Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is taking me forever to write. Well, at least compared to 7:15 AM. I don't mean "forever" as in I'm struggling and it's taking a lot of time, I mean "forever" as in this is going to be quite a few chapters before we move on to another episode. These characters just get so wordy sometimes. And they think. A lot. I blame Gold. Whenever I add him into a story everyone's thought processes seem to double in length. What's up with that? Plus it probably doesn't help I insist on him and Ada talking in code and using the chess board all the time. They take half a page to say something that could be directly stated in a few sentences. Henry also thinks a lot. Emma by far is the most direct and concise.
Either way, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter. I'm already a few ahead and things are looking tense. Not the least because a social worker is going to show up and start asking questions. And now that the citizens are really waking up... well, you'll see.
Ada sighed as she looked around the apartment she was considering renting. It was owned by Gold, of course, but he cut her a deal on the rent (presumably to have her do him a favor later) and it was nice enough. It was only a few blocks from the center of town and Ada could see herself living here.
Of course, it would be the first apartment she'd own in...years without having Emma as a roommate.
But Emma was living with her mother. Her actual mother and Ada had forced herself to insist to Emma to stay where she was. Besides, she had said, someone needed to keep an eye on the cursed Snow White until she regained her memories completely, and it was easiest for someone living with her to do that.
"I like it," Henry chirped from where he stood in the middle of what would be Ada's kitchen.
"Yeah?" Ada smirked as she watched Henry survey the place. The boy solemnly nodded, having taken Ada's request to help her pick an apartment very seriously. Emma and Ada both smiled as he continued to move through the space, clearly not knowing what he was supposed to look for, but checking everything out just the same.
"So Sidney's the Magic Mirror?" Emma asked as she began to check the closet space while Henry began opening the kitchen cabinets.
Ada nodded, still loitering in the middle of the apartment, watching Emma and Henry move simultaneously to look around. She was amused how they both mirrored each other without realizing it. "Looks like it," she told them both.
"I don't think we can trust him, then," Henry chimed in, "He's pretty much the Queen's pet. He always does whatever she asks him to do."
"Couldn't he be rebelling now he's waking up?" Emma asked, nervous since she hadn't yet confessed to having already called Sidney yet.
Henry shook his head seriously as he stood on his tip toes to reach an upper cabinet. Emma opened it for him without thinking and Ada smirked at the two. "He won't rebel now. He wasn't rebelling when he was in the Enchanted Forest, so he won't rebel now that the town's waking up. Maybe after the curse is broken, but not before."
Emma bit her lip and Ada noticed.
"Emma," she drawled, waiting for Emma to spit out whatever it was.
"I called him," Emma confessed in a breath.
"What?" Ada shouted as Henry just sighed and shook his head, acting much older than his ten years.
Emma shrugged, "I got so angry when she took down the castle I just-"
"Lost all forethought?" Ada sarcastically asked. "God, Emma. Ugh."
"Maybe we can use it," Henry chimed in.
"How you think?" Emma asked him.
Henry shrugged, "In the spy movies, when they know that someone is a double agent they use the double agent to tell the enemy the wrong information."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "You might have an idea there, kid."
Ada sighed, "Well, we certainly can't take any information Sidney gives us as truthful. We know whatever he tells us is going to be what Regina wants him to say, so we have to...do the opposite of what we would've done?"
Ada looked over at the hooks next to the door and bounced slightly on her toes to make sure she could actually reach them. She'd have to jump a little from the look of things.
"I figured out where Princess Abigail's True Love is!" Henry announced, trying to brighten the atmosphere. He succeeded as both women smiled at him and he grinned proudly, "He's the gym teacher at school: Jim."
"Well," Ada thoughtfully began, "We'll have to do some recon on Jim; find a way we can get him and Kathryn to bump into each other."
"He goes to Jim's Pizza every Friday night," Henry quickly informed them.
"And how'd you learn that?" Emma asked, her eyebrows raised.
Henry shrugged casually, "I asked him."
"Now how do we get Kathryn, who seems a pretty fussy eater, to go to Jim's Pizza on a Friday night?" Ada wondered out loud.
"You guys'll come up with something," Henry assured them. "So," he abruptly changed the subject the way children do, "Are you going to get the apartment?"
