Snow stumbles out of the magic bean portal. She is right outside Nova and Grumpy's house. Grumpy rushes through his front door.
"Everything alright Snow?"
Snow doesn't reply.
"Come on in," he says holding his front door wide open. "Did you get some bad news or..."
"They finally let me visit," Snow manages.
Inside the Grumpy's living room Nova is sitting in her rocking chair nursing the baby. "Snow?" she asks. "Snow what's wrong?"
"I wasn't prepared for how awful it would be," Snow starts sobbing the moment she sits down. "He was all beaten up, all because he wanted to see me... and he doesn't want me to go there anymore because he wants to be able to fight back... and I can't... "
Nova is looking all confused but Grumpy nods, understanding.
"They are messing with his visiting privileges?" he asks.
Snow nods. "You knew about this? Are all dungeons like this?"
"Some of them." Grumpy's heard stories about the dungeon under George's castle before, but he figures that the White Knights are trying to punish David and they are going out of their way to hurt him. Of course this isn't going to help Snow's state of mind so he keeps his mouth shut. "What are you going to do?" he asks instead.
"He has an alibi. I'll prove him innocent. I'll have his case dismissed out by Monday," Snow concludes wiping her eyes. "I'm sorry. I meant to go home right away but I can't stop crying and Emma is already upset..."
"You've come to the right place," Nova smiles reassuringly while Grumpy hands Snow a cup of tea.
"Alright. I'm in. When do we start?" Grumpy asks.
Snow turns to face him. "What?"
"When do we start working on proving David's innocence?"
"Tonight," Snow replies.
"I'll get my cape!" Grumpy hurries to pull on his boots.
"You are coming with me?" Snow is looking so grateful.
"Of course. If there is a conspiracy to frame either David or you, I'm not going to let you go anywhere alone...
"He already called Blue and got some personal time..." Nova explains.
"Thanks you guys! What would I even do without you?" Snow looks ready to cry again. "Alright, give me an hour to talk to Emma and Ruby and then come by my house?"
"You got it, sister!" Grumpy pats Snow on the back.
Emma crushes into her mother as soon as Snow walks into the cottage. "Did you see him? Is he alright? Can I see him? When is he coming home?"
"Emma," Snow says quietly holding her daughter tight, running her fingers through her golden curls. "I saw him. He said he was alright... He says he loves you very much..."
Emma is crying. "And he remembers me?"
"He remembers you, of course he remembers," Snow says kissing her daughter's tear strained cheeks. "Nothing wrong with his memory this time. We all remember. Now listen up, because we made plans... Grumpy and I are going to solve the case, so I'm going to leave in a while with Grumpy..."
Ruby joins them in the living room. She is watching Snow with big worried eyes. She can tell there is a lot Snow isn't telling Emma.
"When can I go visit?" Emma asks.
"We can't visit again, this was a one time thing," Snow explains. Ruby raises her eyebrows.
"But I want to see him!" Emma cries out.
"And he wants to see you too, but above all we want him to be safe, right?" Snow tries convince Emma without going into details. She can feel Ruby staring at her, all concerned.
Emma is in bed, Ruby is laying on Snow's couch half asleep and Snow is putting her cape on.
"Well? Are we breaking him out tonight?" Tink materializes right behind Snow. Snow covers her mouth with her hand so she doesn't scream.
"Is there a way to knock before you drop in? Because every time you show up like this you give me a heart attack!" Snow says turning around.
Tink is dressed in all black. She doesn't even hear Snow's question. "Are we on for tonight?" she asks again.
Snow shakes her head. "We are not."
"Why not!" Tink frowns, standing up, crossing her arms to her chest.
Snow sighs. "First of all I never agreed we were doing this tonight. We were going to do this as a last resort... But, we are no longer doing this because David asked us not to... "
"What? What does he know?" Tink glares at Snow.
"He knows he doesn't want to live is life on the run," Snow struggles to explain. She is feeling exhausted all of a sudden. It's hard to argue against breaking David out when it's all she wants to do.
