DeVil SHINES AGAIN! Was the headline to an article that Zelena read through time and time again, fuming with jealousy.
"Ivy Belfrey?" Zelena placed the newspaper down, her eyes on her assistant. "Isn't she even old enough to go to the Met Ball?" She scoffed, brushing her hair back with her hands. "Who cares who's dressing her anyway," she murmures with a roll of her eyes.
"Um, I think page six," her assistant read through the article, her eyes wide as Zelena snatched the paper out of her hands and tossed it across the room.
"Cruella DeVil," she murmurs, her eyes turning back to her assistant. "Wait a minute, I never met with Cruella Devil. You said I met with everybody!"
"You said she was a relic." Her assistant replied.
"I meant iconic," Zelena's head tilted.
"Would you like me to set up a meeting?" She asked the red-head.
'Would you like me to set up a meeting?' Zelena mocked her, rolling her eyes. "Yes!"
"Okay," the assistant murmured, typing away on her phone as quickly as possible.
The meeting didn't take long to be set at all, by the next day Cruella, Emma and Regina were on a cab on their way to another fine restaurant to meet with Ms. Zelena West. The plan was slowly coming together, and that's what Regina liked to see.
"I saw one of her films last night. She's actually very good." Said Cruella, sitting in between both the blonde and brunette.
"Whatever you do, don't fawn." Said Emma.
"Just ignore her." Said Regina.
"Indifference. It's an aphrodisiac."
"Very little eye contact."
"Right," Cruella nodded, hoping to God she would remember all that was instructed of her. The last thing she wanted was to mess anything up. A good cut of that stolen jewelry for money would do her good.
The designer appeared a little stiff as she entered the restaurant, but regardless of her appearance she took her seat at the table that had been especially reserved for Zelena West and waited, repeating Regina and Emma's instructions in her head over and over.
"Cruella," Zelena came rushing over to the table, holding out her hand in greeting, looking flawless in an all black dress with a fur scarf wrapped around her neck, her sunglasses looking as expensive as everything she wore.
"Zelena," Cruella stood up, her eyes wide. "Ms. West, I'm sorry." She shook her hand.
"Finally," Zelena chuckled, welcoming herself to a seat before the designer, setting her purse aside and removing her glasses. "So, thank you for meeting me last minute. I am such an admirer of yours, I have so many of your pieces." She naturally grinned, pretty convincingly given that she had never heard of Cruella before.
"Really?" Cruella glanced down at the table before making short eye-contact with Zelena.
"Yeah," the actress breathed out, brushing her hair back with a swift of her hand before removing her fur scarf and setting aside. "This search has not been easy. I mean, we've seen a lot of good designers but-"
Cruella's eyes moved over to the window where she spotted Emma and Regina standing side by side. The brunette was wearing her trench coat and Emma was wearing her red leather jacket and matching sunglasses. The key was for Zelena to feel ignored and they knew Cruella was nervous enough, she wouldn't be able to avoid the necessary eye-contact.
"You, you just seem… So different." Zelena smiled.
"Mhm," Cruella nodded, glancing quickly at Zelena before looking away again over to the window where Emma and Regina aimed two matching toy guns that squirted out bubbles.
"You know, I just feel that with you there's no judgment. Like you're above all that." Zelena frowned, her voice trailing off as she said her last words. "I'm sorry, what-?" She whipped her head around wanting to see what was more interesting to the designer than talking to her. The window was suddenly empty with only three bubbles floating in the air.
"What is going on?" The red-head demanded to know, turning to face Cruella again who looked at her this time.
"Uh… Oh," Cruella clanked her empty wine glass with her hand. "I'm terribly sorry. What were you saying?"
Was she not listening to anything I was just saying? The actress rolled her eyes mentally that you could hear it in her voice as she spoke. "I'm trying to hire you. For the Met Ball."
"Right." Cruella breathed out, giving Zelena all of her attention this time. "Thank you. My Honor." She smiled, raising her glass.
"Flattered," Zelena said dryly, reaching for her glass of water before taking a sip.
By the next morning, the news of Cruella taking on Zelena West as her choice to design for the grand ball was all over the front pages of the morning paper. Now, it was onto the next step, finding the perfect pickpocket, which Emma could very well do herself, but Regina had another important task for her that she needed to fulfill. That being said, Emma knew of only one girl that would be perfect.
"Wait 'till you see this girl. She has some of the fastest hands I've ever seen." Said Emma, walking side by side with Regina as they exited the subway station and onto the street.
"Is this one sane?" Regina asked.
"A hundred percent." Emma swore, walking around a corner of the sidewalk before coming to a halt, where she spotted a girl in a beanie and a jacket setting up three playing cards on top of a cardboard box, all three cards upside down.
