[June 29th] [Once Upon a Time] False Legends

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

Title: False Legends
Day/Theme: June 29th - We could be a story in the morning, but we'll be a legend tonight.
Series: Once Upon a Time
Character/Pairing: Rumbelle, David
Rating: K/G

Continuing my alternate 3B ideas.


By Lucky_Ladybug

Over the remainder of the weekend, Rumpelstiltskin walked about town, studying each resident and trying to determine whether or not they could have written the strange and disturbing book Belle had found. So far he had no concrete ideas.

Unbeknownst to Belle, he had gone back to the library late Saturday night and had looked the volume over some more. Now he couldn’t get what he had read out of his mind. He was deeply haunted by all of it, especially Bae’s death, and unsettled by the idea that he had gone back to villainy after being pushed over the edge by that death and by everything else this Zelena person had done to him.

It couldn’t have really happened and then been erased, preserved only in that book. What seemed the most likely was what he had already theorized, that someone really had it in for him, Belle, and Bae and had written that book out of their loathing and hatred, wanting to torment them in fiction even if they couldn’t in reality. And that was honestly a frightening thought, even moreso now that he was no longer The Dark One. What if he no longer had enough power to protect his loved ones from such a hate-filled person? Eventually their feelings might come to a head and they would try to do something in reality, finding the destructive book not a good enough punishment.

So he went all over Storybrooke, considering every person no matter their station in life, and crafted a list of persons of interest in his mind.

Regina would likely be capable of it. She could probably even magic a book into existence for the sole purpose of torturing them if they found it. But would she hide it away in a trunk in the library, where they might not find it for ages? She would be more likely to place it on a shelf or another prominent location. And even if she did, would she design it so similarly to Henry’s book?

Honestly, even though Regina was a possibility, Rumpel had a hard time believing she would bother taking the time to go through with it. She didn’t have any active grievances against him, to his knowledge. And she was much more interested in trying to locate Henry and Emma than in doing anything else.

Rumpel had spoken to her that day about what they had learned, feeling that she had a right to know where her son was, but had suggested it would be better to stay behind and allow he, Belle, and Bae to make the trip. In Neverland, she had also fallen to inconsequential squabbling with the others instead of staying focused on the goal of finding Henry, and Rumpel did not want to deal with the possibility of that happening again—or of the possibility that without her memories, Emma would behave much as Regina had when Emma had first come to town and it would be even more difficult to reason with Emma due to fear of losing Henry. With that idea in mind, Regina had reluctantly agreed to let them try without her.

August still seemed a possibility. True, he really had nothing against them either, but he had that pesky typewriter. And what if . . . well, Rumpel didn’t believe that anything that had once existed could ever be erased altogether, and the part of Pinocchio that had grown up into August might not like being a child again, even if he liked having his sins “erased”. Perhaps something bizarre was happening such as Pinocchio developing a split personality because of that and wanting to be August again. Someone could have promised to find a way for him to be an adult once more, if he would write the story about Rumpel and company.

That still left the question of who would hire him. And there was that curious fact that the paintings in both books seemed to be by the same artist. Also the matter of why the first book had appeared when Storybrooke had first been founded. Rumpel had wondered, and had even tried to find the answer, but had been unable to do so.

Then there were other writers, including those who wrote for the town newspaper. But it didn’t seem likely that they would do it either, unless hired, so it went back to the question of who would hire them for such a bizarre task.

There were plenty of townspeople who still distrusted and even disliked Rumpel. Most of the town, really, according to Belle. And that seemed accurate. But while most of them also distrusted Belle and some, Bae, how many would actually be willing to imagine them suffering in order to get at Rumpel? That was something Rumpel still hadn’t solved.

Ruby was in town again, something that was a rarity these days, and Rumpel had decided to speak to her in private, citing her friendship with Belle and asking if she knew of anyone who would like to harm her. Stunned and concerned, Ruby had told him that she didn’t know of anyone other than Hook, and she decided to stay around for a while in case she could be of any help. While Rumpel and the others made their trip, Ruby would do her best to ferret out the culprit and keep in touch with Rumpel about it.

Another thing Rumpel was unsure of was how much to tell Belle about this, if anything. He didn’t want her to have to worry, especially when there were already so many things to worry about—the trip, leaving Storybrooke, getting Henry and Emma to listen to them, wondering if Hook would tag along. . . .

