Chapter 5
One year from now
Matt opens his eyes to see Lilly in front of him. She is tied up in chains which is attached to a water heater. She is awake and she did not look pleased being tied up. She is struggling in getting loose from the metal chains. Matt notices that there is a weird collar around her neck.
Matt tries to move. He feels weird and restraint. It did not take long for Matt to realizes that he is chained up to a large pipe that was connected to the floor. The more he looks around his surrounding, the more he realizes that he is in a basement. There is an old workbench with some tools on it. Unfortunately, the workbench is on other side of the basement. Far enough to mock the two deputies.
"What happened?" asks Matt.
"We got tasered." reply Lilly.
"Crap!" It explains weird sensation he feels. He barely remember what has happened. He remembers that he was knocking on the door when he heard footstep. Matt remembers that he thought it was Lilly. That was the last thought he had before blacking out.
"Yep. It looks like that Walter's tip is good. Problem is that it was an ambush." said Lilly as she continues her struggle with the chain.
"Not good."
"You haven't heard the worst part." said Lilly with a smile. She stops struggling.
"What?" ask Matt.
"They took your pants."
Matt looks at his legs to see that he is not wearing any pants. He checks to be sure that he is wearing his blue boxer. Thankfully, he is.
"You have to be kidding me.."
"Nope. Thankfully, our kidnappers are gentlemen and left me with my pants on." smiles Lilly at the funny sight.
"They took my pants. They left me with my shirt on, but took my pants" said Matt in disbelief. "Wait. You still have your pants."
"Yep. They took our weapons, but they didn't do a good job searching me. Like I said, gentlemen." said Lilly with a smile.
Matt nods his head. He knew what that mean.
"How long?" asks Matt.
"Just got started when you woke up." said Lilly as she resume her struggles.
"What's with the collar?"
"It suppress my ability to change into a dragon. First thing I tried to do when I woke up. By the way, you have one too." explains Lilly with a little frustrating coming out of her voice. Matt sighs at the development. "I bet it is a gift from Mr. Hyde. We are going to have to escape the old fashioned way."
"Oh...they knew we were coming." said Matt.
"Yep. Like I said, Walter set us up." said Lilly as they both stares at each other. Lilly stop for a moment with her struggle. "So, what is the deal with you and Tinkerbell?"
"What is the deal with you torturing everyone with the meow game?" counters Matt.
"You heard about that." said Lilly.
"Yeah. Everyone told me. They asked me to tell you to stop."
"Oh, that is nice of them." Lilly looks at Matt. She can tell that he was waiting for an explanation. "I got bored."
"That is a line of crap. You don't do anything because you are bored. When you get bored, you play Angry Birds. This is different." argues Matt.
"Well, what is the deal of you tensing up every time I say Tinkerbell's name?" deflects Lilly.
"I don't know what you are talking about." lies Matt.
"Bull and you know it. I am your partner. I know way too much about you not to notice these type of things." said Lilly. "I hate to tell you, but I am your best friend."
They both look at each other realizing it is true. Too much info made best friends out of each other. They eat together, drink together, and they watch each other back. They judges each other for the stupid things that they like or like to do. They even hang out with each other outside of the job.
Matt takes a deep breath.
"Tinkerbell got a promotion." said Matt.
"Really?" Lilly knew the surprised tone came out of her mouth. "Sorry, I am just surprises that nuns can get promotions.
"Ever since Regina started to set up contingencies, Mother Superior realizes that she has been too close to death too many time to not have her own plan. If something ever happens to the Blue Fairy, Tinkerbell will take over. She will become the head fairy. It also means that she is taking more responsibilities now. The Blue Fairy is making sure that Tinkerbell is ready to take over at a moment's notice."
"That's great."
"For Tinkerbell, yeah. It is great. She is getting what she deserved. She has been working hard to prove herself to them and herself."
"Why are you two not celebrating it by having dinner?" asks Lilly.
"Because we can't date each other. I guess it is a fairy thing, but they can never really be with someone. It is literally like being a nun. You are married to the job and nothing else." Lilly looks at Matt and realize what actually happened. They broke up without actually having dated.
"Oh my god, Matt. I didn't know."
