Chapter 10
"No way!" Ruby exclaimed disbelievingly and pushed her Strawberry Daiquiri forcefully down on the table.
It was Friday night and Belle, Ruby and Mary-Margaret had met in "The 7 Mirrors", the local cocktail-bar in town, enjoying their monthly girls' night.
"Shhh!" Mary-Margaret whispered heatedly, shooting worried glances at the few people who were staring at them.
"I mean seriously, Mary-Margaret." Ruby continued, lowering her voice a little bit. "Ashley Bold? This sweet, little, innocent thing? A little bit dumb if you ask me, but violent? Certainly not!"
She stared at her friend with cocked brows, the disbelief plainly written across her face.
"But it's true!" Mary-Margaret insisted in a hushed voice.
"It is." Belle chimed in, sipping at her glass of white wine. "Graham stopped by yesterday and told me about it."
Ruby shook her head, taking another sip of her drink.
"Come on girls." she finally sighed. "Does Ashley really have that in her? Knocking out Mr. Gold? I mean… I have thought about it myself more than once. But even I am too afraid of him. And Ashley seems to be rather the… well… inoffensive type of person. Why should she do such a thing?"
Belle and Mary-Margaret exchanged knowing looks, but before either of them was able to answer, another did.
"Apparently, she sold her unborn baby to Gold and regretted her decision." Emma responded, taking the seat next to Belle.
"Oh, there she is!" Ruby exclaimed cheerfully and raised her glass. "I'd say our new deputy is going to buy the next round?"
Emma rolled her eyes and pointed at the glass of water in front of her.
"Sorry, girls." she replied with a smile. "I'm afraid I'll have to do the night shift. Graham says he's busy tonight."
"Oh I bet he is." Ruby muttered, and earned a disapproving look from Belle that made her shut her mouth in an instant.
"Anyway…" Mary-Margaret exclaimed cheerfully, a lousy attempt to try to cover up the conversation about Graham's questionable night activities. "… What did you mean by 'sold her unborn child to Gold'?"
Emma let out a long, exhausted sigh.
"Well, as it seems, Ashley made some kind of deal with Mr. Gold. She thought she would be too young to care for her baby, and Mr. Gold offered to… buy… the baby."
"Evil bastard!" Ruby shouted, earning some more glances from the people around them.
"I can't believe that." Mary-Margaret muttered. "What would Gold want with a baby?"
Emma just shrugged her shoulders.
"I really have to idea." she said and rubbed her forehead with one hand. "But whatever it was, Ashley didn't seem to like their deal anymore. She broke into Mr. Gold's shop and wanted to destroy their contract. Well, unfortunately, Mr. Gold was there, too. So she attacked him with pepper spray. She didn't find the contract, though."
She made a dramatic pause, meeting Ruby's excited gaze. Apparently, the young waitress was the only one who had no idea about what had happened only few days ago.
"What happened then?" Ruby asked, her hands firmly tightened around her Daiquiri.
"It's a really long story, Ruby." Emma sighed and gazed at her watch. "But long story short: Ashley chose to break the deal with Gold – and no court in the world would take a newborn away from its mother. And I could convince Gold to destroy the contract. He's no longer going after Ashley's baby."
For the first time, Belle lifted her head and stared at Emma with furrowed brow.
"You did?" she asked, the surprise sounding heavy in her voice. "How did you do that?"
Emma let out another sigh as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Well, Mr. Gold seems to have a thing for deals." she answered, tracing the rim of her glass. "He said he would let Ashley have the baby, if I were willing to give him a favor, in the future."
"Oh please don't tell me that you agreed…?" Ruby sighed and covered her eyes with both hands, already assuming the answer.
"Of course I did." Emma confirmed. "Everything's fine. Don't worry."
"But he could ask you anything Emma. You don't know him the way we do."
"Well not anything I guess." Belle tossed in.
