Belle sat on the thin pile of straw in the corner. Every move irritated her wound so she tried to remain still. That was proving more and more difficult, the cell was freezing and with each shiver the stripe across her back would send shooting pains through her body. She tried to keep warm, wrapping her arms tightly around her knees with her face buried, it did little good but there was nothing else to keep the air from freezing her solid. A small sound did not go unnoticed as Belle raised her head just far enough to peek out over the top of her bent legs and in the corner of the room she spied the culprit; a rat.

She held her hand over her mouth and tried not to cry out, she detested rodents and this one was good size. He perched upon his back legs as his nose twitched toward her, he didn't seem to possess much fear Belle noticed but then again why would he? He had probably tasted one or two of the prisoners that had been in this dungeon before; she tried to make herself as small as possible in the corner.

The rat was good-sized as he took a few hesitant steps toward the new visitor, she pulled her legs even closer trying to keep as far back from him as she could manage. The rat was not detoured however as he scurried even closer. Belle winced in pain as she staggered to her feet, it shot through her limbs as she used the cold stone walls to aid her. She looked around for anything that might discourage the rat from approaching and found a small ledge of stone sticking out; possibly to be used for a small table. She took one last glance at the approaching rodent before scrambling over to the stone and trying her best to climb up on it. Pain tore through her and she felt a warm trickle down her back as she reached out for anything that might help her off the floor and out of the rats path.

The dungeon rat watched the girl with interest as she teetered upon the slim stone ledge just high enough that he couldn't reach. He had acquired more than one meal in the cold, damp cell waiting patiently until his victim succumbed to either torture or the cold; either way the rat could be patient; it always worked out his way in the end.

Belle bit her lip to stifle a cry of pain, this was a battle she wasn't going to win, either with the stone or the rat, it was only a matter of time. Her fingers scratched at the walls for any kind of hand hold as her foot slipped and she fell, landing on her side with a thud. The rat scrambled back at the loud sound but it didn't scare him off for long and as Belle scrambled to her feet the rat was already closing in on her. She took off her slipper and threw it, hoping to scare it off but her aim was shoddy at best and it bounced harmlessly off the wall, landing beside the rat, offering no assistance for her plight. She slowly slipped off the other shoe, never moving her eyes from her oppressor, knowing that she had no hope of hurting the animal with such a flimsy weapon. The rat twitched it's nose at her, watching her swing her shoe at him as if she thought it would do any good; there would be only one outcome and the rat felt firmly confident that the other slipper would be no more of a threat than the last one had been...but what he hadn't realized was that the master of the castle was just behind the door arguing with himself about how foolish he was going to look if he didn't have a good reason for rescuing Belle from the dungeon after throwing her there himself.

Rumpelstiltskin stomped down the corridor that led to the room he had only thrown Belle into just a mere two hours earlier. He was going to look like a ridiculous school boy in love not the dreaded Dark One, he was sure she would see right through him; he scowled at himself. His fingers clenched tightly to his palm as he stood there for several minutes before turning and walking briskly back the way he had come, he was not going to bend to any woman, he didn't care if she died in that cell; she deserved everything she got. The sound of Belle falling caught Rumpel's ear as he was walking away and he immediately turned and sped toward the cell. With a wave of his hand the door flew open as Belle aimed her last shoe at the rat advancing on her slowly. The sound of the door caught both the rodent and the girl by surprise as he came bursting through the entrance and with a puff of smoke the rat disappeared only to be replaced by a red rose.

Belle was speechless as she just stood there with her lone shoe in her hand; he had done it again, he had come to her rescue once more. Her breath came out in a ragged huff as she slumped back against the wall before hissing in pain once more with the wound across her back.

She held her ruined dress against her as she watched him with large curious eyes. "What are you doing here?" Rumpel would have liked more than anything to dodge her questions.

"I, well I decided that I might bring you a blanket and looks like I arrived just in time." He bent down and retrieved the rose before making it disappear from his hand while Belle watched.

"I think the smell of blood brought our little friend out of hiding, perhaps we should find a more suitable location for you, can't have you become rat food before you are useful; your no good to me dead dearie."

Rumpelstiltskin escorted Belle up to the main floor of the castle. "Perhaps I should have a look at that wound; it should be cleaned." Belle turned toward her captor.

