Summary: Mr. Gold is freed like he knew he would be and he as drawn to the hospital, down to the basement where he found her.
Disclaimer: I own nothing of the show or the characters.
Rating: T+
Pairing: Belle/Rumpelstiltskin
A/N: I am mixing in a little bit from the mini series 10th KINGDOM.
FINDING BELLE:
GOLD'S SHOP:
Gold felt his whole body tingling with the feeling of Belle still on his skin. When they touched, he could feel her feeling his skin with the tips of her fingers. It was so intoxicating and it made his passion rise to a new level. He was lost in thought thinking about her, the Gold nearly missed the buzzing in his vest pocket. His cell phone was buzzing. Taking it out there was text from Sheriff Swan. "What could she want?" selecting the text; Gold read the content suspecting that this would happen. Regina was free.
"Belle?" There was no answer. Heading through the arch way to the back of the shop, Belle wasn't there. He had a sneaking suspicion as to where his lover was. At this very moment Gold knew Belle to be at the Mayor's office. "Dearie, what are you up to?" Gold muttered. There was nothing more for him to do at his shop. It would be best for him to go home and wait for her there. Right now there was the matter of the dagger. Rumpelstiltskin would have to find somewhere new for the blade to be hidden.
THE MAYOR'S OFFICE:
Regina rubbed at the side of neck as she fit the key to her office in the lock. There were a few papers she needed before finally heading him to take a shower. Being locked in a cell for a whole day had been more than she could bear. Emma swan had no right to do that to her. The lock disengaged allowing Regina to open the door. On her desk, lying on her side and her head resting on her palm was Belle. She wore a Cheshire grin. "How did you get in here?" Regina snapped.
Belle sat up shrugging lazily. Then, she made a motion with her fingers and the door behind Regina closed and locked. "With just a flick of my wrist," Belle smirked feeling the magic's desire to act more. She imagined a tight fist holding all of her magic in. Belle pictured steel locking around the fist to keep her power from overwhelming her. Control and a clear mind returned to her.
"That's impossible." Regina was genuinely stunned. She didn't even have her powers. Now this girl was wielding magic. Rumpelstiltskin was screwing around with her plan, after twenty-eight years he finally made a move.
"Welcome to the new Storybrooke." Belle taunted sliding off the desk to stand in front of Regina . "You should be pleased to know, I'm not pressing charges. Of course no judge in there right mind would believe me anyway. I'm all healed."
"Did you just come here to gloat?" Regina snarled in no mood to be taunted by a child.
"Gloat, me… never," Belle chuckled. "I just wanted to see your face when you got out of that cell. Personally I would like to see you humiliated in public," She snapped, "Oh wait, that's right, you were arrested. My wish come true," Belle made a grand gesture of sweeping her hair over her left shoulder and turning her back on the Queen. Mentally she counted down from three just waiting for Regina to say something. The runes on her spine were plain to see.
Regina saw the runes on Belle's back. "You didn't…" if what she was seeing was true, then Rumpelstiltskin was restored to his power and sharing it with his lover. Belle then held her hand up where a shimmering mark caught her attention.
"Oh, we did, over and over." Belle answered looking over her shoulder at Regina. Taunting the Evil Queen was not the smartest move she could make, but it was something. "Rumpelstiltskin is back," she laughed feeling the part of Rumpelstiltskin she held inside of her bleed through into her personality. "As much fun as this has been, I really should be going. Have a nice night Regina."
"Do you think you've won?" Regina asked pouring acid into her tone.
"Won?" Belle pondered, "No," She shook her head turning to face Regina down. "We have the upper hand; at least for the moment." Belle answered seeing right through Regina. "I'm not a fool to ignore the fact you are planning something. But, let me warn you now, we will come out on top and stronger than ever." Belle went through the door and with a satisfied smile she headed home to where he was waiting for her. Rumpelstiltskin was at home, she knew this, she could feel it, and he was waiting for her. It was odd; Belle could tell where he was just by thinking of him.
At home, Belle found Gold sitting on the couch with the dagger in his hand. His name caught the light drawing her attention. There was a look of such sorrow on his face. "What's happened?" Belle asked. He said nothing, still just holding the dagger. Taking a step and then another Belle came to the couch and sat next to him.
