Emma's yellow beetle pulled up to the kerb in front of Rumpel's shop. Belle climbed out from the passenger side and held the seat forward for Rumpel to get out from the back seat. His warmth brushed against her as he stood beside her, his cheeky grin showing he had done it on purpose. Belle playfully glared at him and pushed him aside so she could close the door to the beetle.
The bell from above Rumpel's door rang with the shop door opening, Regina and Snow came out onto the sidewalk, Snow closed the door behind them. Emma came around the car to join everyone on the sidewalk, placing her hands on her hips.
"I've got all the ingredients in the back." Regina pointed over her shoulder towards the shop. "We just need to decide where were going to set it up."
"I would suggest possibly the mines, or somewhere we have one in and out then she can't miss the trap then." Rumpel suggested, standing very close to Belle.
Emma frowned. "How would we get her down there?"
"Don't you worry about that, Miss Swan, I'm sure I can make myself very enticing to her." Rumpel said and then smirked. "I have that effect on women." Belle and Regina laughed. Belle swatted her hand against his chest and look to his face to see a hint of hurt in his eyes. She eased it away by rubbing at his chest and giving him a smile she knew would distract him from it.
"Did I miss something?" Regina asked looking at Rumpel and Belle. They were under their own spell and did not respond to her question. With a strong shake of her head, Emma stepped closer to Regina, avoiding her gaze from Rumpel and Belle. Emma had stayed silent on the drive from Rumpel's house, aware that the man in the back of car was burrowing into the back of head with a glare.
"What?" Snow questioned, missing what Regina had seen.
Regina gave Snow a brief smile and carried on. "So, we'll set this up down in the mine. Emma, you can help Snow and me. Rumpel can do whatever he has planned for his mother."
"Don't call her that." Rumpel stated, his finger pointing at Regina. "I don't have a mother."
"Okay… Let's go get the things from the back of the shop." Regina knew that tone very well from her lifelong tutor and did not pursue it. The three women entered the shop whilst Belle caressed Rumpel's face, noting the stab of hurt he had allowed to the surface. She always knew it was there, but he had always kept it hidden so well behind his mask. The last two days had put a lot of strain on Rumpel. He was not going to get the time he needed to process it.
"It's okay." Rumpel said, guiding her towards the door. He put his hand on the doorknob and stopped. His shoulders tensed. The knuckles of his hand on the doorknob turned white with the strain. Rumpel was not moving.
"Rumpel?" Belle touched his arm. "Rumpel!"
"Don't mind him, darling." Belle spun on the spot and pressed herself against Rumpel to protect him. "He's only doing what I told him to do, like a good little boy." The Black Fairy stood a few feet away down the sidewalk.
Belle scowled at the dagger that the Black Fairy held in her hand and said. "What have you done with Gideon?"
"Oh, he's fine. I put him down for a nap in his cell." The Black Fairy said, her evil grin spreading across her face. Belle took a deep breath, trying to calm the demon inside her that had destroyed Rumpel's back room. She had to remain level headed. It was what Rumpel would do. As much as he let emotion direct him, he always remain calm in these situations.
"Now," The Black Fairy began to move towards Rumpel. "I'll just take my son's power and be going."
"You're not going to touch him!" Belle snarled at the other woman, her hand taking a fistful of Rumpel's white shirt.
The Black Fairy stopped in front of Belle, face to face. "I don't see what you're going to do about it, darling."
Everyone would admit that Belle was not a violet person. Even with all the things that Rumpel had ever done to her, she had never struck him to hurt him. The rage though. The anger of seeing her husband treated as if he was nothing. This woman had tortured her son for 28 years (of his lifetime). All of it made Belle's blood boil, especially as this woman was now threatening to kill Belle's true love, it was Belle's tipping point.
The punch hit the other woman square on the jaw. Belle smiled at the shock that crossed over the Black Fairy's face as she stumbled back, her hand covering the spot Belle had hit. Before the Black Fairy could say or do anything, Belle punched her again knocking her down onto the floor. Quickly Belle jumped on top of the woman and was pounding her relentlessly.
"What I'm going to do!" Belle screamed at the woman between punches. "I'll show you!"
