The small set of bells attached to the door jingled as it opened. Dust fell from a nearby shelf as the woman at the counter frowned into the sudden light.
"Belle." Killian said, closing the door behind him.
"Killian." She greeted him. "What's going on? You sounded so frantic in your call."
"Emma was waiting for me at the Jolly after the meeting this morning." He approached the counter and sighed, expecting the worst from her. To his surprise, when he glanced up to meet her eyes, there was no malice. She merely looked concerned.
"And what did she say?" Belle tapped a few keys on her laptop, shutting down the screen and closing it.
"She, ah…" He trailed off for a moment. "She attempted to rip my heart out and told me that every time she does something evil the old Emma becomes even more obsolete."
"But you're still here. What else happened?"
"When her hand was wrapped around my heart, something strange happened. I saw the old Emma. Somehow she broke through the Dark One. But then she was gone. She told me she was sorry…" He cleared his throat.
"Oh, Killian." She reached across the counter and lay her hand on his. Then she frowned at him. "You haven't been taking care of yourself. Okay, come on." She reached under the counter and pulled out her sweater.
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to Granny's. I'm starving, and it looks like you haven't eaten in days." She rounded the counter and took his arm, steering him toward the door.
"No." He said, pulling out of her grip. "You heard everyone this morning. If I show my face there, I may end up at the bad end of a witch hunt. Anyway, I came to you for help, not a lunch date."
"Shut up and come on." She pulled her sweater on and took his arm again, forcefully pulling him out of the shop. "We are going to get something to eat and figure out how to help Emma."
That stopped all of Killian's protests. He was tired of hitting brick walls every time he tried to do something good and having an ally might be nice. They strolled slowly down the street and stopped in front of Granny's. As it was around noon, the place was full.
Belle gave him a reassuring smile and led him inside. The entire restaurant fell silent as they selected a table and sat down.
"I told you." He whispered, uncomfortably fiddling with a menu.
"They'll get over it." She responded, glaring around the restaurant. As if by some magic, the restaurant took their cue and started speaking again. "There." She flashed him another smile and scanned her menu.
Ruby stopped by to get their order, friendly as ever. After chatting with her for a few moments, Killian actually let himself pretend that everything was normal. Then she left to put the order in and he came crashing back to reality.
"I can't get it out of my mind, Belle." He sighed.
"I know. But maybe it's not a bad thing. Let's brainstorm. I know you're meeting with her because you love her. I tried to stay away from Rumple too, but I think you're like me, Killian. You want to help her because of your past. You feel that because you were the cause of someone else's loss that you have to fix it."
He opened his mouth to speak, but Belle cut him off.
"That's not a bad thing. It just means you have a lot of love and care to give. No matter how coarse you are on the outside." He nodded silently, looking down.
"However," she continued, "I also think that there's another reason." Ruby dropped off their drinks and he immediately took a sip of Hot Chocolate to hide his burning cheeks. "So I was right?"
He nodded again, taking another sip and promptly choking on it when Belle asked him to explain it. "Ah, I'm not sure it's something I should be talking about."
"That's your choice. I'm just looking to help you." She gave him a genuine smile and patted his hand.
He hesitated and leaned in, whispering across the table. "She said she is bored and wants a new…toy."
Her eyes widened and she covered her mouth, hiding a giggle. "As much as I am willing to help, I didn't see that coming out of your mouth."
Ruby dropped off their plates silently, careful not to disturb the pair.
Killian sighed again. "You see my problem."
"Alright, so, facts. When did she tell you this?" She picked up her burger and took a bite.
"The day she destroyed the supermarket. She got me alone and told me."
"Hmm. And then she told you she was bored and wanted to play with you. Then you-?" She raised her eyebrow expectantly.
"Okay, first off, can I just say how difficult this is? Discussing this with the town librarian? Who just also happens to be my lifelong enemy's ex-wife?" She nodded and he continued. "I told her to meet me, told her that it would be on my terms, we had some alone time, she left, then you know the rest. She said I poked the bear, whatever that means." He picked up his fork and poked at his food.
"So, you gave in to her then?"
"Um, no."
"Oh good! Now, it sounds like something is keeping Emma from following through on her threat. The heart thing." She waved her hand. "We need to capitalize on it. We need to get the ball back in your court."
"But what's holding her back?" He actually took a bite, feeling the smallest bit better.
"You. It's obviously you." He frowned at her, confused. "You said the old Emma was in there. Obviously the old Emma and Dark One Emma share the same affection for you. The same love. You need to remind Emma of that."
"Yeah? How?" He took another bite of his lunch.
"You're going to poke the bear again. You're going to make the Dark One jealous."