Beauty and the Beast belongs to Disney, and LOSH belongs to DC. An AU of a fairy tale using characters from LOSH, I hope that this story turns out as well online as it does in my head.

Beauty and the Beast

There was one path that ran through the forests of Rawl. Only one path that was safe, anyway. All others led into the dangerous depths of the forest that skirted the edges of New Metropolis. Stories of the fearsome monster that lived there kept anyone and everyone away. There was only one man who had ever come from the forests of Rawl and lived to tell the tale.

Dr. Mar Londo was a brilliant but radical scientist whose experiments practically lived in the realm of illegal activity. Though no one knew the complete truth, the story was that he and his son had built a house somewhere deep in the forest so that he could conduct his questionable experiments in solitude. Years later, he had fled Rawl. He claimed he had been driven out by a monster that had brutally murdered his son, Brin. Now he lived in New Metropolis, making a lot of money off his numerous inventions. It was his newfound wealth that led him to Senator Winema Wazzo's office. With his money and her influence, he had high hopes at re-establishing a private, off-grid facility to work in without having to worry about any legal repercussions. Even though the authorities knew that he was breaking the law, they could never prove it, and he wanted to keep it that way.

"So, what you're saying is, you'll fund my campaign to run for President if I help you build a facility to work in and agree to look the other way, despite the fact that I know your 'research' is wrong both morally and legally?" Senator Wazzo clarified as she regarded the shrewd man sitting across from her in her office.

"I believe that this arrangement will be mutually beneficial for both of us, if those terms are agreeable," he said with the self-satisfied air of one who knows that he has already won the fight before it's begun.

Senator Wazzo hesitated. Personally, she found this man unsettling and his research abhorrent. What he was asking her to do was wrong for so many reasons. As much as she knew she needed the financial support he was offering, she couldn't agree to his terms in good conscience. Folding her hands calmly in front of her, she met his gaze as she said, "I'm sorry, but those terms are not agreeable. What you are suggesting is that I accept a bribe so that you may resume conducting experiments that are blatantly in opposition to the law." She placed her hands on the desk and rose to her feet. "The consequences for if anyone were to find out about this arrangement would be costly and that is a risk I am unwilling to take."

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear," Dr. Londo said, also rising from his seat. He reached over and picked up a picture from the corner of the Senator's desk. He looked down at the dark-haired girl in the picture, grinning as she leaned against what must have been her first car. "It would be a shame if the science police were to find out that your beautiful daughter here had extra abilities that you kept hidden from the public. They might even wish to take a closer look and see what else might be hidden underneath that pretty smile."

Senator Wazzo stiffened. Her daughter's extra phasing abilities had been kept secret ever since they manifested three years ago when she was fifteen. People with metahuman capabilities were constantly monitored by the science police and the ones who were viewed as potential threats had the tendency to sometimes disappear for "scientific inquiry" regarding their powers. People always feared what they didn't understand. It had always been Winema's worst fear that her daughter would be taken away to some facility and treated like a lab rat by scientists that were as cold and heartless as the man standing in front of her. Those scientists presented a very real threat to her daughter's safety, because as horrible as Dr. Londo's research might be, his work wasn't legalized like theirs was. Being sanctioned by the government to do what was necessary for the safety of the public at large made them untouchable.

She sighed in defeat. She had no choice but to make a deal with the Devil himself. She only hoped that it was enough to keep her daughter safe.

"If I agree to your terms, do I have your word that you will keep her abilities secret?"

"Of course," he said smoothly. He adjusted his glasses slightly. "As long as you keep up your end of the bargain, I will keep that information to myself. However, you should know that if you break our deal, she might just disappear, and it might not be in the custody of the science police. I'm sure that there is much to learn from someone as special as she is."

"I will do as you ask," Senator Wazzo said, forcing herself to remain calm. No matter how shaken she felt, she refused to show weakness in front of him. She turned away to look out of the window behind her. "Now, get out of my office."

…

A month later Senator Wazzo was on her way to Zuun, a mining community that was located on the other side of Rawl which had resources and equipment that Dr. Londo insisted she retrieve for him. When she had tried to argue that pick-ups and deliveries was not part of their deal, he had calmly informed her that it was a onetime thing. A short trip to pick up the supplies he needed for his new facilities, and he would leave her alone.

"Surely that's a small price to pay for your daughter's continued freedom?" he asked.

"You already have your private facility and my silence. You're free to fetch it yourself," she shot back sharply. "I don't see why you need me to go."

"Because, the fastest way to get to Zuun is by traveling through Rawl, and I would not survive the journey if I were to ever enter those woods again. Safe path or no." His voice was deceptively calm and relaxed. He regarded her over his glasses carefully. "I need you to do this one last thing for me. After that, I will resume my research, and you won't have anything to worry about."

