Okay, for those who don't know? I LOVE Sebastian Stan, okay? When I first saw him playing as Mad Hatter… I kinda fangirled. He is so awesome. Recently, I started to think… What if an OC is Grace's mother? And said OC is a Werewolf like Little Red Riding Hood? What if The OC was adopted and originally apart of Red's family? What if Robin Hood was a girl?
This new story answers those questions and will answer more. I have added the Soulmate identification marks in there as well. Symbols, not names and they are complimentary. So people just don't match them up… you'll see. I promise. It is gonna be awesome. I am so excited for this. I really hope that you like it.
I am going to title this: Love's Madness. But I may rename it somewhere along the line.
Rated M for mature. Overall it will be mature themed but I also think that there will be times where it will be go through all of the ratings. It will depend on who provokes her. (The explicit version of things will be transferred to AO3.)
Oh, yes: the werewolf OC? Her name is Tamina. Nicknames: Tami and Mina. She is Chole Bennet... with hazel eyes, okay?
Main Pairings: Jefferson-Mad Hatter/OFC-Robyn Hood... later magicked into the white rabbit. Regina Mills/OMC. ...Every other pairing will pretty much stay the same... I will let you know if I want to change something about that. Or if you have any ideas, let me know - yeah?
Now that we got all that covered, onward to chapter 1.
The full moon hung high upon the dark sky with the invisible strings of the chessmaster, scattered diamonds dancing brightly to contribute to its light. It was a beauty that few appreciated here in the Enchanted Forest, where all were concerned more about finding their happy endings… rather than take note of the miracles that could be found in nature. Personally, he privately thought it rubbish… but the man called Jefferson would still lay awake in the quiet hours of first dawn's light, letting a pointer finger dance on the crescent moon and star conjoined symbol on the inside of his left wrist. Proof that he hadn't given up on love to anyone who would have noticed, even if it was solely for the fact that it was colored with style of a hundred galaxies. Proof laid before him that there was hope for love in his story; maybe not today or even tomorrow but somewhere out there… this Mate breathed the same air he was doing right now… that person most likely looked at the same sky he was. He wasn't alone in this life long search for happiness. He was someone's happy ending.
And that, above all else, made it easier to get out of bed each and every day. He was naught but a thief… however, in the moments he spent thinking about the one meant for him… Jefferson somehow felt like there was more. More to him than what even he initially saw when he looked in the mirror. Or maybe that was just wishful, naive thinking on his part.
Either way Jefferson found that before long, he grew to love looking up at the stars and moon alike. Jefferson had no clue what the connection was between them and his soulmate, but he felt… somehow connected to her through the sight of them. Like through watching them, away from the noise of the village that he called 'home', he could feel her very soul. Yearning for the same things he did. It was pure magic, he was sure.
He currently stood underneath a tall oak tree, whose leaves had started to release their way into Fall. Darkness cloaked him from view and it was quiet for the most part, save from the crickets he knew he wouldn't be able to track and the rustling, dead leaves underneath his boots. It was peaceful in a way that he couldn't compare anything to, and silenced the madness that fought to consume his brain. Funny, it was, as he would have thought the silence would make him more than just a bit twitchy.
He had no idea how long he stood there, minutes could have blended to hours and he still would not have minded much. Jefferson figured that it wasn't as long as it could have been predicted, the sky still dark even as the wind howled into his ears. He could imagine that now was about the time that people in the taverns finally stumbled out onto the cobblestoned roads. The wind howled again making Jefferson pull at his long leather jacket to conceal his tucked in, patterned shirt, vest and dark scarf that was tightly wrapped and knotted signaturely in the front. Something moved on his head at the motion before the right corner of Jefferson's lip twitched upwards into an almost smile before both of his hands reached up to fix the crooked top hat back into position.
He heard a howl again; this time sharper, louder and longer than before and as Jefferson took the time to once more look up at the taunting full moon? He became excruciatingly aware of the situation he was about to fix himself in. For somewhere within the shadows of his surroundings, Jefferson would bet highly that there was a wolf somewhere… heading in his general direction. And something hidden within him, perhaps the intuition that he tried and failed to follow… piped up then and told him he would win such a bet. A curse fell from his lips then and Jefferson swiftly turned to the oak tree and had begun to climb, the only thought going through his mind now… was that he needed to get off of the forest floor.
