Author note: I don't own Once Upon A Time or Bravely Default/Bravely Second.

I'm just going to put it out here right now that I do adore the Rumbelle pairing, I really do. It's one of my favourite ships on the show. But seeing what has happened in canon as of late with this pair (especially in 6x01), I feel like it's only going downhill from here and so this fic definitely reflects that.

Warning: Spoilers for Bravely Second (especially for Geist's backstory) and OUAT up to 6x01, takes place post-OUAT 6x01, mentioned Rumbelle, some headcanons surrounding Geist thrown in there as well

Flaws

Summary: Belle temporarily lets an Exorcist stay with her after his sudden arrival in Storybrooke. While trying to get adjusted to no longer being with Rumple and living on her own for the most part, she ends up talking to him and the two soon realize they have something in common.

Belle wasn't quite sure what to think of Geist Grace.

Granted, the man had not been one of the 'Untold Stories' that arrived on that dirigible in Storybrooke, but still. He was certainly unknown, and, well…the bloody appearance didn't help much at first sight.

Belle was reluctant to let Geist stay with her initially (she was back at her little library apartment and no longer at Rumple's house), but then again there wasn't really anywhere else for Geist to stay right now, given that everyone else took up room in Granny's Inn or some other places in Storybrooke. And she was reluctant to send him to Rumple, given the falling out she had with him back at the Temple of Morpheus. She let him stay at her place. There was a spare room above the library in the apartment space, so she figured he could sleep there.

Geist hadn't really talked much to her, honestly. What he lacked in words, though, he made up in action. He kept the room he was sleeping in neat enough, he'd never go through her room or other belongings, and sometimes she'd catch him putting the library books away. Belle tried to get back into a routine. Something that would keep her mind off Rumpelstiltskin. It might have been mundane (attending to whatever librarian duties she had, eating, sleeping and so on), but it was something.

She couldn't help but notice this tortured atmosphere lingering around the man. Like he was looking for something, someone. Rumple had been like that too, before he reunited with his first son. And then Belle would proceed to chastise herself for thinking of Rumple so much. She loved him, she truly did, but he had broken one-to-many promises.

"Do not let him destroy us like he did his last family."

Her child's words still lingered in her ears, and she knew that her child had only been looking out for her, but….Belle knew that there was a goodness in Rumple. She'd seen it before, time and time again. He literally saved her life on several occasions, she acknowledged that. But there had been so much pain and broken trust, too, even more now than in the past.

She felt sick. Like she might throw up.

…She was going to throw up.

Thankfully she was in her little apartment at the moment by herself, and so she rushed straight to the bathroom.

After she'd finished, she heard the sound of hurried footsteps, then a voice behind her.

"Belle?"

She jolted slightly, standing as quickly as she could without getting dizzy, and then turned to see Geist. His red eyes were wide with concern as he stood in the doorway of the bathroom, staring right at her.

"Geist." She swallowed, trying to ignore the lingering taste of her vomit. "I-I'm fine, I assure you."

"No. No, you're not fine…I saw you…" Geist paused, closing his mouth at once, eyes closing briefly before they flickered open again, looking right at her face, then down a bit towards her abdomen, then up at her again. He was silent, struggle evident on his face as he tried to figure out more words.

"Are you…?" Geist paused, taking a deep breath. "Are you…pregnant?"

Belle blinked, surprised. He didn't know until now? But she nodded once in confirmation.

"That's why you've seemed so…I see…" The Exorcist paused, before turning on his heel. "Let me get you a glass of water. It'll help. Or perhaps—" He turned again, looking to her, "Would you like tea instead?"

"…I'll just have water first," She finally managed, "Though tea would be nice, too. Thank you."

Geist nodded once, turned, and went to the kitchen. Belle took a minute, took a breath and wiped her mouth with some tissue, and then followed.

A glass of water was placed on the table for her when she arrived, and minutes later there was a small kettle of tea for the both of them. Geist sat opposite her, pouring a cup of tea for her before pouring one for herself. Belle eagerly took a few sips of the water—that was definitely going to help.

"How did you realize I was pregnant?" She asked, putting her glass down, looking up at him. "Did one of the others in Storybrooke tell you, or…?"

