It took her a moment after Emma left to interpret everything that had happened and all that had been said. She wasn't used to being treated harshly by Emma Swan and especially Snow White. But after Emma left and her mother remained, she realized that Rumple's comment about being held prisoner wasn't far off. Snow was their guard. And she might not have been that imposing but Emma with all her magic could be. They could leave, but she was certain that the moment they did Snow would call Emma who was with Gideon and finding out his mother was on the lose and potentially coming to find him would hardly help matters.
It was not a pleasant afternoon. After Snow ordered food from Granny's insisting it be delivered to the library the three of them went there. Despite the fact that the books she needed were in the back room of the pawn shop, she didn't take them. It was important she not risk Snow finding out about Mother Superior and she knew how Rumple felt about the possibility of those books being read by others. She'd crafted a lie and now they had to follow through with it. It was the safest thing they could do, if not the smartest.
"Where's Rapunzel?" Snow inquired when they arrived at the empty library.
She looked around as she headed for the back room with her keys ready. "Not here," she snapped, wishing so desperately that she was because she was certain even Rumple would agree they could use a little help at this point. But instead of missing her or elaborating she let Rumple and Snow into her precious back room of magic.
"I don't think we need much from here, probably the history books will be more helpful, but I think these might have something…you can get started on these while we go collect the others!" she snapped. For some reason, she just couldn't bring herself even to try and be friendly to the woman who she had once shared cherished secrets. Snow didn't seem concerned with her attitude but instead took the books back to a table to begin. That would keep her busy for a while. She very purposefully gave Snow a few of the books she knew would mention the Black Fairy sporadically, to help her think she was doing something helpful before she and Rumple went to the history section. They exchanged glances as she began pulling books off the shelf and adding them to the cart.
"I'm sorry I lied," she finally managed to whisper. "I just figured that with the Blue Fairy-"
"It was necessary," he sighed. "It won't mean much coming from me, but it was the right thing to do."
"It feels wrong."
He took the books from her arms. "Perhaps we'll leave the falsehoods to me from now on, then."
The three of them sat at one of the reading tables. They ate lunch. They read. But what they discovered was not really anything worth noting. Her plan had worked, Snow, who had never worked with her much on research was finding enough mentions of the Black Fairy in her books that she believed they were making progress, but she and Rumple knew otherwise. Other than a rouse to keep her out of the back room of the shop, this was going nowhere.
And the watching. Snow was aware of everything they were doing. When she got up to use the bathroom, when she went for books, when Rumple cleared his throat, even when she'd gone upstairs to put a kettle on for tea. She was in a foul mood, and completely serious about the task Emma had set before her. It made her feel as though someone was hanging on her back, looking over her shoulder, watching her every move. As each hour passed it became less and less tolerable.
Rumple wanted to talk to her. She could see that he did, but he didn't dare with Snow in the room. The more he glanced at her the more she wondered why he simply didn't freeze her, even for a few seconds, just so they could have a break. That was why when the wound of ringing filled the air she glanced not at Snow White but Rumple, wondering if he saw the potential that she did. He watched as Snow White took the phone from her bag.
"It's Emma," she breathed, turning around and going into the depths of the library to speak with her. As soon as she was out of eyeshot, Rumple rose. She didn't fight him when he grabbed her jacket and hauled her up and away from the table.
"We may only have a few moments before she comes back," he whispered checking over his shoulder as though their time might have already been up. Her eyes automatically scanned the floor to be sure their conversation was still private. Sure enough, she could still hear the mutterings of Snow White on the phone, somewhere in the distance.
"Rumple, what is it?" she hissed.
"I can't sit here pretending to do research while our son is out there alone with Emma. There's no telling what he might do if we're not there to keep him in check."
"Well…if what Emma said is true he went to her for help."
"And how many times have I done the same thing? Gone to someone else on false terms to get what I want?"
She swallowed as she began to shrink from him. It was one thing to hear this coming from Emma and Snow; it was another thing entirely to hear it coming from Rumple.
"You think he's lying to Emma?"
"I don't know, Belle," he admitted sadly. "But I know that I don't like being trapped here not knowing. I need to go after them."
"Rumple…even if you could get out of here without Snow noticing how would you find Gideon. He's using his magic to hide from us, and now that you've given him Hrunting there's nothing to set a trap with."
"I don't need to find him, or his magic," Rumple corrected. "He can hide from us all he wants, but we know who he is with. All I need to do is track Miss Swan, find Emma through her magic. She's not hiding from us it should be simple. I can find him, Belle, I promise you I can."
Her breath caught as she realized that he was right. All this time they'd been hoping to find Gideon and wishing that he had something on him, clothes or an object that would make him easier for them to find, an exception to his magic. Here it was! One week later their wish had finally come true…but it wasn't enough.
"And what will you do when you find him?" she hissed. "What then?"
