7:15 AM AU - Things go a bit differently in the cabin during 7:15 AM. With memories returned, how will this change things?
Face Claim for Narcissa: Eileen Davidson
Face Claims for the three good fairies:
Flora: Maggie Smith
Fauna: Linsey Godfrey
Merryweather: Jackee Harry
New Face Claims:
Lucian Blackwater: Graham Greene
Malachi Wolfe: Scott Adkins
Thanks for the amazing response to this story. It's a lot of fun. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the twists and turns. Season 1 can be very fun to play with. Enjoy this latest and keep reviewing! Here are individual responses to reviews:
Ghostwriter: Yep, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes. Yeah, Regina still has a ways to go. Yep, Narcissa is definitely devious and determined to win. Glad you're enjoying it.
Jennifer Baratta: Yep, Regina is losing. Glad you're enjoying it.
Grace5231973: Yep, that short partnerships is over. Hopefully, Regina will wake up. Glad you're enjoying!
Number Ten: You're welcome, it's been a while for me too. Yeah, Narcissa would be way worse than Regina as Mayor. I always wondered that too. She should have just let them both go and they wouldn't have been able to find the town again. She definitely wasn't thinking. Glad you're enjoying!
Sexystarwarslover: Yep, Lucian and Malachi are getting very dangerous. Yep, David's right. Hard to be a good ruler if you're only caring about yourself. Yep, Greg is in town and that's trouble for Regina. Yep, a little Snowing loving. Yep, Narcissa is definitely mentally ill. Yep, things are changing in Storybrooke by the day. Yep, that can't be good! Glad you're enjoying!
AnonSnowing: Yep, Emma has finally come around and just in time for Greg Mendell to come to town. Yes, she does. Charming is swoon worthy. Yep, I think we're close to the curse breaking. Yes, Regina might not be the real danger here with Narcissa and her creepy friends taking over town. You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it!
Clarity
Chapter 39: Friction, Pt 1
Neal and Henry dueled each other on the retro video game at the arcade. Since Storybrooke was stuck in the 1980's, Neal was sure he had a clear advantage over his son at the retro game. But for the third time, he died and Henry was ultimately victorious.
"I destroyed you!" he laughed. Neal shook his head.
"Yeah well…something tells me you've had way more practice at this than me," he replied, as they high fived.
"Can we get some pizza?" Henry asked.
"Sure buddy," he said, as they cashed in their tokens and then left to head to the pizza place. On the way though, they ran into Emma.
"Hey," Neal said, as their son ran up to her and they hugged.
"Hey kid…I've missed you," she said.
"I've missed you too…Dad and I are gonna get pizza. You wanna come?" he asked.
"Uh…sure, but does your other Mom know where you are?" Emma asked.
"No…she's too busy with work. Come on…" he pleaded. She smiled.
"Yeah sure…I mean, it's not like I have anything else to do since I can't work right now," she said.
"You'll be reinstated," Neal assured her.
"I don't know about that," she said doubtfully.
"You will…Gramps will prove you're innocent," Henry replied. She raised an eyebrow.
"Just like that? No doubts?" she asked.
"He's Prince Charming…he and Grams are heroes and good always wins," Henry replied.
"Except that it didn't Henry…or the curse wouldn't have happened," Emma argued.
"That's where you come in…you're the Savior," Henry answered.
"You know, without the curse, we would have never met either and there would be no Henry. He's right…good always wins," Neal agreed.
"I…I guess I didn't think about it like that," Emma said, as they arrived at the pizza place. She had wanted her parents all her life and blamed them for abandoning her. But then she learned that it wasn't their fault and if they hadn't sent her through the wardrobe, she might have never met Neal. Henry's existence was worth all the hardship she had ever experienced and though she still regretted not having her parents, she realized that perhaps good did win in the end.
"Wanna share a pizza with us?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I could eat," she agreed, as they went into order.
Regina stormed into Narcissa's dress shop and made a beeline for the counter.
"Oh, Madam Mayor…how can I help you?" she asked smugly.
"What the hell is this!?" Regina snapped, as she slammed the crumpled flier down on the counter.
"Oh this…" she said, as she carefully unwrinkled the paper.
