Ruby woke up to find the room was still dark, the only light coming from the moon shining from outside. She was about to roll over to fall back asleep when she noticed the bed next to her was empty. She sat up and looked around, finally spotting Belle across the room, gazing out the window. With a concerned look on her face, Ruby climbed out of her cot to join Belle at the window, making sure her red cloak was secure around her shoulders.
"Belle?" she asked. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Belle replied, turning to look back at her friend. "It's just… a bit strange to be back here again, after so long. It's a bit eerie, especially at night. Sometimes, I wake up to hear a noise in the hall, and… I think it might be him. And for a brief moment, I try to remember if I finished all the chores he gave me, and… I'm sorry. I know I'm being foolish."
"Hey, hey," Ruby soothed, pulling Belle into a comforting hug. "It's okay. You have nothing to be sorry about. I know it can't be easy for you to be back here."
It had been a few months since the Enchanted Forest mission had begun. After Mr. Gold had died stopping Pan from taking over Storybrooke, Belle had brought up a concern about the items he'd stored in his vault back in the Enchanted Forest. To ensure the artifacts wouldn't fall into the wrong hands, an expedition had been organized to journey to the Dark One's castle and secure the items that were kept in Rumpelstiltskin's vault. While the majority of the expedition consisted of select members of The Sisters of Saint Meissa, on account of them being innate magic users who could properly examine the artifacts, Belle, Ruby, Jefferson and Leroy had also volunteered to go along.
"Why didn't you say you were having trouble being back here?" Ruby asked. "You shouldn't force yourself to stay in a situation that makes you uncomfortable. No one here would think less of you if you needed to back out."
"It's okay," Belle insisted. "Some things are more important. I've spent more time in this castle than anyone else, so I'm the best suited to help everyone find their way around. And how to avoid any booby traps Rumpelstiltskin set up to deter intruders in his absence. Not that anyone would willingly try to break in. Besides, I heard from Sister Astrid that we should be finished clearing out the vault tomorrow."
"Well, would you like to at least come for a walk?" Ruby invited. "A bit of fresh air might help settle your mind and help you fall asleep again."
"That sounds good," Belle agreed, allowing Ruby to usher her out of the room.
Jefferson stifled a sudden yawn as he made his way down the vacant corridor, heading towards the chamber that had been turned into the expedition's dormitory. However, as he rounded a corner, he froze when he heard the sound of a loose stone tile shifting beneath someone's foot.
"Who's there?" Jefferson demanded, turning to look over his shoulder, seeing nothing but dark corridors. After a moment of silence, however, Leroy stepped out of the shadows. "Leroy? What are you doing up?"
"Better question," Leroy retorted, eyeing him in suspicion. "Why are you doing wandering around?"
"I was heading back to the dormitories," Jefferson replied, eyes narrowing at Leroy's tone. "One of the fairies came and relieved me of sentry duty, so I was going to get some sleep."
"Oh, is that right?" Leroy probed, still glaring at him. "Back to the dormitories." Letting out an irritated huff, Jefferson rolled his eyes.
"Okay, what is your problem, dwarf?" he demanded. In that moment, he was seized by a sudden suspicion. "Wait, were you tailing me?"
"Listen here, Hatter," Leroy ordered. "The others might be willing to believe you're trustworthy, but I haven't forgotten how you used to be in league with Rumpelstiltskin."
"That was a long time ago," Jefferson countered. "Our partnership ended when Grace was born."
"So you say," Leroy commented with a shrug. "But that didn't seem to stop you from holding Emma and Mary Margret at gunpoint."
"I was never going to hurt them," Jefferson argued. "I was only trying to get my daughter back."
"And another thing," Leroy went on, showing no indication that he heard what Jefferson said. "There's also the matter of what you did to Belle."
"What, you mean when I freed her from her cell in the psychiatric ward?"
"Well, if you were able to do that, you clearly knew she was there," Leroy pointed out. "So, why didn't you do anything about it sooner? You only freed Belle when you did because you were using her, to get Gold to kill Regina for you. You and I both know that. So you better believe I'm going to be keeping an eye on you."
"Yeah, you do that," Jefferson snapped, turning and continuing on his way.
As Jefferson stormed his way towards the dormitory, he felt the annoyance still boiling away in his mind. What did it matter that he once worked with Rumpelstiltskin at one point? Why would that give Leroy reason to question his reliability? No one questioned Dr. Hopper's allegiance, despite how he was once roped into doing work for the man in question years ago. Neither was Dr. Whale. Not to mention the occasions where Emma and her parents made deals with him. Why was he the only one on trial?
