Sheriff of Nottingham. Dammit. The Seer always delivered. Sometimes he just didn't understand how she delivered until it was right upon him.

There the Sheriff sat, mounted upon his steed as a few other men of the King's guard collected what appeared to be paupers and threw them into the back of a jailhouse wagon. What he knew about the Sheriff was little, he'd only ever seen him in that one vision he'd had of Robin and the one he'd had only a few days ago of beating the gentleman over something that had made him angry enough to kill. But this certainly wasn't that moment. The setting was all wrong, and, if the clothing and metallic "cars" told him anything, he was fairly certain it was bound to happen after the Curse was cast. And yet he had a bad feeling about the Sheriff now. Was it simply a bias the vision had caused in him that formed this dislike he felt as they walked closer and the Sheriff dismounted? Or was it more? He wasn't particularly fond of military men, much less ones that drank as much as he did. He was drunk. He had to be. He'd seen him pull a flask from his saddle a bit ago, but that had merely been a sip. One didn't come to smell the way he did, or act the way he did, from merely a "sip". If he had to wager a bet, he'd guess the flask was nearly empty. He staggered over to the pair of them sniffling in the chilly air with bloodshot eyes that had nothing to do with the cold. He did feel angry at him. No, he didn't like him. But it wasn't enough to want him dead. What was it that would make him despise him so, or want to kill him one day? Something about this incident? He didn't understand, if the Seer's voice was to be believed, then the Sheriff was about to be of some use…

"What are you doing in my woods?!" he called out to them strutting about like some kind of peacock. As if he had something to display…

"Pardon the intrusion Sheriff, ahem…" he cleared his throat, his voice automatically taking on an accent from a previous Dark One who had lived here once upon a time. He stooped his shoulders, hunched his back, and avoided the larger man's eyes, pretending to be far more humble and less intimidating than he actually was. The Sheriff wanted to strut? Fine. He could let him strut so long as it got him answers. "I'm looking for a thief. He attacked me with this bow," he explained pointed at the object which the Sheriff immediately set to inspecting. "I chased him as far as these woods, and then he vanished."

"Yes, I know exactly who you're after, but I also know who you are…Rumpelstiltskin."

Well, if that was the case…

"My reputation precedes me! Excellent!" he stated, standing up tall and dropping the former Dark One's voice for his own. If he already knew who he was there was no point in hiding.

"Yes, as does your penchant…for making deals!"

Now…that he didn't like. It was hard to pinpoint what he didn't like the most. Was it the way that he'd said that, his patronizing tone of voice? Was it the way he mocked him by giving his hands a little flourish like one that he had mastered hundreds of years ago? Or was it his face? That stupid sneer and dark, entertained gleam in his eyes?

Maybe it was all of it.

But did he not like it enough to kill him?

What did it matter to him so long as he got what he wanted in the end? And if the Sheriff needed a little something for the information he had, and he could make a deal from it, then he was always willing to do business; especially when it allowed him to teach a lesson.

"I'll tell you where you can find your thief, if you give me something in return," he clarified drunkenly, as if he hadn't been entirely clear before. He took another drink from that flask of his, and then he waved him closer.

"What do you want?" he asked warmly, like a good Papa asking his boy what he might like in exchange for a pretty penny. The Sheriff would never pick up on it, but treating him like the child he was acting as was plenty entertaining for him.

Until the man's gaze drifted from him, to something over his shoulder.

"A night with your wench," he slurred, looking him in the eye.

Something…or someone?

He'd heard his fair share of unbelievable deals in the past, but this one sent him reeling. For a moment, he wondered if he'd said what he thought he'd said, if he'd heard correctly. But then his hungry, slobbering gaze drifted over his shoulder once more. He wasn't mistaken. A night with his "wench".

He was talking about Belle.