"I think you've done enough, I don't need your help thank you very much; besides twas you who gave it to me and now you want to play the nurse? " Belle had no intention of letting him show her any pity, she had taken her lash and if he felt bad about it then good, she'd let him, she'd be damned if he was going to play her savior now, he needed to see his handiwork.

Rumpel felt the chilliness of her words as she raised her chin and let him lead the way to the main hall. If she wanted to keep the festering wound then he'd let her, might bring her down a peg or two anyway. "Suit yourself dearie, but I'll leave you clean bandages none the less." He showed her to her old room and even though she knew he would keep her here she was grateful to be out of that dungeon. Belle was tired and cold and hungry and to make matters worse her dress was all but hanging from her as she took a seat on the bed to find bandages and a basin of water at the bedside table. "I'll bring you something eatable up; later." Belle hoped he meant it, she would choke down the magical food if she had to but that didn't mean she would like it. She nodded her head as she kept her eyes on the bandages, anything to keep them off him. He stood there only seconds before going out the door and locking it behind him.

Once he was gone Belle found a large towel in the bathing room and after removing her dress she wrapped it around her. She needed to clean the lash mark on her back, he had been right, the dirty dungeon cell would only make her wound fester and from the feel of it, that was exactly what was going to happen; it needed tending and soon. She soaked the bandages in the water and as best she could Belle tried to press them on her back, it proved to be more difficult than she thought. She could only reach a part of it and couldn't reach the middle at all which was where the worst part was. She had dried blood on her as well which she tried to clean off and was in the process of trying to press the bandages to her skin as best she could but without much success when he decided to open the door with a tray of food.

Belle jumped when she saw him but he didn't pay much mind to her as he sat down the tray of eggs and toast. The delicious aroma let Belle know that this was indeed the real thing; her tummy roared in protest. "Sit here and eat." Belle obeyed his command , perhaps a full stomach will give her more patience to see to her other needs. She picked up a slice of the toasted bread and dipped it into the melted butter before popping it into her mouth.

"It's delicious, thank you; you made this for me?" Rumpel didn't answer as he took a seat in the chair across from the bed. He watched her all but attack the eggs and found a small sence of satisfaction as the girl stuffed herself, licking her lips to catch every drop. When she finally finished he motioned her over to him. At first she hesitated and seemed unsure of herself but after a few seconds of uncertainty she calmly walked over, her arms holding her towel tightly around her. She felt very self-conscious as he motioned her to sit before him so that he might see her wound, the wound he had given her; but how could she refuse? She sunk down to sit on her knees. She gave a small gasp, barely heard as he lifted her long hair out of the way. She felt him twist her locks around and was surprised when he produced a pin out of thin air, putting her hair up and out of the way so that he might help her with her bandages.

She slowly closed her eyes when she felt his gentle touch, she had no idea how he came to suddenly have the bandages in his hand but the cool water felt good against the stinging flesh as he carefully placed the them on her wound.

"I could heal it."She heard his words but Belle shook her head.

"No, it is mine to bear, I'll be alright; the bandages are fine, thank you." Rumpel couldn't understand her reasoning, it would have made his conscience feel much better to have just healed her and be done with it, but she wasn't going to let him off so easily; well so be it then. He cleaned the wound before placing soft dry bandages across her back as he spoke; the sound of his voice was mildly hypnotic to her. He had a nice voice when he wasn't trying to be the most annoying person in the room Belle thought.

"Why is it every time I find you, something is just inches away from sinking its teeth into you?" Belle rolled her eyes, she hated to admit it, but he was right, she had an alarming knack for getting into trouble, but it wasn't her fault she kept getting into these situations; was it?

"Who knows, perhaps your my knight in...uh...dragon armor." His eyebrows shot up at her quip.

"Am I now?"

Belle cringed slightly at his giggle; he really needed to tone down that crazy laugh. She turned to look back at him, "No, you're not; but thank you for helping me put my dressing on; and for supper."

Rumpelstiltskin gave her a small crooked grin before offering her his arm to help her to her feet. He rose up and walked to the door. "Tomorrow is going to be a long day so I suggest you try to get some sleep." Belle suddenly wished he wasn't leaving, she nodded as she watched him give her a stiff bow before closing and locking the door behind him leaving her alone with her thoughts.