The madness danced swiftly into his brain through the panic, telling Jefferson that he was stupid for even being out here in the first place… to hold onto the only link he had to his soulmate, someone who probably didn't want him anyway. He told it to shut up as he scrambled up the tree, but knew once Jefferson rapidly heard another thought come to mind that he had been ignored. He was up the first two branches when his hat went topsy turvy from where it was perched on top of his head and Jefferson went to reach for it, only for it to fall almost soundlessly on the forest floor.
Jefferson cursed quietly and gazed around his immediate surroundings, lending an ear to the leaves that still rustled with movement. Carried upon the wind; what appeared to be a nickname caught his attention from the male voice that yelled it, seemingly uncaring who… or better yet, what… would hear him.
"Tami!" It seemed to be a strange nickname to Jefferson and he knew strange, intimately. When the male voice yelled it again, the Hatter knew the sound of a man who was chasing after a woman… a daring woman at that. One that was full of life, mischief and danger. After all, how else would someone justify running amuck in the Enchanted Forest on a night like this?
Finally, through the shadowy depths of the trees, parted a wolf whose fur was so white that Jefferson held no doubt that the twinkling stars above them were envious. He held his breath, only daring to breathe shallowly through his nose, as the wolf slowly moved forward… sniffing. And suddenly, Jefferson knew that the wolf was tracking him and no doubt would find him easily. Once again, he mentally and colorfully cursed. The closer it got though, he noticed that it's movements were more determined than threatening… for now anyway. He could tell just by the first moment he locked his dark brown eyes on her wider and hazel ones. It was still a wild animal though and he became aware that even though it wasn't aiming to kill anything now, it could turn that thought around just as quickly as it made it.
The wolf lifted its left paw slowly, in apparent indecision on where to go next, and with the help of the illuminating light from the sun; Jefferson noticed that the the wolf's paw was a metallic gray color. It was almost like the wolf stepped in pixie dust or something and shook away all the glitter that he knew it contained. It was strange but beautiful, in it's own way. The animal raised its head slowly and sniffed the air twice, before those huge hazel eyes locked on his hat that landed sideways. It moved forward quickly, almost… (dare he even think)… excitedly at the new discovery. While all Jefferson could do was shift on the branch nervously, hoping that he wasn't discovered and that the wolf didn't shred his hat. An action that he was pretty sure the wolf could do with only one paw. It sniffed the brim of the hat before sticking part its nose inside, as if the wolf somehow suspected the hat was more than just that: a hat. As if it was trying to peer within to see at least an entry into the worlds that were hidden within the darkened depths.
It raised it's paw and at that moment Jefferson knew that it was over, had shifted in his place haphazardly on the branch and tried not to whimper… even as he closed his eyes in dread. It was then though, instead of the unmistakable sound of something tearing, all he heard was rustling leaves again. Hesitantly, Jefferson slowly opened one of his eyes and peered downward… only to open the other one and blink rapidly at the sight before him. He watched as the animal that should have been destructive and rapid growl playfully at the hat before raising a paw again. This time, Jefferson watched with growing amusement as the pearl white wolf gently smacked around the hat. It reminded him of a cat that found a ball of yarn, amusing itself with the newfound toy that it had now acquired.
It's... playing with it. Jefferson thought numbly as his mind tried to process the sight with warring amusement and disbelief, the huge wolf… is playing with my hat. He could scarcely understand it, even when more rustling had come to reach his ears, ones that were from the wolf. A hunter? He questioned and had the strange urge to protect the wolf if it was. Here was an animal that could gut him like a fish, easily, and eat him for breakfast… and he wanted to protect it? He guessed that because it was an animal... It was just doing what instinct told.
"Tami…" Someone spoke then, with the same voice from before, and had redirected Jefferson's attention to see a olive skinned man cautiously step forward. His eyes as dark as his hair, dressed in simple clothes and had on some durable boots to walk through the mud ridden parts of the forest with relative ease. Though they were not as stylish as Jefferson's, mind. In the man's hand was a long black jacket with what looked like a loose hood attached. Jefferson wondered why the man was holding it instead of wearing it but he supposed that the only other explanation was… He looked at the wolf that had now stopped playing with his hat, letting it roll into the darker parts of the night, and only came to one important realization.
Werewolf.
Though he never laid eyes on a werewolf, much less heard stories of one that acted so tame… so much like a overgrown puppy to be honest… Jefferson unceremoniously gulped in response.
