Skin Deep by DD Agent
I do not own Once Upon a Time or any of its characters, or its settings - all belongs to the lovely folks at ABC.
Thank you so much for the reviews, alerts and favourites for chapter one! I am blown away with the response to this story. Extra special hugs and ice cream to LittleMissPadfoot, Lyn Harkeran, TheUn-AwesomeMe, FortunesArkHero, TheHatterJPGR, CriminalMind, Linda, cat4444, A Unicorn, 8 Navy Roses, cuterosr1817, Cricket Spinner, Gilari, becca, WTfan86, SeddieShortBus and Earth Guardian for your epic reviews!
I do apologise for the delay in getting this up! I know people have been desperate for me to update. I hope this is the beginning of lots of updates now I have settled after finishing my degree. Hope you enjoy! :D
Part Two
She loved her sanctuary. She had adored the library when she had been a child, and now it was the room she spent the most time in when she was at home. A former ballroom, her father had transformed it into a library after her mother's death. The walls were sky high with books, and whether it be curled up in one of the alcoves or standing on the crumbling balcony - Belle loved being in there.
The shuffling of feet alerted her to her new manservant and the prospect of tea. Belle looked up from her current book - a princess who runs away and falls in love with a local weaver - and turned to Rumpelstiltskin. He was still wearing his rags...she was sure she could find something new for him to wear. Something that didn't have his son's blood stained onto the fabric.
"Tea..." Rumpelstiltskin presented. He put the tray down and started pouring her a cup.
"Thank you," Belle replied. "While you're here Rumpelstiltskin, you'll prepare all my meals, clean my clothes, try and tend to this crumbling castle." He nodded, taking in all his new duties. "Make sure I have plenty of tea and biscuits while I'm reading in the library and you'll archive all the items of vital important I bring back from town every Tuesday."
Rumpelstiltskin nodded, taking a moment to look at the library around him. It was a breathtaking sight. Of course his gaze then turned on her and he blushed. Belle wondered how used to women Rumpelstiltskin was, especially ones like her who wore skin tight bodices cut low on their breasts. Her beauty swindled more people out of deals than her words, but beauty had also been her undoing. There was more than one reason why the mirrors in her castle were covered.
"What items of vital importance?"
Belle grinned, happy for the change in topic. "Virgin's blood, keeps me looking this young."
Rumpelstiltskin tripped, not quite realising it was a joke intended to break the ice. Belle's cup of tea went all over her new book, coating the open pages in the brown liquid. The spinner immediately went to his knees to wipe it off, trying desperately to rectify his mistake. He kept crying out apologies, begging for her mercy.
Belle felt her skin grow colder. She was a witch, not some kind of monster. After he used his own shirt to try to rub the tea away, Belle went down on her knees and reached for his hands. She met his eyes, and found a wonderful shade of brown.
"I'm sorry, Lady Belle, I am truly sorry. I'm useless...completely useless."
She pressed one of her hands above his, and used the other to tilt his chin up to meet her eyes. "It's just a book, Rumpelstiltskin. I have thousands of them in this castle." She smiled at him, dragging her fingers along his chin and back into the air. It had been so long since she had touched someone, anyone. "I doubt you're useless. Just clumsy. I used to be dreadful, pulled down an entire rail of curtains once."
He chuckled, and Belle moved her hand away from his. "I'll get my own tea...you go to your room and rest." What was she doing, this was like any other deal. He belonged to her. But he was a grieving father, and Belle knew how it felt to hold someone you loved in your arms and feel their soul leave them. "Get settled in. I like breakfast at daybreak...in here if you please."
Rumpelstiltskin gave her a low bow as he left, smiling at her again. He was going to be trouble, Belle could sense that. She was starting to feel like the ice around her heart was cracking and that was something she could not allow. She would never be weak again.
X
"Thank you for your concern, Sheriff Swan, but there's really nothing more you can do."