All three heads turned to look at her, each face showing a hint of confusion.
"Oh honey, not that again." Ruby sighed. "I know you want to see the good in this old bastard. But honestly… the man just tried to buy a baby…? His heart is nothing but dark."
Belle just shrugged her shoulders as she emptied her glass of white wine in one quick gulp.
"This was pretty strange, I admit." she finally said. "But I'm sure that there was more to it than we know. As Mary-Margaret said, what would he have done with a baby? That just doesn't make any sense. I don't think he's as evil as you think he is."
Mary-Margaret reached out one hand and patted Belle's arm affectionately.
"Maybe it's the best if you really believe in the light in his heart, Belle. After all, you are going to work for him, aren't you?"
Belle bit her lower lip, casting her eyes downwards.
"Well, to be honest, I have no idea if the offer still stands." she sighed. "Mr. Gold told me last week that he would call to discuss the conditions of our contract sometime this week. But I haven't received anything yet. Maybe he changed his mind because of what happened last week at the Masquerade Ball."
"To be honest, Belle." Ruby said cautiously. "I still don't think it's a good idea if you worked for him. I don't trust him."
Belle rolled her eyes, shaking her head vehemently.
"Oh you just sound like Killian."
"Well then maybe Killian is right." Ruby protested immediately.
Belle raised her brows in surprise. Never had she heard Ruby having the same opinion like Killian.
"It's been decided, Ruby." she finally said exasperatedly. "I will work for him to help my father. And I'm pretty sure that I won't be doing much more than dusting some old books. That's all. And I don't want to talk about it anymore. As it seems, Gold has withdrawn his offer anyways. So no need to worry."
The other girl's exchanged knowing looks, but none of them said another word about the topic. They had been at the masquerade ball, they had seen the way Gold had danced with Belle, the way he had looked at her. And silently, they had agreed on never letting Belle near this man again. Everybody knew how dangerous he was, how relentless and unforgiving. But they also had to admit that he strangely behaved differently when Belle was around. He somehow seemed more human, more caring, and more vulnerable when she was with him. But Belle's true heart and her ability to see the best in everyone was dangerous, too. They knew that Gold could also be a deadly spider, luring Belle into his awaiting web, and destroying her in a split of a second – especially when he finally noticed that she wouldn't return his feelings.
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The girls stayed at the bar for quite a long time, laughing a lot and enjoying their girls' night out to the fullest. After two more hours of drinking and some dancing, Ruby was in the middle of a pretty hot flirt with a tall, dark-haired guy called Naveen, drowning one shot after another.
Belle, Mary-Margaret and Emma – at least two of them pretty drunk as well, but not as much as Ruby – giggled heavily as Naveen's companion, a short and rather stocky man called Lawrence, desperately tried to gain Ruby's attention. But without success of course. Ruby was too occupied in throwing lascivious looks at the other man while twisting her long, brown hair around one finger.
Half an hour later, there were only Belle and Emma left sitting on the table, as Mary-Margaret now, too, was in a rather intimate conversation with David, who had appeared only minutes ago. Belle smiled to herself as she saw her friend giggling like a teenager, and blushing beautifully as David whispered something into her ear. Belle knew that it was complicated, she knew that David was officially still with Kathryn… but damn… her friend had never looked more happy than when she was with David. And for the brief flicker of a moment, Belle was absolutely sure that True Love looked exactly like that.
"Alright, then." Emma's voice interrupted her from her deep thoughts. "I think I should be going now."
She grabbed her red leather jacket from the chair and put in on.
"My shift starts in 20 minutes."
Belle's eyes wandered towards Ruby and Mary-Margaret, both perfectly occupied with the men they were talking to – well, in Ruby's case two men – and both absolutely not aware of Belle's or Emma's presence.
"I'm coming with you." Belle finally sighed, grinning at the blond woman. "I think my help's not needed here."
Emma let out a cheerful chuckle as her gaze, too, wandered towards the other two women.