But it always upset Belle when he wasn’t completely honest with her, even if it was for her own safety, and it scared him to think that perhaps she might threaten to leave him again, as she had before he had finally opened up and told her about Bae. That was a burden he really didn’t want on his shoulders, and anyway, maybe if someone had it in for them so much, that person would follow them out of Storybrooke. Perhaps Belle needed to know his concerns, especially since outside the town limits, he wouldn’t have any magic at all to use to protect her and Bae.

He wasn’t expecting to suddenly see David coming down the street. But, he noted, David did not seem surprised to see him.

“So there you are,” he greeted.

“Yes, here I am. But you sound as though you have something on your mind. What is it?” Rumpel leaned on his cane expectantly.

“I’ve been filling in as the sheriff again while Emma’s . . . gone, and people have been coming to me saying you’ve been wandering around town watching them all day,” David replied. “They’re getting more than a little edgy.”

“So you decided to come and find out what The Dark One is doing spending a perfectly good Sunday observing the fine people of Storybrooke,” Rumpel sneered.

“In a nutshell, yes,” David shrugged. “Any answers for me?”

“I just wanted to see how they would behave,” Rumpel said. “Belle is definitely right that nothing has changed. Not that I really expected anything else.”

“And it’s nothing you didn’t already know,” David said. “There’s some other reason you’re doing this, and I don’t like not knowing what it is.”

“Ah well, for that I’m afraid you’ll just have to be patient and wait,” Rumpel said. “Perhaps you never will know the reason. It might not ever become necessary.”

David looked annoyed, and a little worried, but still not surprised. “Does Belle know?” he countered.

“She will,” Rumpel replied smoothly. “And if you put any stock in her integrity, I believe she would approve.”

“That could make a difference,” David said. “Maybe. If you really tell her the truth about your reasons.”

“I’ll tell her everything,” Rumpel said. “Oh, and tomorrow we’re going to New York to try to get Emma and Henry to come back with us. See that nothing is disturbed at the shop or our residences while we’re gone, won’t you?”

David frowned. “We’re not invited to go along? As Emma’s parents, I’d say we have that right.”

“Do you think it would be a good idea to overcrowd her, given the circumstances?” Rumpel replied. “When Belle had amnesia, she felt threatened by the presence of even one person. Bae will be there, so he will try to get through to Emma and Henry.”

“As I remember, Belle felt threatened mostly by you, because you were there with her when she was shot,” David said. “Maybe, considering Emma’s strongly conflicted feelings over Neal, he would be the worst person to try to get through to her.”

“As I recall, Emma has had more than a few conflicted feelings over the two of you as well,” Rumpel returned. “What guarantee do you have that she would respond to you or Mary-Margaret any better?”

David’s shoulders slumped. “Maybe you have a point. But I still wanted to ask.”

Rumpel nodded. “You’ve asked. I’ll take it under consideration, but don’t expect a different answer than I’ve already given.”

“I won’t,” David shot back.

They parted, and Rumpelstiltskin made his way back to the shop, where Belle had been cataloguing all of the items in preparation for their trip in the morning. Even though Rumpel was going to put a protection spell around the shop, both of them were concerned about the possibility of it being broken and something ending up stolen. The idea of having a record of everything that was supposed to be there seemed like a good one.

She turned when the door opened. “Rumpel!” She smiled. “How was your walk?”

“Interesting. I’m not sure if it was productive or not.” Rumpel came over, looking at her very seriously. “You should know, Belle, that I went looking for anyone in town who might hate us enough to write that book you found.”

Belle’s eyes showed definite worry at that news. “Did you find anyone?”

“Not really. Ruby is going to watch for anyone suspicious while we’re gone. And David is going to keep an eye on our properties.” He sounded slightly sarcastic at the last part. He didn’t always trust the local law enforcement to do a good job with that sort of task.

“I wonder if we should ask him and Mary-Margaret to come with us,” Belle mused.

“So did he. But for now I’d rather see what Bae can do. If that doesn’t work, we’ll try other methods then.” Rumpel looked to the clipboard in Belle’s hands. “How is the inventory coming along?”

“Well, I think, only I’m not sure what a lot of these things are for,” Belle frowned. “I had to just write down what they look like.”

“That’s fine.” Rumpel glanced at the list. “Someday you might need to know what they are. I’ll tell you about the rest of them while you’re cataloguing them. How’s that?”

Belle smiled. “I’d like that.”

“And then we’ll have a peaceful dinner together,” Rumpel said, smiling as well. It would be nice in general, and it would also help to take away the sting from what he had read in that book.

Just on general principle, he might find it amusing and interesting that someone found them intriguing enough to write new stories about. But when it came to the contents of that story, it wasn’t amusing at all. Those were legends that he never intended to let see the light of day.