Ada smirked, "You like it?" she asked Henry, who nodded, "Then I guess I should ask Gold for the paperwork."
"Yes!" Henry cheered, pumping his fist in the air, "This is so cool! Now you'll be actually living here instead of just staying at Granny's!"
Ada just grinned as she opened the door for them all to exit.
Sarah Monday was a consummate professional when it came to her job. After all, when dealing with potential abuse and children in general, it was always important to make sure the i's were dotted and the t's were crossed. She had a reputation for being very good at what she did and for having a good instinct of where to go looking. And she was notorious for doing her research. She had been asked by a friend of hers, a lawyer named Bill Knightley, to look into a case a friend of his had requested he look into. A potential custody battle between birth mother and adoptive mother. There were, apparently, some concerns over emotional abuse.
The first thing Sarah Monday did was not investigate the birth or adoptive mothers or the child. She investigated Bill's friend- a Miss Ada Ward.
So far what Sarah found had all pointed towards Miss Ward being rather similar to herself: a consummate professional at her job, highly successful and good at what she did. No one in the child advocacy business that Sarah had contacted had anything but good things to say about Miss Ward. Sarah next called some of Miss Ward's old cases and, again, no one had anything negative to say about Miss Ward. She did what she had to and sometimes stepped on toes when necessary, but ultimately got her job done and her paperwork handed in. Miss Ward was also an orphan herself, never adopted, but passed along from foster home to foster home. Sarah figured that would be enough experience to quickly size up most home situations, and probably is what granted the woman her legendary instinct. Sarah's own instinct came from her parents having been foster parents after Sarah reached school age. She grew up in a foster home; she'd had many foster siblings who were jaded and bitter towards the system with its many flaws. Sarah had grown up wanting to help and chose a career that enabled her to do just that.
If Miss Ward was concerned about potential emotional abuse, she'd be worth listening to, even with her own personal involvement in the case.
The next research subject was Miss Swan, who was Miss Ward's friend and the birth mother of the child in question. She'd had a rough start, no doubt- abandoned as a baby, she was adopted but returned when she was just three years old when her adoptive parents managed to get pregnant (and Sarah couldn't help the scowl that crossed her face at that information- she didn't think much of Miss Swan's ex-adoptive parents for that move), and then bounced from foster home to foster home until she ran away completely at seventeen (her final and only successful attempt at getting out of the system). She had a juvie record, though it was sealed, but Sarah didn't see any particular warning signals since, by all accounts, Miss Swan had straightened up after giving up her baby at 18. She'd gotten jobs where ever she could and finally succeeded in finding a career as a bailbondsperson, Miss Swan certainly moved around a lot, but had lived with the same person for the past seven, almost eight, years. Miss Swan had asked for a closed adoption when she gave up her son, but had abided by the rules and did not contact him. Miss Swan's employer said she was good at her job, and ultimately "a good egg."
All in all, Miss Swan didn't seem to be a perfect individual, but Sarah didn't see anything strictly wrong with her. Especially considering that since her son had contacted her, she had moved to his hometown, settled down with another respectable job and had succeeded in winning a Sheriff's election.
Sarah organized her notes on Miss Swan and then reached for a fresh sheet of paper. Next was to research the adoptive mother.
Emma looked carefully at the boxes of documents Sidney had brought to her apartment. She was cautious now, on alert from Ada and Henry's warnings, and resolved to not overplay her hand.
"When did that transfer go through?" she asked Sidney, "Does three weeks ago sound right?"
He thought for a moment before replying, "Yeah. Why?"
"Because those records are missing."
Mary Margaret entered the apartment then, "Emma, there's something I'd like to talk to you-" she stopped when she noticed Sidney in her kitchen, "Hi, Sidney."
"Hey," Emma greeted her mother, trying not to stare at her too much. She suddenly realized she had inherited her mother's chin. "We're just doing some work. I think we may have found something on Regina." Emma was at a loss of how to interact with Mary Margaret, knowing what she did. On the one hand, this was her mother, on the other hand, it wasn't- she was Mary Margaret, not Snow White. This was a curse's version of her mother, and a woman who was her own age, who didn't remember her husband or her daughter. Emma was at more than a loss.
