Thoroughly Modern Mary Margaret

This story is my take on the storyline from the Broadway Musical,"Thoroughly Modern Millie" with OUAT characters and ships with some alterations of my own along the way. All of the speaking characters in this story are part of the OUAT universe.. PLEASE BE AWARE THAT THE SNOWING SHIP WILL TAKE A LOT OF TIME TO DEVELOP! I'm writing David's and Mary Margaret's characters more like the characters of Jimmy and Millie from the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" who are both flawed characters who are afraid of romantic love. They have some issues to overcome and they will, just hang on! This chapter refers to some historical things in New York, 1922. I did some research online, but I apologize if there are any inaccuracies. This chapter includes some of the dialogue similar to a scene from OUAT Season 5, Episode 9 and some of the dialogue similar to a scene from the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie."

WARNINGS:: This story is rated T. This chapter includes profanity and heavy consumption of alcohol.

Disclaimer: I don't own the plot or the characters.

Chapter 7

David never let go of Mary Margaret's hand as he and August led the women out a back door of the speakeasy into Pamela Court, which led right to Barrow Street.

"Split up!" August shouted

Elsa, Anna, Emma and August went right while David, Mary Margaret, Ruby and the waitress she'd been talking to earlier went straight across the street into new alleyway and hid in the courtyard at the end of it, up against a house there. They crouched down and kept their voices low.

"I'm sorry Snow," David whispered, "I guess this isn't the night-on-the-town you were probably expecting."

He frowned and shifted his weight. Mary Margaret smiled sympathetically, patted his hand and whispered, "Maybe not, but it certainly is exciting!"

A small grin crept into the corner of David's mouth and he shifted closer to Mary Margaret, taking her hand in his. His expression grew serious. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

The waitress from the speakeasy shushed David. He mouthed the word "Later," to Mary Margaret, who nodded.

A man's voice called out, "All of you, stand up, and keep your hands up!"

The 4 of them stood up in the barely lit courtyard with their hands in the air to see a man in a dark blue police uniform. He ordered them to turn around and they did. Then the tall man reached for the waitress who stomped on his foot and elbowed him hard in the gut. He doubled over in pain, bringing his face down to the petite woman's eye level. She then spun around and clocked him, knocking him out like a prizefighter's winning blow.

The other 3 turned around to see the waitress standing over their would-be captor.

Mary Margaret's eyes were as big as saucers. "Are you crazy? You just knocked out a cop?!"

"He's not a cop," the waitress calmly replied, "And the club wasn't raided by police, but by a gang of thugs dressed as police." The woman took off the apron around her waist and used it to restrain the hands of the unconscious man lying in a heap on the cobblestone.

David knelt down to help her. "Who are you?"

Ruby piped up. "This is Mulan. She and I were housemates at the Hudson."

Mary Margaret looked quixotically at Ruby who shrugged, "Or as it's more commonly known; The New York Training School for Girls."

David's eyebrow rose. "What did they train you for? Combat?"

Mulan grinned as she stood up. "It was a reform school. I guess I wasn't fully reformed."

Ruby scoffed. "That makes two of us."

Mary Margaret shook her head still confused, pointing at the man on the ground. "But, how did you know he's not a cop?"

Mulan kept an eye on the man while she responded. "First of all the cops only ever raid us through the Pamela Court entrance but this idiot and his gang came through the main entrance. Secondly I recognized him from when he came to the club a month ago. His name is Keith and he's a hired thug for the Nottingham gang sent to steal our liquor and rob our customers. And finally, the tag sticking out of his collar says 'Lyceum Theater.' Can you three please watch him? I have to go get my boss, Locksley, who's going to want to 'talk' to him."

Ruby nodded. "No problem, Mulan."

They watched her run out of the courtyard and back through the alley, then they turned their attention to the man on the cobblestone.

Mary Margaret looked at David and Ruby, and realized she had unfinished business with both of them. She hadn't yet discussed with Ruby why she was so distraught yesterday in the hallway back at the hotel. And David said he had something he really wanted to tell her. Something in his eyes made it seem really important and emotionally heavy. She wasn't sure if she was ready to hear it in a dark alley next to a gangster on the ground so she opted to chat with her fellow Misthaven resident.

"Ruby, are you ok?"

"Never better, Captain Blanchard," the leggy brunette quipped, but then she could see the concerned expression on her friend's face and understood her serious tone.

"Yesterday you were making jokes and telling stories in Elsa's room and then in the hallway I told you about Dorothy leaving and suddenly you were...different...so what's going on, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine."

Mary Margaret crossed her arms in front of herself and gave Ruby a pointed look.

