It didn't take David long to lead the two guards away from the tower, and dispatching them after that took only a matter of moments. David had always been the best hand with a sword on Red's crew, so he'd made quick work of the soldiers… now he just had to stash them somewhere out of sight, so as not to arouse suspicion until they were out of the castle and on their merry way. He glanced up and down the stone corridors, where was a conveniently located broom closet when he needed one? These castles were supposed to be filled with such things…
He wound up settling for a balcony, tucking the bodies away in a shadowy corner just out of sight from the inside, and was just closing the glass doors behind him when he found himself caught, again. He came to a sudden, abrupt halt as a woman dressed all in white came down the hallway towards him. She had long, raven colored hair, pinned and coiled elaborately atop her head, her skin only a few shades darker than her gown, making her dark eyes and full, cherry red lips pop. She was a woman David had heard of only by description, but he knew at once who she was: Snow White, the queen herself. The descriptions hadn't quite done her justice, though.
"What on earth are you wearing?" She demanded with a degree of familiarity he hadn't known he shared with a queen, and he found himself at a loss for words as she drew nearer, coming to stop in front of him. The whore had said he bore a resemblance to someone, hadn't she? "Did you borrow that from the stable boy?" Her tone was mocking.
"Maybe I did," he answered, trying to sound more confident than he felt. Snow raised an eyebrow at him incredulously.
"Is this one of those ridiculous games you have with those whores of yours? Honestly, James, I told you to keep that in your-" she continued speaking, but David's attention had waned after she called him 'James.' James as in King James? Snow White's husband, the king. David stared at her, even if they looked alike… well, shouldn't a woman know her own husband? "-absolutely ridiculous." She finished whatever she had been saying, and moved to brush past him out onto the balcony… the balcony where he had just stashed two dead bodies.
"Where are you going?" He asked, stepping quickly between the queen and the balcony door. You couldn't see the bodies from in here, but the moment she set foot out of that door she'd see them there and know something was amiss. Since David figured that killing the queen would be a very bad idea, he'd need her to go on her merry way without any suspicions.
"Out for a bit of fresh air," she answered, sidestepping around him and reaching for the door handle. David grabbed her by the arm and twirled her around, away from the balcony door, almost as though he were trying to dance with her. She gave him a startled look, pulling her arm away, but as she did she slipped and almost fell. Luckily for her David was quick on his feet, and he caught her, dipping her low before he spun her around, pressing her back up against the wall. Shit. This was not how he had meant this to go.
"What are you doing?" She asked incredulously, lifting her eyebrows at him. David didn't know quite what to say, but he figured if he was going to use this cover, he might as well commit to it.
"I thought you might care to join me in my ridiculous game." He grinned at her suggestively, glancing down the bodice of her dress, laughing when she smacked the back of his head.
"And what makes you think I want to get fucked by the stable boy?" She leaned in close, lowering her voice, her words dripping with derision.
"Not the stable boy, darling, a pirate." He grinned, pressing his body close to hers, hidden beneath layers of snowy white crinoline. "What queen doesn't want to be ravished by a handsome pirate?" He asked, kissing her neck. Snow pushed his head back roughly, placing her palm against his forehead.
"Are you feeling all right? Get off me, James." She laughed, before pushing David back, straightening her dress, watching his with suspicious eyes. "What's on the balcony you don't want me to see?"
"Nothing, no, I just… was struck by a sudden desire…" Snow tilted her head at him reaching out and putting her hand on the doorknob, a silent threat. David winced. "All right, all right, I'll come clean…" he sighed, his mind racing, "there's a whore on the balcony." He lied, and Snow frowned, rolling her eyes.
"Honestly, James, I don't know what to expect from you anymore." Snow sighed, crinkling her mouth in disappointment, she shook her head as she turned away and glided down the hallway. David watched her go, feeling slightly bad for deceiving her. He couldn't understand what was wrong with this King James; if he had a woman like that, he wouldn't be spending all his time with whores, that was for sure. He watched her turn the corner, still shaking her head, before he turned on his heel and started running back to the tower. He had work to do.
