For back story on the Believe or Leave phenomenom check out tumblr. Its David Anders' fault, he started this on twitter. We just picked up the ball he threw and ran off with it laughing madly. I've also written another BoL-themed fic The past always comes back to bite you not related to this one but its there.
This is a sort-of AU that splinters off from mid-season 2 (When I started writing it) The things you need to know are, Jefferson, Rumplestiltskin and Dr Frankenstein used to be in a band back in The Enchanted Forest, that band was called Believe or Leave, Frankenstein has (or at least had) the same lecherous personality as Dr Whale, pirates will NEVER EVER EVER turn up in Storybrooke, Jefferson and Emma have worked past that first disasterous meeting and have become friends. For the purposes of this story, either Jefferson's hat wasn't crushed or they got the hat Emma made to work. Doesn't matter, they have a working hat. Also, at the moment Emma and Jefferson are just friends. Likelihood of that changing before the end of the story - high.
We all know that the characters aren't mine, I'm just playing with them. I promise I'll put them back in the box when I'm done.
"I don't know why you're so fascinated by this. Surely you've known people who were in bands before?" It was the third time in as many weeks that Emma had driven their conversation towards his past musical exploits. For Jefferson, Believe or Leave was something long dead, he didn't hide it, nor did he revel in it. Despite the smallness of the town, neither he, Rumplestiltskin or Frankenstein sought each other out to relive past glories.
Emma placed her mug in front of her. "Sure there has been a friend or two, but they were small time things. Granny tells me you guys were really popular. Plus, I have a hard time imagining Gold in any kind of band, let alone being the lead guitarist."
An offhand comment from Granny Lucas after one of Emma and Jefferson's lunches had piqued Emma's curiosity. She had assumed that her friend had some sort of musical talent given the number of instruments scattered through his house, but the revelation of what had apparently been some sort of famous boy-band had been too much, especially when she discovered that the town letch and the master deal-maker had also been involved. The hatter's (or keyboardist/guitarist/vocalist as she had found out) reticence to go into detail had only increased her curiosity.
"We're not going to be reforming any time soon, so you may as well let it go, we've been through this, there is nothing further to tell. Rumple, Victor and I had a band, we had some success, then Victor had to return to his own land and I got married so Believe or Leave faded away. We moved on and so should you." Jefferson folded his arms in a huff.
"Oh come on Jefferson, of course you've moved on, its been nearly 50 years for you! I found out that my friend was a pop star only 3 weeks ago! This is the kind of thing that people share when they are getting to know each other. You telling me about it is the only way I can learn, as you've said there's little chance of you guys reforming, and I doubt The Enchanted Forest had any recording facilities for me to listen to a CD or anything." Emma didn't understand him sometimes, most people would lead with tales of being in a band, but she had to drag the smallest bit of information out of him, and Granny was really the only other person who she could ask. Her parents and most of their friends were too young to have seen the band at the height of their success.
He sighed, "you're right, between a lack of the modern conveniences and the curse transporting us to a difference world I doubt there is much left of the band, excepting the members of course. But there really isn't much more to tell you Emma and I'm not really interested in it anymore." He slid out of the booth and went to pay for their lunch. When he turned back, Emma was holding the door open for him. They walked together back to the sheriff's office, but before Emma could say goodbye Jefferson grabbed her arm, "we're ok aren't we?" Emma smiled at him, "if we've become friends after the way we met, its going to take more than you not being chatty about a band to break that."
Smiling back at her, Jefferson leaned down and pressed a kiss to her cheek, "I'm glad, it would be a silly thing to fight about. Don't work too hard. I know this town can get unruly." Emma waved at him over her shoulder as she went back into her office. Jefferson watched until she had gone out of view before heading home.
Emma was about to go to bed when she was surprised by a knock at her door. Standing in her hallway was Jefferson. He shook his head at her invitation in. Rubbing the back of his neck he looked at her nervously, "there may be a way." Emma looked at him, not hiding her confusion. "A way to what Jefferson?" "A way for you to see Believe or Leave... if you really want to that is. My hat... it travels to different worlds, but sometimes I can also open a door to a different time"
Leaning against the doorframe Emma considered his proposal. "Are you sure Jefferson? Don't think you have to do this, I meant what I said, I'm not angry with you. I've just been curious that's all." He stared at his feet, "just think on it." Without looking at her he started off towards the stairs, "Jefferson, wait!" Emma followed him down the hallway and stood in front of him, "I'd like that, if you're sure its ok. I don't want to break any rules."
He smiled down at her, dropping some of the nervousness that he had for the past few minutes. "As long as we're careful it should be fine" his grin widened as he joked, "and if it will get you off my back about this it will be worth it." Emma rolled her eyes at her friend before throwing her arms around his neck, Jefferson's arms wound around her waist. She squeezed him briefly and whispered, "thank you" before pulling back and continuing, "do I have to prepare for this, how long will it take?"
