Samuel was the boy's name. That was one mystery solved. But how Belle knew him or where he was from was an utter mystery to him. Had he not been careful enough? Had she met him in the market? Did she know him from her other life? What were they doing together alone in that room?

He paced his tower incessantly, unable to work, unable to think so long as she remained alone wit him. When he'd passed by the door to her room, there had been no noise coming out of it. No moaning or groaning. But the door was closed, he couldn't see inside unless he resigned himself to using magic and he just couldn't do it. He'd told himself that he wouldn't long ago, and he hadn't. However, he had to admit that he was sorely tempted now.

Instead, he settled for spending some time in his own room instead of the tower. There, he was at least close to where Belle was so that he could hear if anything untoward happened, and she needed help. He worked at his wheel and listened carefully to the sounds that he heard down the hall. Rummaging. Sounds of pain, male pain. Water dripping into a bowl. Two heartbeats. They were both slow. On occasion, he heard the door to the room open and close, which was followed by quick shuffling. The heartbeat that remained behind was always slow and weak, and that was all he needed to tell him the story. Belle was leaving the room, Samuel, whoever he'd been, was left behind. She did that for the majority of the afternoon. Enter his room, spend some time, leave, return; leave again, come back in a few minutes, wait for hours. Up until the last time. Finally, right around dinner time, he heard her leave the room. This time she hadn't returned. Not a few minutes later, not thirty minutes later. She'd gone down to make him dinner.

Him? Or them? Dinner for the pair of them? Or for Samuel?

It was out of spite that he didn't move her chair that night, some kind of strange male need he had to put her to some kind of test. Not one of loyalty or love or even friendship. Well...maybe it was. Perhaps he honestly wasn't sure what it was about. All he knew was that she was properly surprised when she brought him dinner and looked at the table. He dared to hope…was that a hint of disappointment in her gaze?

"I assume as I've seen no evidence of miraculous healing, you'll be spending more time with your charge," he mentioned casually. He was trying to sound as offhand as possible, as if it didn't matter to him and his presence in this castle was nothing.

When she sighed with relief, he felt his chest tighten. Pain. He felt pain, but it was a pain like he hadn't experienced in his life before, one that he couldn't identify.

"I'd…I'd like that, yes," she answered practically running forward to drop his food in front of him. "If…if you don't mind, of course."

"Mind?!" he dismissed too loudly for as close as she was standing. "What does it matter to me, so long as the dishes get done and breakfast gets made?"

But he did mind. He wasn't sure why he would say he didn't mind when all he wanted to hear her say was that she was going to sit down and have dinner with him like always before returning to her boy. But she didn't. He looked about for a moment, avoiding her gaze, trying to focus on the meal that she'd left before him, when a strange movement drew his attention back to her. She was kneeling. Down at the side of his chair, she knelt down so that he couldn't escape her gaze as easily as before. His breath caught as warmth spread over the hand just at his knee. It was her hand. She held her hand against his. This time it wasn't him touching her but her reaching out to touch him. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to respond. It took only a touch to render him speechless! He should be embarrassed. Why did he want to revel in it?

"Thank you for understanding how much he needs me," she whispered. Then she quickly rose to her feet once more and took the tray with two more bowls of soup on it out of the room. She left him behind with only the imprint of her fingers on the back of his hand and the racing of his heart.

He spent the night in his room, listening, just as he had throughout the previous day for anything that he could hear. But the truth was that there was nothing out of the ordinary. The sound of two calm heartbeats, the door opening and closing as Belle came and went throughout the night, never sleeping or else sleeping very little, on occasion he heard the turn of a page or the opening of a book, but there was very little conversation to be heard by the time the sun rose and-

Something was happening!

Not in Belle's room, but in his own head.

He saw a flash of a familiar book, the one that he'd seen the boy with. He saw the boy with it now, in the woods, standing alone with it still cradled to his chest. In his vision, the boy look back over his shoulder at his parents, a small campsite spread out in a vast field. He saw the book flip open under his own hands and then…

A bright sun. It hovered high in the sky, unmoving and warm. He was sitting on a cliff of some kind, admiring it from a chair. He could feel a smile on his face, feel his mouth moving with conversation.

His hand felt warm.

"Go now!" the Seer commanded in his head. "Or else all will be lost."

