LIV
Regina backed away from the bars of the great stone cell, her heart racing and her breath hitching in trepidation as Rumpelstiltskin slithered closer. She could see his power ripple beneath his skin as if it were on display to taunt her. She could see the same in his little wife, his former maid and her former chess piece. If she'd only hidden the little princess better, away from prying eyes and orderlies who knew entirely too much, she would still have Belle to use as her trump card.
Gold would be the one caged once more in the mines and she'd have everything she'd ever wanted within her grasp. Yet, here she was, powerless and at his mercy because she was out of bargaining chips. She still didn't know how it had all fallen apart. The one thing she knew with absolute certainty, the major blow to her precious ego, was it was all his fault. He'd groomed her into what she had become until she had been ready to cast his curse. As soon as she'd fulfilled the purpose he'd made her for, she had been no longer necessary. She should've killed him when she had the opportunity.
Gold paused several feet from the bars and leaned heavily on his cane, his free arm wound around Belle's waist to hold her closely at his side. "Well, dearie, are you ready to negotiate?" he asked Regina, his voice dry, his tone bored. Yes, he was making it clear just how tedious he thought it was having to deal with the queen.
"I don't know, Rumpel. What did you have in mind?" she asked, keeping her tone light so as not to show she was nearly quaking in fear. She was completely at his mercy, not a feeling she enjoyed in the least.
"Miss Swan, would you join us please?" Gold called over his shoulder towards the tunnel entrance. "You see, your majesty, it's not me you have to negotiate with this time, but our lovely savior," he taunted, his lips turning up on one side in a wolfish grin, clearly enjoying himself.
"It doesn't matter what kind of deal I could strike with Emma. You'll never let me out of here for keeping Belle from you." Regina turned her back on the three of them and sat down in the shadows on a fresh pile of straw, leaving them in the cold silence.
Emma raised a brow at Gold and took the vial of shimmering magenta potion from his outstretched hand, taking a hesitant step towards the bars. "Regina, I know you think I'm enjoying this. You think I love having Henry all to myself, being his only mother, spending all my time with him …"
"Of course, you do, Miss Swan. And now you can visit me in my cell on a daily basis and tell me just how much he doesn't need me in his life," Regina snapped angrily. "Thank you, but I'll pass."
Emma bit down on her tongue - hard - and reminded herself she was doing this for her son, for his happiness. It didn't matter how much she loathed the woman she had to share him with. "Drink the potion, Regina. Let us bind your powers and we'll let you out. The same deal we discussed - before you decided to kill me - will still stand."
Regina's brow creased as she regarded Emma in surprise, her dark brown eyes searching her face for any sign of trickery. "You expect me to believe you'll honor an agreement I never intended to keep? You still expect me to share my son with you? Do you take me for a fool?" she asked, rising and planting her hands on her hips in defiance.
Emma narrowed her eyes on Gold and ground her teeth together. "I told you this was never going to work."
"Regina, you're not hurting anyone but Henry. If you truly love him as much as you say you do, you'll drink the potion, so you can be with him," Belle said gently.
She was the last person in the world who should offer comfort to the queen, the same woman who had tried to destroy her relationship with her true love, the same woman who had kept her locked away for three decades, but that was Belle. Her innate goodness wouldn't allow her to keep the woman from her child, even though said child would have to be shared with another. It was one of the many things her husband treasured about his wife. Besides, the damage Regina had caused them was minimal compared to Blue's machinations.
"This is your choice, dear," Gold snapped, growing bored with his former pupil and her drama. "You can either stay down here in this lovely cell, or you let me bind your powers and resume your life … with your child. You have my word, Regina."
And she could see the truth of his words in the set of his jaw and the depths of his eyes. It would be a deal with him as well as with Emma and no matter how easy it might be for Emma to break her word; Gold wouldn't break his. His word was his bond, his deals unbreakable without the direst of consequences.
Regina slipped her hand through the bars and took the potion from Emma. Her fingers closed around the vial, the weight of her choice resting in the palm of her hand. She closed her eyes and conjured Henry's precious face to her mind's eye. He'd love her again if she could be a better person, one not filled with hate and lust for revenge. Could she give up her thirst for vengeance for her son? It would be giving up her lost love as well. How could she give up on her Daniel? It would be easier to tear her own heart out, but she couldn't give Henry up either. It was her choice. She could hold onto her quest for vengeance and remain in the cell or she could embrace a new life for the sake of her child.
