The room that served as her cage, was bland in appearance. Drab gray as far as the eye could see, with little true color to be found. Furniture was sparse, a small wooden table shoved in one corner, a cot instead of a bed for Belle to rest on. There was a privacy screen allowed her, hiding her bath and toilet from sight. Once a day, a servant came, the same nearly blind woman, who didn't so much as look at Belle let alone speak.
The old woman was the only contact with the outside world Belle now had. The only face she saw, the only proof that the world still existed outside this room. A room that was windowless, the recycled air stale and suffocating. A prison that was made to make that which it held, wilt like a flower.
Belle was suffering, perhaps dying a slow death as the Queen's prisoner. Certainly she was losing her mind, Belle having nothing to do but sit or pace, endlessly thinking her thoughts. Wondering how her life could have been reduced to this. Wondering if there had been any way to avoid what had happened to her, or if this unsatisfying fate had ultimately been inevitable.
Belle often thought about the what could have been's. The what if's that had centered around making different choices. Would she have been happier if Belle had stayed in her father's kingdom? Would her life have been more rich and fulfilling if she had married Gaston and had his children? Would she even have a chance for a family of her own, when the Ogres had been on the verge of wiping out her father's entire kingdom? But mostly, Belle wondered about Rumplestiltskin and the choices that she AND he had both made.
There were so many what if's surrounding the man. What if she had never gone with him, which had been one that was easy enough to guess an answer to. But the others? Ones like what if she had never fallen in love with him? If she had never kissed him? If she had never allowed herself to believe there was a chance that he loved her back? What if he had never forcibly evicted her from his castle, what if her decisions hadn't landed her right in the Queen's trap. So many what ifs, leaving Belle regretting most if not all of them.
Her thoughts weren't exactly charitable at times. Belle was after all, nursing the worst, the first, the only broken heart she had ever had the misfortune to receive. Rumplestiltskin wasn't the ideal man to have developed that bloom of first love for. What he had been satisfied to keep at a distance, had enraged him when faced with the power of true love's kiss up close.
Belle didn't understand it. Why had Rumplestiltskin been so enraged by her love? Why had he flown into a fury, horrified at the kiss, at the chance to break his curse. Why had he valued isolation and power more than a chance at true love? Worst of all, why had Rumplestiltskin treated her so unkindly, his actions so hurtful, his words even crueler.
Rumplestiltskin had set out to break Belle's heart, to thoroughly ensure that her kiss would never again hold power over him or his curse. And he had all but succeeded, Belle hurting and heartbroken. Not understanding what was so unfavorable about HER, why Rumplestiltskin hadn't valued her affection, why he had been unable to tolerate her kisses.
Belle had had a lot of time to think. Perhaps more than was healthy. She had examined her every interaction with Rumplestiltskin. From those terrifying first days when he had brought her into his home, to the times after, where the love had begun to bloom, Belle having gotten to know him.
Or so she had thought. Belle now knew she didn't really know him at all. She had seen the sides he had wanted her to see, hiding his foul deeds and dirty dealings from her. She had been privy to his beast, the side that had first terrified and intimidated her so badly she had trembled before him. Later yet, would come another facet, that of the quiet charmer, who shared many a conversation with her. Conversations which Belle had done most of the talking, waxing poetic about her expectations of love, speaking on the dreams she had had for herself.
Rumplestiltskin had smiled and made the appropriate comments, but he hadn't really shared much about himself. Belle now wondered if he had been toying with her, using her as a moment's entertainment. While all the while, never dreaming that Belle's rapidly growing infatuation could one day prove a danger to him.
Belle had been in the full bloom of love, imagining Rumplestiltskin as the dark hero in a fairy tale. Making assumptions about him, building him up to something he was not, only to be overwhelmingly crushed when he proved himself to be more unfeeling monster than loving man.
The day she had excitedly gathered up her nerve to kiss him? It had been exhilarating, those first kisses. Sidling up shyly to him, inching closer until she brushed her lips over his. He hadn't kissed her back, but Belle had assumed it was shock that had held him frozen. Undeterred, Belle had continued, trying to kiss him, harder then. Feeling the tingles in response, the magic working, his curse ready to come undone. And then it had all gone to hell, Rumplestiltskin violently shoving her away.
What followed was an all out tantrum of the most furious kind, Rumplestiltskin mad and raving like a lunatic. Actually pushing her down to the floor, throwing things, looking like he wanted to HIT HER. He never actually did, but she bore bruises all the same from when his hands had gripped her arm, jerking Belle up off the floor. Dragging her through the castle to it's bowels, throwing her into a dungeon, and leaving her there for days on end.
