Stockholm Syndrome

Pairing: Rumplestiltskin/Belle

Characters: Rumplestiltskin, Belle, Captain Hook, Dr. Whale, Emma Swan

Rating: T, mainly for violence and language.

Summary: With Belle's memory gone after passing the town line, Rumplestiltskin is determined to get her to fall in love with him again, but the longer it takes, the more he falls towards the Dark One as his rage is channeled towards the very man who was responsible for Belle's condition in the first place. Although she cannot remember him, will Belle's inherent goodness be enough to stop Gold from returning to the beast he was in the past? Will it be enough to temper the rage between the rivals or will everything collapse?

Everything hurts. It begins as a dull throb as he begins to return to consciousness before it is changed into a howling storm consuming his entire body. Killian Jones had not been expecting to live out the night, he'd managed to take Belle away from the Crocodile but the encounter on the ship proved several things. He was not strong enough to beat Rumplestiltskin and taking away Belle was the best he could do. Also, he did not want to chase the Crocodile anymore. He was tired, so tired, and when he saw the Dark One summon a great ball of flame, Hook had felt such a sense of relief as he waited for those flames to engulf him for if he was consumed, he would be with Milah once more. He even closed his eyes, the image of his true love painted across his mind and yet the pain never came, at least…not the pain of fire. He heard the thing and when his eyes snapped open it was to see what Cora named a 'car' racing towards him. Pain exploded in his body when it crashed into him before everything went dark.

Hook opened his eyes slowly, groaning softly as he attempted to shift and found himself unable to do so. Panic seized him until he was able to move his hand slightly. He noticed a figure moving in the shadows and where was he? It certainly was dark and all he could make out in the light was a spinning wheel and above it a small window at ground level. He was underground somewhere then. His eyes were dulled with pain but as the figure approached he was able to make out his features. He was a man possessing fair looks, short blond hair and bright blue eyes. The pirate's brow furrowed in confusion, eyes noticing the tag on the man's white jacket. 'Dr. Whale.'

"Wh…where?" he asked hoarsely.

"Oh good, you didn't die. It would have been better for you if you had, it's going to take some time for you to recover," the man replied, ignoring the question entirely. Hook asked again and the doctor frowned at him. "You ought to just rest while you can, I've known Gold to hold disdain for many, even hatred for some but you…you've earned a special place unto yourself the moment you took the girl away from him."

Hook grimaced as a fresh wave of pain took hold and he breathed slowly to ease it from his body. "This is…Rumple…stiltskin's lair?"

"Not sure I would call a basement a lair," Whale said. "Anyway, I've worked with the Dark One before and it proved beneficial to myself, so I decided not to turn down another chance, especially where he was kind enough to fix a small problem I had not long ago," here the man paused to look at his arm for a moment before he neared the pirate with a needle in hand. "I'm going to make you sleep now, I need to set a few bones and I don't need any shouts drawing attention."

"Why…did he want me…brought here?" Hook growled and Whale paused, standing before him. He smiled but the gesture held no warmth. "I imagine so he can pull you apart piece by piece, you're close enough to death now that it wouldn't take much to tip you over the edge, think he wants to keep you around for a bit."

Hook opened his mouth to protest but the doctor jabbed the needle into his neck and sleep stole over him once again.

Gold sat by Belle's bed, unwavering. He could not wrap his mind around what happened. That moment she'd been sent toppling over the town line he swore his heart stopped and it had yet to beat again. She had been so frightened, so full of pain from the bullet and yet so confused as to who he was and why he spoke to her so earnestly. There was no reversing it either. He had no means to restore her memories. Belle was lost to him forever. If he had energy to focus on anything more other than Belle, he would once again curse the pirate, as he had the moment he deemed it necessary to kill the man. In his rage he would have done it, even though he knew it was what Hook wanted and it might be crueler still to let him live. Gold couldn't allow it, not then, but the stranger had arrived and changed everything, given Gold a chance to calm down and as Belle was taken to the hospital, Gold had transported the broken pirate to his own home, locking him away and giving Whale specific instructions to keep him alive. He would deal with that little nuisance later. All that mattered now was Belle. His sweet Belle.

He heard footsteps and he didn't need to look up to know that it was Swan. She positioned herself across from him, on the other side of the bed, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, maintaining her image as tough, unbreakable. Gold hardly had the mood to entertain her now. "You want to tell me what happened?" she asked.

"I told you," Gold replied.

"Doesn't explain much though, you managed to find a way to cross the line out of Storybrooke, and somehow Belle managed to get shot and ended up over the line and lost her memories. Who shot Belle, Mr. Gold?"

"Who do you think?" he snapped.

"I don't know," calm and collected as always. "Cora? I heard she's been around."