"I've condemned you," He finally answered bringing the glass of whiskey to his lips to take a sip. Ti all sank in on what he had done to the woman he loved so dearly. Turning the blade he showed her what was on the other side; her name elaborately carved just as his. Her slender fingers gripped the hilt, taking it from his grasp. "I'm sorry I shouldn't…"
"I wanted this," Belle replied adamantly. So what, her name was carved on a blade just as his was. It didn't matter to her. This was to be her life now and she accepted it. "I chose you and whatever comes with it. So, my name is on the blade with yours, it doesn't matter to me. I'm with you, forever…"
"Belle," He turned to her, "If I perish, then you will follow me in death. If you die then I will also fall." Gold stood up, took a sip of the whiskey, and paced in a tight back and forth line in front of the coffee table. He had hoped to avoid this fate for Belle. It was all well and good that his name was on the blade; it was his punishment for killing the Dark One. This was alright for him, he accepted his fate. But for Belle to have to be tied to the deadly repercussions of the blade was not something he had foreseen. Rumpelstiltskin should have.
"Are you telling me that I am chink in your armor?" Belle teased. She was trying to get him to smile. Her life was on the path it was meant to take; with him. True, she hadn't pictured her life turning out like this, but to with him Belle would endure anything.
"Be serious, dearie…" Gold leaned his head to the side watching the light bring out copper highlights in her hair. He could almost see her in the gold dress he had first laid eyes on her in. upon seeing her for the first time Rumpelstiltskin had thought she was gorgeous; a Belle indeed. When she had said that she would go with him, his heart had sped up.
"Please, my love let this line of thought die. We are going to be together with the good and the bad. This blade just reminds us how close we are." Belle walked to him and cupped his face. "I love you. I can't say that enough." She stroked a strand of his hair like she had after she had kissed him. "Your hair is getting some of its old style back."
"You are being wicked dearie," Rumpelstiltskin purred, "You're trying to take my mind off of this very serious situation." He slipped his arms around her waist hauling her closer. There was so much strength in him now with his renewed powers and Belle with him. She kissed him playfully.
"I know," She smirked. "I'm finding my wicked side and playing with it." Belle giggled draping her arms over his shoulders. Leaning into him, she rested her head against his chest with his arms tightening on her waist holding her closer and closer.
Out in the woods Emma stepped around a tree to see Henry's sitting on a stump waiting for her. The night air was nippy and he was huddled in his jacket hugging the book of Fairy tales that he loved so much. "Henry, what are you doing out here?"
"I have to show you something." Henry got up. After he had seen Mr. Gold in the cabin, it had gotten him curious. When he came out here this afternoon that's when he had found something to make Emma believe for real that everything he had been telling her had been the truth. "Come on." He got up off the stump and started off into the dark of the woods.
"You mother is going to throw a fit when she gets home and finds you gone." Emma called out.
"No she won't. She wasn't even home when I topped there to get the book and my backpack." Henry reasoned. Lately he had been more comfortable sneaking out of his mother's house, staying up late, and do so many other things that he shouldn't be doing.
"Henry," Emma scolded, but she followed him; curiosity winning out. She wanted to know what he had seen that was so important to show her in the middle of the night. "Why are we doing this in the middle of the night?" She asked ducking branches and skirting around bushes.
Henry didn't answer as he walked on through the darkness. What he had found couldn't be described with words. It had to be seen with ones own eyes for it to be believed. "Seeing is believing." Henry muttered. He moved around a boulder, over a fallen tree, and then down into a deep trench. There in the middle was what he wanted to show Emma.
"A ditch? You wanted to show me a ditch?" Emma grumbled. As she looked at Henry her eyes tracked to a slight shimmer in the air, almost like the glowing of someone's breath as it is illuminated by a candle. In the center of the ditch was a fracture almost. It looked like a broken mirror, but where she would see her and Henry's reflections should be she saw another world. Emma saw mountains in the distance and a castle nestled amongst the snow. "What am I looking at?"
"Home," Henry whispered. Ever since he had gotten the book, he had done nothing but dream of what it would be like to be in the Fairy Tale world. It was where he belonged, where Emma belonged.