His irritation hadn't subsided when he passed by a broken window. Almost by instinct, Jefferson glanced outside, immediately spotting movement outside. Curiosity getting the better of him, he stopped in his tracks and moved closer to the window to get a better look. The outer courtyard was illuminated by the light of the moon, enabling Jefferson to clearly make out Belle and Ruby walking about. In spite of the residual resentment from Leroy's accusations, Jefferson felt a small smile appear on his face. While he couldn't deny Belle was always beautiful, there was something about the moonlight illuminating her skin and hair that seemed to highlighted it.
Out of nowhere, he felt the stirrings of guilt inside his chest. Leroy had been right about one thing. When he'd freed Belle, he wasn't thinking of her at all. It really had been done out of a desire to get back at Regina for going back on her word to reunite him with Grace. But now that he'd gotten to know Belle, and grown as close to her as he did, he wished there was a way to go back to free her from that cell sooner. Now, the very thought of Belle- beautiful, vibrant, brave Belle- being stuck in that cell, day in and day out, for all those years; it made him sick to his stomach.
Jefferson was still watching the two women from the window when he heard urgent footfalls coming down the hall. He looked up just in time to see the fairy that had just relieved him of sentry duty dashing down the hall, an urgent look on her face.
"Hey, slow down! What's wrong?" he asked, stopping her by grasping her arm as she passed.
"I need to wake up the other fairies to put up a protective barrier around the castle," the fairy explained urgently. "I just spotted an ogre lurking about outside. We need to make sure it can't find its way inside." Jefferson instantly felt as if his heart skipped a beat, turning to look outside where Belle and Ruby were still walking about.
"No," he whispered, fear filling his voice. Before the fairy could say anything, he turned and raced off, heading for the stairs leading down to the foyer.
Outside, Ruby and Belle were making their way through the courtyard's neglected gardens. Belle was just about to say she was feeling better when Ruby stiffened, grabbing onto Belle's wrist firmly.
"Ruby?" Belle spoke, taken aback at how tight Ruby's grip was. "What's...?"
"Shhh," Ruby whispered in warning, looking around urgently. "Belle, we need to get back inside. Quickly."
"What's wrong?" Belle asked, feeling mounting trepidation at Ruby's behavior. Before Ruby could reply, there was an ear shattering sound of wood splitting.
"Quick!" Ruby exclaimed urgently, herding Belle to one of the stone planters. The moment they ducked behind it, an ogre stepped into view, Belle only just managing to keep herself from gasping in shock at the sight of it.
From their hiding place, Ruby and Belle watched as the ogre lumbered around the courtyard, completely ignorant of their presence. It was only when Belle felt Ruby touch her shoulder that she tore her horrified eyes away from the creature. Wordlessly Ruby pointed the door of the nearby castle keep, gesturing for Belle to follow her. Swallowing nervously, Belle nodded in understanding and carefully crawled out from behind the planter, following after Ruby as quietly as possible. Just as Belle was about to reach the steps leading up to the front door, the sound of the ogre's growls made her glance over her shoulder to see the ogre was slowly making its way towards them. Letting out a whimper of panic, Belle quickly changed direction and attempted to hide behind a nearby bush. She instantly regretted her decision when she accidentally disturbed a large pebble, which rolled across the tiles that formed a walkway. The sudden sound immediately caught the ogre's attention, who let out a grunt before making its way towards Belle's hiding place. Belle, now shaking like a leaf, covered her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound of her breathing, but to no avail. She could even feel the bush starting to move from the ogre's breath.
"HEY!" a voice suddenly cried out. "OVER HERE!"
Belle's eyes widened in shock as her head snapped over towards the direction of the voice. Jefferson was standing a close distance away, waving his arms and shouting to get the ogre's attention. His efforts proved to be successful, as the ogre let out a loud roar and lurched forward, heading straight for Jefferson, who promptly turned and ran off, leading the ogre away from the bush where Belle had been hiding.
