Mr. Gold was nervous, standing on the steps of the orphanage with his girlfriend standing next to him, looking more serious than he had ever seen her. This was lawyer Belle, the girl who earned the nickname hell on heels. He didn't want to move, wanted to stand there until Bae was outside and in his arms and they could leave and never come back. He was contemplating the idea of leveling the place once he finished, just for good measure.
"Ready?" She asked, holding all the necessary paperwork in her arms. He nodded, gripping the cane he no longer needed, and then walked up the stairs. The cane was more for show than anything else. He had been afraid someone might put it together that the moment he began dating Belle his leg was suddenly healed. He had decided once he had Bae back he was taking the two of them on a vacation overseas. He'd claim he'd had surgery there and let it die.
They rang the bell and mother superior met them. "I'm sorry Mr. Gold; you're going to have to wait outside." He nodded curtly, watching Belle go in without him. He trusted her to get this done.
"There has been a slight change in plans..." Mother Superior said the moment the doors were shut behind them.
"What do you mean?" Belle asked sharply. "I have the court order right here."
"An emergency hearing was held last night to block the order," Mother Superior told her, handing Belle the document. Belle scanned it, her eyes narrowing when she saw the attorney who had filed for the hearing in the first place. Vincent. What the hell was she doing working this case?
"All she did was file a motion to have the case re-heard, it doesn't say anything about the boy being unable to go home," Belle snapped. "If Vincent wants to waste someone's money filing these bullshit appeals that's her business, but until you hand me something that says Balfour Gold is to stay where he is then I'll be taking him home. Right now."
Mother Superior looked nervous. "I don't want to get in trouble..."
"You're going to be in more trouble if you don't hand me the boy RIGHT NOW!" Belle was using her court room voice, furious and frustrated with the idiot nun and Vincent for going up against her at the last minute.
"No need to shout," Mother Superior snapped back at Belle. She strode off, leaving Belle a moment to further examine the document. It was bad; Belle had a bad track history with Vincent. An official hearing was set for Monday morning. Belle didn't necessarily have to be there, but she would be. She was in no way about to let Vincent keep that boy locked up somewhere he didn't belong for another moment.
Balfour came bounding down the steps and nearly crashed into Belle in his excitement. Mother Superior handed Belle a pen showing that Belle was the one who came to get him and that Balfour had been released into her custody.
"BYE!" Balfour shouted loudly, although no one came out to say goodbye. Belle picked up the boy's suit case full of belongings and ushered him out quickly before anyone could show up with more paperwork keeping him here.
Gold was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps, his eyes unreadable behind his circular sunglasses. Balfour didn't seem to care about figuring out his father's posture as he took off down the steps and launched himself into the man's waiting arms. Belle smiled for a moment before her mind snapped back into work mode. She needed to take care of this immediately, before Vincent gained anymore ground on her.
She deposited the bag next to Gold, who was still embracing his boy. "I need to go into the office today," she told him. He regarded her seriously.
"Is everything all right?"
"No. We'll discuss it later. Get Balfour home, don't worry about anything else." She smiled, surprised when he let go of his boy long enough to kiss her quickly. Bae whooped at them, ducking when his father playfully swatted at him.
"Do you want me to drive you?" He asked, concerned about her walking the streets even if it was in broad daylight.
"No, I need to make a few stops."
She took off down the street, her heels clacking angrily against the pavement as she pulled out one of her documents that had the number to Judge Ryder's office on it. She dialed quickly, getting his assistant, Esmeralda.
"I need you to leave a message for Judge Ryder from Belle French, down at the D.A.'s office," Belle told the woman quickly. "I need him to call me regarding the case of Balfour Gold, at his earliest convenience." She waited to hear the girl confirm the message, and then started on her next call, one that would be less pleasant.
"Melody Vincent's office," a cheerful girl chirruped into the phone.
"This is Belle French; put Vincent on the line please."
"Uh, one moment," the girl stuttered at Belle's angry tone. The line went quiet for a moment and then Vincent picked up.