"He doesn't have to be on the run. There are five hundred unexplored realms, we could go anywhere..."
Snow is shaking her head. "I don't think he wants to go exploring, Tink..."
"What do you want?"
"I want him to be safe," Snow tries to stifle her sob. "I want him to come home... But we are going to do things his way for now..."
"Which is what exactly?"
"Pursue all legal options..."
"Ugh," Tink plops on the couch, her shoulders slopping. "I'm no good at legal options..."
"I'm good at it," Snow replies quietly.
"Well what can I do? Do you want me to send you to his cell? Do you want me to pull him out just for the night? Do you want me to turn his cell into the most glorious hotel room complete with jacuzzi? Snow! What do you want me to do?"
Snow shakes her head. Not letting Tink just rescue David even just for one night, is incredibly hard. "He asked me not to visit..."
"What? Why?"
"Because they are using me and my visits against him," Snow's voice cracks.
"Who!" Tink snaps at her. "Give me a list of names!" her fingers already tingling with anger and magic.
Snow shakes her head. "I don't have a list of names for you Tink..."
"Fine!" Tink says sounding quite frustrated. "Fine. I'll come up with something else..." and Tink disappears without another word.
Snow rushes into her bedroom. She picks up David's suitcase still packed and opens the right pocket. There is a brown paper bag buried under one of David's shirts.
"No peaking Emma! (and Snow)" David's hand writing on the bag with a playful smiley face on the side. Snow is crying as she opens up the bag. Just like David said there is a sea themed bird feeder with beautiful leafy sea dragons drawn on and a beach glass bracelet. Snow sticks her hand inside. There it is. The receipt. Timestamped at one forty. She sits on the edge of the bed and buries her face in David's shirt, taking a deep breath. This is good. This is very good. An excellent start.
A soft knock on her front door. Snow throws on her green cape on and rushes to open it.
"I'm ready!" she tells Grumpy who is standing on her porch. "How do you feel about magic bean travel?"
"Not a fan," Grumpy shrugs. "But I'll manage."
"Alright," Snow says reaching for his hand. "Let's get to Waterworld!"
Grumpy closes his eyes at the sudden flash of the magic bean. She lets Snow tug him into the magic bean portal. By this time Snow is completely used to magic bean travel. Grumpy is trying to catch his breath when the glow form the portal disappears.
"Are you alright? How are you feeling?" she asks.
"I'm going to need a minute..." he says. He is looking green.
"I think the gift shop David went to is this way," Snow leads the way, Grumpy following her.
"Closed for renovations" the sign on the gift shop store reads. Snow ignores it and pushes the door open. Half the store is submerged in water. Snow stays on the dry platform that is for human customers
"Excuse me, Ma'am, you cannot be here... the store is closed. We are remodeling. I was getting ready to head home for the night" a merman is wiping blue paint on his overalls.
"What is going on here? When did you start renovations?" Snow frowns.
"Two days ago," the merman replies.
"I need to speak to the owner! This is urgent!"
"I'm afraid that you re going to have to wait a while," he frowns. "My uncle is not here. He received some kind of unexpected inheritance and he went out of realm to collect it and make arrangements..."
"What? When did this happen?"
"A couple of days ago," the man replies.
" Where did he go?"
"He didn't leave an address. He said he could be gone for a month. Why? What do you need him for?"
"I need him to come back," Snow tries hard to appear calm. "Perhaps you can help me. I need to get access to the camera footage of everyone that walked into the store on Saturday night, and I need to talk to the employee with the purple hair, his name is Jim or John..."
"Jimmy?" the man replies. "Oh! Ma'am, you are out of luck. Jimmy just got hired to dress the Queen in Wonderland. That was his dream job, he was so excited..."
"Dress the Queen? The Queen of hearts?"
"Yes! Can you believe his luck?"
"Luck had nothing to do with it," Snow shakes her head.
"I don't know. Everyone that has worked into this store has been incredibly lucky lately..." the merman replies.
Grumpy glares at the man. "So what you are saying is that in the last week the owner of the shop received unexpected money and went out of town to collect...-"
"And started renovations! He couldn't afford to do that before!" the merman offers excitedly.
