A/N: Sorry about the lack of updates, but I will be updating regularly from now on. I'm actually not sure if I'm going to continue this story, just because I haven't gotten a lot of response. Let me know what you think! :)

Rumplestiltskin sniggered as he lowered his hood and the throng of people scattered before him. They ran this way and that, getting out of his way however they could and creating a clear path for him to walk through the market.

"What have you done to scare them like this?" Belle wondered in a whisper, as everyone had grown silent.

"They know not to cross me, dearie!" he said at a normal level of volume, accompanying the statement with some of his famous hand gestures. "Everyone does!"

He sauntered up to a stall with piles of straw behind it. "Good afternoon." He bowed to the shop owner, a stout man with dark hair and skin that was gleaming with sweat.

As Rumplestiltskin rose, he snapped his fingers and all of the straw disappeared in a puff of smoke. He giggled and then continued on his way, not giving the owner a second glance. The man sighed in relief, however, and wiped a hand across his brow.

Belle planted her feet and put a hand on her hip, calling after Rumplestiltskin. "You're just going to take all of his straw without payment?"

Rumplestiltskin pivoted on his foot and turned to face Belle with an amused but slightly murderous gaze. "Why should I pay him, when he knows I could just do this!" He thrust out his arm and suddenly the owner of the straw stall was choking, unable to breathe.

Belle looked at the man and then back at Rumplestiltskin in desperation. "Stop it!"

But he held on for a few moments longer before dropping his arm. "Do you want payment for your straw, sir?" he purred, a wide grin on his face.

"No, no sir," he gasped in his collapsed position on the ground behind the stall, rubbing at his throat.

Belle felt a boiling anger rage up in her. No one should ever be allowed to treat anyone that way. It went against everything she had inside of her. And the joy on Rumplestiltskin's face was just the icing on the cake.

Not used to harboring such anger, Belle found herself marching the few steps between her and her master, and slapping him across the face.

A collective gasp went up from the people lining the edge of the road. Belle immediately realized what she had done and regretted it; not only because she was unsure of what he would do, but because she knew violence wasn't going to help him change.

Rumplestiltskin turned his head back toward her slowly, his gaze trained on the ground. Finally, his eyes reached hers, and they burned with anger. He raised a hand to strike her, and Belle swallowed thickly as she looked away and steeled her jaw.

But the blow never came.

Instead, he grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her out of the street, tromping in the dirt a little ways before dragging Belle into the thick of the woods. He kept on marching without a word, never loosening his iron-clad grip, and didn't stop until he came to a small clearing in the forest with a trickling brook running by. He threw Belle forcefully onto the ground, though she quickly gathered herself and raised herself from the collection of dirt and leaves.

Rumplestiltskin paced back and forth in front of her. Finally he stopped and pointed at her. "You!" he spat, though he couldn't seem to find anything else to say.

Belle just watched him, stunned into silence. Everything had happened so quickly, and her head was just a jumble of emotions.

His eyes were as hard as flint. "Change in plans. Our deal is done. I'm leaving you here."

"Wait, but-"

"Just shut up before you cause any more trouble!" he shouted, his breathing hard and heavy. He added, softer, "I could have killed you, or worse, so consider this a kindness, part of that 'good' you saw in me. I'll leave you to find your way out of the woods."

"Rumplestiltskin-"

But she was cut off again, for several footsteps ran into the clearing from behind her and she was yanked to her feet and spun around to face a young man with fair skin and crooked teeth. He grinned at her, a grin to make her stomach churn. A bandit.

"Oi mates, look what we've got here! A pretty one!"

A chuckle rose from several men nearby, though Belle couldn't see them as the man's hand held her head firmly in place. His breath reeked of alcohol and stung her eyes, but she stared him straight on anyway, knowing it was best not to show fear.

"Hello there, gentlemen," Rumplestiltskin's voice sounded in an amiable tone from behind her. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

The man holding Belle looked past her. "No idea, mate. We're new around 'ere."

"Ah. Well then, you see, this will be your first lesson. My name is Rumplestiltskin, and nobody ties me up."

Several groans and shouts sounded all at once, and then silence reigned. The leader released Belle and stepped back, his hands in front of him. "Look, mate, you can take her and I won't cause no more trouble." His voice trembled and his eyes were wide with unbridled fear.

Belle looked back at Rumplestiltskin to see what he was going to do. She glanced at the rest of the bandits lying on the ground and wondered if they were dead, hoping he wouldn't kill this man and trying to convey that through her eyes to Rumplestiltskin.

Rumplestiltskin leaned forward, his eyes shooting daggers. "Get. Out."

The man scrambled onto his feet and ran further into the woods. Rumplestiltskin waved a hand, and all of the soldiers vanished.

Belle looked at Rumplestiltskin the same moment he looked at her. "Thank you," she said softly.

"I never liked pests," he responded, settling on a large, flat stone by the brook. "I would have gotten rid of them anyway."

Belle sat next to him on the same stone, so close they were almost touching. "But you didn't have to. You're going to leave me here anyway, so you could have let them take me."

"Yes, but, as I've said, good help is hard to find."