It was long past Henry's bedtime before Regina, Ruby, and Henry cleaned the upstairs apartment enough so that Henry could be tucked in. He was obviously less upset by the night's events than Regina. She could not believe that the Sheriff would dare to invade her bar, her home, and frighten her son – and herself. They would pay, she vowed, while she stood in the doorway of her bedroom and looked in on Henry again. She had no intention of sending him to school the next day or letting him leave her sight at all. She needed to protect him and keep him safe.
If she wanted revenge on Sheriff Graham, and the men that were his masters, she would have to be cunning, and careful above all.
Closing the bedroom door, Regina padded back down the dark hall and into her small living room. Ruby was sitting by the window sipping on a cider beer and staring absently at the floor, the frown on her face an indication that she was deep in thought. Regina's return started her from her reverie.
"Still sleeping?" Ruby asked with a small smile.
Regina shot her an impatient look. "You can't blame a mother for worrying about her child after the night we've had." She resumed her seat across from Ruby and picked up her own glass of cider beer, but she just held it idly in her hand. The beer was homemade, an old family recipe that her mother, Cora, had taught her. She wished her mother was here now. Cora been a formidable woman, a powerful witch, and a cunning schemer. She would have known what to do. But she had taught her daughter well, and while Regina hadn't always been the perfect student, she had enough Cora in her to deal with these fools.
"What are you going to do about Graham? And the Mayor?" Ruby asked quietly.
Regina glanced at her, and then sighed and set her glass on the table. "They've been trying to drive me out for years, Ruby. There was always bad blood between the Mayor and my mother. I guess I inherited it, and some of it I deserve, but I will be damned if I'm going to let him win." Everything about her was fierce and predatory. Her eyes, looking into the small fire in the grate, burned brighter than any flame and her fingernails dug into the fabric of her armchair. Her face was ugly; Ruby felt uneasy.
"Maybe…" She hesitated and bit her lip nervously. "Maybe we should just… go."
Regina's eyes widened and she leaned back in her chair, looking at Ruby with something in her eyes that Ruby couldn't read. "Go? And what, skip town? Let them win?"
"Think about Henry," Ruby said quickly. Regina looked toward her bedroom door, where Henry was still sleeping soundly, and her expression softened slightly. "Henry could get caught in the crossfire if you go to war with these people. You know what the mayor is like, Regina, who knows how far he'll go?"
Regina looked back to her friend, a cold smile twisting her face into something ugly. "If they hurt my son, if they dare to come anywhere near him, then I'll just have to hurt them back. I've been hiding from them for too long, Ruby, skulking in the shadows, dealing pendants and small charms like a simple peddler. I'm tired of running and hiding. I'm tired of hiding my true potential. They've held sway over this town for too long, Ruby, and it's time to take it back. They think I'm a threat now? Well, they haven't seen anything yet." She took a swig of cider and slammed the glass on the table, splashing beer everywhere. Ruby bit her lip but she didn't say anything. She knew better than to do so when Regina was in one of these moods. All Ruby could do was stick by her friend and hope that everything would work out. The idea of leaving Regina, of running and striking out on her own, was a tempting one but she quashed the idea almost as soon as it occurred. Leaving Regina would mean leaving Henry. He was like a little brother, or a nephew. She loved him. Besides, if a war was going to break out between Regina and the mayor, then Henry was going to need all the protection Ruby could offer.
Sheriff Graham sat in the mayor's office with his hat in his hands. He glanced up at the mayor and then looked quickly away. The room was familiar to him but he was still uncomfortable. The walls and carpet were white, a stark contrast to the black furniture. It was a cold and clinical room that reminded Graham of winter's frost and the bitter crispness of the wind. There was art on the walls but Graham could never recognize any forms or figures. That strange modern art. He detested it except that it was the only splash of colour in an otherwise colourless room. There wasn't even a speck of dust.
Graham shifted in his chair. The mayor's own chair was an expensive and comfortable leather armchair while the seats reserved for his visitors were wooden, hard, and gave their occupants no comfort whatsoever.
