He hadn't planed much of a defense for the trial simply because he didn't have to. Spencer would be able to present his case against her first, and if by some miracle they got through all that before Kathryn was discovered, he did have a few character witnesses lined up, but he would be shocked if this got that far. Just as Spencer was certain that this case was open and shut, he was confident it wouldn't last that long.

Sure enough, Albert Spencer was halfway through his opening statement that morning when someone, Ruby, came slamming into the courthouse. All eyes turned to her at the unexpected interruption, and she looked around awkwardly at the court. Until she saw Mary Margaret. Then she smiled, straightened her back, and made her way down the center aisle to Albert Spencer, where she handed him a note.

The judge was antsy and frustrated at the turn of events, urging Spencer to make an explanation, to tell the court what was happening. Instead, he looked up from the note, his face so crestfallen it was difficult to hold in his knowing smile.

"Your honor…I'd like to make a motion to delay these proceedings."

"On what grounds?" he argued as it would have been expected. He longed to turn around and see Regina's face. "My client is entitled to a speedy trial and is eager to prove her innocence. Your Honor, we are prepared to proceed. If Mr. Spencer has not met the burden of-"

"Kathryn is alive!" Ruby shouted out before he could finish. The sounds of not so hushed whispers and the judge's gavel banging through the noise disrupted the peace. But Ruby went on as if she hadn't heard it, fanning the flames. "We found her this morning, outside of Granny's! She's alive! I saw her myself. Mary Margaret didn't kill anyone! She's innocent!"

If it was chaos before, then what followed was absolute pandemonium as the judge tried to get the shocked courtroom in order. People were openly talking, no longer caring if they were whispering. In fact, he thought he heard someone in the back scream while the judge continued to yell for order. And there in the midst of it all was Mary Margaret, her jaw open, her eyes wide on her pale face. Deliverance. Salvation. He put a hand on her shoulder, and all at once, he saw the muscles of her back body bend and contract. He saw her take one timid breath, then another, before her body curled up on itself. Everyone in the court saw as tears sprang to her eyes just before she threw her hands over her face and wept.

It was over, in her opinion, but not in the courts. There was more work to be done. Of course, he argued that she be freed immediately, but Spencer insisted that she be remanded at the county jail until they could be sure she had nothing to do with this. He didn't argue. Emma interviewed Kathryn, and a few hours later, they were all gathered once more in the judge's chambers as she reported that Kathryn had been drugged. It was going to take a bit more time to clear what she'd been given out of her system, but Mary Margaret was innocent. Kathryn claimed that she'd been held in a basement of some kind. He himself provided testimony that Mary Margaret neither owned nor rented property in town that matched the description of where the woman was held. In addition, he had bank statements to prove she paid no one else for the use of such a place and never had large amounts of cash withdrawn to pay under the table. It was impossible. And of course, there was the matter that while Mary Margaret was in jail, Kathryn had been cared for. Emma reported that while she'd never seen the face of her captor, Mrs. Nolan had been fed and reasonably looked after, not to mention drugged all while Mary Margaret had sat in jail for these past few days. She couldn't have been in two places at once, not unless Regina wanted to confess to giving the skeleton key to make the argument that she'd snuck out to do these deeds only to sneak back in. And she was not willing to do that, it seemed.

Who had done it? No one in town seemed to know. Ironically enough, the only thing anyone could really know for certain was that it wasn't Mary Margaret. In being under arrest, she was the only one that had an iron tight alibi. And with that, Mary Margaret was free to go. Emma beamed as the judge gave the appropriate apologies, and Mary Margaret fell into her arms, saying something about going home to get a hot shower and sleep in her own bed.

He managed to avoid Regina on the way out, something he desperately had wanted to do, given he had one last thing to arrange for all of this. He pulled the birds he had watching Emma and David and Mary Margaret and sent them after one person, telling them only to take him to his cabin in the woods and wait there for him. It was time to have a talk with Sidney Glass.

He had to convince him to take the blame for Regina, show him how to play the game. Regina would do the rest. When she got scared, she'd look for someone to blame, someone to help that wasn't him, and Sidney…Sidney was the obvious choice, especially because of their previous association. Add that to the bug he'd planted in Emma's office. Emma would have enough that she'd have no choice but to go along with it even if she still believed Regina was behind it all. And there was no doubt in his mind that Emma would still think Regina was responsible. Emma would be angry at Regina for all that she'd done to Mary Margaret, all she was putting Sidney Glass through, and she'd lash out. Regina would be angry at Emma; she'd recognize her as a threat. The two women would get back to focusing on one another. Everything would be right back on track for Emma to believe and the Curse to break...and then he could get his egg and bring magic back to find Bae. Finally.

