Chapter Text
Belle sat in her room listening to the approaching sounds of the war that threatened to bring an end to her home, her village, her very life. She felt the tears of frustration threatening to spill, but she fought them back, knowing that they would only add to her fathers misery at his inability to protect her and their people.
Belle had always prided herself on being able to figure a way out of any dire circumstance that she happened to find herself in, and she wracked her brain for some way to stop the monstrous ogres who were even now slamming a battering ram at the final gate denying them entry to the castle.
From somewhere in her mind she recalled the legend of the dark one. It was written that the dark one had existed for millennia and that the power of said dark one would sometimes change form in some mysterious way, but the power remained the same. The last that she had heard was of a dark one who loved to make deals, trade magic for whatever the supplicant held most dear. It was said that he only dealt with desperate souls.
'Well' Belle thought,'maybe it was time to try desperate measures' and throwing open her bedroom door she raced towards the library to hunt for the book which detailed how to summon the dark one.
It took her more than an hour to find it, and when she did, she almost lost her nerve, but the thunderous sound of the battering ram about to tear through the gate put steel in her spine and in an instant she was saying "Rumplestiltskin, Rumplestiltskin, Rumplestiltskin, I summon thee". The silence that followed was somewhat anticlimactic as Belle looked about the library expectantly, her hope fading with every passing second. Wondering if she had missed some vital detail in the instructions, she began re-reading the book, so when Rumplestiltskin suddenly appeared not two feet in front of her she shrieked, and in her fright threw the book at him. He in turn yelped a curse and jumping back deflected the rather large tome with his hand.
They stood staring at one another for a few seconds as Belle tried to slow her heart rate and Rumplestiltskin took in the sight of the most beautiful woman that he had ever seen. At length Belle was able to mutter "you shouldn't startle people like that." Rumplestiltskin, regarding her with an amused glint in his eyes, replied rather dryly, "I believe that you summoned me dearie, so I hardly think you should be surprised when I appear." Belle blushed and admitted "to be honest I didn't really think that it would work." Rumplestiltskin rolled his eyes, "well It did dearie"..., he waited for a moment before adding, "now you must have had a reason for summoning me?" he queried, raising his eyebrows.
At that moment the sound of the battering ram splintering the wood of the castle's main gate answered the imp's question with a resounding crash. Belle's eyes widened in fear, but then Rumplestiltskin raised his hands and made a circular motion with each one, one clockwise, one counterclockwise,and Belle heard a clicking sound as he completed the circles. Suddenly it felt as if all of the air in the room had been sucked out and a distinct chill settled over it.
The first thing Belle noticed was the sudden quite instead of the constant noise of battle to which she had grown accustomed, "what did you do?" she whispered. "I gave you time to answer my question, dearie." He replied as though that should have been obvious. Belle took a deep breath and forced out the question, "how?" Rumplestiltskin hesitated for a moment and then waved his hand and Belle gasped as the very walls and floors became transparent allowing her to see everyone and everything in the castle.
Everyone was frozen. She could see her father in the war room, a look of shock on his face as he looked toward the main doors,and Gaston standing just behind him, his hand on his sword which was half withdrawn from its scabbard. As she looked up she saw her maid, Molly, suspended in mid air just outside of Belle's bed chamber, her eyes wide with fright and her hand clamped over her mouth to smother a scream. Then Belles gaze went to the main gate of the castle and a shudder went through her slender frame at the sight of the hideous ogres storming through the shattered gate, crushing many of the soldiers who had been defending it under their feet.
When she looked back at Rumplestiltskin he waved his hand and the walls, thankfully, became solid again. Belle swallowed, hard, "time..., you stopped time?" Rumplestiltskin smirked, "indeed". Belle was duly impressed and letting her curiosity get the best of her asked "just here or everywhere?" That seemed to take him aback, but he raised his eyebrows, a glint of amusement in his eyes and replied "why everywhere of course..., can't go around stopping time in just one place, that would throw the whole realm into chaos..., eventually."
Belle stared at him, astonished by the enormity of the magic he wielded. She had seen magic before, but always on a small scale, like changing the color of a ball gown, or causing plants to grow faster, but this..., this was beyond anything she had even heard of. Stopping time? Everywhere? As she stood there trying to comprehend what she had just witnessed, Rumplestiltskin took the opportunity to rake his eyes over her. He had been the dark one for a very long time, but under the curse that had so changed his physical form, he was still a man, and this creature standing before him was the most beautiful woman that he had ever encountered. An idea formed in his mind and he knew the price that he would ask for saving her village from the ogres (it was quite obvious that that was why she had summoned him).