It was a brief vision, one of the shorter ones he'd ever experienced, but it's meaning was clear. Now was the time! The boy and his family, in his vision they'd arrived at their new home in King George's Kingdom! If the Seer was right, and she always was, the boy was about to wander into the forest, with the book, alone! That was a chance he'd been waiting on for too long to ignore it!

And it couldn't have come at a worse time!

He was up in his tower, retrieving the small corner of the blanket he'd cut free, preparing to go when he remembered he had to tell Belle. And when he remembered he had to tell Belle, he remembered that she wasn't alone. Their…guest. He wasn't comfortable with this. He wasn't comfortable leaving her here alone with someone that he didn't know, someone who should have died by now but obviously hadn't. Belle was innocent; smart, but naïve. He didn't like not being here to protect her if it was required.

"Go now!" the Seer screamed at him with urgency.

Fuck!

Either go, leave Belle alone, and retrieve the book. Or stay, continue listening to the weak heartbeat of a dying man and lose his chance, all for a paranoid fear. She was innocent and naïve, but she wasn't stupid. If something happened, if she needed help, she knew how to summon him. And besides, she still had her cloak, and he'd never removed the clasp. If there was danger or he tried to force her out, she'd think to use it.

He growled as he pocketed the square of the blanket and practically ran down the stairs to where she was staying with him. He paused outside the door and listened, but there was nothing that he hadn't heard before. Two heartbeats, one weak one strong, the sound of pages turning, her own breathing…he was being paranoid. She'd do fine on her own for a while.

With that, and an ever-growing urgency from the Seer, he knocked on the door. "Belle!" he called, just so that he could listen to the heartbeat of the man. It registered his call, increasing ever so slightly with surprise, but quickly fell back into line by the time she opened the door…and nearly took his breath away all over again. The way the light came in through the windows behind her and struck her hair, even if it was unbrushed and she had dark circles beneath her eyes, she was so beautiful he wished he could paint a portrait…right after he got home.

"I'm glad you aren't too busy with your guest to at least show your face when I call for you," he muttered when she answered the door. Her heart was racing, her eyes were wide. He'd meant to startle the boy, he hadn't meant to scare her too. "Although I must confess…" he sighed, taking a glance behind her into the room to find the boy still laid out on the bed, freshly bandaged and books scattered about the room. Typical Belle. "I wouldn't have extended him my hospitality if I'd know how long it would take him to die."

"Samuel's not going to die!" she snapped at him, her heart still racing. "In fact, his fever broke."

Poor thing, had she gotten any sleep at all? A fever breaking on one as sick as the boy was no easy feat. Didn't she know that she couldn't take care of the boy if she didn't look after herself? If he wasn't healed by the time he returned, perhaps he'd do it himself just to send the child on his way and let her rest. Then they could get back to their life, however meager it was. That was certainly something that benefited him.

"Go now!" the Seer screamed with such violence he winced. It was a good reminder of what he was really here for. It wasn't to admire her beauty in the morning sun.

"Thanks to your expert touch, no doubt. Although fevers have been known to return. Hopefully, this little drama will soon be played out. In the meantime, the castle is yours, Belle. I have some business to attend to tonight and shan't be back until first light."

Her jaw dropped in surprise that seemed completely unnecessary given how often he left her, but then a moment later, she smiled. "Then I suppose we'll see you in the morning!" she nodded, turning back to look over her shoulder at the boy. "Ah, good luck, doing whatever it is you do!"

"Now!"

As much as he wanted to see what it was that had drawn her attention back into the room, the Seer left him with no choice but to leave right then.

Filler? Mmm...kinda...I'd say it could also qualify as a bit of set up for early into season two. We start to see his protective nature coming to life here and how it can sort of overwhelm him. The fact that at the end of the day this encounter ends badly is one of the reasons (though certainly not the only reason) why I think he sort of keeps her underwraps and away from people once the Curse breaks in Storybrooke. Does that need a spoiler alert?

Thank you Alarda, Jennifer Baratta, and Grace5231973 for your comments on the last chapter. Here we can also of course see which storyline we are going to close out! Ready for Rumple to revisit Little Jack Horner? He's coming up next in one of those "handful of chapters" that I told you doesn't involve Belle. But don't skip over it. I actually really like that chapter. It's cute. It's Rumple at his best! Peace and Happy Reading!