She drank the potion down in one swallow, the icy liquid flowing smoothly and easily down her throat and casting her entire body in a faint glow before disappearing altogether. "Did it work?"
Gold snorted. "What do you think, dearie?" He linked his hand with Belle's and together they lifted their other hand to the magical barrier which would open the cell, Gold chanting the spell softly under his breath.
Regina took a hesitant step forward over the threshold of the cell to stand before them. Emma lowered her eyes and gestured to the mouth of the tunnel. "Henry's waiting for you in the main tunnel. He wants to go home with you tonight," she said with a quirk of her lips when Regina beamed happily at her.
She didn't say thank you, but moved swiftly towards the tunnel opening in her haste to reunite with her son. Belle squeezed Emma's hand and smiled. "I know that was hard for you, but you're doing the right thing for Henry. Now he has two mothers to dote on him."
"You think she'll really change for his sake?"
"You did, Miss Swan," Gold smiled softly. "Only time will tell as to whether or not she can as well. She will have to be watched closely, but she could surprise us all."
It's my own fault she is what she is, he thought bitterly.
Belle's answering mental voice swiftly brushed his mind. Stop feeling guilty, Rum. It wasn't your fault alone and I won't have you wallowing in guilt and self-recriminations.
If I hadn't groomed her to cast the curse …
To find our boy …
Belle …
I love you, my beast, my spinner, my love. That will never change, Rumpel. Stay in the light with me, darling.
He nodded and gently squeezed her hand, knowing the night wasn't over by any means. He could feel her love flowing through their bond like a warm caress and he took comfort from it. Later he would lie awake in the wee hours of the morning, Belle nestled safely in his arms, and think about how he could have done things differently. His thoughts and regrets of the past would plague him, and Belle would be there to ease away his fears as only she could, but right now, Emma was watching them closely, her gaze wary and penetrating as she tried to figure out the silent communication between the couple.
Gold turned his scathing glare on Rheul Ghorm and squared his shoulders, trying his best not to let the satisfaction show on his face, utmost pleasure the woman would finally get her comeuppance at his hands. The spell he'd cast on her was different from Regina's. Blue was able to move and see and hear, but he'd robbed her of her voice. She wouldn't be allowed to poison Emma against him until the last moment. And when the truth was finally revealed to their savior, it would be too late and nothing the fairy said would matter. Her pleas would fall on deaf ears and he and Belle would be free.
"Bring her." He turned on his heel, Belle's hand clasped firmly in his, and his cane thumping rhythmically on the dirt covered stones under his feet as he made his way to the tunnel entrance. It was time. At long last, it was time.
*.*.*
Belle leaned wearily against the car as her husband paced back and forth on the pavement before her. They were parked on the side of the road, the sign reading Welcome to Storybrooke and a bright orange stripe on the paved road, marking the town line for all to see. Soon, this would all be behind them and they'd be making plans to cross that line to find their son. Whether he could accept her or not, Belle would always think of Baelfire as hers because he was a part of Rumpel, and she couldn't wait to finally meet him and see him reunited with his father.
Gold was grumbling under his breath as he paced, antsy as he waited for Emma to arrive with Blue.
"Rumpel, please," she beseeched him, holding out her hand to him to draw him to her side. "Emma will be here shortly. She was only going to stop and gather Blue's things to take with them."
"What if she let her escape? What if the other fairies revolted and stole her back? What if …"
His words trailed off as headlights illuminated the road behind them. Two vehicles. He stepped to Belle's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her protectively against his side. Emma stopped her yellow bug on the opposite side of the road - unworried anyone would cross the town line coming into Storybrooke - and got out, opening the door for Blue to do the same.
Charming stopped his truck behind his daughter's car and helped Snow out. They all met in the center of the road, Charming glaring at Gold and Snow looking as if she were about to cry.
"Why do they have to be here?" he asked Belle in a long-suffering tone from the corner of his mouth, not really expecting her to answer.
"Gold, I don't care what you think she's done, she is a part of our world and I think it would be foolhardy to send her out into this world to fend for herself among people she doesn't know and who might harm her for the knowledge she possesses," Charming said, finishing his spiel before pausing to catch his breath.
Gold huffed in offense. "That was rather articulate even for you, dearie. However, the fact remains that she has incurred my wrath and she will be punished for it. Would you rather I kill her? Because that is the only other alternative," he snarled, his dark eyes flashing with menace.
Snow clasped her hands in front of her, her eyes sad and forlorn. "Rumpelstiltskin, please. I beg you to reconsider. No one even knows what will happen if she tries to cross the town line. It could kill her."
