Didn't expect to be uploading so soon, but yay here I am because this fic is literally writing itself. I have so many ideas for this fic but at this point everything has kind of just been as I go, so there is still room for any suggestions if anyone wants to share some ideas! I will be traveling internationally for the next three weeks so I am not SURE when I will be uploading next so I wrote a lengthier chapter than usual to hold you guys over in case I am not able to upload. Just to clear up any confusion in case there was any, the ending scene for last week's fic did NOT imply that Killian and Belle had any sexual relations together. They just literally slept in the same bed. The fun stuff doesn't come until later lol :p Also since I semi mention Belle's age but don't address it specifically in this chapter I thought I would clear it up first to avoid any confusions whilst reading. Belle was around 17-18 when she went to live with Rumple as his maid in the Enchanted Forest (I'm making this up bc I'm not sure exactly how old they portrayed her in Once) then she spent 27+ years trapped in Regina's insane asylum unaging during Regina's curse. And that brings me to her being around 23-24 right about now in the time of this fic, but just like everyone else she is technically a lot older due to the time being stopped.


The next morning as Belle awoke in Killian's arms, she couldn't help but stare at him peacefully asleep. She couldn't deny that he was actually quite handsome when he wasn't being such an arrogant prick. The clock on his cabin wooden walls read 7 AM. It was still early and the sun was barely making its way down, but Belle wanted to seize the day. She tried to slink out of Killian's bed undetected but his arm wrapped around her was making the task a tad bit more difficult.

"Trying to sneak out on me eh." Killian's half asleep coarse voice called out as she began putting on her shoes.

"You caught me." She teased while she put on her coat and scarf. "I'll see you later Kil"

"I'll look forward to it."

"Thanks for this by the way. You don't understand how much it means to me how supportive you've been through all of this." She said as she watched him slightly shift positions on the bed. "You turned out to be an amazing friend."

"Not a problem." He declared as his eyes fluttered looking like they were about to shut at any point. "Us lone wolves have got to stick together."

"I'm not a lone wolf." She questioned her response after the words left her mouth. After all, she did bond with Killian at first because they both were alone in the city without any friends. And they both appreciate comfortable silence. Maybe she was a bit of a loner and she had never realized it.

"Luv, trust me you are." He winked and all Belle could do was roll her eyes and exit his room leaving him to sleep the morning off.


Belle needed a breather from the hectic fast paced days that she had been having all week. Dealing with the break-in at the library and all the maintenance of getting things back into shape was exhausting enough already, now she had to deal with the one person she never thought she would have to with again. She was such a fool for thinking Rumple would stay away. Of course, he was back, it was her curse and it was one she sold herself to. Thinking back to the day that she sold her soul to Rumple as his slave, she couldn't even say she regretted it. No matter all the pain it has caused her in the past 30+ years. It was what was best for her village, even though it wasn't the best thing for her. Come to think of it, having a one night stand with Killian was the only selfish thing she had ever done.

"I need a favor." She heard a woman's voice say as a cloud of smoke appeared in front of her. The unexpected intrusion of her private walk in the forest caused her to slightly shout and fall back a step. "Oh sorry. I shouldn't have appeared so close." The raven haired reformed Evil Queen smiled.

"No no it's ok… sorry I was just lost in thought." Belle began to reply as she picked herself up off the ground dusting off any dirt that might have stuck to her dress. "Wait a minute, how did you even find me here."

"Er uh I have magic." Regina shrugged with a smile unsure of how else to respond. "So about that favor." Her eyes looked like they wanted to trail on with the conversation but needed her consent first.

"Well that depends what is it?"

"I'm going to need your heart…to control what you do." Belle couldn't take her eyes off of Regina, she couldn't help but feel like it was a joke. "Don't give me that look. I know it's a lot to ask but it's urgent and it has to do with checking up on Rumpelstiltskin. I tried to talk to him but he keeps shutting me out and I think you're the only person he would reveal his secrets to."

