He could remember, long ago, when he'd first become the Dark One and understood he was immortal until the curse ended, wondering when he would begin to feel the weight of the years he'd lived on his shoulders. The answer was now. In the times when the world around him felt calm and easy, fleeting even, but his mind hummed with work to do, spells, even visions of the future that he realized just how old he was.

James was eight today. Eight years old already. It seemed like yesterday his father had stopped by, seeking help in finding the son he'd traded to the King and succeeding before the King had ordered him killed. Since then, poor David and his mother had begun to struggle again, but the Seer in the back of his mind had encouraged him to send work their way simply because "it wasn't time yet". There was something at work, something that he tried to focus on, and yet when he focused on the future, he saw Ruth in her hut and the False Prince at King George's side, just as he had been for nearly two years. It was a shame really that after James met and married Snow White, Regina would hate them both as much as they would. She had more in common with James than she would ever know. But for now, Snow White remained the object of her frustration, and it was good.

Over the years, he'd learned that there was an art to meddling in someone's life. Some individuals wanted and even needed their paths laid out for them on a silver platter. Those were the clients that he found himself most busy with. They were the ones who required little but specific tasks that kept his mind busy and his hands experimenting. But then there were the clients like Regina. In those situations, he thought of himself more like a clockmaker. It was his job to simply wind them up, meddle a little bit with gentle nudges and pushes when necessary, and then watch life unfold before them as he intended.

When he'd first met her, shy and quiet, even kind, were all words he'd used to describe her, and he'd prepared himself to have to meddle in her life a great deal to spur on the jealousy Regina felt toward Snow White. In the end, all she needed was nudging. A carefully placed comment here or there are his part was all that was required of him. Time was doing the rest. And while that pleased him enormously most of the time, sometimes, like tonight, it drove him mad with anger.

She was skipping her lesson. Again. Leopold had taken Snow White out on another tour, leaving Regina home alone, and for whatever reason, she'd decided not to come to him despite the plans they'd made. He knew she'd decided because it took all of two seconds for him to summon her image in his mirror and find her reclining at her seat at the table alone, sulking and scowling in the dark. She was petulant, reminding him of a hormonal teenager sometimes. Her sorcery skills were improving greatly. But along with it so was her confidence. She was beginning to question why she needed him and talk of growing more powerful than he was, a laughable goal. She was beginning to comb through her mother's old books and wonder if she couldn't teach herself, and if he was honest, more than once, he was tempted to let her; especially in those times she dared to ask what it would take to be more powerful than he. But he couldn't let her teach herself. The second he'd had the thought, Baelfire's face had come into his vision and he knew that was one thing he couldn't afford not to meddle in. The lessons he was teaching her were about to change. It wasn't lessons in sorcery she needed, though in a way she still did. Now it was simply lessons of life that he had to teach her lest she swerve and end up-

"Hey!"

A shudder nearly rocked through him at the sound of Jefferson screeching behind him. Another attempt to scare him born of a conversation they'd had a few months back. A conversation that he now regretted more than any other he'd ever had with the man.

"You jumped! I think I got you that time!" he declared, circling the tower and coming into view.

"Where have you been?" he growled at the boy. It had been a few weeks since Jefferson's last stop by. Though he felt very strongly it hadn't been enough time. The agreement he'd reached with Regina years ago to travel to her land was supposed to make stops like this less frequent; sometimes it didn't seem like it helped. It was only recently that Jefferson had met a girl, another realm jumper like himself that he'd made himself more scarce. Which was fine, so long as it didn't detract from the job he was meant to be doing.

"Wonderland. I brought you…" he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of small crackers, then a large bottle of what appeared to be wine. "Food! But don't eat or drink it if you know what's good for you."

"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of what the cuisine of Wonderland does to the body. These are helpful, but not what I sent you out to seek. Have you, by any chance, found my curse?!"

"Oh! Yeah! Years ago! Did I forget to tell you?"

His heart didn't race, nor did it skip a beat as Jefferson jumped up onto one of the tables. He knew when he was being a caddy bastard, and he was now. Any other topic of conversation and he might have responded with the same kind of sarcasm he was offering, but not when it came to the curse. Jefferson's face fell and he rolled his eyes in the silence.

"No," he admitted. "Don't you think after all these years I would have told you if I did?"

"What you would do is sometimes beyond even my abilities to predict."

"Well then, let me assure you. Nothing so far. There were lots of people talking in Wonderland recently, and I thought I was on to something, thus why I was there so long, but it turns out the curse they were talking about was their Queen."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, calls herself the Queen of Hearts, wears a mask, only talks to her footman. Rumor is that she's something of a fan of ripping out hearts and keeping them in some kind of vault. Also, something about roses being red…or maybe white…can't quite remember that one. I don't know."

