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The Trade Off	By : LotornoMiko Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time Views: 5409 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Once Upon A Time fandom. Nor do I make any money off of it or this story.

Chapter List
- 1-The Trade Off
- 2-Two
- 3-Three
- 4-Four
- 5-Five
- 6-Six
- 7-Seven
- 8-Eight
- 9-Nine
- 10-Ten
- 11-Trade 11
- 12-Twelve
- 13-Thirteen
- 14-Fourteen
- 15-Fifteen
- 16-Sixteen
- 17-Seventeen
- 18-Eighteen
- 19-Nineteen
- 20-Twenty
- 21-Twenty One
- 22-Twenty Two
- 23-Twenty Three
- 24-Twenty Four
- 25-Twenty Five
- 26-Twenty Six
- 14
- 15
- 16
In the end it had taken more than five minutes for the prince to tell his story. Fortunate for him was that the story was such with it's many twists and turns, that the one time giant had been caught, held mesmerized by the tale. Even Hook could admit to being fascinated by the story, listening to the ups and downs of a true rags to riches tale, complete with a heavy helping of true love.
Hook marveled at the fortune the prince, whose birth name had been David, had seen. And though the prince had suffered at times, the good had far outweighed the bad. Hook was almost jealous of the man, a one time lowly Shepard's boy who had been handed a kingdom, along with it's wealth and power. As if that wasn't enough, he had gotten true love, and though the prince and Snow White still strove for their happy ending, at least they were alive and together to enjoy the pursuit of it.
Hook was not blind. He had seen the way Snow White looked at her prince. It was a look he was familiar with, though it had been hundreds of years since such an adoring look of love had been directed Hook's way. And the pirate was certain he would die long before he ever got the chance to receive such a look once more.
It put him in a melancholy mood, the kind in which Hook would normally lose himself to drink. Hook would and had in the past, downed bottle after bottle, the drink not mattering so long as he could numb the worst of his pain. Numb it but not vanquish it completely, but at least Hook was then able to think back on his memories of Mila and NOT try to kill himself out of grief.
Of course, it had been years since he had an audience for that kind of behavior. Years since Hook had driven off most of his crew, and years since he had had let revenge consume him so completely so that he was able to ignore most of his pain. He still had no crew NOW, and though his revenge was technically completed, Hook found the long buried memories resurfacing on a wave of sheer envy.
With this kind of mood, it was even easier to sympathize with Belle. With the upset that had driven her earlier, to attempt to destroy herself. Their pain was similar, both suffering broken hearts. Where grief ended, so too did the similarities, Hook not forgetting he was cause for a fair chunk of Belle's pain.
Hook told himself often, that what he was doing, would work in the girl's favor in the long run. That getting her away from Rumplestiltskin, really was the best thing anyone could do for Belle. He usually believed it too, even when faced with how distraught Belle had been rendered by her losses.
But any doubt he might feel, Hook refused to dwell on. Belle was HIS now, by right of the deal they had made. Hook was simply too selfish to free her, despite the numerous attempts the prince had made, to beat reason into the pirate.
It wasn't just that Hook was selfish and greedy. He needed someone in his life. Someone to give him a purpose. With Mila dead, and Rumplestiltskin no longer the driving force behind everything Hook did, the pirate was all but aimless. He hadn't even expected to be alive this late in the game, and Hook knew not one thing about living a life in Storybrooke.
It fell on Belle to give Hook his a new life's purpose. Certainly she excited him, arousing passions and lusts long thought dead with Mila. And the fact that every time he touched Belle, it sunk daggers deeper into Rumplestiltskin's blackened heart, was merely icing on his cake.
Hook had long been without any real relationships. No friends, and no lovers, the best he had was a shaky alliance with Cora. Hook didn't yet realize he had cheated himself out of much, by giving in to his unrelenting grief. Nor did he realize that in taking Belle for himself, he was in effect opening up to the chance of a realm of possibilities.
He wasn't wanting love. Wasn't even looking for it. And the way the night had shaped up, the mood Hook had been put in by the prince's story, simply made Hook all the more determined to do one of two things. Get rip roaring drunk, or bury his pain in Belle's sweet body. If he was ambitious enough, he would try for both, but the growl from Belle's empty stomach had them both first retreating to the ship's galley.
