Sorry for the long wait, I got stuck in writer's block. Warning: Triggers ahead. There, you have been warned. Happy LATE Christmas, New Year, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

Belle Gold

How could they not tell me?

That question rang through Belle's mind over and over the entire way to the sheriff's station. The Wicked Witch of the West raped her husband, the love of her life, and they didn't bother to tell her? Belle knew she was angry deep down. She was mad at Emma for telling everyone except her and for telling everyone at all (this was obviously a very private matter that should have been brought to her immediately so the best thing for Rumple could have been done). She was mad at everyone else for helping Emma keep this from her, she didn't know why she was mad at Olivia Benson and the rest of the mysterious SVU team, but she was. She was boiling over the fact that Zelena had had the audacity, the evil in her soul to do such horrible things to her Rumple in the first place, but most of all… she was mad at herself.

How could I have been so stupid? I knew something was wrong with him, I just knew it! Yet I said and did nothing! I should have pushed! I should have asked him about it! He was held captive for a year by a maniacal, sadistic b***h whom I knew had a creepy, obsessive crush on him! How did I not put two and two together? He needed- needs therapy whether he was- oh God- or not! Dear Lord, he was- oh Rumple! I thought you'd gotten bored of me! I was so stupid and selfish! I'm so sorry!

Yes, Belle was angry. But right now… everything just felt numb. The car pulled up to the curb, Emma and Olivia got out, and Belle followed suit. She really didn't know what she was doing, anymore. Her body felt like a machine blindly following orders. Emma's leading me inside. One foot in front of the other. She wasn't fully aware of what was happening or if she had any perception of time. She absentmindedly acknowledged the fact that Emma had sat her down in the chair behind the Sheriff's desk, and now Emma and Olivia were each on their respective cell phones. The next thing she knew, everyone was there. Everyone who knew. Most people she knew, some she didn't. She knew Emma, Charming, Snow, Henry, Regina, Robin, Archie, Ruby, and the Seven Dwarves. She didn't know Olivia Benson or the seven other members of the New York Justice Department standing with her.

Someone was talking to her. She looked up. It was Snow. "-and we're going to do everything in our power to help you get through thi-"

"How could you not tell me?" Belle interrupted.

There was silence. Belle decided to change tactics. "You know what, never mind. I think I can guess. 'No one wanted to tell the wife that her husband was raped.' Well, that's that. Now, spill. What did that woman do to Rumple?"

"Mrs. Gold, I would like to start by apologizing. I'm the head of this Unit, I was not aware that you didn't know." A bald SVU member said. "My name is Captain Donald Cragen, SVU. These are Detectives Elliot Stabler, Fin Tutuola, John Munch, and you've already met Olivia Benson. That's our psychiatrist and criminal profiler, Dr. George Huang, and that's Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot. We have one more here, Dr. Warner, our forensics specialist, but she's not here. She's at the hospital working on the evidence with Dr. Whale helping her."

"Thank you for coming. I hold no grudge against you at all. You're just doing your job. Know that whatever I am about to say is not directed at any of you. In fact, it might be best that you just leave the room for a minute or two. Kay?"

The SVU detectives looked at each other with a knowing look. 'Oh, they are about to get it.' And without a word, left the room post-haste. Belle sat there for a moment with her legs crossed, hands together. Then, she spoke. "What. The actual. F***?" She yelled the last word. Most everyone flinched. "What the hell is wrong with you? You knew- no, you even suspected that Rumple, my husband, the love of my life, was raped and didn't bother to tell me? And what's worse? You called the police, a unit from out of town with nothing to do with us whatsoever, without the consent of the victim, and have been invading his privacy since you got here, haven't you? Investigating?"

"Belle, no evidence was taken illegally and Emma, a member of his family, filed a report to SVU. Technically, whether it was the victim that reported it or not, it's legal." Charming said, defending his daughter.

"STILL! You could have and should have come to me immediately! You know how private Rumple is! If he doesn't want you to know something, you usually don't find out! And all of you know that I am better at getting through to him than anyone! He would only ever get help if I asked him to and you know it! And oh God, I don't even want to know what this is doing to him! Imagine how much pain he's going through! How embarrassed he must be to know that you're all investigating… this! Let me guess, he's isolated himself. I know he's certainly been doing it to me! He's so distant… Rumple, oh God!"

"Belle, I need you to just breathe, and remain calm." Archie said, attempting to calm the furious wife-of-the-victim, but Belle was having none of it.