"Interesting work. Oh, I approve," the brunette commented, moving towards the kitchen proper to get a drink.
"You wanna go by the book? Let's get a warrant," Sidney suggested.
Emma immediately countered, "What judge are we gonna find that she doesn't own. We're screwed," she sighed.
"Or... there's my way," Sidney implied. Emma heard Henry's voice: I don't think we can trust him. and then Ada's: We certainly can't take any information Sidney gives us as truthful. Do the opposite.
Emma shook her head, "I wanna do this right, Sidney."
He continued to press, "And what's right is exposing her. Sometimes, doing a bad thing for a good reason is okay, right?"
Mary Margaret frowned at that, and chimed in, "But you're still doing a bad thing. You have to find the right way, there's always one. Even if at first you don't see it."
Emma nodded, "I've learned my lesson from that election- the only way to win is to win right. Do the right thing for the right reason. Mary Margaret's right- there's got to be a way."
Sidney sighed. "But look what she's done to you, to me, to your son, and it's not gonna stop so whatever you do, you gotta do something."
Emma shook her head firmly, "We do it right or not at all. There's no rationalizing this, Sidney. I don't want to do something wrong in Henry's name, either."
Mary Margaret gave Emma a smile of approval, and Emma felt her heart lighten and squeeze at the same time.
Her mother approved.
Sarah Monday was getting very concerned. Initially, a surface check of Regina Mills showed her to be everything she should be: a successful Mayor of her hometown, invested in both restoring and modernizing her sleepy old Maine town, money in the bank, a good credit score. But digging deeper got tricky.
Miss Mills' adoption process was...fishy. There was no record of her being on any waiting list. She suddenly appeared at the top one day. There was no sign of a home visit, despite the records saying there was one. Sarah couldn't find a single person who had ever been to Storybrooke, let alone a record of who gave the home visit. Furthermore, Henry was not adopted in accordance to Arizona state laws, where he was born.
Things were starting to stink, and Sarah Monday hadn't even left the office yet.
Emma was getting frustrated.
"I don't know what to do," she told Ada as they sat in the Sheriff's station, "She owns everyone in town!"
"Not...everyone," Ada cautiously replied.
Emma raised a brow. "You thinking of going to Gold?"
Ada shrugged, "If he can't help us, he'll get someone else to do it."
"How, though?" Emma replied.
"Honestly, I'm not sure we want to know."
"No," Emma shook her head, "After how he played me during the election, no."
"Emma," Ada sighed, "We aren't just dealing with this world's laws, we're dealing with a curse here."
"We have to do things the right way or not at all," Emma insisted.
"Then leave Gold to me," Ada replied, "I'll see what I can do. Legally."
Emma sighed, "You'll get out if it goes even a little shady?"
"Cross my heart."
Gold sighed as Ada captured his pawn, and began to examine the board again, "So you're looking for a judge or someone out of Regina's control?"
"Yes," Ada replied as he settled on moving his King, and Ada raised an eyebrow at the move.
"There's no one aside from myself, of course, and yourself and Miss Swan who are out of Regina's control. Everyone else is cursed, and some are missing their hearts, and some, like Master Henry, are trapped under her thumb even as they struggle to get out.
"Interestingly," he added as Ada allowed her fingers to flutter over her pieces, never touching them, as she examined the board, "Miss Mills is planning on meeting with me this evening for an...exchange."
"A legal exchange?" Ada asked, waiting for the answer before she moved a piece.
Gold shrugged, "Buying some land from me; oddly enough, she had originally planned to meet me in the woods, and has now delayed the meeting indefinitely. It's almost as if she's waiting to see if someone else can...join along."
Ada nodded, "Buying land? I wonder what for. Regina never does anything without a purpose."
"I believe she has some development plans for it. But those won't interest you," Gold waved them off.
Ada moved a Knight, "And what does interest me?"
"I've heard rumors...tell of a set of keys the Mayor has. Skeleton keys that open every door in Storybrooke. I think perhaps you should ensure you invest in some good locks. You'll notice the apartment you now rent came with a good, solid deadbolt."
Gold moved his Queen to capture Ada's pawn. "Worth considering, dearie."