"Neither did I."
"Why aren't you mad? You should be drowning your tears in beer right now."
"Because we only had lunch a few times. We really did not really date. We talked. We talked about her promotion. We talked about us. Because I only want the best for her. Because this is normal." said Matt.
"That makes no sense."
"Lilly, I just got back from seeing a warehouse filled with dead people that had the unfortunate luck of meeting two vampires and a demigod. Do you know how long ago it was that type of situation was normal for me? Not long enough. That type of crap was way too normal in my life that I couldn't even imagine a time that getting dumped by a woman would be considered a relief or a wonderful change of pace. But, it is. I am not being dumped for a century old vampire. I am being dumped for a job. Still not cool, but that is normal life. I so prefer that. She is doing something that she wants to do and that will make her happy. That is all I want for her. We had lunches. Nothing too serious, but that is it and will ever going to be. Am I frustrated. Yeah. After things get back to normal, I will drink until I puke in order to get her out of my system. But, I will remember that she like me enough to tell me it was not going to work. She told me the the truth. She is a nice person and if I get too stupid, that I have someone watching my back to keep me in line." explains Matt
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
"But, I am still going to hate her." said Lilly. Matt smile. "It's part of my job as being your best friend."
"Ok. Just don't kill her or meow her." said Matt. Lilly chuckles at the bad joke.
They both look at each other. Lilly start to look at the ground. Matt smile a bit. Being a scary dragon bitch is what Lilly wants everyone to think about her. In reality, she is simply just a woman with walls to protect her from the big bad world.
"They are calling me the Anti Savoir." said Lilly.
"Say what?"
"Somehow it was leaked that Emma was going to be either the Savior or the Anti Savior. It also leaked out on how Prince Charming and Snow White put all that bad mojo into me to save their daughter. So, now everyone is whispering it now. It definitely does not help that my mom is Maleficent. Let's not forget about Aurora and her husband wanting to kill me and Mom. But it should not make a difference. I have been a deputy long enough to not have that title. I think I make a better sheriff than Emma, but I am still the Anti savior while she is the Savoir." explains Lilly.
"Are you lashing out?" ask Matt.
"I hate to say it, but yeah. I mean, I am good at my job but everyone looks at me differently than they look at Emma. So, yeah. I was bugging people while you were gone. I knew you would have been on my case if you were here."
"Yeah. I would have. You are a grown adult. You know what you were doing was immature because you did it out of your uniform."
"Didn't feel right if I did it in the uniform." said Lilly.
Matt can see that she is feeling a little bad about the situation. Mostly, he can tell that her feelings is hurt.
"Look. You will get there. It will take time. Trust me. People will stop looking at you based on the past or who is your mother. They will look at you for what you do and who you are. It took a long time before I was even accepted." said Matt.
"They love you the instant you walked into this town." counter Lilly.
"Not here." said Matt. "Mystic Falls."
"Really?"
"Mom and Dad moved to Mystic Fall before Vicki and me were born. The problem was that we were not one of the founding family in that town. We were not part of Mystic Falls royalty. We didn't have that prestigious last name. Heck, there are some streets on that town named after the founding families. Not my family. We were just that white trash family that moved into town."
"I can't imagine that." said Lilly as she looks at her friend that she placed on a pedestal.
"Yeah. It didn't help when mom left me and my sister to travel with Lollapalooza. Now, the Donovan family is a charity case. Only people that didn't look at us differently was the sheriff and the Gilberts. Although, everyone eased up on us when I started to play football." said Matt, remembering how everyone look at his sister and him.
"That's right. You were the quarterback of their high school team." Lilly remembers the many stories that Matt told her.
"Yeah. Everyone loves a winner. I became their golden boy after that. But, it cames out every so often, especially with Vic. God, she hated how they looked at her." said Matt as he could still see his last moments with his sister. "The point is that , it will take time, but they will get over that."
"Fine." Lilly looks at her partner. Everyday, she seems to know more about him. "But if they give me lip outside the uniform, I will give it back."
"That is fine. Just ease up on it." said Matt.
"Fine."
"I am wondering. Why the meow game?" asks Matt.
"Oh. I fell asleep while Super Troopers was on the television." said Lilly.