The Jolly Roger's galley was simple in design, doubling as both kitchen and a place to dine. There were several tables, in addition to the one where most of the food preparation took place. Belle had followed Hook to it, taking a seat for herself as she watched him move about the kitchen area.
Enjoying the fact the Belle's eyes were upon him, Hook busied himself with preparing a plate of cold meats, which had been dried and salted for preservation purposes. There was bread too, not fresh but several days old. Someone would have to bake more before a fresher fare could be had, but for now the slightly stale bread was more than adequate.
"Eat up." Hook said, placing the plate down before Belle. If she had thought to be stubborn about it this time too, it was quickly beat down by the starving growl of her complaining stomach. With the faintest dusting of color on her cheeks, Belle began to nibble on the bread. Hook in turn, made no move towards the food, instead pulling out a large bottle of brandy, and plunking it down on the table.
Without asking, he poured a glass for Belle, and then proceeded to drink straight from the bottle. Still nibbling, Belle watched him as he swallowed several mouthfuls in quick succession.
"You're....you're not going to eat?" She guessed correctly. Slowly licking his lips clean of the brandy's remains, Hook nodded. She frowned, her eyes directing a glance at the rather large bottle, before asking another question. "Are you sure that's wise? To drink that much on an empty stomach?"
"Darling, my stomach's made of sterner stuff than most. It'll take a lot more than this, to get me sick." Hook answered.
"Perhaps you getting sick is not what I was worried about," Belle managed to look him in the eyes when she said that.
Hook didn't try to hide his smile. "Ah, there is that. But I don't need to be drunk to want you, or to take what I so desire." He had the satisfaction of watching her color bloom, the blush bright on her cheeks.
"Then why drink at all?" Belle finally asked.
Hook took another swallow of the brandy, thinking about what to say. Hook wasn't sure he wanted to confess to the mood that had overtaken him, or to the fact that he was remembering Mila, maybe even missing her.
"The prince's story, was something, was it not?" He said instead. "A proper adventure, good vs. evil, with a heaping helping of true love."
"I didn't think King George was truly evil." Belle protested. "Just crazy and misguided, grieving the son he had raised and lost."
"King George wasn't the evil I mentioned." Hook's words had Belle frowning.
"I'd hardly paint Rumplestiltskin as the villain of the prince's story!"
"I didn't expect you to. Still I wonder what he could possibly have gotten, making such deals with old George, and the prince." Hook watched as Belle fidgeted and looked away. It was that that let the pirate know the woman knew more than what she was saying.
"I never really understood it." Hook continued out loud. "The reason behind the Dark One's deal making. For what purpose could Rumplestiltskin possibly have, to interfere in so many lives, to take and give on a indiscriminating whim. With his power, he could have been ruling the kingdoms, rather than staying in the shadows, making those deals."
Belle still said nothing, and for now the brandy was all but forgotten. "Take King George for example. Why would Rumplestiltskin care if the man had no heirs? Why would he bother to find and buy a baby for him, and then again, come for the other when the first son was killed?"
"Didn't he always make deals?" Belle asked in a strained voice.
"Not when he first became the Dark One." Hook told her. "Oh I heard the stories. Of how he was terrorizing not only his village, but the ones nearest to it. Some would say he had gone mad with power, riding high on bullying those around him. Certainly he didn't care to help anyone but himself and it wasn't as if anyone had anything he could want."
Hook could see Belle trying not to fidget, the girl busy making a sandwich out of the cold meats and stale bread.
"Hurts does it?" Hook asked her, a touch of sympathy in his voice. "To hear how much of a bastard he was, even in those early days?"
"He...he wasn't..."
"But he was." insisted Hook. "There's too many people who said so for it not to be true."
"But they don't know him like I do." Belle protested.
"Maybe it's you who don't know him." Hook retorted. "After all, could a good man, a loving man, rip out the heart of the woman he once held as wife?" She looked down at that, and Hook marveled at how much Belle had blinded herself to the real Rumplestiltskin. "Even if it was a moment of irrational jealousy, it was still brutal, and wicked, and murderous. He didn't even have to think, just thrust his hand into her....."
