Chapter Text
As a guardian angel in training, still within the first decade of her service, Belle was at the very bottom of the heavenly totem pole. Even the cupids were above her in rank, and she never felt that so much as now, when she’d been forced to wait in line behind her ‘superiors’ for many, many hours before she could submit her report and receive her new assignment, even though she’d been an hour early.
As a result, now she was running late. Her bright white wings flared out to either side as she flew hurriedly through the human city, halo hooked over one arm so she wouldn’t lose it in her mad dash, dodging birds and pedestrians with nary a glance. They couldn’t really see her, of course; her form was only physical if she willed it so; but she didn’t like occupying the same space as physical beings. It felt…wrong.
She finally reached her destination; a small park in the middle of a city in Maine, USA. The park wasn’t very impressive; what grass had managed to survive the pollution and lack of care was brown and scratchy, the trees were gnarled and leafless, and the benches were rusty and stained with graffiti. Belle landed on the edge of a small fountain bearing the likeness of a leaping fish. Once, water would have spouted from its mouth, but it had been many years since it had been used; now, the stone was cracked and the intricate details of the carving were worn smooth.
As the young angel took a moment to catch her breath and set her robes to rights, ready to encounter her new charge and decide whether to reveal herself, a long, slow clap interrupted her. She stiffened when a high pitched, mocking voice emanated from the nearest dead tree, where a figure lurked in one of the lower branches like an oddly shaped gargoyle.
“That was quite the landing, dearie.” The voice drawled.
Abruptly, Belle’s shoulders relaxed and she rolled her eyes. “Hello to you too, Rumpelstiltskin.”
A pregnant pause, and she realized she’d surprised him.
There was a quiet shuffle-thump as he tipped himself out of the tree in a controlled fall, landing crouched on all fours.
“What, no more screaming in fear? Demands to leave you to your holy task?” He mocked.
She laughed. “I never screamed in fear, Demon. Besides, you’re not so bad.”
“Oh, I assure you I am.” Now he sounded offended, and she had to swallow her laugh as she finally turned to face him.
The small demon was still crouched on the ground, now glowering at her. A set of short black horns protruded from the thick grey and brown hair on top of his head, matching bat-like wings that were currently folded against his back. He also had a long, thin tail with an arrow-head shape at the very tip which was lashing much like that of a miffed cat. Despite his narrowed eyes with their slit pupils and the forked trident resting in the crook of his arm, she was neither intimidated nor angered by his presence.
Instead, she smiled at him softly. “If you were that bad, you would have left that puppy to die.”
“…You promised never to mention that.”
“Oh, right. Of course not.”
Now he just looked annoyed and she smothered a smile. She’d been legitimately terrified of the demon the first time they met, absolutely certain he was going to murder her charge and condemn her soul to the pits of hell. It hadn’t quite gone as she’d expected, and the handful of times she’d encountered him since then had been similar: mocking and threatening, but with little actual bite to back up his bark.
And then, of course, the puppy incident happened.
She was never going to be scared of him again.
“What brings you here, Rumpelstiltskin?” She inquired politely, setting her halo above her head and then reaching for her phone. It would be able to tell her where to meet her charge.
“New charge.” He growled, still sounding disgruntled. Not sulky. If Belle thought of a demon - especially this demon - as sulky, she would never stop laughing.
“Oh?” There was the familiar twinge of pity that Belle felt whenever she found out an agent of hell was targeting a human, but she pushed it down. She would save everyone she could, but the soul she’d been assigned took priority.
“Mhm.” He grunted and stood up, subtly using the handle of his trident to compensate for his bad ankle. “You as well, I assume.”
“Yes.” Belle finally opened the correct app and began scanning.
“What is that infernal device?” She heard him wander closer and spared enough time to shoot him a quizzical glance.
“…A cell phone?”
“Since when do angels use cell phones?”
“Since it’s the year 2015.” He scoffed and she rolled her eyes. “It makes it a lot easier to find your charge.”
He scoffed again. “I don’t need a cell phone to find my charge.” He sneered. “I can smell her.”
“I’m sure you can.” Demons had a very good sense of smell, but it wasn’t infallible, especially in a city such as this. Belle had more faith in her phone.
“There, see?” He preened and she looked up, noticing a human approaching from the sidewalk outside the park. A young woman with long blond hair, head bowed and upper body all but buried in a long coat and scarf. “That is my target. Miss Emma Swan.”
Belle froze. “Wait, what?”
He quirked an eyebrow.
“But…my charge is supposed to be…” She flicked back to the first screen of the tracking app and the name blinking at her in bold black letters. “Emma Swan?”
Angel and demon bent their heads together to look at the device in puzzlement, then up at the young woman approaching. Physically, she looked considerably different from either of their normal target types and metaphysically, her soul was a roiling mass of white and grey, with a hint of black every now and then. Normally, a target of heaven would have a fully white soul, while a target of hell would have a black soul. If both were found within the same soul, particularly accompanied by grey, then that meant a human was not suitable for their kind of guidance.
“There must be a mistake…?” Belle wondered out loud, uneasy.
Rumpelstiltskin merely cocked his head, resting the head of his trident back against his shoulder and observing the young woman with his inhuman eyes as she all but collapsed on the bench next to them, sniffling. He noticed what Belle had overlooked in her inexperience; there was more than one soul present, and the second one was pure and still not fully formed. Emma Swan was pregnant.
And, possibly even more interesting, the white that was in her soul was not natural. He’d been around for almost five centuries and he knew what was possible for a human, and what was not.
Emma Swan was not normal. Something had marked her long ago, influenced the shape of her soul, and he couldn’t tell what it was.
“How very curious.” He murmured, watching as the woman buried her face in her hands, shaking.
Then he shrugged and twisted his trident with a flourish.
Time to get to work.
Notes on this universe:
-This world is full of hidden supernatural creatures, and Emma is destined to get involved with them, but at the moment she does not know they exist. It is loosely inspired by the TV shows ‘Supernatural’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’.
-Normally, angels and demons are deathly enemies, and no one would ever expect them to be near each other without trying to kill each other, regardless of the toll on the surrounding humans.
-Belle and Rumple become Emma’s shoulder angel and demon, present to ostensibly guide her through her toughest decisions. (And yes, both would be about three inches tall in that capacity.)
-The decision Emma is having trouble with in this scene is whether or not to keep her baby.
-Emma thinks Rumple and Belle are manifestations of her imagination after she meets them - she is NOT amused when she finally finds out they are real, separate beings.