"You really think he would tell me what he plans to do?" Belle took a step back from Regina filling with uncertainty. Her stomach twisted in knots just thinking about coming face to face with Rumple. But, it made sense if Regina used her heart to control her. Belle was too much of a mess to even speak to him, she was too angry to even see him. It was the only way.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but alright. Just…give it back as soon as you're done." Belle paused and took a deep breath and then gestured for Regina to get it over with.

"Ok. I will warn you. This WILL hurt." Regina raised a brow with her palm to Belle's chest.

"I know. This isn't my first-" Belle shuttered at the piercing sensation in her chest. She couldn't decide what hurt the most, the temporarily stretching sensation of her skin or the stinging she felt every time Regina's hand moved in her chest trying to grip the heart. Belle practically fell back as the heart was finally removed.

"It's so pure." Regina commented as she analyzed the lack of darkness in it.

"Thanks…I think?" Belle questioned the comment with a puzzled look on her face. "So what now."

"I suppose you can go about your usual routine for now and then when the time is right I'll forge a note to send to Gold to meet you by the fountain where you two got married, just to really weaken him up. When it's time I'll take over you and get to work." Regina's eyes glazed over just thinking about destroying Gold.

"Wait, I am not ok with that. Rumple is an evil cruel man but he doesn't deserve that…" Belle wanted to grab the heart out of Regina's hand and get it back but her lack of empathy in her chest didn't allow her to move. She stayed still.

"Really? After all that man has done to you, you still can't do this to him? Wow. That's kind of impressive…there really is such a thing as being too good." Regina shrugged and with a puff of smoke she was gone as usual. Belle was alone again in the woods.


Working at the library without a heart felt strange for Belle. It felt like she was going through the motions without fully living. Every time she looked at a book she felt no connection with it, it was like she did not care about anything. She's had her heart ripped out before but it was never for an extended period of time. It was just whenever Rumple would want to be cruel and play tricks on her when she was his maid that she had been removed of her heart. But this time was different, she felt like she was having an outer body experience. She felt everything but it was like she literally could care less. Emotionally, she was non existent. Without her ogling at every book and rereading chapters from her favorite novels every now and then, she actually got a lot of work done. More than she ever had to be honest. She worked in silence, not a sway hum or step in her work. By the time the library was on the verge of closing she had finished every single thing she had to do to finally reopen the library. Granted, the window was still broken from the attempted break-in but that was someone else's problem.

The weather was feeling warmer than the morning and if Belle had her heart she knew she would've wanted to walk around town to enjoy the amazing weather, but heartless Belle just wanted to go home. She was only half a block away from her home when she bumped into Will Scarlet who looked ever so surprised to see her.

"Belle?" Will called out as she almost didn't stop to greet him.

"Oh, hey Will." She responded icily.

"Did you get my flowers?" He asked with a smug grin on his face.

"That I did."

"I've been asking around town for you. I've missed you.' His smile looked pathetic to her and she couldn't help but feel annoyance.

"Why would you do that? We went on one date Will."

"I thought we were hitting it off? You seemed really into me. I still remember our kiss." She wanted nothing more than to feel some sort of emotion for him but without her heart she felt empty. She didn't even know how to respond without hurting him. But in reality, heartless Belle didn't care if she hurt him.

"I've been really busy…sorry." The apology sounded flat and unenthusiastic but she literally could not control it. She wanted to avoid the interaction as much as she could, so she simply started walking away with her hands in her wool beige coat.

"Wait Belle." Will ran in her direction after he stood for a moment analyzing what was even happening. Clearly, he had never seen her act this way before.

"What." Her irritated tone caused further confusion from Will.

"Is this because of what I did?" His voice lowered a decibel.