"Stop it." Belle pleaded softly.
"Ripped her heart right out, and crushed it straight after."
"Stop." Belle said again, louder this time.
"She didn't even have time to scream." continued Hook, and now Belle slammed her hands down on the wood table.
"Stop it!" Her eyes blazed, hurt and anger both equally showing in her fierce glare.
"Can't block out the truth of what he did." Hook retorted.
"What is the point of this?!" Belle demanded in a strangled tone. "You've won. You've gotten what you wanted, that revenge on him. Rumplestiltskin no longer wants anything to do with me. You're hurt and made him miserable, not to mention hurt ME as well."
Hook stared at her a long moment, and then felt the urge to let out a downright hysterical laugh. "You still love him." He said out loud, and reached for the bottle once more. Belle stared at him shocked, her lush lips parting on a breath.
"Of course I do." She finally said, watching him begin to drink fast and furiously from the brandy bottle. "Nothing that's happened, nothing you say or do, has changed that...."
"A man could take that as a challenge." Hook said dangerously. He watched the nervous swallow that she did, Belle seeming to lose some of her fire and spirit. But she didn't back down, squaring her shoulders before speaking.
"Do as you will."
Hook set down the brandy bottle, prepared to actually jump over the table to get to her. Belle watched him, cautious but downright defiant as she stood her ground.
"Just know." Belle said, and her next words had him freezing, before he could begin the jump. "That no matter what you do, it won't change my opinion or my love for him."
"Is that a fact...?" Hook asked, and then was smashing the brandy bottle against the wall behind her. Belle flinched at the violence, but did not so much as voice a scream. Hook stared at her a long moment, before reaching up to run his hand through his hair. "Sooner or later..." He said. "You are going to have to face the facts. Rumplestiltskin not only does evil, he IS evil."
"Never."
"Never is not as long a time as you would believe." Hook snapped. She didn't relax, not even when Hook pulled out another bottle, this time one full of clear colored whisky. But she sat when he did, picking up the remains of her sandwich, her eyes on Hook.
"I'm sorry that you hurt...." She began, and Hook scoffed at that. "But sooner or later, you have to let go of your pain. Or else it will eat you up alive."
"It already has." Hook told her. "I've had years with it." He popped the cork off the whiskey bottle, but didn't immediately set to drinking from it. "Just how long have you actually been with Rumplestiltskin?"
Hook knew he had asked her a difficult question, when Belle shifted and avoided his gaze. "What does it matter?" She asked, fingers breaking off the crust of her sandwich.
"You're not that old." Hook said in response. "Even with the curse freezing you for twenty eight years. And I know you've spent some time as the Queen's prisoner."
"So....?"
"So I'm wondering just how much time you could have spent with him to have such a strong, supposedly unshakeable faith in the man." Belle still avoided looking at him, Hook hiding another smirk. "Must have been pretty short a time..."
"And why would you think that?"" Belle asked.
"Because otherwise, Rumplestiltskin wouldn't have been able to maintain that good image you have of him."
She frowned, but wouldn't admit to anything. "Do we have to keep talking about this?" Belle asked.
"We don't." Hook agreed. "Instead we can talk about why you chose to stay here with me instead of leaving with your friends."
She clearly didn't like this topic any more than the last one, Belle maintaining her frowning disposition. "We have a deal in place."
"A deal your friends are quick to break." retorted Hook. "Are you really that honorable?" He paused, then nodded. "Of course you are. You did stay and honor the agreement you had made with the Dark One."
"And what do you know about THAT?" Belle asked.
"Don't you think I did my research? I knew who you were, and what you had agreed to long before I broke into your cell in the Queen's tower." Hook began drinking from the whiskey bottle. "Though what I couldn't have known, was how loyal you'd be to him. Let alone imagine that you, that anyone could fall in love with that monster."
"But I did. And I uphold my bargains, even to a scoundrel like you." Belle retorted.
"Which was good for Rumplestiltskin, and for me. But maybe not so for you." Hook mused. "Still I appreciate it, your sacrificing nature, even if Rumplestiltskin does not."
"You've talked and asked a lot about me and Rumplestiltskin..." Belle began. "But what about you and Mila?"