Belle had been in a state of shock, not able to understand why things had gone bad like that. She'd be still frozen in disbelief when Rumplestiltskin finally came to her, telling her awful things. Mean things, hurtful things, cruelly setting out to rip her heart and her love to shreds. Belle's heart already cracked, began to break further, tears pricking at her eyes. And still she had stubbornly clung to her ideals, to her belief that her love could save a man who did not want to be saved.
It had taken Rumplestiltskin bodily lifting her up, and throwing her to the ground outside his front door, for Belle to finally shake free of her shock. To finally walk away, even as she had expected him to call out to her. That final shred of hope had been waiting for Rumplestiltskin to realize his mistakes, to realize his love for her.
He hadn't, and her heart had cracked further. It wouldn't break apart until later, until Belle had this endless time to think back and examine her time with Rumplestiltskin. But before her imprisonment, there had been that broken state of disbelief, Belle nursing the pain in her heart and unsure of what to do with herself.
The only thing Belle had been clear on then was that she couldn't return to her kingdom. She refused to be known as nothing more than a self sacrificing martyr, a ruined woman who had given up everything to save her father's kingdom. The people there could appreciate her sacrifice, but would not want to associate with a princess who was fallen and stained in their eyes.
There would be no happily ever after in her father's kingdom. Not for Belle. And the way that she had felt, nursing her hurt heart, Belle hadn't believed there was a happily ever after in any of the Enchanted Realm's kingdoms. But she had to try, if not to move on, then to at least build some kind of life for herself. So she had drawn on her inheritance, the money her father had set aside for her. It allowed Belle to survive, to wander aimlessly from town to town, until she could finally make some kind of choice over what to do next.
She never figured out that choice, Belle mourning, suffering. Spending most of the evenings inside a tavern, nursing a single drink on the pretense of being near the people who partied there. Belle had thought if she was around happy people, maybe that feeling would rub off onto her.
It hadn't, and not many had dared approach her, after noticing the pain in her eyes. She was left alone, isolated from the good feelings inside the tavern. Left to stew in her own misery and suffering, an outsider staring in, desperate to be a part of those happy feelings.
That desperation wasn't only about wanting to be happy. Belle had wanted to be loved. She'd end up settling for less, for feeling something, anything, even if it was just meaningless sex. She hadn't set out to be used, just wanting to feel, wanting to know that someone else could appreciate and want her, find her lovely and worthy of their affection. The pirate had done just that, at least at first. She had followed him into the alley, not because he was handsome, but because he had worn a similar broken hearted pained expression.
His blue gaze had been haunted, his eyes reflecting a heart that had broken so completely that she was surprised he hadn't died from the pain of it. Belle hadn't known her own eyes showed a similar pain, which had attracted the pirate to her. And when they had come together in that alley, he HAD wanted her. Had shown her the affection that Rumplestiltskin had denied her. The pirate had kissed and touched her, and it had been soothing enough to make Belle feel a fleeting sense of something.
Any positive feelings or comfort had been dashed, the minute the pirate had so cruelly taken her virginity. It had been a shock of a different kind, a right slap in the face that had awakened Belle to just what she had been doing. And though she had cried out, the pirate hadn't stopped, hadn't even slowed his actions. He had just kept right on using her, thrusting with a near mindless abandonment, taking his own satisfaction and leaving Belle to feel dirty, used.
Horrified, humiliated, hurt, all this and more Belle had felt. Foolish, stupid, Belle had slapped him and run away. Wanting to never see him again, barely able to look at her OWN reflection, Belle had felt sick at what she had let happen. She had made a vow then and there, to never again let that pirate, let any man prey on her weaknesses and vulnerabilities again.
That night, was the very reason she had made a decision to go on the monster hunt. She was no warrior, but she had other skills, and the hunt seemed as good a thing to do as anything else. Besides it would have gotten her out of town, far away from the pirate and the humiliations, the memories of what had happened.
Sometimes Belle wondered if she could have avoided ending up the Queen's hostage, if she had stayed put in that town. If she hadn't gone on that hunt. But the Queen HAD been looking for her, and the men on the hunt had been all too quick to betray Belle to the Queen. Those men were dead now, the Queen not trusting them to not spread talk about the captive she kept. It was why the servant was practically blind, unable to truly see Belle to describe her to any who might whisper about the beauty in the tower.
