Alice and Cyrus followed Granny down the darkened hallway to their old room. Jafar's invasion had taken the door off its hinges, but a kindly old man named Geppetto had restored the door to working order.
Alice was still nervous. "Are you sure we'll be safe here?" she asked.

"Alice, it is only temporary," Cyrus reassured her. "We're only here to rest till Rumplestiltskin gets back from Wonderland. Jafar won't think that we would come back here if we've already fled this place once." He nodded toward the bed. "Lie down and get some sleep; we have a long night ahead of us, if the compass can find my mother."
Alice reluctantly collapsed onto the bed with a sigh. Granny bade the pair good night and closed the door, locking it securely behind her. All was dark and still.

A few hours later, a knock sounded at the door.

Alice tensed. Cyrus stood and carefully crept to the door. A small window barely large enough for his eye allowed him to see the person standing outside. It was Rumplestiltskin. Cyrus immediately opened the door and let the man slip into the room.

Alice rose from the bed. "Did you get it?" she asked excitedly.

"It wasn't easy," Mr. Gold acknowledged. "Your Caterpillar is almost as good at making deals as I am." He looked down and ran a finger over the carved handle of his cane as he spoke.

"I hope you didn't have to give up anything of too great a value," Cyrus said. "This article means more to us than it does to you."

Rumplestiltskin grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "I did say almost," he reminded the couple, as he pulled the Lost-and-Found from his pocket. "Lucky for me, his greed clouded his judgment, and I barely had to trade much of anything to get him to give up the thing."

Alice and Cyrus were no longer paying attention to him. Their eyes were fixed on the spinning needle at the center. It was only just beginning to lose momentum.
"Oh Cyrus!" Alice was saying, "I have never seen it completely still! At last it will point somewhere!"
"Indeed, and I hope she is somewhere we can locate easily-to think she has passed so many centuries in this place! It is very strange."

The needle's movements were dragging somewhat. It hovered around a certain point on the dial.
"This is it," Cyrus said, as they moved toward the window.

Mr. Gold saw the opportunity to take his leave. "Well, good luck on your search-"

"Wait," Cyrus glanced at the stopped needle. "What is over there?" he pointed in the same direction as the display.

Mr. Gold ascertained the direction he pointed and answered, "That's City Hall; good night."

Cyrus went to the window. The red needle pointed straight toward the building known as City Hall.
Cyrus was puzzled. "How can my mother be there, and no one noticed?"

Alice moved next to him and slipped her arm through his. "Maybe they did, but she is somehow trapped in there and cannot leave."

Just then, the couple heard a soft tapping on the door. Cyrus glanced at the clock. The hour was almost midnight.
"Who could that be?" he asked, putting his eye to the peephole again.
It was the dark-haired woman who had greeted them when they first arrived! What was her name?
"It's Regina!" he whispered to Alice.

"What does she want?" Alice hissed back. Emma had mentioned something about one Regina who used to rule the Enchanted Forest as an Evil Queen, and now filled the office of Mayor of Storybrooke. "Can we trust her?"
Cyrus unlocked the door. "She's alone; I see no reason not to."

Regina slipped inside as soon as Cyrus opened the door wide enough. He closed it and locked it after her.
"I see you've decided to trust me," she noted.

Alice all but glared at her. "I would suggest you ensure that you do nothing to betray that trust, for it is withheld as easily as it is given."

Regina nodded. "Then let me give you something to confirm that trust: I received a call from Jafar—"

"You what?" Alice lunged for her sword, but found her body suddenly frozen in mid-motion.

"I was not finished yet, young lady," Regina chided her sternly, holding her in place with magic. "As I was saying, Jafar was the one who sought me out because he thinks that the highest authority holds the most power. I have known that you two would be here ever since our mutual friend Mr. Gold informed me of your whereabouts. And yet, I never betrayed that information to Jafar. Now do you trust me?"

Alice could do nothing but move her eyes, so she glanced at Regina to let her know that she did. Regina released her, and Alice returned to sit next to Cyrus on the bed.
"Why are you here, then?" Cyrus asked.

Regina cleared her throat and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I came to warn you: Jafar knows about your friend Will Sc—the Knave," she referred to him by his Wonderland name. "He knows about the heart—"

Alice gasped, "Oh, I knew we should have located it before Jafar realized you were free! We don't even know where to start looking, how are we going to find it?"

Regina smirked, "No need; I saw the White Rabbit sneaking through town, and I found the heart already."

"You did?" Alice cried. "Where is it?"

"Not so fast," Regina raised her hand, "It's safe; somewhere I doubt Jafar would ever know about, and even if he did, there is very little chance of him ever finding the box there." She let her assurances sink in before continuing, "The point is that he knows that the Knave is not here, and he just called me asking about the heart, so I think he intends to track the Knave through the Enchanted Forest, and when and if he and your other friend—"

"Anastasia," Alice supplied.

"Yes, her; when and if they get back from the Enchanted Forest, if Jafar has his heart, there are many spells he can work to bring them both to him, or be right there when they arrive."

"Yet you say it's safe?" Cyrus verified.

Regina nodded.

Alice leaned forward, "That's not going to be a problem if we are able to break the curse before he ever gets the chance."

Regina looked at her in confusion. "How so?"

Cyrus showed her the Lost-and-Found. "This magical object was designed to point me back to my mother-the key to breaking the curse-if I ever got lost. It's pointing to City Hall."