Belle looked at the Sheriff trying to ascertain exactly what had been taken. It was a fair assumption that the burglar had taken some of her books considering that was really all she had. While Emma had been checking out the little alcove overlooking her back garden, Belle had double and triple checked her bureau. It wasn't there. Someone had taken it.
"Ms French, this is a robbery, a public menace. Now if you know something..."
The former Dark One thought about Emma's words for a moment. She knew lots of things on a vast number of subjects. Emma would have read tales and watched horror stories about the Le Fay, a creature who came disguised as a beautiful woman. She would grant you a wish - mostly knowledge - but would take your soul if you did not pay up. Belle had found one story about her past life in the library where a beautiful young woman came begging for knowledge that would save her life. The Le Fay gave it, and asked in return for the young woman's beauty. The young woman refused to be plain, so the Le Fay took her heart.
Belle had never been sure who the hero in that story was.
"French?" Emma's voice disturbed her thoughts. "Do you know something? If you do and you don't tell me, and I find Mister Madison roaming around with his scissors so help me I will put you both behind bars."
She meant it, too. The Saviour wasn't scared of her. "His name is Jeremy Horder. He owns a sporting goods shop just outside of town and this morning he defaulted on quite a sizeable loan. He and Mister Madison...disagreed over collateral."
"And yet it's some of your books that have been stolen and not one of Mister Madison's hats," Emma shot back, making a note on her little detective pad. Slotting that into the pocket of her jacket, Snow White's daughter turned to her and smiled. "I'm on the case."
"Good for you, Sheriff Swan," Belle pulled her lips back in an attempt at a smile. "I hope you get there before...well. I hope you do the job to the best of your ability."
Emma glared at her. "If you unleash Mister Madison..."
Belle grinned at her. "Believe me, Sherriff Swan. This is a case I attempt to take very personally."
The Sheriff looked like she was going to say something else, but thankfully she just groaned and left, slamming the stained glass door of Belle's home behind her. Belle peered out of her curtains and watched as the Sherriff got inside her car and drove away. Horder had made the mistake to cross her. Whether some little witch with her own peculiar collection had put him up to it was still to be seen.
Sitting on the armchair by the fire, Belle took her phone out of her pocket. She dialled for Jefferson. "I need you to find Jeremy Horder. Follow him; keep a watchful eye on him. Make sure you're not seen by either him or Sherriff Swan." She paused. "Yes, it's about my spinner."
X
The summer had come to the Front Lands, and Belle was determined to enjoy it. The sky - for the first time in what felt like years - wasn't burned red with the fires of the battlefield but was a rich blue. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky. It was Wednesday, and Wednesday meant she had a stack of new books to read. She was currently flicking through one on the proper way to grow pumpkin in preparation for the Hallows celebration that would occur before winter came. Rumpelstiltskin was nearby, cleaning some parts of her collection as requested. It was such a lovely day, and he should enjoy it just as much as she. However, Belle found her eyes straying to him more times than what was acceptable.
He had been with her for three months now. Within one week of his employment he had found an entire new wardrobe waiting for him - she had made good on her promise to provide him with clothes that hadn't been stained with his son's blood. Various shirts and vests coupled with many different trousers and shoes. Belle had been determined that he not want for anything - she wanted him to feel some of the burden leave him.
Of course, within two weeks of his employment Belle noticed that he wore the loosest, lowliest things she had provided him. She didn't want to change him - she knew all too well that people changed depending on power and riches - she just wanted to make him happy. So two weeks into his employment with her, Belle had taken Rumpelstiltskin aside, laid him down on the fainting couch and took off his trousers. Her fingers had run over the knot of scar tissue that hindered his step, and had used a potion over the course of three days to heal the limb well enough so he could walk.
The look in his eyes when he had stood in the library without his walking stick made her feel like she was human again. Even if she was far from it. Belle had seen that he had wanted to hug her, to thank her for what she had done for him. But he had kept his hands to his sides. For the best, Belle reassured herself.