Gold shrugged. "If you like, we could test the theory on your husband before we attempt to send her across." Protests erupted all around and he had to bite the inside of his cheek to stop the giggle burbling from his throat. "Enough. Say your goodbyes."
With a wave of his hand, he released the spell keeping Blue silent. But the fairy didn't have words of parting for Snow. Her eyes were locked on Belle, a hint of madness in their depths. She cocked her head to the side as if concentrating on what she wanted to say. He could feel his beloved shift uneasily next to him and press closer into his side. "You are a foolish and stubborn girl, Belle of the Marchlands."
Belle stiffened in affront. "That's Belle of the Dark Castle, as well you know," she hissed. She pressed her hand to her husband's chest to stop him from silencing her once more. Let her speak. In moments, she will be gone. He subsided with a nod.
"I tried to help you, to make you see the mistake you'd made by aligning yourself with evil, but you just wouldn't listen. I showed you every vile offense he'd ever committed and yet you still wouldn't see. Even the pain I inflicted on you didn't seem to faze you. I …"
"What. Pain?" he ground out through clenched teeth, a low growl beginning to rise in his chest as the red haze of fury overtook his vision.
"You didn't tell him," Blue sing-songed in her tiny girlish voice. "You didn't tell him I tried to beat it out of you, did you? A lie of omission is still a lie, little girl."
Charming pushed Snow behind him and backed up several steps. Even he could feel the magic permeate the air as Gold's anger rose, fueled by the fairy's callous words. Belle's eyes widened in alarm. She could sense the darkness encroaching through the bond and could almost hear the beast begin to roar. Her spinner was fighting a losing battle against the Dark One and she could taste fear, hot and acrid on her tongue.
"She didn't tell you," she laughed in the face of the pain spreading across his visage. "She didn't tell you how I whipped her and branded her with runes and flayed the flesh off her back all in the attempt to cleanse her of your evil. But the damage had already been done. You made her immortal and everything I tried to do healed over quickly, giving me another chance each and every day. She wouldn't break. Why wouldn't she break? What magics did you use to bewitch her so thoroughly?" she asked Gold, the maniacal gleam of madness overwhelming in her wide-eyed gaze.
He stared at her, dumbfounded, paralyzed with the rage boiling hot and fetid in his blood. Belle let go of him as magic crackled and sparked at his fingertips, unable to connect with him either verbally or through their bond when he was like this. But it was more than rage cutting him off from her. It was pain. It was fear and hate and a sense of helplessness. The same helplessness he'd felt when he couldn't find her, all hope gone from his world.
Gold turned to face Blue, but Belle ran around and placed herself between them, planting her hands in the center of his chest and pleading with him. "Don't, Rumpel, please. Let her go. Let Emma take her and go."
"She hurt you! She tortured you! All out of some misguided notion that you were evil just because you fell in love with me!" he railed, his voice echoing against the forest on either side of the road. "If Regina hadn't cast the curse, you would still be her prisoner. How can you expect me to let that stand?!"
"Because you're better than her. There's so much good in you. You don't let anyone see it, but there is, Rum. Don't let killing her destroy what is left of your soul. Please," she cried, cupping his face in her hands and pressing her brow to his. "Don't give in to your hate."
She could feel his heart slow and his breathing return to normal as the tension drained out of him under the force of her power over him. If she made it a command, he would have no choice but to obey, but because she loved him so much, she gave him free will to make his own decision and she was thankful he chose wisely. But Rheul Ghorm wouldn't be deterred.
"I'll bet you didn't even tell him about how I broke your wrists trying to remove the cuffs he forced on you. He'll never love you. Evil isn't capable of love …"
Without a conscious thought - which was sure to frighten her when she had time to think about it - Belle summoned her blue light into her right palm and sent it right into the fairy's chest, blasting her back through the air to land in a heap on the other side of the orange line.
In all the time she'd learned magic under Rumpelstiltskin's tutelage she'd never lifted her hand in anger, never purposefully sought to do harm to another. Tears welled in her eyes as she stared down at her hand in horror. She'd done the very thing she'd warned Rumpel against, the thing which terrified her to the very marrow of her bones … she'd let the darkness gain control and she'd hurt someone with her magic.
"Belle, stop. You didn't hurt her, sweetheart," Gold assured her, gathering her shaking form into his arms. "You merely stunned her." He was certain it would devastate her if she'd brought harm to another, even if it was an evil fairy.
Rheul Ghorm groaned as Emma moved hurriedly to her side to help her to her feet. "Are you okay?"