A strong warm arm hooked around Belle's stomach and lifted Belle off the Black Fairy effortlessly. Belle fought against him, thrashing her arms behind her to hit him. Rumpel placed her back down and let go of her, ignoring the beating she was giving him as he shoved her behind him. A moment of clarity descended promptly over Belle with the warmth and smell of him lulling her inner beast.
The Black Fairy stumbled to her feet, wiping the trickle of blood from her lip, with Rumpel's dagger still in her hand she commanded him. "Kill her!"
Belle froze. Rumpel remained standing in front of her, his hand leisurely resting on her hip to keep her behind him. Normally his kind, loving warmth would go when he was commanded. His Hyde would change him. Something though, was not right.
"No!" He barked at the Black Fairy. The Black Fairy was not the only one who was shocked by his reply. Belle leaned around his arm to look at his face. Yep, there was her Rumpel.
Shaking the knife as if that would help, the Black Fairy tried again. "I command you to killer!"
"And I told you!" Rumpel took a confidant step forward from Belle. "No!"
"I don't understand. You must have broken it, you stupid girl." The Black Fairy banged the knife into her other hand as if that would fix it. Rumbel chuckled and took the knife from the woman. He examined it between his hands, turning it over and checking the other side. With a snap of his hand, he flung the knife at the shop front beside him. The knife stabbed into the wood like a dart in a dartboard. The Black Fairy stared at it in disbelief.
"That's fake." Rumpel said, his words made the Black Fairy take a step back from him. "Someone must have switched them. You can't control me!"
The Black Fairy held her hands up to Rumpel. "Now, son, let's talk about this."
"TALK?" Rumpel shouted at the Black Fairy and Belle shuddered at his tone, he was raw.
"I just want to feel!" The Black Fairy pleaded taking another step back as Rumpel took one forward.
"You want to feel, do you? Well, I wanted my parents once, but where were they?" Rumpel countered his voice deep with emotion. The others had finally come out of the shop and joined Belle.
"Rumpel!" The Black Fairy backed herself up against a wall after crossing the small alleyway. He stopped. They were face to face. Belle watched him lift his hand up and touch the Black Fairy's cheek. The once terrifying Black Fairy was no putty in front of Rumpel.
"I can you make you feel." Rumpel replied. There was something haunting in his tone that the Black Fairy noticed. She pushed against the wall behind her, hoping she could move. "I can make you feel so much pain!"
The Black Fairy let out a cry at his words, but he carried on. "But," He paused as her eyes stared at him. "I have done a lot of… soul searching recently. Because of my father and you, I have live a life of being a coward. Scared to put myself out there in case I got hurt."
The others and Belle had moved closer, ready to back him up if he needed it. From what Belle was observing, she did not know whether to be proud of him or encourage him to kill the woman. Normally, the latter would be his first reaction, so Belle was very unsure where he was going with his speech.
"I have met so many people in my lifetime that have hurt me." Rumpel said, clenching his hands at his sides. "So when I became the Dark One, I promised that I would hurt everyone that ever stood in my way and that would dare to hurt me."
"I… I… Just wanted…" The Black Fairy began but Rumpel shushed her with a finger over her lips, and continued. "Then a light came into my life. It drives away the darkness every day, but it is me that is the coward and it has taken me nearly seven years to realise something."
The Black Fairy hesitantly asked him. "Realise what?"
"It isn't my dagger that gives me power." Rumpel said before he leaned in and whispered into the Black Fairy's ear. Her eyes shocked wide open with surprise and she looked over to where Belle stood. Belle felt very uncomfortable now that everyone apart from Rumpel was looking at her. Shrugging her shoulders at them, she hoped they would direct their gazes back to Rumpel but they did not.
Rumpel leaned back from his mother. "So, when you say you want my power, dearie, you'll never get it." He waved his hand and Pandora's Box appeared in the palm of his hand. "And you will never be able to hurt my family ever again." Rumpel said as his hand moved over the top of Pandora's Box to open it.