"Remain calm? REMAIN CALM? My husband was RAPED! Now show me the damn evidence!" She screeched. She saw Henry cover his ears. She forced herself to say in a nice voice, "Henry, would you please just step outside with SVU, I'm mad at the adults, not you." Henry nodded quickly and hastily left the room before she changed her mind, with a sympathetic look thrown in the direction of his family. As soon as the door shut, Belle continued her rampage. "And Hook. Seriously, Hook. The man who's spent hundreds of years hating and trying to kill Rumple, who almost succeeded during the Cora crisis, and who tried to kill me, you told him before you told me? What the f*** were you thinking? That's why he's locked away on his ship, isn't it? He's probably plotting something. Some way to use this to hurt my Rumple again!"

"He did refuse to help, and he's an asshole for that, but he's a changed man. I don't think he'd go that fa-" Emma started.

"Oh sure, says the one that was sleeping with him!"

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there. We kissed a few times, but we never-, I never let him-"

"I'm a virgin." Belle said aloud. Everyone stopped talking and stared at her, mouths agape. "Yeah, you heard me. I'm a god-damned virgin." Belle sat back in her seat and chuckled to herself, perhaps the sudden shock of anger and stress was getting to her. The anger was leaving, and now everything was going numb again.

"Belle, even before all this, didn't you two ever-" Snow started to ask. "No, she's telling the truth. I can smell it. Definitely a virgin." Ruby said.

"I'm not going to hesitate in admitting it: Rumple's old. His body is young, but both it and his soul have been walking the Earth a very long time, you all know that. He's old, and old-fashioned. If I had a penny for every time I tried, every time I asked, every time we got this close to doing it… He wouldn't do it until we were married. He always said he'd marry me someday, he was just waiting for a day when he was sure it was going to be safe and calm for us for a while. When he proposed, I was so happy! Because all I wanted was to be with him, forever. On our wedding night, we started, he must have been trying so hard to keep it together, for me. But his shirt wasn't even off, and he backed out. I never knew why, he never gave a reason." Belle crossed her arms on the table and buried her face in them. The numbness was going away, and she was suddenly feeling a sadness like she hadn't felt since Rumple had died. "Now I know why! I scared the shit out of him! He must have been so terrified! So… afraid." Belle looked up at them. Lord, she must have looked awful. "How are we ever supposed to have children… if Rumpelstiltskin, the only man I'd ever bear a child for, is terrified of having sex?"

That was it. She had nothing left to say. Belle buried her head back in her arms, and sobbed. There was a horrible silence around her, everyone was just staring at each other, unsure what to do. Belle heard the door creak open, a few footsteps, a pair of small arms wrapped around her, and a head rested on her shoulder. Henry. Of course he'd be the one to do what no one else had even moved to do.

Belle pulled herself back together and raised her head to look at them. "Now show me the damn evidence!"

After a quick and silent drive to the hospital, they showed her the evidence all right, all of it. At the hospital, she had an informative chat with Dr. Warner and Dr. Whale, and yes, had looked at the damn evidence. Which was why she was currently sitting in a chair in the waiting room curled up in a ball, staring blankly at the adjacent wall. She was pretty sure she was going insane. Or was that just the shock?

Elliot Stabler, one of the detectives, was sitting a few chairs away from her, occasionally throwing her a glance like he was sure she was a grenade about to explode, or opening his mouth like he wanted to say something, but didn't.

After some time, Olivia Benson traded places with him. And unlike her partner, she did speak. "Hey." She greeted.

"Hi." Belle greeted back curtly, not tearing her eyes away from the wall. There was a moment of silence, and Olivia tried again.

"You know, I know how you feel." Olivia said. "Shock, rage, confusion, some self-loathing. There are a lot of people who have felt exactly as you do. I'm one of them."

"You do not know how I feel." Belle said, looking over at her. She didn't mean to put quite that much venom in her voice, but with the mood she was in at that moment, Hades himself would run like hell from her wrath.

Olivia didn't even flinch. "Yes, I do know." Something about the tone of her voice made Belle pay attention.

"I was born February seventh, 1968. My mother was working as a cafeteria worker at Columbia University. She was also a rape victim. My father was a food salesman named Joseph Hollister, her rapist. He was a serial rapist, in fact. He raped three women between 1967 and 1969. My Mother always resented me for it, to an extent. I know she loved me, but I was abused both mentally and physically as a child. When I was old enough to understand such things, my Mother sat me down and told me. How do you think I felt when I was told that my father was a rapist who raped my mother and two other women? About as bad as you do now. That's why I joined SVU. To help people like you, your husband, and my Mother, and to put away people like Zelena and my Father."