"Relax, Mr. Glass," he muttered when he arrived in the cabin and found Sidney sitting there rubbing his hands nervously on his pants.

He smirked, the corners of his mouth trembling anxiously as if he couldn't manage to make light of this no matter how hard he was trying. "Hard to do when the last man in this cabin with you was just released from the hospital."

Now it was his turn to smirk, to let out a small snort of amusement to show the man that he wasn't denying anything but rather thought nothing of the incident. "Relax, Mr. Glass," he repeated, taking a seat opposite him and motioning for his associates to wait outside. "This conversation is for your benefit, not mine."

"My benefit? What could you possibly have to say to me?"

"In the next few days, Mr. Glass, you're going to be charged with kidnapping, blackmail, wiretapping, and fraud. You'll be found guilty. But, better yet, if you're smart, you'll admit to it."

A quiet settled over the room for a moment as Sidney took in the words, and his eyes widened.

"For the Nolan woman?!" Sidney blanched. "But…but how? I'm innocent! I didn't do this!"

"It doesn't matter if you did it. The Mayor is going to make it look like you did to save her arse."

"She can't do that."

"Oh, Sidney…we both know she can." He smiled sinisterly, and suddenly whatever words Sidney had that he was going to argue died on his tongue as his eyes widened and he considered what he was saying. They both knew it. But just in case he needed reminding… "That heart tested positive for Kathryn Nolan, didn't it…and yet here she is alive and well. Who do you think arranged that test?"

A lie. A blatant lie, as he'd been the one to arrange it himself. But Sidney didn't know that. He didn't need to know that.

"But…but I didn't do any of it. I…I gave her some phone records, but…Oh!" Sidney suddenly sat forward on his couch, leaning toward him as his face screwed up to the point he thought he might cry. "You've gotta help me! We have to stop her! You know the truth. Surely we can do something!"

"Oh, yes, yes, of course, of course, but…are you truly sure you want me to?"

"Are you crazy?!" he shouted. "Of course I want you to. Why wouldn't I?"

"Because life is a game, Mr. Glass," he explained with a sigh as though this lesson was nothing. He had to be very careful about how he approached this. He had to make it desirable. Even more than that, at the end of the day, he didn't want Regina to know they'd had this conversation, and so he had to make it so appealing that Sidney would want to claim the idea for himself and leave him out of it. He was trying to be very calm about this, but in reality, a lot rested on this conversation. Without it, Regina might go to prison. Then Emma would never break his Curse, and the Savior would never believe. "Life is a game that we all play, and it's not about who gets to the finish line first, it's about who is playing the smartest."

"I don't understand. Why? Why would she set me up? Why would she set Mary Margaret up like that? Why would Regina do any of this?!"

"Why doesn't matter," he shrugged. "What does matter is that she did this, arranged it all. Now it's all falling apart, and she risks having it all point back to her. She risks prison, losing Henry, losing her power, unless she finds someone to pin it on, someone to take the blame for her. You're the obvious candidate."

"Me?! Why me?"

"You've worked with her before. You were devoted to her, a faithful follower. You've gotten her information before, pulled strings for her in the past, and you just confessed to getting her phone records for this very case. And I have it on good authority that she'd already taken one of those bugs you're so fond of and planted it in the Sheriff's office. She'll frame you, Sidney. She's already begun. She'd claim you were angry at her, and so you tried to frame her for framing Mary Margaret…quite funny when you think of it."

"B-b-b-but why? Why would she…"

"Inconsequential. All that matters now is that she'll get away with it. Unless…"

"Unless?"

"Unless you play the game with intelligence. Unless you think things through."

"I don't understand."

"I know. Which is why I'm going to walk you through this as plainly as I can. Think of me as your own personal seer, laying out your future. You have two options available to you, Sidney. The first, we fight her accusations."

"Yes!" he exclaimed, slamming a hand down on the table between them. "That's what I want to do! I want to fight it!"

"Wonderful. But you'll lose."

Sidney's face fell. "But-"

"The evidence against you Sidney is…well, it's impressive. A jury won't believe you've been framed, they look for the simplest explanation possible and what's happened…it's complicated. A jury won't be able to follow it! Regina, she may get a slap on the wrist, might get her hands a little dirty on the other end, but you…you will be convicted. You will go to prison."

Sidney's throat bobbed up and down as he swallowed hard. "So…what's my other option?"

"Embrace it," he explained, sitting back with a smile. "I believe around here the phrase is 'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.'"