"Ah, Belle French," she purred. "I wondered when I might be hearing from you. I'm sorry today didn't go how you had hoped."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Belle spat, refusing to play nice. "The boy went home with his father just like he was supposed to. Next time you file a motion to appeal, you might want to pay attention to the entire document. It never said the boy was to remain."
She could practically hear Vincent breathing fire over Belle's little loophole. "That was the intent," Vincent growled.
"Intent is meaningless," Belle reminded her, "Especially in the law."
"Intent is everything!"
"Please! Now, you wanna tell me who you're working for so we can settle this outside of court?" Belle asked, adopting Vincent's once sweet tone.
"You know I can't violate attorney client privilege, French."
"Well, pass along a message to your client from me, will you? Tell them I am more than happy to meet with them and discuss whatever objections they have to a father and son being reunited and put their mind at ease. And while I imagine the client you work for is probably involved in some sort of shady, underground dealings, tell them to stop hiding behind their mask, and attorney, and face me."
"Are you suggesting I am working with the mafia?" Vincent asked Belle dangerously.
"Not at all. I'm suggesting you'll work for anyone willing to pay you your exorbitant fee."
"You're awfully brave or awfully stupid," Vincent commented.
"Funny how often those two seem to go hand in hand. I'd rather be brave and stupid over soulless, however. Pass my message along, and have a nice day."
Belle clicked the call off, shaking in rage. She was determined to get to the bottom of this by Monday morning, even if it required her to tear the city apart to do it.
Luckily for her, she knew just the group of women to help her do it.
Twenty minutes later Belle had Ruby, Emma, and Mary Margaret all standing in her office. "Look. I don't ask for help from you guys often, but I need it now. I've been working a case for Mr. Gold to get his son back. The boy was removed under shady circumstances, and now someone is trying to remove him again. Whoever it is hired Melody Vincent this time, the time before it was Albert Spencer. I need help. I need to find out who is behind all of this."
"How can we do that?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Any way you can. Run stories, investigative journalism, hack into computer systems. Whatever you have to do. I know you guys are the good guys, but I can't win without your help."
"Are you sure the boy isn't better off?" Emma asked. Belle regarded Emma carefully on this one, knowing that Emma herself had given a boy up for adoption in the hopes he would have a better life.
"No, he's not. He belongs with his father. I understand your concern Emma, I really do, but this is different; and an innocent boy shouldn't have to suffer because of someone's personal vendetta against Mr. Gold."
"And this has nothing to do with your feelings for the man himself?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Nope. I took the case before either of us had any feelings for the other," Belle reassured them.
"Okay," Ruby agreed. "Then let's figure out who is behind all this and put a stop to it."
"Things like this are exactly why I went into law enforcement," Emma agreed.
"I'm going to run a piece today on how sweet it was Mr. Gold and Balfour were reunited. Drum up some public sympathy," Mary Margaret told them. Belle was beaming at her friends.
"Before you go...I have to tell you guys one more thing."
"Oh God. You're pregnant, aren't you?" Emma said, her eyes wide.
"What? No. Nothing like that," Belle giggled despite herself. "I discovered something."
"That you secretly like women?" Ruby teased.
"No. I know where Emma got one of her powers."
"Oooh, which one?" Emma asked, her eyes lighting up.
"The healing one."
"Oh yeah? Who did you find that can heal themselves?"
"I can," Belle told her. "That is, apparently, my ability."
"Called it," Mary Margaret said, holding her hand out. Ruby and Emma both grumbled, pulling out their wallets.
"What? You guys took bets?" Belle asked, a little outraged. LOL
"Well, Emma has had it for as long as she's known you," Mary Margaret said, "And we've all known about our abilities since we were girls."
"In fact, I think I noticed my healing ability the weekend after hanging out with you. We took bets later on if it was yours or not though."
"I just realized I had it yesterday," Belle admitted.
"See, that's kind of what I assumed was going on," Mary Margaret told her. "Especially when we all came out to you and you didn't say anything."
"What made you realize it?" Ruby asked.
"The party, with the explosives. Alexander shielded me with his body, and I noticed when I put my hands on him his wounds began to heal."
"I'm glad, seriously though, because you will come in handy!"
"Oh, let's make her a costume!"
