Leather & Lace

Chapter Fourteen

About an hour passed while Killian continued to search through all the books based on the Arthurian legends with the villainess impersonating Belle for any way to discover who she might be. Even though he was worried this witch would attack him at any moment because she knew he was seeking a way to discover her true identity and to defeat her, he kept himself calm and continued to pretend he wasn't on to her despite that inside his blood was boiling at having to curtail his anger. He knew he couldn't defeat her without help and that he would only get himself in worse trouble if he tried.

Thankfully, Morgan Le Fay kept up with her charade, seeming to remain unaware that Killian suspected anything. It surprised him for sure, but then it gave him a little hope that she might not be as powerful as he initially thought. Unfortunately, the longer they both kept up their pretenses while they studied the books, Killian found nothing on any kind of witch or sorceress that fit what little he knew of her and his gut feeling led him to believe that she was somehow concealing the information he sought.

"There's nothing here," he finally stated dejectedly, slamming the book he was keeping open by the brace over his left arm closed with his hand, then tossed it on top of the smallest pile on the floor in front of him while he let out a frustrated grown. "I'm not sure what I was expecting. I am grateful for your help, Belle. But this isn't getting me anywhere and I should probably get going before our friends think to look for me here, then have me thrown in jail. If you think of anything…"

"If I think of anything, I will find a way to get in touch with you," the Sorceress finished for him. "Do you have a cell phone? Or I'm guessing that you probably don't. And what about later tonight? Seeing as you can't rent a room from Granny's, or sleep aboard the ship you said you had that isn't here any longer, where do you plan on staying?"

He cautiously opened the library's front door to make sure the way was clear for him to leave, then looked back at the woman behind him as he answered, "I've slept many nights under the stars without a bed or a home over my head. I'll do so now somewhere where hopefully no one will think to look for me. We'll talk soon, love. Take care."

With that said, Killian slipped out and walked down the street as Morgana watched him until he disappeared around the corner, then she smiled smugly before finally leaving herself still in her disguise as the young beauty. Archie was out walking with Pongo as she passed the doctor down the street and he kept her detained for a few minutes while he talked with her about getting together later for dinner along with Marco, the woodcarver's son August, and the Blue Fairy. To avoid making any excuses, Morgana simply said yes, then quickly dismissed herself before continuing on down the street towards Gold's shop before ducking between it and the building beside it to enter inside through the back.

As she did so, she walked through the room and then stood over the bed where the real Belle was lying as if asleep, wearing a glowing black crystal necklace around her neck that matched another crystal broken from the same rock which Morgan Le Fay wore around her own neck.

Morgana pulled off her own necklace and she transformed back into herself, then she spoke coldly to the younger woman even though Belle wasn't able to hear her saying, "I am sorry you had to be the one I used to make sure the pirate won't succeed. He appears to trust your advice above most everyone else's. I saw as much on the beach this morning and so unfortunately, you get to be the casualty that will convince them he is the only threat to this town. Soon the other heroes will find your body and they'll see him as a madman and not the fictitious villain they believe he's made up inside his head. Hook will eventually become locked away among the rest of the villains down in the mad house by those he believed to be his friends like a part of him fears, or even killed himself. Personally, I much prefer the latter. I'm afraid I have to go now. I have a few things to do while still pretending to be you. Like making sure he won't be able to prove he isn't responsible."

When she finished speaking her piece, the Sorceress returned the crystal around her neck again and then left the pawnshop once more. Little did Morgana know that she hadn't been alone when she had spoken to the beauty, as Killian had hidden upon rounding the corner in order to keep himself out of sight after leaving the library, then he followed after the villainess in hope of trying to learn something more about her.

Once she entered Gold's shop, Killian made sure no one else was around on the streets and broke in through the front door, being careful not to ring the bells above the door that usually alerted the shopkeeper's attention when people entered, that he hoped wouldn't alert the witch to his entry now as he carefully opened it just enough to slip in so as to not give himself away to be caught. Thankfully the bells didn't chime and he was able to enter in silence, then hid again where he could watch Morgana just enough through the curtain, yet where he wouldn't be caught.

After the villain left, Killian rushed to Belle's side and gently stroked her cheek to try to awaken her. Unfortunately, it was no use. He looked for the cause of her state and discovered the identical crystal he had seen Morgana pull from around her own neck, then started to reach down to remove it until it dawned on him that trying to remove it himself might have unforeseen consequences for the woman who had become such a close friend to him when she should have hated him for the terrible things he ever did to her while still a villain in order to make his oldest enemy suffer, as the Dark One had done to him.

So instead, he carefully leaned down to lift Belle into his arms and carried her out, then without a second thought, he decided to bring her to Regina's office where he hoped Emma, the Queen, and the rest of the heroes were gathered so they could help her. However, Killian didn't get further than past a few buildings down the street when he was suddenly stopped dead in his tracks upon hearing a voice belonging to Robin from behind him as the archer ordered him to freeze and turn around. Killian obeyed knowing his friend well enough to trust there was an arrow tethered in his bow and aimed straight at his back.

"Robin… I'm sure you must think I'm the one who has hurt Belle," Hook said firmly with sadness in his eyes as he slowly turned around to face his friend who had been killed because of unforeseen consequences from the others coming down into the Underworld to try to save him, and saw John standing beside him with his crossbow in hand as well. "But I promise you, I didn't. I found her unconscious. She's somehow been manipulated by the crystal around her neck, so that the villain who is responsible can make herself appear as Belle."