The Werewolf slowly turned it's head in response to the noise that wasn't made by it, eyed the man and sharply growled predatorily in response. Jefferson knew that the wolf, whoever it was underneath that fur had to know he was up there in that tree. If it found the hat, it could have easily found him as well… but instead it chose not to draw attention to him.
"Now, now. Don't be like that Tamina." The man tried to pacify the wolf, his tone going soothingly in a way that Jefferson hadn't heard before in regard to Werewolves. Maybe they are 'family'? He fleetingly thought as he watched the two of them on the forest floor, and the Hatter still wasn't sure if this was a dream or not. It felt like one. Something so impossible... yet oh so fascinating to him, made him not even twitch as his dark gaze bounced between the wild canine and the human.
The man held his unoccupied hand up in the universal movement of surrender before he walked cautiously forward, "I know that you have some control, Tami. Hear me? It's me, Nikolas." He uttered calmly even though there was an underlining element of fear that the man couldn't hide and when he was close enough, the man name Nikolas threw the cloak over the wolf. It was more like a blanket than anything else but as Jefferson quietly observed the silver wolf pinned on the thick material, that some more pieces fell into place.
Jefferson noted that underneath it, the body of the wolf became so much smaller and bones shifted with cringe worthy noises. However, it wasn't long before a slender, olive skinned hand was able to grasp for Nikolas's outstretched one. He watched in silent awe, blending into the darkness and thin cover of the leaves around him, that Nikolas regarded the woman with a gentle glint sparkling in his eyes.
"Did I… hurt anyone?" The woman named Tamina questioned and Jefferson didn't need to see her face to know that the worry in her tone was reflecting outward. He wanted to see her face though; to be able to put a face to a name and the wolf… or at least, that is what he kept telling himself.
"No." Nikolas reassured calmly, eyeing her face with something that had latched onto his. "You didn't. But I reckon that I have been chasing you non-stop for hours now. You are too playful, even in this form, for your own good. What if... hunters crossed your path? What if they tracked your paw prints again? ...Tam. It is unsafe-"
"It always will be." She uttered loftily, and the undertone of Tamina's tone of voice was more perturbed than worried now that she knew that she hadn't killed anyone. Jefferson could only imagine what it was like. To lose your outward appearance, bones shifting painfully and losing yourself completely to the animal caged within. He wondered about the amount of blood she had on her hands.
She started walked away from him then, hips moving tantalizingly with each one of her movements and from where he was, Jefferson saw Nikolas eyeing his beloved hat. The man slowly went forward and picked it up to analyze it with a growing smirk. "I wonder…" He uttered softly, yet still in the near silence it seemed like he screamed it, "just who you are and how close you actually were to her…" Nikolas eyed his surroundings once more, quiet in an attempt to pick up even the slightest movement of the hat's owner, before Tamina paused and turned to look at him just before she stepped into the darker shadows.
"Are you coming or what, Nik? I am grateful that you brought the cloak but I would like to go to bed before the sun comes up, if that is doable." She watched as he nodded, Jefferson watching as she tilted her head as Nikolas turned his back to her and gently threw the hat down. For he knew that the owner would want to retrieve it sometime, in fact by the smirk curving on Nikolas's lips, he was actually counting on it.
"Yup." He popped the 'P' sarcastically, smiled sharply before walking towards the woman, "Always, little 'sister'. Remember?"
The two of them walked deeper into the forest when he finally reached her, side by side, when Tamina finally relaxed and began to argue that she was only a year younger than him. Jefferson waited until he couldn't hear movement upon dead leaves to count slowly to fifty. When he reached it, the man slowly climbed down the tree and went to pick up the hat that miraculously survived.
Jefferson thought about the wolf pin once more, and wondered if it was indeed silver at all. Silver and Werewolves don't mix, or at least that was what he personally knew of. Maybe it was white gold, instead. Nevertheless, he knew it on sight and what it stood for. He had never spoken to her, heard her voice and there was only one occurence when he laid eyes on her. She usually done well to not get caught, but he recognized a thief when he saw one.
Who would have known that underneath the alias of 'Robyn Hood'... there was a woman behind that blank wolf mask? Something in him awoke upon this night, a craving to find out more about the mystery she presented. And even if he didn't understand it, after all it could have been the fact that he was so close to death and survived that actually sparked this twisted fascination of his… Jefferson knew that he would crave to know more until the moment he died.
