When he arrived home the sun was down, and while he could have gone to see his prisoners, he'd instead chosen to keep them at bay and give them until morning to face him. When he woke the next morning, he expected to find Belle in a state, angry just like he'd left her, especially since he chose to wear one of the leather aprons she'd cleaned for him while he'd been away.

What he didn't expect was to find her sitting on that damn couch of hers perfectly calm reading a book she must have found somewhere-instead of doing her chores. It appeared a night away hadn't given her fear at all, only made her lazy. If he wasn't so eager to get back down to his other prisoner he would have made a comment about it. Instead, he found the tools on the table that she'd dutifully cleaned for him. She was unreadable as he took note of them, picking out which one he wanted to use and then questioning whether he wanted to actually use it or if he only wanted to make her think he was using it. Had she talked to the prisoner? It was one of the bad things about going away while he wanted her to do something. He couldn't very well watch her while he conducted his business now, could he? And he could have used the crystal when he'd returned, to see if he saw anything, but he hadn't had the patience.

"Well, I shouldn't be too loud," he commented aloud for her to hear. Still, not a bit of reaction from her. She was an odd one. "Can't promise the same courtesy from our prisoner."

He shook his head at her the second he was out of the room. She provided nothing for him. No reaction to his comments, no opportunity for him to quiz her about what she might have talked to their prisoner about, no words for him to comment on her reading habit instead of her dusting skills. It was unnerving. Later, once the sun had gone down and he'd eaten, perhaps then he would allow himself to question her, or to use the crystal and see what had become of their conversation, but for now he preferred to question a much more vulnerable…

Target?

At first, he thought he was in the wrong place. It was the reasonable, rational explanation for what he saw before him. These walls did look similar, and even when he'd been human he'd had moments where he'd gone into a room and completely forgot why. Perhaps this was like that. Perhaps on his way down he'd been so caught up in thinking about the maid that he'd taken a wrong turn and gone to the wrong dungeon.

He held his breath, backed out of the little room he was in, studied the castle around him, and quickly concluded that was not the case. He'd come to the right place. This was the cell he'd been holding his prisoner in. It was. But now it was empty. It took him all of one second to review his conversation with Regina and recall no hints that anyone had come onto his property to steal him away which left him only once explanation as to who could have freed the bastard. It had to be someone inside the castle already. And since it's only two residents were himself and the girl, and he'd been away…

He was going to kill her.

"Belle!" he roared, throwing the knife to the ground and dashing back up the stairs. Damn a woman's bleeding heart! Damn him for not locking her up before he'd gone! Damn him for trusting her alone with him and not fucking locking him in so that all it took was a woman with a soft heart to free him!

And more? All it took was a glance around the room to know that there was something else that was not where he'd left it.

The wand was gone. Oh, where was his wand?!

He had one very good guess.

"Where is he?" he growled upon seeing her again.

She barely even blinked at his anger.

"Gone. I let him go."

"What?" he roared back, hoping that she could feel his breath in her face. He couldn't help it. He wanted her to feel what he felt! He wanted her to feel uncomfortable; to feel his anger, to feel ashamed!

But instead she just sat right where she'd been when he left her on that couch with a book in her hand, perfectly calm and guilty as sin. She hadn't even tried to lie about letting him go! She'd just stated it as though it was a fact! But his wand!

Stupid girl! She'd let the thief go and hadn't thought to accompany him out so he didn't get what he wanted! Unless, of course, she'd given it to him. May the gods have mercy on her soul if he determined that was the case!

"He was a thief!"

"Which doesn't give you the right to kill him," she responded so calmly it was irritating.

"It gives me every right!" he screamed at her tossing his arms about because if he didn't give them something to do he was going to wave them and send her far away from this place where he didn't have to deal with her ever again! Damned whatever future the Seer saw of her, damn whatever purpose she was supposed to serve, she'd just cost him dearly. At the moment, he had to admit, he was far more tempted than he ever had been to go against that damn Seer and just do what needed to be done!

"Oh, let me guess. You think he's a hero! Stealing from me for some noble cause! You read too many books, dearie!"

