This was some rescue attempt.

Jareth flashed Sam to the castle, and the hunter found something he did not expect.

A girl. A very pretty girl.

She reclined on a bed, wearing a thin dress of pale blue silks, that twirled around her like mist, and she ran to him almost as soon as he arrived. She reached out to him, putting her hands on him, but he held her back. He learned a long time ago to not trust a pretty face by sight. The prettier, the more deadly.

Looking for a way out, he only saw books. Books, upon books, upon books, but not a single door. The girl stepped away, but she still hovered nearby, looking terrified. Her mouth opened in a small pout, and her cheeks were tear-stained. Normally, that still wouldn't be enough to convince him, but she projected innocence and caring, drawing him to her like a chick to its mother.

"Are you alright?" she asked him. Australian? Perhaps she was also a captive.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I mean, what about you, what are you doing here?"

"I imagine the same as you." She poured a glass of water from an ornate pitcher - everything in this room looked expensive, and made from either marble or mahogany.

Handing him the glass, she offered a small smile, biting her lip. "I'm Belle. Of Avonlea."

"Sam Winchester. From Kansas." He tried not to think of how hard Dean would be laughing right now.

She giggled, and his face felt hot. "Well, that's a mouthful. But not as unique as Rumplestiltskin."

"Wait, Rumplestiltskin?"

She nodded, and he mentally played with the possibility that...

"No, way," he whispered, mostly to himself. But monsters could have daughters. Or maybe that monster's own damsel in distress got poached by someone else. Or just a coincidence; that name was number one on the list of weird. But whether or not she was the "item" he was meant to find, she was coming back with him.

"Well, Belle," he said. "I've actually been hired by a Rumplestiltskin to look for something. Do you know of a dungeon, or a... perhaps a trophy room? Somewhere Jareth would keep something precious."

Belle bit her lip again, and he tried not to stare, but she was very beautiful.

"I'm afraid I can't help you there, Sam," She said apologetically, fluttering those long eyelashes. "Ever since I've been brought here, I've not left this room. And the door only opens from the outside."

Like he said; some freakin' rescue.


"...in the rules! And I should warn you that one of us always tells the truth, and one of us always lies. That's in the rules too. He always lies."

"You, fiend! Don't listen to him, sonny! I always tell the truth, and he always lies!"

"See? He denies it! Such a lie."

Dean threw a rock at one of their shields. "Alright! Enough, damn it!"

He needed Sam for crap like this; riddles and such. He might have read a book or two in his day, but nothing of the fantasy variety. And his contact with mystical creatures like goblins, fairies and dwarves was pretty minimal. This had already been a hell of a day, but so far everything he faced stood well within the realm of his expertise. Just had to behead some red monkeys, and shoot his way around a few garden gnomes, and everything went smoothly. Except for the fact that he had no idea where he was, or if he was making any progress. The damn place was a... well, a freakin' labyrinth, and it seemed to make up its own rules as he went along. Some walls were walls, some trees were walls, and some doors were walls, and yet some walls could be doors.

And right now, these two chattering guards stood between him and Sammy. But he only had eight hours left, and he could be spending that time solving the riddle alone.

"Alright Winchester, let's think this out. Two doors. Only one leads to the castle. You've questioned maybe a million people in your life, you gotta know by now how to tell if someone is telling the truth."

He only had one interrogation method that he would love to use, but the scaly son of a bitch told him that wouldn't work here. Magic ruled in these parts, while brute force amounted to nothing.

Then again... No one could ever accuse Dean of following the rules.

He stood real close to the guard on the left, and placed his gun directly on its schnoz. As soon as he cocked it, the fuzzy bastard trembled.

"See this? This is one of my favorite toys. If I pull this trigger, a little piece of hot metal will shoot through your skull at a speed unseen by the naked eye, and your brains will be splattered all over the place.

"Now, tell me something, because I'm damn curious. If I pull this trigger, will you die?"

The guard was in tears, his hands flailing. "No!" He screamed, but his eyes betrayed him. "No, I won't die!"

"Glad to hear it."


Belle informed Sam Winchester that Jareth's little servants only entered to deliver meals; their master ordered for Belle to be left undisturbed. She also knew that no one stood guard, because she truly had no way out. Beyond her only window was a mile-long drop into a boiling stream, marking that off their list of ideas.

The door opened by way of the bookcases. Each slid open randomly, making it harder to plan their escape. Her rescuer (not that he knew it; she had yet to tell him) paced the room, running his hands through his long hair.

"Ever tried looking for trap doors?" he asked.

"Yes, I have. There is one, but it is an oubliette. Jareth told me he has hundreds in the castle, and thousands more in the kingdom."

She had been stroking a little rabbit in her lap, and was surprised to find she now had four. There was movement under her skirts, and she lifted them to find four more.

"What in the world? Where did all of these come from?"

"Hell if I know!" Sam threw his hands up, and kept pacing. I opened something Rumplestiltskin gave me for this mission, and now I can't get rid of them."

Rumplestiltskin... That man had a purpose behind everything. He might play his little jokes, but he never played when it came to magic. It always came with a price, and no one more than he made her realize the truth in that.

So why would he send Sam Winchester and his brother on a mission with rabbits that liked to multiply in an instant?

"Um, Sam Winchester?"

"Sam, just call me Sam."

"Sam, was anything written on what he gave you? About the rabbits."

"It just said 'Bait.' But I don't see how that's going to help us, not much hunting to do. And the only other thing I've got is a vial of stuff called 'Awake.'"

She continued her petting, and this time she watched as the rabbit split in two, and then again as she kept petting. They needed to be touched to multiply.

"Sam! Quick, help me, the goblins should be coming with dinner any minute. Pet the rabbits!"