This is set at the end of the Once upon a time episode Skin deep p.s spoiler alert and I own nothing. Also you should know this is the alternate ending to my other story that was originally a one shot, His Fallen Angel. You don't have to read it to keep up but I would greatly appreciate it if you did just so you can compare the two. Thanks

He sat at the wheel, spinning the wheel half-heartedly and watching as the spokes slowly turned. His mind was entranced, and he had almost managed to forget. He would never quite manage to; desperately he clawed at some semblance of normalcy. Dreams had been plaguing him for days, and as a cursed being, he knew his dreams where not simply his self-conscious mind running free. Rumpelstiltskin knew that they were windows into other worlds. Time didn't matter in dream, he could be seeing past, present, future, or anything in-between. The young woman who had wandered into his life, no, wormed her way in had been haunting him yet again. When he could see her it was from a window among the clouds. Things where dismal and dark, it was a place that even made the likes of him feel hopeless. He heard her whimpering and pleading for it to stop.

No matter how she insisted on her purity, her chastity, they wouldn't stop. Flaying the skin at her flanks, leaving parallel slashes up and down her arms, her legs, across her buttocks, her porcelain cheeks, even her most secret of gardens were not spared the wicked knife. In an attempt to exorcise the evil that had overtaken her and ravaged her, they anointed her with oil that crackled on her skin and left fiery red welts and blisters. They deprived her of food and water to purge the demons within her that clung so desperately to her soul. When she screamed in agony, the wails reverberated off the stone walls and into his ears. It was killing him. Listening to her mournful wails pleading with the men who were supposed to be purifying her. Purifying her of the evil he had left upon her. He had never taken her to his bed, yet they proclaimed so. Saying she bared marks of a loose woman, that of a harlot.

Rumpelstiltskin would stay awake as long as he possibly could to avoid the hellish nightmares. But he couldn't elude sleep forever, not even with all the magic in the world. Eventually he surrendered and laid his head down upon a goose feather pillow. And sure enough he was back in her world of suffering. This time was different though, there was an air of defiance, and there was a looming stillness. Rumpelstiltskin looked over the territory keenly; he was at the foot of a tall tower. It was as if even the animals knew something was going to happen. In the dead of night there was silence. When Rumpelstiltskin looked up to the peak of the tower he spotted a window and his stomach sank, his pulse raced and his filthy calloused palms pricked with sweat. She stood upon the ledge of the stacked stones. Her eyes were closed and her head thrown back. He watched helplessly as she flung herself from the ledge.

"NO BELLE, NO!" he screamed in horrified desperate anguish.

If she heard him she didn't acknowledge it, her arms were thrown behind her back and her breast thrown forward; she looked as if she were gliding like a graceful swan. And then there was the sickening crack. Rumpelstiltskin was paralyzed with shock. Her broken body lay in a crumpled heap at the foot of her prison. His hands shook at his sides and all the breath left his body. He fell to his knees and could utter only one word. "Belle..." he whimpered. Rumpelstiltskin crawled towards her. 'Belle…why?" he asked reaching out to turn her over. A trickle of blood trailed down her ruby lips and partially healed scars adorned her face in an almost obscene way. Anger boiled in him and spewed forth. "WHY?" he shrieked. "WHY?" He pulled her into his arms and rocked slowly back and forth burying his nose in her hair, even after all this time it smelled of sultry lavender and sweet roses. Sobs shook his shoulders and tears rolled down his ashen cheeks. He looked to her face again and stopped, a look of peace, pure bliss even, graced her features. Rumpelstiltskin felt like he was going to vomit. She was happy; this was her salvation, death, suicide, and all because of him.

Rumpelstiltskin awoke with a start, he was drenched in a cold sweat and he leapt from his bed. "This is going to happen." He realized. He didn't bother to change from his tartan pajamas as he leapt into the magic tear that allowed him to travel from place to place in an instant. He had to save his Belle.