Grumpy nods. "And Jimmy got hired and is now working somewhere in Wonderland..."
"Exactly!" the man replies.
Snow shakes her head. "Well this isn't good at all. Do you or does anyone here have access to the cameras or the tapes for the video surveillance..."
The man shakes his head. "We are replacing everything, brand new state of the art technology. We were instructed to toss the old ones away, they were quite old. We didn't save any tapes..."
"Did you throw them away? Where?" Snow is sounding desperate.
"I wouldn't know. It was the first thing we did, when we started...Garbage got picked up three days ago... Why?" the merman cannot fathom why the woman in front of him looks ready to cry.
"Come on, let's go," Grumpy gently pulls Snow away. "There is nothing to see here..."
Snow shoulder's slope as she follows him. "The hotel registration," she mumbles. "Maybe we can find Ursula's look alike..."
The receptionist is a beautiful girl with large hoop earrings who is desperately trying to look like a mermaid, her body covered by a tight dress in shimmering blue shaped like a mermaid tale."What can I do for you?" she asks.
"I need to look at your camera footage for Saturday night..." Snow starts.
The girl shakes her head. "Can't do that... it's against the rules..."
"Please," Snow tries again. "I'm an investigator and this is an emergency..."
"Oh, I know who you are," the girl replies. "I'd totally let you see the footage too, and I don't care about the rules" she says lowering her voice. "But our system glitched Saturday night. It recorded until midnight and then nothing. My manager was furious... He doesn't want anyone to know this happened," and then again much louder she adds "can't do that Ma'am. I follow the rules..." she adds quite theatrically, smiling for the cameras.
Snow is beginning to fell sick. "Can you help me find a guest then? She looked just like Ursula the singer, she had insomnia... she was at the park last weekend... if you can just give me her name..."
The girl shakes her head. "I don't remember nobody like that," she replies. "Hey Bill!" she calls out and a man joins her from the back room. "Was there a woman that looked just like Ursula here last weekend?"
The man shakes his head. "No way. I would remember. I'm a big Ursula fan," he says and then he unbuttons his shirt sleeve and pulls it up revealing a very colorful tattoo of Ursula the famous singer on his arm.
"Are you sure?" Grumpy asks.
"I told you. I'm a fan," he says and then he pulls out his phone and shows him several photos of him and the real Ursula together. "I'm her number one fan. I go to every single one of her concerts. If a woman looked just like her visited I would have noticed..." he says again.
Snow shakes her head. She has never in her whole career as an investigator had such trouble verifying an alibi before.
"Now what?" Grumpy asks once they've walked away from the hotel reception.
"Now we get some rest, before we head to Wonderland tomorrow," Snow says quietly, because she needs to go home, she needs to crawl under her bed covers and close her eyes and put today behind her.
Back at her home Snow hesitates. She can't just go to bed. She has to update David on her progress. She owes him that. She opens the window to her home office and whistles. A night heron flies towards her and perches on her finger.
"I meed you to carry a message to David." she says quietly petting the bird gently. "You have to be very brave and sneak in the dungeon, under the castle in the Southern kingdom and not let anybody see you, friend..." The little bird nods in agreement. Snow places the bird on her desk then she dips her quill in ink and hesitates. What is she suppose to tell him? She thinks of David bruised and shackled in the visiting room and her breath hitches. How can she even begin to tell him her investigation so far has yielded no fruit.
"What do I say," she whispers.
"David," she starts and her eyes well up. "I was unable to get hold of witnesses today. They are all out of realm. I will try again tomorrow. I love you. Please stay safe..."
No! She is not telling him that. She crumples up the note and tries again. She dips her quill in ink.
"David, I will get hold of witnesses tomorrow. I love you. Please stay safe..."
That note ends all crumpled up on the floor too.
The night heron must somehow sense her despair because it flies up on her shoulder, touching her face with its wing.
"I love you. Please stay safe," is all she writes. And it's not enough but she kisses the note and holds it close to her heart before she ties it securely on the bird's claw.
