Chapter Twelve: Skin Deep
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"So, I really am sorry about yesterday," Belle said as she walked down the streets with Gold.
"It's alright dearie. My reputation precedes me," Gold told her.
"Oomph!" Belle had walked into another man.
"Sorry!" Belle cried. "I wasn't looking where I was going and..."
"It's alright," the man said. He glanced up and paled. "Gold." He turned and began to walk away hurriedly.
"No wait!" Belle quoted herself. She smiled at the man. "Who are you? I'm Lacey. Lacey Belle French."
"Moe French."
Belle gasped. "Moe French?"
Mr. French nodded. He had unseen tears. "I had a daughter Lacey once. I was told you were dead."
Belle sighed. "Asylum. Locked up for my own good and all that." She gestured to Gold. "Mr. Gold's showing me around, introducing me. Everyone seems very lovely."
"He's showing you around?" Mr. French's voice went an octave higher.
"Lacey," Gold muttered, "Miss Swan will-"
"I know," Belle sighed. She turned to Mr. French. "I'll see you around town? I'd love to get to know you."
Mr. French nodded. "And you have a place to stay?"
Belle smiled. "Yes. Thank you for asking. Now, if you'll excuse us, me and Mr. Gold-"
"Mary Margaret would have your head," Gold said under his breath.
"-have to meet with some people." Belle threw a dirty look at Gold. Turning back to her father, she added, "Have a nice day."
Moe French returned her sentiments and then turned to face Gold. "I'll have your money next week."
Gold sighed. "The terms of the loan were fairly specific."
Belle steeped between them. "I'm sure Mr. Gold can extend your time to give him the money." She looked back at Gold with an 'agree or else' look.
"Of course," Gold said softly. "Now run along before I change my mind."
Mr. Drenched thanked Belle and rushed off.
"I'll hold you to this, Rumple," Belle said. She reached for Gold's hand and held it. "Thank you, though. He is my father, and even if he doesn't exactly remember me, I still love him. That meant a lot."
"Well, I have to make up for past mistakes," Gold told her.
They walked hand in hand to Granny's to pick up some food for the rest of the group.
Belle swallowed as she paused outside the door. "It's going to be fine," she mumbled, but she wasn't certain whether she was trying to reassure Gold or herself. She opened the door and walked up to the counter.
"I already gave you the rent," Granny hissed to Gold as he followed Belle.
"Why does everyone think I'm only here for rent?" Gold asked rhetorically.
"Because you are the mean old taxman?" Belle suggested teasingly. "I mean, you don't exactly show much mercy with time constraints and all."
"What'll it be?" Granny interrupted.
"Um, two grilled cheeses, one ham sub," Belle began. "That Henry, Emma, and Regina down, um, oh I can't remember this." She ran back in her memory to find what she was suppose to get.
"The two grilled cheeses, one ham, one tuna, two turkey, and what ever she wants," Gold finished for Belle.
"Oh, I'll have a small burger," Belle said enthusiastically. "I just love these burgers. They're so great. Oh! And we need three large fries! With ketchup packets!"
Gold pulled out some money. He placed it on the counter and looked Granny in the eye. "Here. Keep the change. Think of it as a...tip."
"You two are hungry," Ruby commented when she delivered the food.
"Oh, no, it not all for us," Belle laughed. "Picking up for Emma, Killian, Henry, Regina, Mary Margaret, and David."
"Well, have fun," Ruby said.
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"Get your own food next time," Belle grumbled when they arrived at Emma and Killian's. "I almost had a heart attack when I couldn't remember anyone's orders. Luckily, Rumple remembered."
Emma looked confused. "What? I never told him our orders. How did you know, Gold?"
"The dagger," was his reply.
Regina glanced at the dagger hanging innocently from Emma's side. "She hasn't used it. Have you?"
Emma shook her head. "No, the only thing I can think of is that my hand touched the dagger when I gave Belle the order."
"Can we get to the point?" Killian called.
David nodded. "Yes, Hook's right. We have an issue. Since you've been the Dark One and you've had the darkness removed, this is best suited for you."
"Miss Swan as I recall, has all these traits herself."