The mayor stood behind his desk with his back to the sheriff, looking out the large window at the town below. His hands were folded behind his back. Not one muscle moved. He could have been a statue.
Graham was not what one would call a good man. In fact, he was a bad man who had done bad things, which had eventually led him, years ago, into this very office where the man across from him threatened his life and then offered a choice: death, or employment. Graham had chosen life, and with the new powers given to him by the sheriff's office he discovered new forms of cruelty. He was a bad man indeed, but even he was afraid of the mayor. The boss' long silence was making Graham uneasy, and even though he didn't want to disturb the mayor, he couldn't sit there any longer. He cleared his throat to get his boss' attention.
The mayor turned his head. "Graham?"
"I just – I wonder – well, what are you going to do next? What do you want me to do? About her, about the witch?"
"About Regina, you mean," he said, turning his head back toward the window. "Regina Mills."
Graham watched him carefully, nervous. Leopold King had been mayor of Storybrooke for years and he was not a man to be trifled with under any circumstance. Tall, lean, white-haired, and blue-eyed, he cut an imposing figure in Graham's eyes, although he was often underestimated by the unintelligent and the misinformed. Leo was a businessman and when he wanted something he stopped at nothing to get it. If anyone would stand up to him, or stand against him… well, that's what Graham's office was there to take care of. Problems like Regina Mills and her tramp friend, Ruby.
"Her mother was a spitfire," King said.
"I never knew her."
"Shame. I knew her quite well. Intimately, you might say. Lovely woman, but cold. It's a miracle she even kept Regina when she was born, but I imagine she at least thought about throwing her newborn into the river."
Graham shifted nervously. He would be far more comfortable if he didn't have to go over all this family history. What did King want him to do?
King turned and smiled at Graham, although the expression didn't quite reach his eyes. That smile always made Graham feel… unsettled.
"What do you want me to do about Mills?" he repeated, hoping to distract himself from that smile.
"Now that is a question." King ran a hand along the back of the armchair and flicked off a speck of dust, glaring at the dirt on his finger with a critical eye. "We can't have her selling her type of magic. It's bad for business. It interferes with my product and I don't like competition, Graham. Competitors are not good for business. I'm a fair man, wouldn't you say?"
"Absolutely, sir," he said, perhaps a little too quickly because King smiled at him with condescension. There was a vicious gleam in his eyes.
"So first I'll take the fair approach. Explain a few things to Regina, offer her a few deals, lay out her options, and allow her to decide her next move."
"And if she makes the wrong choice?"
King's eyes were cold and Graham shivered. Unconsciously he drew back while Leo King bared his teeth in a menacing grin. "Well then, Graham, we'll just have to take care of her, won't we? And when I say 'we' I of course mean you. I hope you're prepared to deal with something like this, Graham. I may need to rely very heavily on you. The rewards will be great, of course – but if you fail me…"
He let the sentence hang ominously but Graham didn't need him to finish to fully encompass King's threat. People had disappeared before, hell, Graham had helped them disappear. He knew very well the fate that awaited anyone to fail Leopold King.
Sensing their meeting was coming to a close, and glad to leave anyway, Graham stood. "You want me to keep an eye on her in the meantime?"
"Obviously," King said with a sneer. He pulled out his chair and took a seat, and then took a small mirror from a desk draw, which he propped up on his desk. He started fixing his already prim and handsome suit, and smoothed down the sides of his head where his hair still grew. He addressed Graham without bothering to look at him. "Keep the pressure on her, let her know I'm not going to abide her disobedience. But be careful. I would hate for anything to happen to that pretty face of hers." He straightened his tie, and then licked his fingers and smoothed down one of his sideburns.
"And the boy?"
"Henry?" Leo asked, looking up. He shrugged. "The boy is of no consequence. Leave him be, for now anyway. I don't see the point in harassing a ten-year-old boy."
"He could be an important bargaining chip," Graham said.
Leo didn't seem interested in discussing it further. He had gone back to tidying his appearance and examined himself carefully in the mirror, poking here, prodding there, all with a disinterested but critical look on his lined face. "He could be. But we'll give Regina a chance before we take the fight to a child."