"Don't know. What did you do?" She asked not truly caring. Will mistook her vague expression as sarcasm

"Dang it! It is, ain't it." Will started to pace around confused. "Killian said he wouldn't tell you that it was me who broke into your bloody library after a drunken night if I didn't tell anyone he practically killed me. What a wanker. I should've know with the two of yeh acting like best of mates lately."

"What?" She stared blankly confused now more than ever. "It was you?" Finding out who broke into her library stroke a chord of anger strangely enough. She couldn't believe it was Will. "How dare you!" She shouted grabbing him by the collar on his shirt, channeling all her rage onto shoving him forward.

"Rats. You didn't know did you." Will picked himself up off the ground.

"No. But now thankfully I do." She shoved him again rising a laugh out of him. "This isn't funny."

"I'm sorry, you're just too adorable when you're upset." Will admitted as he kept his distance from her.

"You're a real asshole. How could you have the nerve to try to court me knowing you did that to my library."

"Well see at first I just wanted to make it up to you, but now I really like you Belle. I didn't know you were a cool girl until after." Her hand raised and Belle was ready to slap him across the face when she felt a hand holding her back. She bubbled with anger and then turned around to see who was behind her.

"Killian?" Belle asked in a more relaxed tone than she had used to yell at Will.

"Thanks a lot for that mate, you're a real pal aye." Will called recovering from his fear of Belle.

"Get lost Scarlet." Killian growled out still holding Belle's arm as she finally lowered it.

"You mind telling me what that was all about." Belle turned to face the pirate as Will ran away from them in genuine fear of Killian. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm sorry." His face dropped as if he was disappointed in himself. "I didn't want you or anyone else for that matter to know that I lost my temper on him. It wasn't my finest hour."

"I wouldn't have judged you Killian."

"I've seen your temper first hand pirate and believe me it doesn't scare me." She winked at him cupping her hand into his as he stared confused.

"You're not mad?" He asked reacting to her body language.

"It isn't your fault Will chose to do that." Even though deep down she knew if she had her heart back she might be hurt or feel sensitive about the topic, she truly in the moment did not care. It meant the world to her that Killian even cared what people thought about him. In a way it changed the way she saw him. "I was on my way home, if you want to stop by for some tea." She smiled at him.

"How about I drink the rest of the rum in my flask while you have tea." They began to walk.

"Deal"


They reached Belle's home within a few minutes. Their hands no longer were intertwined but every now and then they bumped into each other causing Killian to send a small smile in her direction. Belle wished she could feel happy but she just felt empty and well…heartless.

"You sure you didn't want any of this tea?" Belle called as she poured the kettle into a little tea cup. She stared vaguely at the teacup and felt a surprise when her heart did not reminisce about the broken tea cup that resides in Rumple's shop. Not having a heart had its pros and cons.

"Trust me luv, I'm sure." Killian sat at her dining table that was cluttered with books barely leaving any space for actual dining.

"Sorry about the mess, I think you're the only person to have ever visited me to be honest." She said without a sign of sadness in her tone. She sat in the chair across from him and settled her steaming tea cup and kettle on the table.

"No worries. I lived on a ship for over 300 years, I've seen messes that would make this place look spotless." He joked as he rummaged through the books glancing at the titles and then slowly flipping through the pages.

"Do you ever miss your hand." Belle asked surprising him with an invasive question. She always wondered but never had the courage to ask.

"Some days. But not always. It is a cruel reminder of the person I was once and the selfish life choices I've made."

"Bravo, nice answer." Belle caught Killian looking surprised at her response as she sipped on her tea.

"I overheard Will saying you two kissed." Killian admitted with a smug look on his face.

"Were you spying on me pirate."

"Call it what you will I just was making sure the crocodile wasn't anywhere near you. After all I said I would keep you safe." The reminder of her impending date with the very crocodile Killian spoke of would've probably made her stomach turn, but again like before she literally felt nothing. "Now answer my question." His voice grew demanding.

