The sun had started to rise over Storybrooke, chasing the dark shadows away for another day. The streetlights had begun to turn themselves off, blinking off a minute or two after the one before it. Belle sat on the kerb leaning against a lamppost, her eyes shutting out the horror in front of her. Everyone had stayed with Rumpel all night. Blue had come to join them and examined the spikes at a safe distance. Upon seeing the leader of the fairies, Rumpel had started trying to break free from the spikes and spat words of hatred towards all fairies, but mostly at Blue, for losing their son to the Black Fairy. Because of his exploits, he had gained another spike that had stabbed through another part of his chest. Belle could not stand hearing his heart-wrenching screams.
The group were scattered around the street. No one knew what to do or how to help Rumpel. Gideon had been explaining the shadow magic to Blue and Regina. During the exchanged, Rumpel had retreated inwardly and had stop responding when someone spoke to him. His head had remained bowed as though he was in deep meditation. Belle was not able to reach him anymore. He was retreating deep into himself.
Rubbing at the soreness in her neck, Belle sat up from the lamppost and gazed over to Rumpel. Gideon was knelt in front of his father and was talking to him, or was rather talking at him. Belle shook her head at Rumpel. All anyone wanted to do was help him and he had stopped trying to help himself now. She did not know whether this was worse than what Gideon had done to Rumpel months ago. At least then, Rumpel had the choice to communicate removed from him. Now, he was being stubborn.
Gideon stood giving his father a wry smile and then came over to Belle, knocking into her as he sat on the kerb beside her. "He still won't answer me."
"Don't worry about it, Gideon. Keep trying." Belle slid her arm around Gideon's arm and lent onto his more comfortable shoulder. "He's listening."
"Suppose so." Gideon muttered.
The ringing of the bell on Rumpel's shop door made Belle peek pass Gideon to see Blue and Regina walking down the sidewalk with a book in Regina's hands. They were excitedly chatting between themselves with Blue pointing at the book. With a nod in agreement, the two walked over to where Rumpel was knelt on the floor.
"Rumpel," Regina knelt on the ground so she could see his face. "We're going to try this spell." He did not answer her. Pushing herself off the ground, Regina looked to Belle and Gideon and nodded her head at them. Belle sensed this was not going to go well and clutched at Gideon's arm, preparing herself for the screams to erupt from Rumpel.
Regina called Emma over to her and began to explain what they were about to do. The three nodded in unison and turned to face Rumpel. Belle could hear the three of them repeating some incantation together, their hands focusing their power towards Rumpel. The three beams of magic were bombarding Rumpel and the spikes. Nothing happened for a moment. Then the spikes ever so slowly began to retract from Rumpel. He whimpered with the movement, his weight pulled by the spike.
"Oh my god!" Snow cried. "It's working!"
Belle wiped at the tear that she felt on her cheek and steadily got to her feet with Gideon following her, his hand reassuringly staying on her back. They watched as the spikes slid back into Rumpel's back. A small chuckle of relief escaped Belle. She felt brave enough to go to her husband, coming to stand beside Regina. Everyone watched and came closer.
Gideon frowned. "Something's wrong."
"It's just taking time." Snow comforted, coming round to stand beside Belle and clutched at Belle's elbow.
"No," Gideon shook his head. "Those spikes should have left his body by now."
"What?" Belle questioned, her eyebrows scrunched over her eyes. Her gaze went from Rumpel to Gideon as it happened. The spikes shot back through Rumpel and lifted him off the ground. Regina, Emma and Blue stopped, shocked at the reaction their casting had caused to Rumpel.
The spikes suspended him. Gravity now pushed Rumpel's full weight down onto the unrelenting spikes. Rumpel's cry was sickening. Tears fell down his cheeks. He panted heavily against the pain. Belle screamed at Rumpel's torture, her legs gave way from underneath her from the horror. Gideon and Snow struggled to keep Belle up.
"Should we try again?" Emma asked, her hand held over her mouth.
"NO!" Rumpel wept between waves of pain. "DON'T TOUCH ME!"
Regina dropped the book to the floor and quickly followed it, staring at the man that was once her tutor. The once strong independent man was now broken. He cried openly in front of everyone, not that anyone could blame him, but sobbed much like a cry when they had fallen over and grazed their knee for the first time. New lines were appearing on his face from the torment his body was going through.
