Sooooo…this chapter required a bit of alteration because of the most recent episode of OUAT. Dang it, that's what I hate about writing fics before the show's even resolved.
Belle leaned into the crevice of a rock face and heaved a sigh. "Please tell me you can get us out of here before she returns," she said dourly.
"Working on it, dearie." Rumplestiltskin paced, his fingers rubbing against each other in preoccupied conflict.
The two of them ruminated for several moments, Belle's arms tightly folded and Rumplestiltskin's fingertips flicking sparks of exasperation as he racked his brain.
"Wait," Belle muttered. "You changed your appearance before—can you still do that? In here?"
Rumplestiltskin glanced down at his hand, willing it to transform. It complied, iridescent and flickering in the low light as it changed. He could, it seemed, still inflict magic upon himself at least. He looked at Belle, immediately picking up on her train of thought.
"What if…" she began.
"What if we traded places?" he asked, hesitant. Belle nodded. He thought for a moment—this would certainly be better. If the Queen came to take Belle, it would actually be him. And he could keep the dagger with him, to ensure he maintained control of it. But would the Queen see through their ruse?
He took Belle's hand in his own, his gaze settling intently on her face as he concentrated. She watched him as well, and her expression began to warp and shift into one creased with grotesque bitterness and exhaustion—it was his own face.
It was like looking into a mirror.
"…This is bizarre," Belle said, echoing his thoughts. Immediately she burst into laughter as she realized it was her own voice still emanating forth, out of the mouth of Rumplestiltskin. He snorted as well, which only prompted more peals of mirth from Belle.
"Such a masculine tone I have!" she sniggered, pointing at his—at her own—breasts.
He glanced down, momentarily tempted to grope his new body before realizing that would be incredibly inappropriate.
"Whatever you do, don't talk while she's here," he hissed. "Don't say a bloody word." Pausing, another idea came to mind.
"Wait," he began slowly. Picking up the dagger, he pensively thumbed the blade.
A decoy shimmered into the palm of his other hand, a near-exact replica of the original. Identical, except that it lacked any real power. The fake he would leave with Belle. Rather awkwardly, he hiked up the side of his skirts as he'd seen her do earlier, and tucked the true dagger into the garter belt cinched around his slender thigh.
Belle burst once more into a fit of giggles.
—
At midnight, the Queen returned with an entourage of soldiers. Belle's father was nowhere to be seen. She hesitated, her eyes darting back and forth between her two prisoners. She snorted in disgusted amusement.
Rumplestiltskin knew immediately that they had already failed. The Queen could see right through the charade.
"Surely you're joking," Regina sneered. "You were able to see me disguised as a rat, you think I'm not capable of recognizing the same lie? Enough of this nonsense." With a wave of her hand, their deception dissolved away.
The trappings of the Dark One crumbled away from Belle, revealing her lovely true self as well as a startled expression.
Freed of the garter, the dagger fell to the bottom of Rumplestiltskin's pantleg with aclunk. The Queen cocked her head at the sound with delighted intrigue.
"Well, well," she said, eyebrows raising. Before Rumplestiltskin could move, she had him locked in place, frozen, unable to keep him from retrieving the dagger. Belle uttered a small sound of alarm.
"Oh my," Regina crooned, clucking her tongue. She plucked the knife up between thumb and forefinger, drawing it carefully out from the leg of his trousers.
"Rumple, really? If I'd known before that you were hiding this in your pants, I would have…" she trailed off, her gaze darting mischievously to Belle. She strolled away from them, cradling the dagger affectionately, as though it were a pet.
"You know," she continued. "I was keeping Belle alive for leverage, but I think just for fun, I'll kill her anyway. Only…" she turned and leveled her finger thoughtfully at Rumplestiltskin. Her scarlet lips pulled back into a baleful grin. "…I think I'll make you do it."
Rumplestiltskin went numb. "Don't—"
The Queen's gaze darkened, her face serious and her voice hard while she fondled the blade. "Go on," she commanded. "Kill. Her." She flipped her hand at him as if she was shooing away an insect.