"Of course." Matt chuckles "So, how are we?"
The chains around Lilly's body loosen up. Lilly smiles as she shakes them off her body. The chain falls down on the floor. Lilly move the chains out of her way and stands up. She shows Matt her own tool and her black case. It had everything she need to pick a lock. A necessary tool for a former thief.
"Will Scarlet wishes he was me." Lilly gives a big smile. Matt could not help but smile.
"Let's get your chain off of you and you can remove this stupid collar." said Lilly.
"And find my pants." adds Matt.
Present
Matt hates the feeling. This feeling has been happening more time than he like. It is the feeling of hope being squashing underneath life's feet.
He like the town. It seems nice. Like Tyler said, the benefit is simply too good to be true. Just having hope that there is something better is nice. What made it better is the thought that there is someone that wanted him. Someone who values what he is worth.
Seeing the book squashed that thought.
It was a joke played on the unsuspecting man. There was no other explanation for it. It was too ridiculous to be anything else but a joke. He is tired of the bullshit.
As Matt approaches his truck that is parked in an alleyway behind a bakery, he takes out his key. He heard footstep walking toward him.
Matt turns to see a man dresses in brown with a large scar on his face.
"Hello." His voice is deep. It demands attention. Matt is pretty sure that the man is wear some sort of Victorian outfit.
"Who are you?" ask Matt as he opens the truck door.
"I was going to ask the same question. I am Mr. Hyde."
"Matt." Matt looks at the man and did not like him. He could see his cane on the seat. The scar on his leg and his cane is what remain from the accident.
It did take Matt a while to walk properly. He was lucky. The car accident did not cause any permanent damage. He keeps the cane simply as a weapon. He places his focus on the man named Hyde.
"You are not from Storybrooke, are you?" ask Hyde.
"No. Just visiting."
"Interesting."
"Not really."
"To me, it is. What is your business here?"
"Heard they made a good float at Granny's. Figured I should try it." Matt could feel it in his gut. In fact, it is screaming at him. The question was about what.
"A float?"
"Ice cream in a glass filled with coke-cola. You should try it sometime."
"No, thank you. This world seems obsessed over sweets. I find it not to my liking."
"Too bad. You are missing out."
"Well, you should be returning to wherever you are from. I will not keep you. I would hate it if something were to happen to you." That statement illuminate to Matt why his gut is scream and why he did not like the man at all.
"You are one of those." said Matt as he sigh in frustration.
"Excuse me?"
"You are one of those people."
"What type of person am I?" ask Mr. Hyde.
"The kind that drinks wine and read literature because you think you are cultured when in reality, you prefer to crush someone's skull in." said Matt.
Hyde looks at Matt.
"If I am what you describe, how wise is it to anger me?"
"Probably not wise. But I don't really care." The frustration in Matt needs a release. He is simply tired of those type of people.
"Well, then. How about I simply kill you and deliver your skull to Regina as per my original plan."
"You was going to do that anyway. You can try, but I am pretty sure you will regret it."
"I will take my chances." said Hyde as he start to approach Matt with intent.
Matt grabs his cane to defend himself. He slam the truck door and start to walk toward Hyde.
"Don't take another step." commends a female voice.
Both men turn to see Emma Swan standing there pointing her gun at them. She is wearing her red jacket with a white blouse underneath. She is wearing black jeans.
"Ms. Swann. How are you this fine day?" ask the man with the scar. Matt places his attention on the man. He did not want to find himself in a bad position because he was not paying attention.
"Step away from him. Now." commands Emma. Hyde simply sigh in frustration.
"Are you really going to be difficult?" ask Hyde.
"Considering that you are acting like this is your town, yeah" said Emma. Hyde takes a good look at Emma. He let out a chuckle and start to walk away from Matt.
"I have a deal."
"So, you keep saying. Like all those other times that you keep saying it, I will tell you the same thing: This town was not for his to deal with."
"Do not think that this issue is resolved." said Hyde.
Mr. Hyde reach inside his pant's pocket and toss out a small ball. The ball lands on the ground and let out a cloud of thick gray smoke. Matt steps away from the smoke. Emma and Matt watch as the thick smoke expands. Both of the individuals realizes what the smoke is for: It is for Mr. Hyde to escape.