At her house, Regina pulled in the drive way to see Gage sitting on hr front stoop. This wasn't what she needed. All she wanted was a hot shower to wash away the grime of the sheriff's station and a change of clothes. She wasn't in the mood for whiny love sick little lords. But, she pulled on the mask of being a friend because and idea was forming in her mind as how to use Gage next. "Gage, is everything alright?"
Gage stood up, "No, she's still with that man. She doesn't want to leave." He grumbled bunching his hands into fists.
"If you could take him out of the picture, would you do anything?" Regina asked trying to steer the conversation as to prompt Gage into violent action against Gold. Oh how she loathed that man now. Rumpelstiltskin had always been powerful, but she was deceitful and evil. Even though he played at being an imp, he was still a good man at heart. It would be his downfall.
"I would kill him." Gage growled. Tucked into the back of his jeans was a 9mm berretta with a full clip. Gold never deserved Belle and she would be better off back home with him.
"Then perhaps you should…" Regina mused trying to hide the smile of triumph when Gage moved off and left her house. Now Gold would get payback for her night in jail. It seemed fitting.
In bed, Rumpelstiltskin woke to emptiness, Belle wasn't beside him. Sitting up, putting his feet on the floor, he almost expected to feel pain race along the nerve endings of his right leg to remind him that he was human, a human trapped in world not of his own. The pain didn't come. Rumpelstiltskin sat there for a few moments truly allowing his renewed power to sink in. He had it back. He was truly whole again. Belle had made him who he was again. For that he loved her more and more with each passing breath. Rising from the edge of the bed with a sneer to the cane resting against the night table, Gold walked out of his room and down the stairs.
Sitting on the counter in the kitchen he found Belle cradling the chipped cup gracefully in her hands. Her eyes were closed and her head was resting against the cabinets with her face turned towards the shining silvery moon light filtering through the glass window. Belle looked like a goddess wearing a white gossamer gown; it just glowed against her skin and auburn of her curls. Gold took breath to look at her. He could never get enough of her; a pure vision of beauty. Her namesake. This was the woman he loved like no other on this Earth or in the Fairy Tale world. She was his one redeeming grace. Belle made him a better man by just being with him.
"You still owe me the story about your son." Belle fluttered her lashes open, turning her head to look at him. From a dead sleep she had been pulled from bed and compelled to come down here to sit under the light of the full moon. In that time she had thought on what had woken her, but then her brain had stayed on to the subject of his son; the son he never finished telling her about even though he had made a deal with her.
Rumpelstiltskin crossed his arm over his chest leaning against the wall. He closed his eyes seeing the last time he had pictured his son. Tears filled his eyes like they hadn't since the Queen had told him Belle had died. "I lost him, I told you." That was his default answer. A tear slipped free and Belle was there to wipe it away. When had she moved? When had she come to him? He grabbed her wrist automatically. Belle jumped, but not out of fear. "He couldn't handle what his father was becoming. I became evil in spite of what I wanted to do with the magic I was tricked into."
"I'm so sorry," Belle felt her heart break for him and the loss of his son. She pulled his close, getting him to bury his face against the crook of her neck. He went willingly, in desperate need of her touch. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Belle repeated over and over again just stroking the back of his hair while holding him close. In the dark, the silence of the house, the proud and powerful Rumpelstiltskin cried. She placed gentle loving kisses to his temple feeling him fall into tremors, his tears were abating.
He couldn't stop himself. The tears just kept coming and coming no matter how he tried to force them to stop. Belle just held him, comforted him, as he wept for the loss of his beloved son. It was weak and pointless and a waste of time. Yet here he was leaning against her, letting her see him at his most vulnerable, and she stayed with him. Before, he had been so sure that she could never care for him. Now he was happy to be wrong. Rumpelstiltskin loved Belle so much that he trusted her to the point to allow this sign of weakness.
As he continued to shake, to feel the gravity of his loss, Gold felt something on the outskirts of his consciousness. It was the last thin tie he had to the fairy tale world and it was tugging at him, at the power inside of him. Pulling back from Belle he looked her deeply in the eyes trying to draw on her strength. She locked gazed with him while wiping away the evidence of his tears. "Do you feel that?" Gold's voice cracked from the clawing, choking, weight of his flood of sorrow.
