Jailed In Storybrooke
"Oi," he called, "if you're going to keep me locked up in here, are you going to feed me?" Will stretched on the narrow cot, and put his hands behind his head and crossed his legs. "Bangers and mash, or just plain bacon and eggs, some biscuits and jam—blueberry, if you please—and a nice big pot of coffee would be fine—extra sugar." He shot a look through the bars of his cell to the two sheriffs who were working at their desks. David didn't bother to look up, but Emma glared at him.
"Look, smart ass," Emma replied curtly, "we're busy right now trying to catch up after your little adventure took me away from a major case last night." Will smiled, "Oh, love, don't make me change my opinion of you as a decent sort." Emma grimaced as she continued to sort through the box of papers from the mayor's office, "Don't worry, you aren't going to starve." "Well, that's comforting," he replied.
Emma pulled out a small box, walked over to the cell, and handed it through the bars. "Here you go, sunshine." Will slid off his cot and stretched again, the bruise on his face lurid in the morning light. "Still don't want to tell me who gave you that shiner?" Emma asked. Will grimaced and shook his head. "Told ya, dunno." He would never tell her that the bloody pirate with the hook for a hand—or did he have 2 hands last night?-had attacked him just because he was innocently trying to break into the library. He took the box gingerly and peered inside. "Bloody 'ell, wot's this?" "It's a poptart," she shot back, "easy, convenient—" "And made out of cardboard," he finished. He pulled it out of the box and examined a bitten-off edge, "Looks like somebody already 'ad a nibble." He stretched out on the bed again and closed his eyes, the box abandoned on the floor.
"It's all you're gonna get, so eat it or not, it's all the same to me," Emma told him as the phone rang. She scooped it up, and after a hurried conversation, she announced, "It's Leroy. He thinks he spotted the Ice Queen in the south forest near the meadow. He says there's ice everywhere." David jumped up, grabbed his gear and the squad car keys, and headed for the door. Emma pulled on her jacket, checked her weapon, and moved to follow him. She shot a glance back at Will. "Don't starve while we're gone." Will cracked open one eye to watch them depart. Then he stretched again, flexed his hands, and sat up. Reaching to his boot, he pulled a small thin strip of metal from the instep.
It was 2 hours before Emma and David returned, tired and frustrated from stomping around the damp and dreary forest in vain. "That trail went cold fast," David remarked with a smirk as he checked the phone for messages. "Really?" Emma shot back as she dumped her weapon on her desk and tugged off her jacket, "You really went there?" She draped her jacket over the back of her chair. " We're trailing a woman who can freeze things with magic and you say the trail went cold? That's—" she stopped and glared at the empty cell, its door still tightly locked. "Dammit!" she shouted.
David held up a piece of paper that he'd found on his desk. "He left a note," he replied, reading, "Dear Sheriffs, thanks for the blueberries and cardboard but I wasn't in the mood, so I'm going out for a real breakfast. I might stop back later."
Emma stared at her father, fury building up in her. "I'm going to chain him in the basement," Emma fumed, clenched her fists, "I'm going to nail his ass to the wall, I'm—"
"Well, well, who's gotten our sheriff in such a snit this fine day?" Will strolled through the front door and headed back towards the cell. Emma lunged at him, grabbed his jacket front, and shoved him against the wall. "Bloody 'ell!" he yelped.
"Where do you think you're going?" Emma hissed.
"Back to me cell," he grinned at her amiably, "Wot? Didn't you see me note? I left a note." David gently pulled at her shoulders, and she let Will go. He continued to the cell door, "Glad you didn't let someone else in me accommodations while I was gone."
David was right behind him. "We found your note," David was grim, " you went out for breakfast." "Oh, and a shower," Will added, straightening the collar of his leather jacket and brushing some imaginary dust off his black jeans. "Forgot to add that part, but I bloody well needed one, don't you know." He looked back at David with as sincere a face as he could muster. "You going to unlock it for me?" Silently David turned the key in the lock, held open the door and Will stepped inside. "And just where did you go for that shower?" David asked him as Will stretched out on the cot. Emma watched him, her jaw clenched.
"Well my place, of course. Wot, you think I live in a tree trunk in the forest or somethin'?" He pulled a toothbrush out of his pocket and balanced it on the cell crossbar. "Now," he said as he started to close his eyes, "if you don't mind, after a breakfast like I've had, I think a nap is in order." He stretched out on the cot and closed his eyes. "Wait a minute," David stood in front of the cell. "Just how did you get out of here in the first place?" "Well," Will yawned, "You know you don't have the strongest security." He reached over his head and shook the bars behind his cot. "Definitely lacking." "Maybe we should tie you to a chair," Emma spat. "Into that kind of thing, are we?" he asked, and he closed his eyes. "Just let me know when I've served me sentence."
An hour later, Emma unlocked his cell door. "Up and out, thief," she called, "you're free." Will slowly opened his eyes and rolled to his feet, even though he'd been awake for over a half hour and listening to everything going on around him. "That was fast," he grinned, reaching for his toothbrush and pocketing it. "Yeah," Emma grimaced. "I just got off the phone with Belle, over at the library," she swung the door open and he stepped out. "She said you stopped by earlier today, and returned the book you stole—the book we were holding here as evidence. "
"She's a right lovely lady, the librarian," Will grinned, "and we had a right lovely conversation." He sidestepped around Emma, trying to edge towards the door.
"She also said you paid for the damage to the window and the book. She's not pressing charges." she continued, putting a hand on his chest to stop him. "Where'd you get the money?"
"It was me own money now, don't fret," he answered glibly, trying to slip past her outstretched arm.
"Yeah, money that you stole from the ice cream shop two days ago when we were all in there," Emma retorted.
Will paused, and shot a quick glance at David, who stood, arms crossed, watching him closely. He then turned back to Emma, "Well, now, you can think that, love, but you just don't have any proof, do you? No eye witnesses, no hidden cameras. O' course, you could ask the Ice Queen herself, whenever you find her."
Emma held her temper in. "This isn't over yet," she growled, "because you're gonna slip up again, and when you do, I will be right there to catch you."
"Right then," Will tried to sound innocent, "see you around." He finally slipped by her, gave David a salute and a grin, and shot out the door. He paused in the entryway for just a second, leaned back in the office, and added, "Oh, and I met the mayor this morning too! Give her my regards!"
David shook his head. "He's a slippery one," he conceded.
"Yeah," Emma answered as she walked over to her desk, "but after this whole Ice Queen mess is cleaned up, we're definitely gonna nail him for his one-man crime wave."
Out on the street, Will reached inside his jacket to his shirt pocket, and gently touched the folded up paper inside. He'd returned the book, yes, but he'd kept the picture of the red queen. He was fairly certain the librarian would never notice it was gone.