The Queen kept Belle carefully guarded, out of sight and out of mind of all who might betray her whereabouts. Belle herself could not even scream, the room windowless and sound proofed, so that not even a being as magical as Rumplestiltskin would be able to find her. But Belle didn't entirely understand the point of this. She had no value to Rumplestiltskin, the man simply not caring. Belle knew that one day the Queen would realize that, and then Belle would most likely die on the Queen's orders.
Belle's heart which bore many cracks and tears in it, all but fell apart in that tower. The woman expected to never again be free, to never again see the outside world, to breathe in it's fresh air. She certainly didn't expect to see anyone other than the near blind servant, and perhaps maybe the Queen. She most definitely wasn't expecting the pirate to come swaggering into her room, looking like some dark clad hero out of a less knowledgeable girl's wildest fantasies.
Belle was downright shocked to see him, not to mention aghast. And yes, she could admit that the pirate was the most exciting thing to have happened to her in the weeks that she had spent imprisoned. But he was also down right scary, pinning her on the cot, kissing and pawing at her. Speaking words that seemed more threat than promise, assuming he had a right to what he was doing, what he wanted from her.
Fed up and not about to take much more abuse from anyone, even a would be savior, Belle had hauled off and hit him. She had one satisfying moment after her hand connected with his cheek, Belle watching as his face was turned to the side from the blow. She might have even smirked, if she hadn't been so scared.
But just as Belle was frightened, she was also angry. The pirate was the last person she had ever expected to see, and he rivaled Rumplestiltskin in just how much Belle had never wanted to see either man ever again. It was a toss up just who she disliked more in the moment, Belle all but hissing now.
"Get your hand off of me."
It was deliberate, the way he responded by squeezing her breast now. It wasn't quite painful, more intrusive then anything else he had so far done in this room. Belle bit down on her lip, refusing to give so much as a whimper in response to that squeezing.
She also began shoving at his shoulders, trying to bodily push him off of her, when the pirate turned to look at her. If he had been shocked by the slap, he didn't show it now, his own dark blue eyes narrowing. Annoyance was among the emotions in his gaze, but there was something far more sinister as well. Something downright predatory amidst the annoyance and frustration. Something that made him seem like a desperate man with nothing to lose.
"That's not a proper show of gratitude." He finally spoke, and Belle couldn't stop herself from narrowing her eyes in response. "Especially towards someone who has gone through a lot of trouble to find you."
Several tart replies presented themselves to her, Belle unable to stop herself from being snide. "You have a twisted sense of entitlement if you think I owe you anything." Again she pushed at him, the pirate refusing to be budged. "Get off of me!"
If anything he settled more firmly on top of her. "You didn't say please."
Her lips pressed together, Belle stubbornly refusing to try the word out on him. The pirate made a tsking sound, giving her breast yet another squeeze. "Why are you even here?" Belle gasped out, and hated that she had let out such a sound.
The pirate actually paused, looking thoughtful as though he had several answers he could give her. And all the while he kept on squeezing her breast, Belle sure she would be bruised there by his fingers.
"Would you believe I happened to be in the area?"
"Hardly." Belle scoffed, trying to shift beneath him. His breath seemed to catch in his throat, the pirate settling more firmly on top of her.
"Clever girl." He murmured, bending his head to kiss at her neck. "The truth is..." He said in between brushing his lips over her skin. "I came here looking for you."
"For me?" As surprised as she was, Belle was also wary. "Why?"
Another squeeze of her breast, and then his fingers gentled, the motions turning kneading. It felt good after the squeezing, a sensation that Belle did not welcome, the woman trying to shift away from his hand.
"Stop that!" She snapped, and added. "And answer my question." But Belle had a feeling he had already answered, at least in part. The way he kept pawing at her, it didn't bode well for her. But it was simply ridiculous that this man, this stranger, would be so obsessed with her, as to hunt her down for a second romp between her legs.
"I don't know anything." She then said quickly. "I am of no value to you." Belle didn't even think to speak Rumplestiltskin's name, too busy trying to convince the pirate he was wasting time on her. "You and the Queen both waste your time on me."
"You'll find the Queen and I have very different goals where you are concerned."
"And those are?" Prodded Belle, trying to ignore the way he now licked at her skin. She couldn't tell if he was hesitating, not with his mouth and tongue so busy on her throat. "Well?"
"Let's just say...you have something that I need."