"No!" Belle interjected quickly. "I don't want to be on the front lines. If you need me I'm more than happy to assist, but other than that no thanks. One job is stressful enough."
The three exchanged dubious glances. "You'll change your mind," Emma decided. Belle chose to ignore that remark. Leave the crime fighting to Gold and her girlfriends. She had other things to do.
"Ladies, I believe we have work to do. Let's take this town apart."
Belle knew she couldn't avoid Gold forever. He had invited her over for dinner that night and she had agreed to go before shit hit the fan. Now she didn't want to leave her office, too wrapped up in her plans, and she didn't want to have to tell him the bad news. Belle wasn't a coward though, so at four she caught a cab out of the city and to his home.
She never would have guessed Gold cooked. She found him in the kitchen making pancakes while Bae sat at a large, marble breakfast bar chattering away. When the boy saw her he leapt off his stool and launched himself at her. Belle was small and Bae was just as big as her and slightly taller. He toppled her over.
"Bae!" Gold reproached, not being able to muster any real anger. Belle would be just fine the moment the boy got off her.
"Sorry Miss French," Bae apologized, pulling her to her feet. Belle rubbed her hands on her pant legs and smiled.
"No harm done. So, pancakes?"
"I haven't had pancakes since I left. Mom used to make them all the time," Bae told her cheerfully. "But Dad's were always better."
"Did you go into the office at all today?" Belle asked, suspecting she knew the answer.
"They'll survive one day without me. Bernard will be back tomorrow, and I'll feel better knowing Bae is with someone I trust." Belle smiled and accepted pancakes when he offered them to her. Belle didn't say much as she ate, waiting for a moment to confess her failure to Gold, to tell him he might have to give his son back. She knew if he did, if she failed to find out who was behind this and put a stop to it, that he wouldn't see Bae again until the boy was of age.
"Bae, why don't you give Belle and I a moment?" Gold asked his son once they were finished eating. Bae nodded and disappeared, off to explore his father's expansive home. "What's wrong?"
Belle put her plate in the sink and turned on the faucet to rinse the syrup off the plate. "This morning, when I got to the orphanage, someone had filed an appeal."
His eyes narrowed at the word appeal. "Who?"
"I don't know. They hired Melanie Vincent as their lawyer, but when I called her she spouted attorney client privilege and wouldn't tell me anything else. I don't want you to worry, I'm going to handle this, but...if...if I were to fail they're going to take Bae back."
Gold smashed the plate in his hand against a wall, his hands shaking in rage. "Over my dead body."
"Calm down, calm down," she said, alarmed. "I've got Emma, Mary Margaret, and Ruby helping me with this. I'm hell on heels, remember? I'm not going to lose."
"They can take Bae again."
"They won't. I won't let them. I'm going to handle this and take care of you both, but you need to know what you're up against."
"What do you need? I'll give you anything you need, money, weapons, assistants, cars, just say the word and it's yours," he told her with the look of a desperate man. She took his hands into hers, rubbing calming circles on his skin with her thumbs.
"I need you to calm down and trust me. Let me do my job. I need to go back to the office, if anything happens I will call you though, okay? Trust me."
"I trust you," he said weakly, slumping back against a counter. She nodded and grabbed her phone to call a cab, but he stopped her.
"Please, take my car," he said, walking quickly for a key ring in the hallway. "I never use it. Please."
She blinked. Her natural instinct was to tell him no and call the cab, but the raw desperation on his face made her reconsider. "Okay. It's a loan though, just until all this is settled."
"Deal," he agreed, putting the key firmly in her hand. He led her out to his garage and pressed a button on the key fob, unlocking the doors to a black BMW.
"Nice," she said, walking towards it, ignoring the other cars in the large garage.
"It's safe," he told her. She went to get in but he caught her wrist and spun her to face him. "Will you come back tonight?"
"Do you need me to?" She asked, her eyes soft. She expected him to tell her no, that he didn't need her to do anything, but he wanted her to.
"Yes. I need you."
She kissed him, softly, parting his lips briefly just to taste him before she pulled away. Both of her hands were on his cheeks, their foreheads touching. "I will be home tonight."