Heart hammering away in his throat, Jefferson continued to lure the ogre away, racing out through the castle gates, through the remnants of the now-broken wooden door. As he reached the footpath, he altered his direction to make his way to the nearby trees, planning to lose the creature among the sea of evergreens. Seconds before he could reach it, however, the ogre's massive hand reached out to swipe at his retreating figure. While the ogre wasn't able to grab him, the tips of the creature's fingers brushed against Jefferson's back, knocking him to the ground. Before he could get back up again. Jefferson realized the shadow of the ogre was now looming over him. Letting out a sigh of acceptance, he closed his eyes, bracing himself for the blow that was surely coming. But to his surprise, the attack never came. Instead, there was a fearsome growling snarl that rang out, followed by the ogre bellowing in pain. In amazed confusion, Jefferson braved a glance over his shoulder to see a large grey wolf clinging to the ogre's back, biting and snapping away at its neck and shoulder. When the ogre had stumbled back a few feet, the wolf leapt away and made a beeline towards Jefferson, stopping just inches away from him. For the briefest moment, Jefferson was too stunned to move, but when the wolf looked at him expectantly with discerning eyes, he realized instantly that this was no ordinary wolf. Sparing one cautious look at the ogre, who was regaining its bearings, Jefferson scrambled to his feet and climbed atop the wolf's back. Once Jefferson was settled, the wolf took off running, heading back towards the castle. The instant Jefferson and the wolf had made it past the gates, a handful of fairies, who had been standing by waiting, magically erected a barrier over the broken door, making it impossible for the ogre to find its way back inside.
Upon realizing they were actually safe, Jefferson slid off the wolf's back, dropping to his hands and knees as he struggled to catch his breath, his adrenaline running out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the fairies step forward to drape a familiar red cloak over the wolf. Within seconds, the wolf had transformed back into Ruby.
"Thank you, Ruby," Jefferson sighed, casting a grateful smile up at her.
"If you'll forgive the pun, are you mad?" Ruby retorted, glaring at Jefferson in annoyance. "What were you thinking, making that ogre chase after you? Do you realize what would have happened if I hadn't gotten there in time?"
"Belle was…." Jefferson trailed off when he caught sight of Belle, who was sitting by the front steps of the castle keep, with her head down and her knees up to her chest. She was showing no sign that she noticed anyone. Not even Leroy and Sister Astrid, who appeared to be comforting her.
"Did you forget I was there?" Ruby questioned. "And that I was no doubt already taking off my cloak to transform?"
"Actually, I forgot you were a werewolf," Jefferson admitted. "I didn't remember that detail until you appeared in wolf form."
"In other words, you panicked and jumped in recklessly," Ruby stated. However, she was smiling in understanding. "Well, I guess I can't really hold it against you. And I do appreciate how determined you were to keep her safe." Without another word, Ruby swung an arm around Jefferson's shoulder, giving him a sisterly hug. "For the record, I'm glad you're safe, too."
"That makes two of us," Jefferson responded. However, he had eyes only for Belle, who had still not moved an inch from her spot on the stair.
Catching on to the direction of his thoughts, Ruby began to coax everyone back inside to leave the pair alone. While Leroy needed a little extra convincing, Sister Astrid eventually managed to talk him into stepping back into the castle keep. Finally, the only people left outside were Jefferson and Belle.
"Belle, are you okay?" Jefferson asked, growing concerned how she hadn't even looked up at him yet. For a moment, Belle showed no indication that she'd heard him, but then she began to speak.
"Did you ever hear about how I lost my mother?" she asked.
"No, you've never told me about her," Jefferson said.
"During the ogre wars, they ended up attacking our family's manor. When the guards were trying to evacuate everyone, Mother and I were trying to gather up books from the library. You see…my mother loved books as much as I do. In fact, she was the one who helped me fall in love with books in the first place. Anyway…Mother couldn't stand the thought of the books being damaged by the attacking ogres, so she was determined to save as many as possible. Before we could rejoin Father, an ogre broke into the library where we were working. My mother shielded me from the ogres, giving the guards the chance to get me to safety…sacrificing her life in the process."
"Oh, Belle," Jefferson sighed heavily, dropping to his knees in front of her. "I'm sorry."
"My mother died to protect me from the ogres," Belle stated, finally lifting her tearstained face up to look Jefferson in the eye. "And tonight….I thought I was going to lose you the same way."
"I'm sorry," Jefferson repeated, fully realizing what he'd inadvertently put her through tonight. "When I heard there was an ogre about, and saw you were outside, I…."
"I know," Belle replied. "I know why you did what you did. And…. I do thank you for trying to save me. Just…promise me you won't scare me like that again, okay? If that ogre had gotten you like my mother, I'd…."
"Shhh," Jefferson instructed gently, reaching out to cup her cheek. "I know."
Out of nowhere, Belle let out a choked sob and she lunged forward, throwing her arms around Jefferson as she broke down, burying her face in his chest as she cried. In response, Jefferson pulled her closer, rubbing a consoling hand up and down her back.