"This villain you can't describe because you can't remember the attack?" Robin questioned skeptically. "Slowly and gently lay Belle down on the ground, then raise your hands… hand and arms."

Killian slowly did as the archer asked of him while he replied, "I assure you, I was bringing her to Emma and Regina in hope that they'll be able to help her. Then I planned to turn myself in. A gesture of goodwill to ty to show you all I mean no harm."

The leader of the band of merry men lowered his bow, then walked over to apprehend the pirate while he motioned for John to carry Belle for him and responded, "If that's true, then you will have no problem with me bringing you to them instead. I would like to believe you, but things aren't looking so good for you. You shouldn't have run to begin with."

"I only ran because I needed to try to find proof of my innocence before everyone in this town could get the chance to judge me as the monster the rest of you already see me as," Hook answered curtly, but allowed Robin to cuff his wrist, then attach the other end to his own since he couldn't place the second cuff over the brace Killian still wore. "Anything else I've to say, I'll wait to say in front of the others as well. I would hate to have to try to explain what's going on with me twice. Or more."

"Fair enough," the archer replied as he pushed Killian forward to start walking, then quickly looked back at John standing a few feet behind him with Belle now safely in his arms to make sure his friend was following.

A few minutes later, Robin brought Killian to Regina's office, having texted Regina to gather the others together so they could meet them where Killian suspected they might already be. When they walked into the room, the Mayor was already there, along with David and Mary Margaret. Emma walked in behind Killian and the woodsmen, stepping around them as she walked over to join Regina in front of her desk while completely ignoring Killian's gaze. Blue was the last one to join the gathering as David rushed over to John in order to take Belle from his arms and then laid her gently down on the couch so Regina could try to figure out what was wrong with her.

She quickly joined David as she knelt beside him on the floor in front of the unconscious woman, then turned to Robin and Hook and saw the handcuffs locked to one of each of their wrists as she asked, "What the hell happened? Did you do this to her, pirate?"

Killian closed his eyes as he let out a quiet sigh in frustration, then looked between all those in the room and despondently responded, "No. I didn't hurt her. I never would, but let's forget about me for the moment… you won't believe anything I have to say anyways. So, let's just get back to Belle. That strange crystal around her neck, it's somehow keeping the real villain's power over her and possibly keeping her unconscious. I didn't remove it just in case it might cause more harm to her than good. I was on my way here to get her to you so you could help her. That's all."

"You're still sticking by your story about not being the threat around here?" Emma asked him curtly while Regina reached out to carefully pick up the crystal Killian spoke about without pulling it from around Belle's neck so she could examine it.

"You know, I hate to say it, but I'm starting to think Hook might be right about there being another villain in town," Regina answered with surprise in her voice as she waved her hand over the stone to try to get a reading on it, while Blue then took David's place beside the Queen to help her. "I've seen crystals like this before, though they're rare. I've never had the chance to study them before. All I know for sure right now, is that the pirate couldn't have tapped into its power. Only someone with dark magic can."

Blue examined it as well and then replied, "Regina's right. We are dealing with someone else too and with another piece of this crystal, she could be disguised as anyone of us."

Emma scoffed, but Mary Margaret spoke up before she could speak out saying, "So… if you remove the crystal from Belle and shut it down, will that mean the imposter will reappear in his or her own likeness? Will Belle be alright?"

"She'll be fine once we turn off this power source," Regina responded as she turned her head to look over at her stepdaughter, then turned to Emma. "I just need to figure out how. It shouldn't be too long. Then we can speak with Belle about what she might remember about her attack."

"Great… so does this mean I'm free to go, or that you'll at least release me?" Killian questioned sternly as he raised his arm to bring everyone's attention back to the handcuffs.

David glared at the stranger as he answered coldly, "No. You're going to be locked up in our jail for awhile."

Hook retorted, "Regina just confirmed I'm no longer a threat, so why must I continue to suffer your contempt and be forced to remain being treated like a criminal?"

"I said that we now know there's another danger here somewhere," the Queen snidely replied as she turned her head to look up at the pirate Captain, while Robin uncuffed the side locked onto his wrist so he could hand the cuffs off to David. "That doesn't mean you're not still a threat. You could either be working for this other villain, or even for yourself with your own agenda. Maybe David's right about you coming here to free Rumplestiltskin."

"I'm on your side!" Killian cried angrily as he looked between his friends and the woman he loved, then immediately calmed himself down. "What do I have to do to prove myself to you?"

Emma immediately bit back as she stated, "Perhaps you shouldn't have struck one of this town's sheriffs so you could escape. Doing so only made you look guiltier than we already suspected. If you want to prove yourself, you'll begin by cooperating with us and accept whatever punishment we serve you with. Do that, and maybe later we can talk. David will escort you to the station and we'll deal with this other villain ourselves. Do we have and understanding now, Hook?"

Killian looked at his wife again sadly and then responded, "Aye, love. As you wish."

He continued to stare at her until David pulled him around to guide Killian out of the room while the others remained behind with Belle as Regina and Blue carefully used their magic to make sure the crystal was no longer deemed a threat to their friend, then pulled it from around her neck in hope of awaking her. Thankfully, their care worked as Belle slowly began to come to.