For a moment, Belle was speechless. "Oh, I'm so sorry." Was all she could say.

"Don't be. I came to terms with it a long time ago. Now, I make it my business to help people like you find peace as well." Olivia said with a smile. "By the way, and, it may or may not be the best time to ask this, but he's some powerful wizard, right? Everyone keeps mentioning a dagger? But I'm not sure I understand what it is. No one explained it to me. Could you?"

Belle sniffed. "It's one of the most important things about what happened last year. I'm shocked no one explained it to you. Rumple is a powerful dark magical being called a Dark One. He's immortal, and his magic is among the strongest in the known universe, aside from Gods. But that comes with a price. There's a demon inside him, and it puts bad thoughts and evil urges in his head. He's learned to control it, for the most part, but it still causes him to do some really bad and really stupid things, sometimes. But I love him to pieces, anyway. As well as that, his very soul is bound to a mystical blade called 'The Dark One Dagger', and whoever has it controls Rumple. Physically controls him. It can't change the way he thinks, but it bends his body and his magic to whoever holds the dagger. Zelena got a hold of it at the beginning of last year, that's how she was able to control him. He had no choice. There was nothing he could have done."

"That's barbaric." Olivia said, horrified. "How could you do that to another human being? That's got to be a human rights' violation somehow!"

"I'm so worried about him." Belle said.

"I wish I could say there wasn't a need to worry, but that would be a lie. You have every right to worry, it's a burden, one that will bend you, but for him, and for yourself, you cannot let it break you. Besides, simply the fact that it is a burden is enough to tell you that you love him enough to care, and you're a good person. At least that's a good thing, right?"

That finally brought a small smile to Belle's face. Maybe it wasn't so bad, having SVU on the case. Belle could only pray Rumple would see it the same way. Oh, Rumple…

Rumpelstiltskin/Mr. Gold

He's bound to a chair in the basement of the farmhouse. Zelena said often how much she loved seeing him like that. His hands are tied behind his back, and his feet are tied to the legs of the chair. He wasn't wearing any shoes or socks. She's interrogating him, trying to pick his now sane mind apart like a used lego set.

His son was dead. It had been two days, and the shock still had not completely worn off, grief had an icy cold grip on his heart, and it hurt. It hurt his soul more than anything she could ever do to him physically. It felt like someone had taken a blade straight into his heart and twisted it, and twisted it, and the knife was still twisting.

It was about a half hour after they'd returned from the showdown, and needless to say, the witch was pissed that she had failed in obtaining her sister's heart. She was taking out her anger on the only living thing in the premises. Guess who that was?

"Tell me how she touches you, your little librarian, what was her name? Belle, was it?" And because she asked while holding the dagger, he had to reply.

"We've never done it. We wanted it to be special, I only wanted to do it on our wedding night and after."

Zelena grins like a child with a new toy at the news, with this new piece of information to tear his mind apart with. "Really, well I'd like to see you bring yourself to do it now, dog. You filthy little cheater." She taunted.

"I d-didn't cheat. You… you forced me to. I'd never-"

She grabbed his jaw roughly, silencing him, "You keep telling yourself that, coward."

She took a step back and looked at him with a thoughtful expression on her face. She grinned. Oh, this was going to be bad. She waved her hand, and he was suddenly blindfolded.

"Hmmm… how old are you, Dark one?" She asked. And because she asked while holding the dagger, he had no choice other than to obey.

"I am Five-hundred twenty-five years old, Zelena."

"Hmmm… and how old is she, your little librarian?"

"Belle is thirty-five, Zelena."

He couldn't see it, as he was blindfolded, but he could feel the evil grin that was being sent his way. "Why, thirty-five fits into five-hundred twenty-five perfectly! This is going to be fun!"

A few seconds of silence passed. Rumple started to think she'd left. "Zelen-AAAAAAUGH!"

He suddenly felt a blinding pain in his left foot and he screamed like a wounded animal. He then realized he couldn't feel his big toe. Then she took off his index toe, then his middle toe, then his fourth toe, then his pinkie toe. Over the near-deafening sounds of his own screaming, Rumple could faintly hear the snapping, popping, and sickening crunching sounds of the torture devices going through his flesh and bones like scissors through paper.