Ruby rolled her shoulders forward and sighed. "Ok. Look, you know I love you and Elsa and Anna but sometimes I feel like I don't...fit in. At first I thought it was because I'm a former juvenile delinquent from the lower east side, but lately, I don't know...I wondered if it might be something else but then..."

"Then you met Dorothy and she's from Chicago; another big city..." Mary Margaret continued.

"And she'd spent time in a reform school for running away from home, just like me," Ruby finished.

"Ah! And when Dorothy left it was like you lost a... kindred spirit?"

Ruby nodded.

Mary Margaret hugged her friend. "Well, if it's any consolation, I'm always here for you."

Ruby smiled and hugged her back. "I know you are MM. And I appreciate it."

After they broke the hug Ruby left the courtyard to find Mulan.

David smiled at Mary Margaret and she couldn't help but return his smile. She accepted his offered hand. He took her in his arms and began slowly dancing as they had been inside the speakeasy only 30-some minutes before.

"So here we are. In a dimly lit courtyard, alone...with a mobster mercenary wearing what's probably a stolen costume."

She laughed. "Yeah, probably."

"All things considered, a pretty romantic turn of events," he said as her turned them around and around until his back was to the alley.

She suddenly gasped. "Charming! Behind you!" David's spun around, fist raised, and he made solid contact with the jaw of the man approaching them. Unfortunately that man just happened to be his friend, August who shouted in pain and shock. "Dammit Nolan, it's me!"

David winced at the pain in his hand. "Sorry August."

Mary Margaret also apologized, it was too dark in the courtyard to recognize him.

Once the pain in his face began to subside, August explained how he had sent Emma, Elsa, and Anna home in a cab he hailed for the ladies on Hudson Street before making his way on foot back to them. He said he'd encountered Ruby who told him about the fake raid and pointed him in the direction of David and Mary Margaret. He took his leave of them, to home and a bottle of bourbon, when Ruby and Mulan returned with Mulan's employer, Locksley and his men. The tavern owner was grateful that Mary Margaret and David aided in making sure Keith didn't escape but they explained that it was Mulan's quick thinking and even quicker fighting skills that stopped the imposter officer. Locksley promised Mulan a raise, got David ice for his sore hand, and even paid for the cab that would take Mary Margaret and Ruby back to the Misthaven.

Before she climbed in the cab David offered to take her on a safer venture on Friday evening, this time to a baseball game. Mary Margaret thought that was a great idea for two friends to get to do, so she accepted.

The rest of the week was great for Mary Margaret at work because she excelled at her tasks, earning her praise from her new boss (and potential future fiancé) Graham Humbert III. He told her how he highly esteemed her how quickly she responded to his calls for assistance that he gave her darling little nickname - "John" - because whenever he summoned her, she was "Johnny-on-the-spot," he said. While it was true that the nickname of "John" didn't give her the same feeling of butterflies in her stomach as the nickname of "Snow," that Charming (David) had given her, she still believed the very fact that Mr. Humbert had given her a nickname meant that he was certainly falling in love with her. She fully believed all was going according to her brilliant plan.

The only moment that made her question her plan to marry her boss was on Wednesday when she arrived home from work at almost half past 5 pm and spotted her friend Anna kissing her boyfriend Kristoff goodbye after their "gentleman caller" visit in the dining room of the hotel. They were lingering over their farewells - he had to get back to work making ice deliveries in Harlem. Mary Margaret couldn't help but see how in-love they were, even though they were both as poor as church mice. They hung onto each other and when they finally had to separate they seemed so happy. As she rode the elevator up to the 12th floor, Mary Margaret took a deep breath and swallowed down something that felt a little bitter. She tried not to dwell on it too much, because admitting that she was envious of her friend's happiness was definitely not going to assure her that her plan to marry for wealth instead of for love was the best choice.

On Friday evening in room 1208 Emma slowly expelled a breath. "End scene. All right ladies I need your honest opinions. What did you think of my monologue?"

Elsa was the first of the 3 to speak. "I thought you were fantastic , Emma, just brilliant."

Ruby nodded. "You are going to nail that audition tomorrow morning."

"It was so amazing Emma," Anna added, "You were so in-the-moment, for a second there I forgot it was you! I was thinking 'Where did Emma go?' which is ridiculous, because 'Hello?' you're standing right in front of me!"

Emma breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you I hope I can impress the casting director as much as that. There's going to be so much competition tomorrow. Do you have any advice for me?"

Ruby piped up. "It's all about the office boy. Read him right and you'll read for the role. Who's the casting director?"

Emma brow furrowed "Um, I think it's Mr. Weasel-town?"