Belle gasped.
His frozen stance was replaced by a pull of domination. An agonizing surge of persistent, demanding pain erupted through his body. He was resisting Regina…but it wasn't working. She had the dagger. He was hers to command, and no amount of defiance was going to change the rules.
He could see already how this would go. She would make him kill Belle…and then she would kill him. She would take his powers, and it would all be over. The Queen rejoined her soldiers and continued to stroke the dagger, observing the pair with great anticipation.
Rumplestiltskin had already begun advancing on Belle, and she was foolishly making her way towards a corner. He had thought very quickly for a resolution to this mess, and thought he didn't like it, there was only one option. For years he'd been in control, taking advantage of poor desperate souls, giving and taking and maintaining balance. He presented choices. And now he would have to make one of his own.
"Belle," he said in a hushed, tremulous voice. "Belle…you have to kiss me."
"Wha-at?" she hissed. She seemed torn between coming to him and backing away from him.
His teeth were clenched. "Do it."
"But I can't, that'll—"
"Do you want to live, girl!"
She paused in her evasion, considering the sincerity of his logic. The delay in her motion was enough for him to close the gap; he seized her by the hair and yanked her head back. She shrieked, arms flailing in horrified protest. His hands, of their own accord, found their way to her throat. He squeezed.
She fought against him, clawing at his fists, yelling, yet all the while trying to lean towards his face. She gasped in terror as his grip tightened, her windpipe compressing beneath his brutal clutches. He howled in his anguish as he clamped down on her throat with all his might. She dug her fingernails into his wrists.
Please, Belle….
She had to do it. There was no other way. He had vowed to find his son…but he could not lose them both. He would not lose them both. He would find another way to search for Bae. With or without his power, he would not give up. And he refused to accept that this girl could possibly die at his hands.
Belle's legs gave out from beneath her; the two of them toppled to the ground, his fingers still secure and vice-like under her jaw.
She was pressed beneath him now, unable to escape his vicious, clawed hands. Her face, red and strained, drew slowly closer to his. There was panic in her eyes, but they were forgiving and comprehending and determined. No sound could escape her, for his fingers were too tightly wrapped around her throat. Her mouth, trembling and breathless, reached for his. In one last effort, she released his wrists and gouged her fingers into his shoulders, pulling him to her. At last, her gasping mouth met his grimacing lips.
Despite the wailing protest in the back of his mind, his eyelids fell. He could feel it—the same thing he'd felt before, the first time she'd kissed him. The stinging warmth that began in his face. It traveled down his neck and spread through his limbs, leaving his ears ringing and his heart stumbling. He didn't fear it this time. Whatever darkness had gripped him slowly began to burn away as his free will was returned to him.
He dared to kiss her more deeply. His fingers softened around her throat and trailed along her mottled skin, as the torrents of frightening, powerful magic drained from his body. It oozed out of him as though he'd been punctured, the leak of enchanted toxin bleeding dry and evaporating into oblivion. She gasped when his hands loosened, but instead of pulling away, she pressed her palms to his cheeks. She held him there and he felt her smile, her lips upturning against his own.
His knee buckled, overcome with a sudden, stabbing pain. An old wound had returned, reminding him of his mortality. The unexpected distraction broke the kiss, leaving their trembling breaths lingering on each other's mouths.
"It's you," she breathed.
"Of course it's me," he chortled. "Who else would it be?"
Her eyes widened at the sound of his voice, so much softer and subdued than it had been before. She smiled gleefully, her fingers gently roaming his face as she traced his different, but very familiar features. He looked at his hands—they appeared warm and, once again, superbly ordinary.
A bellow of furious despair shattered the moment. The Queen, realizing what had happened, brandished the dagger overhead with clear intent to slay the deceptive imp. She would never have his magic now…there was only one thing left to do.