"What. Is five-hundred twenty five, minus thirty-five, Rumple?"

Rumple couldn't speak, he was sobbing so hard from the pain. The tears were soaking his blindfold through.

He felt that same blinding pain on his left hand and screeched.

"Every bloody time you don't answer me, I take one of your f***ing fingers off, you little imp!"

Rumple's mind scrambled to do the math. "F-f-four-h-h-h-hundred ni-ninety!" He sobbed.

"Say my name, coward! Who is your master? Address me by my name when you speak to me!" Another one of his fingers disappeared in a sudden blinding burst of agony, punishment for his disrespect. Rumple threw his head back and screamed.

"F-four-hundred ninety, ZELENA!" He sobbed.

"Good boy."Zelena purred.

Then, agony struck his right foot. Big, index, middle, fourth, pinkie, snap, pop, crrrrunch! SCREAM! His mind screeched at him. "Pass out! Blood loss, pain, from either is fine, just pass out so you don't feel it anymore!"

"What's four-hundred ninety minus thirty-five?" His mind scrambled to do the math.

"F-four-h-h-hundred f-f-f-fifty-f-five, Zel-Zelena."

She used magic to re-grow his missing appendages, with no scars left behind… then repeated the process. Taking the toes off of each foot, fingers, too, if he was too slow, making him countdown by 35 from 525. Over and over and over again.

During about the fifth or sixth time, his mind started to go blurry, his eyes saw stars, his head started to droop, but Zelena screeched, "OH NO YOU DON'T!" And with a wave of her hand, he was wide-awake again. Unconsciousness had been only a split-second away, he had been so close! "You will take your punishment like a man, Imp! Coward! Dark One! Slut! Slave!" And she took one of his fingers off for almost passing out! Had anyone with a heart heard him, his screams of agony would surely have traumatized them. "That's right! Scream, Dark One! It's not like anyone can hear you! No one but me! Let me hear your agony!"

She'd leave for minutes at a time, to wash the blood off her hands. Leaving him to think about and dread her return, and linger on the lingering agony in his hands and feet.

It was during one of these 'breaks' that his mind was clear enough to realize why she was making him countdown. She didn't want each time to blend into each other. She wanted him to focus on and remember each time. Using a usually loved number, the age of his beloved Belle, as a weapon to inflict misery upon him.

"F-four-hundred t-t-twenty, Ze-Ze-Zelena!"

"Thr-three-hun-hundred eighty-f-f-five, Zelena!"

"Three-h-h-hundred f-f-f-fifty, Ze-Zel-Zelena!"

"Three-h-hun-hundred fi-fif-fifteen, Zelena!"

He screamed, he screeched, he moaned, he wailed. He begged for death. But she refused. Over and over and over!

Over and over and over, she made him count all the way down to zero. And once he finally cried out, "Z-z-zero, Zelena! P-please STOP! Please! I beg you! Zelena! Please!", once the agony was making him see stars sparkling across his vision, when he had lost more blood than he knew he had, only then did she heal his wounds one last time… Then she ripped his ropes off, threw his useless, in-shock body onto the floor into a pool of his own blood… and raped him.

Rumpelstiltskin woke with a start from his nightmare, in his armchair in his living room, covered in sweat, with salty tears streaming down his face. Why? Why can't I catch so much as a catnap without memories like that resurfacing? Rumple wondered. His next thought, however, was very different.

Wait, what's that auburn hair doing here? Oh, wait, Belle!

Yes, apparently in his sleep, his beloved Belle had curled up like a kitten in his lap, her head resting on his chest, and he had unconsciously wrapped his arms around her in his slumber. It would have been a sweet sight, if not for the fact that Rumple's mind was racing, and his heart was pounding, and not for the right reasons.

Oh my God, I was asleep, having a nightmare, with absolutely no space between me and Belle! Oh God! One astray spell! One false move! I could have killed her! Oh, my Belle! If I killed you, it would kill me!

Belle shifted in her sleep, her fingers digging into the fabric of his black suit. She shifted so that the light leaking in from the window reflected off of the tear marks on her face. Wait- what?

Belle had been… crying. Why was Belle crying? Rumple felt a rush of anger. Why was his Belle crying? Who or what had thought it had the audacity to make his beautiful, perfect, smart, funny, precious Belle, cry? But still, he was too frightened and upset at the moment to make that anger last long.