"Feel what?" No sooner had the words escaped her mouth than Belle felt an odd pulling sensation at the back of her mind. "What is that?" As best as she could she followed the metaphysical thread back to its source. There in her mind she saw it and much more.
"It's the connection we have with home." Rumpelstiltskin looked around. "There must be a crack between the worlds somewhere." It was a familiar, welcome, feeling that he had longed desired to sense again. Rumpelstiltskin was tied to the fairy tale land more so than anyone else, including the queen. He felt the magic of their world and knew how to draw on it to make himself stronger. Rumpelstiltskin locked gazes with Belle, "Go get dressed. We have to go." She said nothing as they went up stairs to change.
Back out in the woods Emma still stood staring at the fracture in disbelief. Henry was sitting on a large rock fighting off sleep. She couldn't believe it. All of his stories, the book; all of it was real. Foolishness and guilt washed over Emma at not believing him in the first place. After all she knew when people were lying to her and Henry had never lied to her. "How is this possible?"
"Magic..." Henry slurred. Sleep was clawing at him, trying to draw him into rest.
Emma looked back at him to see Henry slump over, "Ok, kid, it's time to take you home." She pulled herself away from the door to go over to Henry.
"Sheriff Swan."
Emma whirled around pulling her weapon on Gold and Belle. Gold held up his hands in a gesture that conveyed he was unarmed. "What are you doing out here?" She questioned.
"The same as you," Belle answered stepping from Rumpelstiltskin's side. "We had to see it for ourselves." Not waiting for him or the Sheriff Belle moved to the fracture where her heart leapt into her throat. There in the distance was the Dark Castle. Home had never been so close. Her hand reached out, slipped through the fracture. It was cold on the other side, but she was laughing. "It's cold on the other side and it's snowing." She brought her hand back to see snow on her fingers and palm. Rumpelstiltskin was right there with her looking out at the distance.
"I do not believe it." Rumpelstiltskin breathed out in disbelief. "It's a traveling mirror. Never would I have believed…" His voice was quiet, reverent in its amazement. "This is a piece of our history Belle."
"Traveling mirror?" Emma scoffed, "Now that's ridiculous."
"No," Gold turned on her, turned away from the sight of his home. "This is not a figment of your imagination. In our history magic was harnessed into mirrors that could spy, mirrors to forget, mirrors to remember, mirrors that could be used to rule the world. Traveling mirrors were rare and valued, but war soon broke out and the mirrors were hidden away to be forgotten." Gold looked back to the shimmering fracture. All the stories his grandfather had told him had been true.
"We could go home right now." Belle touched his shoulder. A small glimmer of hope welled up inside of her. The Dark Castle was so close, within reach. They could step through and live the life that should have been theirs.
"No, we can't dearie." Rumpelstiltskin shook his head. "We have to stop Regina." It pained him to admit it, but he had finally made the choice to side with Emma even though the Sheriff loathed him.
Belle smiled at her love and then turned to Emma, "That means you have to move against the Queen and soon." A moment of fear dashed through Emma's eyes. "We'll help you, but you have to take her on."
"Why me?" from the day she got to Storybrooke, Henry had been telling her that she was going to have to take on his mother in a battle to end the curse. Now, Belle, was going to stand with her when they hardly knew each other.
"Because that is how I divined it to be." Gold made a flourish with his hands. "Once spoken, words of power can not be undone. The Queen believes you can defeat her and so you shall." He smiled broadly feeling bits and pieces of his old personality coming back.
"Great…" Emma muttered. "So what am I supposed to do?" She looked down at Henry, the son she gave up. Her heart clenched at what all this might do to him down the road.
Gold came closer to see Henry slumped over asleep, "First, take your boy home. Then, tomorrow come by my shop and we'll talk them." Emma nodded.
Belle watched Emma go to her son, watched as she whispered to him gently. For a split second she allowed herself to imagine what Rumpelstiltskin would be like if they had a child together. Would be a loving father with only their protection in mind? She could see him like that, picture him as a fierce and protective father. Would he want to be a father again or was once enough? Belle looked back at him as his eyes were riveted on the traveling mirror. If they wanted, they could go home right now and put the battle between Regina and Emma behind them. In a matter of seconds they could be back in their world living in the Dark Castle as if the pas had never happened. But she knew that couldn't be. They had just made a choice and now they had to stick to it. Rumpelstiltskin wasn't going to sit on the sidelines anymore.
