A/N: Disclaimer—there are a couple of logistical things that I'm not 100% sure how they work in real life, so a few elements, if you're really familiar with them, might seem unrealistic. However, this is Storybrook, where there are only security cameras when deemed necessary by the plot, including inside of the police station, and everyone always has things like gasoline, plus cars and phones made after the 1980's, even though no one could enter or leave the town for 28+ years to import such things. So, y'know, deal with it. XD

Dousing the Witch

Belle leaned against the wall, head back, eyes closed, clutching the strap of her purse as she listened to the front door open, and Leroy's voice shouting, "Incoming!" at the top of his lungs. The dwarves' footsteps squealed across the linoleum as they got clear of the first line of defense, Robin Hood and some of his archers. Belle inhaled deeply through her nose, exhaling through her mouth.

So many things could go wrong. Zelena could kill the archers, or shoot her out of the way with a blast of magic before she had a chance to speak. She could make Rumple deal with her while going on ahead herself, or skip walking down the main hallway altogether, and just teleport to the outside of the barrier. There could be a technical failure. Belle could cough at the wrong time—that would really be disastrous. This had to look and sound natural, keep her off her guard, keep her from realizing the threat that Belle posed to her until it was too late. Belle took another deep breath, making herself yawn to try and relax everything, and pulled her tools out of her purse.

"Aim true, for Little John!" Robin shouted, followed by the sound of four bodies crumpling simultaneously to the floor. The next thing Belle heard was the clicking of Zelena's heels, and the quieter, heavier tread of Rumpelstiltskin's leather dress shoes. They were walking fast. Belle flicked the lighter, touching the flame to the end of the cigarette and sticking the filter end in her mouth as she turned the corner.

"Oh," Zelena greeted her nonchalantly, "didn't you learn your lesson the last time?" she brandished the dagger, never slowing her approach. Rumple kept pace with her, as though attached to her elbow. She could see the pain flash across his stoic face at the thought that they were about to have to go through her. She matched her pace to theirs, meeting the two magic-users with not one weapon—well, no weapon but her lit cigarette.

'Don't cough,' she told herself sternly as she took a deep drag, filling her lungs with her last, best hope as all three came within two meters of each other. Zelena's shoe touched the innocent scuff mark Belle's shoe had left on the floor as a distance mark.

"This is more powerful than your true love," Zelena growled, the dagger glinting hideously in the fluorescent lights.

Belle's lungs were at capacity—the unfamiliar, acrid smoke felt sickeningly strange, and she failed to understand how anyone enjoyed these—and her answer was to blow out the whole cloud.

Straight up towards the smoke detector.

Zelena paused, looking at her in confusion, likely expecting some declaration about the power of love—not a whiff of tobacco smoke. Rumple frowned, clearly trying to figure out what on earth she was doing smoking in the first place, and in this situation.

Then the smoke detector screeched out a warning, followed by the hiss of the sprinklers activating. The double doors leading to the rest of the hospital closed to contain the fire, while the whole waiting area and nurses' station got doused, and Zelena and Rumplestiltskin stood right beneath one such sprinkler—the one Belle had filled with dried squid ink from the shop.

"Actually, I did learn a few things," Belle responded as both magic-users froze, blue auras clinging to both of them, restricting their movements. Belle stepped forward, flicking her cigarette into the fast-growing puddle and stomping it out.

"I learned that this," she continued, taking the dagger from Zelena's helpless fingers, "doesn't belong to you. I learned that this," she added, ripping Zelena's broach from her collar, "is the source of your magic, and above all, I learned that true love is amazing, but true love and having a plan is generally better." She stepped back, holding out her arms dramatically and shrugging her shoulders. "Did I miss anything?" she finished a little sarcastically.

The sprinklers shut off, and the auras began to fade. Belle walked around Zelena, face breaking out into a huge smile as she approached her true love. She pocketed Zelena's pendant—they could figure out what to do with it later—and as the magic faded entirely and Rumple could move again, she flung herself into his arms, careful not to stick him with the dagger. He embraced her so tightly that it aggravated her lungs, and she found herself coughing helplessly over her shoulder. Releasing her immediately, he held her at arms' length, scanning her up and down for any sign of injury.

"It's just the stupid cigarette," she laughed, shaking her head. There were joyful tears in her eyes. They'd been away from each other for so long, and she'd thought he was dead—twice—and they'd gone through so much in the past year, and were finally, finally, together and safe.

"No!" Zelena shrieked in horror as she regained her movement, clutching at her throat as if to prevent Belle's theft of her pendant thirty seconds ago. "No! This can't happen—how can you do this?! You're just an ordinary girl! What's happening?!" her voice was breaking, and tears were gathering in her eyes as well—hot, angry tears of frustration.

"If I were you," Belle all but snarled, "I would stop screaming, and start running. Because I'm not you, and in a few minutes here, I'm going to give him his dagger back. And let's not forget about Regina, and everyone else in this town you've hurt."

Zelena blinked in confusion, then her eyes widened as the implications of losing her pendant hit her. At once, she was scrambling to her feet and stumbling into the fastest run she could manage in her stiletto pumps.