He kissed her again before he let her go, opening the garage so she could get out. He never thought, in his entire life, he would put his faith in someone else, trust them to take care of things, but he somehow he knew throwing money wouldn't solve this problem. He needed someone good and honest and brave like Belle to stand up and fight the good fight.
It wasn't until he was combing the house for Bae did he realize just exactly who he had sent his girlfriend out to fight. Regina. Hadn't Belle read the file he gave her? Why was she wasting time trying to uncover Vincent's secret client when he had practically handed Belle the information on a silver platter?
He sent her a swift text telling her to read the file and put the rest in her hands.
"Mary Margaret?" Belle was speeding back into the city as fast as she could. "I think Vincent's client is Regina."
"What?" Mary Margaret sounded confused and breathless.
"Regina. I think Regina is behind all of this."
"Why do you think that?"
"It's complicated. Can you do some digging into her back ground and tell me what you find?"
"Sure, but Belle, you do realize what you would be accusing the Mayor of, right? Why would she want to keep Gold's son from him?"
"I don't know. I'm missing a lot of pieces here, so let's start with what we've got."
"Okay. I'll fill in Emma and Ruby and then let you know what I find."
"Thanks," Belle turned the phone off, tossing it into the leather seat next to her. She was in the city and near her apartment. It would only take a moment to get in there and find the file on Regina that Gold had given her under the guise of The Trickster weeks earlier.
She threw a nickel into the meter when she reached her building and ran up the five flights of steps until she reached her door. She was prepared to be in and out, but the door was slightly ajar, a bad sign. Belle didn't have a weapon on her unless you counted the pen in her pocket, which she didn't. Nevertheless, she pulled it out and gripped it tightly in her hand, prepared to use it just in case. It would stop someone who wasn't ready for it, if they were there to harm her.
It was Garrett, standing there, looking distressed and holding the file she had come to get in her hand. "Belle," he said.
"Garrett. What are you doing?" She asked, body still tense.
"What are you doing with this?" He shook the file in her direction, causing the leather jacket he wore to part revealing a hidden gun. This was bad.
"Garrett," she tried again, her voice softer, "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing? I'm here to fucking kill you Belle!" He shouted, throwing the file at her. Nothing spilled out as the file landed at her feet. "Why couldn't you just fucking marry me like you were supposed to!"
"Garrett, you're not making sense," she said, taking a cautious step back.
He pulled his gun out quickly and pointed it at her. Her stomach filled with dread when she saw the silencer on the end of it. "Don't make this difficult, Belle."
"Don't do this Garrett," Belle said quickly, her eyes focused on the gun. What would happen if he shot her in the head? Could she come back from that? Somehow she didn't think so. Her heart was pounding painfully hard, her knees shaking.
"I have to Belle. This is my job."
"You work for the Mayor, Garrett," she said desperately as his thumb pulled back the hammer.
"I work for the Glass Family." He pulled the trigger, hitting her in the chest. Nothing could have prepared her for the force that exploded in her, or the pain that would come with it. She fell backwards, her head cracking hard against the floor. She could hear his footsteps drawing nearer and then he fired again, and again, and again, all into her chest. The pain was overwhelming and she was struggling to stay conscious. She needed him to think her dead so she held her breath.
She heard him step away and then drop something onto her chest, and then his footsteps were walking away. He closed the door behind him but she kept holding her breath, holding it and holding it until she felt she would pass out. Finally she let the air out and sucked in a desperate breath. She was still alive, she wasn't dead. That didn't stop her from being in pain, or stop the blood coming out of the holes he had put in her chest. She needed help; she needed to get the bullets out so she could start to heal herself up. She groaned and tried to sit up, nearly passing out from the effort. She needed a mirror so she could see what she was doing. Walking was not going to happen, so she decided to crawl slowly to her destination. Her apartment wasn't big and the bathroom was fifty feet from her. She could make it.