Sidney narrowed his eyes at him and turned his head slightly as if he couldn't decide whether or not to be offended. "Are you…are you suggesting I take the fall for this?!"

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting, yes."

There was a heartbeat of silence between the pair before Sidney suddenly launched out of his seat. "Out!" he screamed. "I want out! I want to leave!" But when he opened the door, he came face to face with Stan and found his way blocked. As the man stepped forward, Sidney stepped back.

"Thank you, Mr. Dove," he called out as Stan reached inside for the door and pulled it closed, trapping Sidney once more. "That would not be the smart option, Sidney," he continued cordially to the man as he began to pace around the small cabin. "If you are feeling trapped now, just think about how a cell would feel."

"Why bother?!" he shouted. "If I listen to you, then there is a cage in my future no matter what I choose!"

"No one said that," he corrected in a quiet voice that forced Sidney to stop moving and be silent if he wanted to hear what he had to say. "Sidney, you are currently unemployed, disgraced, not a single friend in the world. You have nothing to lose. You are at rock bottom, and therefore the only place you can go is up. Now, Regina has targeted you because you are a convenient flunky. The two of you have a history together. She can spin that any way she wants, or…you can take control of it and spin it for yourself."

Sidney watched him carefully in the purposeful pause. "I'm listening…" the man finally murmured.

He smiled. Suddenly he was aware of what a shame it was that he'd never gone fishing. He probably would have been good at it. "She needs a Savior right now," he explained gently, enticingly. "You could be that Savior. Confess. To all of it. You can tell the court that you kidnapped Kathryn, planted the bug in Emma's office, the knife, the heart, the phone records all of it. Present your recent firing and undying love for the Mayor as motive."

"Yes, but if I admit to this-"

"Politics…you and I both know the Mayor is Queen around here. If you admit to this, on her terms, here's how this will play out. We'll claim that you are unstable, suffering from a mental breakdown. You'll be declared to be incompetent at trial, unable to aid in your own defense. You'll go to a psychiatric ward in the hospital for treatment, spend a few weeks there, you'll get a good vacation before they declare you well and no longer a danger to the public. You'll be free. And Regina will be so grateful she'll hire you back, or…"

"Or?" he gasped, hanging on his every word, falling for it just the way that he wanted him to.

"Or you'll have blackmail on her. You can threaten her with the truth. Maybe she'll give you a raise, maybe more…"

"More?"

"Perhaps. Loyalty can be a very valuable thing. It's all how you play the game. One way ends badly for you. The other…the other gets you ahead in life, potentially everything you've ever wanted. So, yes, Sidney, I am here to help you. But the question is…do you want me to?"

There was another pause in the room where he swore he could hear Sidney's heartbeat. Or perhaps that was just his own, echoing in his ears as he waited for Sidney to think through the options he'd laid before him. Finally, Sidney sat up a little straighter, rolled his shoulders, and held his head higher. Like before, his eyes widened, but this time it wasn't in fear but rather in determination and perhaps realization. He wasn't surprised when Sidney turned his gaze on him and choked out three words that sealed his fate.

"I'll do it."

If he plans one thing, then he plans them all. Really, the inspiration for this actually comes from the next episode. A lot of Sidney's behavior is interesting, but the scene where Regina brings him to Emma and he "confesses" was really the clincher. To me, it always looked painful, like he was there, and he was saying the words and didn't want to be saying the words but doing it anyway. There has to be motivation for why he's agreed to take the fall. And yeah, I suppose it's likely that Regina could have had a conversation like this with him that was very similar; in fact, for this to work, I think she would have had to sit him down and say, "I need a favor". However, I don't see Sidney agreeing to it so easily given their relationship simply because I don't think she'd ever point out to him the true benefits of it all. Regina may promise him a raise, but she wouldn't bring up the whole "you'll have blackmail on me" thing like Rumple would. Also, I think he's someone who would be out of the door before she even got there. Having Rumple talk to Sidney, lay out his options and the possibilities, using his doves to make sure that he stays put long enough to listen...that made sense to me. This way, when Regina does sit him down for the "I need a favor" conversation, he's primed and ready for it.

Thank you, Alarda and Grace5231973, for your reviews on the last chapter. Very much appreciated. I'm dying to hear what you think of this chapter since it isn't anything that is "seen" but rather just assumed. I hope that you'll think it falls in line with things and makes sense. Let me know your thoughts! Up next, we're heading into new territory with the presence of a certain dark-haired stranger taking center stage! Good things to come. Stick around! Peace and Happy Reading!