"Belle," Rumple growled, "she killed Bae…"

"I know," Belle responded softly as the footsteps vanished, "believe me, I know, and she kept you prisoner, and you suffered this whole time—believe me, I know what she's done. And I agree that her actions should come with consequences. But not right this second." She held up the dagger, offering it to him freely, but with an expression that said "it's your choice… but make the right one?" Wordlessly, he took the dagger from her delicate fingers. It had never seemed such an ugly thing as when she was holding it, when all of its dark and destructive power contrasted with her light.

"Just give her a head start, that's all I'm asking," Belle continued once he had the keys to his freedom safely back in his hands.

"Do I want to know what happened here?" Regina demanded, approaching the two of them.

"Watch out for the—!" Belle exclaimed, but too late; Regina's foot landed purposefully in a puddle of the ink-laced water, it splashed onto her foot, and she froze, a blue aura binding her in place. "Squid ink…" Belle finished awkwardly. "I'll get that cleaned up in a minute, sorry…" She just barely caught Rumple's little exhale of laughter, and it warmed her heart to hear him do that, even quietly. Turning back to her lover, she picked up where she had left off.

"Look, you're a free man. You can go after her and stab her to death if you want—I'm not going to stop you. Or, you can wait a while. She'd powerless, in a strange land, with no ID, little cultural knowledge, and little to nothing of value. If she stays in Storybrook, she dies, almost certainly, even if you don't do it, so if she's got any sense at all, she'd going to leave town. Every day she lives is going to be a struggle. Every day she lives, she's going to have to deal with the fact that she put all of her chips on one hand, and lost everything. And every day she'll wake up wondering, 'is this the day that my past catches up to me?' and she'll go to sleep wondering if she'll wake up with that dagger in her heart. She'll have to spend every moment of the rest of her life struggling to survive, because everything she's done has consequences, and this is it.

"Meanwhile," Belle continued as Regina unfroze and took a stumbling step back, glaring at the deceptively clear water, "it's not like she can go anywhere you can't track her; no matter where she runs, she'll still be a prisoner. And instead of giving her more of your time and energy and thought—because God knows you've done enough of that this past year…" it was about then that she realized she was crying, and shouting a bit. She lowered her voice. It sounded strangely dry.

"…And… live," she shrugged. "You live your life. You run your shop, you spend time with me, with your grandson, you be free of her. And tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or twenty years from now, if you get bored, or angry, or just feel like it's time to tie up a loose end, you can find her and kill her. But going after her now?" she shook her head. "That thirst for immediate revenge just gives her more power over you." Belle took two steps forward, so that she was only inches away from him, looking up into his eyes. "Don't let it," she finished simply.

Deep brown eyes stared searchingly into vibrant blue ones, which gazed unwaveringly back. Then Rumpelstiltskin leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"I can't promise not to kill her," he murmured. "I won't make a promise I can't keep. But you're right. It can wait a little while."

"Good," Belle whispered. "Shall we go get some dry clothes to meet the newest prince?"

"Now that is an excellent idea, dearest," he murmured back, kissing her again.

Regina's forehead creased in the background. Ordinarily, she would have happily let the 'Stiltskins have their little domestic in the hallway while she made her way around them and dealt with her sister. She'd been planning to imprison her, take her powers and give her a second chance—she was making a real effort at doing the whole "good guy" thing. But… the more she thought about it, the more the bookworm's words made sense. It was distasteful to admit, even in her thoughts.

The good guy way, to take her in and try to reform her, would probably blow up in everyone's faces. The bad guy way, to just kill her and have done with it, would allow the dark spirit of vengeance to infect everyone involved. But this way… letting the natural consequences of Zelena's own actions be her punishment… that was actually justice.

The fact that it was the bookworm who figured it out, decided it, explained it, and convinced the least likely person to agree with it; that rankled her a little.

"Well, one of you clean this up before you do," she grumbled, turning on her heel and heading back to the protection spell.

"I got this, sister," Leroy announced, waving them off as he approached. "You guys deserve a break."

"Thanks, Grumpy," Belle said with a warm smile, slipping her hand into Rumple's and intertwining their fingers.

"Let's go home," the aged wizard murmured.

"Let's," Belle echoed as they left the hospital, together and safe for the first time in a year.

A/N: So, Belle in the Enchanted Forest was this super-intelligent, resourceful, level-headed, independent woman, who saw the good in people, but didn't ignore the parts she didn't like, had her heart broken, then picked herself up by the bootstraps and kept on living her life on her own terms, had adventures, and did what she wanted, despite her falling out with Rumpelstiltskin.

Belle in Storybrook doesn't appear to really have a life outside of her relationship with Rumple, and seems to either only see what she wants to see, or flips out about anything she doesn't like, without just rationally asking for an explanation. This fic was born because I love the character for her spunk and resourcefulness, and I felt like they really failed to show that outside of the Enchanted Forest. Like, she still does research and all of that, but seems so much less helpful, y'know? Anyway, in the second half of season 3, it seemed like her entire purpose was to show up, cry, beg Rumple to fight the dagger's control, then get tossed around like a rag doll. Shower, rinse, repeat.

I hope you enjoyed this oneshot; please leave me a review!