Killian drew his sword even before stepping over the threshold of the tower, glancing around quickly. No sign of the sorcerer, he was pleased to report… but no sign of the chest, either. The walls of the room were lined with shelves, full of not only books, but what appeared to be trinkets, although if Killian had his guess he'd say they likely had a more sinister purpose. "Don't touch anything," he muttered over his shoulder to the whore as she followed him in, also glancing around curiously.
In addition to the shelves, on the far side of the room there appeared to be a spinning wheel, next to a heap of straw, and he furrowed his brow, trying to avoid wondering what use that could be. He turned around in time to see Belle stoop over to pick something up. "I said don't touch anything!" He barked, and she jumped a little, before she scowled at the pirate and held up her hand, into which Gus had crawled.
"Just recovering our little friend. Somebody's on edge," she rolled her eyes, and Killian sighed deeply.
"Just don't need to set off any magical booby traps and wind up as one of the Dark One's experiments, all right? I haven't exactly figured out how to kill him just yet," He muttered, glancing towards a set of stairs. The chest must be up there… "Wait here, I'll take a look upstairs. And don't-"
"-Touch anything, I get it." She sighed, walking in front of the bookshelves and glancing at the spines of the books. Killian nodded, and disappeared up the stairs, leaving her to look over the contents of the shelves in peace. Belle might make her living as a prostitute, but she'd always had a voracious appetite for books. The other girls often teased her for spending all her hard-earned coin on books, but what did she care? Better than to spend it on drinks to dull the pain of existence. She scratched Gus behind the ears absently, tilting her head to the side to get a better look at the texts stacked up before her. Some seemed to be written in languages she'd never seen before, and others had the covers so faded she couldn't make out the words written there. She was squinting at one such cover, her fingers itching with the desire to pull the book out and take a look at the first few pages, despite Killian's many warnings, when she heard a slight coughing noise behind her, and she spun around.
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" The gold-skinned man drawled, gesturing with his long-taloned fingers towards her, his dark eyes bright with malice. "Are you lost, dearie?"
Belle's breath caught, her eyelashes fluttering, at a loss for words as the sorcerer advanced towards her, his eyes demanding an answer. It wasn't until Gus bit her thumb that her eyes were forced away from the Dark One, down to the little mouse in her palm, that she found her tongue. "Not exactly, but my little friend here was. I followed him up here, I'm sorry if it's any trouble." Her voice was the epitome of sweetness and sincerity, but Rumpelstiltskin's eyes narrowed as he stepped closer.
"Oh, is that so?" Belle's eyes widened slightly at the way his voice rose dramatically and he drew near enough to look down into her palm, to see the chubby little mouse nestled there. "Aw, now, isn't that just the most ador-a-ble thing? Little clothes and everything." Belle could hear the patronisation dripping from every word. "But how did you and your little friend get past the barrier?" He looked up to her sharply, tilting his head.
"What barrier?" She asked with genuine curiosity, and his eyes narrowed again. Over his shoulder, she could see Killian emerging at the bottom of the stairs, the chest in his hands. His eyes widened when he saw who she was talking to, quirking an eyebrow at her. She glanced towards the door quickly, to signal him to go for it, but even that gesture was enough to get Rumpelstiltskin to spin around, catching sight of the pirate. Killian dropped the chest, reaching for the sword he'd already sheathed, but he wasn't quite quick enough, and within seconds he was writhing on the ground in pain while Rumpelstiltskin twisted his hand in mid-air.
"I see you brought more than one 'little friend' along with you." He cackled mercilessly, reaching out his other hand towards Belle, who similarly fell to her knees, crying out.