"Really? Three card-Monte?" Regina looked over at Emma, clearly not impressed. She had seen the girl before around the city and she always saw her getting people to play this same guessing game.
"Mulan," Emma replied. "And trust me. Just watch."
"Here's how we play, alright?" Mulan instructed the rules of the game to an idiot of a man who sat before her ready to play the guessing game. The rules were simple: She would shuffle the three faced-down cards before her. One of them had a red dot marked on the front and the idiot would have to guess which one it was. If he guessed, he would get to keep his thirty dollars. If he lost, she would keep the money. Simple.
"Alright, remember, follow the Queen." Mulan waved the Queen of Hearts in the air right before the man's eyes. "Don't sleep! Don't sleep! Because she might disappear."
The man's eyes were wide, wondering how the girl made the card disappear before his very eyes.
Mulan grinned, "That's lit, right? She came back, though, she likes you." She waved her hand, appearing with the card once again and setting it down. "Alright, let's do this. We're following the Queen, and we're following the Queen." She began to shuffle so fast it was hard for the guy to keep up.
"Is this our only choice?" Regina asked, sitting near a park bench alongside Emma.
"You've been caged for five long years, my hummingbird. The turnover on pickpockets is huge." Emma replied, not needing to look at Regina to know she had a small grin stretched across her lips due to the nickname given to her by her girlfriend.
"Alright, where's the Queen? Where's the bitch at?" Mulan asked, eyeing the man before her.
A single digit tapped quickly against the card in the center.
Mulan glanced up, "You want to call a lifeline on that guess?" She watched him shake his head. "You sure?"
"That one." He nodded, tapping on the center card once more.
The man frowned upon Mulan revealing the two clover card.
"Alright, that one is mine." Mulan propped her boot against the box, tucking the thirty dollars inside her sock before standing to her feet to shake the man's hand. "But you are a champ, my friend. You're the real deal, alright? No hard feelings." She smiled, pulling him in for a hug and slapping his back.
From a distance Regina caught sight of one of Mulan's hands that rested against the man's back; she had somehow taken the man's watch from his wrist upon shaking it.
"Not bad," said Regina, her brow slightly raised.
"I thought so." Replied Emma, standing from the bench. "Shall we?"
Regina walked ahead of her girlfriend directly over to Mulan, crossing the street as soon as they were able while the girl gathered up her pickpocketing tools.
"Mulan?"
She blinked, eyeing the two unknown women before her. "You guys cops? Just so you know, my feet are as fast as my hands." She eyed Emma, "Maybe you could keep up, but, you," she eyed Regina. "Not so much."
"Charming." Regina turned to Emma.
"We want to talk to you about a job." Emma said to Mulan.
Mulan eyed both women, her eyes moving side to side like ping-pong balls for a long minute before deciding, "'Kay, but let's get some lunch first. I'm starving."
The blonde and brunette exchanged quick looks before following the girl to the nearest Subway. On their walk there, Emma explained all there was to know about the heist. Mulan was quiet the entire time, upon entering the food place.
"Hi, welcome to Subway! What can I get for you?" A man smiled.
"You guys want something? It's on me." Mulan looked over her shoulder at both women.
"No, thank you." said Regina.
Emma shook her head.
"'Kay," Mulan turned back to the man, "Yeah, let me have a footlong, Italian Herb and Cheese, turkey and provolone, please."
Both women followed her patiently as they moved along.
"So, I'm lifting one necklace?" Asked Mulan, looking over her shoulder at Emma.
"It's a very nice necklace." Emma replied.
"Letus and tomato." Mulan told the guy, before turning to Emma again. "And this is legit, the money?"
"A hundred percent." Emma assured her, leaning her arm against the glass top.
"'Kay, I'm in." Mulan quickly moved past them over to the register.
"Could I have my watch back, please?" Regina said, eyeing Mulan as she came right back, standing in between them. She dug inside her jacket pocket and gave it back. "Thank you, and hers as well."
Emma looked at her wrist, finding it watchless. She took her watch back as Mulan held it before her.
"Thank you." Said Regina.
"Sorry." Mulan said before walking away again.
"It's okay," Regina eyed Emma, who smirked along with her.
There was only one person they needed to complete the group, and that was someone who could blend in. Be a watchful eye and in control of the Met personally.
"What about Alice?" Emma suggested.
Regina shook her head, "Still in prison."
"What about him?" The blonde flashed a photograph of a long time friend of hers. They did jobs together in the past, and he would do anything Emma would say in a heartbeat. Which is something Regina wasn't fond of.
"Graham?" Regina shook her head. "No. Forget it."
Green eyes glared, "Why? What's wrong with Graham?"
"He's a he." The brunette glared back.
"What's wrong with a he?"
"I don't want a he."