Crawling into her bathroom was the hardest thing she had ever done. She was leaving a very visible trail of blood behind her and becoming weak from the effort of it all. More than anything she wanted to lie down and sleep, rest and try again later, but she soldiered on, determined to make it through this, to figure out why the Glass Family cared that she had a file on Regina in her apartment, why the Glass Family would want her dead. She had always had a big, red target painted on her, but the Glass Family had always left her alone, even when she had put members of their organization behind bars. She could see a smaller crime group targeting her, but this was new from the Glass Family.
She rolled onto her back when she was in the bathroom, relishing the feeling of the cold tile on her skin. There was a hand mirror resting on the edge of the sink, all she had to do was sit up and reach for it. It was difficult, but she managed, holding the mirror out with shaking hands. There were four holes in her chest, blood pouring from each. The exertion from crawling was definitely exacerbating things, but nothing could be done for that as she ripped her shirt off to get a better look at the holes. She was going to have to dig her fingers into her flesh and pull the bullets out herself. She groaned at the thought, unsure if she could manage this. Maybe she should call Emma and have her do it for her. Emma surely wasn't squeamish.
How would she explain the situation? Could she trust Emma not to go after the Glass Family the first moment she left the apartment? Honestly, she didn't think she could hold on long enough to get Emma out here to do it for her. She had to do things now, and quickly.
Belle knew nothing of removing bullets outside of what she saw in the movies, but she knew she needed something to bite down on. Her hairbrush was next to where the mirror had been, so she grabbed that, putting the handle in her mouth and biting down hard. She propped the mirror up with her knees, counted to three in her head, and then plunged slim fingers into the first wound.
She nearly passed out from the effort, stars exploding behind her eyelids at the pain of digging around for the metal. She found it and gripped it, pulling it out slowly. She didn't want to have to do this more than was necessary, but on top of the small space the bullet was coated in blood, making it slick.
She had the first one out in a few minutes, setting it on the floor next to her. Three more to go. She could do this. The second time she probed around hurt less. Shock was starting to set in, and she needed to work fast. The third was the most difficult, lodged under her collar bone and in deep. It took her the better part of ten minutes to work it out, nearly screaming in the effort. Clearly shock hadn't set in quick enough. Tears were streaming down her face and she was openly sobbing at this point and her teeth bit down hard on the handle of the brush. One more. She could do this. A look in the mirror told her the other three holes were starting to close which gave her a measure of relief. If she could get this one, trapped between her breasts, out she would be free. She could relax, rest, let her body do what it did best. She took one more breath and began digging, finding this one easier than the last. With shaking fingers she hooked her middle finger around it and began pulling it up until it was out. She spit the brush out and let out a stifled scream. None of what just happened felt real, but she could see the blood trail from where she had crawled in, her blood stained fingers, it was everywhere, on the mirror, on her legs, her face, on the sink.
She slid down the wall until she was flat on her back and closed her eyes, confident she wouldn't slip into a coma and die.
Belle woke to the sound of someone pounding on her apartment door.
"BELLE!" It was a male voice. Garrett's voice. What was he doing here, after he had shot her sometime earlier. "BELLE IT'S GARRETT!"
She needed to get out of here before he realized he hadn't completed the job and finished what he started. Her shirt was a bloody mess in the bathroom so she jumped up, taking a quick look at herself in the mirror. She looked like she had decided to slaughter a family of pigs; the blood was caked in her hair. She didn't have time to clean it up as she ran into her room to grab the first shirt she found, grabbed the bloody file Garrett had tossed onto her body, and then flung open the window in her living room. Any moment he would be breaking down that door, probably for show for the neighbors and then he'd realize she was missing. She climbed down the fire escape, fishing her car keys out of her pocket. He had to be in the apartment by now, possibly following her blood trail into the bathroom. She knew the trail would make him think she had crawled in there to die; the amount of blood she had lost would leave him reeling as to how she managed to escape death.
She was in the car in moments, tossing the file onto the seat where she had left her purse and phone, and then sped off. She needed to put some distance between her and Garrett. She grabbed her phone and called Emma.
"Emma Garrett just shot me!" She screamed into the phone.
"What?" Emma responded. "When?"
"I got back to my apartment to grab something and Garrett was waiting for me. Put four bullets in my chest! Claimed he was working for the Glass Family!"