Emma lowers her gun and let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you ok?" ask Emma.
"Yeah. Who was that?" ask Matt.
"That was Hyde."
"Bad news?"
"Yeah. He is." The woman named Emma put her gun away. She then extends her hand out. "I'm Emma Swann. I'm the sheriff of Storybrooke."
"Matt."
"Nice to meet you. Welcome to Storybrooke."
"Well, I was just leaving town. Thanks anyway. I don't think this town and I are going to be a good fit."
Emma could see Matt is freaking out a bit. She could not blame him. When she got the phone call from Henry, it did not take much for her to figure out what Henry did. It was why she was looking for Matt. She wanted to try and salvage the situation.
"Cmon. Let's talk. You can get a drink out of it." said Emma as she walk away. Matt look and close the truck's door. He really needs that drink.
He follows Emma to Granny's diner. They walks in and she took a seat at one of the booths. As if they knew what she wanted, the waitress put down to glass filled with beer. Matt simply sit down across the table from Emma.
"So, what is the story?" ask Matt. It amuses Matt a lot that Granny's diner served alcohol. Something about a diner serving beer put a smile on his face.
"So, you really want to know what is going on here?" ask Emma.
"Yeah. I want the truth or I will walk." Matt takes a sip from the beer.
"You probably will anyway." said Emma. "God know I tried to leave here a few time." said Emma.
Emma really did not want to have This conversation so soon. She hates to admit it: Emma did not want to scare Matt away from the town. She wanted to ease Matt into Storybrooke. Henry's attempt to persuade Matt ruin that. She can tell that Matt wanted the truth now.
Emma Swann really did not want to admit it, but she knows that she needs Matt's help. Even now, she is trying to resist the shaking in her hand. Ever since she saw her own death, Emma feels different. It is not good feeling. She is worrying more. She feels more afraid. Something that a Savior should not have.
When Regina announced plans in putting in safeguards for the town, Emma felt a little relieved. Getting another person to help out might ease her worries. She did not even debated about getting someone outside the town to help out. Emma knew that her judgement was clouded. She needed help. She just did not know what kind.
Looking at the candidate that Henry picked out, Emma could see that Matt might be the right person-better person at the sheriff position.
"Really?"
"Technically, I am not from Storybrooke. I used to live in Boston. I used to chase after bail jumpers." explains Emma.
"Seriously?"
"Yep. I'm pretty good at it. Sheriff, not so much." said Emma as she sips her drink. "Henry told me that he showed you the book."
"Yeah. What is all that about?"
"I told him not to do that. The only reason that worked on me was the fact that he was a cute 10 year old. Even then, I really didn't believe him. Now, that he is a teenager, that trick is not going to work so much. But it's the truth."
"You are telling me that the Mayor was the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."
"Yep."
"Is that the only thing I have to worry about?"
"The guy that tried to assault you. That was Mr. Hyde as in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
"Oh."
"Granny." Emma points at Granny, who is behind the counter talking to someone. "That is Granny from Little Red Riding Hood."
"OK."
"Short guys behind us. Do you see them?" Emma points out the seven guy eating their lunch.
"Don't tell me that those guys are the Dwarves."
"Yep."
"Storybrooke. That is not a cute name for the town." figures Matt. Matt takes another drink from his beer, wondering how much he would need to deal with this new development.
"Nope. Everyone here except four of us is a story book character."
"Oh….Wait. What four?" ask Matt
"Me, you, Henry and Lilly." said Emma as she counts her fingers. "But you are the only one that wouldn't have any ties with the town."
"How?..." ask Matt. There is no question. There is a lot of background information that he will need to research.
"Long story. I don't want to blow your mind up with it. Took me a while to absorb all of it." said Emma.
Matt leans back. His gut is telling him that this conversation is pretty honest.
"OK….So,why me?"
"Regina said that we needed help and I agree. We are short handed with the type of situations that we have to deal with. It turns out Henry was the one that recommended you. I don't know why, considering you are not from here and what could happen if you stay."
"What could happened?" ask Matt.
"You may have to deal with magic." say Emma with a straight face.
