This was a complication he really could do without. Between manipulating Regina and maneuvering Snow White, David, and company, and finalizing his Curse, he had enough to keep him quite busy.
But if he was being honest with himself, his one need in his whole life was to have a family. Everyone he ever loved had left him. First a mother he had barely known died. Then his father abandoned him to stay in Neverland. The spinsters who raised him to adulthood died of old age. Milah chose her pirate. And Baelfire… chose a life without magic. Even Cora, whom he could have loved, chose position and prestige over him.
But Belle was different. She accepted that he was a monster and she liked him anyway. But after her fall, their ever fragile truce was strained again. They were back to snipping at or ignoring each other. It was not the most pleasant of ways to start a relationship.
He had a year and a few months before he signed Ella's contract. That was not a lot of time to cajole Belle into his way of thinking. And then 28 years in that Land Without Magic. All the people moved to this new land would have new memories, except for himself and Regina. He could befriend Belle there, perhaps even court her…. Older men courted and married young women barely out of childhood here in the Enchanted Forest all the time. People might find it odd, there, that a man would court a woman half his age. But perhaps, if he played it right, Belle might find it endearing instead of revolting. Then when the Curse broke, he would entice Baelfire into being his son again, convince Belle he loved her, and find a way to make her love him back.
If he was careful, he would have everything he ever desired: the sorcerer's hat to detach himself from the curse of Dark One without dying, the Dark Curse to travel to the Land Without Magic to find Bae, and then he would have his family. He would have his Happy Ending.
The Hat was in Arendelle, and was going to be a challenge to obtain. The Curse needed to be tweaked a bit. It gave Regina had the power to make everyone's lives miserable in that Land; he needed to make sure Belle was protected. Which meant he needed to get it from its hiding place. He sent a message to Ursula the Sea Witch, and Cruella De Vil to meet him at the Forbidden Fortress.
Rumplestiltskin found Belle scrubbing the entrance hall floor. "Remember that book we were reading?" he asked. "The Once and Future King?"
"Yes."
"I've got a trip to make; I'm going to Camelot for a few days, maybe a week. I'll see you when I come back. Don't work too hard," he teased. He teleported himself to the plains outside of Maleficient's home. First to convince the pawns to assist him, then get the Curse, and then on to Camelot.
0-0
Gauntlet and Curse firmly in his possession, Rumplestiltskin returned to his Dark Castle inexplicably happy to be home. He teleported himself to Belle's location in the Great Hall, but remained invisible so he could look upon her with no need for disguise. The first thing he noticed, well really the second thing, as he did first pause to admire the admirable view presented by Belle's backside as she stretched on tiptoe, was that the curtains were shut. After her fall, he had removed the nails holding the remaining curtains in place, and Belle very pointedly drew them open every morning to let the sun shine in. But today they were closed. Did she keep them shut because outside it was cloudy, misty and cold? Or because it was a reminder of him?
Belle was looking at trinkets in the cabinet at the far end, touching a few. Nothing in there was overtly harmful… except for the sword she was now pulling out. Does she even know how to hold a sword? Apparently not as she was cupping the naked blade in one hand. "Don't cut yourself, Dearie!"
"Aah!" she cried as she turned around. "I am so, so sorry. I thought..."
"You thought I would be away for a few more days," he scolded, "And it would be fine to play with my... toys." He stalked towards her to take the sword from her unresisting fingers.
"Well, you did say that..." she stuttered.
"Oh! I lied." Belle's face showed her anger and frustration at being interrupted. Oh, she's adorable when she's angry. Rumplestiltskin turned and walked away from her, "I wanted to see how the mouse would play while the cat was away. And the mouse has done very little... cleaning." He swiped one scaled finger through the dust gathered on the table.
"You just have... You have so many things here from all over the world." She almost whined. "I was curious. And... You never talk about them." Now she was whining.
He placed the sword on the table. "Well, you're the help," he scoffed. And so much more.
Belle stormed up to him unwilling to be reduced, once again, to mere servant status. She shook her finger in his face, "And you're rude."