Rumple used his thumb to gently wipe the wet from her perfect face, and pulled her even closer to him, trying hard not to cry. Don't you dare cry this close to her. If she wakes and sees you, she'll ask why, then what will you do? He'd find out why she was upset later. For now, he buried his face in her hair and took several deep, slow breaths, forcing himself to calm down, enjoying the smell of her, the feeling of her heart beating a few inches away from his own, her presence close to him. His Belle. Always his Belle.

That's why you can never find out, dearie. I love you too much, you can never know what she did to me, what she made me do to her. You'd leave me if you did. No one can ever know… I just hope Emma can keep her head out of my business, and the SVU team leaves so I can keep my secret the way it is… a secret.

Belle woke up some time later. She groaned and opened her beautiful blue eyes, looking up at him sleepily. "Lo' Rumple." She sat up and stretched. "Sorry, you were sleeping, and you looked so comfortable. I guess I just felt like joining you." She said.

"It certainly was a pleasant surprise, waking up to see my beautiful Belle in my arms. But I hate to say it, but my leg is starting to cramp." He said.

"Oh! Sorry." Belle said, hastily getting off of him. Rumple stretched and stood up. He noticed Belle was looking at him funny, and kept opening and closing her mouth like she wanted to say something.

Rumple laughed. "Ye look a bit like a flounder, dearie. If ye got something to tell me, my beautiful Belle, you can always tell me."

"Ohit'snothingRumplethere'sjustbeenlessandlesspeoplecomingtothelibrarywitheveryonestillgettingoverthewarwithZelenaisall!" She said very quickly.

She was lying. Rumple smiled, took a few steps forward, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Belle, I noticed ye had tear-stains on yer cheeks, dearie. A shortage of people visiting the library couldn't possibly upset ye so. Tell me what's wrong, my Belle, and let me fix it for you." He purred in her ear.

"Really, it's nothing, Rumple. Would you please just drop it?" Belle asked. Okay, now he knew something was seriously up. He elected not to press further, and decided to ask her about it during dinner.

They ended up putting in a movie, Godzilla (2016), and they snuggled up on the couch together with a bowl of popcorn. Rumple could have stayed there forever. Curled up, warm, and comfortable, safe, far away from her, with his Belle.

No war to deal with, no cages, no spinning wheels, no evil witches coming to hurt him, nor anyone he loved. No evil witches coming to touch him, coming to rip his clothes off and force him to do things. Bad things. Things he didn't want to do!

No! Don't let your mind wander there, Rumple. This is nice. You love this moment, safe with Belle, don't let the memories ruin it! Focus on the movie. Just focus on the Goddamn movie! Look at that, wow! Godzilla's coming out of the ocean! He's so big, he's making a tidal wave! The people are running, though I doubt they truly know the meaning of fear- CUT IT OUT! Okay, there's an airport, I've seen this, I know this, there's one of his giant-ass feet, emphasizing how freaking big he is, soldiers on the roof, flares. Wow. No matter how many times I see this, the CGI is just incredible. He's so real looking…

After that, he managed to keep his focus on the film, and of course on his wife. When the movie ended, it was about six o'clock. Rumple and Belle left the living room for the kitchen, agreed that a chicken pot pie sounded good for dinner, and a few minutes later, Belle was using a fork to shred some canned chicken, and Rumple was using a kitchen knife to chop some carrots. Rumple was humming the original 'Godzilla' theme, as since he'd watched a Godzilla movie and it had popped into his head, it was now stuck there. But the humming was an unconscious action, his mind was on his wife. Something was eating her alive. And she wouldn't tell him what. Which in turn was eating him alive, and he didn't like that. Not one bit. Rumple wanted to say something, desperately. But he was trying to figure out what statement wouldn't make her brush him off again.

"R-Rumple?" Belle asked behind him.

"Yes, Belle?" Rumple replied.

"Um, I have something I need to ask you."

Oh, shit. He really hoped this wasn't about sex. He'd tried, he really did, he wanted to, but every time he got close, all he saw was her, and he had to break it off. But Belle didn't know that. What if she lost interest in him? What if his marriage fell apart just like it had with Milah because he was a wounded, crippled, coward.

Rumple gave a slight shudder and shook those thoughts to the back of his mind. Focus on Belle. Keep the mask on. Hide the truth. Keep the secret. Keep the secret.

"What is it, Belle? You know you can alway ask me anything." Rumple said.