"Weselton!" The other 3 women said simultaneously, and then groaned dramatically.

Emma's eyes widened. "Wow! What's the problem with him?"

"Nothing," Ruby said sarcastically, "As long as you like short, pompous, balding snobs. But, the good news is that you'll do fine with him because he loves the bourgeoisie and you're tall, blonde, and you dress like an heiress."

Anna hissed in her strange stage-whisper, "That's because she is an heiress!"

Ruby looked at Emma quixotically. "Really?"

Emma gave a small nod.

Ruby looked moderately impressed. "Mazel Tov. Well then as long as you can get in to see Weselton, you're all set. Now Weselton has 2 office boys, Olaf and Hans. They work alternating days. Olaf is a sweetheart but Hans..."

Anna chimed in. "Hans is weird!"

Ruby shot a look at her ginger friend. "Creepy. Anna, the word your looking for is 'creepy.'"

Anna nodded. "Creepy and clingy. I ate lunch with him at a deli after my first audition and I mentioned I loved sandwiches. The next thing I know he's down on one knee, proposing to me!"

Emma shook her head in disbelief. "What? That's crazy!"

Elsa stepped towards Emma and gave her an encouraging smile. "Just avoid him if you can. And don't worry about the audition itself. You're going to do great."

Anna nodded. "You're talented and determined and you have all of us rooting for you, so no matter what the result of your audition tomorrow morning, you'll be fine."

Ruby patted Emma's shoulder. "We've all been through it a hundred times; the nervousness, the excitement, the frustration. Why, if I had a dollar for every rejection letter I've received I'd have enough money to produce my own one-woman show!"

Emma's curiosity was peaked. "Have all of you received a rejection letter?"

The three women nodded sadly.

"It happens to all actresses at one time or another," Elsa stated matter-of-factly, "I don't think that in the 2, almost 3 years Anna and I have lived here that there's been a Misthaven resident who hasn't received at least one rejection letter."

"Oh? I didn't realize you had been here that long," said Emma, "Then you must have known Zelena."

"Who?" asked Elsa.

Emma walked over to the vanity and retrieved the letter from inside her stationary box. "Zelena Mills. I found this letter from a producer to Zelena Mills under my bed the day I moved in."

Elsa's brow furrowed. "May I see that letter, Emma?"

She handed the letter to Elsa. "Sure."

"Hmmm. Well that's odd, it's addressed to Zelena Mills at the Misthaven Hotel, but no room number. It's dated a little less than a year ago; July 7th 1921. And the letterhead says 'The People's Theater 199 Bowery Street, Manhattan. Ruby isn't that..."

"Where my Bubbe took me to see my very first play? Yeah." Ruby crossed the room to look at the letter with Elsa.

Anna looked confused. "What's a 'bubbe?'"

"Her grandmother," replied Elsa.

Ruby leaned in over Elsa's shoulder and read aloud. "'Dear Miss Zelena Mills thank you for your interest in the production 'As Ye Mould: a play in three acts.' We regret to inform you that have not been cast. Regards, Geoffrey Stein; producer.'"

Anna crossed her arms in front of herself. "Well that was brutal but brief. Poor Zelena. Wait. Who's Zelena?"

Ruby shrugged. "Beats me. Whoever she is she wasn't staying in this room in July last year. That was Belle French, remember Elsa?"

"Yes. Ruby's right Emma."

Emma didn't know why she found this all so intriguing, maybe it was just part of her curious nature. She plopped down on her squeaky bed. "I find it strange that no one seems to remember this Zelena woman, not even Killian."

Elsa quirked her head quizzically. "Liam's younger brother Killian?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I didn't realize you two were, uh, acquainted."

Emma's cheeks colored slightly as she smiled.

"Well, we just met on Monday. Killian and I. We've been...getting to know each other."

Just then Mary Margaret appeared in Emma's doorway. "Knock, knock." She was met with greetings from her four friends.

"Hi! Oh good you're all here, that'll make it easier to return what I borrowed and thank all of you. Emma, for the purse. Elsa, for the shoes. Ruby, for the hat." As she had spoke she handed the items to the rightful owner.

"You're welcome MM. How was the ball game?"

Mary Margaret sat down on Emma's bed. "Great! Great snacks, great seats, everything was great...Well, at least the first 15 minutes or so. Funnily enough as it turns out the owners of the Polo Grounds where the Yankees play won't let you sit in seats you didn't pay for."

That statement rendered a cacophony of sounds of shock and surprise from the other 4 women in the room. They finally settled down when Mary Margaret raised her hands and they let her continue.

"I know, I know I was just as surprised as all of you when David and I were escorted by security staff out of the park."