"Well, I could be much worse," he snapped. He paced back and forth. If he were to describe his actions to others, he would say that he was acting like a wild beast. Approaching and retreating from his prey. Get so close that one could pass that sword through the space between them, but not anything wider. It was an intimidation tactic he had mastered centuries before. But in the recesses of his mind, he knew that this was not the action of a beast stalking his prey; he was more like a moth dancing about her flame.
"Hmm. But you're not. Look," she sat on the table and arranged her skirts. "You have seen the world... Something that I've always wanted to do... Yet you share nothing."
"Mouthy, mouthy. And foolishly brave."
"No, if you were going to kill me, you would have done it long ago." Belle gave him the putdown he so rightly deserved. "Now, tell me what you've seen. How was your trip to Camelot?"
"Good for me. Not so good for Camelot." From a cloud of purple smoke, the gauntlet appeared in his hand. "A souvenir. Clean it for me, will you?"
Belle took it, twisting it about in her hands. "Oh. W-w-what is it?"
"It's a magic gauntlet with a very specific power. It can locate anyone's greatest weakness."
"Hmm. How ominous. B-but why do you need this? W-with all your power, you could destroy any foe."
Haven't we had this conversation already? One can never have too much power. "Look, if you must know, it's about manipulation. And for that, you must find one's weakness. And for almost everyone, that weakness is the thing they love most. This will simply point me in the right direction."
Belle turned the gauntlet over and over in her hands a few times, then placed it on the table. "But you were going to tell me about Camelot."
"I was?"
"Yes, you were," she stated.
"Well, there's not much to tell. There's a castle. It's got tapestries on the walls, treasures on stands and in niches, suits of armor in the halls. It, too, has a master, and a maid. Not much different than what you see here." He sat down at his spinning wheel. "Of course there are differences. The master there doesn't come home from a long journey to a dust covered dining table." He gave a long look at Belle to make sure she was paying attention; she was, but she just smiled at his not so veiled insult. "And when he wishes to change out of his clothing after said journey, there are clean clothes in his wardrobe for him to do so. They certainly aren't wet and jumbled in a basket waiting to be hung to dry."
"It's too cold and damp outside to hang laundry. They won't dry properly."
"They'll dry better than they will in the basket! And when it's tea time," a clock conveniently began to chime the hour, "his maid has his tea ready; she doesn't like to make him wait…."
"All right, all right." Belle hopped down from the table. "I get the hint. I'll go put the kettle on to boil."
0-0
"Rumplestiltskin!" he heard her call out. "Your tea is ready!" He looked up from spinning to see Belle place the tea tray on the table. He walked across the room watching her fill the chipped cup with tea. Always that chipped cup. There was no second cup on the tray; she must not have expected to be invited to join him after his earlier ranting. He sat and pulled his cup towards him enjoying the scent and warmth. "So, I figured it out..." she continued. "Why you collect so many magical objects. You have a hole in your heart."
His hand stilled with the cup in midair. He carefully set it back down, still full. Perceptive of you, Dearie. But too soon for that conversation. "There's only one thing missing from my life right now," he said softly. My son. "Clean clothes." He snapped his fingers and teleported Belle to the wet laundry outside, most still waiting to be hung to dry.
He used a bit of magic so he could hear her talking, grousing more like, to herself. "You're just upset because you know I'm right. And no, I am not talking to myself because I know you can and do listen to me." Blessed silence. He took a comforting sip of his tea. "Hello, puppy." Puppy? There are no dogs here! "Hi. Hi. Ah! Where did you go?" He heard a muffled cry and then nothing.
He couldn't sense her in the castle, or near it. Where the Hell did she go off to? He transported himself to the laundry lines, yelling, "Belle? Belle! Where have you gone?" He looked around the clearing helplessly. She can't have just disappeared! "Don't tell me you've done something stupid like running away!" Great! Now I sound like an idiot! Where is she?!