"Just wanted to point out the option, sir," Graham said, turning and heading toward the door.
"You're a cold-hearted bastard," King said. There was a nasty chuckle in King's voice and Graham thought of shooting off a smart reply about who the real bastard was, but he knew better. He kept his silence and let himself quietly out of the office.
Seated at his impressive and immaculately clean desk, King gave himself a last check in the mirror before he stowed it away in his desk. He had another meeting scheduled in the next few minutes and wanted to look impressive. Intimidating, even.
Hardly a minute had passed when there was a knock on the door. Without looking up from his paperwork King called for his secretary to enter.
"Mayor King, there is a Mister and Missus Mendel here to see you."
He nodded, and then as what she said registered, he looked and fixed her with that look that made so many cower. He narrowed his eyes. "Who?"
Her eyes darted around the room and then moved back to his. Maintaining eye contact looked like pain for her. King didn't care. "Greg and Tamara Mendel, sir. They say they were sent by your potential business partner, but that's all, they didn't give a name."
King sighed and threw down his fountain pen. The sudden ugly look on his face made his secretary jump and take a step back. She watched him carefully but he hardly looked at her. He sighed again, this time as a measure of exasperation, and picked up his pen. "Thank you, Miss Blue. Would you be so kind as to make me a cup of coffee?"
She blinked and nodded, uneasy. "Of – of course, sir. What would you like me to do about the Mendels?"
King had already gone back to scribbling notes. "Show them in in a few minutes, after I get my coffee."
"Yes, sir," she said, and scurried out of his office.
A while later, after she had set the coffee on his desk, he told her she could send in his visitors.
He'd met them only once before, briefly. It was their boss he was interested in. Greg and Tamara were just middle-mem, and not very good ones at that. They walked into the room looking angry at King for forcing them to wait. King was bent over his paperwork so he couldn't see their faces, but he could sense everything they were feeling. His cold eyes glittered.
"Sit down, please," he said without looking up.
They shared a glance and followed his instruction, and then waited for him to finish whatever he was doing. King made sure to take his time. Finally, he put down his pen, laced his fingers together, and looked at the unhappy pair seated across from him.
"Are you ready to talk business now, King?" Tamara Mendel asked, quirking her eyebrow at him. Her face was rigid with irritation; her whole body was taut with anger.
King smiled. The expression held no warmth. "Mrs. Mendel, I apologise for my rudeness. As mayor of a town this size I have quite a lot of business that needs my urgent attention, and if things aren't attended to in a timely manner then certain, awful things can happen. Do you understand?"
"I understand and I don't like what you're implying." Her black eyes glittered fiercely. "You don't scare us. Even with all your country pumpkin bought-for police officers, we aren't scared. We're used to a bigger, badder boss."
King opened up his hands and made a face that said, 'You could be right'. He could spend all the time he wanted brow-beating and intimidating this pair but the truth was that they simply didn't matter. They were only a step on a far greater and more glorious path. Their boss, now he was the real deal and his product was what King needed. Tamara and Greg were simply his agents, and hopefully King could start dealing with their boss directly.
"All right, here's the thing. We want everything now," Greg said. It was the first time King heard him speak.
King moved his gaze to Tamara's husband. His eyes were icy and Greg, who was not made of the same stern stuff as his wife, shifted uncomfortably. "No," King said.
"No?" Tamara said. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"Why the surprise, Mrs. Mendel? I give you all the money now and then I never see my product. Business relationships are built on trust and good, solid contracts. Not on hand-outs and prayers."
She stiffened, obviously offended. "You can trust us," she said. The words barely escaped her gritted teeth.
King eyed her through narrowed eyes. "Why should I?"
"Because if you know anything about us – about him – you'll know he never makes a deal he doesn't honour."
"It's bad for business," Greg said.
"Bad for business…" King straightened a few stray pens on his desk. "That seems to be the theme of my day. You see, my new problem is that I've never met your boss. I haven't even had a phone call or a simple telegram so any deal I make isn't with him but with you two. Perhaps Mr. Gold honours his agreements but can you say the same?"