Dude! What are you doing? You're blowing this! What am I supposed to say? I don't even know what she sees in me to make her like me in the first place! Fine! Fine! It's okay! As long as she doesn't throw me any curveballs or mention last year, I think we're good.

"Well, you see, we need to talk about… last year, Rumple." Belle said. Rumple paused, then forced himself to keep chopping vegetables. Belle kept talking. "We never talked about it. I mean, She held you prisoner in that horrible little cell for a year, she killed your son. I don't want you to develop PTSD or something. I don't want you to end up like a volcano, all that pressure."

F***! Why the hell is she asking this? Belle's totally in the dark about last year! Why would she ask that of all things? What do I do, now? Hell if I know! All of the police shows cut to credits at this point! No one blows off something like this in the movies! They answer honestly at this point! But we're not going to! Besides, we're already a volcano soon to blow, dearie. But she asked me a question, so I have to say something! Just say anything! Wait, anything? Yes! Anything! Anything that shuts this discussion down! Just… say it with confidence. Alright, here goes…

And yet, he found himself saying, "Alright Dearie, let's talk about it."

NOOOOOOOO! When I said say anything, I meant anything but that, obviously! I'm sorry! I don't do well under pressure! It's fine! I'll just… play it off as a joke! No harm done. Make an excuse. There's no escape now! Yes there is! Find a way out! Burn the pie on purpose! The pie's not made yet! FIGURE SOMETHING OUT!

"Alright… now, let's talk about last year. Please turn around and talk to me, Rumple."

FOOL! YOU'VE DOOMED US ALL! There's no escape! Freaking run! Mayday! Mayday! Losing altitude! Impact is imminent!

Despite the panic surging in his chest, Rumple managed to keep his face passive as he stopped chopping, put down the knife, and turned to face Belle.

"What do you want me to say, Belle?" Rumple asked.

"I don't know. Talk about how you feel. What happened? I just want you to talk to me."

Maybe I should tell her. NO! Are you out of your straw-spinning mind?!

"Did she feed you right? Did she beat you? Did she ever physically hurt you? Did she tell you things? I just want to make sure you're alright, Rumple."

"Where is this even coming from, Belle?" Rumple asked.

"People have been talking and… Rumple, did she ever… touch you?"

Rumple felt his heart stop… then break.

Sheknowssheknowssheknowssheknows! Filthy! Disgusting! Tainted! Cheater! Coward! Cripple! Monster! Unworthy! She won't stop touching me! Touching! Touching! Laughing! Scratching! Help me! Get away from me! Get away! GET AWAY! Sheknowssheknowssheknowssheknows! SHE KNOWS! Get away! Run! RUN!

Without further hesitation, Rumple disappeared in a cloud of red-violet smoke. He reappeared on the edge of town by the ruins of Henry's old 'castle'. No sooner than he did, he ran to the nearest public trash can and threw up the few contents of his stomach.

"Ruuuummmmple, I'm coming to get you!" She taunts, twirling the dagger in her fingers, staring at him hungrily. Rumple curls up in a ball in a corner of his cage and prays to whatever God that's listening (like God cared about him anymore, with everything he'd done) to make her go away, to make it all go away and have it be a bad dream. No such thing happens. She enters his cage, throws him to the floor, and touches him! Touches him! EVERYWHERE! Makes him touch her! Touch her! EVERYWHERE! Stop! Make it stop! "What would Belle say? What would Belle say? She'll hate you! She'll leave you! Coward!"

RUN! FREAKING RUN!

As soon as Rumple stopped coughing on his own bile, he did just that. His mind was in a daze, and his feet were pounding against the pavement with no destination. There were hot, salty tears streaming down his face. Cold bit at his ears, nose, and cheeks, but he barely felt it. Curse his immortality! He wanted nothing more at that moment than to die. He wanted to die! He didn't care anymore.

Sheknowssheknowssheknows!

He changed course towards his shop, stumbling once or twice. Belle had the dagger hidden, there. Under a spell that only she or Rumple could retrieve it. He'd made it his business to know where she hid it, just in case, but he hadn't so much as touched the vile thing since he'd given it to her. He'd promised not to take it, he'd entrusted it to her, but he was going to take it, and he was going to use it.

I'm sorry, Belle.

Rumple slammed into the front door of his shop, not remembering that it was closed and locked up. With a wave of his hand, the door disappeared! That wasn't what he meant to do! He'd been trying to unlock the door, not destroy it! Lord, he was so f***ed up, even his magic wasn't working right! But he didn't care anymore!