"But she had magic before she became the Dark One," Mary Margaret said.
Gold narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"
Killian pointed his hand at a candle. It lit.
"How is that possible?" Belle asked.
"No idea," Emma answered. "Gold, did you ever have anything happen to you when emotions flared up. Magically related?"
"There was once," Gold said slowly. "When I escaped from Merida, I had to, to, to break the cup. The chipped cup." He had tear glistening in his eyes. "When I started to cut the rope, the shard cut abnormally fast and the ankle bonds were just loose enough even when I know she had put them tight that morning."
Belle bit her lip. "You broke our cup? I completely understand, but did you go back and fix it?"
"Yes."
"So Captain Dark One has magic?" Regina asked.
"I'm not the Dark One," Killian pointed out. "So you can call me Hook or Killian."
"Or Captain Guyliner," Regina cut in sweetly. "Now may we resume trying to get Robin?"
Emma nodded in agreement. "Yes, we should figure out the details. So we need Jefferson's hat. Problem is..."
"He had too many hats for us to know the right one," Mary Margaret finished.
"Excuse me, but why does he have so many hats?" Belle asked. "And couldn't you find it amidst the other different hats?"
"That's the problem. They aren't different," Emma sighed.
Belle nodded and unwrapped her burger. She prepared to take a bit when she dropped it and rushed to the bathroom.
"Belle?" Gold asked alarmed.
"Great now she's sick," Regina said annoyed.
"I don't think she's sick," Mary Margaret said slowly. "Henry, hand me the new book please."
Henry passed the new story book down to his grandmother.
Mary Margaret flipped through the pages. "Look!" She exclaimed. "More pages have been added in." She gasped and dropped the book startled. "Oh, Gold, please tell me you didn't!"
"Didn't what?" Killian asked. "What did the crocodile do this time?"
Mary Margaret wordlessly pointed to a page in the book.
"'And I couldn't figure out why an image of your wife would affect you so strongly,' Hades said," Emma read. "'So I did a little digging and a little thinking, and I realized you weren't trying to conjure an image of her, were you? You were trying to figure out where your son went. You asked the crystal ball to show you your child, didn't you? So...' 'No, no,' Rumplestiltskin whispered. 'This is an image of your child... Your next child. Belle doesn't know it yet,' Hades explained, 'but... she's pregnant.'"
"What?" Gold gasped.
Emma continued on swallowing difficultly. "He laughed. 'And guess what,' Hades waved a hand and the healer from the past appeared. 'Hmm. Remember him? You two had a contract. You tried to void it by killing him during a certain potentially baby-making liaison with your protégé, the Evil Queen's mother, Cora.'"
"What?" Regina exclaimed disgusted. "You were with my mother?"
Gold raised his eyebrows. "Didn't you know?"
Regina groaned. "Ugh, keep reading, Swan."
"'You rascal!' Hades chuckled. 'Which seemed smart at the time, but it turns out death doesn't actually nullify a contract. Not down here. Because here he is. And... here's the contract. Which he just signed over to me. So, just to be super extra clear, at any time, I can cash in the debt... and take your baby. All magic comes with a price... and now, Dark One, the price is... you work for me. And there's something I need you to do... that only you can do.' " Emma looked up in shock.
"So Belle is..." David asked trailing off miserably. "And Gold sold his second child to some healer person?"
"Well at the time I only ever imagined having Bae, can you blame me?" Gold snapped. "He was dying from a snake bite. That was the price to get the antidote. I could have killed him and stolen the antidote, but I wasn't much into that back then."
"Oh please," Regina scoffed. "If this happened to Emma, Snow and Charming over there wouldn't hesitate to kill the guy. You were a coward, Rumple. Face it."
Belle came back into the room looking pale. "Sorry, just felt a little sick for a moment." She spotted the book. "What are you looking at?" She asked curiously as she leaned over to see what was on the page.
Mary Margaret flipped the book shut. "Nothing," she said airily. "You should see Doctor Whale. Or a different doctor if you prefer."
"I'm fine," Belle insisted. "Truly, I am."
David snorted. "She is fine."