"We're his representatives, he honours any deal we make we make in his name," Tamara said, her cheeks flushing bright red. Her husband flicked his eyes to her and then looked back to King with distaste.
"I would feel a lot more comfortable if I could meet Mr. Gold," King said, making sure to keep his voice calm and reasonable.
"Mister Gold is a busy man," Greg said, glaring at King.
"I understand that. But if there was any way…"
"There isn't," Tamara snapped. She was glaring at King without bothering to hide her dislike. Beside her, her husband twitched nervously but tried to remain composed.
King smiled at the pair of them. After all, it had taken months of quiet conversations with the right people, secret meetings, favours exchanged, and paying people off to get him anywhere close to meeting the man these two called their boss. He couldn't afford to ruin everything now when he was so close. So King smiled and tried to make it look genuine. "This isn't going to get us anywhere. Let's discuss terms. You want everything I have now and you're just going to give me your word that my goods will be delivered to me, I think you can understand why I find this unacceptable. And really, I'm a businessman who's been playing this game… well, probably longer than either of you have been alive. It's insulting that you would even try to present those terms to me." He paused but got no reaction from them other than a smoldering glare from Tamara and a nervous twitch from Greg. "I'll forgive the slight because I'm interested in building a business relationship with your boss. He's the best there is, but he's not the only one out there. I'd hate to go to someone else, I really would, so let's see what kind of arrangement we can make that's acceptable for all parties concerned."
"What do you want?" Tamara asked. He knew he had her.
"Half now, half when the product is delivered, and if I like what I get I'll extend our relationship into a long-term contract, with a ten percent bonus from my end to yours."
Tamara and Greg exchanged a look.
"If you need some time to discuss my offer I'll be happy to excuse myself for a few minutes."
"We want a fifty percent increase from you," Greg said.
King was surprised that he had spoken instead of Tamara. Apparently the wretch had a spine after all. "Twenty."
"Thirty," Tamara said.
"Twenty-five."
"Deal," Tamara said, her lips curving into a thin smile that lacked warmth.
They didn't stay much longer. King offered them drinks to cement their new business relationship, and they agreed although it was obvious the pair wanted out of there as soon as was polite. They drank their scotch quickly and were civil, chatting about Storybrooke and the weather as though they were in the same compartment on a train instead of three strangers with a mutual dislike of each other. As soon as they were gone King closed the door behind them and turned back into his office with an ugly expression on his face. He went to his bar and slammed his glass down hard, causing the empty tumblers to shake and rattle. He didn't appreciate being pushed around by a pair of nobodies, even if their boss was infamous and powerful. He didn't make deals with peasants. He was Leopold King, Mayor of Storybrooke. But he supposed if he was just entering the black market trade on magic and magical objects he would have to take what he could get for now. He was a smart man, and cunning. He wouldn't be a no one, not for long.
"I understand you wanted to see me."
King whirled. Standing in front of the mayor's desk, hands folded over the top of his cane and surveying King with sharp, penetrating eyes was a man he had never seen before and whom he certainly hadn't invited into his office. The door hadn't opened or closed, and Miss Blue would never let someone in here unannounced, so –
"How did you get in here?" He was thinking of the gun he kept hidden in his desk drawer.
"I have my ways," the stranger said. There was a slightly mocking tone in his voice and which gleamed in his unforgiving eyes. Those eyes now moved around the room, taking in every detail. King sensed great power and intelligence in this man and could practically hear the stranger's brain whirring as he thought.
"Magic," King said, the answer dawning on him. He stared at the other man, wondering if he was a friend or an enemy. Certainly he felt better about leaving his gun in the desk; bullets would do little against a powerful magic-user.
"Yes," the man said without hesitation. How rare these days to find a magician unafraid to admit to practicing magic when its sale had been made illegal for quite some time. Rarer still to find a man who would admit to it as freely as this one did. "Glad to know I'm dealing with such a smart man."
King narrowed his eyes at the snide tone. "I take it you're Mr. Gold," he said, forgetting the man's sniping for the moment.
"Yes," the other said again, looking bored and sounding impatient.
"What are you doing here?"