In the end, she hadn't really had a choice. She had to go. She left early the next day once the sun was out so that she could keep to the safe path and not get lost. For some reason that no one had ever figured out, GPS and communications didn't seem to work anywhere in or around the forest, making it nearly impossible to even consider traveling at night. It was a technological dark spot and her only option was to drive through as quickly as possible if she wanted to make it safely there and back.

The trip to Zuun was quick, and Winema was able to get Dr. Londo's equipment loaded up without any problems. Glancing up the clear, blue sky, she decided that she should have enough time to drive back to New Metropolis and be back before dark. However, when she was about halfway into her return trip, a storm broke out. Stuck right in the middle of Rawl's wild forest, Winema made a determined decision to keep on going even though she could barely see the road in front of her, despite the valiant efforts of her car to light the way. Driving through the darkness and the rain, she was confused when she pulled up to a mansion. What's this doing here? she wondered as she parked the car and got out. I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere…

Winema found that the front door was unlocked. Upon entering the house, she shivered slightly at the chill that crept over her. She tentatively began looking through the house and paused when she stepped into a sitting room. Fire roared in the fireplace, a cushioned armchair sitting in the glow of the light. Next to the chair was a small table with food on it. Glancing around to see if anyone was there, she slowly approached the chair.

The warmth of the fire and the promise of food were too much to resist. Winema gratefully sank into the cushioned comfort of the armchair, reaching for some bread and cheese as she did so. After eating her fill, she sat back in the chair. Her tired eyes began to close as she finally allowed herself to relax.

Suddenly, the door on the other side of the sitting room slammed open. Her eyes flew open in shock and her hands gripped the armrests on either side of her. She froze when she heard a low, menacing growl from somewhere behind her. A dark shadow moving along the edges of the firelight was all she was able to make out as a voice snarled, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Shrinking away from the mysterious voice, she stammered, "I- I was lost. Um, in the woods, and I—"

She cut herself off as the owner of the voice rounded the chair, the firelight allowing her to see him. What she saw was a monster. A long mane of black hair with a streak of white gave way to grey fur that covered the body of this creature that was something from out of a nightmare. His long black jacket matched with black pants gave him an only slightly human appearance that was offset by sharp teeth and clawed hands. His face was twisted in anger, golden eyes blazing.

"You're not welcome here!" he roared.

"I'm so-sorry."

The beast's eyes narrowed. "What are you staring at?" he snapped.

"Noth-noth-nothing!" Winema barely managed to answer. Her throat seemed to have closed up on her. She launched herself from the chair and raced for the door. The beast moved with unsettling speed to cut off her escape. She stumbled backwards in her attempt to keep from colliding with him.

"You've come to stare at the beast, have you?" he accused, striding forward threateningly.

"Please, I didn't mean any harm!" her voice was pleading. "I just needed a place to stay."

"And now, you'll never leave it!" the beast barked as he grabbed her arm, dragging her from the room to the basement below where he locked her in total darkness.

…

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong. When her mother hadn't returned from Zuun when she said she would, Tinya was starting to get worried. She stayed near a phone in case her mother called, but she heard nothing. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a shrill ringing shattered the silence. Quickly scrambling to answer the call, she answered breathlessly, "Hello?"

"This is Dr. Londo speaking. Has your mother returned from her trip?" he asked conversationally.

Hearing Dr. Londo's voice set Tinya on edge. Though her mother had done her best to keep her daughter from knowing the truth of her situation with Dr. Londo, Tinya had long since figured out what was going on. She had spent years perfecting the art of eavesdropping on her mother's meetings and knew that Dr. Londo had blackmailed her mother into helping him. As long as he was around, neither she nor her mother was safe.

Tinya thought fast. If he suspected that her mother hadn't obeyed his orders or that something was wrong, he'd consider the deal to be off. She had to convince him that everything was alright, somehow. Clutching the phone, she said, "She called earlier to let me know that she was able to get everything taken care of that she needed to today, but she's still in Zuun. Apparently, the weather there is pretty bad, so she won't be able to travel through Rawl until it clears."

"Hmmm… Well, in that case, I do hope that she makes it back safely," he said amiably. "I will be expecting a call tomorrow to let me know where things are at."

Tinya was careful to keep her voice even as she said, "I'm sure she'll be glad to give you a call as soon as she gets home."

"Good-bye, Miss Wazzo."

"Good-bye," she responded before hanging up. She sagged against a wall, relieved that she had managed to buy her mother some time. Straightening up, she ran to her room and started throwing clothes into a duffel bag along with her wallet. Once she finished packing, she grabbed her car keys off the hook by the front door on her way out. She locked the house and tossed her bag into the passenger side before starting her car. Tearing out of the driveway, she headed to the only place where her mother could've gotten lost and not had a way to contact anyone. She was going to Rawl.