David heard her cry just as he reached the top of the landing outside the tower, and cautiously, he peered inside to see the both of them debilitated. He kept his curses contained, backing away from the door. He didn't stand a chance against the sorcerer alone… he gritted his teeth as he could hear the pair of them screaming in pain, steeling himself as he took off down the stairs.
Cap'n would know what to do. She always did.
"Come on, Will, let's play a game. It's too boring in here to just sit." Red pouted, lying down on her stomach on Killian's bed, her ankle sore from the heavy manacle securing her in place, propping herself up on her elbows as she stared at the grumpy pirate, leaning against the wall. "We can play cards, or dice, or anything you like-"
"I don't want to play any game with you, you bloody siren." Will snapped at long last, looking towards her. "I don't want to talk to you, or listen to you, or even look at you. Because once I do, you'll use your womanly wiles and you'll ensnare me just as you have the captain, and then if it comes the time to do what's gotta be done, I won't be able to do it. And that's your damn plan, you manipulative harpy."
Red blinked, then tilted her head at him. "What's gotta be done?" She repeated back to him, "you mean like…?" she drew a finger across her neck, and he glanced towards her briefly, to nod. "Oh, I see." She was silent for a moment, before she continued on. "But you know, I'm sure you could do it anyway. Big, strong man like you, I mean, there had to be a reason why Killian-"
"Captain Jones." He interrupted her, and Ruby rolled her eyes, before she nodded.
"Yes, yes, captain Jones. There must be a reason why he chose you, and it must be because he thought you'd have the ruthlessness required to be able to murder a defenseless woman if it came down to it." She shrugged simply. "A man like that, why, I don't suppose that whether or not he knew that helpless woman would impact his ability to do away with her at all."
Will glanced towards her despite himself, unable to stop his gaze from lingering on the place where her bosom rolled over the top of her tightly cinched corset, before he looked away quickly. "Damn right, it wouldn't." He agreed too quickly, and Red smiled wickedly.
"So, in that case… we should be able to enjoy one another's company while we pass the time, don't you think?"
A few hours later and Will had pulled a chair over next to the bed, and he and Ruby were passing a flask of something that smelled like it could strip paint back and forth over a hand of cards when the door banged open, and in came a very out of breath David, followed by a bedraggled looking Mr Smee. "Cap'n," David said once he'd caught his breath, pausing in front of the bed.
"David, what happened?" Red glanced at Will, whose eyes had darkened, and her eyes flickered down to the hand that had wrapped itself around the knife hanging from his belt.
"We were caught, Rumpelstiltskin has Hook and Belle." Red's eyes widened, jumping to her feet even as Will lunged forward, knocking the chair back. David saw him going for Red, and grabbed him by the arm, hauling him back and wrenching the knife from his grip. Ruby grabbed the chain that was holding her by the ankle, brandishing it like a weapon as Mr Smee looked on in horror.
"We can get your captain back, but not if you kill us," Red told the both of them, Will still struggling against David's hold. He had him for the moment, but Red knew that she and David couldn't fight off the whole crew, not if Mr Smee struck up the alarm. Not before she was able to get out of these cuffs.
"Rumpelstiltskin will kill the captain this time, make no mistake." Smee grumbled, and Red narrowed her eyes. Everyone knew the imp and Hook had a troubled past, but Killian hadn't shared those details with her. Maybe if he had, she'd be in a better position to save his ass now.
"He'll torture him first, I can promise you that. We can get to him before he kills him, though, if you let us hep." She implored the two men.
"It's your help that's gotten the captain into this mess!" Will shouted, still trying to pull away from David without success.
"And it's my help that will save him! Now decide, would you rather kill me, or save him?" She asked, sinking down to her knees to look into Will's eyes. He took a deep breath, looking back at her, then sigh.
"Fine… fine, you'll help. But if we don't save the captain, I'll-"
"Do what's gotta be done. I got it. Now get this thing off me." She pointed to the chain on her ankle, it seemed like she wouldn't be sitting out anymore.