"Go!" she urges softly and the bird flies away.
"Mommy!" Emma is yawning at the door.
Snow turns around startled. "Emma! What are you doing up?"
"Mom! Are you crying?" Emma looks worried.
"I'm not," Snow starts to say except the hand she raises to her cheeks is now moist. "I guess so..." she admits.
"Does David really remember us?" Emma is looking at her suspiciously.
"Yes, of course," Snow is quick to reply. "He remembers us."
"Good," Emma lets out a sigh of relief. "Can I sleep in your bed?"
"Yes!" Snow smiles sadly and follows her daughter to her bedroom.
Grumpy and Snow are working together again. Today Snow plans on locating Jimmy in Wonderland. If he confirms David's alibi maybe all hope isn't lost.
"Are you ready?" she asks Grumpy who is wincing at the sight of the magic bean in her hand.
"Ready," he replies.
Snow tosses the bean on the ground. "To Wonderland. To the Queen of Heart's castle."
The Queen's guards look suspiciously as Snow and Grumpy emerge from the magic bean portal.
They draw their swords as they approach.
"State your business!" one of the guards states firmly.
"We are investigating a crime that happened back in our realm. We need to verify the facts with a witness, his name is Jimmy, he just started working here in the team that designs the Queen's clothes..."
"No other-realmers are allowed inside the castle, not without the Queen's expressed authorization..."
"You could accompany us the whole time. We just need to ask Jimmy a couple of questions that is all, and we'll get out of your hair... You do need to disturb the Queen," Snow tries.
"No. That's not how it works. We will add you to the roster. If the Queen agrees to meet you then you can talk to Jimmy... though I must warn you she isn't feeling very social today..."
"But-" Grumpy starts but then the captain of the guard walks up to him and interrupts him.
"Good job men, now back to your posts. Let me handle this!"
The guards snap to attention, then they walk back to the castle gate.
"Say, are those magic beans you used to get here?" the captain of the guard asks quietly.
Snow glances at him. "Why, yes. Yes they are. Would you like to see one?" She pulls out her pouch and grabs a handful of beans. "Look!" she says raising on up in the light. They are clear. Quite incredible to look at really. "They can get you anywhere you want to go..."
The man is looking at them, eyes open wide. "Anywhere?" he asks and Snow can hear the intense longing in his voice.
"Where would you go if you could go anywhere?" Snow asks softly. "Anywhere at all?"
"I don't know," he replies, his voice nothing more than a whisper.
"Oh, I think you do," Snow replies closing her fist. The mans is staring at her intently. "I could spare a few beans if you helped me... "
The captain of the guard glances at his guards who are watching him closely, their curiosity peeked, even though they are acting like they are not. "Meet me at the side door on the right in two hours," he whispers. "That's when my shift ends."
Grumpy and Snow walk away from the castle. Two hours later they carefully circle around to arrive at the side door.
"You are here," the captain of the guard whispers opening the small wooden gate. "This way!" He opens his hand and Snow slips three magic beans in it.
"Safe travels," she mumbles.
Snow and Grumpy rush to get inside.
"The man you are asking for... Is he in any sort of trouble?" the captain asks.
"He is not. We think he might be able to corroborate an alibi, that's all," Snow replies as if Jimmy is not the most important person in all the realms now, able to exonerate David.
"Well he is here. His hair isn't purple anymore," the man pulls them through dark corridors and through the servant's quarters and then opens the door to a room where three people are frantically steaming two different gowns. "On the left!" he points.
Well Jimmy certainly went through the trouble to alter his appearance. His hair is dyed blond and it really doesn't look right. Purple was definitely his color.
"Excuse me!" Snow starts.
"I'm busy!" Jimmy replies. He is steam cleaning the red feathers in an elaborate gown, so bright Snow thinks her eyes would hurt if she has to keep staring at it.
"Excuse me!" she says more forcefully this time and Jimmy turns around to face them.
"It's you," he says frowning, crossing his hands on his chest. "What do you want?"
