Belle's Dark Deed
Belle seeks revenge on Regina for her imprisonment, Rumple fails to be her conscience and get through to her, and it leads to an awful situation. A tale in which Belle has a taste of revenge and it's not sweet….
AN: The story is AU. Set after season 1.
I did use some small bits of information from season 2 for the story.
Lack of sleep can make anyone lose their temper, but Belle really takes it to the next level.
Chapter 1: Disturbing Dreams
In which Belle is haunted by nightmares and displays burdensome behaviour
Belle wakes up, soaked in sweat. She keeps having these nightmares of being locked up. Whether it is in dungeons, towers or psych wards, she is trapped with no way out. She cannot escape her fate. Sometimes it's so awful that she screams in frustration and wakes Mr. Gold, or as she calls him, Rumple. But often she manages to let him sleep and decides to simply stay awake so the dreams won't return. "It is one of those nights again," Belle whispers to herself, a habit she picked up during many years of imprisonment. She rises from the bed and starts wandering through the house.
A few nights later, it happens again. Belle wakes up after a particularly nasty dream in which the Evil Queen banished her to live forever in some cursed castle with blood dripping off the walls. After so many nights with lack of sleep, Belle has finally come at her wits' end. The dream has strengthened her resolve to exorcise these nightmares by harming Regina.
Rumple had tried to be kind and understanding but that did not always sit well with Belle. She had secretly hoped that he would have done something drastic by now, like attack Regina or turn her into a bug. His old self would have. He seemed changed, wanting to be on his best behaviour for her sake but Belle's frustration was growing rapidly and she cared less and less about his redemption. Last night, they had had a horrible fight. Belle had been raving like a lunatic, and worse, Rumple had been so callous to point that out to her. Belle had walked out of the pawnshop cursing the entire world and seething with anger.
Some days before she had been grateful that Rumple had given her the keys to the library but even that prospect could not sooth her now. Yet, she had found herself in the library after a long walk in the dark. There she had gotten this luminous idea… She had immediately started researching, for a chunky part of the evening, and when she finally came home that night, Belle had murder on her mind.
The decision, and subsequent research, of yesterday evening immediately springs to Belle's mind. She knows what she has to do and wonders if she is prepared to do it. She needs a plan, but first she needs to find it. Belle is worried that she will not be able to, but is nevertheless determined to try. She slips into her clothes and heads to the basement. Maybe Rumple will have hidden it there. Last night at the library, Belle made a list of the most likely possibilities where Rumple could have hidden the dagger that gave him his power. She never really saw the dagger, not in this world nor in the fairer one; she knew of its existence ever since Hook had visited her in her cell, but to this day she had yet to lay eyes on it.
The basement was one of the places on the list, others included the pawnshop, the office behind it, as well as, Rumple's study at home. Although these were the obvious places to look, she still hoped she might be lucky. Perhaps she would find a clue. Rumple had told her after all that it was no longer hidden in the forest but he had revealed nothing about its current whereabouts. In fact, he had not told her that much about the dagger at all except that it was the source of his power and, therefore, needed to be hidden, but she could find what she needed to know in the library.
It is filthy and dark in the basement, the electric lights don't work, and there are cobwebs everywhere. "Perhaps the lamps don't work on purpose," she mumbles hopefully to herself as she lights some candles and a lantern. But after a long hour of searching, rearranging and cleaning, Belle leaves empty handed. The study is the next stop on her list, however, Rumple is waiting for her at the top of the stairs. "What were you doing down there? It's not even light out?" he asks a bit puzzled and concerned. "Did you have a nightmare again?" "Yes, I couldn't sleep anymore, so I decided to do some spring cleaning." "Spring cleaning? Really? You do realize you're no longer a servant?" he chuckles. "Of course," Belle laughs. "Or is it your way of making up for our tiff last night?" Rumple's eyes are searching her face. "Maybe a little," she answers, grateful for the excuse.
It had been quite a terrible argument. Rumple was worried about Belle's behaviour. He had managed to downplay it earlier this morning, calling their row merely a tiff. But, honestly, he had almost been scared last night because Belle had been mad as hell. It had seemed so out of control, and to see that lovely face covered with hatred had upset him more that he thought possible. Usually he was the one with a temper. Being in this reverse situation made him most uneasy as he had no clue what to do. An unsolvable problem. If this continued, perhaps she should see Dr. Hopper for some sleeping pills or better yet, anger management classes. It was a difficult issue, especially as it was the accumulation of several smaller disagreements they had had over the last few weeks since the curse broke.
They were so happy to be together, and he had been over the moon to see her alive and well. But now, the bliss was fading more and more. The first couple of days he had been the one longing for revenge, but Belle had talked him out of it. She wanted them to have a life filled with good things, not darkness, not even for such a worthy cause as revenge on the one person who had taken his beloved away. Then the nightmares had started, and everything changed. As the nightmares got worse and worse, so did Belle's mood. She snapped at him all the time and seemed obsessed with Regina. Her movements, her personality, her history. Even his solution to give her the keys to the library to take her mind of things, had only worked for a moment.
His latest tactic had been to remain as calm as possible, hoping it would calm her down as well. But last night, he had finally lost his cool and called her a lunatic. He had apologized as soon as she came home, which had been very late indeed, and they had made up. Although, she did have such a faraway look on her face that he had briefly wondered if she had heard him at all. And then this morning ―well, morning was hardly the word for it― spring cleaning, really? The bell of his shop took Mr. Gold out of his worries.
Belle's search of the study had lasted only half a hour. The dagger was definitely not hidden there. Nor any clues. Her next option was the shop, but since Rumple was there, she could not search it right under his nose. So Belle had decided to go back to the library to look at some more books about magical blades or cursed dreams. A book she had found yesterday, claimed that many nightmares were sent by others to harm you. That was what she was not content with keeping her locked up for all those years but still wanted to control her life. Keep her imprisoned inside her own dreams.
Belle reaches for the book. She starts to read the chapter Discern the source of your dream, that she had to abandon last night. When you feel trapped inside your dream, the book said, it is because someone has trapped you there. This curse has some similarities to the Sleeping Curse. You are not literally trapped in your body, however, you are trapped in your dream. Regina is known for her use of the Sleeping Curse, Belle recalls, and quickly continues reading. There are some solutions to the problem but they involve the use of magic or of extremely difficult to find ingredients, such as Moss berries, Centaur hair or Troll sweat. None of which are part of this world anyway, Belle sighs. So the only solution would be magic. Since she does not posses magic, she has to look for a magical object, and the dagger appears to be the obvious choice.
Another work: Magical Blades and Their Benefits promises toprovide her with all the answers she needs. Several types of weapons are described including daggers. Every single detail seems to matter, if the blade is curved or not, what material it is made of, or if it changes colour in the moonlight. Belle tries to find a drawing of the dagger that she is after but some of the pages are missing. Frustrated, she throws the book on the floor. Apparently someone beat her to it.