As if he didn't have enough to do, Rumpelstiltskin had begun stalking Delilah. She hadn't been by to see him since the damn mineshaft explosion and he'd even found the books he'd lent her wrapped nicely in paper and left on his front porch one morning. It was hard to believe that she really wasn't coming back, and every time he heard the little bell on his door ring out he found himself even more snappish than usual when he was inevitably disappointed. If Belle had chosen to reject him, he liked to think he'd have accepted that and left her alone, but to have Delilah decide she hated him...he at least needed Belle to give him a chance. He needed a chance to explain things, to apologize, and to throw himself at her feet and beg for forgiveness. He needed that.
So, hours after being outed for having set a fire with the intention of killing Regina, he was following her maid around town from a discrete distance. It was a good thing the new sheriff wasn't around at the moment because he wasn't sure he could talk his way out of this one.
Delilah had been sent out on some errand or another that took her to a rather seedy side of town at a fairly late hour – or maybe it just felt late because everyone was out waiting for the results of the election, leaving the streets on this side of town fairly deserted. She seemed nervous, wrapping her arms around herself and keeping her head down as she walked fast (almost too fast for him to keep her in sight) through the streets. She was glancing around her as well, clearly not belonging here.
"Hey, pretty lady," he heard someone call out from a side street.
Delilah increased her speed at the voice, but it didn't help. A tall man had stumbled out into the road from a side street and was keeping pace with her. She was walking as fast as she could go without breaking into a run, but he was having an easy time keeping pace with her due to his height advantage.
"Slow down, baby," the stranger said with a jovial tone that Rumpelstiltskin recognized as being from a drunk. "Where are you going in such a hurry?"
It was that Sheriff from Sherwood Forest, he realized belatedly. The one who had wanted to trade a night with Belle for the location of Robin Hood. He choked down his initial reaction (beating the man unconscious with his cane) and instead lurked a little closer. Mr. Gold shouldn't care about some lumbering jackass chasing down a girl, and he had to be Mr. Gold until he couldn't be him anymore.
"Not gonna answer me?" Nottingham said with a smile. "What, are you stuck up or something?"
The man was clearly drunk, and Rumpelstiltskin's fingers itched with the memory of the magic he should have used on him back then. If anything happened to her, there was no way he could forgive himself for letting the bastard live.
Delilah's body language screamed hunted – she wasn't running yet, but she was watching her surroundings intensely and was moving on the balls of her feet. She couldn't shout for help, and had absolutely no chance should Nottingham decide to attack her. She was so small, and he was struck by a need to protect her stronger than any he'd ever felt.
"Too good for me?" Nottingham slurred, reaching out to grab her arm and hold her still. "Come on, baby, smile."
Rumpelstiltskin didn't have a plan as he strode towards the pair of them as fast as he could, he just knew that a man was touching Belle against her will and that was something that could not be allowed to continue.
He'd always taken a dim view of men who forced themselves on women, and the fact that this was Belle (or as close to Belle as he could get here) only spurred him on. Nottingham was still saying something or another to her, and her eyes were wide with terror as Rumpelstiltskin arrived on the scene. The way Nottingham flinched a little at his arrival told him that being Mr. Gold was the way to approach this situation, he wielded a different kind of power here, after all.
"Am I interrupting something?" he said as calmly as he could muster when there was a man holding Belle's arm like that.
Nottingham released Delilah instantly, stepping back and raising his hands.
"Nah, man," he replied. "Just a friendly conversation."
"Indeed?" Rumpelstiltskin-as-Gold added, glancing over towards Delilah. "Are you alright, dearie?"
Delilah nodded, and he could see the tension in her face and hands and the pounding of her pulse in her neck. She looked like a doe that had heard something in the distance and was trying to decide if it should sprint.
"I was just asking her a question," Nottingham said lamely. "That's all. There's no law against that."
"Perhaps you should move along," Rumpelstiltskin replied with a snarl. "The lady hasn't been in much of a talking mood the last few years."
Whatever else he was in this world, Nottingham wasn't eager to pick a fight – or at least not eager to pick a fight with someone who may actually pose a challenge to him. He backed away a few feet before turning and stumbling off in search of some other poor soul to harass. Rumpelstiltskin exhaled in relief. Truthfully, he wasn't sure he could have done much against the man had he really been determined to press the issue.
He was about to ask Delilah how she was doing when he felt her body slam into his a little harder than he thought she meant to as she slipped her arms around him and pressed her face into his chest. She was crying, he realized. She must have been terrified to be seeking comfort in his arms, but if she was willing to give him this then he would be willing to take it.
He wrapped his arms around her tight, holding her as she shook like a leaf.
"Shhh, darling," he whispered into her ear, giving her whatever strength he had. "It's alright, he's gone now. It'll be alright."