"What happened?"
"Um … what do you remember?" Emma asked, checking her over for injuries. "You seemed to have hit your head pretty hard."
"The last thing I remember was being at the convent packing to leave for my new assignment at St. Rose's in Seattle," Mother Superior said groggily.
Emma shared a dazed look with Gold, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. "Does … uh … does the name Rheul Ghorm mean anything to you, Mother Superior?"
"No, should it?"
Belle worried her lip between her teeth to still her trembling and pressed her face against her husband's shoulder. Emma led the former fairy to the yellow bug parked next to the town line and helped her into the front seat before turning to her parents. "Well, at least we know what happens when you cross the town line. While I take Mother Superior to the bus station, I think it would be a good idea to get the word out for the people to stay the hell away from the line if they want to retain their memories of our realm."
"I think that's an excellent idea," Snow said, overwrought by the events of the evening and the revelations she'd been confronted with. "Oh, and Emma, don't forget I expect you to come to dinner tomorrow night with your father and I … and do bring Jefferson with you, dear."
Emma cringed as she watched her parents climb into the truck and turn to head back into town. A family dinner with her parents and her boyfriend was just not what she needed right now. She waved at Belle and Gold before getting into her own car and leaving Storybrooke behind.
*.*.*
Gold was silent on the drive back to the pink Victorian. Belle did nothing by word or deed to draw his attention away from his dark thoughts. She could only assume they were dark. He'd severed their open link through their bond, closing himself off from her, and to say it made her anxious would not be a great exaggeration. Now that he'd had time to think about it, he had to be angry with her.
She'd kept the details of her imprisonment from him and disregarded the vow she'd made to him. It was by her own insistence for complete honesty she'd gone against to protect him. Why should he have to know how she'd suffered while the captive of a sadistic fairy? He was just going to blame himself and she didn't want to be responsible for any more regrets which would keep him at his spinning wheel for days at a time while he sought relief in forgetfulness.
Belle reached out and laid her hand atop his where it rested on the armrest between them and he flinched away from her, the muscle twitching in his jaw as he ground his teeth together. She lowered her eyes to her lap and worried her lip, tears springing to her eyes at his rejection. Coldness swept over her and she couldn't help but wonder how she was ever going to fix what she'd broken between them.
He pulled the car into the driveway and opened the door, his haste to be away from her opening a chasm of despair in her chest as she watched him limp towards the house and unlock the door. He had already locked himself in his study when she entered the house and hung up her coat.
Her stomach growled angrily at her when she stepped into the kitchen. She set the tea kettle on the stove to boil water for tea and opened the refrigerator to gather ingredients for sandwiches. It was doubtful she'd be able to coax him into eating something in his present mood, and even though she didn't feel like eating, she had to think of their little one nestled beneath her breaking heart.
The sound of shattering glass reached her ears, causing the sandwich meat to drop to the counter as she whirled in the direction of the study. He was hurting and locked away from her, and there was nothing she could think of to ease his pain. Somehow, the words I'm sorry, just didn't seem to be enough.
Belle sat down to eat the ham and cheese sandwich she'd fixed, the flavorful snack tasting like sawdust in her mouth as she catalogued each and every item shattering behind the locked study door. Her stomach roiled viciously, threatening to expel the food she'd just eaten due to the angst coiling low in her belly. She couldn't let him wallow in his self-pity.
She crossed the hall and knocked softly on the door after several minutes of silence, hoping his temper tantrum had reached its end.
"Rumpel?" she called softly through the door, receiving no answer. "Rumpelstiltskin, please let me in."
"Go to bed, Belle. We'll talk in the morning," he replied, his voice heavily accented, which meant he'd either been drinking, crying or both.
She knew she could unlock the door with a mere flick of her wrist, but she would much prefer him to willingly let her in. The pain so evident in his voice was like a knife to her heart and she wouldn't be able to leave him until they'd resolved this between them. She'd walk through fire for him. She wasn't about to let a misunderstanding drive a wedge between them.
"Rum, please. Please let me in so we can talk about this." Still no answer. "Rumpelstiltskin, I'm not going to continue trying to speak to you through a door. Now either open this door or I will. But either way I'm coming in," she threatened.
The door opened with a violent whoosh and slammed into the wall, forcing a startled gasp from her lips, her hand rising to cover her heart to still its thunderous tempo. The room was dark aside from the light from the fireplace and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the lack of light in the room. It was in a shambles, glass strewn across the floor, knick-knacks and treasures smashed and destroyed. The curtains covering the windows hung on broken rods and pages had been torn from the numerous law books littering the floor. With a flourish of her hand, she set the room to rights, earning a dark scowl from her husband.