The tears ran down Belle's face. She could not take it anymore. He needed her and she could not be there. Belle could not even comfort her true love. Putting herself in his place, Belle felt something begin to build in the pit of her stomach. In all the years that she had been alive, Belle had never really known what hatred was. Oh, yes, she had hated people. She had hated Regina. Belle had never been at that point she had found herself. She wanted vengeances.
She wiped the tears from her face forcefully and shook Gideon and Snow off. "That's it!"
"Mother?" Gideon was shocked by the sudden change in his mother.
"I will not stand here anymore!" Belle strode purposefully to stand in front of Rumpel. "I love you, Rumpel." He choked at her words, shushing another cry. She turned to face the four women and Gideon behind her. "I am not having this woman destroy my husband! We need to find her and make her undo this!"
"But, Belle," Snow hesitantly stepped towards Belle and placed her hands on her upper arms. "We need to help Rumpel. We can't leave him…"
Belle erupted. "Don't tell me what I need to do! I am going to kill this… This bitch! If it is the last thing I do in this world!"
She left everyone in shock and strode off towards Rumpel's shop, a fire burning in her stomach. Now she understood how Rumpel felt. All the times he had gone off on a rampage or a crusade to wreak havoc on the residents of Storybrooke. Belle had come to the end of her patients. This Black Fairy did not know the woman that Rumpel had married. She was a fighter and she was going to fight for her husband to the very end.
The door to Rumpel's shop took another beating as Belle tossed it open, the force made the doorframe crack. Belle trudged through the shop into the back, nearly ripping the curtains down. She started tossing things off the shelves and searched through the cupboards. Belle did not know what she was looking for, but she felt she would when she found it. There had to be something in Rumpel's shop that could help her kill that poor excuse of so-called 'mother in law'. Something that would give her the satisfaction she needed.
"Mother?" Gideon's voice surprised Belle from her search. She shook her head at him and threw a shelf full of scrolls on the floor. Ripping open draws and cupboards, Belle became more frustrated and hurled more things onto the floor, smashing bottles onto the vanished wooden floor.
Belle let an exasperated cry. She kicked at the sturdy workbench that Rumpel was always huddled over, working on a new spell or an antique he had acquired. She stopped to take in his workbench. She started to think about whether she would ever see him here again. His brow furrowed, his tongue dancing over his lip as he concentrated on a delicate clock piece. Seeing his smile when he realised she was standing in the doorway watching him.
Gideon had bravely trudged through the mess to stand beside his mother, his hand gingerly resting on her arm. "It's okay."
"No, Gideon." She shook her head at him. "No, it's not!"
"We'll find a way." Gideon tried to smile at her. Belle closed her eyes at his words before she walked away from him to the other side of the workbench. Her hands glided over the smooth wooden workbench. There were pieces of paper with Rumpel's handwriting scattered over the bench.
"The only way is to do what your father would do." Belle stated to Gideon.
Gideon's head shook at her. "He wouldn't want you to do that! Mother, you are his light. Do not turn to his darkness. You're better than that."
"I am only better with your father at my side. I may not even have that if the Black Fairy gets his dagger. I am about to lose him!" Belle slammed her hand down onto the table. "Again!"
"We just need to…" Belle cut off Gideon, shouting at him. "Do not tell me what I need to do! I have told you and them! She's dead!"
"Mother, please!" Gideon tripped over some of the debris on the floor. Belle ignored him and went back to ripping draws and cupboards open. She dragged things out of the cupboards and slung them over her shoulder, nearly hitting Gideon with things as he came around the workbench.
"I need to find… Find something!" Belle yelled, slinging a gauntlet over her shoulder.
"Mother!" Gideon shouted. He scooped Belle into a hug from behind. She fought against him, trying to shake him off. Gideon held on as if his life depended on it.
After some futile thrashing, Belle stilled in her son's arms, all her energy was gone, and she slumped against him. He held her and said nothing. Belle breathed heavily, trying to calm herself. The feeling of being lost had come back to haunt her. She had been lost a long time ago. Held captive in a castle and was being made to do the unthinkable. Made to marry someone not for love. Then he had come. Not for her, but to inflict some deal on her captor for a price, because that was what he did to amuse himself. Rumpel's price though had been her.