Ada moved her Bishop out of harm's way. "And your thoughts on the long-distance threat?"
Gold smirked, "Keep playing the long game, dearie, it'll come out better for you in the end. Sometimes a move," and he pushed forward his pawn, "Is really just a red hearing while the other hand sets up the real game."
Emma was driving into the woods of Storybrooke, trying to quiet the noise in her own head. Normally, she'd head to the docks to think, but she didn't want Ada to find her and force her to talk it out.
Not yet, at least.
She came up on a turn and began to apply the brakes, then felt some panic. Slamming the brakes down, she realized something was horribly wrong.
She wasn't stopping. Or slowing.
In the slightest.
The car crashed into a road sign, sending it flying and came to a halt. Emma took a deep breath, looking around and assessing herself. Shaken, she stepped out of the vehicle.
Looking at the destroyed sign, Emma felt a sense of deja vu and then could've sworn she heard: That's good news for our tourist business, bad news for our local signage. It's- it's a joke- because you ran over our sign….
"Emma?" a voice called and Emma jumped, feeling a ghost flee the scene as she turned and saw Sidney approaching her from his own vehicle. For a moment she had thought...but no. The voice, the accent, the tone, it was all wrong.
She shook herself again.
"I've been looking for you. I got a tip from an old source," he trailed off as he saw her car. "But I can see I'm too late to give a warning."
"A warning?" Emma asked, incredulous.
"I heard that the Mayor had been at Marine Garage, asking about brakes. Normally she's not one for car repair, so I put two and two together."
Emma bent to examine the car, and, sure enough, the brakes had been cut.
"The bitch tried to have me killed," she shouted, shaking with adrenaline.
"She must've heard we pulled the files, must've figured we'd see the transaction."
Emma was about to go storming off after Regina when she remembered the ghost who she had just sworn she heard.
She had been hotheaded with Regina once, and it had cost more than she was willing to pay.
Emma took a deep breath and released it. She had to play this right. She remembered Henry's words about double agents.
"You're right, Sidney, we can't play this straight. We have to get on her level."
Emma wasn't so distracted that she didn't notice Sidney's smirk at her words.
Rumplestiltskin smirked down at the chess board. The game he and Miss Ward were playing was still upon it, the pieces left in their positions for when they chose to resume the game. Miss Ward had gone off to find her sister and Rumple was resting on his laurels.
Oh, he knew the game Regina was playing very well. After all, he taught it to her. But the student had yet to come close to surpassing the teacher, and Rumplestiltskin prided himself on being more than a teacher: he was a master.
Miss Ward was pretty good at the game herself. She exhibited more finesse than Regina, at least, and she was much more likely to keep her head in the heat of the moment.
Both were qualities Rumplestiltskin admired.
And he was thrilled she had figured it all out. He was able to be Rumplestiltskin in her prescience- he called her dearie, waved his hands about, and earlier in the day he had let loose his signature giggle. The fact that Miss Ward seemed to have been a bit chilled by it (before she quickly neutralized her facial expression and body language) only made it better.
The game was fast-paced now, but Rumplestiltskin had been playing this game a very long time, and had been planning this match for almost just as long.
He idly observed the pieces. Hmm...what would Miss Ward be? Definitely not a pawn. Something more subtle than the Queen...perhaps a Rook. In pairs, more powerful than the Queen, and used to best advantage in the center of the board- in the middle of everything.
Ada nervously fiddled with the hem of her skirt as she listened to Emma.
"So what's your plan then?" she asked finally.
"Henry's double agent strategy," Emma shrugged, pacing off the adrenaline still in her system. "What do you think?"
"We need to keep going with the long-distance threat," Ada muttered, and, at Emma's look, clarified, "Keep pushing forward with the custody battle. Be careful how you go with things, I'm expecting the social worker to show up unannounced at any day."
Emma blew out a breath, "And that's a good thing?"
Ada nodded, "I asked Bill to help us, and he asked Sarah Monday. He says she's good. Very good. That means she'll pick up on the stuff we did, and that'll help us. She'll also probably interview Archie, which'll look good for us. You just need to keep your nose clean."
Emma snorted, "That's the plan."