Rumpelstiltskin appeared in the clearing that surrounded the tower and scanned the territory quickly. She wasn't in the window like in the dream and he looked to the ground, she had yet to make her leap. In an instant he was at the window ledge, standing on the stacked stones. Rumpelstiltskin looked around the tower, for any sign of her. He saw nothing in this room, it was dark and cold with a table in the corner with leather straps fastened to it. It made him shiver to see that table up close. It was the one he saw her strapped to as they flayed her alive. He couldn't focus on that right now though; he had to find her. There was one door in the entire room and it beckoned to him. Rumpelstiltskin crossed the room in a single stride and placed his palm on the surface of the heavy wooden door. He could sense no life right outside so he stepped out into the dim hallway.

Rumpelstiltskin stepped softly and paused outside each door. At the end of the hall he heard creaking ropes and struggling and knew this was the right door. He turned the knob slowly and stepped inside. Belle was sprawled across a mattress made of tightly bound ropes and thrashed against her own ropes. They looped over both wrists and were tied tightly around the bed frame. Her wrists were burned and bleeding as she writhed trying to free herself. She had yet to notice him, still fighting like a trapped animal with all of her strength. One wrist slipped free and she went limp against the ropes panting hard.

"Belle." He whispered. She came to life instantly ready to fight again for her life. Belle whipped around into a crouched position her one free hand balled up and ready to strike. She lashed out at him and struck him hard in the face. He was astonished that the girl he remembered, so dainty and sweet could put so much force, anger and hatred behind one blow and he stumbled backward. She recoiled this time standing on the bed frame and ready to swing again when he caught her wrist and pulled her down to the floor with him.

"Belle, please, Belle it's me." He held her fast as she struggled. "It's Rumpelstiltskin."

She stopped instantly and turned to look at his face. Belle said nothing but she didn't have to, her eyes said it all. They begged him to take her from this place, to save her from this nightmare, to take her home. It broke his heart to see her like this and he had to get her as far away from here as possible. Rumpelstiltskin cut the rope that remained around her right wrist and pulled her into his arms. He carried her from her room and down the hall to the only window. Rumpelstiltskin leapt to the ground and landed like a feather. "We're almost there dearie." He said to her softly. Holding her tightly in his arms he stepped into the magic void.

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They arrived back at his estate and he realized she had passed out during the trip. He laid her on the dining room table to asses the damage to her small frame. Her wrists needed tending to first; the skin was worn raw and burned. They bled terribly. He summoned a bowl and water and everything else he would need to tend her. Rumpelstiltskin held one of her tiny wrists in his hand and washed it with cool water, mopping up the blood as he went. When they were clean and the bleeding had slowed he patted them dry and wrapped them with cloth bandages. Next were the blistered burns on her feet and legs that had begun to bleed again when she crouched on the bed to attack him. They received the same treatment as her wrists, cool water was used to sooth them, they were cleaned, dried, and wrapped in bandages. He did this with all of her various wounds, and washed the dirt from her face and brushed out her hair. He noticed that her dress was torn, tattered, and filthy. He changed her into a simple cotton dressing gown, trying to look at her body as little as possible. She had lost her humanity, her dignity, and he wanted to maintain what little shred of self respect she had left. Rumpelstiltskin carried her up the stairs to a spare room. He willed the covers back with his magic and set her down in the warm safe bed. Rumpelstiltskin tucked her in like a child, pulling the covers up around her. He watched her for a moment, and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Goodnight Belle." He said to her softly. She was alive and safe in his home once again. He had another chance with his Belle, something he had so desperately craved. She was his once again to protect.

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Okay, this is chapter one of my alternate ending to His Fallen Angel please let me know what you think. I was terribly disappointed when I received only three reviews to a story that had over 500 hits on the first day. If it sucks tell me, if its ok tells me how I can improve it. There is nothing more valuable to me than a simple review.