"Where is he now?" Emma asked, not bothering to ask if Belle was okay. This was a moot point, Belle could heal.
"He came back looking for my body and I escaped. Emma, this has something to do with Regina, but I don't know what."
"How do you know?"
"Gold gave me a file on her a while back and when I got there he was holding it in his hand asking what I was doing with it."
"Can you meet me at my place?" Belle made a hard U-turn, heading back in the direction of Emma and Mary Margaret's apartment.
"Be there in five."
Belle found Ruby, Mary Margaret, and Emma all waiting for her, in costume, except Ruby. "Okay...what is going on...?" She took note of Emma's costume, a simple blue spandex suit paired with blue boots.
"We're going to go get Garrett and make him talk," Ruby said.
"I flew by your apartment on my way here," Emma told her, "And Garrett is staking the place out, waiting to see if you're gonna come back. We're gonna send you in as bait."
"You're gonna do what?" Belle raised an eyebrow. "Have I not been shot enough today?"
"He won't get close to you, Emma will shield you. All you have to do is walk up to your building and wait for him to follow you, we'll take care of the rest," Mary Margaret said. Belle nodded.
"What will happen afterwards?"
"I'll wipe his memory, or you can kill him, I really don't care which," Emma shrugged.
"Emma!" Mary Margaret scolded.
"What? He's just going to come back for her. She's never going to be able to live in that apartment again," Emma defended.
"I don't think I would even if he was dead. It's pretty blood soaked."
Ruby grimaced. "Okay, so we'll follow you. Just act natural," Mary Margaret instructed.
"Sure. And where did you learn to fly?" Belle asked.
"Archie Hopper," Emma said.
"Emma!" Ruby chastised.
"What? She's one of us now!"
They headed out, Belle getting back into the car Gold had loaned her. She had a feeling after tonight he wasn't going to want it back. Mary Margaret, Emma, and Ruby gave her the thumbs up, all three piled in Mary Margaret's car. Belle watched in her rear view mirror as Ruby transformed into her signature wolf, and then started the car, prepared to go back to the scene she had desperately fled from moments before. She drove quickly, hoping that he would believe she was stupid enough to come back if she looked nervous and hurried enough. She didn't want him to know about her ability, so when she got out of the car she kept herself doubled over, like she was walking around with the bullets still in her. Garrett had always been under estimating her something that was finally going to be useful.
She stepped into her building and saw him standing inside waiting for her. "How the fuck did you get out?" He asked, pulling his gun out on her again. She took a shaky breath, keeping the pretense up.
"I thought I'd like to offer you another chance, since you're such a bad shot."
He aimed the gun and pulled the trigger, and then all hell broke loose. The bullet slammed into her chest for the fifth time that night and Belle swore at Emma, who was supposed to be keeping that exact thing from happening. The glass behind her shattered and The Trickster stepped in looking blindly furious.
"Oh God," Belle muttered from the floor, pausing when he stepped over her, murder in his eyes. She turned her head and saw Mary Margaret, Emma, and Ruby the wolf coming for her, but it would be too late. "Don't kill him!" She shouted from the floor, but he was beyond hearing her. He lifted a hand and closed his fingers to make a fist as Belle watched horrified. Blood began to pour from Garrett's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, a strangled gargling sound escaping his lips. The Trickster squeezed harder and the blood gushed faster and then he released Garrett, dropping him to the floor. Belle hadn't been able to tear her eyes from the horrifying scene while it played out.
"What did you do?" She shouted. "We needed him!"
The Trickster rounded on her looking deadly. "Needed him?" He had his playful, lilting voice, the voice that haunted the cities nightmares. "He shot you."
"Why do you care?" Emma was there with Mary Margaret and Ruby now. Gold narrowed his eyes and the three wannabe super heroes. These were the girls Belle was entrusting to keep his son with him? They were bungling morons at best, little girls trying to play an adults game.
"I need her," Gold growled, keeping the accent from his voice, "And it is obvious no one but me can keep her alive."