Standing, staring at his home Rumpelstiltskin was fighting temptation tooth and nail not to step through. He wanted nothing more than to step through the fracture and to once again be all powerful in a land where nothing could harm him. Once home he would have Belle and his life would be complete, but Regina was still a problem. As long as she was alive Belle would always be in the cross hairs of whatever plot the Queen could concoct. Forcing himself away from the fracture Gold looked at Emma walking away with a slow moving Henry. His heart clenched at the sight. Seeing them made him miss his son Baelfire all the more. Then his eyes tracked to Belle as she stared at him with a knowing look.
Belle waited for Emma and Henry to hike back up the embankment before she dared to go to Rumpelstiltskin. Just seeing the two of them made her heart ach for the son her love had lost all those years ago. No parent should have to out live their own child and hat was what happened to him. He outlived everyone. But not her, not this time. Going to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist while pillowing her head on his shoulder. The warmth of his arms came around her sealing her close to him just as it should have been from that first moment. There were times she could still feel his hand on her waist as they stood in front of her father after agreeing to go with him. On that night her life had changed for the better.
"Are you sure you want to do this dearie?" He asked keeping his eyes locked on the embankment where Henry and Emma had disappeared over. Second thoughts were slowly creeping in. If he didn't fight out the memory, then he could almost hear Belle calling him a coward again. That time, that amount of cruelty had been for her benefit so he could protect her from the Queen. In the end it hadn't mattered. Belle had still fallen into the hands of the Queen. He should have just kept her there, tried to explain. Things might have turned out different.
"Yes," Belle whispered looking longingly at home again. "We should go before we get too tempted." Gold angled his head looking down at her, a devilish smirk playing on his lips.
"Tempted you say? Why, whatever do you mean?" He teased kissing her quickly and repeatedly. Belle giggled into each kiss bringing her arm over his shoulder to tangle her fingers in his hair.
Halfway back to the car Henry stumbled out of exhaustion. Emma took his backpack, slinging it over her shoulder before she picked him up. His arms went around her neck. Her heart clenched in her chest. This was the firs time she had held her son this close. What was she going to tell Regina when she showed up in the police cruiser and Henry was in the front seat half asleep? Maybe she could skip that all together and just take him back to her apartment with Mary Margaret. It was late enough and Emma didn't feel safe enough to take him home and send him into the lions den with the way Regina had been. Emma was the Sheriff and it was her job to look out for the well being of the people in this town and that included Henry.
Before she knew it they were back at the cruiser and Emma was setting Henry down when a deafening crack sounded in the silence of the forest. A gun shot. Emma ducked down pulling him with her. She managed to get the keys in the lock, turn, and open the door pushing Henry in the front seat down on the floor board. "Stay here and stay down." Emma ordered. She pulled out her side arm before shutting the door quietly. Back out into the night she moved swiftly. There was a feeling that she would end up back where Gold and Belle had been lingering.
In the dark another shot rang out a few inches from her left. Emma fell. She tumbled down the embankment where she saw Gold and Belle lying on the ground. Gold was moving, but Belle was still. Crawling on her belly like she had seen many times in war movies Emma made it over to him and used the lip of the other side of the ditch for cover. There was blood. Her right hand went to the side of Belle's neck. There she found a pulse; it was weak, but steady. Next to Belle, Gold groaned. On the fabric of his dark blue shirt she could see blood pooling in the fabric.
Gold had never felt anything like that before. One minute he was savoring Belle's lips and the next a searing pain was tearing through her chest and into his shoulder. He could feel her pain just as he was feeling his. It was blinding, so hard to breathe through. Gritting his teeth he managed to pull himself up, over to Belle. She wasn't moving. "No, no, no… Belle!" Blood coated her chest. He could hardly feel her. This couldn't happen. He couldn't lose her, not now.
"She has a pulse…" Emma sputtered. Her nerves were wracked because Henry was still in the cruiser. Pulling out her cell phone Emma called for paramedics. "This is Sheriff Swan, we have to gun shot victims in the forest off of route 6. We need an ambulance and paramedics… HURRY!" she shouted.