A raven called out overhead. Rumplestiltskin looked up to see it drop something small and shiny at his head. He quickly stepped back, and the object landed on the grass at his feet. A sand dollar? Who? He picked it up gingerly and waved his hand over it to activate the message. A golden image appeared of Belle, hands tied in front of her. She hasn't looked this scared since those first few weeks in my castle. "Rumplestiltskin, I'm... I'm supposed to ask you for... For that gauntlet from Camelot. Bring it to the base of Demon's Bluff at midnight or... Or I'll be killed. Rumple, help!"
Suddenly scared himself, Rumplestiltskin screamed at the raven still flying above him. Maleficent! "You! I know where you came from! Tell your master I know who she is and she's just crossed a line!"
The next few hours he spent in a daze. He paced up and down the Great Hall, muttering threats against the witch who dared to steal from him. "I'll kill her. I'll cut her up into tiny pieces and feed them to the wolves. I'll pull out her heart and crush it. If she's harmed even one hair on Belle's head I'll… I'll make her death so agonizingly slow, she'll beg me for mercy. I'll hang her over a pot of lye and slowly dip her in it, let the lye eat away at her for days, weeks!" He hurled himself at the cabinet, smashing the glass panes with bare hands until his skin was sliced to ribbons and blood dripped freely. Bolts of magic blasted furniture and treasure alike until the Hall contained more debris than objects d'art. He screamed his anger and frustration into the echoing room. "No one steals from me!" And when he could scream no more, fight no more, he sank to his knees cradling the chipped cup to his chest. Gods, don't let her be hurt, he pleaded silently, rocking back and forth. I love you, Belle, please be safe. I'll get you back and no one will ever hurt you again. I promise. I promise! I'll save you and no one will ever take you from me again.
As the hours passed, his red hot fury cooled down until all the remained was dispassionately cold anger. Shortly before midnight, Rumplestiltskin wiped the remains of tears he didn't remember shedding from his face. He looked at the destruction all around him, cleaned it up with a careless wave. And set off to Demon's Bluff to rescue Belle and kill the witch who kidnapped her.
Someone had conveniently left fires burning on the cliff side. "I have what you want, Dearie," he called out holding the gauntlet aloft. "Now show yourself."
Belle came stumbling out from the rocks. "Rumple! Ow! Help!"
"Yes, Rumplestiltskin!" called out a flock of birds, "Do help her!" They crowded together behind Belle until the coalesced into Maleficent, complete with dragon staff in hand.
"Maleficent. Oh, I am impressed. Didn't think you had it in you."
"I'm not here for your praise," she responded sweetly, "Give me the gauntlet and you can have your wench back."
Too bad it was you who survived the Chernabog. "Seeing as how you asked so nicely..." He threw his fist out with a wave of magic, lifting Maleficent into the air and started to squeeze her throat. Relax, Dearie, this is going to take a while. "You think you can steal from the Dark One and live?" he taunted her. "Fatal mistake, Dearie! Any. Last Words." He loosened his grip on her airway just enough for her to choke out "I'm... Not... Alone."
There was an oozing, slithering noise. And then two tentacles crawled out of the darkness to wrap themselves around Belle: one about her waist, and the other about her throat. I should have just killed her. "The Sea Witch." I guess that means Cruella died.
Ursula sashayed out from the darkness. "Such a pretty thing. Seems a shame I'll have to crack her pipes."
Rumplestiltskin tightened his grip on Maleficent's throat. Stalemate. "Harm one hair on her head, Maleficent burns," he warned.
Cruella stepped out from Ursula's hiding spot. "And Ursula will kill your maid, and where will that leave us?"
"Cruella!" he trilled. How did all three of you survive that creature? At least one of you should be dead! "Thought I caught a whiff of desperation and gin. I must say, I'm... I'm surprised to see you all here. Last time we crossed, it looked like things weren't going your way. And unless you hand back my maid, they won't be this time, either."
"Shall I get you a step stool so you can look in my eyes when you threaten me?" Cruella mocked.