She didn't respond, not with fear, not with regret, not with anything! She just continued to calmly sit there as he raged, as he shook with anger! She felt justified, the stupid girl! Oh, she'd see just how justified she was when he was done with her!

And yet, as his fingers tingled to do something magically, do anything to her…he couldn't come up with a single thing. No image crossed his mind, no torture, no punishment, nothing! Except…

"There!" he finally screamed. He used his magic to transport that book in her hands up to his tower, where it would remain locked away. "Maybe that will stop poisoning your head with poisonous thoughts!"

But even as he screamed at her in triumph, he felt no ease from what he'd done. In fact, he felt the Dark Ones laughing at him. He had no ideas, but they had them by the dozens. He could have tied her up, one said. He could have killed her, another sneered. He could have sent her away or strung her up like the thief before her and made her feel the true meaning of pain, Nimue insisted. But instead, he'd taken her book away like he took away Bae's toys when he'd thrown tantrums as a toddler. He was still angry, but he felt suddenly soft. What was wrong with him?

And what was wrong with her? What was her problem that she felt she had the ability to release his prisoners at her own will! She was a servant! She was the price of a deal and a piece of the future, just as Regina was. Since when did he allow them to walk all over him or control his life? What gave her the right? What gave her the courage to do such a thing?!

Why was he letting her? Just because she was pretty?! Foolish stubborn girl!

"I didn't free him because of what I read in my books," she added calmly as ever once more. "I saw good in him. That man only wanted to escape with his life."

Oh, perhaps that was the problem. Perhaps she didn't see, maybe she didn't know just how wrong she was! He was almost excited to bring those girlish fantasies about good knights and evil villains crashing down before her!

"Oh, was that what you thought? Well, he escaped with more than his life!" he shouted, pointing to the now empty pedestal that had once held the wand.

His eyes stayed trained on her as her own eyes moved to look and for the first time since they'd begun to argue he saw what he wanted. She went pale, a magnificent feat considering the color of her skin! But he watched as she turned from her normal cream color to a panicked gray and he finally saw that courageous façade she'd put on melt away as she rose to inspect the pedestal beside him. At least he knew that she hadn't had a hand in helping him to steal it, at least not directly. But that didn't make the situation any better.

"You were tricked! Foolish, gullible girl!"

"Th-there must be an explanation!" she stuttered suddenly breathless. Now she was afraid. It was about fucking time! "We-we don't know why he needed that wand!"

So they hadn't discussed that little piece of information in their conversations. It was easy enough to deduce what the explanation must have been considering what he'd taken! Starry-eyed, innocent, and stupid! The royals always were sheltered. Maybe it was time she realize just how sheltered and childish her notions were for the world around her.

"He took the wand because he wanted magic! People who steal magic never have good intentions!"

"No!" she shouted back at him. "No, you can't tell what's in a person's heart until you truly know them!"

An ignorant assumption worthy of a girl if he'd ever known one. He still wanted to send her away, to magic her to some far off place he never had to deal with her again, but suddenly he could think of a good punishment for her to endure first! He had a plan. And she was going to hate it. It was going to crush her pretty little worldview and he couldn't be more excited to do that.

"Oh, we'll see what's in his heart, alright, when I shoot an arrow straight through it! And because I am a showman…" he summoned the thief's bow and arrows from the place in the kitchen that she'd stashed them. Then, once he knew she'd made the connection, he rounded back on her. "It'll be with his bow! And because this is your fault, you get to come with me and watch and know, as the blood drips from his carcass, it'll be you and your rags to wipe it up!"

If it was possible, her skin turned even grayer than it had been before. Now he had her attention. And it was a good thing too, because this was a lesson she'd was desperately in need of instruction on!

Sorry, another one that I just don't think came out well. Hard to tell why, I think it was just that Rumple's mind, in my opinion, was going everywhere and it was hard to focus it. My apologies.

Thank you Jennifer Baratta, MissAmande, and Grace5231973 for your comments on the last chapter. I do promise that the other chapters are better than this and it will become obvious why 2x19 required so many chapters soon enough. I wasn't pleased that it needed so many chapters, but I did agree with how I divided all the chapters up, so I can only conclude it was necessary. Peace and Happy Reading!