"Why do you read so much?"
Her carefully controlled thoughts of the past were shattered by his brogue reaching to her over the garden. She watched him finish polishing the last of the sabres she possessed. Rumpelstiltskin looked especially good today - he had finally got up the courage to wear the leather pants she had put in his wardrobe almost as a joke. Pity the joke was on her. They made every inch of his legs and behind look inviting. The white shirt he wore was clinging to him, showing off the strong muscle he had developed from fulfilling her every request.
Stop it, Belle.
"I read for knowledge - it's why people come to me." She licked her lips for a moment, looking at the stack of fiction books that was twice as high as the ones she read for work. "I like to lose myself."
Rumpelstiltskin smiled at her over his worktable. "Does it work?"
"It used to."
Where had that bit of honesty come from? She returned to reading about pumpkins and the best place to plant them. Maybe...maybe she could go to a Hallows ball this year? She could take Rumpelstiltskin - the best ones were thrown a kingdom over and she doubted he had ever attended a proper Hallows celebration. They had used to throw the most amazing ones in her home. Her father would dress up as a skeleton and chase her around the castle when she had been little. Her last Hallows ball, before the...before everything, she had danced with Gaston. She had been dressed as a fairy. He had been dressed as a knight of the Dark Guard.
It would have been amusing if the memory didn't make her want to vomit.
It was then that she glanced back up to see Rumpelstiltskin making uneven motions with one of her swords. "Darling, what are you doing?"
"Practicing..." he whispered. He had become less scared of her since she had fixed his leg, but there were still moments when she could see that he still feared her. "When I fought in the ogre war, I only had an axe. I've never held a sword."
"Well I'm pretty sure there are no ogres in my grounds..." Although Belle knew there was a fairy turned to stone somewhere near her rock garden. "I could teach you, if you like."
"Really?" His face split into a grin again. Belle tried to hide her blush. Another time, a different girl. "If you have the time, Lady Belle, I'd love to learn."
"No time like the present."
She moved off the sun lounger she had been lying on and removed the throw she had been using to keep her shoulders covered. Belle watched as Rumpelstiltskin took her all in. The dress was blue, the corset crisscrossing with white silk. The skirt went down to her ankles, although there was a split down one side. She kicked off her heels, burying her toes in the grass. There was nothing holding the dress up but her own body, and his eyes traced the large expanse of blindingly pale skin.
"The sword needs to be an extension of your arm," Belle whispered when she reached his side. She took Rumpelstiltskin's hand within her own and made sure his grip was correct before altering his stance. "If you let the blade go, you will die. That's the most important rule. No fancy footwork or throwing the sword up in the air to then catch it." She let herself indulge and reached for his chin again, bringing his eyes to hers. "Understand?"
"Don't let go, got it."
Belle picked up her own sword and put it out in front of her. "We're just going to do some simple blocking. The trick with sword fighting is to always anticipate where your enemy is going to go."
Her manservant frowned. "I've never been very good at that, milady."
"You seem to be very good at anticipating when I need my tea," she teased. He was - she only had to think she needed a good cup to soothe the emotions caused by her latest book and he would be there, the liquid the perfect temperature to drink.
Belle thrust her sabre in front of her and Rumpelstiltskin jumped back. She went for his elbow and he continued to move backwards. He wasn't much of a fighter, this she knew. She had some measure of her manservant, heard the whispers of the coward Rumpelstiltskin aligning himself with the Dark One. The mere fact that he had followed through on her deal suggested more heroism than those who fought her terms. That was greed. A man who paid his debts was an honourable one.
"Who taught you how to fight?" Rumpelstiltskin asked as he leapt back to avoid another one of her well placed jabs."
Belle stopped her assault. "My father."