"I don't need to threaten you, Dearie. It took three of you to get this far, and I promise it isn't far enough," he snarled behind clenched teeth. Two I could handle. Kill Maleficent quickly, snap off Ursula's tentacles, free Belle, and then kill the octopus. But three? Whichever I get to first or second, the third one will kill Belle!
Cruella was as coldly cruel as her name implied. "Have it your way. Ursula, darling, crush the maid's heart," she ordered. The Sea Witch gave an indulgent smile and sent her tentacles to tighten, causing Belle to cry out in pain. He clutched the gauntlet tightly, mind racing, trying to find a way to end this where he had both the gauntlet and Belle. But no matter which way he found to kill them all, in the end Belle was dead on the sand. And that was unacceptable. She's worth far more than any glove. He tossed it to Cruella, and watched, relieved, as the tentacles retracted freeing Belle.
I will get that back, he vowed. "That was, uh, a rather risky endeavor for an old glove, Dearies."
Ursula exuded satisfaction. "Oh, the risk was worth it. For too long we've lived in a world where the heroes always win."
"And the gauntlet will reveal our enemies' weaknesses," Cruella caressed the glove in her hand. "And we will be the victors."
Maleficent had had enough. "Let her go," she commanded. A tentacle shoved Belle into Rumplestiltskin, who caught her to him; he held on to her shoulders as she staggered to get her balance. A cloud of purple smoke enveloped the three witches and they disappeared.
"Why... Why would you do that?" Belle stuttered, incredulous. "I... I... I mean, with that object..."
Rumplestiltskin interrupted her. "They still won't be able to harm you." They'll never harm you again. No one will. She was steady on her feet now, but he gripped her shoulders harder in reassurance. But for her or for him, he wasn't quite sure….
"Why do you care about me?" she whispered.
"I…" love you. I love you. His realized his mouth was hanging open like a fish out of water. "Don't," he finished lamely, pushing her away. He could tell she saw straight through his lie. "But if anyone's gonna crush your heart, it's gonna be me." His body was doing that thing again, that annoying feeling of disconnect, floating. He tried to act normal, but it must have looked just as awkward as after her fall because she was giving him an odd look. "Here, let me get rid of these for you." He swished away the bindings on her wrists and rubbed them, healing the cuts and abrasions the ropes had caused.
"Thank you, Rumplestiltskin." Belle whispered looking at his hands caressing hers. Then she looked up into his eyes so he could see the truth of her words: "I don't care for you, either."
He teleported them both to her room in the Dark Castle, the room she had usurped as her own rather than stay in the dungeon. In the process, he changed her clothes into a nightgown. He held the bedcovers open, so she could climb under them. Once she was settled down, he perched on the edge of the bed and took her hand in his. "It's a beautiful castle, all white stone. The turrets shine bright as diamonds in the sun."
"What is?"
"Camelot…."
0-0
Belle had finally fallen fast asleep. Rumplestiltskin cast his spell, protecting her from physical harm. He increased the defensive spells around his castle and land; no one was going to be able to sneak onto his property ever again, not even a dog. And now it was time to get his gauntlet back. If those witches hadn't already used it on their enemies, well, too bad for them.
The fires were still burning on Demon's Bluff. His three nemeses stood together, backs to the edge. "There may come a day when the students surpass the master. But today is not that day." He held out his hand. "I want my gauntlet."
"We made a deal, Rumple," Maleficent reminded him, "And you never go back on a deal."
"No. I paid a ransom," he retorted. "Quite different. Demanding a ransom from the Dark One is not a deal. It's a death wish... And…" he produced the gauntlet; the witches' eyes widened in horror and surprise. "A fool's errand. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
Cruella clutched at her fur. "Whatever you're up to, it'll never work. The game is rigged. The villains never win."
"Why don't you join us?" Ursula voice just stopped shy of begging. "Perhaps we can change the game together."
"You severely underestimate me, Dearie. I always win. And I win alone. I certainly don't need to join you, uh, Queens of Darkness."