"No. I observed." Geist replied after sipping his tea. Placing the cup down, he continued to speak. "I noticed your fatigue. You seemed to have some nausea, too. And now, the vomiting." He frowned a bit. "I should have noticed it earlier. I've seen these signs before, before my son was born."

Her eyes widened a little at the mention of a son. "You…you have a son?"

"Yes. I do have a son." There was a very faint hint of a smile at that. "His name is Revanant. Revenant Grace. He…well," He sighed lightly, "He is not with me at the moment. Not physically. I imagine he still remains in Luxendarc, wondering where I am. I hope to get back to him as soon as I can."

Luxendarc? Oh, right. Belle remembered immediately—that was the land where Geist came from.

"What is it like? Living in Luxendarc with your son that is?"

Her curiosity about other places would always get the better of her.

Geist paused, closing his eyes. Picking up his cup of tea, he took a sip before putting it back down, eyes flickering open as he spoke.

"In the past," He managed, "It was peaceful. As you may already know, I am an Exorcist. I worked for the Crystal Orthodoxy back then. I no longer do so now." He seemed to struggle with what to say, and then he looked into her eyes. "Do you want me to elaborate on all of it?"

"If you don't mind," She replied, "That would be wonderful. But you don't need to if you don't feel comfortable, either."

He nodded once. Something about him seemed to shift—a more somber expression took place. "…I was asked to set sail for a distant port, far from home. I didn't realize my own son was fever-stricken when I left initially. The girl I was to attend to needed an exorcism, or so they said, but she did not need that. She needed medical care and quarantine. But the others on the ship wanted to bring her straight home. I should have refused to let them do so, take a stand against them, but I did nothing. Nothing. They littered the rest of the land with the seeds of a whole plague because I didn't do anything."

What?

Belle couldn't believe that he would reveal all this to her. The two had barely talked, and yet here he was, pouring out bits of his own life to her. Bits of his own life that she was sure representing the worst parts of himself. Why would he deliberately do that?

But she let him continue speaking. She needed to know more.

"What about your son?" She finally asked, after silence.

He swallowed hard.

"He died. He was one of the Plague's first victims. When I got back home…he was gone. A tiny piece of his soul remained. He had waited! Refused to…go on without me," A grim laugh escaped him, head shaking in dismay. "So I took his soul….and bonded it to a suit of armor, so that he could stay with me. It was all I could do to keep him from slipping away entirely."

Belle wasn't sure how to feel about this. The man was starting to have more parallels to Rumple, and hearing that Geist's son had died made her think of Rumple after Baelfire died. He'd been a complete mess, grieving, and Belle wondered if Bae dying had been the point of Rumple getting darker than he'd been in the past.

"I'm surprised you never questioned my presence when I first arrived, at least not aloud." Geist started, and Belle looked up from her glass of water to him. "After all, everyone in Storybrooke seems to know my, ah, story. I assumed you knew as well."

"How would I know? I mean," she pointed out, "I've never exactly had a full conversation with you until now."

He gave her a slight look. "People talk, if you haven't noticed. That boy, that…self-proclaimed 'Author' found out about my past with that quill and book of his. He found out everything I did, even the things I thought were mere nightmares but were actually real. I mean," He closed his eyes, inhaling, then exhaled as he opened them, "You should have seen the look on Madam Mayor's face when she found out I nearly caused a massacre out of a festival. And nearly killed a father and his son, had I not been cut down at the time. And the fact that I did, genuinely, enjoy it."

Now he was sounding more like Rumple. Belle wasn't sure whether she should feel sick about it again, or how to truly react.

"Do you regret any of it?" She found herself asking that.

Geist paused, before shaking his head.

"Some I do. Some I don't. I would be lying if I said I regretted everything." He looked uncomfortable at this point, and Belle almost felt bad, but he kept speaking despite that. "I never said anything about any of this to you, because I was worried you'd just…throw me out. And honestly, I don't blame you if you feel that way. From my experience, any parent would do anything to protect their child, and I do mean anything."

The way he worded the last part made her wonder what he knew about her.

"…I'm guessing you might have heard of Rumple?"

"Rum…ah, the Dark One?" Geist nodded once. "I have. I also know you two are…were married, if I am correct?"

"We're still married, technically. But separated." It felt uncomfortable for Belle to say, but it was the truth.

"I see." Hesitation crossed his face. "Forgive me for overstepping any boundaries, but I assume he is the father?"