"And what could that be?" Belle wondered out loud. She sighed and shoved at him again, certain he wasn't going to give her a real answer. "You know, never mind. I'll say thank you for the rescue, but that's all you're going to get from me."
He seemed to ignore this, his mouth brushing over her pulse point, then latching onto it with a suckling sensation. Belle gasped and tried to jerk back, finding one of his arms had slid around her waist. Holding her against him, Belle turning angrier yet. She'd actually start pounding her fists on his back, trying to beat him off, or at least knock some sense into him.
She'd end up with her wrists gathered by his large hand. The only satisfaction she had in response, was the fact the pirate couldn't both hold her wrists and grope her chest at the same time. His hook simply limited him in his options, though the pirate didn't seem that deterred by this. In fact he was shifting, to better fit himself between her legs. Belle could feel the proof of how aroused he was, and her fright ratcheted back into the forefront of her feelings, the woman inhaling to scream.
Just as she exhaled the first sound of that scream, another man ran into the room. She didn't know him at all, Belle not getting a good look at him right away. She'd actually hear his voice first, the man sounding annoyed.
"Captain! We don't have time for this."
The pirate, this captain, muttered out a curse. He also lifted off of Belle, turning to snarl at the other man. "Tell the others we'll be down soon enough. I just have to..."
"WE?" Belle questioned sharply. "I'm not going ANYWHERE with you."
He looked at her, and for one moment his eyes held surprise. Belle wondered if the pirate really thought it that simple, had really expected her to gladly go off with him to whatever molestations and perversions he had in mind. Belle almost snorted then, stubbornly lifting her chin, and restating her position.
"I am not about to go anywhere with you, or continue this...association for any longer than need be."
Belle actually expected him to make some threats, to swagger and say she'd come with him, or she wouldn't leave at all. Instead, with frustration blooming in his eyes, he stood, Belle quickly going upright with him.
"I'm giving you once choice in this matter." He finally said, gripping her arm. "You can either walk out of here with me of your own volition, or you can be carried out, kicking and screaming the whole way."
"You wouldn't..." Belle breathed out in a hiss. His expression turned hard, steely eyed.
"Try me." He dared.
"You are insane!" Belle exclaimed. "Thinking I would be grateful, that I would go anywhere with you after all that you've done." Her chin lifted stubbornly. "I'd rather stay the Queen's prisoner than go with you!"
Belle barely got the words out, and already she was being lifted, actually thrown over the pirate's shoulder. Her mouth dropped open in shock, Belle speechless as he stalked out of the room. From lower in the tower, she could hear voices, the sounds of people cheering. Belle couldn't guess what was going on, but it galvanized her into action, the woman kicking and screaming just like the pirate had predicted she would.
To Be Continued...
Ah...so still plugging away at my fics, though very, very slowly...but I'm happy with this chapter for the most part. I had 9kb in size draft I trashed...I reread it today, and realized it wasn't very good...but also felt the way I present Belle's thoughts was rather confusing, and jumped around...and maybe even had her thinking in circles. So I'm ultra pleased with the rewrite of that segment, cause I think this attempt came out a million times better! Got a little stuck when it came time to write dialogue...I'm not hating though! Ha ha ha...
Now I'm trying to figure out how to handle next chapter...and which POV to be. One of those things I want to show from both characters thoughts type of situation. But also, I'm trying to think if I should just time skip to them on the ship, and have whoever is the voice of that chapter, briefly think on how they got there...I'll figure it out though! But probably not tonight, as I'm feeling tired now...X_X
-Michelle
Trackrunner237, heh thanks! I like obsessive Hook too even if Belle doesn't. XD But also I think in canon he has to be a little obsessive. I mean I am theorizing he spent quite some time in Neverland, and if he spent say a few hundred years there, and he was still obsessed with getting revenge, and suffering his grief...well doesn't that seem a little obsessive...? But his age and time spent in Neverland is just my theory...nothing confirmed yet on the show...and I am feeling Hook withdrawal from the lack of any time with him in the last two episodes. *pouts*
Redbell69, thank you! You clearly have good taste, to like this pairing. And I like them too! XD But I think everyone guessed that already judging by all the Hook Belle stuff I've written!
Kendra Lueher, that would have been awesome to see them meet like that! XD My friend today, well she said something I thought was cool and true. She said fanfic is what we do to right the wrongs of the canon universe of whatever fandom we are in. Since the show is so far avoiding any further Hook Belle stuff, I just have to right that wrong with my stories! XD
Guest, I'm trying my best! But I can't always promise fast updates...X_X