Even if the wolf who was Tamina would be the one to do it.
Jefferson rose upright from his bed with a gasp falling from his lips. His eyes were closed as his body quaked with the memory of what was. He needed her… he needed them. But it was in this house, locked from his loved ones, that his own curse lied. He knew that when he opened his eyes, he would still be there… here. Jefferson almost didn't want to, he didn't want to go through anymore of it, this pain of remembering and not having a opportunity to do something about it. He fought it; for his Mina and their little Gracie.
Hesitantly, he opened his eyes and saw that the recurring nightmare hadn't come to an end. Jefferson almost wailed in loneliness, and while he kept back the outcry… he couldn't hold back the tears stinging in his eyes. He had to try the door, just like Jefferson tried every. single. day that had passed him by. One morning bled into another; watching from afar as Grace was happy with a family that was not her own, how Tamina was with her adopted brother more often than not to keep her own loneliness at bay. He could tell from her movements that she suspected something was missing, though she had yet to figure out what.
He watched them both, taking turns through two different telescopes. Watching as the both of them shifted unknowingly into the wolves they truly were every full moon, running side by side through the woods around his house with Red… comforting gestures between mother and daughter like they somehow knew… before shifting to human and going back to being unaware of each other. It was heartbreaking to watch. To feel angry at how the family that Grace called as blood knew not what was going on with her… they didn't even suspect anything amist. They didn't come to check on her at night, making sure that she was asleep. It was only when they found her sleeping outside did they question and even then, they tried to put her on sleeping medications. They put child gates up. They did everything except checking in on her at night. He had thought Tamina had died somehow, for she disappeared in their world and he couldn't find her in any other. The only good thing that may have been of this curse, is that she was here with them now. How he wished he could hold either of them… Jefferson would have made a deal for a minute, if he hadn't realized that a mere minute would never be enough. He just… he wished for peace from all the madness plaguing his brain.
He sighed heavily in exasperation, before he pulled himself fully out of bed. The clock beside him read that it was only eight in the morning, which would have made Grace at school by now and Mina going to Granny's to get her coffee. He lazily walked out of the room and down the hallway; humorous how the house served to be only a huge maze to him at first. Now, he truly was the rat that moved through it with ease until he came to stand in front of the door that Jefferson knew with certainty wouldn't open for him. Every morning he tried and every morning he failed… but if he gave up on it, Jefferson knew that he would truly lose his mind. The hope that the next day would be the day he would finally open it and breath in fresh air was truly what got him out of bed in the morning.
His hand closed around the door knob tightly, and still Jefferson hesitated to turn. He was conflicted, immobile to the action that he desperately wanted the result of… and it seemed that his sanity was only held together by a thread. He didn't want to lose hope, not when he fought to hold onto it for so long. But when Jefferson finally forced himself to twist, the sound of wood scraping met his ears, making him freeze where he stood. Heart pounding in his chest, Jefferson eagerly pulled with all his strength and finally - finally after years of being sealed within this house that he now hated - the door... finally opened.
He cautiously stepped forward, over the threshold that confined him and greedily breathed in the fresh air that encased him. Jefferson stood in the massive driveway in his long pajama bottoms, in awe and praying with everything in him that this wasn't a dream… before he pinched his forearm hard enough to bruise. Pain answered him immediately and Jefferson laughed then, gleefully and high. The sound echoing high above the trees around the property; he didn't have one care to anyone that may have heard him and thought him mad.
After all, they would certainly be right.
But for now, Jefferson made to go back into the house and get dressed in his finest clothes, a wide and almost demented smile curving upon his lips. He could at least talk with one of his girls today and come hell or high water, Jefferson was going to make Mina love him once more. And if anyone wanted to stand in his way? Well... there was a reason he kept his special, silver scissors so sharpened. If they weren't handy he had many knives available. Jefferson was sure he would have relatively no problem running the majority of the townsfolk through if they stood in the way of him getting to his family.
He made plans to go back into the woods, to find her once more even if it was in wolf form. Jefferson didn't understand why he was obsessed with the woman… only that he was. He told himself that it was fascinating, she was fascinating, to watch in her wolf form. He knew that she only acted like that because she wasn't threatened… and then he remembered the growl she gave her 'brother' when he spoke. Tamina was her name, he remembered. Every detail he could have engraved into his mind from what little he observed that night had been.