"No, definitely not. But I really wonder if I should lend Ruby my pepper spray. I don't really trust these guys over there."
Belle looped her arm into Emma's as they walked out of the bar.
"Oh don't worry about Ruby." she giggled. "If you ask me, these men should better be careful about Ruby. They have no idea who they are dealing with."
Emma joined in Belle's cheerful chuckle and made her way towards her car.
"I guess you are right." she replied, knowing full well about Ruby's reputation of Storybrooke's maneater.
"You need a ride?" Emma offered, pointing at her car.
Belle offered her a thankful smile, but shook her head determinedly.
"It's alright, I'll walk." she answered, tightening her blue coat around her small form. "It's not far and I think the fresh air will do me some good."
Emma lifted one brow, giving the little brunette an uncertain look.
"You sure?" she said, repeating her offer. "I haven't been here for more than two weeks now, but I'm pretty convinced that Storybrooke can be rather dangerous at night."
Belle just rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, and pulled the other woman into a tight embrace.
"Don't worry, Emma." the young librarian said, noticing how Emma's body tensed for the shortest of moments, before it slowly started to relax. That was something Belle had noted shortly after their first encounter. Emma was not used to friendly hugs, or kisses on the cheek, or any other of those things that were pretty normal to Belle and her friends. Emma was somehow unapproachable, and had a thick wall of aloofness and a strange kind of harshness built up around her. But Belle was determined to break it down. And with every hug, with every friendly touch, Emma's walls seemed to slowly crumble.
"I will be fine." Belle continued as she let go of Emma, her smile still plastered across of face. "And if it calms you a little bit…" Belle reached into the pocket of her cloak and pulled out her pepper spray, presenting it proudly to the other woman. "… I'm always quite able to defend myself."
After some more moments, Emma finally let out a defeated sigh.
"Alright then." she gave in and got into her car. "But give me a call as soon as you'll home. And if you have the feeling that someone is following you, or if you decide not to walk anymore, just give me a call."
Belle let out a cheerful laugh, touched by Emma's concern.
"Yes, mom!" she giggled, giving the blond woman in the yellow car a cheerful wink. "You're really getting used to the role of a mother, aren't you Emma?"
Emma shrugged her shoulders and offered Belle a small smile.
"I guess Henry's a great help."
Belle smiled affectionately at the other woman.
"Yes, I'm sure he is. Now, come on. You're shift is waiting."
Belle had already turned around when she suddenly heard Emma's voice again.
"Belle?" the blond woman called out, making Belle look at her.
"Yes?"
"I was just thinking…" Emma began reluctantly, eying Belle with a strange hint of concern. "Maybe Ruby is right you know?"
Belle cocked her head, not knowing what Emma was hinting at.
"About Gold I mean." Emma added hastily. "I might not know him as good as others do. But I think he's a dangerous man. Just…" she hesitated for a moment, biting something inside her mouth. "Just be careful, alright?"
Belle stared at her for a moment, but then nodded her agreement.
"As I said…" Belle replied with a small smile. "… There's no need. But I will. Thank you Emma."
Emma gave her a short not, apparently feeling a little bit unsure about expressing so many feelings and concern, but then started the engine of her yellow beetle, waved her goodbye to Belle, and drove up the street towards the police station.
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Belle followed the car with her gaze until it finally disappeared in the darkness of the night.
She really appreciated her friends' concern about Gold's job offer. And to be honest, as Graham had told her about the story of Ashley and Mr. Gold, she had been absolutely shocked herself. It had been the first time that she had truly doubted his character – at least for one short moment. She knew that there was light in his heart, knew from to bottom of her own heart that he was not as evil as most of Storybrooke might believe. But attempting to buy a child from its mother was a horrible thing to do – even to think of. Yes, Ashley had made the deal, out of fear and uncertainty. But every sane man would have agreed to simply destroy the contract after the young woman had finally come back to her senses. And Mr. Gold? He had insisted on something in return – a favor offered by Emma? That really didn't make any sense. Why should he ask Emma for a favor in the future? It almost seemed as if he had planned this all along, as if he never really had wanted the baby, but wanted to have this favor. But why?