"Oh." Matt chuckles.
"Oh?" Emma did not hide her surprise. She really did not expect Matt to be so casual with the idea of magic.
"I have some experience with magic." said Matt.
"Experience? Like how much?" ask Emma. It has only been recently that she discovered that the world outside of Storybrooke had magic. It is hidden but it did exist. Here is someone that knew about it, it surprises Emma a bit.
"I don't know how to use it. But I know two things: I know that there is a price when you use magic and it hurts when it used against you." said Matt.
"That is more than I had when I got here." said Emma with an impressed smile. "So, you are not going to freak out if you see a 7 foot tall raging snowman?"
"Probably, but I will try to figure something out." said Matt.
"How about a dragon?" A brunette head pops up from behind Emma. Emma jumps a little because of the voice.
"Jeez, Lilly!" said Emma as she tries to resist the urge to hit her.
"I have no idea." reply Matt to the question. Lilly nods at the answer.
"Lilly, what the heck are you doing here?" ask Emma.
"Saw you and thought what could you be talking about to the stranger. Curiosity got to me." Lilly turns to Matt. "By the way, I'm Lilly and who are you?"
"Matt." Matt recognizes her from yesterday. She was talking to her mother about babies names.
"So, are you seriously considering living here because this place is simply crazy." asks Lilly.
"I haven't made up my mind yet."
"If you want my opinion…" starts Lilly.
"We don't." interrupts Emma as she got a tongue sticking out of Lilly's mouth as a response.
"As I was saying, if you want my opinion, unless you are magical, don't stay." said Lilly. "This place may looking like Mayberry, but it can turn to a bad Game of Thrones episode really quickly."
"Jeez, you are a ray of hope." said Emma.
"Look. If it was not for my mom being here and other things, I probably wouldn't have stay."
"Didn't you say that you would stay for one week?"
"Yes, Emma. I did. Turns out when you accept the fact that you can become a raging ton of destruction, you have the ability to unconsciously turn into a dragon if you are not careful."
"That would not be good." said Emma.
"Considering that I have some issues to work on, no it is not. Mom have been helping me get it under control. Not to mention, the therapist has help a lot. So, I am sticking around for a bit." explains Lilly. "Beside, I can throw fireballs now."
"Seriously?" said Emma, who is wondering when this happened.
"Yeah...I know. Ain't it cool?"
"Not cool, Lilly."
"Deal with it." said Lilly.
"Seriously, this is not a game."
"I know that it is not a game. I am a dragon, Emma. I got to know what it means to be a dragon and everything that come with being a dragon. Did you know that if I don't turn into a dragon at least once a month, I get very emotional."
Lilly stops and looks at Matt.
"Don't say a word." said Lilly at Matt, who simply nod and take another drink from his beer.
"Fine. I really don't have time for this. Where have you been staying?" ask Emma accepting the fact that she could never control Lilly when they were younger and she still wouldn't be able to now.
"Living with mom, out of that house in the field by the fairies' nunnery."
"I thought that house was abandoned."
"It was. Mom got it from Regina before you guys went on that tour of Camelot and Hades."
Emma sighs.
"We have been gone that long, haven't we?"
"Seriously, you guys got to do something. People are talking. Dwarves are good for a temporary fix on the sheriff situation but people are not liking it. Richard is thinking about getting a recall on you, Regina and the Charmings. After that King Arthur incident and now Hyde and his people, he might get his chance."
Emma looks at Matt.
"That is why he is here." said Emma.
"Gotcha." said Lilly. "Nice to meet you. Ignore everything I just said."
Lilly gets up from her spot and walks away. Matt looks at the women, now getting a better pictures of the situation.
"Look..we got some issues. Some issues are more complicated than we like. Too complicated to even get into in one day. But, Lilly is right. Some of those issue gets me away from the town for long period of time. We can't have that anymore. The town deserve better. You got experience and that is what we need. Since you dealt with magic before, you would be perfect for this town. I guess what I am saying is that we need someone like you in our town." said Emma.
"What about those issues? What are you dealing with?"
"Let's order lunch and drinks. Lots of drinks. This will take a little bit." said Emma as she signals Granny.