"It's nothing personal, Regina…I'm just an ambitious woman and I think I could do a lot of good here," Narcissa replied.
"This is my town…and I'm the Mayor!" Regina hissed. Narcissa smirked.
"And that is an elected position. It's not my fault that no one has ever run against you," the blonde replied, as a man dressed smartly in a suit came out of the backroom. Regina didn't recognize him, which further infuriated her.
"Oh yes…Regina, this is Greg Mendell, my accountant and campaign manager," she said, as he extended his hand. But it was met with Regina's fiery stare.
"If you run against me for Mayor…I will destroy you," she warned. Narcissa smirked.
"You have no idea who you are truly dealing with, Regina…believe me. I make you look tame, but let's let the town decide in a fair election. Perhaps they'll think it's time for change," Narcissa said.
"We'll see about that," Regina retorted, as she stormed out. Narcissa smirked and looked at her cohort.
"I assume those commercials are ready to air?" she asked. He nodded.
"Just dropped the video footage off at the TV station. It's hard to believe this town even has one, but they have it and agreed to run it four times a day once they saw the size of the check you wrote," he replied. She smirked.
"Excellent…" she said.
"They'll vote for you if you let me expose what she did to me," he replied.
"In due time…that's more of a week before the election bombshell. The peon voters have a short memory," Narcissa said.
"Fine…but I need to search this whole town for my father…or his remains," he muttered.
"Well…if she killed him, then the remains could be anywhere, but even with the curse, Regina would have had to have some kind of help with the body," she surmised.
"She's the Evil Queen…she's a murderer," he protested.
"A murderer without magic now though. She still would have needed help and likely used the former Sheriff to help her," she said.
"Okay…where is he?" Greg asked.
"Dead too…but he might have kept some kind of record and if he did, it's in those filing cabinets at the station," she replied. He rolled his eyes.
"Great…guess it was too much to hope that this backwater town had gone digital," he grumbled.
"Mmm…not likely, but if you decide to go into the station, you'll need to be careful. Fortunately, the acting Sheriff is the deputy and the actual Sheriff is on leave right now, which means whoever Prince Charming has watching the station at night will be easier to get by," she said. He raised an eyebrow.
"Prince Charming?" he asked.
"Yes, but don't underestimate him. He's more than a handsome face…and a tight, virile body," she mused. He rolled his eyes again.
"Fine…so handsome goes home for the night. Who replaces him?" he asked. She smirked.
"I have it on good authority that he has hired a night guard that is one of the dwarfs, but he doesn't know that. He's mostly harmless without his pick ax, but don't underestimate him either. He won't hesitate to call David," she warned.
"But from what I know, he does patrol around two in the morning when the bar closes. That's your window," she said. He nodded.
"Good…I'll go then and find the file. What about cameras?" he asked. She smirked.
"No cameras yet…though I'm sure Emma would be in the process of doing that if she could," she replied. He smirked.
"This is almost too easy…Queenie really had no idea how this world worked when she came to it, huh?" he asked.
"No…and though she has adapted, Regina is still woefully unprepared for a woman like me that was out in it and not sheltered by the protective borders of Storybrooke. It will soon be mine…and you'll get your revenge if you stick with me, Mr. Mendell. But you are still working for me…and you must be at my disposal at a moment's notice," she reminded him.
"Of course…especially if it means seeing this town burn," he agreed, as he left just as Ruby came in for work.
"Who is that?" she asked curiously.
"Just my accountant…no one to worry about," Narcissa replied. But Ruby wasn't so sure from the feeling she was getting and would definitely report the man she had never seen before to David.
Malachi busied himself behind the bar, organizing and cleaning his new glassware, while Lucian was setting up in the back office. They had gotten a delivery of more than just supplies and he was still skeptical that this spot of a town would bring the kind of revenue that Lucian was sure it would.
"You sure there's really a market for that here?" Malachai asked, as his boss closed the suitcase that was full of little bags of white powder.
"Maybe not yet…but it will be once we erect my new Casino and become the new tourist destination of the northeast," Lucian said. He smirked.
"So the borders are open now since the curse is weakening and I knew you'd take full advantage of that. But how are you going to do what you really want with that ring you have without magic?" Malachi questioned. Lucian smirked.