"Well dearie, care to share why you summoned me,... as if that weren't obvious", he muttered as an aside. Belle snapped out of her contemplation at the sound of his voice. "Yes" she said "I'm sure that it is rather obvious." She drew a breath before continuing "As you have seen my home is being overrun by ogres and I fear our only hope for survival is magic,... specifically your magic,... can you,... will you help us?"
Rumplestiltskin watched her carefully as she spoke, he was a master at reading people and his instincts told him that this girl was strong, principled and would not even think about going back on a deal. When she stopped speaking he walked towards her, watching for her reaction to him. In a few steps he was so close to her that he could feel the heat from her body, and yet she showed no sign of fear, or even revulsion at his nearness. Finally he spoke "yes, I can save your little village, but the price will be high."
Belle looked at his large inhuman eyes, and his strangely colored skin and felt a shiver go down her spine, but she did not shy away at his nearness. Raising her chin she said "we have quite a lot of gold and valuable jewels to offer you." Rumplestiltskin shook his head and stepping around her he spread his hands "I, uh, make gold" he sneered at her, "what I want is something far more precious"
Belle turned to follow his movement and stuttered "but,... we have nothing else of value", she hated the sound of desperation in her voice, but the thought that there was a way to save her people and they would not be able to afford it made tears of frustration spring to her eyes. She squared her shoulders. She would not beg for herself, but for her friends and family, she would do anything, even beg. "Please" she whispered and sank to her knees "is there nothing that I can offer that would be acceptable to you dark one?"
Rumplestiltskin watched as the beauty begged him on her knees and for some reason he found no pleasure in seeing her humble herself. "Get up" he snapped, and watched as she hung her head and rose to her feet. When she lifted her head to look at him she asked "then there is nothing that you will consider as payment to save my village?" "Now when did I say that, dearie?" he said as he approached her again. He saw the surprise in her wide blue eyes. "What then?" she asked and at that moment he reached out and took her hand, "you, my dear are far more valuable then you know." He raised her hand and gently kissed it, watching as she realized what he was proposing. He was pleasantly surprised to see that she didn't pull away from him in disgust.
"You,... you want me?" she whispered. He dropped her hand, "yes my dear, I am in need of a caretaker for my rather large estate" he said with a flourish. Belle looked at him, and thought about how he had just kissed her hand. "A caretaker, is that all or will I be expected to provide,... other services?" 'Ah' Rumplestiltskin thought, this one was no fool. "Yes, not right away, but soon I will take you as my consort,... do you know what that means?" Belle nodded,"you will have physical relations with me without the benefit of marriage, yes?" She couldn't believe how calm she sounded, considering the subject matter.
Rumplestiltskin smiled and stepped up behind her placing his arm around her waist. He felt her tremble, but she did not try to pull away from him. "Tell me Belle, are you a maiden?" He felt her stiffen, and she snapped "of course I am, why would you ask such a question?" He pulled her closer to him, molding his body to hers, "I merely wished to ascertain how much practical knowledge you have of, as you put it, physical relations."
Belle felt herself blushing, "It is true that my knowledge of the matter is limited, but I have read about it and also spoken with some of the married women in my village,... I understand the way of it." Belle drew a sharp breath when Rumplestiltskin lightly kissed her exposed shoulder, drawing her even tighter against his body. "And did they tell you of the pleasure to be had during the act, if done properly?" Belle shook her head, "no" she managed to say. When he began kissing along the column of her throat, she felt her knees weaken and she had to lean against him for support. The sensations that he was awakening in her body were like nothing she had ever felt before, and she realized with a start that she wanted more,... more from him.
As suddenly as he had begun kissing her he stopped and released her from his embrace. Belle stumbled slightly and flushed hotly at the effect his attentions had had on her. She could see the smug look of satisfaction on his face, but as she really looked at him, she fancied she saw something else there too, hope?
"Very well then, do we have a deal, dearie?" As the words left his lips, with a flourish of his hand and some purple smoke, a contract appeared. Smiling he proffered it to her. Belle took it and walking over to a table she sat and began reading. After a moment she could feel him standing next to her. "You're going to read the whole thing?" he asked sounding surprised. She looked up at him in confusion "of course I am" she said, "this is a binding contract that will alter the course of my life forever,... what idiot would sign such a thing without reading it?" she snorted and went back to her reading. Rumplestiltskin couldn't help but think of the dim witted princess Cinderella, and he smiled. This Belle was nothing like her, she would be a challenge, he could see, and he loved nothing more than a good challenge.