"Good," Ada replied, "And do not forget the plan. Don't let her goad you into anything. I know how you get."
Emma looked about to object until Ada raised a single eyebrow, then the blonde went quiet. She threw herself on the couch beside Ada, the energy gone as Emma suddenly felt exhausted.
"Adrenaline wear off?" Ada asked sympathetically. Emma nodded, "Better head to bed then before you doze off right here. By the way, did you get Tillman to look at your breaks?"
Emma nodded as she slowly pulled herself up off the couch.
"Good, if we can throw suspicion on Regina for that, it'll only make our case better. And he'll be honest for us, what with Hansel and Gretel."
Henry sighed as he finished helping Ada move the last of her stuff into the apartment.
"Henry?" the redhead immediately asked when she noticed his expression.
"Are you sure the book will be safe here?" he asked her as he placed it carefully on the coffee table.
Ada nodded and gestured to her door, "Rumplestiltskin told me Regina has keys that open all the locks in town, but I have the deadbolt, and Emma's getting one too so we should be secure."
Henry still looked worried so Ada flopped on the couch and patted the cushion beside her. "C'mon, tell me what's really the matter."
"I miss my castle," Henry confessed, "It was just my and Emma's place, and now...she found out about it and tore it down."
Ada wrapped an arm around Henry and pulled him to her, "Hey, I know you miss your castle. I know it was your safe space and something you shared with Emma, just the two of you. But think about this: we're breaking the curse, soon, you'll be living somewhere safe all the time." Ada thought for a moment and then began again, "Can I tell you something? You have to make sure to keep it secret, because we really don't want Regina to find out." Henry nodded, "Emma's started getting ready for a custody battle," Ada confessed, "She had me call up a lawyer I know from outside of town, and he's sending in a social worker to poke around a bit. She'll see how things are and she'll talk to Archie and everyone in town. They're waking up; they know Regina's no good, so it'll help us. Hopefully soon either the curse will break or Emma will get the lawyers to get you living with Emma."
"Really?" Henry practically breathed the word.
Ada nodded, "Yeah. Listen, Henry, I want you to know something. The way Regina treats you...isn't right. She's supposed to put you first but she puts herself first instead. She's not supposed to make you feel alone or leave you alone all the time. She's supposed to have your best interests at heart. I don't think she does. And that's not your fault, Henry. She's a very messed up person because of a lot of things, and none of them are your fault. You're a wonderful kid, and you deserve the very best. She does love you, in her own way, I'm sure. She's just...not very good at loving."
Henry thought about that for a moment, resting his head on Ada's shoulder as his brow scrunched in thought. "She's hurt a lot of people," he mused, "I mean, I know, I read the book. And Snow White was ten when she messed up and my mom, she...did all this horrible stuff because she wouldn't forgive. I'm sometimes worried she'll do that with me."
"Listen, I read the story too, and Daniel's death wasn't Snow's fault either. It was Cora's. Snow might've told a secret, but she was ten, and she didn't really know what was happening, and Cora was a pretty masterful manipulator," Ada sighed, "I know you're scared sometimes, Henry, and that's okay. I'm scared, too. And so's Emma. But we're going to do what we can and fight for the good and I think you know what happens when you have hope and fight for what's right."
Henry grinned, "You get Happily Ever After."
Ada returned the smile, "That's right."
Sarah Monday sighed as she finished entering her notes into her computer and saved them. She'd have to make a trip. Soon. Storybrooke, Maine- it sounded charming, but Sarah wasn't sure it would actually live up to its name.
And that's that. Drop a review on your way out, guys- did you like Rumple and Ada? Henry and Ada there? What do you think of my new character Sarah? She's only temporary, but I'm trying to make her dimensional even so. How are you liking the story? What do you think of Henry's double agent plan for Emma? The Graham references? I had to add him- Emma destroyed another sign, I couldn't not bring up Graham.
I'm just amused by my chapter title. It's got a double meaning- did any of you guess it? It's a little subtle, I suppose. Part of it is Emma seeking approval both from her parent and from Henry as a parent (her insistence on doing this right or Henry will be disappointed), and part of it is Sarah Monday beginning the process of approving either Regina or Emma to be a parent.
What do you think?