Belle shook her head, the thoughts in her mind spinning and whirling mercilessly. That was really none of her business. Ashley was happy, Gold was happy, Belle was happy. End of the story. Why did she even care about what had happened between them, why did she even care about the favor Gold demanded from Emma? There were more urgent things to turn to – such as whether or not Gold was still planning to offer her that job. Belle had to admit that she was a little bit concerned about it. She had definitely expected Gold to call this week – had even waited impatiently for his call. But nothing had happened. Maybe it was because of Killian's and Gold's fight at the ball. Graham had told her that he had heard how Killian and Gold hat shouted at each other, had told her how he had stepped in in the last nick of time before Gold had been able to seriously harm Killian. He had no idea why Gold had suddenly become that angry, but Graham had said that he had never seen such a hate-filled expression on anyone's face before.
Belle let out a heavy sigh. Maybe she should go and talk to Gold on Monday. No matter what that thing between Killian and Gold was, it had nothing to do with her. And she was most definitely not going to be the punching ball between the two of them.
"I'm not a pool, a tree, a slave, a website, or a shirt." a male voice startled her from behind her, making her immediately whirl around, and Belle was suddenly face to face with a rather handsome young man.
"What am I?"
He was giving her a toothy grin, showing a great amount of white teeth that were beautifully reflecting the soft moonlight. But there was something about him, it was his eyes, Belle thought, there was something in them. Something that told her that he might be smiling brightly at her, but that he could also become a dangerous threat within the beat of a second. But at this very moment, he was just smiling at her, his brows raised up in a challenging manner, awaiting her response.
Belle offered him an uncertain smile as she answered: "A book."
The man's eyes widened in surprise, and the already broad grin across his face broadened even further.
"Oh!" he exclaimed cheerfully. "And why's that, Miss?"
Belle couldn't help but let out a soft giggle. Maybe she should be scared of the young man in front of her. Maybe she should be concerned because he was a stranger who addressed her by posing a riddle in the middle of the night. But somehow, Belle couldn't find it in her to be scared.
"Well…" she replied instead, ticking her chin with one finger as if she had to think about the answer. "You're not a pool, but you have a cover. You are not a tree, but you have leaves. You're not a slave, but you're bound. You are not a website, but you have pages, you're not a shirt, but you have sleeves. You, good Sir…" Belle said with a dramatic pause as she pointed one finger at him. "… are a book."
The young man clapped his hands delightedly in front of his chest, beaming at Belle.
"Aaaah, very good, very good!" he said. "You're a clever young lady, aren't you?"
Belle just shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know." she finally said, flashing a modest smile at the young man. "But I'm afraid I already knew the riddle."
But the young man just waved her off.
"Ah, doesn't matter." he said and then bowed lowly in front of her. "Jefferson's the name."
Belle cocked her head, eying the man in front of her closely.
"Jefferson?" she repeated, trying the name on her tongue. "I'm sorry… but have we met before?"
The grin across Jefferson's face hardened a little as he stared back at her, his eyes suddenly containing a mixture of sadness and madness.
"I'm afraid not." he replied politely. "I'm living … well … out of the world, one might say."
Belle tightened the grasp around her coat, the lunatic gleam in his eyes suddenly sending waves of shivers down her spine.
"And what leads you to town?" Belle asked, Emma's alarming voice suddenly sounding heavy in her head.
Jefferson just shrugged his shoulders, offering her a wide grin.
"This and that, you know." He replied nonchalantly. "But in your case, Mrs. Jones, it's a job."