Rumpel had brought her away from the agony of having to live up to others expectations. He had never expected anything from her and it had been refreshing. A man that had just enjoyed her company. Yes, he had been her master, but he behaved more as a cohabiter than lording over her. They talked about more than just 'what you should do for your people, Belle'. He had been places, he had seen wonders and he was delighted to share these experiences with her as they shared tea together. Seeing the man behind his mask, Belle had fallen for the vulnerable man that hid in the darkness. The man that been flabbergasted that she could ever love him.
She clenched her eyes shut at the memory of him tossing her into his dungeon. His fear got the better of him, as it did on so many occasions. Scared she was going to leave, pushing her away. Belle knew that his fear had kept them from talking the last couple of months. His fear of what could happen. He had said that he could not do the endless toe to toe anymore. Being together and then splitting. As much as Rumpel expected Belle to leave him, Belle expected him to be doing some evil scheme all the time. Her fear that he would never pick her over his thirst for power. She was so sorry that they had gotten to this point in their relationship and that she had allowed him to go back to hiding in the shadows of his darkness. If only, she had chased him after their talk at his house, promising to take it one day at a time with him.
Belle wiped the stray tear off her face and stood out of Gideon's arms. Now she had calmed, he let his arms fall to his sides and rested his hands on the edge of the workbench. Absently Belle touched some of the things that were still on the shelves that she had not thrown onto the floor. Looking around, she knew that Rumpel was going to be having some choice words with her. It was as if a bomb had hit the back of his shop.
Scratching at her hairline, Belle turned to her son with a puzzled look. "Why does the Black Fairy want your father's power? She has her own power. Why does she need his as well?"
"I don't know." Gideon looked deep in thought for a moment and then added. "She always went on about how he dared to have happiness and that a dark one is not supposed to be able to love."
"Not supposed to be able to love?" Belle questioned, stepping over some things on the floor to a clear bit of the wooden floor.
"Well, from what she told me, the dark one calls upon all darkness for their power. Their heart is the blackest it gets. He shouldn't be able to feel anything for anyone, 'cause it should be like he doesn't have a heart." Gideon informed her, motioning to where his heart was in his chest with his hand.
Belle's brow creased. "So… Rumpel should not be able to feel anything."
"Exactly."
"But he does…" Belle's words trailed off.
"Yes, it really does the Black Fairy's head in because he can. She thinks it is because of Baelfire. Something to do with fatherly love. She went on and on about how he was a disappointment to her, because he never caused her to love him the same way he does Baelfire" Gideon pursed his lips together in further thought. "And the love he has for me."
Belle's eyebrows raised at the thought and turned to the cupboard that Rumpel kept many things locked in. She tested the cupboard door and it opened. The door opened to reveal a blue velvet bag. She remembered that bag. Belle had seen it when he had given her memories back when she had been Lacey. She plucked it from inside the cupboard and turned to his workbench, gently taking the chipped teacup from the velvet bag. It was missing some pieces, but it looked as though Rumpel had put what pieces he had back together.
Her fingers traced the rim of the teacup and then stopped on the chip. "It isn't fatherly love."
Gideon looked up from the floor to Belle. "What?"
"It isn't the love he has for Baelfire or for you, Gideon." Belle allowed herself to smile. "It was me."
"Sorry?" Gideon excused himself and turned to Belle.
"It was me!" Belle held the cup for Gideon to see. "This is the teacup I broke. It was a… A magical moment between your father and me. It is from the time when we fell in love, I kissed him, and we had our first true love's kiss moment. He had started changing back into how he looks today, but his fear got the better of him and he shut me out."
"I still don't understand how it's you, mother." Gideon said to her, a sympathetic look on his face.
"I awoke his heart. He felt love for me in that moment and it must have kicked started his ability to love." Belle's voice betrayed her, expressing her excitement. "He was obsessed with finding Baelfire, but I think along the way his love and hope for Baelfire had become lost in his darkness. Then we met and fell in love. From the moment he thought he lost me, he put into motion his plan. The love that had reignited in his heart pushed him to find happiness by finding Baelfire. "
Gideon frowned at his mother and took the teacup carefully from his mother. "So… It isn't father's power that allows him to love, like the Black Fairy thinks. It's because he found his true love?"
"Yes!" Belle's eyes lit up.