Queen of Hearts. A fan of ripping hearts out. Well…now he knew what Cora was doing with her time. He'd always known she'd gone to Wonderland, what she made of herself once she'd gotten there had remained a complete mystery up until now, but it appeared that Cora had finally become the Queen she'd always dreamed she would be. It wasn't surprising. Cora was enough of a conniving bitch; he didn't put much past her. But if Jefferson was there as his emissary…

With a sigh, he rose from his place at the spinning wheel and went to a special cupboard he kept a few handy and completed potions in. This one in particular might help Jefferson should he ever find himself face to face with Cora.

"Here…" he exclaimed plucking one with the picture of a human heart under it out of his rack and tossing it to him. He made a note to remember to make another one tomorrow. Jefferson caught the bottle and stared down at it in his hand. "That will ensure your heart stays in your chest."

Jefferson nodded and removed the top before glancing over at him and raising his eyebrows. "For a favor?" he asked.

"For a favor," he confirmed with a smile. Annoying as he was, and even though he'd been unsuccessful at finding his curse, Jefferson was still his most profitable alliance. That being said, the man was starting to acquire quite the debt. They'd made so many of these sorts of deals he'd lost count. He used magic to get the boy out of numerous scrapes before and always "for a favor". He had a sneaking suspicion that Jefferson thought it was all a joke of some kind. One day he'd be in for a surprise.

"Now go…I have a lesson to teach Regina."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" he saluted, hopping off the table. "I'm taking my girl out to the ball tonight anyway."

"The ball?!" he scoffed. "I wasn't aware of any balls tonight."

"Not in this realm," he shrugged. "Besides, it's not so much the ball we're looking forward to as the fancy crown they're keeping in their castle which will be left unguarded tonight. We've both got our eyes on that prize. Which of us will get it…that's all part of the fun! And really what kind of infant needs a crown, anyway?"

Without warning he felt something turn within him. The girl was one thing but plotting together as they were was another thing. He had a terrible feeling about it all but knew because of his character there was nothing he could say to make Jefferson see the light. Whatever the feeling meant he'd have to decipher it on his own.

"Careful with this girl, Jefferson. One dance can lead to another if you're not cautious."

"Oh, I know!" he smiled slyly. "I'm rather hoping that one kind of dance will lead to another kind…if you catch my drift."

He did, because it was exactly that kind of dance he rather thought Jefferson didn't need at the moment. Or at least he didn't need Jefferson to have it. The girl was already proving to be a distraction, and that was without being a pretty receptacle for his cock. He hated to see what might become of him if she managed to drag him to bed.

"At least attempt to stay out of trouble."

"Pfft!" he tutted, rolling his eyes. "Like I'd dream of trouble…night, Pops!" he called practically skipping down the stairs.

Pops. Jefferson had first called him that a few months ago. It was always in jest, usually when he corrected him about getting into trouble or staying out too late. Initially, he'd done it to mock how much he sounded like he was his father, but now that word was coming a little bit too easily. Perhaps Regina wasn't the only one who needed a lesson. He might need to knock Jefferson off his high horse and remind them that their relationship was one strictly born out of necessity and business, not because he actually cared for the realm jumper. He had eyes on one son and one son only, and that was Baelfire. There was no room in his heart for anything else and frankly, he was certain there wasn't a heart big enough, aside from Bae's, for him.

Here we have a nice solid Jefferson Chapter. And really, what an important chapter it is. It's a short conversation, but you as the reader are meant to get a lot out of it. Yeah, obviously Rumple cares for Jefferson more than he lets on, but now you can see that's becoming something of a two way street for Jefferson as well. He is actively visiting when he doesn't have to, bringing him back souvenirs when he's not required, and of course, he's jokingly calling him "Pops" and doing things like trying to surprise him. Despite what Rumple wants/thinks, this should resemble something of a father/son relationship right now. Rumple is giving him advice, telling him not to stay out too late, and now he's given him a potion that will protect his heart from Cora in Wonderland. (Come on, you never wondered why the woman who was fond of ripping out hearts decided to behead Jefferson instead?) No matter what Rumple thinks this is a relationship that has entered a place he never intended for it to go. Why? Well...you'll figure that out soon enough. Spoiler alert, if you are a fan, you probably won't be happy about it. Just trust that I'm doing it for a reason.

Thank you MissAmande, Alarda, Jennifer Baratta, and Grace5231973 for your reviews! Much appreciated as always. I hope that my Jefferson fans will be warmed by this chapter and especially by the part about "the girl". I was asked if we'd see any of what happened with Jefferson in the comic play out as A&E have said that the comics are canon. My answer...sort of. Maybe after reading this, you can get more of an idea of what that "sort of" means. Rumple didn't really have anything to do with that story in the comic, but it is a major part of Jefferson's life so we're going to kind of watch it from afar as we do here. We might not meet Priscilla, but we're going to hear about her and Jefferson's relationship with her throughout. Obviously it's in the early stages here. We'll get more on it through Rumple's eyes in these next few chapters. Peace and Happy Reading!