"If you hadn't interfered with my shield she wouldn't have been shot!" Emma shouted at him, prepared to do battle. Mary Margaret was holding Belle's hand as she dug the fifth bullet from her body tonight, trying to ignore Garrett's mangled body lying mere feet from her.
"If you weren't so incompetent I wouldn't have had to," Gold had his mental defenses up high, keeping the little Swan out. She was good, but she didn't have the practice he had. He however, was deep in her mind, watching the events unfold. He heard the conversation the girls had had in her apartment; he could see his bloody, battered, bruised Belle agreeing to go back to Garrett in an attempt to get answers from her; he heard the conversation Mary Margaret shared with her that Belle thought Regina was behind all of this.
It had been a feeling that had sent him out that night. A feeling that something was wrong, that he should check on Belle. He had called her several times, each ringing and then going to her voice mail. Bae had fallen asleep early and Bernard had come back that evening, ahead of schedule, leaving Gold able to track down his missing girlfriend. He donned the costume in case something serious had befallen her and she needed rescue. A lame business man would be no help to her, even if his lameness was just pretend, but The Trickster could kill anyone who dared to lay a hand on her.
He had been headed to her apartment when he saw the idiot Garrett walk out of the lobby, walk around the building and then head back in, his hand poised on his gun. Moments later his black BMW, trailed by what looked like a Volvo pull up, and all his worst nightmares had come to life. Belle was double over, covered in blood, and heading back into her apartment, into the waiting arms of Garrett's gun. That was unacceptable. He hadn't realized Emma Swan was trying to shield her when he busted in, moments too late to prevent the bullet from penetrating her skin or he might have held back on killing Garrett.
He regretted killing Garrett the way he had in front of her, but she needed to see that he was a monster, and he wanted to punish Garrett in a gruesome way. Melting Garrett's brain had given him an extreme amount of pleasure and was almost worth the horrified look on Belle's face.
"Please don't fight," Belle ground out, her fingers knuckle deep in her chest, "Garrett's death was unfortunate, but Emma you were just saying I could kill him if I wanted. Now he's dead. We're exactly where we started."
"Actually, we're a little closer," Emma said, choosing to ignore the Trickster for the moment. "He was thinking about Regina before he died. That she was going to kill him when she realized you were still alive."
"Regina ordered my hit?" Belle asked, dropping the small ball of metal in Mary Margaret's hand.
"I know, it doesn't make sense."
Belle looked up at Gold, her mind in overdrive. "Garrett said he worked for the Glass Family. What if Regina does to? What if she's a higher up, someone who could order a hit?"
"What if she's the boss?" Mary Margaret asked. "It would make sense. Regina has always been Mayor; no one has ever run against her and won."
"And all those people we replaced when we were hired..." Emma said thoughtfully. "How mad she was when I became Sheriff...because I wasn't reporting to her."
"We need to keep this to ourselves while we work on this theory. Shooting me is fine," Belle stood up, her torso completely exposed, "Because I'm not entirely sure I can die, but if she shot you guys we'd be in trouble. She can't know anything is up."
"Do you think he reported back to her about Belle having that file?" Emma asked.
"Let's assume no. We'll all lay low this weekend, digging up anything we can find that I can take to court with me on Monday. Deal?"
"Deal," Mary Margaret and Emma said in unison. Ruby snuffed her agreement, unwilling to shift and allow the Trickster to see her true form.
"Where are you going to stay?" Mary Margaret asked Belle, knowing she couldn't stay in her own apartment.
"I'll stay with Rush," she said, her eyes flickering over to the Trickster. "He's been begging me to stay with him anyway. I'm just going to go up and pack a few things."
"Want me to go with you?" Emma asked.
"Nah. You three get home, I'll be fine. I'll call you the minute I step foot into Rush's home."
"You better."
The Trickster was pretending not to pay any attention to the four of them as he gathered up Garrett's body. He planned to dispose of it in the East River before anyone could find it here. Let it wash up in a few days, give Regina a good scare. She'd recognize his handiwork.
"Ladies," he mock bowed, holding the mutilated corpse bridal style. All four of them flinched at the display, and then he was off, walking through the shattered glass.
"He is so, so creepy," Emma said in disgust.