"Yes."

There was silence as Geist absorbed the information, before he spoke again.

"I don't know what happened between you two to separate, and I won't try to assume anything, but if you ever need to talk about it…you—you can talk to me. I know it might seem strange for me to offer this to you, but—you—" He shut his mouth, swallowing, before looking up at her. "You're not…going to throw me out, are you?"

Belle had to pause and think. This man, a supposed torturer and murderer as well as the partial cause of spreading a Plague, was residing in her apartment. And when he'd mentioned that any parent would do anything to protect their child, her first instinct was to throw him out. Even if he was not hostile now, what about later?

The very thought of it made her think of Rumple, and two of the times she'd left him. The first time, when she commanded him to leave Storybrooke, and the more recent time when she walked away from him after waking up at the Temple of Morpheus. It hadn't even been Rumple to truly give her True Love's Kiss to wake her—it was her own unborn son. She thought of how she'd fallen in and out of love with Rumple over their time together. There had been good, and bad, all mixed up in there together.

Belle even recalled the time after she made Rumple leave Storybrooke, when she had briefly dated Will. Looking back on it, she knew it wasn't exactly the right thing to do, and in a way had used him as a replacement for Rumple (the breakup had been quietly done where no one would see or have to talk about it before Will left to go back home).

She admitted that yes, she'd probably done some wrong there, at least, and probably in other places. And obviously, Rumple had broken a lot of promises and her trust, too. Both had their faults, she admitted that now in her mind.

"Maybe I should just leave."

She looked up to see Geist stand, a look of guilt on his face.

"I shouldn't be here." He managed. "I am too similar to him for you to bear, I imagine. You are not the only one who sees the similarities."

"No, wait." Belle herself also stood as Geist began to take a step away. Reaching out and grabbing one of his gloved hands, she stopped him at once. "Wait."

He froze. As he turned to face her again, she saw noticeable surprise on his face. His gaze went down to their intertwined hands, then up at her.

"Why do you…I don't understand."

His words were guarded, yet confused.

"Just because you two hold similarities doesn't mean that you're the same as him." Belle stated, looking him in the eyes. "You said that you've done a lot of wrong, but…you haven't wronged me." Not yet at least. "You've been helpful around here, and I appreciate that about you. And…I appreciate your honesty, too. Please don't leave."

She really did mean it, especially the last part. To be fair, she knew she had never been entirely honest with Rumple all the time, but neither had he. It was both their faults that they couldn't work out their differences and get to a level of trust that they needed. But as for Geist? Geist might be similar to Rumple in various ways, but he was not the same as him. Not a chance. At least the man was up and honest with her about her past and willing to acknowledge straight-up that he had some flaws.

"Thank you."

Those had been the two words to escape his lips, the sliver of a smile on his face. She was about to lead him back to the table so they could have more tea and water, but then he spoke again, letting go of her hand.

"You're…warm."

"What?"

"You." Geist looked down at his hands, before tugging off his gloves. Placing the gloves on the table, he reached for one of her hands and slowly closed his hand around hers. "You're warm. You're so warm."

"And you're—hold on." Out of instinct, she placed her other hand to his forehead, only to realize that he was cold there, too, and sensing him partially gasp out of the unexpected touch. "Are you sick? You're really cold, Geist."

Geist shook his head. "Not sick." He managed in reply as she pulled her hand away from her forehead. "I've always been like this. A lot of people complained about it. Given that and my bloody appearance, others have liked to call me some walking corpse. I don't blame them for it, honestly."

She frowned. "You don't look like a walking…" She then looked to his bloodstained coat, gloves, and boots. "…Okay, maybe they have a point."

He sighed. "I thought so. They don't call me 'Geist the Bloody' for nothing, after all."

"But," She looked up at him, "Appearances can change. People themselves can change. And whoever you were back then doesn't necessarily say who you are now."

He chuckled slightly. "If only I could get my body temperature to be normal. Then maybe it might be better."

She couldn't help but chuckle at that, too. "True. Though I think body temperature is the least of our worries."

"True."

Were there flaws in Belle's life and in her relationships? Yes. Being separated from Rumple and having to deal with having a child was certainly a big part of it. But maybe with a friend like Geist sticking around for a while, assuming he was now a friend, at least she would have help with it all. And that was okay, too. They could work through this.