"Yes. We did share a kiss." Belle admitted with a smile seeing how Killian's face dropped. "Am I sensing some jealously from the captain?" She put her tea cup down and inched slightly closer to where he sat. Her hand devilishly found its way on his knee.

"I might be." He admitted as his piercing blue eyes gazed into hers. It was then that Killian cupped her cheek and brought her face close to his pressing their lips together ever so softly. After they pulled a part for a breather he quickly dived in for the second and the passion grew. While Belle wrapped her hands around his neck as they kissed Killian used his hand to cup under her legs and pick her up from where she sat. She squealed slightly not expected the sudden movement. "No worries, I've got you." He softly moaned as they pulled apart and moved them to the couch. As they sat she shifted herself to have her legs around his lap facing forward towards him while he sat on the couch they shared their first kiss ever on.

Feeling daring Killian slipped his hand under the back of her shirt wanting to feel the warmth of her skin closer. Her skin felt silky soft under his touch. Belle had missed feeling his hand along her body. She tugged along his raven hair pushing in deeper into their passionate kisses. Minutes passed slowly as if they were frozen in time. But in a moment of catching up with her breath, Belle pulled back gazing along his rough handsome features.

"I wish I had my heart for this." Belle exhaled as Killian peppered kisses on her neck.

"What do you mean by that luv." Killian pulled away from her

"Oh well… I don't currently have my heart." Belle shifted back to look at Killian clearly in the face, she was confused why it was even an issue.

"Why?"

"Regina asked me for it so she could see what Rumple was up to." Belle responded.

"So…this whole time we've been talking. You haven't had a heart." Killian's brows furrowed looking her up and down.

"Yup that's about right."

"Now this all makes bloody sense." Killian said more to himself than to her. He carefully guided her off of him and stood up in thought. "This isn't really you. Of course I would fall for this." He muttered again to himself.

"It is me. I just have less emotions and feelings. But for the most part it is me. I mean granted if I had my heart I don't think I would've kissed you. But I am not complaining." Killian began to shake his head even before she finished her sentence.

"No. This isn't right." He began to head to the kitchen to grab his leather coat.

"Where are you going Killian?" Belle shouted not moving from the couch.

"I'm going to have a word with Regina about taking your heart."

"Don't be rash, you know it's the only way to figure out what Rumple is up to. I'm not strong enough to talk to him, yet." She rushed over before he could open her door and stood against it to prevent him from leaving.

"Why do you believe yourself to be so weak." His finger lingered under her chin. She wanted to urge forward and kiss him softly but his face was still shaded with anger.

"Because I know myself and I know my limits."

"And I know you are better than what you think." He gently moved her aside and left slamming her door without another word. The door being slammed still rang her ears as she stood in silence missing his presence. She didn't expect for her to miss him due to her being heartless but she did, she wanted to sink to the floor and feel sorry for herself. She never wanted him to be upset with her. She didn't understand how or why she had such a rush of feelings when she shouldn't be able to have any but she did.


She laid in her bed swaddled in her covers half asleep until she heard a knock at the door. It was around 10 PM but she answered her door knowing it was around the time she was scheduled to be controlled by Regina.

"Can I come in?" Regina asked as soon as Belle opened her door.

"If you wanted to come in why didn't you just appear here." Belle sighed.

"I didn't know if you were decent. Just thought it best to be polite." Regina shrugged as she slowly walked around examining every inch of Belle's home.

"Hah because you care oh so much about being decent to me." Belle quipped as she stood watching every move the reformed Evil Queen made. Regina looked shocked by her answer and almost felt proud that Belle actually was toughening up.

"Someone's in a mood…is everything alright?" Regina raised a brow genuinely interested.

"I'm just nervous. I don't want to see him."

"No that's not it." Regina caught her bluff. "Talk to me Belle."

"I'm just confused. I thought not having a heart meant I couldn't feel any emotions but then I got into a fight with someone I may or may not…be developing feelings for…and I actually felt everything. I felt sadness. I felt hurt. I felt it all."