He was sitting at his desk, his head propped in his hands, his elbows resting on the wood finish of the desk. He'd removed his jacket and tie, the gold silk lying next to a picture of them on the desk next to a lamp. He looked a wreck, his hair falling over his brow and the tracks of tears leaving a trail over his cheeks. He didn't acknowledge her presence in his domain, keeping his head down. When he did lift it, it was only to toss back the contents of the glass at his elbow, swallowing down the amber liquid.
"Rumpel," she said, her voice barely a whisper as she moved around the desk and laid her hand on his shoulder. "Rum, please look at me," she pleaded when he jerked away from her touch. "Don't shut me out."
"Why?" he asked, his voice breaking on the single word. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Why did you keep this from me, Belle? Why did you think I wouldn't want to know what you'd been through?" he asked, bitterness and pain creeping into his tone. "You're my wife! I deserved to know! My right!"
"I'm sorry. I was trying to protect you."
"Protect me? It's not your place to protect me, Belle," he raged, rising so swiftly to his feet, the desk chair he'd been occupying slamming into the wall behind him. He towered over her, his anger wrapping around her like a vise. "You are mine. Mine to love, mine to cherish, mine. To. Protect!" he snarled through clenched teeth.
The fumes from the scotch he'd consumed assailed her nose and she had to force herself to stand her ground. "And you are mine. This marriage is not one-sided, Rumpelstiltskin. I should be able to protect you in return."
Belle pulled the cardigan from her shoulders and tossed it across his desk, causing him to step back in surprise. She then reached behind her for the zipper at her back, unfastening her dress and letting it slide from her body to pool about her feet, leaving her in only her lacy camisole and panties. She gave him her back, gathering her unbound hair in her hands and pulled it over her shoulder to show him her unblemished skin. "Look. Not a single scar mars my back. No lash marks, no burns, no damage. Touch me, Rum," she said, her tone making it a command he was forced to obey so she could drive her point home.
Gold splayed his hands against the smooth skin covering her shoulder blades and a whimper escaped his lips as he imagined the pain she must have suffered. He took her upper arms in a gentle grip, his brow falling to rest against her shoulder, his tears soaking into the hair at her nape. "I failed you."
"You did not fail me."
"I did, Belle. I failed in my duty to protect you," he wept against her shoulder, his arms slipping around her to rest his hands on her swollen belly. "Who's to say it won't happen again? Only this time I have so much more to lose."
Belle turned in his arms and carded her hand through his hair, her nails scratching lightly against his nape in an effort to soothe him, her other hand kneading his lower back. "You didn't fail me, Rum. You never gave up searching for me. You called in more favors than were necessary in your efforts to find me only to come up against one obstacle after another. It wasn't your fault, love." She tugged at the ends of his hair until he lifted his head from her shoulder and met her gaze. "I love you," she whispered, drawing up on her toes to press her lips to his.
He sighed into her mouth as she deepened the kiss, her tongue darting between his parted lips to stroke his own and she could feel the tension begin to ease from his shoulders. "And I love you, my Belle," he gasped as the breath hitched in his chest, his lips trailing along her jaw and up to her ear to gently nip the lobe, at the same time opening himself to her so she could feel him through their bond. Heat and desire flooded her senses as he did, but most of all she could feel his love for her.
"You forgive me, Rum?" she asked, the pulse point beneath his wandering lips beating frantically.
"There's nothing to forgive. My mistakes in this relationship far outweigh the few you've made. If you could forgive the things I've done …" His voice trailed off as her fingers worked furiously at the buttons on his shirt, her hands finally gaining access to the bare skin of his chest and blanking his mind from everything except the delicious lust she had awakened with her touch.
Belle smiled as she pressed her lips to that spot beneath his ear making him shiver in her arms, feeling the familiar sensation of weightlessness as he transported them to their bedroom in a wisp of violet smoke.
There would be no spinning for him tonight … no self-pity, nor regrets and no recriminations. She'd taught him long ago there was no room in their bed for such things, only their love. Tonight, she would show him just how much she loved him, how much she wanted him and how much she truly needed him. It was past time they got started on their happily ever after and she wouldn't allow it to be put off for another moment.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the update. Love you all so much. Sorry for the absence of smut. Didn't want to delay this chapter trying to get it right. Hope you aren't disappointed too much. Lol. Xoxoxo.