"You coward!" she shrieked, approaching rapidly with lethal determination. "You've at least made it easier for me to kill you!"
…Coward? Rumplestiltskin tilted his head at Regina, insulted.
He felt Belle brace beneath him.
"Wait," she whispered. He looked down at her, curiously searching her face. How could they hope to defeat the Queen as a pair of mere mortals? As he watched her eyes, he saw her gaze flicker downward. He glanced down as well. There, nestled securely in her bosom, was the concealed hilt of the counterfeit dagger. His breath caught in his throat; a clever smile appeared on Belle's lips.
He waited for the Queen to lunge.
Rolling off of Belle, Rumplestiltskin caught Regina's arms as she brought them down, halting the dagger's deadly descent. But then, something peculiar happened—the knife, seemingly aware that the Dark One no longer existed, began to disintegrate. The weapon that had withstood so many attempts at destruction, now withered and flaked away as though made of paper. Regina stared at it in horror.
Belle thrust upward, as hard as she could, with her own counterfeit blade. It plunged through the Queen's sternum. There was a sharp, trembling gasp of surprise, and everything seemed to come to an abrupt halt.
"You…" the Queen choked, her fingers grasping futilely around the crumbling knife. Powerless fragments fell from her hands.
"You wanted the dagger," Belle hissed, leaning on the hilt buried in Regina's chest. "Here it is." The Queen wailed in anguish.
"I curse you," she said, her strained voice dripping with hatred and defeat. She struggled to breathe, but only succeeded in choking once more. Blood was rising in her throat. She heaved a quaking pant, and with it a low, sinister laugh gurgledforth: "All magic comes with a price."
The Queen stumbled and fell, landing on the ground in a motionless slump.
Silence.
"…The Queen is dead," a relieved, weary voice finally came. It was one of the soldiers. He emerged from the shadows and threw his sword on the ground. "Long live the Queen."
—
Rumplestiltskin gazed at Belle. This woman was nothing short of amazing.
"Well, you certainly seem quite adept at concealing knives, that's for certain," he commented.
"That's not all." Reaching down the front of her blouse, Belle did a sort of little shimmy and bounce before finally pulling forth a small compass. "I assume this will come in handy since you can no longer simply whisk us back from whence we came."
"How…how did you…?" he gaped at her.
"Well, my good sir," she began, tousling her hair and patting it back into place. "While you were busy being a sloppy drunk at the tavern, I took the liberty of relieving the huntsmen of a few items."
He stared at her in disbelief. "A proficient pick-pocket as well, I see."
"What can I say; I have an affinity for shiny objects." She quirked a knowing eyebrow at him.
Rumplestiltskin shook his head, unable to suppress a grin.
—
Author Notes: This ending (well, climax) is actually a combination of several that I devised. I came up with three (2 happy endings and 1 not-so-happy) and had planned to post the others as 'alternate endings'. I didn't really want to go this route, because it was important to me that Rumple had free will to make the decision on his own. It was important that he was willing to sacrifice his power in order to save Belle. Which he does here, but I don't like that he was under the influence of the Queen/dagger.
"The Return" killed my original plan.
So basically, the last episode of OUAT destroyed any legitimacy of Rumple being with Belle. There can be Gold x Belle, sure, but no Rumple x Belle. We've learned that the whole point of the curse was basically to find his kid, and any conceivable relationship with Belle is going to conflict with that. If he gives up his power to be with/save her/love her, then he's essentially washing his hands of Bae. And that's just…lame. This is all, of course, assuming any sort of RumBelle event occurs before Rumple gives the curse to the Queen. The curse requires 'the heart of the thing you love most.' That's the genius behind it—he had no one he could sacrifice. All he was waiting for was a Desperate Soul to come along, like the Queen. She fell right into it. There's also the speculation that he was leading her to it from the start.
Anyway, it was also important to me for Belle to have some sort of pivotal role. She needed to have a strong purpose, otherwise she'd be just some useless tag-along love interest.
Stay tuned!