He followed his pitiful gaze over his shoulder and looked timidly for the woman. From the confidence in the Sheriff's, he half expected to find her doing something scandalous, giving him some kind of tempting look that might suggest she wanted his attention. At the same time, he knew immediately that kind of behavior was uncharacteristic for Belle.

Sure enough the moment he laid his own eyes on her he could see that she was pale; paler than usual. He could hear her heart racing as she stepped away, gaping at what she'd heard. Sheltered she might have been, but she knew what he'd been talking about. And she was in no way pleased or asking for it.

He returned his eyes back to the Sheriff and found him still staring at her, practically drooling. They'd both been looking at the same girl, the Sheriff had seen what he'd seen and yet her reaction didn't change his reaction or his desires. Vermin.

"Ah, she's not for sale," he stated quickly. His stomach was already rolling around in his belly, disgusted at the thought, he couldn't imagine what she was feeling. All he knew was that they both wanted to be away and gone from here. It wasn't safe. And suddenly he felt guilty for submitting her to such a request. This "punishment" had been a terrible mistake.

"You can't part with her for say…an hour? Twenty minutes?"

Belle's heart was racing again, he could hear that easily. Her lack of breath told him that she was far more afraid than she'd been with him and she had every right to be.

He was the Dark One, a monster. He'd killed people over stupid things, it was safe to say that his morals were not the straightest and as such there were very few crimes that set him on edge. But this was one of them. Rape, the careless abuse of a female just because they were seen as weaker, an urge to overpower in the darkest of ways; it was foul. The thought of him yanking Belle away from him and carting her off to some tavern for a night, or holding her behind a tree for an hour, even a few minutes, while she screamed and struggled beneath the pig in front of him…it was disgusting. Maybe because he'd had aunts or been married or had women who he counted as friends once upon a time, but he considered it the most unmanly thing he could think of doing. It was cowardly and degrading and suddenly he wanted to make sure that he understood that. When they'd stepped out of that carriage, he hadn't wanted to kill the Sheriff, now he wanted more. He wanted him to feel the humiliation that any woman who found themselves pinned beneath him might have felt-for Belle's sake.

"Let me think…" he joked, putting his hand to his head as if to concentrate. Instead, he called upon his magic and summoned into the palm of his hand the Sheriff's tongue.

It was a perfect punishment. Though he had so desperately wanted to steal another part of his anatomy from him, and was still considering it, his tongue would be so much more fun to watch and made better by the fact that he'd be speechless. If he was so bold as to ask him for Belle in such a way, he was willing to bet there were more women who he'd made feel speechless and powerless in his past. Now it was his turn.

He watched with joy as the Sheriff stared in fear at the black smoke that he saw, then tried to say something, or perhaps scream, and instead gagged. He tried again. His heart began to hammer against his ribs. He could smell fear on the Sheriff as he choked, sputtered and gagged, and all he could bring himself to do for several long seconds was laugh as he enjoyed every bit of it. In fact, he probably let it go on for longer than necessary though he thought that his victims, perhaps even Belle, would have disagreed. After all, he didn't see her racing to stop him. Certainly, his men could see that he was in some kind of distress, but they didn't run to help him.

"I propose a new deal. I give this back to you," he finally stated, holding up the offending muscle for him to observe, "and in return, you tell me everything you know about the man I am hunting. You ought to be more careful with your possessions!" he shouted, shaking the thing carelessly and flagrantly around in front of him. It was precious to him, perhaps he'd take a lesson in seeing something so important used so shamefully, though he was doubtful it would happen in this moment as he turned purple.

"Do you agree to my terms?"

He nodded and grunted. Clearly, willing to do as he said.

"What was that?" he questioned again just for sport.

Again, he grunted and nodded with an undeniable fervor.

"Oh, I'll take that as a yes then," and with another wave of magic, his pushed the tongue back into his mouth. Instantly he drew a great breath and coughed as if it was his breathing that had been affected. Then he brought his hand to his mouth and touched his tongue several times as if testing whether or not he'd actually put it back. A silly thing really, he'd seen black come out and black go in. Obviously, he knew it was there. And now he was wasting his time.