"Oh sweetie." Regina frowned unsure of how to answer Belle's confusion. "That's not how it works at all. You still feel things, just not as strongly as you would with your heart. It's not a major difference believe it or not. I still managed to fall in love with Robin without my heart. I'm sorry if not having your heart has affected you in any way…. the truth is I'm just so scared of what Rumpelstiltskin might do to the ones I love if I don't figure out what he's up to…he threatened Robin and I can't lose the love of my life." Regina spoke so fast and all at once that she was left slightly out of breath at the end of her sentence. "Please understand that this has nothing to do with how I feel about you personally." Regina's eyes looked filled with sorrow.

"You should've told me that in the first place Regina. I still would've done it."

"Again I'm sorry Belle, I didn't think of you and how you might take this." Regina shrugged

"It is water under the bridge now, don't worry about it." Belle displayed a closed mouth smile. "So are we doing this?"

"Unfortunately, we don't have another choice." Regina smiled and led the way out of Belle's home.


The weather was horrible. There was some light drizzle in the air along with wind that gave Belle chills. She wore a beautiful soft blue dress that resembled very much her old maid uniform, she herself didn't chose it but she knew Regina made her put it on to dig deeper into Rumple's heart. Belle had never experienced a sensation as foreign as when Regina controlled her to walk through the forest alone. It felt as if she was walking aimlessly without truly knowing her end location, but her heart knew. When she stopped at the location in front of the town well it wasn't her brain that stopped her from walking but her heart.

"Belle." She heard his voice before she saw him. His hair looked even greyer than the last time she had seen him and his limp was back and the cane was a clear indication of that. As Regina held her heart wherever she was, she kept telling Belle to relax and be calm. So that was exactly what Belle was doing. "I'm surprised you wanted to meet. And here out of all places."

"Do you remember what you told me here. On the night of our vows. About how I chased all the darkness out of you." Her hand almost jumped to her mouth to cover it as the foreign words left her. She had never been controlled like this before and she couldn't shake the strangeness of fact that the words exiting her mouth were not her own.

"Belle listen, I'm sorry for everything." Rumple began as he approached closer to her stance by the well.

"No. I don't want to hear any apologies tonight that is not what I came here for. For once in the whole time I've known you. I want to know the truth. Just please for once can you speak the truth. Why have you come back to Storybrooke? Are you here for me, are you trying to win me back?"

"I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that." Rumpelstiltskin placed his hand carefully on his chest and seeped into himself removing a dried up pure black item that appeared to be a heart. His heart. "It would appear that centuries of dark deeds eventually do take their toll…not even the Dark One is exempt from that. And all that's left of this will be gone pretty soon unless I change my fate."

"What happens then? Will-will you die?" Belle's voice began to crack even though she herself didn't intend for it to happen.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. I will lose the ability to love and that goodness that you saw inside me once, well that will be gone forever. There is only one man who can reverse this process. And that is the author. That is why I am here in Storybrooke." Rumple confessed. "I need him to change my fate."

"What about Zelena…why would you ever team up with her. I thought you hated her." Regina asked through Belle's body. Belle could sense her anger as she spoke into her heart.

"Turns out she needs the author for her own personal gain as well, she helped me get here to him on the condition that I made sure he granted her what she wanted. She found me somehow in New York." As Rumpelstiltskin noticed the concern that grew on Belle's face the more she looked at his heart, he decided to put his heart back into his chest.

"Now I don't expect you to understand" Rumple began to shake his head as Belle drew nearer to him.

"But Rumple I do understand."

"You do?"

"Sometimes I worry-I worry I threw out the chipped teacup too soon." Belle did not physically feel any emotions but as soon as the words left her mouth she started to tear up. The extent of Regina's control truly amazed her. Belle walked towards Rumple and just like she did many times before, she placed her hands on his head and brought his lips to meet hers. She knew the kiss would feel strange, and even though she had no heart the kiss made her sad. The kiss felt artificial and forced by Regina, she hated that it was even happening. She felt like a spectator in her own body unable to change anything that was happening no matter how hard she tried to fight it.