She nodded and pulled away from him a little bit, unwrapping her hands from around his back.
S-T-I-L-L-M-A-D, she signed. B-U-T-T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U.
She returned to her hug then, arms sliding under his jacket as she practically burrowed into him. She was still angry, and he had suspected that all along, but this was the first moment it occurred to him that she might be willing to forgive him for it before the curse lifted.
The longer she thought on it, the more Belle was beginning to suspect that Mr. Gold had woken up and was her Rumple again. After coming to her rescue, he'd walked with her to deliver the envelope Regina had asked her to take to the Daily Mirror offices, and then walked her home (well, most of the way home – he'd stopped about three houses down, but she'd felt his eyes on her even as she walked through the front door). The whole thing was impossibly romantic, and Belle had come dangerously close to trying her kiss again to see what he'd do. She had to constantly remind herself that she was still supposed to be angry with him for risking Henry's life or she probably would have.
The fact that she had to remind herself to be mad at him meant it was just a matter of time before she returned to the shop to see him, and the fact he'd been apparently following her meant there were no hard feelings on his part. She wasn't entirely sure how she felt about him stalking her, but she had to admit that it had saved her life tonight.
By the time she got back to her room, she wasn't really surprised to find Henry waiting for her.
"Did you hear the news?" he gushed happily, bouncing where he sat on her bed.
She shook her head and he continued.
"My mom won the election!"
That's good, she signed. That's very good.
"Things are going to get better now!"
I'm sure they will.
Henry stopped talking for a minute and was staring intensely at Belle.
Are you okay? He signed to her.
Yeah, she replied. I'm fine. I saw Mr. Gold again.
What did he say?
He didn't say anything, she explained, picking up her hairbrush just to have something to do. He saved me, though. A man tried to attack me and he saved me.
That's great! Henry signed back, becoming less excited at Belle's glare. I mean it's great that he saved you, not that you were attacked.
I'm fine, by the way, Belle added, sticking her tongue out. But I'm very thankful he was there.
"Are you still mad at him?" Henry said out loud this time.
Belle sighed, coming to sit with Henry on the bed.
He and I have a complicated relationship, she said. But I'm not still mad. Not really, anyway.
"He loves you," he pointed out. "Or else he wouldn't care that you were mad."
I know he loves me, but he still risked your life for no good reason.
"I was okay though," Henry said. "Archie was with me, and Emma wouldn't have let anything bad happen to me."
They'd had this discussion quite a few times since the mineshaft incident, and Belle didn't really want to go through it again.
Be that as it may, he wouldn't help me speak.
"I still think you should forgive him," Henry's entire demeanor was a lot more serious now than it had been before. "I don't know if you'll be safe here forever, Belle. And I'd feel better if you could leave."
Henry hadn't given voice to that fear yet, but Belle wasn't entirely surprised that the sweet little boy would fear for her. He was such a brave child, but there was no way she could leave him alone with Regina – not knowing what she did about the queen's methods.
I'm not leaving you, Belle insisted. As long as you're here, I'll be here.
"I think you should go back to him," Henry replied anyway. "You know he'll protect you from my mom. He's the only one who can."
The only way I'm going back to Rumpelstiltskin is because you're safe with Emma and the Queen is defeated.
You can't protect me, Belle, Henry signed to her. Only Emma can. I want you to be safe, too. My mom won't hurt me.
Belle couldn't agree with his assessment of what Regina would and wouldn't do, especially after what had happened to poor Graham, but she didn't want to scare him, either. As long as Henry was there, Belle would be there too. She had nothing left but Henry and the hope of Rumpelstiltskin, and only one of those two was dependent on her.
Belle had always wanted to be brave, always wanted to be like her mother. There were no ogres in Storybrooke, but there was Regina and even if it killed her Belle wouldn't leave Henry alone with the witch. How could she live with herself if she left a child alone like that?
She hugged Henry tight for a few minutes until he squirmed and she had to send him off to bed. He was still too excited by Emma's victory to be able to settle down, and she knew it would be awful waking him in the morning, but she needed some time to herself to think about what had happened that night.
Henry was right in that at some point, Regina was going to try to kill her. That was a fact. Honestly, Belle was amazed she'd gone this long living with the woman. Leaving her alive with her memories intact (even if she couldn't speak) was a risk that she was surprised Regina would take. There had to be an ulterior motive for it, and it bothered her that she wasn't sure what that was. She didn't think Regina had ever planned on Belle raising Henry, so that wasn't it, but she couldn't for the life of her determine what it might actually be that had kept her alive the last thirty years.
Belle hoped that Emma would be able to break the curse before Regina became too desperate. Otherwise there was no telling who would be the next to suffer Regina's wrath. Belle had a suspicion it would be her, but she would be brave. Henry was counting on her, and Belle wouldn't let him down. She would make her own mother proud.