"I'm part of an investigation and I need to know if you saw this man on the gift store on Saturday." Snow pulls a photograph of David and hands it to the man.
"Why yes, he was there with his wife and daughter around seven in the evening," the man replies. His answer sounds rehearsed.
"Yes, he was there at seven. Did he come back later? In the middle if the night?"
The man looks closely frowning. "I do not recall..."
"Do many people show up in your gift shop in the middle of the night?" Grumpy asks impatiently.
"You'd be surprised," Jimmy replies. "Well, if that is all," he says turning his back on them, focusing on his red feathers.
Snow has to do her best not to grab the man by the collar and smash him against the wall.
"Look at this," she pulls out the receipt. "Someone came in your store in the middle of the night and bought a bracelet and a bird house..."
The man hesitates.
"Do you remember now?"
The man shakes his head. He is obviously lying.
"Come on," Snow practically pleads. "A man's freedom is at stake here..."
"You want me to feel sorry for the impersonator who walked away from the royal life?" Jimmy snaps at her. "You want me to feel bad for him?"
"No, I don't want you to feel anything. I want to be a decent human being and do the right thing. I want you to tell me the truth, that's all," Snow raises her voice.
"Why would I? He had his chance at the royal life and he blew it. What sort of person does that? People that run away are never innocent anyway..." he scoffs, then he looks at Snow White who walked away from her throne ten years ago. She is shaking her head.
"People run away when they are in danger," she replies.
The man rolls his eyes. "I am not blowing my chance at greatness, just to save some peasant prince that had an identity crisis..."
Snow takes a threatening step forward and Grumpy hurries to place his hand on her arm. A reminder of who she is. A reminder of what they both stand to lose if she attacks the man.
"Your chance at greatness? Did they offer you this job in return for your silence?" Grumpy asks. "Is this your chance? Will they take it back if you tell the truth?"
The man glares at Grumpy. "I've worked very hard to be where I'm at today..."
"You've worked very hard but it wasn't enough was it?" Snow asks quietly. "And then this offer just fell out of the sky. All you have to do is lie about who came in the gift shop on Saturday night..."
"Who offered you the job anyway?" Grumpy asks.
The man looks away.
"What do you think they will do to you now that I've found you? Why do you think they got you a job here, where nobody knows you and no one will notice if you disappear... Do you think they will keep you alive? You are a liability to them. You are in danger... You need to tell the truth and get out of here!"
"Are you threatening me?"
"What? No! I am no the one you need to be worried about! Who offered you this job?"
"None of your business! No need to worry about me princess, I'll be fine!" the man replies.
"If you change your mind..." Grumpy replies handing Jimmy a business card.
Jimmy crumples the card with his hand and drops it on the floor.
Again Snow takes a step forward, her eyes on fire, her fists clinched. She wants to knock him out and stuff red feathers in his mouth. Grumpy pulls he back.
"Let's go," he says.
Snow follows him blindly, her eyes welling up with tears of rage. "You heard him. He is lying. And there is nothing we can do... He was David's last chance for an alibi and he is lying..." she is getting louder now. "We can't force him to testify. Subpoenas don't work inter-realm."
"I know," Grumpy says softly. "I know."
Snow hands him a magic bean because she doesn't trust herself to make it safely home.
"Home," Grumpy says tossing the bean on the ground. Snow wants to warn him that home is a complicated word. No telling where he might turn up. Except they instantly arrive in Nova's and Grumpy's beautiful weather controlled front yard,no problem. Because Nova and Grumpy had always loved each other, and nobody's ever erased their memories. Because home is a simple word for Grumpy and Nova. Unlike David and Snow who have had to fight for every single minute of happiness.
Snow pushes the dark thoughts clouding her mind. She is not going to begrudge Grumpy his happiness.
"Where do you want to go next?" Grumpy asks softly.
Snow is shaking her head. This isn't the first time she's hit a dead end on a case, but it is the first time she's felt this lost. What is she going to tell David?
"We need to rethink our whole approach," she replies. "Forget David's alibi. Solve the case instead. Who really killed Edward?"
"Alright," he nods. "We start over tomorrow?"