Jefferson walked the down the cobblestone streets of the village lost in thought until something caught his attention on the one roof tops. There was a figure that stood as still as a statue, as if it was always there on the roof trestles; with a suspiciously familiar long and dark cloak that didn't do anything to hide the large curves of her chest, a hood up to cover the person's hair and a blank mask with the outward curved nose and ears of a wolf... of which covered the entire face. It was obviously spelled so the person could see through it but no one could identify the person underneath. The arch of a bow clutched tightly in an slender olive skinned hand.
He quickly moved backward in light feet to stand totally covered in the shadows, watching quietly as she took a pouch of what was sure to be filled with gold and tied it in the middle of the stick that she wrapped tightly to an arrowhead. With perfect form as she pulled the arrow back until her thumb touched her lip, Robyn Hood released the arrow with the speed of a hungry serpent. It wasn't long before she straightened her posture up to that of a soldier, switched the bow to her left hand and raised her right in a proper salute to show respect. He gathered from where she was positioned that Tamina just gave the church - the kind-hearted Priest Friar Tuck - the money that she no doubt stole.
And after that salute, she turned and fled from the rooftops… and as Jefferson quickly moved to follow, he knew this wouldn't be the first time he chased after this woman.
The door to Granny's jingled as it opened, making Jefferson lift his head from the steaming cup of tee he had ordered while he waited. It was magic all over again even though this world didn't have any, locking eyes with his Mina. She seemed out of breath and exhausted, all at the same time. With her long and gorgeous dark brown locks pulled back into a messy bun. Some pieces escaped from its confines to lay naturally curled at the sides of her face; so much beauty she was, wrapped in a five foot three inch of everything but delicate things. Only few knew who the woman that was born with the name Tamina Luca truly was, as anything other than the prankster and thief that she had wanted all to see.
She moved forward into the cafe in faded black jeans, black heels and a dark gray t-shirt with a graphically drawn gray and purple cat perched within a soft brown tree. It's eyes wide and golden, the slit within small and black. Insane, just alike the stretched grin on it's lips that was made up of only sharp teeth. "We're all a little mad here." was written clearly and in cursive. He smiled brightly at the shirt, but Jefferson couldn't help but raise an amused eyebrow at it. When she turned away to walk close to the counter, he caught sight of the white printed message of 'Down The Rabbit Hole' before his eyes strayed to the symbol he knew would be behind her left ear.
It was his precious hat, outlined in black behind her ear as a soul mark but filled for the most part with the galaxy design as his own mark. Within the small hat symbol, Jefferson could see that within it was his full moon and star mark, unfilled and too outlined in black to separate the two designs. It was as if when her mark appeared, someone cookie cutted his mark out of hers. It was beautiful, even now.
"Coffee?" Granny… who was actually and ironically her Grandmother… asked swiftly after taking one good look at her. The bags underneath Tamina's eyes were hard to miss, and it was clear to anyone who just glanced her way that she had a rough night… even with the cover up that she used to try and hide it. The younger woman hissed out a yes, long and appreciative at the mere idea of coffee, and when Granny offered her a To-Go cup full of the hot liquid that Jefferson saw her to swiftly become protective of… Tamina wasted no time at all with adding in some sugar and taking a sip of the black liquid.
Red gave a shiver in response, "I don't know how you do that, Mae. I need at least milk and a shit ton of sugar in my coffee just to make it taste good." Granny gave her a glare at her language that had the young woman rolling her eyes before she was shooed off to wait on tables with a pout on her lips.
"Do you know what made that old clock tower start to tick this morning?" Tamina - no, was it Mae in this world? - asked Granny in confusion, only for the woman to tell her she had no idea. Instead of asking more, Tamina smiled softly in understanding as she offered up three dollars. "Oh the mysteries in life… Keep the change." She nodded at the other woman gently and hopped off of the stool to leave. Quickly, Hatter threw down five dollars on the table, uncaring that it was a large tip in comparison to what he ordered, grabbed his top hat and ran after her.
He reckoned that he would strike up a conversation about her shirt first, ask questions about it to slowly start to reintroduce himself into her life. Anything… anything at all… to get her to start talking to him.
He knew he was desperate.
But after so long of being alone, of being disconnected by everything that he cared about, Jefferson didn't... fucking... care.
So… how do you like it so far? :) I am excited for this so much. By the way, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING! More than 4,000 words! Yay!