"But you know what the biggest problem is though, Will is just such a better kisser than you are." Belle's mind was racing and the only thing she could think of was how Regina even knew her and Will kissed. And now Rumple knew. As much as she wanted to take back that sentence she couldn't. The words were out of her mouth and the pain she was feeling for saying them was non existent due to the lack of heart.

"Wait what" Rumple stepped back in confusion. He looked at her like he no longer knew who she was.

"You're pathetic Rumple. Watching you grovel back to me it's like a dog begging for scraps." Belle wanted to drop to her knees and stop saying the words she was saying, it was all too much for her. But the control Regina had on her heart was too strong. Even as she simply thought about walking away she would feel a squeeze on her heart. She never wanted to hurt him like this.

"Why are you saying this Belle." Rumple began to speak hysterically and his eyes began to water. She had only seen him cry once before and that was when Zelena almost killed Baelfire. She didn't even think he was able to cry due to her words. "This isn't like you Belle."

"Maybe not, but it is SO like me." Regina spoke emerging from the tall trees in the forest as she quickly got Rumple's attention.

"You have no idea just how much I'm going to make you suffer for this." Rumple quickly dissolved any sign of weakness and channeled his rage onto Regina who now held Belle's heart painfully tight.

"Stop" Belle shouted out in pain before finally dropping to the ground and clutching her chest as if her heart was still there. "You two want the same thing why don't you stop fighting and work together." Belle spoke with a strained breath trying to ignore the aching pain in her chest.

"Can you just stop squishing her heart and let the poor girl speak." Rumple shot Regina eyes of desperation.

"You really expect me to just forgive the person who has threatened to kill my family and everyone I care about on numerous occasions." Regina loosened her grip slightly only minorly relieving Belle of the aching pain.

"Regina…I know Rumple has hurt you and trust me I am not defending him ever again BUT you held me in an insane asylum for 27 years when you knew he cared about me. And not once has he tried retaliating think about that." Regina altogether let go of her grip allowing Belle to breathe clearly. She could tell Regina knew she was right.

"Fine. I will work with you Dark One. But know this, if you try anything. You know what will happen." Regina lifted Belle's heart high up and gave it a firm squeeze to show she was serious as Belle fell completely to the ground wincing in pain. Rumple looked like he wanted to say something in rebuttal but Belle shot him a look he knew too well. It was her look of making him play nice with everyone. It was a look she had to use too many times during social events with the community. Belle knew Regina was scared and lashing out in fear for Robin and his son Roland.


Sorry about making Regina a little bit on the darker side in this chapter and the past few but before I say anything I wanted to let everyone know I'm a HUGE Regina supporter I love the way Lana plays her character. But I will say when re-watching season 4 specifically for this fic I felt as if she was a little rude and stand offish towards Belle and Once never gave us Belle's perspective to how she felt about Regina just taking her heart. So I wanted to emphasize that a little bit and kind of write my own version of what I felt happened. However, there is room for growth and I want to potentially explore Belle's friendship with her. Also super sorry about the Rumple and Belle scene it literally broke my heart watching it AND writing it. I stuck to the dialogue from the show pretty SPOT ON and just changed minor details to make more sense for my fic so no credit at all goes to me for that dialogue and it goes to the writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.

Also MUCH THANKS to those of you who have been reviewing and following with the story, that literally has been my inspiration to keep writing and not get distracted. I love that much like I, you guys also enjoyed the friendship fluff :D I recently have been rewatching season 5 on repeat and I had forgot how attractive Dark Hook was, sooo just out of curiosity is that something you guys would be interested in seeing? I feel like I could easily take it there if I wanted to...hmm it just a thought for now but we shall see.