Rumple stumbled through the doorway and staggered into the back room. He dropped to his knees and ripped the floorboards open to reveal the place his love had hidden his dagger so well. He pulled the long ebony knife case out of the floor and his shaking hands opened it. He saw the Dark One Dagger lying there on the red velvet. His heart began to pound.

She teased him, the dagger a meere inch in front of his face as she worked at the buttons on his trousers. "Please, Zelena, no. I don't want to." He whimpered. She grinned, pressing the blade to his throat. "You're a slave, a slut, and a coward. 'No' means nothing. It is not in your dictionary anymore, so get used to it, Dark One." She snarled, pulling the zipper down so fast and hard he heard it snap. Rumple closed his eyes, and felt the tears falling.

Rumple shut his eyes tight and forced his shaking fingers to grasp the hilt of the blade, pulling it out into the light. He stood up on wobbly legs and moved over so his body would fall on the couch in the back. Rumple quickly decided the best place for this wretched object was buried in his cold, black, broken heart. It was pounding. He wanted it to stop! He wanted it to be quiet! He wanted the memories to stop! He wanted the pain to stop! He just wanted to stop and be at peace! He wanted… to die.

"Belle, I l-love you so m-m-much." He sobbed, "B-but I c-can't do it, anymore. You're g-going to leave me, and I c-can't bear it. It's n-not like you'll m-m-miss me. You'll m-move on with s-s-someone better, stronger, not so… f-f-filthy.

"H-Henry, I'm s-sorry y-y-you had to be b-born with the sh-shame of b-being my gr-grandson. Ye deserve b-b-better than me. I'm s-s-sorry. But I love you. I d-d-don't t-tell you that e-enough, but I-I do.

"B-Bae, S-Son, if you're l-l-listening, I'm s-s-sorry your s-s-sacrifice was in v-vain, but I w-w-wasn't worth b-bringing back in the f-first place! I l-love you s-s-so much. I g-g-get lonelier every d-day without you. I d-don't even know why or h-how life was w-worth l-living before that night I held y-you in my arms, and y-you grabbed my nose, and I f-fell in l-love. And n-now you're g-gone, and it just h-h-hurts. And I'm a-all alo-alone again. You were b-born a c-c-coward's s-son, and I'm SORRY!" Rumple sobbed, and he almost collapsed.

"I'm sorry."

Rumple raised the dagger high, with the blade pointed at its destination. He screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'M SORRY!" And started to drive it home-

But then someone slammed into his side, and knocked the dagger out of his grasp, and wrestled him to the floor. Rumple looked back at who had interrupted him and realized with a jolt that it was one of the out-of-town guests, from SVU. One of the two he'd met in front of his shop, in fact: Detective Olivia Benson.

"Get OFF ME! Get off! Give it back! Leave me alone!" Rumple roared, fighting her hold. She was smaller than him, but a hell of a lot stronger and tougher. "No! You don't want this! You're not thinking straight!" Benson yelled. Rumple threw an elbow back and it caught her jaw. She loosened her hold enough for him to wriggle mostly free, his outstretched hand reaching for the cursed blade. Olivia grabbed his arm and pulled it back, she was wrestling her way over to the knife, too. She was going to get it! She was going to use it! She was going to control him! She was going to touch him! Rumple called his magic, but with how mentally and emotionally unstable he was, it wasn't working! Rumple screamed like a crazed animal and went into a frenzy, punching her, scratching at anything he could get his fingernails to dig into, dragging her back and away from the object of his destruction. The contents of a nearby trashcan caught on fire, different devices started turning on and off of their own accord, a jug of water began to boil, and the lights flickered. Olivia made little effort to defend herself, but sent a well-aimed kick that caught him on the shoulder, sent him back another foot, and disoriented him long enough for her fingers to close around the hilt.

Rumple stopped fighting, after that. He just stared in shock at the Dark One Dagger in her hand. It was over. It was going to happen again. Olivia scrambled away from him and stood up. Rumple followed suit, leaning heavily on a table to support his weight. "P-please. W-w-why? I want to die. W-why w-won't y-you let me die?" Rumple asked with a sob. "W-why d-does everyone w-want t-to h-hurt me?"