Mary Margaret glared at him. "She needs to see the doctor!" She exclaimed forcefully. "So why don't I take her to the hospital and you guys can sort out the Robin issue."
"I don't think-"
"Sounds great," Emma said interruption her.
Mary Margret smiled and shooed Belle out the door.
"What are you going to tell her, Crocodile?" Killian asked.
"The truth is generally a good place to start," Henry suggested.
"Yes, and this would be the best conversation," Gold said sarcastically. "Hello, Belle. So sorry, but that baby? It would be my second born, and I sold that baby. I guess you can't keep it. Once again, my apologies." He glared at them all. "That'll go over well."
"Well it better than you lying to her again!" Emma snapped.
"No, no. I don't lie," Gold explained, "I simply find the loop hole."
"Loop holes," Emma murmured. "Gold, you're a genius!"
Killian sputtered. "How is that a genius?"
Emma ignored him. "The contract. Did it say the gender? Like second born son or second born daughter? Because if it did specify the gender, we have a fifty percent chance of this baby being the opposite."
"No, no. Second born child," Gold sighed. "But has anyone actually considered how this has been recorded?"
Everyone paused to think.
"Maybe the answer is in the book?" Henry suggested. "I am the author in the future, so maybe I wrote this all."
Regina grabbed the book. "Here." She read, "Henry and Charming joined the group downstairs, and Henry told them about the author's pen. 'The Author's pen? I thought you destroyed it,' Regina said. 'I did, but that just brought it here,' Henry explained. 'The Apprentice told me where it was. I thought if I used its power, I could be a hero.' 'Henry, what made you think you needed to do this?' Regina asked. 'At first, it was Cruella. She wanted me to use it to bring her back to life.' 'Why would you help her?' Emma asked. 'To help you. She said you have all this guilt about killing her, and that's when I realized I have all this power and I ignore it. I just live in everyone's shadow. I want to be the hero instead of the one the heroes rescue,' Henry poured out. The truth finally revealed. 'I understand that. But that's not the way to do it,' Emma said. 'I know,' Henry told her, 'and that's why I'm telling you now. I finally understand what the Apprentice meant. I'm gonna write the stories as they are, and I'll start with Hades. I'm gonna use the pen the correct way... To re-create his story.' 'Hades went to a lot of trouble to keep us from learning his story,' Snow White said thoughtfully. Regina smirked. 'Which means we're onto something.' 'Question is, what is Hades trying to hide from us?' Charming asked." Regina set the book down.
"So Henry accepts his role as the author and writes the stories now?" Emma asked confused.
"I wrote these?" Henry asked.
"Would have written," Gold corrected. "You are not the author here. Isaac is. The pages merely came from a possibility."
"Excuse me?" Regina cut in.
"Well, one possibility of infinite possibilities," Gold said softly. "This is where we went to the past, but we could have done what is happening in the pages. Or the world may have exploded, killing us all. Or even Hook succeeded in his plan, therefore Miss Swan never killed him."
"We're back!" Mary Margaret called cheerfully.
Belle walked in joyfully. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything." She grabbed Gold's hand and pulled him out of the house.
"Did you figure anything out?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Possibility-Henry wrote out our adventures in the underworld," Emma said simply.
"What?" Mary Margaret asked.
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"Why are we going back to Granny's?" Gold asked.
Belle grinned. "We aren't going in, don't worry. I wanted to tell you something." She pulled him to a table.
Gold sighed inwardly.
Belle took a deep breath. "I'm pregnant, Rumple."
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A/N: Oooooh, big bomb shell. I had to end it there, sorry.
Next chapter will be short. I mean, have you seen it? All Kathryn/David/Mary Margaret crap. I don't really know what to fill it with. You can only have them talk the Robin issue over so many times right? I suppose more book revelations can be used, but I'm not sure.
For now coming up-
Chapter Thirteen: What Happened to Fredrick?; Belle learns about the contract, baby Neal is missed, August interactions, and a council meeting goes differently than expected.
Oh, and next chapter will have the first non-Storybrooke scenes. Like how in the TV show they sometimes have enchanted forest scenes.
Beware, crying pregnant woman ahead.