Belle's eyes widened and she slowly took one step away from him. Why the hell was she just always that trusting? He was a stranger for God's sake, someone who had posed a riddle in the middle of the night. Why hadn't she run when she had had the chance?!
Jefferson seemed to sense the fear flooding through her body, and he immediately held up both hands as if to show her that he didn't mean any harm.
"I'm sorry if I've frightened you, Mrs. Jones." he offered reassuringly. "That had never been my intention, really."
"Mr. Gold sends me." he finally sighed as Belle kept staring at him with wide open eyes.
"Mr. Gold?" Belle repeated with a confused expression on her face.
Jefferson nodded and pulled a rolled-up piece of paper out of his cloak.
"Yes." he confirmed with a small smile. "He wanted me to give you that."
Reluctantly, Belle reached out one hand to take the parchment into her hands.
"He says you should read it carefully, but he is sure that the contract will meet all your needs and is more than fair. He awaits your confirmation until Friday next week."
Startled, Belle looked between Jefferson and the contract, suddenly feeling utterly stupid that she had mistaken the young man for a dangerous thief or even worse.
"I'm sorry." she croaked out, feeling grateful for the darkness of the night that hid her furious blush. "I didn't mean to … you know… I thought you were…"
But Jefferson cut her off mid-sentence, offering her an understanding smile.
"It's no matter, Mrs. Jones." he said reassuringly. "I perfectly understand. Some times, some places, some situations can drive you …" he let out a somewhat cheerless laugh. "… mad, you know?"
Belle slightly cocked her head, eying the man in front of her for some more moments. She had the feeling as if he reminded her of someone.
She had already opened her mouth, asking him once again if they had met before, but he was already bowing lowly, saying: "Until next time, Mrs. Jones.", and in the blink of an eye, he vanished into the thickness of the night.
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Jefferson watched from the dark alley as Belle made her way back home. He had promised Gold – no, not Gold: Rumpelstiltskin – to follow her until she had safely entered her house. Back in the arms of the pirate, Jefferson knew that.
Jefferson knew everything.
That was his curse.
His private, unrelenting, lasting curse.
Jefferson pulled out the silver mobile Gold had given him from out of his pocket. It was a strange world, wasn't it? A world without magic, but with machines that were full of magic. A crazy world. How fitting, he thought, laughing cheerlessly to himself.
He brought the phone up to his ear, dialing blindly the number Gold had given him. He knew the number, remembered it. Because that's what he did.
Remember.
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"She does have the contract." he said lowly when the other man finally picked up his phone.
"No. She was a little bit confused and a little bit drunk…
… But she solved my riddle, she's still the witty little rabbit isn't she …
… Not yet, but she's close. The pirate's already waiting for her …
… No need to become angry, Dark One …
… I fulfilled my end of the deal, it's your turn now…
… the new girl? Yes, she was with Belle when I waited outside the bar…
… yes, yes, she's the key? How …
… I see, so she just needs to believe? Then why don't you make her?! …
… You can't, or you don't want to? …
… I don't believe you, I've waited too long. I can't stand this anymore. If you won't, I will."
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And with those words, Jefferson ended the call – a plan already forming in his mind.
"Emma Swan…" he whispered to himself as he watched how Belle fumbled with her key and finally opened the door of her house. "… You will believe in magic. You will end my torture. No matter the cost."
And a lunatic smile crossed the Mad Hatter's face as he turned around, whistling a cheerful song and disappearing into the night.
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NOTES
Yes, I really did it! Two chapters in one day! I somehow really coudln't stop writing, and I really wanted to push this story forwad.
And yes, I desperately wanted to add Jefferson to the story, I truly enjoyed writing his part, and I do hope you liked the way I chose to introduce him ;)
So, as you see, I'm trying to stick to what happened in season 1 as good as possible, but it might be not exactly what happened on the show. But pretty close - making it Belle-centric is leaving much space of interpretation ;)
Have a great weekend and let me know what you think :)
J