Olivia Benson

She didn't really know how she'd ended up in Mr. Gold's Pawnshop, and there wasn't time to wonder. One moment, she'd been at the hospital, talking to Huang about the victim and his wife, the next second, there was a burst of cold air, everything went black, a man's voice screamed, "OLIVIA, STOP HIM!", and suddenly, she was in the doorway, listening to one of the saddest suicide monologues she'd ever heard. The knife started to come down, and Olivia's reflexes kicked in from there, she tackled him to the ground before he could do something he'd regret, and you know the rest.

"P-please. W-w-why? I want to die. W-why w-won't y-you let me die?" Mr. Gold asked with a sob. "W-why d-does everyone w-want t-to h-hurt me?" That voice was the embodiment of human suffering. Olivia felt the familiar sensation of her heart breaking just looking at this lost, broken, teary-eyed, desperate soul. In her line of work, it had become familiar. Olivia wanted nothing more than to reach out and hug him and hold him close until it didn't hurt anymore, but she couldn't. Why? Why were people so cruel, so evil to each other that they left others in such a state?

"Because I know that you don't really want to die." Olivia said, her arms out in a defensive, calming manner. "And there are a lot of people in this town that love you, care about you and want to help you and who would be devastated if anything happened to you. And do you see this?" Olivia asked, showing him the dagger, "I'm not going to use this." Olivia said, sticking it in her belt and immediately putting her hand out again. "Because bad people have used this too many times to hurt too many people, including you. It's barbaric and it's wrong. And I'd never do that." And she meant that… every word.

"W-who c-cares about me?" Rumple sniffed.

Olivia did not even hesitate in her response, but kept her voice calm and soothing, like talking to a frightened child. "Henry, your grandson. He loves you, so much. He's been helping us, and he's so angry at Zelena for what she did. He wants to help. And unlike what you seem to think, he's so proud to be your grandson." Olivia said. "And Belle, your wife. I saw the look on her face when she found out what happened to you, and she's heartbroken that you're in pain. She loves you. She doesn't blame you! There was nothing you could have done."

Rumple didn't say anything, he just kept crying, avoiding looking at her, occasionally wiping at his tears with his sleeve. Olivia kept up a steady, calm, soothing mantra of "It's okay, it's alright. No one is going to hurt you. It's going to be alright."

Then, just as abruptly as he had appeared, Rumpelstiltskin Gold disappeared in a cloud of red-violet smoke. Immediately, everything turned off again, the water jug stopped boiling, and the lights remained consistently on. Olivia quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher and extinguished the burning trash can before it spread.

Olivia's phone buzzed in her pocket. With a heavy, relieved sigh, Olivia removed the dagger from her belt and set it down next to her at the same time she collapsed on the sofa. She pulled out her cell and answered it. It was Stabler.

"Hey, Elliot."

"Olivia! Thank God! What happened to you? You vanished into thin air!"

"I'm at Mr. Gold's Pawnshop. I don't know what happened, but listen, this situation just got that much more delicate." Olivia said.

"How the hell could it possibly get more delicate?" Elliot asked through the phone.

"Because our victim just tried to commit suicide."

Wow. I had to go to some DARK places to get that. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave me a review if you want more and I'll see you next time!

Ooh! And before I forget: putting this little fact on here in honor of the subject. Rape is now punishable by death in India!... If the victim was a female minor. As of 2013, rape was already punishable by death, but "only if the perpetrator inflicts injuries that result in the victim's death or incapacitation to a persistent vegetative state, or if the perpetrator is a repeat offender." But still, progress.

And guys, seriously, if you are or have been raped or sexually assaulted, GO TELL SOMEONE! GET HELP! Someone out there cares about you, no matter how bleak it looks! If a friend tells you they've been raped, go tell the proper authorities! If you see something that could or is turning into a possible rape, SPEAK UP! STAND UP! IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE! All of this is also applicable if you are or think you are suicidal. Go get help! Someone will listen! Someone cares! Someone loves you! Think of all the friends and loved ones who will cry and scream in anguish and grief when you are gone! Your life isn't really yours... it's theirs. You have to live for THEM even if you don't want to live for YOURSELF! If a friend of yours tells you they are suicidal or shows signs of suicide, GO TELL SOMEONE WHO CAN AND WILL HELP THEM IMMEDIATELY! Their lives may depend on it! And I am not pulling this crap out of the air, I mean it! SPEAK UP!

So, anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, leave some nice, long reviews if you want more. I love hearing from you! What you liked/didn't like. And I will try to post another chapter as soon as I can. See ya next time, Dearies!

-alphashley14