"City Hall?" Regina drew back, aghast. "That's where Jafar is holed up! You're saying you actually want to go in there? What if he catches you?"

Cyrus and Alice shared a look; if his mother was with Jafar, why had he not used her as leverage against Cyrus already?
"That's where you can help us," Alice spoke up. "We need to know the layout of the place, so we can sneak in, and we need a diversion to keep Jafar out for as long as it takes."

Regina frowned. "Do you have anything you can do if Jafar has magically shut the place behind him?"

Alice glanced at Cyrus, who shook his head. Regina ran her tongue along her teeth in unease as she pulled out a key ring. "Any of these keys will fit any lock in Storybrooke, and break any magical barrier. I'll get you your diversion tomorrow, but you have to move fast."

"Don't worry," said Cyrus. "With the Lost-and-Found, we'll know exactly where we're going."


The next morning, Alice and Cyrus waited patiently behind Gold's pawn shop, hidden from view of the street, but not out of earshot. They wore dark clothing in a similar style to the clothes that Will wore on his return from Storybrooke, which allowed them to blend in with the people and their surroundings.

Alice glanced at Cyrus as she twisted and untwisted her fingers nervously. "What if it doesn't work?" she whispered to him. "What if he doesn't come? What if all of this is for nothing?"

Cyrus opened his mouth to answer, but just then, his ears caught the sound of Regina's voice.
"Here, let's go in; I've been meaning to check in with Gold and see what he knows."

"Ms. Mills," Jafar's smooth voice so near caused both listeners to involuntarily shudder, "Need I remind you that I was promised a heart-"

"And a heart you shall have," she responded. "Just as soon as I pick up a few things here that will help us get to it."

Cyrus grabbed Alice's wrist as the young woman seemed ready to bolt.
"She's going to give away Will's heart!" Alice seethed.

"Remember what Regina said?" Cyrus assured her. "This is only the diversion; she would never relinquish the promise of power over him. As long as she holds the heart, she has the upper hand. Now let's go find my mother."

Together, Cyrus and Alice sauntered across the street, wearing the hoods attached to their jackets so a chance glance by Jafar would not jog any recognition of their appearance. They reached the steps of City Hall and could go no further because of the spell Jafar had cast over the gates. Cyrus pulled out the ring of skeleton keys Regina had given them.

"Let's hope this works," he muttered, sticking one of them into the keyhole on the gate. The spell vanished, and the gate swung open.
"We're in!" Alice breathed.

"We still don't have much time. Let's find my mother and get out before Jafar returns," Cyrus said, creeping through the gate and up the steps. He and Alice kept their hoods up and slid scarves over their faces. The Lost-and-Found still pointed ahead of them.

Once they got inside, the Lost-and-Found led them down a few corridors till they reached a large room with a large chair on a dais at the front, much like a throne.
"This must be where Jafar sits," Alice mused, looking at the rugs and scraps of fabric scattered among the marble and wood of the original furnishings, as if Jafar was attempting to make the Hall feel more like a palace for him. She saw Cyrus pause, staring at something near the chair.

"Cyrus, what is it?" Alice asked, grabbing his hand. She followed his gaze to a glass-fronted case with three cushions inside. Two of these cushions were occupied: one by a round bottle with an azure stopper, and the other by a graceful oil lamp.
"My brothers," Cyrus murmured. "He brought them with him."

"Cyrus," Alice pulled his attention away. "Look at me: we will save them. They will not be genies for much longer."
"I hope you're right," Cyrus averted his gaze reluctantly. "Now, let's see; where to, next?"

The needle of the Lost-and-Found wavered toward the front of the room for a moment, and then swung around the other direction.
Alice looked back the way they had come. "I don't understand," she said, as Cyrus headed back to the door, "did we miss a turn somehow? Why are we-"

The door flew open. Jafar had returned.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" he thundered.

A blast of magic sent the couple tumbling.

"Who are you?" Jafar advanced on them. "Why are you here?" the eyes of the cobra staff in his hand glowed red. "You should not have trespassed," he said. "And now you will die!" He blasted them with magic from his staff-

But then a very curious thing happened: the glowing snake eyes changed from red to gold, and instead of killing the intruders, it remained rooted to the spot, sending Jafar flying to where he landed in a heap of black silk robes. Jafar's head struck the side of a marble column, and he lay very still.

Anxiously, Cyrus crept forward and checked his pulse; it still beat. The fall had not killed him, only knocked him unconscious.
Meanwhile- "Cyrus?" Alice said with a hint of warning in her voice. "Look!"

The Lost-and-Found in her hand pointed ahead of her, but when she walked toward the door, it switched to behind her. Cyrus seized the compass and walked around the area with it, trying to ascertain why it should change direction like that. He looked up as realization dawned.

"It's the staff!" he gasped, as Jafar showed signs of beginning to stir.

"Let's get out of here!" Alice cried, and the two ran out the open door just before Jafar revived.

The sorcerer sat against the wall, willing an end to the pounding headache afflicting him. The Queen had promised to lead him to the heart, but while they were still searching, he had felt the magic protecting "his domain" suddenly sever- and whoever had dissolved the enchantment had escaped. His staff clattered to the floor from where it had stood after the magic blasted him. The golden snake-eyes dimmed, but the red eyes did not return. Jafar closed the door as he pondered the mystery: what had just happened?