EVERY DEAL HAS A PRICE

CHAPTER ONE

This story takes place after Belle leaves Rumpel but before the season finale. I hope you like it! I don't own any of the characters in "Once Upon A Time".

Rumpelstiltskin lacked the patience to shop for food. If only he didn't need sustenance to survive! He thumped a cantaloupe so hard he nearly pushed a dent into the rind. To the left of the melons were apples as red as an angry sky.

He detested apples.

He held an apple to his face, closed his eyes, and inhaled. The crisp scent brought Regina's face to his mind, and rage bubbled so hard at his core he wanted to strangle her image in hope that she would feel his wrath. He suspected Her Royal Smugness was behind his true love's untimely death but he could not prove it. All he had now were painful memories and a chipped cup. The woman lived to make his life miserable! He followed suit by thwarting her evil plans at every turn.

"Are you… are you going to pay for that?" A tiny voice squeaked, bringing him out of his daydream.

The vendor looked at him with trepidation, which didn't surprise Rumpelstiltskin since everyone in town feared him, with good reason. No one crossed Rumpelstiltskin and lived to tell about it. Not anymore. Not since he found his power. He glanced at his hand and saw apple pulp between his fingers. The poor vendor's face blushed as rosy as the crushed Red Delicious in Rumpelstiltskin's fist. Rumpelstiltskin felt so angry he wasn't even aware he pulverized the apple in his bare hand until he laid eyes on his damage.

"What do you think, Dearie?" Rumpelstiltskin grinned. He had no intention of paying. He knew the vendor. The man's oaf of a son had ridiculed Bae before Rumpelstiltskin found his power, and now the man walked on eggshells around him. He also was beholden to Rumpelstiltskin in that he paid him rent for his stand. Rumpelstiltskin knew he had the vendor right where he wanted him, and enjoyed playing up his misery. The wicked little man wasn't above a little extortion.

Rumpelstiltskin liked seeing such fear on the fat man's face. He liked that very much.

"Oh, I wasn't expecting you to pay for it, sir. I wanted to know if you wanted to buy some apples, but I see you don't." He came at Rumpelstiltskin with a towel but Rumpel pulled away, not permitting the vendor to touch him. "May I clean that up for you?"

Rumpelstiltskin took the towel, wiped his hand with it, and tossed it on the bin of apples. "You should watch your produce." He said. "Someone might accuse you of selling rotten goods." He grinned, causing the vendor to gasp with fright. Oh, how Rumpelstiltskin loved bringing out fear in the townspeople! He grabbed two melons, a fistful of green grapes, and a container of strawberries so fresh he could smell the sunlight inside them.

"I'll take these, Dearie." He held up his basket but did not pull out a pouch of coin.

The vendor bagged his fruit and handed the sack to him. Rumpelstiltskin cocked an eyebrow, challenging the man to demand money.

"The fruit is on the house, sir. Have a good day." Defeated, the vendor slunk to a corner behind a stand full of ears of corn. Rumpelstiltskin leered, and that dreadful, high-pitched giggle slipped past his cracked lips.

"You too, Dearie! Hee hee hee! I always enjoy shopping at your stand."

He turned to head for the cheese shop when a figure slipping between the shadows in the distance caught his eye. She wore a brown dress and her long, wavy brown hair fell around her lovely yet anguished face.

It was his Belle! How could that be? She was dead!

I hope you like my first fan fic. This is chapter one. I have more. I adore "Once Upon A Time". Rumpelstiltskin is my favorite character, which is probably obvious by now.