Anna was appalled. "I can't believe David didn't have tickets."

"Oh, he had tickets. He's so broke that he bought them cheaply from a friend of a friend. But when some other people arrived, claiming we stole their seats, David was quick to point this out to the attendance usher who determined that the tickets David bought were forgeries."

Emma groaned. "Oh, no that's terrible. What did you do."

Mary Margaret shrugged. "There wasn't much we could do. We walked around the city for a couple of hours, chatting about nothing in particular watching the gas lights flicker on."

Elsa smiled. "Well that's nice that you were able to salvage the date and have a romantic, quiet evening."

Mary Margaret shook her head. "It wasn't a date. We're just friends."

The amount of rolling of eyes in the room was nearly audible.

Emma stared at Mary Margaret in disbelief. "Seriously? You're just friends?"

Mary Margaret nodded. "Yes, he said it himself tonight."

Her friends stared at her in disbelief.

Almost at that same moment over at David's apartment he was telling August about the evening's events with Mary Margaret while downing another shot of scotch. August's eyes went wide in disbelief. "You told her that you're 'just friends?'"

David sighed sadly. "What was I supposed to do?"

August leaned back in his chair and huffed. "Well I don't know. Maybe that you love her. That you can't stop thinking of her. That she's the first woman in the longest time that made you believe that True Love was possible... or any number of the other romantic things you've been been babbling about to me about her this entire week!"

"I couldn't August. Not after she told me she's engaged!"

"Engaged?"

"Yeah, as in she's going to get married."

August pinched his brow as David went to fix himself another drink. "I know what 'engaged' means David. She told you she's engaged while you're on a date with her?"

"Apparently she was under the impression that we weren't on a date. "

David handed August a glass of scotch and started drinking straight from the bottle as he flopped down on his back on a ratty old sofa.

August shook his head in confusion. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Not much does. And I feel like a total fool. There we were talking and laughing while walking around the city. And we both said how, despite being kicked out of the ballgame we were both having a great time. So I asked her to a picnic in the park on Sunday. Then she tells me some anecdote about a picnic in her fiancé's office."

David pictures the moment perfectly in his mind.

"Fiancé?" He asked. His heart feeling a sudden pain.

"Yes," Mary Margaret replied, "Well boss, and fiancé. I'm going to marry him."

David was knocked back by this revelation. "Wow! Love at first sight?"

"Not for the 'Modern'. She takes charge of her destiny. No waiting for my ship to come in. I went out and found him."

David looked down and shuffled his feet. "So I guess this means no picnic then."

She quirked her head and looked at him. "Why not? We're friends aren't we? Friends have picnics."

David's head popped up and his blue eyes stared into her light emerald ones. "Of course they do! And that's why you should invite your friends who came to the club Tuesday night to the picnic in Central Park on Sunday afternoon."

"Oh Charming! That's a fantastic idea. But I don't know if Anna can come. She usually visits with her beau on Sundays."

David smiled. "Well he's welcome too. The more the merrier."

August listened to David recount his conversation with Mary Margaret and sadly shook his head. "So you're going to go through with this...picnic?"

David winced as the dark liquor stung his throat. "Yes."

"And then you're going to do the thing where you're so in love with someone who is otherwise attached you befriend them and hope they eventually see that they should be with you instead."

David groaned and stared at the ceiling. "I don't know. I guess I am."

"Like father, like son," August mumble into his glass.

"Hey," said David rolling on his side and pointing at his not-so-sober friend. "Let's not bring fathers into this. Besides you're guilty of the befriending someone you love...thing, too."

"Touché. But you're forgetting that mine was different. My someone didn't have a fiancé."

David swallowed another swig from the scotch bottle in his hand. "Touché. I'm still trying to figure out about what to do about that."

August cocked his head at his inebriated friend. "I've got news for you, friend. You're not going to find the solution at the bottom of that bottle."

Back at the Misthaven in Emma's room. Mary Margaret said, "Oh! I almost forgot. David's invited all of us on a picnic on Sunday afternoon in Central Park! Doesn't that sound terrific? And Anna he said you can bring Kristoff!"

After an awkward pause the four women gave enthusiastic responses to the picnic plans.

Mary Margaret rose from Emma's bed and headed to the door. "Well, if you'll excuse me it's been a long day and I need to change so I can give you back this dress I borrowed, Anna. Thank you by the way."

"You're welcome," Anna replied. And with that Mary Margaret returned to her room and tried not to think about why she went through the trouble of borrowing nice things to wear from her friends on her "Not-a-Date" with David and why she didn't mention her "fiancé" to her friends. No. She wouldn't dwell on what those things meant. Her heart couldn't handle it.