"Start talking…" he growled.

"The man who you're after, I've been chasing him for years!" he shouted. "He ruined me! He stole the woman I love and made me the laughingstock of all of Nottingham!"

All helpful information, though if he really had stolen the woman he loved, then he could only imagine what that woman had endured from him.

"Where can I find him?" he pressed.

"Last I heard, he was hiding out in Sherwood Forest," he answered without hesitation. Good. He loved it when a deal followed through.

"And his name?" he asked finally, hoping he possessed that one important piece of information. Even if it was an alias or a nickname, it would help him locate the thief.

"Robin Hood," the Sheriff answered. "He goes by Robin Hood."

Another Robin. How convenient.

He turned back to Belle without offering a word of goodbye to the Sheriff. He didn't deserve anything more than what he'd gotten. Especially if the look on Belle's face was any indication. She was breathing again. Her heartrate was elevated, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. She was still pale, so pale he was surprised she hadn't swooned as so many of her gender might have. She was a strong one, maybe stronger than even he had realized.

But she didn't move. Her eyes weren't on him, they were trained on the Sheriff, unflinchingly so. Had she been alone that would have been a smart thing to do, one should always keep one's eyes on the true threat at hand. But she wasn't alone. She was with the most powerful creature in their realm. He wouldn't allow harm to come to her, especially not in that way.

Finally, her gaze broke. It was only once he purposefully moved between her and the Sheriff, forcing her to break her stare that he saw her focus shift. She swallowed so many times that he knew her mouth had gone dry. He could smell fear on her too. It was the first time she'd been that afraid around him. But it hadn't been him she'd been afraid of. It was the Sheriff. What a strange world they lived in.

When she didn't move to leave, he placed his hands at her waist and applied a gentle pressure to turn her around and move back toward the carriage. He kept his hand around her back. She trembled, but he knew it wasn't from him. If she didn't want his hand there, she easily could have moved out of his gasp. Instead, she leaned into it and stumbled a few times as they moved. The fucking Sheriff had left her terrified.

She grasped his hand tighter than normal when he helped her back into the carriage as if afraid she might fall. He could have sworn once the door was closed, and they were on their way again, that he heard her sigh in relief.

"Thank you," she squeaked out suddenly, without confidence or malice.

He wouldn't say she was welcome. He couldn't. He shouldn't have had to do what he'd done to begin with. He shouldn't have had to thank him for forcing a rutting pig to keep his dick in his pants. He was sorry she'd had to go through it. He was sorry for any woman who had to go through it.

"I don't make those kinds of deals," he muttered. He wanted to make sure she knew that he was disgusted by any man that would have allowed a deal like that to have been made. But the words never came. He listened to her heart once more and found it was still faster than it should have been, but it was better. She smelled better too; less fearful, more like...Belle. That was something, at least.

So he turned his attention from her and what had happened and instead began to seek out Robin Hood.


Straight forward chapter that we all knew was coming. Even if it makes us all want to vomit. Even so, this chapter is actually a pretty big turning point in the Rumbelle relationship. It's that point that I told you about before, the one that I wasn't sure anyone would catch. It's small, it's subtle, you might not notice it happened until later, but there is a change that takes place in this chapter that is super important for the rest of the Beauty and the Beast Section and really the entire Rumbelle section. Did you catch it?

Thank you MissAmande, Jennifer Baratta, and Grace5231973 for your comments on the previous chapter. I'm so happy to hear that you liked it, though I'm very sorry it was short! With this chapter we're back into the average to large size chapters though. And hey! More good news! With 219 chapters this chapter means we are a little more than half-way through. Yay! How's it been so far? Everything you hoped? Everything you dreamed? We've still got a long way to go but hopefully, it's been worth it so far. Hopefully. Maybe? Peace and Happy Reading!