Mr. Gold sighed. When he turned around to pick up and examine some of the objects on King's desk, Leo saw that the sharp-dressed man walked with a slight limp. "You wanted to see me, so here I am taking time out of my day to come and see you. Now get to talking, boy, I don't have all day." Gold was a strange man, quirky, with a habit of gesturing when he spoke. King was also able to tell that Gold was a man used to power, used to telling people what to do and having them do it without question, not out of loyalty but out of fear. A dangerous man. He was also cold, calculating, and the sort of man who liked to cut to the heart of things. King respected that.
"What I'm really interested in is establishing a business relationship between the two of us and forging –"
"Which has already been established between you and my associates. No, what you're really interested in is a demonstration of my power. You want to know if I'm really everything everyone says I am." His eyes glittered with cold ferocity.
"You can't blame a man for wanting to protect his investment," King said. A defensive note had entered his voice and he hated it. He thought it showed weakness.
"You want a demonstration of my power?" Gold said, his eyes glittering almost maliciously. "Fine. But be careful what you ask for, dearie." Gold waved his had before King could say anything. A moment later a strange and unsettling feeling wrapped itself around him and he cried out as the world around him began to change. The office was growing larger, or he was shrinking. Panic overtook him and he tried to scream but was unable to make a sound. He tried to run but could only writhe in fear. And then the world stilled and he found himself lying on the floor, with Gold as a giant looming above him. Opening his mouth to scream, only a hiss came out. He couldn't move, his own tongue felt strange in his mouth and as he writhed he caught sight of a scaly tail whipping through the air.
Gold squatted next to him, his cold, taunting face near King's. "Have you had quite enough, dearie? Dabbling with magic isn't quite what you thought it would be, is it?"
King opened his mouth again to demand Gold return him to his rightful shape. Of course, he was unable to speak a word and Gold allowed him to thrash helplessly on the floor for a few moments before straightening and undoing the spell with a wave of his hand.
The rapid return to human shape was dizzying. Restored, King lay blinking on the floor, lights flashing in his eyes and his stomach threatening to empty its contents on the expensive carpet.
"Watch the shoes," Gold said, stepping back before King could vomit. "They're crocodile."
"You bastard," King managed to gasp. He used the black leather couch to pull himself to his feet. Wobbly, he sat down quickly and glared at Gold with something akin to hatred – and fear. "You bastard," he said again, unable to express the full breadth of his emotions at the moment.
"Magic comes with a price, dearie." Gold was practically cheerful now and smiled at King for the first time. There was no warmth in the expression, only a cruel joy. "You get what you pay for so be careful when you ask."
King glared at him. What he really wanted was to punch Gold in his smug face but since his equilibrium was still thrown he just continued to sit, take deep breaths, and fume. "Fine. You're the real deal."
Gold reached into his pocket and took out an ordinary looking business card, which he passed to King. Mr. Gold Pawnbroker and Antiquities Dealer, it read. There was also a New York address. "You run a pawnshop?" King asked disbelievingly.
"I can't very well make a living selling my magic, can I? At least, not an honest one. Now Mayor, are we done here?" No longer amused, he now seemed impatient to go.
"Wait! Will I be – all right?"
"The spell I used won't leave any lasting damage. You'll be fine."
"What did you do to me?"
"I turned you into a snake. Or rather, the magic did. That spell has a life of its own, you see. It chooses the final form you'll take, not me. Now if you'll–"
"Wait!" King leapt to his feet and even though he staggered, he managed to remain upright. "There's someone in Storybrooke, a witch. I want her gone. Permanently, if you get my meaning."
"What witch?" Gold asked impatiently.
"Her name is Regina Mills. She-"
Gold held up his hand, cutting King short. "I'm not a hitman. If you want her taken care of you'll have to do it yourself, and good luck trying."
"You know her."
"Goodbye, Mayor King," Gold said. His eyes were glittering again and this time Leo knew better than to keep him any longer. Gold snapped his fingers and disappeared. As soon as he was gone King let out a deep breath and sat down.
The business card was still in his hand. He read it again and then flipped it over. Scrawled on the back in what he assumed was Gold's handwriting was one word. Rumpelstiltskin.