"What about us?" Hook asked, instantly on guard.
"Well how could you do it?" Belle asked. "How could you steal another man's wife, even if she was so unhappy with him?"
"In case you missed it love, I AM a pirate." Hook answered.
"How could I ever forget." muttered Belle, then she spoke louder. "All right then, forget about why you did it. What about her? What kind of woman abandons her family? Not just her husband, but a young son?"
"She was desperate." Hook answered. "Her life wasn't anything that she wanted, aside from her son. She wanted a way out, and I provided her one."
"She comes off as selfish." Belle's words had Hook's eyes narrowing in response. "And uncaring."
"Careful sweet, you tread dangerous waters with this line of thought."
"You don't like hearing her maligned." noted Belle. "Then imagine how I feel, every time you speak ill of Rumplestiltskin."
"There's a big difference between them. Mila may have not been a complete innocent, but at least her hands are free of most evils. Where as the evil I speak about Rumplestiltskin? It is the complete and utter truth."
"It's the truth as you believe it." Belle insisted.
"That's the funny thing about it. There's more who would back up my claim about Rumplestiltskin and his misdeeds, than those that would defend him. In fact, I dare say you are about the only one who believes in him. What makes your truth any more real, than what the rest of us perceive?"
She didn't have a ready answer for him, Belle averting her eyes. Hook leaned forward on the table, his movements catching her attention. "Face it love. The longer you deny his true nature, the harder it will end up being for you."
"And you are so big on sparing me these hurts?" A sarcastic edge lent bite to her words.
"I hate to see a beautiful woman cry." Hook answered honest enough. "Especially over the likes of him." It was true too. He had after all, born witness to more than his fair share of tears, Mila weeping over everything from the abandonment of her son, to even over the man Rumplestiltskin had once been. Mila had been hurt by the coward, long before Rumplestiltskin had ever put a fist through her chest.
Remembering Mila's sobbing, Hook once again told himself he was actually doing Belle a great favor. That she was better off without Rumplestiltskin. But Hook couldn't lie and say she was better off with HIM. Not yet at least. Maybe not ever, given the icy look Belle was currently giving him.
They were still a long way from settling into any kind of acceptable life together. Belle most likely hated him, rightfully blaming Hook for her problems. He couldn't even fault her for that, Hook knowing it had been cruel, and downright underhanded, the way he had gone about getting Belle in his bed. But even knowing that, wasn't enough to make Hook reconsider what he was doing to her. It was a necessary evil for the sake of his and Mila's revenge.
Mila. She was heavy on his mind, the ghost of her haunting him this eve. Nothing that had been said in the galley's kitchen, had done much to free him of her, Hook's memories stirred. That melancholy feeling persisted, followed up by sorrow, Hook reaching for the whiskey bottle.
"Help yourself to anything you like in here." His tone was gruff, as he sauntered past Belle. He heard her start to ask, the woman wondering where he was going, but Hook gave her no answer. Was it because he couldn't explain, or because he didn't want too? But either way, he was off. To drink and to remember, to wallow in his misery.
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To Be Continued....
Um....okay this chapter kinda spiraled out of control of my vague plans. Not sure I like this one, worry it's too weird. What do you guys and gals think? *worry worry*
Also, a note....as to why Belle didn't start fishing for info about Cora. Mainly the reasoning is, she didn't want him to get suspicious and catch on to why she really stayed, if she started asking him all kinds of things about Cora right away.
Not much to say for an author's note. No rewriting was done for this chapter, so that's a relief at least! Whoo! And not to spoil completely, smut wasn't on the menu for this chapter or the future ones, but now I'm sorta tempted to...because of how this chapter went. or sorta smut. We'll see. If I go for the sorta smut, it means one more chapter delaying the three day time skip.
Actually I do seem to have something to say. I googled Prince Charming, and found a wiki page to refresh my memory. Boy did I forget a lot of that stuff! Geeze! Thank god for the memory refresher! XD
Also...I realized while proof reading, I forgot to have Hook muse privately on something regarding Anton! Damn....but I can have Belle think about it in the next chapter. *slapping self for forgetting something important like that.*
Laters!
------------Michelle
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The Trade Off