The moment's reflection cost her dearly as Rumpelstiltskin made his first offensive move and cut one of the laces holding her corset together. It had been an accident, but still a killing blow. He immediately looked away from her front, which was showing even more skin than before. She smiled at him, proud of him. Despite his blushing, his nervousness was slowly leaving him every day and he was becoming something truly spectacular.
"Well done, I concede." Belle raised her hands above her head, Rumpelstiltskin chuckled. "I do think this would be a perfectly good time for lunch."
"I agree."
Belle placed the sabre down on the work table Rumpelstiltskin had assembled and headed inside. However, her foot caught on an uneven piece of ground and she yelped as she prepared to hit the stones buried in the grass. But she never hit the ground. Belle opened her eyes to find herself in Rumpelstiltskin's arms. Both of his arms were around her back. As their gaze met, one of his arms shifted under her knees so he could carry her. Belle tangled an arm around his neck, clinging on. He beamed at her.
"Good anticipation," she whispered, her body burning with the feeling of being pressed against him.
He laughed again, but his eyes never left hers. "I'd never let you fall."
This was a moment. A moment that could change what had been building between them, the employment that had turned into a soft friendship that could indeed be something more than that. He was a good man, kind and gentle with her. More so than any man had ever been and much more than she deserved. "Thank you, Rumpelstiltskin."
"Yes...yes," he bumbled as he let her back down to the ground, dropping her a little too forcefully. He thought her unimpressed with his actions. Nothing could be further from the truth. "I'll go start lunch."
He gave her one last look before turning on his heel and heading back to her castle. She could hear him muttering to himself, although she dared not to listen in on his whisperings. Belle was too concerned with the Dark One writhing under her skin, reminding her of her power and reminding her what had been sacrificed to get it. What she still needed to sacrifice in order to stem the screaming in her ears.
X
The Sherriff had seemed excited when she had brought her in, and Belle's heels made their way over to the desk covered by a sheet. Emma ripped the sheet away revealing books upon books that had been stolen from her collection. Belle's hands immediately went to them, checking each volume in turn for tears, stains, marks.
"You were right; it was Horder who broke in." Emma sat back with a smile. "Don't know why he stole books instead of your TV set or something...do you even own a television?"
"I have books," Belle whispered, moving into the last pile to check through the last few texts. "Where is Mister Horder?"
"Closing in on him." Emma grinned. "I'll have him soon, don't you worry."
She was proud of herself. She had brought back the collection of books, would later arrest a man for petty theft instead of something serious like murder. Belle just snorted. "I'll save off on popping the champagne until your job is done, thank you Sherriff."
"Oh come on!" Emma shot across the desk. "In less than a day I got all your books back!"
"One book is missing."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Well other than suggesting Amazon..." The Saviour could tell her humour was falling on deaf ears. "I'll get your book back when I arrest Horder."
That wasn't soon enough. He could be doing anything to it, could be ripping it to shreds, dropping it out in the forest. She needed to get it back now. Digging her nails into her palm, Belle began to walk away from the Sherriff.
"Not if I find him first."
"HEY!" Belle snapped round at Emma's tone. The Saviour's eyes were burning into hers. "I swear, French, if Horder is missing any of his fingers when I find him then I will put you and Mister Madison behind bars for so long that there will be skeletons in my jail cells."
Belle let out a harsh chuckle before turning her gaze to Snow White's daughter. She had spirit, courage. She was a perfect candidate to bring down the curse and bring down Regina. But she wasn't any match for her. She smiled at her, mocking her with her mouth.
"Sheriff Swan, if you think that I need Mister Madison to take back what is mine, you have gravely underestimated me. I'd be careful not to make that mistake again."
Jefferson had been of help to her, he had been a friend and had acted as her right hand for nearly three decades now. But she had become feared in the Enchanted Forest centuries before he was even born. The Dark One was screaming at her to take revenge. It was perhaps time to stop hiding behind the Hatter and let the monster out to play.