Snow nods. "Tomorrow. Goodnight Grumpy!"
Back at her house Snow sits on the couch, shifting through newspapers on the reports of Edward's death. She is having a hard time focusing, because in a little while she is going to have to send a bird to David. Which means she is going to have to update him on the case. And she doesn't know what to say.
Emma is having a long conversation with Star the turtle when there is a soft knock on their door. Snow looks up at her cuckoo clock. It's late. "Who could be at this hour?" she mumbles as she hurries to the front door.
"Tink!" Snow opens her door wide.
"I knocked!" Tink says triumphantly.
"Yes you did!" Snow replies.
If Tink offers to break David out again, Snow isn't certain that she is going to be strong enough to turn her down.
"I figured it out!" Tink says instead.
"What did you figure out?"
"Look!" Tink replies. In her wand is nothing but a small jar fulled with bubble soap. "Here!" she says dipping her wand in the soap. Then she shakes her wand and a bubble appears at the tip of it, only it's not a common bubble, it's quite large and it' a surface resembles that of an old fashioned foggy magic mirror. And in the mirror is David in his cell, is sitting up, his finger reaching at the bubble, disbelieving his eyes.
"What is this? Tink?" he frowns and then he smiles "Snow! Emma!"
"David! If a guard shows up just pop the bubble!" Tink instructs.
"This is incredible!" David exclaims.
Tink shrugs. "I'll let you guys talk," she says, she snaps her fingers and she is gone.
"Dad!" Emma cries out.
"What is it? Emma are you okay?" David asks.
And Emma smiles brightly. "You do remember," she says softly.
David nods a few times in a hurry. "I do," he says his voice cracked.
"Alright," Emma smiles brightly. "You remember, and Mom is working your case, and she is going to solve it, because she is really good. She is the best investigator there is. And then you will come home and we will do so many things, I am making a list... just as long as you don't forget."
"I won't forget Emma..." he replies. "How was your day in school?"
And Snow finds herself unable to follow the conversation. David is looking tired but there are no more bruises on his face, just the one from two days ago now turning purple. He may even be breathing easier than he did two days ago. He doesn't seem to be in pain. Which means he's been fighting back. And winning. Staying away from the dungeon was the right move. Except, if Snow doesn't solve his case all she will ever get with him are dungeon visits and... Snow can't even think that far.
"Snow?"
She jumps looking up. "David! How are you holding up?" she asks quietly.
"I'm alright," he is quick to reassure her. "How are you?"
Disappointed. Discouraged. Half a piece of a whole, barely able to function.
She shrugs and doesn't reply.
And David wants to know if she was able to follow through and find out if anyone can confirm his alibi. But one look at Snow's face and he already has his answer.
"It's alright, we'll figure it out," he says quietly. "I'm okay, and we have plenty of time..."
And Snow cannot fall apart in front of Emma, so she nods closing her eyes. "We have plenty of time," she echoes her voice sounding distant. Because she really doesn't know what else to say. She leans against the wall and tries to force a smile.
Thank you for reading, thank you for reviewing. Stay safe!
Jennifer Baratta chapter 36 Find proof of innocence. Awesome chapter
Yes! Thank you!
Bwayrox chapter 36 Well this is just awful! Not your writing of course, but poor David, Snow, and Emma. I hope this one gets figured out quickly.
Thank you!
Alexa chapter 36 Oh no! Poor David! At least now he finally got to see Snow and will be able to defend himself without worrying about her. Hope Snow finds the evidence to clear him and the king didn't get rid of the witnesses or pay them off.
Your predictions are getting incredibly accurate.
Bella1296 chapter 36 Great chapter!
Thank you!
Guest chapter 36 You saying that deleting his memories is too terrible and then do everything that like that's not as bad. This chapter was by far the most heart breaking soul crushing tear jerking gut wrenching disheartening painful horrifying depressing sad tragic upsetting chapter ever. If you excuse me I'm gonna go back 3-4 chapters where everything was okay and just live in that bubble for a while.
Ummm. You make incredibly valid points.