Abruptly dropping his arms from her sides, Jefferson stepped away from Emma, on guard once more. "To be on the safe side, make sure you have at least 12 hours free, we shouldn't be gone that long, but things can go wrong. Let me know when you want to go. I have to go, I left Grace asleep." Deftly stepping around her, Jefferson made his way down the stairs and into the night.
Emma had barely finished knocking when Jefferson opened the door. As he ushered her inside she questioned him, "will you explain why I had to wear something red?" Jefferson took her coat before answering. "It was a fan thing, they wore specific colours to indicate which member was their favourite. Red was for me, you're getting into this show with a pass from me, so it makes sense that you'd be wearing red."
"So what were the other colours?" He turned back to her. "Rumple was gold or yellow unsurprisingly, Victor had green, and before you ask, it was usually a pretty even balance. None of us had a significantly bigger following than the others." Emma nodded as she looked him over.
"You're wearing all black, are you not showing any preference?" Jefferson cleared his throat nervously, he wasn't sure how Emma was going to react to this part. "I'm not going with you - I can't." Emma stared at him, "what do you mean you're not coming with me? I can't go on my own, I need you to help direct me there." Jefferson directed her towards the kitchen where the kettle was boiling. He avoided answering her questions, instead busying himself with tea-making. Emma was forced to wait until Jefferson was ready to talk.
At length, each of them holding a steaming cup, he explained himself. "It's a bad idea for me to go with you, time travel is tricky enough, you have to maintain a low profile, try not to draw too much attention to yourself, not change anything significant. Add to that, you really shouldn't interact with yourself, there is way too much potential here for me to meet myself. I'm sorry Emma, I'll take you there, and explain what you have to do, but you'll be on your own for most of the time."
Emma watched him silently as he explained. For the past week something had been bothering her friend - something about this journey, maybe this explained it. It usually took a lot to shake him, but he'd been acting like a skittish animal since the invitation for the trip, maybe he knew he couldn't go and didn't want to tell her. He looked directly into her eyes for the last part of his explanation and blushed.
Draining her cup of tea, Emma stood, "shall we get started? Are there any other rules I need to know?" Jefferson quickly finished his tea and took both cups to the sink. "Not really, obviously don't try to warn anyone about The Curse or other future events and try to stay out of trouble." He removed a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. "Take this with you and don't lose it. Its a pass that should get you anywhere you want to go within the concert grounds."
Folding the paper again, Emma tucked it into a pocket and straightened her jacket. A nervous smile at Jefferson indicated she was ready. He took her hand and led her back to the hallway where The Hat was waiting on a side table. He picked it up and with a practiced flick of the wrist set the hat to spinning in the middle of the room. As the hat picked up speed and purple smoke started to flow out of it, Jefferson felt Emma's grip on his hand tighten, he squeezed back and stepped closer to the opening portal. Over the winds he shouted "ready?" Eyes fixed on the gaping vortex in front of her Emma simply nodded. They jumped.
"What is this place? I definitely didn't come here last time." Emma stared in amazement at the massive circular room. Doors of every type and colour surrounded her. Jefferson stood back and let her explore. "It doesn't really have a name, I tend to call it the hallway of doors, its not actually a place, its sort of the space between places if that makes sense. And last time you went portal jumping you didn't have an experienced jumper with you so you bypassed this place altogether." Emma turned to face him and he explained. "Most magics can create a portal to another place but it takes training to control them like I do. Its how I can access these rooms and also bend time."
He walked across to a brown wooden door with gold inlays. "This one leads you to The Enchanted Forest." Emma followed him, "It looks like the cover of Henry's book! I swear the gold design is the same!" Jefferson grinned, "The Curse left reminders of our home everywhere in Storybrooke, people owned things that were instinctively important to them, but they had no idea why. Of course Henry's book would be significant." Emma's fingers traced the pattern around the door reverently, stepping back when Jefferson cleared his throat.
"The portal should open at the back of the local tavern, it will be a door that looks like this one. Don't worry about other people coming through, you can't see the door unless you know its there" He paused as he tried to think of anything else that he needed to tell Emma, "and I think that's about it." With eyes still fixed on the door, he was surprised by a hug. Emma moved into his line of vision, "I know I've said this before, and I'll probably say it again when I get back, but thank you Jefferson, its not just the band thing. This is an opportunity for me to see what The Enchanted Forest was really like, there wasn't much left when I was there last time."
He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "Let's get you started, we haven't got forever." Turning Emma so she was facing the door again, he rested his chin on her shoulder and grasped the door handle. Concentrating briefly, he opened the door and murmured into her hair "One Believe or Leave concert, have fun."
TBC.
In the next chapter – Emma sees her first Believe or Leave concert and is amazed by all the leather and guyliner on display. For the first time she kind of understands why Belle insists that Rumplestiltskin is sexy and what will happen when she manages to get backstage after the concert?