"Oh, really!" The Black Fairy said with a new wave of a bravery and thrusted her hand towards Belle. Belle was not sure what happened. One minute she was standing between Emma and Regina, the next she was looking up at the sky. The smell was first. The burning smell of fabric and skin. The pain crawled its way out across her stomach. Belle screamed at the pain, rolling herself into a ball on the floor. Emma was quickly at her side, trying to get a look at the wound.
The Black Fairy let out a heart-wrenching scream. Belle could just about see that Rumpel had pinned the Black Fairy up the wall by her neck. Snow dropped down beside Belle and blocked her view, trying to help Emma keep Belle still as she healed the wound.
"Rumpel!" Regina shouted at him. "Don't do it! You were doing it! You were being good! Just put her in the box!"
"I will not stand for this… This thing hurt my Belle!" He yelled.
Regina was at Rumpel's side, touching his arm that held the Black Fairy. "You know that I understand that but don't go back. The last couple of months you have been trying, I've seen it. Don't let this, bitch of a mother, stop you now!"
Belle sat up with the help of Snow and Emma. The wound was healed but it had left Belle breathless. She watched Rumpel take a deep breath and nodded to Regina over his shoulder. He released his hold on the Black Fairy and wave his hand at the Black Fairy, making her disappear into the box he still held in his hand.
The small box clunked loudly when Rumpel dropped it to the floor. He rubbed at his face making his way over to Belle and dropped to his knees in front of her. His eyes were full of unshed tears, brimming on the edge, waiting to be released. Belle shifted on the ground to a kneeling position in front of him and hugged him, cradling his head into the crook of her neck. Rumpel's body shook, crying a lifetime worth of hurt and agony away. Belle stroked her fingers through his hair and shushed his cries.
Regina touched Rumpel's and Belle's shoulders, drawing them to look at her. "What about Gideon?"
"Yes." Rumpel sniffled and wiped the tears from his face, his mask returned to hide his hurt. "Got to find Gideon." Rumpel stood and pulled Belle from the floor up to him. He paused and hovered his hand over her stomach where the blast had hit her. It was the first time Belle had actually looked at it. There was a hole the size of a tennis ball through her clothes, showing her bare stomach below.
"Guess I could have worn my suit then." Rumpel chuckled to himself and then kissed Belle on the cheek before turning to the other women to discuss business. "I will go and find him. He'll be in the shadow realm and that's not somewhere we all want to go."
"Rumpel, I want to come!" Belle told him touching his arm and made him look at her over his shoulder.
He smiled as he turned to face her again. "Belle, sweetheart, I promise you that I will find him and bring him back. I need you to be safe." Rumpel looked to Emma over his shoulder. "And you are coming with me. I need your light magic and you owe me for earlier." Rumpel stated to Emma surprising her.
"Oh… Okay." Emma said with a brief smile.
"But…" Belle began but Rumpel's lips hushed her with a kiss.
Breaking their kiss and stepping over to Emma, Rumpel said. "I will be back before you know it."
Then they were gone, taken away in his purple smoke as he transported them away. Belle groaned. Annoyed that she was always being left at home and never going on the adventure. She had never been on an adventure with Rumpel and she wanted to help finding their son.
"Well," Snow said gaining Belle's attention. "Let's go to Grannies and have a drink. I think we've earned it."
Regina collected Pandora's box from the ground. "First, I've got to put this somewhere save in my vault."
"Hang on," Belle jogged back up to where Rumpel's dagger was protruding from the wooden framework. "Let me get this." Belle said and tugged it out of the wood and checked it over. It looked so real to her.
Coming to stand beside her, Regina looked at the dagger. "I thought Rumpel said it was fake."
"He did." Belle replied.
"That's his dagger. I can feel the dark power from it." Regina said, her eyebrows scrunching at it. "How the hell was he able to disobey her?"
"I thought you might have switched the blades when I was punching her." Belle suggested, holding the dagger up to indicate it.
Regina shook her head. "No, I was about to, but then Rumpel let go of the door and went over to you. I thought she had dropped it and he had gained control back."
"Wait," Snow interjected, pointing at the dagger. "Are we saying that this is Rumpel's real dagger and he wasn't being controlled by her?"
"She was to begin with." Regina said, her eyes going to Rumpel's store door. "But he broke through it."