Belle nodded, not bothering to mention she happened to be sleeping with that man and then headed up into her apartment. She would never be able to explain this mess to the landlord. She stepped over the bloody trail of carpet and grabbed a giant suitcase, packing up all of her clothing and other things she would need, like shoes, hair things, and books. In another suitcase she laid out her dresses and jewelry along with her suits. She would come back for the rest later and put in storage and then work on finding a new apartment, assuming Gold ever let her out of his sight again, which seemed unlikely.
The drive to his house was long and quiet. She didn't turn the radio on and left her phone in the passenger seat. Bernard was waiting for her in the driveway when she pulled up.
"Miss French, how are you feeling?" He asked, smiling.
"I've had better days," she said honestly, knowing she was still coated in blood.
"Still as lovely as ever," he complimented. She pulled her bags out of the car along with the file and her phone, glad she had thought to throw a t-shirt on before heading to Gold's home.
"I can bring your bags in for you," he offered but she shook her head.
"That's really not necessary."
"As you wish." He took the keys from her to park the car and she headed inside, depositing her bags into Gold's room. She fished out a pair of silky, small blue shorts and a blank tank top to wear and then headed into the bathroom connected to his room. She found a fluffy beige towel in a closet in the room and set it, along with her clothes, onto the toilet seat and then turned on the water. He had a marble tub and in any other circumstances she would want to try it out, but she did not want to sit in warm water filled with her blood and sweat.
The shower was large, surrounded on three sides by glass. She ran back out to grab her shower things and then turned on the hot water, grateful the shower head detached. It would make getting the blood off easier.
She stayed in the shower longer than she intended, relaxing under the water, picking the knots out of her hair, and watching the water that pooled around the drain until it went from red, to pink, to finally clear. She wondered if he would ever run out of hot water, but somehow doubted it.
She did eventually get out, drying off with his fluffy towel and then getting into her bed clothes. She ran a brush through her hair, working out the remaining tangles and then took a look at herself in the mirror. She looked tired, but otherwise her skin seemed flawless, no trace of any bruising or residual bleeding. Her chest was smooth, no trace of the bullets that had penetrated it earlier. Still, she felt like she had been run over by a train, and was ready to fall into a deep sleep. She had more work to do in the morning if she wanted to bust Regina wide open and save Bae from more time in the orphanage.
She walked into Gold's room and found him waiting for her in bed, his expression unreadable. She tugged on the hem of her tank top, for some reason a little insecure, and climbed in next to him. He didn't say anything, but he pulled the covers back for her and gathered her up in his arms, pulling her against his chest.
"Are you mad at me?" She asked finally, after long moments of silence.
"No."
"Do you promise?"
He hesitated. "You just scared me."
"I'm sorry. None of that was what I intended."
"I know."
"What...what, um, did you do with Garrett?"
"I left him somewhere for Regina to find."
"Where?"
"The East River."
Belle grimaced. She had loved that man once, and the idea of him on the bottom of the river disturbed her a little. At least until she remembered him firing five shots at her.
"Oh."
"I hope the bags mean you plan on staying," he scooted down after he turned off the lamp so they were both lying down.
"At least until this is all over," she agreed. "Also, I kind of made a mess of your car."
"It's no matter," he brushed it off. "What matters is you're safe."
"I'm sorry you had to come looking for me. After he shot me, and I got the bullets out, I kind of fell asleep," she admitted, burrowing her head into the crook of his arm. He rested his cheek on her head.
"As I said. All that matters is that you are safe." His tone was calm but he clenched his jaw angrily. He was trying to shield her from his rage and desperation at the evenings events.
She leaned up and kissed him. "I am going to fix this."
"I don't doubt that for a moment."
They fell into a quiet silence and he remained awake long after she was asleep. She was safer here with him than anywhere in the world, he mused. He felt like the luckiest man at that moment to have the woman he loved but didn't deserve sleeping peacefully in his arms, vowing to do whatever it took to keep him with the son she had returned to him.
Someday, when he was less of a coward, he was going to tell her exactly what she meant to him. He was ready to admit to himself what Bernard had known all along. He was in love with her.
