it. Rumpel had sent his mother flying into shop front window. She had smashed through the window and gone deep into the shop. Everyone stood in wonderment as more Storybrooke residents arrived. In the wave of people, the Charmings and Regina arrived. They looked around quickly, trying to assess what was happening. Some more glass shattered as the Black Fairy climbed through the broken window. She cleared the glass off her shoulders and picked some out of her hair.

"That was not nice, Rumpel." The Black Fairy scolded Rumpel.

"Play nice then, dearie." Rumpel said, taking a stance ready to take a hit. It did not matter that he was ready for it. Belle heard the force of his body hitting the brick wall behind him. His head slamming against the hard wall echoed in the street. He fell to the floor. Rumpel made no move to get up.

Regina was the first to go to Rumpel's aid. She swiped her hand in the Black Fairy's direction, forcing the woman to the ground. Emma followed suit and hit the Black Fairy again, moving her motionless body across the ground and into the gutter. The pair rushed over to the Black Fairy, but with a wave of her hand, she was gone into the evening air.

Breaking out of Gideon's grip when it loosened, Belle ran to Rumpel's side. He was still in a heap on the floor. She knelt beside him, gingerly touching him. When he did not move to her touch, she pressed further, her hands trying to find injuries. His body was still apart from his breathing. Belle grabbed onto his clothing and turned him over. Rumpel's eyes were shut. There was blood bleaching his short peppered hair and trickling down his forehead.

"Rumpel!" She whispered urgently at him, clutching fistfuls of his suit jacket.

Emma was at Belle's side first. "Let's get him in his shop. Get him off the street."

The tears ran down Belle's face and dripped onto Rumpel's face, mixing in with the blood that was working its way down his face. It unnerved her. The only time he was this still, was when he was dying or Gideon had imprisoned him inside of himself.

Charming and Gideon picked Rumpel off the floor and carried him into his shop. They struggled to get him through the curtain doorway to the back room, but laid him gently onto the bed Rumpel had in the back. Belle pushed pass everyone and knelt at Rumpel's side, soothing his bloody hair.