"Watch him, ensure he makes the right choices."
"Talk to him again."
"Only this time it'll be different," he insisted. "We know far more about what he's experienced and what he's planning now than we did then. Talking might just work this time around. Seeing you might help too, after I find him of course."
Seeing her son. He wanted to bring the two of them together! Seeing Gideon would help, she could finally do something good! She was more than ready, she'd been ready the moment he stepped in that door. Now the only question was how to get out that door.
"How do we do that from here?"
From within the depths of his jacket he pulled free the dagger. It had been a long while since she'd seen that dagger up close, probably the last time was when they were in the Underworld together and he'd practically put it up on a pedestal. She felt the familiar sensation of jealousy swim through her as she looked it over. No, she probably shouldn't have been surprised that he'd had it one him, but until this moment she'd all but forgotten about their problems surrounding that dagger. He placed it on the table before both of them.
"I can go, quietly, she'll never hear the door open or close because it won't. But I'll need some help, a distraction, something to keep our babysitter from calling her daughter to tell her I'm gone. Otherwise, Emma might back out of whatever deal she's made with Gideon and if he's being truthful, I don't want to stop him."
She closed her eyes and sighed at his plan.
"And you want me to stay behind and be that distraction…" she breathed. In other words, he wanted her to stay prisoner while he went out once more to find their child! She had no problem with the second part of that; it was the first part that bothered her.
"It could be dangerous, Belle."
"Anything is dangerous in this town, Rumple," she hissed back under her breath. She was so tired of being told she couldn't do something because it was dangerous! "Driving down the streets are dangerous if the wrong people are behind the wheel, but Rumple…I understand. I know you want to keep me safe, so did my father, and my mother, and nearly every other person I've ever known, but you can't swaddle me forever. Eventually you are going to have to let me help you!"
"I agree, and I'm not about to argue against it. There is a middle ground, a medium between what is too dangerous and dangerous enough, but today isn't the day to discover that medium," he whispered looking back over his shoulder. Snow was still on the phone, but it had already been minutes and the other time Emma had called that wasn't more than a few seconds. They were running out of time.
Before her the dagger gleamed on the table and she couldn't deny that she was tempted. It would be so easy. Grab the dagger, demand he take her with him or just send her to where Emma was…but there were so many problems with her plan, problems that he had already sorted out in his own such as how they would keep their escape from Emma and Snow and what would happen if the women discovered they were gone. Snow was already primed to walk into the forest and kill Gideon if she saw him she did not need to give her another excuse to do that or to distrust them. She knew what this would look like if it wasn't handled delicately and when it came to Rumple distracting Snow White…the idea was laughable. She'd see right through him.
And as far as her using the dagger again, it left a sour taste in her mouth. She'd used that thing twice in her memory and neither time had it ended with her being proud of herself of happy about what she'd done. Besides, with no magic of her own, what was she to do out there without him. His plan might not have been flawless in her mind, but it was the best they had.
"Fine, go. Be as quiet. I'll keep Snow distracted for as long as I can."
"Take this," he muttered reaching over the table and grabbing a book he'd been reading.
"What's this?"
"We both know searching for information on the Black Fairy in these books is futile so I've spent my time doing something slightly more productive. It's the information on the Dragon Egg. See what you can learn, use it to find a way to wake the Blue Fairy if you can. I'm going to find him, Belle, I promise. I'll contact you when I do."
She nodded, hoping that she wasn't giving him another perfect opportunity to trick her, then took the dagger and sat back down as he vanished in a puff of smoke.
This was one of those chapters where the most challenging aspect was movement. People move around and show up at times that don't make sense and it really is responsible for a lot of the way this episode translated in the writing. Think about it for a moment. It's, at best, afternoon when Emma and Snow walk into that shop to confront Rumple and Belle. Then, because of how long they are there and when Rumple arrives at the mansion, we know he was not "right on their tail". There was a delay. Almost like the issue between 6x11 and 6x13 except instead of watching an entire season of Westworld, they decided to try a couple of episodes before Belle decided it was too much and Rumple thought to go look for Emma and Gideon. And then there is Belle. Why wasn't she with Rumple? Did she need some time to figure out the timeline in Westworld before she was fit to go after them? And when she finally shows up at the Mansion, Snow is there with her as if they decided to drive together. It was just...a lot of motion. I tried hard to make it so that all that motion in these chapters makes sense.
Big thank yous to Grace5231973, Fox24, Paintbrush123, and Rumbellefan for your reviews. Lots of interesting thoughts and emotions surrounding this episode, the Charmings, and Gideon. I'm interested to see what you'll think of these next few chapters in Belle's head. Oh, and for anyone thinking I created a problem with Gideon in the library tower while the girls are there...just wait, friends! If I've proved anything over the last five years, it should be that I'm pretty detail oriented. Peace and Happy Reading!