"The Dark One bottled magic and hid it somewhere in this town," he replied.
"Ohhhkay…firstly, how do you bottle magic and secondly how do you know that?" Malachi questioned.
"I learned all the Dark arts from the former dark one. If Zoso hadn't been so careless, I would have been his successor so I know how a Dark One thinks," Lucian said.
"Fine, that answers the second question, but how the hell do you bottle magic again?" he asked. Lucian smirked.
"True love…with the right ingredients, such as hairs from a pair, can create magic in a bottle. The Savior's parents each had a hair plucked from them by Rumpelstiltskin without them knowing and he hid the magic away," he explained.
"So we need to find this bottle?" Malachai asked.
"Actually no…there is another way to do what we want. As you know, almost anything that's possible with magic can be done with this world's technology and I know a certain scientist that would be up for the challenge if paid enough and promised a state of the art lab to continue his work," Lucian replied.
"Except Frankenstein doesn't remember who he is. From what we've learned, he's just a doctor that's drunk half the time and trying to sleep his way through town the other half of the time," Malachi said. Lucian smirked.
"But not for long…the curse is very weak. The Savior will break it and memories will return," he assured him.
"I hope so…because this town is a bore," Malachi said. Lucian smirked.
"Not for long," he mused.
David sat at his desk, working on some of the paperwork and continuing to go through the information about Narcissa when Leroy came in. So far, since he had temporarily taken the reins, he had hired Dopey to help with the filing and Happy, though he didn't know that was who he was yet, as a night security guard to watch the station and take calls, with instruction to call him if it was anything serious. It was working well so far and he was determined to prove Emma's innocence. He was convinced that the further he dug into Narcissa's past the closer he would get to blowing the case open.
"Do you know what's going on across town?" Leroy asked, as he came storming in.
"Should I?" David asked, as he checked his watch.
"You're a little early…shouldn't you be nursing a drink at the Rabbit Hole right now?" he asked.
"Funny, chisel chin…but that's just it. It ain't the Rabbit Hole no more!" Leroy said irritably.
"What are you talking about?" David asked.
"I mean that someone bought it out and it's a new place called the Wolf's Den and the dickhead owner kicked me out! Told me he doesn't serve my kind! What the heck does that even mean!? He looked at me like I wasn't human!" Leroy complained. That definitely gave David pause, since technically, Leroy wasn't human, though he didn't know that right now.
"Who is this guy?" he asked.
"Dunno…but it's him and his new bartender running the place. Never seen 'em before," Leroy replied. David thought for a moment and grabbed his keys. If they were new in town, it meant they could be connected to Narcissa. No one else knew how to find Storybrooke, except the people she kept bringing in.
"So…you gonna check it out?" Leroy asked.
"Yes…but not until later. If I go in there now as acting Sheriff, their guards will be up, trust me," David replied. He knew that all too well. Back in their land, he and Snow had entered plenty of taverns and usually the owners were on their best behavior around them since they were royals. But if he and Snow went there together on his off duty time, they would still be leery, but he was more likely to get a genuine feel for the place.
"If I go in off duty, just a guy with his girlfriend, I might get a better feel for the place. People talk more when I'm not wearing the badge," he explained.
"Fine…" Leroy grumbled.
"Maybe this is a good chance to hop on the sobriety train," David suggested.
"Whatever," Leroy complained, as he walked out, passing Ruby on the way.
"Hey…anything?" he asked.
"Well…not really about Emma's case, but I walked in on Narcissa talking to some guy. I've never seen him before and she said that he's her accountant and get this, campaign manager," she replied. His brow furrowed.
"Campaign manager?" he asked, as she produced a flier and gave it to him. His eyes widened.
"Wow…I would have loved to see Regina hit the ceiling when she saw this," he joked.
"Yeah…Regina sucks, but something tells me, Narcissa would be worse, if that's possible," Ruby said.
"Oh it's possible…thanks Ruby, you're doing great. Having an inside track in that shop may be the key to figuring out what's going on," he said, as he grabbed his jacket.
"No problem…this undercover stuff is kind of fun," she mentioned. He smiled.
"Just be careful…Narcissa is dangerous, more so than you can imagine," he warned, leaving her with food for thought, as he left to pick up Snow at the hospital.