Emma's eyes narrowed, a tiny smirk playing on her lips, "Wait a minute, is this because he's a he or because he's a he?"
"A man gets noticed, a woman gets ignored- and for once we want to be ignored." She glared once more, hinting Emma to drop the topic.
Emma's smirk grew as she placed down the man's picture.
"Shut up," the brunette murmured, knowing that Emma picked up on her jealousy.
"You know, you're pretty sexy when you get jealous, right?" Emma whispered, her foot rising up the brunette's leg in a playful manner underneath their breakfast table.
"I'm not jealous- will you stop? We have to be serious." She swatted her leg away, unable to hide a smirk of her own as she looked through other pictures. "Alright, who else do we have?"
"August Booth, another he," Emma placed the picture aside, picking up the next one and grinning.
"What?"
"Mary Margaret," Emma flashed the picture before the brunette.
Mary Margaret Blanchard. Loving wife, devoted stay-at-home-mom to two beautiful children, Neal and Caroline, ages seven and nine. Her husband David had her living well in a two-story house with a pool and a backyard where she and the kids could play and swim. It was a well live-in neighborhood, kid friendly, and good schools.
There was a loud thud echoing inside the house that was beginning to irritate her, but even if it did, Mary Margaret was such a loving mom that she never shouted at her kids.
The inside of her home was as white as the outside of it. White was her color. In fact, when she used to help Regina with her jobs, they had nicknamed her 'Snow,' but that was a long time ago.
"Neal," she called out to her son who continuously bounced his ball around the house. "Honey, why don't you take that outside, okay?" She smiled, her hand driving the kitchen knife through the bell peppers.
As soon as her phone rang at that moment, her smile was gone upon seeing the familiar name pop up on her screen. She was hesitant to answer, but she did anyway, looking around her house first to make sure her kids weren't around.
"Regina, I'm with my family. I told-"
"I'm outside." Was all Regina said.
"What?" Her lips parted.
"I'm in your garage."
No. She couldn't be here. Not now. Not here. NOT HERE! Mary Margaret was quick to hang up and rush toward her garage. Upon entering, she was surrounded by multiple stolen items to coffee makers, to bicycles hanging over by a wall, other kitchen and housing supplies. Basically, she had turned her garage into a storage room for herself.
"Regina?" She whispered, walking along the only trail she left available.
"Over here," the brunette whispered, smirking while she sucked on a lollipop she found in a container. "Snow, long time no see."
"Regina, what are you doing here? I thought you were in jail." Her eyes were wide.
"I got out." Regina's eyes looked around the woman's garage. "Look at all this. What happened, Snow? I thought you retired."
"I did." Mary Margaret blinked. "And please don't call me that."
"Oh?"
"I don't go by that name anymore."
Regina smirked, "Not as exciting as high-jacking trucks that are smuggling dishwashers from Canada, huh?"
"Yeah, well, I don't do that anymore." Her hands fidgeted, playing around with a string that hung from her sweater.
"But, you were so very good at it."
"Thank you."
Regina's head looked up at the bikes hanging by the wall, "So, these are all for personal use, then?"
"What are you doing here, Regina?" She stood her ground.
"I just wanted to…" She shrugs. "Reconnect."
"Reconnect?" She knew well how Regina wanted to reconnect.
"Mhm." Regina nodded, her lips stretched out in a wide grin, walking slightly forward. "You're not bored out here, are you, Snow?"
"Bored?" The woman's brow knitted as she shook her head. "No, I'm not bored." She wasn't aware that she was walking backward until her back hit a cardboard box, making her feel cornered. "I'm not bored at all. Why would you ask that?"
"Because I need a fence." The brunette got straight to the point.
"Well, I told you I don't do that anymore. I'm out, Regina."
"It's a big job." Said Regina.
"I don't care."
"Do you want me to tell you how big the job is?" A tiny smirk played on Regina's lips.
"No, I really don't-" She was a mother now and a happily married woman, she didn't have time for-
"I think I'm going to tell you how big the job is," Regina whispered, leaning into the pixie-haired woman's ear and whispered an amount that not even Mary Margaret's husband made in a year.
"Are you serious?" She whispered what very little left she had of her voice.
"Mommy, when's dinner ready?" The little girl's voice startled both women, and Mary Margaret was quick to cover Regina's mouth, begging her not to speak or make a sound.
"Sweetheart, mommy will be right there!" Said M. M, mouthing inaudible words to Regina to keep her quiet.
"But, I'm hungry!" The girl whined.
"I know, sweetheart. I promise, I promise, mommy will be right there." The woman released a sigh, leaning up against the boxes.
"She sounds sweet," Regina whispered, her eyes wandering around the garage again. "How do you explain all this to your husband?"
The pixie-haired brunette looked over at Regina, "Ebay," she said softly.