"Yes, Cora," Gold sneered. If he told the sheriff, she would request to see Hook, to get him proper medical attention and then arrest him or something pitiful like that. No, this was Gold's chance for justice; he would not give it up to the savior. Even if he told her it had been Hook, she would search for him and eventually come across him where he'd been hidden away he was sure. Emma had a knack for solving cases when it involved searching for someone.

"I'm sorry." And she sounded sincere too, but Gold was too lost on Belle to care much. "If there's anything I can do…"

"You can leave."

Emma sighed and pushed away from the wall. "I'm going to stop Cora," she promised before she walked out of the room. Gold continued to watch Belle, he reached out and took her hand. Her hand was so familiar to him now, he traced the familiar lines, took comfort in the warmth that was radiating beneath the ivory skin. "Please, Belle," he whispered. "Please…"

He must have dozed off in his chair, for when next he opened his eyes it was to see that twilight was settling over the small town. He noticed Belle shifting in her sleep and he sat up, moving from the chair to the bed. Belle's eyes snapped open and when she saw him, she screamed in alarm. Gold reached for her shoulders to keep her from thrashing around and reopening her wound, all the while trying to shush her.

"It's me, Belle, calm down, you have to calm down," he pleaded earnestly.

"No, no! Get away from me! Who are you?! Why do you keep calling me Belle?! Go AWAY!"

Whale rushed in with a few nurses behind him. "Back away, Mr. Gold, just back away!" Whale ordered as some of the nurses took hold of the Dark One and pulled him back from the bed. Gold let them, feeling a great coldness swell in his chest as Belle calmed down in the face of seeing the medical team. "I don't know him," she was saying, clutching to Whale's coat. "Please, I don't understand, what's happening?" she asked and the fear and confusion in her voice was enough to break Gold's heart. Whale left the girl to the nurses as he ushered Gold out of the room.

"We'll do all we can to get her better quickly," he said and Gold knew it wasn't because Whale was very caring for his patient, but he did not care much for the doctor's motivations. "Maybe if she just spends more time with you and has a chance to calm down she'll remember."

"The dwarf has yet to regain his memories," Gold pointed out bitterly. "It'll take magic to bring her memories back. Powerful magic."

They stood in silence, Gold's hand clutching tightly to his cane and the doctor pursed his lips. "Your other request has been taken care of," he finally said, sounding worried he might incur the Dark One's wrath by speaking. Gold glanced at him and Whale took a precautionary look about to make sure they were alone. "It'll take a bit for him to recover, but I've set out quickly enough that he will recover."

Silence.

"You know I am curious," the doctor pressed on. "He asked why you wanted him alive and I must say, I'm wondering the same thing. Would it not be more satisfactory knowing he is dead?"

"No," Gold spoke in a voice hardly above a whisper. "He wants to die, he's all used up, he practically asked me to kill him but death is easy, death is quick, but do not mistake me, he will die but his death will come only when Belle has her memories back. Until then I shall remind him of his error every day."

Another moment of silence before Whale spoke again. "But wouldn't…you know, it's not really my business but I have to ask, wouldn't the lady be a bit upset if you did this?"

Gold let out a bitter laugh that held all the anger and suffering storming within him. "Upset? She does not know me; she does not know the pirate cur, what I do will make no difference to her."

"Sort of sounds like cheating if you ask me," Whale muttered and this time Gold did lash out, his hand closing about the doctor's neck.

"You've told me once my magic is more powerful than your science, I restored your arm, don't think me incapable of undoing the spell," the Dark One growled. He released the doctor as the door opened and the nurses came from the room. "May I see her?" he asked.

"I'm sorry Mr. Gold, I must advise against it, she is just calmed down enough to sleep once more and it's really detrimental to her recovery if she keeps waking up and panicking. You must give her time, once she is no longer in pain from the injury it will be safer for her to have visitors. The shock is still upon her, poor dear."

Gold nodded stiffly and left the hospital. He did not want to cause Belle any more pain. He sighed as he walked the darkening streets towards his shop. His life had been so full of loss. Milah, Baelfire, his own humanity and when he finally saw a light, something so bright it could beat back all the darkness, it had been taken from him as well. Magic came at a price. It always has and it always will but even now, when he was trying to use magic for good, as a means to find his son, it sent him tumbling down into despair. Why? What had he done to merit such a fate? No, perhaps he did deserve this, but Belle? No, Belle deserved none of it. She was sweet and innocent and she saw him, really saw him, more so than anyone else ever had. And he loved her, loved her enough that he was willing to change his nature, to become a man he had never been before; one full of courage, the courage to face his problems without using magic as a crutch, the courage to speak the truth without the twists, without the games. Belle kept him frown drowning under the name of Rumplestiltskin…but she was gone now, and though he would try endlessly for a solution, Gold knew that it was beyond him unless he found a way to that magic again, the magic he'd been so addicted to.

And he was willing to damn himself if it meant saving Belle.